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If the Golden era of Old Hollywood is your thing, our podcast is for you! If you want TYRONE POWER instead of TOM HARDY, JENNIFER JONES instead of JENNIFER LAWRENCE, or ROBERT MITCHUM rather than ROBERT PATTINSON, then FROM BENEATH THE HOLLYWOOD SIGN is the gin joint for you. Each week, writer and producer STEVE CUBINE and actress and writer NAN MCNAMARA explore, discuss, and dissect the magical, mysterious, amusing, and sometimes bizarre tales of Old Hollywood. So sit back and revisit a tim ...
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EPISODE 56 - “MARJORIE REYNOLDS: CLASSIC CINEMA STAR OF THE MONTH” - 10/07/2024 Most film fanatics agree that after the Paramount Picture’s holiday classic “Holiday Inn” (1942), actress MARJORIE REYNOLDS, who gave a star-turn as struggling actress Linda Mason who gets a break singing and dancing in the seasonal nightclub run by BING CROSBY, should …
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EPISODE 55 - “Favorite Classic Films of the 1950s ” - 09/30/2024 ** This episode is sponsored brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/BENEATH and get on your way to being your best self.” ** The 1950s was a real transitional decade for classic films. As we got further away from WW2, and the Cold War began to rise u…
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EPISODE 54 - "SPECIAL GUEST: PERI GILPIN TALKS OLD HOLLYWOOD" - 09/23/2024 ** This episode is sponsored brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/BENEATH and get on your way to being your best self.” ** We all know her as the hilarious and acerbic radio producer Roz Doyle on the iconic sitcom “Frasier,” and on the re…
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EPISODE 53 - “Tribute to Gena Rowlands” - 09/16/2024 ** This episode is sponsored brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/BENEATH and get on your way to being your best self.” ** When screen legend GENA ROWLANDS passed away last month at the age of 94, she left behind a film and TV legacy that will undoubtedly infl…
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EPISODE 52 - "BIG SCREEN TO SMALL SCREEN: CLASSIC CINEMA'S TV REMAKES." (052) - 09/09/2024 ** This episode is sponsored brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/BENEATH and get on your way to being your best self.” ** Sometimes, a classic film is primed for being turned into a successful television series — think “M…
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EPISODE 51 - “Richard Conte (Star of the Month) ” - 09/02/2024 ** This episode is sponsored brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/BENEATH and get on your way to being your best self.” ** In the great film noir classic Thieves Highway, a gripping drama that takes on the dirty underbelly of the trucking industry, t…
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EPISODE 50 - “Birthday Tribute to Classic Film star Vera Miles” - 08/26/2024 ** This episode is sponsored brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/BENEATH and get on your way to being your best self.” ** After placing 3rd runner up to Miss America in 1948 as Miss Kansas, VERA MILES soon embarked on a long and illust…
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EPISODE 49 - “Birthday Tribute to Classic Cinema Star Ann Blyth ” - 08/19/2024 ** This episode is sponsored and brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/BENEATH and get on your way to being your best self.” ** With her crystal clear soprano voice, porcelain doll face, and fierce acting talent, ANN BLYTH became a muc…
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EPISODE 48 - “STEVE & NAN'S FAVORITE CLASSIC FILMS OF THE 1940s ” - 08/12/2024 ** This episode is sponsored and brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/BENEATH and get on your way to being your best self.” ** The 1940s was a phenomenal time for movies. Auteurs like ALFRED HITCHCOCK, GEORGE STEVENS, WILIAM WYLER, an…
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This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/BENEATH and get on your way to being your best self. EPISODE 47 - “Laird Cregar (Star of the Month) ” - 08/05/2024 With his sad, dark eyes, hulking frame, and aristocratic speech, actor LAIRD CREGAR often played the complex villain tortured by a sinister past or an…
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This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/BENEATH and get on your way to being your best self. ** This episode is sponsored brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/BENEATH and get on your way to being your best self.” ** As CAROLE LANDIS was known as “The Ping Girl” and AN…
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EPISODE 45 - “Forgotten B-Leading Men of the Golden Age of Hollywood” - 07/22/2024 ** This episode is sponsored brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/BENEATH and get on your way to being your best self.” ** Sometimes, there is nothing quite like a good old B-movie. Maybe the production values aren’t the best, and…
