A Visit to the Lucy-Desi Museum and more Special Guest Post by Lucy fan, Lucy Ortiz
When I was born, my parents decided to name me after the I Love Lucy show. As an adult, I realized I had some things in common with the Arnaz-Ball family. My birthday is exactly one week before Desi Jr’s in January, Lucille Ball and my father’s birthday are both in August, my name and Lucie Arnaz’s name sound similar, and finally Desi Sr. and my father both played the guitar.
Every once in a while, I watch the show and laugh at the crazy situations Lucy gets into, even though I’ve seen the episodes before. A relative of mine, who knew I was named after the show and occasionally watches it, told me there was a Lucy-Desi Museum in Lucy’s hometown of Jamestown, NY. I looked it up online and decided this was something I’d love to see. A month later I took the 6 hour drive to Jamestown and here’s what I saw…..
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The Lucy-Desi Museum
One of Lucy’s personal necklaces
The actual Emmy’s the show won
Desi’s Babalu record
A telegram announcing Desi Jr’s birth
Painted portrait of the family
Two of Lucy’s Mame costumes
The Paris “original” Ricky & Fred concocted for Lucy & Ethel out of potato sacks
Desi’s office chair & smoking jacket at Desilu Studios
The Ricardo’s piano
The Ricardo’s New York apartment
Ricardo’s NY apartment from another angle
The right side that connects to the kitchen
The Ricardo’s kitchen
Ricardo hotel suite in California (left side)
Ricardo hotel suite in California (right side)
Front view of the suite
Lucy’s personal 1972 Mercedes
She had her initials engraved on the Mercedes. The M stands for her husband Gary’s last name Morton.
Desi’s personal suits & golf clubs
A few pieces of Lucy & Desi’s personal china
Little Ricky’s pants
Lucy’s shoes
Lucy & Desi’s chairs on the set
The little message you see when you first come in
Lucy’s “Queen of the Gypsies” necklace
Ethel wore these shoes for the “Women From Mars” episode
This is my sister mimicking Lucy in the Vitameatavegamin scene. The scene’s dialogue is available so whoever you’re with can make a video of you acting out the scene.
Lucy and Vitameatavegamin
Desi Sr. made this teddy bear for one of his children. The message says “Get well soon. Love Daddy”. The teddy bear looks just like him.
This tiny bicycle was used by Pepito the Clown in the pilot episode of the series
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The above photos are two of Lucy’s costumes for the show. See if you can guess in which episodes she wore these.
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At the end of the exhibit before leaving, there is a handwritten message from Lucy and Desi’s daughter Lucie. On the opposite side of Lucie’s photo, there is a board you can sign.
Lucie’s message to Jamestown says “Thank you for honoring my family so beautifully all these years. There’s something magical here now…laughter”.
I’m sure there were other Lucys that signed the board, so I boxed my message.
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I Love Lucy Murals
The museum wasn’t the only thing that there was to see in Jamestown. As you walk around the city area, you’ll see I Love Lucy murals….
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Lucille Ball Memorial Park
There was also the Lucille Ball Memorial Park where her bronze statue is located.
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Lucy’s Childhood Home
We also saw her childhood home located at 59 Lucy Lane. The street was originally W. 8th St, but they changed the name in her honor.
Lucy’s childhood home at 59 Lucy Lane
Lucy & Desi visited the house in 1956. I get goose bumps knowing that I took the same walk they took to get to the house.
Visitors aren’t allowed into the house, but I walked up to the porch and took a photo of the front door. The sign says “Welcome Lucille Ball”.
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Lake View Cemetery
Our last leg of the trip was the cemetery where Lucy’s ashes are; the ashes were originally kept in a mausoleum in California but were moved in 2003 to the Hunt-Ball family plot in Jamestown. We entered the cemetery not sure of where her family plot was located, until we saw a sign that said to follow the L’s, and then follow the hearts.
Follow the L’s
Follow the hearts
Underneath her name it says “You’ve come home”
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–Lucy Ortiz for Classic Movie Hub
A Big Thank You to Lucy for sharing these wonderful photos with us!
I’m going to pretend that I’m a programmer for a Classic TV station (you know like Antenna, Me-TV and Decades) and I’ve been given the awesome assignment of planning the Christmas Eve schedule. Let’s say Christmas Eve programming starts at about 6 PM and goes until Midnight. What would my schedule look like? I’m glad you asked because here it is:
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6:00 PM: Father Knows Best “The Christmas Story” (12/19/1954)
This script was adapted from its time on radio. Father (Robert Young) thinks that the kids don’t realize the true meaning of Christmas. He decides that they will go into the hills and chop down their own Christmas tree. The further they go the more snow they get and suddenly they are stalled. They find refuge at a seemingly abandoned for the winter cabin but find that they are the “guests” of a short, stout fellow with a long white beard (played by Wallace Ford) named Nick. Yes, the kids do learn a lesson.
Jane Wyatt, Elinor Donahue, Robert Young and Billy Grey from the Father Knows Best Christmas episode
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6:30 PM: The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet “Lost Christmas Gift” (12/24/1954)
Ozzie and Harriet did several excellent Christmas episodes over its 14-year run. This is my favorite. After the Christmas gifts have been opened, one exception is noticed: Ricky‘s catcher’s mitt. Ozzie guesses it might have been delivered to another Nelson family across town, as a package had before. They go there and find a poor, young widow with small kids. Ozzie, Harriet and the boys decide to give them a merry Christmas. If you like heartwarming Christmas stories, then this is the one for you.
The entire Nelson family—Ozzie, David, Ricky and Harriet posing for a Christmas card
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7:00 PM: The Honeymooners “Twas the Night Before Christmas” (12/24/1955)
Ralph sells his bowling ball to get Alice a last-minute Christmas gift. After the end of this show, Jackie Gleason and the cast wish the audience a Merry Christmas. It is the only time in the classic 39 that the fourth wall is broken.
