Old Movies, Actors and Actresses | Hollywood Yesterday

Gorgeous Olivia de Havilland Promotional Pictures for The Adventures of Robin Hood

February 6, 2023 By Joi

Olivia de Havilland as Maid Marion

I recently raved about the wonderful film The Adventures of Robin Hood, so I’ll keep it short and sweet today… with the focus entirely on the radiantly beautiful, sublime, and otherworldly talented Olivia de Havilland. When we think of actresses in iconic roles (roles in which they make the character larger than life with their performance), we often think of..

Judy Garland, The Wizard of Oz
Joan Crawford, Mildred Pierce
Bette Davis, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane
Audrey Hepburn, My Fair Lady
Maureen O’Hara, The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Faye Dunaway, Bonnie and Clyde
Dorothy Dandridge, Carmen Jones (she should have won the Emmy)
Barbara Stanwyck, Double Indemnity
Vivien Leigh, Gone with the Wind

… and (deservedly) Olivia de Havilland is often mentioned by film lovers for her performance in Gone with the Wind. I have zero problem with that – I simply think she deserves to ALSO be mentioned for her lovely performance in The Adventures of Robin Hood as well. Frankly, I don’t think the movie would work nearly as well with a different actress in the role – she was, in all ways, perfect for the role of Maid Marion and I don’t think another actress has even come close.

Okay, the Disney version’s Maid Marion rivaled her.. but other than that animated fox, no one else can touch her!

You can buy the iconic The Adventures of Robin Hood on dvd (Amazon link) or watch the movie on Prime Video.

Olivia de Havilland, The Adventures of Robin Hood

Duel in the Sun: The Cast was an Embarrassment of Riches!

February 3, 2023 By Joi

Walter Huston, Joseph Cotten, Jennifer Jones, Gregory Peck, and Lionel Barrymore

The cast of Duel in the Sun (1946, King Vidor) was LOADED with talent: Walter Huston, Joseph Cotten, Jennifer Jones, Gregory Peck, and Lionel Barrymore are pictured above.

The cast also included Herbert Marshall, Lillian Gish, Butterfly McQueen, and Charles Bickford.

You can find Duel in the Sun on dvd and Blu-ray (Amazon link).

Jennifer Jones, Duel in the Sun

Maureen O’Hara and Joel McCrea, Buffalo Bill (1944)

February 2, 2023 By Joi

Maureen O’Hara and Joel McCrea

Maureen O’Hara and Joel McCrea lead an outstanding cast in the 1944 Western Buffalo Bill. Directed by William A. Wellman, the cast also includes Linda Darnell, Thomas Mitchell, Edgar Buchanan, and Anthony Quinn.

The movie, based on the life of Buffalo Bill Cody blends fiction with non-fiction and is always a great film to spend a little time with. Beautifully filmed and directed, it’s a movie I always enjoy.

Maureen O’Hara and Joel McCrea

Donna Reed with Pal and Roddy McDowall During the Filming of Lassie Come Home

February 1, 2023 By Joi

Pal, Donna Reed, and Roddy McDowall

I love the photo of Donna Reed, Pal (Lassie, of course!), and Roddy McDowall above. It was taken during the filming of Lassie Come Home (1943), starring Roddy McDowall, Pal, Elsa Lanchester, Donald Crisp, Elizabeth Taylor, Edmund Gwenn, and May Whitty. I’m not completely certain which film Donna would have been filming at the time (she had five films released in 1943!) but the clothes look like an outfit she wore in Dr. Gillespie’s Criminal Case.

Doris Day and Rock Hudson, Pillow Talk

January 31, 2023 By Joi

Doris Day and Rock Hudson, Pillow Talk

Doris Day and Rock Hudson teamed up to make one of the most endearing and enjoyable romantic comedies of all time… Pillow Talk (1959). Directed by Michael Gordon, the comedy also stars Thelma Ritter, Tony Randall, Nick Adams, and Julia Meade.

Rock Hudson, Doris Day, and Tony Randall on the set of Pillow Talk

Pillow Talk was the first of three movies to star Doris Day, Rock Hudson, and Tony Randall. It was followed by Lover Come Back (1961) and Send Me No Flowers (1964) were the next two – and they are all extraordinary!

You can find Pillow Talk on dvd or Blu-ray (Amazon link) or watch the movie on Prime Video.

Joan Fontaine Gives One of Her Most Memorable Performances in Ivy (1947)

January 30, 2023 By Joi

Joan Fontaine, Ivy (1947)

An actress none of us really go on nearly enough about is the wonderful Joan Fontaine. Beautiful, strong, talented… with a measured degree of fierceness that she wore splendidly!

She lights up the screen, whether it’s as a decidedly supporting player (as was the case with The Women, where she was actually one of my favorites) or the lead star, as is the case with the 1947 thriller Ivy (directed by Sam Wood).

