Esther Williams (1921-2013)

Deanna Durbin (1921-2013)

A Dougsploitation News Special Report: One Woman or Two?

I stumbled upon a little Hollywood mystery back in 2011. After watching the trailer for a 1953 MGM musical called GIVE A GIRL A BREAK starring Debbie Reynolds, Marge Champion and an actress named Helen Wood, I came across a curious comment from a fan of the film.

"In the late 1970's-early 80's I knew Helen Wood who starred in DEEP THROAT under the name Dolly Sharp. She died in 1988. Anybody out there have any info on HELEN?".  At first I shrugged this off as someone making a dumb joke about this woman. Then I did some research.

Helen Wood was born June 4, 1917 in Clarksville, Tenn. In 1933, she won a beauty contest which resulted in a trip to Hollywood and an uncredited bit role in ROMAN SCANDALS  (1933). Taking the last train back to Clarksville, she then completed her high school education. She was soon offered a contract with MGM Studios. After her graduation, she returned to Hollywood with her mother and was cast as a Goldwyn Girl in KID MILLIONS (1934) with Lucille Ball. Many uncredited chorus girl and background roles followed in MOULIN ROGUE (1934), GOLD DIGGERS OF 1935 (1935), MARYJANE'S PA (1935), IN CALIENTE (1935), ANNA KARENINA (1935), SHE MARRIED HER BOSS (1935), THE GOOSE AND THE GANDER (1935) and A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (1935).

In 1936, the rising starlet was named one of "The 1936 Flash Lighter Starlets" and soon was cast in speaking roles in films like MY MARRIAGE (1936), CHAMPAGNE CHARLIE (1936), HIGH TENSION (1936), CHARLIE CHAN AT THE RACE TRACK (1936), CAN THIS BE DIXIE? (1936), CRACK-UP (1936), ALMOST A GENTLEMAN (1939) and SORORITY HOUSE (1939).

Then for 10 years, Helen Wood made no film appearances. In 1949 she returned in THE PILGRIMAGE PLAY, followed by GIVE A GIRL A BREAK (1953) and her last film the burlesque comedy THE NIGHT THEY RAIDED MINSKY'S (1968). UPDATED INFO: Apparently Helen was featured in four Broadway productions from 1949 through 1957. GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES (1949-51), SEVENTEEN (1951), PAL JOEY (1952-53) and ZIEGFELD FOLLIES OF 1957 (1957). So what happened to Helen between 1957 and 1968? And what about after MINSKY'S?

In 2002, The American Museum of the Moving Image in New York ran a festival of erotic films called Carnal Knowledge, which included such classics as I AM CURIOUS YELLOW (1967), MIDNIGHT COWBOY (1969), CARNAL KNOWLEDGE (1971), KLUTE (1971), BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE (1969), LAST TANGO IN PARIS (1972) and the notorious pornographic comedy DEEP THROAT (1972).

The program lists this information regarding DEEP THROAT: 
DEEP THROAT
1972, 73 mins. Directed by Gerard Damiano. With Linda Lovelace, Harry Reems, Dolly Sharp. As talked-about as LAST TANGO IN PARIS, DEEP THROAT premiered with a packed opening day at New York's World Theatre, expanded to seventy screens nationwide, grossed millions, and became a cultural phenomenon. Professional production values and a satiric script earned attention from critics, while Linda Lovelace became a household name. Dolly Sharp, crisply delivering one-liners, previously enjoyed a long career in Hollywood musicals (GIVE THE GIRL A BREAK) as Helen Wood.

Dolly Sharp aka Alexandra Krasneborg began HER acting career in 1971, appearing as "Lady Zazu" in MILLIE'S HOMECOMING. Six more film followed THE WEIRDOS & THE ODDBALLS (1971), HIS LOVING DAUGHTER (1971), SELLING IT (1972), SEXUAL CUSTOMS IN SCANDINAVIA (1972) and ROSEBUD (1972). And then came DEEP THROAT.

In DEEP THROAT, Dolly is cast as star Linda Lovelace's older,wiser roommate, Helen. Early in the film, there's a scene in which Linda and Helen sit beside a swimming pool chatting when Linda declares "Helen, there's got to be more to life than just screwing around." You mean like singing and dancing in MGM Musicals?

So these are the facts: Helen Wood appeared in almost two dozen Hollywood films from 1933 through 1968. Dolly Sharp began appearing in adult films three years later - making her final XXX appearance in 1973, never to be seen again.  If Helen Wood did indeed become Dolly Sharp - she would have been 54 or 55 during the filming of DEEP THROAT. This is totally plausible.

Helen Wood died February 8, 1988 in Burbank, CA leaving behind many unanswered questions. What happened to her between 1939 and 1949 and again between 1957 and 1968 is a mystery. Did she ever marry? Did she have children? Could something have happened to her during those years that would cause her to leave her glamourous MGM past behind to become a middle-aged porn star? The photographs I have posted here certainly show a resemblance between Helen and Dolly, but I have no proof that any of this is true, but the possibility of it all is fascinating. If any readers have any more info on Helen and/or Dolly, please let me know. I also wonder where in Burbank she lived... Helen are you haunting my house?

Betty Garrett 1919-2011

Rima, the Jungle Girl

BACK ISSUE magazine just ran a great article on RIMA, THE JUNGLE GIRL, similar to this piece I posted back in March. Here it is again, cause I did it first. 

