The first Oscar ceremony in 1928 took place at the famous Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, with tickets going for five dollars (about $70 in today’s money). The ceremony lasted only about 15 minutes, and was hosted by director William C. deMille and actor Douglas Fairbanks, who was also the first president of the motion picture academy. Winners in 12 categories were announced weeks prior to the event, which was the only Oscar ceremony in history to not be broadcast on radio.
Actor and comedian Bob Hope holds the record for the most frequent Oscar host with 19 appearances either solo or as co-host. For most of the 1990s and early 2000s, Billy Crystal was synonymous with the Oscars, hosting on nine occasions, always bringing out his now-classic medley of songs that interpolated the titles of the Best Picture nominees for that year. Crystal’s fellow “Comic Relief” host Whoopi Goldberg made history twice when she...
Actor and comedian Bob Hope holds the record for the most frequent Oscar host with 19 appearances either solo or as co-host. For most of the 1990s and early 2000s, Billy Crystal was synonymous with the Oscars, hosting on nine occasions, always bringing out his now-classic medley of songs that interpolated the titles of the Best Picture nominees for that year. Crystal’s fellow “Comic Relief” host Whoopi Goldberg made history twice when she...
- 11/15/2023
- by Tony Ruiz, Chris Beachum and Marcus James Dixon
- Gold Derby
Virginia Patton, best known for her role as Ruth Dakin Bailey in the holiday classic “It’s a Wonderful Life” has died. She was 97.
A funeral home in Ann Arbor, Michigan, confirmed that Patton passed Thursday, Aug. 18 in an assisted living home. No additional details or cause of death has been released.
Patton, whose uncle was the iconic World War II General George Patton, dazzled screens in the 1940s, starring as the female lead in 1947’s “The Burning Cross” and 1948 Western “Black Eagle.”
Also Read:
The 7 Best New Movies on HBO Max in August
Born in 1925 in Cleveland, the Ohio-native was raised in Portland, Oregon, before moving to Los Angeles to pursue acting. Just a year after Patton graduated high school in 1942, she made her film debut with an ensemble role in “Thank Your Lucky Stars” (1943) and signed a contact with Warner Bros.
She went on to appear in minor roles...
A funeral home in Ann Arbor, Michigan, confirmed that Patton passed Thursday, Aug. 18 in an assisted living home. No additional details or cause of death has been released.
Patton, whose uncle was the iconic World War II General George Patton, dazzled screens in the 1940s, starring as the female lead in 1947’s “The Burning Cross” and 1948 Western “Black Eagle.”
Also Read:
The 7 Best New Movies on HBO Max in August
Born in 1925 in Cleveland, the Ohio-native was raised in Portland, Oregon, before moving to Los Angeles to pursue acting. Just a year after Patton graduated high school in 1942, she made her film debut with an ensemble role in “Thank Your Lucky Stars” (1943) and signed a contact with Warner Bros.
She went on to appear in minor roles...
- 8/21/2022
- by Loree Seitz
- The Wrap
Click here to read the full article.
Virginia Patton, who portrayed Ruth Dakin Bailey, the sister-in-law of Jimmy Stewart’s George Bailey, in the Frank Capra holiday classic It’s a Wonderful Life, has died. She was 97.
Patton died Thursday at an assisted living facility in Albany, Georgia, the Mathews Funeral Home announced.
Patton’s character in the 1946 film was married to Harry Bailey (Todd Karns), and her big scene takes place at the Bedford Falls train station, when she meets George and Uncle Billy (Thomas Mitchell) for the first time.
While crewmembers were lighting her scene — filmed at the Santa Fe railroad’s now-defunct Lamanda Park station in Pasadena — with her stand-in, she was wondering about how she was going to eat her buttered popcorn while wearing white gloves.
“I was dressed as a young matron. I had a hat, a suit and white gloves, I was coming to meet my new in-laws,...
Virginia Patton, who portrayed Ruth Dakin Bailey, the sister-in-law of Jimmy Stewart’s George Bailey, in the Frank Capra holiday classic It’s a Wonderful Life, has died. She was 97.
