VP19

I hope that sometime in 2012, Julie Newmar could get a guest programmer nod. She's a fan of classic Hollywood (and of course worked in the biz in the later years of the classic period), and has cited Rita Hayworth and Carole Lombard as influences on her career.

"Lux" and other radio film adaptation series, such as "Screen Guild Theater," "Silver Theater" and others, are great fun. One of the most fascinating things about them is that often, for all sorts of reasons, the show couldn't get the original lead cast members, so they would substitute another star, and the results are intriguing. For example, "Lux's" first broadcast from Los Angeles, on June 1, 1936, was an adaptation of "Morocco" called "The Legionnaire And The Lady" (why it was renamed is beyond me -- perhaps something related to the Production Code -- whatever, all future "Lux" adaptations used the actual movie name). Marlene Dietrich had the female lead, but rather than use Gary Cooper, the male lead was portrayed by Clark Gable (who had done a "Lux" episode or two when the series was based in New York from 1934 to early '36). Of course, Gable and Dietrich never teamed up on the screen. Some years ago, for my then-new Carole Lombard site "Carole & Co.", I did a two-part entry on Lombard's radio appearances, which included some background on the growth of Hollywood-related radio: http://community.livejournal.com/carole_and_co/3807.html and http://community.livejournal.com/carole_and_co/4082.html

Attention to TCM: If you can, on March 22 during your Jean Harlow-Clark Gable marathon, please show the separate footage of the two versions of "Hold Your Man" -- one featuring a black minister, the other a white minister; the latter footage was used in a version for southern U.S. markets. More on this can be found at http://community.livejournal.com/carole_and_co/174666.html. George Reed portrayed the black minister, Henry B. Walthall (yes, the same actor who portrayed Ben Cameron in "The Birth Of A Nation," and a character actor by the time this was made in 1933) the white one. During its 2006 SUTS Carole Lombard salute, TCM showed the ending of "Vigil In The Night" made expressly for European markets in addition to the "usual" one, and there's no reason it can't do likewise here if the "white minister" footage exists..

"The Goose Woman" (whose title derives from the nickname of a lady involved in a noted murder case of the time -- I believe she raised geese) is also notable as a very early film for Constance Bennett, who has a supporting role (Louise Dresser is the lead). I'm not sure if this is the oldest surviving film of Connie's -- she made a few others in the mid-'20s, when she was just out of her teens -- but I point this out because I know there are many Bennett fans on this board, and if they're in southern California, they may want to visit Westwood Friday to check it out.

> {quote:title=filmlover wrote:}{quote} > > {quote:title=VP19 wrote:}{quote} > > A "new" Carole. eh? Well, let's hope it's a better Carole after that lackluster "Fools For Scandal" we saw from Warners last spring. Should be interesting to see her chemistry with James Stewart... > > "with all its Laughter, Gay Love, and Drama!" (This is back when every sentence had to have an exclamation mark after it!) LOL! "Gay Love"? Are they claiming Carole is Sapphic? Somebody better tell Gable before it's too late...

A "new" Carole. eh? Well, let's hope it's a better Carole after that lackluster "Fools For Scandal" we saw from Warners last spring. Should be interesting to see her chemistry with James Stewart...

Director William Wellman ("Midnight Mary," "Wild Boys Of The Road," "Nothing Sacred") was also a leap year baby, born Feb. 29, 1896. Since there was no Feb. 29 in 1900 (there are none in years ending in "00" where the first two digits are not divisible by four), it meant Wellman didn't celebrate a birthday on his actual day until he turned eight!

Nice photos of Ms. Russell. I particularly like the fourth one from the top, as it shows how elegant she could be (and that's an adjective you normally don't associate with her).

> {quote:title=JonasEB wrote:}{quote} > Glad The Phantom Carriage is back, I can record that this time. Criterion needs to pick up the slack and get it out already. Also good to see Sjostrom's Scarlet Letter on the schedule again, the best filmed version of the novel. Looking forward to Linder, someone whom I've heard a lot about but have never seen. His style supposedly was a major influence on Chaplin.

> {quote:title=mongo wrote:}{quote} > > JANE RUSSELL (1921 - 2011) R.I.P. Lovely photo of the wonderful Miss Russell.

