Forgotten Hollywood

Forgotten Hollywood welcomes the authors of the new book, Finding Wonderful: Hopeful Lessons from Jimmy Stewart and It’s a Wonderful Life, Matt Mikalatos and Aaron Burns. Aaron is also the director of the new film: Jimmy (Out in theaters Nov 6th). Doug Hess is the Host! Book is out on Amazon and other retailers Forgotten Hollywood is on Facebook!

The untold story of the extraordinary people who inspired Christopher Isherwood's characters in Cabaret, the landmark Broadway musical and Oscar-winning film, and the vibrant Bohemia that escaped from Berlin or endured under the Nazi regime.Even diehard fans of Cabaret remain unaware that Isherwood's Berlin Stories, celebrated as one of the best novels of the 20th Century, is based on a true story―and real people, from the larger-than-life landlady to the immortal, flighty, fantastical Sally Bowles, whose escapades in 1930s Weimar Berlin were comically exaggerated in one of the most memorable characters in Broadway history.In a novelistic style that captures the joyful art-making and wild final parties of a democratic Germany before Hitler, Life is a Cabaret is a group biography of these enigmatic and provocative muses. Thanks to exhaustive research, investigative reporter Brian Fairbanks recounts the weird and wondrous lives of Jean Ross (the real Sally, a brilliant writer, free-loving film critic secretly working for Stalin's communists), Wilfrid Israel (who saved more Jews than Oskar Schindler), Gerald Hamilton (a gay conman with questionable Nazi ties), and all of the others immortalized in the iconic, eternal Berlin Stories. Fairbanks unearths belief-defying details of survival, tragedy, sex, and brilliant art from these people and the world they inhabited―a world with illuminating, and at times disturbing, parallels to the one we live in today.
Doug Hess is the host.
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Doug Hess spoke with the Author of the book: The Secret Hitchcock: How Hollywood's Legendary Director Lived through Cary Grant and James Stewart (Screen Classics)Cary Grant and James Stewart were everything Alfred Hitchcock was not. Grant radiated charm and sophistication. Stewart embodied resilience and depth. Hitchcock—a meticulous, private man ruled by fear—found the freedom to express himself through their performances. Between 1941 and 1959, Hitchcock made eight unforgettable films with these two stars: four with Stewart—Rope (1948), Rear Window (1954), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), and Vertigo (1958)—and four with Grant—Suspicion (1941), Notorious (1946), To Catch a Thief (1955), and North by Northwest (1959). In those eighteen years, Grant shed his comedic persona to become a hero, Stewart transformed from boy next door to a war-hardened everyman, and Hitchcock reached the pinnacle of his craft—living his most daring, mysterious self through their performances. These relationships are key to understanding Hitchcock's creative process and the deeper layers of meaning in his iconic films.
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Doug Hess talks with the author!
James Mason (1909–1984) was born to be an actor. He just didn’t know it. A Cambridge graduate with a degree in architecture, he arrived in London at a time when nothing was being built. With few prospects, he turned to the stage, where his modest experience proved enough to land him a spot in repertory theater. Those early performances led to film roles in which he was initially deemed “adequate” before finding his niche as a brooding, sophisticated villain―an identity that made him a star in British cinema.
Out on Amazon!
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From the author of the beloved Fifth Avenue, Five A.M. and The Big Goodbye comes the definitive account of one of the quintessential American artists, Frank Capra, visionary behind the iconic and timeless It’s a Wonderful Life.Frank Capra, the director of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, It Happened One Night, and, supremely, It’s a Wonderful Life remains one of the great chroniclers of the American heart, how we love, lead, dream, hope, and fight for our individuality. But Frank Capra was a more complex artist than is usually reckoned and a more complicated man than anyone knows. As his most famous collaborator Jimmy Stewart put it, “the best Frank Capra story is the story of his own life. It’s got more highs and lows than a roller coaster. It’s heartwarming. It’s kind of hard to believe, really. And it could only happen in America.”Like many great American stories, this story begins in Ellis Island where a penniless family of Sicilian immigrants arrives in 1903. Frank Capra’s life goes on to take in the explosive growth of Southern California and the film industry, the depths of the Depression, the enormity of the Second World War, and America’s uneasy post-war as an empire riven by a loss of unity. It is a life as shot through with both “moonbeams” and melancholy as that of his greatest creation, George Bailey. Capra is both the exemplar of American ideals, as in his truly vital work for Roosevelt’s war effort, and of American failings, as in his informing during the McCarthy period.This extraordinary book, making full use for the first time of Capra’s own archives, including deeply personal writings from his later years, has brought this seminal artist into urgent life. At the same time, in its epic richness, it offers a dazzling portrait of both a lost America and an enduring one.
Doug Hess is the host.

