Forgotten Hollywood

Manny P. here…

“`The Walt Disney Company has just ended one of the best-known names in show business… 20th Century Fox. The film studio is now called 20th Century Studios.  The television division will be known as 20th Television. Both the 20th Century small screen and film re-brands retain the famous fanfare theme tune and searchlight logo.

“`Disney has also renamed their other television properties, including ABC Studios and ABC Signature Studios to ABC Signature;  while Fox 21 Television Studios will become Touchstone Television.

“`Disney’s movie-making history dates back to the 1920s, today includes Lucasfilm – which makes the Star Wars franchise – and Marvel Studios, among its stable of film companies.

“`20th Century Fox was created in 1935 when Twentieth Century Pictures and Fox Films merged. The studio is known for screening some of the most profitable productions of all-time, including Avatar and Titanic. 20th Century Fox Television, which traces their roots back to 1949, has been home to popular shows, including the original Batman series, M*A*S*H, and The Simpsons.

“`Earlier this year, when the film studio was re-branded, there were suggestions that Disney wanted to distance itself from Rupert Murdoch’s partisan, right-wing Fox News network.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`The annual Lucille Ball Comedy Festival will be virtual with the help of Lin-Manuel Miranda, Margaret Cho, Weird Al Yankovic, Tiffany Haddish, and over two-dozen comedians. The fest, presented by National Comedy Center in Jamestown, New York, will stream conversations with the artists over three weekends, starting Friday and running through August 30th.

“`The live streams will be free on the center’s new platform, ComedyCenter.org/Festival, and at Facebook.com/NationalComedyCenter. The programs will then be available on-demand and without charge on the center’s platform.

“`The 29th annual festival will pay tribute to Carl Reiner, the filmmaker and creator of The Dick Van Dyke Show who died in June. A rare Reiner interview from the center’s archives will be shown on the final day of the event.

“`The fest, which last year drew large crowds to the center, is among the many annual events forced to improvise by the pandemic.  The non-profit center was founded in Ball’s hometown, which the I Love Lucy star had envisioned as a destination for comedy. It is funded by a mix of federal, state and private support.

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“`I am inviting you to check out my new article in Palos Verdes Pulse online magazine. The subject matter deals with a Hollywood hideaway found in Orange County… Crystal Cove. Here is a link to the story:

https://www.palosverdespulse.com/blog/2020/8/12/crystal-cove-hollywood-to-the-south-a-forgotten-hollywood-essay-by-manny-pacheco

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`Trini Lopez was a singer and guitarist who gained fame for his versions of Lemon Tree and If I Had a Hammer. He took his talents to Hollywood, notably appearing in The Dirty Dozen. He became an international star while performing in English and Spanish. Unlike other Mexican American singers such as Ritchie Valens, Lopez openly embraced his Hispanic roots despite warnings it would hurt his career. It never did. TRINI LOPEZ ->

“`Born Trinidad Lopez III to immigrants from Guanajuato, Mexico, he grew up in Dallas’  Little Mexico neighborhood. His life changed after his father bought him a twelve dollar black Gibson acoustic guitar from a pawn shop.

“`Buddy Holly saw Lopez at a nightclub in Wichita Falls, Texas, and introduced him to Norman Petty, his record producer in Clovis, New Mexico. Holly died in a plane crash six months later, and Lopez briefly replaced him as lead singer of The Crickets.

“`Lopez moved to Los Angeles and got a regular gig at P. J.’s Night Club in West Hollywood. Frank Sinatra saw him perform and offered him a contract with his new record label, Reprise, where Lopez got his first major hit with If I Had a Hammer. It reached the top of the charts in forty countries. They became pals and were spotted together regularly in social circles in Palm Springs and Las Vegas.

“`Lopez received a Grammy nomination for  Best New Artist of 1963. Due to his meteoric rise of success, he and The Beatles were co-headliners during an eighteen-day engagement at the Olympia Theatre in Paris.

“`Lopez’s initial cinematic role was in Marriage on the Rocks, making a cameo appearance in a nightclub scene; two years later, he became one of The Dirty Dozen. On television, he guest-starred on Adam-12.

“`Fascinated by his instrument, he designed two guitars for the Gibson Guitar Corporation, which are now collectors’ items.  Owners of the guitar include Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters and Noel Gallagher of Oasis.

“`Trini Lopez was eighty-three, and suffered from complications of COVID-19.

Until next>                                      “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`Celebrating Act 2 takes an in-depth look at two famous on-screen tough guys, George Raft and Steve McQueen. Both have day-long retrospectives on  TCM’s Summer Under the Stars. Join the conversation, featuring Art Kirsch and John Coleman.

“`Enjoy!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`Sean Connery has been crowned the best James Bond of all time in a tournament-style poll by the United Kingdom publication Radio Times. More than fourteen-thousand fans took part to decide which actor best portrayed Ian Fleming’s quintessential British secret service agent.

