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For the past several weeks we’ve been featuring stills from the photo collection of Marine Sgt. Norman Plemons, who during the Korean conflict wrote to film stars for photos he could take with him to the war zone. This time Norm’s collection produced this relatively conventional studio portrait of Martha Hyer, an actress of the […]
You may not know this but British director Carol Reed’s 1949 classic The Third Man was meant to end happily. At least that’s what the producers wanted. Reed had another idea, and thus a bit of film history — and perhaps the best movie ending ever — was made. You remember the ending. It’s set in […]
We are probably all too familiar with that annoying personality trait that compels some insecure types to flatter the powerful — those above them in status — while at the same time demeaning the ‘little people’ below. Not to be vulgar about it, but in Hollywood the syndrome is known as sucking up while excreting […]
Well, just how much did you know about “the King”? Before answering, take a second or two to appreciate (above) just what a handsome dog our Monday Quiz man was. So what that he sported false teeth. Ok, let’s check in with the answers to our Clark Gable quiz. (To refresh yourselves on the questions, […]
A few weeks ago we ran our quiz about Myrna Loy. It got us to thinking we ought to spotlight her ofttime screen partner William Powell. And that led us to Joe’s book, Gable, Lombard, Powell and Harlow. We’ll get to Powell in a couple of weeks, but let’s take the top stars of the […]
Here’s another pin-up collected by Marine Sgt. Norman Plemons when he was stationed in Korea in the early 1950s. Gloria DeHaven, who autographed the picture to Norm, was already a major player at MGM. She had starred opposite such titans as Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Van Johnson and June Allyson. Little known is that fact […]
I have just learned that a majority of the people who become abnormal drinkers are superior in intelligence and are almost always introverts. — Dana Andrews, 1951 In this quote from author Carl Rollyson’s biography, Hollywood Enigma: Dana Andrews, the actor is describing himself in a letter to his beloved and somewhat long-suffering wife, Mary. Both intelligent and an introvert, Andrews, […]
Anyone who’s familiar with Alfred Hitchcock knows that one of his favorite stories was about how he got around the censors in 1946 to film what he described as the longest screen kiss. We are talking about Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman and their famous kissing scene in Notorious. Hitch always maintained that it was the longest kiss on screen because […]
What ever happened to that glamorous, untouchable aura created by super celestial Hollywood stars of the classic movie period? No “just folks” acts for them. The feet of big stars rarely, if ever, seemed to touch the ground. They were different from you and me, and not only because they were richer. What brought this […]
In just about every interview, in most conversations, one question emerges unfailingly: what is my favorite picture? — Cagney By Cagney, the actor’s memoir published in 1976. Which of James Cagney’s movies was his favorite because, presumably, he considered it his best? Put another way, which of Cagney’s movies was the best, or at least his favorite? Was it William Wellman’s realistic […]