Category Archives: Hollywood

A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Movie Columnist

  Dec. 26, 1963: “I was horrified by ‘The Victors,’ from which I expected so much. It's the last picture in the world you'd want to see this season. I'm amazed at Carl Foreman, who wrote 'River Kwai' and 'Guns … Continue reading

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Movie Star Mystery Photo

   Los Angeles Times file photo   Just a reminder on how this works: I post the mystery photo on Monday and reveal the answer on Friday … or on Saturday if I have a hard time picking only five … Continue reading

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | 35 Comments

Predictions for 1975

“All That Is Behind You, Darling.” Dec. 26, 1959: Somehow, the forecasters failed to predict the energy crisis, leisure suits and disco.  Cardinal McIntyre celebrates Mass at St. Vibiana’s.   “The Bells of Bethlehem” by Aimee Semple McPherson (d. 1944) … Continue reading

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Paul V. Coates – Confidential File, Dec. 25, 1959

  Mash Notes and Comment     "Dear Paul,     "Following is a little Christmas spirit I dreamed up while writing the Keely Smith-Louis Prima show here in Las Vegas:     "A WESTERN    CHRISTMAS " 'Twas the night before    ChristmasAnd … Continue reading

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A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Movie Columnist

  Dec. 25, 1962: "To Harold Lloyd, Christmas has always been a great feast at home. The mammoth tree stands in a high, vaulted room, the center of the family gathering. But Lloyd has been away a great deal this … Continue reading

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Matt Weinstock, Dec. 24, 1959

  A Christmas Story     Forty-one years ago a young attorney named Patrick J. Cooney came to Calexio from Chicago.  One of his first clients was Jimmy Wong, who had 5,000 acres in cotton on the Mexican side of the … Continue reading

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A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Movie Columnist

  Dec. 24, 1961: Bobby Darin says,  "If I were a drinker I wouldn't have to come out like a blockbuster. But I don't drink and come on in a nightclub cold sober to entertain a crowd that's invariably high. … Continue reading

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San Marino Pelted With Furs From Mystery Airplane

Dec. 23, 1959: "Thousands of dollars worth of fur pelts were mysteriously jettisoned from a low-flying airplane over San Marino and San Gabriel yesterday. One large gunny sack of the valuable pelts crashes through a patio roof at 1070 Kendall … Continue reading

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Obituaries, Sports | 3 Comments

A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Movie Columnist

  Dec. 22, 1959: “Frank Sinatra went to see the Pat Wymore show in Vegas and immediately signed her for ‘Oceans 11.’ ”

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Firefighters Set Blazes to Draw Attention to Old Equipment

  NEW QUEEN — The shah of Iran and bride Farah pose after their marriage in a Muslim ritual at his palace in Tehran. She is third wife of the shah, who divorced others after they failed to bear an heir. … Continue reading

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A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Movie Columnist

   Dec. 21, 1958: Jeffrey Hunter says of making “The Last Hurrah”: “Working with Spencer Tracy was great. Some of the most telling scenes between me and my wife, played by Diane Foster, had to be cut out in editing … Continue reading

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Voices – Erich von Stroheim

     Dec. 21, 1919: Edwin Schallert profiles Erich von Stroheim and talks about his new film, "Blind Husbands."  “Everything Stroheim does is [characterization]; he can't talk to you for five minutes without starting to act.”

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A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Movie Columnist

Dec. 20, 1957: (While Miss Hopper is away, column is being compiled by her staff). Preston Sturges is in Paris writing a screenplay on the most fabulous swindler of our era, F. Donald Coster. Story is based on New Yorker … Continue reading

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A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Movie Columnist

  Dec. 19, 1956: Burl Ives, who played Big Daddy on stage in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" will repeat his characterization on screen. Burl has also been chosen by Don Hartman to play the father in Eugene O'Neill's … Continue reading

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Writer Blacklisted by Mistake Clears His Name

    “Super-Sonic Hell Creatures No Weapons Can Destroy!” “The Killer Shrews” [What? Only 3 stars on imdb?]  and “The Giant Gila Monster” [2.8 stars on imdb?] now playing at the Avenue Drive-In in Downey!  And of course that Mr. … Continue reading

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A Kinder Simpler Time Dept.: Your Movie Columnist

Dec. 18, 1955: Hedda Hopper is named one of The Times’ Women of the Year!

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Movie Star Mystery Photo

   Los Angeles Times file photo Daria Massey in a photo by Bernard of Hollywood. “Pretty 18-year-old Daria Massey, a former child actress in such films as ‘The Miracle of Fatima,’ ‘I’ll See You in My Dreams’ and ‘The Iron … Continue reading

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | 40 Comments

Location Sleuth — Update

The opening of “The High Sign.” Peter Mullan writes in, citing the research of John Bengtson, who suggests that the carousel used in “The High Sign” was at the Pike, a huge amusement park in Long Beach. I’m not sure … Continue reading

Posted in Film, Hollywood | 2 Comments

Antiwar Film Premieres Around the World

  Stanley Kramer's “On the Beach” opens in 18 countries. "Linus Pauling, a Nobel Prize winner: 'It may be that someday we can look back and say 'On the Beach' is the picture that saved the world." The movie that … Continue reading

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A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Movie Columnist

    Dec. 17, 1954: Otto Preminger would like to team up Harry Belafonte and Dorothy Dandridge after “Carmen Jones,” but “Porgy and Bess” is tied up.

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