A major silent film and Old Hollywood fan, André Soares is the author of Beyond Paradise: The Life of Ramon Novarro (St. Martin's Press; paperback: University Press of Mississippi), about the troubled gay Hollywood star (Ben-Hur, The Student Prince) who was brutally killed in 1968.
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'Magnificent Obsession' Book: Film Fans' 'Outrageous History' from Classic Hollywood Screenwriters to Gay Porn Actors
Magnificent Obsession book by Anthony Slide. Whereas Lloyd C. Douglas' 1929 Magnificent Obsession book dealt with a playboy's urge to restore the eyesight of the woman he had accidentally blinded, Anthony Slide's latest explores the lives and times of movie buffs. Now, are Twilight, The Dark Knight, and The Avengers fans as consumed with passion […]
Movie Buff Passion Explored: Author Anthony Slide Discusses the Lives & Times of Film Fanatics
Valentino with Rudolf Nureyev and Michelle Phillips. Ken Russell's 1977 Rudolph Valentino biopic Valentino is based on the dubious 1966 bio (“Was he a great lover – or a sham?”) penned by Chaw Mank and Brad Steiger. A coal miner's son and self-proclaimed psychic, Mank was one of the most influential […]
Jimmy Edwards – Outed 'Conservative' Gay British Comedian Discussed: Q&A with Biographer Anthony Slide
Jimmy Edwards. Best known for his radio and television work – Take It from Here in the former medium; Whack-O! in the latter – British comedian Jimmy Edwards was seen, mostly in small parts, in about a dozen features from the late 1940s to the late 1960s. His most notable film role […]
Ronald Colman Actor: From Mad Killer to Lovestruck Amnesiac & Should Humankind Be Spared?
Updated: Following a couple of Julie London Westerns*, Turner Classic Movies will return to its July 2017 Star of the Month presentations. This evening, July 27, Ronald Colman can be seen in five titles from his later years: A Double Life, Random Harvest (1942), The Talk of the Town (1942), […]
'Under the Volcano' Screening: Fearless Albert Finney
'Under the Volcano' screening: John Huston's 'quality' comeback starring daring Albert Finney As part of its John Huston film series, the UCLA Film & Television Archive will be presenting the 1984 drama Under the Volcano, starring Albert Finney, Jacqueline Bisset, and Anthony Andrews, on July 21 at 7:30 p.m. at […]
Ronald Colman Movies: 'A Tale of Two Cities' & 'The Prisoner of Zenda'
Ronald Colman: Turner Classic Movies' Star of the Month in two major 1930s classics Updated: Turner Classic Movies' July 2017 Star of the Month is Ronald Colman, one of the finest performers of the studio era. On Thursday night, TCM presented five Colman star vehicles that should be popping up […]
Antihero Ricardo Cortez: Best Showcases + Oscar-Winning Cinematographer Brother
Antihero Ricardo Cortez in Symphony of Six Million, with Irene Dunne. Directed by Gregory La Cava, this 1932 family/romantic melodrama may have been one of Cortez's favorite among his own movies (see further below). Based on a morality tale by Back Street, Imitation of Life, and Humoresque author Fannie Hurst, […]
How to Be a Latin Lover: Ricardo Cortez & Leading Ladies + Marriage to Tragic Drug-Addicted Hollywood Star
How to be a Latin Lover: Ricardo Cortez, formerly known as Jacob Krantz from a working-class family of Austrian/Hungarian immigrants that had settled in New York City, succeeded in restyling himself as the next – even if, according to some, “second rank” – Rudolph Valentino. It's unclear whether or not […]
'Latin Lover' - The 2nd Valentino & 1st (and Best) Sam Spade: Q&A with Ricardo Cortez Biographer Dan Van Neste
“Latin Lover” Ricardo Cortez, who went on to play a series of all-American scoundrels and criminals, in addition to similar unsavory types of other nationalities. Although never as big a star as fellow silent era screen heartthrobs Rudolph Valentino, Ramon Novarro, and John Gilbert – or fellow Pre-Code era antiheroes […]
Ricardo Cortez: Remembering the 'Latin Lover Threat' to Rudolph Valentino & Star of Original 'The Maltese Falcon'
Ricardo Cortez biography The Magnificent Heel: The Life and Films of Ricardo Cortez. Dan Van Neste's book covers the life and career of Paramount's “Latin Lover” threat to a recalcitrant Rudolph Valentino; one who would later portray a sly, seductive Sam Spade in the original – and highly enjoyable – […]
More 4th of July Escapism: Musicalized Iowa Hicks & Declaration of Independence
(See previous post: Fourth of July Movies: Escapism During a Weird Year.) On the evening of the Fourth of July, besides fireworks, fire hazards, and Yankee Doodle Dandy, if you're watching TCM in the U.S. and Canada, there's the following: Peter H. Hunt's 1776 (1972), a largely forgotten film musical […]
Fourth of July Movies: Escapism During a Weird Year
Fourth of July movies: A few recommended titles that should help you temporarily escape current global madness Two thousand and seventeen has been a weirder-than-usual year on the already pretty weird Planet Earth. Unsurprisingly, this Fourth of July, the day the United States celebrates its Declaration of Independence from Britain, […]