In honor of Columbus Day/Indiginous Peoples Day, James Lott Jr talks about two films that came out in 1992 that depicted Christopher C's journey to America. Included is some of the music from Vangelis for one of the films, 1492. (We do not own the rights)
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He won his Oscar in 1996 for Braveheart and died on March 2, 2022, at age 84. His daughter Amanda Ladd-Jones made the documentary Laddie: The Man Behind the Movies about his career. And more.....
James Lott Jr is the host.
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looking at the two ends of Eva Marie Saint's extraordinary acting career, there are a few ways to define “first” and “last”:First professional screen work: Saint appeared on NBC's early live television program Campus Hoopla (1946–47), where she worked as a performer/commercial spokeswoman. This was during television's infancy. WikipediaFirst movie: On the Waterfront (1954) — Saint made her feature-film debut as Edie Doyle, opposite Marlon Brando. Remarkably, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her very first movie. Turner Classic MoviesLast theatrical movie: Winter's Tale (2014) — she played the older Willa Penn, appearing at age 89. It is generally identified as her final newly produced theatrical film role. WikipediaHowever, she continued acting afterward. Her later credits include voice work as Katara in The Legend of Korra and podcast/audio drama performances. Her last credited acting performance appears to be the 2022 Radio Play Revival podcast, in which she voiced Osric Dane. People.comSo her professional screen/audio career effectively stretches from 1946 to 2022 — about 76 years. That's an astonishing run.
At the beginning of this episode is (I do not own the rights): Wonderful scene between Terry (Marlon Brando) and Edie (Eva Marie Saint) from On the Waterfront.
James Lott Jr is the guest host.
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Guns of the Timberland (1960) is a 91-minute Western starring Alan Ladd, Jeanne Crain, Gilbert Roland, and Frankie Avalon, directed by Robert D. Webb and released by Warner Bros. It’s based on Louis L’Amour’s novel Guns of the Timberlands.Alan Ladd’s 16-year-old daughter, Alana Ladd, made her screen debut, playing Avalon’s love interest.Alana Ladd (1943–2014) was an actress and the daughter of Alan Ladd and actress-turned-agent Sue Carol. Born in Hollywood on April 21, 1943, she had a brief screen career, mainly around the early 1960s
James Lott Jr is the guest host of this episode.
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Hosted by James Lott Jr
John Wayne played some very interesting characters before he became famous!
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Dakota (1945) is a Western adventure with romance, comedy, and some surprisingly serious themes about land, settlement, and corruption. Starred John Wayne!
Guest hosted by James Lott Jr.
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In fascinating, star-studded anecdotes, original Monkee Micky Dolenz takes readers from his starring role at age 12 as TV's "Circus Boy," to the open casting call that brought the Monkees together, through the creative conflicts that finally drove them apart. Along the way you'll find hilarious anecdotes about his adventures as a Monkee―the girls, the parties, the celebrities―as well as the harder-edged realities of a life lived in front of a camera. The Monkees 60th anniversary edition contains a new introduction, two new chapters, updated discography and filmography, and ten new photos. More importantly, Micky Dolenz offers his thoughts on Monkees mania in its 60th year, as well as pays tribute to his departed band-mates Davy Jones, Mike Nesmith, and Peter Tork.
Doug Hess chats with Mark Bego.
The book is out NOW!
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Episode 463 is an interview with her and Doug Hess. Check this out and then that episode.
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Susie Singer Carter is an American writer, director, producer, actress, and podcast host whose work often explores family, caregiving, aging, and Alzheimer’s disease. Drawing from her experience caring for her mother, she created the acclaimed short film My Mom and the Girl, starring Valerie Harper. She also co-hosts the podcast Love Conquers Alz, which focuses on Alzheimer’s, dementia, caregiving, and the people whose lives are affected by them.
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James Lott Jr shares his favorite Twilight Zone Episode. Check out the interview with Doug Hess and Alan Sepinwall here on Forgotten Hollywood.
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Doug Hess talks with famed TV Critic and Commentator Alan Sepinwall about his new book on Rod Serling and the classic TV show The Twilight Zone!

Forgotten Hollywood stands for so many things. James Lott Jr shares what we mean and what we showcase on this show!
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Forgotten Hollywood Books by Doug Hess and James Lott Jr are on Amazon!

James Lott Jr is IN Chicago this weekend and lists 10 films set in Chicago.

Doug Hess and James Lott Jr have 4 Books out on Amazon!
Take a listen and then go buy one or all four!

Some are super famous. Some are forgotten..until now!