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From January 30-February 2, 1921, the Poli ran Black Beauty¸ starring Jean Paige as Jessie Gordon and James Morrison as Harry Blomefield. The film was released in January of 1921 at seven reels. An incomplete copy exists in the Library of Congress. Plot: “The first place that I can well remember was a large pleasant meadow,” states Black Beauty in the opening title card. Squire Gordon is giving a house party, and his young daughter Jessie, along with her friend Harry Blomefield, are playing games with the little children. Squire Gordon has given Lord Wynwaring eight hundred pounds to build a new chapel. But Jack Beckett, Lady Wynwaring’s nephew, steals the money. Beckett is caught by George, Jessie’s brother, who threatens to expose him. The next day, George bids his mother and sister goodbye as he sets off on a fox hunt. But he is killed when he falls from his horse. Beckett places the stolen money in George’s pocket, and then tells Jessie her brother is the thief. To keep her family’s honor, Jessie promises to marry George when she becomes of age. Harry Blomefield, who loves Jessie, cannot understand her decision. Several years later, Farmer Grey sells Black Beauty to Squire Gordon. Meanwhile, Beckett has been getting deeper into debt. He stalls his creditors by telling them that he is going to marry the richest heiress in the country. The Squire, furious at this arrangement, rides into town during a storm and orders Beckett to leave town. On the road back, Black Beauty saves his owner’s life by refusing to cross a damaged bridge. When Mrs. Gordon takes ill, the horse brings the doctor, who saves her. When Lady Wynwaring gives a house party, Beckett demands that Jessie elope with him. She reluctantly agrees. That day the Squire and his wife have driven into town. Their stables catch fire, but Black Beauty is able to escape. Beckett’s servant asks the couple to witness a marriage, not immediately recognizing who they are. The Squire stops the marriage and takes Jessie home. The Gordons leave the country, hoping to cure Jessie of what they feel is her infatuation for Beckett. Black Beauty is sold to the Wynwarings, but is mistreated. The horse is sold again, until he gets a kind master in a London cabby. Eventually, the horse is sold to the Blomefield family. Harry Blomefield immediately recognizes the horse. Now, the Gordons are returning to England. Harry and Beckett talk in the stables, and Beckett boasts that he is going to marry Jessie, who is aboard a train. Harry then overhears Beckett’s drunken servant threaten to tell Jessie the truth about Beckett. Beckett is still determined to meet Jessie at the train, take her to London, and marry her. Beckett sets off on horseback. Harry mounts Black Beauty, and in a dramatic race in which his horse leaps over an express train, beats Beckett to the station. There, Harry tells the Gordons the truth about Beckett, and Jessie is saved from an unhappy fate. Black Beauty finds a home again with the Gordons. The stills below, which I could not place in context, show Jean Paige with James Morrison: The next still shows Jean Paige with Bobby Mack, who plays a character named “Derby Ghost”: In this final still, I could not positively all the actors. The actor in the center is either Robert Bolder, who plays Vicar Blomefield, father of Harry, or George Pearce, who portrays Farmer Grey. The actor at right appears to be James Morrison. The actor at left could not be identified. In Anna Sewell’s nineteenth-century novel, upon which the film is based, the story is told in the first person by Black Beauty. Screenwriters Lillian and George Randolph Chester added the melodramatic plot regarding the villainous Jack Bennett. As Motion Picture Magazine wrote, “frankly, we went to see Vitagraph’s “Black Beauty,” reluctantly. Anna Sewell’s book was a friend of school-room days. We did not want to see it demolished and a tawdry and aimless substitution erected upon its fine old ruins. And thanks to Lillian and George Randolph Chester, our fears were in vain. Evidently they cherished a regard for the book of their childhood, for they have adapted it to the screen truly.” Motion Picture News wrote “Vitagraph is deserving of unbounded praise. The lovable story, which has been translated into many languages and read by millions all over the globe, has been visualized with genuine artistic appreciation and should meet with popular approval everywhere.” Moving Picture World labelled the film an “artistic triumph,” adding “artistically and photographically the entire production is a masterpiece. The English country and town life of the early seventies have been portrayed in a series of scenes of exceptional beauty.” Moving Picture World praised the film, and gave kudos to Jean Paige’s performance, writing “she is delightfully naïve as the child, with a child’s bewildered grief when sorrow comes to her through the death of her beloved brother and charming with a gentle dignity, as an English young lady.” Visual Education had a mixed reaction, remarking “the story of Black Beauty is primarily a child’s story. This fact should have been kept in mind and a story interpolated entirely in keeping with the immaturity of those will undoubtedly constitute its largest audiences. The story that has been created is unhappily melodramatic, using the stock situation of a distressed maiden forced into undesired wedlock by an importunate villain. It has all the familiar accessories of blackmailing, elopement, and horsewhipping so dear to the good old days when people used to like their drama straight and East Lynne was the last word in dramatic perfection. Even though the events are presented most delicately and most beautifully they are scarcely in keeping with the simplicity of the original story and certainly not the most healthful mental food for the child mind.” During filming, producer Albert E. Smith fell for Paige, and the two were married. The horse was retired to live on Smith’s three-thousand acre ranch. The same year as this film was released, another version, produced by the Eskay Harris Feature Film Company, was also released. The Federal Trade Commission cited Eskay Harris with “unfair competition in the motion picture business.” The Commission wrote “the complaint sets out that the Eskay Harris Company acquired a film entitled ‘Your Obedient Servant,’ which film, after the addition of some new matter, was reconstructed and entitled ‘Black Beauty,’ and advertising and exhibited without disclosing to motion picture houses and the public that such film was an old film reissued under a new title.” The complaint also accused Eskay Harris of utilizing the advertisements for the Vitagraph film to promote its own. In fact, Eskay Harris was promoting their film as “a delightful adaptation of ‘Black Beauty’ with scenes from ‘Your Obedient Servant.’” Several months later, the complaint was dismissed. Edward M. Averill, acting for the Federal Trade Commission, concluded there was no proof that Eskay Harris had intended to compete unfairly with Vitagraph, and that the Eskay Harris film had been produced without knowledge of the Vitagraph film. Averill also determined that while Vitagraph’s film was intended for the general public, the Eskay Harris production was for educational exhibitions, geared towards schools and churches O. C. Edwards, manager of the Palace Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut, sponsored a contest for schoolchildren. He offered prizes totaling $100 for the students’ drawings of Black Beauty. The winning drawings for the grammar school division and high school division are shown below (similar drawing contests were held throughout the country): Edwards then decorated his lobby with all the entries: The still below shows the crowd outside the Palace Theatre:

