Wendy Calio
Wendy Calio
Wendy Calio
Wendy Calio
Minggu, 29 November 2009
Sabtu, 28 November 2009
Preston Sturges: Master of the Cockeyed Caravan, Part 2
Going Hollywood
In 1932, Sturges went to Hollywood and signed on with Universal as a writer. From the get-go, his writing wasn’t a hit with the studio bosses and his scripts were rejected. On his own, Sturges wrote a screenplay called The Power and the Glory, which he sold to the Fox studios for a fee and a percentage of the gross. During his time as a freelancer, he also wrote the screenplay for The Great McGinty, but no one was interested. It was during this freelance period that Sturges decided he wanted to be a director. Again, no one was interested in his services.
Studio musical chairs
After more writing positions at several other Hollywood studios, including MGM and Columbia, Sturges found himself back on the Universal lot. Assigned to write the screenplay for the Claudette Colbert vehicle, Imitaion of Life. With the success of this film, Sturges was on his way to a successful career as a screenwriter where he found he was in demand by the likes of Sam Goldwyn and Paramount studios. It was at Paramount that he would have his most enduring success.
A Paramount experience
At Paramount, Sturges wrote the screenplay for Remember the Night starring Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck. In spite of the fact that Sturges didn’t like the script changes made by director Mitchell Leisen, the film was an enourmous success. With his stock rising, Sturges was able to finally sell The Great McGinty script for $10, with the understanding that he would not only be the film’s writer, but its director as well. Film history was about to be made.
In 1932, Sturges went to Hollywood and signed on with Universal as a writer. From the get-go, his writing wasn’t a hit with the studio bosses and his scripts were rejected. On his own, Sturges wrote a screenplay called The Power and the Glory, which he sold to the Fox studios for a fee and a percentage of the gross. During his time as a freelancer, he also wrote the screenplay for The Great McGinty, but no one was interested. It was during this freelance period that Sturges decided he wanted to be a director. Again, no one was interested in his services.
Studio musical chairsAfter more writing positions at several other Hollywood studios, including MGM and Columbia, Sturges found himself back on the Universal lot. Assigned to write the screenplay for the Claudette Colbert vehicle, Imitaion of Life. With the success of this film, Sturges was on his way to a successful career as a screenwriter where he found he was in demand by the likes of Sam Goldwyn and Paramount studios. It was at Paramount that he would have his most enduring success.
A Paramount experienceAt Paramount, Sturges wrote the screenplay for Remember the Night starring Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck. In spite of the fact that Sturges didn’t like the script changes made by director Mitchell Leisen, the film was an enourmous success. With his stock rising, Sturges was able to finally sell The Great McGinty script for $10, with the understanding that he would not only be the film’s writer, but its director as well. Film history was about to be made.
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Jumat, 27 November 2009
Preston Sturges: Master of the Cockeyed Caravan, Part 1
Edmund Preston Biden Sturges was one of the most influential motion picture directors of the twentieth century. As a writer-director, Sturges produced seven films in three years. Of those seven films, six were box office and critical successes. Today those six films are considered unqualified classics.
A genius is born
Sturges was born at the turn of the twentieth century (1898) in Chicago to Mary Estelle Dempsey and Edmund C. Biden. The marriage was not a success with Mary divorcing Biden in 1901. That same year, she married Solomon Sturges, a man from a prominent Chicago family. Solomon adopted Mary’s son, who was then known as Preston Sturges.
After first getting some schooling in Chicago, Sturges’s mother decided to divorce Solomon and move to Europe, enrolling young Preston in boarding schools in France and Switzerland. Like a screwball character from one of his future movies, Sturges’s mother led an eccentric life. As the best friend of modern dance pioneer Isadora Duncan, Mary Estelle went to concerts, plays, and museums, often with young Preston in tow. When Sturges was 15 years old, he worked backstage for Duncan during her New York performance of Oedipus Rex.Flying solo
When World War I broke out, Sturges volunteered. He trained as a pilot and although he didn’t fly during the war, he earned his wings and was commissioned Second Lieutenant of the Aviation Section of the Signal Officers Reserve Corps of the Army of the United States.
After trying his hand at song writing and other various pursuits, Sturges wrote and produced a play called The Guinea Pig. It received respectable reviews, although it ran for only 57 performances. His next play, Strictly Dishonorable, was a critical and financial success. Unfortunately, his next few plays were flops of fantastic proportions, so the career in the theater wasn’t destined to be a long one.
