Arturo

> Will you be posting your critique of Garbo's original version? *Do you mean the silent picture, LOVE? I am focusing on sound films from 1930 to 1959. Are we to assume that you consider her original version the better one?* No I don't consider it the better one, I was just wondering if you were doing all the ones made in the Classic-era Hollywood. Btw, did you know that Elizabeth Taylor and Eddie Fischer, when they were married, were planning on filming "Anna Karenina", to star them both for their production company. It was envisioned after Liz completed CLEOPATRA, but of course, Liz envisioned a whole new life before she completed CLEOPATRA, and that was that.

*I agree that there were less female stars that movies were built around than males stars especially for some studios like Warner Brothers.* As I mentioned before, 20th Century Fox did not go out of its way to build vehicles for its female stars, other than its musical stars. Zanuck admitted that female issues bored him stiff, and he therefore did not look too hard, at least not consistently, for stories that could have made effective movies for Loretta Young, Linda Darnell, Gene Tierney, etc. So yes, they were often the female lead in a story centered around men, and Young and Darnell resented this. Especially when this was compounded, as I've mentioned before, when really good roles for women at Fox would often get cast with a borrowed talent.

*I think some of these gals were suffering from the Bette Davis syndrome, where they expected to be the main attraction in all their films. Sometimes the studio just needed to round out an ensemble, or use a female in a smaller, but still consequential role, to balance out a male-dominated action flick. Not every picture could be built around a female lead, because not every genre and certainly not every story was about the woman in peril or the woman seductress. Do we hear reports of George Brent or Wendell Corey having complained about being cast in a Davis picture or a Crawford picture, or about losing parts to Clark Gable?* I am not saying that Linda expected for every picture to be built around her, because she didn't. Nor do I think that they should have. She was happy to be part of the ensemble that made up A LETTER TO THREE WIVES, and adored her director for UNFAITHFULLY YOURS (in a different way than she adored the director for ALTTW) and being in the cast, despite her role definitely subsidiary to that of Rex Harrison. And she was thrilled to be a part of NO WAY OUT, where her role, despite being subsidiary again, was an important one to the plot machinations. And I mentioned she would have done well in parts that went to Susan Hayward in HOUSE OF STRANGERS and DAVID AND BATHSHEBA; again the female role was not the main focus. So while she may have not needed to be dominating every role as a Bette Davis or Joan Crawford, she did strive to have her parts be challenging in the acting department. And that is why she had problems with Zanuck's handling of her career; she objected to being cast in a movie where all that was required of her was her looks, sultryness or glamour. And as one of the top female stars at Fox, she should have expected the studio to look after her career with a more long-term view. And Bette Davis and Joan Crawford weren't handed those roles on a silver platter initially; they fought tooth and nail for them, and when their careers experienced a downward shift, they again sharpened their teeth and claws on studio executives. Why begrudge Linda for trying to get better roles, and especially, better acting opportunities. And btw TB, if I remember correctly, awhile back you took Gene Tierney to task for not having fought for more domineering Bette Davis type roles.

1950 was a watershed year for Linda Darnell. Despite being at the peak of he career, she found herself with new problems on her home lot, as she found that her career was not a priority. Linda was unhappy that after her exemplary performance in NO WAY OUT, Zanuck cast her in TWO FLAGS WEST. First of all, she didn't care for westerns, as she was allergic to horses. But mostly, she felt that the role was lackluster, without the fire of her previous assignment, and that she'd get lost in th shuffle of the male-dominated action. Linda was feeling the slapdash way that the studio was handling her career, with no consistent push to find strong roles for her. One of the main problems she faced at this point was that Susan Hayward had been signed by Fox, her contract bought from Walter Wanger, who found himself overextended after the loss he suffered from JOAN OF ARC. Linda, never in Zanuck's good graces, woul find strong competition from Susan for roles, since their images overlapped substantially. Already in 1949 Susan had the female lead in HOUSE OF STRANGERS, a part that would have suited Linda. In 1950, the movies Susan filmed could have easily been done by Linda, and some even meant originally for her: RAWHIDE, I CAN GET IT FOR YOU WHOLESALE, and DAVID AND BATHSHEBA. Even the atypical I'D CLIMB THE HIGHEST MOUNTAIN (which had been intended as a vehicle for Jeanne Crain-who became pregnant), might;ve offered a strong role for Linda. These movies, when released the following year, would solidify Hayward's rise to top stardom. So Linda would definitely feel the pressure. In her private life, Linda also was at a crossoads. After the adoption of daughter Lola was finalized in 1949, it became obvious that she would be divorcing husband Pev Marley. He agreed to the divorce, IF she paid him $125,000. She acquiesced to this, mainly because she didn't want him to publicize her affair with Joe Mankiewicz. So she gathered up he assets in order to meet this payment, and filed for divorce.

Will you be posting your critique of Garbo's original version?

Twiggy.

And METV is showing some episode of his first sitcom next Sunday afternoon, also in conjuction with the award.

