Irving Thalberg: Creating the Hollywood Studio System, 1920–1936
The career of legendary production executive Irving Thalberg – Hollywood’s "Boy Wonder" of the 1920s and early 1930s – will be explored in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ new exhibition, "Irving Thalberg: Creating the Hollywood Studio System, 1920–1936," opening on Thursday, September 17, in the Academy’s Fourth Floor Gallery in Beverly Hills.
"Irving Thalberg: Creating the Hollywood Studio System, 1920–1936" is guest curated by historian and Thalberg biographer Mark Vieira, whose Hollywood Dreams Made Real: Irving Thalberg and the Rise of M-G-M was profiled in the Alternative Film Guide several months ago and whose Irving Thalberg: Boy Wonder to Producer Prince is due out in early November. Admission is free.
Lon Chaney, [...]
by Andre Soares | September 9, 2009
| Subscribe / Syndicate
Tags: Classic Movies, Hollywood Dreams Made Real, Irving Thalberg, Irving Thalberg: Creating the Hollywood Studio System, Jean Harlow, Los Angeles Screenings, Louis B. Mayer, Mark Vieira, MGM, Norma Shearer
Clark Gable on TCM
Clark Gable has his "Summer Under the Stars" day on Wednesday, Aug. 12.
Turner Classic Movies will present thirteen of the actor’s films, all of which have been shown before. Come to think of it, I’m not even sure what a rare Clark Gable movie would be, unless one includes the pre-1931 films in which Gable was an extra. Else, I believe that just about every single one of those films in which he starred or had supporting roles have been shown either on TCM or elsewhere a number of times — something that’s quite unusual.
Now, the King of Hollywood would never have risen to the throne had I had any say in the matter, but I didn’t. Lots [...]
by Andre Soares | August 12, 2009
| Subscribe / Syndicate
Tags: China Seas, Classic Movies, Idiot's Delight, Norma Shearer, Strange Interlude, Summer Under the Stars, TCM, Turner Classic Movies
Best Films – 1938
Lionel Barrymore, James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Edward Arnold in You Can’t Take It with You
FILM
The Adventures of Robin Hood
d: Michael Curtiz, William Keighley; scr: Seton I. Miller, Norman Reilly Raine
Bringing Up Baby
d: Howard Hawks; scr: Dudley Nichols, Hagar Wilde
Dramatic School
d: Robert B. Sinclair; scr: Ernest Vajda, Mary McCall Jr.
L’Etrange Monsieur Victor
d: Jean Grémillon; scr: Albert Valentin, Charles Spaak, Marcel Achard
Four Daughters
d: Michael Curtiz; scr: Lenore J. Coffee, Julius J. Epstein
If I Were King
d: Frank Lloyd; scr: Preston Sturges
The Lady Vanishes
d: Alfred Hitchcock; scr: Sidney Gilliat, Frank Launder
Marie Antoinette
d: W. S. Van Dyke; scr: Claudine West, Donald Ogden Stewart, Ernest Vajda
Vivacious Lady
d: George Stevens; scr: P. J. Wolfson, Ernest Pagano
You Can’t Take It with You
d: Frank Capra; scr: Robert Riskin
[...]
by Andre Soares | April 3, 2009
| Subscribe / Syndicate
Tags: A Night in May, Abem Finkel, Akim Tamiroff, Albert Valentin, Alfred Hitchcock, Anatole Litvak, Basil Radford, Basil Rathbone, Best Films, Bette Davis, Beulah Bondi, Billy Wilder, Bluebeard's Eighth Wife, Bringing Up Baby, Cameron Rogers, Cary Grant, Charles Brackett, Charles Coburn, Charles Spaak, Classic Movies, Claude Rains, Claudette Colbert, Claudine West, Clements Ripley, Dame May Whitty, Dmitri Tiomkin, Donald Ogden Stewart, Dramatic School, Dudley Nichols, Edmund Goulding, Edward Arnold, Eine Nacht in Mai, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Ernest Haller, Ernest Pagano, Ernest Vajda, Ernst Lubitsch, Errol