News

James Douglass West, who worked as a child actor alongside Roddy McDowall and Natalie Wood and spent a decade as a writer on Lassie, has died. He was 93.

West died Sunday of natural causes at his home in Studio City, his son, Daniel West, told The Hollywood Reporter.

For the big screen, West penned the original screenplay for the musical Hey Boy! Hey Girl! (1959), starring married couple Keely Smith and Louis Prima, and wrote California (1963), a Western starring Jock Mahoney.

West served for about a year as a story editor for writer-producer Charles Marquis Warren on NBC’s The Virginian, then joined the writing staff of CBS’ Lassie in 1963.

He was on the job during the 1964-65 season when the collie’s family (played by June Lockhart, Hugh Reilly and Jon Provost) move to Australia and Lassie gets paired with a Forest Service Ranger portrayed by Robert Bray.

Campbell Soup,...

Pepla! Pepla! Rah Rah Rah! These two remastered Italo muscleman pix could be the start of something big. A pair of relatively early Maciste epics became Samson vehicles in American-International’s Hollywood-ized revisions. Mark Forest & ex-Tarzan Gordon Scott overthrow tyrants in Egypt and Cathay, while hurling boulders and kissing exotic damsels like Chelo Alonso, Yôko Tani and Hélène Chanel. Separate releases from Kino Lorber.

Samson Double Bill

Son of Samson + Samson and the 7 Miracles of the World

Blu-ray Separate Purchases

Kl Studio Classics

1960 + 1961 / Color / 2:35 widescreen /

Starring: Mark Forest, Chelo Alonso; Gordon Scott, Yôko Tani, Hélène Chanel, Valéry Inkijinoff.

Cinematography: Riccardo Pallottini

Original Music: Carlo Innocenzi

Produced by Luigi Carpentieri, Ermanno Donati

Directed by Carlo Campogalliani, Riccardo Freda

Is it true? Will the neglected Italian costume pictures known as ‘sword ‘n’ sandals, Pepla & muscleman epics finally be released on disc in editions of worthwhile quality? We ‘fifties kids were raised...

Arlene Dahl, the glamorous 1950s actress who later became a beauty writer and cosmetics executive, died on Monday in New York. She was 96.

Her son, actor Lorenzo Lamas, posted on Facebook, saying, “She was the most positive influence on my life. I will remember her laughter, her joy, her dignity as she navigated the challenges that she faced. Never an ill word about anyone crossed her lips. Her ability to forgive left me speechless at times. She truly was a force of nature and as we got closer in my adult life, I leaned on her more and more as my life counselor and the person I knew that lived and loved to the fullest.”

Born in Minneapolis, Dahl started out as a model and worked in theater before coming to Hollywood in 1946. She was briefly under contract at Warner Bros., then signed with MGM.

Her first MGM film was “The Bride Goes Wild,...

Joyce MacKenzie, who portrayed Jane opposite Lex Barker in the 1953 film Tarzan and the She-Devil, has died. She was 95.

MacKenzie died June 10 at a health care facility in Hollywood, her son Norman Leimert told The Hollywood Reporter.

MacKenzie also played the wife of Robert Mitchum’s character in The Racket (1951) and a newspaper publisher’s daughter opposite Humphrey Bogart in Deadline — U.S.A. (1952), and in the 3D musical The French Line (1953), her model character exchanged identities with Jane Russell’s.

A onetime contract player at Fox, MacKenzie appeared with Barker in his fifth (and last) stint ...

Joyce MacKenzie, who portrayed Jane opposite Lex Barker in the 1953 film Tarzan and the She-Devil, has died. She was 95.

MacKenzie died June 10 at a health care facility in Hollywood, her son Norman Leimert told The Hollywood Reporter.

MacKenzie also played the wife of Robert Mitchum’s character in The Racket (1951) and a newspaper publisher’s daughter opposite Humphrey Bogart in Deadline — U.S.A. (1952), and in the 3D musical The French Line (1953), her model character exchanged identities with Jane Russell’s.

A onetime contract player at Fox, MacKenzie appeared with Barker in his fifth (and last) stint ...

Hollywood learns to imbed a social message into a crime thriller. John Paxton’s adaptation of Richard Brooks’ neat murder tale is solid noir because it sheds light on the malaise of returning soldiers. No parades and confetti here: Robert Ryan is the hateful bigot but the other characters live amid equally shadowy values — laid-back Robert Mitchum, unhappy bar girl Gloria Grahame. Edward Dmytryk puts a polish on a fine screenplay with a fresh viewpoint, that avoids thriller clichés.

