SCREWBALL'S GLAM MISTRESS Nov 21, 2008
Sunday offers showings of two of Lombard's four comic pairings with Fred MacMurray: Wesley Ruggles' underrated "True Confession" (1937, also with Barrymore), with Lombard as a compulsive liar; and Mitchell Leisen's delightful "Hands Across the Table" (1935), as a gold-digging manicurist. Programmer Bruce Goldstein has rounded up newly struck prints of many rarities from Lombard's leading-lady period, including the lurid pre-Code melodramas "White Woman" (1933), with Charles Laughton, and... (New York Post -- Entertainment)
Actress, singer Edie Adams dies Oct 17, 2008
In Billy Wilder's classic "The Apartment," the 1960 Oscar winner for best picture, Adams played the spurned secretary to philandering businessman Fred MacMurray. Among her other movies were "Lover Come Back," "Call Me Bwana" (with Bob Hope), the all-star comedy "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" (as Sid Caesar's wife), "Under the Yum Yum Tree," "The Best Man" and "The Honey Pot.". (The Palm Beach Post)
Hollywood 'paid stars a fortune to smoke' Sep 25, 2008
Page last updated at 00:51 GMT, Thursday, 25 September 2008 01:51 UK. Hollywood 'paid fortune to smoke. (BBC News)
A-list vintages: Top celebrity-owned vineyards Aug 30, 2008
When actor Fred MacMurray, star of Disney's "The Shaggy Dog" and "The Absent-Minded Professor", bought a homestead for his family in Sonoma Country's Russian River Valley in 1941, he had little idea his modest California ranch would eventually grow into a bustling winery under the Gallo winemaking family five years after his death. Not that buying and running wineries is purely for the Hollywood scene. (MSNBC -- Politics)
Remembering Kim Novak Aug 26, 2008
This is true of her first movie with a speaking role, 1954's "Pushover." Fred MacMurray plays a cop assigned to ingratiate himself with her in the hope that she will lead him to her gangster boyfriend. But, as TCM host Robert Osborne observed, one look at Novak and he's lost. (International Herald Tribune -- Ed/Op)
For 60 years, the ad game has been fodder for scripts Aug 18, 2008
CALLAWAY WENT THATAWAY (1951) Fred MacMurray and Dorothy McGuire play the partners in Patterson & Fry, a Hollywood agency that hits the jackpot in the early days of TV by creating a series from old cowboy movies and selling the sponsorship to a cereal called Corkies. The plot is based on how a real actor, William Boyd, found a second career when the films in which he played the cowboy hero Hopalong Cassidy were revived on television. (International Herald Tribune -- Technology)
Trivia Tidbits: I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do Aug 2, 2008
Before Raymond Burr was offered the title role, Fred MacMurray turned down the opportunity to portray Perry Mason. Do you, (Name), take (Name), to be your (wife/husband). (Dover Sherborn Tab, MA)
Science in the movies Jul 26, 2008
Medfield chemistry Professor Ned Brainard (Fred MacMurray) has the most science-y name in movie history. He accidentally invents Flubber, and high jinks ensue. (San Francisco Chronicle -- Science)
Fire up your remotes Jul 4, 2008
The original hard-luck actor plays a meek office worker who lends out his bachelor apartment to his brusque superior (Fred MacMurray) for trysts with the elevator girl (Shirley MacLaine). Of course, Lemmon is secretly in love with her. (Globe and Mail)
TCM's Popular SUMMER UNDER THE STARS Festival Returns for Sixth Year Jul 2, 2008
6), Fred MacMurray (Aug. 9), Richard Widmark (Aug. (Yahoo! Wire -- Entertainment News)
Marc Wehrs: Readers respond to Critic at Large’ Jun 12, 2008
Fred MacMurray, so stereotyped as the mostly absent but understanding, wise old Dad in My Three Sons, plays a murderer. And a sympathetic one at that. (La Crosse Tribune, WI)
Screen gems: UA Film Festival travels through 90 years of classics May 25, 2008
The Apartment (Thursday): A second Billy Wilder offering, this one an Oscar best picture winner about a good-guy clerk (Jack Lemmon) with a duplicitous boss (Fred MacMurray), a girl (Shirley MacLaine) who steals his heart and a New York City apartment with a revolving door. The usual dose of Wilder cynicism notwithstanding, warmth and love win out at the end. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
