Lighthouse Café’s jazz brunch brightens Sunday mornings

September 13, 2024 by

Femmes fatales are naturally nocturnal and enjoy night-time carousing almost as much as they love spending a hefty pile of cold, hard cash. But there are exceptions to that rule.

For example, the Sunday jazz brunch at the Lighthouse Café in Hermosa Beach provides plenty of reasons to be up early-ish on a weekend morning. The event, which runs from 10 am to 2 pm, features classic songs (think Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, George and Ira Gershwin) and attracts first-rate performers, such as vocalist Lia Booth and guitarist Miles Jensen.

Vocalist Lia Booth and guitarist Miles Jensen help the audience mellow out with excellent music.

Sporting Bettie Page bangs and retro specs, classically trained Booth makes each song her own with singular phrasing and Jensen gives a lithe grace to every chord he plays. Most of the songs are audience requests and patrons are encouraged to try to stump the versatile chanteuse.

While jotting down your requests, you can nosh on great brunch fare. Treat yourself to the irresistibly decadent fry up (eggs, hashbrowns, bacon, sausage and toast) or the more demure yogurt and fresh fruit. The raspberry daiquiri pairs remarkably well with both, or go for a savory note and sip a classic Bloody Mary.

If these walls could scat … jazz artists have played here since the place opened in 1949.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be sure, performers Booth and Jensen follow in some mighty big footsteps. The Lighthouse Café celebrated its 75th anniversary this summer and has long been known as a ballast of bebop and a hot spot for cool jazz, showcasing legendary musicians like Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis and Chet Baker.

In the early days, bassist/band leader/club manager Howard Rumsey put together a house band called the Lighthouse All-Stars, frequently playing with guest musicians. Many artists recorded at the café as well.

Current owner Josh Royal recently told the Daily Breeze he aims to keep the old-school vibe and maintain the café as a live music venue. Besides the brunch, the café hosts a jazz jam session on Monday nights. Royal and his partners took over in 2021. Previously, Paul Hennessey had owned the place for about 40 years.

The neon sign is a nod to the 2016 movie, “La La Land” and its iconic scenes that were shot at the Lighthouse café.

And Musicians aren’t the only ones who are drawn to the historic café. The Lighthouse earned a cinematic claim to fame when it was selected as a location for “La La Land” (2016, Damien Chazelle), starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling (pictured below), which won the best Picture Oscar in 2017. Filming took place over four days in late summer, 2015. There is a neon sign that pays tribute to the popular flick; it reads: “Here’s to the fools who dream.”

Ryan Gosling won the Best Actor Oscar for his role in “La La Land.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Both interior and exterior scenes in “La La Land” were filmed at the café.

Vocalist Lia Booth and guitarist Miles Jensen will play on Sunday, Sept. 15, from 10 am to 2 pm. The Lighthouse Café is located at 30 Pier Ave., Hermosa Beach, CA 90254. Ryan Gosling may or may not be in attendance.

Filed Under: Noir Style, Out of the Shadows Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Earthy, sexy and wry, Marie Windsor was born to play fatales

September 14, 2011 by

Let’s be fair. Marie Windsor as femme fatale Sherry Peatty in “The Killing” by Stanley Kubrick may seem venal, treacherous and manipulative. And yes she hatches a scheme to feather her nest that’s a bit dangerous. But is it right that she’s punished for being as smart, decisive and daring as the men?

Sherry is married, need I say unhappily, to George (Elisha Cook, Jr.), a nervous, Milquetoast cashier at a racetrack. Through George, she gets wind of a heist taking place at the track by Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden) and his gang. Sherry tips off her lover Val (Vince Edwards) and comes up with this idea: let George and his friends do the heavy lifting, then she and Val can take off with the stolen cash, about $2 million.

In "The Killing," Marie Windsor as Sherry Peatty is so over her dreary husband George (Elisha Cook, Jr.).

Of course, you could argue that the deeply flawed Sherry is downright immoral. And so are the men. But Sherry only gets as far as she does because of George’s colossal ego. Or perhaps it’s his tremendous capacity for denial. Clearly, she’s been after money all along and she’s tired of George not coming through with it. C’mon, George, did you really think she was into your swagger? (Offscreen, Windsor and Cook were chums. She said of him in a 1992 interview, “Elisha Cook was a darling and full of the devil.”)

