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The Murder of Ramon Novarro – Episode 3
Ramon Novarro achieved his biggest success in 1925 with the silent film version of Ben-Hur. With revealing costumes he became a sex symbol with the film’s release and a Hollywood heartthrob overnight. After Rudolph Valentino’s death in 1926, Novarro became the top Latin actor in Hollywood and was known for his swashbuckler action roles. Considered…
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The Murder of Ramon Novarro – Episode 2
Born in 1899, Ramon Novarro was a Mexican-American actor who began his career in silent films in 1917. He worked his way up to a leading man and eventually became one of the top box-office stars of the silent film era. During the 1920s MGM named him its “Latin lover” and he took over the…
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The Murder of Ramon Novarro – Episode 1
Prosecutors surmised that in the murder case of Ramon Novarro, two young men – believing that a large sum of money was hidden in Novarro’s house – entered his home on October 30, 1968, looking for the loot. Authorities believe the brothers tortured Novarro for hours to force him to reveal where he’d hidden his…
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Holidays by the Lake
Before our 2025 series kicks off we have a special holiday treat episode. In the past we used to do a podcast episode of our old series The Movie Files during the holidays of a film that takes place during the Christmas season that’s not really a Christmas movie. To revisit the tradition we offer…
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Q&A
As we close out this series, the final episode offers some questions and some answers behind Bette Davis, Wicked Stepmother, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Joan Crawford and Wicked Becomes Her.
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The Filming
The filming of Wicked Stepmother would be a troubling experience for everyone involved, but more so for its star. As health troubles made it difficult to work, she would exit the production after little more than a week on the set. The director would face a decision as to what to do what his film…
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The 80s
As Bette Davis ages, the roles grew fewer and farther between, but she managed to find the occasional film or TV project, as well as appearance on awards shows and talk shows. It was one of those appearances that gave Larry Cohen the idea to craft a film with Bette Davis in mind. The idea…
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Bette’s Movies
As Bette Davis struggled to remain relevant past Baby Jane, she would take on a number of roles, but be largely trapped in the horror genre of the day. Similarly, Joan Crawford would also find herself starring in horror films. By the 1980s, Crawford was gone, but Bette was working more and more in TV.…
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Baby Jane
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? would forever tie Bette Davis with Joan Crawford. The iconic motion picture would inspire a host of films and keep both Crawford and Davis working through the 1960s. It would also be one of the stories that gave director Larry Cohen the drive to created Bette Davis’s final film,…
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Movie Queen
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.
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Wicked Stepmother
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…
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Bette Davis
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…
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Wicked Becomes Her
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…
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Bette Davis Is Heading Your Way
In March 2024 we kick off a new series of Hollywood Declassified with a look at Bette Davis and the making of her final film, Wicked Stepmother. Tied to the release of a new book, Wicked Becomes Her, the series will discuss Davis’s later years, her films and the drama behind her final film. Though…
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Cursed Flick?
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.