Trailblazing Women in Film 2016

When I wrote about what Classic Hollywood films taught me, I included a section of women from that era who inspire me and made a difference even though they were usually hindered and exploited by men and a sexist, hostile culture. The same is still true in Hollywood today of course. There were thirty women …

A month of Olivia

Olivia de Havilland is one of the greatest artists of our time. Acting is a profession that very rarely gets any credit. I think most people just don't appreciate that it requires so much skill, patience, and training. A lot depends on the camera; how a person photographs on film, memorizing pages of scripts, taking …

Happy 100th birthday to Olivia de Havilland!

On July 1st, 1916, Olivia Mary de Havilland was born. She marks 100 years on planet Earth, and I couldn't be happier about it. I know she's aware that people who've never even met her are celebrating the glorious occasion of her birth. She has been here for a century. How privileged are we for …

May the 4th be with Audrey Hepburn!

Today in 1929, a fairy's laugh broke into a thousand pieces, and they all went skipping about, and that was the birth of Audrey Kathleen Hepburn-Ruston. May 4th is honestly my favorite day. Audrey was born right on the cusp of spring, her favorite season, and my favorite too. Audrey once said that if she …

On the edge: Susan Hayward in Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman (1947)

There's a moment in Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman when Angie (Susan Hayward) glares at her reflection, so consumed with guilt and self loathing that her gaze is piercing enough to shatter the glass. The mirror never breaks though. Angie just gazes stonily at the sodden woman looking back at her. It's her, not the …