tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8331614262293600422024-03-13T05:50:26.642-04:00Classic Movies DigestLike classic movies? You're in the right place.Ruperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15526556689348727001noreply@blogger.comBlogger195125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833161426229360042.post-61062866073671280122021-06-16T20:56:00.000-04:002021-06-16T20:56:57.350-04:00Classic Movie Fans Asked for It... Here it is!<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg4SRAUxomh02Dyg8jFK7DkrX11-AmW45BChFK7eD5Cka5Q5_gdJRk4WoZ45dpv_yoZS7yN_abde8fQyHpJC8yg2pm3rJSdnPqYlQekvXpPuIzUje0JLAlqWNGftoaiX8i5wHBUQR7Tw5r/s2048/Hollywood+Gems+of+the+Golden+Age+FRONT+COVER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1340" height="453" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg4SRAUxomh02Dyg8jFK7DkrX11-AmW45BChFK7eD5Cka5Q5_gdJRk4WoZ45dpv_yoZS7yN_abde8fQyHpJC8yg2pm3rJSdnPqYlQekvXpPuIzUje0JLAlqWNGftoaiX8i5wHBUQR7Tw5r/w296-h453/Hollywood+Gems+of+the+Golden+Age+FRONT+COVER.jpg" width="296" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Many people asked for a paperback version of my books on classic movies, so here it is!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I've just released my first three eBooks (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Classic-Movies-Films-Have-Should-ebook/dp/B00DZ09Q1Q/ref=pd_ybh_a_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=HQWR71N8QPT1EM3WSK1A">CLASSIC MOVIES: 14 Films You May Not Have Seen, But Should</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Classic-Movie-Gems-Films-Should-ebook/dp/B00H12QUR2">Classic Movie Gems</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Hollywood-Gold-Classic-Should-ebook/dp/B00KJWTEOC/ref=pd_sim_5/138-4182267-1697304?pd_rd_w=p1kI6&pf_rd_p=6caf1c3a-a843-4189-8efc-81b67e85dc96&pf_rd_r=RSMG125Z0VY671KBXTSG&pd_rd_r=7b3c810d-a6c8-4235-8f15-6e8c0878bbb3&pd_rd_wg=62oXy&pd_rd_i=B00KJWTEOC&psc=1">Hidden Hollywood Gold</a>) as ONE volume in PAPERBACK!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It's called <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hollywood-Gems-Golden-Age-Should/dp/B096TQ6957/ref=pd_ybh_a_4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=PZJ2PT6X0KS2AG8TTZYK">Hollywood Gems of the Golden Age: 50 Films You May Not Have Seen, But Should</a>.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Check out the Amazon link below and see what underappreciated Hollywood treasures I write about, giving you my take and taking you behind the scenes.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hollywood-Gems-Golden-Age-Should/dp/B096TQ6957/ref=pd_ybh_a_4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=PZJ2PT6X0KS2AG8TTZYK">Hollywood Gems of the Golden Age</a></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">If you get the chance to read it, I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it!</span></div><p></p>Ruperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15526556689348727001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833161426229360042.post-48937902966200181812020-08-24T21:46:00.000-04:002020-08-24T21:46:04.734-04:00Gone with the Wind: Who Will Play Scarlett O'Hara?<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-8N01s7XNji75qbNfpomF7J7LrGLOOurcZ90E1VeGx3zSz3Ec1PCFI-3hNeep_Vqww3wWKVj87SM6kJ3c5DPz-1V_QwQt3CqgC_DMT7qbdogYnEF0gd34lr0fu0CjyUzHQlHBhVIShXNq/s2048/Search+for+Scarlett+Ebook+Cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1280" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-8N01s7XNji75qbNfpomF7J7LrGLOOurcZ90E1VeGx3zSz3Ec1PCFI-3hNeep_Vqww3wWKVj87SM6kJ3c5DPz-1V_QwQt3CqgC_DMT7qbdogYnEF0gd34lr0fu0CjyUzHQlHBhVIShXNq/s640/Search+for+Scarlett+Ebook+Cover.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">In 1936, producer David O. Selznick bought the film rights to a new novel that was sweeping the nation. Margaret Mitchell's epic saga of the South, <i>Gone with the Wind</i>. Among the numerous massive preparations for the movie, top of the list was to find just the right actress to play the lead role... fiery Southern belle, Scarlett O'Hara. <br /><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxwBOGm1Vowj6Sooa8I3UGIm2W_axKknL7BXK8NMtDZmNsmkWcq3BwlGa-2O0m8CihKgrc8cMOujWy7kXDL6B_tV5QtXqLfeNK_xSnY6hBFkh6T8f74MNFV6D3xJGREhAtjRGXiSLf0BhX/s750/Paulette+Goddard+Scarlett+2.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="584" data-original-width="750" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxwBOGm1Vowj6Sooa8I3UGIm2W_axKknL7BXK8NMtDZmNsmkWcq3BwlGa-2O0m8CihKgrc8cMOujWy7kXDL6B_tV5QtXqLfeNK_xSnY6hBFkh6T8f74MNFV6D3xJGREhAtjRGXiSLf0BhX/w512-h398/Paulette+Goddard+Scarlett+2.jpeg" width="512" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: justify;">Actresses both famous and infamous wanted the role of a lifetime. Some were deemed too old (Tallulah Bankhead), some too inexperienced (Lana Turner and Susan Hayward), some came close to landing the part (Paulette Goddard and Joan Bennett). When the dust settled, it was a beautiful English rose, Vivien Leigh, who came out on top.</span><br style="text-align: justify;" /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmC9C2z3J2MWABsszx5wBNX8QvcEc7gLIsi_oj7jWAh5UsaKMFg0RhCZCtxfjU3ykM8oKiLccL4znTugpbijDIAe5WQhKfMbmXYaIVfYtEKP2_SR1zzx6nRr6xgthzakpqtiz1REhsdxox/s900/bennettjoan02.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="677" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmC9C2z3J2MWABsszx5wBNX8QvcEc7gLIsi_oj7jWAh5UsaKMFg0RhCZCtxfjU3ykM8oKiLccL4znTugpbijDIAe5WQhKfMbmXYaIVfYtEKP2_SR1zzx6nRr6xgthzakpqtiz1REhsdxox/w385-h512/bennettjoan02.jpg" width="385" /></a></div><span style="text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: justify;">But the getting there was extremely interesting and more than intriguing. A true slice of Hollywood history, the Search for Scarlett O'Hara would never see the likes of casting possibilities again. My book by that name is now available in paperback, revised and expanded (the eBook version has also been revised and expanded in a 2nd edition). <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Search-Scarlett-OHara-Hollywoods-Casting/dp/B08GDKG9XW/ref=pd_ybh_a_4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=7VYZBA2G518SG8H5XMDR">The Search for Scarlett O'Hara: Gone with the Wind and Hollywood's Most Famous Casting Call</a></i> is perfect classic movie reading about what is arguably the most famous classic movie of them all. Check it by clicking on the photo below.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><br /></div><p></p>
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</iframe>Ruperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15526556689348727001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833161426229360042.post-348285545097097272020-01-28T10:03:00.001-05:002020-01-28T10:03:38.010-05:00Welcome to Sherwood! More Than Just Men in Tights<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIibmd7FGOTEXZ2duimNYZYgG2R14PdG8QS5uiP8qUB9lDX2MVfjVnw-nfNWJm3K9Sjqtq3FHEgAgw8ufBaw5mZ7qRz3JFmAM6prdf6nTy0-xapu4RKTM4zQwpc0KPheuMQV8zIa0iatQO/s1600/ERROL%252C+OLIVIA+ETC+eBook+COVER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1000" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIibmd7FGOTEXZ2duimNYZYgG2R14PdG8QS5uiP8qUB9lDX2MVfjVnw-nfNWJm3K9Sjqtq3FHEgAgw8ufBaw5mZ7qRz3JFmAM6prdf6nTy0-xapu4RKTM4zQwpc0KPheuMQV8zIa0iatQO/s640/ERROL%252C+OLIVIA+ETC+eBook+COVER.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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When Warner Brothers started to make plans for a version of the legendary story of <i>Robin Hood</i> they planned to feature their main headliner, James Cagney as the man in green. Yep, it's true. They even marketed the upcoming movie with Cagney's name in a leading trade paper at the time.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqJD_TfpsPWi7TcgKJQ7F31hpNRQKb-4991K2X3IjoEdDMtIh6wxcjCg1Xzoa70en2IhDtpCxzkprYsFapsUCDFHKVVByKGc7iOJPfU-LXm606yR8THlE30dgfNZjRyswoYvLsfBdu2KBA/s1600/HOOD+Cagney+Flynn+Banners.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1055" data-original-width="770" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqJD_TfpsPWi7TcgKJQ7F31hpNRQKb-4991K2X3IjoEdDMtIh6wxcjCg1Xzoa70en2IhDtpCxzkprYsFapsUCDFHKVVByKGc7iOJPfU-LXm606yR8THlE30dgfNZjRyswoYvLsfBdu2KBA/s400/HOOD+Cagney+Flynn+Banners.jpg" width="291" /></a></div>
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However, it didn't work out and Flynn was in! And boy, aren't we, the classic movie viewer glad. He was... IS Robin Hood. Olivia de Havilland IS Lady Marian Fitzwalter, though she too wasn't the only actress considered for the part.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyfeq1HVkzapYyrVgfhJjfDoeOeca4Ccr77ImcRekuxd8DVMoBFuXQKdYML24Wzz220yNGIUr_rt8bBaLYo88ESfwRZp6vZOwfMYVoLK_Gb7IFNIIH1Hu3a_y7Q3H3mJhZx-YYYeKWLJN_/s1600/Olivia-De-Havilland-Filming-Robin-Hood-bw-PBDOLDE_EC015_H1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="629" data-original-width="800" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyfeq1HVkzapYyrVgfhJjfDoeOeca4Ccr77ImcRekuxd8DVMoBFuXQKdYML24Wzz220yNGIUr_rt8bBaLYo88ESfwRZp6vZOwfMYVoLK_Gb7IFNIIH1Hu3a_y7Q3H3mJhZx-YYYeKWLJN_/s400/Olivia-De-Havilland-Filming-Robin-Hood-bw-PBDOLDE_EC015_H1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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All the backstory of this tantalizing tale is in the new book, <i><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08471D99P/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2">Errol, Olivia & The Merry Men of Sherwood: The Making of The Adventures of Robin Hood</a></b></i>, on sale now at Amazon! A fantastic price for some fantastic information about one of Hollywood's most-loved films.<br />
Check it out at the link below!<br />
