Due to technical difficulties, my Blog was down much too long. I am back thanks to my skilled and hot webmaster, Jim McGann!!!!

STARLET HALL OF SHAME

Today another diva joins the growing list of overrated sixties starlets. Drum roll please. The loser is that girl, Marlo Thomas. During the course of interviewing starlets for my new book two of them bashed Marlo for being a witch on wheels. Seems that perky nice girl she played on TV was no where near what Marlo was like off screen.

Ann Morell was a beauty queen from Texas who landed a part on That Girl when that girl barred her from working on her series. Suzanne Charny, the ponytail girl from Sweet Charity, had the misfortune of actually working on That Girl in her first TV role. Marlo made her life so miserable that she decided to quit and return to New York. A pep talk from her dad gave Charny the confidence to give it another try, which she did and learned that not every one in Hollywood was a mean-spirited diva. So Marlo, it’s free to be, you and me, so shame on you!

P.S. I always disliked Marlo Thomas and her little dog of a show as well!

Finally, check out this DVD review of a movie produced by Diane Baker, another Starlet in the Hall of Shame. Poor thing even has no personality when being herself on camera so it is no wonder she gave the same bland performance in all her movies.

CAROL LYNLEY

Readers of my Blog know that Carol Lynley is one of my favorite actresses of all time. I’ve been a fan of hers since I was 11 years old when I saw her clad in hot pants and go-go boots when the SS Poseidon went topsy turvy in The Poseidon Adventure. So it was nice to see Carol get lots of press recently with the release of the special edition Poseidon Adventure DVD where Carol appears in a number of featurettes (stay tuned for my upcoming review) and the debut of the so-so remake Poseidon where she was invited to the premiere and interviewed on the red carpet by a number of entertainment outlets. Check out Pamela Sue Martin’s web site to see pics from the premiere at the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.

Here in New York, Lynley was interviewed for the New York Times while the Museum of Modern Art screened Carol’s best film, Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965) a highly entertaining mystery about the disappearance of a little girl who may or may not exist from director Otto Preminger. (Of course I attended with my boyfriend Ern and friend John.) The movie is full of droll performances from a number of fine British actors including Laurence Olivier as a doubting police offical who suspects something is off between glacial Carol Lynley and her over protective brother Keir Dullea (pictured above), Noel Coward as Lynley’s perverted landlord who adores the Marquis de Sade, and Martita Hunt as a daffy school mistress. But it is Carol who carries the entire film on her capable shoulders as the harried unwed woman who is determined to prove that Bunny Lake exists. Bunny Lake Is Missing was recently released on DVD so I highly recommend you check it out!

SINKING SHIP

Saw Poseidon on the huge IMAX screen this past Sunday. If you go in without expectations and forgot about the original, Poseidon is surprisingly exciting and fast moving fun. But it has two major problems. First there is absolutely no character development and not one memorable line like from the original such as “Just panties, what else do I need?” Characters are all selfish and fend for themselves. Hell , they don’t even try to convince any of the other passengers to make the trek up with them and just take off. The women all look alike and are dressed in dark clothes so you’ll have trouble telling them apart as you hope that each of them will meet a horrible death. That is one of the film’s major problems as I found myself rooting for the cast to be picked off one by one, which thankfully as a homage to Irwin Allen they were. However, except for all but one of the characters who perish on the trek up to the bottom it is highly predictable.

Second problem is the special effects. They are spectular but overwhelm the movie. When the ship goes upsy downsy there are so many fast intercuts from different parts of the ship it is hard to keep up and enjoy. The original smartly concentrated on the ballroom only and the major characters.

All this aside I still enjoyed Poseidon. The most glamorous woman in the movie is the lovely blonde Sarah Ferguson from the Black-Eyed Peas in the Carol Lynley role as the pop singer. She looks smashing in a beautiful seguined red and white gown. Alas she remains in the ballroom and doesn’t make the climb. Josh Lucas makes for a hot looking reluctant hero and cute Mike Vogel looks very nice in his tight jeans. I was hoping for stoic Kurt Russell to say to him, “You can’t swim in those jeans–they’re too tight. They’ll have to come off.” Alas they don’t.

HERE COME THE BRIDES

One of my favorite 60s TV shows as a kid was Here Come the Brides, whose 1st season will be released on DVD next week. Set in a logging camp in the late 1800s, it starred (pictured left to right) David Soul, Robert Brown and Bobby Sherman as the Bolt brothers who bring 100 young women back to untamed Seattle to marry the single men in town. The potential brides have to remain in Seattle for at least a year. If they don’t, the Bolt’s could lose their family business. Mark Lenard was the villainous rival business owner, Joan Blondell the brash saloon owner, Henry Beckham the drunken sea captain, Susan Tolsky a nerdy bride, and 60s starlet Bridget Hanley (pictured seated at right) with the best hair styles of the decade as Candy the potential love interest for Bobby Sherman.

I used to beg my parents to let me stay up to watch this. One time I even made a deal with our baby sitter that I wouldn’t rat out that her friends came to hang out if she’d let me stay up so I could watch. (But the next day when my parents smelled smoke in the house I accidentally did. Donna Ruggiero if you happen to read this–sorry) At the time I just loved the interplay between Bobby and Bridget. But looking back I think it was seeing that hot Bobby Sherman stuffed into his tight pants that got my blood a-pumping. The cutest butt you’ve ever seen in Seattle…