Author: Peter J Patrick
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Oscar Profile #495: Jason Robards
Born July 26, 1922 in Chicago, Illinois, the only child of actor Jason Robards Sr. (1892-1963) and his first wife. The family moved to New York when he was a toddler, then to Los Angeles. His parents’ divorce, which occurred while he was in grade school, is said to have affected his personality and world…
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The DVD Report #671
New This Week Sweet Bird of Youth and Reflections in a Golden Eye were among the most controversial films of the 1960s. The former was among the best of that decade, the latter was among the worst. Both have been given sparkling new Blu-ray releases from Warner Archive. Tennessee Williams’ Sweet Bird of Youth first…
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Oscar Profile #494: Van Heflin
Born December 13, 1908 in Walters, Oklahoma, Everett Evan (Van) Heflin was the son of a dental surgeon and his wife. His younger sister was the actress Frances Heflin. He received a BA from the University of Oklahoma in 1932 after he had already appeared on Broadway. Heflin made his Broadway debut in 1928 in…
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The DVD Report #670
New This Week Connecting Rooms and Love Among the Ruins are not films we tend to think of when we think of Bette Davis and Katharine Hepburn, but both films have been newly released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber to remind us once again what extraordinary actresses these two legends were throughout their lives. Connecting…
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Oscar Profile #493: Lilli Palmer
Born May 24, 1914 in Posen, Prussia, now Poznan, Poland, Lilli Marie Peiser, known professionally as Lilli Palmer, was the middle daughter of a German Jewish surgeon and his Austrian stage actress wife. When the future actress was four, her family moved to Berlin where she became a table tennis champion as a young girl.…
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The DVD Report #669
New This Week Destry Rides Again was the name of a 1932 Tom Mix western taken from Max Brand’s serialized novel, Twelve Peers. Universal owned the title, which it used in the celebrated 1939 pacifist western that bore no resemblance to the 1932 film, which had been a run-of-the-mill shoot-em-up. The 1939 film, given a…
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Oscar Profile #492: Laura Dern
Born February 10, 1967 in Los Angeles, California to actors Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd, future actress Laura Dern would become the first member of her family to win an Oscar. She was raised by her mother and grandmother after her parents divorced when she was just two years old. Dern first appeared on screen…
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The DVD Report #668
New This Week Little Women is the last of the nine 2019 Oscar nominees for Best Picture to make it to home video. Winner Parasite, as well as 1917, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, Jojo Rabbit, Joker, and Ford v Ferrari have all been previously released on DVD and Blu-ray. The Irishman and Marriage Story…
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Oscar Profile #491: Brian Aherne
Born May 2, 1902, in Worcestershire, England to a Birmingham architect and his wife, (William) Brian (de Lacy) Aherne was the young brother of fellow actor, Pat Aherne. The future actor was educated in Birmingham and had some additional training in London which led to a few stage roles as a child., making his local…
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The DVD Report #667
New This Week Show Boat first appeared as a best-selling novel by Edna Ferber (Giant) in 1926. It was adapted into a legendary musical by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II, which opened on Broadway in late 1927. It has been made into a film three times, in 1929, 1936, and 1951. Fans have been…
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Oscar Profile #490: Nick Nolte
Born February 8, 1941 in Omaha, Nebraska, Nicholas King Nolte, known professionally as Nick Nolte, was the son of Franklin Arthur and Helen King Nolte. Following high school graduation in 1959, Nolte attended several colleges and universities and eventually acted at the Pasadena Playhouse and other venues throughout the country. He was a model in…
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The DVD Report #666
New This Week 1917 is the best film about the foot soldier since 1998’s Saving Private Ryan and the best film about the foot soldier in World War I since the triumvirate of All Quiet on the Western Front, Journey’s End, and Westfront 1918, all from 1930. What director Sam Mendes (Skyfall) couldn’t have known…
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Oscar Profile #289: Doctors and Nurses
The heroes on the front lines of the current coronavirus pandemic are the doctors and nurses who treat the sick and dying and the scientists who race to find a new form of treatment if not a cure for the horrific disease. Films about the heroics performed by like-minded individuals of the past were quite…
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The DVD Report #665
New This Week How Green Was My Valley had its world premiere at the Rivoli Theatre on Broadway between 49th and 50th streets on October 28, 1941. It wouldn’t open in Los Angeles until January 8, 1942 in a year when the cutoff for Oscar consideration was January 12 instead of December 31 of the…
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Oscar Profile #488: George Roy Hill
Born December 20, 1921 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, George Roy Hill was the son of George Roy and Helen Frances Hill, owners of the Minneapolis Tribune. Young Hill had a love of flying and obtained his pilot’s license at the age of sixteen. He also loved classical music, especially Bach, and as an undergraduate at Yale…
