The Road to Tara

Today, Kasia, Maggie and I navigated the Georgia highways via rental car.  Driving here is hard!  There wasn’t even that much traffic, it was just that we kept getting lost and taking wrong turns.  For example, this evening we were trying to find a shopping center in East Point, and google maps told us to take the freeway.  We got on going north instead of south, and if my human GPS system (Kasia) hadn’t figured out we were going the wrong way, we’d have gone to Birmingham!  Haha.  I feel like CA isn’t this hard, or maybe the streets are better marked at home?  Or maybe I’m just out of my element?  Probably the latter.

First, we drove up to the Scarlett on the Square museum in Marietta so Kasia and Maggie could pick up their tickets.  The lady at the ticket counter seemed really excited to learn they were the ones who came from Europe just for the event.  There were also a LOT of old people there taking tours.  We’re really wondering what the demographic for this event will be, and if we’ll be the younest people there.  I can’t wait to see!

Afterword we drove down to the Atlanta History Museum.  But first we stopped at Taco Hell Bell to grab some lunch, which was exciting for my European friends.  When we got on the right road, we were amazed at all of the stately homes back in the forest there.  Have any f you ever seen them?  I felt like I was driving through 10 Mile Drive at Pebble Beach in Monterey.  They were HUGE mansions of all sorts of styles.  It was quite obnoxious and fascinating at the same time.

The History Center was tucked away at the other end of the woods, and since we were just interested in seeing the “Costuming Gone with the Wind” exhibit, the curator let us in for free (but we dropped a donation into the box when we left).  The best piece was 1 of the 3 green curtain dresses worn by Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind:

I used myself to show scale

I knew Vivien was small, but it’s always hard to tell the size of someone from a photo.  She was very petite.  You can use me for comparison.  I’m 5′7″.  A couple weeks ago, an author friend told me I’d probably  have fit into a dress he used to own that Vivien wore in The Sleeping Prince.  I said “I disagree!” Lo and behold, I knew I was right in that I wouldn’t have fit into anything that that lady wore!  Anyway, this dress was beautiful and very well preserved.  I should have liked to try it on for fun (even if it wouldn’t zip up all the way, lol.

Next we headed down to Jonesboro to see the Road to Tara Museum.

The old train depot at Jonesboro

It was really cute!  The people who worked inside were so nice and seemed very eager to talk with us about our adventures.  Apparently people all around the world actually think Tara is a real place, so when they’re told there is no “real Tara,” some people apparently even cry!  But there was an inspiration for Margaret Mitchell’s Tara (which isn’t at all like the Tara from the film).  It was MM’s ancestor’s plantation:

The real Tara

I think Georgia should combine all of the GWTW museums around the Atlanta area and make them one big GWTW museum.  This would be more practical, I think, because then the die hards like us wouldn’t have to drive all around to see everything.  You know?  But they were all wonderful, and I look forward to exploring the Marietta museum some more this coming weekend.

Well, off to bed.  There’s an interesting program about the Hoover Dam on PBS right now.  We’re old ladies at heart.  Have you been to the Hoover Dam?  It is pretty cool to see it in person.

Tomorrow: Savannah!!  I’m so excited to see Bonaventure Cemetery, and we’re taking a ghost tour!

The Eternal Allure of Old Hollywood

I suppose one of the great things about living in the vicinity of a major city such as Los Angeles, is that there are always things going on.  More specifically, there is always something going on pertaining to the MOVIES (which makes sense as Hollywood is the movie capital of the planet).  In Tinsel Town we are lucky enough to have people around who still care immensely about the preservation of older films–not just physically but putting out a great effort to make sure these films and the people who starred in them are not forgotten by new generations; screening them in old picture palaces, restoring them in new formats such as DVD and Blue Ray, exhibiting these long forgotten artifacts for new people to see.

I remember a few years ago when Turner Classic Movies put on an exhibit at the Grove in Los Angeles.  I don’t remember what the exhibit was called, but they had a lot of vintage film memorabilia on display–an original shooting script from The Wizard of Oz, one of Clark Gable’s old costumes (he had shoulders like a linebacker!), a dress of Elizabeth Taylor’s, etc.

Now in Santa Barbara, the Museum of Art has on display a large chunk of the Kobal Foundation photographs.  John Kobal, one of the world’s leading photograph archivists and film historians (he’s dead now, sadly, but his collection and legacy of restoration certainly lives on), amassed one of the largest studio photograph collections in the world.

Most of the photographs in “Made in Hollywood” are vintage silver gelatin prints, rich in their tonality and velvety in their blacks. There are also eight 16-by-20-inch new platinum prints and several giant wall murals made for the show from original 8-by-10 negatives.

The survey’s chronological range covers Kobal’s own interests, beginning with the rise of the studio system. As the studios worked to perfect their star machinery, still photographs were regularly used for advertising and sent out to magazines and newspapers. Individual pictures were also mailed by the thousands to fans.

Some of the famous faces you’ll see at the exhibit include Greta Garbo, Orson Welles, Humphrey Bogart, etc.

“There are also some surprises. A close-up of Vivien Leigh, a publicity shot by Fred Parrish for “Gone With the Wind,” depicts her disheveled and looking half-mad. Her face is lighted from the left, with the other side in darkness — a moment excerpted from the famous “As God is my witness” scene when Scarlett O’Hara is reduced to digging in a field for sustenance. Farther along the wall, in stark contrast, is Leigh in a more familiar pose — as the beautifully coiffed and controlled Southern belle, captured by Laszlo Willinger.”

The exhibit is on display until October 5 so if you live in the greater LA area, it’s probably definitely worth the drive up the coast!

More info at the LA TIMES

I also can’t wait for the Vanity Fair Portraits exhibit coming soon!!

Hollywood Party

All the minks and sables
Wines with labels
Garbos, Gables
Greet you
Taxis send us
To a tremendous
Hollywood Party

On Sunday, my friend and fellow “Team Larivien” fan Brooke, went up to Hollywood to do some sight-seeing and stupid-picture-taking.  I don’t know how many times I’ve been there and taken the same exact pictures, but it’s always fun none-the-less, especially when you have someone with you who is equally as enthusiastic about old things (Yeay Brooke!)!  We had two main goals”  to see some Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh-related places, and to find Anita Page’s star on the Walk-of-fame (RIP Anita, the last silent star).

First, we went to Beverly Hills and took some photos of the houses Larry and Vivien lived in while in Hollywood in 1939.  Vivien’s house at 520 N. Crescent Drive is currently up for lease, and we want to know how much it’s going for (probably a lot considering the neighborhood)!  But we loitered around anyhow and Brooke tried to see if that swimming pool from those home videos of larry and Viv was still back there.  She couldn’t see around to the back.  So we don’t know if it’s still there or not.  The house is so cute and little compared to the obnoxious mansions around it.

Then we went over to Hollywood and did the usual touristy things: took pictures by peoples’ stars, chatted with the guy behind the counter at Larry Edmunds (my FAVORITE Hollywood book store), etc. It was fun! And we finally found Anita’s star all the way down at Hollywood and Gower. Talk about a trek!

me (left) and Brooke

Fun!