good-bye karl

man, considering the gravity of the occasion, i wish i was a bit more 'up' for posting tonight. but i wouldn't allow myself not to at least try to do my best to kiss karl malden good-bye. he died today. he was 97. and i was thinking, since i was born in 1972, and he was all over tv as the American Express guy, or the detective in 'Streets of San Francisco,' there probably was never a time when i didn't know who he was. but it wasn't until the early-to-mid 90's that i discovered him 'for real' and fell in love with him. and when i say i was in love with him, i want to be very clear.... it wasn't just that i admired his gritty 'real-man,' method-acting chops... i mean i was truly, romantically, swooningly in love with him. i thought he had one of the most incredible faces in the business. and i can't listen to his voice without my temperature rising. just thinking about him now, my cheeks and chest are blushed and hot. i don't think i need to go into a long, dry listing of his best-known roles, or his 'real-life' personal achievements... all that information is easily found these days. i just want to take this opportunity to let karl know something i've told him many, many times before, in many, many different ways; i loved you, karl... madly and deeply and romantically. i have imagined kissing you... having you, countless times. i have never seen a better actor. i read your book, your autobiography... i have literally seen every bit of film of yours i could find. i will miss you. thank you so much for being so brave, so handsome, so resilient, and so damn good at what you do. tonight, there'll be an angel that will kiss you with deep reverence, solemn gratitude, and uncharacteristic depravity. that angel, karl... will be me. (this shot was captured by me from the 'streetcar named desire' dvd. his performance of 'mitch' won him an academy award. i chose this shot because it spotlights his gorgeous eyes. click to enlarge.)

oui, it is my new book, no?

oui, it is my new book YES! so yeah, thanks to my beloved jean-lucien sending me a sweet tasty bundle of new picksh, i was able to get my new dazzling volume of fantasy and laughs off the ground tonight. well, i just got the cover on. and i like it. let's see, as the Stars we have the gorgeous and ethereal miss georgina hale, as the sinning-and-seeking-absolution phillipe on the right, and mr. oliver reed as the trying-to-be-holy-yet-tormented-by-temptations father grandier on the left. the image is of course, from the ken russell masterpiece 'the devils.' (and wow, wow, wow.... if you can get your hands on an uncut copy of the film, then man, strap yourself in and get ready for the searing carnal ride. truly, not only is it one of the finest films ken russell has ever made, i daresay it is amongst the finest films of all the 1970's. it is as gorgeous as it is hellish and shocking.) and um, the title word, 'oui,' seems to speak for itself. it is an exotic and positive word. although i must admit i chose it for the look of the word as much as i did for the meaning. i have great hopes for this book, which was hatched on the first day of june. so okay, now for the medallions below the main picture... let's see, what do we have? from left to right, we have the late, great, tough and sexy mr. joe strummer, smoking a tough 'don't care' cig; then we have some random retro aqua lighting; then hey! let's hear it for the disco scene, because we've got a shot of the curvy and tough annette from 'saturday night fever,' lighting tony's disco cig. ('...but you'd ask me to lay down...') then we've got the lovely and legendary orchid-colored couple of lucy and dougie from 'sgt. pepper's lonely heart's club band,' doing 'you never give me your money,' ; and after them? well it's the marvelous karl malden as mitch from kazan's 'a streetcar named desire,' peeking through the drapes. then next up, in the blue circle, there's the loving sparring couple of 'empire's' princess leia and han solo, bickering in the south passage of Hoth. and last, but certainly never, ever least... we have the silver-haired and handsome, painfully sexy mr. ian holm, as tom frost in cronenberg's buggy epic 'naked lunch,' of course based (somewhat) on william s. burroughs great book. so here it is lovers, dig it... the clutch of blank pages that will soon be filled with literally thousands of separate inkstrokes. its always an odd feeling when i start a new book. like, i always find it hard to believe i'll ever get the whole thing filled up... but hey, i've got about nine year's worth of books like this, all full... so i guess it's all a matter of uncapping that pen, and starting with the first date, the first quote, and that first bit of wit that makes my darling laugh. thank you God. Seriously. (click to enlarge) (oh, and i've since realized that annette's not in fact lighting tony's cig. just wanted to correct that.)

