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How Elizabeth Montgomery & Her Special Blend Of Colleagues Cast Their TV Spell With ‘Bewitched Elizabeth Montgomery, daughter of famed actor Robert Montgomery and Broadway actress Elizabeth Bryan Allen, was actually Hollywood royalty decades before she was cast as beloved house-witch Samantha Stephens on Bewitched. Everett Collection A year before Bewitched began, Montgomery fell in love with and wed director/producer William Asher. They met on the set of the 1963 feature film Johnny Cool. They wanted to work together on a weekly series. Asher was a prolific director from the Beach Party franchise of the 1960s and produced the famed event at which Marilyn Monroe sang a breathy “Happy Birthday” to President Kennedy. He was friends with CBS executive Harry Ackerman, to whom he and Montgomery proposed a series called The Fun Couple, about a garage mechanic who falls in love with a wealthy socialite. Ackerman liked the idea but had...

When IndieWire recently ranked the 25 best films of Alfred Hitchcock, it was probably no surprise to anyone that “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” the director’s sole attempt at a light romantic comedy, didn’t make the cut. Even Hitchcock himself tended to underrate the film, as when he told interviewer François Truffaut that “since I didn’t really understand the type of people who were portrayed in the film, all I did was photograph the scenes as written.” From a filmmaker who regularly dismissed movies he considered uncinematic as mere “photographs of people talking,” this was the ultimate self-directed insult.

Yet even a casual reappraisal of “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” newly available in an exquisite Blu-ray special edition from Warner Archive, undermines Hitchcock’s claims about his own movie. While it would be a bridge too far to declare the film a masterpiece on a par with “Psycho” or “Rear Window,...

Several top stars put their careers on hold and their lives on the line to serve during World War II including Jimmy Stewart, Clark Gable, Henry Fonda, Robert Taylor, Alan Ladd, William Holden, Robert Ryan and Robert Montgomery. And numerous young men who weren’t yet actors during the global conflict including Lee Marvin and Charles Durning saw action and suffered severe injuries.

With the 80th anniversary of D-Day, which was the largest amphibious invasion in military history with five naval assault divisions invading the beaches of Normandy, France, on June 6, let’s look at some actors who participated in the massive operation.

Charles Durning

The versatile character actor, who earned supporting actor Oscar nominations for 1982’s “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” and 1983’s “To Be or Not to Be” and nine Emmy nominations, was just 21 when he was one of the first group of soldiers to land and...

“It Happened One Night,” which premiered at Radio City Music Hall on Feb. 22, 1934, helped usher in the screwball romantic comedy, changed the careers of stars Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, director Frank Capra and screenwriter Robert Riskin and transformed the Poverty Row Columbia Pictures into a major player. And let’s not forget, “It Happened One Night” also made Oscar history winning five major Oscars: picture, director, adapted screenplay and both actor and actress. It would be 41 years before “One Flew of the Cuckoo’s Nest” would accomplish the same feat at the Academy Awards.

Based on the short story “Night Bus,” the smart, endearing road movie focuses on spoiled rotten Ellie Andrews (Colbert) who has gone against her wealthy father’s (Walter Connelly) wishes by marrying the gold-digging King Westley (Jameson Thomas). Before their wedding night, her father whisked her away to his yacht in Florida. She manages to...

In 1947 director Robert Montgomery tried something radical. In adapting Raymond Chandler’s “Lady in the Lake” the director attempted to mirror the first-person narrative style of the book with his camera. The viewer would see the movie exclusively through the eyes of detective Philip Marlowe, while never seeing the detective himself (played by Montgomery) except in shots where he sees his reflection in the mirror.

Both the MGM-released film and the formal experiment were failures. Pure first-person filmmaking had the opposite effect of what was intended, the formal experiment only distanced the viewer. Almost 80 years later conventional filmmaking wisdom remains that to effectively employ point-of-view shots they need to be bracketed by shots of the character — character looks, cut to see what they see, cut back to the character’s reaction to what they saw — to shape what the audience was looking at, and to draw them into the story.

Just two years after Anita of “West Side Story” became the first non-white fictional character to inspire multiple Academy Award nominations, three others are on their way to earning the same distinction. As was the case in 1986, 30% of 2024’s female acting Oscar slots could be filled by stars of “The Color Purple,” the new version of which serves as an adaptation of the similarly titled stage musical rather than Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. If Fantasia Barrino, Danielle Brooks, and Taraji P. Henson all reap bids for their fresh takes on the parts for which Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey, and Margaret Avery were previously recognized, the overall list of doubly Oscar-nominated fictional characters will expand to include 20 examples.

In “The Color Purple,” Barrino executes the lead role of Celie Johnson, who she initially played on Broadway as a direct successor to 2006 Tony-winning originator Lachanze. As in the book and first film,...

