Arturo
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Posts posted by Arturo
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*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.
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*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.
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*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.
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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
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*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).
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*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.
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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!
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*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.
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*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
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Sorry I realized I shortchanged us the first week, where I was finishing on Pacific, instead of Eastern time. So here goes the revied schedule for....
First Week: MODERN DRESS COMEDIES AND DRAMAS:
8:00 PM:
HOTEL FOR WOMEN (1939); Already discussed here. Linda's film debut, and starting off with a starring role. Premiere (?)
9:30 PM:
DAY-TIME WIFE (1939): First of four co-starring roles with matinee idol Tyrone Power. In a role originally meant for Loretta Young, who refused to re-sign a lucrative contract with the studio, Linda actually had a more important role than Ty. They make an attractive couple in this screwball comedy, although Linda's comedy technique is in its infancy and would improve later. Also featuring Warren William, Wendy Barrie, Binnie Barnes, Joan Davis and Asta (if I remember correctly).
11:00 PM:
STAR DUST (1940): Based in part on Linda's own experience in being discovered and brought to Hollywood, this enjoyable feature has an interesting look into the starmaking process alll the studios were then involved with. Also featuring John Payne,Charlotte Greenwood, Roland Young, Mary Healy and Donald Meek. TRIVIA; LInda got her prints in cement at Graumann's Chinese Theater during its premiere....Linda had watched a late night showing of this film the night of the fire that would claim her life in Aprll 1965.
1:00 AM:
RISE AND SHINE (1941): Campus football comedy, with Linda a co-ed cheerleader. Also featuring George Murphy and Jack Oakie, Linda felt this was a come-down from the two Rouben Mammoulian directed movies starring Tyrone Power: THE MARK OF ZORRO an BLOOD AND SAND (both two be on Week Two's schedule).
2:30 AM:
CITY WITHOUT MEN (1943): Linda's first loanout to another studio (Columbia) yielded this programmer about a group of women reting rooms while waiting for their incarcerated husbands' release.
4:00 AM
SWEET AND LOWDOWN (1944): Linda is the ingenue (for the last time) in this tunefest featuring the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Lynn Bari as the band singer, and James Cardwell as the musician with whom Linda is involved.
5:30 AM:
UNFAITHFULLY YOURS (1948): Classic black comedy of Rex Harrison a conductor susecting young wife of having an affair. While conducting three musical pieces, he envisions three different ways of killing Linda. With Rudy Vallee, Barbara Lawrence and Kurt Kruger.
7:30 AM:
A LETTER TOTHREE WIVES (1949): Linda's most acclaimed role, as one of three wives who receive a letter from a friend stating the friend has run off with one of their husbands. Trenchant dissection of marriage and suburban mores at the mid-century oint. With Jeanne Crain, Ann Sothern, Paul Douglas, Kirk Douglas, Thelma Ritter, and Connie Gilchrist. Brilliant.
9:30 AM:
EVERYBODY DOES IT (1949):
Linda plays an singing diva wooing Paul Douglas, who goes into singing opera to show up wife Celeste Hol, who thinks she is the talented one. With Charles Colburn. Quite funny.
11:00 AM
THE GUY WHO CAME BACK (1951):
Paul Douglas is a football star who wishes he could still play, Joan Bennett his wife, and Linda a model wih whom he gets involved. ife an mistress team up to straighten him out.
12:30 PM:
THE LADY PAYS OFF (1951):
Linda is a schoolteacher who pays off her gablimg debts by tutoring Stephen McNalley's daughter. With Gig Perreau and Virginia Field. Made at Uiversal under a revised, non-exclusive contract with Fox.
2:30 PM:
ANGELS OF DARKNESS/DONNE PROIBITE (1953):
One of two movies Linda would make in Italy for producer Giusseppi Amato. She plays one of three prostitutes displaced by the cloing of their brothel. With Anthony Quinn, Valentina Corstese, and Giuletta Messina.
4:00 PM:
THE LAST FIVE MINUTES/GLI ULTIMI CINQUE MINUTI (1955):
Second italian venture, a comedy with Linda sharing quarters out of convenience. With Vittorio De Sia, Rosanno Brazzi, Sophie Demarets.
5:30 PM
ISLAND OF DESIRE/SATURDAY ISLAND (1952):
let's nd this wth one of Linda's sexiest roles. She and newcomer Tab Hunter are stranded on a deserted South Pacific island, gradually fall for each other. Donald Gray is a pilot that crashes there, and nurse Linda, aftern amputationg his arm, is torn between both men. A maximum of exposed flesh for the ties, if minimum of storyline involved, but Linda doesquite nicely. a guilty pleasure.
