“Forgotten Hollywood”- Last Post of 2012 in Pictures…

December 31st, 2012

Manny P. here…

   2013 promises to be a memorable year in the journey of Forgotten Hollywood. Here’s a pleasent look at end of timeless years during the Studio Era of cinema…

 marilyn monroe   gable two   myrna loy

   1945 Decarlo   debbie reynolds

   holiday inn happy new year   walt-disney    shirley temple new year

   Can you spot Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable, Van Heflin, Gary Cooper, James Stewart, Myrna Loy, Yvonne DeCarlo, Joseph Cotten, Ginger Rogers, Debbie Reynolds, Bing Crosby, Marjorie Reynolds, Fred Astaire, Virginia Dale, Walt Disney, Shirley Temple, and Mickey Mouse?

   Happy New Year!

“Forgotten Hollywood”- The Passing of a Western Veteran…

December 28th, 2012

Manny P. here…

   Harry Carey Jr. was a screen star in scores of Westerns, and a valued member of the stock company of actors used by director John Ford. He also appeared with The Duke in almost a dozen motion pictures. During World War II, he worked with Ford on documentaries for the Navy as an enlisted man.

she wore a yellow ribbon

   SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON (1949)

carey6<——— Harry Carey Jr. was the son of a Oscar-nominated character actor (Harry Carey Sr. had a long career that  transcended from the Silent Era into Hollywood’s Golden Age).  Carey Jr. established a long career of his own. He co-starred in notable Ford films, such as She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, 3 Godfathers, Wagon Master, Rio Grande, Mister RobertsThe Searchers, Two Rode Togetherand Cheyenne Autumn. Other movies include the Howard Hawks classics:  Red River, Monkey Business, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and Rio Bravo. His final flick with John Wayne was Cahill US Marshal in 1973.

   In the 1960s, Harry Carey Jr. transitioned seemlessly to television Westerns, with guest-starring roles in Have Gun  Will Travel, The Legend of Jesse James, Wagon Train, Gray Ghost, Whispering Smith, Tombstone Territory, Bonanza, The Rounders, and Gunsmoke.

   Carey Jr. appeared in Back to the Future Part III in a saloon scene set in 1885. In 1993, he made a cameo in Tombstone as Marshal Fred White.

Posted in Blog by Manny Pacheco | No Comments »

“Forgotten Hollywood”- New Year’s Eve Dinner and a Movie!

December 27th, 2012

Manny P. here…

   The traditional way to enjoy to ring in a New Year in the Big Apple is to watch the ball drop at Time Square. Down the road at the George Eastman House in Rochester, classic cinema lovers can instead end 2012 in style by enjoying a fabulous dinner and two motion picture classics. What a great date night!

tocatchathief  desire

TO CATCH A THIEF               DESIRE

   Take a step back in time with a choice double feature of To Catch a Thief (with Grace Kelly and Cary Grant) and Desire (with Marlene Dietrich and Gary Cooper) at the Dryden Theatre, following a dinner in the café. The menu includes a choice of chicken marsala with pasta, or beef stroganoff over rice, with crabcakes and assorted sides. Gelato or popcorn are included. George Eastman is considered the Father of the Motion Picture, so this is an appropriate way to enjoy the final holiday of the season.

eastman_apt_678x230_112320110419

   For the last six-plus decades, classic and current film faire have found a home at this historic location. On January 2nd, the Dryden Theatre will close for two months for renovations. The original seats from their opening night in 1951 will be replaced. New carpet will be tacked down, and a fresh coat of paint will be applied to add new luster. For the first time, a digital projector will join the film projectors. The curators also plan on fastening a brand new wide screen. The familiar gold curtain that rises before each performance will stay. However, the concession stand will be removed. Cinema Paradiso is the final scheduled screening on New Year’s Day.

   The George Eastman House is located at 900 East Ave., and the doors will open at 5p. The cost for the stylish event is $25 per person.

