MGM celebrated its centennial on April 17th. Marcus Lowe established the studio by merging Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures and Louis B. Mayer Pictures. Boasting it had “more stars than there are in heaven,” MGM may have been the biggest studio during the Golden Age of Hollywood, it has gone through many owners and regimes over the years but seems to on terra firma since Amazon acquired MGM in 2021. In fact, Amazon MGM Studios won best screenplay Oscar for “American Fiction.” And speaking of Academy Awards, MGM has earned numerous statuettes over the years. Here’s a look at five Best Picture winners produced between 1929-1958.
“The Broadway Melody”
The 1929 musical made Oscar history by being the first talkie to win the top prize. Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed wrote the songs which include “The Broadway Melody,” “You Were Meant for Me” and “The Wedding of the Painted Doll” but...
“The Broadway Melody”
The 1929 musical made Oscar history by being the first talkie to win the top prize. Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed wrote the songs which include “The Broadway Melody,” “You Were Meant for Me” and “The Wedding of the Painted Doll” but...
- 4/22/2024
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Song and dance man or gangster? Few stars of Hollywood’s Golden Era could claim they were equally well known for two such diverse genres. Yet, the legendary James Cagney worked hard to be able to make such a claim.
He was born on July 17, 1899, in New York City. His family was poor, and Cagney was sickly as a child. While growing up in a rough neighborhood, he learned a variety of skills, including tap dancing, street fighting, baseball and boxing. When he was 19, his father died, and he took odd jobs to help support his mother and siblings. On a whim, he auditioned for a role of a chorus girl in a local production. Although he had never had professional training, he landed the role and learned the dances from watching the other performers – and it never bothered him to dress as a girl and perform. Despite his mother...
He was born on July 17, 1899, in New York City. His family was poor, and Cagney was sickly as a child. While growing up in a rough neighborhood, he learned a variety of skills, including tap dancing, street fighting, baseball and boxing. When he was 19, his father died, and he took odd jobs to help support his mother and siblings. On a whim, he auditioned for a role of a chorus girl in a local production. Although he had never had professional training, he landed the role and learned the dances from watching the other performers – and it never bothered him to dress as a girl and perform. Despite his mother...
- 7/15/2023
- by Susan Pennington, Zach Laws and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Here’s looking at Warner Bros. which is celebrating its 100th anniversary. Earlier this year, Turner Classic Movies, which is a member of the Warner Bros. Discovery family, celebrated the centennial with a monthlong tribute to the studio that gave the world such landmark films as 1927’s “The Jazz Singer,” the first feature with synchronized recorded singing and some dialogue; the ultimate gangster flick 1931’s “Public Enemy,: the glorious 1938 swashbuckler “The Adventures of Robin Hood”; and the beloved 1942 “Casablanca.
And during its Golden Age, its roster of stars included such legends as Rin-Tin-Tin, John Barrymore, Edward G. Robinson, James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, Kay Francis, Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell, Paul Muni, John Garfield and Sydney Greenstreet.
Max is currently streaming the four-part documentary series “100 Years of Warner Bros.” (the first two episodes premiered at Cannes). And also arriving this week is the lavish coffee table book “Warner Bros.
And during its Golden Age, its roster of stars included such legends as Rin-Tin-Tin, John Barrymore, Edward G. Robinson, James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, Kay Francis, Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell, Paul Muni, John Garfield and Sydney Greenstreet.
Max is currently streaming the four-part documentary series “100 Years of Warner Bros.” (the first two episodes premiered at Cannes). And also arriving this week is the lavish coffee table book “Warner Bros.
- 5/30/2023
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Warner Bros. has already celebrated its centennial with a segment during the Academy Awards, the publication of a studio-supported book (Warner Bros.: 100 Years of Storytelling) and, most recently, a barrage of festivities emanating from Turner Classic Movies. TCM’s programming for all of April is being devoted to Warners films, and at the 14th annual TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood, running April 13-16, many studio masterpieces, some recently restored and remastered, will be shown on big screens around town. Here are 10 that this THR Hollywood history buff highly recommends.
Footlight Parade (1933)
Ninety years ago, during the depths of the Great Depression, Americans sought escape from their troubles with light movies like this backstage musical. Directed by Lloyd Bacon, starring James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler and highlighted by some of choreographer Busby Berkeley’s most kaleidoscopic dance numbers, it was a giant hit at the box office.
Footlight Parade (1933)
Ninety years ago, during the depths of the Great Depression, Americans sought escape from their troubles with light movies like this backstage musical. Directed by Lloyd Bacon, starring James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler and highlighted by some of choreographer Busby Berkeley’s most kaleidoscopic dance numbers, it was a giant hit at the box office.
- 4/12/2023
- by Scott Feinberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Gambling and casinos have always been popular themes in movies, and there have been many great films made on this subject over the years. From tense poker games to high-stakes heists, the world of gambling has provided plenty of material for filmmakers to work with. Here are some of the greatest films with gambling and casino themes ever made.
Casino (1995)
Martin Scorsese’s epic tale of the rise and fall of a casino boss, Casino, is a classic film that is often cited as one of the greatest gambling movies ever made. The film follows the story of Sam “Ace” Rothstein, played by Robert De Niro, who is hired by the Mob to run the Tangiers casino in Las Vegas. With his best friend, Nicky Santoro, played by Joe Pesci, at his side, Ace builds an empire but finds himself struggling to maintain control as his personal and professional life spiral out of control.
Casino (1995)
Martin Scorsese’s epic tale of the rise and fall of a casino boss, Casino, is a classic film that is often cited as one of the greatest gambling movies ever made. The film follows the story of Sam “Ace” Rothstein, played by Robert De Niro, who is hired by the Mob to run the Tangiers casino in Las Vegas. With his best friend, Nicky Santoro, played by Joe Pesci, at his side, Ace builds an empire but finds himself struggling to maintain control as his personal and professional life spiral out of control.
- 3/16/2023
- by Movies Martin Cid Magazine
- Martin Cid Magazine - Movies
While Elvis Presley is best remembered for his music, the Memphis singer had an impressive career in Hollywood movies. Elvis starred in 31 feature films and two concert documentaries. Still, he has a lengthier filmography than many might realize, and his 26th movie, Stay Away, Joe, premiered in New York City 55 years ago today.
Elvis Presley starred in many movies in a short period of time Elvis Presley as Joe | FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty Images
Elvis’ career in movies began in 1956 with Love Me Tender. The final film he starred in, Change of Habit, debuted in 1969, but he still featured in 29 other movies within that 13-year time frame. A few of his most famous movies include Jailhouse Rock, Viva Las Vegas, Blue Hawaii, and It Happened at the World’s Fair.
For a while, Elvis Presley was one of the world’s biggest movie stars and the highest-paid actor in Hollywood.
Elvis Presley starred in many movies in a short period of time Elvis Presley as Joe | FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty Images
Elvis’ career in movies began in 1956 with Love Me Tender. The final film he starred in, Change of Habit, debuted in 1969, but he still featured in 29 other movies within that 13-year time frame. A few of his most famous movies include Jailhouse Rock, Viva Las Vegas, Blue Hawaii, and It Happened at the World’s Fair.
For a while, Elvis Presley was one of the world’s biggest movie stars and the highest-paid actor in Hollywood.
- 3/8/2023
- by Ross Tanenbaum
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Paul Mason, the screenwriter, producer and studio executive who penned episodes of Ben Casey, Ironside and CHiPs, created The Bold Ones: The New Doctors with Steven Bochco and served as president of Viacom Pictures, has died. He was 92.
Mason died Dec. 26 at his home in West Hills, his son Barry Jacobs announced.
At the start of his six-decade career, Mason co-wrote Angel Baby (1961), a drama that starred George Hamilton, Mercedes McCambridge, Joan Blondell and, in his film debut, Burt Reynolds.
Also for the big screen, Mason’s produced Nickel & Dime (1992) and executive produced The Further Adventures of Tennessee Buck (1988), Seven Hours to Judgment (1988), I, Madman (1989), Where Sleeping Dogs Lie (1991), The Amityville Horror (2005), Hachi: A Dog’s Tale (2009), A Common Man (2013), The House at the End of the Drive (2014) and Amityville: The Awakening (2017).
He, Bochco and Richard Landau created NBC’s The Bold Ones: The New Doctors, which ran from 1969-73 and starred E.G. Marshall,...
