Category Archives: Movies

Classic Hollywood #4 – Theda Bara

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The Vamp in a Classic Role

“The Vampire,” Theodosia Goodman otherwise known to the world as Theda Bara in her 1918 starring role The Forbidden Path with (I believe) Hugh Thompson, her co-star.

Theda Bara was one of the first sex symbols of the screen. Her name was supposedly an anagram of “Arab Death.”  (that is completely fabricated along with many other “facts” of her life.)  Bara became a star in 1915 as a “vampire” (not the blood sucking kind – a notorious woman who drives men wild with desire using her wiles and charm and wreaks havoc in their lives) in A Fool There Was. She cemented immortality in 1917 with her portrayal of the title role in Cleopatra.  Bara was pretty much typecast as the vampire (later shortened to “vamp”) and her film career stalled by the end of 1919. She appeared in only three films in the 1920’s and never made any sound films, retiring in 1926. She died in Los Angeles in 1955 at the age of 69.

While some today would not necessarily consider Bara a beauty, there is definitely something very appealing about her. A naturalness that comes through. In a lot of ways she represents more real women of that age and much more than her modern Hollywood contemporaries of Angelina Jolie or Scarlett Johansson representing today’s woman.

Bara’s  heavier legs and abdomen are shown in her movies and photos. Would modern lead actresses be permitted to display extra poundage in our hyper-perfect-looks media without being skewered a la Oprah or Kirstie Alley?

Some photos of Bara when she was at the height of her career:

Classic Hollywood #2

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At The Beverly Wilshire Hotel

Howard Hughes and Marian Marsh December 12, 1934 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel for the “Mayfair Ball” (click photo to enlarge)

The Mayfair Ball was the largest social gathering in Los Angeles in the 1930’s. The dashing Howard Hughes was a Hollywood producer at the time. Marian Marsh had appeared Continue reading →

Jackie Cooper, Movie Star For Over 60 Years Is Dead

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Jackie Cooper Dies At 88

Jackie Cooper passed away last week at the age of 88. Cooper who rose to prominence in the Hal Roach produced Our Gang (a.k.a. the Little Rascals) movie shorts, was one of the last remaining movie stars who worked during Hollywood’s golden era of the 1930’s.

Jackie Cooper (left) Love Business 1931

The Our Gang / Little Rascals remaining cast is now down to under a dozen stars.  The other living supporting players made brief appearances, many in the later films of the late 1930’s and early 1940’s after creator Hal Roach had sold the franchise to MGM. The most notable living star of those later Our Gang comedies is Robert Blake.  I grew up watching Cooper star in Our Gang and his passing is sad, as he was a gifted actor and it is a reminder of how few of the early Hollywood stars remain. Unlike his more popular and well known successors as leads in Our Gang, George “Spanky” McFarland and Carl “Alfalfa” Switzer, Cooper was cast in several big budget Hollywood productions and was almost always very good in whatever he was in.

Jackie Cooper was a rarity, in that very few Continue reading →

Movie Reviews – Classic Films From The 1960’s Reviewed By Bert’s Friend Roger Who Has A.D.D.

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Five classic Films From The 1960’s That Everyone Should See

I asked my friend Roger to give his summation and write reviews of some of the all-time great movies from the 1960’s. For those who are too young to have seen these gems and automatically dismiss classic movies from the sixties, Roger is a big movie buff and is very good at distilling the essence of movies down to five lines (which is what he has done) to give you a concise, compelling summary.

We here at stuffnobodycaresabout.com believe that a handicap should not prevent someone from being given equal opportunities. Roger has always wanted to write and we felt Roger’s attention deficit disorder makes him well-suited to review movies for the younger generation, many of whom have a limited attention span themselves and can’t read a long review. So with that, here are Roger’s reviews.

Five Classic 1960’s Films  Reviewed

by Roger Donald Birnam

The Manchurian Candidate – (1962) Major Bennett Marco (Frank Sinatra) keeps having a recurring nightmare about his time in a prison camp during the Korean War.  After the war all the members of his platoon act strangely, particularly Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey) an unlikeable fellow, and this sets Major Marco on a trail to uncover a sinister plot.  If I get cremated I won’t need the cemetery plot my family has in Kennebunkport. Why do razor refills cost so much money compared to buying the assembly with the blade?   9 out of 10 stars

To Kill A Mockingbird – (1962) A supposed favorite book of lots of people who probably never really read it, the movie is Continue reading →

Movie Review – Atlas Shrugged: Part I

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Attempting to Turn Ayn Rand’s Love Letter to Capitalism and The Battle of the Individual vs. The Collective into a Three Part Movie

This is probably obvious; if you are a fan of Atlas Shrugged you will want to like the movie Atlas Shrugged: Part I.   If you are unfamiliar with the book or not a fan you will watch and make your decision about the movie on the most important components; story, acting, cinematography, sets, and music.

