Monthly Archives: August 2010
“Secret of Convict Lake” on Fox Movie Channel
Secret of Convict Lake is going to air on the Fox Movie Channel on Tuesday, August 10 at 3:00am PST
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As is turns out, Turner Classic Movies is not the only channel airing Ann Dvorak flicks these days. Last week, the Bachelor’s Daughters was shown on something called Golden Eagle Broadcasting (GEB) (sorry, I found out about this airing too late to post it here). Now this week, the Fox Movie Channel is airing 1951’s Secret of Convict Lake.
This dark western about a group of escaped convicts who impose their will on an outpost of woman whose husbands are away, stars and impressive ensemble cast, including Glen Ford, Gene Tierney, Ethel Barrymore, Zachary Scott, Ruth Donnelly, and of course, Ann Dvorak. As with most of Ann’s films toward the end of her career, the role is not large but she delivers big. The scenes between Ann and a smarmy Zachary Scott are some of the most memorable in the film.
While Ann would briefly continue with some television work, Secret of Convict Lake capped off film career that spanned over 35 years.
Dvorak Biography Progress Report #3
I just realized it’s been an embarrassingly long time since I posted an update on the progress of the Ann Dvorak biography. Right after I wrote the last report in October, I found out I was pregnant with my first child. While I was spared the horrors of morning sickness, I was unable to stay awake past 7:30pm on most days during the first trimester, and had to put Ann-D on hold. During the remainder of the pregnancy, I did manage to write a couple more chapters. I have finally gotten into Ann’s tenure at Warner Bros. which means I have lots of movies to watch to refresh my memory.
In recent months, I have discovered more about the career of Ann’s father in the early 1920s, and spent an afternoon at USC accessing primary documents from her M-G-M days. I now need to go back and add this info into previous chapters. In the waning days of my pregnancy, I finally made the trek to Norwalk to visit the Registrar Recorder and discovered some new information about Miss D via real estate records. I’ve been with Ann for almost 13 years, and the research is never ending!
My daughter, Gable, was born in early June and has proven to be two full time jobs. I still have another month of maternity leave, and now that I am getting the hang of this mother thing, I hope to get a couple more chapters in before I go back to work, but that could be a supremely naive statement.
Thanks to everyone who has sent kind words of encouragement. It’s always great to know there are fans out there who are interested in reading a full length biography on Ann Dvorak. I appreciate everyone’s patience as I slowly work my way through Ann’s story. No one wants this book to be done more than me, but life has a way of altering the best laid plans. In this case it has been a good thing!
This Day in Ann Dvorak History
Today would have been the 99th birthday of Ann Dvorak who was born in New York City on August 2, 1911. Happy B-Day Ann-D!