This is my favorite time of year on TCM... The ninth annual Summer Under The Stars (2011). Also this is N and CF's second year celebrating TCM's Summer Under The Stars marathon. Each and every day TCM gives a 24-hour salute to one of the famous actors from Hollywood’s past and/or present. Please check side bar for the actor of the day. I 'm hoping to see a few "new to me" films. So, I hope you will join me in the celebration. First up to bat is...
Marlon Brando- ON TCM August 1. Was best known for his performances in the films, A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), Viva Zapata! (1952), Julius Caesar (1953), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award, also his Academy Award-winning performance in the film, On the Waterfront (1954). During the 1970s, he was most famous for his Academy Award-winning performances in the films, The Godfather (1972) and Apocalypse Now (1979). Brando delivered an Academy Award-nominated performance in, Last Tango in Paris (1972). He also directed and starred in the western film, One-Eyed Jacks (1961). Brando, was a good example of the "method" acting style.
Paulette Goddard- August 2. Was a film and theatre actress. A former child fashion model and in several Broadway productions as Ziegfeld Girl, she was a major star of the Paramount Studio in the 1940s. She was married to several notable men, including Charlie Chaplin, Burgess Meredith, and Erich Maria Remarque. Goddard was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in So Proudly We Hail! (1943).
Bette Davis- August 3rd, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional comedies, although her greatest successes were her roles in romantic dramas.
Ronald Colman- August 4th. While appearing on stage in New York in La Tendress, Director Henry King saw him, and engaged him as the leading man in the 1923 film, The White Sister, opposite Lillian Gish, and was an immediate success.
John Garfield- August 5th. Is acknowledged as a predecessor of such Method actors as Montgomery Clift, Marlon Brando, and James Dean.
Charles Laughton- August 7th. Stage and film actor, screenwriter, producer and director.
We are wrapping up "Summer Under the Stars" Blogathon with, Clint Eastwood, film actor, director, producer and composer. He has received five Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award, two Cannes Film Festival awards, and five People's Choice Awards, including one for Favorite All-Time Motion Picture Star.
Eastwood is best known for his anti-hero roles in action and western films. Following his television series Rawhide(1958–65), he performed as the "Man With No Name" in the Dollars Trilogy of Spaghetti Westerns in the 1960s, and as Inspector Harry Callahan in the Dirty Harry films in the 1970s and 1980s. Eastwood is also known for his comedic performances, in Every Which Way but Loose (1978) and its sequel Any Which Way You Can (1980). In the films Unforgiven (1992) and Million Dollar Baby (2004), Eastwood won Academy Awards for Best Director and for producer of the Best Picture, and received nominations for Best Actor. Some other well known Clint Eastwood films, Paint Your Wagon (1969), Play Misty for Me (1971), High Plains Drifter (1973), The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), Escape from Alcatraz (1979), Pale Rider (1985), In the Line of Fire (1993), and Gran Torino (2008), have all been successful. He has directed films, Mystic River (2003) and Letters from Iwo Jima (2006), for which he received Academy Award nominations.
TCM is featuring one of my favorite Clint Eastwood movies today.
The Bridges of Madison County (1995). Romantic drama film based on the best-selling novel by Robert James Waller. The film was produced and directed by Clint Eastwood with Kathleen Kennedy as co-producer and the screenplay was adapted by Richard LaGravenese. The film stars Eastwood and Meryl Streep, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1996 for her performance in the film.
The film takes place during four summer days of 1965. While Francesca, a Italian housewife in Iowa, is home alone. Her husband and children are away at the Illinois State Fair, she meets and falls in love with a photographer who has come to Madison County, Iowa to take pictures for National Geographic on the covered bridges in the area. The four days they spend together are a turning point in her life and she writes of her experience in a diary which is later read by her children after her death and they are taken back by it.
I thought Clint Eastwood was amazing in this very emotional film. It seems he steps back and allows Meryl to become the heart of the film. The film is beautifully directed, beautifully photographed and beautifully scored. The music on the radio really helps create the romantic, mood of the film.
During the silent era, Todd performed in supporting roles that made full use of her beauty. With the talkies, Todd was given opportunity to expand her roles when producer Hal Roach signed her to perform with comedy stars Harry Langdon, Charley Chase, and Laurel and Hardy.
In 1931 she was given her own series, teaming with ZaSu Pitts for slapstick comedies. This was Roach's female version of Laurel and Hardy. The Todd shorts often cast her as a working girl having all sorts of problems and trying her best to remain charming despite the antics of her sidekick.
Thelma Todd became known as a wonderful film comedienne and Roach loaned her out to other studios to play opposite Wheeler & Woolsey, Buster Keaton, Joe E. Brown, and the Marx Brothers.
She also performed in the original 1931 film version of The Maltese Falcon, in which she played Miles Archer's widow.
During her career she performed in 119 films although many of these were short films and was sometimes publicized as "The Ice Cream Blonde."
In August 1934, she opened a successful cafe at Pacific Palisades, called Thelma Todd's Sidewalk Cafe.
Todd continued her short-subject series through 1935 and was featured in the full-length Laurel and Hardy comedy The Bohemian Girl. This was her last film she died after completing all of her scenes, but most of them were re-shot. Producer Roach deleted all of Todd's dialogue and limited her appearance to one musical number.
This video is from the film: You're Such A Comfort To Me" by Thelma Todd, Ginger Rogers, Jack Oakie and Jack Haley .
Henry Fonda, began his acting career on stage as a Broadway actor. He made his first Hollywood film in 1935. He became well known after his Academy Award-nominated performance as Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath(1940), an adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel about an Oklahoma family who moved west.
Over six decades in Hollywood, Fonda had amazing performances in the films: The Ox-Bow Incident, Mister Roberts and 12 Angry Men. Later, Fonda performed in a very different role in the film, Once Upon a Time in the West and a much lighter role in family comedies like Yours, Mine and Ours.
