emelwhy Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 Brandon deWilde was driving a Ford Camper van, not a motorcycle, when he skidded on a rain slicked road in Denver and crashed through a guard rail and into a flatbed truck truck. Though he had indeed been appearing in a play in Denver, he was not on his way to theatre when the fatal accident happenend but going to visit his wife who was hospitalized at Denver General HospitalThese are well known facts and easy to check: http://www.rememberingbrandon.net/upload/PDF%20File-Brandon%20deWilde%20Death%20Articles.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoldenIsHere Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 Thank you for sharing this newspaper article. Brandon deWilde is one of my favorite actors. I wish TCM would do a tribute to him and show BLUE DENIM, which has never been released on video but supposedly used to be a staple on cable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfpcc2 Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 I haven't heard of Brandon De Wilde, but the TCM biography makes his death sound a lot like what happened to Duane Allman in 1971. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lzcutter Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 It looks like Brandon deWilde's biography in the TCM database was written by a fan (albatros_1) and not TCM. TCM encourages fans to contribute to the database listings. There is a statement at the bottom of the biograpy that says: Please support TCMDB by adding to this information.Click here to contribute. If you click on that button on the biographical page it will take you here: http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/contribute/?id=46921|169710&name=Brandon-deWilde So, if you are so inclined, you can contribute to his biographical page. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoldenIsHere Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 lzcutter, does TCM have the rights to BLUE DENIM? It is a Twentieth Century-Fox film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lzcutter Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 >lzcutter, does TCM have the rights to BLUE DENIM? It hasn't been on the channel in awhile (maybe even a couple of years) so I would imagine they would have to talk to Fox and see if it was available for rent and then see if they could work out a price. They might also see if they could rent the film as part of a package of rented Fox films. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vertigo2 Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 I saw Blue Denim a few years ago but don't remember if it was on Fox or TCM, but Brandon was good in it as always. A very sensitive actor - loved him in Hud and in All Fall Down. Tragic early death. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 BLUE DENIM had controversial subject matter when it came out. Old hat stuff now. But it was well presented, and Brandon showed he was no longer the "cute little kid" actor anymore and had mean chops. When he was first reported dead, the rumor going around was that he commited suicide. At least, around MY parts it was. Sepiatone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoldenIsHere Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 In the play BLUE DENIM (from which the movie was adapted) the girl actually does have the abortion so the movie did change that part. Nevertheless a pregnant unmarried teenager contemplating a then-illegal abortion was controversial for a movie in 1959. The movie features actual teenage actors (with Brandon deWilde and Carol Lynley in the leads) rather than adults passing as teenagers, which was typical in Hollywood movies. There's a scene with Brandon deWilde's character selling his bike and BB gun to help pay for his girlfriend's abortion. Money is also raised by getting the deposit back on empty pop bottles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 I assume he must have been going too fast for the conditions, because he was anxious to get to see his wife. No indication of drinking? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 I'm not so sure that it was typical for Hollywood (I assume you mean 'Hollywood' of the studio era), to use actual teens for teen parts. I would have to see actual stats to back that up, but I can think of a lot of movies where actors 19 - 23 or so played teens that were less than 18 years old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoldenIsHere Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 jamesjazzguitar, my point was that BLUE DENIM featured teenagers playing teenagers rather than adults passing as teenagers, which was typical in Hollywood movies. Maybe my sentence structure was confusing but I meant that adults passing as teenagers in films was typical and that BLUE DENIM's use of actual teenagers was atypical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 Yes, I took your point the other way around, and that is why I made my comment. I wonder if by the late 50s it was more acceptable for actual teens to play teens where the plot has the teens involved in very sexual situations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoldenIsHere Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 Here's a trailer I found for BLUE DENIM, introduced by Joan Crawford of all people. I think the scenes would not be effective if adults were playing the parts. Is that Roberta Shore (from the Disney movies) singing the song? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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