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Nancy Olson, the last living star of Billy Wilder’s seminal Hollywood satire Sunset Boulevard, still remembers Oscar night 1951. The film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won three.

Olson, 96, shared her recollections on a recent episode of It Happened in Hollywood, The Hollywood Reporter‘s eyewitness film history podcast.

Olson was just 22 at the time, and Sunset Boulevard was only her second picture in a seven-year contract with Paramount Pictures. The role — Betty, a studio reader with ambitions to be a screenwriter — earned her a best supporting actress nomination.

“I did not expect to win and I did not win,” Olson told host Seth Abramovitch. “I felt very rewarded being nominated and that was quite enough.”

She says she sensed her fate was sealed when she entered the Pantages Theatre and was ushered to her less-than-prime spot. “I was seated in the back, on the side,” Olson says.

The statuette,...

At the inaugural Academy Awards in 1929, native Pennsylvanian Janet Gaynor made history as the first American-born performer to win an Oscar by taking the Best Actress prize for her body of work in “7th Heaven,” “Street Angel,” and “Sunrise.” Over the subsequent 95 years, 215 more thespians originating from the United States won the academy’s favor, meaning the country has now produced 68.1% of all individual acting Oscar recipients. Considering the last decade alone, the rate of such winners is even higher, at 70.3%.

At this point, 96.8% of American-born acting Oscar victors have hailed from one of 34 actual states. Of those constituting the remainder, three originated from the federal District of Columbia, while four were born in the territory of Puerto Rico. New York (home to 49 winners) is the most common birth state among the entire group, followed by California (34), Illinois (13), Massachusetts (11), and Pennsylvania (11).

Bearing in mind our specific birthplace focus, the 16 states...

By respectively receiving Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor Oscar nominations for “American Fiction,” Jeffrey Wright and Sterling K. Brown made history as the first two Black male cast mates to compete in separate categories for the same film. They are also the eighth pair of performers to earn academy recognition for playing brothers and constitute the 29th case of Oscar-nominated sibling characters overall. Check out our photo gallery of this and the previous 28 examples, which date as far back as 1948.

At this point, the only two people who have won Oscars for playing siblings in the same film are “A Streetcar Named Desire” cast mates Vivien Leigh (Best Actress) and Kim Hunter (Best Supporting Actress). Best Actor champ Lee Marvin can technically also be counted alongside them since he was honored for portraying twin brothers in “Cat Ballou.”

The other seven films on this list for which only one...

Screwball comedy is a subgenre of romantic comedy that saw its classic period run from the mid-1930s until the mid-1940s. Directors such as Frank Capra, Preston Sturges, and Howard Hawks, along with stars such as Cary Grant, Carole Lombard, William Powell, and Katharine Hepburn, all helped shape the foundation of the genre.

Screwball comedies are distinguishable from stereotypical romantic comedies because screwballs typically spoof notions of love rather than emphasize romantic ideals. Common elements found in screwball comedies are rapid-fire overlapping dialogue, zany slapstick antics, mistaken identities, and a battle of the sexes narrative. Many of cinema's classic screwball comedies rank among Hollywood's funniest films.

Related: 10 Rom-Coms Critics Loved But Audiences Hated

The Awful Truth (1937)

Leo McCarey's The Awful Truth is a screwball comedy starring Cary Grant and Irene Dunne as a wealthy couple who decide to divorce but end up trying to sabotage each other's subsequent romantic conquests.

By respectively receiving Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor Oscar nominations for “American Fiction,” Jeffrey Wright and Sterling K. Brown made history as the first two Black male cast mates to compete in separate categories for the same film. They are also the eighth pair of performers to earn academy recognition for playing brothers and constitute the 29th case of Oscar-nominated sibling characters overall. Check out our photo gallery of this and the previous 28 examples, which date as far back as 1948.

At this point, the only two people who have won Oscars for playing siblings in the same film are “A Streetcar Named Desire” cast mates Vivien Leigh (Best Actress) and Kim Hunter (Best Supporting Actress). Best Actor champ Lee Marvin can technically also be counted alongside them since he was honored for portraying twin brothers in “Cat Ballou.”

The other seven films on this list for which only one...

