Author: Joe Morella and Frank Segers

Recognize this guy? He could have been a romantic leading man. Instead,the former William Claude Dukinfield became this…. Who is he? Did you like this? Share it:Tweet

Every once in a while we like to dip into Goodness Had Nothing To Do With It, the book Mae West wrote about herself in 1959, and then updated 11 years later.  Herewith a small sampling of her words of wisdom: — After I’m No Angel, her 1933 romantic comedy opposite Cary Grant, Mae West […]

She had a brief, but significant career. And she married into the First Family. She is remembered today primarily because she was among the first Hollywood big screen actresses to make a big splash on early small-screen tv, becoming through a multitude of appearances one of the medium’s most popular and most glamorous hosts. Among […]

Well, they’re still around — in family name and in person. First, how much did you know about the three Barrymores, Lionel, Ethel and John, definitely not still around? Still with us, of course, is actress-producer Drew Barrymore (pictured above left). That’s grandpa John in the middle and Drew’s father, John Drew Barrymore  (the son of […]

We rarely if ever dedicate our weekly quizzes to more than one personality. Today is the exception. After all, we are talking of the first family of stage and later film. Just how much do you know about them. Lionel, Ethel and John? Lionel was the oldest, perhaps the most professional throughout his career. Ethel […]

A forgotten Preston Sturges gem. It was when it came out in 1948, and remains so now, unfortunately. The picture was made during an interesting period in the director’s lengthy career. After emerging from what he considered an unappreciated run at Paramount Pictures, he formed an independent production company with none other than Howard Hughes. […]

No list of Hollywood’s best films of the Forties doesn’t include 1941’s Sullivan’s Travels and The Miracle at Morgan’s Creek. The former, costarring Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake (pictured above), is widely considered (again, with justification) as Sturges most personal film. After all, it concerns  successful comedy director John L. Sullivan (McCrea), who pines to make a […]

If he had only made these two comedies it would have been enough to assure his place in Hollywood history. Let’s fete them both as part of our week-long celebration dedicated to the work of Preston Sturges. The first, 1941 ‘s The Lady Eve, has been justly described as perhaps the most accomplished and enjoyable of […]

Preston Sturges emerged as one of Hollywood’s premier directors of the 1940’s via a circuitous path. The product of a reasonably affluent Chicago family with artistic aspirations — his Paris-loving mother was an ardent admirer and close friend of dancer Isadora Duncan — he was explicitly encouraged to pursue a career in the arts, notably […]

If you hear it’s a Preston Sturges film you know what to expect: Sharp comedy set at lightning pace, plenty of interesting dialogue, classic two-shots emphasizing all the good talk, ample visual slapstick, sharp comedy often delivered by major Hollywood stars and the director’s favored gang of superb character actors. In short a Sturges film […]