Retro TV: Classic Film Stars and Television

Posted on June 6, 2020 by Charles Tranberg

Classic Film Stars and Television

There is a scene in Joseph Mankiewicz’ classic 1950 film All About Eve between George Sanders’ acerbic critic, Addison DeWitt, and Marilyn Monroe’s Miss Casswell, a “Graduate from the Cocacabana School of Dramatic Art,” in which Casswell has just performed poorly in an audition for a Broadway play.  DeWitt tells her it means she will have to turn to television.

Casswell:  Do they have auditions for television?
DeWitt:  That’s all television is, my dear, Nothing but auditions.

That scene pretty well sums up what the major movie studios, and many of the stars of the time, felt about television — a medium for amateurs, has-beens or never-weres.  But certainly not a medium for stars.  Why — to turn to television would be slumming it.  Yet there were exceptions — even early on.

Some major stars did recognize the potential of television and jumped in at the very beginning.  Bob Hope, for instance, did the first of his hundreds of television specials on Easter, 1950.  This was while he was still a major box office movie star. Of course this was a “special” or, as they were called at the time, a “spectacular” and not a weekly series.  Now that would be going too far. 

Ah, but what about people like Jack Benny and Burns and Allen?  Hadn’t they appeared in popular films? Of course. But they were really top radio stars who were adapting their radio shows to the new medium. Benny hadn’t actually starred in a movie since The Horn Blows at Midnight in 1945 when he came to television with a monthly series starting in 1950 — and you would have to go back even further to the last time Burns and Allen had appeared in a movie together.

Lucille Ball was the “Queen of the B’s” before she became a bonafide TV star thanks to I LOVE LUCY

Lucille Ball was a movie star before she began doing I Love Lucy.  But she wasn’t a major film star in the way actresses like Claudette Colbert or Paulette Goddard were.  She was the “Queen of the B’s” at RKO and worked steadily without really escaping mid-range stardom.  By 1951, her movie career was stalling and television came to the rescue.  I Love Lucy was really a reworking of her radio series My Favorite Husband, in that it recycled scripts and used many of the behind-the-scenes talent, while creating a new format.  Lucy became a major star — but a major television star. 

The same could be said for Robert Young, who had been working in movies for a quarter of  a century when he adapted his popular radio show Father Knows Best for television in 1954.  Good movie roles were drying up and television, especially a television series which he partly owned, would keep his face before the public and eventually pay dividends financially.  Young never made another feature film after he began working on TV.

If a major movie star began working in television, it was usually a star past their prime who had been lured to the new medium to host or star in an anthology series.  Anthology series are not presented as much these days but were actually quite popular during the 1950’s and into the 1960’s.  Anthology shows were usually hosted by somebody who introduced a different play each week, whether dramatic or comic in tone, and sometimes featured a repertory of the same actors along with guest stars. 

Robert Montgomery was a top MGM leading man of the 30’s and 40’s before producing and hosting one of the Golden Age of Televisions finest anthology series, ROBERT MONTGOMERY PRESENTS.

One of earliest examples was Robert Montgomery Presents which ran on NBC from 1950-1957.  NBC was looking for a respectable and (still) marquee name to front its ambitious anthology series and Montgomery was a perfect fit.  He would introduce the episode and, on occasion, even act in the play.  But more important to Montgomery was that he also produced the show and directed many episodes as well as served as a script consultant.  It was the behind-the-scenes activities that interested Montgomery more than the on-air performing.  Eventually Montgomery would even become the television advisor to President Eisenhower.

Loretta Young was another example.  She was an Oscar-winning film actress  whose movie popularity was fading.  By 1953, Young was forty-years old.  Not very old by today‘s standards.  But at the time, especially in Hollywood, an actress turning 40 often meant fewer romantic leads and a transition into character parts.  The anthology series, The Loretta Young Show (which included her dazzling entrances wearing the latest designer fashions to introduce the evening’s play) would allow her to perform many different parts each week, something that films would no longer enable her to do.  One week she could play in a romantic comedy, and the next, a suspense-filled drama, and so on.  She would go on to earn three Emmy Awards during the show’s eight year run. 

Other stars who were seeing a decline in their movie fortunes and who hosted a television anthology series include:  Barbara Stanwyck, Jane Wyman, June Allyson, Joseph Cotton and Dick Powell, who also emerged as a major producer with his Four Star Productions — the three other stars being David Niven, Charles Boyer and Ida Lupino.  Four Star eventually produced such shows as The Rifleman, Trackdown, Richard Diamond, Private Eye and The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor — Taylor, who left MGM in 1958, along with twenty-five years of solid movie stardom, was another example of a one-time big box office name throwing his hat into the television ring in an attempt to prolong his celebrity.

Fred MacMurray was enjoying a movie resurgence when he signed on to star in MY THREE SONS under his own terms in 1960.

Probably the most successful film actor to make the transition into a weekly non-anthology television series at this time was Fred MacMurray.  MacMurray had gone through some lean times during the 1950’s despite working constantly.  However, in 1959 he made a comeback in films with The Shaggy Dog for Walt Disney Productions, which became the third most popular film of the year.  In 1959, he joined the cast of the latest Billy Wilder film, The Apartment, in a leading role, and won ecstatic reviews; the film would go on to win Best Picture for 1960.

So MacMurray was on a roll.  He had another film on the docket at Disney.  However, television producer Don Fedderson badly wanted him to star in his new family television series My Three Sons about a widower bringing up his three rambunctious boys with the help of their crusty grandfather. 

Fedderson met with MacMurray and offered him a good deal of money, along with a partial share of the series profits, if MacMurray would do the show.  MacMurray told him the money was no problem — it was great — but he had heard from his friend, Robert Young, that television was a time-consuming strain that took everything out of a performer.  He wouldn’t have the time to make the films he was being offered by Disney, or to enjoy his favorite pastimes like golf, hunting and fishing.  He declined the offer.

Fedderson thought MacMurray was the only actor he could see play the father role and did some thinking.  He came up with a unique offer for the actor.  MacMurray’s scenes for the entire season would be filmed in 65 non-consecutive days.  This meant that when MacMurray worked, everything revolved around him.  Scripts had to be prepared so that MacMurray’s scenes for several episodes would be filmed during those days, and then the other actors would have to come back and complete the episodes without him.  So, Fedderson made MacMurray the counter offer — he could still have the money and a portion of the profits, and only have to work on the show 65 days.  That would give him 300 days to shoot his Disney movies and enjoy his leisure activities.  MacMurray thought he’d be crazy to turn it down–and, of course, didn’t.  My Three Sons went on to run twelve years (1960-1972) and MacMurray was the only actor on the show to appear in all 380 episodes even though he probably worked the least of all the actors connected with the show.

Jerry Lewis was at the peak of his solo movie box office success when he signed on to star in his own talk/variety show — which turned out to be a huge disaster for ABC.

In the 1960’s some major film stars of the time were beginning to front television shows — particularly variety series.  In 1963, one of the biggest box office stars, Jerry Lewis, was offered his own weekly two-hour(!) talk-variety show on ABC.  He would be paid an astronomical amount – in the millions.  Because of his movie commitments, Lewis paid scant attention to his new TV show and thought he could wing it.  While The Jerry Lewis Show premiered well, it was ragged around the edges and was just too much Jerry! And not necessarily the movie Jerry that film audiences loved, but a darker and yes, more narcissistic version (a somewhat toned-down version of the Buddy Love character from his classic film The Nutty Professor).  The show became a ratings disaster and ABC pulled the plug after thirteen weeks.

Judy Garland was at her late career best when starring in THE JUDY GARLAND SHOW on CBS–unfortunately she had little support from the network.

That same season Judy Garland premiered with her variety show on CBS.  Garland had been one of the great film stars of the 40’s and had made sporadic film comebacks since leaving MGM in 1950, earning an Oscar nomination for the 1954 version of A Star is Born.  In 1963, she had just come off of another Oscar nomination for Judgment at Nuremberg.  She had also performed in a very successful TV special for CBS the season before.  Despite her (deserved) reputation for unreliability, CBS offered her a TV-variety show. 

