What the...?? moments in classic cinema history

Gloria Swanson perfects making bad decisions simultaneously.

Sophia Loren rebels...horribly.

Starlet Simone Sylva misunderstanding the purpose of the "Cannes" Film Festival with little help from Mitchum.

Cooper and Keaton hunting wabbits for a good cause.

Something tells me Fredric March would love KFC's Double Down sandwich.

Read More

Dangerous (1935)

Don Bellows (Franchot Tone) is a prominent New York architect, who was inspired change the whole course of his career after seeing Joyce Heath (Bette Davis) perform on the Broadway stage. Later when Bellows meets down-and-out and quite alcoholic Heath whose career was destroyed by the rumor that she was a jinx, he sets out to rehabilitate her. In doing so, he falls in love, and breaks off his engagement to wealthy socialite Gail Armitage (Margaret Lindsay) despite Heath warning him that she destroys anything and anyone she touches due to her being jinxed. He risks his fortune to back the Heath in a Broadway show that will be her big comeback. Before opening night, he insists they marry or part ways for good. Heath reluctantly agrees and later that night she visits Gordon Heath (John Eldredge), a man she is still secretly married to. Thought his marriage to her ruined him financially, he adamantly refuses to give her a divorce, admitting that he still loves her deeply. Upon the pretense of them getting back together, she coerces Gordon into her automobile and while driving, threatens to cause a crash if her divorce isn’t granted. When Gordon still refuses, Heath causes an accident that cripples him for life. Her own injuries keep her from opening in the show, which fails. Don is ruined, and when he learns that Joyce has deceived him, he accuses her of being a completely selfish woman, her only true jinx.
Heath eventually sees the truth in Don's accusation. She has the show re-opened, and though she truly loves Don, she allows him to marry Gail. As the show becomes a success, Heath dedicates herself to Gordon and salvaging their marriage.

Dangerous brought Bette Davis his first Oscar. Though she accepted the award, she thought Hepburn should have won that year instead for Alice Adams and speculated that she was given the award since she lost the Oscar the year before with her role as Mildred Rogers in Of Human Bondage. I have to agree that this film is by far not Davis' best. It was quite boring, making it harder to believe the already stretched outline of the film. My interest only peaked when I could make comparisons between her Joyce Heath and Mildred Rogers at certain points in the film.

Side Note:

Dangerous was the film where Davis reportedly fell in love with and made certain advances towards Tone who was already engaged to Crawford thus causing the rumor mill to spin a yarn that this is where the already intense rivalry between the two stars really began to rev up.

Tonight on TCM!
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) I have been wanting to see this film and for purely "cosmetic" reasons. I have read that Costello spent her later life in seclusion having been forced into retirement due to early film make-up ravaging her face. I have only seen beautiful pictures of her and find this hard to believe.
A possessive son's efforts to keep his mother from remarrying threaten to destroy his family.
Cast: Joseph Cotten, Dolores Costello, Anne Baxter, Tim Holt Dir: Jack Moss

Read More

Before & After: Robert Taylor

Known as the man with the "perfect profile" Robert Taylor, a very capable actor in my opinion, had to prove he was worth more than his looks. Whether he was the valiant hero, the redeemable boyish screw up, or the angry man bent on destruction, he played his parts convincingly and with seamless ease. So, here's to Robert Taylor Tuesday!

Tonight on TCM!

Personal Property (1937) Love it!
The bailiff charged with disposing of a financially strapped widow's estate pretends to be her butler.Cast: Jean Harlow, Robert Taylor, Reginald Owen, Una O'Connor Dir: W. S. Van Dyke II

Quo Vadis (1951) A Roman commander falls for a Christian slave girl as Nero intensifies persecution of the new religion. Cast: Robert Taylor, Deborah Kerr, Leo Genn, Peter Ustinov Dir: Mervyn LeRoy

Ivanhoe (1952)
Sir Walter Scott's classic tale of the noble knight torn between his fair lady and a beautiful Jew.
Cast: Robert Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders Dir: Jack Martin

Knights Of The Round Table (1953) Queen Guinevere is torn between love for her husband and Sir Lancelot. Cast: Robert Taylor, Ava Gardner, Mel Ferrer, Anne Crawford Dir: Richard Thorpe

All The Brothers Were Valiant (1953) Brothers on a whaling schooner become romantic rivals.
Cast: Robert Taylor, Stewart Granger, Ann Blyth, Betta St. John Dir: Richard Thorpe

Read More

Stars! They're just like us!

