Farran Smith Nehme
@selfstyledsiren.bsky.social
Film critic; NSFC, NYFCC. Bylines at Criterion, Sight & Sound, Noir City, my own Substack, and wherever fine film geeks are found.
https://selfstyledsiren.substack.com/
https://selfstyledsiren.substack.com/
I thought about this! Claude Rains. Charming by all accounts, catnip to the ladies, and "the one who got away" to Bette Davis, which has to say a lot. Plus, I get to hear that voice.
February 11, 2026 at 1:44 PM
I thought about this! Claude Rains. Charming by all accounts, catnip to the ladies, and "the one who got away" to Bette Davis, which has to say a lot. Plus, I get to hear that voice.
Post a tree you photographed
February 11, 2026 at 3:42 AM
Post a tree you photographed
And here is a clipping that has lived in my head a long time, from Martin Bernheimer of the Los Angeles Times in 1985. A reminder of the barriers Leontyne Price helped break down (and also that the nameless diva's attitude is still with us).
February 10, 2026 at 4:12 PM
And here is a clipping that has lived in my head a long time, from Martin Bernheimer of the Los Angeles Times in 1985. A reminder of the barriers Leontyne Price helped break down (and also that the nameless diva's attitude is still with us).
If I may add to @dean.bsky.social's excellent thread on Leontyne Price: This shows her in the sensational Act II of "Tosca," broadcast on NBC in 1955—Price's dazzling introduction to a worldwide audience. She sang it in English, and her Cavaradossi was David Poleri.
February 10, 2026 at 4:12 PM
If I may add to @dean.bsky.social's excellent thread on Leontyne Price: This shows her in the sensational Act II of "Tosca," broadcast on NBC in 1955—Price's dazzling introduction to a worldwide audience. She sang it in English, and her Cavaradossi was David Poleri.
Love Ethan Frome (the book). Never seen it on stage, but this publicity photo by Steichen for the 1936 production is one I’ve never forgotten.
February 10, 2026 at 4:23 AM
Love Ethan Frome (the book). Never seen it on stage, but this publicity photo by Steichen for the 1936 production is one I’ve never forgotten.
Joel McCrea—for years one of the most attractive men in Hollywood and often photographed either shirtless or on a horse—shows here what he could do for a suit. Which was a lot.
February 9, 2026 at 5:39 PM
Joel McCrea—for years one of the most attractive men in Hollywood and often photographed either shirtless or on a horse—shows here what he could do for a suit. Which was a lot.
They just kind of skated right around that, didn't they.
February 8, 2026 at 7:14 PM
They just kind of skated right around that, didn't they.
Can't believe you said that, because THAT is the title I was searching when I came across that site. I love the 1934 movie with Zasu Pitts, but never read the book.
February 8, 2026 at 7:05 PM
Can't believe you said that, because THAT is the title I was searching when I came across that site. I love the 1934 movie with Zasu Pitts, but never read the book.
oh, you do that too, huh
February 8, 2026 at 2:18 AM
oh, you do that too, huh
Ha!! That IS fun, considering that Highsmith was also a big lover of cats (including Siamese). I hope Patricia and Chester drank together and talked about their Feline Monarchs.
February 8, 2026 at 2:14 AM
Ha!! That IS fun, considering that Highsmith was also a big lover of cats (including Siamese). I hope Patricia and Chester drank together and talked about their Feline Monarchs.
The great Chester Himes and Griot, his beloved blue point Siamese, named "after the magicians in the courts of West African kings." Himes also said that if he stayed away too long, Griot would wreck his studio and chew up his books. #Caturday
February 8, 2026 at 1:40 AM
The great Chester Himes and Griot, his beloved blue point Siamese, named "after the magicians in the courts of West African kings." Himes also said that if he stayed away too long, Griot would wreck his studio and chew up his books. #Caturday
I'm meeting Tallulah for cocktails later, dahling, I can hardly tell her I had a tuna melt.
February 7, 2026 at 6:15 PM
I'm meeting Tallulah for cocktails later, dahling, I can hardly tell her I had a tuna melt.
Joan Collins is most decidedly not dressed for the weather in the Northeast this fine Saturday morning. This is a publicity still from the transcendently campy LAND OF THE PHAROAHS (Hawks, 1955), which Joan stole without breaking a sweat.
February 7, 2026 at 3:27 PM
Joan Collins is most decidedly not dressed for the weather in the Northeast this fine Saturday morning. This is a publicity still from the transcendently campy LAND OF THE PHAROAHS (Hawks, 1955), which Joan stole without breaking a sweat.
Would love to, if I may. By Emily Bronte, whose restless soul may have a trying week ahead. Her poetry is great, too!
February 6, 2026 at 1:10 PM
Would love to, if I may. By Emily Bronte, whose restless soul may have a trying week ahead. Her poetry is great, too!
I also have to say that Charlotte Rampling (#BornThisDay in 1946) was perhaps the perfect photographic subject for Helmut Newton.
February 5, 2026 at 3:01 PM
I also have to say that Charlotte Rampling (#BornThisDay in 1946) was perhaps the perfect photographic subject for Helmut Newton.
Happy birthday, Charlotte Rampling! Celebrating her 79 years of ineffable cool with my favorite photo of her, stretched out on top of her own Mini in 1967.
February 5, 2026 at 2:49 PM
Happy birthday, Charlotte Rampling! Celebrating her 79 years of ineffable cool with my favorite photo of her, stretched out on top of her own Mini in 1967.
LOTS but this one leaps to mind
February 4, 2026 at 3:14 AM
LOTS but this one leaps to mind
I thought maybe Bluesky would like to see this. It's the pass that my paternal uncle used to enter Nuremberg Prison where he was one of the guards for Rudolf Hess. The back has the emblem of the 26th Infantry Regiment of the First Division, famously nicknamed "the Blue Spaders."
February 4, 2026 at 1:10 AM
I thought maybe Bluesky would like to see this. It's the pass that my paternal uncle used to enter Nuremberg Prison where he was one of the guards for Rudolf Hess. The back has the emblem of the 26th Infantry Regiment of the First Division, famously nicknamed "the Blue Spaders."
No, but Buster did indulge in a bit of go-go dancing.
February 2, 2026 at 6:25 PM
No, but Buster did indulge in a bit of go-go dancing.
Issuing a blanket apology for all my typos today.
February 2, 2026 at 6:20 PM
Issuing a blanket apology for all my typos today.
Spoiler I guess (the novel starts by telling you how it ends): Hitchcock liked to blame RKO for the much softer film finale, but in fact he pitched the studio by saying he'd make it about the wife's "delusions." Great discussion of Suspicion in @stephenwhitty.bsky.social's Hitchcock Encyclopedia.
February 2, 2026 at 4:24 PM
Spoiler I guess (the novel starts by telling you how it ends): Hitchcock liked to blame RKO for the much softer film finale, but in fact he pitched the studio by saying he'd make it about the wife's "delusions." Great discussion of Suspicion in @stephenwhitty.bsky.social's Hitchcock Encyclopedia.
I just finished "Before the Fact" by Francis Iles (pen name of Anthony Berkeley Cox). Brilliant, but holy cow it is BLEAK. The wife spends years passively making excuses for her plainly sociopathic husband. There is no way Hitchcock thought he was going to film the novel as written for Suspicion.
February 2, 2026 at 4:24 PM
I just finished "Before the Fact" by Francis Iles (pen name of Anthony Berkeley Cox). Brilliant, but holy cow it is BLEAK. The wife spends years passively making excuses for her plainly sociopathic husband. There is no way Hitchcock thought he was going to film the novel as written for Suspicion.