From Beneath the Hollywood Sign

EPISODE 58 - "CLASSIC CINEMA'S HORROR HEROES: BELA LUGOSI & BORIS KARLOFF" - 10/21/2024 When you think of the classic Universal Studios monster movies of the 1930s and 1940s, the two names that come to mind are always BORIS KARLOFF and BELA LUGOSI. These two titans of the horror film genre gave us endless hours of chills and thrills in their portrayal of such iconic movie monsters as Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, and The Mummy. This week’s Halloween episode pays tribute to the films and lives of these two incredible actors.  SHOW NOTES:  Sources: Karloff: The Life of Boris Karloff (1972), by Peter Underwood; The Films of Boris Karloff (1974), by Richard Bojarski; Lugosi: The Forgotten King (1986), Documentary; Boris Karloff: More Than a Monster (2011), by Stephen Jacobs; No Traveler Returns: The Lost Years of Bela Lugosi (2916), by Gary D. Rhodes & Bill Kaffenberger; Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff (2017), by Gregory William Mank; Boris Karloff: A Gentleman’s Life (2018), by Scott Allen Nollen; Lugosi: The Rise and Fall of Hollywood’s Dracula (2023), by Koren Shami; “Actor Bela Lugosi, Dracula of Screen, Succumbs After Heart Attack at 73, August 17, 1956, Los Angeles Times; “Boris Karloff Dead: Horror-Movie Star,” February 4. 1969, New York Times; “Boris Karloff Dies In London Hospital at 81,” February 4, 1969, Los Angeles Times; “In ‘The Black Cat,’ the Titans of Terror, Karloff and Lugosi, Face Off,” Oct. 26, 2018, New York Times; BelaLugosi.com RogerEbert.com TCM.com; IMDBPro.com; IBDB.com; Wikipedia.com; Movies Mentioned:  BELA LUGOSI: The Silent Command (1923); The Thirteenth Chair (1929); Dracula (1931);  Freaks (1932); Mark of the Vampire (1935); Murder In the Rue Morgue (1932); Island of Lost Souls (1932); The Black Cat (1934); The Raven (1935); Ninotchka (1939), starring Greta Garbo; Son of Frankenstein (1939), starring Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi; Black Friday (1940); You’ll Find Out (1940); The Devil Bat (1940); The Saint’s Double Trouble (1940); The Wolf Man (1942); The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942); The Corpse Vanishes (1942); Bowery At Midnight (1942); Ghosts on the Loose (1943); Zombie’s on Broadway (1945); The Body Snatcher (1945); Genius At Work (1946); Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948); Plan 9 From Outer Space (1957); BORIS KARLOFF: The Lightning Raider (1919); The Hope Diamond Mystery  (1920); The Deadlier Sex (1920); The Hellion (1923); Omar The Tentmaker (1922);  Dynamite Dan (1924); Tarzan and the Golden Lion (1927); The Criminal Code (1930); Frankenstein (1931); Scarface (1932); The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932); The Mummy (1932); The Ghoul (1933); Gift of Gab (1934); The Invisible Ray (1935); The Raven (1935); The Bride of Frankenstein (1935); The Son of Frankenstein (1939); Mr. Wong, Detective (1938); Black Friday (1940); You’ll Find Out (1940); House of Frankenstein (1944); The Body Snatcher (1945); Isle of the Dead (1945); Bedlam (1946); The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947); Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff (1948); The Strange Door (1951); The Black Castle (1952); The Island Monster (1954); The Raven (1963); The Terror (1963); Die, Monster, Die! (1965); Caldron of Blood (1968); How The Grinch Stole Christmas (1966); Targets (1968); The Crimson Cult (1968); Fear Chamber (1968); House of Evil (1968); Isle of the Snake People (1971); The Incredible Invasion (1971); --------------------------------- http://www.airwavemedia.com Please contact [email protected] if you would like to advertise on our podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