LGBT Pride Movie Series: From Rudolph Valentino to the Rise of Nazism & Beach Party Mystery
(See previous post: “Gay Pride Movie Series Comes to a Close: From Heterosexual Angst to Indonesian Coup.”) Ken Russell's Valentino (1977) is notable for starring ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev as silent era icon Rudolph Valentino, whose sexual orientation, despite countless gay rumors, seems to have been, according to the available […]
Gay Pride Movie Series Comes to a Close: From Heterosexual Angst to Indonesian Coup
Turner Classic Movies' 2017 Gay Pride film series comes to a close this evening and tomorrow morning, Thursday–Friday, June 29–30, with the presentation of seven movies, hosted by TV interviewer Dave Karger and author William J. Mann, whose books include Wisecracker: The Life and Times of William Haines and Behind […]
'Making Love': Groundbreaking Gay Romantic Movie Screening
'Making Love': Groundbreaking romantic gay drama returns to the big screen As part of its Anniversary Classics series, Laemmle Theaters will be presenting Arthur Hiller's groundbreaking 1982 romantic drama Making Love, the first U.S. movie distributed by a major studio that focused on a romantic gay relationship. Michael Ontkean, Harry […]
Rome Movies: Audrey Hepburn & Gidget Find Romance in the Italian Capital
Here's a brief look – to be expanded – at Turner Classic Movies' June 2017 European Vacation Movie Series this evening, June 23. Tonight's destination of choice is Italy. Starring Suzanne Pleshette and Troy Donahue as the opposite of Ugly Americans who find romance and heartbreak in the Italian capital, […]
More Gay Hollywood: From Psychiatrist Montgomery Clift to Psycho Anthony Perkins
On the day a U.S. appeals court lifted an injunction that blocked a Mississippi “religious freedom” law – i.e., giving Christian extremists the right to discriminate against gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender people, etc. – not to mention the publication of a Republican-backed health care bill targeting the poor, the sick, […]
LGBT Hollywood: From Self-Destructive Lorenz Hart to Ambitious Montgomery Clift
Turner Classic Movies continues with its Gay Hollywood presentations tonight and tomorrow morning, June 8–9. Seven movies will be shown about, featuring, directed, or produced by the following: Cole Porter, Lorenz Hart, Farley Granger, John Dall, Edmund Goulding, W. Somerset Maughan, Clifton Webb, Montgomery Clift, Raymond Burr, Charles Walters, DeWitt […]
Alexis Smith Movies: From Errol Flynn to Heterosexual Cole Porter
Canadian-born actress Alexis Smith (born 1921) would have turned 96 years old today, June 8. Turner Classic Movies is celebrating her birthday by presenting nine of her movies, mostly during her time as a Warner Bros. contract player. In addition to Michael Curtiz's box office hit Night and Day, a […]
Edgar G. Ulmer Movies: 'The Black Cat' & 'Detour'
Edgar G. Ulmer movies on TCM: 'The Black Cat' & 'Detour' Turner Classic Movies' June 2017 Star of the Month is Audrey Hepburn, but Edgar G. Ulmer is its film personality of the evening on June 6. TCM will be presenting seven Ulmer movies from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s, […]
Gay Hollywood on TCM
Considering everything that's been happening on the planet in the last several months, you'd have thought we're already in November or December – of 2117. But no. It's only June. 2017. And in some parts of the world, that's the month of brides, fathers, graduates, gays, and climate change denial. […]
Submarine Movie Feast: Memorial Day TCM Films
Submarine movie evening: Underwater war waged in TCM's Memorial Day films In the U.S., Turner Classic Movies has gone all red, white, and blue this 2017 Memorial Day weekend, presenting a few dozen Hollywood movies set during some of the numerous wars in which the U.S. has been involved around […]
Blake Edwards Movies: 'The Pink Panther' Director Best Handling Polished Comedies & Heavy Dramas
Blake Edwards: Director of the Pink Panther movies – and Julie Andrews' husband for more than four decades – was at his best handling polished comedies and a couple of dead serious dramas. Blake Edwards movies: Best known for slapstick fare, but at his best handling polished comedies and dramas […]
Frances Dee Movies: Remembering Lovely & Talented Leading Lady of the 1930s/1940s
Frances Dee movies: From 'An American Tragedy' to 'Four Faces West' Frances Dee began her film career at the dawn of the sound era, going from extra to leading lady within a matter of months. Her rapid ascencion came about thanks to Maurice Chevalier, who got her as his romantic […]
Comediennes of the Silent Era & Film Historian Anthony Slide: Remembering Cinema's Pioneering Women
One of cinema's early comediennes, Dorothy Devore: between 1918 and 1930, the Ft. Worth-born actress was seen in nearly 100 movies, both features and shorts. Among them were Salvation Sue, Naughty Mary Brown, and Saving Sister Susie, all with frequent partner Earle Rodney. 'Comediennes of the Silent Era' & film […]
Danielle Darrieux Movies: Film Icon Turns 100 + Longest 'Star Career' Ever?
