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ginnyfan

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Posts posted by ginnyfan

    In search of...Virginia Weidler

    in General Discussions

    Posted

    musicalnovelty said:

     

    Oh Dear!

    I have an original of that still! (Number F23, P849-24) from FRECKLES (1935).

     

    By the way, I saw the friend who has the print of FRECKLES (quite possible the only known print) last week (and also in early June...which was nice - as he lives in the midwest and I'm in Massachusetts!) He still has the print, but unfortunately is still unable to do anything with it due to the rights tangles that affect just about EVERY film based on the writings of the author of the story FRECKLES.

    _______________________________________________________

     

    When the deer with the Doritos bag on its head was saved, I published that photo this way:

     

    wt6oup.jpg

     

    I call it "Ginny Saves Deer".

     

    In an odd coincidence, it's writer Gene Stratton-Porter's birthday in TODAY IN GINNY and I bemoaned not being able to see Laddie and Freckles, two films that really got VW noticed by the critics!

     

    http://virginiaweidlerremembrance.tumblr.com/post/58547157981/today-in-ginny

    Summer Stars

    in Films and Filmmakers

    Posted

    > {quote:title=bagladymimi wrote:}{quote}I thoroughly enjoyed the Maisie films, butI thought that perhaps Southern's best acting was done in A Letter To Three Wives..

    I also really liked her in THE BLUE GARDENIA and in SHADOW ON THE WALL.

     

    But you can't go wrong with a Maisie film...especially number three.

    In search of...Virginia Weidler

    in General Discussions

    Posted

    The big news TODAY IN GINNY is that there is yet a third home for the Virginia Weidler Remembrance Society. We are now also posting at: http://virginiaweidlerremembrance.tumblr.com/. We hope to one day be as big as McDonald's, or at least bail bondsmen.

     

    First up is actress Greta Meyer (1883). Greta was a character actress who apparently emigrated from Germany to Hollywood around 1930. She then had over seventy roles over the next 14 years. She played Candace in LADDIE (1935) and a masseuse in THE WOMEN (1939). Her specialty in films? Playing German women.

     

    Heartbreakingly, Renie Riano (1899) is listed on IMDb as “ugly saleswoman” in THE WOMEN. She played maids, housekeepers, and spinster aunts in 35 year career. The daughter of British stage actress Irene Riano, Renie actually played Baby Irene in a mother/daughter stage act prior to going to Hollywood.

     

     

    Sheldon Kelsey (1899) did a novelty horse act in BABES ON BROADWAY (1941). That is his only film credit and I have no photo. The gang having a hoedown stands in for him. Virginia is the gal at lower right.

     

     

    Ann Harding (1901) played Mary in PETER IBBETSON (1935). Ginny played Mimsey, Mary as a child, in that film. Harding was nominated for an Oscar for HOLIDAY (1930) and has two stars on the Walk of Fame for film and television. Interestingly, the photo is of her celebrating her birthday on the set of IBBETSON.

     

     

    Actor George Douglas (1903) played Mr. Carter in OUT WEST WITH THE HARDYS (1938). He usually played policemen, guards, and henchmen and wasn’t in anything that jumps out at me as a great film or memorable role, sad to say. We’ll let Ginny as ‘Jake’ Holt stand in for him.

     

     

    Joseph Sistrom (1912) was the associate producer of THE LONE WOLF SPY HUNT (1939). The film was based on the book, THE LONE WOLF’S DAUGHTER. Guess who Virginia played. Sistrom went on to be involved in bigger films, like DOUBLE INDEMNITY and WAKE ISLAND. His last film was POCKETFUL OF MIRACLES in 1961. Young Patricia Lanyard, daughter of the Lone Wolf, stands in.

     

     

    George Van Eps (1903) was a guitarist in Ray Noble’s Orchestra in THE BIG BROADCAST OF 1936 (1935). Some have called him the greatest jazz guitarist ever. He would be twenty years between roles as he appeared again as a guitarist in PETE KELLY’S BLUES in 1955.

     

     

    I was about to put Carl “Alfalfa” Switzer (1927) on the TIG list for appearing in an OUR GANG short with Virginia’s brothers, but he makes the list directly. He was Bennie Nordskudder in the 1938 film SCANDAL STREET.