———————————————————-

   As the Rose Parade in Pasadena is on the horizon, let me take a look back at a bit of the frivolity from the New Year’s Day annual tradition. In the 1913 parade, Mack Sennett and his Keystone Film Company entered the parade — as a guise to cleverly shoot some footage for an upcoming movie starring Buster Keaton. Sennett was notoriously clever in finding novel ways in order not to pay extras in his silent films. This publicity photo confirms his Sennet’s intentions.

   Enjoy!

Until next time>                               “never forget”  

“Forgotten Hollywood”- Merry Christmas From All of Us…

December 25th, 2012

Manny P. here…

As you celebrate a Merry Christmas… How many do you recognize?

Miracle on 34th St   Robert Mitchum  lorre

it's a wonderful life photo

   cary   stooges  White Christmas

   HAVE A JOYOUS HOLIDAY SEASON

Until next time.                                “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- Twelfth Angry Man / Vet have Died!

December 24th, 2012

Manny P. here… 00n/43/ARVE/G2496/005

   Jack Klugman was a versatile dramatic actor, capable of broad comedy and amazing pathos in cinema and the small screen for six decades. He is best remembered for playing sportswriter Oscar Madison on television in The Odd Couple; and the title character on Quincy M.E., a pathologist who solved crimes. Along with Burgess Meredith, Klugman was a favorite of Rod Serling as a lead on The Twilight Zone. Cast as Juror #5, he was the last surviving member of Twelve Angry Men, the 1957 adaptation.

   Jack Klugman began is acting career after serving in the military during World War II. As a struggling actor in New York, he roomed with future star Charles Bronson. After performing in Boston in 1950 in an off-Broadway production of Mr. Roberts, he found great success in live television, which was gaining popularity. Klugman often said that his finest achievement was appearing with Humphrey Bogart and Henry Fonda in the 1955 broadcast of The Petrified Forest.

   In addition to Twelve Angry Men, Klugman appeared in important motion pictures, including Days of Wine and Roses and Goodbye Columbus. He replaced Walter Matthau in the original Neil Simon theatre production of The Odd Couple. Klugman received a Tony nomination in 1960 for Best Featured Supporting Actor (Musical) for his role in Gypsy.

   He achieved star-status after two memorable performances on episodes of The Twilight Zone. A Passage for Trumpet (1960) and In Praise of Pip (1963) on the anthology series are some of the finest moments during television’s Golden Age. Quinn Martin immediately cast the talented everyman on his highly rated program, The Fugitive.

   Beginning in 1970, he began a thirteen year run on network television. Klugman and Tony Randall starred on The Odd Couple for six years, garnering two Emmys along the way. When their situation comedy was cancelled after Randall decided to call it quits, Klugman’s good luck continued. He was cast to star as the medical examiner-turned-sleuth in Quincy M.E. During this time, he frequently joined wife Brett Somers  and other entertainment personalites on a 1970s update of Match Game, which rivaled Hollywood Squares in popularity.

   In spite of being diagnosed with throat cancer in 1974, Klugman continued to steadily work for over three decades.  He also privately owned racehorses and enjoyed gambling. One of his horses actually took third at the 1980 Kentucky Derby. He considered this moment the most thrilling in his talented life.

   The affable Jack Klugman was 90.

———————————————————-

charles durning   Charles Durning (right) was a gifted character actor, who appeared in over  a hundred movies. His roles in The Sting, Dog Day Afternoon, The Front Page, Tootsie, and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas are considered some of the finest supporting performances in the history of cinema. Durning also saw combat on D-Day along Omaha Beach during the Normandy Invasion. The veteran spent the waning days of World War II as a POW, after seeing action during the Battle of the Bulge. One of the most decorated actors for active military service (along with James Stewart), he was awarded a Silver Star and three Purple Hearts.

