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Travel and Leisure Information
Ten Percent Of Jimmy Stewart
Jimmy Stewart was seen one night in 1933 in New York performing on stage as a female impersonator by an MGM talent scout. He was signed to a contract to come to California to work for the prestigious studio. Studio Head Louis B. Mayer expressed doubt when he first saw him,"Hes so skinny! A beanpole." Efforts were made to put weight on him, the 133 pound actor was constantly sharing butterfingers candy bars with Ann Miller which seemed to fatten her up more than him.
The Warner Brothers Make Noise
Hollywood was an attractive place for the early filmmakers to settle, full of good weather, orange and lemon trees. For producers who owed money on borrowed camera equipment if a creditor came after them, they could hide among the trees. It was a hard business full of causalities and took a pirates mentality to survive. Most of the studio heads were from poor backgrounds, with limited English skills and never forgot their childhood or a personal slight. Included were Jack, Harry, Albert and Sam, the four Warner Brothers from Youngstown, Ohio. They had begun with showing movies off the side of a tent in Youngstown, borrowing all the chairs from the local undertaker. Every time there was a funeral in Youngstown, they had to give all the chairs back and the film patrons were forced to stand.
Titanic Anecdotes
Studio executives in High Concept Hollywood have very short attention spans. When pitching a film idea, many believe if you cant do it in one sentence it is an unmarketable product. For example Planet Of the Apes 1968 starring Charlton Heston was pitched by producer Arthur Jacobs as "Moses Talks To Monkeys". Passenger 57 1992 with Wesley Snipes was known as "Diehard On a Plane." Director James Cameron, despite a strong track record with films like Aliens 1986 and True Lies 1994 knew he would have a tough selling job after he went deep sea diving with Dr. Robert Ballard to glimpse the remains of the RMS Titanic. He became so emotionally involved by the experience that the sinking of the famous luxury liner in 1912 had to be the subject of his next picture. His pitch to the nervous executives at Twentieth Century Fox was," Romeo and Juliet on a doomed ship." There was a tense pause and Cameron said," Also fellas its a period piece, its going to cost $150,000,000 and theres not going to be a sequel." Fox, a studio which had known great success with both The Love Boat 1977-1986 TV show and The Poseidon Adventure 1972 was dubious about the ideas commercial prospects. But wanting a long term relationship with Cameron they gave him a green light.
A Miraculous Movie
It was originally called The Big Heart. Daryl Zanuck the shrewd head of Twentieth Century Fox couldnt buy the image of Santa Claus in a court room. But like so many ventures Miracle On 34th Street 1947 came about because of passion, in this case that of Director George Seaton who had gone to New York on his own and made arrangements with the real Mr. Macy and Mr. Gimbel to film inside their department stores. Impressed by Seatons commitment Zanuck gave the show a green light.
Bob Hope Stories
Once when he was a little boy in England, Leslie Hope He later renamed himself Bob after a race car driver he idolized wanted to pick an apple off a tree. Symbolic of his career, he didnt want just any apple but the highest one possible. He lost his balance, fell and permanently changed the shape of his nose.
Bob Hope Wasnt The Only One Who Used Idiot Cards
When Bob Hope moved into television, he lost the opportunity to hold his script in his hand , something he had gotten used to working in radio. The presentation would look too stiff to his audience. He tried to memorize his monologues, but that proved to be too cumbersome of a task and it took away from his golf game. The solution was cue cards, or idiot cards as they are known in the industry. This worked well for the performer, but was hazardous for others. On one of Hopes early NBC broadcasts a well meaning assistant director held up the cards so his star could read them, then tossed them back over his shoulder almost decapitating several members of the studio audience.
Can I Have Your Autograph
Being a celebrity means dealing with fan demands for autographs, ranging from polite and appropriate to rude and overbearing. One time Katherine Hepburn was performing on Broadway and tried to exit backstage through a crowd of jostling autograph hounds. Bodyguards helped her to her limo and once safely inside the very private star rolled down the window and shouted," Run em down! Well clean up the blood later!" The crowd scattered and the limousine sped away, pausing long enough for Hepburn to roll down the window and wave goodbye to her fans, accompanied by an evil laugh. Strangely enough, when she lived in Beverly Hills the seclusion loving Hepburn developed the habit of sneaking into her neighbors houses as a hobby. She became expert at climbing trees, avoiding alarms and dogs, and revealing herself just before her nervous neighbors called the police.
