SAMSON DE BRIER

 Samson De Brier 

(March 18, 1909 – April 1, 1995) 

actor and occultist, 

Born arthur jasmine in China, De Brier grew up in Atlantic City, New Jersey. 

He was rumoured (very likely by himself) to have been the bastard off-spring of the King of Bavaria. 

The Jasmines moved to Atlantic City when Arthur was a very young child. According, once again, to the very sketchy providence of legend, his father was a corrupt politician in Atlantic City who was eventually stabbed by a jealous mistress. Fleeing the scandal, the Jasmines washed up in Los Angeles, where Arthur enjoyed a brief and undistinguished career as a child/teen movie star, appearing in 22 films between 1915 and 1925.

In 1922, he was given a bit part in the silent film Salomé. 

Salome, 1922- There is a long standing rumor, which seems to have started while the film was still in production and has been asserted by chronicler of Hollywood decadence Kenneth Anger, that the film's cast is composed entirely of gay or bisexual actors in an homage to Oscar Wilde, as per star and producer Alla Nazimova's demand. It is, of course, impossible to say, but one of the extras in Salomé reported that a number of the cast members—both featured and extras—were indeed gay.

Nazimova herself was usually thought of as a lesbian (despite occasional flings with men including Paul Ivano), the two guard characters (who, next to Salomé, have the most screen time) are at least played very stereotypically gay, and several of the female courtiers are men in drag.

De Brier also visited Paris as a teenager, and claimed to have met André Gide and Gertrude Stein, among others. He later claimed to have been a lover of Gide, but this has not been substantiated.

André Gide 22 November 1869 – 19 February 1951)

 was a French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature (in 1947).

He befriended Oscar Wilde in Paris, and in 1895 Gide and Wilde met in Algiers. Wilde had the impression that he had introduced Gide to homosexuality, but, in fact, Gide had already discovered this on his own.

^{In his journal, Gide distinguishes between adult-attracted "sodomites" and boy-loving "pederasts", categorizing himself as the latter.}

L'immoraliste – (The Immoralist) - 1902 - The story of a man, Michel, who travels through Europe and North Africa, attempting to transcend the limitations of conventional morality by surrendering to his appetites (including his attraction to young Arab boys), while neglecting his wife Marceline, who has a terminal illness.

The Immoralist is a play 1954- adapted from the novel by André Gide by Augustus and Ruth Goetz. 

The original production starred Louis Jourdan, Geraldine Page^,, and stage debut of a young unknown actor- - James Dean^..

Samson De Brier moved to Los Angeles in 1941. 

In the fifties he began hosting a regular salon at his Barton Avenue home in weho. 6026 Barton Ave.

It flourished for many years and was frequented by artists, writers, actors, filmmakers, and occultists. Visitors were attracted by De Brier's knowledge of the occult, and Hollywood lore, and his collections of movie memorabilia and objets d'art. 

Among those who attended De Brier's salon were author Anaïs Nin, actors Jack Nicholson and Dennis Hopper, Steve McQueen, Jane Fonda, Richard Burton and James Dean. filmmakers Kenneth Anger and Curtis Harrington,  (director- Who Slew Auntie Roo,1971, Whats The Matter With Helen?, 1971), Stanley Kubrick, Paul Mazursky, and legendary writer Dorothy Parker. the composer Igor Stravinsky,

and occultists Jack Parsons, Marjorie Cameron, Anton LaVey and L. Ron Hubbard.

In 1954 De Brier played several roles, including the principal role, in Anger's Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome, which was filmed at his home. Harrington, Nin and Cameron also appeared in the film.

Samson De Brier passed away in 1995, having lived at 6026 Barton for fifty years. 

The property went on sale in autumn 2007, described as “the former home of infamous celebrity warlock, and a “relic from Hollywood’s pre-hippy freak show days.” 

His papers are housed at the ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives 

at the University of Southern California Libraries.

RICK CASTRO BY THE DAY

RICK CASTRO- MELANCHOLIA 2002

BIO

RICK CASTRO BY THE DAY

RICK CASTRO- RON ATHEY MUMMIFIES ROBERT WOODS- 1993         THE TIP OF HOLLYWOOD 2009

BIO

CABIN IN THE SKY- TORNADO

Cabin in the Sky 

 1943 American musical film based on the 1940 stage musical of the same name.

 Directed by Vincente Minnelli, the film stars Ethel Waters and Rex Ingram, who reprised their roles from the Broadway production, as well Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson and Lena Horne. It was Horne's first and only leading role in an MGM musical. Louis Armstrong was also featured in the film as one of Lucifer Junior's minions, and Duke Ellington and his Orchestra have a showcase musical number in the film.

