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Pamela Tiffin, star of the 1962 remake of “State Fair” who enjoyed major success in the U.S. and Italy before retiring from acting in 1974, died Friday of natural causes. She was 78.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Tiffin was hospitalized at the time of her death.

Born Pamela Tiffin Wonso in Oklahoma City but raised in Chicago, she began a public career as a teen model in the late 1950s. Her film career began during a trip to Los Angeles in 1961 when, while visiting the Paramount lot, she was spotted by powerhouse producer Hal B. Wallis and given a screen test.

She very quickly saw success as a burgeoning movie star, landing as her second film role one of the leads in Billy Wilder’s 1961 cold war comedy “One, Two, Three” starring James Cagney. She followed that up by landing the lead role of Margy Frake in the 1962 remake of the...

Pamela Tiffin, who was a Golden Globe nominee for her film work in Hollywood and later made many Italian films, has died. A friend confirmed her death, but no cause was given.

Born in Oklahoma City, Tiffin initially found success as a teen model. She moved to New York City in the early 1960s and briefly attended Hunter College, appearing in a short film, Music of Williamsburg, in 1960).

But in a classic Hollywood story, Tiffin was spotted by producer Hal B. Willis when she was vacationing in Los Angeles and visited the Paramount Pictures lot. She was screen tested and cast in the 1961 film Summer and Smoke.

She went on to play against James Cagney in the comedy 1961 One, Two Three, winning a Golden Globe nomination for that role and her work in Summer and Smoke.

Over the next two years, her resume included the films State Fair with Bobby Darin,...

Clint Eastwood proves again that he Owns the western genre with this odd tale of land reform insurrection and establishment blowback, in New Mexico of 1906. To direct the script by the great Elmore Leonard, Eastwood brought in the western movie legend John Sturges. But Sturges discovered that collaboration now meant acceding to whatever the star wanted. The beautifully filmed movie falls apart even though Sturges saved the day with an 11th hour stunt action climax.

Joe Kidd

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1972 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 88 min. / Street Date October 27, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95

Starring: Clint Eastwood, Robert Duvall, John Saxon, Don Stroud, Stella García, James Wainwright, Paul Koslo, Gregory Walcott, Dick Van Patten, Lynne Marta, John Carter, Pepe Hern, Joaquín Martínez, Clint Ritchie, Chuck Hayward.

Cinematography: Bruce Surtees

Film Editor: Ferris Webster

Original Music: Lalo Schifrin

Written by Elmore Leonard

Produced by Sidney Beckerman

Directed by John Sturges

In 1971 the hottest...

Blown up to Road Show spectacular dimensions, a fairly modest idea for a comedy western became something of a career Waterloo for director John Sturges. But it’s still a favorite of fans thrilled by fancy 70mm-style presentations. A huge cast led by Burt Lancaster, Lee Remick, Jim Hutton and Pamela Tiffin leads the charge on a whisky-soaked madcap chase. It’s all in a fine spirit of fun. . . so where are the big laughs?

The Hallelujah Trail

Blu-ray

Olive Films

1965 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 155 min. / Street Date February 27, 2018 / available through the Olive Films website / 24.95

Starring: Burt Lancaster, Lee Remick, Jim Hutton, Pamela Tiffin, Donald Pleasence, Brian Keith, Martin Landau, John Anderson, Tom Stern, Robert J. Wilke, Dub Taylor, Whit Bissell, Helen Kleeb, Val Avery, Hope Summers, John Dehner.

Cinematography: Robert Surtees

Film Editor: Ferris Webster

Original Music: Elmer Bernstein

Written by John Gay from the novel by William Gulick

Executive...

It’s the one saga of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral that puts Western legend into proper perspective as to the nature of money, power and the law: Edward Anhalt’s vision is of a gangland turf war with sagebrush and whiskey bottles. James Garner is a humorless Wyatt Earp, matched by Jason Robards’ excellent Doc Holliday. It’s one of John Sturges’ best movies.

Hour of the Gun

Blu-ray

Twilight Time

1967 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 101 min. / Street Date September 19, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95

Starring: James Garner, Jason Robards, Robert Ryan, Albert Salmi, Charles Aidman, Steve Ihnat, Michael Tolan, William Windom, Lonny Chapman, Larry Gates, William Schallert, Jon Voight.

Cinematography: Lucien Ballard

Art Direction: Alfred C. Ybarra

Film Editor: Ferris Webster

Original Music: Jerry Goldsmith

Written by Edward Anhalt

Produced and Directed by John Sturges

Producer-director John Sturges’ Hour of the Gun was a dismal non-performer in...

