Arturo

I see that later this month, on Dec, 22, TCM will be showing TWIST OF FATE, which had been released originally in England under the title of BEAUTIFUL STRANGER. Ginger Rogers and her new husband, Jacques Bergerac, are two of the stars of this movie. Prior to their involvement, director David Miller had discussed the possibility of Linda Darnell doing this film. These talks fell through; I believe Miller was trying to have Linda invest in the venture, something she was unwilling or unable to do at this time. So Miller approached Ginger with the proposal. Ginger agreed to it, with the specification that her new husband, who was quite a bit younger than her, be cast in it.

I woke up to the tail end of this. But I too enjoy this every chance I get,

Well a bit of tie-ins here. Artie Shaw married Lana Turner, and later Ava Gardner, who was married to Mickey Rooney. I'm sure if thefull picture of Hollywood' musical beds was knwn, **** would bogle the mind.

*I've never seen Forever Amber.........* Hibi, If you like historical epics, with a wealth of accurate period detail, sumptuous sets and costumes, colorful cinematography, a rousing score and a compelling storyline, then you will probably enjoy FOREVER AMBER. Better than its middling reputation would have you believe IMHO, it is flawed but has much to recommend it. Crippled in being able to recreate the most salacious material of the bestseller, from its inception as a movie due to ever-present production code, it still emerge as a creditable telling the (then) well-known tale. Hopefully, it will be broadcast soon on TCM, whether as part of a Linda Darnell SOTM celebration or not. And with widespread exposure of this type, maybe it will signal the beginning of its reputation being rightfully rehabilitated IMHO.

*Well a fair number of Linda Darnell's movies are on DVD:* **I'm not sure, but I thin there is a DVD release of BUFFALO BILL also.**

*With five wives in the mix, the film would have been too "busy" and confusing.* Which is why Zanuck, known for his skills as an editor, even ruthlessly so, had Mankiewicz cut out one, then another of the wives.

*No, sorry, I meant Faye in that State Fair remake. I've never seen Forever Amber.........* My bad lol. Here I go on a tirade about the wrong filmand actress. Sometimes I'm not sure what post someone is referring to; earlier, here, Topbilled answered me about an "Interesting post". But I have no idea which of my posts he was referring to (not that I think all of my posts are interesting lol). Anyway, I'm not sure why Faye would take the rather secondary role in SF, especially since she had rejected the lead in the 1945 version, as this was when she was rejecting musicals left and right.

*It is surprising that FOREVER AMBER has not had a North American DVD release.* Surprising to me also. A decent version plays occasionally on Fox Movie Channel, as well as recently on HBO/Cinemax. Maybe it'll be a part of the Fox Archive Cinema series, but it really deserves a full-blown legitimate release. I've mentioned a number of times on these boards that one of my most fervent wishes is for a restored version of FOREVER AMBER, with (hope against hope) extra footage as a special feature. Seems that quite a bit that was filmed was not used, partially because Zanuck seemed to confine his epics to no more than two and a half hours, and partially because some cuts were made to appease the overactive censors. The making of this movie, trouble-plagued as it was, has always fascinated me. I recently found, and bought, on Amazon a book on the making of AMBER. For a rather slim tome it covers a lot of ground, and helped me fill in some of the blanks. It describes the storylines of the various successive scripts, successive casts and directors. As in all stories of the making of classic Hollywood movies, I found it hard to put down. It;s called "Forever Amber: From Novel to Film".

*But considering how commercial TCM has become and how it is so market-driven now, my guess is that they would go with a more sell-able name like Gene Tierney or Betty Grable. More sell-able because more of their films are available on home video. DVDs, kaching.* Well a fair number of Linda Darnell's movies are on DVD: DAY-TIME WIFE BRIGHAM YOUNG THE MARK OF ZORRO BLOOD AND SAND CITY WITHOUT MEN IT HAPPENED TOMORROW SUMMER STORM HANGOVER SQUARE FALLEN ANGEL ANNA AND THE KING OF SIAM MY DARLING CLEMENTINE UNFAITHFULLY YOURS A LETTER TO THREE WIVES NO WAY OUT ISLAND OF DESIRE BLACKBEARD THE PIRATE ZERO HOUR So that's 17 movies on DVD, if that is what drives TCM's selections. Plus, at least two of her films have been announced and/or released under the Fox Archive Classics: SLATTERY'S HURRICANE EVERYBODY DOES IT And, at least a couple have been released in Spain (probably not compatible with our DVD players): FOREVER AMBER TWO FLAGS WEST Seems if TCM sells most or all of these titles, that would make a significant tie-in to their SOTM. Edited by: Arturo on Dec 6, 2012 8:58 PM

*What I want to know is who negotiated the deal for her to return in the remake of STATE FAIR. Was that when Zanuck had been ousted? Or was he back in charge at that point? Maybe he and Alice Faye had kissed and made up.* I think the 1962 version of STATE FAIR was probably green-lighted (-lit?) before Zanuck's return. But Faye was also ready to do another one, as her daughters were grown and away in college by this point.

