TOP 100 ACTOR SITES
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| Evans tips Ross to return 'better than he ever' The departure of Jonathan Ross from the BBC was "inevitable" but he could return to screens "better than he ever was", broadcaster Chris Evans said today. breakingnews.ie |
'Blonde' bombshell: London critics praise musical LONDON (AP) -- OMG: "Legally Blonde: The Musical" has warmed the hearts of London's crusty theater critics.... hosted.ap.org |
King Cameron redux? `Avatar' aims for Oscar glory BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) -- James Cameron may get to proclaim himself king of the distant moon Pandora at the Academy Awards.... hosted.ap.org |
Fans, stars, blister in the Big Day Out heat THE crowd cooked and the musicians melted at the Big Day Out as temperatures soared to more than 40C at both Sydney Big Day Out festivals. news.com.au |
The Jean Simmons I remember The late actor was celebrated for her beauty and talent, but she had a streak of mischief that made her unforgettableJean Simmons was only 12 years older than me, and as I grew up I cut out a lot of pictures of her from magazines like Picturegoer and the Sunday papers. Can you credit that in those days – the late 40s and the early 50s – there were Sunday papers in Britain (such as the Pictorial, the Graphic, the Dispatch) that ran pictures of pretty movie stars in their underwear or swimsuits? Well, Jean was pretty; I believe the captions also added that she was "saucy" (and I supposed they knew). The big picture for Jean's fans, who had scissors and a scrapbook ready, was The Blue Lagoon. That was 1949, and it had Jean and Donald Houston washed up on a desert island, doing their best for clothes and falling in love. It was done in gorgeous Technicolor and I dare say it was the film that got her the American contract that proved to be such trouble.More or less, it went like this: Jean was in love with Stewart Granger, who was 16 years older than she was. They married and he got a contract at MGM, so he could do King Solomon's Mines, Quo Vadis, The Prisoner of Zenda and Scaramouche – big stuff like that. Jean went along, too, but her contract ended up being with Howard Hughes.I'm sure this was not a happy arrangement because Mr Hughes made it clear that he wanted Jean in more than a scissors-and-paste way, and Granger got very angry. But a contract was a contract, and Jean was virtually imprisoned for a few years in Hollywood while her husband became a star and Hughes gave her rubbish to do. Except that one of the "rubbish" films was Otto Preminger's Angel Face – in which she was simply brilliant (albeit as a very nasty young woman).If you care to remember Jean Simmons (and you should), I'd recommend Angel Face ahead of Great Expectations, Hamlet, So Long at the Fair or The Blue Lagoon (all worthwhile). She stayed in Hollywood, of course. And she was in very big, important pictures – The Robe, Guys and Dolls, The Big Country, Elmer Gantry, Spartacus. She divorced Granger, married the director Richard Brooks, and later became a bit of a drinker.But she got through that and near the end of her life she overcame her own shyness enough and made personal appearances. She visited the Telluride film festival as well as attending a 100th birthday tribute to David Lean in Los Angeles, where I was lucky enough to interview her on stage. She was still so pretty and charming, and fans gathered around her. They all remembered and I think she was amazed.I told her that I thought Angel Face was the best thing she ever did, and she gave me a mischievous look, as if to say I was a very naughty boy and she could just imagine me carefully cutting out her pictures.Jean SimmonsDavid Thomsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |