The teen years are awkward enough, but for Shirley Temple they must have been downright painful, because after her 1940 film, The Blue Bird flopped she was at loose ends as an actress, ending her contract with Fox and trying to figure out what to do next. She made one movie at MGM, Kathleen, which didn't grab people, and … Continue reading Hep To the Jive
Why I’ve Seen “Since You Went Away” Umpteen Times
Since You Went Away is very well-trod territory for me. I've parsed it, studied it, scoured the Web for information about it. I've even counted the number of times the movie mentions war bonds and stamps (five times and twice, respectively, in case anyone is wondering). For those who might not be familiar with the plot, it follows … Continue reading Why I’ve Seen “Since You Went Away” Umpteen Times
Page To Screen: Since You Went Away
There were a lot of films made about the American home front during the Second World War, but few are as sprawling or epic as David O. Selznik's 1944 movie, Since You Went Away. The story of a Midwestern family, the Hiltons, the film is based on a book of the same name by journalist Margaret Buell … Continue reading Page To Screen: Since You Went Away
Extra Baggage
For the rest of his career, David O. Selznik tried and failed to recapture the tremendous success he enjoyed with Gone With the Wind, but even he took a breather and made smaller movies now and then. Not many, but he made them, and probably the most winsomely strange of the bunch was 1945's I'll Be Seeing … Continue reading Extra Baggage
Taking Up Room 