Noticias

Pippa Scott, who played one of abducted daughters alongside Natalie Wood in John Ford’s The Searchers and the secretary of Rosalind Russell’s title character in Auntie Mame, has died. She was 90.

Scott died peacefully May 22 of congenital heart failure at her home in Santa Monica, her daughter Miranda Tollman told The Hollywood Reporter.

Scott’s film résumé also included Gower Champion’s My Six Loves (1963), Richard Lester’s Petulia (1968), Norman Lear’s Cold Turkey (1971) and Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s The Sound of Murder (1982).

On television, the redhead portrayed the wife of a Broadway actor (Brian Aherne) transported back in time in the 1960 Twilight Zone episode “The Trouble With Templeton”; was the wife of a rabbi helping Morey Amsterdam’s character with his very belated bar mitzvah on the 1966 Dick Van Dyke Show installment “Buddy Sorrell: Man and Boy”; and played a nursery school teacher and love interest of Jack Warden...

Exclusive: In a major deal, Concord Originals has acquired Rko, the legendary film studio behind such classic properties as King Kong, Citizen Kane, The Best Years of Our Lives, It’s a Wonderful Life, Suspicion and The Woman in the Window.

The purchase gives Concord Originals the derivative rights to over 5,000 titles, which include the remake, sequel, story, stage and copyrights (including unproduced screenplays) of the company’s storied film library. Concord acquired Rko from Ted Hartley, who served as the studio’s Chairman and CEO for 35 years.

Going forward, Rko will continue to operate as its own imprint under Concord Originals. Sophia Dilley and current Rko President Mary Beth O’Connor have been named Co-Presidents of Rko and will jointly run the company with the support of the Concord Originals team. Dilley will also maintain her current role as head of Concord Originals, considered one of the preeminent homes for adapting music and theatre IP,...

Tom Hiddleston is "always open" to starring in a musical.The 44-year-old actor has a number of dance sequences in his latest film 'The Life of Chuck' - in which he plays the adult Charles Krantz - and though it took a lot of work to hone his footwork, he admitted he has long admired movies that feature big musical numbers and he'd be happy to be approached about starring in one himself.He told The Hollywood Reporter: “I’ve never danced quite like this before and I had some steps to dance, some miles to go before I felt skilled enough and practiced enough to pull off some of the techniques and styles that Chuck pulls off.“I have a great affection for movie musicals, I really was thinking about them a lot in making this — thinking about 'Swing Time' and 'Singin’ in the Rain...

During the Hollywood premiere of his new film The Life of Chuck, actor Tom Hiddleston shared his love for movie musicals, also revealing that he would be open to starring in one in the future. In the new film, the stage and screen star shows off his dance moves, a feat which was largely new to the performer. “I’ve never danced quite like this before, and I had some steps to dance, some miles to go before I felt skilled enough and practiced enough to pull off some of the techniques and styles that Chuck pulls off,” Hiddleston told The Hollywood Reporter. “I have a great affection for movie musicals, I really was thinking about them a lot in making this — thinking about Swing Time and Singin’ in the...

After building his career on dramatic roles and as Marvel’s Loki, Tim Hiddleston is trying out a new title in his upcoming movie The Life of Chuck: dancer.

The film, which won the audience award at TIFF last year, is adapted from a Stephen King novella and follows three chapters in the life of an ordinary man named Charles Krantz (played in part by Hiddleston) whose death coincides with the end of the world. Along the way, it also features plenty of dancing from the actor.

“I’ve never danced quite like this before and I had some steps to dance, some miles to go before I felt skilled enough and practiced enough to pull off some of the techniques and styles that Chuck pulls off,” Hiddleston told The Hollywood Reporter at the film’s Los Angeles premiere on Monday. “I have a great affection for movie musicals, I...

Fred Astaire was an Oscar-nominated song and dance man best remembered for a series of musicals he made alongside many female dancer, but especially Ginger Rogers. Yet his filmography extends well past those titles. Let's take a look back at 20 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.

As a dancer, Astaire was known for his perfectionism, doing multiple takes to get the most precise movements correct. His immaculate steps were matched only by his outfits, which often consisted of top hats and coats.

After making a name for himself on the stage in London and on Broadway, Astaire came to Hollywood. He first appeared with fellow dancer Rogers in "Flying Down to Rio" (1933), where they played second fiddle to Dolores del Rio and Gene Raymond. Their first starring vehicle came just one year later: "The Gay Divorcee" (1934).

Their subsequent films, including "Top Hat" (1935), "Follow the Fleet" (1936), "Swing Time" (1936), and...

As a genre, movie musicals have had some serious ups and downs throughout Hollywood history. Right now, they definitely seem to be on an upswing, especially now that the long-awaited "Wicked" movie blew everyone away at the box office — and it was only the first half of the musical to boot.