     

     

    jrpanp.jpg

     

    Edited by: ginnyfan on Aug 7, 2013 3:36 PM

    In search of...Virginia Weidler

    in General Discussions

    Posted

    We have a couple of TV classics TODAY IN GINNY.

     

    Leo Carrillo (1881) was Pancho, the Cisco Kid's sidekick, on my TV throughout my childhood. I was older before I realized he had a film career. He was a member of one of the old Spanish families of California; his great grandfather was the first provisional Governor. He served on its Parks and Recreation Commission and was often rumored to be a candidate for Governor in the 1930s. He was, of course, typed during his film career; playing Italians and Hispanics and even a Greek or two. He was Joselito in TOO HOT TO HANDLE and Pico Rodriguez, Bill Johansen's partner and conscience-at least until Ginny applied for that job-in BARNACLE BILL. BTW William Gaxton, a future TIGer, was his cousin.

     

    Columnist Louella Parsons (1881) makes the list because, no matter who else she may have trashed, she was always kind to Ginny and generous with column inches even after the film career had ended. She's seen here calling and writing to TCM simultaneously for that day of tribute. You should be, too.

     

    Composer Arthur Fields (1888) wrote "How Dry I Am" and was probably singing it while tooling around town in this jalopy. The song appeared in THE SPELLBINDER.

     

    Gil Patric (1896) was a character actor who played henchmen, cops and clerks. IMDb only shows 16 credits, the last being as a caddy in PAT AND MIKE. He was a reporter in Ginny's first MGM outing, LOVE IS A HEADACHE. No photo available.

     

    Lucille Ball (1911) was a star of stage, screen, radio and television, although I'm betting that Hollywood wasn't so sure about what they had from the start. Several of her films are really good, but she still wouldn't attain true stardom until the little box came along. She was Lucille Ball, a fictitious movie star, in BEST FOOT FORWARD. Tommy Dix praised her for her gracious help to him in his first film and, as Danny told us, Bob Osborne said that she was always complementary of Virginia's work. Here, she is confronted by a very angry Helen Schlesinger in BFF.

     

    Child actor Sherwood Bailey (1923) was 17 and at the end of the acting trail when he played Red, Joe's friend in YOUNG TOM EDISON. Sherwood had played Spud in the OUR GANG series and played smaller roles in features after that. He was a trivia quiz at the VWRS several months ago when I posted a pic of him, Patsy O'Connor and Buster Phelps in GIRL LOVES BOY.

     

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    In search of...Virginia Weidler

    in General Discussions

    Posted

    The rich and the royalty on Monday's TODAY IN GINNY!

     

    First up, Ebenezer Scrooge, I mean Reginald Owen (1887). Owen had played Scrooge in a version of A CHRISTMAS CAROL featuring the Lockhart family the year prior to working with Virginia in BAD LITTLE ANGEL, where he played Edwards, Mr. Marvin's valet (and a major supporter of Ginny's Patsy). Owen remained amazingly sought out all the way up until his death in 1972. In later years he appeared on several episodes of MAVERICK and was a regular in the WONDERFUL WORLD OF COLOR's MOOCHIE OF THE LITTLE LEAGUE. His final appearance, in the TV movie TOPPER RETURNS, was released after his death. In the photo, Owen is behind Virginia as everyone tries to convince Patsy that she is not a jinx.

     

    Ellinor Vanderveer (1887) was known as the Queen of the Dress Extras. She played theatregoers, society women, party guests, gamblers (in CASABLANCA and MR. LUCKY) and even a "slave girl" in Abbott and Costello's LOST IN A HAREM. She was an Opera Spectator in the King's Group in ALL THIS AND HEAVEN TOO.

     

    Donald Kerr (1891) was close to being King of the Uncredited with well over 400 small roles in films and TV. He was a photographer in THE ROOKIE COP and a Milk Truck Driver in THE GREAT MAN VOTES. He must've liked the photographer bit because the photo is from the film THE DEVIL BAT where he once again played a photographer. He was involved with films about Mars on at least two occasions as reporter Happy Hapgood, a credited role, in FLASH GORDON'S TRIP TO MARS and as a bank employee in ABBOTT AND COSTELLO GO TO MARS.

     

    Carl Saxe (1910) is credited as being a phone operator in BORN TO SING, a film in which there must have been a lot of phone calls as there are three different actors listed as phone operator. Unlike both Owen and Kerr, Saxe worked at a more leisurely pace, appearing in 85 films in a 40 year career. The photo is from his small role in HUD. His final film was WHAT'S UP, DOC? where he played a jewel thief.

