This essay exploring the downward spiral of Dylan Thomas during tours of America is included in my most recent book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other…
View More Dylan Thomas in AmericaTag: popular movies
Popular movies make for terrific elements to enhance literary adventures and I use them often on The Diary of an Improvateur.
I’m always carousing the new releases of popular movies as fodder for my writing but to be honest, I seem to default back to the historical dramas that are so delicious to watch. Case in point is The Age of Innocence, based upon the novel by Edith Wharton. It was one of my favorites even before I became a member of The National Arts Club and found out that one of the early scenes in the film was filmed in the club, Daniel Day Lewis walking up the stairs to the ball that was getting underway.
The landmarked building that brought authenticity to the story is the Samuel Tilden Mansion, named for its former owner—the 25th Governor of New York. He acquired the house in 1863 and purchased the adjacent home several years later, hiring Calvert Vaux, one of the designers of Central Park, to undertake a wholesale renovation of both brownstones, which were originally built during the 1840s. The building is a popular location for directors when they are shooting period film, like Martin Scorsese who chose the Club for several scenes in The Age of Innocence. I love stories like this and am thrilled to be able to share them in my posts.
Django Reinhardt Hot-Jazz Genius
This essay delving into the gypsy ways of Django Reinhardt is included in my most recent book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other essays in the…
View More Django Reinhardt Hot-Jazz GeniusEarnest in Paris
This comparative look at Wes Anderson and Ernest Hemingway, Earnest in Paris, is a guest post by Miles Stephenson, a talented young writer whom I…
View More Earnest in ParisThe Architecture of Tango
I envy the pencil being held carefully between her fingers, the rasping sound the sharpener makes as a thin layer of wood peels away from…
View More The Architecture of TangoA Midcentury Cougar on the Prowl
The nickname cougar, signifying women who have “a thing” for younger men, hasn’t been around for as long as they’ve been cropping up in popular…
View More A Midcentury Cougar on the ProwlPeggy Guggenheim Visits Oculus Gallery
In 2009, I trekked to Venice with my dear friend JoAnn Locktov, the founder of Bella Figura Publications whose newest book Dream of Venice Architecture…
View More Peggy Guggenheim Visits Oculus GalleryHeaven Shall Be Here
In the film A Little Chaos, Alan Rickman, who plays an unlikely Louis XIV, declares, “Heaven shall be here.” He’s speaking of a ballroom he…
View More Heaven Shall Be HereThe Seat of Scottish Power
As the opening credits roll during the film Her Majesty, Mrs Brown, a Markino marble bust, which has been tossed over a castle’s ramparts, tumbles…
View More The Seat of Scottish PowerHow to Set a Mood
The 1968 version of The Thomas Crown Affair starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway is a mercurial mélange of masculine and feminine charisma in equal…
View More How to Set a MoodThe Built Legacy of Henry VIII
The 2016 Academy Awards are handed out this coming Sunday so I’m celebrating a film that showcases the built legacy of Henry VIII to delve back into…
View More The Built Legacy of Henry VIII