Night Flight (1933).

Night Flight (also known as Dark to Dawn) is a 1933 aviation drama film produced by David O. Selznick. Directed by Clarence Brown. Cast: Lionel Barrymore, John Barrymore, Clark Gable and Helen Hayes. It is based on the 1931 novel of the same name which won the Prix Femina the same year, by French writer and pioneering-aviator Antoine de Saint Exupery. Based on Saint-Exupery's personal experiences while flying on South American mail routes, Night Flight recreates a 24-hour period of the operations of the fictional airline, Trans-Andean European Air Mail.

A mother is very worried about her very ill son in a Rio de Janeiro hospital. Everyone is waiting for a very important package containing a life-saving medicine to be delivered by the night flying Trans-Andean European Air Mail, the very next day.

In Santiago, Chile, pilot Auguste Pellerin leaves for Buenos Aires, the airline's headquarters, with the medicine. Bad weather makes his flight a dangerous one and the shaken Pellerin, is thankful to land safely, even though the airline's ruthless director general of a mail service, Riviera, fines him for being late.

Riviera, is a harsh boss who respects his pilots even while driving them ever harder and his no-nonsense tactics worry inspector, Robineau.

Meanwhile, pilot Jules Fabian and his wireless operator, H. Guimet, have left Punta Arenas and do not like the looks of a sudden rainstorm in front of them.

Fabian's wife Simone, is waiting at home for him and has prepared a special dinner to celebrate his first night flight.

Meanwhile, Guimet wants to land in nearby Bahia Blanca, Argentina, but Fabian decides to push ahead, because he does not want to be fined for being late. They radio to headquarters that they are flying blind, but their transmission is cut off. As time wears on Fabian, fly's off-course by the storm.

After Robineau, returns to the office following a dinner with Pellerin, Riviera reprimands him for socializing with the pilot and forces him to punish Pellerin for a fabricated offense, to teach him a lesson.

Riviera, calls a Brazilian pilot to take the mail to Rio and the pilot's wife pleads with him not to go.

Simone, now realizing that her husband is very late, arrives at headquarters after Riviera refuses to give her any information over the telephone.

While Simone waits anxiously for news, Fabian and Guimet, who believe that they have passed the worst of the storm, are forced to jump from their plane when the plane runs out of fuel. The storm has driven them over the ocean and both men jump to their death.

At the airport, Simone realizes that Fabian is dead and hysterically accuses Riviera of treating the pilots like machines. Riviera, insist the night mail must go through, sending the Brazilian pilot onto Rio.

Despite his wife's worries, the pilot makes his run safely and on time. The serum reaches the hospital and the ill child's life is saved.

This all-star cast performs in this awesome film about pilots, with some great aerial footage... This was Lionel's fifth and final teaming with his younger brother John, playing the ruthless director general of a mail service who asks pilots to risk their lives on a daily basis flying over the Andes. Clark Gable, was very impressive as a doomed flyer.

Helen Hayes Brown (October 10, 1900 – March 17, 1993), career spanned almost 70 years. Her mother, Catherine Estelle, was an aspiring actress. Her father, Francis van Arnum Brown, worked at the Washington Patent Office and as a manager and salesman for a wholesale butcher.

Hayes began a stage career at an early age. She said her stage debut was as a 5-year-old singer at Washington's Belasco Theater (on Lafayette Square, across from the White House.)

By the age of ten, she had made a short film called Jean and the Calico Doll, but moved to Hollywood only when her husband, playwright Charles MacArthur, signed a Hollywood deal.

Her sound film debut was in, The Sin of Madelon Claudet, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress.

She followed that with starring roles in, Arrowsmith (with Myrna Loy), A Farewell to Arms (with actor Gary Cooper, The White Sister, What Every Woman Knows (a reprise from her Broadway hit) and Vanessa: Her Love Story.

Hayes, returned to Broadway in 1935, where for three years she played the title role in the Gilbert Miller production of Victoria Regina, with Vincent Price as Prince Albert, first at the Broadhurst Theater and later at the Martin Beck Theater.

In 1953, she was the first-ever recipient of the Sarah Siddons Award for her work in Chicago theater, repeating as the winner in 1969.

She returned to Hollywood in the 1950's, and her film star began to rise. She starred in, My Son John (1952) and Anastasia (1956), and won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as an elderly stowaway in the disaster film, Airport (1970).

She followed that up with several roles in Disney films such as Herbie Rides Again, One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing and Candleshoe. Her performance in Anastasia was considered a comeback—she had suspended her career for several years due to the death of her daughter Mary, and her husband's failing health.

In 1955 the Fulton Theater was renamed for her.

In 1983 the Little Theater on West 45th Street was renamed The Helen Hayes Theater in her honor, as was a theater in Nyack, which has since been renamed the River-space-Arts Center.

It is unclear who or when Hayes was called the "First Lady of the Theater". Her friend, actress Katharine Cornell also held that title, and each thought that the other deserved it. One critic said that Cornell played every Queen as though she were a woman, whereas Hayes played every woman as though she were a Queen.

In 1982, with friend Lady Bird Johnson, she founded the National Wildflower Research Center, now the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas. The center protects and preserves North America's native plants and natural landscapes.

The Helen Hayes Award for theater in the Washington D.C. area is named in her honor.

Camille(1936).

Camille(1936). Director: George Cukor. Produced: Irving Thalberg and Bernard H. Hyman, from a screenplay by James Hilton, Zoe Akins and Frances Marion. The picture is based on the 1852 novel and play La Dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas, fils. Cast: Greta Garbo, Robert Taylor, Lionel Barrymore, Elizabeth Allan, Jessie Ralph, Henry Daniell, and Laura Hope Crews.

