‘MACAO’ (1952) & ‘THE LETTER’ (1940).

‘MACAO’ (1952) & ‘THE LETTER’ (1940).

November 22, 2021 Alan Royle 2

  MACAO (1952)                      Macao was supposed to be an ‘edge of your seat’ thriller set in the seedy underworld of the then Portuguese colony of Macao, situated some thirty-five miles out of Hong Kong. It was supposed to be a thriller but it failed to deliver on several levels. First […]

WORLD WAR TWO – The stars & their stories – PT60.

WORLD WAR TWO – The stars & their stories – PT60.

November 19, 2021 Alan Royle 0

GEORGE TAKEI (1937- )                                                                                                                                      George Takei portrayed Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the USS Enterprise in the original TV series of Star Trek (1966-69). He was born in Los Angeles in 1937 and his father named him George after England’s King George VI, whose coronation had taken […]

60 MOVIES TO WATCH – PT2

60 MOVIES TO WATCH – PT2

November 13, 2021 Alan Royle 2

  PART TWO OF 60 MOVIES TO WATCH          As I stated in Part One, a lot of my personal favourite movies were eliminated because they were, in my eyes, spoiled by one or two performances or casting decisions. The Carpetbaggers (1964), despite it being mercilessly panned by the critics, is […]

60 MOVIES WORTH WATCHING – PT3.

60 MOVIES WORTH WATCHING – PT3.

November 13, 2021 Alan Royle 9

Here are my Top 20 films, the movies I enjoy watching more than once. I am the first to concede that a great many of my choices are not considered by the critics to be ‘worthy’. I accept that. But I know what I like and I know what I […]

50 MOVIES TO WATCH – PT1

60 MOVIES TO WATCH – PT1

November 10, 2021 Alan Royle 2

60 MOVIES WORTH WATCHING MORE THAN ONCE (PART ONE)      Back in 2005, I wrote my first book – Hollywood Warts ‘n’ All (volume 1). At the end of it I listed my favourite movies, my Top 50 of all time. I was 15 years younger then and the list was […]

‘EASTER PARADE (1948) & ‘LITTLE WOMEN (1949).

‘EASTER PARADE (1948) & ‘LITTLE WOMEN (1949).

November 7, 2021 Alan Royle 2

  EASTER PARADE (1948)               Easter Parade was to be a lavish showcase for a bunch of Irving Berlin tunes and scheduled to be directed by Vincente Minnelli. It would star his wife, Judy Garland, and Gene Kelly. Supporting actors would ultimately include Peter Lawford, Ann Miller and Jules Munshin. There […]

WORLD WAR TWO – The stars & their stories – PT59.

WORLD WAR TWO – The stars & their stories – PT59.

November 4, 2021 Alan Royle 6

  JAMES STEWART (1908-97)                    A native of Indiana, Pennsylvania, James Stewart was blessed with an appeal that seemed to transcend all boundaries. His movie career blossomed in the thirties, due mainly to an on-screen image that made him popular with cinema-goers of both genders and all ages. Men considered him […]

MOVIE TRIVIA. – PT184

MOVIE TRIVIA. – PT184

November 1, 2021 Alan Royle 2

  Ben Kingsley British actor Ben Kingsley will quite rightly be remembered for winning the Oscar in the title role of Gandhi (1982), yet he had been a musician/singer, busking for over a decade before fame caught up with him. It was 1966 when the twenty-three year old Ben made […]

TV WESTERNS – PT20

TV WESTERNS – PT20

October 29, 2021 Alan Royle 0

  JUDGE ROY BEAN (1955-6) 39 EPISODES        Like many western series, this one is based on the life of a real person of the American Wild West, and liberally mixes fact with fiction. Phantly Roy Bean Jr (1825-1903) was a saloon keeper and Justice of the Peace in Val Verde […]

RANDOM QUOTES – PT50.

RANDOM QUOTES – PT50.

October 26, 2021 Alan Royle 0

  SHIRLEY TEMPLE: (1928 – 2014)           [On her adult experiences as a former child star]: ‘I do get pinched a lot. Mostly it’s women, my peer group and even older than I am, and I’m old. They tend to want to touch. If I go on tour I’ll get pinched […]