While some slots in the 2023 acting Oscar lineups will remain hotly contested until the nominees’ names are read, Colin Farrell and Kerry Condon don’t seem to have anything to worry about. The respective Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress hopefuls delivered extremely well-received performances in “The Banshees of Inisherin” that are individually solid but also complement each other, with the sibling bond between their characters coming across as remarkably believable. Their probable Oscar notices will make them the 10th pair of performers to earn academy recognition for playing a brother and sister, and will constitute the 27th case of Oscar-nominated sibling characters overall. Scroll through our gallery of the previous examples, which date from 1948 to just last year.

At this point, the only two people who have won Oscars for playing siblings in the same film are “A Streetcar Named Desire” cast mates Vivien Leigh (Best Actress) and Kim Hunter...

Arsenic and Old Lace

Blu-ray

Criterion

1941 / 1.33: 1 / 118 Min.

Starring Cary Grant, Priscilla Lane

Written by Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein

Directed by Frank Capra

Almost supernaturally handsome, Mortimer Brewster is quite the catch; a celebrated man about town and theater critic who saves his most acerbic reviews for matrimony, Mortimer’s latest bestseller is a typically curdled diatribe called Mind over Marriage. He’s a tough egg to crack but leave it to his childhood sweetheart, a pretty strawberry blonde named Elaine Harper, to cure Mortimer’s gamophobia—and what better time for a nervous bachelor to get hitched than Halloween?

Their honeymoon is just around the corner but first the newlyweds have family business in Brooklyn, home to Elaine and Mortimer’s childhood haunts. They don’t realize just how haunted; the cozy Brewster homestead has been transformed into a makeshift cemetery where bodies are stored away in...

Based on the play by Joseph Kesselring, Frank Capra's 1944 film version of "Arsenic and Old Lace" may be the director's darkest movie. Playing like a comedic version of Hitchcock, the film is about a pair of kindly old sisters named Abby and Marth (Josephine Hull and Jean Adair) who occasionally take in lodgers for the night in their remote home. If the lodgers reveal themselves to be sad, lonely, unhappy old men, Abby and Martha take it upon themselves to poison them -- using elderberry wine -- as an act of mercy. They then employ their nephew Teddy (John Alexander) to bury the bodies...

The post Frank Capra's Directing Style Didn't Sit Well With Cary Grant appeared first on /Film.

Yuh-Jung Youn, a legendary actress in her native Korea, made history in the U.S. on Sunday when she became the third oldest Best Supporting Actress winner in Oscars history, winning for her performance as Soon-ja, the scene-stealing grandmother in the six-time Academy Award-nominated film “Minari,” which tells the story of a Korean immigrant family as they attempt to start a farm in rural Arkansas in the 1980s.

At 73 years and 310 days old, Youn, who’s made headlines in recent months for her candid but always delightful acceptance speeches, now sits behind Josephine Hull, who was 74 years and 85 days old when she won for “Harvey” (1950). Both women trail Peggy Ashcroft by a few years; she was 77 years and 93 days old when she won for “A Passage to India” (1984), making her the oldest supporting actress winner. Of course, the oldest nominee in the category remains “Titanic” (1997) star Gloria Stuart, who was...

Yuh-Jung Youn took home the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for “Minari” on Sunday, making history in multiple ways — most notably becoming just the second Asian actress to win an Oscar.

The Korean legend follows in the footsteps of Japanese actress Miyoshi Umeki, who won the same category for her performance in “Sayonara” (1957). Youn was the first supporting actress nominee of Asian descent since Hailee Steinfeld, who is of Filipino descent, contested for 2010’s “True Grit.”

No woman of Asian descent has won Best Actress and only one has been nominated: Merle Oberon, who was of Indian descent and hid her background during her career, for “The Dark Angel” (1935). Including the men, Best Supporting Actor winner Haing S. Ngor (1984’s “The Killing Fields”) is the last man of Asian descent to win either male category; Ben Kingsley (1982’s “Gandhi”) was the last in Best Actor.

See Full list of Oscar winners...

