Silver Screen Standards: The Major and the Minor (1942)

Posted on February 18, 2025 by Jennifer Garlen

The Major and the Minor (1942)

I’m not sure you could make a picture like The Major and the Minor (1942) today, and given the Lolita undertones of the story that might be a good thing, although writer and director Billy Wilder couldn’t have predicted the arrival of Nabokov’s controversial novel more than a decade after this movie first appeared. Wilder, of course, wasn’t afraid to present his audiences with absurd and/or risqué situations, and this screwball comedy has both in spades. It’s a wacky, fast-paced directorial debut for the iconic Hollywood writer, whose collaborations with Charles Brackett had already proven their creative talent with screenplays for Midnight (1939), Ninotchka (1939), and Ball of Fire (1941). Fresh from her Oscar-winning performance in Kitty Foyle (1940), Ginger Rogers proves once again that she can carry a picture without dancing or Fred Astaire, and this is really her movie, although we get enjoyable supporting performances from Ray Milland, Diana Lynn, and even Rogers’ real-life mother, Lela Rogers, here making her only onscreen acting appearance.

The Major and the Minor, Ginger Rogers, Station
Unable to afford the adult fare back to her hometown, Susan (Ginger Rogers) disguises herself as a child to get a half-price ticket.

Ginger Rogers stars as Susan Applegate, a young woman tired of being perpetually propositioned at her jobs in New York City and resigned to taking the train back to her small hometown. Unfortunately, her emergency reserve is not enough to cover an adult fare, so she disguises herself as a rather mature pre-teen and calls herself “Su-Su.” When gallant Major Philip Kirby (Ray Milland) comes to her aid, Susan is immediately attracted to him and wants to tell him the truth, but complications arise to prevent her revelation. Philip takes Susan to his home at a military academy, where she meets his manipulative fiancée, Pamela (Rita Johnson), her quick-witted sister, Lucy (Diana Lynn), and a whole campus of teenage Romeos in training.

The Major and the Minor, Ray Milland and Ginger Rogers Train
While fleeing suspicious train conductors, Susan meets kindly military school instructor Philip Kirby (Ray Milland), who believes her to be a child in need of assistance.

Obviously, a grown man being attracted to a twelve-year-old girl is a grossly inappropriate situation, but the audience always knows that Susan is really an adult, and Philip never suggests or attempts anything to undermine our sense of him as a good guy. In fact, he’s the only male of any age to behave himself when left alone with Susan, which is why she likes him in the first place. Having fled New York because of all the adult men who acted like heels, Susan discovers at the academy that they pick up their bad habits early, with every boy there trying his best to court and kiss her. One of them (Frankie Thomas) even turns out to be the son of Albert Osborne (Robert Benchley), the lecherous New Yorker whose attempts convinced Susan to leave the city. In a world full of such swine, it’s little wonder that Susan likes the decorous Philip, but of course Philip believes her to be absolutely out of bounds. The audience is never fooled for a minute, especially with Rogers being in her early 30s and playing a woman in her early 20s who is trying to disguise herself as a girl on the verge of her teens, but it’s fun to watch Rogers attempt the deception with her impression of girlish behavior and her improbable stories about being from “Swedish stock.”

The Major and the Minor, Diana Lynn and Ginger Rogers
The best friend Susan makes at the academy is her rival’s teenage sister, Lucy (Diana Lynn), who helps Susan maintain her ruse and navigate life at the school.

As much as I like Ray Milland, for me the other MVP in this picture is actual teenager Diana Lynn, who plays Lucy with all the wit and sharp commentary of a Pre-Code Ginger Rogers. Lucy is supposed to be a “real” twelve-year-old girl, although Lynn was actually 16 at the time and just starting her film career after gaining fame as a child prodigy pianist. Lucy, a student of biology and the smartest person Susan meets throughout the entire movie, immediately sees through the Su-Su disguise but becomes an ally in Susan’s ruse. With her scientific and worldly knowledge, Lucy serves as a foil to the childish Su-Su idea of adolescent girlhood and the handsy stupidity of the boys, but she also provides Susan with a much-needed friend. Lucy already knows that her older sister is a rotten egg, but Susan’s arrival gives Lucy an opportunity to undermine Pamela’s intention to make Philip miserable for life. Once they’re together, they remind me of the pals Rogers and Una Merkel play in 42nd Street (1933), with a snappy camaraderie that quickly deepens into real friendship. Susan might bring the screwy aspect of screwball comedy into play with her hastily assumed disguise, but Lucy brings the fiendish, chaotic intelligence needed to vanquish rivals and ensure a happy ending. It’s a crucial role in the picture, and I can’t imagine any young actress handling it better than Lynn does.

The Major and the Minor, Ray Milland, Eye
With one eye closed, Philip (Ray Milland) can almost see past the Susu façade and recognize the grown woman he finds so mysteriously appealing.

Billy Wilder would turn to darker fare for his next several films, but he reunited with Ray Milland to make The Lost Weekend (1945), which earned Oscars for both Milland and Wilder and won Best Picture. Ginger Rogers can, of course, be found in her numerous pictures with Fred Astaire, but for more of her other comedies try Bachelor Mother (1939) and Monkey Business (1952). She and Milland reunite for Lady in the Dark (1944), while Rita Johnson also appears with Milland in The Big Clock (1948). Diana Lynn plays a female version of Ray Milland’s character in the gender-swapped 1995 remake, You’re Never Too Young, in which Jerry Lewis is the adult who poses as a child. As a teen, however, Lynn has another memorable role in The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (1943).

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— Jennifer Garlen for Classic Movie Hub

Jennifer Garlen pens our monthly Silver Screen Standards column. You can read all of Jennifer’s Silver Screen Standards articles here.

Jennifer is a former college professor with a PhD in English Literature and a lifelong obsession with film. She writes about classic movies at her blog, Virtual Virago, and presents classic film programs for lifetime learning groups and retirement communities. She’s the author of Beyond Casablanca: 100 Classic Movies Worth Watching and its sequel, Beyond Casablanca II: 101 Classic Movies Worth Watching, and she is also the co-editor of two books about the works of Jim Henson.

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Classic Movie Travels: Louise Fazenda

Posted on February 13, 2025 by Annette Bochenek

Classic Movie Travels: Louise Fazenda

Louise Fazenda
Louise Fazenda

Louise Fazenda was born on June 17, 1895, in Lafayette, Indiana. She was the daughter of Joseph Fazenda and Nelda Schilling Fazenda. Louise was born in the ground floor northwest room of her maternal grandparents’ house on North Salisbury Street, while her mother was visiting her brother. Louise’s father was a merchandise broker from Mexico and her mother was a native of Chicago, Illinois.

The family soon moved to California, where Joseph operated a grocery store. Fazenda attended Los Angeles High School and St. Mary’s Convent. After school, she delivered groceries for her father’s business by a horse-drawn wagon. While appearing in a high school performance, she was discovered by a talent agent working for Mack Sennett.

Louise Fazenda acting

Fazenda began her film career in 1913, namely in bit parts. She later became a character actress and displayed a knack for slapstick comedy in silent films. During this period, she worked with numerous other comedy greats, including Ben Turpin, Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, and more. She left the film industry for a brief period to perform in vaudeville.

In 1917, she married director and writer Noel M. Smith. They divorced in 1926.

In the following year, she married Warner Bros. producer Hal B. Wallis. At the time, he was working as a publicist. She accepted his proposal in a speech before the National Press Club in Washington, closing her talk by saying, “I appreciate you newspapermen. In fact, I have such an appreciation of newspapermen that I think I’ll marry one when I get back to California.” The couple had one son: Harold “Hal” Brent Wallis. Fazenda and Wallis remained married until her passing.