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</iframe>Ruperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15526556689348727001noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833161426229360042.post-15452978316406251752019-09-20T23:29:00.000-04:002019-09-20T23:29:34.253-04:00Jane Eyre (1944) Textbook Gothic Romance<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries there have been many, many, many versions of Charlotte Bronte's classic novel, <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Jane-Eyre-DVD/dp/B004INCB0C/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Jane+Eyre+1944+DVD&qid=1569029987&s=gateway&sr=8-1">Jane Eyre</a></i>, both on the big and small screens and produced on both sides of the Atlantic. Arguably the best-known (and in this blogger's opinion the best) is the 1944 installment from 20th Century-Fox, which starred Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine. One of the first things to note when watching Hollywood's retelling of the beloved book is that while acting out the story, the film also attempts to rewrite it... literally! "Text" from the book, shown on screen and emphasized with highlights, have nothing in common with the actual words of Bronte's novel. Still, artistic license abounds in Tinsel Town, as it </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">always has.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The basic premise is, of course, the same in Fox's version as it is in Charlotte's. Published in 1847, <i>Jane Eyre</i> tells the story of the title character, a ten-year-old orphan in Yorkshire, England, who lives with and is mistreated by her aunt, Mrs. Reed. To escape the oppression of her relatives home, Jane goes to Lowood Institution, a dark and dank asylum for orphaned girls. She finds harsh treatment at Lowood and spends a decade there before coming of age and leaving to take a position as governess at Thronfield Hall. She meets the brooding master of Thornfield, Edward Rochester, and discovers romance, intrigue and heinous mystery within the estate's walls.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Unbeknownst to many who enjoy this film, the initial idea for this version was taken on by none other than David O. Selznick. The movie impresario who produced <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Gone-Four-Disc-Collectors-Clark-Gable/dp/B0002V7TZ6/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=Gone+with+the+Wind+DVD+collectors&qid=1569032967&s=gateway&sr=8-2">Gone with the Wind</a></i> and <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Rebecca-Criterion-Collection-Joan-Fontaine/dp/B0721V9GLP/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Rebecca+DVD&qid=1569035692&s=gateway&sr=8-1">Rebecca</a></i>, set about organizing the production, only to sell the package (along with two other projects, <i>Claudia</i> and <i>The Keys to the Kingdom</i>) to Fox. Part of the package deal was Selznick contract actress, Joan Fontaine.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ironically, when discussing the film in her autobiography, No Bed of Roses, Fontaine's focus is on the pomposity and arrogance of her co-star, Orson Welles. Her entire reminiscence of the picture revolves around Welles and his bad behavior during production. Wrote the actress: "Orson Welles was a huge man in 1943. Everything about him was oversized, including his ego. Unlike Charles Boyer or Fred Astaire, Orson's concern was entirely for Orson: Jane Eyre was simply a medium to show off his talents." That point aside, Welles used the $100,000 he made from the movie to support his other personal film projects, specifically <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Its-True-Francisca-Moreira-Silva/dp/B00062IDGU/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=It%27s+All+True+DVD&qid=1569036001&s=gateway&sr=8-1">It's All True</a></i>, a documentary-style film which remains unfinished to this day. (Completed footage from the film, as well as documentary about its production was compiled for <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Its-True-Francisca-Moreira-Silva/dp/B00062IDGU/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=It%27s+All+True+DVD&qid=1569036001&s=gateway&sr=8-1">a DVD in 2004</a>).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Another interesting bit of potential casting was Selznick's idea to hire Suzanne Farrington, daughter of Vivien Leigh and her first husband, Leigh Holman, as young Jane. The idea was nixed by Holman, however, who didn't want his daughter to follow in her mother's professional footsteps. Peggy Ann Garner played the part (with young Elizabeth Taylor taking on the role of her fragile friend, Helen, in an unbilled part). The picture is filled with other, well-seasoned supporting players, including, Agnes Moorehead as Aunt Reed, Sara Allgood as the kind-hearted Bessie, and Margaret O'Brien as Rochester's precocious ward, Adele (did O'Brien ever play anything but precocious?).<br /><br />Good movie.</span></div>
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</iframe>Ruperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15526556689348727001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833161426229360042.post-9914796035686031672019-09-01T11:39:00.000-04:002019-09-01T12:10:11.770-04:00Key Largo (1948): The Hurricane Cometh<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB0HmkQxdz3R9YaKJce4Yiapj7KInfe63zhYt8IsJNyEB4UhNDa7roXZaOQkuIaiYkwRFeQ7WQpWSDP7168IHhBmtAVRYHEA4FMKKL8YDPnte97oBpfmJV86rv27EFRghqh9grrJ5noDTJ/s1600/3b8719c84b3305269fa79834e73420da.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="663" data-original-width="960" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB0HmkQxdz3R9YaKJce4Yiapj7KInfe63zhYt8IsJNyEB4UhNDa7roXZaOQkuIaiYkwRFeQ7WQpWSDP7168IHhBmtAVRYHEA4FMKKL8YDPnte97oBpfmJV86rv27EFRghqh9grrJ5noDTJ/s400/3b8719c84b3305269fa79834e73420da.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At the height of hurricane season, my cinematic thoughts drifted to movies from the golden age in which a hurricane played a major role. <i>Key Largo</i> was the immediate film that came to mind. Bogart was a major star by the time the picture hit the screens, and Bacall was no shrinking violet in the realm of celebrity herself. It was the last of their screen pairings, all of which formed their iconic '40s on-screen bond.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Also in the mix is the legendary Edward G. Robinson, playing a character he had perfected almost 20 years earlier: a gangster (ie: a hood, thug, underworld male-diva). Oh, and there's a Barrymore on hand, Lionel. It's always good to have a Barrymore on hand if you can get one. Rounding out the star power of this film noir classic is Claire Trevor, giving a no-holds-barred performance as Robinson's boozy, anxiety-ridden moll.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Director John Huston, who excelled at this type of taut, dark, dangerous Warner Brothers picture, knew how to get what he wanted from Trevor's performance. In one of the film's memorable scenes, Claire is forced to sing by sadistic Robinson. Huston informed Trevor that they were to film her song that very day. Not a trained singer, and not having rehearsed the song yet, she felt very ill-at-ease and intimidated by the A-list actors seated directly in front of her. The result was a hesitant, nervous, uncomfortable rendition, exactly what Huston was hoping for. It also resulted in Trevor garnering a Best Supporting Actress Oscar.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If you're in the path of a hurricane, stay safe. If you are just having rainy day blues, catch this impressive, totally watchable classic.</span></div>
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</iframe>Ruperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15526556689348727001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833161426229360042.post-68015647838057664962018-09-26T19:13:00.000-04:002018-09-26T19:13:32.233-04:00Yet ANOTHER Classic Movie Paperback!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV2xzkMs7aleOPMFM69mR-4cG6LlWmUoRvsA7IC6QKQNjnF-M8Pw8TX_GjvTutZYYEKlEUDFwDtu7yix313Y12FPO3l6CWR45Dx083HnCvHmKH37s7T_oAbKnp2iwHg9EYr3PafIoDv_dr/s1600/NAME+BELOW+THE+TITLE+PAPERBACK+Front+COVER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1091" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV2xzkMs7aleOPMFM69mR-4cG6LlWmUoRvsA7IC6QKQNjnF-M8Pw8TX_GjvTutZYYEKlEUDFwDtu7yix313Y12FPO3l6CWR45Dx083HnCvHmKH37s7T_oAbKnp2iwHg9EYr3PafIoDv_dr/s400/NAME+BELOW+THE+TITLE+PAPERBACK+Front+COVER.jpg" width="272" /></a></div>
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Variety is the spice of life (so they say), and with a great response for the paperback edition of <a href="https://amzn.to/2OIzB8u">GIRL NEXT DOOR, my biography of Jeanne Crain</a>, I've now released <a href="https://amzn.to/2NcKu5x">THE NAME BELOW THE TITLE</a> in a paperback format as well. This edition includes all THREE volumes of the eBooks in ONE!<br />
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Check it out by clicking <a href="https://amzn.to/2NcKu5x">HERE</a>!<br />
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</iframe>Ruperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15526556689348727001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833161426229360042.post-72283683680898149742018-08-05T13:54:00.000-04:002018-08-07T10:35:07.764-04:00NOW in Paperback!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcR1MRBf9aAOLa5bIolet5C8ZsCAMjGbi1jD3T4qTtvCV10fNUl_e97rqd_ZHPXJCgJWt-MoGhOCR68Yy-jOThbE3aH-cdF8jZ4zw7tjn1XUzaI7LQz9SFrGI0iWGXIiFKdJSIDLNRAGb9/s1600/Girl_Next_Door__The_Cover_for_Kindle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcR1MRBf9aAOLa5bIolet5C8ZsCAMjGbi1jD3T4qTtvCV10fNUl_e97rqd_ZHPXJCgJWt-MoGhOCR68Yy-jOThbE3aH-cdF8jZ4zw7tjn1XUzaI7LQz9SFrGI0iWGXIiFKdJSIDLNRAGb9/s400/Girl_Next_Door__The_Cover_for_Kindle.jpg" width="265" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It's been more than 10 months since <a href="https://amzn.to/2OIzB8u">GIRL NEXT DOOR: The Life and Career of Jeanne Crain</a> was published in digital format for Kindle. Since then I have received truly hundreds of requests for a "real" version. Well, you asked for it, so here it is! The book (which has been very well-received I'm happy to report) has just been published in a trade paperback format! You can check it out on Amazon across the globe at any of the links below:<br /><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">United States: </span><a data-ft="{"tn":"-U"}" data-lynx-mode="asynclazy" href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Famzn.to%2F2OIzB8u&h=AT12C7o29tIb0JUCGZBk3J5siZW80FY5YmXtx-8XygbzISrOurF0YeTUl127wuK9ewnkzKaVM4YcY9Nicf74lYT7flqynWyne6HhZhyGjQ-5ax7-HIdhOn1LXiytUNYsyOtlZHIMf9-l9ZeCOPMrGdsSZpeYAyGdkHMi9g" rel="noopener nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">https://amzn.to/2OIzB8u</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">United Kingdom: </span><a data-ft="{"tn":"-U"}" data-lynx-mode="asynclazy" href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Famzn.to%2F2KqyEyf&h=AT2ezXWMHXJVwkC8NGEfUqLFm-tr6a7sIN0-9sHn2EM1CvMh7VchYJEmEjnnFNBhh8vuNF4vdZX1GMG9qVkZgxRIMz_q_qQmqVildcerBiMp1jFK-cByXTkkaa34wKcdkcyFwNMlxfGTkQNyYngyENinMT-EbVqT8eSCSw" rel="noopener nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">https://amzn.to/2KqyEyf</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">Canada: </span><a data-ft="{"tn":"-U"}" data-lynx-mode="asynclazy" data-lynx-uri="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Famzn.to%2F2nf6QE0&h=AT0KpHJgpRy0CvthXApP0436a_EuQbzL6IuPh3phvpw6q234mAUNDvoWy6MXfxU7aWpz-rQ4yB_k3GM3Ie9JTo3NWQucDKbyLfVGfB7KJldXoE19w1V8XU2UuMDrxHL8vlLkFwrtuvKricby_kcCaj19llq-NXBL83oqlw" href="https://amzn.to/2nf6QE0" rel="noopener nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">https://amzn.to/2nf6QE0</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">Germany: </span><a data-ft="{"tn":"-U"}" data-lynx-mode="async" data-lynx-uri="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Famzn.to%2F2KugwU1&h=AT0XPKnwazFu6n2bMqcBddnOkCBe_-Ao5d4Qb1pa5N8FhYDD3yki0IBc5nG5szzhS-hkNvssKRwKPDdpLlO6wIys_mCxyVDBYWg8y8wLCSnSO5Ix7l3bmnF2PQBQK_O_L4-St6CNJZsTX9RLGBy0YwxFp_E20XEWncM2pAxERLY0T2gNKxM" href="https://amzn.to/2KugwU1" rel="noopener nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">https://amzn.to/2KugwU1</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">Mexico: </span><a data-ft="{"tn":"-U"}" data-lynx-mode="asynclazy" href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Famzn.to%2F2Kus1ei&h=AT0offzyOqRPpf6LsF6cOBIJ1PRVwKFxIs-4k4pIKnRKbEfyqrFUa3YVFZ0UFDuQxTvicurJI8iEkFnZvYfAo_mq83dg2ApVsV-9-_XseA8ai6q17oWPKTnTyqv4a8kNg8BQUh2d535uON6t90XSBTMVs1CYSOigTZ6rkg" rel="noopener nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">https://amzn.to/2Kus1ei</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">Italy: </span><a data-ft="{"tn":"-U"}" data-lynx-mode="asynclazy" href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Famzn.to%2F2LS5C02&h=AT3XjevYN0ieRlNyLZXgtNlbmWaCwUW0_lH7Q91Ljf02ObQCRfX28w0n2SXATEcmsb6Y3fvPE7ruFYgkwVppI5XYMf-q9rmtuR4lVZBndyGgOFM7DarX-UV7d0NVfkq5acYHRRUIu6D92MewcPy-_HdKxRHOUw2vLN0zbQ" rel="noopener nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">https://amzn.to/2LS5C02</a><br /><br />I hope you get a chance to read it and also that you thoroughly enjoy it!</span><br />
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</iframe>Ruperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15526556689348727001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833161426229360042.post-70264484367721273022018-05-25T21:09:00.000-04:002018-05-25T21:09:45.343-04:00Birthday Remembrance....<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD6qruwLt25VM0cRaIN5KKRKaoVqYsmnf-jAVKngB27aEoyk3mwKVHLjiub3zcV3QmgRnW-wT7Hi33YQvH2JmX66lMh2RlAf3jr3HVqtRX_hyphenhyphenSOFzGu7Bsd3tLxIqAP12w6B0qlwsVLvwZ/s1600/image016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="502" data-original-width="400" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD6qruwLt25VM0cRaIN5KKRKaoVqYsmnf-jAVKngB27aEoyk3mwKVHLjiub3zcV3QmgRnW-wT7Hi33YQvH2JmX66lMh2RlAf3jr3HVqtRX_hyphenhyphenSOFzGu7Bsd3tLxIqAP12w6B0qlwsVLvwZ/s640/image016.jpg" width="507" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">...for beautiful Jeanne Crain, here on her wedding day in 1945, with new hubby Paul Brinkman. Born on May 25, 1925, the actress would have been 93 had she lived.<br /><br />My biography of the star, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Girl-Next-Door-Career-Jeanne-ebook/dp/B075FDD98P/ref=la_B00HL03ACW_1_17?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1505001696&sr=1-17&refinements=p_82:B00HL03ACW">GIRL NEXT DOOR: The Life and Career of Jeanne Crain</a>, has had a wonderful reception and includes a treasure trove of intimate and fascinating photos from the Crain / Brinkman family archives.<br /><br />If you like Jeanne, or just Hollywood during the 1940s and '50s, check it out at one of the Amazon links below.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Girl-Next-Door-Career-Jeanne-ebook/dp/B075FDD98P/ref=la_B00HL03ACW_1_17?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1505001696&sr=1-17&refinements=p_82:B00HL03ACW">United States</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Girl-Next-Door-Career-Jeanne-ebook/dp/B075FDD98P/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1504837544&sr=8-1&keywords=jeanne+crain+rupert"><span style="font-size: large;">United Kingdom</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Girl-Next-Door-Career-Jeanne-ebook/dp/B075FDD98P/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1505003595&sr=8-1&keywords=jeanne+crain+girl">Canada</a><br /><a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/Girl-Next-Door-Career-Jeanne-ebook/dp/B075FDD98P/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1505003654&sr=8-1&keywords=jeanne+crain+girl">Australia</a><br /><a href="https://www.amazon.de/Girl-Next-Door-Career-English-ebook/dp/B075FDD98P/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1504835631&sr=8-1&keywords=jeanne+crain+rupert">Germany</a></span></div>
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</iframe>Ruperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15526556689348727001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833161426229360042.post-84466543834031890802018-05-23T21:25:00.000-04:002018-05-23T21:48:20.772-04:00Clint Walker - Death of a TV (and Movie) Cowboy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoLPchBtdoz4LDFtCYToe4j8vhqG-mlH3gQPU6ooTLi0jEJqjcSoeiq5mG03eykCWX5cm1XNVrbE_u1i0h6RDTD_-Zcy0IIKWDmjPRvt4UvAS2ZrUJDeuSYIOlvVf9XtgTkxp73z-_OG_a/s1600/0522-clint-walker-remembering-launch-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="543" data-original-width="723" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoLPchBtdoz4LDFtCYToe4j8vhqG-mlH3gQPU6ooTLi0jEJqjcSoeiq5mG03eykCWX5cm1XNVrbE_u1i0h6RDTD_-Zcy0IIKWDmjPRvt4UvAS2ZrUJDeuSYIOlvVf9XtgTkxp73z-_OG_a/s400/0522-clint-walker-remembering-launch-3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">He was best known as the tall, barrel-chested cowboy, Cheyenne Bodie on the ABC TV western, <i>Cheyenne </i>in the '50s and early '60s, but his earliest work on screen was in feature films. This past Monday, May 21, Clint Walker died, just nine days shy of his ninety-first birthday.<br /><br />Born in Illinois, Walker joined the US Merchant Marine at the age of 17, in the final days of World War II. One of his earliest acting jobs was for Cecil B. DeMille in the gargantuan Bible epic, <i>The Ten Commandments</i>, but before the movie premiered, Clint had landed what would be his signature role, Cheyenne. For eight years, Walker's good looks and impressive 6' 6" frame made him a favorite with television audiences.<br /><br />He appeared in other big screen releases including <i>None But the Brave</i> with Frank Sinatra, <i>The Dirty Dozen</i>, with a multitude of macho heavyweights like Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson and Jim Brown, and a leading role in <i>The Night of the Grizzly</i>.<br /><br />Walker is survived by his third wife, Susan Cavallari and a daughter.</span></div>
<br />Ruperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15526556689348727001noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833161426229360042.post-36175354960726014192017-09-29T19:52:00.002-04:002017-09-29T19:52:29.262-04:00Last Weekend at the Debut Price!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgApoxdk2e4KGkYXcDakAO_SnX2EmjMgD9f3mz6tdxRxG2j0x9eCFus2OLw5Ab1NpTQit5Tt3Hwx21bQTn7WQgGuZMAVsmxtdledqETDo__DDZNdgllJrRItaTGOKApnLX-SdKk5e2b1_C2/s1600/GIRL+NEXT+DOOR+COVER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1070" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgApoxdk2e4KGkYXcDakAO_SnX2EmjMgD9f3mz6tdxRxG2j0x9eCFus2OLw5Ab1NpTQit5Tt3Hwx21bQTn7WQgGuZMAVsmxtdledqETDo__DDZNdgllJrRItaTGOKApnLX-SdKk5e2b1_C2/s400/GIRL+NEXT+DOOR+COVER.jpg" width="267" /></a></div>
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For all fans of classic 20th Century-Fox star, Jeanne Crain, my new biography of her, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Girl-Next-Door-Career-Jeanne-ebook/dp/B075FDD98P/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8">Girl Next Door: The Life and Career of Jeanne Crain</a>, will be available on Amazon at the special debut price through this weekend. Classic movie fans know Jeanne as America's sweetheart during the late '40s and 1950s. The book includes many intimate family photos, made available through the Jeanne Crain Brinkman Family Trust. Read the first two chapters for FREE <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Girl-Next-Door-Career-Jeanne-ebook/dp/B075FDD98P/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8">here</a>.<br />
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</iframe>Ruperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15526556689348727001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833161426229360042.post-58823151088122752322017-09-07T22:30:00.001-04:002017-09-07T22:30:15.438-04:00Fox's Favorite Girl Next Door: Jeanne Crain<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwW57p765R9ZQmRtyCMaYhko608y4iH5xDQCpj2sIWzN7uM1Z-aKoGJrgPk-PQX25BCbA4Vt71vMHEKy7Ohx2TbTMGrTkQZcyehF4GgEMS8Mp7n6YCPqsrlhi5zYLP81szGOB2s_aiWI7x/s1600/GIRL+NEXT+DOOR+COVER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1070" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwW57p765R9ZQmRtyCMaYhko608y4iH5xDQCpj2sIWzN7uM1Z-aKoGJrgPk-PQX25BCbA4Vt71vMHEKy7Ohx2TbTMGrTkQZcyehF4GgEMS8Mp7n6YCPqsrlhi5zYLP81szGOB2s_aiWI7x/s400/GIRL+NEXT+DOOR+COVER.jpg" width="267" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">After a year of painstaking research, and interesting and informative contact with three of her children, my biography of classic Fox beauty, Jeanne Crain, has been released on Amazon. <a href="http://amzn.to/2f4KukJ"><b>GIRL NEXT DOOR: The Life and Career of Jeanne Crain</b></a> includes a treasure trove of intimate and fascinating photos from the Crain/Brinkman family archives, including original proofs of unique poses (and example below) from the William Mortensen collection, when Crain was a young model. For a LIMITED time, the price of the book is available for a special debut price!<br /></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfaSqD2QV6W7mGW98qgjkdpfEkXCvNlD_7_iNOcfPwhyphenhyphendbQeQ2xd8-zjWTzpf3LIwASA9Q1HfTyVdN-azvEW7OmGmN2bxvvzlAhCSdySOlyBt6xYh3tsi_bZJK3kfdpKsl_kGSw9uyscRG/s1600/Mortensen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="837" data-original-width="575" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfaSqD2QV6W7mGW98qgjkdpfEkXCvNlD_7_iNOcfPwhyphenhyphendbQeQ2xd8-zjWTzpf3LIwASA9Q1HfTyVdN-azvEW7OmGmN2bxvvzlAhCSdySOlyBt6xYh3tsi_bZJK3kfdpKsl_kGSw9uyscRG/s400/Mortensen.jpg" width="273" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Crain before she signed with Fox, by William Mortensen, 1942</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In 1949, Jeanne Crain was the number one box-office draw in Hollywood. Her controversial film, <i>Pinky</i>, was a top money-maker and it garnered Crain an Academy Award nomination as Best Actress. The beautiful star had a blossoming career, loving husband and, eventually, seven children.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But along with the accomplishments and money were disappointments; her lack of career growth at her studio, 20th Century-Fox, a contentious relationship between her mother and her husband, and marital betrayal. Through the glorious times, as well as the darker ones, Jeanne Crain moved forward with beauty, grace and dignity. During the 1940s and '50s, she was everyone's favorite, Girl Next Door. Click on the link below and you can read the first two chapters for FREE on the "Look Inside" feature by clicking on the cover. It's also available in the <a href="http://amzn.to/2eQpaTf">United Kingdom</a>, <a href="http://amzn.to/2wMsoxT">Canada</a>, <a href="http://amzn.to/2xQQlB0">Australia</a><span id="goog_2058239655"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_2058239656"></span>, <a href="http://amzn.to/2xThrIS">Germany</a> and other international Amazon outlets. I hope you will check it out!</span></div>
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</iframe>Ruperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15526556689348727001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833161426229360042.post-15372515319752125242017-08-23T18:06:00.000-04:002017-08-23T18:06:46.522-04:00Welcome to Sherwood!: The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKHLkUEQI-vipmOFDbZXRLIASAT5p5FDc947dBoNDeRfs2nyY0amdZc4GhS1nqYSvSVRQhsSCPU-WI27Z4Yx9kfD52-DIbMxB2V20ziHDF5sjDPLlCBVmAnWSIDaw9OnOrJw0BQDOr3Irj/s1600/adventures-of-robin-hood-1938.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="750" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKHLkUEQI-vipmOFDbZXRLIASAT5p5FDc947dBoNDeRfs2nyY0amdZc4GhS1nqYSvSVRQhsSCPU-WI27Z4Yx9kfD52-DIbMxB2V20ziHDF5sjDPLlCBVmAnWSIDaw9OnOrJw0BQDOr3Irj/s400/adventures-of-robin-hood-1938.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "candara" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /><br />When we see a really famous movie from the golden age, it
is hard to see it through the prism of the time in which it was produced. Stars earned iconic status when they became
associated with a certain role. William
Powell did it as Nick Charles in the <i>Thin
Man</i> series, Clark Gable will forever be known as the only Rhett Butler, and
his <i>Gone with the Wind</i> costar Vivien
Leigh is firmly established as Scarlett O’Hara.