Mason died Dec. 26 at his home in West Hills, his son Barry Jacobs announced.
At the start of his six-decade career, Mason co-wrote Angel Baby (1961), a drama that starred George Hamilton, Mercedes McCambridge, Joan Blondell and, in his film debut, Burt Reynolds.
Also for the big screen, Mason’s produced Nickel & Dime (1992) and executive produced The Further Adventures of Tennessee Buck (1988), Seven Hours to Judgment (1988), I, Madman (1989), Where Sleeping Dogs Lie (1991), The Amityville Horror (2005), Hachi: A Dog’s Tale (2009), A Common Man (2013), The House at the End of the Drive (2014) and Amityville: The Awakening (2017).
He, Bochco and Richard Landau created NBC’s The Bold Ones: The New Doctors, which ran from 1969-73 and starred E.G. Marshall,...
- 1/5/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Click here to read the full article.
Susan Tolsky, the comic character actress who sparkled as the winsome Biddie Cloom on Here Come the Brides and as the shy secretary Bernadette Van Gilder on Madame’s Place, has died. She was 79.
Tolsky died Oct. 9 of natural causes at her Toluca Lake home in Los Angeles, her sister, Noel Foreman, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Tolsky also portrayed the secretary of a high school football coach (Rock Hudson) bedding students in Roger Vadim’s Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971) and was a regular performer on The New Bill Cosby Show, a 1972-73 CBS variety program produced by Laugh-In legend George Schlatter.
Onscreen, she often wore big, round eyeglasses and used a voice she described in a 1969 TV Guide interview as “a chicken with a hernia.”
“I realized a long time ago that men don’t look at me and pant and go crazy,...
Susan Tolsky, the comic character actress who sparkled as the winsome Biddie Cloom on Here Come the Brides and as the shy secretary Bernadette Van Gilder on Madame’s Place, has died. She was 79.
Tolsky died Oct. 9 of natural causes at her Toluca Lake home in Los Angeles, her sister, Noel Foreman, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Tolsky also portrayed the secretary of a high school football coach (Rock Hudson) bedding students in Roger Vadim’s Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971) and was a regular performer on The New Bill Cosby Show, a 1972-73 CBS variety program produced by Laugh-In legend George Schlatter.
Onscreen, she often wore big, round eyeglasses and used a voice she described in a 1969 TV Guide interview as “a chicken with a hernia.”
“I realized a long time ago that men don’t look at me and pant and go crazy,...
- 11/9/2022
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Opening Night.In John Cassavetes’s Opening Night (1977), the actress Myrtle Gordon (Gena Rowlands) accepts an invitation from the playwright Sarah Goode (Joan Blondell) to settle a professional conflict over drinks. The newly-middle-aged Myrtle struggles so much to connect with the leading role in Sarah’s play, an older woman who lacks agency in her married life that she can’t even read all of her lines. After identifying the disconnect between her life experience and that of her character, Myrtle begins to articulate her vision of an ideal performer. “Once you’re convincing in a part, the audience accepts you as that,” Myrtle explains, loosening her confrontational tone. “Listen, Sarah, I don’t have a husband, I don’t have a family. This is it for me. I mean, I get my kicks out of acting. If I can reach a woman sitting in the audience who thinks that...
- 11/7/2022
- MUBI
Updated with Smpd statement, 2:36 Pm: Santa Monica High School is off lockdown after a bomb threat this afternoon. Police searched the campus and said “no suspicious items were found” and that “students are exiting the classrooms and are being released for the day. Read more about the situation below.
Smpd has cleared the #Samohi campus. No suspicious items were found. The Shelter in Place has been released. Students are exiting their classrooms and are being released for the day. Please follow @Smmusd for additional information. pic.twitter.com/owaxFqeroy
— Santa Monica Police (@SantaMonicaPD) November 3, 2022
Previously, 1:35 Pm: Santa Monica High School is on lockdown after a phone operator received a bomb threat just before noon. Police are on the scene, and students have been told to shelter in place.
Police said at 12:48 p.m. that “no device or suspicious items have been located” but that officers are continuing...
Smpd has cleared the #Samohi campus. No suspicious items were found. The Shelter in Place has been released. Students are exiting their classrooms and are being released for the day. Please follow @Smmusd for additional information. pic.twitter.com/owaxFqeroy
— Santa Monica Police (@SantaMonicaPD) November 3, 2022
Previously, 1:35 Pm: Santa Monica High School is on lockdown after a phone operator received a bomb threat just before noon. Police are on the scene, and students have been told to shelter in place.
Police said at 12:48 p.m. that “no device or suspicious items have been located” but that officers are continuing...
- 11/3/2022
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
Another pre-code musical from director Lloyd Bacon and more unforgettably wack-a-doo dance sequences from Busby Berkeley. This one features a powerhouse cast including Joan Blondell, Dick Powell and the incendiary James Cagney (whose galvanic tap dancing leaves the adorably klutzy Ruby Keeler in the dust). Fun-starved depression audiences made this another big hit for Warners, the film doubled its budget at the box-office.
The post Footlight Parade appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
The post Footlight Parade appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
- 10/7/2022
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
Click here to read the full article.
Robert Brown, who starred alongside David Soul and Bobby Sherman by portraying the oldest of the three logging Bolt brothers on the 1968-70 ABC series Here Come the Brides, has died. He was 95.
Brown died Sept. 19 at his home in Ojai, his friend Kiki Bremont told The Hollywood Reporter.
Brown appeared twice on Broadway and guest-starred as alternating versions of a dilithium-lusting character named Lazarus on the 1967 Star Trek episode “The Alternative Factor.” He got that gig when John Drew Barrymore failed to show up on the morning of the shoot.
In 1968, Brown was on the other end of a last-minute replacement situation. All set to star as Det. Steve McGarrett on the original Hawaii Five-0, he was replaced by Jack Lord five days before filming on the pilot began after producer Leonard Freeman had a change of heart about his leading man.
Robert Brown, who starred alongside David Soul and Bobby Sherman by portraying the oldest of the three logging Bolt brothers on the 1968-70 ABC series Here Come the Brides, has died. He was 95.
Brown died Sept. 19 at his home in Ojai, his friend Kiki Bremont told The Hollywood Reporter.
Brown appeared twice on Broadway and guest-starred as alternating versions of a dilithium-lusting character named Lazarus on the 1967 Star Trek episode “The Alternative Factor.” He got that gig when John Drew Barrymore failed to show up on the morning of the shoot.
In 1968, Brown was on the other end of a last-minute replacement situation. All set to star as Det. Steve McGarrett on the original Hawaii Five-0, he was replaced by Jack Lord five days before filming on the pilot began after producer Leonard Freeman had a change of heart about his leading man.
- 10/3/2022
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Mark Miller, the prolific actor and screenwriter writer best known for Please Don’t Eat The Daisies and Guestward, Ho! has died. His daughter, actress Penelope Ann Miller, confirmed the news on Twitter. He was 97.
Miller portrayed college professor Jim Nash on Please Don’t Eat the Daisies, which ran from 1965-1967 and then in syndication. The NBC-MGM sitcom, which ran for 58 half-hour episodes, was loosely based on the theatrical film of the same name starring Doris Day and David Niven. The series did well initially, but its ratings took a hit in Season 2 when it was moved opposite The Jackie Gleason Show.
Miller had substantial runs on other big shows, most notably Desilu’s Guestward Ho! on ABC in 1960. He played one half of a New York City couple, the Hootens, who relocate to a dude ranch in New Mexico. Guestward Ho! ran for one season alongside The Donna Reed Show on Thursday evenings.
Miller portrayed college professor Jim Nash on Please Don’t Eat the Daisies, which ran from 1965-1967 and then in syndication. The NBC-MGM sitcom, which ran for 58 half-hour episodes, was loosely based on the theatrical film of the same name starring Doris Day and David Niven. The series did well initially, but its ratings took a hit in Season 2 when it was moved opposite The Jackie Gleason Show.
Miller had substantial runs on other big shows, most notably Desilu’s Guestward Ho! on ABC in 1960. He played one half of a New York City couple, the Hootens, who relocate to a dude ranch in New Mexico. Guestward Ho! ran for one season alongside The Donna Reed Show on Thursday evenings.
- 9/14/2022
- by Tom Tapp
- Deadline Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
Mark Miller, who portrayed the patriarch of a castle-dwelling family on the 1960s NBC sitcom Please Don’t Eat the Daisies and co-wrote the Keanu Reeves-starring romantic drama A Walk in the Clouds, has died. He was 97.
