Raymond Burr

I've been DVRing Perry Mason reruns once and even twice a day now for several months.  I loved that series and Raymond Burr in it.  I watched Ironside as well but it never measured up to Perry Mason nor did those later-year special TV movies on the character.  As moral and honorable as Mason was, how many remember that Burr was one of the great movie villains in 64 big-screen movies?

Guilty Pleasures: Sincerely Yours

1956 Drama
From Warner Bros
Directed by Gordon Douglas

Starring
Liberace
Joanne Dru
Dorothy Malone
Alex Nicol
William Demarest
Lori Nelson
Lurene Tuttle
Richard Eyer
James Bell

The Directors: Delbert Mann

Here is the third director named Mann.  Postings on the other two, Anthony and Daniel, appeared earlier.  Delbert Mann is the only Oscar winner of the three and he deserves a further drum roll for winning it for his maiden effort, the first of a half dozen movie directors to ever do so.  He started out in the Golden Age of television, jumped into films, some of them quite good, and then gave up film directing to return to television.

French Pastries

It bears repeating that Hollywood developed a love affair with European actresses as far back as the silent era.  When the movies added sound, the fascination increased.  For me personally and for plenty of others, to hear lovely French voices was a particular joy.  My guess is that France has sent along more acting ambassadors than any other European nation with the exception of England.

Good 50's Films: Show Boat

1951 Musical
From MGM
Directed by George Sidney

Starring
Kathryn Grayson
Ava Gardner
Howard Keel
Marge Champion
Gower Champion
Joe E. Brown
Agnes Moorehead
Robert Sterling
William Warfield

Anita Ekberg

Funny how one remembers some things, even little things, from the past.  I learned the word statuesque when I first spotted Anita Ekberg.  I was peering over my mother's shoulder as she was looking at a movie magazine and when she saw Ekberg's full-length body in a color photograph, she said that she was statuesque.  I had never heard of Ekberg or the word.  That soon changed because she loved publicity and having her picture taken.

Hunter & Wagner

Ah, oh yes, Robert Wagner and Jeffrey Hunter.  Back in the day I was pretty crazy about the pair of them although I had a decided leaning for Hunter.  They both were brought on as young contract players at 20th Century Fox in 1950.  Those hired in that decade were far different than those under contract to the studio in the 1940's.  Fox was going for clean-cut, young romantic leads.

Robert Stack

He was one of Hollywood's nicest guys, seemingly liked by everyone.  He was raised in the lap of luxury and until his marriage at 37, he was known primarily as a playboy-sportsman.  He lived life to its fullest and yet there was never a whisper of scandal or impropriety.  It's no coincidence that he titled his 1980 autobiography Straight Shooting because a straight shooter was exactly what he was.

Good 50's Films: Written on the Wind

1956 Drama
From Universal-International
Directed by Douglas Sirk

Starring
Rock Hudson
Lauren Bacall
Robert Stack
Dorothy Malone
Robert Keith
Grant Williams
Robert J. Wilke
Harry Shannon
Edward Platt