Comic book fans were treated to a one-page reappearance of Rima, the Jungle Girl in the pages of THE FIRST WAVE a six-issue DC Comics miniseries. THE FIRST WAVE by writer Brian Azzarello and artist Rags Morales is set in an alternate universe that brings together "the first wave" of pulp fiction heroes (Doc Savage, The Avenger and The Spirit) with such DC stalwarts as Batman, The Black Canary and The Blackhawks. Coming along for the ride is the aforementioned Rima, the Jungle Girl.

But who EXACTLY is this Jungle Girl and where did she come from?

Look no further than the 1904 romantic novel, The Green Mansions by W.H. Hudson based on a South American legend about a lost tribe of mountain-dwelling caucasians.

In the novel, Rima is called "the Daughter of the Didi" and considered an evil spirit who has magical powers. She is eventually burned alive by the tribesmen. Yikes! Luckily the character lived on after the novel.

Rima first came back to life in a 1951 CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED adaptation of the novel.

The character was depicted as a beautiful blonde. Not sure if she made it out alive.

A MGM film adaptation of GREEN MANSIONS followed in 1959.

The film was directed by Mel Ferrar.

Beautiful, dark-haired screen goddess Audrey Hepburn was cast as Rima in the film.

Anthony Perkins was cast as her lover.

The film is not as fondly remembered as Hepburn's other work.

Though it was translated into French.

 

Out of print for many years, the film is now available on dvd through the Warner Archive Collection.

Rima turned up next as the star of her own DC Comics series, RIMA THE JUNGLE GIRL in the 1970s.

The series ran for only seven issues, but is well-remembered by fans of the jungle adventure genre.

The series began in May 1974.

The book featured art by the talented Nestor Redodno.

And was graced with gorgeous covers by legendary Joe Kubert.

Rima never interacted with any other characters in the DC Universe in comics.

The series ended in May of 1975, and we thought we saw the last of Rima.

That was until 1977, when Rima showed up on TV!

Yes, Rima joined the cast of Hanna-Barbera's ALL-NEW SUPERFRIENDS HOUR!

Rima appeared alongside new created-for-TV and much-maligned heroes like Apache Chief and Black Vulcan.

But Rima also got to co-star with some of the A-Listers in various episodes - like Wonder Woman and Batman!

And, now over 20 years later Rima will once again be part of a storyline involving Batman!

I'm truly looking forward to the next exciting issue of THE FIRST WAVE and the further exploits of Rima, the Jungle Girl!

Kathryn Grayson 1922-2010

Best TV Commercial Ever

With all the buzz about this year's Super Bowl ads, I've been thinking about a classic TV commercial that I recall as being one that I actually wanted to see over and over again. The Great American Soup commercial from 1970 featured the great American MGM star Ann Miller as a talented housewife, and had the production values of a feature film.Budgeted at $154K, this one minute homage to Busby Berkeley musicals was directed by satirist Stan Freberg and took over four weeks to produce. It was the most expensive TV advertisement ever produced up to that point.The spot employed big band conductor Billy May and a 24-piece orchestra.
Academy Award-winning  choreographer Hermes Pan was brought on and he hired 20 tap-dancing chorus girls to bring the story to life.
Such attention to detail created a most memorable advertisement that ran for years. Unfortunately the product, priced much higher than Campbells and made by Heinz, faded away.

The commercial became so popular that it was referenced in most obituaries for Ms. Miller, who died 5 years ago in January 2004.

Squirrel Appreciation Day

According to my favorite news source, The Huffington Post , and much to the chagrin of my dogs Buck and Zorro– today is Squirrel Appreciation Day! Who knew? So in honor of this momentous occasion - here are a few of my favorite squirrels.
Squirrels have found fame in many TV shows and films starting in 1959, when Jay Ward's Rocky the Flying Squirrel first fly into homes. Rocket J. Squirrel began outwitting Cold War villains Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale, along with his friend Bullwinkle on ROCKY & FRIENDS and later on THE BULLWINKLE SHOW. For lots more info on Rocky and his Frostbite Falls cohorts, go here.
Secret Squirrel and his sidekick, Morocco Mole, debuted as part of THE ATOM ANT/SECRET SQUIRREL SHOW on NBC in 1965 - spinning off with their own Hanna-Barbera cartoon series in 1966. The show featured the madcap adventures of the secret agent rodent (Agent 000) and his arch enemy The Yellow Pinky. Visit artist Patrick Owlsey's blog for some really cool Secret Squirrel art (and much, much more).Slappy and Skippy Squirrel were featured on THE ANIMANIACS in the 1990s. Slappy is bitter, retired animated actress from the Looney Tunes golden age, who spends most of her days on the WB studio lot, causing chaos with her innocent nephew and sidekick, Skippy.Screwy Squirrel an obscure an Tex Avery character that appeared in only five MGM cartoon shorts during the 1940s. He later returned in WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT and in 1993 was given a supporting role on Fox's DROOPY: MASTER DETECTIVE TV series.Also worth noting are Sandy Cheeks from Nickelodeon's ridiculously successful SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS and Nutty Squirrel from the deliciously demented internet series HAPPY TREE FRIENDS.On a more serious note, Jess the Squirrel is a character on the epic PBS animated fantasy series REDWALL - which always seemed to complicated for me to follow. Other recent animated squirrels include critters in the CGI films THE WILD and OVER THE HEDGE.So, show your support for Squirrel Appreciation Day and check out some of these fine furry superstars! I'm really looking forward to Rabbit Appreciation Day!!!