Category Archives: Comment

How quiet scenes help make ‘The Great Escape’ so thrilling

Posted on December 28, 2025 by admin

By Ray Bennett John Sturges’s terrific prisoner-of-war adventure ‘The Great Escape’ is an annual treat around this time of year and remained great entertainment when I watched it on BBC-TV for the enth time. Elmer Bernstein’s splendid score was the … Continue reading →

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Meeting Rob Reiner a second time showed me a different man

Posted on December 16, 2025 by admin

By Ray Bennett Fame and popularity can so easily go to the head of entertainers and so it seemed the first time I met Rob Reiner when he was still in his 20s and starring in the smash hit TV … Continue reading →

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Woody Allen on ‘Annie Hall’ and why he disliked his other films

Posted on November 30, 2025 by admin

By Ray Bennett As Woody Allen turns 90 today, I’m reminded of his remarkably candid comments at a New York junket for ‘Annie Hall’ in the Spring of 1977. He hated having to publicise his films, he said, ‘I don’t … Continue reading →

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TV broadcaster Bill Moyers regarded the elite as the enemy

Posted on June 26, 2025 by admin

By Ray Bennett Veteran TV newsman Bill Moyers,  former New York Newsday publisher and press secretary to President Lyndon Johnson, has died aged 91. As a broadcaster, he often spun off bestselling books from his TV productions and in 1989 … Continue reading →

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20 David Niven movies you should see

Posted on March 1, 2025 by admin

By Ray Bennett David Niven, who was born 115 years ago today and died aged 73 in 1983, gave Ron Base and me the best quote of all time. The Oscar-winning British actor was on a book tour to promote … Continue reading →

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The astonishing range of Gene Hackman

Posted on January 30, 2025 by admin

By Ray Bennett With most movie stars it’s not very difficult to sort out a Top 10 of your favourite films but Gene Hackman’s exceptional 40-year career has included so many terrific performances in such a wide range of films … Continue reading →

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Thinking of my Dad on New Year’s Eve

Posted on December 31, 2024 by admin

By Ray Bennett My late older brother Roland phoned from England on New Year’s Eve to tell me that our Dad, Alexander Bennett, had died. I thought it was 35 years ago but another year has slipped by and I … Continue reading →

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When I mixed up Frankie Avalon with another former teen idol

Posted on September 18, 2024 by admin

By Ray Bennett ‘It wasn’t exactly Elvis in Las Vegas’. That was the lede in our story after my colleague Ron Base and I interviewed Frankie Avalon, who turns 84 today,  when he performed in cabaret at a seedy nightclub … Continue reading →

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That time when Lauren Bacall gave me a smacker

Posted on September 16, 2024 by admin

By Ray Bennett ‘You know how to whistle, don’t ya? Just put your lips together and blow.’ Whenever I watch the movie ‘To Have and Have Not’, that provocative line Lauren Bacall (photo below) says to Humphrey Bogart always gives … Continue reading →

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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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