   Durning received his first career break on Broadway. Never forgetting his roots, he often returned to the stage, co-starring in revivals of Cat on the Hot Tin Roof (as Big Daddy); Inherit the Wind; and Death of a Salesmen. His personal cinematic inspiration was James Cagney…. and King Kong!

   For his numerous roles on television, Durning received nine Emmy nominations. He was a series regular on Evening Shade; and he often appeared on Everybody Loves Raymond.  Charles actually won a Golden Globe in 1990 for Mayor John “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald in the television miniseries The Kennedys of Massachusetts. My wife Laurie and I were on-hand  when he was honored for Lifetime Achievement at the 2008 Screen Actors Guild Awards.

   Charles Durning was 89.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- Photos Worth a 1000 Words…

December 21st, 2012

Manny P. here… Marilyn subway photo

    A tribute to Marilyn Monroe is now on display at two New York City subway stations. Iconic photos of the actress taken on Lexington Avenue are being showcased at two locations; inside the 42nd Street-Bryant Park station, and outside the subway station at the corner of 42nd Street and Broadway, just outside the Times Square stop. Snapshots were taken by Sam Shaw, who spent time with Monroe at various locations in the city from 1954 through 1957. He was a photojournalist who actually captured the star standing over  the subway grate with her skirt billowing, and was used in 1955 to promote  The Seven Year Itch.

   110207_shaw-9_p465

   Sam Shaw (above) began a career as a photojournalist in Colliers magazine in the 1940s.  His photos taken on movie studio sets in the 1950s include A Streetcar Named Desire and Viva Zapata. He collaborated with Marlon Brando, Anthony Quinn, Billy Wilder, Paul Newman, and John Cassevettes, among others. Shaw’s name became synonomous with the covers of Life and Look.

   The Monroe outdoor exhibit is part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Arts for Transit and Urban Lightbox Exhibition. The show opened yesterday, and this will remain on display along the MTA system over the next year.

————————————————

rosa parks bus at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan   A wonderful photograph has emerged from earlier this year, with Barack Obama on the Rosa Parks Bus replica exhibit at Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. It appears the president is reflecting on the road traveled by African-Americans in the fight for Civil Rights to his own historic national election (and now re-election).

   As 2012 is nearing its end, I believe this is my favorite image of the year. It inspires and delights…

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- The Heiress is on Broadway…

December 20th, 2012

Manny P. here…

   The Heiress was a big-budget motion picture directed by William Wyler in 1949. It was based on a novel by Henry James. Called Washington Square, it was originally published in 1880 as a serial in Cornhill Magazine and Harper’s New Monthly Magazine. The story was inspired by the life of Gertrude Tredwell, who was born in the Merchant House in 1840, and lived there until her death.

   The Heiress is the dramatic story of a sheltered daughter of a prominent New Yorker. Caught between the demands of an autocratic father and the attentions of a greedy young suitor, Catherine Sloper navigates the feelings of love and regret, a chance for happiness, desire and duty, and the burden of inheriting a fortune… as only an heiress can.

WA-square-novel   heiress-film-1949

   Ruth and Augustus Goetz brought the novel to the theater, which originally ran on Broadway in 1947, with Wendy Hiller as Catherine and Basil Rathbone as Dr. Sloper. The writers adapted a screenplay, and starred Olivia de Havilland, Ralph Richardson and Montgomery Clift (as Morris Townsend). The film’s score was composed by Aaron Copeland. The Heiress was nominated for eight Academy Awards, and it received four Oscars, including Best Actress, Best Set Design, Best Costume Design, and Best Music. In 1996, the cinematic classic was preserved in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

bwayhollywood-500x207   inner-art

   The current run of The Heiress is at the quaint Walter Kerr Theatre, 219 West 48th St., between Broadway & 8th Ave. It boasts a very familiar cast, including Jessica Chastain, who currently stars in Zero Dark Thirty; David Strathairn, my choice for Best Supporting Actor for his work in Lincoln; and Dan Stevens, who plays Matthew Crawley on Downton Abbey. This compelling drama runs through February, and it has Tony Award written all over it!

merchants-house   The Merchant’s House Museum, located at 29 East 4th St. near Washington Square, occupies the only nineteenth century family home in New York City that is preserved intact. The house was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965, and it heavily influenced the design of the 1947 Broadway production, the 1949 film, and the current revival of The Heiress.

