Category Archive: Hollywood

The glamorous Marlene Dietrich one night came straight from the set from "Kismet" covered in gold paint [late 1943]. I had never seen two thousand men screaming in a state of near mass hysteria. Marlene was one of the most generous in the amount of time she spent at the Hollywood Canteen [during World War II]. Bette Davis in her autobiography "This 'N That" (1987)

When you wish upon a star: Audrey Hepburn’s early years in her native Elsene, near Brussels

Audrey Hepburn was born on May 4, 1929, as Audrey Kathleen Ruston, in Elsene near Brussels. Her father, […]

Garbo was shy, insecure. She felt that, as a person, she actually had nothing special or unusual for others to make a fuss over. Jean Negulesco
I went to [producer-director] Thomas H. Ince and said, 'I would like some retakes.' Retakes are costly, and when he pointed that out, I said, 'Yes, I know that, Tom, but I still want the retakes.' Now, Tom liked to gamble. I did, too. So I said, 'I'll tell what I'll do, Tom. Heads or tails. If you win, okay, then I pay for the retakes. If I win, you pay.' He said, 'Fine,' and he tossed. I felt that Tom would take chances, but I didn't think he would cheat, and he didn't. He never did. It was my week's salary for or against the retakes. And I won. Actress Blanche Sweet about film pioneer Thomas H. Ince during the making of "Anna Christie" (1923)
I like people to be entertained, but I don't want it to be empty. I like to give some nourishment. Fred Zinnemann
My three favorite directors are John Ford, John Ford and John Ford. Orson Welles
[In the 1930s] the influence of films upon manners and morals can hardly be overestimated. Clark Gable wore no undershirt in 'It Happened One Night' [1934] and put a crimp in the undershirt industry. Hat manufacturers were irritated if a leading man wore no hat. Lobbyists were constantly at work in Hollywood attempting to get stars, male and female, to smoke; sometimes to get men to smoke cigars instead of cigarettes. I was offered a handsome gift if I could induce Ginger Rogers to smoke a cigar in a scene. Garson Kanin