2024-04-21 23:03
Steve McQueen tries to keep his cool as "The Cincinnati Kid."
There were many talented
hands involved with the poker playing epic, 1965’s The Cincinnati Kid. However, Steve McQueen is… Read More
Blog Directory > Arts & Entertainment Blogs > Rick's Real/Reel Life arts-and-entertainment Blog >
2024-04-15 23:16
Jane Fonda & Michael Caine as a not-so-happy couple in 1967's "Hurry Sundown."
Otto Preminger's notorious
race drama Hurry Sundown was badly
reviewed and a box office underperformer bac… Read More
2024-03-30 22:42
Veteran star Fred MacMurray & starlet Kim Novak in 1954's film noir, "Pushover."
The
tale of an authority figure going bad for big bucks and a beautiful broad is
nothing new. In its tim… Read More
2024-03-22 21:32
(L) Joan Fontaine as conniver Christabel in 1950's "Born to Be Bad."(R) Carol Burnett from her TV show, spoofed this noir soap as "Raised to Be Rotten!"By the end of "Born to Be Bad," everyo… Read More
2024-03-04 22:50
Jackie Collins' "Hollywood Wives" was a mini-series hit for ABC in 1985.
Hollywood
Wives was Jackie Collins’ most popular novel, of the many that she
churned out for decades. With Dyn… Read More
2024-02-20 23:08
Ann Sheridan in 1950's "Woman on the Run," her first post-WB film.
Upon its release, Woman on the Run was likely considered a
B+ vehicle for veteran glamour girl Ann Sheridan. Facing the &l&hell…Read More
2024-02-06 23:00
The Two Chief Inspector Barnabys: John Nettles as Tom Barnaby & Neil Dudgeon as John Barnaby. Nettles played Tom for 14 years, then Neil took over as his cousin. "Midsomer Murders"… Read More
2024-01-20 19:22
Jane Wyman is the governess who wears "The Blue Veil" from 1951.
The Blue Veil is a most straightforward
melodrama, a tearjerker tale of a life-long governess, of what was once called
a "wo… Read More
2024-01-03 00:49
Charles Boyer & Irene Dunne sparkle like champagne in 1939's "Love Affair."
The Leo McCarey comedy-drama, Love Affair, came out in 1939, often cited as Hollywood's golden
year in cinema… Read More
2023-12-19 23:26
Dan Dailey & Betty Grable shine as a showbiz couple in 1947's "Mother Wore Tights."
The musical
comedy/drama Mother Wore Tights was
of Betty Grable's greatest hits and the biggest movie… Read More
2023-12-11 21:34
Jimmy Durante & "The Great Rupert!"
Even
back in 1950, the small-budget film The
Great Rupert was considered sentimental and far-fetched. Yet its
good-natured story and clever special e… Read More
2023-11-27 23:38
Nathan Lane & Robin Williams make a fine pair in 1996's "The Birdcage."
Though The Birdcage is a film from 1996, it’s
as timely as ever. Interesting that nearly three decades late… Read More
2023-11-14 02:08
Ava Gardner & Tyrone Power as Ernest Hemingway's troubled lovers Brett Ashley & Jake Barnes in 1957's "The Sun Also Rises."
The last hurrah of the
studio system, as demonstrated by… Read More
2023-10-30 23:40
Stuart Whitman stars in 1964's "Shock Treatment." Whitman reminds me of a young Colin Farrell here, in this tawdry thriller set in a sanitarium.
Shock Treatment is one of t… Read More
2023-10-11 21:52
Bette Davis & Olivia de Havilland go head to head in 1964's southern gothicsuspense film, "Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte."
Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte
was a follow-up to the surp… Read More
2023-10-04 00:03
Albert Dekker, here as the crazy one of twin brothers, and starlet Susan Hayward, in 1941's "Among the Living."
A Southern gothic “B” thriller, Paramount’s 1941 Amon… Read More
2023-09-29 00:30
Joan Collins is Evelyn Nesbit in 1955's "The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing."
Based on one of the most shocking
scandals from the early 20th century, The
Girl in the Red Velvet Swing depicts… Read More
2023-09-07 18:39
Robert Redford as "Bubber" Jackson, the object of 1966's "The Chase."