marlon and karl...gay or rehearsing?

slashfickers, start your engines! okay, i'm more than willing to acknowledge there's probably no actual hot gay movie star dealings going on here. (although, the 'gay' explanation IS a heckuva lot more interesting.) yes, this is an on-set still of marlon brando, sitting in karl malden's lap, tickling a little 'koochie-koo' on his chin. it was taken during the filiming of the 1961 western 'one eyed jacks,' directed by brando himself... which supports the theory that he was just giving karl some direction. i've seen this movie. in fact, i technically own it, on vhs, back at my mother's place. its pretty good...if you like looking at karl and marlon in the prime of their looks... which i very much did at the time i shelled out the 19 bucks for the tape. i don't remember much of the plot. like, they're both outlaws, then karl double-crosses marlon, then years later, after suffering in a mexican prison, marlon gets out, and goes on the standard 'revenge' warpath. he finds his old partner in crime, karl, is now the local sherriff with a pretty young teenage daughter. the rest virtually writes itself. the only other thing remarkable about this flick is the character names. karl plays the very 'porno-actor'-sounding 'dad longworth,' and marlon plays the very duran-duran-album-sounding 'rio.' oh, and as if more unspoken homosexuality was needed, there IS a scene where marlon ties 'rio' to a hitching post in the center of town, in broad daylight, and sado-bullwhips his back until his shirt falls apart. kinky... kinky-town USA.

baby blue

here is a shot at least two years old. its a screen shot taken from the cinematic masterpiece 'babydoll' directed by elia kazan. this shot features the marvelous karl malden in his role as the desperate archie lee meighan. i love this shot. and as for the reference to 'tiger tail,' i think i have to willingly give mr. tenessee williams credit for that. apparently the movie 'babydoll' was based on a one-act play about some wagons full of cotton. (forgive me if i don't research the specifics right now... its waaaay past my bedtime.) still, i love this shot. even in the tiniest glimpse you have of the whites of his eye, you can almost see the jealousy and vengeance stirring in there.

do i dare?

...do i dare post a shot of karl malden as tonight's 'ugly is the new cute' candidate? i almost want to post him without that title. yes, i have to admit, i've never thought mr. malden was ugly. it's probably true that i first saw him in the american express commercials in the 1970's. but even then, i remember he made me feel safe. it was just an impression i felt, even as a very small girl, watching him... probably in bits of 'streets of san francisco,' too. come to think of it, i can't consciously remember a time when i didn't know his face and his voice. and yeah, i think he appealed to me, (most likely on a freudian level) because he seemed capable and smart and made me feel safe. i've actually read karl's autobiography. i couldn't put it down... then again, i had a full-blown crush on him at the time. and i guess i still do. but really, its a good read about how hollywood really worked and brando and carroll baker and all that stuff. he's the best, he really is. this frame is a screen capture from the sometimes-banned elia kazan film 'babydoll.' it IS require viewing.

babydoll

when something is banned, i sit up and take notice. you may have heard of director elia kazan in reference to his supposed standard-setting masterpiece 'on the waterfront,' but the lustier folks know his harder mark was made by the scandalous and steamy 'babydoll.' it was condemned by the 'legion of decency,' and even now, one could see why. its hot and cruel and tragic and has all the elements of southern-fried Shakespeare. it stars the underrated Karl Malden, the sinister and slithering Eli Wallach, and the powder-soft giggling lust of miss Carroll Baker in the title role. She was nominated for an Oscar for the part of Babydoll Carson McCorkle, and should have won. It is a devastating, horny entertainment. Pricking, even frightening...but nonetheless, required viewing. Dig it.