Samuel Goldwyn Articles

Upon learning of author J.D. Salinger’s death at the age of 91, I immediately thought of Phil Alden Robinson’s Academy Award-nominated 1989 drama Field of Dreams, in which Kevin Costner’s character sets out to find a reclusive writer played by James Earl Jones. In W.P Kinsella’s novel Shoeless Joe, the character is Salinger himself, but not surprisingly, the reclusive real-life Salinger refused to allow the [...]

The 1939 Best Picture nominee Wuthering Heights, directed by William Wyler, and starring Merle Oberon and Laurence Olivier, will be the next feature in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ series “Hollywood’s Greatest Year: The Best Picture Nominees of 1939.” The Wuthering Heights screening will take place on Monday, June 8, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. [...]

Miriam Hopkins: Q&A with Allan Ellenberger Part II Becky Sharp was the first feature film in three-strip Technicolor. Why was Miriam Hopkins selected for the title role? And what was filming like? Hopkins was producer Jock Whitney’s choice for the role from the beginning; I’m not aware of anyone else being mentioned. However, she almost lost it when she couldn’t come to an agreement with [...]

Miriam Hopkins: Allan Ellenberger Interview Part I I understand that Miriam Hopkins turned down a large number of parts. Could you name a few of those? And was there anything she felt sorry she missed out on — any part she rejected but then came to regret her decision, or any part she wanted to play but lost out to someone else? [Photo: One role [...]