> {quote:title=hlywdkjk wrote:}{quote} > *"A cosmetics executive's search for eternal beauty turns her into a monster!"* > > *"Mars invades the Earth in a search for female companionship!"* > > *"A giant octopus attacks San Francisco!"* > > How can anyone read those descriptions and not be excitedly amused? Fifties "Creature Features" direct from the Drive-Ins of our youth (or those of our parents.) What a fun time this is going to be. > > But the "out-of-the-ordinary" this June doesn't stop there. > > TCM has chosen some interesting actors to spotlight on June nights. They range from the silly (Ernie Kovacs) to the sublime (Jane Greer). Other interesting evenings are devoted to Johnny Sheffield ("Bomba"), Audie Murphy and Freddie Bartholomew ("Lloyds Of London"). > > TCM throws a One-Night-Only Jazz Festival including a Clint Eastwood concert at Carnegie Hall, A Thelonious Monk documentary and the Eastwood directed *Bird* about the legendary Charlie Parker. "Cool, man." > > Wednesday, the 15th _must_ be "Guest Programmer" night. With the line-up consisting of - > *Night Of The Hunter* > *God's Little Acre* > *A Face In The Crowd* and > *Touch Of Evil* > what else could it be but the picks of a serious cinephile? (or are they just a poseur?) > > Not forgetting what month it is, the schedule includes a night for June Brides. But there is no room for sentiment as the evening is immediately followed on the next night with a line-up of divorces and other marriages gone bad. I guess all the sentimentality was reserved for Father's Day with its appropriate and traditional selection of paterfamilias films. > > MacKyle (Scotland Night too!) In Hollywood And on June 16, you can decide whether Joy Harmon at a mere 30 feet tall ("Village Of The Giants") is sexier than Allison Hayes at 50 feet (the original "Attack Of The 50-Foot Woman").

> {quote:title=musicalnovelty wrote:}{quote} > Coincidentally (how could they have known?) they have scheduled a memorial all-day tribute to the just-departed Jane Russell on her birthday, June 21. TCM has honored Jane on her birthday a few times before. Sadly, now it will be a memorial.

> {quote:title=MovieProfessor wrote:}{quote} > Its only natural for many fans to get caught up in the aura and style of a certain movie star or celebrity. If anything can be said about motion pictures, it can be this issue of false imagery created that becomes related to the actor or actress on the screen. Some fans get so attached to a star, not ever knowing or experiencing who they really are, they will or can never accept the hardcore reality of their frailties and faults; they will make whatever possible excuse and never see beyond the cloudiness that comes with revealed misdeeds. Certainly, its logical to surmise that a motion picture star has to be two different people. Take a great star like Jimmy Stewart; he was so beloved and idolized by millions as his imagery from motion pictures became the main focal point of an honest, sincere and dependable person. In private, Jimmy was shy, introverted and while really a nice guy, he wasnt so prone as to be receptive to a fan who might want an autograph or take up so much of his time, listening to their admiration of him. Gregg Peck was somewhat the same; he hated to go out in public and then be recognized; he knew all too well, people in general didnt see him for who he really was and this I think can become a burden that has to be controled and dealt with, until a routine can be accomplished in handling the whole ordeal of being a celebrity. > > There has always been a reason to feel that we have to accept the simple notion on what we see in the movies isnt who these people might really be. This isnt to say that movie stars are under a constant form of emotional pressure due to their fame, but that some stars will never learn how to juggle their careers as opposed to their personal lives. To my estimation of thinking, the best or greatest movie stars are the ones who understand whats at stake and that they have been given in a technical way of understanding, a huge privilege that allows them to live forever from the imagery they have created on the motion picture screen. Some will live recklessly and never accept those simple and rational attitudes we might not take for granted, but fame and glory have a way of intoxicating a persons mind towards a distorted view of being under the spotlight. They then begin to believe, the power of their celebrity will give them a leeway or exception to certain rules of life and thus the immortality they have achieved corrupts them or makes them not see clearly beyond it. The worst movie stars are the ones that are spoiled to the point that they exploit their fame to get what they want or use it to save themselves from facing the pain of reality. Theres a sort of other side to the whole issue of being famous, in that whether or not one can play by the rules or morals, we on the outside must deal with and accept from day to day. > > Perhaps the strangest thing about motion picture stars, centers around this duality they must perform or play in their daily lives. Some of them end up constantly acting, trapped in this imagery or symbol they have created. The best example of this was Marilyn Monroe. She never felt so compelled as to remember Norma Jean Baker. Perhaps Marilyn had too much emotional distress from her past and childhood to remember who she really was and where she came from. But, the huge mistake she made was thinking that the movie star she became would quell what insecurities had tarnished her soul. In time, she became irrational and felt so suspicious of everyone around her. There came this game of concealing the basic facts of her eventual tyrannical personality that most fans would never know of and some might not want to ever accept. The same could be said of Joan Crawford, but in her case, Joan managed somehow to at times identify and distinguish herself from the anarchy that fame can bring. Joan in a sensible way did not forget she was and would always remain, Lucille Fay Le Sueur. It was this other, true person that reminded Joan to stay as solid and determined as she could, in order to achieve the best of what might be offered. The whole Momma Dearest syndrome that has been equated with Joan has in some ways changed the outlook to her stardom. But, for those who knew Joan well enough, she was after all is said and done, true to her cause of being an accomplished movie star. Joan wasnt really evil; she was just tough as nails and in the entertainment world, being this way is far more reliable than exhibiting a flamboyant and carefree disposition that gets you lots of publicity, but nowhere to achieving your professional goals. > > Nobody is perfect, least of all a movie star. Everyone has their personal hidden tensions and emotional agendas to deal with. The trick to all of this is just how well one can come to grips with certain dispositions and the challenges that come with being famous. I have always admired a few things said about fame by some great celebrities . . . > > Katherine Hepburn once said: My work comes first and is the most precious of all things in my life. > > Bogie: All I owe the public is a good performance and live a decent as possible life. > > The Duke: Its a hard job, but Ill be damned if I want to lose it! > > Gable: I didnt come this far to not be taken serious. > > Ginger Rogers: You work hard and respect what you come to represent. > > Bette Davis: I can be difficult and demanding in my work, but not when Im outside of it. > > Sinatra: Its great to be in show business, but I dont make a habit of taking it around with me everywhere I go! > > Sir Laurence Olivier: There are great actors and then there are great stars . . . The best are one in the same. > > And, the great writer of the 20th Century, George Bernard Shaw said: If you can't get rid of the skeleton in your closet, you'd best teach it to dance. Some very perceptive observations. I think for the most part, celebrities are like the rest of us -- there are great people, and there also are jerks -- but being in the public spotlight amplifies those qualities one way or the other. Those who realize that fame doesn't magically transform them into giant supermen or superwomen -- that they're still part of the human community -- are the ones who stay ahead of the game, and ultimately win at it.