Julie Andrews, Max von Sydow and Richard Harris bring James Michener's true saga to life -- but it's the story of the destruction of paradise. A huge success just the same, producer Walter Mirisch's film testifies to the skill with which he brought together big talent for a show that doesn't compromise with a happy-happy historical revision. Hawaii Blu-ray Twilight Time Limited Edition 1966 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 161 min. / Ship Date January 19, 2016 / available through Twilight Time Movies / 29.95 Starring Julie Andrews, Max von Sydow, Richard Harris, Gene Hackman, Carroll O'Connor, Jocelyne Lagarde, Manu Tupou, Ted Nobriga, Elizabeth Logue. Cinematography Russell Harlan Production Designer Cary Odell Art Direction James W. Sullivan Film Editor Stuart Gilmore Original Music Elmer Bernstein Written by Dalton Trumbo, Daniel Taradash from the novel by James Michener Produced by Walter Mirisch Directed by George Roy Hill

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Well, fans of James Michener that missed the...

Techno-thriller fans have been waiting a long time for a good disc of action ace John Sturges' sci-fi espionage suspenser. George Maharis, Richard Basehart, Anne Francis and Dana Andrews must stop a madman who has snatched a full battery of deadly bio-warfare viruses from a super-secret government lab. Each flask can wipe out an entire city, and one of them will kill every living thing on the planet. The Satan Bug Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1965 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 114 min. / Street Date September 22, 2015 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring George Maharis, Richard Basehart, Anne Francis, Dana Andrews, John Larkin, Richard Bull, Frank Sutton, Edward Asner, Simon Oakland, John Anderson, James Hong, Hari Rhodes, Henry Beckman, Harry Lauter, Tol Avery, Russ Bender, James Doohan, Harold Gould, Carey Loftin. Cinematography Robert Surtees Film Editor Ferris Webster Original Music Jerry Goldsmith Written by Edward Anhalt, James Clavell from the novel by Ian Stuart (Alistair MacLean...

Jeremiah Johnson

Directed by Sydney Pollack

Written by Edward Anhalt and John Milius

1972,

The Western, at its creative and commercial peak – the late 1960s-early 1970s – proved itself an astoundingly pliable genre. It could be molded to deal with topical subject matter like racism (Skin Game, 1971), feminism (The Ballad of Josie, 1967), the excesses of capitalism (Oklahoma Crude, 1973). It could be bent into religious allegories (High Plains Drifter, 1973), or an equally allegorical address of the country’s most controversial war (Ulzana’s Raid, 1972). Westerns could be used to deconstruct America’s most self-congratulatory myths (Doc, 1971), and address historical slights and omissions (Little Big Man, 1970). They could provide heady social commentary (Hombre, 1967), or simple adventure and excitement (The Professionals, 1966). They could be funny (The Hallelujah Trail, 1965), unremittingly grim (Hour of the Gun, 1967), surreal (Greaser’s Palace, 1972), even be stretched into the shape of rock musical (Zachariah, 1971) or monster movie (Valley of Gwangi, 1969).

But...

Oscar-nominated cinematographer who worked on Lenny, Dirty Harry and The Beguiled

The American cinematographer Bruce Surtees, who has died aged 74, became known as "the prince of darkness" for his muted and often lugubrious style of lighting. However, while Surtees was well-suited to the nocturnal street scenes of Dirty Harry (1971), the Rembrandt-esque arrangements of The Beguiled (1971) and the claustrophobic interiors of Escape from Alcatraz (1979), all directed by Don Siegel, he was also at home with the wide open spaces of the western Joe Kidd (1972) and the surfing movie Big Wednesday (1978).

His deceptively simple black-and-white scheme for Lenny (1974), Bob Fosse's semi-documentary biopic of the comedian Lenny Bruce, earned Surtees an Oscar nomination. The film's compelling stand-up sequences owe almost as much to the expert lighting of the nightclub as they do to Dustin Hoffman's performance. As Hoffman paces the stage, chased by his own shadow, the light captures wisps of...

When it comes to actresses, the movie business has always had an eye for beautiful faces. Unfortunately, it has often only been an afterthought as to whether or not that beautiful face could do anything other than be beautiful. Leaf through the archives of any of the movie glamour magazines from long ago and you’ll find them a cemetery of beautiful faces primped and hyped by the Hollywood PR machine to be The Next Great Thing. Some never made it past a screen test, while others managed to survive a few screen roles, but through lack of talent, charisma, the right roles — whatever mysterious magic it is that causes a performer to click with an audience — soon disappeared, never to be heard of again. It’s a long, looong casualty list of forgotten pretties like Merrilyn Grix, Eleanor Counts, Kathy Marlowe, Myrna Dell, Sandra Giles, Jean Colleran, Sunnie O’Dea,...