Miler died Friday in Santa Monica of natural causes, a family spokesperson announced. Survivors include his daughter and Tony-nominated actress Penelope Ann Miller.
Miller also wrote, produced and starred in the classic family film Savannah Smiles (1982), which was inspired by and named for his youngest daughter. It’s the story of a runaway girl (Bridgette Andersen) who forms an improvised family with the two escaped convicts (Miller, Donovan Scott) who find her.
On Please Don’t Eat the Daisies, which aired for two seasons and 58 episodes from 1965-67, the native Texan played college professor Jim Nash opposite Patricia Crowley as newspaper writer Joan Nash. They are the...
Mark Miller, who portrayed the patriarch of a castle-dwelling family on the 1960s NBC sitcom Please Don’t Eat the Daisies and co-wrote the Keanu Reeves-starring romantic drama A Walk in the Clouds, has died. He was 97.
Miler died Friday in Santa Monica of natural causes, a family spokesperson announced. Survivors include his daughter and Tony-nominated actress Penelope Ann Miller.
Miller also wrote, produced and starred in the classic family film Savannah Smiles (1982), which was inspired by and named for his youngest daughter. It’s the story of a runaway girl (Bridgette Andersen) who forms an improvised family with the two escaped convicts (Miller, Donovan Scott) who find her.
On Please Don’t Eat the Daisies, which aired for two seasons and 58 episodes from 1965-67, the native Texan played college professor Jim Nash opposite Patricia Crowley as newspaper writer Joan Nash. They are the...
- 9/14/2022
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Apologies to do this but we have scheduling changes (a lot going on chez Nathaniel)
Smackdown "1951" -New Date: Monday, September 19th, 2022
1951 will be our "year of the month" for another few weeks. Email us your votes on the Smackdown (anytime before September 17th) with "1951" in the subject line. You should rate each performance you've seen on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (perfection) hearts. Feel free to include blurbs which we might quote but they aren't necessary.
Joan Blondell, The Blue Veil - good luck finding! Mildred Dunnock, Death of a Salesman - available on YouTube Lee Grant, Detective Story. - rentable from multiple sources Kim Hunter, A Streetcar Named Desire - streaming on HBOMax / rentable elsewhere Thelma Ritter, The Mating Season - available on YouTube
Smackdown "2004" -New Date: Monday, October 24th, 2022
Email us your votes on the Smackdown (anytime before October 20th) with "2004" in the subject line of your email.
Smackdown "1951" -New Date: Monday, September 19th, 2022
1951 will be our "year of the month" for another few weeks. Email us your votes on the Smackdown (anytime before September 17th) with "1951" in the subject line. You should rate each performance you've seen on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (perfection) hearts. Feel free to include blurbs which we might quote but they aren't necessary.
Joan Blondell, The Blue Veil - good luck finding! Mildred Dunnock, Death of a Salesman - available on YouTube Lee Grant, Detective Story. - rentable from multiple sources Kim Hunter, A Streetcar Named Desire - streaming on HBOMax / rentable elsewhere Thelma Ritter, The Mating Season - available on YouTube
Smackdown "2004" -New Date: Monday, October 24th, 2022
Email us your votes on the Smackdown (anytime before October 20th) with "2004" in the subject line of your email.
- 8/30/2022
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Though it received a Best Picture nomination at the 94th Academy Awards in 2022, Guillermo del Toro's re-adaptation of the William Lindsay Gresham novel "Nightmare Alley" hit theaters the same day as "Spider-Man: No Way Home" and was overshadowed by that movie's juggernaut success amid the pandemic. It makes the most of those shadows, though, filling them with smoke and "the poetry of disillusionment and existentialism," as del Toro has called it. This is a movie that lives at the carnival, where you're less likely to see any spider-men and more likely to see a woman with a spider's body warning children about the sins of lust and pride.
Co-written by Kim Morgan, the del Toro version of "Nightmare Alley" takes its cues from Gresham's book and was not intended as a remake of the black-and-white 1947 adaptation starring Tyrone Power. However, that movie is a classic and it's worth...
Co-written by Kim Morgan, the del Toro version of "Nightmare Alley" takes its cues from Gresham's book and was not intended as a remake of the black-and-white 1947 adaptation starring Tyrone Power. However, that movie is a classic and it's worth...
- 8/27/2022
- by Joshua Meyer
- Slash Film
From TorontoFilm.Net, take a look at director Guillermo del Toro’s remake of "Nightmare Alley", based on the 1946 novel by William Lindsay Gresham, starring Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Rooney Mara, Ron Perlman, Mary Steenburgen and David Strathairn:
"...an ambitious 'carny' (Cooper)...
"...with a talent for manipulating people...
"...with a few well-chosen words...
"...hooks up with a female psychiatrist (Blanchett) who is even more dangerous than he is..."
"...'in the 1947 feature, 'Nightmare Alley' starring Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell and Coleen Gray, 'Stanton Carlisle' watches the geek show at a carnival asking worker 'Clem Hoately' where 'geeks' come from. Clem explains that geeks are 'made', when a sideshow owner finds an alcoholic bum and offers him a temporary job with a steady supply of liquor.
"Initially, the bum is only asked to pretend to be a geek, using a razor blade to slice...
"...an ambitious 'carny' (Cooper)...
"...with a talent for manipulating people...
"...with a few well-chosen words...
"...hooks up with a female psychiatrist (Blanchett) who is even more dangerous than he is..."
"...'in the 1947 feature, 'Nightmare Alley' starring Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell and Coleen Gray, 'Stanton Carlisle' watches the geek show at a carnival asking worker 'Clem Hoately' where 'geeks' come from. Clem explains that geeks are 'made', when a sideshow owner finds an alcoholic bum and offers him a temporary job with a steady supply of liquor.
"Initially, the bum is only asked to pretend to be a geek, using a razor blade to slice...
- 3/28/2022
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
From TorontoFilm.Net, take a look at director Guillermo del Toro’s Oscar-nominated remake of "Nightmare Alley", based on the 1946 novel by William Lindsay Gresham, starring Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Rooney Mara, Ron Perlman, Mary Steenburgen and David Strathairn, releasing in theaters December 17, 2021:
"...an ambitious 'carny' (Cooper)...
"...with a talent for manipulating people...
"...with a few well-chosen words...
"...hooks up with a female psychiatrist (Blanchett) who is even more dangerous than he is..."
"...'in the 1947 feature, 'Nightmare Alley' starring Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell and Coleen Gray, 'Stanton Carlisle' watches the geek show at a carnival asking worker 'Clem Hoately' where 'geeks' come from. Clem explains that geeks are 'made', when a sideshow owner finds an alcoholic bum and offers him a temporary job with a steady supply of liquor.
"Initially, the bum is only asked to pretend to be a geek,...
"...an ambitious 'carny' (Cooper)...
"...with a talent for manipulating people...
"...with a few well-chosen words...
"...hooks up with a female psychiatrist (Blanchett) who is even more dangerous than he is..."
"...'in the 1947 feature, 'Nightmare Alley' starring Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell and Coleen Gray, 'Stanton Carlisle' watches the geek show at a carnival asking worker 'Clem Hoately' where 'geeks' come from. Clem explains that geeks are 'made', when a sideshow owner finds an alcoholic bum and offers him a temporary job with a steady supply of liquor.
"Initially, the bum is only asked to pretend to be a geek,...
- 3/13/2022
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
The Oscar-nominated feature “Nightmare Alley", directed by Guillermo Del Toro, based on the 1946 novel by William Lindsay Gresham, stars Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Rooney Mara and Mary Steenburgen:
"...an ambitious 'carny' (Cooper)...
"...with a talent for manipulating people...
"...with a few well-chosen words...
"...hooks up with a female psychiatrist (Blanchett) who is even more dangerous than he is..."
"...'in the 1947 feature, 'Nightmare Alley' starring Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell and Coleen Gray, 'Stanton Carlisle' watches the geek show at a carnival asking worker 'Clem Hoately' where 'geeks' come from. Clem explains that geeks are 'made', when a sideshow owner finds an alcoholic bum and offers him a temporary job with a steady supply of liquor.
"Initially, the bum is only asked to pretend to be a geek, using a razor blade to slice chickens' necks and then faking the drinking of the blood.
"...an ambitious 'carny' (Cooper)...
"...with a talent for manipulating people...
"...with a few well-chosen words...
