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Welcome, my name is Dave Smith. For several years I served as a local movie host
in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. I've designed this site primarily for those who are interested in the "Golden Age"
of motion pictures--the 1930's and 1940's. Additionally there will be information on films from other years,
including current films. Particular attention will be given to actors, actresses, directors, and other film artists
from my native state of Indiana.
Please note that my book, "Hoosiers in Hollywood" is now sold out. Due to budget constrictions, The Indiana Historical
Society Press has informed me they will not be able to print a second edition. I am now pursuing another publisher in the hope
a second edition (perhaps a paperback) will see print.
There are some used copies available on amazon.com.
. Click on the site menu below for more information
about this book.
Hoosiers in Hollywood is now sold out. You can buy used copies at...
amazon.com: Check this
page for information on a second edition in the works at this time. "Spanning 596 pages in an oversized format, and nicely printed
on coated paper stock, 'Hoosiers in Hollywood' is clearly a labor of
love for its author. Smith's biographical sketches are well-written and
researched. Wherever possible he has included quotes about their
roots.Marjorie Main once said of Ma Kettle, 'I don't think I could have
ever played that role if I hadn't lived on a farm in Indiana.' I doubt if there's a detail he's overlooked, and his appendices
cover such unclassifiable contributors to the movie world as industry czar
Will Hays and agent-turned-mogul Jules Stein. 'Hoosiers in Hollywood is an entertaining, attractive, and
surprisingly interesting coffee table book.
NOW AVAILABLE!! AT BARNES AND NOBLE AND
AMAZON.COM Sitting Pretty:The Life and Times of Clifton Webb By
Clifton Webb with David L. Smith Foreword
by Robert Wagner Interviews with Wagner, Jill St. John, Richard Zanuck,
Bob Newhart, Victoria Price and others. This is the first and only
biography of Clifton Webb. Six chapters are in his own words! Publication date: July, 2011
by The University Press of Mississippi. This is an autobiography/biography.
It is the first ever written on Clifton Webb who was one of the top moneymakers in the history
of Twentieth Century-Fox. More than any other male movie star, the refined Clifton Webb (1889-1966) caused the movie-going public to
change its image of a leading man. In a day when leading men were supposed to be strong, virile, and brave, Clifton Webb
projected an image of flip, acerbic arrogance. He was able to play
everything from a decadent columnist (Laura) to a fertile father (Cheaper by the Dozen and The Remarkable
Mr. Pennypacker), delivering lines in an urbanely clipped, acidly dry manner with impeccable timing. Sitting Pretty
is his remarkable story. Long before his film career began, Webb was a child actor. He later sang grand opera and then
became a suavely effete song-and-dance man in numerous Broadway musicals and revues. Webb began to write his autobiography
but said he eventually had gotten "bogged down" in the process. However, he did complete six chapters and left a hefty
collection of notes that he intended to use in the proposed book. His writing is as witty and sophisticated as his onscreen
persona. Those six chapters, his voluminous notes, and personal research by the coauthor provide thirteen
chapters that present an
intimate view of an amazingly talented man's life and times.
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