Brief Encounter

[from My Photo a Day Adventure blog]

Thursday, May 5, 2022 … Two married strangers meet by chance at a railway station café. They continue to meet every week in the small café, although they know their love is impossible … David Lean’s 1945 film, Brief Encounter … So intrigued to see the “Brief Encounter Refreshment Room” sign at Wymondham Station … on two trips from Durham to Norwich, Norfolk, England … Could this be the movie location?! … August 12, 1999 …

From train window … Wymondham Station … west of Norwich, England … Brief Encounter Refreshment Room sign … red and black drawing of stars, Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard … August 1999 Durham, England home exchange

Below … Strangers when we meet … How long will it last? … Trevor Howard, Celia Johnson … Brief Encounter won Grand Prize at the 1946 Cannes Film Festival  … and had three 1947 Oscar nominations: Actress, Celia Johnson; Director, David Lean; Writing, Screenplay …

Brief Encounter, 1945 … based on Noel Coward’s 1936 short play, Still Life … What railway station was used? … Was it Wymondham, near Norwich, or …?

Below … Mystery solved! … outdoor scenes were shot at Carnforth Railway Station in Lancashire, Northwest England … Video is a wonderful combination of clips from the film and the current working Victorian station, now a Heritage Centre … with a vintage mini cinema … where Brief Encounter is shown about 1,500 times a year …

“It’s not often you can say this about a working railway station, but this place is all about love. The love of rail travel and the celebration of a great love film. Brief Encounter takes us back to a bygone era – the golden age of steam, where everything seems so innocent, and a world away from the social conventions we have today. But, luckily enough, Carnforth Station allows us to come and visit and soak up nostalgia for a lost time.”

— Carnforth Railway Station video [above], last minute

Carnforth Station Heritage Centre … home of Brief Encounter … David Lean’s 1945 film

Movie Madness Cat

[from Perkins and Teeny Tuxedo’s cat adventures blog]

Saturday, November 7, 2020, 12:18 am — Perkins … and awaaaay she goes! … sorting junior high, high school papers … from old cardboard box to sturdier plastic container …

… wonderful movie re-discoveries … pages from Mad Magazine, Oct. 1967, no. 114 …

… Mad’s “Late Show” Cliché Movie Script: The “Society” Movie, p. 42 … stars bordering the script: James Cagney, Bette Davis, Clark Gable, Joan Crawford, Edward G. Robinson, Alice Faye, Shirley Temple, Betty Grable, John Wayne, Ginger Rogers, Errol Flynn, Rita Hayworth, Humphrey Bogart …

Look closely … the swirls between the drawings are names of other movie stars … a galaxy of ’em! …

Happy Trails to You!

Monday, March 25, 2019, 12:25 pm — Kitty’s Happy Trails (to Wyoming) party … It started with a parade …

A librarian moment … Season 1, episode 24, May, 2010 …

5 years later … library mascot! … Brick’s bookmark dance routine … Season 7, episode 2, Sept. 2015 …

 “Everything’s Up to Date in Kansas City”– Oklahoma!, 1955

Elvis & Jack Benny … Hidden in Kalama

[from Perkins and Teeny Tuxedo’s cat adventures blog]

Saturday, September 9, 2017, 2:58 pm — On the way home from Kelso’s Highland Games, cousin L and I stopped at the Columbia Inn Restaurant, off I-5 in Kalama, Washington … Have passed this weather-worn sign for DECADES after the move from Tillamook to Olympia in 1963 …

On a return trip from Grandma and Grandpa’s Hockinson farm in the 60s, Mom mentioned … “Elvis ate here” … on his way to film It Happen at the World’s Fair in Seattle, September 4, 1962 … Actually, he called from the adjacent Columbia Inn Motel to order a room service breakfast.