Patton died Thursday at an assisted living facility in Albany, Georgia, the Mathews Funeral Home announced.
Patton’s character in the 1946 film was married to Harry Bailey (Todd Karns), and her big scene takes place at the Bedford Falls train station, when she meets George and Uncle Billy (Thomas Mitchell) for the first time.
While crewmembers were lighting her scene — filmed at the Santa Fe railroad’s now-defunct Lamanda Park station in Pasadena — with her stand-in, she was wondering about how she was going to eat her buttered popcorn while wearing white gloves.
“I was dressed as a young matron. I had a hat, a suit and white gloves, I was coming to meet my new in-laws,...
- 8/21/2022
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Merle Oberon movies: Mysterious star of British and American cinema. Merle Oberon on TCM: Donning men's clothes in 'A Song to Remember,' fighting hiccups in 'That Uncertain Feeling' Merle Oberon is Turner Classic Movies' Star of the Month of March 2016. The good news: the exquisite (and mysterious) Oberon, whose ancestry has been a matter of conjecture for decades, makes any movie worth a look. The bad news: TCM isn't offering any Oberon premieres despite the fact that a number of the actress' films – e.g., Temptation, Night in Paradise, Pardon My French, Interval – can be tough to find. This evening, March 18, TCM will be showing six Merle Oberon movies released during the first half of the 1940s. Never a top box office draw in the United States, Oberon was an important international star all the same, having worked with many of the top actors and filmmakers of the studio era.
- 3/19/2016
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
A bit of breaking news for you folks. It’s been announced that Chris Rock will be the host of the Oscars. Yes, the comedian/actor has been selected to lead the 88th Academy Awards telecast, marking the second time that Rock has been given this prestigious job. Not everyone wants to do it more than once, or accepts it when offered, so this now puts him into a small club of returning hosts. I didn’t include him in my recent speculation about how could get the gig, so it just goes to show how unpredictable things can be. It’s his job now, so let’s discuss that for a little bit… First up, for comparison’s sake, here’s the other folks who are in Rock’s club of hosting the Academy Awards at least twice: Bob Hope (19 times) Billy Crystal (9 times) Johnny Carson (5 times) Whoopi Goldberg...
- 10/21/2015
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
Neil Patrick Harris to host Oscar 2015 ceremony Stage, film, and television actor Neil Patrick Harris will host the 2015 Oscars, aka the 87th Academy Awards ceremony, Oscarcast producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron announced today, October 15, 2014. This will be Neil Patrick Harris' first time hosting the show, which in the United States will air live on ABC on Sunday, February 22. As quoted in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences press release, Zadan and Meron are "thrilled" to have Harris host their show, adding that "we have known him his entire adult life" and "to work with him on the Oscars is the perfect storm." As to be expected, Harris' statement reads that “it is truly an honor and a thrill" to be invited to host the 2015 Academy Awards ceremony Now, Neil Patrick Harris is an experienced awards-show host. His credits in the field include hosting the 61st and 65th Primetime Emmy Awards,...
- 10/16/2014
- by Steve Montgomery
- Alt Film Guide
Women presidents at the Academy: Cheryl Boone Isaacs is only the third one (photo: Angelina Jolie, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, Brad Pitt) (See previous post: "Honorary Award Non-Winners: Too Late for Gloria Swanson, Rita Hayworth, Marlene Dietrich.") Wrapping up this four-part "Honorary Oscars Bypass Women" article, let it be noted that in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' 85-year history there have been only two women presidents: two-time Oscar-winning actress Bette Davis (for two months in 1941, before the Dangerous and Jezebel star was forced to resign) and screenwriter Fay Kanin (1979-1983), whose best-known screen credit is the 1958 Doris Day-Clark Gable comedy Teacher's Pet. Additionally, following some top-level restructuring in April 2011, the Academy created the positions of Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer, with the CEO post currently held by a woman, former Film Independent executive director and sometime actress Dawn Hudson. The COO post is held...