In 1938, Warner Brothers released <i>The
Adventures of Robin Hood</i> and its leading action star, Errol Flynn became the
most famous incantation of that fabled legend.
In the classic age of Hollywood, no film was more colorful (both
literally and figuratively) and fun than Warner Brothers’ <i>The Adventures of Robin Hood</i>, and though Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.
could buckle the best swash during the silent era, Errol Flynn was the master
of such films in the ‘30s and ‘40s. The
legendary nobleman, who robbed from the rich and gave to the poor, has been
portrayed by many actors for many decades but above them all, Flynn is the
definitive Robin Hood (Although Daffy Duck gave a great animated rendition in
the 1958 cartoon short, <i>Robin Hood Daffy</i>).<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "candara" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Robin Hood legend has been oft-told, but never so
colorfully full of pomp and pageantry. Flynn
plays Robin, Earl of Locksley, a Saxon noble in 12th century England, and
protector of the poor Saxons from the villainous and utterly corrupt Norman
nobles, who have taken power in the nation during the absence of the king,
Richard the Lionhearted (Ian Hunter). Worst
of these is Richard's brother, the treacherous Prince John (Claude Rains), who
plans to take over England’s throne with the help of the equally despicable Sir
Guy of Gisbourne (Basil Rathbone), while King Richard is away fighting in the
Crusades. The film is a great romantic adventure with the romance provided by
Lady Marian Fitzwater, aka Maid Marian (Olivia de Havilland), Norman noblewoman
and orphaned ward of King Richard. At
first disdainful to the pompous yet charismatic Robin, she falls in love with
him when he reveals his true intentions of helping his suffering countrymen and
becomes his own personal “Norman conquest.”<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "candara" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In all, Flynn and de Havilland made nine films together
with their romp in Sherwood Forest being their third and most famous. But even as these iconic images are ingrained
into the national psyche for this film, alas, like so many other infamous roles
in Hollywood, they were not the original choices. On July 19, 1935, period authority Dwight
Franklin, who at the time was working as special visual consultant on Warner
Brothers’ <i>Captain Blood</i>, sent a memo to
the studio’s head Jack Warner suggesting that [James] Cagney “would make a
swell Robin Hood.” His memo found its
way to Warner’s desk as Franklin’s idea for a follow-up to the studio’s big
prestige picture of 1935, <i>A Midsummer
Night’s Dream</i>, which starred Cagney in Shakespearean costume as the
whimsical Nick Bottom. Along with the resident
tough-guy gangster, Franklin suggested the same Warners’ roster of contract
players who appeared in <i>Dream</i> would
be cast as Robin’s Merry Men, including Guy Kibbee as Friar Tuck. Jack Warner agreed and the following month English
screenwriter Rowland Leigh was assigned the task of developing a film treatment
of the Robin Hood legend. However, when
Cagney and Warner butted heads in a contract dispute, the project was postponed
until a later date.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyUTPK-f-u6aOcyok0nZjtal5yrTGZjbmzyFMQXy8ObwSySU6_KgvsTJyMcDnCAa4RPtpTTEq6cs0UQe8EfVvEZd_XheoZh_j23ILCqcsi-2GefEAI7wPuQO-_jXiFv3pS5g5N472gT2nx/s1600/rh503.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyUTPK-f-u6aOcyok0nZjtal5yrTGZjbmzyFMQXy8ObwSySU6_KgvsTJyMcDnCAa4RPtpTTEq6cs0UQe8EfVvEZd_XheoZh_j23ILCqcsi-2GefEAI7wPuQO-_jXiFv3pS5g5N472gT2nx/s400/rh503.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "candara" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Newcomer Flynn proved himself a magnetic adventure lead
in <i>Captain Blood</i> (1935) and <i>The Charge of the Light Brigade</i> (1936)
and the Robin Hood project was put back into production. Beautiful blond Anita Louise, also a veteran
of <i>A Midsummer Night's Dream</i> (as
Titania), was first considered for the role of Lady Marian but with so much
riding on the picture financially (it was Warner Brothers’ most expensive and
elaborate production to that date and the final cost was $2 million), the
studio wanted to ensure a proven film team with Flynn and de Havilland. Other parts were recast for one reason or
another. First choice for Friar Tuck,
Guy Kibee was replaced by the gravel-voiced and corpulent Eugene Pallette and
Robin's sidekick, Will Scarlett, though originally slated for David Niven,
eventually went to handsome contract player, Patric Knowles.<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "candara" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Chosen by the movie’s director William Keighley to serve
as Sherwood Forest, Bidwell Park in Chico, California, was a twenty-four
hundred acre tract, lush with giant oak and sycamore trees. Due to local fire codes, Bidwell was cleared
of grass and brush so that artificial grass, as well as numerous ferns, flowers
and various bushes could to be transplanted to create the magical English
woodland. For the production, tents were
set up near the park’s entrance for makeup and hairdressing.<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "candara" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Filming began at Bidwell Park in September of 1937, and
the first scene to be shot was the meeting of Robin and Little John, played by
Warners’ veteran Alan Hale (the actor had the distinction of playing the same
part in the earlier Fairbanks version and would play it again in the
1950s). Shooting was well underway by
the time Olivia de Havilland was able to start work on it. The actress was finishing up a role in <i>Gold is Where You Find It</i> with George
Brent, and after making wardrobe tests on the studio lot, de Havilland
travelled north to Bidwell Park.
Although she was thrilled to be working with the handsome and virile
Flynn for a third time, her attitude was somewhat soured by the presence of his
wife, French-born actress Lili Damita, who was there, hawkishly watching her
husband and de Havilland. The days were
long and began at 5 a.m. when Olivia would arrive at Bidwell from the local inn
where she stayed during the film’s shooting.<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "candara" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Producer Hal Wallis was not happy with the slow pace that
director Keighley was taking on the picture, as well as the lack of machismo
that the scenes required for the lusty, action film he wanted to create. When production reached a period of over two
weeks behind schedule and more than a hundred thousand dollars over budget,
Keighley was out. Michael Curtiz,
Warners’ top action director was brought in to replace Keighley, who had been
popular with both Flynn and de Havilland. With the new director’s tight command of the
picture, the final product was superb, from the archery tournament to the final
duel between Robin and Sir Guy, the one-two punch of excitement never lets up.<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "candara" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As the evil duo of Prince John and Sir Guy, Claude Rains
and Basil Rathbone cannot be beat, with Rains, sly and cunning and Rathbone
vicious and sadistic in his attack of the hero, both verbally and physically. An excellent swordsman off-screen, Rathbone is
marvelous fencing against a very agile and able Flynn. Equally magnificent is the film's opulent
musical score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. The talented Korngold did not want to undertake
the task, claiming he was “not a musical illustrator for a 90% action picture,”
but was persuaded by the studio brass to take on the challenge and his
brilliant score won an Academy Award. Also
winning Oscars for the film were Best Art Direction and Best Film Editing.<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "candara" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The movie, shot in the richest Technicolor, cemented
Errol Flynn's status as an action superstar. What he began with <i>Captain Blood</i>, three years earlier, he extended with <i>Robin Hood</i>. Both Curtiz and William Keighley were given
screen credit for their directing contributions. More successful than the popular Fairbanks’
version, <i>The Adventures of Robin Hood</i>
was Warner Brothers’ biggest moneymaker of the year and would continue to be
one of its most remembered classics.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "candara" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Higham, Charles. <i>Errol Flynn:
The Untold Story. </i>Doubleday
& Company, Inc, 1980<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "candara" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Higham, Charles. <i>Sisters:
The Story of Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine</i>. Dell Publishing Company, 1986<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</iframe>Ruperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15526556689348727001noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833161426229360042.post-76987534840844415602017-05-16T01:33:00.000-04:002017-05-16T06:58:18.222-04:00Five Stars Blogathon: Pretty Faces, Good Hairlines<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq5s3V_cnJ5d9zELgbbwyfKcfIv01cUHsgBTvMZftxgiNcArRDI8qIuM74hVURhJg6e0TdfDahBOx4bLk5EncN1qDhN_Fy2nA5DL9VrTq72gDCHqJpqO2yWq8vuA_e4tcGvhNrIJjmSCFJ/s1600/five-stars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq5s3V_cnJ5d9zELgbbwyfKcfIv01cUHsgBTvMZftxgiNcArRDI8qIuM74hVURhJg6e0TdfDahBOx4bLk5EncN1qDhN_Fy2nA5DL9VrTq72gDCHqJpqO2yWq8vuA_e4tcGvhNrIJjmSCFJ/s1600/five-stars.jpg" /></a></div>
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May 16 is National Classic Movie Day, and to celebrate my friend Rick at the <a href="http://www.classicfilmtvcafe.com/">Classic Film and TV Cafe</a> has invited me to take part in a <b>Five Stars Blogathon</b>, in which I, along with other fellow classic movie bloggers, will list our FIVE favorite classic movie stars. So let's get started!</div>
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Humphrey Bogart, Marilyn Monroe, Katharine Hepburn, Audrey Hepburn, Marlon Brando. These classic Hollywood stars contributed greatly to the great reputation of Tinsel Town's glorious golden age. They are larger than life. They are iconic. Their reputations are immortal (as far as pop culture celebrities go). And for these exact reasons, they are not even close among my favorites in classic movie actors and actresses. </div>
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I have never been drawn to the mega-stars. I always felt like most of those whose names are still recognized by the average Joe today, and whose image one might find on a beach towel or a coffee mug, were overrated to say the least. Mind you, I'm not saying they didn't make good movies, or were uninteresting. To the contrary. They gained their unforgettable status due to fine films and intriguing roles. But when I began being REALLY interested in "old" movies, it was the lesser known stars that I was drawn to. Not secondary leads or obscure players (although many of them are great too), my favorites were still stars, make no doubt, but they didn't necessarily reach the echelons of a Bette Davis or a Mae West. It's for this reason specifically that I am intrigued with my favorites. They led very interesting lives, sported attractive personas, as well as faces. They are often underrated but always enjoyed.</div>
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<b>Jeanne Crain</b></div>
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I saw my first Jeanne Crain movie in the very late '70s. It was <i>Dangerous Crossing</i>, a mystery thriller about a bride who loses her husband on their honeymoon voyage. Even bigger problem, no one on board ever saw them together. The first thing that struck me about Jeanne was how beautiful she was. But I didn't see another of her films until a few years later, when I caught <i>Margie </i>on a Sunday afternoon TV airing. Such colorful fun and, again, Jeanne was gorgeous. Over the years I saw more of Crain's movies and her gentle beauty and understated acting appealed more and more. She, like many of my favorites, has been all but forgotten except for the die hard classic movie fan, but her contribution to mid-century moviedom is significant.</div>
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<b>Joan Bennett</b></div>
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When I was a young lad and just getting interested in classic film, I saw a TV movie called <i>The Scarlett O'Hara War</i>. It told the story of how producer David O. Selznick led a search for the perfect actress to play the much-coveted role of Scarlett in <i>Gone with the Wind</i> (I write about this extensively in my book <b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00M8X6LN2/ref=s9u_simh_gw_i1?ie=UTF8&fpl=fresh&pd_rd_i=B00M8X6LN2&pd_rd_r=131ZEEX418VWEMDHDKP0&pd_rd_w=ZKxGt&pd_rd_wg=AVkLm&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=&pf_rd_r=31Q8E8RFPYV31TK0ZC1R&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=0411ffec-c026-40ae-aac5-2cd3d48aeeac&pf_rd_i=desktop">The Search for Scarlett O'Hara</a></b>). One of the many actresses vying for the part was a brunette beauty named Joan Bennett. I started searching out Bennett's movies wherever I could, which wasn't easy in the early '80s, with limited channels on the pre-satellite/streaming boob tube. But as I eventually watched her films, I saw how her dark, smoldering screen persona had captured audiences in her prime. She's always been a solid, dependable, beautiful star in my book, and her movies never fail to satisfy.</div>
