I got these two books today for $20 from a local second-hand store. I just went in for a minute, ended up hunting for the biographies section, and was in luck. The guy at the store looked at the Ginger book and I’m sure he thought it was worth more than $10 (I’m not 100% sure as I was listening to my iPod) but he couldn’t change the price. But I definitely will visit in a couple of weeks to see what else turns up!

I’m reading the Lana Turner biography first… and I’ll see how that goes. I like the idea of buying star biographies but do try to keep in mind that some things noted may not be entirely true. For instance… like lying about their age or denying certain scandalous events took place.

Oh yes and two cents about those Columbia films…

I bought 5x Columbia films from DeepDiscountDVD.com and they cost US$5.98 each. My collection of classic films from this studio is small, because they charge obscene prices (in the US) for titles with not a lot of special features. They do tend to charge less in Region 4, but there are not too many titles available. I’ve watched three so far.

Divorce American Style (1967) isn’t really that funny. I just don’t like watching Dick Van Dyke on screen that much… why the heck studios thought he was bankable as a movie star…. I don’t know. I think there are far better movies that Jean Simmons & Debbie Reynolds made and Van Johnson wasn’t exactly the swingiest ex-swinger.

Music in my Heart (1940) is a cute minor film. I enjoy watching both Tony Martin and Rita Hayworth… so watching them together is a bonus. The staging of Tony Martin’s Broadway performance isn’t really photographed that well, but his singing makes up for it
and Rita’s presence too.

Down to Earth (1947) is pure technicolor & Rita-candy. She plays a goddess who’s come to earth to help out. The heaven scenes were pale blue sky with cotton-candy clouds… gorgeous. It’s post-Gilda so not considered one of her finest, but I enjoyed it. I’ve never seen Larry Parks on-screen either so that was good too.