DownGoesFrazier Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 I'm currently reading William Manchester's comprehensive book on 20th century American history. In it, he makes the interesting statement that, when Jean Harlow died in 1937, she was replaced as Hollywood's sex bomb by Ann Sheridan. Is this true? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 I'm currently reading William Manchester's comprehensive book on 20th century American history. In it, he makes the interesting statement that, when Jean Harlow died in 1937, she was replaced as Hollywood's sex bomb by Ann Sheridan. Is this true? Well Warner Brothers was trying very hard to make Sheridan a sex bomb. The had her do still photos with major padding her in top. But the public wasn't buying it and Warner didn't cast Sheridan in the type of movies Harlow was casted in by MGM. To me the one that took Harlow's place at MGM was Lana Turner but it took a few years for that to take off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 "Then I'll close the discussion by issuing the edict that "Hill Street Blues" is not dated." 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faceinthecrowd Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 Well Warner Brothers was trying very hard to make Sheridan a sex bomb. The had her do still photos with major padding her in top. But the public wasn't buying it and Warner didn't cast Sheridan in the type of movies Harlow was casted in by MGM. To me the one that took Harlow's place at MGM was Lana Turner but it took a few years for that to take off. Despite the sultry publicity photos, Sheridan usually played the girl next door. A notable exception was THEY MADE ME A CRIMINAL, in which she was John Garfield's floozy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 Despite the sultry publicity photos, Sheridan usually played the girl next door. A notable exception was THEY MADE ME A CRIMINAL, in which she was John Garfield's floozy. Torid Zone is another example. Here she is somewhere in between the girl next door and a floozy. Eithe way she almost steals the picture from Cagney and that is saying something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swithin Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 One of my favorite musical numbers is Ann Sheridan singing "In Waikiki" in Navy Blues (1941). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arturo Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 Ann Sheridan WAS the first actress after Harlow's death to be marketed as a sex bomb, @ 1939 with the "Oomph Girl" campaign. It worked insofar as it lifted her from a not too well known leading lady, into a star with a definite image. Roles she was assigned gave her a more sexy image, but....She walked.out on her WB contract in early 1941, demanding substantially more money commensurate with her new found popularity. While away, a number of movies pegged for her Oomph Girl image were reassigned to others,.including, THE STRAWBERRY BLONDE, where the studio borrowed Rita Hayworth, and in tandem with BLOOD AND SAND,.started.Hayworth's rise, which would eventually outpace Sheridan as THE Love Goddess of.the 1940s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomJH Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 Torid Zone is another example. Here she is somewhere in between the girl next door and a floozy. Eithe way she almost steals the picture from Cagney and that is saying something. I don't think Sheridan almost steals Torrid Zone from Cagney, James. She STEALS it! She's got the best one liners in a film remembered for its punchy dialogue, and she makes the most of it. Sheridan's comedy verve is every bit as important as her sex appeal. She was Warners biggest attraction in the p i n u p girl sweepstakes during the the war years, though there is little doubt that Grable was even more popular with the servicemen while Hayworth was, on a more sophisticated level, the sex goddess of the decade. Sheridan, in retrospect, was, at her best, a likable, fun personality to watch, and she would far rather that people accepted her for her acting, and, in particular, comedy talents, than being regarded as a sex symbol. But she reluctantly knew that she had to play the p i n u p girl game because that is what her studio expected of her. She did a lot of poses like this for Warners still photographers, but her real forte was in her ability at brittle comedy on screen. She was also, in my opinion, James Cagney's best leading lady. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Faiola Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 "YOU COULDN'T PAY FOR THE HEADLIGHTS!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tikisoo Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 TopBilled wrote: "Then I'll close the discussion by issuing the edict that "Hill Street Blues" is not dated." TopBilled likes this Really? Now we're "liking" our own posts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laffite Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 TopBilled wrote: "Then I'll close the discussion by issuing the edict that "Hill Street Blues" is not dated." TopBilled likes this Really? Now we're "liking" our own posts? Soon this will become all the rage here on the forum. It means, "I approve this message." 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomJH Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 "YOU COULDN'T PAY FOR THE HEADLIGHTS!" The hard shelled girl on the surface who'd let down that tough fascade (and one liners like that one above) to reveal the warmth and sensitivity underneath to the right guy: this is the Ann Sheridan that I like the best. And few could play those kind of roles as well as she did. Anything that I've read about Sheridan indicates that she was a "good guy" in real life, down to earth and unaffected by her stardom, when it finally came; philosophical about the harshness of show business later when she had to struggle again to make a living. She liked to joke around on the set (got along well with the likes of Cagney, O'Brien, Bogart, Flynn and even Lupino who, I understand, normally didn't trust women too much). Sheridan was also a huge fan of Bette Davis, of whom she later stated she did NOT have any kind of feud (unlike rumours at the time to the contrary) while making Man Who Came to Dinner. Sheridan preferred an easy going, fun movie set, as opposed to one with tension. And there sure are plenty of shots of Sheridan laughing as she interacted with others. Responding to a joke on the It All Came True set, with costume designer Howard Shoup Napping while making They Drive By Night Sheridan and Cagney on the City for Conquest set Visiting Frank Capra on the Meet John Doe set At the Stork Club with pal Carole Landis. Note the cigarette in Annie's hand. She was a classic chain smoker, unfortunately. With director Vincent Sherman while making The Unfaithful Sheridan in the 1957 TV western Without Incident, with Errol Flynn and Julie London. Sheridan made this because she wanted to work with Flynn again. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyM108 Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 I'd never put Ann Sheridan in the category of a great actress, but she was almost the perfect female lead in a certain type of movie (They Drive By Night; Angels With Dirty Faces; Juke Joint), and there are few actresses I just enjoy watching more than her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted August 2, 2014 Author Share Posted August 2, 2014 Ann Sheridan WAS the first actress after Harlow's death to be marketed as a sex bomb, @ 1939 with the "Oomph Girl" campaign. It worked insofar as it lifted her from a not too well known leading lady, into a star with a definite image. Roles she was assigned gave her a more sexy image, but....She walked.out on her WB contract in early 1941, demanding substantially more money commensurate with her new found popularity. While away, a number of movies pegged for her Oomph Girl image were reassigned to others,.including, THE STRAWBERRY BLONDE, where the studio borrowed Rita Hayworth, and in tandem with BLOOD AND SAND,.started.Hayworth's rise, which would eventually outpace Sheridan as THE Love Goddess of.the 1940s. Did Jack Warner view Harlow's death as an opportunity to do something with Sheridan? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted August 2, 2014 Author Share Posted August 2, 2014 I'd never put Ann Sheridan in the category of a great actress, but she was almost the perfect female lead in a certain type of movie (They Drive By Night; Angels With Dirty Faces; Juke Joint), and there are few actresses I just enjoy watching more than her. I think NORA PRENTISS was the perfect role for her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 Soon this will become all the rage here on the forum. It means, "I approve this message." Isn't that what it has meant all along? That is the purpose of the 'like' feature. And I am hardly the first one to click like on my own message. Though I did click like on that one to make a point. And I reserve the right do it again, as it does not violate any rules of the message board...moving on kiddos... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 TopBilled wrote: "Then I'll close the discussion by issuing the edict that "Hill Street Blues" is not dated." TopBilled likes this Really? Now we're "liking" our own posts? Tiki, I don't go around and critique your posts. This is how people get their dander up and all kinds of tension escalates on the board... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted August 2, 2014 Author Share Posted August 2, 2014 Tiki, I don't go around and critique your posts. This is how people get their dander up and all kinds of tension escalates on the board... Who's tense? I'm sitting here laughing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElCid Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 Liked her in The Man Who Came to Dinner-both funny and sexy in it. Think the clothing had a lot to do with it, particularly when she is on the phone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomJH Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 Liked her in The Man Who Came to Dinner-both funny and sexy in it. Think the clothing had a lot to do with it, particularly when she is on the phone. On the set of that same film with one of her co-stars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomJH Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 KINGS ROW, one of the few films of Ann Sheridan's career of which the actress was proud, and her personal favourite. Top billed in a production with a remarkable collection of charcater actors, she received praise from the critics, pleasantly surprised by her performance as warm, loving Randy Monoghan. In retrospect, this 1942 release may well have been the highlight of her career, as it was for co-star Ronald Reagan. Warners, for the most part, just didn't provide this actress with the kind of script material to do her proper justice. But no matter how mediocre the film in which she so often found herself cast, Sheridan was always a pleasure to watch. On the likability meter, I think this actress scores a ten out of ten. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 Who's tense? I'm sitting here laughing. We are all laughing. But is it with them or at them? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 KINGS ROW, one of the few films of Ann Sheridan's career of which the actress was proud, and her personal favourite. Top billed in a production with a remarkable collection of charcater actors, she received praise from the critics, pleasantly surprised by her performance as warm, loving Randy Monoghan. In retrospect, this 1942 release may well have been the highlight of her career, as it was for co-star Ronald Reagan. Warners, for the most part, just didn't provide this actress with the kind of script material to do her proper justice. But no matter how mediocre the film in which she so often found herself cast, Sheridan was always a pleasure to watch. On the likability meter, I think this actress scores a ten out of ten. Funny Tom that you caught the use of 'almost' as it relates to Torid Zone and Cagney and Sheridan. Adding 'almost' was the last thing I did because I didn't want to hear back from Cagney fans that no one steals the show from Cagney. I should have just stuck to my guns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomJH Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 Funny Tom that you caught the use of 'almost' as it relates to Torid Zone and Cagney and Sheridan. Adding 'almost' was the last thing I did because I didn't want to hear back from Cagney fans that no one steals the show from Cagney. I should have just stuck to my guns. Ah, so we're in total agreement, after all, James. Nah, nah, Cagney fans. Sheridan takes Torrid Zone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arturo Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 Did Jack Warner view Harlow's death as an opportunity to do something with Sheridan? There was the realization of a void that was left with Harlow's death. But when she died, she wasn't just remembered for her sexy image,.but for comedic talents and acerbic delivery of her zingers. Her warm image, as one of the bunch without airs or pretenses....these we're all traits that.could apply to Ann.as.well.as to Jean. So WB started.the push. But it isn't as if Harlow's death left no sexy.star(let)s in Hollywood; the studios were full of them. These.women just hadn't attained.the iconic status that Jean had. And WB wasn't the only studio who tried to establish a new sex symbol in the wake of her death. Besides the aforementioned Sheridan and Hayworth of the most well.remembered: Lana Turner, already mentioned, who hit fame around the same.time.as.Sheridan did, and would become a top WW2 ****, and later, an iconic star into the 60s. Carole Landis, who got her own silly title, "The Ping Girl", but incurred the wrath of Fox moguls. There.were.many others exploited along these lines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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