Book Review: The Girl in Alfred Hitchcock's Shower

I recently read The Girl in Alfred Hitchcock's Shower, a non-fiction novel surrounding the mysterious disappearance of Marli Renfro, a former Hollywood starlet.



Marli was the body double for Janet Leigh in the famous blockbuster phenomenon Psycho, which came out in 1960.



The beautiful redhead was paid a measly $500 for her uncredited appearance in the film. Her role in the thriller was kept a secret for decades.


(the killer)


(Movie star Janet Leigh's frightened face)


(Marli's body)

The year 1960 was spectacular for Marli. Soon after her Psycho gig, she appeared on the cover of Playboy magazine.

She then became a Playboy Bunny at the brand new, exclusive Playboy Club in Chicago, serving drinks to legends (such as Frank Sinatra) and wealthy businessmen. She even dated a notorious Chicago gangster.



It wasn't long before Marli started appearing in dozens of other men's magazines. She was so famous in these nudie magazines, she was asked to star in one of the first sexploitation movies, directed by an ambitious young film student. His name was Frances Ford Coppola.

The film was called Tonight for Sure!



Shortly after the film was released, Marli disappeared from showbiz forever. Twenty years later, it was reported in the news that Marli had been raped and murdered by a serial killer in Los Angeles.

Famous crime author Robert Graysmith had been a huge fan of Marli since his youth. When he heard the news of her death, he felt a nagging suspicion if the news was true. In the book, he reveals the real story of what happened to Marli Renfro.



I enjoyed this book to a very limited extent. It contains some interesting trivia about the making of Psycho, about Playboy Magazine, and about the rise of sexploitation films in the United States.

That being said, the book does not live up to the hype it creates. Ninety percent of the book follows two stories: the year of 1960 for Marli and the life of a serial killer named Sonny. The two stories, unfortunately, have nothing to do with each other. It is incredibly disappointing. The book builds up the reader for an ending which does not exist.

The remaining ten percent of the book does live up to its expectations. The real story of Marli is revealed, but it is not very glamorous.

If you are a film geek, this book may be worth a read. If not, don't even bother.


I hope everyone has a great weekend!

High (altitude) Fashion

These days every celebrity is a fashion designer.

Gwen Stefani. Justin Timberlake. Mary-Kate and Ashley. John Malkovich.

But you may not know that the first celebrity fashion designer was not a musician or a movie star.

It was Amelia Earhart.



In the 1930s, Amelia Earhart was the most famous woman in the world. She was the first female pilot to soar across the ocean. She was a best-selling author. She was a pretty face. She was an adventurer. She was a fashion designer.





Growing up in Kansas, Amelia was an avid seamstress. As a child, she created elaborate gowns for her dolls. As a teenager, she kept up with the latest fashion trends by sewing her own clothes.



As a pilot, she designed both a jumpsuit she could wear comfortably in the cockpit and a flysuit allowing maneuverability.



Today, we associate Amelia's style with that bad ass leather bomber jacket, aviator sun glasses, and cream-colored scarf. But that look was actually only a taste of it.



Tall, thin, and gorgeous, Amelia was very fashion-conscious. She wore stylish suits and dresses that always garnered her attention in the pages of Vogue and Cosmo.





Despite her insanely busy schedule, Amelia started her own clothing line in 1934, using her very own sewing machine and original designs. Her collection included dresses, pantsuits, blouses, and hats.



Since her line was coming out in the midst of the Great Depression, Amelia made sure her clothing, featured in Macy department stores, was affordable. She used fabrics that were easily washable and durable. Her designs were also available as inexpensive sewing patterns for women suffering from the recession.



Unfortunately, despite her mega-fame, Amelia's clothing line did not catch on with the public. Even though her prices were low, women in the United States simply did not have money to waste on fashion while their husbands were unemployed during the Great Depression.


(one of the last surviving dresses from the collection)

Although Amelia disappeared in the sky forever in 1937, her influence in fashion still lives on today.

Aviator jackets continue to go in and out of style. Her elegant pantsuit look will always remain popular.



Did you know about Amelia Earhart's fashion line before this post? What do you think of her style?

Pretty White Girls...and MURDER

I know you're all sick of the Casey Anthony trial.

Especially if you were unfortunate enough to be on Facebook and Twitter when the "not guilty" verdict was announced.

But since I wrote a blog post about the incident when it made international news three years ago (on an old blog, now deleted) I felt the need to blog about the topic in its finale. Call me crazy, but I like doing things in complete circles.

Why was the world so fascinated with this case? Let's be real. Casey Anthony is an attractive 20-something year old white middle class girl from Florida. Her missing daughter was cereal commercial cute. Casey partied like a cheap version of Paris Hilton within days of her daughter's disappearance. You try to figure out why she became a media sensation.



