Edith Head - The Plain Jane Who Dressed the Stars

Edith Head became the most famous dress designer in Hollywood. Her creations adorned the top actresses of the Golden Age and she won  a record eight Academy Awards for Best Costume Design.

Edith Head

She was born  in San Bernardino, California on October 28, 1897 and studied first at Los Angeles High School and then to the University of California and Stanford University where, in 1920, she graduated with a Masters degree in Romance languages.
She began teaching French and Art in La Jolla and tried to improve her art skills by taking evening classes at the Chouinard Art College.
In 1923 she basically cheated her way into Paramount Studios when she she borrowed sketches done by her friends from the Art College to use as examples of her own work.
She became a close friend of Clara Bow and designed dresses for her, gradually taking on more and mor of the top actresses of the day such as  Bette Davis, Ginger Rogers, Marlene Dietrich, Olivia de Havilland and  Barbara Stanwyck. 
After WWII she continued her successes with creations for actresses such as  Grace Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor and Audrey Hepburn.
When the Academy included a a Best Costume awards category, (at Edith's request), she began winning Oscars regularly. In all she was nominated on 35 occasions and won 8 Oscars in total.
Edith Head died, aged 83, on October 24, 1981, from myelofibrosis, a bone marrow disease. Her creations live on.

Mae West in Edith Head creation

Liz Taylor in 'A Place in the Sun

Edith Head Bio on Hollywood's Golden Age'

Greer Garson, A Mature Hollywood Debutante

Greer Garson was one of the most popular actresses in Hollywood during the 1940’s and holds the record, with Betty Davis, of consecutive Academy Award nominations for Best Actress. She received five nominations between 1941 and 1945 including winning in 1942 for her performance in the title role of ‘Mrs Miniver', her best known movie.

She was famous for her grace, her elegant acting and refined, well-modulated way of delivering her lines. Such was her regal bearing and popularity that she became known as the Queen of Hollywood.

Greer is unusual by Hollywood standards in that she started in the acting and movie business relatively late in life. Before her move to Hollywood in 1939 this English born actress had gained a university degree from King’s College, London, had gone on to post-graduate studies in France and had been married to and separated from her childhood sweetheart. She also worked full time in an advertising agency before she ever went on stage.

She was in her late twenties when she began to appear in amateur productions and realised that she had a genuine aptitude for acting. After making her professional debut, aged 28 in 1932 she quickly rose to the top echelon of British actresses including working with Laurence Olivier.

In 1937, after being seen onstage by Louis B. Mayer, who was visiting London, she was given a contract by MGM and the following year, accompanied by her mother, the 34 year old Greer moved to Hollywood. She was not the traditional teenage beauty queen, but the following year she took Hollywood and the world by storm with her acclaimed performance in ‘Goodbye Mr Chips’ for which she received her first Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. A major Hollywood career had begun.

For movre information visit the Greer Garson biography page and the 'Mrs Miniver' page on Hollywood's Golden Age. See also the Mrs Miniver Oscar page on Hollywood Oscars.com

'The Best Years of Our Lives' - one of the greatest movies ever made.

Describing a movie as one of the greatest ever made is giving it quite a burdensome reputation to live up to, but 'The Best Years of Our Lives' justly deserves every jot of praise it gets. Directed by William Wyler in 1946, and starring Myrna Loy, Fredric March and Dana Andrews, the movie vividly depicts the difficulties faced by ex-servicemen returning to their loved ones and a dramatically changed world after the Second World War.

Despite its serious theme, the movie was great entertainment and the public flocked to see it, making it the most popular film since ‘Gone With the Wind’ in 1939. It was also warmly embraced by the critics and it received eight Academy Award nominations, winning in seven categories including Best Picture, Best Director, for Wyler, Best Actor for Fredric March, and Best Supporting Actor for Harold Russell.

Russell was an acting rookie who played Homer Parrish, a soldier who had lost both his hands during the war. In reality Russell had actually lost his hands in 1944 when a faulty fuse detonated explosives he was handling in his duties as a training officer with the US 13th Airborne Division. Although it was his first professional role Russell was in no way upstaged by his more illustrious acting colleagues. He was awarded the Best Supporting Actor Oscar and in addition he was given Special Award for “inspiring hope and courage through his appearance in the film”. He has the unique distinction of being the only person ever to win two Academy Awards for the same role.

