I’ve seen Walter Connolly in three movies: Too Hot to Handle, Libeled Lady, and It Happened One Night. In the last two out of those three, he was the overprotective millionaire father to a glamorous young debutante (Myrna Loy and Claudette Colbert, respectively). Like Jessie Ralph, there’s very little biographical information on him, other than the fact that he was born (and is buried) in Cincinnati, which automatically endears him to me for personal reasons. Also like Jessie, there’s a fairly big gap in his career (between 1915’s A Soldier’s Oath and 1930’s Many Happy Returns) for which I can find no explanation. However, he worked steadily from 1930 until the year before his death, making 47 out of his 49 movies in that decade.
Walter was a shortish, rotund man with a nasal, somewhat high-pitched voice. He puts it to good use as "Arthur ‘Gabby’ MacArthur," the Universal Newsreel chief (and Clark Gable’s boss) in Too Hot to Handle. He’s just as good at playing a frustrated, wacky boss as he is at millionaire fathers. He lets out a version of "d’oh!" that’s pretty funny when rascally Gable pulls another outrageous stunt. My favorite role is that of J.B. Allenbury from "Libeled Lady." He’s Myrna’s father who’s suing Spencer Tracy’s paper for libel. William Powell and Jean Harlow team up with Spence to try and trick Myrna into committing the act (stealing a husband) of which she’s been accused, so the story won’t be libelous after all. Walter’s comedic skills are at their best when he and Myrna take Powell trout fishing. When I see Walter’s name listed in the credits, I know the movie is going to have some good laughs.
Walter died in 1940 and is buried in St. Joseph’s New Cemetery in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Character Actors I Love: Nat Pendleton
Nat Pendleton, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways: The Thin Man, The Great Ziegfeld, Reckless, Manhattan Melodrama, Another Thin Man, and The Girl From Missouri.
Don’t let Nat’s bohunk physique and Brooklyn-accented characters fool you; he was a smart guy who accomplished more than most actors. Born in Davenport, Iowa, he graduated from Columbia University in 1916, where he was two-time Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association champion (1914-1915). He competed as a wrestler in the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium, losing only one match (on a controversial decision) and earning a silver medal. Afterwards, he went into pro-wrestling, and from there into acting. He also wrote a movie for himself, 1932’s Deception, in which he played a wrestler. He appeared in 112 movies between 1924 and 1947.
He came by one of his most famous roles, that of the strongman Sandow in The Great Ziegfeld, in an interesting manner. He’d played MacHardie in the Marx Brother movie Horse Feathers; that character was modeled after the real Eugene Sandow, and Nat’s performance was very impressive. When the time came to cast Ziegfeld, he won the part. Who among us will ever forget those magnificent biceps flexing in time to the music of Little Egypt. ;)
I first saw Nat as police Lt. John Guild in The Thin Man. Although he comes across as a little dim next to William Powell’s suave sleuthing, he gets in his share of wisecracks and lends his heroics to the case. He reprised the role in 1939’s Another Thin Man. Guild hero-worships Nick Charles and is constantly in awe of Nick’s detective abilities.
Another role of Nat’s I liked was that of Blossom, one of William Powell’s sidekicks (along with Ted Healy) in Reckless. Again, he plays a big oaf with a heart of gold; quite a bit dumber than Lt. Guild, but fun to watch nonetheless. When he takes a beating in a boxing match just to provide Powell with some backing money for Jean Harlow’s comeback show, you can’t help but love him. He may not be the brightest bulb on the tree, but he’s loyal and good-hearted, which counts for more.
Nat also appeared in six Dr. Kildare movies, and three Dr. Gillespie movies. His acting career seems to have ended in 1947, aside from one TV appearance in 1956, on "Schlitz Playhouse of Stars." Nat died in 1967 and is buried in Cypress View Mausoleum and Crematory. His Find-A-Grave biography was written by yours truly.
Don’t let Nat’s bohunk physique and Brooklyn-accented characters fool you; he was a smart guy who accomplished more than most actors. Born in Davenport, Iowa, he graduated from Columbia University in 1916, where he was two-time Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association champion (1914-1915). He competed as a wrestler in the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium, losing only one match (on a controversial decision) and earning a silver medal. Afterwards, he went into pro-wrestling, and from there into acting. He also wrote a movie for himself, 1932’s Deception, in which he played a wrestler. He appeared in 112 movies between 1924 and 1947.
He came by one of his most famous roles, that of the strongman Sandow in The Great Ziegfeld, in an interesting manner. He’d played MacHardie in the Marx Brother movie Horse Feathers; that character was modeled after the real Eugene Sandow, and Nat’s performance was very impressive. When the time came to cast Ziegfeld, he won the part. Who among us will ever forget those magnificent biceps flexing in time to the music of Little Egypt. ;)
I first saw Nat as police Lt. John Guild in The Thin Man. Although he comes across as a little dim next to William Powell’s suave sleuthing, he gets in his share of wisecracks and lends his heroics to the case. He reprised the role in 1939’s Another Thin Man. Guild hero-worships Nick Charles and is constantly in awe of Nick’s detective abilities.
Another role of Nat’s I liked was that of Blossom, one of William Powell’s sidekicks (along with Ted Healy) in Reckless. Again, he plays a big oaf with a heart of gold; quite a bit dumber than Lt. Guild, but fun to watch nonetheless. When he takes a beating in a boxing match just to provide Powell with some backing money for Jean Harlow’s comeback show, you can’t help but love him. He may not be the brightest bulb on the tree, but he’s loyal and good-hearted, which counts for more.
Nat also appeared in six Dr. Kildare movies, and three Dr. Gillespie movies. His acting career seems to have ended in 1947, aside from one TV appearance in 1956, on "Schlitz Playhouse of Stars." Nat died in 1967 and is buried in Cypress View Mausoleum and Crematory. His Find-A-Grave biography was written by yours truly.
