Hi, Robi, I was anticipating something from you. These were the connections I had in mind (though you’ve discovered more!):
Sly Stallone’s nickname was of course the “Italian STALLION” (also got by grandpuzzler above).
The other Italian was of course a Ferrari, whose marque features a STALLION.
Rachel Weisz costarred with Ralph Fiennes in The Constant GARDENER.
Burt Lancaster and Jean Simmons starred in Elmer GANTRY (also got by grandpuzzler and Bryan).
That was Catherine Z-J in an ad for Elizabeth ARDEN cosmetics.
(The) Queen (HM, not FM and company) will kick off her jubilee at the Derby at Epsom RACECOURSE. (This came to mind because, for a while, I was livng a stone’s throw from Tattenham Corner.)

STALLION – Sylvester Stallone, in ‘The Italian Stallion;’ logo for the Ferrari Spider

FERRARI – Lilie Ferrari wrote ‘Angel Face,’ a film starring Jean Simmons in which she drives a sports car and dates the ex-racing driver Robert Mitchum; the Spider as above.

ARDEN – Catherine Z-J is the face of the commercial firm

GANTRY – Burt Lancaster starred in ‘Elmer Gantry’

STAR TREK – Rachel Weisz wanted to get a part in the latest sequel

HELL – Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen ‘Beezelbub has a devil put aside for me’

I’m not sure I’ve quite got the connections right.

As you say, I have made this point on previous occasions, which is why I started my original comment with “As usual”. I saw it as expressing a minor preference between two valid parsings. The difference the brackets make is that “Anagram of [ENTIRE + ST]” would also fit INSETTER (although that could not be the answer to 17dn as the definition would not work), but “[Anagram of ENTIRE] + ST” would not. Personally, in the very limited amount of clue writing I have done, I would never clue INSETTER using that wordplay, but I have no quarrel at all with anyone who would.

“I prefer to keep abbreviations out of the anagram whenever this is consistent with the construction and wording of the clue.”

I totally agree and have noted [without commenting] that you have made this point several times before. But, as I said, scchua’s parsing: Anagram of(of characters from) [ENTIRE + ST(abbrev. for “street”)] is in total agreement with your own – isn’t it?

For what it’s worth, Jean Simmons was also in Elmer Gantry.

And so was the lovely Shirley Jones who won an Oscar for playing a vengeful prostitute.