Lon Chaney

Lon Chaney (1883-1930) in his favorite role, as Tito Beppi/Flik, the clown who loves the girl who loves someone else in, "Laugh, Clown, Laugh" (1928).

A thousand faces
speaking volumes without words.
Long live The Phantom!



THE EYES HAVE IT: Wires, that is. This is one of the few photos in which you can see how Chaney (in costume as Erik The Opera Ghost from the original 1925 movie production of "The Phantom of the Opera") achieved some of his characterizations. A performing arts genius, he is credited as being the inventor of special effects makeup.


"Lon Chaney could express with his whole body and a few gestures what pages of dialogue could not. This is one of the most compelling and emotionally exhausting scenes I've ever witnessed an actor perform." - Burt Lancaster

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This blog entry is nowhere near done. It is being added posthaste just in time for the actor's 128th birthday and will be expanded when I can give him the tribute he deserves. Happy Birthday, Lon, wherever you are.

Burt Mustin

A LATE BLOOMER: Burt Mustin (1884-1977) began acting professionally at age 67. In his 25-year career, he appeared in nearly 400 television shows, 70 movies and dozens of commercials.

Salesman turned actor.
If you wonder where he's now,
he went that-a way.



While attending Pennsylvania Military College, Mustin served as goalie for the school's hockey team. He graduated in 1903.


Although he played many character parts, Mustin always considered himself the "He Went That-a Way" Guy. Here he is as a geriatric Kimba of the Jungle in a 1967 episode of "The Monkees."


One of Mustin's most famous roles was that of Mr. Quigley on "All in the Family." The show's producers paired him with daffy and darling Ruth McDevitt, another popular senior performer.

Shortly after his 92nd birthday, Mustin made a memorable appearance on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson." He passed away 10 months later from natural causes.

Detective Robert Goren

HOLD THAT POSE: Actor Vincent D'Onofrio played the ultimate crime-solver in the award-winning police drama, "Law & Order: Criminal Intent."

Quirky super cop.
When he bends at right angles,
you're guilty as charged.





After nine seasons, Goren is moving on. D'Onofrio has passed his role as leading man to veteran performer Jeff Goldblum who plays Detective Zach Nichols, a cerebral and efficient cop with his own set of idiosyncrasies.

Paradise Lost

THE GARDEN OF ALLAH was a mansion estate turned bungalow village hotel at 8152 Sunset Boulevard. Built and ruled by controversial (and openly bisexual) silent screen siren Allah Nazimova, some of the villa's illustrious and notorious guests and residents included: F. Scott Fitzgerald, Robert Benchley, Ernest Hemmingway, Gloria Stuart, The Marx Brothers, Buster Keaton, Dorothy Parker, Errol Flynn, Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Clara Bow, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Gloria Swanson, Charles Laughton, Elsa Lanchester, Ernst Lubitsch, Ronald Reagan, Ava Gardner, Joe E. Lewis, Artie Shaw, Marlene Dietrich, George Kaufman, Laurence Olivier, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Alexander Woollcott, Orson Welles, Somerset Maugham, Jascha Heifetz, Ginger Rogers and Katherine Hepburn — to name a few!

Refuge for talent.
A den of iniquity.
Gaud's little acre.



"I'll be damned if I'll believe anyone lives in a place called 'The Garden of Allah,'" wrote Thomas Wolfe, in a letter to F. Scott Fitzgerald, dated July 26, 1937.




During the filming of the 1939 remake of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," Charles Laughton would return home to The Garden for lunch, still in character as Quasimodo, and float in the pool on his back with his face aimed skyward, to avoid ruining his complex makeup.

Following its heyday, The Garden of Allah endured years of neglect. In summer, 1959, it was torn down to make way for progress. The song "Big Yellow Taxi," by Joni Mitchell, mourns the incredible landmark's passing in the famous lyrics, "They paved Paradise and put up a parking lot."

The Art of Survival

GERMAN & JEWISH ARTISTS IN EXILE: Only those who've endured it themselves can know what these and other talented individuals went through. But it's thanks to them that we have classics like "The Maltese Falcon," "Some Like It Hot," "Double Indemnity" and "Casablanca," not to mention the entire genre of film noir.

Fleeing Hitler's rule,
they brought a new look and voice
to film in the states.



Although satire, "To Be Or Not To Be" (1942), starring Jack Benny and Carole Lombard, captures effectively the pervading mood and climate of war-torn Europe.  The film was Lombard's last and was released posthumously.


THE SPIRIT OF DEFIANCE: This is, perhaps, the most powerful scene in Warner Brothers' 1942 masterpiece, "Casablanca." To those in the know, what makes it even more stunning is that it's cast largely with performers who escaped the Nazi terror and ultimately death, leaving behind home, family, friends and careers, some having lost all and having to start over with nothing. (Clip copyright © Warner Home Video)


A clip from the PBS documentary, "Cinema's Exiles: From Hitler to Hollywood." At the time of this writing, there was no word of a DVD release.  (Clip copyright © 2010 Educational Broadcasting Corporation.)

