Don't forget the Anita Page tribute on Tuesday 12/2

[LsDoorMat]

There's some rarely televised stuff coming up on Tuesday, including one of John Gilbert's early talkies. All of these have at least a tangential relationship to Anita Page.

 

6:30am Our Dancing Daughters (1928) (Silent - Out of print (OOP) VHS)

A flapper sets her hat for a man with a hard-drinking wife.

Cast: Joan Crawford, Johnny Mack Brown, Dorothy Sebastian. Dir: Harry Beaumont. BW-84 mins

 

 

8:00am Our Modern Maidens (1929) (Silent - OOP VHS)

In this silent film, a flapper offers herself to a diplomat to advance her fiance's career.

Cast: Joan Crawford, Rod La Rocque, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Dir: Jack Conway. BW-76 mins

 

 

9:30am Broadway Melody, The (1929) (DVD In print)

Love and success break up a vaudeville sister act.

Cast: Charles King, Anita Page, Bessie Love. Dir: Harry Beaumont. BW-100 mins

 

 

11:12am Short Film: One Reel Wonders: Dogway Melody, The (1930) BW-16 mins

(An extra on the Broadway Melody DVD)

 

 

11:30am Free And Easy (1930) (In the TCM Archives Buster Keaton DVD Set)

A bumbling manager turns a beauty queen into a Hollywood star.

Cast: Buster Keaton, Anita Page, Robert Montgomery. Dir: Edward Sedgwick. BW-93 mins,

 

1:12pm Short Film: From The Vaults: Govenor C.C. Young Hails Greater Talkie Season (1928)

C-3 mins

 

 

1:15pm Our Blushing Brides (1930) (Not on VHS or DVD)

Three roommates try to land rich husbands.

Cast: Joan Crawford, Anita Page, Robert Montgomery. Dir: Harry Beaumont. BW-101 mins,

 

 

3:00pm Gentleman's Fate (1931) (Not on VHS or DVD)

A bootlegger falls apart when his wife leaves him.

Cast: John Gilbert, Louis Wolheim, Leila Hyams. Dir: Mervyn LeRoy. BW-93 mins

 

 

4:45pm Sidewalks Of New York (1931) (OOP VHS)

A society boy gets mixed up with gangsters when he falls for a girl from the slums.

Cast: Buster Keaton, Anita Page, Cliff Edwards. Dir: Zion Myers, Jules White. BW-74 mins

 

 

6:15pm Skyscraper Souls (1932) (OOP VHS)

A ruthless financier will stop at nothing to control a 100-story office building.

Cast: Warren William, Maureen O'Sullivan, Verree Teasdale. Dir: Edgar Selwyn. BW-99 mins

[scottman1932]

I've got the DVR all set up for Tuesday! Looking forward to all those movies.

[alix1929]

I've seen them all except for GENTLEMAN'S FATE. Has anyone seen that one?

 

Anita is very good in Our Blushing Brides. I wish they had included UNDER EIGHTEEN. That's one of my favorite Anita Page movies. She is very pretty in this one.

[scottman1932]

I liked GENTLEMAN'S FATE. I thought it was a good gangster film. Louis Wolheim is excellent as John's brother Frank. John Gilbert was better in this than is often given credit for. Overall, a very satisfactory film.

[metsfan]

I can't believe I missed "Gentleman's Fate"! Is it possible for you to trade with me?

[mndean4709]

Got them all except Broadway Melody and I already have Free and Easy. Didn't get to watch most of them, but had the DVR set up and have the DVDs all done. I was surprised by the plot similarities between Skyscraper Souls and Employee's Entrance. I liked EE better only because it made more sense in the Depression era. The Empire State Building was a notable financial bust, and didn't make money for its owners (not the original financiers, of course) until many years after it was built.

[scottman1932]

Sure. I'd be happy to trade. My cable company had some transmission problems which caused the picture to freeze up at times during the morning. I was unable to keep GENTLEMAN'S FATE, however I still have an excellent VHS copy from the last time TCM showed this one.

Send me a PM.

[metsfan]

I wish more of Warren William was shown on TCM other than the mystery films he's in.

[LsDoorMat]

I was home all day on the 2nd, so I got to watch the whole day's programming.

 

I've often wondered why the flapper triology - Dancing Daughters/ Modern Maidens/ Blushing Brides hasn't been put out on DVD. Maybe this would be a good package for the new TCM Lost and Found exclusive series. It was interesting to hear Dorothy Sebastian in a speaking role, she wasn't in many before she retired.

 

I was disappointed in the copy of "The Broadway Melody" that was shown. WHV put out a much clearer print earlier this year, and what they showed appeared to be the old 2005 DVD version.

 

"Free and Easy", Buster Keaton's first talkie, is not too bad. The musical number at the end is quite good, but I can't figure out why they would want to paint up Buster's beautiful face in clown makeup. I have a VHS copy of "Sidewalks of New York", and I hadn't watched it for awhile. It was probably the worst talking picture Buster did. The only cute part is where he makes the phonograph record using song titles.

 

"Gentleman's Fate" was the first of John Gilbert's talking pictures I had ever seen, outside of his short appearance in "Hollywood Revue". It was quite good and I thought Gilbert's performance and voice were fine. I don't know why he was a flop in talkies.

 

The best film of the day had to be "Skyscraper Souls". This was another one I had never seen, and it had a very sophistocated and complex plot for its time. It would be a good entry in the next Forbidden Hollywood series.

[alix1929]

I really like SKYSCRAPER SOULS. Interesting plots! I always get creeped out when the man gets locked in the safe, and his moll gets the heck out of town. Ewwww...imagining opening up the vaults & finding a dead man on the floor! Egad!

[alix1929]

Did they do some kind of tribute to her, inbetween films?

[talkietime]

There was a 55 second promo for the Anita Page Memorial Tribute. The promo, "*Anita Page on Early Talkies*," shows her speaking in later life, and a few short film clips. The promo was shown several times. I recorded it twice, first on 11/28 following the documentary *Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star* and again on 11/30 following the WB short *Happy Times and Jolly Moments*.