ValeskaSuratt

Buster . . . (Crabbe, not Keaton, just in case anyone's confused) ...

> {quote:title=jamesjazzguitar wrote:}{quote}Jezebelle: Well I'm one that knocks the Tracy Hepburn relationship. I just cannot help it since there is so much to knock. For example, when I hear someone say Tracy was a devote Catholic. Devote? I find that POV really out of touch. Maybe "conflicted Catholic" is more accurate . . . > Then there is Kate Hepburn as the women that wears that pants. That goes her own way. That doesn't take crap. Maybe that was how she was to others but with Tracy she was a lap dog. There when he needed her and at this beck and call, according to his schedule. Maybe she was just very dedicated to him -- their relationship lasted over 20 years -- in a way that may seem to some like lapdoggishness ... (lapdogosity ... ? ... lapdoggery ... ? ... ?:| ... oh dear ... I've confused myself ... )

Does Anita Loos qualify as a star writer ? She appears resigned that not even a big lug like veteran director Jack Conway can protect her from Jean Harlow's skin-blistering radiance.

> {quote:title=FredCDobbs wrote:}{quote}Was she famous or not famous? Famous.

A brief clip of Gershwin playing his variations on I've Got Rhythm:

Bravo, Jezebelle. There's also a kind of middle-ground: learning that our favorite stars had the same human foibles as the rest of us and forgiving them -- maybe even learning from them -- without loving them any less. I cherish my rose-colored glasses, but I still want to be able to see through them.

*Let’s Make Lumps* Few remember that after Shemp Howard’s untimely death in 1955 and before Joe Besser was hired to replace him, Marilyn Monroe stepped in for a single Three Stooges film as “Curvy Jo.” Shooting was problematic from the first take when Marilyn, determined to pull no punches with her pugilistic co-stars, reflexively kneed Moe Howard in the groin. Further problems erupted when Monroe insisted on the presence of her drama coach, Natasha Lytess, whose background in Stanislavsky proved poor preparation for the intricacies of face-slapping, eye-poking and nose-bonking. Adding insult to potentially permanently dis- abling injury, the film was initially released to coincide with Marilyn's Fox "comeback" film under the title *Bust Stop*.

> {quote:title=JackFavell wrote:}{quote}Deborah Kerr? No, but she does look kinda like Deborah Kerr in that picture. Hint #1: Her career ended too soon.

*Ann Sheridan* (February 21, 1915 – January 21, 1967) died a month shy of her 52nd birthday. ** In addition to being "The Oomph Girl," she had the best laugh of any actress on the screen. Love you, Annie . . .

I still think Garfield was miscast . . .

lzcutter, That book sounds fascinating. YouTube has an excerpt from the documentary The RKO Story (made from Jewell's first book, I assume) that describes the film Welles went to South America to make: http://tinyurl.com/9j76zq4 "What's it about ?" asked the press upon his arrival in Brazil . . . "Ask me again in 6 months, " he replied.

> {quote:title=TomJH wrote:}{quote} > Think there's any chance that Ian Fleming got the inspiration for one of his James Bond adventures from these pictures? You mean the Oscars other daughter, Razzy ... aka Shirley Eaton in Goldfinger ...

> {quote:title=SonOfUniversalHorror wrote: > }{quote}LOL...not to burst bubbles, but that's Bogie's head stuck onto the body of Peter (Mission Impossible) Lupus from Lupus' Playgirl shoot from the mid-70's. :^0 To those of us with cast iron bubbles, it's called "Hollywood Magic."

*Vera-Ellen and Rock Hudson as Mr. & Mrs. Oscar in 1949* *Even the Oscar statuette was embarrassed . . .* (Sadly unable to have children, the Oscars adopted two orphan sisters named Emmy & Tony..)

A publicity shot from STARK (naked) PASSAGE reveals that the heavy-drinking, middle-aged Bogie was in amazing shape !

> {quote:title=joyrider wrote:}{quote}I'm sure there are experts in Film History on this board who are knowledgable on this subject. And I welcome your input. > {quote:title=joyrider wrote:}{quote}What I said "Destroyed" proving Fred Flintstone needs to go back to Stone Age college & leave this board to people who know the facts. If that's how you "welcome" input, you need to read the flame war thread.

Jim Caviezel was struck by lightning during production of The Passion of Christ. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3209223.stm

It's show business lore that playing Jesus Christ is bad luck for the actor who plays him. *H.B. Warner in Cecil B. DeMille's The King of Kings (1927)* From TCM's article about the film: "So concerned was DeMille with paying the proper respect, that the actor who played Christ, H.B. Warner, was required to endure a fair amount of religious deprivation. Warner was told not to speak to anyone on the set except for the director and told not to be seen in public during the production. "Such overzealous attention to 'how things looked' might have been due to an early experience on The King of Kings set in which a newspaper photographer snapped a shot of H.B. Warner in full Christ garb lounging in a chair while smo- king a cigarette and reading the sports pages." (snip) "But The King of Kings was not a success in all regards. The part of Christ was less than a boon to the acting career of its star, H.B. Warner. Because Hollywood tended to see actors as 'types,' Warner had great difficulty finding a role that matched the dignity of Christ after completing DeMille's film. *"He later* *told friends that his career virtually ended* *with The King of Kings.*" http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/62585%7C0/The-King-of-Kings.html

*Director Fred Niblo is on the left, May McAvoy and Francis George Packer (with squared flower pattern on his robes) are on the right, and in the middle is a stuffed camel.*

TomJH, (In the same voice as the fashion show announcer in How to Marry a Millionaire) -- "Clear lucite high-heels with Irish-orange velvet strapping and a wristful of "hot-potato" diamond bracelets designed by Harry Winston complete this ensemble, which we call "Famine Proof." .

