TopBilled

*Gale Sondergaard's Web* THE SPIDER WOMAN wasn't satisfied the first time, so THE SPIDER WOMAN STRIKES BACK.

*GIVE MY REGARDS TO BROADWAY (1948)* From Agee on July 24, 1948: Vaudeville is dead; I wish to God someone would bury it.

*LARAINE STEPHENS* 40 GUNS TO APACHE PASS (1967) with Audie Murphy, Michael Burns & Kenneth Tobey THE 1,000 PLANE RAID (1969) with Christopher George & J.D. Cannon

*Elizabeth Taylor & Montgomery Clift* The magic begins with A PLACE IN THE SUN. They had been scheduled to do REFLECTIONS IN A GOLDEN EYE, which would've been very interesting.

*THOUSANDS CHEER (1943)* From Agee on October 8, 1943: A thoroughly routine musical distinguished by Gene Kelly with nothing to use his talents on, a terrible piece of trash by Shostakovich, and the unpleasant sight of Jose Iturbi proving he is a real guy by playing the sort of boogie woogie anyone ought to be able to learn through a correspondence course.

*CESAR ROMERO* CHEATING CHEATERS (1934) with Fay Wray DIAMOND JIM (1935) with Edward Arnold, Jean Arthur & Binnie Barnes HOLD 'EM YALE (1935) with Patricia Ellis SHOW THEM NO MERCY! (1935) with Rochelle Hudson & Bruce Cabot THE DEVIL IS A WOMAN (1935) with Marlene Dietrich & Lionel Atwill 15 MAIDEN LANE (1936) with Claire Trevor LOVE BEFORE BREAKFAST (1936) with Carole Lombard & Preston Foster NOBODY'S FOOL (1936) with Edward Everett Horton & Glenda Farrell SHE'S DANGEROUS (1937) with Tala Birell & Walter Pidgeon DANCE HALL (1941) with Carole Landis TALL, DARK AND HANDSOME (1941) with Virginia Gilmore, Charlotte Greenwood & Milton Berle CARNIVAL IN COSTA RICA (1947) with Dick Haymes & Vera-Ellen DEEP WATERS (1948) with Dana Andrews & Jean Peters ONCE A THIEF (1950) with June Havoc LOST CONTINENT (1951) with Hillary Brooke F.B.I. GIRL (1951) with George Brent, Audrey Totter & Tom Drake HAPPY GO LOVELY (1951) with David Niven & Vera-Ellen THE JUNGLE (1952) with Rod Cameron & Marie Windsor SCOTLAND YARD INSPECTOR (1952) with Lois Maxwell SHADOW MAN (1953) with Kay Kendall THE RACERS (1955) with Kirk Douglas, Bella Darvi & Gilbert Roland THE AMERICANO (1955) with Glenn Ford & Frank Lovejoy THE LEATHER SAINT (1956) with Paul Douglas & John Derek VILLA!! (1958) with Brian Keith & Margia Dean SEVEN WOMEN FROM HELL (1961) with Patricia Owens & John Kerr IF A MAN ANSWERS (1962) with Sandra Dee, Bobby Darin & Micheline Prsle THE CASTILIAN (1963) with Frankie Avalon & Broderick Crawford A HOUSE IS NOT A HOME (1964) with Shelley Winters & Robert Taylor TWO ON A GUILLOTINE (1965) with Connie Stevens & Dean Jones SERGEANT DEADHEAD (1965) with Frankie Avalon & Deborah Walley BATMAN (1966) with Adam West & Burgess Meredith

*A WOMAN'S VENGEANCE (1948)* From Agee on February 14, 1948: Aldous Huxley's screenplay of his Gioconda Smile. A rather literary movie, but most movies are not even that; much less are they real movies. Sensitively directed by Zoltan Korda and generally well played, above all by Jessica Tandy.

*Silent Films in the Sound Era* Chaplin made CITY LIGHTS in 1931 and Murnau made TABU.