Edited by: Arturo on Dec 5, 2012 10:20 AM
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Week Five: FEMME FATALE,AND THE REST:
(all times Eastern):
8"00 PM:
FALLEN ANGEL (1945): Classic FilmNoir with Linda the temptress that has assorted men buzzing adound the small-town seaside cafe where she waitressess. Newly arrived drifter becomes the latest, and schemes a way to get the money she insists he have. With Alice Faye, who left the studio over the cutting down of her part, Charles Bickford, Ann Revere, Percy Kilbride.
10:00 PM:
SLATTERY'S HURRICANE (1949):
Steamy, special-effects-driven melodrama with Richard Widmrk as a pilot working for some importers, involved with Veronica Lake, until olf flame Linda comes back into the picture, as wife of old navy buddy John Russell.
11:45 PM:
NO WAY OUT (1950):
Hard hiting, bleak drama dealing with racial tensions. Richard Wdmark plays a vicious rascist hood, who accuses doctor Sidny Poitier of deliberately killing his brother. Linda Darnell plays the girlfriend/wife of the brothers. Tense and exciting.
1:45 AM:
THE THIRTEENTH LETTER (1951):
Atmospheric drama of small Quebec town flooded with poison pen letters. Linda plays a cripple, Michael Rennie the new doctor she makes a play for. With Charles Boyer, Constance Smith and others.
3:30 AM:
NIGHT WITHOUT SLEEP (1952):
Gary Merrill awakens from a drunken blackout, wih the feeling he has murdered one of the women he is involved with: his wife, his mistress or movie star Linda. With Hildegard Neff.
5:00 AM:
SECOND CHANCE (1953),
Linda is a gangster's moll on the run south of the border, where she meets washed-up boxer Robert Mitchum barnstorming through the area. Jack Palance is the henchman out to keep Darnell from returning to testify against the gangster. Originally released in
3-D, it has a fair degree of suspense.
6:45 AM:
THIS IS MY LOVE (1954),
Made for RKO, but filmed on the Republic lot due to lack of space, this was Linda's second film for Stuart Heisler, she plays a neurotic spinster fighting with married sister Faith Domergue over newcomer Rick Jason, while Domergue's husband, wheelchair-bound Dan Duryea, torments Linda endlessly. This little-known soap has what was arguably Darnell's best performance. Really heady stuff.
8:30 AM:
ZERO HOUR (1957):
The original Airplane headed for disaster movie that was spoofed years later in AIRPLANE. Dana Andrews plays a WW2 pilot who crashed a plande during the war, whic has crippled his life. Linda is the wife who is leaving him. With Serling Hayen and Peggy King,
Edited by: Arturo on Dec 5, 2012 9:29 AM
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HBO SIGNATURE:
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5:
3:45 AM:
DREAMBOAT (1952) Clifton Webb as staid middle aged professor horrified to find his past coming to haunt him, namely his silent pictures when he was a matinee idol-"Dreamboat". Ginger Rogers as his long ago costar, and Anne Francis as his daughter, add to the fun.
MOREMAX:
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6:
1:00 AM:
O'HENRY'S FULL HOUSE (1952): All star omnibus film made up of several O'Henry short stories. Each story done by a different director,
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An entertaining little film by 20th Century Fox, 1942's A GENTLEMAN AT HEART, dealt with art forgeries. It starred Cesar Romero, Carole Landis and Milton Berle. Quite enjoyable.
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*Although it was not a glamorous role for her, I really liked her in the "No Way Out" 1950 with Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier. I read she stated "No Way Out" was the only good film I was in," but I don't think that is true at all.*
Linda loved the fact that it was not her usual glamorous part, where her looks and wardrobe might be given higher priority over the acting. This was probably her best role, definitely among her best acting. IMHO Linda should have been nominated for an Oscar for this, and maybe she would've, if the 1950 Best Actress field hadn't been so competitive, and if her studio hadn't put their muscle behind ALL ABOUT EVE, also by the director of NO WAY OUT, Joseph Mankiewicz.
PS _Week Five will feature Linda's noirish dramas of the second half of the 40s and into the 50s.
Edited by: Arturo on Dec 5, 2012 1:37 AM
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Week Four: TEMPTRESS PERIOD! (PT.2)
(All times Eastern)
8:00 PM:
FOREVER AMBER (1947): A bit out of chronological sequence here, this adaptation of the best-selling novel since GWTW, it was Linda's big opportunity for superstardom. However, a troubled production, with director, cast and script substitutions, and a skyrocketing budget bode ill from the get-go, and with censorship groups on hyper-drive to cripple the gist of the story, that of an upwardly mobile hussy in Restoration England, going from puritan bumpkin to the court of the King of England, using men as stepping-stones, and studio heads afraid of a boycott by religious groups; the movie could not live up to expectations. Despite mixed reviews, it was a blockbuster hit, but barely made back its huge costs. Yet, for all of that,it is a sweeping, colorful epic, with all departments at the peak of their game, and Linda making a lushly beautiful Amber.
