From Beneath the Hollywood Sign

EPISODE 52 - "BIG SCREEN TO SMALL SCREEN: CLASSIC CINEMA'S TV REMAKES." (052) - 09/09/2024 ** 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.” ** Sometimes, a classic film is primed for being turned into a successful television series — think “M*A*S*H*,” “Alice,” “In The Heat of the Night,” or “Peyton Place.” But this isn’t always the case. There have been many classic films turned into TV shows with less-than-stellar results. Does anyone remember the “Casablanca" TV show on ABC with Starsky & Hutch star DAVID SOUL filling in for HUMPHREY BOGART? Don’t worry, nobody else does either! This week, we take a look at a few of the TV series that were based on classic movies that didn’t quite hit the mark. SHOW NOTES:  Sources: Television Series of the 1950s (2016), by Vincent Terrace; Encyclopedia of TV Shoes: 1925 - 2010 (2011), by Vincent Terrace; The Complete Directory To Prime Time Network TV Shows (1988), by Time Brooks and Earle F. Marsh; TCM.com; IMDBPro.com; Wikipedia.com; Movies Mentioned:  Operation Petticoat (1959), starring Cary Grant, Tony Curtis, Dina Merrill, and Arthur O’Connell; Halloween (1978), starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasence; Topper (1937), starring Cary Grant, Constance Bennett, Roland Young, and Billie Burke; How To Marry A Millionaire (1953), starring Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell; The Third Man (1949), starring Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles, Trevor Howard, and Alida Valli; My Sister Eileen (1942), starring Rosalind Russell and Janet Blair; My Sister Eileen (1955), starring Janet Leigh, Betty Garrett, and Jack Lemmon; Please Don’t Eat The Daisies (1960), starring Doris Day and David Niven; The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), starring Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison; Casablanca (1942), staring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Peter Lorre, and Sydney Greenstreet; --------------------------------- 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 51 - “Richard Conte (Star of the Month) ” - 09/02/2024 ** 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.” ** In the great film noir classic Thieves Highway, a gripping drama that takes on the dirty underbelly of the trucking industry, the spectacular RICHARD CONTE plays Nick Garcos, a world-weary, jaded, World War II vet who returns home. After finding his family's produce business in shambles and his father crippled, he seeks revenge against the crooked rival produce dealer who caused his father's accident. In his gripping portrayal, Conte shows his strengths as an actor. With his square shoulders, cleft chin, and intense eyes, Conte gives the impression that he means business. Conte was just as comfortable playing mobsters and street hoods as he was playing charming, sympathetic leading men. He always projected manly strength, and you knew he was no one you wanted to mess with. So say hello to our Star of the Month, RICHARD CONTE. SHOW NOTES:  Sources: Bad Boys: The Actors of Film Noir (2003), by Karen Burroughs; “Conte In the Sun,” March 3, 1946, by Thomas M Pryor, New York Times; “A Star Comes Home,” March 3, 1950, by Louis Berg, Los Angeles Times Magazine; “The Role I Liked Best…” May 20,1950, by Richard Conte, Saturday Evening Post; “Richard Conte: Official Biography,” June 14, 1951, Universal Pictures; “Conte Forms Indie Pix, TV Company,” January 21, 1960, Variety; “Conte Has His Own Method,” February 14, 1960, by Don Albert, Los Angeles Times; “Actor Conte, Wife Reveal Divorce,” July 12, 1962, by Harrison Carroll. LA Herald Examiner;  “Richard Conte Getting Offers He Can’t Refuse As Ideal Mafia Type,” March 14. 