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EPISODE 44 - "THERESA HARRIS: HOW OLD HOLLYWOOD STOPPED HER STAR FROM RISING" - 07/15/2024 ** This episode is sponsored brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/BENEATH and get on your way to being your best self.” ** When THERESA HARRIS appears on screen, you cannot take your eyes off of her. Beautiful, talented, a…
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This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/BENEATH and get on your way to being your best self. EPISODE 43 - “Favorite Classic Films of the 1930s” - 07/08/2024 During the golden era of old Hollywood, each decade brought forth exciting films that helped define the motion picture industry. In a new feature, S…
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From Beneath The Hollywood Sign is thrilled to welcome our newest sponsor, www.HappyMammoth.com. Use code BENEATH at checkout for 15% off of your entire first order! EPISODE 42 - “Eva Marie Saint: Star of the Month (July)” - 07/01/2024 Blonde, beautiful, sophisticated, and chic, there was no one in Hollywood quite like EVA MARIE SAINT. This versati…
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From Beneath The Hollywood Sign is thrilled to welcome our newest sponsor, www.HappyMammoth.com. Use code BENEATH at checkout for 15% off of your entire first order! EPISODE 41 - “The Death of the Dream Factory” - 06/24/2024 When the early movie studios began to pop up in Hollywood during the 1920s and 1930s, the major studio chiefs produced magnif…
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From Beneath The Hollywood Sign is thrilled to welcome our newest sponsor, www.HappyMammoth.com. Use code BENEATH at checkout for 15% off of your entire first order! EPISODE 40 - “Old Hollywood's Forbidden Love Story/ Lon McCallister & William Eythe” - 06/17/2024 As we celebrate gay pride month in June, Nan and Steve bring a special episode about 2…
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From Beneath The Hollywood Sign is thrilled to welcome our newest sponsor, www.HappyMammoth.com. Use code BENEATH at checkout for 15% off of your entire first order! EPISODE 39 - “Father Knows Best: Classic Cinema's Best (and Worst!) Dads” - 06/10/2024 When you stop to think about the great fathers of classic cinema, Atticus Finch, the mild-mannere…
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EPISODE 38 - “Ruth Roman: Star of the Month (June)” - 06/03/2024 RUTH ROMAN was more than a pretty face; she was a survivor! She survived childhood poverty, the fickle nature of Hollywood, the wrath of Alfred Hitchcock, several marriages, and the sinking of the luxury liner Andrea Doria in 1956. Yes, Roman was a warrior. This week, Roman is our Sta…
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EPISODE 37 - “Memorial Day Movies” - 05/27/2024 War is Hell. As our nation prepares to honor the brave men and women who lost their lives defending our freedom on Memorial Day, Steve and Nan offer up a special episode where they will discuss a few war-themed films that have resonated with them over the years. Their choices cover everything from the…
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EPISODE 36 - “Classic Hollywood Clones: The Remaking of a Movie Star” - 05/20/2024 SHOW NOTES: They say that imitation is the highest form of flattery. That may not be the case when it came to the star system of old Hollywood. When an actor like CLARK GABLE or GRETA GARBO or ROCK HUDSON emerged as a star, every studio in town tried to capitalize an…
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EPISODE 35 - “The Mystery Behind the Columbia Pictures’ Torch Lady and MGM’s Leo, the Lion” - 05/13/2024 Every major Hollywood studio has its recognizable logo. Paramount has its “mountain of stars,” 20th Century Fox has its roving klieg lights, and RKO has its radio towers. But two of the most famous studio logos have to be MGM’s “Leo, the lion” a…
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In “It’s A Wonderful Life,” BEULAH BONDI played the most loving mother to JAMES STEWART. Ma Bailey is the epitome of sweetness, kindness, and supportiveness so it’s quite shocking when we meet the Ma Bailey who would have existed had George Bailey not been born. She’s cold, bitter, and unkind. It gives Bondi the wonderful opportunity to play two ve…
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EPISODE 33 - “Zachary Scott: Star of the Month (May)” - 04/29/2024 Suave, debonaire, and effortlessly charming, ZACHARY SCOTT is best known for his role in MICHAEL CURTIZ's film noir classic Mildred Pierce (1945). As the duplicitous, silver-tongued charmer Monte Beragon, he romances Mildred, played by JOAN CRAWFORD (in her Oscar-winning role), and …
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EPISODE 32 - “The Mary Astor Purple Diary Scandal” - 04/22/2024 One of the most scandalous trials in early Hollywood history involved actress MARY ASTOR, who had made a name for herself playing virginal ingenues and good girls. Mary, who had kept a diary for most of her life, found her words used as a sensationalized weapon against her in her quest…