Yes and by the same director, Howard Hawks.

Reposting this as I highly recommend it, and coming up within four hours; Head's Up: TCM will be showing NO WAY OUT this Monday morning, January 21, at 6 AM Eastern, 3 AM Pacific. It is featured as part of the programming commemorating Martin Luther King Day.

While not combat films per se, I really enjoy MAN HUNT, where Walter Pidgeon is an assassin trying to kill Hitler. And I really like THIS ABOVE ALL, where Tyrone Power is awol from serving for the British because he felt that he didn't want to fight for the benefit of the British aristocracy, while the lower classes did the fighting, and would not benefit in the end.

Well, Poitier became the go-to guy when a movie needed an earnest young black man, whatever the character, for the 50s and into the 60s. So he was cast in BLACKBOARD JUNGLE as a student, and he was able to do so believably imo.

Marlo Thomas?

Well this is a shot of MM done as part of the publicity stills for ALL ABOUT EVE, so it is from 1950.

6:00 a.m. Fast and Furious (1939)..Franchot Tone, Ann Sothern, Ruth Hussey 7:30 a.m. The Phantom of Crestwood (1932)..Ricardo Cortez, Karen Morley, Anita Louise 9:00 a.m. They Met in Bombay (1941)..Clark Gable, Rosalind Russell, Peter Lorre 10:45 a.m. Smashing The Money Ring (1939)..Ronald Reagan, Margot Stevenson, Eddie Foy Jr. 12:00 p.m. Blondes at Work (1938)..Glenda Farrell, Barton MacLane, Tom Kennedy Topbilled< FAST AND FURIOUS is a programmer, and therefore, not a B film. THEY MET IN BOMBAY is a definite A.

NO WAY OUT wrapped filming at the end of 1949; 20th Century Fox, however, would not release it until the end of summer 1950. The reasons for this included the studio's desire to distance the release from that of its other racial drama, PINKY, which had come out Fall 1949. A more important reason is that certain areas of the country, namely the South, refused to play this hard-hitting drama. Even in other parts of the country, some exhibitors felt that the material was too inflamatory. So the studio found that the movie would not have play in significant sections of the US. When the studio finally released it, it was with a low-key adertising campaign, the crux of which featured trendsetting Saul Bass ads, showing Linda Darnell's eyes, or a finger to her lips going, "shhh". The stars' names were omitted. Coming at the end of the cycle of "race problem" films of 1949-50, and with its curtailed playdates, controversial subject matter and lowkey promotion, NWO was not a hit. Reviews for NO WAY OUT were quite heartening, if some felt the story a little far-fetched. But with th race riots of the 1940s (notably Detroit), it doesn't seem all that implausible, as the many disturbances in the 60s of this sort attest. Praise for the cast was widespread, with every one of the main performances getting raves. However, at awards time, NWO was overlooked in the nominations, when compared to director Mankiewicz' subsequent movie, ALL ABOUT EVE, with its record number of nods. IMHO I think that Richard Widmark, Linda Darnell and Sidney Poitier should have been nominated. But as mentioned, Fox focused on AAE, spending its promotional push and budget on the more successful and accesible film. And in a year with a less exemplary list of actresses vying for Best Actress nominations, maybe Darnell would have gotten the nomination she deserved. In any event, she always considered her non-glamourous role in this important film as the best in her career. Edited by: Arturo on Jan 19, 2013 10:17 PM

It's interesting about Virginia Weidler's career at MGM. With her role in BABES ON BROADWAY (which at least was a variation on "Dinah Lord") and her subsequent one in BORN TO SING, MGM seemed to be trying to cast her as a junior grade Judy, but overall, I *don't think Metro had much interest in promoting a non-singing female adolescent as a movie star. *A shame in Virginia's case because she was talented, versatile and likeable. Markus, Surely you jest! A "non-singing female"?! Have you forgotten "Lydia The Tattoed Lady"?

I noticed this once or twice, although I hadn't really been able to watch it. I did record it, so when I get to see it completely, the gaps will probably be there. I too have Directv, but as you say, it doesn't seem like when their signal is lost.

Head's Up: TCM will be showing NO WAY OUT this Monday morning, January 21, at 6 AM Eastern, 3 AM Pacific. It is featured as part of the programming commemorating Martin Luther King Day.

