Stella Dallas.In the final scene of Stella Dallas (1925), the title character stands in a dark city street in the rain, peering through a window at her daughter’s wedding. This famous image inescapably suggests a viewer gazing at a movie screen: the lighted square of the window, framed by lace-trimmed drapes, even closely matches the aspect ratio of films from the time. This resemblance adds a subtle element of self-commentary to the scene, in which Stella is both punished and exalted. Having exiled herself from her child’s life so as not to hold her back, she gets to witness the fruit of her sacrifice while paying the bitter price, as a policeman curtly orders the bedraggled woman to move along.When I saw Stella Dallas, newly restored by the Museum of Modern Art, at Il Cinema Ritrovato 2023 in Bologna, I responded to this scene exactly as I was...
- 9/20/2023
- MUBI
From L-r: Michelle Yeoh in Everything Everywhere All At Once, Sigourney Weaver in Aliens, Michelle Williams in The Fabelmans, Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2: Judgment Day.Graphic: The A.V. Club
Hollywood offers plenty of great examples of motherhood. These moms, just like the ones in real life, come in many forms—natural mothers,...
Hollywood offers plenty of great examples of motherhood. These moms, just like the ones in real life, come in many forms—natural mothers,...
- 5/12/2023
- by Cindy White
- avclub.com
In the future, every movie star over the age of 45 will get to play a role with a particular set of skills. Skills their characters will have acquired over a very long career — maybe as an assassin, possibly as a government-sanctioned operative, or perhaps just as your run-of-the-mill military badass. Skills that make them a nightmare for people like those unfortunate character actors and/or day players cast as thugs, mercenaries, and international criminal masterminds. If those bad guys had let those abducted wives/kids/partners/pets go, that would...
- 5/12/2023
- by David Fear
- Rollingstone.com
This Mother’s Day weekend, let’s celebrate self-sacrificing, feuding, exhausted, loving screen mums, from Stella Dallas to Lady Bird, Mommie Dearest to 20th Century Women
We often talk a bit flippantly about female movie stars past a certain age being consigned to “mum roles”: blandly supportive background figures who pop up merely to nag or nurture when required. “Mum” shouldn’t be a byword for mainstream cinema’s laziest, most ageist and least dimensional instincts when it comes to female characterisation; the best films about motherhood treat it as a state of being, not just as a balm for others.
Many of the so-called “women’s pictures” of Hollywood’s golden age hinged on complex, conflicted portrayals of motherhood. King Vidor’s excellent 1937 version of Stella Dallas (Amazon Prime Video) is the mother-daughter weepie to end them all, powered by Barbara Stanwyck’s wrenching performance as a working-class...
We often talk a bit flippantly about female movie stars past a certain age being consigned to “mum roles”: blandly supportive background figures who pop up merely to nag or nurture when required. “Mum” shouldn’t be a byword for mainstream cinema’s laziest, most ageist and least dimensional instincts when it comes to female characterisation; the best films about motherhood treat it as a state of being, not just as a balm for others.
Many of the so-called “women’s pictures” of Hollywood’s golden age hinged on complex, conflicted portrayals of motherhood. King Vidor’s excellent 1937 version of Stella Dallas (Amazon Prime Video) is the mother-daughter weepie to end them all, powered by Barbara Stanwyck’s wrenching performance as a working-class...
- 3/18/2023
- by Guy Lodge
- The Guardian - Film News
Barbara Stanwyck is an early-Hollywood icon. The actor overcame a challenging childhood to become a performer of remarkable range, equally praised for her work in screwball comedies, Westerns, and film noirs. Unfortunately, the Big Valley star’s personal life was as fraught as some of her more complicated characters, but her artistic legacy made her a wealthy woman and a timeless on-screen presence.
Barbara Stanwyck grew up an orphan and began working as a pre-teen Barbara Stanwyck in ‘The Big Valley’ | ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
The youngest of five children, Barbara Stanwyck was born Ruby Catherine Stevens on Jul. 16, 1907, in Brooklyn, New York. Tragedy struck early in her life. Her mother, Catherine, died after a drunk passenger pushed her off a moving streetcar in 1911. Two weeks after the funeral, Stanwyck’s father, Byron, left to join a work crew digging the Panama Canal and...