Crossfire

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1947 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 86 min. / Street Date , 2021 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Robert Young, Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan, Gloria Grahame, Paul Kelly,

Sam Levene, George Cooper, Jacqueline White, Steve Brodie, William Phipps, Lex Barker, Marlo Dwyer.

Cinematography: J. Roy Hunt

Film Editor: Harry Gerstad

Art Direction: Albert S. D’Agostino, Alfred Herman

Original Music: Roy Webb

Written by John Paxton from the novel The Brick Foxhole by...

Although only one of these 1950s B&w thrillers falls within a mile of a hard definition of film noir, all give us glamorous actresses in interesting roles. Claudette Colbert takes her turn at playing a nun, Merle Oberon tries a femme fatale role on for size and Hedy Lamarr does very well for herself as a man-hungry movie star. Kino gives all three excellent transfers, and one comes with an appropriately gossipy audio commentary.

Film Noir the Dark Side of Cinema II

Thunder on the Hill, The Price of Fear, The Female Animal

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1951-58 / B&w / 1:37 Academy, 1:85 widescreen / 84,79,82 min. / Street Date May 12, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 49.95

Starring: Claudette Colbert, Ann Blyth, Robert Douglas, Anne Crawford, Connie Gilchrist, Gladys Cooper, Michael Pate, Phillip Friend; Merle Oberon, Lex Barker, Charles Drake, Gia Scala, Warren Stevens, Phillip Pine, Konstantin Shayne, Stafford Repp; Hedy Lamarr, Jane Powell,...

Mamie Van Doren Film Noir Collection

Blu ray

Kl Studio Classics

1957 – 1959 / 1.75:1, 1.85:1, / 216 Min. / Street Date – November 20, 2018

Starring Mamie Van Doren, Anne Bancroft, Lee Van Cleef, Lex Barker

Cinematography by Stanley Cortez, William Margulies

Directed by Howard Koch, Edward Cahn

Mamie Van Doren, née Joan Lucille Olander, was born in Rowena, South Dakota in 1931. In 1942 the family relocated to Hollywood where the camera-ready kid blossomed at the speed of light – a Pantages usherette at the age of 13, she racked up a string of attention-grabbing gigs that led to a reign as Miss Eight Ball and the inevitable merger with Tinseltown’s preeminent lounge lizard, Howard Hughes.

That arrangement generated a distinctly higher-profile for the industrious starlet – from an eye-popping Alberto Vargas pinup to swivel-hipped walk-ons in a series of forgettable potboilers and finally a contract at Universal. A cheeky studio exec christened her “Mamie” thereby hijacking the name of President...

Exciting news! Tarzan’S Greatest Adventure (1959) is now available on Blu-ray from Warner Archives! Ordering information can be found Here

After Lex Barker carried the mantle clear of Weissmuller’s long shadow, Gordon Scott was free to claim the crown of King of the Jungle. His Tarzan was keen, intelligent, and literate – much as Tarzan’s creator, Edgar Rice Burroughs, had envisioned – and in the aptly named Tarzan’s Greatest Adventure, Scott’s run as the jungle lord reached a peak in what is widely regarded as one of the best entries in the prodigious series of action adventure classics. Tarzan is on a deadly trail, determined to find the diamond hunters (including Anthony Quayle and Sean Connery) who brought terror and death to a peaceful village. But as much as Tarzan is a tracker and avenger, he’s also a protector. An irresponsible gadfly from the so-called civilized world...

Tarzan got a new lease on life when a film company finally went to Africa to pit the excellent ‘Lord of the Jungle’ Gordon Scott against a formidable phalanx of villains. Anthony Quayle, Sean Connery and Niall MacGinnis are perfect Dastards of the Darkest Continent. Also top-flight are the women in this jungle combat, wicked Scilla Gabel and naughty Sara Shane. Fun for adult kids of all ages!

Tarzan’s Greatest Adventure

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1959 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 87 min. / Street Date November 13, 2018 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Gordon Scott, Anthony Quayle, Sara Shane, Niall MacGinnis, Sean Connery, Al Mulock, Scilla Gabel.

Cinematography: Edward Scaife

Film Editor: Bert Rule

Original Music: Douglas Gamley

Written by Les Crutchfield, Berne Giler, John Guillermin from the character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Produced by Harvey Hayutin, Sy Weintraub

Directed by John Guillermin

Of all the big-screen Tarzans — Johnny Weissmuller, Lex Barker, Jock Mahoney,...

