(Welcome to Did They Get It Right?, a series where we look at Oscars categories from yesteryear and examine whether the Academy's winners stand the test of time.)
If you were to guess who the most nominated director was in the history of the Academy Awards, who would you guess? Maybe you'd say Steven Spielberg, who has made films for a half-century that have been beloved by millions. Or maybe you're inclination was to guess Martin Scorsese, given his level of simultaneous mainstream acclaim and critical adoration. Or maybe you'd go back to the golden age of Hollywood and guess someone like Frank Capra or John Ford, filmmakers fundamental to establishing what popular American cinema was and directed many films still revered today. In reality, it's not any of these people.
It may come as a surprise to learn that the most nominated director of all time is William Wyler.
If you were to guess who the most nominated director was in the history of the Academy Awards, who would you guess? Maybe you'd say Steven Spielberg, who has made films for a half-century that have been beloved by millions. Or maybe you're inclination was to guess Martin Scorsese, given his level of simultaneous mainstream acclaim and critical adoration. Or maybe you'd go back to the golden age of Hollywood and guess someone like Frank Capra or John Ford, filmmakers fundamental to establishing what popular American cinema was and directed many films still revered today. In reality, it's not any of these people.
It may come as a surprise to learn that the most nominated director of all time is William Wyler.
- 10/15/2023
- by Mike Shutt
- Slash Film
The death far too young of Lisa Marie Presley, the only child of Elvis Presley, on January 12 at age 54 came as a shock. She had attended the Golden Globe Awards ceremony on January 10 along with her mother Priscilla to cheer on Austin Butler, who won the Best Film Drama Actor trophy for his portrayal of Lisa Marie’s father and Priscilla’s onetime husband in Baz Luhrmann‘s musical biopic “Elvis.” At the Globes, Butler concluded his acceptance speech with a shout-out to the two women “for opening your hearts, your memories, your home to me.” Just two days later, Lisa Marie would be gone, the exact cause of death not yet determined.
Butler has been nominated for a SAG Award for Best Actor and is an overwhelming favorite to earn a bid at the Academy Awards when nominations are announced next Tuesday. At present, Butler is the third choice...
Butler has been nominated for a SAG Award for Best Actor and is an overwhelming favorite to earn a bid at the Academy Awards when nominations are announced next Tuesday. At present, Butler is the third choice...
- 1/20/2023
- by Ray Richmond
- Gold Derby
In the stratosphere of cinephiles, the anticipation for a new David Fincher film is palpable. Unveiled by Netflix before a crowd of film critics and journalists on Thursday night, his 11th feature film “Mank” is both personal and technically proficient. It’s been a decade since Fincher received a nomination for best director for “The Social Network,” a loss that still resonates with many awards enthusiasts today. With “Mank,” he’ll most likely pick up another nomination in the category.
On the visual merits alone, “Mank,” which Netflix will release on its streaming platform on Dec. 4, is an impressive feat, likely to emulate past successes like Alfonso Cuarón’s “Gravity” or George Miller’s “Mad Max: Fury Road” — movies that ran up the numbers with multiple statuettes in previous awards years. As grand and impressive as the film is, it may have some challenges to maneuver on its way to the Dolby Theatre.
On the visual merits alone, “Mank,” which Netflix will release on its streaming platform on Dec. 4, is an impressive feat, likely to emulate past successes like Alfonso Cuarón’s “Gravity” or George Miller’s “Mad Max: Fury Road” — movies that ran up the numbers with multiple statuettes in previous awards years. As grand and impressive as the film is, it may have some challenges to maneuver on its way to the Dolby Theatre.
- 10/30/2020
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
The most somber part of the best day of the year — the Oscars — is when the ceremony takes a pause to remember the artists that have left us. This upcoming Academy ceremony will likely be as devastating as ever with the Covid-19 pandemic ravaging our country and industry. One observation as we look ahead to the awards landscape is a larger than usual depth of posthumous artists in the running for an Oscar nomination in several categories. While not all of them may end up coming to fruition, the narrative of the season could surround saying “farewell.”
At this time of writing, it looks as though seven individual artists will be in the running for Academy recognition over several categories. The current record of most posthumous nominations in a single year came in 1991 when Howard Ashman landed three separate song credits for Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” while the other came from Carol Sobieski,...
At this time of writing, it looks as though seven individual artists will be in the running for Academy recognition over several categories. The current record of most posthumous nominations in a single year came in 1991 when Howard Ashman landed three separate song credits for Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” while the other came from Carol Sobieski,...
- 10/1/2020
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
It’s ‘Marriage Story’ circa 1936. Talk about older shows that still pack a dramatic wallop… William Wyler’s most celebrated ’30s film is this Sinclair Lewis adaptation. The Production Code frowned on disrespecting the institution of marriage, but Wyler & writer Sidney Howard keep the divorce theme intact — their well-off couple learn more about each other and simply grow apart. Industrialist Walter Huston gets pushed a little too far. His social-climbing wife Ruth Chatterton doesn’t appreciate what she’s got, while luscious Mary Astor is the Depression equivalent of a Malibu Earth Mother.
