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Drew Barrymore is a child of Hollywood royalty and a Golden Globe winning actress whose career has spanned nearly her entire life, making her first credited screen performance at the age of three. But how many of her titles remain classics? Let’s take a look back at 15 of her greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Barrymore was born to a celebrated acting family though she never really knew her famous ancestors. Her grandfather was John Barrymore, star of “Grand Hotel”, “Twentieth Century” and “Dinner at Eight” among others. She is also the great grand niece of Oscar winners Lionel Barrymore and Ethel Barrymore. Lionel won one of the earliest Oscars as Best Actor for “A Free Soul” in 1931 but is probably best remembered as the villainous Mr. Potter of the Christmas classic “It’s a Wonderful Life.” His sister Ethel won the 1945 Best Supporting Actress Oscar for “None but the Lonely Heart...

In 2020 – for the first time in seven years – the Best Supporting Actress Oscar category saw a lone nomination, meaning that a film was recognized there and nowhere else. This achievement is attributed to Kathy Bates (“Richard Jewell”), who competed for no major precursors except the Golden Globe but still managed to bump Critics Choice, SAG, and Globe nominee Jennifer Lopez (“Hustlers”). Perhaps unsurprisingly given the length of the streak she broke, there has yet to be a lone contender in any of her category’s subsequent lineups.

Since the introduction of the two gendered supporting Oscars in 1937, there have been 57 female lone nominees and 54 male ones, with over half of the entrants on the former roster having been added before 1977. The one who directly preceded Bates was Helen Hunt, whose inclusion in her lineup was much more heavily predicted. Coincidentally, both women had the perceived advantage of being former Best Actress champions,...

Broadway box office held steady last week with total grosses for 28 shows tallying up to $28,106,860, with 224,832 ticket buyers paying an average $125.01 per seat.

A healthy chunk of those total numbers were contributed by such recent arrivals as Merrily We Roll Along and Gutenberg! The Musical, which had its best week to date with a take of $932,436 at the James Earl Jones, that despite significant post-opening press comps.

(Gutenberg!, starring Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells, has been surprising audiences with special unbilled appearances near the end of each performance, secret cameos that might not contribute to box office but can’t hurt word of mouth enthusiasm: Following Nathan Lane’s appearance on opening night, the cameos last week included Ashley Park, Lin-Manuel Miranda, John Stamos, Rory O’Malley, Christian Slater, Amber Ruffin and, in a stroke of some kinda genius,...

Air-conditioned Broadway held its own as New York City plunged ever deeper into a hot summer last week, with total box office receipts keeping steady at $31,520,593, a tiny increase of 2% over the previous week.

Total attendance for the 30 Broadway productions was 257,204, consistent with the previous week but up nearly 15% over the same period last season.

A trio of shows ending their runs last week – the week ending July 23 – saw box office climb even higher as last-chancers snapped up tickets. Camelot took in $780,457, a boost of $189,142 over the previous week, with attendance at 96% of the Vivian Beaumont’s capacity. Life of Pi closed its run on a strong note, grossing $585,043, with 93% of the Schoenfeld’s seats occupied. And Peter Pan Goes Wrong, struggling in recent weeks after a strong start in the spring, was up by $102,412 to $550,082. Still, the popular West End farce filled only 75% of seats...

The Best Supporting Actor Oscar category is seeing double yet again. Brendan Gleeson and Barry Keoghan received nominations as expected for their turns in Martin McDonagh‘s “The Banshees of Inisherin” on Tuesday, marking the fourth consecutive year a film has received double bids in the category.

“Banshees” is the 22nd film to achieve this, but most remarkably, five of them have occurred in the last six years after a 26-year dry spell. “Bugsy” (1991) produced noms for Harvey Keitel and Ben Kingsley, but the category went without co-star nominees until McDonagh’s “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (2017) yielded bids for Sam Rockwell and Woody Harrelson. After none the following year, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci garnered comeback noms for “The Irishman” (2019). Two years ago, Oscar voters shocked us all by nominating Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield — you know, they who played the title characters in that two-hander “Judas and the Black Messiah” — in supporting.

It took a little longer than we thought after her initial surge in October, but Jamie Lee Curtis has finally infiltrated the top five in the Best Supporting Actress Oscar odds. The “Everything Everywhere All at Once” star has jumped from sixth to third place, even leapfrogging over her own co-star Stephanie Hsu.

Curtis’ rise isn’t surprising after she earned Golden Globe and Critics Choice Awards nominations this week and is one of three people — the others being Angela Bassett (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”) and Kerry Condon (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) — who was shortlisted at both in the still very messy but very fun supporting actress race. The Golden Globe category was rounded out by Dolly de Leon (“Triangle of Sadness”) and Carey Mulligan (“She Said”), while Critics Choice’s six-person field also included Hsu, Jessie Buckley (“Women Talking”) and Janelle Monáe (“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”).

See...

Ever since “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (2017) ended a 26-year drought, double Best Supporting Actor Oscar nominees from one film have been all the rage. And this season, the category could very well tread new territory with a double set of double nominees.

“The Fabelmans” and “The Banshees of Inisherin” are both vying to field two supporting actor nominees — Paul Dano and Judd Hirsch for the former, and Brendan Gleeson and Barry Keoghan for the latter. Three of them are in the current top five in the odds and all four are in the top six. Ke Huy Quan (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) leads the way in first place, followed by Gleeson, Ben Whishaw (“Women Talking”), Dano, Hirsch and Keoghan.

