Another Modern Moron Movie Review

Greed and violence awaken the warrior within the legendary Santa Clause; thus, a new tale of the jolly soul is birthed. 

Spawned to the masses on December 2, "Violent Night" weaves brutality and comedy with bizarre originality.

A very wealthy and dysfunctional family in Connecticut has their Christmas eve party disrupted by a large number of heavily armed and skilled thieves who have no qualms when it comes to murder, even if it's a young girl who still believes in Saint Nicholas.

Pat Casey and Josh Miller co-wrote this future classic and many questions are resolved on the many mysteries of Santa, especially how he's able to get through a chimney. 

Santa simple wants to deliver his presents on December 24, but when he encounters nefarious men eager to kill an entire family for $300.0 million in cash, Saint Nick cannot abandon the young girl. 

David Harbour did a great job playing the part of a hard boozing Clause, and Leah Brady, as Trudy, set the tone for combating evil when she booby trapped the attic, resulting in comedic violence. 

John Leguizamo as a baleful Scrooge engages in a bombastic fight with Santa, and the end result of their combat ends with extreme uniqueness. 

Four stars for "Violent Night." 

Mark Izzy Schurr     
 

Mariah Carey, Another Modern Moron Review

Sensationalized swagger from Mariah Carey on Tuesday night was a CBS special I'll watch every year during the holidaze, simply because I liked it.

Yes, there are songs from this concert I'll never listen to again, but for a musical genre I've abandoned, I'll never get tired of hearing seven tunes from "Mariah Carey Merry Christmas to All." 

The tunes were all Christmas sounds, including some Mariah Carey originals. Her musical presentation is a peripheral of variety, Carey said, and I agree. 

Carey doing the finale "All I Want for Christmas is You."

She's beautiful and rich, and despised for it by some. As if it's her fault 1994s, "All I Want for Christmas is You," she co-wrote with Walter Afanasieff has topped every chart list.

Carey surrounded by the Rockettes

The duet Carey sang with her young daughter Monroe, "Away in a Manger" blew me away. Monroe, like her mother has a fantastic singing voice. 

Carey and her daughter Monroe singing "Away in a Manger."

The songs "Christmas Wrapping" and "Oh Santa" were played back to back and it was a great combo featuring Monroe and other children including Carey's son, Moroccan.  

Pictured above is Monroe (center) with two other children during the song "Christmas Wrapping." 

The two tap dancers, Chole Arnold and Maud Arnold showcased their skills on the song "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)," and Drew Barrymore did a great job introducing the shows final song, her 1994 gem, "All I Want for Christmas is You." 

A video clip of Carey from "Christmas Wrapping" and her live preforming "Miss you Most (At Christmas Time") 

Carey is a star for a reason, and this live show, "Mariah Carey Merry Christmas to All!" will rock my socks off every year during the holidays. Four and a half stars easy for this musical extravaganza. 

Mark Izzy Schurr 

Peace of Mind

Child abuse, wars, famine, poverty, the Proud Boys, QAnon, Trumpism and light beer are all schemes and dreams spawned from the Devil himself.

At long last, I no longer want to belong in this world of insanity. I prefer love over hate, smiles over stone-cold glares. Reciprocated smiles are as rare truth in politics. Shout out to the select few who consistently display friendliness and shame on myself for getting caught up in the emotionless and uninviting attitude most others emit. 

Hail Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of learning and harbinger of art, language and science. Without Sarswati, the written word would always be dull, hence, no Silver Surfer comics and all other books and movies to seize our imaginations.

I cannot draw or paint, but my penchant for photography and the written word are my links to creativity and serenity. The time for self-pity officially ends now. It's literally been years since I've thought of suicide, and four years of sobriety is awesome. 

Thanks haters, because of you fools, I'll never kill myself. I refuse to personally bring you happiness.

Mark Izzy Schurr  

 

Demensional Veils

To pierce and navigate through the ripples of reality while riding the waves of tranquility and serenity. (Bodega Bay, April 2019 via Schurr Shot) 

The spherical sensation of the cosmos has lured me into the edge of the unknown. The stabbing sensation of imagination has seized my senses. A colossal kiss from the cosmos has reduced the devil to a mere mischief maker seeping into many minds. Meteor showers from ancient worlds have purged inner demons. 

An awesome acceptance of clarity has infused a sense of purpose. Unknown and unseen forces weave into human perception. 

Mark Izzy Schurr 

 

 

Modern Moron Movie Reviews

Hurling into the void without the slightest inclination of who or what is out there, only to find Emperor Ming the Merciless with the power and desire to pulverize the entire Earth. 

