In search of...Virginia Weidler

[ginnyfan]

I liked this clipping I recently found.

 

 

TCM's running the film again this Friday.

[TopBilled]

That's great! And you know what, I think he was absolutely right about her and that confounded yo-yo!

 

At least he had a sense of humor about it, unlike John Barrymore, who resorted to violence.

[ginnyfan]

> {quote:title=TopBilled wrote:}{quote}That's great! And you know what, I think he was absolutely right about her and that confounded yo-yo!

>

> At least he had a sense of humor about it, unlike John Barrymore, who resorted to violence.

I'd be interested to know how Wallace Beery treated Virginia. The stories of how Margaret O'Brien was treated by him include constant pinching to the point where she was "guarded" by the crew and that blocks were setup between them during close scenes. She also claimed that he stole and ate her lunch. She said he was the only one who treated her badly on set when she was a child, although a lot more actors behaved badly when she was an adult.

 

Of course, Virginia was older when she worked with Beery than O'Brien was.

[TopBilled]

Maybe she and Beery got along, since she was a bit of a tomboy. Though he did not always treat the boys so nice.

[ginnyfan]

In honor of tomorrow's broadcast of THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940), here's one of those stories that fall into the "if it isn't true it should be" category.

 

[Calamity]

That line "...sang it with the same gusto..." just made me smile. Somehow I'm going to have use the word "gusto" today.

[ginnyfan]

> {quote:title=Calamity wrote:}{quote}That line "...sang it with the same gusto..." just made me smile. Somehow I'm going to have use the word "gusto" today.

The part I like is the writer comparing Virginia to Helen Hayes. Even I have never had the guts to do that!

[ginnyfan]

I started doing a feature at the Virginia Weidler Remembrance Society page I call Today in Ginny. Occasionally it will actually feature an event from her life and career, but usually it's just birthdays of actors who worked with or who I deem to be related in some way to Virginia Weidler. Please note that my little remark about each will be about the relationship. As a result, I may not mention that actors greatest role, etc. Please feel free to add comments, whether or not it's VW related, for any actor who interests you.

 

Starting today, I decided to do it here and I hope some like it.

 

 

 

 

The biggest birthday in Today in Ginny is, of course, Cary Grant's. After all, he's why TCM is showing THE PHILADELPHIA STORY as today's Ginuary entry. So let's not talk about him.

 

Margaret Irving (1898) played "The Duchess" in THE OUTCASTS OF POKER FLAT (1937).

 

 

 

Helen Lynd (1902) played Marie Templeton in THE LONE WOLF SPY HUNT (1939).

 

 

Joan Carroll (1932) was never cast with Ginny, but did play her part in the 1940 remake of LADDIE and was someone I consider a worthy successor.

 

 

The VWRS also wishes a happy birthday to Danny Kaye and Oliver Hardy. TCM has L&H films on tap tonight and is devoting all Sunday to Kaye, I believe.

[ginnyfan]

Today in Ginny features three birthdays again. Funny how that keeps working, although I'm probably missing some non-actors since I don't research that closely.

 

First up, Harry Davenport (1866) became a well respected character actor in his seventies. He played Pierre in ALL THIS AND HEAVEN TOO (1940).

 

Drama critic, essayist, playwright, editor, actor, raconteur, and radio personality Alexander Woollcott (1887) played drama critic, essayist, playwright, editor, actor, raconteur, and radio personality Alexander Woollcott in BABES ON BROADWAY (1941).

 

Sue Moore (1901) was an uncredited masseuse in THE WOMEN (1939).

 

The others in the Davenport photo are Johnny Johnston, Kathryn Grayson, and Jane Powell. It was Davenport's 80th birthday.

 

[ginnyfan]

Today in Ginny we have three birthdays once more. What's unusual is that I couldn't find a photo for one of them.