"...hooks up with a female psychiatrist (Blanchett) who is even more dangerous than he is..."
"...'in the 1947 feature, 'Nightmare Alley' starring Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell and Coleen Gray, 'Stanton Carlisle' watches the geek show at a carnival asking worker 'Clem Hoately' where 'geeks' come from. Clem explains that geeks are 'made', when a sideshow owner finds an alcoholic bum and offers him a temporary job with a steady supply of liquor.
"Initially, the bum is only asked to pretend to be a geek, using a razor blade to slice chickens' necks and then faking the drinking of the blood.
- 2/9/2022
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
Busby Berkeley’s musical comedy extravaganza not only gets away with a social message, it makes one of the best cultural statements ever about the Great Depression. Social upheaval suddenly being a real thing these days, we understand. The story is a romantic backstage musical but The Wolf at the Door is present in the dialogue, the lyrics, everywhere. This might be the sexiest of Berkeley’s musicals, with even star Joan Blondell teasing the nudity; but audiences were floored when the gala curtain number ‘Remember My Forgotten Man’ shouted out a cry for social justice. Warren William, Aline MacMahon, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell & Guy Kibbee star; and this is Ned Sparks’ best role, with additional gold-digging by pert ‘n’ perky Ginger Rogers.
Gold Diggers of 1933
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1933 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 96 min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date February 8, 2022 / 21.99
Starring: Warren William, Joan Blondell, Aline MacMahon, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell,...
Gold Diggers of 1933
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1933 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 96 min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date February 8, 2022 / 21.99
Starring: Warren William, Joan Blondell, Aline MacMahon, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell,...
- 2/8/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
This article contains spoilers for both versions of Nightmare Alley.
“Mister, I was made for it,” versus “Mister, I was born for it,” sums up the major psychological distinction between the 1947 Nightmare Alley and Guillermo del Toro’s 2021 remake. Neither line from the end of their respective movies is in the 1946 novel by William Lindsay Gresham. That book concludes just short of the revelation or confession (depending on the actor who says it). Bradley Cooper’s Stan Carlisle finds it downright hilarious that he is about to become a geek. Tyrone Power’s The Great Stanton only grants himself temporary clemency. The geek is their destiny. Chicken necks are their shared fate.
The first major difference between the two movies is the most obvious. One employs all the tricks of black and white filmmaking, the other shades its colors in a muted noir. The next immediately recognizable difference comes at feeding time.
“Mister, I was made for it,” versus “Mister, I was born for it,” sums up the major psychological distinction between the 1947 Nightmare Alley and Guillermo del Toro’s 2021 remake. Neither line from the end of their respective movies is in the 1946 novel by William Lindsay Gresham. That book concludes just short of the revelation or confession (depending on the actor who says it). Bradley Cooper’s Stan Carlisle finds it downright hilarious that he is about to become a geek. Tyrone Power’s The Great Stanton only grants himself temporary clemency. The geek is their destiny. Chicken necks are their shared fate.
The first major difference between the two movies is the most obvious. One employs all the tricks of black and white filmmaking, the other shades its colors in a muted noir. The next immediately recognizable difference comes at feeding time.
- 2/5/2022
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
Bridget Hanley, who was a series regular on Here Come the Brides and later Harper Valley P.T.A., has died. She was 80.
The Edmonds Beacon, a local paper in Washington state, said she died Wednesday of Alzheimer’s disease at the Motion Picture Country Home in Woodland Hills, CA. The paper cited a tweet from L.A.’s Theatre West that announced her death:
With heavy hearts, Theatre West bids farewell to longtime member Bridget Hanley.
She is pictured here with Jim Beaver from “The Lion in Winter” in 2006, one of our most acclaimed productions.
Tw extends its condolences to Bridget’s family and friends. pic.twitter.com/3iszFbyQI9
— Theatre West (@TheatreWest) December 17, 2021
Born on February 3, 1941, in Seattle and began her screen career guesting on such popular mid’-1960s series as Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie and Gidget before landing her first regular gig on Here Come the Brides. The...
The Edmonds Beacon, a local paper in Washington state, said she died Wednesday of Alzheimer’s disease at the Motion Picture Country Home in Woodland Hills, CA. The paper cited a tweet from L.A.’s Theatre West that announced her death:
With heavy hearts, Theatre West bids farewell to longtime member Bridget Hanley.
She is pictured here with Jim Beaver from “The Lion in Winter” in 2006, one of our most acclaimed productions.
Tw extends its condolences to Bridget’s family and friends. pic.twitter.com/3iszFbyQI9
— Theatre West (@TheatreWest) December 17, 2021
Born on February 3, 1941, in Seattle and began her screen career guesting on such popular mid’-1960s series as Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie and Gidget before landing her first regular gig on Here Come the Brides. The...
- 12/17/2021
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
“Step right up and behold one of the unexplained mysteries of the universe! Is he a man or beast? “
The Hi-Pointe Theater (1005 McCausland Ave in St. Louis), the best place in St. Louis to see movies! The Hi-Pointe has the best popcorn, the biggest screen, and a great beer selection! No reservations required at The Hi-Pointe. Just show up! uillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley opens this Friday December 17th at The Hi-Pointe. They will be hosting advance screenings of Nightmare Alley Wednesda ythe 15th and Thursday the 16th at 7pm. The Hi-Pointe’s site can be found Here
Nightmare Alley tells the story of an ambitious carny with a talent for manipulating people with a few well-chosen words who hooks up with a female psychiatrist who is even more dangerous than he is. Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley is a remake of a classic 1947 Film Noir that starred Tyrone Power and Joan Blondell.
The Hi-Pointe Theater (1005 McCausland Ave in St. Louis), the best place in St. Louis to see movies! The Hi-Pointe has the best popcorn, the biggest screen, and a great beer selection! No reservations required at The Hi-Pointe. Just show up! uillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley opens this Friday December 17th at The Hi-Pointe. They will be hosting advance screenings of Nightmare Alley Wednesda ythe 15th and Thursday the 16th at 7pm. The Hi-Pointe’s site can be found Here
Nightmare Alley tells the story of an ambitious carny with a talent for manipulating people with a few well-chosen words who hooks up with a female psychiatrist who is even more dangerous than he is. Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley is a remake of a classic 1947 Film Noir that starred Tyrone Power and Joan Blondell.
- 12/13/2021
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The movie awards’ season is in full flower with such films as Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog”; Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story”; Kenneth Branagh’s “Belfast,” Guillermo Del Toro’s “Nightmare Alley” and Joel Coen’s “The Tragedy of Macbeth” among the favorites for top prizes. But one thing we know for certain is that there is no sure thing when it comes to the Oscars. Consider the case of seventy years ago. Not only were there surprises among the nominees, but there were also some shocks when it came to the winners of the 1952 Oscars.
Let’s revisit the 24th Academy Awards, which took place March 20, 1952 at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood and were hosted by Danny Kaye. This was the last time the ceremony was presented on radio. The show moved to television the following year. Among the presenters that evening were Lucille Ball,...
Let’s revisit the 24th Academy Awards, which took place March 20, 1952 at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood and were hosted by Danny Kaye. This was the last time the ceremony was presented on radio. The show moved to television the following year. Among the presenters that evening were Lucille Ball,...
- 12/6/2021
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
From TorontoFilm.Net, take a look at Oscar winning "The Shape of Water" director Guillermo del Toro's remake of the 1947 thriller "Nightmare Alley", based on the novel by William Lindsay Gresham, starring Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Rooney Mara, Mary Steenburgen and David Strathairn, opening in theaters December 17, 2021:
"...an ambitious 'carny' (Cooper)...
"...with a talent for manipulating people...
"...with a few well-chosen words...
"...hooks up with a female psychiatrist (Blanchett) who is even more dangerous than he is..."
"...'in the 1947 feature, 'Nightmare Alley' starring Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell and Coleen Gray, 'Stanton Carlisle' watches the geek show at a carnival asking worker 'Clem Hoately' where 'geeks' come from. Clem explains that geeks are 'made', when a sideshow owner finds an alcoholic bum and offers him a temporary job with a steady supply of liquor.
"Initially, the bum is only asked to pretend to be a geek,...
"...an ambitious 'carny' (Cooper)...
"...with a talent for manipulating people...
"...with a few well-chosen words...
"...hooks up with a female psychiatrist (Blanchett) who is even more dangerous than he is..."
