News

Jimmy Hunt, the freckle-faced youngster who appeared in Pitfall, Sorry, Wrong Number, Cheaper by the Dozen, Invaders From Mars and 31 other features before he retired from acting at age 14, has died. He was 85.

Hunt suffered a heart attack six weeks ago and died Friday in a hospital in Simi Valley, his daughter-in-law Alisa Hunt told The Hollywood Reporter.

Hunt played William Gilbreth, one of the 12 offspring of an efficiency expert (Clifton Webb) and a psychologist (Myrna Loy), in Cheaper by the Dozen (1950), then returned to play another son in the family, Fred, in the sequel, Belles on the Toes (1952).

As an orphan, his character fueled the plot in The Mating of Millie (1948), a charming romantic comedy starring Evelyn Keyes and Glenn Ford, who taught him how to shoot marbles on the set. And in The Lone Hand (1953), Hunt portrayed the son of a widowed farmer (Joel McCrea) and served as...

The latest in our series on writers’ top comfort films is a reminder of why Preston Sturges’s 1941 comedy is unbeatable

I shudder to think who I would have become had I never once been a 13-year-old girl roaming the stacks of a suburban Blockbuster Video. I fell in love with movies mostly because I wanted to impress the older high school boys who worked behind the counter. The nicer ones took time to recommend their favorite films. So I must thank the beautiful, near clone of Oc-era Adam Brody who enthusiastically sold me on Sullivan’s Travels, Preston Sturges’s 1941 classic. I’ve seen it so many times that I’ve come to consider it an old friend.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, what initially drew me, a boy-crazy middle schooler, to the film is the sheer hotness of its two leads. Even by our current standards of eerily plump, airbrushed faces and Ozempic-toned bodies,...

Kendall Jenner slays in gasp-worthy sequin dress ( Photo Credit – Instagram )

The 818 Tequila founder, Kendall Jenner, recently unveiled her retro-inspired glamour on Instagram, showcasing a bold, strapless black sequin mini dress paired with sheer pantyhose and red pumps that screamed confidence. This fiery and fabulous ensemble turned up the heat, making the holiday season all the more special.

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Kendall Jenner Channeled Iconic 60’s Look

Kendall’s short, flirtatiously flipped hairstyle channeled Mary Tyler Moore’s 1960s style look, perfectly framing her striking features as she posed by a roaring fire, her scarlet lips daring admirers to look away.

Her legs seemed to stretch endlessly in the moody, intimate setting, as she teased fans with a cheeky caption and sipped red wine, embodying effortless seduction.

Trending Tom Cruise’s Running Skills Are The Secret Behind His Box Office Wins? Scientific Study...

Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall are rightfully classified as one of the best actor pairings in the film noir genre, but Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake aren't far behind them. Each pair made a total of four movies together in the 1940s. But of course, it's the work of Bogart and Bacall that's received the most attention, due in part to their real-life relationship.

The pair, often dubbed "Bogie and Bacall," worked together for the first time when the latter was just 18 years old on the set of To Have and Have Not. The movie, which now has a reputation as one of the best film noir movies of all time, spawned an extremely successful Hollywood partnership. The chemistry between Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall prompted Warner Bros. to make them the headlining attractions of three more films: Key Largo, Dark Passage, and The Big Sleep. While it may be...

Beloved investigative procedural comedy Psych was full of fast-paced jokes and pop culture references, so making full parody episodes was a natural next step. Psych's many parody episodes often played with genre, spoofing everything from The Wild West to Alfred Hitchcock. Of all the Psych episodes that pay homage to other shows and movies over eight seasons, Psych's best parody episode copied Jack Nicholson's crime classic, Chinatown.

Nicholson plays private detective J.J. Gittes trying to uncover a web of corruption in 1930s Los Angeles that builds to Chinatown's surprising ending. In the season 6 finale, the cast of Psych combines their unique humorous interplay with Chinatown's neo-noir tone to make Psych's best parody episode, "Santabarbaratown." A new body is connected to a decades-old unsolved murder, bringing a grittier tone to Santa Barbara while maintaining Psych's signature comedic style.

How Psych's "Santabarbaratown" Parodies Jack Nicholson's...

Kim Basinger is the blonde bombshell has certainly proved her bonafides as an actress, quickly going from sex symbol to respected Oscar winner. Let’s take a look back at 10 of her greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Born in 1953 in Athens, Georgia, Basinger got her start as a model before turning to acting, catching the attentions of movie audiences as a Bond girl in the Sean Connery-starring “Never Say Never Again” (1983). She earned her first Golden Globe nomination soon thereafter for a supporting performance as Robert Redford‘s love interest in “The Natural” (1984).

She courted controversy with her sexually explicit turn in Adrien Lyne‘s “9 1/2 Weeks” (1986) and became a box office draw with Tim Burton‘s superhero smash “Batman” (1989). She even proved she could poke fun at herself with a cameo appearance in “Wayne’s World 2” (1992) as the aptly-named Honey Horneé.

It was with Curtis Hanson‘s neo-noir masterpiece “L.

