Sydney Guilaroff Movies
Having spent most of his career with his fingers in the hair of some of Hollywood's most glamorous stars, Sydney Guilaroff knew the value of an exceptional coif in creating a stellar image. It was he who gave Claudette Colbert her distinctive bangs and Lucille Ball that amazing red hair. He was the first hairstylist to receive credit on film. Over 40 years, most of it spent at MGM studios, Guilaroff was the preferred hairdresser for a broad range of celebrities, including Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Shirley MacLaine, Spencer Tracy, Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Stewart, Katharine Hepburn, Ingrid Bergman, Liza Minnelli, Clark Gable, Fred Astaire, and Nancy Reagan. A native of London, England, Guilaroff started out studying to become an architect. His interest in hair resulted from a porter's job at the Hotel McAlpin beauty salon after he moved to New York City. Guilaroff joined the staff at the prestigious Antoine's in 1925 and soon became one of their best coiffeurs. He moved to Hollywood and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the '30s at the request of Joan Crawford, who discovered him during a New York visit. Guilaroff's work can be seen in numerous films, including Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), The Wizard of Oz (1939), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), and The Graduate (1967). In 1996, Guilaroff published his memoirs, Crowning Glory: Reflections of Hollywood's Favorite Confidante. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Martin Scorsese combined the splashy atmosphere of the old studio musical with an unromanticized marriage story in his valentine to Hollywood and the Big Band era. On V-J Day 1945, newly minted civilian saxophonist Jimmy Doyle (Robert De Niro) meets USO singer Francine Evans (Liza Minnelli) at a dance, but she rebuffs every advance that he makes. A day and a hotel lobby meeting later, Jimmy finally wins Francine over after she uses her pop instincts to save his too-jazzy audition at a nightclub. When she goes on tour with Frankie Harte (Georgie Auld) and his Orchestra, Jimmy tracks her down, taking a job with the orchestra to be with her. Together on stage, they make beautiful music; off stage they marry, but the struggle between two artists begins to take its toll. Unable to understand that Francine's needs and talents are just as important as his, and unwilling to compromise his music for security, Jimmy abandons Francine after their baby is born. Separately, the two succeed even more, as Francine becomes a music and movie star, while Jimmy has a top hit and opens a jazz club. When they are reunited several years later, the pair must decide if their relationship is worth another try. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Liza Minnelli, Robert De Niro, (more)
- 1968
This situation comedy comes from a Bob Fisher and Arthur Marx play. Jonathan Kingsley (David Niven) is the teaching psychiatrist at the local university and is happily married to his wife Alice (Lola Albright). The couple has two teenage daughters, and the trouble begins when the oldest daughter Linda (Christina Ferrare) begins to take an adult interest in boys. Her misadventures corrupt her impressionable sister Abbey (Darlene Carr) and is driving the head of the university, Dean Rockwell (John Harding), absolutely crazy as he fears a scandal that could blight the school. Jonathan is put under review by the board of directors. Linda falls for Jonathan's teaching assistant Richard (Chad Everett) as her father receives neighborly advise from Dr. Fleischer (Ozzie Nelson), a hopeless hypochondriac. Linda is also pursued by a spaced-out hippie (Jeff Cooper) and another admirer (Michael McGreevey). Jonathan tries to stop his daughter's lustful yearnings before the reputation of the university and his family become fodder for the local gossip mongers. The title track is sung by The Cowsills. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Niven, Lola Albright, (more)
- 1966
Ideal and reality clash in this humorous tale of the heist that could have been. As scheming career cat burglar Harry Dean (Michael Cane) prepares to steal a priceless statue from the world's richest man, he seeks out the assistance of Eurasian showgirl Suzy Chang Shirley Maclaine). Though the likeable rogue's plan seems foolproof as he conveys the details to his partner Ram (Robert C. Carmel), the execution proves a detailed study in Murphy's Law. Constantly reinventing the plan as his originally ideal spirals ever more out of control, it seems as if Harry's heist is destined to fail. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley MacLaine, Michael Caine, (more)
There's a few million dollars' worth of star power and a nickel's worth of plot in the lavish race-car melodrama Grand Prix. Among the participants in this annual cross-continent competition are characters played by James Garner, Yves Montand, Brian Bedford, and Antonio Sabato. Interested parties include Toshiro Mifune (his voice dubbed by Paul Frees), Adolfo Celi, and Claude Dauphin, while the women who agonize on the sidelines include Eva Marie Saint, Jessica Walter, and Françoise Hardy. The racing sequences are top-rank, cleverly utilizing those 1960s devices of helicopter angles and multiple screens. Oscars went to editor Frederic Steinkamp (among others) and the sound-effects supervisor Franklin E. Milton. Filmed on location, Grand Prix made back its cost about half a week into its run. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Garner, Eva Marie Saint, (more)
- 1964
George Axelrod's Goodbye Charlie flopped on Broadway with Lauren Bacall in the lead, but fared a little better as a film vehicle for Debbie Reynolds. Charlie (Harry Madden) is an inveterate philanderer who is shot dead by jealous husband Walter Matthau. Through a celestial fluke, Charlie's soul enters the well-rounded body of Debbie Reynolds. In this form, Charlie/Debbie seeks to settle old scores with her murderer as well as several other enemies. As if these aren't complications enough, Charlie's best friend Tony Curtis falls in love with Debbie, knowing full well that Debbie isn't really Debbie. If you liked Goodbye Charlie once, you'll love it twice: Blake Edwards retooled the whole megillah for Ellen Barkin, added a trendy feminist underlining, and came up with Switch (1991). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Curtis, Debbie Reynolds, (more)
- 1952
The Young Man with Ideas in this MGM production is idealistic lawyer Maxwell Webster (Glenn Ford). Too self-effacing for his own good, Webster vegetates in Montana with his wife Julie (Ruth Roman) and children for nearly 10 years before starting life anew in California. Living penuriously while studying for his California bar exam, Webster tries out several moneymaking schemes, most of which come acropper. Along the way, he inadvertently gets involved with a bookie ring, culminating in a climactic courtroom scene wherein Webster defends himself -- and surprise, he doesn't have a fool for a client. In typical Hollywood fashion, the script requires the talented Ruth Roman to express jealousy when a brace of lovely females played by Nina Foch and Denise Darcel briefly set their caps for the ingenuous Glenn Ford. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenn Ford, Ruth Roman, (more)
Three sailors on a 24-hour pass -- Gabey (Gene Kelly), Chip (Frank Sinatra), and Ozzie (Jules Munshin) -- decide to soak up the sights and sounds of New York. Each one finds romance within those 24 hours: Gabey with aspiring dancer Ivy Smith (Vera-Ellen), Chip with lady cabbie Hildy Esterhazy (Betty Garrett), and Ozzie with paleontology student Claire Huddesten (Ann Miller). That's all, right? Wellll....Ivy passes herself off as a celebrity, but she's actually a kootch dancer in Coney Island. Claire and the boys inadvertently topple a dinosaur replica at the Museum of Anthropological History. And Hildy breaks any number of speeding laws attempting to get the lovers together and straighten out all misunderstandings. Adapted from the Broadway musical by Betty Comden, Adolph Green, and Leonard Bernstein, On the Town is one of the freshest, most exhilarating musicals turned out by the old MGM regime. The stars' verve and camaraderie are contagious, and the songs are staged by legendary musical director Stanley Donen and Kelly himself with wit and innovation. Highlights include the opening "New York, New York" number, shot on location and flat-cutting from one image to another at a dizzying pace, and Gene Kelly and Vera-Ellen's ""Miss Turnstyles Ballet."" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, (more)