In recent years, movie musicals like "Wonka," "Mean Girls," "The Greatest Showman," "La La Land," and even the filmed stage version of "Hamilton" have become enormous hits, though critical reception has been decidedly mixed across these projects. So what are the best musicals ever according to the official Rotten Tomatoes ranking of movie musicals? Only three musicals earned 100% ratings on the review aggregate, which is — I have to say — a little surprising, largely because some all-time classics apparently missed the cut. For example, "The Sound of Music" and the original "West Side Story" only earned 83% and 92%, respectively, despite being two staples of the genre,...

It’s Musicals Week at IndieWire. With “Wicked” about to sparkle over theaters, we’re celebrating the best of the movie-musical genre.

It was the fall of 2018, and for a week or so, my co-writers, producers, and I were on a pitch tour, taking our idea for an original film musical around to every major studio in Los Angeles. As part of our pitch, we played a few sample compositions to give backers an idea of the vibe of music featured in the film and even sang a bit of one of the songs we planned on incorporating into the script.

For my collaborators and I, this was always a crucial element in getting our story across — this was a Musical, guided by song and informed by our characters’ taste and appreciation of the form. And every time my co-writers would burst into a duet as I narrated the circumstance,...

It’s Musicals Week at IndieWire. With “Wicked” about to sparkle over theaters, we’re celebrating the best of the movie-musical genre.

The musical sometimes feels like a relic of a long-dead Hollywood studio system. But IndieWire’s picks for the 100 best movie musicals of all time show that the musical remains a genre that captures movies’ ability to create story worlds that move freely between reality and fantasy better than any other. The worst examples come from filmmakers who give license to music, color, and movement to run amok; the best transcend artifice and integrate songs that become expressions of pure character emotion. Musicals offer endless possibilities, but success demands a complete mastery of the medium.

The best movie musicals of all time have faced obstacles as varied as their creators’ styles and tastes. That’s in part because its integration of at least two art forms — music and film always,...

Over Hollywood’s century-long history, women have played an integral part both as actresses on the screen, as well as creators behind the scenes. Many have fought to establish themselves in a male-dominated world, and have earned their place in history alongside the best, even managing to show out at the most prestigious awards ceremony — the Academy Awards. In celebration of Women’s History Month 2024, and the recent 96th Oscars ceremony, following is a list of 26 women who have earned eight or more Oscar nominations. Scroll through our photo gallery above (or click here for direct access).

One area in which women have dominated Oscar nominations is writing. Going all the way back to the second ceremony, Josephine Lovett earned a bid for “Our Dancing Daughters,” while Bess Meredyth received two noms for “A Woman of Affairs” and “Wonder of Women.” The next year, Frances Marion became the first woman...

Over Hollywood’s century-long history, women have played an integral part both as actresses on the screen, as well as creators behind the scenes. Many have fought to establish themselves in a male-dominated world, and have earned their place in history alongside the best, even managing to show out at the most prestigious awards ceremony — the Academy Awards. In celebration of Women’s History Month 2024, and the recent 96th Oscars ceremony, following is a list of 26 women who have earned eight or more Oscar nominations. Scroll through our photo gallery below.

One area in which women have dominated Oscar nominations is writing. Going all the way back to the second ceremony, Josephine Lovett earned a bid for “Our Dancing Daughters,” while Bess Meredyth received two noms for “A Woman of Affairs” and “Wonder of Women.” The next year, Frances Marion became the first woman to triumph in a non-gendered category,...

Nine decades ago this December, moviegoers were witnessing the beginning of one of the most successful movie teams, as well as the demise of one of the most dramatic.

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers made box office magic during the Depression-era 1930s in nine Art Deco musical comedy delights from Rko including 1934’s “The Gay Divorcee” and 1936’s “Swing Time.” Their chemistry was unmatched, and they literally made beautiful musical together introducing countless standards including the Oscar-winning “The Continental” and “The Way You Look Tonight.” And their dancing was robust, romantic and heavenly-just check out the “Never Gonna Dance” routine from “Swing Time.”

It was 90 years ago this week, their first pairing “Flying Down to Rio” opened at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City. One of the big surprises is that the duo aren’t the stars of the lightweight pre-Code musicals: Dolores Del Rio, Gene Raymond...

James Sanders in Celluloid Skyline: New York And The Movies quotes Deborah Kerr with Cary Grant in Leo McCarey’s An Affair To Remember: “It’s the nearest thing to heaven we have in New York.”

In the first instalment with architect, author, and filmmaker James Sanders, we discuss his timeless and profound book, Celluloid Skyline: New York And The Movies, in which he explores how deeply one informs the other. From Joan Didion’s wisdom to Cedric Gibbons’s dream sets in the sky, we touch on George Stevens’s Swing Time (starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers) and Robert Z Leonard’s Susan Lenox (with Greta Garbo and Clark Gable); East River running with Jill Clayburgh and Michael Murphy in Paul Mazursky’s An Unmarried Woman.

James Sanders with Anne-Katrin Titze: “One of the aspects of a mythic city is that it can go anywhere ”

The mansion...