- 9/4/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
As the only woman to carve out a professional career as a director in Hollywood’s Golden Age, Dorothy Arzner (1897-1979) was one of a kind in the history of American cinema. During its 62nd edition, the San Sebastian Festival will pay homage to the work of Arzner, today considered a pioneer in women’s incorporation to the film industry, proclaimed as a filmmaker of strong style and personality for which she earned undeniable prestige within the Hollywood studio system.
Born in San Francisco but raised in Los Angeles, Dorothy Arzner’s parents ran a café popular with the famous actors and movie directors of the time, including Charles Chaplin, William S. Hart and Erich von Stroheim. Having obtained a degree at the University of Southern Carolina and after a stint as an ambulance driver in World War I, Arzner began a career in the world of journalism. However, introduction by a mutual friend to the director William C. de Mille (brother of the famous Cecil B. DeMille) was to forever change the direction of her life: following a visit to a film studio, she decided to become a film director. Her first work in the film industry was as a stenographer at the Players-Lasky studios (later to become Paramount), transcribing film scripts. Her skills and strong nature opened the way to works of greater responsibility: script writer, script girl and, finally, editor. It was there in the editing room that Arzner earned her excellent reputation i n the Hollywood movie industry, working on 52 films and assiduously collaborating with the filmmaker, James Cruze. In the famous motion picture starring Rudolph Valentino, Blood and Sand (1922), apart from her brilliant editing work, Arzner helmed the second unit crew for the bull-fighting scenes. She also worked as a script writer on some of Cruze’s films.
The tenacious artist pressed Paramount to let her direct a film, threatening the studio bosses with the acceptance of an offer from their rivals at Columbia. Finally, she made her directorial debut on Fashions for Women (1927), and the following year became the first woman ever to direct a talkie, Manhattan Cocktail (1928). Arzner went on to helm another 15 films in the 30s and early 40s, working with some of the greatest Hollywood stars like Clara Bow, Katharine Hepburn, Fredric March, Rosalind Russell, Claudette Colbert, Maureen O'Hara and Joan Crawford in comedies and dramas powerfully focused on women characters: The Wild Party (1929), Anybody's Woman (1930), Sarah and Son (1930), Honor Among Lovers (1931), Working Girls (1931), Merrily We Go to Hell (1932), Christopher Strong (1933), Nana (1934), Craig's Wife (1936) and The Bride Wore Red (1937).
In 1933 she became the first woman member of the Directors Guild of America and indeed remained its only female associate for several decades. She also went down in history as the inventor of the first boom mike for having used a microphone attached to a fishing rod when filming the early talkies.
Although she gradually fell from prominence, Arzner’s career was championed in the 60s by the feminist movements and she received several tributes, including one by the Directors Guild of America in 1975. Today her filmography is not only newly appreciated as an extremely unusual exception in the history of American film, but also for its intrinsic values. Arzner left her mark through a series of movies of refined visual style that questioned the traditional sexual roles of the time and the part played by woman in society or which, according to certain critics, introduced veiled lesbian undertones to the rigid Hollywood structure of the moment.
The retrospective dedicated by the San Sebastian Festival to Dorothy Arzner will be organized in collaboration with Filmoteca Española. The cycle will be complemented with a publication on her figure and work.
Born in San Francisco but raised in Los Angeles, Dorothy Arzner’s parents ran a café popular with the famous actors and movie directors of the time, including Charles Chaplin, William S. Hart and Erich von Stroheim. Having obtained a degree at the University of Southern Carolina and after a stint as an ambulance driver in World War I, Arzner began a career in the world of journalism. However, introduction by a mutual friend to the director William C. de Mille (brother of the famous Cecil B. DeMille) was to forever change the direction of her life: following a visit to a film studio, she decided to become a film director. Her first work in the film industry was as a stenographer at the Players-Lasky studios (later to become Paramount), transcribing film scripts. Her skills and strong nature opened the way to works of greater responsibility: script writer, script girl and, finally, editor. It was there in the editing room that Arzner earned her excellent reputation i n the Hollywood movie industry, working on 52 films and assiduously collaborating with the filmmaker, James Cruze. In the famous motion picture starring Rudolph Valentino, Blood and Sand (1922), apart from her brilliant editing work, Arzner helmed the second unit crew for the bull-fighting scenes. She also worked as a script writer on some of Cruze’s films.