Should all four get in, this would be the second time in Oscar history in which two films score double nominations in the same acting category and the first time in supporting actor.

Two years ago, siblings Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell shared in four Grammy wins for the album “When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?” (Album of the Year; Best Pop Vocal Album) and its single “Bad Guy” (Record of the Year; Song of the Year). Now, they have concurrently earned their first Oscar nominations for co-writing the song “No Time to Die” for the James Bond film of the same name. If they prevail later this month, they will become the fourth brother-sister pair to both be honored by the academy and the first to win for the same film.

The first brother-sister Oscar champs and first sibling winners overall were Douglas Shearer and Norma Shearer. In 1930, he triumphed in the Best Sound category for “The Big House” while she took the Best Actress prize for “The Divorcee.” They were followed by Lionel Barrymore and Ethel Barrymore, who respectively...

Oscar certainly loves mothers. All five of this year’s Best Actress nominees — Jessica Chastain (“The Eyes of Tammy Faye”), Olivia Colman (“The Lost Daughter”), Penelope Cruz (“Parallel Mothers”), Nicole Kidman (“Being the Ricardos”) and Kirsten Stewart (“Spencer”) — play mothers. Ditto four out of five supporting nominees: Jessie Buckley (“The Lost Daughter”), Judi Dench (“Belfast”), Kirsten Dunst (“The Power of the Dog”) and Aunjanue Ellis (“King Richard”); the fifth contender is Ariana DeBose (“West Side Story”).

Actresses love getting maternal sinking their teeth-and sometimes claws-into mother roles whether they be good, bad, ugly or downright evil. Here’s a look at some early memorable mother performances that made Oscars history.

The mother of all mothers was Ruth Chatterton. Though she is not as well-remembered as other actresses from the Golden Age of Hollywood, she was extremely popular in the late 1920s and early ‘30s. Though no nominations were officially announced for the second annual Oscars,...

Best Supporting Actress has always been the Oscar acting category that’s kindest to having multiple nominees from the same film. There have been 35 instances of one film scoring more than one bid in the category, compared to 20 in Best Supporting Actor, 12 in Best Actor and just five in Best Actress. The category is also the only one of the four that has ever featured two pairs of double bids in the same year — and that could just happen again this year.

A long 72 years ago, in the 1949-50 race, the Oscars nominated four women from two films: Ethel Barrymore and Ethel Waters from “Pinky,” and Celeste Holm and Elsa Lanchester from “Come to the Stable.” The fifth nominee was “All the King’s Men” star Mercedes McCambridge, who won the supporting actress award and whom you could argue benefited from the double vote-split (“All the King’s Men” also won Best...

Welcome back to the Supporting Actress Smackdown. Each month we pick an Oscar vintage to explore through the lens of actressing at the edges. This episode goes back to the 19th Academy Awards honoring 1946. It isn't a particularly beloved Oscar vintage though the Best Picture winner, The Best Years of Our Lives, is sublime. Apart from the winner and the Christmas film It's a Wonderful Life, the Academy all but ignored the most enduring pictures of that post-war year. But we're here to discuss Best Supporting Actress and these five women were having a moment...

The Nominees For the 1946 Oscars the Academy invited back two previous winners (Gale Sondergaard & Ethel Barrymore), tossed a bouquet in the form of 'career' nomination to a legend (Lillian Gish), honored a character actress for stretching (Flora Robson) without realizing how poorly that kind of stretch would age, and invited a new starlet (Anne Baxter) into the club.

by Nathaniel R

Maggie Smith (Gosford Park), Ethel Barrymore (Spiral Staircase) and Rosemary Harris (Tom & Viv)... all just a bit Too Young for this list!

We recently published an "Oldest Best Actor Nominees of all time" list since Two men this year (Gary Oldman and Sir Anthony Hopkins) landed in the mix. (Related lists "Youngest Best Actor" and "Youngest Best Actress"). Given that unusual two-for-one accomplishment we figured we needed to update the correlative Oldest Best Supporting Actress list where the exact same thing has happened. We first published this list only three months ago but then the focus was on the possibility that Ellen Burstyn would make history as the oldest nominee ever in that category. But Pieces of a Woman proved polarizing when it "opened" and was ignored outside of Vanessa Kirby's Best Actress bid. 

So an update to the list. Which elder women have been looked...

Exclusive: The filmmakers behind acclaimed Cannes 2018 documentary Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché are re-teaming on a narrative biopic about their subject, the little-known but remarkable cinema pioneer, who was the first ever female film director, screenwriter, producer, and studio owner.

Active from the late 19th century, Frenchwoman Guy-Blaché was in the room when the Lumière brothers held the first ever cinema screening in Paris in 1895. Inspired by what she saw, the Gaumont secretary went on to become an in-house film-maker at the French studio.

Guy-Blaché would travel to the U.S. where she became artistic director and a co-founder of Solax Studios in Flushing, New York, and a prominent investor in a new studio in Fort Lee, New Jersey, which was the center of American filmmaking prior to the establishment of Hollywood.

During her career, she made more than 1,000 short and silent films, including comedies, westerns and dramas,...

