Old Movies, Actors and Actresses | Hollywood Yesterday

The Big Heat (1953) with Glenn Ford and Gloria Grahame: An Extraordinary Film-Noir

November 17, 2022 By Joi

Gloria Grahame and Glenn Ford

The Big Heat (1953) was directed by the wonderful Fritz Lang and stars two of film-noir’s greatest stars, Glenn Ford and Gloria Grahame. What these two meant to the genre cannot be overstated. They brought the magic!

The Big Heat movie also stars Lee Marvin, Jocelyn Brando (Marlon Brando’s big sister!), Alexander Scourby, and Carolyn Jones.

If you love film-noir, suspense, great acting, and spellbinding dramas, you’ll love this one.

You can find The Big Heat on dvd (Amazon link) or watch on Prime Video.

Lee Meriwether, Frank Gorshin, and Burgess Meredith: Batman the movie (In Honor of Burgess Meredith, BOTD in 1907)

November 16, 2022 By Joi

Lee Meriwether, Frank Gorshin, and Burgess Meredith: Batman (1966)

The wonderful, talented, and ALWAYS deliciously entertaining Burgess Meredith was BOTD in Cleveland, Ohio in 1907 and those of us who adore classic television and films are awfully happy he was!

Whether it was in a great classic drama like Castle on the Hudson, in iconic roles such as Mickey (in the Rocky franchise) or the Penquin (Batman, film and tv), in hilarious comedies (the Grumpy Old Men films), or in cult favorites like Clash of the Titans… the man was simply one of the most versatile and entertaining stars we’ve ever had.

When I watch Burgess Meredith in one of his many phenomenal role, I always think the same thing, “He relished this role and gave his ALL to entertain his audience.” Truly, he never gave anything less than 110 percent and, in my opinion, that sets him apart from most other stars.

Ironically, this same type of thing can be said about many of his co-stars… Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Sylvester Stallone, and just about everyone associated with the series Batman and the movie as well. I like to think he inspired those around him.

How could he not have?

You can find the insanely FUN 1966 movie Batman on dvd (Amazon link) or watch it on Prime Video.

Louise Brooks, Pandora’s Box (1929): A MUST SEE Performance and Silent Film

November 16, 2022 By Joi

Louise Brooks

Pandora’s Box director Georg Wilhelm Pabst really stirred the hornet’s nest when he cast American beauty Louise Brooks in the role of Lulu. The role was considered to be quintessentially German and Louise was very much the American.

Fortunately she was very much the talented actress… with enough charisma and sex appeal for 100 actresses. These facts silenced her critics beautifully.
You can find Pandora’s Box on dvd (Amazon link).

Lionel Barrymore, Frank Hagney, and James Stewart in One of the Best Movies Ever Made, It’s a Wonderful Life

November 15, 2022 By Joi

Lionel Barrymore, Frank Hagney, and James Stewart

We all have those certain “top tier” favorite movies that just mean the world to us – movies that made us fall in love with classic films in the first place. It’s a Wonderful Life is absolutely one of mine… in fact, it sits FIRMLY tied with two others for my very top spot.

James Stewart, Lionel Barrymore, AND Donna Reed? How could I not be completely infatuated with it, they’re three of my “ride or die” favorites!

You can buy It’s a Wonderful Life on dvd (Amazon link) or watch the MAGIC on Prime Video.

Mary Pickford in a Great Promotional Picture for Kiki (1931)

November 14, 2022 By Joi

Mary Pickford, Kiki (1932)

Mary Pickford meant (and means) so much to old Hollywood. I’m convinced that her drive, talent, brains, beauty, and vision helped shape Hollywood and film-making as we know them. She’s also one of those stars who you honestly love more each time you see them.

Frankly, some stars aren’t quite like this – you’ll like them, love them, dislike them… or feel lukewarm about them, often changing with each film or performance! Thankfully there are many who, like Mary Pickford, simply keep your emotions moving in the right direction.

STUNNING Pandora’s Box Lobby Card with Louise Brooks (BOTD in 1906)

November 14, 2022 By Joi

Louise Brooks, Pandora’s Box

You know how it is, fellow film fanatics… you’re humming along in life, content and happy with your “top 10 favorite” actresses and your “top 10 favorite” actors, when seemingly out of the blue, a star comes on the scenes and shakes things up. Maybe it’s seeing them in just the right role, seeing them in just the right number of films, or reading about them and seeing them in a new light… whatever the reason(s), this star all but INSISTS on a single-digit number among your favorites.

That’s exactly what two stars have done to me this year… Louise Brooks and Marlene Dietrich. Both of these actresses have basically charged up my list of favorites, leaving madness and chaos in their wake.

And I love it!

In both cases, it was simply a matter of finally seeing several of their films. For whatever reasons, neither lady had popped up much in the films I’ve watched over the years until I searched their work out personally this year. That’s all it took to become smitten with each one… seeing them in action!

Ironically, the two legendary actress’s share a bit of trivia – Marlene Dietrich was replaced (at the last minute, for extra drama!) by Louise Brooks in one of Brooks’ most popular roles/films, Lulu in Pandora’s Box (1929). While I ADORE Louise Brooks in the role and wouldn’t have the film any other way, my mind does often go to… “I wonder what Marlene Dietrich would have been like as Lulu?!?”

