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A nice bit of foreshadowing can make any movie even more fascinating to watch. These subtle clues about events yet to come will often go over the heads of the audience the first time around, but can be exciting to notice upon a rewatch. After all, these brief moments can prove that the filmmakers knew exactly what they were doing all along, having thought about exactly how the film would end from the moment it started.

Some iconic movies, however, take this idea even further. Every once in a while, a film is made that subtly reveals key details of the ending within the very first sequence. A carefully constructed opening scene has the ability to hint at where the film may be heading, even if viewers don't realize that it is all being laid out right in front of them. While they may be overlooked on their first viewing,...

Peter White, an alum of TV soaps All My Children and Love Is a Many Splendored Thing, has died at 86. All My Children costar Kathleen Noone told The Hollywood Reporter that White died of melanoma at home in Los Angeles on Wednesday. White, born in New York City in 1937 and trained at Yale School of Drama, got his start playing Jerry Ames on the CBS soap The Secret Storm from 1965 to 1966. In 1968, he starred in the original, off-Broadway production of the groundbreaking Mart Crowley play The Boys in the Band — which ran for more than 1,000 performances — and reprised his part in the 1970 film adaptation, directed by William Friedkin. (The play begat a Broadway revival in 2018 and a Netflix film with the revival cast.) On CBS’ Love Is a Many Splendored Thing, White played Dr. Sanford Hiller for more than 250 episodes in 1971. And on ABC’s All My Children, White played Lincoln Tyler,...

Peter White, who portrayed Linc Tyler on the ABC soap opera All My Children over four decades and starred in the original stage production and film adaptation of The Boys in the Band, has died. He was 86.

White died Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles of melanoma, his All My Children castmate Kathleen Noone (Ellen Shepherd Dalton on the show) told The Hollywood Reporter.

White also played Arthur Cates, the attorney for Sable Colby (Stephanie Beacham), on the first two seasons of the ABC primetime soap The Colbys in 1985-86, and he recurred as the deceased doctor dad of the characters played by Swoosie Kurtz, Sela Ward, Patricia Kalember and Julianne Phillips on the 1991-96 NBC drama Sisters.

White first portrayed Lincoln Tyler, son of stern Pine Valley matriarch Phoebe Tyler (Ruth Warrick), from 1974-80 — he was the third actor in the role, starting with James Karen — then returned...

Ted Donaldson, who starred as Bud Anderson on the original radio version of Father Knows Best and as Neely Nolan in the beloved family drama A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, the first feature directed by Elia Kazan, has died. He was 89.

Donaldson died Wednesday of complications from a fall in his Echo Park apartment in January, his friend Thomas Bruno told The Hollywood Reporter.

In his big-screen debut, Donaldson portrayed a boy who gets his pet caterpillar Curly to dance when he plays “Yes Sir, That’s My Baby” on the harmonica in the comedy fantasy Once Upon a Time (1944), starring Cary Grant and Janet Blair.

He also starred as Danny Mitchell in eight B-movies from Columbia Pictures that revolved around a German shepherd named Rusty. The first one, Adventures of Rusty (1945), featured Ace the Wonder Dog.

An only child, Donaldson was born in Brooklyn on Aug. 20, 1933. His father was...

Citizen Kane follows the rise and fall of ambitious publishing tycoon Charles Foster Kane, and its ending brings the story back to the start in a well-structured mystery narrative. The lead character, played by Orson Welles, who also directed the 1941 feature, dies at the beginning of the plot, breathing his last breath as he says the ominous word "rosebud." His last word leads to an investigation deep into his scandalous life, but only the film's audience is treated to a definitive, albeit still puzzling answer.

Called the greatest movie ever made, Citizen Kane plays out as a pseudo-biopic as viewers are led through Kane's entire life story, from his childhood in Colorado to his rise as a yellow journalism tycoon and a politician in New York, eventually building up to his demise at his colossal mansion, Xanadu. The way “rosebud” links the beginning to the end was quite a unique plot point in its time,...

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Burt Metcalfe, the onetime actor from Canada who served as a producer, director and writer on all 11 seasons of M*A*S*H, collecting 13 Emmy nominations along the way, has died. He was 87.

One of the show’s unsung heroes, Metcalfe died Wednesday in Los Angeles of natural causes, his wife of 43 years, actress Jan Jorden announced. (She had a recurring role as Nurse Baker on the series.)

Before he gave up full-time acting to work on the other side of the camera, Metcalfe played the surfer Lord Byron opposite Sandra Dee and James Darren in Gidget (1959), appeared on the first season of The Twilight Zone and starred on the 1961-62 CBS sitcom Father of the Bride.

Metcalfe was a producer on all but five of M*A*S*H‘s 256 episodes from 1972-83 and its showrunner for its last six seasons. He...