     

    Robert Taylor (1911), seen here giving an autograph to Ginny in promotion for THE YOUNGEST PROFESSION, played himself in that film. He was called "The New King", I'm guessing as a replacement for Gable. He was also called "The Man with the Perfect Profile." It is claimed that he held the longest contract at one studio, 24 years at MGM. He was an actor who was equally comfortable in war films, westerns, noir, and even the occasional swashbuckler. His final film, in tribute to his versatility, was WHERE ANGELS GO, TROUBLE FOLLOWS!

     

    Ann Morriss (1919) made 40 movie and TV appearances, but never reached stardom. After a few leads and major supporting roles early in her career, she settled back into smaller roles. She was the exercise instructor in THE WOMEN and Miss Evans in I'LL WAIT FOR YOU.

     

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    In search of...Virginia Weidler

    in General Discussions

    Posted

    It's a pretty big TODAY IN GINNY for Sunday.

     

    First, my parents always had a lot of old records. So much so that I asked for and got a Victrola to play them on for my 14th birthday. I still have it. Sir Harry Lauder (1870), a star of British Music Hall, is one that my folks had recordings of and he has a Ginny connection in that his song, "She is Ma Daisy" was performed in BABES ON BROADWAY. My favorite Lauder record was "A Wee Deoch an Doris". It's on YouTube. Look it up.

     

    Guy S. Duty (1880) did costumes for the 1931 feature SURRENDER as well as a few other films in the early 1930s. I wonder how much thought and design went into Ginny's "Little Girl" outfit for that film. There is no photo.

     

    Bandleader Abe Lyman (1897) wrote a song, "I Cried For You" that was played in THE WOMEN. It has since been played in a lot of other films. He also did a little acting, usually playing "Orchestra leader Abe Lyman."

     

    Walter Oberst (1897) was the sound recordist on two Weidler features, GIRL OF THE OZARKS and SCANDAL STREET. In 1939 he won an honorary Academy Award as part of a special effects team on the Paramount film, SPAWN OF THE NORTH. Edie Moseley sits in.

     

    Cliff Shirpser (1906) was the Assistant Cameraman on MR. WIGGS. He has 114 credits from 1921 through 1958, including GONE WITH THE WIND, THE WIZARD OF OZ and RUN SILENT, RUN DEEP. Virtually all his credits say assistant camera. The photo is from his military service in India in World War II.

     

    Wally Maher (1908) was a man at the station in YOUNG TOM EDISON. There were a lot of them. I just saw him today play a test pilot in NICK CARTER, MASTER DETECTIVE. He was also the voice of the great Tex Avery creation, Screwy Squirrel.

     

    Betty Jean Hainey (1924) was one of the classroom gals, Elizabeth Ward, in ALL THIS AND HEAVEN TOO. Earlier, she had been in DIMPLES and LITTLE MISS NOBODY. She was also in a film called DINKY which featured Jackie Cooper, Jimmy Butler, Edith Fellows, Sidney Miller, and Richard Quine AND WAS A FLOP. How does that happen?

     

    559687_310659539077462_35323184_n.jpg

    In search of...Virginia Weidler

    in General Discussions

    Posted

    For Saturday we have a birthday that doesn't seem to belong in the regular TODAY IN GINNY. Today is the 90th birthday of Virginia's brother Walter.

     

    He was the last Weidler to be born in "the old country" and was brought with his family to America when he was only a few months old.

     

    He's also the Weidler boy we seem to know the least about. George was infamous for a time in the late 1940s, the Doris Day period. Warner was always the steady big brother, the leader. Warner was also the main songwriter for the group. Both Warner and George had success in the music field with bands other than just the family's. Walter may have as well, I just haven't found it yet.

     

    We know that he and Warner did a bit of child acting, that they had an orchestra as teens and that as adults the three Weidlers stuck together as the Weidler Brothers, the Wilder Brothers, and the Sounds of Sunshine for the better part of four decades.

     

    According to Jean Porter it was Walter who tried to explain to her the family's beliefs and why they saw Virginia's death as a beginning and not an end. "She's still here," he told her. Jean said it then took a lot of reading of Mary Baker Eddy for her to understand what he meant.

