
“The Great McGinty” (1940) charts the rise and fall of a Depression-era hobo to mayor of a city, then Governor, and finally exile in a banana republic. Though a satire, Preston Sturges, certainly the greatest writer-director in Hollywood history, was
by Robert J. Avrech26 May 2012, 6:00 AM PST0

Movies, specifically Hollywood movies, are the greatest machinery of propaganda the world has ever known. So powerful is Hollywood and its ability to convey a message that in modern times America has never achieved victory in war without Hollywood’s support.
by Robert J. Avrech5 May 2012, 9:04 AM PST0

Faye Dunaway once told me that to play a role she had to commit to the character with all her heart and soul. She needed, she explained, to love the character. In terms of performance this means the actor has
by Robert J. Avrech17 Mar 2012, 1:30 PM PST0
In 2001, I wrote a film for Showtime called “Brotherhood of Murder”, based on the book of the same name by Tom Martinez and John Guinther. The film stars William Baldwin, Peter Gallagher and Kelly Lynch. Director Martin Bell did
by Robert J. Avrech3 Mar 2012, 1:35 PM PST0
Barbara Kent, December 16, 1907 – October 13, 2011 Barbara Kent: “I really didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life, but being an actress was not it.” —The Sound of Silence, by Michael Ankerich. Barbara Kent, b.
by Robert J. Avrech1 Nov 2011, 3:36 PM PST0
On May 2, 1949, Elle, France’s most popular women’s magazine, featured a cover photo of a fifteen year old model identified only as “BB.” Among the thousands of people who saw the photo of Brigitte Bardot was aspiring film director
by Robert J. Avrech23 Oct 2011, 6:51 AM PST0
In the beginning of his legendary career, Kirk Douglas (1916 – ) b. Issur Danielovitch, was almost typecast as a well-meaning but ineffectual husband as in, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, 1946, and A Letter to Three Wives, 1949.
by Robert J. Avrech9 Oct 2011, 6:47 AM PST0
The Los Angeles Times is, like the NY Times, a reliably anti-Israel newspaper whose liberal/progressive/leftist slant often veers into support for the Jew-hatred that is the foundation of Palestinian terror. Even their entertainment articles frequently marinate in a radical ideology
by Robert J. Avrech27 Sep 2011, 9:46 AM PST0
In 1939, Joan Fontaine, twenty-one years old, was slowly making her way up the Hollywood ladder. MGM signed Fontaine to play a small part in the high profile production The Women, directed by George Cukor, starring Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford,
by Robert J. Avrech6 Sep 2011, 4:47 AM PST0
Hollywood, an overwhelming leftist enclave, has a deep, dark secret. This secret has nothing to do with substance abuse or adultery. Hollywood’s best kept secret is that it is deeply Conservative–when it does the business of, well, Hollywood. Step into
by Robert J. Avrech10 Aug 2011, 4:48 AM PST0
Automobiles represent freedom. Try and remember when you were a teenager yearning for your driver’s license so you could hop into daddy’s car and go, go, go. It didn’t matter where, you just wanted to burn rubber and escape into
by Robert J. Avrech30 Jul 2011, 2:59 PM PST0
Hollywood, during its Golden Age, was a dream machine spinning images of adventure, glamour, and most of all, romance. MGM’s roster of female stars constituted the greatest collection of beautiful and talented women the world has ever known. One of
by Robert J. Avrech10 Jul 2011, 4:46 AM PST0
Here’s “The Tailor,” an adorable short from the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, written, directed and edited by Gordon Grinberg. “The Tailor” 2011Jewish Film Festival Entry Vidéo funnytoo sélectionnée dans Cinéma Don’t want to say too much except to note
by Robert J. Avrech4 Jul 2011, 12:53 PM PST0
When Sarah Palin burst upon the national scene and the liberal media attempted to destroy her, it occurred to me that this honest and decent woman was being transformed into a hated Jew. No matter what she said, no matter
by Robert J. Avrech1 Jul 2011, 11:20 AM PST0
Turner Classic Movies allows yours truly to catch up on movies never seen and movies viewed so long ago that memory has left muddled, imprecise impressions. In 1964, age 14, I shlepped from Brooklyn into Manhattan to see the British
by Robert J. Avrech30 Jun 2011, 6:36 AM PST0
When I was a child growing up during the 50’s and 60’s, there really was an Easter parade up and down the streets of my beloved Brooklyn neighborhood. Off to church went our Christian neighbors, the working class men tugging
by Robert J. Avrech24 Apr 2011, 10:30 AM PST0
It was my great honor to have Sidney Lumet as the director of my screenplay, A Stranger Among Us, 1992, starring Melanie Griffith, Eric Thal, and Mia Sara. Working with Sidney was a master class in making movies. I learned
by Robert J. Avrech12 Apr 2011, 4:57 AM PST0
Afshan Azad, 22, who plays Padma Patil in the “Harry Potter” film series remains in hiding. She refused to appear in a London court and press charges, no doubt because she knows there’s no way the British police can protect
by Robert J. Avrech23 Dec 2010, 4:14 PM PST0
The only thing notable about this story is that it’s being reported. And the only reason it’s being reported is because Ms. Azad is an actress in one of the most popular franchises in movie history. The facts are simple
by Robert J. Avrech23 Dec 2010, 4:10 AM PST0
No matter how famous he became, no matter how much money he earned, Tony Curtis was always Bernard Schwartz, an insecure and damaged Jewish kid from the Bronx. As the son of Hungarian-Jewish immigrants, Curtis didn’t speak English until he
by Robert J. Avrech5 Oct 2010, 11:07 AM PST0
Dhimmitude: an attitude of concession, surrender and appeasement towards Islamic demands. South Park, equal opportunity satirists, have finally met their match. No, not the Islamist barbarians who have issued an indirect fatwa against South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt
by Robert J. Avrech29 Apr 2010, 7:03 AM PST0
There was a time when Hollywood and Hollywood stars represented hope and freedom. Universal’s top star in the 1940s was Deanna Durbin (b.1921 – ) who starred in a series of hugely popular and successful light musical comedies. Durbin, a
by Robert J. Avrech20 Apr 2010, 8:49 AM PST0
Just a few steps outside my room at Hillsdale’s Dow Hotel & Leadership Center hangs this wonderful portrait of George Washington. Hillsdale Feels a Lot Like Yeshiva Growing up in Brooklyn, I attended the Yeshiva of Flatbush, an Orthodox elementary
by Robert J. Avrech29 Mar 2010, 6:51 AM PST0
[Ed. Note: Here are Part I and Part II of this series.] I’ve seen John Ford’s Young Mr. Lincoln at least a dozen times, but screening it here at Hillsdale College made me see the film in an entirely new
by Robert J. Avrech16 Mar 2010, 6:57 AM PST0
The imposing but elegant Central Hall houses the administrative offices of Hillsdale College. I know it looks like classic MGM, but it’s actually Second Empire architectural style. UPDATE: The location of the Winston Churchill statue has been corrected. No tattoos.
by Robert J. Avrech9 Mar 2010, 3:51 PM PST0