The behind-the-scenes story of how "Casablanca" became an American film classic.
Documentary about the work of film director Michael Curtiz.
Each installment focuses on a different era of American movie history, from the invention of the first moving pictures to the revolutionary, cutting-edge films of the 1960s.
The life and work of Samuel Goldwyn, a Polish-born glove salesman who became one of Hollywood's greatest independent producers, is remembered in this classy documentary created for the PBS American Masters series. Based on A. Scott Berg's acclaimed biography, the film includes new interviews with Goldwyn's surviving family members as well as vintage interviews with such luminaries as Bette Davis, John Huston, Laurence Olivier and others.
Arguably the quintessential film siren of the silent era, Mary Pickford was known as "America's Sweetheart." This documentary explores Pickford's life beyond the screen, as a writer, producer, director and keen businesswoman who co-founded United Artists. Narrated by Whoopi Goldberg and featuring clips of Pickford's movies, the film offers insight from historians, film critics (including Leonard Maltin) and silver-screen stars such as Janet Leigh and Roddy McDowall.
In the 1942 film "This Gun For Hire," he was only a supporting actor. But his portrayal of a cold, ruthless killer with a core of gentle sadness had an impact on audiences everywhere. Teamed with diminutive Veronica Lake, he became an immediately saleable commodity, and in the process helped launch the age of film noir. By 1954, Photoplay Magazine voted him the world's most popular male film star; his fellow award-winner was Marilyn Monroe. But Alan Ladd's fabulous success already contained within it the mechanism to self-destruct.
Samuel John Goldwyn Jr. (September 7, 1926 – January 9, 2015) was an American film producer. Samuel Goldwyn Jr. was born on September 7, 1926, in Los Angeles, California, the son of actress Frances Howard (1903–1976) and the pioneer motion picture mogul Samuel Goldwyn (1882–1974). He attended Fountain Valley School in Colorado Springs, Colorado and the University of Virginia. He was raised Catholic like his mother, at her insistence. After serving in the United States Army during World War II, he worked as a theatrical producer in London and for Edward R. Murrow at CBS in New York. He then followed in his father's footsteps and founded the motion picture production companies Formosa Productions, The Samuel Goldwyn Company and Samuel Goldwyn Films. In 1950 Goldwyn married actor Jennifer Howard (1925–1993), the daughter of prominent author and screenwriter Sidney Howard. The couple had four children including actor Tony Goldwyn and studio executive John Goldwyn. They divorced in 1968 and he then married Peggy Elliot, with whom he had two children, including Liz Goldwyn. His second marriage also ended in divorce. At the time of his death he was married to his third wife, Patricia Strawn.
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