Wednesday, December 18, 2013
WAS DER HIMMEL ERLAUBT
One of the last great Hollywood golden era glamourpusses died - Miss Joan Fontaine age 96. The star of such films as The Constant Nymph, Jane Eyre, That Certain Smile,The Bigamist (which I remade as a performance/stage vehicle playing Joan’s role in a collaboration with Susanne Sachsse playing the Ida Lupino part in what we called The Communist Bigamist), and one of my favorite film melodrama’s Letter From an Unknown Woman. Miss Fontaine was quite a handfull and never got along with her older twice Oscar winning sister Olivia deHavilland who is still alive age 97 living in Paris. The fued of the famous siblings is one of Hollywood’s most enduring true legends.
I have slowly started to emerge from my sorrow nest and I’ve accepted some invitations notably a lovely dinner party given by La Susanne Sachsse the East German diva whose famous circular table is the Teutonic version of the celebrated Algonquin Round. The Great Frau Sachsse and her film historian companion Marc Siegel hosted visiting American scholar Jonathan Flatly who is so sweet and low key. The food was beyond fabulous and the guest list also included Daniel Hendrickson the Scandinavian Muslim translator to academia’s biggest shtars. I also met with the handsome young journalist Michael Scaturro of Deutsche Welle who is so charming and bright. Michael is such a dream boy and bought me a lovely gift from Gallery LaFayette to help cheer me up and get me out of feeling down in the depths of the 90th floor. Michael was my handsome escort when I attended an open house for Black Market and Mobile Academy founder Hannah Hurtzig at her stylish Mitte compound. The generous Ms. Hurtzig is always thinking of her friends and colleagues and while in one of her purge moods gave me this exquisite chocolate rifelle Jean-Paul Gaultier winter coat which I will always cherish and it fits me perfectly.