Classic Cinema Marathon #3

Laurel and Hardy were a comedy duo Who Rose to fame during the classical Hollywood era Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy's slapstick comedy dominated the 1930s as they appeared in 107 films had millions of fans and even earned an Academy Award but behind the ACT were failed marriages health problems and financial ruin Norville Hardy was born in Georgia in 1892 his father Oliver Hardy died just a few months after his birth his mother supported the family by managing hotels boarding houses sometime in his teenage years Hardy began using the name Oliver in honor of his father that wasn't the only loss Hardy suffered during his childhood when he was 17 years old his older brother Sam visited home and the brothers decided to go swimming in an Old Mill Dam on the oone river Sam showing off for his kid brother climbed a tree and dived into the river from an overhanging Branch tragically he misjudged the depth of the water and broke his neck on the Rocks below the surface Oliver Hardy and his friends dived into the river and pulled Sam out They Carried him back to the hotel their mother ran but it was too late Sam was dead decades later when Hardy appeared on the television program this is your life he became very emotional when the subject was brought up showing just how much of a mark the loss left on the young boy Stan Laurel was born Arthur Stanley Jefferson in 1890 in England while Laurel had a relatively happy family life he was alone a lot as a child his parents were performers and theater managers and they frequently traveled they took their children with them except Stan who was weak and sickly as a child Laurel wound up spending much of his childhood with his grandparents George and Sarah metf the mefs were generally kind to Laurel but they were very strict and he spent much of his time alone in a Shack on their property being punished for one thing or another still Laurel grew into a performer just like his parents and he quickly began writing his own plays and pursued theater while this initially disappointed his parents who hoped Laurel would come work with them they supported his dreams come out of there and put that pipe out then when Stan Laurel was just 18 years old tragedy struck when his mother M died unexpectedly it's suspected she suffered from a respiratory illness made worse by the air quality in Glasgow where the family had relocated Laurel who had discovered his father was cheating on M some years before blamed his father for breaking his mother's will to live according to Laurel's second wife Virginia Ruth Rogers he was devastated by the loss of his mother and in some ways never recovered from it part of the magic that was Laurel and Hardy as a comedy Act was their physical disparity Stan Laurel's weepy rail thin figure next to Oliver Hardy's robust frame was inherently Charming to audiences Hardy's weight was part of his identity and also the cause of his health problems later in life Hardy's weight also caused him grief in his younger days throughout his childhood Hardy was known as faddy Hardy even after he became a famous Hollywood star locals in his hometown in Georgia referred to him by the cruel nickname his mother who managed local boarding houses made things even worse when she made young Hardy Walk Around Town wearing a sandwich board advertising the food at her hotels Hardy size continued to plague him as he got older when America entered World War I Oliver Hardy sought to do his patriotic Duty and went to a local enlistment office to join the Army however the officers took one look at Hardy size and began to make fun of him calling other recruiters over to look at him he left humiliated Laurel and Hardy the iconic comedy duo wouldn't exist without Hollywood producer Hal roach both Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel were working actors during the 1920s but neither had achieved any sort of breakout success roach saw their potential and put them together in 1927's the second hundred years from that point on the pair Rose to start him under roach's Guidance the roach was a sharp businessmen and Laurel and Hardy were not roach managed to keep the upper hand through shrewd negotiating for example he staggered the expiration dates of their contracts so they could never negotiate as a team which allowed roach to consistently undervalue them he paid them a flat wage instead of a percentage of the profits roach also ensured that they never held any of the copyrights or got any screenwriting credits although they usually took a very active role in the writing and directing of their films as both men went through several divorces alimony payments piled up and Oliver Hardy developed a gambling problem by the 1950s Laurel and Hardy had to embark on a live tour of English music Halls to try to pay some bills which failed when Hardy took ill and the tour had to be cancelled Oliver Hardy died surprisingly broke and new Statesman reveals that in 1946 Stan Laurel was forced to admit that he only had $2,000 in his bank account and $200 a month to live on for about 14 years Laurel and Hardy were one of the most popular comedy Duos in Hollywood they often took an active role in shaping the films they worked on writing and introducing physical gags the comedy duo usually improvised much of their bits and carefully planned and even directed scenes while working with producer Hal roach but over time Laurel and Hardy grew to despise roach for his tough negotiating methods and hard charging business style thus when they finally had the chance to break away from him they leaped at it signing new deals with 20th Century Fox and Metro Goldwin mayor in 1941 however their new deal was not all it was cracked up to be because with roach Laurel and Hardy had enjoyed a great deal of creative control when they moved to MGM in the 194 40s they were disappointed to find they'd lost out and they were treated as hired actors with no input on the scripts or Direction as a result their output in the 1940s is considered to be of lower quality and their Stars began to fade the duo made only one film together after 1945 and by 1953 they were broke and out of the film business entirely Oliver Hardy married his first wife meline in 1913 when he was just 21 years old the couple eloped to Mak Georgia for the nuptuals claiming that since they were were both a part of touring troops of actors and musicians they couldn't wait until they were both home to hold a ceremony the Hardy family reported that Hardy's mother was enraged at the union because meline was older than her son but as author Simon louvish writes the reason for the Hardy family's opposition to the marriage was likely much worse meline was Jewish Hardy married her far away from his family to avoid an ugly scene and the couple left Georgia almost immediately the marriage lasted 6 years and Hardy would describe it as a quote Sham in his divorce application he married Myrtle Reeves shortly after the divorce was granted but once again marital bliss was denied him as louvish notes Reeves was an alcoholic who was forced to stay in a sanitarium several times as she struggled with her disease leaving Hardy desperate to leave the marriage he finally found contentment after divorcing Reeves in 1940 he married Virginia Lucille Jones who remained by his side until his death in 1957 Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel were unique Hollywood comedians in many ways one of the most surprising was the fact that they were very close friends in real life they enjoyed a very healthy and balanced professional relationship wherein Hardy trusted Laurel to shape the material in their films and went along with his ideas this mutual respect extended to their career dealings as well when Laurel and Hardy finally got out from under Hal roach's control in the early 1940s neither considered working alone when Hardy died in 1957 Stan Laurel was crushed he chose to retire from show business rather than work without his friend of more than 30 years the Final Phase of Laurel and Hardy's film career was a lengthy decline when they switched film studios in the 1940s and lost creative control over their work the quality of their films declined and public tastes shifted leaving them less popular than they'd once been they were virtually retired by 1945 it's because the ComEd is difficult to make you see and difficult to do too you said after World War II ended Laurel and Hardy's celebrity which had been on the steady decline throughout the 1940s suddenly took took off internationally as their films were finally widely distributed so it was decided that there was potential to relaunch their film careers with a French Italian co-production that eventually became known as atal K the production was a fiasco there were language barriers and a terrible script to contend with but the truly tragic aspect was Laurel and Hardy's Health Hardy was at his heaviest and suffered from heart problems as well as a serious bout of the flu while Laurel was dealing with diabetes and a prostate condition furthermore both men were considered heavy smokers in an era when smoking was common and accepted which didn't help their conditions in a final humiliation The Producers found it impossible to get the film into theaters in the end the final film of Laurel and Hardy was a sad end to their brilliant careers it was fun while it lasted wasn't it St Oliver Hardy's weight caused him many health concerns over the course of his life and by the 1950s he finally decided to do something about it so he embarked on a crash diet that led L to a weight loss of 150 lb Hardy expected people to be supportive but his author Simon louvish says the change in his appearance was so drastic that friends and family were visibly upset at the sight of him this bothered Hardy terribly and he went into near seclusion seeing only a short list of trusted friends including Stan Laurel then in September 1956 Oliver Hardy suffered a massive stroke that left him paralyzed and mute he was unable to concentrate on anything or communicate effectively with the people around him when he became especially agitated or depressed his wife would invite Stan to visit he lingered on for almost a year being diagnosed with cancer and suffering an additional Two Strokes before dying in August 1957 by the 1950s Stan Laurel had been struggling with his own health Laurel had chronic problems with his prostate and had to have an ulcer surgically removed from his prostate he was also a diabetic which complicated his health Laurel had a stroke in 1955 which he survived but it left him weak when all Hardy died in 1957 Laurel quietly retired and moved into a small apartment in Santa Monica with his wife Ida he spent his final years as a lonely man who passed his time writing letters possibly thousands of them Laurel spent hours every day corresponding with anyone he could Faithfully answering fan letters and sending missives off to his acquaintances some of these letters reveal tragic facts as when he writes that after his stroke quote of course I shall never be in a condition to work anymore even more tragic was the fact that Stan Laurel pinned something other than letters during his final years he also wrote comedy routines designed for Laurel and Hardy routines that would never be performed as new Statesman notes it was almost as if it was Laurel's way of staying in touch with Hardy where did TV Legend Lucille Ball's money go after she died and how did her personal letters wind up in the hands of a pro golfer let's find out although she is perhaps best known today for her groundbreaking sitcom series I Love Lucy there's plenty more to say about comedy icon Lucille Ball thanks to Desi Productions she was also the first woman to run a major Hollywood studio alongside her husband Desi arnes she broke ground by depicting one of the first interracial couples on television ball and arnes first met on a film set back in 1940 and alop soon after years later when CVS approached her about developing her own show she wouldn't do it unless Ares played her onscreen husband the network reluctantly agreed and a sitcom Legend was born however the Union between ball and arnes did not last though I Love Lucy shows otherwise the pairs relationship was filled with infidelity and drinking on his part when their TV relationship had run its course they divorced in 1960 putting an end to 20 tumultuous years of marriage all cited extreme cruelty and mental suffering as the cause but despite their divorce and subsequent new partners Paul and arnes remained close she went on to marry comedian Gary Morton in 1961 and they stayed together until her death in 1989 after struggling with fertility issues in the 1940s ball and arnes eventually had two children together she gave birth to their daughter Lucy in 1951 and her son Desi Jr in 1953 in fact her pregnancy with her son was even written into I Love Lucy according to Time Magazine the network was initially against the idea however by excluding the word pregnancy from the storyline Paul and arnes were eventually allowed to incorporated into the script I heard you sing a number called we're having a baby my baby and me if you will sing it for us now it will be my way of breaking the news to him her son was born on the same day that the birth episode of I Love Lucy aired on CBS but what was the iconic redhead like as a mother in an interview with KCRW in 2021 Lucy Ares said that her mom was always struggling to find ways to relate to her own kids and of course by the time she had children all was already in her 40s not to mention she was a successful and extremely busy entertainment personality Lucy Ares also noted in her conversation with with KCRW that her mother went so far as to ask other celebrities including Debbie Reynolds for parenting advice she believes that bald didn't know how to be a parent since her own father had died when she was four and her mother who worked to support the family was gone most of the day she described her mother as quote Flying Blind when it came to Parenting in another interview with WTOP Lucy Ares stressed that while both she and her brother had a luxurious childhood what they really wanted was more time with their working parents despite this she emphasized that her folks truly loved each other and were creative Geniuses Lucille Ball was 77 when she died of a ruptured aorta on April 27th 1989 leaving behind an estate worth an estimated $40 million the inheritance was split among her two children Lucy arnes and Desi Ares Jr and her second husband Gary Morton 7 years after Ball's death Morton went on to marry a professional golfer named Susie mallister that marriage however was short-lived as he died 3 years later with Morton gone his his portion of Ball's inheritance went to mallister in 2010 more than a decade after Morton's death Heritage auctions announced that mallister was parting ways with balls estate items because she was remodeling her home some of those items included jewelry Awards love letters art and even Rolls-Royce this of course did not sit well with Ball's children especially Lucy arnes who threatened legal action to stop the auction the Callister responded by filing a suit according to Danielle and Andy mayoras the judge ruled he would stop the sale only if arnes could post a $250,000 Bond she did not have the money however Heritage auctions later agreed to return balls Awards to Ares who planed to donate them to a museum mallister went on to sell the rest of the items including the love letters and the car they reportedly brought in over $230,000 schlitzie the pin head was one of the most famous circus Sideshow acts ever his unusual appearance attracted swarms of audiences but his life was incredibly hard behind the scenes schitt's most recognizable feature was his small head the result of a disorder called micro people with this condition have skulls that are far smaller than a typical skull and they're often conical toward the crown of the head that much is clear the truth is that micral can be a symptom of several other issues it can be due to genetics Beetle alcohol syndrome the zika virus or a