Monthly Archives: May 2024

Celluloid Chronicles—The Revolutionary War to World War II on Popular Film: Honoring the Meaning of Memorial Day.

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FEATURE Image: Memorial Day Ceremony – North Africa American Cemetery and Memorial – May 31, 2010. PHOTO: “Memorial Day Ceremony – North Africa American Cemetery and Memorial – May 31, 2010” by US Army Africa is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Introduction

The first national observance of Memorial Day occurred on May 30, 1868, following the U.S. Civil War. Commander in Chief John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic issued General Order Number 11 designating May 30 as a day of memorial “for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land.” (Source: Library of Congress). It is a day for visiting cemeteries and memorials to mourn the military personnel who died in the line of duty.

Films, music, and literature about the people, places, and events in history where military personnel as individuals and as a unit are asked to pay the ultimate price and make the greatest sacrifice for freedom are among some of the greatest stories ever told.

THE CROSSING (2000). American Revolutionary War (1775-1783).

Bringing Washington’s Gamble to the Screen

Directed by Robert Harmon and adapted by Howard Fast from his novel of the same name, The Crossing stars Jeff Daniels as George Washington.

A Revolution Hanging by a Thread

In December 1776 — barely six months after the Declaration of Independence — Washington’s Continental Army was collapsing. Starved of men, artillery, and supplies, the revolution hung by a thread. So Washington made the most dangerous decision of the war: he would gamble everything on a surprise strike at Trenton, where more than a thousand feared Hessian mercenaries held the town.

Forcing the Ice-Choked Delaware

To reach them, his exhausted army would have to force a night crossing of the ice‑choked Delaware River and march toward what looked like a hopeless fight. Instead, the attack became the stunning, against‑all‑odds victory Washington had scarcely dared imagine.

A Stunning and One-Sided American Victory

Washington’s surprise attack on the Hessian garrison at Trenton on December 26, 1776, produced a stunningly one‑sided American victory. The Continental Army suffered almost no combat losses — none killed in action, two men who froze to death during the night march, and only five wounded, including a young James Monroe, later of Monroe Doctrine fame, who took a musket ball in the shoulder.

The Destruction of the Hessian Force

The Hessians, by contrast, were effectively destroyed as a fighting force: 22 killed (among them their commander, Colonel Johann Rall), 92 wounded, and about 920 captured.

Detail. NYC – Metropolitan Museum of Art: Washington Crossing the Delaware. “NYC – Metropolitan Museum of Art: Washington Crossing the Delaware” by wallyg is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

GETTYSBURG (1993). The U.S. Civil War (1861-1865).

Directed by Ronald F. Maxwell whose screenplay is based on The Killer Angels, a novel by Michael Shaara, Gettysburg starred an ensemble cast including Martin Sheen, Tom Berenger, Jeff Daniels, Stephen Lang and Sam Elliott.

The Convergence of Command at Gettysburg

One of the Union army’s most respected senior commanders during the American Civil War was 42-year-old General John F. Reynolds (John Rothman) who was killed on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg at the very start of it. Reynolds was in command of the “left wing” of the Army of the Potomac commanded by Gen. George C. Meade and which included the cavalry division of 37-year-old Brig. Gen. John Buford (Sam Elliott).

Buford’s Defensive Stand

Buford had occupied the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, with his “headquarters” atop the cupola of the Lutheran seminary. With light defensive lines he resisted superior numbers of Confederate infantry brigades along the Chambersburg Pike who were blind to the Union Army’s smaller numbers because Major General J. E. B. Stuart had gone missing

The Opening Clash and a Fatal Command

When Reynolds’ I Infantry Corps arrived, he rode out ahead, met with Buford, and then accompanied some of his soldiers into the fighting. As Reynolds was supervising the placement of the 2nd Wisconsin, he shouted: “Forward men! Forward for God’s sake! and drive those fellows out of those woods.” At that moment Reynolds was shot by a sniper and fell off his horse to the ground with a mortal wound to the back of the head.

The Impact of a Leader’s Loss

The death of Reynolds impacted his troops and fellow commanders deeply. At that particular moment, they realized that any one leader (and the Union army had been through several at the top), even if he had the necessary zeal, vision, and sense of purpose, would not be enough to win the fight to save the Union. It must be a coordinated effort. Reynolds, by supporting Buford’s decision to set up defensive resistance as well as engaging his infantry, even in death effectively chose Gettysburg as that hallowed battleground for the next three days.

The Retreat to High Ground

Since Confederate numbers were superior on that first day, Union troops eventually retreated through town and rallied on Cemetery Ridge where General Meade and Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock, with many others, entrenched on the high ground. They faced Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee (Martin Sheen), and Lieutenant Generals Longstreet, Ewell, and A.P. Hill, among others. In the 1993 film, Confederate Major General Henry Heth is played by Warren Burton who was born and grew up in Chicago and attended The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Heth was from a coal mining area near Richmond, Virginia.

The Staggering Cost of Hallowed Ground

At the Battle of Gettysburg the two armies suffered between 46,000 and 51,000 casualties. Union casualties amounted to 3,155 killed, 14,531 wounded, and 5,369 captured or missing. Reynolds’ body was immediately transported to his home-town of Lancaster, PA, where he was buried on July 4, 1863. Buford died 5 months later possibly of typhus in Washington, D.C. and was buried at West Point Cemetery in New York. Like Lincoln, Buford was born in Kentucky and grew up in Illinois (Rock Island). His father was a leading politician, but as a Democrat supported Stephen A. Douglas and opposed Abraham Lincoln.

Lutheran Seminary, Gettysburg. PHOTO: “Lutheran Seminary, Gettysburg” by josullivan.59 is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

THE FIGHTING SULLIVANS (1944). World War II (1941-1945).

Hollywood’s Tribute to a Tragic Brotherhood

Directed by Lloyd Bacon based on a story by Edward Doherty, Mary C. McCall Jr., and Jules Schermer, The (Fighting) Sullivans starred Anne Baxter, Thomas Mitchell, Selena Royle, Edward Ryan, John Campbell, James Cardwell, John Alvin, George Offerman, Ward Bond and Trudy Marshall.

