Tuesday, June 25

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.

Tuesday, June 18

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.

Friday, June 14

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.