Has there been an odder career arc than Stuart's? You all know her as Old Kate Winslet in "Titanic" (1997), but the actress had a long run in 1930s Hollywood as an attractive, underutilized blonde until she got bored with the dud roles Universal and Fox kept giving her, burned her glossies, and walked away to become a painter until, at 87, James Cameron coaxed her back into the limelight. The Times obit hints at a woman who was sharper, funkier, more political, and a lot more interesting than anything we saw onscreen. Wikipedia adds more details. The Life website has a neat slideshow of vintage Stuart.
It's also worth noting that in 1932 and 1933 she was a favorite of James Whale, the magnificently eccentric director of Universal horror movies and subject of the novel "Father of Frankenstein" (and its subsequent film version, "Gods and Monsters"). Whale put Stuart in "The Invisible Man" (as Claude Rains' fiancee), bumped her off early in "The Kiss Before the Mirror" (which I'm still kicking myself for missing when it played the HFA last year), and the completely gonzo "The Old Dark House," a tremendous horror movie/parody of horror movies that, among other things, influenced Charles Addams, who based the character of Lurch on Morgan, the mute psycho butler played by Boris Karloff in the film.
That's Morgan's arm above, about to lower the boom on Stuart; a far creepier moment comes earlier in the film, when Stuart's character, a society bubblehead, gets thoroughly freaked out by Eva Moore reminding her that she'll get old and die someday. Here's the scene:
I'm reminded of three things watching this clip: 1) That Hollywood movies could get awfully hot before the censorious Production Code was enforced starting in 1933, 2) that Whale was an unparalleled master of bizarro visual style, and 3) that Stuart was right on the money when her "Titanic" character said, "Wasn't I a dish"? That and more, and would that the movies had better figured out what to do with her. RIP, Gloria.
(P.S. Yes, "The Old Dark House" is available on DVD, and, yes, you should watch it this Halloween and commit the dialogue ("Have a potato?") to memory. Stuart would have wanted it that way.
Taking their promotional efforts overseas, Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz partook in the Japanese premiere of their film “Knight and Day” in Tokyo on Tuesday (September 28).
Waving to hundreds of lined-up fans, the attractive co-stars made the visit as their action movie will be screened in Japan beginning October 9.
For the Tokyo red carpet visit, [...]
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 28, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The industry's first-ever Entertainment Content Protection Summit has been announced by Variety magazine and CDSA, the international content protection association, on December 8 at the Universal Hilton Hotel, in Universal City, California.
LONDON, Sept. 28, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ROK Global, the UK-based mobile technologies, applications and services company, has announced the launch of its soccer-based news subscription service, developed in conjunction with Goal.com, in Nigeria through its Nigerian licensor, 70th Precinct with innovative mobile operator, Etisalat Nigeria.
SEOUL, South Korea, Sept. 28, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GRAVITY Co., Ltd. (Nasdaq:GRVY) ("Gravity" or "Company"), an online game developer and publisher based in South Korea, today announced that it signed an agreement on September 28, 2010 to acquire a 50.8% equity interest in Barunson Interactive Co., Ltd. ("Barunson Interactive"), an online game developer based in Korea. The purchase price is KRW 11,688 million (approximately US$10,126 thousand). The closing of transaction is expected to occur on or about October 25, 2010 subject to customary closing condition. Upon closing of the purchase of the shares, Gravity will acquire control over the management of Barunson Interactive and will be in a position to appoint the majority of the board of directors of Barunson Interactive. Gravity announced that the purpose of the transaction is to strengthen its online game development capabilities and secure quality online game line up.
