Since the second Academy Awards ceremony in 1930, 73 people have received acting Oscar nominations for their debut film performances, yielding a total of 15 breakout wins. Conversely, the list of actors who have earned recognition for their final movie appearances is much smaller, featuring only 18 general and two successful examples. Those who belong to this club gained entry in a variety of ways, with some having voluntarily quit acting altogether, others having specifically stepped away from film performing, and a few having sadly not lived long enough to bask in the glory of their farewell nominations.
Since film acting retirement can never be absolutely permanent while a performer is still alive, only deceased individuals can correctly be counted as official members of this group. Although most currently living retired actors did not pick up Oscar nominations for their latest films anyway, the academy did smile upon one – Daniel Day-Lewis – on his declared way out.
Since film acting retirement can never be absolutely permanent while a performer is still alive, only deceased individuals can correctly be counted as official members of this group. Although most currently living retired actors did not pick up Oscar nominations for their latest films anyway, the academy did smile upon one – Daniel Day-Lewis – on his declared way out.
- 11/28/2023
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
Just two years after Anita of “West Side Story” became the first non-white fictional character to inspire multiple Academy Award nominations, three others are on their way to earning the same distinction. As was the case in 1986, 30% of 2024’s female acting Oscar slots could be filled by stars of “The Color Purple,” the new version of which serves as an adaptation of the similarly titled stage musical rather than Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. If Fantasia Barrino, Danielle Brooks, and Taraji P. Henson all reap bids for their fresh takes on the parts for which Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey, and Margaret Avery were previously recognized, the overall list of doubly Oscar-nominated fictional characters will expand to include 20 examples.
In “The Color Purple,” Barrino executes the lead role of Celie Johnson, who she initially played on Broadway as a direct successor to 2006 Tony-winning originator Lachanze. As in the book and first film,...
In “The Color Purple,” Barrino executes the lead role of Celie Johnson, who she initially played on Broadway as a direct successor to 2006 Tony-winning originator Lachanze. As in the book and first film,...
- 11/14/2023
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
You’ve never seen Hollywood quite like the way it’s portrayed in “Babylon,” the new film from Oscar-winning “La La Land” and “First Man” filmmaker Damien Chazelle. This three-hour epic takes place in the late 1920s and opens in a debauchery-filled Hollywood in the heyday of silent films, as it then chronicles a trio of characters through the transition to talkies. Chazelle assembled an all-star cast for the film, including Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt, and holds nothing back in this R-rated drama that has drawn more than a few comparisons to Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Boogie Nights.”
So if “Babylon” is the film you’re looking to watch over the holiday break, you may be wondering how and where to see it. All your questions answered below.
Also Read:
Watch How ‘Babylon’ Production Designer Florencia Martin Re-Created Old Hollywood in the Desert (Exclusive Video) When Did “Babylon” Come Out?...
So if “Babylon” is the film you’re looking to watch over the holiday break, you may be wondering how and where to see it. All your questions answered below.
Also Read:
Watch How ‘Babylon’ Production Designer Florencia Martin Re-Created Old Hollywood in the Desert (Exclusive Video) When Did “Babylon” Come Out?...
- 1/31/2023
- by Adam Chitwood
- The Wrap
Babylon is Damien Chazelle’s rocket-powered dive into the early days of Hollywood, decorated with orgies, elephant faeces and cocaine. There is spanking. Bacchanalian dancing. Chairs tossed through windows. And that’s all in the first 15 minutes. La La Land, Chazelle’s Oscar-winning, Bambi-eyed paen to artists, poets and the “fools that dream”, would drop dead from fright if it ever came face-to-face with it.
Tailor-made to divide audiences, this debauched drama – and a clear repudiation to those who once accused Chazelle of being too sentimental a director – puts a bullet in the head of any notion that the film industry’s silent era was ever austere or quaint. This was a frontier time, where the art of cinema was built from the ground up with zero rules and very little restraint. It was a place where the soul-sick and hungry could reinvent themselves, but not without considerable personal cost.
Tailor-made to divide audiences, this debauched drama – and a clear repudiation to those who once accused Chazelle of being too sentimental a director – puts a bullet in the head of any notion that the film industry’s silent era was ever austere or quaint. This was a frontier time, where the art of cinema was built from the ground up with zero rules and very little restraint. It was a place where the soul-sick and hungry could reinvent themselves, but not without considerable personal cost.
- 1/21/2023
- by Clarisse Loughrey
- The Independent - Film
To Save and Project: The 19th MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation – See Screening Dates
The Museum of Modern Art announced in early December the To Save and Project: The 19th MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation, the latest edition of the annual festival dedicated to celebrating newly preserved and restored films from archives, studios, distributors, foundations, and independent filmmakers from around the world. Running from January 12 to February 2, 2023, this year’s program will open and close with the restoration premieres of two major silent films from MoMA’s archive: Paul Leni’s horror comedy The Cat and the Canary (1927) and Ernst Lubitsch’s comedy The
Marriage Circle (1924), respectively. To Save and Project is organized by Dave Kehr, Curator, Department of Film, The Museum of Modern Art, and Cindi Rowell, independent curator, with special thanks to Olivia Priedite, Film Program Coordinator, and Steve Macfarlane, Department Assistant, Department of Film.
The 2023 program includes the highly anticipated new version of Tod Browning’s insidious silent horror film...
Marriage Circle (1924), respectively. To Save and Project is organized by Dave Kehr, Curator, Department of Film, The Museum of Modern Art, and Cindi Rowell, independent curator, with special thanks to Olivia Priedite, Film Program Coordinator, and Steve Macfarlane, Department Assistant, Department of Film.
The 2023 program includes the highly anticipated new version of Tod Browning’s insidious silent horror film...
- 12/27/2022
- by Movies Martin Cid Magazine
- Martin Cid Magazine - Movies
Babylon is Damien Chazelle’s rocket-powered dive into the early days of Hollywood, decorated with orgies, elephant faeces and cocaine. There is spanking. Bacchanalian dancing. Chairs tossed through windows. And that’s all in the first 15 minutes. La La Land, Chazelle’s Oscar-winning, Bambi-eyed paen to artists, poets and the “fools that dream”, would drop dead from fright if it ever came face-to-face with it.
Tailor-made to divide audiences, this debauched drama – and a clear repudiation to those who once accused Chazelle of being too sentimental a director – puts a bullet in the head of any notion that the film industry’s silent era was ever austere or quaint. This was a frontier time, where the art of cinema was built from the ground up with zero rules and very little restraint. It was a place where the soul-sick and hungry could reinvent themselves, but not without considerable personal cost.
Tailor-made to divide audiences, this debauched drama – and a clear repudiation to those who once accused Chazelle of being too sentimental a director – puts a bullet in the head of any notion that the film industry’s silent era was ever austere or quaint. This was a frontier time, where the art of cinema was built from the ground up with zero rules and very little restraint. It was a place where the soul-sick and hungry could reinvent themselves, but not without considerable personal cost.
- 12/16/2022
- by Clarisse Loughrey
- The Independent - Film
Margot Robbie gets unhinged in Damien Chazelle’s epic “Babylon.”
The Oscar nominee plays self-proclaimed wild child and up-and-coming actress Nellie Laroy in the 1920s-set period piece, which just released a new trailer. Laroy is an amalgam of ’20s stars Clara Bow, Jeanne Eagels, Joan Crawford, and Alma Rubens. With dreams of reaching stardom, Nellie crosses paths with aging icon Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt), inspired by John Gilbert, Clark Gable, and Douglas Fairbanks.
Per the official “Babylon” synopsis, Chazelle’s film is an original epic set in 1920s Los Angeles led by Pitt, Robbie and Diego Calva, with an ensemble cast including Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li, and Jean Smart. A tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess, it traces the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood.”
The ensemble includes Samara Weaving, Li Jun Li, Katherine Waterston, Olivia Wilde,...
The Oscar nominee plays self-proclaimed wild child and up-and-coming actress Nellie Laroy in the 1920s-set period piece, which just released a new trailer. Laroy is an amalgam of ’20s stars Clara Bow, Jeanne Eagels, Joan Crawford, and Alma Rubens. With dreams of reaching stardom, Nellie crosses paths with aging icon Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt), inspired by John Gilbert, Clark Gable, and Douglas Fairbanks.
Per the official “Babylon” synopsis, Chazelle’s film is an original epic set in 1920s Los Angeles led by Pitt, Robbie and Diego Calva, with an ensemble cast including Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li, and Jean Smart. A tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess, it traces the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood.”
The ensemble includes Samara Weaving, Li Jun Li, Katherine Waterston, Olivia Wilde,...
- 11/28/2022
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Damien Chazelle’s “La La Land” was just the warm up for “Babylon,” his epic comedy-drama about Hollywood during the seismic shift from silents to talkies in the late 1920s — think “La Dolce Vita” meets “Nashville” by way of “The Wolf of Wall Street.” This allowed the Oscar-winning director to step out of his comfort zone with a wild, orgiastic ride through hedonistic excess and extreme living before the sound revolution transformed the movies into a cultural phenomenon.
Judging from the mixed response to Monday’s Academy screening, however, “Babylon” might have a bumpier Best Picture ride than its singing and dancing predecessor. It should be a major crafts player, though. That means likely nominations for some or all of Chazelle’s collaborators: cinematographer Linus Sandgren (Oscar winner for “La La Land”); production designer Florencia Martin; costume designer Mary Zophres; composer Justin Hurwitz (Oscar winner for “La La Land” score...
Judging from the mixed response to Monday’s Academy screening, however, “Babylon” might have a bumpier Best Picture ride than its singing and dancing predecessor. It should be a major crafts player, though. That means likely nominations for some or all of Chazelle’s collaborators: cinematographer Linus Sandgren (Oscar winner for “La La Land”); production designer Florencia Martin; costume designer Mary Zophres; composer Justin Hurwitz (Oscar winner for “La La Land” score...
- 11/16/2022
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
You will now be able to see Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt wreak havoc in “Babylon” even earlier this holiday season.
Damien Chazelle’s old Hollywood epic “Babylon” has officially ditched its previously limited release rollout for a wide release now on December 23.
Originally, “Babylon” was slated for a December 25 limited release, followed by a January 6, 2023 wide release. Instead, the film will open in more than 3,000 theaters nationwide on December 23.
Former “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” co-stars Robbie and Pitt reunite for Chazelle’s star-studded take on the pitfalls of fame and the slow-moving tide of change in the film industry. Set during the transitional period in Hollywood when silent movies gave way to talkies, Robbie stars as aspiring actress Nellie Laroy, who is an amalgam of early “talkies” stars Clara Bow, Jeanne Eagels, John Crawford, and Alma Rubens. With dreams of reaching stardom, Nellie crosses paths with aging...
Damien Chazelle’s old Hollywood epic “Babylon” has officially ditched its previously limited release rollout for a wide release now on December 23.
Originally, “Babylon” was slated for a December 25 limited release, followed by a January 6, 2023 wide release. Instead, the film will open in more than 3,000 theaters nationwide on December 23.