One Smackdown done, eight (gulp) more to go in our double-sized season! This thursday (May 28th) we're talking 1947. To maximize your enjoyment of these special events we recommend watching the films in question before the event and voting.  To vote email us your ballot by May 27th with "1947" in the subject line and each performance ranked from 1 (weak) to 5 (perfect) hearts. Only vote on the performances you've seen but you still have time to see them all; there's only 4 movies this time around.

Ethel Barrymore in The Paradine Case - stream for free on Vimeo or YouTube Gloria Grahame in Crossfire - just $1.99/$6.99 to rent/buy on Amazon Celeste Holm And Anne Revere in Gentleman's Agreement - rent on Amazon/iTunes Marjorie Main in The Egg and I -rent on Amazon/iTunes

And Icymi -- Meet The Panel 

Pssst. 2002 is our next Smackdown and that's coming quickly on June 16th...

Warning: Do not read this story until you have seen the final episode of “Hollywood.”

For its first six episodes, Ryan Murphy’s “Hollywood” mixed reality and fiction in its portrait of the movie business in the years after World War II. But there’s a good reason why the final episode is titled “A Hollywood Ending” – because it uses the Oscars of March 1948 to paint a picture of Hollywood growing more tolerant, more open to minorities and gays and more embracing of the kind of films that in reality were nearly impossible to make at the time or for decades later.

Like the ending of Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood,” the episode veers into a kind of wish-fulfillment fiction that is the whole point of its existence.

So we’re not really fact-checking when we look at the show’s depiction of the 20th Academy Awards ceremony.

A record-setting farewell performance of To Kill a Mockingbird‘s original Jeff Daniels-fronted cast, along with three rockers — Tina Turner, Alanis Morissette and David Byrne — brought in a combined $4,584,598 at the box office, a hefty slice of Broadway’s 34-production total gross of $31,122,601 for the week ending November 3.

That all-shows total is down about 8% from the previous week, at least in part due to some opening-night comps, and for Hamilton a couple lower-priced good-cause performances (more about that below).

First, though, Mockingbird. Already the highest-grossing American play in Broadway history — as you most likely know by now — the Aaron Sorkin adaptation of Harper Lee’s novel broke its own weekly gross record at the Shubert Theatre for the 10th time since opening last fall, pushing its total gross past the $100 million mark.

But the week ending Nov. 3 was another milestone for play: Sunday night’s performance was the final for the original cast,...

“She was just in time to see the last tree split into two, as a man slipped from behind its trunk, and disappeared into the shadow.” – Ethel Lina White (Some Must Watch)

I had the glorious experience of sitting inside a 250-seat movie theater watching A Quiet Place all by myself on a Sunday morning a last year. The technique of stripping sound away from that film, utilizing silence as a narrative vessel, is completely obvious when you are the only person sitting in front of a giant movie screen with nothing but the glow of the film to illuminate the empty seats surrounding you. As the movie progressed I could feel myself moving anxiously in my seat, inching towards the front of the chair in anticipation of the next scare. The darkness and seclusion of the theater playing tricks on my senses as I turned around in my chair...

Declarations of “She’s Got Legs” might be premature, but Broadway’s Tina: The Tina Turner Musical is already strutting to $1M+ at the weekly box office, becoming one of the season’s most promising productions.

In its second week of previews, Tina was a sell-out at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, grossing $1,386,360 for seven previews. With an average paid admission of $134, Tina hit 96% of its $1.5M potential.

Starring Adrienne Warren in the title role, Tina was a hit in London and seems to be carrying plenty of that good will to Broadway. Opening night is set for Nov. 7.

Tina‘s total helped keep Broadway from slipping more than a tiny 1.6% last week: Total receipts for the 34 Broadway productions for the week ending Oct. 20 were $34,644,583. Total attendance was 286,802, a barely noticeable bump of 1.4% over the previous week.

Another new arrival hit the right notes on Broadway last week: David Byrne’s American Utopia,...

Broadway tiptoed another step into the fall season last week, with a hefty batch of newcomers mostly toting less than hefty bags of box office receipts. Total box office for all Broadway productions were up a wispy 2% over the previous week, tallying $29,894,777.

Total attendance was 260,498, just 2% more than the previous week despite reflecting a larger-by-one, 33-show roster.

Departing the boards was Sea Wall/A Life, the limited-engagement critically praised pair of solo one-acts starring Tom Sturridge and Jake Gyllenhaal. The production grossed a solid $854,678 in its final week at the Hudson Theater, about 84% of potential with 97% of seats filled.

As for the newcomers, the most recent of the recent arrivals is The Inheritance, Matthew Lopez’s Olivier Award-winning two-part London smash that re-envisions E. M. Forster’s Howards End in modern-day New York with three generations of gay men. Week 1 saw only two previews performed, and both were for Part...

Another slate of high-profile Broadway arrivals hit the street last week, with much anticipated productions like Burn This, Hillary and Clinton, What the Constitution Means to Me and Gary: A Sequel To Titus Andronicus adding both money to the till and words (so many words) to the district’s marquees.

In all, box office receipts for the 34 productions (three more than the previous week) were up 9% to $32,944,573, with attendance taking a commensurate 6% hike to 288,544. Average ticket price for a Broadway seat during the season’s Week 42 (ending March 17) was $114, a few bucks more than the previous week.

