Films of the Golden AgeIssue Number 78Fall 2014 “Every Hollywood newcomer goes through a sex school. They have regular exercises to bring out your … uh … fire.” BARBARA BATES (1925-1969) made an unorthodox but stellar impression in the film ALL ABOUT EVE (1950) in which her conniving, self-indulgent character, never appearing until the final…
Classic ImagesIssue Number 506August 2017 “I was truly mortified! Watching yourself on the big screen for the first time can be a huge jolt … like hearing yourself on radio for the first time. It just doesn’t seem like you.” Tall, slim, light-haired CARLETON CARPENTER (1926-2022) first started out in the late 1940s playing dreamy-eyed…
Classic ImagesIssue Number 458August 2013 “The studio camera man enjoys working with me. You know why? It’s because he doesn’t have to worry about my bad angle. They are all bad!” Gruff PAUL DOUGLAS (1907-1959) was a rare blue-collar breed. Not since 1930’s palooka-like Wallace Beery would such a homely, unrefined lug reach cinematic leading…
Films of the Golden AgeIssue Number 93Summer 2018 “I’ am one of those people that once I’ve done something, I’ve done it and that’s it. It’s history. I love being in the present and don’t need or have the desire to look back.” Making an unsympathetic name for herself, JOANNA BARNES (1934-2022) moved up the…
Classic ImagesIssue Number 477March 2015 “Growing up with parents in show business helped create that so-called ‘normal’ attitude about achieving and handling fame and the elusiveness of it all. It didn’t turn my head.” CYNTHIA PEPPER (1940- ) was a Hollywood by-product of the early 1960’s Kennedy era, an innocent moment of time that became…
Classic ImagesIssue Number 445July 2012 “The best way to deal with [Hamilton] Burger’s proclivity for absorbing punishment was to develop a sense of pride in the consistency of his endeavors. If you can’t win for losing, learn to love that losing streak!” An unforgettable “B” level bad guy of early to mid-1950’s film noir, craggy…
Films of the Golden AgeIssue Number 79Winter 2014/2015 While his hip “Rat Pack” fraternizer, Kennedy hanger-on and noted substance abuse diminished his overall standing in Hollywood, the suave, lightweight image of handsome Britisher PETER LAWFORD (1923-1984) fit in quite well during MGM’s Golden Age at a time the studio’s primo stars were off to war….
Classic ImagesIssue Number 488February 2016 “[I] was the playboy, the white tie and tails, the elegant fellow with the good tailor. That was my movie image. But not for the theatre audience. They saw me as an actor.” Few actors came off slicker or smoother than FRANCHOT TONE (1905-1968). A posh, meticulous, shaken-not-stirred representative of…
Classic ImagesIssue Number 468June 2014 “My looks hindered my picture progress. I just sat and sat and sat, waiting for the studio to cast me in a role into which I could sink my teeth. None came.” One of the tender beauties of the 1930’s and 1940’s, ANITA LOUISE (1915-1970), known as “the gal with…
Films of the Golden AgeIssue Number 92Spring 2018 “If I’ve done well it’s because I’m Lawrence Tierney’s brother. Consider the edge. Larry kept shoving me forward so I could meet people and learn. Whatever I am, whatever I become, I can thank Larry for.” This legendary funny girl came from vaudeville and joined a historic…