 Until next time>                              “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- In Search of The Thin Man…

December 18th, 2012

Manny P. here…

   Turner Classic Movies is spending Tuesday morning featuring the fine work of William Powell and Myrna Loy, MGM’s power couple of the 1930s. Included in this retrospective is five of the six films in the Thin Man-cinematic series, and a wonderful documentary about Loy.

tcmnav_top

another thin man   While enjoying a holiday dinner with my close friend, Dyan Hobday, she informed me that her buddy has written a magazine story regarding news about Dashiell Hammett’s enduring characters, Nick & Nora Charles. Scott Ratner’s article appears in Mystery Scene Magazine. According to Ratner, Mysterious  Press is set to publish two original Thin Man novellas. These lost sequels to the novel were first commissioned by MGM from Hammett as treatments, and basis for After the Thin Man, featuring a young James Stewart; and Another Thin Man.

MysterySceneMagBanner

   Mystery Scene Magazine, based in the US and first published in 1985, covers the crime genre with a mix of articles, profiles, criticism, and extensive reviews of books, television, motion pictures, short stories, audiobooks, and reference works. Scott K. Ratner’s article appears in the Holiday Issue (#127). If I may say, it’s an insightful analysis, loaded with back stories about the career of Dashiell Hammett, his relationship with MGM, and Hollywood’s masterful duo… William Powell and Myrna Loy.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- Last Surviving Our Gang Child Dies…

December 17th, 2012

Manny P. here…

<——- Jack Hanlon was a freckle-faced child actor, who thrived during the Silent Era, and the early days of Hollywood’s Golden Age. He also co-starred in two Our Gang comedies at Hal Roach Studios. By the time he was 16, he  chose to retire from motion pictures.

   He made his screen debut in The General (1926), which starred Buster Keaton. AFI selected this silent classic as one of their Top 100 Films of all time. Hanlon’s performance was great, and it lead to Hal Roach casting the cherub in his 62nd and 63rd Our Gang two-reelers.

   William Wyler gave Hanlon his biggest role in The Shakedown (1929), the silent movie with partially dubbed dialogue produced by Sam Goldwyn, considered lost until a 35mm print was discovered and restored in 1998 by the George Eastman House Museum. Hanlon had his  initial on-screen kiss in 1930 from Greta Garbo in Romance. She received her first Academy Award nomination for this film performance. He appeared a few times with Clark Gable in The Easiest Way and Big Money; and with cowboy actor Ken Maynard in The Wagon Master, Parade of the West, and King of the Arena. Despite working with major stars, Hanlon seldom made a bankable income.

   After he retired from show business, he played minor league baseball, and served as an Army Air Corps paratrooper during World War II. After his military service, he was a longtime furniture mover in Las Vegas for Allied Van Lines.

   Jack Hanlon was 96.

—————————————————-

   David Strathairn, who plays Secretary of State Seward in Lincoln, is featured as our 16th President in a BBC-produced talking book. Called the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, it also features Richard Dreyfuss as Senator Stephen A. Douglas.

   What an engaging way to entertain and inform readers. This lesson is available in literary stores.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- Paying the Following Prayer Forward

December 15th, 2012

Manny P. here…

   My friends who conduct a blog called – The Amazing Actors of Old Hollywood – really got it right on Friday. Let me pass this heartfelt message along:

 Thoughts and prayers go out to all the children (and family members of the victims), who lost their lives today in the terrible Connecticut Elementary School shooting. It’s a very sad day in the USA today, especially in Connecticut. Please take a moment today to tell a family member, friend, someone you love, and/or your children that you love them.

