Pop culture Q&A

May 9, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

By Rich Heldenfels

McClatchy Tribune

Q. Is the actor who played Angel in the series of the same name any relation to the actor who plays Seeley Booth in the series “Bones”? If they are not one and the same, they look alike enough to be twins.

A. They are one and the same. Actor David Boreanaz starred in “Angel” and plays Seeley on “Bones.”

Q. Is “Days of Our Lives” seeing its last days, as rumored?

A. NBC has picked up the long-running soap for the 2010-11 season, which will be its 45th.

Q. Could you tell me the name of a movie, probably in the mid-’30s, where Humphrey Bogart was accused of murder and found a witness to exonerate him. A line I remember is “You know who killed — and you know who killed — . You’re exhibit A and you’re coming with me!” My friends and I would go around saying this for a long time.

A. You are remembering “All Through the Night,” a 1941 movie. Bogart played Gloves Donahue, a gambler who with his New York pals ends up fighting Nazi spies. The cast also includes Phil Silvers, Jackie Gleason, Peter Lorre and William Demarest.

Q. In the James Bond movie “Goldfinger,” is it true the actor who played Goldfinger had such a heavy accent that they had to use a voice-over for him throughout the film? Also, in the same movie, what did they use to make it appear the blonde was painted head-to-toe in gold paint?

A. Gert Frobe, who played Auric Goldfinger, was dubbed by actor Michael Collins — although accounts blame the dubbing not on Frobe’s accent but his not speaking English.

Shirley Eaton, who played Jill Masterson, was covered in gold-colored paint — almost. It was believed at the time that closing all the pores with paint would kill someone, so Eaton had unpainted skin on her abdomen and under a G-string.

However, myth-debunking site Snopes.com notes that we now know that murder by pore-closing does not work as the movie claims. As long as you can breathe through your mouth, the site says, you will not suffocate. That said, you might die eventually from overheating — since the paint would keep you from perspiring — or from toxic elements in the paint.

Q. In March, a TV station listed a movie called “Summer House,” with Jeanne Moreau and Joan Plowright. I forgot to record it. Since then, I cannot find a movie by this name on Amazon, and it is not named in the credits of either actress on IMDB. Was there a different name for this movie? Does it exist? Any information you have would be appreciated.

A. Moreau and Plowright were in a 1993 film which, when released to U.S. theaters, was called “The Summer House.” It originally was called “The Clothes in the Wardrobe,” the name of the Alice Thomas Ellis novel on which it was based, and first aired in the BBC’s Screen Two series of filmed dramas. There was a VHS release in the U.S. of it under the “Summer House” title, which I did see for sale on Amazon.com.

Q. Back in the 1970s, I watched a miniseries on PBS called “Poldark.” It was based on the novels by Winston Graham. I was able to purchase a VHS set, “Poldark 2,” which was the last half of the series. But I have never been able to locate recordings of the first half of the series.

A. The earlier episodes were released on VHS. But here’s better news: In March, Acorn Media released a DVD set of “Poldark: Series 1,” with the first 16 episodes of the adventure saga.

MAILBAG UPDATE

In answer to a recent question about “Law & Order,” I incorrectly included Milena Govich among the actresses playing prosecutors. She played Detective Nina Cassady. Thank you to the “L&O” fans who caught the mistake.