The recent box office success of The Boss firmly establishes Melissa McCarthy as the current queen of movie comedies (Amy Schumer could be a new contender after an impressive debut last Summer with Trainwreck), but let us think back about those other funny ladies of filmdom. So while we’re enjoying the female reboot/re-imagining of Ghostbusters and those Bad Moms, here’s a top ten list that will hopefully inspire lots of laughter and cause you to search out some classic comedies. It’s tough to narrow them down to ten, but we’ll do our best, beginning with… 10. Eve Arden The droll Ms. Arden represents the comic sidekicks who will attempt to puncture the pomposity of the leading ladies with a well-placed wisecrack (see also the great Thelma Ritter in Rear Window). Her career began in the early 1930’s with great bit roles in Stage Door and Dancing Lady.
- 8/8/2016
- by Jim Batts
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Well, another year spent in the company of classic cinema curated by the TCM Classic Film Festival has come and gone, leaving me with several great experiences watching favorite films and ones I’d never before seen, some already cherished memories, and the usual weary bag of bones for a body in the aftermath. (I usually come down with something when I decompress post-festival and get back to the working week, and this year has been no exception.) There have now been seven TCMFFs since its inaugural run in 2010. I’ve been lucky enough to attend them all, and this time around I saw more movies than I ever have before—18 features zipping from auditorium to queue and back to auditorium like a gerbil in a tube maze. In order to make sure I got in to see everything I wanted to see, I had to make sure I was...
- 5/7/2016
- by Dennis Cozzalio
- Trailers from Hell
Teresa Wright: Later years (See preceding post: "Teresa Wright: From Marlon Brando to Matt Damon.") Teresa Wright and Robert Anderson were divorced in 1978. They would remain friends in the ensuing years.[1] Wright spent most of the last decade of her life in Connecticut, making only sporadic public appearances. In 1998, she could be seen with her grandson, film producer Jonah Smith, at New York's Yankee Stadium, where she threw the ceremonial first pitch.[2] Wright also became involved in the Greater New York chapter of the Als Association. (The Pride of the Yankees subject, Lou Gehrig, died of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in 1941.) The week she turned 82 in October 2000, Wright attended the 20th anniversary celebration of Somewhere in Time, where she posed for pictures with Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour. In March 2003, she was a guest at the 75th Academy Awards, in the segment showcasing Oscar-winning actors of the past. Two years later,...
- 3/15/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Shirley Temple, and Oscar movies: Library of Congress’ March 2014 screenings (photo: Philip Seymour Hoffman as Truman Capote in ‘Capote’) Tributes to the recently deceased Shirley Temple and Philip Seymour Hoffman, and several Academy Award-nominated and -winning films are among the March 2014 screenings at the Library of Congress’ Packard Campus Theater and, in collaboration with the Library’s National Audio-Visual Conservation Center, The State Theatre, both located in Culpeper, Virginia. The 1934 sentimental comedy-drama Little Miss Marker (March 6, Packard) is the movie that turned six-year-old Shirley Temple into a major film star. Temple would become the biggest domestic box-office draw of the mid-1930s, and, Tyrone Power, Alice Faye, Sonja Henie, Don Ameche, Loretta Young, and Madeleine Carroll notwithstanding, would remain 20th Century Fox’s top star until later in the decade. Directed by Alexander Hall (Here Comes Mr. Jordan, My Sister Eileen), Little Miss Marker — actually, a Paramount...
- 2/21/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
"TCM Remembers 2011" is out. Remembered by Turner Classic Movies are many of those in the film world who left us this past year. As always, this latest "TCM Remembers" entry is a classy, immensely moving compilation. The haunting background song is "Before You Go," by Ok Sweetheart.