The movie is expertly guided by Wyler and shows the interwoven stories of three servicemen returning from wartime duties to their families, describing the difficulties they face in re-adjusting to the post war world, including marital infidelity, loss of work and domestic conflicts.

The cast is highly talented with established stars such as Myrna Loy, Fredric March and Dana Andrews and talented younger stars like Teresa Wright and Virginia Mayo at their very best.

In short, an absorbing, thoroughly entertaining movie with a message which will move the hardest heart. And yes, in my opinion, “one of the greatest movies ever made.” For more information check out Hollywood's Golden Age.com or Hollywood Oscars .com

How The Oscars Started

The Hollywood Oscars Award Ceremony is a star-studded occasion which has become the pinnacle of the film awards season. It is one of the most glamorous media events in the world, pushing performers and film-makers into the media spotlight. To win an Hollywood Oscar is a dream come true, a marketing goldmine for the film industry, generating huge sales and profits for the stars, the studios and their employees.
The glittering extravaganza which we have become accustomed to has evolved from a much humbler beginning over 80 years ago. In 1927 the recently formed Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), created by a group of highly influential Hollywood Studio heads, discussed ways of honouring outstanding achievement in motion picture production in order to encourage higher standards in the industry.
The idea of creating a trophy or trophies was agreed on and eventually Los Angeles sculptor George Stanley was commissioned to create an appropriate design.>
As the USA and Hollywood grew to be the world's movie making hub, so did the stature of the awards increase. Eventually the Academy was recognised as the official body of world movie production and the Oscars became the pinnacle which every filmmaker and performer strove to reach.

The Statuette

The official name of the Oscar trophy is the "Academy Award of Merit". It is 13.5inches tall (34cm) and weighs 8.5lb (3.85kg.) Initially the statuette was made of solid bronze but during WWII the awards were made of plaster. Today's Oscars are made of a pewter-like alloy called Brittanium with gold plating to give the desired brilliant appearance, and is set on a black metal base.

Origins of the name "Oscar"

The term "Oscar" was originally a nickname coined and used during the early 1930's and later taken up by the Academy. The actual origins are somewhat mysterious. One theory came from Bette Davis who claimed it was named after her first husband, band leader Harmon Oscar Nelson. Another theory is that the Academy's first Executive Secretary, Margaret Herrick, thought the statuette reminded her of her "Uncle Oscar" (actually her nickname for her cousin, Oscar Pierce.) Whatever the truth, the trophy received official validation in 1939 when it was dubbed the "Oscar" by the Academy and so it has been called ever since.

The Design

When the Academy decided in 1929, that a suitable trophy should be created, one of the original members, Cedric Gibbons, art director of MGM, was entrusted with the design. He came up with the beautiful Art Deco classic design of a crusading knight with a sword, standing on a reel of film with five spokes. Each spoke represents one of the original branches of the Academy: Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers, and Technicians. In need of a model for his crusader, Gibbons was introduced by his wife, actress Dolores Del Rio, to a Mexican film director, Emilio Fernandez, who became the model for the statuette.
Gibbons's design was made in clay by sculptor George Stanley, and then the final Oscar trophy was cast in tin and copper and plated in gold. It has become one of the most instantly recognisable awards in the world, and it is the design still used today, with only the height of the pedestal being increased from 1945

The Voting System

An Oscar win gives a great boost in both financial and career terms for the winner. Hence the system of voting and film eligibilty has changed and become more streamlined over the years. When the Awards began in 1928, eligibility depended on a movie opening in Los Angeles between August 1st and July 31st of the year preceding the Award ceremony. To make the Award year more manageable – and more memorable - the system was changed after five years. The 1932-33 awards were given a longer qualifying period – 17 months from July 1932 and ever since then, beginning in 1934, all award eligibility has been based on the previous calendar year.
The original voting process was not secret and was open to abuse. Since 1935 the balloting process has been secret and has been managed by auditors Pricewaterhouse (now PricewaterhouseCoopers). For more information on the Hollywood Oscars visit Hollywood Oscars.com

Lauren Bacall, Evergreen Hollywood

Lauren Bacall was one of the top movie actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age. She is perhaps best remembered for her partnership with Humphrey Bogart but her stardom did not end when Bogart died. In her own right she was one of the most important players in post war Hollywood particularly in the film noir genre, and she is ranked by the American Film Institute at number 20 in their listings of Hollywood actress legends. As late as 1996 she received an Academy nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her wonderful performance in 'The Mirror Has Two Faces' and in 2009 she received an Honorary Academy Award at the inaugural Governors Awards.

