Arturo

Well.if you consider Doris.Day as a girl-next-door.type, she was a bigger movie star (and recording star) than Debbie Reynolds, in fact vying with Betty Grable (another girl next.door type) as the biggest female talkie movie star of the 20th Century. Of course, for whatever reasons, Debbie Reynolds' career.has lasted much longer.than Doris'.

I have the book, and.remember.that passage. Besides the fact.that it seems.uncharacteristically cutthroat.of.Linda to do that, I think she may have desired.to be in it,.and doubled-down in her push for it by going straight to the Boss's office. Of course, all.of Hollywood already thought Darnell.was.Zanuck's.mistress,.so it would be natural to conclude this.

I've come.across a large.book.at.the library, of Travilla.and.his sketches. It seems.an inordinate amount.of it focuses on.his.designs.for.MM,.understandably so. He also.did outfits for her personal use, sometimes.adapting.the designs.he did for her films,.sometimes.just.in different.colors.

Joan had a daughter, Melinda I think, who looked quite like her, per a Life Mafazine article from around 1949. I wonder if Melinda also dyed her hair black.

Sounds.like they substantially opened up.Williams' stage drama, which I've never seen or read. I think the movie is a very good, harrowing drama with an excellent cast, succesdfully adapting it to suggest several then distasteful and/or taboo topics.

Supposedly, shortly after she turned 18, Zanuck called her into his office to discuss a role.in an upcoming film. He seemed.to be deliberatively provocative, and.apparently led her into his inner.sanctum, and/or unzipped. She ran out of there, and soon realized.that she did not.get.the.choice.role.he had dangled in front of her, but what few assignments.she got were low-budget films, or were supporting.roles. Other producers, similarly unrestrained by her turning of.age, followed.suit and did not cast her in anything important. To add.further to her woes, in April 1943,.Linda.married cinematographer Peverell Marley, who at 42.was over twice her age. Zanuck felt her girl next door.image was being threatened by the marriage. Her fans supported her, however, in this decision. If wasn't until a confluence.of factors.in 1944 that Linda's.career.and.image got revitalized. But Zanuck never did get over his dislike of her, and grudgingly cast her in films, if only because she was a moneymaker.for.the studio, not from any conviction in promoting her career. Rumors she was his mistress persisted, deapite both denying this. The joke in Hollywood when she was.cast in a cameo.role in SONG OF BERNADETTE was that Zanuck had cast his mistress as the Virgin Mary.

FOREVER.AMBER will be on a couple of times this week on FMC, Tuesday, 11/24 @ 9:30.am est, and Wednesday, 11/25 @ 7:15 am est. This film was based on the racy bestseller, and Fox quickly ran afoul of the Breen office, which basically suggested the story was unfilmable at that time. The studio cut out large chunks of the book, eliminating most of Amber's lovers and husbands, illigitimate.children and abortions. The sanitized script still met with disapproval, and after filming was done, the Production Seal was withheld without some.deletions. Even then, the.Catholic Legion of Decency condemned the film,.leading to more cuts, and a prologue and epilogue inserted.about the wages of sin. Despite all this, the film.is still.quite good, with superb.work from.all.the departments. Unfortunately, due to the expensiveness of the production, and the condemnation and subsequent banning of it in certain areas, the film has the reputation of having flopped; however, it was a major moneymaker. It did receive mixed reviews, but is better than the impression they leave.

Unfortunately, Linda's long-term.contract ended in the early 1950s, at a time when studios were downsizing and retrenching. She ended up competing for the fewer and fewer movies being made with others also suddenly freelancing. Plus, marriage and extended overseas trips for filming led to her being away from the Hollywood scene for long periods.at this crucial time.....out of sight, out of mind,.and she wasn't considered for roles for which she might've. A perfect storm, in a sense.

Tom,.even with the new (older) traits that Atticus has in the new book? My choice would.be Gene.Tierney's parents in HEAVEN CAN WAIT. I like the way Marjorie Main and Eugene Pallette interact with each other, even if they use me as the conduit to speak to each other. Of course, after awhile of this, I too may flee the household, like Tierney.

Wow. I missed this when I was on vaca. I love the revisionist poster, smphasizing the director's later successes.

The fact that TCM does occasionally use fans as Guest Programmers is another great thing about this channel.

On FMC (all times eastern): Sunday, 11/22: 3:30 am: FROM THE TERRACE (1960).............................6 am: JOHN AND MARY (1969)......................................7:35 am: MY LUCKY STAR (1938)................................9 am: HOLIDAY FOR LOVERS (1959).................................10:45 am: APRIL LOVE (1957)...........................12:30 pm SURF PARTY (1964)....................................1:40 pm: WILD ON THE BEACH (1965)................. Monday, 11/23: 4 am: THE SWEET RIDE (1968).................................6 am: A FAREWELL TO ARMS (1957)................................8:45 am: APRIL LOVE (1957)...................10:30 am: SURF PARTY (1964).............................11:40 am: WILD ON THE BEACH (1965)..................................1 pm: THE SWEET RIDE (1968)............... Tuesday, 11/24: 4 am: KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES (1953).....................................6 am: THE PRISONER OF SHARK ISLAND (1936)...................................7:40 am: PRINCE OF FOXES (1949)...................................9:30 am: FOREVER AMBER (1947)...................................11:50 am: ANNE OF THE INDIES (1951).........................................1:15 pm: KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES (1953) ..................