Pictured is Dale Arden, Melody Anderson and Flash Gordon, Sam J. Jones leaving the planet Earth on Dr. Hans Zarkov rocket ship. Zarkov, also aboard the rocket, arrives at the kingdom of Ming. Minutes upon their arrival, Ming chose's Dale Arden to be his next concubine, the public execution of Flash Gordon and literally reprogramming the mind of Dr. Zarkov.

Encased in glass for all to see, the death dust of Ming kills Flash Gordon, and the tomb of Flash is completed. Lucky for Flash, Princess Auru, Ming's daughter wants a ravenous rendezvous with Flash on Sithera, her secret pleasure moon.      

Immediately upon resurrection, Flash Gordon awakens to Princess Auru, Ming's daughter, fantastically portrayed by Ornella Muti. Her voice always puts me in a coherent daze. Amazing casting!  

Princess Auru persuaded the executioner to bring Flash back to life with a special injection. Auru tells Flash she brought him back to life with a magic kiss because she likes him.  

"Flash Gordon" is funny and romantic without being sappy. Lust without lunacy.   

Princess Auru and Prince Barron from the planet Mongo have a bizarre lasting love affair. The tale of Flash Gordon began in the early 1930s, if not sooner. This 1980s version follows the basic story-line from the originals with its modern twists.   

Princess Auru trying to convince her father, Emperor Ming, Max Von Sydow, to allow Flash Gordon to live. 

The special effects were nothing near its predecessors, "Star Wars" and "The Empire Strikes Back," and didn't need to be, it's a comedy with pleasant punches of drama now and again.  

Screen play writer, Lorenzo Semple jr. weaved the timeless tales of love and lust and good versus evil with clever dialog and a believable story amidst sheer fantasy. 

The people of Mongo must team up with their enemies, the flying warriors from the planet Ardentia in order to combat the mighty Ming. Flash Gordon, aka quarter back, New York Jets uses his pro football skills to unite enemies to combat Ming.  

Released more than four decades ago, "Flash Gordon" remains as fresh and funny as it did in 1980. Four stars easy for this flick.  

Mark Izzy Schurr 

  

 

Lady Night

 

Seeking myself in the darkness, where infinity and oblivion journey into the core of my imagination. 

Adorable gods in the image of Sarswati fuel my fascination for the written word. Cloaked in lady nights dark embrace, I traverse the depths of inner space. The spherical sensation of the cosmos has lured me into a state of savvy ignorance.

Schurr Shot of the moon, Wednesday night. 

Teetering on the edge of the unknown and absorbed in the stabbing sensation of wisdom. 

Mark Izzy Schurr 

      

Deviously Dark, "The Black Phone."

A paranormal parade into savage reality and sheer fantasy displays itself nefariously well in the "Black Phone."  

The graphic violence in this flick is minimal, aside from an axe to the head. The above picture is an actual still from this horror gem, and yes, shot in eight or 16mm. Only very brief segments laden throughout the film appear this way. The rest of the film is shot extremely clear, and the terror was mostly cerebral.  

A child who sees the torture of other children in her dreams becomes a true asset to the police in her brothers kidnapping. The children were the focal actors throughout the film, even more so than Ethan Hawk. 

Mason Thames, Miguel Cazarez Mora, Tristan Pravong and Madeleine McGraw, pictured, held their own and brought the story to life.

Ethan Hawk epitomizes evil too well in some scenes, and that's why he's Hawk. a real icon in the world of actors.

Thames is Finny, the last child kidnapped in a small town, and the spirts of other murdered middle-schoolers come to his aide via the black phone, or do they? 

I simply liked "The Black Phone," it was dark and disturbing, yet conveyed cleverly to the masses. 

Mark Izzy Schurr    

 

Serve None, but the Conscience Within

Enduring the cold airless vacuums of space amidst the infinite cosmos and yearning to see beyond the veil of knowledge. thus began the tale of the Silver Surfer. (Stan Lee / Mark Izzy Schurr)    

"Origins," is an easy 208 page read that has embedded itself into my imagination. The Siver Surfer, aka, Chrome Dome rides the waves of infinity on his indestructible board which obeys his mental commands. As we all know from our comic book reading, Glactus granted the Surfman all his powers, and the rest is a mind journey into the chaos of reality and fantasy. 

John Buscema's artwork weaved marvelously into Stan Lee's words in this 2007 release. 