Oh, de Mille and his bathroom fetish . . . ! From publicity for Dynamite (1929): "When Cecil B. De Mille thinks of bathtubs he thinks hard ! (Bwaha!) In addition to a glass bathtub in his new Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer picture, 'Dynamite', he presents also a 'bath-salts fountain. Kay Johnson is illustrating the method of pouring salts into their holder."

From Anna Sten all the way up to Brad Johnson (who??) she sure had lots of company

> {quote:title=TopBilled wrote:}{quote}According to notes on the IMDB, she was a nightclub dancer when she was discovered by producer Arthur Freed. She did not have any acting experience and she could not sing and was dubbed. I think putting her in ensemble pictures was best. > > After YOLANDA AND THE THIEF flopped, MGM lost interest in her. They still owed her several pictures and put her in a Dr. Kildare programmer. Then, to fulfill the terms of the contract, loaned her out to Eagle-Lion for three more assignments. She did a bit better there, especially as part of the all-star cast of RUTHLESS. But soon after, she faded from view...no more roles at other studios and a failure to transition to television. > > My feeling is that Freed and L.B. Mayer rushed her into a lead role without giving her time to learn the craft of acting, let alone the motion picture process. Also, she lacked natural instincts before the camera and was unable to become the next Eleanor Powell that the studio had hoped she would be. According to Judy Garland expert John Fricke: "For whatever it's worth, the only 'exception' Judy ever took to Lucille as far as I could tell was in a private reaction to the girl's lack of easy professional ability. In other words, it was more difficult to work with Lucille than it would have been with an actor who had more experience or 'better chops.' To drift into aspects of her purported jealousy over Lucille's looks -- or her outward cattiness because of Lucille's relationship with Freed -- seems to me to encompass a certain amount of misinterpretation or fabrication ..."

> TopBilled wrote: Why was she such a misfire...? I saw Yolanda the other day too and wondered exactly the same thing so I did some digging to see if I could disprove the oft-repeated rumor. From an article on Gay.net : "In March 1946, actress/dancer Lucille Bremer appeared on the cover of Life magazine in a rare color splash. The accompanying article praised her and the new MGM film Ziegfeld Follies and it seemed Lucille was a star on the rise." "But insiders knew MGM had already pulled the plug on this gifted performer's career. "Today most film buffs know Lucille Bremer as Judy Garland's sister in Meet Me In St. Louis or as Fred Astaire's dance partner in several classic numbers. But the gossip of the day also listed Lucille Bremer was MGM producer Arthur Freed's girlfriend or mistress. This trashy rumor followed the talented performer for her short but meteoric career. "Bremer began as as Rockette at the famed Radio City Music Hall. Following chorus appearances in several Broadway hits, Bremer was spotted dancing at the Versailles Club in NYC by famed producer Freed. Bringing her to Hollywood, she made a screen test that so impressed studio head Louis B. Mayer that he stated, 'She's going to be big—very big!' "Freed gave Lucille the plum role in Meet Me In St. Louis, and she was first rate. He next cast her as Fred Astaire's dance partner in two brilliant numbers in the all-star Ziegfeld Follies. Bremer proved to be a great partner for Fred Astaire, and her work in both is magical. Unfortunately, the filming of Follies took almost two years and the film was not released until March of 1946, after the flop that destroyed Lucille Bremer's bid for stardom. "Yolanda and The Thief (1945) has the unfortunate reputation as being the only arty Freed picture that lost money. Based on a fantasy by Ludwig Bemelmans and directed by Vincente Minnelli, Yolanda is one of the most gorgeous, underappreciated musical films in history. Lucille plays a convent-bred heiress who thinks that crook Fred Astaire is her guardian angel. "Although her singing was dubbed, her dance numbers with Astaire were wonderful. The film’s ending number, 'Coffee Time,' is among the greatest ever filmed. Performed on a floor of wavy, broad black and white stripes, the sequence dazzles. The cinematography and costumes are equally opulent. "But when Yolanda proved to be a box office disappointment, all the blame was put on Lucille Bremer. "She was given one more musical, Till The Clouds Roll By, where she played a bitchy star in the making. In her great dance number, "I Won't Dance," she’s paired with MGM heart throb Van Johnson. "MGM lost interest in Lucille Bremer and sold her contract to low budget Eagle Lion. She made three films for them, including Ruthless where she gave a tough-as-nails performance as the grasping wife of Sidney Greenstreet. After that, Lucille quit the movies, married the son of a former Mexican president and had four children. After a divorce, she moved to La Jolla CA where she operated a boutique and lived the rest of her life in obscurity until her death in 1996 at the age of 79. "Lucille Bremer probably wouldn’t have been a great lasting star. But her beauty and dancing ability will always be showcased in the three great MGM musicals she made, and 'Coffee Time' has the distinction of being one of the greatest dance numbers in musical film history." |http://www.gay.net/entertainment/2011/01/lucille-bremer-15-minutes-of-fame.html Maybe Judy Garland put it most succinctly when she supposedly said, "She retired and no one seemed to mind."

> {quote:title=jamesjazzguitar wrote:}{quote}Olivia DeHavilland. This picture can be found in the book The Flims of Olivia DeHavilland, which I own. Another winnah !