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Post by jamesjazzguitar on May 27, 2023 16:42:28 GMT
Nice write ups about The Eagle and the Hawk. I saw this film decades ago and it was because it was a Grant\Lombard pre=code film, and I had just seen the fine Gable\Lombard pre-code film, No Man of Her Own. I was slightly disappointed that Lombard had such a small role, and there isn't any pre-code sexuality, but the film does give Grant an opportunity to show a dramatic side of his screen persona and includes the fine actor March.
Note that if anyone hasn't seen No Man of Her Own I highly recommend it. This is a comedy\drama and both leads really shine, with lots of pre-code sexuality (done with humor), as well as solidifying their screen personas, which would make them both major stars.
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Post by topbilled on Jun 3, 2023 13:18:30 GMT
This neglected film is from 1948.
Ladd and Lake team up again
SAIGON is a rarely seen Paramount classic that should be better known. It ranks up there among the best of Alan Ladd’s adventure yarns from the 1940s. It was the fourth of four pics the star made with Veronica Lake. All their films together contain a serious crime element, mixing noir with romance.
SAIGON goes a step further and includes postwar concerns. It is the most mature of the Ladd-Lake collaborations…not just because they’re older, but because they’ve survived the war and are struggling to adjust afterward. It feels as if some of the dialogue is self-reflexive– because Lake’s character is labeled difficult at times, and the actress was notoriously obstinate on the sets of her movies.
While the two leads exhibit chemistry, their characters are not initially paired off. Lake plays the secretary of an international criminal (Morris Carnovsky) who hires Ladd and his military pals (Wally Cassell & Douglas Dick) to fly a plane to Saigon. The guys have just been discharged from the army after four years in the Pacific Theater.
The three men barely survived battle…Ladd has received several medals…and Dick just had an operation and spent considerable time in the hospital. Cassell is the comic relief member of the group, sometimes playing a concertina to lighten the mood; he’s not as heroic or as suffering as the other two.
The initial set-up involves Ladd and Cassell learning that Dick only has a few months to live. After speaking to the doctor, they decide not to tell Dick the prognosis and take a job flying Carnovsky’s aircraft with Lake aboard.
This will continue their time together, filled with more adventure. The goal is to pack a lot of living into the remaining time that their friend has left, before they must say goodbye.
As they are approaching Vietnam, there is engine trouble and the plane crashes. They are helped by farmers then make their way by oxcart into Saigon.
During the trek to the city, Dick falls for Lake. Ladd doesn’t care much for Lake at this point, since he assumes she’s as crooked as her employer…but he gradually learns she’s not a bad person and actually has a heart. When Lake is told the truth about Dick’s medical condition, she plays along so that the poor guy can spend the rest of his life happy, even though she knows he’s too good for her.
As they settle in at the hotel, a police inspector (Luther Adler) turns up and starts to play mind games with them. He is trying to locate $500,000 that Lake was carrying in a briefcase. The money goes missing, naturally, but this part of the plot is backgrounded when the focus shifts to Lake’s sudden engagement to Dick while falling for Ladd.
Eventually, Dick’s character dies, but not from his ailments. Instead, he’s gunned down in a standoff involving Ladd, the police and Lake’s boss.
As the story builds to its dramatic climax, we are told about wartime smuggling, the continued trafficking of stolen goods in the post-war period, and how some profiteers still remain at large. The script isn’t preachy, and all the performances hold up nicely. I was particularly impressed with Carnovsky who makes the most of his limited screen time.
Miss Lake is as glamorous as ever. She has returned to her signature hairstyle in this picture, though she’d soon chop it off for SLATTERY’S HURRICANE (1949).
As for Mr. Ladd, he’s in his prime and right at home in these types of motion picture assignments.
As always Paramount’s interior designs are elaborate. The Saigon hotel set is a real marvel, and director Leslie Fenton treats us to several long tracking shots up the staircase and down the main upstairs corridor. This allows us to absorb all the rich details that go hand in hand with the intrigue.
But what we remember above all else is how a hero and a lady make a pal’s last days memorable. It’s a flight to Saigon that allows them to reach their destiny.