The Criterion Channel is closing the year out with a bang––they’ve announced their December lineup. Among the highlights are retrospectives on Yasujiro Ozu (featuring nearly 40 films!), Ousmane Sembène, Alfred Hitchcock (along with Kent Jones’ Hitchcock/Truffaut), and Parker Posey. Well-timed for the season is a holiday noir series that includes They Live By Night, Blast of Silence, Lady in the Lake, and more.

Other highlights are the recent restoration of Abel Gance’s La roue, an MGM Musicals series with introduction by Michael Koresky, Helena Wittmann’s riveting second feature Human Flowers of Flesh, the recent Sundance highlight The Mountains Are a Dream That Call To Me, the new restoration of The Cassandra Cat, Lynne Ramsay’s Morvern Callar, Wong Kar Wai’s The Grandmaster, and more.

See the lineup below and learn more here.

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Terry Gilliam, 1988

An American in Paris, Vincente Minnelli,...

New York, Aug 17 (Ians) In a ray of hope for thousands of kidney transplant patients, surgeons at New York University Langone Transplant Institute have transplanted a genetically engineered pig kidney that continues to function well after 32 days in a man declared dead by neurologic criteria and maintained with a beating heart on ventilator support.

This represents the longest period that a gene-edited pig kidney has functioned in a human, and the latest step toward the advent of an alternate, sustainable supply of organs for transplant.

The procedure, performed on July 14, and led by Robert Montgomery, chair of the Department of Surgery, and director of the NYU Langone Transplant Institute, was the fifth xenotransplant performed at NYU Langone.

Observation is ongoing, and the study will continue through mid-September 2023, the university said in a statement.

“This work demonstrates a pig kidney – with only one genetic modification and without experimental medications or devices...

It's been 22 years since Rob Cohen directed a shameless knockoff of Kathryn Bigelow's "Point Break," starring Paul Walker instead of Keanu Reeves, Vin Diesel instead of Patrick Swayze, and street racing instead of surfing and sky diving. And while at the time, the success of the film "The Fast and the Furious" seemed only vaguely remarkable, over the course of the last two decades it has ballooned into a multi-billion dollar franchise, full of epic car stunts, ludicrous storylines, and endless ruminations about the meaning of "family."

Yes, "Fast and Furious" has become a household name, perhaps permanently associated with the blockbuster vehicular nonsense films of Vin Diesel and company. But it was not always this way. The common expression "fast and furious" has been used many times in Hollywood, for films about race car driving, funny murder mysteries, beloved Looney Tunes adventures, and low-budget crime thrillers.

Some of...

Movie star John Wayne was primarily an actor, but he had no shortage of thoughts regarding public image. He held his own in high esteem, but he also viewed his peers through a similar lens. Therefore, this was one of the methods that he used to establish his opinion about some of those in Hollywood. Wayne thought an Oscar-nominated actor ruined his public image for the sake of a single movie role.

John Wayne carefully crafted his public image John Wayne | Avalon/Getty Images

Beyond the cultural impact that Wayne had with his feature films, he also became a cultural icon thanks to the masculinity he exuded and his morality. His image ultimately aligned with America, becoming one and the same, as he pushed patriotism through his public appearances and his feature film performances.

Wayne very carefully crafted his public image, and he refused to tear that down with role selection.

Movie star John Wayne and director John Ford became one of the most iconic filmmaker and actor duos ever to move through Hollywood. It all started with their fateful meeting when Wayne worked as a prop man at Fox, where their personalities quickly hit it off. They would later go on to collaborate on 14 movies together, although the list would be longer if one was to count the times they helped one another in lesser capacities.

‘Stagecoach’ (1939) L-r: Claire Trevor as Dallas and John Wayne as Ringo Kid | Getty Images

A group of unlikely travelers find themselves on a stagecoach headed for Lordsburg, New Mexico, in the 1880s. The arrival of an escaped outlaw named the Ringo Kid (Wayne) shakes up their adventure, as they face riding through dangerous Apache territory.

Wayne played his first leading role in Raoul Walsh’s The Big Trail in 1930, but the actor’s career...

Too earnest to be a parody and lacking the point of view to be revisionism or even homage, “Marlowe” merely cosplays a 1930s detective movie, taking us from two-fisted private dick to icy rich client to corruption among the powerful as though we hadn’t seen all of this countless times before.

With the slightest flick of the wrist, director Neil Jordan and screenwriter William Monahan – adapting an “approved by the estate of Raymond Chandler” novel from 2014 – could have turned this movie into a prolonged “Carol Burnett Show” sketch or, in the other direction, a haunting contemplation of societal rot in 1939 Los Angeles.

Instead, it’s a parade of curvy sedans, snappy fedoras, cigarette lighters and dialogue that only a cast this talented could deliver with a straight face.

Also Read:

Liam Neeson Calls UFC Star Conor McGregor ‘Little Leprechaun’ Who ‘Gives Ireland a Bad Name’

Liam Neeson stars as ex-cop turned gumshoe Philip Marlowe,...