Earth, a world of madness, where reason is shunned, and violence prevails, no longer shall the Silver Surfer be part of man's insanity. Let humanity do what it will. Worlds without limits await my coming. I shall be true to my trust. While infinity beckons, I must leave behind my very heart, Shalla-Bal. Never has there been, never will there be another such as her. 

"I have seen the birth of planets and the death of worlds. Galaxies crumble and new suns aborning, yet in every star and every sun, I see her face," the Silver Surfer said.

The tangible emotions of love and the wanton wonders of youth are cosmically displayed on "Part Two Duel in the Depths" 

Time is long and fate is fickle. My destiny lies before me, and where it beckons, there shall soar the Silver Surfer. (Stan Lee) 

The mystic vapers of imaginations runs rampant in "Ogrins." Infinity and oblivion collide with the savage and sensational emotions of humanity within these pages of the Silver Surfer. 

Mark Izzy Schurr     

Chaos Weaving into Fantasy and Reality

The moment is mine, the power is mine, the majesty is mine, Galactus said. 

In an instant, a new region sprung into action, when Galactus showed himself to the human race. 

Galactus is neither good, nor evil, yet he must pulverize entire planets in order to survive. He's taller than many metropolitan skyscrapers, shorter than others. He's the only known entity in the universe that existed before the Big Bang, and that's just the beginning of who he is. 

The Silver Surfer was spawned to the masses in 1966 and created by Jack Kirby. Cutting to the case of all the details, the Silver Surfer on several occasions has stopped Galactus from pulverizing the entire Earth with his wits. 

Despite the power to implode every cell in Spider Man and other superheroes with a mere thought, the Silver Surfer's sheer might is nothing compared to Galactus, who gifted the Silver Surfer, aka Chrome Dome with his powers.

"Parable" is a short two part comic book written by Stan Lee and Keith Pollard in 2012. The obvious is clear from the very beginning. I knew Galactus wasn't going to transform Earth into mere space dust, but I had to know exactly how the Surfman was going to stop him this time. 

In "Parable," Galactus presents himself to the world, and when a high profile evangelist, Colton, convivences his followers he himself summoned Galactus to save our souls, its January 6 across the globe.  

 "If you would be saved, do what you will, take what you will. There is no wrong, there is no sin, pleasure is all," Galactus said. 

Galactus is blindly followed by the masses, and violence and destruction becomes the norm in "Parable."   

 "The sound of riots and mayhem disturbs my slumber, I feel no surprise, I have seen much of man's insanity," the Silver Surfer said. 

Many moons earlier, Galactus had made a truce with Chrome Dome to not destroy the Earth. 

"Who can know when reality ends and legend begins? Do we not see with our hearts and minds, as well as our eyes? Galactus plays god, having pledged not to slay the Earth by force, but by guile, the Silver Surfer said. 

The Surfman's poetic prowess embraced my senses almost every time he spoke in "Parable." Only those who believe blindly can be controlled like puppets as they enslave their minds to madness, because they thirst for leadership like a baby craves mothers milk. What has made them desperate to have others show them the way?   

The citizens of the world cease their worship of Galactus and turn to Chrome Dome for divine guidance. The Silver Surfer leaves the Earth once again, and hopes people realize the truest faith is faith in oneself. 

I have known the heady exaltation of victory and the gnawing pain of defeat, but I shall never cease my search for an oasis of sanity in this desert of madness that men call Earth. (Silver Surfer, "Parable," 2012) 

Four stars easy for "Parable" 1 and 2. 

Mark Izzy Schurr 

Injustices of WW II, Another Modern Moron Book Review

Loyalty hearings conducted by the Alien Enemy Control Unit, began for Japanese Americans on Dec, 7, 1941, and they were asked;

"Will you swear unqualified allegiance to the U.S. and faithfully defend the U.S. from any and all attacks foreign and domestic and forswear any form of allegiance or obedience to the Japanese emperor or any other foreign government power or organization?" 

INSTUCTIONS TO ALL PERSONS OF JAPANESE ANCESTRY; No Japs out after 8 p.m. No Japs allowed to travel more than five miles from their homes. These words were laden throughout all of America during the devious debacle of World War II. 

Julie Otsuka's 2003 book, "When the Emperor Was Divine," details the sinister reality about WW II on American soil, beginning on Dec. 7, 1941. Otsuka's book is the story of a Japanese American couple and their two young children during this period. 