George Stevens is considered one of the greatest directors of Hollywood's Golden Age, directing classics in various genres and receiving multiple Oscar nominations and wins. Some of Stevens's best movies, like Vivacious Lady, don't even make the list of his top 10 due to their slightly lower critical acclaim and lasting impact. Movies like Woman of the Year, The Talk of the Town, Gunga Din, The Diary of Anne Frank, I Remember Mama, Swing Time, The More the Merrier, A Place in the Sun, Shane, and Giant are among Stevens's best and are highly regarded for their performances, themes, and enduring legacy.

Given that George Stevens was one of the greatest directors of Hollywood's Golden Age, selecting his best movies and ranking them is a difficult task. Stevens came up in the 1930s working on slapstick comedy films for Hal Roach, but he's known for directing classics in a number of genres,...

Hollywood’s postwar shift to social consciousness addressed familiar issues like bigotry and discrimination. On his way to making his gargantuan, serious epics, famed director George Stevens paused for this almost entirely forgotten contemplation of American anxiety in the business rat race, with a side order of alcoholism and potential adultery. Ray Milland is the troubled ad man who tries to help the drink-impaired actress, Joan Fontaine. Wife Teresa Wright waits patiently back home, but for how long? Is Stevens just dabbling in neorealistic doldrums, or did he feel the wave of dull existential despair as well? It’s one of his least-known films.

Something to Live For

All Region Blu-ray

Viavision [Imprint] #199

952 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 89 min. / Street Date February 22, 2023 / Available from [Imprint] / au 34.95

Starring: Joan Fontaine, Ray Milland, Teresa Wright, Richard Derr, Douglas Dick, Harry Bellaver, Paul Valentine, King Donovan, Kasey Rogers, Douglas Spencer, Mari Blanchard.

Cinematography: George Barnes

Production Designer: Hal Pereira,...

If you are a fan of classic Hollywood movie musicals, there is a strong chance you have probably had the debate: Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire? It's a silly debate, obviously, but pitting the two premiere tap-dancing leading men of some of the most loved films of all time against each other is a classic cinephile's version of, "Who would win in a fight, Superman or Wonder Woman?" If I have to choose, I choose Gene, but I have nothing against Fred. Despite their unparalleled hoofing skills, I go to the two men for completely different things. When I want athleticism and relatability, I go for Gene. When I want precision in both movement and story, I go for Fred.

Fred Astaire is undeniably Hollywood legend, thanks in large part to his on-screen chemistry with the equally delightful Ginger Rogers, but his path to stardom was not an obvious one.

Italy’s robust 2022 Berlinale representation of a half-dozen titles runs the gamut from the latest works by venerable veterans Paolo Taviani and Dario Argento to pics by fresh new Cinema Italiano voices including Chiara Bellosi, whose first film, “Ordinary Justice,” launched from Berlin in 2020.

Taviani, who is 91, is returning to Berlin but alone this time — his filmmaker brother, Vittorio, with whom he won a Golden Bear in 2012 for “Caesar Must Die,” passed away in 2018 — in competition with surreal drama “Leonora Addio,” inspired by a short story by Italian playwright and author Luigi Pirandello.

Argento, who set his 1977 chiller “Suspiria” in Germany, will be at the Berlinale for the first time as a director with Rome-set suspenser “Dark Glasses,” though he was on the fest’s main jury panel in 2001. Film unspools as a Berlinale Special Gala.

Bellosi is back with Panaorama selection “Swing Ride” (“Calcinculo”), about a 15-year-old named...

After that epic Lip-sync battle of Tom Holland converting to Rihanna’s ‘Umbrella’ in 2017, Tom Holland has finally landed himself the role of the legendary actor, singer and dancer Fred Astaire in an upcoming biopic.

The ‘Spider-man’ actor confirmed the role while doing press for the upcoming third instalment of the Sony/Marvel out ‘Spider-man: No Way Home.’

“The script came in a week ago,” Holland told reporters. “I haven’t read it yet; they haven’t given it to me,” Holland noted. “She [Amy Pascal] FaceTimed me earlier. I was in the bath,” he said with a laugh. “And we had a lovely FaceTime, but I will be playing Fred Astaire.”

Also in news – Cate Blanchett & Kevin Kline to star in Alfonso Cuaron’s Apple series ‘Disclaimer’

Astaire starred in more than 30 film musicals, as well as appearing on stage on Broadway and the West End over the course of a seven-decade career.

“Spider-Man” star Tom Holland is swapping his web-shooters for dancing shoes. The 25-year-old officially confirmed on Sunday that he’ll portray legendary actor, dancer and singer Fred Astaire in an upcoming biopic for Sony.

In a recent profile for GQ, Oscar-nominated producer Amy Pascal teased that she wanted Holland for the part of Astaire in the forthcoming movie, as well as another trilogy of “Spider-Man films.”

But during an interview with AP, at an event promoting the upcoming “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” Holland confirmed that he’ll step into the entertainer’s dance shoes for the project, which is still in its early stages.

“The script came in a week ago,” Holland told reporters. “I haven’t read it yet; they haven’t given it to me.”

Pascal has received the script though, Holland noted. “She FaceTimed me earlier. I was in the bath,” he said with a laugh. “And we had a lovely FaceTime,...