Flynn, Fay Bainter, Four Daughters, Frank Capra, Frank Launder, Frank Lloyd, Franz Waxman, Gale Sondergaard, Gary Cooper, Georg Jacoby, George Stevens, Ginger Rogers, Gladys George, Hagar Wilde, Hans Fritz Beckmann, Harry Stradling, Herbert Stothart, Howard Hawks, If I Were King, James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Jean Grémillon, Jezebel, John Huston, Joseph Ruttenberg, Joseph Schildkraut, Julien Duvivier, Julius J. Epstein, Katharine Hepburn, L'Etrange Monsieur Victor, Le Quais des brumes, Lenore J. Coffee, Leslie Howard, Lionel Barrymore, Luise Rainer, Madeleine Rénaud, Marcel Achard, Margaret Lockwood, Marie Antoinette, Marika Rökk, Mary Forbes, Mary McCall Jr., Max Steiner, May Robson, Michael Curtiz, Michael Redgrave, Michèle Morgan, Milton Krims, Norma Shearer, Norman Reilly Raine, Of Human Hearts, Oliver T. Marsh, P. J. Wolfson, Paul Lukas, Peverell Marley, Port of Shadows, Preston Sturges, Pygmalion, Raimu, Robert B. Sinclair, Robert Morley, Robert Riskin, Ronald Colman, Rudolph Maté, Samuel Hoffenstein, Seton I. Miller, Sidney Gilliat, Sol Polito, Spawn of the North, Spring Byington, Suez, Sweethearts, The Adventures of Marco Polo, The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Citadel, The Great Waltz, The Lady Vanishes, The Sisters, Three Comrades, Tony Gaudio, Una O'Connor, Vivacious Lady, W. Howard Greene, W. S. Van Dyke, Walter Reisch, Wendy Hiller, White Banners, William H. Daniels, William Keighley, William Wyler, Willy Clever, You Can't Take It with You
Best Films – 1936
Sacha Guitry in The Story of a Cheat
FILM
Follow the Fleet
d: Mark Sandrich; scr: Dwight Taylor
Fury
d: Fritz Lang; scr: Bartlett Cormack, Fritz Lang
Libeled Lady
d: Jack Conway; scr: Maurine Watkins, Howard Emmett Rogers, George Oppenheimer
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
d: Frank Capra; scr: Robert Riskin
My Man Godfrey
d: Gregory La Cava; scr: Morrie Ryskind, Eric Hatch
Le Roman d’un tricheur / The Story of a Cheat
d, scr: Sacha Guitry
Show Boat
d: James Whale; scr: Oscar Hammerstein II
Theodora Goes Wild
d: Richard Boleslawsky; scr: Sidney Buchman
These Three
d: William Wyler; scr: Lillian Hellman
Walter Huston, Ruth Chatterton in Dodsworth
CHECK THESE OUT
César
d, scr: Marcel Pagnol
Club de femmes
d, scr: Jacques Deval
Desire
d: Frank Borzage; scr: Edwin Justus Mayer, Waldemar Young, Samuel Hoffenstein
Dodsworth
d: William [...]
by Andre Soares | April 3, 2009
| Subscribe / Syndicate
Tags: A Day in the Country, A Woman Rebels, Alice Brady, Allan Scott, Anthony Adverse, Archie Mayo, Arthur Treacher, Bartlett Cormack, Basil Rathbone, Bert Glennon, Best Films, Carole Lombard, Catherine Doucet, Cecil B. DeMille, César, Charles Chaplin, Charles Kenyon, Classic Movies, Claude Rains, Claude Renoir, Club de femmes, Delmer Daves, Desire, Dodsworth, Dorothy Fields, Double or Nothing, Douglas Dumbrille, Dwight Taylor, Edwin Justus Mayer, Elizabeth Risdon, Eric Hatch, Eugene Pallette, Follow the Fleet, Frank Borzage, Frank Capra, Fred Jackman, Fritz Lang, Fury, Gale Sondergaard, Gary Cooper, George Cukor, George J. Folsey, George Oppenheimer, George Stevens, Ginger Rogers, Gregg Toland, Gregory La Cava, H. B. Warner, Harold Lamb, Harold Rosson, Harriet Hilliard, Hattie McDaniel, Herbert Stothart, Howard Emmett Rogers, Howard Lindsay, Irene Dunne, Irving Berlin, Jack Conway, Jacques Deval, James Whale, Jean Arthur, Jean Bourgoin, Jean Renoir, Jerome Kern, John Barrymore, Joseph Kosma, Le Roman d'un tricheur, Leslie Howard, Libeled Lady, Lillian Hellman, Love