number of other problems while sources say that schlitzie was born with micro others say that he developed a condition later on his body grew but his head didn't each of these possibilities can indicate different causes so it's unclear exactly how schlitzie came to be microsopic it doesn't seem that he was ever seriously examined by any doctor and Medicine in the early 20th century was far more rudimentary than it is now so it's likely that doctors wouldn't have been able to find out anything anyway especially without a family or medical history or any other information to go on since we know next to nothing about schlitzie birth we also don't know much about his childhood other than his last name was probably ctis some sources say that his parents kept him either in an attic or a basement but one thing we can be pretty sure of is that shit's parents probably sold him to the circus decades after slavery was outlawed selling a child with a disability was not exactly legal but people certainly look the other way schlitzie went on to work for just about every popular circus that existed during his lifetime including big names like barnab and Bailey and wringling brothers as he was traded sold and lent to various circus owners this was actually common practice at the time despite how horrifying it sounds because circuses typically followed a specific route of cities each year the owners wanted to keep things fresh and so they would frequently swap out attractions in Hope of bringing new customers to cities they had been to before this meant that Sideshow performers often moved between circuses and constantly visited new cities while performers who were more able-minded might have had some say in this those with intellectual disabilities like schlitzie likely had no choice whatsoever because of schlitzie cognitive difficulties it's said that he behaved a lot like an excitable child he had a sense of wonder and joy that audiences loved and kept them coming back to see him he could sing dance and even parrot people and audiences ate it all up one of his most popular acts was quite simple he would count from 1 to 10 though it's said that he would often skip the number seven it's not certain if schlitzie had trouble remembering it or if it was part of the act and he skipped it on purpose for laughs but audiences weren't the only ones upon whom schlitzie left a mark his nurses and caregivers are said to have loved him and fellow performers were also very fond of him and made sure he was taken care of while he never had a family per say the circuses he worked for made sure to treat him as family on the occasions that audiences were cruel to schlitzie the other circus workers would quickly stop the Abus of audience members and make them leave schitt's most famous acting appearance was in the 1932 horror film freaks in which he effectively played himself however the movie schlitzie was female both onstage and off he gets a good amount of screen time and his performance is a great way for modern audiences to experience his personality and see his charm in action I why litzy what the matter and this wasn't schlitzie only film role he played a sideshow performer in 1928's the sideshow and 1941's meet Boston Blacky and he appeared in 1932's the island of Lost Souls early adaptation of HG Wells novel The Island of doct Moro as one of the manimals but his most unusual role came in the exploitation film tomorrow's children which was meant to showcase the evils of force sterilization common practice at the time for criminals or those with disabilities schlitzie has a brief role as a criminal sentenced to sterilization and unusually for him he appears with a full head of hair and a beard one sad truth about Sideshow performers is that many of them had shorter than average lives schlitzie was actually one of the exceptions to this he died on September 24th 1971 and according to his own death certificate lived to the age of 70 however that birth date is unconfirmed so it's possible that schlitzie was older possibly even in his 80s when he passed away his cause of death was listed as bronchial neumonia brought on by medary Depression schlitzie was quite poor at the end of his life and and thus he wasn't able to afford a grave marker in 2007 a schlitzie fan named Scott Michaels visited schlitzie grave in California he remarked upon the lack of a gravestone on his website so members of the site's Message Board decided to see what they could do about the situation one of them called up Queen of Heaven Cemetery and found out there was a balance that needed to be paid off and then a new marker could be placed there so the sit's members held a little fundraiser and after raising a few hundred schit balance was paid and a small ground level marker was added to the plot Rock Hudson was best known for his dashing looks and roles in Giant and all that heaven allows behind Rock Hudson's Fame was a troubled childhood a manipulative Hollywood agent and a struggle with his gay identity he was also the first major celebrity to die with AIDS in 1985 Rock Hudson didn't have the easiest start in life born Roy Herold sheerer Jr in WKA Illinois Hudson's father abandoned him and his mother when Hudson was still a child his mother later remarried a man named Wallace fitgerald Hudson's new stepfather adopted the 8-year-old Roy giving him the last name Fitzgerald one would think it would be indicative of some paternal feeling towards the boy however this turned out not to be the case Wallace Fitzgerald was brutal toward his stepson especially when the young Roy first revealed his interest in becoming an actor Hudson learned early in life just how dangerous it could be to express his true thoughts and feelings Hudson later enlisted in the US Navy during World War II and served from 1944 to 1946 after he was discharged he moved to Hollywood and took took a paying job as a truck driver he lingered around movie studios during the day hoping to be noticed by Executives or Talent agents the young Roy Fitzgerald as Rock Hudson was then known did get his wish and was discovered by Hollywood talent agent Henry Wilson Wilson was quite taken with Roy's dashing good looks and imposing 6'4 height however the talent agent had a very shady reputation in the Hollywood world it was also a semi-open secret that Henry Wilson was gay and while he was good at producing actors it was also known that Wilson usually recruited young hand some and inexperienced aspiring actors like Hudson Rock Hudson and Henry Wilson actually had a lot in common seeing as both were gay men with abusive fathers Wilson's father even sent him to an all- male boarding school when he was young hoping the school would make his son more manly once Wilson recruited him Roy Fitzgerald had to completely remake His image with Henry Wilson's help of course Wilson was actually the one who gave his client his new name Rock cutson he was given the first name Rock for the rock of jalter and the last name Hudson for the Hudson River given that Hudson's legal last name up until that point had been his abusive stepfathers he probably wasn't too regretful about giving it up but Wilson knew that Hudson needed more than a name change to be a convincing leading man it was clear that Hudson was gay but that couldn't be made obvious to Studio Executives or the public luckily Hudson already had the height the good looks and the naive Wilson could work with all of that according to van8 Fair Wilson personally paid for an extensive makeover for Hudson this included getting Hudson's teeth capped buying him a new wardrobe and sending him provocal lessons Wilson even taught Hudson how to exude an exaggerated masculinity in essence Henry Wilson can be credited with creating the Cinematic image of the Rock Hudson the public recognized surprisingly enough Rock Hudson was actually not that great an actor in the beginning he had no professional experience or training as an actor when he first arrived in Hollywood however others were willing to take a chance on him because of his stunning All-American good looks and imposing height before signing with Henry Wilson Hudson would apparently pose outside of the studio Gates hoping to catch a higher-ups attention with with his handsomeness or send photos of himself to producers even Henry Wilson couldn't deny that Hudson's primary talents at least in the beginning were his striking good looks according to Vanity Fair after laying Eyes On Hudson Wilson was said to have declared quote the acting can be added later once Hudson was signed he was given acting in vocal lessons his debut role in 1948 was a bit part in the movie Fighter Squadron however as noted by the radio times there were rumors that it took 38 takes for Hudson to deliver his one simple line in the film successfully he I want let you do it you know you love you and you know I won't let me throw it all the way so I screwed it up can I try it again in fact for the rest of his acting career Hudson was Notorious for his problems with learning his lines despite his struggles they didn't stop him from starring in the 1956 film giant a role that earned him a best actor Oscar nomination homosexuality was never portrayed on the big screen during the old Hollywood days but many of Hudson's roles often depicted a man in the midst of an identity crisis like Magnificent Obsession and all All That Heaven allows both of which were directed by Douglas cirk cir was one of Hudson's regular directors and seemed keenly aware of Hudson's personal struggles with identity he likely urged Hudson to do these roles and I've always been trusting my audience to have imagination otherwise they should stay out of this Cinema given how Hudson grappled with pretending to be a completely different person in public he was most effective in these film roles Douglas cir and Rock Hudson worked together several times and they both had a close friendship according to an article in the Criterion Collection Hudson described his bond with cir as very much a father-son type of relationship he was like old dad to me and I was like a son to him I think Hudson was about the same age as cir's son whom he lost custody to in a divorce after his ex-wife joined the Nazi party and Hudson had never had a close paternal figure in his life so Circ was certainly a welcome change although Henry Wilson was instrumental in starting Hudson's career working with him came at a hefty price Wilson's reputation had never been the greatest but by the 1960s it was was getting even worse besides being a notorious alcoholic excessively vicious and cruel rumors of Wilson's quote gay Casting Couch were circulating Studios became increasingly more reluctant to sign his clients Hudson stood by Wilson and continued to have a professional and personal relationship with him for years but by 1966 Wilson was becoming a weight around his neck Hudson then fired him Hudson had been Wilson's most profitable client and without him Wilson didn't have much to work with he would continue to spiral downward into poverty and ill health according to div Vanity Fair when his health was extremely bad and the money had run out Wilson begged Hudson for financial help Hudson wrote a check for $20,000 and said that was all he owed Henry Wilson and no more Wilson died in 1978 of therosis of the liver by then he was completely destitute there wasn't even enough money for a headstone at his grave for years Henry Wilson was nameless in his plot until someone finally paid for a headstone to be made prior to his diagnosis with AIDS Rock Hudson was already starting to develop severe health problems in the early 80s Hudson was a heavy smoker and Drinker which were likely the main contributors to his issues in the 1980s Hudson had switched gears and was now acting on television in 1982 when starring on The short-lived detective show the deving connection Hudson had a massive heart attack that shut down production he subsequently had to have quadruple bypass surgery will not be sick I will not be dependent upon anybody else by the time Hudson recovered from surgery and filming resumed viewers lost interest in the devilin connection and the show was canceled Rock Hudson's last major role was on the soap opera Dynasty he was intended to be a leading character but soon it became obvious that his health was failing him Hudson was becoming increasingly frailer losing weight and soon his speech began to suffer after appearing on 14 episodes of Dynasty Hudson's character had to be written off the show as an A-list Hollywood star Rock Hudson would always be in the public eye but he tried to avoid the Limelight whenever possible including interviews and one of his rare interviews in the 80s with journalists ran to Handler Handler inquired about his reluctance to give interviews Hudson responded by blaming his interview shyness on worries about being misquoted while there is certainly some truth to this most likely Rock Hudson found interviews particularly stressful due to diminished control for decades he had to play a very specific carefully crafted role for the public and a curveball question from an interviewer could throw off the facade which meant he risked exposure Rock Hudson was diagnosed with AIDS in 1984 he had originally visited a dermatologist to have a blemish on his neck examined the blemish turned out to be a form of cancer typically found in AIDS patients this meant he had an obligation to contact his recent former lovers to inform them of his illness however Hudson was still wary about exposing his identity and Outing himself as gay instead his close friend George nater handled the process for him by sending out Anonymous letters which according to USA Today stated the following we recently had sex together and I have been informed by my doctor that I may have AIDS please go to your doctor and have a checkup nater posted the letters from his home in Palm Springs to prevent anyone from tracing them back to Hudson and compromising him despite their best efforts to protect Tech Hudson one of the recipients a 22-year-old man guessed the letter writer's actual identity after being diagnosed with AIDS himself the young man sold his story to a tabloid for $10,000 before dying 6 months later Hudson eventually came out publicly in 1985 about his AIDS diagnosis and identity as a gay man he was one of the first celebrities to discuss his homosexuality and his diagnosis with the deadly disease it ended up being a huge turning point in bringing greater awareness about the AIDS epidemic before AIDS was publicly dismissed as a quote gay disease and not regarded as seriously as it needed to be but once Rock Hudson came out everything changed now there was an identifiable human face for the disease it can be considered disappointing that it took a celebrity getting diagnosed with AIDS a sickness that was already killing many in order for it to be given proper attention but it did the trick Hudson's old celebrity friends like Elizabeth Taylor and Doris Day stood by him while people from all over began supporting AIDS benefits and fundraisers in a 1985 interview with people Joan Rivers admitted that Rock Hudson's coming out did wonders for Aid support telling in the magazine two years ago when I hosted a benefit for AIDS I couldn't get one major star to turn out Rock's admission is a horrendous way to bring aids to the attention of the American public but by doing so rock and his life has helped millions in the process Rock Hudson passed away at the age of 59 on October 2nd 1985 he was able to live out the remainder of his life surrounded by close friends while Hudson was fortunate to have a support system at the end of his life he never was able to have true love his career in public life wouldn't permit it before his death Hudson revealed to biographer Sarah Davidson that stock broker Lee Garlington was his quote real true love the two dated in the mid-60s but had to keep their relationship a secret or it would have metant career suicide for both of them this involved taking secret trips together away from the press's prying eyes and attending Hollywood Events together with women as their official dates but Hudson's