There’s something inherently seductive about the glitz and glamour of Old Hollywood. Perhaps it’s the backstage intrigue and the tawdry tales of showbusiness hedonism that draws us in again and again. Or maybe it’s the romanticized image of smokey rooms, silken gowns and stylish fedoras that we find so endlessly alluring. For many, however, it’s the larger-than-life figures from silver screen history that remain irresistible decades later.

Whatever the reason, films, books and television shows about Hollywood’s Golden Age continue to captivate new generations year after year. Look no further than Oscar-winners like “The Artist,” bestsellers like Shawn Levy’s “The Castle on Sunset,” acclaimed documentaries like “Tab Hunter Confidential,” and a host of recent TV series from Ryan Murphy if you have any doubt. Each of these attempt, in some way, to simultaneously celebrate the era while pulling back the curtain on the studio system.

In the midst of "cancel culture," TCM will shine a spotlight on several "problematic" movies from the past for the new limited series Reframed Classics. The series will present wide-ranging discussions about 18 culturally significant movies from the 1920s through the 1950s. Debuting on Thursday at 8 p.m. Et, the show launches with a look at the controversial romance drama Gone with the Wind. You can watch a trailer for the series below.

"We know millions of people love these films," said TCM host Jacqueline Stewart, clarifying that the goal is not to take these movies away. "We're not saying 'This is how you should feel about "Psycho"' or 'This is how you should feel about Gone with the Wind. We're just trying to model ways of having longer and deeper conversations and not just cutting it off to 'I love this movie.' 'I hate this movie.' There's so much space in between.

Willie Nelson explores the deep corners of the Frank Sinatra catalog on his new album That’s Life, out February 26th. In addition to tackling classics like “You Make Me Feel So Young” and “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” Nelson interprets lesser-known Sinatra recordings like 1959’s “Just in Time” and “A Cottage for Sale.” “I’m just glad to be able to do another tribute to him,” said Nelson, who released his first Sinatra tribute, My Way, in 2018. “I’m anxious to get it out there.”

On Friday, Nelson released another track,...

Jamie Bell and Margaret Qualley will star in a biopic about Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers for Amazon Studios and Automatik called “Fred & Ginger.”

Jonathan Entwistle (“The End of the F—ing World”) will direct the film about the two Old Hollywood movie stars and dance icons. Arash Amel (“A Private War”) will write the script.

“Fred & Ginger” tells the untold love story between Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, going behind the scenes of their stage personas and examining what drove them and how they found their creative spark as the most recognizable on-screen musical duo of the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Astaire and Rogers starred in 10 films together — nine of them with Rko and between 1933 and 1939 — including such classics as “Top Hat,” “Swing Time” and “Roberta.”

Photo by Rko/Archive Photos/Getty Images

Both Bell and Qualley have deep roots in dance, either on stage or on screen. Bell...

The great actor Robert Picardo, a frequent Joe Dante collaborator and long time Star Trek hologram, joins Josh and Joe to discuss movies that compel him to sit and watch all the way through any time they just happen to be on.

Also… Josh and Bob discuss the best cheesesteak joints in Philly.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

The Howling (1981)

A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)

A Hard Day’s Night (1964)

The Running Jumping and Standing Still Film (1959)

Swing Time (1936)

The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)

Cabaret (1972)

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

On The Waterfront (1954)

Some Like It Hot (1959)

Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)

Innerspace (1987)

Ordinary People (1980)

Hollywood Boulevard (1976)

Rock ‘N’ Roll High School (1978)

The Godfather (1972)

The Godfather Part II (1974)

Jaws (1975)

The Wiz (1978)

The Godfather Part III (1990)

Alien (1979)

Star Wars (1977)

Death Becomes Her (1992)

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

I Knew It Was You (2009)

Touch Of Evil (1958)

Citizen Kane (1941)

The Day The Earth Stood Still...

Marge Champion, a dancer and actor who served as the real-life model for Disney’s 1937 animated classic “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” died on Wednesday in Los Angeles, according to The New York Times. She was 101.

Champion and her husband, Gower Champion, also had great success as dance partners and choreographers for Broadway musicals, films and television shows. Champion won an Emmy award in 1975 for choreographing the television movie “Queen of the Stardust Ballroom.”

Marge and Gower Champion most notably danced together in multiple MGM musicals, including the 1951 remake of “Show Boat” starring Howard Keel, Kathryn Grayson and Ava Gardner.

In addition to “Snow White,” Champion’s elegant dance moves served as the inspiration for the Blue Fairy in “Pinocchio” and the tutu-wearing hippo ballerinas in the “Dance of the Hours” number in “Fantasia.”

The Champions danced across television screens in the late 1940s and 1950s, first appearing in...