Earthy, sexy and wry, Windsor was an actress born to play femmes fatales – with her huge, restless eyes, slightly cynical smile and lean but curvy body. Regardless of how many lines or how many scenes Windsor was in, she had a quality both luminous and tawdry, an expressiveness bordering on vulgarity that meshed perfectly with noir sensibility.

Windsor won an award from Look magazine for her role in "The Killing."

Born and raised in Utah, Windsor was especially popular with directors of Westerns and of noirs (in particular, “Force of Evil,” 1948, by Abraham Polonsky; “The Narrow Margin,” 1952, by Richard Fleischer; and “The Sniper,” 1952, by Edward Dmytryk). Once Windsor had been cast, the director had one less thing to worry about, knowing that she’d nail the character.

Kubrick so wanted Windsor for “The Killing” that he delayed filming until she had wrapped up 1955’s “Swamp Women” by Roger Corman. She was worth the wait; for playing Sherry in “The Killing,” Windsor was rewarded with a 1956 Best Supporting Actress award from Look magazine, a prestigious honor at the time.

Windsor worked steadily in movies and TV through the early 1990s. She was married to Jack Hupp for 46 years, from 1954 until her death in 2000.

Despite Sherry’s, um, blemished character, I prefer her gumption to Johnny’s girlfriend, the desperately needy Fay (Coleen Gray). As Fay tells Johnny: “I’m not very pretty and I’m not smart so please don’t leave me alone any more. I’ll go along with anything you say, Johnny. I always will.”

Ever heard of a spine, lady? Well, Sherry has.

Filed Under: Noir Style Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

My quest for the perfect eyeliner: Part Six

August 19, 2011 by

Dior Style Liner is long lasting.

“Take a cue from the femmes fatales of the red carpet and play the card of pure seduction,” says the ad copy for Dior’s Style Liner Intense Liquid Eyeliner, $33.

OK, I’ll bite. It’s hard-core research for my job, no? Happily I was not disappointed. The product is easy to apply, dries quickly and leaves you with a supple line that lasts for several hours.

As promised, Style Liner is an intense black so use sparingly for daytime – just a bit of liner will likely be enough. (When you pull the brush from the tube, the brush is fully loaded and you probably won’t need all that.) I’m a bit puzzled as to why it doesn’t come in at least one other color. From time to time, I like to spice up my playing cards with a rich cobalt or forest green.

Product Source: From my own collection. I did not receive product or compensation from Dior.

Filed Under: Noir Stuff, Noir Style Tagged With: , , ,

‘Tabloid’ by Errol Morris tells the bizarre tale of a femme fatale who refuses to give up

July 15, 2011 by

Tabloid/2010/IFC Films/88 min.

Celluloid femmes fatales, though they may lack morals and dabble in deadly sins, are nevertheless pretty easy to like. They have brains, beauty, ambition and style. And it’s just a movie, a 90-minute diversion from reality.

In the real world, however, manipulative, self-absorbed and conniving narcissists typically don’t receive our admiration; if they’re lucky, they might get our compassion. That’s the case with Joyce McKinney, the subject of the latest film from Errol Morris, one of America’s greatest documentarians. It’s a story that’s funny, frenzied and nothing short of astounding.

I was part of a roundtable interview with Morris last Friday and learned more about the film. About three years ago, browsing through the Boston Globe, Morris happened to see a wire story about McKinney, who made headlines most recently for having her dog cloned in South Korea. The story also noted that 30 years before, McKinney had been a front-page fixture in the British tabloids.

Why? Oh, she just wanted her man back. McKinney, a former beauty queen, fell head-over-heels in love with a clean-cut guy named Kirk Anderson. They had discussed marriage and even what to name their kids, McKinney says. But Anderson was (and apparently still is – he refused to be interviewed) a Mormon and was assigned to a mission in England.

According to a 2008 report in London’s Sunday Times: In 1977, the former Miss Wyoming stalked her lover, a Mormon missionary, to a tabernacle in East Ewell, Surrey, allegedly kidnapped him and held him in a cottage in Devon. There, the 17-stone [238 pounds] Kirk Anderson claimed, his petite, busty admirer tied him to a bed using mink-trimmed handcuffs, slipped into a see-through nightie and forced him into sex. At a remand hearing she declared her love for the Mormon with the immortal line: “I’d ski naked down Mount Everest with a carnation up my nose if he asked me.”

