TV WESTERNS – PT22

TV WESTERNS – PT22

December 31, 2021 Alan Royle 6

  (L to R) Neville Brand, Peter Brown, William Smith, Philip Carey LAREDO (1965-7) 56 EPISODES                 Laredo pretty much transposed the three British soldiers from the hit movie Gunga Din (1939) to the American West and turned them into Texas Rangers. In fact, the producers wanted the series to […]

RANDOM QUOTES – PT53

RANDOM QUOTES – PT53

December 28, 2021 Alan Royle 4

  KIRSTEN DUNST: (1982 – )                                    [On kissing Brad Pitt in Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994)]: ‘I am sure I would love to do it now, but back then, I […]

MOVIE TRIVIA – PT187

MOVIE TRIVIA – PT187

December 25, 2021 Alan Royle 4

       JACK WEBB (1920-82)                               Although he achieved some success as a writer and, arguably, more as an actor in both movies and television, Jack Webb was primarily an executive producer (and creator) of three successful TV series, – Dragnet 67(1967-70), Adam-12 (1968-72) and Emergency! (1972). It is […]

‘ROXIE HART’ & ‘APPALOOSA’

‘ROXIE HART’ & ‘APPALOOSA’

December 22, 2021 Alan Royle 1

  ROXIE HART (1942)            Ginger Rogers as Roxie In order to placate the Hays Commission code, it was necessary to change the storyline for this picture about two murderesses who were called Roxie Hart and Velma Wall here. The tale had its basis on two real life killers whose murder […]

WORLD WAR TWO – The stars & their stories – PT62.

WORLD WAR TWO – The stars & their stories – PT62.

December 19, 2021 Alan Royle 0

  SPENCER TRACY (1900-67)                                                                    Spencer Tracy was already forty-one years old when America’s war began on 7 December 1941. He was also married and had previously served in the Navy as a 17 year-old in the Great War. He was still at the Norfolk Navy Yard in Virginia when […]

TV WESTERNS – PT21

TV WESTERNS – PT21

December 16, 2021 Alan Royle 4

  KUNG FU (1972-5) 63 EPISODES                          Every once in a while some ‘genius’ comes up with a concept in the entertainment industry that goes against all expectations and becomes a hit. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was one such […]

‘RANDOM QUOTES’ – PT52

‘RANDOM QUOTES’ – PT52

December 13, 2021 Alan Royle 0

  ELIA KAZAN: (1909-2003)                        Elia Kazan & James Dean on the East of Eden set [On actor James Dean]: ‘Dean’s body was very graphic; it was almost writhing in pain sometimes. He was very twisted, as if he were cringing all the time. He was sad and sulky. You kept expecting him […]

‘Exodus’ (1960) & ‘Major League’ (1989)

‘Exodus’ (1960) & ‘Major League’ (1989)

December 7, 2021 Alan Royle 2

  EXODUS (1960)                    When, in 1958, American author Leon Uris published Exodus, his fictional novel about the founding of the state of Israel, it was only a matter of time before Hollywood would buy the rights and turn it into a movie. Autocratic taskmaster Otto Preminger was chosen to direct […]

WORLD WAR TWO – The stars & their stories – PT61.

WORLD WAR TWO – The stars & their stories – PT61.

December 4, 2021 Alan Royle 4

                 GENE TIERNEY (1920-91)                                                                        One of the saddest wartime Hollywood tales involved actress Gene Tierney. She actually attended the Hollywood Canteen just once and, a few days after that solitary stint there, developed Rubella (German measles). She was pregnant to her […]

MOVIE QUIZ # 1

MOVIE QUIZ # 1

December 1, 2021 Alan Royle 2

  MOVIE QUIZ # 1                                For something a little different I have compiled the first movie quiz of fifty questions. Whether or not there will be more of these depends entirely on how energetic I […]