SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950) – A timeless classic.

December 13, 2019 Alan Royle 0

The name Norma Desmond, Gloria Swanson’s character in Sunset Boulevard (1950), was chosen from a combination of silent-film star Norma Talmadge and silent movie director William Desmond Taylor. The latter’s still-unsolved murder is one of the great scandals of Hollywood history and contributed to the eventual introduction of the Hays […]

THE BEST OSCAR YEARS – 1939 & 1950.

April 5, 2019 Alan Royle 0

  Clark Gable as Rhett Butler in GWTW (1939)         The Academy Awards is a competition, but it is one that has seldom been conducted on a level playing field. A winner one year may very well not even have been nominated in a stronger year. Historically, the two […]

MOVIE TRIVIA – PT87.

December 10, 2018 Alan Royle 16

       Harpo Marx         Harpo Marx was offered $50,000 to utter the solitary word, ‘Murder!’ in the 1946 film A Night in Casablanca. He declined the offer, adhering to his policy of remaining mute on-screen and in public. In fact, he never spoke a word in any […]

Past Oscar-winners – some observations – Pt 3.

October 9, 2016 Alan Royle 0

    1949               All the King’s Men – Best Picture                         Broderick Crawford – Best Actor for All the King’s Men   Broderick Crawford Greg Peck as General Savage in Twelve O’Clock High Having seen all five nominated films for 1949, I am surprised that All the King’s Men came out on […]

William Holden – His Life and his Loves

January 23, 2016 admin 20

      Holden in Escape From Fort Bravo (1953) William Holden featured in a lot of very good movies during his career. Women adored him, even men grudgingly conceded that he was both rugged and charming, certainly no milk sop. Unfortunately, he was also an alcoholic, from his teens until the […]