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Alison Macor

@agmacor.bsky.social
205 followers 132 following 584 posts

Author of HAIR DOWN, CLAWS OUT: GEORGE CUKOR AND THE MAKING OF THE WOMEN (coming 2027!), MAKING BEST YEARS (now in paperback!), CHAINSAWS, SLACKERS, AND SPY KIDS and REWRITE MAN. PhD. Ghostwriter. Film fan.

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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 7h
#TCM Star of the Month #MyrnaLoy describing her performance method shortly after she made #TheBestYearsofOurLives: "I like to play drama under comedy." #TCMParty #BehindTheScenes
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
A glimpse of #DanaAndrews to start the week! Shown here taking a break on the set of #TheBestYearsofOurLives with #WilliamWyler and art director Perry Ferguson. #TCMParty #BehindTheScenes
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Eager to read!
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
That's my impression, too. Not sure how this work will take shape but it's on a specific period in her life--I really hope it happens because it'll pull from some amazing material. Btw, just found this piece and am excited to read! www.lib.umn.edu/news/2026/08...
lib.umn.edu
Behind the legend | University of Minnesota Libraries
Daryl Richard Lawrence, 2026-27 Chair of the Library Senate Committee, shares more about his in-progress biography on American actress Myrna Loy and how he has utilized UMN Libraries resources in his ...
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I agree. I enjoyed writing about her for my next book, and while I can't share details, I know someone's working on a project about her that will add to her story 😉
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
#NormaShearer had casting approval for the part of late husband #IrvingThalberg in MAN OF A THOUSAND FACES, on #TCM tonight. She discovered women's wear exec #RobertEvans vacationing at the Beverly Hills Hotel, brought him to Universal, and launched his career. #TCMParty
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The advert that inspired the title for my Spring 2027 book about the making of #TheWomen from play to film through the eyes of #GeorgeCukor, #NormaShearer, and #JoanCrawford. "Out of the boudoir...on to the screen....See them with their hair down and their claws out!" #TCMParty
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
In the setup to the dramatic soda fountain scene in #TheBestYearsofOurLives, Fred ( #DanaAndrews) makes sundaes for a teen couple. The boy's bubblegum habit was an issue in later shots, with the script clerk writing one take was ruined because he was "chewing gum madly." #TCMParty
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE--the film that earned #FredricMarch an #Oscar & inspired the gripping transformation scene he performed without F/X while entertaining troops during #WWII. (And that sealskin top hat now lives in his niece's closet 🎩) On #TCM today! #TCMParty
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
A throng of girls swarms #DanaAndrews as he gets some training behind the soda fountain at the Owl Drug store (Hollywood and Vine) in preparation for his role as "drugstore cowboy" Fred Derry in #TheBestYearsofOurLives. 📸 Bettmann #TCMParty
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
From the Clare Boothe Luce archive: A 1955 cast photo for the NBC broadcast of the play that inspired the #MGM film #TheWomen. NBC ensemble included #ShelleyWinters as Crystal Allen, #PauletteGoddard switching it up as Sylvia Fowler, and #NancyOlson as Peggy. #TCMParty #nextbook
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The Wardrobe Plot Book for #TheBestYearsofOurLives was a thick stack of 3-hole scrapbook pages with b/w photos and lots of detail, like which actors wore their own jewelry (Wright) and who wore fingernail polish ( #MyrnaLoy). Here, #TeresaWright wearing one of my fave dresses. #TCMParty
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
In Basinger/Wasson's HOLLYWOOD, Adela Rogers St. Johns said L.B. Mayer acted out MRS. MINIVER to convince #GreerGarson to play the role of the mother of a grown son: "And when he finished...she was crying...[Garson] says, 'I'll play it.'" On #TCM today! #TCMParty #TeresaWright
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
The November '46 premiere for #TheBestYearsofOurLives was a starry event. Even the #DukeandDuchessofWindsor were there (#10) as guests of #SamuelGoldwyn. I just finished Melanie Benjamin's THE WINDSOR AFFAIR & highly recommend to #RoyalUK fans. Juicy historical fiction! #TCMParty
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Honestly my reaction often shifts as I watch, especially when I'm viewing with an audience. I last intro'd the film at the TCM Film Fest in May, and it was so much fun to see how and where everyone reacted. Never gets old!
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Mine too although my tears flow throughout 😉
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Me too!
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Writing to #FredricMarch before filming on #TheBestYearsOfOurLives, #WilliamWyler reminded him that Al needed to look like he’d been on combat duty in the Pacific. “...very important that your figure suggests a K-ration diet, rather than the '21 Club'." #TCMParty
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Because it's Friday....#MyrnaLoy ca. 1946 in the garden of her Colonial house in the Pacific Palisades, where she grew lavender to scent her lingerie drawers. Sadly, the house burned in the 2025 PP fires. 😞 #TCMParty
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
In June 1947, Anna Mitchell of Staten Island purchased the millionth ticket for #TheBestYearsofOurLives at the Astor Theatre in NYC. James Mulvey, president of #SamuelGoldwyn's company, presented the stunned 72-year-old widow with a silver vanity case. #TCMParty
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
In his memoir "Victory in My Hands," #HaroldRussell writes about taking piano lessons from co-star #HoagyCarmichael for #TheBestYearsofOurLives. Director #WilliamWyler put the kibosh on Carmichael's acting tips, though, wanting to preserve Russell's naturalness. #TCMParty
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Awesome! We're past the beta stage but I would love to get you an advance copy when the time's right. Feel free to message me your email if you're comfortable with that.
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Thank you so much! I'll keep you posted on its release 💅