Before Breakfast, Luise Rainer, Lynn Riggs, Marcel Pagnol, Marguerite Moreno, Mark Sandrich, Maurine Watkins, Melvyn Douglas, Miriam Hopkins, Mischa Auer, Modern Times, Morrie Ryskind, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, My Man Godfrey, Norma Shearer, Oliver T. Marsh, Oscar Hammerstein II, Partie de campagne, Paulette Goddard, Raimu, Ray June, Richard Boleslawsky, Robert de Grasse, Robert Riskin, Romeo and Juliet, Roy Mack, Rudolph Maté, Ruth Chatterton, Sacha Guitry, Samuel Hoffenstein, Show Boat, Sidney Buchman, Sidney Howard, Sol Polito, Spring Byington, Stowaway, Swing Time, Sylvia Sidney, Talbot Jennings, The Charge of the Light Brigade, The Garden of Allah, The Great Ziegfeld, The Petrified Forest, The Plainsman, The Prisoner of Shark Island, The Story of a Cheat, Theodora Goes Wild, These Three, Tony Gaudio, W. Howard Greene, Waldemar Young, Walter Huston, William H. Daniels, William Powell, William Wyler
Best Films – 1934
Norma Shearer in The Barretts of Wimpole Street
FILM
The Barretts of Wimpole Street
d: Sidney Franklin; scr: Ernest Vajda, Claudine West, Donald Ogden Stewart
The Count of Monte Cristo
d: Rowland V. Lee; scr: Philip Dunne, Dan Totheroh, Rowland V. Lee
The Gay Divorcee
d: Mark Sandrich; scr: George Marion Jr., Dorothy Yost, Edward Kaufman
Hide-out
d: W. S. Van Dyke; scr: Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich
The Merry Widow
d: Ernst Lubitsch; scr: Samson Raphaelson, Ernest Vajda
Fredric March, Evelyn Venable in Death Takes a Holiday
CHECK THESE OUT
Broadway Bill
d: Frank Capra; scr: Robert Riskin
Death Takes a Holiday
d: Mitchell Leisen; scr: Maxwell Anderson, Gladys Lehman
Gold
d: Karl Hartl; scr: Rolf E. Vanloo
Here Comes the Navy
d: Lloyd Bacon; scr: Earl Baldwin, Ben Markson
Maskerade / Masquerade in Vienna
d: Willi Forst; scr: [...]
by Andre Soares | April 3, 2009
| Subscribe / Syndicate
Tags: Albert Hackett, Alice White, Anna May Wong, Anton Walbrook, Best Films, Broadway Bill, Buster Crabbe, Charles Laughton, Classic Movies, Claudette Colbert, Constance Bennett, Easy to Love, Ernest Vajda, Ernst Lubitsch, Etienne Girardot, Fay Wray, Four Frightened People, Frances Goodrich, Frank Capra, Franz Planer, Genevieve Tobin, Ginger Rogers, Gold, Heinz Ruhman, Helen Lowell, Here Comes the Navy, Hide-out, Imitation of Life, James Cagney, Jean Arthur, Jeanette MacDonald, Karl Hartl, Lloyd Bacon, Louise Beavers, Marian Nixon, Mark Sandrich, Mary Astor, Mary Boland, Norma Shearer, Peter Lorre, Philip Dunne, Ramon Novarro, Ray June, Robert Montgomery, Rowland V. Lee, Samson Raphaelson, Sidney Franklin, The Affairs of Cellini, The Barretts of Wimpole Street, The Cat and the Fiddle, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Gay Divorcee, The Merry Widow, The Most Precious Thing in Life, Viva Villa!, W. S. Van Dyke, Wallace Beery, We're Rich Again
Best Films – 1930
Made at the dawn of the sound era, All Quiet on the Western Front remains the best war film ever made. Despite some brave (and not so brave) attempts by other filmmakers ever since, no other motion picture I’ve seen has captured the horrors of war with the honesty and the poignancy of Lewis Milestone’s rendition of Erich Maria Remarque’s pacifist novel. Lew Ayres plays the young, idealistic soldier who soon discovers that war has nothing to do with either honor or glory.
FILM
All Quiet on the Western Front
d: Lewis Milestone; scr: Maxwell Anderson, Del Andrews, George Abbott
The Bishop Murder Case
d: Nick Grindé, David Burton; scr: Lenore J. Coffee
Going Wild
d: William [...]
