Vintage '38

The Supporting Actress Smackdown of 1938 arrives on Monday (and the voting is close) so get your votes in by Sunday morning! Before we get there it's time for more context of that year in history. The minimum wage was 40¢ an hour, the economy was in recession, and Howard Hughes was busy breaking aviation records. In sports Seabiscuit was the fastest horse, and Joe Louis was the Heavyweight champion of boxing. Meanwhile there was great unease in Europe with Hitler on the march and already claiming Austria and Czechoslovakia for Germany (the US turned a blind eye and European leaders were still trying to appease the madman).

Things were happy at the movies, though, where screwball comedies and adventure films were all the rage. If there's a link on a title, we've already written about the movie. Ready?  

When do you think "hung" changed its meaning in the popular vernacular?

Great Big Box Office Hits:
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and In Old Chicago, both of which competed for the 1937 Oscars, weren't actually available to general audiences until 1938 and both became huge hits...

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Nightmare Alley (1947)... and (2021)

by Nathaniel R

Greg Hildebrandt riff on a Nightmare Alley posterThe urge to remake is an arguable scourge on cinema but much of what there is to argue about is who is doing the remaking and why. Oftentime the motivations are corporate cynical "cash grab for lazy audiences who will only look at new things... especially if they sound famliar". When true auteurs go there, though, especially with films that aren't enormously famous, there's more room for debate about intention and possibility and aesthetic necessity. The best possible outcome is that we get two very different equally strong films and the "new" model stirs up more interest and appreciation for the OG.

We hope that will be the case when Guillermo Del Toro finishes Nightmare Alley in... 2021? (Production was halted due to COVID-19). The original Nightmare Alley (1947), is a beautifully shot circus noir that's ripe for both rediscovery and reinterpretation...

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Showbiz History: Evita, Black Widow, and Fred & Ginger

six random things that happened on this day in showbiz history

1919 Maria Eva Duarte de Peron is born in Argentina. She will later be known globally by just one nickname "Evita." Her story will inspire a 1979 Andrew Lloyd Webber stage sensation (starring Patti LuPone) which wins 7 Tony Awards including Best Musical. Later it becomes a successful 1996 movie musical with Madonna (picture above in a promotional photoshoot for the film) in the leading role, which everyone including Michelle Pfeiffer and Meryl Streep wanted at the time. Madonna takes the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical...

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99¢ rentals to fill in the Oscar gaps

UPDATE 10/23 Sadly these deals have all expired and they're back up to $3.99 per film.

While we wait (impatiently) for the major Oscar contenders to show themselves to general audiences, why not check out an older Oscar nominees for kicks and to fill any gaps in your Oscar knowledge. Here are a few that iTunes is offering to rent for just 99¢... naturally I have to share the posters for the ones with exclamatory taglines.

• Sunrise (1927)/ Street Angel (1928) for Janet Gaynor, the very first Best Actress winner and the only Best Actress winner to win for multiple roles simultaneously (they changed the rule thereafter)
• In Old Chicago (1938) Tyrone Powers in a six-time nominated film which won Alice Brady supporting actress
• The Rains Came (1939) starring Myrna Loy and up for six Oscars
• Blood and Sand (1941) this torreador drama starring Tyrone Power won Best Cinematography
• This Above All (1942) a romantic drama starring Joan Fontaine and Tyrone Power received 4 nominations and a win for Art Direction
• The Snake Pit (1948) Olivia de Havilland in an asylum (!) in one of the original 'deglam' roles. Six nominations including Best Picture
• Pinky (1949), a racial drama about a woman who can "pass" as white received 3 acting nominations

• Come to the Stable (1949) a comedy about nuns which was up for an inexplicable 7 Oscars losing all of them -- we recently wrote about it
• The Young Lions (1958) three nominations including cinematography for this Marlon Brando / Montgomery Clift World War II picture.
• The Best of Everything (1959) three nominations including costume design for this Joan Crawford picture that January Jones hated so very much in that one episode of Mad Men

Today's 6: Jolie's Wedding, West Side Story's Dominance, and More

We promised you a few anniversaries a day, but with the new twist of mood-boosting inspiration. Here we go

6 Anniversary Mood Busters for May 5th

2000 Angelina Jolie married Billy Bob Thornton. She famously carried a vial of his blood around her neck.

In this honor: Remember how immature YOU were 17 years ago. Evolving is good but so too (in moderation) is uninhibitedness of youth. Do something you used to do 17 years ago for fun. Find out if it's still a thrill!

Five more after the jump

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