The Notebook Primer introduces readers to some of the most important figures, films, genres, and movements in film history.Above: 42nd StreetWhile other genres undoubtedly advanced with the dawning of sound technology, the musical is likely the most indebted to the reverberations of this complementary process. More than that, though, the movie musical was fundamentally born with the surge of sound—it simply could not have existed otherwise. And since that time, the musical has indeed been a uniquely cinematic venture, less beholden to conventional narratives and often disposed to experimentations in color, location, camera mobility, production design, and special effects. Especially in its heyday, the so-called “Golden Age” lasting between the mid-1930s and late-‘50s, Hollywood musicals were an enrapturing experience, delighting audiences with spectacle, romance, athleticism, fine performances, and, of course, song and dance. Some of America’s brightest stars sparkled in the musical, while many of...

You’re going to have to steel yourself for this monster of a content update. Between them, Netflix, HBO Max, Hulu, Disney Plus and Amazon Prime have an obscene number of quality titles debuting this weekend.

Be it films or television shows, new releases or old classics, there’s a ton to dig into here. So if you’re ready, let’s dive right in…

Netflix

July 31st

Get Even — Netflix Original

Latte and the Magic Waterstone — Netflix Family

Seriously Single — Netflix Film

The Speed Cubers — Netflix Documentary

Sugar Rush: Extra Sweet — Netflix Original

The Umbrella Academy: Season 2 — Netflix Original

Vis a vis: El Oasis (Locked Up) — Netflix Original

August 1st

A Knight’s Tale

Acts of Violence

The Addams Family (1991)

An Education

Being John Malkovich

Death at a Funeral

Dennis the Menace

Elizabeth Harvest

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Hardcore Henry

Iron Man: Armored Adventures: Season 1-2

Jurassic Park...

HBO Max has a lot to offer in August, with titles to look forward to including the premiere of a brand new Seth Rogen movie called “An American Pickle” on Aug. 6, and Christopher Nolan’s 2008 Batman film “The Dark Knight” out Aug. 1.

The nascent streaming service also shares content with HBO, with new films coming like “Jojo Rabbit” out Aug. 1, “Birds of Prey” out Aug. 15, “Richard Jewell” out Aug. 8, and “Queen & Slim,” out Aug. 22. The upcoming series “Lovecraft County,” which mixes fact and fantasy and takes place in 1950s Jim Crow America, arrives Aug. 16.

Leaving throughout the month include, tragically, all eight “Harry Potter” films, which will be gone after Aug. 25. Other absolute classics like “Good Will Hunting,” “You’ve Got Mail,” and both “Kill Bill” movies will be gone after Aug. 31, so watch them while you can.

Below is the full list of everything coming and going in August.

With the end of the month ahead of us, we now have a full list of everything that’s coming to Netflix and the various other streaming services across August. The sites will continue to do their best to keep you from straying out into the sun for the rest of the summer, too, as each of them has got a whole heap of new movies and TV shows coming to their libraries that you’ll want to check out. Mostly classic films you’ll enjoy sticking on again, but also a few much-anticipated originals, too.

See below for the full line-up of titles coming to Netflix, Disney Plus, HBO Max, Hulu and Prime Video, as well as our own picks for what should be on your radar.

August 1

Netflix

A Knight’s Tale

Acts of Violence

The Addams Family (1991)

An Education

Being John Malkovich

Death at a Funeral

Dennis the Menace...

HBO Max is continuing to pull from Warner Bros.’ incredible back catalogue of movies, with August bringing a huge number of new titles to the streaming service. With over 130 new pieces of content, the list of upcoming arrivals encompasses classic films of all kinds, from Oscar winners to comedies, horrors to family pics and, of course, tons of blockbusters.

A highlight for many users will probably be the glut of Batman films coming to HBO Max at the start of the month. Every cinematic outing for the Caped Crusader from 1989’s Batman starring Michael Keaton to 2008’s The Dark Knight with Christian Bale (which just celebrated its 12th anniversary this weekend) are going up on the site. Sticking in Gotham, both seasons of Harley Quinn are also coming to HBO Max, following their original release on DC Universe.

Elsewhere on August 1st, some of the more notable new titles include Before Sunrise and its sequel,...

It’s August 2020 and that can only mean one thing: HBO Max is about to enter Lovecraft Country.

Over the years HBO (and by the transitive property its new HBO Max streaming offshoot) has grown accustomed to debuting a buzzworthy new TV show or limited series every couple of months. For August 2020 that will almost certainly be Southern Gothic horror series Lovecraft Country. The J.J. Abrams and Jordan Peele-produced thriller arrives on August 14 on HBO and HBO Max.

Other strong HBO Max originals arriving in August include the documentary Class Action Park (release date Tbd), Seth Rogen-starring comedy An American Pickle (Aug. 6), and finales for I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, Doom Patrol, and Perry Mason.

Of course, HBO Max is designed to house much of WarnerMedia’s content across many mediums. That means some recent movies on note like Jojo Rabbit (Aug. 1), Richard Jewell (Aug. 8), and Birds of Prey (Aug.

“Sure he was great, but don’t forget that Ginger Rogers did everything he did. . . backwards and in high heels.”

This quote from a 1982 Frank and Ernest cartoon sums up one of the greatest dance duos in film history, the debonair Fred Astaire and the tenacious Ginger Rogers. For July 16, we celebrate the spunky Ms. Rogers on what would have been her 109th birthday.

