That said, we’ll be giving away FOUR PAIRS of tickets* to see “TCM Big Screen Classics: King Kong” – the original film classic starring Fay Wray — the way it was meant to be seen – on the Big Screen!
In order to qualify to win a pair of movie tickets via this contest, you must complete the below entry task by Saturday, February 22 at 6PM EST.
We will announce the winner(s) on Twitter on Sunday, February 23, between 6PM EST and 7PM EST.If a winner(s) does not have a Twitter account, we will announce that winner(s) via this blog in the comment section below.
ENTRY TASK (2-parts) to be completed by Saturday, February 22 at 6pm EST…
1) Answer the below question via the comment section at the bottom of this blog post
THE QUESTION: What is it about “King Kong” that makes it a classic — even today, 87 years after its release? And, if you haven’t seen it, why do you want to see it on the Big Screen?
2) Then TWEET* (not DM) the following message: I just entered to win tickets to see “TCM Big Screen Classics Presents: King Kong” on the Big Screen courtesy of @ClassicMovieHub & @FathomEvents #EnterToWin #CMHContest link here: http://ow.ly/22yS50ybsOt
*If you don’t have a Twitter account, you can still enter the contest by simply answering the above question via the comment section at the bottom of this blog — BUT PLEASE ENSURE THAT YOU ADD THIS VERBIAGE TO YOUR ANSWER: I do not have a Twitter account, so I am posting here to enter but cannot tweet the message.
NOTE: if for any reason you encounter a problem commenting here on this blog, please feel free to tweet or DM us, or send an email to clas…@gmail.com and we will be happy to create the entry for you.
ALSO: Please allow us 48 hours to approve your comments. Sorry about that, but we are being overwhelmed with spam, and must sort through 100s of comments…
About the film: In the classic adventure that made her a star, Fay Wray plays the beautiful woman who conquers the savage heart of a giant ape. Traveling to an uncharted South Pacific island with an adventurer following tales of a God-Ape, Ann Darrow (Wray) is captured by the island’s natives to serve as a human sacrifice to Kong. But when Kong, a giant ape, sees Darrow, it is overcome with love–and eventually captured by the adventurers. Taken to New York and put on display, Kong breaks free and pursues Darrow through New York in one of the most famous scenes ever filmed. The original King Kong, breaking loose in cinemas! This special event includes exclusive insights from Turner Classic Movies.
Please note that only United States residents are eligible to enter this giveaway contest.
BlogHub members ARE also eligible to win if they live within the Continental United States (as noted above).
You can follow Fathom Events on Twitter at @fathomevents
One of the things I especially enjoy about Westerns is discovering
lesser-known yet very entertaining movies. There are a great many such films
out there for the finding, ranging from “darn good Westerns” —
straightforward, solidly made entertainment — to unsung treasures which should
be much better known. There’s a real thrill in watching a previously unknown
Western which surprises and satisfies the viewer, and I hope to highlight some
of those films in this column.
Below is a trio of three excellent, relatively unsung Westerns
which I highly recommend.
Writer-director Blake Edwards (The Pink Panther) was only 25 when, along with John C. Champion, he co-wrote and co-produced Panhandle for Monogram Pictures; Edwards also plays a key supporting role.
Rod Cameron stars as John Sands, a former gunfighter who leaves behind his peaceful life as a merchant to hunt for the killer of his younger brother. When Sands arrives in the town where the murder took place, he suspects the powerful Garson (Reed Hadley), and he also tangles with a hired gun (Edwards). Sands is aided by his late brother’s fiancee (Cathy Downs of My Darling Clementine) and Garson’s secretary (Anne Gwynne, the real-life grandmother of actor Chris Pine).
As one might expect from a film co-written by Edwards, it has some excellent dialogue, and it’s also quite unpredictable; just when you think you’ve figured out where the movie’s going, it heads in another direction. The script also features two strong women’s roles without relying on the Western cliche of the “good girl” and the “bad (saloon) gal”; each woman is smart and plays a key role in assisting the hero. The movie is quite refreshing in this regard.
Rod Cameron and Cathy Downs in Panhandle (1948)
In fact, none of the characters are the usual “stock”
characters, including the gunfighter; Edwards, who would soon give up the
acting part of his film career, plays his hotheaded role with flare. Cameron’s
appealing lead character, who is both courtly and confident, provides the perfect
contrast with Edwards.
The film is also distinguished by some excellent set pieces,
including a brutal fistfight and an extremely memorable shootout in the rain.
On top of it all, the movie was shot in sepia by Harry Neumann, giving the
movie a unique visual look.
Just describing this film makes me want to watch it all over
again! I hope anyone unfamiliar with this title will seek it out, as it’s
rewarding viewing.
Panhandle is
available on DVD from VCI Entertainment.
…..
The Desperado (Thomas Carr, 1954)
The Desperado (1954)
Wayne Morris was a successful young leading man at Warner Bros. for several years in the late ’30s and early ’40s, then left the screen for half a dozen years due to wartime service. During World War II Morris was a highly decorated Navy flying ace. His movie career resumed in 1947, and within a couple of years, he made the first of what would be many Westerns filmed over the next decade, until his untimely death in 1959, at just 45 years old.
The Desperado is
a “B” film from Allied Artists; it may have been a relatively minor
film in its day but I feel it provided Morris with a role which was a high
point in his career, showing off his evolution from a solid if somewhat bland
young leading man to an excellent character actor capable of giving a scene-stealing
performance.
James Lydon and Wayne Morris in The Desperado (1954)
Morris plays Sam Garrett, a gunman who unexpectedly finds himself
teaching green young Tom Cameron (James Lydon) how to stay alive; Cameron is on
the run from murderous Union “Blue Bellies” who killed his father.
Cameron has also been betrayed by a former friend (Rayford Barnes) who wants
Tom’s fiancee (Beverly Garland) for himself.
There are some simply wonderful aspects to this film, including not one but two (!) villains played by Lee Van Cleef. I find it quite delightful that a good guy gunning down Van Cleef once in this movie is not enough!
Another great surprise is a terrific little performance by Dabbs Greer, who will be familiar to many viewers as Reverend Alden from TV’s Little House on the Prairie. Greer plays a smart marshal who respects Sam and works to help Tom.
The good script is by Daniel Mainwaring, who also wrote under the name Geoffrey Homes; his work included the seminal film noir Out of the Past (1947). Add in a good cast giving strong performances and it’s a very enjoyable hour and 20 minutes.
The Desperado is
available on DVD from the Warner Archive.
…..
Man or Gun (Albert C. Gannaway, 1958)
Man or Gun (1958)
I stumbled across this Republic Pictures film when looking for
something to stream during a road trip several years ago, and it proved to be
something quite special.
