Rory Calhoun: Unintentional Actor

Had it not been for his good looks, it's not likely he would ever have been in show business.  Despite being born in Los Angeles (in 1922), being in the movies hadn't entered his pretty head.  About the only thing he knew how to do in his early life was get into trouble and have nonstop sex.  He thought both activities were his true calling.

Guilty Pleasures: Untamed

1955 Romance Drama
From 20th Century Fox
Directed by Henry King

Starring
Tyrone Power
Susan Hayward
Richard Egan
Agnes Moorehead
Rita Moreno
John Justin
Hope Emerson
Brad Dexter

Early Disney Favorites

I was a teenager when I saw the first Disney movie that has stayed in my memory for all these years.  Within six years of that first one, I saw three more and this quartet, all animal-themed, still keeps me bound in the warm and satisfying feeling today as they once did.  I was schooled in such things as love, trust, compassion and strong bonds by watching animal movies... almost as much as having animals as my own pets.  If I ever need to connect to the innocence and happiness of my youth, slipping one of these four movies into the machine will do the trick.

Anne Bancroft

She will always be best remembered for playing a predatory, middle-aged housewife putting the moves on her husband's business partner's son who becomes her daughter's boyfriend.  It would join her other famous role as the kind, half-blind teacher who strives to have a blind, deaf, dumb and resistant Helen Keller learn how to communicate.  The range apparent in those two roles can be seen throughout her career while her specialty was playing strong women.  She was a most watchable actress.

Visiting Film Noir: Storm Fear

1955 Film Noir
From United Artists
Directed by Cornel Wilde

Starring
Cornel Wilde
Jean Wallace
Dan Duryea
Lee Grant
David Stollery
Dennis Weaver
Steven Hill

Movie Biographies: Surviving Picasso

1996 Biography
From Warner Bros.
Directed by James Ivory

Starring
Anthony Hopkins
Natascha McElhone
Julianne Moore
Susannah Harker
Joss Ackland
Joan Plowright
Peter Gerety
Jane Lapotaire
Dominic West
Diane Venora
Bob Peck

Hollywood Votes on 100 Favorite Movies

Hollywood itself was surveyed on its favorite films of all time and came up with 100 of them.  Polled were Oscar winners, studio heads, producers, agents, actors and more.  As is standard fare with any polls, this one is loaded with curious choices, glaring omissions, a general lack of foreign films and films that are included but with rankings that seem out of whack.  On the good side, this provided an easy posting and I am rejoicing.

Roddy McDowall

He represented gay Hollywood better than most.  Everyone suspected Roddy was gay from the time he was a child actor.  In observing him one might say well, if he's not gay, then he must be English.  As it turns out, he was both.   He never hid his gayness from his profession, never made up stories about himself but neither did he make a public announcement... not back in those days.  He just was.  Few actors, gay or not, were ever as popular with the acting community as Roddy McDowall. 

From the 1960's: Captain Newman, M.D.

1963 Military Drama Comedy
From Universal Pictures
Directed by David Miller

Starring
Gregory Peck
Tony Curtis
Angie Dickinson
Bobby Darin
Eddie Albert
Robert Duvall
Bethel Leslie
Larry Storch
James Gregory
Jane Withers
Dick Sargent
Robert F. Simon

Starring the Newmans

One of the most popular, charismatic, talented and glamorous screen pairings of all time is certainly Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward.  The fact that they were also married sweetened the pie all the more.  Each would make famously lauded films without the other but we're highlighting the 10 big-screen films over five decades in which they acted with one another.  There is, however, even more to say about their professional relationship but we're saving that for the end

Movie Biographies: Love Me or Leave Me

1955 Musical Biography
From MGM
Directed by Charles Vidor

Starring
Doris Day
James Cagney
Cameron Mitchell
Robert Keith
Tom Tully
Harry Bellaver

Diane Baker

While she has worked through six decades, Diane Baker enjoyed her greatest success at the start of her acting career, from 1959-65.  She was a sweet-looking ingenue who blossomed into a swan as she aged.  Even her best years in films were spotty.  She tended to do better among large casts.  When she was (rarely) top-billed or even the leading lady to a male star, she and the films didn't fare so well.  I wonder why.