*Alice Faye is a rare example of a star whose image is mostly branded with one studio. She did not get the chance to freelance like other big names in Hollywood.* Well most stars in the 30s and 40s were unable to freelance; they were locked to their studio. They were sometimes able to go on loan-out to another studio, but that varied quite a bit. Often times valuable stars were not allowed to be borrowed (Alice Faye, Betty Grable or Lana Turner in the 40s), or if they were, an exorbitant fee might be charged. Or a loanout might be deemed as having NOT been beneficial to the star, even harmful (Tyrone Power in MARIE ANTOINETTE-Zanuck never allowed him to be borrowed again, to Power's frustration) Sometimes a star was loaned out to punish him (Clark Gable in IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT, but after GWTW he remained at MGM for the duration of his contract). Some studios with lesser resources often had their stars become stars, or remain so, by loaning them out often to better-endowed studios (Jane Russell/RKO).

Yes, the original story and the early treatments had five wives; later it was announced as Four wives, with Anne Baxter cast as the fourth. Zanuck is the one who felt it would work better dramatically if Mankiewicz concentrated on less characters, as well as being better able to flesh out the individual stories.

*Arturo, is this correct? I read that Alice was upset in particular that a musical number of hers was cut from ANGEL, which is ironic since she wanted more dramatic fare.* They did film a number, I believe it was "Slowly", the ballad that Linda is always requesting from the cafe jukebox. I don't think she was upset when it was cut (most of her musicals had at least one number cut), especially since she knew that it might break the mood. Plus, as is, it is identified as Stella's (Darnell) song, and if June sings it, then this is no longer clear. She WAS upset at the scenes that were cut, thinking her best work was among them, and felt she ended up as a one dimensional painted up dummy. It would be nice if some of the excised footage could be found, restored and include it as extra footage....also if her doing "Slowly" were added, which I think she did along with the car radio on the wat to the beach with Dana Andrews. BTW, I believe that's Dick Haymes, 20th's then resident Sinatra clone, doing the singing of the jukebox version. Edited by: Arturo on Dec 6, 2012 3:10 PM

*Alice Faye is sometimes referred to as the female Bing Crosby. She plays a special role in the history of Hollywood motion pictures-- the history of Fox in particular. Plus, she occupies exalted status in the recording industry and for many years played a key role on American radio. One of her better films is THE GREAT AMERICAN BROADCAST, which probably combines all her unique talents the best.* *But we will now get back to the Linda Darnell Show on Arturo's broadcast network.* Well, Alice Faye's and Linda Darnell's movie careers converged twice in a tangible way. In Spring 1943, Linda began filming a musical, THE GIRLS HE LEFT BEHIND, also starring Faye and Carmen Miranda. During this time, Darnell eloped to Las Vegas with cameraman Peverell Marley, more than twice Linda's age. The studio was aghast, thinking Linda would ruin her image. Soon after, she sprained her ankle (I believe) while working on a dance routine, and was taken out of the film. In fact, she was suspended, (most likely) in retaliation for the displeasure she supposedly caused the studio. B movie contractee Sheila Ryan replaced her in what was released as THE GANG'S ALL HERE, Busby Berkeley's camp classic. The second time, of course, is when both starred in the 1945 noir FALLEN ANGEL. After reputedly turning down 17 scripts, Faye accepted the role of June Mills, and was happy to be doing a good ACTING role in a non-musical, a NOIR even. When the film was released, she was livid because she felt most of her best scenes had been cut out, in order to build Linda's part. She left the studio, and refused all of Zanuck's attempts to bring her back. One of the feelers he would put out to her was the proposed A LETTER TO FIVE WIVES, which of course emerged with two wives missing. If it had transpired, this would have been a third time Alice and Linda would have worked on a film.

*Darnell was apparently watching one of her own performances when she was killed in a fire. Which was it?* Linda was a guest at the home of some friends that had recently moved to Chicago. The night of the fire, she had noticed in the TV Guide that STAR DUST would be on later, and said to her friends, "Let's stay up and have some laughs", and "They think they're so sophisticated. They'll see how sophisticated Auntie was at their age". She meant her daughter Lola-who was not there- and her friend's daughter, both about 16-17 years of age. When the fire broke out, the movie had already finished and the household had gone to sleep.

*Also funny is the short dress with cowboy boots-something regrettably in fashion right now.* THAT's a DRESS!? I thought it was a slip; even for the 20s it seems way too short.... Hibi, Per Kenneth Anger in HB, Marie drank away her bitterness over the collapse of her career in Talkies, as her "Bronx honk" didn't match her romantic image. Supposedly she was found dead in her apartment 1937, half eaten by her dachshund. That's all I remember about her in those books.

*If they're going to do any Fox star for SOTM, they've got to start with Tyrone Power,* Well the anniversary of Power's centennial will be in May 2014. That would be an ideal ttime for a SOTM salute to him.