"...'in the 1947 feature, 'Nightmare Alley' starring Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell and Coleen Gray, 'Stanton Carlisle' watches the geek show at a carnival asking worker 'Clem Hoately' where 'geeks' come from. Clem explains that geeks are 'made', when a sideshow owner finds an alcoholic bum and offers him a temporary job with a steady supply of liquor.
"Initially, the bum is only asked to pretend to be a geek,...
- 12/3/2021
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
On Oct. 9, 1947, 20th-Fox unveiled director Edmund Goulding’s film noir adaptation of Nightmare Alley, starring Tyrone Power and Joan Blondell, at its New York premiere. The Hollywood Reporter’s original review, titled “Nightmare Alley’ One of Year’s Best Shockers – Eerie Drama Hits Note of Realism,” is below:
A strikingly successful shocker as a novel, William Lindsay Gresham’s unusual story of a “geek,” Nightmare Alley, emerges on the screen as a study in realistic horror which might just as well be recorded now as one of the finest pictures of the year. Gripping, exciting ...
A strikingly successful shocker as a novel, William Lindsay Gresham’s unusual story of a “geek,” Nightmare Alley, emerges on the screen as a study in realistic horror which might just as well be recorded now as one of the finest pictures of the year. Gripping, exciting ...
- 12/2/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
On Oct. 9, 1947, 20th-Fox unveiled director Edmund Goulding’s film noir adaptation of Nightmare Alley, starring Tyrone Power and Joan Blondell, at its New York premiere. The Hollywood Reporter’s original review, titled “Nightmare Alley’ One of Year’s Best Shockers – Eerie Drama Hits Note of Realism,” is below:
A strikingly successful shocker as a novel, William Lindsay Gresham’s unusual story of a “geek,” Nightmare Alley, emerges on the screen as a study in realistic horror which might just as well be recorded now as one of the finest pictures of the year. Gripping, exciting ...
A strikingly successful shocker as a novel, William Lindsay Gresham’s unusual story of a “geek,” Nightmare Alley, emerges on the screen as a study in realistic horror which might just as well be recorded now as one of the finest pictures of the year. Gripping, exciting ...
- 12/2/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
From TorontoFilm.Net, take a look at director Guillermo del Toro’s remake of "Nightmare Alley", based on the 1946 novel by William Lindsay Gresham, starring Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Rooney Mara, Mary Steenburgen and David Strathairn, releasing in theaters December 17, 2021:
"...an ambitious 'carny' (Cooper)...
"...with a talent for manipulating people...
"...with a few well-chosen words...
"...hooks up with a female psychiatrist (Blanchett) who is even more dangerous than he is..."
"...'in the 1947 feature, 'Nightmare Alley' starring Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell and Coleen Gray, 'Stanton Carlisle' watches the geek show at a carnival asking worker 'Clem Hoately' where 'geeks' come from. Clem explains that geeks are 'made', when a sideshow owner finds an alcoholic bum and offers him a temporary job with a steady supply of liquor.
"Initially, the bum is only asked to pretend to be a geek, using a razor...
"...an ambitious 'carny' (Cooper)...
"...with a talent for manipulating people...
"...with a few well-chosen words...
"...hooks up with a female psychiatrist (Blanchett) who is even more dangerous than he is..."
"...'in the 1947 feature, 'Nightmare Alley' starring Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell and Coleen Gray, 'Stanton Carlisle' watches the geek show at a carnival asking worker 'Clem Hoately' where 'geeks' come from. Clem explains that geeks are 'made', when a sideshow owner finds an alcoholic bum and offers him a temporary job with a steady supply of liquor.
"Initially, the bum is only asked to pretend to be a geek, using a razor...
- 11/20/2021
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley Starring Bradley Cooper and Cate Blanchett will arrive in US cinemas on December 17th. Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Rooney Mara, Ron Perlman, David Strathairn, Clifton Collins Jr., Tim Blake Nelson and Mary Steenburgen all co-star. Here’s the new trailer:
Nightmare Alley tells the story of an ambitious carny with a talent for manipulating people with a few well-chosen words who hooks up with a female psychiatrist who is even more dangerous than he is. Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley is a remake of a classic 1947 Film Noir that starred Tyrone Power and Joan Blondell.
Look for more coverage of Nightmare Alley here at We Are Movie Geeks.
The post Here’s the First Trailer for Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley Starring Bradley Cooper and Cate Blanchett appeared first on We Are Movie Geeks.
Nightmare Alley tells the story of an ambitious carny with a talent for manipulating people with a few well-chosen words who hooks up with a female psychiatrist who is even more dangerous than he is. Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley is a remake of a classic 1947 Film Noir that starred Tyrone Power and Joan Blondell.
Look for more coverage of Nightmare Alley here at We Are Movie Geeks.
The post Here’s the First Trailer for Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley Starring Bradley Cooper and Cate Blanchett appeared first on We Are Movie Geeks.
- 9/17/2021
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
From TorontoFilm.Net, take a look at director Guillermo del Toro’s remake of "Nightmare Alley", based on the 1946 novel by William Lindsay Gresham, starring Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Rooney Mara, Ron Perlman, Mary Steenburgen and David Strathairn, releasing in theaters December 17, 2021:
"...an ambitious 'carny' (Cooper)...
"...with a talent for manipulating people...
"...with a few well-chosen words...
"...hooks up with a female psychiatrist (Blanchett) who is even more dangerous than he is..."
"...'in the 1947 feature, 'Nightmare Alley' starring Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell and Coleen Gray, 'Stanton Carlisle' watches the geek show at a carnival asking worker 'Clem Hoately' where 'geeks' come from. Clem explains that geeks are 'made', when a sideshow owner finds an alcoholic bum and offers him a temporary job with a steady supply of liquor.
"Initially, the bum is only asked to pretend to be a geek, using...
"...an ambitious 'carny' (Cooper)...
"...with a talent for manipulating people...
"...with a few well-chosen words...
"...hooks up with a female psychiatrist (Blanchett) who is even more dangerous than he is..."
"...'in the 1947 feature, 'Nightmare Alley' starring Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell and Coleen Gray, 'Stanton Carlisle' watches the geek show at a carnival asking worker 'Clem Hoately' where 'geeks' come from. Clem explains that geeks are 'made', when a sideshow owner finds an alcoholic bum and offers him a temporary job with a steady supply of liquor.
"Initially, the bum is only asked to pretend to be a geek, using...
- 9/17/2021
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
Norman S. Powell, the veteran Hollywood producer, director and network executive known for his award-winning documentary “Brothers at War,” has died. He was 86.
Powell’s career in television and film spanned six decades and included work on “24,” “The Big Valley,” “The New Dick Van Dyke Show” and “The Bob Crane Show.” He was the son of Hollywood Golden Age stars Joan Blondell and Dick Powell.
At the time of his death, Powell was writing a memoir and working on a sequel to his Iraq War-set documentary “Brothers at War” with partner Jake Rademacher and executive producers Gary Sinise and Phil Gurin.
After graduating from the Lawrenceville School and Cornell University, Powell started his career working on Westerns like “Wanted Dead or Alive” with Steve McQueen, “Gunsmoke” with James Arness and “The Rifleman” with Chuck Connors.
Powell earned Emmy nominations for producing Season 2 of “24” and “Washington: Behind Closed Doors,...
Powell’s career in television and film spanned six decades and included work on “24,” “The Big Valley,” “The New Dick Van Dyke Show” and “The Bob Crane Show.” He was the son of Hollywood Golden Age stars Joan Blondell and Dick Powell.
At the time of his death, Powell was writing a memoir and working on a sequel to his Iraq War-set documentary “Brothers at War” with partner Jake Rademacher and executive producers Gary Sinise and Phil Gurin.
After graduating from the Lawrenceville School and Cornell University, Powell started his career working on Westerns like “Wanted Dead or Alive” with Steve McQueen, “Gunsmoke” with James Arness and “The Rifleman” with Chuck Connors.
Powell earned Emmy nominations for producing Season 2 of “24” and “Washington: Behind Closed Doors,...
- 6/22/2021
- by Ethan Shanfeld
- Variety Film + TV
Norman S. Powell, the longtime CBS executive whose work as a producer of 24 and more brought him two Emmy nominations, died on June 16. He was 86.
Powell died of acute respiratory failure, a spokesperson for the family confirmed to Deadline.