A thousand releases down the line, Criterion gives us a special edition of the most creatively brilliant & innovative movie in history, as the label debuts selected 4K releases. It’s a four-disc set, with three Blu-rays that hold a huge quantity of well-chosen and well-produced extras. What can be said about Kane that hasn’t been debated decades ago? Our Declaration of Principles is to just try and tell the truth: we try a ‘civilian’ approach, sketching the film’s wonderments without assuming the reader is already a true believer in the Cinema God Orson Welles. Which Welles definitely is.

Citizen Kane 4K

4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 1104

1941 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 119 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date November 23, 2021 / 47.96

Starring: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore, Agnes Moorehead, Ruth Warrick, Ray Collins, Erskine Sanford, Everett Sloane, William Alland, Paul Stewart, George Coulouris, Fortunio Bonanova.

Cinematography: Gregg Toland...

“That’s all he ever wanted out of life… was love. That’s the tragedy of Charles Foster Kane. You see, he just didn’t have any to give.”

Orson Welles’ classic Citizen Kane (1941) will be available on 4k and Blu-ray October 19th. A 4-disc 4K Uhd+Blu-ray Combo and a 3-blu-ray Edition will both be available.

In the most dazzling debut feature in cinema history, twenty-five-year-old writer-producer-director-star Orson Welles synthesized the possibilities of sound-era filmmaking into what could be called the first truly modern movie. In telling the story of the meteoric rise and precipitous fall of a William Randolph Hearst–like newspaper magnate named Charles Foster Kane, Welles not only created the definitive portrait of American megalomania, he also unleashed a torrent of stylistic innovations—from the jigsaw-puzzle narrative structure to the stunning deep-focus camera work of Gregg Toland—that have ensured that Citizen Kane remains fresh and...

1968: Agnes Nixon's One Life to Live premiered on ABC."History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into different and unexpected images."

― Anselm Kiefer

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1940: On The Guiding Light, Rose Kransky (Ruth Bailey) and Charles Cunningham had dinner together after a chance meeting on the street.

The episode opened with the following narration: "Where we are free to act, we are also free to refrain from acting. And where we are able to say no, we are also able to say yes. And yet it seems so strange that so many times what we will to be,...

1984: Guiding Light's Nola gave birth.

1986: Dynasty's Alexis took over Blake's possessions and he was not happy.

1999: Another World's Alli faced a ticking time bomb.

1999: Susan Lucci finally won her for Daytime Emmy Award."History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into d ifferent and unexpected images."

― Anselm Kiefer

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1964: On Another World, Jim (Leon Janney) convinced Russ (Joey Trent) to attend summer school.

1971: The first episode of Upstairs Downstairs was re-recorded in color after the original recording, which was in black and white, was lost.

1981: On Texas, Joe Foster...

1983: All My Children's Verla Grubbs told Phoebe about her father.

1985: Todd arrived in Salem. on Days of our Lives.

1990: Bo Brady returned to Days of our Lives.

1991: Another World's Kathleen unintentionally interrupted

Cass & Frankie's wedding."History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into d ifferent and unexpected images."

― Anselm Kiefer

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1966: On Peyton Place, Ann Howard (Susan Oliver) hired Steven Cord (James Douglas) to investigate Chris's fall from the bluff years earlier, convinced she had nothing to do with it.

1967: On Dark Shadows, Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid) spoke to the portrait of Josette,...

1957: As the World Turns' Edith considered leaving Oakdale.

1985: Finola Hughes debuted as Anna Devane on General Hospital.

1987: Jack Deveraux first appeared on Days of our Lives.

2008: All My Children's Jesse remembered his late friend Jenny."History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into d ifferent and unexpected images."

― Anselm Kiefer

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1957: On As the World Turns, Chris (Don MacLaughlin) and Pa (Santos Ortega) discussed John Hughes, who ran away from the Hughes farm 18 years earlier. Meanwhile, Edith (Ruth Warrick) didn't want to rehash the past with Jim. Later, Pa encouraged Edith to...

1956: As the World Turns and The Edge of Night premiered on CBS.

1971: ABC aired the final episode of Dark Shadows.

1978: Primetime soap opera Dallas premiered on CBS."History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into different and unexpected images."

― Anselm Kiefer

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1951: Hawkins Falls, a primetime dramedy in 1950 returned as 15-minute five-days-a-week daytime soap opera on NBC titled Hawkins Falls: A Television Novel, created by Roy Winsor and Doug Johnson. Its large cast of "townspeople" included Frank Dane, Bernadine Flynn, Ros Twohey, Hope Summers and Barbara Berjer. Produced and directed by Ben Park, it ran four years.

1970: All My Children premiered on ABC."History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into different and unexpected images."

