More Old Hollywood Fun
Last night Movies!, channel 5–2 on OTA in NYC, ran another flick I’d never seen, part of its Thursday Night Noir series. Two of a Kind (1951) stars Edmund O’Brien and Lizabeth Scott as con artists. Although the plot is sinister, the creators chose a lighter, less violent approach that puts it outside the genre. Still, it’s not boring. Here’s trivia about the main personages involved: Henry Levin directed three episodes of Knotts Landing and 54 films including two of the Matt Helm series starring Dean Martin: Murderer’s Row (1966) and The Ambushers (1967).
Brooklyn-born Hollywood legend O’Brien was one of the all-time great supporting players. According to his IMDb bio: “At the age of 10 he learned conjuring tricks from his neighbor, Harry Houdini.” Here he is in his Oscar winning role in The Barefoot Contessa (1954):
Scott has only 31 titles under her name, surprising given the impact she had on cinema. In 1957 the husky-voiced beauty released an album of torch songs and romantic ballads:
Terry Moore, in her 90’s, is still with us, still working, three projects on tap in 2021. Baby boomers will remember her as the female lead of Mighty Joe Young (1950), which ran frequently on channel nine’s Million Dollar Movie back in the day:
Alexander Knox was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in Wilson (1944), for which he won a Golden Globe. Here he is in character:
Among Griff Barnett’s 92 credits is an appearance on the Adventures of Superman in 1952, season one, episode eight — The Mind Machine:
Robert Anderson made multiple appearances on many popular prime time shows. He reminds me of Robert Ryan:
The last of Virginia Brissac’s 160 credits is as James Dean’s grandma in Rebel Without a Cause (1955). She is far left in the photo:
Reverse racism has found a home in a northeast state. Headline from foxnews.com: “Vermont GOP governor opens up COVID vaccines for those who identify as Black, Indigenous or person of color.”
I don’t need any more reasons not to watch pro sports. If I did, this might have served as the last straw: “MLB moving All-Star Game in response to voting law.” 27 others states have the same exact law, including Quid Pro Joe’s Delaware.
Will the mainstream media spin the latest attack at the Capitol that killed a policeman? On Facebook the suspect identifies as a member of the Nation of Islam.
Although I’d run the floating book shop when the temperature was much lower than today, the icy wind and lack of sunshine made it as tough a session as I’d ever done. I spent almost the entire time in the car. Since I’d told Moses I’d be there to accept the books he wanted to donate, I felt compelled to open up. And he showed, bless his heart. He brought the entire 13 volume A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket — in hardcover. My thanks, and also to Arthur, who bought Carol Vorderman’s Massive Book of Sudoku: Over 400 Puzzles from Easy to Super Difficult! and State of Play: The Old School Guide to New School Baseball by Bill Ripken, Cal’s brother; and to the woman who purchased two Dick Francis novels translated into Russian.
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