Dodsworth
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1936 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 101 min. / Street Date March 24, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Walter Huston, Ruth Chatterton, Paul Lukas, Mary Astor, David Niven, Gregory Gaye, Maria Ouspenskaya.
Cinematography: Rudolph Maté
Film Editor: Daniel Mandell
Original Music: Alfred Newman
Written by Sidney Howard from his play of the novel by Sinclair Lewis...
Dodsworth
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1936 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 101 min. / Street Date March 24, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Walter Huston, Ruth Chatterton, Paul Lukas, Mary Astor, David Niven, Gregory Gaye, Maria Ouspenskaya.
Cinematography: Rudolph Maté
Film Editor: Daniel Mandell
Original Music: Alfred Newman
Written by Sidney Howard from his play of the novel by Sinclair Lewis...
- 3/17/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Above: Italian 4-foglio for Dodsworth; illustrated by Anselmo Ballester.William Wyler’s 1936 masterpiece of mid-life crises and European travel, Dodsworth, will play in all its glory at Alice Tully Hall in a brand new restoration at this year’s New York Film Festival. To be introduced by playwright and director Kenneth Lonergan and Wyler’s daughters Catherine and Melanie, it will be a tony affair, as befitting this classiest of productions. Based on Nobel Prize-winning author Sinclair Lewis’ 1929 novel—which had already been adapted very successfully for the stage by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Sidney Howard—about a wealthy midwestern industrialist, Sam Dodsworth (Walter Huston), who retires and takes his restless wife (Ruth Chatterton) on a grand tour of Europe, produced by Samuel Goldwyn, and shot by Rudolph Maté, who had previously shot Dreyer’s Vampyr and The Passion of Joan of Arc, Dodsworth was a prestige production par excellence. And...
- 9/20/2019
- MUBI
“The Hate U Give” screenwriter Audrey Wells took on an especially challenging task, adapting a bestselling young adult novel for the screen and addressing subjects like police brutality, crime and poverty in ways that would be accessible to teen viewers as well as an adult audience. Sadly, Wells didn’t live to see the film reach its audience. She died of cancer on October 4, 2018. The film opened the following day. Will she be commemorated with an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay? She would be the 10th writer to be nominated posthumously.
A nomination for Wells wouldn’t just be a sentimental choice. The film earned rave reviews with a MetaCritic score of 82 and a Rotten Tomatoes freshness rating of 97%. She has already won prizes from critics in Indiana and Philadelphia, as well as online critics in Los Angeles. And she has been nominated by the Alliance of Women Film Journalists and critics from Utah.
A nomination for Wells wouldn’t just be a sentimental choice. The film earned rave reviews with a MetaCritic score of 82 and a Rotten Tomatoes freshness rating of 97%. She has already won prizes from critics in Indiana and Philadelphia, as well as online critics in Los Angeles. And she has been nominated by the Alliance of Women Film Journalists and critics from Utah.
- 1/2/2019
- by Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
This article marks Part 5 of the Gold Derby series reflecting on films that contended for the Big Five Oscars – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Screenplay (Original or Adapted). With “A Star Is Born” this year on the cusp of joining this exclusive group of Oscar favorites, join us as we look back at the 43 extraordinary pictures that earned Academy Awards nominations in each of the Big Five categories, including the following four films that scored a quartet of trophies among the top races.
At the 12th Academy Awards ceremony, this was no stopping Victor Fleming’s blockbuster epic “Gone with the Wind” (1939). With a total of 13 nominations, the most of any film that year, it was the overwhelming favorite for Oscar glory and indeed, on the big night, the picture took home eight prizes, including Best Picture. Fleming, in his lone career Oscar bid, prevailed in Best Director,...
At the 12th Academy Awards ceremony, this was no stopping Victor Fleming’s blockbuster epic “Gone with the Wind” (1939). With a total of 13 nominations, the most of any film that year, it was the overwhelming favorite for Oscar glory and indeed, on the big night, the picture took home eight prizes, including Best Picture. Fleming, in his lone career Oscar bid, prevailed in Best Director,...
- 10/25/2018
- by Andrew Carden
- Gold Derby
This article marks Part 2 of the Gold Derby series reflecting on films that contended for the Big Five Oscars – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Screenplay (Original or Adapted). With “A Star Is Born” this year on the cusp of joining this exclusive group of Oscar favorites, join us as we look back at the 43 extraordinary pictures that earned Academy Awards nominations in each of the Big Five categories, including the following 11 films that scored a single prize among the top races.
More than eight decades prior to Bradley Cooper’s take on the timeless tale, the first “A Star Is Born” (1937), headlined by Fredric March and Janet Gaynor, became the third motion picture, following “Cimarron” (1931) and “It Happened One Night” (1934), to earn nominations in the Big Five Oscar categories.
