Dec 13 min read
William Wyler
Haberdashery’s loss was Hollywood’s gain. Had William Wyler followed his father into the family business, Europeans might have looked...
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Nov 153 min read
Gable & Niven: Star-Crossed Stars
Like us mere mortals, actors form close friendships, too. Myrna Loy and William Powell shared a tight bond, on screen and off. Before...
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Nov 13 min read
Shirley Temple
In the 1930s, two of the most powerful antidotes to the Great Depression were a race horse named Seabiscuit and a little girl named...
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Oct 153 min read
"Rain" Reigns Supreme
In real life, people rarely burst into song, which is why musicals are superior to reality. Feeling “meh”? Wanna get happy, fast? Zhuzh...
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Oct 13 min read
Heroes, Scandals & All That "Jazz"
In 1927, the Roaring Twenties became the Soaring Twenties. The year was an inflection point in history, when the Mod el T ceased...
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Sep 143 min read
Fred Zinnemann
I once got an email from an 88-year-old man named George, praising an essay I’d written for The Washington Post . Coincidentally, I had...
50 views2 comments