Very disappointed to find out now, June 2021, something terrible about Kirk Douglas, an actor I have loved throughout my life and admired for his longevity. It's about the "incident" with Natalie Wood, in a hotel room when she was a minor. Incident after which Natalie turned down the role of Judith Anderson in "The Devil's Disciple"
(1959) because she didn't want to work with Kirk Douglas for "personal" reasons. The fact that Natalie was not a sexual saint either, it's a completely different subject. There is also the case of the disappearance of Jean Spangler, who was allegedly killed by Kirk Douglas. In 1949, she met Kirk Douglas on the set of "Young Man with a Horn" (1950), which was released February 9, 1950. On October 7, 1949, when she was 3 months pregnant, she disappeared. A note was found in her purse that read: "Kirk, Can't wait any longer. Going to see Dr. Scott. It will
work best this way while mother is away." All the police found was her purse and this cryptic note, Jean had vanished without a trace. Given Spangler's work on the film "Young Man with a Horn" starring Kirk Douglas, he called police to clear his name, telling them he was in Palm Springs at the time, which police accepted. Upon reading about the discovery of the note, Douglas called the police and denied that he knew Spangler. Later, when interviewed via telephone by the head of the investigating team, Douglas admitted that he had "talked and kidded with her a bit" on set, but that he had never spent time with her outside of the film production. On October 12, Douglas gave a formal press statement in which he said: "I told Detective Chief Thad Brown that I didn't remember the girl or the name until a friend recalled it was she who worked as an extra in a scene with me in my picture "Young Man with a Horn"... then I recalled that she was
a tall girl in a green dress. I talked and kidded with her a bit on the set... But I never saw her before or after that and have never been out with her." Back to this "A Lovely Way to Die", it's boring and predictible. Sylva Koscina has never
been a great actress. 10-15 years before this movie she was a sexy presence. Here, at only 35, she looks 45-50. Eli Wallach was a magnificent actor, with many extraordinary roles in filmography. After being a great Calvera in "The Magnificent Seven" and a super delicious Tuco in "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", here he is the best, but the movie is bad.
