Carole Lombard author gets two parties from Larry Edmunds

The nice guys at Larry Edmunds Bookshop are back in the swing of events with two book parties for Robert Matzen, author of “Fireball: Carole Lombard & the Mystery of Flight 3.”

Carole Lombard died  in a plane crash in 1942. She was 33.

Actress Carole Lombard died in a plane crash on Jan. 16, 1942. She was 33.

Matzen takes a fresh look at Hollywood’s Queen of Screwball Comedies, Carole Lombard, and examines the plane crash that took her life on Jan. 16, 1942. With TWA’s most experienced pilot flying a 10-month-old aircraft on a clear night, why did the flight crash into the side of a Nevada mountain?

Having just completed the first sale of war bonds and stamps, following the U.S. entry into World War II, Lombard became the first Hollywood star to sacrifice her life in the war. “Fireball” tells multiple stories: the passengers (including 15 members of the U.S. Army Air Corps), the friends and families left behind (such as Lombard’s husband Clark Gable) and the first responders who struggled up a mountain hoping to perform a miracle rescue.

There will be two signings this week:

From 8-10 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 16 at the Museum of Flying, 3100 Airport Ave. in Santa Monica.

At 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 18 at Larry Edmunds Bookshop, 6644 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, 323-463-3273.

Hurrell's HollywoodAlso available at the bookshop is this essential book for any film lover’s library: “George Hurrell’s Hollywood: Glamour Portraits 1925-1992” by Mark A. Vieira, with a foreword by Sharon Stone.

Known as the Rembrandt of Hollywood, Hurrell (1904–1992) was the creator of the glamour portrait and played a crucial role in establishing the star power of Tinseltown’s elite. Perhaps most famous for his work with Joan Crawford, he also photographed Marlene Dietrich, Norma Shearer, Bette Davis, Jane Russell, Clark Gable, Gary Cooper, Warren Beatty and, as you can see from the book’s cover, the stunning blonde goddess, Carole Lombard.

What’s new at the Aero, Egyptian: Hurray for Harlow!

Jean Harlow

Get your blonde on this Sunday at the American Cinematheque. Hollywood’s Egyptian Theatre will host a Jean Harlow centennial tribute, co-presented with the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles, featuring a slideshow, book signing and screening. Harlow’s birthday was today, March 3, 1911.

The Cinematheque event starts at 2 p.m. Sunday with a slideshow on Harlow, the first blonde sex symbol. At 3 p.m., Darrell Rooney and Mark A. Vieira, authors of the new book “Harlow in Hollywood,” will sign books in the lobby. After the ink is dry, stay for the screening of Harlow’s screwball comedy/satire “Bombshell” from 1933, directed by Victor Fleming. Turner Classic Movies is also paying tribute to Harlow this month; for more details, visit http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/362075%7C0/Jean-Harlow-Tuesdays-in-March.html.

Other highlights of the Cinematheque’s schedule include:

Charles Laughton gets some love with a double feature at the Egyptian. Laughton directed “The Night of the Hunter,” starring Robert Mitchum, and starred in Alfred Hitchcock’s “Witness for the Prosecution”; 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 11.

Sharon Stone will visit the Aero for a discussion, after the showing of “Casino” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 18.

More stunning Stone fare at the Aero: “Basic Instinct,” which marks its 20th anniversary, and “The Quick and the Dead” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 19.

Director Michael Mann will attend the Egyptian’s 25th anniversary screening of “Manhunter” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 19. There will be a discussion after the movie.

Be sure to check complete schedule. The Egyptian Theatre is at 6712 Hollywood Blvd. The Aero Theatre is at 1328 Montana Ave. General admission is $11; members pay $7.

Jean Harlow image from Wikimedia Commons