Otsuka sagaciously gets to the point from beginning to end, without using a single name. On December's dark day in 1941, a Japanese father was arrested simply for being Japanese. Four days after his arrest, his wife and two young children had zero contact with him. By the 5th day, the husband and spouse were allowed to comminate extremely moderately via telegram. 

Prior to that dark day in December, the couple had been living together for 20 years in America as U.S. citizens. The woman and her children were forced to leave their house with only what they could carry, and report to the Civil Control Station. The CCS, upon their arrival, put them on a train to Utah. For the next 41 months, the husband and wife were severed of their joy together.    

The womans daughter was 11-years-old, and her boy was years younger then his sibling, and the three lived in a small room with a single light bulb, a wooden crate, used as a table, three iron cots and a pot bellied stove with no running water, and the bathroom was a block away. The three also had their Zenith radio they brought with them. 

The crystalline intensity of a single family is magnified for all readers in, "When the Emperor was Divine." 

The boy was very young; "I predge arrgiance to the frag, the little Japanese boy chanted against his will. Solly, so so solly, Otsuka translated. The woman and her children lived in their house till the fall of 1942, before the CCS sent them to a Japanese jail in Utah. 

During their 41 months, imprisoned in the desert, they had bamboo splinters shoved in their fingernails, and they were forced to kneel for hours at time. They witnessed other prisoners starve to death, and others doused with gasoline and made into human torches. Sometimes they were ordered to stand at attention and beaten. 

If you want more invidious details, read the book, it's a quick easy read, written in large font, and it's less than 260 pages, thus making it a swift and convenient read for all ages. The harsh reality of unwarranted fear and hatred is brilliantly documented by Otsuka in "When the Emperor was Divine." Despite the books horrid details, there is no profanity, and its appropriate reading for mature young children.  

Four and a half stars easy for this book I acquired at a Sonoma county library. 

Mark Izzy Schurr 

   

     

            

 

Zombies

Zombies are real, but they don't bite. Their classless and unfriendly, and no matter how many encounters you have with them, they never laugh or smile.        

Hell's kitchen serves a buffet of unwarranted hate, spawning day after day. Stone cold faces in too many places. 

It's great to be alone, away from their unwelcoming presence. Time to start another book.                                                          

Mark Izzy Schurr.                                                  

Yellow roses, Schurr Shot in the front yard with my Samsung phone camera. attachment. 

Bee Positive II

No AKs and sunny days, flowers and fresh garden food. Natures bliss amidst the beauty of the beaches. Imagination is my reality. Behind the camera or behind a book is the caress of dreams, or so it seems. 

Words and pictures, Schurr Shot, using my Sony cyber shot 50x zoom camera including the below picture of myself using the cameras timer, and yes, I did read 1927s "Propaganda."  

Mark Izzy Schurr  

  

 

One Life, One Bullet, Lets Rock 'n' Roll, Another Modern Moron Book Review

We fill the Earth with soulless cities and pollute ourselves with mindless music, and the erosion of our personalities feeds into the abyss of modern materialism. (Grady Hendrix / myself) 

Suicide, sex, mass murder, drugs and alcohol are just some of the baleful elements ejaculating from the fame starved heart of Terry Hunt, the former singer of the heavy metal band, Durt Wurk. 

"We Sold Our Souls," written by Grady Hendrix in 2018 was a book bequeathed to me from my sister Linda, and it didn't disappoint. Hendrix has a catchy writing style with solid story telling. It was like watching a movie as I read. 

In my dark place where blood churns, pain burns, iron rain falling on the bodies of the slain trapped inside a coffin of my pain. (Grady Hendrix, 2018)  

The band Durt Wurk got its name from their lead singer, Terry Hunt's weird uncle Mark who is a grave digger. and yes, uncle Mark is referred to as "weird uncle Mark" in "We Sold Our Souls," which still summons laughter to myself. 

The story is gripping, and not just some predicable tale of young musicians who start out as a basement band, and then sell their infinite souls to the Dark Lord of the universe for fame and fortune. Tinges of Devil worship exists in "We Sold Our Souls," but it's very brief.  

Kris Pulaski, while still in high school is the driving force of Durt Wurk, she sings, plays guitar and writes the bulk of their music. Terry is the one who sells his soul, and rids himself of all the other band members, including Kris, and seizes credit for all of the music and lyrics she wrote via vicious loopholes in the legal system and powers without form. Terry thus becomes the lead singer for Blind King, and later, Koffin, which rockets to fame, while Kris and her other band mates get caught in the ticking time clocks of works gilded cage. 

