Hey Bruce,
I was at that same event at the Cinerama Dome. We went early also to get the
"special program book". The only good thing I can say about it was that while
we were waiting in the line to get the book, we were positioned right in front
of the area where they were interviewing the celebrities as they got out of
their limos. So we saw Angela Lansbury, Jack Nicholson, Billy Crystal, Julie
Andrews, Kirk Douglas (we actually attended to see Spartacus), and a few others
I can't remember now (I'm getting old and forgetful). You are right, though,
the book wasn't that great but it did have some very nice photos in it.
Also, about Debbie Reynolds. My step Mom has been in the costuming business
for 50 years. She and Debbie are good friends. Years ago Debbie "found" many of
the costumes from Gone With the Wind stored at a Bekins storage facility in
Hollywood, having been stored their by Selznick. Over the years she bought and
"found" many other costumes and many of them were restored at my step Mom's
shop. She saved me all the scraps and I have them stored and labeled in little
jars at home (o.k., I'm a pack rat). About 15 years ago, my step-Mom bought the
original half sheet for Singin' In the Rain and Debbie took it to Gene and
Donald's house to have it signed. My birthday is New Years Eve, so typically I
have always gotten the combined Christmas/Birthday gift, which is cool, except
when I was a kid and the birthday would come but I'd already gotten the gift a
week before (kids can be so greedy!). So, when I went over to see my step-Mom
at the holidays and she handed me a tube, unwrapped (her no frills style, I
love it), I thought it was something she wanted me to frame for her. Inside was
the signed half sheet with a little note from Debbie. It is my most prized
possession in my collection. Not my most valuable, monetarily, but the care
that went into getting it for me was the value to me.
I have been lucky enough to meet, work and dine with many "celebrities".
Some were nice people, some were fantastic, and some were grumpy and some
downright rude. Just like regular people. My favorites have been Fred Astaire,
Bette Davis, Gregory Peck, Gene Kelly, Patty Duke & John Astin, Carol Burnett,
Helen Hayes, and a few others. Those just stand out in my mind. With my
business I have had for the past twenty years since I retired from the film
business I have many people in the public eye that are customers. Believe it or
not, most are just down home folks who got lucky and they are the first to say
it. There are some that think they are all that, but they probably did before
they became famous also. Just like regular people!!
To be honest, I'm with some of you. I would rather have dinner or hang out
with some of my customers that are regulars on this group and I have with some
of them. Koose (Dave K.), Toochis, Patrick/Michael, Richard Del Belso, John
Schad, Freeman, and others. There are so many on the group that I would love
to meet in person. Kirby, Alan Heimann, Andrea, Joe Bonelli, Greg Douglass,
John Reid, and pretty much everybody. I love the varying personalities of this
group. That's my spin.
Sue
www.hollywoodposterframes.com<http://www.hollywoodposterframes.com/>
----- Original Message -----
From: Bruce Hershenson<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2008 3:59 AM
Subject: Re: [MOPO] <><><> dinner <><><>
I was real busy last night with my auctions, and am just now seeing this.
Obviously, I am both greatly complimented and embarrassed by this sweet reply
from Marty, and he knows I enjoy time with him just as much (or more) than he
enjoys spending time with me (we clearly have a mutual admiration society).
Funny true Marty Davis story. I was passing through Cleveland like 20 years
ago, and someone had told me of this MAJOR collector I should meet named Marty
Davis, and I called him up and he gave me directions to his house. He said
hello when I got there, and said, "I am sorry, but I can only talk for a few
minutes because" (if I remember correctly) he said "I am getting married
tomorrow and my wedding rehersal is very soon".
Well, Marty saw I loved posters just as much as he did, and we ended up
talking for a couple of hours, and he showed me lots of great items from his
collection, and I bet he got in all kinds of trouble over being so late for his
wedding rehersal, but it showed he had his priorities in order! The last time I
was in Columbus I spent a couple more hours talking to Marty (even though we
both were exhausted) and in a more perfect world he would live down the block
from me, and we would see each other frequently!
Speaking of celebrities, and meeting them or having dinner with them, I have
had my fair share of encounters over the years, and I have found the ones where
I am meeting them as a star struck fan very awkward, and I have learned to
avoid such encounters (for example, I have a close friend who runs a comedy
club where Jay Leno appears once a week, and every time I go there when Jay is
there, he comes over to me and says the same few pleasant sentences, and I am
certain he has no clue he has met me before, for he must go through the same
process with 100 people every day!).
I would say my nicest celebrity encounter was with Debbie Reynolds. It was
around 18 years ago, and she was getting ready to open her museum in Vegas, and
she had heard of my posters and wanted to get me to display them in the museum
for no fee (but that kind of made sense, because it would give me great free
publicity).