Fonda comes from of a family of famous actors, daughter Jane Fonda, son Peter Fonda, granddaughter Bridget Fonda and grandson Troy Garity.
One of my favorite Henry Fonda movies is, Fort Apache(1948). Western film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne and Henry Fonda. The film was the first of the director's "cavalry trilogy" and was followed by She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) and Rio Grande (1950), both starring Wayne. The story, which screenwriter James Warner Bellah based loosely on George Armstrong Custer and the Battle of Little Bighorn, was one of the first to show an authentic and sympathetic view of the Native Americans involved in the battle.
Some of the film's location shooting were in, Monument Valley, Utah. The exteriors involving the fort itself and the renegade Indian agent's trading post were filmed at the Corriganville Movie Ranch.
Peter O'Toole's big break came when he played T. E. Lawrence in the film, Lawrence of Arabia (1962), after Marlon Brando was unavailable and Albert Finney turned down the role. The role earned him the first of his eight nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actor.
O'Toole is also one of the few actors to be Oscar-nominated for playing the same role in two different films; he played King Henry II in both 1964's Becket and 1968's The Lion in Winter. In 1980, he received critical acclaim for playing the director in the film The Stunt Man. Another performance from O'Toole, which gained him a nomination for Best Actor, was My Favorite Year(1982).
In 1972 he played both Miguel de Cervantes and his fictional creation Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha, opposite Sophia Loren. O'Toole's singing was dubbed by Simon Gilbert. O'Toole received Golden Globe nomination for his performance.
O'Toole won an Emmy Award for his role in the 1999 mini-series Joan of Arc. In 2004, O'Toole played King Priam in Troy. In 2005, he performed on television as the older version of legendary 18th century Italian adventurer Giacomo Casanova in the BBC drama serial Casanova.
He was again nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award for his performance in the film Venus(2006). O'Toole co-starred in the Pixar animated film, Ratatouille. O'Toole performed in the second season of Showtime's drama series The Tudors, playing Pope Paul III, who excommunicates King Henry VIII from the church; an act that leads to a showdown between the two men in seven of the ten episodes. O'Toole narrated the horror comedy film El Dorado.
Olivia De Havilland and Errol Flynn were known as one of Hollywood's most talented on-screen couples, performing in eight films together, but, were never romantically involved. The films in which they co-starred: Captain Blood (1935), The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), The Adventures of Robin Hood and Four's a Crowd (1938), Dodge City(1939). Directed by Michael Curtiz and based on a story by Robert Buckner. As a classic western, it tells the story of the rise, after the end of the Civil War, of the frontier post of Dodge City, Kansas to civilized town and trading place for cattle. In the process, Dodge City has to get rid of the bad guys terrorizing the citizens, and it takes a new sheriff and his deputy to clean up the town.
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939), Santa Fe Trail (1940) and They Died with Their Boots On (1941).
De Havilland stated, "He never guessed I had a crush on him. In fact, I read that he was in love with me when we made The Charge of the Light Brigade the next year, in 1936. I was amazed to read that, for it never occurred to me that he was smitten with me, too, even though we did all those pictures together." However, in an interview cited on Turner Classic Movies De Havilland claims she knew the crush was reciprocal and that when Flynn proposed, he was still married to actress Lili Damita.
De Havilland married novelist Marcus Goodrich in 1946 and they divorced in 1953. Their son, Benjamin (born in 1949) became a mathematician. She was married to French journalist and Paris Match editor Pierre Galante between 1955 until 1979. Their daughter, Giselle (who later became a journalist) was born in July 1956 when De Havilland was 40. After the divorce, De Havilland and Galante remained on good terms.
De Havilland was good friends with Bette Davis with whom she performed with in Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964), The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939), It's Love I'm After (1937), and In This Our Life (1942). She still remains a close friend of actress Gloria Stuart. In April 2008, she attended the Los Angeles funeral of Charlton Heston. In 2008, she was a surprise guest at the Centennial Tribute to Bette Davis.
In this video, lifelong friends Bette Davis and Olivia De Havilland perform on November 7th, 1964 episode of Hollywood Palace to promote what would be their final film together, Hush Hush, Sweet Charlotte and perform a dramatic reading. The performance is a amazing. Guest host: Gene Barry.
Lee Remick made her first film performance in, A Face in the Crowd. While filming the movie in Arkansas, Remick lived with a local family and practiced baton twirling.
After performing as Eula Varner in the film, The Long, Hot Summer(1958), she performed in the film, These Thousand Hills.
Remick became famous in her performance in the film, Anatomy of a Murder (1959), a trial court drama film directed by Otto Preminger and written by Wendell Mayes based on the best-selling novel of the same name written by Michigan Supreme Court Justice John D. Voelker . Voelker based the novel on a 1952 murder case in which he was the defense attorney. Cast: James Stewart, George C. Scott, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara, Arthur O'Connell, Eve Arden, Kathryn Grant, Brooks West (Arden's real-life husband), Orson Bean, and Murray Hamilton. The judge was played by Joseph N. Welch, a real-life lawyer famous for berating Joseph McCarthy during the Army-McCarthy Hearings. The film is famous as one of the first Hollywood films to talk about sex.
Lee made a second film with Elia Kazan called Wild River (1960), co-starring with Montgomery Clift and Jo Van Fleet.
In 1962, she was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Actress for her performance as the alcoholic wife of Jack Lemmon in Days of Wine and Roses.
When Marilyn Monroe was fired during the filming of the comedy Something's Got to Give, the studio announced that Remick would be her replacement. Co-star Dean Martin said that while he admired Remick, he had signed on to do the picture to work with Monroe.
She co-starred with Gregory Peck in the horror film, The Omen(1976).
