sixties

Well tomorrow I am off to Olive Branch, Mississippi for the 31st Annual Memphis Film Festival. I’ll be at my publisher, McFarland & Company’s table signing copies of my books including Hollywood Surf and Beach Movies and Drive-in Dream Girls on Friday and Saturday. The convention is being held at the Whispering Woods Hotel and believe it or not all 200 some-odd rooms are sold out! Hope this means we’ll do lots of business.

The official guest list of celebrities include Lana Wood, Ty Hardin, Will Hutchins, William Smith, Casey Rogers of Bewitched, footballer-turned-actor Roman Gabriel, Marjorie Lord from Make Room for Daddy, Denny “Tarzan” Miller, and Tim O’Connor from TV’s Peyton Place, among others.

Surprisingly, since we are oh-so-close to Graceland where I will be paying my homage to the King on Sunday, there will be only one starlet from an Elvis movie. It is an obscure actress (even by my standards) named Dororthy Green who had a small role in It Happened at the World’s Fair.

Hi folks. The first official book review of Hollywood Surf and Beach Movies has rolled in from OutSmart, Houston’s Gay, Lesbian, Bi and Trans Magazine. Thanks guys for the chuckle and kind words! Check it out on the Gay and Lesbian Book Blog.

Other web site news, Michael who created the Village of the Giants Fan Page , which contains everything you ever wanted to know about that cult flick, has just added a wonderful tribute page to the lovely Gail Gerber called The Gail Gerber Fan Gallery. Lots of photos and scoop, some directly from my publications. Thanks Michael for the plug!

Who was that handsome couple seen dining at a back table at Elaine’s on Thursday night? It was moi and Gail Gerber, star of Beach Ball, The Girls on the Beach and Village of the Giants. Gail was in town on vacation from writing her memoirs about life with Terry Southern and generously treated me to a fine meal in celebration of the release of Hollywood Surf and Beach Movies.

Gail informed me about this web site devoted to the juvenile delinquent rock ‘n’ roll movie Village of the Giants. This is the film loosely based on H.G. Wells’ Food of the Gods . In this 1965 adaptation six teens eat some goop and grow to gigantic proportions and terrorize a small town. The cool web site called The Unofficial Fanpage of Village of the Giants is at http://www.angelfire.com/weird2/villageoftheg/. There is great stuff on the movie and its stars including Beau Bridges, Tommy Kirk, Joy Harmon, Tisha Sterling, Ronny Howard and of course Gail Gerber billed as Gail Gilmore.

Hey folks. I’m back from my extended hiatus. Needed a break from writing but I am refreshed and ready to go again. For anyone in the Memphis area, I will be signing copies of my book at the Memphis Film Festival on June 17 and 18. Stop by the McFarland table and say hi. 60s B-movie celebrities in attendance will be Fantasy Femme Lana Wood from The Girls on the Beach and Diamonds Are Forever; tough guy William Smith of biker films Angels Die Hard and C.C. and Company; hunky Ty Hardin of TV’s Bronco and Palm Springs Weekend; and Denny “Tarzan” Miller.

Brian Walker does a great job with his web site Brian’s Drive-in Theater. Check it out for his great new page on Hollywood Surf and Beach Movies cover boy Aron Kincaid. There are some really unique photos on it directly from Aron’s personal collection.

Finally, those Daytime Emmy awards pissed me off once again with their laughable choices. This is why the Daytime Emmy’s get no respect and do nothing for a actor’s career. Anyone remember past Emmy winners such as Monti Sharp, Kevin Mambo and Melissa Hayden? I think not. To give Best Supporting Actress to some giggling twit from General Hospital over Ilene Kristen as Roxy on One Life to Live was jaw dropping insulting. But I guess that has been the fun of the Daytime Emmy’s for years laughing at their moronic choices. The fact that General Hospital a 4th rate Soparanos wanna-be wins Best Show and Guiding Light wasn’t even nominated proves the point.

Bye for now!