Former “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” co-stars Robbie and Pitt reunite for Chazelle’s star-studded take on the pitfalls of fame and the slow-moving tide of change in the film industry. Set during the transitional period in Hollywood when silent movies gave way to talkies, Robbie stars as aspiring actress Nellie Laroy, who is an amalgam of early “talkies” stars Clara Bow, Jeanne Eagels, John Crawford, and Alma Rubens. With dreams of reaching stardom, Nellie crosses paths with aging...
- 10/18/2022
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
The effort to restore neglected films doesn’t get more rewarding than this 4K rebirth of Lewis Milestone’s version of the acclaimed Somerset Maugham story. Loaned from MGM, Joan Crawford tries on the role of Sadie Thompson and holds her own opposite Walter Huston’s fire & brimstone preacher. It’s still a major achievement of the pre-Code era, an adult story that doesn’t water down its ‘dangerous’ themes: it’s exactly the kind of show that the censors didn’t want made.
Rain
Blu-ray
Mary Pickford Foundation / Vci
1932 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 94 + 76 min. / Street Date September 27, 2022 / Available from Mvd / 29.95
Starring: Joan Crawford, Walter Huston, Fred Howard, Ben Hendricks Jr., William Gargan, Mary Shaw, Guy Kibbee, Kendall Lee, Beulah Bondi, Matt Moore, Walter Catlett.
Cinematography: Oliver Marsh
Art Director: Richard Day
Film Editor: W. Duncan Mansfield
Original Music: Alfred Newman
Screen adaptation by Maxwell Anderson from the play by John Colton,...
Rain
Blu-ray
Mary Pickford Foundation / Vci
1932 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 94 + 76 min. / Street Date September 27, 2022 / Available from Mvd / 29.95
Starring: Joan Crawford, Walter Huston, Fred Howard, Ben Hendricks Jr., William Gargan, Mary Shaw, Guy Kibbee, Kendall Lee, Beulah Bondi, Matt Moore, Walter Catlett.
Cinematography: Oliver Marsh
Art Director: Richard Day
Film Editor: W. Duncan Mansfield
Original Music: Alfred Newman
Screen adaptation by Maxwell Anderson from the play by John Colton,...
- 9/20/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Six years after winning an Oscar for “La La Land,” writer-director Damien Chazelle is gearing up for a return to Tinseltown with his next feature film “Babylon.” This time, he’s taking it back to the Golden Age of Hollywood, when silent films transitioned to talkies.
In a recent interview, Chazelle said he first came up with the idea for “a big, epic, multicharacter movie, set in these early days of Los Angeles and Hollywood, when both of these things were coming into what we now think of them as,” about 15 years ago. It was only after completing 2018’s “First Man” that he got to work on the script for the “massive” movie.
Like any Hollywood movie about Hollywood, the cast of “Babylon” is as star-studded as they come, playing a mixture of fictional and historical characters. Among them: Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt; Olivia Wilde, Samara Weaving, Tobey Maguire,...
In a recent interview, Chazelle said he first came up with the idea for “a big, epic, multicharacter movie, set in these early days of Los Angeles and Hollywood, when both of these things were coming into what we now think of them as,” about 15 years ago. It was only after completing 2018’s “First Man” that he got to work on the script for the “massive” movie.
Like any Hollywood movie about Hollywood, the cast of “Babylon” is as star-studded as they come, playing a mixture of fictional and historical characters. Among them: Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt; Olivia Wilde, Samara Weaving, Tobey Maguire,...
- 9/13/2022
- by Harper Lambert
- The Wrap
There is another fairytale afoot in Hollywood, thanks to Oscar winner Damien Chazelle’s sweeping ode to the rise of talkies.
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” co-stars Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt reunite onscreen for “Babylon,” Chazelle’s star-studded take on the pitfalls of fame and the slow-moving tide of change in the film industry. Set during the transitional period in Hollywood when silent movies gave way to talkies, Robbie stars as aspiring actress Nellie Laroy, who is an amalgam of early “talkies” stars Clara Bow, Jeanne Eagels, John Crawford, and Alma Rubens. With dreams of reaching stardom, Nellie crosses paths with aging icon Jack Conrad (Pitt), inspired by John Gilbert, Clark Gable, and Douglas Fairbanks.
“Babylon” premieres December 25 with a limited release, followed by a wide release January 6, 2023, making the feature a buzzed-about Oscars contender.
The official synopsis reads: “From Damien Chazelle, ‘Babylon’ is an original epic set...
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” co-stars Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt reunite onscreen for “Babylon,” Chazelle’s star-studded take on the pitfalls of fame and the slow-moving tide of change in the film industry. Set during the transitional period in Hollywood when silent movies gave way to talkies, Robbie stars as aspiring actress Nellie Laroy, who is an amalgam of early “talkies” stars Clara Bow, Jeanne Eagels, John Crawford, and Alma Rubens. With dreams of reaching stardom, Nellie crosses paths with aging icon Jack Conrad (Pitt), inspired by John Gilbert, Clark Gable, and Douglas Fairbanks.
“Babylon” premieres December 25 with a limited release, followed by a wide release January 6, 2023, making the feature a buzzed-about Oscars contender.
The official synopsis reads: “From Damien Chazelle, ‘Babylon’ is an original epic set...
- 9/13/2022
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
The lush land of 1920s Hollywood is now getting a modern A-lister take thanks to Oscar winner Damien Chazelle.
The “La La Land” director helms highly-anticipated epic “Babylon” starring Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt as two movie stars at the opposite ends of fame. The film is set for a December 25 limited release and a wide release January 6, 2023, making the feature a buzzed-about Oscars contender.