Legendary characters don’t die. They keep getting reinvented. If they exist in fiction, new authors come along to create new adventures for them. And if they exist onscreen, you can bet that a remake or reboot will come along every generation or so in hopes of recatching that lightning in a bottle.

And often both happens, as is the case with Philip Marlowe, the iconic hard-boiled detective invented by Raymond Chandler and portrayed onscreen over the decades by actors including Dick Powell, Humphrey Bogart, Robert Montgomery, James Garner, Elliott Gould, Robert Mitchum and probably others I’ve forgotten.

The latest tough guy actor to don the fedora is Liam Neeson, in director Neil Jordan’s new film based on a 2014 novel by John Banville, writing under the name Benjamin Black. Suffice it to say that the results won’t erase anyone’s memories of The Big Sleep or The Long Goodbye.

Actor Liam Neeson is set to portray the iconic character Philip Marlowe in the upcoming film, Marlowe. But he is hardly the first. Neeson has become known in recent decades for his leading roles in action movies like The Grey and Taken.

In Marlowe, he’ll go noir as he attempts to fill the shoes of one of the most storied private eyes in history: a character who’s been played by some of the biggest actors in Hollywood history.

Liam Neeson takes his penchant for action movies noir in ‘Marlowe’ Marlowe stars Diane Kruger and Liam Neeson | Jb Lacroix/WireImage

Set in Bay Cities, California, in the ’50s, Marlowe follows a “tough as nails private detective” as he investigates the disappearance of a beautiful heiress’ ex-lover. But the more he digs into the case, the more he realizes the spider’s web has spun far larger than he originally thought.

Kaleidoscope Film Distribution has acquired international sales rights for all-female drama “Tell That to the Winter Sea” and will represent the film at Berlin’s European Film Market (EFM) in February.

Directed by Jaclyn Bethany “The Invisible Girl”), who also co-wrote alongside lead actor Greta Bellamacina (“This England”), the film follows bride-to-be Jo and her first love, Scarlet, who reunite after years apart to celebrate Jo’s upcoming marriage at a house in the English countryside. Having initially bonded through their love of dance, Jo is now a successful dancer with a Parisian dance company, whilst Scarlet teaches movement at a secondary school. As Jo approaches a major transition, she turns to Scarlet to share both her joy and melancholy to reflect on the young women they once were, and the women they are becoming.

The all-female cast also includes Amber Anderson (“Peaky Blinders”), Tamsin Egerton (“St. Trinian’s”), Jessica Plummer...

After being portrayed by the likes of Humphrey Bogart, Robert Mitchum, Elliott Gould, James Garner, and Robert Montgomery, the Raymond Chandler creation Philip Marlowe has found new life with Liam Neeson. Based on John Banville’s authorized sequel novel to The Long Goodbye, 2014’s The Black-Eyed Blonde, the script for Neil Jordan’s Marlowe comes from William Monahan (The Departed). Ahead of a release next month, the first trailer has now arrived.

A noir crime thriller set in late 1930s Los Angeles, the film centers around a street-wise, down on his luck detective, Philip Marlowe, who is hired to find the ex-lover of a glamorous heiress (Diane Kruger), daughter of a well-known movie star (Jessica Lange). The disappearance unearths a web of lies, and soon Marlowe is involved in a dangerous, deadly investigation where everyone involved has something to hide.

See the trailer below.

Marlowe opens on February 15.

The post...

John Wayne might've been full of macho swagger on the big screen, but off-screen he was given to fretting. A large portion of the blame for this could be placed at John Ford's doorstep. The A-list Hollywood filmmaker was nearly instrumental in making Wayne a full-fledged movie star, but he'd made the actor earn it over the course of a decade in bit parts and supporting roles.

When Wayne finally broke through in Ford's classic Western, "Stagecoach," he was 32 years old and determined to make up for lost time. It was at this precise moment that his mentor joined the United States Office of Strategic Services to assist in morale building during World War II. Wayne notably sat out the war, which, in the absence of friendly rivals like James Stewart and Henry Fonda (who also enlisted), allowed him to become one of the biggest movie stars in America.

Oscar-winning Eddie Redmayne (“The Theory of Everything”) has been testing out his darker side of late. The baby-faced 40-year-old British actor has made a name for playing nice, often complex guys. But last year, he turned that persona on its ear in London’s West End playing the smarmy and decadent Emcee in the revival of the musical “Cabaret.” He won the prestigious Olivier Award for his performance.

And now he’s giving a killer of a performance as a serial murderer in Netflix’s fact-based thriller “The Good Nurse.” Redmayne’s hospital nurse Charlie is friendly and sweet with a great bedside manner. But beneath this caring visage lurks a vicious mind who killed at least 400 patients at various hospitals over the years.

Doing a 180 from his usual fare, recalls Robert Montgomery’s shift with 1937’s “Night Must Fall.” Best known these days as the father of Elizabeth Montgomery of “Bewitched” fame,...