Louise Fazenda and Hal B. Wallis
Louise Fazenda and Hal B. Wallis

By the time sound entered films, Fazenda was securing more serious roles, including an antiwar film called The Road Back (1937). Her last film would be The Old Maid (1939), capping her career at roughly 265 films.

Fazenda and Wallis traveled extensively. They also boarded two British children during World War II. They lived on a 30-acre property in the San Fernando Valley.

Fazenda passed away from a cerebral hemorrhage in Beverly Hills, California, on April 17, 1962. She was 66 years old. At her funeral, stories of her volunteer work caring for children at UCLA Medical Center in addition to rooming and boarding children during World War II were shared. She was interred at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California.

Fazenda’s birthplace was located at 1104 N. Salisbury St., West Lafayette, Indiana. In 1900, Fazenda and her parents resided at 629 Kohler St., Los Angeles, California. In 1920, Fazenda and her family resided at 1132 Lemoyne St., Los Angeles, California. All of these homes have since been razed.

In 1930, she and Wallis resided at 5402 W. 9th St., Los Angeles, California. Her parents lived next door at 5400. Today, her home stands, but the one at which her parents resided does not.

Louise Fazenda home 5402 W. 9th St., Los Angeles, Californi
5402 W. 9th St., Los Angeles, California

In 1940, she, Wallis, and their son resided at 5100 Woodman Ave., Sherman Oaks, California. In addition, a maid (Anne Baffish), butcher (Edward McGuigan), cook (Martha McGuigan), and governess (Louisa Baker) resided with them. This home does not exist.

Fazenda is honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, celebrating her work in motion pictures. It is located at 6801 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, California.

Louise Fazenda Hollywood Walk of Fame Star

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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, Ph.D., is a film historian, professor, and avid scholar of Hollywood’s Golden Age. She manages the “Hometowns to Hollywood” blog, in which she profiles her trips to the hometowns of classic Hollywood stars. She has also been featured on the popular classic film-oriented television network, Turner Classic Movies. A regular columnist for Classic Movie Hub, her articles have appeared in TCM Backlot, Silent Film Quarterly, Nostalgia Digest, The Dark Pages Film Noir Newsletter, and Chicago Art Deco Society Magazine.

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Monsters & Matinees: Caught in the Silly Grasp of ‘The Giant Claw’

Posted on February 8, 2025 by Toni Ruberto

Caught in the Silly Grasp of ‘The Giant Claw’

Monsters, by their very name, are supposed to be monstrous. Perhaps hideous like The Hideous Sun Demon, or beastly like Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. Just throw an exclamation point on a film title like Them! or Tarantula! so we know something terrible is coming. Just give us a monster – it’s why we watch.

But there’s the chance if the monster lets us down through no fault of its own – bad design, poor effects or lame powers – it can taint our film experience. That means low-budget B-movie monsters – a favorite of mine – are at a disadvantage from a lack of resources. (I like to think filmmakers do the best with their creativity and budget, so I’ll forgive the shortcomings of the B-movie monsters.)

What a face! That’s the title creature in The Giant Claw.

That brings us to The Giant Claw. I’m not talking about the grocery store arcade game where you lower the big claw into a pile of soft toys and nearly always come up empty, but the 1957 sci-fi film from the prolific duo of director Fred F. Sears and producer Sam Katzman (more on them later).

I only discovered the film in recent years while researching actress Mara Corday and was intrigued by the promise of the title. What was The Giant Claw? Was it a killer bear? (One of my phobias.) A predatory lion? A surprisingly fast-moving sloth?

No. It’s a big bird – just one big bird. And when you see it, please hold back the laughter. This creature isn’t monstrous, it’s goofy looking. As film historian and critic Leonard Maltin has been widely quoted as saying “Big bird is laughable.”

With a wild tuft of hair, big eyes and funny beak, the beast in The Giant Claw could be called the Goofy Claw.

That’s true, but I still had an immediate soft spot in my B-movie heart for the film and its Goofy Claw title creature. I think of the film and smile because our big bird could be the homeliest monster on film, and I say that with affection. After the initial shock of meeting GC – we’ll call her GC for short since it works for both giant and goofy claw – I was rooting for her (we learn she is a girl bird later).

GC has a hilarious tuft of unruly hair sticking off the top of her oversized head, a snarled beak that makes it look like she’s trying too hard to be tough, and big bug eyes like you’ll find on children’s toys. I can’t help picturing GC as a huggable plush toy that I would buy right now if I could. She’s such a quirky, bizarre bird that she looks like she could use a hug (which we could do if she was a plush stuffed toy). We won’t talk about the odd cackling noise she makes – this poor bird can’t catch a break.

Despite the funny looking monster, this is a serious sci-fi film. There’s a narrator (the voice of our director Fred F. Sears) who pops in throughout to explain things, plenty of scientific mumbo-jumbo about atoms and anti-matter, and bold, exciting proclamations (“That bird is from a god-forsaken anti-matter galaxy!” “It was a flying battleship!”).

Sally (played by Mara Corday) can hold her own against Mitch (Jeff Morrow).

* * * * *

Pilot and engineer Mitch MacAfee (played by Jeff Morrow) spots a UFO while on a radar test flight at the North Pole. The folks tracking him from below – including mathematician Sally Caldwell (played by Mara Corday) – don’t see anything on radar. Technically, Mitch didn’t see it either. It was just a big blur that got too close. “Something like a cloud, but moving too fast,” he says. Because of his persistence, three fighter jets are scrambled to find his UFO, but all are tragically lost with no proof of anything in the air. (The viewer sees what happened though.)

After that accident, the military isn’t happy with Mitch and sends him back to New York with Sally. Their small plane is attacked by a UFO (is it the same one?) and crashes in the Adirondacks. They’re helped by friendly French-Canadian farmer Pierre (Lou Merrill) who discovers something wrong near his barn and yells about la Carcagne, a legendary creature with the face of a wolf and body of a woman with wings who foreshadows death. What does this have to do with GC? Not much except to increase the tension as a terrified Pierre repeatedly yells “la Carcagne, la Carcagne.” He is afraid of something he doesn’t understand, much like what the world will soon be feeling.

Even after a smattering of reports about UFOs and lost planes, the military still has trouble believing Mitch since – and I will repeat – there’s nothing on the radar. (What is up with that?) The few who have seen it describe as a blur, just like Mitch, and that’s how it’s often presented to the viewer as a way to show its speed and those out of focus scenes are funnier than GC.

A jet can’t fly fast enough to escape the clutches of The Giant Claw.

It takes an odd feather in plane wreckage for authorities to finally believe there’s something like a giant bird in the sky. Now they ask questions. How is the bird evading the radar? Why does the feather defy chemical analysis? What is this feathered nightmare on wings that can fly around the world faster than Superman leaving death and destruction in its path?

Clearly, it’s up to Mitch and the super smart Sally to answer those questions and save the world. But first, let’s talk about our two main characters.

In a room full of men, Mara Corday is the one who figures out how to stop the beast in the sky. Standing next to her is Jeff Morrow. That’s familiar face Morris Ankrum at the far right.

Mitch is not the most likable guy. He’s apt to lose his cool and often talks down to others including Sally who he calls “Mademoiselle Mathematician.” That doesn’t stop him from hitting on her, even kissing her while she’s sleeping on a plane in one creepy scene.

Where Morrow is dour and lacks the charm that could tame his arrogance, Corday infuses Sally with spunk and quiet confidence. She did the same with her characters in her two sci-fi films before this – Tarantula! (1955) and The Black Scorpion (1957). In this trio of films, she played a smart woman who could hold her own and doesn’t sit around waiting to be saved. She certainly won’t take anything from Mitch, even amusingly using his “Mademoiselle Mathematician” nickname against him. You’ll be rooting for her as she uses her smarts surrounded by men as she figures out how to deal with the big bird in the sky.