Without giving away too much, supernatural powers are granted to Terry, and he's able to get into the head of Scottie, a former Durt Wurk band mate. Scottie kills his wife and their two children and then himself because of nefarious forces Terry is able to awaken and insert into the core of Scotties mind.

JD Davis, former Drummer for Durt Wurk and Kris decide to combat Terry, and head to Las Vegas, where Terry's band, Koffin is the head lining act, even over the mighty real band, Slayer. JD and Kris rid themselves of their cell phones and are forced to take back roads to Vegas as they travel in JD's van in order to avoid invisible evil forces Terry is in tune with. 

Before teaming up with JD, Kris is forced to trek through a heinous cave in the heart of Black Iron Mountain, and the globalist elite mind control assassins. To save tens of thousands of lives, if not billions, Kris must make her way through a cave in which the ground is a seething surface of black bugs, jagged rocks and she's knee deep in bat feces. 

Tens of thousands of concert goers at the Vegas Koffin show are willingly attending their own slaughter without even knowing, and it's up to Kris and JD to save their souls. Yes, this seems cheesy to me as I'm writing the plot summary, but Hendrix has many surprises, and a very unpredictable outcome with some tense moments. 

Four stars easy for the book, "We Sold Our Souls."

Mark Izzy Schurr

         

 

Another Modern Moron Book Review

The music is in your mind, the mind is what we share, like sunshine and water. ("Who are the Plastic Ono Band? John & Yoko / Plastic Ono Band") 

This gem of a picture book was acquired from the downtown Santa Rosa library and radiates wisdom from both John Lennon and Yoko Ono, among others. 

"As we look back on the 20th century, I think the legend of John and Yoko will stand out as something great. I think millions of people are going to benefit from what they did," Timothy Leary said. 

The Beatles were only together for ten years, and their music has embedded itself into the very heart of time. All four Beatles did it all in the realms of music, each member sang, wrote and played multiple instruments. 

Above picture is Paul and John in the Beatles last stadium concert at Candlestick Park, August 1966.

Some blame the breakup of the Beatles on John Lennon's lover Yoko Ono, and that she brain washed him, which is utter nonsense. Listen to his music, both from the Beatles and his solo works, and read about him to get the facts.

"Yoko taught me a lot about women, I was used to being served, like Elvis and a lot of the stars were. Yoko didn't buy that. What the fuck are the Beatles? I'm Yoko Ono, treat me as me...from the day I met her, she demanded equal time, equal space, equal rights. What do you want, a contract? I said. Don't impede my space. You can have anything you want, but don't expect anything from me, or change in anyway... She tells me the truth and its still painful," Lennon said. We simply thought the same way about things, love won, Yoko Ono said. People attacked her all the time, just for being with me, Lennon said.   

Above, John and Yoko in Bed-In for peace at Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec, May, 1969. 

The Beatles gave the world everything they had (music) for ten years, what more do the people want from the f*****g Beatles, Lennon said in this book. 

"Performing as a Beatle is much harder than performing as John Lennon and Yoko Ono Plastic Band. My life with the Beatles had become a trap. If I hadn't said the Beatles were bigger than Jesus and upset the very Christian Ku Klux Klan, well lord, I might still be up there with all the other performing fleas," Lennon said.

The two pictures above are John and Yoko performing as the Plastic Ono band, December, 1969 in London. 

To this very day, two of the surviving former Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Star are still doing live shows and putting out new music. John Lennon and George Harrison were also doing incredibly well before their lives were cut much too short. 

"John loved the Beatles. They were all such close friends and they all had strong individual personalities, that's why they made it so big, but by 1970, their egos and lives were all pointing in different directions," bassist and friend of the Fab Four, Klaus Voormann said. 

Both Lennon and Ono were strong advocates for peace, and their words in this book resonated extremely well to me in this book. You have to have peace, just give it a chance, Lennon said. Short, simple and true. 

Above photos, John and Yoko in their home in 1968. 

Everybody's talking about revolution, evolution, mass inflation, flagellation, regulations, integration, meditation, United Nations, congratulations! All we are saying is give peace a chance. ("Give Peace a Chance," 1969, John Lennon) 

There are ones who don't follow their instincts and went to Vietnam and got crippled or deformed and only woke up afterwards. They are the responsibility of the people who sent them there under an illusion, Lennon said in "Who are the Plastic Ono Band?" 

The establishment irritates you, pulls your beard, flicks your face to make you want to fight, because once they've got you violent, they know how to handle you. The only thing they don't know how to handle is nonviolence and humor, Lennon said. 