Amber Anderson, Greta Bellamacina and Tamsin Egerton can be seen bonding in wedding dresses alongside co-stars Jessica Plummer, Josette Simon and Bebe Cave in first look images from upcoming feature “Tell That to the Winter Sea.”

Anderson (“Peaky Blinders”) and Bellamacina (“This England”) star in the film as Scarlett and Jo, two teenage dance students whose intense friendship blossoms into a romantic one before running its course. But when the duo reconvene decades later on the eve of Jo’s wedding – to a man – it turns out deep feelings still remain.

In another scene from the film, which was directed by Jacyln Bethany, the group, still clad in wedding dresses, enjoy a candle-lit dinner.

Meanwhile Jo and Scarlett’s relationship is also explored in flashback sequences, one of which sees a brunette Bellamacina holding hands with Anderson, both wearing their school uniforms.

Egerton (“Grimsby”), Plummer (“The Girl Before”), Simon (“Anatomy of A Scandal...

Tamsin Egerton (“The Look of Love”), Jessica Plummer (“The Girl Before”) and Bebe Cave (“Tale of Tales”) have been cast in British indie feature “Tell That To The Winter Sea,” Variety can exclusively confirm.

Variety can also reveal that the film, which is written by Greta Bellamacina and Jaclyn Bethany, has been snapped up by Kaleidoscope Film Distribution, who will distribute in the U.K. and rep international sales.

Emmy award winner Bethany (“The Falling World”) also directs.

“Tell That To The Winter Sea” stars Bellamacina (“This England”) and “Peaky Blinders'” Amber Anderson as friends and former lovers Jo and Scarlet who reunite in a remote country house the weekend of Jo’s wedding.

Egerton, Plummer and Cave will play some of the all-female cast who descend on the country house ahead of the nuptials.

Josette Simon (“Anatomy of a Scandal”) also stars as Kat, a dancer in a prestigious...

Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova told a gathering of Washington politicos and media types that the Russian invasion has been a “game changer” in which “the freedom of press and freedom of expression and the freedom of speech suddenly became an existential need.”

She was speaking at a fundraiser on Thursday for Reporters Without Borders, which is raising money for journalists, including Ukrainian journalists and international freelancers, who need such things as security equipment and health assistance as they cover the war in Ukraine.

Markarova said of the journalists covering the war, “Really you are as brave and as heroic as all the Ukrainians as all the Ukrainians who are fighting. It takes a lot of courage and it takes a lot of values and principles to leave your comfortable life here. There are a lot of stories to choose from. But we’re very grateful to everyone who chooses this story,...

Josette Simon (“Wonder Woman”) has joined the cast of “Tell That to the Winter Sea.”

She joins Greta Bellamacina (“This Sceptred Isle”) and Amber Anderson (“Peaky Blinders”) in the feature film, which explores female friendships.

Jaclyn Bethany (“The Falling World”) is directing the film, which she co-wrote with Bellamacina.

“Tell That to the Winter Sea” is the story of two women reconnecting the weekend before a wedding. Bride-to-be Jo (Bellamacina) invites an old friend – and first love – Scarlet (Anderson) to stay in a British country house shortly before Jo’s wedding. There the women re-visit their friendship and teen romance.

The film has a dance narrative and will be choreographed by Sadie Wilking.

Simon will play Kat, “the principle dancer of a prestigious dance company who is embarking on the next stage of her life.” Kat will prove to be a “key role” in the production, which will begin shooting...

James Olson, who starred opposite Joanne Woodward in 1968’s Rachel, Rachel, played a surgeon investigating a deadly alien organism in the 1971 sci-fi classic The Andromeda Strain and survived the notorious Broadway flop Breakfast at Tiffany’s starring Mary Tyler Moore that closed before it opened in 1966, has died. He was 91.

His April 17 death at his home in Malibu was reported by the Malibu Times.

Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2022: Photo Gallery

A familiar character on television and in film for four decades before retiring in 1990, Olson received his first national exposure in the title role of Kraft Theatre‘s 1956 TV installment The Life of Mickey Mantle, following up that high-profile performance with guest appearances throughout the decade and into the 1960s among them Robert Montgomery Presents, Have Gun – Will Travel, Playhouse 90, Route 66, The Defenders and The Magical World of Disney.

His breakthrough film role came in 1968 with Rachel,...

” His work is beginning to interfere with his drinking.”

Janet Gaynor and Frederick March in A Star Is Born (1937)-Restored Edition will be available on Blu-ray March 29th from Warner Archive. It can be ordered at the Warner Archive store Here

Producer David O. Selznick turned his attention to Hollywood with this 1937 original classic directed by William A. Wellman. Its Academy Award-winning screenplay co-written by Dorothy Parker tells the story of hopeful, young would-be actress Esther Blodgett (Academy Award winner Janet Gaynor) whose career is launched by movie star Norman Maine (Academy Award winner Fredric March), who also wins the young actress’ heart. Esther becomes leading lady Vicki Lester and Mrs. Norman Maine, but as Maine’s career flounders, he sinks into an abyss of alcoholism. Esther chooses to sacrifice her stardom to care for her husband, but he will not allow Esther to abandon her dreams for him. Remade three times in years ahead,...