The period piece focuses on the transitional period in the film industry when silent movies gave way to talkies. While the specific plot details remain under wraps, IndieWire can confirm that Robbie plays aspiring actress Nellie Laroy, who is an amalgam of early “talkies” stars Clara Bow, Jeanne Eagels, John Crawford, and Alma Rubens. Nellie has a “bold, hungry kind of edge to her,” as Chazelle revealed to Vanity Fair.
Meanwhile, Robbie’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” Oscar-winning co-star Pitt plays Jack Conrad,...
The “La La Land” director helms highly-anticipated epic “Babylon” starring Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt as two movie stars at the opposite ends of fame. The film is set for a December 25 limited release and a wide release January 6, 2023, making the feature a buzzed-about Oscars contender.
The period piece focuses on the transitional period in the film industry when silent movies gave way to talkies. While the specific plot details remain under wraps, IndieWire can confirm that Robbie plays aspiring actress Nellie Laroy, who is an amalgam of early “talkies” stars Clara Bow, Jeanne Eagels, John Crawford, and Alma Rubens. Nellie has a “bold, hungry kind of edge to her,” as Chazelle revealed to Vanity Fair.
Meanwhile, Robbie’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” Oscar-winning co-star Pitt plays Jack Conrad,...
- 9/8/2022
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Six years after winning an Oscar for "La La Land," Damien Chazelle is returning with yet another ode to the Cty of Angels. According to an exclusive chat with Vanity Fair, this particular project has been a long time coming — Chazelle has been working on the story for his upcoming feature film "Babylon" since he first moved to Los Angeles 15 years ago. When the idea first dawned on him, the plan was "just to do a big, epic, multi-character movie, set in these early days of Los Angeles and Hollywood, when both of these things were coming into what we now think of them as." After years of chipping away at the story, the character and dynamics finally emerged, and later this year, we'll see for ourselves what it all became.
For obvious reasons, it sounds like "Babylon" might share a lot in common with the very successful "La La Land.
For obvious reasons, it sounds like "Babylon" might share a lot in common with the very successful "La La Land.
- 9/7/2022
- by Shania Russell
- Slash Film
Andra Day is very close to making Oscar history in a number of ways for her accomplished work as the title character in “The United States vs. Billie Holiday.” Notably, she would become only the second Black woman to win Best Actress in the Academy’s 93-year history and one of few actresses to win for their lead acting debut. Additionally, Day could become the first woman to win Best Actress for a role previously nominated in this category for a different film, with her predecessor, Diana Ross, nominated for “Lady Sings the Blues” (1972).
Every instance of women nominated in Best Actress for playing the same character has resulted in a loss. Prior to the now multi-nominated role of Billie Holiday, the Oscars nominated Janet Gaynor, Judy Garland and Lady Gaga as the female leads of the 1937, 1954 and 2018 versions of “A Star Is Born,” Cate Blanchett for playing Queen Elizabeth...
Every instance of women nominated in Best Actress for playing the same character has resulted in a loss. Prior to the now multi-nominated role of Billie Holiday, the Oscars nominated Janet Gaynor, Judy Garland and Lady Gaga as the female leads of the 1937, 1954 and 2018 versions of “A Star Is Born,” Cate Blanchett for playing Queen Elizabeth...
- 4/3/2021
- by Kevin Jacobsen
- Gold Derby
Before Monday morning, the late actor Chadwick Boseman had somehow never been nominated for an Academy Award, despite his astonishing performances as Jackie Robinson in 2013’s “42” and as James Brown in 2014’s “Get on Up” — not to mention his iconic role as the superhero T’Challa in 2018’s “Black Panther.”
That was finally rectified with Boseman’s nomination for best actor as an ambitious jazz trumpeter in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” It also puts Boseman, who died from colon cancer in August at 43, in one of the rarest and most bittersweet Oscar categories: the posthumous acting nominee.
Deceased nominees are not all that uncommon at the Oscars; there have been 79 in total before this year. But prior to Boseman, only seven actors had ever earned Academy Award nominations after their deaths.
The first posthumous acting nominee, Jeanne Eagels, didn’t technically receive an official nomination — the second Academy Awards...
That was finally rectified with Boseman’s nomination for best actor as an ambitious jazz trumpeter in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” It also puts Boseman, who died from colon cancer in August at 43, in one of the rarest and most bittersweet Oscar categories: the posthumous acting nominee.
Deceased nominees are not all that uncommon at the Oscars; there have been 79 in total before this year. But prior to Boseman, only seven actors had ever earned Academy Award nominations after their deaths.
The first posthumous acting nominee, Jeanne Eagels, didn’t technically receive an official nomination — the second Academy Awards...
- 3/15/2021
- by Adam B. Vary
- Variety Film + TV
I’ve been a professional awards journalist for more than 30 years and I often keep falling for an old, sentimental assumption. When scanning a list of nominees to make predictions and a dead body suddenly pops up – especially the ghost of someone who was beloved and respected across Hollywood – I’m tempted to pick that contender, thinking: Oh, come on! How can voters fail to give their old pal one last hug?
But beware: that kind of thinking often comes back to haunt you later. At recent Emmys, you would’ve lost your shekels if you’d bet them on two tempting posthumous nominees: Fred Willard or Carrie Fisher. The Emmy is an industry peer-group award just like the Oscar and so it sometimes holds a lesson for film-award fans.
SEELatest Oscar Best Actor predictions by 30 Experts
Now we Oscar pundits must brutally ask ourselves a tough question: Is Chadwick Boseman...
But beware: that kind of thinking often comes back to haunt you later. At recent Emmys, you would’ve lost your shekels if you’d bet them on two tempting posthumous nominees: Fred Willard or Carrie Fisher. The Emmy is an industry peer-group award just like the Oscar and so it sometimes holds a lesson for film-award fans.