The True Story of the Juneau Disaster

Released as The Sullivans in 1944, this 20th-Century-Fox drama film tells the true story of five brothers – George, Frank, Matt, Joe and Al Sullivan – who grew up in Waterloo, Iowa, and who were all killed in World War II when their ship, Juneau, was sunk in combat at Guadalcanal in November 1942.

The Honest Price of a World War

The film is a tearjerker not so much because it is sentimental but that it is honest. The final scene where the naval officer who recruited the five brothers (Ward Bond) comes to the boys’ house to tell the tragic news to their parents (Thomas Mitchell and Selena Royle) and the youngest brother’s widow (Anne Baxter) and mother of his child is one of cinema’s best conveyances of the price paid in a world war that claimed 420,000 American lives.

Memorial Day Ceremony – North Africa American Cemetery and Memorial – May 31, 2010. PHOTO: “Memorial Day Ceremony – North Africa American Cemetery and Memorial – May 31, 2010” by US Army Africa is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Conclusion

Through the power of cinema and visual art, these Celluloid Chronicles serve as living monuments that permanently capture the profound weight of military sacrifice. From the frozen banks of the Delaware to the bloodied ridges of Gettysburg and the tragic depths of Guadalcanal, artistic expression bridges the gap between historical duty and modern remembrance. This creative preservation ensures that the ultimate price paid by service members in every conflict—from the nation’s founding revolutionary struggles to the modern battlefields of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iran today—is never forgotten, keeping the sacred meaning of Memorial Day alive across generations.

From Jules Verne to Virtual Reality: Why Journey to the Center of the Earth Never Stops Fascinating.

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FEATURE image: Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth follows Professor Lidenbrock, Axel, and Hans on a descent into a mysterious underground world filled with prehistoric landscapes and creatures. Image design by John P. Walsh, utilizing generative AI elements.

The novel’s first English edition was published in London in 1871. Journey to the Center of the Earth has appeared in various other English translations and has never gone out of print. PHOTO: “journey to the center of the earth” by cdrummbks is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth endures because its blend of scientific curiosity, adventure, wonder, and spectacle has proven endlessly adaptable, allowing a 19th-century science-fiction novel to captivate audiences across generations and media, from books and films to television, theme parks, and immersive attractions.

Promotion of a 2008 film adaptation of Journey to the Center of the Earth in 4D. PHOTO: “Journey to the Center of the Earth 4D Movie Sign” by rmanoske is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

The Novel That Opened a World Beneath Our Feet

Published in 1864, Journey to the Center of the Earth was one of the works that helped lay the foundations of modern science fiction. In it, French novelist Jules Verne (1828-1905) sent the fiery German geologist Professor Otto Lidenbrock, his anxious nephew Axel, and their steadfast Icelandic guide Hans Bjelke into the unexplored depths of the Earth. Their descent leads through vast caverns, prehistoric landscapes, and encounters with creatures long believed extinct.

The combination of scientific curiosity, exploration, danger, and imagination proved irresistible. More than 160 years later, the novel has never gone out of print in English and remains one of the most widely adapted works in science-fiction history.

Published in 1864, Journey to the Center of the Earth helped establish the foundations of modern science fiction.

Photograph of Jules Verne in Nantes by Étienne Carjat (1828-1906). In Société de Géographie. Public Domain.

From Novel to Screen

Verne’s subterranean adventure quickly escaped the pages of the book and entered popular culture. The story has inspired films, radio dramas, television programs, cartoons, and theme-park attractions, each generation reshaping the tale for its own audience while preserving its central appeal: the thrill of venturing into the unknown.

The most celebrated adaptation arrived in 1959, when 20th Century-Fox released its lavish Cinemascope production starring James Mason. The film became a classic in its own right and introduced countless viewers to Verne’s underground world.

The novel follows Professor Lidenbrock, Axel, and Hans on a descent into a mysterious underground world filled with prehistoric landscapes and creatures. Verne’s combination of science, exploration, danger, and imagination has given the story lasting appeal.

Bernard Herrmann’s Sound of Terror

A major reason for the 1959 film’s enduring reputation is its extraordinary score by Bernard Herrmann, already famous for his collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock on Vertigo and Psycho. Herrmann envisioned the subterranean world as a place devoid of human warmth, seeking what he called an atmosphere of “no emotion, only terror.”

To achieve this effect, he eliminated strings from many underground sequences and constructed an immense, echoing soundscape using five organs. He even revived the serpent, a rarely used sixteenth-century bass wind instrument whose guttural voice lent a primal menace to scenes involving giant reptiles and prehistoric creatures. The result remains one of the most inventive fantasy film scores of Hollywood’s Golden Age.

The 1959 film starring James Mason became a classic in its own right, aided by Bernard Herrmann’s innovative score.

From the late 1950s to the mid-1960s, Bernard Herrmann scored a series of mythically-themed fantasy films, including 20th Century-Fox’s Journey to the Center of the Earth in 1959. Photo credit: Unknown photographer, via the Arlington Heights Herald (c. 1970). Public Domain.

Saturday-Morning Adventure

The story returned for a younger audience in 1967 as an animated television series produced by Filmation Associates and 20th Century Fox Television. Rather than adapting Verne’s novel directly, the cartoon borrowed heavily from the successful 1959 film and transformed it into a colorful, episodic adventure series.

Its twenty-minute episodes emphasized fantasy, monsters, and cliffhanger action. In one representative installment, “Creatures of the Swamp,” Professor Lindenbrook and his companions battle hostile moss creatures and rescue captured allies in a hidden underground marsh. Though the series moved far from Verne’s harder science-fiction roots, it demonstrated the remarkable flexibility of the original concept.

The 1967 animated series introduced Verne’s subterranean adventure to younger audiences, demonstrating the story’s flexibility across formats.

