NEWS FLASH! Update on doc, "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired"; LA Superior Court smells like shit!

Something's dirty down at Los Angeles Superior Court and it ain't the men's bathroom stalls.

On June 10, I blogged about this excellent documentary which premiered on HBO Monday. Be forewarned: I'm not in any way taking Roman Polanski's side regarding this case. All I'm interested in is what's fair for all parties involved.

In 1997, a new judge ruled that Polanski could return to the U.S. (again - read the June 10 post) and face no additional jail time as long as the court hearing to iron out these details was televised. Earlier in the week, Los Angeles Superior Court called that assertion, "a complete fabrication", and asked that HBO change the disclaimer at the end of the film to reflect that the hearing be held in "open court" - not televised. Apparently there's a difference.

Both Polanski's original attorney and the original prosecuting attorney stand by the original assertion made by Judge Larry Paul Fidler in 1997 that the hearing be televised.

That's not all. The director of the DA's Specialized Prosecutions Bureau stated, "there was no requirement that the hearing be televised", and he added a new caveat - there is no guarantee that Polanski wouldn't serve additional jail time.

Sounds like the same bullshit going down at LA Superior Court that occurred with the original judge back in 1978. I guess there are instances with regards to our judicial system where there's no place for "fair play". I'm backing both attorney's on this one.

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Women Celebs I Love #4 - Sharon Tate

A journalist once asked Sharon Tate in a late July 1969 interview if she believed in fate, to which she replied, "Certainly. My whole life has been decided by fate. I think something more powerful than we are decides our fates for us. I know one thing — I've never planned anything that ever happened to me."

As fate would have it, Sharon Tate will be forever linked to her brutal murder at the hands of Charles Manson's psychotic thugs in 1969 in the hills of Beverly Hills on Cielo Drive. I've been up there many times (I know someone who lives next door). The original gate - the original house that stood there the night Sharon breathed her last breath is gone - a palatial, resortesque spec mansion stands in its place. Rumors are they can't give the place away.

(Wait! There's more pictures of Sharon...)

But I'm not blogging about Sharon's death. If you want the full story, Google her. Instead I'll dwell on Sharon's life and beauty, or rather her beauty. She was 27 when she died and like Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Heath Ledger and others, she will be eternally 27. She took those cheesecake photos. The pinup ones. Posed in the nude a few times. She didn't understand what the big deal is. And looking at her, most of us don't either.

Sharon made a handful of TV shows and movies. I've seen just a few - Valley of the Dolls probably being the biggest. She could be very funny. She later married director Roman Polanski and the couple quickly became part of a social group that included some of the most successful young people in the film industry, including Steve McQueen, Warren Beatty, Mia Farrow, Peter Sellers, Jacqueline Bisset, Leslie Caron, Joan Collins, Joanna Pettet, Laurence Harvey, Peter Fonda and Jane Fonda, older film stars like Henry Fonda, Kirk Douglas, Yul Brynner and Danny Kaye, musicians such as Jim Morrison and the Mamas and the Papas, and record producer Terry Melcher and his girlfriend Candice Bergen. It was quite the life - one many would die for.

I've only seen a smattering of interviews with her so I'm not sure what her personality was like but if the company she kept was any indication, then I would've approved.

I have a larger version of this one in color - my favorite photo of Sharon.

But her life - the life that dreams are made of - came to an abrupt end the night of August 9, 1969. Her husband, Polanski, found out about her death while in Europe prepping a film. His life would crash and burn as a result, and then resurrect itself (see post below). I'm planning to visit her grave site this weekend - I had no idea it's right here in Culver City where I live. She inadvertantly caused so much pain to those she loved by her death, and yet those same people, including her mother - Doris, father - Col. Paul and two sisters, Debra and Patti - cherished her memory and worked diligently to let the world not forget her. Doris died in 1992. Patti died of breast cancer in 2000. Dad died in 2005. And Debra continues to bear Sharon's cross.

Sharon's not my favorite actress, per se. Simply put, she was a gorgeous, erotic, sexy woman that both men and women loved to be around.

Wouldn't you?

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"Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired". See it.

The documentary film "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired" premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and spotlights the film-maker's 1978 trial for having sex with a 13-year-old. I watched the HBO premiere yesterday and my eyes and attention were never diverted.

Polanski is an Academy Award-winning film director, writer, actor and producer. After beginning his career in Poland, Polanski became a celebrated arthouse filmmaker, and Hollywood director of such films as Rosemary's Baby (1968) and Chinatown (1974). Polanski is considered as one of the world’s great film directors. He won the Oscar for The Pianist in 2003.

In 1977, Polanski, then aged 44, became embroiled in a scandal involving 13-year-old Samantha Geimer (then known as Samantha Gailey). It ultimately led to Polanski's guilty plea to the charge of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, a plea bargained, lesser charge. Before sentencing, Polanski was tipped off that the judge was going to disregard the plea bargain, in which case he would likely have faced a 50-year prison sentence. On February 1, 1978, Polanski fled to London, then to France. Consistent with its extradition treaty with the United States, France refuses to extradite its own citizens. The United States government could have requested that Polanski be prosecuted on the California charges by the French authorities, but this option has not been pursued. (Don't quite understand that one.)

In a 2003 interview, Samantha Geimer said, "Straight up, what he did to me was wrong. But I wish he would return to America so the whole ordeal can be put to rest for both of us." Furthermore, "I'm sure if he could go back, he wouldn't do it again. He made a terrible mistake but he's paid for it".

Key, I believe, in this documentary's success are the interviews of many of the principals involved - Samantha Geimer, the prosecuting attorney, the defence attorney and others. Unfortunately, Polanski was not interviewed and the judge who presided over the case is dead.

I'm more familiar with the Sharon Tate angle in the story (Polanski's wife who was murdered by Manson family members in 1969 - look for a post on Sharon under, "Women Celebs I Love #5 above this post) than I am with Polanski's case but a number of details about the case I was previously unaware of. I won't spoil it for you in the event you do see it. What I will say is this - the judge on this case not only did a disservice to Samantha Geimer, but to Roman Polanski as well. And both the prosecuting attorney and the defense attorney agreed on this. Roman had sex with a 13-year-old - it was wrong. But the behavior on the bench by the judge was a breach in ethics. Just watch the movie.

(from police records)
Sharon Marie Polanski (nee Tate) , 10050 Cielo Drive, female Caucasian, 26 years, 5-3, 135, hazel eyes and blond hair. 16 stab wounds to the body - 4 or 5 of these would have been fatal. Victim's occupation is actress and for the last two years had been married to Roman Polanski, director-producer for Paramount Studios. At the time of her death, she was eight months pregnant with her first child - a boy.

Both the prosecuting and defense lawyer for Roman revisited the case in 1997. A judge in 1997 told lawyers that if Polanski returned to the U.S. he would serve no more time in custody; however, the judge insisted that the hearing be held 'in public, on the record and in open court.' Given the possibility that it would be televised, Polanski declined. ( I don't understand that one either.)

Polanski, 74, remains a fugitive from US authorities.

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