Danielle Darrieux in 'La Ronde.' Film icon Danielle Darrieux turns 100: Longest 'star career' in movie history? Screen legend Danielle Darrieux is turning 100 today, May 1. In all likelihood, the Bordeaux-born (1917) Darrieux has enjoyed the longest “movie star” career ever: eight decades, from Wilhelm Thiele's comedy-drama Le Bal […]
Yvonne Monlaur: Cult Horror Film Actress & Bond Girl Contender Dies
Yvonne Monlaur: Cult horror movie actress & Bond Girl contender was featured in the 1960 British classics Circus of Horrors & The Brides of Dracula. Actress Yvonne Monlaur dead at 77: Best remembered for cult horror classics 'Circus of Horrors' & 'The Brides of Dracula' Actress Yvonne Monlaur, best known […]
Comedy Actress Rediscovered: 'She Could Be Chaplin!' Q&A with Film Historian Anthony Slide
Comedy actress Alice Howell on the cover of film historian Anthony Slide's latest book: Pioneering funky-haired performer “could have been Chaplin” – or at the very least another Louise Fazenda. Rediscovering comedy actress Alice Howell: Female performer in movie field dominated by men Early comedy actress Alice Howell is an […]
Dana Andrews Movies: Film Noir Actor Excelled as Angst-Ridden Characters
Dana Andrews movies: Complex film noir actor excelled in both major and minor crime dramas. Dana Andrews movies: First-rate film noir actor excelled in both classics & minor fare One of the best-looking and most underrated actors of the studio era, Dana Andrews was a first-rate film noir/crime thriller star. […]
'Rebecca' 1940: Alfred Hitchcock Oscar Winner Returns to Brazilian Screens
Rebecca 1940: Joan Fontaine as the “successor” and Judith Anderson as the creepy lesbian housekeeper, madly in love with her deceased mistress. 'Rebecca' 1940: Alfred Hitchcock Best Picture Oscar winner back on Brazilian screens Based on Daphne Du Maurier's 1938 novel, Alfred Hitchcock's first Hollywood movie, Rebecca (1940), has briefly […]
'The Aviator' Movie Review: Leonardo DiCaprio & Cate Blanchett Miscast in Heavy-Handed Biopic
The Aviator movie with Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes: Bizarre billionaire bloated biopic. 'The Aviator' movie review: Leonardo DiCaprio is excellent – but not as Howard Hughes Imagine Citizen Kane directed by the Steven Spielberg of The Color Purple, Schindler's List, Amistad, and Saving Private Ryan. The final result would […]
Merle Oberon: From Mystery Past & Hollywood Stardom to Shah of Iran Connection
Merle Oberon: 'Exotic' and mysterious star of British and American cinema was a victim of the 'Marion Davies Syndrome.' Merle Oberon movies: 'Exotic' and underrated actress with mysterious past is Star of the Month Merle Oberon is Turner Classic Movies' Star of the Month of March 2016. The good news: […]
'Ben-Hur' 2016 Trailer: Faster & Furiouser CGI Feast
'Ben-Hur' 2016 trailer with Jack Huston: Deadly chariot race in religious epic for the CGI-loving crowd. 'Ben-Hur' 2016 trailer: 'Gladiator' meets 'Fast Seven' meets 'Star Wars' meets… Paramount Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer have released the trailer for their Ben-Hur 2016 remake (or reboot or readaptation) – a.k.a. Fast and Furious A.D., […]
Clint Eastwood + Harry Potter = 'The Decline of Western Civilization'? Packard Series Connection
'Play Misty for Me': Rabid fan Jessica Walter makes life terribly difficult for disc jockey Clint Eastwood. Clint Eastwood + 'Harry Potter' = 'The Decline of Western Civilization'? The Packard Campus connection Besides Harry Potter (more on the bespectacled wizard further below), movies set in the world of music and/or […]
Marília Pêra: Daring 'Pixote' Prostitute, National Society of Film Critics Best Actress Winner
Marília Pêra: Brazilian actress was featured as the foul-mouthed prostitute in the international hit 'Pixote.' Marília Pêra: Brazilian film, TV and stage star Remembering Brazilian stage, television, and film star Marília Pêra, whose acting and singing career spanned more than five decades. Pêra died of lung cancer on Dec. 5, […]
TCM Presents 100% Not Gay John Nash & Passionate James Dean Bromance
TCM presents the life story of (a not gay) John Nash, starring Russell Crowe: In the phony 'A Beautiful Mind,' director Ron Howard and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman wash the gay away. '31 Days of Oscar' on TCM: From fake biopic & passionate bromance to the deadly clash of civilizations Turner […]
Olivia de Havilland vs. Warner Bros.: Landmark Lawsuit
Olivia de Havilland in 'The Heiress.' Olivia de Havilland vs. Warner Bros. (See previous post: “Olivia de Havilland Turns 99: Warner Bros. Legal Fight Changed U.S. Labor Law.”) In 1942, Olivia de Havilland reportedly turned down the colorless leading lady role in Raoul Walsh's Gentleman Jim, which would have paired […]
31 Days of Oscar: 'Ben-Hur' Proves Bigger Not Necessarily Better
