Old Acquaintance(1943). Drama directed by Vincent Sherman. Cast: Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins with Gig Young, John Loder, Dolores Moran, Roscoe Karns and Anne Revere.
Bette Davis personally requested the casting of Norma Shearer in the role of Mildred Drake. Shearer refused the role and the part went to Miriam Hopkins. This film was the second collaboration of legendary arch-enemies Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins, (Their previous collaboration had been The Old Maid.)
When, Prize-winning novelist Kit Marlowe, returns to her home town to give a lecture, she is greeted by her old friend, Millie Drake. Millie, is now married and pregnant with her first child. Millie, wonders why Kit does not seem happy to see her, but after Kit apologizes, Millie confesses that she too has written a book.
Eight years later, now as a successful writer, Millie, Preston and their eight-year-old daughter Deirdre are in New York City to attend the opening of Kit's play.
On the afternoon before opening night, Preston, who has been drinking, tells Kit that he is in love with her. Kit tries to fix her friend's marriage, but.. Preston, who has had enough wants out of his marriage to Millie.
Ten years later, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Kit joins the Red Cross and while asking for donations over the radio. Preston, who is now in the army, hears Kit and telephones her to ask her to join him for a drink. There Preston surprises Kit, with his announcement of his engagement.
The next morning, Rudd, asks Kit to marry him. Because of their age difference, Kit turns him down and Rudd, decides to take a walk with the now-grown Deirdre. The two spend the day together and fall in love.
Kit, changes her mind about Rudd and the shares her plans to marry him to Millie. After, Preston tells Millie he is remarrying and wants to see Deirdre more often, he also confesses that he once loved Kit.
Out of jealousy, Millie tells Deirdre about Kit's marriage plans and then accuses Kit of stealing her husband. Kit, can not believe what she is hearing and gives Millie a good shaking.
That night Rudd breaks the news to Kit that he is going to marry Deirdre. Kit pretends to be happy for the young couple and wishes them the best.
Later, Millie stops by Kit's apartment to apologize and Kit forgives her. Millie then tells her about the new book, Old Acquaintance, a story about two old friends and the two women hold up their glasses and drink to it.
Davis and Miriam, are truly two of the finest actresses on the silver screen and both deliver Oscar-caliber performances in this film.
Dolores Moran (January 27, 1926 – February 5, 1982). Moran's brief career as a film actress began in 1942 with some uncredited roles in such films as, Yankee Doodle Dandy.
By 1943 she had become a popular pin-up girl and appeared on the cover of such magazines as Yank.
She was given supporting roles in films such as, Old Acquaintance (1943) with Bette Davis.
Warner promoting her along with Lauren Bacall as a new screen personality when they co-starred with Humphrey Bogart in, To Have and Have Not (1944).
The film made a star of Bacall, but Moran did not do as well and her later films did little to further her career, this probably had something to do with Howard Hawk's decision to boost Bacall's career.
The Horn Blows at Midnight, gave her a leading role, but her film appearances after this were sporadic, and she suffered ill health that reduced her ability to work. Her film career ended in 1954 with a featured role in the western film, Silver Lode.
She was married to the film producer Benedict E. Bogeaus in Salome, Arizona, in 1946. Their son, Brett Benedict, born August 30, 1948, in Hollywood, later became a successful businessman. They divorced in 1962, he died of a heart attack in 1968. Moran had an affair with director Howard Hawks while filming To Have and Have Not, which Hawks undertook mainly as revenge for his rejection by Bacall in favor of Bogart.
Now, Voyager (1942). A drama starring Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, and Claude Rains, and directed by Irving Rapper. The screenplay by Casey Robinson is based on the 1941 novel of the same name by Olive Higgins Prouty. Prouty borrowed her title from the Walt Whitman poem "The Untold Want," which reads in its entirety, "The untold want by life and land ne'er granted, Now, voyager, sail thou forth, to seek and find."
The very plain Charlotte Vale, lives in Boston with her domineering, wealthy mother. Believing, Charlotte is on the verge of a nervous breakdown, her sister-in-law Lisa brings psychiatrist Dr. Jaquith to examine her. Jaquith, is convinced that she is, very ill, and he recommends that she be admitted to his sanitarium, Cascade.
Away from her domineering mother, Charlotte recovers quickly, but not really wanting to return home, accepts Lisa's invitation to go on a long cruise. On board the ship, the now very stylish Charlotte is introduced to Jerry Durrance.
The two spend the day sight-seeing and the married Jerry asks Charlotte, to help him choose gifts for his two daughters. Touched when Jerry thanks her with a small bottle of perfume, she tells him about her family and her breakdown. She later learns from his friends, Deb and Frank McIntyre, that Jerry is unhappily married but will never leave his family.
After the ship docks in Rio de Janeiro, Jerry and Charlotte miss getting back on the boat and Charlotte stays with Jerry in Rio for five days before flying to Buenos Aires to rejoin her cruise.
Even though they have fallen in love, they promise not to see each other again. Back in Boston, Charlotte's family is shocked by her transformation. Her mother, is determined to regain control over her daughter.
Charlotte, receives a bouquet of camellias with no card... she knows the flowers are from Jerry because he had called her "Camille," and, reminded of his love, she is able to stand up to her mother.
Charlotte becomes engaged to the widower Elliot Livingston. One night, at a party, Charlotte runs into Jerry, who is now working as an architect. His youngest daughter Tina is now seeing Dr. Jaquith, for her emotional problems. Charlotte tells Jerry, not to feel guilty over their affair, because she gained strength from knowing that he loved her.
Charlotte, now realizes that she could never love Elliot and they break off their engagement, angering Mrs. Vale that during an argument with Charlotte, she has a heart attack and dies.
Feeling Guilty, Charlotte returns to Cascade, where she meets Tina. Seeing herself in the girl, Charlotte takes charge of her. When Tina's spirits improve, Charlotte takes her home to Boston.
Later, Jerry and Jaquith visit them and Jerry is very happy in the wonderful change in Tina. Charlotte tells him that she is only able to keep Tina with her on condition that she and Jerry end their affair. Jerry then asks if Charlotte is happy and she says.. "Well, Jerry, don't let's ask for the moon; we have the stars."
Fun Facts:
Edmund Goulding was first attached to the project as director. He wanted Irene Dunne to play Charlotte Vale. When Goulding fell ill, however, the project passed to Michael Curtiz, who had either Norma Shearer or Ginger Rogers in mind for the lead. In the meantime, Bette Davis was lobbying hard for the part. She was able to convince producer Hal B. Wallis that she would make a perfect Charlotte Vale, but she refused to work with Curtiz. Consequently Irving Rapper landed the director's job.
The biggest box office hit of Bette Davis's career.
Paul Henreid's act of lighting two cigarettes at once caught the public's imagination and he couldn't go anywhere without being accosted by women begging him to light cigarettes for them.
