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Los Angeles — Ann Rutherford, the demure brunette actress who played the sweetheart in the long-running Andy Hardy series and Scarlett O'Hara's youngest sister in "Gone With the Wind," has died. She was 94.

A close friend, actress Anne Jeffreys, tells the Los Angeles Times ( ) that Rutherford died Monday night at her home in Beverly Hills. She had heart problems and was in declining health. http://lat.ms/MEPubi

The Andy Hardy series, a hugely popular string of comical, sentimental films, starred Lewis Stone as a small-town judge and Mickey Rooney as his spirited teenage son.

Rutherford first appeared in the second film of the series, "You're Only Young Once," in 1938, and she went on 11 more. She played Polly Benedict, the ever-faithful girlfriend that Andy always returned to, no matter what other, more glamorous girl had temporarily caught his eye. (Among the other girls: Judy Garland and Lana Turner.)

It was said...

Hollywood actor best known for the Hardy family films and her role as Careen, Scarlett O'Hara's sister, in Gone With the Wind

Ann Rutherford, who has died aged 94, was adept at portraying pluck and persistence. As Polly Benedict, Andy Hardy's ever-faithful girlfriend, in 13 of the 15 Hardy family film series made between 1937 and 1946, she had to wait around for Mickey Rooney's accident-prone adolescent to return to her after some dalliance with another girl. Andy would seek advice on romance from his stern but wise and fair father, Judge Hardy (Lewis Stone). "Dad, can I talk to you man to man? Can a guy be in love with two girls at once?" Inevitably, Andy would realise, with hints from his dad, that Polly was his own true love.

The Hardy series, one of the most popular in screen history, was the archetypal idealisation of small-town America and apple-pie family values, with...

Ann Rutherford, best remembered as Scarlett O’Hara’s younger sister Carreen in Gone with the Wind, died earlier this evening at her home in Beverly Hills according to Rutherford’s friend, actress Anne Jeffreys. Rutherford, who had been suffering from heart problems, was 94 as per the Los Angeles Times obit (as per most other sources, she was 91). [Recent Ann Rutherford photos, Ann Rutherford and Marsha Hunt.]

In 2010, Rutherford told the Times that MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer was unwilling to loan her out for "a nothing part" such as Carreen in son-in-law David O. Selznick’s mammoth adaptation of Margaret Mitchell’s novel. Mayer changed his mind when Rutherford burst into tears.

Gone with the Wind ultimately became the biggest blockbuster ever. To this day, the Civil War romantic drama has sold more tickets than any other movie in North America. (Possibly, around the world, relative to population.) Gwtw also won eight Oscars, in addition to two special awards.

This is the point at which I'm supposed to ponder the immediate present and near future of jazz and improvised music. Not gonna do it. No matter how dire the straits of the music industry, changing distribution and presentation, etc., this music will continue to be made because it has to be made, and artists feel compelled to keep it going despite travails. It's all about the music and its amazing power for catharsis, its ability to lift us and inspire us. So without further ado, here's what inspired me most in 2011.

1. Richie Beirach: Impressions of Tokyo (Outnote)

I was going to call this a comeback, but Beirach (above) hasn't exactly been gone, certainly not as far as recordings are concerned -- he's had 18 released under his name in the past 11 years, plus collaborations (one of those appears further down this list). I guess I think of it as a...

Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt, Lil Dagover, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari Conrad Veidt on TCM: The Hands Of Orlac, Casablanca, Nazi Agent Schedule (Et) and synopses from the TCM website: 6:00 Am Above Suspicion (1943) A honeymooning couple are asked to spy on the Nazis in pre-war Europe. Dir: Richard Thorpe. Cast: Joan Crawford, Fred MacMurray, Conrad Veidt. Bw-91 mins. 7:45 Am Contraband (1940) While held up in a British port, a Danish sea captain tussles with German spies. Dir: Michael Powell. Cast: Conrad Veidt, Valerie Hobson, Hay Petrie. Bw-87 mins. 9:30 Am All Through The Night (1942) A criminal gang turns patriotic to track down a Nazi spy ring. Dir: Vincent Sherman. Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Conrad Veidt, Kaaren Verne. Bw-107 mins. 11:30 Am Jew Suss (1934) A Jewish businessman using his wealth to benefit his people discovers he's not Jewish. Dir: Lothar Mendes. Cast: Conrad Veidt, Frank Vosper, Cedric Hardwicke. Bw-104 mins. 1:...

Issue #4 of the UK's Scream Magazine is now available for pre-order in advance of its March 31st publication date, and the publisher has kindly provided us with an excerpt of writer Michael Doyle's interview with the one and only John Carpenter to share with Dread Central's readers.

Along with Carpenter, the issue also includes:

* William Forsythe talks John Wayne Gacy…

* Kung Fu Horror: Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires!

* The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Evolution of Leatherface…

* 3D Horror: From Jaws to Saw!

* Sex & Gore: An Uncomfortable Marriage…

Plus: Comics, Games, Books, Competitions, News, Reviews & More!

Check out the excerpt and the Issue #4 cover below, and for more info visit the official Scream website. Click here to buy issues for just £4.50 each. If you are in the UK, there will be an extra £1.00 charge for postage and packaging; for overseas residents it will be an extra £2.00 for shipping and handling.

By Whistling in the Dark/Yaffa Phillips

Steve Martin is always funny. He was hilarious as a stand-up doing his Let’s Get Small and “Well eeeexxxxcccccuuuuuuuusssseeeeee me” bits back in the day. He was hysterical in movies like The Jerk and The Man With Two Brains. He wrote amusing plays like Picasso at the Lapin Agile and books like The Pleasure of My Company.

So it was only a matter of time before Steve Martin would get silly on Twitter. He just signed up on September 10 and he’s already enlisted the help of 100 monkeys to keep messages pouring out to almost 170,000 followers.

Yes, we said monkeys. They’re getting out important thoughts like:

“8743260khljj38820PlanetoftheApesisEarthyoumorons78d9348209kk”

(Posted Sat Sep 18 14:00:45 2010 via web)

And they’re proving to be lucrative for Steve who Tweeted:

“Just got book and TV deal based on S**T My Monkeys Say.

It’s become a cliché to say that they 'don’t make ‘em like they used to,' and I doubt that very many people have actually taken the time to check the veracity of that claim. When things like that are said, however, it’s usually in reference to comedians like Red Skelton. A physical comedian of the radio era, Skelton specialized in witty asides and weird sounds in the way that, well, most film comedians did at the time and still mostly do today. Taken together, it’s hard not to see why the Whistling films collected here (Whistling in the Dark, Whistling in Dixie, and Whistling in Brooklyn) didn’t become classics, but more interesting yet is the collective revelation that, despite the great gulf in time, things are continuing just the way that they have been for some time.

Whistling in the Dark introduces Wally Benton...

The weekend’s here. You’ve just been paid, and it’s burning a hole in your pocket. What’s a pop culture geek to do? In hopes of steering you in the right direction to blow some of that hard-earned cash, it’s time for the Fred Weekend Shopping Guide - your spotlight on the things you didn’t even know you wanted…

(Please support Fred by using the links below to make any impulse purchases - it helps to keep us going…)

You wouldn’t think a comedy like Caddyshack (Warner Bros., Rated R, Blu-Ray-$24.98 Srp) would benefit so much from high definition, but the new Blu-Ray benefits from a crystal clear picture that looks better than it ever has previously. To add even more incentive, there’s a new feature-length 30th anniversary documentary featuring most of the principals (sans Bill Murray and Chevy Chase) reminiscing, as well...