George Montgomery is perhaps best remembered today as a '50s Western star, but he could truly do it all. His career progressed from stuntman and bit player to actor and then on to a new creative field, becoming a highly respected artist and craftsman. Montgomery was born August 27, 1916, in Brady, Montana. One of a large family, he grew up as a rancher's son, gaining the riding skills which would help him get a toehold in Hollywood as a stuntman and later stand him in good stead ...
Read moreThe economic boom of the Roaring Twenties came to a screeching halt with the stock market crash of October, 1929, throwing the world into economic depression. It's impossible to overstate the hardship and uncertainty people endured during The Great Depression, when nearly every industry was struggling after the crash. This seemed not to be the case in Hollywood, however, as studios reassured the public that their industry was stable, even booming. Insiders confided to the trades ...
Read moreHere is a second selection of casting tales from Hollywood history. As before, the caveat holds that much of what passes as Hollywood history is gossip, and when it comes to casting deals, the story may be clouded by hearsay, whimsy, and star egos. Film buffs love these stories; we play the altered movies in our heads. Who has not loved Olivia De Havilland as Melanie, the decent, nurturing...
Read moreMore than a decade before Snow White first flitted across the screen in Walt Disney’s seminal feature-length animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), a young woman in Germany produced her own animated feature. Rather than hand-drawn animated cels, however, this woman’s film was made with silhouettes, using a technique that she herself had devised that allowed for seamless movement onscreen. The film, featuring hand-tinted frames in glorious, full-blown color, took the...
Read moreKnown as 'America's Sweetheart,' Mary Pickford was actually Canadian, born Gladys Marie Smith in Toronto in 1892. Shortly after the death of her alcoholic father, the seven year old Gladys hit the stage, and along with her brother and sister, began to tour Canada and the United States regularly as part of a series of low-rent theater troupes. Hoping to become a Broadway actress, Smith moved to New York in 1906 and cha...
Read moreDifficult for us to appreciate these days, but once upon a time, there was a movie theatre in most every neighborhood and the films changed three times a week; you could go to the same theatre on Monday, Thursday and Saturday and see a completely different show, with a feature, newsreel, cartoon and various entertaining or educational short subjects. As a way of keeping audiences coming back (“I loved tonight’s Louise Fazenda movie but that Lupino Lane picture th...
Read moreJeanne Crain was the quintessential girl next door, a teenager who became a star overnight and went on to a long and successful career while also parenting a large family off the screen. Crain was born in the California desert town of Barstow on May 25, 1925. Her family later moved to Los Angeles, where legend has it she was spotted by Orson Welles while she was on an RKO studio tour. He had her tested for The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)...
Read moreIf Guy Madison (1922-1996) had done nothing but star in the hugely successful syndicated TV series The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1951-58), he’d have made his mark on 50s popular culture. But Western fans know Madison rode tall in theaters, too. He made some excellent medium-budget Westerns, which are under-represented on DVD. Born Robert Mo...
Read moreFact or fiction: Groucho Marx was seriously considered for the part of Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind. Try googling that. You will receive an education in the collision of fact, distortion, half-truth, and mythologizing that makes Hollywood history. You’ll find websites clamoring to give you the Groucho/Rhett connection. Skim a little for the first limitation on the claim: apparent...
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