― Anselm Kiefer

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1953: Ellen Demming made her first appearance as Meta Bauer White Roberts on both the television and radio versions of The Guiding Light. Demming played the role until 1974.

1965: On Another World, Dru (Geoffrey Lumb) assured John (Michael M. Ryan) he had done everything he could for Pat, whose trial was about to begin.

1970: ABC premiered Agnes Nixon's daytime soap opera All My Children. It ran for over 41 years on on the network, ending...

1953: Love of Life's Meg was upset with Vanessa.

1983: Guiding Light's Mike investigated a birth certificate.

1988: General Hospital's Grant tried to kidnap Robin.

1993: NBC aired the final episode of Santa Barbara."History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into different and unexpected images."

― Anselm Kiefer

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1953: On Love of Life, Van (Peggy McCay) and Meg (Jean McBride) were at odds over Meg's son, Beanie (Dennis Parnell). Meg later asked Van, "How can you go on being friends with a man who threatened my life?" McCay left Love of Life in 1955 after 4 years.

1964: Another World's Pat murdered Tom Baxter.

1967: Dark Shadows' Barnabas charmed Julia.

1995: Loving's Neil proposed to Kate.

2004: Gh's Jason begged Sam to live after they lost their baby."The best prophet of the future is the past."

― Lord Byron

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1962: Joseph Allen, who played roles in CBS soap operas Love of Life (Miles Pardee) and The Edge of Night, died at age 44.

1964: On Another World, Frank Andrews (Peter Brandon) arrived home and found Pat Matthews (Susan Trustman) standing over the dead body of his roommate, Tom Baxter (Nicholas Pryor).

1965: On Days of our Lives second episode, Marie Horton...

1984: General Hospital's Frisco met Felicia.

1987: Another World's Dawn learned her mother had died.

1988: Santa Barbara's Julia was reunited with Mason.

2007: Passions' Ethan learned he had a son."The best prophet of the future is the past."

― Lord Byron

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1966: On Peyton Place, Steven Cord (James Douglas) arrived at his mother's (Ruth Warrick) home with a trunk of Ann's (Susan Oliver) childhood belongings and confronted her and Mr. Peyton about their treatment of Ann and the lies regarding her true parentage. They protested that they did what they thought was best, but he argued that they could have helped her after...

1968: Agnes Nixon's One Life to Live premiered on ABC."All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity that the dry, shrivelled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble of cracking the nut."

― Anne Brontë in "Agnes Grey"

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1940: On The Guiding Light, Rose Kransky (Ruth Bailey) and Charles Cunningham had dinner together after a chance meeting on the street.

The episode opened with the following narration: "Where we are free to act, we are also free to refrain from acting. And where we are able to say no, we...

1966: Dark Shadows' Victoria noticed her letter had moved.

1987: As the World Turns' Margo and Hal shared a kiss.

1994: Days of our Lives' Salem said goodbye to Dr. Tom Horton.

2012: The Young and the Restless' Paul shot his son, Ricky."All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity that the dry, shrivelled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble of cracking the nut."

― Anne Brontë in "Agnes Grey"

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1915: Future soap opera legend Ruth Warrick was born. Her daytime roles included Phoebe on All My Children,...

The Television Academy Foundation has launched its new website for The Interviews: An Oral History of Television, featuring never-before-seen interviews with many of television’s most beloved stars, show creators and behind-the-scenes innovators.

It is the world’s largest such collection available online.

For more than 20 years, the Foundation has been recording and preserving the first-person stories of television’s creation and its evolution, amassing the largest oral history archive on the medium and, since 2008, making it available online.

That website houses a curated and fully searchable, cross-referenced online archive of over 4,000 hours of uncensored interviews with icons from television's earliest days to current stars and visionaries. It’s an unmatched collection of in-depth conversations with industry professionals from many disciplines and in all genres in television.

Visitors to the site can screen thousands of clips from the personal stories of TV’s greatest luminaries: Walter Cronkite shares the emotional...

1984: Guiding Light's Nola gave birth. 1986: Dynasty's Alexis

took over Blake's possessions and he was not happy.

1999: Another World's Alli faced a ticking time bomb.

1999: Susan Lucci finally won her for Daytime Emmy Award."All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity that the dry, shrivelled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble of cracking the nut."

― Anne Brontë in "Agnes Grey"

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1964: On Another World, Jim (Leon Janney) convinced Russ (Joey Trent) to attend summer school.

1971: The first episode of Upstairs Downstairs was re-recorded in color after the original recording,...

1983: All My Children's Verla Grubbs told Phoebe about her father.

1985: Todd arrived in Salem. on Days of our Lives.

1990: Bo Brady returned to Days of our Lives.

