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Category Archives: Film History
Ease on Down the Road: How The Wiz Reimagined a Classic
When I got to the AHC in the spring of 2023, the material that excited me most was our Wizard of Oz related holdings. As a fan of L. Frank Baum’s fantastical novel, Oz and its many adaptations are an … Continue reading
Carroll Baker – More Than a Sex Symbol of the Silver Screen
With her large blue eyes and lithe figure, Carroll Baker was a Hollywood sensation. Papers of the day described her as “a little like Marilyn Monroe, a little like Jean Harlow, and altogether a platinum blonde.” She earned millions from … Continue reading
Posted in Biography and profiles, Collections Highlights, Film History, Hollywood history, Uncategorized
Tagged 1950s, 1960s, Actors Studio, Actresses, Baby Doll, Carroll Baker, Cheyenne Autumn, film history, Giant, Hollywood, Jack Garfein, John Ford, Method acting, Tennessee Williams, The Carpetbaggers, Women in Film, Wyoming history
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After “Psycho”: Robert Bloch in the 1960s
Last Halloween, we introduced the recently processed papers of author Robert Bloch, best known as the author of the novel Psycho (1959), which was adapted in 1960 by Alfred Hitchcock into the legendary film of the same name. In that … Continue reading
Posted in Adaptations, American Literature, Authors, Biography and profiles, Film History, Hollywood history, Horror, Uncategorized
Tagged 1960s, Alfred Hitchcock, Boris Leven, Horror fiction, Novelization, Psycho, Robert Bloch, Screenwriting, Star Trek, Strait-Jacket, The Night Walker, William Castle, Wolf in the Fold
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Married to the Story: Fay and Michael Kanin’s Life in Scripts
In the golden age of Hollywood—a time when stars were larger than life and scripts were golden tickets to silver screens—Fay and Michael Kanin were busily crafting standout, human, funny, and thought-provoking stories in American entertainment. Together, they formed one … Continue reading
Posted in Broadway, Film History, Hollywood history, Screenwriting, television history, Uncategorized
Tagged Academy Awards, American Heritage Center, Creative Partnerships, Emmy Awards, Fay Kanin, Goodbye My Fancy, Hollywood Blacklist, McCarthyism, Michael Kanin, Rashomon, Screenwriting duo, Teacher's Pet, Television writing, Woman of the Year, Women in Film
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Psycho: Robert Bloch’s Modest Masterpiece
Author Robert Bloch (1917-1994) wrote, over the course of more than five decades, novels, stories, essays, and scripts for film and television. Best known for his novel Psycho, which was adapted into a feature film by director Alfred Hitchcock in … Continue reading
Posted in American Literature, Author Profiles, Film History, Horror Literature, Literary History, Uncategorized
Tagged 1960s films, Alfred Hitchcock, American Heritage Center, Book contracts, Book translations, Ed Gein, Film rights, Halloween, Horror authors, Horror fiction, Horror novels, Literary adaptations, Literary archives, Lon Chaney, Milwaukee writers, Psycho, Pulp Fiction, Robert Bloch, Shamley Productions, Weird Tales
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Behind the Curtain: A Look at The Wizard of Oz’s Difficult Production 85 Years Later
As a lifelong Oz fan, 1939’s The Wizard of Oz has been a throughline of positive memories for me. My parents called me “munchky” growing up, a nickname that would be apt when I made my stage debut as a … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Entertainment history, Film History, Hollywood history, Uncategorized
Tagged 1939 films, Academy Awards, American Heritage Center, Buddy Ebsen, Film production challenges, George Cukor, Gone With the Wind, Judy Garland, King Vidor, L. Frank Baum, LGBTQ+ culture, Margaret Hamilton, MGM, Movie Musicals, Ray Bolger, Technicolor, The Wizard of Oz, Victor Fleming
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Tuppence a Tune: A Sherman Brothers Retrospective
Today, the American Heritage Center highlights Richard and Robert Sherman, in honor of Richard M. Sherman, who passed away earlier this year at age 95. The Center is honored to hold the papers of the brothers documenting a portion of … Continue reading
Posted in Biography and profiles, Composers, Film History, Film Music, Hollywood history, Songwriters, Uncategorized
Tagged 10., 14., 9., Academy Awards, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Disney Music, Film Composers, Mary Poppins, Musical Films, Richard M. Sherman, Robert B. Sherman, Sherman Brothers, Songwriters
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Parallel Universes: Alternate Histories of Beloved Sci-Fi Franchises
Every writer and every producer can tell you that for every successful idea, a hundred more ended up lying in a wastepaper basket somewhere or scooped up into a folder to use later, only to languish, forgotten by all. While … Continue reading
Titans of Terror: Godzilla and King Kong as Pop Culture Icons
As the film Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire opens, we consider the history and legacy of the two most famous giant monsters in film history. Both monsters are represented in posters and stills from the collection of Forrest J. … Continue reading
Posted in Film History, Pop Culture, science fiction, Uncategorized
Tagged American Cinema, Atomic Age, Crossover Films, Famous Monsters of Filmland, Forrest J. Ackerman, Giant Monsters, Godzilla, Godzilla vs. Frankenstein, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Ishiro Honda, Japanese Cinema, Jerry Sohl, Kaiju Cinema, King Kong, Merian C. Cooper, Nuclear Allegory, Postcolonial Themes, Sequels and Remakes, Unproduced Scripts
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