Among those featured in "TCM Remembers 2011" are Farley Granger, the star of Luchino Visconti's Senso and Alfred Hitchcock's Rope and Strangers on a Train; Oscar-nominated Australian actress Diane Cilento (Tom Jones, Hombre), formerly married to Sean Connery; and two-time Oscar nominee Peter Falk (Murder, Inc., Pocketful of Miracles, The Great Race), best remembered as television's Columbo. Or, for those into arthouse fare, for playing an angel in Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire.
Also, Jane Russell, whose cleavage and sensuous lips in Howard Hughes' The Outlaw left the puritans of the Production Code Association apoplectic; another Australian performer, Googie Withers, among...
Among those featured in "TCM Remembers 2011" are Farley Granger, the star of Luchino Visconti's Senso and Alfred Hitchcock's Rope and Strangers on a Train; Oscar-nominated Australian actress Diane Cilento (Tom Jones, Hombre), formerly married to Sean Connery; and two-time Oscar nominee Peter Falk (Murder, Inc., Pocketful of Miracles, The Great Race), best remembered as television's Columbo. Or, for those into arthouse fare, for playing an angel in Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire.
Also, Jane Russell, whose cleavage and sensuous lips in Howard Hughes' The Outlaw left the puritans of the Production Code Association apoplectic; another Australian performer, Googie Withers, among...
- 12/14/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Actor and singer known for her role as the Sinatra-chasing taxi driver Brunhilde Esterhazy in On the Town
The most famous role played by the all-round entertainer Betty Garrett, who has died aged 91, was Brunhilde Esterhazy, the taxi driver in Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly's musical On the Town (1949). In the film, she introduces herself to a shy sailor played by Frank Sinatra and asks him: "Why don't you come up to my place?" She is soon vigorously chasing him around her cab, rejecting any of his suggestions about what to see in New York with the rapid retort: "My place!"
In Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949), Garrett had pursued Sinatra with equal zeal, assuring him by singing It's Fate, Baby, It's Fate. She also panted after Red Skelton in Neptune's Daughter (1949), begging him not to leave her apartment with the song Baby, It's Cold Outside.
The most famous role played by the all-round entertainer Betty Garrett, who has died aged 91, was Brunhilde Esterhazy, the taxi driver in Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly's musical On the Town (1949). In the film, she introduces herself to a shy sailor played by Frank Sinatra and asks him: "Why don't you come up to my place?" She is soon vigorously chasing him around her cab, rejecting any of his suggestions about what to see in New York with the rapid retort: "My place!"
In Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949), Garrett had pursued Sinatra with equal zeal, assuring him by singing It's Fate, Baby, It's Fate. She also panted after Red Skelton in Neptune's Daughter (1949), begging him not to leave her apartment with the song Baby, It's Cold Outside.
- 2/14/2011
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
I was saddened to learn this morning that Betty Garrett, the great star of stage, screen, and TV, passed away yesterday at the age of 94 after suffering an aortic aneurysm.
Garrett was one of those rare people — like, say, Jack Valenti — who happened to be a witness to and/or participant in a remarkably high number of historic events of the 20th century. She was a member of Orson Welles’s famed Mercury Theatre company, and was with him on the night that he shook up America with his infamous radio broadcast of “The War of the Worlds” (1938); she was Frank Sinatra’s leading lady in two of the earliest great M-g-m musical-comedies, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” (1949) and “On the Town” (1949); her career was greatly hurt by the Hollywood Red Scare after her husband, the Oscar nominated actor Larry Parks, refused to name names before the House Committee...
Garrett was one of those rare people — like, say, Jack Valenti — who happened to be a witness to and/or participant in a remarkably high number of historic events of the 20th century. She was a member of Orson Welles’s famed Mercury Theatre company, and was with him on the night that he shook up America with his infamous radio broadcast of “The War of the Worlds” (1938); she was Frank Sinatra’s leading lady in two of the earliest great M-g-m musical-comedies, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” (1949) and “On the Town” (1949); her career was greatly hurt by the Hollywood Red Scare after her husband, the Oscar nominated actor Larry Parks, refused to name names before the House Committee...