Hidden behind the roses … “Famous Visitors to the Columbia Inn” … Elvis, Jack Benny …

Totem pole … gray Pacific Northwest afternoon … I-5, Columbia River to the left …

Interesting … but I wasn’t an Elvis fan … he was SO boring, in person, song and film … Jack Benny is MUCH more intriguing to a classic movies kid! … Have yet to discover when Jack was here …

To be fair … It Happened at the World’s Fair fair! … the historical / local / movie aspects are très intéressant …

• Heartbreak Motel in Kalama … Elvis Slept Here in 1962 — July 2008
• Elvis Behind the Scenes in Seattle at the 1962 World’s Fair – Part One — December 2008 … mentions Kalama

“America’s Space-Age Worlds Fair … Century 21 Exposition … Seattle U.S.A. 1962”

A memento of the fair from cousin Marcie … she lived up there … we were Tillamook County kids … When I think of the coin, it’s always tied to the Columbus Day Storm, Oct. 12, 1962 … night, wind, camping out in the hall between the bedrooms, East Beaver Creek house, candles … Did I receive it that day? …

Photo by Robby Virus, Flickr, September 5, 2009

Lydia, the Tattooed Lady … Olé!

Amazing picture, eh? … Groucho Marx and Lydia … by Mark Fredrickson …

And now, a little bit of history … AND geography … sung by Groucho …from At the Circus, 1939 (a song I MUST memorize!):

Oh Lydia, oh Lydia, say, have you met Lydia?
Lydia the Tattooed Lady
She has eyes that folks adore so
and a torso even more so.
Lydia, oh Lydia, that encyclo-pidia
Oh Lydia the Queen of Tattoo
On her back is the Battle of Waterloo
Beside it, the Wreck of the Hesperus too
And proudly above waves the red, white, and blue
You can learn a lot from Lydia!

La-la-la…la-la-la, La-la-la…la-la-la

When her robe is unfurled she will show you the world
if you step up and tell her where
For a dime you can see Kankakee or Paree
or Washington crossing the Delaware

La-la-la…la-la-la, La-la-la…la-la-la

Oh Lydia, oh Lydia, say, have you met Lydia?
Lydia the Tattooed Lady
When her muscles start relaxin’
up the hill comes Andrew Jackson
Lydia, oh Lydia, that encyclo-pidia.
Oh Lydia the Queen of them all
For two bits she will do a mazurka in jazz
with a view of Niagara that nobody has
And on a clear day you can see Alcatraz
You can learn a lot from Lydia!

La-la-la…la-la-la, La-la-la…la-la-la

Come along and see Buffalo Bill with his lasso
Just a little classic by Mendel Picasso
Here is Captain Spaulding exploring the Amazon
Here’s Godiva, but with her pajamas on

La-la-la…la-la-la, La-la-la…la-la-la

Here is Grover Whelan unveilin’ The Trilon
Over on the west coast we have Treasure Isle-on
Here’s Nijinsky a-doin’ the rhumba
Here’s her social security numba

La-la-la…la-la-la, La-la-la…la-la-la

Lydia, oh Lydia, that encyclo-pidia
Oh Lydia the Champ of them all
She once swept an Admiral clear off his feet
The ships on her hips made his heart skip a beat
And now the old boy’s in command of the fleet
For he went and married Lydia!

I said Lydia…
He said Lydia…
They said Lydia…
We said Lydia, la, la!

Music by Harold Arlen, lyrics by E.Y. Harburg

• Groucho Marx sings – At the Circus, 1939
• Virginia Weider sings – The Philadelphia Story, 1940

.
Virginia Weidler gave Lydia a jaunty rendition in The Philadelphia Story, 1940 … with sofa skeptics, Ruth Hussey and James Stewart …

Youthful Dorian Gray

Sunday, June 28, 2015, 3:30 pm — The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1945 … Hurd Hatfield … the original, not seen in color in the film … by Henrique Medina … How I’d like to remember him … Recently sold at auction at Christie’s …

• History and photos of the painting – the last owner was a relative of Hurd Hatfield

Quirky Is the Name for Coen Bros.