The film inspired Milton Benjamin to write a song called "I'll Love Like Robert Taylor, Be My Greta Garbo." Portions of the film, including the final scene, are featured in the 1982 musical film Annie after the number "Let's Go To The Movies."

Marguerite Gautier, is known as "the lady of the camellias" because of her love for the flowers. Marguerite's friends know her as a woman whose heart is bigger than her bank account. Though she is given money and jewels by her many suitors, she has trouble keeping up her lifestyle.

Prudence Duvernoy, comes to Marguerite and tells her, she must find a rich man who can take care of her and arranges for her to meet, Baron de Varville. When Prudence leaves the theater box to find de Varville, Armand Duval, who has been in love with Marguerite and has been following her for weeks, joins her.

Because they have never met, she thinks that he is the baron.



 When she is introduced to the real Baron, Marguerite is disappointed, but she still leaves with him. Soon, Marguerite, becomes de Varville's mistress. When he goes on a business trip to Russia, her frail health keeps her home.

At a coach auction, she meets Armand again and is told by her maid, that he came to ask about Marguerite's health every day.

Later, Marguerite invites him to a party at her home, and when she becomes ill, he carries her into her bedroom and tells her that he is deeply in love with her and wants to take care of her. Marguerite, must choose between the young man who loves her and the baron who wants her.

A very romantic film and one of my favorite Garbo performances. The cinematography and costume design are absolutely beautiful. The supporting performances from Lionel Barrymore, Laura Hope Crewes and Maureen O'Sullivan are perfect. Robert Taylor, is very young and handsome. A wonderful classic film you will not soon forget.

Fun Facts:
Greta Garbo's personal favorite of all her films.
Greta Garbo wore bedroom slippers under all her fancy dresses so she could be comfortable.
Film debut of Joan Leslie.

Elizabeth Allan (9 April 1908 – 27 July 1990) was an English actress who worked in both England and Hollywood, making about 50 films over more than a quarter century.

She made her movie debut in 1931, first appearing in Alibi. 1935 was her most memorable year in Hollywood, when she not only distinguished herself in two memorable Dickens' adaptations as David's young mother in, David Copperfield and as Lucie Manette in Jack Conway's, A Tale of Two Cities, but was also featured in, Mark of the Vampire.

By the 1950s, Allan had made the transition to character parts. Particularly memorable is her appearance in, The Heart of the Matter (1953). In 1958, she appeared as Boris Karloff's wife in, The Haunted Strangler.

Pre-Code: Mata Hari(1931).

Mata Hari(1931). A Pre-Code film loosely based on the life of Mata Hari (the stage name of Margaretha Geertruida Zelle), an exotic dancer/courtesan executed for espionage during World War I. The film stars Greta Garbo in the title role. The film is credited with popularizing the legend of Mata Hari. The third and final film in which Ramon Novarro and Lewis Stone both appeared, though they have no scenes together.

During World War I, after the execution of a group of convicted spies, Dubois, chief of the French Spy Bureau, vows that he will someday find enough evidence to prosecute France's greatest enemy, Mata Hari, a famous dancer, who lives a double life as a German spy.

Mata, receives her assignments from a man named Andriani, who wants her to use her charms to learn more about the secret messages and maps detailing Russian troop movements, from the French and Russian officers.

Soon after meeting Lieutenant Alexis Rosanoff of the Russian Imperial Air Force, a flier who was had a successful flight over German lines to bring back a secret message, Mata begins an affair and falls in love  with him. At first Mata, does not know that Alexis has the secret documents she has been ordered to steal.

Later, when Mata learns that Alexis is carrying the secret documents, she sleeps with him and darkens the apartment so that her fellow agents can take the papers, copy them and return them before anybody notices.  Andriani,  has Carlotta, one of his spies, killed for falling in love on the job. He then tells Mata that she must continue her relationship with Alexis.

Looking for a way to find the evidence he needs against Mata, Dubois tells  her ex-lover General Shubin, that Mata has been having an affair with Alexis, hoping out of jealousy he will expose her treachery.

Shubin, does confront Mata, and Mata tries to prove that she does not love Alexis by showing Shubin the secret photographs she stole from the lieutenant. Not believing her, Shubin calls the embassy to have Mata arrested, but Mata shoots him so she can get away.

As Mata, leaves the murder scene, Andriani tells her that her Paris assignment is over and that she must now go to Amsterdam . Andriani, also informs her that Alexis has been injured in an airplane crash and has been hospitalized. He then forbids her to visit Alexis, Mata resigns so she can be with Alexis. At his bedside, Mata promises the blinded Alexis that she will never leave him. As soon as Mata leaves the hospital, she is arrested by Dubois and put on trial for murder and espionage.Will she be able to prevent Alexis from ever knowing about her crimes and avoid execution?

 

I really enjoyed this dramatic love story and thought Great Garbo, looked beautiful performing the exciting role as a double agent.

Karen Morley (December 12, 1909 – March 8, 2003). After working at the Pasadena Playhouse, she came to the attention of the director Clarence Brown when he was looking for an actress to stand-in for Greta Garbo in screen tests.

This led to a contract with MGM and roles in such films as Mata Hari (1931), Scarface (1932), The Phantom of Crestwood (1932), The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932), Arsene Lupin (1933) and Dinner at Eight (1933).

 In 1934, Morley left MGM after arguments about her roles and her private life. Her first film after leaving MGM was Our Daily Bread (1934), directed by King Vidor. She continued to work as a freelance performer, and appeared in Michael Curtiz's Black Fury, and The Littlest Rebel with Shirley Temple.