“`Using a system of rounds, Connery slipped by Daniel Craig  (often cited as the best to have played the role) in the first round, fifty-six percent to forty-three percent. Pierce Brosnan then convincingly beat George Lazenby in his heat, with the Irish actor scoring a decisive seventy-six percent of the votes. An upset in round three saw the hugely popular Roger Moore lose to Timothy Dalton, with Moore receiving forty-one percent over Dalton’s forty-nine percent.

“`The final round saw Dalton pitted against Connery and Brosnan, with the Scotsman coming out on top with forty-four percent of the voting. Dalton and Brosnan nabbed second and third place, respectively.

“`Connery is the most prolific Bond actor, having appeared in seven movies: and Never Say Never Again. Craig will appear in his fifth movie in the franchise, No Time to Die, later this year, with the film delayed from its original April release date due to the Covid 19 pandemic.  It is now scheduled for release on November 20th.

“`Upon hearing about this latest accolade, I am sure Connery was shaken, not stirred.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`A federal judge has approved the Department of Justice’s efforts to end Paramount Consent Decrees; seventy-year-old court orders that prevented film studios from engaging in a variety of anti-competitive behaviors, including ownership of movie theaters. The termination of these Decrees were part of  Department of Justice’s review of legacy antitrust judgments that dated back to the 1890s and has resulted in the termination of nearly eight-hundred perpetual decrees.

“`Motion picture distributors that were not subject to the Decrees have entered the market since the 1940s; most significantly, Walt Disney Company, Lionsgate, Focus Features, Roadside Attractions, and STX Entertainment. Plus, no internet streaming company  — Netflix, Amazon, Apple, and others — that produce and distribute films are subject to the Decrees. The remaining defendants were at a disadvantage, and subject to legal constraints that do not apply to their competitors.

“`Few in 2020 are thinking it is a good idea to get into the movie theater business. Domestic attendance was already on the decline, even before COVID-19 forced most theaters to close.

“`Netflix and Amazon had shown some interest in owning theaters before this. Amazon was reportedly in the running to purchase  Landmark Theatres, and rumors that it might acquire AMC made the theater chain’s stock more valuable earlier this year.  The acquisition fell apart after AMC stabilized their finances. Netflix signed a long-term lease for New York City’s Paris Theatre last year, and it may have been interested in the  Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles. These potential acquisitions would provide streaming service distribution of movies in theaters allowing the productions to then qualify for Academy Award consideration.

“`This court ruling could spell the end of the traditional movie theater chain. The CoronaVirus may have additionally contributed to the eventual demise of how we watch cinema.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`Wilford Brimley was a soft-spoken actor and a television spokesperson for the Quaker Oats Company. He also advocated for diabetes education and appeared in commercials for Liberty Medical.

“`After serving in the Marines and doing a variety of jobs, including ranch hand and wrangler, Brimley eventually established himself as a fine supporting player. He worked as a bodyguard for Howard Hughes and started shoeing horses in film and television. Brimley began acting in the 1960s as a riding extra in Westerns and as a stunt man at the urging of his friend, Robert Duvall.

“`Brimley’s onscreen breakthrough came when cast in the popular 1970s television series The Waltons; he made seven appearances between 1974 and 1977. His first credited feature film performance was in The China Syndrome, followed by an appearance in Absence of Malice and The Natural. Duvall was instrumental in securing for him for Tender Mercies.

WILFORD BRIMLEY

“`Other cinematic roles include The Electric Horseman, Brubaker, The Thing, Cocoon, My Fellow Americans, and The Firm. On television, he guest-starred in Walker Texas Ranger and Seinfeld.

“`Wilford Brimley was eighty-five.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`Alan Parker was an English filmmaker. His early career was spent as a copywriter and director of television advertisements. After ten years of filming commercials, many of which won awards for creativity, Alan began screenwriting and directing motion pictures. ALAN PARKER ->

“`Parker credited his years writing and directing adverts for his later success as a movie director. His first feature, Bugsy Malone, was a parody of early American gangster films and musicals, but with only child actors. His career took off after its release.

“`His prestigious cinematic resume include  Fame, Midnight Express, Pink Floyd – The Wall, Birdy, Mississippi’s Burning, Shoot the Moon, The Commitments, The Life of David Gale, and the screen adaptation of Evita. Along the way, Parker was nominated for eight BAFTA awards, three Golden Globes, and two Oscars.

“`Parker also championed Britain’s film industry, serving as chairman of the  British Film Institute and the U. K. Film Council. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1995 Birthday Honours and Knight Bachelor in the 2002 New Year Honours for services to the film industry.

