The Film Colony ♛

Last year I wrote about taking the AncestryDNA test in the hope of learning more about my family, particularly my father's side, which I knew very little about because he left my mother and I when I was an infant. I started looking for him in earnest in 1980 when I was a kid, living … Continue reading Rest in peace, dear little brother…

I recently posted about the photos I have in my collection that match my grandmother Mitzi Cummings' Photoplay articles. I also mentioned there are several I don't have. Here's one of them and it is a doozy -- I absolutely adore this photo of Mitzi visiting with Myrna Loy and Bill Powell on the set … Continue reading Beloved by stars and moguls alike, he was Hollywood’s favorite head waiter for 18 years

The photo below of my grandmother, Mitzi Cummings, with the great Fred Astaire and director Mark Sandrich, is a favorite of mine. I just love everything about it: how snazzy the legendary dancer looks in his tux and top hat, and his terrific expression; little Mitzi in her cute outfit; and the warm look and … Continue reading The random tweet that reconnected me with a precious treasure trove of family history.

I watched Bright Lights last night and every time Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher spontaneously broke into song together it reminded me of my grandparents and great uncles and aunts in Los Angeles, who often seemed to do that when I was kid. It was as if they all knew the same songs from decades … Continue reading Watching Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher singing in Bright Lights brought a flood of memories… You too?

In 1952 my great-uncle Louis B. Mayer called Debbie Reynolds into his office at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. She was just 18, tiny, and a fresh-faced beauty bursting with talent at a studio known to have plenty of both. He sat forward in his chair and cut straight to the point: "You’re going to star in a movie … Continue reading Now Singing in the Clouds… True Cinema Magic When Louis B. Mayer Paired Debbie Reynolds With Gene Kelly

MGM singer and actress Gloria DeHaven died this year at 91, one of the relentless wave of entertainment deaths we have endured in 2016. I adore this photo of her with my great-grandmother Ida Mayer Cummings being told where to work the room as a 'cigarette girl' for one Ida's many fundraising events for the … Continue reading One of the many we lost in 2016: Gloria DeHaven, MGM singer and actress

This year, for the first time in decades, Christmas Eve and the first night of Chanukah fell on the same day. This is such a rare event that when I sat down with my great-grandmother Ida Mayer Cumming's scrapbook this morning, my jaw dropped when I saw mention of exactly the same holiday alignment in … Continue reading When Chanukah and Christmas Converged in 1940, This Hollywood Lunch Became a Beacon for Peace

Boy oh boy, do I want this book! Hint, hint A new book, The Art of the Hollywood Backdrop, has just been released and as soon I saw my pal Will McKinley's tweet about it, I immediately wondered why this essential aspect of silent and Classic Hollywood filmmaking (and beyond) hasn't been given this treatment … Continue reading The Art of the Hollywood Backdrop: They Painted The Town Believable

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THIS MORNING I woke with the memory that last year I stumbled across a series of telegrams my great-grandmother, Ida Mayer Cummings, had carefully saved in a massive scrapbook, a treasure trove that is literally bursting at the seams with years of fascinating letters, newspaper clippings, photos and memorabilia. As we are nearing Rosh Hashanah, … Continue reading Minutes to midnight in 1936 and Louis B. Mayer phoned in this telegram… #shanatova