MOVIE MOMENTS THAT MAKE LIFE WORTH LIVINGOur collection of ten little moments of breathtaking beauty, expert craftsmanship and happy accidents that rank as our favorites.
BEAUTIFUL MENFilm giants Cary Grant and his ilk will have to wait. Here we look at ten not-so-obvious choices—actors blessed with incredible good looks, if not legendary status.
NEBRASKANSA look at some of the memorable talents—from Astaire to Zanuck—to come from the Cornhusker State.
GREAT ENDINGSA memorable tussle in Death Valley caps Erich von Stroheim’s broken classic.
IN THE COOL, COOL, COOL OF THE EVENINGJane Wyman and Bing Crosby charm with the Oscar-winning song from Here Comes the Groom (1951).
AMERICAN LANDMARKS ON FILM From the Empire State Building to the Golden Gate Bridge, we take a look at ten famous sights that added drama to the movies.
KUNG FU POSTERS AT AMPASIf you’re in Beverly Hills anytime between April 18 and August 25, check out Kick Ass! Kung Fu Posters from the Stephen Chin Collection exhibited in The Academy Grand Lobby Gallery and featuring more than 800 posters and related materials.
REBECCAFive screen tests for Hitchock’s 1940 classic, with comments by David O. Selznick.
BETTY HUTTONTwelve films that exemplify the charms of this freakishly energetic performer.
CHARACTERS: BABY ROSALIEIn a daffy send-up of Shirley Temple, June Preisser plays an aging child star in MGM's let's-put-on-a-show musical, Babes in Arms (1939).
PRESTON STURGESSnippets of dialogue from six of the writer/director’s best films.
Sharon Tate is murdered in Beverly Hills by the followers of Charles Manson, 1969. Director Roman Polanski was all set to use Jill St. John for The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967) when producer Martin Ransohoff suggested he instead cast Tate, who was appearing as bank secretary Janet Trego on television’s The Beverly Hillbillies. Polanski chose Tate for both his lead actress and, in January 1968, his wife. “Roman is such a beautiful, mad human being,” the actress said. “Sometimes things are difficult, sometimes good. But it makes life twice as interesting.” After The Fearless Vampire Killers, the actress made Valley of the Dolls (1967), The Wrecking Crew (1968) and 12 + 1 (1969) before taking time off for pregnancy. Tate, her unborn baby and four other people were slain the night of the Manson attacks.
Knowing what we know now, with Vivien Leigh's portrayal firmly established in our minds, it's rather entertaining to view how other actresses took on Scarlett O'Hara in their screen tests for Gone With the Wind (1939). Leigh, of course, beat out a legion of actresses who—Paulette Goddard excepted—barely came close to the bulls-eye. With that in mind, here are a handful of screen tests sure to elicit one of three responses: "No wonder they got the role," "Too bad they didn't get the role" and "Thank heaven they didn't get the role!"
Edith Head takes us through preperations for Roman Holiday (1953), including Audrey Hepburn's personality and wardrobe tests.
Marlon Brando's 1947 audition for Warner Bros. has him using a partially completed script for Rebel Without a Cause. Brando was not auditioning specifically for the movie, nor did the film, eventually completed in 1955, use any of the scripts written in the 1940s.
Ann-Margret's exquisite rendition of "It Might As Well Be Spring" serves as her first screen test for the remake of State Fair (1962). She landed the movie, but not the role of Margy Frake (who sings the song), which went to Pamela Tiffin. Ann-Margret instead played the more vivacious role of Emily Porter.
Sandy Dennis gave a remarkable screen test in the role of Honey opposite Roddy McDowell's Nick for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966). She would go on the win the Oscar for her performance.
James Dean and Paul Newman team up for a personality test for East of Eden (1954)
Sharon Tate acquits herself well in this test for Valley of the Dolls (1967) with Tony Scotti.
Among the young actresses auditioning for the role of Liesl in The Sound of Music (1965) were, according to imdb.com, Liza Minnelli, Patty Duke, Kim Darby, Lesley Ann Warren and Sharon Tate. Here is Mia Farrow’s take on the role.
Marilyn Monroe plays a gangster’s girlfriend in a 1950 screen test for Cold Shoulder, a film that was never made.
Dustin Hoffman's screen and costume test for Tootsie (1982) reveal an early incarnation of the Dorothy Michaels character.
Joan Bennett, Melvyn Douglas, Lana Turner and others try, with varying degrees of success, to embody Margaret Mitchell's characters.
Roman Polanski, Oscar-winning director and onscreen slasher of Jack Nicholson's nose, is born in Paris in 1933. Knife in the Water (1962), Repulsion (1965) and Cul-de-sac (1966) preceded his move to Hollywood, where he made an auspicious American debut with Rosemary's Baby (1968). Following a retreat to Europe after girlfriend's Sharon Tate's murder in 1969, Polanski returned to America to make what is perhaps his finest film, Chinatown (1974), featuring a chilling cameo by the director that concludes with the aforementioned nose-slashing. A statutory rape conviction in 1978 exiled him to anywhere-but-America. Career highlights since were Tess (1979) and The Pianist (2002), for which he won the Oscar for Best Director.
Thursday, August 9, 2012 at 09:00AM | 
Sharon Tate is murdered in Beverly Hills by the followers of Charles Manson, 1969. Director Roman Polanski was all set to use Jill St. John for The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967) when producer Martin Ransohoff suggested he instead cast Tate, who was appearing as bank secretary Janet Trego on television’s The Beverly Hillbillies. Polanski chose Tate for both his lead actress and, in January 1968, his wife. “Roman is such a beautiful, mad human being,” the actress said. “Sometimes things are difficult, sometimes good. But it makes life twice as interesting.” After The Fearless Vampire Killers, the actress made Valley of the Dolls (1967), The Wrecking Crew (1968) and 12 + 1 (1969) before taking time off for pregnancy. Tate, her unborn baby and four other people were slain the night of the Manson attacks.