A solid mainstream hit for 1947, Loretta Young and Joseph Cotten’s political fairy tale maintains its charm despite the usual populist dodges — a spirited young woman finds both romance and The American Dream when she runs for Congress. But will the political system accept her?

The Farmer’s Daughter

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1947 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 97 min. / Street Date September 25, 2018 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Loretta Young, Joseph Cotten, Ethel Barrymore, Charles Bickford, Rhys Williams, Harry Davenport, Tom Powers, William Harrigan, Keith Andes, Harry Shannon, Lex Barker, Thurston Hall, Art Baker, Don Beddoe, James Arness, Anna Q. Nilsson, Charles McGraw, John Gallaudet, William B. Davidson, Cy Kendall, Frank Ferguson, William Bakewell, Charles Lane Forrest J. Ackerman, Robert Clarke.

Film Editor: Harry Marker

Original Music: Leigh Harline

Written by Allen Rivkin, Laura Kerr, from a play by Juhani Tervapää

Produced by Dore Schary

Directed by H.C. Potter

This year...

Alexander Skarsgard is plenty shirtless in The Legend of Tarzan but admits that fans expecting to see a traditionally loincloth-clad Lord of the Jungle - including costar Samuel L. Jackson’s daughter - may be disappointed unless they keep an extra sharp eye out. It's not for lack of his own enthusiasm: "I was trying to get a little sexy loincloth [to wear]," Skarsgard revealed during a press conference promoting the film. "I was trying to convince [director] David Yates for weeks when we were doing prep." But Yates, who directed the final four Harry Potter films, had already conceived of story centering...

Alexander Skarsgard is plenty shirtless in The Legend of Tarzan but admits that fans expecting to see a traditionally loincloth-clad Lord of the Jungle - including costar Samuel L. Jackson’s daughter - may be disappointed unless they keep an extra sharp eye out. It's not for lack of his own enthusiasm: "I was trying to get a little sexy loincloth [to wear]," Skarsgard revealed during a press conference promoting the film. "I was trying to convince [director] David Yates for weeks when we were doing prep." But Yates, who directed the final four Harry Potter films, had already conceived of story centering...

As we approach the release of The Legend of Tarzan (2016) we're ogling past screen incarnations of the Lord of the Apes...

After Buster Crabbe filled a loincloth beautifully and Johnny Weissmuller & Maureen O'Sullivan gave us the deservedly definitive Golden Age Tarzan and Jane, the franchise had to recast or close shop. O'Sullivan left first and by the late 40s Weissmuller was feeling too old for the role and also called it quits. The producer Sol Lesser wasn't about to let the profitable franchise go, though, and led a search for a replacement. The winner was Lex Barker, a then little known blue blood actor from New York who had been disowned by his family for choosing an acting career (!) and he took up the loincloth in 1949 for Tarzan's Magic Fountain.

I opted to watch Barker's third go at the character in Tarzan's Peril (sometimes called Tarzan and the Jungle Queen...

Teresa Wright and Matt Damon in 'The Rainmaker' Teresa Wright: From Marlon Brando to Matt Damon (See preceding post: "Teresa Wright vs. Samuel Goldwyn: Nasty Falling Out.") "I'd rather have luck than brains!" Teresa Wright was quoted as saying in the early 1950s. That's understandable, considering her post-Samuel Goldwyn choice of movie roles, some of which may have seemed promising on paper.[1] Wright was Marlon Brando's first Hollywood leading lady, but that didn't help her to bounce back following the very public spat with her former boss. After all, The Men was released before Elia Kazan's film version of A Streetcar Named Desire turned Brando into a major international star. Chances are that good film offers were scarce. After Wright's brief 1950 comeback, for the third time in less than a decade she would be gone from the big screen for more than a year.

The film career of Anita Ekberg – who died today aged 83 – was defined by a few minutes of Federico Fellini’s La Dolce Vita (1960). Playing a movie star, she is shown dancing riotously in a nightclub. She throws away her fur and takes off her shoes. “Come on everybody, follow me,” she shouts as her drunken fiancé (Lex Barker) sits on the sidelines. They row and she storms off. Jaded journalist Marcello Mastroianni drives her away into the Roman night. After howling like a wolf and wandering the streets with a kitten on her head, they end up at the Trevi Fountain. The sight of the water cascading over her body electrified audiences.

