I have been asked to read by Blog post tribute to Jill Haworth at her memorial this Thursday Feb. 3 at 3:30pm. Jill’s good friend Cyrena Esposito has arranged this for her. Below are details for anyone interested in attending:
| Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church
329 W. 42nd Street between 8th and 9th Avenues
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She’s a nun now–has been in a cloistered Order for over 45 years. Rush out and buy the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly magazine, which features a surprising and wonderful 6-page interview with Mother Dolores featuring a current photo.
Dolores Hart was one of my favorite 60s starlets. She co-starred with Elvis Presley in two of his best received movies Loving You (1957) and King Creole (1958), she led college coeds Yvette Mimiuex, Paula Prentiss and Connie Francis to Fort Lauderdale during Spring Break in Where the Boys Are (1960), gave a touching performance in the colorful adventure movie Lisa (1962) as a Dutch Holocaust survivor smuggled into Palestine while chased by the authorities, and along with Pamela Tiffin and Lois Nettleton played stewardesses out to trap themselves a man in Come Fly with Me (1963).
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aU8AyxTLmOg
It was during promotion for Come Fly with Me that Hart announced her intentions to leave Hollywood for the convent. Pamela Tiffin remarked in my book Fantasy Femmes of Sixties Cinema (now available in soft cover with minor revisions), “Dolores Hart and I had some nice conversations. She is a warm, decent, and vulnerable woman. Dolores had some unhappy experiences in love matters. And if I’m not mistaken, she was ending one up at the time. She told me the story and was still very upset about it. She said she was going to enter a convent. And at that time I couldn’t understand it. I said, ‘Oh, but you don’t want to, Dolores!’ Now I understand it. So there she is.”
In the EW interview, Mother Dolores reveals that she almost signed a contract with MGM after doing Come Fly with Me. One wonders what roles she might have played if she stayed an actress. I easily could see her as Lara in Doctor Zhivago (MGM pushed contract player Yvette Mimiuex for the part but David Lean declined) or the young missionary played by contract player Sue Lyon in John Ford’s last movie Seven Women. I could even see her as Rosemary in Paramount’s Rosemary’s Baby. For me any 60s starlet would have been better in that role than Mia Farrow, but I digress.
Mother Dolores Hart is still an active member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences so the EW article concnetrates on her views of today’s Hollywood as she receives DVDs to vote for Best Picture and all the acting categories. It is just so great to see Dolores Hart get such a big splashy tribute in such a mainstream magazine.
Another reboot of the Batman series and another boring choice to play Catwoman. It has been announced that Anne Hathaway will be the next in a long line of ladies to tackle the role of Catwoman in the upcoming The Dark Knight Rises opposite Christian Bale as Batman. Click here to read more.
No one in my opinion will ever come close to the original and only Catwoman Miss Julie Newmar in the Batman TV series. Sexy and statuesque, she played the role with the right combination of evil, seductiveness, and humor. Her playful moments with Batman trying to entice him into her world of crime were fantastic. She was a male fantasy come to life (even gay guys hence To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar) and had a real presence for the part that none of her successors came close to (though Eartha Kitt did have the better purr).
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJkaPqEidiA
Below is a press release I received for the lost 60s film The Summer Children starring Drive-in Dream Girl Valora Noland:
The fun at Slamdance Film Festival has begun. We think you’ll see how it can also be profitable for you after you view Summer Children –Monday, January 24th, 7:00 p.m., in Park City. Vilmos Zsigmond, Academy award winning cinematographer, has won many awards; he ranks Summer Children as one of “my best early works” in regards to his important efforts in America after escaping from the Hungarian revolution in the 1960’s. This American New Wave neo-noir film was produced in 1965, yet it never reached the screen. As the original producer; I thought this film had been lost, but through a serendipitous occurrence, re-discovered Summer Children in 2008. Edie Robinette –Petarchi and I then spent two years restoring and digitizing the film. From excitement shown by the Slamdance staff and other film buffs, it appears to be one of the most interesting offerings for the 2011 season.
Vilmos is known world-wide for his expert use of light and shadows in filming. Besides a gripping plot, Summer Children highlights one of America’s first looks at Vilmos’ masterful cinematography.
Check out the web site at www.summerchildren.com and then plan to attend the world premiere:
Place: Slamdance
Location: Treasure Mountain Inn, 255 Main Street, Park City
Theater: Main Slamdance Theater
Date: Monday, January 24th Time: 7:00 p.m.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9ld4MPPWHY