Sahara Hotel...nostalgia buffs brave sweltering heat to snatch up keep-sakes!

If you were cruising down the Vegas strip on Thursday, you probably caught sight of a throng of tourists and locals alike, perspiring profusely in the sweltering heat in a line that snaked down the street for blocks on end.


Nope!

The folks were not anxious to snap up tickets for an upcoming headlining act.

On the contrary, die-hard souvenir-seekers were waiting patiently - sometimes upwards of three grueling hours - to gain entrance to a liquidation sale held at the Sahara Hotel which I reported on a couple of days ago.

Post: 06/14/2011

http://ijulian.blogspot.com/2011/06/sahara-hotelnostalgia-sale-everything.html

As I noted in my previous report, the Sahara closed its doors to the public in May and is now in the process of clearing out the inventory - in some cases - at rock-bottom prices.

And, nostalgia buffs - a few practical types, too - are out to snap up a few collectibles if only for old time's sake.

After all, the Sahara Hotel was once a former haunt of the infamous "rat pack".

Uh-huh!

Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin - and a gang of swinging wannabees - once flocked to the glittering showcase in the heyday of Vegas when the "mob" ruled.

On Thursday, potential buyers paid $10.00 a pop

Within hours, beaming shoppers were later spied hauling out their spoils, with a smug look of satisfaction on their beaming faces tanned to perfection by the desert sun.

What was up for grabs?

Novel Camel Lamps - which once rested on night-stands in every suite in the once-chic Hotel - sold briskly 150 smackeroos.

Publicity stills of - Dean Martin, Elvis Presley, and the Beatles - were snapped up quickly, too.

"Even if the item is nailed down, it's for sale," one liquidator presiding over the event underscored in the event there were any doubts.

Meanwhile, items that could be dropped in a pocket or slipped into a take-home bag, were flying out of the Hotel left, right, and center.

For instance, lone poker chips were plucked up for two bucks, while single dinner plates were being wrapped up for five dollars a piece.

A King-size mattress - free of bed bugs, I hope - sold for $325.00.

The purchaser must have had a struggle wrestling that find out the front door, eh?

At press time, still dozens of little treasures were available on site, this week.

By the way, the liquidators have noted that there they will no longer be charging a fee into the fifth day of the sale, so budget-minded folks may want to bear that fact in mind.

The gargantuan sale continues for the next sixty days - when it is expected - that all the desirable primo items will have finally been snatched up and carried off to the four corners of the world.

Happy treasure hunting, eh?

http://www.thetattler.biz

American Idol...singers lacked ba**s to pull off Sinatra! Those with no life experience need not apply!

As  I was switching the dial on the old boob tube last night, with an eye-out for some entertaining bill-of-fare, I happened across one of the American Idol (Fox) contestants butchering a classic Frank Sinatra tune (which should have come off smooth as butter).

OMG!

A second male vocalist also tried a stab at an ol' blue-eyes  hit - and missed the mark - too.

Embarrassingly, so!

Meanwhile Judges like Ellen - and even normally-sane Simon Cowell - gave the pop hopefuls a false sense of security when they raved about the misguided musical musings (disasters?).

Gosh, the taste of the Idol Judges is either up their wazoo these days, or those blaring musical interludes in-between segments these past few weeks have managed to deafen the two.

When Frank Sinatra crooned - "My Way" - the reason the celebrated hit touched (and is a all-time favorite in Karaoke bars around the globe today) - was because Frank sang each word (and the note that couched it) as if he lived it (which he had).

Yes, Sir!

Frank did it "his" way.

When he crooned about the heartaches of love - or moments of reflection - the muscial emotions resonated with audiences.

Why?

The legendary singer was able to reach inward - let go, let it out - and along the way (without any  regrets) reveal the innermost underpinnings of his soul.

Sinatra's bang-on phrasing and the subtle nuances in his golden voice were icing on the cake - in the final anaylsis - and were the tools of the craft he facilitated to buttress the song up so that it could float out to rest on appreciative areas.

The end result?

For a short while, audiences basked in the glow of a gifted performer - the likes of which - music-lovers will rarely ever witness on the live stage again in their lifetime.

The idol pap was all puff pastry, in my estimaton!

Frank Sinatra-style career ahead for Lambert!

http://www.thetattler.biz

Jerry Lewis...Oscars honor comic with prestigious Jean Hersholt Award!

The Academy of Motions Arts & Sciences has announced that Jerry Lewis will receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award by the Board of Governors to be presented at the Oscar celebration on February 22nd (2009).

In France, Jerry Lewis is hailed as a great comic, much like "The Little Tramp" - Charlie Chaplin - has been on these shores.

You know what they say.

A man is never recognized as a prophet in his own country!

Film buffs may recall that Jerry Lewis was a comic genius who teamed up with "straight" man Dean Martin back in the fifties.

The odd bedfellows became the hottest act in show business by virtue of a handful of screwball comedies that entertained an American public hungry for their brand of whimsical low-brow slapstick humor.

At the commencement of their respective careers, Abby Greshler - a high-powered Hollywood agent - negotiated one of Hollywood's best deals during that time frame in the burgeoning show business marketplace.

Although the duo managed to pull in $75,000 between them for films slated for production with Hal Wallis, Jerry and Dean were free to do one outside film a year, which they would co-produce through their own production company.

The Lewis/Martin business entity had complete control of club, record, and radio and television appearances which racked in millions of dollars during their successful union.

To the delight of television audiences, the comics also made regular appearances on the highly-rated Colgate Comedy Hour (NBC).