Ed Norton: [to Ralph] Compared to you, Scrooge was a holiday playboy.
The Honeymooners cast taking a bow at the end of the Christmas episode: Art Carney, Jane Randolph, Audrey Meadows and the great one himself, Jackie Gleason
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7:30 PM: Alfred Hitchcock Presents “Back at Christmas” (3/4/1956)
Do you prefer something a little darker at Christmas? well, this black comedy directed by Hitchcock himself is perfect for you. Before leaving on a trip to America, a writer (John Williams) kills his wife (Isobel Elsom) and buries her in the basement. All their friends think his wife is also with him. While in California writing a screenplay, he gets a surprise — his wife made plans to dig up the basement to give him a wine cellar for Christmas. What can I say we could use a little black humor at Christmas too and who better than Hitch to provide it?
Alfred Hitchcock celebrated Christmas in his own style
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8:00 PM: I Love Lucy Christmas Episode (12/24/1956)
A lot of this episode is flashbacks, but the new stuff is still pretty good. For the last several years CBS has been rerunning it in prime time during the holiday season in its colorized form (though for some reason they aren’t running it this year – of all years!) along with another colorized episode of ILL. For me I would watch even if it were in B&W. I read somewhere that this is the first-ever clip / “flashback” show on television — another innovation for producer Desi Arnaz.
Four Santa’s – Vivian Vance, Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz and William Frawley
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8:30 PM: Dennis the Menace “The Christmas Story” (12/20/1959)
Dennis the Menace made three Christmas episodes over its four-year run and my favorite of them is from their first season. It’s Christmas time and Dennis (Jay North) is going around the house looking for his presents. Henry (Herbert Anderson)and Alice think they have the perfect place to hide them, The Wilson’s house. Poor Mr. Wilson (the great Joseph Kearns). Each of the Christmas episodes ends with Dennis, his parents and the Wilson’s singing “Silent Night.” Interesting that Leave it to Beaver nor My Three Sons never did a Christmas episode during their six and twelve year runs respectively.
A Dennis the Menace holiday promotional picture featuring Joseph Kearns, Gloria Henry, Jay North and Herbert Anderson
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9:00 PM: The Andy Griffith Show “Christmas Story” (12/19/1960)
This may be my favorite classic Christmas episode of all-time. It has all the ingredients: Andy (Andy Griffith) and Barney (Don Knotts) reading Christmas cards from prisoners they put away. A Christmas party with turkey and all the trimmings. Barney(!) playing Santa Claus, Christmas carols (a charming rendition of “Away in the Manger” by Andy on guitar, and Elinor Donahue) and a Scrooge-like character (Grumpy, but lonely, storekeeper Ben Weaver, played by Will Wright). Finally, I have to say it, but the show made a mistake by getting rid of Elinor Donahue in the middle of its first season. She was, in my honest opinion, the best of Andy’s girlfriends and more congenial, without being a pushover than the later Helen Crump, who seemed upset most of the time.
A Andy Griffith Show promotional picture featuring Frances Bavier, Andy Griffith, Ronny Howard, Elinor Donahue and Don Knotts
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9:30 PM: The Dick Van Dyke Show “Alan Brady Presents” (12/18/1963)
Telecast less than a month after JFK was assassinated, this episode allows the cast members to demonstrate their musical as well as comedic talents. Alan (Carl Reiner) decides to scrap the script that Rob, Sally and Buddy wrote and invites them plus Laura & Mel (and Richie) to “put on a Christmas show.” My favorite part is DVD and Mary Tyler Moore singing and dancing as rival Santa’s – is there nothing they couldn’t do? Rose Marie does a wonderful solo of “Santa Bring me a Fella.” Of course, Morey gives it to Richard Deacon’s under-appreciated Mel Cooley:
Mel Cooley: What is it that everyone says The Alan Brady Show
lacks?
Buddy Sorrell: A good producer.
Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore’s versatility on display in the Dick Van Dyke Show Christmas episode
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10:00 PM: Bewitched “A Vision of Sugar Plums” (12/24/1964)
Samantha (Elizabeth Montgomery) and Darrin (Dick York) bring home a boy from an orphanage (Bill Mumy) who is a “problem child” to spend the holidays. When everything seems to fail Samantha brings him to the North pole to meet Santa (Cecil Kellaway) –Darrin comes along, too. The episode also features the great Alice Pearce & George Tobias as Gladys and Abner Kravitz and Bill Daily just a year away from his role on Major Healey on I Dream of Jeannie.
Meeting Santa in his workshop at the North Pole
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10:30 PM: Hazel “Just 86 Shopping Hours Until Christmas” (12/24/64)
One of two Hazel Christmas episodes. This one is from the show’s fourth season and the final one featuring Don DeFore and Whitney Blake as the Baxters. Mr. B is tired of the commercialism of Christmas and wants a simple Christmas. Dorothy will get a practical toaster rather than a mink coat and Harold will get a coat and not some radio. Hazel (Shirley Booth) can’t stand to see the disappointment in their faces especially when a huge package arrives from their neighbor for his wife which she and Dorothy discover to be a mink coat that they are convinced Mr. B got for her. My verdict: Is Mr. B wrong? still a fun episode.
Shirley Booth and Don DeFore in a Christmas promotional photo from Hazel
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11:00 PM: The Mary Tyler Moore Show “Christmas and the Hard Luck Kid” (12/19/1970)
Mary finds out that she not only has to work Christmas Eve but also Christmas day and is unable to go home and see her parents. As Lou tells her there are no holidays in the newsroom. She’s all alone late on Christmas Eve when she hears noises that turn out to be her friends coming up to check on her and spread some holiday cheer.