Garland put her all into the show and surprisingly showed up every week, even for rehearsals.  Anybody who has seen this show on DVD or You Tube can see that she was performing near her best at the time.  But CBS didn’t know how to present her.  Furthermore, they put The Judy Garland Show opposite the number one television show in the country, Bonanza.  She was overwhelmed by the Cartwrights, and rather than put Garland in a more friendly time slot, they decided to try changing producers and formats on her — none of which helped.  At the end of the season, the Garland show was cancelled, and with it, a lot of Judy’s confidence.  Many people think that she never recovered from the demise of her 1963-1964 television series.

Dean Martin enjoyed both movie and television success for NBC on THE DEAN MARTIN SHOW during the 60’s.

In 1965, Dean Martin decided to try his hand at a weekly variety series but, like Fred MacMurray, didn’t want to be pinned down doing a show, week after week, when he was still busy making movies, recordings and playing Vegas.  NBC allowed him to only show up on the date of the tapings, and he would watch the run-throughs of rehearsals (complete with a Martin stand-in) for various sketches and songs on a closed-monitored television in his dressing room while practicing his golf swing.  The Dean Martin Show ran for nine years, and part of the fun was seeing Martin taken by surprise by various people who would stop by to say hello, or laughing uproariously at some antics he had no idea was going to happen.  Martin’s cool personality allowed him to get away with this.

In 1968, singer-actress Doris Day moved to television, not in a variety show, but in a family sitcom The Doris Day Show.  Day had been a top ten box office star as recently as 1964, but her films had been declining at the box office, and her manager-husband, Marty Melcher, signed her, without her knowledge, to a CBS TV show.  When Melcher died, Day discovered that he not only signed her to a TV show, but also mismanaged her money – and the only way she could really get out of debt was to do the series.  So she did it for five years through various format and cast changes, and her name made it successful.

If there was any one season when major film stars would make their debut on television it might be the 1971-1972 TV season, when such August movie names as James Stewart, Shirley MacLaine, Henry Fonda, Rock Hudson and Glenn Ford fronted weekly TV shows — and in most cases, failed.

Movie legend James Stewart would seem to have been a sure bet on television, but THE JIMMY STEWART SHOW lasted only one season.

James Stewart had been successful on television, often playing himself as a guest star on television shows headlined by his friends Jack Benny and Dean Martin.  Nobody could play the drawling, aww-schucks “Jimmy Stewart” persona as well as, well, Jimmy Stewart himself.  Furthermore, his movie career was slipping.  His latest film Fool’s Parade was a flop.  NBC came to his rescue with the offer of a weekly family sit-com in which he would play a small-town college professor (married to a much younger woman) with a grown son and a ten-year old son.  The Jimmy Stewart Show would pay Stewart the then highest salary on television of $33,333.33 per episode — or about $800,000 per season. 

Stewart only accepted after director, writer and producer Hal Kantor flattered him.  Kantor told Stewart that no actor could play comedy as well as Stewart.  Kantor sincerely believed this, but he also believed that Stewart would photograph, well, very old.  “He looked 63 going on 73,” Kantor later said.  This made him seem unbelievable as a father of a ten year old son.  Stewart also wanted his real-life wife, Gloria, to play his TV wife, but NBC balked on this — hiring the younger Julie Adams.  While Stewart got along with Adams (and had indeed worked with her in his 1952 film Bend of the River), he never forgave the network for balking on Gloria. 

The network gave what they thought would be a perfect timeslot — Sundays right after The Wonderful World of Disney and just before Bonanza.  Who would dare turn-off Jimmy Stewart?  Well, lots of people did.  Disney turned out to be the 20th highest ranking television series of the season, and Bonanza, while declining in its rating, was still a solid #19.  The Jimmy Stewart Show, sandwiched in between them, ranked #44 for the season.  It appears a lot of viewers switched to the second half of The FBI (ranked # 13) after watching Disney, and then switched back for Bonanza.

THE SMITH FAMILY starring Henry Fonda didn’t catch on for ABC.

Stewart’s great friend Henry Fonda fared even worse.  His TV show which combined police drama with family sit-com, The Smith Family, was on ABC Wednesday nights with lead-ins Bewitched and The Courtship of Eddie’s Father.  Unfortunately for Fonda, both of those series were on their last legs.  Bewitched, in its last season, and once a top ten TV show, was now ranked #72 in the ratings.  The Smith Family actually bettered it, but not by much, ranking a dismal #69 in the ratings.

Shirley MacLaine thought doing a television series might help her then sagging movie career. SHIRLEY’S WORLD on ABC was the result.

Shirley MacLaine, not yet forty and a major movie name whose star was dimming, accepted doing her ABC series Shirley’s World – in which she played a jet setting photo journalist – only after producer Lou Grade told her he would finance a movie for her each year she completed a 22-episode run of the TV show.  Shirley’s World was an expensive show to produce, with episodes filmed on location in London, Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong, among other locales.  As it turned out, Grade only had to finance one movie for Shirley, Desperate Characters, because her TV show was cancelled after finishing next-to-last in the ratings for the season (#77). 

Glenn Ford’s contemporary western crime-drama Cade’s County allowed the low-key leading man to earn $500,000, playing a marshal whose district is in a sprawling desert of some southwestern state (never specified), and who takes on contemporary issues like discrimination and Indian rights while making his patrols in a jeep.  The CBS show had a promising start, ranking #11 for its first week but slowly eroded ending the season ranked #49 before the network pulled the plug.

Of the major movie stars who began television shows in 1971-1972 the only success was Rock Hudson in MCMILLAN AND WIFE.

The film star who had the most success during this 1971-1972 TV season was Rock Hudson, who played a middle aged police commissioner who investigates mysteries, with the sometimes unwelcome help of his youngish wife (Susan St. James) on NBC’s McMillan and Wife. This was part of its NBC Mystery Movie wheel series which also included Dennis Weaver’s McCloud and Peter Falk’s Columbo.  McMillan and Wife was a kind of an updated version of The Thin Man with romantic banter and comic situations in between solving mysteries.  Columbo proved to be the most popular of the “wheel” shows, though the McMillan episodes were also highly rated and overall the “Mystery Movie” ranked #14 for the season.  McMillan and Wife would run for five years (with one more season as McMillan after Susan St. James left the series). 

So, why did shows starring classic films stars like James Stewart, Henry Fonda, Glenn Ford and Shirley MacLaine fail, and Rock Hudson succeed?  It was probably because of a combination of poor time slots and less-than-stellar scripts. As for Hudson, he succeeded not because the McMillan scripts were great (they weren’t), but because he had unmistakable chemistry with his co-star, and was a younger leading man than Stewart, Fonda and Ford.  It was probably also because Hudson wasn’t seen every week, but rather in rotation with the other “wheel” shows.

Since then, of course, it has become more acceptable for movie stars to also appear regularly on television — especially on cable television in movies or even series.  Probably because more television stars are able to make the transition to movie stardom, so they don’t have the same snobbery that some classic movie stars had towards the television medium.   But it still continues to be hit or miss.

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–Charles Tranberg for Classic Movie Hub

You can read all of Charles’ Retro TV articles here.

Charles Tranberg is the author of eight books on such film and television stars as Agnes Moorehead, Fred MacMurray, Marie Wilson, Robert Taylor, Fredric March and William Conrad.  He has also written books on “The Disney Films” and “The Thin Man” film series.   He is also the author of several articles for Classic Images and Films of the Golden Age.

                                   

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Classic Movie Travels: Frank McHugh

Posted on June 4, 2020 by Annette Bochenek

Classic Movie Travels: Frank McHugh

Frank McHugh
Frank McHugh

Frank McHugh was a beloved character actor, whom fans of Pre Code cinema will remember particularly well. He typically carried out roles that provided comic relief in films but also had experience on stage, radio, and television.

Francis Curray McHugh was born on May 23, 1898, in Homestead, Pennsylvania, as one of five children. His parents, Edward “Cutie” McHugh and Katherine Curry “Katie” McHugh had backgrounds in theater and ran a stock theater company in Braddock, Pennsylvania. As a result, Francis began performing at an early age and developed an interest in theater. Moreover, his brother and sister — Matt and Kitty — were also similarly inclined. The trio of children formed an act when Francis was 10 years old. Francis’ formal education would end with the 5th grade.

