Monthly Archives: August 2011
Gearing Up For Ann Dvorak Day
This is not the only website paying tribute to Ann Dvorak in the days leading up to August 9th, when Turner Classic Movies devotes a full twenty four hours programming to her. As we get closer to the 3:00am PST kick-off of 1932’s Crooner, more and more Dvorak love is popping up elsewhere. Here are some other sites getting ready for Ann Dvorak Day.
Alternative Film Guide – Andre Soares, who interviewed me about AD a while back, takes a two-part look at the films being aired.
Carole & Company: Reflections on Carole Lombard and Classic Hollywood – A brief and nicely illustrated look at AD’s life and career with some added perspective on Lombard’s Pre-Code years.
Classic Movie Search – Cliff Aliperti who also runs Immortal Ephemera and an awesome Warren William tribute site is also eagerly awaiting Ann Dvorak Day.
Examiner.com – Paula Guthat at the Examiner’s Detroit site runs down this week’s Summer Under the Stars line-up, including Ann Dvorak Day.
The Landmark Report – Kristina Dijan takes a closer look at the AD classic Three on a Match.
If you know of any other sites devoting some space to Ann for her big day tomorrow, please leave a comment or email me – christina at anndvorak dot com.
Enjoy Ann Dvorak Day tomorrow!
Your Guide to Ann Dvorak Day on TCM
Ann Dvorak Day on Turner Classic Movies is almost here! That’s right, on Tuesday August 9th, there is actually going to be a station airing Dvorak movies for 24 hours. In preparation for the day, TCM has posted a wonderful biographical article by Lorraine LoBianco, as well as programming articles for all the films. Here is a guide to all sixteen moves, and instead of posting a plot to the whole film, I’m giving a sentence or two regarding the Ann Dvorak angle.
Christina Interviewed by a Movie Morlock
Christmas has come early for me this year! Not only is Turner Classic Movies running 24 hours of Ann Dvorak programming on August 9th, but an interview with me about Ann has been posted on TCM’s Movie Morlocks blog.
A couple months back, Richard Harland Smith contacted me because he was writing a programming article on Ann’s 1934 flick Massacre, and was looking for additional information. He was the first one to break the news to me that Ann was getting her own day for the annual “Summer Under the Stars” festival. I’m not sure if he found my reaction to be delightfully enthusiastic or freakishly amusing, but he soon offered to interview me for the Morlocks blog about Ann Dvorak Day.
I cannot thank him enough for allowing me to be part of Ann Dvorak Day and I hope you enjoy the interview!
Biography Progress Report #6 – The Rough, Rough Draft is Complete
Four months ago I started working on the Ann Dvorak bio during the 20 minute subway ride to and from work. As I had mentioned in previous progress reports, it took me two years to write the first 20,000 words, mainly because I was attempting to make my first draft the final draft and writing when I was really in the mood. This was grueling and my lack of progress was discouraging, so I was seldom in the mood. Then, I stopped being meticulous, started lugging my laptop on the subway, and have officially wrapped up the first draft.
Just to be clear, this first draft is a rough, rough draft, and I still have a lot of work ahead of me. These 50,000 words are essentially the skeleton of Ann’s life and career, and now I have to go back and add the details. I need to insert quotes, fact check, revisit a lot of her films, and amazingly there is still more research to do. This thirteen-year-old project is still no where near completion, but the progress I’ve made by tweaking my approach is amazing and and there is finally an end in sight.
Thanks to everyone who has commented here or sent emails of encouragement. This book has always been a personal labor of love, but knowing Ann has other fans who are interested in devoting some of their time to reading her life story has been mighty encouraging and I hope I don’t let any of you down. Thanks for sticking with me, and honestly, it’s just a little while longer!
Ann Dvorak at 100
Today marks what would have been Ann Dvorak’s 100th birthday. At the time of her death in 1979, only the most ardent classic film fans remembered her. Now, because of an increased accessibility to her films and info about her life and career, Ann’s fan base is growing. While she will always be relatively obscure, there seems to be more of an appreciation for performances now than anytime since her retirement in 1952. It’s just too bad that she did not live long enough to see this renewed interest.
This month, Turner Classic Movies pays tribute to Ann Dvorak with 24 hours of programming as part of its annual Summer Under the Stars. The festivities kick off at 3:00am PST on August 9th with 1932’s Crooner. TCM has launched a nifty section on its website devoted to all the actors featured on Summer Under the Stars, with Ann’s page including a nice biographical article as well as programming articles on all sixteen films being shown.
As we get closer to the date, I will be writing up a guide to all the films being shown In the meantime, take a minute to hold a good thought for Ann Dvorak on her centennial.