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It was April 1948 when director King Vidor spotted 22-year-old Patricia Neal on the Warner Bros. studio lot. A drama graduate from Northwestern University, she had just arrived in Hollywood following a Tony Award-winning performance in Lillian Hellman's Another Part of the Forest. Impressed by Patricia's looks, Vidor approached the young actress and asked if she would be interested in doing a screen test for the female lead in his newest film, The Fountainhead (1949). Gary Cooper had already signed as the male protagonist, and the studio was then considering Lauren Bacall and Barbara Stanwyck to play his love interest. Neal liked the script and two months later, she met with the director for sound and photographic tests. Vidor was enthusiastic about Patricia, but her first audition was a complete disaster. Cooper was apparently watching her from off the set and he was so unimpressed by her performance that he commented, «What's that!?» He tried to convince Vidor to...

This week on "Film Friday," I bring you a little melodrama about individual creativity, power and compromise, set in an era of communism and modernistic architecture. Promotional release poster Directed by King Vidor , The Fountainhead concerns the life of Howard Roark (Gary Cooper), an individualistic and uncompromising architect who chooses to work as a driller in a stone quarry rather than sell out his ideals. While working at the quarry, Roark meets the sensual and emotionally charged Dominique Fancon (Patricia Neal), a writer who works for a newspaper that opposes Roark's individualism. They never exchange names, but they are instantly drawn to each other. After a brutal sexual encounter, Roark returns to the city to accept a new architectural commision. At a party for the opening of the new building Roark has designed, Dominique learns for the first time the identity of her mysterious lover. They proclaim their love for each other, but...

Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall are one of the most iconic couples of Hollywood's Golden Age. Despite their 25-year age gap, their chemistry was undeniable both on and off screen. They starred in four films together, had two children, hosted legendary parties, sailed on their yacht, and formed part of Hollywood's elite «Rat Pack.» Beginning in 1943, their devoted relationship lasted until Bogart's death from cancer in 1957, cementing their status as one of the most enduring and celebrated Hollywood romances. This is their story.   LEFT: Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall photographed at their home for Warner Bros. in 1945. MIDDLE: Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall aboard his sailing yacht, «Santana,» in a photoshoot for Warner Bros. in 1946. RIGHT: Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall on break from rehearsal for their appearance on the adaptation of To Have and Have Not on the CBS radio programme Lux Radio Theatre , on October 14, 1946. Born Betty Joan Perske in the Bronx...

This week on "Film Friday", I bring one of the most romantic films of all time and a personal favorite of mine. It's a proper tearjerker this one. Theatrical release poster Directed by Mervyn LeRoy , Random Harvest tells the story of Charles Rainier (Ronald Colman), a British officer confined to an asylum in the English countryside under the name of "John Smith", following a gas attack in the trenches during the First World War, which left him shell shocked and amnesiac. With the jubilation of Armistice Day, the asylum is left unguarded and he is able to escape. When he arrives in town, he meets a vivacious showgirl called Paula Ridgeway (Greer Garson), who nicknames him "Smithy" and nurses him back to health. The two soon fall in love and marry, settling in a cozy little cottage in the country where they live in blissful happiness for a few years. On a business trip to Liverpool, Smithy is hit by a taxicab and his early memory is re...

William Holden was born William Franklin Beedle, Jr. in O'Fallon, Illinois on April 17, 1918. He was the first of three sons of Mary Blanche (née Ball), a schoolteacher, and William «Bill» Franklin Beedle, Sr., an industrial chemist. The Beedle family had been living in America for four generations; they emigrated from England in the early 19th century, settling in a farming community in Ohio, before moving to O'Fallon in 1812. Bill and Mary met while they were both students at McKendree College and were married in a modest ceremony a few days after graduating, in the spring of 1917. The very religious Mary was proud that her family was related to Martha Ball, George Washington's mother. In addition, her father was cousin to Senator Warren G. Harding, who later became the 29th President of the United States in 1921. «The Beedles are a cocktail of Irish, British and German blood mixed in an American shaker. [...] I am the great-great son of one of the founders of our father...