In 1917, Francis was working in Manhattan as an actor. Francis went to Pittsburgh to find acting roles and to work as a stage manager at the Empire Theater. He worked in stock and traveling companies in addition to gaining experience on Broadway. Later, he would marry Dorothy Spencer. The couple went on to have three children: Susan, Michael, and Peter.

Frank McHugh Headshot
Frank McHugh

Francis would make his Broadway debut in a show called The Fall Guy in 1925. His film debut would occur in If Men Played Cards as Women Do (1929), a short for Paramount. Francis would then be hired on at First National Pictures as a contract player, later being credited as Frank McHugh in film roles.

By 1930, McHugh’s siblings were no longer working on stage as an act. Another brother of Francis’s, Ed, left for New York to work as an agent and stage manager. Like Francis, Matt and Kitty also went on to have film careers.

As his screen career progressed, McHugh took on a wide variety of roles. He often played humorous, easygoing characters and almost always incorporated his trademark laugh in his work.

Completing a vast number and variety of films, McHugh worked alongside some of classic cinema’s greatest stars, developing a close friendship with James Cagney. Their friend group expanded to include the likes of Ralph Bellamy, Frank Morgan, Pat O’Brien, Lynne Overman, Spencer Tracy, and Allan Jenkins, dubbed “The Irish Mafia.”

Frank and Cagney in Footlight Parade (1933)
Frank and Cagney in Footlight Parade (1933)

He would later work with Bing Crosby in Going My Way (1944).

During World War II, McHugh was part of the Hollywood Victory Caravan. The caravan was comprised of 21 film stars who traveled the country by train in order to perform and raise money for the Army and Navy Relief Society. He went on to perform as part of additional USO tours internationally, including a show he created, called “McHugh’s Revue.” McHugh was honored by the U.S. Army for his work with the USO.

Over time, McHugh worked on radio in Phone Again, Finnegan in the 1940s, and Hotel for Pets during the 1950s. From 1964-65, he appeared regularly on The Bing Crosby Show as Willis Walter, a live-in handyman character. His last film role was in Easy Come, Easy Go (1967), starring Elvis Presley.

McHugh passed away in Greenwich Hospital in Connecticut at age 83. He and his wife are buried in the Spencer family plot at Fairview Cemetery, located in West Hartford, Connecticut.

His papers are now housed at the Billy Rose Theatre Division of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

Today, some of McHugh’s residences still remain.

His childhood home on Locust Alley in Homestead, Pennsylvania, no longer stands. His apartment in 1930, located at 446 Yucca St. in Los Angeles, California, has also been razed.

In 1940, McHugh resided at 4200 Navajo St. in Toluca Lake, California, with his family and their Czechoslovakian maid, Anastasia Vorick. Here is the property today:

4200 Navajo St. in Toluca Lake, California
4200 Navajo Street, Toluca Lake, California

By 1965, McHugh was living at 8 White Birch Ln. in Cos Cob, Connecticut. The property is located in a peaceful, wooded area.

8 White Birch Lane, Cos Cob, Connecticut
8 White Birch Lane, Cos Cob, Connecticut

Today, McHugh is best remembered by film fans for the joy he brought through the many cheery characters he played.

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–Annette Bochenek for Classic Movie Hub

Annette Bochenek pens our monthly Classic Movie Travels column. You can read all of Annette’s Classic Movie Travel articles here.

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.

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Announcing our Partnership with Best Classics Ever!

Posted on June 1, 2020 by Annmarie Gatti

Classic Movies and TV Shows for Streaming
The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship 🙂

CMH is absolutely thrilled to announce that we have partnered with Best Classics Ever (BCE), a mega streaming channel dedicated to classic films and TV shows! We will have our own Classic Movie Hub Channel there, where CMH fans can stream lots of classic movies and TV shows for free each month! CMH will be specially curating the movies on our channel, so we’ll be sure to feature a nice selection for fans and we’ll announce the available titles each month!

In addition to our curated CMH Channel, fans can also pivot to the BCE Home Page, where they can watch even more free classic movies and shows on these classic streaming channels – Best Stars Ever, Best Westerns Ever and Best TV Ever.

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Every movie and TV show featured on the CMH Channel and the BCE Home Page can be watched for free. All you need to do is select a film or show, and then click the ‘play’ button. BCE is able to provide this content for free to you because it includes some commercials – so it’s kind of like watching ‘regular’ TV. There is no sign-up necessary to enjoy this free content, and there are hundreds of movies and TV episodes available with this option.

If, instead, you prefer to enjoy your classic movie content ‘straight’ aka commerical-free 🙂 or if you want access to LOTs more movies and shows, please feel free to check out a 7-day free trial. If you like what you see and decide to sign-up for a monthly ad-free subscription, it would cost $1.99/channel per month or $4.99/month for all three channels (Best Stars Ever, Best Westerns Ever, Best TV Ever). There are thousands of movies and TV episodes available through the ad-free options.

Here’s a quick sampling of what you can watch for free right now on BCE:

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I am really excited about this partnership, and I am hoping that it brings everyone LOTs of hours of classic viewing fun! And, what’s even more exciting for me, is that CMH will be working with BCE to help curate the library — so if there’s a classic movie or TV show that you’re hankering to see, let us know and we’ll see what we can do.

Before I sign off, I do want to be transparent here and let you know that there will be some compensation for CMH involved here, but please know that we’ve been working on this with BCE for quite some time and we are very happy with the results 🙂 I am hoping that you will be too!

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–Annmarie Gatti for Classic Movie Hub

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Marilyn: Behind the Icon – Niagara

Posted on June 1, 2020 by Gary Vitacco-Robles

Marilyn Monroe as Rose Loomis in Niagara

Niagara movie poster

In 20th Century Fox Studio’s black and white trailer for Niagara (1953), the narrator describes Marilyn Monroe’s character as “flaunting her charms as she lured men on and on to their eternal destruction…” A close-up of Monroe is superimposed on the footage of the cascading falls. Monroe, the actress, is described by stilted voiceover as “skyrocketing to new dramatic heights.” Promotional posters featured a rendering of a colossal Monroe lounging across the falls, emblazoned with slogans such as, “Marilyn Monroe and Niagara are a raging torrent of emotion that even nature can’t control!”

Marilyn Monroe in Niagara, shocking pink dress, with a vinyl record

Fox correctly calculated Niagara as a vehicle to propel Marilyn Monroe into overnight global stardom by introducing her as a titillating leading lady of high budget, A-class films. The screenplay describes her role—an adulterous wife plotting her husband’s murder with her lover amid the backdrop of Niagara Falls—as a beautiful girl “with clear eyes and untroubled expression of a girl with no moral restraints whatever.” Perfect material to pry the public from television sets and into theaters.

Written and produced by Charles Brackett, Niagara was a retooled treatment by Walter Reisch and Richard Breen. Beginning in 1950, Brackett obsessed about the idea of a suspense film set in Niagara Falls, subconsciously inspired by a Currier and Ives print of the cascading falls in the men’s restroom of his office.

Marilyn Monroe, Jean Peters, Max Showalter, Niagara

The film’s perspective is told from the perspective of a young couple, Ray and Polly Cutler (Max Showalter & Jean Peters), enjoying a postponed honeymoon to Niagara Falls where they meet George & Rose Loomis (George Cotten & Monroe)—a dysfunctional pair returning to the Falls where they had spent their honeymoon but who are now consumed by jealousy, adultery, and revenge. Niagara Falls symbolizes uncontrolled passion resulting in disaster and death. The message for Post-War 1950s America is that sexuality must be contained and restrained.

Niagara, Joseph Cotten, Marilyn Monroe

Niagara is a rare Technicolor film noir that employs the genre’s traditional use of stark camera angles, dramatic shadows, contrast images, and low-key lighting. The main exception is its use of Technicolor rather than monochromatic film. In true film noir style, the protagonist, George Loomis, has character flaws leading him to ruin. He is suffering from posttraumatic stress from combat in the Korean War, failure in business, and a suggested inability to satisfy his wife sexually. 

Marilyn Monroe in Niagara

This protagonist is betrayed by another staple of film noir, the femme fatale, in the form of his diabolical wife. Rose Loomis is the ultimate femme fatale. She is a cruel and dishonest woman who drives her husband toward madness with her brazen sexuality, in hope to begin a new life with her paramour. Niagara was Marilyn’s only opportunity to portray a villainous, narcissistic woman with virtually no redeeming qualities who conspires with her lover to murder her husband.

