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Ginger Rogers
Betcha if I say “Ginger Rogers,” you think “Fred Astaire.” It’s the classic-movie equivalent of the patellar reflex . Paired by destiny...
6 days ago3 min read
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Bing
Pop music is littered with One-Hit Wonders. Movie stars are hot...until they’re not. And then there’s Bing Crosby, who reigned for nearly...
May 12 min read
18 views
1 comment


(Femme) Fatale Attraction
The honey-soaked hive of Film Noir Bad Girls is always buzzing with Queen Bee candidates. Barbara Stanwyck from Double Indemnity . Jane...
Apr 12 min read
29 views
6 comments


Jean Arthur
“Never have I seen a performer plagued with such a chronic case of stage jitters. I’m sure she vomited before and after every scene. When...
Mar 152 min read
61 views
2 comments


Omaha Idols
When I was a kid, I assumed most great actors came from New York, as if proximity to Broadway bestowed talent by osmosis (see: Bogie,...
Jan 153 min read
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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...
Nov 15, 20243 min read
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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...
Nov 1, 20243 min read
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Bad Boys: Cagney & Robinson
Two gangster classics, released four months apart in 1931, didn’t just launch the careers of James Cagney and Edward G. Robinson. They...
Aug 1, 20242 min read
51 views
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Norma Shearer: Spunk Rocker
Remember that episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, when Lou tells Mary, “You know what? You’ve got spunk!” then adds, “I hate spunk”?...
Jul 1, 20242 min read
33 views
1 comment


Oscar Shockers 1954
Sometimes, Academy Awards are given to the right actor in the wrong year. Exhibit A: James Stewart was nominated for Mr. Smith Goes to...
Jun 1, 20242 min read
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Oscar Shockers 1950
In 1950, Bette Davis and Gloria Swanson launched big-screen comebacks in All About Eve and Sunset Boulevard with scenery-chomping...
May 15, 20242 min read
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Meeting Jimmy Stewart
For me, the big downside to loving classic films is that all of the stars that I want to meet are dead. But once upon a time in...
May 1, 20242 min read
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The Eyes Have It
Nobody looked like her. Spoke like her. Or smoked like her! Bette Davis wasn’t an actress. She was a force of nature. The two-time Oscar...
Apr 1, 20242 min read
131 views
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The Idols of March: Joan Crawford
You’ve probably heard the Mommie Dearest and “No-wire-hangers!” jokes. Or rumors of her Dueling Divas feud with Bette Davis (who quipped,...
Mar 15, 20242 min read
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The Idols of March: Jean Harlow
Most articles about her open with some variation on “Before Marilyn Monroe, there was Jean Harlow.” It’s true. Harlow was Hollywood’s...
Mar 1, 20242 min read
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Cary, Cary, Cary
Let’s bust two Cary Grant myths and confirm another, shall we? He never said “Judy, Judy, Judy” on screen. He didn’t respond to a...
Jan 15, 20242 min read
69 views
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Big-Screen Screwball Queen
Screwball comedies ignited movie screens in the depths of the Depression – and the star who lit the match was Carole Lombard. Beginning...
Jan 1, 20242 min read
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Holden & Stanwyck
Without Barbara Stanwyck, there would be no William Holden. He admitted as much at the Academy Awards in 1978. By then, the veteran...
Dec 1, 20232 min read
47 views
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The "Perfect" Couple
They called her “The Perfect Wife.” Best known for playing William Powell’s partner in crime-busting in the classic Thin Man movies,...
Oct 15, 20232 min read
175 views
2 comments


Hollywood Makeovers
Louise Brooks’ bob. Claudette Colbert’s bangs. Lucille Ball’s carrot top. Who’s the mastermind behind these tressed-for-success stories?...
Sep 1, 20233 min read
65 views
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