“Creatures of the Swamp,” the fourth episode of the 1967 animated Journey to the Center of the Earth series, aired on ABC on September 30, 1967. In this fast-paced 20-minute adventure, Professor Lindenbrook designs a custom swamp buggy to help Lars cross a vast underground marsh, but the expedition quickly goes awry when hostile moss creatures ambush and capture him. When the scheming Count Saknussemm’s interference results in Alec’s capture as well, Lindenbrook and Cindy join forces with the friendly subterranean “swamp people” to stage a rescue. Like much of the Filmation series, the episode favored colorful fantasy and monster-driven action over Jules Verne’s original science-fiction approach. Veteran voice actor Ted Knight performed the dual roles of heroic Professor Lindenbrook and the villainous Count Saknussemm.

The 3D and 4D Age

Verne’s adventure found yet another life in 2008. That year, three separate film versions of Journey to the Center of the Earth appeared, a testament to the story’s ongoing commercial appeal. The most successful was director Eric Brevig’s effects-driven 3D adventure starring Brendan Fraser, Josh Hutcherson, and Anita Briem.

Rather than directly retelling the novel, the film presented Verne’s book as a roadmap to a hidden world beneath the Earth’s surface. Audiences followed volcanologist Trevor Anderson, his nephew Sean, and guide Hannah into a spectacular subterranean realm populated by dinosaurs, volcanic hazards, and breathtaking landscapes. Enhanced by early 4DX technology that added motion, water sprays, wind, and other sensory effects, the film became a worldwide hit, earning more than $244 million against a $60 million budget and introducing Verne’s classic to a new generation of moviegoers.

A Journey Without End

Most journeys remain private experiences, recorded in diaries and forgotten with time. Others transcend their origins and become part of our shared cultural imagination. Journey to the Center of the Earth belongs to that rare second category. From Verne’s 1864 novel to the 1959 film, the 1967 animated series, and the immersive 3D and 4D adventures of the twenty-first century, each adaptation has reaffirmed the same enduring truth: humanity is endlessly fascinated by mysteries that lie beyond the horizon or beneath our feet. More than a century and a half after its publication, Verne’s remarkable descent into the unknown continues to inspire wonder, proving that some adventures never reach their destination because each generation eagerly begins the journey anew.

Neon lights, a warm marquee glow, and a line out the door: opening night at the Roxy as moviegoers queue for the 4D adventure Journey to the Center of the Earth. Directed by Eric Brevig, the film reimagines Jules Verne’s classic novel as a springboard for family-friendly spectacle, immersive 3D visuals, and sensory theater effects. Released in 2008, it grossed $244.2 million worldwide on a $60 million budget. While critics found the plot familiar and some of Brendan Fraser’s humor overly broad, they praised the film’s visual inventiveness and energetic use of 3D. Audiences embraced it, making the movie a family favorite and paving the way for the sequel Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012). PHOTO: “Warner Bros. Movie World – Journey to the Center of the Earth 4-D Adventure” by Mohd Fazlin Mohd Effendy Ooi is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

My Street Photography: CARS & TRUCKS II. FORD. MERCURY. PONTIAC. CADILLAC. OLDS. BUICK. Japanese. British.

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FEATURE Image: For the FORD MUSTANG in 1966 the only changes in its second model year was a new front grille, redesigned side emblems and a few trim modifications.

My Street Photography: CARS & TRUCKS I. CORD. CHEVROLET. DODGE. PLYMOUTH. CHRYSLER. JEEP. Italian. German.

FORD Victoria

May 2022. 1934 Ford Victoria. 7.72mb 99%

FORD F-100 F-150 F-250 F-350

May 2024. 1967 Ford F-250. 5.75 mb
June 2017. 1984(?) Ford F-150. 6.71 mb The F-150 started in 1975 as a truck model between the F-100 and F-250 (there was also the F-350). By 1976 it quickly became America’s favorite truck. In towns across America even today, Ford trucks from the 1950s era still work alongside today’s newest models. In 1983, F-100 production ended. In addition to work loads, the F-150 offered an additional new focus on lifestyle and comfort. Starting in the 1980s, Ford truck customers could select custom paint packages and, for the first time, the blue-oval Ford emblem was affixed on the front grille.
August 2021. 2017(?) Ford F-150, 7.99mb 97%
The 2021 Ford F-150 ‘s solid performance and durability have few competitors in the modern truck market and is one of the most popular trucks. The XL is a more budget-friendly option compared to the XLT. The XL’s basic engine is the same as the XLT — 3.3L Ti-VCT V6, 290 hp, and 265 lb-ft of torque. The F-150 XL offers first-rate amenities and excellent performance making for an incredible value.
June 2023. 1970 Ford F-100 Ranger XLT 7.89mb 93%
The F-100 and F-250 came in Styleside or Flareside although the Ranger XLT model was available in Styleside only. The combination two-tone option had the Regular Two-Tone (roof only) and the Deluxe where the lower body side and tailgate moldings were part of the paint option.
January 2025. Ford F-350 truck. 74% 7.76mb 6151 (1)
July 2023. 2003 Ford Ranger XLT 7.39mb 75%
May 2023. 1965 Ford F-100. 7.70 mb 87%
May 2025. 1964 Ford F-100. 5.71mb DSC_0002 (1)

FORD Expedition

June 1918. Ford Expedition (1997-present).7.88 mb 81%
The Ford Expedition was the first full-size Ford SUV sold with a four-door body introduced for the 1997 model year as the successor of the Ford Bronco. The Bronco was introduced in 1966 and discontinued after five generations in 1996 (a sixth generation of the Bronco was introduced in 2021). Since 1996, the Ford Expedition, which is sold in regular and extended lengths, has shared some body parts and mechanical components with the Ford F-150, the car market’s favorite truck. Like the F-150, the Ford Expedition is known as being one of the longest-lasting vehicles on the road with many vehicles with over 200,000 miles on the odometer.

FORD Escape

February 2023. Ford Escape (2000-). 9.53 mb

Ford Galaxie (1959-1974).

“FORD GALAXIE HDR” by abux_77 is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.