Joseph Cotten (1905-1994), whose film debut was in Orson Welles’ classic Citizen Kane (1941), portrays George Loomis. Welles had also directed him in The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) and The Third Man (1949). In Hitchcock’s film noir, Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Cotten attracted attention as the menacing uncle who confirms his young niece’s suspicion that he is a serial killer.

Marilyn Monroe, Niagara

Rose’s femme fatale is balanced with a pure and virtuous woman sympathetic and helpful to the protagonist. Jean Peters (1926-2000) is effective in the role of Polly Cutler, the newlywed who soothes George’s agitation. Interestingly, studio memos suggest original casting consideration of Monroe in for the role of Polly, and Anne Baxter as Rose. However, studio mogul Darry; F. Zanuck’s image of Monroe likely cemented her fate as—in the words of the film’s marketing—the “tantalizing temptress whose kisses fired men’s souls.”

Niagara would later be described as a stylized film in the directorial vein of Alfred Hitchcock and suggests how the director may have used Monroe as one of his signature icy blond leading ladies. However, Fox engaged Henry Hathaway (1898- 1985) as director. His film noir classics included The House on 92nd Street (1945), Kiss of Death (1947), and Call Northside 777 (1948) with Jean Peters.

Henry Hathaway and Marilyn Monroe on the set of Niagara

Hathaway’s reputation was that of a tyrant who belittled and cursed his actors. However, he took an immediate liking to Monroe, or perhaps she melted his icy exterior. Hathaway considered Monroe’s opinion when editing the daily rushes and allowed her input to the selection of takes chosen for the finished film.

Max Showalter (1917-2000), known by his stage name Casey Adams, was cast as the gregarious, somewhat “square” newlywed, Ray Cutler.

Richard Allan and Marilyn Monroe, Niagara

As Rose’s lover, Richard Allan (1923-1999) shared a powerful on-screen chemistry with Monroe.

On-location production began on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls during June 1952. Since none of the area’s existing motels and cabins could be photographed with the Falls as a background, Fox’s unit manager, Abe Steinberg, hired a local contractor to build the façade of a five-unit motel described in the script as on the edge of the Niagara River opposite American Falls in Queen Victoria Park. Upon release in early 1953, the film re-established Niagara as Honeymoon Capital of the World. Long after the film’s release and subsequent repeated broadcasts on television, the Niagara Falls Chamber of Commerce continued to receive many requests for information about vacancies at the long ago dismantled, fictional Rainbow Cabins.

Marilyn Monroe, Niagara, red jacket

In an iconic scene, the Niagara Carillon Tower chimes the melody of “Kiss.” Believing the song is a message from her lover communicating that he successfully killed her husband, Rose walks in the direction of the tower, flashing a smile as she dashes off to meet him. Her costume is a red bolero jacket, tight black skirt, and high-heel sandals with ankle straps. In this scene, Monroe created her first iconic image; a walk lasting nearly twenty seconds on screen and comprising one hundred sixteen feet of film. It was the longest and most luxurious walk in cinema history, and the film’s biggest gimmick. Hathaway’s stationary camera focuses on the exaggerated, horizontal sway of Monroe’s buttocks as she walks, her back to the camera, toward the tower. The audaciously allows the audience a voyeuristic moment in a style later synonymous with Hitchcock.

Marilyn Monroe, head shots for Niagara
Marilyn Monroe, various wardrobe tests for Niagara. red dress, black dress, baby blue dress

For the first time, Monroe was hailed for precision in her acting in a leading role. “The dress is red; the actress has very nice knees,” wrote Otis Guernsey of New York Herald Tribune, “and under Hathaway’s direction she gives the kind of serpentine performance that makes the audience hate her while admiring her, which is proper for the story.” Time hailed its full-bodied assertion, “What lifts the film above the commonplace is its star, Marilyn Monroe.”

In the final analysis, Monroe served Fox well. Niagara cost $1,250,000 and returned $6,000,000 in its first release. She had achieved global stardom. Nearly seventy years after its release, Niagara retains its nail-biting suspense, showcases Monroe’s dramatic talents, and illustrates its leading lady’s transcending appeal and charisma. She had personified the culture’s standard for beauty and sensuality.

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–Gary Vitacco-Robles for Classic Movie Hub

You can read all of Gary’s Marilyn: Behind the Icon articles for CMH here.

Gary Vitacco-Robles is the author of ICON: The Life, Times and Films of Marilyn Monroe, Volumes 1 & 2, and writer/producer of the podcast series, Marilyn: Behind the Icon.

     

Posted in Films, Guest Posts, Marilyn: Behind the Icon, Posts by Gary Vitacco-Robles | Tagged , | 10 Comments

Classic Movie Coincidence: June Birthdays – Errol, Basil, Marilyn, and More

Posted on May 31, 2020 by Annmarie Gatti

Classic Movie Birthday Coincidences:
Errol, Basil, Marilyn & More

I am happy to be starting a new monthly series today, looking at ‘classic movie coincidences’ among stars born in the same month.  Honestly, I thought it would be difficult to find any coincidences at all, but once I took a look at the long list of June birthdays, I was happily headed down an incredibly wonderful rabbit hole.  That said, let me share a few of the stand-out discoveries for me. 

…..

Errol Flynn (June 20, 1909) and
Basil Rathbone (June 13, 1892)

Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone fight to the death in Captain Blood.

Peter Blood: And that, my friend, ends a partnership that should never have begun.
Well, I’m glad that this partnership continued for at least one more film 🙂

What can I say? These famous dueling swashbucklers share June birthdays and two fun flicks – Captain Blood (1935) and The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), each of which are among my personal favorites, and always good for a Saturday afternoon matinee.  Whether playing ‘partnership-gone-wrong’ pirates or Norman/Saxon foes, it’s always thrilling to watch these two athletes fence. They’re both so exiting to watch, that I’m never quite entirely sure that Errol is actually going to win!

Fun Facts:

  • Rathbone, who was British Army Fencing Champ twice during WWI, was referred to, by many, as the greatest swordsman in Hollywood history.
  • Rathbone went on to star as Sherlock Holmes in 14 films between 1939 and 1946, and also starred as the sleuth in over 200 radio plays.
  • Lester Matthews, born June 6, 1900, and Ian Hunter, born June 13, 1900, both appeared in The Adventures of Robin Hood with Flynn and Rathbone. Rathbone and Hunter share the same birthday (June 13) with Rathbone being the elder by 8 years.

…..

Some Like It Hot

Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot

Sugar: If my mother could only see me now.
Joe: I hope my mother never finds out.

So, now for one of my favorite films of all time… Some Like It Hot – which shares five June classic movie birthdays: Marilyn Monroe (June 1, 1926) as Sugar, Tony Curtis (June 3, 1925) as Joe/Josephine, Paul Frees (June 22, 1920) as Mozzarella the funeral director, I.A.L. Diamond (June 27, 1920) who wrote the screenplay, and director Billy Wilder (June 22, 1906).   Paul Frees also dubbed the falsetto voice for Curtis/Josephine.

Fun Facts:

  • Paul Frees voiced many cartoon characters including villain Boris Badenov in The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show.
  • Paul Frees also has a June birthday connection with Gene Barry, who was born on June 14, 1919. Both starred in The War of the Worlds (1953); Gene Barry played atomic scientist Dr. Clayton Forrester, and Paul Frees provided the dramatic opening narration for the film and also played one of the radio reporters.

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Arsenic and Old Lace

Arsenic and Old Lace – what a bunch of characters 🙂
June birthdays include Peter Lorre (l), Priscilla Lane and Jean Adair (both to the right)

Aunt Martha: For a gallon of elderberry wine, I take one teaspoon full of arsenic, then add half a teaspoon full of strychnine, and then just a pinch of cyanide.

Another priceless film, in my humble opinion… Arsenic and Old Lace shares four June birthdays: Priscilla Lane (June 12, 1915) as Cary Grant’s new bride Elaine Harper, Jean Adair (June 13, 1873) as quirky (to say the least) Aunt Martha, Peter Lorre (June 26, 1904) as ‘plastic surgeon’ Dr. Einstein, and Grant Mitchell (June 17, 1874) as Elaine’s father, the Reverend Harper. A wonderful Halloween treat that can be enjoyed all year round 🙂

Fun Facts:

  • Jean Adair originated the role of Aunt Martha on Broadway, and was given time off from the play to shoot the movie. This was also the case for co-stars Josephine Hull who played Aunt Abby and John Alexander who played Teddy Brewster.  Boris Karloff, who played Jonathon Brewster on Broadway, was denied permission to take a leave of absence from the play, so Raymond Massey was cast in the film instead – hence the fun references to Karloff in the film.
  • Although the movie was filmed in 1941, it wasn’t released until 1944, due to a contract stipulation that prevented the film from being released before the play’s run had ended. The play closed on June 17, 1944, and the film premiered at NYC’s Strand Theatre on Sept 1, followed by nationwide release on September 23, 1944. The NY Times called it ‘good macabre fun’. Yep, that sounds about right to me.

…..

His Girl Friday

Ralph Bellamy and Rosalind Russell in His Girl Friday

Bruce Baldwin: He’s not the man for you. I can see that. But I sort of like him. He’s got a lot of charm.
Hildy Johnson: Well, he comes by it naturally – his grandfather was a snake.

A rapid-fire favorite, His Girl Friday, boasts three June birthdays: Rosalind Russell (June 4, 1907) as reporter Hildy Brown, Ralph Bellamy (June 17, 1904) as Hildy’s good-guy fiancée Bruce Baldwin, and Cliff Edwards (June 14, 1895) as reporter Endicott. Poor Baldwin/Bellamy is up against Cary Grant as Hildy’s first husband, Walter Burns, who doesn’t seem keen on letting Hildy get hitched again, at least to someone else.

Fun Facts:

  • His Girl Friday, released in 1940, was adapted from the 1928 Broadway play, The Front Page, which, in turn, was adapted into the film The Front Page in 1931 starring Pat O’Brien as Hildy Johnson, Adolphe Menjou as Walter Burns, and Mary Brian as love interest (in this case) Peggy Grant.
  • The Front Page was also remade in 1974 starring Jack Lemmon as Hildy, Walter Matthau as Burns, and Susan Sarandon as Peggy Grant – and directed by June birthday boy Billy Wilder who also co-wrote the screenplay with June birthday cohort I.A.L. Diamond.

…..

The Wizard of Oz

Judy Garland and Clara Blandick in The Wizard of Oz

Dorothy: Oh, Auntie Em – there’s no place like home!

The iconic (understatement) classic features three June birthdays: Judy Garland (June 10, 1922) as Dorothy Gale, Frank Morgan (June 1, 1890) as The Wizard (and the compassionate Professor Marvel), and Clara Blandick (June 4, 1876) as Dorothy’s Auntie Em.

Fun Fact:

…..

June Birthday Girls – Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Now for some quick coincidences:

  • Stan Laurel (June 16, 1890) and Henry Brandon (June 8, 1912) – March of the Wooden Soldiers (aka Babes in Toyland)
  • Stan Laurel and Mae Busch (June 18, 1891); Mae appeared in many Laurel and Hardy films, playing Hardy’s shrewish wife.
  • Mel Brooks (June 28, 1926) and Gene Wilder (June 11, 1933)
  • Ellen Corby (June 3, 1911) and Ralph Waite (June 22, 1928) – The Waltons
  • Nelson Eddy (June 29, 1901) and Jeanette MacDonald (June 18, 1903) – eight films together
  • Georgia Hale (June 25, 1900) and Paulette Goddard (June 3, 1910) – both starred in Charlie Chaplin films
  • June Haver (June 10, 1926), Marilyn Monroe (June 1, 1926), William Lundigan (June 12, 1914) – all starred in Love Nest
  • Jane Russell (June 21, 1921), Marilyn Monroe and Charles Coburn (June 19, 1877) – Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
  • George Axelrod (June 9, 1922) wrote the play/screenplay for The Seven Year Itch and the screenplay for Bus Stop. Both films starred Marilyn Monroe
  • George Axelrod wrote the play Goodbye Charlie. Tony Curtis and Pat Boone (June 1, 1934) both starred in the film
  • Max Showalter (June 2, 1917) and Marilyn Monroe – both starred in Niagara. Lester Matthews had a small part in the film as a doctor.
  • Jane Russell and Frieda Inescort (June 29, 1901) – Foxfire
  • Charles Coburn and Louis Jourdan (June 19, 1921) – The Paradine Case
  • Basil Rathbone and Blanche Yurka (June 19, 1887) – A Tale of Two Cities (1935)
  • Basil Rathbone and Clive Brook (June 1, 1887) both starred as Sherlock Holmes in a number of films
  • Basil Rathbone and Ian Hunter – Tower of London
  • Andy Griffith (June 1, 1926) and Jim Nabors (June 12, 1930) – The Andy Griffith Show
  • Russell Simpson (June 17, 1880, some sources say 1877) and Grant Mitchell (June 17, 1874) share the same birthday and both appeared in The Grapes of Wrath.
  • Maria Montez (June 6, 1912) and Moroni Olsen (June 27, 1889) – Cobra Woman
  • Walter Abel (June 6, 1898) and Moroni Olsen – The Three Muskateers (1935)
  • Errol Flynn and Moroni Olsen – Dive Bomber and Santa Fe Trail
  • Errol Flynn, Lester Matthews and Mildred Natwick (June 19, 1905) – Against All Flags

…..

Brigid Balzen as Salome in King of Kings

More June birthdays – but no coincidences that I can find (yet) – let me know if you see any!

  • Jack Albertson
  • Brigid Balzen
  • William Boyd
  • Pat Buttram
  • Kevin Corcoran
  • Robert Cummings
  • Joan Davis
  • Dudley Diggs
  • Cliff Edwards
  • Lionel Jeffries
  • Sessue Hayakawa
  • Susan Hayward
  • Judy Holliday
  • Lena Horne
  • Moe Howard
  • Louis Jourdan
  • Martin Landau
  • Harry Langdon
  • Madeleine Lebeau
  • June Lockhart
  • Paul Lynde
  • Dean Martin
  • E.G. Marshall
  • Jerry Mathers
  • Donald McBride
  • Hattie McDaniel
  • Dorothy McGuire
  • Eleanor Parker
  • Gail Patrick
  • Slim Pickens
  • Robert Preston
  • Anne Revere
  • Dennis Weaver
  • Lois Weber
  • Johnny Weissmuller
  • May Whitty
  • Mary Wickes

You can check out all our June birthdays by visiting our Birthday Database here.

…..

–Annmarie Gatti for Classic Movie Hub

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Marilyn: Behind the Icon – Exclusive Blog Series by Author Gary Vitacco-Robles

Posted on May 31, 2020 by Annmarie Gatti

Marilyn: Behind the Icon Blog Series

I am so happy to announce that, in celebration of Marilyn Monroe’s birthday tomorrow, June 1, CMH will be launching an exclusive Marilyn: Behind the Icon blog series, penned by author Gary Vitacco-Robles. The series will run through August 5, which is the anniversary of Monroe’s death.

Gary’s blog series will explore Monroe’s memorable and hidden films and performances. From her portrayal of a psychotic babysitter in Don’t Bother to Knock to her triumphant, Golden Globe Award-winning performance in Some Like It Hot, Gary will help us deconstruct what contributed to Monroe’s enduring appeal.

We’ll be posting Gary’s first article about Niagara, tomorrow morning, so stay tuned 🙂

Marilyn as Rose Loomis in Niagara

If you’re interesting in further exploring Gary’s work, please feel free to check out his books, ICON: The Life, Times and Films of Marilyn Monroe, Volumes 1 & 2, or his podcast series, Marilyn: Behind the Icon.

Last, but not least — A Big Thank You to Gary for creating this series for us!

…..

–Annmarie Gatti for Classic Movie Hub

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Western RoundUp: Western Film Book Library – Part 3

Posted on May 27, 2020 by Laura Grieve

Western RoundUp: Western Film Book Library – Part 3

A silver lining to spending this spring at home has been time to watch more Westerns – and also more time to read about them!

