By Ray Bennett
LONDON – American composer Elmer Bernstein, who would have turned 100 today, wrote wonderful film music and he was terrific company with a fine wit.
He was an early favourite of mine with scores for pictures such as ‘The Magnificent Seven’, ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ and ‘Love With the Proper Stranger’. Continue reading
By Ray Bennett
LONDON – The late American comic and film director Carl Reiner, who was born 100 years ago today and died in 2020, made some classic comedies but he told me ‘Dead Men Don’s Wear Plaid’ (above) was his favourite. Continue reading
By Ray Bennett
LONDON – Country music singer Tommy Hunter, who turns 85 today, was one of the most popular entertainers in Canada for decades but he was never tempted to become a star in America. Continue reading
By Ray Bennett
LONDON – Ry Cooder, who turns 75 today, told me that he knew that he would be a musician when he discovered the blues as a kid. When I first heard his slide guitar, I imagined he came from from some swamp in Louisiana or Mississippi but I was wrong. The legendary guitarist, singer-songwriter and film composer Ryland Peter Cooder is a California boy from Santa Monica by the sea. Continue reading
By Ray Bennett
LONDON – Many women I interviewed in Hollywood expressed disappointment or regret over appearing nude in movies or photo spreads. Shannon Tweed, who turns 65 today, was not one of them. ‘I can’t honestly say I wouldn’t like to be sexually desired,’ she told me. ‘Every woman wants to be and as long as that’s not the absolute essence of what I am, then that’s just fine. If this is being exploited, bring it on.’ Continue reading
By Ray Bennett
LONDON – Like many a young man who saw Robert Altman’s classic ‘Nashville’ in 1975, I was a little bit in love with Cristina Raines, who turns 70 today, She played a singer in a folk trio that featured her then boyfriend Keith Carradine (pictured above) but she told me she hated the sound of her own singing voice. ‘When I sing, I hyperventilate and get dizzy,’ she said. ‘It’s very hard for me to listen to myself. I cringe. It’s the worst thing I ever heard in my life.’ Continue reading
By Ray Bennett
LONDON – Two years after arriving in Canada in the late Sixties, I joined The Windsor Star newspaper just across the river from Detroit and discovered American football. In the office, aside from the sportswriters, the most avid sports fans were sub-eidtors on the copy desk, which was known as the rim. The most avid was a dimunitve chap named Benny Grant who also was a devoted gambler. Continue reading
By Ray Bennett
LONDON – In 2000, John Williams, who turns 90 today, was named ‘Maestro of the Year’ at ShoWest in Las Vegas. He agreed to an interview with The Hollywood Reporter tied to that with one proviso. He wanted me to the interview. Continue reading
By Ray Bennett
After I posted on Facebook the image above, which I took on a visit to Auschwitz, Argentinian composer Daniel Tarrab, a friend of mine, sent me a note that read, ‘I’ve seen your post today. It really moved me.’
He noted that his Jewish ancestors were expelled from Spain in 1492 and said, ‘That means I should be Spanish instead of Argentinian.’
The stark image I published on Holocaust Memorial Day brought to mind the extraordinary documentaries that Steven Spielberg sponsored to mark the tenth anniversary of his Oscar-winning picture ‘Schindler’s List’. Continue reading
When Warren Beatty changed Hollywood forever
By Ray Bennett
LONDON – One afternoon early in September 1967, the film writers and critics of London gathered in a West End cinema for a screening of a gangster movie starring a pretty-boy Hollywood actor. The cinema was packed although few there believed the Warner Bros. crime picture would have any merit.
The general mood was not helped when there was a problem with the projector. We were beginning to voice our impatience when on the screen suddenly came a series of snapshots of men and women in Thirties attire. Continue reading →