Showbiz History: Jupiter Ascending, Coraline, and silent sex symbol Ramon Novarro
Saturday, February 6, 2021 at 8:30AM 6 random things that happened on this day, February 6th, in showbiz history
1942 The comic western Valley of the Sun hits theaters. Hollywood was struggling to figure out what to do with Lucille Ball that decade. This was one of those 'well, how about this genre?' attempts...
1972 The 29th Golden Globes honoring the films of 1971 are held with The French Connection (Drama) and Fiddler on the Roof (musical) emerging triumphant. All the acting winners (barring comedy/musical categories) would repeat at the Oscars except Best Supporting Actress category; The Globes liked Ann-Margret in Carnal Knowledge best but Oscar later chose Cloris Leachman in The Last Picture Show.
Paul Newman in Fort Apache, The Bronx (1981)
1981 Fort Apache, The Bronx a cop drama starring Paul Newman, is released and runs into protests (due to the its depiction of the Bronx) and legal troubles (it was inspired by a true story).
1987 Two new female led thrillers Black Widow starring Theresa Russell and Debra Winger and Dead of Winter starring Mary Steenburgen open in theaters along with Michael J Fox and Joan Jett in the rock drama Light of Day and Judd Nelson in the comedy From the Hip. That weekend was all over the place, tonally. I remember renting three of those on VHS a couple of years after the fact. Have you seen any of them?
2009 Laika's masterful enchanting debut Coraline, based on the Neil Gaiman book, opens in theaters. We're still pissed that Laika has yet to win an Oscar despite nominations every time they've made a film.
2015 Two out-there poorly reviewed fantasy films, Jupiter Ascending and The Seventh Son open in movie theaters co-starring recent same night Oscar winners and former onscreen mother and son gingers (Savage Grace) Eddie Redmayne and Julianne Moore as their respective villains.
Today's Birthday Suit
Silent film star Ramon Novarro (the original Ben-Hur) was born on this day in 1899. The Mexican actor was instrumental in the creation of Hollywood's "latin lover" archetype and very successful in the 1920s and 1930s. His costars included a who's who of female stars of the time including Greta Garbo, Myrna Loy, Lupe Velez, Norma Shearer and Joan Crawford. Eight years after his last film he was murdered by two young men offering him sex (a pretense to rob his home), a tragic end to an originally glamorous life.
Roman Novarro (in the swimsuit) with fellow Mexican actor who hit it big in Hollywood, Gilbert Roland (in the suit)
Other Showbiz birthdays today: Legendary Oscar winning cinematographer Haskell Wexler (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Matewan, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest), Auteur François Truffaut (Day For Night, the 400 Blows), Russia's amazing director Andrey Zvyagintsev (Leviathan, Loveless), Colombia's director Ciro Guerra (Embrace of the Serpent) Kathy Najimy (Sister Act), Director Debra Granik (Winter's Bone, Leave No Trace), Zsa Zsa Gabor (Queen of Outer Space, Moulin Rouge), Oscar nominee Rip Torn (Cross Creek, Men in Black), Mamie Van Doren (Teacher's Pet, Voyage of the Prehistoric Women), Dane Dehaan (Chronicle), Alice Eve (Before We Go), Crystal Reed (Swamp Thing), Anna Diop (Titans), Charlie Heaton (Stranger Things), Colombia's Natalia Reyes (Terminator Dark Fate), former president and movie star Ronadld Reagan (Hasty Heart, Bedtime for Bonzo), Barry Miller (Fame, Peggy Sue Got Married), Oscar nominated Writer/Director Jim Sheridan (In America, In the Name of the Father), multi-hyphenate filmmaker Robert Townsend (Hollywood Shuffle, The Meteor Man), Elmo Lincoln (silent film Tarzan of the Apes), baseball legend Babe Ruth, and music stars Natalie Cole, Bob Marley, Rick Astley, and Axl Rose.
Reader Comments (20)
I do need to revisit The French Connection. I remember loving it. No wish to revisit Fiddler on the roof though
I adore Black Widow. There is tangible sexual chemistry between Debra Winger and Theresa Russell that makes the tired screenplay perk up.
From day 1 I've always found Jupiter Ascending to be fun. But the Seventh Son - oof.
I've seen Black Widow, From the Hip and Light of Day and liked all three to varying degrees.
Light of Day is interesting for the cast including Gena Rowlands as their mother but is ultimately rather ordinary.
Black Widow's story is a bit obvious but the two women work very well together to make something more of it.
My favorite of the three is From the Hip. It has a whiplash inducing change of tone in the middle from comedy to drama but taken separately the two parts work well. Judd Nelson is a bit of a stretch as a hotshot lawyer but he's backed up by an amazing cast including John Hurt giving an award level performance.
