Couple of interesting tidbits:

1)  It was originally supposed to be a feature length movie directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Russell Crowe but that didn't pan out.  Now, Nick Pilegi, author of the book that inspired Casino (as well as the screenplay), is developing a dramatic series on the life of former Las Vegas Sheriff Ralph Lamb.  CBS is looking to be the home of the series.  Director James Mangold who brought the Johnny Cash bio, I Walk the Line, to the silver screen will helm the pilot.

Ralph Lamb was the sheriff during Las Vegas's heyday of the 1960s through the 1970s.  He faced down every one from Frank Rosenthal to Hell's Angels and investigated everything from car bombings to the abduction/murder of Culinary official, Al Bramlett.  He has had a colorful life that includes growing up on a ranch in central Nevada.  The Lambs were at one time one of the most influential families in the state.  Ralph's brothers include former State Senator Darwin Lamb who has a cameo in the Bond film, Diamonds are Forever.

2)  The cast of the latest Cirque show, Elvis at Aria, received the bad news that the show is going dark for six weeks beginning in January while officials retool the show.  The retooling may include the jettisoning of Elvis music and biography elements.  The goal is to make it more of a Cirque spectacular.

3)  The Las Vegas Convention Authority has hired former mayor Oscar Goodman to help promote Las Vegas.  He will have his usual accessories, showgirls and a large glass of gin with him.  The contract lasts two years and is a work in progress.  "I will be the brand of Las Vegas," said Goodman.

This sounds like a great exhibit curated by our pals, Paco Alvarez and Clay Heximer. We hope you will take the time to check it out!

The Boulevard and the News Bureau will hold an unveiling of the exhibition on Saturday, Aug. at 5 pm inside The Boulevard Food Court in conjunction with The Neighborhood of Paradise Palms (paradisepalmslasvegas.com).

Through historic photographs from the Las Vegas News Bureau archives, "A Place in Paradise" explores a neighborhood that was synonymous with the Mid-Century Modern lifestyle in Las Vegas during the 1960s.

The exhibition includes 24, large-format photographs depicting images of The Boulevard shopping mall; the aerial images of the Historic Paradise Palms neighborhood and its resident celebrities, including Caesars Palace developer Jay Sarno, comedian Rip Taylor, actress and entertainer Debbie Reynolds and "Casino De Paris" show producer Frederic Apcar; the Tournament of Champions Golf Tournament with Arnold Palmer teeing off in 1967 and many more.

Located in the food court at The Boulevard shopping mall (3528 S. Maryland Parkway), the photographs are on exhibition through the end of 2011 during mall hours. The exhibition was produced by the Las Vegas News Bureau in partnership with The Boulevard and General Growth properties. Considered to be Las Vegas’ first major master-planned community, the historic "Paradise Palms" neighborhood was built with all the amenities of an ideal suburban environment.

Located in the heart of Clark County, it was built at the height of the Mid-Century Modern Era (1945-1965). The community would feature landscaped neighborhoods, a large “weather-controlled” shopping center, a movie theater, a medical center, a university, schools, parks and a championship golf course.

The famous Sunset Strip.  For over 60 years a billboard has stood at the curve that marks the beginning of the famed Sunset Strip.

It was here in the 1950s that Sahara Hotel executive Stan Irwin decided to put an ad up for all of Los Angeles to see and enjoy.

A model of young showgirl atop a silver dollar (better for playing the slots) with the ad for the hotel under the silver dollar (and with that soothing blue background that just screamed water and fun), the marquee board could be changed out when new acts took the stage.

At this particular moment in time, funny woman, Martha Raye was playing the Congo Room and Louis Prima, Keely Smith and Sam Butera were rotating in the Casbah Room with Billy Ward's Domino's.

They don't make billboards like this anymore.

Fun trivia fact, they say that Jay Ward- the creator of Rocky and Bullwinkle- spoofed this particular billboard when he opened his studio on the famed Sunset Strip.  He had a statue erected of Bullwinkle  Moose holding Rocket "Rocky" Squirrel in the palm of his hand, in a poise like the showgirl.

Our good friend Johnny Kats at the Las Vegas Sun has read the GQ interview with Jerry Lewis and he has put together a great summary of the interview:

GQ has dedicated much of its August edition, on newsstands this week, to the art of comedy, and a healthy measure of that edition is focused on an 85-year-old Las Vegan.

In a lengthy, yet rapid-fire, profile, writer Amy Wallace pulls the curtain back on a Jerry Lewis that seems hardly apt to retire from any phase of his career or life. She spent 11 hours, total, with Lewis in assembling the story, and what is unearthed should come as little surprise to anyone who has observed Lewis over the past couple of years.