career in the public eye wouldn't allow them to stay together for the Long Haul during a recent interview with people Garlington expressed his regret that they couldn't have been together in today's more accepting World telling the magazine I wish he had been born 30 or 40 years later he'd be more relaxed and at ease and it would have been a happier life he'd also be elated by how much has changed the feud between sisters Joan Fontaine and Olivia D havind was the longest running in Hollywood history spanning almost an entire Century of sights Spite and sniping in the Press but why keep watching to find out both Betty Davis and Joan Crawford were Hollywood heavyweights during its Golden Age the feud between the two leading ladies has become tinsel toown lore as they tirelessly threw Jabs at one another in what was ultimately a clash of egos Davis and Crawford's rivalry kicked off in 1933 Crawford was already considered an aess star while Davis was still making a name for herself having finally scored a leading role in EX-L according to Joan Crawford Hollywood martyr Davis was thrilled at the possibility of newspapers promoting the flick us front page news but Crawford's announcement that she was divorcing her first husband movie star Douglas Fairbanks Jr suddenly took Center Stage ultimately Publications gave scant reviews of EX-L while Crawford's personal drama snagged multiple Pages the moment sparked a feud between the two women that lasted four decades with Jabs both professional and personal being hurled both ways the pair did end up starring in a movie together in 1962 for whatever happened to Baby Jane according to the biography not the girl next door it was Crawford who reached out to Davis knowing that she would be perfect for the film their time on set was anything but professional with Davis even accusing Crawford of intentionally injuring her while they filmed the scene Elizabeth Taylor and Debbie Reynolds legendary spat was due to a love triangle which resulted in the two not speaking for years Reynolds and Taylor met when they were teens and both signed to MGM the pair remained friends as they grew into adulthood with Reynolds marrying Eddie fiser in 1955 and Taylor tying the knot with Mike Todd two years later with Reynolds serving as the matron of honor sadly Taylor's marital bliss was cut short in 1958 after Todd tragically died in a plane crash curiously enough it was fiser who immediately ran to Taylor's side to console her and a mere month later he separated from Reynolds while the Press had a field day with the news Taylor and Reynold's friendship came to a halt decades later in 2010 Reynolds revealed to the Daily Mail that she believed Taylor's affair with fiser actually began in 1957 when he was away touring a lonely Reynolds phoned her friend and was horrified to hear her husband on the other line fiser ended up marrying Taylor and the two women didn't speak for years even after Taylor and fiser divorced according to closer weekly 7 years after Taylor betrayed her friend the two finally reconciled after discovering they were stuck together on a ship heading from New York to England with Reynolds extending the Olive Branch Jerry Lewis was a huge part of Dean Martin's climb to the top of the A-list in 1946 Martin was a nightclub singer when he met Lewis after a performance the pair hit it off and their comedy Act was born the following year they were so popular together the duo made an incredible 16 films together between the years of 1949 and 1956 however behind closed doors the situation was less than Stellar Martin was tired of being just the straight man to Lewis's wacky Antics while Lewis detested that his partner in crime didn't have the same workaholic mentality as he did a significant point of contention came in 1954 when look magazine cropped Martin out of a promotional photo for their new movie living it up things never recovered after that and by 1956 Lewis and Martin had gone their separate ways according to people the two refused to speak to one another for a whopping 20 years until their mutual friend Frank Sinatra attempted a live surprise onstage reunion in 1976 although they were civil for the cameras it would be another 10 years before they truly reconciled after Martin's son passed away in a plane crash in 1987 when Martin died in 1995 Lewis took the blame for their bitter split all those decades ago he told TCM Ben minkowitz that Martin was the best man he ever met you still thought of him as your best friend oh God yes oh yes when Jane Mansfield finally reached the A-list in the late 1950s Marilyn Monroe was already a Bonafide Hollywood icon the pair were already on bad terms before they even met according to the Vintage news Mansfield was considered by many a cheaper knockoff version of Monroe which clearly irked Maryland so so annoyed was Monroe with her arrival that she once snapped at writer Lawrence J Quirk all she does is imitate me I wish I had some legal means to sue her after a confused Quirk asked her why she would want to take legal action against Mansfield Monroe said quote for degrading the image but it wasn't just Mansfield's copycat behavior that annoyed Monroe as Quirk notes Mansfield purportedly took note of her rival's alleged affair with John F Kennedy and decided she wanted a slice of president residential pie too utilizing the help of JFK's brother-in-law Peter Lawford Mansfield had her own secret trist with Kennedy later telling Lawford everyone in Hollywood in Washington knows about it anyway Al Bet maryn's pissed the feud between Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando began in 1954 when Brando snagged the lead part in on the waterfront a role that Sinatra was gunning for himself although there wasn't any bad blood from Brando's side biographer James Kaplan told closer weekly that quote Frank detested the ground that Brando walked on when the pair became co-stars the following year for the musical comedy Guys and Dolls things only worsened and Brando started antagonizing old blue eyes during a scene where Sinatra was eating cheesecake Brando would purposely mess up his lines the result Sinatra would have to keep eating for multiple takes on end don't think I am oppressed but do yourself a favor eat this last little bite of cheese cake you will thank me the breaking point came when Sinatra's estranged wife Ava Gardner decided to visit Brando in his dressing room sending Sinatra into an alleged jealous rage according to the book Brando unzipped Brando was kidnapped by three men who forced him into a car and threatened to kill him at gunpoint for 2 hours after Brando was released he was convinced that Sinatra who had alleged mafia ties was behind it Bud Abbot and Lou Costello are considered comedy Legends the winning formula for the duo was the roles they played Abbott who acted as more of a straight man was the serious schemer while Costello played the more childlike comedic role while this made for some phenomenal on-screen chemistry the two men grew to hate one another off camera in 1945 9 years after teaming up their relationship soured when Abbott hired a m that had formerly worked for Costello This resulted in Costello telling the tabloids that Abbot was a drunk while Abbott himself publicly declared he'd get physical with his onscreen Chum under their contracts Abbot and Castello were forced to keep working together but they didn't speak to each other when cameras weren't rolling their most serious row happened in 1957 after Errol Flynn played a practical joke on the pair and their families by inviting them for a film screening and instead playing a very adult movie Flynn pretended he had no idea how the movies got switched so Abbott and Costello blamed each other for the tasteless joke leading to their final breakup Jane Mansfield's climb to Tinsel Town a list was an interesting one mainly because her critics didn't exactly think she was that good of an actor considered by The Hollywood Reporter as the first star to be famous for being famous Mansfield knew how to use the tabloids to her Advantage One of Mansfield's most well-known publicity stunts involved the celebrated actor Sophia luren which allegedly irked the Italian Star so much it turned Turner off Hollywood as a whole in 1957 Lauren visited Hollywood attending a press event in her honor after Loren had been seated at the table Mansfield crashed the party as she leaned over Loren's table Mansfield suffered a wardrobe malfunction grabbing headlines as much for Loren side eye as for Mansfield herself many newspapers and magazines reportedly published photos from the event with the words censored covering Mansfield's booom decades later Loren told Entertainment Weekly I'm staring at her nipples because I'm afraid they're about to come on to my plate if she moves everything moves and it's a disaster after Mansfield's tragic death in 1967 though Loren would always declined to autograph copies of the photo out of respect for Mansfield Orson Wells released his magnum opus Citizen Cane in 1941 it's now considered one of the greatest films of all time but it completely flopped at the time of its release thanks to newspaper Mogul William Randolph Hurst the titular character of Charles Foster Kane was said to have been inspired in part by Hurst Hurst was so offended by the on-screen portrayal that he prohibited newspapers from mentioning the movie and ban movie theaters from showing it in 1970 Wells told dick Cavit that the hursts tried to keep the movie from ever being seen at all they tried to have it destroyed they even tried to frame me Hurst died in 1951 while Wells passed away in 1985 the feud seems to have died with them in 2015 hurst's great-grandson Steven Hurst gave permission to screen Citizen Cane in the private movie theater at Hurst Castle Steven Hurst told NPR that reporters questioned him about how his ancestor would have felt one of them said do you think your great-grandfather would be rolling in his grave and I let him know that based on my current responsibilities I also have control of the mausoleum and necessary I can check the feud between Joan Fontaine and Olivia d havind goes past a Hollywood squabble it was a familial rivalry the sisters were born a mere 15 months apart and their competitiveness reportedly began while they were still children Joe and the younger of the two believed that their mother preferred Olivia so the pair often fought their altercations ranged from small slabs to one occasion when Olivia broke her sister's collarbone trying to pull her into a pool disturbingly Joan revealed in an interview with Life magazine in 1942 that when she was nine she plotted to kill her sister if Olivia kept hitting her a plan that luckily didn't come to fruition by 1938 D havind was an established star while Fontaine struggled to catch up their Feud only escalated when Fontaine took a job as her sister's chauffeur to make ends meet then they became professional Rivals as the only siblings to both win and Oscar in a leading acting category the two eventually stopped speaking to each other entirely after their mother's death in 1975 in 1978 Fontaine told The Hollywood Reporter I'm married first won the Oscar before Olivia did and if I die first she'll undoubtedly be livid because I beat her to it none of us are warm and cozy it's not in our Natures ultimately they had the longest running feud in Hollywood history Fontaine died in 2013 at the age of 96 while D havlin died in 2020 20 at the age of 104 they reportedly never reconciled German director burner Herzog and actor K Claus kinsky produced some incredible films together having collaborated five times the pair knew each other since they were teens as Herzog met kinsky when he moved into his apartment building when they began working together though their professional relationship was messy and vola although their movies were legendary so were their spats off camera the most turbulent INF flick the Pair worked on together was 1972's air the wrath of God which took place in Peru by this point in kinsky career he was already well known for being an incredibly difficult actor to work with and let's just say the intense jungle filming didn't lead to much Harmony on set there is some sort of a Harmony it is the harmony of overwhelming and Collective murder her soog later recalled that when kinsky decided to just walk off of the movie hertog bluntly told him if you leave the set now you will reach the bend the next Bend of the river and I will shoot you we'll have eight bullets through your head kinsky stayed but his dramatic Antics during the filming of air didn't irk hertog alone according to the guardian at one point the native peruvians playing extras in the film actually offered to kill kinsky for Herz off which he thankfully [Music] declined when The Wizard of Oz came out not everyone was a fan in fact one prominent film critic decried the movie for what he termed vulgarity why keep watching to find out when the Wizard of Oz made its official World premiere in a limited preview run in okan moak Wisconsin on August 12th 1939 it was a big deal or rather an even bigger deal than usual back then a night at the movies was already an event as movie theaters were often palacial from ornate Art Deco facades to the the plush seats and carpets under glittering chandeliers still movie goers who went to see The Wizard of Oz knew it was an extra special event Katherine buckridge told Wisconsin news channel wn2 that she was an a struck teenager dazzled by the lights in commotion when she attended the movies World premiere at the Strand Theater she said that everyone was dressed up as if they had been invited to a Hollywood Gala and people were eagerly buzzing around with excitement the film completely sold out each of the five nights it played at the Strand and it received similar attention at other theaters in Kenosha Wisconsin and Dennis Massachusetts word spread in by the time the movie was officially released on August 25th it had already become something of a phenomenon we just want to be clear there is some controversy as to where the real very first showing of Wizard of Oz was but regardless it wasn't in New York or LA or even Kansas totto I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore much of the buzz Around The Wizard of Oz didn't come just from Word of Mouth though a lot of it was due to an extensive marketing campaign just the circus style movie posters were enough to generate excitement for the film making claims such as it took 2 years just to plan it and startling balloon Ascent even details about the costumes and special effects were blasted onto some of the posters just to emphasize how unbelievable they were entire articles were written in magazines and newspapers as advertisements MGM spent a massive amount buying ad space in every publication it possibly could printing full color kod chrome cover art merch also appeared in some unusual places in her history of t-shirts branding expert Alysa Martez notes that the first promotional t-shirt Ever Was Made For The Wizard of Oz you can actually see it in the movie made by hannes and emblazoned with oz in bold white the shirt can be seen on three Emerald City beauticians giving the Scarecrow a makeover by refilling his stuffing in the weeks following the smash Premiere at the Strand Theater The Wizard of Oz opened in theaters Nationwide as the Los Angeles Times noted most critics were oooing and eyeing over the spectacle of the film itself and its individual performances especially Bert laws Antics as the Cowardly Lion and Rising Star Judy Garland's haunting rendition of Over the Rainbow some theater goers who attended early showings in New York City got an extra surprise Garland and other cast members actually made appearances in person to to help promote the film needless to say tickets were hard to come by though 1937 Snow White had paved the way for color films making movies in color were still very uncommon in 1939 in fact The Wizard of Oz was one of the earliest live-action movies to be shot in Technicolor scenes in the Land of Oz were filmed with eight technol cameras and used a Technicolor machine in theaters which