Nothing says Christmas like Mary Richards’ desk
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11:30 PM: The Doris Day Show “It’s Christmas Time in the City” (12/21/1970)
Doris is having a Christmas Eve party and invites her less than neighborly neighbor, Mr. Jarvis, (Billy De Wolfe) to attend. He turns her down with the warning that the party had better not be too loud or he would call the police. The invitees (including her work friends played by Rose Marie, McLean Stevenson and Paul Smith and landlords (Kaye Ballard and Bernie Kopell) as well as grandpa (Denver Pyle) and the kids (Philip Brown, Todd Starke) do their best to keep the noise level down, but nothing pleases Jarvis until he hears them singing Christmas carols which seems to melt this Scrooge’s heart. The highlight? It must be Doris Day singing “Silver Bells” and then her Christmas greeting to viewers at the end wishing everybody a Merry Christmas.
Doris Day and her TV sons singing Christmas carols on The Doris Day Show.
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Whatever you and yours do this Christmas I wish you a Merry one and a much happier and healthier New Year.
“Have a Festival of Horror” proclaims the full-page magazine ad from 1973.
It was in the quarterly magazine called The Film Journal and it literally meant to have a film festival, as in “hey, buy these movies on 16mm film.” The company – Universal 16 – offered five festivals including “Horror Festival #1” that unexpectedly included the sublime ghost story “The Uninvited” among its six films.
The original ad from a 1973 issue of The Film Journal.
“Karloff & Lugosi as a Team” had five movies that starred the two horror icons and “The Mummy Festival” celebrated five offerings with the ancient Universal creature.
“Festivals are great entertainment when presented all in one evening,…” the ad went on to read.
Nearly 50 years later, we call that “binging.” But instead of doing it with 16mm film, we use streaming services to binge on televisions, tablets and phones.
Stumbling across this ad touting 16mm film made me think of the nearly lost art of home video box sets and collections. The same streaming services that made binging all the rage, also dimmed the appeal of physical media for being too bulky or too expensive.
But those big sets – the original way to binge – hold a special appeal in that they are there for you any time you want without worrying that they are among the films “leaving” the next month.
The DVD sets in my collection are great for binging and making my own mini film festivals.
In the same way that
designers tell us to “shop from our own home,” we can do the same with video
libraries, to watch a movie or create our own festival. So I looked to set up my own Festival of Horror
by perusing my collection. With a mix of amusement and weird pride, I saw that
I own the very same “Mummy Festival” promoted in that 50-year-old ad.
Here’s more on that set
as well as a few of my other favorites. These aren’t “new” to DVD, but they are
readily available for purchase if you don’t have them. Look at your own
collection and see what you can rediscover – then be sure to share your own
Festival of Horror.
Binge these five films on The Mummy in the Universal Legacy Collection that were also touted as a film festival in the 1973 ad in The Film Journal.
The Legacy Collection
from Universal
In 2004, Universal released its impressive Legacy Collection on DVD that focused on four of the studio’s original monsters: Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolf Man and the Mummy. It was a tie-in with director Stephen Sommers’ film Van Helsing, released the same year and that’s OK since it gave us these fantastic sets. They are candy for Universal monster fans and an easy introduction for those who don’t know the classic creatures.
Each monster gets its own two-disc release (one disc is double-sided) that includes a wealth of movies that relate to the creature, plus documentaries, commentary and other extras. All include the original film in the Universal canon and later movies as well. For the Mummy, the films are Boris Karloff in the 1932 film, plusThe Mummy’s Hand, The Mummy’s Tomb, The Mummy’s Ghost andThe Mummy’s Curse – yes the same films from the 1973 ad.
The Dracula disc in the Universal Legacy Collection is packed with films and bonus features.
The Dracula collection is a clear binge winner. Start with the 1931 film that included the atmospheric use of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. Then watch it again, this time with the score written by Philip Glass in 1998 and performed by the Kronos Quartet; then a third time while listening to the commentary by film historian David J. Skal. Oh, I’m not done – this is a film festival after all. Go to the highly regarded Spanish-language version of the movie that was filmed at night once the crew making the Bela Lugosi film was done with the set and costumes. (This was a common in Hollywood at the time.) Follow it with the direct sequel Dracula’s Daughter (1936), then Son of Dracula (1943) and House of Dracula (1945), and finally the documentary The Road to Dracula.
Yes, that’s a lot but you’ve binged at least this much at one sitting of some TV series. Some of these films are barely more than an hour so total binge time for the Dracula set, for example, would still be less than 10 hours.
The Hammer Horror Series
(The Franchise Collection)
Fans of Hammer horror have
plenty of sets to watch. My collection has this eight-film, two-disc set. It’s
not a Hammer greatest hits collection, and that’s fine with me since most of
these aren’t often shown on television.
What’s fun about this set is you can binge it in multiple ways since it includes three movies each by directors Terence Fisher and Freddie Francis, and actors Peter Cushing and Oliver Reed.
These three films directed by Terence Fisher are in the eight-film DVD set The Hammer Horror Series (The Franchise Collection).
Or Oliver Reed in Curse
of the Werewolf, Paranoiac and Night Creatures.
Also included is The Kiss of the Vampire (1963) about a honeymooning couple stranded in a small European village who are welcomed into the castle of a count, who happens to be a vampire.
Total binge time for the
entire set is roughly 12 hours (each movie lasts about 90 minutes) or four to
five hours for one of the mini three-film festivals.
Vincent Price: MGM
Scream Legends Collection
Vincent Price fans can spend a day watching the seven films and bonus materials in this MGM Scream Legends Collection.
It should go without saying that any set of Vincent Price films should be watched from start to finish. This collection is a good mix of seven films from the 1960s and ‘70s on four discs plus a fifth disc of bonus features.