"Now Voyager" was actually the third book in a four-part saga of the Vales, a high-class Boston family, written by Olive Higgins Prouty over a 12-year period from 1936 to 1947. When Warner Brothers bought the film rights to the novel, Prouty wrote a lengthy letter to her literary agent, setting out how she felt the production should be mounted. She felt strongly that the best way to dramatize the flashbacks would be to feature short silent segments woven into the main sound narrative. Her letter made its way to producer Hal B. Wallis at Warners, who subsequently ignored her suggestions.
Claude Rains initially turned down the Jaquith role, finding it too insubstantial. The part was built up for him and he was paid $5000 a week for six weeks' work.
Filming went a few weeks over schedule, which in turn caused some conflicts with Casablanca, which also starred Claude Rains and Paul Henreid. Rains finished work on this movie June 3rd in 1942 and did his first scene on Casablanca at 10:30 the next morning.
All Bette Davis fans will love this film. She truly was an actress that knew how to pull on your heart strings. She had the power to transform herself into the many strong women she played. The transformation of the plain Charlotte to the stylish woman, is something that a lot of girls can relate to. The rest of the cast was excellent: Claude Rains, Gladys Cooper, Bonita Granville and Ilka Chase.
Ilka Chase (April 8, 1900 - February 15, 1978) was an actress and novelist, born in New York City and educated at convent and boarding schools in the United States, England, and France, she was the only child of Edna Woolman Chase, the editor in chief of Vogue magazine, and her first husband, Francis Dane Chase.
Chase made her society debut in 1923 and her Broadway debut a year later in, The Red Falcon. Her stage performances include: Days Without End, Forsaking All Others, While Parents Sleep, On to Fortune, Tampico, Co-Respondent Unknown, Revenge With Music, Keep Off the Grass and In Bed We Cry, which was an adaptation of her novel of the same name.
She was in the first Broadway cast in the play, The Women (1938) and later performed in the play, Barefoot in the Park.
Her films: Fast and Loose, Once a Sinner, The Animal Kingdom, The Big Knife, and Now, Voyager.
For several years, she was host of a radio program, Luncheon at the Waldorf. In 1957, she performed the role of the Stepmother in the television production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, which starred Julie Andrews.
Her last movie performance was in, Ocean's 11 (1960) as the mother of the Peter Lawford character. Chase made a rare television sitcom appearance as "Aunt Pauline" on The Patty Duke Show.
Undercurrent (1946). A film noir drama directed by Vincente Minnelli. The screenplay was written by Edward Chodorov, based on the novel You Were There by Thelma Strabel. Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Robert Taylor, Robert Mitchum.
In Vincente Minnelli's autobiography, he says that Robert Mitchum was very uncomfortable in the role of the sensitive Micheal.
This was Robert Taylor's first movie since returning from military service in World War II.
Katharine Hepburn and Robert Mitchum didn't get along. One day she told him, "You know you can't act, and if you hadn't been good looking you would never have got a picture at all. I'm tired of working with people like you who have nothing to offer."
The story begins when, Alan Garroway, meets Ann Hamilton, the unsophisticated daughter of chemistry professor Hamilton and it is love at first sight.
After Ann and Alan, are married they travel back to Washington, D.C., where she is introduced to Alan's manager Mr. Warmsley and his wealthy friends. Embarrassed of her appearance, Ann asks Alan to show her how to dress and behave.
Later, Alan tells Ann that after his father died he and his brother Michael took over their father's mechanical gadget business, and that he has not seen or heard from Michael since he was caught stealing from him.
While visiting Alan's Virginia family home, Ann is startled when a horse becomes extremely upset in the stable and learns from a frightened stable-hand that Alan once badly beat the horse.
After, Alan angrily orders Ann to stop playing a familiar tune on the piano, she thinks it is because of the bad memory's from his past. Later, George the caretaker, tells Ann that the song she was playing was one that Michael used to play. Ann decides to help her husband overcome his past.
After, Alan leaves on a business trip, Ann visits his office and asks Warmsley to give her directions to Michael's house near the ocean. At the house, Ann meets Michael... he introduces himself to her as the caretaker.
Later that night, Alan comes back and surprises Ann at the house. He demands to know why Ann is there, and Ann tells him that she wanted to find out more about his past.
Later, the two brothers are alone and Michael accuses Alan, of having killed an engineer at their plant, so he could steal his plans for a remote control explosive device. Michael tells Alan, that he has decided to expose him because.. he met Ann and believes that she should not be involved with a murderer. Then Alan informs Michael, that he has changed and that he plans to tell Ann the truth about his past. For now... Michael, decides to keep quiet about the murder. Alan, lied to his brother and plans to keep his past a secret.
Ann, tells Alan that she is obsessed with thoughts of Michael and that she wants to meet him, so that she can put him out of her mind, once and for all. Alan, accuses her of being in love with his brother. Alan, realizes that he must kill her to prevent her from leaving him. They are out riding on horseback when he decides to push her off a steep ledge, will she be able to get help in time?
Hepburn, gives a very convincing performance as the insecure Ann. Taylor's, performance as the tormented Alan is also perfect, always on the edge of losing control. Mitchum, plays a very different part for him. The ending maybe predictable... but exciting.
Marjorie Main (February 24, 1890 – April 10, 1975). Born Mary Tomlinson in Acton, Indiana, Main attended Franklin College in Franklin, Indiana, and adopted a stage name to avoid embarrassing her father, Samuel J. Tomlinson who was a minister.
She worked in vaudeville on the Chautauqua and Orpheum Circuits, and debuted on Broadway in 1916. Her first film was, A House Divided(1931).
Main was typecast in domineering roles, for which her voice was perfect for. She repeated her stage role in, Dead End in the 1937 film version, and was cast many times as the mother of gangsters.
She again transferred a strong stage performance, as a dude ranch operator in, The Women(1939). Main was signed to a MGM contract in 1940, and stayed with the studio until the mid-1950s.
She made six films with Wallace Beery in the 1940s including: Barnacle Bill (1941), Jackass Mail (1942), and Bad Bascomb (1946).
She played Sonora Cassidy, the chief cook, in The Harvey Girls (1945). The director, George Sidney, said that Miss Main was a "great lady" as well as a great actress who donated most of her paychecks to the support of a school.
Her most famous role was that of "Ma Kettle", which she first played in, The Egg and I(1947) opposite Percy Kilbride as "Pa Kettle". She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for the part and portrayed the character in nine more Ma and Pa Kettle films.
In the 1950s, she had appeared in the MGM musicals: Meet Me in St. Louis, The Belle of New York and It's a Big Country.
In 1954, Marjorie Main played her last roles for the studio; Mrs. Hittaway in, The Long, Long Trailer and Jane Dunstock in, Rose Marie.
In 1956, Main played The Widow Hudspeth in the hit film, Friendly Persuasian. In 1958, Main appeared twice as rugged frontierswoman Cassie Tanner in the episodes "The Cassie Tanner Story" and "The Sacramento Story" on NBC's western television series, Wagon Train. In 1964, she appeared on an episode of Perry Mason.
Main married Stanley LeFevre Krebs, who died in 1935.