'Ben-Hur' 1959 with Stephen Boyd and Charlton Heston: TCM's '31 Days of Oscar.' '31 Days of Oscar': 'Lawrence of Arabia' and 'Ben-Hur' in, Paramount stars out Today, Feb. 1, '16, Turner Classic Movies is kicking off the 21st edition of its “31 Days of Oscar.” While the Academy of Motion […]
Ernst Lubitsch Movies: Lost 'Touch' in Our Age of Sledgehammer Filmmaking
Ernst Lubitsch movies: Subtle, sophisticated 'Touch' all but gone from contemporary filmmaking. Ernst Lubitsch movies: The forgotten, passé 'Touch' Ernst Lubitsch and William Cameron Menzies were Turner Classic Movies' “stars” on Jan. 28, '16. (This is a fully revised and expanded version of a post published that day.) Lubitsch had […]
William Cameron Menzies Movies: Murderous Joan Fontaine & Nazi Communists
William Cameron Menzies. William Cameron Menzies movies on TCM: Murderous Joan Fontaine, deadly Nazi Communists Best known as an art director/production designer, William Cameron Menzies was a jack-of-all-trades. It seems like the only things Menzies didn't do was act and tap dance in front of the camera. He designed and/or […]
'The Godfather' Actor Abe Vigoda Dead 34 Years After Greatly Exaggerated Obit
Abe Vigoda dead or alive? 'The Godfather' and 'Barney Miller' actor became a pop celebrity in the U.S. following greatly exaggerated reports of his death. 'The Godfather' actor Abe Vigoda dead at 94: Early 1980s death notices were greatly exaggerated Actor Abe Vigoda, little-known internationally despite a supporting role in […]
The Evolution of Film Sound Technology: Q&A with 'A Century of Sound' Co-Creator Robert Gitt
Hal Roach looks on as technicians install Vitaphone equipment in his studio screening room, ca. 1928. (Click on the image to enlarge it.) 'A Century of Sound': Q&A with former UCLA Preservation Officer Robert Gitt about the evolution of film sound technology Long before multi-track Dolby stereo and digital sound […]
Alan Rickman Dead: Professor Snape in 'Harry Potter' Movies Won BAFTA & Golden Globe
Alan Rickman: Professor Snape in 'Harry Potter' movies. Alan Rickman dead at 69: Professor Snape in 'Harry Potter' movies, 'Die Hard' actor took home Bafta, Golden Globe Alan Rickman, best known for his role as Professor Snape in the Harry Potter movies, died of cancer on Jan. 14, '16. Rickman […]
David Bowie Movies: 'Ziggy Stardust' Memorable as Nikola Tesla, Fast-Aging Vampire
David Bowie: The former Ziggy Stardust in 'The Hunger.' David Bowie movies: Iconic singer memorable as fast-aging vampire, Nikola Tesla Singer and sometime actor David Bowie, one of the iconic figures of the English-language music scene of the second half of the 20th century, died of cancer yesterday, Jan. 10, […]
British Cinema and Hollywood - 'A Special Relationship': Q&A with Anthony Slide
Alfred Hitchcock, Cary Grant, and Ingrid Bergman: The 'Notorious' British (Hitchcock, Grant) and Swedish (Bergman) talent. British actors and directors in Hollywood; Hollywood actors and directors in Britain: Anthony Slide's 'A Special Relationship.' 'A Special Relationship' Q&A: Britain in Hollywood and Hollywood in Britain First of all, what made you […]
Michel Galabru Dead: 'La Cage aux Folles' Right-Wing Politician & César Winner
Michel Galabru and Louis de Funès in the comedy 'Le gendarme et les gendarmettes': No 'affection' for his movies. 'La Cage aux Folles' actor Michel Galabru dead at 93: Embodiment of 'traditional family values' in international box office hit Michel Galabru, best known internationally for his role as a rabidly […]
'The Grandfather' Movie: Surprisingly Touching Oscar-Nominated Message of Tolerance
The Grandfather: Fernando Fernán Gómez as the irascible 'abuelo' who discovers it's never too late to learn about tolerance and compassion. 'The Grandfather' movie review: Gorgeous, surprisingly effective message of tolerance with strong central performance The Grandfather / El abuelo is a film with a pedigree. It is based on […]
'Finding Neverland' Movie Review: Johnny Depp as James M. Barrie Disney Style
'Finding Neverland' movie: Johnny Depp as James M. Barrie a.k.a. J.M. Barrie, with the Llewelyn Davies family: Kate Winslet, Freddie Highmore, Joe Prospero, Nick Roud and Luke Spill. 'Finding Neverland' movie review: Losing reality Back in 2001, German-born director Marc Forster (Quantum of Solace, World War Z) brought a much […]
'Ben-Hur' Movie: Christian Epic Became Costliest Production & Biggest Worldwide Blockbuster in History
'Ben-Hur' movie: Ramon Novarro starred in the silent version, at the time the most expensive film production and the biggest worldwide blockbuster in history. 'Ben-Hur' movie: Semi-biblical epic starring Ramon Novarro became most expensive and most successful blockbuster in history Christmas 2015 is just around the corner. That helps to […]
Marion Cotillard Naked and Doomed: More Nudity in 'Psycho' Shower Scene Homage
Marion Cotillard 'Psycho' shower scene scream. Marion Cotillard naked and screaming in 'Psycho' shower scene A few years ago – more exactly, in Feb./March 2008 – Vanity Fair published a series of images honoring Alfred Hitchcock movies made in Hollywood. (His British oeuvre was completely ignored.) The images weren't from […]