They go fishing!

This is my favorite picture to date of Ginger Rogers!

They're gaga for horticulture!

They smoke horticulture!

They reduce their carbon footprint!

They earn their Boy Scout merit badge in campfires!

They taste test and maybe later criticize!

Tonight on TCM!
The Heavenly Body (1943) An astronomer's neglected wife takes up astrology and a handsome astrologer. Cast: William Powell, Hedy Lamarr, James Craig, Fay Bainter Dir: Alexander Hall

Read More

And...Anniversary!

Last April I sat down and told myself that I needed some sort of creative outlet. As I am my own worse critic, I have always put off using my limited skills as a writer because I don't like pressing my opinion upon people...much. One day I went to visit one of my favorite blogs If Charlie Parker Were a Gunslinger, There'd Be a Whole Lot of Dead Copycats, and eureka! Why not start a blog about classic film since Turner Classic Movies is really the only reason you have a cable box? So, I embarked upon my classic cinema adventure and I am finding it hard to believe it's already been a year!

Watching and learning about America's cinema history, documenting my thoughts, and reading all the other wonderful blogs on similar subjects has been such a delight and I kick myself for not having thought of blogging sooner.

What I have found by having this blog is how limited my knowledge was on all the wonderful performers, directors and producers of the past. Looking back on my posts for favorite actors, actresses and directors, and movies I am amazed at how much it's changed! The biggest change being my willingness to watch movies from the fifties and sixties, eras that I still find questionable but no longer abhor- which, for me, is really saying something.

Favorite Actors Favorite Actresses Favorite Director Favorite Movie

Before

William Powell Joan Crawford John Ford The Quiet Man

John Wayne Bette Davis

Claude Rains Norma Shearer

Lionel Barrymore Maureen O'Hara

George Sanders Myrna Loy

Gary Cooper Irene Dunne

Clark Gable

George Brent

Cary Grant

Lee Marvin

Richard Burton

Now

Fredric March Myrna Loy Ernst Lubitsch Design for Living

William Powell Joan Blondell William Wyler

Robert Montgomery Constance Bennett Frank Capra

Melvyn Douglas Billie Burke John Ford

Brian Aherne Bette Davis

George Sanders Joan Crawford

James Cagney Ginger Rogers

Humphrey Bogart Greer Garson

Frank McHugh Patricia Neal

John Wayne Norma Shearer

Claude Rains

Frank Morgan

Spencer Tracy

Since embarking upon my adventure, I have documented to the best of my knowledge all classic cinema I have watched ending with the year 1979. Don't asked me why I picked that year, I don;t know myself. Thus far I have watched only 410 movies with the bulk of them being from my favorite years of 1930-1949.

Read More

Pre-Code Dip: The Scarlet Empress (1934)

Though The Scarlet Empress is loosely based off the story of Catherine the Great, like most early Hollywood biopics, it should not be used as a lesson in history. Instead it plays out as a vehicle to propagate the vast and outrageous rumors of Catherine's sexual prowess against a very single-minded vision of a Russian Imperial household. Filmed as the Hays code was starting to take serious affect, von Sternberg manages to get away with murder. The use of double entendres, props, and Dietrich's singular smoldering looks into her soldiers 'nether regions" is both blatant and non-stop.

The Scarlet Empress involves Dietrich playing the wide-eyed innocent debutante who is chosen to be Peter III's wife. Before arriving in Russia, Count Alexei (John Lodge or as I refer to him, that guy who looks like Bill Hader in a funny period sketch for SNL) has already admitted his infatuation with her. This will be Catherine's first inkling of what her beauty can do, something her mother is steadfastly aware of and despises. Ironically, this is parallel to how Dietrich's own mother felt about her young daughter as she grew into womanhood.

Once in the Russian court, she is greeted by an Empress Petrovna (Louise Dresser) who sounds more like a Midwestern saloon-keeper hocking her wares than Russian royalty. She meets her soon-to-be husband Peter (Sam Jaffe) who plays a frightening half-wit bent on one day killing her. With orders to produce an heir, Catherine must rely on her own wit and cunning to get the job done since her husband won't touch her. Once her duty is done and Catherine has gained knowledge of the wonders of love making, she embarks on the Holy Grail of sexual conquests and subsequently earns the undying devotion of most of the Russian guard which will aid her in killing off Peter and taking his throne.