It’s another film about a gunslinger, this time played by Macdonald Carey. Horseless Scott Yancey (Carey) walks into a New Mexico town with nothing of value other than his shiny gun, and almost immediately he’s forced to gun down two men in self-defense.
After the gunfight, Yancey unexpectedly receives some reward money and decides he’ll buy a nearby spread and settle down…yet somehow people keep challenging him and his gun. The old sheriff (James Gleason) is surprisingly complacent about it, glad that Yancey is, in essence, doing the hard work of cleaning up the town.
Warren Stevens plays Ferris, who wants to take charge of the town and hires Pinch (James Craig) to take Yancey out once and for all, and Audrey Totter rounds out the cast as a woman who runs a saloon and gives Yancey the nickname “Maybe” (as in, “maybe” he’s a famous gunfighter…or maybe not!).
James Gleason, Macdonald Carey, Audrey Totter, and Robert Burton in Man or Gun (1958)
There are admittedly a couple of creaky lines and moments here and there, but for the most part, this is a very original film with quite a bit of humor, a pair of well-staged gunfights, and an unusual touch of mysticism. (Regarding the latter aspect, is the secret to Yancey’s success man…or gun?) Some of the lines in the script by James J. Cassity and Vance Skarstedt are “laugh out loud” funny, and there are some quite unexpected moments to delight the viewer. The unpredictability extends to Craig’s ostensible villain, a loving husband whose role turns out to be quite different than we first expect.
It all builds to a surprising ending. Watch this one for something
quite different and very enjoyable.
Man or Gun is not available on DVD but has turned up in the past on multiple
streaming services.
I hope to highlight some additional lesser-known Westerns in future columns!
…
— Laura Grieve for Classic Movie Hub
Laura can be found at her blog, Laura’s Miscellaneous Musings, where she’s been writing about movies since 2005, and on Twitter at @LaurasMiscMovie. A lifelong film fan, Laura loves the classics including Disney, Film Noir, Musicals, and Westerns. She regularly covers Southern California classic film festivals. Laura will scribe on all things western at the ‘Western RoundUp’ for CMH.
Silents are Golden: The Iconic Careers of Lillian and Dorothy Gish
“I remember one day in the early summer going through the gloomy old hall of the Biograph Studio when suddenly all gloom seemed to disappear. This change in atmosphere was caused by the presence of two young girls sitting side by side on a hall bench. They were blondish and were sitting affectionately close together…They were Lillian and Dorothy Gish. Lillian had an exquisite ethereal beauty…As for Dorothy, she was just as pretty a picture in another manner; pert–saucy–the old mischief seemed to pop right out of her…”
An ethereal Lillian and Dorothy.
This was D.W. Griffith’s first memory of meeting the teenaged Lillian and Dorothy Gish. At the time they were stage actresses simply looking to break into the steady work of filmmaking. But they would soon do much more than light up an old studio hall–arguably, they would light up the art of cinema acting itself.
Lillian was born in 1893 in Ohio, and Dorothy in 1898. Their father James, a traveling salesman, became an alcoholic and abandoned the family when the girls were young. Their loving, patient mother Mary worked hard to support her daughters, finding odd jobs and opening a short-lived candy store. A friend suggested that she try acting to get some extra income; this foray also led to her daughters appearing on the stage, usually playing “innocent child” types in various melodramas (Dorothy, for instance, played “Little Willie” in the old tearjerker East Lynne).
Little Dorothy and big sister Lillian.
By the time they were teens the Gish sisters
had appeared with several touring companies. Thoughtful, purpose-driven Lillian
was finding a niche in dramatic roles, while bubbly, mischievous Dorothy was a
natural fit for comedy. They were extremely close to their mother, as they
would remain throughout their lives. In a sense, the little family’s love for
each other was a dependable refuge from the tough, fickle world of show
business.
The Gish family in the 1900s.
While appearing on stage in New York the Gishes became friends with actress Gladys Smith, known today as Mary Pickford. They later recalled she was “like a little mother” to them. In 1912 she recommended that they look for work in pictures, much to their surprise. She explained that it was steady work and paid well, so why not call on her director, D.W. Griffith, and see if he would take them on?
Thus Lillian and Dorothy made their screen debut in the one-reel thriller An Unseen Enemy(1912), playing sisters threatened by a housekeeper who’s trying to get her hands on their late father’s money. These were the first of dozens of roles in Biograph shorts. Griffith’s first wife Linda Arvidson later recalled: “Lillian and Dorothy just melted right into the studio atmosphere without causing a ripple.”
An Unseen Enemy (1912)
Griffith grew very impressed by the Gish sisters’ talents, especially the ethereal Lillian’s, and carefully helped them develop their skills. In time they would appear in his most prestigious productions, such as World War I propaganda feature Hearts of the World(1918) and the French Revolution thriller Orphans of the Storm(1921). Dorothy, now an established comedienne, had leads in numerous light comedies like I’ll Get Him Yet (1919) and Remodelling Her Husband (1919) (the latter being the one film directed by Lillian), while tragedienne Lillian kept busy in epics like The Birth of a Nation(1915) and Intolerance(1916) and dramas like Broken Blossoms(1919). They were also eyewitnesses to the rapid development of cinema at the time, learning what makeup to wear with the harsh studio lighting, getting to see how the film was developed and edited in Biograph’s laboratory, and watching directors try out new techniques.
Orphans of the Storm (1921).
While Lillian is better known today, both of the angelic-looking Gishs were popular with the public and they were also much-lauded by critics. Lillian was considered one of the screen’s greatest dramatic actresses, and lively Dorothy helped pave the way for the bubbly flapper films of the Roaring Twenties. The two were very much the personifications of “tragedy” and “comedy” in the cinema, influencing countless other performers. They would comment on each other affectionately in the press, Lillian talking about Dorothy’s buoyant attitude toward life – ”When she goes to a party, the party becomes a party” – and Dorothy discussing Lillian’s remarkable dedication to her work: “Her eyes are fixed on her goal; her ears are attuned only to the voice of her duty.”
Around the time of Hearts of the World.
In their private lives, Dorothy was very much a girl who enjoyed a night on the town (usually alongside her close friend Constance Talmadge), while Lillian had a singular devotion to her work. Dorothy would marry fellow actor James Rennie in 1920 (they would divorce in 1935), while Lillian remained single, tirelessly devoted to acting. She would later say, “…From the age of nine, I was always falling in and out of love. But marriage is a twenty-four-hour-a-day job, and I have always been much too busy to make a good wife.”
During the 1920s Dorothy made fewer albeit charming pictures, her last major silent role being in Madame Pompadour(1927). She would eventually return to the stage and enjoyed a long and thriving career there, making occasional appearances in films or on television. Playwright Emmet Lavery once said: “In the theatre, we always need the extra bit of magic–Dorothy had it.” Two of the most popular plays she appeared in were 1939’s Life With Fatherand 1946’s The Magnificent Yankee.