As If It Were Yesterday Apr 6, 2008
Fred MacMurray plays the boss like a cad ... Q: And how about Fred MacMurray, with whom you had most of your scenes. (San Francisco Chronicle -- Entertainment)
Movie Stars Absent From TV Pilots Apr 5, 2008
Fading movie stars often have taken refuge--and found success--in television, dating all the way back to the medium's origins (Loretta Young in The Loretta Young Show, Barbara Stanwyck in The Big Valley, Fred MacMurray in My Three Sons). But that brand--and level-- of star is noticeably absent from this season's pilots. (MediaWeek.com)
Starz Entertainment's Weekly Hot Items List April 7-13 Mar 28, 2008
-- 8 p.m. Double Indemnity (Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, Edward Robinson) -- 9:50 p.m. The Lady Eve (Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Charles Coburn). Click here for information about what's airing on Starz On Demand and Vongo. (Yahoo! Wire -- Entertainment News)
The vinyl underground: For a small, but impassioned group it's not just the sound, it's the experience Mar 8, 2008
The cover features Bogart, Jose Ferrer, Van Johnson and Fred MacMurray all looking forlorn with a tidal wave in the background and a woman bound and gagged. For him it is an "expensive hobby." "Not too many people collect soundtracks," he says. (Hillsdale Independent, NY)
The week's best films Feb 2, 2008
The last film personally supervised by Walt Disney is a meandering, but at times exuberant, musical set in the 1916 Philadelphia home of eccentric millionaire Fred MacMurray. Tommy Steele is the chirpy Oirish butler who matches Jeeves in the saving-the-day stakes. (Guardian Unlimited -- Film)
10 great movies that need to be on DVD — now Jan 4, 2008
Not on DVD: All I Desire (1953; Barbara Stanwyck as a wayward actress mom) and There's Always Tomorrow (1956; Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, a male-point-of-view soap). Also: Magnificent Obsession (1954; Jane Wyman Oscar nomination) and The Tarnished Angels (1958, some say the best William Faulkner screen adaptation). (USA Today -- Life)
Web Watcher: Is tax rebellion possible? Dec 20, 2007
Spencer Tracy was next at 10 percent, followed by Tom Wopat at 9 percent, Fred MacMurray at 8 percent, Willem Dafoe at 7 percent, Tyne Daly at 5 percent, Orson Welles at 4 percent, Don Ameche and La Crosse s own Charles Dierkop at 3 percent, and Ellen Corby and Gena Rowlands at 2 percent. Tribune online editor Marc Wehrs can be reached at or (608) 791-8218. (La Crosse Tribune, WI)
Holiday movies: Our critics have made a list and checked it twice Dec 19, 2007
"REMEMBER THE NIGHT" (1940) A little-known gem in which Barbara Stanwyck plays a shoplifter brought home for the holidays by DA Fred MacMurray. Written by Preston Sturges and directed by the great Mitchell Leisen, it's both sexy and touching. (Boston Globe)
No shame in a white Christmas Dec 2, 2007
It comes from a property once owned by the late actor Fred MacMurray, perhaps best known as the dad in TV's My Three Sons. But some remember him best as the nasty boss in the Billy Wilder movie The Apartment, which contains one of the saddest Christmas scenes in film. (Globe and Mail)
'Thelma Lou' leaves Hollywood Oct 4, 2007
Over the next decade, she played a series of daughters: Loretta Young's in "Mother is a Freshman"; Fred MacMurray and Maureen O'Hara's in "Father was a Fullback"; Clifton Webb's oldest in "Cheaper by the Dozen.". She was on hiatus from Disney's "Texas John Slaughter" TV show when she got the call to read for the part of Don Knotts' girlfriend. (CNN -- Showbiz)
Television movies for the week of Sept. 2 Sep 2, 2007
TV Movies: Sept. 2-8. G = General audiences PG = Parental Guidance PG-13 = Not recommended for preteens R = Restricted audience. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA)
'Positively the same dame!' Jul 15, 2007
"Well, I'm not exactly ugly," she says to Fred MacMurray in "Remember the Night" (1940). She certainly wasn't. (Boston Globe -- Living)
Summer Events Chicago Illinois Jul 8, 2007
