Well they do say theres nothing like a Dame and she sounds like a right character!Did you ever go to see her live or meet her ?93 is an excellent age for that era so I wonder what age she was when she was made a Dame?

I bet somewhere in some attic or store cupboard there is a film in existence of Barbara at that premiere-Lets hope it emerges before you celebrate your 100th birthday

Have you heard what happened today?An americans magazine website accidentally posted an obituary for Kirk Douglas that had a DO NOT PUBLISH in capital letters notice on it-beetroot blushes all round but I do hope it wasnr an omen

Dame Sybil was made a Dame in 1931 at the age of 50. I never did see her onstage, I always regretted not seeing her in Waiting in the Wings. That was a Noel Coward play set in a home for retired actors, Lauren Bacall and Rosemary Harris revived it on Broadway in 1999 to coincide with Coward's Centenary.

I did see the other great Dame, Edith Evans in Coward's Hay Fever at The Old Vic in 1965. Maggie Smith stole the play as the languid Myra, especially when she came down to breakfast, and drawled as only she can, "this haddock is disgusting!"

Derek Jacobi and Lynn Redgrave were the juvenile's in the supporting cast, and just to complete the evening, when I went into the bar at the interval, there was Judy Garland.
Can you blame me for being thankful to be so old, and to have seen all those wonderful stars?

As Kirk will be 98 this month I am sure that they have his Obituary all ready to publish, but that certainly was a careless mistake. Did you know that he made his film debut at the age of 30 in Barbara's "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers" in 1946?

Wow I can imagine that Maggie Smith was captivating totally owning the audiences attendion.You really have had some wonderful experiences and good on you for taking the iniatative and making these experiences happen.Most of us just dream about it!
The most famous person Ive seen perform live is Sheila Hancock in a stage version of The Anniversary.She was real quality.
I wasnt aware that Kirk Douglas's first big film was with Barbara Stanwyck_that will for you make it all the more poignant when Kirk does away as hes one of the last livingblinks with Barbara.Lets hope its a little while off yet-Im not ready yet to lose those last links to hollywoods golden era

May I take the question back to Barbara Stanwyck please?Im interested in knowing and understanding a little more about her background.Am I right in thinking she was orphaned early in life or lost one of her parents early in life and that her original surname was Stevens?Did she have many siblings and did she have an overbearing close relative who tried to push her into showbusiness?

Barbara was a change of life baby for mother Catherine McGee Stevens, who already had three teenage daughters, Maud, Mabel, and Mildred, and a son Byron, who was two years old when Ruby Catherine Stevens was born 16th July 1907. Her mother was expecting her sixth child when a drunk knocked her off a trolley car, and she struck her head on the pavement and died, Ruby was just two years old. This was too much for the father Byron, who went off to help build the Panama Canal and was never heard from again. For the next few years Ruby went to various foster homes, where she learned to smoke and swear, but sometimes travelled with her sister Millie who was a showgirl.

It was her own determination to better herself that got her into the back row of the chorus at the Strand Roof, Broadway when she was just 15 years old. The homeless orphan from Brooklyn with a will of iron had finally got her foot in the show business door, and she did it all on her own.

Within just four years she would go from the back row of the chorus to become a dramatic actress starring in her first Broadway play, and she was just 19 years old!

Incidentally, you can see the complete film of The Strange Love of Martha Ivers on YouTube.

I saw the original play of The Anniversary with Sheila Hancock playing the role of the daughter in law, the role that she had in the film. The star was Mona Washbourne, a wonderful character actress, who gave a brilliant performance. I am afraid that when Bette Davis starred in the film version it just became another camp Davis vehicle, with none of the marvellous subtleties of the play. Bette just chewed the scenery, and not surprisingly Sheila, and the other actors from the original play were very unhappy with the results. It must have been interesting to see Sheila as the monstrous mother from hell, I am sure that she was better than Bette.

Sheila was in one of the first stage reviews that I ever saw, One Over the Eight, with Kenneth Williams. This was a follow up to his other review Pieces of Eight, which I also saw, this time he starred with Fenella Fielding in 1959.

Thank you for all the biographical information on Barbara.She truly was a force of nature with heaps of gumption and guts.She really had to fight for her dream.

Her early years sound deeply tragic and must have been very unsettling but paradoxically character forming perhaps helping to make her more determined to forge her way in life.
Are you aware of any quirks or unusual habits etc Barbara had that are commonly known or even less commonly known?Im interested in getting a feel/sense of her personality away from the world of hollywood

Yes Sheila Hancock is divine I agree!