needed a trained attendant to operate it those who saw The Wizard of Oz during its first run remember the Satur ated colors as one of the things that stood out the most Catherine buckridge recalled to wn2 that was very impressive because we had never seen color before if you went to the movies often in the 1930s you would have been used to sepia tones now imagine suddenly being dazzled by the realm Dorothy steps into once her house crash lands in Oz for the first time you would see flowers blooming in every shade of the rainbow the Wicked Witch of the West at her greenest and those famous ruby slippers d dazling in the sunlight Judy Garland was already on her way to stardom before the film that forever transformed her Bert L Jack Haley Ray buer and the film's other stars were already recognizable during that era there was only one mask used in the movie for Ray buer as the Scarecrow an original program given out at the Hollywood Premiere states that makeup artists made sure viewers could easily tell who the actors were underneath fans at the time would have probably recognized Bert L from starring in 193 Ates just around the corner opposite pint-sized Starlet Shirley Temple despite the heaps of makeup and fur that went into transforming him into the Cowardly Lion you can definitely tell that it's his face under there Jack Haley the Tin Man had also starred alongside temple in poor little rich girl and Rebecca of Sunny Brook Farm both of which preceded The Wizard of Oz he'd also previously starred with Garland in pig skin parade during her rise to Fame in 1936 movie fans of the time would have certainly recognized most of the stars stars who became forever linked with their Wizard of Oz roles that is the original hat that I wore in the picture The Wizard of Oz you want going to put it on even in an era long before music streaming Over the Rainbow and we're off to see the wizard were instant hits Over the Rainbow soon became one of the most demanded songs on the radio what is now considered one of the greatest soundtracks of all time appealed to listeners from the beginning thanks to its Whimsy the the wistful sadness of Over the Rainbow also resonated with audiences who could use something to take them far far away from the hard times of the depression while we're off to see the wizard was catchy enough for critics and Casual viewers alike to be skipping along to it the songs from the film were so memorable that they played an undeniable role in the film becoming a cultural icon some especially over the rainbow were both a return to innocence and a form of expression in a time of need according to Raymond nap in the American Musical the performance of personal identity ding-dong The Witch Is Dead vented the anger and frustration that had built up after the massive stock market crash which all but broke the human Spirit during The Bleak 1930s Judy Garland was instantly dubbed America's sweetheart in the Afterglow of her Star Performance as Dorothy Legions of little girls wanted to be just like Dorothy as Roger Ebert said in his analysis of The Wizard of Oz there was just something about the way Garland played the character who was courageous but still compa passionate and vulnerable which appealed to viewers both then and now Garland became such an icon that every girl's dream was to have something maybe even memorabilia from the movie autographed by her OZ museum has recounted the story which has now become a legend about a young girl in a Santa Ana Hospital who was obsessed with the Wizard of Oz in her sleep she would call out to Dorothy her heartbroken mother wrote Garin a letter asking if she could send her daughter an autograph photo but the actress went above and beyond the rainbow according to the story she visited the hospital some say in her Dorothy costume to sign an autograph in person The Wizard of Oz was an escape for those weary from the depression the desolation of the era was part of the reason why everything that transpired at the Gail Family Farm was filmed in dreary black and white there was more symbolism too miss gch the richest woman in the county and her wicked witch Alter Ego symbolized the greed evil and oppression of the era and The Wizard just a conman a character who The Hollywood Reporter said was quote rich and humorous in uendo but history goes further comparing the wizard to president Herbert Hoover whose big promises to relieve the depression were mostly empty from Dorothy's home sickness to the laments of the Scarecrow Tin Man and lion seeking a brain a heart and courage there were countless elements of The Wizard of Oz that proved there was Humanity in a world that was otherwise imaginary most reviews for The Wizard of Oz were absolutely glowing one film critic writing for the Dallas Morning News said it was the best movie MGM had produced in years adding that he personally thought it was up there with Disney Snow White critics were also mystified over how the studio managed to pull off things like Dorothy picking an apple from an angry tree that snatches the apple right back sure the tree was just an actor in a rubber suit that zipped up in the back as the Dallas Morning News critic revealed but the magic was in the suspension of disbelief each one had a man inside to make the limbs move and here's one of the special effect guys now coming up for air though variety critic John C Flynn noted that some Liberties had been taken with L frank bomb's novel he also found himself Enchanted even though the plot was quite straightforward Flynn and other critics thought that the performances and effects elevated the movie and exceeded their already high expectations not every critic was a fan though when Russell Maloney composed his review for the New Yorker he revealed that he was having a hard time even revie the film because it was so garish he elaborated the vulgarity of which I was conscious is difficult to analyze reason for Malone's reaction included special effects that he found more aggravating than amusing the Technicolor in his opinion was overdone to the point that you could hardly watch what was happening on screen then there was his gripe about the wicked witch it has more to do with the Wizard's reaction to her demise but that was just one of the many gags he absolutely did not find amusing Maloney was even convinced that Bert l Cowardly Lion had no place in O he thought there was no imagination in a film that was meant to capture the imagination in a recent survey of contemporary reviews the Los Angeles Times noted that many critics of the time were put off by the more modern elements used in the film such as the Wicked Witch of the West using her broom to skyrite surrender Dorothy above the Emerald City critic Otis Ferguson who reviewed the movie for the new Republic believed that the film was trying too hard to emulate the success of Snow White he didn't appreciate the humor though he did believe that the film would be appealing to kids because of the flashy effects and joyful Tunes William Stillman coauthor of the Wizardry of Oz told the Los Angeles Times that The Wizard of Oz sold out in theaters with around half of the audience being eager wide-eyed children the majority of critics were Enchanted the film also received five Oscar nominations including one for Best Picture which It ultimately lost to a little movie called gone with the win but it did score wins for best original song long and best original score despite all that The Wizard of Oz wasn't actually a big hit it cost around $2.8 million to make and only brought back $3 million meaning that once you add in the cost of that massive marketing campaign the studio actually lost money it wasn't until the film was re-released in 1949 and 1955 that it finally turned a profit funnily enough though the true source of the movie's lasting popularity is actually due to television the wizard of Oz's first aired on TV in 1956 to a huge audience and brought in an even bigger rating when it aired again in 1959 sensing a hit the networks began airing The Wizard of Oz every year becoming a beloved tradition for tens of millions of Americans to this day the life of Peter sers is a 20th century archetype that of an astronomical rise from humble beginnings to International stardom but away from the characters of Inspector cluso and chance the Gardner sers was a troubled man here are some tragic IC details about Peter cers famous for slipping in and out of characters and creating new ones at the drop of a hat the character of the real life Peter cers has been difficult to pin down Stanley kubri described the naturalness with which he inhabited his roles in classic movies as quote a state of comic ecstasy and his dynamism is shown especially in the film Doctor Strange Love In which sellers plays three distinct Parts but it has been reported by many biographers that sellers found his own identity impossible to inhabit furthermore in a 1980 interview on The Today show the actor discussed an idea that had recently taken hold that in essence there was no Peter sers Sellers claimed that it wasn't entirely true that behind the mask he was an empty vessel but the topic had recurred throughout his career and in a famous clip from The Muppet Show sellers who had hosted the show as a range of characters told Kermit there is no me I do not exist The Daily Telegraph notes however that the roots of his selflessness may have Arisen from tragic circumstances in early childhood sers was born Richard Henry sers with the name Peter bestowed on him as a tribute to his older brother who was still born this sense of displaced identity haunted sellers but perhaps it gave him his ability to project himself so uncannily into the minds of other characters Peter sers had a reputation as a womanizer divorcing his first wife Anne with whom he had had two children in the early 1960s his second wife the Swedish actress Britt Ecklund has in recent Years Gone on record to describe their difficult marriage and sell's jealous controlling and abusive Behavior heckin suggested that her former husband most likely had bipolar disorder explaining the great bouts of depression and paranoia that characterized his relationships with women in his life eckan was just 21 when she met sers who was 17 years her senior the actor had seen her photograph in a newspaper and decided that he wanted to meet her the pair were soon married with sellers informing the Press of his intentions before actually proposing to ekan eckan described how sellers would decide on almost all aspects of their lives together including the outfits that his wife was to wear in one incident his abrupt decision that they should take a spontaneous holiday meant that eckan was fired from her role in a Hollywood movie eckan is described how sers was both psychologically and physically abusive going so far as to throw items and Destroy property if he didn't get his way after his divorce from eckan sellers remarried twice more to Aristocrat Miranda McMillan and later to actress Lynn Frederick to whom he was married at the time of his death Peter cell's erratic Behavior toward those close to him was exacerbated by alcohol and the drugs with which he used to experiment big drinking and fast- living Hollywood actors weren't EX ly a rare species in the 60s and70s but the effects of such a lifestyle for Sellers and those around him were especially disastrous firstly alcohol and drugs affected his health dramatically with sellers having his first heart attack before the age of 40 however to make matters worse sellers wasn't given adequate treatment for a variety of reasons as noted by the guardian sell's value to the production companies that made his movies meant that his heart issues were continually brushed off on top of that sers himself was highly superstitious and pursued a number of alternative methods when decisive medical intervention by Pulmonary Specialists might have had a tangible effect on his health coupled with the fact that sellers did not change his lifestyle which was Amplified by the similar habits of his fourth wife Lynn Frederick it became a certainty that his health would continue to decline the heroine period which his biographer Ed pikov describes as quote Peter sell's death began in a Los Angeles hotel room in April 1964 with sellers ined with 21-year-old wife Brit Ecklund piko's book features direct quotes from Eckland who described the regular with which the couple used drugs to increase their bedroom performance particularly Amal nitrit commonly known as poppers the couple would take the drug nightly according to eckan in pursuit of quote the ultimate orgasm on this particular night however their adventurousness would go ay with eckan describing how she came back from the bathroom to find sers collapsed on the bed in a puddle of spilled champagne with sers himself realizing that he was having a heart attack despite this sers wasn't taken to Cedars of Lebanon Hospital until the next morning where over the course of the coming days he would would suffer a barrage of further heart attacks in which his heart stopped entirely the star was revived each time by a defibrillator pikov describes how on hearing the news television Crews were already working on potential obituaries he said I was dead for 2 minutes clinically dead and um I I guess I was you know meanwhile between bouts of unconsciousness sellers performed songs and impersonations for children on the ward sellers would continue to have heart issues for the rest of his life sellers first marriage to Anne how came to an and due to his infatuation with another woman Italian pagee and Screen Idol Sophia luren Sellers and luren had worked together on the 1960 movie The millionaires as well as the novelty song goodness gracious me which sers performed in character to promote the movie sers didn't exactly keep his infatuation with his co-star secret according to pikov colleagues on the set of the millionaires reported that sellers acted boyishly toward luren as though she were a pinup in his bedroom meanwhile in the evenings over dinner with his family the actor could not help but pour over the the details of Loren's behavior and how she treated him each day in one incident sers returned home and declared his love for Loren openly to his wife luren was married to Italian movie producer Carlo ponti and would continue to be until his death in 2007 sellers claimed to friends that he and his co-star were in the throws of a passionate love affair and that she was going to leave her husband for him however there is no evidence to support these claims and as Michael Sellers has discussed the possibility exists that sers infatuation was nothing more than a fantasy born out of the of his ego from being cast opposite such a glamorous sex symbol it wasn't just his first wife an who had to deal with sell's ego-driven emotional problems his Declaration of love for Sophia luran also occurred in front of his children his son Michael speaking to pikov described a moment when his father awoke him in the middle of the night to ask him the following question you think I should divorce your mummy though the Sophia Loren Saga is perhaps the most striking example of seller's strange lack of regard for the feelings of his family the truth is that they acted as a continual outlet for his in Securities in an interview with the Scotsman Michael recalls how his father had asked him at the age of seven which of his parents he liked best when he replied mommy it sent sellers into a rage the following year Michael says his father wrote him a letter claiming to disown him and Advising the child to take his mother's made name how Michael together with his sisters Sarah and Victoria later wrote a best-selling book about the treatment they received from their troubled and troubling father but aside from the intermittent contact distance and mood swings that the three had to contend with the most brutal treatment was to come at the time of Peter's death irritability flightiness and violent mood swings were not reserved purely for Peter sellers' home life indeed his difficult personality put great strains on his friendships and those he worked with on