‘THE RED SCARE’ 1947-54 Much has been written about the paranoia that evolved in America, due to the excesses of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in the forties and fifties, and their impact on the movie industry in that country. I thought it might be time to post […]
Barbara Windsor in her ‘Carry On’ days ‘Carry On’ and Eastenders diminutive star (she is 4’10” or 1.47m tall), Barbara Windsor’s autobiography titled All of Me is a most candid work. In it she discusses her affairs with ‘Carry On’ co-star Sidney James, London gangster Reggie Kray and footballer […]
PETER ORTIZ (1913-88) The highlight of the undistinguished film career of Peter Ortiz was probably his portrayal of Captain St. Jacques in the 1950 John Wayne western Rio Grande. His wartime career, however, is the stuff of legend. Multi-lingual Pierre ‘Peter’ Ortiz was the most decorated man to […]
HARPO MARX: [The famous harp-playing Marx Brother recalled the act performing in vaudeville] ‘If an audience didn’t like us we had no trouble finding it out. We were pelted with sticks, bricks, spit-balls, cigar butts, peach pits and chewed-out stalks of sugar cane. We took all this without flinching […]
GARBO, Greta: If we are to accept the word of Orson Welles, it seems that not every Hollywood star was filled with the milk of human kindness as we were led to believe by the studio publicity machines. Scarcely a revelation, I know. He recalled dining with […]
DARNELL, Linda: Linda was one of the many local actresses who attended the Hollywood Canteen and did their level best to make a lot of young servicemen briefly happy before they embarked for battle zones on the other side of the world. On one particular evening she danced […]
Sandra Bullock & her Oscar for The Blind Side (2009) Sandra Bullock enjoys a reputation for being kind and attentive, highly professional and a pleasure to work with. Unlike many of her contemporaries, she does not permit her ego to interfere with her sense of humour either. In 2009, she readily turned […]
Donald Sutherland & Jane Fonda in Klute (1971) Jane Fonda hung out with prostitutes and pimps for a week as preparation for her role as the hooker Bree in Klute (1971). She also spent time at the local morgue and emerged visibly moved by what she saw there. She and co-star Donald […]
Between 1941 and 1944 over 6,000 Hollywood workers entered the services, 1,500 of whom were registered actors and actresses. The ‘Hollywood Unit’ made training and recruitment films (and newsreels). One recruitment film starring Jimmy Stewart was said to have been responsible for 100,000 men joining the air force. Hundreds […]
DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944) I suppose most fans of old movies have their personal favourite film noir. Mine is without doubt Double Indemnity (1944), which surprises even me because I have never been overly keen on any of the three stars – Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray and Edward G. Robinson. […]
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