Page 60 - Sonoma County Gazette November 2018

A Star is Born, Again & Again,&
Again
By Diane McCurdy
It all started in 1932, with a film called
What Price Hollywood? In this initial take on the plot , the ingenue is an aspiring actress who is a waitress at the Brown Derby
where she meets a director. He sets up a screen test. Soon her fortune ascends as quickly as the
alcoholic director’s fortune descends. The lead, Constance Bennett, received an Oscar for her portrayal. The reviews all indicate that this feature was “pre-code”, the Hays Code that was instituted in 1930 that imposed strict censorship. The movie is so old, 86 years, it is amazing that it is available not only on DVD but Blu-Ray as well.
In 1937, David O. Selznick took the basic story and added technicolor and a nice score. The young girl this time is played by Janet Gaynor opposite
Frederic March. His character is a big star. In this piece he not only mentors but marries the talented newcomer, however, when she wins an Oscar he is regarded as
a has-been. She wants to put her career on hold to help him but he cannot handle the pity and takes the final step. DVD.
The 1954 version starred Judy Garland and James Mason. Again it is a super star taking a fledgling actress under his wing only to see her charisma glow brightly while his is slowly extinguished. This adaptation is enhanced with the addition of songs. Who can ever forget the beautiful, poignant “The Man Who Got Away” warbled so ineffably by Judy. DVD
It’s 1976, and here we go again. This time Barbra Streisand is
the talented beginner and Kris Kristofferson is the one wallowing
in the ash of his former greatness. They meet and coalesce. The venue is changed from Hollywood and movie making to the contemporary music scene injecting some vital energy into the old plan. It’s Barbra’s picture all the way. She is the executive producer and takes credit for song writing and wardrobe as well as crooning the memorable “Evergreen”. Because it is the 70’s Kris is hooked on not only alcohol but cocaine too. DVD.
The latest 2018, version features Lady Gaga and, in his directorial debut, Bradley Cooper.
What sets this old story apart is the dynamite chemistry that exists between the stars. Most people know that Lady Gaga is, in fact, Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta. But how many know that Cooper, he with the neon blue eyes, is the son of Gloria Campano. These two Italians bonded over spaghetti and it is obvious they have a solid friendship and mutual respect. The film is more like an operetta. It is not a musical as the songs are integral but the music becomes a dominant feature.
Through the years there have been various proposals in which Jennifer Lopez, Beyonce and Will Smith have been attached. Also a role reversal has been suggested in which the women is the big name who gives a struggling guy a break. Any plot line that has gone through five reincarnations and is still viable is touching something primal in the human psyche. This latest version will probably not be the last.
60 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 11/18
Unhinged: An Insider’s Account
of the Trump White House
By Diane McCurdy
Not being a fan of Donald Trump long before he ever ran for president nor
a devotee of reality TV, I had never seen The Apprentice. But I had heard of Omarosa. If nothing else her reputation was that she was a shrew, a vixen, and a newly generated group of people who are famous for being famous like the Kardashians.
Omarosa Manigault Newman’s book is almost passe now because it was released delineating the weirdness emanating from Pennsylvania Ave. before the more explosive Fear by Bob Woodward was released. The Fire And Fury and The Death of Democracy had previously shocked us so we are sort of numb. It becomes increasingly apparent that we are no longer appalled that
we have elected someone apparently “unhinged” to govern us.
To be fair on the right there are treatises by Jeanine Pirro, Ann Coulter and Newt Gingrich that are garnering attention. In this tribal era it is like dueling exposes. With each side assuring us that we are witnessing the decline of society as we know it.
In her book, Omarosa gives the
reader some biographical information.
It is needed to set the stage. She had a
hard scrabble upbringing in the projects and both her father and her brother were murdered. To rise to national significance from these hardscrabble beginnings one cannot be a shrinking violet.
On The Apprentice she was the schemer, the villain. There is a little of the same disposition in her book. She was a Democrat and working for Hillary and exhorting people to “get behind this sister”, when her project fell through. At that point she was pursued by the other side to handle the Republican’s “woman problem” and be somewhat of a liaison to the black community and so she switched, maybe too easily. And then she said that, “.....every critic, detractor will have to bow to President Trump.”
She assures us it was in her mind to quit for some time before she was fired but that is difficult to believe. It may have, at some point, passed through her thoughts when she was privy to some obvious dysfunction but if would have been difficult for her to give up not only the glory and the money but also there were some altruistic projects she was involved with as well.
There is really nothing new contained in the her memoir but everything is more intimate as viewed through her lens. She suggests there are tapes of Trump uttering the “N” word, makes some veiled allusions to an ongoing affair. She speaks benevolently of Eric and Melania and hints Melania may take leave when this gig is over.
She claims there is a tanning bed in the president’s quarters and that he wanted to take the oath of office on his book The Art of the Deal rather than the Bible. Trump rants that Donald Jr. is a screw up and refers to his education secretary, Betsy De Vos as “Ditzy Betsy”. It was Eric’s wife, who we haven’t heard much about, that offered her a settlement in exchange for a non- disclosure type of agreement.
I do think that Omarosa has a moral compass of sorts as an ordained Baptist minister as well as being married to one. She has a nice chatty writing style that perks along. Trump has called his former confidant “a low life”, “wacky O”, “a crazed, crying lowlife” and “a dog” which I am sure only increased sales of her book.