The 1940 Columbia Pictures comedy, His Girl Friday, may seem like a screwball romp of a film starring eye candy performers, Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell, but when we take a closer look, we find a surprisingly strong female character who defies the gender roles of the day and demonstrates that a woman can be…
“A Summer Place”: A Racy Film with a Memorable Theme Song
The 1959 romantic drama, A Summer Place, was popular with moviegoers who flocked to see teen heartthrobs Sandra Dee and Troy Donahue as young lovers who are navigating their first serious romance while also dealing with their parents’ affair. The theme song for A Summer Place, an instrumental piece composed by Max Steiner, was a…
Vivien Leigh, Beyond Scarlett
British actress Vivien Leigh will be forever remembered for playing the vivacious, conniving Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind, a classic movie from the Golden Age of Hollywood. But in this article, let’s go beyond Scarlett to talk about Vivien Leigh’s other notable roles and how she got her start on the big screen….
Lee and Lyn Wilde: The Wonder Twins of 1940s Hollywood
Long before Mary-Kate and Ashley Olson won the hearts of fans by appearing in a series of movies that played upon classic twin tropes, there was another set of famous twins, Lee and Lyn Wilde. The only set of identical twins to have contracts with a major movie studio in the 1940s, the Wilde twins…
Dangers and Injuries on the Set of “The Wizard of Oz”
As one of the most revered classic movies of all time, The Wizard of Oz has enchanted audiences for generations. However, behind the scenes, the filming of this iconic movie was not always as magical as it may have appeared onscreen. In fact, several actors were injured during the making of The Wizard of Oz….