Forgotten Hollywood

Manny P. here…

“`There has been a monumental shift in the Los Angeles radio landscape. As December 6th at 3p, KNX 1070 AM began simulcasting on the FM dial. The platform is now called: KNX News 97.1 FM.

“`For over a century, KNX has been a dependable source for information on your radio dial. The unique opportunity to reach more listeners and the fact that electric cars are now being sold without an AM signal available were factors into this company decision.  The corporate bosses of parent company, Audacy, are confident that all of the success enjoyed by the AM station will translate to its FM counterpart.

“`I am proud to be part of a new chapter in the iconic history of KNX!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`It is about time that Celebrating Act 2 has a converstion on the James Bond series of films. Art Kirsch and John Coleman join in to chat about the Bond franchise.

“`Enjoy!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`Hollywood Heritage is hosting its 10th annual Afternoon with the Authors this Saturday, from 11a to 3p at the Hollywood Heritage Museum, 2100 N. Highland Avenue. This is my ninth visit to the event, and I am thrilled to have all three of my paperbacks in the Forgotten Hollywood Book Series to autograph.

“`Among the noted authors on hand… Leonard Maltin, William Wellman Jr., Cari Beauchamp, Mary Mallory, Rocky Lang, and Marc Wanamaker. Fourteen authors will be there with literary inventory that shall make great Christmas gifts and stocking stuffers.

“`This year, we are thrilled to have the press at the event. The producers of Celebrating Act 2 will be interviewing the scribes for their nationwide YouTube channel. Hosts Art Kirsch, John Coleman will be there for most of the day covering current and future Hollywood publications.

“`Also covering the day is Pat Pattison, host and executive producer of The Best Of California with Pat Pattison. He will also be profiling the authors for his popular YouTube channel. He is a former Disney executive, and now a longtime television broadcaster with a very successful program. Pat is a great supporter of Hollywood Heritage.

“`Consider this your personal invitation!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`Josephine Baker, the American-born entertainer, wartime spy, and civil rights activist who first achieved fame in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s, was given France’s highest honor today when she was inducted into the French Pantheon, the nation’s mausoleum of heroes. She is the first performing artist, first Black woman, and initial American honored with a Pantheon induction.

“`As a teenager, Josephine moved to New York City and began performing with an all-Black dance troupe. She was discovered by a talent scout from Paris. Baker arrived in the French capital in 1925, at age nineteen. Baker became a fixture in shows at Les Folies Bergères, a famous music hall. She was a symbol of the Jazz Age, dominating France’s cabarets with a sense of humor, her frantic dancing and her iconic songs. One of America’s members of the Lost Generation, her contributions coincided with the talents of Pablo Picasso, Cole Porter, Ernest Hemingway, and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

“`French President Emmanuel Macron presided over this evening’s official ceremony, broadcast live on French television, and included Baker’s family members, politicians, Monaco’s Prince Albert II, and crowds of spectators. The idea of Baker’s inclusion in the Pantheon was first proposed in 2013, and gained traction in recent years as France reckons with racism, its colonial past, and questions about their success of its model of social integration.

“`Eighty other luminaries, such as Voltaire, Victor Hugo and Marie Curie, are among those laid to rest in the Paris monument. Baker remains buried in Monaco.  Her addition is commemorated with a plaque on a cenotaph. France has awarded Baker with several big honors over the years — a French Resistance medal, the Croix de Guerre, and in 1961, upon recognition by President de Gaulle, the Legion of Honor.

“`Today’s ceremony symbolizes the pioneering spirit of Josephine Baker (above).

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`Arlene Dahl was an actress for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and was a spokesperson for cosmetics throughout her career. She was married to Lex Barker and Fernando Lamas.  Her son is Lorenzo Lamas. She leaves a shrinking list of actors with ties to Hollywood’s Golden Age.

“`As a young adult, she traveled to New York and worked as a model. She successfully auditioned for a part in a musical in 1945. This led to her getting the lead in  Questionable Ladies, seen by a talent scout from Hollywood. Dahl had an uncredited bit part in Life with Father. She was promoted to leading lady in My Wild Irish Rose with Dennis Morgan, a big hit that led to an offer from MGM.   ARLENE DAHL –>

“`Other memorable cinema include A Southern Yankee, Three Little Words, Carribean Gold, Here Come the Girls, Woman’s World, and Journey to the Center of the Earth. On the small screen, she guest-starred in Burke’s Law, Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, and recurring roles on One Life to Live and All My Children. On Broadway, Dahl replaced Lauren Bacall as Margo Channing in Applause, the musical based on All About Eve.