The strangest quirk about Barbara was that she was unbelievably shy. It was sheer agony for her to be herself, which is why she avoided chat shows and interviews.

As she once said, "when I have a script to read from and am in character I can walk into a room as if I own it, but if I have to be myself I am very uncomfortable."

There is an example of Barbara as herself on YouTube when she was presented with The Los Angeles Film Critics Life Achievement Award. You can see that she is shaking with fright, and is almost overcome with the reception she received.

I sometime wished that she had been more like Bette Davis and blown her own trumpet a bit, Bette was a great self publicist.

Incidentally, I forgot to mention that when we were discussing Dame Sybil Thorndike recently that Judi Dench portrayed her in "My Week With Marilyn." She wasn't really like her, but she was delightful, as was the film.

Congratulations to us, we have had over 20.000 viewers, who would have believed it when you started this thread!

I think some of the best artists /performers are often shy.I think Ive heard similar about Anne Bancroft and Barbara Streissand although maybe not as severe as Ms Stanwycks.

My week with Marilyn-Is that a film you recommend Ive never seen it but Judi Dench is virtually never in a poor film

Yes Im delighted with the number of viewings weve had-What was your prediction for the number of views by the end of the year?

Do you know much about Eva Marie Saint?I thought she was divine in "On the Waterfront" with Marlon Brando unless Im confusing her with somebody else?

Anyway shes noted for the long length of her marriage about 60 years ,a rarity in Hollywood.I think after Eva the longest hollywood marriages were Paul Newman to Joanne Woodward and Bob and Dolores Hope (although Bobs frequent infidelity is well documented) Im sure Im missing somebody out though?

Yes, I remember seeing Anne Bancroft on the Wogan show, and she was paralysed with fear, and hardly said a word.

I saw On the Waterfront when it was first released, but I am not a Brando fan and have not seen it in 60 years, so cannot remember Eve Marie Saint's performance. The only other film that I can recall seeing her in is North by Northwest.

There have been many lasting marriages in Hollywood, but they rarely get mentioned as the much married stars always get more attention from the tabloids.

Kirk Douglas has been married to his wife Anne for 60 years, although I heard that he has had a few dalliances in between.

Charlton Heston was married to his wife Lydia for 64 years until his death in 2008.

Eli Wallach was married to his actress wife Anne Jackson for 66 years until his death this year.

Ricardo Montalban was married to Loretta Young's sister Georgian for 63 years until her death in 2007.

Angela Lansbury was married for 54 years to her husband Peter Shaw in 2003.

Ann Blyth was married to her Doctor husband for 54 years until his death.

Nancy Davis was married to Ronald Reagan for 52 years until his death ten years ago.

Alan Alda has been married to his wife for 57 years.

James Garner was married to his wife for 57 years until his death this year.

Joel McCrea was married to actress Francis Dee for 57 years until his death in 1990.

That is just a few, and I am sure that there are a lot more.

I predicted that we would have 20.00 viewers by Christmas, and as we still have three more weeks to go I wouldn't be surprised if we reach 25.000 by Christmas.

I would hope that we will get more joining in as we get more and more viewers.

Wow I hadnt appreciated that the list of durable hollywood marriages was so big-I could be wrong but I think Larry Hagman,Arlene Dahl and John Forsthye may have had very long marriages also?

Speaking of big dates and milestones are we approaching the 100th anniversary of the founding of any of the big studios and do you expect there to be a big commeration?

Yes I agree with you I just wish more would lose their shyness and post on the thread!

Arlene Dahl has been married six times, although her last marriage has lasted thirty years.

Larry Hagman died a month before what would have been his 58th wedding anniversary.

John Forsythe was married three times, his second marriage lasted 50 years until his wife's death. His third marriage lasted eight years until his death.

I doubt if there will be any celebrations to commemorate the Centenary of the cinema, most of the studios are run by businessmen who don't care about the industry like the old time moguls did.

I noticed that Barbara made a film called Christmas in Connecticut. I'll probably give that one a go too over the Christmas period.

You couldn't wish for a better comedy to get you in a seasonable mood, definitely in my Top Ten of all of her films. Once again Barbara got to display her wonderful gift for comedy, and she was helped by a terrific supporting cast, just a pity it wasn't directed by Preston Sturges rather than her friend Peter Godfrey.

