Selling My Books on the Streets of Brooklyn 9/4 - Bandido

Last night ThisTV, channel 111 on Cablevision in NYC, ran Bandido (1956), starring Robert Mitchum and Gilbert Roland. The film, a standard action yarn, is distinguished by two things: the Mexicans speak Spanish to each other, sans subtitles, and the presence of a lovely leading lady who had a brief career. Born in Hamburg, Germany, Ursula Thiess was forced as a child into compulsory farm labor for refusing to join Hitler Youth. Post war, following a divorce from her first husband, she began modeling to support her two children. Howard Hughes signed her to an RKO contract. She was billed as "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World." She was named "Most Promising Star of 1952" by Modern Screen Magazine. She married Robert Taylor in 1954, appeared in 14 episodes of along side him in The Detectives TV series, and eventually quit the business to raise their two children. She appeared on 77 Sunset Strip in 1963, and did not work again until 1972 in Left Hand of Gemini, her final appearance. She has only nine credits listed at IMDb (those in the TV show count as one). In 1969 her son from her first marriage committed suicide. Two weeks later Taylor died of lung cancer. She survived a brain operation in 1979. Her third husband also died of lung cancer, in 1987 after 12 years of marriage. Her autobiography, But I Have Promises to Keep, was published in 2003. She died in 2010 at 86. Here is a picture of this remarkable woman in her heyday:

RIP Joan Rivers, 81, comedy legend. She pulled no punches, even when speaking of herself. She delivered my all-time favorite one-liner as guest host of The Tonight Show during the Johnny Carson era: "My body's falling so fast my gynecologist wears a hardhat." If there's a God, I'm sure she's given Him her signature line: "Can we talk?"

My thanks to the kind folks who bought and donated books today. I had a nice laugh when a Russian gentleman, chuckling as he pointed to the five-letter title of a book in his native tongue, said: "Beetch."

Vic's 4th novel: tinyurl.com/bszwlxh

Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3

Vic's Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
Vic's Short Story Collection: http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tiny.cc/0iHLb Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kx3d3uf
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/rP7o9

Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp

Vic's Horror Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3f

Vic's Blog: http://vicfortezza.blogspot.com/

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