The film progresses as we expect. There are more sightings of big bird, attacks on trains and anything else that moves and people running in terror in recognizable spots around the world. With Sally’s math, Mitch devises a machine that could disrupt big bird’s shield. But, in good B-movie fashion, it’s never been tried before so there will be suspense of whether it will work as GC heads to New York City.

So you may be distracted by our big bird, but the film around it is everything we expect in a 1950s sci-fi B-movie and that makes it watchable.

In the end, I found the two females – Sally and GC – the most memorable part of The Giant Claw. Now if I could just get my stuffed plush movie collectible.

Mama bird protects her egg from those pesky humans in The Giant Claw.

MORE ON THE FILM

Sears/Katzman combo. Director Fred F. Sears and producer Sam Katzman worked on at least 18  movies together – 14 of them over just two years. That includes the genre films Earth vs. Flying Saucers (1956), the underappreciated and aptly title werewolf film The Werewolf (1956) and The Night the World Exploded (1957), plus the 1956 musicals Rock Around the Clock and Don’t Knock the Rock both starring Bill Haley and the Comets. In his career, Sears directed 51 films but sadly died at age 44 in November 1957 before all his films were released.

The look of The Giant Claw. Katzman originally planned to go all out and spend much of his budget on the creature and bring on stop-motion animation master Ray Harryhausen to create the flying wonder. Budget constraints nixed the idea. So instead of another Harryhausen stop-motion wonder, the big bird was created as a marionette – a puppet – as is obvious to viewers. It was a shock, however, to the cast and crew, who didn’t get a look at the creature until they saw the movie in a theater. Star Jeff Morrow has shared that he was watching the film in his hometown and was so embarrassed at the audience laughing at the bird that he left early.

– Toni Ruberto for Classic Movie Hub

You can read all of Toni’s Monsters and Matinees articles here.

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 and is a member and board chair of the Classic Movie Blog Association. Toni was the president of the former Buffalo chapter of TCM Backlot and led 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 or on Bluesky at @watchingforever.bsky.social

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Western RoundUp: The Lonely Man (1957)

Posted on January 28, 2025 by Laura Grieve

The Lonely Man (1957)

It’s been a few months since my last full-length film Western review, so in this month’s column I’m reviewing The Lonely Man (1957), which was just released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

The Lonely Man Lobby Card

I had no previous familiarity with The Lonely Man, an 88-minute Paramount Pictures film which has an interesting story and a top cast of Western character actors.

Kino Lorber, I’d like to insert here, has done a wonderful job in recent years releasing previously hard-to-find Westerns on Blu-ray, all of which have enriched my Western viewing.

Their releases include Audie Murphy films, a couple of which I’ve reviewed here, and relatively obscure ’50s Westerns such as Man From Del Rio (1956) and The Ride Back (1957), both starring Anthony Quinn. Additional Audie Murphy boxed sets are among the films which have been mentioned as possible future releases.

Kino Lorber The Lonely man

The Lonely Man has strong echoes of The Gunfighter (1950), as Jacob Wade (Jack Palance) returns home after many years. He left town after being accused of shooting the sheriff, with more killings to his name in the years since, but he hopes to make things right for his wife and son before time runs out.

Jacob learns his wife is dead; his sullen young son Riley (Anthony Perkins) resents him. Undeterred, Jacob wants to set the shiftless Riley up in some sort of business which will give him a secure future. He sets fire to Riley’s run-down shack, and a grudging Riley accompanies his father back on the road.

Jacob looks over a possible livery stable business for Riley in one town, but the Wades are immediately sent on their way by local citizens, and they ultimately end up at the isolated home of Ada (Elaine Aiken). Jacob and Ada had once been lovers, and when he left he gifted her the house.

Elaine Aiken and Jack Palance
Elaine Aiken and Jack Palance

Jacob, Ada, and Jacob’s old friend Ben (Robert Middleton) go to work capturing wild horses, with Jacob thinking breaking and selling horses might be a good business for Riley.

Right around this time, we learn why Jacob feels such urgency to help his son: He’s going blind. And it doesn’t help matters knowing that old enemies, including King Fisher (Neville Brand), Faro (Lee Van Cleef), and Blackburn (Claude Akins) are in the area, given that his vision woes no longer provide the security of being a fast gun.

I found The Lonely Man imperfect yet worthwhile. Its strengths start with spectacular black and white VistaVision location filming in Lone Pine, California, by Lionel Lindon. Both the movie and the Blu-ray look absolutely fantastic.

Robert Middleton, Jack Palance and Anthony Perkins
Robert Middleton, Jack Palance, and Anthony Perkins

The extensive location shooting was of particular interest to me, having spent countless hours in Lone Pine, and those unfamiliar with the area firsthand will nonetheless enjoy its distinctive vistas, including the Alabama Hills and the majestic views of Mount Whitney and Lone Pine Peak.

Other California locations, including Iverson Ranch and Vasquez Rocks, are seen very briefly. The Lonely Man has a definite “A” game in terms of visuals.

Palance is strong is a sympathetic role as the stoic gunslinger. We sense early on that there is more to the man and his story than initially presented. His wordless, beaming delight when Riley finally calls him “Pa” is a highlight of the film.

Palance is surrounded by some of the most menacing baddies in the Western movie business in Brand, Van Cleef, and Akins. Middleton, who often plays villains, is good in a nicely rounded role as Jacob’s flawed yet loyal pal. Middleton has a particularly strong scene when he finally gives Riley the facts on why his father left town years ago and seemingly abandoned his mother.

Jack Palance and Elaine Aiken
Jack Palance and Elaine Aiken

The movie also boasts appearances from a host of great character actors, including Elisha Cook Jr., James Bell, John Doucette, Russell Simpson, Tudor Owen, and Denver Pyle.

The performances from Perkins and Aiken are unfortunately less stellar. Perkins is fairly colorless and wooden as the conflicted son — much the same as I found him in the same year’s The Tin Star (1957). He’s simply a placeholder as Riley, in a role which cries out for a more sympathetic and appealing performance.

Aiken, who was appearing in her first film and has an “introducing” card in the opening credits, seems too mannered and theatrical compared to Palance’s natural performance. Her line deliveries at times are quite stilted, especially in her first reunion scene with Palance.

After watching the film I learned Aiken had studied with Lee Strasberg and later cofounded New York’s Actors Conservatory in the ’80s, and that seems to perhaps explain the “staginess” of her performance, along with her lack of screen experience. After The Lonely Man she had only a handful of film and TV roles, spread over many years. She passed on in 1998.

Elaine Aiken and Anthony Perkins
Elaine Aiken and Anthony Perkins

Perkins and Aiken shared an underdeveloped romantic relationship late in the film; it comes as a surprise, given her continued devotion to Jacob. That was a misstep in the script by Harry Essex and Robert Smith, nor was it convincingly acted.

The Lonely Man was directed by Henry Levin, one of a small number of Westerns he directed over his long career. Other Levin Westerns included The Man From Colorado (1948) with Glenn Ford and William Holden and the semi-Western The Gambler From Natchez (1954) with Rory Calhoun and Debra Paget.

I was surprised to realize that I’ve seen a very significant number of Levin’s films, most of which aren’t considered classics as such, yet are consistently entertaining. Levin favorites include The Bandit of Sherwood Forest (1946) with Cornel Wilde and Anita Louise and The Mating of Millie (1948) with Glenn Ford and Evelyn Keyes.

