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Throughout the Golden Age of Hollywood, many actresses came and went. Those we remember are the ones who were able to make a clear and distinct mark on cinema, and a lot of that has to do with their found niche. Marilyn Monroe had brilliant comedic timing and could grab the camera's attention, even in small roles. Bette Davis, while deemed difficult to work with, was known as a most serious actress. The list of notable actresses goes on and on.

The one Golden Age actress that remains quite baffling is Ava Gardner. While included on the American Film Institute's Top 100 Stars list, the performances Gardner had put out over the course of her career were arguably weaker compared to her contemporaries at the time. She did make a name for playing seductive beauties earlier on in her career in films like "The Killers" and "The Barefoot Contessa," but, upon review,...

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By Hank Reineke

The tales of adventure, fantasy and science-fiction penned by the great French novelist Jules Verne have served as filmmaking source material since the silent era. In the 1950s and early 60s such films as Disney’s 20,000 Leagues under the Sea (1954), U.A.’s Around the World in 80 Days (1956), Fox’s Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959), and Columbia’s Mysterious Island (1961) had studio cash boxes ringing. Verne’s charming mix of adventurous whimsy and exciting scenarios were big moneymakers. They would all capitalize, in part, by the fact these were “family” films that promised a couple of hours of cross-generational entertainment.

So it was not surprising when James H. Nicholson and Samuel Z. Arkoff of American-International Pictures thought it might be time to get into the game. “You can get an indication of public taste by observing the...

Joe Hyams, the highly respected publicity executive who worked at Warner Bros for more than 40 years, died today. He was 90. Hyams, who had served in the Marines before coming to the entertainment industry, was relied upon by studio heads, filmmakers and celebs going back to the days of John Wayne, James Dean, Burt Lancaster, Stanley Kubrick, François Truffaut and Federico Fellini. But one of the longest-lasting relationships in town was between him and his friend Clint Ea…...

Joe Hyams, who spent 45 years at Warner Bros. and was the last of an influential genre of Hollywood publicity executives, died Wednesday in Los Angeles, a family spokesperson announced. He was 90.

Hyams managed the film campaigns of such legends as Clint Eastwood, Barbra Streisand, Stanley Kubrick, Francois Truffaut, Robert Redford, Federico Fellini, Oliver Stone, William Friedkin and John Wayne.

He maintained a particularly close relationship with Eastwood, priding himself on being present for the first day of production on every movie the Oscar-winning filmmaker shot during that period and shepherding the finished projects through film festivals, premieres and...

Shirley Jones Movies: Innocent virgins and sex workers galore (photo: Shirley Jones and Burt Lancaster in ‘Elmer Gantry’) (See previous post: “Shirley Jones: From Book to Movies.”) I haven’t watched The Cheyenne Social Club (1970), a comedy Western directed by Gene Kelly, and starring 62-year-old James Stewart as a cowpoke who inherits an establishment that turns out to be a popular house of prostitution. Henry Fonda plays Stewart’s partner. And I’m sure Shirley Jones, as one of the sex workers, looks lovely in the film. Hopefully, director Kelly gave this likable, talented actress the chance to do more than just stand around looking pretty. But then again … For all purposes, The Cheyenne Social Club ended Shirley Jones’ film stardom; that same year she turned to TV and The Partridge Family. Jones would return to films only nine years later, as one of several stars (among them Michael Caine,...

Throughout November, Sos staffers will be discussing the movies that made them into film fanatics.

(click here for the full list)

Sunset Blvd.

Directed by Billy Wilder

Written by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder

1950 – USA

You must remember this. For me the love affair with movies began with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall and a world of smoke, cynicism and smouldering looks. I discovered a copy of Joe Hyams’ biography, Bogart and Bacall, while I was working at my local library around 1980. Obsessing over Hollywood’s most famous May-December romance soon led me to the black and white movies of the 40s, and many late nights watching Hawks, Huston, Curtiz and Billy Wilder.

I don’t know exactly when I first saw Wilder’s Sunset Blvd., but it was about 30 years ago and I have revisited it regularly. The film was significant because for the first time I felt a...