10:30 PM:
MY DARLING CLEMENTINE (1946): Classicly pure western retelling the Wyatt Earp story, with Henry Fonda and Victor Mature superb in their first roles after returning from WW2. Linda plays the fiery mestiza Chihuahua, a woman of easy virtue in love with Mature's Doc Holliday, and Cathy Downs as the love he left behind, the Clementine of the title.
12:30 AM:
THE WALLS OF JERICHO (1948): All-star period melodrama, set in small-town Kansas early in the last century. Linda, spurned by married lawyer Cornel Wilde, strikes back by scheming to have husband Kirk Douglas influence public opinion in his newspaper, publishing unflattering op-ed pieces re: Wilde. Anne Baxter is the girl Cornel loves, and Ann Dvorak is his dipsomaniac wife.
2:30 AM:
TWO FLAGS WEST (1950):
interesting western set at a fort in New Mexico during the Civil War, with Linda the object of the affections of Cornel Wilde, Jeff Chandler and Joseph Cotton. Good battle scenes.
4:30 AM:
BLACKBEARD THE PIRATE (1952),
Enjoyable epic on the Spanish Main, with a hammy Robert Newton in the title role, William Bendix, Keith Andes, Irene Ryan and Richard Egan in a small role, and of course Linda in some low-cut gowns. Made on loan to RKO.
6:30 AM:
DAKOTA INCIDENT (1956):
Linda stars along with Dale Robertson, John Lund, Ward Bond and others in this above-average western. A stagecoach is ambushed by a band of Native Americans, and fight them off, while being picked off by them. Linda made this at Republic Studios.
Edited by: Arturo on Dec 5, 2012 1:24 AM
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Week Three: TEMPTRESS, PERIOD! (Pt.1)
(All times Eastern)
8:00 PM:
SUMMER STORM (1944): This movie, made on loan to UA, was a game-changer for Linda. Playing a femme fatale, driving men wild, in rural pre-revolutionary Russia, Linda killed her girl-next door image in one swoop, especially with the publicity shots preceding and accompanying its release, where she is posed in a tight low cut blouse and skirt among bales of hay, and thereby entering the **** stakes as well with a bang. Not only did she alter her image forever, but she revitalized her career, which had been stagnating for a couple of years. With George Sanders and Edward Everett Horton as two men hopeless lusting after her, Anna Lee, Hugo Haas.
9:45 PM:
THE GREAT JOHN L. (1945): Also on loan to UA, for Bing Crosby's production company, this bio-pic about boxer John L. Sullivan, played by Greg McClure, also featured two of his loves, Barbara Britton and Linda Darnell, playing a showgirl.
11:30 AM:
HANGOVER SQUARE (1945): Classic, moody, deranged-killer piece set in gaslit London, with Laird Cregar as a composer losing it with loud dissonant noise, blacking out and murdering someone. Linda plays the beautiful, ambitious singer who uses him to write pop songs for her. With George Sanders, Glenn Langan, and Faye Marlowe. Great Bernard Hermann score and concerto.
1:00 AM:
CENTENNIAL SUMMER (1946): All-star musical, inspired by MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS. Linda and Jeanne Crain are sisters, both after newcomer Cornel Wilde, who arrives with Aunt Constance Bennett. Also with William Eythe, Dorothy Gish, Walter Brennan. Colorful and tuneful.
3:00 AM:
ANNA AND THE KING OF SIAM (1946): Linda has a decidedly supporting role, compared to Irene Dunne and Rex Harrison, in this first filming of the classic story. She plays Tuptim, the new favorite concubine of the king, who is burned when she runs off with her true love. Also featuring Lee J. Cobb and Gale Sondegaard.
Edited by: Arturo on Dec 5, 2012 12:59 AM
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Well she was no less cute than Jane Withers, Margaret O'Brien or Peggy Ann Garner: your statements are equally applicable to these child stars.
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Week Two: COSTUME DRAMAS/ADVENTURE MOVIES/SWASHBUCKLERS:
(All times Eastern)
8:00 PM:
BRIGHAM YOUNG (1940): Big budget epic of the Mormon trek westward. Wide vistas and a large cast, including for boxoffice purposes, Tyrone Power and Linda Darnell as the young lovers, Dean Jagger in the title role, Mary Astor, Jane Darwell, Vincent Price, John Carradine and more.