RUTH GORDON- WORDS OF WISDOM

Interview with Ruth Gordon

Conducted by James Grissom

By Telephone

1984

Oh, there are a lot of lousy people in the world. Also, a lot of terrific people. You've gotta remember that, and you've got to move in the right circles. I have days where I just want everyone to go fuck themselves or walk off a cliff, but I only say that to myself, and I smile and I walk home and I have some tea, I talk to Garson [Kanin, her husband], I might take a nap. Then I wake up and I write, and in writing, I wipe away all the unpleasantness of the day, of the people, of the city, whatever. We have it in our power to overcome assholes, and I think we have them thrown into our path to see if we have the chops to handle them.

Handle them.

ANGEL FACE

Angel Face 

1953 

 black-and-white film noir directed by Otto Preminger.

 The drama, filmed on location in Beverly Hills, California, 

features Robert Mitchum and Jean Simmons.

"Preminger transforms a second rate James M. Cain murder plot,

 re-orchestrating this textbook tale of passion and murder into a haunting and haunted refrain. 

The by then clichéd story line is pared away and brought down to an elemental level -- 

there is not a wasted scene in the film — 

and the story's familiarity breeds an aftertaste of inevitability and doom. 

The hallucinogenic nature of the proceedings is accented with Preminger's direction and camerawork, having actors drift from foreground to background or having the camera track to fluid and suffocating close-ups. Preminger, ever the mesmerizer, weaves his style into a half-dreamt haze of nightmare."

It was also named by critic Robin Wood as one of his top 10 films, shortly before his death.

In 1963, Jean-Luc Godard named it the 8th best American Sound film

THE 11 MINUTES THAT RUINED ALLAN CARR'S CAREER

 opening song and dance number to the 1989 awards show

BILLY HAINES: WISCRACKER

June is Gay History Month.

 Actor William 'Billy' Haines (Charles William Haines

)

 was born in Staunton, Virginia on January 2, 1900. His father was a cigar maker, and Billy had four younger siblings. He sang in the choir of the Trinity Episcopal Church, became interested in performing and obsessed over watching movies. At 14 years old, he ran away from home with a young boyfriend to Hopewell where they worked at the DuPont factory and opened a dance hall that catered to gays. His parents sent the police for him, but he refused to return home. In 1915, he moved to New York City. 

His father suffered a mental breakdown, and Billy returned home to help the family until his dad recovered.

 In 1919, Billy moved back to New York City and settled into gay friendly Greenwich Village. He took odd jobs, worked as a "model" and was kept by a rich older woman for a time. A talent scout found him in Samuel Goldwyn Company's "New Faces of 1922." He was offered a studio contract and moved to Hollywood in 1922. He worked at several studios before ending up at MGM. The first of his 51 films was Brothers Under the Skin, in 1922. His early silent films include Souls for Sale, Three Wise Fools, The Desert Outlaw, The Gaiety Girl, A Fool and His Money, Little Annie Rooney, Sally Irene and Mary, Show People, and Mike. Brown of Harvard (1926) made him a star. He played the handsome, arrogant, wise-cracking young man - which became the character he would play for most of his career. Billy became one of the biggest and most popular leading men in films. Hits continued with Tell It to the Marines, Spring Fever, and West Point. He successfully transitioned to talking pictures in Alias Jimmy Valentine and Navy Blues in 1928/29.

 Billy was "openly" gay. On a trip to NYC in 1926, he met a young man named James "Jimmy" Shields. He brought Jimmy back with him to Hollywood and the two shared Billy's house. In 1933, Billy was arrested for having sex in the Los Angeles YMCA with a sailor he had picked up on the street. MGM covered up the scandal, but studio boss Louis Mayer demanded Billy enter into an arrange "lavender marriage" or give up his lover, Jimmy Shields. Billy refused, and was fired. He made several more films for small, "poverty row" studies before retiring from acting in 1934. His final films included Young and Beautiful, and The Marines Are Coming. 

Billy and Jimmy began a successful interior design and antique business. Billy was a popular figure in Hollywood, and many Hollywood stars engaged his services to redecorate their homes. The business prospered (Billy served during WWII), and the couple moved to Brentwood. The men were favorites within the rich social circles of Los Angeles and Hollywood, and lived in comfort. 

On December 26, 1973, Billy died in Los Angeles after a short battle with lung cancer. Billy Haines was 73 years old. A short time later, his lifelong partner, Jimmy, committed suicide. His suicide note famously read, "Goodbye to all of you who have tried so hard to comfort me in my loss of William Haines, whom I have been with since 1926. I now find it impossible to go it alone, I am much too lonely." Billy and Jimmy are buried side by side at the Woodlawn Cemetery in Santa Monica. 