You can find Pandora’s Box on dvd (Amazon link). It’s a film I very much need for my own collection and it can, at times, be pricey. I’ve linked you to the best deal I can find.

Grace Kelly, BOTD in Philadelphia in 1929

November 12, 2022 By Joi

Grace Kelly on the set of The Country Girl

Grace Kelly was BOTD in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1929. Not counting made for TV movies, the legendary actress made only 11 films. In spite of the relatively small number, her lovely fingerprints are all over Classic film and she’s an iconic star to this day.

She left Hollywood in 1956 to marry Prince Rainier of Monaco. They had three children and were married until her death in 1982 at the age of 52.

Her one Academy Award was for Best Actress in a Lead Role for The Country Girl. She was also nominated for her role in Mogambo (in the category of Supporting Actress). She won the Golden Globe for each of these roles.

You can find The Country Girl on dvd and Blu-ray (Amazon link) or watch the film on Prime Video.

Grace Kelly, The Country Girl

Vivien Leigh and Robert Taylor, Waterloo Bridge (1940)

November 10, 2022 By Joi

Vivien Leigh, Waterloo Bridge

The publicity photos here of Vivien Leigh and Robert Taylor is for their 1940 film Waterloo Bridge (directed by Mervyn LeRoy). Robert Taylor was one of the actors (IMO) Vivien had the most chemistry with. They worked flawlessly with one another and I will always wish they’d made more films together!

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

Robert Taylor and Vivien Leigh

Happy Heavenly Birthday to Hedy Lamarr!

November 9, 2022 By Joi

Hedy Lamarr

Hedy Lamarr was born on this date in 1914 in Vienna. The Austrian beauty is known by most for her brains as much as she is her beauty. She was a very, very bright woman.

How bright? She received an award from the Electronic Frontier Foundation in 1997 for her pioneering work in spread-spectrum technology. THAT’S how bright!

Fast Facts About Hedy Lamarr:

Believed Delilah to be her best performance of her career, with Samson and Delilah being her favorite of her films.
She was married six times. Sometimes Mr. Right is impossible to find even when you look like a goddess!
Sued Mel Brooks for mocking her name in the film Blazing Saddles by naming a character “Hedley Lamarr.” They settled out of court. She absolutely had a point, in my opinion because the name “Hedley Lamarr” as followed her since.
She was introduced to one of her husbands by Bette Davis.

Hedy Lamarr led a fascinating life, filled with as much drama, mystery, and intrigue as any movie she appeared in. The highs of her life – including her children, brains, beauty, and films – are wonderful to celebrate. She’s a very inspiring lady to read about! The lows of her life show that absolutely anyone – no matter how bright or beautiful – can fall prey to desperation and hard luck. Everyone is capable of making mistakes in life. The really, really horrible thing is they often come one after another – one mistake leading to the next and to the next. When you’re up against it and nothing is going right, you get desperate and do things you normally wouldn’t even dream of.

As a fan of Hedy Lamarr’s I dearly wish she had had people around her to support her and help her when she needed it most. Like another lovely actress, Veronica Lake, her life didn’t end as beautifully as it should have and, maybe it’s because I’m a fan of these actresses, but I think a great deal of fault lies in the fact they didn’t have a strong support system. They were left to fend for themselves in a world that suddenly had turned cruel and unkind to them.

I can’t even imagine how jolting it had to have been to have been one of Hollywood’s most cherished princesses for a while – a beauty who had people flocking all around her, only to become all but abandoned in what must have felt like a very cold world.

I’m thankful we have Hedy Lamarr’s films and her photos to remember her by. A beautiful actress worth remembering and celebrating. I’ve read a great deal about this actress and I always come away with the same thought: “She was strong until she simply couldn’t be strong any longer.”

Happy Heavenly Birthday to Dorothy Dandridge!

November 9, 2022 By Joi

Dorothy Dandridge: Carmen Jones Lobby Card

The beautiful and talented Dorothy Dandridge was born on this date in 1922 in Cleveland, Ohio. I try never to think about things that can’t be changed (it does nothing but drive a person mad!) but it is such a shame that Dorothy Dandridge wasn’t given all of the films and roles she deserved. As beautiful and as talented as any, she wasn’t given the chance to shine she should have been given. While I will forever be thankful that she had the opportunity to shine in the films she had (particularly in Carmen Jones, Bright Road, and Porgy and Bess), I’ll always wish she had been awarded more films worthy of her great talent and screen presence.

I’d love to have seen her in… let’s say… a great romantic comedy, a musical (in which she could do her own singing), and a film-noir or two.

Maybe three!

She was simply phenomenal and worked under conditions that had to have been less than ideal. Trailblazers such as Dorothy leave me speechless – the courage, determination, and backbone it took to show up every day and have to fight at least twice as hard as everyone else.

Suffice to say, this lady has all of my respect and then some and I want to simply celebrate her memory today and everyday, for that matter!

Dorothy Dandridge was taken from us far too soon – dying on September 8, 1965 at the ridiculously young age of 42.