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Post by Fading Fast on Jun 3, 2023 14:00:59 GMT
Ladd and Lake just might be my favorite screen pairing. Powell and Loy are incredible, but Powell, in particular, paired well with many actresses; whereas, Ladd and Lake just had something in their pairing that they never quite achieved away from each other.
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Post by topbilled on Jun 3, 2023 14:42:49 GMT
Ladd and Lake just might be my favorite screen pairing. Powell and Loy are incredible, but Powell, in particular, paired well with many actresses; whereas, Ladd and Lake just had something in their pairing that they never quite achieved away from each other.
While I love THE BLUE DAHLIA and the earlier titles, SAIGON is my favorite pairing of this duo. I wish the film was more readily available to viewers. |
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Post by topbilled on Jun 10, 2023 15:08:12 GMT
This neglected film is from 1932.
A star is made not born
Several pictures about nobodies becoming overnight stars were produced in 1932. These included RKO’s searing dramatic take on the tale, WHAT PRICE HOLLYWOOD? starring Constance Bennett as well as Harold Lloyd’s raucous farce MOVIE CRAZY, which was released through Paramount. But Paramount also had this other film, MAKE ME A STAR, which sort of straddles the fence between humor and pathos and features Stuart Erwin and Joan Blondell in the lead roles.
MAKE ME A STAR was a remake of an earlier Paramount silent film called MERTON OF THE MOVIES which had been produced in 1924 and was based on a hit novel and play. In the mid-1940s, the studio sold the rights to MGM which remade it again as a vehicle for Red Skelton.
In the 1932 version, Erwin is playing a hick named Merton Gill, who like Danny Kaye in THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY, has a rich fantasy life. When he’s not messing up orders as a store clerk, he spends time with his horse, dressed in cowboy gear, emulating his favorite western movie star, Buck Benson (George Templeton).
He has even learned how to “act” by taking a correspondence course, which is rather amusing. Everyone in town thinks there’s something wrong with him except maybe one person, a spinster (Helen Jerome Eddy) whose own dreams of leaving and enjoying a spectacular life elsewhere have pretty much died.
Erwin is forced to make a choice by his adoptive father (Charles Sellon, who also appeared in the same role in 1924). The choice: put an end to his crazy day-dreaming and get back to work, or get out. Erwin decides to pack his things, and he hops a train to California. After he arrives out west, we see him go to Majestic Pictures which is where his hero Buck works. He naively thinks he can just walk on to the lot and get a role with Buck. Instead, he learns he’s going to have to start as an extra and work his way up in the movie business.
While he’s struggling, he meets the receptionist (Ruth Donnelly) of the casting office as well as a comedy actress (Blondell) who often comes in to drop stuff off. They do not think he has what it takes to be a popular film actor and Donnelly in particular is hoping he’ll give up and go back home. But Blondell sort of feels sorry for the guy, and she pulls a few strings to get him work on Buck’s latest picture. But when he flubs his one and only line and is fired on the same day, he goes off the radar.
What they don’t realize is that he’s lost his apartment and has no money for food. He’s hiding out in a soundstage and scrounging for leftovers in the trash. Again Blondell takes pity and comes to his rescue.
She takes him to breakfast, then gives him a few dollars to shave and wash up. Next, she speaks to a director (Sam Hardy) of slapstick films that she works with, to convince him to hire Erwin.
Part of the conflict is that Erwin thinks of himself as a serious actor, but Blondell recognizes his potential for clowning. When the director decides to make Erwin the star in a western burlesque picture, they all play it “straight” letting the sap think he’s making a high-grade western drama.
It’s fun to watch the rest of the cast of the movie within the movie play this joke on him. Of course, we are also bracing ourselves for the big turning point when he learns the truth.
It isn’t until the preview screening that Erwin’s character realizes he’s been such a sucker. The film is a hit with the test audience, but Erwin has to face the reality that he’ll never play Hamlet and that Blondell and the others turned him into a laughing stock. Of course, Blondell’s character has a heart and expresses contrition for what she’s done. We know she is going to end up spending the rest of her life with him.
As I watched the film, I didn’t exactly feel sorry for Erwin, since I felt his character needed to develop a sense of humor. If you can’t laugh at yourself, you have no place in the movies, because it’s a funny business and everyone knows that. Also, I thought that while Erwin gives us a nice modulated performance, he was actually not the right type of actor for this role. I think it really needs someone with a clown-type persona, like Buster Keaton, Joe E. Brown or Red Skelton. Mainly because he has to be someone who is funny no matter what, and Mr. Erwin does not exactly come across that way. Does he?
