Valerie Harper 1939-2019

Isabel Toledo 1960-2019

three more new pieces from my small sketchbook

Michael Haber 1967-2019

oddball magazine august 2019

https://oddballmagazine.com/poem-by-crystal-condakes-3/

Cat On Hot Tin Roof 1958

Gutted and skinned for late 50’s audiences it’s still quite enjoyable as a big Hollywood thing featuring two beauties at the beginning (paul Newman) and the middle (elizabeth Taylor) of their remarkable careers. During the filming Liz was actually in mourning over the untimely death of her husband Mike Todd who went Around The World and hit a mountain on the way home. Poor Liz, still looking ravishing and doing a good job as a ripe southern belle who married into a loveless but well to do marriage with pretty boy Paul Newman who spends the entire length of the movie with a leg in a cast and his body in pajamas drinking himself silly over the death of his pal and love of his life Skipper. Liz is unhappy because Paul won’t make babies with her and Big Daddy played by Burl Ives (who also played a bad daddy in The Big Country the same year and won an Oscar for that one) is storming around the old homestead pissed off about his son’s drinking and failure to become a little daddy and everyone is lying about Big Daddy’s declining health and fast approaching death. Meanwhile his other son played by the great Jack Carson and his wife the wonderful Williams fixture Madeleine Sherwood keep pushing out those no neck monsters. Filmed on basically one set and taking place in one day, these cats are hot and bothered, itching for a fight and carrying on like it was nobody’s business. Liz is stunning in only three costume changes that had my teen sister and her girlfriends swooning over her. This was a surprise hit, landing at Radio City Music Hall of all places and getting lots of love and Oscar nominations. Also around is the commanding Judith Anderson as Big Mama. Directed by Richard Brooks who based it on the Tennessee Williams play and was more than happy to remove all those nasty homo things to get his picture made. In Cinemascope and lovely pastel colors. Tennessee hated it.

August 2019 Mixed on cardboard

I Remember Mama 1948

George Stevens made this cherished film after returning from the horrors of War and the liberation of the concentration camps that he took part in which changed him forever and he would never make another light sophisticated comedy again. Based on a book of memoirs by Kathryn Forbes about her grandmother who immigrated from Norway in the 19th century it was also adapted into a hit play in 1944 which featured a young and beautiful Marlon Brando in his Broadway debut and was also a long running tv series in the early 50’s. Richard Rogers of all people tried to make it into a musical with Liv Ullmann in the lead and was a big flop in 1979 only running for 3 months and no doubt contributing to his death that same year.
The story focuses on a close loving family living in San Francisco a few years after the earthquake, (no mention of this little event is talked about) who share all the joys and sorrows that come their way. Mama is nicely acted by Irene Dunne and her oldest daughter who wants to be a writer is played by the superb Barbara Bel Geddes with her glowing presence and voice. Ah yes that voice. Mama has a big family including her sisters who are like the three bears one is gruff, one is cowardly and one is sweet but basically they are good souls.
There are familiar family crises sick cats, no money, childhood sickness, lots of drinking of coffee, failed dreams, late marriages, lovable kids, and some marvelous performances including one by Oskar Homolka repeating his role from Broadway as the formidable Uncle Chris who gives us one hell of a death bed scene that should leave you if not weeping then certainly impressed.
Featuring a large supporting cast of actors in unexpected roles: Rudy Vallee as a curt doctor, Edgar Bergen as a shy undertaker, Cederic Hardwicke as a poor literature loving border, the great Florence Bates as a successful “lady author” and Ellen Corby as one of Mama’s sisters. The film needs a restoration its a bit tired looking, but the black and white on location shooting in the city itself is lovely, and Stevens is so kind and attentive to his cast that you want to hug them all and have a cup of coffee with them. The film received Oscar nominatations for Dunne, Bel Geddes, Homolka, Corby and the cinematography but surprisingly none for picture or director. This might have to do with the film being a box office failure even though it was the Easter attraction at Radio City Music Hall and the typical long George Stevens running time might have been too much for the fast and loose movie audiences of 1948 who were not in the mood for nostalgia and were instead getting pounded by all the Noir films that were giving them good gooses.

Peter Fonda 1940-2019

Piero Tosi 1927-2019

One of the worlds greatest costume designer

Nancy Kienholz 1944-2019

Bontanical Summer 2019

Marisa Merz 1926-2019

Toni Morrison 1931-2019

Fuck. One of my favorite authors has passed, and that worthless pile of orange shit still walks this earth. Unfair. I hate him.

new drawings

These are the first drawings that I've done in the beautiful sketchbook that my friends master bookbinders Eric and Anya Rios gave me for a gift. The paper measures approx. 5" x 7" and all the drawings will remain in the book.  First images are of the book itself.

D.A. Pennebaker 1925-2019

Some photographs