'Crash' Movie Review: Several Excellent Performances in Contrived Ethnically Conscious Drama
'Crash' movie: Ryan Phillippe as a good white Los Angeles cop with subconscious 'racist side.' 'Crash' movie review: California tossin' and turnin' Screenwriter Paul Haggis' multiple award-winning directorial debut, Crash, is set in a Los Angeles that is part Quentin Tarantino, part Paul Thomas Anderson, part Spike Lee, part Bret […]
'Closer' Film Review: Julia Roberts Shines in Perfect Dysfunctional Date Movie
'Closer' film: Julia Roberts in glib 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' redux. 'Closer' film review: The perfect dysfunctional date movie Mike Nichols' first feature film, an adaptation of Edward Albee's acclaimed play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, is a harrowing dissection of two married couples whose inner demons are let […]
Marjorie Lord: Actress in TV Hit 'Make Room for Daddy' & Mother of Oscar-Nominated Performer
Marjorie Lord actress ca. early 1950s: Mother of Oscar-nominated performer. Actress Marjorie Lord dead at 97: Best remembered for long-running hit TV series 'Make Room for Daddy' Stage, film, and television actress Marjorie Lord, best remembered as Danny Thomas' second wife in the TV sitcom Make Room for Daddy, died […]
Danièle Delorme: Rare Woman Director's Muse & Pioneering Producer
Danièle Delorme: Pioneering woman director Jacqueline Audry's muse would eventually become a pioneering female movie producer. Remembering pioneering woman director's muse and pioneering woman producer Danièle Delorme Danièle Delorme, who died on Oct. 17, '15, at the age of 89 in Paris, is best remembered as the first actress to […]
Pat O'Brien Actor: James Cagney Partner Was Movies' Favorite Catholic Priest
Pat O'Brien: Actor was James Cagney's partner in eight Warner Bros. movies. Pat O'Brien: Actor was Hollywood's prolific 'Resident Irishman' and favorite priest Remember Pat O'Brien? In case you don't, you're not alone despite the fact that O'Brien was featured – in both large and small roles – in about […]
Norma Shearer: 'Queen of MGM' & 'Liberated Woman'
Norma Shearer movies: Hollywood's early 'liberated woman' remembered. A top movie star of the 1920s and 1930s, Norma Shearer was known as the 'Queen of MGM.' Norma Shearer movies: Early 'liberated woman' & Best Actress Academy Award winner was the 'Queen of MGM' For decades a largely forgotten name, in […]
West End Theater Raves & Best Actress Tony Award: Minor Columbia Pictures Actress Went Far
West End stage actress Constance Cummings also appeared on Broadway and in Hollywood and British movies. West End theater star: Constance Cummings in 'Saint Joan,' Shakespeare (See previous post: “Constance Cummings: From Harold Lloyd to Eugene O'Neill.”) In the mid-1930s, Constance Cummings landed the title roles in two of husband […]
Constance Cummings: Vastly Underrated Actress Went from Harold Lloyd to Eugene O'Neill
Constance Cummings: Actress went from minor, long-eyelashed Hollywood leading lady in Harold Lloyd and Frank Capra movies to starring in West End plays by Eugene O'Neill, Noël Coward and William Shakespeare. Constance Cummings: Vastly underrated actress should be better remembered Actress Constance Cummings, whose career spanned more than six decades […]
The Movies' Top Five Scariest Living Dead: Sex, Greed & Supernatural Beings
Hell's Kitchen: Soul stew image likely from the 1922 Benjamin Christensen horror classic 'Häxan / Witchcraft Through the Ages.' Day of the Dead post: Cinema's Top Five Scariest Living Dead We should all be eternally grateful to the pagans, who had the foresight to come up with many (most?) of […]
Scream Queens: Top Ten List Includes Unexpected Choices
Top Ten Scream Queens: Barbara Steele, who both emitted screams and elicited same, is in a category of her own. Top Ten Scream Queens Halloween is over until next year, but the equally bewitching Day of the Dead is just around the corner. So, dead or alive, here's my revised […]
Maureen O'Hara Movies: TCM Tribute to the 'Queen of Technicolor'
Maureen O'Hara: Queen of Technicolor. Maureen O'Hara movies: TCM tribute Veteran actress and Honorary Oscar recipient Maureen O'Hara, who died at age 95 on Oct. 24, '15, in Boise, Idaho, will be remembered by Turner Classic Movies with a 24-hour film tribute on Friday, Nov. 20. At one point known […]
Joan Leslie Dead at 90: Actress Fought Warner Bros. + Danced with Fred Astaire & James Cagney
Joan Leslie. Joan Leslie: Actress who fought Warner Bros. and co-starred opposite Gary Cooper and Fred Astaire dead at 90 Joan Leslie, best (somewhat mis)remembered as sweet girl next door types in Hollywood movies of the '40s, died on Oct. 12, '15, in Los Angeles. Leslie (born on Jan. 26, […]
Coleen Gray: From Stanley Kubrick to 'The Leech Woman,' School Prayer Amendment Fight