Linda Darnell has spent much of 1949 doing nothing. After she had completed filming EVERYBODY DOES IT in the early part of the year, the studio didn't assign her to anything until the fall of that year; this while she was receiving praise for her performance in A LETTER TO THREE WIVES. She had wanted to do PINKY, but that went to Jeanne Crain. WALTZ INTO DARKNESS, to have filmed during the year was cancelled. So it was with a sense of relief as well as profound elation when Linda found out she had been cast in NO WAY OUT, not least because it would be directed by her lover, Joseph L. Mankiewicz. A searing drama about the racism a black intern experiences at the hands of his patient, bigoted white hoodlum, NO WAY OUT marked the film debut of Sidney Poitier as the doctor. Richard Widmark plays the racist Ray Biddle, who feels that the black doctor had deliberately killed his brother. Linda Darnell plays the brother's wife, and Widmark's sometimes girlfriend. Biddle uses her to whip up a race riot against "Beaver Canal", the black neighborhood. Also featuring Stephen McNally, Ossie Davis, and Ruby Dee, among others, the cast is unformly excellent. The hardhitting harrowing script pulls few punches. It was much more gritty than other movies coming out at that time also dealing with aspects of the "negro problem". Even now, it pack a whallop. Linda, besides her joy to be reteamed with Mankiewicz, was thrilled with her role of Edie Biddle. She was quoted as saying something along th lines of "My whole wardrobe cost $25.00, and at that, consisted mostly of black and blue bruises". She wore little makeup, and was deglamorized for once. She felt proud in being in such an important film about such an difficult social problem. She clearly rose to the occasion, delivering what many consider to be her finest peformance on film. She felt the long wait for a decent part was more than vindicated with this great drama.

Liz was born in 1932. CONSPIRATOR was filmed in 1948, although released in 1949. So she was 16. THE BIG HANGOVER was filmed in 1949 (not sure what months), so she would have been 16 or 17. She was 17 when she did A PLACE IN THE SUN late in 1949, but it didn't get released for nearly two years. Edited by: Arturo on Jan 17, 2013 8:10 PM

Linda Darnell desperately wanted to do PINKY, but Zanuck refused to consider her for the role of the light-skinned black girl, who, having passed for white up North, runs smack into the pervasive, prevailing racism of the South in the mid-20th century. The problem was, that she was tainted by her image of playing Amber and other shady women. As screenwriter Phillip Dunne put it "Linda Darnell had the taint of the adventuress. Pinky had to be purer than pure", or something to that effect. Zanuck wanted the "whitest girl on the lot", Jeanne Crain. However, she was on a maternity leave. but she wrote Zanuck, asking him to hold the start of production a few weeks for her. For the first, and probably the last time, Zanuck waited for Crain to come back from her leave, instead of assigning it to someone else. Crain got the best role of her career, and an Oscar nomination to boot. And Linda's frustration grew, as she saw the indifferent way Zanuck was managing her career, totally unsympathetic towards her wish to be given roles that would stretch her as actress, instead of just parts that had no more need of her than her glamour and beauty. Ironically, she would get such a challenging part soon.

Addison wrote: ps- Linda Darnell would've been better in The Lodger than Merle Oberon. Addison, I totally agree with you there, but Oberon is good in it nonetheless. Another instance where Zanuck seemed to prefer an outside actress than one of his contractees. He actually thought of borrowing Marlene Dietrich to play Netta Langdon in HANGOVER SQUARE, until he realized that the part was perfect for Linda's new image, which she successfully acquired with 1944's SUMMER STORM, made on loan to UA.

I didn't see the intro, but Osborne must've meant the Three-strip Technicolor, which was perfected in the mid-30s. Those you mentioned were in two-strip technicolor. Her three-strip technicolor movies, besides KENTUCKY, are RAMONA (1936), one of the very first features in the three-strip process (and the first outdoor one), MOTHER IS A FRESHMAN (1949) and HALF-ANGEL (1951), all made for 20th Century Fox.

*Yes, Anna Magnani won the Best Actress Oscar for The Rose Tattoo in 1955, and although Magnani's name is not often brought up in the same breath as the "greats" of classic cinema (Hayward's undeniably is) and although her American movie career was not much when compared to other Oscar-winners, I am 100% behind her win. It is an awesome performance.* *It worked out just fine as Susan won deservedly for I Want to Live! three years later- although one could argue that, much like another Susan (Sarandon) who finally won on her fifth nomination in a death-row drama, Hayward was not nominated again and the quality of the roles she was offered just didn't match the run she had pre-1958.* *I think a lot of the intensity Hayward shows in her films was due to the fact that it was (reportedly) her life's goal to win the Oscar. Once she did, she allowed her career to cool (admittedly in part by choice and based on the fact that her beloved second husband died suddenly.)* I totally agree about Magnani and Hayward and their respective Oscars. With Hayward, she did slack off from her career after her, partially because she had newly remarried, and was happy to be living in Georgia (I think) and out of the spotlight. She turned down some roles that she chose not to do because she didn't want to go to Hollywood, most notably perhaps, the part played by Jean Simmons in ELMER GANTRY.

*Did anyone see all of TOP SECRET AFFAIR? I saw the beginning, and it seemed promising. Neither Hayward nor Kirk Douglas were exactly known for comedies.* I've mentioned here before, and I don't remember if it was re: TSA, or maybe THE MARRIAGE GO ROUND, another of Hayward's rare forays into comedy, where one critic wrote, "Her lightest touch can stun a horse". I always thought that was a great line. She was best suited to the high powered histrionics she brought to her many dramatic performances.