30 Friday Apr 2021
Posted in Film, Jeanne Eagels
≈ Comments Off on From Jeanne, to Bette: A Tale of Two Letters
Before its restoration in 2013, Jeanne Eagels’ penultimate movie, The Letter (1929), was falling into obscurity. But while the 1940 remake is more accomplished overall, Jeanne’s performance as a frustrated colonial wife more than holds up against Bette Davis in the same role. An in-depth comparison between the two is posted at the Notoriously Nora movie blog today. Continue reading
16 Monday Sep 2019
Posted in Art and Photography, Jeanne Eagels
≈ Comments Off on ‘The Best Way to Forget, Until You Find Something You Want to Remember’
Tags
'The Best Way to Forget Until You Find Something You Want to Remember', Amy Winehouse, Bette Davis, Christine Keeler, Cob Gallery, If You Don't Want My Peaches (You Better Stop Shaking the Tree), Jean Harlow, Jeanne Eagels, Kim Novak, Madonna, Marilyn Monroe, Nina Mae Fowler, Rita Hayworth, The Letter
Nina Mae Fowler is a British artist who trained at the University of Brighton, and lives in Norfolk. Her latest solo exhibition, If You Don’t Want My Peaches (You’d Better Stop Shaking the Tree), on display at London’s Cob Gallery until September 28, borrows its title from an Irving Berlin song, and draws heavily on the iconography of Hollywood’s golden age. I was delighted to find Jeanne Eagels among the subjects, as she is often neglected. This portrait shows Jeanne in her penultimate movie (and only surviving talkie), The Letter (1929.) Continue reading
10 Sunday Apr 2016
Posted in Anniversaries, Film, Jeanne Eagels, Theatre
≈ Comments Off on Born On This Day: George Arliss 1868-1946
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Alexander Hamilton, Bette Davis, Darryl F. Zanuck, Disraeli, Florence Arliss, George Arliss, Hamilton, J.M. Barrie, Jeanne Eagels, Jeanne Eagels: A Life Revealed, Knickerbocker Theatre, Maria Reynolds, The Professor's Love Story
Augustus George Andrews was born in London on April 10, 1868. He was educated at Harrow, one of Britain’s leading public schools. He worked for the publishing house owned by his father, William Joseph Arliss Andrews, before leaving at eighteen to pursue a life on the stage. After a long apprenticeship in provincial theatre, George Arliss established himself as a supporting actor in London’s West End. Continue reading
31 Sunday Jan 2016
Posted in Anniversaries, Film, Jeanne Eagels, Theatre
≈ Comments Off on Born On This Day: Tallulah Bankhead 1902-1968
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A Gentleman's Mother, Bette Davis, Clifton Webb, Her Cardboard Lover, Jeanne Eagels, Jeanne Eagels: A Life Revealed, Leslie Howard, Martin Brown, Rain, Sadie Thompson, Tallulah Bankhead, The Exciters, W. Somerset Maugham
Tallulah Brockman Bankhead was born in Huntsville, Alabama on January 31, 1902. Her mother, Adelaide, died of blood poisoning three weeks after Tallulah’s birth. Her father William, a prominent Democrat, suffered bouts of alcoholism and depression, and Tallulah was largely raised by her grandmother. Continue reading
11 Tuesday Aug 2015
Posted in Anniversaries, Film, Theatre
≈ Comments Off on Born on This Day: Helen Broderick (1891-1959)
Tags
67th Street, Bette Davis, Claridge Hotel, Eddie Doherty, Helen Broderick, I.S. Mowis, Ina Claire, Jeanne Eagels, Jeanne Eagels: A Life Revealed, Jumping Jupiter, Lester Crawford, Morosco Theatre, Richard Carle, The Letter, The Rain Girl, Ziegfeld Follies
As part of an ongoing series covering major figures in Jeanne Eagels: A Life Revealed, I’m looking at the life of Helen Broderick – who danced in the first Ziegfeld Follies, and made the transition from star of Broadway musicals to one of Hollywood’s most beloved character actresses. She was also a loyal friend of Jeanne Eagels, and the mother of Broderick Crawford. Continue reading
Tara Hanks 
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