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Ginger Rogers at the beach with her pet dog (1936) Clara Bow in front of her Malibu beachfront home (c. 1926)   Bette Davis at a beach in Southern California (c. 1932)   Cary Grant and Randolph Scott at their home in Santa Monica (1935)   Natalie Wood and Hugh O'Brien at the Thalians Beach Ball in Malibu (July 15, 1956)   Ava Gardner at the beach (c. 1945)   Ronald Reagan and Jane Wyman at the pool (c. 1940)   Joan Crawford and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. at Catalina Beach (May 20, 1929)  

Ginger Rogers sunbathing in 1936 (Side note: I LOVE her shoes!) Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart with their son, Steven (early 1950s) Ava Gardner in Phillip Island, Australia during the making of On the Beach (1959) Rita Hayworth and Robert Mitchum in Trinidad and Tobago during the filming of Fire Down Below (1957) Natalie Wood and Steve Rowland at the Thalians Beach Ball in Malibu (July 1956) Henry Fonda at the Atlantic Beach Club (1936) Joan Crawford and Douglas Fairbanks at Catalina Beach in 1929 Diane Ellis and Carole Lombard at the beach in 1929 Rock Hudson at the pool (1950s) Audrey Hepburn in Monaco during the making of Monte Carlo Baby (1951) Jane Wyman and Ronald Reagan in their pool (1940) Randolph Scott and Cary Grant poolside at their Santa Monica beach house (1935) I hope you are having an amazing summer! 

This week on «Film Friday» I want to tell you a little bit about one of my favourite pictures of all time. It's a kooky little comedy, which I think is perfect to watch over the Easter weekend. This also happens to be my favourite Ronald Reagan picture. Directed by Irving Rapper, The Voice of the Turtle (1947) opens in December 1944, as Broadway producer Ken Bartlett (Kent Smith) is ending his affair with struggling young actress Sally Middleton (Eleanor Parker), who then vows never to fall in love again. Months later, her friend, Olive Lashbrooke (Eve Arden), arranges to meet Bill Page (Ronald Reagan), a sergeant on a weekend pass, at Sally's apartment. While she is waiting, she calls for her messages and learns that an old flame, Naval Commander Ned Burling (Wayne Morris), is in town for one weekend only. Choosing the commander over the sergeant, Olive breaks her date with Bill, who eventually invites Sally to dinner at the same French restaurant that she frequented with Ken...

Directed by Edmund Goulding, Dark Victory (1939) tells the story of Judith Traherne (Bette Davis), a carefree heiress with a passion for horses and fast cars. When she begins suffering from chronic headaches, her family physician, Dr. Parsons (Henry Travers), insists that she see Dr. Frederick Steele (George Brent), a brilliant brain surgeon. Judith arrives at Steele's office on the day that he is to retire from surgery due to the death of his patients. However, intrigued by Judith's symptoms and charmed by her spirits, he decides to postpone his retirement and takes her case. After performing a delicate brain surgery on Judith, Steele discovers that she has a malignant tumor which will inevitably kill her within less than a year. Bette Davis, George Brent and Humphrey Bogart in Dark Victory .   In order to allow her a few more months of happiness, Steele lies to Judith and assures her that the surgery was a success. However, he cannot hide the truth from her best friend, Ann ...

In movieland, the month of February is almost entirely dedicated to the Academy Awards, the industry's oldest and most prestigious awards ceremony. In anticipation to the 89th Oscars on February 26, every «Film Friday» this month will be about a Best Picture winner or nominee. This particular one also serves to honour Ronald Reagan's 116th birthday, which is next Monday. According to most critics, this is the best of his films. Directed by Sam Wood, Kings Row (1942) tells the story of five young people living in the small Midwestern town of Kings Row in the late 19th century. They are: Parris Mitchell (Robert Cummings), a medical student who lives with his grandmother; Cassandra Tower (Betty Field), the misunderstood daughter of Dr. Alexander Tower (Claude Rains); Drake McHugh (Ronald Reagan), a wealthy and fun-loving orphan; Louise Gordon (Nancy Coleman), the daughter of the sadistic town physician, Dr. Henry Gordon (Charles Coburn); and Randy Monaghan (Ann Sheridan), a tombo...

During Hollywood's Golden Age, it was not uncommon for film studios to emphasize the romantic appeal of their actors. Moreover, the movie press sold papers relating which actor was dating which actress, where they dined and what clubs they frequented. Warner Bros. contract player Ronald Reagan understandably received his fair share of coverage, much of it courtesy of Louella Parsons, a prominent gossip columnist from Dixon, Illinois, where Ronnie grew up after his parents moved there in 1920. She took a liking to Reagan, with whom she appeared in his second film, Hollywood Hotel (1937), based on Parsons' own radio show of the same name.   LEFT: Portrait of Louella Parsons c. 1941. MIDDLE: Original theatrical release poster for Hollywood Hotel . RIGHT: Portrait of Ronald Reagan c. 1938.        The tenth film Ronnie worked on was William Keighley's Brother Rat (1938), a B comedy set at the Virginia Military Institute — the title taken from the vernacular word ...