I previously shared recommendations of titles from my “Western Film Book Library” last summer and fall. This seemed like an opportune time to write about some additional favorites, especially as anything of interest can be ordered without leaving home.

Below is a rundown of more books I’ve enjoyed, along with mentions of a couple of newly arrived titles I’ll be reading soon.

The Noir Western: Darkness on the Range, 1943-1962 by David Meuel is a terrific overview of what I referred to in my December column as “Noir-Tinged Westerns.”

The Noir Western: Darkness on the Range, 1943-1962 by David Meuel
The Noir Western: Darkness on the Range, 1943-1962 by David Meuel

Meuel’s book, published by McFarland in 2015, covers most of the key films of this subgenre, which often feature conflicted or morally ambiguous heroes. The excellent titles discussed include Ramrod (1947), Pursued (1947), Blood on the Moon (1948), I Shot Jesse James (1948), and more. The author provides both critical analysis and information on the filmmakers behind the movies, including directors such as Andre de Toth, Raoul Walsh, Samuel Fuller, and Robert Wise.

One of the real treasures of my collection is a signed first edition of The Years of George Montgomery.

The Years of George Montgomery, co-written by Jeffrey Millet
The Years of George Montgomery, co-written by Jeffrey Millet

This book is much more than a memoir, it’s an amazingly detailed 288-page record of Montgomery’s life as a film star, artist, and family man. Cowritten with Jeffrey Millet, it’s an oversized volume with glossy pages, packed with movie stills, photographs of fan magazine pages, and personal photos of Montgomery’s family and artistic creations, including furniture, sculptures, and paintings.

The book begins with marvelous old photos chronicling Montgomery’s life growing up in a big family on a Montana ranch. His riding ability led to him landing a job on his second day in Hollywood, riding a horse in Conquest (1937); that in turn led to his long acting career, which included many Westerns.

Cowboy star “Wild Bill” Elliott has become quite a favorite of mine in the last few years, and I’m fortunate to have two books on him on my shelves.

Bill Elliott: The Peaceable Man by Bobby Copeland, and Wild Bill Elliott: A Complete Filmography by Gene Blottner
Bill Elliott: The Peaceable Man by Bobby Copeland, and Wild Bill Elliott: A Complete Filmography by Gene Blottner

The first book, Bill Elliott: The Peaceable Man, was written by Bobby Copeland and published in 2000. It includes a detailed overview of the actor’s career and filmography, along with quotes from those who knew Elliott and an introduction by one of Elliott’s costars, Peggy Stewart.

Wild Bill Elliott: A Complete Filmography by Gene Blottner, published in 2007, is an even bigger book in terms of both the number of pages and physical size. I just received this title, purchased in a sale by publisher McFarland & Company, and I can’t wait to read it. The alphabetical filmography includes listings for movies from Elliott’s earliest career days as an extra and bit player of the ’30s, telling the reader where to spot him in those films. Elliott’s starring Westerns are gone into with considerable detail. This looks like both a fun read and an excellent reference; Blottner also wrote the book on Universal-International Westerns which I recommended last summer.

Hollywood Hoofbeats: The Fascinating Story of Horses in Movies and Television has terrific photos dating from the earliest days of movie Westerns.

Hollywood Hoofbeats: The Fascinating Story of Horses in Movies and Television by Petrine Day Mitchum
Hollywood Hoofbeats: The Fascinating Story of Horses in Movies and Television by Petrine Day Mitchum

Author Petrine Day Mitchum is the daughter of Robert Mitchum, whose own experiences in Westerns ranged from small parts in Hopalong Cassidy films to starring roles in a number of Westerns. I loved learning more from the author about Buck Jones and Silver, Ken Maynard and Tarzan, and all the rest. Mitchum’s chronicle of horses throughout movie and TV history also includes a look at horse stunt work and how the humane treatment of horses progressed in the film industry over time.

Cowpokes ‘n’ Cowbelles and Cowboy Cliffhangers are a pair of oversized paperbacks by Donn Moyer which I discovered in the gift shop at the Museum of Western Film History in Lone Pine.

Cowpokes 'n' Cowbelles and Cowboy Cliffhangers by Donn Moyer
Cowpokes ‘n’ Cowbelles and Cowboy Cliffhangers by Donn Moyer

These are amply illustrated books which are also great references. Cowpokes ‘n’ Cowbelles focuses mainly on supporting Western players, with photos and brief biographies of actors such as Morris Ankrum, Myron Healey, Fay McKenzie, Joan Woodbury, and many more. It’s a great book to page through when you spot a familiar face in a Western but can’t quite place the name!

Cowboy Cliffhangers is subtitled A Listing of All Sound B-Western Chapter Plays From A to Z, and it’s been an enormously informative reference for an aspect of Westerns I have only just begun to learn about and enjoy. It seems like there’s always more fun stuff to discover when it comes to movies in general and Westerns in particular!

Radio on the Range, edited by Jack French and David S. Siegel, is subtitled A Reference Guide to Western Drama on the Air, 1929-1967. Like my new Wild Bill Elliott acquisition, this book just arrived thanks to a McFarland sale, so I’ve only just begun to delve into it.

Radio on the Range, edited by Jack French and David S. Siegel
Radio on the Range, edited by Jack French and David S. Siegel

Various authors, including the editors, contributed essays describing the history of a wide variety of radio Westerns, and they also include information on surviving recordings and scripts. Although the book’s focus is on “old-time radio,” I believe it will be of great interest to movie Western fans because the radio shows feature so many well-known film actors; Tales of the Texas Rangers (1950-52) starring Joel McCrea and Hopalong Cassidy (1949-52) starring William Boyd are just two examples.

Believe it or not, I have several additional book recommendations which may well form the basis for a Part 4 at some point down the road. Westerns are a rich topic for film histories, and I love the extra levels of enjoyment reading about them adds to my viewing. I hope my fellow Western fans will enjoy checking out some of these titles along with the films they discuss.

Favorite Western film book recommendations from readers are always welcome in the comments!

…

– Laura Grieve for Classic Movie Hub

Laura can be found at her blog, Laura’s Miscellaneous Musings, where she’s been writing about movies since 2005, and on Twitter at @LaurasMiscMovie. A lifelong film fan, Laura loves the classics including Disney, Film Noir, Musicals, and Westerns.  She regularly covers Southern California classic film festivals.  Laura will scribe on all things western at the ‘Western RoundUp’ for CMH.

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Classic Conversations: Vivien Leigh Slays in Zoom Call with Samuel Goldwyn, Kenneth Tynan, and Edward R. Murrow

Posted on May 22, 2020 by Danny Miller

During this isolated time of quarantine, I’ve been catching up on some of my favorite conversations with the classic movie artists that I love. One of the greatest conversations I’ve ever seen among show biz folk occurred in 1958 on Small World, a TV show created by award-winning radio and TV broadcaster Edward R. Murrow.

On this show, Murrow gathered people from all walks of life and synced them up live from their own homes in a kind of glorified Zoom chat to have lengthy in-depth discussions about all sorts of topics. In the two seasons of this show, which lasted from 1958 to 1960, Murrow spoke to a range of luminaries including John F. Kennedy, Aldous Huxley, Bertrand Russell, Jawaharwal Nehru, Maria Callas, Carl Sandburg, Noel Coward, James Thurber, Clare Boothe Luce,  Isaac Stern, Lauren Bacall, Agnes de Mille, Harry Truman, Ingrid Bergman, and many others. But my favorite conversation that ever took place on this program happened in late December 1958 between two-time Oscar winner Vivien Leigh, pioneering producer Samuel Goldwyn, and English theater critic Kenneth Tynan. 

