Category Archives: Interviews

Why Andy Griffith could never be ‘A Face In The Crowd’

By Ray Bennett Andy Griffith made his big screen debut in Elia Kazan’s 1957 drama “A Face In The Crowd” as a charismatic media sensation named Lonesome Rhodes who exploits his sudden popularity for political gain. In the second excerpt … Continue reading

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Andy Griffith on why ‘No Time for Sergeants’ cheated

By Ray Bennett Andy Griffith didn’t do a great many interviews but I spent most of the afternoon of March 18, 1986 with him, just the two of us in an otherwise empty dining room at what I seem to … Continue reading

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Norman Jewison on the music in ‘The Thomas Crown Affair’

By Ray Bennett GHENT, BELGIUM: Canadian filmmaker Norman Jewison has had an outstanding career as director and producer of major Hollywood films but it’s sometimes overlooked how much great music played in his success and how many wonderful composers he … Continue reading

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New release scheme for ‘Paris Connections’ by Jackie Collins

By Ray Bennett Take veteran top-level Hollywood producers, add the UK’s leading supermarket and mix with some of the most popular novelists in the world and you have Amber Entertainment, which founder Ileen Maisel describes as a new paradigm for … Continue reading

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‘Up’ director Pete Docter talks about his fly-away hit

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Pete Docter says that many people seem to have the impression that making computer animation is easy: “Somehow, they think, oh, it’s computers. You just type in ‘make movie’ and enter. They have the thought … Continue reading

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‘How on earth can Barnaby be sexy?’, asks John Nettles

By Ray Bennett LONDON – John Nettles, who has decided to leave his long-running hit show “Midsomer Murders”, is considerably more colourful than his screen role although that has made little difference to fans of the show in more than 230 territories around … Continue reading

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When Mackenzie Phillips was fired from ‘One Day at a Time’

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Mackenzie Phillips has written a memoir titled “High On Arrival” in which she says that she had an incestuous relationship with her father, John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas. Family members have fallen … Continue reading

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Actor David Carradine dies aged 72

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Associated Press has reported out of Bangkok that actor David Carradine, star of the 1970s TV series “Kung Fu” who had a wide-ranging career in the movies, has been found dead in the Thai capital. … Continue reading

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Colin Firth on ‘A Summer in Genoa’ and spandex tights

By Ray Bennett LONDON – It was a demonstration of Colin Firth’s considerable acting range when he donned Spandex tights and cavorted about to Abba tunes at Pinewood Studios for the monster hit “Mamma Mia!”. An even greater testament to the … Continue reading

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How a nightclub doorman’s stories became a film in ‘Clubbed’

By Ray Bennett It has taken many years for Geoff Thompson’s book “Watch My Back”, which details his time as a doorman at nightclubs in Coventry in the 1980s, to become a film. When “Clubbed”, as the film version is … Continue reading

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