Hatchet II - Trailer Just as the 80's had their signature murderous maniacs--Halloween's Michael Myers of Haddonfield and Friday the 13th's Jason Voorhees of Camp Crystal Lake-- the original Hatchet marked the arrival of the latest and most lethal of the genre's stalking murderers: Victor Crowley, a crazed backwoods killer stalking the bayous of New Orleans. Hatchet II picks up right where the 2007 original film ends, as Marybeth (Danielle Harris from Halloween) escapes from the clutches of the deformed, swamp-dwelling killer Victor Crowley (Kane Hodder from Friday the 13th). Marybeth returns to the Louisiana swamps along with an army of hunters to recover the bodies of her family and exact her revenge against Victor Crowley. Directed by: Adam Green Starring: Danielle Harris, Tony Todd, Kane Hodder, Tom Holland, R.A. Mihailoff, Parry Shen, AJ Bowen, Alexis Peters, Ed Ackerman, Colton Dunn, David Foy, Rick Mccallum, John Carl Buechler
Night Catches Us - Trailer n 1976, after years of mysterious absence, Marcus (Anthony Mackie, "The Hurt Locker") returns to the Philadelphia neighborhood where he came of age in the midst of the Black Power movement. While his arrival raises suspicion among his family and former neighbors, he finds acceptance from his old friend Patricia (Kerry Washington, "Ray," "Lift") and her daughter. However, Marcus quickly finds himself at odds with the organization he once embraced, whose members suspect he orchestrated the slaying of their former comrade-in-arms. In a startling sequence of events, Marcus must protect a secret that could shatter everyone's beliefs as he rediscovers his forbidden passion for Patricia. Directed by: Tanya Hamilton Starring: Anthony Mackie, Kerry Washington, Jamie Hector, Wendell Pierce, Ron Simons, Tariq Trotter
True Grit - Trailer Fourteen-year-old Mattie Ross's (Hailee Steinfeld) father has been shot in cold blood by the coward Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin), and she is determined to bring him to justice. Enlisting the help of a trigger-happy, drunken U.S. Marshal, Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), she sets out with him -- over his objections -- to hunt down Chaney. Her father's blood demands that she pursue the criminal into Indian territory and find him before a Texas Ranger named LeBoeuf (Matt Damon) catches him and brings him back to Texas for the murder of another man. Directed by: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen Starring: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Barry Pepper, Hailee Steinfeld
Monsters - Trailer Six years ago NASA discovered the possibility of alien life within our solar system. A probe was launched to collect samples, but crashed upon re-entry over Central America. Soon after, new life forms began to appear and grow. In an effort to stem the destruction that resulted, half of Mexico was quarantined as an INFECTED ZONE. Today, the American and Mexican military still struggle to contain the massive creatures... Our story begins when a jaded US journalist (McNairy) begrudgingly agrees to find his boss’ daughter, a shaken American tourist (Able) and escort her through the infected zone to the safety of the US border. Directed by: Gareth Edwards Starring: Whitney Able, Scoot McNairy
The Town - Featurette Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck) is an unrepentant criminal, the de facto leader of a group of ruthless bank robbers who pride themselves in stealing what they want and getting out clean. With no real attachments, Doug never has to fear losing anyone close to him. But that all changed on the gang's latest job, when they briefly took a hostage--bank manager, Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall). Though they let her go unharmed, Claire is nervously aware that the robbers know her name... and where she lives. But she lets her guard down when she meets an unassuming and rather charming man named Doug....not realizing that he is the same man who only days earlier had terrorized her. The instant attraction between them gradually turns into a passionate romance that threatens to take them both down a dangerous, and potentially deadly, path.
Directed by: Ben Affleck Starring: Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner, Blake Lively, Pete Postlethwaite, Chris Cooper
Has there been an odder career arc than Stuart's? You all know her as Old Kate Winslet in "Titanic" (1997), but the actress had a long run in 1930s Hollywood as an attractive, underutilized blonde until she got bored with the dud roles Universal and Fox kept giving her, burned her glossies, and walked away to become a painter until, at 87, James Cameron coaxed her back into the limelight. The Times obit hints at a woman who was sharper, funkier, more political, and a lot more interesting than anything we saw onscreen. Wikipedia adds more details. The Life website has a neat slideshow of vintage Stuart.
