I am so proud of my friend Aaron Wolf's documentary, Restoring Tomorrow, about the Wilshire Boulevard Temple, which my great uncle, Louis B. Mayer, and other studio moguls helped to build so long ago. I actually wrote about this mammoth $150 million restoration project when it was announced several years ago, partly to explain the … Continue reading Documentary about Restoring the Hollywood Moguls’ Temple Picked up for Theatrical Release
If there's one thing that fans of silent movies, classic Hollywood, TV and radio always say it's: "If only I could go back in time!" With my new talk radio show, Hollywood Time Machine (#timemachine), you will be transported back in time with each episode. I will interview our living legends, biographers, historians, museum curators/archivists, … Continue reading Alicia Mayer to host new talk radio show “Hollywood Time Machine”
For those of you who follow my blog or follow me on Twitter and elsewhere, you will know that I have been shocked at the instant acceptance that Ben Urwand received from the media and in other forums for his sensationalist claims that Hollywood's Jewish moguls collaborated with Hitler and his regime. Basically, as soon … Continue reading What Ben Urwand has taught us: the package is not the product
"Backstage at the Shubert Theatre, the stage manager hesitates to pop his head into in the star dressing room. He’s not sure he can take looking at the young woman one more time. That’s not something he’s ever thought about a gorgeous woman before. His motto - You can look at a buffet all you … Continue reading Not Harlow. Mary Dees, the actress who filmed Jean Harlow’s unfinished scenes in Saratoga.
Exactly what happened after the initial altercation with Albert "Cubby" Broccoli and his cousin Pat DiCicco is not clear, but Healy would later be found at a Hollywood hotel where the hotel doctor sewed up a huge gash over his left eye.
Knowing what I know about my family, the good and the bad – thanks to the books, old newspaper articles, the fragments of overheard conversations or stories told to me – I still ache to be in that photo. Oh, how I love this photo and wish for all the tea in China that I … Continue reading Me, the ghost of the future past
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
Bob Hope once said about my great-grandmother, Ida Mayer Cummings, that she was the only woman he knew who could reach down the phone and grab a man by the lapels. Where her brother Louis B Mayer was a force in filmmaking, Ida was a force in fundraising for the Jewish Home for the Aged in Los Angeles. Ironically, my grandmother and grandfather spent their last days there. But I look at this photo and see the fun, laughter and scheming to ensure money flowed from Hollywood and beyond to ensure comfort for the elderly.
My great-grandmother Ida Mayer Cummings was Louis B Mayer's sister and best friend. They were the middle children of five - Yetta, Ida, LB, Gerald and Ruben. Louis B Mayer's legacy was MGM, AMPAS, the Oscars, the MPAA and other major achievements. What is not as known is that his sister was the same mover and shaker in fundraising, and to this day an event she founded (the same year as LB founded the Academy Awards) is still a fixture in Los Angeles today. She was also the mother of four children, one of whom, Jack Cummings, went on to be a film producer in his own right.
The Film Colony ♛ 
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