In the horror movie heyday of Universal Pictures, he made the studio back lot his own personal preyground: Rondo Hatton, star of the company's "Creeper" series. The victim of a disfiguring disease, Hatton needed no makeup to play the Creeper, a night-prowling vertebrae-ker, in The Pearl of Death (1944), House of Horrors (1946) and The Brute Man (1946).A lot of misery and physical pain were packed into Rondo Hatton's 51 years on Earth and he met his challenges with courage. This boo...

He made the Universal back lot his own personal preyground: Rondo Hatton, who attained B-movie stardom at the very end of his life via the role of the spine-snapping serial killer The Creeper. The victim of a disfiguring disease, Hatton needed no makeup when he played this night stalker in The Pearl of Death (1944), House of Horrors (1946) and The Brute Man (1946).A lot of misery and physical pain were packed into Rondo Hatton's 51 years on Earth and he m...

From Bing Crosby's early days in college minstrel shows and vaudeville, to his first hit recordings, from his 11 year triumph as star of America's most popular radio show, to his first success in Hollywood, Gary Giddins provides a detailed study of the rise of this American star.

Roger Angell, the acclaimed New Yorker writer and editor, returns with a selection of writings that celebrate a view from the tenth decade of an engaged, vibrant life.Long known for his range and supple prose (he is the only writer elected to membership in both the Baseball Hall of Fame and the American Academy of Arts and Letters), Angell won the 2015 American Society of Magazine Editors’ Best Essay award for “This Old Man,” which forms a centerpiece for ...

I never forget a face … but in your case I'll make an exceptionHow many times have you found yourself struck dumb with anger, unable to think of the perfect repost only to come up with something wonderful later when your adversary has gone and any retort seems like sour grapes? The French call it ‘L’espirit de l’escalier’, meaning the moment at the bottom of the stairs when the rage-induced paralysis clears and suddenly you know exactly what you should have said, but alas, the righ...

Imagine receiving a mysterious invitation from Charlie Chaplin, doing jigsaw puzzles with Marilyn Monroe, having a heart-to-heart with Jack Kennedy, or being kissed by Greta Garbo. All of these and more are the sensational memories of UK-born, honorary Maritimer Charles Foster. After an unlikely childhood, his adventurous spirit brought him in 1943 to RAF pilot training school in Calgary. Through a series of incredible circumstances and fortunate friendships, Foster went on to become a Hol...

In the days when cinema audiences insisted that movie programs include two features, plus shorts, plus a newsreel, plus trailers, plus a cartoon, the supporting feature was known in the film trade as a "B". On many occasions, the unheralded "B" movie turned out to be more entertaining than the "A" attraction. Many of Hollywood's biggest stars, like John Wayne, Clark Gable, Alan Ladd and Carole Lombard, got their start in "B" pictures. Some, like Gene Autry (once voted the tenth most popula...

This text brims over with stinging comments, verbal face slappings and subtle insults for dealing with every kind of person.

Arguably the most important popular British composer of the 20th century, John Barry (1933-2011) enjoyed a career that spanned over fifty years, in which time he won five Academy Awards for pictures includingBorn Free, Out of Africa and Dances with Wolves. His reputation was further gilded by his soundtracks for a dozen James Bond films between 1962 and 1987. Barry´s career reflects the evolution of post-war British music from big band to rock and roll and...

A history of the Jazz:West label established by Herb Kimmel in 1954. Jazz artists recorded by Kimmel include: Jack Sheldon, Walter Norris, Zoot Sims, Jane Fielding, Kenny Drew, Joe Maini, Paul Chambers, John Coltrane, James Clay, Julius Wechter, and Art Pepper. Additional chapters examine Art Pepper's continuing recording career from July 1956 through April 1957 including Pepper's recordings on Tampa, Pacific Jazz, Intro, and Omegatape. The book includes a previously unpublished interview ...

"The surest way to make a monkey out of a man is to quote him"-Robert BenchleyThis little book of comic quotations delves into the archives of history, literature, silver screen and popular culture and contains a hilarious collection of outrageous, cynical and just plain insulting quotes from the world's sharpest wits.

An interesting and unusual title for a book, "These Great Movies Won No Hollywood Awards" is nonetheless a great new entry in the John Howard Reid series. 142 movies are covered in this volume, with the special added attraction of two articles about director Henry Hathaway and his movies. John was the first critic to make people aware of Hathaway's importance. At first, only the French critics agreed with John, but eventually reviewers worldwide came to the party. Hathaway is now recognize...