She first came to the fore as a young beauty on the cover of 'Harper's Bazaar' magazine and she was given a screen test by film director Howard Hawks which resulted in a seven-year contract with Warners Bros. At only 19 years old she starred opposite established superstar Humphrey Bogart in the thriller 'To Have and Have Not' in 1944. She became an instant heroine to many with her sexy banter with Bogart: "You do know how to whistle."

She became even more famous when she and Bogart began an affair and eventually married in 1945. He was 45 years old and Bacall 25 years his junior. She and Bogart made a series of highly successful films together: 'The Big Sleep' in 1946, 'The Dark Passage' in 1947 and 'Key Largo' in 1948. When Bogart died from cancer in 1957, Bacall continued her acting career, becoming as well known for her stage roles as for her screen performances.

She won a Tony Award for her performance in 'Applause' (1970-1972),and again for 'Woman of the Year' (1981-1983). Lauren has never stopped working and is still a force to be reckoned with. She appeared in 'The Limit' in 2004, 'These Foolish Things' in 2006 and 'Wide Blue Yonder' in 2010. She is still very much in demand. Long may it remain so.

Read More about Lauren Bacall

Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Director of Brilliance

Joe Mankiewicz

There are few Hollywood directors with a better artistic reputation than Joseph L. Mankiewicz. He was a brilliant scriptwriter and producer before becoming one of the most skilful and successful directors in movie history. After learning his trade in the 1930’s and 1940’s, working with some of the most influential directors of the time, such as George Cukor, Fritz Lang and Frank Borsage.

When Mankewiecz began directing movies himself, all his latent potential rose to the surface and he showed himself to be a movie genius. He began quietly enough in 1944 when he co-wrote and produced ‘The Keys of the Kingdom’ which included a supporting role by his wife, Rose Stradler, and 2 years later he directed, on his own, ‘Dragonwyck’, which was not a success, but which taught him many lessons about handling actors.

For the next few years Mankiewicz’s genius flowered as he reached a peak of artistic maturity in 1950 and 1951, when he achieved the considerable feat of winning in consecutive years the Oscar for Best Screenplay and Best Director for ‘A Letter to Three Wives’ and ‘All About Eve’. ‘A Letter to Three Wives’ concerns a single letter sent to three different women informing them that a woman has run off with one of their husbands. The plot is detailed and intricate and Mankiewicz shows great skill in his handling of the actors and actresses. 'All About Eve’ won the Academy Award for Best Picture as well as Best Director and Best Screenplay and was a massive triumph for Mankiewicz. It has been described as the finest movie ever made which is quite an accolade, and it certainly fizzes with sparkling wit, brilliant characterisation and wonderful acting from the fine cast, including Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders and a young Marilyn Monroe.

This was the high point of his career and it is difficult to see how he could have improved on his work. He continued to make wonderful, high quality movies including a smash hit adaptation of Shakespeare's 'Julius Caesar' in 1953 with Marlon Brando as Marc Antony and 'The Barefoot Contessa' in 1954. To show his versatility he directed a ground-breaking musical in 1955, 'Guys and Dolls' with Brando again and Frank Sinatra. Mankiewicz continued working until 1972 when he received an Oscar nomination for Best Director for his final film 'Sleuth'.

After this Mankiewicz retired and lived quietly with his second wife in New York, refusing all attempts to coax him back to work. He died in 1993, age 82, in Bedford, New York.
Read more about Joe Mankiewicz at Hollywood's Golden Age.com

Mankiewicz and first wife, Rose Stradler accept the Screenplay Oscar for 'A Letter to Three Wives'

Mankiewicz and Bette Davis accept their Oscars for 'All About Eve'

More about the masterpiece 'All About Eve'.

The Bandwagon-Happy Hollywood

‘The Bandwagon’ is a wonderfully happy movie with a top class cast. As well as Fred Astaire, it stars Nanette Fabray, Cyd Charisse, Oscar Levant and Jack Buchanan, all seasoned, proven perfomers and all ideally suited to blend expertly with the sizzling, brilliant dancing of the master, Astaire.

The music of ‘The Bandwagon’ is brilliant. The song “That’s Entertainment” has become a standard and the ballet sequence ‘Dancing in the Dark’ with Astaire and Cyd Charisse is part of cinema’s folklore. Another high spot is the “Shine on Your Shoes” number which Fred does with real life shoe shine Leroy Daniels.