In 1974, a year before her death, Main attended the Los Angeles premiere of the MGM film, That's Entertainment. It was her first public appearance since she retired from films in 1958. At the post-premiere party, she was greeted with cheers from the crowd.
A film adaptation of Jane Austen's novel of the same name. Robert Z. Leonard directed. Cast: Greer Garson, Mary Boland, Maureen O'Sullivan. The film begins when the girls are out shopping for new dresses when they see two gentlemen and a lady in a beautiful carriage. They learn that the men are Mr. Bingley, who is renting the estate of Netherfield and Mr. Darcy, both wealthy, eligible bachelors. After the Bennets return home, Mrs. Bennet tries to talk Mr. Bennet, into seeing Mr. Bingley, but he refuses, saying that they have already met.
At the ball, Elizabeth overhears Mr. Darcy talking about not wanting to dance with her. She also meets for the first time Mr. Wickham. Later, as it turns out.. Mr. Darcy does ask her to dance, but she refuses, when Mr. Wickham asks her right in front of Darcy, she accepts.
The Bennets' cousin, Mr. Collins, arrives, looking for a wife and sets his sights on Elizabeth. Mr. Darcy, sees her distress and asks her to dance. After seeing the obnoxious behavior of her mother and younger sisters, he leaves again.
The next day, Mr. Collins asks her to marry him, but she refuses. He then asks her best friend, Charlotte Lucas, to marry him.
When Elizabeth visits Charlotte in her new home, she is introduced to Lady Catherine de Bourgh, and also sees Mr. Darcy there.
Later, he asks her to marry him, because she believes he stole Wickham's fortune, and also because he broke up the romance between Mr. Bingley and Jane, she refuses.
When Elizabeth returns to Longborn, she learns that Lydia has eloped with Wickham. Mr. Darcy tells her that Wickham will never marry Lydia and that Wickham had tried to elope with his 15-year-old sister, Georgiana. Elizabeth, soon realizes that she is in love with him, but believes he will never see her again because of Lydia's disgraceful elopement. Lydia and Wickham, do return home married. Lady Catherine, tells the family that Mr. Darcy found Lydia and forced Wickham to marry her. Will Darcy and Elizabeth ever admit their love for each other?
Greer Garson, did a wonderful job playing the feisty, high spirited.. Elizabeth. In this light and humorous classic film adaptation. Laurence Olivier, performed well as the prideful Darcy. The supporting cast also is good, especially Edmund Gwenn, as the very eccentric Mr. Bennet.
Fun Facts:
The studio's first choice for Darcy was Clark Gable.
Vivien Leigh was passed over for the role of Elizabeth Bennett in favor of Greer Garson.
According to Edward Maeder, Adrian, the costume designer, asked director Robert Z. Leonard to place the film in a later time period than that of the novel so that the costumes might be more opulent than those of Jane Austen's time.
Initially scheduled to start pre-production in 1936, under the supervision of Irving Thalberg with his wife, Norma Shearer as Elizabeth Bennett, but pre-production was put to a halt after Thalberg's death.
MGM considered Robert Donat and Robert Taylor to play Mr. Darcy, and Norma Shearer supposedly wanted MGM to borrow Errol Flynn from Warner Bros. for the role.
Laurence Olivier ( 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) career as a stage and film actor spanned more than six decades and included a wide variety of roles: Shakespeare's Othello and Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night to the sadistic Nazi dentist Christian Szell in Marathon Man and the Nazi-hunter in The Boys from Brazil.
A High church clergyman's son who found fame on the West End stage, Olivier became determined early on to master Shakespeare, and eventually came to be regarded as one of the foremost Shakespeare interpreters of the 20th century. He continued to act until the year before his death in 1989.
Olivier played more than 120 stage roles: Richard III, Macbeth, Romeo, Hamlet, Othello, Uncle Vanya, and Archie Rice in The Entertainer.
He performed in nearly sixty films, including: William Wyler's Wuthering Heights, Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca, Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus, Otto Preminger's Bunny Lake Is Missing, Richard Attenborough's Oh! What a Lovely War, and A Bridge Too Far, Joseph L. Mankiewicz's Sleuth, John Schlesinger's Marathon Man, Daniel Petrie's The Betsy, Desmond Davis' Clash of the Titans, and his own Henry V, Hamlet, and Richard III.
He also preserved his Othello on film, with its stage cast virtually intact. For television, he starred in The Moon and Sixpence, John Gabriel Borkman, Long Day's Journey into Night, Brideshead Revisited, The Merchant of Venice, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and King Lear, among others.
I Love You Again(1940). A comedy directed by W.S. Van Dyke. Cast: William Powell and Myrna Loy all three were involved in the, The Thin Man series. The ninth of fourteen films pairing William Powell and Myrna Loy. The cast also included Frank McHugh, Edmund Lowe and Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer.
While on a cruise, Larry Wilson is knocked unconscious by an oar and when he comes to he finds that he has been suffering from amnesia for the past nine years and that he is really George Carey, a con-man.
After looking at his alter ego's bank balance, George decides to return as Larry to Habersville, Pennsylvania, to liquidate his bank accounts. After arriving, George and his new friend, con man "Doc" Ryan, are met at the pier by Kay Wilson who, thinking that George is her husband Larry, demands a divorce on the grounds of boredom.
When George learns that Larry's funds are under the control of the Community Chest and Anti-Vice crusade, he decides to run an oil scam on a vacant lot owned by Larry. After sending for his old partner in crime, Duke Sheldon, to "salt" the land, George realizes that he needs to keep the scandal of divorce at bay until he can complete his scam, and promises to give Kay her divorce in six weeks.
Settling into Larry's life, George begins to court Kay, who loves the change in her husband.
After setting the bait for his trap, George sends his patrol of boy scouts to discover the oil, and soon the boys's fathers are coming to Larry, with offers to buy his land. Things become complicated for George when Kay confesses that she loves him. Kay Wilson says: Ever since you got off that boat you've been chasing me like an amorous goat. You've tried your darnedest to make me fall in love with you and now you have. So from now on I'm going to do the chasing, and believe me, brother, you're going to know you've been chased. George, realizes that he wants to settle down permanently as Larry Wilson.
Will Larry, go through with his scam anyways?
I have always felt that Powell and Loy made a great team, they have wonderful screen chemistry. Powell, is one of my favorite actors and he so wonderful in everything he's in whether it be comedy or drama. Highlight, of this film is when Powell dances alone and Kay says: Where did you learn to dance like this? George says: By mail.
Nella Walker (March 6, 1886 – March 22, 1971). Was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, and in her teens became half of the husband and wife vaudeville team "Mack and Walker", with her husband Wilbur Mack.
By 1929 she had a film acting career, her first film role being in, Tanned Legs, with Sally Blane, Dorothy Revier, June Clyde, and Arthur Lake.
She performed in three films in 1929, and easily moved onto "talking films", performing in another four films in 1930.