"No power outside can destroy you. You can destroy you by agreeing with them...nobody can destroy yourself, but you," Yoko Ono said.

 

Above, Yoko Ono. 

I merely scratched the edges of this captivating book and it's revealing words and cool pictures of John and Yoko from the 1960s and late 1970s, if not the very early 1980s, before John was slain by a sub-moronic sadistic idiot fuck. 

According to my math, John Lennon has done approximately 889 more hits of acid then myself, but some would claim we're both legally insane because we've dropped LSD more than seven times on seven different occasions. John was very candid about his drug use in this book, and it's clear, he was not a drug addict, but a drug user.

Lennon's humanity really shines in this book, he was not perfect, nor did he claim to be so in this book, and he was very open about his feelings of depression. 

"The so-called pain of the artist was always paid for by the freedom of the artist, John Lennon said. 

Four and a half stars easy for "Who are the Plastic Ono Band? John & Yoko / Plastic Ono Band." 

Mark Izzy Schurr  

   

 

Bizarre & Beautiful

Exhibitionism, kinkiness, alcoholism and sexual frivolity with both men and women were just some of the things written about Clara Bow in the 1920s and early 1930s newspapers. 

"Clara Bow Running Wild," 1988s biography of Bow was a journey into literal insanity, and how even the young, sexy and wealthy experience the bitter side of life. 

When she was 21-years-old, every studio was in violent competition for her services. She was the real thing, someone to stir every pulse in the nation. She had a heart shaped face, an hour glass figure, and thick auburn hair dyed a flaming orange-red. She was the most desirable attribute of the 1920s, she had "It," F. Scott Fitzgerald said. 

 Above, Bow when she was 16-years-old, and she won 1921s Fame and Fortune Contest, thus igniting her career in the movies. She was the Marilyn Monroe of the roaring 20s, book reviewer Dominck Dunne said. 

Bow's mom was committed to an insane asylum before she was 4-years-old, and when she was 9-years-old, her best friend Johnny burned to death in the apartment he was living in below her. Bow tried saving the him by wrapping a carpet around his burning body. Her father was an abusive drunk who raped her when she was 16, and her mother who had been released from an asylum was recommitted when she tried killing bow with a butcher knife when she was still 16-years-old. 

Bow's grandfather was very loving and caring, and he also had sole custody of her. He died of a heart attack when she was 4-years-old.

"Wings" was the first movie to win the Academy Award for best picture of the year in 1927 in which Clara Bow starred in. This movie is still available to the masses, and surprisingly to me, a lot of Bow's movies from the 20s are lost. 

Gary Cooper, also in "Wings" was no stranger to life in the fast lane. Bows homemade den of iniquity included a made to order bed with a mirror on its canopy, facing you as you layed on it, Cooper said. Both Cooper and Bow had a very active sex life, both together and apart from one another.  

"He (Cooper) had the biggest cock in Hollywood and no ass to push it with," Bow said.

Bow was an avid fan of the USC NCAA football team and attended many of their games on a regular basis, and some said she did the dance with no under pants with the entire team. Newspaper journalist frequently wrote about her wild parties thrown at her Los Angeles home and accused her of incest, bestiality, and abusing drugs and alcohol.

In the 1950s, Bow was a diagnosed sycophantic and committed to the Southern California Sanitarium and prior to that, she spent 10 months in the Institute of Living in Harford, Connecticut. By the mid 50s, she was released from the Southern California Sanitarium and found peace with herself from swimming and books. She was known to read 12 books a week in the late 50s and 1960s.  

"A sex symbol is a heavy load to carry when one is tired, hurt and bewildered," Bow said.  

Writer Elinor Glyn labeled Bow the "It," girl, because she had the looks to lure men and even some women into delicious desires, she had It! 

Bow's hit 1927 movie, "It" was a romantic comedy based on Gyn's 1926 novella with the same title. 

The writer of this biography, David Stenn said 80 percent of all the silent films were lost, and many of them were Bow movies. "It" is still available to the masses. Unfortunately, "Grit," is among one of the lost films, released in 1924. "Grit" had to be edited for showings in New York because it was said to have scenes of disgusting immorality and sordid crime.  

"Flaming Youth," a lost 1923 film was based on the book with the same title which featured women who smoked, drank and partook in free love. Bow did not star in the film, but she was in the movie. 

"Rough House Rosie" is a 1927 film starring Bow that has been lost and was said to have lots of "It" with little clothing. 

