DUSTIN HOFFMAN – An acquired taste.

September 16, 2017 Alan Royle 0

DUSTIN HOFFMAN                                                Maybe he has mellowed as he has aged, but I doubt it. Dustin Hoffman’s contemporaries, actors, directors and producers alike, have always found him a […]

ROBERT RYAN – A class act.

September 14, 2017 Alan Royle 2

RYAN, Robert (1909 – 73) I recently had the pleasure of watching a terrific western named The Proud Ones (1956). It has gone completely unheralded, yet it is clearly a couple of cuts above the average western fare. I watched it for one simple reason, because Robert Ryan was its […]

SNAPSHOTS Vol 2

September 12, 2017 Alan Royle 0

CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS (1937)                                   I have watched Captains Courageous only twice because, frankly, I cannot abide Spencer Tracy’s portrayal of the Portuguese fisherman Manuel. In fact, I only watched it the second time because of Freddie Bartholomew’s superb performance and to see Lionel Barrymore ‘box his ears’ better than anyone has ever done […]

B – LIST BEAUTIES PT2.

September 10, 2017 Alan Royle 0

         LITA BARON (1923 – 2015)                          The Broken Star (1956) opposite Howard Duff Tiny Lita Baron (she was just 4’11”) was a fiery Andalusion-born singer/dancer from Almeria, Spain who performed up front with Xavier Cugat’s Orchestra at […]

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1940s & 50s – When singers could sing.

September 8, 2017 Alan Royle 3

THE ANDREWS SISTERS – L to R Maxene (1916 – 95), Patty (1916 – 2013) & LaVerne (1911-67)  Whichever way you look at it the Andrews Sisters were a uniformly unattractive trio, yet they were a phenomenally successful singing group, especially during World War Two. Maxene was the dominant one […]

Suzan Ball – A sad tale.

September 6, 2017 Alan Royle 2

  SUZAN BALL (1934 – 55)  There have been many sad stories come out of Hollywood and Suzan Ball’s is one of the saddest. She had only made eight movies (and in two of those she was ‘uncredited), when suddenly her career and her life were over. Fate chose to […]

Sessue Hayakawa – Japan’s Hollywood superstar.

September 4, 2017 Alan Royle 0

  HAYAKAWA, Sessue (1889 – 1973)                       Other than die-hard fans of The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), very few modern movie buffs would even have heard of Sessue Hayakawa, much less be familiar with his career. His performance […]

B – LIST BEAUTIES – Pt 1.

September 2, 2017 Alan Royle 0

B – LIST BEAUTIES OF THE STUDIO SYSTEM’S FINAL DAYS – PT 1 For the final 15 years of the studio system, from the end of World War Two until about 1960, an enormous number of starlets were signed to five and seven year contracts by the large and small […]

GOLDIE HAWN (1945- ) – a self-made star.

August 31, 2017 Alan Royle 0

  GOLDIE HAWN (1945 – )                           Goldie Hawn is a direct descendent of the youngest signer of the Declaration of Independence, one William Rutledge. If you have seen the musical 1776, Rutledge is the southern gentleman whose […]