Monday, March 28, 2005
Jean Harlow double feature
It's cute, my dad has developed kind of a liking for Jean Harlow after we watched the new DVD releases of Libeled Lady and Dinner at Eight a few weeks ago. "I wouldn't mind seeing more of her movies, if you have them," he said, "Do you have Red Dust"? Well, no I didn't, so we watched Bombshell (as previously mentioned) a few weeks ago, and for Easter this past Sunday we had another JH double feature: Hold Your Man and Wife vs. Secretary. I think they're my two favorite Harlow movies, although I probably would be in the minority about that.
Hold Your Man starts out with a lot of funny and snappy dialogue between Ruby Adams and Eddie Hall (Clark Gable) as two con artists who meet when Eddie runs into Ruby's apartment, on the run from the police. Flirtation ensues, and the romance heats up pretty quickly (Ruby and Eddie obviously spend the night together after their second meeting -- it's only implied, of course, since this was 1933, but unmistakable). Eddie goes to jail for 90 days for trying to use a stolen car in a heist, and Ruby has moved into his flat by the time he gets out at Christmas. Eddie accidentally kills a drunk (whom he, Ruby, and his friend Slim were planning to blackmail) on his way out get a marriage license for himself and Ruby. She gets arrested when they come back, but Eddie gets away. While in the reformatory (and here's where most people think the movies goes wrong) Ruby discovers she's pregnant (it's remarkable how many ways they convey this without ever actually saying the word); Eddie hears about this and comes out of hiding to not only go see Ruby to tell her he loves her, but to hide out in the chapel and marry her (thanks to a handy parson) so their child won't be illegitimate. The wedding takes place with a flood of cops trying to break down the door, and ends with Eddie getting hauled off in cuffs. In the end, Eddie, Ruby and their son are reunited after Eddie serves his sentence for the accidental killing.
Most reviews I've read of the movie think it turns much too sappy and maudlin after Ruby is arrested; the site of Gable crying and begging the preacher to marry them, one person wrote, is almost too silly to bear. Yet I love the movie as a whole, even the mushy parts. The beginning is in fact a lot of fun; Gable and Harlow as a team are at their most enjoyable when they're kidding around. I'll admit that the mush has on occasion brought a little tear to my eye; when Ruby clings to Eddie, sobbing, after they're married and the cops are starting to drag him away, I find myself moved. Perhaps it is the power or Harlow's acting that manages to raise what most people call "sappy" to a level for me that I don't find it so. Plus, I'm a sucker for a happy ending, even if you do have to put up with a little mush to get there.
What I also found interesting were the scenes in the reformatory. Ruby's "cellmates" are sympathetic, believable and even entertaining characters, from Bertha, who gives Ruby her mother's ring for the wedding, to Sadie, who will start trumpeting her socialist beliefs at the drop of a hat. During a scene in the chapel, the movies attempts to show the diversity (for lack of a better word) of the inmates by showing a woman who is obviously Jewish, and one who is Asian. An unusual move at the time, when most minorities played maids (such as Louise Beavers does in this film) or other such characters. I've heard some praise for the movie's (mostly) realistic portrayal of reformatory life. Also interetsing is one of Sadie's diatribes about the class differences of the time: society debutantes aren't put in jail for the offenses that lower-class women such as themselves have committed, she says, yet there they are, serving time for public drunkenness, cavorting with sailors, and other "crimes" that are laughed off when committed by the wealthy. Sadly, not much has changed since 1933 in that regard.
Well, I went on longer about that movie than I intended. Moving on...
We also watched Wife vs. Secretary, which is probably the first JH movie I ever saw, and I bought it because of Myrna Loy and Clark Gable; I'm not sure I was much familiar with Harlow at the time. It's a movie I enjoy because it has a little bit of everything: comedy, romance, drama, and so on.
Jimmy Stewart plays Jean's boyfriend Dave, who gets fed up by her attention to her job and her crush on Gable, her boss. Myrna also gets jealous (goaded on by her mother-in-law, May Robson) and leaves Gable when she suspects that Jean has flown down to Havana to join Gable on a trip for romantic purposes. As matter of fact, it is for legitimate business reasons, and all above board, something which Jean eventually convinces Myrna of by using a little reverse psychology: Jean urges Myrna not to go back to Gable, because if his wife leaves him, he'll turn to her, his secretary, for comfort, and she won't turn away. Myrna says at first that she's still going; Jean responds, "You're a fool, for which I'm grateful," which I think is a great line, especially the way Jean says it. She's not gloating that she'll get Gable, she's merely stating the fact, and also mentions that of course he won't be as happy with her as he would with Myrna, but she doesn't mind taking him second-best. A very well done scene, by both actresses.
Naturally, Myrna comes back, the husband and wife are happily reunited (with a big smooch) and Jean walks out alone, in a scene that is rather poignant; Jimmy is waiting outside, and he tells her he loves her, and he's learned not to look for trouble, "because if you don't find it, you'll make it." Presumably engaged once again, they drive off into the night. Fade to black.
On a final note, Myrna said in her autobiography that the role of Helen "Whitey" Wilson in Wvs.S was the role of Jean's that was most like her in real life: a modest and decent person with a good heart, who didn't speak in a squawk or wear dresses cut down to her navel.
