Count 10 and Pray

Dolores Hart was a young actress in the late 1950s, most famous for playing the love interest of Elvis Presley in two films, and shortly after her 10th film was released in 1963, she joined an abbey in anticipation of her monastic life as a nun.  For many years I lost track of her until just a couple of years ago when a documentary on HBO brought her back into the public consciousness... or at least mine.

The Directors: Stanley Kramer

I fondly remember Stanley Kramer as the man who made message movies.  He is one of those who made me pay attention to directors instead of just actors.  I found his films to be entertaining with something to say, a point of view which was of a liberal bent.  As a young person, I learned things about life from a few of his films.  And every film he made prior to the 70s, I quite liked... with one exception. 

REVIEW: The Theory of Everything

Directed by James Marsh
2014 Biographical Drama
2 hours 3 minutes
From Focus Features

Starring
Eddie Redmayne
Felicity Jones
Charlie Cox
Maxine Peake
Emily Watson
David Thewlis
Simon McBurney
Christian McKay

Zanuck's Mistresses

He really was a piece of work.  I have mentioned Darryl F. Zanuck more times than any other studio mogul, perhaps due to the fact that he ran my favorite studio, 20th Century Fox.  I have probably covered his contract stars more than any other studio as well... with more to come.  He seemed to have an unerring instinct for what the public wanted, in terms of stories, directors and performers, and he saw to it that we got it.  But his legacy doesn't stop there.

Yvette Mimieux

I suppose no one who recalls her will go out of their way to laud her as one of the screen's great actresses.  Hepburn, Davis and Stanwyck likely went to their graves knowing their positions were secure.  And there are still others who would find it easier to pigeon-hole her as a mere starlet, a blonde apparition who floated in a gauze-like manner through colorful scenes of glossy MGM productions.  But I fall somewhere in the middle of these revelations.  I always enjoyed her and thought she brought a refreshing honesty to her roles that left me eager to see her next film.

German Actors I Hardly Knew

I suppose it was the war that kept German actors from gaining the kind of popularity in America that some other Europeans achieved... especially  those in England, Italy and France.  Of course there was always Dietrich to shoot that theory down but I still cannot recall many back in the sizzling sixties that we're discussing.  But here are three who did capture my attention, albeit briefly.

Woody Strode

He was a tall, imposing, handsome, muscular, gentle giant who first made a name for himself in sports and ended up a movie actor. He was most famous for his roles in John Ford movies.  Along the way, unfortunately, he was stereotyped in jungle movies and some other nonsense parts but he was way more capable at his craft than what was required in films like those.  It's likely you have seen and enjoyed him in some good films.

Good 60s Films: Hud

1963 Drama
From Paramount Pictures
Directed by Martin Ritt

Starring
Paul Newman
Melvyn Douglas
Patricia Neal
Brandon de Wilde