Let’s start with the recent arrivals: Kiss Me, Kate opened March 14 to fine reviews at Studio 54, with stars Kelli O’Hara and Will Chase playing to Sro houses. Press seats and opening night comps, along with the non-profit Roundabout’s subscription-heavy base, kept grosses at $681,659, an increase over the previous week and about 68% of full-price potential.

Be More Chill arrived on Broadway to a big welcome, beginning previews and breaking the seven-performance house record at the Lyceum Theatre with a gross of $738,384, a virtual sell-out with 98% of seats filled for those first seven previews.

The strong performance – the Lyceum’s previous record of $584,033 was set by Patrick Stewart’s Macbeth back in 2008 – reflected an overall good week on Broadway.

Box office for the 29 productions tallied $30,511,551 for Broadway’s Week 38 (ending Feb. 17), a 10% boost over the previous week.

Total attendance for Week 38 was 252,489, a 1% jump from the previous week, and 90% of total potential.

Star of the week was Be More Chill, which arrived on Broadway with its Off Broadway sheen still glowing. The entire cast from last summer’s sold-out run at Off Broadway’s Pershing Square Signature Center has made the three-block trek north. The musical...

The first 15 years of the Academy Awards were banquet held at various swanky hotels in Los Angeles from the Blossom Room at the Hollywood Roosevelt, the Cocoanut Grove and Fiesta Room at the Ambassador and the Sala D’Doro and the Biltmore Bowl at the Biltmore.

Because the ceremony had grown in attendance and importance, the Oscars finally graduated its 16thyear on March 2, 1944 moving to the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, which then had a capacity of 2,258.

When the ranks of academy members grew two-fold, the Oscars moved to the Shrine Auditorium for the 19thand 20thceremonies. The Shrine was so big-it holds 6,700 seats-the general public was even invited to buy tickets.

But everything changed with the 21stceremony which took place on March 24, 1949. The studio decided to withdraw financial support for the Academy Awards “in order to remove rumors that they had been trying to exert their influence on votes,” explained Robert...

1962: Our Five Daughters premiered on NBC.

1968: Dark Shadows' Angelique dug her way of Jeremiah's grave.

1980: Barbara hid a big secret on As the World Turns.

2004: Rebecca and Julian were married on Passions."History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into different and unexpected images."

― Anselm Kiefer

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1959: CBS Radio aired the final episode of Bakcstage Wife, the story of Mary Noble, a girl from a small town in Iowa who came to New York seeking her future. The show was created by Frank and Anne Hummert and premiered August 5, 1935 on the Mutual Broadcasting System.

There’s a storm outside, the cook has drunk herself to sleep, the other servants are gone, the old lady is an invalid — and the helpless mute maid is trapped indoors with a murderous maniac. No, it’s not a Reality Show about the White House, but Robert Siodmak’s superior ‘old house whodunnit’ that is equal parts Americana, film noir and proto- slasher horror.

The Spiral Staircase

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1946 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 83 min. / Street Date October 2, 2018 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Dorothy McGuire, George Brent, Ethel Barrymore, Kent Smith, Rhonda Fleming, Gordon Oliver, Elsa Lanchester, Sara Allgood, Rhys Williams, James Bell, Ellen Corby, Erville Anderson, Myrna Dell.

Cinematography: Nicholas Musuraca

Film Editor: Harry Gerstad, Harry Marker

Original Music: Roy Webb

Written by Mel Dinelli from a book by Ethel Lina White

Produced by Dore Schary

Directed by Robert Siodmak

The handsomely produced The Spiral Staircase...

Marian Rees, who won a pair of Emmy Awards during a pioneering 50-year producing career and was an officer at the TV Academy, Women in Film and the PGA, has died. She was 90. She died August 26 in Bainbridge Island, Wa.

Born on October 31, 1927, in Le Mars, Ia, Rees moved to Los Angeles in the early 1950s. In 1955, she joined Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin’s Tandem Productions and was associate producer on TV tributes to Frank Sinatra and Ethel Barrymore and the Emmy-winning 1958 special An Evening with Fred Astaire. While at Tandem, she also was associate producer on the pilots of All in the Family (1971) and its spinoff Sanford & Son a year later.

Rees left Tandem in 1973 and joined Tomorrow Entertainment, where she worked on numerous productions including Orphan Train and the multiple-Emmy-winning Tell Me Where It Hurts. She later joined the Nrw Company as VP and was the executive...

A solid mainstream hit for 1947, Loretta Young and Joseph Cotten’s political fairy tale maintains its charm despite the usual populist dodges — a spirited young woman finds both romance and The American Dream when she runs for Congress. But will the political system accept her?

The Farmer’s Daughter

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1947 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 97 min. / Street Date September 25, 2018 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Loretta Young, Joseph Cotten, Ethel Barrymore, Charles Bickford, Rhys Williams, Harry Davenport, Tom Powers, William Harrigan, Keith Andes, Harry Shannon, Lex Barker, Thurston Hall, Art Baker, Don Beddoe, James Arness, Anna Q. Nilsson, Charles McGraw, John Gallaudet, William B. Davidson, Cy Kendall, Frank Ferguson, William Bakewell, Charles Lane Forrest J. Ackerman, Robert Clarke.

Film Editor: Harry Marker

Original Music: Leigh Harline

Written by Allen Rivkin, Laura Kerr, from a play by Juhani Tervapää

Produced by Dore Schary

Directed by H.C. Potter

This year...

The Tony Award-winning Broadway musical The Band’s Visit has recouped its $8.75 million capitalization, producers announced today.

