Tom Neal – getting away with murder.

March 25, 2016 admin 16

  Tom Neal was a man who came into the world with benefits and attributes that less fortunate souls could only dream of having, then he went ahead and made a complete mess of his life. And along the way he got away with cold-blooded murder. Born into a wealthy […]

The enigma that was Howard Hughes

March 23, 2016 admin 14

   Howard Hughes was a Texan, a maverick movie tycoon who hit the movie industry like a whirlwind in the Roaring Twenties and remained a force for a couple of decades. At the age of 19 he inherited 75% of his family’s fortune. His father had patented the two-cone roller […]

Girl # 27 – Patricia Douglas Pt 2.

March 19, 2016 admin 4

  Part 2 of the Patricia Douglas story. Patty Douglas did not seek medical aid in the days following her assault. ‘I would’ve been too embarrassed. Someone would’ve seen me naked’, she said. No-one, not even her mother, had seen her naked body since she was a little girl. Consequently, […]

Girl # 27 – Patricia Douglas Part 1.

March 17, 2016 admin 2

     This story will be in two parts. It is a tale of a young woman’s quest for justice in an era and a place where greedy and powerful men determined who was entitled to fair treatment and who was not. Ptricia Douglas was a ‘nobody’, one of thousands […]

Luise Rainer – the forgotten star.

March 15, 2016 admin 4

                             The lovely Luise Rainer is pretty much the forgotten star of Hollywood’s so-called Golden Era. The petite actress had all the assets necessary for screen success, but she was built of sterner stuff than her contemporaries […]

The exquisite Grace Kelly.

March 13, 2016 admin 19

  Fans of Grace Kelly (and I am one of them, believe it or not) are probably going to jump up and down if they read this, and accuse me of ‘muck-raking’ or, at best, sensationalising her track record (or should I say ‘sack’ record) with members of the opposite […]

Great character actors Pt.4

March 11, 2016 admin 0

  Elisha Cook Jr. achieved screen immortality with two memorable roles. His portrayal of Wilmer (the ‘gunsel’) in The Maltese Falcon (1941) is probably the one remembered by most fans, but I personally prefer his playing of ‘Stonewall’ Torrey twelve years later in Shane (1953). Whether he was getting slapped […]

Great character actors Pt 3.

March 9, 2016 admin 2

    Eve Arden was born Eunice Quedens in California in 1908. Her folks divorced when she was young and she quit school at 16 to join a stock theatre company. She made her film debut in Song of Love in 1929 and her Broadway debut (as Eve Arden) in […]

Great character actors Pt 2.

March 7, 2016 admin 0

    Celeste Holm was, in my opinion the most likeable of all the character actors down through the decades, although I am willing to admit that this may very well have had a lot to do with the kind of characters she invariably played. She was a kind of […]

Great character actors. Pt 1

March 5, 2016 admin 2

    Obviously, most of us are drawn to a movie more often than not because of the lead players, yet very few great movies are carried entirely by their stars. The support players can make a profound difference to the quality of a picture. A prime example of this […]