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Jack D’Onofrio wants us to tell everyone about his hometown (and that of wife Dolores). He now lives in Racine, Wisconsin but misses his boyhood days in…..
Kansas City , Missouri !
Click to Listen
Twilight in Kansas City
Kansas
City has been called “the heart of
the Midwest ” because it lays in the very center of Missouri and,
in fact, in the heart of the United States . The name came form its original
inhabitants, a peaceful tribe of Indians called the Kansa who also lent
their name to the other Kansas City across the Missouri River and the
state of Kansas . But the tribe was displaced by the influx of settlers
after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 drove homesteaders west.
It began as a trading post built by French fur
trader Francois Chouteau in 1821. In 1835 John C, McCoy bought the post
and the countryside surrounding it to create the new Town of Kansas .
By 1855 it merged with a neighboring town ( Westport ) and became Kansas
City .
 Louisiana Purchase 1803 |
A city
of fountains (160 in all)
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A
city of theaters
 The Empress circa 1914 |
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 The Gayety in the 1900s |
 The Gem Theater today |
A city
of museums
including the American
Jazz Museum with its statue of Charley “Yardbird” Parker.
Clint Eastwood was in KCMO to produce and direct his movie”Bird” in
1988.
 The American Jazz Museum |
 "Yardbird" Parker's statue |
 Forest Whittaker as "Bird" |
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A
city of libraries
and where a novel was
written about murders in the neighboring town of Holcomb that became
both a best-seller and a hit movie…Truman Capote’s “In
Cold Blood” was filmed at the site of the crime.
Kansas City Public Library
and the birthplace of actors Wallace Beery,
Jeanne Eagels, Jean Harlow, composer Burt Bachrach and film director
Robert Altman.
 Wallace Beery |
 Jeanne Eagels (also see Unscripted Endings this issue) |
 Jean Harlow |
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 Burt Bacharach |
 Robert Altman |
Altman returned in 1996 to make a movie about his hometown in the 1930s, calling it simply “ Kansas City ”. The cast included Jennifer Jason Leigh, Miranda Richardson, Harry Belafonte and Dermot Mulroney as Johnny O’Hara.
 Miranda Richardson and Jennifer Jason Leigh |
 Harry Belafonte |
 Dermot Mulroney |
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Ask
Arabella….
I was asked this question in a check-out Line!
Is it true that the cosmetic industry owes much of its development to the early movies and their need for special types of makeup?
 Max Factor and Jean Harlow |
Well, women have been using paints and powders since the early Egyptians so the cosmetic industry has done okay on its own for centuries. But it is true that the movie industry has taken stage makeup
(greasepaint) to a much higher level. With every technical innovation in film processing, camera accuracy or lighting, the makeup that was applied had to be changed to meet different needs. So the makeup artists, and they are artists, had to keep one step ahead of the new developments. Max Factor and the Westmore clan were the front-runners but Jack Dawn and Bob Schiff were also pioneers. My grandmother, an actress in a New York stock company was convinced that Max was an actress’ best friend. But don’t forget that barber from England and his six sons who headed up every studio makeup department in Hollywood…except MGM.
Paul Tomaschevich of Racine , Wisconsin asks:
Why is it when a certain kind of film is a hit we get so much of the same afterwards? Ad nauseum!
Goodness, Paul, you seem a bit irritated. The reason is public demand. If a film makes money, a few more of the same can’t hurt. On the other hand, I have noticed that certain films do seem to populate certain decades. Not exactly what you asked but it may help. For example, in the 1920’s after “ the war to end all wars” we seemed to like comedies best….Mack Sennett, Chaplin, Keaton and Lloyd. By the 1930’s, musicals took over. It seemed as soon as movies could talk, they wanted to sing. In the 40’s another war and this time we made movies about it and added pin-up girls to go with them. The 50’s brought more color, more glamour and more sex. Code days were almost over. The 60’s brought back musicals and Elvis while the 70’s belonged to science fiction and Star Wars. Then in the 80’s we got the darker side, with aliens and supernaturals. In the 90’s Bruce Willis and Mel Gibson brought “Die Hard” and “Lethal Weapon” as action pictures had the upper hand. This decade has hardly started so maybe your favorites will get a chance. Let’s wait and see.