ginnyfan

Robert DeNiro as Monroe Stahr- THE LAST TYCOON (1976) Based on an unfinished novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald next-fictionalized version of murder victim Mary Phagan hint-shown on TCM this year, I think.

Jacqueline White

Beat me by that much! Edited by: ginnyfan on May 18, 2012 6:43 PM

Am I the only one who actually liked ROPE while hating Stewart in it? And I usually love Stewart in just about everything.

Thanks, TB. I just have to avoid telling people I meet at parties that my current BFF is someone who died 44 years ago when I was ten. LOL. To be continued...

I wasn't here last year, so I'll play. Robert Francis is like Dean. Four films, known for one, and a plane crash. Nia Vardalos is still working, but has only the one hit. I think a true one hit wonder would almost have to involve stunt casting, like Harold Russell in THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES.

Mark and TB, Thank you both for reading and commenting. I've learned a lot about both Ginny and myself through this research. I was a Communications major in college and considered journalism as a career for a time. I've learned that I made the right call when I abandoned that plan. I lack both the organizational skills and tne necessary detachment to be really good at this. I've caught myself, after mailing a letter to someone, saying, "I should have asked X!" The detachment problem is, I think, fairly obvious. The more I read about her, the more photos I find, the more I really like this person. Even though I know how the story comes out in general terms, I find myself rooting for her. I went into this seeing Virginia as a victim, but I'm now hoping to find out enough to look at her as a victor. I want to find some evidence that the career choices made when she was 16 were a little more hers and a little less the industry's. I never felt this way about H.L. Mencken when I wrote about him in college. I've found a lot of little things showing how Ginny's image was evolving from THE WOMEN, through PHILADELPHIA, to BEST FOOT FORWARD and after. I'll try to share them once I have them a little more organized.

THE CORPSE CAME C.O.D. (1947)

Hibi, You're talking with a guy who has never known many from his own family tree, but I think it works out that Frank and Tom were cousins so Ben is also Tom's cousin.

Tom, whose book on classic Hollywood is being published posthumously, is Joe's son. When I think Mankiewicz, I always think of Ben's father Frank because he worked for RFK and was very visible in the aftermath of the assassination. I was ten and that year greatly affected me. Edited by: ginnyfan on May 17, 2012 11:59 AM

finance, You aren't wrong. Ben is Herman's grandson and Joe is Ben's great uncle.

Ann Dvorak

James Stewart was in THE MURDER MAN (1935) with Virginia Bruce

I thought my post tonight would be more about my own research, but I have to pause and write about the wonderful treat in my mailbox last Friday. My back issues of Classic Images arrived. Once again, thanks to MusicalNovelty for pointing them out to me. The first one, issue 56 of Classic Film Collector, contains a fairly run-of-the-mill bio and look at Virginia's career. The one thing mentioned that I didn't know is that in addition to her Broadway activity in 1945, Virginia also played some summer stock. I'd be interested to find out if she had decided that leaving the Vaude-Pic and cabaret circuit and going back to acting, this time on stage, was the better course for her after several years on the road. The other issue, no. 345, is the real gem. This is the one with Jean Porter's column about her good friend. I learned so much that I didn't know and haven't found anywhere else. First, I had always thought that Jean and Ginny had become friends in the early 1940s. In fact Jean went to the same school as Ginny's older brothers and she met Ginny, three years younger, when Ginny was about ten. She said that Ginny never spoke unless spoken to in those situations. My own reading has indicated that, despite her success, Virginia was clearly still the little sister in most family situations. Socially, Jean was still closer to Virginia's brothers at that time. Jean had a small part in The Under-Pup but their friendship blossomed when Jean was hired for The Youngest Profession, the film where I had assumed they met. At this point, despite their age difference, Jean and Annie Rooney allowed Ginny into their circle. Ginny had her first "pal", or boy friend-contract player Larry Nunn. At this point Jean puts a little different slant on Ginny's end at MGM. She says that Virginia didn't like the projects she was offered and considered leaving. Eventually, Jean too would have trouble with MGM because of her dating Edward Dmytryk. Jean doesn't mention Ginny's stage work at all and moves on to her marriage. After Dmytryk went to and got out of prison, he and Jean lived in an apartment building owned by Lionel and Virginia Krisel. The Dmytryks had lost a lot of friends over Edward's political problems, but the Krisels stood by them. The two families shared birthdays and family outings together and often went dancing wherever the Weidler Brothers were playing. In 1968, Ginny canceled such an outing with Jean because she "had a little problem." On July 1, she died in her own bed with her entire family and a Christian Science practitioner praying over her. It was only after her death that her best friend learned of the illness that had been known to the family for years and that Ginny's life had been geared to this heart problem. She said she tried to read Mary Baker Eddy books to understand the family's outlook on their faith and Ginny's death. This was a very long detailed article and featured several photos I have never seen anywhere else, such as those of the two with Edward Arnold on the night of the Screen Guild Theatre radio broadcast of YOUNGEST PROFESSION. There is also a cute photo of the young Ginny and Baby Leroy in cap and gown. This article does a good job of answering one of my major questions, was the adult Weidler happy or bitter? Porter puts that to rest. Ginny loved her family, her friends, and her faith. I knew that George had introduced Doris Day to Christian Science but I was not aware that the entire Weidler family were practitioners. Not being one myself, it does bother me a little that Ginny and her family may have avoided modern medical assistance over the years which could have prolonged her life and instead accepted "God's will", but that is surely their business and not mine. I am still trying to find a solid answer to my question about the end of Virginia Weidler's movie career and whether or not the stage work was at least somewhat her choice. If this post is too longwinded, I'm sorry. I'm just so excited to have found at least a part of the Weidler story I was looking for-and it has been available for the last eight years. I leave you tonight with Jean Porter's final sentence: *Virginia Weidler Krisel was/is the nicest person I've ever known.*

At a concert at my son's high school tonight, the Jazz Ensemble played the Pink Panther theme. I immediately thought of this thread.

My son is involved in instrumental music at his high school. His symphonic band played last night and tonight we all went to see the jazz ensemble and the orchestra play. For the final piece, the orchestra played the fourth movement of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No.5 in E minor. I managed to keep my seat and not jump up and shout, "I actually know this piece!!!"

Leslie Caron (a personal favorite) was in LILI (1953) with Zsa Zsa Gabor

Absolutely correct! Alice was at least a passible film. The others were, IMHO, a pretty sorry lot. Your thread.

> {quote:title=Hibi wrote:}{quote}I liked the guy who came after John Henson a lot but have forgotten his name. Think it was Hal something. He later starred in the Queer as Folk series....... Hal Sparks

> {quote:title=misswonderly wrote:}{quote}"Under-rated" in the sense that he missed the Beatles boat, or rather, was cast off of it, and his name therefore is not well-known except among serious Beatles fans and trivia experts. > However, I'm not sure his drumming ability was under-rated - apparently the poor lad just wasn't all that good. > > ( The "Beauties" people will be mad at us.) If you listen to the version of LOVE ME DO with Best, they are foirced to play it slower and he still loses all sense of the beat during the harmonica solo. The highlight of Pete's career was appearing on I'VE GOT A SECRET. He was also fairly flatchested, I believe, so we can now get back on track.

Best's character ran the sawmill up on Chotaw Ridge. Each actor appeared in different films sharing one characteristic. The clues should identify those roles.

GOLD RUSH MAISIE (1940)

SAN FERNANDO VALLEY (1944)

Ingersoll, Helen - Jean Porter in TILL THE END OF TIME (1946)

xXx (2002)