Gig Young 2 The Very Unhappy Second Lead
Classic Hollywood MTC Podcasts
Tall, handsome and debonair on the outside looking in, Gig Young was a talented and successful actor, who found much success on film, tv and stage, throughout the 40s,50s, and 60s. He worked for all the key studios, including Warner Brothers, MGM, and Columbia, and appeared in many classic movies, including The Three Musketeers with Gene Kelly, Lust for Gold with Ida Lapino and Glen Ford, and Teachers Pet with Doris Day and Clark Gable. The quality and variety of his work was such that he acquired many nominations and awards. But from the inside looking out, Gig was a troubled and deeply...
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Maureen O Hara The Irish Queen of Technicolor
Classic Hollywood MTC Podcasts
In the second of this 2 part series on Hollywood Red Heads, this episode tells the story of Maureen O Hara, one of the most beautiful, athletic, and talented film actresses that ever graced Hollywood film. Born to a well to do family in southern Ireland, and a fierce Irish and American patriot, Maureen speedily rose up the film ladder, appearing in melodramas, westerns, musicals and adventure movies, many of which are viewed as some of the greatest Hollywood films ever made. Dubbed the Queen of Technicolor, she was and remains the quintessential female counter to John Wayne, their...
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Greer Garson: The Hollywood and very British War Hero and Star
Classic Hollywood MTC Podcasts
Greer Garson was one of the most successful British actresses of the classic Hollywood studio era. She was attractive, intelligent, hard working and talented. She appeared in some of the best and most memorable Hollywood films ever made, including movies which inspired and strengthened the British and American War effort during World War II. But Ms Garson's road to success was not an easy one. Throughout her life and career, she battled mutiple health scares, anorexia, and troubled marriages, as well as studio bosses and the occaisional leading man, who resented her...
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CHMTC Mini Episode 6
Classic Hollywood MTC Podcasts
Mrs Classic Film Fans latest reviews of 2 great biographical film books, including the latest Scot Eyman biography on the late, great Cary Grant.
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CHMTC Mini Episode 5
Classic Hollywood MTC Podcasts
A podcast about the lives and careers of the great Hollywood studio movie stars of the 1930s, 40s and 50s.
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Jerry Lewis The Comedy Auteur
Classic Hollywood MTC Podcasts
Episode 19 of the Film & TV podcast Classic Hollywood MTC, on the prolific life and career of the late great Jerry Lewis.
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CHMTC Mini Episode 4 Update
Classic Hollywood MTC Podcasts
This mini CHMTC episode gives a quick update on the new and upcoming episode of CHMTC and the launch of my new history focused podcast, called Is It Cos Im from Croydon?
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Tab Hunter The Movie Star who lived a double life
Classic Hollywood MTC Podcasts
A telling of the life and career, of the recently departed 1950s heart throb and movie star Tab Hunter.
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CHMTC Mini-Episode 3
Classic Hollywood MTC Podcasts
As promised this is brief episode about some of the sources I used to put the last 2 CHMTC episodes together. Also included in these notes are some of the links I mention via which you can access the sources metioned about these great stars. I have also found a great new podcast which can be accessed via Itunes and other avenues. You might want to give that a listen while you are waiting for the next CHMTC episode, which will be on the late, great and recently deceased Tab Hunter, who represented the next generation of Hollywood beefcake. Below the links mentioned in this episode:...
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Sterling Hayden The Hollywood Sailor
Classic Hollywood MTC Podcasts
Many film stars tell us that they are just ordinary people, who don't care about money, fame or possessions, but yet they go on living in their many luxury homes, riding in their fancy cars and accumulating tonnes of money, in their search for more and more acclaim and the rewards that go with it. Sterling Hayden, was a Hollywood movie star, who spoke his mind. He really liked being ordinary and really disliked being a Hollywood movie star. At first, troubled by his Hollywood fame, it eventually became a means to an end, the end being to service his real loves, sailing ships, his...
info_outlineUnless you have been living under a tadpole you will know that one of the last surviving Hollywood movie stars Kirk Douglas has just reached his 100th birthday and that the celebrations have been glorious.
Douglas seemed to specialise in anti-hero figures long before it became fashionable to do so. Ace in the Hole, the Bad and the Beautiful and the Detective showed that he was not afraid to explore people who were very damaged, but also very skilled at spreading huge swathes of that damage to others, through acts of cruelty, manipulation, cynicism and self-loathing. That usually meant that any character in his way was going to have a really, really, really bad time. It also meant that audiences never knew whether to love him or loathe him, but they all wanted to watch him.
He did play actual heroes from time to time-but unlike some of his competitors he could never find it in him to play them straight. This short homage to the great KD, is about his great sword and scandal epic Spartacus. Made fun of today because of its high levels of sentimentality, this film was not just about heaving chests in skimpy ancient togas who cried "I'm Spartacus". This was Douglas (with the considerable help of Stanley Kubrick and Douglas Trumbo) telling us at the peak of his creative powers where America, the UK, France and the rest of the West was at. Listen to the latest episode of Classic Hollywood MTC and learn about Spartacus the KD Way.
The music used in this episode is called "Memories" and can be found on Bensound.com.