I'm astounded by the strong detail von Sternberg gave to his set and yet let the characters beyond Jaffe and Dietrich fall to the wayside. Then there is his vision of eighteenth century Imperialist Russia that beyond the heavy iconic doors is so very biased and insulting, it makes you wonder what his true feelings for Russia were. Even Dietrich is quoted as saying "All those depressing faces- all over the place! Every time I come around a corner, there is another corpse looking at me. Russia wasn't that bad! I know Jo wants 'decadence,' but isn't he overdoing it?"

The Scarlet Empress, beyond the costumes which Dietrich had a heavy hand in designing, and the bawdy humor, wasn't all that interesting. The story gets lost among the elaborate costumes and oppressive set, puts Dietrich on a pedestal as a beautiful but not very talented star.

Sidenote:

Maria Riva, Dietrich's daughter, plays the young Sophia as a child.

Tonight on TCM!
Small Town Girl (1936) After marrying a drunken playboy, a young girl tries to capture his heart while he's sober. Cast: Janet Gaynor, Robert Taylor, Binnie Barnes, Andy Devine Dir: William A. Wellman

Read More

Fun Facts: George Raft

While working together on Each Dawn I Die, George Raft told James Cagney about his unwanted connection with the mob...

"George also told us that when he was working for the clubs, he was really working for the Mob- capital M. They, of course, owned all the New York nightclubs, and were expanding into Florida. In a single night in New York, George would work as many as seven nightclubs, going from one to the other, repeating his very strenuous act in each establishment. Finally he got into a Dillingham show on Broadway that became the climax of his career to that date, and the clubs became of secondary importance.

The Mob, however, had different ideas. They told George he was going to Florida to open their new nightclub down there. George explained that he couldn't because of the Dillingham show, but the tough boys weren't having any of that. He raised hell, said he couldn't do it, but did agree to go down to the train that night to see the boys off for Florida. At the station they grabbed him, took off his overcoat, shoes, and hat- and hid them. 'All right,' George said, 'you win!' He got on the train. But as they pulled into North Philadelphia, he jumped off and ran in his stocking feet through the snow to catch a taxi back to New York. He made the Dillingham show that night and didn't show up in Florida as planned." -Cagney by Cagney

Rafts's involvement with the mob as well as his supreme desire to dance and entertain is a dichotomy that intrigues me. Apparently good friends with known mobsters such as Owen Madden and Bugsy Siegel, I wonder how "involved" with the mob he actually was. From most accounts he is described as a sensitive and generous man, like Cagney and Robinson, the complete opposite of the characters he played so well on screen and gave him his rise to stardom.

Raft began dancing at age fifteen when he and his mother would enter flatfoot waltz contests in hopes of winning the five dollar prize. Since you could not lift your heels off the ground during the flatfoot contest, Raft would cut holes in his heels and insert dimes so that he could glide across the floor easily. He and his mother did very well on the dance hall circuit which later helped Raft to get his nightclub gigs. He once told Cagney and Fred Astaire (who admired Raft's dancing ability tremendously) that in order to dance faster, he would use piano wire to lace up his shoes tightly and numb his feet. He learned later that the reason he would go pale green around his mouth as he danced was because he was suffering from a mild heart attack.

Tonight on TCM! It's a Robert Taylor Tuesday!

High Wall (1947) Psychiatry provides the key to proving a veteran flyer innocent of his wife's murder. Cast: Robert Taylor, Audrey Totter, Herbert Marshall, Dorothy Patrick Dir: Curtis Bernhardt

Stand By for Action (1942) A Harvard graduate serving on a battleship is faced with the realities of war. Cast: Robert Taylor, Charles Laughton, Brian Donlevy, Walter Brennan Dir: Robert Z. Leonard

Johnny Eager (1942) A handsome racketeer seduces the DA's daughter for revenge, then falls in love. Cast: Robert Taylor, Lana Turner, Edward Arnold, Van Heflin Dir: Mervyn LeRoy

Her Cardboard Lover (1942) A flirt tries to make her fiance jealous by hiring a gigolo. Cast: Norma Shearer, Robert Taylor, George Sanders, Frank McHugh Dir: George Cukor