“We are deeply grateful to the artists, collaborators and colleagues who have worked with us tirelessly to bring The Band’s Visit to Broadway,” said producers Orin Wolf, John Styles and John Hart. “It has brought us all such joy to see audiences connect with this story of strangers finding common ground through small acts of kindness.”

Winner of 10 Tony Awards, including for best musical, actor, actress, direction, book and score, The Band’s Visit began performances Oct. 7, 2017, at Broadway’s Ethel Barrymore Theatre to universal critical raves and trophies. The production, with music and lyrics by David Yazbek and book by Itamar Moses, is tied with Hello, Dolly! and Billy Elliot in third place for most Tonys for a single show, behind The Producers (12) and Hamilton (11).

Based on the 2007 Israeli film, The...

Elia Kazan would have celebrated his 109th birthday on September 7, 2018. Years after his death in 2003, the two-time Oscar-winning director remains both an influential and controversial figure, respected and reviled in equal measure. In honor of his birthday, let’s take a look back at 15 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Kazan started his career as a stage actor, soon transitioning into directing. He mounted several landmark productions, including the original run of “A Streetcar Named Desire.” Throughout his career he received three Tony awards for Best Director of a Play: “All My Sons” in 1947, “Death of a Salesman” in 1949, and “J.B.” in 1959.

He transitioned into filmmaking with “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” (1945). Two years later, he won his first Oscar for Best Director for “Gentleman’s Agreement” (1947), which also took home Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress (Celeste Holm). A taboo-shattering drama about antisemitism, the film established...

10 random things that happened on this day in history (Aug 15th) as it relates to showbiz...

I am a collage of unaccounted for brush strokes...

1483 The Sistine Chapel is consecrated and holds its first mass at the Vatican. Remember that "anecdote" in Six Degrees of Separation (1993) about slapping the hand of god? What a fantastic play/film. Stockard Channing's nomination that year was so well-earned. In many years that performance would have been my gold medalist, but what a stellar Best Actress year 1993 was. Hunter, Bassett, Channing, etc...

1879 Future Oscar winner Ethel Barrymore (None but the Lonely Heart) born in Philadephia. She is one of only nine women to have ever been nominated for 4 Supporting Actress Oscars. We're discussing that list right now actually ...

1912 Amazing actress Wendy Hiller born in England on this day. She would go on to 3 Oscar nominations and a win. On the same day in Pasadena.

10 random things that happened on this day in showbiz history

1775 The Us Postal System is created. Are there any great movies about mailmen? I'm drawing a blank. Do not say The Postman.

The first movie actress to get a postage stamp would be Ethel Barrymore but she had to share it with her brothers Lionel and John! Grace Kelly was (I believe) the first movie star to get a solo postage stamp. Since that time (in 1993) we've had: Theda Bara, Clara Bow, Zasu Pitts, Marilyn Monroe, Lucille Ball, Audrey Hepburn, Greta Garbo, Hattie McDaniel, Judy Garland, Bette Davis, Katharine Hepburn, Helen Hayes, Ingrid Bergman, and Shirley Temple. Who is next? Any guesses?

More after the jump including Mr Julie Andrews, Pee Wee Herman, and Cate Blanchett...

With Bruce Springsteen still on a soon-to-end hiatus, competition from fireworks and two fledgling productions still getting their footing, Broadway box office was down about 11% for the week ending July 8, the 30 shows grossing a total $33,865,380.

Paid attendance of 272,945 put Broadway houses at about 92% of capacity, with an average paid admission of $124.07. That attendance is down about 6% from last week when the Street had 33 shows running.

New(ish) to the line-up, Straight White Men played its first full week of eight previews (compared to last week’s three performances), with the Josh Charles and Armie Hammer starrer taking in $302,222, about 47% of potential. Attendance of 4,139 was closer to the mark, about 89% of the 4,648 capacity. That means average ticket price was $73.02, well below the $149 most ticket buyers could have spent.

The Young Jean Lee-penned play had some cast upheavals in recent weeks, but nothing that would impact the marquee value too much – Hammer,...

Broadway box office slipped 5.3% in its 5th week of the season, grossing $38,126,489 as Bruce Springsteen went on a brief hot-weather hiatus and audiences weren’t quite head over heels just yet with the newly arrived Go-Go’s musical.

Total attendance for the week ending July 1 was 291,188 for the 33 Broadway shows, about 91% of capacity with an average ticket price of $131.

Bidding goodbye to the Street was the Jimmy Buffett jukeboxer Escape to Margaritaville, taking $656,921 in its final week of performances, up from last week’s $567,991 but well, well below its $1.7M potential.

Meanwhile, the limited engagement of The Iceman Cometh wenteth, closing July 1 and taking $911,249 for seven performances, about 76% of its $1.2M potential. Attendance for the Denzel Washington starrer was at 7,090, about 96% of capacity, with ticket-buyers paying an average $129.

Springsteen on Broadway was Sro for four performances, at $1,929,003. The Boss’ half-week kicked off a brief vacation – Springsteen resumes performances at the...

