Robert Taylor

Oh, how the ladies drooled over this actor.  I know my mama did.  There was no one like him for her... not even equally handsome Tyrone Power.  In the 1930s and 40s they were the cat's pajamas, I'll tell you.  Well, wait, the 30s were well before my time and I was still pretty young in the 40s, but this is what my mama always said.  I was with her the day she saw him from through our car window and I thought we were going to have an accident.

Silvana Mangano

While I am still in a European frame of mind but always willing to write about those actresses who have charmed me over the years, we go to Italy again and check out Silvana Mangano.  She is quite likely not known to young people, certainly not those in America, although perhaps her fame has endured in her homeland. 

In Their Nineties

Since writing about Doris Day turning 90, I have been giving some thought to those still alive who are also in their 90s.  I began making a list and then Mickey Rooney, one of the first on the list, passes away at 93.  A friend texted me an RIP on Rooney (I think we try to be first to alert the other on famous deaths but she usually beats me) and she said something about those still alive.  So I picked up my list and added a few more names.  I thought I would share with you.  You may know all this or maybe not all.  You probably know some I am not thinking of.  Would love to hear.  Well, anyway, here are those capturing my attention.

The Directors: Jean Negulesco

His career can easily be divided into two parts.  The first was some masterful film noir work, mainly at Warner Brothers, and secondly at 20th Century Fox where he steered big-budget, big-cast, glossy productions in comedy, drama, romance and musicals.  I was practically raised on his Fox work.  I didn't miss a single one of them from the 1950s.  It was only later when I went back and familiarized myself with his earlier work that I could scarcely believe it was the same director.

The King's Quartet

Elvis Presley made 31 films.  Twenty-five of them are among the worst films ever made.  Ever.  Two more are passable and four of them aren't bad at all.  I still don't know if any of the four are all that good, but they certainly stand apart from those crappy 25.  After we drizzle some back story on you, we'll highlight those four.

Tom Tryon

Doing the last piece on Romy Schneider and mentioning her film, The Cardinal, made me think of the actor who played the title role, Tom Tryon.  In fact, I haven't been able to stop thinking about him.  And I was reminded of a time in the 1960s when I also couldn't stop thinking about him.  So I've decided to see what I could come up with.

Romy Schneider

I have never much cared for foreign language films because I don't want to take my eyes off beautiful faces to do all that reading.  But in 1958 I was taken by a neighbor to the local art house to see Christine, a French-language film starring Romy Schneider and soon-to-be boyfriend Alain Delon.  It was my first experience with foreign language films and I formed an immediate dislike, much to my neighbor's chagrin.  But I could not take my eyes off Schneider or Delon, so beautiful were they.

Happy 90th, Doris

Let's all wish Doris Day a happy 90th birthday.  I am doing an alternate-date posting (not on my usual Friday) to celebrate the actual day.  I'm imagining her spending it, happy as can be, letting a pack of dogs lick birthday cake frosting from her fingers.

Who Is Dewey Martin?

I knew of him because his decade of fame was the 50s.  He was talented, handsome, mercurial and mysterious.  He appeared in a few films that I quite liked and then he disappeared.  Forever.  Has he passed away?  I'm thinking not because even the deaths of long-ago movie actors usually still get reported, but who knows?  It would be just like Dewey Martin to handle his death as mysteriously as he did his life.