 

Lottie Williams (1874) played a servant in ALL THIS AND HEAVEN TOO. She had a career of over 100 titles, most uncredited. One which was credited was as Lucy in DARK VICTORY.

 

 

 

 

George Burns (1896) was in both BIG BROADCASTS in which Virginia appeared.

 

 

Frank Marlowe (1904) is listed with 266 roles on IMDb. He played cops, crooks, and taxi drivers among other roles. He was a taxi driver in BORN TO SING (1942).

 

 

[ginnyfan]

There will be two Today in Ginny entries today. We call this one Today in Ginny-Birthday Division.

 

Today's Ginny related birthdays include Hank Bell (1892). Hank had 399 credits in his career, most of them westerns. He played Rancher Jesse in Virginia's western comedy, HENRY GOES ARIZONA (1939).

 

The other birthday is Richard Arthur "Ra" Hould (1924). He and Virginia were lotmates at Paramount for a time, then both moved on to MGM where Ra became Ronald Sinclair and appeared in THOROUGHBREDS DON'T CRY with Garland and Rooney. After a brief acting career, Ronald had a long career as an editor, with credits including the first two DIE HARD films and THE MALTESE BIPPY.

 

In the photo, above Hank and Ra in closeup, below is Hank in the background with Owen Davis Jr. (I think), Ginny, Frank Morgan, and Guy Kibbee.

 

[ginnyfan]

Here's our second Today in Ginny entry.

 

On January 21, 1942, newspapers reported that Virginia's performance in THE PHILADELPHIA STORY had been voted the Best Performance by a Juvenile Actress for 1941 in a poll of critics by Film Daily.

 

Here's a clipping of the announcement:

 

[ginnyfan]

A double dose of Today in Ginny.

 

First up, the stars.

 

Ann Sothern (1909) star of GOLD RUSH MAISIE. In addition to Sothern, Virginia also worked with Mary Nash and Scotty Beckett in this film and both would show up again in her career.

 

We also give a special shoutout to Conrad Veidt (1893) who never appeared in a film with Virginia, but was a source of conversation in THE YOUNGEST PROFESSION when starstruck Joan Lyons (Virginia) asked Greer Garson if he was as much of a beast in real life as he was in A WOMAN'S FACE.

 

 

Now for our regularly scheduled TIG.

 

Matt McHugh (1894) was a soda jerk in THE UNDER-PUP and is part of a character acting family including his better known brother Frank and sister Kitty. Kitty also shared a cast list with Virginia.

 

Don Rowan (1905) actually had a role listed as "Bit Role" in SOULS AT SEA. He's seen here as Capt. Torch in a Flash Gordon serial.

 

Gwen Kenyon (1916) took over the role of "Bit Role" from Don in SCANDAL STREET.

 

[ginnyfan]

 

We have a quartet of ladies to celebrate today's TIG.

 

Clarice Sherry (1914) played "Girl" in THE WOMEN. As you can see from the photo, she also played a queen in a Flash Gordon serial!

 

Our star today is Janet Shaw (1919) who played Gerry Lane, a major part, in THE ROOKIE COP. You probably know her best from her role as the beaten-down waitress in SHADOW OF A DOUBT.

 

Patsy O'Connor (1929). whose photo I've posted before, played "Fake Hulda" a little girl posing as Virginia's character in TOO HOT TO HANDLE. She is also Donald O'Connor's niece.

 

Finally, Betty Holt (1931) never appeared with Virginia in a movie, but she's David Holt's sister and made two movies and a short in a brief career.

[TopBilled]

I really like what you are doing with this thread. I am learning from you every day I read this.

 

[ginnyfan]

Thanks, TB.

 

I love clippings, especially those that don't come true. I found this for a new VWRS member, number 75 BTW, a young man who is an Ann Rutherford devotee.