So she wanted something from me, which is the best way to ever meet a
celebrity. She called me and invited me to her house, and I went to this little
house in North Hollywood, and I knock on the door, and this little old lady
answers the door, and she has a scarf around her head and zero make-up on, and
I truly thought it was "the maid" and it took me a minute to realize that it
was actually Debbie! I went in and talked with her for an hour or so about the
museum idea, and then she said she had to go, and invited me to see her again
the next day where she was taping some kind of show.
I went to some studio she gave me an address to, and when I got there she was
all made up, and looked exactly like the person I had seen so many times (an
amazing transformation from the day before), but now that she was surrounded by
people she had little time to talk, but she kept introducing me to everyone
there as the "king of movie posters" (I get that sort of thing a lot!). Rip
Taylor was there jhovering about, and he said "Give me your camera and I'll
take a picture of you and Debbie", and he was amazed I didn't have a camera.
A year or so went by, and one day Debbie called me, and said she had the
financing in place for the museum, and wanted to talk again. I had gotten
married and thought my wife would get a big kick out of "lunch with Debbie" and
so I suggested we meet in public, and Debbie told me to be in some fancy hotel
lobby at some time, and we were there. She came in all decked out, and lots of
people were staring and pointing at her. She walked over to the hotel
restaurant and said "I want a table for three" and the restaurant guy said I am
sorry but I have nothing for an hour, and she said, "Look, you know who I am, I
bet anything you can find me a table if you really try", and of course he did!
It was a pleasant meal, and I ended up lending her a couple of six sheets,
and when the museum closed they were carefully returned to me.
One meal I won't forget is one that I didn't get to have! Last year, there
was a special AFI showing of ten movies in L.A. with intros by top stars, and
one was Star Wars with Lucas, and one was Cuckoo's Nest with Nicholson. My
oldest son (then 14) loved Cuckoo's Nest, and two of my best employees are Star
Wars freaks, and I wanted to take them to see those movies, but had no clue how
to do so.
I posted right here on MoPo about it, and Richard Del Belso (a MoPo member
and poster collector) contacted me and told me he could get tickets. He came to
the event, as did my old friend John Sawyer and HIS son, plus I called
collector/multiple Oscar winner John Myhre (another old friend), and he came
too.
We were all supposed to have dinner together before the movie, but the AFI
pulled a scurvy trick. They had announced that the first 100 people in each
movie would get a special program book, and my son and my employees wanted to
be sure to get it, so they said they would skip dinner, and wait in line, and I
reluctantly stayed with them, so they wouldn't be alone, and missed the dinner.
I am really sorry to have done so, for Richard worked for the studios for
years, and John works on top movies, and I am certain I missed a zillion great
stories!
To make matters worse, it turned out the "special program book" was just the
regular crappy program book everyone got, and it didn't matter if you were one
of the first 100 people (it was just a trick to try to get people to arrive on
time).
The worst part of living in a tiny town is NOT the lack of fine dining or top
entertainment, but rather not getting to share the company of fine people (like
the ones I mentioned above, plus many other MoPo members).
One of the absolute best dining companions I have ever had was Nelson Lyon, a
semi-celebrity (and great lover of lobby cards). I had a series of dinners with
Nelson, and I think he could easily hold his own with Orson Welles or Chaplin,
or any of the other celebrities mentioned on this list. I wish I could
magically join together the highlights of my dinners with Nelson, and I think
it would be a far more entertaining movie than "My Dinner With Andre" (those of
you who know Nelson know what I mean, and those of you who don't, do not know
what you are missing!).
Enough rambling down Memory Lane!
Bruce
On Tue, Jul 1, 2008 at 2:25 PM, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>>
wrote:
In a message dated 7/1/2008 9:43:14 A.M. US Mountain Standard Time, [EMAIL
PROTECTED]<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
if you could have dinner and then chat for hours with any hollywood/movie
person, past of present, who would it be?
I will extend the definition of "hollywood/movie person" to include those
people professionally selling movie memorabilia. And I would choose Bruce
Hershenson, because he has consistently shown me over the past 20 years that he
has more fascinating stories, accurate information, and understanding about the
film poster world, and auction machinations that anyone else. Time with Bruce
just flies by!
Marty Davis
Vintage Film Posters
38732 N. 10th Street
Desert Hills, AZ 85086
623/551-6655 tel
623/551-6622 fax
[EMAIL PROTECTED]<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
OneSheet (eBay Screen Name)
www.vintagefilmposters.com<http://www.vintagefilmposters.com/>
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