- 2/13/2011
- by Scott Feinberg
- Scott Feinberg
Betty Garrett, who graced the Broadway stage in numerous productions and also played Frank Sinatra's love interest twice on screen, passed away in Los Angeles, her son Garrett Parks said Sunday (Feb. 13). She was 91 years old and the mostly likely cause of death was an aortic aneurysm, says Parks.
Garrett's two most famous movie roles were in "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and "On the Town," both in 1949, where she played a girl in love with Frank Sinatra, though she is pictured above in "My Sister Eileen" alongside Jack Lemmon. Her movie career was cut short largely due to her husband, Larry Parks, having to testify in front of Huaac about his brief membership in the communist party. It blacklisted them both.
Betty went on to recur on both "All in the Family" and "Laverne and Shirley" in the 1970s/1980s. Her most recent work included guest-starring roles on "Boston Public,...
Garrett's two most famous movie roles were in "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and "On the Town," both in 1949, where she played a girl in love with Frank Sinatra, though she is pictured above in "My Sister Eileen" alongside Jack Lemmon. Her movie career was cut short largely due to her husband, Larry Parks, having to testify in front of Huaac about his brief membership in the communist party. It blacklisted them both.
Betty went on to recur on both "All in the Family" and "Laverne and Shirley" in the 1970s/1980s. Her most recent work included guest-starring roles on "Boston Public,...
- 2/13/2011
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Pop2it
Film director best known for the Pink Panther, Breakfast at Tiffany's and 10
The film-maker Blake Edwards, who has died aged 88, will be best remembered as the creator of the Pink Panther films, and as the husband of the entertainer Julie Andrews. But Edwards was a third-generation show-business figure whose complex and controversial career spanned more than 50 years, initially as an actor and writer and subsequently as one of America's most prolific producer-directors, primarily concerned with the popular genres of comedy and musicals and with creating television series.
Despite working in mainstream cinema, his maverick spirit and ego made him an uneasy partner with Hollywood studios. He famously savaged the hand that had fed him so well with S.O.B. (1981), a raucous, vitriolic attack on Tinseltown. His sophisticated work drew strongly on his love of early cinema (his stepgrandfather had directed silent films), and on his own life and psychological problems (he...
The film-maker Blake Edwards, who has died aged 88, will be best remembered as the creator of the Pink Panther films, and as the husband of the entertainer Julie Andrews. But Edwards was a third-generation show-business figure whose complex and controversial career spanned more than 50 years, initially as an actor and writer and subsequently as one of America's most prolific producer-directors, primarily concerned with the popular genres of comedy and musicals and with creating television series.
Despite working in mainstream cinema, his maverick spirit and ego made him an uneasy partner with Hollywood studios. He famously savaged the hand that had fed him so well with S.O.B. (1981), a raucous, vitriolic attack on Tinseltown. His sophisticated work drew strongly on his love of early cinema (his stepgrandfather had directed silent films), and on his own life and psychological problems (he...
- 12/17/2010
- by Brian Baxter
- The Guardian - Film News
Hollywood and Broadway star whose family life inspired the musical Gypsy
Those who know the gorgeously gaudy Jule Styne/Stephen Sondheim Broadway musical Gypsy (1959) will remember the refrain of "my name is June, what's yours?" addressed to the audience by the curly-haired child performer. "Baby" June was based on June Havoc, who has died aged 97, and the show was inspired by her early days in Us vaudeville with her "monstrous" stage mother and older sister Rose Louise, who became Gypsy Rose Lee, the famous stripper.
"I think Gypsy was one of the most smashing shows I've seen in my life," Havoc once told me. "But very little to do with fact. My mother was not such a monster. Few parents who had a child who, at the age of two, stood on her toes and danced every time she heard music, could resist putting her forward. Particularly if the child was happy doing it.