The score for The Lonely Man was by Van Cleave, with the theme song by Van Cleave and Jack Brooks, sung by Tennessee Ernie Ford. I was also interested to note, per IMDb, that famed guitarist Laurindo Almeida was heard on the soundtrack.

The Lonely Man Poster

Kino Lorber’s Blu-ray is from a new HD master from Paramount, from a 6K scan of the 35mm original VistaVision camera negative. It’s truly beautiful and one of the reasons to check out this disc. Sound quality is also excellent.

Kino Lorber has presented The Lonely Man as a special edition with a cardboard slipcase. Disc extras include the trailer; a gallery of five trailers for other Westerns available from Kino Lorber; and a commentary track by Western movie expert Toby Roan.

While a somewhat dark storyline and a pair of weak supporting performances disappointed, on the whole I enjoyed viewing this new-to-me Western completely “cold.” I found quite a bit to like, including most of the cast and the gorgeous views. I suspect fellow Western fans will also find it worth checking out, particularly given the excellent presentation by Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

If any of this column’s readers would like to share thoughts on this movie, please feel welcome to do so in the comments!

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.

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– 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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Silents Are Golden: Silent Superstars: The Classy Bebe Daniels

Posted on January 23, 2025 by Lea Stans

Silent Superstars: The Classy Bebe Daniels

bebe daniels

Often overshadowed by the major names like Clara Bow or Louise Brooks, Bebe Daniels is mainly familiar to fans of old Hollywood. But back in the 1920s she was one of the era’s brightest stars, and she and husband Ben Lyon were one of Movieland’s most beloved–and authentic!–celebrity couples. Beautiful and versatile, she was able to transition to both radio and television later in life, enjoying a happier fate than some of her forgotten contemporaries.

bebe daniels 2

Daniels always maintained that she was born in Dallas, Texas, although her family’s exact whereabouts in Texas at the time are a bit of a mystery. Her birthdate was likely 1900, not 1901 as was usually claimed, and according to census records she was apparently christened Eva after her grandmother (although some sources say Phyllis). Her theater manager father Melville was Scottish, and her actress mother Phyllis was born in Columbia and had both Colombian and Welsh ancestry. “Bebe” was a Spanish-inspired nickname that stuck.

An only child, little Bebe was neglected at times until her father realized he could incorporate her into his stage shows. After the Daniels marriage ended in divorce Bebe and Phyllis moved to Los Angeles and eked out a living working in stock companies. Eventually they would be hired by Colonel Selig, builder of the first permanent movie studio in L.A. Bebe always said that her first film was Selig’s The Common Enemy (1910), although some historians allege she starred in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1910) around the same time. Since she never mentioned the Oz film herself and since it was most likely filmed at Selig’s Chicago studio, it might always be impossible to confirm.

bebe daniels wizard of oz
Bebe…or not Bebe.

Her stint at Selig was followed by work at Kalem, Vitagraph, Pathé, and obscure studios like the Albuquerque Film Manufacturing Company. When she heard that the little Rolin comedy studio was looking for a leading lady to play opposite their one-reeler star Harold Lloyd, 14-year-old Bebe instantly went and asked for the job. Her confidence impressed manager Hal Roach enough that she was hired. Bebe and Harold got along famously and also had a good rapport with Rolin’s third star, vaudevillian Snub Pollard. The trio would end up starring in dozens of comedy shorts where Lloyd was billed as “Lonesome Luke” before transitioning to his familiar “Glasses” character, often known simply as “The Boy.”

Snub Pollard Bebe Daniel Harold Lloyd in The Lamb
The trio starring The Lamb (1918).

In time Harold and Bebe became an item, often winning dance trophies together at local contests. By now Bebe was quickly becoming a comedy favorite, to the point where Cecil B. DeMille tried to tempt her away from Rolin in 1917. She stayed loyal to her contract, and to Harold. It wasn’t until 1919, with her Rolin contract expired, that she decided to finally take up DeMille on an impressive offer of $1000 a week. She and Harold broke up around this time, although they would maintain a warm friendship to the end of their lives.

harold lloyd and bebe daniel eating ice cream
Harold Lloyd and Bebe Daniels

Bebe’s beauty and confident air lead to “vamp” roles in DeMille’s Male and Female (1919) and Why Change Your Wife? (1920). She then starred in a series of light comedies such as She Couldn’t Help It (1921) where she tended to play a succession of “good little bad girls.” She also earned the nickname “The Speed Girl” after an incident in 1921 when she was caught speeding (not a rare occurrence for the thrill-loving star.). The unmoving judge sentenced her to 10 days in jail, and naturally every bit of publicity was squeezed out of this stay. Bebe’s cell was luxuriously furnished by a local store, she was serenaded by musicians outside her jail window, and she received dozens of visitors a day. The whole circus only increased her fame–and showed her good sense of humor about herself.

bebe daniels the speed girl in jail being serenaded by musicians

For much of the 1920s she was a Paramount star, by now commanding a high weekly salary and drawing legions of fans. She was paired with other major stars like Wallace Reid and Rudolph Valentino, and was romantically linked with boxer Jack Dempsey and athlete-turned-actor Charles Paddock. In the late ‘20s she became involved with fellow actor Ben Lyon, and on June 14, 1930 they tied the knot. It was the beginning of a long and happy marriage, as well as a fruitful partnership in the entertainment industry.

ben lyon and bebe daniels
Ben Lyon and Bebe

With the talkies in full swing, Bebe starred in the early version of The Maltese Falcon (1931) and a number of musicals, the most famous one today being 42nd Street (1933). She and Ben welcomed their first child, Barbara, in 1931. After worrying run-ins with stalkers and a growing dissatisfaction with Hollywood, Bebe decided to retire from Hollywood in 1935. The Lyons would appear together onstage and eventually move to England, where they were already very popular with the British public.

The Lyons would adopt a son, Richard, and continue their careers by starring in radio programs such as Rinso Radio Review, Hi Gang! and the long-running Life With the Lyons. During World War II they refused to return to the U.S., choosing to stay and contribute to the war effort. Their show Stars and Stripes in Britain featured interviews with soldiers, nurses and doctors, and Daniels was apparently the first female civilian to interview wounded soldiers after the invasion of Normandy. For her efforts she would be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1946, and Ben would receive the Legion of Merit for his service as a lieutenant colonel in the US Army Air Forces Special Services.

the Lyon family in 1955
The Lyon family in 1955.

After Life With the Lyons enjoyed a stint as a television series, the Lyons began to withdraw from the spotlight, especially after Bebe suffered a stroke in the early 1960s. She and Ben’s love for each other never dimmed in their decades of marriage, and they arguably remained “the happiest couple in Hollywood” right up until Bebe’s death from a cerebral hemorrhage in 1971. Bebe’s legacy as a great star–and a truly great lady–has also remained undimmed.

bebe daniels 3

Note: The book Bebe Daniels: Hollywood’s Good Little Bad Girl by Charles Epting was a very helpful source for this post.

…

–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 Quarterly and has also written for The Keaton Chronicle.

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Classic Movie Travels: Clarine Seymour

Posted on January 19, 2025 by Annette Bochenek

Classic Movie Travels: Clarine Seymour

Clarine Seymour
Clarine Seymour

Clarine Seymour was born on December 9, 1898, in Brooklyn, New York, New York. She was born to Albert and Florence Seymour, a wealthy Methodist couple. Her father ran a ribbon manufacturing business until 1916, when an illness forced him to close the business.

When she was a child, Seymour appeared in church performances. The family relocated to New Rochelle, New York, where Seymour continued performing at the Thanhouser Film Company as a film extra to further support her family. She appeared in two shorts while in their employ: Pots-and-Pans Peggy (1917) and It Happened to Adele (1917). Later, she appeared in a Pearl White serial for Pathé. 

