Dwight Frye is legendary for his roles in the Universal horror classics Dracula and Frankenstein. The 1997 biography Dwight Frye’s Last Laugh chronicles the actor’s fast rise to surprising heights and even quicker fall.
Popular Posts
Movie Star Biographies
Glenda Farrell Biography and 1930s Hollywood Heyday
An appreciation of Glenda Farrell’s 1930s Hollywood characterizations, especially Torchy Blane, combined with a complete biography of Farrell.
Cecilia Parker Biography: From B-Westerns to A-Support to Marian Hardy
The most complete Cecilia Parker biography you’re going to find. Corrects her marriage record and follows her career from B-westerns to Marian Hardy.
Dorothy Dell, Star of Little Miss Marker (1934), Gone at Just 19
Dorothy Dell had only appeared in three feature length films when she died, age 19, in a 1934 car accident. This biography includes her rise to fame and looks at all three movies.
Carole Lombard, Part 1: From Jane Peters to Mrs. William Powell
Part 1 of a Carole Lombard biography covers her turbulent early screen career of the 1920s through her rise to stardom and marriage to William Powell in 1931.
Chester Morris – Biography of the Boston Blackie Star
A biography of Chester Morris, Academy Award nominated actor for Alibi (1929), who starred in several pre-Code classics before going on to greatest fame in the Boston Blackie series of movies.
Movie Reviews & Articles
Bright Leaf (1950), Gary Cooper Takes Over Big Tobacco
Gary Cooper shines in “Bright Leaf” a story of tobacco in the late 19th century. Not so brilliant is Cooper’s love triangle with Lauren Bacall and Patricia Neal.
The Voice of Bugle Ann (1936) Starring Lionel Barrymore with Maureen O’Sullivan
MGM’s The Voice of Bugle Ann (1936) with Lionel Barrymore provides a look at Missouri foxhunting. Post includes some background on American foxhunting and a bit about the quote Barrymore’s Spring Davis attributes to Senator Vest during his murder trial.
She Had to Say Yes (1933) Starring Loretta Young
She Had to Say Yes is a pre-Code film so outrageous that it’s bound to bother men and women alike. An expose on the life of the “customer’s girl,” the Depression era’s version of a high class call girl in business circles. Starring Loretta Young, who manages to be pawed by Regis Toomey, Lyle Talbot, and Hugh Herbert, all in the same movie.
Shirley Temple in 1934, Part 2: The Movies
A brief look at each of Shirley Temple’s five major feature film appearances during her breakthrough year of 1934: Stand Up and Cheer!, Little Miss Marker, Baby Take a Bow, Now and Forever and Bright Eyes.
First Impressions: Andy Hardy’s Private Secretary (1941)
Brief first impressions of Andy Hardy’s Private Secretary (1941) written shortly after first viewing. Starring Mickey Rooney with the Hardy clan and Kathryn Grayson.
MGM’s Hardy Family Series #5 – Out West with the Hardys (1938)
The fifth entry of the Hardy Family series, Out West with the Hardys (1938), puts focus on each of the core family members in a Western setting. Virginia Weidler is Mickey Rooney’s sidekick in this one. Sara Haden returns as Aunt Milly.