The
Chase was a slog of a southern melodrama that teemed with great
talent, but was still a great big flop when it was… Read More
2023-08-16 20:47
"The Rains of Ranchipur." Charismatic Richard Burton & femme fatale Lana Turner give each other the eye while her husband Michael Rennie seems oblivious... This scenario seems… Read More
2023-07-25 13:10
Olivia de Havilland as twin sisters Ruth & Terry Collins, one good & one bad, natch! From 1946's "The Dark Mirror."
For the first time, I just watched 1946's The Dark
Mirror, t… Read More
2023-07-16 00:41
Barbara Stanwyck & Fred MacMurray, as a designer & toy maker, who are also old flames in 1956's "There's Always Tomorrow."
Director Douglas Sirk literally flipped the script with
19… Read More
2023-07-02 11:34
Betty Grable got the call to stardom in 20th Century Fox's "Down Argentine Way."
After years of toiling away
as a child performer and later a starlet in B-musicals, Betty Grable became a… Read More
2023-06-30 16:47
A bittersweet moment with Alan Arkin, Eva Marie Saint, & Carl Reiner near the finale of 1966's "The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!"
The Russians
Are Coming! The Russ… Read More
2023-06-15 19:32
"Grease" from 1978 is still the word for fun movie musicals, 45 years later!
The film version of Grease—the
original High School Musical—came out
June 15 in 1978, the summ… Read More
2023-05-26 20:40
Jean Arthur & Marlene Dietrich square off in Billy Wilder's post-war comedy-drama, 1948's "A Foreign Affair."
Even for Billy Wilder,
setting an adult comedy-drama like A
Foreign Af… Read More
2023-05-04 21:29
Gene Tierney & Tyrone Power are the well-cast leads in the 1946 all-star version of "The Razor's Edge."
The
Razor’s Edge from 1946 is remarkably faithful to W.
Somerset Maugham&rs&hell…Read More
2023-04-18 21:27
Goldie Hawn & Meryl Streep: Best frenemies in 1992's satire "Death Becomes Her."
The particulars of plastic
surgery and cosmetic enhancements had just become common knowledge when Death… Read More
2023-04-03 15:42
Doris Day is stalked by an unseen villain in 1960's suspense film "Midnight Lace."
Midnight Lace is one of those film perennials,
the "woman in jeopardy" movie genre. Doris Day has made sev… Read More
2023-03-21 21:00
"Thoroughly Modern Millie," a '20s musical with the '60s biggest singing movie star! That Thoroughly Modern Millie, a puffed up piece of fluff, was a huge hit in 1967 was rather amazin… Read More
2023-03-02 22:35
Lee Tracy as a pugnacious PR man & Jean Harlow as the dervish movie diva, in 1933's screwball comedy "Bombshell." Bombshell was one of the first movies that Jean Harlow showed she had a… Read More
2023-02-21 21:28
As "doomed" media sensation Hazel Flagg in 1937's screwball comedy classic, "Nothing Sacred,"Carole Lombard isn't playing a death scene, just a passed out one! Nothing Sacred is not on… Read More
2023-02-08 00:02
Van Johnson, Lana Turner, Ginger Rogers, and Walter Pidgeon head a cast of MGM favorites in 1945's "Weekend at the Waldorf." MGM’s all-star confection, Weekend at the Waldorf, was rel… Read More
2023-01-30 15:54
Shirley MacLaine stars as Louisa May Foster, who marries and loses most of her five husbands in 1964's comedy, "What a Way to Go!" One of the many '60s all-star spectaculars that was he… Read More
2023-01-18 01:36
Lana Turner tussles with Hugh O'Brian in 1965's "Love Has Many Faces." Joan Crawford & Jeff Chandler spar/spark in "Female on the Beach." MGM grads Lana Turner and Joan Crawford faced la… Read More
2023-01-04 23:35
As "The Farmer's Daughter," Loretta Young leads a fine cast in this 1947 romantic comedy: Joseph Cotten, Charles Bickford, and Ethel Barrymore. In my sixth decade, I finally got around to wa… Read More
2022-12-29 22:51
Raquel Welch & Perry King make such a pretty pair in 1975's "The Wild Party." The '70s nostalgia craze resulted in a flurry of films set in the early 20th century, especially golde… Read More
2022-12-22 00:18
1962's "To Kill a Mockingbird" may have a race trial as its dramatic centerpiece, but the heart of the film is the story of a father, through his child's eyes. The film adaptation of Harper… Read More