The ad tag line for the Galaxie in 1960 was: ”Meet the aristocrats of the low-priced field.” In 1960 Robert McNamara was the new president of Ford Motor Company and he was an executive who in his career at Ford, thought like and fought for the consumer. Unlike other car industry execs he was passionate about providing a utilitarian car for the masses, a highly affordable and great car for the common man or woman. He was ahead of his time and might actually have been more useful or successful a decade and half later with the introduction of emissions standards and fuel economy where design and weight had to be taken into account to meet government mandates leading to the expensive boxes they build today. The Falcon, McNamara’s baby, at the average price point of $2100 (about $23,000 today) fulfilled McNamara’s vision and became America’s bestseller. The middling Ford Fairlane had an average base MSRP of less than $2300. The Ford Galaxie was next up the lower priced chain at a little over $2,700 MSRP ($29,500 today). In addition to a shiny nameplate, Galaxie included cloth/vinyl bench seating, chrome exterior trim on all windows and body sides and an aluminum rear quarter covering with upgrades available. Under McNamara, Ford took a heavy risk in 1960 when it introduced a totally revamped design on its bestseller compact Falcon as well as its line of full-sized cars. Fords were lighter and sleeker, with a body no longer sculpted but molded from fender to bumper trimmed in chrome. And for the first time in Ford history the full width grill had its headlights inset at each end instead of above. This design choice continued throughout Galaxie’s second generation into 1964. By 1974, things were very much changed. The Mustang II was that year’s Motor Trend Car of the Year – and it was Galaxie’s last model year. The Galaxie had essentially been co-opted by what started in 1965 as its highest trim level: namely Ford LTD. Strictly Galaxie production had in fact fallen from its peak in 1963 of nearly 650,000 vehicles to under 120,000 in 1974. see – J. “Kelly” Flory, Jr., American Cars, 1960 to 1965, McFarland & Company, Inc. pps. 41-45; J. “Kelly” Flory, Jr., American Cars, 1973 to1980, McFarland & Company, Inc. pps. 178-179.

FORD Thunderbird

June 2023. 1964 Ford T-bird 7.35mb (70)
1964 Ford Thunderbird Convertible with chrome headlights, grill, and bumper along with the Thunderbird hood script. The car is finished in “Rangoon Red” with black vinyl upholstery. Particular Thunderbirds were powered by a 390ci V8 engine joined with Ford’s 3-speed “Cruise-O-Matic” auto transmission. There are bucket seats upfront. The Ford T-bird was produced across 11 generations between 1955 to 1997 and 2002 to 2005. Originally produced as an upscale 2 seater it was expanded in 1958 with a rear seat and became a personal luxury car that after 1968 was often rebadged by Lincoln-Mercury.  
September 2023.1964 Thunderbird. 92,456 Thunderbird’s were produced in 1964. 7.66 mb 78%
March 2024. 1964 Thunderbird 87% 7.67mb
July 2025. 1960 Ford 2-door hardtop T-bird. The year 1960 was the first year that American manufacturers produced compact cars to counter the popularity of the VW Beetle and other European and Japanese brands. Though Ford had its Falcon and slightly larger and better trimmed Comet, the move to the compact arena would never be the Ford Thunderbird’s route. In 1960 Ford pushed aside the boxy upright models of the late 1950’s for an overall lighter and sleeker appearance although the current body style of the Ford Thunderbird continued from 1958. This was the second generation of T-Bird and followed by its third generation in 1961. As a personal luxury car, the term Ford used, the Thunderbird was of a car category all its own. What started as a two-seater in 1955, the Thunderbird added a backseat in 1958 as the model became successively larger with each generation over the next 19 years. The car only had its first downsize in the seventh generation in 1977. In 1960 the 2-door Thunderbird’s taillights and side trim were among its notable changes from 1959. The base price of a hardtop was $3755 ($41000 today) – but you couldn’t buy that today – with the convertible costing about 10% more.See – American Cars,1960 to 1965, J Kelly Flory Jr. , 2023. pp. 41 and 45. 83% 7.80 mb DSC_9180

FORD Mustang

June 2023. 1965 Ford Mustang. 7.78 mb 88%
September 2023. 1970 Ford Mustang. 6/2023 6.32mb
January 2025. The only changes for the 1966 Ford Mustang was its new front grille, redesigned side emblems and various trim modifications. The average price was $2,560 ($25,200 in 2025 dollars). 4.19mb DSC_6136 (1)
January 2025. In 1966 Ford was the largest car manufacturer in the nation. The 1966 Ford Mustang Coupe is an example of a mid-60’s pony car that changed the American automotive landscape forever. Starting in 2024 the Mustang is in its 7th generation. The first-generation Ford Mustang was manufactured from March 1964 until 1973 with modifications. 99% 6.64 mb_6134
January 2025. Back end of 1966 Ford Mustang Coupe. Developed by Donald N. Frey (1923-2010) and styled by L. David Ash (d. 1991), along with Lee Iacocca (1924-2019) and others, the Mustang used chassis, suspension, and drivetrain components derived from the Ford Falcon and Fairlane to save costs. 83% 7.82mb DSC_6133
May 2022. (2008?) Ford Mustang GT 5/2022 7.60 mb 99%
April 2020. 2008(?) Ford Mustang. 3.38 mb
August 2017. 1970 Ford Mustang. It was the final model year for the horsepower race in the American auto industry. From 1971 onwards engines were required to run on unleaded fuel with more strict emissions that both reduced output. Ford, the second largest car manufacturer by volume, had made a lot of changes to its products in 1970. This included to the Mustang which received a facelift such as new headlamps and parking lights. For the first time since 1964 the original side scoop was eliminated in 1970. The average price for Mustangs was just over $3000 ($25,000 in 2025). 68% 7.68 mb DSC_1965
September 2022. 1970 Mustang Mach 1. 7.95 mb 93%
June 2023. 2014 Ford Mustang GT. 7.92 mb 79%

FORD Fairlane

July 2015. 1957 Ford Fairlane 4.28mb_0949 (1)

