FIFTIES MOVIE TRIVIA – PT4.

March 19, 2018 Alan Royle 8

Director Charles Laughton thought Robert Mitchum was one of the finest actors in the world and he also respected him as a person. He wrote in Esquire about the American who starred in his masterpiece The Night of the Hunter in 1955: ‘All this tough talk is a blind, you […]

The Hollywood Canteen – a unique experience.

August 13, 2017 Alan Royle 6

  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 […]

The many loves of Ava Gardner.

August 3, 2017 Alan Royle 29

  AVA GARDNER (1922-90)            Ava was a ‘knockout’, possibly the sexiest woman ever to grace a movie screen. She married Mickey Rooney when he was the number one box-office draw in movies (she refused to sleep with him unless he married her first). Within three weeks or so of the […]

The many loves of Lana Turner.

August 1, 2017 Alan Royle 5

  LANA TURNER (1921-95)   1936:   Wayne Morris, who would become a fighter pilot hero in World War Two, was Lana’s first Hollywood crush.   1937:   Ronald Reagan was her first studio-arranged romance, although it is generally believed that their relationship did not go beyond a few horse-riding outings. However, […]

Did you know? – Dietrich, Turner & Crawford. A few thoughts.

July 22, 2017 Alan Royle 5

    MARLENE DIETRICH        (1901-92) Marlene had literally hundreds of lovers of both sexes. Debate still rages over whether or not she and Greta Garbo were intimate.  There is considerable evidence that they made a movie together in Europe before heading for America, but both ladies always maintained they had […]

Hollywood Mysteries Pt 1.

July 16, 2017 Alan Royle 0

                        There has been a number of mysterious deaths in Hollywood and the movie (and TV )business over the past hundred or so years. Over the next week or so I shall briefly look at the most interesting of […]

Hollywood & Abortions

April 1, 2017 Alan Royle 2

  Over the past century or more that Hollywood has existed there has been no shortage of abortions performed on many of its aspiring young actresses. Unwanted offspring are not unique to the movie business, but they do tend to interfere with ambitions, not to mention reputations, more often in […]

A couple of film noirs.

February 4, 2017 Alan Royle 0

  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. […]