Los Angeles, Dec. 24

Mike Malak has forwarded to us the following:

The L.A. Times reported today the death, at 95, of vet publicist Julian Myers. Julian wrote a number of Anni articles for the Daily Variety, was a well-regarded regular visitor to Tom and Pete Pryor and was as close to a staffer as I’d ever seen a publicist get. His wife, Patsy, an attorney, was famous for her pro-bono work. She died at 83 in October. I knew Julian was a runner and a health guru, but not that he marked his 90th birthday by running 90 miles, from San Diego to L.A. (By that criterion I’m barely two.) He was one of the Gentlemen Publicists and never a stranger to a smile.

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Madrid, Dec. 17, 2013

As we head into the home stretch of yet another year, my thoughts turn to all the surviving muggs all over the world, wondering if, in fact, they have survived and, if so, what they might be up to.

Some will doubtless be sitting in their slippers glued to their TV sets, veritable couch potatoes; others may still hobble around the streets and countryside; the younger ones, it is to be hoped, will be gainfully employed and active. A few may still be writing or working on novels and other artistic ventures.

All of which is merely a preamble to once again urge you to drop me a few lines telling us what you’ve been up to in the course of 2013 so we can include your comments in Simesite’s Year End Roundup.

So do take off ten minutes and kindly send your brief or long input, the sooner the better, to pbesas@hotmail.com. Our faithful Ian Watkins in London will post on the Site whatever I have received at year’s end.

In the meantime, we send you all Season’s Greetings and our best wishes for a healthy and happy New Year.

Ian and Peter

New York, Oct. 30, 2013

By Marie Silverman

I visited New York City last week to catch up with another Variety denizen, Tom Gilbert. As we ate lunch, we reminisced, as we often do, about some of our colleagues and the good times at the paper. John Madden was among them, and he is the subject of this piece.

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July 2, 2013 — Variety mugg Fred Lombardi was the star of a four-person panel discussion on filmmaker Allan Dwan at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City.

Fred authored the just-published book “Allan Dwan and the Rise and Decline of the Hollywood Studios” (McFarland & Co. publishing 2013) and Dwan is object of a MoMA film retrospective.
Dwan was a prolific director, writer and producer whose career in the moves started in 1911 and extended well into talkies (1961). His body of work includes many well-remembered films — John Wayne war drama “The Sands of Iwo Jima,” Shirley Temple in “Heidi” and Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in the silent swashbuckler “Robin Hood.” But there are no cinema masterpieces, which accounts for his relative obscurity, though in total his body of work is impressive. He made movies for Paramount Pictures, Republic Pictures, RKO Radio Pictures, 20th Century Fox United Artists and Universal Pictures.

Fred noted that Dawn can’t be stereotyped—which may account for being something of a “lost pioneer”– because his films touched many genres—musical, drama and comedy. His films also showed no consistent political leanings. His work in talkies is praised for brilliant visual shots, which Fred attributes to Dwan’s background in silent films where visuals are critical. Dwan films are also noted for strong female characters. While Dwan didn’t have masterpiece films, all his surviving films are considered a cut above.

Other speakers on the MoMA panel who also studied Dwan were moderator/retrospective organizer Charles Silver, and also film experts Gina Telaroli, Cullen Gallagher and Howard Mandelbaum. Mandelbaum interviewed Dwan before his death in 1981. Fred displayed an encyclopedic knowledge of Dwan, Hollywood history and provided insightful interpretation.

The book “Dwan-Rise/Decline” is a hefty 285,00 words (most books weigh in around 80,000 words) and its well-crafted prose is accompanied by many sharp pictures that make for a great visual package. Several Variety staffers are cited in the acknowledgements. Fred worked seven years assembling the book.

Earlier the same day, Fred also introduced a screening of a mostly forgotten Dwan film—Sweethearts on Parade (1953). Despite only having a poor quality print, the movie was a hit because the MoMA audience exploded into applause at the end.

– Robert & Marie Marich