Posted by: aldrich @ 11:24 pm
Curtis Harrington
September 17, 1926 - May 6, 2007
RIP
Mr. Harrington started as a teenage amateur filmmaker, became a force in the experimental cinema of the ’40s and ’50s, and then brought his quirky vision to the Hollywood studios. He was an actor, writer, cinematographer, assistant producer and crew member, but was best known as the director of more than two dozen brazenly scary, often intellectually provocative horror films. Time magazine called him “Poe with a megaphone.”
His first commercial feature, “Night Tide” (1961), starred Dennis Hopper, whose character begins to suspect that a woman who plays a mermaid in a carnival is a real mermaid with an intriguing twist: she kills at the full moon. In a memorable scene, the hero trails the heroine by following her wet trail.
Curtis Harrington Obituary - New York Times
(CNN) — Convicted “D.C. Madam” Deborah Jeane Palfrey railed against what she called a “modern-day lynching” in notes to her mother and sister before hanging herself at her mother’s Florida home, police disclosed Monday.
Police in Tarpon Springs, Florida, released Palfrey’s suicide notes Monday, along with autopsy results confirming her cause of death as a suicide. Her mother and sister confirmed the notes’ authenticity, police said.
“I cannot live the next 6 to 8 years behind bars for what you and I have both come to regard as this ‘modern-day lynching’ only to come out of prison in my late 50s a broken, penniless and very much alone woman,” she wrote.
The front of the note was marked “Do not revive (DNR). Do not feed under any circumstance.”
Palfrey, 52, was convicted of money laundering, racketeering and mail fraud in April. She had been staying at her mother’s Tarpon Springs home while awaiting sentencing in July and told ABC News last year she would never return to prison after serving time in the 1990s for other prostitution-related charges.
“You must comprehend there was no way out, I.E. ‘exit strategy,’ for me other than the one I have chosen here,” Palfrey wrote in the note to her sister.
Palfrey released the telephone records of her business, Pamela Martin & Associates, to reporters as she awaited trial. Those records linked two high-profile officials to her firm — State Department official Randall Tobias, who resigned in May 2007 after confirming he patronized Palfrey’s business, and Sen. David Vitter, R-Louisiana, who apologized last July for “a very serious sin in my past.”
Neither Tobias nor Vitter have faced charges in the case.
During her trial, Palfrey insisted she ran only a legal escort service — “Basically a bunch of benign women who want to make a living,” she told CNN in March. “This is not racketeering by any means — this is running a business.”
Palfrey was convicted April 15 in connection with a high-end prostitution ring catering to Washington’s elite. She was found guilty of money laundering, racketeering and mail fraud and faced a maximum 55-year prison term at her sentencing, scheduled for July 24.
She had said in interviews that she would kill herself before going to prison.
“I’m looking at 55 years in a federal penitentiary, and at my age, that is virtually a life sentence,” Palfrey told CNN Radio’s Ninette Sosa in March. “Realistically, we estimate between eight and 15 years. I’m also looking at the complete forfeiture of my entire life savings and work.”
She said in the interview that the government “went after me. They found out that I’m not who they thought I was, and instead of dropping the whole matter, they decided to press forward and — what the heck — she’s a woman, she’s weak. We’ll intimidate her, we’ll humiliate her, we’ll pounce on this poor lady and she’ll give in.”
Palfrey also told writer Dan Moldea, who was helping her write a book, that she would commit suicide rather than return to jail, according to Time magazine.
Note to Palfrey’s Mother - pdf
Note to Palfrey’s Sister - pdf“Mom, I want you to know how very much I love and appreciate you. I sincerely apologize for any pain which I have caused you in this lifetime. Additionally, I can’t sufficiently express to you how badly I feel for this burden I am leaving you with here.“
“You need to be strong for Mom. Help her in any way possible. Also you must comprehend there was no way out i.e. ‘exit strategy’ for me other than the one I have chosen here. As you read this letter (probably repeatedly in time), know I am in peace, with complete certainty, I believe Dad is standing watch, prepared to guide me into the light.”
