Word: hollywoodized
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Died. Brian Donlevy, 69, barrel-chested Hollywood heavy for three decades; of cancer; in Woodland Hills, Calif. The son of an Irish whisky distiller, Donlevy joined General John Pershing's Mexican border expedition as a bugler when only 13, then lied about his age again to become a pilot in World War I. A walk-on part in a 1924 Broadway play led to larger roles and his eventual move to Hollywood in the mid-'30s. There he established the tough-guy image epitomized by his portrayal of the brutal sergeant in Beau Geste...
...kitsch didn't really hit the fan until the scene was set for Charles Chaplin's honorary Oscar. Daniel Taradash, the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and Hollywood lefty of decent standing, introduced the world's greatest film comic and actor--and some would say director--as a man who always strove to prove that "man's humanity to man is far greater than his inhumanity to man." Then, after a film clip melange predictably slapped together by Peter boy-do-I-know-films Bogdanovich. Chaplin emerged from the same stage cockpit as the first...
...only excuse for watching the ceremonies is the appeal of a mildly decadent good time. It's been so long since people really believed Hollywood to produce much "popular art" that serious aggravation over inadequate nominations--once a favorite space-filling ploy of earnest local columnists--has virtually ceased. And, as it's doubtful that Oscars add much today to a picture's gross, even "industry-followers" are left without an alibi...
Once the nominations were set, the winners followed fairly logically. A bunch of sentimental favorites like Ben Johnson, Gene Hackman (always pick the Hollywood veteran over a qualified candidate without the homegrown background). Sops for such costly items as negligible as Bedknobs and Broom-sticks. And the final award tally divided between what Hollywood thinks of as Art--The Last Picture Show--and what it makes better, enjoys more, and thrives on financially--The French Connection...
...least that is the impression one gets from listening to two new LPs drawn from tapes of the Carnegie concert and another Guthrie Memorial held at the Hollywood Bowl in 1970. Especially intriguing is the variety of musical treatment to which Woody's songs lend themselves. On the one hand there is Richie Havens turning the gruff, striding Vigilante Man into a mournful, gripping blues ballad. Or Odetta, virtually inventing a western soul style for the happy-go-lucky Ramblin' Round. When Guthrie talked about hard rock he meant a substance men mined in a hole...