Category Archives: Mini-Portraits
TINTYPE TUESDAY: Teresa Wright, the Anti-Pin-Up Girl
Welcome to another edition of TINTYPE TUESDAY! We’ve all heard of unusual clauses in actors’ contracts. But Teresa Wright’s—written when she was just starting out at 23—takes the cake. (And that cake does not have a scantily clad starlet popping out of it): The aforementioned Teresa Wright shall not be required to pose for photographs in …
TINTYPE TUESDAY: Start the New Year Right with Gloria Swanson!
Happy New Year, my dear friends! And welcome to another edition of TINTYPE TUESDAY! Need a little help making this year a bit healthier than the last? Sure, you could turn to a personal trainer or a gym coach. But wouldn’t you rather take your inspiration from Gloria Swanson? Here she is merrily camping it …
From Laurel & Hardy to James Dean and Beyond: A Love Letter to George Stevens
You know how with some people, you say “I love their work!” but really, let’s face it, you’re actually in love with them? That’s me with George Stevens. Today is his birthday, and yet it’s not even a national holiday. That’s just wrong. But we’re celebrating here at Sister Celluloid, sharing behind-the-scenes glimpses of the man at work. (And at …
TINTYPE TUESDAY: The Cuddly Side of Boris Karloff
Welcome to another edition of TINTYPE TUESDAY, bringing you wonderful movie photos every week! Shooting the terrifying lake scene in Frankenstein was going to be emotionally fraught enough. But before filming even began, director James Whale faced another problem: Boris Karloff’s makeup required hours to apply, so he needed to be fully “monsterized” by the time …
The Topperesque Adventures of Roland Young
Roland Young almost became Cosmo Topper. Not in the movies—he did that in spades, all rubber limbs and befuddlement—but in real life. The manor-born, well-educated young man came thisclose to toiling out his days soberly and sensibly in some handsome, wood-paneled office. Young’s father Keith was the most prominent architect in London, and young Roland was being fast-tracked to …
Four Extraordinary Heroes, One Regiment: Basil Rathbone, Ronald Colman, Claude Rains and Herbert Marshall in World War I
Basil Rathbone conceived an almost certain suicide mission—and carried it off disguised as a tree. Herbert Marshall, who lost a leg to a sniper’s bullet, downplayed his sacrifice, saying his most salient memories of the trenches were numbness and boredom. Claude Rains lost almost half his sight to a poison gas attack. And Ronald Colman …
Remembering James Dean 60 Years On—And Busting Some Myths Along the Way
Sixty years ago today, a wildly gifted young actor was killed. And a one-dimensional legend was born. The brooding rebel in the leather jacket. Which summed up about one half of one percent of who James Dean was either as an actor or a person. Those who knew him, loved him and worked with him …
Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant: An “Indiscreet” Friendship
“A kiss could last three seconds. We just kissed each other and talked, leaned away and kissed each other again. Then the telephone came between us, then we moved to the other side of the telephone. So it was a kiss which opened and closed; but the censors couldn’t and didn’t cut the scene because …
Here’s to Margaret Dumont—Who Always Got the Joke
“I’m not a stooge, I’m a straight lady—the best in Hollywood. There is an art to playing the straight role. You must build up your man but never top him, never steal the laughs.” — Margaret Dumont in 1937, discussing A Day at the Races, her fifth of seven films with the Marx Brothers. Take that, …
Sister Celluloid 
Recent Comments