There’s a saying that ‘things are never as good as they use to be’ and in terms of Hollywood that is something that seems to be true.
Where have all the real celebrities and true screen icons gone? Today it seems that anyone can turn their hand to acting and the stars of the day don’t quite live up to the names that have gone before them.
They are by no means less talented - we are blessed with some terrific actors - but the elegance, class and style of old Hollywood is well and truly gone.
The likes of Rita Heyworth, Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn and Bette Davies lit up the big screen in the forties, fifties and sixties and with them came an air of mystery.
Of course celebrity culture then is not what it is now and this is partly to blame for the demise in the true screen icon.
Today we know the ins and outs of just about everyone working in Hollywood the relationships, the splits, the fights and the affairs.
Some of our stars are falling out of clubs or making sex tapes and the mystique and the glamour of old is well and truly gone.
Of course stars of old were not whiter than white as there was scandal, affairs and drug addiction as there is now but there was something that was just more classy about the whole affair.
Of course the movies that are hitting the big screen are now very different that the films of forty of fifty years ago and that requires a new type of star.
Gone are the huge sweeping epics such as Casablanca and Gone With The Wind when it was about drama and romance and not the action packed films that we see on a regular basis today.
In recent years we have seen the likes of Angelina Jolie and Scarlett Johansson try to recapture the class and elegance of old on the red carpet and it would be great to see more follow in their footsteps.
We don't need to know everything about the stars that grace the big screen and it would be great to see the elegance, style and mystery of Hollywood's golden age rub off on some of today's biggest names.
The likes of Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, James Dean and Carey Grant are names that will live in cinema history forever - how many of today's actors will be remembered in the same way?