In 1931 her film career took off, with her performing in ten films that year, five of which were uncredited. Her marriage ended not long after her film career was on the rise, and from 1932 through 1933 she performed in fifteen films, only five of which were uncredited.
In 1935 her career only got better, and between that year and 1938 she had twenty three film performances. Her biggest film during that period was in, Young Dr. Kildare, with Lionel Barrymore and Lew Ayres.
She finished that decade strong in 1939 with nine film roles, only three of which were uncredited.
The 1940s mirrored her success of the previous decade, with her performing in thirty seven films from 1940 to 1947.
Later, in her career, and over 60 years of age, she slowed her career for a time, not having another role until 1950 when she performed in, Nancy Goes to Rio, with Ann Sothern and Carmen Miranda.
She performed in another two films in 1952, then had her last film acting role in 1954, in the film, Sabrina with Humphrey Bogart and Audrey Hepburn. She retired after that role, having performed in one hundred and seventeen movies, settling in Los Angeles, where she was residing at the time of her death on March 22, 1971.
Crossroads(1942). Mystery directed by Jack Conway. Cast: William Powell, Hedy Lamarr, Claire Trevor and Basil Rathbone.
The story begins when, French diplomat David Talbot's marriage and his future plans to be Brazil's ambassador, are threaten after receiving an anonymous letter. Addressed to "Jean," which demands one million francs.
Later, David leaves a the money at the drop-off point, but.. when Carlos Le Duc, retrieves it, he is arrested.
At Le Duc trial, he testifies that the letter was only asking for money owed to him and that he knew David, when he was known as the criminal, Jean Pelletiel.
The next day, eccentric, kind hearted Dr. Tessier, testifies that David had been in a train wreck and suffers from amnesia.
Soon after.. his testimony is challenged by the well respected Dr. Dubroc, then singer Michele Allaine, who back ups Le Duc's story. Next, on the stand is, wine salesman Henri Sarrou, who says that he also knew Pelletier, before he died.
After De Luc's conviction, Sarrou comes to see David and demands one million francs. Sarrou says that he and Pelletier had been partners when Pelletier killed a man during a robbery, then disappeared with all the money. Sarrou, then tells him that Pelletier, has a powder burn on his hand. David, starts to make a call to the police when he sees the mark on his left hand and changing his mind. He now begins to suspect that he is... Pelletier.
The next day, Michele comes to see David and begs him for forgiveness and then warns him about Sarrou. He thinks she is part of the blackmailing scheme and threatens to turn her into the police. She then shows David a locket with a picture of the two of them together.
Later, Michele comes to see David and Lucienne and tries to show Lucienne the locket, but David stops her and tells his wife that Michele had come to apologize for what she said at the trial. Lucienne, begins to wonder what is really going on..
Soon, David receives a 1922 newspaper headline about the robbery. David then goes to see Michele at the night club where she is performing and confronts her, saying that he does not believe Sarrou's story and offers to pay them off. She angrily calls him a fake and tells him to go see Pelletier's mother, who was left penniless.
David goes to see Pelletier's mother, who says he resembles her son but, that is not her son. But, her odd behavior causes David, to believe that he could have been a thief and murderer in his past life.
The next day, Lucienne finds Tessier's address and goes to see him, saying that if David were Pelletier, she would still love him and would sell everything she has to pay Sarrou off.
The next day, Sarrou shows up at David's club, and tells him that Tessier came to see him. Sarrou then demands his money and says that David must bring it that night or the police will be contacted. David goes to Tessier, who tells him that his identity is only thing that matters.
David, goes into a travel agency and buys a single ticket to Saigon. That evening, David sends Lucienne, on ahead to a party at the home of Deval, saying that he has to help a colleague, but will join her later.
After she leaves, David gets a call from Sarrou, who knows about the ticket and threatens him. Meanwhile, at Michele's place, it is revealed that "Mme. Pelletier" is really De Luc's wife.
She leaves just before David arrives, who confesses to Sarrou that he does not have one million francs. Sarrou, suggests that they get the money from his office safe and make it look like a robbery.
Meanwhile, at Deval's, Lucienne sees the colleague with who David was supposed to be working and realizes that he lied to her. She leaves, seeing David and Sarrou, together on the street, she then follows them back to the office.
After David turns off the lights, Sarrou is able to sneak past the guard and take the money after David opens the safe. Lucienne, then arrives by cab and begs David not to go through with the plan, but Sarrou threatens them and orders that she tie David up. Just then, the police arrive and arrest them.
At police headquarters, David admits that he is Pelletier and, when Michele is brought in, he begs her and Sarrou to join him in confessing their past crimes. Is this a trick to bring out the truth or is he really Pelletier?
William Powell, plays a man who is very much in love with his wife and you will be hooked as evidence begin to reveal the possibility of his shady past. A must see for all William Powell and Hedy Lamarr fans.
Margaret Wycherly (26 October 1881 – 6 June 1956). She was best known as a stage actress, appearing in one silent film. In 1929 at the advent of sound pictures she appeared in her second film, but first talkie, The Thirteenth Chair, based on the 1916 play by her husband in which she had starred. The film was directed by Tod Browning and was in the genre of mystery-old house melodrama.
Twelve years later, Wycherley appeared in Sergeant York in 1941. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the role of Mother York, though perhaps her best remembered screen role was as "Ma Jarrett", the mother of the psychopathic gangster Cody Jarrett, in White Heat (1949), which famously starred James Cagney.
Wycherly starred in several popular Broadway plays, including Tobacco Road, Random Harvest, Liliom, Six Characters in Search of an Author and The Thirteenth Chair (which role she reprised in the film of the same name).
Her other films include Keeper of the Flame, The Yearling, Forever Amber, The Man with a Cloak and Johnny Angel starring George Raft.
Cass Timberlane, is a novel written by Sinclair Lewis, published in 1945. It is Sinclair Lewis' nineteenth novel and one of his last.It was made into a romantic drama film starring Spencer Tracy and Lana Turner, directed by George Sidney, and released in 1947. Timberlane is a minor character in Lewis's novel Kingsblood Royal.
While Judge Cass Timberlane, a kind-hearted, bachelor, is trying a boring divorce case, he finds a notebook that Jinny left in the courtroom. Attracted to the much younger Jinny, Cass searches for her in the neighborhood where she lives, and finds her playing baseball. Cass offers to umpire her game, after which he takes her out to dinner.
The two fall in love, much to the disappointment of Cass's society friends, who believe that he is wrong to cross social lines. With the exception of his friend attorney, Bradd Criley.
Cass, marries Jinny and as time passes, Cass soon realizes that Jinny is unhappy living in the small town of Grand Republic.
Jinny eventually becomes pregnant, but when the baby is stillborn, she goes into a deep depression. Cass, tries to cheer up his wife by teaching her how to fly an airplane and supporting her while she becomes a stage actress.
Jinny, gets herself into trouble with her performance, while rehearsing a love scene with her co-star, Bradd, who is transferred to his company's office in New York City as a result.
