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If you live anywhere in the Los Angeles area you might be aware of the UCLA Film Archive series which screens its films at the Billy Wilder Theatre in Westwood Village. This Saturday night, July 19 at 7:30 they’re showing a rare film, Specter of the Rose, which was written and directed by Ben Hecht. […]
We said some of those famous women of the Forties, who we featured in the last few weeks, also had famous husbands. How many of them did you know? Brenda Marshall’s husband was actually a much bigger star than she — Oscar winner William Holden. Laraine Day’s famous hubby was Leo Durocher, the loud mouthed […]
She’s the most famous of all the stars of the 20th century. Her fame endures through advertisements and photos. Generations of people all over the world, many who have never seen one of her films, know her. She is MARILYN or MONROE. Like all truly famous people she is known by one (in her case […]
Can we ever get enough of MM? The fascination with the former Norma Jeane Mortensen continues unabated as Marilyn Monroe’s legend grows with each passing generation. She is one of Hollywood’s late classic period stars who remains genuinely unforgettable. Was she merely the breathy sexpot we witnessed in some 30 films whose personal life was […]
Joe knew director/actor/writer Paul Mazursky who died recently. They’d met when Joe reviewed Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice, the first film Mazursky directed by in 1969. The multitalented Mazursky had begun as an actor, but soon found his forte was writing for the screen. He’d scored a bit hit with I Love You […]
Often a film title is SO good it just has to be used again. We’re not talking remakes here. We’re referring to two totally different films with the same title. Take Lover Come Back for example. The 1961 comedy starring Rock Hudson, Doris Day (pictured above) and Tony Randall was almost, but not quite a […]
Reader “Kitty Collins” — (What an idea! We should all take names from our favorite screen characters.) — requested we make Hedy Lamarr our star of the week. So here’s to you “Kitty.” We have highlighted Lamarr in past entries, but a good star is always worth more copy. And more photos. Who can forget […]
So how much did you know about the famous sex goddess of the 1950s and 60s? We’re talking Kim Novak here so special attention must be paid. She’s a veteran of some 35 movie credits, and she can still stir up a fuss (see internet stories about this year’s Academy Awards telecast) at age 81. […]
Marilyn Pauline Novak, born in Chicago 81 years ago, is rightfully cited as among the most fetching screen actresses Hollywood ever produced. She has been compared to a Greek goddess. She made the Fifties scandal sheets pop with stories about her verboten Fifties romance with a popular black entertainer. Onscreen, she unforgettably mystified a spellbound […]
Yes, it’s the Fourth of July again. And, yes, Yankee Doodle Dandy is a fine, classic film (see below) which highlights patriotism. But aren’t there others? If you want to watch a classic film about the American Revolution may we suggest two. John Ford’s version of Drums Along the Mohawk and Disney’s Johnny Tremain. These are tales of ordinary people facing war […]