There is a wonderful scene in the film when they go to a local dance, it looks so unrehearsed and natural, Barbara is laughing her head off, and at one time seems to be having hysterics. I hope that you enjoy this delightful comedy as much as I do.

30 years is a longtime to be married by showbiz standards but I clearly got confused over Arlene Dahl-it amazes me that shes been married 6 times which is a lot but yet its always Elizabeth Taylor and Zsa Zsa Gabor that the media bang on about in terms of legendary multiple marriers from Hollywoods golden age.

I note also that Shirley Temple was married to her second husband for 55 years until his death in 2005.

Such a shame that hollywood seems reluctant to REALLY celebrate its golden era as it has a lot to teach contemporary film makers.

Oh I noticed another actress has just died aged 77-didnt catch her name but she played Mary or Mary Magdalene in a biblical film about Jesus life?Not sure that she was a "big" well known name.

Lana Turner, like Liz Taylor married eight times, and married one of her husbands twice.

Zsa, Zsa beat them both by marrying NINE times!

The actress who died was Joanna Dunham, and I must confess that I have never heard of her.

Im not so familar with old hollywoods MALE multiple marrying stars.Are you able to elucidate please Walter?

Just out of curiosity what would you say was Debbie Reynolds best film?

Mickey Rooney had the dubious distinction of sharing the title of the most married Hollywood male. He married eight times, and his first wife was Ava Gardner.

He shared a link with musician Artie Shaw who married Ava two years after she divorced Mickey. Artie, also married eight times, Lana Turner was his third wife, Ava was his fifth, and Evelyn Keyes was his eighth. Richard Pryor and Jerry Lee Lewis have both been married seven times. Tony Curtis was married six times, as was Rex Harrison, Boris Karloff, and Stan Laurel.

Clark Gable married five times, as did Cary Grant, Henry Fonda, George C. Scott, Martin Scorsese, Dennis Hopper, John Huston, and Lorenzo Lamas, who looks like he will soon catch up to Mum, Arlene Dahl in the much married stakes.

Gig Young was almost 65 when he shot his 21 year old fifth wife and then turned the gun on himself, the mystery of why he did it has never been solved.

Frank Sinatra was married four times, as was Jason Robards, and so has Ben Kingsley.

Errol Flynn married three times, as did Charles Bronson.

For me, the best Debbie Reynolds film was The Unsinkable Millie Brown, the character she played in this MGM musical was a feisty self made millionaires who survived the sinking of the Titanic. Debbie received a well deserved Oscar Nomination for her performance.

Another terrific film of Debbie's, and one of my all time favourite musicals was Hit the Deck.

Wow I hadnt realised that the men of Hollywood had been equally as profolic as the women in the marriage stakes!
Did the marriage of Ava Gardner and Mickey Rooney produce any children and is there much detail about on why they split?

Apparently Debbie Reynolds autobiography "unsinkable" is very good and contains a fair bit of historical anecdotes,stories and context that lovers of hollywoods golden era would enjoy immensely.

Apart from her feud /animosity with her ex husband singer Eddie Fisher I dont think Ive heard anyone really say a bad thing about Debbie,I know she fell out with Elizabeth Taylor when Eddie went off with her but I dont think their differences ever really translated into massive vindictiveness and trading very nasty insults-Correct me if Im wrong!
I think the press were still reporting that their falling out/feud was still active YEARS after they had actually kissed and made up.

Ava and Mickey were both very young when they married, she said that he "went through ladies like a hot knife through fudge" Lana Turner who had slept with the star of Andy Hardy films, described him as "Andy Hard On"

They never had any children, and Ava who went on to marry Sinatra had two abortions during their short and tempestuous marriage.

Yes, you are right about Debbie, everyone seems to like her, and she is a real pro, although they do say that when she open her fridge and the light goes on, she goes into her act.

The tabloids certainly went on about the Liz/Eddie/Debbie triangle long after they had made up, and in fact Debbie and Liz even made a film together, "Those Old Broads" with Joan Collins and Shirley MacLaine. although Liz who was by then was an invalid, had the small role, and spent the whole film sitting down.

Going by memory of what Ive read elsewhere I think that to Frank Sinatra Ava Gardner tended to be regarded by him as the one who got away OR perhaps a better way of putting it is he still carried a candle for her and infact I think he may have discretely given her financial support in her ailing years up until her death?
Those Old Broads sounds like an incredible campfest that I sense Id enjoy regardless of the quality of the story

Speaking of campness Walter,In your opinion wich are the 5 most camp films from Hollywoods golden era?I hear many film critics regard All About Eve as the winner here and often mentioned is Zsa Zsa Gabor 1958 vehicle The Queen of Outer Space!
Your thoughts please?

