James Mason (15 May 1909 - 27 July 1984). While he was attending Marlborough College studyingarchitecture, he also began performing in stock theatre companies for fun.
After Cambridge he joined the Old Vic theatre in London under the guidance of Tyrone Guthrie and Alexander Korda. In 1933 Korda gave Mason a small role in, The Private Life of Don Juan but fired him three days into shooting.
From 1935 to 1948 he starred in many small British film and became popular for his brooding anti-heroes in the Gainsborough series of melodramas of the 1940s: The Man in Grey (1943) and The Wicked Lady (1945).
He also starred with Deborah Kerr in, Hatter's Castle (1942). He then took the lead role in, The Seventh Veil (1945). He followed it with, Odd Man Out (1947) and his first Hollywood film, Caught (1949).
Mason's distinctive voice gave him the opportunity to play a menacing villains as well as leading man. His roles include Brutus in Julius Caesar (1953), Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel and The Desert Rats, the amoral valet turned spy in Joseph Mankiewicz's 5 Fingers, the declining actor in the first remake of A Star Is Born (1954), Captain Nemo in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (also 1954), Bigger Than Life (1956), North by Northwest (1959), Journey to the Center of the Earth (also 1959), Lolita (1962), Lord Jim (1965), the evil Doctor Polidori in Frankenstein: The True Story (1973), Salem's Lot, and Yellowbeard (1983).
One of his last roles, was that of corrupt lawyer Ed Concannon in, The Verdict (1982), earned him his third and final Oscar nomination. His final screen-work was playing the lead role in Dr. Fischer of Geneva as the eccentric wealthy businessman who played games with the Swiss upper class, such as offering gifts to his guests if they accepted some humiliating ritual activity (such as wearing a child's bib at the dinner table).
In 1975 he played Falconhurst plantation owner in the film, Mandingo.
In the late 1970s, Mason became a mentor to up-and-coming actor Sam Neill.
Late in life, he served as narrator for a British television series on the films of Charlie Chaplin, Unknown Chaplin, which was aired in the U.S. on PBS.
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 (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.
Toshiro Mifune(April 1, 1920 – December 24, 1997) was a Japanese actor who appeared in almost 170 feature films. Toshiro Mifune achieved more worldwide fame than any other Japanese actor of his century. He was born in Tsingtao, China, to Japanese parents and grew up in Dalian. He did not set foot in Japan until he was 21. His father was an importer and a commercial photographer, and young Toshiro worked in his father's studio for a time after graduating from Dalian Middle School.
He was automatically drafted into the Japanese army when he turned 20, and enlisted in the Air Force where he was attached to the Aerial Photography Unit for the duration of the World War II. In 1947 he took a test for Kajirô Yamamoto, who recommended him to director Senkichi Taniguchi, thus leading to Mifune's first film role in Shin baka jidai (1947).
Mifune then met and bonded with director Akira Kurosawa, and the two joined to become the most prominent actor-director pairing in all Japanese cinema. Beginning with Drunken Angel (1948), Mifune appeared in 16 of Kurosawa's films, most of which have become world-renowned classics.
In Kurosawa's pictures, especially Rashomon (1950), Mifune would become the most famous Japanese actor in the world. A dynamic and ferocious actor, he excelled in action roles, but also had the depth to plumb intricate and subtle dramatic parts.
A personal rift during the filming of Red Beard (1965) ended the Mifune-Kurosawa collaboration, but Mifune continued to perform leading roles in major films both in Japan and in foreign countries. He was twice named Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival (for Yojimbo (1961) and "Akahige").
In 1963 he formed his own production company, directing one film and producing several others. In his later years he gained new fame in the title role of the American TV miniseries "Shogun" (1980), and appeared infrequently in cameo roles after that. His last years were plagued with Alzheimer's Syndrome and he died of organ failure in 1997, a few months before the death of the director with whose name he will forever be linked, Akira Kurosawa.
Emmett Evan "Van" Heflin, Jr. (December 13, 1910 – July 23, 1971) Heflin's sister was Daytime Emmy-nominated actress Frances Heflin. He made his film debut in the film, A Woman Rebels (1936), with Katharine Hepburn.
He was soon signed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and was cast in supporting roles in films: Santa Fe Trail (1940), and Johnny Eager (1942), winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the latter performance.
Heflin continued to improve his acting skills and performed a compelling characterization of the President Andrew Johnson in the film, Tennessee Johnson (1942), playing opposite Lionel Barrymore who, in the role of Congressman Thaddeus Stevens.
According to the IMDB (Internet Movie Database), Heflin served during World War II as a combat cameraman in the Ninth Air Force in Europe and with the First Motion Picture Unit.
His best-known film was the classic western, Shane(1953), in which he co-starred with Alan Ladd. His other well know films: Presenting Lily Mars (1943), The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946), Possessed (1947), Green Dolphin Street (1947), Act of Violence (1948), The Three Musketeers (1948), The Prowler (1951) and 3:10 to Yuma (1957).
Heflin's last major role was in Airport (1970). He played "D. O. Guerrero", a failure who schemes to blow himself up on an airliner so that his wife (played by Maureen Stapleton) can collect on a life insurance policy.
They Won't Forget (1937). Directed by Mervyn LeRoy (who was uncredited). Based on a novel by Ward Greene called Death in The Deep South, which was a fictionalized account of a real life case: the trial and lynching of Leo Frank after the murder of Mary Phagan in 1913. The film was also the film debut of 16 year old actress Lana Turner, who played the murder victim, Mary Clay. It is considered by many critics to be one of the best films of the 1930s.