set a prime example is given in the Recollections of director Peter medic who was friends with sellers according to the guardian the disastrous production of the 1973 movie the ghost in the Noonday sun was so fraught with difficulties that it provided enough material for a story of its own which medic finally told in the form of a documentary that go to Peter Sellers released in 2018 while arranging to work on a script with sellers medic was rudely left waiting alone at the actor's house and having gone to find him discovered sellers on his head naked performing yoga the incident is funny on its own but further ambivalence toward the production on the part of Sellers as well as tantrums and arguments on set combined with bad luck regarding Port shooting conditions meant the movie was never given a theatrical release ghost in the Noonday sun was eventually released on Home Video in 1985 the official biography on the Peter cell's website describes him as an obsessive perfectionist an aspect of his character that accounts for his genius and also partly for his difficult personality nice D I thought you said your dig did not bad that is not my talk Peter sers also had a complicated relationship with his mother Peg Peter was spoiled by his mother which may have been related to the tragedy of Peg losing her first baby in psyops biography sell's first wife an describes the dynamic between the pair as being formative for his later relationships with women Peg remained close to sellers well into his adulthood and was abnormally protective while allowing his behavior to go entirely unchecked some biographers believe this means that sellers remained infantilized expecting the women in his life to Mother him while filming the movie The Bobo in Italy in August 1966 sers received a phone call that his mother had suffered a heart attack however sellers chose to remain on set and his mother died within days her death affected sellers deeply in 1980 16 years after his first heart attack sers heart finally gave out the scene once again was a glamorous Hotel according to Roger eert sers was staying at the Dorchester hotel in London at the time of the attack he was taken to London's middle sex hospital where his condition worsened dramatically sellers passed away at 6:28 p.m. on July 24th by his side was his second wife britland and their daughter Victoria as well as his fourth wife Lynn Frederick to whom he had been married for only a few years a number of tragic details have emerged surrounding s's death apart from the relatively early age at which he passed away firstly sers had been taking steps to reconcile with his children as is indicated by the presence of one of his daughters at his death similarly on the day of his heart attack sellers was due to attend a reunion dinner with his old friends and co-stars on the Goon show Spike Milligan and Harry seeum as reported by whales online sell saved his last joke for after his death he had requested for his funeral the song In the Mood by Glenn Miller a song that all the goons mutually detest it knowing they'd have to sit through it and hopefully share a last laugh one of the most contentious events of Peter s's life occurred in fact after his death and so did one of the most tragic Side Stories at the reading of sellers will it was found that the vast majority of the actors wealth said to be around $7 million was to go straight to his fourth wife Lyn Frederick to whom he was married at the time of his death so far so uncontroversial however the will also stipulated that each of seller's three children were to receive just $1,000 each at the time it seemed like a final rebuke from the erratic and emotionally troubled star although evidence exists in the form of a recently unar letter that sers was attempting to change the beneficiaries of his will at the time of his death Frederick declined to provide sers three children with any more of his fortune than was allocated to them in his will despite the pleas of sell's friend Spike milligans as psychop his book also details how struggling with addiction Frederick died on April 27th 1994 aged just 39 Ginger Rogers was married five times and divorced five times but were any of those marriages broken up by her partnership with Fred a stair keep watching to find out Ginger Rogers Fame had an early start and was possible all thanks to the dance craze of the 1920s the Charleston in 1925 the 14-year-old Rogers then known by her birth name Virginia McMath won a dance competition and was crowned Charleston champion of Texas when I won this contest what kind of contest a Charleston contest the prize for winning the competition was a Vaudeville contract with the help of her mother Ginger Rogers and her redheads was born Ginger was a nickname which came about when a cousin couldn't pronounce her given name of Virginia while Rogers was the last name of her stepfather she played Vaudeville stages until 1929 eventually making her way to New York City from there a star was born dancing was sometimes painful particularly alongside Fred aair who was a notorious perfectionist while filming swing time Rogers coped with extreme foot pain she wrote in her autobiography that she kept dancing even though her feet really hurt at one point she removed her shoes and they were filled with blood I had danced my feet raw she explained producers recommended they sto filming but Rogers wanted to complete the scene they finally got what they wanted by 4 a.m. aere had a lot of confidence in his dancing partner he once remarked that the other women he worked with over the years often cried because they didn't think they could make it through the routines Rogers was the exception according to the book Texas entertainers lone stars and profile esta said quote no Ginger never cried estera on the other hand may have had to hold back some tears during the filming to the 1936 film followed the fleet Ginger Rogers wore a stunning beaded gown that weighed over 25 lbs the sleeves were also covered in heavy beads and had a tendency to hit a stare in the face Rogers admitted she was quote completely unaware that her gown was causing a stare so many problems he winced and was forced to physically move out of the way while she kept on Dancing Rogers of course became an icon by dancing with a stair ironically when they first met on a dance floor she didn't know who he was I was from Texas I had never heard of BR a stair and so it didn't mean anything to me that's why I guess I had such fun in addition to dancing Ginger Rogers also had some impressive acting abilities in 1940s she won the Academy Award for best actress for her role in Kitty foil over the next few years she devoted much of her time to polishing her comedy routines and working for the war effort like many celebrities of the time she was prominently involved in the United States Service organization and participated in rallies to help sell war bonds in her book Ginger my story she said quote we were all proud to do our part all of Rogers hard work and popularity paid off as it resulted in the actress becoming the top paid star in Hollywood 1945 her earnings were around $300,000 and she was the eighth highest Money Maker in America that year Rogers was also career Savvy willing to change with the time she transitioned to television in the 1950s she appeared in sever comedies dramas and variety shows which were popular at the time and she later returned to the stage appearing in Hello Dolly in 1965 and MIM in 1969 among others Ginger Rogers famously dated celebrities such as Howard Hughes and Jimmy Stewart but she was unlucky in love she tied the knot five times but none of them stuck she was just 17 years old when she married her first husband vaudville dancer and comedian Jack pepper they split after two years together she married her second husband Lou SS in 1934 but they divorced 6 years later she also married actor Jack Briggs from 1943 to 1949 french actor jacqu bersak from 1953 to 1957 and actor producer William Marshall from 1961 to 1969 despite persistent rumors however it's unclear whether she was romantically involved with dancing partner Fred a stair either way Roger's wrote in her autobiography yes I have had some failed marriages but I always loved being married carrying cooking and being a companion with a husband were as natural to me as breathing this despite all her relationships Rogers never had children her personal assistant of nearly 20 years Roberto Olden told Fox News that one of the reasons why Rogers didn't have children was because she was so busy with her career Olden also speculated that Rogers simply didn't find the right man to have children with and while other women gave up certain things to have kids Olden explained that Rogers enjoyed her career so she focused on that instead in 1936 Ginger Rogers became one of the first people to be named an admiral by the Texas Navy what's the Texas Navy you ask well in the 19th century it was a literal Navy for the independent republic of Texas Century later it had basically become a historical organization with ceremonial titles kind of like the Kentucky Colonels it was Texas governor James Alid who made Rogers an admiral in the Texas Navy during the opening of the Texas state Fairground in Dallas Rogers later wrote in ginger my story I never knew Texas had a Navy salute me y'all Ginger Rogers had her share of fashion moments over the years she lived during a Time long before social media influencers persuaded fans how to dress however she told the New York Times that when she wore a blue feather dress in the 1935 film Top Hat feather sales skyrocketed this cemented her status as a movie style icon then her 1940 film Kitty foil made white collar dresses a hot commodity she wrote in her autobiography I can never emphasize enough how important clothing was to me that was one of the reasons why she decided to partner with JC Penney in the 1970s serving as a fashion consultant from 1972 to 1975 Rogers handpicked clothes for the mail order catalog and traveled around the states to help women find affordable but fashionable clothing options the star developed a wardrobe for hundreds of stores in America according to her book she had a particular interest in lingerie it was a big get for the apartment store because it had secured one of America's most popular golden AG stars as their spokesperson JC Penney Executives chose Rogers as a representative due to her fashion knowledge and because they believed her famous Gams would help the company sell panty hoses the partnership made perfect sense because as a dancer Rogers had kept her legs in top shape some celebrity Watchers may be surprised to learn that Ginger Rogers not only played tennis but was a formidable opponent in fact she was such a good player that in 1950 the 39-year-old actress competed at the US Open in a mixed doubles match with tennis player and actor Frank Shields who today is most well known for being actress Brook Shield's Grandfather at the time Rogers was still a popular film star and had recently appeared with Fred aair and the Barkleys of Broadway so it may have seemed odd that she was competing at a professional sporting event effect there was reportedly some consternation over her participation due to her Celebrity Status even so she was a skilled player who was good enough to qualify for the event her former assistant Roberto Olden told Fox News that Rogers was a very good tennis player she initially played the sport alongside Hollywood Legends such as Errol flnn and Katherine heern but she was looking for a challenge and she certainly got it at the tournament unfortunately she and shields lost to a much younger team Rogers also competed in a celebrity tournament that took place in conjunction with the US so in but she and her partner lost before the final match around 1940 Ginger Rogers purchased a ranch in southern Oregon according to her longtime assistant Roberta Olden she loved the ranch because it was the perfect place to relax and it was likely a good Retreat from Hollywood she spent her time there cooking fishing horseback riding reading and ski shooting Olden told Fox News she would let her hair down wear no makeup and just be a regular person she loved that too it's very easy for me to go up to my Ranch and and can fruit the Ranch was more than just a home for Rogers and her mother who also resided there her Ranch provided some support during the war effort as well its gery cows produced milk for local army men at Camp white which was home to approximately 25,000 soldiers during World War II Rogers was even featured on the cover of Life magazine in 1942 with the article inside offering a glimpse of her life there she and her mother lived at the ranch for over half a century before the star sold the property in 1990 and moved to nearby Medford Oregon Ginger Rogers mother raised her as a Christian Scientist and the religion was a huge part of her life one of the ways in which she practiced her faith was by living a clean life without alcohol and avoiding the Temptations that Hollywood had to offer her religion and relationship with God were part of her life both on screen and off Roger's longtime assistant Roberto Olden told crosswalk.com that her faith was very important and that she knew that it was God's Gift of goodness that shown through her performances however it wasn't always easy for Rogers to avoid the pressures of the industry privacy was difficult to attain because she was so famous and not everyone understood her Christian beliefs plus she endured several failed marriages and had other struggles that could have caused some people to quit Hollywood instead she took refuge in her church and through prayer alen explained I don't think there was a day that went by when she didn't thank God for something due to her beliefs as a Christian Scientist Ginger Rogers was one of those rare celebrities who neither smoked nor drank alcohol she loved hosting parties but served cold non-alcoholic drinks her favorite was ginger ale and one of her favorite indulgences was ice cream sodas so it's somewhat ironic that over the years she's had at least two different alcoholic beverages named after her of course as one of America's most iconic movie stars she's in good company as there are drinks named after many other stars of Hollywood's Golden Age including Shirley Temple Charlie Chaplain and Mary piber The Ginger Rogers is simple to concoct in a pleasant summertime cocktail unsurprisingly the ingredients include Jin Ginger and ginger ale which not only pay homage to the star's famous name but to her person preferences as well there's also a different version you can get at Disneyland of all places though it too has Jin as its base ingredient Ginger Rogers was born in Northern Independence Missouri a town that in recent years had made an effort to commemorate her achievements but it wasn't always that way and the star felt that she deserves some recognition President Harry Truman who spent decades living in Independence planned a special event there for Rogers 1964 after she complained that the residents celebrated his birthday but didn't commemorate hers she was was also honored at an event in town in 1994 the actress who passed away in 1995 likely would have been pleased that in 2018 her former home a registered Historic Landmark was officially turned into a museum Rogers and her mother lived on the property for 4 years and the home was restored so it looked like it did when they resided there the property also became the site of the ginger Festival that year which celebrated the life of the Hollywood icon the money raised during the festival was allocated toward repairing the home's roof and upgrading the Landscaping the festival included the presentation of two Ginger Rogers films a fan club meeting and a presentation about the house unfortunately the museum closed in 2020 due to the covid-19 pandemic nearly a century after its 1922 Premiere NOS veratu remains a compelling adaptation of Dracula setting the tone for the modern horror film no veratu influenced the look and style of the genre's golden age in the 1930s and 40s this is the Untold Truth of