Category Archives: Hollywood

A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Movie Columnist

  Feb. 25, 1963: Candice Bergen and Terry Melcher are over, Hedda Hopper says. “Lovely Candy and David Niven Jr. are concentrating on each other. They met when both were in school in Switzerland,” Hopper says … and Raymond Burr … Continue reading →

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A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Movie Columnist

   Feb. 24, 1962: Hedda Hopper says, “That loveable Lucille Ball returns to CBS on Sunday nights at 9 p.m. in a new series for Lever Brothers.”

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Charles Lane, the Classic ‘Stinker’

     Feb. 23, 1980: The Times profiles character actor Charles Lane (d. 2007). “The great old days, a lot of them, stunk,” he says. Lane also says Frank Capra “is the most talented man we ever had.”

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A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Movie Columnist

  Feb. 23, 1961: Hedda Hopper says, “Warren Beatty has sex, youth, talent and ambition.” I would think she might have phrased that a bit differently.

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A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Movie Columnist

    Feb. 22, 1959: William Shatner was in “The World of Suzie Wong?” I had no idea.

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A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Movie Columnist

   Feb. 21, 1959: Hedda Hopper says, “When the Navy’s Blue Angels took Janet Leigh for a ride in one of their jets she didn’t realize what a special occasion it was.”

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A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Movie Columnist

  Feb. 20, 1958: Hedda Hopper says, “[Michael] Todd and Liz flying all over Europe in their own plane. No, he's not at the controls.”

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A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Movie Columnist

  Feb. 19, 1957: Hedda Hopper says, “Dick Widmark, back from England after locationing for 'Saint Joan,' in which he played the Dauphin, says, 'We had bad weather throughout the entire stay. I took a flat when I first went … Continue reading →

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A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Movie Columnist

  Feb. 18, 1956: Hedda Hopper says “A Streetcar Named Desire” is “dated.” You are probably wondering, “Did this woman ever get anything right?” I certainly am.

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Prisoner to Hang in Chicago

  “The Holdout,” by Clare Briggs. Feb. 18, 1920: In Chicago, the sheriff prepares to hang another prisoner. "If capital punishment means anything at all it is a deterrent to further crime and an example to others. The very class … Continue reading →

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A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Movie Columnist

  Feb. 17, 1955: Hedda Hopper says, “Congratulations to the Last Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas for being able to land Mario Lanza (d. 1959). He'll receive $50,000 a week for a singing engagement there. And his fans will be … Continue reading →

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A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Movie Columnist

Feb. 16, 1954: Hedda Hopper says, “The Breen Office passed ‘A Bullet Is Waiting’ without a change, but killed a third of the still photographs that were to advertise the picture.”

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Bette Midler in Pasadena

      Feb. 15, 1980: Lee Grant covers the filming of Bette Midler's "Divine Madness." Midler says of "The Rose," "The director had to explain to me that for the film to have any semblance of reality there would … Continue reading →

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A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Movie Columnist

     Feb. 15, 1953: In a profile of Audie Murphy, Hedda Hopper looks at the studio intrigue surrounding “The Red Badge of Courage,” in which Louis B. Mayer was replaced by Dore Schary,  and says it is "a fine … Continue reading →

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Olympics Open at Lake Placid

      Feb. 14, 1980: Has it really been 30 years since Bob Fosse’s “All That Jazz” opened? Yes it has.

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A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Movie Columnist

   Feb. 14, 1952: Hedda Hopper says, "Jean Arthur has collected nearly $500,000 from Paramount since 1947, yet has made only two pictures for that company. Now by mutual consent her contract has been canceled, with a large hunk of … Continue reading →

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UCLA Students Honor John Belushi

  Feb. 13, 1980: John Belushi comes to UCLA to receive the Jack Benny Memorial Award for Excellence in Entertainment. Asked if he would do serious movie roles, Belushi replies: "These days, people need comedy."

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A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Movie Columnist

  Feb. 13, 1951: Edith Head, the Paramount designer, says: "I don't know why I'm so happy these days unless it's because I've found a waist smaller than Veronica Lake's." The 21 1/2-inch waist belongs to Jan Sterling, Hedda Hopper … Continue reading →

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Home-Schooler Goes to Jail

 Photograph by John Malmin / Los Angeles Times July 21, 1959: Dr. R. Bernard Finch escorts police and reporters in a tour of the crime scene in West Covina.  Newsmen at the courtroom door peep through a crack to get … Continue reading →

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New Studio Signs Stars, Plans Complex Near Culver City

 “Oh, Man!” by Clare Briggs. Location sleuth, Feb. 13, 1920: “A section of Chinatown was practically remodeled early this week to conform to the exigencies of ‘The Heart of a Child,' from Frank Danby's novel, which is Nazimova's current Metro … Continue reading →

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