gdp's Comments

Big Hollywood : Hollywood Head Game

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 23:06:22 +0000

I was going to complain about the lack of Myrna Loy, but a sweep through Google Image revealed few shots of all the great hats she wore in the Thin Man series. I did find this though. http://www.style.com/slideshows/standalone/beauty... I think Asta wants the hat for himself.

Big Hollywood : "Light Touch"

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:33:52 +0000

Yes, the Thomas Dixon tribute thread will have to muddle along without us.

Big Hollywood : I Come to Praise Bill Maher, Not to Bury Him

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 02:52:00 +0000

Well said, Mr. Nolte.

Big Hollywood : Hollywood Unveiled: John Wayne Walks Like a Girl

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 19:52:12 +0000

Great piece. I think that it isn't commonly understood what a highly technical, studied actor he was. People tend to assume that he just got up in front of the camera and let his John Wayne-ness flow. In fact his effects were always very conscious (but never self-conscious). One of the most striking things in Garry Wills' John Wayne's America is his comparison of a characteristic Wayne stance to a Donatello statue. As you so rightly point out, it isn't just actresses who care about the beauty of what they project on screen.

Big Hollywood : Margot Tenenbaum Would Not Approve

Sun, 31 May 2009 18:29:41 +0000

I agree, the proposal is ridiculous on its face, although no more so than the general prohibition against certain types of male nudity or the incredibly unpredictable rulings on violence. The MPAA has always been a hodgepodge and the ratings often make no sense. However, if I try to look on the bright side, if this passes, perhaps the rule will increase the interest in old movies, as people rush to their Netflix to get full-frontal pictures of this oh-so-illicit activity. Wouldn't that be great?

Big Hollywood : Mae Clarke: Gangster, Grapefruit and Forty-One Seconds to Screen Immortality

Tue, 19 May 2009 16:38:04 +0000

What a wonderful tribute to this actress. I've linked to it at my place.

Big Hollywood : What Would the Media Say if Obama's Frequent Hollywood Guests Were Oil Execs?

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 02:07:22 +0000

Sigh. Yes, that was precisely my point. There is nothing intrinsically weird or sinister about inviting actors to the White House, nor were people in the habit of getting worked up about it when Reagan was in office.

Big Hollywood : What Would the Media Say if Obama's Frequent Hollywood Guests Were Oil Execs?

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 16:36:12 +0000

Stars have been welcome at the White House for years. You know who had the greatest array of stars at the White House, bar none? Ronald Reagan. Never been anything like his guest lists, before or since. And they also gave to his campaign. And nobody sat around clutching their pearls wondering if, for example, lifelong conservative and Barbados resident Claudette Colbert was exerting undue influence on Caribbean policy.

Big Hollywood : Colleen Bobs Her Hair and The Stars and Stripes

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 15:05:01 +0000

What a great post--I love reading you on this subject. "Silent Star" is a wonderful memoir, frank and unsentimental. Moore was accomplished in so many respects, and rather than mourning her lost stardom, got on with life. I always thought her lifelong friendship with the brilliant King Vidor would make a charming, low-key movie, but biopics tend to focus on Big Dramatic Lives. Did you ever read A Cast of Killers, about Vidor pursuing the William Desmond Taylor murder? It was not a triumph of writing style but was fascinating nonetheless, and Moore was one of the most intriguing figures in it. ____As for Louise Brooks, I love her, but she was her own worst enemy. I think the stunning impact of Pandora's Box had a lot to do with her cult, that and her laser-beam intelligence and marvelous writing. When you read Barry Paris' excellent Brooks bio you realize that it was her own recalcitrance that in large part ended her stardom, and that Lulu in Hollywood is brilliant but not exactly a model of research accuracy.