10:30 PM:
THE MARK OF ZORRO (1940): One of the great swashbucklers, again starring Power and Darnell, in California when it was a far off province of Spain, by way of Mexico. Power plays the Robin Hood style character, fighting injustice against the poor. With Basil Rathbone as the dasterdly villain, Gale Sondagaard, Eugene Pallette, and more. Great fun.
12:30 AM:
CHAD HANNA (1940): Colorful filming of life in uptown New York State in the 1840s, with a traveling circus featuring Henry Fonda, Linda Darnell and Dorothy Lamour as some of the star acts. Also featuring Guy Kibbee and Jane Darwell as the circus owners. Shot in beautiful early Technicolor, this feels as fresh as an early morning in June.
2:15 AM:
BLOOD AND SAND (1941): Another movie with an amazing color palette. Tyrone Power as a bullfighter, Linda, in her fourth and final time as his costar, plays his devoted wife; Rita Hayworth, in her starmaking turn, plays a temptress of feline grace; Laird Cregar is droll as an aficionado; and others including Lynn Bari, Nazimova, Anthony Quinn in this feast for the eyes.
4:30 AM:
THE LOVES OF EDGAR ALLAN POE (1942): Rather static biography with Sheppard Strudwick as the title character, and Linda and Virginia Gilmore as two of the loves of his life. This is Zanuck exacting his revenge by consigning Linda to less prestigious fare.
5:45 AM:
BUFFALO BILL (1944): Technicolor biography with Joel McCrea as the Wild West showman, Maureen O'Hara as his wife, and Linda as a dusky Indian maiden in love with him. Fairly exciting western. Also featuring Anthony Quinn as a brave.
7:30 AM:
IT HAPPENED TOMORROW (1944): On loan to United Artists, Linda costarred with Dick Powell in this whimsical period comedy. Powell was able to know the following day's headlines, and sought to capitalize on this, until he saw his own obituary. Fun and clever, with girlfriend Linda playing a magician's assistant.
More to follow.....
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*When Linda was featured for Summer Under the Stars, they padded the day with some of her lesser RKO films of the 1950s. And you know that for a SOTM feature, SUMMER STORM would undoubtedly get played because it's a cheap(er) United Artists release. You are not going to get all Fox titles. Maybe one or two nights of the month would have Fox titles but half the month would not.*
Well, if I remember correctly, approximately half of her SUTS tribute were Fox films. I don't mind seeing her RKO films from the 50s,
BLACKBEARD THE PIRATE (1952), with a hammy Robert Newton in the title role, William Bendix, Keith Andes, Irene Ryan and Richard Egan in a small role, and of course Linda in some low-cut gowns.
SECOND CHANCE (1953), Linda is a gangster's moll on the run south of the border, where she meets washed-up boxer Robert Mitchum barnstorming through the area. Jack Palance is the henchman out to keep Darnell from returning to testify against the gangster. Originally released in
3-D, it has a fair degree of suspense.
And especially, I would LOVE to see a film I haven't seen since the 70s....
THIS IS MY LOVE (1954), Made for RKO, but filmed on the Republic lot due to lack of space, this was Linda's second film for Stuart Heisler, she plays a neurotic spinster fighting with married sister Faith Domergue over newcomer Rick Jason, while Domergue's husband, wheelchair-bound Dan Duryea, torments Linda endlessly. This little-known soap has what was arguably Darnell's best performance. Really heady stuff.
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*She did have some good parts after this, on television. She's as gorgeous as ever in two episodes of Ward Bond's Wagon Train from season one, produced in 1958.*
She's especially good in the first episode, "The Dora Gray Story", which seems like it might've been a movie script that was adapted to the parameters of the series (other than Robert Horton, the regulars are but fleetingly glimpsed). She and Horton are seen throughout. The second episode "The Sacramento Story", was the finale of the first season, as the wagon train reached its destination. Linda has one scene only, as a sort of coda to the earlier story; Margaret O'Brien was the main female in the storyline. Linda looks noticeably different in the two episodes (shorter hair, noticeably heavier-the scourge of much of her life-in the later episode).
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I also really like DAKOTA INCIDENT. Yes, Linda looked great in that red outfit, but even better when she took off the coat, and had the white blouse, although that was soon mussed up when the stagecoach was routed and attacked by a band of Native Americans. Linda had a great time making this (even though she hated being in westerns because she was allergic to horses), from the first cast reading. Linda and the rest of the cast were rolling around on the floor as they read some pompous dialogue-must've been a speech from the windbag senator played by Ward Bond. This was Linda's last good part in a feature film IMHO. Some 18 months later, she made ZERO HOUR, but while good, she had little to do, it being mostly about Dana Andrews' dilemma.
Edited by: Arturo on Dec 4, 2012 1:43 PM
LINDA DARNELL for Star of the Month October 2013
in General Discussions
Posted
*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