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Esther Pressman, Kay Gordon, Bonita Barker, Dorothy Thompson and Dene Myles in a Christmas publicity shot for Paramount Pictures (December 1935).  Boris Karloff and Ginger Rogers at a Christmas party in Los Angeles in December 1932.   Priscilla Lane besides a Christmas tree with a armful of presents (1941).   George Burns and Gracie Allen with their two adopted children, Ronnie and Sandra Jean, at home during Christmas (December 1939)   Cyd Charisse in a Christmas publicity shot (1947).   Butch Jenkins and Lassie in a Christmas publicity shot (December 1947).   Deanna Durbin decorating a Christmas tree (December 1944).   Mara Alba, Anna May Wong and Alga Baclanova at a Christmas party given by the Foreign Correspondents Association (December 1932).   A Christmas parade at the Hollywood Boulevard (December 1941).     Merry Christmas, everyone!

Do you ever wonder when a certain event happened for the first time in history? For someone as painfully curious as me, I do. And often. So, I thought it would be fun to find some firsts in film history. Here are 10 that I thought would be interesting to share. 1. The first ever motion picture to be made in Hollywood was In Old California (1910). Directed by D. W. Griffith for Biograph Company, the film was a 17-minute melodrama set in the early 19th century, when California was under Spanish and Mexican rule. It starred Frank Powell, Arthur V. Johnson, Marion Leonard and Henry B. Walthall. The short was considered lost for many decades, until a copy was found in 2004 and screened at the Beverly Hills Film Festival.   (from left to right) Marion Leonard, Henry B. Walthall and Arthur Johnson in In Old California ; D. W. Griffith in his office at Biograph Company in New York.   2. The first ever movie to have a Hollywood premiere was Robin Hood (1922). Directed by Allan Dw...

On May 8, 1945, Nazi Germany signed the unconditional surrender of the Wehrmacht, thus ending World War II in Europe. The event came to be known as VE Day (Victory in Europe Day) and is celebrated every year in several European countries. Due to time differences, several former Soviet republics, including Russia and Belarus, celebrate VE Day on May 9. At the outbreak of the war, thousands of men from all Allied nations enlisted in the armed forces to join in the fight against the Axis Powers. Some of them were established Hollywood stars, who decided to put their careers on hold to serve their country in its time of need. Others were young men who became screen legends after the conflict. Here are 5 (more) male actors who served in World War II, before and after they were famous. Robert Montgomery (1904-1981) | U.S. Navy, 1941-1946 After World War II broke out in Europe in September 1939, Montgomery joined the American Field Service and drove ambulances in France until the evacuation o...

I love making lists of stuff. Films, TV shows, books, songs... anything. So, in anticipation to the 93rd Academy Awards ceremony, I thought it would be fun to make a list of my favourite Best Picture winners. I did a similar thing back in 2017, but I've watched a few more winnings films since then, so this is an updated version of my top 20 favourite Best Picture winners. Please bear in mind that I haven't seen every single film that has won the award, so my choices are based on the ones that I have in fact seen so far.   20. Rain Man (1988) Directed by Barry Levinson, Rain Man  is the story of an abrasive and self-centered wheeler-dealer named Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise), who discovers that his estranged father has died and bequeathed all of his multimillion dollar estate to his other son, Raymond (Dustin Hoffman), an autistic savant who lives in a world of his own and of whose existence Charlie was completely unaware. Besides winning for Best Picture, Rain Man also receiv...