The popularity of the gangster genre originated in the early 1930s, and countless undisputed crime classics were produced in the following decades. As the period just after the Prohibition era and proliferating crime due to the Wall Street Crash of 1929, it made sense that gangster movies took hold of the popular imagination as real-life crime bosses like Al Capone and John Dillinger were fresh in viewers' minds. With acclaimed directors like William Keighley, Raoul Walsh, and Howard Hawks making revolutionary crime films, its a testament to this eras appeal that so many remain beloved to this day.

Many of the best gangster movies of all time were released during the 1930s and 1940s, as major movie stars like Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney dominated the genre with powerful portrayals of crooked cops, gun-wielding gangsters, and treacherous thieves. Through a mix of film noir, heist classics, and intense crime-based melodramas, the...

Hollywood icons and classic cinema legends Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd rose to prominence during the 1940s and were one of Paramount Pictures' most popular on-screen couples. Together, they starred in several classic noir films, including The Glass Key, The Blue Dahlia, and This Gun for Hire. Both icons of the classic film noir genre in their own right, Lake and Ladd also appeared together along with many other Paramount Picture players in three studio ensemble films, Duffy's Tavern (1945), Variety Girl (1947) and Star Spangled Rhythm (1942), playing themselves. Throughout their careers, the duo starred in four notable classic noir films together that put them on the map.

Veronica Lake's Hollywood career might have been short, but there's no denying the impact she made. Spellbinding audiences with her unique "Peek-a-Boo" hairstyle, which would go on to influence the creation of Jessica Rabbit, Lake continues to epitomize a bygone era. In an age of femme fatales that graced multiple film noir pictures, such as Lauren Bacall, Joan Bennett, Rita Hayworth, and Lana Turner, Lake was a stand-out with her blonde hair and captivating eyes. Some of Veronica Lake's most memorable roles include The Blue Dahlia (1946), I Wanted Wings (1941), The Glass Key (1942), Sullivan's Travels (1941), and This Gun for Hire (1942).

With Halloween season approaching, it's the perfect time to revisit one of her most memorable performances, I Married a Witch (1942), currently streaming on Max. Far removed from the Femme fatale roles from some of her other films, Lake shines in a romantic comedy about a witch who sets out to...

by Chad Kennerk

All images courtesy of Okcmoa

There’s a good chance you’ve seen her name emblazoned on screen in at least one of the hundreds of opening titles that bear her name. Considered one of film history’s great costume designers, Edith Head began working for Paramount Pictures in 1924. In 1982, her name was still appearing on screen with the posthumous release of the Steve Martin comedy Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, which was dedicated to her memory. She initially made waves in the late 1930s for her association with the sarong dress (designed for Dorothy Lamour) and made history in 1938 when she became the first female head of a major studio's costume department after designer Travis Banton’s departure from Paramount. The establishment of the Academy Award for Costume Design in 1949 helped further introduce costume designers to the general public and led to a record-breaking run of nominations and wins for Head.

Hit Man blends genres to create a well-balanced mix of screwball comedy, action, and film noir. Onscreen references to classic hitman movies help underscore the concept of hitmen as commodities. Linklater includes clips from iconic hitman films like Branded to Kill and The Mechanic in Hit Man.

There are several onscreen references to other classic hitman and assassin movies in Richard Linklater's Hit Man. The new Glen Powell film features the Top Gun: Maverick breakout star in his most versatile role yet, playing a loner college professor who moonlights as an assassin for his local police department. Hit Man also became Powell's highest rated movie of his acting career after earning a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, slightly getting the edge over the massively successful box office hit Top Gun: Maverick, which earned a score of 96%. Since releasing on Netflix on June 7, 2024, the film has become one of the most...

In Luca Guadagnino’s latest cinematic endeavor, “Challengers,” Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist form a dynamic, throuple-esque trio, each delivering performances that scream Oscar-worthy. The real question is, will Academy voters look beyond the palpable sexual chemistry to acknowledge the film’s artistic merit? That’s a challenge for the marketing maestros.

Penned by newcomer Justin Kuritzkes, the spouse of “Past Lives” writer-director Celine Song, “Challengers” weaves through a 13-year narrative, chronicling the life of Tashi Duncan (Zendaya), a tennis wunderkind-turned-coach, who hatches a plan for her husband Art’s (Faist) comeback. The plan pits him against his ex-buddy and Tashi’s former flame, Patrick (O’Connor), setting the stage for a dramatic unraveling.

“Challengers”

Initially set for a grand reveal at the 80th Venice International Film Festival, its premiere was thwarted by the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. The delay prompts the question: could Zendaya have joined the best actress fray,...

Film noir was a popular genre in Hollywood during the 1940s and '50s, known for its crime-centered plots and morally gray characters. Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, and Barbara Stanwyck are among the iconic actors who became synonymous with film noir due to their influential and defining work in the genre. Among the other iconic film noir actors are Rita Hayworth, Ava Gardner, John Garfield, Robert Mitchum, Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Robert Ryan, and Sterling Hayden.

