Where to start / Ava Gardner
The beginner’s guide to Ava Gardner’s six best films
Most of Ava Gardner’s 70-odd movies can wait. Choose by director, start with The Killers, and leave 55 Days at Peking off the list for now.
Continue readingGolden Age of Hollywood
Scandals and rivalries / Frank Sinatra
Yes, Frank Sinatra had mob ties, and one midnight in Trenton he swore he had none
Gangsters were his friends for decades and the FBI’s file ran to 2,403 pages, yet his biographers find admiration on both sides rather than membership. The friendships cost him a president, a casino license and a lot of sworn explanations.
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Scandals and rivalries / Ava Gardner
Why Ava Gardner and Mickey Rooney Divorced: Gambling, Womanizing & a $25,000 Settlement
Gardner cited mental cruelty in 1943, blamed Rooney’s gambling and womanizing only in private, and settled for $25,000 while his Andy Hardy image stayed intact.
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Scandals and rivalries / Ava Gardner
What Ava Gardner said about Frank Sinatra: he was the love of her life
In her autobiography, Gardner named Sinatra the love of her life. Her taped talks with ghostwriter Peter Evans, which stopped after she learned Sinatra had once sued him, also recorded the cheating and the fights.
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Scandals and rivalries / Frank Sinatra
“He’s still pissed at you”: What happened to the men who kidnapped Frank Sinatra Jr.
Barry Keenan, Johnny Irwin and Joe Amsler were caught within days of the 1963 kidnapping but served only fractions of their long sentences, and the mastermind ended up a successful real estate developer.
Continue readingScandals and rivalries / Frank Sinatra
Why Frank Sinatra Went to Jail: Seduction, Adultery & a $500 Bond
Frank Sinatra spent less than 16 hours in jail in 1938 on a seduction charge that collapsed when his accuser turned out to be married. A reported adultery charge was dropped too.
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Films
Show all (63)
Flying Down to Rio
Thornton Freeland 1933
The Gay Divorcee
Mark Sandrich 1934
Top Hat
Mark Sandrich 1935
Roberta
William A. Seiter 1935
Swing Time
George Stevens 1936
Follow the Fleet
Mark Sandrich 1936
The Awful Truth
Leo McCarey 1937
Shall We Dance
Mark Sandrich 1937
Bringing Up Baby
Howard Hawks 1938
Only Angels Have Wings
Howard Hawks 1939
The Philadelphia Story
George Cukor 1940
His Girl Friday
Howard Hawks 1940
Books
Show all (71)
Rear Window
Jennifer O'Callaghan · 2025
Cary Grant
Scott Eyman · 2020
Ava
Kendra Bean · 2017
Frank & Ava
John Joseph Brady · 2015
Ava Gardner
Peter Evans · 2013
Make believe
Edward Ifkovic · 2012
Dear Cary
Dyan Cannon · 2011
Frank
James Kaplan · 2010
High society
Donald Spoto · 2009
Fred Astaire
Joseph Epstein · 2008
Love, Ava
Alton Rivers · 2007
True Grace
Wendy Leigh · 2007
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