MR. BARNEY, SHE IS READY FOR HER CLOSE-UP!

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Former 60s starlet Gail Gerber (whose award-winning memoir Trippin’ with Terry Southern I co-wrote with her) is once again heading before the cameras. This Tuesday she reports to the set of artist and filmmaker Matthew Barney for his latest project. Barney is an icon in the art world and his series of films in the Cremaster Cycle are considered to be some of the best in avant-garde cinema. So you know his latest project will be out of the ordinary.

httpv://youtu.be/fCYwa4fay60

As for Gail, her last screen appearance was in the indie film Lucky Days (2010) produced, written, and starring Angelica Page, the daughter of Geraldine Page and Rip Torn.

httpv://youtu.be/slCvcU35g3A

 

SURF’S UP!

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My publisher McFarland and Co. is on a roll and has now released Hollywood Surf and Beach Movies: The First Wave, 1959-1969 in soft cover at $29.95. This is the book that got me my appearance on Turner Classic Movies. It is a straight reprint and does not include any revisions except for a small tribute to the performers that I interviewed that passed away since the book was originally released.

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DRIVE-IN DREAM GIRLS REISSUE

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My biggest selling book Drive-in Dream Girls: A Galaxy of B-Movie Starlets of the Sixties has been revised and will be available soon in soft cover for $29.95 just in time for holiday shopping. Makes a great gift for that Sixties starlet fan in your life and you know you have one somewhere–check the attic.

The actresses interviewed are Elvis gals: Laurel Goodwin (Girls! Girls! Girls!), cover girl Sue Ane Langdon (Roustabout, Frankie and Johnny), Marlyn Mason (Trouble with Girls), Gail Gilmore aka Gail Gerber (Girl Happy, Harum Scarum), Cynthia Pepper (Kissin’ Cousins), Darlene Tompkins (Blue Hawaii); Cult actresses Lori Williams (Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!), Beverly Washburn (Spider Baby); plus from the world of beach/biker/spy movies Quinn O’Hara, Donna Loren, Carole Wells, Arlene Martel, Andrea Dromm, Sue Casey, Hilarie Thompson, Sharyn Hillyer, Vitina Marcus, and Luree Holmes. Plus profiles on 30 more Drive-in Dream Girls.

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PLENTY OF 007

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This being the 50th anniversary of the James Bond movie franchise, Entertainment Weekly dedicated last week’s issue to the film icon with a mini-review of each movie. I was so happy to read this comment about Diamonds Are Forever, “Jill St. John got male moviegoers hot and bothered as the sassy, sex-kitten smuggler Tiffany Case, but we prefer Lana Wood’s Plenty O’Toole.” We certainly do!!! For me, St. John was one of the worst Bond girls ever, right up there with Denise Richards and Halle Berry. I found Jill shrill, not sassy. Lana, in the few scenes she had, totally stole the spotlight away and had me wishing it was Tiffany that disappeared from the movie and not Plenty.

Here in NYC, the IFC Center will be showing all Sean Connery’s Bond movies beginning next month. Click here for further information. Have seen Goldfinger on the big screen, may check out Thunderball. I love me some Luciana Paluzzi as titan-haired assassin Fiona Volpe.

httpv://youtu.be/ElyENM6i0xg

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