-
Gossip Friday: It’s a Wonderful Party
From March 1947 (Louella Parsons): There was something very heartwarming in the dinner given by Frank Capra, George Stevenson, Sam Briskin and William Wyler to launch their hit, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” and bring Jimmy Stewart back to his fans and friends. I say “heartwarming” because the famous hosts had invited all the actors who have EVER appeared in any of their pictures to be present along with the top-notchers of today, and so the whole charming affair at the Ambassador Hotel was a sentimental reunion of old and new stars and old and new friends. At one table, I saw Viola Dana (she was the darling of her day),…
-
It Happened One Night, 80 Years Ago
2014 has brought about the 75th anniversary of Gone with the Wind, which has been met with much deserving fanfare. No doubt, Rhett Butler is who draws the majority of people into Clark Gable fandom these days. But this year brings about another important film milestone: the 80th anniversary of It Happened One Night, the little-film-that-could, one of the greatest romantic comedies ever made and the first to win the Academy Award “grand slam”: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Screenplay. It is safe to say that if Clark had never played Rhett Butler, he would be remembered best for Peter Warne. Director Frank Capra, one…
-
July Movie of the Month: It Happened One Night (1934)
I began “Movie of the Month” last July after the site’s first anniversary. I try to bounce around Clark’s filmography as I figured it would be rather dull to start from the beginning and end at his death. The films featured so far: June: But Not For Me May: Idiot’s Delight April: Band of Angels March: Saratoga February: China Seas January: Hold Your Man December: Red Dust November: The Secret Six October: No Man of Her Own September: Teacher’s Pet August: Never Let Me Go July: Wife vs. Secretary So, I thought it was fitting to celebrate two years of the site and one year of “Movie of the Months”…
-
Gossip Friday: Tuesday night in Hollywood
From February 1937: This is the thing that keeps Hollywood the town of enchanting contradiction and makes it the most unexplainable spot in the world. Take one particular Tuesday evening in Hollywood, for instance. At the Cocoanut Grove: Lights, music, champagne, movie stars, a Joan Bennett surprise party, a director and a blonde actress breaking their hearts for a love they can’t have. On a Laurel Canyon hillside: A barbecue, Carole Lombard and Clark Gable, Gary Cooper and Sandra, his wife, hot sizzling steaks, stars overhead, old-time songs, new-time stories and mustard. In the overflow meeting for a religious lecture: Director Frank Capra, Ginger Rogers and her mother, Sid Grauman,…