#cecil cunningham

[letterboxd-loggd]

Safe in Hell (The Lost Lady) (1931) William A. Wellman

May 16th 2023

[twittercomfrnklin2001-blog]

Safe in Hell

The plot may be utter nonsense, but William A. Wellman’s SAFE IN HELL (1931, Criterion Channel, TCM) is so visually distinctive and features such good performances by Dorothy Mackaill, Nina Mae McKinney and Clarence Muse it’s almost irresistible. Mackaill is a prostitute because after her former boss (Ralf Harolde) raped her she couldn’t get another job. When a procurer (Cecil Cunningham in a brief, vivid bit) sends her off on a job, it turns out to be Harolde. She fights him off, accidentally starting a fire in which he’s reported dead, so her childhood sweetheart (Donald Wood) sneaks her to a Caribbean island with no extradition treaty where she’s surrounded by other criminals “safe in hell.” There she falls prey to a crooked local jailer (Morgan Wallace) who hides Wood’s letters and support payments from her, and her life just goes downhill from there. Wellman and cinematographer Sidney Hickox throw in some impressive camera angles to keep things humming and a lot of shots of mirrors to reflect Mackaill’s divided nature. And she pulls off an impressive job of playing the tough cookie when she has to and letting her vulnerable side come through in places. Most notable is the treatment of McKinney and Muse, the only decent people in the film. Although their roles were originally written in stereotyped black dialect, they speak perfectly on screen, and Muse even has an impeccable British accent. McKinney also gets one of the film’s best closeups, has some remarkably fresh line readings and introduces the jazz standard “When It’s Sleepy Time Down South.”

[vintagedreamsofsennett]

Roscoe Arbuckle(a flirt), Corinne Parquet(his wife), Agnes Neilson(his wife's mother), Alice Lake(pretty girl) in A Reckless Romeo (1917)

Franklin Pangborn(a flirt), Dorothy Granger(his wife), Cecil Cunningham(his wife's aunt), Toby Wing(pretty girl) in The Candid Camera (1932)

[dimepicture]

[v-t-holmes]

a friendly reminder that

a vote for

SANS

is a vote for

FREEDOM

vote!!!

sans!!!

to help monsters break

the BARRIER

and go

FREE

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Maude Fealy (King Rene’s Daughter, David Copperfield)—She served cunt all the time

Anna May Wong (The Thief of Bagdad, Shanghai Express)—Wong was the first Chinese American movie star, arguably the first Asian woman to make it big in American films. Though the racism of the time often forced her into stereotypical roles, awarded Asian leading roles to white actors in yellowface, and prohibited on-screen romance between actors of different races, she delivered powerful and memorable performances. When Hollywood bigotry got to be too much, she made movies in Europe. Wong was intellectually curious, a fashion icon, and a strong advocate for authentic Asian representation in cinema. And, notably for the purposes of this tournament, absolutely gorgeous.

This is round 3 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Maude Fealy propaganda:

Anna May Wong propaganda:

"She so so gorgeous!! Due to Hollywood racism she was pretty limited in the roles she got to play but even despite that she’s so captivating and deserves to be known as a leading lady in her own right!! When she’s on screen in Shanghai Express I can’t look away, which is saying something because Marlene Dietrich is also in that film."

"SHE IS ON THE BACK OF QUARTERS also she was very smart and able to speak multiple languages and is a fashion icon on top of the acting/singing"

"Paved the way for Asian American actresses AND TOTAL HOTTIE!!! She broke boundaries and made it her mission to smash stereotypes of Asian women in western film (at the time, they were either protrayed them as delicate and demure or scheming and evil). In 1951, she made history with her television show The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong, the first-ever U.S. television show starring an Asian-American series lead (paraphrased from Wikipedia). Also, never married and rumor has it that she had an affair with Marlene Dietrich. We love a Controversial Queen!"

"She's got that Silent Era smoulder™ that I think transcends the very stereotypical roles in which she was typically cast. Also looks very hot smouldering opposite Marlene Dietrich in "Shanghai Express"; there's kiss energy there."

"Hot as hell and chronically overlooked in her time, she's truly phenomenal and absolutely stunning"

"A story of stardom unavoidably marred by Hollywood racism; Wong's early-career hype was significantly derailed by the higher-up's reluctance to have an Asian lead, and things only got worse when the Hayes code came down and she suddenly *couldn't* be shown kissing a white man--even if that white man was in yellowface. After being shoved into the Dragon Lady role one too many times, she took her career to other continents for many years. Still, she came back to America eventually, being more selective in her roles, speaking out against Asian stereotypes, and in the midst of all of this finding the time to be awarded both the title of "World's Best Dressed Woman" by Mayfair Mannequin Society of New York and an honorary doctorate by Peking University."

