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From Now Playing, April 2010 There was a time In Hollywood’s past when the single most essential asset one needed to be a genuine movie star was a near-perfect profile. People primarily went to the movies, it was believed, not … Continue reading
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Recognized as the oldest film festival in the world, the Venice Film Festival began in 1932 in Venice, Italy. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata, the Festival was originally held at the Hotel Excelsior in Venice. Only a handful … Continue reading
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This is one of the strangest things I’ve ever seen on ebay. I wasn’t the winning bidder but I can pass it on in this form. It’s probably the worst written English I’ve ever seen. But it’s fun–and somebody really … Continue reading
Johnny Eager (1942) is playing on Turner Classic Movies on Thu, April 30, 2015 08:15 AM est. Closed captioned.
Robert Taylor and Lana Turner in “Johnny Eager.”
Directed by Mervyn LeRoy. Cast: Robert Taylor, Lana Turner, Edward Arnold, Van Heflin, Robert Sterling, Patricia Dane, Glenda Farrell, Barry Nelson. Slick MGM melodrama with convoluted plot about sociology student (and daughter of D.A. Arnold) Turner falling in love with unscrupulous racketeer Taylor. Heflin won Best Supporting Actor Oscar as Taylor’s alcoholic friend.(TCM)
Having only been familiar with Robert Taylor’s body of forgettable (humpf) work from the thirties (The Broadway Melodies, Camille, etc), seeing him in the title role of Johnny Eager 
was stunning. Tom Hanks’s 180 degree turn from silly comedies to Philadelphia might be a modern day equivalent. Taylor steps into a role that would seem tailor made for Bogart, Cagney or Robinson, and does an arguably better job than any of them could have. Yes, Lana Turner is present, and yes, Van Heflin won a supporting Oscar, but Taylor owns this film.
Johnny Eager is one of the best films of the 40s, as well as one of the all time greats.
(Taken from a review by Justin Behnke on the IMDB).
The Crowd Roars (1938) is playing on Turner Classic Movies on Tue, April 28, 2015 05:00 AM est. *NOTE*:A TCM programming day begins at 6:00am EST on the calendar day listed and runs to 5:59am EST in the morning on the next day. Hours listed at 12:00am to 5:59am EST in your reminder will be shown on the NEXT calendar day.
Boxing doesn’t appeal to me, either for real or on screen so I approached “The Crowd Roars” with some trepidation. However, boxing is only the excuse for a film on the Depression, on corruption, on poverty and crime. Robert Taylor is superb as Tommy “Killer” McCoy, a young man who enters the ring strictly for the money. He has had the wolf at the door and doesn’t want to see it again. His distaste for being a “pug” and his longing for respectability come into play as he meets Maureen O’Sullivan and gets a glimpse of how “the other half” live. The fight scenes are exciting and vivid but not glamorized. A scene in the gym introduces a cast of brain-damaged pugs as Taylor prepares for his first big fight. The cinematography is excellent as is the lighting. There are no bad performances. Frank Morgan is the drunken father, Maureen O’Sullivan is the love interest, Edward Arnold the gangster, Lionel Stander the trainer. Jane Wyman has a small but pivotal role as a southern airhead. Highly recommended. Review by me for the Imdb.
Robert Taylor Actor 