A Glittering Cast: The Best of Everything

1959 Romance Drama
From 20th Century Fox
Directed by Jean Negulesco

Starring
Hope Lange
Stephen Boyd
Suzy Parker
Martha Hyer
Diane Baker
Robert Evans
Brian Aherne
Brett Halsey
Sue Carson
Donald Harron
Ted Otis
Louis Jourdan
Joan Crawford

From the 1950s: No Down Payment

1957 Drama

From 20th Century Fox

Directed by Martin Ritt

Starring

Joanne Woodward

Sheree North

Tony Randall

Jeffrey Hunter

Cameron Mitchell
Patricia Owens

Barbara Rush

Pat Hingle

The Directors: Stanley Donen

He has been associated with some of the most innovative and magical Hollywood musicals of the late 1940's and 1950's.  It was decided he is the King of the Musicals and also Gene Kelly's invisible partner.  Stanley Donen was already a dancer himself when in 1941 he first teamed up with Kelly on Broadway.  They would go on to co-direct three successful musicals and Donen would later bring to life some sparkling romantic-comedies.

Guilty Pleasures: Where Love Has Gone

1964 Drama
From Paramount Pictures
Directed by Edward Dmytryk

Starring
Susan Hayward
Bette Davis
Michael Connors
Jane Greer
Joey Heatherton
George Macready
DeForest Kelley
Anne Seymour
Anthony Caruso
Willis Bouchey

Movie Biographies: The Long Gray Line

1955 Military Biography
From Columbia Pictures
Directed by John Ford

Starring
Tyrone Power
Maureen O'Hara
Robert Francis
Donald Crisp
Ward Bond
Betsy Palmer
Phil Carey
William Leslie
Harry Carey Jr.
Peter Graves
Sean McClory
Patrick Wayne

Shelley Winters

She once described herself as a rocky road out of the Brooklyn ghetto to one New York apartment, two Oscars, three California houses, four hit plays, five Impressionist paintings, six mink coats and 99 films.  She forgot to mention four husbands (although not when she made the quote), scads of lovers, including some very young ones, and a big mouth.

Dean Stockwell

He was such a cute kid... big dimples, eyes that lit up, a great shock of thick, brown curls and an endearing smile.  He was also a fine actor, recognized as such before he was in a double-digit age.  He was very intelligent and spoke with such a confident air, rather adult-like and his scenes with popular adult actors sparkled.  To this day when I see one of his kid films coming on television, I am quick to watch it.

Visiting Film Noir: Pushover

1954 Film Noir
From Columbia Pictures
Directed by Richard Quine

Starring
Fred MacMurray
Kim Novak
Dorothy Malone
Phil Carey
E. G. Marshall
Paul Richards

Guilty Pleasures: Reflections in a Golden Eye

1967 Drama
From Warner Bros
Directed by John Huston

Starring
Elizabeth Taylor
Marlon Brando
Brian Keith
Julie Harris
Robert Forster
Zorro David

Randolph Scott

I was raised on Randolph Scott.  He made me want to be a cowboy.  I loved his voice, beautifully modulated and reassuring as it was, and I thought he was handsome in an Old West sort of way.  He was almost always the hero and he didn't want it to be any other way.  He usually got the girl but sometimes he just headed out of town alone.

A Glittering Cast: The Towering Inferno

1974 Drama
From 20th Century Fox 
& Warner Bros
Directed by John Guillermin

Starring
Paul Newman
Steve McQueen
William Holden
Faye Dunaway
Fred Astaire
Richard Chamberlain
Jennifer Jones
Robert Vaughn
Robert Wagner
Susan Blakely
Susan Flannery
Don Gordon
Sheila Mathews
Dabney Coleman

Movie Biographies: De-Lovely

2004 Musical Biography
From MGM
Directed by Irwin Winkler

Starring
Kevin Kline
Ashley Judd
Jonathan Pryce
Kevin McNally
Sally Nelson
Allan Corduner
Keith Allen
Richard Dillane
John Barrowman 

The Directors: James Ivory

Nobody better exemplifies the thrill I get from following a director's career than James Ivory.  Awaiting his films always aroused my impatience but finally getting to see them produced a euphoria that I rarely had with any other director.  The greatest joy was that Ivory was always a director and storyteller I could count on.  I liked some of his films more than others but never have I seen one I didn't like.  Two of his films appear on my 50 Favorite Films listing and if I had enlarged that to 100, two more would have been included. 