MERCURY Comet

May 2024.1964 Mercury Comet. In 1964 Chevrolet and Ford were the largest car manufacturers (about 4 million units combined). Mercury, a smaller middling car producer (303,000 units) had been in business 25 years in 1964. The Comet, introduced in 1960, had a brand-new look in 1964. The Comet’s more powerful engine, grill and lines gave it an expensive pseudo-muscle car look. The average price was $2415 ($23,800 in 2025 dollars). 99% 7.77mb

MERCURY Grand Marquis

May 2018. The 1989 Mercury Grand Marquis. The Grand Marquis was the top of the model line produced in four generations from 1975 until 2011. It was assembled in Missouri until 1985 and then in Canada. From 1988, the Grand Marquis was available only as a four-door sedan. After the Mercury Cougar, the Grand Marquis was the second-best-selling Mercury (2.7 million units) and, with 36 years in production, the longest-running Mercury nameplate. First stand-alone generation (1979–1991), Second generation (1992–1997), Third generation (1998–2002), Fourth generation (2003–2011). 73% 7.78mb DSC_7179.

PONTIAC Solstice

September 2023. 2008 Pontiac Solstice. 7.83 mb 87%.
Concept car 2002. Production started in 2005 for 2006 model year. In the first year, Pontiac produced 10,000 cars that did not meet the unexpected orders demand. Due to the 2008 economic recession, GM discontinued the Pontiac division, a venerable American automobile brand founded in 1926. The last model year for the Pontiac Solstice was 2010. The car can do zero to 60 m.p.h in under 6 seconds.

PONTIAC Tempest

May 2023 1967 Pontiac Tempest. 7.57 mb 99%
1967 Pontiac Tempest interior. 7.37 mb 95%
The Pontiac Tempest was produced from 1960 to 1970 and from 1987 to 1991. The line offered the LeMans trim upgrade. By 1964 the Tempest, Tempest Custom, and LeMans were separate trim packages with, in 1964 and 1965, the GTO performance option upgrade available to the LeMans trim package. Beginning in 1966 the GTO was offered as a separate model line. There have been four generations of Pontiac Tempest, the 1967 model year the last of the second generation.

PONTIAC Grand Prix

July 2022. 1962 Pontiac Grand Prix 2-Door Hardtop (coupe). 7.93mb 80%
The Pontiac Grand Prix from GM was an all-new model in the 1962 model year. The performance-oriented coupe went through 4 generations until it was discontinued 40 years later in 2002. It was succeeded by the fifth generation Pontiac GTO. There was a much later sedan version of the Pontiac Grand Prix that was launched in 1988 and produced through 2008 after which that year GM discontinued its 82-year-old Pontiac division.
July 2022. 1962 Pontiac Grand Prix 2-Door Hardtop coupe (interior). 7.91 mb 67%

PONTIAC Firebird Trans Am

October 2024. 1978 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am 2-Door Coupe.In 1978 Pontiac’s theme was “The Best Year” based on the previous year’s sales increases achieved by models that that included the Trans Am. The Firebird Trans Am recorded another sales gain in 1978. The body style in 1978 was current since 1970 with minor trim and detail changes from 1977. With its Morrokide bucket seats and plush cut pile carpet and deluxe 3-spoke steering wheel it was 1970’s style with no primary competition. The average price for a Firebird was $5,228 ($25,585 in 2025 dollars) with the Trans Am topping model production at $5,889 ($28,869.09 in 2025 dollars). There were 187,285 Firebirds produced in 1978 with the Trans Am representing about half of them. 99% 7.84 mb DSC_3497 (1)

CADILLAC de VILLE

July 2023. 1964 Cadillac de Ville convertible. While the appearance is close to its immediate predecessors, the 1964 Cadillac had a new and improved automatic transmission (“Hydra-matic”) for smoother thrust. But in 1964 Cadillac’s quality of drivability and ride were being successfully challenged by the Ford Lincoln Continental and Chrysler Imperial Crown. The Cadillac de Ville had been in production since 1949 with this current body style in production from 1961 to 1964. The average price of a 1964 Cadillac de Ville was $5,582 ($57,434.76 in 2025 dollars). The last model marketed specifically as a de Ville was in 2005. 78% 7.92 mb 4022 (1)
January 2024. 1977 Cadillac Coupe de Ville. 7.77mb 68%
April 2025.1984 Cadillac de Ville. 91% 7.90mb DSC_8528

CADILLAC Escalade

OLDSMOBILE Cutlass

July 2015. 1970 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme 7.88 mb 99%
July 2015. 1970 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme 6.53 mb
June 2023. 1983 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme (1961-1999). 3.49mb
August 2024. Cutlass Supreme 99% 6.98 mb 1469

OLDSMOBILE Delta 88

February 2025. 1960 Oldsmobile 88. Manufactured since 1949, the fourth generation in 1959 and 1960 was the shortest of its ten generations (until 1999). Critics and customers liked the 1959 Oldsmobile, buying close to 383,000 cars. So when in 1960 output slid to 347,141 it was not good news for Olds. Recently 4th in the industry rankings, Oldsmobile fell behind Dodge to seventh place. A big job lay ahead for the fifth generation (1961-1964) of Oldsmobiles which revived a performance image to go along with the traditional Oldsmobile reputation for easy motoring. The budget buy was the entry-level model Dynamic two-door sedan at $2,835 or $30,425.58 in today’s dollars. see – https://auto.howstuffworks.com/1960-oldsmobile.htm – retrieved February 21, 2025. 99% 7.62mb DSC_7216.
July 2022. 1970 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Convertible (lipstick red). 7.88 mb 93%

