Almost There: Joan Crawford in "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?"

by Cláudio Alves

It's October, a season for spookiness and horror movies, for nightmares and ghouls. It seems only appropriate that the Almost There series takes a look at a performance in the horror genre, though it's hard to find examples that fit the criteria. AMPAS is famously allergic to most horror and few actors have been recognized or come close for that genre. 

Inspired by the month and the Criterion Channel's new Joan Crawford collection, I decided to take a look at one of the actress' most contentious and controversial achievements. One speaks of that terrifying occasion when Joan and Bette met onscreen, the clashing of two titans and two acting styles, the epitome of Grande Dame Guignol. That's right, it's time to explore What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?...

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Showbiz History: Gattaca, Trog, and the King and Queen of Pop

Five random things that happened on this day, October 24th, in showbiz history

50th anniversary today for TROG

1941 Spooks Run Wild, starring Bela Lugosi and part of the film franchise "East Side Kids" opens in theaters.

1970 50TH ANNIVERSARY. Trog, infamous Joan Crawford's last film, hits theaters...

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Showbiz History: Sigourney's Wedding, Matthau's Centennial, and Johnny's First Guest

10 random things that happened on this day, October 1st, in showbiz history

1920 Walter Matthau born in New York. He goes on to become a Tony and Oscar winning film star with muliple hits spanning four decades in the 60s, 70s, and 90s including Charade, The Odd Couple, Cactus Flower, The Sunshine Boys, California Suite, Bad News Bears, and Grumpy Old Men  Happy Walter Matthau Centennial -- do you have a favourite of his?

1937 Madame X, starring Gladys George, is released in movie theaters. It's the fourth film adaptation of the play and there would be six more including the arguably most famous version in 1966 starring Lana Turner. 

1962 Johnny Carson hosts The Tonight Show for the first time. The legend Joan Crawford is his guest...

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Joan Crawford in '47

by Cláudio Alves

After more than a decade as one of MGM's brightest and most formidable stars, the 1940s were a turning point for Joan Crawford. While she struggled to reinvent herself during these middle years of her career, many of the actress's best movies came from this phase. She left behind a series of lackluster offerings from her original studio, finding new power when carefully choosing projects at her new home, Warner Brothers. It wasn't easy, but she triumphed, winning an Oscar for 1945's Mildred Pierce and going on to get two other Best Actress nominations. More importantly, she solidified her legacy, challenged herself as an actress, and proved to everyone she was more than a flapper or talentless glamour girl.

During this period of Crawford's filmography, 1947 was a particularly auspicious year. She broke our hearts in a romantic tragedy, impressed AMPAS with explosive neurosis, and went on to star in one of Hollywood's most interesting post-war melodramas…

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Adrian, God of Glamour

by Cláudio Alves

Born Adrian Adolph Greenberg, the designer best known as Adrian was one of the most influential costumers in Hollywood history. After working in his family business of millinery, Adrian went on to study costume design in New York and Paris and later found work dressing the starlets of Broadway. His talents soon took him to Hollywood, where he found a home from the mid-1920s to the 1940s, designing the costumes for many an MGM classic. Throughout his tenure in Tinsel Town, Adrian perfected the on and offscreen looks of such great divas as Greta Garbo, Norma Shearer, Myrna Loy, Jean Harlow, Vivien Leigh, Ingrid Bergman, Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Hedy Lamarr, and others. Among them, his most essential collaborator and muse was the one and only Joan Crawford…

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