Barbara Stanwyck grew up an orphan and began working as a pre-teen Barbara Stanwyck in ‘The Big Valley’ | ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
The youngest of five children, Barbara Stanwyck was born Ruby Catherine Stevens on Jul. 16, 1907, in Brooklyn, New York. Tragedy struck early in her life. Her mother, Catherine, died after a drunk passenger pushed her off a moving streetcar in 1911. Two weeks after the funeral, Stanwyck’s father, Byron, left to join a work crew digging the Panama Canal and...
- 3/8/2023
- by Sam Hines
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
US one sheet for Our Daily Bread.Though he was a name-above-the-title director back in the day and made some of the enduring classics of American cinema, the great Hollywood director King Vidor is no longer remembered as Hollywood royalty. The son of a Hungarian immigrant, Vidor made some 50 feature films over the course of 40 years, was nominated five times for the Academy Award for Best Director (in 1979 he was finally awarded an Honorary Oscar), and some of his films—The Crowd (1928) and Hallelujah! (1929) in particular—are die-hard masterpieces. Starting today, New York’s Film at Lincoln Center will be showing 20 of Vidor’s features in an attempt to redress the balance and revitalize his reputation. It is the first major US retrospective of his work since “Rediscovering King Vidor” ran at the Public Theater in 1994, on the 100th anniversary of his birth..Restlessly exploring multiple genres, working from the...
- 8/3/2022
- MUBI
The Supporting Actress Smackdown will resume in March 2021. Final Season!
Happy Smackdown to you Happy Smackdown to you
Happy Smackdown you actressexuals,
Happy Smackdown to youuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!
After StinkyLulu graciously let us continue/revive the series here seven or eight years ago (eep!) we've done 35 episodes: 1938, 1941, 1943, 1944, 1947, 1948, 1952, 1954, 1957, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1994, 1995, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, and concurrently with Oscar races as they happened 2016, 2017, and 2018.
So, where to now?
The Remaining Years
1937- Brady (In Old Chicago) | Leeds (Stage Door) | Shirley (Stella Dallas) | Trevor (Dead End) | Whitty (Night Must Fall)
1946 - Baxter (The Razor's Edge) | Barrymore (The Spiral Staircase) | Gish (Duel in the Sun) | Robson (Saratoga Trunk) | Sondegaard (Anna and the King of Siam)
1951 Joan Blondell (The Blue Veil) | Dunnock (Death of a Salesman) | Grant (Detective Story) | Hunter (A Streetcar Named Desire) | Ritter (The Mating Season)
1986 - Harper (Crimes of the Heart) | Laurie (Children of a Lesser God) | Mastrantonio (The Color of Money) | Smith (A Room With a View) | Weist (Hannah and Her Sisters...
Happy Smackdown to you Happy Smackdown to you
Happy Smackdown you actressexuals,
Happy Smackdown to youuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!
After StinkyLulu graciously let us continue/revive the series here seven or eight years ago (eep!) we've done 35 episodes: 1938, 1941, 1943, 1944, 1947, 1948, 1952, 1954, 1957, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1994, 1995, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, and concurrently with Oscar races as they happened 2016, 2017, and 2018.
So, where to now?
The Remaining Years
1937- Brady (In Old Chicago) | Leeds (Stage Door) | Shirley (Stella Dallas) | Trevor (Dead End) | Whitty (Night Must Fall)
1946 - Baxter (The Razor's Edge) | Barrymore (The Spiral Staircase) | Gish (Duel in the Sun) | Robson (Saratoga Trunk) | Sondegaard (Anna and the King of Siam)
1951 Joan Blondell (The Blue Veil) | Dunnock (Death of a Salesman) | Grant (Detective Story) | Hunter (A Streetcar Named Desire) | Ritter (The Mating Season)
1986 - Harper (Crimes of the Heart) | Laurie (Children of a Lesser God) | Mastrantonio (The Color of Money) | Smith (A Room With a View) | Weist (Hannah and Her Sisters...
- 2/17/2021
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Tony Sokol Jul 30, 2019
Western movies, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, wouldn't have been the same without the infamous ranch owned by George Spahn.
Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood attempts to take back stolen potential via the kind of fantasy fulfillment that's made only possible on celluloid. As with the Beatles' song "Helter Skelter," Sharon Tate, and the peace and love generation as a whole, the icons of hope in the 1960s were all tainted by mere association with Charles Manson. None of these needed to be linked to the murderous narcissist. Tate, magnificently captured Margot Robbie in the film, would have continued the rising trajectory of her film and modeling career; "Helter Skelter" would be remembered as the song that invented heavy metal, when it was just Paul McCartney trying to make as much noise on vinyl as possible; peace and Love would...
Western movies, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, wouldn't have been the same without the infamous ranch owned by George Spahn.
Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood attempts to take back stolen potential via the kind of fantasy fulfillment that's made only possible on celluloid. As with the Beatles' song "Helter Skelter," Sharon Tate, and the peace and love generation as a whole, the icons of hope in the 1960s were all tainted by mere association with Charles Manson. None of these needed to be linked to the murderous narcissist. Tate, magnificently captured Margot Robbie in the film, would have continued the rising trajectory of her film and modeling career; "Helter Skelter" would be remembered as the song that invented heavy metal, when it was just Paul McCartney trying to make as much noise on vinyl as possible; peace and Love would...
- 7/30/2019
- Den of Geek
1980: Edge of Night's Raven finally arrived to see her sick son.
2009: Days of our Lives' Mia met Will's friend, Tad.
2013: The online versions of All My Children and One Life to Live premiered on Hulu."History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into d ifferent and unexpected images."
― Anselm Kiefer
"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.
On this date in...
1932: Radio soap opera One Man's Family premiered on Los Angeles, Seattle and San Francisco stations. The popular series went nationwide a year later and ran until 1959.
1940: Young Doctor Malone aired for the first time on CBS Radio, having moved from the Blue Network.
2009: Days of our Lives' Mia met Will's friend, Tad.
2013: The online versions of All My Children and One Life to Live premiered on Hulu."History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into d ifferent and unexpected images."
― Anselm Kiefer
"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.
On this date in...
1932: Radio soap opera One Man's Family premiered on Los Angeles, Seattle and San Francisco stations. The popular series went nationwide a year later and ran until 1959.
1940: Young Doctor Malone aired for the first time on CBS Radio, having moved from the Blue Network.
- 4/29/2019
- by Roger Newcomb
- We Love Soaps
1982: Another World's Buzz Winslow died in Wyoming.
1988: General Hospital's Anna lost her baby.
1990: Another World's Jake raped Marley, then got shot.
2000: All My Children's Vanessa and Arlene were busted."The best prophet of the future is the past."
― Lord Byron
"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.
On this date in...
1937: Radio soap opera Stella Dallas made its debut as a local show in New York City. The 15-minute drama, with Anne Elstner in the title role, was picked up by the NBC Radio network beginning June 6, 1938, and aired weekdays afternoons through 1955.
1971: Chris Bohn debuted as Dr. Jason Aldrich on The Doctors.
1977: On Another World, Iris Carrington (Beverlee McKinsey...
1988: General Hospital's Anna lost her baby.
1990: Another World's Jake raped Marley, then got shot.
2000: All My Children's Vanessa and Arlene were busted."The best prophet of the future is the past."
― Lord Byron
"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.
On this date in...
1937: Radio soap opera Stella Dallas made its debut as a local show in New York City. The 15-minute drama, with Anne Elstner in the title role, was picked up by the NBC Radio network beginning June 6, 1938, and aired weekdays afternoons through 1955.
1971: Chris Bohn debuted as Dr. Jason Aldrich on The Doctors.
1977: On Another World, Iris Carrington (Beverlee McKinsey...
- 10/25/2018
- by Roger Newcomb
- We Love Soaps
1979: Ryan's Hope's Poppy caused trouble for Tom and Faith.
1988: Another World's Amanda gave birth to Alli.
1988: Days of our Lives' Tom was secretly a poet.
2002: Guiding Light's Reva sang to Josh."All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity that the dry, shrivelled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble of cracking the nut."
― Anne Brontë in "Agnes Grey"
"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.
On this date in...
