It could have been a good movie.
Spencer Tracy portrays the complexities of the man that this film was based upon.
Now I’ll Tell was written by Mrs. Carolyn Rothstein, widow of New York gambler and crime boss Arnold Rothstein. Continue reading
Why is this snowman so unhappy? Too much snow? Not enough? Too warm? Continue reading
If you feel frustrated by the lack of quality films being produced over the last few decades, you are not alone. Anyone who watches Turner Classic Movies regularly rather than seeing recent films probably feels the same way.
But is there a simple explanation as to what has changed about the movies?
One legendary Hollywood veteran working behind the scene’s had a strong opinion as to what happened.
Sydney Guilaroff, MGM hair stylist
Sydney Guilaroff (1907-1997) is a name you will see in the credits of hundreds of films Continue reading
This scene shows the cowcatcher intersection at 23rd Street where Fifth Avenue and Broadway intersect.
Our photograph is from about 1897, before the famous Flatiron Building was constructed in 1902. Continue reading
In 1941, Warner Bros. talent scout Solly Baiano went to an Elks Lodge picnic in Sacramento, CA. for a talent try-out for young people. As usual at events like these, there was no talent at the picnic. But as Baiano was walking back to his car he stopped in his tracks when he came upon Dolores Moran sitting near his path eating a hot dog. Baiano froze and just stared at Moran later saying she “struck me blind.”
Dolores Moran was just 15-years-old. She had not entered the talent contest thinking she was too young. At five foot seven and 123 pounds the well developed teen was just the type of talent Baiano was looking for. Continue reading
Don’t dare call somebody retarded unless you want scorn heaped upon you.
In the twenty-first century the word retard has been put on a list of verboten words never to be uttered, unless you wish to appall your fellow conversationalist or intend to incur the wrath of the word police. It wasn’t always this way.
The United States Postal Service issued the Retarded Children Can Be Helped stamp October 12, 1974. Over 150 million Continue reading
Charlton Heston admires his Golden Globe Award for Most Popular Male Star as Marilyn Monroe is embraced by Rock Hudson who awarded Marilyn the Golden Globe’s Henrietta Award as The World’s Most Popular Female Star at The Beverly Hilton Hotel.photo: Golden Globe Awards, March 5, 1962
It may come as no surprise that Marilyn Monroe never won an Academy Award. She was never even nominated for one. Despite strong performances in Bus Stop and Some Like It Hot Marilyn was considered by many in the Hollywood community as a personality rather than a true actress.
But Marilyn’s popularity with the public never waned, at least internationally. Continue reading
November 11 originally known as Armistice Day commemorates the formal end of World War I.
The Armistice which ended the Great War on November 11, 1918 was greeted with elation all over the world. In New York tens of thousands of people took to the streets to celebrate. The news slug says:
New York City – A cart filled with celebrants added the noise of their drums and cymbals to their cheers as they rode through the streets. photo: Wide World Photos November 11, 1918
This photograph taken by Percy Loomis Sperr on August 31, 1934 shows a mostly desolate section of the west side of Manhattan. 38th Street between 11th and 12th Avenues has still not been absorbed by the Hudson Yards building boom.
There has been great change, but there are many vacant lots and Incredibly nearly 90 years later, Continue reading
AC/DC’s singer / lyricist Bon Scott once described himself not as a poet, but more a bathroom graffiti writer.
Though Bon Scott was self effacing, he could look at his own work honestly to see if there was room for improvement. Scott would frequently write and rewrite lyrics in notebooks and record on portable tape recorder he carried with him.
In one case he took a good rock song and made it a great song by completely changing the lyrics. Continue reading