2022-12-07 18:54
Janet Leigh, romanced by Robert Mitchum & Wendell Corey, 1949's "Holiday Affair." Holiday Affair was originally envisioned with bigger stars, but economical RKO settled on up and comers… Read More
2022-12-01 23:02
Yvette Mimieux & Charlton Heston have some sibling issues in "Diamond Head." Diamond Head, the “sprawling saga” of spoiled plantation owners and struggling Hawaiian loc… Read More
2022-11-09 22:46
The battle cry of Dolores Claiborne: "Next time, one of us is going to the boneyard!" I loved Stephen King’s suspense novel Dolores Claiborne and was pleased when I saw the… Read More
2022-10-26 20:27
"Wait Until Dark" a 1967 suspense film written by Frederick Knott, also had a stage and film hit with "Dial M For Murder." With Alan Arkin & Audrey Hepburn. If Wait Until Dark was ever r… Read More
2022-10-16 14:41
The hot house atmosphere of 1944's "Gaslight" gets much of its heat from these great stars: Ingrid Bergman, Angela Lansbury, and Charles Boyer. As a suspense film fan, it’s amazing to… Read More
2022-10-10 00:26
Shelley Winters made her TV movie debut in 1971, with the suspense tale "Revenge!"As a '70s child, I lived for these lurid "grown-up" TV movies! Revenge! was Shelley Winters first TV movie… Read More
2022-10-01 23:08
Janet Leigh is memorable as a desperate housewife in "House on Greenapple Road." The two hour long ABC TV movie, House on Greenapple Road, aired January 11, 1970, and introduced audien… Read More
2022-09-21 22:41
A young Cliff Robertson and mature Joan Crawford have a believable chemistry in the May-September romance, "Autumn Leaves." Autumn Leaves offered a rare sympathetic role for Joan Crawford in… Read More
2022-09-07 21:52
Richard Burton, 1960 B.C. -- Before Cleopatra!After 1960 WB duds "Ice Palace" & "The Bramble Bush," Richard Burton starred on Broadway in the hit, "Camelot." Then Fox came calling, with… Read More
2022-08-22 22:03
Gene Kelly and Judy Garland teamed for the first time in "For Me and My Gal." MGM’s For Me and My Gal boasts two firsts: This was Gene Kelly’s film debut and Judy Garland’s… Read More
2022-08-15 22:12
Presley's 1968 TV special proved that Elvis was back! I was astounded to learn that Elvis Presley, prior to his ’68 NBC “comeback special,” had not performed live since he… Read More
2022-08-08 23:40
Sharon Tate as Jennifer North in 1967's "Valley of the Dolls." So much as been written about Sharon Tate’s tragic ending, that I wanted to write about her brief but intriguing career… Read More
2022-07-31 23:31
Ann-Margret & Elvis Presley are a dynamic duo in 1964's "Viva Las Vegas." Viva Las Vegas is a fun bit of fluff, and all the credit goes to its well-paired stars, Elvis Presley and Ann-Ma… Read More
2022-07-18 19:59
Stars behind bars: the cast of 1962's 'House of Women' from WB. WB’s House of Women is really a rehash of Caged. The main difference is the ‘62 semi-remake is a “B”… Read More
2022-07-07 00:32
Kurt Russell, in the role that changed his career: 1979's "Elvis." Elviswas a career-changer for Kurt Russell for several reasons. First, this was Russell’s big dramatic break as an ad… Read More
2022-07-01 00:19
Emlyn Williams' play, "The Corn is Green," is based on the Welsh writer's beginnings. Bette Davis is Miss Moffat, a teacher who mentors John Dall's miner, Morgan Evans. Though old-fashioned… Read More
2022-05-18 15:13
Audrey Hepburn & William Holden teamed a second time for "Paris When it Sizzles."Here's the link! http://clamba.blogspot.com/2022/05/its-time-for-cmba-spring-blogathon-fun.html I’v… Read More
2022-05-05 20:18
Joan Crawford chose the supporting, unsympathetic part of Crystal Allen in "The Women" to prove she was a serious actress and that she also wasn't washed up. By 1939, Joan Crawford was alrea… Read More
2022-04-27 00:00
Lucille Ball was more than ready for a close-up in her last RKO film "The Big Street." The word on The Big Street was that this film should have put Lucille Ball over as a star, after years… Read More
2022-04-15 14:55