The 2021 Oscar nominees for Best Supporting Actress are Maria Bakalova (“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”), Glenn Close (“Hillbilly Elegy”), Olivia Colman (“The Father”), Amanda Seyfried (“Mank”), and Yuh-jung Youn (“Minari”). Our odds currently indicate that Youn (16/5) will emerge victorious, followed in order by Bakalova (4/1), Close (4/1), Colman (9/2), and Seyfried (9/2).

All of this year’s nominees are new to the category except Close, who previously garnered three consecutive bids for “The World According to Garp” (1983), “The Big Chill” (1984), and “The Natural” (1985). She also earned recognition for her lead roles in “Fatal Attraction” (1988), “Dangerous Liaisons” (1989), “Albert Nobbs” (2012), and “The Wife” (2019). Since she lost the Best Actress race two years ago, Close has stood alone as the woman with the most acting nominations and no wins.

Close was bested in 2019 by Colman, whose victory for “The Favourite” makes her the only past winner in this group. They are now the 15th pair of actresses to face...

There is no doubt about it: Yuh-Jung Youn is having a great year. The legendary Korean actress has already received a Screen Actors Guild Award and the corresponding BAFTA Award for her supporting role as Soon-ja, the scene-stealing grandmother in the six-time Academy Award-nominated film “Minari,” which tells the story of a Korean immigrant family as they attempt to start a farm in rural Arkansas in the 1980s. Should she win the supporting actress Oscar on April 25, she’ll become the third oldest winner in the category.

Youn will be 73 years and 310 days old on the date of the Oscars. This would put her behind Josephine Hull, who was 74 years and 85 days old when she won for “Harvey” (1950). Both women would then trail Peggy Ashcroft, who won for “A Passage to India” (1984) at the age of 77 years and 93 days old, making her the oldest supporting actress winner. (The oldest nominee...

Although Oscar voters have favored lengthier supporting male performances over the last decade, they have generally voted for shorter ones on the female side. The vast majority of recent Best Supporting Actress winners have had roles that are indisputably featured ones and represent the intended purpose of these prizes.

Last year, Laura Dern prevailed for appearing in 18 minutes and 36 seconds (or 13.58%) of “Marriage Story.” Although her character’s children were unseen, Dern imbued her with the certain kind of tenacious warmth that mothers often radiate. Hers was the third relatively short maternal role to win in a row, after those of Allison Janney and Regina King.

The 2021 Best Supporting Actress nominees have an average screen time of 28 minutes and 55 seconds, or 27.02% of their respective films. In terms of actual time, their average is the 18th highest in the history of the category, while their percentage average is the 13th highest.

Glenn Close turned 74 on Friday, March 19, just four days after receiving her eighth Oscar nomination for her performance in “Hillbilly Elegy.” Once again, Oscar watchers are buzzing about whether this may finally be her time to win or if she will extend her record as the living actor with the most nominations without a win. Should she take home the Best Supporting Actress statuette next month, she would become the third oldest winner in this category in academy history.

Close will be 74 years and 37 days old on the day of the April 25 ceremony. A victory would put her just a hair behind Josephine Hull for “Harvey” (1950), who was 74 years and 85 days old. Both trail Peggy Ashcroft, who won for “A Passage to India” (1984), beating Close for “The Natural,” at the age of 77 years and 93 days old. Only three other women have won Best Supporting Actress in their 70s: Ruth Gordon...

There’s a good chance that “Mank,” David Fincher’s stylish black-and-white chronicle of veteran Hollywood screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz’ struggle to write the screenplay for Orson Welles’ 1941 masterpiece “Citizen Kane,” will dominate the Oscar nominations on March 15. Our Oscar experts are predicting the Netflix release could garner has many has 13 nominations including picture, director, screenplay for Fincher’s latest father Jack Fincher, actor for Gary Oldman and supporting actress for Amanda Seyfried.

Exactly 70 years ago Mank’s brother, writer/director Joseph L. Mankiewicz, dominated the Academy Awards. His “All About Eve,” a sophisticated and sharp drama starring Bette Davis as aging theater actress Margo Channing who mistakenly befriends and mentors an ambitious young actress Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter), earned 14 Oscar nominations. “All About Eve” actually broke all records for Oscar nominations besting 1939’s “Gone with the Wind” lucky 13 bids.

The younger Mank’s masterpiece went on to win six...

