• About Tara Hanks
  • Jeanne Eagels: A Life Revealed
    • Reviews
    • Synopsis
    • Updates
    • Where to Buy
  • The Mmm Girl
    • The Mmm Girl – Extract
    • The Mmm Girl – Reviews
  • Wicked Baby
    • Wicked Baby – Reviews
  • Media

Tara Hanks

~ Author of 'The Mmm Girl' and 'Wicked Baby'

Tara Hanks

Category Archives: Writing

SOLEDAD #5: Lana, Alexandra and More

08 Tuesday Jun 2021

Posted by marina72 in Film, Lana Del Rey, Music, Updates, Writing

≈ Comments Off on SOLEDAD #5: Lana, Alexandra and More

Tags

Aaron W. Graham, Alan Sharp, Alexandra Hay, Dylan Staley, Lana Del Rey, Norman Fucking Rockwell, Ray Davies, Sandra McCollum, Soledad, The Long Distance Piano Player

The ethereal blonde on the cover of SOLEDAD #5 is Alexandra Hay, best known for her supporting roles in late 1960s movies like Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner and Otto Preminger’s Skidoo, and as the leading lady of Jacque Demy’s Model Shop. The final starlet under contract as the old studio system broke down, she also played Jean Harlow in The Beard, a controversial play which led to her being arrested 14 times for ‘lewd conduct’ (with Billy the Kid), before winning an historic acquittal under First Amendment rules. Dylan Staley, who is working on a biography of this neglected actress, shares an extended profile in this issue.

Other highlights include Aaron W. Graham’s article about The Long Distance Piano Player, a 1970 TV drama written and directed by Alan Sharp, the Scottish novelist who became a Hollywood screenwriter. Part of the BBC’s ground-breaking Play for Today series, the teleplay also starred one of English music’s finest, Ray Davies of Kinks fame. Elsewhere, Sandra McCollum presents five evocative prose pieces about growing up in the segregated American South.

Regular contributor Marcelline Block shares two book excerpts (Filmed Letters From Algeria, and The Films of Michel Gondry) and a selection of poetry, while Robert Monell concludes his science fiction series with Government By Magick. There’s also a photo-essay by Amy Pangburn, new poems from Emily Clare Bryant and lyrics by musician David Neuland, and Soledad editor Jeremy Richey’s interview with Christian Valor, author of a new biography of French exploitation filmmaker Claude Mulot.

And finally, my long-overdue, 17-page, illustrated review of Lana Del Rey’s 2019 opus, Norman Fucking Rockwell! Yes, I know she’s made two more albums since then – with another on the way – but I hope you’ll agree that whatever I may lack in punctuality, I compensate for amply in breadth.

Issue 5 of SOLEDAD Arts Journal is available now via Amazon, for just £3.80 in the UK or $4.58 across the pond.

Merry Christmas to All My Readers!

24 Thursday Dec 2020

Posted by marina72 in Music, Updates, Websites, Writing

≈ Comments Off on Merry Christmas to All My Readers!

Tags

Blue Christmas, Sharon Van Etten, The Marilyn Report, Walter Crane

Wishing you all happiness this Christmas, whether you’re at home with family or separated from loved ones in this winter like no other. This seasonal card, featuring the work of Walter Crane, was produced by the Radical Tea Towel Company.

Over the last few days I’ve shared my favourite books, music and films of 2020, . And at my sister blog, The Marilyn Report, I’ve compiled some of this year’s top Monroe stories (yes, she’s still making headlines …)

And finally, here’s a mellow version of ‘Blue Christmas’ from Sharon Van Etten – and a toast, from me to all of you. Cheers!

My Hopes and Fears for 2020

31 Tuesday Dec 2019

Posted by marina72 in Books, Film, Lana Del Rey, Music, Poetry, Politics, Television, Updates, Writing

≈ Comments Off on My Hopes and Fears for 2020

Tags

1st September 1939, A Year in Books, A Year in Films and TV, A Year in Music, Art Decades, David Lynch, Dear Christine, Donna Tartt, ES Updates, Everlasting Star, Fan Phenomena, James Gray, Jeremy Corbyn, Lana Del Rey, Marilyn Monroe, Marion Cotillard, Poetry, Socialism, Soledad, The Goldfinch, The Immigrant, Twin Peaks, Ultraviolence, Video Games, W.H. Auden

As a new decade beckons, I’m deeply worried about the way our world seems to be heading. As W.H. Auden wrote on ‘September 1, 1939‘ (a poem deemed so prescient he tried to bury it …) Continue reading →

Marilyn’s ‘Mirror’ Review Goes to Print

23 Monday Dec 2019

Posted by marina72 in Books, Film, Marilyn Monroe, Non-Fiction, Periodicals, Updates, Writing

≈ Comments Off on Marilyn’s ‘Mirror’ Review Goes to Print

Tags

Amanda Konkle, Mad About Marilyn, Marilyn Monroe, Some Kind of Mirror: Creating Marilyn Monroe

My review of Amanda Konkle’s excellent book, Some Kind of Mirror: Creating Marilyn Monroe, is featured in the latest issue (#38) of UK fanzine Mad About Marilyn, alongside articles about Marilyn’s arduous promotional tour for the final Marx Brothers movie, Love Happy (1949); ‘A New Marilyn Comes Back’, first published by Movie Spotlight in 1956; and a profile of photographer Bruno Bernard, aka ‘Bernard of Hollywood’.

The delightful cover photo was taken at Richard Avedon‘s New York studio in July 1958, shortly before Marilyn flew to Los Angeles to shoot Some Like It Hot. If you’d like to subscribe to Mad About Marilyn, please email Emma: emmadowning@blueyonder.co.uk

Marilyn, the Morning Star and Me

03 Thursday Oct 2019

Posted by marina72 in History, Marilyn Monroe, Politics, Updates, Writing

≈ Comments Off on Marilyn, the Morning Star and Me

Tags

Arthur Miller, David Conover, Marilyn Monroe, Morning Star, Norma Jeane, Tara Hanks

I’m proud to have a letter published in the British newspaper, The Morning Star, today. I have written to newspapers three times in my life, and all were about Marilyn Monroe (she is, perhaps, the subject about whom I feel most qualified to share my views in public.) Continue reading →

← Older posts

Subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 329 other subscribers

Pages

  • About Tara Hanks
  • Jeanne Eagels: A Life Revealed
  • Media
  • The Mmm Girl
  • Wicked Baby

Creative Commons License
http://tarahanks.com by Tara Hanks/marina72 is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License

Categories

Archives

Twitter

  • RT @East_Cheam_Lad: Tony: I wear these clothes to get the feeling of the part. Of course, if you're completely ignorant of the Stanislavski… 4 minutes ago
  • Scandal ’63 Revisited: Symposium in Leicester tarahanks.com/2023/03/21/sca… https://t.co/D5Wlq8eOBs 2 hours ago
  • RT @MOJOmagazine: “She’s on the kind of form that can reckon with her past rather than just being doomed to repeat it...” Read MOJO’s verdi… 5 hours ago

Find Me

  • ES Updates
  • The Marilyn Report

My Favourites

  • Aaron Darc
  • Chris Wade
  • Christine Keeler Official
  • Culled Culture
  • Culture Matters
  • Cursum Perficio
  • Cy Forrest
  • Everlasting Star
  • Fionn Wilson
  • Jude Starling
  • Laura Wilkinson
  • Moon In The Gutter
  • Nostalgia Kinky
  • Paradise Hunter
  • Refugee Radio

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • Tara Hanks
    • Join 329 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Tara Hanks
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

You must be logged in to post a comment.