From the 1950s: Three Secrets

1950 Drama

From Warner Bros 

Directed by Robert Wise

Starring

Eleanor Parker

Patricia Neal

Ruth Roman

Frank Lovejoy

Leif Erickson

Larry Keating

Katherine Warren

Edmon Ryan

Ted de Corsia

Two British Movies "At the Top"

Here is a chance to look into a top fifties' film and its six-years' later sequel in one posting, something I have not done before.  Laurence Harvey plays the same character, Joe Lampton, in both Room at the Top (1959) and Life at the Top (1965).  Room is one of two Harvey performances (the other being The Manchurian Candidate) that stand out as the best screen work he ever did.

The Directors: Walter Lang

In the forties, 20th Century Fox might have been best known for its musical output (and maybe a little film noir), thanks in part to two people.  One was Betty Grable who was the most popular movie star of the decade.  That is due to the fact that she starred in most of the Fox musicals.  Secondly, there is Walter Lang, the director of six of Grable's 40's flicks and the studio's primary director of all its musicals.

From the 1950s: There's No Business Like Show Business

1954 Musical

From 20th Century Fox

Directed by Walter Lang

Starring

Ethel Merman

Donald O'Connor

Marilyn Monroe

Dan Dailey

Mitzi Gaynor

Johnnie Ray

Richard Eastham

Hugh O'Brian

RIP Tommy Kirk

It was just a few months ago that I thought of Tommy Kirk and I looked him up online to check out his age, see if I could find out where he lived, what he's been up to and to see if he was alive.  I was surprised to learn he'd make some movies in these later years.  I hadn't thought he'd done anything since the sixties.  I noticed there was no date of death but wondered if there was perhaps some mishap in reporting his death.  That wouldn't have surprised me.

John Drew Barrymore

 He was born into an acclaimed acting family in Beverly Hills in 1932.  His father was the famed stage and film actor John (The Great Profile) Barrymore and his mother silent screen star Dolores Costello.  His father's siblings were Academy Award-winning actors Lionel and Ethel.  His grandfather was silent film star Maurice Costello and his aunt 1920s star Helene Costello.  His older half-sister was the troubled, alcoholic actress Diana Barrymore.  He was also the usually-estranged father of actress Drew Barrymore.