Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 275

I did a “save the date” post a while back, but now everything is lined up and the Ann Dvorak: Hollywood’s Forgotten Rebel Official Book Launch Party is posted on the Los Angeles Public Library’s event calendar!

I have been digging through the collection and located a handful of “authentic” Ann Dvorak  recipes that shouldn’t clash too much when laid out on a table together. I am still debating if I want to serve Sanka, which Ann would secretly spring on dinner guests. I haven’t seen Sanka in stores for a long time, and while it is available for purchase online, I’m not sure if it’s old, expired Sanka. I am going to be projecting one of Ann’s films for ambiance, and will be displaying some of my memorabilia and Ann’s personal items. As of now, Mary Carlisle who briefly knew Ann at MGM around 1929/30 is scheduled to be a special guest. And of  course, we’ll have lots of copies of the book for sale!

I kind of figure the room will be filled with people I work with or am related to, so if you’re in the Los Angeles area on November 12th, stop by and get your signed copy of Ann Dvorak: Hollywood’s Forgotten Rebel!

Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 261

We are officially in the home stretch leading towards the release date of Ann Dvorak: Hollywood’s Forgotten Rebel (46 days to be exact).

The University Press of Kentucky is now accepting media inquiries, and have review copies of the book available. So, if you write for a newspaper/magazine/website/blog (and whatever else there is these days), please contact Cameron Ludwick over at the UPK cameron.ludwick@uky.edu.

I am always available for interviews, so if you want to hear me talk about Ann Dvorak endlessly, go ahead and contact me directly – christina@anndvorak.com.

Thanks again to all those who have been so supportive!

Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 257

Every so often, a tidbit of incorrect Ann Dvorak info floats around that infinite realm known as the Internet and I feel compelled to correct it. As you may recall, back on Day 2 of the Year of Ann Dvorak I kvetched about an image of Ann and Marjorie King on the beach who is frequently (and bizarrely) mistaken for Raquel Torres.

Last week across the Twitterverse, the following was posted, and re-posted, and re-posted.

Fact: Lucille Ball was one of the twenty original “Goldwyn Girls”, along with Virginia Bruce, Ann Dvorak, Paulette Goddard and Betty Grable,

This misinformation has been floating around online for at least a decade, and it’s actually not a fact, at least as far as Ann Dvorak is concerned. The Goldwyn Girls were chorines used in films produced by the Samuel Goldwyn Company. Ann did appear in a Goldwyn film, 1950s Our Very Own, but in 1930 when the Goldwyn Girls made their debut, Ann was hoofing for MGM.

Perhaps Ann’s employment at Metro Goldwyn Mayer as a chorus girl caused someone some confusion at some point. However, Samuel Goldwyn never produced films for the legendary studio that bore his name, and I have never come across any documentation pointing to Ann being loaned out to another studio at that time. I don’t think there has ever been a shortage of chorus girls, so a loan out for uncredited hoofers doesn’t make much sense.

If you learn nothing else from this site, I hope you’ll note that Ann Dvorak never posed on the beach with Raquel Torres and was never a Goldwyn Girl!

Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 220

Yesterday, the University Press of Kentucky, aka my publisher, announced they will be offering a free e-book of any hardcover purchased. One just needs to send them a photo of oneself with the book, and they’ll “ship” out the e-book.

I have yet to embrace e-books, particularly for non-fiction. I read one a few years back on a first generation Kindle and was not impressed with the graphics. I’m sure they have improved considerably, but I also like having that hardcover to refer back to. However, now that I live in a three person household, space is at a premium so I may need to make the e-book plunge. In the meantime, UPK’s program is providing the best of both worlds – a beautiful hardcover that you don’t need to lug on an airplane.

For Ann Dvorak, Hollywood’s Forgotten Rebel, I made the decision to have the photos placed throughout the text, rather than as a glossy insert. I did this specifically with the e-book in mind, so I hope it works out. In looking over the proofs the last couple of weeks, I think this was the right decision. The quality of the photos will be slightly diminished because they’re not printed on glossy paper, but they still look great and it’s nice having them accompany the relevant text.

So, come November, get you cameras and best smiles ready for a photo op with Ann Dvorak. You never know, there might be some special prizes coming your way from this site as well…

Full details on UPK’s new e-book loyalty program is on their blog.

Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 123

 Ann’s in there somewhere!

Yesterday, Ron Hutchinson over at the Vitaphone Project announced that TWO M-G-M shorts featuring Ann Dvorak are going to be restored within the next year. Ok, he did not exactly identify Pirates and Manhattan Serenade as “Ann Dvorak shorts,” but she does happen to be in both of them as a chorus girl. Here’s what Ron had to say about the project over on his Facebook page.

As promised, here’s yet ANOTHER big Technicolor restoration announcement. As you know, after the discovery of the lost Stooges 1933 Technicolor short HELLO POP earlier this year, we began pursuing what other color shorts might be out there. James Layton at George Eastman House shared with me a number of restoration possibilities. GEH has a matching grant in place so that if we developed funding, it would be doubled in impact. The Vitaphone Project was able to quickly obtain three very generous donors who are funding the already announced THE SULTAN’S JESTER, but also these two I’m announcing today: MANHATTAN SERENADE (MGM Colortone, 1929) with Nina Mae McKinney and The Brox Sisters, and PIRATES (MGM Colortone, 1930). James kindly made some frame grabs which I have posted here. The work is required to be completed within a year per the grant. All I can say is NINA MAE McKINNEY IN COLOR!

Ron filled me in about these in early March, so it’s great to finally have the cat out of the bag. These early M-G-M films were the only time Ann was filmed in color. It’s amazing that they actually still exist, and a restoration by the George Eastman House is truly heartwarming to this here Ann-D fanatic.

Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 96

For those of you who reside in Facebookland, the official FB page for the book is now up. It’s pretty sparse right now, but I’ll be adding some photos and other content in the near future, assuming there are enough followers to keep it up (hint, hint). Once the book is out, it’ll be useful for keeping track of, what will hopefully be, a full calendar of events.

So, go and “like” it!