Karavansara

East of Constantinople, West of Shanghai


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CAROLE LOMBARD: THE PROFANE ANGEL BLOGATHON: To Be or Not to Be, 1942

My goodness, was she beautiful.
And smart, and funny.

On the 16th of January 1942, the plane carrying home Carole Lombard – who had been on a fund-raiser drive for the war effort – crashed southwest of Las Vegas. No one survived.
That was 75 years today, and this is the CAROLE LOMBARD: THE PROFANE ANGEL BLOGATHON, devised by In the Good Old Days of Hollywood and by Phyllis Loves Classic Movies. Check out the link for a complete list of the blogs participating, and for a wide selection of pieces on Carole Lombard and her short but breath-taking career.

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Then get back here, because you know I am desperately in love with Lombard, and I’ll write a bit about her last movie, Ernst Lubitsch’s To Be or Not to Be.

Continue reading →


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Queen of the screwballs

carole953-789x1024To some is Garbo, to some is Dietrich.
For me, when it comes to classic Hollywood beauties, the epitome of 1930s cinema, it is Carole Lombard.
What I think really got me, about Lombard, was her laughter, her being notoriously a prankster. I love funny women (because I love intelligent women, and humor is a sign of intelligence).
Anyway, I’m sure I’ve already bored you to death in the past about Lombard, but this week is special in a sad way – on the 16th it will be the 75th anniversary of the tragic air crash just east of Las Vegas that in 1942 killed 22, including Carole Lombard and her mother.
There’s some stuff coming up – a blogathon, a few posts, but while I am at it, I thought I’d do a photo gallery.
She was, after all, stunningly beautiful. Continue reading →


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The Saint that didn’t happen

Here’s something that should have happened, but did not.
I am so very sorry and frustrated about this.
The Saint.
Produced by Sir Roger Moore, featuring Moore himself and Ian Ogilvy.
With Adam Rayner as Simon Templar.
And Eliza Dushku (beautiful talented actress, I’d pay to watch her breathe1) as the Saint’s partner in crime.

But apparently the series is on indefinite hiatus – and it’s been since 2014.
Damn!

  1. does this sound creepy? It does, doesn’t it? ↩


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The Emperor of Dreams

Poet, author and artist Clark Ashton Smith was born on the 13th of January 1893, in a place called Long Valley Caldera, California.
An appreciated poet with a strong surreal and arabesque vein, he started writing and publishing weird fiction on H.P. Lovecraft’s suggestion, because he wasn’t making a living as a poet. His fiction is generally much more colorfuil and a lot sexier than HPL’s, and his macabre stories often feature a wry sense of humor.

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You can find a good selection of CAS’ works in a site devoted to the author, The Eldritch Dark. Continue reading →


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Tracking down “Trackdown”

An then they say there’s nothing good in Trump’s election.trackdown_culp
No, easy – I’m not going to talk politics.
Fact is, because of Donald Trump’s election I just discovered a TV series I did not know existed.

Because you see, it turns out that in a 1958 episode of the TV series Trackdown, a hustler and snake oil salesman called Trump, whose sinister plan involves the building of a wall to save good, god-fearing American citizens.

Now, in part because I’m currently on a Western roll, this Trackdown thing caught my attention – and when I found it features one of my favorite TV stars, actor Robert Culp, I had to learn more. Continue reading →