Seymour’s career began to rise when she appeared in Mystery of the Double Cross (1917) for Pathé. Producer Hal Roach saw her performance and offered her a contract with his Rolin Film Company, which she accepted. She moved to Los Angeles, California, to portray the lead actress in the Toto the Clown series and also had a supporting role opposite Stan Laurel in the comedic short Just Rambling Along (1918). However, Seymour claimed that Roach fired her for refusing to do her own stunts. She sued Roach’s company for breaking her contract and won $1,325 in damages. All the while, she was appearing in comedy shorts for Al Christie.

film, Motion Picture Classic magazine

In 1918, director and producer Victor Heerman directed a screen test showcasing Seymour and director D.W. Griffith’s Artcraft stock player, Robert Harron. Griffith was pleased with the performance and hired her as part of the stock company. She would appear in a succession of films, including The Girl Who Stayed Home (1919), True Heart Susie (1919), and Scarlet Days (1919).

True Heart Susie
True Heart Susie

In 1920, Seymour was cast in Way Down East (1920), but became ill halfway through filming due to intestinal strangulation. She was admitted to Misericordia Hospital in New York City but did not improve. After undergoing emergency surgery, she contracted pneumonia and died four days later on April 25, 1920.

Actress Mary Hay was cast to replace Seymour’s role in the film, though Seymour can still be spotted in the film’s long shots.

Though Seymour claimed Roach fired her over not executing her own stunts, Roach, in later years, shared that Seymour associated with a group of Hollywood stars who were known for partying and drug use. On September 26, 1920, a joint memorial service was held for not only Seymour but also Orner Locklear (a daredevil stunt pilot and actor who perished in an airplane crash), actress Olive Thomas (who passed from an accidental overdose), and actor and fellow Griffith stock player Robert Harron (who passed from an alleged accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound two days after the Way Down East premiere). All were eulogized by director William Desmond Taylor, whose own still unsolved murder would occur 18 months later.

Seymour is buried at Greenwood Union Cemetery in Rye, New York.

In 1900, Seymour and her family resided at 1249 Degraw St., New York, New York. The home has since been razed. In 1910, Seymour and her family lived in Brooklyn at 939 Sterling Pl., New York, New York. That building stands today.

939 Sterling Pl., New York, New York.
939 Sterling Pl., New York, New York.

By 1920, the family had moved to 12 Thomas Pl., New Rochelle, New York. That home also stands.

Greenwood Cemetery is located at 215 North St., Rye, New York.

…

–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, Ph.D., is a film historian, professor, and avid scholar of Hollywood’s Golden Age. She manages the “Hometowns to Hollywood” blog, in which she profiles her trips to the hometowns of classic Hollywood stars. She has also been featured on the popular classic film-oriented television network, Turner Classic Movies. A regular columnist for Classic Movie Hub, her articles have appeared in TCM Backlot, Silent Film Quarterly, Nostalgia Digest, The Dark Pages Film Noir Newsletter, and Chicago Art Deco Society Magazine.

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Noir Nook: Quoteable Noir: Part 2

Posted on January 16, 2025 by Karen Burroughs Hannsberry

Quoteable Noir: Part 2

Back in 2019, I kicked off the new year with some of my favorite quotes from some of my favorite noirs. So much has changed in our world since then – but one thing that’s remained the same is the awesome lines that can be found in the films of classic noir. Because one good turn deserves another, I’m ringing in 2025 with even more great quotes. Enjoy! And happy noir year!

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Quotes_Dana Andrews in Fallen Angel
Fallen Angel

“I got everything by talking fast in a world that goes for talking. And ended up with exactly nothing.” – Eric Stanton (Dana Andrews) in Fallen Angel (1945)

“I want a monopoly on you, David, or whatever it is that people have when they don’t want anyone else to have any of you.” – Louise Howell Graham (Joan Crawford) in Possessed (1947)

“The next time you must indulge your hot, Spanish passion for dramatics, put on a uniform with polished boots and stomp around your wife’s bedchamber. Do not attempt brilliant decisions.” – Marcel Jarnac (Luther Adler) in Cornered (1945)

Gene Tierney and Jeanne Crain in Leave Her to Heaven
Leave Her to Heaven

“All my life I’ve tried to love you, done everything to please you. . . . And what have you done? With your love you wrecked Mother’s life, you pressed Father to death, and you’ve made a shadow of Richard. I don’t envy you – I’m sorry for you. You’re the most pitiful creature I’ve ever known.” – Ruth Berent (Jeanne Crain) in Leave Her to Heaven (1945)

“I don’t like blackmailers – nor would you, if you were in my business. They constitute a very bad industrial hazard.” – Frank Hugo (Fred Clark) in Ride the Pink Horse (1947)

“How far could I get with you? What do you want me to do, let him get us both? You have to watch out for yourself – that’s the way it is, I’m sorry. What do you want me to do, throw away all this money?” – Anna Dundee (Yvonne DeCarlo) in Criss Cross (1949)

Quotes_Richard Conte in The Big Combo
The Big Combo

“He used to be my boss. Now I’m his. . . . First is first and second is nobody.” – Mr. Brown (Richard Conte) in The Big Combo (1955)

“I said I liked it – I didn’t say I wanted to kiss it.” – Laurel Gray (Gloria Grahame) in In a Lonely Place (1950)

“Anybody who puts the finger on me is living on borrowed time.” – Harry Colton (Lawrence Tierney) in Shakedown (1950)

Quotes_Jane Greer in Out of the Past
Out of the Past

“You’re no good and neither am I. We deserve each other.” – Kathie Moffat (Jane Greer) in Out of the Past (1947)

“You seem like a reasonable man. Why don’t we make a deal? What’s it worth to you to turn your considerable talents back to the gutter you crawled out of?” – Carl Evello (Paul Stewart) in Kiss Me Deadly (1955)

“You like poetry, hon? George hated poetry. He hit me once when I recited Robert Burns. He hit me right in the eye. George was no good. George had no manners at all.” – Harriet Sinton (Jean Hagen) in Side Street (1950)

Faye Emerson and Zachary Scott in Danger Signal (1945)
Danger Signal

“Face it – if you’re smart, you can get just about anything you want. If you can’t get it one way, you can get it another.” – Ronnie Mason (Zachary Scott) in Danger Signal (1945)

“A girl has to keep her head one step of her heart if she wants to get along.” – Francine Huber (Signe Hasso) in Strange Triangle (1946)

“One thing about me, I never stick my nose into business that don’t concern me. It don’t pay.” – Shorty (Harry Morgan) in The Gangster (1947)

susan hayward among the living
Among the Living

“You afraid of those ghosts they’re all talking about? I guess I made a mistake. I thought you were a man. Sorry.” – Millie Perkins (Susan Hayward) in Among the Living (1941)

“One more crack like that and I’ll slap your kisser off ya. Believe me?” – Barney Nolan (Edmond O’Brien) in Shield for Murder (1954)

“You said I didn’t know the difference between right and wrong. What’s right for Walter and myself? For us to tell the truth? And hang for it? For what? What was she? A mean, vicious, hateful old woman who never did anything for anybody. What was he? A thief, a drunk, someone who would have died in the gutter anyway. Neither one of them had any right to live.” – Martha Ivers (Barbara Stanwyck) in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)

Quotes_Jack Palance in Sudden Fear
Sudden Fear

“I’ve got to think fast. Got to think of a nice, foolproof little accident.” – Lester Blaine (Jack Palance) in Sudden Fear (1952)

“Don’t think you’re going to walk out on me. It isn’t as easy as all that.” – Vivian Heldon (Jan Sterling) in Mystery Street (1950)

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– Karen Burroughs Hannsberry for Classic Movie Hub

You can read all of Karen’s Noir Nook articles here.

