Adventures in Sunday Culture

If there's one thing to know about me, it's to know how big a fan I am of High Culture.

For example, where did I go yesterday after listening to a Kate Bush tribute concert? Why, the Museum of Television & Radio, of course. What did I see? Why, I'll tell you.

First of all, who knew that Gypsy Rose Lee hosted her own San Francisco-based talk show in 1958? And that one of her guests was Miss Ethel Merman, fresh off her run playing Gypsy Rose Lee's mom in Gypsy. In this pic Ethel is wearing a giant fur hat and Gypsy is putting a bunch of hot dog links around her neck like a scarf. Of course.

Then, here we have Carol Burnett and Ella Fitzgerald doing a medley of duets, including the moment where Carol screams "Harry's dead!" while Ella swings "Mack the Knife." I had seen this before, and I will see it again.

Oh this? Why it's Shelley Winters on Conan O'Brien. She's ostensibly there to talk about her stint as Rosanne's grandmother on TV, but she manages to describe what it would be like to make love to Andy Richter AND calls Gene Hackman "a little bitch" for being difficult when they made Poseidon Adventure together. And she holds her breath for a minute fifteen seconds while Conan times her. And as you can see, she is for some reason wearing a sheriff's badge.

And to end? Miss Bette Davis on the Tonight Show. This shot? She's shaking hands with Richard Pryor.

Here's a crappy taping of that moment in time. It's shaky enough to make you seasick while watching, but definitely worth it to hear Ms. Davis' incomparable reading of the word "Charming."



Charming, indeed. Culture!

"I've Just Had A Baby In The Ladies' Room"

God Bless the internet for coming up with a Bette Davis blooper reel. If only they had Bonus Content back in the day, folks might not just walk in and out of the theatres.

Oh, and you'll have to click through to youtube to watch. Dang lawyers.



She sure liked to cuss!

But Who Would Play Her Sassy Gay Friend?

Wow. Who knew that in 1965 Bette Davis filmed a pilot for a TV sitcom produced by Aaron Spelling called The Decorator?

Youtube has the whole pilot in short chunks. Let me know if you make it all the way through. Even with all my spare time, I couldn't.

This'es And That

It's that time again - Shorty's Book Club!

So what's Shorty reading now? Why, it's This 'N That by Little Miss Bette Davis.



This 'N That is the second memoir by Miss Davis, from 1987. Her first one, The Lonely Life, came out in 1962. As Shorty explained it, the first book was a proper memoir, the second one is a cornucopia of different things. It's part memoir of her career post-1962, including a lot about her made-for-TV movies. It's part about her stroke and recuperation, and it's partly a refute to the 'Mommie Dearest' knock-off memoir her daughter wrote a few years before.

Anyway, Shorty is - no surprise - mostly interested in the pictures. So, we broke out the Scanner from the Up High Storage Space, and put it to work.

Here she is in what she calls a "cheesecake" photo. I'm confused by what the purpose of the medicine ball is in this snap. Maybe that's some sort of sexual thing I'm not aware of?

We both liked this one of her and that handsome devil (ha! entendre!) Robert J. Wagner. It was almost exactly a year ago that Shorty and I couldn't sleep and read his memoirs late one night. I think this is when she guest-starred on It Takes A Thief.

This pic though, this takes all the cakes in the world. It's Bette, Mae West, and Beverly Sills.

My greatest regret is that there's no index to the book, so we can't quickly enjoy reading about that "fascinating evening." What a dinner party!

Shorty had a few other faves, including one that's a bit morally iffy. We'll save that for the Bonus Content!

Until next time.

! This post was updated from its original content to include links to some other blog's discussion of Robert J. Wagner's classic TV program, It Takes A Thief.

of Bettes and Joans

Here's something nice for Sunday morning coffee while we're waiting for Meet The Press to start.

Take it away, ladies!

You Scream? I SCREAM!

Yesterday I had my first ice cream of vacation. It was heavenly.


I'm not sure why I'm doing Bette Davis Eyes in the picture. I never know how to pose correctly. Oh, except for that one time.