In the 125 years since the first play based on the life of 17th century author Cyrano de Bergerac premiered, the classic underdog tale’s eternal relevance has been proven time and time again. Its simple love triangle premise has served as the basis for many stage and screen adaptations, two of which captured the attention of Oscar voters. José Ferrer and Gérard Depardieu both earned academy recognition for their portrayals of de Bergerac, and now Peter Dinklage is gunning for a Best Actor bid for starring in the new film “Cyrano.” If he succeeds, the character will become one of only a handful in Oscars history to have inspired three nominations.

Dinklage, who bagged four Emmys during his eight-season tenure on “Game of Thrones,” first played de Bergerac during the Off-Broadway run of the stage musical from which his film derives. His potential Oscar nomination would come 71 years after Ferrer’s,...

SAG-AFTRA’s unclaimed residuals fund has grown to roughly $76 million – up 60% from $48 million six years ago. According to the union, the fund now contains 124,000 separate accounts for members and others, living and dead, that it can’t locate. That’s up from 96,000 accounts in 2016.

“The funds may be unclaimed for a variety of reasons including a bad address or as a result of mail returned for other reasons; unresolved estate issues, or the funds may be in trust for an inactive or dissolved loan out corporation,” a spokesperson for the union said. “Most often, residuals may be waiting for a recipient or their agent to formalize a change of address or submit the appropriate paperwork to claim the funds. The union uses a number of tools to locate and get money to those individuals due unclaimed residuals including mail, email and telephone outreach to last known address and telephone number,...

All five of the upcoming movies for the next Supporting Actress Smackdowns are rentable or free to stream (if so we've indicated where) so play along at home, won'cha? The Smackdowns are popular but they're more fun if You participate and watch and vote.

Tyrone Power and Alice Brady in "In Old Chicago"

Smackdown 1937 -Sunday, October 3rd, 2021

★ Alice Brady in In Old Chicago -a family drama, disaster epic, and sort-of musical Andrea Leeds in Stage Door - a boarding house dramedy which is an absolute must-see for actressexuals since everyone is in it! Anne Shirley in Stella Dallas (Amazon Prime) - a Stanwyck weepie Claire Trevor in Dead End (Amazon Prime) - a Bogart noir May Whitty in Night Must Fall - a mystery starring Robert Montgomery and Rosalind Russell

Between them these movies scored 18 nominations and 2 Oscar wins with In Old Chicago, Stage Door, and Dead End also vying for Best Picture.

TV director Dan Attias discusses his favorite cinematic moments with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Sweet Smell of Success (1957) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)

White Dog (1982)

Silver Bullet (1985)

Witness (1985)

The Verdict (1982)

Scent Of A Woman (1992)

The Piano (1993)

The Pawnbroker (1965)

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

True Romance (1993)

Infested (2002)

A History Of Violence (2005)

The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)

Gremlins (1984) – Glenn Erickson’s review, Tfh’s 30th anniversary links

It’s A Wonderful Life (1946) – Bill Duke’s trailer commentary, John Landis’s trailer commentary

Jaws (1975) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982) – Karyn Kusama’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Criterion review

Heaven Can Wait (1978)

Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) – Glenn Erickson’s Criterion review

12 Angry Men (1957)

Dodes’ka-den (1970)

Memento (2000)

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Other Notable Items

Phillips Club in NYC

Tfh Guru Alan Spencer

Sledge Hammer! TV series (1986-1988)

The Garland in...

Ray MacDonnell, who played Dr. Joe Martin on ABC’s All My Children for more than 40 years, died June 10 of natural causes at his home in Chappaqua, NY, according to a report from Michael Fairman TV. He was 93.

Born on March 5, 1928, MacDonnell appeared early in his career on series such as Robert Montgomery Presents, The Jack Benny Program, Producers’ Showcase and Armstrong Circle Theatre.

While he also portrayed Philip Capice on CBS soap The Edge of Night from 1961-69 and played Dick Tracy in a pilot that was not picked up, he is best known for his appearances on multiple iterations of All My Children between 1970 and 2013.

MacDonnell was an original cast member on the daytime soap, which debuted on ABC in 1970, and would stay with the show for more than four decades. While he officially retired from the series in 2009, he returned in 2011 for a number of appearances, featuring in its final episode.

Donald Glover and Phoebe Waller-Bridge will be putting a new spin on “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” for New Regency and Amazon Prime Video. The series, which is based on the 2005 hit New Regency film, is due in 2022.

Glover and Waller-Bridge will star in and executive produce the series,

made the announcement via social media, posting a video to Instagram Stories with details of the project. Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke also posted the news of the new show to her Twitter account on Friday.