At the 10th Academy Awards ceremony, however, neither March nor Gaynor emerged triumphant, losing in their...
More than eight decades prior to Bradley Cooper’s take on the timeless tale, the first “A Star Is Born” (1937), headlined by Fredric March and Janet Gaynor, became the third motion picture, following “Cimarron” (1931) and “It Happened One Night” (1934), to earn nominations in the Big Five Oscar categories.
At the 10th Academy Awards ceremony, however, neither March nor Gaynor emerged triumphant, losing in their...
- 10/7/2018
- by Andrew Carden
- Gold Derby
Over his remarkable career in film, Orson Welles was the recipient of a trio of Oscar nominations, all for “Citizen Kane” (1941). That marked his feature film debut and is widely considered one of the greatest motion pictures ever produced. He, alongside Herman J. Mankiewicz, triumphed in Best Original Screenplay on the big night and, nearly three decades later, Welles earned an Honorary Oscar for his contributions to cinema.
Though Welles died in 1985, the filmmaker once again finds himself the talk of Oscar season, this time posthumously, with his final picture, “The Other Side of the Wind.”
The film, which made its world premiere at this year’s Venice Film Festival, stars two-time Oscar winner John Huston (who died in 1987) as Jake Hannaford, a washed-up, hard-drinking Hollywood director who vies to revive his career with an experimental film, full of sex and violence. Shot over several years in the 1970s, “The Other Side of the Wind...
Though Welles died in 1985, the filmmaker once again finds himself the talk of Oscar season, this time posthumously, with his final picture, “The Other Side of the Wind.”
The film, which made its world premiere at this year’s Venice Film Festival, stars two-time Oscar winner John Huston (who died in 1987) as Jake Hannaford, a washed-up, hard-drinking Hollywood director who vies to revive his career with an experimental film, full of sex and violence. Shot over several years in the 1970s, “The Other Side of the Wind...
- 9/22/2018
- by Andrew Carden
- Gold Derby
Today in 1959, The Most Happy Fella opened at City Center where it ran for 16 performances. With a book, music, and lyrics by Frank Loesser, the story isabout a romance between an older man and younger woman, is based on the play They Knew What They Wanted by Sidney Howard. The original Broadway production opened in 1956 and ran for 14 months. A 1992 revival, directed by Gerald Guttierrez, featured Spiro Malas as Tony, Sophie Hayden as Rosabella, Charles Pistone as Joe, Claudia Catania as Marie, Liz Larsen as Cleo, and Scott Waara as Herman.
- 2/10/2016
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
Billy Wilder directed Sunset Blvd. with Gloria Swanson and William Holden. Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett movies Below is a list of movies on which Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder worked together as screenwriters, including efforts for which they did not receive screen credit. The Wilder-Brackett screenwriting partnership lasted from 1938 to 1949. During that time, they shared two Academy Awards for their work on The Lost Weekend (1945) and, with D.M. Marshman Jr., Sunset Blvd. (1950). More detailed information further below. Post-split years Billy Wilder would later join forces with screenwriter I.A.L. Diamond in movies such as the classic comedy Some Like It Hot (1959), the Best Picture Oscar winner The Apartment (1960), and One Two Three (1961), notable as James Cagney's last film (until a brief comeback in Milos Forman's Ragtime two decades later). Although some of these movies were quite well received, Wilder's later efforts – which also included The Seven Year Itch...
- 9/16/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Today in 1959, The Most Happy Fella opened at City Center where it ran for 16 performances. With a book, music, and lyrics by Frank Loesser, the story isabout a romance between an older man and younger woman, is based on the play They Knew What They Wanted by Sidney Howard. The original Broadway production opened in 1956 and ran for 14 months. A 1992 revival, directed by Gerald Guttierrez, featured Spiro Malas as Tony, Sophie Hayden as Rosabella, Charles Pistone as Joe, Claudia Catania as Marie, Liz Larsen as Cleo, and Scott Waara as Herman.
- 2/10/2015
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
Seventy-five years after the premiere of "Gone With the Wind" (on December 15, 1939), it seems that nothing -- not the passage of time, not the movie's controversial racial politics, not the film's daunting length, and not even the release of certain James Cameron global blockbusters -- can diminish the romantic Civil War drama's stature as the most popular movie of all time.
The film is certainly a formidable artistic achievement, a cornerstone of movie history, and a highlight of a year so full of landmark films that 1939 has often been called the greatest year in the history of Hollywood filmmaking. Each viewing of the four-hour epic seems to reveal new details. Still, even longtime "Gwtw" fans may not know the behind-the-scenes story of the film, one as lengthy and tumultuous as the on-screen romance between Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) and Rhett Butler (Clark Gable). Producer David O. Selznick spent fortunes, hired...