She was born Virginia Katherine McMath in Independence, Missouri. Her parents divorced when she was young, and she moved to Texas with her mother. She never saw her birth father again, and when her mother remarried, she adopted her stepfather’s surname of Rogers. A young cousin had trouble saying “Virginia”, so she became “Ginger”. Her mother was a career woman, involved in show business, as a scriptwriter among other things, and was a huge influence on Rogers for all her life. She got her own...

“Sure he was great, but don’t forget that Ginger Rogers did everything he did. . . backwards and in high heels.”

This quote from a 1982 Frank and Ernest cartoon sums up one of the greatest dance duos in film history, the debonair Fred Astaire and the tenacious Ginger Rogers. For July 16, we celebrate the spunky Ms. Rogers on what would have been her 109th birthday.

SEEFred Astaire movies: 20 greatest films ranked worst to best

She was born Virginia Katherine McMath in Independence, Missouri. Her parents divorced when she was young, and she moved to Texas with her mother. She never saw her birth father again, and when her mother remarried, she adopted her stepfather’s surname of Rogers. A young cousin had trouble saying “Virginia”, so she became “Ginger”. Her mother was a career woman, involved in show business, as a scriptwriter among other things, and was a huge influence on Rogers for all her life.

Holy shit, this was a tough one. There is no more iconic dance pairing in the history of Hollywood than Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Over the course of sixteen years from 1933 to 1949, Astaire and Rogers starred together in ten films that would made an indelible mark on filmgoers that lasts up to the present day. While Astaire made a whole career for himself as an actor and performer beyond these films, it seems that Rogers never quite stepped out from his shadow, with her film career fizzling toward the end of the '50s. However, there was never another duo quite like them, and never were they better together than in Swing Time. This 1936 film celebrates their undeniable chemistry in a rather...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Stars: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Victor Moore, Helen Broderick, Eric Blore | Written by Howard Lindsay, Allan Scott | Directed by George Stevens

Dazzling dancer “Lucky” (Fred Astaire) steps off stage and straight into his wedding outfit. But his colleagues don’t want to lose their star player to some dame, so they find ways to stop him. Lucky’s lateness triggers a fit of rage in the father of the would-be bride, and he issues an ultimatum: Lucky must go to New York, build a fortune, and return only when he earns the status (i.e. money) to marry his daughter.

Moments later, Lucky is in the Big Apple, where he falls in love with literally the first girl he meets. In classic rom-com stalker style, Lucky pursues Penny (Ginger Rogers) against her wishes. He chases her into a dance studio, where he masquerades as an amateur in order to humiliate...

Swing Time

Blu ray

Criterion

1936 / 1.33 : 1 / 103 Min.

Starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers

Cinematography by David Abel

Directed by George Stevens

The image of a tuxedo clad Fred Astaire hopping an empty boxcar sums up the double-edged appeal of Swing Time, a transcendent musical-comedy in which Fred and Ginger meet the depression head-on – Runyonesque sentimentality is avoided thanks to George Stevens’ no-nonsense direction and the clear-eyed love songs of Dorothy Fields and Jerome Kern.

Astaire plays a down-on-his-luck hoofer named Lucky who catches sight of a beautiful dance instructor named Penny and naturally falls in love (those too-perfect names will hang over the movie like a curse). The smitten hoofer trails her to the studio where she coaches would-be romantics in the art of… being Fred Astaire. Penny does her best with the supposedly flat-footed interloper but only succeeds in getting fired by her bad-tempered boss played by Eric Blore.

Lucky...

Fred Astaire would’ve celebrated his 120th birthday on May 10, 2019. The Oscar-nominated song and dance man is best remembered for a series of musicals he made alongside Ginger Rogers. Yet his filmography extends well past those titles. In honor of his birthday, let’s take a look back at 20 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.

As a dancer, Astaire was known for his perfectionism, doing multiple takes to get the most precise movements correct. His immaculate steps were matched only by his outfits, which often consisted of top hats and coats.

SEEOscars flashback: Gold Derby celebrates 84 years of Best Original Song at the Academy Awards

After making a name for himself on the stage in London and on Broadway, Astaire came to Hollywood. He first appeared with fellow dancer Rogers in “Flying Down to Rio” (1933), where they played second fiddle to Dolores del Rio and Gene Raymond. Their...

In good news for fans of Ingmar Bergman and Bruno Dumont, the Criterion Collection has announced its June titles. Three from the Swedish master are making the upgrade from DVD to Blu-ray, with Dumont’s “La vie de Jésus” and “L’humanité” making their Criterion debut. Also joining the collection are John Cameron Mitchell’s “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” George Stevens’ “Swing Time,” and Sergei Bondarchuk’s epic adaptation of “War and Peace.”

More information below, as well as the ever-alluring cover art:

A Film Trilogy by Ingmar Bergman

In 1960, Swedish director Ingmar Bergman began work on three of his most powerful and representative films, eventually recognized as a trilogy. Already a figure of international acclaim for such masterpieces as The Seventh Seal and The Magician, Bergman turned his back on the expressionism of his fifties work to focus on a series of chamber dramas exploring belief and alienation in the modern age.

