#hell's angels

[lizztaylor]

Jean Harlow as Helen in Hell's Angels (1930)

[summertimenoir]

Jean Harlow in Hell's Angels (1930)

[precodesoul]

Jean Harlow poses in her suite at the Savoy-Plaza in Manhattan while in New York promoting HELL’S ANGELS | Photo taken on September 9, 1930.

[goldenamaranthe-blog]

Technique: Charlie & Lucifer

Lucifer: (muffled and strained) Ho-kkkay, scho, you schart dike dis.

Charlie: (also muffled and very garbled) 'Kay....dike....dat?

Lucifer: (gives a thumbs up) Perfec! Wow! Ho-chkay! Dow you dus do dis-

Vaggie: What are you two goobers doing?

Charlie: (holds up a finger and finishes the last bit of instruction before squealing and pulling a tied off cherry stem from her lips) Look what I did, Vaggie!!!

Vaggie: (blinks as a few feathers threaten to escape from her back) That's... uh... very good, hun. But, why?

Lucifer: (proudly while holding his tied cherry stem between his teeth like a cigarette) Charlie was looking for a few good pointers on how to (eyebrow wiggle) please a lady. So! I figured the good ol' tie a knot in a cherry stem would be ample practice for proper technique.

Vaggie: (wings pop out in a feathery boner)

Charlie: (mortified) DAD!!!!

Lucifer: (holds hands up in a weird shrug) What?! You've already gone down half a long stem length. A couple more of these, and you should be able to maneuver a normal stem. And THEN!!! (pulls a long, red stem out of a jar on the coffee table) You can go Advanced Mode!!! (puts stem in his mouth, and his cheeks squirm as he teases the stem before opening his mouth and revealing a Celtic knot balanced on his tongue) TA-DAAAA!!!

Charlie: (jaw drop) How the fuck????

Vaggie: Can I see one of those?

Lucifer: (still balancing his tied knot) Schure!

Vaggie: Thanks. (Pulls a long cherry stem and pops it in her mouth)

Charlie: (watches intently at the subdued bulges in Vaggie's cheeks as she works the stem)

Lucifer: (teasing) Charlie, don't forget to breathe.

Charlie: (gasps in a breath)

Vaggie: (finishes her work and pulls the tied stem from her lips, revealing a perfect, double figure eight heart knot. She kisses Charlie's cheek and places the tied stem in her hands) Love you, hun.

Charlie: (flushed bright red with a tail and horns boner as she silent screams)

Lucifer: Ha-HA!!! THAT'S MY FUTURE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW!!!!!

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

(photo: Ken Kesey, New York City, November 1985, by Allen Ginsberg)

* * *

The late great Merry Prankster Ken Kesey was born on this day 1935 in La Junta Colorado. Probably best known for is novel “One Flew over The Cuckoo’s Nest,” it was his legendary Acid Test parties down the SF peninsula in La Honda with the house band The Warlocks which he and fellow pranksters hosted after their return from the cross country trip on their dayglo painted school bus called “Furthur” (popularized in Tom Wolfe’s Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test), that solidly launched the psychedelic 60s. The Warlocks in short order would change their name to the Grateful Dead...

Ken Kesey on Allen Ginsberg:

“Back in (19)66 or (19)67, we took the bus up to Berkeley for Vietnam Day. The day before the big rally, the Hell’s Angels said they were going to protest Vietnam Day by pounding the shit out of the protestors, and they were serious. Since we kind of knew the Angels, we went over to Oakland, to Sonny Barger‘s house. Ginsberg went with us, right into the lion’s mouth with his little cymbals. Ching, ching ching. And he just kept talking and being his usual absorbing self. Finally they said, “OK, OK, We’re not going to beat up the protesters’. When he left, one of the Angels, Terry the Tramp, says, “That queer little kike ought to ride a bike. From then on, he had a pass around the Angels. They had let all the other Angels know. “He’s a dude worth helping out”. They were absolutely impressed by him and his courage.”

[amostexcellentblog]

Hey, so all 1930 Hollywood movies are now in the public domain! Here are 10 that are still worth checking out from that tumultuous year when the industry was struggling to survive the twin challenges of the Great Depression and the rocky transition to sound. Hopefully they'll be posted online for free soon.

Morocco: Marlene Dietrich’s Hollywood debut under Josef von Sternberg's direction is not my favorite of their collaborations, but it is the most well known, boasting the iconic scene of Dietrich's cabaret singer donning a tuxedo and playfully kissing another woman in the club. The main plot is a love triangle that's never held my interest.

All Quiet on the Western Front: Winner of Best Picture at the 3rd Academy Awards, the limits of early sound technology are obvious here but its anti-war message still packs an emotional wallop. I remember my first time watching it in high school and being genuinely overwhelmed by some scenes. Plus it's much more faithful to the classic novel than the recent Netflix version.

Animal Crackers: One of the better Marx Brothers vehicles, with the brothers unleashing chaos at a society part. It's no Duck Soup, but still.

Hell's Angels: The first movie stars of the sound era started to emerge in 1930, all suitably toughened up for wary Depression-era audiences in contrast to the more carefree movie idols of the roaring twenties. Here Jean Harlow elevates an underwritten female lead through sheer force of personality in what was her breakout role. Howard Hughes's legendary aviation drama also boasts some incredible aerial combat sequences that make up for a muddled storyline.

The Big House: Pioneering screenwriter Frances Marion set the template for the Prison Movie genre with her Oscar winning screenplay (becoming the first woman to win an Oscar outside of the Best Actress category) for this engaging look at life behind bars that feels more authentic than a lot of other dramas from the early sound era.

Madam Satan: Despite the sensational title, for most of the runtime this is a fairly conventional domestic drama about extramarital affairs, and then you get that absolutely bonkers third act set at a masquerade ball on a zeppelin (yes, really) which must be seen to be believed!

Ladies of Leisure: Star Barbara Stanwyck and director Frank Capra would both go on to make better movies, but in this film early in both their careers you can already see their familiar beats emerging in this pre-Code tale of a woman with a past and the society man who loves her.

Anna Christie: "Garbo Talks!" declared the ads in a tagline that would overshadow the film. Maybe it's because I just suffered through an excruciatingly dull revival of the play that inspired it, but I really appreciate how the screenplay (again by Frances Marion) condenses Eugene O'Neill's play down to 90 minutes without losing its emotional core. Greta Garbo is stunning in her talkie debut.

The Divorcee: Norma Shearer reinvented herself as the embodiment of the chic, liberated woman on screen (and won a Best Actress Oscar to boot) with her performance in this pre-Code drama that takes a frank look at society's sexual double standards that feels ahead of its time.

The Unholy Three: Silent film legend and horror icon Lon Chaney's only sound film before his death (of throat cancer ironically enough) is this strange, yet memorable tale of circus sideshow performers turned petty thieves operating a criminal enterprise under the guise of a pet shop, only to be undone by their own greed and romantic obsessions.

[drabbles-mc]

what more is there to say?

Hell's Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga by Hunter S. Thompson