1. “A Star is Born” (1954)

Why Should I Watch? If the Lady Gaga-starring remake from 2018 did anything, it was to show us the power of the “Star is Born” narrative – and if you’re going to watch any of them why not watch the best? Judy Garland stars in her what-should-have-been Oscar-winning role as Esther Blodgett, a woman whose rise to fame comes at the expense of her husband, Norman Main (played by James Mason). Outside of this being a career best for both Garland and Mason, the movie has an added power if you know anything about Garland’s history. The scene wherein Esther details her feelings about Norman’s alcoholism is a gut punch every time, especially as it’s easy to hear it as Garland talking about herself. Laugh, sing, and cry with “A Star is Born” on March 2.

2. “North By Northwest” (1959)

Why Should I Watch? One...

Raymond Massey ca. 1940. Raymond Massey movies: From Lincoln to Boris Karloff Though hardly remembered today, the Toronto-born Raymond Massey was a top supporting player – and sometime lead – in both British and American movies from the early '30s all the way to the early '60s. During that period, Massey was featured in nearly 50 films. Turner Classic Movies generally selects the same old MGM / Rko / Warner Bros. stars for its annual “Summer Under the Stars” series. For that reason, it's great to see someone like Raymond Massey – who was with Warners in the '40s – be the focus of a whole day: Sat., Aug. 8, '15. (See TCM's Raymond Massey movie schedule further below.) Admittedly, despite his prestige – his stage credits included the title role in the short-lived 1931 Broadway production of Hamlet – the quality of Massey's performances varied wildly. Sometimes he could be quite effective; most of the time, however, he was an unabashed scenery chewer,...

It is not too shabby in what the Northeast (New England) part of the United States has produced in terms of past and present actors/actresses making their show business dreams come true. Film careers can be a lot like ice cubes–they start out solid and cool but if you sit around in stagnation your efforts and hard work can melt away before one’s very eyes. Certainly no one can accuse this talented crop of thespians of being one-hit wonders on the big screen. After all, one does not become a recipient of an Academy Award by just sheer luck and charitable fortune.

As a native Bostonian and life long New Englander, I felt compelled to spotlight those Massachusetts-born and bred actors from the same region that had ultimate success on the big screen in winning the Oscar for their acting achievement and contribution to the motion picture industry.

By Terence Johnson

Managing Editor

Of the acting races, Supporting Actress seems to be the only acting category that’s really up in the air. Much of the conversation has surrounded Jennifer Lawrence and Lupita Nyong’o, who both have won precursors, but June Squibb has also been nominated for each of this awards. With much of the talk of a split between the two, could Squibb step in and nab her first Oscar?

If Squibb were to win, she would be the oldest Supporting Actress winner, besting the previous oldest (Peggy Ashcroft) by nearly 7 years come Oscar night. No Supporting Actress Oscar winner has ever gotten the statue in their 80s, so Squibb would have her work cut out for her. However, it’s not nearly as bleak as those first two stats would have you believe. There have been several winners that fit the mold of Squibb (older,...

Tony Award 2013 nominations: Broadway-Hollywood connections include Sigourney Weaver, Tom Hanks, Paul Rudd, Bette Midler (photo: Sigourney Weaver in Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike) The 2013 Tony Award nominations will be announced tomorrow, April 30. Among this year’s potential Tony nominees are a number of film-related performers, ranging from Academy Award nominees and winners such as Sigourney Weaver, Tom Hanks, and Jessica Chastain to The Avengers‘ Scarlett Johansson, Our Idiot Brother and Dinner for Schmucks‘ Paul Rudd, and Tom Cruise’s ex-wife Katie Holmes. Two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks (Philadelphia, Forrest Gump) may be up for a Best Actor in a Play Tony Award for Nora Ephron’s Lucky Guy. Ephron, who died last year, directed Hanks in two of his biggest box-office hits: Sleepless in Seattle (1993) and You’ve Got Mail (1998), both co-starring Meg Ryan. Another potential Best Actor nominee is David Hyde Pierce (Nixon, Down with Love) for...

Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant, Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine – romcoms used to be anything but bland

With this year's Oscar-nominated Silver Linings Playbook, Hollywood is attempting to get down and dirty with real people and real problems. But Us films are notoriously bad at this. I Give It a Year is a British comedy about falling out of love – not a romcom, more of a romp-incomp. But whatever happened to the simple idea of the innocently zany finding love?

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Being abnormal used to be normal. In movies such as The Apartment (1960), it was redemptive. Cc Baxter (Jack Lemmon) and Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine) are outsiders who've missed the boat, careerwise and hopewise. She's wasting her time on a married man, while Baxter is caught in a sexual vortex established by his superiors, who have clandestine trysts in his apartment while "Buddy Boy" gets...

Chicago – Universal’s landmark line of Blu-ray releases under the banner of the company’s 100th anniversary continues with four more of the studio’s most beloved films — “Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein,” “Airport,” “Harvey,” and “Sixteen Candles.” It’s clearly an eclectic bunch and a wonderful sampler platter of what this line of releases have offered Blu-ray owners. Jimmy Stewart, Burt Lancaster, Bela Lugosi, and Molly Ringwald — it’s a star-studded quartet that is sure to have at least one release that appeals to the Blu-ray collector in your family.

In alphabetical order (star rating takes into account transfer & special features along with the film itself):

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein

Photo credit: Universal

“Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein”

Rating: 4.0/5.0

Synopsis:

Comedy meets horror when Bud Abbott and Lou Costello encounter Universal’s classic monsters in the frightfully funny Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. The world of baggage handlers Chick Young...

.Well I.ll be swizzled.. I cry fowl. or hare. I asked my invisible friend named Mortimer, a fifteen foot 3.75 inch giraffe, if Harvey was the real deal and he said it was bollocks. The movie still fills me with joy no matter what Mortimer says and Stewart shows that you don.t have to be sane to have a positive outlook. Elwood P. Dowd (James Stewart) is a genial and friendly man who has one best friend in the whole world. His sister Veta (Josephine Hull) and her daughter Myrtle May (Victoria Horne) are rushing him out of the house so that they can have a tea party. They don.t want him to come home and call...

I'm calling it right now: The "75 Best Supporting Actresses" YouTube video, where a whippersnapper named Matt imitates all 75 winners of the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a few minutes, is and will be the best video of 2012 (excepting those wonderful Verbal Vogueing and Weeklings clips, of course). It's a hilarious exhibition of talent, creativity and raw gay nerve. And it validates everyone's obsession with award shows too. Now every Best Supporting Actress from Hattie McDaniel to Jennifer Connelly is immortalized in one flavorful, quirky mix. It's not just entertaining; it's important. Let's bow down.

I caught up with the creator himself, an enigmatic YouTube star who goes by the Twitter handle @Diariesofdoom and prefers to go by just his first name, to talk about his marvelous video. We also spoke about the best Oscar moments, the worst Oscar winners, and the awardees who helped spread his gem on YouTube.

I've waited a few days to collect my thoughts and weigh in on the most important YouTube video since Corgis Enjoy A Treadmill, so here goes: A fast-yapping vlogger who goes by the name The Doomsday Diaries (and the Twitter handle @Diariesofdoom) zeroed in on The Academy Awards' Best Supporting Actress category -- the greatest Oscar category, by the way -- and toasted it by reenacting scenes/moments from all 75 winning performances since 1936.

Let me be clear: This is a staggering feat. This guy has democratized everyone from Eva Marie Saint and Lila Kedrova to Gale Sondergaard and Helen Hayes in the clippiest, hippest way possible. It's explosive. It's gigantic. It's a pink diamond. And so much of it is amazingly good. It's like a version of "The Snatch Game"from RuPaul's Drag Race, except with dignified actresses up for satire and not, say, Snooki.

I thought we'd have a little debate.

Each week within this column we strive to pair the latest in theatrical releases to the worthwhile titles currently available on Netflix Instant Watch.

This week Mel Gibson tries to win back the love of moviegoers by returning to theaters, where he and his hand puppet will do battle with a vagrant whose armed to the teeth, a Viking whose wielding a mighty hammer, and a wavering pair of lovers. If you want to fill your weekend with superheroes, imaginary friends, cheating partners and exploitation action stars, we’ve got you covered!

