Saturday Salon: A Favorite Painting or Two....or Three...!

This young woman's attitude reminds me of the doomed Lucy Westenra in Bram Stoker's novel, DRACULA.

Pietro Antonio Rotari (1707 - 1762) was an Italian painter born in Verona. As a young man he studied under Antonio Balestra in Rome and Francesco Trevisani in Naples. Thereafter he returned to Verona where he set up his studio and continued to paint in the Baroque tradition.

Later he moved on to Vienna and then to Dresden, Germany. He became court painter to Empress Elizabeth I, of Russia, but spent a great deal of time painting Russian villagers and peasants. Many of these painting were originally held in collections at the Russian Academy of Art and at Catherine II's Peterhof Palace.

I am very fond of Rotari's portraits of young women, usually reading or writing a letter or just staring out at the viewer, looking delicate yet full of rosy health.

Rotari has a good palette and I really like the way he draws heads. He has a light hand too with these young girls' features. Most especially I like their coquettish expressions. Once you've seen a Rotari portrait, you will, in general, always recognize his work if seen again. He has quite a specific point of view.

To learn a bit more about Rotari, please use this link.

Pietro Antonio Rotari - self portrait.

It's Veterans Day - 11/11/11

Painting by John Singer Sargent.

Pause a moment and give thanks to those war veterans who have fought and sacrified so much, now and in the past, in the name of the United States of America. God bless them.

Flag painting by Childe Hassam.

Friday's Forgotten Books: DEVIL'S WALTZ (1993) by Jonathan Kellerman

I admit I've stopped reading Kellerman's Alex Delaware books. Why? Well, for a very specific reason: I loathe one of the characters and can take no more of her.

Yes, you guessed it - if you're familiar with the books - that guitar-maker Robin  has defeated me. What a creature! I simply cannot stand her, much less can I stand Alex Delaware's constant forgiveness of her erratic behavior. The man's a psychologist, for goodness' sake!

Sad to say: I've lost respect for Alex.

When she came back yet again after dumping him for the umpteenth time - for no good reason than she just felt like it - I threw the book across the room and that, as they say, is that.

So why am I recommending one of Kellerman's books today?

Simple. This is an early book. Early on, Robin was tolerable - annoying but tolerable.

The first ten or so Alex Delaware books are excellent psychological thrillers set in L.A. where Delaware is a child psychologist and police consultant. His friend, Milo Sturgis, is the first openly gay cop on the L.A.P.D. (He is in a committed long-term relationship with a doctor.)  It's a good friendship and I like that Alex isn't leery in any way of Milo's intentions - nor is Milo leery of Alex. They're two men who, believably, are friends.

At any rate, THE DEVIL'S WALTZ is one of the best Alex Delaware books and possibly one of the more disturbing.

The story begins when a doctor grows suspicious of a young patient's circumstances. Cassie Jones is a 21 month old toddler who is constantly showing up at the hospital's emergency room, brought in by her anxious parents. Cassie is suffereing from various illnesses which the medical staff can't seem to isolate.

Her parents are deeply concerned, naturally, and appear loving and helpful. But the doctor suspects that something is not quite right. He calls in child psychologist Alex Delaware to investigate.

Munchausen by proxy is a frightening condition that causes some parents to intentionally make a child ill. Of all mental disorders it is, perhaps, one of the most terrifying because the victim is usually a young, helpless child.

Alex begins to suspect that this is exactly what's at work on Cassie Jones. Who is responsible? It's thought that the mother is usually the cause, but fathers too can come under suspicion. Or could it be someone nearer to home? Someone on staff?

The  mystery deepens when a hospital physician is brutally murdered - is there a connection?

Alex and Milo race against time to save Cassie's life and discover who, among this various cast of characters, is a monster.

This is a terrifying thriller with a deadly scheme at its heart.

I really do recommend the first ten or so Alex Delaware books. If you can stomach Robin's comings and goings, you might even like the rest of them. It's totally up to you.

For a complete list of Jonathan Kellerman's books, please use this link.

Kellerman is married to mystery novelist Faye Kellerman, in case the name seemed familiar.

Friday means Forgotten Books day around here. This is a weekly meme hosted by Patti Abbott at her blog,  PATTINASE  Don't forget to check in and see what other forgotten books other bloggers are recommending today.

Casting Call: 10 More Character Actors We've Known and Loved. (At least in films.)

Photo: Walker Evans.

Movie faces all come from a heavenly organization - run by the gods of fate - known as Central Casting. All of the following actors were - by some twist of fate - born with faces and talents that could reliably, year after year, be inserted into a film in support of stars who were usually better known and better looking. But not always.

These actors all have one thing in common: they all fulfilled a certain 'look,' a certain type.

You want a maid for such and such a picture, get so and so. You want a cop? Get so and so. You want a henchman? Get so and so.  You want a gangster? You want a ditzy housewife? You want a crazed murderer? You want a goofy professor? Get so and so and so and so...and so on and so on.

Those were the days.

I've already written a post regaling the work of ten of the best character actors ever. You can read it here, at this link.  (In case you were wondering where Charles Lane and Edward Everett Horton are, they're in this first post.)

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Ten more superb Golden Age character actors:

1) Lionel Atwill (1885 - 1946).

I love the English actor, Lionel Atwill in his Charlie Chan pictures. Whenever he shows up on screen, you immediately suspect something nefarious is up. Yet, on the rare occasions when he played a good guy - he was able to do that with heart. Most especially as the local police magistrate, Inspector Krogh - he of the missing arm - in SON OF FRANKENSTEIN. It was an iconic performance.

Maybe about to announce the end of the world?

2) Roscoe Karns (1891- 1970).

If you were making a picture and wanted a wise-cracking henchman, cop, reporter, or just general weisenheimer, American actor Roscoe Karns was your man. He had the perfect craggy face, voice and delivery and the best know-it-all, world weary look.

 Karns starred in his own TV show in the fifties, playing private detective Rocky King.

Roscoe Karns and Clark Gable, probably in It Happened One Night (1934).

3) Erik Rhodes (1906 - 1990)

Erik Rhodes majored in empty headed gigolos. He always gave off a very continental air, though he was born in Oklahoma. In THE GAY DIVORCEE he played the feckless Italian divorce correspondent, Rudolfo Tonetti, hired to compromise Ginger Rogers - to hasten her divorce from as unlikely a husband as a Ginger Rogers character ever had.

In TOP HAT, Rhodes played Alberto Beddini, a clueless fashion designer who wants to marry his model, Ginger Rogers. My favorite line in the film is sung by Beddini as he gazes into a mirror: "Oh Beddini, I'm so glad you're not skinny." Ha! Everything Rhodes did was funny. He just had that sort of persona.

Three 'greats': Erik Rhodes, Edward Everett Horton and Eric Blore.

4) Una O'Connor (1880 - 1959)

Once seen, never forgotten. The Irish actress, Una O'Connor, solidified her screen presence in The Invisible Man, as the finicky, dithery, screechy and very frightened pub owner's wife.

But she was also quite wonderful as Maid Marian's (Olivia de Havilland) lady-in-waiting in The Adventures Of  Robin Hood, and wore some gorgeous costumes to boot.

Olivia de Havilland and Una O'Connor in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938).

5) Ian Hunter (1900 - 1975)

Though born in South Africa, Ian Hunter, personified for me, the typical stalwart Englishman. He could play the lawyer, the doctor, the professor, the soldier, the best friend or the conniving blackmailer with just the slightest twitch of his photogenic face.

Though not as well-known as many other character actors working at this time, he will always and forever be in my heart as Richard the Lionheart alongside Errol Flynn in THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD. He appears in my favorite scene in the movie, as a king just back from the Crusades, stealthily meeting up with Robin and his band of merry men in Sherwood Forest. From that moment on (for me) all kings in films were measured against Hunter's calm, confident, aristocratic and utterly gorgeous monarch.