Lady Gaga shared in the Best Original Song Oscar win for “Shallow.” She sang the smash hit in “A Star is Born” and is credited as a co-writer alongside a trio of men: Andrew Wyatt, Anthony Rossomando and Mark Ronson. This win makes make her the 14th woman to take home an Oscar for songwriting. Her co-writers bring the total tally of male winners in this category to a whopping 146.

Two of Lady Gaga’s female predecessors won twice each: lyricist Marilyn Bergman and composer Kristin Anderson-Lopez. Their songwriting partners and husbands number among the two dozen men to have won this award at least twice since it was first handed out at the 7th Academy Awards in 1934.

See 2019 Oscars: How were winners for the 91st Academy Awards chosen?

The first woman to win the Best Original Song Oscar was lyricist Dorothy Fields who prevailed in 1936 for “The Way You Look Tonight,...

This article marks Part 21 of the Gold Derby series analyzing 84 years of Best Original Song at the Oscars. Join us as we look back at the timeless tunes recognized in this category, the results of each race and the overall rankings of the winners.

The 1994 Oscar nominees in Best Original Song were:

“Look What Love Has Done” from “Junior”

“Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from “The Lion King”

“Circle of Life” from “The Lion King”

“Hakuna Matata” from “The Lion King”

“Make Up Your Mind” from “The Paper”

Won: “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from “The Lion King”

Should’ve won: “Circle of Life” from “The Lion King”

If there is any year in which a single film could and should have filled out the entire Best Original Song category at the Oscars, it is 1994.

Kudos to voters for nominating “Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” “Circle of Life...

This article marks Part 19 of the Gold Derby series analyzing 84 years of Best Original Song at the Oscars. Join us as we look back at the timeless tunes recognized in this category, the results of each race and the overall rankings of the winners.

The 1989 Oscar nominees in Best Original Song were:

“After All” from “Chances Are”

“Kiss the Girl” from “The Little Mermaid”

“Under the Sea” from “The Little Mermaid”

“I Love to See You Smile” from “Parenthood”

“The Girl Who Used to Be Me” from “Shirley Valentine”

Won and should’ve won: “Under the Sea,” The Little Mermaid”

Howard Ashman is, quite simply, one of the greatest and most influential lyricists of all-time.

Ashman, who initially left an immense impression not on the big screen but on stage from the late-1970s, through the mid-1980s, with colorful, idiosyncratic efforts like “God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater,” “Smile” and Little Shop of Horrors,...

Lady Gaga is all but certain to win at least one Oscar on Feb. 24 as part of the team that wrote the song “Shallow.” She sings the smash hit in “A Star is Born” and is credited as a tunesmith alongside a trio of men: Andrew Wyatt, Anthony Rossomando and Mark Ronson. That win will make her the 14th woman to take home an Oscar for songwriting. Her co-writers will bring the total tally of male winners in this category to a whopping 146.

Two of Lady Gaga’s female predecessors won twice each: lyricist Marilyn Bergman and composer Kristin Anderson-Lopez. Their songwriting partners and husbands number among the two dozen men to have won this award at least twice since it was first handed out at the 7th Academy Awards in 1934.

The first woman to win the Best Original Song Oscar was lyricist Dorothy Fields who prevailed in 1936 for “The Way You Look Tonight,...

This article marks Part 17 of the Gold Derby series analyzing 84 years of Best Original Song at the Oscars. Join us as we look back at the timeless tunes recognized in this category, the results of each race and the overall rankings of the winners.

The 1984 Oscar nominees in Best Original Song were:

“Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)” from “Against All Odds”

“Footloose” from “Footloose”

“Let’s Hear It for the Boy” from “Footloose”

“Ghostbusters” from “Ghostbusters”

“I Just Called to Say I Love You” from “The Woman in Red”

Won: “I Just Called to Say I Love You” from “The Woman in Red”

Should’ve won: “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)” from “Against All Odds”

Stevie Wonder‘s “I Just Called to Say I Love You” is a sweet, charmingly corny trifle, easily the most notable thing from Gene Wilder‘s midlife...

This article marks Part 14 of the Gold Derby series analyzing 84 years of Best Original Song at the Oscars. Join us as we look back at the timeless tunes recognized in this category, the results of each race and the overall rankings of the winners.

The 1977 Oscar nominees in Best Original Song were:

“Candle on the Water” from “Pete’s Dragon”

“Someone’s Waiting for You” from “The Rescuers”

“The Slipper and the Rose Waltz (He Danced with Me/She Danced with Me)” from “The Slipper and the Rose”

“Nobody Does It Better” from “The Spy Who Loved Me”

“You Light Up My Life” from “You Light Up My Life”

Won: “You Light Up My Life” from “You Light Up My Life”

Should’ve won: “Nobody Does It Better” from “The Spy Who Loved Me”

1977 is a tough year to take very seriously in Best Original Song, and not just because of the winner – the sleepy,...