Yes, it was well known that when Ava suffered from ill health in her later years, including a stroke, that Sinatra paid all her expensive medical bills. He also arranged for her to fly on a medically staffed private plane from London to the USA to visit with a world renowned specialist. It was reported that when he heard of her death he was found slumped in his room, unable to speak, and crying uncontrollably.

He paid for all the funeral expenses, which included flying her body from London to Smithfield, North Carolina, her home town, which has an Ava Gardner Museum.

I should imagine that All About Eve is regarded as the campest film of all time because any gay man who loves Classic Movies can quote the whole script, complete with gestures, verbatim!

For me it is much more than that, probably the wittiest, most literate, and beautifully acted film of all time, and if you haven't seen it, I implore you to do so.

For the best of camp films you can't beat "The Women" with Roz Russell, Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer, Paulette Goddard, and Mary Boland. It is all about a group of
Manhattan women and their men, the novelty is that there is not a single actor in the film, all women. The script is very funny, and Roz Russell steals every scene that she is in.

Roz and camp just go together, especially with a title like this next one, "Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feeling So Sad!"

She plays Madame Rosepettle, an eccentric, overbearing woman who has two Venus fly trap's and a tank full of Pirahana's that eats Siamese cats. When her husband died she has him stuffed and hangs him in the closet, hence the title.

I haven't seen it since the 1960's, and unfortunately it's not available on DVD.

To complete the three camp Roz films I have to include "Auntie Mame" in which she plays the outrageous aunt of a young orphan. This is a fabulous comedy which is available on DVD, It also has Coral Browne as her actress friend Vera Charles. You remember me telling you about Coral and her colourful vocabulary.

The Rocky Horror Show has to be on any camp list as does Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. Another great favourite is Written on the Wind with Lauren Bacall, and best of all Dorothy Malone as Mambo crazed slut Marylee. Accused by Rock Hudson of being a "Filthy Liar" she replies "I'm Filth....Period!"

Her over the top scenery chewing snagged her the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for 1956.

I forgot to mention "Strictly Ballroom" my favourite film from the 1980's. This Baz Lurhmann film has some wonderfully camp moments, and best of all, stunning dancing.

Wow, there are a lot of new posts since I last checked! A great read, thank you.

I started watching All About Eve the other week online but my internet connection was too weak. Hopefully I'll get round to watching it in full very soon.

There are a lot of classic movies on over the Christmas period, which is always enjoyable even if I've seen them a hundred times. Some I'm looking forward to seeing for the first time, like Breakfast at Tiffany's.

My pleasure, I haven't heard from you since you joined my Stanwyck Group, I hope that you like what you see!

I don't know whether I have mentioned this before, but my two favourite films of all time have a connection, apart from the name.

Mary Orr the author of The Wisdom of Eve, the original title of All About Eve, was a great friend of director and screenwriter, the brilliant Preston Sturges.

When she saw his film The Lady Eve, she loved it so much that she named her heroine/villain Eve Harrington after Barbara Stanwyck's dual character, Jean Harrington/The Lady Eve.

I have the Special Edition of All About Eve which has some wonderful Extra's, including interviews with the director's son Tom Mankiewicz, and it's only surviving star at the time, Celeste Holm. Plus a Commentary by Sam Staggs who wrote the fascinating book, "All About All About Eve" which is a must for any fan who loves the film. It tells you everything you want to know about it from it's conception to when it became the musical "Applause."

Interesting to note that all the main stars never again reached the peak that they achieved in that marvellous film. The only one to go onwards and upwards was the girl described by George Sanders character Addison DeWitt as, "A graduate from the Copacabana School of Dramatic Art," and that was Marilyn Monroe!

That's one of the best parts of Christmas viewing some of those classic films.

I've enjoyed reading this thread and as a fan of classic movies myself, I was wondering if anyone could answer my query.

I spend a lot of time in Canada and enjoy watching the U.S. version of TCM which shows a lot of these movies. It is fronted by the knowledgeable Robert Osborne who has an obvious affection for the movies and the actors.

The UK version is very much inferior and concentrates mainly on westerns.

Does anyone know why we can't have the U.S. version in this country?