The movie is given an added edge by the “near to the knuckle” casting. For instance the main character, Tony Hunter, is an aging dancer making a comeback- uncannily similar to …well…Fred Astaire himself. The film’s song writing couple, Lester and Lily Marion were based on the actual songwriters of the movie – Comden and Green. Cyd Charisse’s character is based on the French ballerina Zizi Jeanmaire and Jack Buchanan’s Jeffrey Cordova character is an amalgam of real life movie personalities, Orson Welles, José Ferrer and George S. Kaufman.

‘The Bandwagon’ is a rare delight, a musical masterpiece- I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Read more at Hollywood's Golden Age

Dana Andrews, Always Recognised, Never Known

Dana Andrews has the sort of face that audiences find familiar but cannot put a name to. He started his career always in secondary roles but in high quality movies such as 'The Westerner' in 1940 and 'The Ox-Bow Incident' in 1943. then in 1944 he was given his first starring role, with Gene Tierney in the hit movie 'Laura', followed by his best known role as the returning soldier, Fred Derry, in 'The Best Years of Our Lives' in 1946.

These movies made him a major star but continuing success eluded him and he develpoed a severe alcohol problem which became well known in Hollywood and which lost him the confidence of many producers. His career was irredeemably harmed by this and resulted in his being a 'B' movie actor for the rest of his career.

However Dana Andrews had the strength of character to overcome his alcohol demons and ehe even became an extremely vocal member of the National Council on Alcoholism and he was later elected president of the Screen Actors Guild in 1963.

Andrews died from heart failure in 1992 after suffering for many years from Alzheimer's Disease. He had reached for the stars and almost made it. But he had tried.
Click here for a biography and filmography of Dana Andrews
For an appreciation of 'The Best Years of Our Lives' click here

Dana Andrews
Buy This at Allposters.com

Frank Borsage, Forgotten Director

Although Frank Borsage is a less well known director than some of his contemporaries, such as Alfred Hitchcock or George Cukor, he was exceptionally successful in the era spanning the end of the Silents and beginning of the Talkies.

The very first Oscar for Directing was won by Borsage in 1927 for his 'Seventh Heaven' starring Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell, and he soon won a second Oscar for Direction for 'Bad Girl' in 1931.

Borsage developed his own unique, gushing and lovingly romantic style and his films often show young love triumphant over life's hardships. So in 'Seventh Heaven', for example, love triumphs over the problems of war, and in 'Lucky Star' in 1929 it triumphs over disability. The heightened romanticism of his work is intensified by his clever use of graceful, barely discernible, soft focus camerawork.

Frank Borsage biography and filmography.

Gregory Peck in 'Gentleman's Agreement'

'Gentleman's Agreement' is a brilliant and powerful, ground-breaking film made in 1947, directed by Elia Kazan, dealing directly with the hitherto unspoken subject of anti-Semitism.

It starred Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, John Garfield and Celeste Holm and was based on the novel of the same name by Laura Hobson which was actually published at the same time as the film was released.

The film delivers a strong message which was even more potent on release in 1947 with memories of the Holocaust still fresh and with the state of Israel only recently formed.

Daryll F. Zanuck, the production chief of Twentieth Century Fox got the idea of making a film on the theme of anti-Semitism when, as a young man, he had been refused membership of Los Angeles Country Club for being Jewish, even though he was in fact Gentile. It is ironic that the other movie moguls of Hollywood, the vast majority of whom were Jewish immigrants, tried to warn Zanuck off making the movie as it would stir up trouble. Despite this, and to his great credit, Zanuck was not deflected from his purpose and saw the project through.

The movie was one of Fox's highest grossing movies of 1947 and was nominated for eight Oscars, winning three, for Best Picture, Best Director for Elia Kazan and Best Supporting Actress for Celeste Holm. It lost in five categories,including Best Actor and Best Actress.

Grregory Peck plays a journalist who decides to try to gain a real-life perspective on anti-Semitism by pretending to be Jewish. We see a number of incidents where he is slighted because of his supposed religion, the most insidious and prevalent being the subtle "gentleman's agreement" whereby anti-Jewish sentiments are taken for granted. He becomes a determined crusader against prejudice, helped by his Jewish friend, Dave Goldman, played by John Garfield, who in real life was Jewish.

It is tragically ironic that HUAC, the House Un-American Activities Committee, although publicly an avowed Communist-hunting group, also pursued an agenda of anti-Semitism, and the majority of people associated with making the film were called to testify before the Committee. John Garfield died, aged 39, of a heart attack, the night before he was due to
appear before them for a second time. It was the Gentleman's Agreement in action.

Read more about 'Gentleman's Agreement'.

Little Women (1933), A Katharine Hepburn Masterclass

Most of us are familiar with the novel "Little Women" by Louis May Allcott. It is a moving and entertaining account of the March family- the mother and four daughters-and their lives whilst the father is away on Civil War service. The story is timeless and heartwarming and recounts events in the life of each sister, with the emphasis on Jo, played by Katharine Hepburn, as they grow, and develop relationships with one another, friends and lovers.
 The 1933 adaptation was already the third time the novel had been depicted on screen after two Silent movies and it was to be filmed again in 1949 and 1994 but this version, the first Sound version is generally regarded as the definitive one.
Overall the movie is faithful to the novel and presents Katharine Hepburn with a splendid opportunity to shine, an opportunity of which she takes full advantage with a brilliant and unforgettable performance, full of verve, invention and vitality.
It is a movie not to be missed.
Read more of 'Little Women'
Read more of Katharine Hepburn
Read more of George Cukor

Judy Holliday, brilliant actress who died too young

Judy Holliday had a genius IQ of 172 but, ironically, made her name playing dumb blondes, and doing it very well. She made her name in 1949 in the role of Doris Attinger in the highly successful George Cukor movie 'Adam's Rib', starring Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. She then won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1951 for her performance as  'Billie' Dawn in 'Born Yesterday'. She also won the first Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for the same performance. At the very peak of her career, Judy developed breast cancer and died in 1965 aged just 43.

Check out Hollywood's Golden Age for more on Judy Holliday.

Sidney Greenstreet, Portrayer of Shrewd Villainy

Sidney Greenstreet was as unforgettable as he was unmistakeable. His large frame seemed to threaten to take over any scene in which he appeared and underlined the menace and authority which many of his roles demanded.

Born in Kent in South East England in 1879, Greenstreet left home when he was eighteen to seek his fortune as a tea planter in Ceylon, but was forced to return home within a few years after severe drought blighted his crops.
He turned to his first love and made his acting debut in Ramsgate, Kent in 'Sherlock Holmes' in 1902. His talent was obvious and he played for the next forty years in a variety of genres, ranging from Shakespeare to light comedy, firstly through Britain and then round America.

He received many offers to appear in movies but always turned them down until at the relatively advanced age of 62  in 1941 he agreed to appear in 'The Maltese Falcon' with Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre. His success was instantaneous he he found himself a Hollywood star. He became a specialist at portraying a certain kind of subtle malevolence in movies such as 'Casablanca' in 1942, 'Passage to Marseille' in 1944 and 'The Verdict' in 1946.

His movie career ended due to ill health after just eight years during which he worked with stars such as George Raft,  Clark Gable, Ava Gardner and Joan Crawford.

Sidney Greenstreet died in 1954 due to complications from diabetes. He was a unique actor. There will never be another like him.

The Maltese Falcon with Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre

Casablanca with Humphrey Bogart

For more information on Siney Greenstreet visit Hollywood's Golden Age

The King and I, Whistle a Happy Tune

'The King and I' is pure entertainment, a musical film full of wonderful songs and memorable dancing. It was made in 1956 and stars Yul Brynner, Deborah Kerr and Rita Moreno. It is based on Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1951 smash Broadway musical hit of the same name, which, in turn, is based on Margaret Landon's book "Anna and the King of Siam".

Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The movie won five Oscars out of  nine nominations and is still regarded as the best of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals - quite an accolade.

Four songs fronm the movie stand on their own  out as standards: "Getting to Know You", "Whistle a Happy Tune", "Hello, Young Lovers" and "Shall We Dance".

The film was the making of Yul Brynner, who had previously been a relatively unknown actor. He took the unusual career step of shaving his head and he gave a magnificent performance in a difficult role. He then gave the impression of basking in the glory of that one role for the rest of his career! Deborah Kerr was already a well known and very accomplished actress who had given many superb performances in  films such as 'From Here to Eternity', also rose to the occasion again in this one. Rita Moreno is exceptionally beautiful as well as a superb actress, and gave a remarkable performance as the runaway slave.

Its a lovely movie. It'll make you feel good. Don't miss it!