This was a time when talk shows were really talk shows — true, in-depth conversations were possible with a minimum of commercial breaks, even in a half-hour time slot. And no holds were barred. Few people on television today (short of trashy reality TV stars) would dare to confront each other in the matter-of-fact way guests did back then, it’s almost shocking to see. And exhilarating. As far as I’m concerned, the real star of this show is 45-year-old Vivien Leigh. She comes across as brilliant, articulate, and fearless as she vehemently sides with one guest one minute and then switches sides the next based on the discussion at hand. It’s sweet to see her so fiercely loyal to her husband Laurence Olivier and also how she tries to show respect to 79-year-old Sam Goldwyn while vehemently disagreeing with him. But it’s her exchanges with 31-year-old Ken Tynan that made me see red. The critic had the effrontery, the gall, the chutzpah to question Leigh’s performances in her two most well-known roles, Scarlett O’Hara and Blanche DuBois, saying that seeing her play those characters “took him out of the story” because she was British as opposed to being from the American South. When he claims that she failed to pull it off, I was screaming in horror at my set. Leigh, by contrast, just smiled and said calmly that she guessed she needed to do better. It’s so fascinating to watch every aspect of this conversation between these four very different people. Take a look at the first part of the show:

Isn’t Vivien Leigh fantastic? I mean, I do side with the obnoxious Tynan when he talks about casting non-Chinese actors for Chinese roles — I think we’ve come a long way, thank God, since the absurdities of having people like Luise Rainer and Katharine Hepburn play Chinese peasants in major motion pictures, but I don’t agree with Tynan one bit about Vivien Leigh’s lack of suitability to play the roles for which she is so beloved. I also admire how she bristles at the idea that Scarlett and Blanche were anything alike and how beautifully she describes their differences. 

In the second part of the show, Leigh, Goldwyn, and Tynan get into a discussion about how politics are embedded into the fabric of movies and culture whether we like it or not. Sam Goldwyn was busy trying to promote his upcoming production of Porgy & Bess and I’m afraid I completely side with Tynan and Leigh on this one despite Goldwyn’s insistence that politics and art are separate. Watch these amazing folks in action:

In the final minutes of the show, these incredible personalities embark on a discussion of “What went wrong in Hollywood?” To be honest, with all the jokes over the years about Sam Goldwyn’s malapropisms (e.g., “That verbal contract isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on!”), I was actually quite impressed by the way Goldwyn talked about the industry and stood his ground, even if I often disagreed with his conclusions. Here the three talk about what films they think will still be known 50 years hence, and Goldwyn seems stuck on directors like Cecil B. De Mille since he sees box office as the primary arbiter of success and longevity. Needless, to say, Leigh and Tynan beg to differ. Take a look:  

I’m intrigued by the fact that while I often agreed with Kenneth Tynan’s assessments, I vigorously detested him during the course of this broadcast. But who cares what he or Goldwyn does, it’sVivien Leigh’s show here, and if I didn’t already worship her going in, this would seal the deal. 

Five years north of her second Best Actress Oscar for A Streetcar Named Desire, Vivien Leigh was in a precarious position as far as her movie career was concerned. She would only make two more films, The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone opposite Warren Beatty and Stanley Kramer’s poignant Ship of Fools. Leigh was increasingly beset with the mental health issues that had plagued her for many years and her marriage to Laurence Olivier was crumbling. They divorced within a year of this broadcast.  Leigh continued to appear on the stage and even won a Tony Award in 1963 for the Broadway musical Tovarich. Vivien Leigh sadly died in 1967 from tuberculosis at the age of 53. At the announcement of her death, the lights of every theatre in London were extinguished for an hour.

Kenneth Tynan, who at the time of this show had just started writing reviews for The New Yorker, continued to be a provocative pot stirrer. After two years at The New Yorker, he returned to London and was a powerful presence in the theater scene there, becoming the literary manager of the British National Theatre Company. He was reportedly the first person to ever say “fuck” on British television and, later in life, moved to California where he continued writing and getting involved in controversies including some sex scandals in his personal life. He developed pulmonary emphysema, and, like Vivien Leigh, died at the age of 53. 

Porgy & Bess ended up being the last film that Samuel Goldwyn produced (a surprise after seeing his vitality on this show), following an illustrious career that included great movies like The Little Foxes, Ball of Fire, The Bishop’s Wife, and, one of my favorite films of all time, The Best Years of Our Lives. Born Schmuel Gelbfisz in Warsaw, Poland, in 1879, Goldwyn had quite an impressive trajectory in the business, despite all the ways people made fun of him over the years. One of the funniest moments in this show, in my opinion, is when he’s unable to remember the title of the film in which Vivien Leigh played Scarlett O’Hara. The look on Leigh’s face is priceless. Unlike Vivien Leigh and Kenneth Tynan, Samuel Goldwyn lived to the ripe old age of 94, outliving the other two by decades. Five of his grandchildren are still active in the entertainment industry, including actor/director Tony Goldwyn who recently played U.S. President Fitzgerald Grant III on Scandal.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this brief foray back to 1958. As for me, I can never tire of the wit, intelligence, and splendor that is Vivien Leigh. 

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–Danny Miller for Classic Movie Hub

You can read all of Danny’s Classic Conversation Articles Here

Danny Miller is a freelance writer, book editor, and co-author of  About Face: The Life and Times of Dottie Ponedel, Make-up Artist to the Stars. You can read more of Danny’s articles at Cinephiled, or you can follow him on Twitter at @dannymmiller. 

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Silents are Golden: Animal Stars of the Silent Era

Posted on May 21, 2020 by Lea Stans

Silents are Golden: Animal Stars of the Silent Era

The silent era boasted an incredible number of stars, from sweet ingenue types to “grotesque” comedians to dashing heroes. But not all stars were flappers or sheiks–some were furry and even came on four legs. I’m talking about the animal stars, of course–and there were quite a few of them!

Luke the Dog with Roscoe Arbuckle and Buster Keaton in The Cook (1918)
Luke the Dog with Roscoe Arbuckle and Buster Keaton in The Cook (1918)

Performing animals showed up on film almost as soon as film was invented. One example is the British Kinetoscope short Performing Animals; or, Skipping Dogs (1895). The Boxing Kangaroo (1896) is another tiny film, showing a trained kangaroo boxing with a small boy (truly, you never knew what you’d find in a Kinetoscope).

A very popular early short was Rescued by Rover (1905), another British work. Made by early directors Cecil Hepworth and Lewin Fitzhamon, it “starred” the Hepworth’s family collie, Blair. The film showed Blair racing to rescue a kidnapped baby from a cruel beggar woman. The film was so popular that the original negatives kept wearing out, so it had to be reshot twice. Blair the collie has since been recognized as the very first animal star.

Blair and baby in a still from Rescued by Rover (1905)
Blair and baby in a still from Rescued by Rover.

He would be followed by a whole zoo’s worth of furry and feathery performers. One of the earliest is Jean the Vitagraph Dog, a black and white collie. Getting her “big break” in 1910, Jean proved to be such a well-trained performer that Vitagraph made her the star of many light comedies and dramas, such as Jean the Match-Maker (1910) and Jean Intervenes (1912). She also appeared alongside John Bunny and Florence Turner. Shep the Thanhouser collie was worked from 1913 until 1915, when he passed away from an illness. He was so well-trained that it was said directors rarely had to retake his scenes.

Jean in The Church Across the Way (1912).
Jean in The Church Across the Way (1912).

An early canine “hero” was the German shepherd Strongheart, owned by the same director who had trained Jean the Vitagraph Dog. The star of a number of adventure stories, Strongheart also helped popularize the German shepherd breed in the U.S. He was soon rivaled by the most popular dog star of them all, Rin Tin Tin, who Variety called “the Fairbanks, Mix, and Barrymore of the canine world”. Found as a puppy in a bombed-out kennel in France during WWI, Rin Tin Tin would compete at dog shows and eventually be put into the movies. His films likely saved the Warner Bros. studio from bankruptcy.

Rin-Tin-Tin in 1930
Rin-Tin-Tin in 1930

On the silent comedy side, there was little Brownie the Wonder Dog, who would co-star with Baby Peggy in the early 1920s. The Keystone Film Company had Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle’s dog, Luke, a fearless Staffordshire bull terrier who loved chase scenes could climb ladders, and could even jump from one rooftop to another. Luke showed up in a number of 1910s Keystones (often chasing Al St. John) and much of Arbuckle’s subsequent Comique series. He would also make a cameo in Buster Keaton’s short The Scarecrow (1920).

The most famous Keystone canine was Teddy, a gentle Great Dane who appeared in dozens of shorts between 1915 and 1924, plus parts in films like Mary Pickford’s Stella Maris (1918). Called “Keystone Teddy” or “Teddy the Wonder Dog,” he’s said to have been paid $350 a week.

Louise Fazenda, Mack Sennett, and Teddy.
Louise Fazenda, Mack Sennett, and Teddy.