July 24: Double Indemnity stars Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, 1944. July 31: Written on the Wind stars Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, Dorothy Malone and Robert Stack. (Suite101.com)
Kewanee Public Library Connection Jul 5, 2007
Starring Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine and Fred MacMurray, this comedy tells the story of a man who tries an unusual method to climb the corporate ladder and runs into unexpected complications. The showing is free to the public and includes free popcorn courtesy of Kewanee s own Wanee Theatre. (Kewanee Star Courier, IL)
Movie: 'F4: Rise of the Silver Surfer' tarnishes comic book genre Jun 15, 2007
Ioan Gruffud's Reed Richards is the least charismatic screen scientist since Fred MacMurray discovered Flubber, while the lovely and talent-free Jessica Alba plays Sue Storm with all the depth and psychological texture of an extra in a Pepsi commercial. The film's brief 90-minute running time is "Silver Surfer's" only silver lining. (Juneau Empire)
Palm Springs Film Noir Festival ~ Femme fatales, anti-heroes to patter snappily in dim light May 24, 2007
Anti-heroes: Humphrey Bogart ("The Maltese Falcon"), Dick Powell ("Pitfall"), Kirk Douglas and Robert Mitchum ("Out of the Past") and Fred MacMurray ("Double Indemnity"). The music of "film noir" was crucial in helping to create the tone. (Desert Entertainer, CA)
'Total Television' author Alex McNeil is out to prove that Shakespeare is not the real Bard May 16, 2007
(The answers: Marc Price; fall of 1965, three years into its nine-year run; Fred MacMurray, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., and William Hopper. . (Boston Globe)
Pink on the ballfield May 14, 2007
Heaven knows, we wouldn t want an electrifying athlete with a skill set no other QB in the league can lay claim to injecting some excitement into out historically moribund franchise instead of someone along the lines of, I don t know, Fred MacMurray. I find myself, as always, bowing to your wisdom. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Sports)
Broadway's Fabulous FolliesRichard Corliss on another smash season of City Center Encores! May 13, 2007
It has a quartet of burly gents punctuating a game of poker by gossiping cattily about clothes, makeup and rivals, and was put on film in the 40s revue Star Spangled Rhythm, with Fred MacMurray, Franchot Tone, Ray Milland and Lynne Overman as the feminine men. I'd like to have seen how it played, especially with the ursine Chamberlin, in 2007. (Time.com)
Fresnan danced her way to screen legacy May 12, 2007
It was she who rode horses for fun and on film, working on sets with Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Roy Rogers, Irene Dunne, Abbott llo, Fred MacMurray and Charlie Ruggles. You may not have realized it was Mrs. Leonard because she wasn't the star in her films, although you would have thought otherwise by looking at her. (Fresno Bee -- Local)
Clermont honors boat that changed the world May 2, 2007
The other is a 12-foot model used as a prop in Little Old New York, a 1940 Hollywood movie starring Alice Faye and Fred MacMurray. The part of the exhibition devoted to steamboats in art includes paintings by Fulton, with larger pieces as well as miniatures he produced near the end of his life. (Hillsdale Independent, NY)
Film Review: In 'Lonely Hearts,' crimes' visceral side trumps the melacholic Apr 20, 2007
But as fictional characters in a movie that is fetishistic in its attention to period detail, Mr. Leto and Ms. Hayek work well together as an unsavory couple two rungs down the social ladder from Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck in "Double Indemnity." Ms. Hayek's Martha, a victim of childhood incest who begins as one of Ray's marks and becomes his dominating, fiercely possessive lover, is a scary sociopath whose twisted sense of self-esteem derives from the power she exerts over him. That... (International Herald Tribune -- Arts)
A.J. Carothers, 75; wrote for film, TV Apr 15, 2007
