Gone with the Wind is a novel written by Margaret Mitchell, and first published in 1936.
The story is set in the American Civil War, and it tells us the story of Scarlet o' Hara, the very beautiful and very spoiled daughter of a well to do plantation owner.
The book was a bestseller the year it was published and it was published again in 1937.
The novel is a Southern plantation fiction and is written from the view of the slaveholder.
It has become the reference point for other writers about the South, both for blacks and whites.
The film starred the unforgettable Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh.
The film has had lots said about it, and Slavery, I won't go into all that, lets just say  it was and still is a magnificent film and one that will be enjoyed over and over again by future generations.

Wizard of Oz!!!

Sorry I have not been able to get on here for some time, but lets hope I can make up for my absence by giving you some wonderful film posters that will bring back many happy memories for a lot of you!

The first one is The Wizard of Oz, and I don't think there are very many people out there that hasn't seen this film many times before, it is one of those films that goes from generation to generation without losing any of it's magic. I have myself sat down with my children in the past and my grandchildren and enjoyed it as much as I did the very first time I saw it.
It was released in 1939, an American fantasy film produced by MGM based on a novel written around the 1900s called The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum.
It was notable for it's use of technicolor.
Over the years it has become one of the best known of all films, for all ages, from young children to their grandparents.
Strangely enough it was not a box office success on it's initial release.
Earning only $3,017,000 on a $2,777,000 budget, it was MGM's most expensive production up to that time.
But after subsequent releases it made up for it!
Nominated for 6 Academy awards, including Best Picture, it lost out to Gone with the Wind, but managed to win 2 others, including Best Original Song, Over the Rainbow.

John Wayne!

John Wayne is a legend, no two ways about it, he was a good actor, he could play almost any part, he could be funny, he could make you cry, and he was the all time Good Guy!!!
In 1950 he made the 3rd film in the Cavalry Trilogy of John Ford.
Rio Grande!
1949 She wore a Yellow Ribbon
1948 Fort Apache
Ford wanted to make the The Quiet Man first in 1950 but RP Studio's president Herbert Yates insisted they make Rio Grande first.
Yates didn't much like The Quiet Man and wanted to use the money made from Rio Grande to make The Quiet Man, but was very surprised when The Quiet Man was released in 1952 it became Republics No.1 film in terms of box office receipts.
Maureen O'Hara was to star in 5 films with John Wayne, The first 3 were directed by John Ford.

1952 saw the romantic comedy The Quiet Man with Maureen o'Hara and John Wayne, the film was based on a 1933 Saturday Evening Post short story by Maurice Walsh.
The film is set in lush Irish countryside, and was the Official selection of the 1952 Venice Film Festival.
Some little known facts about the cast of the film is that Charles Fitzsimons and James Fitzsimons were Maureens real life brothers, Barry Fitzgerald and Arthur Shields were also real life brothers,
And Francis Ford was John Fords eldest brother.
John Wayne took his 4 children on location with him to Ireland and John Ford gave each of them a part in the important race scene in the film, so all in all it was a real famiy affair!!

Hondo 1953. John Waynes new production company wanted to film this film in the 3D format, and despite the production troubles that came with the location, shooting in 3D, the format had already started to wane in popularity by the time it was ready for release.
The distributing studio Warner Brothers did everything they could to promote it's new 3D camera process and how it went beyond the typical gimmicks used by other popular 3D films of the times such as House of Wax, producing a richer sense of perspective.
The film eventually grossed $4.1 placing it 16th in box office for that yr!!

Since my teenage yrs I must have seen nearly every one of John Waynes films and loved every one of them, he was a great Hero of mine!

Gangsters!!

Who was the best "Gangster in the early films for you??
For me you couldn't get better than James Cagney!!! He got his chance to play a young hoodlum rising up in the ranks of Chicago's underworld in 1931 with "The Public Enemy"

Many of the charactoers were based on actual people.
Edward Woods, who was the lead actor was asked by the director, Wellman, to swap places with James Cagney as he thought Cagney would play the part more convincently, At the time of the role swap Woods was promised by the studio that it would make it up to him with later assignments, but it never happened, and Woods fell into obscurity.
In1998 The public Enemy was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry, as being, "culturally,historically, or Aesthetically significent.
The Public Enemy was listed 8th best gangster film!!!

Little Ceasar was the film the catapulted Edward G Robinson to Stardom!
He plays Ceasar Enrico "Rico" Bandello, a small time crook who works his way up in the ranks to become an underworld boss.
It is a must see, for any gangster movie fans.
It was listed as 9th best gangster movie.










Al Capone!!! who can forget Rod Steiger in the role!!!!
Apparently he turned down the role 3 times, because he said, " the film inappropriately romanticized Capone and Criminality!"
In an interview Steiger said that he only agreed to play the role when the producers agreed to re-writes.
The New York Times said Steiger was an "Odious Skunk" in the title role!

You Only Live Twice!!

The 5th James Bond film, and during the filming Sean Connery let it be known that he was going to retire from the roll of Bond, as he feared he would get typecast and would find it hard to get other work.
I don't know how many other of you out there think like me, but the Bond films lost their appeal after Sean Connery did eventually retire, to me, Sean Connery WAS James Bond!!! and no one could ever take his place.
For all of you Bond fans out there I have left all three posters for you to download, just click on the poster and wait till it shows up in large size, then right click and click on save picture, enjoy!!

Thunderball

4th Film of James Bond starring Sean Connery.
According to the reviews Thunderball "Took forever to get started and the underwater scenes were much to long and no one could work out what was happening"!

But dispite that it eventually grossed $63.6 milliom in the american boxoffices and in total earned $141.2 million worldwide!!!! Just show how much the critics know!!!!!!!!

James Bond!!!

Dr No! and James Bond first hit our screens in 1962, and I remember it very well!!! I think every female in the world who saw the film will remember it too, Sean Connery!!!!! there has never been nor ever will be, for me, a better James Bond!
Dr No, was the first James Bond film and starring Sean Connery based on a book by Ian Fleming.
It was a budget film but turned out to be a financial success.
It was to be the first of a series of 23 Bond films.
It totaled  $6 milliom at the box office compared to the $1 million it took to make it.

President John F Kennedy was a fan of Ian Flemings books and requested a private viewing of  Dr No in the White House!!
The scene of Ursula Andress emerging from the water dressed in a bikini was listed one of the sexiest scenes of film history, and the actual bikini sold at an auction in 2001 for $61.500.
Ursula was ranked first in the top 10 bond girl list.