Film noir isn't defined simply by the elements of crime or the atmosphere, it's also defined by the actors who bring it to life, many of whom were staples in the genre throughout the 1940s and '50s. There are certain actors who spent so much of their careers playing the characters who catch the bad guys, or play the villains being tracked, they have become synonymous with the genre. In order to become familiar with the genre,...

Dark Spaces: The Hollywood Special is a horror comic set in the fading world of Hollywood pulp serials and explores themes of repression, guilt, and shame. The main character, Vivian Drake, is a mother and former serial star dealing with a declining career and hostile environment in Hollywood. The story takes place on a luxury train that stops in a coal mining town, where Vivian confronts her past and encounters the Mismatch Man, a mysterious monster.

Among Idw Publishing's slate of Originals comics, Dark Spaces: The Hollywood Special is a horror comic starring a fading starlet from the "golden age" of Hollywood pulp serials. In an exclusive interview with Screen Rant conducted during New York Comic Con 2023, writer Jeremy Lambert spoke about the book's connections to Veronica Lake, his own family's past, and more.

Dark Space: The Hollywood Special #1 by Lambert, Claire Roe, Jordie Bellaire, and Becca Carey follows...

The Criterion Collection restores cinema that holds cultural and historical importance, past and present. Popular classics like Caesar and Cleopatra, The Breakfast Club, and Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel are obvious, fan-favorite choices that have earned their place in the collection. Yet the Criterion Collection goes beyond the basics, too, and restores more off-the-wall films that would perhaps have been lost to time or obscurity.

Some films slip under the radar because their dark comedy doesn't reach a vast audience. Sometimes their quiet romances take time and investment from the viewer. But they're worth watching for their unique perspectives and cross-genre experimentation.

Related: 10 Most Underrated Movies No One Saw

Portrait of a Lady on Fire

The slow-burn pacing of Portrait of a Lady on Fire can be daunting, but it's a feature, not a bug. The film's slow, contemplative progression reflects both the budding emotions of the central...

The Museum of Modern Art announced in early December the To Save and Project: The 19th MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation, the latest edition of the annual festival dedicated to celebrating newly preserved and restored films from archives, studios, distributors, foundations, and independent filmmakers from around the world. Running from January 12 to February 2, 2023, this year’s program will open and close with the restoration premieres of two major silent films from MoMA’s archive: Paul Leni’s horror comedy The Cat and the Canary (1927) and Ernst Lubitsch’s comedy The

Marriage Circle (1924), respectively. To Save and Project is organized by Dave Kehr, Curator, Department of Film, The Museum of Modern Art, and Cindi Rowell, independent curator, with special thanks to Olivia Priedite, Film Program Coordinator, and Steve Macfarlane, Department Assistant, Department of Film.

The 2023 program includes the highly anticipated new version of Tod Browning’s insidious silent horror film...

for Veronica Lake's centennial we're revisiting a few of her films...

by Jason Adams

Veronica Lake’s final words on film are “Heil Hitler.”

Nothing in the first sixty-five minutes of first-time director Brad F. Grinter’s schlocky 1970 mad scientist flick Flesh Feast will really prepare you for the final five minutes when a plot twist makes that line of dialogue possible, so I don’t feel particularly guilty spoiling the film’s ending up front – its ending is all it really has going for it...

by Cláudio Alves

"I Married a Witch" | © United Artists

Silky blonde tresses fall over one eye, a face masked by spun gold accented with spidery lashes and a slash of scarlet lipstick. When struggling to promote Veronica Lake's first movies as a full-on movie star, that's the image distributors found, depurating her commercial value into a flat facsimile of her beauty. Whether it was Paramount's poster for Sullivan's Travels or the main art for United Artist's I Married a Witch, it seemed as if Lake was a head of hair first, an actress second. Legend says that once, during the filming of 1941's I Wanted Wings, the young woman kept struggling with a lock of hair falling over her right eye. For the wannabee starlet, it was an irritation. For the studio execs lusting over the teenager, it was the look of a silver screen goddess, instant movie magic.

A dozen highlights from the month in case you missed 'em...

• "Hot Ones" as Oscar stop Best Actresses getting spicy

• Angela Lansbury in Death on the Nile as tribute when she passed

• Paul Mescal x 2 Eurocheese on Aftersun and God's Creatures

• Podcast Guesting Nathaniel had fun on "Hallmarkies" talking Bros and "Oscar Wild" taking pre-season Oscar Predictions

• Middleburg w/ special guests Nathaniel with Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All At Once) and Dolly DeLeon (Triangle of Sadness)

• Banshees of Inisherin Nathaniel on Martin McDonagh's Oscar hopeful

• TÁR Nathaniel on Todd & Cate's incredible collaborative drama

• TÁR's ending Ben thinks it's a major misstep. You?

• Brainwashed Glenn on the controversial gender/film theory doc

• Mars One Juan Carlos talks to the director of Brazil's Oscar submission

• Alcarràs Jason on Spain's Oscar submission

• Decision to Leave Cláudio on South Korea's Oscar submission

Coming In November

The Spirit Award nominations, that long awaited 1951 Smackdown...

