Gregory Peck & Ava Gardner in On the Beach (1959) When Ava Gardner came to Australia to make On the Beach (1959), she did not exactly endear herself to the nation when she remarked that Melbourne was the most appropriate place on Earth to make a picture about the end of […]
Joan Crawford circa 1945 Joan Crawford worked full-time at being a movie star. Very little was left to chance, especially when she got older and her star had started to wane. For example, she always made a point of timing her arrival at a theatre seconds before the curtain […]
Marlon Brando & Karl Malden in One-Eyed Jacks (1961) One-Eyed Jacks (1961) was to have been directed by Stanley Kubrick at a budgeted cost of $1.8 million, but then Kubrick left and the picture’s star, Marlon Brando, took over as director. Day one, ominously, saw him throw away the script […]
George Clooney as Ulysses Everett McGill in O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) This charming comedy is very loosely based on Homer’s ‘Odyssey’ and is a wonderful vehicle for George Clooney, ably supported by the brilliant John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson. He demonstrates a natural flair for comedy […]
Rita Hayworth as Gilda in Gilda (1946) Glenn Ford & Rita in Gilda Gilda was an enormous success for Columbia in 1946, so much so that Rita Hayworth’s agent demanded a share of the profits of all subsequent films made by her. Columbia head Harry Cohn point blank refused. Her […]
Sandra Bullock & her Oscar for The Blind Side (2009) Sandra Bullock enjoys a reputation for being kind and attentive, highly professional and a pleasure to work with. Unlike many of her contemporaries, she does not permit her ego to interfere with her sense of humour either. In 2009, she readily turned […]
Franciska Gaal The name Franciska Gaal is long lost to modern movie-goers. Her Hollywood screen career was very short indeed, only three pictures released just prior to the outbreak of World War Two. Born in Budapest, Hungary, the Jewish Franciska had enjoyed success in German cinema until Hitler came […]
Sterling Hayden as Dix Handley in The Asphalt Jungle (1950) Sterling Hayden was one of those actors who did not have to act tough. He was tough. Hayden made two movies in 1941, found time to wed British beauty Madeleine Carroll in February 1942, and then headed off to war. […]
Elsa Martinelli as ‘Dallas’ in Hatari! (1962) Hatari! (1962) is not a great movie but it does have its moments. Well, to be entirely truthful, it has one memorable moment. Being a sucker for beautiful women, I am forever grateful for the bevy of stunning actresses Italy has […]
Scarlett O’Hara and Tara in Gone with the Wind (1939) In 1935, David O. Selznick purchased the old Thomas Ince Studio near MGM for his own independent productions, one of which was 1939’s Gone with the Wind. When he needed to film the burning of Atlanta […]
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