Everybody Loves: Hedy Lamarr (and a good story)

Hedy Lamarr – Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler ( November 9, 1913 – January 19, 2000) Not just another pretty face from Hollywood’s Golden Age, but a smart one as well. You see, Hedy helped invent technology that would eventually be used in cellular phones and WIFI. It’s called “Frequency-hopping spread-spectrum”. Here’s the story; Hedy and her Avante-Garde musician friend George Anthiel developed an automated control for playing multiple musical intruments – in this case player pianos. With this, they then created an early version of ‘frequency hopping’ using a piano roll to change between 88 different frequencies, which was intended to make radio-guided torpedoes harder for enemies to detect or jam. The idea wasn’t implemented until 1962 when it was used by U.S. military ships during the blockade of Cuba. This invention would later lay the basis for Spread-Spectrum Communication Technology which would be instumental in the developement of WIFI and Cordless communication. So Hedy Lamarr Invented the cell phone – sort of.

Now for her movie career – Hedy started her career as a teenager in Berlin and was dubbed the most beautiful ‘Woman in Europe’. In 1933 she starred in the Czech film Ecstasy.  Closeups of her face during orgasm in one scene (rumored to be unsimulated), and full frontal shots of her in another scene, swimming and running nude through the woods, gave the film great notoriety. She was ‘discovered’ in Paris by Louis B. Mayer in 1933 and brought to Hollywood. Her first American role was the lead in Algiers co-starring Charles Boyer. Hedy’s career went into decline in the early ’50’s and she lived the rest of her life out of the public eye in, of all places, Florida. She was really only heard from a couple of times, once when she was arrested for shoplifting and also to sue Mel Brooks for using her name in the movie Blazing Saddles.

ECSTASY

Design: Vintage Burlesque Posters

In the Forties and Fifties burlesque was big, big, big – scantily glad women, stupid comedians, animal acts, etc. All major cities had Burlesque houses – but if you didn’t live in a big city and you wanted to see Lili St. Cyr’s famous Bubble Bath routine you went to the movies (discrete art houses). Some of these beautiful posters are signs to advertise a specific dancer, (Zorita and her Snake) some are compilations of different dancers along with baggy pants comedians and a few are actual movies w/ actual plots that star strippers. Big names, big girls – Tempest Storm, Blaze Star, Rosita Royce, Rose Le Rose, Lili St. Cyr, Bettie Page, etc.,etc.,etc. The designs are great – throw on as many stars as the poster will fit and some sensational type and headlines and BAM, it’s done.

Peek-A-Boo 1953

Teaserama 1955

Carnival Road Show - 1948

Ding Dong Girlies French Revue

Zorita - The Sensational Snake Dance

Lili St. Cyr - Love Moods 1952

Strip Tease Murder Case - 1950

Hollywood Burlesque

Striporama - 1953

Strip Tease Girl - 1952

Naughty New Orleans

Scanty Panties - 1961

Style: Andy Warhol

Andrew Warhola (August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) – Andy Warhol        We all know Andy’s work – his multi-colored silk screen portraits of the rich and famous, the soup cans, Marilyn, Elvis, etc. We also know what Andy looks like – the crazy white/platinum wig and clear glasses. It’s interesting though to see the man in a different light, young, unposed and in a few cases – in drag.

Self Portrait

Andy & Edie Sedgwick

Andy & Edie & ?

Andy 1965

Andy & Ali 1978

Andy 1984

Andy & Jean-Michel Basquiat

Photograhy: Pennie Smith

Pennie Smith – London based photographer – everyone knows she has taken the best rock photo ever – that being of Paul Simonon smashing his bass on the cover of The Clash’s London Calling (with a close second being her shots of The Jam). That may be her most recognizable shot, but if you were in a band in England in the 70’s and 80’s, Pennie was there.

The Shot - Uncropped

Morrissey and his hair

Paul Weller - The Jam, 1978 and Pete Townsend - The Who, 1980

The Jam 1978

The Clash Publicity Shot

Iggy 1980 - Man Down

Paul Simonon

Joe Strummer

The Strokes - 2011

PJ Harvey - 2010

 

 

Everyone Loves: Anne Bancroft & The Graduate

Anne Bancroft – Born Anna Maria Louisa Italiano (September 17, 1931 – June 6, 2005) The first time I saw The Graduate when I was a kid I thought Anne Bancroft was incredibly old and incredibly hot. Turns out she was only 36 at the time of her most famous role as Mrs. Robinson – so she wasn’t old at all, but she sure was hot. It also happens she was incredibly talented, winning 1 Oscar (Best Actress – The Miracle Worker), 3 BAFTAs, 2 Golden Globes, 2 Tonys and 2 Emmys. Not Bad. She was also married to Mel Brooks (?) for 40 years. Her Mrs. Robinson has become iconic over the years and up until recently, (being replaced somewhat by Cougar) a euphanism for an older woman chasing a younger man. It’s also a great song by Simon & Garfunkel w/ a pretty good cover by the Lemonheads. Oh, and her son Max writes books about Zombies.

Dustin Hoffman & Anne Bancroft

Pin-Up Anne

Early Head Shot

From The Elephant Man

With husband Mel Brooks on Curb Your Enthusiasm

 

 

Design: Music Movie Posters

What’s the criteria here? Movies with a plot that just happens to have a bunch of bands playing between the action. The big one was 1956’s Rock Around the Clock featuring Bill Haley and his Comets, The Platters, Freddie Bell and the Bellboys, et al. When producers saw that they could make some cash off this new Rock n’ Roll thing, everybody got their own movie how else can you explain Shake, Rattle & Roll’s feature players being Choker Campbell (?). The Girl Can’t Help It revitalized things a bit featuring Gene Vincent, Little Richard and Eddie Cochran, among others and is pretty good. And then came British Invasion. Thought to be another flash-in-the-pan band, Richard Lester directed The Beatles in A Hard Days Night like his life depended on it. It’s great, and funny and well….it’s got The Beatles! After that, the floodgates were open again, The Dave Clark 5 and Gerry & the Pacemakers both had starring roles, as did Freddie and the Dreamers. And finally, check out country music’s answer to the trend with Nashville Rebel starring Tex Ritter, Loretta Lynn and introducing Waylon Jennings. Most share a similar design ethic – toss as many band names and pictures as possible and finish it of with some crazy type – perfect.

Rock Around the Clock - 1956

Don't Knock the Rock - 1956

Shake, Rattle and Roll - 1956

The Girl Can't Help It - 1956

Rock All Night - 1956

Get Yourself a College Girl - 1964

A Hard Days Night - 1964

Ferry Cross the Mersey - 1965

Having a Wild Weekend - 1965

The Dave Clark 5, Short - 1965

Seaside Swingers - 1965

Nashville Rebel - 1965