Valley of the Sun is a standard Western but a fascinating change of pace for Lucy. She doesn't really fit into the genre but she doesn't seem completely wrong either.
I watch Black widow last year, not too good, but Russell was very efective in it. What hapened to her?
2 days ago I watch Seventh son, what a a terrible movie! By far the worst of Julianne Moore and Jeff Bridges.
I watch Black widow last year, not too good, but Russell was very efective in it. What hapened to her?
2 days ago I watched Seventh son, what a a terrible movie! By far the worst of Julianne Moore and Jeff Bridges.
I have recently seen The French Connection (for the first time) and I was underwhelmed. I definitely prefer The Last Picture Show that year, and even Fiddler On The Roof.
I remember liking Black Widow at the time, though it wasn't something to feel passionate about. Whatever happened to Theresa Russell?
And where is the juicy tell all biofilm about Ramon Novarro? That would be pretty interesting.
James Craig was such a hunk - youza!
Why does Julianne always loose something when she makes big Budget stuff.
Was there ever a sexier man than Ramon Novarro? I'd be hard presses to come up with one. Also, his sweet, gentile personality came through in so many roles. He's probably the hottie from the past I would most like to have a time machine for, so I could go back and visit him. Some of those old movies, not just BEN-HUR (which is FAR better than the 59 version), are really delightful: ACROSS TO SINGAPORE, IN GAY MADRID, THE PAGEN, THE STUDENT PRINCE OF OLD HEIDELBERG, THE CAT AND THE FIDDLE....
“I won’t be ignored, Dan.”
Sincerely,
Tyrone Power, John Ireland, Clark Gable, Jeffrey Hunter, Stephen Boyd, Harry Belafonte, Riz Ahmed, Lenny Kravitz, Henry Golding, Idris Elba, Jamie Bell...
Nope, Working Stiff. Some strong competition there, but, ultimately, nope... (And Gable? Seriously? He reminds me of a homophobic scout master who'd humiliate the little fey boys at summer camp.)
The French Connection was the first R-rated movie I got to see alone. My parents let me because they heard it was "only violent" and didn't have a lot of sex or nudity in it. I was totally thrilled by it. I saw it recently and was surprised how well it held up. It would still be my choice for Best Picture and Gene Hackman for Best Actor.
@ DH
Gable, Gable, Gable...sheer animal magnetism...
Navarro was such a beautiful and talented man. I don't think that biopic about him is going to be made (Luna or Bernal would have been great casting) but hopefully other people seek him out and appreciate his work.
Light of Day is an alright film yet we NIN fans remember it for the fact that it featured an appearance from Trent Reznor as part of a lame synth-pop group in the film.
If anyone has a copy of Marilyn Manson's The Long Road Out of Hell memoir, I'd suggest you burn that fucking book. I've known since 1999 that some of the stuff he wrote was bullshit and how he went after Reznor back then was awful as the reason he had fans in the first place is because of Reznor. Reznor produced his first 2 albums and made him a big superstar. Yes, they mended fences in 2000 but only briefly because Manson is a fucking junkie and a real piece of shit. I don't blame Reznor for denouncing him. At least Reznor owned up to his own substance abuse issues in the past and liaisons with groupies but nothing with what Manson has done. That story about him holding a gun to photographer or make-up artist because she was transgender as well as the fact that Manson had raped Paz de la Huerta in that same room as she was lying face down passed out. Honestly, fuck him. I now wish I never went to see him back in November of 1996.
@WS "Gable, Gable, Gable...sheer animal magnetism..."
Well, if you're a woman and you like your man to slap you around some. ;)
And yes, I know the rumors about him sleeping with men for pay early on when he was a starving actor. Still...
Black Widow could have been a great movie if they had just given in and leaned into the Lesbian undertones. But they don't, and the odd casting of very unconventionally handsome guy for the triangle was a strange choice.
I’m in Black Widow’s team, the match between Winger and Russell was really entertaining (I love Russell, she gave some magnificent perfs in that period, especially the one in Insignificance, directed by her partner Nicolas Roeg).
Ramon Navarro was pretty handsome and sexy. Yep, I would like to watch a biopic about him. I also heard gossip about King of Hollywood Gable’s “gay for pay” period, somebody found there the reason why he didn’t want to work with Cukor on Gone with the wind. Besides I’m I think the only person who prefer his juvenile look without stache.
Gable? Sexy? I think it was Vivien Leigh who protested about the bad breath supposedly caused by his dentures. Yikes.
Ramon Novarro met such a gruesome violent end around the time of the Tate-LaBianca slayings, but of course his killing did not "merit" the media attention accorded the Manson murders. While all of these horrible events were lurid and absolutely repulsive, I can't help but think Novarro's murder was less publicized because of the gay hustler angle. No matter, all of these killings put LA and the world on high alert at the time.