—

Thor

Marvel continues their Avengers franchise with this fish-out-of-water adventure that posits the Viking warrior in modern-day America. Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman and Kat Dennings co-star.

Superman: The Movie (1978) Arguably the first superhero movie of note, this Richard Donner-directed adventure pits the Man of Steel (Christopher Reeve) against the nefarious Lex Luther (Gene Hackman). Margot Kidder...

My conversations with industry insiders and Academy members lead me to believe that Melissa Leo (“The Fighter”) remains the favorite to win the best supporting actress Academy Award, despite — or perhaps even because of — the recent brouhaha over her “Consider” advertisements. In terms of statistical analysis, though, one can find cause for both confidence and concern about her Oscar prospects…

Cause for Concern: The BAFTA-ampas Disconnect

British voters are believed to make up a sizable portion of the Academy, and BAFTA Award winners — which were announced after the Oscars prior to 2000, and have been announced before them since then — usually correspond with Oscar winners. Therefore, it is certainly noteworthy that BAFTA didn’t like Leo’s performance enough to even nominate her for its best supporting actress award, but did like the one given by Hailee Steinfeld (“True Grit“), her primary rival at the Oscars, enough to nominate her in its best actress category.

Every Sunday, Film School Rejects presents a movie that was made before you were born and tells you why you should like it. This week, Old Ass Movies presents the story of two women who kill old men for charity, their nephew who wants to get married without being sent to prison, his brother who thinks he’s Teddy Roosevelt and his other brother who looks like Boris Karloff and has killed plenty of people himself. Insanity might run in the family, but it’s also the story of the bodies buried in the basement and the one still hanging around the living room. Yes. It’s a comedy. Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) Directed by: Frank Capra Starring: Cary Grant, Priscilla Lane, Raymond Massey, Peter Lorre, Josephine Hull, Jean Adair Arsenic and Old Lace proves one thing about classic era Hollywood: that a mainstream studio wasn’t always afraid to go a little off-kilter. There...

The IMDb250. A list of the top 250 films, as ranked by the users of the biggest movie Internet site on the web. It is based upon the ratings provided by the users of The Internet Movie Database, which number into the millions. As such, it’s a perfect representation of the opinions of the movie masses, and arguably the most comprehensive ranking system on the Internet.

It’s because of this that we at HeyUGuys (and in this case, we, is myself and Barry) have decided to set ourselves a project. To watch and review all 250 movies on the list! We’ve frozen the list as of 1st January this year. It’s not as simple as it sounds, as we’ll be watching them in one year, 125 each.

This is our eighteenth update, a rundown of my next five movies watched for the project. Again another week of great...

There has been a lot of speculation over the past year about what Steven Spielberg's next film might be after the upcoming The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (which is apparently now in post-production). He has been attached to a number of projects including a sci-fi film written by Jonathan Nolan called Interstellar [1], a movie based on The Trial of the Chicago 7, Will Smith's Oldboy remake [2], and an Abraham Lincoln biopic. More recently, it looked like he was about to kickstart a franchise based on the Matt Helm spy novels [3] from the 1960s, but he ended up just taking a producer role. Now, this week, Spielberg's next directorial gig has finally been confirmed: a remake of the 1950 James Stewart film Harvey about a man whose best friend is an imaginary six-foot tall rabbit. Say what? I'm sure this announcement has caught a lot of people off guard,...

Heavyweight filmmaker Steven Spielberg has signed on to direct a DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox project, "Harvey," based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Mary Chase.

The story revolves around a man who befriends an imaginary six-foot, three-and-one-half-inch tall rabbit named Harvey.

Spielberg, whose long list of credits includes the multi-award winning films "Schindler's List" and "Saving Private Ryan," wants to start production early next year. He is expected to cast top stars for the film.

"Harvey" ran on Broadway from 1944 until 1949, one of the longest running plays in history. It was also adapted into a film in 1950, starring James Stewart. The movie earned Stewart a Best Actor Oscar nod and gave co-star Josephine Hull a Best Supporting Actress Oscar win.

Steven Spielberg has signed up for his next project (once he’s through with The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn of course), and the project involves an imaginary white Rabbit who’s 6 foot 3 inches tall!

