Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 338

Well, I feel way worse today than I did yesterday so I am going to treat you to possibly the weirdest Ann Dvorak bit I have come across on the web.

I have apparently reached that point in life where things these crazy kids are doing online eludes my sensibilities, so I am not exactly sure what this site Polyvore is. Can you actually shop there? Is it just a place for people to put together creative designs for others to admire? All of the above? What I do know is that someone has put together an outfit either inspired by or in tribute to Ann Dvorak.

The quotes included do not come from Ann, but the outfit does have a 1930s feel to it.  And hey, any Ann is good Ann so we Dvorak faithful appreciate it.

Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 313

Two more promo pieces went live yesterday, both focusing on how offline Los Angeles research collections aided in the quest to document the life and career of Ann Dvorak.

The first is kind of cheating because it was written by me for the Central Library blog where I work. My post focusing on the value of undigitized newspaper collections.

The second was written by Los Angeles historian extraordinaire Nathan Masters who blogs for KCET on behalf of the L.A. as Subject organization. Nathan’s focus goes a bit broader and extends to some of the other local institutions that I utilized which proved to be invaluable.

Both posts feature one of my all-time favorite images of Ann Dvorak which is from the Los Angeles Herald Collection at the Los Angeles Public Library. The photo shows her entering the courthouse on February 14, 1936 for the first day in her lawsuit against Warner Bros. It’s a wonderfully dramatic shot and she looks like she’s ready to step before the cameras. I first saw this photo in 2004 when I was interning in the LAPL Photo Collection and the second I saw it I knew it was a must have for the book. Nine years later, it’s still one of the most striking photos I have even seen of the Divine Miz D.

Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 312

I’m not sure what I expected to feel once the book was released. I was hoping to experience a sense of accomplishment and relief, but instead I have been a nervous wreck. It honestly didn’t occur to me that books take time to read and feedback would not be immediately forthcoming. I have been on pins and needles all week, obsessively checking the Internet for any new mention of Ann Dvorak. I normally sleep like a rock, much to the irritation of my husband who has frequent bouts of insomnia. The tables have been turned and the last few nights have been brutally restless. Last night I had a dream that someone on Goodreads gave me a 3 star review, calling the book “trite compote.” What does that even mean??

Now, the feedback is slowly starting to filter in. The first Amazon review has been posted, which is not only 5 stars, but is an intelligent and thoughtful appraisal written by someone I do not know.  The other bit of good news came through at around 2am yesterday when Liz Smith’s column was posted over at the New York Social Diary.

Liz Smith is an old school gossip columnist so to have her call Ann Dvorak: Hollywood’s Forgotten Rebel “recommended movie star reading of the moment” is pretty great. To top that off, Smith likens Ann to Gloria Swanson and posted a four minute clip of Ann and Lana Turner in A Life of Her Own, noting, “Not only does she wipe Lana off the screen, she practically burns a hole through it!”

After I finished the book and was waiting to receive the proofs, I went through I blue period where I wondered if I had devoted too much time to a subject no one cared about. Now that the feedback is starting to filter in, I am realizing more and more that Ann Dvorak was worth every moment.