There were three Servile Wars in B.C. Italy; the one involving escaped slave/gladiator Spartacus being the last of them. It ended with a final battle in 71 BC. Stanley Kubrick replaced Anthony Mann as director of Spartacus (1960), after Mann and the star, Kirk Douglas, repeatedly clashed. Douglas and […]
The stunning Linda Darnell Nineteen year-old Linda Darnell was supposed to play the role of Vivian Potter in 1943’s The Gang’s All Here, but then she up and married 41 year-old cinematographer J. Peverell Marley and her boss, the predatory Darryl F. Zanuck at 20th Century Fox, was anything but […]
The Blue Bird (1940) was 20th Century Fox’s intended answer to The Wizard of Oz (1939). It starred 12 year-old Shirley Temple, yet it flopped dismally. Audiences were not willing to accept her in a ‘not too nice’ role. Consequently, it became the picture that ended her remarkable run […]
Rod Taylor & Tippi Hedren in The Birds (1963) One day, before I die, I would like someone to explain to me just why Alfred Hitchcock’s pitifully weak 1963 ‘thriller’, The Birds, is considered to be a classic by so many so-called cinema experts. The […]
Anne Heche & Harrison Ford in Six Days, Seven Nights (1998) Anne & Ellen on the red carpet 1997 Six Days, Seven Nights (1998) was mercilessly panned by the critics after its release. Personally, I quite liked it, primarily because of Anne Heche’s thoroughly enjoyable performance. Harrison Ford chose the […]
SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998) – World War Two War movies took on a whole new realistic look with Steven Spielberg’s extraordinary World War Two feature Saving Private Ryan (1998). The opening 30 minutes or so was, quite possibly, the most harrowing footage in the history of mainline cinema […]
The war in Europe was underway in 1940 and causing the loss of the European market. President Roosevelt’s ‘Good Neighbour Policy’ of fostering friendship towards Latin American countries inspired Darryl F. Zanuck at 20th Century Fox to look towards Mexico and South America as alternative markets for his studio’s films. […]
Cliff Robertson as Commander Kennedy in PT 109 (1963) PT Commander John F Kennedy during the war PT 109 (1963) President John F Kennedy was asked who he would like to see portray him in this film about his wartime exploits. He chose Cliff Robertson who duly landed the role. Interestingly, […]
David Janssen – Gable’s illegitimate son? Clark Gable Berniece Dalton Janssen was Miss Nebraska of 1928 and one of the Ziegfeld Follies girls of 1930. A year later, the 21 year-old gave birth to a son who became actor David Janssen, star of the TV series The Fugitive in the […]
Max Steiner in 1942 When it comes to determining who was ‘King of the Movie Score’, buffs would probably fall into one of two groups depending on age. Those born pre-World War Two would more than likely vote for Max Steiner. Those born after the war would possibly […]
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