Author Archives: admin

Marlon Brando: the man behind the myth

Posted on April 3, 2024 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – The myth surrounding Marlon Brando, who was born 100 years ago today, has centred not only on his brilliant acting in films such as ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ (with Vivien Leigh above),  ‘On the Waterfront’, … Continue reading →

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Lesley-Anne Down on filming with Patrick Swayze

Posted on March 17, 2024 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Lesley-Anne Down, who turns 70 today, was a stark contrast to Patrick Swayze, her co-star in the hit 1985 U.S. Civil War miniseries ‘North and South’. In interviews for Canadian TV Guide, the enormously likeable … Continue reading →

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James B. Sikking, the mad hatter on ‘Hill Street Blues’

Posted on March 5, 2024 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – ‘Hill Street Blues’, the American cop show that was a hit for most of the Eighties, had one of the best casts in television. Of them, James B. Sikking had probably the toughest job playing … Continue reading →

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Gregory Peck on Abraham Lincoln: ‘A secular saint’

Posted on February 12, 2024 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Oscar-winning actor Gregory Peck was a great admirer of Abraham Lincoln, who was born 215 years ago today. In 1982, he fulfilled a dream when he portrayed the U.S. president in the TV mini-series ‘The … Continue reading →

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How an NHL match led Norman Jewison to make ‘Rollerball’

Posted on January 26, 2024 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – ‘Rollerball’, Canadian filmmaker Norman Jewison’s only film set in the future, also is his most action-packed and violent and it was inspired by an experience at a National Hockey League (NHL) game. 

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Why Norman Jewison quit Hollywood to work in Europe

Posted on January 25, 2024 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – ‘What do you do?’ asked Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. ‘I make movies,’ said Norman Jewison. The former U.S. attorney general, brother of a slain American president, and the Canadian director ,who was building a successful … Continue reading →

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What movies meant to director Norman Jewison

Posted on January 24, 2024 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – ’It kinda scares me,’ Norman Jewison said when I asked him in 2011 about the digital revolution in movies and the future of cinema. ‘Everything I see today is so mixed with violence and action. … Continue reading →

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Cary Grant, smooth as silk … on the surface.

Posted on January 18, 2024 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – When Cary Grant, born this day 120 years ago, died in 1986, Time magazine film critic Richard Schickel wrote, ‘Some distant day, audiences may come to agree that he was not merely the greatest movie … Continue reading →

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How Ben Kingsley dealt with instant fame after ‘Gandhi’

Posted on December 31, 2023 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Ben Kingsley, who turns 80 today, had spent fifteen years on the English stage with occasional small screen roles when Richard Attenborough changed his life by casting him in the title role of his epic … Continue reading →

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Norman Lear told me, ‘I hate the word satire’

Posted on December 10, 2023 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – American TV producer Norman Lear was heralded as a leading light in political satire but he did not believe it. ‘I hate the word satire,’ he told me, ‘because I don’t know that the level … Continue reading →

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