It includes the double feature The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) and Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972); entertaining anthologies of stories by two literary greats in Tales of Terror (1962, based off Edgar Allan Poe’s work) and Twice Told Tales (1963, Nathaniel Hawthorne). We also get Theater of Blood(1972) and Madhouse (1974).
Finally, there is Witchfinder General (1968) and a bonus disc of featurettes called Disc of Horrors. Witchfinder General, in which Price plays the title role of a man who travels from town to town in the Middle Ages to find, torture and kill witches, comes with an audio commentary with producer Philip Waddilove and actor Ian Ogilvy, plus a featurette.
The Disc of Horrors has three featurettes: Vincent Price: Renaissance Man, which details his love of art and theater; The Art of Fear, an entertaining but way-too-short (5 minute) look at why we love horror; and Working with Price, in which historians basically rattle off a long list of his co-stars.
The Fly Collection
The Fly Collection includes three movies, a bonus disc and small booklet.
Most classic horror fans have a soft spot for The Fly (1958), and its iconic (and tragic) “Help me” line. But you may not know about the sequels Return of the Fly (1959) and The Curse of The Fly (1965).
This four-disc set, which I wrote about in a previous Monsters and Matinees column, includes the three films, a bonus disc with a 1997 interview with Vincent Price from the TV series Biography, featurettes and photos, plus a color booklet. I’ve binged the three films and while they don’t flow together in a cohesive manner – each has a distinct personality – they are entertaining. Clocking in at a total of about four hours, it’s well worth the time to watch the trio.
Be sure to share suggestions on more film festivals we can create at home by looking at your own film collection.
Toni Ruberto, born and raised in Buffalo, N.Y., is an editor and writer at The Buffalo News. She shares her love for classic movies in her blog, Watching Forever. Toni was the president of the former Buffalo chapter of TCM Backlot and now leads the offshoot group, Buffalo Classic Movie Buffs. She is proud to have put Buffalo and its glorious old movie palaces in the spotlight as the inaugural winner of the TCM in Your Hometown contest. You can find Toni on Twitter at @toniruberto.
You may not automatically think of the character brought to life by Barbara Stanwyck in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946), but for my money, she’s just as deadly (and equally as badass) as any of the aforementioned dames. This month’s Noir Nook takes a look at why I love this character and why she deserves to be mentioned any time the conversation turns to fatal femmes. (If you’ve never seen this feature, watch your step – there are spoilers ahead!)
Martha as a youngster
When we first meet Martha, she’s around 13 years old and has just been brought home by police after her latest attempt to run away from the home where she lives with her wealthy, imperious aunt, Mrs. Ivers (Judith Anderson). Fearless, forthright, and strong-minded, Martha hates her aunt, and the feeling seems to be mutual – Mrs. Ivers disparages Martha’s father, calling him a “nobody,” and positing that “the best thing he did for [Martha] was to die.” And in response, Martha repeatedly tells her elder to shut up and at one point threatens to kill her – a threat which, as it turns out, wasn’t idle.
Barbara Stanwyck & Kirk Douglas
Martha as a domineering wife
We catch up with Martha years later, as the spouse of Walter O’Neil (Kirk Douglas), who is running for re-election as the town’s district attorney. Before we even lay eyes on Martha as an adult, we get an idea of the kind of wife and woman she is. At a local garage, we hear Martha speaking on the radio, giving a stump speech in place of her “suddenly sick” husband. The garage owner opines that O’Neil will most certainly win re-election, and then go on to become governor and even president. “Gonna be whatever his wife wants him to be.” And when we see Martha and Walter together after her radio appearance, we are even more convinced that Martha wears the proverbial pants in the family. She impales her weak-willed husband with a withering gaze and chastises him for his inebriated state: “Don’t you think you owe me an explanation?” she demands. “When did you get drunk, where did you get drunk, why did you get drunk?”
Martha as a businesswoman
Martha is not only a kingmaker where her husband is concerned – but she also owns the mill that employs the majority of the town, and is the area’s “best-loved civic figure.” After inheriting the mill from her (hated) aunt, Martha used her intelligence and understanding of human nature to not only increase her personal wealth, but to make much-appreciated improvements to the town, increasing the number of employees from 3,000 to 30,000, and donating thousands of dollars to build schools and hospitals. Undeniably impressive.
Lizabeth Scott, Barbara Stanwyck and Van Helfin
Martha as a rival
In addition to Martha and Walter, the plot of the film encompasses two other characters: Sam Masterson (Van Heflin), a childhood chum of Martha and Walter’s who returns to the town after a freak car accident nearby, and Toni Marachek (Lizabeth Scott), a troubled young woman who meets Sam shortly after her release from jail for petty theft. Sam is plainly attracted to Toni, but Martha possesses a matchless, overpowering appeal – a fact that was made obvious during the first and only encounter between the two women. In Sam’s hotel room, Toni is playfully modeling an inexpensive outfit that she purchased – shorts and a midriff, with a removable skirt – when Martha sweeps in, all fancy and refined, informing one and all that she owns the hotel. “So this is the girl,” she says, giving Toni a dismissive glance. “The sunsuit looks very well on her, Sam – she’s got just the figure for it. She’s a very pretty girl.” Even though Sam later rebukes Martha for her contemptuous treatment of Toni, it’s plain that Martha is the victor of this round.
Barbara Stanwyck, Van Helfin and Kirk Douglas
Martha as a femme fatale
Our first hint that Martha is more than just
a scornful wife and a savvy business owner comes soon after we encounter her as
an adult. In an exchange with Walter, we learn that she allowed an innocent man
to be accused, convicted, and executed for the death of her aunt – the death
for which Martha was solely responsible. “The man they executed was a criminal,”
she tells her guilt-ridden husband without blinking an eye. “If he hadn’t
hanged for that, he would have hanged for something else.” And later, she uses
her feminine wiles in a flagrant attempt to get Sam to kill Walter. She first
sets the stage, telling Sam that she’s fearful of her husband, who is drunk
again. And then, when Walter falls down the stairs, she instructs Sam, with
nary a hint of subtlety, “Now, Sam, do it now. Set me free – set us both free.