Hold Your Man starts out with a lot of funny and snappy dialogue between Ruby Adams and Eddie Hall (Clark Gable) as two con artists who meet when Eddie runs into Ruby's apartment, on the run from the police. Flirtation ensues, and the romance heats up pretty quickly (Ruby and Eddie obviously spend the night together after their second meeting -- it's only implied, of course, since this was 1933, but unmistakable). Eddie goes to jail for 90 days for trying to use a stolen car in a heist, and Ruby has moved into his flat by the time he gets out at Christmas. Eddie accidentally kills a drunk (whom he, Ruby, and his friend Slim were planning to blackmail) on his way out get a marriage license for himself and Ruby. She gets arrested when they come back, but Eddie gets away. While in the reformatory (and here's where most people think the movies goes wrong) Ruby discovers she's pregnant (it's remarkable how many ways they convey this without ever actually saying the word); Eddie hears about this and comes out of hiding to not only go see Ruby to tell her he loves her, but to hide out in the chapel and marry her (thanks to a handy parson) so their child won't be illegitimate. The wedding takes place with a flood of cops trying to break down the door, and ends with Eddie getting hauled off in cuffs. In the end, Eddie, Ruby and their son are reunited after Eddie serves his sentence for the accidental killing.
Most reviews I've read of the movie think it turns much too sappy and maudlin after Ruby is arrested; the site of Gable crying and begging the preacher to marry them, one person wrote, is almost too silly to bear. Yet I love the movie as a whole, even the mushy parts. The beginning is in fact a lot of fun; Gable and Harlow as a team are at their most enjoyable when they're kidding around. I'll admit that the mush has on occasion brought a little tear to my eye; when Ruby clings to Eddie, sobbing, after they're married and the cops are starting to drag him away, I find myself moved. Perhaps it is the power or Harlow's acting that manages to raise what most people call "sappy" to a level for me that I don't find it so. Plus, I'm a sucker for a happy ending, even if you do have to put up with a little mush to get there.
What I also found interesting were the scenes in the reformatory. Ruby's "cellmates" are sympathetic, believable and even entertaining characters, from Bertha, who gives Ruby her mother's ring for the wedding, to Sadie, who will start trumpeting her socialist beliefs at the drop of a hat. During a scene in the chapel, the movies attempts to show the diversity (for lack of a better word) of the inmates by showing a woman who is obviously Jewish, and one who is Asian. An unusual move at the time, when most minorities played maids (such as Louise Beavers does in this film) or other such characters. I've heard some praise for the movie's (mostly) realistic portrayal of reformatory life. Also interetsing is one of Sadie's diatribes about the class differences of the time: society debutantes aren't put in jail for the offenses that lower-class women such as themselves have committed, she says, yet there they are, serving time for public drunkenness, cavorting with sailors, and other "crimes" that are laughed off when committed by the wealthy. Sadly, not much has changed since 1933 in that regard.
Well, I went on longer about that movie than I intended. Moving on...
We also watched Wife vs. Secretary, which is probably the first JH movie I ever saw, and I bought it because of Myrna Loy and Clark Gable; I'm not sure I was much familiar with Harlow at the time. It's a movie I enjoy because it has a little bit of everything: comedy, romance, drama, and so on.
Jimmy Stewart plays Jean's boyfriend Dave, who gets fed up by her attention to her job and her crush on Gable, her boss. Myrna also gets jealous (goaded on by her mother-in-law, May Robson) and leaves Gable when she suspects that Jean has flown down to Havana to join Gable on a trip for romantic purposes. As matter of fact, it is for legitimate business reasons, and all above board, something which Jean eventually convinces Myrna of by using a little reverse psychology: Jean urges Myrna not to go back to Gable, because if his wife leaves him, he'll turn to her, his secretary, for comfort, and she won't turn away. Myrna says at first that she's still going; Jean responds, "You're a fool, for which I'm grateful," which I think is a great line, especially the way Jean says it. She's not gloating that she'll get Gable, she's merely stating the fact, and also mentions that of course he won't be as happy with her as he would with Myrna, but she doesn't mind taking him second-best. A very well done scene, by both actresses.
Naturally, Myrna comes back, the husband and wife are happily reunited (with a big smooch) and Jean walks out alone, in a scene that is rather poignant; Jimmy is waiting outside, and he tells her he loves her, and he's learned not to look for trouble, "because if you don't find it, you'll make it." Presumably engaged once again, they drive off into the night. Fade to black.
On a final note, Myrna said in her autobiography that the role of Helen "Whitey" Wilson in Wvs.S was the role of Jean's that was most like her in real life: a modest and decent person with a good heart, who didn't speak in a squawk or wear dresses cut down to her navel.
Painful to watch, for a variety of reasons
(Before I begin, I'll admit that many of the movie reviews that will be posted here have been previously posted on Amazon. I'm going to bring them over bit by bit.)
Reckless (1935)
starring Jean Harlow, William Powell, Franchot Tone, May Robson, Nat Pendleton, Ted Healy.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
This picture seems especially designed to torture Jean Harlow, and to a lesser extent, her fans.
Her character Mona Leslie marries unstable alcoholic playboy Bob Harrsion (disturbingly well played by Franchot Tone -- he's like "The Lost Weekend" without the happy ending), whose "sadness goes so deep I couldn't make him happy," and he shoots himself in the head while Mona and her friend/manager Ned (William Powell) are in the next room.
Whoever had the idea to put Harlow in such a role shortly after the suicide by gunshot of her husband Paul Bern must have been extraordinarily cruel, or stupid, or both (David O. Selznick, I'm looking in your direction). Mona is left alone to struggle for custody of, then to raise, her son by Harrison; in real life, all of Jean's pregnancies were teminated at her mother's insistence.
In another kind of irony, Ned is secretly in love with Mona and proposes to her at the end of the movie; in real life, Harlow and Powell were lovers and she was desparate to marry him, but he strung her along until her death, unwilling to commit.
The musical numbers of the film inadvertantly become another harsh treatment of Harlow, as it become painfully obvious that she can neither sing (it's dubbed, and it's not even close to Harlow's real voice) nor dance (despite attempts at trick photography, the double is easy to spot), and to Jean's credit, she seems to know it, seeming very stiff and uncomfortable during these parts of the film.