1973, Variety; “Richard Conte, Cold-Eyed Movie Gangster, Dies at 61;” April 16, 1975, by Jack Jones, Los Angeles Times; “Richard Conte Dies In Hollywood at 65,” April 23 1975, Variety; TCM.com; IMDBPro.com; Wikipedia.com; Movies Mentioned:  Heaven With A Barbed Wire (1939), starring Jean Rogers and Glenn Ford; Guadalcanal Diary (1943), Starring William Bendix, Lloyd Nolan, and Anthony Quinn; The Purple Heart (1944), starring Dana Andrews and Farley Granger; Captain Eddie (1945), starring Fred MacMurray and Lynn Bari; A Bell For Adano (1945), starring Gene Tierney and John Hodiak; A Walk In The Sun (1945), starring Dana Andrews. Lloyd Bridges, and John Ireland; The Spider (1945), starring Faye Marlowe; 13 Rue Madeleine (1947), starring James Cagney; The Other Love (1947), starring Barbara Stanwyck and David Niven; Call Northside 777 (1948), starring James Stewart and Helen Walker; House of Strangers (1949), starring Susan Hayward; Thieves Highway (1949), staring Lee J. Cobb and Valentina Cortese Big Jack (1949), starring Wallace Beery and Marjorie Main; Whirlpool (1950), starring Gene Tierney and Jose Ferrer; The Sleeping City (1950), starring Coleen Gray  Under The Gun (1951), starring Audrey Totter; The Blue Gardenia (1953), starring Anne Baxter; Highway Dragnet (1954), starring Joan Bennett; The Big Combo (1955), starring Cornel Wilde; I'll Cry Tomorrow (1955). Starring Susan Hayward; New York Confidential (1955), Starring Broderick Crawford; Full of Life (1956), starring Judy Holiday; The Brothers Rico (1957), starring Dianne Foster; They Came To Cordova (1959), starring Gary Cooper and Rita Hayworth; Ocean's 11 (1960), starring Frank Sinatra; Who's Been Sleeping In My Bed? (1963), starring Dean Martin; Circus World (1964), starring John Wayne and Rita Hayworth; The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965); Tony Rome (1967); The Lady In Cement (1968); Hotel (1967); Operation Eagle Cross (1968); The Godfather (1972); Shoot First, Die Later (1974); Evil Eye (1975); Violent Rome (1975); --------------------------------- 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 50 - “Birthday Tribute to Classic Film star Vera Miles” - 08/26/2024 ** 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.” ** After placing 3rd runner up to Miss America in 1948 as Miss Kansas, VERA MILES soon embarked on a long and illustrious career in Hollywood and was soon working with great directors like ALFRED HITCHCOCK (“Psycho” and “The Wrong Man”) and JOHN FORD (“The Searchers” and “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance”). This week, we pay tribute to Miles as she turns 95 on August 23rd. Listen as we celebrate this beautiful, talented, and somewhat underrated star.  SHOW NOTES:  Sources: Hitchcock’s Heroines (2018), by Caroline Young; Women In The Films of John Ford (2014), by David Mevel; “Vera Miles: Country Girl in Hollywood,” May 13, 1956, by J.D. Spiro, Los Angeles, Times; “Vera Miles: She’s Alfred Hitchcock’s Newest Acting Find,” January 13, 1957, Parade Magazine; “Vera Miles Says: I’m Glad I Was Poor,” May 1959, by Amy Francis, Screenland Magazine; “Vera Miles: Official Biography,” September 1961, Paramount Pictures; “The Loser Who Became A Star,” May 15, 1973, by Earl Wilson, The New York Post; “Fighting Trim Vera Miles Still A Doer,” February 20, 1981, by Mark Hemeter, The Times-Picayne (New Orleans); “Psycho Actress Defends Hitchcock,” June 25, 1983, by Richard Freedman, The Spokesman-Review, Newhouse News Service; “Vera Miles: Hollywood Walk of Fame,” June 29, 2010, by Carina MacKenzie, Los Angeles Times; TCM.com; IMDBPro.com; Wikipedia.com; Movies Mentioned:  For Men Only (1952), starring Paul Henried; The Rose Bowl Story (1952), starring Marshall Thompson; The Charge At Feather River (1953), starring Guy Madison and Helen Westcott; Pride of the Blue Grass (1954), starring Lloyd Bridges; Tarzan’s Hidden Jungle (1955), starring Gordon Scott; Wichita (1955), starring Joel McCrea; The Searchers (1956), starring John Wayne and Jeffrey Hunter; The Wrong Man (1956), starring Henry Fonda; Beau James (1957), starring Bob Hope; Web Of Evidence (1959), starring Van Johnson; The FBI Story (1959), starring James Stewart; A Touch Of Larceny (1960), starring James Mason and George Sanders; 5 Banded Women (1960), starring Jeanne Moreau; Psycho (1960), starring Anthony Perkins, Janey Leigh, and John Gavin;  Back Street (1961), starring Susan Hayward and John Gavin; The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), starring John Wayne and James Stewart; A Tiger Walks (1964), starring Brian Keith; Those Calloways (1965), starring Brian Keith, Brandon De Wilde, and Linda Evans; Follow Me Boys! (1966), starring Fred MacMurray; The Spirit Is Willing (1967), starring Sid Caesar; Gentle Giant (1967), starring Dennis Weaver and Ralph Meeker; Hellfighters (1968), starring John Wayne and Katharine Ross; The Wild Country (1970), starring Steve Forrest; One Little Indian (1973), starring James Garner; The Castaway Cowboy (1974), starring James Garner; Run For The Roses (1977), starring Stuart Whitman; Smash Up On Interstate 5 (1976), starring Robert Conrad, Buddy Ebson, Sue Lyon, Terry Moore, and Tommy Lee Jones; Psycho II (1983), starring Anthony Perkins; The Initiation (1984), starring Clu Galugar and Daphne Zuniga; Separate Lives (1995), starring Linda Hamilton and Jim Belushi; --------------------------------- 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 49 - “Birthday Tribute to Classic Cinema Star Ann Blyth ” - 08/19/2024 ** This episode is sponsored and brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/BENEATH and get on your way to being your best self.” ** With her crystal clear soprano voice, porcelain doll face, and fierce acting talent, ANN BLYTH became a much-in-demand star in the 1940s and 1950s. While known mostly as a romantic musical comedy star in films such as “Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid” (1948), “Rose Marie” (1954), and “Kismet” (1955), she was also a deft dramatic actress when given the chance. Who can forget her as Veda, the daughter who made JOAN CRAWFORD’s life a living hell in “Mildred Pierce” (1945), or as the downtrodden alcoholic singer in “The Helen Morgan Story” (1957)? Blyth turns 96 on August 16th and is truly a living legend. Listen this week as we pay tribute with an episode about Ann Blyth’s remarkable life and career. SHOW NOTES:  Sources: Ann Blyth: Singer, Actress, Star (2018), by Jacqueline T. Lynch; “Ann Blyth: Official Biography,” July 1956, Paramount Pictures; “Film Actress Breaks Back in Accident,” March 10, 1945, LA Examiner; “Actress Ready to Work After Skiing Accident,” January 18, 1946, LA Examiner; “Ann Blyth’s Mother Dies,’ July 23, 1946, Los Angeles Times; “Bright Future Visioned For Youthful Ann Blyth,” September 10, 1949, by Hedda Hopper, Los Angeles Times; “Angelic Annie,” September 27, 1952, by Richard G. Hubler, Collier’s Magazine; “The Blyth Spirit,” October 12, 1952, by William Brownell, New York Times; “Ann Blyth: Bride of the Year,” June 1953, Photoplay Magazine; “A Blyth Spirit From An Earlier Error,” February 28, 1985, by Jack Hawn, Los Angeles Times; “She’s Still Singing Just As Beautifully,” March 19, 1989, by Mitchell Smyth, Toronto Daily Star; “Looking Back: Ann Blyth” June 5, 1990, by Ann Blyth, The Hollywood Reporter; “Playing Thier Songs,” October 14,1994, by Libby Slate, Los Angeles Times; “Little Bit of This, Little Bit of That,” September 29, 1997, by Candace A. Wedlan, Los Angeles Times;  “Not Like Veda,” August 12, 2013, by Susan King, Los Angeles Times; TCM.com; IMDBPro.com; Wikipedia.com; Movies Mentioned:  Chip Off The Old Block (1944), starring Donald O’Connor, and Peggy Ryan; Babes On Swing Street (1944), starring Peggy Ryan; Mildred Pierce (1945), starring Joan Crawford, Ann Blyth, Zachary Scott, Jack Carson, and Eve Arden; Swell Guy (1946), starring Sonny Tufts; Brute Force (1947), starring