As we revisit the career of Bette Davis, this episode looks at her highs and lows and how the actress, star and movie queen would struggle and thrive in Hollywood. All the challenges she faced in the 1950s and 60s would prepare her to do battle with her final director, Larry Cohen.
This time we dig deeper into the story behind how Wicked Stepmother came to life and how director Larry Cohen landed Bette Davis as the star of his film. Written with Davis in mind, Cohen’s film was inspired in part by the many film Davis made in her later years and would be a black […]
We kick off episode one with a look at the new book Wicked Becomes Her: Bette Davis and the Story Behind Wicked Stepmother and the filming of her final film. The 1989 film would go down as possibly her worst film, but when the star exited production she never thought the picture would be finished […]
We preview the next series of Hollywood’nt: Hollywood Declassified with a special look at the life and career of the legendary Bette Davis. With the release of a new book, Wicked Becomes Her, this 8 part series revisits some of the actress’ most memorable roles, but focuses on the fascinating story behind the making of […]
For the latest series we go back to the 1960s for a little known and rarely seen low-grade horror flick called Incubus. Starring a young William Shatner, the film has a dark and eerie past. A troubled film and a backstory that includes murder, suicide and tragedy.
As we wrap up our series on Incubus, we revisit the troubled film and how it was nearly lost for the ages until it was rediscovered. And the films bizarre history of horrific true events that followed many associated with the film have continued to make people interested in the story of Incubus.
What the filmmakers hoped would be a revolutionary and and thought-inspiring art film turned out to be a less-than-spectacular film that failed to find an audience and disappeared from the scene. However, tragedy would follow many associated with the film.
Author John William Law recently appeared on The Author Show to discuss the book Who Nuked the Duke? and the related film The Conqueror: Hollywood Fallout. The interview is hosted here. The book helped inspire a film that had its world premiere at the Newport Beach Film Festival in October 2023 and closed the Palm […]
William Shatner was just beginning his career when he agreed to star in a low-budget horror film called Incubus. While the film had a bizarre story, a strange language and short production schedule, it would have a long path to finding a fan base and would be followed by a series of strange tragedies.
As we wrap up this series we wanted to talk a little more about the book and the upcoming feature film on the same topic. The Conqueror: Hollywood Fallout will be released in late 2023 (estimated) and cover the filming of John Wayne’s The Conqueror and the tragedy that followed. The Poster for the movie, […]
With Who Nuked the Duke? in print, a new documentary called Conqueror: Hollywood Fallout was released in 2023 on the big screen and digital platform. With Who Nuked the Duke? as part of the inspiration behind the film, we close out the series by discussing the new edition of the book, the current state of […]
After The Conqueror was completed it would take several years before the film hit big screens. After the release, Hughes removed the film from circulation, but the trouble behind the film – and the filming on a radioactive film site – would begin to follow cast and crew.
John Wayne, Susan Hayward, Pedro Armendariz, Agnes Moorhead and a host of others gathers in St. George Utah to film Howard Hughes’ epic The Conqueror. Directed by Dick Powell, the film would be crucified by critics for bad casting, but would still make money thanks to John Wayne and his fans. What followed was a […]
John Wayne is back in 2023. With a new updated release of Who Nuked the Duke, in print, ebook and enhanced digital edition, and a new feature film documentary on the making of The Conqueror, we are revisiting the topic with a new series in Hollywood’nt. This first episode offers an introduction into the topic […]
After her movie career ended, Crawford continued to work for a couple years into the 1970s, but found preparing to be “Joan Crawford” was becoming too much. She receded from public life and in her last few years alcoholism and illness were sometimes issues. We wrap up our series on Joan Crawford.
With the success of Strait-Jacket, Joan Crawford agreed to another role in Castle’s follow up film, I Saw What You Did. Though her character is killed in the first third of the picture, she got star billing, her usual salary and a chance to be a star again.
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? was a smash hit and it was followed with numerous offers of work for both Joan Crawford and Bette Davis. However, most of the work was in horror films. Joan Crawford picked up an axe for William Castle’s 1964 classic Strait-Jacket and Crawford saw dollar signs.
Joan Crawford found a way out of debt and a shot at a second – or third – act in Hollywood. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? would become a smash, but working with Bette Davis was the price to pay.
Joan Crawford Joan Crawford met Alfred Steele in the mid 1950s when her career was going downhill. She decided to step away from Hollywood and become the wife of a Pepsi executive. All seemed rosy, but the marriage ended in his death and she found she had crushing debt. The only way out was to […]
Joan Crawford died in 1977, but her career died around 1970 with her final film, Trog. Crawford’s body of work on film from 1960 until her death was primarily horror related. The success of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? gave her career a boost, but put her on a course where nearly every film […]