Once the story broke, Fleet Street journalists had a field day and McKinney’s bizarre mission was prime Page-One fodder. “Joyce’s story had all the qualities of a crazy B-movie,” says producer Mark Lipson.

Joyce McKinney in an undated photo.

Fast forward to today to a McKinney who did not move on. She didn’t particularly want to. “I think she’s an amazing romantic heroine,” says Morris. “She’s this incredibly romantic soul – an absurdist, romantic figure pursuing some quixotic, hopeless love or the idea of love. She’s remarkable as a person who refuses to give up.”

Morris also likes “Tabloid”’s element of film noir. “I love film noir. … People don’t really have control over their lives in noir. They’re part of some infernal tapestry of design. There’s a sense of inexorability and there’s a sense of inexorability in this story.”

“Tabloid” opens July 15 in Los Angeles and New York.

Filed Under: Neo Noir Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Married to the mob, Crawford style: ‘The Damned Don’t Cry’

May 20, 2011 by

The Damned Don’t Cry/1950/Warner Bros./103 min.

Joan Crawford was known for her gorgeous gams.

In “The Damned Don’t Cry,” which is full of sharp dialogue, this line cuts to the chase. Jacqueline DeWit asks Joan Crawford: “What else do we got to sell but a face and figure? And anyone who can make a peplum move like you do don’t need anything else.”

DeWit’s Sandra, a model by day and escort by night, briefly takes Crawford’s character, Ethel Whitehead, under her wing as Ethel learns to fend for herself in New York City. But, in addition to her modeling ability, Ethel has brains and ambition in spades and she soon surpasses Sandra to become the ultimate hard-as-nails femme fatale in this classic Crawford film noir.

Like many femmes fatales, Ethel has humble roots. A downtrodden housewife with a cranky husband (Richard Egan), she eventually rises to the top of a national crime syndicate and lives the high life – travel, the best restaurants, a great apartment, a closet full of swanky clothes. Key to her climb is cultivating contacts such as mild-mannered accountant Martin Blackford (Kent Smith). Ethel is impressed by the letters CPA after his name, even though she’s not quite sure what they mean.

Martin helps her gain entry into the world of tough but urbane George Castleman (David Brian), the leader of the syndicate. “I like men with brains,” Ethel tells George. Finding him far more impressive than number-crunching Marty, she shows up at his office the next day, proves she’s as gutsy as he is and gets a job with his racket. Never one to think twice about mixing business and pleasure, Ethel seals the deal with a kiss.

A quick study, Ethel devotes herself to the syndicate, then takes on a new identity. With polished and distinguished Patricia Longworth (Selena Royle) guiding her, Ethel transforms herself into wealthy socialite Lorna Hansen Forbes. It’s Ethel’s equivalent of an MBA.

But her toughest assignment is when George asks her for some due diligence on gangster Nick Prenta (Steve Cochran). Despite her new name, old habits die hard and Ethel/Lorna falls for Prenta. Naturally, it’s only a matter of time before George susses her out and decides to set things straight.

With its A-list performances, crackling script, crisp pace and striking cinematography by Ted McCord, “The Damned Don’t Cry,” is an ideal noir vehicle for Crawford. The movie is based on an original story by Gertrude Walker; Harold Medford and novelist Jerome Weidman and wrote the script. Also fodder for the story was the real-life affair of Virginia Hill and gangster Bugsy Siegel. The title comes from a line in “Mourning Becomes Electra” by Eugene O’Neill. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Classic Noir Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

‘Vertigo’ quick hit

January 27, 2011 by

Vertigo/ 1958/Paramount Pictures /127 min.

James Stewart as Scottie and Kim Novak as Madeleine/Judy are unforgettable in this Hitchcock classic, one of the all-time great noirs. Stewart is an ex-detective with a fear of heights and Novak plays two women – one, a damsel in distress and another who receives the ultimate makeover. Best of all for femmes fatales: Novak’s timeless, elegant wardrobe.

“Vertigo” bears Hitchcock’s distinctive stamps: intense but masked emotion, exquisite suspense, altered identity and disguises, and technical innovation. Intense color and meticulous composition heighten our sense of Scottie’s anguish and frustration. Robert Burks, a longtime Hitchcock collaborator, was director of photography.

