Curio: Iconic Eyes

Alexa here. I was so sad to hear of Lena Horne's passing on Sunday. She defined iconic, with her distinctive voice and beauty ("seen in doe-like eyes set against perfectly chiseled cheekbones"). Heck, I was proud to name my daughter Lena. Maybe it was the combined influence of Nathaniel's great eulogy and his eyeball first and last that made me snap up this little pouch at Brooklyn Quilting Exchange yesterday, featuring Lena's unmistakable eyes:


Lori of the shop has made many more pouches featuring iconic eyes, and I'm loving them all. Can you identify these other stares? (You can find them all here, but no cheating!)

Till the Links Roll By

Antagony & Ecstasy - churns up a summer appropriate top ten list: best performances in comic-based films. Impeccable choices really (especially the top tier) and fine write ups (especially the two on Superman).
MNPP wants this Fright Night remake (another vampire movie?) immediately thanks to the wonderful-on-paper cast
Erik Lundegaard - is making a thorough, interesting trek through past Robin Hood films. Something I wanted to do but never found time for. Argh.
Sunset Gun "How Little We Know" a fine piece on the cinema of Wong Kar Wai, Days of Being Wild specifically


/Film has a lengthy word for word interview with Justin Theroux. Sadly it's only about Iron Man 2. I hope he acts again. David Lynch where are you???
By Ken Levine "The Truth about Lady Gaga". This article makes me want to watch Man in the Moon again. Remember that one? The one that was supposed to net Jim Carrey an Oscar nomination?
Deviant Art has a pretty amazing Pulp Fiction graphic, displaying the film chronologically. Something the film never displays don'cha know
popbytes Cynthia Nixon covers The Advocate
Just Jared Winona Ryder and Channing Tatum to play lovers in Ron Howard's Cheaters. Hmmm, strangely I like the idea, well, except for the Ron Howard part
A Socialite's Life John Barrowman as Alladin? Fun pics but why no more Torchwood? *sniffle*
Boing Boing Here's an interesting one for you small screen enthusiasts. This is a list from a tv executive explaining 12 reasons why certain shows get picked up by networks.

my favorite goodbyes to Lena Horne
Guardian David Thomson refuses to talk about Lena for 671 words
The Sheila Variations wonderful personalized tribute to Lena here
Time Magazine Richard Corliss kicks off their tribute with a 'shoulda been' obituary
Variety Ted Johnson has the Obama family's statement
The Auteurs Daily collects the online tributes and obits

Lena Horne (1917-2010)

♫ Keeps raining all the time...
Keeps raining all the time...



Legendary songbird Lena Horne passed away yesterday at ninety-two years of age. Her big career essentially began at sweet sixteen while in the chorus of The Cotton Club in Harlem. She made her movie debut at only twenty-one in The Duke is Tops (1938). By twenty-six she was both a star actress (if not a movie star) and a hit recording artist headlining Stormy Weather (1943) and scandalizing Hollywood with her flirtations from the bubble bath in Cabin in the Sky (1943).

She moved away from the cinema rather quickly, though, and it's easy to understand why. Despite her spirited presence, dazzling smile and those best-selling pipes -- key ingredients of many movie musical superstars -- Hollywood kept marginalizing her, keeping her in small parts or famously passing her over for lead roles. The one that probably stung the most was the romantic mixed-race lead of the musical Show Boat (1951), which she reportedly wasn't even considered for. Ava Gardner got the part. By the start of the 50s, Lena had smartly moved on to concentrate on music, television and the stage though she would make infrequent trips back to the movies. In her last film role she took on an immortal oft-interpreted character "Glinda the Good Witch" for The Wiz (1978)

Lena as Glinda

For all of her gifts, Lena Horne didn't exactly ease on down Hollywood's road. Like many talented performers, she struggled to forge a career in the face of ingrained prejudices and Hollywood's conservativism about rocking any boats. It's hard to look at her few screen performances now and wonder how anyone once thought she was inappropriate for romantic leads. Even if she weren't so talented... there's the beauty alone to consider! Nevertheless Lena forged a remarkable career spanning several decades. I love this righteous quote:

In my early days I was a sepia Hedy Lamarr. Now I'm black and a woman, singing my own way.

She's one of countless blacktresses over the years who Hollywood has struggled to understand or properly utilize. Things have gotten a lot better but it's still, strangely in 2010, a trouble spot for Hollywood. Even the few who do make it to leading roles (like the great Angela Bassett in the 90s) end up back in disappointing supporting roles before long. But change takes a long time and it doesn't happen without the slow cumulation of forward momentum from trailblazers like Lena.

Lena's husband and son died before her but she is survived by her daughter Gail Lumet Buckley (One of Lena's granddaughters, Jenny Lumet, wrote the great Rachel Getting Married)

Goodbye Lena. Thank you for the music.

*
Here's another couple gorgeous song performances to send you on your way. In the first she does a subtle rendition of a song by another actor/singer (Kris Kristofferson) called "I've Got To Have You" in the 1970s and in the second, a very early clip, she does flirtatious empowerment with "Unlucky Woman"



Related Post: Cabin in the Sky (1944)