William Wellman’s life was as colorful as the movies he directed. Born on February 29, 1896, Bill grew up outside Boston. He was a hockey-playing brawler and juvenile delinquent, who took joyrides in stolen cars and once tossed a stink bomb at his high school principal – a super-awkward move considering his Mom was a probation officer for wayward boys (like her son)!Read More
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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, Cagney, DeNiro, Pacino). But I soon learned that legends could come from places like Milwaukee (Spencer Tracy), or sleepy towns in Ohio (Clark Gable), Pennsylvania (James Stewart) and Montana (Gary Cooper). In fact, two of the 20th century’s biggest names grew up far from Times Square...in Omaha, Nebraska.Read More
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Preston Sturges had one of the greatest winning streaks in screen history. Over a five-year period in the 1940s, he wrote and directed seven hit comedies. What’s more, he won an Oscar for scripting the pic that kicked off that incredible run (The Great McGinty), and scored two of the five Original Screenplay nominations in 1944. Yet like a comet, he burned hot, fast and bright before burning out and dying at age 60 in 1959.Read More
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In the 1940s and ‘50s, Hollywood had an unofficial “caste” system of casting, with the plum parts going to a select few, like Bogie, John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart and Bill Holden.Read More
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Haberdashery’s loss was Hollywood’s gain. Had William Wyler followed his father into the family business, Europeans might have looked stylish for generations, but the film business would have suffered greatly. Fortunately for us, Wyler was miserable selling suits and pocket squares in Paris, so his mother reached out to her first cousin Carl Laemmle in America. Carl ran a little operation called Universal Pictures. Would he be willing to hire her 18-year-old son “Willi”?Read More
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Like us mere mortals, actors form close friendships, too. Myrna Loy and William Powell shared a tight bond, on screen and off. Before they were legends, James Stewart and Henry Fonda were roommates and lifelong BFFs. But when it comes to bromances – and tragic coincidences – few tales top the 25-year friendship of Clark Gable and David Niven.Read More
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In the 1930s, two of the most powerful antidotes to the Great Depression were a racehorse named Seabiscuit and a little girl named Shirley Temple. Both were overnight sensations. Both lifted the sagging hopes of a weary nation.Read More
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