Tremendous performances from Stewart, Novak and Barbara Bel Geddes as Scottie’s pal Midge.

Filed Under: Neo Noir Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Jacques Tourneur, Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer make ‘Out of the Past’ required viewing

December 12, 2010 by

Out of the Past/1947/RKO/97 min.

As famed critic James Agee put it: “Robert Mitchum is so sleepily self-confident with the women that when he slopes into clinches you expect him to snore in their faces.”

While none of my Robert Mitchum fantasies involve snoring, I can’t say I’d kick him out of bed just for a few noisy ZZZs. One of Mitchum’s finest vehicles is “Out of the Past” (1947) by French-born director Jacques Tourneur.

If I happened to meet someone who wanted to know film noir and only had 97 minutes to live, this is the film I’d recommend. But pay close attention, little dying chum, because there are plot twists aplenty.

Mitchum plays Jeff Bailey (aka Jeff Markham) who runs a gas station in a small town. He’s seeking a quiet life, where he can put his messed-up past behind him. Ha! Free will doesn’t stand much of a chance in film noir, so when menacing Joe Stephanos (Paul Valentine) comes to town looking for Jeff, we know he’s about to be plunged back into the darkness.

Mitchum tells his shadowy tale to good girl Virginia Huston.

Once Jeff learns that his former nemesis, gangster Whit Sterling (Kirk Douglas), wants a reunion, he decides to bring his pure and wholesome girlfriend Ann Miller (Virginia Huston) up to speed on his shady past and so launches a filigree of flashbacks with some of the most haunting images in all of noir.

Before he pumped gas, Jeff was a gumshoe whom Whit hired to find his double-dealing girlfriend Kathie Moffat (Jane Greer). Jeff finds her in Mexico, having escaped from Whit with a little help from a gun and a bigger helping of his money. It’s a long time into the flick before we see this fabulous femme fatale but when we finally do, she’s breathtaking. James Pallot in “The Movie Guide” calls Greer’s appearance “one of the greatest entrances in film history.”

Jeff, a self-confessed sucker, falls for her in about 3 seconds and decides that Whit Sterling can go to hell. As far as Whit’s cash, Kathie says she didn’t touch it and asks him: “Won’t you believe me?”

He replies: “Baby, I don’t care.”

The two relocate to San Francisco where they can hang incognito and go to movies (sounds divine!). Still, there’s that niggling bother of Whit, brilliantly played by Douglas, and he cares quite a bit.

Jane Greer is the girl who changes everything for Mitch.

Meanwhile, Jeff’s ex-partner in the detective biz Jack Fisher (Steve Brodie) catches up with the couple, angling for a pay-off to keep his mouth shut re: their new life. Jeff and Fisher come to blows, but Kathie decides to cut to the chase and shoot him dead.

Earlier Fisher comments: “A dame with a rod is like a guy with a knitting needle.” In fact, a knitting needle can double as a handy weapon but it’s far less efficient than a gun, as Kathie clearly knew.

Whit figures Jeff still owes him, and makes him part of the scheme to steal incriminating documents from attorney Leonard Eels (Ken Niles). In on the set-up is Eels’ secretary Meta Carson (Rhonda Fleming) a Jane Greer lookalike and good-time girl. Over drinks with Jeff and Meta, Eels remarks: “All women are wonders because they reduce all men to the obvious.”

“And so do martinis,” Meta says.

When Eels ends up dead, Jeff appears to be the fall guy, but he staves that off by hiding the body. The next snag? Kathie signed an affidavit (at Whit’s insistence, she says) that Jeff killed Fisher. But Jeff doesn’t give up easily and, after tracking the above-mentioned documents, is happy to exchange them for $50,000 and the affidavit.

As the treachery escalates and the bodies start piling up, Kathie has all her men exactly where she wants them, but then noir guys are awfully recalcitrant…

“Out of the Past” is director Jacques Tourneur’s noir masterpiece. In a series of celluloid paintings almost baroque in their intensity, Tourneur and director of photography Nicholas Musuraca create a seamless and sinister world that captivates from the first shot to the last. As Eddie Muller in “Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir” describes it: Musuraca achieves “the richest chiaroscuro cinematography of any noir.” And as Michael Wilmington wrote in the Chicago Tribune, the movie is: “Moody and poetic, filled with some of the most strangely beautiful images ever to grace a crime movie.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Classic Noir Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,