In show biz, when you’re hot, you’re hot – and in 1936, director Frank Capra and screenwriter Robert Riskin teamed up for a box-office streak that blazed like a three-alarm fire. Born two months apart in 1897, this dynamic duo had recently swept the Oscars for It Happened One Night, the rom-com that made history as the first film to score the “Big Five” Academy Awards for Best Picture, Actor, Actress, Director and Screenplay. For an encore, Capra and Riskin struck big-screen

They say High Noon is popular with presidents: Reportedly, it was the favorite movie of Ronald Reagan, Dwight Eisenhower, and Bill Clinton, who allegedly screened it 17 times during his tenure. Being the commander in chief of the free world is a lonely job – Clinton jokingly called the White House "the crown jewel in the federal penal system.” No wonder Oval Office occupants can relate to the Oscar-winning story of a marshal (Gary Cooper) who must confront a vengeful enemy al

There are many reasons to love Teresa Wright. Her natural beauty. Her understated acting. Her acclaimed dramas for legendary directors...

“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...

In the 1930s, two of the most powerful antidotes to the Great Depression were a race horse named Seabiscuit and a little girl named...

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...

They called her “The Perfect Wife.” Best known for playing William Powell’s partner in crime-busting in the classic Thin Man movies,...

“Always understated and all too underrated.” That’s how writer David Stenn describes Dana Andrews. Film historian Jeanine Basinger...