The film is certainly a formidable artistic achievement, a cornerstone of movie history, and a highlight of a year so full of landmark films that 1939 has often been called the greatest year in the history of Hollywood filmmaking. Each viewing of the four-hour epic seems to reveal new details. Still, even longtime "Gwtw" fans may not know the behind-the-scenes story of the film, one as lengthy and tumultuous as the on-screen romance between Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) and Rhett Butler (Clark Gable). Producer David O. Selznick spent fortunes, hired...
- 12/16/2014
- by Gary Susman
- Moviefone
20. Love/Chloe in the Afternoon (1972)
Directed by: Éric Rohmer
Originally titled “Love in the Afternoon,” but released in North America as “Chloe in the Afternoon,” this Rohmer film is a tale of possible infidelity, seen through the eyes of a conflicted man. Frédéric (Bernard Verley) is a successful young lawyer who is happily married to a teacher named Hélène (Françoise Verley), who is pregnant with their second child. While Frédéric is in a considerably good place in his life, he still struggles with the loss of excitement he had before he married, when he could sleep with whomever he chose. It wasn’t so much the sex that thrilled him, but the chase itself. Still, he feels that these thoughts and fantasies, paired with his refusal to act upon them, only proves that he is completely dedicated and in love with his own wife. That is, until he meets Chloé...
Directed by: Éric Rohmer
Originally titled “Love in the Afternoon,” but released in North America as “Chloe in the Afternoon,” this Rohmer film is a tale of possible infidelity, seen through the eyes of a conflicted man. Frédéric (Bernard Verley) is a successful young lawyer who is happily married to a teacher named Hélène (Françoise Verley), who is pregnant with their second child. While Frédéric is in a considerably good place in his life, he still struggles with the loss of excitement he had before he married, when he could sleep with whomever he chose. It wasn’t so much the sex that thrilled him, but the chase itself. Still, he feels that these thoughts and fantasies, paired with his refusal to act upon them, only proves that he is completely dedicated and in love with his own wife. That is, until he meets Chloé...
- 12/2/2014
- by Joshua Gaul
- SoundOnSight
There are two upcoming movie musicals that, for a long time, I've wanted to make into motion pictures, should someone with money be willing to give me the funds to make them -- Into The Woods and The Last 5 Years. I'm both nervous and excited to see how directors Rob Marshall and Richard Lagravenese, respectfully, have interpreted the material I hold so close to my heart. I am especially nervous for Into The Woods, given Marshall's less than impressive track record. If someone is going to screw up something I cherish, it should be me. Of course, there are far more than two musicals I have a deep connection to. Some have already been made into films, like Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Les Miserables, but there is a vast collection of musicals I have thought could make fantastic films, but have never been made.
- 10/20/2014
- by Mike Shutt
- Rope of Silicon
‘Gone with the Wind’ actress Mary Anderson dead at 96; also featured in Alfred Hitchcock thriller ‘Lifeboat’ Mary Anderson, an actress featured in both Gone with the Wind and Alfred Hitchcock’s adventure thriller Lifeboat, died following a series of small strokes on Sunday, April 6, 2014, while under hospice care in Toluca Lake/Burbank, northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Anderson, the widow of multiple Oscar-winning cinematographer Leon Shamroy, had turned 96 on April 3. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1918, Mary Anderson was reportedly discovered by director George Cukor, at the time looking for an actress to play Scarlett O’Hara in David O. Selznick’s film version of Margaret Mitchell’s bestseller Gone with the Wind. Instead of Scarlett, eventually played by Vivien Leigh, Anderson was cast in the small role of Maybelle Merriwether — most of which reportedly ended up on the cutting-room floor. Cukor was later fired from the project; his replacement, Victor Fleming,...
- 4/10/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Today in 1959, The Most Happy Fella opened at City Center where it ran for 16 performances. With a book, music, and lyrics by Frank Loesser, the story isabout a romance between an older man and younger woman, is based on the play They Knew What They Wanted by Sidney Howard. The original Broadway production opened in 1956 and ran for 14 months. A 1992 revival, directed by Gerald Guttierrez, featured Spiro Malas as Tony, Sophie Hayden as Rosabella, Charles Pistone as Joe, Claudia Catania as Marie, Liz Larsen as Cleo, and Scott Waara as Herman.
- 2/10/2014
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
‘Gone with the Wind’ actress Alicia Rhett dead at 98; was oldest surviving credited Gwtw cast member Gone with the Wind actress Alicia Rhett, the oldest surviving credited cast member of the 1939 Oscar-winning blockbuster, died on January 3, 2014, at the Bishop Gadsden Episcopal Retirement Community in Charleston, South Carolina, where Rhett had been living since August 2002. Alicia Rhett, born on February 1, 1915, in Savannah, Georgia, was 98. (Photo: Alicia Rhett as India Wilkes in Gone with the Wind.) In Gone with the Wind, the David O. Selznick production made in conjunction with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM head Louis B. Mayer was Selznick’s father-in-law), the stage-trained Alicia Rhett played India Wilkes, the embittered sister of Ashley Wilkes, whom Scarlett O’Hara loves — though Ashley eventually marries Melanie Hamilton (Rhett had auditioned for the role), while Scarlett ends up with Rhett Butler. Based on Margaret Mitchell’s bestseller, Gone with the Wind was (mostly) directed by Victor Fleming...