Cass, suggests they take a trip to New York, so he can visit an old friend to look into becoming partners in his law firm. Jinny, wants to stay in New York, after her wonderful day in New York with Brad. When Cass, tells her that he has rejected a job offer in the city, she breaks it off with him.
Cass, tells Jinny that she is welcome to stay in New York with Bradd. It turns out that Bradd, does not really want to marry Jinny. Heartbroken, she jumps out of the speeding car in which they are driving and is seriously injured.
After Lillian Drover, the wife of Jinny's doctor, tells Cass about Jinny's injuries, will Cass rush back to New York to be with her?
This is one of my favorite Spencer Tracy films and he gives an excellent performance. Lana Turner, is also very good. The scenes between she and Zachary Scott have enough sparks to make you wonder if they are guilty of adultery. This is a wonderful film that was well worth seeing.
Fun Facts:
MGM reportedly paid close to $150,000 for the film rights to Lewis' novel.
Walter Pidgeon who has a brief cameo in the film, was at one point considered for the title role.
Jennifer Jones, Vivien Leigh, and Virginia Grey were among those thought out for the female lead.
Fay Hendry, the mother of Sonya Hendry, a young girl who appeared in the film, was awarded nearly $30,000 for injuries she sustained when the girl was struck by a falling reflector at the site of location filming.
Tracy was not initially pleased with the studio's choice of director, hoping to have George Cukor or Vincente Minnelli assigned the position.
The poem that Cass Timberlane recites at the picnic with Virginia is "First Fig" by Edna St. Vincent Millay and goes "My candle burns at both ends / It will not last the night / But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends / It gives a lovely light!"
In late 1946, Marie McDonald campaigned for the female lead.
Margaret Lindsay (September 19, 1910 - May 9, 1981) After attending National Park Seminary in Washington, D.C., Lindsay convinced her parents to enroll her at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York.
She then went abroad to England to make her stage debut. She performed in plays: Escape, Death Takes a Holiday and The Romantic Age.
Lindsay was often mistaken as being British due to her convincing English accent, which impressed Universal Studios enough to sign her for their 1932 version of, The Old Dark House.
After some minor roles in Pre-Code films such as Christopher Strong and Baby Face, which starred Barbara Stanwyck, Lindsay was cast in the award-winning, Cavalcade.
Later, Lindsay performed in a small but memorable role as Edith Harris, a doomed English bride whose honeymoon voyage takes place on the Titanic. Her work in Cavalcade earned her a contract at Warner Bros. where she became a supporting player, working with Paul Muni, Errol Flynn, Henry Fonda, Warren William, Leslie Howard, George Arliss, Humphrey Bogart, Boris Karloff and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
Lindsay was cast four times as the love interest of James Cagney, from 1933-1935. She performed with Cagney in four films: Frisco Kid, Devil Dogs of the Air, G-Men and Lady Killer. Lindsay co-starred with Bette Davis in four films: 1934's Fog Over Frisco; in 1935's Dangerous (for which Davis won her first Best Actress Academy Award); in Bordertown, co-starring Paul Muni, and as Davis's rival for Henry Fonda's affections in Jezebel (1938), which earned Davis her second Best Actress Academy Award.
The Law in Her Hands (1936), she performed a leading role as a mob lawyer. It was rare among gangster films of the 30's to have a female in such a male-dominated role. Made after the Motion Picture Production Code came into effect, The Law in Her Hands was forced into a reactionary stance towards the gender switch and concluded with a plot twist that was the complete opposite of the Pre-Code period (1929–1934), when "female characters on the screen could say, do and be whatever they wanted".
Lindsay's best known film role was, The House of the Seven Gables in 1940, with George Sanders and Vincent Price.
Her 1940s film series work in Hollywood included: Ellery Queen series from 1940-1942. Lindsay, performed in a supporting role in the 1942 film, The Spoilers, starring John Wayne and in Fritz Lang's Scarlet Street in 1945. While her work in the late 1940s would occasionally involve a supporting role in MGM films like Cass Timberlane with Spencer Tracy, her film career faded, soon after.
She returned to the stage and co-starred with Franchot Tone, in The Second Man. 1950s and 1960s She made her television debut in 1950 in, The Importance of Being Earnest. More television work soon followed.
Lindsay performed in only four films during the 1950s and two in the 1960s. Her final feature film was, Tammy and the Doctor (1963). Lindsay lived with her sister Helen in Hollywood. Later in life, she lived with her youngest sister Mickie.
Despite being romantically linked to actors such as William Gargan and Edward Norris, she never married. Margaret Lindsay's sister, Jane Kies (1909–1985), was also an actress under the name of Jane Gilbert. In 1940, Jane married the son of Hedda Hopper, actor William Hopper, best known for his role as Paul Drake in the Perry Mason television series. Their daughter Joan was born in 1942, and the couple divorced in the early 1960s. Lindsay's niece Peggy Kenline and great-nephew Brad Yates were also actors.
Her Cardboard Lover(1942). Comedy film directed by George Cukor. The film is the third screen adaptation of the play, following The Cardboard Lover in 1928 and The Passionate Plumber in 1932. Joan Crawford and Hedy Lamarr were each offered the part of "Consuela", but both turned it down.
Songwriter Terry Trindale, has fallen head over heals over Consuelo Croyden, a woman he has watched from a distance every night at a Palm Beach casino. Even though, he has gone out of his way to be seated at the gambling tables next to Consuelo, Terry has never spoke to her.
One night, he finally gets the courage to speak to her and lets it slips out, that he loves her and then he asks if she could ever fall in love with him. She says "absolutely not" and warns him not to be so "clingy", if he wants a woman to return his love.
Consuelo, then heads for the gambling tables, with a stuffy Tony Barling, not far behind, but.. because he is not dressed properly he cannot enter the casino. When, Terry learns that Tony wants to give a note to Consuelo, he volunteers to take it to her, but as soon as Tony leaves, he tears it up.
Terry, then watches from the side lines.. Consuelo, win at chemin de fer and yells out "Banco", to play against her. After, she wins again, he now owes her a great sum of money. He tells her that he does not have the money to pay her. At first, she feels a little sorry for him, but when he gives her the pieces of Tony's note, angrily she asks him what the letter said.
After, telling her what he remembered she then asks him to come to her house. She then comes up with the idea for him to work as her secretary to pay off his debt. Assuming the role of her "cardboard lover," she asks for a written contract to pretend to be her fiance. She then explains that Tony is her fiance, with who she broke off because of the "madness" of their on and off again relationship.
Just then Tony, arrives and Consuelo has Terry hide on the patio. Although, she tells Tony, that she is in love with someone else, he does not believe her. Terry, then comes waltzing in, acting very affectionate. Tony, recognizes him from the casino and is suspicious, and when Terry goes to get ice, Tony tells Consuelo that he knows this is an act and begs her to come to a friend's yacht before they sail in the morning.
After Tony leaves, Consuelo, quickly packs her bags to meet Tony. Terry, is waiting at her front door, to stop her.