It is fair to assume Criterion could plunder the world of licensed film to build an ultimate noir playlist; credit, then, for focusing sharp and nabbing deep cuts. The Criterion Channel’s November / Noirvember program will be headlined by “Fox Noir,” an eight-title program with Otto Preminger deep cut Fallen Angel, three by Henry Hathaway, Siodmak, Dassin, Kazan, and Robert Wise, and while retrospectives of Veronica Lake and John Garfield will bring some canon into the fold, I’m mostly thinking about that potential for discovery.

Following “Free Jazz,” Bob Hoskins, and Joyce Chopra programs, the other big series is a 30-year survey of Sony Pictures Classics: Sally Potter, Satoshi Kon, Panahi, Errol Morris, Almodóvar, Haneke, Mike Leigh, just a murderer’s row. Streaming premieres include 499 and A Night of Knowing Nothing, two recent epitomes of I Wish I Had Seen That; Criterion Editions comprise Cure, Brazil, Sullivan’s Travels,...

If a single WW2 Hollywood war epic can sum up the complexity of homefront morale-building, this one is it. Claudette Colbert, Paulette Goddard and Veronica Lake enlist as Army nurses and are plunged into the disastrous opening onslaught in the Philippines. Adroit screenwriting and direction use the clichés of Hollywood glamour to give mom & dad back home a dramatic idea of what it might be like for a company of nurses in a failing war zone. Great studio effects show the rough retreats and casualties, while George Reeves and Sonny Tufts serve as reassuring sentimental diversions. And a squad of ‘unglamorous’ actresses get to play strong, patriotic roles. It’s an entertaining winner.

So Proudly We Hail

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1943 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 126 min. / Street Date September 13, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95

Starring: Claudette Colbert, Paulette Goddard, Veronica Lake, George Reeves, Barbara Britton, Walter Abel, Sonny Tufts, Mary Servoss,...

Peter Roth started his career in show business fresh out of Tufts University with the dream of becoming another Harold Prince or Joe Papp in theater. He couldn’t have known back in 1973 that he was destined to become the Peter Roth of television executives.

“If you had a problem, you called Peter. If you needed advice, you called Peter. If you were wondering if you were doing your job well, Peter would beat you to the punch and call you, singing your praises, building you up and making you feel good,” says Julie Plec, a showrunner who worked with Roth for more than a decade at Warner Bros. TV. “He was a hands-on leader who never let the corporate side of the business prevent him from stepping right in just when he was needed the most.”

Roth exited his role as chairman of Warner Bros. Television Group at the...

The Israeli director Ari Folman rose to international fame at Cannes, where his feted Waltz With Bashir was a rare animated film that competed for the Palme d’Or. Its daring use of rotoscope imagery to explore trauma in the Lebanon War might have led to assume something equally provocative in exploring the horrors of the Holocaust.

Where is Anne Frank, however, premieres out of competition and, although led with good intentions, it is a film laden with heavy-handed storytelling and a tendency to didacticism that would make Brecht blush. It may be a film for children, and one that tries to sincerely link the darkest moments of history with current political issues for a younger generation, but Folman, the child of Auschwitz survivors, makes some big missteps.

The opening frames show a rainy near future Amsterdam, with a line of tourists waiting for entry to the Anne Frank Museum...

It’s been over a year since audiences found out “Why Women Kill.” The first season, airing on then-CBS All Access, now Paramount+, followed three women from three different eras all with one goal in mind: Killing their husbands. The series, from “Desperate Housewives” creator Marc Cherry, had a similar bitchy cattiness that fans of the past ABC series loved, but the stories were varying shades of weak. A 12-month break seems to be what the doctor ordered as Season 2 finally showcases why Cherry’s shows are so compelling, settling in with one unified narrative and a shift in time period.

Where the first season took place in the 1950s, 1980s, and present day, this season sticks firmly in 1949 Los Angeles, a glittering world of glamour — for some. Alma Fillcot (Allison Tolman) is a lonely housewife whose prize possession is her garden. She dreams of joining the Elysian Park Garden Club,...

When celebrity events were halted because of the coronavirus pandemic last March, Hollywood’s clothing stylists, hairstylists and makeup artists were put out of work. The return of awards shows and virtual events has fostered a fashion resurgence.

In March 2020, stylist Ilaria Urbinati — whose client roster of Hollywood men includes Rami Malek, Dwayne (“the Rock”) Johnson and John Krasinski — was working on numerous press tours. “Rami had ‘Bond’ coming out, the Rock had ‘Jungle Cruise’ and ‘Red Notice,’” she recalls. “Aaron Paul had movies, then Cannes was coming up, and Venice, and we were in the middle of ‘A Quiet Place II’ press tour. And everything came to a grinding halt.”

Each day, more of her jobs were canceled due to Covid. “It was so surreal,” says Urbinati. “I’m used to working so much. Because I dress all men, I have like 40 clients.”

Urbinati appreciated having more time with her newborn twins,...

When celebrity events were halted because of the coronavirus pandemic last March, Hollywood’s clothing stylists, hairstylists and makeup artists were put out of work. The return of awards shows and virtual events has fostered a fashion resurgence.

