Miriam Hopkins (Above) born Ellen Miriam Hopkins on October 18, 1902 in Savannah, Georgia. Died October 9, 1972 in New York City. She trained originally as a dancer but pursued dramatic roles and eventually had a successful career on Broadway which paved the way for her to migrate to Hollywood. She appeared in the Lubitsch comedy Trouble in Paradise (1932) opposite Kay Francis; in Dr. Jekyll and My. Hyde (1932) opposite Frederic March; and then was the lead in Design for Living (1933). She pursued the role of Scarlett O'Hara but didn't get the role for Gone with the Wind. Her film work faded out in the early 1940s and she returned to stage work on the East Coast. She appeared in a number of television programs in the following decades but in very few films before her death in 1972.
Remastered Colbert Cleopatra Disk
Universal has remastered the 1934 DeMille version of Cleopatra, which has been the model for imitation in Hollywood Cleopatra's ever since.
Irving Thalberg 1899-1936
A review of the new Mark Vieira book on Thalberg, "Dreams Made Real: Irving Thalberg and the Rise of M-G-M"
Kay Francis 1905 - 1968
Review of I Found Stella Parish, part of the 42 films of Kay Francis showing in September on TCM. She was on the cover for TCM's September 2008 NOW PLAYING Guide.
Deborah Kerr 1921 - 2007
The actress, best known for films like From Here To Eternity and The King and I, has passed away. She had six Oscar nominations over the years, and received an honorary Oscar in 1993.
A whole page with Obituary notations, media files, pictures and a short essay is here.
• May 18, 2009
A biography of Carla Laemmle, best-known for appearing in Dracula with Lugosi in 1931, and also for being the neice of Carl Laemmle who ran Universal in its early years, the new book title "Among the Rugged Peaks: An Intimate Biography" is now out. It is written by Rick Atkins. More
• April 24, 2009
A new Barbara Stanwyck 256 page bio is now out. It is written by serial celebrity bio-writer Jane Ellen Wayne. More
• January 6, 2009
Variety lists top films of 2008
Not much of a surprise here, though seeing the gross on the George Lucas/Steven Spielberg Indiana Jones IV shows that had 2008 been slightly different, for example without Chris Nolan's Dark Knight coming out, it would be called the year of "Indy" instead of the year of "the Bat" more
• December 12, 2008
Actress Nina Foch has passed away at age 84 She started off in Hollywood appearing in Wagon Wheels West (1943) and then with Bela Lugosi appearing in The Return of the Vampire (1944). more
• December 10, 2008
20th Century Fox releases a DVD box set of 12 films by Murnau and Borzage Two directors who worked int he silent and early talkie era are featured in a deluxe set containing a documentary and many films never available before on VHS or DVD. The most well known of the included titles is Murnau's famous "Sunrise" in which a farmer must contend with himself, his city mistress, and the young wife he is being urged to drown (shades of "An American Tragedy"). more
• November 7, 2008
The Universal Legacy Series continues with a 2-disk package for Vertigo Although it is sometimes touted as "noir" it is really just a most unusual Hitchcock film and in a more personal mode than most of his films. Kim Novak is the dopplegangered victim/criminal and James Stewart the detective with a dangerous fear of heights. more
• October 22, 2008
Orson Welles, Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh TOUCH OF EVIL 50th Anniversary 2-disk set This much touted noir film from 1958 is released to DVD with three versions: the original 1958 "Mancini" version, the 1976 108-minute "Keller" version, and the 1998 re-cut "Orson Welles' Memo" version. more
• October 13, 2008
New Mark A. Vieira Book "Hollywood Dreams Made Real: Irving Thalberg and the Rise of M-G-M" from Abrams Books A new 260 page hardback exploring MGM and Thalberg's role as producer and architect of the MGM production system. more