"Incredible beauty, incredible actress, incredible story."

"-flapper fashion ICON. look up her fits please <3 -rumors of lesbianism due to her Close Friendships with marlene dietrich & cecil cunningham, among others -leveraged her star power to criticize the racist depictions of Chinese and Asian characters in Hollywood, as well as raise money and popular support for China & Chinese refugees in the 1930s and 40s. -face card REFUSED to decline"

[100gayicons]

GAY ICONS ANNA MAY WONG

As a young child living in Los Angeles during the early 1900s, Wong Liu Tsong dreaming of being an actress (Liu Tsong meaning "willow frost"). At the age of nine she pestered film crew to hirer her… so much so that she gained the nickname "C.C.C." or "Curious Chinese Child". Two years later she came up with her own stage name (Anna May Wong) - a combination of her original Chinese name and the Angelisized name used in school.

Despite her father’s objections, she was cast as an extra in The Red Lantern (1919) - her film debut. Soon, this and other extra roles motivated her to quit high school and pursue acting full time. She later said of her decision:

"I was so young when I began that I knew I still had youth if I failed, so I determined to give myself 10 years to succeed as an actress."

Her first screen credit came in 1921, when Wong was cast as Lon Chaney’s wife in “Bits of Life”. The next year she appeared in “The Toll of the Sea”, one of the first movies filmed in color. Variety singled out her performance as being “extraordinary”.

But unfortunately, despite her talent, Wong was primarily cast in stereotypical Asian roles. And if a film with a well rounded Asian character was available - Hollywood cast a Caucasian actress in “Yellow Face”.

For a time Wong had better success when she movie to Europe. There she befriended Marlene Dietrich and (pre-Nazi Propagandist) Leni Riefenstahl.

When Wong returned to Hollywood, she costarred with Marlene Dietrich in “Shanghai Express” in 1932. Although it was a supporting role, she played an important and heroic character.

During WWII, Wong focuses her efforts on raising money to help the Chinese cause against Japan.

In 1951, Wong starred in “The Gallery of Madame Liu-Song”, a 10 episode TV series where she played an art dealer turned detective - a major breakthrough as the first US television show starring an Asian-American.

Wong had planned to appearing in the film musical “Flower Drum Song” (1961) but died of a heart attack before production began.

The United States Mint announced in 2021 that Anna May Wong would be one of the first women depicted on the reverse of the quarter coin. This made her the first Asian American depicted on American coin.

Anna May Wong never married. When asked why not, she would answer:

“I am wedded to my art.”

She lived in an era when gay men and lesbian women dare not reveal themselves. But rumors persist that Wong was a lesbian. She has been linked to Marlene Dietrich, Leni Riefenstahl, Alla Nazimova, and Cecil Cunningham.

Whether Anna May Wong was a lesbian or not, her story deserves to be told.

UPDATE: Mattel released an Anna May Wong Barbie doll in May 2023!

[fashionbooksmilano]

Vanity Fair

Portraits of an Age 1914-1936

Introduction by John Russell

Thames & Hudson, London 1983, 203 pages, 23,5x30cm, ISBN 0 500 54089 6

missing pages n.51-52

euro 20,00

email if you want to buy booksinprogressmilano@yahoo.it

An undiscovered trove of over 200 celebrity photographs from the archives of Vanity Fair magazine, many of which had been commissioned from the foremost photographers of the age, but ended up being unpublished. Stunning black a white portrait photography(many full page) of artists, musicians, performers - people who shaped an era - by outstanding photographers: Man Ray, Baron de Meyer, Alfred Stieglitz, Cecil Beaton, Horst, Berenice Abbott, Edward Steichen, George Hoyningen-Huené, Imogen Cunningham, Edward Weston, August Sander, Gertrude Käsebier, and more. 

