Chavela Vargas (1919-2012) progressed in her lifetime from pariah to icon. She is the subject of the documentary "Chavela," which won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at last year's Frameline,
Marilyn Monroe once cooed, "Give a girl the right shoes, and she can conquer the world." She may have had the right shoes, but alas not a pair of Manolos, since she died before he appeared on the scene.
In his day, producer Allan Carr was known as "flamboyant," a code word for gay. This was at a time when being openly gay in Hollywood could mean career suicide.
If you ask anyone over 45 if they have seen the film "Women in Love," assuming they remember it, they will often remark, "Yes, that's the movie with the two naked guys wrestling each other in front of a fireplace."
Nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Picture but going home empty-handed, Lady Bird remains one of the best films of 2017, and has just been released on DVD by A24/Lionsgate.
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) was a brilliant, successful playwright, poet, novelist, and essayist. Following is a selective list of movies based on his life and works.
Mary McCarthy's 1963 novel "The Group" follows eight Vassar graduates of the class of 1933 who remain friends as they face the tribulations and joys of the real world.
The Indian director Satyajit Ray (1921-92) was one of the great world filmmakers, in the same auspicious company as Bunuel, Kurosawa, Bergman, and Fellini.