In March 2020, stylist Ilaria Urbinati — whose client roster of Hollywood men includes Rami Malek, Dwayne (“the Rock”) Johnson and John Krasinski — was working on numerous press tours. “Rami had ‘Bond’ coming out, the Rock had ‘Jungle Cruise’ and ‘Red Notice,’” she recalls. “Aaron Paul had movies, then Cannes was coming up, and Venice, and we were in the middle of ‘A Quiet Place II’ press tour. And everything came to a grinding halt.”

Each day, more of her jobs were canceled due to Covid. “It was so surreal,” says Urbinati. “I’m used to working so much. Because I dress all men, I have like 40 clients.”

Urbinati appreciated having more time with her newborn twins,...

The director of Palmer helps us kick off our new season by walking us through some of his favorite movies.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Bloodhounds Of Broadway (1989)

Salvador (1986)

True Believer (1989)

Palmer (2021)

Wonder Wheel (2017)

A Face In The Crowd (1957)

On The Waterfront (1954)

No Time For Sergeants (1958)

The Confidence Man (2018)

Lolita (1962)

Dr. Strangelove (1964)

The Ghost Of Peter Sellers (2018)

The Marrying Man (1991)

The Ruling Class (1972)

The Krays (1990)

Let Him Have It (1991)

The Changeling (1980)

On The Border (1998)

Murder By Decree (1979)

Bigger Than Life (1956)

The Night of the Iguana (1964)

Fat City (1972)

Angel (1984)

Animal House (1978)

My Science Project (1985)

Lucía (1968)

Paper Moon (1973)

Sullivan’s Travels (1941)

The Great McGinty (1940)

I Married A Witch (1942)

Do The Right Thing (1989)

Raging Bull (1980)

Once Upon A Time In America (1984)

The Rider (2017)

The Mustang (2019)

Nomadland (2020)

Murmur of the Heart (1971)

Sweet Smell Of Success (1957)

Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939)

Apocalypse Now (1979)

The Conversation (1974)

The Godfather (1972)

The Godfather Part III (1990)

The Magnificent Ambersons...

” Just don’t get too complicated, Eddie. When a man gets too complicated, he’s unhappy. And when he’s unhappy, his luck runs out.”

The Blue Dahlia (1946) starring Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake screens at Webster University’s Moore Auditorium(470 E Lockwood Ave) screens Tuesday February 18th. The film begins at 7:00pm. This is the final film in a 3-film ‘Lake and Ladd’ series . A Facebook invite can be found Here.

In the first original screenplay by master of the crime thriller Raymond Chandler—for which he received an Oscar nomination—The Blue Dahlia pairs Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake for the third time. Ladd plays Lt. Commander Johnny Morrison, who returns home from World War II only to find that his wife, Helen has been cheating on him. Helen soon after turns up dead, and Morrison enlists the help of a mysterious stranger (Lake) to clear his...

Rain may be a glam squad’s biggest nemesis, but Hollywood’s top pros didn’t bat a faux eyelash at the weather, bringing their A-game for the A-list attending the 92nd Academy Awards.

While many delivered on the classics—Charlize Theron nailed neutrals and Margot Robbie channeled Veronica Lake waves and a matte red lip—there were a few envelope pushers. Cue Billie Eilish with her two-inch talons and Lucy Boynton with pearls dotted along her hair part. Other standouts included America Ferrera channeling a warrior queen, Scarlett Johansson’s flawless glow and Olivia Colman and Saoirse Ronan’s new ...

Rain may be a glam squad’s biggest nemesis, but Hollywood’s top pros didn’t bat a faux eyelash at the weather, bringing their A-game for the A-list attending the 92nd Academy Awards.

While many delivered on the classics—Charlize Theron nailed neutrals and Margot Robbie channeled Veronica Lake waves and a matte red lip—there were a few envelope pushers. Cue Billie Eilish with her two-inch talons and Lucy Boynton with pearls dotted along her hair part. Other standouts included America Ferrera channeling a warrior queen, Scarlett Johansson’s flawless glow and Olivia Colman and Saoirse Ronan’s new ...

” I just met the swellest dame… She smacked me in the kisser. “

The Glass Key starring Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake screens at Webster University’s Moore Auditorium(470 E Lockwood Ave) screens Tuesday February 11th. The film begins at 7:00pm. This is the second film in a 3-film ‘Lake and Ladd’ series that continues February 18th with The Blue Dahlia. A Facebook invite can be found Here.

Fast-tracked into production on account of Ladd’s rising stardom, The Glass Key is an adaptation of Dashiell Hammett’s 1931 bestseller, previously adapted just seven years prior as a George Raft vehicle of the same name. Here we have Ladd playing Ed Beaumont, something of a fixer for corrupt politician Paul Madvig. Ed falls into a dangerous love triangle with Paul and Paul’s political rival’s daughter, Janet Henry (Lake). Things get even more complicated when Janet’s brother turns up dead,...