- 1/5/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) has unveiled the first three movies in the lineup for the 2014 TCM Classic Film Festival, including the recently restored Gone with the Wind (1939) and a presentation of The Wizard of Oz (1939) in its stunning new IMAX 3D format. Set to take place in Hollywood April 10-13, the fifth-annual edition of the festival will also include a screening of the Harold Lloyd comedy classic Why Worry? (1923), with legendary silent-film composer Carl Davis conducting the live world premiere performance of his new original score. Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz are each celebrating their 75th anniversaries in 2014.
Passes for the 2014 TCM Classic Film Festival are set to go on sale to the public Thursday, Nov. 14, at noon (Et). Passes can be purchased exclusively through the official festival website: http://www.tcm.com/festival. Descriptions for the first three films on the festival slate are included below.
Passes for the 2014 TCM Classic Film Festival are set to go on sale to the public Thursday, Nov. 14, at noon (Et). Passes can be purchased exclusively through the official festival website: http://www.tcm.com/festival. Descriptions for the first three films on the festival slate are included below.
- 10/29/2013
- by Melissa Thompson
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
War is hell, for sure, but war can make for undeniably brilliant movie-making. Here, the Guardian and Observer's critics pick the ten best
• Top 10 action movies
• Top 10 comedy movies
• Top 10 horror movies
• Top 10 sci-fi movies
• Top 10 crime movies
• Top 10 arthouse movies
• Top 10 family movies
10. Where Eagles Dare
As the second world war thriller became bogged down during the mid-60s in plodding epics like Operation Crossbow and The Heroes of Telemark, someone was needed to reintroduce a little sang-froid, some post-Le Carré espionage, and for heaven's sake, some proper macho thrills into the genre. Alistair Maclean stepped up, writing the screenplay and the novel of Where Eagles Dare simultaneously, and Brian G Hutton summoned up a better than usual cast headed by Richard Burton (Major Jonathan Smith), a still fresh-faced Clint Eastwood (Lieutenant Morris Schaffer), and the late Mary Ure (Mary Elison).
Parachuted into the German Alps, they have one...
• Top 10 action movies
• Top 10 comedy movies
• Top 10 horror movies
• Top 10 sci-fi movies
• Top 10 crime movies
• Top 10 arthouse movies
• Top 10 family movies
10. Where Eagles Dare
As the second world war thriller became bogged down during the mid-60s in plodding epics like Operation Crossbow and The Heroes of Telemark, someone was needed to reintroduce a little sang-froid, some post-Le Carré espionage, and for heaven's sake, some proper macho thrills into the genre. Alistair Maclean stepped up, writing the screenplay and the novel of Where Eagles Dare simultaneously, and Brian G Hutton summoned up a better than usual cast headed by Richard Burton (Major Jonathan Smith), a still fresh-faced Clint Eastwood (Lieutenant Morris Schaffer), and the late Mary Ure (Mary Elison).
Parachuted into the German Alps, they have one...
- 10/29/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
Film's golden era was tarnished by appeasement
Nazi Germany loved movies, and their leader was, as in so much else, fanatical about them. In his private cinema at the Reich Chancellery Hitler watched a movie every night, then gave his invited guests the benefit of his opinion on it. He loved Laurel and Hardy, for instance, noting how their comedy Block-Heads contained "a lot of very nice ideas and clever jokes". Yet he regarded movies as something more than entertainment; he saw in their power to seduce and bewitch a vital instrument of persuasion. His propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, saw it, too. After watching It Happened One Night, he wrote in his diary: "A funny, lively American film from which we can learn a lot. The Americans are so natural. Far superior to us."
If this eye-opening study of Hollywood and the Nazi elite is to be believed, that superiority was purely a technical one.
Nazi Germany loved movies, and their leader was, as in so much else, fanatical about them. In his private cinema at the Reich Chancellery Hitler watched a movie every night, then gave his invited guests the benefit of his opinion on it. He loved Laurel and Hardy, for instance, noting how their comedy Block-Heads contained "a lot of very nice ideas and clever jokes". Yet he regarded movies as something more than entertainment; he saw in their power to seduce and bewitch a vital instrument of persuasion. His propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, saw it, too. After watching It Happened One Night, he wrote in his diary: "A funny, lively American film from which we can learn a lot. The Americans are so natural. Far superior to us."
If this eye-opening study of Hollywood and the Nazi elite is to be believed, that superiority was purely a technical one.
- 10/16/2013
- by Anthony Quinn
- The Guardian - Film News
Tony Goldwyn loves acting, indicated by his current success as ever-troubled President Fitzgerald "Fitz" Grant on "Scandal."