British

May 2023. Morris Minor (UK, 1948-1971). 7.77 mb 66%
June 2024. 1999 BMW Z3 M Roadster with estoril blue glossy finish and 17-inch style 40 ”Roadstar” wheels. 3.82 mb.
June 2017. Shelby Cobra. 4.40mb DSC_0318
July 2017. 1978(?) MG MGB 2-door Roadster. From 1962 to 1968 the MGB two-door sports car was manufactured and marketed as a four-cylinder, soft-top sports car by the British Motor Corporation (BMC). It was produced by the Austin-Morris division of British Leyland from 1968 to 1980. Combined sales for the MGB and its variants MGC and MGB GT V8 was 523,836 cars. In 1992 the MGB re-entered limited production of 2000 cars as a MG RV8 before its final replacement in 1995 by the MG F. 99% 7.23mb DSC_0010
May 2025.1976 (?) MG MGB Roadster. 99% 7.50mb DSC_9942 (1)
 May 2018. 2006(?) BMW Mini Cooper Hatch. 3.24 mb

Japanese

August 2016. 2001 Toyota MR2 Spyder 2-door convertible. 94% 7.62mb 3824.
May 2016. 2015 Mazda MX-5 Miata GT 6.22mb DSCN2965 (1)
June 2022. Mazda MX-5 (1989-). 7.94 mb 90%
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At the Art Institute of Chicago, Fernand Lungren’s The Café (1882/84) Captures the Fashion, Light, and Energy of Modern Paris.

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FEATURE Image: Fernand Harvey Lungren (1857-1932), The Café, 1882/84, oil on canvas. The Art Institute of Chicago. 9/2014.

Fernand Lungren, c. 1900. The painting, The Café, is not simply a café interior. It is a study of modern Parisian life in the early electric age, where fashion, urban leisure, technology, and observation converge. In Lungren’s exposure to Paris, his interest in contemporary street life, and the contrast of electric and gas lighting as symbols of modernity, emerge. Public Domain.

The artist, born in Sweden, moved with his family to Toledo, Ohio, as a child. Lungren wanted to be an artist but his father objected, wanting him to be a mining engineer. For a brief time, in 1874, Lungren attended the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor to study his father’s preferred subject. But after two years—Lungren’s father still opposed to his son being an artist— saw the younger Lungren rebel and prevail. In 1876 Lungren was able to study under Thomas Eakins (1844-1916) at the Pennsylvania Academy in Philadelphia and had Robert Frederick Blum (1857-1903), Alfred Laurens Brennan (1853-1921) and Joseph Pennell (1857-1926) as fellow students.

Thomas Eakins, self-portrait, c. 1880. The 19-year-old Lungren studied under Eakins at the Pennsylvania Academy in Philadelphia. Public Domain.

In winter 1877 the 20-year-old Lungren moved to New York City. With his first illustration published in 1879, he worked as an illustrator for Scribner’s Monthly (renamed Century in 1881) as well as for Nicholas (a children’s magazine) and as a contributor until 1903. He later worked for Harper’s Bazaar, McClure’s and The Outlook. Lungren’s illustrations included portraits, and social and street scenes.

Paris in the 1880’s. Lungren was largely disappointed by his visit to Paris from June 1882 to December 1883 when he returned to New York. Public Domain.

In June 1882 Lungren sailed to Paris via Antwerp with a group of artists. In an 18-month stay in Paris he studied informally for two months at the Académie Julian, and viewed the latest French Impressionist artworks. He found his artistic purpose in Paris in direct observation and spent the balance of his time studying Parisian street scenes in the manner of the “new painting.”

Fernand Harvey Lungren (1857-1932), The Café, 1882/84, Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis, Tennessee. In another painting by Lungren with the same title and painted during the artist’s formative stay in Paris, The Café captures a distinctly modern urban world shaped by fashion, leisure, and technological change. Two elegantly dressed women occupy a table in the foreground, their elaborate hats, fitted bodices, and bustled skirts reflecting the latest Parisian styles. Behind them, mirrored walls, plush red banquettes, electric globe lighting, and the presence of serving staff create the atmosphere of a fashionable public gathering place. Like Lungren’s related The Café at the Art Institute of Chicago, the painting examines the social rituals of café culture while celebrating the visual spectacle of modern city life. The carefully observed details of dress, lighting, and interior design transform an ordinary moment into a vivid record of Belle Époque Paris, where consumption, conversation, and public display had become defining features of modernity.

La France Élégante et Paris Élégant Réunis 1882.

Fernand Harvey Lungren (1857-1932), The Café, 1882/84, oil on canvas. The Art Institute of Chicago. 9/2014. Lungren paid special attention to the image presented by a woman in the details of her fashion from her hat with pom-poms, the size of her bustle, and even her shawl. Further, the bright electric lights above the woman’s head illustrate the intense competition and innovation of the late 1870’s and 1880’s in developing and marketing functional incandescent lamps. The contrast they provide to the dimmer gas lamps also depicted in the painting by Lungren are remarkable.

Fernand Harvey Lungren (1857-1932), The Café, 1882/84 (detail). In this revealing detail, Lungren dissolves the boundary between interior and exterior space, using the café’s broad windows and reflective surfaces to merge the fashionable world of urban leisure with the activity of the Paris street beyond. Elegant ironwork, luminous glass fixtures, and slender columns frame a scene animated by fleeting glimpses of modern life. At right, a stylish figure carrying a bouquet of yellow flowers appears poised between the public street and the social theater of the café, while in the background a coachman, illuminated by the glow of a shop window, emerges as a fleeting presence amid the movement of passing carriages. Rather than focusing on a single narrative, Lungren builds the composition from observations of contemporary life, capturing the constant flow of people, commerce, transportation, and spectacle that defined Paris in the early 1880s. The interplay of reflected light, transparent glass, and crowded urban space transforms an ordinary café interior into a vivid study of modernity, where the city itself becomes an ever-changing backdrop to daily experience.

Lungren returned to New York City in 1883 and, soon afterwards, established a studio in Cincinnati, Ohio. Sponsored by the Santa Fe Railroad which wished to commission images of the Southwest to entice eastern tourists, Lungren made his first excursions west in the early 1890s. In 1892 he visited Santa Fe, New Mexico for the first time and, in the following years painted artworks inspired by his contact with American Indian culture and the desert landscape. This was the start of his lifelong association with American West and Southwest. In 1899 he showed these American desert works at the American Art Galleries in New York and afterwards at the Royal Academy in London and the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool.

