Stellar Stevens

RIP Hollywood beauty Stella Stevens, 84, an underrated actress who had a gift for comedy. Born in Mississippi, she was raised in Memphis. Married at 15, a mom at 16, divorced at 17, she was undeterred. Broke at 21, she posed for Playboy, Playmate of the Month January 1960. Her breakout role came in 1959, Apassionata von Climax in the film version of the hit Broadway musical Li’l Abner. There are 142 titles under her name at IMDb in a career that spanned 1959–2023. She was comfortable on the big or small screen. She appeared in 38 episodes of Flamingo Road, 66 of Santa Barbara, seven of General Hospital, and she made multiple appearances and one-shots on many prime time shows, including Alfred Hitchcock Presents. She is outstanding in the Dean Martin Matt Helm spy spoof The Silencers (1966) and Sam Peckinpah’s The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970). Other career big screen highlights: The Nutty Professor (1963) and The Poseidon Adventure (1972). She directed two films: the documentary The American Heroine (1979), which she also produced, and The Ranch (1979), which starred her son Andrew, her only child, with whom she co-starred in four other films. She had a long term relationship with musician Bob Kulick, who preceded her in death in 2020 at 70. You rocked, madam. Thank you. Photo from Google Images:

Friday night’s movie fix, courtesy of Netflix by mail, was an intriguing indie production, Emily the Criminal (2022). Set in L.A., it’s the story of an angry young woman — $70,000 in student loan debt — working in food delivery. She has a felony assault conviction, which limits her job possibilities. She is so obsessed with earning money she is almost completely ignoring her talent for art. A male co-worker repays a favor by giving her a tip on a quick cash opportunity involving credit card fraud. He did a one and done. Emily does not, and things get hairy. Aubrey Plaza, a graduate of NYU who did 124 episodes of Parks and Recreation, is outstanding in the lead, as is Staten Island’s Theo Rossi, who did 90 episodes of Sons of Anarchy, as her soft-spoken mentor. Each has a broad mix of nationalities in the blood, and each is in the midst of a great career. This was the first full length feature of John Patton Ford, who also wrote the screenplay. I look forward to his future work. He had me speculating, trying to get to the bottom of the protagonist. Her portrayal is complex. I would not want to know her in real life. She is not without guilt but goes to extreme lengths. I don’t believe the film is an anti-capitalist screed. Emily is her own worst enemy. The only time I was in her corner is when she verbally attacks a recruiter who expects her to intern for six months without pay. There is violence and profanity but not as much as in most modern crime fare. It’s more about suspense. I believe it would appeal most to those who appreciate an intense psychological profile. 35,000+ users at IMDb have rated Emily the Criminal, forging to a consensus of 6.7 on a scale of ten. I would go a bit higher. Another plus, it’s only 97 minutes. Photo from GI:

Check out this politically incorrect Florida swimming pool that’s been around for more than a decade. Photo from GI:

All the action came in the opening minutes of today’s session of the floating book shop. My thanks to the young man who bought a Russian-English dictionary, and to the gentleman who purchased A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn, a NYC tour guide from Time Out, and the 2002 version of the Guinness Book of Records. Not much, but at least they were all large tomes.

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