Actors
Dancing like a Man: The Masculine Moves of Gene Kelly
It always irked Gene Kelly that dancing was considered an effeminate activity for men. When his mother first enrolled him and his brother in dance classes when Gene was still a boy, he had to endure taunts from his classmates which he promptly settled with his fists.
Directors
Why George Cukor Was a “Woman’s Director,” and So Much More
It’s sad but true that the bygone film directors we tend to remember are those associated with specific types of films (think Hitchcock for suspense and John Ford for Westerns), while the more versatile players somehow get lost in the fog.
Actors
How Greer Garson Combined Refined Beauty With Raw Talent
During the Second World War, there was no bigger female star in Hollywood than Greer Garson. She was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar five consecutive times over that period, from 1941-1945. (Only Bette Davis matched Garson’s record, between 1939-1943).
Biographical
How Vivien Leigh Persevered as an Actress While Fighting Mental Illness
The actress who in 1938 came out of nowhere to win the most coveted role in Hollywood once said: “I'm not a film star; I am an actress. Being a film star is such a false life, lived for fake values and for publicity… Actresses go on for a long time and there are always marvelous parts to play.” Vivien Leigh was first and foremost a creature of the theater who only made twenty films. Still, over the course of her career she managed to win two Best Actress Oscars, becoming the first British player to do so.
Directors
How Saul Bass Transformed Opening Movie Credits Forever
His name is seldom invoked today, but if you compiled any list of innovators who’d actually changed the shape of movies, it would have to include Saul Bass.
Directors
John Ford — The Bright and Dark Sides to the Finest Director in History
This once-famous name may be unfamiliar to millennials, but even those with the remotest interest in film should discover him and his astounding body of work. Among the top directors who have credited him as a direct influence on their work: Ingmar Bergman (who described him as “the best director in the world”), Federico Fellini, Akira Kurosawa, Elia Kazan, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, and Steven Spielberg.
Actors
A Ray of Sun: The Upbeat Appeal of Doris Day
I will always remember my middle son’s devotion to Doris Day movies when he was very young. This otherwise very rough-and-tumble kid would look at me on a rainy Saturday afternoon and ask quietly, “Got any more Doris?” This always amused me. I couldn’t help thinking that Doris Day seemed so far removed from the 21st century, belonging exclusively to that bygone era of clean movies, saccharine songs, and prescribed gender roles.
Actors
6 Abundantly Charming Pictures of Dean Martin — You Can’t Look Away!
One quality about Dean Martin you had to love: he never played second banana to anyone. Not to Frank Sinatra, not to Jerry Lewis — both complicated men with big egos. What made him so cool was the fact that he sought and required no one’s approval. Even better, he knew how to use his abundant charm to make you love him for it.
Actors
Staying Power — The Wonder of Angela Lansbury
Roughly two years ago, I had the honor of dining with Angela Lansbury. It was at a private event, where we screened “The Manchurian Candidate” (1962), which features perhaps her most indelible film role, as the diabolically wicked mother of a would-be presidential assassin. Rarely have I met a more grounded, down-to-earth lady. She had no airs whatever. She might have been the British granny of anyone’s happiest dreams: smart, sensible, with a ready laugh and the confidence to listen.