The Wizard of Oz is an enduring and endearing classic. Who hasn’t seen it, perhaps even multiple times? It made a star out of cultural icon Judy Garland and has held up remarkable well over the years since its 1939 release, enchanting generations of young and old alike. There have been stories over the years about what went on behind-the-scenes of making the film. The most familiar factoids center around Buddy Ebsen, who was originally cast as the Tin Woodman, but had such a terrible reaction […]
A Double-Helix of a Crime Thriller
Lucky me! I thought I had read them all, and then I run across yet another Connelly, this one from 2001, that I had somehow missed. A Darkness More Than Night teams up two of Connelly’s “heroes,” my favorite LAPD detective Hieronymous Bosch and retired FBI profiler and heart transplant recipient Terry McCaleb, in a doubly-complex crime/courtroom drama that satisfies on all fronts. A man is found murdered in his own apartment, with no forensic evidence to pursue except for the weird way in which […]
Still Foolin’ Em: Billy Crystal at his Best
Comedy is often built on tragedy. Memoirs are a form of literature that often mines a person’s tragedy to create universal feelings in the reader. Billy Crystal’s Still Foolin’ Em: Where I’ve Been, Where I’m Going, and Where the Hell Are My Keys is a brilliant memoir from a supremely funny man. Much like Steve Martin’s Born Standing Up it serves as both a career retrospective piece as well as means for Crystal to show some of the events that shaped the performer we see. My first memory of […]
I Love Barbara Stanwyck, but this book was looonnnggg …
Victoria Wilson’s new biography, A Life of Barbara Stanwyck: Steel-True 1907-1940 is impressive, if just for its length and heft. It is just the first half of a two-part exhaustive look into the life and career of one of Hollywood’s most enduring, yet shyest stars. Stanwyck, born Ruby Stevens, started life in Brooklyn as a quasi-orphan. Her mother died when she was quite young and her father disappeared soon after, leaving young Ruby and her brother Byron to be raised by friends and family. Her three older […]
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