Guilty Pleasures: Woman They Almost Lynched

1953 Western
From Republic Pictures
Directed by Allan Dwan

Starring
John Lund
Brian Donlevy
Audrey Totter
Joan Leslie
Ben Cooper
Nina Varela
Jim Davis
Reed Hadley

Hope Lange

I was pretty crazy about her in the mid-50's when she first became a movie actress.  She wasn't my type... meaning she wasn't that smartass type of actress I was so attracted to.  But I noticed not only her cool, blonde beauty but her intelligence which I felt came through loud and clear.  There was a lot of clamor about her when she arrived on the Hollywood scene but her film career seemed to peter out before it should have and she never reached the heights that her talent deserved.  

Movie Biographies: I'll Cry Tomorrow

1955 Biography
From MGM
Directed by Daniel Mann

Starring
Susan Hayward
Jo Van Fleet
Richard Conte
Eddie Albert
Don Taylor
Ray Danton
Margo
Virginia Gregg
Don Barry

A Glittering Cast: How the West Was Won

1962 Western
From MGM & Cinerama
Directed by Henry Hathaway, 
John Ford and George Marshall

Starring
Carroll Baker
Walter Brennan
Lee J. Cobb
Henry Fonda
Carolyn Jones
Karl Malden
Agnes Moorehead
Gregory Peck
George Peppard
Robert Preston
Debbie Reynolds
Thelma Ritter
James Stewart
Eli Wallach
John Wayne
Richard Widmark

Loretta Young

I enjoy filling reader's requests, having done it four or five times before, but I've always regarded it as somewhat risky when asked to write about a person rather than a film.  I figure the requester likes or admires the actor and what if I don't?  Ick.  Such a conundrum.  But one either ignores the request, which I'm loathe to do, or one just jumps in there.  I'm jumping.  

Visiting Film Noir: They Won't Believe Me

1947 Film Noir

From RKO

Directed by Irving Pichel

Starring

Robert Young

Susan Hayward

Jane Greer

Rita Johnson

Actresses & Presence

A reader made a comment about Gene Tierney saying that he found her looks to be supernatural.  That comment sent me into reams of thoughts about her and then other Golden Age actresses who had a presence that seemed to guarantee their fame and popularity on the silver screen.  Presence can feel supernatural.  For some it might be a dignified manner, a bearing, comportment.  For others it might be an imposing personality.  Isn't it an ability to project ease, poise and self-assurance?  It is usually someone of a noteworthy appearance.  

A Glittering Cast: Battle Cry

1955 War Romance
From Warner Bros.
Directed by Raoul Walsh

Starring
Van Heflin
Aldo Ray
Tab Hunter
Nancy Olson
James Whitmore
Dorothy Malone
Mona Freeman
John Lupton
Anne Francis
Perry Lopez
William Campbell
Carleton Young
Fess Parker
Allyn Ann McLerie
Raymond Massey

Movie Biographies: The Glenn Miller Story

1954 Musical Biography
From Universal-International
Directed by Anthony Mann

Starring
James Stewart
June Allyson
Charles Drake
Harry Morgan
George Tobias

Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis in Four

These two native New Yorkers, Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis, had a great deal in common before they met.  Raised poor in generally the same neighborhoods, they had a street smarts that never left them.  They were both savvy, temperamental, conceited, smart-mouthed pranksters with an enormous vitality, a ready smile and a bursting self-confidence.  Who could be surprised they both wanted to become actors?

Clint Walker

He was a mountain of a man and a western legend thanks mainly to playing TV's favorite wandering adventurer, Cheyenne.  He parlayed that role into movie westerns playing heroes as taciturn and emotionless as western folk are thought to have been.  But those same traits kept him rather pigeon-holed as an actor and his overall opportunities in Hollywood were rather limited.