“`She began writing a syndicated beauty column in 1952, and opened Arlene Dahl Enterprises in 1954, marketing cosmetics and designer lingerie. She began working at Sears Roebuck as the director of beauty products in 1970, earning nearly $750,000 annually. She left in 1975 to found a short-lived fragrance company, Dahlia.

“`Arlene Dahl was ninety-six.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`Broadway composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim would change American musical theater, reaching artistic heights with legacy works as  West Side Story, Gypsy, Company, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Follies, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, A Little Night Music, and Into the Woods. He began to grasp the essence of musical theater when he was a teenager from his neighbor and mentor, Oscar Hammerstein II. He later advised a new generation of Broadway influencers, including Lin Manuel Miranda.

                                   STEPHEN SONDHEIM

“`He began his career writing for the television series Topper.  He devoured 1940s and 1950s films, and called cinema his basic language; his film knowledge got him through The $64,000 Question contestant tryouts. Sondheim disliked movie musicals, favoring classic dramas such as Citizen Kane, The Grapes of Wrath and A Matter of Life and Death. He loved the work of Michael Curtiz and Raoul Walsh.

“`He eventually collaborated with and wrote the lyrics to Leonard Bernstein’s score for West Side Story, inspired by William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. He also worked with fellow composer Jule Styne as a lyricist for Gypsy, loosely based on the memoirs of burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee. The initial musical for which Sondheim wrote music and lyrics was A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. The concept, based on farces by Plautus, was written by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart. Sondheim’s score was not well received;  while the show won several Tony Awards (including Best Musical), he did not receive a nomination.

“`He scored signature hit Send in the Clowns from his 1973 musical A Little Night Music. It was recorded by Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan and Judy Collins, among others. One of Sondheim’s greatest triumphs was the Pulitzer Prize he shared with composure James Lapine for the 1984 musical Sunday in the Park with George,  about nineteenth-century French Neo-Impressionist artist Georges Seurat. The two later collaborated on Into the Woods.  Other projects did not fare as well. Plus, he seldom compared favorably to the efforts provided by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

“`Other film assignments not related to his work on Broadway include The Last of Sheila, co-written with Anthony Perkins; and music provided for  The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, Reds, Dick Tracy, and The Birdcage.  He recently collaborated with Steven Spielberg on an update of West Side Story to be released in December.

“`Sondheim received an Academy Award for Best Original Song for Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man) from Dick Tracy. He also won eight Tonys for his work on Broadway and eight Grammy Awards for his musical theatre albums. Sondheim has also been nominated for two Golden Globes and he received a Kennedy Center Honor in 1993. In 2015, President Barack Obama presented the lyricist the Presidential Medal of Freedom at a White House ceremony.

“`A virtual tribute Take Me to the World: A Sondheim 90th Celebration was live-streamed on Broadway.com’s YouTube channel on April 26th.  Participants included Lin-Manuel Miranda, Steven Spielberg, Meryl Streep, Nathan Lane, Josh Groban, Patti LuPone, Neil Patrick Harris, Bernadette Peters, Jake Gyllenhaal, Mandy Patinkin, Christine Baranski, Jason Alexander and Audra McDonald.

“`His work addressed darker, more harrowing elements of the human experience, with songs often tinged with ambivalence about various aspects of life. It allowed him to be uniquely relatable to his theatre-going audience.

“`Stephen Sondheim was ninety-one.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`Celebrating Act 2 examines the transition of stars from cinema to the small screen, such as Raymond Burr, Karl Malden, Walter Brennan, George Reeves, Robert Young, and Lucille Ball. I am thrilled to join Art Kirsch and John Coleman for this engaging examination.