“Talk about the dream team! Donald and Phoebe are two of the most talented creators and performers in the world. It’s truly a dream for us, as it will be for our global audience, to have these two forces of nature collaborating as a powerhouse creative team,” Salke said in a statement. “’Mr. and Mrs. Smith’ is an iconic property, and we can’t wait to see how Donald,...

7 random things that happened on this day, January 31st, in showbiz history

1941 Alfred Hitchcock's comedy Mr & Mrs Smith, no not the Brangelina one, opened in theaters starring Carole Lombard and Robert Montgomery. Yes, Hitchcock once made a screwball comedy without thriller elements. 

1961 The Misfits, the elegaic last film for both Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable and one of Montgomery Clift's last pictures, has its world premiere in Reno, Nevada. It will open in movie theaters the next day...

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie directors! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between.

On this strangest of holiday seasons, Conor and I had a lovely conversation with filmmaker Deon Taylor, whose new thriller Fatale is now in theaters and available on demand beginning January 8. We chat about the genre flicks that Hollywood won’t make anymore and Taylor’s determination to keep making them. He talks about his hope for people to seek out Fatale in theaters where safe, his journey to directing stars like Hilary Swank and Michael Ealy, and the 90s thrillers he’s used as inspiration for his own pictures.

We also dive into some lesser-known, Christmas-set noirs from the 1940s: Christmas Holiday (written by Mank himself!) and Lady in the Lake, Robert Montgomery’s adaptation of the Raymond Chandler mystery.

Hurt by Paradise marks the debut feature from behind the lens from actress Greta Bellamacina, collaborating with her partner Robert Montgomery, to tell this London-set tale of friendship (and the challenges in making it as a professional poet).

Naturally, when we had the pleasure of speaking to the duo on Zoom, we learnt that these very experiences shadow real life, as they talk about their own ups and downs as poets, while they comment on the themes of the movie and where this idea initially spawned from. They also talk about London as a setting, as well as their time spent shooting in Margate – while they also discuss with us their future aspirations as a creative duo, hoping to continue to make films of this very nature (with Greta talking about her upcoming project with prolific Welsh director – and friend of the site – Jamie Adams).

Watch the full interview below:...

Ronald Reagan once famously asked, “How could anyone be president of the United States without having first been an actor?” His question was not entirely rhetorical. Reagan understood the importance of celebrity cool and celebrity power, and if he were around at this moment, he’d predict a massive detonation in the coming presidential election – one that likely will be history’s most contentious, as befits the era of Donald Trump.

Louis B. Mayer, MGM’s studio oligarch, also coveted celebrity power but would have been appalled by Trump’s approach to it. Mayer’s aim was to mobilize the icons of pop culture, not alienate them. He wanted all his stars to vote Republican, and even opened a unit to train conservative zealots. James Stewart and Jeannette MacDonald were among his recruits along with every president of SAG, including Robert Montgomery and, later, Reagan.

As today’s stars venture further into the political arena,...

As Disney quietly disappears huge swathes of film history into its vaults, I'm going to spend 2020 celebrating Twentieth Century Fox and the Fox Film Corporation's films, what one might call their output if only someone were putting it out.And now they've quietly disappeared William Fox's name from the company: guilty by association with Rupert Murdoch, even though he never associated with him.***Two of the 1940s Raymond Chandler adaptations, Howard Hawks' The Big Sleep (1946) and Edward Dmytryk's Murder, My Sweet (1944), are rightly considered classics. Hawks identified the key challenge of the first-person detective story: find a leading man interesting enough that the audience doesn't get bored of seeing him in every scene. Hawks hired Bogart.Dmytryk was lumbered with Dick Powell, but Powell stretched himself and Dmytryk did everything to make the surroundings interesting, even nightmarish.The third movie from the third major studio is Robert Montgomery...

This article contains major Hollywood spoilers. You can find our easter egg guide for the previous episode here.

Don’t you just love a happy ending? Ryan Murphy clearly did with regards to Hollywood, and while we had mixed ideas of our own about that conclusion, there is no denying how gratifying it is to see representation shared with those whom society marginalized for years and centuries. There is a real sugar rush of “what if” good cheer about the series’ version of Oscar night 1948. Here are some of the facts the series changed, and some other shout-outs it enjoyed in its closing moments.

Hollywood Episode 7

-The Meg editor admits he didn’t shtup Gloria Swanson. He only got to third base while she was on the rebound after Joe Kennedy dumped her. This would’ve placed the screening room action around 1928 or ’29—an affair Swanson denied until she finally admitted it in her 1980 autobiography.