Born as Norman Scott Barnes on November 2, 1934, Powell was the son of Oscar-nominated cinematographer George Barnes and actress Joan Blondell. Following his parents’ divorce in 1936, he was adopted by his mother’s second husband, actor Dick Powell.
Powell began his career in the 1950s as a production manager on TV Westerns including Wanted: Dead or Alive, Gunsmoke and The Rifleman.
His small-screen credits, as a producer, include CBS’ The New Dick Van Dyke Show; TNT’s The Lazarus Man; CBS’ Orleans; and AMC’s The Lot, as well as telefilms including 1978’s More Than Friends, starring Rob Reiner and Penny Marshall; 1995’s Convict Cowboy, starring Jon Voight; and 1995’s Black Fox,...
Powell died of acute respiratory failure, a spokesperson for the family confirmed to Deadline.
Born as Norman Scott Barnes on November 2, 1934, Powell was the son of Oscar-nominated cinematographer George Barnes and actress Joan Blondell. Following his parents’ divorce in 1936, he was adopted by his mother’s second husband, actor Dick Powell.
Powell began his career in the 1950s as a production manager on TV Westerns including Wanted: Dead or Alive, Gunsmoke and The Rifleman.
His small-screen credits, as a producer, include CBS’ The New Dick Van Dyke Show; TNT’s The Lazarus Man; CBS’ Orleans; and AMC’s The Lot, as well as telefilms including 1978’s More Than Friends, starring Rob Reiner and Penny Marshall; 1995’s Convict Cowboy, starring Jon Voight; and 1995’s Black Fox,...
- 6/22/2021
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Norman S. Powell, the two-time Emmy-nominated producer who worked on such series as The New Dick Van Dyke Show and 24 and, as a longtime CBS executive, greenlighted a pilot for Cagney & Lacey, has died. He was 86.
Powell, the son of actors Joan Blondell and Dick Powell, died Wednesday of acute respiratory failure, a publicist announced.
Powell earned his Emmy nominations for producing the 1977 ABC miniseries Washington Behind Closed Doors and for guiding the second season (2002-03) of the Fox drama 24, starring Kiefer Sutherland.
During his 13-year tenure as an executive with CBS, Powell advanced to senior vp of the network’...
Powell, the son of actors Joan Blondell and Dick Powell, died Wednesday of acute respiratory failure, a publicist announced.
Powell earned his Emmy nominations for producing the 1977 ABC miniseries Washington Behind Closed Doors and for guiding the second season (2002-03) of the Fox drama 24, starring Kiefer Sutherland.
During his 13-year tenure as an executive with CBS, Powell advanced to senior vp of the network’...
- 6/21/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Norman S. Powell, the two-time Emmy-nominated producer who worked on such series as The New Dick Van Dyke Show and 24 and, as a longtime CBS executive, greenlighted a pilot for Cagney & Lacey, has died. He was 86.
Powell, the son of actors Joan Blondell and Dick Powell, died Wednesday of acute respiratory failure, a publicist announced.
Powell earned his Emmy nominations for producing the 1977 ABC miniseries Washington Behind Closed Doors and for guiding the second season (2002-03) of the Fox drama 24, starring Kiefer Sutherland.
During his 13-year tenure as an executive with CBS, Powell advanced to senior vp of the network’...
Powell, the son of actors Joan Blondell and Dick Powell, died Wednesday of acute respiratory failure, a publicist announced.
Powell earned his Emmy nominations for producing the 1977 ABC miniseries Washington Behind Closed Doors and for guiding the second season (2002-03) of the Fox drama 24, starring Kiefer Sutherland.
During his 13-year tenure as an executive with CBS, Powell advanced to senior vp of the network’...
- 6/21/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Guillermo del Toro takes a walk on the noir side in his first film since winning the Oscar for directing the 2017 best picture winner “The Shape of Things.” “Nightmare Alley,’ based on the uncompromising 1946 novel by William Lindsay Gresham, offers a bleak depiction of humanity including low-rent carnivals filled with has-beens, geeks and “rum-dums.” Searchlight Pictures is giving “Nightmare Alley,” which had to shut down production during the height of Covid in 2020, the “A” treatment, opening the film on Dec. 3 just in time for awards consideration.
The innovative Mexican filmmaker best known for his acclaimed fantasy, horror (“The Devil’s Backbone”) and sci-fi (‘Hellboy”) productions, co-wrote the screenplay with Kim Morgan. Bradley Cooper plays Stan Carlisle, a handsome manipulative carny worker who has a massive chip on his shoulder. Stan wants to hit the big time and with the help of carnival headliner Zeena (Toni Collette) resurrects her old mentalist act.
The innovative Mexican filmmaker best known for his acclaimed fantasy, horror (“The Devil’s Backbone”) and sci-fi (‘Hellboy”) productions, co-wrote the screenplay with Kim Morgan. Bradley Cooper plays Stan Carlisle, a handsome manipulative carny worker who has a massive chip on his shoulder. Stan wants to hit the big time and with the help of carnival headliner Zeena (Toni Collette) resurrects her old mentalist act.
- 6/4/2021
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
One of the most glamorous / unsavory films noir ever, this creepy tale of a master con-man undone by warped ambition was planned as a career-altering role for the big star Tyrone Power. Power plumbs the depths of personal degradation in terms that even today skew to the squeamish side of human experience. Almost as fascinating are the women Power uses, arrayed in dynamic contrast: Coleen Gray, Joan Blondell and Helen Walker. Yes, this is the movie about ‘The Geek’… Hollywood hadn’t been this intimate with the seamy underside of carnival life since Tod Browning’s Freaks. The disc extras include top contributions from James Ursini and Alain Silver, Imogen Sara Smith and even Coleen Gray.
Nightmare Alley
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1078
1947 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 111 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date May 25, 2021 / 39.95
Starring: Tyrone Power, Coleen Gray, Joan Blondell, Helen Walker, Taylor Holmes, Mike Mazurki, Ian Keith,...
Nightmare Alley
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1078
1947 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 111 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date May 25, 2021 / 39.95
Starring: Tyrone Power, Coleen Gray, Joan Blondell, Helen Walker, Taylor Holmes, Mike Mazurki, Ian Keith,...
- 5/11/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none
“Geek Love”
By Raymond Benson
One of the more unique entries in the film noir movement of the 1940s and 50s is the 1947 melodrama, Nightmare Alley. Based on a novel by William Lindsay Gresham, the picture was made only because Tyrone Power expressed the desire to star in it after reading the grim tale of a carnival barker who rises to the top of the charlatan world, only to ultimately fall hard to rock bottom.
While classified as film noir, the picture has little of the usual trappings of the movement. There is no central crime in the story, there are no cynical detectives, and one can argue that there are no femmes fatale. It is only in the visual presentation that one can consider Nightmare Alley an item of film noir—the high contrast black and white photography, the heavy light and shadows,...
“Geek Love”
By Raymond Benson
One of the more unique entries in the film noir movement of the 1940s and 50s is the 1947 melodrama, Nightmare Alley. Based on a novel by William Lindsay Gresham, the picture was made only because Tyrone Power expressed the desire to star in it after reading the grim tale of a carnival barker who rises to the top of the charlatan world, only to ultimately fall hard to rock bottom.
While classified as film noir, the picture has little of the usual trappings of the movement. There is no central crime in the story, there are no cynical detectives, and one can argue that there are no femmes fatale. It is only in the visual presentation that one can consider Nightmare Alley an item of film noir—the high contrast black and white photography, the heavy light and shadows,...
- 5/4/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Maverick meets Yojimbo in Burt Kennedy’s raucous horse opera about a confidence man working both sides of a small town feud. James Garner plays the conniving charmer and Suzanne Pleshette is the fiery belle determined to corral his worst instincts. Hollywood’s golden age is represented by a formidable duo, Marie Windsor and Joan Blondell.
The post Support Your Local Gunfighter appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
The post Support Your Local Gunfighter appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
- 3/15/2021
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
The Supporting Actress Smackdown will resume in March 2021. Final Season!
Happy Smackdown to you Happy Smackdown to you
Happy Smackdown you actressexuals,
Happy Smackdown to youuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!
After StinkyLulu graciously let us continue/revive the series here seven or eight years ago (eep!) we've done 35 episodes: 1938, 1941, 1943, 1944, 1947, 1948, 1952, 1954, 1957, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1994, 1995, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, and concurrently with Oscar races as they happened 2016, 2017, and 2018.
So, where to now?