A portrait of Ms. Dorothy.
Lillian would make the move to the prestigious MGM studio in the mid-1920s, where she gave much-admired performances in dramas like The Scarlet Letter(1926) and The Wind(1928). The end of the silent era didn’t slow her down–she would work tirelessly in both film, theater, and television almost up to the end of her life. She had remarkable energy and discipline, even in later years. In 1967, while working on The Comediansin Dahomey (present-day Benin), she worked long hours without complaint in triple-digit heat. Actor Peter Glenville recalled: “Lillian arrived at my villa later, looking fresh and radiant in a charming evening dress suitable to the climate, and we dined together. We discussed the theatre, African politics, and the religious aspects of Graham Greene’s literary work. At 11:30 she retired, saying that she was looking forward to meeting everyone on the set the next day–at 6:30 a.m.” Not for nothing would she be called the “First Lady of the Cinema.”
Lillian circa the 1950s.
In 1968 Dorothy succumbed to bronchial pneumonia, with Lillian at her bedside. She was 70 years old. Lillian would live for almost three more decades, dying of heart failure in her sleep at age 99. Her last film had been The Whales of August(1987). Both sisters are interred side by side at Saint Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in New York City, eternally as close as they always were in life.
Lea Stans is a born-and-raised Minnesotan with a degree in English and an obsessive interest in the silent film era (which she largely blames on Buster Keaton). In addition to blogging about her passion at her site Silent-ology, she is a columnist for the Silent Film Quarterlyand has also written for The Keaton Chronicle.
That said, we’ll be giving away FOUR PAIRS of tickets* to see “TCM Big Screen Classics: The Color Purple” – starring Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover and Oprah Winfrey — the way it was meant to be seen – on the Big Screen!
In order to qualify to win a pair of movie tickets via this contest, you must complete the below entry task by Saturday, February 1 at 6PM EST.
We will announce the winner(s) on Twitter on Sunday, February 2, between 6PM EST and 7PM EST.If a winner(s) does not have a Twitter account, we will announce that winner(s) via this blog in the comment section below.
Based on Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Color Purple
ENTRY TASK (2-parts) to be completed by Saturday, February 2 at 6pm EST…
1) Answer the below question via the comment section at the bottom of this blog post
THE QUESTION: Although not officially a classic-era film, what in your opinion makes “The Color Purple” a classic? And, if you haven’t seen it, why do you want to see it on the Big Screen?
2) Then TWEET* (not DM) the following message: I just entered to win tickets to see “TCM Big Screen Classics Presents: The Color Purple” on the Big Screen courtesy of @ClassicMovieHub & @FathomEvents #EnterToWin #CMHContest link here:
*If you don’t have a Twitter account, you can still enter the contest by simply answering the above question via the comment section at the bottom of this blog — BUT PLEASE ENSURE THAT YOU ADD THIS VERBIAGE TO YOUR ANSWER: I do not have a Twitter account, so I am posting here to enter but cannot tweet the message.
NOTE: if for any reason you encounter a problem commenting here on this blog, please feel free to tweet or DM us, or send an email to clas…@gmail.com and we will be happy to create the entry for you.
ALSO: Please allow us 48 hours to approve your comments. Sorry about that, but we are being overwhelmed with spam, and must sort through 100s of comments…
About the film: Academy Award® winner Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover and Oprah Winfrey star in director Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Color Purple.
Please note that only United States residents are eligible to enter this giveaway contest.
BlogHub members ARE also eligible to win if they live within the Continental United States (as noted above).
You can follow Fathom Events on Twitter at @fathomevents
As we begin another noir year, I thought this would be a perfect time to take a look at one of my favorite noir femmes, Peggy Cummins, and the path that she traveled to reach the realm of film noir.
A diminutive blonde with emerald-green eyes, the star of Gun Crazy (1950) was born Margaret Diane Augusta Cummins on December 18, 1925. Her parents lived in Killiney, just outside Dublin, Ireland, but baby Peggy was born in Prestatyn, North Wales; while visiting a relative toward the end of her pregnancy, Peggy’s mother was stranded by a storm that prohibited Channel crossings.
Peggy Cummins in Gun Crazy (1950)
Peggy was drawn to acting from an early age; when she was seven, she started taking dance lessons, and in her first performance, she played a boy in The Duchess of Malfi at Dublin’s Gate Theatre. She was paid a box of chocolates for the role. This kicked off Peggy’s appearances in a variety of stage productions; at one point, she even appeared in two plays at the same time, changing her costumes in a taxi as she went from one theater to another. When she was 13, Peggy’s London debut in Let’s Pretend attracted the attention of Hollywood, and before long, she signed with Warner Bros. and was assigned to the British production, Dr. O’Dowd. On the day that filming completed, however, World War II was declared, and the contract was canceled by mutual agreement. Peggy honed her craft over the next several years, appearing in three British films, playing 1,000 performances in Junior Miss at the Saville Theatre in London, and portraying the title role in Alice in Wonderland in an eight-week run at the Palace Theatre. She was hailed by one enthusiastic critic as “the most enchanting performer of this decade,” and Hollywood came calling again.
A young Peggy in Dr. O’Dowd (1940)
Inking an agreement with Twentieth Century-Fox, Cummins arrived in America in 1945 and found herself in the midst of a feverish search for an actress to star in the studio’s production of Forever Amber, based on the popular Kathleen Winsor novel. By early 1946, Cummins had landed the role, joining a cast that included Cornel Wilde, Vincent Price, and Reginald Gardiner, with John Stahl in place as director. But just two months after filming began, Fox studio chief Darryl F. Zanuck called a halt to the proceedings and, at a cost of $1 million, dismissed Cummins from the part and recast it with Linda Darnell. Other casualties were John Stahl, Vincent Price, and Reginald Gardiner, who were replaced with Otto Preminger, Richard Greene, and George Sanders. A year later, Zanuck told a Photoplay reporter: “We realized that Peggy could act the role, but could never look it. She was too young.” As for Cummins, while she reportedly “brokenhearted” over losing the role, her dismay was no doubt considerably lessened when the film received less than stellar reviews upon its release. “When I saw it,” Cummins said years later, “I just felt relieved.”
Peggy Cummins and Vincent Price in Forever Amber (1947)
Meanwhile, Cummins was well-received in The Late George Apley (1947), in which she played the lead; she was praised for her “considerable vigor and authority.” This was followed by the noirish Moss Rose (1947); Green Grass of Wyoming (1948), a romance about rival families in the horse racing business, and Escape (1948), in which she starred opposite Rex Harrison. She was then cast in Gun Crazy (1950) – initially released as Deadly Is the Female – which is now considered to be one of the seminal examples of the noir canon.