I guess my knowledge of Harlow's life (via David Stenn's biography) made this movie seem so depressing to me; perhaps someone who's a fan of Harlow's but doesn't know much about her personally would enjoy it more. I doubt it, though; its only saving grace is some of the amusing banter between Ned and Mona's Granny (May Robson).
Reckless (1935)
starring Jean Harlow, William Powell, Franchot Tone, May Robson, Nat Pendleton, Ted Healy.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
This picture seems especially designed to torture Jean Harlow, and to a lesser extent, her fans.
Her character Mona Leslie marries unstable alcoholic playboy Bob Harrsion (disturbingly well played by Franchot Tone -- he's like "The Lost Weekend" without the happy ending), whose "sadness goes so deep I couldn't make him happy," and he shoots himself in the head while Mona and her friend/manager Ned (William Powell) are in the next room.
Whoever had the idea to put Harlow in such a role shortly after the suicide by gunshot of her husband Paul Bern must have been extraordinarily cruel, or stupid, or both (David O. Selznick, I'm looking in your direction). Mona is left alone to struggle for custody of, then to raise, her son by Harrison; in real life, all of Jean's pregnancies were teminated at her mother's insistence.
In another kind of irony, Ned is secretly in love with Mona and proposes to her at the end of the movie; in real life, Harlow and Powell were lovers and she was desparate to marry him, but he strung her along until her death, unwilling to commit.
The musical numbers of the film inadvertantly become another harsh treatment of Harlow, as it become painfully obvious that she can neither sing (it's dubbed, and it's not even close to Harlow's real voice) nor dance (despite attempts at trick photography, the double is easy to spot), and to Jean's credit, she seems to know it, seeming very stiff and uncomfortable during these parts of the film.
I guess my knowledge of Harlow's life (via David Stenn's biography) made this movie seem so depressing to me; perhaps someone who's a fan of Harlow's but doesn't know much about her personally would enjoy it more. I doubt it, though; its only saving grace is some of the amusing banter between Ned and Mona's Granny (May Robson).
Saturday, March 26, 2005
Characters Actors I Love: Eugene Pallette
I’ve seen Eugene Pallette in only two movies: My Man Godfrey and The Adventures of Robin Hood, but anyone who’s seen him act at all could never forget him. I hate to keep quoting IMDB all the time, but their description of him as a "gargantuan-bellied, frog-voiced character actor" is right on the money. If you’re familiar with child actors George "Foghorn" Winslow or Billy "Froggy" Laughlin, then imagine them as big grown men, and you’ll have the idea.
Eugene was born in Kansas to theatrical parents, and he started performing on stage as a child. He worked as a street car conductor before he began his career in films in 1913, appearing in 242 films between then and 1946. He appeared in two of D.W. Griffith’s films, The Birth of a Nation and Intolerance. Other well known films in which he performed include The Three Musketeers (1921), The Ten Commandments (1923), Huckleberry Finn, Topper, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
My favorite role of Eugene’s is that of Alexander Bullock in My Man Godfrey. Seemingly the only sane member of the family, he can only watch with Godfrey in amazement (making the occasional wisecrack) as his wife and daughters run around like maniacs. His best line: "All you need to start an asylum is an empty room and the right kind of people." Runner up: "Life in this family is one subpoena after another." His exchanges with Alice Brady, who plays his loopy wife, are priceless.
Eugene’s political views were, apparently, quite far to the right, and his "bomb paranoia" led him to purchase property in Oregon which he turned into a well-stocked compound, in case the Russians ever attacked. Clark Gable would visit him there sometimes to hunt and fish. He died in 1954 and is buried in Greenfield Cemetery in Grenola, Kansas.
Eugene was born in Kansas to theatrical parents, and he started performing on stage as a child. He worked as a street car conductor before he began his career in films in 1913, appearing in 242 films between then and 1946. He appeared in two of D.W. Griffith’s films, The Birth of a Nation and Intolerance. Other well known films in which he performed include The Three Musketeers (1921), The Ten Commandments (1923), Huckleberry Finn, Topper, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
My favorite role of Eugene’s is that of Alexander Bullock in My Man Godfrey. Seemingly the only sane member of the family, he can only watch with Godfrey in amazement (making the occasional wisecrack) as his wife and daughters run around like maniacs. His best line: "All you need to start an asylum is an empty room and the right kind of people." Runner up: "Life in this family is one subpoena after another." His exchanges with Alice Brady, who plays his loopy wife, are priceless.
Eugene’s political views were, apparently, quite far to the right, and his "bomb paranoia" led him to purchase property in Oregon which he turned into a well-stocked compound, in case the Russians ever attacked. Clark Gable would visit him there sometimes to hunt and fish. He died in 1954 and is buried in Greenfield Cemetery in Grenola, Kansas.
Friday, March 25, 2005
Character Actors I Love: Jean Dixon
I’ve seen Jean Dixon in two movies: My Man Godfrey, and Sadie McKee. Both times I thoroughly enjoyed her dry sense of humor. For example, take this exchange from Godfrey, where she plays Molly, the Bullocks’ maid:
Godfrey: May I be frank?
Molly: Is that your name?
Godfrey: No, my name is Godfrey.
Molly: All right, be frank.
She has a more substantial role in Sadie McKee, playing Joan Crawford’s best friend Opal, who stands by Sadie through all her adventures. Opal is cynical but still a romantic. She’s not adverse to riding the coat tails of Sadie’s good fortune, but never comes across as greedy; her opportunism still has a good-natured innocence to it. Yes, she wangles a diamond bracelet out of Sadie’s tipsy fiancée while they’re out shopping, but you don’t get the impression that she’s only out for the money. If she can get something for herself, okay, but it’s not her primary motivation. Opal genuinely cares about Sadie. If I were a jilted girl alone in 1930s NYC, I’d want Opal for my pal.