Read more about 'The King and I' at Hollywood's Golden Age.com

Eleanor Powell, The World's Greatest Tap Dancer

Eleanor Powell was an American film actress and a graceful and nimble-footed dancer who became famous during the 1930's and 1940's,for her creative, quick-fire, solo tap dancing routines and became known as the ”Queen of Tap Dancing”.

She  featured in several Broadway revues, and her first movie appearance was in George White's 'Scandals of 1935'.  When she appeared in 'Broadway Melody of 1936', Eleanor began her long association with MGM musicals, where her co-stars ranged from Nelson Eddy to Fred Astaire to Jimmy Stewart to Burns and Allen.  In 'Lady Be Good' in 1941, she wore top hat and short tails to dance "Fascinating Rhythm” for director Busby Berkeley. The number opened on a close up of her tapping feet and ended spectacularly with her being thrown head over heels time and again down a corridor of male dancers.


 In 1943 she married actor Glen Ford and retired from acting. On her divorce from Ford in 1959 she began a new, and successful nightclub career.  Her career continued into the early 1960's when she made several guest appearances on television, including The Ed Sullivan Show and The Hollywood Palace.


Eleanor Powell died of cancer at the age of 69 in February, 1982, and she was interred in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.


Click for full biography and filmography

Gabby Hayes - the eternal sidekick

Who can forget the grizzled bewhiskered face, that throaty voice or those wonderful 'yer durn tootin' and 'young whipper snapper' expressions of Gabby Hayes.

He became famous in the early years of Talkies during the 1930's and 1940's as sidekick to stars like Hopalong Cassidy, Roy Rogers and Gene Autry. He became so popular that he was consistently featured in the top ten polls of favorite actors.

Movie acting was his second main career. After working as a circus performer as a young man he began performing in vaudeville with his wife, Olive Ireland after they married in 1914. They were extremely successful and became very well known, making a great deal of  money, so much so that Hayes was able to retire in the late 1920's when he was still in his mid 40's. It was only after losing his fortune in the Great Wall Street Crash of 1929 that he was forced to seek work and found it in California in the movie industry.
          

1934, Randy Rides Alone

He began his movie career as a regular fixture in the many Westerns of the 1930's, first as a bad guy, and often starring opposite the young John Wayne.Eventually he ended up playing the same character in all his films - the eternal sidekick to the western hero, whether that hero be Hopalong Cassidy, Roy Rogers, Randolph Scott, or Wayne himself. He firt took the name "Windy" Halliday in many Hopalong Cassidy films but afterleaving due to a salary dispute he was prohibited from using that name again and so the name "Gabby" was chosen.

With Roy Rogers

 From 1950 to 1954 he had his own TV Western series, 'The Gabby Hayes Show', aimed largely at children, after which he retired for good and devoted the rest of his life to his wife and his investments. He appeared in almost 200 movies and TV episodes during his career.

Gabby and wife, Olivia

Away from the cameras Hayes was completely different to his screen persona. He was serious and sophisticated. He died in February, 1969 of  cardiovascular disease in Burbank, California. He was 83.

For a complete biography and filmography of Gabby Hayes visit Hollywood's Golden Age

The Night of the Hunter, A Robert Mitchum Masterclass

Made in 1955 and the only film to be directed by Charles Laughton, 'The Night of the Hunter' is a masterpiece of a movie, a haunting and frightening Biblical tale of greed, corruption, seduction and innocence.

It stars Robert Mitchum, a vastly underrated actor, as one of Hollywood's most unforgettable villains, "Reverend" Harry Powell, dressed in clerical black and white  and with the words "love" and "hate" tattooed on his knuckles.

His decepively sleepy-eyed presence dominates the whole film whether playing emotionally powerful scenes with Shelley Winters as the doomed widow or pretending to play with the children whom he later seeks to kill. Even when he is not on screen we feel his malevolence.  His performance in 'The Night of the Hunter' abounds with examples of under­statement and subtle awareness of the needs of the part. It is a massive tribute to his skill as an actor.


Read more about Robert Mitchum
Read more about The Night of the Hunter
Read more about Charles Laughton

1950's Sweater Girls in Hollywood - Hot Pics

'Sweater girls' was a term coined in the late 1940's and 1950's to describe movie star sex symbols like Marilyn Monroe, Lana Turner and Jayne Mansfield who introduced the popular fashion for wearing tight sweaters and blouses with cone shaped bras called 'bullet bras' which had pointed tips, and which showed off their breasts to great effect.