Ian Hunter as King Richard in The Adventures of Robin Hood.

6) Jack Elam (1920 - 2003)

If you wanted sleazy, most especially if you wanted ugly, sinister, cruel and sleazy, then Jack Elam was your man. For many years, this actor's face meant uh-oh, whenever he showed up on screen, usually in westerns but occasionally in noir crime flicks.

He'd lost an eye in an accident when he was a boy, and this loss gave his face a kind of lop-sided unevenness which only added to his almost comically sinister appearance. No good could come of a situation once Jack Elam entered the scene. His grin alone made me shiver. We always whooped it up whenever he got his comeuppance in a movie.

That unforgettable sinister stare.

7) Walter Brennan (1894 - 1974)

Walter Brennan was another ubiquitous character actor who seemed to show up in every movie ever made, kind of like Charles Lane, but more well known. Brennan's roles were usually bigger than Lane's, both working around the same time. Brennan was a type - the old (even when he was young) geezer with or without his dentures - the grandfather, the sidekick, the homesteader, the prospector, the wrangler, the old sea salt or, in some cases, the grizzly bad guy. Without his teeth, he often looked vulnerable and much older than he actually was.

Walter Brennan was the recipient of three Academy Awards - all for Best Supporting Actor.

8) Mary Wickes (1910 - 1995)

Another memorable face. She played a great nurse and did it often. She was also a great housewife neighbor, a busy-body gossip, a long suffering secretary, a teacher or better yet, a principal...well, you name it, Mary Wickes could handle it. I remember her best from her first role as a nurse in The Man Who Came To Dinner.

Among the many films, Wickes worked on, I also remember her with Abbott and Costello in Who Done It? Later, on television, she worked with good friend Lucille Ball on several of her shows plus many others.

Such a look. Such bedside manner.

9) Jerome Cowan (1897 - 1972)

The poor man's aristocrat. He could play the conniving second lead as well as anyone. He could also play it straight and had a nice comedic touch. As Miles Archer in the film classic, The Maltese Falcon, he was Sam Spade's (Humphrey Bogart) sleazy, murdered partner.

He played snobby publishers and literary types very well. He had that look about him that said he knew about books and might occasionally, even read one. When I thought eastern literati, Jerome Cowan sprang to mind. There was an aura of weakness in his face that I think, kept him from making the leap to leading man. But boy could he deliver a funny, sparkling line.

Cowan always looked relaxed in black tie.

10) James Gleason (1882 - 1959)

Another actor seemingly born to play New York cops with short fuses. He was always the grumbly sort who apparently never appeared without a hat. Gleason co-wrote an Academy Award winning film, The Broadway Melody, before he evolved into a busy character actor. He co-starred in six Hildegarde Withers films beginning with The Penguin Pool Murders.

A disbelieving cop in Arsenic and Old Lace.

Deja Vu All Over Again...

In the mail today, my first ever Stephen King fiction purchase (I own his wonderful writing memoir, ON WRITING). Besides the memoir, I've only ever read one other King book and didn't think much of it, but when I realized he'd written a time-travel extravaganza featuring one of the seminal events of my lifetime, I took the plunge.

11/22/63 appears to be (from the reviews I've read) a book meant for me. At least I hope so.

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In the meantime, here are five other time travel books worth a good look - if you, like me, are intrigued by the whole idea.

1) THE DOOMSDAY BOOK by Connie Willis

Travel backwards to the Middle Ages. A time-travel snafu has placed a 21st century Oxford historian in the plague-infested English countryside. Can they get her back before it's too late?

A brilliant, award winning book by my favorite sci-fi writer.

2) TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG by Connie Willis

A comedy of manners. A drawing room comedy I would have said except that lots of it takes place while floating down the Thames on a nice afternoon during Victoria's reign. (The title is taken from Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men In A Boat - To Say Nothing of the Dog.) This time out, a trip into the Oxford of the past takes a much less tragic turn for another historian whose search for an ugly church relic leads to all sorts of mischief.

