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Glenn Ford and Eleanor Powell with their son Peter in 1948.

In honor of Eleanor Powell's 104th birthday, which was on Monday, this week on «Film Friday» I bring you the first of her films that I ever saw.   Directed by Roy Del Ruth, Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935) begins when newspaper and radio columnist Bert Keeler (Jack Benny) is told by his managing editor (Paul Harvey) that he has to stop writing about «Blessed Events» and start digging up dirt. He decides to go after young Broadway producer and songwriter Bob Gordon (Robert Taylor), whose new musical, Broadway Rhythm , is being financed by heiress Lillian Brent (June Knight), who also wants to star in the show. Keeler starts writing about Bob and Lillian, which leads the producer to punch him in the nose several times. But as the paper's circulation and Keeler's salary rise, he keeps at it. LEFT: June Knight and Robert Taylor. RIGHT: Eleanor Powell and Buddy and Vilma Ebsen. During rehearsals for Broadway Rhythm , Bob's childhood sweetheart, Irene Foster (Eleanor Powell...

ELEANOR POWELL (November 21, 1912 — February 11, 1982) Whenever you hear the beat of my feet, it is really the beat of my heart saying, «Thank You and God Bless You!»

Grace Kelly and Rock Hudson at the 11th Golden Globe Awards on January 11, 1954. Kelly won Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Mogambo (1953).

GENE TIERNEY (November 19, 1920 — November 6, 1991) It was the fashion of the time, still is, to feel that all actors are neurotic, or they would not be actors.

In honor of Rock Hudson's 91st birthday, which was yesterday, this week on «Film Friday» I bring you one of the very first films I saw with him. Directed by Douglas Sirk, All That Heaven Allows (1955) tells the story of Cary Scott (Jane Wyman), a wealthy widow living in a small New England town. With her two children, Kay (Gloria Talbott) and Ned (William Reynolds), away at college, Cary becomes increasingly aware of her loneliness. While everyone expects her to marry staid bachelor Harvey (Conrad Nagel), Cary instead finds herself attracted to Ron Kirby (Rock Hudson), a significantly younger gardener who rejects social artifices. When Ron invites her to a dinner party at the home of his friends, former suburbanites Alida (Virginia Grey) and Mick Anderson (Charles Drake), Cary realizes how much she admires his down-to-earth lifestyle and the two soon begin a passionate romance.   Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman in All That Heaven Allows .   Although she is supported by her clo...

ROCK HUDSON (November 17, 1925 — October 2, 1985) Someone asked me once what my philosophy of life was, and I said some crazy thing. I should have said, how the hell do I know?  

VERONICA LAKE (November 14, 1922 — July 7, 1973) I wasn't a sex symbol, I was a sex zombie.

Grace as an adorable eight-month-old baby in July 1930. Grace at the age of 12 in 1941. With her sister Elizabeth and their brother, Olympic medal-winning rower John B. Kelly Jr., at the Henley Royal Regatta in England in 1948 With Raymond Massey in The Father , Grace's Broadway debut. The play ran at the Colt Theatre for 69 performances between November 1949 and January 1950. With Clark Gable at the 26th Academy Awards on March 25, 1954. Grace was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for Mogambo (1953), which co-starred Gable. With James Stewart during the making of Rear Window (1954). With William Holden on the set of The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954). With costume designer Edith Head on the set of To Catch a Thief (1955). With Marlon Brando at the 27th Academy Awards on March 30, 1955. Grace won for The Country Girl (1954), while Brando won for On the Waterfront (1954). Relaxing in the lobby of the Carl...