Unfortunately, artistic differences (and a grab for power) caused a split.

The ugly scenario was not unlike a nasty no-holds-barred divorce proceeding - which played out in the media at great cost - particularly in respect to the names and reputations of the two artists involved.

On the heels of the break-up, Dean later experienced success as an actor in such noteworthy films as Rio Bravo, The Rat Pack, and The Young Lions.

In recent years, Mr. Lewis was loudly applauded for a serious role he played opposite actors Robert DeNiro and Sandra Bernhardt in Scorsese's "The King of Comedy".

For a couple of decades now, Jerry has been the host of a weekend telethon each September for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, which raises funds for a project that is close to his heart.

The Jean Hersholt Award is given periodically to an individual in the film business whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry.

"Jerry is a legendary comedian who has not only brought laughter to millions around the world, but has also helped thousands upon thousands by raising funds and awareness for those suffering from muscular dystrophy," President Sid Ganis noted proudly.

Previous honorees have been Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Charlton Heston, Quincy Jones, and Danny Kaye.

The prestigious award is named after Jean Hersholt who served as President of the Motion Picture Relief Fund for 18 years.

Jerry Lewis quote:

"I've had great success being a total idiot."

http://www.julianayrs.com

Patrick Goldstein...Los Angeles Times writer pens pap! Wasted column inches...

Well, Patrick Goldstein is at it again.

Once again, he's penning ignorant musings for the morning daily, to satisfy his overblown sense of self-importance.

Just a few days ago, everyone was savoring a big chuckle over a silly piece he threw together on the Roger Ebert scandal.

If you recall, Roger Ebert confessed on his blog, that a nifty review on the feature - Tru Loved - was crafted without disclosing the fact the rotund little critic only screened about eight minutes of celluloid.

In response, Mr. Goldstein jumped into the fray (to rustle up some much-needed publicity for himself, no doubt. Poor baby!) and wildly predicted that Ebert's shame-faced admission would spark trouble for all critics around the country.

As I quipped at the time, baloney!

When I opened the newspaper and turned to the Calendar section and started to peruse his latest article this morning, I literally laughed out loud!

After noting that he attended a screening of a comedy this past week (Role Models), the ingenuous hack proceeded to ponder why the Academy didn't award more Oscars to that popular genre.

Duh!

In fact - he noted in the overly-long shallow piece - that after the screening he found himself "wondering" why the Oscars didn't recognize good work in comedy the way they do drama, animation, cinematography, editing (oh boy, he left no stone unturned on this one) - etc. etc. and so forth and so on!

The man is a piece of work, isn't he?

For starters, the subject he was whining about has been thoroughly covered - ad nauseam - for about two decades by a handful of top entertainment writers in the industry.

More galling, perhaps, is Goldstein's deceitful bold-faced effort to conjure up the impression that his take on the issue is a fresh insight!

Mr. Goldstein, do you honestly think everyone in the biz has lived in a vacuum for the past twenty years?

Or, just maybe, you thought we were born yesterday?

At this juncture, I think it's obvious why the Los Angeles Times is losing credibility (and suffering circulation losses) in recent months.

Who wants to read the tired old news that Mr. Goldstein is offering up under the pretense that it is his own original thought-provoking material?


Years ago, Frank Sinatra caught a lot of flack from the media for referring to journalists as a bunch of hookers.

In Mr. Goldstein's case, the label is right on the money.


If I was the managing editor at the daily, I would give Goldstein's butt a swift kick into the "Want ads" department.

His writing would be better-suited for drafting copy for used cars.

After all, his propensity for selling pre-owned properties, makes him well-suited for the task.

Rosemary's Baby...Nuart Midnight Screening. July 25th!

Rosemary's Baby will be screening tonight at the Nuart Theatre in West Los Angeles (July 25th) at midnight.

I recall when the intense thriller first graced the screen.

The intense horror flick - starring Mia Farrow - caused quite a sensation.

Although the special effects no doubt pale to the offerings today - what with all the advances in technology over the years - Rosemary's Baby still ranks high as one of the top scariest films of all time.

The sensational feature was adapted from a novel by known Satanist Ira Levin.


The movie version produced at Paramount was directed by the celebrated (now somewhat infamous) Roman Polanski.

Levin was hired as a consultant on the high profile project.


Anton La Vey - founder of the Satanist Church - appeared briefly as the devil.

La Vey touted the film as,

"The best paid commercial for Satanism since the Inquisition."

When Ms. Farrow was asked to play the role, she was married to Frank Sinatra at the time.

During the course of the film - Mia's normally luscious locks of hair - were cropped quite short (a la "twiggy-style") to accommodate a storyline which caused one former flame to quip to the press,

"I always knew Frank would end up with a boy."



Concerned that Mia would be on location a lot, and out of romantic reach, Frank issued an ultimatum: pick me or the movie.

Ms. Farrow chose to continue filming; consequently, shortly thereafter she was served with divorce papers on the set one day just as she was about to shoot a dramatic scene.

Curiously, events surrounding the film, caused many to consider the real possibility that dark forces were at work behind-the-scenes.

On June 5 (1968) - ten days before Rosemary's Baby was released - Polanski and his wife Sharon Tate dined with Robert Kennedy in Malibu. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Kennedy was assassinated at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.

A year later - on August 7th (1969) - Charles Manson disciples brutally murdered Sharon Tate and her unborn baby - along with four other people at the Director's in the Hollywood Hills in California.

Rosemary's Baby was shot at the legendary Dakota Apartment complex in Manhattan.