3) TIMELINE by Michael Crichton

Another trip to the middle ages, this time through a time portal created by a physicist at ITC, a large money-grubbing corporation (aren't they all?) In typical Crichton style, there's plenty of talk about quantum physics and other esoteric scientific data which, I must say, I kind of enjoyed even if I didn't quite understand most of it. When a professor is stranded in medieval France, it's up to his modern day students to go back and fetch him. A really terrific book that was turned into a less terrific movie in 2003 starring Gerard Butler. Actually, the movie's not that bad, it just didn't measure up to the book.

TIME AND AGAIN by Jack Finney

In this time travel classic, it's 1970, and a New York sketch artist, Simon Morley goes back in time with the aid of a secret government project which uses self-hypnosis as a form of time travel. Sequestering himself inside an apartment at the famed 19th century Dakota apartment house bordering Central Park, Morley is able to fixate on a view of the park unchanged in seventy or so years and thereby send himself back in time. (It makes some sense in the book.)

THE TIME MACHINE by H. G. Wells

An 1895 classic  novella which coined the actual term, 'time machine'.  A Victorian scientist builds a contraption which enables him to travel forward or backward in time. As he cruises millions of years into the future he catches glimpses of a dying world. A few years back from the brink and he stumbles upon the Eloi and the Morlocks. Are these two unattractive 'civilizations' the evolutionary dead end of man?

The movie with Rod Taylor was a pretty good adaptation I suppose, though its ending still seems flat to me. I prefer the more ambiguous ending of the book.

Tuedsay's Overlooked (or Forgotten) Films: THE ADVENTURES OF TARTU (1943) starring Robert Donat and Valerie Hobson.

It's Tuesday again and that means, Overlooked Films, the weekly meme hosted by Todd Mason over at his blog, SWEET FREEDOM. Don't forget to check in later and see what other overlooked or forgotten films, other bloggers are posting about today.

You might know, if you're a regular reader of this blog, that I am a huge fan of WWII spy thrillers so it will probably come as no surprise that I've chosen another one to talk about today.

This fabulous and vastly underrated movie, directed by Harold S. Bucquet, is also known as SABOTAGE AGENT. Though I've always preferred THE ADVENTURES OF TARTU - a much more exciting title.

A difficult film to find - it's not on Netflix, nor is it shown much on TCM, where I first saw it years ago. But through the miracle of the internet, I found it recently in its uncut entirety on youtube. Where else?

THE ADVENTURES OF TARTU is the story of a thrilling wartime mission undertaken by a British officer (Robert Donat in a dazzling, bravura performance), dropped into Czechoslovakia, during WWII. His job? To infiltrate and destroy a poison gas factory, practically on the eve of  the Nazis unloading their deadly weapon on the British.

I'd never seen the uncut version, so watching the bomb defusing beginning with the newsreel shots of London in the Blitz, was new for me. The bomb incident is handled by Captain Terence Stevenson (Robert Donat), he must defuse an undetonated bomb which has landed in a hospital ward. He works calmly and quickly while a ward nurse and a young patient who cannot be moved wait nervously near by.

This incident assures us that Captain Stevenson has nerve, daring and intelligence. So when he's chosen because of his background to take on a deadly mission, all the pieces fall into place. Stevenson is a chemist. Born in Roumania, speaks the language. Studied in Germany, speaks the language. He is quick-witted and resourceful -  the perfect person to tackle an impossible job.

Once in Czechoslovakia, Stevenson becomes  Jan Tartu, a member of the Roumanian Iron Guard, a Nazi sympathizer on the run from the Allies. He is given a room at a small house and put to work at a bomb making plant. Robert Donat's persona as Tartu is wickedly perfect. Donat was always one of my favorite actors and for me, he can do no wrong. But he amazes even me with this performance.

Tartu must insinuate himself into the tense household where a suspicious Nazi officer also has a room. The silent woman who owned the place before the Germans took it over provides the meals, while her daughter (a very young Glynnis Johns) goes daily to work at the bomb factory. There's a fourth boarder, an imperious Czech woman, Maruschuka Lanova (played by Valerie Hobson), who, before the war was landed gentry. She makes no secret of the fact that she is fraternizing with Nazis.