Since reading "Clara Bow Running Wild," I learned some sad facts about child abuse and why some women normalize abuse in several different forms. On a positive note, I learned many racy or risqué films made in the 1920s and early 1930s were based upon books written by women. 

Writers Elinor Glyn, Anita Loos and Dora Mack are three writers from the early 20th century, and I want to read their books now. The books "Ex  Mistress" and "Vile Bodies" by Dora Mack are two of those novels I learned about from reading "Clara Bow Running Wild."

Three and half stars is my rating for this 1988 book, another gem acquired from the local library. 

Mark Izzy Schurr     

 

 

 

Too Little Too Late, or Too Much Too Soon?

At peace with myself at home, I was bathed in a nourishing glow of affection, father with unfailing jolly, both brothers were protective, and above all mother was a constant source of love ladled out in equal measures of encouragement and restraint, Shirley Temple Black said. 

"Child Star Shirley Temple Black An Autobiography" was released in 1988, and I was extremely impressed with all the details. Temple Black not only details her child star years, but also her high school romances and so much more. Born in 1928, the same year as Mickey Mouse, the ubiquitous Mickey Mouse, Temple Black said. 

Before she was 3-years-old, Temple was being formally trained in dancing at a famous dance studio for children in Los Angeles, and surprise, by the time she was 6-years-old, the dance studio enrollment sky rocketed. 

When Temple was 3-years-old, she starred in the Baby Burlesks one-reelers, depicting children in adult themes, and in 1934, she starred in three feature films, and from 1935-1938 she was the number one box office draw. 

Pictured above with her father, sighing a movie contract in 1934. In December of 1935, she was making $2,500. a week, two percent of what the studio was making off her movies at the time, Temple Black said. Some women offered themselves to Shirley's father to stud them, in hopes they would give birth to another Shirley Temple, she said. 

Temple Black really details her finances in this book, and I was very surprised at how much money she had when she was no longer making movies and married her second husband, Charles Alden Black when she was 22-years-old. 

The above picture is from 1935s "The Little Colonel," in which Temple and Bill Bojangles Robinson dance up the stairs. Temple and Robinson were Hollywood's first interracial dance team and this scene in which the two were holding hands was cut from the original theatrical release, because of simple minded idiots, and lame Hollywood politics. 

Even in her adult years, Shirley Temple always referred to Bill Robinson as Uncle Billy. 

Above picture, Temple with Uncle Billy in her treasured red and white racer from her treasured uncle Temple said. 

Above, Shirley Temple in 1945 when she was 17-years-old and engaged to be married to Air Cadet Andrew D. Hotchkiss jr. She married Hotchkiss that same year, and had her first child with him, Linda Susan in 1948. 

When she first married Hotchkiss, uncle Billy said if you ever hurt her, I'll cut you Temple said. Hotchkiss boozed and committed adultery and the two divorced and Temple got full custody of their daughter Susan. Uncle Billy did not cut him. 

Above photo, Temple with actual Blackfoot Indians from a Montana tribe. Twelve Blackfoot tribe members were in 1939s "Susannah of the Mounties." Chief Yellow Kidney, the tribes shaman officially made Temple a Blood Sister of the Blackfoot tribe. He cut his finger with a pen knife, then grasped Temple's hand and cut her finger and pressed their two bloody fingers together. It was quick if not totally painless Temple said, and her Blackfoot name became Bright Shinning Star. 

By the time Temple was 22-years-old, she was done with show business and never made another movie, and at least two different major studios offered her a large weekly sum of money to make one movie a year, and she declined the offers.

She was still in the movies while married to her first husband Hotchkiss, but she wasn't into the nightclub life like he was. When Temple was 18-years-old, actor Kirk Douglas met her in a night club and flat out said what he wanted to do to her sexually. She declined his offer, and in this more than 500 page book, there is not a single profanity. 

Above, Temple Black in 1954 with her husband, Charles Black. She had a boy and a girl with Black, and the child in the middle is her first, Susan, who she had with her first husband in 1948. When this book was released in 1988, the two were still married. 

The library is a great source, I highly recommend using it, and "Child Star Shirley Temple An Autobiography" was a fantastic read. My second five star rating. The non-alcoholic drink, the "Shirley Temple" was indeed named after her and she didn't like it. The drink looks like diluted blood, and tastes even worse, she said. 

Mark Izzy Schurr 

   

  

Vintage Hollywood, An Incipient Brothel Tainting Virgin Eyes

Sex, vice and violence along with malevolent morals were just some of the things that assailed the senses and souls upon those who ventured into the darkened movie theaters laden throughout the universe.  