Those who know the gorgeously gaudy Jule Styne/Stephen Sondheim Broadway musical Gypsy (1959) will remember the refrain of "my name is June, what's yours?" addressed to the audience by the curly-haired child performer. "Baby" June was based on June Havoc, who has died aged 97, and the show was inspired by her early days in Us vaudeville with her "monstrous" stage mother and older sister Rose Louise, who became Gypsy Rose Lee, the famous stripper.
"I think Gypsy was one of the most smashing shows I've seen in my life," Havoc once told me. "But very little to do with fact. My mother was not such a monster. Few parents who had a child who, at the age of two, stood on her toes and danced every time she heard music, could resist putting her forward. Particularly if the child was happy doing it.
- 3/30/2010
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
June Havoc, the actress who inspired Stephen Sondheim vaudeville musical Gypsy, has died in Connecticut at the age of 97.
The actress and writer passed away from natural causes at her home in Stamford on Sunday, her publicist Shirley Herz has confirmed.
Havoc was the younger sister of Louise, aka stripper Gypsy Rose Lee, whose memoir served as the basis for the original stage show, about a child forced into the entertainment industry from the age of 18 months.
Havoc was married three times and had a daughter, April Hyde Kent, with her first husband, who she married at the age of 13 after meeting on the vaudeville circuit.
She went on to appear in more than 12 productions on Broadway, from Mexican Hayride and Sadie Thompson in 1944 to her final New York stage performance in an early 1980s version of Annie.
She also stared in 26 films including Gentleman's Agreement and My Sister Eileen.
The actress and writer passed away from natural causes at her home in Stamford on Sunday, her publicist Shirley Herz has confirmed.
Havoc was the younger sister of Louise, aka stripper Gypsy Rose Lee, whose memoir served as the basis for the original stage show, about a child forced into the entertainment industry from the age of 18 months.
Havoc was married three times and had a daughter, April Hyde Kent, with her first husband, who she married at the age of 13 after meeting on the vaudeville circuit.
She went on to appear in more than 12 productions on Broadway, from Mexican Hayride and Sadie Thompson in 1944 to her final New York stage performance in an early 1980s version of Annie.
She also stared in 26 films including Gentleman's Agreement and My Sister Eileen.
- 3/29/2010
- WENN
Who needs holidays? Make your own with the birthdays of movie people.
Parker, Oleg and Vlad the Impaler (as interpreted by Gary Oldman)
Today's Birthdays 11/08
1431 Vlad the Impaler would have turned 578 years old today if not for that stake through the heart. To be accurate, his exact birthday is unknown but sometimes he's listed on this date which probably has something to do with...
1847 Bram Stoker who wrote the original Dracula, which gave Vlad the immortality that he had mythically already won as the original nosferatu... vampyr. The cinema loves him harder and deeper than Lucy Harker ever could.
1900 Margaret Mitchell wrote Gone With the Wind. She didn't have to impale anyone or renounce heaven to achieve immortality. She just had to write one mammoth book. The movie based on her novel is still the highest grossing film of all time when adjusted for inflation. One of only four films...
Parker, Oleg and Vlad the Impaler (as interpreted by Gary Oldman)
Today's Birthdays 11/08
1431 Vlad the Impaler would have turned 578 years old today if not for that stake through the heart. To be accurate, his exact birthday is unknown but sometimes he's listed on this date which probably has something to do with...
1847 Bram Stoker who wrote the original Dracula, which gave Vlad the immortality that he had mythically already won as the original nosferatu... vampyr. The cinema loves him harder and deeper than Lucy Harker ever could.
1900 Margaret Mitchell wrote Gone With the Wind. She didn't have to impale anyone or renounce heaven to achieve immortality. She just had to write one mammoth book. The movie based on her novel is still the highest grossing film of all time when adjusted for inflation. One of only four films...
