YOU AIN'T HEARD NOTHIN' YET: INTERVIEWS WITH STARS FROM HOLLYWOOD'S GOLDEN ERA

YOU AIN'T HEARD NOTHIN' YET: Interviews with Stars from Hollywood's Golden Era. James Bawden and Ron Miller. University Press of Kentucky; 2017.

This is a collection of interviews by the two authors (working separately) with a variety of prominent film figures. Some of the interviews are very brief and focused on one particular film -- generally to publicize a TV movie -- but others are a little more in-depth. Interview subjects include Robert Preston, Cornel Wilde, Walter Pidgeon, Robert Young, Bette Davis, Janet Leigh, Patricia Neal, and many others. There are sections on notable movie heavies, child stars, leading ladies, and so on, as well as pieces on Jay Robinson [The Robe] and Hurd Hatfield [The Picture of Dorian Gray], who were in a sense seen as Hollywood causalities but actually had long and busy careers in spite of it. The interview with Victor Buono seems to focus mostly on his weight. Along the way there are some interesting tidbits. For instance, both Patricia Neal and Daniel Massey (who gives one of the longer and more interesting interviews in the book) both think that The Fountainhead was a stinker. Stupid moments include the section in the Anthony Perkins piece where Miller blames Perkins' being a closeted homosexual on the supposed "lack of heat" with his leading ladies (although Rock Hudson had no problem, and Perkins, be he gay or bi, later got married and fathered two children).

Verdict: Entertaining look at Hollywood from an insider's perspective. ***. 

OOPS!

Greg McClure

OOPS!

Years ago I thought it was kind of funny the way some obsessive film buffs would become irate if someone misidentified an obscure actor. "It was Gladys Humble, not Ginny Bumble, who played Maggie in Knock-Off Nellie," they would go. Get a life, I would think. But the fact is that even old character actors or long-dead second leads and so on should be identified properly.

In my review of Sky Liner, I mistook actor Greg McClure with Michael Whalen -- the two look nothing alike. In truth, I was not especially familiar with either of them, despite their both having numerous credits. I'm not certain how I made the mistake, but I assume I attributed one character's name to another character, then matched Whalen's name with the wrong character on the cast list. (Anyway, the mistake has been corrected.)

A handsome hunk, McClure had his biggest role playing John L. Sullivan in The Great John L with Linda Darnell. He was seriously considered as a replacement for Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan, but the part was given to Lex Barker. After appearing in twenty movies, McClure was blacklisted and his career was over. Obviously still in great shape, McClure became a nudist  and why not?

I became aware of my error when "Michael Whalen" -- the actor I thought was McClure -- appeared in a couple of movies after Sky Liner but I just couldn't spot his distinctive rugged (and kind of mean) features. When I did a search for Michael Whalen his photos showed that he was not the actor I thought he was. It happens!

Anyway, feel free to let me know if I ever misidentify a player. Hopefully it won't happen too often.

Happy Viewing!