Actress Carol Lynley in The Shape of Things to Come. The 1970s were a problematic decade for Hollywood film actresses; still, it’s hard to understand why Carol Lynley’s post-The Poseidon Adventure movies consisted almost invariably…
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Carol Lynley: In her heyday, the Blue Denim, Bunny Lake Is Missing, and The Poseidon Adventure actress was often cast as dreamy girl-next-door types willing and able to tear down the walls of social conventions.…
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Ann Sothern: Actress in Maisie movie series enjoyed two Hollywood career peaks. Ann Sothern, an actress in Hollywood and, somewhat briefly, on Broadway since the late 1920s, became a star in 1939, courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s…
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Ann Sothern. Although never a superstar, Ann Sothern was billed above the title in a series of comedies, musicals, and dramas of the 1940s and early 1950s, mostly at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Today perhaps chiefly associated with…
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Ava Gardner: The Barefoot Contessa, Mogambo, and Earthquake actress. In Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s (partly) Rita Hayworth-inspired The Barefoot Contessa, Ava Gardner discovers that the life of a noblewoman is not what it’s cracked up to…
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Lena Horne. Lena Horne movies: Velvety-voiced singer generally relegated to specialty numbers during heyday of the Hollywood musical Had things been different, it’s anybody’s guess whether or not three-time Grammy winner Lena Horne, Turner Classic…
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Melvyn Douglas. Melvyn Douglas: From suave leading man to Hollywood’s top female stars to first-rate dramatic actor Unlike Tyrone Power, Errol Flynn, or Gary Cooper, Melvyn Douglas couldn’t exactly be considered a handsome, matinee idol…
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Hal Prince. Out of his record-setting 21 Tony Awards, eight were as Best Director of a Musical for the following: Cabaret (at the 1967 ceremony), Company (1971), Follies (1972, with Michael Bennett), Candide (1974), Sweeney…
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Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie. Directed by Marc Forster and adapted by David Magee from Allan Knee’s play The Man Who Was Peter Pan, the Miramax-distributed 2004 period drama Finding Neverland features a sentimental, bittersweet…
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Author Allan R. Ellenberger discusses Miriam Hopkins in the interview further below – and in his Hopkins biography Life and Films of a Hollywood Rebel. From pre-Code antiheroine to matronly supporting player, Hopkins stole scenes…
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Howard Keel in Dallas with Donna Reed: late 20th-century mainstream resurgence of two former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer stars. On Season 8 (1984–1985) of CBS’s hit TV soap Dallas (1978–1991), 1950s MGM contract actor-singer Howard Keel, previously a…
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The Music Man with Robert Preston and Shirley Jones: Independence Day movies. Numerous Hollywood musicals have attempted to capture that elusive, reality-averse quality known as “Americana-ness” – e.g., Yankee Doodle Dandy, Meet Me in St.…
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John Paul Jones with Robert Stack: 4th of July movies. Although every sign indicates that 2019 is the new 1984, those in the U.S. shouldn’t fret: TCM’s 4th of July movies will transport viewers to…
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Howard Keel at the height of his career in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, with Jane Powell. In his autobiography, Only Make Believe: My Life in Show Business, Howard Keel refers to the making of…
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Howard Keel MGM musicals: Texas Carnival publicity shot with Esther Williams. In his MGM musicals of the 1950s, Howard Keel was almost always paired with small, girl-like leading ladies – Betty Hutton, Kathryn Grayson, Ann…
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Howard Keel musicals at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer: Box office roller-coaster ride. Brought to Hollywood in 1948 to star in MGM’s then popular musicals, stage performer Howard Keel seemed poised to reach major stardom after the impressive international…