Marilyn Monroe

CHICAGO – There was a time in America when the medium of the magazine produced superstars. Famous writers, reporters, photographers and illustrators ruled the day, from the magazine’s invention in the 1920s to their ebbing in the 1960s (when TV became a rival) to their last gasp before the internet. One superstar that emerged worked for Playboy Magazine, and was as influential as founder Hugh Hefner in creating the ethos of that particular empire. A legendary art director is profiled in the documentary, “Art Paul of Playboy: The Man Behind the Bunny.” The film is screening at the 54th Chicago International Film Festival on Sunday, October 14th, 2018 (7pm). For details and tickets, click here.

LOS ANGELES – Hugh Hefner was the man who turned the key to the sexual revolution when he founded Playboy Magazine in 1953. What started in an apartment in Chicago became a worldwide empire as the Playboy brand and image was embedded into American consciousness. Hefner died on Sept. 27, 2017. He was 91.

CHICAGO – Quirky Greta Gerwig is at it again (being quirky), and this time she’s looking for solutions in “Maggie’s Plan.” The made-in-New-York-City film has overtures of Woody Allen, combined with “Crossing Delancey.” Director Rebecca Miller (“Personal Velocity”) produces a valentine to all her influences and settings.

CHICAGO – Few celebrities can be so easily defined by their first names as Marilyn and Elvis. They went beyond their professions to become cultural icons and three of their works have just been released this week on Blu-ray for the first time. While fans of Monroe and Presley will probably gravitate to “Bus Stop” and “Love Me Tender,” the best of the three is easily the underrated “Niagara,” a clever thriller that uses the notorious Falls in a way that Hitchcock probably respected. If you’re going to pick just one, that’s the one.

CHICAGO – This weekend is the Turner Classic Movies (TCM) Classic Film Festival, and few movie stars alive represent that classic status better than Miss Mitzi Gaynor. Whether co-starring in movies with Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe, or starring in the film version of “South Pacific,” Mitzi Gaynor always inspires the old “razzle dazzle.”

CHICAGO – They don’t make ‘em like Robert Mitchum any more. Every few years, there’s a DVD collection of classic movies that rises above the others for the holiday season. One of this year’s most star-packed entries includes not only Mitchum but John Wayne, Deborah Kerr, Kirk Douglas, Shirley MacLaine, Richard Widmark, Gene Kelly, Paul Newman, Shelley Winters, Marilyn Monroe, and many more. Mitchum may be the face on the cover but the set is a trip through the golden era of Hollywood through more than just one star.

CHICAGO – There is arguably no one in the history of Hollywood more iconic than Marilyn Monroe. Not only was she a massive star in her day but her tragic death turned her into a beauty that was frozen in time.

CHICAGO – In our latest edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: TV, we have 38 admit-two VIP party passes up for grabs to the special sneak screening of the premiere episode of Steven Spielberg’s “Smash” on NBC starring Debra Messing!

CHICAGO – Bringing the popular culture past back to life in a movie is always a tricky proposition. No matter what, there are always inevitable comparisons to the real thing.

CHICAGO – Marilyn Monroe will never go away. The iconic actress of a long-gone era is the subject of a new film, “My Week with Marilyn,” directed by Simon Curtis. Ms. Monroe is portrayed during a in collaboration with Sir Lawrence Olivier, and their characters are played with sublime grace by Michelle Williams and Kenneth Branagh.