sixties

One of my favorite actresses of the sixties is Nancy Kwan who starred in such movies as The World of Susie Wong, Flower Drum Song, Honeymoon Hotel, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, etc. She had a wonderful quality about her and was able to transcend the docile Asian woman parts usually played by Miyoshi Umeki and had a warmer persona than icey France Nuyen and was able to sink her teeth into some not-so-sweet ladies such as her butt-kicking villainess Yu-Rang who finally meets her match with Sharon Tate in The Wrecking Crew.

Nancy Kwan has a new documentary about her life entitled To Whom It May Concern: Ka Shen’s Journey. Ka Shen is Kwan’s childhood name. As the promotional copy extolled, “Hollywood’s postwar Asian superstar, Nancy Kwan, acts as tour guide around her personal and professional history.” Below is a clip of Kwan introducing the film at a screening:

I received a few inquiries regarding my previous post about Tina Louise and her parasol. Starting way back in the sixties, the beautiful actress was aware of the sun’s harmful effects on the skin and would always been seen with a parasol when filming exterior shots. Below is a short clip that her daughter thinks was taken during a photo shoot ca. 1966.

Back again as my Blog had to be migrated to a new site. Thought I’d test it out with a Tina Louise clip. All those years under a parasol really paid off for her as she still looks gorgeous. Too bad Carol Lynley didn’t do the same.

Warner Bros. video has just released 5 made-for-TV movies(Flood, Fire, Hanging By a Thread, The Night the Bridge Fell Down, Cave-In) from the Master of Disaster Irwin Allen. As a lover of this genre, I can’t wait to purchase the box set. Click here for more info.

Of course my favorite is Flood with a soggy Carol Lynley as a pregnant woman who gets trapped in her house when the town’s dam bursts. If she was able to survive the capsizing of the SS Poseidon, a flooded home should be no problem for her but yet again she needs rescuing this time from Martin Milner and Barbara Hershey. Plus Francine York in a change of pace role playing sweet rather than bitchy who helps the injured and Teresa Wright in the Shelley Winters role but “under the water she is NOT a very skinny lady” and is washed away. What more can you ask from a disaster movie? Below is clip from the film’s beginning.