Morris Engel: Little Fugitive filmmaker. Influenced by Italian neorealism, naturalistic documentaries/docudramas, and late silent era releases like Paul Fejos’ Lonesome, Morris Engel’s no-star, no-plot, no-frills Little Fugitive remains one of…
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Dan O’Herlihy: A one-of-a-kind Best Actor Oscar nominee during Hollywood’s studio era (for Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, 1954), Irish-born performer Dan O’Herlihy enjoyed a film and television career spanning half…
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Ruth Warrick: In show business for nearly seven decades, actress Ruth Warrick is best remembered for two disparate roles: Charles Foster Kane’s genteel wife in Orson Welles’ 1941 classic Citizen…
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Virginia Mayo: The honey-blonde – at times red-haired – heroine of Technicolor fare like Wonder Man, The Flame and the Arrow, and Painting the Clouds with Sunshine, Virginia Mayo was…
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Actress Sandra Dee was a hugely popular – and curious – cross between wholesome teen Deanna Durbin and tormented teen James Dean, going to school, catching waves, falling in love,…
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Actress Carol Lynley: Why the dramatic career downturn? 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…
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Carol Lynley movies: 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…
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Actress Ann Sothern enjoyed belated (second) career peak: In the late 1940s, the former Maisie franchise star was seen in a cluster of A productions – admittedly, not always box…
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Ann Sothern: Although never a superstar, throughout her unusual and unusually long Hollywood career – after a long apprenticeship, she enjoyed two career peaks – Ann Sothern was billed above…
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Ava Gardner in The Barefoot Contessa: Glamour and charisma mix that should be better appreciated. As former nightclub dancer Maria Vargas, Gardner discovers that the life of a noblewoman isn’t…
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Jimmy Stewart. ‘Jimmy’ Stewart: Unlikely Hollywood star enjoyed decades-long career in a variety of genres The personification of all-American aw-shucksiness – of the sort you find only in bad movies…
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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…