“`Sir Alan Parker was seventy-six.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`TCM’s Summer Under the Stars starts this Saturday. John Coleman and Art Kirsch have invited me to Celebrating Act 2 to discuss some of the lineup.

“`On August 23rd, Summer Under the Stars celebrates the film career of Olivia de Havilland; a fitting tribute, indeed!

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`Olivia de Havilland was one of the finest actresses that walked the planet, and the scrappy fighter that challenged Warner Brothers in an effort provide more leverage for every actor that followed. She is best remembered for her roles in The Adventures of Robin Hood and the final one living from Gone with the Wind.  Her sibling was the superb Joan Fontaine.

“`De Havilland was born in Tokyo on July 1, 1916, the daughter of a British patent attorney. While preparing for a school production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, she traveled to Hollywood to see Max Reinhardt’s rehearsals of the cinematic comedy.  Warner Brothers wanted stage actors for their lavish 1935 production and they chose Olivia to co-star with Mickey Rooney.

“`De Havilland signed a seven-year contract with the studio and she went on to make Captain Blood, Dodge City, and six other films with Errol Flynn.  Opposite the dashing actor, she was typecast as an ingénue in period productions, including  The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, Anthony Adverse, and The Charge of the Light Brigade.

“`Her desire to secure Melanie Hamilton Wilkes in Gone with the Wind was singular, since every other actress in Hollywood wanted to play Scarlett O’Hara. Her quiet dignity coincided with 1930s perceptions of the Antebellum South making Olivia the front-runner for the part. However, Jack Warner refused to lend her out to David O Selznick. It was Warner’s wife that intervened and convinced the film mogul to change his mind. A nominee for Best Supporting Actress, De Havilland lost the statuette to Hattie McDaniel.

“`After fulfilling her seven-year agreement in 1943, de Havilland had six months added to her contract for the times she had been suspended. At the time, studios had adopted the position that California law allowed them to suspend contract players for rejecting roles. Time could be added for actors not working during a suspension. A few attempted to challenge this practice, including Bette Davis, who mounted an unsuccessful lawsuit against Jack Warner in the 1930s.

“`She  filed suit against the studio in California Superior Court seeking declaratory judgement that she was no longer bound by her contract. A little over a year later, the California Court of Appeal for the Second District ruled in her favor. Labor Code Section 2855 is still known today as the De Havilland Law. She was free to make movies with meatier opportunities after being blacklisted for two years by all studios in Hollywood.

“`De Havilland and her sister Joan Fontaine are the only siblings to win Academy Awards in a lead acting category.  Fontaine was jealous of her sister’s affection with their mother. When Joan won a 1942 Oscar for Suspicion, Olivia refused to offer her congratulations.  The feud lasted until the passing of Fontaine in 2013.

“`Once free to offer a stronger impression on screen, de Havilland delivered with a series of mature award-winning performances in To Each His Own and The Heiress; and The Dark Mirror, The Snake Pit, My Cousin Rachel and Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte.

“`She had lived in Paris since 1953. She moved to the City of Lights at the insistence of her late French former husband, and found zero reason to return to the United States. Decades earlier, de Havilland dated Howard Hughes, James Stewart, and John Huston.  Though very close, she considered Errol Flynn her off-screen brother.

“`In June 2017, a month prior to her 101st birthday, de Havilland was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2017 Birthday Honours  for services to drama by Queen Elizabeth II. She is the oldest woman ever to receive the honor. On the day before her 101st birthday, de Havilland filed a lawsuit against FX Networks and producer Ryan Murphy for inaccurately portraying her, and using her likeness, without permission in Feud: Bette and Joan. She lost the case and a subsequent appeal. But her last public act of defiance cemented her legacy as a warrior.        OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND –>

“`After celebrating her birthday earlier in the month, the majestic Olivia de Havilland was 104.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`John Saxon was an actor who worked on over two hundred projects during a span of sixty years. Saxon was known for appearances in westerns and horror movies, often playing police officers and detectives. He was also well known in martial arts circles; karate and kung fu his specialties.       JOHN SAXON —>

“`Saxon studied acting with drama coach Stella Adler. He began acting in films during the mid-1950s, playing teenage roles.  He eventually signed a contract with Universal Studios in April 1954.

“`His cinematic roles included It Should Happen to You, A Star is Born, The Unforgiven, Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation, Joe Kidd, Enter the Dragon, Raid on Entebbe and several entries in the Nightmare on Elm Street series of movies.  On television, he guest-starred in Gunsmoke, Dr. Kildare, The Time Tunnel, Bonanza, Ironside, Starsky and Hutch, The Virginian, Night Gallery, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Streets of San Francisco, The Rockford Files, Fantasy Island, Dynasty, Falcon Crest, Murder She Wrote, and Matlock.