 
Charlie Chaplin and Jackie Coogan in “The Kid” (1921)

   I don’t take credit for this well-presented and visually stunning eulogy. I simply agree…

 

Until next time> “never forget the adult and child victims of Newtown, Connecticut”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- It’s a Wonderful Month…

December 12th, 2012

Manny P. here…

   Tis the season to revisit a cherished classic that features stars in my Forgotten Hollywood Book Series, including Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell, Gloria Grahame, Beulah Bondi, and Ward Bond; plus the superb work of James Stewart, Donna Reed, Frank Faylen, and Henry Travers.

~ The Seneca Falls It’s a Wonderful Life Museum is open year-round. Located at 32 Fall St.,  it’s open Tuesday-Saturday, 11a–4p. Each day, an It’s a Wonderful Walking Tour takes place.  The museum will be closed December 24th-26th and December 30th-January 2nd.

~ Two co-stars of It’s a Wonderful Life were the invited guests at the annual December festival held at the adopted home of this holiday treasure. Seneca Falls celebrated the 66th anniversary of the motion picture release this past weekend.

 

    

<– Karolyn Grimes & Carol Coombs-Mueller, who played Zuzu and Janie, the cinematic daughters of George Bailey (Stewart), made the trek to introduce the movie, and discuss its influence. Autographed copies of Karolyn’s new publication — Celebrating It’s a Wonderful Life…How the Movie Message of Hope Lives Onwere also available for purchase.

~ Grimes is planning a trip to the Hollywood Blvd. Cinema, Bar, and Eatery in Woodridge, Illinois; and the New Palms Theatre in Naperville, Illinois. This three day excursion takes place December 14th-16th. It’s a Wonderful Life will be shown at each event.

~ The Dallas Film Society is presenting It’s a Wonderful Life as part of the Cinemark Classic series. Theater-going audiences will enjoy this timeless flick at Cinemark’s theaters in Dallas, Allen, Denton, Frisco, Grapevine, Grand Prairie, Mansfield, Plano West, Legacy, and Rockwall. Two screenings take place on December 19th at 2p and 7p.

   Zuzu remarks in the movie’s finale:  Teacher says – Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings!  George responds: That’s right! Way to go Clarence! 

   Well said…

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- You Must Remember This…

December 10th, 2012

Manny P. here…

   The 58-key upright piano, vocalist Dooley Wilson played As Time Goes By in Casablanca, is up for auction at Sothebys this weekend. It’s estimated worth is $1.2 million. That figure is expected rise once it become available.

   The movie prop was used in key scenes, including the moment when Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) hid the Letters of Transit provided by the tragic character, Ugarte (Peter Lorre). Rick and Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman) leaned on the piano drinking champagne as Paris prepared for the arrival of the German blitzkreig. Clinking glasses, Bogie uttered the iconic line: Here’s lookin’ at you, kid.

   Herman Hupfeld wrote As Time Goes By for the 1931 Broadway production Everybody’s Welcome. The tune was voted #2 on the AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Songs television special, commemorating the best music in film. National Public Radio included the composition in their NPR 100, the 1999 list of the most important American musical works of the 20th century as compiled by their music editors.

   Sam’s piano was previously sold by Sothebys to a Japanese collector in 1988 for $154,000. Due to high demand, the auction house and current Japanese owner have allowed the piano to be put on display for a few days for public view. The exhibition times are from 10a-5p.

   Located one block from the famous FDR Dr., Sothebys is at the intersection of 72nd St. and York Ave. in the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York.

—————————————————–

   Powell’s Books is providing free shipping with the guarantee of delivery before Christmas. The Forgotten Hollywood Book Series is available at this Oregon-based online book shop.

  

  http://www.powells.com/biblio/62-9781935359166-0

 http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9781937454142-0

   Happy holidays to readers, everywhere!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

“Forgotten Hollywood”- Foundation Auction Benefit Many!

