I sold only one book today, on crochet, to a repeat customer. Thanks, ma'am. I did, however, get a nice pay day from Bob Rubenstein, who is happy with the editing I've done so far of his second novel, The White Bridge. Thank you, sir.
I had fun last night viewing Where Love Has Gone (1964), based on the Harold Robbins novel, on DVD courtesy of Netflix. It is now notable for nostalgia rather than its once controversial issues of a 15-year losing her virginity and her artist-mother's myriad lovers. That stuff is old hat these days. What makes the film eminently watchable, besides the lush technicolor cinematography so typical of the era, is the cast: Bette Davis as the manipulative matriarch; Susan Hayward as the promiscuous artist; Mike Connors, star of the long-running detective show Mannix, as the husband-war-hero-architect; Joey Heatheron, 60's sexpot, as the troubled daughter; Jane Greer, star of film noir classic Out of the Past (1948), as a shrink; DeForest Kelly, Star Trek's Dr. Bones McCoy, as a critic; George Macready, who spent his career playing white collar slimeballs, as a lawyer; Anne Seymour, who made two appearances in the Classic 38 episodes of The Honeymooners; Ann Doran, who has 358 credits and appeared as the mother of James Dean in Rebel without a Cause (1955) and as Ma Kent in the Christopher Reeve version of Superman (1978); and the ubiquitous Whit Bissell, he of over 300 credits, as - what else - a professor! It was directed by Edward Dmytryk, who was one of the Hollywood Ten during the McCarthy Red Scare era. After spending months in prison, he agreed to testify, to name names, and lost the respect of his peers but continued to work. On a scale of five, I rate Where Love Has Gone two-and-a-half.
In the same vein, I recently borrowed the first disc of Wanted Dead or Alive (1958), which featured Steve McQueen as a bounty hunter and lasted three seasons. In the first episode Nick Adams and Michael Landon appeared as outlaw brothers. I don't know why I love this silly stuff so much. Forgive me.
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