“`Enjoy!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`I must admit… There is great comraderie among the cast of Dark Shadows still alive. Lara Parker and Kathryn Leigh Scott have been lifelong friends since they co-starred in the spooky soap opera.                                 (Parker and Scott joining me at a book fest) —>

“`Now, they will join  David Selby, Nancy Barrett, David Henesy, Jerry Lacy, and others for a Zoom Christmas reading of A Christmas Carol on December 19th at 4p (pst). Spend Christmas in Collinsport!

“`This is going to be spectacular!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`Celebrating Act 2 offers a complete rundown of a recent dedication of the Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley in Hollywood. I join Art Kirsch and John Coleman for this engaging discussion.

“`Enjoy!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`Dean Stockwell began his career as a child actor and spent seventy years providing audiences with memorable performances.  He is best remembered as Admiral Al Calavicci on television’s  Quantum Leap. Stockwell (right) earned Emmy and Oscar attention along the way.

“`Dean grew up surrounded by thespians. His father, Harry Stockwell, was an actor and lyric baritone singer in New York productions of Carousel and Oklahoma! as well as the voice of Prince Charming in Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. His elder brother was television and film actor Guy Stockwell.

“`Contracted my MGM, Stockwell appeared in Anchor’s Aweigh (alongside Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Kathryn Grayson), The Valley of Decision, The Green Years and as the son of Nick and Nora Charles in Song of the Thin Man.  Dean was loaned out by MGM to co-star in Gentleman’s Agreement and The Boy with Green Hair.  After his performances in Secret Garden and Kim, he took a break from Hollywood. As a young adult, he had impressive turns in Sons and Lovers and Long Day’s Journey Into Night.

“`He was busy on television, guest-starring in Combat!, The Twilight Zone, Wagon Train, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Dr. Kildare, Bonanza, Mission: Impossible, Night Gallery, Mannix, The F. B. I.,  The Streets of San Francisco, Columbo, McCloud, The A-Team, Hart to Hart, Miami Vice and Murder She Wrote. Stockwell spent five years on Quantum Leap. This effort led to other guest-starring roles in sci fi episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise, Stargate SG1, and Battlestar Galactica. He was close pals with Leap co-star Scott Bakula and Russ Tamblyn, who he had known since the 1940s.

“`Some of his most impressive work was delivered in the 1980s after a brief hiatus from show business. He was cast in  Dune, The Legend of Billie Jean, To Live and Die in L. A., Blue Velvet, and his celebrated turn in Married to the Mob. The latter film was his favorite.

“`Dean Stockwell was eighty-five.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`Celebrating Act 2 shares a great conversation about the iconic director… William Wellman. John Coleman, Art Kirsch, and I offer a stirring retrospective…

“`Enjoy!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`The passing of Chadwick Boseman after leaving us with important final performances in Da 5 Bloods and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom saddens all who feel a promise of great work left unfulfilled. It reminds us of the demise of James Dean after completing his job on Giant and Peter Finch hitting his stride in Network and then succumbing to a heart attack.

“`Let me offer three productions that became the final legacy of giants in the industry…

~ THE MISFITS (1961) – Arthur Miller and John Huston could never have realized that their efforts on this dreary classic would be the last cinematic moments of Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe.  Gable was in the autumn of his career but still could earn top billing. Doing most of his strenuous cowhand stunts in the Nevada desert was too much for his health and he died ten days after completion of the assignment of a heart attack. He was just fifty-nine.

“`Marilyn Monroe feared her career was sliding into oblivion without ever being considered a fine actress.  The Misfits was a promise of her efforts in studying The Method approach to acting. Her next two films would be frothy comedies with Dean Martin  (the kind of flicks she loathed making). Because of depression, she committed suicide before completing Something’s Gotta Give. And Shirley MacLaine replaced her in What a Way to Go.

~ GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER (1967) –  With governmental censorship (The Hayes Code) removed from cinema in 1966, filmmakers were now free to approach contoversial issues on screen. What emerged was mature cinema that might not have been approved the year before, such as Bonnie and Clyde, The Graduate, In the Heat of the Night, Point Blank,  and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.  This latter movie examines the practice of mix-marriage. Though the film seems quaint by today’s standards, the Stanley Kramer production would require nuanced performances, which he received from Sidney Poitier, Katharine Hepburn, Beah Richards, and Spencer Tracy.