1991: Another World's Kathleen unintentionally interrupted

Cass & Frankie's wedding."All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity that the dry, shrivelled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble of cracking the nut."

― Anne Brontë in "Agnes Grey"

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1966: On Peyton Place, Ann Howard (Susan Oliver) hired Steven Cord (James Douglas) to investigate Chris's fall from the bluff years earlier, convinced she...

1951: A daytime version of Hawkins Falls premiered.

1956: As the World Turns and The Edge of Night premiered

on CBS. 1971: ABC aired the final episode of Dark Shadows."All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity that the dry, shrivelled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble of cracking the nut."

― Anne Brontë in "Agnes Grey"

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1951: Hawkins Falls, a primetime dramedy in 1950 returned as 15-minute five-days-a-week daytime soap opera on NBC titled Hawkins Falls: A Television Novel, created by Roy Winsor and Doug Johnson. Its large cast of "townspeople" included Frank Dane,...

1957: As the World Turns' Edith considered leaving Oakdale.

1985: Finola Hughes debuted as Anna Devane on General Hospital.

1987: Jack Deveraux first appeared on Days of our Lives.

2008: All My Children's Jesse remembered his late friend Jenny."All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity that the dry, shrivelled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble of cracking the nut."

― Anne Brontë in "Agnes Grey"

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1957: On As the World Turns, Chris (Don MacLaughlin) and Pa (Santos Ortega) discussed John Hughes, who ran away from the Hughes farm 18 years earlier.

1953: Love of Life's Meg was upset with Vanessa.

1983: Guiding Light's Mike investigated a birth certificate.

1988: General Hospital's Grant tried to kidnap Robin.

1993: NBC aired the final episode of Santa Barbara."History is a vast early warning system."

― Norman Cousins

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1953: On Love of Life, Van (Peggy McCay) and Meg (Jean McBride) were at odds over Meg's son, Beanie (Dennis Parnell). Meg later asked Van, "How can you go on being friends with a man who threatened my life?" McCay left Love of Life in 1955 after 4 years. She currently stars as Caroline Brady on Days of our Lives.

Thanks to...

1970: All My Children premiered on ABC."History is a vast early warning system."

― Norman Cousins

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1953: Ellen Demming made her first appearance as Meta Bauer White Roberts on both the television and radio versions of The Guiding Light. Demming played the role until 1974.

1965: On Another World, Dru (Geoffrey Lumb) assured John (Michael M. Ryan) he had done everything he could for Pat, whose trial was about to begin.

1970: ABC premiered Agnes Nixon's daytime soap opera All My Children. It ran for over 41 years on on the network, ending after 10,712 episodes on September 23, 2011. Original cast member Susan Lucci stayed with the soap for its entire run.

All My Children has been off the air for several years, but that didn’t stop Erica Kane from holding court on Thursday’s Home & Family.

The long-running ABC soap’s central character — and a bunch more — were the focus of the Hallmark Channel morning show as part of Susan Lucci‘s week-long co-hosting stint. In addition to regular hosts Debbie Matenopoulos and Mark Steines, La Lucci was joined at the top of the show by former castmates Peter Bergman (who played Cliff), Kim Delaney (Jenny), Lawrence Lau (Greg), Eden Riegel (Bianca), Kathleen Noone (Ellen), Eva Larue (Maria), John Callahan...

What? A movie where adults behave like adults? Otto Preminger showcases a quiet maturity in this story of an independent woman caught between two men, adulterous lover Dana Andrews and conflicted suitor Henry Fonda. The script is witty and the people believable -- this is one of Joan Crawford's best performances. Daisy Kenyon Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1947 / B&W / 1:37 flat full frame / 99 min. / Street Date Nov 15, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Joan Crawford, Dana Andrews, Henry Fonda, Ruth Warrick, Martha Stewart, Peggy Ann Garner Cinematography Leon Shamroy Art Direction George Davis, Lyle Wheeler Film Editor Louis Loffler Original Music David Raksin Written by David Hertz from the book by Elizabeth Janeway Produced and Directed by Otto Preminger

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Why is Daisy Kenyon one of Joan Crawford's best pictures? Crawford could be a fine actress, but too many of her pictures seem distorted by her star persona.

Cinema Retro has received the following press release:

Burbank, Calif., November 3, 2016 – To mark the 75th anniversary of Orson Welles’ cinematic masterpiece “Citizen Kane,”Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (Wbhe) will release a new Blu-ray™ and DVD on November 15, and the American Film Institute (AFI) will mount a special screening of the restored master at AFI Fest presented by Audi, the Institute's annual film festival in Hollywood, on November 13. The screening will take place at the Egyptian Theatre at 1:30 p.m., followed by an AFI Master Class, featuring close personal Welles friend Peter Bogdanovich and a celebrity and academic panel to be announced.

