Hollywood and the Stars

I distinctly remember one episode of "Hollywood and the Stars" was about horror movies. I was 5 years old and I loved monsters, but I hadn't seen very many horror movies. Even though I was so young, I still remember the first thing Joseph Cottten said: "You may want to put the kids to bed early tonight." I begged my parents to let me watch it, and they reluctantly allowed it. The episode referred to Lon Chaney Jr., but in my childish mind, I interpreted it as if they were talking about a monster, not an actor, named "Junior." It scared the heck out of me! This monster named Junior! I think they showed footage from "Man-Made Monster." It took decades before I realized they must have been talking about Chaney Jr. I remember the theme song and everything. I would kill to see that episode again. Does anyone remember it?

So heartening to see others had the grand fortune of tuning into this seminal series. About a decade ago, I had the really good fortune to sit at a business dinner with series producer, the now legendary David L. Wolper. I thanked him for his creating this uncanny series, long before the nostalgic era (which we are still in) and ten years before the unexpected popularity of That's Entertainment.

He was really happy to hear this, a man who had produced so many landmark series, tickled that this early effort had stayed with a fan for so many year.

Now, as another contributer mentioned, where is TCM, or IFC to bring back this grand series? How about a DVD? So many memories still --- the scene from "A Star is Born", the grand 1937 version (although the film was in color, how ironic that this TV series, a full 25 years younger, had to resort to Black & White!). Scenes from "current" films, now more than forty years old.

Let's find out who owns the rights, call the Turner folks in Atlanta, and hear that gorgeous theme music (available on iTunes by the way).

HOLLYWOOD AND THE STARS, a half hour documentary that aired weekly during the 1963-64 season on NBC television, ranks one of the best of its kind behind-the-scenes look at classic Hollywood to ever be documented. Narrated by that distinctive voice of screen actor Joseph Cotten, this series featured a different theme every week, ranging from entire half hour focusing on certain legendary stars as Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis and/or Rita Hayworth, as well as the careers of then newer faces of the screen or current box office attractions as Paul Newman, Elizabeth Taylor and/or Natalie Wood. This show also focused on certain Hollywood themes, ranging from the gangster films, the musicals, war dramas, swashbucklers, comedies, just to name a few. The majority of the show details on the movies ranging from the silent era up to the present day, which for the series detailes documents as recent as 1964.

Predating the similiar and well written 1976 documentary of THAT'S HOLLYWOOD (ABC), narrated by another distinctive voice of character actor Tom Bosley, HOLLYWOOD AND THE STARS is highlighted by many film clips of Hollywood's past, ranging from classic scenes of famous films to rarely seen segments from obscure ones. While I cannot detail every episode from this series, I do recall having personal favorites, including entire half hour documents on the legendary Al Jolson, The Hollywood Musicals (featuring dance sequences choreographed by Busby Berkeley, Dick Powell crooning to Ruby Keeler, Fred Astaire dancing with Ginger Rogers, Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald singing separately or together love ballads, etc.), as well as seeing outtakes, such as an intended comedy scene on Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi in the chess game sequence from THE BLACK CAT (Universal, 1934) in which these "masters of horror" call each other not by on screen character name but the names that made them famous, DRACULA and FRANKENSTEIN.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE STARS lasted only one season, and in later years, portions of the series were used to fill in the extra time following the end of an afternoon or evening movie before the next program, whether being the local news or another movie lineup at the top of the hour. During the "nostalgia boom" era of the 1970s, movies about classic Hollywood movies did quite well on prime time television. Because HOLLYWOOD AND THE STARS was filmed entirely in black and white, this show slowly began to fade out on local reruns before the end of the '70s decade. Small independent TV stations like WPHL, Channel 17, in Philadelphia, for example, would continue to air this series quite frequently in pre 1975. The last time I came across HOLLYWOOD AND THE STARS on television was after moving to the state of Florida in late 1984, and finding it scheduled on a daily lineup during the way after midnight hours on WFTV, Channel 9, in Orlando. When it was aired as late as 5 a.m., the VCR machine, which became a new object in the household, became very handy to have around.

While HOLLYWOOD AND THE STARS only lives in memory to an avid movie fan who might have caught this in the past, it has left a lasting appeal, right down to the opening and closing theme song with titlecards superimposing in front of a director's chair and movie camera. One can only hope that a cable channel such as Turner Classic Movies might pick up the option to present this documentary series as part of its lineup, for that it's well documented, very interesting and highly recommended.

It's been more than 46 years and I remember this series as if I had seen it last night. it would play Friday nights. The music would rise, a director's chair would be in full view and Joseph Cotton would narrate. Bang. Then one would see clips of either a particular genre or a particular type. One episode highlighted the blonde bombshells/golden goddesses from Garbo to Harlow to Monroe (who was still alive at the time). Another highlighted the "kings of silent comedy," Mack Sennet types, Turpin, Keaton, Lang, Lloyd, Arbuckle and the great Chaplin. Another to romantic leads, another to swashbucklers, another to westerns, and another to the classic horror monsters we loved, from Lon Chaney to Lugosi to Karloff to Chaney Jr. All of the above episodes showed extremely entertaining, critical and masterful footage. Despite the fact those episodes ran for about 25 minutes, it felt as if they were over in half the time. That's how entertaining, informative, and breathtaking they were. If you wanted to find out about any genre and get a feel for it, this was the series to watch. This series made you want to go out and watch these nearly-forgotten films and Hollywood legends. This series is the equivalent to a survey course in film and Hollywood cinema. Too bad it is not in DVD or that TCM does not run it as a filler. What a series!