Gene Kelly

Tracie Bennett becomes Judy Garland as a dynamo at rainbow's end

2013-03-16 05:00:00

For movie musical lovers in general and gay men of a certain age in particular, Judy Garland represents the alpha and omega of stardom. So it was with some trepidation that I knocked on the apartment door of Tracie Bennett, the English actress who has...

Review: Nothing magic about 'Jack the Giant Slayer'

2013-02-28 15:59:00

Pity poor Jack. There he was, minding his own business in some dusty fairy tale book when the powers that be dragooned him into active service as the front man for the would-be blockbuster "Jack the Giant Slayer." Of course, Jack's been through the...

Matt Mattox dies at 91; master Hollywood dancer and choreographer

2013-02-23 00:00:00

Hollywood considered Matt Mattox one of the best dancers in the country when he was cast to dizzying effect in "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers," the 1954 Oscar-winning film celebrated for its imaginative and masterful dance moves. Billed as one of...

Screening Room: The Cinematheque boogies this weekend

2013-01-24 06:00:00

The American Cinemathque's Egyptian Theatre gets its boogie on with a triple bill Saturday night of campy skating disco flicks. The first entering the rink is the 1980 cult fave "Xanadu," which was turned into a Broadway musical more than 20 years...

Review: 'Freud's Last Session' doesn't lend itself to deep analysis

2013-01-18 00:00:00

Sigmund Freud considered religion a mass delusion, a sort of group neurosis ideally suited to obsessive types. C.S. Lewis was a literary intellectual who found ways of channeling his devout Christianity into even his nontheological writings, "The...

Ring in the new year with classic comedies

2012-12-27 06:00:00

The American Cinematheque's Aero Theatre has the perfect antidote for holiday blues -- a series of classic comedies from the golden age of Hollywood. "Screwball Comedy Classics for the 2013 New Year" serves up 1947's "The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer"...

The Cinematheque celebrates the beauty of film

2013-01-03 06:00:00

The American Cinematheque welcomes 2013 with "Motion Picturesque: Cinema at Its Most Beautiful" festival, which shines the spotlight on the visual splendor of motion pictures. The series opens Thursday at the Egyptian with Fritz Lang's influential...

Connie Wald dies at 96; Hollywood wife known for low-key parties

2012-11-23 00:00:00

Connie Wald, an elegant matriarch of old Hollywood known for the low-key dinner parties she held for friends like Clark Gable, Joan Crawford, Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn, died of natural causes Nov. 10 at her Beverly Hills home. She was 96. Her...

Tony Martin dies at 98; singer-actor in Hollywood musicals

2012-07-30 11:35:00

Tony Martin, one of the last of the big-name singer-actors from the golden age of Hollywood musicals, has died. He was 98. Martin, who toured for years with his wife, dancer-actress Cyd Charisse, died of natural causes Friday at his home in Los Angeles,...

Dick Beals dies at 85; voice of Speedy Alka-Seltzer

2012-05-31 17:09:00

Dick Beals, a voice actor best known for injecting youthful enthusiasm into the character of Speedy Alka-Seltzer in mid-20th century television commercials for the pain remedy, has died. He was 85. Beals, whose radio and television career spanned seven...

'Casablanca' to screen on Facebook Wednesday

2012-05-15 16:38:22

Pacific Symphony pops season: Gladys Knight, Kenny G, Jersey Boys

2012-03-29 16:32:55

One of the most famous movie musical stars was only nominated once: for 1945's "Anchors Aweigh.

2013-02-22 12:01:24

Gene Kelly and Olivia Newton-John star in "Xanadu," screening at the American Cinematheque

2013-01-22 12:47:14

The rain does indeed fall in this musical production, as required for the title number and as immortalized by Gene Kelly in the 1952 movie. New York actor Tony Yazbeck kicks up his splashing heels as Don Lockwood.

2012-12-27 11:53:00