Back to Golden Days

I started this blog six years ago as a way to share my passion for classic films and the Old Hollywood era. I used to watch dozens of classic films every month, and every time I discovered a new star I liked I would go and watch their entire filmography. But somewhere along the way, that passion dimmed down. For instance, I watched 73 classic films in 2016, and only 10 in 2020. The other day, I found this film with Douglas Fairbanks Jr. that I had never heard of, and for some reason it made me really excited about Old Hollywood again. It made me really miss the magic of that era and all the wonderful actors and actresses that graced the silver screen. And it also made me think of all the reasons why I fell in love with classic films in the first place. I came up with 80 reasons, which I thought would be fun to share. Most of them are just random little scenes or quirky little quotes, but put them together and they spell Old Hollywood to me. This is part four (the final one) of the 80 r...

Dennis Stock was a young photographer working for the Magnum agency when he met James Dean at a party hosted by director Nicholas Ray at the Chateau Marmont in Hollywood in the winter of 1954. As Stock observed a moody Jimmy slouched on a chair, he wondered what Ray had seen in him to give him the lead role Rebel Without a Cause (1955). After exchanging a few polite words, Stock learned they had someone in common: Gjon Mili, the renowned photographer for LIFE magazine at whose New York studio Elia Kazan had shot Jimmy's screen test for East of Eden (1955). Stock had worked as Mili's apprentice for four years upon his discharge from military service and was also his good friend. Because Stock was unfamiliar with Dean's work, he accepted Jimmy's invitation to attend a preview of East of Eden later in the week at a Santa Monica theatre. When Dennis saw the film, he was mesmerized by Jimmy's heartfelt performance and realized right away that he was witnessing the ...

Keeping with both my Oscar-themed «Film Fridays» and my James Dean-themed week, this week on «Film Friday» I bring the only James Dean film to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. Incidentally, this was the last film he appeared in. Directed by George Stevens, Giant (1956) begins with Texas cattle tycoon Jordan «Bick» Benedict Jr. (Rock Hudson) falling in love with Leslie Lynnton (Elizabeth Taylor) while on a horse-buying trip to Maryland. They marry and return to Texas to live on the Benedict family ranch, Reata, where Leslie finds an unwelcoming sister-in-law, Luz (Mercedes McCambridge), and a handyman, Jett Rink (James Dean), who despises Bick. When Luz dies following a horse-riding accident, Jett learns that she has left him a small piece of land on the Benedict ranch, which he makes his home and names Little Reata. After refusing the Benedict family's offer to buy Little Reata, Jett discovers oil on the land, making him a rich man. Meanwhile, Leslie and Bi...