Cary Grant movies: 'An Affair to Remember' does justice to its title (photo: Cary Grant ca. late 1940s) Cary Grant excelled at playing Cary Grant. This evening, fans of the charming, sophisticated, debonair actor -- not to be confused with the Bristol-born Archibald Leach -- can rejoice, as no less than eight Cary Grant movies are being shown on Turner Classic Movies, including a handful of his most successful and best-remembered star vehicles from the late '30s to the late '50s. (See also: "Cary Grant Classic Movies" and "Cary Grant and Randolph Scott: Gay Lovers?") The evening begins with what may well be Cary Grant's best-known film, An Affair to Remember. This 1957 romantic comedy-melodrama is unusual in that it's an even more successful remake of a previous critical and box-office hit -- the Academy Award-nominated 1939 release Love Affair -- and that it was directed...

Romanian film producer Ada Solomon: European Film Awards’ Prix Eurimages 2013 The European Film Academy has announced that the 2013 European Co-Production Award — Prix Eurimages will go to Romanian film producer Ada Solomon. The purpose of the European Film Awards’ Prix Eurimages is to acknowledge "the decisive role of co-productions in the European film industry." (Photo: Ada Solomon.) According to the European Film Academy’s press release, Ada Solomon has been in the film business for two decades. She is Head of Distribution at Parada Film and Executive Director of the NexT International Film Festival in Bucharest. Additionally, she teaches at the Romanian capital’s National Film School and, along with Tudor Giurgiu, manages three mini-plex movie theaters in that country. Ada Solomon movies Since establishing her production company HiFilm, Ada Solomon productions include documentaries by her husband, filmmaker Alexandru Solomon (Kapitalism — Our Improved Formula); shorts directed by Cristian Nemescu (Marilena...

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,...

What would you do to get out of a speeding ticket?

For stars from Hollywood's Golden Age, there was no choice: send in an autographed glossy or face a stiff fine -- at least, that's how it was with Beverly Hills police officer Roy D. Garrett.

According to his daughters Shirley Brown and Donna Myers, Garrett -- who passed away 15 years ago -- would pull stars over on his Harley Davidson motorcycle and request a signed photograph. In return, he wouldn't issue fines or citations.

Some stars signed their photos with appreciative or blandly friendly notes. Marilyn Monroe's headshot contains this message: "To Roy, love and kisses. Thanks for keeping me out of the clink!" Ray Millard wrote, "All good wishes, Roy."

However, others sent back little poking jokes at the traffic cop. Lex Barker sent a menacing photo of himself holding up a knife and wrote, "To Roy,...

Kellan Lutz (photo), best known for playing Emmett Cullen in the Twilight movies, and Resident Evil actress Spencer Locke, will star in the performance-capture 3D movie Tarzan, adapted from Edgar Rice Burroughs’ classic tale, and to be directed by Animals United’s producers / directors Reinhard Klooss and Holger Tappe. Needless to say, Lutz will bring Tarzan back to life, while Locke will play Jane. The screenplay was written by Klooss, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs‘ Yoni Brenner and Jessica Postigo, whose sole listed credit on the IMDb is Harald Zwart’s The Mortal Instruments, currently in pre-production. According to The Hollywood Reporter, it updates Burroughs’ story by having Tarzan’s parents killed in a plane crash, the CEO of Greystoke Energies as the film’s chief villain, and Jane as an environmentally conscious heroine. Come to think of it, the first "update" isn’t something really new: Boy’s...

Over on his Filmgoers Guide blog, Cinema Retro contributor Howard Hughes reviews some Euro-cult rarities from the 1960s and 1970s, including Enzo G. Castellari's Napoleonic comedy The Loves and Times of Scaramouche (1976), with Michael Sarrazin and Ursula Andress

http://filmgoersguide.wordpress.com/2012/04/24/not-tonight-josephine/

The German 'Winnetou' westerns starring Lex Barker and Pierre Brice, including The Treasure of Silver Lake (1962) and Among Vultures (1964)

http://filmgoersguide.wordpress.com/2012/02/03/requiem-apache/

And Marcello Baldi's little-seen Old Testment trilogy - Jacob, the Man Who Fought With God (1963), Saul and David (1964) and The Great Leaders (1965) - some of which was shot in Almeria, southern Spain.

http://filmgoersguide.wordpress.com/2012/02/14/who-was-solomon-king/...