     

    Happy birthday, Walter.

     

    17733_309944795815603_900280286_n.png

     

     

     

    For our regular TODAY IN GINNY feature, these are quickies. Helen Freeman (1886) played Nancy Hanks Lincoln in D.W. Griffith's version of ABRAHAM LINCOLN. I won't ask if Griffith was pro and anti-Lincoln. She was also Miss Hawley in AH, WILDERNESS! Those might have been her biggest roles. She was Sister Ursula in STAMBOUL QUEST.

     

    Frances Morris (1908) had a long career of small roles, starting as a young woman playing nurses and stenographers and ending as landladies on television in the 1960s. In her early 30s she was a woman at the station in YOUNG TOM EDISON.

     

    1004650_310187822457967_2058196431_n.jpg

    In search of...Virginia Weidler

    in General Discussions

    Posted

    Actress Cecil Cunningham (1888) was in two Weidler films. and, yes, that's actress Cecil Cunningham. She played Maybelle Murphy, who I'm guessing was Ginny's mom in SCANDAL STREET. She then followed up by playing the snooty Mrs. Castle in THE AFFAIRS OF MARTHA. In her eighty five films, he part was usually that of "know-it-all".

     

    Hillbilly comedian Bob Burns (1890) has two stars on the Walk of Fame for films and radio. He played Bob Black in THE BIG BROADCAST OF 1937. On radio, he often told stories about Uncle **** and Aunt Doody and played his invention, the Bazooka (seen here). He was, for a brief time, married to Judy Canova, who also liked to play hillbilly characters.

     

    Hal Mohr (1894) in a cinematographer who did something no one else has ever done. He won an Oscar he wasn't nominated for, winning a write0-in vote for A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM. He won in the conventional manner eight years later for PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. He was the cinematographer on THE UNDER-PUP. He was the Director of Photography on THE JAZZ SINGER, but no one was paying attention to the pictures in that film. His career in film was fifteen years old when Ginny was born and lasted into the fall of 1968, months after her death.

     

    Paul Mantz (1903) was a stunt pilot. As such he was utilized in two of Virginia's films, MEN WITH WINGS and TOO HOT TO HANDLE. While I'm sure he handled stunt flying for Myrna Loy (also being honored today) in THTH, I'm sure he had nothing to do with Giunny's kite incident in MEN WITH WINGS. His stunt flying career in Hollywood lasted 35 years and he was apparently an important enough figure in early flight that he was portrayed in two different Amelia Earhart films, once by CSI's Paul Guilfoyle and once by Stephen Macht.

     

    From Wikipedia: "On July 4, 1938, Mantz flew from Wichita to Burbank, California, accompanied by Paramount press agent, pilot, and pulp writer, Edward Churchill, in an attempt to break the speed-dash record. The stunt was part of the promotion for the film Men With Wings. The flight ran into several difficulties. The motor overheated over the Grand Canyon. When they reached Burbank, the landing gear jammed and it took 30 minutes to work them loose, while thousands of spectators looked from the ground and the fuel ran perilously low. Churchill was stricken with carbon monoxide poisoning and had to be treated by a physician after landing."

     

    Myrna Loy (1905) was the unofficial "Queen of Hollywood" in the late 1930s. Clark Gable was "King" and Ginny appeared with both of them in TOO HOT TO HANDLE. Myrna also appeared in STAMBOUL QUEST, where Ginny had a minor role. Loy, of course, was in a lot of films more important than those two and was at the top of her game when working with William Powell. Here we see Myrna's Alma and Ginny's Hulda, the wimpiest Ginny character this side of Little Mary, consoling Hulda's mother.

     

    Elizabeth Russell (1915) played Gail Rogers, neice of the bad guy, but a good gal herself, in GIRL OF THE OZARKS, one of the films Ginny starred in. OZARKS was only Russell's second film and she would wind up having a pretty successful career, becoming best known for roles in the horror genre. She's seen here preventing Edie Moseley from shooting her uncle.

     

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    In search of...Virginia Weidler

    in General Discussions

    Posted

    At time of posting I still have an hour left of TODAY IN GINNY.

     

    First up, Herman Melville (1819) was the author of MOBY DICK. It was the 1930 film of the book from which Virginia was fired at age three because she would not remove her dress on camera. Can anyone tell me if that silly scene is actually in the book? Melville book has been produced for movies and TV many times, but so have his BILLY BUDD and BARTLEBY THE SCRIVENER.