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<b>Paulette Goddard</b></div>
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Paramount star Paulette Goddard is a ball of fire. A vivacious vixen in the true sense. She started her entertainment career as a teen in the famous (or perhaps infamous) Ziegfeld Follies. Then in the early '30s, the already once-divorced Goddard met and became the muse of comedian Charles Chaplin. Although the couple claimed to be married, their lack of proper documentation recording the event was a huge factor in costing Paulette the Scarlett O'Hara role in <i>Gone with the Wind</i>. Ah, now we get back to where I first discovered Goddard. Like Joan Bennett, I learned of Paulette and her career through the Selznick Scarlett Search. Her beauty (I go for the pretty ones, but then, who doesn't?) and charisma lit up both the silver screen and her private life. She was signed by Paramount and became one of its most popular stars of the early and mid-1940s. Besides Chaplin, she was married to actor Burgess Meredith and novelist Erich Maria Remarque. As spouses go, she really knew how to pick 'em... or, they knew how to pick her.</div>
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<b>Joseph Cotten</b></div>
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He had a distinctive voice, also a rather distinctive look. I don't believe a Hollywood producer would have said "I'm looking for a Joseph Cotten type." He had a unique screen persona, or did he have a persona at all? I mean, he could play a wide range of roles. That's why I like Cotten. He could play a villain with the absolute BEST of them (You must catch him in Hitchcock's <i>Shadow of a Doubt</i>). He could play the goodest good guy (I know, that's not proper English, but nonetheless watch Joe in <i>Gaslight </i>or <i>Portrait of Jennie</i>). Urbane bon vivant or solid member of Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre, he was good at any genre he attempted.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-0W8_8CJkN1pt7c9AfuaIyCi3GeHRkDJE0zz2BddnMrs6gCelFx8QW7n3wzHJINWhtV8AGAwYh4P9OFb7zh3d2jPsMBDCPYlN7FTU5DPJSwLaTwCzcudOy7gE0iWc6veG_7GO_XQLVK9_/s1600/cary-grant-3235.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-0W8_8CJkN1pt7c9AfuaIyCi3GeHRkDJE0zz2BddnMrs6gCelFx8QW7n3wzHJINWhtV8AGAwYh4P9OFb7zh3d2jPsMBDCPYlN7FTU5DPJSwLaTwCzcudOy7gE0iWc6veG_7GO_XQLVK9_/s400/cary-grant-3235.jpg" width="303" /></a></div>
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<b>Cary Grant</b></div>
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Okay, I've saved this last offering for a reason. With all my fine talk about stars who, in my opinion, have traveled below the Hollywood movie radar, HOW can I choose Cary Grant as one of my very favorites? He's an icon among icons, right? Well, because the way I see it, Grant holds all the attributes I find attractive in my earlier choices: physically appealing, debonair, charming to a fault, and able to display an ease in front of the camera that is unmatched. Oh, and you can't beat his movies! Sure, he had some turkeys on occasion, but who didn't? Some of my personal favorite Grant films are <i>The Awful Truth</i>, <i>In Name Only</i>, <i>Suspicion </i>and <i>Notorious</i>. Cary really let his hair down with Hitchcock. Grant was an independent actor before it was cool and other stars were bound in blood to the big name studios. I think most classic movie fans have at least a couple of favorite Cary Grant pictures. What about you?</div>
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</iframe>Ruperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15526556689348727001noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833161426229360042.post-54088005278329839282017-01-17T16:28:00.000-05:002017-01-17T16:28:31.564-05:00Be My Guest....<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCD-aIGNpxPTwUpeuQFuLiR85wtuYCUXx24CIPWLmtdh6ZJGpxMQNbleZuBZ-bKVmYZFqT1O4i5hUN_9TM6b6fesi3TNcMZ5aawY8Hu5v9Hg-Ej2tlUjqTtkMqh8CO5Rr0SdqDf6U65xR2/s1600/Film_670w_ToBeNotToBe_original.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCD-aIGNpxPTwUpeuQFuLiR85wtuYCUXx24CIPWLmtdh6ZJGpxMQNbleZuBZ-bKVmYZFqT1O4i5hUN_9TM6b6fesi3TNcMZ5aawY8Hu5v9Hg-Ej2tlUjqTtkMqh8CO5Rr0SdqDf6U65xR2/s400/Film_670w_ToBeNotToBe_original.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Marie, a fellow classic movie fan is guest blogging with her take on remakes of classic films.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Take it away, Marie!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Have you ever been watching a movie and thought, “why does this plot seem familiar?” I don’t mean the endless Christmas movies that all have the same story line. Boy/Girl goes to small town full of Christmas magic, intent on selling/destroying magical Christmas business, falls in love with said small town and said boy/girl, regains love of Christmas, gives up all evil intent and settles in small town to live happily ever after. I mean those movies that are modern adaptions of classic books or plays. </span></span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; margin-left: -24px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14.399999999999999pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Clueless. I watched this movie several times before it dawned on me. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Emma</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, by Jane Austen. Much like Austen’s heroine, Cher, who appears on the surface to be a shallow, empty-headed Valley Girl, takes some lumps along her road to true love.</span></span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; margin-left: -24px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14.399999999999999pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lion King. I confess, I always cry at the end of this movie. Nonetheless, I was surprised to learn the plot is loosely based on </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hamlet</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, by William Shakespeare. </span></span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; margin-left: -24px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14.399999999999999pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">10 Things I Hate About You. Again, with the Shakespeare. Based on </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Taming of the Shrew</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, this modern adaptation has Julia Stiles delivering a slightly more restrained, yet still acid tongued performance as Kate. And Heath Ledger. Need I say more?</span></span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; margin-left: -24px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14.399999999999999pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You’ve Got Mail. Did you see the easter egg in this one? Meg Ryan’s bookstore is called the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shop Around the Corner</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, which is the name of the first move adaption, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shop Around the Corner</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (1940) starring James Stewart. The idea was reworked in 1949 as a musical set in the 1900s as </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the Good Old Summertime</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (1949) starring Judy Garland. The basic premise, a play entitled </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Parfumerie</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> was written by Miklós László in 1937 and is set in Budapest. Enter the internet and voila! Budapest to New York and forward 60 years.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A Bug’s Life. Surprise - Aesop! </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Ant and the Grasshopper</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, an allegory about the perils of laziness is animated into a tale of good and evil, bullies and heroes, and hard work paying off in the end. And who can resist the little caterpillar who turns into a “beyooootiful butterfly?”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hunger Games. Yeah, sorry to disappoint you, but it’s not really an original idea. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Battle Royal, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Koushun Takami’s 1999 novel about a Japanese dystopian society was adapted for film in 2000. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some movies take another character or play and build an entirely different movie around it. Here are a couple that come to mind.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">To Be or Not to Be. Hamlet. The first, starring Jack Benny, Carole Lombard and Robert Stack. The second, Mel Brooks and Ann Bancroft. A comedic drama? A dramatic comedy? The movie is both hilarious and edge of your seat thriller. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Play It Again, Sam. Casablanca. A Woody Allen film based on the play of the same name, it’s about a playwright who conjures Bogey to help him with women.
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /><br /></span><br />Ruperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15526556689348727001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833161426229360042.post-34919454398110465742017-01-08T10:02:00.000-05:002017-01-08T10:02:57.926-05:00Film Noir, 2017<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Footlight MT Light","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For many a new year is a time to resolve to make positive changes in their lives. A savings account sees a few extra bucks at the end of January, a treadmill racks up a few extra miles. Those are fine and dandy resolutions for those who choose them and I applaud those who make them. My classic movie resolve for 2017, however, is to watch
more film noir flicks from Hollywood’s golden era. Film noir is a movie genre that is popular by
many who love classic movies and in some cases has a cult following. I have watched and enjoyed dozens from this
dark and brooding category but there are a multitude which I have still to
catch and it is going to be a fun and ferocious ride.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Footlight MT Light, serif;">Defining film noir with words is easy. The style of film has been aptly described as
a movie marked by a mood of menace. Generally,
the term is associated with the Hollywood thriller or detective pictures
produced from the early 1940s through the mid-1950s. To define the term cinematically is more
complex. Literally it translates as
“black film” or “dark film” and was coined in 1946 by a French critic. The characteristics? The detectives are boiled harder than a
twenty minute egg. The dames (and they
are dames) are brazen and know their way around the block so well they created
a map. Liquor and cigarettes are aplenty
and colorful dialogue is shot as quickly and loudly as the revolver that shows
itself in the following frame. </span></span><span style="font-family: "Footlight MT Light", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Directors
who made their mark in the genre and even became synonymous with it include but
are definitely not limited to Robert Siodmik, Billy Wilder, Fritz Lang and Otto
Preminger.</span><span style="font-family: "Footlight MT Light", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Footlight MT Light", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Noir thrillers were a
complete 180 degree turn from the colorful optimism of Hollywood’s
crayon-coated Technicolor musicals and light comedies.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Footlight MT Light","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When these films started appearing on movie
screens during and immediately following World War II, American audiences were
drawn to the adult-oriented type of film and movie makers responded,
enthusiastic to produce a more mature kind of picture for post-war
viewers. With the success of such
offerings as Billy Wilder’s <i>Double Indemnity</i>
and Lang’s <i>Woman in the Window</i>, the
studios began cranking out crime thrillers and murder dramas with a darker view
than pre-war audiences had experienced.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Footlight MT Light","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">At the core of many of these movies was a bad woman,
better known as the <i>femme fatale</i>. She was mysterious, distant, sultry,
double-crossing and beautiful. She would
just as easily cause the downfall of the man of her choice as she would wash
out her silk stockings at the end of a long day, probably even more
easily. Her lip-sticked mouth could form
a disgusted snarl or a half-open come-hither kiss for her masculine prey, and
it rarely opened to a smile or hearty laugh unless it was to mock her
unsuspecting target. The sap who gets
caught in her clutches, or at the very least gets a whiff of her intoxicating
perfume, was usually a corrupt character himself, maybe a private dick, petty
crook or passing schmuck who couldn’t say no.
