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The most-read book since Gone with the Wind looked at the coming of age struggle of an ambitious, upwardly mobile Jewish girl in the 1930s. This glossy film version gives Natalie Wood an ‘adult’ role and provides Gene Kelly with the seemingly optimal character of a troubled theatrical artiste. Good intentions aside, the show lacks guidance — and may have harmed Kelly’s acting career.

Marjorie Morningstar

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1958 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 128 min. / Street Date May 9, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Natalie Wood, Gene Kelly, Claire Trevor, Everett Sloane, Martin Milner, Carolyn Jones, Martin Balsam, Edd Byrnes, George Tobias, Jesse White, Paul Picerni, Ruta Lee, Shelley Fabares, Lana Wood.

Cinematography: Harry Stradling

Film Editor: Folmar Blangsted

Original Music: Max Steiner

Written by Everett Freeman from the novel by Herman Wouk

Produced by Milton Sperling

Directed by Irving Rapper

When doing interviews for West Side Story we found out that...

Oscar-nominated ‘Imitation of Life’ actress Juanita Moore has died Juanita Moore, Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nominee for the 1959 blockbuster Imitation of Life, died on New Year’s Day 2014 at her home in Los Angeles. According to various online sources, Juanita Moore (born on October 19, 1922) was 91; her step-grandson, actor Kirk Kahn, said she was 99. (Photo: Juanita Moore in the late ’50s. See also: Juanita Moore and Susan Kohner photos at the 50th anniversary screening of Imitation of Life at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.) Juanita Moore movies The Los Angeles-born Juanita Moore began her show business career as a chorus girl at New York City’s Cotton Club. According to the IMDb, Moore was an extra/bit player in a trio of films of the ’40s, including Vincente Minnelli’s all-black musical Cabin in the Sky (1942) and Elia Kazan’s socially conscious melodrama Pinky (1949), in which Jeanne Crain plays a (very,...

I didn’t really know I liked Natalie Wood until about a week ago. Setting into the Warner Brothers Natalie Wood Collection I had no real idea what to expect. I’d already seen Inside Daisy Clover and Love with the Proper Stranger, and to be honest I only liked the latter. So her track record with me was 50/50. When I put those films up against all the other classic cinema I enjoyed, Inside Daisy Clover just seemed to fall short. Luckily, in the Natalie Wood Collection the quality is a pretty even split.

Bombers B-52 (1957)

I felt that the inclusion of Bombers B-52 in the Natalie Wood Collection mislead me. Considering the plot revolves around Sgt. Chuck Brennan (Karl Malden) and his grudge against Col. Jim Herlihy (Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.) – why is this considered a Natalie Wood film? Her role, as Brennan’s daughter, may get a maximum screen...

Natalie Wood was a rare child star - "Miracle on 34th Street" is perhaps her best known film these days - who easily transitioned into adult roles, most famously in "West Side Story."

The popular star was never a critical favorite, though. In 1966, the Harvard Lampoon awarded her its annual "worst actress" award, and she was the first to accept it in person.

"The Natalie Wood Collection," out this week on DVD, includes six titles from her years as a Warner Bros.

contract star, 1954 to 1965.

After receiving her first Oscar nomination for "Rebel Without a Cause,...

Collections ~ It's Tuesday so there are new box sets available highlighting everything from tired hockey masked killers (you know who) to highly respected thespians (Peter Sellers and Alec Guiness) but the big ... make that B-i-g... deal for The Film Experience is the "Natalie Wood Collection" which includes six films. I haven't seen Bombers B-52 or Cash McCall but even if they're bad you still get to stare at her for two hours. Her beauty justifies most any running time.

Natalie Wood *swoon*

The other four are more notable players in her filmography. There's the Edith Head costumed Helen Gurley Brown comedy Sex and the Single Girl (1964) and two true classics: the musical Gypsy (1962) and the legendary 'Warren Beatty Destroys Lives!' teen angst of the unbeatable Splendor in the Grass (1961). Adventurous movie fanatics might be most interested in getting a good long look at the underseen and idiosyncratic inside...

Blu-Ray Rating: 4.0/5.0 Chicago – When I hear phrases like “screen icon” or “Hollywood legend,” one of the first people that I think of is Natalie Wood. Six of the famous star’s films have been compiled for the “Natalie Wood Collection,” a great starter set for classic movie buffs intrigued by this timeless star or collector’s looking to enhance their catalog.

Gone way too soon, Wood appeared in 56 film and television roles, becoming an internationally recognized star before she was even old enough to drive. Wood first appeared on screen when she was only five and won acclaim when she was only nine for her work in “Miracle on 34th Street”. She would go on to start in irrefutable classics like “Rebel Without a Cause” and “West Side Story”. She was nominated for three Academy Awards and seven Golden Globes, winning three of the latter.

One of Wood’s Oscar...