- 11/8/2009
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
They Shoot Horses, Don't They? is among the restored works that will be shown at the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival. The Sydney Pollack-directed 1969 classic will be shown among works Almost a Man (Un uomo a meta), Come Back Africa, Miss Else (Fraulein Else), My Sister Eileen, We Loved Each Other So Much (C'eravamo tanto amati), and a group of short independent films made by New York teens from 1964-1974. The Midnight selection will screen Japanese films Infection (Kansen) and Premonition (Yogen), Germany's Antibodies (Antikorper), and U.S. films Reeker and Modify. The Wide Angle selection will showcase 25 narratives and docus by emerging worldwide talent, and the Showcase selection will offer 24 new films and special programs from around the world that have been screened at other U.S. film festivals but have not been shown in New York.
- 3/15/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Actress Janet Leigh, whose ill-fated shower in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho became one of the most frightening moments in cinema, died Sunday at her home in Beverly Hills; she was 77. According to a spokeswoman for Leigh's daughter, Jamie Lee Curtis, Leigh "died peacefully" at her home on Sunday afternoon, and had been battling vasculitis, an inflammation of the blood vessels, for the past year. A California native, Leigh (birth name Jeannette Helen Morrison) was reportedly discovered by actress Norma Shearer, who saw a photo of a young girl on the desk of Leigh's father and asked if she could borrow it. A screen test for MGM followed, and Leigh was cast in 1947's The Romance of Rosy Ridge. A number of ingénue rolls followed, most notably Little Women, Angels in the Outfield, and The Naked Spur. In 1951, Leigh married the equally photogenic Tony Curtis, and their romance and marriage was press fodder for years, even as they appeared in less-than-memorable films together, including Houdini, The Perfect Furlough, and The Vikings; the two divorced in 1962 after having two daughters, Kelly and Jamie Lee. Leigh's roles improved with her age, and she graduated from maidens in costume dramas to more contemporary heroines, and throughout the 50s she starred in My Sister Eileen, Pete Kelly's Blues, and Jet Pilot, among other films.
Leigh had one of her most memorable roles as Charlton Heston's abducted wife in Orson Welles' 1958 noir classic Touch of Evil, but just two years later she made film history by playing the doomed heroine Marion Crane in Psycho. Her brief but memorable turn in the Hitchcock film, punctuated by the classic shower scene in which the actress was slashed to death by Anthony Perkins, earned Leigh a Golden Globe and her only Academy Award nomination. Though she also appeared opposite Frank Sinatra in the now-classic The Manchurian Candidate, Leigh's Psycho turn overshadowed the rest of her career, a fact that she happily embraced, writing a book about the film's making, Psycho: Behind the Scenes in the Classic Thriller, in 1995. Leigh worked sporadically through the 70s, and appeared with daughter Jamie Lee in 1980's The Fog, but went into semi-retirement in the 80s and 90s; she appeared again with her daughter in the 1998 sequel Halloween: H20. Leigh is survived by her fourth husband, Robert Brandt, and daughters Jamie Lee Curtis and Kelly Curtis. --Prepared by IMDb staff...
Leigh had one of her most memorable roles as Charlton Heston's abducted wife in Orson Welles' 1958 noir classic Touch of Evil, but just two years later she made film history by playing the doomed heroine Marion Crane in Psycho. Her brief but memorable turn in the Hitchcock film, punctuated by the classic shower scene in which the actress was slashed to death by Anthony Perkins, earned Leigh a Golden Globe and her only Academy Award nomination. Though she also appeared opposite Frank Sinatra in the now-classic The Manchurian Candidate, Leigh's Psycho turn overshadowed the rest of her career, a fact that she happily embraced, writing a book about the film's making, Psycho: Behind the Scenes in the Classic Thriller, in 1995. Leigh worked sporadically through the 70s, and appeared with daughter Jamie Lee in 1980's The Fog, but went into semi-retirement in the 80s and 90s; she appeared again with her daughter in the 1998 sequel Halloween: H20. Leigh is survived by her fourth husband, Robert Brandt, and daughters Jamie Lee Curtis and Kelly Curtis. --Prepared by IMDb staff...
- 10/4/2004
- IMDb News
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