MGMs Latin Lovers

Érase una vez habia dos ídolos latinos que tomaron Hollywood por asalto. Había algunos antes de ellos.... ooops, sorry, I got carried away. Once upon a time there were two Latin heartthrobs who took Hollywood by storm. There were some before them and there have been a slew since. But during the 50s primarily we had two of them at Hollywood's glamour studio.  Let's see who they are.

REVIEW: Enemy

Directed by Denis Villeneuve
2014 Mystery Drama
1 hour 30 minutes
From Pathé and A24

Starring
Jake Gyllenhaal
Mélanie Laurent
Sarah Gadon
Isabella Rossellini

REVIEW: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Directed by Wes Anderson
2014 Comedy Drama
1 hour 40 minutes
From Indian Paintbrush

Starring
Ralph Fiennes
Tony Revolori
F. Murray Abraham
Willem Dafoe
Adrien Brody
Edward Norton
Harvey Keitel
Bill Murray
Jeff Goldblum
Saoirse Ronan
Jude Law
Jason Schwartzman
Tilda Swinton
Owen Wilson
Tom Wilkinson

To Kill a Mockingbird: Favorite Movie #2

1962 Drama
From Universal Pictures
Directed by Robert Mulligan

Starring
Gregory Peck
Mary Badham
Phillip Alford
Brock Peters
Robert Duvall
Rosemary Murphy
Frank Overton
John Megna
James Anderson
Collin Wilcox
Estelle Evans
Paul Fix
William Windom
Ruth White
Alice Ghostley

Lollo

TCM just finished showing some of Gina Lollobrigida's films and now I find myself thinking about her.  I don't exactly spend a lot of time thinking about her and today I've thought about her several times.  What do I really know of her?  How close is her screen persona to the real woman?  Was she really as temperamental as they say?  What's she up to today?  So I thought, hell, let's just do a posting on her. 

A Trio of Character Actresses

Time to get acquainted or reacquainted with three superior character actresses... Mildred Dunnock, Jessie Royce Landis and Mildred Natwick.  You've seen each of them in countless movies, no doubt, because they made some big ones.  There aren't enough words to clarify what these ladies brought to films and yet all were primarily stage performers, appearing on Broadway throughout their careers.  Let's get to know them better.

The Directors: Robert Redford

It was inevitable he would direct.  He spoke of it a number of years before he finally did.  He always paid good attention to everything on the movies he acted in.  He pulled as much information out of his directors as he could and he had worked with some of the best.  He was a controlling person anyway and the way to control everything on a film is to take over the directorial reins.  He may have been one of the brightest stars in the Hollywood galaxy, but he was never one of them. 

Suzan Ball

She and I discovered movies the same year... 1952.  Of course my discovery came in candy-stained seats at Peoria's Beverly Theater and hers was on the silver screen courtesy of Universal-International.  My romance with the movies, however, lasted a lot longer than hers.

Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye

I need to send a thank you card or something to Amazon for its policy of recommending books.  Without that I might not ever have heard of an astonishing bio on actress Barbara Payton.  Who, you say?   It's called Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye: The Barbara Payton Story, (BearManor Media, 2013).  I can't tell you the last time I enjoyed a book so much or found one so profoundly sad.