Many people asked for a paperback version of my books on classic movies, so here it is! I've just released my first three eBooks (CLASSIC MOVIES: 14 Films You May Not Have Seen, But Should, Classic Movie Gems and Hidden Hollywood Gold) as ONE volume in PAPERBACK! It's called Hollywood Gems of the Golden Age: 50 Films You May Not Have Seen, But Should. Check out the Amazon link below and see what underappreciated Hollywood treasures I write about, giving you my take and taking you behind the scenes. Hollywood Gems of the Golden Age If you get the chance to read it, I hope you en ..read more

  In 1936, producer David O. Selznick bought the film rights to a new novel that was sweeping the nation.  Margaret Mitchell's epic saga of the South, Gone with the Wind. Among the numerous massive preparations for the movie, top of the list was to find just the right actress to play the lead role... fiery Southern belle, Scarlett O'Hara.  Actresses both famous and infamous wanted the role of a lifetime.  Some were deemed too old (Tallulah Bankhead), some too inexperienced (Lana Turner and Susan Hayward), some came close to landing the part (Paulette Goddard and Joan ..read more

When Warner Brothers started to make plans for a version of the legendary story of Robin Hood they planned to feature their main headliner, James Cagney as the man in green.  Yep, it's true.  They even marketed the upcoming movie with Cagney's name in a leading trade paper at the time. However, it didn't work out and Flynn was in! And boy, aren't we, the classic movie viewer glad.  He was... IS Robin Hood. Olivia de Havilland IS Lady Marian Fitzwalter, though she too wasn't the only actress considered for the part. All the backstory of this tantalizing tale is in the new book ..read more

Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries there have been many, many, many versions of Charlotte Bronte's classic novel, Jane Eyre, both on the big and small screens and produced on both sides of the Atlantic.  Arguably the best-known (and in this blogger's opinion the best) is the 1944 installment from 20th Century-Fox, which starred Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine.  One of the first things to note when watching Hollywood's retelling of the beloved book is that while acting out the story, the film also attempts to rewrite it... literally!  "Text" from the book, shown on screen and emphasized ..read more

At the height of hurricane season, my cinematic thoughts drifted to movies from the golden age in which a hurricane played a major role.  Key Largo was the immediate film that came to mind.  Bogart was a major star by the time the picture hit the screens, and Bacall was no shrinking violet in the realm of celebrity herself.  It was the last of their screen pairings, all of which formed their iconic '40s on-screen bond. Also in the mix is the legendary Edward G. Robinson, playing a character he had perfected almost 20 years earlier: a gangster (ie: a hood, thug, underworld male-diva). Oh ..read more