Without the support of a studio, her roles became less frequent, however she played a supporting role in Pride and Prejudice (1940). Her career came to an end in 1947, when she testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee and refused to answer questions about her alleged American Communist Party membership. She maintained her political activism for the rest of her life. In 1954, she ran unsuccessfully for Lieutenant Governor of New York on the American Labor Party ticket. After being blacklisted in Hollywood by the studio bosses, she was never able to rebuild her acting career. In December 1999, at the age of 90, she appeared in the magazine Vanity Fair in an article about blacklist survivors.

Lionel Barrymore.

Lionel Barrymore (April 28, 1878 – November 15, 1954).Lionel and Doris, were living in Paris in 1908, so Lionel could attended art school and where their first baby, Ethel, was born. He soon began performing in films, The Battle (1911), The New York Hat (1912).



 He also performed in the film, Friends and Three Friends (1913). In 1915 he co-starred with, Lillian Russell in a movie called, Wildfire.

The last silent film he directed was called, Life's Whirlpool (1917), which starred his sister, Ethel. In early 1920, Barrymore reprised his title role in the stage play, The Copperhead (1920), in a Paramount film of the same name.

Before the formation of MGM in 1924, Barrymore became good friends with Louis B. Mayer, at Metro Pictures. He made many silent movies for Metro, most of them now lost. He occasionally freelanced, returning to Griffith in 1924 to film, America. His last film for Griffith was, Drums of Love(1928).

After Lionel and Doris divorced in 1923, he married Irene Fenwick. The two went to Italy to film, The Eternal City for Metro Pictures, combining work with their honeymoon. In 1924 he went to Germany to star in British producer/director Herbert Wilcox's Anglo-German co-production Decameron Nights, filmed at UFA's Babelsberg studios outside Berlin. Before his marriage to Irene, he and his brother John stopped talking because Irene had been one of John's lovers. The brothers didn't speak for two years and weren't seen together until the premiere of John's film, Don Juan(1926).

In 1924, he left Broadway for Hollywood. He starred as Frederick Harmon in the film, Fifty-Fifty (1925) opposite Hope Hampton and Louise Glaum and made several other movies with Boris Karloff such as, The Bells.

After 1926, he worked almost exclusively for MGM and performed with actors such as: John Gilbert, Lon Chaney, Sr., Jean Harlow, Wallace Beery, Marie Dressler, Greta Garbo, Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, and his brother John.

On the occasional loan-out, Barrymore had a huge hit with Gloria Swanson in 1928's Sadie Thompson and the film, Drums of Love.

Sadie Thompson Video: First of 7.

In 1929, he returned to directing films. During this early sound film period, he made, His Glorious Night with John Gilbert, Madame X starring Ruth Chatterton and Rogue Song, Laurel and Hardy's first color film.

Barrymore returned to acting in front of the camera in 1931. In that year, he won an Academy Award for his role as an alcoholic lawyer in, A Free Soul (1931), after being nominated in 1930 for Best Director for Madame X. He played characters, like the evil Rasputin in the 1932 Rasputin and the Empress (in which he co-starred with John Barrymore and Ethel Barrymore) and Oliver Jordan in, Dinner at Eight (1933) also with John Barrymore, although they had no scenes together).

During the 1930s and 1940s, he became stereotyped as, cranky, but.. sweet elderly men, in the films: The Mysterious Island (1929), Grand Hotel (1932), Captains Courageous (1937), You Can't Take It with You (1938), Duel in the Sun (1946), and Key Largo (1948).

 

In a series of Doctor Kildare movies in the 1930s and 1940s, he played the Doctor Gillespie, repeating the role he'd created in the radio series throughout the 1940s. He also played the title role in another 1940s radio series, Mayor of the Town.

Barrymore, had broken his hip in an accident and performed his role as Gillespie in a wheelchair later, his worsening arthritis kept him in the chair. The injury also kept him from his playing Ebenezer Scrooge, in the 1938 MGM film version of A Christmas Carol, a role Barrymore played every year on the radio from 1934 through 1953.

His final film appearance was a cameo in Main Street to Broadway, an MGM musical comedy released in 1953. His sister Ethel also performed in the film.

Maybe one of his best known roles, was as Mr. Potter, the miserly banker in, It's a Wonderful Life (1946)opposite James Stewart.

 The role suggested that of the "unreformed" stage of Barrymore's "Scrooge" characterization. Lionel's wife, Irene, died on Christmas Eve of 1936 and Lionel did not perform his annual Scrooge that year.John filled in as Scrooge for his grieving brother. He wanted to perform on television in the 1950s but wanted to remain loyal to his old friend and employer Louis B. Mayer and MGM.

Barrymore was also a composer. His works ranged from solo piano pieces to "Tableau Russe." His piano compositions, "Scherzo Grotesque" and "Song Without Words", were published by G. Schirmer in 1945.

Barrymore was also a very skillful graphic artist. For years, he had a art studio attached to his home in Los Angeles. His etchings and drawings are treasured by collectors around the world.

On Borrowed Time(1939).

On Borrowed Time(1939). The film is based on a novel by Lawrence Edward Watkin. Cast: Lionel Barrymore, Beulah Bondi and Sir Cedric Hardwicke. Barrymore plays Julian Northrup, a wheelchair user (Barrymore had broken his hip twice and was now using a wheelchair, though he continued to act), who, with his wife Nellie, played by Bondi, are raising their orphaned grandson, Pud.


