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How much did you know about the legendary producer? We’re talking here about David O. Selznick, perhaps the most productive and fascinating film producer to come out of the classic movie era. Definitely the pipe-smoking type, he’s pictured above with his second wife, actress Jennifer Jones, easily the love of his life. She left her first […]
We’ve had quizzes about stars, about films, and last week about directors, so we thought why not a quiz about Hollywood producers. And why not start off with filmdom’s most famous producer David O. Selznick? He was, of course, the driving force propelling Gone With The Wind to the screens in 1939. While Hollywood’s most […]
Congrats to TCM for recently showing Barbara Payton in the most promising part of her abbreviated movie career. The film was 1949’s film noir Trapped, which costarred Lloyd Bridges as a ne’er do well jailbird who romances Payton’s character, a somewhat blowsy night club denizen. Any way you slice it, Payton looks great. She was […]
Last week we discussed Asian/American women in films. What of the plight of Asian and Asian/American actors? (That’s Shigeta above as a Japanese diplomat linked to Carroll Baker in the 1961 melodrama, Bridge To The Sun.) But Hayakawa had been in silents. and had a long career. Where are today’s Asian/American actors? While pondering that, consider that […]
Was Dean Martin a Movie Star or a TV Star? Our answer: he was both. Whatever you thought of his merits as an actor (disclosure: Frank is a lot less enthusiastic than Joe), Martin was one cool dude. With or without Sinatra and the Rat Pack, el Dino was as smooth a vocalist as he […]
John Ford. How much did you know? It may come as a bit of a shock to hear that not all critics are as enthralled with John Ford’s work (some 145 credits over a 60-year period, by the way) as we are. But, alas, it’s true. The visual poetry so often attributed to Ford seems to […]
We recently realized that our quizzes are usually about actors, occasionally about classic films, but they we were neglecting the famous directors of Hollywood’s Golden Era. What better way to try and rectify that than with today’s Quiz. John Ford officially triumphed in several screen genres over a nearly 60-year period but not necessarily for his […]
He was one of those leading men from the 1940s who might easily be forgotten. He wasn’t that handsome. He looked like a lot of blokes during World War II. Yes, he starred with some of the top stars of the decade. He danced with Joan Crawford. He spurned Bette Davis. (See below.) He costarred […]
Her career in Hollywood was not a long one — just about 20 film credits largely in the 1950s. She did a ton of tv in sympathetic supporting roles, and even managed a Golden Globe nomination for her work. She was also a smooth pop vocalist in her native Japan (born in the northern island […]
First billed as Herman Brix (his real name), Bruce Bennett carved out a considerable career DESPITE his considerable pre-screen athletic backround. The Tacoma, Washington native, who worked in his father’s lumber camp as a youth, excelled in football and track at the Univ. of Washington, and played tackle for the Huskies in the 1926 Rose Bowl […]