The film’s central character is powerful publisher Charles Foster Kane, who aspires to be president of the United States. Newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst claimed “Citizen Kane” was a thinly veiled and slanderous account of his own life and sought to use his formidable muscle to halt...

Douglas Fairbanks Jr. ca. 1935. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. was never as popular as his father, silent film superstar Douglas Fairbanks, who starred in one action-adventure blockbuster after another in the 1920s (The Mark of Zorro, Robin Hood, The Thief of Bagdad) and whose stardom dates back to the mid-1910s, when Fairbanks toplined a series of light, modern-day comedies in which he was cast as the embodiment of the enterprising, 20th century “all-American.” What this particular go-getter got was screen queen Mary Pickford as his wife and United Artists as his studio, which he co-founded with Pickford, D.W. Griffith, and Charles Chaplin. Now, although Jr. never had the following of Sr., he did enjoy a solid two-decade-plus movie career. In fact, he was one of the few children of major film stars – e.g., Jane Fonda, Liza Minnelli, Angelina Jolie, Michael Douglas, Jamie Lee Curtis – who had successful film careers of their own.

Tomorrow when the Supporting Actress Smackdown 1941 hits, we'll just be discussing the five nominees (24 more hours to get your ballots in for the reader's section of the vote!). As it should be. But for the first time in a Smackdown I polled my fellow panelists as to who they would have nominated if, uh, they'd have been alive in 1941 and if, uh, they'd been AMPAS members.

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde lust after Lana Turner & Ingrid Bergman. And so does our panel.

Angelica and I didn't vote (I haven't seen enough 1941 pictures, I confess) but our other three panelists have recommendations for you outside the Oscar shortlist. In fact, all three of them only co-signed 2 of Oscar's 5 choices... different ones mostly so the Smackdown should be interesting (I'm not telling you which as the critiques come tomorrow!). So here are some For Your Considerations for your rental queues or your...

Guest in the House

Written by Hunt Stromberg

Directed by John Brahm

USA, 1944

The family unit is, or should be, the strongest in one’s life, the one from which a solid emotional backbone is based from, the unshakable bond that brings its members together through thick and thin. For that reason, a troubled familial relationship, any sort of considerable rift between two or more of the members, may be the worst variety of schism afflicting previously close loved ones. Said troubles may not necessarily originate from within the unit, but from outside, such as when a new member is admitted through marriage. John Brahm’s 1944 melodrama noir Guest in the House concerns itself with this very matter (minus marriage), demonstrating the terrible deconstruction of a previously tightly knit family tearing apart at the seams.

The Proctors await the return of one of their own, Dr. Dan Proctor (Scott McKay...

Randolph Scott Westerns, comedies, war dramas: TCM schedule on August 19, 2013 See previous post: “Cary Grant and Randolph Scott Marriages — And ‘Expect the Biographical Worst.’” 3:00 Am Badman’S Territory (1946). Director: Tim Whelan. Cast: Randolph Scott, George ‘Gabby’ Hayes, Ann Richards. Bw-98 mins. 4:45 Am Trail Street (1947). Director: Ray Enright. Cast: Randolph Scott, Robert Ryan, Anne Jeffreys. Bw-84 mins. 6:15 Am Return Of The Badmen (1948). Director: Ray Enright. Cast: Randolph Scott, Robert Ryan, Anne Jeffreys, George ‘Gabby’ Hayes, Jacqueline White, Steve Brodie, Tom Keene aka Richard Powers, Robert Bray, Lex Barker, Walter Reed, Michael Harvey, Dean White, Robert Armstrong, Tom Tyler, Lew Harvey, Gary Gray, Walter Baldwin, Minna Gombell, Warren Jackson, Robert Clarke, Jason Robards Sr., Ernie Adams, Lane Chandler, Dan Foster, John Hamilton, Kenneth MacDonald, Donald Kerr, Ida Moore, ‘Snub’ Pollard, Harry Shannon, Charles Stevens. Bw-90 mins. 8:00 Am Riding Shotgun (1954). Director: André De Toth. Cast: Randolph Scott, Wayne Morris,...

Randolph Scott movies: From Westerns to Cary Grant / Irene Dunne comedy Handsome, granite-faced Randolph Scott is Turner Classic Movies’ next great choice in its "Summer Under the Stars" film series. Monday, August 19, 2013, is Randolph Scott Day, which begins and ends with Westerns. That shouldn’t be surprising, for although Scott was initially cast in a variety of roles and movie genres (including Westerns), he became exclusively a Western star in the late ’40s, sticking to that genre until his retirement in 1962 following the release of Sam Peckinpah’s elegiac Ride the High Country, which TCM will be showing on Monday evening. Joel McCrea at his very best and Mariette Hartley co-star. (See “On TCM: Randolph Scott Westerns.”) (Photo: Randolph Scott ca. 1945.) Many of Scott’s Westerns were routine fare, including Badman’s Territory (1946), which kicks off Randolph Scott Day. Some, however, have become classics of the genre, especially his late...