Jean only appeared in 13 movies, usually as the wise cracking sidekick to the leading lady. However, her acting career had quite a start: her theater debut was on a Parisian stage with Sarah Bernhardt while a student at a French university. She returned to the US in 1921 and performed on Broadway before going to Hollywood in 1929. Jean’s last movie was in 1938; I don’t know any details about why she stopped making movies or what she did afterwards. She died in 1981 in New York City.
Godfrey: May I be frank?
Molly: Is that your name?
Godfrey: No, my name is Godfrey.
Molly: All right, be frank.
She has a more substantial role in Sadie McKee, playing Joan Crawford’s best friend Opal, who stands by Sadie through all her adventures. Opal is cynical but still a romantic. She’s not adverse to riding the coat tails of Sadie’s good fortune, but never comes across as greedy; her opportunism still has a good-natured innocence to it. Yes, she wangles a diamond bracelet out of Sadie’s tipsy fiancée while they’re out shopping, but you don’t get the impression that she’s only out for the money. If she can get something for herself, okay, but it’s not her primary motivation. Opal genuinely cares about Sadie. If I were a jilted girl alone in 1930s NYC, I’d want Opal for my pal.
Jean only appeared in 13 movies, usually as the wise cracking sidekick to the leading lady. However, her acting career had quite a start: her theater debut was on a Parisian stage with Sarah Bernhardt while a student at a French university. She returned to the US in 1921 and performed on Broadway before going to Hollywood in 1929. Jean’s last movie was in 1938; I don’t know any details about why she stopped making movies or what she did afterwards. She died in 1981 in New York City.
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Character Actors I Love: Alan Hale (Sr.)
I’ve only seen Alan Hale in five films: Destination Tokyo, The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Sea Hawk, The Prince and the Pauper, and It Happened One Night (and the last two are smaller supporting roles) and yet I love him to death, he’s one of my favorites. He appeared in 203 movies between 1911 and 1950 (three of them released in the last year of his life; impressive considering he died in January) and also directed eight, mostly during the silent era. But, wait, that’s not all! He also invented the folding theater seat, hand fire extinguishers and greaseless potato chips, or so says Leonard Maltin. [ETA: He was also in Of Human Bondage, which I've seen, but I totally do not remember him.]
When I say Alan Hale you probably think of The Skipper from Gilligan’s Island; that was Alan Jr., who became known as plain Alan Hale after his father’s death. They looked a lot alike, and had the same cuddly-guy kind of appeal (although Alan Sr. did play more than a few heavies in his career, but it never detracted from his ability to play nice guys, too). Alan was a featured member of the Warner Brothers Stock Co., their group of character actors from the 1930s and 40s (if I find out who any of the others are, I’ll let you know). Another notable fact about his career is that he had a supporting or cameo role in twelve of Errol Flynn’s movies.
Of the two of Alan’s larger performances that I’ve seen (Tokyo and Robin Hood) I can’t pick a favorite, so they’ll tie for first. In Robin Hood, he plays Little John, and if you see the movie you’ll find out where Warner Brothers got the "dodge! turn! parry! spin!" scene from that Daffy Duck/Porky Pig cartoon (which is an extra on the RH DVD). He’s jolly and adorable, basically, just as he is in Destination Tokyo, as the submarine’s "Cookie." When he dresses up as Santa to give presents to the crew, I just wanted to hug him. The haircut scene is also very funny.
The first role I ever saw him in was that of the singing driver "Danker" who picks up the hitchhiking Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert in IHON. ("A woman in looooooooove is very seldom hungryyyyyyy..." Hee.) He had a wonderful voice, and in fact attempted a career as an opera singer before becoming an actor.
Alan was married to Gretchen Hartman (also an actress) and had two other children besides Alan Jr., although I don’t know their names or anything about them. He is buried in Forest Lawn Glendale, Whispering Pines section.
P.S. Quick story about Alan Jr. from the IMDB that totally made me cry: While battling cancer, he lost a lot of weight. When a child inquired about his weight loss, Hale simply told him that he was going to be playing Gilligan in a new Gilligan's Island show. I get all squishy inside when I hear stories like this about the ol' Skipper. He was my absolute favorite on Gilligan's Island.
Next up for CAIL, I think maybe Walter Connolly, everyone's favorite father-to-the-socialites.
When I say Alan Hale you probably think of The Skipper from Gilligan’s Island; that was Alan Jr., who became known as plain Alan Hale after his father’s death. They looked a lot alike, and had the same cuddly-guy kind of appeal (although Alan Sr. did play more than a few heavies in his career, but it never detracted from his ability to play nice guys, too). Alan was a featured member of the Warner Brothers Stock Co., their group of character actors from the 1930s and 40s (if I find out who any of the others are, I’ll let you know). Another notable fact about his career is that he had a supporting or cameo role in twelve of Errol Flynn’s movies.
Of the two of Alan’s larger performances that I’ve seen (Tokyo and Robin Hood) I can’t pick a favorite, so they’ll tie for first. In Robin Hood, he plays Little John, and if you see the movie you’ll find out where Warner Brothers got the "dodge! turn! parry! spin!" scene from that Daffy Duck/Porky Pig cartoon (which is an extra on the RH DVD). He’s jolly and adorable, basically, just as he is in Destination Tokyo, as the submarine’s "Cookie." When he dresses up as Santa to give presents to the crew, I just wanted to hug him. The haircut scene is also very funny.
The first role I ever saw him in was that of the singing driver "Danker" who picks up the hitchhiking Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert in IHON. ("A woman in looooooooove is very seldom hungryyyyyyy..." Hee.) He had a wonderful voice, and in fact attempted a career as an opera singer before becoming an actor.
Alan was married to Gretchen Hartman (also an actress) and had two other children besides Alan Jr., although I don’t know their names or anything about them. He is buried in Forest Lawn Glendale, Whispering Pines section.
P.S. Quick story about Alan Jr. from the IMDB that totally made me cry: While battling cancer, he lost a lot of weight. When a child inquired about his weight loss, Hale simply told him that he was going to be playing Gilligan in a new Gilligan's Island show. I get all squishy inside when I hear stories like this about the ol' Skipper. He was my absolute favorite on Gilligan's Island.
Next up for CAIL, I think maybe Walter Connolly, everyone's favorite father-to-the-socialites.
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Characters Actors I Love: Jessie Ralph
The IMDB describes Jessie Ralph as a "thickset, homely, plump-faced, matronly character actress." Well, yes, but they don’t mention the funny. I’ve seen Jessie in seven movies: Double Wedding, The Last of Mrs. Cheyney, After the Thin Man, Camille, Captain Blood, I Live My Life, and Evelyn Prentice.
When she’s not playing a bit part like "Nanine, Camille’s maid," or Errol Flynn’s housekeeper, and sometimes even then, she totally steals the scenes she’s in with her hilarious delivery. Just the way Aunt Katherine says "Nic-o-las" in After the Thin Man sets off the giggles. Whereas May Robson (my other favorite grandma-type) had a high-pitched, sometimes trembly voice, Jessie’s voice was much deeper and perhaps for that reason, lent itself more to comedy. One of her movies I would like to see is Love Is a Headache, where she plays "Sheriff Janet Winfield," because the idea of Jessie as a sheriff, ordering the men folk around, has lots of comedic potential.
Biographical information on Jessie is scarce; other than the fact that she performed on Broadway before coming to Hollywood and was married to a Bill Patton, I can’t find much about her. There's a gap in her career between Such a Little Queen in 1921 and Child of Manhattan in 1933 that I'm at a loss to explain. She died in 1944 in her hometown of Gloucester, Massachusetts, so I’m assuming she retired from pictures and spent her last years at home. (Her final movie was 1941’s They Met in Bombay.) She's buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery.
One other reason I like her: if she wore glasses, she’d look just like my grandma. :)
When she’s not playing a bit part like "Nanine, Camille’s maid," or Errol Flynn’s housekeeper, and sometimes even then, she totally steals the scenes she’s in with her hilarious delivery. Just the way Aunt Katherine says "Nic-o-las" in After the Thin Man sets off the giggles. Whereas May Robson (my other favorite grandma-type) had a high-pitched, sometimes trembly voice, Jessie’s voice was much deeper and perhaps for that reason, lent itself more to comedy. One of her movies I would like to see is Love Is a Headache, where she plays "Sheriff Janet Winfield," because the idea of Jessie as a sheriff, ordering the men folk around, has lots of comedic potential.
Biographical information on Jessie is scarce; other than the fact that she performed on Broadway before coming to Hollywood and was married to a Bill Patton, I can’t find much about her. There's a gap in her career between Such a Little Queen in 1921 and Child of Manhattan in 1933 that I'm at a loss to explain. She died in 1944 in her hometown of Gloucester, Massachusetts, so I’m assuming she retired from pictures and spent her last years at home. (Her final movie was 1941’s They Met in Bombay.) She's buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery.
One other reason I like her: if she wore glasses, she’d look just like my grandma. :)
Sunday, March 20, 2005
Tracy & Hepburn
So I've finally (and I guess it was about time) seem my first Tracy/Hepburn movie, Adam's Rib. It came on TCM just as my dad and I were sitting down to dinner, and he loves it, so we watched it.
Maybe I'm too jaded by my years of watching Law & Order in its various incarnations, but all through the trial scenes I kept muttering, "It's not about women's rights, it's about the fact that she shot her husband, she admits she shot her husband, so can we please disperse with the irrelevant 'examples of American womanhood' witnesses?" Okay, it was funny when the circus lady lifted Spencer Tracy over her head. Hee. And I get that it was 1949 and it's also a movie, and a "battle of the sexes" comedy at that, so obviously we're not up to Dick Wolf standards here or anything. The courtroom scenes were funny, especially when they both duck under the table to pass notes or blow kisses. Very cute.
I thought Will Wright, who played Judge Marcasson, seemed familiar; or just his gravelly voice, actually. Of course I looked him up on IMDB, and I guess I'm remembering him from Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, or maybe it was as the voice of "Friend Owl" in Bambi. Or it's entirely possible I'm confusing him with someone else altogether. Ooh, I bet it's Eugene Pallette, another gravelly-voiced actor who was in My Man Godfrey and The Adventures of Robin Hood. Yeah, I bet that's it.
Anyhow. Adam's Rib. I liked it, and while I'm not rushing out to rent more Tracy & Hepburn movies right this second, I will give some of their others a look.
A funny story that Peter Bogdanovich told after the movie (he's hosting The Essentials now) : Spencer Tracy was asked once about the fact that they were always billed as "Tracy & Hepburn." Hadn't he ever thought about "ladies first"? Tracy replied, "This is the movies, chowderhead, not a lifeboat." Heh.
Maybe I'm too jaded by my years of watching Law & Order in its various incarnations, but all through the trial scenes I kept muttering, "It's not about women's rights, it's about the fact that she shot her husband, she admits she shot her husband, so can we please disperse with the irrelevant 'examples of American womanhood' witnesses?" Okay, it was funny when the circus lady lifted Spencer Tracy over her head. Hee. And I get that it was 1949 and it's also a movie, and a "battle of the sexes" comedy at that, so obviously we're not up to Dick Wolf standards here or anything. The courtroom scenes were funny, especially when they both duck under the table to pass notes or blow kisses. Very cute.
I thought Will Wright, who played Judge Marcasson, seemed familiar; or just his gravelly voice, actually. Of course I looked him up on IMDB, and I guess I'm remembering him from Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, or maybe it was as the voice of "Friend Owl" in Bambi. Or it's entirely possible I'm confusing him with someone else altogether. Ooh, I bet it's Eugene Pallette, another gravelly-voiced actor who was in My Man Godfrey and The Adventures of Robin Hood. Yeah, I bet that's it.
Anyhow. Adam's Rib. I liked it, and while I'm not rushing out to rent more Tracy & Hepburn movies right this second, I will give some of their others a look.
A funny story that Peter Bogdanovich told after the movie (he's hosting The Essentials now) : Spencer Tracy was asked once about the fact that they were always billed as "Tracy & Hepburn." Hadn't he ever thought about "ladies first"? Tracy replied, "This is the movies, chowderhead, not a lifeboat." Heh.
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Double feature
Just got finished watching a double feature of Bombshell and Monkey Business. Bombshell I've seen several times before; it's not my favorite Harlow movie (although I love that it was so true to her life, whether that was intentional or not) but the behind the scenes glimpse of Hollywood was fun.
I enjoyed Monkey Business, although the silly kids games did go on a wee bit too long in some scenes. But Cary Grant and especially Ginger Rogers were adorable when they'd taken the potion and become young children, then ran around the board meeting chasing each other. I think Charles Coburn may become another "bit player I love," now that I've seen him in MB and also Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, although I don't know enough about him or his career to be able to tell whether he would qualify as a "bit player." He could have had an enormous career, for all I know at this point. (This just in: according to the IMDB, he won an Oscar in 1943 for Best Supporting Actor for The More The Merrier, and was considered a "top billed character star." Maybe I should change the title of my future profiles to "Character Actors I Love.")
Anyhow. It was a good movie and I enjoyed it. I'm not sure I'd rush out and buy it, but it was well worth a Netflix rental. I'm off now to watch the special features, which consist entirely of trailers of other Marilyn Monroe movies (since this disc was in the second part of the Diamond Collection ... and here's part one.)
P.S. George Winslow was also adorable. "What's the matter, don't you like children?" Wonder where he is today?
I enjoyed Monkey Business, although the silly kids games did go on a wee bit too long in some scenes. But Cary Grant and especially Ginger Rogers were adorable when they'd taken the potion and become young children, then ran around the board meeting chasing each other. I think Charles Coburn may become another "bit player I love," now that I've seen him in MB and also Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, although I don't know enough about him or his career to be able to tell whether he would qualify as a "bit player." He could have had an enormous career, for all I know at this point. (This just in: according to the IMDB, he won an Oscar in 1943 for Best Supporting Actor for The More The Merrier, and was considered a "top billed character star." Maybe I should change the title of my future profiles to "Character Actors I Love.")
Anyhow. It was a good movie and I enjoyed it. I'm not sure I'd rush out and buy it, but it was well worth a Netflix rental. I'm off now to watch the special features, which consist entirely of trailers of other Marilyn Monroe movies (since this disc was in the second part of the Diamond Collection ... and here's part one.)
P.S. George Winslow was also adorable. "What's the matter, don't you like children?" Wonder where he is today?
Friday, March 18, 2005
Bit Players I Love: May Robson
I’ve seen May in five movies (a number that surprised me; I thought it was more; maybe it’s the impression she made): Wife vs. Secretary, Anna Karenina, Reckless, Dancing Lady, and Dinner at Eight.
She also appeared in Bringing Up Baby, A Star is Born (1937), and, oddly enough, a 1941 movie called Million Dollar Baby. No idea what it was about. She appeared in 64 movies altogether, between 1915 and her death in 1942.
May was born Mary Jeanette Robison in Australia in 1858, and is the earliest-born actress to be nominated for an Oscar. She took up acting to support her three children after her first husband died, appearing on Broadway before going into motion picture work.
May was most often cast as a grandmother, mother-in-law, or servant. (In fact, some of her roles are described simply as "Grandmotherly Actress" and "Penny, the Housekeeper." Also a lot of "Aunt So-and-so" roles.) The first movie I saw her in was Dancing Lady, where she plays Franchot Tone’s little old deaf grandmother. (Aside: my spell check corrected Franchot as "Franc hot." He sure was, wasn’t he?) It’s a small part but she makes the most of it. When Franchot brings his new girlfriend Joan Crawford home to meet Granny, she trumpets, "So Todd’s brought a woman into this house at last! I didn’t think he had it in him! [looks Joan up and down] Good healthy stock! When’s the wedding?"
I think my favorite role was that of "Mrs. Granny Leslie" in Reckless. A mediocre movie that features poor Jean Harlow vainly attempting to portray a singing and dancing star, May plays Jean’s grandmother. Her best scenes are with William Powell, who plays Jean’s would-be suitor (who, of course, eventually wins her hand in the end). Some of their banter is just so cute and hilarious. (It doesn’t always translate well into writing; some of it is the way she speaks the lines.) Next time I watch the movie I'll jot down some quotes and add them here.
May died in 1942 and is buried in Flushing Cemetery with her second husband. Stop by and pay her a visit.
She also appeared in Bringing Up Baby, A Star is Born (1937), and, oddly enough, a 1941 movie called Million Dollar Baby. No idea what it was about. She appeared in 64 movies altogether, between 1915 and her death in 1942.
May was born Mary Jeanette Robison in Australia in 1858, and is the earliest-born actress to be nominated for an Oscar. She took up acting to support her three children after her first husband died, appearing on Broadway before going into motion picture work.