The story begins on Memorial Day, when Mary Clay and her best friend, Imogene Mayfield, decide to go for a soda after they are dismissed from their business classes for the day.
Mary, decides to go back for her lipstick that she left in her desk. When she returns to the empty room, she is murdered.
District Attorney Andy Griffin, sees Mary's murder has a perfect opportunity to boost his political career by making a case against her teacher, Robert Hale. Before long, Michael Gleason a famous Northern attorney, comes to defend Hale, but he is unable to convince the jury of Hale's innocence despite the lack of evedence.
The news-media turns the story into a three ring circus and accuses Griffin of fighting the Civil War in the courtroom, but... he is successful and Hale is sentenced to death. Gleason appeals to the governor, who sacrifices his career and changes the penalty to life imprisonment. Will Hale be safely taken out of town, before he is lynched by Mary's brothers?
This is a fast/well written/acted moving film, with Claude Rain taken over scene he is in. This will make you wonder if justice was served. I think everyone will enjoy watching a very young Lana Turner..
Gloria Dickson (August 13, 1917 - April 10, 1945), began acting during high school in amateur theatre productions. Encouraged by her acting coaches, she moonlighted doing dramatic readings at social clubs and on KFOX radio station in Long Beach, California.
In April 1936, she was spotted by Warner Brothers talent scout Max Arnow who signed her to a Warner contract.
Her film debut in 1937's They Won't Forget landed her on the top of Hollywood's short list of important up and comers.
In autumn 1937, she was in many magazine covers and was the subject of several movie magazine articles.
Fun fact:
"Very few of my friends know I can play the piano." (Marilyn Monroe)
Norma Jeane's, successful modeling career brought her to the attention of Ben Lyon, a 20th Century Fox executive, who arranged a screen test for her. Lyon believed, that she was Jean Harlow all over again. She was offered a standard six-month contract with a starting salary of $125 per week. Lyon did not like the name Norma Jeane and chose "Carole Lind" as a stage name, after Carole Lombard and Jenny Lind, but he soon changed his mind.
Monroe was invited to spend the weekend with Lyon and his wife Bebe Daniels at their home. It was there that they decided to find her a new name. Following her idol Jean Harlow, she decided to choose her mother's maiden name of Monroe. Several variations such as Norma Jeane Monroe and Norma Monroe were tried and initially "Jeane Monroe" was chosen.
Eventually, Lyon decided Jeane was too common and he suggested "Marilyn", saying that she reminded him of Marilyn Miller. Monroe, at first did not like it because Marilyn, was the contraction of the name Mary Lynn, a name she did not like. Lyon, felt that the name "Marilyn Monroe" was sexy, had a "nice flow", and would be "lucky" due to the double "M".
A sickly child, he took up swimming on the advice of a doctor. He grew to be a 6' 3", 190-pound champion athlete - undefeated winner of five Olympic gold medals, 67 world and 52 national titles, holder of every freestyle record from 100 yards to the half-mile. In his first picture, Glorifying the American Girl (1929), he appeared as an Adonis clad only in a fig leaf. After great success with a jungle movie, MGM head Louis B. Mayer, via Irving Thalberg, optioned two of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan stories. Cyril Hume, working on the adaptation of Tarzan the Ape Man (1932), noticed Weissmuller swimming in the pool at his hotel and suggested him for the part of Tarzan.
One of a handful of great movie stars never nominated for an acting Oscar, she received an honorary Academy Award in 1991.
Loy's last film was also the last for Henry Fonda, TV drama... Summer Solstice(1981).
In 1937, Myrna had a narrow escape when her horse bolted during the filming of The Rains Came (1939) with Tyrone Power; she was nearly killed.
Men-Must-Marry-Myrna Clubs were formed due to her portrayal as The Perfect Wife (The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)).
Spent her early years on a ranch and in the town of Helena, Montana, which was also the home of Gary Cooper.
When her father was travelling by train in early 1905, he went through a small station called 'Myrna' - he eventually named her after that station.
After graduating from high school in 1923, Myrna got a job dancing in the chorus during the prologue for The Ten Commandments at Grauman's Chinese Theatre.
In 1936 Myrna was named Queen of the Movies and Clark Gable King in a national poll, winning a crown of tin and purple velvet. in her autobiography, she says that she did not get on with Gable in her earlier films with him. However, in her later films he developed a respect for Loy and they became good friends.
Her profile was the most requested in the 1930s by women to their plastic surgeons.
Was supposedly the favorite star of famed outlaw John Dillinger. He came out of hiding to see Manhattan Melodrama (1934), in which she starred, and was gunned down by police upon leaving the theater.
TCM, is celebrating "A New Star" everyday in the month of August. It is a tradition I look forward to every year. This year, I plan on celebrating the actor/actress of the day with fun facts, pictures, videos and some new to me movie reviews. For the complete month line up please click on the "Summer Under The Stars" poster, located on the side bar. First actor up to bat is...
John Wayne's 1966 IH Travelall, was inspired by vehicles built for Hatari, filmed in 1962. The roof was raised six inches so that Wayne could pop out through a hatch and shoot at a comfortable height while hunting antelope. It has the International 460, a five-speed and a hydraulic clutch, medicine cabinet, heavy-duty shocks, spot-lamps, tubular roof rack and roll bars and extra spring leaves. Extended steel bumpers on both ends include a 10,000-pound winch in front and inside is air conditioning and an electric rear window. Wayne’s son Ethan, gave it the War Wagon name, another film reference.
