Tyrone Power V: Sexual Orientation Rumors
Mai Zetterling, Tyrone Power. Two two co-starred in the 1957 drama Seven Waves Away / Abandon Ship.
Tyrone Power IV: Bisexuality, Cesar Romero Rumors
[Right: Tyrone Power in Jesse James.]
The other thing that cracks me up — and I’ve done a study of this — if someone is outed as gay in a book, the next tell-all that comes out lists that person as someone’s gay lover, whereas in previous books, that liaison was never mentioned. A great example is Marlon Brando. A book comes out about him and now he has slept with absolutely every single man who ever walked the earth. Absolutely no discretion on Marlon’s part — if an author said someone was gay, Marlon got into bed with [...]
by Andre Soares | December 6, 2009
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Tags: Anita Ekberg, Classic Movies, Debbi Minardos, Errol Flynn, Gay Interest, Interviews, Mai Zetterling, Maria Ciaccia, Marlon Brando, Matthew Kennedy, The Sun Also Rises, Tyrone Power
Marie Dressler V: Lesbian Rumors, Film Possibilities
Marie Dressler in Dinner at 8
Marie Dressler IV: DINNER AT 8, THE LATE CHRISTOPHER BEAN
Marie Dressler and Claire Du Brey. Were they really lovers? Did you go through Du Brey’s papers? (I believe actor John Phillip Law is in possession of them.)
Ah, the lesbian love question! I talked with Mr. Law, and met with the actress Sierra Pecheur, who knew Du Brey and shared portions of her writing. But Du Brey is problematic as a source. First of all, Marie was dying of cancer during much of the time the two were together. Du Brey wrote exacting details on medical treatments, surgeries, and recoveries, but her papers are of no help on the subject of a sexual relationship, which is [...]
by Andre Soares | February 23, 2008
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Tags: Books, Claire Du Brey, Classic Movies, Interviews, Jean Harlow, Lady for a Day, Lesbian Interest, Marie Dressler, Matthew Kennedy
Marie Dressler IV: DINNER AT 8, THE LATE CHRISTOPHER BEAN
Marie Dressler, Jean Harlow in Dinner at 8
Marie Dressler III: Wallace Beery, Polly Moran Comedies
Some reviewers have complained that Marie Dressler didn’t act. They say she overacted. What do you think?
Writing about her as an actress was tough, because there is no one remotely like her anymore. If you watch her performances today, you can see that she was a true-blue ham. And I can see how that would bother people, but for me it’s an essential part of her charm. If I settle into a Marie Dressler picture, I know I won’t get naturalism by today’s standards. Neither will I get fart jokes, horny frat boys, or mean-spirited mockery. Instead, Marie offered character-driven humor.
She played the charwoman [...]
by Andre Soares | February 23, 2008
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Tags: Classic Movies, Dinner at 8, George Cukor, Interviews, Jean Harlow, Marie Dressler, Matthew Kennedy, Sidney Howard, The Late Christopher Bean
Marie Dressler III: Wallace Beery, Polly Moran Comedies
Wallace Beery, Marie Dressler in Min and Bill
Marie Dressler II: Silent Films, Movie Stardom
How did Marie Dressler react to her newfound stardom?
Marie basked in her success. She had been through enough trials in life — points when she couldn’t get a job — and so she was more than ready for fame and adoration. I think audiences loved that they could give that to her, too. It made them feel good to shower her with love, because she took it so gratefully and graciously. She was the loving grandmother that her fans wanted to protect and comfort, while she comforted, amused, and moved them in return.
Her stardom also points to something missing from modern movies. In the 1930s and into [...]
by Andre Soares | February 23, 2008
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Tags: Classic Movies, Interviews, Louis B. Mayer, Marie Dressler, Matthew Kennedy, Min and Bill, Polly Moran, Wallace Beery
Marie Dressler II: Silent Films, Movie Stardom
Marie Dressler Interview: Part I
Marie Dressler was very popular in vaudeville at the turn of the 20th century. Did she try to become a silent-film star? She was in Tillie’s Punctured Romance with Charles Chaplin and Mabel Normand in 1914, but she doesn’t seem to have quite caught on. Why not?
As told in the book, Marie was a huge star when Mack Sennett approached her to film a loose adaptation of her stage play Tillie’s Nightmare. The result, Tillie’s Punctured Romance, is quite important in film history. Released in 1914, it was the first feature-length comedy, Marie’s film debut, and an early example of Chaplin honing his skills and developing the Tramp.
The film was a big hit, but Marie [...]
by Andre Soares | February 23, 2008
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Tags: Anna Christie, Charles Chaplin, Classic Movies, Frances Marion, Interviews, Marie Dressler, Matthew Kennedy, Silent Films, The Callahans and the Murphys, Tillie's Punctured Romance