Charley Grapewin shows up in so many films in various sizes of roles ( I think over 100 films.) My favorite is as Grandpa Joad in THE GRAPES OF WRATH. He was also good in ANNE OF GREEN GABLES, CAPTAIN'S COURAGEOUS and as an elder in THE GOOD EARTH, and of course, who could forget Uncle Henry.

As most likely already know, there will be a tribute to her on Sunday. Sounder (1972), and A Man Called Adam (1966).

That double bill does sound...dissonant. A couple of years ago at the Noir City festival, I saw a double feature of both versions of The Killers, introduced by Czar Eddie himself. The two films back to back are themselves a little incongruous, but it was an interesting case study in filmmaking in the two different periods.

Oh yeah, I forgot he was in ANNE OF GREEN GABLES. One film that stands out is ALICE ADAMS since he plays an upper class business owner, and it was so different from the downtrodden folksy parts he did in other films.

Sunday, January 31 6 a.m. Gabriel Over the White House (1933). A crooked President reforms mysteriously. Pure fantasy.

MY NAME IS JULIA ROSS 1945

Nelson, Harriet

Jude next : F.Scott Fitzgerald

Landau, Martin

This is similar to if one watches To Have and Have Not and The Breaking Point: the two films are based on the same overall story, but since To Have and Have Not was made during WWII it is a pro-allies war film, with the script changed to reflect what was going on in the world at the time. Add to this Bogie and Bacall falling in love during filming, leading to other changes and we end up with a film that isn't very true to the Hemingway story. The Breaking Point is much more faithful to the Hemingway story. As for which is the better film: In my mid-twenties I got into "those old films" because of Bogie; I.e. the first 5 or so films I saw were Bogie films at a Hollywood revival theater. Thus the Hawks\Bogie film was a favorite, But thanks to TCM I saw The Breaking Point, got into noir films, and I would now say The Breaking Point is the better overall production, by a hair. Also, the above is why I dislike the term "remake" and use adaptation instead. The Breaking Point isn't a remake of the Hawks\Bogie film. I.e. there isn't anything in the latter film to suggest the screenwriter, director Curtiz, photographer, etc... followed the Hawks version. Each film clearly stands alone, offering very different things to the viewer.