May was most often cast as a grandmother, mother-in-law, or servant. (In fact, some of her roles are described simply as "Grandmotherly Actress" and "Penny, the Housekeeper." Also a lot of "Aunt So-and-so" roles.) The first movie I saw her in was Dancing Lady, where she plays Franchot Tone’s little old deaf grandmother. (Aside: my spell check corrected Franchot as "Franc hot." He sure was, wasn’t he?) It’s a small part but she makes the most of it. When Franchot brings his new girlfriend Joan Crawford home to meet Granny, she trumpets, "So Todd’s brought a woman into this house at last! I didn’t think he had it in him! [looks Joan up and down] Good healthy stock! When’s the wedding?"
I think my favorite role was that of "Mrs. Granny Leslie" in Reckless. A mediocre movie that features poor Jean Harlow vainly attempting to portray a singing and dancing star, May plays Jean’s grandmother. Her best scenes are with William Powell, who plays Jean’s would-be suitor (who, of course, eventually wins her hand in the end). Some of their banter is just so cute and hilarious. (It doesn’t always translate well into writing; some of it is the way she speaks the lines.) Next time I watch the movie I'll jot down some quotes and add them here.
May died in 1942 and is buried in Flushing Cemetery with her second husband. Stop by and pay her a visit.
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Dear Mr. Gable, I am writing this to you...
Anyone who loves classic movies knows this song. I love classic movies, and decided to start a blog to write about them. I love Clark and a host of other actors and actresses. We'll get to them.
My favorites may not be "traditional," but they're the movies I watch over and over. Most of them are black and white, from 1930-1950 (but some beyond).
Next up: my first installment of "Bit Players I Love," featuring May Robson.
ETA: Just for posterity's sake, here are the lyrics to "Dear Mr. Gable (You Made Me Love You)," which was sung by Judy Garland.
Dear Mr. Gable, I am writing this to you
and I hope that you will read it so you'll know
My heart beats like a hammer
and I stutter and I stammer
every time I see you at the picture show.
I guess I'm just another fan of yours
and I thought I'd write and tell you so.
You made me love you
I didn't wanna do it, I didn't wanna do it.
You made me love you
and all the time you knew it, I guess you always knew it.
You made me happy, sometimes you made me glad.
But there were times, sir, you made me feel so sad.
You made me sigh 'cause
I didn't wanna tell you, I didn't wanna tell you
I think you're grand, that's true
Yes I do, 'deed I do, you know I do.
I must tell you what I'm feeling
The very mention of your namesends my heart reeling.
You know you made me love you!
[spoken to a picture of Gable]
Aw, gee, Mr. Gable, I don't wanna bother you! Guess you got a lotta girls that tell you the same thing. And if you don't wanna read this, well, you don't have to. But I just had to tell you about the time I saw you in "It Happened One Night". That was the first time I ever saw you, and I knew right then you were the nicest fella in the movies! I guess it was 'cause you acted so, well so natural like - not like a real actor at all, but just like any fella you'd meet at school or at a party. Then one time I saw you in a picture with Joan Crawford, and I had to cry a little 'cause you loved her so much and you couldn't have her - not 'till the end of the picture, anyway. And then one time I saw you in person. You were making a personal appearance at the theatre, and I was standing there when you got out of your car, and you almost knocked me down! Oh - but it wasn't your fault! Naw, I was in the way. But you looked at me, and you smiled. Yeah! You smiled right at me as if you meant it, and I cried all the way home just 'cause you smiled at me for being in your way! Aw, I'll never forget it, Mr. Gable. Honest. You're my favorite actor!
[singing]
I don't care what happens, let the whole world stop.
As far as I'm concerned, you'll always be the top,
'cause you know you made me love you.
My favorites may not be "traditional," but they're the movies I watch over and over. Most of them are black and white, from 1930-1950 (but some beyond).
Next up: my first installment of "Bit Players I Love," featuring May Robson.
ETA: Just for posterity's sake, here are the lyrics to "Dear Mr. Gable (You Made Me Love You)," which was sung by Judy Garland.
Dear Mr. Gable, I am writing this to you
and I hope that you will read it so you'll know
My heart beats like a hammer
and I stutter and I stammer
every time I see you at the picture show.
I guess I'm just another fan of yours
and I thought I'd write and tell you so.
You made me love you
I didn't wanna do it, I didn't wanna do it.
You made me love you
and all the time you knew it, I guess you always knew it.
You made me happy, sometimes you made me glad.
But there were times, sir, you made me feel so sad.
You made me sigh 'cause
I didn't wanna tell you, I didn't wanna tell you
I think you're grand, that's true
Yes I do, 'deed I do, you know I do.
I must tell you what I'm feeling
The very mention of your namesends my heart reeling.
You know you made me love you!
[spoken to a picture of Gable]
Aw, gee, Mr. Gable, I don't wanna bother you! Guess you got a lotta girls that tell you the same thing. And if you don't wanna read this, well, you don't have to. But I just had to tell you about the time I saw you in "It Happened One Night". That was the first time I ever saw you, and I knew right then you were the nicest fella in the movies! I guess it was 'cause you acted so, well so natural like - not like a real actor at all, but just like any fella you'd meet at school or at a party. Then one time I saw you in a picture with Joan Crawford, and I had to cry a little 'cause you loved her so much and you couldn't have her - not 'till the end of the picture, anyway. And then one time I saw you in person. You were making a personal appearance at the theatre, and I was standing there when you got out of your car, and you almost knocked me down! Oh - but it wasn't your fault! Naw, I was in the way. But you looked at me, and you smiled. Yeah! You smiled right at me as if you meant it, and I cried all the way home just 'cause you smiled at me for being in your way! Aw, I'll never forget it, Mr. Gable. Honest. You're my favorite actor!
[singing]
I don't care what happens, let the whole world stop.
As far as I'm concerned, you'll always be the top,
'cause you know you made me love you.
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