He was a disillusioned male who got caught up in a web of intrigue,
mystery and murder.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Footlight MT Light","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This new style was strongly urban, with the big
city as backdrop, backstreets and alleyways dimly lit by oncoming headlights
serving as the main stage. Noirs were
filmed with hard shadows and unique camera angles by top cinematographers of
the day. By their standards, the higher
the drama, the lower the light. The
stories were based on the best in hard-edged murder mysteries that the 1930s
had to offer written by masters of hard-boiled detective fiction, Raymond
Chandler, Dashiell Hammett and James M. Cain.
Classic film noirs had titles that reflected the mood and themes of these
pictures with tough-talkers, dark dames and nocturnal nemeses. <i>This
Gun for Hire, Dark Passage, Scarlet Street, Kiss Me Deadly</i> and <i>Murder, My Sweet</i> leave little doubt as
to the grim and dangerous nature showcased between their opening credits and
The End. Over the decades since film
noir made a strong impression on movie audiences, it has remained a durable and
popular installment in Hollywood history.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</iframe>Ruperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15526556689348727001noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833161426229360042.post-47222721904296669572017-01-01T10:01:00.000-05:002017-01-01T10:01:04.644-05:00May 2017 Be a Classic Movie Year!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRis61aTFF_sC_lZpQT8Et6CZN5KnFrEayDhefb2boeREE5cZ4bN12xhFULgba1E360PBRHI40IWBPqlAcXlZFR-Pq7p41dd5dKi6p2vT8FGHYesIVP0KaZxuPMf-y6jyzSbL9xkwsyCy4/s1600/d7c1fad62ca46c40093986a247a43c5d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRis61aTFF_sC_lZpQT8Et6CZN5KnFrEayDhefb2boeREE5cZ4bN12xhFULgba1E360PBRHI40IWBPqlAcXlZFR-Pq7p41dd5dKi6p2vT8FGHYesIVP0KaZxuPMf-y6jyzSbL9xkwsyCy4/s400/d7c1fad62ca46c40093986a247a43c5d.jpg" width="310" /></a></div>
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Just as Joan Crawford rang in 1929 in her full flapper fare, I want to ring in 2017 as a year filled with classic movie fun. May <i>Old Acquaintance</i> (1943) be NOT forgot, but enjoyed and relished along with the thousands of other great old films from days gone by. HAPPY NEW YEAR!<br />
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</iframe>Ruperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15526556689348727001noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833161426229360042.post-6819767261944728802016-12-18T09:41:00.000-05:002016-12-18T09:41:44.895-05:00March of the Wooden Soldiers (1934): Laurel and Hardy Meet Santa Claus (AND the Boogeyman!)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYI3NAJhRRVJfndKgAUBZfzo0jGCffTx4j6iqJwegEpIM7SWorJ9ILnI5sWRx56cE5l8uwfSohytVMHECYfmooOB9872OoWMyQWZ6vwl3JWCSvAKX0o8RlotEkxQj3lIJRjHfpr8-jM_yy/s1600/babes-in-toyland-from-left-stan-laurel-oliver-hardy-1934.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYI3NAJhRRVJfndKgAUBZfzo0jGCffTx4j6iqJwegEpIM7SWorJ9ILnI5sWRx56cE5l8uwfSohytVMHECYfmooOB9872OoWMyQWZ6vwl3JWCSvAKX0o8RlotEkxQj3lIJRjHfpr8-jM_yy/s400/babes-in-toyland-from-left-stan-laurel-oliver-hardy-1934.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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As a kid, I always looked forward to <strong>March of the Wooden Soldiers</strong> (1934), starring the classic comedy duo Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. I must admit, however, that I did so with excited trepidation. To put it bluntly, that flick creeped me out! Much like <strong>The Wizard of Oz</strong>, <strong>March of the Wooden Soldiers</strong> (originally released as <strong>Babes in Toyland</strong>), featured many surreal looking characters and situations that fascinated as well as terrified this five year-old.<br />
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Based on a Victor Herbert operetta from 1903, the film was a fantasy extravaganza without the use of the yet to be invented CGI. Set entirely in Toyland, bizarre almost grotesque looking costumes adorned inhabitants such as the Cat and the Fiddle, the Three Little Pigs and even a Mickey Mouse (almost) look-alike. THEN there were the Boogeymen, Sasquatch wannabes who hooted and hollered while terrorizing Toyland. Santa Clause even makes an appearance though he looks as if he made a stop at the North Pole Bar and Grill on his way in (make it a double Blitzen). But of all these weird and wonderful eccentrics two ‘humans’ were creepiest of all and perhaps that’s because they were real people. First, Silas Barnaby, the meanest man in Toyland, was a cross between Ebenezer Scrooge and the hated black clad villain in silent film melodramas. You know, the one who tied the virginal damsel in distress to the railroad? Henry Brandon, billed as his birth name Kleinbach here, would again play this Barnaby-like character in an <strong>Our Gang</strong> episode a few years down the road. Second, and perhaps most surprising was Mother Goose. I don’t know, when she walked out with her gray finger waved, Goldie locked hair set underneath that tall prick-a-finger-you-die pointy black witches hat, heavy framed glasses sloped down on her nose and Salem witch trial collar wrapped ‘round her neck, I just didn’t get a good vibe. On top of that, this was all heaped around a face that didn’t look a day over 25! Creepy…….<br />
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<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYfqFPQq4UdBjH0Yt-XXss_aXLIocu7cIwBa9AwBxtPEbDUejT1fH2ba5eA-Q6gU7FxzVzIoZNTEckDmOoXhhSjet3BgOJDx-orpZmyM5ScTA0hAsqcSShcKlTmTcra3yk2nDfGwEBAgxl/s320/charlotte_henry___babes_in_toyland.jpg" /><br />
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But these were mere window dressing for the deco <i>grand guignol</i> by producer Hal Roach. The film was really a vehicle for Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, whose massive popularity was catapulted further still by the release of this film in Fall 1934. As Stannie Dum and Ollie Dee, L&H tumble and bumble in the most celebrated way while trying to help Widow Peep and her daughter Little Bo Peep battle the nasty Barnaby, who holds the mortgage on the shoe they all live in together (get it, the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe?). Bo Peep makes eyes at Tom-Tom, the Piper’s Son and he gets in on the action too.<br />
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Although Stan and Ollie were the stars of the film no holds barred, the other actors overplayed their parts to perfection. I mean this was Toyland in the midst of the Depression. Kids loved it and dragged parents in droves. Charlotte Henry, who was cast as Bo Peep, had just played another literary ingenue as the title character in the previous year’s <strong>Alice in Wonderland</strong> at Paramount. As the comely maiden, wearing a blond wig borrowed from Jethreen Bodine, she always reminded me very much of June Marlow, another Hal Roach player who immortalized Miss Crabtree in his <strong>Our Gang</strong> shorts. And speaking of resembling someone else in Tinseltown, if you have the opportunity to check out the movie sometime, see if you don’t agree that as Tom-Tom, tenor Felix Knight (pictured above) could be the kid brother of Robert Taylor.<br />
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Seems kind of odd that physical comedy giants Laurel and Hardy would be plunked down in the middle of a Herbert operetta but for celluloid whimsy it works and Stan and Ollie aren’t required to sing anyway (although Oliver Hardy did get his show business start singing). With the flood of television sets in the 1950s and '60s, <strong>March of the Wooden Soldiers</strong>, also like <strong>The Wizard of Oz</strong>, made annual appearances to generations of kiddies. Colorized at the end of the 20th century, the original black and white version is better, lending an even eerier feel to an already tantalizing funfest.</div>
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Ruperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15526556689348727001noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833161426229360042.post-61010876899899564342016-11-27T20:06:00.000-05:002016-11-27T20:06:58.218-05:00Kate Hepburn: POISON?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOC2123W04fEzJgUFHjthg0P42jdHVK7ENs72U0GqQzCzt4LpkqbJAnDTzv07UjPjNyZXf1_fyBhaz4WaNIcza9BdUj8HeGwTfUX3mzvbn-D5TRJgnEmGVYvmdgQFsLSte4Yg3gLD9RAsh/s1600/hepburn-golf-course.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOC2123W04fEzJgUFHjthg0P42jdHVK7ENs72U0GqQzCzt4LpkqbJAnDTzv07UjPjNyZXf1_fyBhaz4WaNIcza9BdUj8HeGwTfUX3mzvbn-D5TRJgnEmGVYvmdgQFsLSte4Yg3gLD9RAsh/s400/hepburn-golf-course.jpg" width="332" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In an issue of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MQM87DU/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1479791860&sr=1-1&keywords=classic+movies+digest+bundle">Classic Movies Digest, Volume One</a>, just released on Amazon, I discuss the period in the career of the late, great Katharine Hepburn when she was labeled BOX OFFICE POISON. It was a moniker that she shared with other Hollywood greats but would overcome. Below I offer a short excerpt from the newly bundled CMD Volume One, Issues 1-5. Read it, enjoy it and hopefully you will want to check out the whole book.<br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Katharine Hepburn: Box-Office Poison?</span></h3>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Making her film debut in 1932 with the legendary John Barrymore in <i>A Bill of Divorcement</i>, Connecticut born and bred Katharine Hepburn was set on a path for screen stardom. Within a year of her auspicious Hollywood entrée, she starred in the first of her four Academy Award winning roles (<i>Morning Glory</i>), as well as one of the most recognized and popular films of the decade (<i>Little Women</i>). She was the darling of her home studio, RKO, and her continued success seemed inevitable. Unlike her contemporaries, she refused to play the Tinsel Town game. She abhorred interviews and rebuffed reporters (when asked by one newsperson if she and then husband Ludlow Ogden Smith had any children, her unorthodox reply was: “Two white and three colored”). Her wearing of pants and masculine attire and her disdain for makeup was seen as too independent for public taste and she was tagged by some with the moniker “Katharine of Arrogance.” Hepburn went back to the stage on her native East coast, for the not very well received <i>The Lake</i>. When she returned to Hollywood, RKO cast her in <i>Alice Adams</i> (1935) for which she received yet another Oscar nomination, but the accolades were short lived.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In 1936, Hepburn made <i>Sylvia Scarlett</i> with Cary Grant and Brian Aherne, in which the non-stereotypical actress played a woman who is disguised as a young man. The RKO oddity cost Kate a big chunk of her reputation and the studio a big chunk of change (The film lost a whopping $363,000 in Depression-era dollars). Her period costume dramas, of the mid-‘30s, including <i>Mary of Scotland, A Woman Rebels</i> (both 1936) and <i>Quality Street</i> (1937), were flops as well, the latter two losing almost a quarter of a million dollars each at the box office. The public was staying away from Hepburn pictures in droves.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Despite her rapidly slipping popularity, her agent, Leland Hayward, was able to negotiate a new contract with RKO and her first project under the new deal was a screen adaption of the Edna Ferber - George S. Kauffman Broadway hit, <i>Stage Door</i>. The film enjoyed modest success and there seemed to be a ray of hope for Kate’s career. <i>Stage Door</i> paired the haughty Hepburn with Ginger Rogers, who, commercially, was a much more popular star at the time and lucrative commodity for the studio. As Hepburn’s status at RKO plummeted, Rogers’ simultaneous skyrocketed. The movie’s director, Gregory La Cava, used the stars’ studio rivalry as an asset to the film, enhancing the on-screen cattiness to great advantage. Still, the sparkling and intelligent comedy didn’t hit the mark that RKO execs had aimed for, bringing in only $81,000 in profits.