Actor who cheerfully exploited Hollywood's conception of French glamour

In the 1950s, Denise Darcel, who has died aged 87, profited from Hollywood's "ooh-la-la" conception of young, shapely French womanhood, generally inviting the adjective "sultry" and playing characters called Fifi, Gigi and Lola. In fact, her entire acting career was spent in America, cheerfully exploiting that image.

She was born Denise Billecard in Paris, one of five daughters of a baker and his wife. After studying at the University of Dijon, she returned to Paris, where she won the title of "most beautiful girl in France". Making the most of the publicity, she built up a nightclub act as a dancer and singer.

In 1947, in Paris, she met and married an American army captain, who returned to the Us with her. The marriage lasted for less than a year. With her name changed to the easier-to-pronounce Darcel, she landed an uncredited spot...

"Terra Incognita: 22 Unknown Pleasures from Around the World." That's the title that drew my first click of all the selections from the new issue of Film Comment now up on the site, plus the "Online Exclusives," of which this is one: a list expanded from the 15 in the print edition, with recommendations from the likes of Kent Jones, Olaf Möller, Shigehiko Hasumi, Thom Andersen and more. More than a few of the films written up here are new to me.

We already know the results of year-end poll of critics, of course, but here are Godfrey Cheshire on Asghar Farhadi's A Separation, Nicholas Rapold on Nadav Lapid's Policeman, Gianfranco Rosi's El Sicario, Room 164 and Stephen Daldry's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, José Teodoro on Gerardo Naranjo's Miss Bala, Jesse P Finnegan on Tank.tv, Graham Fuller on Phyllida Lloyd's The Iron Lady, Margaret Barton-Fumo's interview with Alejandro Jodorowsky,...

Los Angeles — Denise Darcel, the French-born actress known for vampy roles in such films as "Vera Cruz" and "Thunder in the Pines," has died. She was 87.

Darcel's son, Craig, said Monday that she died Dec. 23 at a Los Angeles hospital from complications from an emergency surgery to repair a ruptured aneurysm.

After coming to the U.S. in 1947, Darcel starred opposite several leading men in a string of films in the '50s, including "Battleground" with Van Johnson, "Tarzan and the Slave Girl" with Lex Barker, "Westward the Women" with Robert Taylor and "Young Man with Ideas" with Glenn Ford.

She most famously played a vivacious double-crossing countess in 1954's "Vera Cruz" opposite Burt Lancaster and Gary Cooper.

Darcel is also survived by another son, Chris.

Constantin Film is planning to revive Karl May's "Winnetou" series of westerns with Oscar-winning "Dances with Wolves" scribe Michael Blake to pen the script adaptation says The Hollywood Reporter.

Nearly a dozen Winnetou films were made in Germany in the 60's with French actor Pierre Brice as the titular Apache chief and American Lex Barker as his friend and blood brother Old Shatterhand.

Like 'Wolves', his paints native Americans as the heroes and white settlers mainly as villains. Robert Kulzer and Martin Moszkowicz will produce.

Constantin Film is planning to revive Karl May's "Winnetou" series of westerns with Oscar-winning "Dances with Wolves" scribe Michael Blake to pen the script adaptation says The Hollywood Reporter.

Nearly a dozen Winnetou films were made in Germany in the 60's with French actor Pierre Brice as the titular Apache chief and American Lex Barker as his friend and blood brother Old Shatterhand.

Like 'Wolves', his paints native Americans as the heroes and white settlers mainly as villains. Robert Kulzer and Martin Moszkowicz will produce.

Dances with Wolves screenwriter Michael Blake has been hired to script the adaptation of German author Karl May's western book series Winnetou. This wouldn't be the first time the book series was adapted into feature film form. There were nearly a dozen western genre films that were made from 1962-1968. The film's starred French actor Pierre Brice as the Apache chief and American Lex Barker as his friend and blood brother Old Shatterhand. 

Winnetou is a fictional story that is told in the first-person by the narrator Old Shatterhand who encounters Apache chief, Winnetou, "and after initial dramatic events, a true friendship between Old Shatterhand and Winnetou arises; on many occasions they give proof of great fighting skill but also of compassion for other human beings. It portrays a belief in an innate "goodness" of mankind, albeit constantly threatened by ill-intentioned enemies.

Non-dogmatic Christian feelings and values play an important role,...