Coleen Gray: Actress and film noir good girl went from Stanley Kubrick's 'The Killing' to 'The Leech Woman.' Coleen Gray: Actress in early Stanley Kubrick film noir, destroyer of men in cult horror 'classic' Actress Coleen Gray, best known as the leading lady in Stanley Kubrick's film noir The Killing […]
'Sorrell and Son' 1927 Movie: Adult Themes in Oscar-Nominated Father-Son Drama
'Sorrell and Son' with H.B. Warner and Alice Joyce. 'Sorrell and Son' 1927 movie: Long thought lost, surprisingly effective father-love melodrama stars a superlative H.B. Warner Partially shot on location in England and produced independently by director Herbert Brenon at Joseph M. Schenck's United Artists, the 1927 Sorrell and Son […]
'Million Dollar Baby' Movie: Clint Eastwood Cliché-Ridden Boxing Melodrama
'Million Dollar Baby' movie with Hilary Swank and Clint Eastwood. 'Million Dollar Baby' movie: Clint Eastwood contrived, overlong drama made (barely) watchable by first-rate central performance Fresh off the enthusiastically received – and insincere – Mystic River, Clint Eastwood went on to tackle the ups and downs of the boxing […]
'And Then There Were None' Movie Remake: Oscar Nominee Morten Tyldum to Direct
'And Then There Were None' movie with Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston, June Duprez, Louis Hayward and Roland Young. 'And Then There Were None' movie remake to be directed by Oscar nominee Morten Tyldum One of the best-known Agatha Christie novels, And Then There Were None will be getting another big-screen […]
Charles Brackett Diaries: Gay Rumors Quashed, Troubled Billy Wilder Partnership
'Sunset Blvd.,' with Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond: Final Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder collaboration. The Charles Brackett Diaries: Gay Rumors quashed, troubled Billy Wilder partnership discussed in Q&A with Anthony Slide See previous post: “Charles Brackett Diaries: Politics and Gossip During the Studio Era.” First of all, how did […]
Charles Brackett Diaries: Ugly Politics and Juicy Gossip in Old Hollywood
Charles Brackett ca. 1945: Billy Wilder screenwriting partner (1936–1949), producer (1945–1949) and Hollywood diarist. Q&A with 'Charles Brackett Diaries' editor Anthony Slide: Billy Wilder's screenwriter-producer partner in his own words Six-time Academy Award winner Billy Wilder is a film legend. He is renowned for classics such as The Major and […]
Jackie Collins Movies: Surprisingly Few Film Adaptations of Her Bestselling Sex Novels
Joan Collins in 'The Bitch': Sex tale based on younger sister Jackie Collins' novel. Author Jackie Collins dead at 77: Surprisingly few film and TV adaptations of her bestselling novels Jackie Collins, best known for a series of bestsellers about the dysfunctional sex lives of the rich and famous and […]
Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett Movies: Old Hollywood Top Screenwriting Team
Billy Wilder directed Sunset Blvd., starring Gloria Swanson and William Holden. Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett movies Below is a list of movies on which Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder worked together as screenwriters, including efforts for which they did not receive screen credit. The Wilder-Brackett screenwriting partnership lasted from […]
Child Actor Dickie Moore Dies: 'Our Gang' Member Gave Shirley Temple Her First Screen Kiss
Child actor Dickie Moore: 'Our Gang' member. Former child actor Dickie Moore dead at 89: Film career ranged from 'Our Gang' shorts to features opposite Marlene Dietrich, Gary Cooper and Shirley Temple 1930s child actor Dickie Moore, whose 100+ movie career ranged from Our Gang shorts to playing opposite the […]
Susan Hayward Movies: Best Actress Academy Award Winner Is Star of the Month
Susan Hayward ca. 1940s. Susan Hayward movies: Best Actress Oscar winner is TCM Star of the Month Fiery redhead Susan Hayward is Turner Classic Movies' Star of the Month in Sept. 2015. Like Ida Lupino, Hayward was a would-be Bette Davis that only sporadically landed roles to match her thespian […]
Dean Jones Actor Dies: From Disney Hit 'The Love Bug' to Christian Movies
Dean Jones: Actor in Disney and Christian movies. Dean Jones: Actor who went from 'The Love Bug' and 'That Darn Cat!' to Christian movies dead at 84 Dean Jones, best known for playing befuddled heroes in 1960s Walt Disney movies such as That Darn Cat! and The Love Bug, died […]
'Music of the Heart' Movie: Meryl Streep Showcase in Goreless Wes Craven Effort
'Music of the Heart' cast: Meryl Streep, Gloria Estefan, Aidan Quinn and Angela Bassett. 'Music of the Heart': Unusually bloodless Wes Craven movie works as Meryl Streep showcase Wes Craven, the director of the Scream franchise and of the original A Nightmare on Elm Street, is hardly the kind of […]
Gary Cooper Movies: Playing Lover-Daddy to Joan Leslie & Audrey Hepburn