In her role as Annie
Laurie Starr, Peggy played a woman obsessed with securing the type of life that
she dreamed of – by any means necessary – and her reluctant partner in crime
was aptly portrayed by John Dall. Although there were a few reviewers who
weren’t bowled over by the film, Cummins was almost universally applauded, with
one critic noting her “commanding performance,” and another noting that she was
“permitted to burn up the screen without apologies. She is the female – hence,
deadly.”
Stay tuned for future posts on the journey to the big screen of noir’s femmes and hommes. And let me know if you have any special favorites that you’d like to see me cover!
…
– Karen Burroughs Hannsberry for Classic Movie Hub
Karen Burroughs Hannsberry is the author of the Shadows and Satin blog, which focuses on movies and performers from the film noir and pre-Code eras, and the editor-in-chief of The Dark Pages, a bimonthly newsletter devoted to all things film noir. Karen is also the author of two books on film noir – Femme Noir: The Bad Girls of Film and Bad Boys: The Actors of Film Noir. You can follow Karen on Twitter at @TheDarkPages. If you’re interested in learning more about Karen’s books, you can read more about them on amazon here:
I turn to colorful, upbeat musicals whenever I feel sick or depressed, especially in the winter, when I most need a bright escape from dark, dreary days stuck indoors. Recently I found myself revisiting one of my very favorite examples of the genre, the 1955 medieval comedy, The Court Jester, starring Danny Kaye as a carnival entertainer turned resistance fighter against a murderous, usurping king. This silly, charming picture is a star-studded confection featuring one of Kaye’s most memorable performances, and it’s a perfect choice for family viewing with its lively musical numbers and infectiously quotable lines.
Hubert Hawkins (Danny Kaye) performs the “Maladjusted Jester” song for the king and his court.
Written and directed by Norman Panama and Melvin Frank, The Court Jester packs in a mind-boggling number of memorable stars, which makes it required viewing for anybody interested in classic movies. We get Kaye, of course, topping the bill, but his two leading ladies are Glynis Johns and Angela Lansbury – a hard pair to choose between, indeed! Basil Rathbone heads up the villains’ side as the scheming Sir Ravenhurst, a role that echoes his performance as Sir Guy in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). Other instantly recognizable stars include Mildred Natwick as the mesmerist lady in waiting Griselda and John Carradine in a brief but notable appearance as the real Giacomo. Michael Pate, Alan Napier, Cecil Parker, Robert Middleton, Herbert Rudley, and Edward Ashley fill out the cast, with Middleton particularly imposing as the ursine Sir Griswold. Finally, the ensemble group billed as “Hermine’s Midgets” makes its only screen appearance as the protagonist’s loyal carnival friends.
Leading ladies Angela Lansbury and Glynis Johns give Danny Kaye’s hero plenty of opportunities for romance and misadventure.
The story draws heavily from familiar swashbucklers, a relationship underlined by Basil Rathbone’s presence in the picture. Kaye’s character, Hubert Hawkins, has joined up with a band of fighters who live in the forest under the leadership of the Black Fox (Edward Ashley), a hero of the Robin Hood stamp whose name and mask also recall Zorro. The rightful heir to the throne is a baby with a distinctive purple pimpernel birthmark on his posterior, a nod to the Scarlet Pimpernel and his calling card. Instead of Robin Hood’s archery contest, Hawkins enters a more traditional tournament against Sir Griswold, creating a comical version of the climactic tournament fought by Ivanhoe. Rathbone, of course, had played the heavy in both The Adventures of Robin Hood and The Mark of Zorro (1940), which makes Hawkins’ final duel with Sir Ravenhurst as inevitable as it is fun to watch.
Basil Rathbone stars as the villainous Sir Ravenhurst, who thinks Hubert Hawkins is the real Giacomo, a deadly assassin who only pretends to be a harmless court jester.
In this adventure, Hawkins is an unlikely hero, having spent most of his time with the outlaws entertaining the men and taking care of the royal infant. He gets a chance to prove himself when he and Maid Jean (Glynis Johns) encounter a famous jester, Giacomo (John Carradine), en route to the king’s palace. Hawkins impersonates Giacomo and appears at court, not knowing that Sir Ravenhurst has actually summoned Giacomo because the jester is also a skilled assassin. Hawkins quickly gets out of his depth, especially when Princess Gwendolyn (Angela Lansbury) decides to be in love with him and orders her hypnotist attendant to ensure his success. Hawkins ends up having to fight a rival knight for Gwendolyn’s hand while trying to save the royal baby and restore order to the kingdom, and along the way, he manages to perform a number of songs and sight gags that keep the peril from being taken too seriously.
If the wacky action, lively songs, and memorable cast aren’t enough, The Court Jester also boasts some ridiculously repeatable dialogue that even the youngest classic movie fans can appreciate, whether it’s the often used “Get it? Got it. Good” exchange or the deliriously silly tongue twister about the vessel with the pestle. Be warned, though, that showing this movie to kids ensures that you will hear these lines for weeks, if not years, afterward. The songs also include several bits that might well tickle young funny bones, especially the “Maladjusted Jester” number that Kaye performs fairly late in the film.
If your family is clamoring for more of Danny Kaye after the mandatory December viewings of White Christmas (1954), The Court Jester is a perfect post-holiday follow-up. For more of Kaye’s work with Frank and Panama, try Knock on Wood (1954); you’ll also find Kaye in Hans Christian Andersen (1952) and Merry Andrew (1958). Kids will most likely recognize Glynis Johns from the original Mary Poppins (1964), but track down the charming mermaid comedy Miranda (1948) if you want to see her as a comedic leading lady in her prime; the sequel, Mad About Men (1954), is also worthwhile. While you’re at it, show the family Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) to get another taste of the musical and comedic genius of the legendary Angela Lansbury, who most recently made a cameo appearance as the balloon lady at the end of the 2018 film, Mary Poppins Returns.
Monsters and Matinees: Tiny Terrors Bring Big Thrills
Have you ever felt a weird sensation on your leg and reached
down to bat it away? Or thought you saw something on the floor and jerked your
leg thinking it was a spider – or worse?
Me too. A lot.
As much as I am fascinated by movies with oversized bugs, I also am intrigued by the opposite – films with living beings the size of a doll.
Because of the inherent cuteness of tiny people/animals, they often are used in kid-friendly fantasy films like Gulliver’s Travels,The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1957) and Mothra (1961) which introduced us to the unforgettable singing twins called The Shobijin.
More recently, tiny people were played for laughs in Honey I Shrunk the Kids (1989), Night at the Museum (2006) and Ant-Man (2015).
