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Post by Admin on Jan 29, 2024 3:19:39 GMT
In February, we'll be looking at the classic film achievements of 29 stars.
Feel free to say what you like about each selection on their day, and which of their films you might recommend to others.
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Post by topbilled on Jan 29, 2024 16:20:04 GMT
2.01 FREDI WASHINGTON
2.02 RONALD COLMAN
2.03 RUTH CHATTERTON
2.04 STEVE COCHRAN
2.05 ANNA STEN
2.06 MICHAEL CRAIG
2.07 PATRICIA NEAL
2.08 ROBERT MONTGOMERY
2.09 DEANNA DURBIN
2.10 JOHN BARRYMORE
2.11 DOLORES DEL RIO
2.12 GUY MADISON
2.13 NORMA SHEARER
2.14 PAUL LUKAS
2.15 JANE WYATT
2.16 AMEDEO NAZZARI
2.17 HELEN TWELVETREES
2.18 JAMES DEAN
2.19 BILLIE BURKE
2.20 GEORGE O'BRIEN
2.21 CLAUDETTE COLBERT
2.22 ANTON WALBROOK
2.23 GLORIA SWANSON
2.24 BUSTER CRABBE
2.25 YVONNE SANSON
2.26 DONALD O'CONNOR
2.27 ANN TODD
2.28 EDDIE ALBERT
2.29 MAE CLARKE |
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Post by jinsinna13 on Jan 30, 2024 14:30:49 GMT
2.01 FREDI WASHINGTON
2.02 RONALD COLMAN
2.03 RUTH CHATTERTON
2.04 STEVE COCHRAN
2.05 ANNA STEN
2.06 MICHAEL CRAIG
2.07 PATRICIA NEAL
2.08 ROBERT MONTGOMERY
2.09 DEANNA DURBIN
2.10 JOHN BARRYMORE
2.11 DOLORES DEL RIO
2.12 GUY MADISON
2.13 NORMA SHEARER
2.14 PAUL LUKAS
2.15 JANE WYATT
2.16 AMEDEO NAZZARI
2.17 HELEN TWELVETREES
2.18 JAMES DEAN
2.19 BILLIE BURKE
2.20 GEORGE O'BRIEN
2.21 CLAUDETTE COLBERT
2.22 ANTON WALBROOK
2.23 GLORIA SWANSON
2.24 BUSTER CRABBE
2.25 YVONNE SANSON
2.26 DONALD O'CONNOR
2.27 ANN TODD
2.28 EDDIE ALBERT
2.29 MAE CLARKEGood list, Topbilled. It's a nice variety from relatively obscure stars to wildly popular stars.
How did you select the stars? Was it random? Was it stars you felt did not get enough attention? A combination of both? (As I say, the "popular kids" of TCM need to step aside once in awhile.)
I nominate Dean Stockwell and Robert Vaughn for next year.
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Post by topbilled on Jan 30, 2024 15:02:25 GMT
Good list, Topbilled. It's a nice variety from relatively obscure stars to wildly popular stars.
How did you select the stars? Was it random? Was it stars you felt did not get enough attention? A combination of both? (As I say, the "popular kids" of TCM need to step aside once in awhile.)
I nominate Dean Stockwell and Robert Vaughn for next year.
I did want variety. I wanted to kick it off with an African American star (Fredi Washington) since February is black history month. I wanted some who had started in silent films (Ronald Colman, John Barrymore, Norma Shearer, Billie Burke & Gloria Swanson). I wanted some that began as child stars (Donald O'Connor & Deanna Durbin). I wanted precode stars (Ruth Chatterton, Helen Twelvetrees & Mae Clarke). I wanted some postwar stars who made westerns (Steve Cochran & Guy Madison). I wanted some known more for TV but had been in hit films (Jane Wyatt & Eddie Albert).
