Released in 1977, Star Wars turned Mark Hamill into one of the biggest movie stars in the world. His character Luke Skywalker, graced lunch boxes, trading cards, t-shirts and more. Anxious to avoid typecasting, in 1978 Hamill appeared in Corvette…
The Thin Man is based on mystery writer Dashiell Hammett’s celebrated novel, but the mystery isn’t all that important, nor is it the reason for the film’s enduring appeal. Instead, it’s the relationship between Nick (William Powell, To Be Or…
“It’s easy to manipulate men,” Bree Daniels (Jane Fonda, On Golden Pond) tells her psychiatrist. A high class call girl and an aspiring actress, she feels a sense of pride in satisfying a client–whether it’s a man in the city…
A former New Jersey shoe salesman-turned sharpshooter, Bronco Billy (Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby) is the leader of a scarcely attended traveling Wild West Show. Under the tent, nothing goes smoothly: snake dancers are bitten, and the latest Lovely Assistant…
Director William Wyler’s keen adaptation of both Henry James’ 1880 novel Washington Square and the subsequent 1947 stage version The Heiress stars Olivia de Havilland (Gone With the Wind) as Catherine Sloper. An intensity shy young woman, she is the…
Doris Day became one of Hollywood’s biggest film stars of the early 1960’s due to the success of several lighthearted comedies, including three co-starring Rock Hudson–Pillow Talk in 1959, for which she received the only Best Actress Academy Award nomination…
By the late 1950’s, Lana Turner was experiencing a career resurgence. Kicked off by her Oscar nomination for her role in Peyton Place, followed by the media frenzy surrounding her involvement in the 1958 Johnny Stompanato murder, and the 1959…
Over a span of sixteen years–1933 to 1949–Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers made sixteen films together. Released in 1936, Swing Time their sixth pairing, is considered by many to be their best. The wait to see them dance is a…
When their beloved, yet morbidly obese, cousin Sal drops dead at 39, Antoinette (Anne Bancroft, The Prisoner of Second Avenue) insists her brother Dominick (Dom DeLuise, The Cannonball Run) to lose some weight. After breaking down at the funeral, Antoinette…
Highly respected for a trifecta of films from the late 1940’s–Odd Man Out (1947), The Fallen Idol (1948), and The Third Man (1949)–few truly questioned Carol Reed’s talent. However, by 1962, following a decade of up and downs, and perhaps…