The family cat (standing by a dollhouse) goes after his master, now the size of a doll in The Incredible Shrinking Man.
But there’s a sinister side to the small wonders theme and it comes in two ways: tiny things that terrorize people and small people who are terrorized. For example, in the wonderfully taut Twilight Zone episode The Invaders,Agnes Moorehead was pursued by minuscule aliens. But in The Incredible Shrinking Man(1957), it’s the tiny person who is in danger as the family cat threatens his shrunken master.
My favorite example of a tiny terror is in Tod Browning’s 1936 The Devil-Dollwhere a wrongly imprisoned man sets miniaturized people loose to exact vengeance on those who framed him. The film is an intriguing mix of horror and pathos and though the scenes of a tiny person attacking a full-sized human seem silly, they are tense.
If you expand this subgenre beyond people, I don’t think anyone would argue that the voodoo doll from Trilogy of Terrorholds the top spot in the Tiny Terrors Hall of Fame. (Is it the creepiest thing ever on film? I think so.)
Still, I am more freaked out by films where the tiny people are the ones being terrorized. In some weird, unrealistic way, I relate to them and wonder what I would do if I was in their tiny shoes. (I do the same thing watching a giant creature feature.)
Whether you’re a regular-sized human running from a giant menace or a mini person cornered by an average-sized insect, you are much smaller than the danger you are facing.
Let’s use the tarantula as an example. In my favorite large creature film, creatively titled Tarantula, the spider grows to a size that eventually dwarfs buildings. In The Incredible Shrinking Man, however, the tarantula is normal in size but is giant compared to the tiny man. Does it really matter, then, who is “normal” in size? When you’re looking up at a creature much larger than you, the terror is the same.
Whether it’s an oversized arachnid in Tarantula (top) or a tiny man facing an average-sized tarantula in The Incredible Shrinking Man, the danger is the same.
Even the title character in Dr. Cyclops (1940) – a crazed scientist who has developed a way to shrink people – understands this. “Perhaps you are not small at all – perhaps everything else is big,” he tells one of his miniaturized victims.
Another fascinating aspect of films with mini-people is the inherent danger they face from practically any common object because of their minuscule size. (Look out for that falling cookie – it’s about to crush you!)
And there’s no one to help them – the only full-sized humans who know of their plight usually put them in the predicament in the first place. Screaming won’t do anything – their voice takes on the sound of a buzzing insect.
Miniaturized people try to call for help but no one can hear them in Attack of the Puppet People.
Trying to escape with those little legs is almost as pointless, a problem broached by both Dr. Cyclops (“You will find the world far away for legs as short as yours.”) and in Attack of the Puppet People(two escaped miniatures calculate it will now take them six times as long to walk a mile to safety).
No one hears them, no one sees them. These tiny people are on their own and must devise clever ways to survive. It always makes me wonder: Would I be up to such a big task?
Suggested movies to watch
Here are four of my favorite films featuring miniaturized people under the horror/B-movie banner.
The Devil-Doll (1936)
Tod Browning’s film is an intriguing mix of horror and sadness. It feels like someone took a plotline – a banker is framed by his co-workers and spends nearly 20 years in jail – and made two movies (a horror film and sad family drama), then spliced them together.
Lionel Barrymore plays Paul Lavond, the wrongly imprisoned banker who has escaped Devil’s Island with the sickly scientist Marcel (Henry B. Walthall). He learns Marcel has been experimenting with shrinking living objects to 1/6th their size to help stop world hunger. Lavond is horrified to see animals and people turned into mindless miniature versions of themselves but realizes he can use them to fulfill his vengeance.
Still a fugitive, he travels to Paris disguised as a kindly old woman which allows him to get close to the three bankers who betrayed him as well as see his beautiful daughter Lorraine (25-year-old Maureen O’Sullivan).
The facial expressions of Rafaela Ottiano are entertaining throughout The Devil-Doll. Here she delights in the dancing of two people she helped make tiny.
Browning plays the horror extremely well. In one nerve-wracking scene, police are in the house of a banker who has received a note to confess by “the tenth hour” or die. The tension dramatically increases with each tick of the clock as a tiny man with a poisoned dagger slowly approaches to strike the fatal blow at his feet. (You’ll be thinking twice the next time you feel that tingling sensation by your ankles.)
Pay no attention to the title or accompanying artwork – you
won’t find attacking puppets in this film.
Instead, the danger is from a lonely (but demented) doll maker named Mr. Franz who miniaturizes people and uses them as playthings like a child with a toy. He keeps them in suspended animation and displays them in tubes in his doll shop (creepy), only waking them to dance, sing (the song is You’re My Living Doll) and entertain him.
He’s so out of touch, he thinks he’s doing them a favor. “I haven’t really harmed you – you get the best of care,” he tells his “funny little people.”
They try multiple times to escape (six of them give the team effort to lift a telephone receiver and call for help). When they finally get away, they’re in even more danger from life-sized objects. It’s not easy being small.
Notes: The film is directed by Bert I. Gordon, who also did the special technical effects and wrote the story. The movie shown at the drive-in is Gordon’s The Amazing Colossal Man, which was released a year earlier in 1957. B-movie favorite John Agar plays Bob, the salesman who makes the unfortunate mistake of falling for the office secretary. The familiar actor playing Mr. Franz is John Hoyt, whose lengthy career includes When Worlds Collide and a long list of television shows from Hogan’s Heroes and The Virginian to Perry Mason.
Dr. Cyclops (1960)
This is another demented scientist movie, but in this case, his experiments are out of greed (he has discovered a rich deposit of radium), not altruism.
In a remote laboratory in the Peruvian jungle, the once-brilliant, now twisted Dr. Thorkel (Albert Dekker) has summoned other scientists for help because of his failing eyesight. When he then quickly tries to send them away, they refuse, do a bit of snooping and find themselves shrunken to about a foot tall. As Thorkel, dubbed Dr. Cyclops by one of his victims, realizes his minis are reversing and will soon be back to normal size, things turn deadly.
Notes: Nominated for Oscar for visual effects by Farciot Edouart and Gordon Jennings, the film was directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack (King Kong).
The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
While vacationing at sea with his wife, a man gets stuck in a “fog” from a passing cloud. Months later, he notices his clothes are getting big and bigger until a doctor confirms the unexplainable: he is shrinking. While his celebrity rises with his new stature, his life falls apart. Forced to move inside a dollhouse, when even that becomes too big for him he turns despondent with the realization that he will continue to shrink, possibly until he is no more. Don’t look for a happily ever after here.
Trivia: Richard Matheson co-wrote the screenplay which is an adaptation of his story The Shrinking Man. It is one in a long list of B-movies directed by Jack Arnold (Creature from the Black Lagoon, Tarantula) and is on the National Film Registry.
