TopBilled Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 _March 5th_ DODSWORTH..with Walter Huston THE GREAT LIE..with Bette Davis DON JUAN..with John Barrymore THE WORLD CHANGES..with Paul Muni OTHER MEN'S WOMEN..with Grant Withers _March 6th_ PAGE MISS GLORY..with Marion Davies DINKY..with Jackie Cooper LISTEN, DARLING..with Judy Garland WOMAN AGAINST WOMAN..with Herbert Marshall TURNABOUT..with Carole Landis CYNTHIA..with Elizabeth Taylor CASS TIMBERLANE..with Spencer Tracy A KISS BEFORE DYING..with Robert Wagner _March 12th_ THE MALTESE FALCON..with Humphrey Bogart ACROSS THE PACIFIC..with Humphrey Bogart THE HURRICANE..with Dorothy Lamour THERE'S ALWAYS A WOMAN..with Melvyn Douglas THE PRISONER OF ZENDA..with Douglas Fairbanks Jr. THE MURDER OF DR. HARRIGAN..with Ricardo Cortez _March 13th_ THE MAN WITH TWO FACES..with Edward G. Robinson THE LASH..with Richard Barthelmess BEHIND OFFICE DOORS..with Ricardo Cortez PARADISE FOR THREE..with Robert Young THOUSANDS CHEER..with John Boles FIESTA..with Esther Williams YOUNGBLOOD HAWKE..with Suzanne Pleshette _March 19th_ THE PALM BEACH STORY..with Joel McCrea THE LOST SQUADRON..with Richard Dix THE KENNEL MURDER CASE..with William Powell BEAU BRUMEL..with John Barrymore THE SHOW OF SHOWS..with Frank Fay TWO ARABIAN KNIGHTS..with William Boyd _March 20th_ A SUCCESSFUL CALAMITY..with George Arliss THE LITTLE GIANT..with Edward G. Robinson EASY TO LOVE..with Adolphe Menjou YOUNG IDEAS..with Herbert Marshall BLONDE FEVER..with Philip Dorn ANY NUMBER CAN PLAY..with Clark Gable THE POWER AND THE PRIZE..with Robert Taylor _March 26th_ LITTLE WOMEN..with June Allyson MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS..with Judy Garland RED DUST..with Clark Gable MEN OF CHANCE..with Ricardo Cortez THE ROYAL BED..Lowell Sherman THE RUNAWAY BRIDE..with Lloyd Hughes _March 27th_ SMART WOMAN..with Robert Ames THE SIN SHIP..with Louis Wolheim UPPER WORLD..with Warren William THE CASE OF THE HOWLING DOG..with Warren William RED HOT TIRES..with Lyle Talbot MAN OF IRON..with Barton MacLane I AM A THIEF..with Ricardo Cortez ACT OF VIOLENCE..with Van Heflin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misswonderly3 Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 I've always felt a strange affinity to Mary Astor, don't know why... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 For the same reason that I feel a strange affinity with Gordon Gekko. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted February 25, 2014 Author Share Posted February 25, 2014 >I've always felt a strange affinity to Mary Astor, don't know why... It would be safe to say that March 12th has been set aside for you and Mary Astor... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted February 25, 2014 Author Share Posted February 25, 2014 Here are some photos I found that show how long she was in the motion picture business: 1. From her early days as a silent film actress in the 1920s: 2. From the 1930s, in talkies/pre-code films: 3. From the 1940s, around the time she earned an Oscar as supporting actress: 4. Early stages as a character actress: 5. During her television work, a full-fledged character actress: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibi Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Am looking forward to March. I only wish the programmers would have scheduled her better. Her most well known (and often shown) films are in the prime time hours. The lesser known (and interesting) are in the early morning and daytime hours.....OK if you dont work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Mary Astor could actually be classified as more a character actress than a leading actress, and SHE got to be SOTM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 I don't agree that Astor is more of a character actress. Maybe more of a secondary female lead (like Van Hefin was the second male lead in many films), but during the first 20 years or so of Astor's career she was either the leading female star or a secondary one. This is different than a character actress. Anyhow, Susan is NOT SOTM because of access to her films. It isn't because of her status. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 "Secondary lead" is a categorization that is not often used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Hey, I agree that secondary lead isn't often used, that is because it doesn't apply to many actors or actresses. But I view a character actor as someone known to play a certain type of character. i.e. they have a very similar and often overstated screen persona they bring to film after film. Supporting actors are the studio contract players. Their screen time is limited. Secondary leads have a lot more screen time than supporting actors or their character is more central to the plot. But yea, I might be splitting hairs here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aradia22 Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 I'm interested to see how this will turn out. I've managed to escape seeing all of these films excluding Little Women (I happen to prefer the June Allyson version to the Katharine Hepburn version and I've watched it many times) so if I manage to catch at least some of the movies I will begin to form my entire opinion of Mary Astor as an actress this March. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibi Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 And about time! LOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibi Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Astor played leads in many of her films. She wasnt a star in the sense of Bette Davis as far as carrying a film, but she did play leading roles or major parts in ensemble casts. I wouldnt characterize her as a character actress until she got older in the mid to late 40s........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ValentineXavier Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 misswonderly wrote: >I've always felt a strange affinity to Mary Astor, don't know why... Obviously, it's because you were named after her. You were born too late to be named before her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 Have we found another June Allyson fan on these boards? So far, we're at one and counting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibi Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 LOL. I think there were two. Maybe three. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arturo Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 Second leads (male and female) as a category, has been common in movies from the silents to the present day. During the studio era, second leads were usually popular players or new individuals on their way up. Some eventually attained full stardom (Dana Andrews, Richard Widmark, Rita Hayworth). Most had a following, and the studios often had them as the lead of a programmer or B film, and then have them revert to second lead for prestige films and other A films. Some of these are Claire Trevor, Lynn Bari, Ann Sothern, etc. Mary Astor played many second leads, as well as leads, in the 30s and 40s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 Every film has a lead and supprting players. Only some films have second leads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibi Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 Actually in Astor's case, she could have been a bigger star, but chose not to. Jack Warner offered her the "star treatment" above title billing and such like Bette Davis (probably around the time of The Great Lie) but she told him she didnt want the responsibility of having to carry a film and turned it down........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted March 4, 2014 Author Share Posted March 4, 2014 I think what's great about Astor is that it is impossible to typecast her. She really was quite versatile as a dramatic actress. She and Raymond Massey are alike in that regard. You know they will be good in whatever role they appear in, but you are not sure exactly what sort of character they will be playing until you actually see them in the movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted March 5, 2014 Author Share Posted March 5, 2014 OTHER MEN'S WOMEN which airs later tonight features James Cagney in an early role. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibi Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Muni and Cagney in the same picture? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Well said (about both actors). Mary becomes the character and in most cases each character is unique (or unlike prior characters she has played). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted March 5, 2014 Author Share Posted March 5, 2014 >Muni and Cagney in the same picture? They are both in a short film from 1938 called 'For Auld Lang Syne.' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted March 13, 2014 Author Share Posted March 13, 2014 PARADISE FOR THREE is airing later this morning. It is sometimes known by its alternate title, ROMANCE FOR THREE. Mary plays a shameless gold-digging hussy in this one. Great cast that also includes: Frank Morgan, Robert Young, Florence Rice, Edna May Oliver, Reginald Owen and Henry Hull, among others. Based on a popular novel by a German writer named Erich K?stner, it was remade twice in (then West) Germany. First, it turned up as a hit film in 1955 called DREI MANNER IM SCHNEE (THREE MEN IN THE SNOW). Then again in 1974, also called DREI MANNER IM SCHNEE (but filmed by a different director and with the story made more contemporary). There is an article about the original MGM film at the TCM database: http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/2043/Paradise-for-Three/articles.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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