The story begins when, Death, who comes in the form of Mr. Brink, hitches a ride with Dr. James Northrup and his wife, causing a tragic car accident. They leave behind a young son Pud in the care of his grandparents, Julian Northrup and Nellie. Pud's aunt, Demetria Riffle, an old maid, pretends to care about the boy, but really only wants his inheritance. Gramps, knows exactly what she is up to.

When Mr. Brink comes for Gramps, he tricks him into the apple tree. Mr. Brink is not able to come down from the tree, because only Gramps has the power to free him. After their pet cocker spaniel dies after touching the tree, Gramps has a fence built round the tree to protect others.

Dr. Evans, soon believes that Death is trapped up in the apple tree, when several of his cases of certain death do not happen. Evans tries to disprove Gramps's story, but nothing dies, except a mouse that touches the apple tree. Evans begs Gramps to let Brink down. Saying that a world without death would cause people with incurable diseases, to suffer. Gramps, thinks about his own old age, but still cannot let Brink out of the apple tree.

The next day, Evans comes with papers to commit Gramps and turn Pud over to Demetria, convincing Gramps to let Brink out of the tree. After he breaks the news to Pud about his decision to go with Brink, Pud cries that saying he wants to go with Mr. Brink, too. Heartbroken, when Gramps tells him he can't come, Pud runs away. Gramps, pretends that Mr. Brink has said that Demetria and the sheriff are due to die soon. Marcia Giles, Gramps's housekeeper, also pretends that she heard it too, frightening Demetria and the sheriff into leaving. While Marcia and Gramps are looking for Pud. Mr. Brink calls him a "baby calf." Pud trying to climb the tree falls to the ground and is paralyzed. Will Gramps now call Mr. Brink from the tree?

This is a wonderful, magical, movie, with some very heartbreaking scenes. A movie you will not soon forget. One of my favorite Lionel Barrymore performances.

 

Beulah Bondi (May 3, 1889 – January 11, 1981). She made her Broadway debut in Kenneth S. Webb's "One of the Family" at the 49th Street Theatre on December 21, 1925.

She next performed in, Maxwell Anderson's "Saturday's Children" in 1926. It was Bondi's performance in Elmer Rice's Pulitzer Prize-winning "Street Scene," which opened at the Playhouse Theatre on January 10, 1929, that brought Bondi to the movies at the age of 43.

Her debut movie role was as "Emma Jones" in Elmer Rice's Street Scene (1931), which starred Sylvia Sidney, and in which Bondi reprised her stage role, followed by "Mrs. Davidson" in Rain (1932), which starred Joan Crawford and Walter Huston.

She was one of the first five women to be nominated for an Academy Award in the newly-created category of "Best Supporting Actress" for her work in The Gorgeous Hussy, although she lost the award to Gale Sondergaard.

Two years later, she was nominated again for Of Human Hearts, and lost again, but her reputation as a character actress kept her working. She would most often be seen in the role of the mother of the star of the film for the rest of her career, with the exception of Make Way for Tomorrow (1937) as the abandoned Depression-era 'Ma' Cooper.

She often played mature roles in her early film career even though she was only in her early 40's. Bondi played James Stewart’s mother in four films: It's a Wonderful Life, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Of Human Hearts and Vivacious Lady.

Key Largo (1948).

Key Largo (1948). film noir directed by John Huston. Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lauren Bacall, Lionel Barrymore, and Claire Trever. Key Largo, was the fourth and final film pairing of married actors Bogart and Bacall. Trevor won the 1948 Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance.

Veteran Frank McCloud, travels to Key Largo, Florida to pay his respects to the family of George Temple, who died under his command during World War II. George's wheelchair-bound father James runs the hotel with George's widow, who insists that he stay the night. Sitting at the bar are Nora, Frank, Curly Hoff, Toots, Angel and Gaye Dawn. Nora, explains to him that they offered her father-in-law so much money to open the hotel for them, that he could not say no.

It is not long before, a hurricane warning is issued and Nora, runs around closing all the shutters, when the telephone rings. Curly, answers the phone and tells the caller that the Temples are not there and he also has not seen local police officer named, Sawyer. When Temple speaks up, the men pull their guns. The men's boss comes downstairs and Frank recognizes him as the gangster Johnny Rocco. Johnny Rocco and his men, have already captured and beaten Sawyer, who was looking for the Oceola brothers, who had just escaped from jail.

When Rocco, makes a pass at Nora, she spits in his face and Frank quickly talks him out of killing her. Rocco throws him a gun and tells him that he can rid the world of Rocco if he is also willing to die. Frank, throws the gun and Sawyer grabs it and tries to escape. Rocco kills Sawyer, revealing that the other gun was not loaded. Rocco then demands Gaye, his alcoholic girlfriend, to sing a song before she can have a drink. She does not sing very well, Rocco refuses to give her a drink, Frank feels sorry for her and pours her a drink. Rocco slaps him and once again, Frank does nothing.

After the storm passes, Rocco learns they lost the boat in the storm. He orders Frank to take Temple's boat to take him to Cuba. Just before they leave, a second police officer comes looking for Sawyer and finds his body laying outside the hotel. Rocco, blames the murder on the Oceola brothers and when the the brothers try to escape, the officer shoots them. As Rocco and his men prepare to leave, Gaye begs Rocco to take her with them, she grabs his gun from his pocket without him knowing and slips it to Frank. Will Frank save them and get out of this alive?

Key Largo, is a story about a bad situation in which from the beginning you wonder when Frank (if ever), is going to make his move, but.. as luck would have it the hurricane changes things around .

Thomas Gomez (July 10, 1905 – June 18, 1971), began his acting career in theater during the 1920s and was a student of the actor Walter Hampden. He made his first film Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror in 1942 and by the end of his career had appeared in sixty films.

