by Joanna Paxinou George Raft was a big movie star in the 1930s and ‘40s. He played gangsters and was believable. Some people felt his believability was because he was close to many gangsters and considered them friends. This was well known in Hollywood and these associations even helped him…
At the Movies with Joanna
by Joanna Paxinou At the beginning of his career, he was nominated twice for a Best Actor Academy Award—in 1940 for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and in 1941 when he won the award for his performance in The Philadelphia Story. He was just 33 years old. He went on…
by Joanna Paxinou “Gimme a whiskey—ginger ale on the side. And don’t be stingy, baby.” Greta Garbo spoke those words in her first “talkie,” Anna Christie in 1930. Garbo had been a great silent screen star and one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s biggest assets. Her first three silent films accounted for 13%…
“Men like me because I don’t wear a brassiere. Women like me because I don’t look like a girl who would steal a husband. At least not for long.” That’s how Jean Harlow described her appeal. She became a star playing a sexy, wise cracking, bad girl. Harlow died at…
Although my blog is devoted to films of the 1930s and ‘40s, there are many, many more recent films that I love too. Midnight in Paris is one of them. The 2011 film is a fantasy/comedy. I love this movie! It is clever, creative, imaginative, entertaining—it’s just wonderful. The film…
Harry Davenport, Courtesy of LeRoy Heritage Museum, Canton, PA Years ago, an actor shone his light in every film role he played. You would have seen him in many roles—he appeared in over 100 films. He was delightful in comedies…and strong, resilient in dramas. He was a wonderful actor who…
One day in 1935, two men met on the set of the film TOP HAT and became lifelong best friends. They were very much alike: reserved, intensely private, dedicated to their wives, workaholics, perfectionists…and supremely talented. They were Fred Astaire and Irving Berlin. TOP HAT was the fourth film that…
Frank Sinatra I’ve been a fan of Frank Sinatra’s music for a long time. And as other fans, I have heard about his bouts with the media. But I just read a beautiful book about Frank Sinatra written by his daughter, Nancy Sinatra, entitled FRANK SINATRA-AN AMERICAN LEGEND. In…
Ward Bond with John Wayne, his friend for 30 years, and Director John Ford. Who can forget the great stars who appeared in the films of the 1930s and ’40s-Greta Garbo, James Cagney, Ann Sheridan, Bogart. But in the background, there were many faces that added so much to their…
Actress Thelma Ritter When you hear the names Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant, or Bette Davis, images come immediately to mind. But in the films of the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, there was an army of bit players and character actors who stayed in the background. Their faces are familiar to…