Update: I'm near the lobby at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
Thursday: Had an interview for a fan retrospective where I was grilled atop the Hollywood Roosevelt about my personal experiences with classic film. The fellow attaching my mike got awfully frisky and I asked him if he needed a medical degree for what he was doing.
Then some really cute fellow named Tim asked me tons of questions and I tried to stay on task, but it wasn't easy because I was so nervous, but Lynn said I did just fine.
..OMIGOSH... I'm blogging right next to Paula(pvitari) at the hotel desk. WE WERE BOTH ON THE SAME WEBSITE...SSO... DUH.....HOW COOL!
O.K. So
A Star is Born was great! The colors and the soundtrack were crisp. Supposedly Lorna and Joey Luft were in the audience, Robert Osborne introduced them, but they either never stood up or I didn't see them. Then Alec Baldwin, the Wizard of Cool, joined Robert onstage and they did some schtick. Cute to see them in public together.
O.k. Paula and I keep chatting while we're blogging.
Then I went to the Esther Williams and Betty Garrett pooside bash. Ben Mankiewicz introduced them and had a short discussion with those lovely ladies before the film began. Unfortunately,
Esther Williams was in a wheelchair but seemed in good health and quite perky. She was wearing a red sequined number and sparkled when she spoke. Still a feisty gal, and still has her bathing
suit business because the Aqualillies were sporting her little red swimsuits. They had a great show,doing some of the same Esther Aquatics we've known and loved.
Betty Garrett was having a little trouble speaking due to a cold or something, but she was so cute, too, and seemed quite energetic. Esther left shortly thereafter, and so did Betty.
But after the movie started, and the double duets of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with Esther and Ricardo Montalban, and Betty and Red Skelton came on, Betty stepped back out on her patio from her private cabana and was watching this sequence wistfully. As many of the viewers around the area saw her standing there, they turned and gave her a round of applause, and it looked like she teared up, and disappeared again into her suite.
I visited with two fun sisters, Laura and Tracy, who love to wear vintage outfits. Lots of folks were wearing their coats because, baby, it really was cold outside!
But the Hollywood Roosevelt had several huge fireplaces warming everyone up. I was still in my full-length Chinese dress with the mandarin collar and stretched out
on one of the deck chairs and sipped my coffee and brandy while I enjoyed Ricardo, Betty, Esther, and Red up on the silver screen at the end of the pool nearest the deep end.
Then I was off to the Vanity Fair party as a guest of a fellow named Bruce from D.C.. We all ended up on the second floor of Kress's near the D.J. because it gave us a perfect viewpoint
of all the circling action down below.
I met Diane Baker, who is actively teaching theater somewhere in San Francisco. I told her about the fact that I had loved her turquoise kimono that she wore in
Marnie so much that my aunt made me a kimono similar to hers in peach satin. She loved that story, and said she certainly did remember that lovely outfit she wore in
Marnie. Ms. Baker asked me where I was from, and folks, she looks fabulous, and is very approachable and friendly. Robert Osborne escorted her from the HRH to the Vanity Fair party, and they were seated together near the edge of the passageway
so that folks could stop by and chat. (Incidentally, I don't know how Mr. Osborne has all that energy. He is so affable and also approachable, and very considerate of every request for a picture or autograph. Lots of folks were buying his books. He signed my copy of
80 Years at the Oscars for me and about a gazillion others.
As I was going in to VF party, I saw Eva Marie Saint leaving with her escort (husband?).
I met veteran actor Ed Faulker, veteran of many John Wayne films, and his wife Barbara who are such sweet people. (Ed was the officer who tried to beat up L.A. quarterback Roman Gabriel in
The Undefeated.
I saw Alec Baldwin rushing in and said hello to him and he said,"Hi, how's it going?"
Cher was at the party for about 10 minutes wearing a white leather number, but I didn't see her.
Hugh Hefner was with some blonde gal (Isn't this the same news flash from 50 years ago?) for about 11 minutes, but I didn't see him either.
I did get to meet sweet Jacqueline Bisset and her escort who was from London. We chatted about Texas and Houston ( She did a film there.)
I stayed out late with all my friends and we danced and drank wine and laughed and had so much fun until the wee hours when it closed.
Today I went to the Q & Q with Leonard Maltin and Peter Bogdanovich. B. regaled us with many of the tales from his books, and of course did his great deadpan impressions of Hitch, Orson,
and Howard Hawks, and dished a little about Cybil. Plus he told a few more tales I haven't heard yet, and signed copies of books and gave out autographs before he left for the next session.
Then I went to
Imitation of Life and after the film, Juanita Moore and Susan Kohner were interviewed by Robert Osborne, who is the coolest interviewer under pressure that I've ever seen.
Huge rounds of applause for these ladies as they stepped out from the wings. Juanita Moore's grandson, Kirk Kelly, is making a documentary about Ms. Moore and Mr. Osborne introduced him.
Lana must have had about 19,000 costume changes, not to mention the jewels. O.K.I'll mention the jewels. She had one necklace/ring/earring suite with blue stones and they exactly matched the color of her eyes.
I also went to see
Wild River, directed by Elia Kazan with Monty Clift and Lee Remick. Lee Remick was so gorgeous in this film and it was the best part I've ever seen her in. This restoration was stunning. The color and clarity of that wild landscape and the beauty of Lee Remick were awe inspiring. (A depression era tale of the Tennessee Valley Authority who must move a matriarch and her family from their land before it is flooded by the dam.) JoVan Fleet was only forty when she filmed this, but she played Remick's grandmother in her 80's. Her performance was mesmerizing.
Well, I've got to go to sleep.
Sunset Boulevard at 9:00. No proofreading, so forgive.