The tenacious artist pressed Paramount to let her direct a film, threatening the studio bosses with the acceptance of an offer from their rivals at Columbia. Finally, she made her directorial debut on Fashions for Women (1927), and the following year became the first woman ever to direct a talkie, Manhattan Cocktail (1928). Arzner went on to helm another 15 films in the 30s and early 40s, working with some of the greatest Hollywood stars like Clara Bow, Katharine Hepburn, Fredric March, Rosalind Russell, Claudette Colbert, Maureen O'Hara and Joan Crawford in comedies and dramas powerfully focused on women characters: The Wild Party (1929), Anybody's Woman (1930), Sarah and Son (1930), Honor Among Lovers (1931), Working Girls (1931), Merrily We Go to Hell (1932), Christopher Strong (1933), Nana (1934), Craig's Wife (1936) and The Bride Wore Red (1937).
In 1933 she became the first woman member of the Directors Guild of America and indeed remained its only female associate for several decades. She also went down in history as the inventor of the first boom mike for having used a microphone attached to a fishing rod when filming the early talkies.
Although she gradually fell from prominence, Arzner’s career was championed in the 60s by the feminist movements and she received several tributes, including one by the Directors Guild of America in 1975. Today her filmography is not only newly appreciated as an extremely unusual exception in the history of American film, but also for its intrinsic values. Arzner left her mark through a series of movies of refined visual style that questioned the traditional sexual roles of the time and the part played by woman in society or which, according to certain critics, introduced veiled lesbian undertones to the rigid Hollywood structure of the moment.
The retrospective dedicated by the San Sebastian Festival to Dorothy Arzner will be organized in collaboration with Filmoteca Española. The cycle will be complemented with a publication on her figure and work.
- 4/19/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
In Robert Wiene’s 1920 dreamlike horror classic, veteran German actor Werner Krauss plays the mysterious Dr. Caligari, the apparent force behind a creepy somnambulist named Cesare and played by Conrad Veidt, who abducts beautiful Lil Dagover. The finale in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari has inspired tons of movies and television shows, from Fritz Lang's 1944 film noir The Woman in the Window to the last episode of the TV series St. Elsewhere. In addition, the film shares some key elements in common (suppposedly as a result of a mere coincidence) with Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio's 2011 thriller Shutter Island. The 1920 crime melodrama Outside the Law is not in any way related to Rachid Bouchareb's 2010 political drama. Instead, the Tod Browning-directed movie is a well-made entry in the gangster genre (long before the explosion a decade later). Browning, best known for his early '30s efforts Dracula and Freaks,...
- 4/1/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Everybody's favorite movie decade: Which ones are the best movies released in the 20th century's second decade? Best Film (Pictured above) Broken Blossoms: Barthelmess and Gish star as ill-fated lovers in D.W. Griffith’s romantic melodrama featuring interethnic love. Check These Out (Pictured below) Cabiria: is considered one of the major landmarks in motion picture history, having inspired the scope and visual grandeur of D.W. Griffith’s Intolerance. Also of note, Pastrone's epic of ancient Rome introduced Maciste, a bulky hero who would be featured in countless movies in the ensuing decades. Best Actor (Pictured below) In the tragic The Italian, George Beban plays an Italian immigrant recently arrived in the United States (Click below for film review). Unfortunately, his American dream quickly becomes a horrendous nightmare of poverty and despair. Best Actress (Pictured below) The movies' super-vamp Theda Bara in A Fool There Was: A little...
- 3/27/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
HollywoodNews.com: There is a vibrant tradition in American cinema of films that tackle compelling social issues. Seminal films, including “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “In the Heat of the Night,” “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” and “Norma Rae” remind everyone that the smallest acts of courage can inspire social change. This tradition continues with the recent film “The Help,” which examines the relationships between black maids and their white employers in 1960s Mississippi. The film reminds audiences that popular culture has the power to affect change and illuminate the plight of those without a voice.
About “The Help”: Based on one of the most talked about books in years and a #1 New York Times best-selling phenomenon, “The Help” stars Emma Stone (“Easy A”) as Skeeter, Academy Award®–nominated Viola Davis (“Doubt”) as Aibileen and Octavia Spencer as Minny—three very different, extraordinary women in Mississippi during the 1960s,...
About “The Help”: Based on one of the most talked about books in years and a #1 New York Times best-selling phenomenon, “The Help” stars Emma Stone (“Easy A”) as Skeeter, Academy Award®–nominated Viola Davis (“Doubt”) as Aibileen and Octavia Spencer as Minny—three very different, extraordinary women in Mississippi during the 1960s,...
- 2/4/2012
- by Josh Abraham
- Hollywoodnews.com
In conjunction with La Furia Umana, Notebook is very happy to present Ted Fendt's original English translation of Luc Moullet's "Le masque et la part de Dieu," on the films of Eric Rohmer. Moullet's original French can be found at La Furia Umana.
Cecil summed up the difference between him and his brother, William DeMille, like this: “I show a thousand camels and you show one camel and you psychoanalyze it.” Eric Rohmer is a lot more like William than Cecil, minus Freud.
What is fascinating, foremost, in his work is his obstinacy to not go beyond his only or main subject, often summed up, in a somewhat misleading way, by its title: Béatrice Romand wants a good marriage, or, at least, to help her friend have one (A Tale of Autumn), Brialy wants to caress Claire’s Knee (meaning, to be sure that she is practically consenting), Lucchini,...
Cecil summed up the difference between him and his brother, William DeMille, like this: “I show a thousand camels and you show one camel and you psychoanalyze it.” Eric Rohmer is a lot more like William than Cecil, minus Freud.
What is fascinating, foremost, in his work is his obstinacy to not go beyond his only or main subject, often summed up, in a somewhat misleading way, by its title: Béatrice Romand wants a good marriage, or, at least, to help her friend have one (A Tale of Autumn), Brialy wants to caress Claire’s Knee (meaning, to be sure that she is practically consenting), Lucchini,...
- 1/3/2012
- MUBI
Hugh Jackman, just a few days ago, refused a repeat performance as Oscar host. Yesterday, Cinema Blend reported that Ben Stiller and Robert Downey Jr. had also been offered the job, but turned it down.
The report closed on a positive note, citing that at least the choice indicated a push towards a younger, hipper direction. In retrospect, this statement is as funny as it is wrong. Why? Because the Academy announced a short time later that its choices for next year's hosts are ... Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin.
Scratch your head. Raise a furrowed brow. Begin discussions of all the odd-couple pairings in TV and movie history. Producer Bill Mechanic had this to say about the selections, made with co-producer Adam Shankman:
Adam and I, from our first meeting on, knew we wanted an emphasis on comedy. If we err in any one direction, we want to take...
The report closed on a positive note, citing that at least the choice indicated a push towards a younger, hipper direction. In retrospect, this statement is as funny as it is wrong. Why? Because the Academy announced a short time later that its choices for next year's hosts are ... Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin.
Scratch your head. Raise a furrowed brow. Begin discussions of all the odd-couple pairings in TV and movie history. Producer Bill Mechanic had this to say about the selections, made with co-producer Adam Shankman:
Adam and I, from our first meeting on, knew we wanted an emphasis on comedy. If we err in any one direction, we want to take...
- 11/4/2009
- by Rich Z Zwelling
- Reelzchannel.com
Whoa – just when you thought the Oscars had lost its capacity to surprise, along comes news like this. Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin have been tapped to co-host the 82nd Academy Awards ceremony next March.Martin, of course, has hosted the ceremony before on two occasions, but this will be Baldwin’s first time. The ceremony has had multiple hosts before, but this is the first time, according to The Hollywood Reporter, that two people will have hosted the Oscars while standing in the same room since the very first ceremony in 1929, when Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and William C. DeMille pulled double duty. And who can forget how that turned out.We’ve no idea how this new pairing will work, but frankly we’re hugely excited. It’s something fresh and different, even if the potential for Roy Evans/Gerard Houllier-style disaster is very real, and the Oscars can...
- 11/4/2009
- EmpireOnline
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