SEELatest Oscar Best Actor predictions by 30 Experts
Now we Oscar pundits must brutally ask ourselves a tough question: Is Chadwick Boseman...
- 1/26/2021
- by Tom O'Neil
- Gold Derby
Only eight actors in history have been nominated for Oscars posthumously. Only 12 actors have been nominated twice in the same year. Chadwick Boseman, sadly, could make history this Oscar season by winding up on both of those lists.
The actor, who died in August of this year after a battle with colon cancer that he hadn’t publicly disclosed, has been considered a solid Best Supporting Actor contender for months for his role in Spike Lee’s “Da 5 Bloods.” And with initial press screenings of George C. Wolfe’s Broadway adaptation “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” taking place this week, Boseman makes a formidable case for Best Actor attention as well.
The role he plays in “Ma Rainey,” a volatile trumpet player named Levee, led to a 1985 Tony Award nomination for Charles S. Dutton in the Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play. That category is the Tonys...
The actor, who died in August of this year after a battle with colon cancer that he hadn’t publicly disclosed, has been considered a solid Best Supporting Actor contender for months for his role in Spike Lee’s “Da 5 Bloods.” And with initial press screenings of George C. Wolfe’s Broadway adaptation “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” taking place this week, Boseman makes a formidable case for Best Actor attention as well.
The role he plays in “Ma Rainey,” a volatile trumpet player named Levee, led to a 1985 Tony Award nomination for Charles S. Dutton in the Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play. That category is the Tonys...
- 11/15/2020
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
It’s the formidable Bette Davis once again, in yet another superior William Wyler picture. The Somerset Maugham play is a classy vehicle for a star performance — the nagging legal ‘difficulty’ of plantation wife Leslie Crosbie is intertwined with colonial politics but remains entirely personal. Leslie isn’t exactly a poster girl for the feminist movement. Is she the victim of social pressures or just a petty, selfish monster? Screenwriter Howard Koch had to invent a twisted new ‘yellow peril’ finish to appease the Production Code … you know, the Code that some people say made Hollywood movies better.
The Letter
Blu-ray
The Warner Archive Collection
1940 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 95 min. / Street Date September 24, 2019 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, James Stephenson, Frieda Inescort, Gale Sondergaard.
Cinematography: Tony Gaudio
Art Direction: Carl Jules Weyl
Film Editor: George Amy, Warren Low
Original Music: Max Steiner
Written by Howard...
The Letter
Blu-ray
The Warner Archive Collection
1940 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 95 min. / Street Date September 24, 2019 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, James Stephenson, Frieda Inescort, Gale Sondergaard.
Cinematography: Tony Gaudio
Art Direction: Carl Jules Weyl
Film Editor: George Amy, Warren Low
Original Music: Max Steiner
Written by Howard...
- 10/5/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
10 random things that happened on this day, October 3rd, in showbiz history
1918 Centennial Alert: Ernst Lubitsch's The Eyes of the Mummy, starring Pola Negri and future Oscar winner Emil Jannings, premieres in Germany. It will take four years to make it to the Us. You can watch this early horror film in its entirety on YouTube. It's not very good but Lubitsch would go on to a brilliant career directing screwball comedies. Negri plays a girl rescued from captivity in an ancient Egyptian temple but her nightmare is only just beginning!
1929 Actress Jeanne Eagels, the star of The Letter that year, dies of a drug overdose at 39, after which she becomes the first (and still only) actress ever Oscar-nominated posthumously...
1918 Centennial Alert: Ernst Lubitsch's The Eyes of the Mummy, starring Pola Negri and future Oscar winner Emil Jannings, premieres in Germany. It will take four years to make it to the Us. You can watch this early horror film in its entirety on YouTube. It's not very good but Lubitsch would go on to a brilliant career directing screwball comedies. Negri plays a girl rescued from captivity in an ancient Egyptian temple but her nightmare is only just beginning!
1929 Actress Jeanne Eagels, the star of The Letter that year, dies of a drug overdose at 39, after which she becomes the first (and still only) actress ever Oscar-nominated posthumously...
- 10/3/2018
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Since 1929, the year of the 2nd Academy Awards, seven performers have earned posthumous Oscar nominations for their work. This year, a legend of the silver screen may join the list of actors recognized for roles following their passing. More than three decades since his death in 1987, John Huston is poised for a posthumous Oscar return with his leading turn in Orson Welles‘ final film, “The Other Side of the Wind.”
This actor, writer, producer and director was no stranger to the Oscars over his illustrious five-decade career in cinema. Between 1940 and 1985, he garnered a total of 15 nominations, including bids in Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay. His pair of victories came in 1948, as he triumphed for his direction and screenwriting on “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.”
In “The Other Side of the Wind,” which premiered to warm notices at this year’s Venice Film Festival,...
This actor, writer, producer and director was no stranger to the Oscars over his illustrious five-decade career in cinema. Between 1940 and 1985, he garnered a total of 15 nominations, including bids in Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay. His pair of victories came in 1948, as he triumphed for his direction and screenwriting on “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.”
In “The Other Side of the Wind,” which premiered to warm notices at this year’s Venice Film Festival,...
- 9/26/2018
- by Andrew Carden
- Gold Derby
The Passion of Joan of Arc
Blu ray
Criterion
1928 / 1:33 / 81 Min. / Street Date March 20, 2018
Starring Renée Jeanne Falconetti, Eugene Silvain
Cinematography by Rudolph Maté
Written by Joseph Delteil, Carl Dreyer
Music by Richard Einhorn, Will Gregory, Adrian Utley
Edited by Carl Dreyer, Marguerite Beaugé
Produced and directed by Carl Dreyer
For over a century the story of Joan of Arc has been catnip to an army of filmmakers ranging from DeMille to Bresson. Surrounded by meddlesome producers and difficult divas, maybe those weary moviemakers saw something of themselves in the embattled heroine – but no director had better insight into God’s own rabble-rouser than Carl Dreyer.