Before too long, Tartu is witness to the cold brutality the Nazis inflict on their workers. But he's forced to look the other way to carry out his mission. He makes a good impression on the plant manager. When its learned he's a chemist, Tartu is transferred to the poison gas factory.

Tartu discovers that the work there is ahead of schedule, the gas is about to be shipped out in a few days. He must quickly improvise a plan to destroy the place. Obviously, he will need the help of the secret underground.

But there is the added danger of a double cross in the works as Tartu has come under suspicion of the very Czech underground whose help he desperately needs. They think Jan Tartu is a double agent in the pay of the Nazis.

I don't want to give the whole thing away, but as you may imagine, THE ADVENTURES OF TARTU has enough tragedy, sacrifice, romance and vile Nazi villainy to make for a great wartime thrilller. Don't you dare miss it.

Robert Donat was an amazing actor who left us much too soon. He was prone to terrible asthma attacks and that curtailed his career. But he left behind many splendid performances: THE 39 STEPS, GOODBYE MR. CHIPS, THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO and others.

I stumbled across Bev's list at her blog, MY READER'S BLOCK and had so much fun reading it, I thought I'd add my own list. Bev picked up the idea from some previous posters whose links she shares on her post. Feel free to pick up this meme and run with it.

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Ten Things I've Done That You Probably Haven't:

1) A group of us - first graders - were in a documentary when I was a kid. It all had to do with the NYC Library system. I don't recall much except that we were filmed doing 'library type' things. Never saw the film though I searched for it on a NYC vintage docu website a while back. I would love to run across it once of these days. (I remember long black cables trailing along the floor and the large cameras. That's about it.)

2) I attended an art highschool - The School of Industrial Arts in Manhattan, which eventually changed its name to The High School of Art and Design. It also changed it's location. I graduated from the old building in the east 70's with a major in Cartooning. My brother graduated from the new building on east 50 something street a year or so later.

3) In 1960 or '61, I worked as an opaquer for a new batch of Popeye cartoons. Paramount Pictures had a small animation studio on West 45th Street. Didn't like the job much, only lasted six months.

4) Once upon a time, I enrolled in drama school. I was a very shy teenager and thought the lessons would help overcome it. The school was somewhere near the Village, I think - can't remember the name. The actor and TV director, Burt Brinkerhoff was at the helm, I believe. One of my classmates was Frankie (Why Do Fools Fall In Love?) Lymon's brother, Louie. It was fascinating and very intense.

5) I was a contestant on the television quiz show, The Price Is Right. Won a piano. Not that any of us in the family played (except for my long deceased granddmother) but I thought it would be nice to have a piano in case my baby girl wanted to take lessons at some point. But we sold it when we moved out of the city. A decision I regretted for years.

6) While working at Cosmopolitan Magazine in the 1960's, I met Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. (I outlined 'the event' on a piece I did when Taylor passed away.) It was a total thrill.

One of my very favorite fashion spreads was one we worked on with Ann Margret. She was a hoot, so unassuming and fun to be around. I also got to meet, among other famous fashion designers, Bill Blass - the most charming man.

Helen Gurley Brown was the editor in chief and she regularly showed up at the magazine's offices wearing a white mink coat. Very glamorous.

While heading back to the office from a fashion shoot, we once rode down Fifth Avenue in an old fashioned (and very luxurious) Rolls Royce which had been rented for the fashion spread. I felt like Royalty. My first and last time in a Rolls Royce.

Fashion is hard work, but the perks make it all worth while. It was also a lot of fun.

7)  When I was about 19 or so, I traveled cross-country by Greyhound Bus. Alone. (I know!? What was I - crazy?) Part of it was tons of fun - this is such a gorgeous country - but lots of it was excrutiatingly boring. Who knew Ohio had so much corn? But I was young then and what did I know?  I'd decided to go to school in California but after awhile changed my mind and came home. I flew back. The culture shock did me in. I always think if I'd just hung on, I might have been a hippy. Ha!

