Ann Dvorak.com Turns 10! (And I forgot to blog about The Crowd Roars being on TCM yesterday)

 

I don’t remember exactly what day it was, but I do know it was sometime in November 2002 that I first launched this website. Back then it was a pretty hokey deal that I had put together using Microsoft FrontPage. The font was Georgia and the background color was Thistle, two touches I was quite proud of. I somehow managed to get the thing up online all by myself, which I felt was most impressive. At the time I was single, in grad school working on my MLIS, thin, and had just begun researching Ann’s life in earnest. Now, ten years later, I am a wife and mother, I oversee the photo collection at the Los Angeles Public Library, I’m a cancer survivor who is not quite as thin as I used to be, and have finally finished writing the Ann Dvorak biography. In other words, it’s been one hell of a decade! Thanks to all of you who have hung with me over the past ten years. The book is just around the corner.

Also, The Crowd Roars was on TCM yesterday and was totally off my radar, so my apologies if anyone actually relies on me for news about Dvorak film airings. However, the Warner Archive has it on sale right now for 30% off plus free shipping, so what are you waiting for?

6 Comments

  1. Cliff Aliperti November 18, 2012

    Congrats on a wonderful 10 years from a fellow former FrontPage user … now we just need to get a copy of that book in my hands!

  2. admin November 18, 2012

    Thanks Cliff. Soon, very soon!

  3. DickP December 8, 2012

    Christina, you’re closing in on a tremendous undertaking, and we all can hardly wait until your book hits the shelves. As you sit back and make TV appearances on talk shows, and plug you book where possible; the question arises: what will you be doing next? You’re much too young and energetic to sit back on your “laurels”.. After a suitable rest period, can you give us a hint of what’s to come? Mmmmmh?

  4. admin December 12, 2012

    Thanks Dick, you’re always too kind. Not sure what the future holds, though I am currently writing a graphic short story about the Latin School of Boston for an anthology about colonial America. How’s that for a change of pace? 2013 is going to be a lot of work promoting the Ann Dvorak book, and I look forward to reading the stack of books on the nightstand, landscaping the backyard (something I know nothing about), and spending lots and lots of time with my daughter. I guess at some point I will be crazy enough to take on another project!

    -Christina

  5. Jeff December 30, 2012

    Looking forward to your book, Christina. I’ve already learned a lot about Ann Dvorak from your site and it only makes me want to learn more.

    My road to Ann came through a PBS documentary on Broadway, which I saw recently. In the series was a brief clip of The Varsity Drag from the original movie version of Good News. It piqued my interest enough to look it up on YouTube and I’ll bet I’ve watched it 20 times since then. It’s one of the best things I’ve ever seen. The real star of the clip is Penny Singleton, who is so over the top brilliant (who knew?), but after watching it a couple of times, my eye was drawn to one of the chorus girls, which I learned was Ann Dvorak. Talk about standing out in a crowd. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of her, so it comes as no real surprise to me that her career didn’t end there. Her name was actually vaguely familiar to me, but I knew nothing about her. Now I do.

    It’s awesome that there is an Ann Dvorak nerd of your caliber in the world. I hope a lot of people get to read your work and discover Ann Dvorak. It’s a shame she didn’t have a bigger and better body of work, but she deserves to have her story told. Thanks for all of the work you’ve done on that.

    By the way, as a result of that YouTube clip, I discovered that Penny Singleton lead a really interesting life as well. Look her up sometime.

    Best wishes,

    Jeff

  6. admin January 1, 2013

    Hi Jeff, Thank you so much for the kind words about my obsessive journey! I think you’re the first person I have ever heard of discovering Ann through one of her MGM chorus films. It only goes to show how Ann always popped off the screen, even when she didn’t have any lines! It’s always great to know that there are other fans out there, and that there is some sort of market for a book on her. Thanks again for your support and Happy New Year!

    -Christina

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