I WENT TO SEE A DOUBLE FEATURE AND FELL IN LOVE WITH ROBERT PRESTON.

Ye Gods! I went to see Natalie Wood and fell in love with Robert Preston. Oh, it was an adolescent crush, to be sure, but it just won't go away!Remember double features? In the world of the less-than-5 minute attention span and no time for anything, it was perfectly normal to go to the movies on a Saturday afternoon for almost 4 hours and see a double feature. Most times, the main feature was the one you wanted to see and the second feature...

Read More

I Want James Cagney to Kick Bogey's Butt

I can't help it  - I'm a Warner Brothers girl. So many of my favorite actors were either mainstays of or at least passed through that ultra-efficient factory of movie studios: Edward G. Robinson, John Garfield, Bette Davis, Joan Blondell, Ann Sheridan, Ann Dvorak, Kay Francis, Warren William, Olivia De Havilland, Errol Flynn and even Marilyn Miller, just to name a few. But my number 1 Warner's Guy is James Cagney.Was there ever an actor...

Read More

Bitches and Blaggards: Gail Patrick and Clifton Webb

This is the third in the "Bitches and Blaggards" series; monthly posts devoted to my favorite movie bad girls and rogues. A bitch is a selfish, malicious woman. A blaggard is a villain, a rogue and a black-hearted man. Both are bad, both are devastatingly alluring.Gail PatrickIf a young, snooty rich bitch was needed in a 1930s or 1940s comedy, Gail Patrick was a great go-to gal. Always sleek and handsome, poor Gail was usually...

Read More

What the Nitrate Gave Me: Life Lessons from the Silent Stars

Jennifer at Flappers Flickers & Silent Stanzas and I are swapping posts this week. She has graced "A Person in the Dark" with this wonderful article about Theda Bara. To read my post on Charlie Chaplin, swing on over to Jennifer's beautiful site at http://silentstanzas.blogspot.com/. Meanwhile, get your vamp on and read up on Theda!It might seem odd to think of gleaning wisdom from silent film, but in learning about the stars, both on and offscreen,...

Read More

7 x 7 Link Award

Kim from 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die has passed the 7x7 Link Award this way.The 7 x 7 Link Award rules are as follows:5 Tell  everyone something that no one else knows about5 Link to one of my posts that I personally think best fits the following categories: Most Beautiful Piece, Most Helpful Piece, Most Popular Piece, Most Controversial Piece, Most Surprisingly Successful Piece, Most Underrated Piece, and Most Pride-Worthy...

Read More

John Gilbert: The Artist

This is my contribution to the "Gone Too Soon" Blogathon, hosted by Comet Over Hollywood ,where you can see the complete line-up of tributes to those stars who left us too soon.John Gilbert was a silent screen star whose specialty was hot-house, throbbing romance. He was a great star in the 1920s who, with the advent of sound, crashed and burned and sunk steadily into despair and ruin.Sound familiar? If you have seen the movie...

Read More

Reconsidering: Paulette Goddard

I've had to change my mind about quite a few performers as I get smarter (notice I didn't say "older"?). Stars or films that left me cold when I was dumber (read "younger"), now are more intriguing to me. In fact, some are downright fascinating.The lovely Paulette Goddard is one of those stars. There was more to "the Girl With the Champagne Smile" than initially meets the eye. Being a rabid Chaplin admirer, I wrote her off as one whose...

Read More