The above picture is Jean Harlow as Lil Andrews seducing her married boss, William, Chester Morris in 1932s "Red-Headed Woman."  Jean Harlow was integral in derailing the critique of commercial Christianity during the Pre-Code Hollywood era. 

In "Red-Headed Woman," Lil (Harlow) uses her natural allure to advance herself financially. Adultery and excessive boozing outraged many far-right Republicans and their insane counterparts, the crazed Christians who had the insane idea, they could dictate morals. By 1935, these Wack jobs won, and even the cartoon character of Betty Boop's skirt was drawn closer to her knees, and her garter belt was never shown to mainstream audiences after 1934. 

Lured subject matter was still allowed after 1934, but the wicked had to be punished in some form or another, via jail, an untimely death, or other forms of ill will toward these characters who partook in enthusiastic indulgences of sin and vice. 

If you want to watch 1932s "Red-Headed Woman," you may not want to read the next sentence and skip to the next paragraph, because I am going to give away the ending to this move. In "Red-Headed Woman," Lil fornicates with at least four different men, and with each of these rich men, she aims for an even a wealthier man, and in the end of the movie she marries a much older and very wealthy man. As Lil and her new hubby are in the back seat of their very nice, chauffeured car, the young handsome chauffer driver looks in the rear-view mirror at Lil and winks, and she winks back at him. Earlier in the film, Lil was married to another rich old man who had the same chauffer driver, and he divorced Lil, because she was seeing him while the two were married, hence, Lil's sins were rewarded in the end, which was a big no-no come 1935. 

By 1935, as I learned from reading 1999s "Pre-Code Hollywood Sex, Vice and Insurrection in American Cinema, 1930-1934," far righties and Christians with way too much power inflicted their laws biblically into Hollywood contracts; 'Thou shall not take or cause to be taken any photography in which girls are shown in underwear, fancy lingerie, teddies, scanties or drawers.' This is just one of the 12, yes 12 commandments in the actual Hollywood contract written in 1935, and it wasn't until the 1950s, these insane commandments for moviemakers started to cease, and not until 1968, did Hollywood implement the movie rating system.

The above picture is a publicity shot of Joan Blondell from her 1933 sex comedy, "Convention City." Blondell was another integral babe who combated the far righties and Christians with her sexiness and films that were an opiate for delicious deceits. 

Cruel Christians and their poisoned Republicans pals nearly ruined the movie industry, but these fools did their damage. In 1934, the original print of "Convention City" was destroyed along with hundreds of other copies of the 35mm film print, which makes it impossible to own a high-quality print of this lost classic, which, incidentally, is on my bucket-list to acquire. In the 1960s, Blondell owned a 16mm print of "Convention City" and showed this movie to various friends and family, and its been said by some, "Convention City" was soft core porn for its day. ("Joan Blondell A Life Between Takes," 2007) 

The above picture is a publicity still of 1932s "Virgins of Bali, a picture featured in the 1999 book, "Forbidden Hollywood..." by Thomas Doherty.  

The symbolic journey into the forbidden zone was ventured upon in "Virgins of Bali." The women bathed shamelessly in their nude bronze bodies. The girls were firmly and harmoniously developed and walked with a swinging and easy rhythmic movement. (Doherty)   

It's a no brainer today's movies are much more graphic and risqué than the four-year Pre-Code era, but that four-year period in cinematic Sin-Sation pioneered the way for today's sexy men and women to flaunt their stuff, and for the writers and directors to delve into the indulgences of wild youth, devious daughters, straying wife's and the elliptical allusions embracing visions of picturesque violence. 

Doherty's book, "Pre-Code Hollywood" is very detailed in documenting the Pre-Code movies exposing political fraud, hard drug use, and the heinous crimes of Al Capone and John Dillinger, among others. Sex just happened to be my favorite subject among these nearly 100-year-old movies, and because of my father and the local library, my quest to own and view these movies has essentially just begun. 

Dorothy Mackaill, pictured above from 1931s, Safe in Hell" is a tale of sex trafficking, hard boozing and murder, and yes, I own this gem of a flick. The people who love me the most don't even know me, yet they remaster movies made more than 90 years ago and distribute them just for me. Indeed, there is love for me. 

Mark Izzy Schurr 

  

Sound on film was not mainstream until 1930, and the labyrinth of pleasure-seeking vice movies between 1930 and 1934 were truly entertaining and intriguing to me.