 

 

Walter Reisch wrote a lot of great screenplays, this doesn't seem to be one of them. When they made this film the following year, it was called SEVEN SWEETHEARTS and Ann and Ginny and Jackie Horner had turned into Marsha Hunt and Cecilia Parker (or Dorothy Morris or Peggy Moran or Frances Rafferty or Frances Raeburn). The gimmick was seven gals all with boys' names.

 

IMDb indicated that Mr. Mayer fired Ann when she called in sick with measles and replaced her with Moran. I don't know what happened to Weidler, she did THE AFFAIRS OF MARTHA with Hunt and it was released in June 1942. This film was released in November 1942 and THE YOUNGEST PROFESSION wasn't out until the end of February 1943. Ginny had an eight month gap between released films, a huge layoff for her.

 

Horner was even less fortunate. After PANAMA HATTIE, her appearances were limited to two Our Gang shorts, including one in which she played Eleanor Powell.

 

[ginnyfan]

Today in Ginny I found but one birthday. Sidney Pepple (1910) is listed on IMDb as "Soloist on title song" in Babes On Broadway. It's his only credit and I found no pic.

 

I did, however, find this grainy photo from BoB of Ginny and Ray McDonald, and that's good enough for me!

 

[ginnyfan]

Searching Google News can be interesting. If I search "Virginia Weidler" I get certain results but if I search her name with another word I get other things that didn't get the first time. Today, I searched Virginia Weidler and jitterbug and got this. It's from July 1943 and her War Bond/USO tour.

 

One of our VWRS members read it and said that she didn't sound like someone who thought she was leaving the movies. I'm just please to finally find a photo of Virginia "with the troops".

 

I may be a fool to buy publicity, but I really like this girl! Read it, it's already one of my favorites.

 

 

[ginnyfan]

Only one birthday in TIG.

 

Jack Jevne (1892) was a longtime screenwriter with 87 credits according to IMDb. I'm guessing he was best known for TOPPER, but he was also responsible for BARNACLE BILL (1941) and The Weidler Brothers' Our Gang short THE PINCH SINGER (1936).

 

 

 

Ginny and Bill Johansen of BARNACLE BILL

 

 

George, Walter, and Warner Weidler in THE PINCH SINGER

[ginnyfan]

Oops! I forgot to post yesterday!

 

A big, gigantic, stupendous, Today In Ginny is here (a day late)!

 

First up, Samuel Marx (1902), not Frenchy, father of Groucho but another one, producer of both attempts to build a Weidler-Rutherford family series KEEPING COMPANY (1940) and THIS TIME FOR KEEPS (1942).

 

Edward Killy (1903) was one of two directors assigned to FRECKLES (1935) a breakout film for the eight year old Weidler, or so I'm told since IT ISN'T AVAILABLE TO BE SEEN. (/soapbox)

 

William Hopper(1915) was best known as Paul Drake on TV's Perry Mason, but he also had an uncredited role in the BIG BROADCAST of 1937. He also once had dark hair.

 

Keeping in pic order, Jackie Moran (1923) was with Ginny in the ever popular MOTHER CAREY'S CHICKENS (1937), the film Hepburn refused to do.

 

Joan Leslie (1924) played some roles in the early 1940s that I thought would have been perfect for the teenage Ginny, as well as some others that wouldn't have fit so well. Joan and Ginny both had child parts, as did Donald O'Connor, in MEN WITH WINGS (1938)

.

Finally, the great Charles Lane (1905), you know him, you love him, you just don't always know the name. Always a grumpy businessman in everything from BARNACLE BILL (1941) to Petticoat Junction. He rates TWO photos today!

 

 

Back later with Today's TIG.

[ginnyfan]

Today In Ginny features a big star, another actor, a couple of behind the camera types and a bonus pick.

 

First, Donna Reed (1921) became a big movie star in the 1940s and 50s, one of the first to convert to TV stardom in the 1950s and 1960s. She was unknown when she played Jonesy's Secretary in BABES ON BROADWAY (1941).