90 years on, The Passion of Joan of Arc continues to astonish. Combining the grim-faced piety of Renaissance art with the unvarnished intimacy of depression era portraits, Dreyer’s 1928 masterpiece still has the power to transform the lowliest grindhouse into a cathedral.
In 1417 a trio...
Blu ray
Criterion
1928 / 1:33 / 81 Min. / Street Date March 20, 2018
Starring Renée Jeanne Falconetti, Eugene Silvain
Cinematography by Rudolph Maté
Written by Joseph Delteil, Carl Dreyer
Music by Richard Einhorn, Will Gregory, Adrian Utley
Edited by Carl Dreyer, Marguerite Beaugé
Produced and directed by Carl Dreyer
For over a century the story of Joan of Arc has been catnip to an army of filmmakers ranging from DeMille to Bresson. Surrounded by meddlesome producers and difficult divas, maybe those weary moviemakers saw something of themselves in the embattled heroine – but no director had better insight into God’s own rabble-rouser than Carl Dreyer.
90 years on, The Passion of Joan of Arc continues to astonish. Combining the grim-faced piety of Renaissance art with the unvarnished intimacy of depression era portraits, Dreyer’s 1928 masterpiece still has the power to transform the lowliest grindhouse into a cathedral.
In 1417 a trio...
- 3/13/2018
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
It's the final Hollywood film by the legendary Ziegfeld star Marilyn Miller, and it's also a terrific talkie feature debut for W.C. Fields -- with one of his dazzling juggling bits. But the real star is director William Dieterle, whose moving camera and creative edits rescue the talkie musical from dreary operetta staging. Her Majesty, Love DVD-r The Warner Archive Collection 1931 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 75 min. / Street Date January 19, 2016 / available through the WBshop / 21.99 Starring Marilyn Miller, Ben Lyon, W.C. Fields, Leon Errol, Ford Sterling, Chester Conklin, Clarence Wilson, Ruth Hall, Virginia Sale, Oscar Apfel. Cinematography Robert Kurrie Film Editor Ralph Dawson Songs Walter Jurmann, Al Dubin Written by Robert Lord, Arthur Caesar from story by Rudolph Bernauer, Rudolf Österreicher Directed by William Dieterle
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
The Warner Archive Collection has been kind to fans of early talkies. We've been able to discover dramatic actresses like Jeanne Eagels...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
The Warner Archive Collection has been kind to fans of early talkies. We've been able to discover dramatic actresses like Jeanne Eagels...
- 3/15/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
'The Letter' 1940, with Bette Davis 'The Letter' 1940 movie: Bette Davis superb in masterful studio era production Directed by William Wyler and adapted by Howard Koch from W. Somerset Maugham's 1927 play, The Letter is one of the very best films made during the Golden Age of the Hollywood studios. Wyler's unsparing, tough-as-nails handling of the potentially melodramatic proceedings; Bette Davis' complex portrayal of a passionate woman who also happens to be a self-absorbed, calculating murderess; and Tony Gaudio's atmospheric black-and-white cinematography are only a few of the flawless elements found in this classic tale of deceit. 'The Letter': 'U' for 'Unfaithful' The Letter begins in the dark of night, as a series of gunshots are heard in a Malayan rubber plantation. Leslie Crosbie (Bette Davis) walks out the door of her house firing shots at (barely seen on camera) local playboy Jeff Hammond, who falls dead on the ground.
- 5/8/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Tab Hunter Confidential now screens Monday, April 27th at 7pm at Landmark’s Tivoli Theater (6350 Delmar) as part of this year’s QFest St. Louis. For ticket information, go Here
Hollywood can destroy people. For every survivor of the Hollywood system, whether from years ago or any current actors, there are dozens of actors and other artists who crashed and burned, had serious substance abuse issues, committed suicide or never made it at all.
Just from memory I can name Barbara Payton, Jayne Mansfield, Jeanne Eagles, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Diana Sands and Montgomery Clift. For a complete rundown you can’t do much better than Kenneth Anger’s incredible book Hollywood Babylon and it’s even more depressing sequel Hollywood Babylon Part Two. Vincent Price called Hollywood “the most evil place on Earth!” And Vincent Price would know something about evil!
A few short years ago I read Tab Hunter...
Hollywood can destroy people. For every survivor of the Hollywood system, whether from years ago or any current actors, there are dozens of actors and other artists who crashed and burned, had serious substance abuse issues, committed suicide or never made it at all.
Just from memory I can name Barbara Payton, Jayne Mansfield, Jeanne Eagles, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Diana Sands and Montgomery Clift. For a complete rundown you can’t do much better than Kenneth Anger’s incredible book Hollywood Babylon and it’s even more depressing sequel Hollywood Babylon Part Two. Vincent Price called Hollywood “the most evil place on Earth!” And Vincent Price would know something about evil!
A few short years ago I read Tab Hunter...
- 4/20/2015
- by Sam Moffitt
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Tab Hunter Confidential screens Monday, April 20th at 7pm at Landmark’s Tivoli Theater (6350 Delmar) as part if this year’s QFest St. Louis. For ticket information, go Here
Hollywood can destroy people. For every survivor of the Hollywood system, whether from years ago or any current actors, there are dozens of actors and other artists who crashed and burned, had serious substance abuse issues, committed suicide or never made it at all.