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EPISODE 31 - “The Turner Classic Movies Film Festival Preview” - 04/15/2024 From April 18th through the 21st, the 15th Annual TCM Classic Film Festival will be held in Hollywood. Steve and Nan were fortunate enough to be invited to be a part of the media that covers the festival this year. To get everyone in the mood, we have a special episode abou…
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EPISODE 30 - “Robert Walker: Old Hollywood’s Tragic Boy Next Door” - 04/08/2024 No one played sensitive, lost souls quite like ROBERT WALKER. However, he is best known for playing one of the most complicated, psychopaths in film history, Bruno Antony in ALFRED HITCHCOCK’s masterpiece “Strangers On A Train” (1951). His journey from playing sensitive…
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EPISODE 29 - “Jan Sterling: Old Hollywood Star of the Month” - 04/01/2024 Our “Star of the Month” is the fabulous JAN STERLING, who was married to our March “Star of the Month,” PAUL DOUGLAS. Blonde, beautiful, and often deadly on screen, Sterling started in theatre, but made a name for herself portraying tough dames, femme fatales, and sexy seduct…
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EPISODE 28 - “Golden Era Stars in 1970s Disaster Films” - 03/25/2024 Just when many classic films stars thought they were finished in showbiz, a wonderful thing happened — 1970s disaster movies! Producers like IRWIN ALLEN and JENNINGS LANG shepherded in an exciting, over-the-top, new genre that capitalized on our fears. They also smartly cast many …
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EPISODE 27 - “Dona Drake: What Price Fame” - 03/18/2024 Latina star DONA DRAKE, who signed a contract with Paramount Pictures in 1941, was many things — singer, dancer, actress, bandleader, musician — but one thing she wasn’t, as it turned out, was Latin! While Paramount promoted their new discovery as a spitfire Latina born in Mexico City, Drake w…
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EPISODE 26 - “Oscar Fever: A Brief History of the Academy Awards” - 03/10/2024 The winners. The losers. The speeches. The gowns. The glamour. The cringey moments. Nothing toys with a film lovers’ emotions like the pageantry of the Academy Award ceremony…or the Oscars, as it has become known. Somewhere, right now, there are people still arguing over…
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EPISODE 25 - “Paul Douglas: Star of the Month” - 03/04/2024 In a new feature, we are highlighting a “Star of the Month” where we will dive into the life, career, and legacy of a single performer. To kick things off in this episode, we’ll be discussing the great PAUL DOUGLAS. You may not know his name, but you certainly know his face. With his somew…
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EPISODE 24 - “The Hollywood Studio Club: Where The Good Girls Lived” - 02/26/2024 During the early days of Hollywood, hordes of young women pilgrimaged West to try to break into the movie business. And like sheep to slaughter, there were just as many men in Hollywood ready to take advantage of these young, inexperienced, and vulnerable young women.…
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EPISODE 23 - “I Coulda Been a Contender: Classic Casting That Almost Happened” - 02/19/2024 It is well documented that the film “Gone With The Wind” started filming before an actress was cast in the lead role of Scarlett O’Hara. Producer DAVID O. SELZNICK made a spectacle out of who would win the coveted role. It became a national obsession. He con…
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EPISODE 22 - “Cupid’s Epic Fails” - 02/12/2024 Cupid has been stirring things up in Hollywood ever since the very first camera rolled. And when he gets it right, we get CLARK GABLE and CAROLE LOMBARD, JOEL McCRAE and FRANCES DEE, and PAUL NEWMAN and JOANNE WOODWARD. But when Cupid gets it wrong…well, let’s just say it ain’t pretty. In this episode,…
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EPISODE 21 - “Love Is In The Air” - 02/05/2024 Let’s face it, Valentine’s Day can be a mixed bag. Either you’re blissfully in love and the day is a romantic dream, or, you are not in love and part of you wants to stomp all the roses and put the chocolate bon-bons in a sling shot and pummel Cupid. Whatever your head space this Valentine’s Day, Steve…
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EPISODE 20 - “Greg Bautzer: Hollywood’s Legal Lothario” - 01/29/2024 Long before notorious trials like O.J. SIMPSON's made momentary celebrities out of legal eagles like JOHNNIE COCHRAN, ROBERT SHAPIRO and ROBERT KARDASHIAN, there was attorney GREG BAUTZER. From the working class docks of San Pedro, this ambitious Golden Boy with movie-star good lo…