*RUBY DEE* THE TALL TARGET (1951) with Dick Powell & Paula Raymond GO, MAN, GO! (1954) with Dane Clark & Sidney Poitier EDGE OF THE CITY (1957) with John Cassavetes & Sidney Poitier VIRGIN ISLAND (1958) with John Cassavetes & Sidney Poitier ST. LOUIS BLUES (1958) with Nat King Cole & Eartha Kitt A RAISIN IN THE SUN (1961) with Sidney Poitier GONE ARE THE DAYS! (1963) with Ossie Davis THE BALCONY (1963) with Shelley Winters & Peter Falk UP TIGHT! (1968) with Raymond St. Jacques BUCK AND THE PREACHER (1972) with Sidney Poitier & Harry Belafonte

Considering VW's aptitude at playing rural types, I think she would've fit in well at Republic. I would've cast her as the kid sister to Judy Canova in one of Judy's rural comedies. That would've been classic! I would also have tried to find another project that might reteam her and Mickey Rooney at Columbia, since he and Ray McDonald worked there in the 50s. I would've given her the part Peggy Ryan played in ALL ASHORE.

I think Kate was cast in this film because the character did have similarities to the one she played in AFRICAN QUEEN.

Here is Virginia Weidler's filmography as listed in James Robert Parish's book The MGM Stock Company. SURRENDER (1931)...Fox...her only film for this studio AFTER TONIGHT (1933)...RKO LONG LOST FATHER (1934)...RKO STAMBOUL QUEST (1934)...MGM... These first four films were bit parts, the result of her mother pounding the pavement and meeting casting directors. She made a more noteworthy impression in her fifth film which led to being signed at Paramount: MRS. WIGGS OF THE CABBAGE PATCH (1934)...Paramount BIG BROADCAST OF 1936 (1935)...Paramount PETER IBBETSON (1935)...Paramount TIMOTHY'S QUEST (1935)...Paramount Then, there were a series of loan-outs: LADDIE (1935)...RKO FRECKLES (1935)...RKO TROUBLE FOR TWO (1936)...MGM And back to home studio Paramount: GIRL OF THE OZARKS (1936)...Paramount...her first starring role BIG BROADCAST OF 1937 (1936)...Paramount MAID OF SALEM (1937)...Paramount A quick loan out: THE OUTCASTS OF POKER FLAT (1937)...RKO Then, she finishes out her contract at Paramount: SOULS AT SEA (1937)...Paramount SCANDAL STREET (1938)...Paramount MEN WITH WINGS (1938)...Paramount More work at RKO: MOTHER CAREY'S CHICKENS (1938)...RKO THE ROOKIE COP (1939)...RKO THE SPELLBINDER (1939)...RKO THE GREAT MAN VOTES (1939)...RKO FIXER DUGAN (1939)...RKO Signed by MGM: LOVE IS A HEADACHE (1938)...MGM...first film with Mickey Rooney TOO HOT TO HANDLE (1938)...MGM OUT WEST WITH THE HARDYS (1938)...MGM...again with Rooney THE WOMEN (1939)...MGM Loan-outs: THE UNDER-PUP (1939)...Universal...her only film for the studio THE LONE WOLF SPY HUNT (1939)...Columbia...only film for them Back to the lion: BAD LITTLE ANGEL (1940)...MGM HENRY GOES TO ARIZONA (1940)...MGM YOUNG TOM EDISON (1940)...MGM...again paired with Mickey Rooney Her last loan-out: ALL THIS AND HEAVEN TOO (1940)...Warners...her only film for WB Finishing out her film career at the home studio: GOLD RUSH MAISIE (1940)...MGM THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940)...MGM I'LL WAIT FOR YOU (1941)...MGM KEEPING COMPANY (1941)...MGM BARNACLE BILL (1941)...MGM...reassigned to her after Shirley Temple refused to do it BABES ON BROADWAY (1941)...MGM...last film with Rooney THIS TIME FOR KEEPS (1942)...MGM BORN TO SING (1942)...MGM...starring role in a musical...given to her and Ray McDonald, originally intended for Mickey Rooney & Judy Garland THE AFFAIRS OF MARTHA (1942)...MGM THE YOUNGEST PROFESSION (1943)...MGM...intended for Garland then Kathryn Grayson BEST FOOT FORWARD (1943)...MGM...designed for Lana Turner, given to Lucille Ball...Weidler in supporting role, her last feature