The Cannes Film Festival’s Jury President Cate Blanchett and the Camera d’Or Jury President Ursula Meier put on a good front for the festival but still, Competition had only three out of 21 films directed by women while Un Certain Regard had eight out of 18 (44%) and Short Films in Competition had two out of eight (25%). Cinefondation had eight of 17 shorts (47%) by women; Critics’ Week four out of seven (57%) while Critics’ Week Shorts had three out of ten (30%). Directors’ Fortnight had five out of 20 (25%) and Directors’ Fortnight Shorts had four out of 11 (36%).International key women players of the film industry — directors, crew members, actresses, producers, screenwriters, sales agents, distributors, talent agents, editors — climbed the steps of the Cannes Film Festival.

Among them, Cate Blanchett and Agnès Varda read a collective statement.

Of the eight Special Screenings of the festival none was by a woman. Cannes Classics showed six out of 33 (18%) by women.

Angela Lansbury, 2018 Emmy contender for Masterpiece Theater’s adaptation of “Little Women,” has one of the most unique awards histories of any performer. In her over 75-year career she has managed to amass a significant number of nominations for all three of the major acting awards: three Oscar noms, 18 Emmy bids and seven Tony citations. While she has sailed through the Tony Awards winning five times, the other awards have been more elusive.

Her Oscar nominations all came early in her career and she came up empty handed all three times (the Academy did remedy that with an honorary Oscar in 2013). Lansbury’s Emmy history has been downright infuriating for her fans since she has lost a staggering 18 times. That streak may come to an end this year if Lansbury is able to achieve the award for her work in PBS’s “Little Women.”

SEEEmmys 2018 exclusive: PBS ‘Masterpiece’ categories for ‘Little Women,...

Guilt, gloom, weird nightmares of death and persecution — and romance? The wondrous Gail Russell brings a spark of life into Frank Borzage’s weird expressionist masterpiece produced at the seldom-artistic Republic Studio. The bitter, despairing Dane Clark has just committed what a jury will likely call first degree murder, but the night can offer atonement and forgiveness, if he’ll just listen to Russell’s good advice.

Moonrise

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 921

1948 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 90 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date May 8, 2018 / 39.95

Starring: Dane Clark, Gail Russell, Ethel Barrymore, Allyn Joslyn, Rex Ingram, Henry Morgan, Lloyd Bridges, Selena Royle.

Cinematography: John L. Russell

Film Editor: Harry Keller

Original Music: William Lava

From the book by Theodore Strauss

Written and Produced by Charles Haas

Directed by Frank Borzage

Frank Borzage’s 1948 Moonrise is a critic’s delight, especially among aficionados that like to point out the artistic margins of traditional Hollywood filmmaking.

Harry Potter and The Cursed Child: Parts One and Two, Angels in America, the Denzel Washington-starrer The Iceman Cometh and the Tina Fey-penned Mean Girls were among the Broadway productions scoring nominations for this year’s New York Drama League awards.

The 2018 Broadway and Off-Broadway nominees were announced in the categories of Outstanding Production of a Play, Outstanding Revival of a Play, Outstanding Production of a Musical, Outstanding Revival of a Musical, and the Distinguished Performance Award. The nominations were announced this morning by Tony Award winners Harriet Harris, Julie White and nominee Christopher Sieber.

The 84th Annual Drama League Awards, the oldest theatrical honors in America, will be held Friday, May 18, 11:30 am at the Marriott Marquis Times Square.

Here is the complete list of nominees:

Outstanding Production Of A Broadway Or Off-broadway Play

Animal

Written by Clare Lizzimore

Directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch

Atlantic Theater Company...

“Wash your face, brush your teeth, and say your Prayers.” Marilyn Monroe’s first plunge into a dramatic starring role casts her as a dangerously unstable babysitter in a hotel-set suspense thriller co-starring Richard Widmark and Anne Bancroft. Ms. Monroe may not be Ethel Barrymore (thankfully) but the role suits her well — to play a woman unhinged by low self-esteem and melancholy romantic reveries, she may have tapped personal experience.

Don’t Bother to Knock

Blu-ray

Twilight Time

1952 / B&W / 1.37 Academy / 76 min. / Street Date March 20, 2018 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95

Starring: Marilyn Monroe, Richard Widmark, Marilyn Monroe, Anne Bancroft, Donna Corcoran, Jeanne Cagney, Lurene Tuttle, Elisha Cook Jr., Jim Backus, Verna Felton, Willis Bouchey.

Cinematography: Lucien Ballard

Film Editor: George A. Gittens

Written by Daniel Taradash from a novel by Charlotte Armstrong

Produced by Julian Blaustein

Directed by Roy (Ward) Baker

Although she rates second billing below Richard Widmark,...

With the second season of the Netflix series “Santa Clarita Diaries,” it’s the perfect chance to look back at the film career of star Drew Barrymore from a very young girl to now. The unusual program takes the popular zombie storyline and sets it in suburban California where a young mother and wife becomes a flesh-eating zombie and craves human flesh to eat.

See‘Santa Clarita Diet’ Season 2 trailer [Watch]

Barrymore was born to a celebrated acting family though she never really knew her famous ancestors. Her grandfather was John Barrymore, star of “Grand Hotel”, “Twentieth Century” and “Dinner at Eight” among others. She is also the great grand niece of Oscar winners Lionel Barrymore and Ethel Barrymore. Lionel won one of the earliest Oscars as Best Actor for “A Free Soul” in 1931 but is probably best remembered as the villainous Mr. Potter of the Christmas classic “It’s a Wonderful Life.