Just from memory I can name Barbara Payton, Jayne Mansfield, Jeanne Eagles, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Diana Sands and Montgomery Clift. For a complete rundown you can’t do much better than Kenneth Anger’s incredible book Hollywood Babylon and it’s even more depressing sequel Hollywood Babylon Part Two. Vincent Price called Hollywood “the most evil place on Earth!” And Vincent Price would know something about evil!
A few short years ago I read Tab Hunter...
Hollywood can destroy people. For every survivor of the Hollywood system, whether from years ago or any current actors, there are dozens of actors and other artists who crashed and burned, had serious substance abuse issues, committed suicide or never made it at all.
Just from memory I can name Barbara Payton, Jayne Mansfield, Jeanne Eagles, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Diana Sands and Montgomery Clift. For a complete rundown you can’t do much better than Kenneth Anger’s incredible book Hollywood Babylon and it’s even more depressing sequel Hollywood Babylon Part Two. Vincent Price called Hollywood “the most evil place on Earth!” And Vincent Price would know something about evil!
A few short years ago I read Tab Hunter...
- 4/20/2015
- by Sam Moffitt
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Simone Simon in 'La Bête Humaine' 1938: Jean Renoir's film noir (photo: Jean Gabin and Simone Simon in 'La Bête Humaine') (See previous post: "'Cat People' 1942 Actress Simone Simon Remembered.") In the late 1930s, with her Hollywood career stalled while facing competition at 20th Century-Fox from another French import, Annabella (later Tyrone Power's wife), Simone Simon returned to France. Once there, she reestablished herself as an actress to be reckoned with in Jean Renoir's La Bête Humaine. An updated version of Émile Zola's 1890 novel, La Bête Humaine is enveloped in a dark, brooding atmosphere not uncommon in pre-World War II French films. Known for their "poetic realism," examples from that era include Renoir's own The Lower Depths (1936), Julien Duvivier's La Belle Équipe (1936) and Pépé le Moko (1937), and particularly Marcel Carné's Port of Shadows (1938) and Daybreak (1939).[11] This thematic and...
- 2/6/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Best Supporting Actor Oscar Predictions 2014 (photo: Jared Leto in ‘Dallas Buyers Club’) As explained in our previous Oscar 2014 predictions post, this year’s Academy Award nominations in the Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress categories initially looked impossible to predict. For Best Supporting Actor, Jared Leto was the front-runner for his performance as a transsexual with AIDS in Dallas Buyers Club, and Michael Fassbender was another strong possibility for his evil planter in 12 Years a Slave — but who else? (See also: "Oscar Predictions 2014 Best Actress: Meryl Streep Possibly to Break Another Record," "Oscar Predictions 2014 Best Actor: Robert Redford Possible Near-Record," "Best Supporting Actress 2014 Oscar Predictions: Jennifer Lawrence and/or Scarlett Johansson to Make Oscar History?" and "Oscar Predictions 2014: Best Picture, Best Director.") A couple of weeks ago, the SAG Award nominations helped to clarify things some, but, just as in the Best Supporting Actress category, there remains quite...
- 1/8/2014
- by Steve Montgomery
- Alt Film Guide
Paul Henreid: From lighting two cigarettes and blowing smoke onto Bette Davis’ face to lighting two cigarettes while directing twin Bette Davises Paul Henreid is back as Turner Classic Movies’ Star of the Month of July 2013. TCM will be showing four movies featuring Henreid (Now, Voyager; Deception; The Madwoman of Chaillot; The Spanish Main) and one directed by him (Dead Ringer). (Photo: Paul Henreid lights two cigarettes on the set of Dead Ringer, while Bette Davis remembers the good old days.) (See also: “Paul Henreid Actor.”) Irving Rapper’s Now, Voyager (1942) was one of Bette Davis’ biggest hits, and it remains one of the best-remembered romantic movies of the studio era — a favorite among numerous women and some gay men. But why? Personally, I find Now, Voyager a major bore, made (barely) watchable only by a few of the supporting performances (Claude Rains, Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nominee...
- 7/10/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The Letter (1929) Review Pt.1. [Photo: Jeanne Eagels as jealous murderess Leslie Crosbie.] Low-key, however, is hardly the appropriate manner to describe Jeanne Eagels' bombastic talkie début in a role played in London by Gladys Cooper and on Broadway by Katharine Cornell. Eagels, a sensation on stage as Sadie Thompson in W. Somerset Maugham's Rain and the star of a handful of silent films (e.g., The World and the Woman; The Fires of Youth; Man, Woman and Sin, opposite John Gilbert), acts the part of the adulteress-murderess as if she were playing to the far corners of the gallery. (Rain was unavailable for a film adaptation at the time because Gloria Swanson had produced and starred in Raoul Walsh's Sadie Thompson the year before.) Eagels' performance is all mannerisms — hand to forehead to show distress, trembling voice to show despair — and no emotional core. While Bette Davis' 1940 Leslie looks and acts like a cool, calculating vixen,...
- 1/27/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The Letter (1929) Direction: Jean de Limur Cast: Jeanne Eagels, O.P. Heggie, Reginald Owen, Herbert Marshall, Irene Browne, Lady Tsen Mei, Tamaki Yoshiwara Screenplay: Garrett Fort; from W. Somerset Maugham's 1927 play, itself based on a Maugham story found in the 1924 collection The Casuarina Tree Oscar Movies, Pre-Code Movies Jeanne Eagels, Herbert Marshall, The Letter Having watched William Wyler's masterful 1940 film adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's 1927 play The Letter and having read quite a bit about Broadway star Jeanne Eagels' remarkable talent, I was expecting to find at least a modicum of interest in Jean de Limur's 1929 version of Maugham's crime-of-passion melodrama. I'm sorry to report I was greatly disappointed, even though Garrett Fort's screenplay is quite similar to the one used in the Wyler version. Stuck on a Malayan rubber plantation with her aloof older husband (Reginald Owen), British subject Leslie Crosbie (Eagels) finds affection...