Ironically, Universal wanted Constance Bennett to play Irene Bullock in "Godfrey," but William Powell -- well aware of Connie's flighty, mercurial nature -- rejected the casting and suggested Universal get his ex-wife on loanout from Paramount. You know the rest.

> {quote:title=movieman1957 wrote:}{quote} > I thought the deal was with Roach and they had it for some ridiculous amount of time. 40 years sticks in my head but maybe somebody was kidding. > > Good heavens, why would anybody want to keep anything locked up? I mean anything. That's especially true with the relatively obscure stuff that's just waiting to be rediscovered; what TCM did last year with Thelma Todd as part of SUTS is a perfect example. The world of two-reel comedy shorts extends far beyond Laurel & Hardy and the Three Stooges, as splendid as both acts may be. If TCM indeed has an extended deal with Roach, it would behoove the channel to run all sorts of stuff from the library -- especially since it likes to think of itself as the repertory house of cable/satellite TV (and deservedly so).

> {quote:title=traceyk65 wrote:}{quote} > I think I've said it before, but I'd like to have seen Marlene Dietrich with Spencer Tracy, sometime in their primes. They were so good together in Judgement at Nuremburg, playing a widow and widower who thought they were years past it, feeling the attraction to each other, then realizing that they are too much on opposite sides for it to really work out...the shot of her sitting in that depressing little room while the phone rings and rings--heart-breaking (to me anyway). Tracy had the right kind of rough-edged all American-ness that she played so well against (Gary Cooper and John Wayne were two of her best co-stars). Clark Gable would have played well with her too, for similar reasons. > Gable and Dietrich did work together...but it was on radio. When "Lux Radio Theater" moved to the West Coast after two years in New York (a drop in transcontinental line costs made network broadcasts from the Pacific time zone more feasible), the first episode done from Hollywood, on June 1, 1936, starred Gable and Dietrich in "The Legionnaire And The Lady," a reworking of "Morocco" (still unsure why the title was changed -- probably to please the Breen office), with Gable taking over Gary Cooper's film role. > I wonder, too, how William Powell would have played opposite Katharine Hepburn? He had a softer, more self-mocking version of the Cary Grant sophistication and Kate and Cary were excellent together, so... That would have been interesting. Powell nearly worked with Greta Garbo in "Ninotchka," but his poor health at the time precluded it, and Melvyn Douglas got the part. (It would also have enabled Powell to work with Ernst Lubitsch.)