He also loves directing, confirmed by his movie work on Hilary Swank's drama "Conviction" and Ashley Judd's romantic comedy "Someone Like You."
Thursday (May 2), he combines those careers as the director of ABC's newest "Scandal" episode, in which he also has considerable acting time as Fitz deals with fallout from dual personal dilemmas: crisis-management expert Olivia Pope's (Kerry Washington) latest rejection of him, and first lady Mellie's (Bellamy Young) threat to expose that affair if he stands in her way of leaving with their infant son.
"I was a little surprised when I read the script," the friendly Goldwyn admits to Zap2it of discovering how much acting he'd be doing while also directing. "I thought, 'Well, Ok. Take a deep breath.' It turned out great, though. It was really fun to have that challenge.
He also loves directing, confirmed by his movie work on Hilary Swank's drama "Conviction" and Ashley Judd's romantic comedy "Someone Like You."
Thursday (May 2), he combines those careers as the director of ABC's newest "Scandal" episode, in which he also has considerable acting time as Fitz deals with fallout from dual personal dilemmas: crisis-management expert Olivia Pope's (Kerry Washington) latest rejection of him, and first lady Mellie's (Bellamy Young) threat to expose that affair if he stands in her way of leaving with their infant son.
"I was a little surprised when I read the script," the friendly Goldwyn admits to Zap2it of discovering how much acting he'd be doing while also directing. "I thought, 'Well, Ok. Take a deep breath.' It turned out great, though. It was really fun to have that challenge.
- 5/2/2013
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Zap2It - From Inside the Box
According to a casting notcice, Edward Hibbert and Wesley Taylor have signed on to star in an upcoming off-Broadway revival of Sidney Howard's 1926 play The Silver Cord at The Peccadillo Theater Company. A staged reading for the show was held in January featuring Tayor alongside Charles Busch Dan Wackerman, Jessie Austrian, Molly Camp, and Robert Eli. The production will run May 15 through June 23.
- 3/29/2013
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
75th Annual Oscars ~ 10th Anniversary Special
On this very day 10 years ago, one of only two posthumous Oscars for the past decade in film was handed out. It went to Conrad Hall for his lensing of Road to Perdition (the other was Heath Ledger's). So here's one from the vaults since we did a Hit Me With Your Best Shot on it just last year. If you click on these shots, deemed best by our 'hit me' club and arranged here in narrative order, you can read more about them and why they were chosen.
It's a strange symmetry that a film as funereal as Road to Perdition would be a member of the Posthumous Oscar wins club. Here's a list of all 13 of them:
Sidney Howard, Adapted Screenplay - Gone With the Wind (1939) William A Horning, Art Direction - Gigi (1958) William A Horning, Art Direction - Ben Hurt (1959) Sam Zimbalist,...
On this very day 10 years ago, one of only two posthumous Oscars for the past decade in film was handed out. It went to Conrad Hall for his lensing of Road to Perdition (the other was Heath Ledger's). So here's one from the vaults since we did a Hit Me With Your Best Shot on it just last year. If you click on these shots, deemed best by our 'hit me' club and arranged here in narrative order, you can read more about them and why they were chosen.
It's a strange symmetry that a film as funereal as Road to Perdition would be a member of the Posthumous Oscar wins club. Here's a list of all 13 of them:
Sidney Howard, Adapted Screenplay - Gone With the Wind (1939) William A Horning, Art Direction - Gigi (1958) William A Horning, Art Direction - Ben Hurt (1959) Sam Zimbalist,...
- 3/23/2013
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Today in 1959, The Most Happy Fella opened at City Center where it ran for 16 performances. With a book, music, and lyrics by Frank Loesser, the story isabout a romance between an older man and younger woman, is based on the play They Knew What They Wanted by Sidney Howard. The original Broadway production opened in 1956 and ran for 14 months. A 1992 revival, directed by Gerald Guttierrez, featured Spiro Malas as Tony, Sophie Hayden as Rosabella, Charles Pistone as Joe, Claudia Catania as Marie, Liz Larsen as Cleo, and Scott Waara as Herman.
- 2/10/2013
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
Prolific actor, playwright and screenwriter Charles Busch is set to star in The Peccadillo Theater Company's upcoming staged reading of Sidney Howard's 1926 play The Silver Cord Monday, January 14 at 7 Pm at Theatre at St. Clement's, 423 West 46 Street between Ninth amp Tenth Ave. Under the direction of Obie Award winner Dan Wackerman, the cast will also feature Jessie Austrian Cymbeline, Molly Camp The Heiress, Robert Eli Saturn Returns, and Wesley Taylor 'Smash,' Rock of Ages.
