The Magnificent Heel

The Magnificent Heel PDF Author: Dan van Neste
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781629332765
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 592

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Book Description
Relive Cortez's dramatic story, from his poverty-stricken childhood to Wall Street and on through Hollywood triumphs, tragedies, and scandals. The author draws from rare material gathered from key libraries and studio archives, much of which has never been published.

The Magnificent Heel

The Magnificent Heel PDF Author: Dan van Neste
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781629332765
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 592

Get Book

Book Description
Relive Cortez's dramatic story, from his poverty-stricken childhood to Wall Street and on through Hollywood triumphs, tragedies, and scandals. The author draws from rare material gathered from key libraries and studio archives, much of which has never been published.

They Coulda Been Contenders

They Coulda Been Contenders PDF Author: Dan Van Neste
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781629334622
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 600

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Book Description
This book traces the lives and careers of Nancy Carroll, Gloria Dickson, Claire Dodd, Richard Greene, John Hodiak, Marian Marsh, Karen Morley, Edward Norris, Jean Parker, Paula Raymond, Zachary Scott, and Gloria Stuart in an attempt to determine what went right and what went wrong in their careers.

Ice Cream Blonde

Ice Cream Blonde PDF Author: Michelle Morgan
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
ISBN: 1613730411
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
A detailed look at the charmed life and tragic death of one of Hollywood's earliest stars A vibrant and beloved Golden Age film comedienne who worked alongside the Marx Brothers, Laurel and Hardy, Ginger Rogers, Cary Grant, Clara Bow, and dozens of others, Thelma Todd was one of the rare actors to successfully cross over from silent films to "talkies." This authoritative new biography traces Todd's life and career, from a vivacious little girl to a young woman who became a reluctant beauty queen to her rapid rise as a Hollywood comedy star to her mysterious death at the age of 29. Increasingly disenchanted with the studio star system, Todd opened the successful Thelma Todd's Sidewalk Café, attracting adoring fans, tourists, and Hollywood celebrities. Life appeared blessed for the beautiful and outspoken Hollywood rebel. So the country was shocked when Todd was found dead by her housekeeper in a garage near the café. An inquest concluded that her death was accidental, caused by inhaling the car's exhaust fumes. In a thorough new investigation that draws on FBI documents, interviews, photographs, reports, and extortion notes—much of these not previously available to the public—author Michelle Morgan offers fresh evidence and conclusions about the circumstances surrounding Todd's death, proving what many people have long suspected, that Thelma had been murdered. The cast of suspects includes Thelma's Hollywood-director lover; her gangster ex-husband; assorted thugs who were pressuring her to install gaming tables in the room above her popular café; and a new, never-before-named mobster. Coinciding with the 80th anniversary of Todd's death, The Ice Cream Blonde is sure to interest any fan of Thelma Todd, Hollywood's Golden Age, or gripping real-life murder mysteries.

Roots of Film Noir

Roots of Film Noir PDF Author: Kevin Grant
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476645817
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 253

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Book Description
Individual reviews of 90+ films created and released before 1941 are included here in the first title-by-title reference guide to the forerunners of film noir. Silent Hitchcock thrillers and German expressionist masterpieces, French poetic realist dramas and forgotten Hollywood B-movies, pseudo-Freudian gangster films and costume melodramas are among the works covered. The collection spans subgenres and cultures of filmmaking, aiming to demonstrate that the roots of noir were sown far and wide, long before the lasting and mysterious genre flowered in America during the war years.

Ann Dvorak

Ann Dvorak PDF Author: Christina Rice
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 0813144396
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Book Description
The forgotten screen legend who made Hollywood history by challenging the all-powerful studio system is revealed in this first full-length biography. Seemingly destined for A-list fame, Ann Dvorak was touted as “Hollywood’s New Cinderella” after film mogul Howard Hughes cast her in the 1932 gangster film Scarface. But Dvorak’s journey to superstardom was derailed when she walked out on her contractual obligations to Warner Bros. for an extended honeymoon. Ann Dvorak: Hollywood’s Forgotten Rebel explores the life and career of one of the first individuals who dared to challenge the studio system. Dvorak reached her pinnacle during the early 1930s, when the film industry was relatively uncensored and free to produce movies with more daring storylines. She played several female leads in films including The Strange Love of Molly Louvain, Three on a Match, and Heat Lightning, but after her walk-out, Warner Bros retaliated by casting her in less significant roles. Following the casting conflicts and illness, Dvorak filed a lawsuit against the Warner Bros. studio, setting a precedent for other stars who eventually followed suit. In this insightful memoir, Christina Rice explores the spirited rebellion of a talented actress whose promising career fell victim to the studio empire.