Movie Biographies: Callas Forever

2002 Musical Biography
From Regent Releasing
Directed by Franco Zeffirelli

Starring
Fanny Ardant
Jeremy Irons
Joan Plowright
Jay Rodan
Gabriel Garko
Manuel de Blas

Guilty Pleasures: Youngblood Hawke

1964 Drama
From Warner Bros.
Directed by Delmer Daves

Starring
James Franciscus
Suzanne Pleshette
Geneviève Page
Eva Gabor
Mary Astor
Lee Bowman
Mildred Dunnock
Don Porter
Edward Andrews
John Emery
John Dehner
Kent Smith
Mark Miller

Costars & Pals: Grant, Kerr, Mitchum & Simmons

Disney's First Dad: Fred MacMurray

It wasn't until the late 50's that he became a fixture in Disney films and then the star of a successful, long-running TV series.  Fred MacMurray had found his niche and a great deal of popularity.  Though he made 86 movies from 1929 to 1978, I thought he stood out in only about a half dozen or so and was very good in three.  He excelled when he played against type but what was his type?

Visiting Film Noir: The Dark Corner

1946 Film Noir
From 20th Century Fox
Directed by Henry Hathaway

Starring
Lucille Ball
Clifton Webb
William Bendix
Mark Stevens
Kurt Kreuger
Cathy Downs
Reed Hadley

They Called Him Mr. Shirley Temple

John Agar's story saddened me.  Perhaps in my judgments I felt more sadness for him than he may have felt for himself... I dunno.  To me he was an ordinary guy who had no interest in being an actor and no feeling for what he did want to do with his life and he was sadly unsuited to becoming the husband of 17-year old Shirley Temple.

Movie Biographies: Beau James

1957 Biographical Drama
From Paramount Pictures
Directed by Melville Shavelson

Starring
Bob Hope
Vera Miles
Paul Douglas
Alexis Smith
Darren McGavin

Liz and Her Boys

Gay men were my colleagues, confidantes and my closest friends.  I never thought of who they slept with.  They were just the people I loved.  I could never understand why they couldn't be afforded the same rights.  There is no gay agenda... it's a human agenda.  So she said.

Guilty Pleasures: Back Street

1961 Romance Drama
From Universal-International
Directed by David Miller

Starring
Susan Hayward
John Gavin
Vera Miles
Charles Drake
Virginia Grey
Reginald Gardiner
Robert Eyer
Tammy Marihugh

King of the Cowboys

He sat atop a beautiful, golden stallion and claimed the appellation, King of the Cowboys, as his own.  His name is Roy Rogers.  Go ahead and google that expression and see what you get.  Funny, I've seen very few of his movies and yet he was one of the most popular western stars ever.  He was the first hero I ever had and it seems that I collected as much memorabilia as he could put on the market.

Movie Biographies: Henry & June

1990 Biography
From Universal Pictures
Directed by Philip Kaufman

Starring
Fred Ward
Uma Thurman
Maria de Medeiros
Richard E. Grant
Kevin Spacey

From the 1950's: The Caine Mutiny

1954 Military Drama

From Columbia Pictures

Directed by Edward Dmytryk

Starring

Humphrey Bogart

José Ferrer

Van Johnson

Fred MacMurray

Robert Francis

May Wynn

Tom Tully

E. G. Marshall

Arthur Franz

Lee Marvin

Claude Akins

Katherine Warren

Good 50's Films: Auntie Mame

1958 Comedy
From Warner Bros.
Directed by Morton DaCosta

Starring
Rosalind Russell
Forrest Tucker
Coral Browne
Peggy Cass
Roger Smith
Jan Handzlik
Fred Clark
Patric Knowles
Joanna Barnes 
Pippa Scott
Lee Patrick
Willard Waterman
Robin Hughes
Connie Gilchrist
Yuki Shimoda

Angela Lansbury

When the lady left Hollywood in the mid-60s to captivate the world in Broadway's Mame, few were surprised.  Despite a couple of Oscar nominations and two decades of superb work, she was never one of the great movie stars.  I thought then and still do that she is one of the great actresses, but she never really ever made it big in the movies.