by Andre Soares | April 3, 2009
| Subscribe / Syndicate
Tags: Alison Skipworth, All Quiet on the Western Front, Armand Bernard, Arthur Edeson, Bess Meredyth, Best Films, Blanche Sweet, Call of the Flesh, Chester Morris, Classic Movies, Edwin Justus Mayer, Ernest Torrence, Frances Marion, Fredric March, George Abbott, George Cukor, Going Wild, Greta Garbo, Herbert Stothart, Herman J. Mankiewicz, In Gay Madrid, Lenore J. Coffee, Let Us Be Gay, Lew Ayres, Lewis Milestone, Marie Dressler, Maxwell Anderson, Merritt B. Gerstad, Nick Grinde, Norma Shearer, Ona Munson, Ramon Novarro, Ray June, Renée Adorée, Robert Z. Leonard, Sous les toits de Paris, The Bat Whispers, The Bishop Murder Case, The Royal Family of Broadway, Under the Roofs of Paris, Warner Oland, William A. Seiter, Xavier Cugat
Best Films – 1927
Ramon Novarro, Norma Shearer in The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg
FILM
Breakfast at Sunrise
d: Malcolm St. Clair; scr: Fred De Gresac, Gladys Unger
The Enemy
d: Fred Niblo; scr: Willis Goldbeck, Agnes Christine Johnston; titles: John Colton
The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg
d: Ernst Lubitsch; scr: Hans Kräly; titles: Marion Ainslee, Ruth Cummings
The Unknown
d: Tod Browning; scr: Waldemar Young; titles: Joseph W. Farnham
The Valley of the Giants
d: Charles Brabin; scr: Gordon Rigby
George O’Brien, Janet Gaynor in Sunrise
CHECK THESE OUT
The Cat and the Canary
d: Paul Leni; scr: Alfred A. Cohn, Robert F. Hill; titles: Walter Anthony
Die Liebe der Jeanne Ney / The Love of Jeanne Ney
d: G. W. Pabst; scr: [...]
by Andre Soares | April 2, 2009
| Subscribe / Syndicate
Tags: Abel Gance, Benjamin Glazer, Best Films, Breakfast at Sunrise, Brigitte Helm, Charles Brabin, Classic Movies, Constance Talmadge, Ernest Palmer, Ernst Lubitsch, Flora Finch, Fred Niblo, Fritz Arno Wagner, H. H. Caldwell, Hal Mohr, Hans Kraly, Janet Gaynor, Jean Hersholt, Katherine Hilliker, Lon Chaney, Malcolm St. Clair, Marion Davies, Napoleon, Norma Shearer, Paul Leni, Ramon Novarro, Silent Films, Sunrise, Ted McCord, The Cat and the Canary, The Enemy, The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg, The Unknown, The Valley of the Giants, Tod Browning, Willis Goldbeck
Best Films – 1925
Ramon Novarro and May McAvoy in Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
FILM
Ben-Hur
d: Fred Niblo (assisted by Christy Cabanne, Alfred L. Raboch, B. Reeves Eason); scr: Carey Wilson, Bess Meredyth, June Mathis; titles: Katherine Hilliker, H. H. Caldwell
The Big Parade
d: King Vidor; scr: Laurence Stallings, Harry Behn; titles: Joseph W. Farnham
Her Sister from Paris
d: Sidney Franklin; scr: Hans Kräly
Lady Windermere’s Fan
d: Ernst Lubitsch; scr: Julien Josephson; titles: Maude Fulton, Erik Yorke
The Merry Widow
d: Erich von Stroheim; scr: Benjamin Glazer, Erich von Stroheim; titles: Marian Ainslee
Battleship Potemkin
CHECK THESE OUT
Bronenosets Potyomkin / Battleship Potemkin
d: Sergei Eisenstein; scr: Nina Agadzhanova, Sergei Eisenstein; titles: Nikolai Aseyev, Sergei Tretyakov
Renée Adorée, John Gilbert in The Big Parade
ACTOR
John Gilbert
The Big Parade
Constance Talmadge, Ronald [...]
by Andre Soares | April 2, 2009
| Subscribe / Syndicate
Tags: Alice Joyce, Belle Bennett, Ben-Hur, Best Films, Betty Bronson, Charles Van Enger, Classic Movies, Constance Talmadge, Eleanor Boardman, Erich von Stroheim, Ernst Lubitsch, Fred Niblo, Hal Mohr, Hans Kraly, Her Sister from Paris, Irene Rich, John Arnold, John Gilbert, Joseph W. Farnham, Julien Josephson, Karl Struss, King Vidor, Lady of the Night, Lady Windermere's Fan, Lois Moran, Lon Chaney, Mary Philbin, May McAvoy, Norma Shearer, Ramon Novarro, Renée Adorée, Ronald Colman, Sidney Franklin, Silent Films, Stella Dallas, The Big Parade, The Merry Widow
Best Films – 1924
Erich von Stroheim’s masterpiece and one of the best silent films ever made, Greed remains a powerful indictment against the deadly sin of the title. Based on Frank Norris‘ McTeague, the film revolves around the misdeeds of a California dentist (Gibson Gowland, center), his miserly wife (ZaSu Pitts, left), and her former lover (Jean Hersholt, not in the above picture), all of whom sacrifice their selves to the all-powerful God of Dollar Bills. Stroheim’s initial cut had 47 reels, though eventually Greed was pared down to 10 reels (approximately 2h15m). That is all that is known to survive from the original film. But in spite of the drastic cuts, many of Stroheim’s magnificently perverted excesses are very much [...]
