Sean Connery and Lana Turner on the set of Another Time, Another Place, 1957.
During the principal photography of the film in Britain, Sean Connery was confronted by the then-boyfriend of co-star Lana Turner, a gangster named Johnny Stompanato. The jealous boyfriend is believed to have pointed a gun at Connery and told him to stay away from Turner. Connery is said to have responded by grabbing the gun out of Stompanato’s hand and twisting his wrist, causing the gangster to run off the set.
Rumours after the death of Stompanato suggested that a LA Mobster held Connery responsible, forcing him into hiding for a short period. Stompanato, an LA Mobster, was later stabbed to death by Lana's 14 year old daughter after a night of threats to Lana.
Vintage drive in theatres across America.
Remember those lazy summer days of your childhood and teenage years, when everyone loaded into the car and headed down to the drive-in? If you wanted something fun, unique, and maybe even magical, the drive-in movie theater was the place to be!
That original “Automobile Movie Theater” had a screen that was 40 feet tall by 50 feet wide. Speakers boomed from poles throughout the lot. The theater could accommodate up to 400 cars. The thrill of watching a movie on a big screen from the comfort of your vehicle was offered for the low cost of 25 cents per car and an additional 25 cents per person.
And while it was popular, remember that vehicles were still coming of age during the early 1930s. A trip to the drive-in became an experience that allowed you to enjoy the thrill of your new automobile as well as the pleasure of taking in a new picture.
Once the joys of the drive-in theater took hold, those big screens began to spread all over the country. Drive-Ins showed up mostly in rural areas because a large amount of land was required to handle all the cars. By the 1950s, there were over 4,000 drive-in theaters in the United States.
By the 1970s, the novelty of the drive-in movie theater had largely worn off. People now wanted to go to large, air-conditioned multi-plex theaters with multiple screens showing a wide variety of movies at all hours, including the middle of the day. Without air conditioning, and lacking the ability to show several movies or offer daytime viewing hours, drive-ins had a hard time competing.
As drive-ins declined, their numbers dropped from thousands to hundreds. Suddenly they were in the realm of nostalgia and over time they became something you might take a road trip to visit for a special event on a Saturday night.
On Saturday, August 30, 1997, Diana and her rumored boyfriend, Egyptian billionaire Emad "Dodi" Fayed, arrived to Paris following a 10-day getaway on the French Riviera. They dined at the private salon at the Ritz Hotel in Paris. Coincidentally, Fayed's father, Mohammed Al-Fayed, owned the hotel at the time—along with Harrods Department store in London.
A few minutes past midnight on Sunday, Diana and Fayed left the hotel and got into the Mercedes Benz that was waiting for them, likely to travel to Fayed's private Parisian estate.
Though the posted speed limit was 30 mph, the driver, Henri Paul, reportedly approached the entrance of a road tunnel at Paris's Pont de l'Alma driving at approximately 70 mph. According to reports, Paul lost control of the car and collided into a pillar in the middle of the highway.
Paul and Fayed passed and Diana—still alive—was rushed to the Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital. Early reports said Diana had a concussion, broken arm, and cut thigh. However, the princess had also chest injuries. Operating for two hours, doctors tried to get Diana's heart beating properly again. She never regained consciousness. Diana passed away from internal bleeding at 4:53 on the morning of August 31, 1997.
In life, Diana revitalized the British monarchy and in death, she changed it forever. Today, her legacy lives on in everything from the Windsor’s more accessible approach to the public to William and Harry’s charity work to virtually everything Kate does. ‘The Diana Effect’ is alive and well and a guiding principle for today’s modern British monarchy.
Summer vibes from 90's Paris.
A glimpse of a morning moment at the French Riviera captured by the lens of Helmut Newton, 1984.