Fernand Harvey Lungren (1857-1932), Canyon de Chelly
oil on canvas
18 3 /16 x 36″, c. 1903-1906. AD&A Museum, Santa Barbara, CA.

When Lungren was in London he made pictures of street life and met several artists, including James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903). In late 1900 Lungren traveled to Egypt with American pharmaceutical entrepreneur Henry Solomon Wellcome (1853-1936) and returned to New York via London in the next year. Lungren had married Henrietta Whipple in 1898 and they eventually moved to California in 1903, settling in Mission Canyon above Santa Barbara in 1906.

Theodore Roosevelt in 1906. The U.S. president and conservationist was one of the admirers of Lungren’s artwork.
Fernand Harvey Lungren (1857-1932), Afterglow: Painted Desert
oil on canvas
25 1/4 x 45 in.; framed: 29 3/4 x 49 3/4 x 2 in. AD&A Museum 

Lungren lived and work in California—including several notable trips to Death Valley starting in 1909 —until his death in 1932. After Lungren’s wife died in 1917, the artist helped found the Santa Barbara School of the Arts in 1920 and remained on its board until his death in 1932. He became a charter member of the Santa Barbara Art League and executed two works for dioramas at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. Most of Lungren’s artwork, including hundreds of his paintings (some 300 works), were bestowed to Santa Barbara State Teachers College, which became the University of California, Santa Barbara, and are part of the University Art Museum

Lungren in later life.

SOURCES:

Art Institute of Chicago. Homepage. Accessed May 1, 2024. https://www.artic.edu/.

Berger, J. A. Fernand Lungren: A Biography. Santa Barbara, 1936.

Redmon, Michael. “Artist Fernand Lungren: Landscape Painter Leaves His Mark in S.B.” The Santa Barbara Independent, June 5, 2013. https://www.independent.com/2013/06/05/artist-fernand-lungren.

Sina Collection. “City of Light | Paris in the 1880s, a Charming Modernity” [灯光之城 | 1880年代的巴黎，迷人的现代感]. Sina Art, March 11, 2022. Accessed May 1, 2024. https://collection.sina.cn/zhuanlan/2022-03-11/detail-imcwipih7897380.d.html.

UC Santa Barbara AD&A Museum. “The Fernand Lungren Bequest.” UCSB ADA Museum Omeka. Accessed May 1, 2024. http://art-collections.museum.ucsb.edu/collections/show/44.

At the Milwaukee Art Museum, Oskar Kokoschka’s Lady in Red (1911) Reveals the Fiercely Independent Vision of a Young Modernist

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Feature Image: Oskar Kokoschka (Austrian, 1886-1980), Lady in Red (Dame in Rot), 1911, oil on canvas, 21 11/16 × 16 in. (55.09 × 40.64 cm), Milwaukee Art Museum. see – Collection | Milwaukee Art Museum – retrieved June 5, 2026. Author’s photograph, 2016.

Lady in Red is not merely a portrait but a declaration of Oskar Kokoschka’s fiercely independent artistic identity at a pivotal moment in his early career. The painting embodies his emerging commitment to psychological intensity, expressive distortion, and individual vision while resisting easy classification within German Expressionism. Rather than offering a conventional likeness, Kokoschka sought to reveal the sitter’s inner life through emotionally charged color, fractured form, and confrontational presence. Kokoschka’s greatness stems precisely from his refusal to submit to artistic movements or ideological programs. Lady in Red (Dame in Rot) is an early manifestation of the independence that would define Kokoschka’s career and make him one of modern art’s most distinctive voices.

Oskar Kokoschka in 1916, photographed by Marta Wolff (1871–1942), a Berlin‑based portrait photographer. Wolff’s career—and life—were cut short under Nazi persecution. On September 1, 1942, she was deported from her last residence in Wiesbaden to Theresienstadt, where she died of pneumonia on September 22, 1942. see – https://oskar-kokoschka.ch/fr/1001/Biographie – retrieved May 1, 2024. Public Domain.

Early Berlin Years

When Austrian painter Oskar Kokoschka (1886–1980) created Lady in Red, now in the Milwaukee Art Museum, he was a struggling young artist living in Berlin. At just twenty‑four, he entered the city’s avant‑garde circles, moving among writers, painters, and theatre figures who were reshaping modern culture.

Connections to the Avant‑Garde

Kokoschka knew several members of Die Brücke as well as artists and writers associated with Der Sturm, the influential art and literary magazine. His visibility rose quickly: in June 1910, dealer Paul Cassirer organized Kokoschka’s first major exhibition, placing him in the center of Berlin’s experimental art world.

Independence from Expressionism

Despite these associations, Kokoschka’s involvement with the German Expressionists remained limited. He resisted being absorbed into any movement, insisting on developing his own artistic language. Reflecting on this independence, he later wrote that he was “not going to submit…to anyone else’s control. That is freedom as I understand it” (Oskar Kokoschka, My Life, translated from the German by David Britt, New York, Macmillan, 1974, p. 67).

Developing the Art of “Seeing”

As Kokoschka refined what he called the art of “seeing”—a method grounded in heightened depth perception and psychological intensity—the Berlin press seized on his volatility. Critics labeled him “the wildest beast of all,” a phrase that captured both his unpredictability and the raw emotional force of his early work.

Between 1900 and 1930, Berlin emerged as a world capital of modern art. Among its most influential figures was Paul Cassirer (1871–1926), a dynamic tastemaker with strong ties to the Paris market, particularly Galerie Durand‑Ruel. In 1910 Kunstsalon Paul Cassirer organized Oskar Kokoschka’s first major exhibition, the same year he mounted Berlin’s first significant show devoted to Édouard Manet. As secretary of the Berlin Secession (1898), the influential dealer Paul Cassirer had long championed artists working outside academic conventions. His decision to organize Kokoschka’s first major exhibition in 1910 introduced the young Austrian painter to Berlin’s avant-garde public and affirmed Cassirer’s commitment to artistic innovation. Although Kokoschka resisted affiliation with any movement, the dealer recognized in his psychologically intense and radically independent work the same spirit of rebellion that had inspired the Secession’s break with official art institutions. Public Domain.