TCM Remembers: Cicely Tyson

I have to agree with those who say that Miriam Hopkins is a bit of a "ham" in later roles. I find her delightful in precodes, but now that I think of it, those roles are often "look at me," exhibitionist roles - Ivy in Dr. Jekyll, or Gilda whose sexy vivacity can attract two men at once in Design for Living, or the very showy role in The Story of Temple Drake. Her overplaying offsets Kay Francis' languid dark beauty in Trouble in Paradise. I think she has great chemistry with Joel McCrea, and I can't quite understand why those two work so well together. I think they're great together in Barbary Coast and The Richest Girl in the World. Then, she's teamed with Bette Davis and I can barely tolerate her. Hopkins and Errol Flynn in Virginia City have the least chemistry of almost any two leads I can think of, and that's just one of the things that reveals that movie for the hack piece that it is. I like her in The Heiress because the romantic, frivolous aunt is supposed to contrast with Catherine's acute shyness and social awkwardness (and the father's coldness), and later in the end, showcases deHavilland's brilliant understated playing of a woman who, through anger and disappointment, has come into her own power. I do wonder if Hopkins' overplaying in the late 30s is due to her getting older, but I watch other actresses, like Irene Dunne, Jean Arthur - born in 1900!, Claudette Colbert, and others, who were the same age and played "younger", who maintain a scene subtly and with grace. Perhaps part of it is a matter of comic timing - Lubitsch probably coached Hopkins along with this, but Dunne, Arthur, Colbert seem to be naturals at it with almost any director.

Mary Poppins: Practically Perfect in Every Way!

Hamel, Veronica

I think Hopkins is better in her pre-code. She's not quite so hammy. I loved her in her Ernst Lubitsch films: Design for Living and Trouble in Paradise. She was fantastic in The Story of Temple Drake and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I agree about her in Old Acquaintance. She tries so hard to upstage Bette, that she upstages herself in the process and looks insane. Bette was smart to keep her character calm and reserved, because she upstages Miriam in the process. I feel like Bette is all of us when she shakes Miriam. I never really found Miriam hammy in The Heiress though. Her character is more romantic and boisterous than the other characters in the film. I felt that this was supposed to contrast with her brother (or maybe brother-in-law?) who is so reserved and cold. If all the characters were like that, the movie would be very one-note and depressing. Miriam's character is also the one who helps keep some of the mystery alive surrounding Clift's true intentions when it comes to marrying Olivia. Does he truly love her? Is he a golddigger? With Olivia being so downtrodden and mousy because of her father, she wasn't going to be able to challenge any opinion her father had of Clift. Miriam was her ally. Even if Miriam, deep-down had a hunch that Clift might not truly love Olivia, Miriam is a romantic and wants to believe that some happiness awaits her niece Olivia. And if he is after her money, maybe it's not so bad if Olivia has a companion. Miriam might not be the wisest character in the film, but we need someone with a little more whimsy and lightness in an otherwise very downbeat film.

With regards to Hopkins and how she plays a character, a lot depends on the director and how they wish that character to be portrayed in the film and what their role is within said film. Take The Heiress; emotionally every character in the film is very buttoned-up \ reserved. Until the final showdown the father and daughter withheld how they felt towards each other. The maid was reserved because that was her duty. The suitor was reserved because that worked in his favor to fool the Heiress. The suitor's aunt(or sister?) was reserved out of embarrassment or because she too was fooled by his charms. Then there is Aunt Lavinia: the only character in the film that is full of emotion and didn't hold back. Did Wyler allow Hopkins to overplay her? Ok, I can see that, but Wyler was one of the best at directing women so I have to assume he got the performance he desired. Aunt Lavinia was the counter balance to all the reserved inner turmoil the other characters were holding back. She was needed to keep the film from being too one- note and a downer.

Thank goodness she was honored with a special Academy Award in 2018 for her "unforgettable performances" and "personal integrity."