LOS ANGELES -- A.J. Carothers, a movie and television screenwriter whose flair for comedy was apparent in such films as "The Secret of My Success," starring Michael J. Fox, and "The Happiest Millionaire," starring Fred MacMurray, has died. He was 75. (Boston Globe)
A.J. Carothers, 75; movie, TV writer with talent for comedy Apr 14, 2007
By Mary Rourke, Times Staff Writer April 14, 2007 A.J. Carothers, a movie and television screenwriter whose flair for comedy was apparent in such films as "The Secret of My Success," starring Michael J. Fox, and "The Happiest Millionaire," starring Fred MacMurray, has died. He was 75. (Los Angeles Times)
New DVDs: Happy Feet, Happyness Mar 27, 2007
Dive Bomber features Flynn and Fred MacMurray in a tale of early flight research to help fighter pilots withstand the rigors of air combat. Gentleman Jim presents Flynn as the classy boxer James C. Corbett. (MSNBC -- Movies)
Eustace Lycett, 91; Oscar-winning special effects expert for Disney Mar 15, 2007
"The idea is to develop believable optical effects, and this is done through composite photography," he explained in a Times interview in 1962, when he and Robert Mattey were nominated for "The Absent-Minded Professor," a comedy in which a college professor (played by Fred MacMurray) invents an anti-gravity substance. "Composite photography is placing in desired perspective on one film what is already on other films," said Lycett, whose favorite achievement at the time was "Darby O'Gill and the... (Los Angeles Times)
Noir America: Mar 15, 2007
Though Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray have been rightfully praised as the murderous lovers, they are nearly overmatched by the imperishable skill of Edward G. Robinson. Robinson's extended speeches are delivered like dark, probing ariasthey are full of wit, syncopation, and an intuitive recognition of the sinister that we learn is essential to being a great insurance detective. (Slate)
Winemaker who brought grapes of wealth to California dies Mar 8, 2007
It also bought up other vineyards and brands, including mid-price producers such as MacMurray Ranch - originally started by the Hollywood actor Fred MacMurray - Mirassou and Rancho Zabaco. Now the challenge lies with Gallo's heirs. (Guardian Unlimited)
Pilgrimage: The Duke Experience Mar 3, 2007
"The arena opened in January 1940 and still feels like the kind of place Wally or the Beav might have matriculated had Ward gotten that big promotion and been able to afford the $184,200 ($46,050 annually) sticker price of a Duke education. With its Pleasantville vibe, it would be no surprise at all, in fact, to discover the role of Mike Krzyzewski was being played by Fred MacMurray and that the squad's remarkable success over the past 24 years was due to a flubbery substance cooked up by an... (ESPN -- College Basketball)
Janet Blair, star of `40s Hollywood musicals, dies at 85 Feb 21, 2007
She made only a handful of films after that, including "The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band" opposite Fred MacMurray and Buddy Ebsen in 1968. She joined television's "Caesar's Hour" in 1956 when Sid Caesar was seeking a replacement for co-star Nanette Fabray. (NEPA News, PA)
Clintons Could Make Presidential History Feb 20, 2007
John Gizzi, political editor of Human Events magazine, said he believes clues to the former president's performance as first man can be found in the 1964 movie Kisses for My President, in which Fred MacMurray played the husband of the first woman president, portrayed by Polly Bergen. As they say in the business, gender-bending comedy ensues. (Fox News)
Smokin Aces more like a lame joker Jan 26, 2007
The idea is as old as Double Indemnity, in which Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck said goodbye with a lethal embrace, but it comes off as one of the fresher touches here. The rest is mostly Tarantino Lite. (MSNBC -- Movies)
Noir Sees The Light Jan 21, 2007
And in the co-feature "Pushover" (1954), famous for the first screen work of Kim Novak, Fred MacMurray is a cop assigned to pull a shadow job on a mobster's dame and then falls for her. Comparisons, not unjustly, have been made to "Double Indemnity.". (San Francisco Chronicle -- Entertainment)
