The Hotel Touraine

[augusta]

In Rebello's masterpiece, 'Lizzie Borden: Past and Present', he mentions that Lizzie went to the Hotel Touraine. I have since read somewhere that she kinda only went there when the better places were booked up. I was fortunate enough to have found a postcard that shows the inside of the Hotel Touraine. I dunno - it looks gorgeous to me.

I was surprised to learn recently that Lizzie attended the theatre even before the deaths of Abby and Andrew. All this time I thought her going to the theatre was one of those luxuries she couldn't afford - yet.

[DJ]

Augusta, thanks for sharing!

I love pix of old hotels-- and visiting the ones that have survived.

Well, if one visits NYC, there are The Waldorf, The Plaza, The Carlyle, The St. Regis, The St. Moritz, and The Pierre, among your better hotels!

I guess it all depends on where you want to be, and why. If you're going to The Met (opera), you might choose The Pierre. If you're more interested in The Met (art), then perhaps The Carlyle. There're a bunch of newer places in Times Square, for the Broadway enthusiasts.

Some celebs might prefer a more intimate, "boutique" place.

Anyway, Lizzie may have preferred a Boston hotel with a different locale, depending on what she wanted to be near.

Just a thought.

[Harry]

Here's some more images of the Touraine. The first is the dining room. Odds are she didn't order mutton. Probably tripe and orange sherbet.

The second is the drawing room.

The third show the outside. It's the red building.

[augusta]

Wow, DJ - all those hotels are still standing?? It's surprising. It sounds like you know your way around New York City. I've haven't been there and maybe some day...

Harry, thanks for posting the other postcards! That dining room looks gorgeous. It all does.

[augusta]

Here are two more exterior photos of the Hotel Touraine. One is very close to Harry's exterior shot. The other is a panoramic view of the hotel as it looked like in that area of Boston.

[augusta]

A few things I learned about the Hotel Touraine:

John Philip Sousa stayed there. Signed stationary was up for auction at Heritage Auction Galleries at one time.

The hotel is located on the corner of Tremont and Boylston.

Ted Kennedy was there on September 18, 1962, Democratic Primary night (this from jfklibrary.org)

The Parker House, on School Street, Young's Hotel, on Court Avenue, Court Square, and Court Street, and the Adams House , 555 Washington Street (are) large, first-class houses, conducted on the European plan, centrally located and much patronized. Single rooms from $1 to $3 a day; suites from $5 to $15.

One of the most elegant hotels in New England: The Vendome on Commonwealth Avenue and Dartmouth Street, charges $4.50 a day.

Among the most notable restaurants are Parker's, with a spacious dining-room for ladies, in addition to the public and private dining-rooms and cafe for gentlemen; the Adams House, with a large general dining room; Young's, with several large dining-rooms and cafe, with a suptuous dining-room for ladies from the Court Street entrance; Ober's, on Winter place (off Winter Street), where the Parisian cuisine is used; Park's, on Bosworth Street near Tremont.

Confectionary and ices (besides more substantial food) may be obtained at Weber's and Dooling's, on Temple Place; Fera's, 162 Tremont Street; and the Copeland restaurants, 128 Tremont Street and 467 Washington Street. These place3s are much visited by the ladies. There are also scores of restaurants in the business quarter, many of which are first-class in every respect; a group of French restaurants on Van Rensselaer Place, off Tremont Street, just above Boylston; Vercelli's, an Italian restaurant, at 88 Boylston Street, and numerous German and French restaurants down town.

The Theatres - The Boston Theatre is on Washington Street, between West and Boylston Streets; the Bijou two doors south; the Globe on the other side of the street, near Essex Street; the Park, nearly opposite the Globe; the Grand Opera House on Washington just above Dover; the Museum on Tremont Street, between School and Court Streets; the Howard Athenaeum on Howard Street, near Scollay Square; the Hollis, on Hollis Street, the Tremont on Tremont Street.

[From 'Boston Illustrated', c 1886 Riverside Press, Mass.]

[DJ]

Wow, y'all!

Thanks, Harry, for more pix of The Hotel Touraine-- it seems the ultimate in glamour.

And, Augusta-- thanks for the wealth of info on the other hotels, and the theatres.

Constantine and Bob could tell far, far more about NYC-- some of the hotels were/are residential, too. For instance, Bill and Babe Paley (he was the longtime prez of CBS) lived in the St. Regis, from which he could have walked a few blocks to the network.

Irene Mayer Selznick lived on the top floor of The Pierre-- she was the daughter of Louis B. Mayer, then married/divorced David O. Selznick.

Jackie Susann lived in The Essex House, on Central Park South, where she wrote most of her novels.

When Bette Davis (Massachusetts gal who ought to have played Lizzie in her younger days) visited NYC, she always stayed at The Gotham. Alas, it's gone, as is the Hotel Astor in Times Square.

The Sherry-Netherland offers limited hotel rooms and is also residential.

I read in a bio of Tallulah Bankhead that she lived in an NYC hotel (I'd have to look up which one) during her later years and kept a pet lion in her room, till he got to be too much for even the likes of Tallu, so she gave him to one of the zoos.

Just trivia. Thanks for all the Boston info!!!