Eleanor Parker today: Beautiful as ever in Scaramouche, Interrupted Melody Eleanor Parker, who turns 91 in ten days (June 26, 2013), can be seen at her most radiantly beautiful in several films Turner Classic Movies is showing this evening and tomorrow morning as part of their Star of the Month Eleanor Parker "tribute." Among them are the classic Scaramouche, the politically delicate Above and Beyond, and the biopic Interrupted Melody, which earned Parker her third and final Best Actress Academy Award nomination. (Photo: publicity shot of Eleanor Parker in Scaramouche.) The best of the lot is probably George Sidney’s balletic Scaramouche (1952), in which Eleanor Parker plays one of Stewart Granger’s love interests — the other one is Janet Leigh. A loose remake of Rex Ingram’s 1923 blockbuster, the George Sidney version features plenty of humor, romance, and adventure; vibrant colors (cinematography by Charles Rosher); an elaborately staged climactic swordfight; and tough dudes...

DVD Release Date: April 3, 2012

Price: DVD $19.95

Studio: Hen’s Tooth

Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. let's his sword do the talking in The Corsican Brothers.

The 1941 action-adventure film The Corsican Brothers, adapted from the 1844 novella by Alexandre Dumas, stars the incomparable Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. (The Mark of Zorro).

Hen’s Tooth’s DVD release marks the first time the Gregory Ratoff-directed movie has ever been issued on disc.

There’s plenty of swordplay and swashbuckling adventure in Dumas’ tale of identical twins Lucien and Mario, separated as infants, and raised unaware of each other’s existence. One becomes a Parisian gentleman, the other a country bandit.

When they are reunited as adults (both played by Fairbanks), they seek revenge on the evil Baron (Akim Tamiroff) who plundered their homestead and robbed them of their birthright. Complications arise when both fall in love with the same beautiful Countess (Ruth Warrick, Citizen Kane...

Chicago – I have written about thousands of movies and yet I still feel daunted by addressing “Citizen Kane,” recently released in a stunning Ultimate Collector’s Edition Blu-ray for the 70th anniversary of what many still consider to be the best film of all time. What could I possibly add to the conversation? Pulitzer Prize winners have dissected the film down to every decision made by Orson Welles during its production. All I can tell you is that the movie has lost none of its power. It is still one of the most striking cinematic achievements of all time and the impressive Blu-ray box set does the film the justice it has long-deserved.

DVD Rating: 5.0/5.0

As I said, “Citizen Kane” is still mesmerizing. I watch it every few years and I go into it every time with the same trepidation — Will it hold up? Is it still powerful? Much to my amazement,...

Your Weekly Source for the Newest Releases to Blu-Ray Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

The 10th Victim (1965)

Synopsis: It is the 21st Century, and society’s lust for violence is satisfied by “The Big Hunt,” an international game of legalized murder. But when the sport’s two top assassins (Marcello Mastroianni and Ursula Andress) are pitted against each other, they find that love is the most dangerous game of all. As the world watches, the hunt is on. Who will become The 10th Victim? The 10th Victim is the international cult classic whose wild action and sexy style has influenced a generation of movies, from The Running Man to the Austin Powers series. Remastered from original archival negative materials, this outrageous satire is presented here in its original Italian language with optional English subtitles. — highdefdigest.com

Special Features:

Marcello: A Sweet Life (2006) (102 Mins.) Theatrical Trailer

3 Women: The Criterion Collection (1977)

Synopsis: In a dusty,...

Carol Burnett has been a long-time fan of "All My Children" - so much so that creator/writer Agnes Nixon created a role for Burnett almost 30 years ago. "Verla Grubbs" made her debut in April 1983 as the long-lost Langley Wallingford (the late Louis Edmonds) who caused trouble for her stepmother Phoebe Tyler-Wallingford (the late Ruth Warrick). Burnett appeared multiple times on the show in the early 1980s.

Burnett reprised her role in 1995 for the 25th anniversary and again in a cameo role in 2005 for the 35th anniversary of the ABC soap. Now Burnett is back as part of the last few weeks leading up to the series finale on Sept. 23.

"It is our honor and pleasure to welcome back Carol Burnett to Pine Valley. Verla Grubbs is a beloved member of the 'All My Children' family and we look forward to reprising her character," says Julie Hanan Carruthers,...