Among this year’s 20 actors to earn Oscar nominations are Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep and Octavia Spencer, up for their turns in “Roman J. Israel, Esq.”; “The Post”; and “The Shape of Water,” respectively. Washington, Streep and Spencer mark the trio of actors to this year earn consecutive Oscar nominations, having last year been up for “Fences,” “Florence Foster Jenkins,” and “Hidden Figures.” Their achievement marks the 14th occasion in Oscar history in which three or more actors have returned as nominees the following ceremony.

SEEOscars 2018: Nominations in All 24 Categories

In the early days of the Oscars, consecutive acting nominations were commonplace. From 1936 to 1947, there were eight occasions of this nature. Let’s take a look back at those years:

1936 and 1937 (Paul Muni, Spencer Tracy, Luise Rainer, Irene Dunne and Alice Brady)

1939 and 1940 (Laurence Olivier, James Stewart and Bette Davis)

1940 and 1941 (Bette Davis, Joan Fontaine and Walter Brennan)

1941 and 1942 (Gary Cooper,...

1962: Our Five Daughters premiered on NBC.

1968: Dark Shadows' Angelique dug her way of Jeremiah's grave.

1980: Atwt's Barbara was keeping a big secret.

2004: Rebecca and Julian were married on Passions."History is a vast early warning system."

― Norman Cousins

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1959: CBS Radio aired the final episode of Bakcstage Wife, the story of Mary Noble, a girl from a small town in Iowa who came to New York seeking her future. The show was created by Frank and Anne Hummert and premiered August 5, 1935 on the Mutual Broadcasting System. Claire Niesen played the role of Mary from the early 1940s until the end of its run.

Presenting the Supporting Actresses of '44. A low class maid, a French baroness, a patriotic nurse, a weary shop-owner and a "Chinese" village woman battled it out for Oscar gold. We're here to re-judge that contest. 

The Nominees 

from left to right: Barrymore, Jones, Lansbury, MacMahon, Moorehead

Oscar was still besotted with recent nominees Jennifer Jones & Agnes Moorehead (both on their quick second nominations) but joining the party were two veterans who'd never been honored (Ethel Barrymore & Aline MacMahon) and one very fresh face who would go on to an enviably long cross-platform showbiz career, now in its 73rd year (!) -- Angela Lansbury in her film debut! 

Notable supporting roles for women that the Academy passed over in 1944 were Mary Astor (Meet Me in St Louis), Shirley Temple (Since You Went Away), Dame May Whitty (Gaslight), and Joseph Hull & Jean Adair (Arsenic & Old Lace). Can you think of any others?...

Travel back in time with us to 1944 for the next Smackdown in just 19 days!

Get to watching and e-mail us your votes with "44 Smackdown" as subject ranking each performance on a scale of 1 to 5 hearts. Your votes are due by Friday, November 3rd. The Smackdown hits Sunday, November 5th.

Ethel Barrymore, None but the Lonely Heart Jennifer Jones, Since You Went Away Angela Lansbury, Gaslight [watch on Amazon or iTunes or rent DVD on Netflix] Aline MacMahon, Dragon Seed [watch on Amazon or iTunes or rent DVD on Netflix] Agnes Moorehead, Mrs Parkington [watch on iTunes]

Those five films received 24 Oscar nominations between them with Gaslight and Since You Went Away both nominated for Best Picture as well. Since You Went Away is a getting a new Blu-Ray/DVD edition in late November. Not in time for the Smackdown alas but something to look forward to.

Previous Smackdowns

 1941, 1948, 1952, 1954, 1963, 1964, 1968, 1973, 1977, 1979, 1980,

 1984, 1989, 1995, 2003 and 2016  (prior to those events 30+

Smackdowns  were hosted @ StinkyLulu's old site)...

David O. Selznick’s marvelous romantic fantasy ode to Jennifer Jones was almost wholly unappreciated back in 1948. It’s one of those peculiar pictures that either melts one’s heart or doesn’t. Backed by a music score adapted from Debussy, just one breathy “Oh Eben . . . “ will turn average romantics into mush.

Portrait of Jennie

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1948 / B&W w/ Color Insert / 1:37 flat Academy / 86 min. / Street Date October 24, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten, Ethel Barrymore, Lillian Gish, Cecil Kellaway, David Wayne, Albert Sharpe.

Cinematography: Joseph H. August

Production Designers: J. MacMillan Johnson, Joseph B. Platt

Original Music: Dimitri Tiomkin, also adapting themes from Claude Debussy; Bernard Herrmann

Written by Leonardo Bercovici, Peter Berneis, Paul Osborn, from the novella by Robert Nathan

Produced by David O. Selznick

Directed by William Dieterle

Once upon a time David O. Selznick’s Portrait of Jennie was an...

Hey all. You voted earlier this year on which years you'd most like to see covered on the Supporting Actress Smackdown. The next four regular Smackdowns (excluding the one in February for the new nominees of course) are drawn from your top five most requested years. 

October 1st "Supporting Actress Smackdown 1985"

Panelists: Tba; Nominees: Margaret Avery and Oprah Winfrey in The Color Purple, Meg Tilly in Agnes of God, Anjelica Huston in Prizzi's Honor, and Amy Madigan in Twice in a Lifetime

November 5th "Supporting Actress Smackdown 1944"

Panelists: Tba; Nominees: Ethel Barrymore in None but the Lonely Heart, Jennifer Jones in Since You Went Away, Angela Lansbury in Gaslight, Aline MacMahon in Dragon Seed, and Agnes Moorehead in Mrs Parkington.