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–Toni Ruberto for Classic Movie Hub
Toni Ruberto, born and raised in Buffalo, N.Y., is an editor and writer at The Buffalo News. She shares her love for classic movies in her blog, Watching Forever. Toni was the president of the former Buffalo chapter of TCM Backlot and now leads the offshoot group, Buffalo Classic Movie Buffs. She is proud to have put Buffalo and its glorious old movie palaces in the spotlight as the inaugural winner of the TCM in Your Hometown contest. You can find Toni on Twitter at @toniruberto.
It’s no secret that I’m in love with Barbara Rush, star of stage, screen, and television. She appeared in some of my favorite movies and added immeasurably to every one of them. And her co-stars were equally legendary. The Young Philadelphians with Paul Newman, Come Blow Your Horn with Frank Sinatra, three Douglas Sirk films with Rock Hudson including Magnificent Obsession, The Young Lions with Marlon Brando, Dean Martin, and Montgomery Clift, the hard-hitting Bigger Than Life opposite James Mason, and so many others, including two iconic sci-fi films, When Worlds Collide and It Came from Outer Space which was based on a Ray Bradbury Story. On television she starred in an award-winning version of What Makes Sammy Run? and was a regular on the long-running Peyton Place and, much later, Party of Five. She even played Gotham City villain Nora Clavicle on a hilarious episode of Batman.
Danny Miller with Barbara Rush at the TCM Classic Film Festival (Photo: Bob Vodick)
Barbara has been a friend of my wife’s family for many years, having starred in plays written by my father-in-law, Oliver Hailey, and mother-in-law, Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey. It’s a joy knowing her in real life and seeing that she is the polar opposite of a diva. I’ve interviewed her a few times including at the TCM Classic Film Festival where she has introduced several of her films. Barbara was a very close friend of TCM’s late host, Robert Osborne, and has many wonderful stories about him.
Having already talked to her about her illustrious career and her many famous co-stars, I wanted to catch up with Barbara on her 93rd birthday for Classic Movie Hub to chat more generally about what it was like to be a star back in the 1950s when she first burst upon the scene. Of course, as you’ll see from the very beginning of our freeform chat, she refuses to accept that moniker and tends to deflect most praise she receives for her career.
I headed to Barbara’s gorgeous home in Beverly Hills where Hedda Hopper once reigned. Barbara must have burned a lot of sage at the manse following Hopper’s era because the energy in the house is homey and friendly even though it looks like where you’d hope your favorite movie star lived. At 93, Barbara is as vibrant and gorgeous as ever and it’s always a joy to talk with her.
Danny Miller: Happy Birthday, Barbara!
Barbara Rush: Oh, thank you, Danny! I’ve made it this far!
We’ve talked about your films and co-stars a lot, but today I just wanted to chat for a bit about what it was like being a “star” back when you first made a splash in Hollywood.
A star? Oh goodness, I don’t think I’ve ever used that word in my life. I’m just a movie actress, sweetheart, I’ve never even had a passing thought that I’m a star!
Well, you are one, whether you like it or not!
I was just happy to have a job! I was working at the Pasadena Playhouse with a bunch of former GIs after the war. We’d do different scenes and it was fun because I got to do all of the women’s parts. Movie scouts used to come to see us from time to time and one day one of these people approached me and asked me if I wanted to do a screen test at Paramount.
Were you reluctant in any way to do that? Did you have your heart set on working in the theater?
Are you kidding, Danny? I said, “I get to go to Paramount? Thank you! What time should I be there?” (Laughs.) I honestly couldn’t believe they were interested in me. So I did the test and, to my utter surprise, they liked it and put me under contract.
How long between signing the contract and getting your first film?
They put me right away into the movie version of the long-running radio and TV show The Goldbergs which starred Gertrude Berg.
Right, Debby, the shiksa girlfriend, I love that movie! Do you remember the first time you saw yourself up on the big screen?
I really don’t, but I used to go to the rushes whenever I got the chance. I remember Laurence Olivier came to talk to us once at Paramount and he told us it was very important for actors to watch the rushes to see what you liked and what you didn’t like. I know some actors don’t like to see themselves in that way but I always found it helpful.
You never had issues with the way you looked on screen? Of course you were always so gorgeous, why would you?
I never thought too much about my appearance, to be honest. I was just happy whenever it seemed that I knew what I was doing!
Did being under contract immediately change your life in a big way?
Well, I moved! I had been living with this couple in Pasadena and taking care of their child. The father was a doctor and I think the mother was part of the Gamble family which was pretty famous in Pasadena.
Whoa, I never heard this.
I was probably making about $15 a week at the Pasadena Playhouse so it was a good living arrangement where I not only didn’t have to pay rent, they paid me a little bit. But when I started at Paramount they moved me over to the Studio Club with a bunch of other actresses which was just wonderful. There were so many great people there, I remember being good friends with Peggy Dow, remember her? And Marilyn Monroe was there for a while. It was really fun, like being in a sorority!
Oh, how cool, it sounds like Stage Door.
Yes, very much so! I remember being close this wonderful girl named Renata that was being trained by the famous opera singer Lotte Lehman. We had a little stage at the Studio Club and people would get up and perform, it was really fun. Renata was just great but her parents made her quit, I wonder whatever happened to her. I had such a wonderful time at the Studio Club. We had a very pretty dining room and you could invite a male guest which I used to do a lot because I had just met (first husband) Jeffrey Hunter.
Where did you meet him?
He was doing a screen test on the lot and I happened to run into him.
And you thought, “Oh, look at that handsome young actor, he’s cute?”
I thought a lot more than that! (Laughs.) It was more like “Wow!” And “Look at those blue eyes!” So I invited him to the Studio Club for dinner and the lady who was in charge got us tickets to a show, I think it was at the Shrine. We started going out quite a bit.
Jeffrey Hunter and Barbara Rush at a 1954 movie premiere
Did the studio have any issues with you two dating? I think he was at Fox when you were at Paramount, right?
I don’t think they cared that much. We were kind of in the same boat in terms of our careers at that time. But we had so much fun. I think I brought a lot of culture into his life and he enjoyed it. We were very young.
Barbara with Jeffrey Hunter
And then you got engaged pretty quickly?
Yes, he decided we should get married. He gave me a ring, his parents came out from Wisconsin, it was all planned. And then one day he came to me and said, “Barbara I don’t think I can get married, I’m having second thoughts.”
Oy.