no veratu the origins and unmistakable look of no veratu sprang from the imagination of production designer Alin grow according to the 14an times grow was born in Germany in 1884 and grew into a skilled painter eventually leaving his job as a Baker's Apprentice to study art after World War I he ended up turning that passion into a job with Germany's largest Film Studio at the time creating storyboards and concept art from movies aside from Arts gr's guiding passion was the occult a longtime practitioner of ritual Magic Grow was a member of several German esoteric groups and in 1921 he established his company Prana film with the sole purpose of producing movies with Supernatural themes prana's only production was no Fatu and although the film's a cult elements are subtle they're best exemplified in the scenes showing orlocks contract which is covered in astrological hermetic and alchemical symbols in the haunted screen author lah Eisner attempts to explain the cultural atmosphere that led to famous German horror films of the silent era such as no veratu and the iconic expressionist film the cabinet of Dr Caligari as Eisner wrote mysticism and Magic the dark force to which Germans have always been more than willing to commit themselves had flourished in the face of death on the battlefields and the ghost which had haunted the German Romantics revived eisner's argument that the horrors of War inspired these classic films is well founded as Albin gr's vision for the film was as much rooted in his own experience with War as it was with Bram Stoker's original Dracula novel an incident from gr's days on the Eastern front of World War I brought him face to face with a possible reality of the supernatural firing his imagination and kindling the spark which would eventually become no Fatu as detailed in eisner's book mnau in the winter of 1916 grow was staying with an old Serbian man the artist and Buddy ni cultist listened to the Serb tell the story of his father who had died without receiving the sacraments and wandered his village as the undead grow even later claimed that the peasant produced an official document detailing the 1884 examination of his father the dead man's body showed no signs of Decay and his teeth had become abnormally long and sharp protruding over the lips grow claimed that the peasant told him that prayers were said and the supposed vampire was dispatched with a stake through the heart the bald emaciated form of no fatu's vampire count orlock is among the most iconic images in the history of the horror genre however The Man Behind the grotesque makeup remains largely a mystery although volumes have been written about Max Shrek's contemporaries in silent horror Cinema such as Lon Cheney and Conrad v as well as later figures of the genres Golden Age like Boris carof and Baya legosi the life of the man who played Cinema's first real vampire has little in the way of documentation even Shrek's true identity has been called into question with some sources suggesting that he was actually actor Alfred Abel best known for his roles in Fritz slangs metropolis and Dr mabuza working under an appropriately spooky stage name there's even an urban legend that Trek really was a vampire something explored in the 2000 horror film shadow of the vampire starring William defo is Shrek Max Shrek was actually born in Berlin in 1879 despite speculation that Shrek a German word meaning fear or fright was a pseudonym it was indeed the actor's given surname the son of a civil servant Max Shrek trained to be an actor at the Berlin Royal Theater and worked extensively on the stage before entering film Shrek died in 1936 at the age of 57 having never achieved much notoriety Beyond no veratu one of the most compelling plot elements of no veratu and one that is not present in brm Stoker's Dracula is the use of its main antagonist as a harbinger of disease and pestilence when orlock arrives in Viborg he brings with him a horde of plague infected rats that decimates the population ultimately the vampire's presence is secondary to the horrors that disease inflicts on the city and it meant the filmmakers had a major Challenge on their hands as detailed in a 2020 feature published by northjersey.com the producers of no veratu went to unusual lengths to acquire their cast of rodent extras on July 31st 1921 pra film ran a newspaper ad that would lead to an unusual casting call wanted 30 to 50 living Rats the ad was apparently successful in one of the film's most memorable sequences one of orlocks coffins is knocked over unleashing a stampede of vermin following World War II many critics came to interpret warlock's plague of rats as a metaphor for anti-Semitism in Germany at the time although this reading has Merit in retrospect it was not the intent of the filmmakers Alin grow felt the film was reflective of its era produced against the backdrop of Germany's post World War I decline and the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic which killed 287,000 in Germany alone no veratu in gr's words was reflective of the events that came together to suck the world dry like a quote Cosmic vampire it's a theme that still makes sense to audiences even today although no veratu has long been assumed to be a Romanian word synonymous with vampire the terms Origins present a complicated linguistic mystery the word entered Western literature with the 1897 publication of braah Stoker's Dracula according to horror historian David J skull stoker encountered the word in writer Emily Gerard's 1885 essay Transylvanian superstitions which was later included in her book the land beyond the forests facts figures and fany from Transylvania in that book Gerard used the word as a synonym for vampire and described a creature feared by Romanian peasants despite Gerard's assertions NOS veratu is seemingly unknown in Romanian folklore and all attempts to trace the word dead end with Gerard's writing the various researchers have tried coming Greek Roman and other ancient languages it's also hard to pin down a linguistic origin word tied to it in 2011 writer Anthony hog finally discovered an earlier Source containing no Fatu predating Transylvanian superstitions by 20 years the year and its days in the opinion and custom of the Romanians of Transylvania by vham Schmidt contains the mysterious word and uses it in much the same way that Gerard's book did however no fatu's true Origins remain murky no veratu dispenses with the artifice of the cabinet of Dr Caligari for an expressionism that's more akin to a heightened yet nightmarish reality much of the film's terrifying atmosphere stems from FW M's use of practical locations Slovakia was chosen to stand in for no fatu's Romanian country side but filming in the rough Slovakian terrain of the mountains proved challenging one panoramic shot required Porters to carry the camera and film canister 7200 ft up a rock wall and Hoist the equipment into place with chains some of no ratu's most memorable scenes take place at orlocks Castle where Thomas first lays eyes on the ancient vampire for the vampire's domain mnau and grow chose the 13th century Mountain Fortress or Roba Castle today it stands virtually unchanged and is a popular historical tourist attraction however however the decaying remains of warlock's Castle is depicted at the film's conclusion are actually the ruins of a different Castle in Slovakia the northern German Town of Lubec served as nosferatu's fictional town of iborg a UNESCO world heritage site Lubec is home to several no veratu locations that are still recognizable today including the building that serves as warlock's German home Thomas and Ellen's Home and the cobblestone streets to which the coffins of the plague victims are carried as an unabashed and wholly unauthorized adaptation of Dracula no veratu famously Drew thee of Bram Stoker's Widow with Dracula her only source of income Florence stoker was notoriously protective of her late husband's copyright pra film had gone bankrupt by the time she got around to suing them so she couldn't get any money out of the deal but Florence stoker did succeed in another way despite never seeing a single frame of no foru stoker sued successfully to have every print of the film destroyed because of that order the horror classic was almost lost forever lots of films from the silent era have been lost whether through neglect over time storage fires or other mishaps as this storian David J skull is noted though the no veratu case is one of the few instances in which someone has actively tried to destroy every trace of a film particularly a film they've never seen yet no veratu survived in 1925 a livid Florence stoker discovered that a British film club called the Film Society was planning a private showing of no Fatu stoker immediately attempted to seize the film but the film society's co-founder was able to keep her legal agents at Bay with evasion and stonewalling that fabled print disappeared before stoker and her lawyers could seize it to eventually no veratu turned up in the United States through a loophole in copyright law Dracula had always been in the public domain in America and so no feratu was out of Stoker's reach although NOS Fatu is an adaptation of Dracula its antagonist count orlock resembles neither the novel's Aging Aristocrats nor the Suave and seductive image of Dracula made famous by Baya losoi and Christopher Lee I am Dracula and I welcome you to my house orlock is first and foremost an ancient monster from his first appearance on screen his true nature is never in doubt allegorical baggage aside it's evident that orlock is much more than he seems as depicted in the film Thomas discovers an old book detailing the origins and habits of supernatural creatures while staying at a Transylvanian Inn in the ancient Tome he reads from the seed of belil sprang the vampire no veratu who liveth and feedeth on human blood as detailed by christianity.com belil is a personification of wickedness and evil in the Old Testament the word refers broadly to lawlessness and Rebellion however the New Testament specifically identifies belil as Satan in the book of 2 Corinthians given this scriptural context orlock is the literal son of the devil or at the very least some kind of demonic presence as documented by Turner Classic Movies FW mow left Germany for the United States in 1926 brought to Hollywood at thees of producer William Fox mnow success in his home country meant he got unprecedented creative control for his first American Film Sunrise a song of two humans released in 1927 the film was an artistic Triumph noted for MN now's revolutionary camera work in 1929 in the very first Academy Awards Sunrise won three Awards including best unique and artistic picture after a 1930 City girl the director left Fox to make taboo a story of the South Seas with documentarian Robert flattery set in Tahiti taboo was MN now's only box office hit after leaving Germany but the success was short-lived FW MN now's life came to an end on March 11th 1931 when his car collided with an electric pole at high speed on California's winding Pacific Coast Highway meow's body was returned to Germany and he was buried near Berlin in July 2015 grave robbers broke into M now's tomb and removed the director's skull from his iron coffin candle wax left at the scene led to speculation that minow's corpse had been used in an occult ceremony sadly his skull remains missing in 1979 filmmaker verer Herzog mounted an ambitious in thetically complex remake of no veratu starring Claus kinsky as Count Dracula the film presents the vampire as a lonely Outsider who yearns for love and beauty time is an [Music] abyss profound as a thousand nights though it was plagued by accusations of animal cruelty for the way that many rats needed for the film were treated herzog's no ratu the vampire was a hit with critics who lauded the film for its visuals and Innovative take on the vampire myth among some horror fans herzog's version is considered a masterpiece in its own right but even a century later there's still no substitute for the original classic Clint Eastwood and John Wayne are two icons of conservative Hollywood masculinity but despite their similarities both on and off screen the two never work together why here's the truth of John Wayne and Clint Eastwood's relationship by the time Clint Eastwood came onto the scene with the TV series Raw Hide 1959 John Wayne was at the height of his legendary career while Eastwood was sharpening his acting chops as Rowdy Yates for the next 8 years Wayne was churning out one classic after another including the Alamo and The Man Who Shot Liberty bance then in 1964 while Eastwood was on a break from Rawhide he was offered to Star and rooll in a western with an upand cominging Italian director in Spain it was a fist full of dollars and it wasn't easy thanks to the language barrier as Eastwood recalled on Inside the Actor's Studio Sergio Leon didn't speak any English and I didn't speak any Italian so I was kind of on my own it was the first Western of its kind the dialogue was thin the main character had no name and he lacked the usual charm required from the Agonist it was a box office hit and not just in Italy so two sequels immediately followed including the instant classic The Good the Bad and the Ugly which redefin the Western genre despite its success the O was evidently uninterested in working with Leone at least judging by the torture development of the film Rooster Cogburn the Wayne considered a number of directors before settling for the inexperienced steuart Miller who Wayne reportedly didn't even like it doesn't seem as though Leone was ever considered according to John Wayne The Life and Legend John Wayne and Clint Eastwood didn't meet in person until 1976 when Eastwood visited the set of Wayne's film The shoest Ron Howard a co-star in the film said that when Wayne heard Eastwood was coming to visit he inquired about the man's politics by the 70s Wayne was increasingly isolated in Hollywood as a firm conservative especially after a 1971 Playboy interview where he advocated for a form of white supremacy saying it was needed quote until the blacks are educated to a point of responsibility still Wayne said in an interview that he had always considered himself a liberal of sorts even if nobody else did he insisted that he didn't vote on party lines but rather for the individual Eastwood also shared this sentiment at least from a 2020 interview with the Wall Street Journal in which he spoke about being a Libertarian as quote somebody who has respect for other people's ideas and is willing to learn constantly John Wayne was originally offered the lead part in dirty hary and later regretted turning it down according to John Wayne The Life and Legend interestingly Eastwood revealed on inside the actor Studio that he had heard Paul Newman had also been offer the part but wasn't interested due to some of its political tones so Eastwood being the next runner up was cast as Inspector Harry Callahan in 1971 and the film went on to be a wildly successful franchise while the critics tore it apart for its excessive violence and glorification of a bad cop it raked in $22 million at the box office spawning several sequels of course in hindsight there are several reasons why Eastwood was probably the better fit than Wayne Wayne was opposed to excessive violence in films and protested against depictions of cops bending or breaking the law Eastwood on the other hand had a history of playing anti-heroes and it didn't hurt that he also did most of his own stunts while Wayne's Health was declining still Wayne said in his biography I made a mistake with that one Wayne didn't just meet Eastwood on the set of the shst in 1976 he also had to deal with Eastwood's outsized Hollywood reputation according to John Wayne The Life and Legend the Duke was not impressed with much of Don seagull's Direction on the shoest and the two frequently argued in fact their feuding started even before the film began was seagull telling a reporter for the Carson City newspaper Wayne is supposed to eat directors for breakfast but if he tries to eat me he'll get indigestion