This Gun For Hire (1942) starring Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake screens at Webster University’s Moore Auditorium(470 E Lockwood Ave) screens Tuesday February 4th. The film begins at 7:00pm. This is the opening film in a 3-film ‘Lake and Ladd’ series that continues February 11th with The Glass Key and February 18th with The Blue Dahlia. A Facebook invite can be found Here.

The first pairing of Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake wasn’t meant to be so—Ms. Lake’s love interest in the film is played by Robert Preston (The Music Man)—and yet all of the chemistry is between her nightclub singer and Mr. Ladd’s hit man. Based on the Graham Greene novel A Gun for Sale, This Gun for Hire shot Ladd to instant stardom and immediately had audiences clamoring for more Lake/Ladd films.

Admission is:

$7 for the general public

$6 for seniors, Webster...

Kim Basinger celebrates her 66th birthday on December 8, 2019. The blonde bombshell has certainly proved her bonafides as an actress, quickly going from sex symbol to respected Oscar winner. In honor of her birthday, let’s take a look back at 10 of her greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Born in 1953 in Athens, Georgia, Basinger got her start as a model before turning to acting, catching the attentions of movie audiences as a Bond girl in the Sean Connery-starring “Never Say Never Again” (1983). She earned her first Golden Globe nomination soon thereafter for a supporting performance as Robert Redford‘s love interest in “The Natural” (1984).

SEERobert Redford movies: 15 greatest films ranked from worst to best

She courted controversy with her sexually explicit turn in Adrien Lyne‘s “9 1/2 Weeks” (1986) and became a box office draw with Tim Burton‘s superhero smash “Batman” (1989). She even proved she could poke fun at herself...

All hail Olivia de Havilland, America’s longest living movie star. The more de Havilland pictures we see, the more we admire her taste and judgment in roles… or is that better expressed as, the more we admire her ability to guide a near-perfect career, going so far as to defy the studios in court. This 1941 drama has director Mitchell Leisen in fine form, a smart script by Brackett & Wilder, and a central topic that’s currently quite hot: illegal immigration.

Hold Back the Dawn

Blu-ray

Arrow Academy

1941 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 116 min. / Street Date July 16, 2019 / 39.95

Starring: Charles Boyer, Olivia de Havilland, Paulette Goddard, Victor Francen, Walter Abel, Curt Bois, Rosemary DeCamp, Nestor Paiva, Eva Puig, Micheline Cheirel, Madeleine Lebeau, Mikhail Rasumny, Charles Arnt, Mitchell Leisen, Brian Donlevy, Kitty Kelly, Veronica Lake, Carlos Villarías, Richard Webb.

Cinematography: Leo Tover

Film Editor: Doane Harrison

Original Music: Victor Young

Written by Charles Brackett,...

Herman Wouk, who authored books that became legendary films and TV programs including The Caine Mutiny and The Winds of War, died today in his sleep in Palm Springs, the Associated Press reports. He was 103.

Wouk published about a dozen novels and a handful of plays and nonfiction books during a 70-year career, and many became landmark screen adaptations. His World War II novel The Winds of War hit bookstores in 1971 and was followed by the 1978 sequel War and Remembrance. Both were turned into smash ABC miniseries — with Winds of War airing in 1983 and War and Remembrance in 1988. Both starred Robert Mitchum as Capt. Victor “Pug” Henry and earned multiple Emmys.

Born on May 27, 1915 in the Bronx, Wouk — like so many other young Americans — join the Armed Forces after Pearl Harbor, serving in the Navy. He began writing while off watch aboard ship. And his best-known works chronicled seaman during...

Herman Wouk, the author of novels adapted to the big and small screen, including “The Caine Mutiny,” “Marjorie Morningstar,” “The Winds of War” and “War and Remembrance,” has died. He was 103.

“The Caine Mutiny,” a 1951 bestseller that won Wouk the Pulitzer Prize, was memorably adapted into the 1954 film starring Humphrey Bogart, who played the paranoid, mentally unstable captain of a Navy minesweeper whose actions drive his subordinates to mutiny. That pic, directed by Edward Dmytryk and also starring Jose Ferrer, Van Johnson and Fred MacMurray, drew seven Oscar nominations, including those for best picture and screenplay for Stanley Roberts.

Wouk relied upon his wartime experiences not only for “The Caine Mutiny,” but for his later novels “The Winds of War” (1971) and “War and Remembrance” (1978). These expansive works, which followed one character, Navy Commander Victor “Pug” Henry, through seemingly every important moment in WWII, were adapted into the highly successful ABC miniseries of the same name.

Tony Sokol Jan 26, 2019

I Am the Night exposes Dr. George Hodel, who was accused by his own son and granddaughter for being the Black Dahlia murderer.

I Am the Night tells the story of the characters who surround one of Hollywood's most famous homicides, and certainly the city of Los Angeles' longest and most infamous cold case: the Black Dahlia murder. TNT's new miniseries, directed by Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman), gets some facts right, fudges others for dramatic continuity, and smashes a few to pulp. At one point in I Am the Night, investigative reporter Jay Singletary, played by Chris Pine, picks up a graphic compilation of tabloid news on the case to catch up on what's he's missed since covering it last. The grotesque unsolved homicide had grown to iconic status.