Gary Cooper movies: Screen icon at his best and his worst in three star vehicles. Gary Cooper movies on TCM: Iconic star at both his best and his worst Gary Cooper is Turner Classic Movies' “Summer Under the Stars” star today, Aug. 30, '15. Unfortunately, TCM isn't presenting any Cooper […]
Ingrid Bergman Movies: From Moody 'Gaslight' to Classy 'Autumn Sonata'
Ingrid Bergman ca. early 1940s. Ingrid Bergman movies on TCM: From the artificial 'Gaslight' to the magisterial 'Autumn Sonata' Two days ago, Turner Classic Movies' “Summer Under the Stars” series highlighted the film career of Greta Garbo. Today, Aug. 28, '15, TCM is focusing on another Swedish actress, three-time Academy […]
Greta Garbo Movies: Unique Silent Era Superstar
Greta Garbo movies: The Kiss was her final silent film. Greta Garbo movies: Rare silent era star on TCM Greta Garbo, a rarity among silent era movie stars, is Turner Classic Movies' “Summer Under the Stars” performer today, Aug. 26. Now, why would Garbo be considered a silent era rarity? […]
Virginia Bruce Movies: Largely Forgotten Actress Did NOT Go from 'Ziegfeld' to Morrissey
Virginia Bruce: MGM actress ca. 1935. Virginia Bruce movies on TCM: Actress was the cherry on 'The Great Ziegfeld' wedding cake Unfortunately, Turner Classic Movies has chosen not to feature any non-Hollywood stars – or any out-and-out silent film stars – in its 2015 “Summer Under the Stars” series.* On […]
'Affliction' Movie: Nick Nolte-James Coburn Acting Duel in Dysfunctional Family Drama
'Affliction' movie: Nick Nolte as psychotic police officer Wade Whitehouse. 'Affliction' movie: Great-looking psychological drama fails to coalesce Set in a snowy New Hampshire town, Affliction could have been an excellent depiction of a dysfunctional family's cycle of violence and how that is accentuated by rapid, destabilizing socioeconomic changes. Unfortunately, […]
Debbie Reynolds Movies: 'The Singing Nun' Treacle vs. Real Life Tragedy
Debbie Reynolds: MGM singing and dancing star ca. early 1950s. Debbie Reynolds movies: Oscar nominee for 'The Unsinkable Molly Brown,' sweetness and light in phony 'The Singing Nun' Debbie Reynolds is Turner Classic Movies' “Summer Under the Stars” star today, Aug. 23, '15. An MGM contract player from 1950 to […]
'The Sea Inside' Movie Review: Javier Bardem & the Right to Euthanasia
'The Sea Inside': Javier Bardem and director Alejandro Amenábar. 'The Sea Inside': Outstanding supporting cast help to lift flawed Right to Die drama Alejandro Amenábar's The Sea Inside often verges on melodrama, featuring as its centerpiece a showy performance by Javier Bardem as a tetraplegic man eager to end his […]
Dismaland: Banksy Disneyland-Inspired 'Bemusement Theme Park'
Dismaland Castle and Big Little Mermaid suffering from split-personality disorder. Dismaland: Banksy and more than 50 other artists create bemusement theme park Who gives a damn about the cheap thrills to be offered by the Star Wars-themed expansion of Disneyland when you can relish the thought-provoking wonders of Dismaland? The […]
Batgirl Yvonne Craig Dies: 'Star Trek' Villainess, Elvis Presley Movies
Batgirl Yvonne Craig: Barbara Gordon in cult TV series. Batgirl Yvonne Craig dead at 78: Also featured in 'Star Trek' episode, Elvis Presley movies Yvonne Craig, best known as Batgirl in the 1960s television series Batman, died of complications from breast cancer on Monday, Aug. 17, '15, at her home […]
Vivien Leigh Movies: Scarlett O'Hara of Anglo-Indian-Armenian Descent?
Vivien Leigh ca. late 1940s. Vivien Leigh movies: now controversial 'Gone with the Wind,' little-seen '21 Days Together' on TCM Vivien Leigh is Turner Classic Movies' star today, Aug. 18, '15, as TCM's “Summer Under the Stars” series continues. Mostly a stage actress, Leigh was seen in only 19 films […]
Patricia Neal Movies: 'The Day the Earth Stood Still,' 'A Face in the Crowd' More Pertinent Than Ever
Patricia Neal ca. 1950. Patricia Neal movies: 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' & 'A Face in the Crowd' Back in 1949, few would have predicted that Gary Cooper's leading lady in King Vidor's The Fountainhead would go on to win a Best Actress Academy Award 15 years later. Patricia […]
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Movies: From Boytoy to Drug Smuggler
Douglas Fairbanks Jr.: Rare movie star child to achieve Hollywood success. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. was never as popular as his father, silent film superstar Douglas Fairbanks, who starred in one action-adventure blockbuster after another in the 1920s (The Mark of Zorro, Robin Hood, The Thief of Bagdad) and whose stardom […]
Groucho Marx Movies: From Hit 'A Night at the Opera' to Bomb 'The Story of Mankind'
Groucho Marx in 'Duck Soup.' Groucho Marx movies: 'Duck Soup,' 'The Story of Mankind' and romancing Margaret Dumont on TCM Groucho Marx – the bespectacled, cigar-chomping, (painted) mustached, (painted) thick-eyebrowed Marx brother – is Turner Classic Movies' “Summer Under the Stars” star today, Aug. 14, '15. Marx Brothers fans will […]
Ann-Margret Movies: From Elvis Presley to 'Tommy,' 'Carnal Knowledge'
