Hepburn on the Lake List

The American Film Institute last week named Katharine Hepburn No. 1 on the list of the 25 greatest female movie stars of the century. We all love that Dorothy Parker had once panned Hepburn's acting (in The Lake) more than 60 years ago, when Dottie said Hepburn "ran the whole gamut of emotions from A to B." Hepburn was reported to have observed that Parker was too generous: "I didn't even get to B."

Posted by Kevin Fitzpatrick on Saturday, June 19, 1999 at 11:14 PM | Permalink

The Uncollected Dorothy Parker

One of the best new collections of Dorothy Parker verse is now coming out in a U.K. edition. We got word from Jeanette at Duckworth Publishers in London that The Uncollected Dorothy Parker will be out July 22. This is the same book as Not Much Fun: The Lost Poems of Dorothy Parker. This book is a must-have for any Parker fan. If you only have The Portable, you are missing out on some classic material. It has an excellent 60-page biography by editor Stuart Y. Silverstein and collects 122 "lost" poems that were never published in other Parker collections. These gems are valuable in learning more about Parker, many from her earliest days as a writer. Silverstein's introduction has a lengthy accounting of Dottie's numerous witticisms and infamous anecdotes. In the U.K. The Uncollected Dorothy Parker retails for £9.99 and is 256 pages. The American version is on sale in The What the Hell Book Shop. Dottie's birthday is coming up soon, so buy this book!

Posted by Kevin Fitzpatrick on Monday, June 14, 1999 at 3:45 PM | Permalink

2 New Locales Added

Two new locales have been added. 1915 Boarding House is where Dottie lived when she was on the staff of Vogue. Girlhood Walk in Riverside Park is inspired by a photo of young Dottie as a girl in the park, which appears in a biography. Both of these additions add more background into Parker as a person, so check them out.

Posted by Kevin Fitzpatrick on Saturday, June 05, 1999 at 12:18 AM | Permalink

Dash and Lilly Review

It has taken a few days for Dash and Lilly to sink in. Many Parker fans have e-mailed their opinions of the movie to the site. While this isn't a review of the movie, which was eagerly anticipated because Bebe Neuwirth was playing Dottie, I wanted to list a couple of points:

Bebe was wasted. She had about 10 minutes of screen time.

The screenplay gave her nothing to do except play the part of the good girlfriend.

Parker was portrayed as chirping goody-goody.

It was well documented that Dash and Dottie loathed each other (read the Meade bio).

Bebe looked great as Parker. Excellent wardrobe.

Historically inaccurate Part I: Dash says Parker reviewed "three of his books in the New Yorker" in a 1930 scene. The New Yorker wasn't launched until 1925; Parker didn't become the Constant Reader until October 1927.

Historically inaccurate Part II: In the 1952 scene, did Dottie look 59 years old? I don't think so.

I enjoyed watching the movie, but I can't recommend it. I say rent The Thin Man instead, and hope that Bebe brings Parker to the screen again in a bigger role.

Posted by Kevin Fitzpatrick on Thursday, June 03, 1999 at 4:20 PM | Permalink