Everybody knows what a heavy drinker he was. Oh, Sam, it can be so easy.” Talk
about fatal femmes.
If you’ve never seen Barbara Stanwyck as Martha Ivers, do
yourself a favor and check her out – you can find the film on YouTube. And if
you already know all about this unforgettable femme, treat yourself to a
re-watch!
You only owe it to yourself.
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– Karen Burroughs Hannsberry for Classic Movie Hub
I’m not really a Christmas person. My overwhelming mood through the holiday season tends to be a combination of anxiety and depression that only lifts when we reach December 26, at which point I heave a sigh of relief. My father’s favorite Christmas movie when I was growing up was It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), and for many decades I felt obligated to love it, too, but these days I find it hard to take, as much as I appreciate its fine cast and iconic status. Instead, I turn to the cheerful, secular charms of White Christmas (1954), one of the few seasonal classics that really puts the jolly in my holidays. Nobody needs a box of tissues or an interest in angels to watch White Christmas; it’s a musical confection as sweet and bright as a candy cane and studded with favorite stars, the perfect movie to brighten the dark nights of mid-December.
Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen play the singing Haynes sisters, Betty and Judy, whose duet introduces them to Wallace and Davis.
If you watch Christmas movies at all you’re probably already familiar with White Christmas and its stars. Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye are the main attractions as Bob Wallace and Phil Davis, singing stars who first forged their partnership during World War II and are reminded of their time in the Army when they find the general (Dean Jagger) who once led them now keeping an inn in Vermont. The feel-good plot about trying to help General Waverly save his inn entwines with the double romance of the boys falling for Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen as the Haynes sisters, and there’s plenty of entertainment in the goofier pairing of Kaye and Vera-Ellen to balance the stormy upsets between Crosby and Clooney. The four leads are all given the chance to play to their strengths in the musical numbers, which are frequent enough to keep the various plots from getting bogged down. Thanks to this winning formula White Christmas proved to be a smash hit with audiences in 1954 and continues to be a beloved holiday tradition today, with generations of families gathering each season to watch its familiar but engaging scenes.
I love White Christmas for its good humor, its colorful musical numbers, and its gentle but touching treatment of post-war life for the Greatest Generation, all of which are delivered by a cast of beloved stars. Of the leads Danny Kaye is far and away my favorite; his performance makes me laugh every time I watch it, especially when Phil has to keep General Waverly from watching the television. His musical numbers are also high points of the picture for me; I can hear “The Best Things Happen While You’re Dancing” in my head as I write this post, and even though it’s not Thanksgiving yet I’m tempted to put the movie on right away. Mary Wickes is also a favorite, although it’s fair to say that Wickes is a favorite in pretty much every movie in which she appears. Her busybody housekeeper causes a lot of trouble for our romantic leads but serves as a perfect match for Dean Jagger’s gruff but lovable General. I always laugh when General Waverly tells her, “I got along very well in the Army without you,” and she immediately fires back, “It took 15,000 men to take my place!” That said, the whole movie is bursting with great lines and funny exchanges, especially between Crosby and Kaye. They have a delightful rapport that shines throughout every scene and bursts into the foreground in their hilarious take on the “Sisters” routine.
General Waverly (Dean Jagger) is the honoree at a Christmas reunion of the soldiers who fought with Wallace and Davis during the war.
As much as I love the movie for what it is, I also love it for what it isn’t. It isn’t a sob story laden with sadness and grief, even though General Waverly clearly has some tragedy in his life if he’s raising his granddaughter with no mention of being a widower or having lost adult children. Nobody contemplates suicide or requires divine intervention; they eat liverwurst sandwiches, they get mad and then make up, they stick their necks out to help each other, and they get on with life.
A quintessential holiday scene caps the finale of the film with the cast resplendent in crimson and white.
There’s certainly a moral in that story, but it isn’t rung like a bell every five minutes. One of the nicest things about White Christmas is that it doesn’t have a villain, just a problem with the weather and friends who need help. The forward motion of the plot is propelled by kindness and generosity, even though Bob pretends to be a bit of a cynic with his talk about angles. As generous as they are, nobody comes across as a martyr or a saint, which is especially refreshing in a season that often feels too holy by half. The treacle of Christmas can be cloying, too, but White Christmas puts enough spice in its recipe to avoid that, and it never feels stuffy or oppressive. Maybe that’s partly because the movie owes its best songs to Jewish composer Irving Berlin and many of its best scenes to Jewish actor Danny Kaye, not to mention the guiding hand of Jewish director Michael Curtiz. They help to make White Christmas a holiday movie anyone can enjoy, regardless of belief or lack thereof. Anyone can appreciate the delight of a first winter snow and the happiness of people coming together, even if some of us only ever see snow on our television screens. It’s not that other Christmas classics are bad for leaning into the angels and hymns and tearful scenes, it’s just that White Christmas is like throwing open the barn doors to let the brisk winter air into a crowded and overheated room, and for me, that feeling of relief is profoundly appreciated during the long, dark nights of the season. I hope every time a bell rings, Danny Kaye makes someone snort eggnog up their nose.
Our lead characters anticipate snowy Vermont in a delightful musical number but are disappointed when they find the weather warm and sunny instead!
There are plenty of other fun Christmas classics to enjoy during the season, including Christmas in Connecticut (1945) and It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947), and my family’s list of must-watch holiday movies also includes A Christmas Story (1983), Scrooged (1988), and The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), all of which we love and know by heart. For even less traditional holiday fare, look to Gremlins (1984), Die Hard (1988), and The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993).