Remick later performed in several made-for-TV movies or miniseries (for which she earned seven Emmy nominations). Most were of a historical nature, including two noted miniseries: Ike, in which she portrayed Kay Summersby, alongside Robert Duvall as General Dwight Eisenhower and Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill where she portrayed the title character, Winston Churchill's mother.
Lauren Bacall, worked as theatre usher and a fashion model. As Betty Bacall (age17), she made her first acting performance on Broadway in 1942, as a walk-on in Johnny 2 X 4. According to her autobiography, Davis visited Bacall backstage to congratulate her on her performance in Applause, a musical based on Davis's performance in All About Eve.
Howard Hawks's wife Nancy spotted her on the March 1943 cover of Harper's Bazaar and urged Hawks to have her take a screen test for the film, To Have and Have Not.
He signed her up to a seven-year contract, brought her to Hollywood and began to manage her career. Hawks changed her name to Lauren Bacall. Nancy Hawks dressed Lauren in, stylish clothes, and guided her in the art of elegance, manners and taste. Bacall's voice was trained to be lower and sexier, which resulted in one of the most distinctive voices in Hollywood.
After To Have and Have Not, Bacall was seen opposite Charles Boyer in Confidential Agent (1945). Bacall would state in her autobiography that her career never fully recovered from this film, and that studio boss Jack Warner did not care about quality.
She then performed with Bogart in the film noir The Big Sleep (1946), the thriller Dark Passage (1947), Key Largo (1948).
She was cast with Gary Cooper in the film, Bright Leaf (1950).
Young Man with a Horn (1950), one of my favorite movies is often considered to be one of the first big-budget jazz films.
Based on a biographical novel of the same name about the life of Bix Beiderbecke. Cast: Doris Day, Kirk Douglas, and Lauren Bacall.
Musician Smoke Willoughby thinks back to when he first meet his friend legendary trumpet player Rick Martin. After his mother dies , Rick moves in with his sister in California. Rick sees a trumpet in a pawn shop window and gets a job in a bowling alley to pay for it.
Next to the bowling alley is a Jazz club, where Rick hears jazz for the first time. He quickly makes friends with the trumpet player Art Hazzard, who teaches his young friend how to play the trumpet. As Rick gets older, he finds odd jobs playing for carnivals and dance marathons.
Rick decides to follow Art to New York and gets a job playing trumpet for big band leader Jack Chandler where he meets Smoke and singer Jo. Chandler insists that Rick play the music exactly as written. Chandler fires Rick after he plays a jazzy number. Despite Jo's efforts, Rick refuses to go back when Chandler offers to rehire him.
When, Rick learns that his friend Art has been sick and he returns to New York. Jo gets him a job with another orchestra. Some evenings Rick goes over to help out Art at Louis Galba's nightclub. Jo brings her friend Amy to hear Rick play. Amy, who is studying to be a psychiatrist, blames her father for her mother's death and believes that she is not capable of love. They fall in love and are married, soon after Rick and Amy start to have problems because of his dedication to music. Will Rick be torn away from playing the trumpet to save his marriage?
For anyone who loves jazz, this is a wonderful movie. The soundtrack to this movie is awesome.(trumpet played by Harry James). Kirk Douglas is perfect for Rick's character. Lauren Bacall performance as a manipulative heiress was perfect.
Bacall starred in another one of my favorite films, How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), teaming up with Marilyn Monroe and Betty Grable.
Written on the Wind (1956). Bacall says in her autobiography that she did not think much of the role. While struggling at home with Bogart's severe illness, Bacall starred with Gregory Peck in another wonderful film, Designing Woman. It was released in New York City on May 16, 1957, four months after Bogart died of cancer on January 14.
Bacall's movie career began to fade in the 1960s. The few movies Bacall performed in were, Sex and the Single Girl (1964) with Henry Fonda, Tony Curtis and Natalie Wood, Harper (1966) with Paul Newman, Shelley Winters, Julie Harris, Robert Wagner and Janet Leigh, and Murder on the Orient Express (1974), with Ingrid Bergman, Albert Finney and Sean Connery.
In 1976, she co-starred with John Wayne in his last picture, The Shootist. The two became friends, even with the political differences between them. They had previously been cast together in 1955's Blood Alley.
I have already posted a profile post on the handsome John Gilbert.((Sigh)). Please click his name on the tag line located at the bottom of this post, to read Noir and Chick Flicks collection of John Gilbert info.
Queen Christina (1933). Pre-code historical/ drama. Director: Rouben Mamoulian.The film was written by H. M. Harwood and Salka Viertel with dialogue by S. N. Behrman, based on a story by Salka Viertel and Margaret P. Levino. Cast: Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Ian Keith and Lewis Stone. The movie is very loosely based on the life of the 17th century Queen Christina of Sweden, who, in the film, falls in love during her reign but has to deal with the political realities of her society. It was billed as Garbo's return to cinema after an eighteen-month hiatus.
In 1632, after her father, King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, is killed on the battlefield, six-year-old Christina raised as a boy is crowned "king" of Sweden . And then promises to her court, that Sweden will fight until it wins the war.
Many years later, the now-grown Christina, who dresses in men's clothing, meets with her council and states for the good of the country, they must find peace. Christina then argues with Oxenstierna about marrying her Swedish-born cousin, Prince Palatine Charles Gustavus. Not wanting to marry a man she does not love, Christina rejects Oxenstierna's demands. To escape Christina, goes on a hunting trip with her servant Aage.
While riding, Christina comes across the path of a coach filled with Spaniards, which have gotten stuck in a ditch. Because she is dressed as a man, Christina is not recognized and is treated as a male servant by Don Antonio de la Prada.
Later, Christina and Aage seek shelter at the Inn and once again meet Antonio and his men. Antonio apologizes when he learns that Christina is a gentleman of means and engages him/her, in conversation. Christina impresses Antonio, after which insists that he take her to his room, the last room in the inn.