Karen Burroughs Hannsberry is the author of the Shadows and Satin blog, which focuses on movies and performers from the film noir and pre-Code eras, and the editor-in-chief of The Dark Pages, a bimonthly newsletter devoted to all things film noir. Karen is also the author of two books on film noir – Femme Noir: The Bad Girls of Film and Bad Boys: The Actors of Film Noir. You can follow Karen on Twitter at @TheDarkPages.
If you’re interested in learning more about Karen’s books, you can read more about them on amazon here:

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Monsters and Matinees: Meet these Obscure Werewolves from Classic Film

Posted on January 11, 2025 by Toni Ruberto

Meet these Obscure Werewolves from Classic Film

A werewolf walks into a bar and ….

No, that’s not a joke. It’s the opening scene of a 1956 low-budget film with the straightforward and generic title of The Werewolf. And if you’ve seen other werewolf films, you’ll guess right away that the disheveled and anxious man who stumbles into a small-town bar with no memory is the title creature.

A close-up of the solid makeup work by Clay Campbell in the 1956 film The Werewolf.

Why? Well, he’s clearly distraught and depressed, characteristics we’ve seen in other classic film werewolves. Yes, werewolves violently rip necks open but have a heart – it’s not a life they chose. Thanks to Lon Chaney Jr. in his Universal films, I’ve always seen the werewolf as a pitiful creature, caught in a tragic life through no fault of its own. Often, they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, like Chaney was in The Wolf Man. Or they are the victim of a family curse, a popular fate in films like Cry of the Werewolf (1944) and The Curse of the Werewolf (1961).

Chaney’s Wolf Man films worked so well because they were as much about Larry Talbot, the man, as they were about the wolf he became. When he was resurrected in the Universal mash-up films Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1942), House of Frankenstein (1944) and House of Dracula (1945) he become sadder and more tragic in each film, begging to be killed so he can escape his cursed life.

“Back to a life of misery and despair – I only wanted to die,” he says in House of Dracula.

(He at least got to be the hero in the comedy Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948).

* * * * *

Poor freezing-cold amnesiac Duncan March (played by Steven Ritch) has no idea why he woke up in the snow without his socks in The Werewolf.

For Duncan Marsh, our amnesiac lycanthrope in The Werewolf, his sad twist of fate happens after a car crash when he’s treated by two unscrupulous country doctors who use him as a test subject by injecting him with irradiated wolf serum they created to survive a nuclear apocalypse. (You’re right, that doesn’t make sense.)

When the disoriented Duncan (played by Steven Ritch) arrives at the bar with a twenty-dollar bill, he’s marked by a thug who follows him outside for the money. That’s how we learn this werewolf doesn’t transform by the light of a full moon; he simply needs to be afraid or angry. The thug never had a chance and the odds are stacked against our man-wolf who spends most of the film afraid or angry.

The only bit of luck Duncan has is stumbling into the office of the kind town doctor Gilchrist (Ken Christy) and his assistant/nurse Amy (Joyce Holden) who believe that something bad has happened to the pitiful and remorseful man. Though he’s starting to remember pieces of the past few days including the crash and the doctors, he is so skittish that he runs off. Gilchrist and Amy try to discover the truth and convince the sheriff (Don Megowan) to take Duncan alive. That will be a tough task with the whole town dressed in their hunting hats while out to destroy the “killer wolf.” (The scene of the vengeful torch-bearing mob is a throwback to Frankenstein and other Universal films.)

Dr. Gilchrist (Ken Christy) and his assistant/nurse Amy (Joyce Holden) try to help a stranger with amnesia (Steven Ritch) in The Werewolf.

Arriving in town are Duncan’s loving wife and young son, as well as the two “evil” doctors who are out to protect their experiment – or at least make sure their secret dies with Duncan. All these elements will, of course, converge.

* * * * *

I discovered The Werewolf while looking for werewolf films to watch in anticipation of two new films, Wolf Man from Blumhouse and The Beast Within.

Unfamiliar with it, I barely expected The Werewolf to reach “B-movie” level quality. But it has some surprisingly solid attributes including the wolf makeup and transformation, cinematography and how deeply affecting it is (try not to be touched in scenes with Duncan, his wife and son).

Shadows of prison cell bars loom behind the wolf man and evil scientist in the hunting hat in The Werewolf.

The makeup was created by Clay Campbell (The Return of the Vampire) and the wolf’s extra-long facial hair and ferocious pointed teeth hold up to other werewolves. The transformation is through time-lapse photography that is appropriate for genre. I appreciate that the creature is a true wolf and man as he stays the same size as both (even his suit stays intact).

Director of Photography Edward Linden (King Kong, Son of Kong), who died shortly after this film was completed, crafted stylish scenes. My favorite is when the evil doctors attack Duncan in his prison cell and the immense shadows cast from the bars are angled in a way to suggest that life is crashing down on the three men.

* * * * *

The opening credits give the “introducing” banner – used to herald a (hopefully) rising star – to Steven Ritch, who does a better-than-admiral job as our man-wolf. His pain is evident throughout and I couldn’t help feeling sorry for him from the get-go, so I was expecting to see a nice line of acting credits for him after this film. Though he had a steady career, the roles that followed don’t depict that he given parts in recognition for the skills he showed in The Werewolf. He had small roles in a few movies and in many TV shows, plus writing credits including the 1957 film Plunder Road in which he also acted, along with episodes of such TV shows as  77 Sunset Strip, Hawaiian Eye and Wagon Train.

Though the film’s low budget is evident, and I felt cheated by the end, I still came away as a fan of The Werewolf.

* * * * *

A TRIO OF WEREWOLF FILMS

Here are three other notable werewolf films – one for historic reasons, the other two simply because I find them interesting.

The Werewolf (1913)

Canadian actress Phyllis Gordon was the original Universal monster in this silent film. The two-reeler was produced by Bison Film Co. and released by Universal Film Manufacturing Co., a precursor to Universal Studios.

The silent film, The Werewolf.

Unfortunately, the film was destroyed in a 1924 fire and is considered lost so we can’t watch it but shouldn’t forget that it is part of film history.

It is based on a Navajo legend, which is mentioned in other werewolf films. This time, a spurned  Navajo woman, a witch, raises her daughter, Watoma (Phyllis Gordon), to hate white men like her father, and teaches her how to change into a werewolf.

Watoma suffers her own tragedy and returns to life 100 years after her death seeking vengeance on the man who killed her boyfriend.

* * * * *

The Undying Monster(1942) (also known as The Hammond Monster)

 I love this little-known horror film. It’s low budget, but high quality through the atmospheric cinematography of Lucien Ballard and a fun cast of actors with unfamiliar names.

What could those ferocious howls in the dark mean for the House of Hammond in The Undying Monster.

It’s set at one of those cliff side mansions so omnipresent in British horror films, this one being the magnificently grand House of Hammond.

Talk is immediate of legends of the Hammond monster and of the relative who sold his soul to the devil and now lives in a secret room in the castle. Adding to the drama is a spooky old Scottish saying – also carved into a basement wall – that portends tragedy ahead: “When stars are bright on a frosty night, beware thy bane on the rocky lane.” (A clear variation of the classic quote from The Wolf Man.)

Current castle residents are the spunky Helga (Heather Angel) and her brother Oliver (John Howard) who don’t believe all of that nonsense, but still live under the weight of it all.

A motley group searching for the legendary hidden room inside the Hammond mansion find all sorts of artifacts in The Undying Monster.