“`Tracy had not made a film in four years due to illness, turning down roles in The Cincinnati Kid and on television’s Batman. So concerned were the producers, the movie was only green-lighted when Kramer and Hepburn used their salaries to insure Tracy. This would be Tracy and Hepburn’s ninth film together. His last scene included a love-letter monologue to Kate that was sensitively delivered in his expert Tracy fashion.  The sixty-seven year old actor was dead two weeks later of heart failure.

~ THE SHOOTIST (1976) – After The Conqueror had completed shooting in 1956 in the Nevada desert near an atomic bomb test site, the actors and crew started being diagnosed with cancer. Director Dick Powell, Susan Hayward, Agnes Moorehead and Pedro Armendáriz were among dozens involved with the production that died after contracting the disease.

“`During the making of In Harm’s Way,  John Wayne was diagnosed with cancer. As the star of The Conqueror, he figured this was forthcoming. By 1976, Wayne bravely took on his last part: An aging cowboy suffering from terminal cancer. Joining him on this last roundup were Hugh O’Brian, Harry Morgan,  Richard Boone, John Carradine,  Scatman Crothers, Ron Howard, James Stewart and Lauren Bacall. Stewart was a friend and had previously accepted an honorary Oscar for Gary Cooper who was also dying of cancer in 1961. Bacall had lost her husband, Humphrey Bogart, to the disease. It might have been The Duke’s finest hour on screen.  Consider what he was trying to deliver to audiences; a personal farewell.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`Mort Sahl toted a newspaper when approaching the stage to shape political satire in the 1950s and 1960s. He skewered presidents from Dwight D. Eisenhower to Donald Trump. His biting commentary won him legions of fans beginning in the 1950s, and he was credited in inspiring modern stand-up comedians, including Lenny Bruce, Jonathan Winters,  Woody Allen, Dick Gregory, Phyllis Diller, and Shelley Berman.    MORT SAHL –>

“`Born in Montreal, Sahl moved with his family to Los Angeles and got his start as a comedian at San Francisco’s beatnik Hungry I Club. His Cold War point of view is credited for setting the standard for political comedy. He went on to perform at comedy clubs around the country and did not use profanity either on or off stage, nor did he drink, smoke, or use drugs.

“`Along with his nightclub performances, he appeared in movies and television shows, including his network debut on NBC Comedy Hour in May 1956. He was one of the interim hosts on The Tonight Show following Jack Paar’s departure. He hosted the initial Grammy Awards in 1959 and co-hosted the Academy Awards that same year.

“`In 1960, Sahl was placed on the cover of Time Magazine (a first for a comedian), and they referenced him as Will Rogers with fangs. His offerings of news commentary as satire earned him political and celebrity fans, such as Saul Bellow, S. J. Perelman, Adlai Stevenson, Marlene Dietrich and Leonard Bernstein. Tom Lehrer assumed Sahl’s approach in song and became a collegiate favorite.

“`Sahl was closely linked with John F. Kennedy. At the request of Joe Kennedy, Sahl started writing jokes for JFK to use while campaigning in 1960. He later became obsessed with the 1963 assassination. His focus on the Warren Commission, which concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in killing the president, became a big part of his act. He would join New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison in investigating assassination conspiracy theories. His nightly tirades eventually stalled his career.

“`By the 1970s the rising tide of counterculture eventually fueled Sahl’s partial comeback as a veteran comedian, and he was included along with the new comedians breaking into the field, including George Carlin, Lily Tomlin, and Richard Pryor. In 1988, he performed a one-man Off-Broadway show, Mort Sahl’s America. Despite getting good reviews from critics, it was not a box office success.

“`Sahl ranked #40 on Comedy Central’s list of the hundred greatest stand-up comedians of all time, between Billy Crystal and Jon Stewart. In 2007, a number of pals, including Winters and Carlin, gave Sahl an eightieth birthday tribute. In 2011, the Library of Congress placed his 1955 recording, At Sunset, on the National Recording Registry.

“`Mort Sahl was ninety-four.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`What an absolute pleasure to have a discussion about the career of Lon Chaney and Lon Chaney Jr. on Celebrating Act 2 with John Coleman and Art Kirsch.