The bullet bra was also known as a torpedo or cone bra, and it created a silhouette that was a definitive part of 40s and 50s culture.

Here is a selection of hot pics of beautiful stars and starlets of the 1950's, some famous, some completely unknown. All are beautiful, all are tasteful, and all are truly memorable.

Anita Ekberg, Big, Blonde and Beautiful

Anita Ekberg was Sweden's answer to Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield combined. For a while during the 1950's she was one of the most famous film stars in the world and certainly one of the sexiest. She loved to show off her curvy, voluptuous body with enormous breasts. They got plenty of exposure.

In 1952, Anita was a cover girl for Look magazine and by January 1956, she was on the cover of Life. It helped that she was happy to take part in publicity stunts, as when her dress burst open in the foyer of the Berkeley Hotel in London, and there just happened to be a press photographer on hand to capture the event.

There's no doubting Anita's main assets. Take a look at these photos and you'll see what we mean. But apart from her uniquely large bust and beautiful hour glass body Anita had a truly beautiful face, which was loved by the camera. She was just stunning. In addition she had something else going for her, something that her competition didn''t have - I'm talking about talent, raw acting talent.

Anita Ekberg was born Kerstin Anita Marianne Ekberg on September 29, 1931 the eldest girl of eight children. She grew up to be a beautiful young girl and became a fashion model. She won the Miss Sweden beauty title in 1950, aged 19 which led to a trip to America and a movie contract and she became one of the most popular pin up glamor models of the 1950's. She seemed naever to be out of the public eye and she made the most of her fame with a succession of celebrity lovers including Tyrone Power, Errol Flynn, Yul Brynner, Frank Sinatra and Gary Cooper. Not a bad list!

After two films with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, then at their peak of fame, Anita found movie superstardom first in King Vidor's 'War and Peace' in 1956 and then Federico Fellini's 'La Dolce Vita' in 1960, in which with Marcello Mastroianni she took part in a scene romping in the Trevi fountain, which has gone down in movie legend. She had a couple of small roles in Fellini movies thereafter but, as her weight increased, so her desirability did the opposite.

Anita married twice, each time to actors. The first, from 1956 to 1959 was to Anthony Steel the British actor, and then from 1963 to 1975, she was married to the actor with the wonderful name of Rik Van Nutter. She is still alive today and living happily in Italy.

Yankee Doodle Dandy - A Cagney Masterclass

For anyone who wonders why James Cagney stands in the very top echelon of Hollywood movie stars, take a look at 'Yankee Doodle Dandy', made in 1942.

It would be terribly easy from a postmodern, politically correct, and sophisticatead perspective to regard the movie as jingoistic wartime propaganda. Indeed, this flag-waving musical extravaganza biopic, detailing the life of patriotic |Irish American song-and-dance man George M. Cohan (the first performer to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor), gushes with sentimental, simplistic musical numbers invariably characterized by Cohan's trademark stiff-kneed, effervescent, brash dancing style and championing through their lyrics the most stolid American institutions: "Grand Old Flag,", "Give My Regards to Broadway", "Over There," and the title song, to name a few. The film is a flashback - told by a modest Cohan to FDR - that ends with a self-conscious advertisement for intervention - "I wouldn't worry about this country if I were you. We've got this thing licked. Where else in the world could a plain guy like me come in and talk things over with the head man?"

But such a cynical reading would fail grossly to miss something surprising and touching and grand that runs through 'Yankee Doodle Dandy' like a clear river, and that is James Cagney's magnificent sincerity in the title role. This is evident in his way of embarrassedly smiling to punctuate his thoughts, in his soft and civilised speaking voice, in the astonishing virtuosity of his dancing which is persuasive and original in style, unrelentingly athletic while also being childish, playful, and beautifully meaningless: and in something we rarely see onscreen anymore since alienated distance has overtaken Hollywood performance, and that is Cagney's complete and loving belief in everything he does. Michael Curtiz's direction never overplays him, James Wong Howe's lush black-and-white cinematography never fails to show every nuance of his posture and expression in articulate light. And when his hoofer father (Walter Huston) is falling away into death, with Georgie at his bedside, Cagney gives in to a rush of honest feeling that carries him into tears. So mucn, in fact, do we care for this man we forget we are watching a performance. Cagney has become Cohan. Even more, he has become the optimistic spirit of the screen. A beautiful masterpiece of James Cagney's acting brilliance.

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