I wanted someone from the Mexican film industry (Dolores Del Rio). I wanted British stars (Michael Craig & Ann Todd)...as well as other European stars (Anna Sten & Anton Walbrook). I definitely wanted to include Italian stars (Amedeo Nazzari & Yvonne Sanson). Incidentally, Miss Sanson's heritage was French & Russian, but she was born in Greece...yet she became a very popular model and actress in Italy, and was very "Italian."
I wanted a few well-known Hollywood studio stars (Claudette Colbert, Robert Montgomery, Patricia Neal & James Dean). Colbert was a good choice, because she had done precodes and also made some films in French. Dean was chosen because he was a method actor and has such a short filmography yet continues to make an impact. Some were chosen because of versatility and longevity (George O'Brien was in silent films and later in westerns; in a similar vein, Buster Crabbe was in precodes and later in westerns). I chose Paul Lukas because he earned an Oscar yet nobody really talks about him.
These were not randomly chosen...they all tend to fall into specific categories. There were many more I wanted to include, but there are only 29 slots. Of course, next year we can include some of the others like the two you mentioned.
Oh, and I should add one thing that made me choose these particular stars was I wanted people who photographed very well, so when I go searching online for publicity stills, I know I will find beautiful shots. To be honest, a lot of the character actors and actresses from the golden age didn't really photograph well. But Billie Burke, who started as a leading lady in silent films and later transitioned to character roles, did photograph quite well. I think the character actors and actresses should get their own separate tribute since they are a niche all by themselves.
As for the youngsters who transitioned to grown-up roles...Donald O'Connor didn't exactly photograph well as an adult but he did have a cute kid phase earlier in his career. Dean Stockwell, whom you mentioned, also had a cute kid phase. He'd be a good choice for next year.
I know this is a long-winded response, but the short answer is variety...stars that appeal to a wide array of classic film fans. |
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Post by jinsinna13 on Jan 30, 2024 21:32:29 GMT
Good list, Topbilled. It's a nice variety from relatively obscure stars to wildly popular stars.
How did you select the stars? Was it random? Was it stars you felt did not get enough attention? A combination of both? (As I say, the "popular kids" of TCM need to step aside once in awhile.)
I nominate Dean Stockwell and Robert Vaughn for next year.
I did want variety. I wanted to kick it off with an African American star (Fredi Washington) since February is black history month. I wanted some who had started in silent films (Ronald Colman, John Barrymore, Norma Shearer, Billie Burke & Gloria Swanson). I wanted some that began as child stars (Donald O'Connor & Deanna Durbin). I wanted precode stars (Ruth Chatterton, Helen Twelvetrees & Mae Clarke). I wanted some postwar stars who made westerns (Steve Cochran & Guy Madison). I wanted some known more for TV but had been in hit films (Jane Wyatt & Eddie Albert).
I wanted someone from the Mexican film industry (Dolores Del Rio). I wanted British stars (Michael Craig & Ann Todd)...as well as other European stars (Anna Sten & Anton Walbrook). I definitely wanted to include Italian stars (Amedeo Nazzari & Yvonne Sanson). Incidentally, Miss Sanson's heritage was French & Russian, but she was born in Greece...yet she became a very popular model and actress in Italy, and was very "Italian."
I wanted a few well-known Hollywood studio stars (Claudette Colbert, Robert Montgomery, Patricia Neal & James Dean). Colbert was a good choice, because she had done precodes and also made some films in French. Dean was chosen because he was a method actor and has such a short filmography yet continues to make an impact. Some were chosen because of versatility and longevity (George O'Brien was in silent films and later in westerns; in a similar vein, Buster Crabbe was in precodes and later in westerns). I chose Paul Lukas because he earned an Oscar yet nobody really talks about him.
These were not randomly chosen...they all tend to fall into specific categories. There were many more I wanted to include, but there are only 29 slots. Of course, next year we can include some of the others like the two you mentioned.
