Hollywood star Christina Hendricks spotted enjoying visit to Edinburgh tourist attraction

Alan K. Rode The death of actress-activist Marsha Hunt this week is a historical watershed and a personal loss. Marsha was one of the last living actors who began her movie career during the Great Depression in 1935. She became part of a now vanished Hollywood, initially at Paramount then at MGM, that bound contracted talent to studios with artists having little to no say over their choice of roles and careers. Nevertheless, she thrived in the studio system by becoming somewhat less than a genuine movie star and more of a consummate professional actress.   Marsha’s career was derailed by the Blacklist, a perfidious period of American history that has been endlessly chronicled and misunderstood. Never a Communist or radical, she was a forthright liberal who refused to accept her voice being marginalized by the endemic sexism and politics of the period. Marsha was the final survivor of the Committee of the First Amendment, an action group of film actors, directors and writers founded by screenwriter Philip Dunne, actress Myrna Loy, and directors John Huston and William Wyler. Members of the group flew to Washington D.C. on October 27, 1947 to protest the HUAC hearings investigating so-called subversive Communist influence in the motion picture industry. From a public relations perspective, the group’s involvement backfired and many people in the group subsequently had to seek political cover. After the pamphlet “Red Channels” was published in June 1950, naming Marsha and 150 other artists, journalists and writers by falsely portraying them as subversives who were manipulating the entertainment system, she had a great deal of trouble finding work in Hollywood.

confirmed the news to The Hollywood Reporter. A former model, Hunt was a standout in such films as John Wayne’s 1937 Western “Born to the West,” 1939’s “The Glamour Girls,” opposite Lana Turner; 1940’s “Pride and Prejudice” and 1948’s beloved noir “Raw Deal.” In 1945, she joined the board of the Screen Actors Guild.But her career unraveled after she and her second husband, screenwriter Robert Presnell Jr., joined a Hollywood group that questioned McCarthy’s efforts to root out Communists in American society, including in Hollywood.

The rules of survival in Hollywood have always fascinated me. “Consistency is the key – always present yourself to studios as a total bitch,” Bette Davis once confided. “Never delude yourself into thinking that a star can become a loyal personal friend,” advised Billy Wilder. “Since studios always lie, a producer’s mandate is to come up with bigger lies,” said David O. Selznick.

The death of Queen Elizabeth II today has had consequences for Emmy celebrations here in L.A.

Managing Director of Warner Music’s Atlantic Records UK, Damian Christian, has been announced as the new Chair of the BRIT Committee, overseeing the running of next year’s BRIT Awards. He replaces Polydor’s Tom March, who held the role for the 2022 event.The first big decision announced for 2023 is that the ceremony will move to a Saturday night, with hopes of attracting a larger audience to the event’s TV broadcast.

In a triumphant world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale received a seven-minute standing ovation inside the Sala Grande this evening. Star Brendan Fraser was visibly moved as he was embraced by his director while extended applause rang throughout the auditorium.

John Wayne classics such as The Searchers and Stagecoach saw his health deteriorating terribly in the early 1970s. After breaking a hip, Ford had to get used to a wheelchair and was moved from his Bel Air home to Palm Desert to be treated for cancer. In October 1972, the Screen Directors Guild paid tribute to him and in March the following year, the American Film Institute honoured the director with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Production has just started at Rome’s Cinecittà Studios on “Finalmente L’alba” the new film by “My Brilliant Friend” director Saverio Costanzo. It is set during the 1950s when the famed filmmaking facilities were known as Hollywood on the Tiber.  This high-end costume drama – the title of which translates as “Finally, Dawn Has Come” – features a stellar cast comprising Lily James (“Pam & Tommy”), Joe Keery (“Stranger Things”), Rachel Sennott (“Shiva Baby”), Willem Dafoe, and Italian newcomer Rebecca Antonaci. “Finalmente” is the journey over the course of a long and intense night of an aspiring young Italian actress, played by Antonaci. In the Cinecittà studios of the 1950s, she experiences some memorable hours that will mark her transition to full blown womanhood.

A$AP Rocky is facing criminal charges for alleged assault. The charges were announced by Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón on Monday.«Discharging a gun in a public place is a serious offense that could have ended with tragic consequences not only for the person targeted but also for innocent bystanders visiting Hollywood,» Gascon stated in a press release issued by his office.Gascón continued, «My office conducted a thorough review of the evidence in this case and determined that the addition of a special firearm allegation was warranted.»Rocky — real name Rakim Mayers -- faces two counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm with allegations of personally using a firearm, according to the announcement.