The film is highly atmospheric with action set mostly inside the candlelit castle that is colored by moody shadows. There are plenty of howls in the night – “lost souls,” the creepy maid says, and the cliffs are punctuated by large boulders and striking wind-swept trees frozen in movement.

When Howard is attacked on a moonlit night near where the body of maid is found mauled, it brings in a Scotland Yard scientist and his comical female sidekick Christy (Heather Thatcher) to investigate.

Is there really a curse? Is the killer beast or man? Sit around the campfire that is The Undying Monster and let the old yarn unravel and entertain you.

* * * * *

Calvin Lockhart plays a millionaire who has outfitted his island estate with microphones, cameras and televisions so he can hunt a werewolf in The Beast Must Die.

The Beast Must Die (1974)

Right before a full moon, millionaire big-game hunter Tom Newcliffe (played by Calvin Lockhart) invites five guests to his island mansion. (How rich is he? He has invested in a security system with cameras and microphones throughout the island that will track every move and sound that is made.)

Each guest has one thing in common: He or she has been at a site of mysterious and gruesome murders, and Tom is sure one is a werewolf. It gets uncomfortable right away as the guests and Tom’s wife learn why they’re there. Peter Cushing is among those invited. People will be tested (here, touch this silver item and prove you’re not a werewolf), guests will turn on each other (“The backs of your hands are covered in hair!” – one exclaims) and yes, there will be blood (1970s-style) and people will die.

Peter Cushing, left, Calvin Lockhart and Tom Chadbon are pictured in this lobby card for The Beast Must Die.

While this is a horror movie from trustworthy Amicus Productions, it’s also a detective story that asks the viewer to guess the identity of the werewolf.

So be warned: You will be given a 30-second countdown to share your answer before the wolf is revealed. You might even get a couple of chances to do so. How did I do? I botched it up, but it all made sense in the end.

– Toni Ruberto for Classic Movie Hub

You can read all of Toni’s Monsters and Matinees articles here.

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 and is the board president and a member of the Classic Movie Blog Association. Toni was the president of the former Buffalo chapter of TCM Backlot and its 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.

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Silver Screen Standards: On Dangerous Ground (1951)

Posted on January 9, 2025 by Jennifer Garlen

Silver Screen Standards: On Dangerous Ground (1951)

Deep frost permeates Nicholas Ray’s 1951 noir classic, On Dangerous Ground, freezing both the soul of its protagonist and the stark winter landscape that dominates the second half of the film. Both constitute the “dangerous ground” of the title, with Robert Ryan slipping into violence as an urban cop whose disillusionment has chipped away his humanity until the next suspect he meets might well end up on the cold slab of the morgue. It’s a story with two very distinct parts, the first a gritty noir in a nighttime world of cops, crooks, and dark alleys, and the second a snowy Western where the open white space holds dangers of its own but also the opportunity for self-knowledge and even redemption. There are certainly aspects of On Dangerous Ground that don’t play as well today as they might have in the 1950s, particularly where police violence is concerned, but the movie still has a lot to recommend it, including lead performances by Ryan and Ida Lupino, striking cinematography in the snowy landscapes, and a noteworthy – and frequently familiar – score by Bernard Herrmann.

On Dangerous Ground, Cleo Moore, Robert Ryan
The women Jim Wilson (Robert Ryan) meets on the job do little to counter his cynicism, although he responds to the sex appeal of Myrna (Cleo Moore).

When jaded city cop Jim Wilson (Robert Ryan) vents his frustrations with the job by roughing up a series of suspects, his boss sends him to cool off out in the country, where the murder of a young girl has rocked the small community and sent her grieving father, Walter Brent (Ward Bond), in search of retribution. On the trail of their main suspect, the pair of men find Mary Malden (Ida Lupino), a blind woman who wants to protect her mentally unstable younger brother (Sumner Williams) but also feels a powerful sympathy for Jim. As he watches both Walter and Mary confront their own suffering and grief, Jim begins to reclaim his ability to care about other people, even those on the wrong side of the law.

On Dangerous Ground, Ward Bond, Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan
Walter (Ward Bond) at first doubts that Mary (Ida Lupino) is really blind, and Jim must stop from Walter from hurting her.

The first half of the film presents us with an anti-hero so dark and troubled that it’s hard to imagine redemption as an option. Ryan’s hard features sell us on Jim’s bitterness even before we see him lay hands on a suspect, but his brutality is shocking, even by the standards of the 1950s. Jim’s partners, Pete (Anthony Ross) and Pop (Charles Kemper) are also disturbed by his behavior; they are both married and have lives outside their jobs to keep them in touch with their own humanity, while Jim lives alone in a miserable one room apartment. Jim’s boss, Captain Brawley (Ed Begley), warns him that his violent outbursts cannot be allowed to continue, although Jim still seems surprised when he’s banished to “Siberia” after his abuse puts one suspect in the hospital. There’s no sense of Jim being invested in ideals like justice or fairness; he’s just another creature of the night, a predator whose prey happen to be wanted men. The city he prowls is filled with teenage prostitutes, crooks, and murderers, but even the ordinary citizens sense his tarnished nature and recoil from him. “Cops have no friends,” Jim opines. “Nobody likes a cop.” Thanks to his actions, it’s easy to see why.

On Dangerous Ground, Robert Ryan, Ida Lupino, Indoors
Mary’s courage and warmth quickly thaw Jim’s heart, even though he knows that she’s trying to protect her brother from capture.

Fortunately for Jim, the plot casts him out of the city’s dark heart and into the dazzling whiteness of a snow-covered countryside, where he encounters people who force him to rethink his perspective. Grief has hardened into bloodthirst in Walter Brent, who mirrors the kind of man Jim has also become but realizes he cannot continue to be. Walter intends to kill the suspect on sight, forcing Jim to become the one who practices restraint. Walter even attempts to strike Mary because he thinks she’s only pretending to be blind, and Jim must step in to protect her. If Walter offers Jim a grim reflection of the man he is now, Mary offers him a glimpse of the man he could become, someone who both gives and receives much-needed love in a cold, lonely world. Mary might be too much of a noble martyr to be wholly credible (why would she think allowing herself to go blind is a better option when it comes to caring for the unpredictable Danny?), but Ida Lupino invests the character with depth and interest through her performance. Even Danny, who only appears briefly, has a profound impact on Jim. The sea change in Jim’s perspective might be hurried in such a short film, where most of the action takes place within 24 hours, but the story in many ways resembles A Christmas Carol without the supernatural elements, and in Dickens’ tale the spirits also accomplish their aims with Scrooge very quickly. It would be nice to see more of Jim’s redemption arc so we feel that he really deserves his second chance; the theme of the picture, however, is the importance of forgiveness and sympathy even to those who don’t seem to deserve them, so we have to choose to believe that Jim will live up to the opportunity extended to him.

On Dangerous Ground, Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, outdoors
The treacherous winter landscape provides a different kind of dangerous ground for Mary and Jim.

Director Nicholas Ray is remembered for his excellent contributions to classic noir, including They Live by Night (1948), In a Lonely Place (1950), and Johnny Guitar (1954), although his crowning achievement is the coming-of-age drama, Rebel without a Cause (1955). Ida Lupino played ingenues in her early career but eventually found her way into grittier roles more worthy of her talent, with some of my favorites being They Drive by Night (1940) and Ladies in Retirement (1941). Robert Ryan was equally at home in both Westerns and noir and often played villains, but I particularly admire his performance as the sympathetic boxer in The Set-Up (1949). You can see both Lupino and Ryan in Beware, My Lovely (1952), and Ray also directs Ryan in Born to be Bad (1950), The Racket (1951), and Flying Leathernecks (1951). The Western ambience in the second half of On Dangerous Ground is enhanced by the presence of genre regular Ward Bond, of course, but also by Olive Carey as Walter Brent’s wife and Frank Ferguson as Mr. Willows.