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EPISODE 19 - “Fallen Angel: The Helen Walker Story” - 01/22/2024 Cast as ALAN LADD’s leading lady in her film debut, Massachusetts-born HELEN WALKER was destined for Hollywood greatness. With her deep voice, coolly blonde good looks, and immense talent, she were perfect for Hollywood of the 1940s. However, her rising star abruptly came crashing to …
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EPISODE 18 - “The Scene Stealers (Male)” - 01/015/2024 Films of Hollywood’s Golden Era are often brightened and made all the better by the fantastic character actors who show up playing fathers, grandfathers, bankers, farmers, chefs, clerks, bosses, and neighbors. The moment you hear the distinctive voice of WALTER BRENNAN, not only do you know it’…
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EPISODE 17 - “The Scene Stealers (Female)” - 01/08/2024 In the film Mildred Pierce (1945), EVE ARDEN manages to steal almost every scene she’s in. And, while talking with JOAN CRAWFORD’s Mildred about her spoiled, bratty daughter, Veda (ANN BLYTH), she even delivers the film’s most iconic line, “Personally, Veda's convinced me that alligators have …
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EPISODE 16 - “Beginner’s Luck” - 01/01/2024 To win an Oscar sometimes takes decades of hard work and dedication to your craft — just ask PAUL NEWMAN, GERALDINE PAGE, and JESSICA TANDY. In fact, when Newman finally won the Oscar in 1987 for “The Color of Money,” after being nominated six times previously, he didn’t even bother to show up to the cere…
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EPISODE 15 - “Old Movies For A New Year” - 12/25/2023 There’s something about New Year’s Eve and assessing the past year that is bittersweet, yet cathartic. It’s a time of self-evaluation, introspection, and assessment. In case you’re looking for the perfect film to match the myriad of emotions you may be feeling as you reflect, regret, or seek rev…
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EPISODE 14 - “…And Your Little Dog, Too!” - 12/18/2023 From RIN TIN TIN to LASSIE to TRIGGER, to TONTO, from the 1974 film "Harry and Tonto," who can resist those cute, furry little nuggets who can straight-out steal a scene right out from under the most-trained Shakespearean thespian with the wag of a tail, the flop of an ear, or the purr of a cry…
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EPISODE 13 - Scram Kid…You Bother Me - 12/11/2023 As W.C. FIELDS famously said, "Never work with children or animals." Of course, he was probably referring to their ability to steal a scene or their unpredictability. But what would cinema be without child performers? From SHIRLEY TEMPLE to MICKEY ROONEY to NATALIE WOOD to MARY BADHAM, so many incre…
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While chestnuts roasting on that open fire and sleigh bells ringing are nice, nothing gets you in the mood for the holidays like a good ole seasonal movie. Well, get ready to unwrap an early present from Steve and Nan as they share their favorite lesser-known holiday films. And along the way, they discuss everything from Clarence the Angel, French …
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Ireland-born MAUREEN O’HARA was not only one of the silver screen's great actresses, she was also a strong independent woman who did not suffer fools gladly. When Confidential magazine, a tabloid known for false stories and unethical journalistic practices, came for her in 1957, she fought back with a vengeance. Her efforts, along with DOROTHY DAND…
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Actor STEVE COCHRAN’s life was like a page out of the American macho man’s handbook. Raised in Wyoming where he was once a cowhand, he carved a memorable career in Hollywood playing gangsters, villains, adulterers, and bad boys in great films like “The Best Years of Our Lives” and “White Heat.” But in a case of art imitating life, this rowdy, randy…
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As we continue our exploration of famous siblings who thrived during the Golden Era of Hollywood, we’ll discover that you are definitely not your brother’s keeper, especially when we discuss the lives, careers, and relationship of a famous film noir actor and his movie star beefcake brother. We’ll also discuss a couple of brassy blonde comediennes …
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Ever since Cain killed Abel — or, to put it in old Hollywood terms, ever since JOAN FONTAINE rebuffed OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND at the 1941 Oscar ceremony — sibling relationships have been complicated. In this episode we take a look at famous Hollywood siblings, some of whom you may know, others who may be a complete surprise. We’ll discuss the operatic …
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Halloween has always been a special time for classic movies. From the early Universal Studios monster films to the psychological thrillers of ALFRED HITCHCOCK to the gory blood-bathes of the 1980s slasher films, Hollywood understood that people love to be frightened. In this Halloween episode, hosts Steve and Nan share some of the perhaps lesser-kn…
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