Dolls Parts

Wow. If you know anything about me, you know I have a fear of dolls.

Part of it definitely stems from that episode of Webster where there was the creepy doll on the little rocker upstairs in their new house...after their old house burned down because of his memento box, another terrifying ep.

Anyway, this inventive person has created some pretty amazing replicas, which I can't tear my eyes away from, like those car crash pervs in a J.G. Ballard story, or a Grace Jones / Roxy Music song.

I'm glad I finally get to see Bette Davis in her red dress for the Olympus Ball...in color!

Speaking of Little Miss BD, these are the most horrifying things I have ever seen.

Oh wait, here's something just as scary - and what a treat to see old chum Agnes Moorehead in doll form! Watch where you stand, buddies!

I love Rosemary's Baby, and not just because the movie theatre in my home town was named after Ruth Gordon.

This one cheers me up. Kinda.

Barbara, God Bless you.

Amber's favorite, Miss Carmen Miranda. I don't understand the technology involved in the "real" Carmen Miranda, I definitely don't understand it here.

Anyway, that's all I got for now. Be sure to visit the website to order your copies today!

All The Boys Think She's A Spy

Birthday Boy James sent me this picture with the subject header "Blog Worthy?" My answer? Heck yes.


In 1976, Miss Bette Davis recorded an album, entitled Miss Bette Davis. It includes her renditions of a few different standards, some spoken word bits, and scariest of all - her in-character rendition of "I'm Sending A Letter To Daddy."

I had almost forgotten about the album. I say almost, because I had the terrifying experience of waking up to some Margo Channing dialogue once. God Bless, iPod Alarm Clock Shuffle.

So here she is promoting the LP on the Andy Williams show, performing a Chubby Checker-esque "Whatever Happened To Baby Jane."


Thanks James, for jogging my memory!

Everything But The Bloodhounds Yapping At Her Rear End

I have to say, dang the cliches, All About Eve is one of my favorite movies. It's a great tale, and fantastically acted, from Little Miss Bette Davis to Anne Baxter to the original Wanda Sykes - Thelma Ritter, to the young Marilyn Monroe. It's a movie I can watch again and again, but never at Chelsea Classics, on account of all the queens that shout out the lines ahead of Margo Channing.

Last year Tyler and I went to see a revival of Applause!, starring Christine Ebersole. I sort of blogged about it at the time, but to recap: in 1970 the creative teams behind Annie, Bye Bye Birdie, & more decided to make a Broadway musical out of All About Eve. It starred Lauren Bacall in the Davis role and television's Bonnie Franklin as the ingenue.

The show itself wasn't so good, and I think it's OK for it to go back in the vault for another 38 years. As Stritchy says, Christine Ebersole is coffee and a wonderful time was had by all (even by Amber, who spent the night on my couch watching the entire series run of Ellen Degeneres' hit sitcom, Ellen, costarring Cloris Leachman).

My favorite number was NOT the Buckle Up Your Seat Belt Dance, but this one here, "But Alive." What I like so much about are the genius rhymes.

Check it out here, from a TV production they did of the original show:

I feel half Tijuana, half Boston!

Partly Jane Fonda and partly Jane Austen!

Doesn't get better than that.

Race To Dreamy Mountain

IwantIwantIwantIwantIwantIwantIwantIwantIwantIwantIwantIwantIwantIwantIwantIwant.

'Race to Witch Mountain' Theatrical Trailer @ Yahoo! Video

I want to go to there.

If anyone in the 21st Century is worthy of picking up Bette Davis' mantle as the adult in this franchise, it's my beau. I will be first in line at this 11am, half-price matinee. March 13th, Save The Date!

Deads Ringer!

Boy howdy. Yesterday at work I sure was a Crankypants, with hatred in my soul for everyone. Well, almost everyone. But still, too much hatred to blog even!

Today though, I'm determined to be in a good mood. Why?

Well, because this very evening I have two good chums coming over for Bette Davis Club. We're going to watch one of my favorites, Dead Ringers (1964), starring Bette Davis and Bette Davis. I *love* Bette Davis movies where she plays twins - there's just twice as much of her to enjoy! I might like A Stolen Life (1946), also starring Bette Davis and Bette Davis, even more than this one, but this one is out on DVD so it wins. In both cases, things don't turn out so good for one of the twins.

Some buddy over on Amber's favorite website, etsy.com, even does Dead Ringer related crafts!

Here's a sneak peak of tonight's showing!


Bette Davis is a dead ringer for...Bette Davis! Fun times ahead!

A Great Lie Indeed

Last night I watched The Great Lie, with Miss Bette Davis, Mary Astor, & George Brent.

I thought it was lovely, a great example of Davis' "women's pictures" - all melodrama, all weepie. And Mary Astor was lovely as well.

My favorite part of the preview is how they seem to encourage you to talk during the movie. Times sure were different back then.

That Girl, The One Most Likely To

So last night my pal Justin took me to the revival of My Pal Joey, starring Dame Stockard Channing and Miss Martha Plimpton. It wasn't great, but it was good, and it does feature two of my favorite Rodgers & Hart songs - "I Could Write A Book" and "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered," and I even enjoyed Dame Channing's spoken/sung version of the latter.


Now, when I got home I was talking to David about our upcoming Montreal jaunt, and mentioned Stockard Channing. He said "I don't know who he is." I was so appalled I fell on the floor in a heap.

Now, I don't think I need to tell most people about SC, but what some folks might not know is that in 1973, Joan Rivers wrote an ABC After School Special that is a mix between Now, Voyager and Heathers, and of course starred a very young Stockard Channing - pre-Grease, even!

Just like Bette Davis in Now, Voyager, SC plays an ugly duckling who, by plucking her eyebrows and losing a few pounds, becomes a beautiful, heavily made-up swan. And just like in Heathers, she goes about killing off all her former tormentors.

The movie costars Ed Asner, Jim Backus, and the original Lana Lang, Annette O'Toole. Here's just a little snippet - for anyone wanting to see all 74 minutes of this beauty, my couch is always open.

Here's the only scene I can find on youtube:

Miss Representation

Personally, I think movies should be marketed to accurately represent what's in 'em. For example, if in 1968 you're going to advertise a Bette Davis film with this poster, she should be cutting up Debbie Reynolds or pushing flowerpots onto Agnes Moorehead - it should not be an English drawing room family drama about cross-dressing. I mean really, an eyepatch?

Similarly, this funny shot of Seth Rogan in underpants carrying James Franco in pajamas sure made me & Amber want to see Pineapple Express. Turns out it was a long and violent movie about a weird drug war, with a few funny scenes in it, most of them either we saw in the trailer or were in fact from an episode of 227 playing in the background.

Shame on you, Apatow.

The best part, really? The t-shirt James Franco wears with a cutie kitty-cat hiding in a shark mouth. Apparently there's a controversy about it, but really, I don't care. I just want that shirt.

That Catered Affair

Last week I was using Google Image to find a cast picture of A Catered Affair, the new show on Broadway featuring Tony nominee John Schneider, and this little thing popped up - The Catered Affair. What a difference a definite article makes! A quick trip down the knuckerhole of Wikipedia (Nicholson Baker would be so proud!) gave me the 411.

In 1956 Sir Gore Vidal adapted the Paddy Chayefsky TV movie (which starred the original Wanda Sykes, Miss Thelma Ritter!) for the silver screen. This was almost three decades before his bestseller Myra Breckinridge was made into a film - and at least six decades before it makes sense. The plot? Academy Award winner Miss Bette Davis is married to Academy Award winner Mr. Ernest Borgnine - she's a hausfrau, he's a cab driver! They live in the Bronx and calamity ensues when they have only a weekend to plan the fancypants wedding for their daughter, Academy Award nominee Debbie Reynolds.

I am going to start a petition on Amazon so that this, my new favorite movie, will be released on DVD.

I should have known after he starred in Grand Hotel, The Musical! that John Schneider only trod the boards in shows with rich source material. Long live the Dukes!

41 Cents Later

Eat your heart out, Lucille LeSueur.