Exchanges with the Expressionists

Though Kokoschka studied the art of past masters to forge a distinct personal style, he remained in conversation with the artists of Die Brücke. Their shared debates over form, color, and the expressive possibilities of the figure helped create the artistic climate of Berlin and Vienna in the years before the First World War.

Lady in Red: A Key Early Statement

Painted around 1911, Lady in Red at the Milwaukee Art Museum stands at a pivotal moment in Kokoschka’s early career, when he was forging the fiercely independent artistic identity that would define his oeuvre. The portrait belongs to the same period in which he was debating formal problems with Die Brücke, resisting the codification of Expressionism, and articulating his belief that the artist’s task was existential rather than ideological. In this sense, Lady in Red is not simply a portrait—it is a declaration of Kokoschka’s emerging stance as a radically individual modernist.

Oskar Kokoschka (Austrian, 1886-1980), Lady in Red, c. 1911. Author’s photograph, 2016.

Within Kokoschka’s oeuvre, Lady in Red stands as an early, forceful articulation of the qualities that would define his mature work:

  • Psychological penetration rather than surface likeness
  • Expressive distortion used as a tool of revelation
  • Emotional aggression that challenges the viewer
  • A refusal to submit to any movement’s stylistic program

Psychological Intensity and the Art of “Seeing”

The painting exemplifies Kokoschka’s developing method of “seeing,” his term for a heightened perceptual and psychological engagement with the sitter. Rather than offering a flattering likeness, Lady in Red confronts the viewer with the sitter’s emotional presence—rendered through agitated brushwork, acidic color contrasts, and angular distortions that destabilize the composition. These qualities align with the emotionally aggressive canvases meant to unsettle, provoke, and force the viewer into an encounter with the subject’s inner life.

A Portrait That Defies the “-ism” and Shaped by Upheaval

Although the painting shares Expressionism’s interest in subjective intensity, Lady in Red resists the movement’s stylistic conventions. Kokoschka’s palette is harsher, his forms more fractured, his psychological probing more confrontational than those of his contemporaries.

Created just before his catastrophic affair with Alma Mahler and the wartime traumas that would scar him physically and psychologically, Lady in Red captures Kokoschka at a moment of intense personal searching. The painting’s emotional volatility anticipates the turbulence that would soon engulf his life.

It is a portrait that embodies the very independence that earned him the label “the wildest beast of all.”

The Alma Mahler Affair

In 1912, Kokoschka entered a turbulent and ultimately destructive relationship with Alma Mahler (1879–1964), widow of composer Gustav Mahler (1860–1911). The affair consumed him emotionally and creatively. When it collapsed in 1915, the rupture was so profound that Kokoschka volunteered for frontline service in World War I.

Alma Mahler, the young widow of composer Gustav Mahler (1860–1911), began a tumultuous affair with Kokoschka in 1912. During their 1913 trip to Italy, he cast their relationship into art, immortalizing them together in his 1914 masterpiece Die Windsbraut (Bride of the Wind), a swirling, dreamlike vision of passion and instability.

Oskar Kokoschka, Die Windsbraut (The Bride of the Wind), 1913. Oil on canvas, 180.4 x 220.2 cm, Kunstmuseum, Basel, Switzerland. Often read as an autobiographical testament to Kokoschka’s relationship with Alma Mahler, the painting features portrait‑like evocations of both figures. Alma, widow of composer Gustav Mahler, had begun a turbulent affair with the artist in 1912. Upon completing the work, Kokoschka described it to Berlin dealer Herwarth Walden as his “Tristan und Isolde” (Spielmann 2003, p. 153), invoking the unfulfillable nature of a difficult love. Later in 1914, the title Die Windsbraut (Bride of the Wind) emerged in conversation with the poet Georg Trakl. see – Kunstmuseum Basel – Sammlung Online – Die Windsbraut – retrieved May 1, 2024.

War Service and Wounds

Kokoschka enlisted in the 15th Austrian Dragoon Regiment, where he saw brutal combat. In 1915, on the Ukrainian front, he suffered a bullet wound to the head and a bayonet wound to the chest, injuries that nearly killed him. The following year, he was wounded again—this time by grenade fire on the Isonzo Front—adding to the physical and psychological scars that would shape his postwar work.

Expressionism and the Artist’s Role

The Expressionists’ intense engagement with the upheavals of their time influenced each artist’s creative process. Amid this turbulence, Kokoschka insisted that the artist’s vocation was not rooted in prefabricated ideologies or party programs, but in the existential task of forging a personal vision. For him, artistic identity was not a stylistic allegiance but a way of being in the world. “There is no such thing as a German, French, or Anglo‑American Expressionism!” he argued. “There are only young people trying to find their bearings in the world” (Kokoschka, My Life, p. 37).

Defying the “-ism”

Kokoschka’s fierce individualism made him one of the great masters of Expressionism precisely because he refused to be contained by it. His canvases—charged with harsh, clashing colors, fractured angles, and psychological intensity—were designed to unsettle. They confront the viewer, provoking discomfort, agitation, even rage. In rejecting the dominant currents of modernism to pursue his own path, Kokoschka became, like Max Beckmann, one of the major figures who often sits uneasily within the standard narratives of twentieth‑century art.

The Outsider as Master

This marginal position, however, aligns with Kokoschka’s self‑image. His refusal to conform—to movements, to expectations, to the tidy categories of art history—was central to his identity. For the artist once branded “the wildest beast of all,” exclusion from the mainstream was not a failure but a vindication of the independence he prized.

Oskar Kokoschka, 1963, © ERLING MANDELMANN ©, “Oskar Kokoschka (1963) by Erling Mandelmann” by Erling Mandelmann is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. -Retrieved October 27, 2025.

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