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The marvel of Katharine Hepburn's enduring stardom is how secure it is now, two decades after her death and three after her last film performance – especially compared to her early years in Hollywood, when audiences were having a hard time figuring out if they liked her at all. From her first role in George Cukor's A Bill of Divorcement (1932), Hepburn's appeal with the moviegoing public had a one step forward, two steps back momentum. She'd go from a hit like Alice Adams (1935) to a string of flops like Sylvia Scarlett (1935), Mary of Scotland (1936) and Quality...

There comes a point in every classic film fan's life when you realize you underestimated Ginger Rogers. You never, of course, diminished her talent, especially as Fred Astaire's dance partner over their nine or so RKO musicals in the '30s. But it's with a slight sense of shame that you realize that she was always far more than the second half of an onscreen entity known as "Fred and Ginger". Because her filmography provides so much evidence of her star power at a glance: Stage Door, Bachelor Mother, Primrose Path, Kitty Foyle, Roxie Hart, The Major and the Minor, I'll...

Ginger Rogers was born on this date 112 years ago in Independence, Missouri. She captivated the world dancing with Fred Astaire. She said: "My mother told me I was dancing before I was born. She could feel my toes tapping wildly inside her for months." and "Part of the joy of dancing is conversation. Trouble is, some men can't talk and dance at the same time." God Bless Ginger.

Astaire and Rogers' dance routines are edited down to the beat on Benny Goodman's Sing Sing Sing...

On TCM, Tuesday at 1:45 PM (ET) September 24, 2013 Starring Ronald Reagan, Ginger Rogers, Doris Day Brief Synopsis: A model on vacation discovers that her sister's husband is a murderous Ku Klux Klansman. Drama 1951 TCM, Storm Warning

Happy 101st Ginger Rogers Birthday to all. Miss Rogers was born 101 years ago today in Independence, Missouri. She would later move to Texas and won a Charleston contest(hence the clip I picked) in 1925 and her career took off from there. The late actress was not only an accomplished dancer and an Academy Award-winner but also something you'd rarely find in Hollywood today: a staunch conservative Republican. She worked hard throughout her career and was strongly patriotic and anti-communist. She was also a member of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_Picture_Alliance_for_the_Preservation_of_American_Ideals

Fred and Ginger! What a pair. Nofamily enjoyed "Carefree" (1938) last night, a typically silly story featuring the stiffest Ralph Bellamy performance ever. Who cares? Don't watch for plot. The couple danced a dream sequence filmed in slow motion that captures magic. He's dramatic. She's magnificent. They're explosive, yet perfectly in synch. Tell Noman whether their kiss at the end doesn't convince you? Fred did a solo with golf clubs that gets off to a slow start, picks up steam and finishes strong. Who else besides Fred Astaire could pull this off?

Roman Catholic, Anti-Communist Republican classic movie director Leo McCarey's "Once Upon A Honeymoon"(1942) with Republican movie superstars Ginger Rogers & Cary Grant. is airing on TCM on Monday morning. From its title, stars & director one might think it's a light romantic comedy like Grant's "The Awful Truth" and Miss Rogers' "It Had to Be You." And while it's partly in that genre, it's also a WII spy adveture. It's loads of fun to watch if you're a fan of Ginger, Cary, Walter Slezak(as Ginger's villainous Nazi husband), McCarey or 1940s WWII propaganda films. It also provides evidence that there...

Warner Bros. today will launch a service giving the public the opportunity to custom-order DVDs of films never before released via the medium. The move is seen as a response to dwindling DVD sales and also to customer demand for titles that while not totally obscure, didn't necessarily generate enough heat to merit a full-on DVD release. The Warner Archive Collection, available at WarnerArchive.com, includes films dating back to the silent age and for $19.95 per disc Warners will burn, package and ship for receipt within an estimated five days. Currently there are 150 titles available with for a total...

(photo -- see caption LOL) Let us be the first to say it: Come out of the closet, Chris Matthews. Matthews on-going Obama-erotic comments get stranger and stranger on a nightly basis. Last night the host of MSNBC’s Hardball compared Barack Obama to suave 1940’s dancer and heartthrob Fred Astaire. “Yeah, he’s Fred Astaire out there,” Matthews enthused. “He is light-hearted, I mean he’s light, he still moves around with incredible alacrity.” For god’s sake, Chris,...

When's the last time you heard the MSM talk about a Republican being hit by the "Democrat attack machine"? Scratch that. Have you ever heard the MSM talk about a Republican being hit by the "Democrat attack machine"? Neither have I. But fretting about impending Republican "swiftboating" of the Dem presidential candidate is an MSM staple, and we saw a good example of it on this morning, right down to an image of John Kerry in uniform. Oh, and Hillary Clinton sees herself like a modern-day Ginger Rogers. Ann Curry had a chance to interview both Dem candidates recently, and...