Mary Ann Mobley dead at 76

Mary Ann Mobley, one of the few Miss Americas to find lasting success as an actress and television personality, passed away on December 9, 2014. She starred opposite Elvis in a couple films and frequently appeared in guest-starring roles during 1960s television shows such as "The Man From UNCLE" and "Perry Mason." She was even originally cast as Batgirl in the "Batman" TV series, but was replaced by Yvonne Craig before filming began. Her acting output slowed as she raised her daughter during the 1970s, but she returned to television acting in the 1980s and became a regular on several 1980s game shows like "Hollywood Squares." She also appeared as a co-host on a talk show hosted by her husband, Gary Collins. She continued appearing in movies and in television through the 2000s.

She was preceded in death by her husband in 2012, and she is survived by her daughter, Clancy.

Here are a couple of pictures of Ms. Mobley, in honor of her memory. The second picture is, by all accounts, a lie, as she earned awards for her humanitarian work.

... in which I pretend to be an artist

Here's the cover image for the soon-to-be-released "ROLF!: Fugue for Johns in D Minur," a Houseboat on the River Styx scenario from NUELOW Games.

The battle scenario sees John Lennon, Johnny Cash, John Bohnam, and John Philip Sousa join forces with John Denver in the afterlife to stop another atrocity on the scale of Justin Bieber!

'Second Chorus' is an obscure gem

Second Chorus (1940)
Starring: Fred Astaire, Burgess Meredith, Paulette Goddard, Charles Buttersworth, and Artie Shaw
Director: H.C. Potter
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

When a pair of musicians, Danny and Hank (Astaire and Meredith), attempt to dodge Ellen (Goddard), a debt collector, by (literally) charming the pants off her, they end up on the fast track to fame with her as their booking agent. When she is later hired away by the famous band leader Artie Shaw (Shaw, playing himself), the two friends begin to sabotage each other in a bid to earn Ellen's romantic attention.

Fred Astaire described "Second Chorus" as his worst movie. He may not have liked it, but it's a lot of fast-paced fun, and chockful of great musical numbers and strong performances from the entire cast. Goddard is spectacular, as usual, and Meredith's comedic performance here really makes one wonder what sort of super-star he might have become if his career hadn't been detailed by McCarthyism during the 1950s.

The only complaint I have about the film is that the main protagonist, played by Astaire, is a king-sized jerk. I understand that the tricks he plays on his friend Hank to gain the upper-hand romantically and professionally are supposed to be viewed as comedic by the audience, but time and again, he resorts to an almost scorched earth sort of approach with an apparent desire to destroy his supposed best friend just so he can tell himself that we "won." In the process, he ends up sabotaging himself as well--and this karmic justice keeps the character from becoming completely unsympathetic--but his 11th-hour conversion to Nice Guy comes a little too late to win me over as a viewerm even if it does get him the girl. (That's not a spoiler... given that it's Fred Astaire vs. Burgess Meredith, it was a foregone conclusion who Paulette Goddard would end up with. Except, of course, in real life, where Meredith and Goddard ended up as a couple and eventually married.)

Hardcore Fred Astaire fans may be disappointed in the film for the same reason I suspect Astaire rates it as the worst of his efforts: He does very little dancing in it. There's really on one remarkable routine where he takes to the floor with Goddard at roughly the halfway point. But of those who enjoy big band swing music and 1940s comedies, "Second Chorus" is going to be time well spent.

Christmas is coming...

... and it'll be Christmas sooner than you think! Have you got your Christmas gift list together? Am I on it?! Feel free to get me something off my Amazon Wish List!

Christmas is coming...

... and everyone is getting their homes ready for Santa's arrival!

Your guess is as good as mine...

... and I hope you have a happy Thanksgiving with your loved ones!

When asking a blonde to handle the turkey dressing...

... make sure she knows what you mean.

I hope all Americans have a safe and happy Thanksgiving this year!

'Outpost in Morocco' is a fast-moving war pic

Outpost in Morocco (1949)
Starring: George Raft, Akim Tamirof, Marie Windsor, and Eduard Franz
Director: Robert Florey
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

A French Foreign Legion Officer reknowned for his way with the ladies, Capt. Paul Gerard (Raft) is assigned to escort and seduce Cara (Windsor) in order to discover if her father (Franz) is plotting with other Arab tribal leaders to stage an uprising against the French forces. His mission becomes complicated when he falls in love with her in earnest... and it becomes deadly when it turns out that her father is not only plotting an uprising but he is unleashing it.

"Outpost in Morocco" is a fast moving film that features a perfect blend of war, espionage, and romance elements. I often complain about how movies have "insta-romances" that make little or no sense in context of character and story just to keep the plot moving, but the love that develops between the Capt. Gerard and Cara feels realistic and firmly rooted in the characters.

The acting and dialog is also top-notch all around. Stars George Raft and Marie Windsor are evenly matched on screen, and Akim Tamirof (as a hard-bitten veteran Foreign Legion junior officer who becomes Gerard's go-to right-hand man) switches gears easily from dramatic to comedic depending on the scene.

From NUELOW -- 'Princess Pantha: the Footsteps of Fate'

NUELOW Games has recently released another of its comics/rpg hybrid books co-edited by yours truly. This one is a stand-alone sequel to Princess Pantha: The Hunt for M'Gana. It contains four classic comics with art by Gene Fawcette, Ralph Mayo, and Art Saaf. It also contains a complete supplement for ROLF!: The Rollplaying Game.

By way of a preview of Princess Pantha: The Footsteps of Fate, here are the splash pages for the four included comics stories. You can click here to see further previews and to get your very own copy. (And if you do, please let me know what you think of it.)

By Art Saaf

By Gene Fawcette

By Ralph Mayo

By Art Saaf

Now available from NUELOW Games -- The Three Lives of Fantomah: Book Two

Fantomah has been accurately described as the first female superhero in comics. Readers were first introduced to her in Jungle Comics #2 (cover date Feb. 1940), a full two years before the celebrated debut of Wonder Woman. Fantomah soon lost the superhero flavor.

Fantomah, as drawn by Richard Case

When series creator Fletcher Hanks was replaced with a mixed bag of artists and writers who worked under the house-name "W.B. Hovious." From Jungle Comics #16 through #26, Fantomah moved away from the fearsome incarnation of nature's vengeance that she had been under Hanks, and became increasingly a "jungle girl"-type character. She still had magic powers, but they were increasingly de-emphasized as she gained a faithful pet panther, rescued and took charge of a lost boy--and generally came to seem more like a female Tarzan.

Fantomah's "jungle girl" period is the subject of The Three Lives of Fantomah: Book Two from NUELOW Games. It presents the six best episodes from Jungle Comics #16 - #26, together will all new roleplaying game rules that will let you bring Fantomah-style magic to your OGL Modern d20 games. For a sample of the game content, click here to visit the NUELOW Games Blog.

The majority of the art in The Three Lives of Fantomah: Book Two is by Richard Case, although some stories were penciled and/or inked by "W.B Hovious." I designed the new game content, as well as wrote a small piece of fiction intended to shed light on why Fantomah is transfirming -- and to set up her final transformation that will occur in Book Three.

I hope you will download a copy of The Three Lives of Fantomah: Book Two. Click here to see previews of the book. If you do, be sure to tell me what you think of it.

And please keep en eye out for Book Three some time after Christmas.

Fantomah: When she kicks ass, she doesn't bother taking names.