An addendum to yesterday's TOD:
Some ten years ago the Walter Reade in NYC was showing Jason and the Argonauts and The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, and I heard that Ray Harryhausen was to be there for Q&A and to sign the new illustrated volume on his works. I went mainly to enjoy seeing those films on the big screen and to hear him talk, and don't remember now why I didn't buy that book. But I did have the presence of mind to take something in case he was willing to sign things. And he was. This was a bootleg LP of the Sinbad soundtrack purchased at one of the record stores on Hollywood Blvd. in the early '70s. He might have stared at it for a microsecond, but he didn't seem phased, just signed, and the line moved on. But the line was considerable, other people had brought books, laserdiscs, and whatnot, and a few minutes later they announced that Mr. Harryhausen would have to limit his signing to actual books purchased there. Whew! Just in time.
But the reason the event was memorable is that before we all went out to the lobby between the two films for the signing, they introduced a special surprise guest, Kathryn Grant Crosby, the enchanting star of Sinbad, who got almost a bigger rise out of the audience than Harryhausen had. After getting my RH signature, I wandered around chatting with people then mosied back into the theater, and there was Ms. G./C. standing there alone for a moment, so I asked if she'd be willing to sign the record as well (it sports an iconic picture of her on the front cover in glorious bootleg black-and-white). Not only was she willing, she seemed delighted to look at it, and unusually pleased to just stand there and talk with me for a few minutes. Though people were milling about, no one was bothering us, and I got to enjoy this magical moment all to myself.
So, the two signatures together went to make an atypical signed object very very special.