Elmer Bernstein, the amazingly prolific composer who wrote the memorable theme for The Magnificent Seven among other scores, died Wednesday in his sleep at his home in Ojai, California; he was 82. The recipient of 14 Oscar nominations (winning one for his score for 1967's Thoroughly Modern Millie), Bernstein wrote music for a number of classic movies that shaped the landscape of film in the last half of the 20th century. His scores ranged from the epic to the intimate, from classically austere to energetically jazzy, and were the accompaniment to a number of immortal films of the 50s and 60s. A protégé of Aaron Copland, Bernstein worked on B-films like Robot Monster before gaining fame with his jazz-influenced score (a Hollywood first) to 1955's The Man With the Golden Arm, for which he received his first Oscar nomination. A year later, his score for Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments also established his presence in Hollywood, and was quickly followed by scores for Sweet Smell of Success, Some Came Running, The Buccanner, and the TV series Gunsmoke, among others. Bernstein's most famous score came with the 1960 western The Magnificent Seven; its boisterous, rousing theme became of the most memorable pieces of movie music, and was endlessly featured (and imitated) in a number of movies to come; it was also utilized in a series of Marlboro commercials.

Bernstein worked tirelessly through the 60s and 70s, composing four to five scores a year for films as disparate as the Southern coming-of-age drama To Kill a Mockingbird, the sweeping epic Hawaii, the western The Hallelujah Trail, the jailhouse drama Birdman of Alcatraz and the 20s flapper musical Thoroughly Modern Millie. The 70s and 80s saw Bernstein compose more for television as well as film, and he also began composing more for comedy films, scoring Animal House, Airplane! , The Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters. In 1991, he worked with Martin Scorsese on Cape Fear, adapting and arranging Bernard Herrmann's score for the original 1961 film, and composed scores for Scorsese's The Age of Innocence and Bringing Out the Dead. Later films included The Rainmaker, Twilight, My Left Foot, The Grifters, and Devil in a Blue Dress. In 2002, Bernstein received his fourteenth Oscar nomination for the soaring, melancholy score for Far From Heaven. Bernstein is survived by his wife, Eve, as well as two daughters, two sons, and five grandchildren. --Prepared by IMDb staff...

Elmer Bernstein, the amazingly prolific composer who wrote the memorable theme for The Magnificent Seven among other scores, died Wednesday in his sleep at his home in Ojai, California; he was 82. The recipient of 14 Oscar nominations (winning one for his score for 1967's Thoroughly Modern Millie), Bernstein wrote music for a number of classic movies that shaped the landscape of film in the last half of the 20th century. His scores ranged from the epic to the intimate, from classically austere to energetically jazzy, and were the accompaniment to a number of immortal films of the 50s and 60s. A protégé of Aaron Copland, Bernstein worked on B-films like Robot Monster before gaining fame with his jazz-influenced score (a Hollywood first) to 1955's The Man With the Golden Arm, for which he received his first Oscar nomination. A year later, his score for Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments also established his presence in Hollywood, and was quickly followed by scores for Sweet Smell of Success, Some Came Running, The Buccanner, and the TV series Gunsmoke, among others. Bernstein's most famous score came with the 1960 western The Magnificent Seven; its boisterous, rousing theme became of the most memorable pieces of movie music, and was endlessly featured (and imitated) in a number of movies to come; it was also utilized in a series of Marlboro commercials.

Bernstein worked tirelessly through the 60s and 70s, composing four to five scores a year for films as disparate as the Southern coming-of-age drama To Kill a Mockingbird, the sweeping epic Hawaii, the western The Hallelujah Trail, the jailhouse drama Birdman of Alcatraz and the 20s flapper musical Thoroughly Modern Millie. The 70s and 80s saw Bernstein compose more for television as well as film, and he also began composing more for comedy films, scoring Animal House, Airplane! , The Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters. In 1991, he worked with Martin Scorsese on Cape Fear, adapting and arranging Bernard Herrmann's score for the original 1961 film, and composed scores for Scorsese's The Age of Innocence and Bringing Out the Dead. Later films included The Rainmaker, Twilight, My Left Foot, The Grifters, and Devil in a Blue Dress. In 2002, Bernstein received his fourteenth Oscar nomination for the soaring, melancholy score for Far From Heaven. Bernstein is survived by his wife, Eve, as well as two daughters, two sons, and five grandchildren. --Prepared by IMDb staff...