This article marks Part 12 of the Gold Derby series analyzing 84 years of Best Original Song at the Oscars. Join us as we look back at the timeless tunes recognized in this category, the results of each race and the overall rankings of the winners.

The 1973 Oscar nominees in Best Original Song were:

“(You’re So) Nice to Be Around” from “Cinderella Liberty”

“Live and Let Die” from “Live and Let Die”

“Love,” from “Robin Hood”

“All That Love Went to Waste” from “A Touch of Class”

“The Way We Were” from “The Way We Were”

Won and should’ve won: “The Way We Were” from “The Way We Were”

The title song from “The Way We Were,” composed by the brilliant, Egot-winning Marvin Hamlisch, alongside Alan and Marilyn Bergman, is a dreamy, haunting, immensely moving piece, performed splendidly by the incomparable Barbra Streisand. The film’s leading lady strikes just the right notes here,...

You don’t have to go the full De Niro, but an image change often leads to Oscar gold.

Known for comedy? Go dramatic. A tough guy? Go comedic. Strikingly beautiful? Glam down.

This awards season funny lady Melissa McCarthy, who earned a supporting actress Oscar nomination for the raunchy 2011 hit “Bridesmaids,” has been receiving stellar reviews for “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” as a prickly and lonely celebrity biographer. McCarthy is on the fast track for Oscar-consideration this year.

Also, a shoo-in for multiple award nomination is Lady Gaga, who traded in her meat dress and platinum blonde tresses for jeans and dark hair to play a struggling singer/songwriter in the acclaimed remake of “A Star is Born.”

Even when the Oscar was in its infancy, performers found altering an image caught the attention of the Academy voters.

DISCUSSJoin the live Oscar discussion going on right now in...

Lady Gaga (“A Star Is Born”) is in a heated Best Actress Oscar race with Glenn Close (“The Wife”) and Olivia Colman (“The Favourite”), but even if she comes up short there, chances are she’ll still leave Oscar night a winner. Gaga is considered a near lock to prevail in Best Original Song with “Shallow,” which would make her just the 14th woman to win the category.

Best Original Song was first introduced at the 7th Academy Awards, honoring the films of 1934, but like nearly all of the non-gendered categories, it’s been dominated by men. Dorothy Fields was the first woman to win the category for co-writing “The Way You Look Tonight” from “Swing Time” (1936) with Jerome Kern, but it would be another 32 years before a second woman triumphed; Marilyn Bergman won for penning “The Windmills of Your Mind” from “The Thomas Crown Affair” (1968) with Michel Legrand and her husband Alan Bergman.

Oscar often calls when funny ladies get serious on the big screen. This year, it might be Melissa McCarthy’s turn to be recognized for her dramatic change of pace in the truth-based “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” As Lee Israel, a Manhattan-based curmudgeonly author with a drinking problem whose style of celebrity biographies have gone out of fashion by the year 1991, McCarthy drops all pretense of adopting her usual bouncy and brassy comic persona.

Instead, she wallows in disappointment, bitterness and child-like prankish behavior. In order to raise much-needed cash to pay her bills, she stoops to forging letters from long-dead celebrities and selling them to gullible bookstore owners and collectors. I kept waiting for McCarthy to part the clouds that hang over her character and inject a bit of her sunny side. Instead, she is marvelously morose as she performs a committed overcast performance that pays off big time as the movie concludes.

This article marks Part 9 of the Gold Derby series analyzing 84 years of Best Original Song at the Oscars. Join us as we look back at the timeless tunes recognized in this category, the results of each race and the overall rankings of the Academy Awards winners.

The 1964 Oscar nominees in Best Original Song were:

“Dear Heart” from “Dear Heart”

“Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte” from “Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte”

“Chim Chim Cher-ee” from “Mary Poppins”

“My Kind of Town” from “Robin and the 7 Hoods”

“Where Love Has Gone” from “Where Love Has Gone”

Won: “Chim Chim Cher-ee” from “Mary Poppins”

Should’ve won: “Dear Heart” from “Dear Heart”

1964 is one of the more aggravating years at the Oscars, that time “My Fair Lady” crushed the brilliant likes of “Becket” and “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb” across the board. Rex Harrison defeated Richard Burton,...

This article marks Part 6 of the Gold Derby series analyzing 84 years of Best Original Song at the Oscars. Join us as we look back at the timeless tunes recognized in this category, the results of each race and the overall rankings of the Academy Awards winners.

The 1954 Oscar nominees in Best Original Song were:

“The High and the Mighty” from “The High and the Mighty”

“The Man That Got Away” from “A Star Is Born”

“Hold My Hand” from “Susan Slept Here”

“Three Coins in the Fountain” from “Three Coins in the Fountain”

“Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep)” from “White Christmas”

Won: “Three Coins in the Fountain” from “Three Coins in the Fountain”

Should’ve won: “The Man That Got Away” from “A Star Is Born”

Sure, the 1954 Oscar ceremony could have gone a lot worse. “On the Waterfront” and leading man Marlon Brando could have, for instance, fallen...