One thing I do love about the film is how evenly paced the sequences are. Director William Beaudine allows things to slow down, allows us to see our “star” struggle, and along with this, we are allowed to see Blondell’s character develop. We don’t necessarily want him to become the next John Barrymore, or the next guy to make a fortune entertaining millions…we just want him to gain some self-respect and self-worth.
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Post by Fading Fast on Jun 10, 2023 15:22:52 GMT
Make Me a Star from 1932 with Stuart Erwin, Joan Blondell and Ruth Donnelly
It takes a bit to get its story up and running, but when it does, Make Me a Star is a scathing look at Hollywood told through parody.
A young, shy and awkward Midwest man, played by Stuart Erwin, who was adopted out of an orphanage by the stern owners of a general store, privately dreams of having a career in Hollywood like his cowboy film star hero Buck Benson.
He's even taken a correspondence course in acting believing this will lead to screen success (somewhere, P. T. Barnum is smiling), which he tests out when he leaves home for Hollywood after an ugly confrontation with his father.
Once in Hollywood, Erwin, who is so sincere, Bambi could swindle him, sits day after day in the casting room of Buck Benson's home studio hoping for a role.
Eventually, Erwin's situation becomes desperate as we see him picking through discarded lunch boxes looking for food. In a flash, this kinda comedy about a goofy guy has gone dark as we see him suffering the same way many in Depression Era America were suffering.
Actress "Flips Montague,” played by Joan Blondell, taking pity on him, tries to get him a role as an extra. Blondell learns of Erwin's naive passion and respect for the "serious" drama of cowboy movies and his belief that farce and parody are insulting to the profession and art of filmmaking. Good grief.
Blondell realizes Erwin's child-like sincerity and respect for cowboy pictures would make him a perfect star for a director she knows who specializes in farces. She and the director hoodwink Erwin into believing he's starring in a serious Western, while they are really making a farce of the Buck Benson movies Erwin idolizes.
As production advances, Blondell, who was trying to help Erwin, begins to feel guilty as she knows he's going to be crestfallen when he realizes the movie he's making is the exact type of picture he believes is insulting to the art of moviemaking and the dignity of the actor.
The painful climax has Erwin sitting through the premiere of his movie that he finally realizes is a parody of all that he loves, but of course, the audience finds it hilarious. Erwin could now be a star with a bright future, but will he stay in Hollywood and, effectively, "sell out" for the money? What will he say to Blondell whom he thought was his friend, but whom he discovered deceived him?
Make Me a Star's power sneaks up on you. Erwin is so simple and sincere that you think the movie is going to be a lighthearted look at a naif learning about the world of pictures, but when Erwin starts to struggle, the harshness of the Depression, the challenges of just getting enough to eat, become painfully real.
Blondell, in an impressive performance, is the link between the two worlds as, even though her character is a successful star now, she understands those struggling and tries to help. When her efforts to assist Erwin, which require lies and subterfuge that she initially laughs off, hurts as well as helps him, she realizes how the town has made her a person she's not proud to be.
Make Me a Star is an early example of Hollywood looking unkindly at itself. Those in Tinseltown who have succeeded are wealthy and comfortable at a time when most of the country is poor and hungry. It's those, mainly, poor Americans, parting with their hard-to-come-by dimes for a movie ticket, that makes Hollywood wealthy. Make Me a Star is a sly way of Hollywood knocking itself down a peg or two for forgetting that.
N.B. Filmed at Paramount, Make Me a Star is chockablock with flash cameos of stars such as Gary Cooper, Tallulah Bankhead and Claudette Colbert. It is amazing what screen presence these actors have as they capture your attention even though you see them for just a brief moment. Plus, it's simply fun as heck when one of them pops up. |
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Post by topbilled on Jun 14, 2023 13:58:31 GMT
This neglected film is from 1955.
