The story behind the writing of Orson Welles’ CITIZEN KANE centers more on co-writer Herman Mankiewicz & his struggles with the studio, Hearst & Welles.
Mank (2020)
Curtiz (2018)
While directing Casablanca Michael Curtiz has to deal with an interfering government official, his estranged daughter, & how to end the film.
How “Spirit of America” Came to Be
I have posted on FaceBook the video “Spirit of America” for which this provides background information. The attack on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon on the morning of September 11, 2001 left the nation in shock and mourning. A total of almost 3000 people died in the Twin Towers in New York, at the …
Fiddler: Miracle of Miracles (2019)
This is a terrific documentary about the making of Fiddler on the Roof from its origins in Yiddish theater to Broadway and Hollywood. Click the title to read my review.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)
A fanciful tale about the career slide of a Hollywood star & his stuntman set amidst the Manson killings in 1969.
It’s All True: Based on an Unfinished Film by Orson Welles (1993)
This fascinating documentary pays tribute to film genius Orson Welles, thanks to the three men listed as directors of the film, the late Richard Wilson (who had worked with Welles), Bill Krohn, and Myron Meisel. Welles was busy, after making his masterful Citizen Kane, editing The Magnificent Ambersons as well as starring in Journey into Fear. …
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Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood (2017)
Unrated. Running time: 1 hour 38 min. I have ambivalent feelings about Matt Tymauer’s documentary film, based on Scotty Bower’s tell-all book Full Service: My Adventures in Hollywood and the Secret Sex Lives of the Stars. This is certainly different from his previous film about the Manhattan urban activist Jane Jacobs, Citizen Jane: Battle for …
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Molly’s Game (2017)
A woman running a high stakes celebrity poker game runs afoul of Russian criminals & the FBI.
The Disaster Artist (2017)
Greg & Tommy, 2 low-talented actors are able to make a movie because one has a big bank account, the movie turning out so bad that the audience loves it.
Five Came Back (2017)
Stories of 5 Hollywood directors who volunteered to film WW 2 & how the war changed them & their films changed the world, told by 5 contemporary directors.