I love that the only person looking straight to the camera in this instant is the policeman on the right. With his smart glossy policeman's hat with its polished badge and his craggy face, he looks straight out of Central Casting I read recently, while watching the Republican National Convention, that my great-uncle Louis B … Continue reading The Humanitarian Hat – Ida greets First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt
"Instead, Leonard took his last breath with no more to give and no more to get." In this photo, joy meets agony... This is a portrait of my great-uncle Leonard "Sonny" M. Cummings who died at just 44 years old in 1965. My oldest son looks exactly like him. Not a little bit like him. … Continue reading To bury a son…
"The new Trilby, Svengali'a victim, is Marian Marsh, a newcomer to featured screen roles. A few months ago she was an extra girl in Hollywood," New York Times review, April 26, 1931. Oh, how I love this photo. Unlike the highly posed publicity shots featuring Mitzi with a movie star like Harlow in her beautiful … Continue reading Marian Marsh – chocolate exec’s doll faced daughter
"At some point, while I was still on the article's first page, the young man hopped into the doctor's office. I kept reading. He would need stitches for sure. The receptionist kept typing. It occurred to me this would be the perfect gig to write your novel. Answer the phone, greet the sick and wounded, … Continue reading The boring places where obsessions are born
You know that incredibly annoying feeling when the answer is on the tip of your tongue? I stared and stared at this photo and thought, "I know who this is. I KNOW who this is!" And then, "Who the hell is this?!" Thankfully, because I had nothing else to occupy me, I thought I would … Continue reading Angela Lansbury – Admiring the mutual admiration society and proud of it
As a child my step-father read a number of classics to me, including David Copperfield. I also watched the old movie on several occasions. I was not only a totally G-rated kid (Mr Rogers' biggest fan) I was particularly fond of the old B&W movies. They were safe, beautifully made, the stories always ended on … Continue reading Mitzi on the set of David Copperfield
This is one of the oddest photos in the collection. Clearly, Louis B Mayer is chairing a meeting, but which one? And who is the amazing mustachioed man? The boardroom table, with its incredibly polished surface, mirrors these men of power. In fact, through some freak of lighting, the table reflects them in an even … Continue reading A Room So Powerful…
In memory of Richard Zanuck who died today at 77. Here is his father, Darryl, shown as a young filmmaker being interviewed by my grandmother Mitzi Cummings, who in this instance was writing for Photoplay Magazine. As a niece of Louis B Mayer she was no doubt aware of interviewing the "competition" but she was … Continue reading In Memory of Richard Zanuck
As I think about these descendants of mine - far into the unknown future - I can almost feel myself fade and flicker like a faulty hologram. Why is it that so few of us know anything about our families past two or three generations? I am lucky enough to have a fairly well documented … Continue reading Now Showing! The Mitochondrial Candidate
"It doesn't matter what degree of talent she possesses ... nobody ever starved possessing what she's got." Variety Magazine's review of Jean Harlow in the 1930's Howard Hughes' film Hell's Angels. This is a tough one because the more I stared at this photo and then researched it, the more convinced I became that it … Continue reading Jean “Baby” Harlow. Dead at 26.
The Film Colony ♛ 
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