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— Jennifer Garlen for Classic Movie Hub

Jennifer Garlen pens our monthly Silver Screen Standards column. You can read all of Jennifer’s Silver Screen Standards articles here.

Jennifer is a former college professor with a PhD in English Literature and a lifelong obsession with film. She writes about classic movies at her blog, Virtual Virago, and presents classic film programs for lifetime learning groups and retirement communities. She’s the author of Beyond Casablanca: 100 Classic Movies Worth Watching and its sequel, Beyond Casablanca II: 101 Classic Movies Worth Watching, and she is also the co-editor of two books about the works of Jim Henson.

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Western Roundup: 1950 Westerns

Posted on December 22, 2024 by Laura Grieve

1950 Westerns

In this month’s column, as we turn the corner into the new year, I want to particularly focus on several Westerns celebrating their 75th anniversaries in 2025.

1950 was a key year in the Western genre. Important new directors emerged on the scene, and their films demonstrated the continued evolution and maturation of the genre. A number of Westerns now considered classics broke new ground, featuring psychologically troubled heroes or heroines and boldly tackling racism toward Indians.

Meanwhile, the great John Ford released two of his loveliest works in 1950.

Troubled Heroes

Director Anthony Mann had been learning his craft in “B” films and crime movies throughout the ’40s; his career took a major step forward in 1950 with the release of three major Westerns. The first of those films, Winchester ’73 (1950), was also the beginning of his noteworthy eight-film collaboration with James Stewart.

Winchester 73 Poster

In Winchester ’73 Stewart plays Lin McAdam, who travels the west in search of a man named Dutch Henry Brown (Stephen McNally) and the titular rifle. Stewart continued his postwar character evolution first glimpsed in It’s a Wonderful Life (1946): He’s likeable as always, yet with a substantially darker side. Viewers don’t learn the reason for Lin’s trauma until late in the movie; the script is remarkably well-written (by Borden Chase and Robert L. Richards) and performed by Stewart. When Lin gets angry, he can be downright terrifying, yet he also has a tender side, gallantly looking after a young woman played by Shelley Winters.

Furies Poster

Mann’s next Western was The Furies (1950), in which Barbara Stanwyck plays Vance, a very, well, messed-up woman. Vance has masochistic tendencies, which become apparent in her relationship with Rip (Wendell Corey), and she also has a strangely physical and possessive relationship with her father (Walter Huston) which leads her to violence against her new stepmother (Judith Anderson). Meanwhile Vance rejects a permanent, healthier relationship with the ill-fated man who truly loves her (Gilbert Roland). This film laid the groundwork for later Western melodramas featuring significant female leads such as Rancho Notorious (1952), Johnny Guitar (1954), and Forty Guns (1957).

Gunfighter Poster

From director Henry King that year came The Gunfighter (1950), one of Gregory Peck’s best-known Westerns. Gunfighter Jimmy Ringo (Peck), the fastest gun in the west, is tired of constantly being challenged by foolish men hoping to beat him to the draw. He visits his estranged wife (Helen Westcott) on the way to what he hopes will be a new, anonymous life in California, but several men are on his trail and it seems his quiet life is not to be. Peck is moving as a man who can’t even drink a cup of coffee without carefully positioning himself with his back against a wall, demonstrating that commonly accepted Western violence had an unhappy dark side. The story by William Bowers and Andre de Toth was nominated for the Oscar.

Injustice Toward Indians

Returning to director Anthony Mann, his third Western released in 1950 was Devil’s Doorway (1950), one of a couple very significant films about the treatment of American Indians. The other key 1950 title viewing Indians in a sympathetic light was Broken Arrow (1950), the first Western directed by Delmer Daves, who would become an important writer and director in the genre. Daves’ later Westerns included The Last Wagon (1956) and 3:10 to Yuma (1956).

It’s interesting to note that leading up to 1950, Devil’s Doorway and Broken Arrow were preceded by “B” films which expressed greater sympathy toward Native Americans, such as Tim Holt’s Indian Agent (1948) and Gene Autry’s The Cowboy and the Indians (1949). With Devil’s Doorway and Broken Arrow, issues of bigotry and injustice toward Indians moved front and center in major studio releases with top stars.

Devils Doorway Poster

In MGM’s Devil’s Doorway, Robert Taylor plays Broken Lance Poole, who returns to his Wyoming home after serving in the Civil War. He discovers that his having been awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor doesn’t impress his neighbors, who have become hostile in his absence and are using homesteading laws to steal his longtime home. Taylor is superb in a searing film which is almost hard to watch, as bit by bit an honorable man’s life is torn asunder for no reason other than his ethnicity. Intriguingly, I’ve read more than one reference to this film being a forerunner of Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon (2023).

Broken Arrow Foreign Poster

In 1950 James Stewart followed his work in Universal Pictures’ Winchester ’73 with 20th Century-Fox’s Broken Arrow, in which his character tries to broker peace between white settlers and Apache Indians, only to suffer an enormous personal loss due to hatred of Apaches; though Stewart’s character is initially less dark than in Winchester ’73, he again finds himself in the midst of tragedy. Broken Arrow was nominated for three Oscars, including screenplay. Director Delmer Daves would return to the subject of Indians and peace a few years later in Drum Beat (1954) with Alan Ladd.

Classics From the Master

Director John Ford made two of my all-time favorite films in 1950, Rio Grande (1950) and Wagon Master (1950).

Rio Grande Poster

Rio Grande, the last of Ford’s Cavalry Trilogy, is a more traditional Western in terms of the clash between frontier soldiers and Indians; the Indians kidnapping children near the movie’s climax shows them in a very bad light indeed.

At the same time, the movie has a beautiful theme of postwar reconciliation, as John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara play a couple estranged for many years due to events which took place during the Civil War. It’s a lovely story as they find their way back to one another. The exuberance and bravery of young cast members Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr., and Claude Jarman Jr. adds to an optimistic picture of Americans settling the West.

Wagon Master Poster

Wagon Master, in which Ford cast young actors Johnson and Carey in the leads as wagon train trail guides, is to my thinking one of the most beautiful Westerns ever made. Everything about it, from the casting to the music to the locations, is exquisite, and I love the film’s naturalistic feel, incorporating unexpected incidents such as a horse fall and Ward Bond’s pants being ripped by a dog. It’s another ultimately upbeat film about the courage of pioneers in our nation’s westward expansion.

Other Significant Films of 1950

1950 was also an important year for Audie Murphy, who became a Western star with the release of three films, including Sierra (1950). Joel McCrea had a quartet of Westerns in 1950, including the lovely Stars in My Crown (1950) – which perhaps more fairly might be called a “frontier settler” film – and one of my personal favorites, Saddle Tramp (1950). It was also a good year for Randolph Scott, with three Westerns including The Nevadan (1950) and The Cariboo Trail (1950). Short Grass (1950) with Rod Cameron was another favorite Western released in 1950, one of three Cameron Westerns released that year.

Sierra Poster

The impact of television on “B” Western production was still a few years off, and they continued to be released at a fast pace in 1950, with half a dozen films apiece for stars Tim Holt, Gene Autry, and Roy Rogers. Rogers’ releases included the fondly recalled Christmas Western Trail of Robin Hood (1950).

Trail of Robin Hood Poster

I invite Western RoundUp readers to celebrate the 75th anniversary of all these films by viewing as many of them as possible in the year ahead. Happy New Year!

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– 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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