S.A.C. -- Stewart Allyson Cinema
This Paramount aviation classic continued a winning streak at the box office for James Stewart, June Allyson and director Anthony Mann. The trio had previously collaborated on Universal’s musical biopic THE GLENN MILLER STORY. Stewart and Allyson had also worked together on another biopic at their home studio MGM, THE STRATTON STORY, back in 1949. By this point, Stewart was completely at ease with Allyson and Mann, so what they achieve on screen almost looks effortless.
Since Stewart was a real-life flyer who had served in the military during the war, he’s even more at ease in this story. He portrays a baseball player for the Cardinals, who is asked to return to the Air Force for 21 months. This puts a crimp in his professional sports career as well as the plans his wife (Allyson) has to settle into their ritzy new house. Of course, he reasons that his country needs him as part of the S.A.C., and he promises his wife that within two years they will resume the civilian lifestyle they enjoy.
Part of what makes the film work so well is that the conflicts are realistic. It’s totally plausible that a man who enjoyed serving his country would succeed in the military again. Despite the domestic adjustments to be made, this is the right thing to do. Allyson’s character soon learns she is pregnant, and she has to grapple with the amount of time her husband is away from her on missions. She gets increasingly frazzled as her due date approaches.
Her worries intensify when Stewart is said to be missing in a cold air test over Greenland around the time she goes into labor. The Greenland sequence is certainly the film’s highpoint, in terms of drama and special effects. We know Stewart will survive and be reunited with his wife and their newborn daughter.
I should point out that it’s not all gut-wrenching emotion here. There is some comic relief involving the anxieties Allyson’s character faces, particularly in how she doesn’t behave the way a military spouse is expected to…and when the baby is born, there is a funny bit regarding the naming of the child.
In addition to the thrilling aviation sequences and the domestic angst, there is commentary on the political side of duty. Stewart must report to several higher-ups, and he doesn’t get along with all of them. One of the superior officers is played by Frank Lovejoy who brings a fair amount of gravitas to his role. In fact, there’s a very good little confrontation between Allyson and Lovejoy, when Allyson learns Stewart decided to extend his stint in the Air Force due to Lovejoy’s political maneuvering.
Ultimately, Stewart does leave his work with the air command at the end of the movie, because of a recurring injury. Ironically, this issue, an arm and shoulder injury, will prevent him from being able to take up baseball again. We are left with the idea that Stewart will probably return to his former team, as a coach or manager in the minor leagues. Of course, Allyson is happy that he’s now out of the military, though she seems to have matured considerably.
A final point -- the film is sort of a valentine to flyers and the improved jet technologies in the ten years since WWII. We are shown a lot of aerial footage of the bombers soaring through the skies with majestic music on the soundtrack. But there is still an undercurrent of danger and a recognition that the U.S. is firmly entrenched in a cold war period of history against the Soviet Union, so the film emphasizes the need for a strong military defense system.
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Post by topbilled on Jun 22, 2023 14:23:22 GMT
This neglected film is from 1945.
At the club with Betty Hutton
For some people, okay maybe a lot of people, Betty Hutton’s brand of shtick is an acquired taste. But I am one of those people who enjoy it, because I think Miss Hutton always keeps the real goal in mind, which is to entertain the audience no matter what it takes. In the STORK CLUB she is playing one of her usual high voltage characters. She’s been thrown into a musical rom-com that was typical of the format her boss Buddy DeSylva often used to showcase her numerous talents.
I am not sure why Mr. DeSylva, who had a hand in the script, chose New York’s famous Stork Club as the primary setting for this picture. It could just as easily been set in a posh nightclub in any major American city. In a way, I think Hutton is probably out of place in this milieu. Why? Because Sherman Billingsley’s renowned hot spot was known for its glamour, its upscale clientele and a specific etiquette.
I am not saying Miss Hutton can’t be glamorous and can’t pull off an upper class vibe, but mostly in her movies she plays working class gals, like in THE PERILS OF PAULINE or RED HOT AND BLUE. So it’s a bit of a stretch to have her performing and hobnobbing with the rich in this particular story.
More importantly, she’s a singer known for her vaudeville skills and over-the-top antics which seems at odds with the respectability of a place like The Stork Club. Of course, DeSylva also put her in another picture with a nightclub theme, INCENDIARY BLONDE, but in that one, she was playing a somewhat unrefined Prohibition era queen, and the coarseness of the character matched her style.
Don’t get me wrong, Betty Hutton does a wonderful job with the musical selections in this film. A highlight is her rendition of the signature tune “Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief” which was co-written by Hoagy Carmichael. She sings it with broad facial gestures and wild arm movements. However, this doesn’t seem like something that would have actually been performed at the club.
Part of the plot in THE STORK CLUB involves her saving the life of a wealthy old man (Barry Fitzgerald) without realizing he’s wealthy. I didn’t quite understand why it was a necessary story point that his real identity be kept secret from her for so long.
I guess the filmmakers thought this would give us added humor, with her assuming all the wrong things about the guy in the beginning, that he was a derelict who needed her to look out for him.
Yes, I suppose that is funny…but I do think she could have taken just as keen an interest in his well-being if she knew right from the start he had money, where she was instead worried about him being lonely and without any real friends or serious companionship.
Speaking of companions, Hutton’s character is in love with a bandleader played by Don DeFore who’s been away serving in the military. When DeFore returns, she intends to sing with his band at the club. However there are various communications mix-ups when he learns she’s involved with Fitzgerald’s character and gets the wrong end of the stick. Naturally, everything is neatly resolved in the end, so that the couple can live happily ever after.
Other characters that appear on screen include an advisor slash confidante for Fitzgerald played by Robert Benchley. He has some of the more amusing lines, since he knows Fitzgerald’s true identity, and Benchley’s occasionally droll sense of humor works well in this scenario. We also have Bill Goodwin on hand playing the club’s owner, Sherman Billingsley.
The history of the actual Stork Club and Billingsley’s ownership of it would make for a very good biographical drama. Apparently Billingsley was associated with the mob and had opened the place in the late 1920s. This was during the height of Prohibition when police raids were commonplace. The place changed locations several times but remained in operation until the mid-1960s. During its heyday in the 1940s and 1950s it attracted a who’s-who of celebrities, visiting royalty and various members of the social register who went there to be entertained and be seen.
Paramount paid Mr. Billingsley $100,000 to use the name of his club and the club’s image in the film. I have no idea how many doctors, lawyers or Indian chiefs ever frequented his establishment.
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Post by topbilled on Jun 28, 2023 13:59:57 GMT
This neglected film is from 1948.
Losing his best friend forever
Leslie Fenton was a British-American actor who was married to Ann Dvorak. During the war years, he transitioned from acting to directing, and while he did not helm a lot of motion pictures, his output is still remarkable. One of the later postwar efforts is this fine western melodrama from Paramount based on a bestselling novel that had an ‘A’ budget and was photographed in Technicolor. In fact, it would be star Alan Ladd’s first time appearing on screen in color, and it was also the first of many westerns for Ladd.
Since his breakthrough at the studio in 1942, Ladd had worked with some of the best directors and costars on the Paramount lot. One of his favorite costars, and off-screen drinking buddies, was Robert Preston. They made three films together, all in different genres.
WHISPERING SMITH, with Ladd cast as the title character, would be their third and final motion picture collaboration. The two pals would continue a lifelong friendship, with Ladd remaining supportive of Preston in the ’50s when Preston became a star on Broadway.
This tale is about two close friends who have spent many years associating with each other, but whose closeness is complicated by the fact they both love the same woman (Brenda Marshall).
Another problem involves their livelihood. Both work for the railroad in Wyoming– Preston is in charge of the wrecking crew, and Ladd is a detective who maintains lawfulness. But Preston is a hothead and after a clash with the boss, Preston is fired and Ladd is unable to get Preston rehired.
Angry at the railroad for being let go, Preston decides to get even with his former employers. He conspires with a local crook, played by Donald Crisp, to sabotage the trains, explode them and rob them.
It’s all very dramatic stuff. Watching Preston go from good to bad, from being chummy with Ladd to them becoming outright enemies, is most fascinating to watch.
Though Ladd is indisputably the star, kudos to him for performing his role in a subdued fashion so as to support the emotional fireworks that Preston provides. We can’t really say Preston overacts, since he is portraying a man who goes off the rails— literally and figuratively— but we can definitely say that Preston puts all his scenes across with gusto.