 

Milton Kibbee is frequent Ginny castmate Guy Kibbee's brother. He was a baggage man in YOUNG TOM EDISON (1940) and a fisherman in BARNACLE BILL (1941).

 

Songwriter Buddy De Sylva (1895) wrote "Wishing Will Make It So" which was heard in THE ROOKIE COP (1939), but not, as ginnyfan would have hoped, on STAR TREK:THE NEXT GENERATION. He also wrote "Alabamy Bound" which turned up in a lot of films including BABES ON BROADWAY (1941).

 

Jerome Pycha Jr. (1903) was the art director on THE LONE WOLF SPY HUNT (1939). I found no photo of him, so here's a storyboard of his from SABRE JET (1953).

 

Our bonus pick today is a man without whom the movies just wouldn't be the same. Leon M. Leon (1903) was the son of magician The Great Leon and practiced magic his entire life. What he is known for, however, is inventing the clapboard. I've chosen a clapboard photo to represent him.

 

[ginnyfan]

Today In Ginny features a credited actress from one of Virginia's biggest films as well as someone who had a major hand in most of her MGM movies.

 

First, Mary Boland (1880) played The Countess DeLave in THE WOMEN (1939). Most don't realize that she was also in another film in which Virginia appeared, THE BIG BROADCAST OF 1936 (1935). Her final role was reenacting the role of The Countess for television in 1955.

 

Tom Neal (1914) is best known for his starring role as Al Roberts in the noir classic DETOUR (1945). Before that happened, his first Hollywood role was as Aldrich Brown in OUT WEST WITH THE HARDYS (1938).

 

 

George Lynn (1906) had supporting roles in THE GREAT DICTATOR (1940) (as Peter Lynn) and TO BE OR NOT TO BE (1942), but he also appeared as Harry Harding in TOO HOT TO HANDLE (1938).

 

 

Charles Morton (1908) had been a young leading man in the final dayscof the silent era and would continue to take small uncredited roles through the mid 1960s. He was a truck driver in the finale of BORN TO SING (1942).

 

 

Finally, Edwin B. Willis (1893) was either Set Director or Associate Art Director on virtually every film Ginny made at MGM.

 

 

 

 

Edited by: ginnyfan on Jan 28, 2013 2:38 P

[ginnyfan]

Today in Ginny we have but a single birthday.

 

Author, playwright, screenwriter Vi?a Delmar (1903) wrote the play in which Virginia Weidler made her Broadway debut (and only appearance), THE RICH FULL LIFE. Among her works are the adapted screenplay of THE AWFUL TRUTH, an earlier Cary Grant effort called THE WOMAN ACCUSED, and MAKE WAY FOR TOMORROW.

 

Virginia received favorable reviews, Delmar was a well known author, the lead was the well established Judith Evelyn whose previous effort at the same theatre had run for over three years and 1295 performances.

 

This one fell a hair short of that, running for 23 days and 27 performances. The story behind the play was, to me, a little unusual and I plan to write about it more thoroughly at a later date.

 

[TopBilled]

>The story behind the play was, to me, a little unusual and I plan to write about it more thoroughly at a later date.

 

Sounds interesting. Can't wait to read about it!

[ginnyfan]

What's a movie without picture and, since about 1927, sound?

 

Today in Ginny features the birthdays of a master of each.

 

Oliver T. Marsh (1892) was Director of Photography on THE WOMEN (1939). IMDb tells us he was Jeanette MacDonald's personal photographer. I am told Oliver is in the posted photo, I'm guessing he's the guy standing in the over the top "I'm a director" outfit (unless he's the scowling guy way in the background).

 

Harry D. Mills (1901) did sound for several decades and was credited as Sound Recordist on SOULS AT SEA (1937). Fittingly, I found no picture, which is a great excuse to post one of Ginny from that film.

 

 

Edited by: ginnyfan on Jan 30, 2013 4:05 PM