I said, “That’s fine, we don’t have to.” And then I went off on location in Sedona to do a picture called Flaming Feather with Sterling Hayden and Forrest Tucker. They have these Indian caves in Sedona and I remember in one scene I was slung over the villain’s back, I think it was Richard Arlen. I was just hanging there, looking down while he was dragging me to the caves, and all of a sudden, I look up and there’s Jeffrey Hunter who had come to Arizona to say that he wanted to get married after all. He stayed for the rest of the shoot and then we slipped off to Las Vegas and got married.
Did the studio mind that you didn’t have a big wedding?
Oh, they definitely wanted us to have one when I first told them about it but we fought them and said we didn’t want anything like that. By then, Hank (Jeffrey Hunter’s real name) was getting a lot of attention at Fox. Then, a few months later he said to me, “Barbara, I don’t think we should be married,” but this time I said, “Too late, Hank! I’m not going for that again!” That kind of thing went on and on but then I got pregnant and we had Christopher. Hank wasn’t there, he was off in England making a film.
Did he ever pressure you to stop your career after having a child?
Oh, never! And I had no intention of doing so. My mother helped take care of the baby.
It sounds like you were an ideal studio contract player in many ways. Did you like being under contract?
Definitely! I had a job and I was getting paid!
You made so many movies in those early years. How did you find out what your next film would be?
They’d just tell you. I don’t remember every trying out for a part, I would just be informed what the film was and where to go.
And you never objected or worried that some of them weren’t good parts?
No, Danny, I just wanted to work. I honestly didn’t think about it. I made a lot of movies for Paramount and then went to Fox. The only role I ever really wanted to do was The Three Faces of Eve. I wanted that so badly, as did every other actress in town, but Joanne (Woodward) got it and won the Oscar.
You would have been amazing in that part. Did you fantasize about winning an Oscar yourself?
No, I never thought like that.
Barbara with James Mason in Bigger Than Life
At the very least, you should have been nominated for Bigger Than Life, that was such an amazing performance.
I was only mad that James Mason wasn’t nominated for that picture. He was extraordinary.
He was, but so were you! You sound like one of the most grounded people to ever step foot in Hollywood.
I was just realistic. I loved to work, I enjoyed being there, and I would have happily done anything they asked me to, I never refused a role.
Barbara with Rock Hudson in Taza, Son of Cochise
We’ve talked about the studio’s crazy decision to make you an Indian girl with Rock Hudson in Taza, Son of Cochise. I love the film but you never even thought to yourself, “This is ridiculous!”
Oh, no, why would I? I loved my gorgeous Indian costumes and we had such fun making that picture, I’ve told you how much I loved working with Rock! I had a wonderful time on location in Utah. My character’s name was Oona and Rock always called me “Oona, Dos, Tres!”
Barbara with Dean Martin in The Young Lions
Did you like your performances in those earlier films?
I learned how to act from the actors I worked with, like James Mason, for example. I just watched everything they did. That was better than any acting class. Working with Paul (Newman) or on The Young Lions with Brando, Dean Martin, and Montgomery Clift was an acting school in itself. I remember a scene in that when Dean Martin and I were discussing how he was trying to avoid going to war. Montgomery Clift gave me such great advice for that scene. He told me to make it more confusing. He thought it was too obvious that I was trying to get information from Dean so he told me to hide that and be much more subtle. After the scene, Hope Lange came up to me and said, “Oh Barbara, I wish I could do what you do!” And I said, “I didn’t do a thing, that was all Montgomery Clift!”
Do you look at your films now and think you got progressively better?
I never thought of it that way, I just tried to be that person, whoever she was, and not Barbara Rush.
Did you ever ask a director if you could do a scene over again?
Only when we got the dialogue wrong, then I would say something. Other than that, I always left it to the director. Fortunately, I worked with some of the best like Douglas Sirk. He was such a wonderful director, I always thanked him for hiring me.
Barbara with Frank Sinatra in Come Blow Your Horn
As low-key as you are about your acting, you seem to have always had a lot of confidence.
Oh, Danny, the first time I worked with Frank Sinatra I was a basketcase! Warren (Cowan, Barbara’s second husband) represented Frank so I knew him a little socially, but I never dreamed I’d make a film with him. I was completely intimidated, even more so because I knew Frank hated to rehearse. I was so nervous that I called Carolyn Jones who had just worked with Frank. And she told me what to do. I came up to him on set and said, “Mr. Sinatra, can I talk to you?” And then said, “First of all, call me Frank, what can I do for you, Barbara?” And I said, “I’m from the stage and I know you don’t like rehearsing, but I have to rehearse at least one time, I don’t think I can do the scene otherwise.” And he said, “Baby doll, of course I can do that for you. CLEAR THE SET! Barbara and I are going to rehearse.”
That’s sweet. And I so love your films together, I thought you had great chemistry.
He was so nice to me and he would find a way to give me my gorgeous wardrobes. I remember we were making Robin and the 7 Hoods together when President Kennedy was assassinated. Howard Koch drove onto the lot to tell us the news, it was just awful. Frank was very close to the Kennedys and he was just was devastated, he just kind of shriveled up. We had to shut down the picture for a few days, and then as soon as we came back, Frank Jr. was kidnapped so that ended it for good. Frank never came back to the picture.
Whoa, how did they ever finish the movie?
With some very careful editing! I had been rehearsing this big musical number I was going to perform with Frank called “I Like to Lead When I Dance” and I was thrilled I was going to sing and dance in a movie with Frank Sinatra! I was so excited and rehearsed for a long time. But because of everything that happened, we never got to do it. It’s probably my biggest disappointment from my entire career!
Ugh, I would have loved to have seen that! Legend has it that Sinatra could have a very bad temper, you never witnessed that?
He never got angry with me. If he felt he was respected, he would do anything for you. You can’t believe all of the people in Hollywood he helped, often anonymously like Lee J. Cobb who was having a very hard time. He would have his secretary send cashier’s checks to people who needed money. I remember how much Frank loved Dean Martin. Dean had such a different style of working. He’d come to the set and say, “Tell me what we’re going to do today.” So different from Frank. I remember being at Dean’s home once for dinner and he had a hole-in-one earlier that day and was so excited he said it was the best day of his life! I loved his singing, and Frank’s, and also Sammy Davis, Jr., who I knew very well. You just can’t ask for better voices than those.
Barbara and Robert Stack at the 1960 Academy Awards after presenting the Oscars for Best Costume Design
I remember seeing photos of you presenting at the Academy Awards. Was that a fun thing to do?
Oh, yes. But probably different than it is today. I did my own hair and makeup and I remember asking them if I could walk out barefoot because my shoes were killing me, I had a hard time with high heels. I remember driving to the Oscars one year with Paul Newman, I think it was at the Shrine. The parties were fun, but I always wanted to go to a real ball, like the one Audrey Hepburn goes to in War and Peace. But I’ve never been invited to one.
What?! Get this woman to a ball immediately! We’ll have a birthday ball in your honor!