The romantic subplot with Marshall is handled with sensitivity and intelligence by the film’s three main performers, and by director Fenton who gives us some thoughtful moments. Marshall always loved Ladd, but she married Preston (probably because he was more persuasive and was dynamite in the bedroom), but the kinder and softer part of her nature gravitates towards a gentleman like Ladd.
When Marshall realizes that Preston has gone to the dark side and there’s no hope for him or their marriage, she decides to leave. But of course, circumstances beyond her control force her to stay in Wyoming to see things through to the very end.
Interestingly, the film ends seconds after Preston dies in a psychological yet violent standoff with Ladd. Marshall and an older friend of the family (William Demarest) have gone to get the doctor. But we don’t see Marshall return and unite with Ladd, after she has become a widow. Instead, the story ends with Ladd losing his best friend forever, which I kind of like…because for so long, one cannot function without the other, or in conflict with the other. When one dies, it’s logically the end of their story.
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Post by Fading Fast on Jun 28, 2023 14:07:28 GMT
This neglected film is from 1948.
Losing his best friend forever
Leslie Fenton was a British-American actor who was married to Ann Dvorak. During the war years, he transitioned from acting to directing, and while he did not helm a lot of motion pictures, his output is still remarkable. One of the later postwar efforts is this fine western melodrama from Paramount based on a bestselling novel that had an ‘A’ budget and was photographed in Technicolor. In fact, it would be star Alan Ladd’s first time appearing on screen in color, and it was also the first of many westerns for Ladd.
Since his breakthrough at the studio in 1942, Ladd had worked with some of the best directors and costars on the Paramount lot. One of his favorite costars, and off-screen drinking buddies, was Robert Preston. They made three films together, all in different genres.
WHISPERING SMITH, with Ladd cast as the title character, would be their third and final motion picture collaboration. The two pals would continue a lifelong friendship, with Ladd remaining supportive of Preston in the ’50s when Preston became a star on Broadway.
This tale is about two close friends who have spent many years associating with each other, but whose closeness is complicated by the fact they both love the same woman (Brenda Marshall).
Another problem involves their livelihood. Both work for the railroad in Wyoming– Preston is in charge of the wrecking crew, and Ladd is a detective who maintains lawfulness. But Preston is a hothead and after a clash with the boss, Preston is fired and Ladd is unable to Preston get rehired.
Angry at the railroad for being let go, Preston decides to get even with his former employers. He conspires with a local crook, played by Donald Crisp, to sabotage the trains, explode them and rob them.
It’s all very dramatic stuff. Watching Preston go from good to bad, from being chummy with Ladd to them becoming outright enemies, is most fascinating to watch.
Though Ladd is indisputably the star, kudos to him for performing his role in a subdued fashion so as to support the emotional fireworks that Preston provides. We can’t really say Preston overacts, since he is portraying a man who goes off the rails— literally and figuratively— but we can definitely say that Preston puts all his scenes across with gusto.
The romantic subplot with Marshall is handled with sensitivity and intelligence by the film’s three main performers, and by director Fenton who gives us some thoughtful moments. Marshall always loved Ladd, but she married Preston (probably because he was more persuasive and was dynamite in the bedroom), but the kinder and softer part of her nature gravitates towards a gentleman like Ladd.
When Marshall realizes that Preston has gone to the dark side and there’s no hope for him or their marriage, she decides to leave. But of course, circumstances beyond her control force her to stay in Wyoming to see things through to the very end.
Interestingly, the film ends seconds after Preston dies in a psychological yet violent standoff with Ladd. Marshall and an older friend of the family (William Demarest) have gone to get the doctor. But we don’t see Marshall return and unite with Ladd, after she has become a widow. Instead, the story ends with Ladd losing his best friend forever, which I kind of like…because for so long, one cannot function without the other, or in conflict with the other. So when one dies, it’s logically the end of their story.
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Post by topbilled on Jun 28, 2023 14:22:09 GMT
This neglected film is from 1948.
Losing his best friend forever
In WHISPERING SMITH her character's name is Marian...which caused me to think she would have been very good as maid Marian if she had been cast opposite Errol Flynn's Robin Hood.
Another actress in WHISPERING SMITH, whom I did not mention in my review, is the always wonderful Fay Holden (known as Mrs. Hardy in the Andy Hardy series). She plays William Demarest's wife, a lady in town who runs the boarding house where Alan Ladd's character stays. |
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Post by Fading Fast on Jun 28, 2023 14:27:29 GMT
That's an excellent review, but I'd watch the movie for the four actors listed on the movie poster alone. Brenda Marshall flies below the radar, but she more than held her own with Errol Flynn in "The Sea Hawk," which tells you she had game as a leading lady.
In WHISPERING SMITH her character's name is Marian...which caused me to think she would have been very good as maid Marian if she had been cast opposite Errol Flynn's Robin Hood.
Another actress in WHISPERING SMITH, whom I did not mention in my review, is the always wonderful Fay Holden (known as Mrs. Hardy in the Andy Hardy series). She plays William Demarest's sweetheart, a lady in town who runs the boarding house where Alan Ladd's character stays.
And I'd be remiss for talking about Brenda Marshall without bringing up her incredible dark eyes.
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I've had to hit rewind more than once during her movies because I forgot to listen as I got lost in her eyes. Sad, but true.
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Post by topbilled on Jul 6, 2023 14:19:37 GMT
This neglected film is from 1952.
Head-on collision
This Paramount western involves an intense rivalry between two competing rail lines. The rivalry is depicted in the personal conflicts that develop between the characters played by Edmond O’Brien and Sterling Hayden. From the first few minutes of the story, we know that Hayden is playing a villain, since he frames O’Brien for a killing that he has committed.
O’Brien’s character is not prosecuted for some inexplicable reason, but he faces wrath from the dead man’s sister (portrayed by Kasey Rogers, billed as Laura Elliott).
After the opening prologue is finished, Hayden remains off screen for large chunks of time during the first half of the movie. But he plays a huge part in the second half, since his bad deeds set in motion a very memorable standoff between the two railroad companies. Hayden seems to relish this role, knowing that shady characters can be more fun to play.
I have to admit that the first half of the movie plods along a bit slowly, since there is a lot of character-driven stuff involving O’Brien and his boss (Dean Jagger). Figuring into this is the boss’s secretary (Elliott) who wants justice for her late brother’s death. Kasey Rogers/Laura Elliott is a very beautiful and decent actress who reminds me a lot of Grace Kelly here.
She has a very difficult scene near the end, where she realizes she’s been misled by Hayden and his crony Lyle Bettger. Quickly she must set things right and help the Denver & Rio Grande railroad succeed.
The film benefits from excellent Technicolor cinematography, shot on location in the timeless mountain region of Durango, Colorado. There is also some amusing comic relief provided by ZaSu Pitts and Paul Fix. But it’s that heart-pounding finale, involving the head-on collision of two steam locomotives that is truly gripping.
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Post by topbilled on Jul 16, 2023 16:27:48 GMT
This neglected film is from 1958.
Yenta
Thornton Wilder’s play ‘The Merchant of Yonkers’ was first produced on Broadway in the late 1930s with Jane Cowl in the role of Dolly Gallagher Levi. Later, in 1954, it was revised, with Mr. Wilder presenting it under a new title, ‘The Matchmaker.’ That time it was a bigger hit with audiences and featured Ruth Gordon as the memorable title character.
After its run concluded on Broadway, Paramount adapted the play as a romantic comedy for moviegoers to enjoy. Sometimes motion picture adaptations of stage hits fall flat, but for the most part, this one perks along quite nicely. It certainly helps that a pro like Shirley Booth is cast as the helpful but exasperating Dolly.
Booth’s Dolly is so meddlesome at times, one wonders who on earth would give her the time of day. Obviously, a matchmaker of this type is a variation on the Jewish yenta, a gossip or busybody. But since Booth is ultimately so endearing, we can’t really be too annoyed with Dolly…at least not for long…and neither can the man whose life she is trying to run and turn upside down!
Paul Ford plays a store owner from Yonkers named Horace Vandergelder. He has hired Dolly to find a wife for him, but in the process becomes a reluctant target of Dolly’s “affections.” Mr. Ford does a fine job conveying the more irascible nature of the character.
In addition to Ford, we have a few Paramount contractees, Shirley MacLaine and Anthony Perkins, on hand as supporting players. They are a young couple who benefit indirectly from all the matchmaking that goes on. And we also have Robert Morse as Perkins’ pal, who has transferred over from the stage production.