Four weeks later, Terry is still working as Consuelo's "Cardboard Lover". Chappie Champagne, Terry's partner, cannot talk him into coming back with him to New York to sell their new song, "I Dare You," which they have been composing on Consuelo's piano.
Wanting to get rid of Terry, she pretends that she is cured of Tony, once and for all and offers to cancel the rest of Terry's debt. Terry then leaves, saying he is going to the airport. Consuelo, receives a call from Tony, saying that he is going away with another woman and she convinces him to stop by her house. Tony, asks her wear a negligee and unlatch the door for him. But... it is Terry who arrives, admitting that it was he who called, disguising his voice to sound like Tony.
When Tony really does arrive, she tells Terry hide and then explains to Tony that Terry, is not really her lover. At this moment Terry, comes out wearing pajamas and gets into her bed. Consuelo, tries to make Terry tell the truth, but he refuses and Tony leaves.
Consuelo, locks Terry in the bathroom, but he has already left and is waiting in the hall. She slaps him, but he again reminds her of his promise to keep her from Tony. Frustrated with him, Consuelo says that his songs are "tripe," but soon apologizes and admits that she is in love with Tony. She calls Tony and says she has kicked Terry out and is leaving to see him. Terry then threatens to jump out the window, but.. is unsuccessful.
Terry, goes back to his hotel, where Tony is also staying. After meeting in the elevator, the two men begin a wild fight.
During their hearing on charges of disturbing the peace and assaulting a police officer, Consuelo shows up angry with Terry, but when Chappie arrives with tickets to New York and money from the sale of their song to pay Terry's fine, she begins to realize her true feelings.
Norma Shearer, in her last film, wears gorgeous clothes and played her part perfectly. Robert Taylor, looks very young and handsome. There are some wonderful scenes: one where Taylor threatens to jump over a balcony and one when he is wearing her pajamas.
Elizabeth Patterson (November 22, 1874 – January 31, 1966), born in Savannah, Tennessee. Her father, who had been a Confederate soldier, was a judge in Hardin County. She was educated in the county's public schools and at colleges in Pulaski and Columbia, where her participation in college theatricals helped to form her interest in drama.
In 1913, she made her Broadway debut in the play Everyman. She remained active in New York City theatre through 1954. In 1926, at the age of 51, Patterson was cast in her first movie, The Boy Friend. Additional screen credits include: A Bill of Divorcement; Tarnished Lady; Dinner at Eight; High, Wide, and Handsome; Intruder in the Dust; Remember the Night; No Man of Her Own; The Shocking Miss Pilgrim; Little Women; My Sister Eileen; and Pal Joey.
In 1952, at the age of 77, Patterson made her first appearance on the hit CBS-TV sitcom I Love Lucy in the episode entitled "The Marriage License". In that installment, Patterson's character, Mrs. Willoughby, was the wife of the Greenwich, Connecticut justice of the peace (played by character actor Irving Bacon) who re-marries Lucy and Ricky Ricardo.
The following year she was cast in a featured guest role as Mrs. Matilda Trumbull in the episode "No Children Allowed". Patterson's character of Mrs. Trumbull was initially an ornery curmudgeon who also resided in the Ricardos' apartment building. In that installment, she threatened to make trouble for the Ricardos since the building did not allow children. At the end of the episode, however, her character softens as she holds the Ricardos' baby for the first time and, as a result, Mrs. Trumbull becomes friends with both the Ricardos and the Mertzes. In fact, Patterson's role was so popular (as well as useful to the writers of the series) that she continued in the role for three more years as the babysitter for "Little Ricky". In the fall of 1956, with I Love Lucy in its final season, Patterson made her last appearance as Mrs. Trumbull in the episode, "Little Ricky Learns To Play The Drums". Her character was mentioned one last time in the 1957 episode "Lucy Raises Chickens". In that installment, Fred and Ethel Mertz decide to follow the Ricardos and move to Connecticut to be near them and Mrs. Trumbull's sister moves into 623 East 68th Street to manage the apartment building for Fred.
Never married, Patterson lived alone at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel during her thirty five-year motion picture career. She died in Los Angeles of complications from pneumonia at the age of 91. She is buried in her hometown of Savannah.
Neptune's Daughter (1949). Musical/ romantic/ comedy Cast: Esther Williams, Red Skelton, Ricardo Montalbán, Betty Garrett, Keenan Wynn, Xavier Cugat and Mel Blanc. Directer: Edward Buzzell. Features the Academy Award winning song Baby, It's Cold Outside by Frank Loesser. Neptune's Daughter was the third movie that paired Williams and Ricardo Montalbán together, the other two being Fiesta (1947) and On an Island with You (1948), and the second to co-star Red Skelton (1944's Bathing Beauty).
At first aquatic ballet dancer Eve Barrett, rejects the offer by Joe Backett to become his business partner at the Neptune swimming suit design company, but changes her mind when she thinks about the publicity she will get out of the partnership.
When Joe learns that a South American polo team will be playing a big match in town, he and Eve begin planning a swim number for the event. Eve tells her love starved sister Betty about the South American team coming to town, Betty comes up with a plan to find herself a husband.
After practice, Jose O'Rourke, the captain of the polo team, goes to see Jack Spratt, a masseur, who tells Jose that he has never been on with a date woman. During the massage, Jose gives Jack advice on how to talk to women. Jack, now believes women can not resits him when he speaks to them in Spanish, which he calls the "language of love."
While looking for the South American team captain, Betty accidentally mistakes Jack for Jose. Jack keeps his true identity secret and accepts her invitation to have dinner at her house. On their date, Jack secretly plays a Spanish language instruction record while pretending that he is speaking to Betty.
Later, Betty tells Eve about her date and Eve tries to talk her out of dating any of the visiting polo players.
The next day, while giving a tour of the Neptune bathing suit factory, Eve meets Jose and warns him to stay away from her sister. Jose is attracted to Eve, and pretends to understand and agrees to break his date with Betty.
Jose asks Eve to go on the date with him, she says "yes" only to prevent him from dating her sister. Eve finds him attractive and begins to fall in love with him. Now, she thinks that she must find a way to break the news to her sister.
The mistaken identities and romantic complications turn this film into a great mix of fun. Garrett and Skelton's on screen chemistry was wonderful. I'm surprised that they did not do more films together..
Betty Garrett (May 23, 1919 – February 12, 2011). After graduating from grammar school, Garrett enrolled at the Annie Wright School in Tacoma, with a full scholarship. There was no drama department, so she organized musical productions and plays on her own.
Following her senior year performance in Twelfth Night, the bishop urged her to pursue a career on the stage. At the same time, her mother's friend arranged an interview with Martha Graham, who was in Seattle for a concert tour and the dancer recommended her for a scholarship at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City.
Garrett and her mother moved to Manhattan in the summer of 1936 and Garrett began classes in September. Her teachers included Graham and Anna Sokolow for dance, Sandy Meisner for drama, Lehman Engel for music, and Margaret Webster for the Shakespearean classics.