EPISODE 57 - “Old Hollywood’s Unlikely Casanova: Gene Markey” - 10/14/2024 GENE MARKEY was an interesting character. He was a Hollywood writer and producer who had a decent, but not spectacular career. But what makes him so fascinating is the company he keeps. This man was once married to three of the most beautiful and fascinating women in the world: JOAN BENNETT, HEDY LAMARR, and MYRNA LOY. He later left Hollywood behind and married a wealthy Kentucky horsewoman and lived happily ever after. This week we explore the life, career, and loves of this most unlikely Casanova. SHOW NOTES:  Sources: Ecstasy and Me (1966), by Hedy Lamarr Myrna Loy: Being and Becoming (1987), by James Kotsilibas & Myrna Loy The Bennetts: An Acting Family (2004), by Brian Kellow; Hollywood at the Races: Film's Love Affair With The Turf (2019), by Alan Shuck; Hedy Lamarr: The Most Beautiful Woman in Film (2021), by Ruth Barton; “Gene Markey, Author, Screenwriter, Producer, and Breeder of Horses Dies,” May 2, 1980, New York Times; TCM.com; IMDBPro.com; IBDB.com; Wikipedia.com; Movies Mentioned:  The Floradora Girl (1930), starring Marion Davies; The Great Lover (1931), starring Adolphe Menjou & Irene Dunne; She Wanted A Millionaire (1932), starring Joan Bennett & Spencer Tracy; As You Desire Me (1932), starring Greta Garbo; Baby Face (1933), starring Barbara Stanwyck; Little Women (1933), starring Katharine Hepburn, Frances Dee, Joan Bennett, & Jean Parker; Midnight Mary (1934), starring Loretta Young; Fashions of 1934 (1934), starring Bette Davis; Champagne Charlie (1936), starring Paul Cavanaugh; Private Number (1936), starring Loretta Young & Robert Taylor; Girl's Dormitory (1936), starring Ruth Chatterton; Wee Willie Winkie (1937), starring Shirley Temple; On The Avenue (1937), starring Dick Powell, Madeleine Carroll & Alice Faye; Suez (1938), starring Tyrone Power & Loretta Young;  Kentucky (1938), starring Loretta Young, Richard Greene, & Walter Brennan; The Little Princess (1939), starring Shirley Temple; The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939), starring Basil Rathbone; Lillian Russell (1940), staring Alice Faye; Algiers (1938), starring Charles Boyer & Hedy Lamarr; Lady of The Tropics (1939) Boom Town (1940), starring Clark Cable, Spencer Tracy, Hedy Lamarr & Claudette Colbert; The Best Years Of Our Lives (1946), starring Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews & Teresa Wright; Moss Rose (1947), starring Victor Mature & Peggy Cummins; The Bachelor and The Bobby-Soxer (1947), withCary Grant, Myrna Loy, & Shirley Temple; The Song Of The Thin Man (1947), starring William Powell & Myrna Loy; Mr. Blanding Builds His Dream House (1948), starring Cary Grant & Myrna Loy; Cheaper By The Dozen (1950), starring Clifton Webb, Myrna Loy, & Jeanne Crain; Glory (1955) starring Margaret O’Brien; --------------------------------- http://www.airwavemedia.com Please contact [email protected] if you would like to advertise on our podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

EPISODE 56 - “MARJORIE REYNOLDS: CLASSIC CINEMA STAR OF THE MONTH” - 10/07/2024 Most film fanatics agree that after the Paramount Picture’s holiday classic “Holiday Inn” (1942), actress MARJORIE REYNOLDS, who gave a star-turn as struggling actress Linda Mason who gets a break singing and dancing in the seasonal nightclub run by BING CROSBY, should have been a big star. However, for reasons not quite clear, she didn’t rise into the stratosphere. While she had a very respectable and long career, she just didn’t soar to the top, as expected. As our Star of the Month, we will take a look into Marjorie Reynolds’ life and career and explore our theories on why “Holiday Inn” did not make her a major star.  SHOW NOTES:  Sources: Christmas In the Movies (2023), by Jeremy Arnold; Whatever Became of…10th Series (1986), by Richard Lamparski; My Heart Belongs (1976), by Mary Martin; Scarlet Fever (1977), by William Pratt (including the collection of Herb Bridges); The Film Lovers Companion (1997), by David Quinlan; Biography of Marjorie Reynolds, July 25, 1942, Paramount Pictures;  “Super Cinderella,” November 1942, by William Lynch value, Silver Screen magazine; “Marjorie’s Horse Comes In,” November 7, 1942, by Kyle Crichton, Collier’s Magazine; Versatility Pays Off for Marjorie Reynolds,” March 10, 1944, by Hedda Hopper, Los Angeles, Times; “Divorce Plans Discussed by Miss Reynolds,” July 23, 1951, by Hedda Hopper, Los Angeles, Times; “Marjorie Reynolds to Be Wed to Film Editor,” May 16, 1952, Los Angeles, Times; “Marjorie Reynolds Weds Film Editor,” May 18, 1953, The Sedalia Democrat (Missouri); “Marjorie Reynolds: Sixty Years in the Film Business,” April 1984, by Colin Briggs, Hollywood Studio Magazine; “Marjorie Reynolds, 79, Actress, In Classic Films and on Television,” February 16, 1997, The New York Times; TCM.com; IMDBPro.com; IBDB.com; Wikipedia.com; Movies Mentioned:  Holiday Inn (1942), starring Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Marjorie Reynolds, & Virginia Dale; Wine, Women, and Song (1933), starring Lilyan Tashman; Murder In Greenwich Village (1937), starring Richard Arlen & Fay Wray; Tex Rides With The Boy Scouts (1937), starring Tex Ritter; The Overland Express (1938), starring Buck Jones; Western Trails (1938), starring Bob Baker; Six Shootin’ Sheriff (1938), starring Ken Maynard; Star Spangled Rhythm (1942), starring Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour, Veronica Lake, & Alan Ladd; Dixie (1943), starring Bing Crosby & Dorothy Lamour; Up In Mabel's Room (1944), starring Dennis O’Keefe & Gail Patrick; Ministry of Fear (1944), starring Ray Milland; Three Is A Family (1944), starring Charles Ruggles & Fay Bainter; Bring On The Girls (1945), starring Veronica Lake & Eddie Bracken; Monsieur Beaucaire (1946), starring Bob Hope & Joan Caulfield; The Time Of Their Lives (1946), starring Bud Abbott & Lou Costello; Meet Me On Broadway (1946), starring Fred Brady & Spring Byington; Heaven Only Knows (1947), Bob Cummings & Brian Donlevy; Badmen of Tombstone (1949), starring Barry Sullivan & Broderick Crawford; That Midnight Kiss (1949), starring Mario Lanza & Kathryn Grayson; The Great Jewel Robber (1950), starring David Brian; Home Town Story (1951), starring Jeffry Lynn, Alan Hale Jr, & Marilyn Monroe; Models, Inc (1952), starring Howard Duff & Coleen Gray; His Kind of Woman (1951), starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, & Vincent Price; The Silent Witness (1962), starring Tristram Coffin & George Kennedy; Pearl (1978), starring Angie Dickinson, Dennis Weaver, & Robert Wagner; --------------------------------- http://www.airwavemedia.com Please contact [email protected] if you would like to advertise on our podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