Deborah Jeane Palfrey - wiki
D.C. Madam: “There was no way out” - CNN
Palfrey Described “Exit Strategy” - Washington Post
Poe Forward’s New Dead Girls 2008
The Original Dead Girl: Mary Rogers/Marie Roget
“To muse for long unwearied hours, to become absorbed, for the better part of a summer’s day, in a quaint shadow falling aslant upon the tapestry or upon the floor; to lose myself, for an entire night watching the steady flame of a lamp, to repeat, monotonously, some common word…Teeth, White, Teeth…Enamel…until the sound, by frequent repetition ceases to convey any particular meaning whatsoever. Teeth, teeth. White. My monomania has taken control of my entire existence.”
— Egaeus, The POE Play
“They say you only really die if the person feels it’s their time. I know this to be true. Friend, while I was in town today a ghostly sight saw I. My long, lost, love. There in front of me, plain as the day.”— The Old Man, The POE Play
The POE Play transports audiences into the mind of the master of macabre, Edgar Allan Poe, and is based on five of Poe’s darkest tales. This original Rogue production is brought to life in Hyper-theater using puppets, masks, stunning visual effects, and dance set in a dream world of video and sound. The POE Play combines elements from “The Raven,” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” The Black Cat,” “The Cask of Amontillado,” and the often overlooked “Berenice” to create a new story about one man’s journey into madness.
Posted by: alice @ 6:58 pm
Hazel Court
February 10, 1926 - April 15, 2008
RIP
The Premature Burial (1962) - imdb - wiki
The Raven (1963) - imdb - wiki
The Masque of the Red Death (1964) - imdb - wiki
Hazel Court - Corman’s Babes - Poe Forward
Poe Forward Scream Queens - Poe Forward
Poe Forward Dead Girls - Poe Forward
Posted by: marlowe @ 11:58 pm
Ireland born actress Tracy Coogan shows acting chops rarely found in a low budget zombie flick. But this movie tries hard to be more than just another horror pic with no name actors and a budget that wouldn’t buy a house in Los Angeles. The director claims he’s influenced by John Cassavetes and the French New Wave. Well, the film does have a delicious texture the thickness of a good marinara sauce. The story does focus on the relationships instead of the blood. So, I can vaguely see the influences. Perhaps another title could be: A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF A ZOMBIE HONEYMOON?
Tracy Coogan - Web Site
Tracy Coogan - imdb
Zombie Honeymoon (2004) - Web Site
Zombie Honeymoon (2004) - wiki
Zombie Honeymoon (2004) - imdb
Poe Forward’s Scream Queens - Poe Forward
Poe Forward’s Dead Girls - Poe Forward
The Original Dead Girl: Mary Rogers/Marie Roget - Poe Forward
Posted by: aldrich @ 12:29 am
Happy 78th Birthday!
John Astin
Born March 30, 1930
“We all struggle, and I had plenty of that, but I’ve had a great time. I’ve done hundreds of TV shows and 30 to 40 movies, and I love acting. I’m very happy having done the Poe. That’s been really terrific.”
Besides bringing to life the legendary character Gomez Addams, actor John Astin has played Poe. This You Tube clip is a sample of his portrayal. He has toured in the one-man play Edgar Allan Poe: Once Upon a Midnight, written by Paul Day Clemens and Ron Magid. (I saw an earlier version of this play years ago in Hollywood with Clemens in the title role. Clemens and his wife attended our POE HUMOUR event in 2001.) John Astin currently teaches acting and directing at his alma mater Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, his home town.
John Astin - imdb
John Astin - wiki
Edgar Allan Poe: Once Upon a Midnight - starring John Astin
Poe Humour - PoeForward.com
“The Raven” - Poe Funeral text
John Astin: Actor, Director, Professor
New Poe Forward Dead Girl:
Julianna Redding
1987 - 2008
RIP
Julianna Redding - imdb
Aspiring Model Found Dead in Santa Monica Apartment - LAist
Juliana Redding - The Homicide Report - L.A. Times
Aspiring Model Juliana Maureen Redding Found Dead in Santa Monica - abc7.com
Coincidence?
Alexander “Sasha” Merman - Santa Monica Homicide - The Homicide Report - L.A. Times
Another Apparent Santa Monica Apartment Murder - LAist
Poe Forward’s Dead Girls - PoeForward.com
The Original Dead Girl: Mary Rogers - Marie Roget - PoeForward.com