Burt Lancaster, Yvonne DeCarlo, and Ella Raines; Killer McCoy (1947), starring Mickey Rooney; A Woman’s Vengeance (1948) starring Charles Boyer; Another Part of The Forest (1948), starring Fredric March, Florence Eldridge, Edmond O’Brien, and Dan Duryea; Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (1948), starring William Powell and Irene Hervey; Top O’ The Morning (1949), starring Bing Crosby and Barry Fitzgerald; Once More My Darling (1949), starring Robert Montgomery; Free For All (1949), starring Robert Cummings: Our Very Own (1950), starring Farley Granger; Katy Did It (1951), starring Mark Stevens; The Great Caruso (1951), starring Mario Lanza; Thunder On the Hill (1951), starring Claudette Colbert; All The Brother’s Were Valiant (1953), starring Robert Taylor, Stewart Granger;  Rosie Marie (1954), starring Ann Blyth; The Student Prince (1954), starring Mario Lanza; Kismet (1955), starring Howard Keel; Slander (1957), starring Van Johnson and Steve Cochran; The Buster Keaton Story (1957), starring Donald O’Connor; The Helen Morgan Story (1957), starring Paul Newman; --------------------------------- 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 48 - “STEVE & NAN'S FAVORITE CLASSIC FILMS OF THE 1940s ” - 08/12/2024 ** This episode is sponsored and 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 1940s was a phenomenal time for movies. Auteurs like ALFRED HITCHCOCK, GEORGE STEVENS, WILIAM WYLER, and BILLY WILDER were coming into their own with important and personal films that changed the landscape of cinemas. Also, stars like BETTE DAVIS, KATHARINE HEPBURN, CARY GRANT, and HENRY FONDA were defining the screen roles that would make them legends. This week, Nan and Steve will discuss and disect a few of their very favorite films of the most golden of all decades in film.  SHOW NOTES:  Sources: Preston Sturges By Preston Sturges: His Life in His Words (1991), by Preston Sturges and Sandy Sturges; George Cukor: A Double Life (2013), by Patrick McGilligan; Raoul Walsh: The True Adventures of Hollywood’s Legendary Director (2013), by Marilyn Ann Moss; Robert Rossen: The Films and Politics of a Blacklisted Idealist (2013), by Alan Casty; Michael Curtiz: A Life In Film (2021), by Alan K. Rode; Possessed: The Life of Joan Crawford (2010), by Donald Spoto; George Stevens: The Films of a Hollywood Giant (2019), by Neil Sinyard; Wild Bill Wellman: Hollywood Rebel (2015), by Wiliam Wellman, Jr; Stanwyck (1994), by Axel Madsen; Fonda: My Life (1981), by Henry Fonda; Ingrid Bergman: My Story (1980), by Ingrid Bergman and Alan Burgess; Cary Grant: A Brilliant Disguise (2020), by Scott Eyman; Ida Lupino: A Biography (1996), by William Donati; TCM.com; IMDBPro.com; Wikipedia.com; Movies Mentioned:  Christmas In July (1940), starring Dick Powell, Ellen Drew, William Demarest, Raymond Walburn, Jimmy Conlin, Rod Cameron, and Franklin Pangborn; Penny Serenade (1941), starring Cary Grant, Irene Dunne, Beulah Bondi, and Edgar Buchanan; The Lady Eve (1941), starring Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Charles Coburn, William Demarest, and Eugene Pallette; High Sierra (1941), starring Humphrey Bogart, Ida Lupino, Joan Leslie, Cornel Wilde, Arthur Kennedy, Henry Travers, and Alan Curtis; The Ox-Bow Incident (1943), starring Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews, Harry Morgan, Mary Beth Hughes, Anthony Quinn, Jane Darwell, William Eythe, and Harry Davenport; Gaslight (1944), starring Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer, Joseph Cotten, Angela Landbury, and Dame May Witty; Mildred Pierce (1945), starring Joan Crawford, Ann Blyth, Zachary Scott, Jack Carson, eve Arden, and Bruce Bennett; All The Kings Men (1949), starring Broderick Crawford, John Ireland, Joanne Dry, Anne Seymour, and John Derek; --------------------------------- 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