Most people are probably familiar with a later musicalized version of the story, ‘Hello Dolly!’ which starred Carol Channing on stage and Barbra Streisand on screen. However, I think this effort is a bit more eloquent thanks to Edith Head’s delightful period costumes; plus there’s a wholesome wide-eyed quality that comes across in the sincere performances of MacLaine and Perkins. They’re having fun with the material, and it shows.
Though Miss Booth occasionally stumbles on her lines (which might have been corrected with an extra take or two), her irreverent presence anchors the piece in a way one expects it to…and it occurs to me that she believes every line of dialogue she utters, so we get real meanings with her every second she is in front of the camera.
Mr. Ford does a most capable job as a blustery character who is gradually supposed to exhibit tenderness as the story goes along. In some ways, skinflint Horace Vandergelder is a clone of Ebenezer Scrooge.
The mix-ups that involve the main couples are rather outlandish and require a great deal of suspended disbelief. But there are plenty of theatrical asides, where the characters directly address the camera, which help maintain our involvement and ensure that we are “in” on all the jokes.
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Post by topbilled on Jul 24, 2023 14:20:54 GMT
This neglected film is from 1944.
Young & Ladd score another hit for Paramount
Alan Ladd’s motion picture career was interrupted by the war, like so many other leading men in Hollywood. He had just become a bonafide star, with only a few lead roles to his credit, when he went into the army in early 1943. While enlisted, he was unable to make any feature films but he remained popular, receiving a lot of fan mail during his absence.
After he was given an honorable medical discharge, Paramount execs wasted no time determining what his next project would be. They cast him in a romance drama called AND NOW TOMORROW, with Loretta Young. After the movie was completed and ready for release, the studio’s ad department wrote two words across the top of posters that were sure to bring people rushing to movie theaters. Those words: ‘Ladd’s Back.’
This was a follow-up of sorts for Ladd and Young, who had previously appeared in the war action flick CHINA. Since CHINA had been a massive hit with audiences, the studio was eager to duplicate that success. Ironically, Young had top billing in the first collaboration though Ladd was really the lead. This time, Ladd gets top billing, but Young is playing the lead character.
AND NOW TOMORROW is based on the last novel Rachel Field wrote before she died. Miss Field had previously written another bestseller for women that had been adapted for the screen– a Bette Davis hit called ALL THIS AND HEAVEN TOO. Warner Brothers was keen to get its hands on this property as well, no doubt as a follow-up vehicle for Davis, but was outbid by Paramount. David Selznick also coveted the property, probably for his protege and future wife Jennifer Jones.
Loretta Young had a multi-picture deal with Paramount as a freelancer. When she made CHINA with Alan Ladd, they had reportedly clashed. Both stars told Hedda Hopper they’d never work together again. But because they succeeded as a screen couple with moviegoers, it was almost a given that Paramount would want to re-team them, despite any reservations they may have had about reuniting on screen.
When Young was assigned to the adaptation of the Field story, Ladd was still in the army. She tried to get someone else to do it with her. And for awhile, Joel McCrea was lined up to play opposite her. But a short time later, McCrea had to drop out to do war work, so Franchot Tone was put in his place. However, when Ladd was discharged and suddenly became available, the bosses at the studio replaced Tone with Ladd.
Irving Pichel, an actor turned director, was assigned to helm the picture. As filming got underway, the two stars quarreled again, and Pichel had to referee. Supposedly Young accused Ladd of not looking directly at her in their scenes together.
In the story, Young is playing a deaf woman who is a snob. Ladd is a doctor who must cure her of both things. Maybe Ladd felt he could cure Young of some of her on-set issues by not playing right into them, especially if she was insecure? Young would later accuse Ladd of being insecure.
You get the point…these two brought out the worst in each other…and the best in each other. AND NOW TOMORROW was another hit for Paramount.
It should be pointed out that Loretta Young previously played a deaf woman in 20th Century Fox’s THE STORY OF ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL (1939) which was a big crowd pleaser. She seemed to have the market cornered on these types of roles. She and Ladd did not make any more pictures after this. The film for which she’d earn an Oscar was still ahead of her.
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