Do You Know Who I Am
One dilemma that the super famous face is balancing the needs of privacy and recognition. One time in New York an unnoticed Marilyn Monroe was walking down Madison Avenue accompanied by Eli Wallach. " My God, dont these people know who you are" Wallach asked her. Marilyn, whose application of make-up took nearly as long Boris Karloffs Frankenstein Monster, grinned at him. "Im only recognized when I want to be. Watch this." She began to swing her hips and walk in a way that was familiar to movie goers and was eventually mobbed by adoring fans.
Pretty Women Have Stayed At The Beverly Wilshire
Since it was built in 1929, The Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel has attracted rich and famous guests from around the world. To the general public the hotel is most famous for being used in the 1990 movie Pretty Woman. They have disappointed thousands of people by turning down requests from around the world who would like to stay in the same suite that Julia Roberts and Richard Gere had in the movie because it does not exist, it was filmed at the Walt Disney studio.
Hungry For Overkill
I dont have much time to watch television. Being the lazy person that I am, I usually let other people in the family do my watching for me.
Its A Wonderful Movie
Its A Wonderful Life 1946 began as a short story called "The Greatest Gift". Writer Philip Van Doren Stern was unable to sell it to a publisher, so he sent the tale out as a long Christmas card to friends. His agent subsequently sold the fable to RKO pictures, where it went through several transformations. In one version a losing political candidate contemplated suicide, only to have an angel convince him to stick around and do good works. Finally it fell into the hands of Director Frank Capra who cried when he read it, said it was the story he had been looking for all his life, and purchased it to be the first project for his new production company, Liberty Films.
Who Lives In The Star Wars Galaxy
Its hard to say where old Hollywood ended and new Hollywood began. People in the industry dont think of themselves as making history, they are just going to work. But the day in 1967 that Jack Warner cleaned out his desk at Warner Bros. studio, George Lucas and Frances Ford Coppola arrived on the lot.
When Stars Collide
During the silent era it was thought a waste of money to make a movie with more than one star. Personalities like Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton were considered potent enough box office on their own. But with dwindling attendance during the great depression MGM decided to feature Hollywoods first all star ensemble cast in Grand Hotel 1932 starring the mammoth egos of Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery, John Barrymore and Greta Garbo. The director Edmund Goulding was unable to let Joan Crawford and Garbo have any scenes together for fear they might try to upstage each other. Although she complimented her Swedish co-stars beauty, Crawford hated Garbos demands for top billing. Knowing that Greta hated tardiness and Marlene Dietrich, Crawford was constantly late and played Dietrichs records loudly on the set.
Strange Encounters With Hollywood Legends
Meeting famous people is often a surreal experience for both parties. In 1956 when Elvis Presley arrived in Hollywood he and his entourage stayed at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. One day he got into the elevator. "What floor" asked the operator. "Tenth please." The operator looked at him with disdain. "You cant go up to the tenth floor. Elvis is staying there. No one is allowed there." A bemused Presley said," I know. Im Elvis." The hotel employee stared at him for a long moment then said," Well I dont care who you are, you cant go to the tenth floor." The amiable singer agreed to go to the eleventh floor and walked down the stairs to the tenth.
Masters Of Disguise
Gene Hackman once lamented that the worst thing about becoming a famous actor is that you lose the ability to observe people without being noticed yourself. But some performers are so good at disguises that notoriety is no obstacle. A case in point was John Barrymore trying to buy his first house in Beverly Hills in 1926. Frustrated by rising real estate prices due to stars like Tom Mix and Charlie Chaplin moving into the neighborhood, Barrymore went to look at a lot dressed as his most famous movie role, Mr. Hyde. The realtor was taken aback by the long haired, wild eyed, fiendish looking man who got out of the limo. Every time the broker would suggest a price he was met by an intimidating growl. Finally he made the sale by lopping twenty thousand dollars off the initial number.
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