So does it work?  How can you turn a 1,171 page book into the first part of a serialized one hour and forty minute epic?

The answer is, it is Continue reading →

Groucho Marx’s Son Dies at 89

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Arthur Marx, Son of Groucho Passes Away – April 14, 2011

Arthur Marx’s passing is being announced quite expectedly as “Groucho Marx’s son dies.”

Arthur was very talented in his own right and did carve out a successful career for himself as a champion tennis player and author.

Arthur was the author of a dozen books and wrote about his famous father in four books, most recently the picture collection Arthur Marx’s Groucho: A Photographic Journey 2001 (Phoenix Marketing Service). Arthur first wrote about his father in Life With Groucho A Son’s Eye View 1954 (Simon and Schuster) and the much more candid autobiographical Son of Groucho 1972 (David McKay). The last book is especially revealing in discussing the difficulty Arthur encountered in finding his own career path and being the son of one of the most famous entertainers in the world. By Arthur’s account Groucho had a difficult time showing affection and drove all three of his wives away through one form of mental cruelty or another.

Arthur told one story where the only time he had ever seen his father cry was at the funeral of Groucho’s brother Harpo.  Arthur was named after Harpo (whose real name was Adolph, and then Americanized to Arthur during World War I.)   All of the Marx Brothers named their daughters after their mother Minnie; each of their names begins with the letter “M”.

Arthur’s career as a writer for television, movies and the stage was quite varied but mostly within the comedy field.  He had written for such shows as Alice, My Three Son’s and McHale’s Navy.  He was much more than the “son of Groucho.”

Babe Ruth (Again) And Lou Gehrig – Recently Discovered Film Footage

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Babe Ruth And Lou Gehrig On Film

The New York Times reports more film footage of the mighty Babe Ruth has been unearthed, this time from 1927 showing Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig up close and personal in a barnstorming tour.  The article goes on to say that in the Major League Baseball archives there is less than an hour’s worth of film footage of Ruth!  The majority of film footage that probably still exists resides in attics across the country waiting to be discovered. This film was found in a cellar in Illinois and shows Ruth and Gehrig in or around Sioux City, Iowa on October 18, 1927.

Gehrig and Ruth were good friends, had a presumed falling out (over mysterious circumstances) and eventually made up when Gehrig was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis which ended up taking his life at the age of 37.

The public perception via film of Ruth and Gehrig together is not really when they are together at all.

Hollywood accomplished that trick with The Pride of the Yankees, the 1942 movie depicting the life of Lou Gehrig ,who is played by Gary Cooper. Babe Ruth plays himself in the picture.  No mean feat as Babe was already 46 years old and was significantly heavier than in his playing days.  Ruth would not be embarrassed.  Before the movie started shooting, Babe went on a diet and dropped a significant amount of pounds so he could play the part himself.

While the picture is embellished for the silver screen, it still covers a fair portion of Gehrig’s baseball accomplishments while telling more Lou’s devotion to his family and the love story between Eleanor Twitchell (the future Mrs. Gehrig) and Lou.  The movie almost never got made.  Producer Samuel Goldwyn knew nothing about baseball and knew from experience that baseball movies were never “big box office.” But Goldwyn had been shown a newsreel of Gehrig’s farewell speech at Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day by Niven Busch, a Goldwyn screenwriter. Busch was confident a movie about Gehrig would be a success. By the end of the newsreel Goldwyn was crying and had made up his mind to acquire the rights to Gehrig’s story. The end result was a success, with the picture being nominated for 11 academy awards, including best picture.

Here are some photos of The Babe and Lou together. (click to enlarge)

Gehrig and Ruth in a posed publicity photo

Ruth and Gehrig 1927

Babe Ruth Scores ahead of a Lou Gehrig Home Run

Four Greats- Lou Gehrig, Tris Speaker, Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth 1928

Babe Ruth pays his respects at Lou Gehrig’s funeral June 4, 1941