The Studio System – the Big Five.

July 22, 2015 admin 7

  For several decades the ‘Big Five’ in Hollywood were MGM, 20th Century Fox, RKO, Paramount and Warner Bros. United Artists had its moments in the sun, as did Columbia, Republic and Universal, but they were not really in the same league as the others. Of the ‘Big Five’ only RKO […]

A few snippets from Frank Langella.

July 20, 2015 admin 2

  Oscar-nominated actor Frank Langella published his most entertaining biography titled, Dropped Names: Famous Men & Women as I Knew Them, in 2013. It is a scathing one that pulls few, if any, punches. Here are a few snippets from it, some of his observations down the decades, along with […]

OLIVIA & JOAN -The feuding de Havilland sisters.

July 14, 2015 admin 0

  Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland were real life sisters who were born in Tokyo, and then moved to America. Olivia was born in 1916, Joan a year later. Max Reinhardt spotted Olivia in a college version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and was so impressed he placed her […]

Dean Martin – funny and nice.

July 8, 2015 admin 2

  In his youth Dean Martin delivered bootleg liquor, ran numbers and craps games for hoodlums, and fought as a prizefighter under the sobriquet of ‘Kid Crochet’. He worked at the Club Alabama in New York City, an establishment owned by Louis Buchalter (a.k.a. Louis Lepke), the killer who ran […]

Stanwyck & Taylor – a Lavender Marriage?

July 6, 2015 admin 52

When it came to questions about her sexuality, Barbara Stanwyck was the old studio days’ equivalent of today’s Tom Cruise. Any mention of her sexual preferences would immediately bring forth veiled threats of litigation should the subject be pursued. Cruise does the same thing today. Mention his name in connection […]

‘America’s Sweethearts’ – or were they?

July 2, 2015 admin 12

  Biographers have tried for years to figure out the relationship between singers Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald. Most have given up. On the one hand we have Eddy, lifelong ‘sissy’, tied to his mother’s apron-strings, a bisexual man who definitely preferred male lovers to female ones, but who seemed […]

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June 30, 2015 admin 34

                            

LORETTA YOUNG – A good Catholic girl?

June 28, 2015 admin 4

  If Olympic medals were given out for hypocrisy, Loretta Young (1913 – 2000) would have won gold many times over. The studio blurb described her thus: ‘Her true beauty lies in her dedication to her family and her faith.’ About the only truthful word in that whole line would […]

GARY COOPER – The ultimate movie star.

June 13, 2015 admin 0

  He was born Frank Cooper in Helena, Montana, but his agent was born in Gary, Indiana, so his hometown was chosen for Coops’ Christian name. After all, the name Gary Cooper had a certain masculinity that Helena Cooper seemed to lack. A car accident in his youth broke Coop’s […]

TV RATINGS SINCE 1950 – How tastes have changed.

June 11, 2015 admin 0

    Below is a list of the top-rated programs since the 1950-51 season, according to Nielsen Media Research. Having inhabited this planet since 1947, I can recall most of these shows, although I must admit that I lost interest in TV when that horrible reality rubbish began to dominate […]