- 1/9/2013
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Today in 1959, The Most Happy Fella opened at City Center where it ran for 16 performances. With a book, music, and lyrics by Frank Loesser, the story isabout a romance between an older man and younger woman, is based on the play They Knew What They Wanted by Sidney Howard. The original Broadway production opened in 1956 and ran for 14 months. A 1992 revival, directed by Gerald Guttierrez, featured Spiro Malas as Tony, Sophie Hayden as Rosabella, Charles Pistone as Joe, Claudia Catania as Marie, Liz Larsen as Cleo, and Scott Waara as Herman.
- 2/10/2012
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
Stanley Kubrick, 1957
This is one of the darkest anti-war films ever made, in great part because its vision – that of the young director Stanley Kubrick (he was only 29, making his third full-length picture) – is as bleak as the story. The place is the western front of the first world war, in a section manned by the French army. An attack is decreed by General Broulard (Adolphe Menjou), and passed on to General Mireau (George Macready) to execute.Everyone knows the attack is doomed because infantry advancing over open ground torn apart by artillery barrages will be cut down by the machine guns in the secure German lines. But when the plan fails, Broulard determines that there must be scapegoats – alleged cowards or malingerers – who betrayed the national purpose. Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas), who led the attack, is charged with picking three victims who will be subject to court martial and firing squad.
This is one of the darkest anti-war films ever made, in great part because its vision – that of the young director Stanley Kubrick (he was only 29, making his third full-length picture) – is as bleak as the story. The place is the western front of the first world war, in a section manned by the French army. An attack is decreed by General Broulard (Adolphe Menjou), and passed on to General Mireau (George Macready) to execute.Everyone knows the attack is doomed because infantry advancing over open ground torn apart by artillery barrages will be cut down by the machine guns in the secure German lines. But when the plan fails, Broulard determines that there must be scapegoats – alleged cowards or malingerers – who betrayed the national purpose. Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas), who led the attack, is charged with picking three victims who will be subject to court martial and firing squad.
- 10/19/2010
- by David Thomson
- The Guardian - Film News
Chicago – “Conviction” tells the true story of siblings Betty Anne (Hilary Swank) and Kenny (Sam Rockwell) Walters, and the quest of Betty Anne to free her brother from a prison sentence for murder. Oscar nominee Juliette Lewis lends her talent as key prosecution witness Roseanna Perry, and the film is directed by Tony Goldwyn.
Featured star Lewis and Director Goldwyn were in Chicago recently to promote the film. HollywoodChicago.com sat down for interviews with both of them, talking about the general themes of Conviction and their expansive careers.
Juliette Lewis, Roseanna Perry in “Conviction”
Juliette Lewis is a familiar presence in the Hollywood canon of the last twenty years. Beginning her career as a teenager in the 1980s, she had a transcendent breakthrough as Danielle Bowden in Martin Scorsese’s remake of “Cape Fear” (1991). From that point to the end of the decade, Lewis worked with directors as diverse...
Featured star Lewis and Director Goldwyn were in Chicago recently to promote the film. HollywoodChicago.com sat down for interviews with both of them, talking about the general themes of Conviction and their expansive careers.
Juliette Lewis, Roseanna Perry in “Conviction”
Juliette Lewis is a familiar presence in the Hollywood canon of the last twenty years. Beginning her career as a teenager in the 1980s, she had a transcendent breakthrough as Danielle Bowden in Martin Scorsese’s remake of “Cape Fear” (1991). From that point to the end of the decade, Lewis worked with directors as diverse...
- 10/11/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Here are the 2010 New York Reader's Choice results for categories dealing with performing onstage. To look at all of the categories, be sure to visit the main page. Favorite Rehearsal Studio: Ripley-Grier Studios "Clean," "professional," and "inviting" are words actors use repeatedly to describe Ripley-Grier Studios, an operation now celebrating its 23rd year and with three locations in Manhattan.Patricia Ripley, who runs the studios with her husband, Butch Grier, says the spaces are used for auditions, rehearsals, and classes, among other purposes. There's even a lock-out area that boasts a kitchen, three studios, and lots of storage for performing artists or productions that need the space for extended periods of time. It's totally private, she says. Ripley also talks with pride about how she designed the spaces utilizing feng shui principles, which incorporate light, plants, and color into organically flowing areas.Actor Scott Guthrie appreciates the comfortable seating, the café,...
- 6/24/2010
- backstage.com
Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 28 May 1940
"Gone With the Wind" is being shown this week at three West End cinemas and at the Gaiety, Manchester. It will be retained at the Gaiety for at least three months, and is unlikely to be seen elsewhere outside London till mid-autumn.
Its length (three hours and forty minutes with an interval) has become a byword and a prolific source of witticisms. Before the first foot of film was exposed it had a highly articulate "pre-sold" audience of best-seller readers, millions strong, who insisted on the book, the whole book, and nothing but the book. So it had to be long; the wonder is how Sidney Howard and David O. Selznick between them contrived so neatly to condense the thousand-page novel into a manageable scenario.
But abnormal length (as Disney has proved) need not in itself be a handicap. The major drawback...
