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STARDUST CONTINUED FROM PAGE 09 “This group of people were great raconteurs,” says Victoria, who from 2001 to 2004 served as president of the Writers Guild of America, West, the union her father helped create. “They were bright, they were imaginative, energetic, optimistic. Even in the Depression they loved the country. Cooper was a Republican all his life, because he understood how bad Stalin was, and he’d been a prisoner in Russia, and my father was a liberal and loved FDR and was very worried about Hitler. The country was very divided. But people were not as divided as they became after World War II when the blacklist descended upon Hollywood, or as they are seemingly right now. It was interesting to me that Riskin and Capra worked well together even though Capra was a conservative, and the theme of the little guy and the common man and the belief in the basic goodness of others and helping others was all Riskin; it was not Capra at all. But Capra was a wonderful director and he knew a good story and could bring it to life on film.” Falling in love shortly after Pearl Harbor, Wray and Riskin’s touching, romantic letters express recognition of their good fortune. Wray’s first husband, philandering screenwriter John Monk Saunders, had spent her money, kidnapped their daughter Susan, and sold their house; the warm, stable Riskin, who’d previously dated Carole Lombard and Loretta Young, was elated to have finally found someone with whom he could be emotionally intimate. In one amusing passage, he races from Los Angeles to Barstow to Pasadena to meet Wray’s train, flowers and heart in hand. They married in August 1942, after Wray proposed, and Riskin adopted Susan. “I don’t think I say this in the book: When she married him, she said, ‘I am not sure how long I’m going to have him and I want to be with him every moment I can and to make his life as easy and happy as I can,’” Victoria recalls. “That was the sense she had.” The book’s most intriguing sections detail the diplomatic Riskin’s stewardship of the Office of War Information’s overseas bureau — work even Victoria didn’t fully grasp until the team behind Peter Miller’s excellent 2014 documentary “Projections of America” asked her to dig into her father’s files. She says Riskin’s OWI work has been “lost to history” because too many books about Hollywood’s war effort have relied on a “limited set of documents” and recycled stories — and that’s “astounding,” because his OWI films were “so much more impactful, larger in scope and more sensitive than anything else.” Some of those films (e.g., “The Cummington Story”) survive on YouTube. Victoria, a former Human Rights Watch international board member, calls them “propaganda of the gentlest kind,” designed to educate overseas audiences about American life and democratic ideals. Acknowledging that “propaganda” is “a very loaded term,” she defends the convictions of her father, who suffered a partially paralyzing stroke in 1950 and died at 58 in 1955. (Wray died at 96 in 2004.) He believed that foreign audiences would love America if they loved American films. “Telling stories that elevate the human spirit to reflect simple things of life in an appreciative way … really set the stage about how you feel about yourself as a culture and a community. Those are films designed to influence — is that bad? Or is that OK? I think it’s a worthy conversation, especially in an era of ‘fake news’ and spinning information.” ■ 10 PASADENA WEEKLY | <strong>03.07.19</strong> Victoria Riskin discusses “Fay Wray and Robert Riskin: A Hollywood Memoir” at Vroman’s, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 7. Info: (626) 449-5320. Victoriariskin.com, vromansbookstore.com
• LIFE • RESTAURANT REVIEW Pizza Boy 1321 E. Colorado St., Glendale (818) 247-5555 pizzaboy.us Major Cards/ Beer and Wine Served BULLETIN BOARD NEWS AND NOTES FROM OUR COMMUNITY P. 13 “LIFE IS NEVER COMPLETELY WITHOUT ITS CHALLENGES."- STAN LEE REBEL WITHOUT A REASON DON’T LET EMOTIONAL ‘TRANSFERENCE’ MESS UP A GOOD RELATIONSHIP P. 14 Vegan Veggie with Organic Whole Wheat Crust dining& nitelife HOME SALES RECENT HOME SALES IN THE GREATER PASADENA AREA P. 16 directory Pasadena Weekly’s Dining Directory is a paid advertisement and is provided as a service to our readers. To advertise in the Dining Directory, call (626) 584-1500. Average price per entree $ up to $10 $$$ $16-25 $$ $11–15 $$$$ $25+ BONNIE B’S SMOKIN BBQ 1280 N. Lake Ave., Pasadena, (626) 794-0132 bonniebssmokin.com $$ From Tulsa Oklahoma to Southern Cal. with a touch of New Orleans soul comes Bonnie B’s Bar B Que Heaven. Our 45-yearold traditional recipes are made with love. Try our new sweet pea’s double Fried burger made with our own sauces, soul bowl and homemade peach cobbler. Voted best BBQ & Soul food in Pasadena for our ribs, collard greens and Slim's Mac & Cheese. We are thankful and appreciate Pasadena. Have It Your Way PIZZA BOY OFFERS VEGAN AS WELL AS MEAT AND CHEESE PIES AND SANDWICHES BY EVELYN GARCIA | PHOTOS BY DANNY LIAO While every day seems to bring new dining fads that take over our newsfeeds and office conversations, there is one that is here to stay: the vegan diet. I personally venture out and eat vegan or vegetarian options quite often and am always excited to see how they hold up compared to the “real” thing I’m accustomed to eating. For this reason, I visited Pizza Boy in Glendale recently. While they have a large menu with plenty of meaty and cheesy nonvegan options, they also have one of the most extensive lists of vegan pizzas I’ve ever seen, not to mention plenty of positive buzz online. The restaurant doesn’t look like your typical red and white checkered pizza joint. Located off of Colorado Street, it is modern with dark wooden tables and booths, and has a large bar upon entering where guests can sit and drink. While I knew prior to arriving they have a couple of different pizza crust options, I didn’t realize the extent. One of the walls inside the restaurant features all of them: the popular cauliflower crust, flax seed, zucchini, sweet potato, brown rice, almond, beet and broccoli, each boasting about its health benefits, such as “slow down aging.” Who knew you could eat pizza crust made of zucchini and fight wrinkles at the same time? The highlight of the night was one of the dishes we ordered to start, and it seems to be one of the most popular items on their menu overall. We ordered the Ajarski Khachapuri ($8.75), which is a Georgian dish made of leavened bread filled with cheese and eggs. My dining partner ordered the small size with one egg, but it is also served in large (2 eggs) or extralarge (3 eggs). The khachapuri is served with a side of butter, CAMERON’S SEAFOOD 1978 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena (626) 793-3474 Camerons4fish.com $$ Since 1984, Cameron’s Seafood has been serving its freshest seafood, and has become a landmark in Pasadena. Cameron’s brings the ocean home with their fresh catch being cooked over mesquite wood grills that burn all day long.Enjoy the very best Seafood, Steaks, Salad & Pasta! Voted Best Seafood in Pasadena Weekly for 27 years! Now you can order on-line: camerons4fish.com. EL PORTAL 695 E. Green St., Pasadena (626)795-8553 Elportalrestaurant.com $$ Pasadena Weekly readers have been rewarding El Portal with the title of Best Mexican Food in the city for years. This charming little hacienda with brick walls, festive colors, fine art and a California elegant courtyard brings the authentic cuisine of Mexico and the Yucatan region to your table. <strong>03.07.19</strong> | PASADENA WEEKLY 11
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