The shoulder pads, as if she’d mugged a linebacker. The thick eyebrows, which resembled two comatose caterpillars. The damning charges, in a memoir and a movie, accusing her of being an abusive mother, obsessed with wire hangers. Joan Crawford may have died 50 years ago, but her legend lives on in the minds of classic film fans. In the 1920s, she emerged from a Dickensian childhood to become a Charleston-dancing flapper. In the 1930s, she was one of MGM’s top female stars, sh

In 1932, MGM invented a new concept in filmmaking. At the time, studios rarely assigned more than two big names to the same script. They...

From Jane Austen to J.K. Rowling, many famous writers have had their novels transformed into movie hits. But for a classic film noir fan...

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”?...

Black-and-white movies often get a bad rap as creaky relics, hobbled by lame plots, corny acting and married couples exiled to twin beds...

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...

You’ve probably heard the Mommie Dearest and “No-wire-hangers!” jokes. Or rumors of her Dueling Divas feud with Bette Davis (who quipped,...

Growing older is an occupational hazard in Hollywood -- and not just for sex symbols. Sadly, the career arc of some child actors goes...

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

If you don’t know his name, I bet you know his movies. Director Michael Curtiz was more “journeyman” than “auteur,” but his cinematic...