"Gone With the Wind" is being shown this week at three West End cinemas and at the Gaiety, Manchester. It will be retained at the Gaiety for at least three months, and is unlikely to be seen elsewhere outside London till mid-autumn.
Its length (three hours and forty minutes with an interval) has become a byword and a prolific source of witticisms. Before the first foot of film was exposed it had a highly articulate "pre-sold" audience of best-seller readers, millions strong, who insisted on the book, the whole book, and nothing but the book. So it had to be long; the wonder is how Sidney Howard and David O. Selznick between them contrived so neatly to condense the thousand-page novel into a manageable scenario.
But abnormal length (as Disney has proved) need not in itself be a handicap. The major drawback...
- 5/28/2010
- The Guardian - Film News
Victor Fleming directed two of the greatest films ever, The Wizard of Oz and Gone With the Wind. Yet he has rarely been given credit for their success. As the first critical biography of him is released, Philip French reassesses the legacy of the combative and intruiging director who created film magic with Judy Garland, Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh
Seventy years ago, on 15 December 1939, one of Hollywood's most legendary movies, Gone With the Wind, a celebration of what the American South endured as a result of the Civil War, had its whites-only world premiere in Atlanta, Georgia. Its stars were there – Vivien Leigh, who played the brave, capricious, head-strong, thrice married heroine Scarlett O'Hara, and Clark Gable, Hollywood's democratically elected king, who played the handsome, pragmatic hero Rhett Butler; and also present, of course, was its producer, the "boy wonder" David O Selznick, who had been developing the film for three years,...
Seventy years ago, on 15 December 1939, one of Hollywood's most legendary movies, Gone With the Wind, a celebration of what the American South endured as a result of the Civil War, had its whites-only world premiere in Atlanta, Georgia. Its stars were there – Vivien Leigh, who played the brave, capricious, head-strong, thrice married heroine Scarlett O'Hara, and Clark Gable, Hollywood's democratically elected king, who played the handsome, pragmatic hero Rhett Butler; and also present, of course, was its producer, the "boy wonder" David O Selznick, who had been developing the film for three years,...
- 12/27/2009
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Chicago – If local news reports are to be believed, nearly everyone reading this will go holiday shopping sometime during the upcoming weekend. To those of you that are considering a DVD giftset purchase like the recent release of “The Wizard of Oz,” “Christmas Vacation,” or even “Mamma Mia!,” you couldn’t do much better than the breathtaking five-disc release marking the 70th anniversary of “Gone With the Wind”.
The lavishly-packaged new collector’s edition giftset of “Gone With the Wind” is one of those overwhelming releases in which the film itself practically becomes an afterthought to the collectibles and special features. Honestly, if you haven’t seen “Gone With the Wind,” it’s required viewing for the history of film. One of the most beloved movies ever made, even if you don’t love it (and I’ll admit that it’s not a personal favorite of mine like it...
The lavishly-packaged new collector’s edition giftset of “Gone With the Wind” is one of those overwhelming releases in which the film itself practically becomes an afterthought to the collectibles and special features. Honestly, if you haven’t seen “Gone With the Wind,” it’s required viewing for the history of film. One of the most beloved movies ever made, even if you don’t love it (and I’ll admit that it’s not a personal favorite of mine like it...
- 11/25/2009
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
The Actors Company Theatre/Tact (Scott Alan Evans, Cynthia Harris and Simon Jones, Co-Artistic Directors) has announced its 17th Anniversary season. The critically-acclaimed company dedicated to presenting neglected or rarely produced plays of literary merit will offer fully staged productions of The Late Christopher Bean by Sidney Howard, and The Cocktail Party by T.S. Eliot at The Beckett Theatre (410 West 42nd Street) on Theatre Row.
- 7/31/2009
- BroadwayWorld.com
The Rules of the Game by Jean Renoir Film Gone with the Wind d: Victor Fleming; scr: Sidney Howard Le Jour se lève / Daybreak d: Marcel Carné; scr: Jacques Viot, Jacques Prévert Midnight d: Mitchell Leisen; scr: Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett Mr. Smith Goes to Washington d: Frank Capra; scr: Sidney Buchman Ninotchka d: Ernst Lubitsch; scr: Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett, Walter Reisch The Old Maid d: Edmund Goulding; scr: Casey Robinson The Rains Came d: Clarence Brown; scr: Philip Dunne, Julien Josephson La Règle du jeu / The Rules of the Game d: Jean Renoir; scr: Jean Renoir, Carl Koch The Women d: George Cukor; scr: Anita Loos, Jane Murfin Laurence Olivier, Merle Oberon in Wuthering Heights Check These Out Bachelor Mother d: Garson Kanin; scr: Norman Krasna Beau Geste d: William A. Wellman; scr: Robert Carson Hello Janine d: Carl Boese; scr: Hans Fritz Beckmann, Karl Georg Külb The...
- 5/10/2009
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
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