The Remaining Years
1937- Brady (In Old Chicago) | Leeds (Stage Door) | Shirley (Stella Dallas) | Trevor (Dead End) | Whitty (Night Must Fall)
1946 - Baxter (The Razor's Edge) | Barrymore (The Spiral Staircase) | Gish (Duel in the Sun) | Robson (Saratoga Trunk) | Sondegaard (Anna and the King of Siam)
1951 Joan Blondell (The Blue Veil) | Dunnock (Death of a Salesman) | Grant (Detective Story) | Hunter (A Streetcar Named Desire) | Ritter (The Mating Season)
1986 - Harper (Crimes of the Heart) | Laurie (Children of a Lesser God) | Mastrantonio (The Color of Money) | Smith (A Room With a View) | Weist (Hannah and Her Sisters...
Happy Smackdown to you Happy Smackdown to you
Happy Smackdown you actressexuals,
Happy Smackdown to youuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!
After StinkyLulu graciously let us continue/revive the series here seven or eight years ago (eep!) we've done 35 episodes: 1938, 1941, 1943, 1944, 1947, 1948, 1952, 1954, 1957, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1994, 1995, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, and concurrently with Oscar races as they happened 2016, 2017, and 2018.
So, where to now?
The Remaining Years
1937- Brady (In Old Chicago) | Leeds (Stage Door) | Shirley (Stella Dallas) | Trevor (Dead End) | Whitty (Night Must Fall)
1946 - Baxter (The Razor's Edge) | Barrymore (The Spiral Staircase) | Gish (Duel in the Sun) | Robson (Saratoga Trunk) | Sondegaard (Anna and the King of Siam)
1951 Joan Blondell (The Blue Veil) | Dunnock (Death of a Salesman) | Grant (Detective Story) | Hunter (A Streetcar Named Desire) | Ritter (The Mating Season)
1986 - Harper (Crimes of the Heart) | Laurie (Children of a Lesser God) | Mastrantonio (The Color of Money) | Smith (A Room With a View) | Weist (Hannah and Her Sisters...
- 2/17/2021
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
According to TorontoFilm.Net, Oscar winning director Guillermo del Toro ("The Shape of Water") has wrapped his Searchlight Pictures feature "Nightmare Alley", based on the novel by William Lindsay Gresham, starring Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Toni Collette, David Strathairn and Willem Dafoe, now preparing for a December 2021 release:
"...a corrupt con-man teams up with a female psychiatrist to trick people into giving them money."
"...'in the 1947 feature, 'Nightmare Alley' starring Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell and Coleen Gray, 'Stanton Carlisle' watches the geek show at a carnival asking worker 'Clem Hoately' where 'geeks' come from. Clem explains that geeks are 'made', when a sideshow owner finds an alcoholic bum and offers him a temporary job with a steady supply of liquor.
"Initially, the bum is only asked to pretend to be a geek, using a razor blade to slice chickens' necks and then faking the drinking of the blood.
"...a corrupt con-man teams up with a female psychiatrist to trick people into giving them money."
"...'in the 1947 feature, 'Nightmare Alley' starring Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell and Coleen Gray, 'Stanton Carlisle' watches the geek show at a carnival asking worker 'Clem Hoately' where 'geeks' come from. Clem explains that geeks are 'made', when a sideshow owner finds an alcoholic bum and offers him a temporary job with a steady supply of liquor.
"Initially, the bum is only asked to pretend to be a geek, using a razor blade to slice chickens' necks and then faking the drinking of the blood.
- 12/14/2020
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
Production has wrapped on Guillermo del Toro’s “Nightmare Alley,” the upcoming psychological thriller film led by a starry ensemble including Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Rooney Mara, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, and Ron Perlman. While Disney-owned distributor Searchlight Pictures has yet to reveal a release date, the film’s co-screenwriter Kim Morgan (writing with Del Toro) revealed the end of the film’s production on Instagram Saturday. Independently, Guillermo del Toro confirmed that shooting was completed to IndieWire. (See Morgan’s post below.)
Production was suspended on March 13 due to the pandemic, but resumed safely in September. The film shot mainly in Toronto. Based on the novel by William Lindsay Gresham, the film centers on an ambitious young carny (Cooper) with a talent for manipulating people with a few well-chosen words. He hooks-up with a female psychiatrist (Blanchett) who, it turns out, is even more dangerous than he is.
Production was suspended on March 13 due to the pandemic, but resumed safely in September. The film shot mainly in Toronto. Based on the novel by William Lindsay Gresham, the film centers on an ambitious young carny (Cooper) with a talent for manipulating people with a few well-chosen words. He hooks-up with a female psychiatrist (Blanchett) who, it turns out, is even more dangerous than he is.
- 12/12/2020
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
This CinemaScope musical remake of 1939’s The Women is highly watchable, especially in this flawless digital remaster. The actresses that bare their claws, compete for husbands and just plain cat-fight are a choice batch, with favorites from the ’50s the ’40s the ’30s — plus a few wildflowers that bloomed cinematically for only a few years (Dolores Gray) and one that somehow managed immortality (Joan Collins). It’s highly watchable despite, or maybe because of, its criminally outdated recipe for marital bliss. Did women really go for this fantasy — did anybody ever really live like this?
The Opposite Sex
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1956 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 116 min. / Street Date October 27, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: June Allyson, Joan Collins, Dolores Gray, Ann Sheridan, Ann Miller, Leslie Nielsen, Jeff Richards, Agnes Moorehead, Charlotte Greenwood, Joan Blondell, Sam Levene, Alice Pearce, Barbara Jo Allen, Sandy Descher, Carolyn Jones, Jerry Antes, Harry James, Art Mooney,...
The Opposite Sex
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1956 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 116 min. / Street Date October 27, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: June Allyson, Joan Collins, Dolores Gray, Ann Sheridan, Ann Miller, Leslie Nielsen, Jeff Richards, Agnes Moorehead, Charlotte Greenwood, Joan Blondell, Sam Levene, Alice Pearce, Barbara Jo Allen, Sandy Descher, Carolyn Jones, Jerry Antes, Harry James, Art Mooney,...
- 10/20/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Each month before the Supporting Actress Smackdown Nick Taylor selects performances for an alternate ballot...
Of the Golden Globes’ Supporting Actress nominees in 1965, three of their five were transplanted to Oscar’s lineup. Globe winner Ruth Gordon in Inside Daisy Clover, Joyce Redman in Othello, and Peggy Wood in The Sound of Music (who we all basically agree was not the best option from her movie) all made the cut, while Redman’s co-star Maggie Smith was imported from the Globes' Lead Actress-Drama category. Only Shelley Winters, who wound up winning the damn Oscar for A Patch of Blue, failed to show up anywhere at the Globes. The two Globe nominees left out to pasture come Oscar nomination morning were Nbr winner Joan Blondell in The Cincinnati Kid and never-winning Academy regular Thelma Ritter in Boeing Boeing. Both of the unlucky actresses co-starred in films that were blanked by the Academy completely.
Of the Golden Globes’ Supporting Actress nominees in 1965, three of their five were transplanted to Oscar’s lineup. Globe winner Ruth Gordon in Inside Daisy Clover, Joyce Redman in Othello, and Peggy Wood in The Sound of Music (who we all basically agree was not the best option from her movie) all made the cut, while Redman’s co-star Maggie Smith was imported from the Globes' Lead Actress-Drama category. Only Shelley Winters, who wound up winning the damn Oscar for A Patch of Blue, failed to show up anywhere at the Globes. The two Globe nominees left out to pasture come Oscar nomination morning were Nbr winner Joan Blondell in The Cincinnati Kid and never-winning Academy regular Thelma Ritter in Boeing Boeing. Both of the unlucky actresses co-starred in films that were blanked by the Academy completely.
- 10/1/2020
- by Nick Taylor
- FilmExperience
According to TorontoFilm.Net, Oscar winning director Guillermo del Toro ("The Shape of Water") will resume shooting September 16, 2020, in Toronto, "Nightmare Alley", based on the novel by William Lindsay Gresham, starring Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Toni Collette, David Strathairn and Willem Dafoe:
"...a corrupt con-man teams up with a female psychiatrist to trick people into giving them money."
"...'in the 1947 feature, 'Nightmare Alley' starring Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell and Coleen Gray, 'Stanton Carlisle' watches the geek show at a carnival asking worker 'Clem Hoately' where 'geeks' come from. Clem explains that geeks are 'made', when a sideshow owner finds an alcoholic bum and offers him a temporary job with a steady supply of liquor.
