TV TID-BITS – PT 1.

December 14, 2016 Alan Royle 0

  BONANZA                                          Bonanza was shot at Paramount until 1970 when it was moved to Stage 14 at Warner Bros for its final three seasons. The Ponderosa Ranch House was built […]

Past Oscars PT7 – 1975-81

December 12, 2016 Alan Royle 8

  1975               One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – Best Picture                         Jack Nicholson – Best Actor for One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest                         Louise Fletcher – Best Actress for One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest                         George Burns – Best Supporting Actor for The Sunshine Boys This was the […]

The WAMPAS Baby Stars PT4 – 1925.

December 10, 2016 Alan Royle 0

  BETTY (BETTE) ARLEN (1909-66) Of all the WAMPAS Baby Stars down the years, Betty Arlen had one of the least significant acting careers of any. She actually appeared in a total of 24 movies, three of them in the Roaring Twenties and the rest between 1949 and 1956, but […]

The Warner Bros. Story

December 8, 2016 Alan Royle 4

  Warner Brothers was incorporated in 1923 by the four brothers – Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack. They bought a lot on Sunset Boulevard and their first big star was a German shepherd named Rin Tin Tin. In fact, it would be fair to say that the studio would almost […]

Did you know?

December 6, 2016 Alan Royle 0

  RUBY KEELER I recently watched 42nd Street (1933) in its entirety, having only seen excerpts until then. The acting was very ordinary, the sound quality (as expected) was inferior, and the highlighted singers were mostly awful. And that includes Ruby Keeler. In fact, she not only couldn’t sing, she […]

The Silent Movie Era – a few observations.

November 30, 2016 Alan Royle 6

                                                             Here are a few unrelated ‘snippets’ from the good old days of the ‘Silent Era’. Some of them you may already know about; others you may not. But each one contributes to our knowledge and understanding of that long ago […]

No Image

Cartoon characters – Matching the voices to the faces.

November 28, 2016 Alan Royle 2

  It usually comes as a surprise (to me anyway) when I come across an actor whose voice I instantly recognize as being that of a well-known cartoon character. I was watching an old 1949 Esther Williams film a few nights ago (Neptune’s Daughter), and a Mexican named Pancho (what […]

Past Oscars PT 6 – (1967-74).

November 26, 2016 Alan Royle 0

  1967               In the Heat of the Night – Best Picture                         Rod Steiger – Best Actor for In the Heat of the Night                         George Kennedy – Best Supporting Actor for Cool Hand Luke In the Heat of the Night was a strong choice for Best Picture, but how could […]