09/04/24

[myfaveisfuckable]

Matchups for v2 round 1

(polls drop July 15 (or so))

Tengen/Rengoku (demon slayer) vs Natsuo Todoroki/ Shigaraki (bnha)

Ochaco/Kirishima (bnha) vs Anakin/commander Fox (star wars)

Ichigo/hollow Ichigo (bleach) vs high school bicycle racing club polycules team (yowamushi pedal, wind breaker)

Mitski/Mirko/inko (bnha) vs odasaku/yosano (Bungo Stray Dogs)

Hinata/Haku (Naruto) vs Mrs White/Yvette (clue 1985)

Asuma/kakashi (Naruto) vs dave/tavros (Homestuck)

Zabuza/kisame (Naruto) vs tenjouin fubuki/manjoume jun (Yu-Gi-Oh GX)

Yor (spy x family)/Haru (fugou keiji) vs rabi ray Rana/sabal (far cry 4)

Curator (the stanley parable)/administrator (TF2) vs medic (TF2)/medical officer Danby (Subnautica)

Yor (spy x family)/morinozuka (Ouran) (academy au) vs matmodean (wheel of time)

Tsume/Tsunade (Naruto) vs Mario/donkey Kong (Mario movie 2023)

Robert chase/chi park (house md) vs winter schnee/Robyn Hill (RWBY)

Phina/linde (fire emblem) vs mal Cobb/eames (inception)

Fierce deity/ghirahim (the legend of Zelda) vs Tamika flynn/Janice palmer

Joseph/god (Christianity) vs garet/the wise one (golden sun)

Isaac/the roof of his house (golden sun) vs ichika/kanade (project sekai)

Jazz/prowl (the transformers) vs Bellamy/Bartolomeo/Cavendish (one piece)

Leon/kazuichi (Danganronpa) vs johnny/the fridge guy (Johnny the homicidal maniac)

The original char aznable/casval daikun (Gundam) vs vera misham/wocky kitaki (ace attorney)

Setsu/yuriko/raqio (gnosia) vs Cecil Gershwin Palmer (wtnv) Carlos Ramirez (Dresden files)

Anna/Daniel (FNAF AR:special delivery) vs Sam (fantasy high)/aelwyn (the seven)

Luis/ness (FNAF AR: special delivery) vs all of the Beatles (irl)/light yagami (death note)/penguins of Madagascar minus skipper (penguins of Madagascar, etc)

Hellucard/guardian angel (eddsworld) vs Danny Fenton (Danny phantom)/randy Cunningham (Randy Cunningham ninth grade ninja

Rincewind the wizzard/twoflower (discworld) vs calendar man/condiment king (dc comics)

Queen ripple/drawcia (Kirby) vs John silver/scroop (treasure planet)

Dante (Devil may cry)/Raiden (metal gear) vs Sesshomaru/hojou (Inuyasha)

Jon connington/Myles toyne (asoiaf) vs lazy/shoji (dairanger)

Gaon/zyuran (zenkaiger) vs jade/terezi (Homestuck)

Tumblr/Reddit vs anzu/tsukasa/junta (romantic killer)

Anzu/saki (romantic killer) vs Peter Parker (spiderman (specifically toby MacGuire)/Spencer Reid (criminal minds)

Captain smollet (treasure planet)/Jane (Disney Tarzan) vs hope/echo (the 100)

Atsushi/Yanagida (Osomatsu-san) vs junta/makoto (romantic killer)

[byneddiedingo]

Dorothy Mackaill in Safe in Hell (William A. Wellman, 1931)

Cast: Dorothy Mackaill, Donald Cook, Ralf Harolde, Morgan Wallace, John Wray, Ivan Simpson, Victor Varconi, Nina Mae McKinney, Charles Middleton, Clarence Muse, Gustav von Seyffertitz, Noble Johnson, Cecil Cunningham, George F. Marion. Screenplay: Joseph Jackson, Maude Fulton, based on a play by Houston Branch. Cinematography: Sidney Hickox. Art direction: Jack Okey. Film editing: Owen Marks. 

Seamy and salacious, Safe in Hell is sometimes cited as an example of what finally scared Hollywood into accepting the Production Code, except that you could hardly find a more conventionally moral fable than this tale of a call girl who gives up her sinful ways when her sailor comes back from sea and proposes marriage. Unfortunately, the man who done her wrong intervenes and Gilda (Dorothy Mackaill) is forced to flee to a Caribbean island populated mostly by men of the wrong sort. Still, she manages to hold on to her renewed virtue and rise to self-sacrificing heights at the end. Mackaill is terrific in the role, making me wonder why she's not well-known today. It's probably because most of her work was done in silent films and she was turning 30 when sound came in, putting her at a disadvantage against younger actresses like Bette Davis and Barbara Stanwyck when it came to landing lead roles. Director William A. Wellman had a steady hand with this kind of tough-edged melodrama, introducing touches of comedy like the crowd of lecherous barflies who live in the hotel Gilda moves into while waiting the return of Carl (Donald Cook), her sailor. When she moves into her room on the balcony at the top of the stairs, they turn around their chairs to face it, eager for whatever action may occur. They're not disappointed: Piet Van Saal (Ralf Harolde), the man she thought she killed, forcing her to flee to the island, turns up alive, and the island's lawman, its "jailer and executioner" in his words, the unsavory Mr. Bruno (Morgan Wallace), also takes an interest in her. It's a middling movie, mostly of historical interest, particularly in the appearance of two important Black actors, Clarence Muse and Nina Mae McKinney, in roles that don't call for them to kowtow too much to the whites or speak the standard dialect concocted for Black people in the movies. McKinney, best known today for her performance as Chick in King Vidor's Hallelujah (1929). gets to introduce the song "When It's Sleepy Time Down South," which became a jazz standard when Louis Armstrong popularized it. Muse, who plays a hotel porter, was one of its composers, along with Leon René and Otis René. 