Actress Elizabeth Short was 22 years old when her body was found in a vacant lot on Norton...

For playing the role of Lynn Bracken, a call girl made to look like actress Veronica Lake, L.A. Confidential’s Kim Basinger won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar. During the interviews for L.A. Confidential, Basinger admitted she could relate to the image versus reality world that surrounded Bracken.

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” said [...]

The post Kim Basinger Related To Beauty Hurdles Of Oscar Winning ‘La Confidential’ Role appeared first on Hollywood Outbreak.

Nathaniel R welcomes the panel Yaseen Ali (cinephile), Kristen Lopez (critic), Rebecca Pahle (critic) and Kieran Scarlett (screenwriter) to discuss 1943 at the movies with recommended favorites and our favorite switch-the-actresses around game. We had previously reviewed the supporting actress nominees.

We talk about the three actresses in Ww II women's picture So Proudly We Hail. The running time slog of For Whom the Bell Tolls which doesn't showcase Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman well, the hit play turned message movie Watch on the Rhine and its place as a "homefront" movie when the war barely touched our soil, and religious epic The Song of Bernadette which won Jennifer Jones the Best Actress Oscar. 

You can listen to the 1 hour podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversations in the comments, won't you? ...

The Oscar for Best Supporting Actress went to a wide swath of talented actresses in the 1990s, including Whoopi Goldberg, Marisa Tomei, Anna Paquin, Judi Dench and Angelina Jolie. A surprising amount of comedic performances won this category in the ’90s, especially for an academy that typically prefers drama. Which Best Supporting Actress winner is your favorite?

Check back on all the former champs and be sure to vote in our poll below. (See 2018 Oscar predictions for Best Supporting Actress.)

Whoopi Goldberg, “Ghost” (1990) — Whoopi Goldberg became the second black actress to win an Oscar thanks to her scene-stealing role as scheming psychic Oda Mae Brown in “Ghost.” She was previously nominated in Best Actress for “The Color Purple” (1985). Goldberg is one of only 12 individuals to have won the Egot, a.k.a. the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony.

SEEWho’s your favorite Best Actor Oscar winner of the 1990s: Anthony Hopkins,...

I’ve listened to many podcasts during the long upstate winter and one of my favorites has been Karina Longworth’s You Must Remember This. It’s billed as a storytelling podcast exploring the secret and/or forgotten histories of Hollywood’s first century. I enjoy it because Longworth spins great yarns, with vivid insights, about Hollywood stars and their careers.

But I think there’s more to why it’s popular and why I enjoy it so much. I’m starting to realize that the inevitable ups and downs of yesteryear’s Hollywood Stars are analogous to the rollercoaster rides that categorize so many of today’s careers.

It’s astounding to hear about how a legendary star’s career might have floundered at one point, only to do a complete 360 as he or she gets cast in a successful blockbuster movie. Thundering successes and crushing failures become the...

I’ve listened to many podcasts during the long upstate winter and one of my favorites has been Karina Longworth’s You Must Remember This. It’s billed as a storytelling podcast exploring the secret and/or forgotten histories of Hollywood’s first century. I enjoy it because Longworth spins great yarns, with vivid insights, about Hollywood stars and their careers.

But I think there’s more to why it’s popular and why I enjoy it so much. I’m starting to realize that the inevitable ups and downs of yesteryear’s Hollywood Stars are analogous to the rollercoaster rides that categorize so many of today’s careers.

It’s astounding to hear about how a legendary star’s career might have floundered at one point, only to do a complete 360 as he or she gets cast in a successful blockbuster movie. Thundering successes and crushing failures become the...

You’ve already found “the one,” picked out your dress and even chose your wedding bands. The hard part is almost over — but you still need to decide on the perfect hairstyle to wear on the big day. Up or down? Straight or wavy? Braid or no braid? In order to help answer those pressing questions, we turned to celebrity hairstylist and Kérastase brand ambassador Matt Fugate, who shared his foolproof tips for scoring a style that you’ll love as much as you love your new spouse.

1. Figure out your vibe

Before you speak with your hairstylist, Fugate recommends...

This charming Roy Rogers oater could reboot interest in vintage ‘series’ westerns. Basically a film for little kids, it’s earnestly played by all concerned and director William Witney’s direction sparkles. The added filip that makes the difference is the beautifully restored Trucolor image — Roy’s wonder horse Trigger is indeed magnificent. I listened carefully, but I don’t think Roy actually says, “Yippie-ki-yay, M_____f____r.”

Sunset in the West

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1950 / Color / 1:37 flat Academy / 67 min. / Street Date April 18, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 19.95

Starring: Roy Rogers, Trigger, Estelita Rodriguez, Penny Edwards, Gordon Jones, Will Wright, Pierre Watkin, Charles La Torre, William Tannen, Gaylord Pendleton, Paul E. Burns, Dorothy Ann White, Riders of the Purple Sage.

Cinematography: Jack Marta

Color by Trucolor

Film Editor: Tony Martinelli

Original Music: R. Dale Butts

Special Effects: Howard & Theodore Lydecker

Written by Gerald Geraghty

Produced by Edward J. White

Directed...

Seddok, l’erede di Satana (Atom Age Vampire)

Region 2 Pal DVD

Terminal Video Italia Srl

1960 / B&W / 1:66 flat letterbox / 103 min. / Street Date June 12, 2011 / available through Amazon.it / Eur 6,64

Starring: Alberto Lupo, Ivo Garrani, Susanne Loret, Sergio Fantoni, Rina Franchetti, Franca Parisi, Roberto Bertea.

Cinematography: Aldo Giordani

Film Editor: Gabrielle Varriale

Makeup Effects: Euclide Santoli

Original Music: Armando Trovajoli

Written by: Gino De Santis, Alberto Bevilacqua, Anton Giulio Majano; story by Piero Monviso

Produced by: Elio Ippolito Mellino (as Mario Fava)

Directed by Anton Giulio Majano

Let me herewith take a break from new discs to review an Italian release from six years ago, a movie that for years we knew only as Atom Age Vampire. Until sporadic late- night TV showings appeared, it existed for us ’60s kids as one or two interesting photos in Famous Monsters magazine. Forry Ackerman steered away from adult films, with the effect that...

When I was a kid I’d make the trek to Lewis’ Drug Store to buy comics with my allowance money. Maxwell’s Food Store had a better selection, but that was on the other side of the treacherous “Five Points” intersection, and I wasn’t yet allowed to cross that on my own.

Detective Comics, starring Batman, was a favorite, and you can make a case that some of the very best Batman stories were appearing each month during that early 70s period. They were fantastic thrillers by Denny O’Neil, Neal Adams, Irv Novick, with the occasional Michael Kaluta or Bernie Wrightson cover. I didn’t know how good I had it.

So you can imagine my surprise when I picked up Detective Comics #429 and looked at the interior story’s artwork by Frank Robbins. I remember thinking “Is this a joke?” and “Is this a Golden Age reprint?...

Director, producer and screenwriter who won an Oscar for the film adaptation of La Confidential

To get a measure of the wide range of themes and genres covered by the film director Curtis Hanson, who has died aged 71, one need only compare his greatest critical success, La Confidential (1997), with his biggest commercial hit, 8 Mile (2002). The former is a stylish, 1950s-set noir thriller shot through with ambivalence about Hollywood, which is shown in all its dreamy allure and soul-crushing horror. The latter picture is a semi-gritty star vehicle for the rapper Eminem (Aka Marshall Mathers III) which draws on the performer’s own background in its story of a young man who uses hip-hop to escape his insalubrious trailer-park origins.

La Confidential was acclaimed by critics who had believed they did not make them like that any more; Hanson and his co-writer, Brian Helgeland, won an Oscar for their assured adaptation...

The recent box office success of The Boss firmly establishes Melissa McCarthy as the current queen of movie comedies (Amy Schumer could be a new contender after an impressive debut last Summer with Trainwreck), but let us think back about those other funny ladies of filmdom. So while we’re enjoying the female reboot/re-imagining of Ghostbusters and those Bad Moms, here’s a top ten list that will hopefully inspire lots of laughter and cause you to search out some classic comedies. It’s tough to narrow them down to ten, but we’ll do our best, beginning with… 10. Eve Arden The droll Ms. Arden represents the comic sidekicks who will attempt to puncture the pomposity of the leading ladies with a well-placed wisecrack (see also the great Thelma Ritter in Rear Window). Her career began in the early 1930’s with great bit roles in Stage Door and Dancing Lady.

Turner Classic Movies has released three Alan Ladd titles in a set titled "Alan Ladd: The 1940s Collection". Here is the official press release:

Handsome leading man Alan Ladd found success in the 1940s and ‘50s, first as the tough guy in several films noir co-starring Veronica Lake and then as the stoic hero in Westerns such as Shane (1953). Turner Classic Movies and Universal are proud to present this three-film collection that showcases Ladd’s talents in a range of genres from thriller to adventure, as well as the work of such directors as Irving Pichel and Frank Tuttle, and writers the likes of Richard Maibaum and Seton I. Miller. Lucky Jordan (1942) Directed by Frank Tuttle (who also directed Ladd’s breakthrough film This Gun for Hire the same year), Lucky Jordan stars Ladd as a racketeer who gets drafted into the Us Army and will do anything to...

Life isn’t easy for witches. Sure, they have magical powers, live for hundreds of years, and can fly around on broomsticks — but it’s not all fun and games. Beyond the stinging social stigma attached to those who witch for a living, there’s also the constant threat of unruly villagers brandishing torches and pitchforks, hungry for a good old-fashioned witch-burning. It’s starkly amusing to recall that the archetypal witch caricature was born out of the cold-blooded, unlawful murder of innocent people, acts committed vainly in the name of religion. On film, the witch is prolific, with countless examples dating back to the dawn of the art form.

When examining the witch film genre, mounting similarities cannot be ignored. Some employ the witch in fairy tales, macabre bedtime stories intended to evoke fear and wonderment in equal measure. Others depict a society gone mad, fingers ever pointed at...