Ben Johnson on TCM: War Drums, She Wore A Yellow Ribbon Schedule (Et) and synopses from the TCM website: 6:00 Am 3 Godfathers (1948) Three outlaws on the run risk their freedom and their lives to return a newborn to civilization. Dir: John Ford. Cast: John Wayne, Pedro Armendáriz, Harry Carey Jr. C-106 mins. 8:00 Am Fort Defiance (1951) A Civil War veteran returns to his hometown to avenge his brother's death. Dir: John Rawlins. Cast: Dane Clark, Ben Johnson, Peter Graves. C-82 mins. 9:30 Am Wild Stallion (1952) A horse hunter pursues a white colt that ran off when his parents were killed. Dir: Lewis D. Collins. Cast: Ben Johnson, Edgar Buchanan, Martha Hyer. C-70 mins. 11:00 Am War Drums (1957) A white trader and an Apache chief fall for the same woman. Dir: Reginald LeBorg. Cast: Lex Barker, Joan Taylor, Ben Johnson. C-75 mins. 12:30 Pm Cheyenne Autumn (1964) A reluctant calvary Captain must...

Ben Johnson isn't exactly what one would call a movie icon; Johnson isn't even a Western icon, despite his presence in numerous Old (and not-so-Old) West movies during his 50+-year career. Johnson's semi-obscurity today is a great reason to celebrate Turner Classic Movies' devoting one whole day to him as part of its "Summer Under the Stars" film series. [Ben Johnson Movie Schedule.] TCM will be presenting 12 Ben Johnson movies, including one premiere, the 1957 Western War Drums, directed by Viennese filmmaker Reginald Le Borg (Voodoo Island, Sins of Jezebel), and starring former Tarzan Lex Barker. The movie sounds like a hoot: Mexican gal Riva (Joan Taylor, actually from Geneva, Illinois) is wanted and desired by both a white trader (Johnson) and an Apache chief named Mangas Coloradas (Barker). Barker playing an Apache should be, ahem, interesting enough, but one named Mangas Coloradas? Here's wondering if that translates as "Colored Mangoes." Anyhow, War Drums sounds like a must-see.

Photo by Pop Culture Passionistas

Rise of the Planet of the Apes comes out this week and we're excited to see it. Those of you who have been following the Pop Culture Passionistas know by now about our very strong allegiance to the ape and monkey worlds. First to get our definitions straight for all the smarty pants out there, we know man is a primate. But for our purposes here, we are focusing on the furry, non-verbal kind — monkeys and apes.

It's true we never met (or watched on TV or in a theater) a monkey we didn't like. But there are a few pop culture primates that hold a special place in our hearts. Here is our list of the top ten.

10. Marcel on Friends

Imagine how happy two monkey loving girls where when Ross on Friends got a pet monkey. The Capuchin became the paleontologist's companion for part of one season,...

Born in Minneapolis with the original surname of “Aurness, ” James Arness and his brother Peter Graves (TV’s Mission: Impossible) had the square-jawed good looks and authoritative presence of the leading men of an earlier time.

James Arness, 1923-2011

Arness started in career in films, making his debut in 1947’s The Farmer’s Daughter where he, Lex Barker and Keith Andes played Loretta Young’s brothers in her Oscar-winning triumph. With brothers like that, you almost felt bad for the dastardly villains who tried to thwart Loretta’s ambition. A few years later, he appeared in the low-budget horror classic The Thing From Another World (1951), better known as The Thing, wherein he brought to startling life the role of the titular alien.

Then came Gunsmoke.

The role of Marshall Matt Dillon in the classic western was first offered to John Wayne, who declined but recommended Arness. With the noblesse of a true star,...

Tarzan actress Brenda Joyce has died of pneumonia at the age of 92.

Joyce, born Betty Leabo, succeeded Maureen O'Sullivan as the seventh actress to play the apeman's mate Jane in the jungle films.

She died on 4 July at a nursing home in New York, after a decade-long battle with dementia.

Joyce appeared in five Tarzan movies in the 1940s, including Tarzan and the Amazons, opposite Johnny Weissmuller, and Tarzan's Magic Fountain, with Lex Barker.

'Sometimes People tell me I should go into politics, but I'm not interested. We've got enough boobs in the White House. Peo ple would ask about foreign af fairs, and I'd say, 'What's wrong with American men?' Then they'd ask about global warming, and I'd say 'When my globes get warm, I just take off my sweater!' "

This is Dolly Parton, unchangeable at age 62 and still going strong all over the world.

Martin, the concierge of the famed Connaught Hotel in London, tele phoned Casey Ribicoff this week (she is the widow of Abe Ribicoff,...