William Holden was ambivalent about stardom despite his natural acting ability. William Holden was a much respected actor in his time. And 40 years after his passing, Holden’s performa… Read More
2022-04-03 12:02
Both Clark Gable & Doris Day's characters have lessons to learn in "Teacher's Pet." Teacher’s Petwas made in the midst of Doris Day’s 20 year movie career. Hollywood’s… Read More
2022-04-01 00:02
"Singin' in the Rain." Hollywood's greatest musical? I've been watching classic movies since I was about12, over 50 years now. But I never saw Singin' in the Rain until my mid-40s. I thought… Read More
2022-03-20 23:10
The cast of 1973's "Lost Horizon" enters Shangri-La in awe. While most moviegoers forgotten the musical version of Lost Horizon, some film fans have not. They feel the ’73 Lost H… Read More
2022-03-05 14:24
Peter Falk & Jack Cassidy went head to head in three episodes of "Columbo." I’ve always been fond of Columbo and the “mystery movie” series was one of my first go-to no… Read More
2022-02-28 23:33
One of Elizabeth Taylor's directors accurately if unkindly said that "Elizabeth's faceis her fortune, but her body belongs to somebody else!" Yes, but what a face!Warren Beatty &am&hell…Read More
2022-02-20 13:07
Sidney Poitier in one of his big three films from '67: "To Sir, With Love." 1967 was the “Summer of Love” and year that audiences truly loved Sidney Poitier. The Oscar-winning ac… Read More
2022-02-10 01:49
No tell-all, but Robert Wagner shares some super star memories. Robert Wagner turns 92 on Feb. 10, 2022. I recently read his 2008 memoirs, Pieces of My Heart, co-written with Hollywood biogr… Read More
2022-01-29 00:18
Tyrone Power as Stan Carlisle, charismatic con man, in 1947's "Nightmare Alley." Tyrone Power became an instant star at 20thCentury Fox in 1936, in Lloyd’s of London. Ty was thei… Read More
2022-01-14 18:44
Carole Lombard was just 33 when she appeared in her last film, "To Be or Not to Be." Carole Lombard’s last film, To Be or Not to Be, also turned out to be one of her best. The &r&hell…Read More
2022-01-02 22:18
Bette Davis & Miriam Hopkins toast each other at the end of "Old Acquaintance." AFTER their two hour acting bout! I never saw 1943’s Old Acquaintance until I wrote this essay… Read More
2021-12-18 02:11
Patricia Neal gives one of her best performances as Olivia Walton in 1971's "The Homecoming: A Christmas Story." The Homecoming: A Christmas Story aired 50 years ago Dec. 19, as a TV h… Read More
2021-12-16 00:34
Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz, when they first became Lucy & Ricky Ricardo. The bongo drums are beating hard for Being the Ricardos, but I will pass. Top talent is involved, but they&rsq&hell…Read More
2021-11-29 02:13
Natalie Wood completed all but two scenes in "Brainstorm" before her untimely demise.While 1983’s Brainstorm is not flawless filmmaking, the sci-fi film was made with good intentions… Read More
2021-11-16 00:05
Kim Novak as Elsa Brinkmann, facing the press in "The Legend of Lylah Clare." The scene is afternoon, but the window's view always says sunset in Transylvania!Robert Aldrich, one of the… Read More
2021-11-12 21:18
"My Way of Life" feels more like a longing look back at Joan Crawford's short-lived "happy ending" with Pepsi mogul Alfred Steele.Joan Crawford, at a book signing for her lifestyle tome, "My… Read More
2021-11-05 23:18
Mamma Mia! Gina Lollobrigida is an unwed mother with three possible fathers! The diverse daddy candidates are Telly Savalas, Peter Lawford, and Phil Silvers. As far as ‘60s sex comedie… Read More
2021-10-26 21:11
Anthony James steals the show as the creepy chauffeur of "Burnt Offerings."Horror classics Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist had kept the supernatural genre going when Burnt Offerings w… Read More
2021-10-11 11:43
Patty McCormack as Rhoda Penmark. The perfect angel or the bad seed? ***The best parts of The Bad Seed are its spoilers, so alerts ahead!***Sorry, no can do! Spoilers are divulged! The… Read More
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