Sunset Boulevard (1950)

THE DEMENTED RECLUSE: Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond making her final descent into her imaginary close-up and madness. This scene, more than any other, has come to represent the sometimes tragic downside of fame lost.

The breathing waxworks —
when fallen stars dim to shells
of their former selves.



The scene that inspired the haiku, although I'd never consider Keaton nor Swanson as has-beens. In fact, observe how, even with such a minor part, Keaton works the shot and steals viewer attention with nothing more than a brief facial expression.


Norma Desmond's famous happy ending.


The "Sunset Boulevard" movie trailer.


One of Comedienne Carol Burnett's zany spoofs as "Nora" Desmond. (This is live TV. Notice how you can see the set brace during the two-shot at the door.)

Benicio Del Toro

THE EYES HAVE IT: He's played kidnappers, killers, a revolutionary and, most recently, a werewolf. But underneath it all lies a kind, polite, soft-spoken art and music lover who's afraid of heights.

His menacing gaze
gets him cast as "the heavy,"
the big pussycat!





Known for taking risks, one of Del Toro's milestone characters is Fred Fenster from "The Usual Suspects" (1995). The imaginative actor created the unforgettable out of what would've otherwise been a minor and disposable part, by adding frenetic and awkward mannerisms, a speech impediment, and modifying his own hairline and eyebrows to blur ethnicity.


Del Toro discussing his most recent role, the tragic Lawrence Talbot in "The Wolfman" (2010).

IMDb, I Said

THE INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE: Where movie and TV info goes and where we all go to get it.

Direct to YOUR screen!
Plots! Bios!! Facts and CREDITS!!!
Film's final roundup.

You can find the Internet Movie Database at www.IMDb.com.

Ned Sparks

THE PERENNIAL GROUCH: Character actor Ned Sparks (1883-1957) wrote his own lines and was insured against smiling by Lloyd's of London.

Hollywood's sourpuss —
the nasal-toned sharp-wit you've
seen somewhere before.

Jerry Lewis

Veteran performer Jerry Lewis in his most famous screen role, that of Julius Kelp from "The Nutty Professor" (1963). He began in vaudeville at age 5 and has been entertaining audiences worldwide for more than 80 years.

The heroic clown
throws the world a lifesaver,
the gift of laughter.



Since its founding in 1950, Jerry Lewis has served as National Chairman and Spokesperson of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, hosting the organization's annual Labor Day fundraiser telethons. Lewis is so dedicated to finding a cure that children and adults benefiting from MDA's programs, research and services have come to be known as "Jerry's kids."

For more information, visit www.MDA.org.

Not Another One!

Actor Alec Baldwin

Al Baldwin on pills?
From his looks, he should be on
an exercycle.

(For details, click HERE. And for the record, I love Baldwin's work.)

Carroll O'Connor

Carroll O'Connor as Archie Bunker in CBS's "All in the Family," the role that made him a household name in the 1970s. (Photo by Michael Roughier)

From "Sunday Showcase"
to "In the Heat of the Night" —
Yep, those were the days.

The Many Faces of Johnny Depp

He transforms like a
Technicolor chameleon.
Present-day Chaney.













(From the top down) Johnny Depp as The Mad Hatter in "Alice in Wonderland," John Dillinger in "Public Enemies," the Earl of Rochester in "The Libertine," Jack Sparrow in "Pirates of the Caribbean," Willy Wonka in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," Sweeney Todd in "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street," and as himself.

The Thin Man

Actor William Powell played retired (supposedly) detective Nick Charles in six "Thin Man" movies, dating from 1934 to 1947.

Cocktails and intrigue...
It seems this former sleuth can't
sit on his "Asta."



THE PRINCIPAL CAST OF "THE THIN MAN" SERIES: Myrna Loy as Nora Charles, William Powell as Nick Charles and, of course, their dog Asta.


One would never guess that prohibition had been repealed not long before, making the availability of liquor a novelty.

Fred Astaire

Fred Astaire as he appeared in "You'll Never Get Rich" (1941), a film in which he co-starred opposite Rita Hayworth.

He floats 'cross the floor
like poetry in motion.
Gravity defied.

ONE Good Guy

Actor George Clooney with refugees in Darfur.  (Photo: The Huffington Post)

Darfur in crisis.
Who will come to the rescue?
George Clooney, for ONE.

2010 A.D. Arrest

Andy Dick (at left) in happier times.  (Image courtesy of the1secondfilm.com)

Andy may have earned
the role of sex offender.
Befitting last name?

(See FOX News for more information.)