Columbia Pictures

When I think of this studio, I immediately think of four people.  First and foremost is its tyrannical emperor Harry Cohn and then director Frank Capra and finally actresses Rita Hayworth and Kim Novak.  Cohn, who had no particular talent as an artist, did have a head for business and his main concern was making money.  The others helped him with his main concern like no others.

Janet Leigh

From the time of my earliest movie-going until this very moment, there has always been a soft spot in my heart for Janet Leigh.  Without exception I saw every movie she made in the 50's and a whole helluva lot more.  My guess is that she was a sweetheart of a human being and one of Hollywood's best-loved actresses.  I've seen or met a lot of actors in my day but I would have traded quite a few of them for an hour with this lovely lady.

Guilty Pleasures: Three Bad Sisters

1956 Film Noir
From United Artists
Directed by Gordon Kay

Starring
Marla English
Kathleen Hughes
Sara Shane
John Bromfield
Madge Kennedy
Jess Barker
Anthony George

The Directors: Mark Robson

One might wonder how I became attached to a director who made only one western and no musicals but strange things do sometimes happen.  Mark Robson (pronounced ROBEson) made film noirs and socially-conscious films, tender love stories and war stories that went beyond battle scenes.  He had a knack for finding projects that were based on best-selling books.  He did some blockbusters that were popular with the public but not critics.  I've long thought that overall he had an eclectic and stimulating body of work.

Good 50's Films: Peyton Place

1957 Drama
From 20th Century Fox
Directed by Mark Robson

Starring
Lana Turner
Hope Lange
Diane Varsi
Lee Philips
Lloyd Nolan
Arthur Kennedy
Russ Tamblyn
Terry Moore
Barry Coe
Betty Field
Mildred Dunnock
David Nelson
Leon Ames
Lorne Greene

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

Anthony Quinn Films of the 50's

This legendary actor made 139 films, appeared in 30 television productions, many of them TV movies, and in a number of stage plays.  He was not an overnight success.  In the 30's and 40's he appeared in supporting roles in countless films.  He still made a lot of B films in the 50's but that's also the decade his star rose.  Most of his big films were made in the 60's and he made his final film in 2002.

Good 50's Films: The Narrow Margin

1952 Film Noir
From RKO
Directed by Richard Fleischer

Starring
Charles McGraw
Marie Windsor
Jacqueline White
Paul Maxey
David Clarke
Peter Virgo
Gordon Gebert
Don Beddoe

MGM Bad Boy Mario Lanza

He had so much.  There was a talent that brought teary joy and pleasure to the world.  Arturo Toscanini said his voice was one in a century.  One could tell he loved singing... the voice was pure and emotional, it was big and rich and not hampered by a lot of technique.  He might have been the biggest, most famous opera singer of all time but he opted for Hollywood and he was eaten alive.  Everyone knew he had two great talents... singing and self-destruction.

10 Iconic Performances

They are roles that are iconic in that an actor is important as a symbol to a given role.  We can't think of anyone else in the role at all.  It's a role that an actor or actress owns and history, at least, proves it.  These are roles that define the actor who played them.  In fact, I am given to saying they don't so much play the roles as they just are these characters.  They are pure perfection.

Good 50's Films: Sudden Fear

1952 Film Noir
From RKO Radio Pictures
Directed by David Miller

Starring
Joan Crawford
Jack Palance
Gloria Grahame
Bruce Bennett
Mike Connors
Virginia Huston

The Directors: Daniel Mann

As a Broadway director, he almost wanted his characters to leap into the laps of those watching them.  As a movie director, he still wanted the essence of that.  Characterization was everything to him.  Regardless of medium, he wanted his characters to exhibit strengths and weaknesses as they wandered through their modern-day lives.  He had a gift for listening and dialogue.  He wanted more than anything that his audiences felt something for his characters.

Remakes: The Philadelphia Story & High Society

It is so rare to love a particular romantic comedy and then love its 16-year later musical remake just as much, but boys and girls, that's exactly what happened to me with this pair.  Excuse my pessimism but that kind of packaging just never turns out so well but it certainly did here.

Edmond O'Brien

Throughout his 35-year movie career, he was mainly a character actor, albeit on the highest rungs of the ladder.  He  appeared in countless famous films and people who went to movies during Hollywood's Golden Age have seen his work over and over again.  At the same time, he was given starring roles in a number of B films, many of which were film noir.  Edmond O'Brien and crime just seemed to go together.