Our sixth character actor is CHARLEY GRAPEWIN. Remembered for his role in THE WIZARD OF OZ: And his roles in TOBACCO ROAD... ...and THE GRAPES OF WRATH.

Honored at the TCM Classic Film Festival in 2018 with hand and footprint ceremony at TCL (Grauman's) Theater in Hollywood-

a great actress.

Lists such as these show very clearly how out-of-step I am from the mainstream. Most of the movies which I consider wonderful are in the four-hundred to six-hundred ranks. There are many more movies in the one to one-hundred that I would tell people to avoid at all costs than there are movies which I could even half-heartedly recommend. I am immediately suspect of any such list which places: Citizen Kane (1941) at number one. That is a cheap and mindless selection by people who wish to appear deep.

Yes! And Sven has showed it several times. I guess they have the giant spider genre covered......

I am so PIQUED! HIGH WALL (1947) came on TCM and I watched almost all of it on TCM ON DEMAND, but went to bed with maybe 15 minutes to go and I woke up this morning to find it had expired. ARRRRRRRRRRGH! This was written up by EDDIE MULLER in DARK CITY and then shown on NOIR ALLEY, and I tried watching it when it aired, but (mercurial creature that I am) I just couldn't get into it and turned it off. Something about ROBERT TAYLOR'S VOICE just makes me zone out. This time around I was really into it- and I gotta say, Taylor wasn't the Best Actor ever, but he wasn't the worst, and he does a pretty fine job in this film, he also has a MARVELOUS physicality (those DIABOLIK EYEBROWS!) that fit the story well. 1947 sure was on DARK YEAR FOR MOVIES- some MAJOR, established MOVIE STARS had on-screen BREAKDOWNS for (as far as I know) the first time onscreen- CRAWFORD in POSSESSED (directed by the same guy who did this movie), TYRONE POWER in NIGHTMARE ALLEY, RONALD COLMAN in A DOUBLE LIFE. This was expertly shot, although some of the "narcosynthesis flashbacks" needed to be more stylized; some really jazzy camera work also helped. It's a little kinky how the director wants to do the LADY IN THE LAKE camera trick with AUDREY TOTTER here as well, she reacts while looking into the camera, which slowly approaches her in that weird PEEPING TOM, voyeuristic way it does in LADY IN THE LAKE. HERBERT MARSHALL is not in this movie enough. it's hard to believe this was an MGM picture, it has a very WB/RKO look.

Let It Be by The Beatles -May 1970 The group's final release but not one of the their best. Phil Spector was brought in to overdub many of the tracks. It begins with John saying "I dig a pygmy by Charles Hawtrey And The Deaf Aids..." there are other snatches dialogue throughout the record. The first song is "Two Of Us" a nice folky acoustic tune with Paul and John singing a duet, which they did much more in the early days. "I Dig A Pony" is John singing a nonsense song (even he admitted that's what it was). "Across The Universe" was previously recorded years ago and Spector reproduced it here. It has some of John's nicest poetic imagery. George has his first song on the record with "I Me Mine" an OK song with good guitar and falsetto singing. "Dig It" is credited to all four Beatles (last time this happened was "Flying" in 1967) and it is just a fragment of a jam session, not even a minute long, Paul then says in a high pitched voice "now we'd like to do 'Ark The Angels Come" which goes into the title song, which is the best on the album. It has a beautiful hymn like melody and touching lyrics as well as heart felt singing from Paul, There is a great guitar solo in the middle. A quick filler fragment is "Maggie Mae". Side 2 opens with a rehearsal sounding "I've Got A Feeling" sung mostly by Paul but John comes in with his own vocal and I like his part a bit better. "One After 909" is an early Lennon/McCartney song, done in the old rock n roll style of Chuck Berry, John and Paul duet again on this one. "The Long And Winding Road" is a nice sad piano ballad by Paul, but buried by Spector's strings and choir. It was their last #1 single. John can be heard saying "Queen says no to pot smoking FBI member" at the end. "For You Blue" is an unusual light hearted blues song from George, he seems to be having a good time on this as he laughs "Elmore James got nothing on this baby!" The final song is "Get Back" a great Paul rocker with some great bass playing and electric piano by guest Billy Preston. John says he hopes the group "passed the audition". And their you have it the final studio album released by the greatest musical group in history.

