Stars in Their Greatest Roles -- Themselves
Treasure trove of home movies shows Hollywood greats in candid moments.
Feb. 23, 2008— -- The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Hollywood houses a special kind of movie. None of these films have won Oscars or made millions at the box office. But they are definitely classics.
Curator Lynne Kirste takes care of a rare collection of home movies featuring some of Hollywood's legendary stars.
"Most of the time it's people who don't normally actually get to hold the camera," says Kirste, "It's actors, actresses, directors -- they don't actually get to shoot things themselves."
One video shows a young Ginger Rogers happily swimming in her pool and looking every bit the dancer she was known to be. Rogers went on to win a Best Actress Oscar for her performance in 1941's "Kitty Foyle."
In another film, iconic director Alfred Hitchcock is horsing around with his children, no blood, knives or possessed birds in sight.
But even without a script or a set, these stars shine brightly on the screen.
"I think they are a little different sometimes in a few ways," Kirste says. "One is that they tend to be a little bit more aware of what might get boring more quickly and I think it's because they worked in making films and they kind of know 'OK, enough of that, let's move on.'"
Still, they wanted to capture their home lives on camera, just like the rest of us. One film shows Steve McQueen spending time with his little ones, just a doting dad with his family.
In the early days of moviemaking, stars often took home the equipment, giving themselves a chance to play director, producer and star in their own backyards.
David Muir and Hanna Siegel contributed to this report.
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