Guilty Pleasures: The Revolt of Mamie Stover

1956 Drama
From 20th Century Fox
Directed by Raoul Walsh

Starring
Jane Russell
Richard Egan
Joan Leslie
Agnes Moorehead
Michael Pate
Jorja Curtright
Leon Lontoc
Richard Coogan
Jean Willes

Ethel Merman in the Movies

She may be the biggest female Broadway star of all time and she unquestionably had the biggest voice.  The mouth that roared had its die-hard fans and detractors.  People seemed to love her or hate her.  There were few middle-of-the-road types although I may fall in there somewhere.  I was never a huge fan but her acclaim as a Broadway musical star is beyond question and I was very fond of a trio of her few films.

Guilty Pleasures: Women's Prison

1955 Drama
From Columbia Pictures
Directed by Lewis Seiler

Starring
Ida Lupino
Jan Sterling
Cleo Moore
Audrey Totter
Phyllis Thaxter
Howard Duff
Warren Stevens
Barry Kelley
Vivian Marshall
Gertrude Michael
Juanita Moore

Universal-International

From 1946 to 1962 Universal Pictures was known as Universal-International and for the last 10 years of that period it was my go-to studio.  Kids don't understand the difference between A & B pictures and it was a good thing because this studio was the King of the Bs.  It also showcased its product in the most vivid color and had some of the most beautiful young stars, men and women, one could ever hope to see.  

Hollywood Brunettes

Other than hair color, these featured actresses didn't have a great deal in common except that none of them made it to the top of the Hollywood heap.  One was more famous for her relationship with Howard Hughes than she ever was for a career.  One was a former ice skater whose Hollywood career hung on her marriage to a studio head.  The third, the best actress of the bunch, was a film noir staple who was one of the most exciting bad girls the movies ever produced but never rose above B flicks.  Let's meet them:

Good 50's Films: The Reluctant Debutante

1958 Comedy
From MGM
Directed by Vincente Minnelli

Starring
Rex Harrison
Kay Kendall
Sandra Dee
John Saxon
Angela Lansbury
Peter Myers
Diane Clare

Hollywood Blondes

As uncommon a trio as has ever been offered in these pages, these actresses have two main things in common... yep, they're all blondes and the 1950's was their most jubilant decade.  The best actress among them moved away from fame in favor of family.  Another could never get out of the shadow of her actor-husband-frequent costar and the third had a toxic fame that completely overshadowed what meager talent she had.

Katy Jurado

When writing about a Mexican actress in the 1950's, one has to think first of Katy Jurado.  She reigned as the top Latina of the decade.  Linda Cristal, who came along in the mid-50's, while more beautiful than Jurado, never achieved her fame.  Equally beautiful Dolores Del Rio was from an earlier era.  Jurado ruled Hollywood during her time.

Good 50's Films: Designing Woman

1957 Romantic Comedy
From MGM
Directed by Vincente Minnelli

Starring
Gregory Peck
Lauren Bacall
Dolores Gray
Sam Levene
Chuck Connors
Mickey Shaughnessy
Tom Helmore
Jack Cole

The Sad Life of Nick Adams

We have written many a post on how actors came to the profession, how they conquered Mount Hollywood.  Some took classes, honing their skills in the hope someone would notice.  Some came from Broadway or television.  Some were plucked out of obscurity.  Some never had much of a desire for such a glamorous existence and some of those made it big and some didn't.  In the 1950's there was Nick Adams and he probably wanted to hit the big time more than anyone we have heard of.

The Directors: Howard Hawks

Howard Hawks was one of my prized directors.  I looked forward to his next film because he consistently entertained... he was someone I could count on.  I was only mildly disappointed once.  I must admit I caught on to him because he seemed to make films with actors whose worked I rarely missed... Grant, Wayne, Bogie, Bacall, Monroe, Cooper, Hepburn. 

Good 50's Films: Vertigo

1958 Mystery
From Paramount Pictures
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Starring
James Stewart
Kim Novak
Barbara Bel Geddes
Tom Helmore
Henry Jones