Friday, August 29, 2014 — 6:00 pm — O Brother, Where Art Thou?, 2000 … My new favorite Coen Bros. movie … 14 years after the fact …

“You two are just dumber than a bag of hammers.”
John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, George Clooney

George Clooney … A real Dapper Dan man … This role was made for him and no mistake!

Ulysses Everett McGill: Hold on, I don’t want this pomade. I want Dapper Dan.
Pomade Vendor: I don’t carry Dapper Dan, I carry Fop.
Ulysses Everett McGill: Well, I don’t want Fop, goddamn it! I’m a Dapper Dan man!
Pomade Vendor: Watch your language, young feller, this is a public market. Now if you want Dapper Dan, I can order it for you, have it in a couple of weeks.
Ulysses Everett McGill: Well, ain’t this place a geographical oddity. Two weeks from everywhere!

The power of illusion … Dapper Dan’s a fictional product, created for the movie …

O, Brother is in my rear view mirror at this very moment … MoviePlex OnDemand TV … Fills my widescreen tv, but it’s not the true aspect ration, 2.35 : 1 (below)  …  The deciding factor to order the Blu-ray from Amazon (Prime 2-day delivery until November) … should be here Wednesday …

My New Movie Blog!

Saturday, April 19, 2014 – To keep my movie (and tv) stuff together,  imported them from my first blog, “Do What’s Right, Not What’s Easy … Everything I know, I learned from the movies … mostly!”  Now they’re all nice and cozy, right here,  in “Movies, Of Course!”

First Do What’s Right post, August 15, 2009.  Sporadic sprinkles until March 13, 2013 (one year ago!) when I started with more regular seri-osity.

Another yearstone … One year ago, I cut the DishTV satellite connection.  Free, over-the-air digital broadcasting it has been and will continue to be! …

Saving over $70 a month, splurged a bit buying a DVD here and there from Amazon … Free 2-day shipping with Amazon Prime for one year ($79 until November 2014). Going up to $99 after that.

What’s on right now, free, on OPB 10.2  (Oregon Public Broadcasting) … The Stranger, 1946.  Edward G. Robinson, Loretta Young, Orson Welles (also directed).  As a PBS channel, no commercials! Classic films shown twice in a row! Every Saturday night! … I’m watching it as I type, with my handy-dandy rear view mirror!

Perk’s Feeling Better

Monday, Nov. 4, 2013, 12:30 am — Perky meets antibiotic … Twice a day for 7 days …

Tuesday, Nov. 5, 3:50 am —  One day later … She eats moistened dry food … No more cat pain med! … Below, sitting by her late-night reading, The Private World of Katharine Hepburn and Hollywood Hoofbeats.

• See more adventures of Perkins the Orange Tabby and Teeny the Tuxedo Cat

Do or Don Quixote

Saturday, Oct. 5, 2013, 10 pm —  Above, a “No Tilting at Wind Mills” sign …

Which reminded me of Disney’s Silly Symphony cartoon, The Old Mill, 1937 … One of the most memorable cartoons I saw (black & white) on the Mickey Mouse Club … 1955-1959 … Glenwood house years.

“The series ran on ABC Television for an hour each weekday in the 1955–1956 and 1956–1957 seasons (from 5:00 to 6:00 pm ET), and only a half-hour weekdays (5:30 to 6:00 pm ET) in 1957–1958, the final season to feature new programming.

“Although the show returned for the 1958–1959 season (5:30 to 6:00 pm ET), these programs were repeats from the first two seasons, re-cut into a half-hour format. The Mickey Mouse Club was featured on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and Walt Disney’s Adventure Time, featuring re-runs of The Mickey Mouse Club serials and several re-edited segments from Disneyland and Walt Disney Presents, appeared on Tuesdays and Thursdays.”