Orson Welles, Ruth Warrick, Citizen Kane Orson Welles on TCM: The Third Man, The Lady From Shanghai Schedule (Et) and synopses from the TCM website: 6:00 Am The Tartars (1961) A barbarian army attacks Viking settlements along the Russian steppes. Dir: Richard Thorpe. Cast: Victor Mature, Orson Welles, Folco Lulli. C-83 mins, Letterbox Format 7:30 Am Tomorrow Is Forever (1946) A scarred veteran presumed dead returns home to find his wife remarried. Dir: Irving Pichel. Cast: Claudette Colbert, Orson Welles, George Brent. Bw-104 mins. 9:30 Am Moby Dick (1956) Epic adaptation of Herman Melville's classic about a vengeful sea captain out to catch the whale that maimed him. Dir: John Huston. Cast: Gregory Peck, Richard Basehart, Leo Genn. C-115 mins, Letterbox Format 11:30 Am The V.I.P.S (1963) Wealthy passengers fogged in at London's Heathrow Airport fight to survive a variety of personal trials. Dir: Anthony Asquith. Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Louis Jourdan.

Emmy Award-winning actress Julia Barr grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where she caught the acting bug at age 8 in a local youth theater group. She appeared in a production of "Peter Pan" when she was 13 and continued acting while attending high school and college, as a theater major on a regional campus of Purdue University.

In June 1976 she landed the role of All My Children's Brooke English, where she stayed for 30 years playing one of Pine Valley's most beloved characters (and Erica Kane's biggest rival). In 2010, she appeared on the show's 40th Anniversary special later returning for a three month run. In September, she will return to AMC once again as the show comes to a close on ABC.

In this exclusive new two-part interview with We Love Soaps TV, Barr reflects on her career, shares thoughts on her historic All My Children run, discusses the show's move to the web,...

On this date in...

1915: Future soap opera legend Ruth Warrick (ex-Phoebe, All My Children; ex-Hannah, Peyton Place; ex-Janet, Guiding Light; ex-Edie, As The World Turns) was born.

1943: Radio soap opera Lonely Women, created by Irna Phillips, debuted on NBC Radio.

1956: The Guiding Light aired its final radio episode on CBS Radio.

Celebrating a birthday today are:

Debbie Lytton (ex-Melissa, Days Of Our Lives) - 44

Clementine Ford (Mackenzie, The Young And The Restless; ex-Molly, The L Word) - 31...

La, CA, United States (Celebrity News Service) - "All My Children" is going to welcome back a very special guest this September. Carol Burnett will return to reprise the role of her character Verla Grubbs.

Burnett's character first made an appearance on the show in 1983. Burnett was on the show alongside such stars as Eileen Herlie, Ruth Warrick, and Elizabeth Taylor.

This won't be the first time Burnett returns to her home in Pine Valley. In 1995, the actress appeared on the show for its 25th anniversary. She also hosted the anniversary special that year.

Julie Hanan Carruthers, executive producer of the show, expressed her excitement about Burnett's return. Carruthers said, "It is our honor and pleasure to welcome back Carol Burnett to Pine Valley. Verla Grubbs is a beloved member of the 'All My Children' family and we look forward to reprising her character."...

Disc Dish has all the details on Warner’s Citizen Kane: 70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition Blu-ray —the format’s debut of Orson Welles’ classic 1941 mystery-drama—which is arriving on Sept. 13 for the list price of $64.99 (discounted to $44.99 on Amazon).

The new edition will contain all manner of audio and video extras, the documentary Battle over Citizen Kane and the 1999 HBO original film Rko 281, and a whole slew of collectible goodies, including a 48-page collector’s book, a 20-page reproduction of the original 1941 souvenir program, lobby cards, reproductions of rare production memos and correspondence.

What’s most important, of course, is the quality of the feature film itself, and Warner is aiming to issue the highest quality version of the film ever seen.

“The work to recreate the original look of the film and to clean up the effects of aging was a painstaking, frame-by-frame process. The...

Dear Readers:

My first love will always be the movies… but I’m also very passionate about television — past and present, popular and obscure, highbrow and lowbrow, etc.

I minored in film studies at college, but I also took classes on television, its history, and its cultural impact, all of which I loved, and I’ve continued to independently study those subjects in the years since.

When I operated AndTheWinnerIs.blog.com, the previous incarnation of my current Web site, I wrote numerous long-form posts about television (analyzing the roots of America’s fascination with “24,” the implications of America’s obsession with “American Idol,” etc.).

For that blog, and/or my former Los Angeles Times blog, and/or my current blog, and/or a book project that I have been researching for several years, I have extensively interviewed loads of people who are largely — and, in some cases, exclusively — associated...

I was saddened to learn this morning that Betty Garrett, the great star of stage, screen, and TV, passed away yesterday at the age of 94 after suffering an aortic aneurysm.