Helping you stay sane while staying safe… featuring Leonard Maltin, Dave Anthony, Miguel Arteta, John Landis, and Blaire Bercy from the Hollywood Food Coalition.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Plague (1979)

Target Earth (1954)

The Left Hand of God (1955)

A Lost Lady (1934)

Enough Said (2013)

Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)

Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939)

Heaven Can Wait (1978)

Down to Earth (2001)

Down To Earth (1947)

The Commitments (1991)

Once (2007)

Election (1999)

About Schmidt (2002)

Sideways (2004)

Nebraska (2013)

The Man in the Moon (1991)

The 39 Steps (1935)

Casablanca (1942)

The Lady Vanishes (1938)

The Night Walker (1964)

Chuck and Buck (2000)

Cedar Rapids (2011)

Beatriz at Dinner (2017)

Duck Butter (2018)

The Good Girl (2002)

The Big Heat (1953)

Human Desire (1954)

Slightly French (1949)

Week-End with Father (1951)

Experiment In Terror (1962)

They Shoot Horses Don’t They? (1969)

Ray’s Male Heterosexual Dance Hall (1987)

Airport (1970)

Earthquake (1974)

Drive a Crooked Road (1954)

Pushover (1954)

Waves (2019)

Krisha (2015)

The Oblong Box (1969)

80,000 Suspects (1963)

Panic In The Streets (1950)

It Comes At Night (2017)

Children of Men (2006)

The Road (2009)

You Were Never Really Here...

Act Like a Man is a column examining male screen performers past and present, across nationality and genre. If movie stars reflect the needs and desires of their audience in any particular era, examining their personas, popularity, fandom, and specific appeals has plenty to tell us about the way cinema has constructed—and occasionally deconstructed—manhood on our screens.For a generation of returning veterans, actor Robert Montgomery was the thinking man’s GI. In his roles in post-war American movies, whether they be war dramas or film noirs that he would both star in and direct, he carried an air of earned macho authority. He had a sort of inarguable stature that was supported as much by his real life as it was by his ironclad screen presence. A to-the-manor-born son from a failed business empire, Robert’s father Henry was head of the New York Rubber Company, making...

Berlin — Robert Montgomery’s “Lady in the Lake” posed the question of whether it’s possible to make a complete film from one Pov and yet create a true emotional connection with an audience if it doesn’t have a face to connect with. “Saudi Runaway” delivers a haunting Pov experience via the hands of a woman, most of the times hidden behind a burka, and her willingness to record with her phone the situation that thousands of other women live in Saudi Arabia.

This is the story of Muna, a young designer, whose life has been controlled and determined by a state that gives very few rights to women. When forced into an arranged marriage, she decides to escape. Using her phone as testimony of an archaic and violent patriarchy, Muna and director Susanne Regina Meures create an intuitive and immensely emotional documentary.

Produced by Christian Frei Filmproductions in...

Hurt by Paradise was nominated for the Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature Film at Edinburgh and for Best UK Feature Film at Raindance.

UK based Moviehouse Entertainment has taken on sales duties for Hurt By Paradise, the debut fiction feature from director, Greta Bellamacina, starring Jaime Winstone, Nicholas Rowe and Veronica Clifford.

Produced by Robert Montgomery and written by Bellamacina and Sadie Brown, the film follows the comedic adventures of a struggling poet and single mother (Bellamacina) and her friendship with her babysitter – a failed actress, played by Brown.

Hurt by Paradise was nominated for the Michael Powell...

Exclusive: Fabien Frankel, who played the son of Detective Andy Sipowicz in ABC’s recent NYPD Blue pilot, is to star in British indie comedy Venice At Dawn.

Frankel, who also features in Paul Feig’s Last Christmas and Netflix/BBC One co-production The Serpent, is joined in the film by Greta Bellamacina and Tanya Burr, who both starred in indie feature Hurt By Paradise, which was directed by Bellamacina.

Venice At Dawn is directed by Jamie Adams, who directed Colbie Smulders’ Songbird, Alice Lowe’s Black Mountain Poets and Laura Harrier’s Balance Not Symmetry.

The film is a modern take on the classic British stage farce, a comedy of misunderstandings centred around a relationship break up and a painting called Venice At Dawn.

The film, set in London, follows the spurned fiancé of a wealthy and egotistical man, who tries to make sure she does ok out of...

Updated throughout: Phil Hymes, longtime Emmy-winning lighting director for Saturday Night Live, who joined the show in 1976, died this week of complications from cancer, NBC confirmed. He was 96.

Hymes, who began his career at NBC in 1951, worked on more than 500 episodes of the iconic late-night program until his most recent episode in January 2018. He was nominated for 10 Emmy Awards over the course of his career, winning twice 53 years apart, the first for Hallmark Hall of Fame: The Magnificent Yankee in 1965, and just this past September for the Kevin Hart-hosted episode of Saturday Night Live.

Shows Hymes worked on over his 68-year career include The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Seth Meyers, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, The Kids in the Hall and The Miss Teen USA Pageant.

Earlier in his career, he worked on such iconic classics as Bell Telephone Hour,...