Please Stand By

Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2013, 11:30 p.m. — it’s time for my summer schedule to draw to a close.  My progamming day of work, 2:00-6:00 p.m., then up all night til 5:00 or 6:00 a.m. is back to the normal, up at 6:30 a.m. for work at 8:00 a.m. … And with that, I must now go off-air to regain a revised sleep schedule … Please stand by …

Below – But before I sign off … In commemoration of today’s HOT 95º … Here’s cool Teeny cat looking out at the snow, Dec. 23, 2008 … The Christmas we were snowed in!

Below, left – Front door, Dec., 24, 2008. Snow drifts aplenty, snow drifts galore. Gigantic icicle by window on right!  Below, right – Christmas Day, 2008 … White Christmas on tv!

Look What March Blew In!

Monday, March 25, 2013 — What an amazing discovery! The Media History Digital Library!  …  “Online Access to the Histories of Cinema, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound” …  Contains digital scans of hundreds of thousands of magazine pages from thousands of magazine issues from 1904 to 1963.

Horse and Child Silhouettes – Adda May Heintz

Sunday, March 24, 2013 — Who is Adda May Heintz? Found these two horse and child silhouettes in Lincoln City, Oregon, around 2001. Antique shop to the right of the Bijou Theatre on the main street.

Caught my attention with the black Fell pony resemblance … and the natural way the child approaches and leads the pony. Happy and relaxed, even the rambunctious dog!

Went back several times during that stay at the beach before I plunked down the cash:  $45, approaching pony. $35, leading pony.

Searched the land of the Google, for both her name (in the lower right corner, approaching pony silhouette) and the studio label on the back of both: “Harold Parker Studio, Established – 1905, Pasadena”. No results.

Both in 12 -1/2″ x 10″ black frames, glass, aging paper backing. The foreground pony and child are cut paper on an ink-drawn background.

I’ve always thought the child was a girl … with the short hair, it could go either way.  Hey, Adda, wish I knew who you were! … Is this you and your favorite pony? … Or you and a dream pony?

Borrowed photos below … Bijou Theatre, U.S. Highway 101, where I saw Ramon Novarro’s The Red Lily (1924), Dec. 6, 2000.  Antique shops down the block from the Bijou … pretty sure I got the silhouettes from the lavender shop.

Wake Up With a Tutti-Frutti Explosion

Sunday morning, March 24, 2013 — Carmen Miranda, the Brazilian Bombshell, 1909-1955. Love this artistic version of her “lady in the tutti-frutti hat”. Tried a screen capture of the original number in The Gang’s All Here (1943), but reliable SnagIt wasn’t able to full-screen it. Because the DVD is copy protected? In any case, the snappy image above exudes Carmen’s zingy essence!

My color-rama tutti-frutti road to The Gang’s All Here Technicolor “perfection”: Late 1980s, pre-historic VHS recording from American Movie Classics. 2006, DVD recording from Fox Movie Channel. Finally, yesterday (purchased from amazon.com), 2008 remastered DVD … fit for viewing in all its glory via Blu-Ray player on a 46″ Samsung flat screen tv!

More Carmen below, plus one imposter. I won’t let the … cat … out of the … hat … Doh! Gave it away!

If I Had a Dog …

March 14, 2013 —
… it would be a Scottish Terrier … Since I can’t, here’s a chance to live virtually via movie stars and their wee little Scotty / Scottie dogs!

GREAT photos at A Certain Cinema … Do a search for “dog” and you’ll find a wealth of pristine classic Hollywood pics of stars and their pups!

Below: A collection of Scotties and movie stars, with a few non-Hollywood royalty at the end:

Row 1 – Bette Davis; Constance Cummings

Row 2 – Hedy Lamarr and her mother; Helen Mack; Bogart

Row 3 – Ida Lupino; Ilona Massey; Joan Crawford;

Row 4 – Laraine Day; Shirley Temple; Bogart in Stand-In (1937)

Row 5 – Virginia Grey; Fala and Eleanor Roosevelt; Princess Victoria Alexandra and Mac (?)