He received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the film, Ride the Pink Horse (1947). His other film roles include: Who Done It? (1942), Key Largo (1948), Force of Evil (1948), The Conqueror (1956) and his final film Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970).

Pre-Code: Dinner at Eight (1933).

Dinner at Eight(1933). Pre-Code drama. Directed by George Cukor. Cast: Billie Burke, Lionel Barrymore, Madge Evans, and Jean Harlow.

The story begins, One week before Millicent Jordan's next big society dinner, she is proud to learn that Lord and Lady Ferncliffe, who she and her husband Oliver, had met in England the year before, have accepted her dinner invitation. Millicent, is oblivious to her families lack of concern about her dinner party, while she is on a man hunt, looking for an "extra man" for her single female guest, former actress Carlotta Vance.

Oliver, is worried that someone is secretly trying to buy out the company stock. Carlotta, a woman from his past, visits him at his office and wants to sell her stock in the Jordan Shipping Line. She asks Oliver to buy it from her, but .. he does not have the money. Oliver, is then visited by Dan Packard, who he asks to take over some of his stocks until his business improves. Dan agrees, then goes home to tell his, gold digger wife Kitty that the Jordan Line, is a valuable asset and he plans on taking it over.

Unknown to Dan, Oliver asks Millicent invite the Packard's, to her dinner party to win Dan over. The tacky, social climber Kitty, accepts the invitation but Dan refuses to go, believing he is to good for the Jordans.

He quickly changes his mind when he finds out the Ferncliffes, the richest couple in England will be there. Another of Millicent's invited guests, will be Dr. Wayne Talbot, who has been having a affair with Kitty.

Millicent, calls Larry Renault, a faded silent movie star and extends a last-minute invitation, unaware that Paula is in love with him. At Paula's urging, Larry, divorce three times and a alcoholic, accepts the invitation, but tells Paula to forget him and return to Ernest. Paula, refuses to take Larry seriously.

Later, Larry is visited by his agent, Max Kane, who breaks the news to Larry that the plays new producer, Jo Stengel, wants another actor in the lead but will cast Larry, in a bit part. Larry, agrees to think over the offer, then sends a bellboy to pawn off a few of his possessions for a bottle of alcohol.

The next day, Dr. Talbot is caught by his wife Lucy talking with Kitty, on the telephone and confesses that he is addicted to women and needs help. Talbot, then rushes to see Oliver, who is at the Doctor's office with chest pains. When he returns home, Oliver tries to explain to Millicent, that he needs his rest, but.. she is too hysterical to hear because, the Ferncliffes have cancelled and are on their way to Florida. Paula, too, is turned away by her upset mother and has to face Ernest alone.

Later, Angry Kitty reveals to Dan, that she is having an affair. When threatened with divorce, Kitty tells her husband that, if he wants his Cabinet appointment, he must back down from his takeover of Oliver's line and treat her with more respect.

Just before he leaves for the dinner, Larry is visited by Max and Jo Stengel and drunkenly puts Stengel down for insulting him with his offer. After Max blames him for ruining his last career chance and the hotel management kicks him out, What is Larry to do and what will happen next at the ill-fated big society dinner?

 Loved the all-star cast. Loved Jean Harlow's, clothes and her wonderful performance as the wife of Wallace Beery. John Barrymore, is also wonderful performing as the once famous actor from the silent era, who cannot accept the fact that his career is over. To me the film is just a perfect time capsule back in time: the depression, the transition from silents to talkies. And... I just loved the gorgeous sets.

Madge Evans (July 1, 1909 – April 26, 1981). Was featured in print ads as the 'Fairy Soap girl' as an infant. She made her professional debut at the age of six months, posing for artist's models.

When she was four years old, Evans was featured in a series of child plays produced by William A. Brady. She worked at the old Long Island, New York movie studio. Her success was immediate, so much so that her mother loaned her daughter's name to a hat company. Evans posed in a mother and child tableau with Anita Stewart, then 16, for an Anheuser-Busch Brewing Company calendar and as the little mountain girl in, Heidi of the Alps.

As a child film actress Evans had a wonderful career performing in many films. In 1914 aged 5 she performed in, Seven Sisters. In 1915 she also performed in the film, Alias Jimmy Valentine. At 14 she was the star of the film, On the Banks of the Wabash(1923). She co-starred with Richard Barthelmess in Classmates(1924). She was working on stage when she signed with Metro Goldwyn Mayer in 1927.

While working for MGM in the 1930s, she performed in the film, Dinner at Eight (1933), Broadway to Hollywood (1933), Hell Below (1933), and David Copperfield (1935). In 1933, she starred with James Cagney in the film, The Mayor of Hell. Other well know movies in which she performed in: Beauty for Sale (1933), Grand Canary (1934), What Every Woman Knows (1934)and Pennies From Heaven (1936).

Grand Hotel (1932).

Grand Hotel(1932), has stood the test of time because of it's all-star cast. Directed by Edmund Goulding. The screenplay by William A. Drake and Bela Balázs is based on the 1930 play of the same title by Drake, who had adapted it from the 1929 novel Menschen im Hotel by Vicki Baum.

The film is the only one to have won the Academy Award for Best Picture without it or its actors being nominated in any other category. The film was remade as, Week-End at the Waldorf (1945).

The film begins when, Grand Hotel permanent resident Doctor Otternschlag, a veteran of World War I,  is looking on while people are coming and going.

Next.. you have Baron Felix von Geigern, who supports himself gambling and part-time jewel thief. He becomes friends with Otto Kringelein , who is dying and wants to spend his last days in a beautiful hotel after a life time scrimping and saving.

Then you have.. Kringelein's former employer, Preysing, closing a deal with the help of his stenographer, Flaemmchen. Who really wants to become an actress and she is willing to do anything to advance her acting career.

Another guest is... Russian ballerina Grusinskaya , whose career is beginning to fade. When She returns from the theatre, she finds Baron in her room stealing her pearls and she tells him, "I want to be alone." Baron decides to stay and Grusinskaya, does not seem to really want him to leave.

The next morning, Baron returns Grusinskaya's pearls, but after a wonderful night with him, she does not seem to concerned about the necklace and invites him to travel with her to Vienna, which he accepts the invitation.

Later, during afternoon tea, the Baron joins Kringelein and Flaemmchen, talks the frail man into dancing with her. Preysing, demands she join him in his suite. Not happy, with his former boss rude behavior, Kringelein gives him a piece of his mind. Preysing, is about to hit Kringelein up side the head, when the Baron jumps in and invites him to join him in a game of cards. Kringelein accepts and wins everything, when he becomes intoxicated and drops his wallet, the Baron picks it up and hides it in his jacket pocket. When Kringelein, begins to search for his lost wallet, the Baron pretends to have suddenly have found the wallet returns it to him.

As part of a merger, Preysing must travel to London and he asks Flaemmchen to join him. Later, when the two are in her room, Preysing sees the shadow of the Baron going through his things. He confronts the Baron and the two get into a fight. Preysing hits the Baron with the telephone, killing him. Flaemmchen comes in and sees what happened. Preysing, insists he acted in self-defense, but Kringelein calls the police and has Preysing arrested.

Grusinskaya leaves for the train station, expecting to find the Baron waiting for her. Kringelein, offers to take Flaemmchen, to Paris to find a cure for his illness. As they leave the hotel, Doctor Otternschlag once again watches, the people coming and going in "Grand Hotel"....

Greta Garbo, is definitely the star of the film, but Joan Crawford, also gives a wonderful performance. Lionel Barrymore and John Barrymore are also impressive. The cinematography is beautiful, as it gives us the grandness of the Grand Hotel, the overhead shot of the operators who are taking the calls and then focusing on everyone who are busy with their own lives, is very interesting to watch.



 Fun Facts:

There are no scenes where Greta Garbo and Joan Crawford are in the same frame. This was done to eliminate the possibility that one of the two great stars might upstage the other.

Joan Crawford was irked by Greta Garbo's insistence on top billing and decided to take her revenge. Knowing that Garbo loathed tardiness and Marlene Dietrich in equal measures, Crawford played Dietrich records between shots and made sure to arrive late on set.

The only Best Picture Oscar winner not to be nominated for any other Academy Awards.

Lewis Stone (November 15, 1879 – September 12, 1953). He performed in the film, Nomads of the North(1920), playing a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman. He performed in the title role in the silent film version of, The Prisoner of Zenda(1922), as well as, Rudolf Rassendyll.

Stone was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for, The Patriot (1929). After that, he performed in seven movies with Greta Garbo, in both the silent and sound periods. He played the role of Dr. Otternschlag in the Garbo film, Grand Hotel, in which, completely unaware of all the high drama that is going on, he says the famous closing line: "Grand Hotel. People come. People go. Nothing ever happens". He played a larger role in the Garbo film, Queen Christina(1933).  He performed in the films, Big house, The Lost World (1925),The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932) and Missing Persons (1933).

In 1937, Stone began the role which would become his most famous, that of Judge James Hardy, in the Mickey Rooney "Andy Hardy" series. Stone performed as the judge in fifteen movies, beginning with You're Only Young Once (1937).

Thrillers and Chillers: The Devil Doll (1936).

The Devil Doll (1936). Directed by Tod Browning. Cast: A cross-dressing Lionel Barrymore and Maureen O'Sullivan. The movie was adapted from the novel Burn Witch Burn! (1936) by Abraham Merritt.

Paul Lavond, wrongly convicted of robbing his own bank more than seventeen years ago, escapes from Devil's Island with Marcel, an old scientist who is near death. Marcel wants to live with his wife Malita and a continue his work, while Paul wants revenge against the three partners who framed him for their crime.

When Paul and Marcel reach Malita's home, Marcel and Malita conduct an experiment on Lachna, a young girl who works for Malita. The girl is hypnotized and shrunk to the size of a little doll.

After Marcel dies, Malita still wants to continue with their work. Paul sees the doll as a way to get his revenge and they travel back to Paris.

Paul disguises himself as Mme. Mandelip, an old woman who owns a toy shop and, captures others who are turned in to dolls. When he visits his mother, she tells him that, after his wife's death, his daughter Lorraine grew up poor and now works in a laundry. He goes on with his plan against his former partners. Will Lavond clear his name and win back his estranged daughter love?

I thought the film The Devil Doll, had a very interesting plot with a wonderful casting, of Maureen O'Sullivan and Frank Lawton. Lionel Barrymore is the star and gives a wonderful performance, jumping between sympathetic and diabolical. The special effects are amazing.

Maureen O'Sullivan, best known as the jungle wife of Tarzan and mother of Mia Farrow was a classmate of Vivien Leigh.

Her big movie break came when she met director Frank Borzage who was filming for Fox.

In 1932 she signed with MGM and performed in nine movies at four studios.

 Irving Thalberg picked her to play Tarzan's Jane.

She married Australian writer John Farrow, with whom she had seven children: Michael, Patrick, Maria (Mia Farrow), John, Prudence, Theresa (Tisa Farrow), and Stephanie Farrow.

After her last Tarzan she asked for release from her contract to care for her husband who had just left the Navy with typhoid.

She continued making occasional movies, television and stage appearances and operating a bridal consulting service.

The Valley of Decision (1945)

The Valley of Decision (1945)Cast: Greer Garson, Gregory Peck, Lionel Barrymore, Preston Foster, Marsha Hunt, Gladys Cooper, Reginald Owen, Dan Duryea and Jessica Tandy. The movie was adapted by Sonya Levien and John Meehan from the novel (1943) by Marcia Davenport. The film was directed by Tay Garnett.

Mary Rafferty lives in a small house with her wheelchair-bound father Pat and her widowed sister, Kate Shannon, in Pittsburgh known as "The Flats." Mary informs her father that she has taken a job as a live-in maid at the home of steel mill owner William Scott. Her father Pat, lost his legs in an accident at Scott's mill and wants revenge against the family, disapproves.

Soon after starting her job, Mary becomes friends with William's wife Clarissa, his daughter Constance and his three sons. Mary falls head over heals in love with Paul, who has just returned home from London and has plans to modernize the furnace at the Scott mill.

A romance soon blooms between Paul and Mary, much to the dismay of Louise Kane, who is determined to marry Paul for his money. The romance between Paul and Mary is endangered when Mary's family and friends, all steel mill workers, go on strike against Paul's father.

I just saw the film The Valley of Decision for the 2nd time. If you love romance, you will love this movie. The cast of characters are wonderful. Although Greer Garson is much older than Gregory Peck. You really do not notice the age difference and their romance is very believable.

 


Jessica Tandy began her career at the age of 16 in London, opposite Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud. She moved to the United States and performed in many supporting roles in Hollywood films.

She made her first American film: The Seventh Cross (1944). She also performed in The Valley of Decision (1945), The Green Years (1946, as Cronyn's daughter), Dragonwyck (1946) starring Gene Tierney and Forever Amber (1947).

Over the following three decades, her career continued with films: Alfred Hitchcock's, The Birds (1963), and a Tony Award-winning performance in The Gin Game in 1977.

The beginning of the 1980s she performed in character roles in The World According to Garp, Best Friends, Still of the Night (all 1982) and The Bostonians (1984), and Cocoon (1985) and Cocoon: The Return (1988). Foxfire which won her an Emmy Award .

However, it was her performance in Driving Miss Daisy (1989), that earned her an Oscar. She earned a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her work in Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), and co-starred in The Story Lady (1991) telefilm, with daughter Tandy Cronyn), Used People (1992, as Shirley MacLaine's mother), To Dance with the White Dog (1993 telefilm, with husband Hume Cronyn), Nobody's Fool (1994), and Camilla . Camilla was to be her last performance, at the age of 84.

Greta Garbo "The Temptress" (1926)

"The Temptress" (1926) is a silent romantic drama starring Greta Garbo, Antonio Moreno, and Lionel Barrymore. Directed by Fred Niblo and based on the novel by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, this film is about a beautiful woman who destroys the men who come in contact with her. The story begins with Elena, a Spanish girl, played by Greta Garbo, meeting Manuel Robledo, an Argentinian engineer, played by Antonio Moreno, at a Parisian costume ball. They dance and when the masks come off Robledo tells Elena that she is the woman he has waited for all his life. Elena, who is actually married and has a rich lover on the side, swears to Robledo that she has no other man in her life. At this point, Robledo gives Elena a ruby ring. The next day, Robledo visits a friend and business colleague, Marquis de Torre Bianca, played by Armand Kaliz, and is surprised to learn that his wife is Elena. Robledo, Elena, and Bianca attend that night a dinner party hosted by Marquis de Fontenoy, played by Marc Mac Dermott, a middle-aged banker permitted by Bianca to have Elena as his mistress because of the expensive jewels she gets from him. During the dinner, Fontenoy makes a speech on how Elena has ruined his life, and then drops dead at the table after taking his drink of poison. Disgusted at Elena, Robledo decides to forget her by leaving to Argentina where he accepts a water dam building project. When he arrives at his home in Argentina, Robledo is welcomed back by the entire village, including his four best friends, Canterac, played by Lionel Barrymore, Pirovani, played by Robert Andersen, Timoteo, played by Francis McDonald, and Rojas, played by Hector Sarno, as well as the sweet Senorita Celinda, played by Virginia Browne Faire. Robledo occupies himself with the work of constructing a dam. However, the evil bandit, Manos Duras, played by Roy D'Arcy, keeps stealing his horses and luring his workers away. One day, Bianca shows up in Robledo's house looking for work with his wife, Elena, by his side. Robledo is not pleased that Elena is there, but he lets them stay at his house anyway. Elena, dressed in haute couture outfits and high heels, becomes the center of attention of the men in the village, including Robledo's best friends and Manos Duras, who comes with his band of caballeros to serenade Elena and to steal a kiss. When Robledo tries to stop him, Manos Duras challenges him to a duel using whips. The confrontation between the two men is brutal, but Robledo defeats Manos Duras. While Elena lovingly dresses Robledo's wounds, he pushes her away and refuses to acknowledge that he fought for her. Unexpectedly, a gunshot is heard from outside the window. Manos Duras has made an attempt on Robledo's life, but his bullet hits Bianca instead. Elena is now a widow and the men in the village begin pursuing her to the point of neglecting their work. Concerned over her negative influence, Robledo purchases a ticket for Elena to sail back to France. Elena wants Robledo to accompany her to Paris, but he refuses. On the night before Elena is to sail for France, Canterac throws a fiesta for Elena. Just when Canterac is kissing Elena, Pirovani surprises them. A fight breaks between the two men and Canterac ends up killing Pirovani with his sword. Elena runs off in horror while Robledo goes off to find her. When he finds Elena, Robledo blames her for the deaths of Fontenoy, Bianca, and Pirovani. Elena tries to explain to Robledo that their deaths were because of their desire for her body. She tries to convince Robledo that her love for him is sincere, but he defies her. Suddenly, a loud explosion is heard in the village. Manos Duras has blown up the dam with dynamite. At this point, the villagers rush to build a barricade and keep the dam from flooding. It begins to rain, and the barricade breaks, almost carrying Robledo away in the rushing waters. Mad as hell, Robledo returns to his house and intends to kill Elena. Robledo tries to choke her, but ends up kissing her instead. He realizes that he is still in love with Elena and promises to go anywhere with her. Not wanting to be the cause of Robledo's destruction, the next morning, Elena slips out of the house while he sleeps and returns to Paris. Will Robledo and Elena reunite?

"The Temptress" (1926) was Garbo's second American film, and like her first, it was based on a script by the Spanish novelist Vicente Blasco Ibáñez. Production began with Mauritz Stiller at the helm. However, the Swedish director, perhaps jealous of Garbo's phenomenal success in "Torrent" (1926), which had been made without his direction, was unable to cooperate with his American producers. After costly quarrels, Stiller was replaced by Fred Niblo, a director secure at MGM in the reputation of his mighty "Ben Hur." The critical press protested the obvious weak points of the story, the recounting of the vampire-temptress causing the deaths of four lovers. On the other hand, those same reviewers were so swept along by Garbo's personality that they found the film outstanding. The National Board of Review even rated it "exceptional," citing especially its impressive ending. With "The Temptress" Garbo was definitely typed as a vamp. The film was so successful that her producers were reluctant to tamper with the formula that was proving golden for them, but distasteful to Garbo herself. She was deeply concerned to establish herself in this country as the serious actress she had already proved herself to be in Europe. Garbo's leading man in "The Temptress" was Antonio Moreno, the first of the suave Latin Lovers of the silent film era. Moreno had his greatest success in the 1920's, when he was ranked second only to Rudolph Valentino as the great lover of the screen. Born in Madrid, Spain, Moreno was a handsome man and a capable actor, able to play both comedy and drama. Moreno showed good judgment in the management of his career, and the work he left behind far surpasses Valentino's in quantity and quality. Aside from Greta Garbo, Moreno went on to star with such silent leading ladies as Gloria Swanson, Pola Negri, Dorothy Gish, Clara Bow, and Marion Davies. Although Moreno made the transition to sound films, he could not do it as a leading man and became a character actor in films such as "Captain from Castile" (1947), "Thunder Bay" (1953), and "The Searchers" (1956).
















"The Temptress" is worth watching just for its stunning cinematography and Garbo's impressive performance. Garbo had an expressive face that was so ideal in silent films and photographed magnificently. She also had a commanding screen presence. What fascinates me the most about the film is that Garbo portrays Elena as a tragic figure and not as a villain.

DUEL IN THE SUN (1946)

Duel in the Sun (1946) Romance/western. Directed by King Vidor. Produced and written by David O. Selznick. Who wrote the Hollywood classics "Gone With the Wind", "Since You Went Away" and "Rebecca". Cast: Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten, Gregory Peck, Lillian Gish and Lionel Barrymore.

Before Scott Chavez is hanged for murdering his Indian wife and her lover, he makes arrangements for Pearl to live with his second cousin and old sweetheart, Laura Belle. He makes his his daughter Pearl promise that she will grow up to be a lady.

Laura Belle welcomes Pearl into her home on Spanish Bit, the Texas cattle ranch where she lives with her husband,"Senator" McCanles, and their two grown sons, Jesse and Lewt. McCanles, confined to a wheelchair, is not happy that Pearl has come to live with them and calls her "a half-breed". Both Jesse and Lewt are attracted to her.



 Later that night, Lewt forces his way into her bedroom and kisses her. Pearl loves the kindhearted Jesse, but physically attracted to the wild womanizing Lewt and cannot resist him.

When a railroad company wins the legal right to build tracks through McCanles ranch, McCanles and his ranch hands try to defend their land. Jesse, a lawyer, takes the side of the railroad, his father bans him from the ranch.

When Lewt returns early from El Paso, he finds none of the men home and seduces Pearl. Jesse finds them together and tells her that he will never forget what he has seen. Pearl now wants Lewt to marry her, but when he makes it clear that he has no intention of marring her, she quickly becomes engaged to Sam Pierce. Lewt goes into a jealous rage and kills Sam. Will this broken family over come their prejudice and forbidden love of Pearl and Lewt?

My favorite scene of the film is: When McCanles tells Laura Belle that he has always blamed her for his injury. When he thought she was going away to be with Chavez. He now knows it was his own jealousy that caused the accident. He admits that he has always loved her.

Ottilie Ethel Leopoldine "Tilly" Losch, Countess of Carnarvon (15 November 1903 –24 December 1975) was an Austrian-born dancer, choreographer, actress and painter who lived and worked for most of her life in the United States and United Kingdom.

She performed in several screen productions including: Limelight (1936), The Garden of Allah (1936), The Good Earth (1937) and Duel in the Sun (1946). Her choreography was seen in, Song of Scheherazade (1947).

Dissatisfied with supporting film roles, she continued working as a dancer and choreographer and acted on Broadway.

Losch guested with the New York Ballet in a work by Antony Tudor and in London she had danced to Léonide Massine's choreography.

Her best known conception was "The Hand Dance" (a collaboration with her Viennese colleague, Hedy Pfundmayr) which featured in a short dance film by Norman Bel Geddes.