My guess is that she was burned out. She finished school and did some stage work. Then, probably when she tried to resurrect her film career, she found the door pretty much closed to her. I am really surprised, however, that she did not turn to television guest-starring roles in the 50s and 60s. Maybe she was too busy raising her family by then.

Arturo, I appreciate the feedback. I did not suggest that Young & MacMurray did spaghetti westerns. I think you made a slight leap there. Young had two long-running series, of course. Those were the first examples that came to mind about film stars that turned to weekly television series and found continued success. When I mentioned the Italian productions, I was thinking of Anthony Quinn and Ernest Borgnine. Stewart Granger also did westerns overseas, but some of those were financed by German or Spanish companies. The point is that they could keep working in a foreign market as a top-billed star if roles or opportunities dried up in Hollywood. As for Kay Francis, obviously Monogram could not pay her what Jack Warner did. However, she was able to not only star but produce those three Monogram features. So I am sure with two jobs on each of those pictures, it was not a meager sum, probably more middle-range. I am sure she did those pictures for the money and for the chance to expand her resume. She retired from motion pictures after that. I don't think we know for sure if Virginia Weidler had it easy in Hollywood. In fact, considering the often brutal way studios often treated child stars, I bet it was very tough for her. What is sad is that she clearly had a love for entertaining and her showmanship is not given any more creative outlets after the mid-40s. I think we can put her in the same category as Deanna Durbin. They retired or were forced out when they were still budding talents.

*Vision* Jennifer Jones experiences a supernatural visit in THE SONG OF BERNADETTE and so does Susan Whitney in THE MIRACLE OF OUR LADY OF FATIMA.

*ERROL FLYNN* DON'T BET ON BLONDES (1935) with Warren William THE PERFECT SPECIMEN (1937) with Joan Blondell ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN FABIAN (1951) with Micheline Presle & Vincent Price AGAINST ALL FLAGS (1952) with Maureen O'Hara & Anthony Quinn LILACS IN THE SPRING (1955) with Anna Neagle & Peter Graves THE DARK AVENGER (1955) with Joanne Dru & Peter Finch KING'S RHAPSODY (1955) with Anna Neagle & Patrice Wymore ISTANBUL (1957) with Cornell Borchers THE BIG BOODLE (1957) with Rossana Rory & Pedro Armendariz THE ROOTS OF HEAVEN (1958) with Juliette Greco, Trevor Howard & Orson Welles

*CAN'T HELP SINGING (1944)* From Agee on January 6, 1945: CAN'T HELP SINGING miscarries Deanna Durbin, a Jerome Kern score, and a trip across North America in 1849. It seems to me this could have been a beautiful and gay picture. Unfortunately, it is made without much feeling for either beauty or gaiety.

I don't mean interesting casting that doesn't work, but I mean interesting casting that most people would never think of (except some rare casting agent) that actually works. I watched HOW TO COMMIT MARRIAGE recently. Who would've thought that Bob Hope and Jane Wyman would be believable as a husband and wife? I sure didn't! But you know what, it works very well in this film. I also watched ROOSTER COGBURN. Come on, John Wayne and Katharine Hepburn in the same movie? It's truly delightful.

