Forgotten Hollywood

In this episode, I discuss with author Vicki Mayer her book "Almost Hollywood Nearly New Orleans The Lure of the Local Film Economy". Early in the twenty-first century, Louisiana, one of the poorest states in the United States, redirected millions in tax dollars from public coffers in an effort to become the top location site globally for the production of Hollywood films and television series. A...

In this episode, I spoke with author Dana Stevens regarding her book. In this genre-defying work of cultural history, the chief film critic of Slate places comedy legend and acclaimed filmmaker Buster Keaton’s unique creative genius in the context of his time. Doug Hess is the host!

In this episode, I spoke with the author Lesley L. Coffin about her book "Lew Ayres Hollywood's Conscientious Objector". Ayres became known to the public when he portrayed the leading character in the epic war film All Quiet on the Western Front. The role made him a household name, introduced him to his closest friends, brought him to the attention of his first two wives, and would overshadow the...

In this episode, I discuss with author James L. Neibaur his book "The Monster Movies of Universal Studios". In 1931 Universal Studios released Dracula starring Bela Lugosi. This box office success was followed by a string of films featuring macabre characters and chilling atmospherics, including Frankenstein, The Mummy, and The Invisible Man. With each new film, Universal established its place in...

In this episode, I discuss with Janie McKirgan who is the President/Executive Director of the Jimmy Stewart Museum about the museum. Doug Hess is the host.

In this episode, I discuss with John Urbancik (partner of the late author Mary E. Lescher) in which John carries on her work. Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida opened in Orlando at the dawn of the Disney Renaissance. As a member of the crew, Mary E. Lescher witnessed the small studio’s rise and fall during a transformative era in company and movie history. #UnversityofIllinoisPress

In this episode, I discuss the life of actor John Williams. Doug Hess is the host!

In this episode speak with author Charles Casillo regarding his book "Elizabeth and Monty: The Untold Story of Their Intimate Friendship". Violet-eyed siren Elizabeth Taylor and classically handsome Montgomery Clift were the most gorgeous screen couple of their time. Over two decades of friendship they made, separately and together, some of the era's defining movies--including Cat on a Hot Tin Roo...

In this episode, I spoke with author Melanie Bell regarding her latest book "Movie Workers: The Women Who Made Brish Cinema". After the advent of sound, women in the British film industry formed an essential corps of below-the-line workers, laboring in positions from animation artist to negative cutter to costume designer. Doug Hess is the host!

In this episode, I discuss with author Edwin Canfield his book "Fact, Fiction, and the Forbidden Predictions of the Amazing Criswell". Jeron Charles Criswell King, better known simply as Criswell, can rightfully be described as one of the first pop celebrity psychics. His bizarre predictions ― 87 percent of which came true, he claimed ― appeared from the 1950s through the 1970s in newspapers and m...

In this episode, I discuss with author Kristen Lopez her latest book "But Have You Read The Book Yet? 52 Literary Gems That Inspired Our Favorite Films".Within these pages, Turner Classic Movies offers an endlessly fascinating look at 52 beloved screen adaptations and the great reads that inspired them. Doug Hess is the host!

Van Johnson was the fresh-faced, well-mannered nice guy on screen you always wanted your daughter to marry! This fair, freckled, and invariably friendly-looking MGM song-and-dance star of the 40s emerged as a box office favorite (1944-1946) and second only to heartthrob Frank Sinatra during what gossipmonger Hedda Hopper dubbed the "Bobbysoxer Blitz" era. Doug Hess is the host!

In this episode, I discuss the career of Ann Miller. Doug Hess is the host!

In this episode I spoke with Dwayne Epstein regarding his latest book Killin' Generals: The Making of The Dirty Dozen, the Most Iconic WWII Movie of All Time. Doug Hess is the host!

In this episode, I discuss with author Benard F. Dick about his book That Was Entertainment: The Golden Age of the MGM Musical. That Was Entertainment: The Golden Age of the MGM Musical traces the development of the MGM musical from The Broadway Melody (1929) through its heyday in the 1940s and 1950s and its decline in the 1960s, Doug Hess is the host!

In this episode, I along with Don Sanders discuss the career of Chuck McCann. A third-generation performer and the son of a singing band leader, Chuck McCann was already a show business veteran by age eleven. McCann went on to become a successful comic/character actor and mimic, doing voice-over for many television cartoon shows and playing character parts in numerous dramatic and comedic TV serie...

The history of Warner Bros. is not just the tale of a legendary film studio and its stars, but of classic Hollywood itself, as well as a portrait of America in the last century. It’s a family story of Polish-Jewish immigrants—the brother's Warner—who took advantage of new opportunities in the burgeoning film industry at a time when four mavericks could invent ways of operating, of warding off gove...

In this episode, I discuss with author Herbie J Pilato regarding his latest book "Retro Active Television: An In-Depth Perspective on Classic TV's Social Circuitry". This book captured so many things about Retro Active Television that I had forgotten about and brought other stories to light that I never knew existed. Herbie J. Pilato shares so many stories, interviews and facts about what I believ...

In this episode I had a discussion with author Stuart Klawans regarding his latest book "Crooked, but Never Common: The Films of Preston Sturges". In a burst of creativity unmatched in Hollywood history, Preston Sturges directed a string of all-time classic comedies from 1939 through 1948―The Great McGinty, The Lady Eve, Sullivan’s Travels, The Palm Beach Story, and The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek a...

In this episode, I discuss with Polly Rose about Buster Keaton. Polly is a film editor by trade and is working on her Ph. D. with her paper on Buster Keaton as an editor. The DVD commentary Polly recorded for the early version of Our Hospitality : https://eurekavideo.co.uk/movie/buster-keaton-our-hospitality-go-west-college/ The article Polly wrote for the International Buster Keaton Society on th...

In this episode I discuss the life of Grace Bradley. A petite and extremely lovely blonde "B" film actress who eventually deserted her career in favor of standing by her man (cowboy icon William Boyd , aka, "Hopalong Cassidy"), Grace Bradley spent the rest of her life in his shadow and devoting herself to her husband's career. Bill's Hoppy was the longest span of any fictional character played by...

In this episode, I discuss with author Edward J Delaney his book "The Acrobat".“Everyone wants to be Cary Grant,” mused the world’s most famous leading man. Even I want to be Cary Grant.” In The Acrobat, fiction writer Edward J. Delaney takes on the elusive character of Cary Grant. He imagines the inner life of a man who spent a career brilliantly creating a persona as ethereal as his best roles.

Episode 125 Author Ron Backer regarding his book Mystery Movie Series of 1940's Hollywood In this episode I spoke with author Ron Backer regarding his book Mystery Movie Series of 1940's Hollywood. Ellery Queen, Boston Blackie, Michael Shayne, Dick Tracy, the Falcon these are but a few of the celebrated fictional sleuths who appeared in popular Hollywood movie mystery series. This volume focuses o...

Host Doug Hess does something a little different and talks about Film Star Burl Ives!

In this episode, I talk with author David C Tucker regarding his book Rochelle Hudson: A Biography and Career Record. Hudson won her first film contract at the age of 14.