Max Steiner and The Birth of Modern Movie Music Exclusive Guest Post by Author Steven C. Smith
An international crisis triggers record
unemployment.
Hollywood executives panic, as movie
theaters shut their doors.
And one studio faces likely closure, putting
all its hopes on a would-be blockbuster.
The year is 1933. The studio is RKO. And the movie is King Kong.
Then as now, audiences made anxious by
global upheaval hungered for escapist entertainment; and in March 1933, King
Kong delivered the financial rescue its studio prayed for. But the movie
might have failed, depriving us of later RKO classics, if not for the
ninth-inning involvement of one man: RKO’s 44-year-old music director, Max
Steiner.
Max Steiner 1936
More than any other composer, the
Vienna-born Steiner (1888-1971) established the ground rules of movie music in
the sound era. Before Max, orchestral underscore was rare in Hollywood talkies,
which officially replaced silent films in 1929.
As Kong neared completion in 1933,
nervous RKO brass told Steiner not to waste additional dollars writing music
for the movie, after some executives found the ape’s stop-motion movement unconvincing.
As Steiner would recall, “Cooper said to me,
‘Maxie, go ahead and score the picture to the best of your ability. And don’t
worry about the cost because I will pay for the orchestra.’”
Steiner’s epic score—a thrilling blend of
Stravinsky-like dissonance, Wagnerian opera, and Viennese lyricism—convinced
moviegoers that Kong was both terrifying and ultimately tragic. The music’s DNA
is still found in the sweeping scores of John Williams and countless others. (Star
Wars’ original “temp track” of music, used during editing before its score
was written, included music by Steiner.)
King Kong, 1933
By the mid-1930s, Max’s trademarks were widely imitated, if seldom equaled: separate, distinctive musical themes for characters, which he developed throughout a score to reflect the characters’ changing emotions; subtle use of orchestral color to create atmosphere; and a gift for soaring melody that lifted dramas like Now, Voyager and Gone with the Wind into the realm of myth.
His life had the jolting plot twists typical
of the biopics he often scored. During a pampered youth in late 19th
century Vienna, Max was the presumed inheritor of a theatrical empire. Grandfather
Maximilian launched the craze for Viennese operetta in the 1870s, after
convincing waltz king Johann Strauss, Jr., composer of “The Blue Danube,” to
write for the theater. Die Fledermaus, the world’s most performed
operetta, was one of the triumphant results.
Max’s father Gabor was also a showman,
fascinated by new technology. His productions ranged from symphony concerts to
DeMille-like stage spectacles.
Papa Steiner’s most ambitious creation was the amusement park “Venice in Vienna.” Sixty years before Disneyland, this multi-acre venue offered a recreation of the Italian city, complete with canals and gondolas. Patrons could also ride rollercoasters, listen to gramophone records (then a novelty), and watch silent movies just months after cinema’s invention. Gabor also commissioned the park’s Ferris wheel, which remains one of Venna’s most iconic attractions. (It’s often appeared onscreen, in movies like The Third Man.)
The
park’s astonishing blend of “high” and “low” culture proved a perfect training
ground for Max, who would spend his life writing sophisticated but accessible
music for the masses.
But in 1908, his promising composing career
was dealt a blow, when Gabor—whose grand visions were topped only by his
spending–declared bankruptcy. Max was forced to reinvent himself twice: first
as a wandering conductor of musical revues in London and Paris; then, in the
wake of World War One, a new life in America, where Austrians were not
considered the enemy.
Europe’s loss was Broadway’s gain. During
the 1920s, the tireless, gregarious Max thrived as a conductor of shows by
Gershwin, Kern, Hammerstein, and Ziegfeld. Conducting theater orchestras in a
time before microphones, Steiner learned how to make sure music didn’t overwhelm
a performer’s speech. It was invaluable training for what came next.
Max Steiner conducts, 1939
In December 1929, Steiner accepted an invite
to head west from recently-formed RKO, to join its fledgling music department. By
mid-1930, as its films flopped and staff shrank, Max was RKO’s musical
director. But his bold attempts to blend underscoring and onscreen dialogue
were usually thwarted, by literal-minded producers who asked: where is the
music coming from?
Watch almost any Hollywood feature made in
1930 or 1931 and you’ll hear the result: movies whose soundtracks are filled
with dead pauses, interrupted only by the hiss and crackle of early film
emulsion.
Enter 29-year-old David O. Selznick, RKO’s new production chief, who in 1932 encouraged Max to write full orchestral scores supporting the dialogue and action. Within months, thanks to hits like Symphony of Six Million and The Most Dangerous Game, Steiner proved that audiences would accept the unreality of an unseen orchestra accompanying the drama.
Max’s hastily written score pages ran into
the hundreds for a single film. Above his musical notes are handwritten quotes
of the screen dialogue being spoken at that moment (“It was beauty killed
the beast!”). Despite constantly looming deadlines, Max also found time to
scribble notes in the margins sharing studio gossip, lamentations about his
love life (he married four times), and sardonic comments on less-than-thrilling
screen action.
His audience for those notations was a
private one: the orchestrators who, like Steiner, slogged through days with
little sleep to turn his pencil scores into final instrumental parts—with the
result due in days or even hours.
His jokes in these pages often served a
serious purpose: to keep his cohorts alert, and to communicate his dramatic
intention. A favorite shorthand was to compare what he wanted to the style of a
beloved concert work: “A la Ravel’s Bolero—only better!”
Among the many astonishments of Steiner’s career
is his ability to compose full orchestral scores in as little as a week if
necessary, while indulging in a life of romantic pursuit, all-night gambling,
and alcohol-fueled revelry (W.C. Fields was a drinking pal since 1902, when Max
was 14).