Ann-Margret movies: From sex kitten and Elvis Presley leading lady to two-time Oscar nominee. Ann-Margret movies: From Elvis Presley to 'Tommy,' 'Carnal Knowledge' Oscar nominations Ann-Margret, the '60s star who went from sex kitten and Elvis Presley leading lady to respected actress and two-time Academy Award nominee, is Turner Classic […]
Robert Mitchum Movies: 'The Yakuza' Surprising Casting, 'Ryan's Daughter' Cast Against Type
Robert Mitchum ca. late 1940s. Robert Mitchum movies 'The Yakuza,' 'Ryan's Daughter' on TCM Today, Aug. 12, '15, Turner Classic Movies' “Summer Under the Stars” series is highlighting the career of Robert Mitchum. Two of the films being shown this evening are The Yakuza and Ryan's Daughter. The former is […]
Uggie: 'The Artist' Scene-Stealing Dog Star Remembered
Uggie: 'The Artist' dog star. Uggie, 'The Artist' scene-stealing dog star, has died The biggest non-human movie star of the 21st century, Uggie, whose scene-stealing cuteness helped to earn Michel Hazanavicius' The Artist the 2011 Best Picture Academy Award, has died. According to his official Facebook page, he had been […]
Rex Ingram (Actor): Early Black Performer in Hollywood Films
Rex Ingram in 'The Thief of Bagdad' 1940 with tiny Sabu. Actor Rex Ingram movies on TCM: Early black film performer in 'Cabin in the Sky,' 'Anna Lucasta' It's somewhat unusual for two well-known film celebrities, whether past or present, to share the same name.[1] One such rarity is – […]
Joan Crawford Movies: 'The Women' 1939, Banned Christian-Themed Drama
Joan Crawford: Ambitious, driven Movie Star. Joan Crawford movies on TCM: Underrated actress, top star in several of her greatest roles If there was ever a professional who was utterly, completely, wholeheartedly dedicated to her craft, Joan Crawford was it. Ambitious, driven, talented, smart, obsessive, calculating, she had whatever it […]
Robert Walker: Actor Ran Gamut from Hetero Boy-Next-Door to Murderous Gay Psychopath
Robert Walker: Actor in MGM films of the '40s. Robert Walker: Actor who conveyed boy-next-door charms, psychoses At least on screen, I've always found the underrated actor Robert Walker to be everything his fellow – and more famous – MGM contract player James Stewart only pretended to be: shy, amiable, […]
Raymond Massey Movies: From Abraham Lincoln to Boris Karloff and H.G. Wells
Raymond Massey ca. 1940. Raymond Massey movies: From Lincoln to Boris Karloff Though hardly remembered today, the Toronto-born Raymond Massey was a top supporting player – and sometime lead – in both British and American movies from the early '30s all the way to the early '60s. During that period, […]
Katharine Hepburn Movies: Women in Drag, in Love & in Danger
Katharine Hepburn movies. Katharine Hepburn movies: Woman in drag, in love, in danger In case you're suffering from insomnia, you might want to spend your night and early morning watching Turner Classic Movies' “Summer Under the Stars” series. Four-time Best Actress Academy Award winner Katharine Hepburn is TCM's star today, […]
Hiroshima Bombing Anniversary: Six Must-See Movies Dealing with the A-Bomb Horror
'The Beginning or the End' 1947 with Robert Walker and Tom Drake. Hiroshima bombing 70th anniversary: Six movies dealing with the A-bomb terror Seventy years ago, on Aug. 6, 1945, the U.S. dropped the first atomic bomb over the city of Hiroshima. Ultimately, anywhere between 70,000 and 140,000 people died […]
Michael Caine Movies: Heroes and Villains from Gay Wife Murderer to 'Best British Film' Star
Michael Caine young. Michael Caine movies: From Irwin Allen bombs to Woody Allen classic It's hard to believe that Michael Caine has been around making movies for nearly six decades. No wonder he's had time to appear – in roles big and small and tiny – in more than 120 […]
Fred Astaire Movies: Dancing in the Dark, on the Ceiling and with Ginger Rogers
Fred Astaire ca. 1935. Fred Astaire movies: Dancing in the dark, on the ceiling on TCM Aug. 5, '15, is Fred Astaire Day on Turner Classic Movies, as TCM continues with its “Summer Under the Stars” series. Just don't expect any rare Astaire movies, as the actor-singer-dancer's star vehicles – […]
Teresa Wright Movies: Deceptively Demure in 'The Little Foxes,' 'Shadow of a Doubt'
Teresa Wright ca. 1945. Teresa Wright movies on TCM: 'The Little Foxes,' 'The Pride of the Yankees' Pretty, talented Teresa Wright made a relatively small number of movies: 28 in all, over the course of more than half a century. Most of her films have already been shown on Turner […]
Adolphe Menjou Movies: Old Hollywood's Low-Grade Urbane Charmer
Adolphe Menjou: 'Debonair' style on screen, boorish right-wing politics off screen. Adolphe Menjou movies today: Actor was known for 'suave' characterizations on-screen and boorish right-wing politics off-screen Despite countless stories to the contrary, numerous silent film performers managed to survive the coming of sound. Yet Adolphe Menjou, the embodiment of […]