"Initially, the bum is only asked to pretend to be a geek, using a razor blade to slice chickens' necks and then faking the drinking of the blood. After a few weeks,...
"...a corrupt con-man teams up with a female psychiatrist to trick people into giving them money."
"...'in the 1947 feature, 'Nightmare Alley' starring Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell and Coleen Gray, 'Stanton Carlisle' watches the geek show at a carnival asking worker 'Clem Hoately' where 'geeks' come from. Clem explains that geeks are 'made', when a sideshow owner finds an alcoholic bum and offers him a temporary job with a steady supply of liquor.
"Initially, the bum is only asked to pretend to be a geek, using a razor blade to slice chickens' necks and then faking the drinking of the blood. After a few weeks,...
- 9/14/2020
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
The Criterion Channel’s September 2020 Lineup Includes Sátántangó, Agnès Varda, Albert Brooks & More
As the coronavirus pandemic still rages on, precious few remain skeptical about going to the movies. But while your AMCs and others claim some godlike safety from Covid, there remains a chunk of people still uncomfortable hitting up theaters. To them, we bring you the September 2020 Criterion Channel lineup.
It starts off with quite the swath of content too. Béla Tarr’s Sátántangó hits the service on September 1, and its seven-plus hours should take up a large chunk of your day. Coming soon after is a collection of more than a dozen Joan Blondell starrers from the pre-Code era, including Howard Hawks’ The Crowd Roars, three collaborations with Mervyn LeRoy, and Ray Enright & Busby Berkeley’s Dames.
For some stuff released almost a century later, the service also sees the addition of documentary bender Robert Greene. His Actress, Kate Plays Christine, and Bisbee ’17 join soon after. Janicza Bravo, director of Lemon,...
It starts off with quite the swath of content too. Béla Tarr’s Sátántangó hits the service on September 1, and its seven-plus hours should take up a large chunk of your day. Coming soon after is a collection of more than a dozen Joan Blondell starrers from the pre-Code era, including Howard Hawks’ The Crowd Roars, three collaborations with Mervyn LeRoy, and Ray Enright & Busby Berkeley’s Dames.
For some stuff released almost a century later, the service also sees the addition of documentary bender Robert Greene. His Actress, Kate Plays Christine, and Bisbee ’17 join soon after. Janicza Bravo, director of Lemon,...
- 8/25/2020
- by Matt Cipolla
- The Film Stage
According to TorontoFilm.Net, Oscar winning director Guillermo del Toro ("The Shape of Water") has started shooting "Nightmare Alley", based on the novel by William Lindsay Gresham, starring Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Toni Collette, David Strathairn and Willem Dafoe:
"...a corrupt con-man teams up with a female psychiatrist to trick people into giving them money."
"...'in the 1947 feature, 'Nightmare Alley' starring Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell and Coleen Gray, 'Stanton Carlisle' watches the geek show at a carnival asking worker 'Clem Hoately' where 'geeks' come from. Clem explains that geeks are 'made', when a sideshow owner finds an alcoholic bum and offers him a temporary job with a steady supply of liquor.
"Initially, the bum is only asked to pretend to be a geek, using a razor blade to slice chickens' necks and then faking the drinking of the blood. After a few weeks,...
"...a corrupt con-man teams up with a female psychiatrist to trick people into giving them money."
"...'in the 1947 feature, 'Nightmare Alley' starring Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell and Coleen Gray, 'Stanton Carlisle' watches the geek show at a carnival asking worker 'Clem Hoately' where 'geeks' come from. Clem explains that geeks are 'made', when a sideshow owner finds an alcoholic bum and offers him a temporary job with a steady supply of liquor.
"Initially, the bum is only asked to pretend to be a geek, using a razor blade to slice chickens' necks and then faking the drinking of the blood. After a few weeks,...
- 1/31/2020
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
Oscar winning director Guillermo del Toro ("The Shape of Water") is prepping his next Fox Searchlight feature "Nightmare Alley" (previously a 1947 feature starring Tyrone Power and Joan Blondell), shooting January-May 2020, based on the novel by William Lindsay as "a study of the lowest depths of showbiz and its sleazy inhabitants, hustlers, scheming grifters and Machiavellian 'femmes fatales'..."
"...'Stanton Carlisle' watches the geek show at a carnival. asking worker 'Clem Hoately' where 'geeks' come from. Clem explains that geeks are 'made': a sideshow owner finds an alcoholic bum and offers him a temporary job with a steady supply of liquor.
"Initially, the bum is only asked to pretend to be a geek, using a razor blade to slice chickens' necks and then faking the drinking of the blood. After a few weeks, the owner threatens to end the job and replace the bum with a 'real' geek, and the...
"...'Stanton Carlisle' watches the geek show at a carnival. asking worker 'Clem Hoately' where 'geeks' come from. Clem explains that geeks are 'made': a sideshow owner finds an alcoholic bum and offers him a temporary job with a steady supply of liquor.
"Initially, the bum is only asked to pretend to be a geek, using a razor blade to slice chickens' necks and then faking the drinking of the blood. After a few weeks, the owner threatens to end the job and replace the bum with a 'real' geek, and the...
- 12/5/2019
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
If they still made ‘em like the pre-Code drama Central Park (1932), I’d still be going to the movies every day instead of looking more to TCM and Netflix and the unwrapped section of my own DVD and Blu-ray collection for reasons to stay home. There are at least four bloated modern blockbusters playing at a theater near you right now at $18 a pop which don’t have a tenth of the storytelling electricity and enthusiasm that this near-forgotten Hollywood programmer gushes in spades over the course of its 58-minute running time. The average 21st-century Hollywood action thriller, and even some of the more sincerely intended dramas pitched at adults, can leave you enervated and annoyed rather than satisfied, overstuffed with backstory and a heavy-handed approach to character, or simply overloaded on sensory input designed to distract you from the thinness of the material. But as directed by journeyman John G. Adolfi...
- 9/1/2019
- by Dennis Cozzalio
- Trailers from Hell
Cate Blanchett is in talks to star in Guillermo del Toro’s upcoming “Nightmare Alley,” starring alongside Bradley Cooper, an individual with knowledge of the project told TheWrap.
Del Toro is directing the film and wrote the script along with Kim Morgan, and Fox Searchlight is handling worldwide distribution rights. Del Toro is also producing along with J. Miles Dale of Tsg Entertainment, and he’s additionally financing the project.
“Nightmare Alley” is the story of a corrupt con man who teams up with a female psychiatrist to swindle people out of money, up until the point that they double cross one another.
The story is based on a novel by William Lindsay Gresham and was first adapted into a Fox film in 1947 directed by Edmund Golding and starring Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell and Coleen Gray. However, del Toro’s film will adhere more closely to the original novel.
Also Read: Cate Blanchett to Co-Create,...
Del Toro is directing the film and wrote the script along with Kim Morgan, and Fox Searchlight is handling worldwide distribution rights. Del Toro is also producing along with J. Miles Dale of Tsg Entertainment, and he’s additionally financing the project.
“Nightmare Alley” is the story of a corrupt con man who teams up with a female psychiatrist to swindle people out of money, up until the point that they double cross one another.
The story is based on a novel by William Lindsay Gresham and was first adapted into a Fox film in 1947 directed by Edmund Golding and starring Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell and Coleen Gray. However, del Toro’s film will adhere more closely to the original novel.
Also Read: Cate Blanchett to Co-Create,...
- 8/2/2019
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Cate Blanchett is in talks to join Bradley Cooper in the Guillermo del Toro-directed remake of Nightmare Alley.
Fox Searchlight, which made del Toro's best picture Oscar winner The Shape of Water, is behind the project.
Nightmare Alley will be based on the novel by William Lindsay Gresham, which was adapted into a Fox feature in 1947 that starred Tyrone Power and Joan Blondell. The story centers on an ambitious con man who hooks up with a female psychiatrist for a mentalist routine, but she eventually turns the tables on him.
Del Toro wrote the new ...
Fox Searchlight, which made del Toro's best picture Oscar winner The Shape of Water, is behind the project.
Nightmare Alley will be based on the novel by William Lindsay Gresham, which was adapted into a Fox feature in 1947 that starred Tyrone Power and Joan Blondell. The story centers on an ambitious con man who hooks up with a female psychiatrist for a mentalist routine, but she eventually turns the tables on him.
Del Toro wrote the new ...
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