I agree it seems odd she was not hired by at least one other studio. You don't just fall off the face of the earth like that in Hollywood. Usually a film career goes into decline, but they keep making films, because their agents and families push them to keep bringing the money in. Kay Francis did three films at Monogram in the end because it was lucrative to keep working, even though she was no longer at a major studio. One trend that I notice when looking at filmographies of classic stars is that when their star status slips, they usually are dropped by the home studio but then freelance with multi-picture deals at other top studios. Once those opportunities have been exhausted, then they go to second-tier studios that still produce big budget films, like Columbia and later Allied Artists, which was a revamped version of Monogram. Then, after these deals end, they go overseas and do British or French productions. When spaghetti westerns were all the rage, some of the fading male actors did Italian productions. So they could effectively extend the lifespan of their film careers for another few years, especially if they had large foreign audiences. Then, from there, they would come back to Hollywood and do TV films (from the the late 60s forward). And then they would go the route of trying to ink a deal with a television network, filming a pilot and hoping they could develop a long-running series which some like Fred MacMurray or Robert Young were able to do. This could extend their careers another ten years if they did it right. Then, they would return to A-budget films in extended cameos or important supporting roles that might earn them an Oscar or a Golden Globe. So when we see that Virginia Weidler had none of this, it does seem that she, like Deanna Durbin, was driven out of the business at a very young age. And it is our loss.

*Lucille Ball as Annabel* THE AFFAIRS OF ANNABEL are quite numerous, especially when ANNABEL TAKES A TOUR.

*PATRICIA DANE* GRAND CENTRAL MURDER (1942) with Van Heflin NORTHWEST RANGERS (1942) with James Craig & William Lundigan SOMEWHERE I'LL FIND YOU (1942) with Clark Gable, Lana Turner & Robert Sterling I DOOD IT (1943) with Red Skelton & Eleanor Powell

*THEY ARE NOT ANGELS (1948)* From Agee on June 19, 1948: Well, who would expect them to be; they are French parachute troops. Good in spots but very long and often next-door to tiresome.

*Monte Carlo* Gamblers take a chance at love along the Riviera. First, it's Jeanette MacDonald in Ernst Lubitsch's MONTE CARLO, then it's Marlene Dietrich with Vittorio de Sica in THE MONTE CARLO STORY.

*I KNOW WHERE I'M GOING! (1947)* From Agee on September 13, 1947: This is a very pleasant English film by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressberger. It is the story of an imperious young Englishwoman (Wendy Hiller), about to marry for money, who is delayed among the natives of one of the islands off the coast of Scotland and there learns better things about herself and about life in general than she might have expected to. Some of this story is told with slickness and whimsy as well as genuine lightness. I kept realizing as I watched and enjoyed it how shallow and shabby it would probably seem in print. But there are engaging performances by Miss Hiller and Roger Livesey; the sensitive photography and the intelligent if not very imaginative use of sound do more than enough to make eloquent the influence of place on people. The whole thing is undertaken with a kind of taste and modesty whose absence did much to harm Messrs. Powell and Pressberger's STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN and BLACK NARCISSUS. Theirs is a gentle sort of talent at last, but at times they know very well how to use it, without much concession to their liabilities: inordinate ambition, bumptiousness, and a general unevenness of judgment.

*JACK OAKIE* SEA LEGS (1930) with Eugene Pallette & Lillian Roth LET'S GO NATIVE (1930) with Jeanette MacDonald THE SAP FROM SYRACUSE (1930) with Ginger Rogers TOUCHDOWN (1931) with Richard Arlen DUDE RANCH (1931) with Stuart Erwin THE GANG BUSTER (1931) with Jean Arthur & William Boyd SKY BRIDE (1932) with Richard Arlen UPTOWN NEW YORK (1932) with Shirley Grey & Leon Ames SITTING PRETTY (1933) with Jack Haley & Ginger Rogers COLLEGE RHYTHM (1934) with Joe Penner FLORIDA SPECIAL (1936) with Sally Eilers & Kent Taylor THANKS FOR EVERYTHING (1938) with Adolphe Menjou & Jack Haley YOUNG PEOPLE (1940) with Shirley Temple SOMETHING TO SHOUT ABOUT (1943) with Done Ameche & Janet Blair THE MERRY MONAHANS (1944) with Donald O'Connor ON STAGE EVERYBODY (1945) with Peggy Ryan THAT'S THE SPIRIT (1945) with Peggy Ryan & June Vincent