She felt she was destined to be a dramatic actress and shied away from playing comedic roles. During the summer months, Garrett performed in the Borscht Belt, where she had the opportunity to work with Danny Kaye, Jerome Robbins, Carol Channing, Imogene Coca, and Jules Munshin, and she was encouraged to work on her singing and dancing skills.
She joined Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre as an understudy in what was to be its last stage performance, a short-lived production of Danton's Death that gave her the opportunity to work with Joseph Cotten, Ruth Ford, Martin Gabel, and Arlene Francis.
She performed with Martha Graham's dance company at Carnegie Hall and the Alvin Theatre, sang at the Village Vanguard, and appeared in satirical and political revues staged by the Brooklyn-based Flatbush Arts Theatre, which eventually changed its name to the American Youth Theatre and relocated to Manhattan. It was during this period she joined the Communist Party and began performing at fundraisers for progressive causes.
Garrett made her Broadway debut in 1942 in the revue Of V We Sing, which closed after 76 performances but led to her being cast in the Harold Rome revue Let Freedom Sing later that year. It closed after only eight performances, but producer Mike Todd saw it and signed her to understudy Ethel Merman and play a small role in the 1943 Cole Porter musical Something for the Boys. Merman became ill allowing Garrett to play the lead for a week. During this time she was seen by producer Vinton Freedley, who cast her in Jackpot, a Vernon Duke/Howard Dietz musical also starring Nanette Fabray and Allan Jones. The show closed quickly, and Garrett began touring the country with her nightclub act.
After Laffing Room Only another production Garrett appeared in on Broadway closed there she traveled with the show as it played extended runs in Detroit and Chicago, after which she returned to New York and was cast in Call Me Mister. She won critical acclaim and the Donaldson Award for her performance. It led to her being signed to a one-year contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer by Louis B. Mayer.
Garrett arrived at the studio in January 1947 and made her film debut portraying nightclub performer Shoo Shoo O'Grady in Big City. Mayer renewed her contract where she performed in the musicals Words and Music, On the Town, Take Me Out To The Ball Game, and Neptune's Daughter.
The Jolson Story had been a huge hit in the United Kingdom, and Garrett and husband Larry Parks decided to capitalize on its popularity by appearing in at the London Palladium and then touring the UK with their nightclub act. But, the increasing popularity of television led to the decline of music hall entertainment.
Then Garrett was cast opposite Janet Leigh and Jack Lemmon in My Sister Eileen, a 1955 musical remake of a 1942 film starring Rosalind Russell, when Judy Holliday dropped out of the project due to a contract dispute.
The following year, she and Parks replaced Holliday and Sydney Chaplin in the Broadway production of Bells Are Ringing during their vacation from the show.
Over the next two decades, she performed on Broadway in two short-lived plays (Beg, Borrow or Steal with Parks and A Girl Could Get Lucky with Pat Hingle) and a musical adaptation of Spoon River Anthology, and making guest appearances on The Dinah Shore Chevy Show, The Lloyd Bridges Show, and The Fugitive.
In the fall of 1973, All in the Family added two new neighbors to the neighborhood, Frank Lorenzo and his feisty Irish American wife, Irene. Lear had been the publicity man for Call Me Mister, All in the Family writers Bernard West and Mickey West knew Garrett from her days with the American Youth Theatre, and Jean Stapleton had been in the cast of Bells Are Ringing, so Garrett appeared to be a front runner for the role of Irene. It went instead to Sada Thompson, but, unhappy after filming one episode, Thompson asked to be released from her commitment, freeing the role for Garrett, who remained with the series from 1973 through 1975.
The following year, Garrett was performing her one-woman show Betty Garrett and Other Songs in Westwood when she was offered the role of landlady Edna Babish in Laverne and Shirley. The character was a five-time divorcee who married Laverne's father Frank. Although Garrett reportedly felt she was never given enough to do on the show, she appreciated the fact that her musical talents occasionally were incorporated into the plot, and she won a Golden Globe for her performance. When the series was extended beyond what had been intended to be its final season, Garrett was forced to drop out because she already had committed to performing with Sandy Dennis, Jack Gilford, Hope Lange, and Joyce Van Patten in The Supporting Cast on Broadway. The play closed after only eight performances, but returning to Laverne and Shirley was not an option, as the writers had explained Edna's disappearance by having her divorce Frank.
Garrett appeared on television in Murder, She Wrote, The Golden Girls, Harts of the West, Union Square, Boston Public, Becker (for which she was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series), and Grey's Anatomy, among others, and on stage in Plaza Suite (with Parks), And Miss Reardon Drinks A Little, and the 2001 Broadway revival of Follies.
At Theatre West, which she co-founded, she directed Arthur Miller's The Price and appeared in the play Waiting in the Wings. She won the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award twice, for Spoon River Anthology and Betty Garrett and Other Songs.
Garrett received a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame in 2003. On her 90th birthday in 2009, she was honored at a celebration sponsored by Theatre West at the Music Box Theatre in Hollywood.
In 2010, Garrett appeared alongside former two-time co-star Esther Williams during Turner Classic Movies' first annual Classic Film Festival. Their film Neptune's Daughter was screened at the pool of the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood, California, while a Williams-inspired synchronized swimming troop, The Aqualilies, performed.
Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake (1942). Adventure film. Director: John Cromwell. Cast: Tyrone Power, Gene Tierney, Elsa Lanchester, John Carradine and Roddy Mc Dowell. This period swashbuckler film is based on the adventure novel Benjamin Blake by Edison Marshall, who also wrote The Vikings (1958).
In England, a kindly gunsmith Amos Kidder takes responsibility for his grandson, Benjamin Blake, after both his unwed parents died.. Their lives are turned upside down, when Benjamin's uncle, Sir Arthur Blake, who inherited title and lands from his brother,forces him to live with him as a servant.
Ten years pass and Benjamin vows to avenge himself against his cruel a uncle. During this time, Benjamin, works as a grooms man and falls in love with his cousin Isabel. On the evening, Benjamin tells Isabel that he is running away, he makes her promise to wait for him. Arthur catches them together and he beats Benjamin.
Later that night, Benjamin confronts Arthur, who holds a gun on him. Benjamin escapes with his life and stows away aboard the Tropic Star. Benjamin is befriended by Caleb Green, who tells him about a tropical island where they can find pearls.
Later, they both desert ship and swim to the island. My favorite part of the movie is when, Benjamin and Caleb enjoy their peaceful lives while they collect pearls with a native woman, called Eve by Benjamin.
The couple live as husband and wife, over time Benjamin, becomes homesick and makes plans on returning home to claim his birthright.. What will he find when he returns to home to England?
SON OF FURY, is a wonderful classic adventure film. One of Tyrone Power's best films. Gene Tierney, although very beautiful.. really did not look like a native girl. Alfred Newman's score is also a big part of the movie..