seagull also had to shoot a handful of scenes around Wayne while he was recovering from a bronchial infection when Wayne returned most of what the director did while he was gone was okay except for a scene where Wayne's stunt double shot a man in the back as he attempted to run out of the saloon Wayne was livid according to his co-star Hugh O'Brien Wayne said wait a minute I've never shot anybody in the back and I'm not going to start now according to Eastwood he later heard that seagull later tried to have Wayne Ambush another villain and Wayne again refused to shoot him in the back seagull said quote Clint Eastwood would have shot him in the back to which Wayne replied I don't care what that kid would have done I don't shoot him in the back Clint Eastwood's character is undeniably shook up the format of American westerns the straightforward good guy and bad guy Dynamic became more ambiguous and therefore far more interesting eastwoods protagonists often fueled the plot with vengeance like in The Outlaw Josie Wales while John Waynes were justly upheld by honorable ethics like in elderado Eastwood's characters also seem to directly reflect the new approaches to morality and Cinema in the 1970s Wayne's ideals were cultivated 30 years prior and his convictions often times appeared black and white in a full color world and Wayne's damaging Playboy interview he talked about the dwindling state of democracy due to Americans growing disrespect for Authority mentioning The Black Panther's treatment towards police and the Vietnam War protests he was also candid about his thoughts stored pictures that bearded off course from traditional Western Frameworks like high noon in the film a retired Marshall has to face an outlaw gang alone after the towns folk refused to help him in the end the character prevails but throws his badge in the dust before hopping in a carriage to leave town with his new wife Wayne told the interviewer it's the most unamerican thing I've ever seen in my whole life in fact Wayne disliked it so much that he later made the film real bravo as a direct response but for Eastwood moral dilemmas and ambiguous endings like the ones pioneered in High Noon were far more interesting a thinking that led him to make unusual and offbeat westerns like High Plain Drifter and pale rider John Wayne preferred working with the best in the business since he seemed to consider himself as such according to John Wayne The Life and Legend he felt that directors needed to be as well-rounded and well experienced in their careers as he was for example he loudly detested Stuart Miller who directed him and Katherine heurn and Rooster Cogburn saying on Phil Donahue quote he was a poor director he then added kind of new around the business and there some question about you know his capabilities this was also the case for actors and he gave His True Grit co-star Kim Darby no slack for what he thought was a lackluster performance in the 21-year-old's first major role despite that Wayne finally won an Oscar for the film so what does this have to do with Clint Eastwood well Eastwood began directing in 1971 his first film was play Misti for me which wasn't to Western in 1973 though Eastwood tried his hand it direct into Western the result was High Plain Drifter which many considered to be a classic Wayne however didn't and his strong feelings about Eastwood sophomore effort would go a long way towards defining their relationship in 1973 following High Plain Drifter Eastwood was sent to script for a new project called the hostiles ACC according to John Wayne The Life and Legend when the script for the hostiles came to Clint Eastwood's Production Company Mount Paso Eastwood sent it over to John Wayne to see if he'd want to co-star on the film with him the story which Eastwood admitted needed some work was about a younger guy who won half of a ranch that was owned by an older guy the two unsurprisingly don't get along at first but in the end had to work together to fight off a band of hostiles that come to take over the property the Duke politely declined the offer and sent the script back after Eastwood sent the script to Wayne a second time though Wayne let Eastwood have it rather than respond Direct to the offer to appear in the hostiles Wayne instead wrote Eastwood an angry letter where he expressed anger towards Eastwood for what Wayne perceived as unamerican ideals and high Plaines Drifter Wayne specifically griped that the town's people did not quote accurately represent the spirit to the Pioneers who had made America great Eastwood didn't bother to write back he told film critic Kenneth Turan I realized that there's two different generations and he wouldn't understand what I was doing I playing Drifter was meant to be a fable it wasn't meant to show the hours of pioneering drudgery it wasn't supposed to be anything about settling the West still that didn't keep Eastwood from sending Wayne a third version of the script for the hostiles Wayne was given the third draft by his son while they were out sailing as the son thought Wayne should reconsider instead Wayne said this piece of sh again and threw it in the ocean according to a Wayne biography Duke a love story he told a colleague this kind of stuff is all they know how to write these days someone like me and Eastwood ride into town know everything act the big guys and everyone else is a bunch of idiots Eastwood never went on to make the hostiles Wayne and Eastwood also had something else in common they both held director John Ford in very high regard John Wayne had incredible loyalty to Ford who taught Wayne everything he knew from his famous walk to the Charming intonation in which all of Wayne's characters spoke Wayne even called him Coach however Ford put a lot of pressure on Wayne no matter the circumstances whether it was humiliating him on set or Bering him for not enlisting during World War II but despite the tensions that ebbed and flowed between the two icons Wayne was always loyal to Ford and openly referred to Ford's advice often when he was on other sets from how a sequence of shots to the rhythm of delivering emotion in a scene Eastwood was also inspired by Ford throughout his own career during an event at the Director's Guild of America Eastwood said that Ford's influence on directors quote is like osmosis and that he watched Ford's films like stage coach in the theater as a kid but for Eastwood Ford's equations for westerns were simply jumping off points rather than rules to abide by as he enjoyed the depth required to cultivate Heroes that weren't necessarily straightforward in their intentions or approachability when John Wayne had his one-sided exchange with Clint Eastwood over High Drifter it was the early 1970s when Eastwood's career was on the upswing while Wayne's was on the down Wayne had started to take roles he wasn't really interested in such as the title character in mugh for the sake of working on top of that Wayne's Health was declining quickly he had recovered from lung cancer after a major surgery in 1964 but then started developing heart problems on top of that doctors found he had stomach cancer in 1975 right before filming the shoest meanwhile Eastwood had started his own production company Mal Paso in 1967 in 1971 Eastwood received a Golden Globe for World Film Favorites at the start of the decade Wayne was still on top of the world while Eastwood was just hitting it big by the end in June 1979 Eastwood's film Escape from alcatra cemented him as one of the biggest stars in the world just two weeks after Wayne passed away from cancer sadly we'll never know what might have happened if the two icons had found the common ground to work together frankly my dear Clark Gable still sets Hearts A flutter but how did the king of Hol Wood's offscreen struggles with alcohol divorce and personal tragedy lead to his early demise grab a hanky and hang on all will be revealed the very definition of tall dark and handsome Clark Gable's star glowed brightly in nearly every one of his films with an impressive career spanning several decades he is considered one of Hollywood's most enduring Stars known for his charm the charismatic actor's popularity rose steadily beginning with the 1931 film a free soul which led to being cast in Frank capras It Happened One Night a role that won him the Oscar in 1934 the next year he followed up with an Academy Award nominated performance for his role as Fletcher Christian in the 1935 film Mutiny on the Bounty but it was his iconic performance as the Deon air Rogue Rhett Butler in the 1939 Blockbuster Gone With The Wind that won him the hearts of generations of movie goers and secured his third Oscar nomination frankly my dear I don't give a damn if Gable was indeed the king of Hollywood he was a hardworking Monarch and if not all his movies were critically acclaimed he was always a box office favorite his sudden death at the age of 59 following the rap of his final film The Misfits left fans wondering what Great Performances he might have given if he'd had more time in his personal life however Gable seemed to have more than his share of troubles he had two failed marriages early on his first wife Josephine Dylan was his acting coach and she helped him hone his acting abilities on his way up but it was his second Union with socialite Ria Franklin langum that made the gossip columns because of his repeated [Music] [Applause] infidelities has a war started the marriage only lasted from 1931 to 1935 when the pairs separated they didn't divorce until 1939 however around the same time Gable met the love of his life actress Carol Lombard sadly the Gable and Lombard Love Story proved to be a short one she died in an airplane crash in 1942 only a few years after they tied the knot lost in his grief Gable drank heavily for a time and even gave up acting to enlist in the military during World War II at 41 years old he signed on with the Army aircore serving as a tail Gunner an extremely dangerous position with a very short life expectancy in spite of his obvious Death Wish Gable survived to go on on to earn the rank of major after the war he took up acting again but haunted by the loss of Lombard he continued to flounder personally in 1949 in a desperate bid for happiness he married lady Sylvia Ashley a former British actress model and chorus girl Ashley was the Widow of swashbuckling actor Douglas Fairbanks senior and the divorced spouse of two different British noblemen unfortunately lady Ashley proved to be a less than satisfactory Choice Gable later confided to friends that he must must have been drunk when he proposed to her in the final years of his life however Gable's personal story seemed to be on the upswing he married actress K Williams in 1955 she had two children from an earlier marriage and the couple seemed to finally have found some measure of domestic Bliss in 1960 the pair learned Kay was expecting their first child together and Gable planned to take a break from work when their little one arrived he had just one more film project to finish up first sadly it was this movie that may have Act actually hastened his death The Misfits was a high-profile film with a slew of Hollywood and literary heavyweights associated with the project a complex dramatic contemporary Western it was to be directed by John Houston with a script penned by playwright Arthur Miller Miller's wife actress Marilyn Monroe was to co-star with both Gable and legendary actor Montgomery Clift but by this time Gable was in poor health and working on this kind of film took a lot out of him he had suffered one heart attack earlier in his life and he was known for his heavy drinking and smoking habit these problems were compounded by the drastic measures Gable used to get into shape in preparation for his portrayal of gay langland an aging Cowboy he dropped more than 30 lbs quickly with the help of antham and if this wasn't hard enough on Gable's aging body making the film proved even more difficult shot on location in Nevada its Stars had to cope with the area's brutal heat which probably proved too much for Gable's heart in the end don't worry we're not through here not by a long shot we're only getting started the Misfits required some re-shoot and Gable had to work an extra 3 weeks on the film after the project wrapped in early November 1960 he and his wife went back home to enino California soon after arriving home however Gable suffered a heart attack on November 6th the star was taken to Hollywood Presbyterian hospital for treatment and seemed to be doing okay but only 10 days later Gable died suddenly in his bed only hours after having dinner with Kay in his room the nurse with him at the time reported Gable was sitting up one moment and gone the next the doctors suspected yet another heart attack Gable was only 59 years old Gable's death made newspaper headlines around the world as fans mourned at the passing of one of everyone's favorite film stars it is ironic that the Misfits which was released in 1961 also proved to be the final performance of his co-star Marilyn Monroe another screen Legend who died from an overdose of barbituates in 1962 in a final personal tragedy for Gable he never got the opportunity to see his son son the child he was so eager to welcome into the world John Clark Gable was born 4 months after his father's passing in the end Gable was laid to rest beside his third wife Carol Lombard at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles Clark Gable may be gone but like the consument performer he was he left his fans wanting more goodbye Clark the king is dead long live the king if you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues help is available visit the substance abuse and me Health Services Administration website or contact sams's National helpline at 1800 662 help 18006624357 hardly anyone can think of Classic Hollywood without recalling actress Grace Kelly she wasn't in very many films but Kelly had a huge impact on Hollywood and on the world here's the tragic story of Grace Kelly Grace Patricia Kelly was the third child born into a wealthy Irish Catholic Family in Philadelphia Pennsylvania the Melly were never fully accepted into High Society despite their substantial wealth if someone had the good luck of being wealthy around the early to middle part of the 20th century they still had to have the right background to be welcomed among the upper class unfortunately it didn't matter how much money a family had if they were of the Irish Catholic persuasion as many Elites still gave them the cold shoulder according to the Washington Post Grace's father Jack Kelly was not one to be put out if he wasn't going to be accepted among the Philadelphia Mainline Elites he would have just as luxurious a mansion as any aristocrat so we built an elegant family home in the East Falls neighborhood of Philadelphia Jack was the son of Irish immigrants and made his fortune in the construction trade during the post World War I boom he was also one of the rare few unaffected by the 1929 market crash due to him never investing in stocks Grace Kelly came from a wildly athletic and sociable family her father Jack was a three-time Olympic gold medalist in rowing her mother Margaret was a model and a competitive swimmer Kelly's father expected all of his children to be just as extroverted but according to van Fair Kelly was shy and introverted she suffered from asthma and sinus problems as a child much to her father's disappointment Grace's Serenity made her stand out from her siblings but that wasn't enough to interest or impress her father her siblings weren't sympathetic to her relationship with her father according to one story her sister lizanne one time locked her in a Cupboard rather than tried to escape Kelly simply stayed in the closet and quietly played with her dolls until someone discovered her hours later Grace Kelly's family was disapproving when she announced her intention to become an actress according to biography her father most notably was displeased with his daughter's career choice and said that an actress was a slim cut above a street walker but as biography notes her Uncle Walter Kelly