Of course, dogs weren’t the only performers in Hollywoodland. The chimpanzees Napoleon & Sally were a mid-1910s comedy duo who were featured in one-reel shorts. The two were usually dressed in little outfits and mimicked housekeeping and other human-like behavior. Their offspring was a female named Snookums, who would also go on to perform in comedies. Billed as the male Snooky the Humanzee, she was talented enough to star in her own 1920s series. (Yes, in silent comedy even chimpanzees sometimes performed in drag!)

Still from Snooky’s Twin Troubles (1921), from the NFPF site.
Still from Snooky’s Twin Troubles (1921), from the NFPF site.

Not to be outdone, in the 1920s Fox had a trio of performing monkeys named Max, Moritz and Pep. They were dubbed, appropriately enough, the Fox Monkeys, and their human costars included Jean Arthur and Jack Duffy. And one exceptionally talented little Capuchin monkey was named Josephine, who even had an expressive face. She’s probably the most famous for appearing alongside Buster Keaton in The Cameraman (1928).

Along with Teddy, Mack Sennett also had Pepper, a dark gray cat who was said to have been born underneath a Keystone soundstage. She showed up in shorts like The Kitchen Lady (1918) and Bow Wow (1922), both starring Louise Fazenda. Waddles the Duck also had his heyday on the Sennett lot, and eventually retired to live in Fazenda’s backyard. Anna May the Elephant showed up in several shorts, such as Remember When (1925) starring Harry Langdon. And thanks to a silent comedy trend of having bears wander into the action, Bruno the Bear and Cubby the Bear were also regular players in Sennett’s comedies.

Pepper chilling with Louise Fazenda.
Pepper chilling with Louise Fazenda.

Century Comedies was practically a zoo, boasting not only the orangutan couple Mr. & Mrs. Joe Martin, but Queenie the horse, Charlie the elephant, dogs Brownie and Pal, and even some trained lions. Lions being tussled with or popping up at inopportune times were also big trends in silent comedy, and Century delivered on a whole slew of films like Daring Lions and Dizzy Lovers (1919) and Lion Paws and Lady Fingers (1920).

Lions' Jaws and Kittens' Paws (1920)
Lions’ Jaws and Kittens’ Paws (1920)

Perhaps the most surreal use of animal stars was in Hal Roach’s short-lived series the Dippy-Doo-Dad Comedies. Often set in rural or western locations, they featured pretty straightforward stories but with the bizarre twist of having an all-animal cast in little outfits. Played by trained dogs, ducks, monkeys (including Josephine), and what have you, the series was silent comedy’s take on an alternative universe.

Still from Go West (1923)
Still from Go West (1923)

We can’t cover silent era animal stars without a couple nods to its equestrian stars. Rex, a frankly ferocious Morgan stallion, starred in 1920s adventure serials and kept going throughout the 1930s, too–despite any actors being nervous to work with him. And Tom Mix’s trusty “wonder horse” Tony was a familiar sight to many fans of westerns.

With the love of cute, funny, and talented animals being just as strong back in the early 20th century as it is today, it’s not surprising that directors used them to jazz up so many films. (And, admittedly, it probably helped that animal stars couldn’t complain about their salaries.) When we look back on the legacy of cinema, let’s not forget that it’s all because of the hard work of men, women…and our four-legged friends.

Brownie the Wonder Dog
Brownie the Wonder Dog

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Steve Massa’s book Lame Brains & Lunatics: The Good, the Bad, and the Forgotten of Silent Comedywas very helpful in researching this article, as was the book chapter “The Dogs Who Saved Hollywood: Strongheart and Rin Tin Tin” by Kathryn Fuller-Seely and Jeremy Groskopf, excerpted from the 2014 book Cinematic Canines (the chapter can be read here).

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–Lea Stans for Classic Movie Hub

You can read all of Lea’s Silents are Golden articles here.

Lea Stans is a born-and-raised Minnesotan with a degree in English and an obsessive interest in the silent film era (which she largely blames on Buster Keaton). In addition to blogging about her passion at her site Silent-ology, she is a columnist for the Silent Film Quarterlyand has also written for The Keaton Chronicle.

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The Directors’ Chair: North by Northwest

Posted on May 16, 2020 by Theresa Brown

The Directors’ Chair: North by Northwest (1959)

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NORTH BY NORTHWEST ( 1959 ) ~ TO BE or NOT TO BE THE SPY WHO LOVED ME

north by northwest hitchcock

A case of mistaken identity takes a dull Madison Avenue advertising exec on a journey across the United States, hooking up with a cool blonde, bidding against suave villains and chased over mountainous monuments.

cary grant north by north west, my wives divorced me. i think they said i led too dull a life.
“My wives divorced me. I think they said I led too dull a life.”

Cary Grant, dull??

cary grant, north by northwest, kidnapped in car

The movie starts off with a rousing score by Bernard Hermann over opening credits by the great Saul Bass that gets you going. What I like about what Hitchcock sometimes does is his “Show & Tell & Show” device. He SHOWS us a little of the plot, then has a character TELL us what we’ve just seen… then SHOWS us more of the plot. At least that’s how North By Northwest unspools for me. It’s Cary Grant’s last time at the rodeo in Hitchcock’s ballpark. And it’s his most physical role with the director. This is not a 1930’s Cary “Gunga Din” Grant, but a 54-year old actor who is fit as a fiddle and still gorgeous as all get out. His character, Roger Thornhill, stumbles into his mistaken identity thanks to two henchmen mistaking him for secret agent George Kaplan, who the bad guys want to kill. Grant’s denying he’s that spy falls on deaf ears; he’s got to find the real Kaplan to get him out of this mess. Grant’s search for the elusive secret agent only gets him in deeper and deeper.

Hitchcock villains are almost if not better than those in James Bond. Heading the villainy here is James Mason.

james mason, north by northwest, has anybody ever told you you overplay your roles very severely mr kaplan
“Has anybody ever told you, you overplay your roles very severely, Mr. Kaplan?”

Mason is attractive, cultured, urbane, sophisticated and unruffled. And that smooooooth voice of his… don’t get me started. He doesn’t need to get his hands dirty with all this spy business. That’s what Martin Landau is for.

martin landau, north by northwest, call it my woman's intuition
“Call it my woman’s intuition…”

I love him in this film as the ever-watchful Leonard. Always in the background, he’s like a guard dog or an Iago. He’s the man who deals with the dirty details of murder. 

Continuing his quest for George Kaplan, Cary Grant’s search takes him far from New York, out west to Chicago. It’s on his way to Chicago that Grant bumps into the Hitchcock Blonde: EVA MARIE SAINT. Now, she’s no Grace Kelly…

eva marie saint, north by northwest
eva marie saint, north by northwest, cary grant how does a girl lik you get to be a girl like you
“How does a girl like you get to be a girl like you?”

…And she doesn’t need to be. She coolly sizzles in her own right. She is soft and silky and straightforward. In the train’s dining car scene, she really puts it out there. She’s not coy. She makes no bones about what she (and every woman alive, past present and future) wants from Cary Grant. It’s a titillating and very refreshingly modern scene for a movie on the cusp of Women’s Lib.

cary grant and eva marie saint, north by northwest, train dining car, lighting a cigarette

Ohhhh, to be in her shoes!

North by Northwest is filled with double crosses, betrayal, plot twists and crop dusting where there ain’t no crops. It also contains Hitchcock’s most iconic scene, a chase in South Dakota…over the face of Mount Rushmore. It’s all pulled off believably by Cary Grant who goes from unwitting pawn…to hero, without becoming a dare-devilling James Bond. It’s all pulled off by good guys and bad guys and unwitting guys and cool blondes and Alfred Hitchcock and a train going into the tunnel.

north by northwest - you're trapped living someone else's life - who doesn't exist. well, at least there is one fringe benefit

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— Theresa Brown for Classic Movie Hub

You can read all of Theresa’s Directors’ Chair articles here.

Theresa Brown is a native New Yorker, a Capricorn and a biker chick (rider as well as passenger). When she’s not on her motorcycle, you can find her on her couch blogging about classic films for CineMaven’s Essays from the Couch. Classic films are her passion. You can find her on Twitter at @CineMava.

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