Oh, and I should add one thing that made me choose these particular stars was I wanted people who photographed very well, so when I go searching online for publicity stills, I know I will find beautiful shots. To be honest, a lot of the character actors and actresses from the golden age didn't really photograph well. But Billie Burke, who started as a leading lady in silent films and later transitioned to character roles, did photograph quite well. I think the character actors and actresses should get their own separate tribute since they are a niche all by themselves.
As for the youngsters who transitioned to grown-up roles...Donald O'Connor didn't exactly photograph well as an adult but he did have a cute kid phase earlier in his career. Dean Stockwell, whom you mentioned, also had a cute kid phase. He'd be a good choice for next year.
I know this is a long-winded response, but the short answer is variety...stars that appeal to a wide array of classic film fans.Thank you so much. Once I read your explanation, it made a lot of sense. It's good to have a lot of variety.
You're right about Paul Lukas. He won an Oscar, but nobody really talks about him. The same is true for Japanese actress Miyoshi Umeki, who won an Oscar for Sayonara.
Dean Stockwell photographed well as a kid and as an adult. Dean's brother, Guy Stockwell, also photographed well, but nobody really talks about him.
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Post by topbilled on Feb 1, 2024 13:08:58 GMT
Fredi Washington's screen career started in the early 1920s and lasted until the late 1930s. As a light-skinned black woman, she faced several unique challenges in Hollywood. In one of her films, OUANGA, she was paired with a white actor in blackface (Sheldon Leonard of all people) because the studio was worried that with her light skin, she looked too white and would not be accepted with an actual black leading man.
After her movie career ended, she focused her efforts as an activist.
Here she is with Paul Robeson in THE EMPEROR JONES (1933):
In her most well-known role as a daughter struggling with race issues in the original version of IMITATION OF LIFE (1934):
She costarred with Claire Trevor and Bill Robinson in ONE MILE FROM HEAVEN (1937). In this film she played a light-skinned black woman raising a white child.
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Post by topbilled on Feb 2, 2024 14:35:53 GMT
For day two, Ronald Colman. To be honest, there wasn't a lot I knew about his background. Seems he was born into considerable wealth, but after his father died, the family went broke. When he chose to pursue acting, he lived in poverty in the beginning. He had also been in the first World War and may have been one of the few boarding school kids to became a 'common' fighter in the war.
Once his acting career took off, there was no stopping him. He left his native England and went to New York. In New York, he was discovered by a silent film director. He was last billed in his first American picture. But then was the leading man, opposite Lillian Gish no less, in his second American film. How's that for moving up the ranks quickly!
Under contract to producer Samuel Goldwyn in the 1920s and 1930s, he became very popular with moviegoers...his voice made him better suited to sound, so he had no trouble transitioning in the age of talkies. There were four Oscar nominations...he won for the last nomination, 1947's A DOUBLE LIFE in which he gives one of his great performances as a troubled actor.
I thought I would share photos that show how much his leading ladies were captivated by him.
Here's Kay Francis swooning over Ronald Colman in RAFFLES (1930):
Loretta Young dotes on him in CLIVE OF INDIA (1935):
Frances Dee is charmed by him in IF I WERE KING (1938):
Anna Lee is smitten in MY LIFE WITH CAROLINE (1941:
Greer Garson gets to know the real man in RANDOM HARVEST (1942):
And Vanessa Brown simply adores Colman in THE LATE GEORGE APLEY (1947):
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Post by gerald424 on Feb 3, 2024 2:38:43 GMT
He appears to be one of the first "debonair" British leading men to grace the big screen. We take this trope for granted but, men like him have always been popular all through the decades. And he played those characters well.
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Post by gerald424 on Feb 3, 2024 2:41:48 GMT
In February, we'll be looking at the classic film achievements of 29 stars.
Feel free to say what you like about each selection on their day, and which of their films you might recommend to others.
