FredCDobbs

Wow, are we lucky!! In 1948, director Billy Wilder approached Pola Negri to appear as Norma Desmond in the film Sunset Boulevard (1950), after Mae Murray, Mae West, and Mary Pickford declined the role. Negri reportedly declined the role because she felt that the screenplay was not ready and that Montgomery Clift, who was slated to play the Joe Gillis character at the time, was not a good choice for the character. The role of Gillis eventually went to William Holden, and Gloria Swanson accepted the Norma Desmond role.[35] From the Wiki bio of Pola: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pola_Negri

http://fangroups.tcm.com/blogpost/confession-vs-mazurka-a-tale-of-two-films Confession vs. Mazurka: A Tale of Two Films Warner Brothers bought the distribution rights to Mazurka but the film was not shown in this country. Instead, Warners announced the remake of the film as a Kay Francis project. Joe May, a German writer/director, was assigned to direct. But May did more than merely direct Kay Francis in the project now titled Confession, May created an exact copy of Mazurka, right down to the last fade and dissolve, with every shot timed to run exactly the same length, and using the same music as Forst’s original film. May constantly ran Mazurka while shooting Confession, obsessed with copying every gesture. He even used a stopwatch to time the scenes. Francis did not like the film and complained about Joe May’s tyrannical behavior. She noted in her diary that Joe May was driving everyone crazy and that for the first time in 9 years, she had “refused to work.” Co-star Jane Bryan noted the cast went through their performances like “sleepwalkers.” Joe May aside, Francis was miffed at having to copy Pola Negri’s performance in a role she heard Bette Davis had turned down. Variety gave Confession a glowing notice and heaped praise of Francis’ performance. But the film failed to attract an audience.

I've heard that for top Hollywood female actresses, getting a "Madame X" role was like having an opportunity to star in a new Joan of Arc film.... like when top male actors were chosen to do a top Shakespeare film. These roles were considered to be the "best" opportunity to do some great acting. Kay Francis did a great job in "Confession" (1937) This Kay Francis film seems to be a scene for scene re-shoot of Pola Negri's German film Mazurka (1935) (which is available on YouTube). Looks like the working title of CONFESSION was indeed MAZURKA. Similar costumes too. Here's Pola in the same type of Cabaret costume and blonde wig.....:

After THE QUEEN OF SHEBA received an Academy Award for Best Picture, Norma and Joe were very happy together.

In my version of the story, Joe was fished out of the pool still alive. After recuperation, he moved back in with Norma. C.B. DeMille was so impressed with Norma’s “screen test” of walking down the stairway in her home, with Erich von Stroheim directing the scene, De Mille decided to produce Norma’s SALOME, and also her next film, THE QUEEN OF SHEBA, and he allow Stroheim to direct both. Joe wrote the script for QUEEN, and Norma helped with the re-write and polishing it up for him.

Barbara Strisand?

Shirley Temple?

Yes. Norma has talked Joe into re-writing it as a Biblical epic, starring Norma as the Queen of Sheba.

Well, go ahead and post what you think would be a woman's point of view when the man comes home

Dale sang in nightclubs and in a couple of movies before she started working in Westerns with Roy.

Dale Evans:

Yeah, women can be like that sometimes. Nag, nag, nag.

I think the women can use the same photos.

A joke? The first photo represents 3 months of marriage. The second photo represents 12 years of marriage. Different reactions over time. LOL. I'm sure some guys know what I'm talking about.

The Life of Vergie Winters (1934) Just aired on TCM. I loved it. A rare classic with a great story and cast. Versions of Madame X: Femme, La (1910) Who Is She? (1910) Hvem er hun? (1914) Madame X (1916) Madame X (1920) The Lady (1925) La Mujer X, (1931) Helen Hayes in The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931) Forbidden (1932) Barbara Stanwyck Ruth Chatterton’s Frisco Jenny (1932) Held for Murder (1932) The Secret of Madame Blanche (1933) The Most Precious Thing in Life (1934) Jean Arthur Whirlpool (1934) Jack Holt & Jean Arthur Kay Francis in Confession (1937) Pola Negri in Mazurka (1935) The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931) Madame X (1937) A Woman Is the Judge (1939) To Each His Own (1946) Olivia de Havilland The Trial of Madame X (1948) Agnostos, I (1954) Mujer X, La (1955) Madame X (1966) Madame X (1981) (TV) The Life of Vergie Winters (1934) Le secret de Madame Blanche

THIS WAY: OR THIS WAY:

Rooney's wives: http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20804236,00.html

THIS WAY: OR THIS WAY:

MARION MARSH

Miles, We discussed Jacqueline Wells a few years ago. She was in a Buster Crabbe Tarzan film and was very pretty. The director set her up to be chased by wild horses, and they almost ran over her. That would have killed her. She is really running for her life in this film clip, which I captured from the movie. WHY IS TARZAN SMILING??

I started watching old movies on late night TV in 1953. I loved STEAMBOAT ROUND THE BEND, SVENGALI, THE DIVORCEE (lots of xxx in that one), LITTLE CAESAR, THE ROARING 20s, THE PUBLIC ENEMY, BIRTH OF A NATION, INTOLERANCE, SAN FRANCISCO, and many other classics.

I figure most of the snow is some kind of plastic material, but I noiced that when the snowflakes hit the tops and sides of the helmets, it melted and turned into water droplets. So that was some kind of shaved ice designed to fall like snow, and it did indeed melt.

Is John Wayne standing on a box? James Arness is taller than Wayne.

Yes. Thank you. Looks like she is ready to star in her first movie.