Forgotten Hollywood

Manny P. here…

   Mattel is issuing lifelike Barbie dolls to honor Gone with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, and other classic films. The former two motion pictures are celebrating their 75th anniversary in a variety of marketing ways.

   Here are the details of the Gone with the Wind figures: Rhett Butler is in a gentleman’s suit and red ascot. Scarlett O’Hara is provided with two different outfits; one in her crimson birthday gown, like she wore in the scene when she visits the home of Melanie and Ashley Wilkes. The other is the white prayer dress with red bows and sash, similar to one Mammy  dressed her in.

   These dolls are part of the Mattel collector series. Previously, my wife Laurie bought the Doris Day / Rock Hudson Pillow Talk Barbie’s to add to her doll collection that also includes Mrs. Beasley from the television show Family Affair and The Grinch.

   Barbie dolls are a registered trademark of Mattel

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   Another fine supporting actress of note had died. Martha Hyer is best remembered as a love interest of Frank Sinatra in Vincente Minnelli’s Some Came Running, for which she received an Oscar nomination.

   Adept at playing girl-next-door types in comedy and drama, she appeared in important films, including Sabrina, Houseboat, The Carpetbaggers, and The Sons of Katie Elder; to froth, such as Abbott and Costello Goes to Mars, Francis In the Navy, The Delicate Delinquent, Night of the Grizzly, Bikini Beach, and The Happening.

   At one time, movie moguls considered her the best replacement for Grace Kelly, who had just retired after marrying Rainier III, Prince of Monaco. Hyer was considered for the Janet Leigh role of the doomed Marion Crane in the Alfred Hitchcock thriller Psycho.

   She had guest-starring roles on television in The Lone Ranger, Rawhide, and McCloud. She married producer Hal B. Wallis in 1966, and the couple remained together until his death in 1986.

   Martha Hyer was 89.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 8th, 2014 at 12:23 pm and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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