Get to watching those 9 movies and the Smackdowns will feel even more festive for you! And yes this means that September's 'year of the month' (that thing where we very...

By Jeremy Carr

Alfred Hitchcock may have directed The Paradine Case, the 1947 adaptation of Robert Smythe Hichens’ 1933 novel, but the film is most clearly a David O. Selznick production. It was his coveted property, he wrote the screenplay (with contributions from Alma Reville, James Bridie, and an uncredited Ben Hecht), and the movie itself discloses far more of its producer’s temperament than it does its director’s. The Paradine Case was, in fact, the last film made by the British-born master as part of his seven-year contract with Selznick, and by most accounts, Hitchcock’s heart just wasn’t in it. Unfortunately, it shows.

But this is no slipshod motion picture. Selznick spared no expense—the completed film cost almost as much as Gone with the Wind—and the entire project is built on quality and class. Set in London, in “the recent past,” The Paradine Case stars an...

This isn’t the only Alfred Hitchcock film for which the love does not flow freely, but his 1947 final spin on the David O. Selznick-go-round is more a subject for study than Hitch’s usual fun suspense ride. Gregory Peck looks unhappy opposite Selznick ‘discovery’ Alida Valli, while an utterly top-flight cast tries to bring life to mostly irrelevant characters. Who comes off best? Young Louis Jourdan, that’s who.

The Paradine Case

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1947 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 125 min. / Street Date May 30, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring Gregory Peck, Alida Valli, Ann Todd, Charles Laughton, Louis Jourdan, Ethel Barrymore, Joan Tetzel.

Cinematography Lee Garmes

Production Designer J. McMillan Johnson

Film Editors John Faure, Hal C. Kern

Original Music Franz Waxman

Writing credits James Bridie, Alma Reville, David O. Selznick from the novel by Robert Hichens

Produced by David O. Selznick

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

There...

The Hudson Theatre, over its long history, has put the spotlight on some of the best in the business including Louis Armstrong, Elvis Presley, Barbra Streisand, Helen Hayes, Ethel Barrymore, Judith Anderson and many more Now, Annaleigh Ashford and Jake Gyllenhaal are taking the stage in the revival of Sunday in the Park with George. But the venue has gone through quite the journey over the last 114 years.

A breathtaking mansion becomes the backdrop of grisly murders in The Spiral Staircase, a 1946 thriller co-starring Ethel Barrymore and coming to Blu-ray and DVD courtesy of Kino Lorber.

A release date, cover art, and special features for The Sprial Staircase Blu-ray and DVD have not yet been revealed, but we'll keep Daily Dead readers updated on this release. In the meantime, you can check out the official announcement from Kino Lorber below, as well as the film's trailer.

From Kino Lorber: "Coming Soon on DVD and Blu-ray!

Oscar Nominee: Best Supporting Actress (Barrymore)

The Spiral Staircase (1946) Starring Dorothy McGuire, George Brent, Ethel Barrymore, Kent Smith, Rhonda Fleming, Elsa Lachester and Sara Allgood - Based on a Novel by Ethel Lina White (The Lady Vanishes) - Shot by Nicholas Musuraca (Out of the Past, Cat People) - Directed by Robert Siodmak (Criss Cross, Cry of the City)"

Synopsis (via Blu-ray.

Richard Brooks' exciting Humphrey Bogart picture is one of the best newspaper sagas ever. An editor deals with a gangster threat and a domestic crisis even as greedy heirs are selling his paper out from under him. Commentator Eddie Muller drives home the film's essential civics lesson about what we've lost -- a functioning free press. Deadline - U.S.A. Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1952 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 87 min. / Street Date July 26, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Humphrey Bogart, Ethel Barrymore, Kim Hunter, Ed Begley, Warren Stevens, Paul Stewart, Martin Gabel, Joe De Santis, Audrey Christie, Jim Backus, Willis Bouchey, Joseph Crehan, Lawrence Dobkin, John Doucette, Paul Dubov, William Forrest, Dabbs Greer, Thomas Browne Henry, Paul Maxey, Ann McCrea, Kasia Orzazewski, Tom Powers, Joe Sawyer, William Self, Phillip Terry, Carleton Young. Cinematography Milton Krasner Film Editor William B.Murphy Original Music Cyril J. Mockridge Produced by Sol C. Siegel...

Merle Oberon films: From empress to duchess in 'Hotel.' Merle Oberon films: From starring to supporting roles Turner Classic Movies' Merle Oberon month comes to an end tonight, March 25, '16, with six movies: Désirée, Hotel, Deep in My Heart, Affectionately Yours, Berlin Express, and Night Song. Oberon's presence alone would have sufficed to make them all worth a look, but they have other qualities to recommend them as well. 'Désirée': First supporting role in two decades Directed by Henry Koster, best remembered for his Deanna Durbin musicals and the 1947 fantasy comedy The Bishop's Wife, Désirée (1954) is a sumptuous production that, thanks to its big-name cast, became a major box office hit upon its release. Marlon Brando is laughably miscast as Napoleon Bonaparte, while Jean Simmons plays the title role, the Corsican Conqueror's one-time fiancée Désirée Clary (later Queen of Sweden and Norway). In a supporting role – her...