That passion for life was reflected in Steiner’s
scores–music of intense emotion, reflecting decades of study. (Mahler and
Richard Strauss were among his mentors in Vienna.) His music did not simply
illustrate what audiences saw: it often reached deep inside the psychology of characters,
making their suffering and joys our own.
Scores like King Kong, and its successors at RKO like Little Women, Of Human Bondage and The Informer, heralded an exciting new era in film music. But for Steiner, it was only the beginning.
He would soon achieve even greater success,
at the studio whose sound he would define for three decades: Warner Bros.
Steven has produced over 200 documentaries for television and other media. They include The Sound of a City: Julie Andrews Returns to Salzburg; A Place for Us: West Side Story’s Legacy; and Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood. He can be reached at www.mediasteven.com
Images courtesy of Steven C. Smith.
You can purchase Steven’s book on amazon by clicking on the below images:
Classic Movie Travels: George Murphy – NY, NJ and CA
George Murphy
Hollywood musicals feature a wide array of performers who excelled in singing and dancing. George Murphy was one of many actors who excelled as a popular musical star, appearing in various Hollywood musicals with other top musical peers of his day. Later, he would enter into a political career as a U.S. Senator representing California, making him the first U.S. actor to be elected into statewide office, in addition to being the sole U.S. Senator with a star on the Walk of Fame.
George Lloyd Murphy was born on July 4, 1902, in New Haven,
Connecticut, to Michael and Nora Murphy. His father worked as an athletic
coach. Murphy was raised in the Irish Catholic tradition while attending
Trinity-Pawling School, Peddie School, and later, Yale University.
During his educational career, Murphy took on several odd
jobs. He secured work making tools for Ford Motor Company, and also had
experience in real estate, mining, and dancing in local night clubs.
By 1926, Murphy had left Yale to pursue a career in
entertainment. He married Juliet Henkel in 1926, and the two partnered together
as a song-and-dance act on Broadway, residing at the Algonquin Hotel. In 1934,
Juliet retired from the business to raise their family, prompting Murphy to
explore a career in films. The couple would have two children, Dennis and
Melissa, and remained together until Juliet’s passing in 1973.
George Murphy & Juliet Henkel
In Hollywood, Murphy appeared in many popular musicals, including Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937), Broadway Melody of 1940(1940), and For Me and My Gal (1942). In addition to musicals, he also appeared in comedies, such as Kid Millions (1934), The Public Menace (1935), and Hold That Co-ed (1938). During World War II, he dedicated time to organizing entertainment events for U.S. troops.
Murphy served as president of the Screen Actors guild from
1944-1946, in addition to serving as Vice President of Desilu Productions and
Technicolor. By the 1950s, Murphy retired from the film industry and received
an honorary Academy Award.
Fred Astaire, Eleanor Powell and George Murphy in Broadway Melody of 1940
Murphy transitioned to a political career in 1953 when he
became the director of entertainment for the Eisenhower-Nixon inauguration. He
would reprise his role as director of entertainment in 1957 and 1961 before
being elected as a Republican Senator in 1964. Murphy represented the state of
California from 1965 to 1971. During his term, he was diagnosed with throat
cancer, leading to the removal of a portion of his larynx. As a result of the
procedure, he could only speak just above a whisper. Though Murphy ran for
reelection, he lost to Democratic Senator John V. Tunney.
Murphy as California State Senator
After his time as a Senator, Murphy moved to Palm Beach,
Florida. He passed away on May 3, 1992, from leukemia. Murphy was 89 years old and
was survived by his second wife, Bette.
Today, several locations of relevance to Murphy remain.
The Trinity-Pawling School stands 700 NY-22 in Pawling, New
York.
Trinity-Pawling School, 700 NY-22, Pawling, New York
The Peddie School also remains a boarding school at 201 S.
Main St. in Highstown, New Jersey.
The Peddie School
Of course, Yale University also continues as a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut.
Yale University
In 1928, Murphy and Juliet were residing at the Algonquin
Hotel. Today, it remains a historic hotel at 59 W 44th St. in New
York.
Algonquin Hotel, 59 W 44th St., New York, NY
By 1940, he and Juliet were living at 615 N Oakhurst Dr. in
Beverly Hills, California. The original home still stands and is a private
residence.
615 N Oakhurst Dr., Beverly Hills, California
Murphy also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame,
located on the the West side of the 1600 Vine St. block.
George Murphy’s Walk of Fame Star
Interestingly, a fun tradition that Murphy started as a
Senator does live on in Washington, D.C. Murphy created the “candy desk” by
placing a box of confections atop his Senate desk. Once his term came to an
end, the candy desk duties were passed on to a variety of successors in the
Senate. Currently, Senator Pat Toomey continues the candy desk tradition.
Murphy’s “Candy Desk” tradition still stands today
Today, Murphy continues to be celebrated through his filmography and skills as a dancer.
Annette Bochenek of Chicago, Illinois, is a PhD student at Dominican University and an independent scholar of Hollywood’s Golden Age. She manages the Hometowns to Hollywood blog, in which she writes about her trips exploring the legacies and hometowns of Golden Age stars. Annette also hosts the “Hometowns to Hollywood” film series throughout the Chicago area. She has been featured on Turner Classic Movies and is the president of TCM Backlot’s Chicago chapter. In addition to writing for Classic Movie Hub, she also writes for Silent Film Quarterly, Nostalgia Digest, and Chicago Art Deco SocietyMagazine.
The joy of programming a season of Marlene Dietrich films is that she’s wonderful in everything – she had such electric charisma. But I had to whittle my list of favorite Dietrich performances down to just a few key films for the season. Because while you’ll never go wrong with a Dietrich movie, some of her roles are simply unmissable. Here are a few highlights from the BFI Southbank season, Marlene Dietrich: Falling in Love Again, which opens in December 2020.