*Why wait till then? I'd love to see her as SOTM anytime! Good luck on that one though.......(Fox)* Well, specifically for the significance of her 90th birthday that month (were she to be alive). Plus at least the first half the months till then must already have a star selected. And it will probably take TCM time to acquire rights for some of the Fox films. But again, while I don;t have the schedule for Darnell's SUTS, seems to me that just shy of half the movies aired that day were from 20th.

LADIES OF LEISURE was great, and yes a beautiful print, I too haven;t seen it in awhile. Next up is THIS IS MY AFFAIR, starring Babs and future hubby Robert Taylor. Barbara was borrowed by 20th Century Fox to film this when the originally cast Alice Faye became sick (over the years she lost a number of films due to illness). Later tonight, another film she did at Fox, A MESSAGE TO GARCIA. This one she was offered when new French import Simone Simon reputedly was not up to snuff, altough I think it was her attitude more than her accent. Edited by: Arturo on Dec 5, 2012 9:57 PM

*THE CASTILIAN is a false credit-she is NOT in this...* A few months ago TCM aired this movie, also known by the translation of its Spanish name, VALLEY OF THE SWORDS, at which point I recorded it. Just prior to this showing, I posed the question here if anyone knew anything about Linda supposedly being in this; no affirmative answer was forthcoming. All I knew was that since I became interested in her and started looking into her career (at twelve years of age), I would notice this credit on some of the filmographies of her. None of her credible biographies mention this movie. In lists of the film;s credits (but not ON the film's credits), She is listed as at the end of the credits....however, it is highly unlikely she would have gone to Spain at that time just to be an extra in this. My take is that she was probably offered a role in this, which she obviously didn;t do, but somehow confusion about this resulted in this phantom credit. The role most likely would have been that of the queen, which was played by Viveca Lindsfor (who had memorably played a queen in THE ADVENTURES OF DON JUAN).

*By the way, her episode of Screen Directors Playhouse did air on TCM.* I was sorry I missed it. I've been hoping that TCM will repeat the showing of these dramas sometime in the future...or better yet, collaborate on the release of a DVD set of the episodes. Another TV drama Linda did was for "The 20th Century Fox Hour of Stars". The majority of these episodes were new condensed renditions of classic Fox movies, featuring many name actors. Linda did "Deception", an original drama, with Trevor Howard. She is great in this, and still looks very beautiful, playing a woman working for a small British intelligence unit in London during WW2 who must choose a volunteer most likely to crack and give false information to the Nazis regarding D-Day. This whole series was ressurrected and restored some 8 or 10 years ago, an broadcast on Fox Movie Channel in its entirety, with Robert Wagner doing wraparounds; I was able to tape the episodes on VHS, but would gladly pay for a DVD set if i was available commercially. It seems that this script had been intended for a big screen rendering, and may have been a victim of the downsizing of movie production that occurred in the mid-50s; it was thus made as a TV drama. It later was made for the big screen, in 1960 as A CIRCLE OF DECEPTION, with Suzy Parker and Bradford Dillman (they went on to marry after this, and Suzy retired to become a housewife). My interest in Linda's TV work of the mid- to late-50s is because she did so few movies by then, partially because she got few decent offers, and partially because she had started to do stage work, and enjoyed it so much she actually turned down some movie work to do theater. TV movies and series episodes were filmed quickly, and therefore did not tie her up as long as a movie would.

TopBilled: What you have here by the alternate title of IT HAPPENED IN ROMA, I listed by the more common title of THE LAST FIVE MINUTES, which is the literal translation of its Italian title, GLI ULTIMI CINQUE MINUTI. It was based on a popular Italian stage comedy, but does not seem to have had a theatrical release in the US. What a coup if TCM could do a US premiere of this title!

*There is also an 82-minute episode of Playhouse 90 called 'Homeward Borne' that may have been sold as a feature either in foreign markets or in television syndication. I do not know if a copy survives, but interestingly it was based on a novel by Ruth Chatterton.* HOMEWARD BORNE was one of the few episodes of Playhouse 90 done on film, as opposed to kinescope, so they were able to, and it was offered for distribution in movie theaters in some markets in 1958, the year after it was filmed.

*Did I miss where you included ISLAND OF DESIRE? I don't see that one.* It's the last film of the last day.

*She also appeared in THE SONG OF BERNADETTE, EVERYBODY DOES IT, THE GUY WHO CAME BACK, A LETTER TO THREE WIVES, THE LADY PAYS OFF, ISLAND OF DESIRE, IT HAPPENS IN ROMA, ANGELS OF DARKNESS, THE CASTILIAN, and BLACK SPURS.* When i realize I had run out of weeks, I amended the first week with some of these titles. THE CASTILIAN is a false credit-she is NOT in this...BLACK SPURS, her last film, I should have included in Week Four. SONG OF BERNADETTE I didn't include as her role was but a cameo. Edited by: Arturo on Dec 5, 2012 9:59 AM