12:37 Pm Pt -- The 2-plus year legal drama will continue as Soules' sentencing has been delayed. It'll be rescheduled for a later date. Defense attorney Robert Montgomery made a last-ditch effort to get the court to throw out the victim impact statements ... and the judge agreed to grant the motion. Because the victim impact statements were thrown out, the judge also granted a motion to draft a new pre-sentence investigation report ...  requested by both the defense and prosecutors.

Greta Bellamacina will star in “Thomasina,” an upcoming horror movie from Jaclyn Bethany. Rileigh McDonald (“The Sinner”) has also signed on for the movie, which is set in the underbelly of L.A.

Director and actress Bellamacina has been in the news at Cannes after being refused entry to the Marche with her baby son, then being told she needed to pay an accreditation fee for the infant, a procedure that would take 48 hours to process. The organizers said there was a mix-up on the ground and that it had fixed the situation, but it was an embarrassing incident at a moment when gender equality is firmly in the spotlight.

The “Thomasina” announcement and casting is more regular Cannes news. McDonald, who has been starring in “Matilda” on Broadway, plays the titular character in the picture, a mysterious, down-on-her-luck teenager whose life begins to spin out of control after her mother’s murder.

The first 15 years of the Academy Awards were banquet held at various swanky hotels in Los Angeles from the Blossom Room at the Hollywood Roosevelt, the Cocoanut Grove and Fiesta Room at the Ambassador and the Sala D’Doro and the Biltmore Bowl at the Biltmore.

Because the ceremony had grown in attendance and importance, the Oscars finally graduated its 16thyear on March 2, 1944 moving to the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, which then had a capacity of 2,258.

When the ranks of academy members grew two-fold, the Oscars moved to the Shrine Auditorium for the 19thand 20thceremonies. The Shrine was so big-it holds 6,700 seats-the general public was even invited to buy tickets.

But everything changed with the 21stceremony which took place on March 24, 1949. The studio decided to withdraw financial support for the Academy Awards “in order to remove rumors that they had been trying to exert their influence on votes,” explained Robert...

Marsha Hunt, Norman Lloyd, June Lockhart and Barbara Perry will receive the SAG-AFTRA Founders Award for their historic contributions to the union. The special tribute for “meritorious service” to their fellow actors will be presented Saturday at the union’s national board meeting.

“I am so honored to recognize the extraordinary achievements of these courageous actors and leaders,” said SAG-aftra president Gabrielle Carteris. “Their pioneering spirit and advocacy for their union and peers in those early years was pivotal and helped to make us who we are today.”

Hunt, who turns 100 on Wednesday, is one of the last survivors of the Hollywood Blacklist. She joined SAG in 1938 and was a SAG board member from March 1945-November 1947 under presidents George Murphy, Robert Montgomery and Ronald Reagan. In the 1950s her name appeared in “Red Channels: The Report of Communist Influence in Radio and Television,” and, like many others at the time,...

The production describe the film as ’a London version of ‘Frances Ha’ meets ‘Manhattan’’.

Hurt By Paradise, a UK independent feature directed by Greta Bellamacina, has wrapped production after a 22-day shoot on location in London and Margate.

Written by Bellamacina and Sadie Brown, the film was shot for £100,000, and is produced by Robert Montgomery. Hal Brotherton-Ratcliffe (Hippopotamus) is executive producer, and the main investor on the film.

Described by the production as ‘a London version of Frances Ha meets Manhattan’, the film follows a struggling poet single mother and her unexpected friendship with her babysitter – a middle-aged failed actress and fantasist.

Selena Gomez is looking at her battle with lupus and resulting kidney transplant as a “beautiful thing.”

In part two of her interview on Today with friend and kidney donor Francia Raisa, the 25-year-old singer said she doesn’t want anyone to feel bad for her.

“I don’t want people to think it’s a sad thing that I went through this with Francia or with anything in my life,” she told Savannah Guthrie. “Because at the end of the day, I think all the stuff that I went to made me and defined everything that I am right now.

Watch: “I didn’t want to ask a single person in my life.” @selenagomez & @therealfrancia speak out on kidney donation process pic.twitter.com/tj1Ri1dED8

— Today (@TODAYshow) October 30, 2017

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Selena Gomez and Francia Raisa are ready to talk — together.

The “Wolves” singer, 25, shocked fans in September by announcing that, due to lupus complications, she’d received a kidney transplant from her best friend Raisa over the summer. The two pals sat down with Today for a joint interview about the surgery, recovery and the months since.

“My kidneys were just done,” Gomez told Savannah Guthrie.

Selena Gomez shocked her fans this morning when she revealed on Instagram that she underwent a kidney transplant over the summer. Now, many are wondering what this means for the singer’s current and long-term health.

The 25-year-old has been open about her battle with lupus for several years, first revealing in 2015 that she’d undergone chemotherapy to treat the disease. After taking time off to deal with anxiety and depression related to her condition, Gomez said in 2016 that she’s “very healthy.” So does the fact that she needed a kidney transplant mean she’s sicker than she let on?...