John Carradine (February 5, 1906 – November 27, 1988) was best known for his roles in horror films and Westerns as well as Shakespearean theater. Was one of the most prolific character actors in Hollywood history. He was married several times, had several children and was the patriarch of the Carradine family acting dynasty. It includes four of his sons and four of his grandchildren.
first film credit was Tol'able David (1930), but he claimed to have done 70 pictures before getting billing. Carradine tested, along with Conrad Veidt, William Courtenay, Paul Muni, and Ian Keith, for the title role in Dracula, but all contenders lost out to Bela Lugosi. Carradine would later play the Count in the Universal Studios Dracula sequels House of Frankenstein and House of Dracula.
Lugosi and Carradine both also tested for the monster role in Frankenstein (1931). By 1933, he was being credited as John Peter Richmond, perhaps in honor of his friend, John Barrymore. He adopted the stage name "John Carradine" in 1935 and legally took the name two years later.
By 1936, Carradine had become a member of John Ford's stock company and made 11 pictures with Ford, including his first important role, as Preacher Casy in The Grapes of Wrath (1940). Other Ford films in which Carradine appeared include: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) and Stagecoach (1939), both with John Wayne.
He also portrayed Aaron in, The Ten Commandments (1956). Carradine did stage work, which provided him with the opportunity to work in dramas. He toured with his own Shakespearean company in the 1940s, playing Hamlet and Macbeth. His Broadway roles included: Ferdinand in a 1946 production of John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi, the Ragpicker in a 13-month run of Jean Giraudoux's The Madwoman of Chaillot, Lycus in a 15-month run of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and DeLacey in the expensive one-night flop Frankenstein in 1981.
He also toured in road companies of such shows: Tobacco Road and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, in which he was properly emaciated as the cancer-ridden Big Daddy, a part, he said, which Tennessee Williams wrote for him. Carradine claimed to have appeared in more than 450 movies, but only 225 movies can be documented (his count is closer to fact if theatrical movies, made-for-TV movies and TV shows combined).
He often played eccentric, insane or diabolical characters, especially in the horror genre with which he had become identified as a "star" by the mid-1940s. He occasionally played a heroic role, as in The Grapes of Wrath, in which he played Casy, the ill-fated "preacher", and he occasionally played a sympathetic role, as in Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake, in which he played Blake's shipmate, who escapes with him to a tropical island full of riches.
He appeared in dozens of low-budget horror films from the 1940s to finance a touring classical theatre company. He sang the theme song to one film in which he appeared briefly, Red Zone Cuba. He also made more than 100 television appearances, including CBS's My Friend Flicka and Place the Face, NBC's Cimarron City as the foreboding Jared Tucker in the episode "Child of Fear" and on Overland Trail in the 1960 episode "The Reckoning," and on ABC's Harrigan and Son and The Legend of Jesse James.
Carradine also made recurring appearances as the mortician, Mr. Gateman, on CBS' The Munsters. In 1985, Carradine won a Daytime Emmy Award for his performance as an eccentric old man who lives by the railroad tracks in the Young People's Special, Umbrella Jack. In 1982, he supplied the voice of the Great Owl in the animated feature The Secret of NIMH.
One of Carradine's final film appearances was Peggy Sue Got Married in 1986. Carradine's last released film credit was Bikini Drive-In, released years after his death. Carradine's deep, voice earned him the nickname "The Voice". He was also known as the "Bard of the Boulevard," due to his idiosyncratic habit of strolling Hollywood streets while reciting Shakespearean soliloquies, something he always denied.
The Heavenly Body (1944). Romantic/comedy. Cast: William Powell and Hedy Lamarr. Joan Crawford was offered the lead role but turned it down saying, "It was about a girl who stands around and does nothing. I told the studio to give the part to Hedy Lamarr."
The story begins with Astronomer William S. Whitley, who is about to make scientific history with his discovery of a new comet. His wife Vicky, is supportive of his work, but.. she is left alone most of the time and is very lonely. She decides to visit astrologer Mrs. Margaret Sibyll, after her eccentric neighbor, Nancy Potter, suggest that she go for a reading about her future.
After her reading Vicky's astrological chart, Mrs. Sibyll predicts that "something important" is going to happen to her.
Later, at home, Vicky tells Bill that because of her astrological reading he can no longer kiss her on Tuesdays. Angry, Bill runs next door and hoses down, neighbor, Nancy Potter, for interfering in their lives.
Two weeks later, Vicky goes to see Bill while he is working at the observatory, to tell him that she is leaving him. So, she will be free to meet her "dream" man. Bill, does not take her very seriously, until.. Vicky, moves out of their bedroom .
Two weeks later, Vicky calls Bill at work to tell him that that there is no dream man and that Mrs. Sibyll, is a fake. Bill, wastes no time getting home, but.. before he arrives, Vicky meets the tall dark and handsome Lloyd, a neighborhood air raid warden. He fits Mrs. Sibyll's description of Vicky's dream lover perfectly. Everyone, seems to hit it off at first.
The next day, Lloyd returns to the Whitleys,' to pick up a bag he left behind. Bill, can not believe it when he finds out that Lloyd, plans to marry Vicky. Bill, convinces Lloyd, to changing his route to avoid Vicky, but.. he quickly changes his mind and confess that he plans on seeing her again..
Later, Bill at the end of his rope, jumps from Professor Stowe's car, on the way to his lecture, to see if he can put a stop to Vicky and Lloyd's plans. With Bill gone, Stowe, prepares to give the lecture himself, when Bill shows up at the observatory last minute... happy thinking that he has broken up Vicky and Lloyd relationship, once and for all. As Bill is looking through a small telescope, he sees that she has gone to their mountain cabin, the same place where he sent Lloyd. Bill, tries to carry on with his lecture.
Soon after Bill, rushes to the cabin and finds Lloyd seranading Vicky, who tells Bill, "that this is further proof that they are destined to be together".
The next day, Bill comes up with the idea to steal Vicky's weekly horoscope and replace it with one that predicts his death. Vicky, not believing her horoscope calls Mrs. Sybill, to confirm the prediction. Bill, is with the astrologer, threatening to expose the truth about her being a rations hoarder (much frowned upon during WWII). As hoped, Bill's plan works like a charm. Until, Bill starts to re-write his will and Vicky is summoned by Mrs. Sibyll, who wants to come clean..
A fun romantic comedy with a wartime/astrological subplot. William Powell and Hedy Lamarr, are very charming together and you hope there is a happily ever after ending for everyone... Astronomy, is one of my hobbies, so I loved all the scenes at the observatory. Spring Byington, is one of my favorite character actors, so it was a special treat seeing her in this cute film.
Fay Okell Bainter (December 7, 1893 - April 16, 1968). MGM persuaded her to try films and her movie debut was in, This Side of Heaven (1934), the same year she appeared in, Dodsworth on Broadway and the film, It Happened One Day (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 (1937), 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).
Fay Bainter and Reginald Venable married on June 8, 1921, in Riverside, California. The couple had one son, Reginald Venable Jr. (1926–1974), who became an actor. Bainter was the aunt of actress Dorothy Burgess.