“`Enjoy!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`We have finally made it to the top of the countdown. Two words suffice… Damien Chazelle. As it turns out, the gifted director put together cinematic masterpieces; one a frothy musical and the other, an intense jazz-laden thriller. Both flicks also feature actor J. K. Simmons. He earned an Oscar for the effort. First, let me rundown the previous entries of what I consider the finest productions of the last two decades:

#50 Gosford Park – #49 The Reader – #48 I Tonya – #47 Molly’s Game – #46 The Post

#45 Woman in Gold –  #44 Midnight in Paris – #43 The Grand Budapest Hotel

#42 Jojo Rabbit – #41 The Green Book – #40 Hidden Figures – #39 Truth – #38 Dark Water

#37 Chicago – #36 Darkest Hour – #35 Cold War – #34 The Producers – #33 Brooklyn

#32 The King’s Speech – #31 Nightcrawler – #30 Motherless Brooklyn

#29 Charlie Wilson’s War – #28 Richard Jewell – #27 The Ides of March – #26 Argo

#25 Thirteen Days – #24 An Education – #23 The Queen – #22 Hell or High Water

#21 The Ladykillers – #20 Frost/Nixon – #19 American Hustle – #18 Nebraska

#17 Promising Young Woman – #16 Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

#15 The Imitation Game – #14 The Trial of the Chicago Seven – #13 Spotlight

#12 Sideways – #11 Lincoln – #10 Mank – #9 The Artist – #8 My Week with Marilyn

#7 Bad Times at the El Royale – #6 The Social Network – #5 Get Low – #4 Stan & Ollie

#3 Lion

====================

~ #2 – LA LA LAND (2016)

“`Damien Chazelle wrote and directed this cotton-candy homage to Los Angeles. La La Land features a start that rivals the choreographic openings to  Oliver, Fiddler on the Roof, The Music Man and West Side Story. The style and tone of the movie were inspired by Jacques Demy’s  The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and The Young Girls of Rochefort. It draws visual allusions to top musicals such as Broadway Melody of 1940, The Band Wagon, Singin in the Rain, and An American in Paris. The movie travels through the Warner Brothers lot, Angels Flight, Griffith Observatory, Rialto Theater, Lighthouse Cafe, the 10 Freeway, and Hollywood Hills. The story focuses on balancing a career pursuit in Tinsel Town and falling in love.

“`Chazelle actually conceptualized the idea of this musical before turning out Whiplash. Due to the latter movie’s success,  its star Miles Teller was set to team with Emma Watson on the project.  Eventually, the script landed on the doorstep of Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. She was actually delighted for the opportunity because of her childhood love of musicals. She had appeared in a Broadway revival of  Cabaret and her favorite all-time film is Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights. The two channeled their inner Tracy/Hepburn, Bogie/Bacall, Astaire/Rogers, and William Powell/Myrna Loy.

“`La La Land earned fourteen Oscar nods and won six; Best Director, Best Actress (Stone), Best Original Score, Best Original Song,  Best Production Design, and Best Cinematography. The movie matched All about Eve and Titanic for the most nominations. Hilariously, at the Academy Awards ceremony, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway mistakenly announced it had captured Best Picture of the Year. They were wrong… Moonlight won. Ironically, this is the only false note delivered by this loving tribute to the American musical.

~ #1 – WHIPLASH (2014)

“`After Damien Chazelle finished completing the script of Whiplash, Right of Way Films and Blumhouse Productions  helped him turn fifteen pages of the script into an eighteen-minute short film. It received acclaim after debuting at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and attracted investors to produce a cinematic version.  The screenplay was based on his tempestuous bond with a former band instructor while he was in the Princeton High School Studio Band. I just love a Hollywood story!

“`With reference to the careers of Charlie Parker and Buddy Rich, the production’s soundtrack also features the arrangements of Duke Ellington and Juan Tizon (Caravan), and saxaphonist and composer Hank Levy (Whiplash). For his part, J. K. Simmons portrays a frustrated music professor who is profane, cruel, and utterly compelling. As a result, this psychological thriller has many neo-noir elements.

“`Loaded with bravado and swagger, Whiplash earned five Oscar nominations and received statuettes for Best Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Supporting Actor.  Entertainment Weekly and Movies.com named the production Best Motion Picture in 2014. It is better in my estimation… Simply, my FAVORITE movie of the twenty-first century.

Until next time>                               “never forget”