Song Of Russia (1943) An American symphonic conductor trapped in Russia during World War II helps with the resistance. Cast: Robert Taylor, Susan Peters, John Hodiak, Robert Benchley Dir: Gregory Ratoff

Read More

The Many Mini Reviews (if you wanna call it that)

Although Ivanhoe has an interesting plot involving religious persecution, ill-fated love, and royal scheming, I found the trivia on this film more exciting than the film itself.
Scriptwriter Marguerite Roberts was a member of the American Communist Party and in 1951 she was ordered to appear before the House of Un-American Activities Committee. Roberts refused to name fellow members of the party and was blacklisted. MGM received permission from the Screen Writer's Guild to remove Roberts' name from the film because of her refusal to testify to HUAC.
Elizabeth Taylor considered herself to be miscast as Rebecca, and during filming there was talk of replacing her with Deborah Kerr.
Joan Fontaine plays the romantic lead opposite Robert Taylor in this film, which involves the return of King Richard to the throne of England and features Robin Hood as a minor character. Fourteen years earlier Fontaine's sister Olivia de Havilland played the romantic lead opposite Errol Flynn in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), a film set around similar events.

The Adventures of Marco Polo was Cooper's first major flop. There were differences in opinion over how the film should be shot, whether it should be tongue-in-cheek as the screenplay suggested or a serious period piece. After Goldwyn hired and fired his first director, John Cromwell, approached William Wyler and was turned down, he had Archie Mayo take over the project with John Ford directing some of the film's action sequences. Despite Goldwyn's insistence upon Marco Polo being a serious piece, it's mostly a lighthearted film with Basil Rathbone providing the sinister element (something he does so well). However, the plot is mediocre, the actors poorly cast for the races of people they play, and most of the humor isn't really all that funny.
I would suggest everyone watch this just to see Leslie Howard act the fop, it's honestly the best part of the film. And maybe watch it and tell me if Noah Taylor doesn't look like a modern day Raymond Massey? Just a little?
Little Caesar is apparently quintessential Robinson. However, this is the first film I have seen Robinson in a wholly evil light. Loosely based on the life Al Capone, Robinson plays the part of Rico superbly. Like Cagney in The Public Enemy, Robinson manages to stir up hatred for his manner and deeds as a gangster, accomplishing a very effective anti-gangster film. As I watched the film and saw the interaction between Rico and Massaro (Fairbanks, Jr.) I wondered if Massaro was loosely based off of the life of George Raft and gleefully felt like a classic cinema nerd when I read that it was. What tipped me off? Massaro just wanted to dance!
The George Raft tidbit is worthy of another blog entry, which I will post soon.

The Outrage, Newman plays three different versions of a dirty and mightily horny hombre. Hmmm, I should mention the wonderful performances of the other characters including Shatner (infamous stilted monologues and all) but I think I'll leave it at that.


This is the first movie I ever saw Kirk Douglas in. At the time I was too young to understand what he was actually doing to Jill Haworth, I just knew that I didn't like the way he man-handled her and then later thought him stupid for flying into enemy territory. It wasn't until years later that I understood what was going on in the film which made me disliked Douglas even more. However, things change, one matures and realizes that the actor you see onscreen may not reflect how they truly are in real life and I have come to consider Douglas quite a phenomenal actor.
Watching this film again and also recently seeing Hud again, I am also beginning to appreciate and relate to Patricia Neal's particular brand of nonchalant bravado (her best scene in In Harm's Way is when she visits John Wayne at his house and basically puts it all on the line. One phone call to Wayne's roommate, a quite dissipated Burgess Meredith and suddenly the cigarette is being put out and the Keds are being slipped off- spicy!). This film also features the ill-fated Brandon De Wilde who I really enjoyed in Hud as well. Sadly, his talents weren't showcased as much in In Harm's Way.

Cagney gives a wonderful if not very detailed accounting of Lon Chaney's life from right before his screen debut up to his death. I just wish there had been more about Lon Chaney the actor not Lon Chaney and his dysfunctional family.

Read More

Quotables: Harvey (1950) Happy Easter!

"One more peep outta you, weisenheimer, and I'll butter your necktie."

Read More

Lil' Lip Service...

Read More

Happy April 1st!

You aren't fooling me, Cagney!

You're good but no Man of 1000 Faces!

Read More