Jumat, 20 November 2009
scarlett johansson pictures
Selasa, 17 November 2009
"Meet Me at the Movies" wrap party at Grace O'Malley's
On Friday, December 6, the Prairie District Neighborhood Alliance (PDNA) presented the classic Miracle on 34th Street at the Columbia College, Sherwood Academy Recital Hall 1312 S. Michigan Ave.
The "wrap party" was held at Grace O'Malley's, 1416 S. Michigan Ave. The menu included appetizers, dinner, and dessert. The price for dinner and a movie is $20 per person ($5.00 move; $15.00 dinner).
Part of the mission of this PDNA event is to provide at great affordable event that shines a spotlight on some great neighborhood eateries. Past "Meet Me at the Movies" wrap parties have been held at South Loop Wine Cellar, Opera, and Little Branch Cafe.
Steve Reginald, host of "Meet Me at the Movies," says to watch for an announcement about the next event in January 2010. Check this blog for upcoming information or check out our facebook page.
The "wrap party" was held at Grace O'Malley's, 1416 S. Michigan Ave. The menu included appetizers, dinner, and dessert. The price for dinner and a movie is $20 per person ($5.00 move; $15.00 dinner).
Part of the mission of this PDNA event is to provide at great affordable event that shines a spotlight on some great neighborhood eateries. Past "Meet Me at the Movies" wrap parties have been held at South Loop Wine Cellar, Opera, and Little Branch Cafe.Steve Reginald, host of "Meet Me at the Movies," says to watch for an announcement about the next event in January 2010. Check this blog for upcoming information or check out our facebook page.
Selasa, 10 November 2009
The Lady Barbara
Of all the great female movie stars from the golden age of Hollywood, Barbara Stanwyck is probably one of the most underrated. A star almost as soon as pictures could talk, Stanwyck worked with some of the best directors of the day. Frank Capra, early in his career, starred Stanwyck in a host of ground-breaking dramas in the early 1930s, including Ladies of Leisure (1930), The Miracle Woman (1931), Forbidden (1932), and The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933), the first film shown at Radio City Music Hall.
What made Stanwyck so amazing was her versatility as an actress; she was equally adept at both comedy and drama.Today, Stanwyck is probably best remembered by movie buffs for portraying Phyllis Dietrichson in Double Indemnity (1944). Her performance in that film set the standard for film noir femme fatales. Many dramas followed, but Stanwyck starred in some wonderful comedies in the late 1930s and early 1940s.
In 1941, Stanwyck starred in three classic films: The Lady Eve, Meet John Doe, and Ball of Fire. These films were directed by, in respective order, Preston Sturges, Frank Capra, and Howard Hawks. The latter directed her to what would be her second Academy Award Best Actress nomination. In an era that produced many female movie stars, few actresses can match the extraordinary run Stanwyck had in the early 1940s.Barbara Stanwyck is a true film legend, not because she was a great beauty, though she was, but because she was an actress of great depth and talent.
Jumat, 06 November 2009
Selasa, 03 November 2009
Well Dunne: From "Queen of the Weepies" to the Queen of Comedy
Few movie actresses had the critical and box office successes that Irene Dunne had in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Theodora Goes Wild
(1936), The Awful Truth
(1937), Love Affair
(1939), My Favorite Wife
(1940), and Penny Serenade
(1941) were all big hits when released and undisputed classics today.Dunne started her film career in 1930 with the lead role in a film called Leathernecking. The very next year, she had a breakout performance in Cimarron
starring opposite the more established Richard Dix. So impressive was Dunne's performance that she received the first of her five Academy Award nominations for Best Actress.
The films that followed, cast Dunne in a series of popular melodramas including Back Street, Thirteen Women, The Secret of Madame Blanche, and Ann Vickers. When she costarred again with Dix in the 1934 production Stingaree, she was the bigger star and received top billing.During the early to mid-1930s, Dunne was known in the trade as the "queen of the weepies." This reputation made Dunne apprehensive when offered the role of Theodora Lynn in the screwball comedy Theodora Goes Wild. As the small town girl who writes a scandalous novel, Dunne's comic timing and expressive emotions were a instant hit with critics and the public.
The two comedies she made with Cary Grant: The Awful Truth and My Favorite Wife helped establish Dunne as one of the grand dames of movie comedy. On her films with Grant, Dunne remarked, "I think we were a successful team because we enjoyed working together tremendously, and that pleasure must have shown through onto the screen ... I will always remember two compliments he made me. He said I had perfect timing in comedy and that I was the sweetest-smelling actress he ever worked with."
Senin, 02 November 2009
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