Before James Stewart became one of the most beloved stars in Hollywood history, he was -- believe it or not -- a struggling contract player at MGM. During the golden age of cinema, the small-town boy from Pennsylvania had found his way to Los Angeles, where he was churning out films as part of the studio system. It wasn't until Stewart stunned audiences with his turn as Senator Jefferson Smith in Frank Capra's 1939 comedy-drama "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" that his star seriously began to rise.
Considering how much work Stewart put into the part, the praise he received was well-deserved. Aside from breaking his rule regarding rushes for the great Capra, the actor also ingested mercury dichloride to give himself a sore throat and make his performance in the famous 24-hour filibuster scene more believable. Amazingly, after wrapping the movie, Stewart was far from "licked," as Senator Smith would say.
Considering how much work Stewart put into the part, the praise he received was well-deserved. Aside from breaking his rule regarding rushes for the great Capra, the actor also ingested mercury dichloride to give himself a sore throat and make his performance in the famous 24-hour filibuster scene more believable. Amazingly, after wrapping the movie, Stewart was far from "licked," as Senator Smith would say.
- 1/26/2023
- by Joe Roberts
- Slash Film
Lori Nelson, the 1950s starlet who was kidnapped by an amphibious monster in Revenge of the Creature and portrayed Barbara Stanwyck’s younger daughter in Douglas Sirk’s All I Desire, has died. She was 87.
Nelson had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease for several years and died Sunday at her home in the Porter Ranch section of Los Angeles, her daughter Jennifer Mann said.
In Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair (1952) and Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki (1955), Nelson played Rosie Kettle, one of the daughters of the characters played by Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride in the Universal series of films.
Nelson also made her mark in I Died a Thousand Times (1955), a remake of the Humphrey Bogart classic High Sierra in which she portrayed the club-footed love interest of Jack Palance’s crook; Pardners (1956), working opposite Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in their penultimate film together...
Nelson had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease for several years and died Sunday at her home in the Porter Ranch section of Los Angeles, her daughter Jennifer Mann said.
In Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair (1952) and Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki (1955), Nelson played Rosie Kettle, one of the daughters of the characters played by Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride in the Universal series of films.
Nelson also made her mark in I Died a Thousand Times (1955), a remake of the Humphrey Bogart classic High Sierra in which she portrayed the club-footed love interest of Jack Palance’s crook; Pardners (1956), working opposite Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in their penultimate film together...
- 8/24/2020
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Destry Rides Again
Blu ray
Criterion
1939 / 1.33:1/ 95 min.
Starring Marlene Dietrich, James Stewart
Cinematography by Hal Mohr
Directed by George Marshall
America’s favorite boy next door meets the Weimar Republic’s preeminent vamp in George Marshall’s Destry Rides Again. James Stewart plays Tom Destry, the self-effacing straight-shooter who cleans up a lawless backwater burg without firing a shot – almost. Marlene Dietrich is Frenchy, a world-weary chanteuse who rules the roost at the town’s only waterhole, the Last Chance saloon. Their relationship is more heated than the volatile town itself but after the final punch is thrown their bond is deeper than any typical Hollywood romance.
Marshall’s comic horse opera was released by Universal in 1939 and like so many of that studio’s horror films of the era, it opens with a slow pan over a moonlit graveyard with more than its fair share of tombstones. Instead...
Blu ray
Criterion
1939 / 1.33:1/ 95 min.
Starring Marlene Dietrich, James Stewart
Cinematography by Hal Mohr
Directed by George Marshall
America’s favorite boy next door meets the Weimar Republic’s preeminent vamp in George Marshall’s Destry Rides Again. James Stewart plays Tom Destry, the self-effacing straight-shooter who cleans up a lawless backwater burg without firing a shot – almost. Marlene Dietrich is Frenchy, a world-weary chanteuse who rules the roost at the town’s only waterhole, the Last Chance saloon. Their relationship is more heated than the volatile town itself but after the final punch is thrown their bond is deeper than any typical Hollywood romance.
Marshall’s comic horse opera was released by Universal in 1939 and like so many of that studio’s horror films of the era, it opens with a slow pan over a moonlit graveyard with more than its fair share of tombstones. Instead...
- 5/23/2020
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
George Marshall’s classic comedy Western Destry Rides Again finally gets its due with its inclusion in the esteemed Criterion Collection. A notable entry in the filmography of its director and lead stars, it was one of the first notable genre hybrids, the success of which would generate a legion of evolving formulaic successors.
Notably, this was the first time Jimmy Stewart would star in a Western, a genre he would return to in the 1950s with several Anthony Mann collaborations. The jack-of-all-trades Marshall would also return to the genre, directing a segment of the classic How the West Was Won (1962) and also remade the title in 1954 as Destry, starring Audie Murphy.…...
Notably, this was the first time Jimmy Stewart would star in a Western, a genre he would return to in the 1950s with several Anthony Mann collaborations. The jack-of-all-trades Marshall would also return to the genre, directing a segment of the classic How the West Was Won (1962) and also remade the title in 1954 as Destry, starring Audie Murphy.…...
- 5/12/2020
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Daring American stuntman who often doubled for Tony Curtis and starred in the TV series The High Chaparral
Among the many unsung heroes of film history are those individuals who make actors seem more athletic and daring than they could possibly be. Although the raison d'etre of his profession is invisibility, the stuntman and stunts co-ordinator Robert Hoy, who has died of cancer aged 82, was one of the few whose name and face have emerged from anonymity.
As well as enjoying a long career as a stuntman – he continued into his 60s – Hoy, an expert horseman, appeared in more than 150 films and television series in small parts. One of his largest roles was the ranch-hand Joe Butler in 62 episodes of The High Chaparral from 1967 to 1971. With his thick black moustache, dark hair and sideboards, and invariably wearing a blue shirt, Hoy made Butler into a hard-riding, hard-fighting, hard-drinking masculine figure,...
Among the many unsung heroes of film history are those individuals who make actors seem more athletic and daring than they could possibly be. Although the raison d'etre of his profession is invisibility, the stuntman and stunts co-ordinator Robert Hoy, who has died of cancer aged 82, was one of the few whose name and face have emerged from anonymity.
As well as enjoying a long career as a stuntman – he continued into his 60s – Hoy, an expert horseman, appeared in more than 150 films and television series in small parts. One of his largest roles was the ranch-hand Joe Butler in 62 episodes of The High Chaparral from 1967 to 1971. With his thick black moustache, dark hair and sideboards, and invariably wearing a blue shirt, Hoy made Butler into a hard-riding, hard-fighting, hard-drinking masculine figure,...
- 2/28/2010
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
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