For Immediate Release: January 2023
Moving Forward…Looking Back
New beginnings and new resolutions are usually made this time of year, as well as reviewing accomplishments and setting new goals!
If one of your new goals is to learn more about the movies and stars from Hollywood’s Golden Age in 2023, or take a personal and nostalgic journey about growing up In New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen, then read on!
In case you missed it in 2022, check out Joanna Paxinou’s latest blog posts for At the Movies with Joanna where she wrote about Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow, Fred Astaire, Irving Berlin, Harry Davenport, Frank Sinatra, and more, including a personal tribute to her beloved Uncle George who shared her love of movies! And stay tuned for new posts in 2023.
Joanna also launched a new blog in 2022 called 57th Street, a personal and nostalgic blog about growing up in New York City – Hell’s Kitchen! She wrote about special Christmas memories, Architectural Jewels, Summer in Manhattan and the Hamptons, and From Hell’s Kitchen to Billionaire’s Row – about her old neighborhood, 57th Street. She hopes you enjoy reading this blog and are reminded of your own cherished childhood memories. More stories and nostalgic memories are coming in 2023, so keep visiting https://joannapaxinou.com/
For Immediate Release: January 2022
57th STREET – new blog from award-winning writer Joanna Paxinou about growing up in New York City
Feeling nostalgic and curious about what it was like to grow up in New York City? Join Joanna Paxinou at her new blog, 57th STREET!
Read charming, poignant stories about what it was like growing up on 57th Street in New York City by award-winning writer Joanna Paxinou, when neighbors were still like family and life’s lessons were learned at the local candy shop, from an older sister, from a neighbor across the street, walking down 5th Avenue and window shopping, and growing up in the vibrancy of New York City!
As Joanna says, “I grew up in Manhattan on West 57th Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues. I loved it and still do! I left the old neighborhood some time ago, but it never left me. There are some new buildings built over the years, but surprisingly a lot has stayed the same. I hope you enjoy reading my memories of growing up in the Big Apple…New York City.”
57th STREET, a brand new, fun, personal and nostalgic blog by award-winning writer, Joanna Paxinou, takes us into the world of 57th Street in Manhattan before it became Billionaires’ Row.
Here’s an excerpt:
FROM HELL’S KITCHEN TO BILLIONAIRES’ ROW
I grew up on 57th Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues in Manhattan. I loved my neighborhood—still do.
They called this area Hell’s Kitchen when I was growing up. According to local lore, the area got its name because it was a rough part of New York City in the late 1800s. When two cops were on duty guarding the area, one cop said, “It’s hotter than Hell.” The other cop answered, “It’s hotter than Hell’s Kitchen.”
But the area is changing from Hell’s Kitchen to Billionaires’ Row. They’re building thin skyscraper apartment buildings along 57th Street soaring 1,000 feet into the sky. When I last visited the area, I stopped in to see a condo in one of these skyscrapers.
To read the rest of the blog visit https://joannapaxinou.com/57th-street-joanna-paxinou/
And check out Joanna’s other blog, At the Movies with Joanna, about classic stars and films of the 1930s and 1940s and enjoy!
For Immediate Release: January 2022
At the Movies with Joanna’s latest feature: Friends for Life – Fred Astaire and Irving Berlin
Find out how two great entertainment legends met and became great friends for life.
At the Movies with Joanna, a lively, informative and heartfelt blog by award-winning writer, Joanna Paxinou, takes us into the world of two entertainment legends – Fred Astaire and Irving Berlin.
Visit At the Movies with Joanna to learn more about these two men who met in 1935 on the set of the film TOP HAT and became lifelong best friends. You’ll learn some surprising things about how their careers began and unfolded into the legends they became.
Check out Joanna’s other blogs on various stars of the 1930s and 1940s and enjoy!
Ready, Set, Read!
Here’s an excerpt from Joanna’s blog:
One day in 1935, two men met on the set of the film TOP HAT and became lifelong best friends. They were very much alike: reserved, intensely private, dedicated to their wives, workaholics, perfectionists…
TOP HAT was the fourth film that paired Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. They had small parts in FLYING DOWN TO RIO in 1933 (their first film together) and were given a dance number. No one at RKO expected much from the film, but audiences raved about Fred and Ginger. They loved their chemistry and great dancing. David O. Selznick, Head of Production at RKO Radio Pictures, put them in eight more films, six of which became RKO’s biggest moneymakers at that time—TOP HAT grossing the most.
TOP HAT marked the first time Berlin wrote the score for an Astaire film…and every one of his five songs became a hit, including Cheek to Cheek, Isn’t This a Lovely Day, and Top Hat, White Tie and Tails. Between 1935 and 1948, Berlin wrote 20 tunes for six Astaire and Rogers films—more than any other composer. They worked together very well. Astaire loved Berlin’s music, and Berlin said of Astaire: “Fred knew the value of a song and his heart was in it before his feet took over.”*
To read the whole blog visit https://joannapaxinou.com/