Garrett was one of those rare people — like, say, Jack Valenti — who happened to be a witness to and/or participant in a remarkably high number of historic events of the 20th century. She was a member of Orson Welles’s famed Mercury Theatre company, and was with him on the night that he shook up America with his infamous radio broadcast of “The War of the Worlds” (1938); she was Frank Sinatra’s leading lady in two of the earliest great M-g-m musical-comedies, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” (1949) and “On the Town” (1949); her career was greatly hurt by the Hollywood Red Scare after her husband, the Oscar nominated actor Larry Parks, refused to name names before the House Committee...

Orson Welles‘ 1941 masterpiece Citizen Kane, winner of the best original screenplay Academy Award, will hit UK theaters on Nov. 30. In addition to London’s bfi Southbank, Citizen Kane will also be screened in Newcastle, Edinburgh, and Glasgow. Written by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz, Citizen Kane stars Welles as a newspaper magnate based on William Randolph Hearst. Also in the cast: Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore (a distorted version of Marion Davies), Ruth Warrick, Agnes Moorehead, Ray Collins, Erskine Sanford, and Everett Sloane. Cinematography by the masterful Gregg Toland, music by Bernard Herrmann. Citizen Kane was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including best picture, director, and actor (Welles). More information here.

By Michael Atkinson

The seminal will behind everything that matters about sub-Saharan African cinema, and at the same time the world's most guileless filmmaker, Ousmane Sembene was virtually a one-man continental film culture for 40 years, establishing the cinematic syntax and priorities for an entire section of mankind, and its relationship with movies. From the first mini-feature, "Borom Sarret" (1964) to the last, vibrant, polemical film "Moolaadé" (2004), Sembene's work aches with sociopolitical austerity . as an artist, he's virtually style-free, almost unprofessional, but possessed of a voice as clear and uncomplicated as sunlight. Primal, unsophisticated experiences, the films are simple but never simplistic, lowbrow but unsensational, fastidiously realistic and yet unconcerned with sustaining illusion. His filmography is more or less divided between cool, undramatic autopsies on post-colonial norms and folly (1966's "Black Girl," 1968's "Mandabi," 1974's "Xala") and demi-epics of colonial horror (1971's Emitai, 1977's "Ceddo," 1987's "Camp de Thiaroye"). The slow burn,...

Actress Ruth Warrick, who made her film debut as the first wife of Orson Welles' titular character in Citizen Kane but became known to generations as daytime drama diva Phoebe Tyler of All My Children, died at her home in New York on Saturday of complications from pneumonia; she was 89. The actress had been in failing health for the past few years, but was well enough to make an appearance earlier this month at the 35th anniversary celebration for All My Children, albeit for a short period of time in a wheelchair. Born in St. Joseph, Missouri, the young actress made her way to New York after graduating from college, and found herself a place in Orson Welles' Mercury Theater. Welles later hand-picked her for her auspicious screen debut as Emily Norton Kane in 1941's Citizen Kane, citing her fresh-faced, non-Hollywood quality. Roles in 40s films such as The Corsican Brothers, Journey Into Fear, and Song Of The South followed, but by the end of the decade she had settled into supporting roles. However, Warrick found a career resurgence with the nascent medium of television soap operas, and played parts in such shows as Guiding Light, As The World Turns, and Peyton Place (for which she earned her first Emmy nomination). It was for a brand-new soap in 1970 that Warrick earned her place in television history when she originated the role of matriarch Phoebe Tyler Wallingford in All My Children; her scheming, sophisticated, over-the-top character earned her millions of fans as well as two Emmy nominations and a Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award. After breaking her hip in 2001, she continued to make sporadic appearances on the show in a wheelchair, continuing her meddlesome ways. Warrick is survived by three children, a grandson and six great-grandchildren. --Prepared by IMDb staff...

Liza Minnelli has laughed off suggestions her new husband David Gest is gay - blaming the woman who made the allegations for trying to get attention. Soap opera actress Ruth Warrick, 86, told America's Globe tabloid that she has been escorted by Gest for 25 years, and that she's certain he's homosexual. But loyal Liza has slammed the claims, insisting Gest and Warrick never really "dated" - they were just friends. She adds just because Warrick didn't get any loving from Gest, that doesn't mean he's not capable. Liza says in a statement, "Ruth Warrick is trying to capitalize on the attention of our wedding. It is unfortunate that an 86-year-old woman, like Ruth Warrick, can think that a friendship is more than just that. Ruth Warrick is old enough to be David's grandmother." And contrite Warrick now admits she regrets the statements, saying, "It's all a big mistake. I never should have said it. I feel very badly about it. I guess I was a little giddy. I feel terrible to rain on their parade." And she adds, "I know that he's had affairs with women, but I have no knowledge of any affairs with men - not a whisper."...