8) I saw Richard Burton on Broadway in HAMLET. A once in a lifetime experience.

9) A few years ago I saved the life of a hawk one afternoon while out walking my dogs. The hawk had become snared in some prickly bushes (!?) and was hanging upside down, camouflaged pretty well. At first I thought he was dead, but then he turned his head to stare at me. I was chilled to the bone. He was asking me for help. I untangled him - he was quite docile because of shock - and brought him home. Called the wild bird people and they came and got him. They said he didn't look all that bad. They had to keep him for a while though because his wings, I believe, needed some TLC.

(Try to imagine me walking down the street to my house, 2 remarkably calm dogs on leashes and a hawk perched on my arm. A parade.  I can hardly believe it myself.)

10) While in Florida on business years ago, we went skeet shooting off a barge in a lake. I'd never held a gun or rifle or shotgun in my hands before. Ever. I hit a clay pigeon on my third shot and won a prize. Color me AMAZED!

Monday Book Review: MISERY BAY by Steve Hamilton

Alex McKnight, the ex Detroit cop with a bullet lodged near his heart, is back with a vengeance. He's a guy still suffering over the loss of the woman he loved, still a brooding backwoods loner with few friends, still living in the ice cold, snow-bound Upper Michigan Peninsula where crime still manages to find him.

In this series by double Edgar Award winning author Steve Hamilton, the weather and the locale are uppermost in the reader's mind at all times. Hamilton has a way of describing bitter cold, snow and ice unlike any other writer. The weather becomes another character in the story. Whenever I enter Alex's world, I tuck a blanket around me to ward off the chill. I also keep a hot cup of tea handy. Such is Hamilton's tremendous talent for atmosphere.

MISERY BAY has one of the cruelest villains I've ever encountered. A murderer who kills without compunction or pity. When, unexpectedly, McKnight is asked to take a look at the suicide of college kid found hanging from a tree in a bleak place known as Misery Bay, he is reluctant. But the father of the boy just wants some answers - wants to know why his son took his own life.

Thus begins a dark journey for McKnight -  his few questions spark a general uneasiness as he learns of a second suicide. Are they connected? No one appears to think so.

But when McKnight comes upon a scene of violent murder closer to home, the FBI get involved. McKnight is sure this sudden death is a link in the chain which began with the first boy's suicide. The federal agents, however, are not convinced and warn him off the case.

When next, a double murder occurs connected to the second suicide, McKnight is convinced he's on the right track. The FBI reluctantly agree he may be on to something.

The third suicide sews it up as far as they're concerned. But still McKnight is told to stay out of the way.

But, always a few steps ahead of the FBI, McKnight can't rest (it's his nature) until he discovers the truth behind a most cunning series of cruel murders.

Alex McKnight is the sort of man who never gives up. He is relentless, indefatigable, drawn to learn the truth against all odds. Physically he pushes himself to the limit. In this area of Michigan, nothing is close by. I hunker down next to Alex (metaphorically speaking) as he drives hundreds of miles (in his pick-up with handy plow attached) just on the chance of getting some answers. He's like a dog who can't be called off once he catches the scent.

What is the link between the suicides and a small film-making company owned by an ex-con actor famed for his motorcycle road pictures? What is the link between events in the town of Bad Axe and the first suicide in Misery Bay?

Just when you think the terrible truth has been discovered, there comes another murderous attack. Finally, McKnight confronts the killer in as harrowing an ending as you will ever read.

If you're not familiar with this series, I say: make yourself familiar. Steve Hamilton is an expert mystery/crime writer who knows the unique world of the Upper Michigan Peninsula and brings it to life in these terrific books. He will also introduce you to one of the most stubborn men you will ever meet. Don't miss the opportunity.

MISERY BAY is another topnotch, unputdownable entry in the Alex McKnight series. I recommend it very highly.