36 HOURS (1964) – World War Two This is an intriguing black and white feature, a slice of Hollywood hokum, cleverly done and well-acted. The story, however, is as far-fetched as it can get. It stars three of my favourite actors – James Garner, Rod Taylor and Eva Marie […]
The ‘Big Five’ major studios Up until the time the first crack in the system appeared in 1948, the movie business was controlled by the ‘Big Five’ major studios – MGM, Paramount, Warner Bros, RKO and Fox – and to a far lesser extent by the ‘Little Three’ majors – […]
Sara Shane & Gordon Scott in Tarzan’s Greatest Adventure (1959) A year or so ago I had the great pleasure and honour to spend five days chatting with a lady named Elaine Hollingsworth, a former Universal actress who performed under the name of Sara Shane in the 1950s on […]
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. […]
Copyright © 2022 | WordPress Theme by MH Themes