Joan Crawford, Billy's close friend and decorating client, said Billy and Jimmy were "the happiest married couple in Hollywood."

repost courtesy- Michael Michaud 

THE GREAT MASOLEUM

CHRIS CORNELL'S FUNERAL

JOAN CRAWFORD- SLAP

"YOUR DAY OFF IS SURE BRUTAL ON YOUR LINGERIE"

RUDOLPH VALENTINO DEATH DAY TEA SALON- AUGUST 24TH

PRESENTS

RUDOLPH VALENTINO

 DEATH DAY TEA SALON

SILENT SCREEN LEGEND

 RUDOLPH VALENTINO HAS BEEN DEAD FOR 90 YEARS

JOIN US IN A TOAST  @

 ANTEBELLUM HOLLYWOOD

WEDNESDAY

AUGUST 24TH

5PM

$5 COVER

tea & sweeties will be served

 ENJOY HAND-BLENDED TEA 

RELAX &  HAVE A NICE CUPPA

VIEW ROMANTIC/SEXY ART

CHAT WITH FELLOW ART PATRONS

RAISE YOUR TEA CUP TO VALENTINO 

TAKE A LOAD OFF YOUR SLING-BACKS

 Rudolph Valentino

 (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926) 

 Italian-born American actor who starred in silent films~

 The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse,The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle, 

and The Son of the Sheik

Perhaps the 1st pop icon & first male sex symbol of the 1920s,

 he was known as the "Latin lover" or simply as "Valentino." 

He died at the age 31, causing mass hysteria among his fans propelling him into iconic status.

PRE- CODE HOLLYWOOD

A STAR IS BORN- 1937

A STAR IS BORN

(1937)

this version  is based on the pre-code 1932- version-

what price hollywood

remade in 1954 with judy garland & james mason, 

then again in 1976 with barbara striesand & kris kristofferson.

A Star Is Born 

 1937 American Technicolor romantic drama film produced by David O. Selznick, 

directed by William A. Wellman from a script by 

Wellman, Robert Carson, Dorothy Parker and Alan Campbell.

starring Janet Gaynor as an aspiring Hollywood actress, 

and Fredric March as a fading movie star who helps launch her career. 

The supporting cast features Adolphe Menjou, May Robson, Andy Devine,

 Lionel Stander and Owen Moore.

A Star Is Born was filmed from October to December 1936 with an estimated budget of $1,173,639, and premiered in Los Angeles, California on April 20, 1937

 at Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

 The film's New York premiere took place two days later at Radio City Music Hall.

It is not known how much Dorothy Parker contributed to the finished script. When she first saw the film, Parker was proud of her contribution and boasted about both the script and the film, but in later life she believed that she had contributed nothing of significance.

Early in their careers, Budd Schulberg (then a script reader for David O. Selznick) and Ring Lardner, Jr. (who was working in Selznick's publicity department) were assigned to write some additional dialogue for the film, a collaboration which produced Janet Gaynor's (and the film's) final words: 

"This is Mrs. Norman Maine." 

The line was used again in the 1954 Warner Bros. musical remake starring Judy Garland and James Mason. George Cukor, who directed the remake, suggested adding the scene in the 1937 film where Menjou offers the fading star a supporting role.

Some film historians believe that the marriage of Barbara Stanwyck and Frank Fay was the film's real-life inspiration. John Bowers has also been identified as inspiration for the Norman Maine character and the dramatic suicide-by-drowning scene near the end of the film (Bowers drowned in November 1936). The film contains several inside jokes, including Gaynor's brief imitations of Greta Garbo, Katharine Hepburn, and Mae West; the "Crawford Smear", referring to Joan Crawford's lipstick; and the revelation that the glamorous Norman Maine's real last name is Hinkle. (Hinkle was the real last name of silent film star Agnes Ayres, and not far removed from Fredric March's real last name, Bickel.)

This film also has some similarity to the earlier film What Price Hollywood? (1932), released by RKO Radio Pictures. The 1932 film's original title was The Truth About Hollywood based on a story by Adela Rogers St. Johns. St. Johns loosely based her plot on the experiences of actress Colleen Moore and her husband, alcoholic producer John McCormick (1893–1961), and the life and death of director Tom Forman, who committed suicide following a nervous breakdown.

Four years after What Price Hollywood? was released, Selznick approached George Cukor and asked him to direct A Star Is Born. Cukor felt the plot was too similar to What Price Hollywood? so he declined. RKO executives considered filing a plagiarism suit against Selznick International Pictures because of the similarities in the story, but eventually chose not to take legal action. Cukor later directed the 1954 musical remake starring Judy Garland.

A common Hollywood myth about the film is that Lana Turner appeared as an extra in one of the scenes in the film. Turner often denied the myth over the years, mentioning that she was discovered several months after the picture had finished production.