> {quote:title=finance wrote:}{quote} > Beatty and MacLaine as lovers in a film? Groty to the max. "Being paired" doesn't necessarily mean "being lovers."

With the Bowery Boys series nearing its end on TCM following "31 Days Of Oscar," I think an hour or so on Saturday morning should be set aside for two or three of the two-reel shorts from Hal Roach and others for which TCM can procure rights. (For example, Columbia had many comedy short subjects in addition to the Three Stooges, and I would guess relatively few of them have had television exposure, at least not in recent years.) Such programming on Saturday mornings would be a way to introduce the channel to younger audiences.

James Stewart and Barbara Stanwyck (an irony supreme -- each were arguably the most versatile actors of their gender in classic Hollywood) William Powell and Greta Garbo (this would have happened in "Ninotchka" had Powell not been ill; it also would have been his only opportunity to work with Ernst Lubitsch) Gary Cooper and Myrna Loy (who both grew up in Helena, Mont. and knew each other in their youth) James Cagney and Carole Lombard (she could have been his leading lady in "Taxi!", but she rejected a loanout to Warners, a decision she later regretted) Clark Gable and Jean Arthur Gene Kelly and Ginger Rogers (not necessarily in a musical, though that would've been fun) Fred MacMurray and Constance Bennett Warren Beatty and Shirley MacLaine (real-life siblings, as most of you know)

> {quote:title=Arturo wrote:}{quote} > *Feb: 18:* > > After Loretta Young was adamant that she would not re-sign with 20th this year, the studio has decided to give her part in the projected HE MARRIED HIS WIFE to Binnie Barnes, to reunite with her other current costar in WIFE HUSBAND AND FRIEND, Warner Baxter. Unfortunately, neither would end up making the film later this year, but would star Nancy Kelly and Joel McCrea. Within a year, both Young and Baxter would be gone from Fox, ostensibly the studio's top male and female star since its merger in 1935. No argument with Young (though you could make a good case for Alice Faye), but Baxter? At a studio with Tyrone Power? I'm not downplaying Baxter's talent or success at the box office, but by 1935 -- the year Fox merged with Darryl F. Zanuck's Twentieth Century Pictures -- he was already on a bit of a decline.

Wrote an entry on this book today at my classic Hollywood blog, "Carole & Co.": http://community.livejournal.com/carole_and_co/384221.html

> {quote:title=filmlover wrote:}{quote} > There's been an earlier mention or two here, tying in with a small George Burns article back in mid-January. This is on the web: > > Q: What was the story about Jack Benny being caught for smuggling? > A: Here is the story based on George Burns recounting of it. In 1938, George Burns and Gracie Allen were having dinner with a man named Albert Chapereau and his wife at "21." His wife was sporting a very wide diamond bracelet. As a small child, Gracie had pulled a boiling pot off the stove, and it had left permanent burn marks on her arm. Because of this, she always wore long-sleeve blouses. On seeing this diamond bracelet, George realized that wearing that, Gracie could go out with a shorter-sleeve dress and hide her scar. Chapereau offered to sell George the bracelet for $2000, and George accepted. > > George told Jack about the purchase. Mary then asked Jack to buy her a diamond pin from Chapereau, and Jack did so for $350. Shortly thereafter, Chapereau's German maid informed the Customs Bureau of his smuggling activities, as she was angry over some anti-Nazi remarks he had made. Two of the goods were traced to George and Jack, and they were charged with possession of smuggled property. George pled guilty to the charge, and received a fine of $15,000 and a one-year-and-one-day suspended sentence. Jack pled innocent to the charge but was found guilty, and received a fine of $10,000 and a one-year-and-one-day suspended sentence. > > http://www.jackbenny.com/faq.htm#A10 I doubt any of this permeated into George or Jack's radio programs, if only because it would not have meshed with the personalities of their on-air characters. (If something like this happened today with Letterman, Leno, Ferguson, O'Brien, etc., it would likely be ripe for humor, albeit of a gentle variety.)

That's what you get for visiting Philadelphia

How about 1932? Grand Hotel I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang Red Dust Scarface Horse Feathers Red Headed Woman Million Dollar Legs The Beast Of The City What Price Hollywood Shanghai Express Tarzan The Ape Man Trouble In Paradise The Old Dark House One Hour With You Love Me Tonight One Way Passage If I Had A Million Just to name a few...

> {quote:title=mongo wrote:}{quote} > > Lovely Carole Lombard playing Cupid...shoot Gable in the arse At the time it was taken, I think Carole would've been aiming at Bill Powell...or maybe Robert Riskin.