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The only female lead to play opposite Christopher Lee's Count Dracula and Peter Cushing's Dr. Frankenstein, Veronica Carlson is a true Hammer Films icon. She made her Hammer debut in 1968 with Dracula Has Risen from the Grave, one of the studio's best vampire films. The talented, blonde-haired actre read more

It's fortunate that John Barry had a modest career as a British pop star with his band, the John Barry Seven. Otherwise, he might never have become one of the most successful film composers in the history of cinema. Despite writing some of the screen's most memorable scores, he won only five Oscars: read more

Mark:  Since you spare me only a moment, I'll tell you very bluntly: You and I are in love with each other and we always will be. We've known it since that first moment in St. Louis.  Angelique:  I could have you run out of town for speaking to me like this! Mark:  No need read more

Piper's inscription reads: "To Rick from the Classic Film & TV Cafe." The highlight of last July's Western Film Fair was--for me--the opportunity to spend 45 minutes sitting next to actress Piper Laurie. While she signed autographed photos for charity, she graciously and thoughtfully answe read more

Within days of meeting under unusual circumstances, Val McNulty (John Lund) and Maggie Carleton (Gene Tierney) decide to get married. Val is a working-class junior executive who believes Maggie's family is affluent. Yet, while Maggie's mother has hobnobbed with royalty as an ambassador's wife, the f read more

How are Astaire and De Niro connected? In this edition of the connection game, you will once again be given be a pair or trio of films or performers. Your task is to find the common connection. It could be anything--two stars who acted in the same movie, two movies that share a common theme, etc.&n read more

One of the highlights of my attendance at the 2014 Western Film Fair was meeting Jim Rosin. He started in show business as a supporting actor in TV series such as Mannix, Cannon, T.J. Hooker, and Quincy, M.E. He subsequently wrote several teleplays for Quincy and later penned a number read more

In terms of television ratings, 2014 has not been a good year for the Hallmark Hall of Fame. As the industry publication Variety recently noted, the venerable "franchise remains a shadow of its former self." Ironically, the decline of of the Hallmark Hall of Fame comes as the Hallmark Chan read more

The importance of casting cannot be overestimated. To substantiate this remark, I offer as evidence the 1961 comedy The Pleasure of His Company. Fred Astaire stars as Biddeford “Pogo” Ford, a globetrotting playboy who has returned to San Francisco to attend his daughter Jessica’s read more

This post is part of the Build-Your-Own Blogathon, hosted by the Classic Film & TV Cafe. To view the full blogathon schedule, click here. Rod Steiger and Glenn Ford in Jubal. Glenn Ford and director Delmer Daves collaborated on three Westerns made between 1956 and 1958. A common theme conne read more

One of the most popular child actors of the 1960s, Jon Provost recently appeared as one of the guest stars at the 2014 Western Film Fair. In between signing autographs and chatting with his many fans, Jon agreed to do an interview. Still as charming as when he played Timmy, Mr. Provost talked about read more

In a 2006 article for L.A. Weekly, French filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier called Pitfall (1948) "a film to rank among the best, the sharpest and the most original of noirs." I'm not sure I'd rank Pitfall with the genre's finest, but it's nonetheless a highly-effective drama that breaks free of the read more

Stevenson as teen detective Frank Hardy. Parker Stevenson can still make ladies swoon. I recently attended the 2014 Western Film Fair, where the star of the The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (1977-79) was one of the guests. As I rode up the elevator with a mother and daughter, the former was star read more

What could Bruce & Bogie share in common? In this third edition of the connection game, you will once again be given be a pair of films, TV series, performers, or any combination thereof. Your task is to find the common connection between the pair. It could be anything--two stars who acted in t read more

Hawthorne Hotel and Conference Center. Last week, I joined over 500 Western movie buffs as they assembled in Winston-Salem, NC for the 37th annual Western Film Fair. One of the oldest fan conventions in the U.S., this year's event featured guest stars such as Piper Laurie (The Hustler, Carrie), Jon read more

For the final 2014 blogathon hosted by the Café, we wanted to do something different. So. this blogathon was "built" by the participating bloggers over the last month. During a span of 20 days, 20 bloggers will write about 20 classic movies. Each movie will somehow be connected to the next--but the read more

For this edition of Seven Things to Know, we selected some choice excerpts from Selected Letters of Raymond Chandler, edited by Frank MacShane. 1. In a 1950 letter to his publisher, Raymond Chandler wrote: "I went to Hollywood in 1943 to work with Billy Wilder on  Double Indemnity. This was an read more

A stellar cast carries the day in Elizabeth R, the highly regarded 1971 British miniseries shown on Masterpiece Theatre in the U.S. The compelling subject matter and the first-rate actors—led by Glenda Jackson in the title role--mask what is often a  slow-moving, occas read more

The Oregon Territory in 1850 provides the setting for this high-energy, colorful musical based on a Benet short story (which, in turn, was inspired by Plutarch’s “The Abduction of the Sabine Women”). Adam Pontipee (Howard Keel) is a hard-working “mountain man” who comes read more

I could have sworn that Robinson Crusoe on Mars was produced by George Pal. However, as a recent viewing confirmed, Pal played no role in the making of this 1964 cult classic. If it seems like a Pal picture, that's because it was directed by Byron Haskin. A former special effects wizard, Haskin read more