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Desperate for a Hepburn hit and with fingers crossed, the studio cast her in a comedy, based on the humble financial success of <i>Stage Door</i>. Again paired with Cary Grant, who had just made a comic breakthrough of his own with <i>The Awful Truth</i>, the actress starred in <i>Bringing Up Baby</i>, the story of a man, a woman and a leopard named Baby. As inane as it sounded, that was the stuff of screwball comedies in the 1930s. In retrospect, <i>Bringing Up Baby</i> is considered by some as one of the premiere classic comedies of its time, but in 1938 it was a box-office disaster, losing $365,000, and when RKO slated Hepburn’s next film to be the standard programmer <i>Mother Carey’s Chickens</i>, the actress saw the writing on the wall. <i>Mother Carey’s Chickens</i> was made but without Hepburn. She bought out her contract for just over $200,000 and left the studio with which she had become synonymous.<br /><br />Read the rest of the chapter and the others on the Golden Age of Hollywood, including The Bette Davis/ Miriam Hopkins Feud, Life of a Starlet: Lana Turner, movie reviews and behind the scenes stories and so much more in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MQM87DU/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1479791860&sr=1-1&keywords=classic+movies+digest+bundle">CLASSIC MOVIES DIGEST: Volume One, Issues 1-5!</a></span></span></div>
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Ruperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15526556689348727001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833161426229360042.post-76498861906479993272016-11-23T21:56:00.003-05:002016-11-27T19:31:54.897-05:00Hooray for Hollywood!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsWOOn327WLT0HAvXhssx0NMGJ6YqU4NnQ_BveMXo_dNk-z3aArmhHWFATC7ENeeUhIvZxejMg9bVh1H2IhlnM7zM3TQ0c3gUnvN69jzEk4Vxk6holv-PD-l7FgQsxqPmZWZMFZ0AswK5G/s1600/CMD.BUNDLE.COVER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsWOOn327WLT0HAvXhssx0NMGJ6YqU4NnQ_BveMXo_dNk-z3aArmhHWFATC7ENeeUhIvZxejMg9bVh1H2IhlnM7zM3TQ0c3gUnvN69jzEk4Vxk6holv-PD-l7FgQsxqPmZWZMFZ0AswK5G/s400/CMD.BUNDLE.COVER.jpg" width="250" /></a></div>
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<br />
CLASSIC MOVIE LOVER ALERT! I'm happy to announce that I've just released my <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Classic-Movies-Digest-Bundle-Issues-ebook/dp/B01MQM87DU/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8">Classic Movies Digest Volume 1 BUNDLE</a>. It is Issues 1 through 5 of my CMD eMagazine bundled into ONE VOLUME at almost HALF the PRICE than if you purchased them separately!!<br />
<br />
Only $4.99 compared to $8.99 bought individually. Check it out and take advantage of this AWESOME deal.<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span><br />
<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ac&ref=tf_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=clasmovidige-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B01MQM87DU&asins=B01MQM87DU&linkId=c33940996f73eec2978d078216d77fca&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true&price_color=333333&title_color=0066c0&bg_color=ffffff" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></p>
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</iframe>Ruperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15526556689348727001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833161426229360042.post-87733797561565340312016-07-28T20:05:00.000-04:002016-11-30T19:06:54.327-05:00The Backbone of a Classic Movie<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3dm1hnXHNh8bBYLdcfctfc8JcMhgEs8dfJnInw-jxMC6QO19zax1J3Xr_hMA_g7rrdFXUoMDR2FYevazXfYKCdItmB4WiAfzBtVUeDkchGqHdtOKIsRH1WavyI2tlbdsC9_hnWI7Gs3uw/s1600/Carole+Landis+color.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3dm1hnXHNh8bBYLdcfctfc8JcMhgEs8dfJnInw-jxMC6QO19zax1J3Xr_hMA_g7rrdFXUoMDR2FYevazXfYKCdItmB4WiAfzBtVUeDkchGqHdtOKIsRH1WavyI2tlbdsC9_hnWI7Gs3uw/s400/Carole+Landis+color.jpg" width="340" /></a></div>
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<br />
Character actors from the classic movie age are some of the most beloved stars of the era. In my new book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Name-Below-Title-Character-Hollywoods-ebook/dp/B01J0DWLYU/ref=zg_bs_tab_pd_bsnr_2">The Name Below The Title, Volume 3: 20 MORE Classic Movie Character Actors From Hollywood's Golden Age</a>, I celebrate the lives and contributions of even more fabulous personalities, some of my personal favorites, some whom are loved by a vast majority. <br />
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The tragedy of Fox player Carole Landis (pictured above), the unique life of Dame Margaret Rutherford, best-known for her sprightly Miss Marple in the 1960s, the suicide of Clara Blandick, who played Judy Garland's Auntie Em in The Wizard of Oz, the struggle for stardom and extreme weight loss by Laird Cregar. These and so many others are featured in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Name-Below-Title-Character-Hollywoods-ebook/dp/B01J0DWLYU/ref=zg_bs_tab_pd_bsnr_2">The Name Below The Title, Volume 3</a>. Click on the links for Amazon and read the first couple of chapters for FREE in the Amazon preview!<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ac&ref=qf_sp_asin_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=clasmovidige-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B01J0DWLYU&asins=B01J0DWLYU&linkId=00d2f89211141e0c733c2881655660b2&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true&price_color=&title_color=&bg_color=FFFFFF" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></p>
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</iframe>Ruperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15526556689348727001noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833161426229360042.post-27726788007550516242016-05-01T16:45:00.002-04:002016-05-01T16:45:46.055-04:00It's May!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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And Redgrave and the whole Camelot gang want to celebrate!</div>
<br />Ruperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15526556689348727001noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833161426229360042.post-11098944608519517602015-11-01T11:04:00.002-05:002015-11-01T11:15:27.749-05:00You Like Classic Hollywood? SURE you do!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhltrxA2zUPFahO5Y4Tf97v-koXmkbYMPdmY2aLYXvmMLxJlraKyCUzslRlxyxFAmZq8eo8HamOtwivjg6bNQ90zr0I-e3iG2MwWn4I0IfFv_378juc6ZDV32ADaCGTQmsAUDPRrJIxkfu_/s1600/CMD.V1.I4.Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhltrxA2zUPFahO5Y4Tf97v-koXmkbYMPdmY2aLYXvmMLxJlraKyCUzslRlxyxFAmZq8eo8HamOtwivjg6bNQ90zr0I-e3iG2MwWn4I0IfFv_378juc6ZDV32ADaCGTQmsAUDPRrJIxkfu_/s400/CMD.V1.I4.Cover.jpg" width="250" /></a></div>
If you have followed this blog for the years it has been written or read any of my books on classic movies and the golden age of Hollywood, you know that I try to cover all aspects of that glorious age. I have just released my newest issue of the e-magazine named after this blog: <b>Classic Movies Digest</b>. The latest, <a href="http://amzn.to/1hxytTc">Volume 1, Issue 4</a>, features some great films and an insightful piece on the scandal caused by Mary Astor's diary, which was a focus in her nasty divorce in the mid-1930s, plus more.<br />
<br />
If you're a fan of classic movie lore click on the link below and check out the latest and if you enjoy it, I hope you will leave a positive review!<br />
And say, thanks very much.<br />
<a href="http://amzn.to/1hxytTc">Classic Movies Digest, Volume 1, Issue 4</a><br />
<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ac&ref=tf_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=clasmovidige-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B016G76HTS&asins=B016G76HTS&linkId=FLKLITVT65AUXFGD&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></p>
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</iframe>Ruperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15526556689348727001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833161426229360042.post-35283294713800874652015-07-20T20:39:00.001-04:002015-07-20T20:39:37.499-04:00A Fine Character Reference<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOavbN9G4z7q342PdyN6ioPWeSyoyMs5CkMozJVnZGLt9J6FbwEQEdlH6OddD3Hy1cE8JP3Tmqj-9hMLO3y4LjPKG9VnQXd4LEz0rRYRlBRdonVYHwmwyYIFX22uJCNGNNMf4rD_EQKczV/s1600/Elsa-Lanchester.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOavbN9G4z7q342PdyN6ioPWeSyoyMs5CkMozJVnZGLt9J6FbwEQEdlH6OddD3Hy1cE8JP3Tmqj-9hMLO3y4LjPKG9VnQXd4LEz0rRYRlBRdonVYHwmwyYIFX22uJCNGNNMf4rD_EQKczV/s400/Elsa-Lanchester.jpg" /></a>
<br /><br /> Character actors from the classic movie age are some of the most beloved stars of the era. In my newest book, <a href="http://amzn.to/1Lebp7l">The Name Below The Title, Volume 2: 20 MORE Classic Movie Character Actors From Hollywood's Golden Age</a>, I celebrate the lives and contributions of even more fabulous personalities, some of my personal favorites, some whom are loved by a vast majority. Below I've posted an excerpt from the chapter on superb player, Elsa Lanchester. Enjoy and if you'd like to check out the rest of the book and the other 19 wonderful character actors, check out the book on Amazon.
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<br /><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px; text-indent: 48px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In 1924 Lanchester and her partner, Harold Scott, opened a nightclub on Charlotte Street called the Cave of Harmony, a haven for London Bohemia. Although the main focus was midnight performances of one-act plays and cabaret songs, Lanchester also included revivals of aged Victorian ballads and bawdy Cockney songs, including odd ditties such as “Rat Catcher’s Daughter.” The Cave of Harmony became a popular haunt for toney artists and intellectuals, including writers H. G. Wells, Aldous Huxley, Evelyn Waugh, and future film director James Whale, who would play an important part in Elsa’s life during the next decade. Her work at the Cave of Harmony was a labor of love, reaping little in financial gain and she participated in stage work elsewhere while continuing her tenure at her own establishment.</span></span><br />
<br /> In 1927, the colorful actress made her professional film debut in a supporting role in <i>One of the Best</i>, a silent costume drama produced by prestigious Gainsborough Pictures (Her first actual film appearance was in an amateur motion picture by her friend and author Evelyn Waugh called <i>The Scarlet Woman: An Ecclesiastical Melodrama</i> in 1925). Yet, even more memorable for her personally, if not professionally, was her participation, that same year, in a play by Arnold Bennett called Mr. Prohack, in which she was cast opposite a young character actor named Charles Laughton. The two actors reportedly were paid the same salaries, though Laughton played the title role and Elsa was cast in the smaller part of his secretary. They acted together in a set of short films the following year and in February 1929 were married. They continued to act together on occasion including in Payment Deferred on the London stage in May 1931, then traveling to the United States to debut the show on Broadway in September, where it ran for 70 performances in the autumn of ‘31. Laughton was cast in the movie version, released in 1932, though Lanchester was not.