After a polite argument, the couple decide to share the room. While Antonio undresses, Christina becomes uncomfortable, but finally reveals that she is a woman by removing her jacket. Surprised, Antonio takes Christina in his arms.
For the next several days, Christina and Antonio, who is still unaware of her royal identity, fall in love and promise their lasting devotion to each other. Needing to accomplish his mission, Antonio leaves the inn, but arranges to meet with Christina in Stockholm.
Back at the palace, Christina is confronted by Magnus, who questions her about her disappearance. Christina's only care, is her reunion with Antonio and dresses up in her most beautiful gown to greet him. When Antonio is introduced to Christina, he is surprised but maintains his composure.
Later in private Antonio, accuses her for playing with his affections and presents to her a proposal of marriage. Christina ignores her royal duties to spend time with Antonio. Jealous, Magnus hires two men to spread rumors about the queen's scandalous behavior, and one night in the Palace, Christina is met by an angry mob.
After calming the crowd, Christina confronts Magnus, where he threatens to have Antonio killed. For his protection, Christina orders Antonio back to Spain, unaware that the Spaniard has challenged Magnus to a duel. Christina calls together her court, announces that she is stepping down from the throne. While Christina says good by to her heartbroken court, Antonio and Magnus engage in their sword fight. What will Christina find when she reaches Antonio's ship?
Fun Fact:
Since John Gilbert was becoming less popular as a leading man, Greta Garbo was doing him a big favor by requesting him as the male lead. Unfortunately, the film did not help to re-establish Gilbert, and soon after he dropped out of pictures altogether.
I just watched Queen Christina for the first time. For me, it is a beautiful and haunting film. John Gilbert and Greta Garbo had wonderful on screen chemistry. My favorite scene in the movie, is when she is enjoying herself as a woman.
Elizabeth Taylor's, performance in Lassie Come Home(1943), landed her a seven-year contract with MGM. On her first assignment she was a loaned-out to 20th Century Fox for the film version of the Charlotte Bronte novel Jane Eyre (1944). During this time she returned to England to perform in, The White Cliffs of Dover (1944).
To capitalize on the success of Velvet, Taylor went onto another film, Courage of Lassie(1946). She was then loaned-out to Warner Brothers' for the movie, Life With Father (1947), Cynthia(1947), A Date with Judy(1948) and in Julia Misbehaves (1948).
Her reputation as "One-Shot Liz" promised her a career with Metro. Taylor's performance in Little Women (1949) would be her last adolescent role.
In October 1948, she sailed aboard the RMS Queen Mary travelling to England where she would begin filming on Conspirator(1949), where she would play her first adult role.
Her next performances were in the films, The Big Hangover (1950), Father of the Bride (1950). Which spawned a sequel, Father's Little Dividend (1951). It would be Taylor's next picture A Place In The Sun(1951), that would set the course for her career as a dramatic actress.
While she wanted to play the leads in The Barefoot Contessa and I'll Cry Tomorrow, MGM continued to cast her in forgettable films such as: a cameo as herself in Callaway Went Thataway (1951), Love Is Better Than Ever (1952), Ivanhoe (1952), The Girl Who Had Everything (1953) and Beau Brummel (1954).
Taylor had been forced by her pregnancy to turn down the film, Elephant Walk (1954), though the role had been designed for her. Vivien Leigh, got the part and went to Ceylon to shoot on location. Leigh became ill during filming and Taylor reclaimed the role after the birth of her child. Elephant Walk (1954), is one of my favorite Elizabeth Taylor films. Based on the novel "Elephant Walk" by Robert Standish(1898-1981).
In a England, book shop clerk Ruth, is looking forward to her upcoming marriage to John Wiley, the owner of a Ceylon tea plantation. When Ruth arrives at Elephant Walk, Ruth is thrilled that John's "bungalow" is really a mansion.
One thing troubling her, is that John's father built the mansion across the path of the elephants on their way to water. Ruth is surprised to learn John's father is buried in a marble grave behind the house. Soon, John's friends and his overseer, Dick Carver, drop by the house to meet Ruth. Dick, who is leaving for Paris the next day, tells Ruth not to take Tom legacy too seriously.
Later that night, Ruth is awakened by the sound of John and his friends playing polo on bicycles across the mansion's wood floors. When Ruth tells John she was frightened by the noise, he calls her childish. Ruth runs crying back to her bedroom, John follows and apologizes.
The next day, Ruth tours the kitchen with Appuhamy. He shows Ruth the items that were the favorites of "the old master".
Because John does not seem to have much time for her, his friend Dick and Ruth soon become involved. Now, wanting to leave, Ruth asks Dick to take her to Paris. But an epidemic of cholera suddenly breaks out, and everyone on the plantation is put under quarantine. Will John come out from under his fathers spell in time to save his marriage and his tea plantation? This film is a great Elizabeth Taylor flick. She is absolutely gorgeous and makes the right decision in the end.
Taylor's next movie, Rhapsody (1954), Taylor played Louise Durant, a beautiful rich girl in love with a violinist (Vittorio Gassman) and pianist (John Ericson).
Taylor's fourth period picture, Beau Brummell, made just after Elephant Walk and Rhapsody, cast her as Lady Patricia.
The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954), with Taylor being reunited with Van Johnson.
Although pregnant with her second child, Taylor went ahead with the film, Cleopatra (1963). Following with a more substantial role with Rock Hudson and James Dean in the epic, Giant (1956).
Taylor was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for the following films: Raintree County (1957) opposite Montgomery Clift, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) opposite Paul Newman and Suddenly, Last Summer (1959) with Montgomery Clift, Katharine Hepburn.
Taylor won her first Academy Award, for Best Actress in a Leading Role, for her performance as Gloria Wandrous in BUtterfield 8 (1960), which co-starred then husband Eddie Fisher.
Her second and final Academy Award, also for Best Actress in a Leading Role, was for her performance as Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966). Taylor and Burton would perform together in six other films: The V.I.P.s (1963), The Sandpiper (1965), The Taming of the Shrew (1967), Doctor Faustus (1967), The Comedians (1967) and Boom! (1968).
Taylor performed in the film Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967) opposite Marlon Brando and Secret Ceremony (1968). By the end of the decade her box-office drawing power had begun to diminished, proved by the failure of The Only Game in Town (1970), with Warren Beatty.
Taylor continued to perform in films: Zee and Co. (1972), Ash Wednesday (1973), The Blue Bird (1976) with Jane Fonda and Ava Gardner, and A Little Night Music (1977).
With then-husband Richard Burton, she co-starred in the 1972 films Under Milk Wood and Hammersmith Is Out, and the 1973 made-for-TV movie Divorce His, Divorce Hers.
John Mills, made his first film, The Midshipmaid (1932) and next went on to play, in one of my favorite films the 1939 film version of, Goodbye, Mr Chips. The story begins with Mr. Chipping, a retired schoolteacher of 83, falling asleep and his 58-year career is told in a flashback:
When 25-year-old Charles Edward Chipping first arrives as a Latin teacher to Brookfield Public School in 1870, the boys play many practical jokes on him. Which causes him to become overly strict, making him respected, but disliked.
His friend Max Staefel, invites him on holiday to Austria. While hiking on a foggy mountain side, Chipping "rescues" Kathy Ellis. Even though she did not really need to be saved. They meet again in Vienna and dance to the Blue Danube Waltz. Max says that the Danube River appears blue, but only to those who are in love. As Chipping looks at the river, he notices that it is blue. After they are married they return to England, where Kathy showers everyone with her charm.
During their tragically short marriage, Chips becomes a much-loved teacher, with the generations of students that he teaches. In 1909, he is put under pressure to retire for a more 'modern' headmaster, the board of directors of the school take his side and tell him he can stay until he is 100.
Eventually Chips does retire, but is called back to serve as headmaster, because of the shortage of teachers who were called to fight in the War. He remembers Kathy had said that he would become headmaster one day. As the War drags on, Chips reads to the class the school's Roll of Honour, every Sunday, the names of the many former boys and teachers who have died in battle.
In September 1939, at the start of World War II, Mills enlisted in the Royal Engineers. He was later commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. But in 1942 he received a medical discharge because of a stomach ulcer.
He went on to star in Noël Coward's, In Which We Serve. Mills also performed the lead role in the film, Great Expectations(1946), which helped start his career playing British heroes as in, Scott of the Antarctic (1948), The Colditz Story (1954), Above Us the Waves (1955) and Ice-Cold in Alex (1958). Altogether he performed in over 120 films.
From 1959 through the mid-1960s, Mills performed in several films with his daughter Hayley. Their first film together was the crime drama Tiger Bay(1959). Following Hayley's rise to fame in Pollyanna (1960) and the film, The Parent(1961) Trap, John and Hayley again performed together, in the sailing adventure, The Truth About Spring(1965), The Chalk Garden(1964) and The Family Way(1966).
Later he performed as Col. Barrow in "Tunes of Glory", Mills won the best Actor Award at the 1960 Venice Film Festival. For his role in Ryan's Daughter (1970). Mills won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. His most famous television role was Quatermass for ITV in 1979. Also on the small screen, in 1974 he starred as Captain Tommy "The Elephant" Devon in the six-part television drama series The Zoo Gang.
Mills also starred as Gus: The Theatre Cat in the filmed version of the musical Cats in 1998.
In 2000 Mills released his home movie documentary film, Sir John Mills' Moving Memories, with interviews with Mills, his children Hayley, Juliet and Jonathan and Richard Attenborough. The film also includes home footage of many of John Mills' friends and cast members including: Sir Laurence Olivier, Harry Andrews, Walt Disney, David Niven, Sir Dirk Bogarde, Sir Rex Harrison and Tyrone Power.
Paul Newman, first worked in Broadway theater in the original production of, Picnic with Kim Stanley. He later performed in the original Broadway productions of The Desperate Hours and Sweet Bird of Youth with Geraldine Page. He would later star in the film version of Sweet Bird of Youth.
His first movie for Hollywood was The Silver Chalice (1954), followed by Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), with Elizabeth Taylor.
The story is about Brick Pollitt, who is trying to relive his glory days of high school. Unfortunately, he falls leaving him crippled. Brick, and his wife, Maggie "the Cat", are visiting his family in Mississippi, to celebrate Big Daddy's 65th birthday.
Depressed, Brick decides to spend his days drinking and resenting his wife. The family wonders why Maggie does not have any children, while his brother Gooper and his wife have many.
Big Daddy and Big Mama arrive home from the hospital and are greeted by Gooper and his wife, along with Maggie. Gooper's wife Mae, Gooper and their kids do everything they can to get his attention.
The doctor later meets privately with Brick and Gooper and tell them that Big Daddy is a terminal case. When Big Daddy, becomes fed up with his alcoholic son’s behavior, he forces him to face the truth, when Maggie tells what happened the night Brick's friend Skipper committed suicide.
Soon, Big Daddy learns that this birthday will be his last. Shaken, he goes down to the basement. Upstairs, Gooper, his wife, Maggie, and Brick argue over Big Daddy's will. Finally, Brick goes down into the basement, to find his father. Brick and Big Daddy confront each other.
Next he went on to perform in The Young Philadelphians (1959). However, predating all of these above was a small but notable part in an August 8, 1952 episode of the science fiction TV series Tales of Tomorrow entitled "Ice from Space", in which he played Sergeant Wilson, his first credited TV or film appearance.
In February 1954, Newman performed in a screen test with James Dean, for East of Eden (1955). Newman was testing for the role of Aron Trask, Dean for the role of Aron's fraternal twin brother Cal. Dean won his part, but Newman lost out to Richard Davalos. The same year, Newman co-starred with Eva Marie Saint and Frank Sinatra in a television broadcast of Our Town. Newman was a last-minute replacement for James Dean. In 2003, Newman acted in a remake of Our Town, taking on the role of the stage manager.
Newman was one of the few actors who made the transition from 1950s cinema to that of the 1960s and 1970s. Newman starred in: Exodus (1960), The Hustler (1961), Hud (1963), Harper (1966), Hombre (1967), Cool Hand Luke (1967), The Towering Inferno (1974), Slap Shot (1977), and The Verdict (1982). He teamed with actor Robert Redford for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and The Sting (1973).
He performed with his wife, Joanne Woodward, in the films: The Long, Hot Summer (1958), Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys!, (1958), From the Terrace (1960), Paris Blues (1961), A New Kind of Love (1963), Winning (1969), WUSA (1970), The Drowning Pool (1975), Harry & Son (1984), and Mr. and Mrs. Bridge (1990). They both also starred in the HBO miniseries Empire Falls, but did not have any scenes together.
In addition to starring in and directing Harry and Son, Newman also directed four films (in which he did not act) starring Woodward. They were: Rachel, Rachel (1968), The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972), the television screen version of The Shadow Box (1980) and a screen version of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie (1987).
Twenty-five years after The Hustler, Newman reprised his role of "Fast" Eddie Felson in the Martin Scorsese-directed The Color of Money (1986), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor.
My favorite Katharine Hepburn movies are the ones she performed with Spencer Tracy. Their first film together was in, Woman of the Year (1942). The story begins with Tess and Sam working on the same newspaper, and it seems they don't much care for each other.
They eventually fall in love and get married. But, Tess is one of the most famous feminists in the country and she is elected as "the woman of the year". She does not spend enough time with Sam and he begins to feel neglected and so the trouble begins.
The cutest scene in the film takes place in the kitchen with exploding waffles, overflowing coffee and Tess who, just can't seem to figure out how to cook eggs.
.<
Behind the scenes they became one of Hollywood's most famous romances. Even though Spencer Tracy was still married.
They performed in a total of nine movies together: Keeper of the Flame (1942), Adam's Rib (1949), Pat and Mike (1952), Desk Set (1957) and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), for which Hepburn won her second Academy Award for Best Actress.
There were periods during which they were seperated. Tracy had several affairs, most notably while filming Plymouth Adventure, with his co-star Gene Tierney.
Hepburn had several romances, most notably with her agent Leland Hayward, John Ford and Howard Hughes. Tracy, however, seems to have been her true love. Hepburn took five years off after Long Day's Journey Into Night to care for Tracy while he was in failing health. Out of consideration for Tracy's family, Hepburn did not attend his funeral. She was too heartbroken to ever watch, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, saying the memories of Tracy were too painful.
Fay Okell Bainter (December 7, 1893 – April 16, 1968), made her first appearance on stage in 1908 in, The County Chairman at Morosco's Theater in Burbank, California and her Broadway debut was in the role as Celine Marinter in The Rose of Panama (1912).
She appeared in a number of successful plays in New York like East is West, The Willow Tree, and Dodsworth.
In 1926 she appeared with Walter Abel in a Broadway production of Channing Pollock's The Enemy.
In 1918, her portrait was painted by Robert Henri, the Ashcan School artist.
MGM persuaded her to try films and her movie debut was in This Side of Heaven (February 1934), the same year she appeared in Dodsworth on Broadway and the film It Happened One Day (July 1934).
Bainter quickly achieved success, and in 1938 she became the first performer nominated for both the Academy Award for Best Actress, for White Banners (1938), and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Jezebel (1938), winning for the latter.
Since then, only nine other actors have won dual nominations in a single year. She was again nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Children's Hour (1961).
Finally, in 1962, Fay appeared as a guest star on The Donna Reed Show.
Fay Bainter and Reginald Venable married on June 8, 1921. The couple had one son, Reginald Venable Jr. (1926–1974), who became an actor. Bainter was the aunt of actress Dorothy Burgess.
As her husband, Reginald Venable, was a military officer, the couple are interred at Arlington National Cemetery.
When Walter Pigeon moved to New York City, he walked into the office of E. E. Clive, announced that he could act and sing, and said was ready to prove it. After acting on stage for several years, he made his Broadway debut in 1925.
Pidgeon made a number of silent movies in the 1920s, where he soon became a star. With the arrival of talkies, he was fortunate enough to have a wonderful singing voice, so he moved on to musicals: The Bride of the Regiment (1930), Sweet Kitty Bellairs (1930), Viennese Nights (1930) and Kiss Me Again (1931).
When the public grew tired of musicals, his career began to take a set back. He played secondary roles in the films: Saratoga and The Girl of the Golden West. One of his better known roles was in, The Dark Command, where he played the villain opposite John Wayne, Claire Trevor, and Roy Rogers.
It was not until he starred in How Green Was My Valley, that he became popular again. He then starred opposite Greer Garson in Blossoms in the Dust, Mrs. Miniver (for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor) and its sequel, The Miniver Story. He was also nominated in 1944 for Madame Curie, again opposite Garson.
Although, he continued to make films: Week-End at the Waldorf and Forbidden Planet, Pidgeon returned to work on Broadway in the mid-1950's after a twenty-year break, and was featured in, Take Me Along, with Jackie Gleason. He continued making films, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea(1961), Big Red (1962), and in Advise & Consent (1962). The movie was directed by Otto Preminger. The cast: Henry Fonda, Charles Laughton, Don Murray, Walter Pidgeon, Peter Lawford, Gene Tierney, Franchot Tone, Lew Ayres, Burgess Meredith, Eddie Hodges, Paul Ford, George Grizzard, Inga Swenson, Betty White. The film shows the consequences in Washington, D.C. when the President nominates a man with a hidden past for Secretary of State.
Walter Pidgeon, also performed in the films: Funny Girl (1968), Your Pocket (1973). He also guest-starred in many television shows, Perry Mason, Breaking Point, The F.B.I., and Marcus Welby, M.D..
Ann Sheridan at the age of 19, made her first film in, Search for Beauty(1934), as Miss Texas. The story is about three shady characters, who want to make money through a fitness magazine, with cheesecake and beefcake photos.
They hire two Olympic champions as editors, Barbara an English diver and Don a U.S. swimmer. When they object to what is published in the magazine, they send them on a worldwide search for beauty. Barbara and Don want to start their own fitness farm, the three shady characters come up with a plan to stop them.
Fun Facts:
This film is part of the Paramount box set of Pre-Code films.
The whole film is about sex disguised as a health and exercise magazine.
20-year-old Lupino, in her American film debut, is unrecognizable with curly blonde hair and Dietrich eyebrows.
There's a hilarious scene where they decide to build the perfect woman, by finding models who are famous for their best features..
Next, she played uncredited bit parts in Paramount films for the next two years.
In 1936, she signed a contract with Warner Bros. and soon became a top sex symbol, nick named "The Oomph Girl,".
She went onto perform in films: Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), opposite James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart, Dodge City (1939) with Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland, Torrid Zone with Cagney and They Drive by Night with George Raft and Bogart (both 1940), The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942) with Bette Davis, and Kings Row (1942), where she received top billing playing opposite Ronald Reagan, Robert Cummings, and Betty Field.
Known for having a beautiful singing voice, Ann also performed in the musicals: Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943) and Shine On, Harvest Moon (1944).
Ann Sheridan's best known films: Nora Prentiss and The Unfaithful, both in 1947. Her next role was in, I Was a Male War Bride (1949), costarring Cary Grant.
By the 1950's, she went on to perform in the television soap opera, Another World during the mid-1960's.
Maureen O Hara's father wanted her to learn a skill so that she would have something to fall back on, if acting did not work out. She enrolled in a business school and became a bookkeeper and typist. She used those skills many years later, when she worked taking production notes dictated by John Ford, for the film, The Quiet Man.
O'Hara was offered an seven-year contract with, Mayflower Pictures. Her first major film was Jamaica Inn (1938). Directed by Alfred Hitchcock adapted from Daphne du Maurier's novel of the same name. The first of three of du Maurier's novels that Hitchcock adapted (the others were Rebecca and The Birds). The film is a period piece set in Cornwall in 1820. The real Jamaica Inn still exists and is a pub on the edge of Bodmin Moor. The score was written by Eric Fenby.
Laughton was so pleased with O'Hara's performance that he cast her in the film, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939). After the completion of Hunchback, World War II began, and Laughton, realizing their studio could no longer film in London, sold O'Hara's contract to RKO. They cast her in low-budget films until she was discovered by director John Ford, who cast her in, How Green Was My Valley. Which won the 1941 Academy Award for Best Picture.
Six years later, she made what maybe her best known film, Miracle on 34th Street. The film also helped to further O'Hara's career after the film won an Academy Award Nomination for Best Picture.
O'Hara had a soprano voice and said singing was her first love and in the late '50's and early '60's, she was a guest on musical variety shows with Perry Como, Andy Williams, Betty Grable and Tennessee Ernie Ford.
In 1960, she performed on Broadway in the musical Christine and released two recordings, Love Letters from Maureen O'Hara and Maureen O'Hara Sings her Favorite Irish Songs.
O'Hara was thought of as one of the world's most beautiful women. She is often remembered for her on-screen chemistry with John Wayne. They made five films together between 1948 and 1972: Rio Grande, The Quiet Man, The Wings of Eagles, McLintock! and Big Jake.
In addition to acting in over 40 films, he also performed on the television series The Untouchables and later was the host of Unsolved Mysteries.
Robert Stack's first film, was First Love(1939) and he was the first actor to give Durbin an on-screen kiss.
Stack won acclaim for his next role, The Mortal Storm (1940). This film was among the first to speak out against Adolf Hitler.
Stack admitted as a young man that he had a crush on Carole Lombard and in 1942 he performed with her in the film, To Be or Not To Be. He credits Lombard with giving him many tips on acting and being his mentor.
During World War II, Stack served as gunnery instructor in the United States Navy. He continued his film career and performed in the films, Fighter Squadron (1948) and A Date with Judy (1948).
A Musical. Cast: Wallace Beery, Jane Powell, and Elizabeth Taylor. Directed by Richard Thorpe, the movie was based on a radio series of the same name. The film was to showcase the former child star Elizabeth Taylor, age 16 at the time. Taylor was given the full MGM glamour treatment, including specially designed gowns. Robert Stack is in a prominent supporting role. The film features the singing voice of Jane Powell, and is also a showcase for the musical performances of Carmen Miranda and Xavier Cugat.
Another film Robert Stack performed in was, Bwana Devil (1952).
Stack most important movie role is when he performed with John Wayne in, The High and the Mighty(1954).
In 1957, Stack was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Written on the Wind.
Music for Millions (1944). Musical/comedy. Directed by Henry Koster. Cast: Margaret O'Brien, José Iturbi as Himself, Jimmy Durante, June Allyson and Marsha Hunt. It was nominated for an Academy Award in 1946.
When seven-year-old "Mike" travels to New York from Connecticut by train, she is worried when she is not met by her sister, Barbara Ainsworth. Mike is soon cornered by a policeman, who takes her to Symphony Hall, where Babs, a bassist, is performing. Mike runs onto the stage and annoys conductor José Iturbi, in the middle of the concert. Iturbi, wants to fire Babs, until his stage manager, "Andy" Andrews, reminds him that with so many of the male players gone because of the war, he cannot afford to fire Babs. Babs, who was unaware that Mike was coming for a visit, is thrilled to see her. Babs and the female orchestra members, sneak Mike into their "no children" boardinghouse. After Babs faints the doctor shares a secret with Mike, telling her that Babs is pregnant.
Although Mike and her roommates have tried to keep it a secret about Babs's condition, their obvious concern alerts Iturbi, who is sympathetic.
Just before the orchestra leaves for Florida on a tour, a telegram arrives for Babs at the boardinghouse. Rosalind, one of Babs's roommates, reads the message herself. As feared, the telegram has bad news about her husband Joe and Rosalind and the other girls decide not to tell Babs anything about it until after the baby is born.
Even though Music for Millions, is called a musical comedy, you will need plenty of "hankies". Jimmy Durante's comedy, provides the smiles. You will also enjoy the beautiful classical concertos played by Jose Iturbi and his mostly female orchestra. Giving their support to the boys in uniform.
Although Margaret O'Brien's career was brief, she was one of the most highly regarded child actors in cinema history. She performed in one of my favorite films, Meet Me in St. Louis (1944). A Romantic/ musical. Cast: Judy Garland, Margaret O'Brien, Mary Astor, Lucille Bremer, Tom Drake, Leon Ames, Marjorie Main, June Lockhart, and Joan Carroll. The movie was based on Irving Brecher and Fred F. Finklehoffe, series of short stories by Sally Benson, originally published in The New Yorker magazine and later in the novel 5135 Kensington. Director: Vincente Minnelli. Garland made famous the songs: "The Trolley Song" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas". Arthur Freed, the producer of the film also wrote and performed one of the songs.
Meet Me In St. Louis, I love everything about it, the scenery, costumes, actors and story line about learning life lessons. If you were to ask me which is my favorite part of the movie. I would have to say Halloween when, Tootie and her sister Agnes dress up and go out to celebrate Halloween with the neighborhood children. Wanting to prove herself to the other children, Tootie, insists on going up to the feared neighbor Mr. Braukoff door and blow flour in his face. After Tootie is called the "most horrible," she puts her family into a panic when she returns home, crying, bruised and with a cut lip. Tootie claims that John hit her by the trolley tracks, Esther at first refuses to believe her, but.. changes her mind when she sees a clump of hair in Tootie's hand. Esther storms over to John's house, accuses him of being a bully and beats him up. Tootie and Agnes confess that John actually saved them from being arrested after they almost caused an accident on the trolley tracks. Esther rushes back to John's house to apologize.... Great stuff!
Gene Tierney, is best remembered for her performance in the title role of Laura (1944) and her Academy Award nominated performance for Best Actress in Leave Her to Heaven (1945). Film Noir. Cast: Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain, with Vincent Price, Darryl Hickman, and Chill Wills. It was adapted for the screen by Jo Swerling, based on the best-selling novel by Ben Ames Williams, and was directed by John M. Stahl. Tierney received an Oscar nomination as Best Actress in a Leading Role for this film.
The story begins when author Richard Harland is released from prison after serving a two-year sentence. Richard, is met by his attorney, Glen Robie, who has a small boat waiting for Richard, to take him back to "Back of the Moon," he begins to tell his story in a flashback:
Richard is working on a new novel, when he accepts an invitation from Glen to visit him at his ranch in New Mexico. During the train ride, Richard meets a beautiful young woman who says that he reminds her of her late father.
Later, Richard meets Glen at the station, who tells him that Ellen Berent, is also visiting his family with her mother Margaret and sister Ruth.(first picture)
During dinner, Ellen tells Richard that they have come to scatter her father's ashes at his favorite spot in the mountains. Richard follows close behind as the family scatters the ashes.
The following day, as Richard is working on his novel on the patio he confesses to Ellen that he asked Glen about her fiancee, attorney Russell Quinton, she admits that she has taken off her engagement ring.
The next night, Russell comes in with the storm, having received a telegram from Ellen breaking off their engagement. Richard is surprised when Ellen announces their engagement and the couple are soon married.
While on their honeymoon, the newlyweds travel to Warm Springs, Georgia, to visit Richard's brother Danny who is recovering from polio. Ellen helps Danny to walk with crutches, and soon the boy is joining Ellen and Richard at, Back of the Moon. Ellen is not happy with the presence of Danny and old family friend, who is also the care taker of the lodge. Ellen is beside herself with anger when Margaret and Ruth show up at the lodge. Richard is embarrassed by his wife's actions. Ellen accuses Richard of being in love with Ruth, then begs for his forgiveness by telling him that she does not want to share him with anyone else.
Margaret and Ruth leave soon after and one afternoon, Ellen takes Danny on his daily swim in the lake. Ellen follows in a small boat behind Danny, but when a cramp over comes him he begs her to help him, she watches without feelings as he drowns. Over time, Richard realizes that his wife's insane jealousy is the the cause of all the tragedies in his life. But... nobody, can guess what she has planned for the rest them.
Tierney's performance is very chilling playing against some of the most beautiful settings ever filmed. Alfred Newman's beautiful music helps slowly build the tension. What I consider one of the best film noirs ever made. Gene Tierney deserved her Oscar nomination but, lost out to Joan Crawford for "Mildred Pierce".
Tierney said "Leave Her to Heaven" was "the best role she ever had and it was also her favorite film."
Some of the beautiful ranch scenes were filmed in Sedona, Arizona.
Gene Tierney is one of my favorite actresses. Please check out my Gene Tierney page for movie reviews and pictures. Located on the side bar.