[kwebtv]

Beggars and Choosers - Showtime - 6/19/1999 - 12/12/2000

Comedy / Drama (42 episodes)

Running Time:  60 minutes

Stars:

Brian Kerwin as Rob Malone

Charlotte Ross as Lori Volpone

Tuc Watkins as Malcolm Laffley

Christina Hendricks as Kelly Kramer

Isabella Hofmann as Cecile Malone

William McNamara as Brad Advail

Paul Provenza as Parker Meridian

Keegan Connor Tracy as Audrey Malone

Bill Morey as Emory “E.L.” Luppin

Carol Kane as Lydia “L.L.” Luddin

Sherri Saum as Casey Lenox

Beau Bridges as Dan Falco

Alex Zahara as Wayne

Ben Bass as Brian Peske

Colin Cunningham as Herb Kolodny

Rudolf Martin as Nicky Krasnakov

Klodyne Rodney as Latitia Martinez

Kaj-Erik Eriksen as Carey Malone

[letterboxd-loggd]

Daughter of Shanghai (Daughter of the Orient) (1937) Robert Florey

May 28th 2023

[docrotten]

LUST FOR A VAMPIRE (1971) – Episode 196 – Decades Of Horror 1970s

“He had a heart attack.” And you get a heart attack! Everybody gets a heart attack! Is that normal? Join your faithful Grue Crew – Doc Rotten, Bill Mulligan, Chad Hunt, and Jeff Mohr – as they count the heart attacks while they continue their reverse trek through Hammer’s Karnstein Trilogy with Lust for a Vampire (1971).

Decades of Horror 1970s Episode 196 – Lust for a Vampire (1971)

Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content! https://youtube.com/gruesomemagazine

Decades of Horror 1970s is partnering with the WICKED HORROR TV CHANNEL (https://wickedhorrortv.com/) which now includes video episodes of the podcast and is available on Roku, AppleTV, Amazon FireTV, AndroidTV, and its online website across all OTT platforms, as well as mobile, tablet, and desktop.

In 1830, forty years to the day since the last manifestation of their dreaded vampirism, the Karnstein heirs use the blood of an innocent to bring forth the evil that is the beautiful Mircalla, or as she was in 1710, Carmilla.

  Director: Jimmy Sangster

Writers: Tudor Gates (screenplay); J. Sheridan Le Fanu (based on characters created by)

Selected Cast:

Barbara Jefford as Countess Herritzen

Ralph Bates as Giles Barton

Suzanna Leigh as Janet Playfair

Yutte Stensgaard as Mircalla / Carmilla Karnstein

Michael Johnson as Richard Lestrange

Helen Christie as Miss Simpson

Mike Raven as Count Karnstein (dubbed by  Valentine Dyall)

Christopher Cunningham as Coachman

Harvey Hall as Inspector Heinrich

Michael Brennan as Landlord

Pippa Steel as Susan Pelley

Judy Matheson as Amanda McBride

Caryl Little as Isabel Courtney

David Healy as Raymond Pelley

Jonathan Cecil as Arthur Biggs

Erik Chitty as Professor Herz (as Eric Chitty)

Jack Melford as Bishop

Christopher Neame as Hans

Kirsten Lindholm as Peasant Girl

Luan Peters as Trudi

In the Seventies, Hammer Films struggled to find its way as horror films moved away from gothic horror into modern-day terrors; however, the company famous for Dracula and Frankenstein did earn some success with a trio of films referred to as The Karnstein Trilogy. The Grue Crew settles in to revisit the middle entry, Lust for a Vampire, which follows Vampire Lovers (1970) and leads into Twins of Evil (1971). Unfortunately, the film was plagued with misfortune from the onset: both Peter Cushing and Ingrid Pitt refused to return; the original director, Terence Fisher, suffered injuries when he was hit by a car and was replaced at the last minute by Jimmy Sangster; the director and the writer clashed with producers who insisted on including the pop song “Strange Love.” Even co-star Ralph Bates called the feature, “One of the worst films ever made.” Certainly, there must be some highlights. Certainly…

At the time of this writing, Lust for a Vampire is available to stream from  Shudder, AMC+, Tubi, and Flix Fling. The movie is also available on physical media as a Blu-ray from Shout! Factory.

Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1970s is part of the Decades of Horror two-week rotation with The Classic Era and the 1980s. In two weeks, the next episode, chosen by Doc, will be Kingdom of the Spiders (1977). William Shatner and 5,000 spiders! What could go wrong?

We want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans: comment on the site or email the Decades of Horror 1970s podcast hosts at feedback@gruesomemagazine.com. 

Check out this episode!

[ausetkmt]

Glasgow University is to pay £20m in reparations to atone for its historical links to the transatlantic slave trade in what the University of West Indies has described as a “bold, historic” move.

It signed an agreement with the University of the West Indies to fund a joint centre for development research, at a ceremony in Glasgow on Friday morning.

Glasgow University discovered last year it had benefited financially from Scottish slave traders in the 18th and 19th centuries by between £16.7m and £198m in today’s money.

In what is thought to be the first attempt by a British university to set up a programme of restorative justice, it has pledged to raise £20m for the centre, chiefly in research grants and gifts.

Other British universities, including Oxford and Bristol, have been the focus of protests over their ties to the slave trade and to powerful colonialists, such as Cecil Rhodes.

In 2017, All Souls College at Oxford launched an annual scholarship for Caribbean students and paid a £100,000 grant to a college in Barbados, in recognition of its funding from Christopher Codrington, a wealthy slave owner who bequeathed £10,000 in 1710 to build a library that bears his name.

Glasgow University played a key role in the abolitionist campaign of the era but until recently Scotland’s profiteering from slavery, including from tobacco and cotton plantations, was largely ignored. One of its former rectors was Robert Cunninghame Graham, who spent two decades making his fortune as a plantation owner and slaver.

Graham Campbell, a Scottish National party councillor who became the city’s first councillor of African-Caribbean descent in 2017, welcomed the agreement.

“Our mutual recognition of the appalling consequences of that past – an indictment of Scottish inhumanity over centuries towards enslaved Africans – are the justifications that are at the root of the modern-day racism that we fight now,” he said.

“This action is a necessary first step in the fight against institutionalised racism and discrimination in Scotland and the UK and for the international fight for reparative justice.”

Prof Anton Muscatelli, the principal of Glasgow University, said it was fitting the final ceremony took place on the same day as the International Day of Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition.

“Talking about any institution’s or country’s historical links to slavery can be a difficult conversation, but we felt it was a necessary one for our university to have,” he said.

[wahwealth]

War Of The Wildcats (1943) | John Wayne | Martha Scott | Full Length English

Originally, "In Old Oklahoma!  the movie was reissued as War of the Wildcats.  The film is a 1943 American Western.  It was directed by Albert S. Rogell and stars John Wayne and Martha Scott. The film has become a Western classic, It was nominated for 2 Academy Awards, one award for Music Score and the other for Sound Recording. Cast John Wayne as Daniel F. Somers Martha Scott as Catherine Elizabeth Allen Albert Dekker as Jim "Hunk" Gardner George "Gabby" Hayes as Despirit Dean Marjorie Rambeau as Bessie Baxter Dale Evans as Cuddles Walker Grant Withers as Richardson Sidney Blackmer as Theodore Roosevelt Paul Fix as the Cherokee Kid Cecil Cunningham as Mrs. Ames Irving Bacon as Ben Byron Foulger as Wilkins Anne O'Neal as Mrs. Peabody Richard Graham as Walter Ames You are invited to join the channel so that Mr. P can notify you when new videos are uploaded, https://www.youtube.com/@nrpsmovieclassics .

[kelleep]

Surviving Holiday MayhemWith These Ladies of Screwball Comedy

Dan (Ralph Bellamy): “I certainly learned about women from you.”Aunt Patsy (Cecil Cunningham): “Here’s your diploma.” (As she hands him Lucy’s break-up letter) In The Awful Truth (1937), Ralph Bellamy as wealthy cowpoke Dan does indeed learn a great deal about the risks and foibles of falling for a glamorous socialite (Irene Dunne), still in love with her soon-to-be-ex husband (Cary Grant). In…