EPISODE 55 - “Favorite Classic Films of the 1950s ” - 09/30/2024 ** This episode is sponsored brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/BENEATH and get on your way to being your best self.” ** The 1950s was a real transitional decade for classic films. As we got further away from WW2, and the Cold War began to rise up prominently, there was a cynicism across the land that influenced the content of many Hollywood movies. Films took on a grittier, more realistic feel, and the subject matters were darker and more controversial. It was the decade that sparked masterpieces like “Sunset Boulevard,” “All About Eve,” “From Here To Eternity,” “Cat On A Hot Tin Roof,” “A Streetcar Named Desire,” “Anatomy of a Murder,” “ Strangers on a Train,” “Shane,” and “High Noon.” Listen as Steve and Nan talk about some special 1950s films that inspire them. SHOW NOTES:  Sources: TCM.com; IMDBPro.com; Wikipedia.com; NewYorkTimes.com RogerEbert.com Movies Mentioned:  No Man of Her Own (1950), starring Barbara Stanwyck, John Lund, and Richard Denning; In A Lonely Place (1950), starring Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame; A Place In The Sun (1951), starring Montgomery Cliff, Elizabeth Taylor, and Shelley Winters; Pick Up On South Street (1953), starring Richard Widmark, Jean Peters, Thelma Ritter, and Richard Kiley; Witness For the Prosecution (1957), starring Charles Laughton, Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, and Elsa Lanchester; A Face In The Crowd (1957), starring Andy Griffith, Patricia Neal, Lee Remick, Walter Matthau, and Anthony Franciosa; Big Country (1958), starring Gregory Peck, Jean Simmons, Carroll Baker, Burl Ives, Charles Bickford and Charlton Heston; Indiscreet (1959), starring Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman; --------------------------------- http://www.airwavemedia.com Please contact [email protected] if you would like to advertise on our podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

EPISODE 54 - "SPECIAL GUEST: PERI GILPIN TALKS OLD HOLLYWOOD" - 09/23/2024 ** This episode is sponsored brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/BENEATH and get on your way to being your best self.” ** We all know her as the hilarious and acerbic radio producer Roz Doyle on the iconic sitcom “Frasier,” and on the reboot currently airing on Paramount Plus. This week, we have a sit-down interview with actress PERI GILPIN. Peri discusses her love of classic films, the films that inspired and influenced her, and the classic film stars who she has had the good-fortune to work with. Tune in to this very special episode.  SHOW NOTES:  Sources: TheStudioTour.com; TCM.com; IMDBPro.com; IBDB.com; Wikipedia.com; Movies Mentioned:  Shell (2024), starring Elizabeth Moss and Kate Hudson; Please Don’t Eat the Daisies (1960); Pillow Talk (1959); Move Over Darling (1963); The Thrill of It All (1963); Switch (1991); The Importance of Being Earnest (1952); Tootsie (1982); Bringing Up Baby (1938); The Philadelphia Story (1940); All About Eve (1950); Star Wars (1977); Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969); North By Northwest (1959); The Godfather (1972); The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956); Sense and Sensibility (1995); The Sound of Music (1965) --------------------------------- http://www.airwavemedia.com Please contact [email protected] if you would like to advertise on our podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices