Dead Ringer, also known as Who is Buried in my Grave? (1964). Thriller directed by Paul Henreid from a screenplay by Oscar Millard and Albert Beich from the story La Otra by Rian James. The music score was by Andre Previn and the cinematography by Ernest Haller. Cast: Bette Davis, Karl Malden and Peter Lawford with Philip Carey, Jean Hagen, George Macready, Estelle Winwood, George Chandler and Cyril Delevanti. The jazz combo in Edie's Bar was composed of electronic organist Perry Lee Blackwell and drummer Kenny Dennis, both noted musicians, but uncredited in the film.
The film is the second time Davis played twin sisters, the first, A Stolen Life(1946). For this reason, Dead Ringer is sometimes mistakenly listed as a remake of A Stolen Life.
Lana Turner turned the film down because she didn't want to play twins.
After a separation of 18 years, Edith Philips meets her twin, Margaret de Lorca, at the funeral of her husband. When Edith learns that Margaret had tricked the man she loved into marriage, she lures Margaret to her apartment, signs her own name to a suicide note and then shoots her sister.
After changing clothes with her dead sister, she moves into the de Lorca mansion and begins living her sister's life. Things are going well until she meets Margaret's secret lover, Tony Collins.
He quickly learns the truth and threatens to blackmail her, Edith realizes that he and Margaret murderd de Lorca.
They begin to struggle and Tony is killed by the family's Great Dane. The police become suspicious and exhume the body of the dead husband. Arsenic is found and Edith is arrested for murder.
She tries to convince her former boyfriend, Sgt. Jim Hobbson, that she is really Edith, but... will he ever believe her story?
If you enjoy thrillers with lots of twist and turns, this movie is for you. Even though Bette's character is a murderess, you may hope for a minute that she gets away with it. The poker scene will keep you sitting at the edge of your seat. The supporting cast is also good, especially Karl Malden.
Jean Hagen (August 3, 1923 – August 29, 1977). She studied drama at Northwestern University and worked as a theater usherette before making her Broadway theatre debut in Another Part of the Forest in 1946.
On Broadway, she was understudy for Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday.
Her film debut was as a femme fatale in Adam's Rib in 1949. The Asphalt Jungle (1950) provided Hagen with her first starring role.
She appeared in the film noir Side Street (1950) playing a gangster's sincere, but none-too-bright, gun moll.
She is best remembered for her comic performance in Singin' in the Rain as the vain and talentless silent movie star Lina Lamont; Hagen received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
By 1953, she was in the television sitcom Make Room for Daddy. As the first wife of Danny Thomas, Hagen received three Emmy Award nominations, but after three seasons she left the series. Thomas, who also produced the show, reportedly didn't appreciate Jean leaving the series and her character was killed off. This was the first TV character to be killed off in a family sitcom. Marjorie Lord was cast a year later as Danny's second wife.
Hagen starred in the 1957 Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Season 3, Episode 7, entitled "Enough Rope for Two".
She performed as Frida Daniels in The Shaggy Dog with Fred MacMurray.
In 1960, she appeared as "Elizabeth" in the episode "Once Upon a Knight" of CBS's series The DuPont Show with June Allyson.
Although she made frequent guest appearances in various television series, she was unable to successfully resume her film career and for the remainder of her career she played supporting roles: Marguerite LeHand, personal secretary to Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Sunrise at Campobello (1960), as the title character in season 2, episode 3 of The Andy Griffith Show titled "Andy and the Woman Speeder" (1961).
She performed as the friend of Bette Davis in, Dead Ringer (1964).
In the 1960's, Hagen's health began to decline and she spent many years hospitalized or under medical care.
In 1976, she made a comeback playing character roles in episodes of the television series: Starsky and Hutch and The Streets of San Francisco and made her final film appearance in the 1977 television movie Alexander: The Other Side of Dawn.
Jean Hagen married Tom Seidel on June 12, 1947. They had 2 children, Aric Phillip (born August 1950) and Christine (born May 16, 1952). She divorced Seidel on November 1, 1965.
Hagen died of esophageal cancer on August 29, 1977.
A Yank at Eton (1942). Comedy/drama. It was the 1942 sequel to the 1938 A Yank at Oxford. A propaganda film to show that Americans and Britons could set aside their differences and come together in the common cause of the war effort.
The film also has the Eton boating song as its theme song, even though no boating is shown in the film. Cast: Mickey Rooney, Edmund Gwenn, Ian Hunter, Freddie Bartholomew, Marta Linden, Carlton Juanita Quigley, Dennis Alan Mowbray and Peter Lawford.
The story begins with Tim, a high school football player, who has big dreams of following in his late father's footsteps by playing football at Notre Dame. Tim's life is turned upside down, when his sister Jane tells him that their mother has married Englishman, Roger Carlton and wants them to come live with her in England.
Tim and his sister set sail for London and before long he meets a young girl for a shipboard romance. After arriving in England, Tim learns that his mother wants him to attended boarding school at Eton, but.. promises him that once he completes prep school, he can go to Notre Dame.
Jane, is settling in nicely and has fallen in love with all the dogs and horses on the estate. At Eton, Tim hates the traditional uniform of top hat and tails, but.. quickly becomes friends with a small boy with the title, Earl of Weeld, who Tim nicknames "Inky," because of the ink he spilled on his collar
When upperclassman Ronnie Kenvil, bullies Inky, Tim steps in and a fight breaks out. Breaking up the fight is, Peter Carlton, Roger's son. Being an American and not understanding the English traditions Tim, objects to the hierarchy governing the upper and lower boys. So Tim, decides to put together a committee of lower boys to buy at discount the items required by the upper boys and the then turn around and sell them to the upper boys making a profit. When Justin, the headmaster, discovers the plan, he decides to pit the lower boys against Tim.
When, Tim goes home for the holidays he invites the girl he met on the ship to a big party at the Carlton house. She flirts with Peter and Tim becomes jealous. After Peter tells the girl that she can not ride Bonnie Warrior, the Carltons' prize horse, she tricks Tim into taking her to see the horse. Spooked, by the girl's white dress, Bonnie Warrior gallops into a wall, forcing Roger to shoot the fatally injured horse.
Heartbroken, over the death of the prized horse, Tim decides to travel back to America, but.. is stopped by Roger, who walks with him to the family chapel and shows him the grave of his young son, Bobby. Roger, then forgives Tim and reassures him that he is not trying to replace his father. Tim, has a change of heart and does well in his studies and begins participate in school sports, even winning a Rugby match for the team.
On the night before the big race, Kenvil steals Justin's car to keep a date. Seeing someone breaking into the car, Peter hurries outside and watches as the car speeds away. After Peter returns inside, Tim spots the handkerchief that he dropped lying on the ground. Believing that it was Peter, who stole the car, he hides the evidence. When Justin finds Tim wandering the grounds, he thinks that he stole the car and when Tim refuses to defend himself, confines him to his room.
After, a night of drinking at the Willow Club, Kenvil drives off the road into a ditch. Later, when his sister Jane, sees the overturned car, she goes looking for her brother and tries to talk Tim to telling the truth. Peter, soon learns that it was not Peter who stole the car. Determined, to find the thief, together the boys go back to the Willow Club, to question the bartender. Will the barkeep identify the real thief and and prove Tim's innocent?
This is a very entertaining film and Mickey is given excellent support from a wonderful cast of costars. Edmund Gwenn, Ian Hunter, Freddie Bartholomew, Marta Linden, Carlton Juanita Quigley, Dennis Alan Mowbray and Peter Lawford.
Frederick Bartholomew (March 28, 1924 – January 23, 1992), was born in Harlesden in the borough of Willesden, Middlesex, London.
By the age of three was an actor and was reciting and performing. By age five he was a popular Warminster celebrity, the "boy wonder elocutionist", reciting poems, prose, and selections from various plays, including Shakespeare. Bartholomew did singing and dancing as well.
His first film role came by the age of six, in 1930. Bartholomew also pursued acting studies at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London,and appeared in a total of four minor British films. American filmmakers George Cukor and David O. Selznick saw him on a 1934 scouting trip to London, and chose him for the young title role in their MGM film David Copperfield (1935).
Bartholomew and his aunt immigrated to the U.S. in August 1934, and MGM gave him a seven-year contract. David Copperfield, which also featured Basil Rathbone, Maureen O'Sullivan, W.C. Fields and Lionel Barrymore, was a success, and made Bartholomew an overnight star. He was subsequently cast in a succession of prestigious film productions with some of the most popular stars of the day.
Among his successes of the 1930s were: Anna Karenina (1935), Professional Soldier (1935) Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936), Lloyd's of London (1937), The Devil is a Sissy (1936) and Captains Courageous (1937). Captains Courageous, is Bartholomew's, best known movie and the one he most enjoyed working on. The film took an entire year to make, and much of it was shot off the coasts of Florida and of Catalina Island in California. "Bartholomew's acting skills, emotional range, perfect English diction and angelic looks made him a box-office favorite.He quickly became the second-highest paid child movie star after Shirley Temple.
By April 1936, following the film, Little Lord Fauntleroy, Bartholomew's success caused his estranged birth parents to want custody of him and his fortune. A legal battle of nearly seven years length ensued, resulting in nearly all of the wealth that Bartholomew amassed being spent on attorneys' and court fees and payouts to his birth parents and two sisters.
The custody battles prompted Bartholomew's aunt to demand a raise in his salary from MGM in July 1937, leveraged by the huge success of Captains Courageous. She threatened to break his MGM contract in order to find a better-paying studio. The contract battle kept Bartholomew out of work for a year, causing among other things the postponement and eventual loss of his planned lead in a film of Rudyard Kipling's Kim, and the loss of his planned lead in Thoroughbreds Don't Cry with Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney.
Bartholomew eventually resumed acting in mostly lesser-quality films and roles, only three out of eleven of which were with MGM, and after 1938 he became less popular. This fall in popularity was because by late 1938 he was a 6-foot teenager, and also because the world was focusing on the growing problems of World War II and the literary classics and costume dramas were less popular.
Twentieth Century Fox's 1938 film, Kidnapped successfully paired Bartholomew again with his Little Lord Fauntleroy co-star C. Aubrey Smith. MGM re-teamed him for the fourth and fifth times with Mickey Rooney in, Lord Jeff (1938) and A Yank at Eton (1942). He co-starred with Judy Garland in the musical, Listen, Darling (1938).
In 1939 Universal re-teamed him for the third and fourth times with Jackie Cooper in, The Spirit of Culver and Two Bright Boys. He later performed in Swiss Family Robinson and Tom Brown's School Days in 1940. And as World War II deepened, Columbia had him star in three military-related films: Naval Academy (1941), Cadets on Parade (1942), and Junior Army (1942).
World War II military service interrupted Bartholomew's career even further. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force on January 13, 1943 at the age of 18, and worked in aircraft maintenance. During training he fell and injured his back, was hospitalized for seven months, and was discharged on January 12, 1944.
Bartholomew had one film role in 1944, in the low-budget comedy, The Town Went Wild. The film reunited him with Jimmy Lydon, with whom he had starred in, Tom Brown's School Days, Naval Academy, and Cadets on Parade. This ended up being Bartholomew's last film performance for seven years.
Bartholomew's efforts to revive his film career were unsuccessful; and efforts performing in regional theaters and vaudeville did not spark a comeback either.
After distressing experiences including a devastating auto accident and performing unsuccessfully in a play in Los Angeles, in 1946 Barthlomew married publicist Maely Daniele. The marriage was not a happy one.
He spent most of 1948 touring small American theatres, and in November 1948 left without his wife for an Australian tour as a night-club singing and piano act. Switch to television and off-camera work. Upon his return to the U.S. in 1949, Bartholomew , began working as a television host and director to television producer and executive.
Preferring to be known as Fred C. Bartholomew, he became the television director of independent television station WPIX in New York City from 1949 through 1954. Bartholomew divorced his first wife in 1953, and in December of that year he married television chef and author Aileen Paul, whom he had met at WPIX.
With Aileen he had a daughter, Kathleen Millicent Bartholomew, born in March 1956, and a son, Frederick R. Bartholomew, born in 1958. The family, including stepdaughter Celia Ann Paul, lived in Leonia, New Jersey.This was an era in which advertising firms created and produced radio and television shows. In 1954, Bartholomew began working for Benton and Bowles, a top New York advertising agency, as a television producer and director. At Benton and Bowles, Bartholomew produced shows such as The Andy Griffith Show, and produced or directed several high-quality television soap operas including, As The World Turns, The Edge of Night and Search for Tomorrow.
In 1964 he was made a vice president of radio and television at the company. Bartholomew and Aileen divorced by early 1977. He eventually re-married again, and remained married to his third wife, Elizabeth, for the rest of his life.
Suffering from emphysema, Bartholomew retired from television by the late 1980s. He eventually moved with his family to Bradenton, Florida. In 1991 he was filmed in several interview segments for the documentary film MGM: When the Lion Roars (1992).
Just This Once (1952). Comedy Cast: Janet Leigh, Peter Lawford and Lewis Stone.
When the irresponsible Mark MacLene, falls $2,000,000 in debt, the man in charge of his estate, Judge Samuel Coulter, convinces the creditors to take monthly payments to pay back the money he owes.
Later, Coulter offers the very frugal attorney Lucille Duncan $50 a week,to look over Mark's grandfather's will and manage Mark's estate. Although reluctant, Lucy agrees.
That night, at Mark's house, Coulter tells him of the plan and introduces him to Lucy. Thinking Lucy will be a pushover, Mark accepts the plan.
The next day Lucy, immediately cancels all his charge accounts and when Mark arrives, he asks her to sign a $5,000 check. She refuses, telling him that he must now get by on $50 a week and then tells him where he can buy lunch for 50 cents.Lucy, can not believe it when she finds out that he spent $10 tipping a busboy for a window table.
A few days later, Coulter calls to tell her that he has flown to Paris on his private plane and has gone on a spending spree.
Lucy, catches up with Mark in Hawaii, forcing his return when she starts selling off some of his treasures. Now, that his home is empty, Mark decides to teach Lucy a lesson and moves into her apartment, expecting her to be responsible for him.
Later, when Lucy comes home from work, she finds her apartment newly decorated. After eating a gourmet meal, cooked by Mark, the couple is interrupted by Lucy's fiance, Tom Winters. Tom, is not happy to see Mark living in Lucy's apartment, but she assures him that there is nothing between them. Tom, then tells her that he going to get an $85 a week raise and now they can get married.
Hearing that Tom works for a company he owns, Mark calls Blackwell, Tom's boss and orders him to give Tom a $500 a week raise. When Tom tells Lucy of his huge raise, she finds out that Mark owns the company and insists that Tom refuse the raise. Lucy, decides it is in her best interest to resign, but Coulter raises her salary to $100 a week.
Still, trying to get Mark to change his ways, she suggests that they spend the day together doing things that are fun and free. As the three spend the day together, Mark and Tom grow to like each other and Mark realizes that Tom really loves Lucy.
At the Empire State Building, Tom loses the others in a elevator and Mark takes advantage of the situation by spending the evening alone with Lucy. He realizes that he is in love with her and when they get back to her apartment, he tells her that he is moving out of her apartment. He is about to kiss Lucy when Tom arrives. After Mark leaves, Tom tells Lucy that Mark had offered his yacht and villa for their honeymoon. When Tom sees Lucy's reaction, he realizes that she in love with Mark.
The next morning, Mark goes to her office to propose, she turns him down, saying that she could not respect him if he did not work. Mark promises that he will work, and sometime later calls to say that he has a job in the lab. Lucy makes special plans for that evening, but Mark cancels because he has to work late.
The next day, Mark had lied to Lucy and it does not take long before she realizes what Mark is doing and when he brings his fake colleagues to dinner. She throws him out, over his protests that he really does have a job..
This is a surprisingly, wonderful, romantic, comedy starring Peter Lawford and Janet Leigh. A fun way to spend a hot summer afternoon.
Marilyn Erskine, started performing in several Hollywood movies in the early 1950s:
Westward the Women (1951) playing Jean Johnson
Above and Beyond (1952) playing Marge Bratton
The Girl in White (1952) playing Nurse Jane Doe
Just This Once (1952) playing Gertrude Crome
The Eddie Cantor Story (1953) playing Ida Tobias Cantor
A Slight Case of Larceny (1953) playing Mrs. Emily Clopp
Confidentially Connie (1953) playing Phyllis Archibald.
Peter Lawford(7 September 1923 – 24 December 1984). He was a member of the "Rat Pack", and brother-in-law to President John F. Kennedy. In the late 1930s through the 1950s) he was very popular and starred in many films.
Once he signed with MGM, his mother, Lady Lawford, wanted the studio head Louis B. Mayer, to hire her as her son's personal assistant. Mayer, did not agree to her terms. Lady Lawford, said her son needed to be "supervised." When Lawford learned of his mother's actions their relationship was never the same.
Lawford's, first movie role was at age seven in the film, Poor Old Bill (1930). Eight years later, he made his Hollywood debut in, Lord Jeff. His first major movie role was, A Yank At Eton (1942), where he played a snobbish bully with Mickey Rooney. Lawford, also made uncredited appearances as an RAF pilot in, Mrs. Miniver (1942) and as a sailor in Sherlock Holmes, Faces Death (1943). In the film, The White Cliffs Of Dover (1944), he played a young soldier in World War II. MGM gave him another important role in, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945). Lawford also performed in, Son of Lassie (1945).
With Clark Gable and James Stewart, off to fight in the war, Lawford, was the most popular romantic lead on the MGM lot. Two of his films opened within days of each other: Cluny Brown (1946) and Two Sisters From Boston (1946). He also made his first comedy that same year, My Brother Talks To Horses (1947). He performed with Frank Sinatra for the first time in the musical, It Happened in Brooklyn (1947). Lawford, admitted that the most terrifying experience of his career was, the musical number he performed in the film, Good News (1947).
Lawford was given other important roles in MGM films over the next few years, including:
On an Island with You (1948). It is one of my favorite movies. Williams and Lawford are wonderful together and so are Ricardo Montalban and Cyd Charisse. Especially, during their beautiful dance numbers. If you love happy and romantic musicals you'll love this movie. And don't forget.. we get to see Esther doing what she does best in beautiful water performances.
The story begins when Ricardo Montez, who is playing the part of a Navy man in love with a Polynesian woman, played by his fiancee, Rosalind. They hired Lawrence a Navy Lieutenant, as technical adviser, to help the director on the film's authenticity. During the filming of one of Rosalind and Ricardo's love scenes, Larry interrupts the shooting to take the opportunity to kiss Rosalind .
That evening, at the Royal Aloha hotel, the cast and crew attend a nightclub show performed by Xavier Cugat and his orchestra. Larry, finds another opportunity to get close to Rosalind, and asks her to dance. She refuses thinking that he is too forward.
The next day, Larry is to circle the set once in an airplane with Rosalind on board, but he flies the plane to the tropical island where they first met. Larry wants one dance with her before he returns her to the set. Rosalind, says she will kiss him to prove that she has no feelings for him, but the kiss shows that she is an attracted to Larry. When Larry and Rosalind return to the airplane, they find that the wheels and other parts have been stolen by the islanders. The two set out to find the natives village, but become separated. Will they be rescued before the natives have them for dinner? (wink/wink). I love the dance numbers with Ricardo Montalban and Cyd Charisse.
Easter Parade (1948), Don Hewes and Nadine Hale are a dancing team, but she wants a career on her own. So he chooses, Hannah Brown, as a new partner. It is not long before Florence Ziegfeld, is interested in the new team, but... Nadine Hale, dances in the Ziegfeld Follies, so Don refuses. Don, is in now in love with Hannah, but, plans t keep it strictly business for now. Hannah, still believes that he is in love with Nadine, when he dances with her in a Night Club Show.
Little Women (1949). Meg, Josephine, Amy and Beth, all live with their mother, while their father serves with the Union army during the Civil War. Meg, is thought of as the second mother to the girls, while "Jo", the tomboy, takes on the role of man of the house. Amy, dreams of the good things in life, and Beth, the youngest and frailest of the four, loves to play the piano. A beautiful film of four young girls coming into womanhood.
It Should Happen to You (1954). Gladys Glover, has just lost her modelling job when she meets filmmaker Pete Sheppard shooting a documentary in Central Park. For Pete it's love at first sight, but Gladys has her mind on making a name for herself. Before she knows it,her name is plastered over town. Suddenly, all of New York, is clamoring for Gladys Glover, without knowing why and playboy Evan Adams III, is making a play for Gladys, that even Pete knows will be hard to beat.
The casino film, Ocean’s Eleven (1960) was a project Lawford first brought to Sinatra's attention. It became the first film to feature all of the "Rat Pack" members Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Joey Bishop and Lawford.
Lawford's later films include: The Longest Day (1962), and a role as a United States Senator in, Advise and Consent (1962). In 1961, Lawford and his manager Milt Ebbins formed Chrislaw Productions, which was named after his son Christopher Lawford and produced the 1963 action film, Johnny Cool, starring Henry Silva and Elizabeth Montgomery. He would go on to produce the 1965 Patty Duke film Billie, and his two films with fellow Rat Pack member Sammy Davis, Jr.: Salt and Pepper and One More Time.
He performed in, They Only Kill Their Masters (1972). Lawford's, last role was as Montague Chippendale in the comedy, Where's Parsifal (1983).
Personal Quote:
Explaining his disillusionment with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where he made his first films." Metro was really a star-builder, no doubt about that. You were wrapped in cotton wool. ... I was encouraged to emulate Robert Taylor, who came to the studio every day of his life in a pinstripe suit and pressed shirt with a pin through the collar. They were very high on pins through the collar".
It Should Happen to You (1954) . Romantic/comedy. Cast: Judy Holliday, the first screen appearance of Jack Lemmon. Other cast members: Michael O'Shea, Vaughn Taylor, Connie Gilchrist, Walter Klavun, Whit Bissell, Constance Bennett, Ilka Chase, Wendy Barrie and Melville Cooper. The film was directed by George Cukor and filmed on location in New York City. Screenwriter Garson Kanin originally intended the script as a vehicle for Danny Kaye, but Kanin's wife, Ruth Gordon, suggested casting Judy Holliday instead. The title was initially, A Name for Herself.
Lemmon had a meeting with studio boss Harry Cohn, who feared that critics might use jokes about the name "Lemmon". He wanted Lemmon to change his name to "Lennon." Lemmon said that if he did that people might confuse his name with "Lenin" and associate his name with Communism, a very real concern in the 1950s. He decided to keep the name Lemmon and went on to become a Hollywood legend.
Small time filmmaker Pete Sheppard, meets Gladys Glover, in New York City's Central Park, while filming her feeding peanuts to the pigeons. Gladys shares with him that she has just been fired from her modeling job and now wonders how she can make a name for herself. Pete tells her that, " she is the only one who can make her dreams come true". Later, while walking barefoot in Columbus Circle, Gladys sees a huge billboard for rent, she envisions her name written there and decides to rent it for the three-months. Several days after Gladys has her name painted on the billboard, businessman Evan Adams III, tells his advertising firm, that his soap company usually rents the billboard for the spring season and wants Gladys to give it up. Gladys meets with Evan and the agency representatives, but refuses their money and an additional five hundred dollars. Back at her apartment, Gladys learns that Pete has just moved into her building. She asks him to visit Columbus Circle to see her bill board.
She eventually makes a deal with the advertising company to have her name posted on 10 billboards posted throughout city. Suddenly, all of New York is curious about who Gladys Glover is. Evan Adams III also has eyes for Gladys.
Fun Fact:
The background music playing during the scene when Peter Lawford is trying to romance Judy Holliday is also used during several scenes in the film, From Here to Eternity (1953) .
I loved the on screen chemistry between Judy Holliday and Jack Lemmon. This film maybe my favorite Judy Holliday performance. Is this the first time someone became famous for doing nothing??
Judy Holliday (June 21, 1921 – June 7, 1965). Kanin, together with George Cukor, Spencer Tracy, and Katharine Hepburn, wanted to promote Holliday by offering her a part in the film, Adam's Rib(1949). She got rave reviews and Cohn offered her the chance to repeat her role for the film version of Born Yesterday. She won the first Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and at the 23rd Academy Awards, Holliday won the Academy Award for Best Actress, over Gloria Swanson, nominated for Sunset Boulevard, Eleanor Parker, for Caged, and Bette Davis and Anne Baxter, both for All About Eve.
In 1954, she starred with a new young star Jack Lemmon in the popular comedy It Should Happen to You, and again (in 1954), in Phffft!.
She was best known for her ability to shift her mood quickly from comic to serious is one. George Cukor said that she had "in common with the great comedians...that depth of emotion, that unexpectedly touching emotion, that thing which would unexpectedly touch your heart." Please click here to view past Judy Holliday reviews.
List of Judy Holliday Films :
1944 Greenwich Village
1949 Adam's Rib
1950 Born Yesterday
1952 The Marrying Kind
1954 It Should Happen to You Gladys Glover
1954 Phffft!
1956 The Solid Gold Cadillac
1957 Full of Life
1960 Bells Are Ringing
Long Shot(1955). Cast: Alfred Hitchcock Himself - Host, Peter Lawford and John Williams.
Down on his luck gambler Charlie Raymond, reads a newspaper classified add asking for a native Londoner who will drive a British visitor on a trip from New York to San Francisco. He meets with Hendricks, the man who placed the ad. While they drive across the country, Hendricks asks many questions about London. Charlie who has had just about enough, is just about to run off and leave Hendricks on his own, when he goes through his employers brief case and discovers his reason for going to San Francisco, he quickly comes up with his own a plan. Loved the twist at the end.
John Williams(pictured on the far left, from the movie, (Dial M for Murder), was born in England and educated at Lancing College. He began acting on the Broadway stage in 1924. He first acted in Hollywood films in 1930, debuting in, The Chumps. In his career he performed in more than forty films and also made more than forty guest performances on television shows. He was part of the regular cast for the 1967 season of, Family Affair.
He performed in Hitchcock's The Paradine Case with Gregory Peck and as an insurance company representative in the film, To Catch a Thief with Cary Grant and Grace Kelly.
Williams also played in several episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents on TV, including "The Long Shot" with Peter Lawford (27 November 1955), "Back for Christmas" (1956), "Whodunit" (1956), "Wet Saturday" (1956), the 3-part episode "I Killed the Count"(1957), and "Banquo’s Chair" (1959).
One of his last performances was in Battlestar Galactica: War of the Gods (1979).
List of films:
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
The Foreman Went to France (1942)
The Paradine Case (1947)
Dial M for Murder (1954)
Sabrina (1954)
To Catch a Thief (1955)
D-Day the Sixth of June (1956)
The Solid Gold Cadillac (1956)
Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957)
The Young Philadelphians (1959)
Midnight Lace (1960)
Double Trouble (1967)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1972)
Esther Williams, is a retired American competitive swimmer and MGM movie star. Esther is also one of my favorite actress. Williams set multiple national and regional swimming records as part of the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team. Unable to compete in the 1940 Summer Olympics because of World War II, Williams joined Billy Rose's Aquacade, where she took on the role left by Eleanor Holm. After the show move from New York City to San Francisco. Where she performed five months with Olympic swimmer and Tarzan star, Johnny Weissmuller.
It was at the Aquacade that Williams caught the eye of MGM scouts. After performing with Mickey Rooney in an Andy Hardy film, and five time co-star Van Johnson in A Guy Named Joe, Williams made films in the 1940's and early 1950's known as "aquamusicals", which featured beautiful performances with synchronized swimming and diving.
My favorite Esther Williams film is: ON AN ISLAND WITH YOU (1948). Cast: Ricardo Montalban, Esther Williams, Cyd Charisse and Peter Lawford.
Williams and Lawford are wonderful together and so are Ricardo Montalban and Cyd Charisse. Especially, during their beautiful dance numbers. If you love happy and romantic musicals you'll love this movie. And don't forget.. we get to see Esther doing what she does best in beautiful water performances.
The film begins when Ricardo Montez, is playing the part of a Navy man in love with a Polynesian woman, played by his fiancee, Rosalind. They hired Lawrence a Navy Lieutenant, as technical adviser, to help the director with the film's authenticity. During the filming of one of Rosalind and Ricardo's love scenes, Larry interrupts the shooting to take the opportunity to kiss Rosalind. That evening, at the Royal Aloha hotel, the cast and crew attend a nightclub show performed by Xavier Cugat and his orchestra. Larry, finds another opportunity to get close to Rosalind, and asks her to dance. She refuses thinking that he is too forward.
The next day, Larry is to circle the set once in an airplane with Rosalind on board, but he flies the plane to the tropical island where they first met. Larry wants one dance with her before he returns her to the set. Rosalind, says she will kiss him to prove that she has no feelings for him, but the kiss shows that she is an attracted to Larry. When Larry and Rosalind return to the airplane, they find that the wheels and other parts have been stolen by the islanders. The two set out to find the natives village, but become separated. Will they be rescued before the natives have them for dinner? (wink/wink).
In 1952, Williams performed in her only biographical role, as Australian swimming star Annette Kellerman in Million Dollar Mermaid, which would go on to become her nickname while at MGM. Williams left MGM in 1956 and performed in feature films, followed by several water-themed television specials, including one from Cypress Gardens, Florida.
Since her retirement from film in the 1960s, Williams has become a businesswoman, lending her name to a line of swimming pools and retro swimwear, instructional swimming videos for children, and acting as a commentator for synchronized swimming at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