Finding Ivy on dvd is proving to be insanely difficult – and it has yet to be made available on Prime Video. I’ll let you know if this ever changes! ~ Joi (“Joy”)

Happy Heavenly Birthday to the Extraordinary Donna Reed

January 27, 2023 By Joi

Donna Reed, Backlash

The wonderful Donna Reed was born on January 27, 1921 in Denison, Iowa. She’s one of my VERY first favorite actresses and remains in the top 8 to this day. I simply adore everything about her, every role she ever graced, and… quite frankly… everything she stood for as a human being. She was simply lovely in every way.

Like Elvis, Marilyn, Rita, Audrey, John Wayne, and Lucille Ball, Donna Reed has been collectively framed in a particular way – as the smiling, perfect wife and mother – both on her wonderful television series and in the extraordinary and larger than life It’s a Wonderful Life. While being framed, collectively or any other way, is pretty much unavoidable, it’s really – in many ways – a shame. After all, Marilyn and Rita were so much more than the sex symbols they’re “framed” as in most people’s minds.

Elvis and John Wayne were more than the images most people have of them

Audrey was a warm and wonderful person and talented actress – not simply a lovely little style icon!

Lucille Ball was more than simply one of the most hilarious people to ever draw breath.

Last but not least, Donna Reed was much more than the characters she created. In fact, while she’s remembered by most as Donna and Mary, she brought a great number of other colorful characters to life as well. Her filmography is alive with color and entertainment and she was extraordinary in each and every role.

I actually (literally 20 minutes ago) just ordered a great-sounding Donna Reed biography, In Search of Donna Reed (Amazon link) by Jay Fultz. I’ll tell you all about it as soon as I’ve devoured it cover to cover!

Happy Heavenly birthday to one of the best actresses of all time, and one I’m always so proud to call a favorite.

Donna Reed and Richard Widmark, Backlash (1956)

The photos in this post are from the 1956 Western Backlash starring Donna Reed and Richard Widmark. You can find Backlash on dvd and Blu-ray (Amazon link).

Perfect Cast, Perfect Script, Perfect Director, Perfect Movie… The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

January 23, 2023 By Joi

Melville Cooper, Basil Rathbone, Olivia de Havilland, Claude Rains, and Errol Flynn

Can we talk about one of the best movies ever made for a minute? The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) wasn’t just directed by one of the best directors to ever wear the title – the wonderful Micahel Curtiz – it also features the type of stellar cast that most films would envy – a cast that includes Olivia de Havilland, Errol Flynn, Basil Rathbone, Claude Rains, Patric Knowles, Eugene Pallette, Alan Hale, Una O’Connor, Melville Cooper, and Ian Hunter.

(Continued Below…)

Errol Flynn and Eugene Pallette

This is one of those films that, somehow, seems to be even more enjoyable each time you watch it. I always notice a new expression on one of the star’s faces or a great line that had never quite registered, a piece of background furniture or something delicious that had escaped me the MANY times I’d visited the film before.

In fact, if I’m not mistaken… and in this case I am absolutely not mistaken… I’ll be revisiting this extraordinary film again this week.

You can buy the iconic The Adventures of Robin Hood on dvd (Amazon link) or watch the movie on Prime Video.

Patric Knowles, Herbert Mundin, and Errol Flynn

Nat King Cole and Ruby Dee, St. Louis Blues (1958)

January 21, 2023 By Joi

Nat King Cole and Ruby Dee

Nat King Cole and Ruby Dee lead a phenomenal cast in the 1958 biography-musical St. Louis Blues. Directed by Allen Reisner, the film features a cast that includes Eartha Kitt, Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald, Pearl Bailey, and Mahalia Jackson.

I can only imagine what it must have been like to have been in the company of that many iconic legends!

Nat King Cole brilliantly portrays W. C. Handy, the Father of the Blues. This was Cole’s only lead role in a Hollywood film and that’s a darn shame.

At the age of 85 W.C. Handy actually served as a consultant on this film, but SADLY he passed away before the film opened.

I can’t find a dvd to link to and the film doesn’t appear to be on Prime Video – but I’m looking regularly. I need the dvd for my Ruby Dee movie collection!

Nat King Cole and Ruby Dee, St. Louis Blues

The Spider Woman (1943): Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Gale Sondergaard, and Dennis Hoey

January 17, 2023 By Joi

Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Gale Sondergaard, and Dennis Hoey

Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Gale Sondergaard, and Dennis Hoey star in the wonderful 1943 Sherlock Holmes film The Spider Woman. Director Roy William Neill is best-known for the Holmes films he directed for Universal.

Neill was actually quite an EXPERT on the subject of Sherlock Holmes and was notoriously meticulous over even the smallest details. As a huge fan of these films AND Sherlock, I love that this respect and knowledge always shines through – as in each and every scene.

The Spider Woman is one of my favorite Sherlock Holmes films – not only is the wonderful Gale Sondergaard is in the cast, but Dennis Hoey is also on board as Lestrade. He is so deliciously fun to watch in this role and I’m simply spellbound any time he’s on the screen.

The Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection (Amazon link)

You can find the wonderful film The Spider Woman on dvd (Amazon link) or watch it on Prime Video.

You can also buy the 14 Sherlock Films starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce in a wonderful collection: The Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection on Amazon. It’s the one my husband and I have in our collection and watch frequently… over and over and over again!