“`John Saxon was eighty-four.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`Regis Philbin was a genial host of talk programs and game shows and he was always an open book about his private life while live on screen. His most lingering images are from Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee and Who Wants to be a Millionaire. REGIS PHILBIN ->

“`Regis Philbin grew up in the New York borough of the Bronx. After leaving the Navy in 1955, he talked his way into a meeting with the head programmer at Southern California’s KCOP-TV. He found work parking cars, then progressed into work as a stagehand, newswriter, courier, and producer of a sports telecast. He also briefly served as a page on The Tonight Show.

“`In the early 1960s, KOGO-TV in San Diego began producing The Regis Philbin Show for a national audience.  The program of music and celebrity interviews was taped two weeks before each airing. It was canceled after four months.

“`In 1967, Philbin was hired as announcer and sidekick to comic Joey Bishop on his network show. When he heard that he was going to be fired because of poor ratings, Philbin tearfully announced he was leaving on July 12, 1968, walking off during a live broadcast. He returned three days later after letters of support poured in.

“`After eventually teaming with Kathie Lee, Philbin had finally entered America’s psyche in a big way.  Kelly Ripa would replace Kathie Lee in 2000 and the morning show enjoyed similar success.

“`Philbin’s work as a game-show host cemented his legacy. Forbes reported that two-thirds of ABC’s operating profit in 2000 was due to Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. He became a regular guest on the late-night talk program circuit, and often was used by David Letterman in his manic sketches.

“`Philbin worked over fifteen thousand hours, earning him recognition in the Guinness Book of World Records for most broadcast hours logged in by a television personality; the record previously held by Hugh Downs, who died a couple of weeks ago.

“`The disarming Regis Philbin was eighty-eight.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`Celebrating Act 2 takes a trip to the beach!  John Coleman, Art Kirsch, and I discuss those great beach movies of the 1950s and 1960s that starred Sandra Dee, James Darren, Frankie Avalon, and Annette Funicello. Do not forget the sun tan lotion…

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`John R. Lewis was a politician and civil rights leader. He was a United States Representative for Georgia’s Fifth Congressional District,  and in his seventeenth term in the House, having served since 1987, and was the dean of Georgia’s congressional delegation.  He was one of the Big Six who organized the 1963 March on Washington, and played several roles in the Civil Rights movement to end legalized racial segregation.

“`In 1955, Lewis initially heard Martin Luther King Jr. on the radio. When the Montgomery Bus Boycott (led by King) began later that year, he followed the news about it. He met Rosa Parks when he was seventeen, and was introduced to King for the first time the following year.

“`In 1961, Lewis became one of the thirteen original Freedom Riders. It initiated pressure on the  federal government in enforcing the Supreme Court decision in Boynton v. Virginia declaring segregated interstate bus travel to be unconstitutional.  Freedom Rides also exposed the passivity of the government regarding violence against citizens of the nation who were simply acting in accordance with the law.  In the South, Lewis and other nonviolent  Freedom Riders were beaten by angry mobs, arrested at times and taken to jail.

“`As part of the March on Washington in 1963, and as the chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Lewis addressed the same enormous crowd that heard Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream speech.

“` Lewis became nationally known during his prominent role in Selma to Montgomery marches when, on March 7, 1965 – which became known as Bloody Sunday –  Lewis and fellow activist Hosea Williams led six hundred marchers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. They were met by Alabama State Troopers who ordered them to disperse. When the marchers stopped to pray, the police discharged tear gas and mounted troopers charged the protesters, beating them with night sticks. His skull was fractured, but Lewis escaped across the bridge to Brown Chapel, the movement’s headquarter church in Selma.  Before taken to the hospital, he appeared before the television cameras calling on Lyndon Johnson to intervene in Alabama.

“`In February, 2009, almost fifty years after being bloodied in a Greyhound station during a Freedom Ride, Lewis received an apology on national television from former Klansman Elwin Wilson.  In 2011, Lewis was awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama. He often referred to the president’s election as a down payment to the message offered by King during his March on Washington speech. His own story was chronicled in the movie, Selma.

“`Lewis also worked for fifteen years to gain approval for Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. As he often surmised:  Who’d have thunk it? 

“`John R. Lewis (above) was eighty.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

Manny P. here…

“`If you ever wanted to own a piece of history, this may be a golden opportunity. A listing just went up for The Golden Girls home and it can be yours for the price of three million dollars.  You can own the place where it was filmed.

“`The four bedroom house is located in Brentwood (not Miami), which is a super exclusive locale. 245 North Saltair Ave.  in Southern California has four bedrooms and four bathrooms. You could live very comfortably.

“`It would be neat to tour, just in case you wanted to pick up a mortgage payment of thirteen thousand dollars a month and Home Owner Association fees of five hundred a month.

“`Their wicker furniture is not included and Pier One Imports has filed for bankruptcy. So, expect to decorate the house in your own image.

Until next time>                               “never forget”