- 1/27/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Screenwriter Frederica Sagor Dead at 111: Wrote Movies for Norma Shearer (photo), Clara Bow, Louise Brooks Now, whether Frederica Sagor's Hollywood Babylon-like tales bear any resemblance to what actually happened at studio parties and private soirees, I can't tell. But on the professional side, one problem with the information found in The Shocking Miss Pilgrim is that studios invariably used numerous writers, whether male or female, in their projects. Usually, in those pre-Writers Guild days, only two or three contributors received final credit, not because of the uncredited writer's gender but in large part because the final product oftentimes had little — if anything — in common with the original source. While doing research for my Ramon Novarro biography, I went through various drafts, written by various hands, of his movies. A Certain Young Man, for instance, went through so many changes (including director, cast, and title), that the final film...
- 1/7/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Jack Nicholson, Barbra Streisand in Vincente Minnelli's On a Clear Day You Can See Forever At Film Threat, Phil Hall comes up with a follow-up to his 2008 article about important lost films. Among the 50 titles on Hall's highly eclectic new list are a version of Carmen (1915) starring Fox vamp Theda Bara; The Life of General Villa (1914), in which Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa plays himself and future filmmaker Raoul Walsh played Villa as a young man; and the Rudolph Valentino vehicle A Sainted Devil (1924). Also, the 1928 version of Anita Loos' Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, featuring Ruth Taylor; Jealousy (1929) one of two talkies (the other being The Letter) starring Broadway legend Jeanne Eagels; Lon Chaney's last silent film, Thunder (1929); and Alam Ara (1931), the first Indian talking picture. And more: Heartache (1936), the first Cantonese-language American production; segments from what was to become part III of Sergei [...]...
- 4/20/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
By Pete Hammond
HollywoodNews.com: Although boxoffice was up compared to this week a year ago and Christopher Nolan’s remarkable “Inception” remains the number one movie for the third week in a row with an estimated $27 million and only a 36% drop week to week, it does seem like the dog days of August are upon us already even though the last month of the summer moviegoing season just officially started on Sunday. “Dinner For Schmucks”, a so-so remake of a so-so French comedy fortunately stars likeable Steve Carell and likeable Paul Rudd so it was able to almost reach $24 million this weekend becoming the only good news among wide openers. People are starved for comedy so it performed better than it had any right to. Zac Efron who was described by some panting middle-aged female reviewers on Friday anywhere from “dreamy” to “swoony” managed to open his new drama,...
HollywoodNews.com: Although boxoffice was up compared to this week a year ago and Christopher Nolan’s remarkable “Inception” remains the number one movie for the third week in a row with an estimated $27 million and only a 36% drop week to week, it does seem like the dog days of August are upon us already even though the last month of the summer moviegoing season just officially started on Sunday. “Dinner For Schmucks”, a so-so remake of a so-so French comedy fortunately stars likeable Steve Carell and likeable Paul Rudd so it was able to almost reach $24 million this weekend becoming the only good news among wide openers. People are starved for comedy so it performed better than it had any right to. Zac Efron who was described by some panting middle-aged female reviewers on Friday anywhere from “dreamy” to “swoony” managed to open his new drama,...
- 8/2/2010
- by Pete Hammond
- Hollywoodnews.com
Exactly one year to the day since his death from an accidental drug overdose, Heath Ledger was remembered Thursday with an Oscar nomination as best supporting actor for his performance as the deranged Joker in "The Dark Knight."
Ledger, who died at age 28, became the seventh actor to earn a posthumous nomination in the history of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. If he wins the statuette at the 81st annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, he will enter even more select company, for only one performer, Peter Finch, nominated for 1976's "Network," has ever won an Oscar after his death.
The other actors who left the scene before their work scored nominations include Jeanne Eagels (best actress, "The Letter," 1929) to Spencer Tracy (actor, "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" 1967), Ralph Richardson, (supporting actor, "Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan," 1984) and Massimo Troisi ("Il Postino," 1994, best actor). Ledger's career most closely resembles that of James Dean,...
Ledger, who died at age 28, became the seventh actor to earn a posthumous nomination in the history of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. If he wins the statuette at the 81st annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, he will enter even more select company, for only one performer, Peter Finch, nominated for 1976's "Network," has ever won an Oscar after his death.
The other actors who left the scene before their work scored nominations include Jeanne Eagels (best actress, "The Letter," 1929) to Spencer Tracy (actor, "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" 1967), Ralph Richardson, (supporting actor, "Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan," 1984) and Massimo Troisi ("Il Postino," 1994, best actor). Ledger's career most closely resembles that of James Dean,...
- 1/22/2009
- by By Gregg Kilday
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Synchronize the Watches: Nominations are due to be announced at 5:30 a.m. Pt tomorrow. Why You Can Forget About What Happened at the Globes: At the Globes, a film like Slumdog Millionaire held a decided advantage—a decided geographic advantage—over a film like Benjamin Button. To quote the positively thrilled Hollywood Foreign Press member who introduced the victorious Slumdog-ers to the Globes pressroom: "They're from Bombay! Like me!" Before You Ask, and You Will: If Heath Ledger is nominated, he will be the seventh person nominated posthumously for an acting Osar. Jeanne Eagles (1929's The Letter) was the first; Massimo Troisi (1995's Il Postino) is the most recent. James...
- 1/21/2009
- E! Online
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