Oh, thank you, Danny, I’m ready!
The following video was created by Sara Henriksson for Barbara’s appearance last September at the Cinecon Classic Film Festival where she was honored.
While the Golden Age of Hollywood
has stars that are iconic to this day, some are more underrated. After viewing
the restoration of King of Jazz (1930), many up-and-coming
performers–some of whom were already established vaudevillians–caught my eye.
In addition to the likes of Jeanette Loff
and Marion Stadler,
Nell O’Day also brought a fine enthusiasm to the screen.
Nell Roach was born on September 22, 1909, in Prairie Hill, Texas, to Edward E. Roach and Mildred Livonia McClellan Roach. Nell’s mother descended from Elder John Parker, who was massacred at Fort Parker, Texas. Cynthia Ann Parker, his granddaughter, was captured, raised with the Comanche Indians, and became the mother of Quanah Parker, last chief of the Comanche Indians.
She began her career in the
entertainment industry as a child dancer in the early 1920s, taking on the
stage name of Nell O’Day. According to the 1920 census, the family was
comprised of Mildred in addition to O’Day’s older sister, Isabella, and O’Day.
Edward had passed away in 1918.
Upon leaving Texas, Mildred was working in a photography studio, while O’Day was employed in public theater. In the same decade, O’Day would find herself performing with the Tommy Atkins Sextet and carrying out her first on-screen roles. This led to a part in King of Jazz (1930) in addition to a role in a stage play, Fine and Dandy, with dancer Eleanor Powell.
A young O’Day
O’Day’s first starring role was in Rackety
Rax (1932) alongside Victor McLaglen and Greta Nissan. She
followed this with several comedy shorts opposite Harry Langdon and more
secondary parts in feature films, including This Side of Heaven
(1934), Woman in the Dark (1934), and The Road to Ruin
(1934). She would also make a small number of Western films during the same
period.
By the 1940s, O’Day was becoming a regular in Western films and started to receive starring roles in them, typically opposite the likes of Johnny Mack Brown, Ray “Crash” Corrigan, Max Terhune, and John ‘Dusty’ King. Thanks to her experience as a talented equestrian, she signed a contract with Universal and fulfilled a recurring cowgirl role in a series of hoss operas opposite star Brown and his sidekick, Fuzzy Knight. She would also appear in Westerns for other studios, including Republic and Monogram. Her last starring Western role would be in Boss of Rawhide (1943).
O’Day began to express an interest in writing plays and screenplays. She co-wrote The Monster Maker (1944) with her first husband, Larry Williams, but only Williams received screen credit. Neither she nor Williams was ever paid for the screenplay.
O’Day in a western get-up
Though O’Day occasionally performed
on stage, she retired in 1945 after performing in the Broadway’s Many Happy
Returns. She made one more movie, a non-Western, entitled The
Story of Kenneth W. Randall M.D. (1946). O’Day then devoted her time to
writing. One of her successes was the play The Bride of Denmark Hill,
which was later turned into a BBC-TV production.
O’Day would write and grant
interviews until the end of her life at age 79. She died from a heart
attack on January 3, 1989, in Los Angeles, California. Her burial
location is unknown.
Today, there are few tributes to
O’Day that remain.
Her family home in 1920 stood at 282
S. Rampart Blvd in Los Angeles, California. Today, the location is a strip
mall.
Nell O’Day’s family home today
While the 1920s home no longer
stands, her residence in 1940 remains. At that time, she lived in the El
Cerrito apartments, located at 1800 El Cerrito Pl in Los Angeles,
California.
1800 El Cerrito Pl in Los Angeles, California
Due to the fact that so few locations remain, the best way to enjoy her work is to view her filmography and read her interviews.
Annette Bochenek of Chicago, Illinois, is a PhD student at Dominican University and an independent scholar of Hollywood’s Golden Age. She manages the Hometowns to Hollywood blog, in which she writes about her trips exploring the legacies and hometowns of Golden Age stars. Annette also hosts the “Hometowns to Hollywood” film series throughout the Chicago area. She has been featured on Turner Classic Movies and is the president of TCM Backlot’s Chicago chapter. In addition to writing for Classic Movie Hub, she also writes for Silent Film Quarterly, Nostalgia Digest, and Chicago Art Deco SocietyMagazine.
That said, we’ll be giving away EIGHT PAIRS of tickets* to see “TCM Big Screen Classics: Love Story (50th Anniversary)” – starring Ryan O’Neal and Ali MacGraw — the way it was meant to be seen – on the Big Screen!
In order to qualify to win a pair of movie tickets via this contest, you must complete the below entry task by Saturday, January 18th at 6PM EST.
We will announce the winner(s) on Twitter on Sunday, January 19, between 6PM EST and 7PM EST.If a winner(s) does not have a Twitter account, we will announce that winner(s) via this blog in the comment section below.
In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the film’s release
ENTRY TASK (2-parts) to be completed by Saturday, January 18 at 6pm EST…
1) Answer the below question via the comment section at the bottom of this blog post
THE QUESTION: What is it about “Love Story” that makes it a classic — even today, 50 years after its release? And, if you haven’t seen it, why do you want to see it on the Big Screen?
2) Then TWEET* (not DM) the following message: I just entered to win tickets to see “TCM Big Screen Classics Presents: Love Story (50th Anniversary)” on the Big Screen courtesy of @ClassicMovieHub & @FathomEvents #EnterToWin #CMHContest link here:
*If you don’t have a Twitter account, you can still enter the contest by simply answering the above question via the comment section at the bottom of this blog — BUT PLEASE ENSURE THAT YOU ADD THIS VERBIAGE TO YOUR ANSWER: I do not have a Twitter account, so I am posting here to enter but cannot tweet the message.
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About the film: Harvard Law student Oliver Barrett IV (Ryan O’Neal) and music student Jennifer Cavilleri (Ali MacGraw) share a chemistry they cannot deny—and a love they cannot ignore. Despite their opposite backgrounds, the young couple put their hearts on the line for each other. When they marry, Oliver’s wealthy father threatens to disown him. Jenny tries to reconcile the Barrett men, but to no avail. Oliver and Jenny continue to build their life together. Relying only on each other, they believe love can fix anything. But fate has other plans. Soon, what began as a brutally honest friendship becomes the love story of their lives. This beloved film was nominated for seven Academy Awards®, including an Oscar®-winning musical score that became the poignant theme of the timeless romance. Just in time for Valentine’s Day, this romantic classic returns to cinemas and includes exclusive insights from Turner Classic Movies.
Please note that only United States residents are eligible to enter this giveaway contest.
BlogHub members ARE also eligible to win if they live within the Continental United States (as noted above).
You can follow Fathom Events on Twitter at @fathomevents
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