1938: Local New York City radio soap opera Stella Dallas began airing nationwide on NBC Radio.
1938: Young Widder Brown premiered on NBC Radio. Stella Dallas...
1988: Another World's Amanda gave birth to Alli.
1988: Days of our Lives' Tom was secretly a poet.
2002: Guiding Light's Reva sang to Josh."All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity that the dry, shrivelled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble of cracking the nut."
― Anne Brontë in "Agnes Grey"
"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.
On this date in...
1938: Local New York City radio soap opera Stella Dallas began airing nationwide on NBC Radio.
1938: Young Widder Brown premiered on NBC Radio. Stella Dallas...
- 6/6/2018
- by Roger Newcomb
- We Love Soaps
1969: Dark Shadows' Quentin visited David.
1988: Days of our Lives' Roman and Abe were promoted.
1998: Y&R's Cole and Victoria ended their marriage.
2009: As the World Turns' Hughes family mourned Adam."All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity that the dry, shrivelled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble of cracking the nut."
― Anne Brontë in "Agnes Grey"
"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.
On this date in...
1938: Frank and Anne Hummert radio soap opera Stella Dallas aired on New York local station Weaf for the final time before going national on NBC with the following episode.
1988: Days of our Lives' Roman and Abe were promoted.
1998: Y&R's Cole and Victoria ended their marriage.
2009: As the World Turns' Hughes family mourned Adam."All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity that the dry, shrivelled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble of cracking the nut."
― Anne Brontë in "Agnes Grey"
"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.
On this date in...
1938: Frank and Anne Hummert radio soap opera Stella Dallas aired on New York local station Weaf for the final time before going national on NBC with the following episode.
- 6/4/2018
- by Roger Newcomb
- We Love Soaps
1980: Edge of Night's Raven finally arrived to see her sick son.
2009: Days of our Lives' Mia met Will's friend, Tad.
2013: The online versions of All My Children and One Life to Live
premiered on Hulu."All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity that the dry, shrivelled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble of cracking the nut."
― Anne Brontë in "Agnes Grey"
"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.
On this date in...
1932: Radio soap opera One Man's Family premiered on Los Angeles, Seattle and San Francisco stations. The popular series went nationwide a year later...
2009: Days of our Lives' Mia met Will's friend, Tad.
2013: The online versions of All My Children and One Life to Live
premiered on Hulu."All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity that the dry, shrivelled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble of cracking the nut."
― Anne Brontë in "Agnes Grey"
"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.
On this date in...
1932: Radio soap opera One Man's Family premiered on Los Angeles, Seattle and San Francisco stations. The popular series went nationwide a year later...
- 4/29/2018
- by Roger Newcomb
- We Love Soaps
Perched at the top of this week’s flock of specialty film debuts is Birdman (Or The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance), a possible Oscar contender starring Michael Keaton. Though it’s a limited release, Alejandro González Iñárritu‘s complex film about a fading action-hero trying to reclaim his mojo on Broadway nevertheless combines elements of a superhero franchise that could tap fans well beyond the art house.
It’s part of yet another big flock of specialty film debuts coming this weekend, including the controversy-minded Sundance award-winner Dear White People, William H. Macy‘s directorial debut Rudderless, Kristen Stewart‘s Camp X-Ray, Jason Schwartzman‘s Listen Up Philip, The Golden Era, Summer Of Blood, and one great revival, Alain Resnais’ 1959 landmark Hiroshima Mon Amour.
To get a sense of Fox Searchlight’s ambitions for Birdman, the film closed the New York Film Festival last weekend to strong reviews, but then...
It’s part of yet another big flock of specialty film debuts coming this weekend, including the controversy-minded Sundance award-winner Dear White People, William H. Macy‘s directorial debut Rudderless, Kristen Stewart‘s Camp X-Ray, Jason Schwartzman‘s Listen Up Philip, The Golden Era, Summer Of Blood, and one great revival, Alain Resnais’ 1959 landmark Hiroshima Mon Amour.
To get a sense of Fox Searchlight’s ambitions for Birdman, the film closed the New York Film Festival last weekend to strong reviews, but then...
- 10/16/2014
- by David Bloom
- Deadline
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