Thirties movie trivia – PT1
Norma Shearer Norma & Jimmy Stewart circa 1939 Mickey Rooney in his Andy Hardy days Norma Shearer’s husband, Irving Thalberg, passed away in September 1936. […]
gone with the wind
IN THE BEGINNING…PT 2.
in The Scarlet Pimpernel MERLE OBERON (1911 – 79) For decades it was accepted that Merle Oberon was born in Hobart, Tasmania. In fact, most of Tasmania thought so too. Few were aware that she had invented the tale to create a past for herself that was as far removed from […]
SNIPPETS – PT2.
Kate and Barrymore in A Bill of Divorcement (1932) Kate Hepburn made her movie debut in the 1932 drama A Bill of Divorcement, in which the aging John Barrymore played her mentally unbalanced father. Known as ‘The Great Profile’, he invited her to his dressing-room where he promptly stripped naked […]
Casting Blunders Pt 1.
I often watch movies over and over again, just for the pleasure of re-visiting an extraordinary performance. Occasionally, as for instance with Double Indemnity (1944), it is not only an individual performance, but a combination of strong acting from more than one player, a fabulous script, seamless directing, and a […]
Did you know?
RUBY KEELER I recently watched 42nd Street (1933) in its entirety, having only seen excerpts until then. The acting was very ordinary, the sound quality (as expected) was inferior, and the highlighted singers were mostly awful. And that includes Ruby Keeler. In fact, she not only couldn’t sing, she […]
In the beginning…
It is difficult today for us to understand how the invention of moving pictures impacted on the public at the turn of the 20th century. After all, we have grown up with them. They are part of our lives and always have been. Back in 1903, however, they were […]
Censorship – The Production Code & the C.L.O.D.
The major studios realized as early as 1922 that they had better start policing themselves before the government decided to move in and curb the questionable morality of the industry themselves. Scandals such as the murder of director William Desmond Taylor and the alleged rape of Virginia Rappe at […]
OLIVIA & JOAN -The feuding de Havilland sisters.
Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland were real life sisters who were born in Tokyo, and then moved to America. Olivia was born in 1916, Joan a year later. Max Reinhardt spotted Olivia in a college version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and was so impressed he placed her […]
George Reeves – who killed Superman?
Today, to the younger generations, the name George Reeves means nothing. To baby-boomers (those born just after the end of World War Two) he was just a TV actor whose face became instantly recognizable because he portrayed Superman in 102 episodes of the hit TV series The Adventures of […]