was a successful Vaudeville performer while her other Uncle George Kelly was a peler surprise winning playwright George was one of the actress's greatest influences and became her primary mentor and Confidant it was thanks to her uncle's guidance that Grace Kelly learned the ins and outs of Hollywood and was able to gain admittance to the American Academy of the dramatic arts in Manhattan Grace Kelly tried not to rely too much on family relations or money to advance her career her parents didn't want her to move to New York but Kelly was insistent according to Vanity Fair she even covered her own tuition by taking lucrative jobs as a commercial model Kelly also had to lose her Philadelphian accent and get control of her sinus troubles which she tried by taking diction lessons and wearing a clothes pin on her nose her newly refined accent was a subject of some mockery from her family what's the matter with me Mark I don't seem able to feel anything after a few rolls on Broadway Kelly decided to try Hollywood Vanity Fair stated that she took great care with her appearance when attending auditions dressing conservatively and ladylike and even wearing white gloves highly unusual in the Hollywood world but it worked her biggest break arrived when Gary Cooper discovered her during her first film 14 hours Cooper then had her cast as his wife and his latest film High Noon Cooper's endorsement put Grace Kelly on the road to start him she went on to another major motion picture Mambo alongside Clark Gable and later won the Academy Award for best actress for the country girl Kelly also became a favorite of director Alfred Hitchcock who notoriously had a weakness for elegant blondes Grace Kelly seemed to have a particular type when it came to her romantic choices she was constantly cast as the romantic interest of men who were usually more than 20 years her senior which played a role in her real life relationships according to Vanity Fair Kelly had a 2-year romance with one of her instructors Don Richardson who was 11 years Grace's senior he was also Jewish something that wildly aggravated Kelly's notoriously anti-semitic father family pressure put an end to the relationship Kelly was said to have had many affairs with her older male sometimes married co-stars she had been linked to romances with major actors such as Clark Gable ban Crosby Ray Miland and Frank Sinatra at one point she dated Prince Ali Khan and almost married fashion designer Ole Cassini Kelly's Love Letters to Cassini were discovered and printed by Harper's bizaar many years after her death the details of her romantic Dianes are still a point of Interest Grace Kelly met her future husband Prince rineer III of Monaco at the can film festival while promoting To Catch a Thief country living stated that it was through actress Olivia deavin that Kelly was formerly introduced to him at the time davlind was married to Pierre galante the editor of Paris match magazine after meeting Kelly on the train from Paris to can davand asked Kelly if she would be interested in a personal meeting with Prince reineer the havin said many years later in an interview with people Grace struck me on first encounter as a rather reserved self-possessed well brought up young woman after getting approval from MGM Grace agreed to meet the prince this initial first meeting would spark a correspondence between the two which later resulted in their engagement Kelly fell in love with the prince while she was filming the swan where she played a young princess preparing to become the wife of a European king MGM also filmed the couple's royal wedding in 1956 and broadcast it across Europe Grace Kelly found a love match with Prince rineer III but some have wondered whether there was a mercenary aspect to the marriage according to the telegraph Prince rineer came to the Monaco throne in 1949 after the devastation of World War II he now only inherited a principality but he also had to deal with the country's Financial issues rer decided to make Monaco a tax Haven and made it look more appealing to foreign millionaires tourists and businesses but the unmarried reineer needed his future wife to bring a tidy summon to their marriage and a beautiful Hollywood actress could bring the money and the publicity to Monaco Kelly wasn't even the first actress on reineer short list according to the Chicago Tribune at one point reineer had an interest in Hollywood Covergirl Marilyn Monroe a letter was sent to her from rineer but Monroe ultimately turned him down not fancying herself the princess type also Monroe was beginning her romance with playwright Arthur Miller and was eager for more serious film work but rer eventually met Kelly who had the looks The Prestige and the cash as it would turn out becoming a princess wasn't as Charming as it's hyped up to be for Grace Kelly the actual path to princess Hood was far from a fairy tale according to the Chicago Tribune why don't you own a place like this palaces of for royalty we're just common people with a bank account in order to marry and become a royal of Monaco Kelly would unfortunately have to give up her acting career and renounce her US citizenship a hefty price to pay to marry into International royalty since money was a concern for Monaco Prince reneer insisted on receiving a doer for Kelly to have the privilege of marrying a prince the asking price was $2 million despite having the money Kelly's father wasn't thrilled about paying for his beautiful famous daughter to get married but the prospect of a royal in the family and all the benefits were too good to pass up father and daughter agreed to each pay half on the Dow Kelly also had to submit to a fertility test to prove that she could produce heirs nothing says fairy tale like an invasive and uncomfortable medical procedure that's exactly what was running through my mind the reasoning behind the test was that Monaco still had an old agreement with France from 1918 which dictated that if Monaco had no air the principality would be returned to French rule so as invasive as a fertility test was for Kelly for the royal family it was a necessity Kelly agreed to the medical exam and once she was in the clear the wedding could proceed Prince reineer may have had a vested interest in marrying a beautiful Starlet but that didn't mean he had any admiration for the acting profession Grace Kelly's Hollywood Fame brought significant and valuable publicity to Monaco but rineer disapproved of Kelly's former career he viewed it as an undignified profession particularly for a royal princess he seemed to share similar sentiments as K's father regarding acting as too common and naive of a practice according to the guardian out of concern that Kelly's movies would negatively impact the image of the royal family rineer banned all of his wife's films in Monaco for years although Kelly agreed to give up her career in order to become a princess she still missed acting and wished she could return to her profession in 1962 she tentatively tried to Stage a comeback she was about to sign on to play the titular role of Alfred Hitchcock's upcoming film Marney but the public outcry in Monaco was overwhelming and it wasn't just that she would be acting again but the fact that her lead character in The Hitchcock film was a criminal the people of Monaco shuddered at the thought of their refined elegant princess playing the role of a common crook according to Vogue Grace mourned the loss of her on-screen career for the rest of her life even telling the Los angelist times in 1964 I miss acting once you're bitten with the acting bug you never really get over it Grace Kelly had three children with rineer Princess Caroline Prince Albert and Princess Stephanie yet Kelly seemed to struggle to connect with her children possibly as a result of her royal duties and responsibilities in recent years after both their parents had passed away Princess Caroline and Prince Albert revealed in interviews as reported by Insider that they weren't particularly close to their mother Caroline and Albert were only a year apart and grew up with a close Bond and shared a nanny Moren wood with whom they felt more of a parental connection than with either of their parents they preferred their nanni so much that they would cry when wood was away on her annual vacation and Kelly would ask wood if she could come back to work early on occasion Caroline and Albert added that they were not even allowed to eat dinner with their parents until they were 14 years old even Grace by her own admission to ABC news said that she was a hard disciplinarian to her three children she wasn't above lashing out or speaking harshly Kelly stated we sort of tend to think that knowledge is a substitute for discipline and it never will be uh our children were brought up with a certain amount of discipline and unfortunately wasn't much different than Kelly's own authoritarian mother who raised her in this way the news of Princess Grace of Monaco's death took the World by shock according to the independent Ireland Kelly had been in fine Health at 52 years old as far as anyone knew Kelly was driving her 17-year-old daughter Stephanie to school in Paris one day when tragedy struck the details of what precisely happened are hazy but it appears that Kelly took a sharp turn on a steep Mountain turn that caused the car to shoot down a 120t slope Stephanie only sustained minor injuries but Grace suffered a brain hemorrhage she died on September 14th 1982 at Monaco Hospital it was later renamed Princess Grace Hospital Center in honor of Kelly Kelly's eldest daughter Princess Caroline assumed Grace's role in the royal family after her death Prince rineer established the Princess Grace foundation in the US an organization dedicated to financially supporting emerging artists and theater dance and film Prince rer never remarried he was buried beside Grace after his death in 2005 at her funeral service co-star and lifelong friend James Stewart said of Kelly Grace brought into my life as she brought into yours a soft warm light every time I saw her and every time I saw her was a holiday of atone nose jobs and false teeth and diet pills oh my the Golden Age of Hollywood hid some dark beauty secrets along with a small army paid to make the AA star's Picture Perfect all right Mr de I'm ready for my closeup Marina Dietrich first graced the Silver Screen with her bedroom eyes and cutting cheekbones in the early 1920s she made a name for herself in films like the tragedy of love the ship of lost men and der Blau angle which was the first talking picture film in Germany when she wasn't seducing the public with her sultry voice she was adorning her face in surgical tape and Topping the look off with a tight high ponytail in order to achieve those iconic cheekbones per Marie CLA like most Beauty techniques this strategically positioned ponytail meant to draw her cheekbones in an upward position came to price the look which became known as the Cen facelift is said to cause permanent hair loss over time the hair loss was likely not a big deal to the star who was rumored to have also surgically removed her MERS to achieve and maintain her famous facial structure there has been much ad do about racial discrimination and the harmful perpetuation of stereotypes during the Golden Age of Cinema what's spoken about less however is the whitewashing of actors hailing from Minority backgrounds take for example Rita Hayworth who held the old Hollywood title of the All-American Girl Marie CLA reports that in order to achieve this prestigious title Rita Hayworth whose birthname was Margarita Carmen Canino had to shed much of her Latina Heritage this included her name and also her hairline which was originally a full in in lower on her face after some extensive electrolysis treatments and applications of lighter hair dye hayward's transformation was complete this might have been a hair raising experience but it was in no way unique to Rita Hayworth Marilyn Monroe is said to have undertaken similar procedures to remove her widow's peak when they signed a contract with a major Studio Hollywood icons in the past were forced to undergo what rack refers to as identity shifting transitions they would be given an image that they would have to maintain in every sense of the word from the physical to the moral in fact leading entertainment Corporation MGM Studios had approximately 52 cosmetologists on hand to ensure their strict standards were met Stars endured facial contouring procedures using gelatin and putty they had their freckles removed with harsh chemical creams there were false teeth porcelain Dental caps and pancake makeup manufactured by maxfactor to present themselves as Flawless even male actors were in on the gig donning false mustaches and phony muscular physiques according to Harper's bizaar Beauty was so sought after in the early years of Hollywood that the phrase looks over talent became a backstage motto for most well Gil how do I look you look all right red don't sound so good in 2017 authors Angela cartright and Tom McLaren published styling the Stars lost treasures from the 20th Century Fox archive the book is an entire stockpile of photos exposing vintage Hollywood stars were exactly what they were in perfect individuals just like everyone else camera tricks as crafty as any stagram filter were often used but if all else failed plastic surgery was literally and figuratively on the table the independent details the history of plastic surgery which actually predates both vintage Hollywood and even anesthesia as painful as that sounds by the turn of the 20th century cosmetic surgery companies had stepped on the scene promising surgical enhancements for several ailments the most notable being ill-shaped noses roplast a method used to reshape a patient's nose was in full effect in the early 1900s procedures wherein skin grafts were taken from the arm and redistributed to shape someone's nose were less talked about but they most certainly happen one particularly stomach turning example of rhinoplasty consists of a patient's nose being injected with scorching hot paraffin wax and then molded like a sculpture on the face in worst case scenarios the wax could cause cancer or permanent disfigurement of pace some stars are believed to have still taken the plastic surgery risk such as Marilyn Monroe whose pous skull x-rays suggest the cartilage on the tip of her nose had been reshaped drug use was a dark secret that Clips the Golden Age of Hollywood but not all drugs were used to alter an actor state of mind they were also notoriously used to alter their appearances the most well-known example of this is perhaps also the saddest for the film classic Blockbuster The Wizard of Oz Young Star Judy Garland was force-fed copious amounts of harmful pills in order to keep her weight down and her energy up why my little party just beginning biography reports that Garland died at age 47 due to an overdose as a direct result of a substance use disorder which many believe started with the studio this very same struggle was common among other stars who were also encouraged to take dangerous drugs to maintain their trim onscreen figures according to history 50s actor Joanna Moore was prescribed mood and image altering amphetamines for weight loss which your Hollywood doctor elusively described as Vitamin injections Dr Lee Siege of 20th Century Fox spoke candidly on the subject years later telling Marilyn Monroe biographer Anthony Summers pills were seen as another tool to keep Stars working the skinny on those weight loss tactics only gets worse Harper's bizar reports that weight control wasn't optional for these classic vintage Stars it was built into their contracts further driving the incentive to go to drastic sometimes deadly lengths if you are anyone you know needs help with addiction issues help is available visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact samsa's National helpl line at 1 18006624357

Channel: Grunge

Views: 200,409

Keywords: grunge, hollywood, cinema, classics, grace kelly

Id: ujTX3_2Go6k

Length: 119min 49sec (7189 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 11 2024