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1) The Blue Angel (1930)
This is the film that made Marlene Dietrich an international star, an early talkie directed by the man who would become her most important collaborator, Josef von Sternberg. Dietrich plays Lola Lola, the captivating cabaret singer with legs to die for, who enthralls Emil Jannings’ weak schoolteacher. It’s a compelling story of sex, obsession and life’s cruelty, adapted from the novel Professor Unrat by Heinrich Mann. Almost every character Dietrich ever played has a touch of Lola.
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2) Shanghai Express (1932)
Dietrich’s fourth film with Von Sternberg and their third in Hollywood. She plays the notorious Shanghai Lily (“The notorious white flower of China. You heard of me, and you always believed what you heard”), who boards a train across China with her companion Hui Fei, played by Anna May Wong. Clive Brook plays the handsome face from her past who stirs up a lake of romantic regret. Dietrich is perfectly lit by Von Sternberg and cinematographer Lee Garmes, and decadently dressed by Travis Banton – every image of her in this film is indecently sublime.
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3) Destry Rides Again (1939)
In which the divine love goddess reveals her human side. Playing saloon singer Frenchy in this boisterous comedy western opposite James Stewart (as the fastidious Destry) gave Dietrich the comeback role she needed after being labelled “box-office poison” in the late 1930s. She sings (‘See What the Boys in the Back Room Will have’), she flirts, and she even indulges in an epic bar-room brawl. In doing so, Dietrich unlocked an ability to gently spoof her own carefully constructed persona, while still retaining the glamorous allure her fans adored.
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4) A Foreign Affair (1948)
Dietrich had spent the war years raising funds for the US war effort by selling war bonds, raising the morale of Allied troops in her USO tours and dishing out hot dinners in the Hollywood Canteen. In this bittersweet comedy by Billy Wilder, she returns to her native Berlin to play a cabaret singer suspected of having Nazi connections. The film is a kind of Ninotchka in reverse, as Dietrich’s imperious Erika loosens the collar of Jean Arthur’s uptight US Congresswoman. And don’t miss Dietrich’s spine-tingling performance of the song ‘Illusions’.
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5) Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
The first time I saw Dietrich on screen must have been watching this Agatha Christie adaptation on TV as a child, and it’s a role that is impossible to forget. This film was Christie’s favorite screen adaptation of her work, and director Wilder kept the surprise ending a secret even from most of the cast. A challenge, certainly for a star whose face and voice were her fortune, but Dietrich rose to it. So much so that she was devastated not to receive as Oscar nomination for this magnificent performance.
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— Pamela Hutchinson for Classic Movie Hub
An Exclusive Offer especially for Classic Movie Hub fans in the UK – when ordering movie tickets for the Marlene Dietrich: Falling in Love Again event, use coupon code DIETRICH to purchase your movie ticket for just £8.20.
The BFI is the UK’s lead organization for film, television and the moving image. This December, BFI Southbank celebrates one of the screen’s most enduring icons with a new season Marlene Dietrich: Falling in Love Again, programmed by film critic and writer Pamela Hutchinson. You can follow British Film Institute on twitter at @BFI.
That said, here are some of our December picks available for FREE STREAMING all month long on the CMH Channel. All you need to do is click on the movie/show of your choice, then click ‘play’ — you do not have to opt for a 7-day trial.
In celebration of December Birthdays, we’re featuring Ava Gardner (born Dec 24, 1922) with two picks: the 1946 film noir Whistle Stop co-starring starring George Raft, and the 1952 adventure/romance The Snows of Kilimanjaro opposite Gregory Peck and Susan Hayward. We’re also celebrating George Stevens’ (born Dec 18, 1904) birthday with the classic 1941 romance Penny Serenade starring Cary Grant and Irene Dunne. Plus more movies from birthday girls Irene Dunne (Dec 20, 1898) and Dorothy Lamour (Dec 10, 1914), and birthday boys Edward G. Robinson (Dec 12, 1893) and Frank Sinatra (Dec 12, 1915) — and more!
We’re also celebrating the Holidays this month with some fun TV shows including The Jack Benny Show’s “Christmas Shopping Show”, Ozzie and Harriet’s “Fruitcake” and The Bob Cummings Show’s “Grandpa’s Christmas List”! And more…
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For those of you who aren’t familiar with the service, Best Classics Ever is a new mega streaming channel built especially for classic movie and TV lovers. The idea of the channel is to make lots of classic titles accessible and affordable for all. That said, Classic Movie Hub is curating titles each month that our fans can stream for free on the Classic Movie Hub Channelat Best Classics Ever. If you’d like access to the entire selection of Best Classics Ever titles, you can subscribe to everything for $4.99/month(Best Stars Ever, Best Westerns Ever, Best Mysteries Ever, Best TV Ever) or for an individual channel for $1.99/month.
You can read more about Best Classics Ever and our partnership here.
BFI Southbank’s “Marlene Dietrich: Falling in Love Again” From Europe to Hollywood and back again, the screen’s most enduring love goddess still smolders.
CMH is very happy to announce our partnership with the BFI, the UK’s lead organization for film, television and the moving image!
To kick things off, we’re offering our UK CMH fans an Exclusive Discount Code (see below) to purchase movie tickets for BFI Southbank’s Marlene Dietrich: Falling in Love Again season, programmed by film critic and writer Pamela Hutchinson. The season runs from Dec 3 through Dec 30, and celebrates the iconic actress, from her early silent performances to her Hollywood classics.
Use coupon code DIETRICH for a discount on your ticket purchase
Fans can discover Dietrich from one of her finest silent roles, The Three Lovers (Curtis Bernhardt, 1929), to her most compelling appearances in both European and Hollywood cinema, including The Blue Angel (Josef von Sternberg, 1930), A Foreign Affair (Billy Wilder, 1948) and Rancho Notorious (Fritz Lang, 1952).