The still-vibrant entertainer who supposedly “retired” from his MDA Telethon back in May (an account of that I find impossible to swallow) is juggling several projects for this year and into next.

The documentary that filmmaker Gregg Barson has been filming for the past three years, titled “Method to the Madness of Jerry Lewis," is due this fall on Encore.

He is in talks with John Travolta, a reality confirmed by both, to remake the 1965 film “The Family Jewels.”

He is planning to launch another telethon in Australia, where he fell dizzy last month and had to cancel an appearance on behalf of that country’s Muscular Dystrophy Foundation. The MDF is unaffiliated with the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

He is working on a screenplay, the details of which are being kept secret, and is to star in the independent film “Max Rose,” which is not yet financed.

And, to fill out his schedule, he is working on a stage adaptation of “The Nutty Professor,” which he plans to direct and is scored by Marvin Hamlisch.

To reiterate: This does not sound like a man who would find hosting a whittled-down, six-hour MDA Telethon at all taxing. More on that later, but in the GQ story, Lewis did say this of his commitment to helping children suffering from illness: “I understand naysayers. His kids. But they are mine, and I am too far into it to step back.”

More highlights from the interview:

• From Martin Scorsese: “He makes many people uncomfortable. He doesn’t censor himself as a performer, a filmmaker or a public figure -- which is difficult to accept for many people. I know there have been some books about him and some recognition in the past few years, but I think Americans are still coming to terms with Jerry and his astonishing artistry. It’s as if they had to invent a new place for it, a new category.” Scorsese also added, “Jerry Lewis is still ahead of his time.”

• From Jerry Seinfeld, a comment drawn from the “Method to Madness” documentary: “If you don’t get Jerry Lewis, you don’t really understand comedy, because he is the essence of it.”

• Speaking of today’s young comics, Lewis describes Will Ferrell as, “A wonderful technician. He does the script well. And he won’t be here in eight years. He is a very good mechanic, but never expect a mechanic to hold you in his arms. He doesn’t know how to do that. And you need that quality to have longevity. Of Seinfeld, he says he “has a heart on both sides.” And Chris Rock is “very, very, powerful. He comes from the place it’s supposed to come from. My great-grandchildren will enjoy him.”

• In one of his characteristic conversational U-turns, Lewis insists that John F. Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe never had an affair. As he stresses, “I’m telling you what I know because I did. OK?” Asked what that experience was like, Lewis says, “It was … long. I was crippled for a month. (Pause) And I thought Marlene Dietrich was great!”

• Lewis was treated by a “shrink,” for a time. The doctor told him it would be a mistake to undergo further analysis. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked. The doctor told him, “Well, if we peel away the emotional and psychological difficulties, your pain may leave, but it’s also quite possible that you won’t have a reason to be funny anymore.”

• Lewis took so much Percodan and Numbutal in the 1970s that, to him, 1973 to 1977 are a complete blackout. This covers his famed appearance in the 1976 Labor Day Telethon in which Dean Martin strode onstage for a surprise on-air reunion orchestrated by Frank Sinatra.

• Lewis’ name in Scorsese’s “The King of Comedy” was originally Robert Langford, but Lewis persuaded Scorsese to instead name the talk show host character Jerry Langford. He told the director, “Everywhere we go in New York, your construction workers and cab drivers will validate that it’s Jerry.” He adds, “And that’s what happened. If you remember, in the movie, whenever I was in the street: ‘Hey, Jerry,’ ‘Yo, Jer.’ ‘Hey there, you old schmuck.’ It worked great for us. Whenever I went to New York, that’s what happened. It still happens.”

• Wants to live to be 101, to beat George Burns, a promise he made to Burns once during an MDA Telethon. “It was a joke,” Lewis says. “That’s all it was.” A pause, then, “Now it’s no joke.”

That’s how the GQ story ends, but not Lewis’.

We are taking a brief break from our regular posting about Las Vegas history because our good friend Alan Hess has written a terrific article on mid-century modern architect, John Lautner.

As Mr. Hess is a big supporter of Las Vegas' mid-century modern history, it seems only fitting that we support Mr. Hess.

John Lautner, who died in 1994, would have marked his 100th birthday this month. Author Alan Hess looks at the long roster of great Los Angeles architects and says Lautner stands out more than any other as the mirror of this city.

Hess writes that Lautner's work and the city Lautner called home for 56 years share the same rebellious soul. "Both have the courage to be unorthodox and defy conformity, and both have suffered for it," Hess writes. "Critics still skewer Lautner and L.A. alike as undisciplined and self-indulgent."

The truth, Hess writes, can be seen in the Lautner houses, which play out across the Southland as something of a universal dream, a quest for the good life under the California sun.

Commentary: John Lautner, the quintessential L.A. architect