[augusta]

Thanks for the trivia, DJ! I love the old movie stars and films.

Oh, yes! A young Bette Davis would have made a perfect Lizzie! And she had the natural accent.

I bought two sets of Bette D's movies in the last year or so. It is tough to pick a favorite, but I love "The Letter" and "In this our Life". One day, many moons ago, I was watching "In this our Life" on tv. After the commercial, the announcer said, "And now back to "Is This Our Life?"

I bought 'All About Eve' separately (I think that's my favorite screenplay ever) and 'Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte'. I was hoping they'd bundle together or come down in price with "Dead Ringer" and "The Nanny" but I finally had to give in and pay like $18 for 'Dead Ringer'. I love Karl Malden (he snuck in his old Polish last name in it), and it was made in like 1962. Peter Lawford was in it, and I thought he was gorgeous in his early films. But in this one, I guess drinks and maybe drugs started taking their toll on him. His face looked kinda fat and puffy.

I'm putting 'The Nanny' on my Christmas list.

Did you ever see the Alfred Hitchcock episode she was in? I think it was one of the half-hour ones. I saw it for the first time this past year on Hulu.com. She lives in a fancy hotel, I think it's a hotel, and she has a little dog.

I did not like her daughter's books - "My Mother's Keeper" where B.D. (Davis) Hyman wrote a Christina Crawford type book on Bette. I think B.D. was spoiled rotten. Bette let her get married at age 16. And B.D. just gripes about how her mother interfered in the wedding plans. The nerve! Just anything she'd make a mockery out of her mother about. Miss Davis really loved her daughter, and B.D. came out with that book when her mom was real old. B.D. wrote a sequel, "Narrow is the Way" where she talks about turning into a born-again Christian. How she could publicly go out against her mother, when her mother adored her and did everything for her I cannot understand. (BTW, B.D. met her husband after the filming of "... Baby Jane'. B.D. had a part in it. She plays the teenager next door. I always watch her scenes with much interest. I thought she was really good. I got the feeling that Bette coached her.)

There's a real good book called something like "When Bette Davis Came to Dinner", on when she was older and ended up staying a short time at this woman's house, and it turned out to be longer than planned. Also Gary Merill's book "Bette, Rita and the Rest of my Life" was real good. I like the inside stories of her. Pretty interesting!

[kssunflower]

A couple of those interior photos are reminiscent of the Titanic's decor. Just beautiful.

[DJ]

Yes, Augusta, I consider it a great loss to filmdom that Bette never played Lizzie, but I guess the subject was just too hot when she was in her heyday at Warner Bros. Also, plenty of people who were alive at the time of the murders would still have been living then (around 1940). Some relatives might have made a fuss, especially if the acquitted Lizzie were portrayed as guilty.

Trivia: Bette did a TV pilot during the early '60s, in which she played an interior decorator! I've seen a bit of it, and it's just too darn bad it didn't fly. It would be a humongous camp classic-- I recall her appearing in a doorway, in then-mod attire, declaring, "Everybody needs a decorator!" It's become one of my catchphrases.

Not so wild about "The Nanny." "All This and Heaven, Too" with Charles Boyer is truly fine. I think you would enjoy it.

[augusta]

Yes, kssunflower - it sure does remind me of the Titanic, but I didn't think of it till you mentioned it. I think very much so.

DJ - I don't remember hearing of Bette D. in the pilot you mentioned. That would be so cool to see it.

'The Nanny' is one of the darkest films I've ever seen. It isn't my top favorite, but something about Bette Davis in the 1960's fascinates me. She was blonde and full of energy in the 1930's. In the 1940's she was getting all those top female leads and had a different look with her auburn hair. She was showing her age and maturing in the 1950's (I don't think I can name many films from the 1950's she's done. "The Star" (I like that, but I cringe a little when I see it - it feels to me she overacts in it). In the 1960's she had a career renewal after 'Baby Jane' - she was still good! She was healthy and I thought she toned her over-dramatics down some. In the 1970's it was good to see her and see her still working. I didn't particularly like - oh that one with Karen Black and this hearse kept showing up with a creepy looking chauffeur that had sunglasses on and everybody I know said looked like my husband ) - Burning, or - oh yeah, "Burnt Offerings!" I was just glad to see her in that one. She still did some good movies there and after, many I haven't yet seen. ("Whales of August" and "A Piano for Mrs. Cimeno" are two. Have you seen them?) I did see the one with her and James Stewart that I liked, but it was sad.

You're really right about "All this and Heaven Too". I have it and have seen it and it's one of those I didn't think I'd like but I did very much.

One I didn't like was "Winter Meeting". Did you, or anyone, see it? What did you think of it? I saw it once and thought it was boring. I didn't care for her leading man. Was it Walter Slezak? Should I give it another chance? Also "Another Man's Poison" - I tried watching that, but it was of poor quality and it was all grainy. I like Gary Merill. Is it any good?

I have read that she did a one-woman show that toured. I would have paid a lot to have gone to that. A couple years ago, on tv they showed the one that Gregory Peck did and it was soooooo good. I wonder if anyone has seen her show recorded anywhere? I dunno. There just hasn't been another one like her since. Or am I overly enthusiastic?

[augusta]

Sorry. Double post.