December 7th, 2012

Manny P. here…

   The Screen Actors Guild Awards Holiday Auction benefiting SAG Foundation is online. The series of Winter auctions help maintain the Foundation’s endeavors, and offers a variety of memorable experiences, unique gifts and autographed memorabilia.

   These year-long charities include: BookPALS (Performing Artists for Literacy in Schools) and Storyline Online. The auction also supports Foundation programs providing emergency relief to union members in economic distress, emergency funds for members with catastrophic illnesses, video and audio preservation of the creative legacy of members, casting seminars, scholarships for performers and their children, and related professional workshops.

   The 19th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards honoring outstanding motion picture and television performances will be simulcast live on TNT and TBS on Sunday, January 27th. Ballots for voting members (including me) will be available shortly. In a future blog (after Laurie and  I watch the complete list of cinematic nominees), I’ll be offering my official ballot, which has become a yearly tradition on the Forgotten Hollywood site.

   For more information on the SAG Foundation Auctions, click on the link below:

http://www.sagawards.org/auction

Until next time>                               “never forget

“Forgotten Hollywood”- Hope Compound Up For Sale…

December 6th, 2012

Manny P. here…

   The longtime home of Bob and Dolores Hope is expected to soon be put on the real estate market. Located in Toluca Lake, on the corner of Moorpark and Ledge, it’s a lingering reminder that at one time, the San Fernando Valley was the Southern California home to the stars; including Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Barbara Stanwyck, Hugh O’Brian, Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, Steve Allen and Jayne Meadows, Claude Rains, Edward Everett Horton, etc.                DOLORES / BOB HOPE

   Bob and Dolores moved to the 1.34 acres estate in 1939. There is an English-style main house, swimming pool, guesthouse, gardens, and even, a private golf course. No asking price has been revealed. Linda Hope, the couple’s daughter, is conducting a liquidation of assets before the residential landmark can officially change hands.

   One hopes that the property will be sold in tact.

——————————————————

   A pioneer in the Progressive Jazz movement movement has died. Dave Brubeck was best known for the avant garde use of time signature in his music compositions. His best known piece, Take Five was in 5/4 time; while Blue Rondo a la Turk was created in 9/8 time.

  

   His collaboration with alto saxaphonist Paul Desmond was legendary. The Dave Brubeck Quartet has been revered for generations by legions of jazz artists, and lovers of the genre, since 1951. In 1954, Brubeck was   featured on the cover of Time Magazine, the second jazz musician to be honored (the first was Louis Armstrong on February 21, 1949). Brubeck found this accolade embarrassing, since he considered Duke Ellington more deserving.

   He wrote soundtracks for television, such as Mr. Broadway, and the animated mini-series This Is America, Charlie Brown. The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts honored Brubeck for exhibiting excellence in performance arts. The 2009 gala was  televised on CBS. In 2010, Clint Eastwood produced Dave Brubeck: In His Own Sweet Way, a documentary for Turner Classic Movies to commemorate his 90th birthday in December.

   Dave Brubeck was 91, and died on Wednesday; suffering heart failure the day before his birthday. Today’s planned festivities in his honor is expected to become a memorial tribute.

Until next time>                               “never forget”   

“Forgotten Hollywood”- A Ralph Story-Style Presentation…

December 4th, 2012

Manny P. here…

   John Newton was one of my first bosses at 11-10 KRLA-AM, when I started my radio career in 1980. I value his friendship. He sent me nostalgic photos from the past, and these nuggets are my way of reminding you about our collective youth.

   Some of these locations are still here; but today, they are packaged differently.

  

   FYIHelms Bakeries has decided to re-open it’s doors in 2013. What a blast from the past!

     

   These wonderful Southern California pictures remind me of Ralph Story Los Angeles, which aired on local television in the 1960s.

  

Until next time>                               “never forget”