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Post by topbilled on Feb 3, 2024 2:56:18 GMT
He appears to be one of the first "debonair" British leading men to grace the big screen. We take this trope for granted but, men like him have always been popular all through the decades. And he played those characters well. |
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Post by topbilled on Feb 3, 2024 14:40:52 GMT
Ruth Chatterton was a stage actress with a flair who was brought out to Hollywood when talkies began, since she had a voice that suited sound movies. She was initially under contract at Paramount and made about a dozen films there, most of them hits. Then she moved over to Warner Brothers were she made an additional six films. TCM plays the Warner Brothers output fairly consistently, as well as the later masterpiece DODSWORTH, which was a Sam Goldwyn production released through United Artists. But those initial Paramount melodramas are what put Chatterton on the cinematic map.
Chatterton's earliest efforts cast her opposite Fredric March and Paul Lukas.
At Warners, her frequent leading man was George Brent whom she married. There was a slight age difference (12 years). They divorced a short time later, when she finished up at the studio.
A lesser known melodrama, but quite good, followed for Columbia-- LADY OF SECRETS. Nobody could play an anguished lady with problems like Ruth Chatterton.
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Post by topbilled on Feb 4, 2024 14:38:27 GMT
Steve Cochran was first signed to a contract with Samuel Goldwyn in the mid-1940s. Initially, Goldwyn used him to play supporting roles in Danny Kaye films, or else he was loaned out for B pictures at other studios. In the late 40s, Goldwyn sold Cochran's contract (along with Virginia Mayo's contract) to Warner Brothers...both stars worked together in WHITE HEAT.
After his memorable performance in WHITE HEAT, Cochran quickly graduated to starring roles at Warners, most often in crime flicks. He was the studio's "new John Garfield" and in fact, when Garfield was blacklisted, some roles intended for Garfield went to Cochran.
During his period at Warners, Cochran worked alongside some of the best stars in the biz.
Here he is with David Brian during a scene from INSIDE THE WALLS OF FOLSOM PRISON:
With Ruth Roman in TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY:
Opposite Doris Day & Ginger Rogers in STORM WARNING:
On a loan-out for PRIVATE HELL 36 with Howard Duff:
After his contract with Warner Brothers was not renewed, he began to freelance. Two notable post-WB films are COME NEXT SPRING, a Depression era drama that paired him with Ann Sheridan:
And a critically lauded Italian melodrama, IL GRIDO, in which he played one of his most serious dramatic roles:
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Post by I Love Melvin on Feb 4, 2024 17:03:39 GMT
He was generally a pretty tense guy as an actor, but I liked how much looser he was with Ann Sheridan in Come Next Spring as a reformed guy trying to win her back. I haven't seen Il Grido but I'll probably search it out, so thanks. I also like, but maybe not for all the right reasons, Of Love and Desire (1963) with Merle Oberon, a pretty steamy melodrama set in a Mexican mining community, with an unexpectedly wanton Merle Oberon. The industry was opening up as to the kinds of relationships which could appear onscreen and Brava to Merle for throwing her hat into the ring. And if you're looking for steamy, Steve's your guy.  |
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Post by christine on Feb 4, 2024 20:35:53 GMT
Just wanted to comment on Ronald Colman - RANDOM HARVEST is one of my favorites, and I also like LOST HORIZON. Interestingly both stories came from novels by James Hilton.
Also wanted to add my opinion on stars for next time - of course Dean Martin is on every list of mine - but here's some I think are good candidates.
1. Raymond Burr
2. Denzel Washington
3. Maggie Smith
4. Edmund Gwenn
5. Fay Bainter
6. Dorothy Malone
7. Ricardo Montaban
Just my thoughts.
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Post by topbilled on Feb 5, 2024 1:20:25 GMT
Just wanted to comment on Ronald Colman - RANDOM HARVEST is one of my favorites, and I also like LOST HORIZON. Interestingly both stories came from novels by James Hilton. Also wanted to add my opinion on stars for next time - of course Dean Martin is on every list of mine - but here's some I think are good candidates. 1. Raymond Burr 2. Denzel Washington 3. Maggie Smith 4. Edmund Gwenn 5. Fay Bainter 6. Doorothy Malone 7. Ricardo Montaban Just my thoughts. |
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