dual personalities

October 21, 2011

A marvelous house

by chuckofish

An illusionistic interior painting by Samuel van Hoogstraeten seen at the end of an enfilade at Dyrham. ©NTPL/Andreas von Einsiedel

Dyrham is a house I would love to explore and would probably enjoy getting lost in. Living in such a place does not attract me — far to big and cold — but give me a day or two to poke around and I would be in heaven.

Writing cabinet in a closet at Dyrham

And wouldn’t such a writing desk guarantee great romance or at least deathless prose?
If you want to find our more about this house, visit the National Trusts’ blog http://nttreasurehunt.wordpress.com/

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October 21, 2011

Friday’s movie pick

by chuckofish

This picture of Kermit and Vincent Price in Halloween mode appeared on daughter #1’s blog here a few days ago, and I was reminded that there was definitely a lighter side to Vincent Price, who, by the way, grew up in St. Louis and was one of the more illustrious graduates of the Saint Louis Country Day School.

This line of thought led me to this Friday’s film pick: His Kind of Woman (1951) produced by Howard Hughes and directed by John Farrow. This noir film is about “a deported gangster’s plan to re-enter the USA involv(ing) skulduggery at a Mexican resort.” Gambler Dan Milner, played by sexy Robert Mitchum (see below), is caught in the middle.

His kind of woman is played by Jane Russell and the villain, Nick Ferraro, is played by Raymond Burr. Quite a cast–but the whole show is stolen by Vincent Price, playing Mark Cardigan, a swashbuckling film star on vacation who believes he really is who he plays. He sets out to help our real hero, Mitchum.

Vincent Price is truly priceless in this part. You’ll have fun watching this one!

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