     

    Also, Desmond O'Brien (1900) was the editor of the film and was responsible for cutting out any other footage she may have shot before the incident. O'Brien's IMDb record consists of 23 films in four years ending in 1931. The photo of Melville represents both parties to the injustice of Ginny's firing.

     

    Morris Stoloff (1898) was the musical director on THE LONE WOLF SPY HUNT. I don't think there was any memorable music in the film. He won three Oscars for COVER GIRL, THE JOLSON STORY, and SONG WITHOUT END. He was nominated another 15 times, but never for a LONE WOLF picture.

     

    Avril Cameron (1908) was singer who appeared in THE BIG BROADCAST OF 1937. She had five small roles ending with REMEMBER THE NIGHT in 1940. When I googled her, I got hundreds of photos of Avril Lavigne. I almost "aged" one and threw it in to see if anyone would notice. No photo.

     

    Model actress Cheryl Walker (1918) was a nurse in MEN WITH WINGS. Her career was small until she was in STAGE DOOR CANTEEN, after which she generally got credited roles. Interestingly, she was Veronica Lake's Double in SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS and was a regular in the Michael Shayne films when Hugh Beaumont had the role. In retirement, she became a public speaker against the menace of communism in the 1950s.

     

    Actor Jack Briggs (1920) is famous for exactly one thing, he once married Ginger Rogers. I couldn't find a photo of him that she wasn't in. In 1951, after having made 17 film and television appearances and also divorcing Ginger in 1949, Jack moved down the road to San Diego where he served as co-host to Virginia's "femcee" on the local TV show, SHOW CALLED X, later called IN A LIGHTER VEIN. He and Ginny interviewed guests while Virginia also sang accompanied by organist Danny Topaz. The show lasted about two years while Virginia's husband was stationed in San Diego. BTW, Jack is the answer to the trivia question, "What actor partnered with two different actresses named Virginia who also were Christian Scientists?" And when you win that bar bet, remember you heard it here.

     

    Dancer, singer, actress Patty Thomas (1922) is listed as playing a "little girl" in SCANDAL STREET. As Patty was sixteen at the time, I question this. She really wasn't in many films but was a busy performer on USO tours and is seen here with Bob Hope. I wonder if she and Ginny ever crossed paths in their USO work?

     

    Marcia Mae Jones (1924) deserved a better fate. She's always been good in the films I've seen her in, but she never really broke through to stardom. She did work steadily from the 1920s to the 1980s, so there is something to be said for that. She was Vera Bailey, a nemesis of Ginny's Joan in THE YOUNGEST PROFESSION.

     

    2vbkc4k.jpg

    In search of...Virginia Weidler

    in General Discussions

    Posted

    Let's jump in the wayback machine for TODAY IN GINNY for July 31.

     

    First, we have character actor Clarence Kolb (1874). Clarence was a town crier in MAID OF SALEM. He was half of the comedy duo of Kolb and Dill, make silents as C. William Kolb, and came back in the 1930s as a character actor. He was also Fred the mayor in HIS GIRL FRIDAY, J. H. King in a couple of Five Little Peppers features, and Mr. Honeywell on the MY LITTLE MARGIE TV series. Clarence is seen here doing something EVERYONE should be doing, calling TCM to request a tribute to Virginia Weidler.

     

    Jack Deery (1892) was a Non-commissioned Officer in MAID OF SALEM. He played knights and military men and even a butler or two during a fairly sparse career.

     

    Chet Forrest (1915) was a songwriter who worked exclusively with Robert Wright. Their specialty was taking classic pieces and turning them into popular songs. Chet, who also worked under his birthname of George, would adapt the music, then he and Wright would do the lyrics together. They are credited with "Forevermore" the closing theme of THE WOMEN. Forrest is standing behind Wright in the photo.

     

    Child actor Jackie Morrow (1925) never appeared with Ginny, but makes the list by being a member of The Plantation Trio in THE PINCH SINGER, which featured The Weidler Brothers. Jackie played Billy Meredith in the 1936 Ace Drummond serial. He also played Rodney Bitts in the Penrod films and Junior Smythe in Jane Withers' film, LITTLE MISS NOBODY.

     

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