MRS. MINIVER 1942 BATTLE OF BRITAIN 1969

1. What'ya Put In That Kiss - is it Doris Day ? 2. Two Different Worlds - Don Rondo ?

No Room for the Groom

Olivier, Laurence

PIPER LAURIE

Bob Strauss @bscritic Aw, #CicelyTyson. #EastSideWestSide, #Sounder, #TheAutobiographyofMissJanePittman, dozens of other great performances. Most recently moved me to tears in #LastFlagFlying. A giant. She was 96. Cicely Tyson, Pioneering Hollywood Icon, Dies at 96 Emmy- and Tony-winning actress Cicely Tyson has died at 96. variety.com 7:33 PM · Jan 28, 2021·Twitter Web App

Original Animals Guitarist, Hilton Valentine, Dies at 77 https://bestclassicbands.com/hilton-valentine-animals-obituary-1-29-21/?fbclid=IwAR3kwExaNC_8J65td5qjfyrUswKHZOkTV984Qojs6coOrHXom7uookKt20w

WYATT EARP 1994

Guys and Dolls 1955 next; Nora Ephron

Stand and Deliver (1988) Next: poetry or a poem

Thanks, Lavender. Recently on this thread I posted that Susan Seaforth Hayes had been a child actress in the 1950's. On Wednesday of this week I was watching an old episode of "The Life And Legend Of Wyatt Earp" with Hugh O'Brian. There was a young girl on the show who had a crush on Wyatt's young deputy. She was played by Susan Seaforth and her mother on the show was played by her real life mother, actress Elizabeth Harrower. Harrower became a television scriptwriter and wrote many episodes of "Days Of Our Lives" and some of "The Young And The Restless", her daughter's two daytime series. Young Susan Elizabeth Harrower Now, We recently had what Lavender referred to as a two'fer. Well, here's another. The guy was a lead singer and guitarist in a well known rock and roll band. He was also an actor who appeared in several movies and TV shows. In addition to that he was a very good tennis player, even playing at Wimbledon in a junior tournament. He also once played a tennis player in a movie. His first wife was a beautiful British actress who has had a long career, but she will always be known for appearing in a well known film version of a Shakespearian play. That was early in her career. She appeared in quite a few movies and TV shows after that, but not many were well known. She's still with us, but in the last few years she has only acted sporadically. The marriage ended in divorce after less than ten years. He next married a gold medal winning Olympic athlete. The marriage only lasted a few years. She continued in the spotlight for many years. She has made numerous TV commercials and even appeared on "Dancing With The Stars". However, in later years she has been plagued by osteoarthritis and chronic depression. His life ended tragically when he was killed in a plane crash while flying a training mission in a military fighter plane. Can you name these three people?

JIMMIE'S MILLIONS

Monster-in-Law (2005) Next: Mathematics

BOMBAY CLIPPER

BUTCH MINDS THE BABY

PERFECT STRANGERS BLUE, WHITE, AND PERFECT BELLS ARE RINGING song -- "It's a Perfect Relationship, I can't see him, he can't see me!"

SO SORRY TO GET YOUR HOPES UP! Maybe it'll make it to TCM one of these days. THE WORLD DESERVES TO SEE THIS MOVIE!!!!!!

Well worth seeing. It has almost nothing in common with Robert Siodmak's 1940s film except the same title. And there are killers in it. I saw this at the last TCM Film Festival in 2019 just after I'd seen Hello, Dolly! Not exactly the perfect double feature.

Thank you! That helps me appreciate the film a little more. (I did notice the whole "monkey music" thing though!) ps- it was fun to hear JOHNNY MERCER'S ACC-EN-TUATE- THE POSITIVE sung at a party scene in THE BLUE DAHLIA.

Where Angels Fear To Tread (1990) next : Sinclair Lewis

TOM THUMB 1958

Henry Winkler Next: Child actor/actress who was successful into adulthood

Cloris with my boy, Ralph Meeker, in her memorable screen debut in one of my favorite noir, Kiss Me Deadly. Her poor character, Christina, is only on-screen for such a short time, but she definitely makes an impact and is the catalyst for Meeker's actions throughout the rest of the film.

Cicely in Roots with Maya Angelou: