Very sad to read today that radical Czech filmmaker Věra Chytilová has died, albeit at the well-lived age of 85. She’s most famous for the irreverent feminist film Daisies (Sedmikrásky), but with a career that spanned decades—and governments—Chytilová’s influence was anything but limited.
After seeing Patricia Ward Kelly’s show, “Gene Kelly: A Legacy,” I was dismayed to find that there were still a handful of performances that his widow considered to be among his best that I had still not yet seen. For (my) reference, those were: The Three Musketeers, Thousands Cheer, Words and Music, Cover Girl, Living in a Big Way, and Brigadoon. I covered Words and Music a few weeks back—it happily doubled as a That’s Entertainment entry, which is always a plus for me—but today I decided to set my sights on a film containing Kelly working alongside one of my favorite classic actresses, Rita Hayworth.
While searching for Cover Girl images, I found this adorable photo of Gene Kelly and Rita Hayworth, circa 1979-ish. In trying to find out more about it, I came across an even more adorable story about their friendship around this time.
With 14 Oscar nominations and 11 wins—both of which remain (tied) records—James Cameron’s 1997 film Titanic has surely secured an indelible place in Oscar history. But the actual disaster, which occurred on the night of April 14, 1912, inspired many other films prior to the ’97 costume drama spectacle. In fact, because the sinking took place at the …
After last month’s “break” from rarities, with a focus on Oscar’s best, brightest, and, logically, most easily available, TCM’s interestingly obscure programming returns in March with a whole slew of rare musicals. This includes several of my remaining That’s Entertainment entries, so I’m very excited to check a few more off of my list thanks to my DVR. There are also a few easily acquired That’s Entertainment titles (Anchors Aweigh, Gigi, and so on) airing this month, if you’ve missed any of those and need to catch up.
Built in 1930, the Los Angeles Theatre was the last of the great, classic movie palaces constructed in LA’s Broadway theater district, which, at the time, boasted the highest concentration of movie theaters in the world. The area’s expansive growth reflected the public’s near insatiable demand for cinema throughout the early part of the 20th century, and afforded theatrical prominence to downtown LA before theaters like the Chinese, the Egyptian, and the Pantages began to shift moviegoing focus to Hollywood. In 1931, there were a dozen major movie theaters here within a six-block radius, with a combined seating capacity of 15,000.