<br /><br /> It was during this period that Laughton confessed to his wife of his homosexual tendencies. In her 1983 autobiography, Elsa Lanchester, Herself, she recounted the night he disclosed his secret. The actor arrived home late one evening in 1931 with Jeffrey Dell, who was adapting Payment Deferred for the stage, a policeman and a boy who apparently wanted money from Laughton, all in tow. According to Lanchester:
<br /><br /> “I was in bed when Charles came upstairs. ‘Something awful has happened,’ he said to me. ‘I have something to confess.’ He said that he had picked up the boy, and it wasn’t the first time he had done it; that he was homosexual partly, and he cried. I said, ‘It’s perfectly all right, it doesn’t matter. I understand it. Don’t worry about it.’ That’s why he cried. When I told him it didn’t matter. […]
<br /><br /> Later on, I would ask Charles what really happened, and once he told me that he had had a fellow on our sofa. The only thing I said was, “Fine, okay, but get rid of the sofa.” We did. We sold it.”
<br /><br /> When Laughton appeared in court concerning the incident, the judge called the money given to the boy “misguided generosity,” and a tiny paragraph at the bottom of a local newspaper read: “Actor warned about misguided generosity.” Only the boy’s name was listed.
<br /><br /> Lanchester is just one of the great character stars featured in the fun and informative book. If you love classic Hollywood, as I do, I hope you will give it a read. Check it out at the link below!<br /><br /><br />
<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ac&ref=tf_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=clasmovidige-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B011JXCZYK&asins=B011JXCZYK&linkId=KYQLSYSX2ZSRGRM7&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></p>
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</iframe>Ruperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15526556689348727001noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833161426229360042.post-208904362278052732015-03-17T22:00:00.000-04:002015-03-17T22:00:03.508-04:00Private Worlds (1935): Have You Seen It?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimNyYiVpwsLesELJTMMO9lO8fp5aTmtyqr8HnSroegRWPZY4pFjs-Hv1Vl0mt74Rgu51RhTNdJlQEzCfVErgFqLSMk5DjesQnKCsrngy4zFpIBWdFS8jVXU3Le5C4nosmB1HNlKK6X_vn7/s1600/Private_Worlds_1935.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimNyYiVpwsLesELJTMMO9lO8fp5aTmtyqr8HnSroegRWPZY4pFjs-Hv1Vl0mt74Rgu51RhTNdJlQEzCfVErgFqLSMk5DjesQnKCsrngy4zFpIBWdFS8jVXU3Le5C4nosmB1HNlKK6X_vn7/s1600/Private_Worlds_1935.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Andalus, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18.3999996185303px; text-align: start; text-indent: 48px;">Mental illness wasn’t exactly the kind of subject matter that had audiences flocking to darkened theaters during Hollywood’s golden age. It was on rare occasions that a studio would delve into the complicated world of psychosis but when it did, it was usually interesting and respected if not extremely popular. </span><i style="font-family: Andalus, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18.3999996185303px; text-align: start; text-indent: 48px;">The Snake Pit</i><span style="font-family: Andalus, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18.3999996185303px; text-align: start; text-indent: 48px;">, produced by 20</span><sup style="font-family: Andalus, serif; line-height: 18.3999996185303px; text-align: start; text-indent: 48px;">th</sup><span style="font-family: Andalus, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18.3999996185303px; text-align: start; text-indent: 48px;"> Century-Fox in 1948, was one of the best-known and finest examples of the sensitive subject matter on celluloid. Thirteen years earlier, however, Paramount had made </span><i style="font-family: Andalus, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18.3999996185303px; text-align: start; text-indent: 48px;">Private Worlds</i><span style="font-family: Andalus, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18.3999996185303px; text-align: start; text-indent: 48px;">, which starred Claudette Colbert and Joel McCrea and examined the administrative aspect of a mental hospital with romantic elements thrown in to add spice.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Andalus, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18.3999996185303px; text-align: start; text-indent: 48px;">Drs. Jane Everest and Alex MacGregor (Colbert and McCrea) are psychiatrists; colleagues who work very closely together at the Brentwood clinic, a facility for those with mental illness. Although they are close, there is no hanky-panky between the two professionals, just mutual respect and camaraderie. Alex is married to Sally (Joan Bennett), an innocent, young woman who loves her husband deeply and is emotionally dependent on him. Jane has no romantic entanglements, instead carrying a burning torch for her love, lost years ago during World War I. When a new superintendent arrives at Brentwood, he finds bitterness and animosity from MacGregor, who had hoped to gain the position himself. The new head honcho, Dr. Charles Monet (Charles Boyer), is of the belief that women should not hold such lofty positions in the medical field, as Dr. Jane has for some time, and reassigns her to lesser responsibilities at the hospital.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Andalus, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18.3999996185303px; text-align: start; text-indent: 48px;">The problems really begin when Monet’s flighty and flirtatious sister, who has a shady past, sets her sights on the handsome MacGregor. While the young doctor begins to see this piece of work “socially,” his emotionally fragile wife slowly begins to sink into a mental decline. Jane also finds drama when she begins to be drawn to Monet and vice versa.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfO9xyWSH5u9a_O6W82ZN945roZ6kpebwwxSyEe2ULAiAUS7y8QBtmjiV0ngxbJwxv3y0QL3XSE0Vi1Je_xG2S0PadTnYJ9rLzVV6dTY_FWVQEmCqGdsmsGm9YeITFIfaqCA_Znu7lqobS/s1600/Claudette+Colbert+&+Joan+Bennett+in+-Private+Worlds-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfO9xyWSH5u9a_O6W82ZN945roZ6kpebwwxSyEe2ULAiAUS7y8QBtmjiV0ngxbJwxv3y0QL3XSE0Vi1Je_xG2S0PadTnYJ9rLzVV6dTY_FWVQEmCqGdsmsGm9YeITFIfaqCA_Znu7lqobS/s1600/Claudette+Colbert+&+Joan+Bennett+in+-Private+Worlds-.jpg" height="286" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Andalus, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: 0.5in;">Joan Bennett and Claudette Colbert</span></div>
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Claudette Colbert was riding a career high in the mid-Thirties. While filming <i>Private Worlds</i>, Colbert won an
Academy Award for the famed screwball comedy <i>It Happened One Night</i>, released
the previous year. 1934 also saw her
star turns in the original version of <i>Imitation of Life</i> and the exotic lead in
Cecil B. De Mille’s <i>Cleopatra</i>. Fresh off
this win she was nominated for her work in <i>Private Worlds</i>. As Dr. Monet, Charles Boyer gives an interesting
performance, though not definitive. New
to Hollywood, Boyer had a heavy, very distinctive French accent, which would be
an extreme liability for most actors but for Boyer it became his trademark (the
same could be said of fellow Frenchman Maurice Chevalier) and would be imitated
by celebrity impersonators often.<br />
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<i>
Private Worlds</i> was based on a novel by authoress Phyllis Bottom, who had a
number of her books translated to the screen, the most famous being <i>The Mortal
Storm</i> at MGM in 1940. According to Joan Bennett,
her future husband Walter Wanger, who produced the movie, was offered the film
rights to the Phyllis Bottom book, after he had read it, while in England. Although initially refusing, the producer
changed his mind when he realized the book was a bestseller. When Paramount obtained the rights to Bottom’s
story, Gregory La Cava was chosen to direct what was basically uncharted film
territory. La Cava got his start in the
early days of motion pictures in charge of an animation unit for newspaper
mogul William Randolph Hearst and creating animated shorts with famed
cartoonist Walter Lantz. When he made Private
Worlds, his best-known films, <i>My Man Godfrey</i> and <i>Stage Door</i>, had yet to be
made.<br />
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In her supporting role, Joan Bennett was able to stretch her acting wings more
than she ever had before, bringing in one of her most dramatic parts to that
date. In her memoir, <i>The Bennett
Playbill</i>, the actress called her part as Sally “the first really challenging
and the most dramatic role I’d played up to that time.” She named <i>Private Worlds</i> as one of six films
out of her entire career of seventy movies that she felt was “acceptable.”<br />
<br />
As part of the MCA/Universal library, which houses the Paramount collection of
movies from this era, <i>Private Worlds</i> is a rarity for modern classic movie
lovers. It is, however, worth the view
if ever you get the chance to catch it.<br />
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</iframe>Ruperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15526556689348727001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833161426229360042.post-7486011183100026782015-02-03T10:14:00.000-05:002015-02-03T10:14:53.798-05:00He Said, She Said....<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW2ElDa7Vq5QT9IzK5l7LnljFN0K4Ai9S5fr5_gtXSqEXR27TmvJ9JgCnd9oQQjdA6gqNwmvDnU0Rx9S0NmZDi5qj8En2FSEuFx3ef9EYvybCa7D5bouo2vffF4F3sLbdUgRz9_b3vVDM3/s1600/Errol113a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW2ElDa7Vq5QT9IzK5l7LnljFN0K4Ai9S5fr5_gtXSqEXR27TmvJ9JgCnd9oQQjdA6gqNwmvDnU0Rx9S0NmZDi5qj8En2FSEuFx3ef9EYvybCa7D5bouo2vffF4F3sLbdUgRz9_b3vVDM3/s1600/Errol113a.jpg" height="400" width="310" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: start;">Classic Hollywood stars were colorful to say the least, and through the years, they spoke colorful and fun quips that can be fun to look back on today. Here are a few from some of Tinseltown's biggest and brightest stars.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8666687011719px; text-align: start;"><i><b>The public has always expected me to be a playboy,<br />and a decent chap never lets his public down.<br /> ~ Errol Flynn</b></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8666687011719px; text-align: start;"><i><b>Wrinkles are hereditary. Parents get them from their children.<br /> ~ Doris Day</b></i></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9p_I6ZtUSCQKkMjibxSGLD6HVgsZe-lad64soFB4tdxJFNcwae3bn3078wlxshRMabCMKi3udSKfKKFXGESEJbM_450sNjUymY590jO78AAmKyiyj3IWYyQeT2YzOVzJnSOzLiWyZGDZs/s1600/fred-astaire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9p_I6ZtUSCQKkMjibxSGLD6HVgsZe-lad64soFB4tdxJFNcwae3bn3078wlxshRMabCMKi3udSKfKKFXGESEJbM_450sNjUymY590jO78AAmKyiyj3IWYyQeT2YzOVzJnSOzLiWyZGDZs/s1600/fred-astaire.jpg" height="257" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8666687011719px; text-align: start;"><b><i>I just put my feet in the air and move them around.<br /> ~ Fred Astaire</i></b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHzSQYxlCOY4eDXI9__Jcp24shbZNqikkNeItDxRKT-5EioLKhju8lMb4DTwlQZDqxt30GlafZOl7GvJX2Q74NCFqt7v_JZ-kcbg3sib2qlpRUDdWNDyC2z2d_65Ac3gxCWxHgDs7hC61Y/s1600/710908actress-tallulah-bankhead-attending-the-barter-theatre-auditions-posters1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHzSQYxlCOY4eDXI9__Jcp24shbZNqikkNeItDxRKT-5EioLKhju8lMb4DTwlQZDqxt30GlafZOl7GvJX2Q74NCFqt7v_JZ-kcbg3sib2qlpRUDdWNDyC2z2d_65Ac3gxCWxHgDs7hC61Y/s1600/710908actress-tallulah-bankhead-attending-the-barter-theatre-auditions-posters1.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8666687011719px; text-align: start;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8666687011719px; text-align: start;"><b><i>If I had to live my life again,<br />I'd make the same mistakes, only sooner.<br /> ~ Tallulah Bankhead</i></b></span><br />
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