I decided to dedicate this post to two other high-profile crime cases involving pretty white young women that riveted the world's attention in the past ten years and both have yet to be solved.

You may remember these:

Killer Cop in Chi-town

Drew Peterson was a middle-aged Chicago cop who looked like he should be out huntin' squirrels for dinner while listening to classic rock. But for some reason, this unattractive lower-middle class yokel had a smokin' hot 23-year-old wife named Stacy...who went missing in 2007.



Eye-witness accounts state Drew had been moving a large container out of his home after her disappearance. His own step-brother even attempted suicide after helping him take out the container, believing Stacy's body to have been inside. But apparently that circumstantial evidence wasn't enough to convict Drew, who laughed off the disappearance of his wife by stating she left him for another man.



In perfect horror movie fashion, just weeks before her disappearance, Stacy had confided to her pastor that Drew had killed his ex-wife and staged it as an accident. Stacy feared she was going to be next and told her pastor that if anything happened to her, fingers should be pointed at Drew.



Upon hearing this, police officers exhumed his former wife's body and a pathologist determined that his former wife's death was indeed a homicide after all. Drew was arrested for the murder, but never convicted because of lack of evidence.


(Drew's latest girlfriend)

In the past four years, Drew has been dating a bevvy of beautiful young 20-something year old girls who don't seem to care about his shady past. He has also been a media whore, appearing on various talk shows and infiltrating Twitter.


Beauty and the Beast



This All-American southern blonde disappeared during a trip to Aruba in 2005. Living up to the stereotype, Natalee Holloway partied in Aruba like there was no tomorrow, letting herself be taken away from a bar by a few shady local guys at wee hours in the morning.

The young men were arrested but never officially charged with her disappearance, since there was an astounding lack of evidence.

The shadiest of the men, Joran van der Sloot, enjoyed his new found fame as a murder suspect.



During several media interviews, he denied having anything to do with her, then admitted he slept with her on the beach, then admitted she died of natural causes, then admitted she died of a drug overdose, then admitted he sold into her sexual slavery, and then admitted her murdered her. This brilliant tactic made sure law officers could never charge him with anything since he was clearly a crazy sack of shit.



His biggest mistake, however, was clumsily murdering another attractive young woman on the five-year anniversary of Natalee's disappearance. He left all sorts of irrefutable evidence at the scene, much to the delight of prosecutors. He is now in prison for the crime and US authorities are hoping he will finally tell the truth about Natalee.



Unfortunately, I sincerely doubt he will ever tell the truth about that girl and her demise will remain a mystery. Look at me, being all optimistic!


Do you remember these high-profile cases that riveted the media? What are your thoughts on them?

Let Freedom Ring!

We are innovative.


We are good honest folk who drink good honest beer.


You can keep your soccer.


We live in between LA and NYC.


We prefer to buy our ice cream in the same store which sells our ammo.


Movie stars are so 50 years ago.


It was written in the Constitution that yes, we will get in your fucking face.


We introduced you to McDonald's. You're welcome.


We don't think this is weird.


But most of us think this is.


We are Americans.


Happy Independence Day.

Katie Cassidy

Rian and I recently watched all 13 episodes of the horror series, Harper's Island. (If you love bloodbath horror films, this series is for you. If not, don't even bother.)

I instantly fell in love with the main actress, Katie Cassidy.



She is the gorgeous 25-year-old daughter of seventies mega pop star, David Cassidy. But she is also a star in her own right.



She has been in numerous movies and starred regularly on television shows such as Melrose Place and Gossip Girl.



She is also a red carpet darling, always wearing the latest fashion and looking absolutely stunning.



Here is her story:



This starlet's conception is a typical Hollywood tale. Born in 1986, Katie is the love child resulted from a brief fling David Cassidy had with high fashion model, Sherry Williams.



Katie grew up with her mother and stepfather, who is a wealthy doctor. She didn't really get to know her father until she was an adult. The two are now very close.



The beautiful blonde knew she wanted to be a movie star since childhood. When she was seven, she began starring in community theater productions.



As a teenager, she became a model for Abercrombie & Fitch.



After graduating high school in 2005, she started acting full-time, starring in supporting roles for films such as Adam Sandler's Click and the horror film, When a Stranger Calls.



Her film career has been picking up full speed since, with numerous movies and television shows added to her resume.



She most recently stars in the upcoming Selena Gomez princess movie, Monte Carlo.



Her next film is Freaky Deaky where she plays an ex-hippie turned novelist, starring alongside Brendan Fraser and Matt Dillon.



Had you heard of Katie Cassidy before? What are your thoughts on her?