Merry Christmas

Just a quick post to say Merry Christmas! I was hoping to post some of my favorite Christmas-themed photos, but I ran out of time! Oh well, I'll do it next year when I might actually have some followers, haha. For now I'll just post these two amazing photos of Rin Tin Tin.

New Scanner!

I got a new scanner! This is really exciting because my previous scanner was at least a decade old and the glass was all scratched up and dirty and impossible to clean. It would take me a really long time to edit all the dust and scratches out of my scans.

So here are my first vintage magazine scans done with my new scanner. I tried to find something festive and these covers were the best I could come up with.

Ava Gardner on the cover of the November 1953 issue of Modern Screen magazine. They obviously just found a picture of her wearing a green dress and then added a red and white background to make it look Christmas-y!

And here's a Winter-themed photo of Barbara Stanwyck on the January 1948 cover of Motion Picture magazine.

Somewhere I have an issue of Eye magazine with a picture of Marilyn Monroe warming herself in front of a fireplace, but I couldn't find it this evening! Oh well.

Rest in Peace x2

We lost two great stars this past weekend.

Peter O'Toole died December 14 at the age of 81. He achieved stardom playing the title role in Lawrence of Arabia (1962), and holds the record for the most Academy Award acting nominations (eight!) without a win. He was the recipient of an Honorary Academy Award in 2003.

Peter O'Toole in How to Steal a Million (1966)

On December 15, Joan Fontaine died at the age of 96. She was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar in 1941 for Rebecca, and won the following year for her role in Suspicion, making her the only actor to receive an Academy Award for a film directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Joan Fontaine in 1942, photographed by Bob Landry.

Joan Fontaine was the younger sister (by one year) of Olivia de Havilland. The two had a lifelong feud, and supposedly hadn't spoken to each other since the 1970s.

Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland take a break from their lifelong feud to play a card game in 1945.

In 1978, Joan said in an interview, "I married first, won the Oscar before Olivia did, and if I die first, she'll undoubtedly be livid because I beat her to it!"

Olivia issued a statement the day after Joan's death saying that she was "shocked and saddened" by the news of her sister's passing.

TCM will be showing seven of Joan Fontaine's films and three of Peter O'Toole's films on December 29.

Links:
TCM Remembers Joan Fontaine
TCM Remembers Peter O'Toole

Rest in Peace, Eleanor Parker

Three-time Academy Award nominee Eleanor Parker died on Monday, December 9th, of complications from pneumonia. She was 91 years old.

Eleanor Parker in the 1940s.

TCM will be showing seven of Eleanor's films on December 17th, including Of Human Bondage (1946) and Scaramouche (1952). (Article on TCM.com)

Eleanor Parker in the 1950s.

Rest in Peace, Eleanor Parker

(June 26, 1922 - December 9, 2013)