by Andre Soares | April 2, 2009
| Subscribe / Syndicate
Tags: Best Films, Classic Movies, Conrad Veidt, Douglas Fairbanks, Eleanor Boardman, Emil Jannings, Enid Bennett, Erich von Stroheim, George Hackathorne, Gibson Gowland, Greed, He Who Gets Slapped, Laura La Plante, Lon Chaney, Norma Shearer, Richard Barthelmess, Silent Films, The Enchanted Cottage, The Last Laugh, The Sea Hawk, The Thief of Bagdad, The Turmoil, Victor Sjöström, ZaSu Pitts
HOLLYWOOD DREAMS MADE REAL: IRVING THALBERG AND THE RISE OF M-G-M – Q&A with Mark Vieira
Author and photographer Mark A. Vieira (right), who’s been a friend for a number of years, has recently written no less than two books on Irving G. Thalberg, the young MGM mogul whose high-quality productions earned him both a reputation as Hollywood’s "Boy Wonder" and a special place in Oscar history as the name attached to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences‘ Memorial Award given to “creative producers whose bodies of work reflect a consistently high quality of motion picture production.” Thalberg even inspired a F. Scott Fitzgerald novel, the unfinished The Last Tycoon.
Now, Mark’s two books may cover the same ground in terms of subject matter, but they’re radically different in terms of approach to same:
Hollywood [...]
by Andre Soares | February 12, 2009
| Subscribe / Syndicate
Tags: Books, Clark Gable, Classic Movies, Erich von Stroheim, F. Scott Fitzgerald, George Hurrell, Greed, Greta Garbo, Harry N. Abrams, Hollywood Dreams Made Real, Interviews, Irving G. Thalberg Award, Irving Thalberg, Irving Thalberg: Boy Wonder to Producer Prince, Jean Harlow, Joan Crawford, Mark Vieira, Norma Shearer, Producers, Rasputin and the Empress, The Good Earth, The Last Tycoon, The Merry Widow, University of California Press
George Cukor’s Oscar Nominated Actors
George Cukor
21 Acting Nominations
(s) supporting category
(*) Academy Award winner
George Cukor: Top Oscar Directors for Actors
1930-31
Fredric March The Royal Family of Broadway (co-directed with Cyril Gardner)
1936
Norma Shearer Romeo and Juliet
Basil Rathbone (s) Romeo and Juliet
1937
Greta Garbo (above, with Robert Taylor) Camille
1940
James Stewart The Philadelphia Story *
Katharine Hepburn (above, with Stewart and Cary Grant) The Philadelphia Story
Ruth Hussey (s) The Philadelphia Story
1944
Charles Boyer Gaslight
Ingrid Bergman Gaslight *
Angela Lansbury (s) Gaslight
1947
Ronald Colman A Double Life *
1949
Deborah Kerr Edward, My Son
1950
Judy Holliday Born Yesterday *
1954
James Mason A Star Is Born
Judy Garland A Star Is Born
1957
Anthony Quinn Wild Is the Wind
Anna Magnani Wild Is the Wind
1964
Rex Harrison (above, with Audrey Hepburn) My Fair Lady *
Stanley Holloway (s) My Fair Lady
Gladys Cooper (s) [...]
by Andre Soares | January 28, 2007
| Subscribe / Syndicate
Tags: A Star Is Born, Academy Awards, Audrey Hepburn, Camille, Classic Movies, Film Awards, George Cukor, Greta Garbo, Judy Garland, Katharine Hepburn, My Fair Lady, Norma Shearer, The Philadelphia Story
THE WOMEN Remake in the Works
According to Variety, Clare Boothe Luce’s mordant comedy The Women may be headed for the big screen for the third time in 65 years. With New Line as the potential distributor, the new remake would be the feature-film début (as writer-director) of Diane English, best known as the creator and writer of the TV series Murphy Brown.
Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Sandra Bullock, and Ashley Judd are currently in negotiations to appear in the film, while Uma Thurman has been mentioned as a possible addition to the stellar cast. (Bening is supposed to take over the old Norma Shearer role, all sweetness and light — which would mean that Meg Ryan would be playing against type, as a scheming husband [...]
by Andre Soares | October 24, 2004
| Subscribe / Syndicate
Tags: Annette Bening, Clare Boothe Luce, Classic Movies, Diane English, George Cukor, Joan Crawford, June Allyson, Meg Ryan, Norma Shearer, Rosalind Russell, The Women