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Happy pub day to JUNGLE RED 💅 Not surprised #TheWomen's getting such well-deserved love! Stay tuned for HAIR DOWN, CLAWS OUT: GEORGE CUKOR & THE MAKING OF THE WOMEN in Spring '27--from play to screen via #GeorgeCukor, #NormaShearer & #JoanCrawford in H'wood's Greatest Year. #TCMParty
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Great collectible!
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
#AlfredEisenstaedt's LIFE cover photo of #TeresaWright promoting #TheBestYearsofOurLives in Dec. '46. Although the film was reviewed inside, there was no article about Wright. Instead, the magazine profiled #HaroldRussell in "Handless Veteran." #TCMParty
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Reporters on the '39 set of THE WOMEN were captivated by #RosalindRussell's "bizarre" Surrealistic "seeing eye" dress by Adrian. "Against a fuchsia background it was trimmed with huge glass eyes...fringed with metallic lashes," the pupils hand-tinted in violet. #TCMParty #nextbook
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
#SamuelGoldwyn hosted invitation-only previews at the studio for #TheBestYearsofOurLives in 1946. Afterward, guests were handed ecru reply cards not unlike the one below. It had 2 questions: "How did you like TBYOOL?" and "Which individual players did you enjoy most?" #TCMParty
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
The Guardian reviews #TheBestYearsofOurLives upon its London release, praising its "absolute command of the seeing eye" and comparing its realism to a Russian film. But #DanaAndrews fans, you may not want to see the last 'graph. And poor "Walter" Wyler. 🙄 #TCMParty #London
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
#VirginiaMayo liked to joke that she won William Wyler his Best Director Oscar for #TheBestYearsofOurLives because at the time, no one believed she could do a dramatic role. Shown here with husband Michael O'Shea, whom she married not long after making BEST YEARS. #TCMParty
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
I know.
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Overlooked by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for her work in #TheBestYearsofOurLives, #MyrnaLoy nonetheless received the award for top female performance at the inaugural World Festival of Films in Brussels in the summer of 1947. #TCMParty
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Prior to casting #InsideMoves, director Richard Donner watched #TheBestYearsofOurLives and reached out to #HaroldRussell (rt) for the part of Wings. Before he began filming, Russell re-watched BEST YEARS and said, "You know, it holds up very well." On #TCM tonight! #TCMParty
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
#OTD in 1946, as the PR campaign for #TheBestYearsofOurLives took shape, producer Sam Goldwyn told his top execs "not to star #HoagyCarmichael in any adds as would minimize others importance," a decision that would later enrage Carmichael and his handlers. #TCMParty
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Good Q!
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Agree!
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
#MyrnaLoy once said that MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer told her, "I'll never let you scrub the floor," which was his way of saying, said Loy, "that I must always play ladies." #TCMParty
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
March 1947 letter from L. Otto of Fresno, CA to #SamuelGoldwyn re: #TheBestYearsofOurLives: "...the film has been so widely advertised. Was it advertised to give the liquor business a boost? Why was there so much drinking in the picture?" #TCMParty #MyrnaLoy #FredricMarch
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
He did a lot! I chronicle his influence in pre-production working with censor Joseph Breen and watching dailies, etc.
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
#OTD in 1939 THE WOMEN was released. The night before in Los Angeles, MGM hosted an over-the-top premiere at Grauman's Chinese. LB Mayer, #PauletteGoddard, #GeorgeCukor, #JoanCrawford, and producer Hunt Stromberg posed for photographs. #TCMParty
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
One of the many "tie-ups" arranged to promote #TheBestYearsofOurLives in the late fall of 1946. #DanaAndrews, Goldwyn's top star at the time, also did promos for toothpaste, Kellogg's cereals, and MacGregor sportswear. #TCMParty #TeresaWright
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
She's very good, and I'm always grateful for editorial eyes on my books! So glad to hear from a fellow fan of THE WOMEN--stay tuned! 😉
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Currently reviewing the copyedits for HAIR DOWN, CLAWS OUT, my next book about the making of #TheWomen 💅 I love this note from the editor about Featherbrain, one of the monkey models in the #Technicolor fashion show sequence. This is what I got my PhD for, folks 😉 #TCMParty
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
In August '46, as principal photography on #TheBestYearsofOurLives wrapped, #WilliamWyler began work as a partner in Liberty Films. The indie venture would be short-lived, tanked partly by the high costs of Liberty's first project, #FrankCapra's IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. #TCMParty
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
On the set of #TheBestYearsofOurLives with #FredricMarch and #DanaAndrews. Given the costumes, they may be celebrating the first day of production in April 1946 or #WilliamWyler’s birthday on July 1. #TCMParty #SUTS
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
It's #DanaAndrews day on #TCM 🥳Here's a fave scene in #TheBestYearsOfOurLives, w/William Wyler’s young daughter Cathy (now a producer) as an extra in the 1st drugstore scene where Andrews returns for a post-war visit. Can’t tell at all that Cathy was a super-fan 😂 #TCMParty #SUTS
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
"Real war"--well put.
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Totally agree! So tense....at least for me as a viewer.
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
#MyrnaLoy on her approach to acting ca. 1959: "I like to play drama under comedy." Here doing just that in #TheBestYearsofOurLives. #TCMParty #FredricMarch
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Alison Macor @agmacor.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Ah. Selznick took credit, saying he arranged it as a consolation prize, but Cukor liked to work and I'm sure was glad to have it to go to. He once said, “I have always felt that if I couldn’t make one picture I would just make another.”
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