I guess it was also no country for old (or young) women.

Misswonderly, great encapsulation of one of my favorite movies of the last decade. I too am foggy about the order of the ending.scenes. I will try to watch it on Wednesday, as I cook I guess. It was on some station recently, and as per usual, I watched a part of it after stumbling on it. But I didn't see the last half hour or so; I think I had to go somewhere.

For fhe first couple of years after KISS OF DEATH, Widmark played variations of the psychotic Udo. He is also very good in the noirs (and noirish) THE STREET WITH NO NAME (1948), ROADHOUSE (1948), SLATTERY'S HURRICANE (1949), and NIGHT AND THE CITY (1950). After his equally chilling portrayal of a racist hood on NO WAY OUT (1950), also with Linda Darnell and Sidney Poitier, among others, Widmark begged off from playing any more such characters, which Fox more or less honored. He was more like the character in I Love Lucy, and wanted to play more of this type.

Naw.....hillbillies all live in Right to Work states; the can't attempt to unionize.without the State Troopers coming to mow the pinkos down.

It's called makeup Fred. Plus, older women actresses.want decent roles, not necessarily as romantic leads. This has been going on forever. Bette Davis had to put out an ad in trade papers in the early 1960s, begging for work. Jeanne Crain (admittedly a less iconic star, but one still in her 30s, made a statement around the same time saying that all decent women's roles.were being offered to Audrey Hepburn. This is just in front of the camera; it must be much worse for the behind-the-scenes talent.

You and orhers here have already determined the cutoff.age to be 1960.

Speedracer, thank you for your support. Hope you will enjoy the aforementioned Linda Darnell films. Interesting.comment about you feeling.Linda and Gene Tierney were similar. They weren't really, although as contractees.at.20th Century Fox.in the 1940s.and into the 50s, they had parallel career trajectories. They started at Fox.about a year apart, Linda in 1939 and Gene in 1940, both were.instantly given lead roles,.and.struck a chord with the puboic from the beginning. The studio hoped with each.to have a replacement for Loretta Young, the studio's.top.dramatic.actress, who refused to renew her contract there in 1939. Tierney.was.the more suitable imagewise.to.replace.Young, with her patrician airs, but.the studio loaned her out initially to portray an exotic (Fox also cast her as such); Linda.also was.cast.as.an.exotic. Both actresses were up for many of the same roles during most of their mutual.tenure at the studio,.despite their very different.images. This was even with Linda's image.early on as a virginal.innocent,.and later.as.a.femme.fatale. Darnell usually got roles that fell into these stereotypes,.while.Tierney was given all.types of roles. Additionally, Zanuck favored Gene (he disliked.Darnell), and by the mid 40s, she was getting.most.of the plum assignments at Fox, and she was their number one dramatic actress for the rest.of the decade. Linda.fought for better.roles, but Zanuck's dislike for her caused him to put.little.energy into her career, and she grew.resentful.of the ill.treatment towards.it. On the other hand, Zanuck nurtured.Tierney at.all.times,.and when suffered her mental instability, he faithfully.offered her.parts in films.into the 1960s. One last comparison, despite very different looks, both actresses were among the most.beautiful of their day, and both had tragic lives.

Maybe TCM can get long-time French ex-pat Olivia DeHavilland to cohost the series. Now that would be a coup.

Two.mord Audrey/Paris films.......CHARADE and HOW TO STEAL A.MILLION. Guess I was having a brain freeze.yesterday. And if background scenes are going to count (a la the suggestion for CASABLANCA),.then the.story of Sabrina.in Paris, in SABRINA, should also be included.

Both Shelley and Marilyn were young starlets at the time. As mentioned, besides men, they shared a number of articles of clothing. I distinctly remember.Shelley talking about a pair of (Come) F **** Me Pumps, and even labelled them as.such in photos in her first autobiography. I guess they were the same shoe size, among other things.

IT HAPPENED ON 5TH AVENUE? with among others, Victor Moore and Ann Harding?

Of course, this can be done as a Theme of the Month, in tandem with a real Star of the Month, maybe as a Friday Night Spotlight. One night of the Theme could be done just featuring Audrey Hepburn films set in Paris, FUNNY FACE, LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON, etc.

Great writeup. Yes the double standard.was alive.and.well,.despite what passed for a sexual revolution in the 1920s. "Liberation" for.women.meant they could bob their hair, and wear skirts/dresses down to the knees, but if they engaged in sex for the sake of sex, as per men's perogative, they were branded by society af large.