Author: Peter J Patrick
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Oscar Profile #353: Margaret Leighton
Born February 26, 1922 in Barnt Green, Worcestershire, England, Margaret Leighton was the daughter of a businessman who made her acting debut at the Old Vic in 1938’s Laugh with Me which was also televised that year. She made her Broadway debut in 1946 in five touring plays starring Laurence Olivier and Ralph Richardson, beginning…
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The DVD Report #529
New This Week The Exception is an unexceptional title for an exceptionally fine film. Filmed as The Kaiser’s Last Kiss, the far more interesting title of Alex Judd’s 2003 novel, the debut film of Tony-nominated stage director David Leveaux focuses on the love story between a good German soldier, “the exception” to the rule, and…
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Oscar Profile #352: Fritz Lang
Born December 5, 1890 in Vienna, Austria, Friedrich Christian Anton Lang, Fritz for short, was one of the most influential film directors of all time yet won no major awards, possibly due to his reputation as a tyrant on film sets. Although trained in Paris in 1913-14 to be a painter, Lang returned to Vienna…
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The DVD Report #528
New This Week The Circle is a cautionary tale set in the near-future in which social media has advanced to the next step. People are no longer content with just expressing their every thought on Twitter and Facebook and instantly sharing their pictures and videos with friends and family on their cell phones, they want…
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Oscar Profile #351: Sam Shepard
Born November 5, 1943 in Fort Sheridan, Illinois where his US Army officer father was stationed, Samuel Shepard Rogers, known professionally as Sam Shepard, spent his childhood moving from base to base around the US until the family settled in Duarte, California. He became interested in acting and writing while in high school, while at…
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The DVD Report #527
New This Week The Promise is an historical epic about the extermination of 2.5 million people in the Armenian Genocide of 1915 that deserves better than the 57,000 one-star ratings it received on IMDb.thanks to genocide deniers, bringing its overall rating to just 5.9. The title refers in part to a promise of marriage a…
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Oscar Profile #350: Samuel Fuller
Born August 12, 1912 in Worcester, Massachusetts, Samuel Fuller was one of seven siblings, whose life was as interesting as any of the many characters of his long career. One of the best writer-directors never to be nominated for an Oscar, his films which were mostly overlooked during his lifetime, have gained in stature since…
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The DVD Report #526
New This Week Grantchester Season 3 continues the first-rate British mystery series about Anglican priest Sidney Chambers (James Norton) in the mid-1950s who aids his police inspector friend Geordie Keating (Robson Green) in solving local murders. In addition to Geordie, the series features his close relationships with his married soon-to-be-divorced girlfriend Amanda Hopkins (Morven Christie),…
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Oscar Profile #349: Glynis Johns
Born October 5, 1923 in Pretoria, South Africa while her Welsh parents were on tour, Glynis Johns was the daughter of actor Mervyn Johns (1899-1992) and pianist Alice Maude Steele (1901-1970). A trained dancer, pianist and singer as well as actress, Johns made her first stage appearance as a child ballerina in London’s Garrick Theatre…
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The DVD Report #525
New This Week The Lost City of Z, pronounced “zed”, is based on the life of British explorer Percy Fawcett. In 1905, British Army Major Percy Fawcett (Charlie Hunnam) is asked by the Royal Geographical Society to act as a referee between Bolivia and Brazil and map out the border between the two countries. Fawcett…
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Oscar Profile #348: Max Steiner
Born May 10, 1888 in Vienna, Austria, Max(well) Steiner was a child prodigy who conducted his first operetta when he was twelve and became a full-time professional, either composing, arranging, or conducting, when he was fifteen. He wrote and conducted the operetta, The Beautiful Greek Girl which led to opportunities to conduct other shows in…
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The DVD Report #524
New This Week The Zookeeper’s Wife from director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) is the latest in a long line of films about the holocaust. Although not as compelling as either Schindler’s List or The Pianist, two other films about the Nazi invasion of Poland and the destruction of the Warsaw ghetto, it is nevertheless worth…
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Oscar Profile #347: Richard Brooks
Born May 18, 1912 in Philadelphia, PA to Russian Jewish immigrants Hyman and Esther Sax, Reuben Sax known professionally as Richard Brooks, grew up poor. He studied journalism at Temple University for two years from 1929-1931 before discovering that his parents were going into debt to pay for his education at which time he quit…
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The DVD Report #523
New This Week The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog wasn’t Alfred Hitchcock’s first film, but the 1927 silent classic was the one that established his style. It was also the first in which he made a cameo appearance. In fact, he made two, and his wife, Alma, had one as well. This was…
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Oscar Profile #346: Sydney Pollack
Born July 1, 1934 in Lafayette, Indiana to homemaker Rebecca and professional boxer turned pharmacist David Pollack, Sydney Pollack grew up in South Bend, Indiana. His parents divorced when he was very young. His mother, who suffered from alcoholism and depression, died at the age of 37 when he was still in high school. Upon…