The Epitome of Cool

The Epitome of Cool PDF Author: Joseph Fusco
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781593935146
Category : Actors
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Ray Danton was a tall, dark and menacing actor with a deadly baritone and an in-your-face attitude that was startling for his era. He started his film career as a B-Movie actor in the Fifties, became an expatriate playing James Bond clones in the Sixties and ended his acting career in drive-in films during the disco Seventies. Danton appeared in forty movies over a twenty year period before becoming a successful television writer, director and producer. Fans of the early Sixties retro gangster cycle may remember The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond and The George Raft Story. They are the hallmarks of Ray Danton's career and exemplify his unique acting style by showcasing an electrifying no holds- barred personality that took no prisoners. The Epitome of Cool: The Films of Ray Danton showcases an impressive resume that was created in the shadows of fame and recognition. It analyzes an original acting style that is contemporary and fits in comfortably with our aggressive times. Check out this Ray Danton retrospective and you will discover a hidden treasure from the Late Show years.

The Othering of Women in Silent Film

The Othering of Women in Silent Film PDF Author: Barbara Tepa Lupack
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 1666913979
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 345

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Book Description
In The Othering of Women in Silent Film: Cultural, Historical, and Literary Contexts, Barbara Tepa Lupackexplores the rampant racial and gender stereotyping depicted in early cinema, demonstrating how those stereotypes helped shape American attitudes and practices. Using social, cultural, literary, and cinema history as a focus, this book offers insights into issues of Othering, including discrimination, exclusion, and sexism, that are as timely today as they were a century ago. Lupack not only examines the ways that dominant cinema of the era imprinted indelible and pejorative images of women—including African Americans, Native Americans, Asians, Hispanics, and New Women/Suffragists—but also reveals the ways in which a number of pioneering early filmmakers and performers attempted to counter those depictions by challenging the imagery, interrogating the stereotypes, and re-politicizing the familiar narratives. Scholars of film, gender, history, and race studies will find this book of particular interest.

Virginia O'Brien

Virginia O'Brien PDF Author: Robert Strom
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781629332208
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
The first book on Virginia O'Brien, the most unique talent under contract to Metro Goldwyn Mayer.

The Accidental Diet

The Accidental Diet PDF Author: Alicia Hunter
Publisher: Michael Ray King Publishing
ISBN: 9781935795889
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 126

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Book Description
Weight-loss consultant and beauty expert Hunter presents her lifelong struggle with weight and self-imageNand what she has accomplished towards living a healthier life and losing weight and gaining incredible self-confidence without guilt, deprivation, or dieting.

The Whistler

The Whistler PDF Author: Dan Van Neste
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781593934026
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 426

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Book Description
Legendary film director Robert Wise called the Whistler features, "examples of budget filmmaking at its very best." Noted B movie historian Don Miller cited them as, "the best B pics of the period from Columbia." Famed film critic/historian Leonard Maltin referred to the series as "one of the most unusual- and one of the best mystery series of the 30's and 40's. . ." Based on J. Donald Wilson's hit radio suspense program featuring ironic tales of terror spun by a mysterious host, The Whistler film series consisted of eight motion pictures produced by Columbia Pictures between 1944 and 1948 starring legendary, Academy Award-nominated actor, Richard Dix. Although manufactured quickly and cheaply to fill the bottom half of a mandatory double bill, The Whistler films were suspenseful and well made, engendering wide popularity and surprising critical acclaim. Today historians and movie aficionados frequently cite them for their innovation and style-and as early examples of film noir. This is the story of the making of this landmark Columbia series, and the many extraordinary individuals who pooled their singular talents to make eight low budget movies into film classics. Included are rare profiles of 50 Whistler filmmakers: actors, directors, writers, and technicians.