Spielberg will be lensing a fresh adaptation of Mary Chase’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Harvey” for 20th Century Fox and DreamWorks. The play won the Pulitzer Prize in 1944, and was originally turned into the 1950 Universal film that starred Jimmy Stewart and Josephine Hull.

It is the story of an amiable eccentric, Elwood P. Dowd, and his friendship with a six and one-half foot tall invisible rabbit, and how it affects every member of his family and community.

“I am very happy to be working again with my friend Tom Rothman who shepherded us through `Minority Report,’ and with Elizabeth and Carla, who I’m looking forward to collaborating with,” Spielberg said. “DreamWorks...

Steven Spielberg's next film will be a remake of the 1950 classic "Harvey" starring James Stewart as a mild-mannered man who happens to have an invisible friend in the form of a 6-foot rabbit.

The original won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Josephine Hull. Stewart was nominated for Best Actor but lost to Jose Ferrer in "Cyrano De Bergerac."

The Spielberg film will focus more on the Mary Chase 1944 Pulitzer Prize-winning play than an all-out remake of the 1950 movie. It will be a co-production between 20th Century Fox and DreamWorks.

The director will be working from the screenplay by bestselling novelist Jonathan Tropper ("How to Talk to a Widower," "Everything Changes"). This will be the author's first script.

"Harvey" is a perfect film for Spielberg to do. It's about the incredible power of the imagination, and why it's better to be nice than smart. Both themes evident in the director's oeuvre.

Mike Fleming at Variety reports Steven Spielberg has finally found his next feature film as DreamWorks and its new production deal with Reliance and Disney is ready to roll with Harvey, an adaptation of the Mary Chase Pulitzer Prize-winning play. Jonathan Tropper adapted the screenplay. On top of being a play, the story of mild-mannered Elwood P. Dowd and his friendship with Harvey, a six and one-half foot tall invisible rabbit and how it affects those around him was also turned into a film in 1950 starring James Stewart that earned Stewart an Oscar nomination and Josephine Hull took home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. The trailer for that one is included and if you haven't seen it yet, head over to Netflix and add it to your queue, it's a great little feature. "I am very happy to be working again with my friend Tom Rothman who shepherded us through Minority Report,...

There's been a lot of talks recently about what project Steven Spielberg would direct next, but now we've got an answer to that question: "Harvey" for 20th Century Fox and DreamWorks.

The film will be an adaptation of Mary Chase's 1944 play, which centered on the adventures of an eccentric man and his unusual friendship with an invisible rabbit.

Jonathan Tropper wrote the screenplay, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Pre-prod. is apparently starting right now, with filming kicking off early next year.

This is not the first time "Harvey" found its way to the big screen, as Henry Koster directed an adaptation starring James Stewart and Josephine Hull in 1950 (see picture above).

John Travolta is in negotiations to step into the shoes of Jimmy Stewart in the update of the 1950 film Harvey, a co-production between MGM and Miramax Films, sources confirmed. Based on the Pulitzer-winning Mary Chase play and updated by scribe Craig Mazin, the project will see Travolta star in the story of Elwood P. Dowd and the relationship he has with his best friend, an invisible 6-foot-tall rabbit. The project does not have a start date. In addition to Stewart, the original Harvey, directed by Henry Koster, also starred Josephine Hull, Peggy Dow, Charles Drake and Cecil Kellaway. The film landed Stewart an Oscar nomination for best actor, while Hill walked home with the statuette for supporting actress at the 1951 Academy Awards.

John Travolta is in negotiations to step into the shoes of Jimmy Stewart in the update of the 1950 film Harvey, a co-production between MGM and Miramax Films, sources confirmed. Based on the Pulitzer-winning Mary Chase play and updated by scribe Craig Mazin, the project will see Travolta star in the story of Elwood P. Dowd and the relationship he has with his best friend, an invisible 6-foot-tall rabbit. The project does not have a start date. In addition to Stewart, the original Harvey, directed by Henry Koster, also starred Josephine Hull, Peggy Dow, Charles Drake and Cecil Kellaway. The film landed Stewart an Oscar nomination for best actor, while Hull walked home with the statuette for supporting actress at the 1951 Academy Awards.