Hollywood's Best & Brightest 30 Living Legends and the Hollywood History They Made #Review #MillCreekEntertainment

Hollywood's Best & Brightest 30 Living Legends and the Hollywood History They Made

Photo Credit: Mill Creek Entertainment

Disclosure: I received free product for review from Mill Creek Entertainment and all opinions expressed here are my own.

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SYNOPSIS

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30 Living Legends and the Hollywood History They Made

Over 12 Hours of Hollywood Biographies

Enjoy this legendary documentary collection that pays tribute to Hollywood's Best and Brightest stars. Featuring 15 female and 15 male performers, go in-depth on their lives and careers as we honor these shining celebs and their blockbuster works.

Featuring: Warren Beatty, Sean Connery, Robert De Niro, Clint Eastwood, Mel Gibson, Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino, Robert Redford, Burt Reynolds, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, John Travolta, Dick Van Dyke, Robert Wagner, Michael York, Julie Andrews, Kim Basinger, Candice Bergen, Catherine Deneuve, Faye Dunaway, Jane Fonda, Jodie Foster, Goldie Hawn, Lauren Hutton, Angela Lansbury, Shirley MacLaine, Ann-Margret, Barbra Streisand, Kathleen Turner, Raquel Welch

My Thoughts:

If you are into movies, you will love learning more about some popular stars on these DVDs. There are 4 discs and over 12 hours of Hollywood biographies on them. I started watching Disc 1 which included lots of popular actors such as Warren Beatty, Sean Connery, Robert DeNiro, Clint Eastwood, Mel Gibson, Jack Nicholson and Al Pacino. There is so much information on this disc that I just picked out some highlights about each of these stars.

Warren Beatty has been an actor, director and producer of movies. If you didn't know, he is the younger brother of actress Shirley MacLaine. I remember the film Spendor in the Grass, which Beatty starred in with Natalie Wood when he was a young man. It was his first film and is a love story which I have viewed several times and never get tired of it.

One of the other early films Beatty made was The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone which he played a gigolo. Vivian Leigh also starred in it as a rich aging actress who meets Beatty (Paolo) after her husband has a heart attack and dies on the way to Rome. This was Beatty's second film which I had never even heard of before. I learned that he made many other films that I had never seen, such as Mickey One which was made in 1965. One of my favorite of Beatty's films was Bonnie and Clyde which he starred in and produced in his early years. There were so many other films the DVD talked about such as Heaven Can Wait, Shampoo and Reds...to name a few.

Sean Connery was born in Scotland and dropped out of school to work in plays. He started out in some small movie roles such as Action of the Tiger and A Night to Remember. Connery happens to be the first James Bond in the film Dr. No, who also starred Ursula Andress. He also starred starred in two other Bond films. One of my favorite movies I know that Connery was in is an Alfred Hitchcock film called Marnie. Tippi Hedren also starred in this film.

Some other films Connery starred in was A Fine Madness, which also starred Joanne Woodard. In 1967 Connery returned to the Bond films and starred in You Only Live Twice. A western I had never heard of  that he starred in with Bridgette Bardot was Shalako. I learned that it was a disappointment at the box office.  Another, the Molly McGuires was a disappointment at the box office. By the way, the 6th Bond movie he made was Diamonds are Forever and Connery vowed to never play James Bond again.

Robert DeNiro was born in New York and studied drama. He appeared in several off broadway productions. Some of his early films were The Swap in 1969 which was a low budget movie. In 1970 DeNiro had a small part in Bloody Mama;  and The Gang Who Couldn't Shoot Straight in 1971. A breakthrough film for Deniro was Bang the Drum Slowly which was about a baseball team.

DeNiro won the best supporting actor in The Godfather Part 2. In 1976 he played a crazed cab driver in Taxi Driver and received his 1st Academy Award nomination for best actor. I've seen this film and it is a good one, but pretty scary. There are so many films I had never heard of before that DeNiro was in...such as New York, New York. Liza Minnelli also starred in this movie. A film I had heard of but never saw was The Deer Hunter in which he played a steelworker turned Green Beret. He was nominated for Best Actor in this film also.

Clint Eastwood was born in 1930 and was in a few early films that I had not heard of were Revenge of the Creature, Tarantula, and Frances in the Navy. After that he starred in spaghetti westerns such as A Fistful or Dollars, For A Few Dollars More, and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. I've seen The Good, The Bad and The Ugly many times and really enjoy this western.

Play Misty For Me was a film I did see in the past but kind of forgot about it. It was a scary movie which revolved about him being a DJ who was tormented by a deranged fan. Dirty Harry was a film he was in that John Wayne and James Caan had turned down the role. It was made in 1971 and he played a private investigator named Harry Callahan. Escape from Alcatraz was a good one I've seen which was made in 1979. This was based on a true incident of a planned escaped from Alcatraz.

Mel Gibson was born in New York in 1956 and was one of 7 children in an Irish-Catholic family. When Mel was 12 his family moved to Austrailia. Gibson  In 1979 Gibson starred in a film called Tim with Piper Laurie, which I had never heard of. He played a mildly retarded young man who was taught by an older women to learn to live in the world on his own; and the two gradually fall in love.

In 1982 Gibson made Mad Max, which was followed by a sequel The Road Warrior. They were action packed films which received much praise. Yet another film was The Year of Living Dangerously which was set in Indonesia in 1965. He played a wire service reporter who romanced a British Diplomatic Atache which was played by Sigourney Weaver. Gibson has been in numerous other early films such as The River which he made with Sissy Spacek. Another one was Mrs. Soffel, in which he starred in with Diane Keaton

Jack Nicholson was born in New Jersey in 1937. His first part was in the film Easy Rider which I just watched on television not too long ago. He played a disillusioned young lawyer that gets hooked up with two other guys portrayed by Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper who are roaming the country on motorcycles. Five Easy Pieces was a film Nicholson was nominated in for best actor in his early years.

Carnal Knowledge was a film that takes place in the 40's that he co-starred with Art Garfunkel in which they played young college roommates that are first learning about the opposite sex and dealing with marriage through the years. Ann Margret was also in this film, along with Candice Bergen. In 1974 Nicholson starred in Chinatown in which he played a spy. Faye Dunaway also starred in this film which I have never seen. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest is another in which he played a mental patient in a hospital with a group of other patients. These are just a few of the films that were the beginning of his long career.

Al Pacino was born in New York City in 1940 and was raised by his mother who sheltered him. In one of his early films he played a drug addict in The Panic In Needle Park which I had never heard of. In 1972 Pacino played in The Godfather and won best supporting actor, which is a classic of all time.

In 1973 Pacino played a drifter, along with Gene Hackman in Scarecrow. Another film Serpico which was about police corruption got him nominated for best actor, playing a police officer. In Godfather Part 11 he again played his role as Michael Corleone.  In Dog Day Afternoon Pacino won his 4th Academy Award nomination, playing a bank robber. Pacino also starred as a race car driver in Bobby Deerfield.  In  ...And Justice For All Pacino received his 5th Academy Award nomination, playing a lawyer.

I am enjoying finding out about so many films in Hollywoods Best & Brightest 30 Living Legends and the Hollywood History They Made.