‘MOVIE MEMORIES’ …USA…..1930s….1940s ‘THE GOLDEN AGE’
1950s….1960s…..UK…
SUSAN HAYWARD
ISSUE 67 – SPRING 2010
MOVIE MEMORIES MAGAZINE HONORARY MEMBERS DINAH SHERIDAN – DORA BRYAN – DEBBIE REYNOLDS
– ROBERT OSBORNE – MURIEL PAVLOW – PEGGY CUMMINS
GOOGIE WITHERS – BELLA EMBERG – RENEE ASHERSON – ANNE AUBREY – PATRICIA DAINTON – JULIE HARRIS JANETTE SCOTT – FAITH BROOK – ELAINE SCHREYECK – JOANNA McCALLUM – ANN RUTHERFORD – LIZABETH SCOTT BERNARD CRIBBINS – SUSANNAH YORK – JEAN KENT – BRYAN FORBES – NANETTE NEWMAN – MICHAEL CRAIG
Whilst welcoming everyone to the first issue of 2010, it is with much regret and sadness to have to announce the death of one of MVM’s longest serving honorary members – John McCallum. John, along with his wife of 62 years – the delightful Googie Withers and their charming eldest daughter Joanna McCallum, helped to thoroughly enthral and entertain many MVM members at the annual gathering back in September 2007, giving us all an afternoon to remember for a very long time. On that occasion, John kindly signed my copy of his excellent book ‘Life With Googie’ which naturally I will treasure even more now, along with his thoughtful and most gracious letters regarding MVM – and the enjoyment each magazine gave both Googie and himself. Not only a talented actor of the stage and screen, John went into the production side of the business in Australia – especially with the popular TV series ‘Skippy’ in the 1960s, which I remember with affection. John and Googie (pictured here in the 1950s) appeared together many times on the screen – and more so on the stage in a wide variety of successful productions spanning some fifty years. I’m sure all MVM members will join me in sending sincere and heartfelt condolences to Googie, Joanna and all the family, for he will indeed be sorely missed. I would hereby like to dedicate this edition of ‘Movie Memories’ magazine to the memory of John McCallum – a truly fine gentleman. One of the most touching and warm biographies I have read in recent times is ‘Joan Blondell – A Life Between Takes’ by Matthew Kennedy. Joan (pictured here) was exactly like her screen image ‘off-camera’; a very warm, loving and generous lady, always popular with her many friends and co-workers, despite numerous financial, emotional and health problems – especially in later life, as she privately and courageously battled leukaemia which claimed her on Christmas Day 1979 at the age of 73. I always liked Joan – in any film – and she worked continuously for fifty years, making her screen debut in 1930. Of course she will be affectionately recalled for several Warner Brothers’ Busby Berkeley musicals of the 1930s in which her peppy, witty, down-to-earth personality shone through. As she aged, I felt Joan was allowed to expand her range and she was a delight in ‘A Tree Grows In Brooklyn’ (1944) in a supporting role as the worldly Aunt Sissy. This book details her close bonds with her brother and sister (actress Gloria Blondell) and her children and grandchildren, plus her three marriages, including her second, to Dick Powell and her last, to the volatile Mike Todd. Never one to complain, whatever befell her, Joan simply shrugged on got on with things, endearing herself 1
to millions along the way. I highly recommend this fine addition to anyone’s film book library – and it is a long overdue tribute to one of Hollywood’s best loved actresses. (University Press Of Mississippi, 2007 with 300 pages, well illustrated). Incidentally, from this publisher I have almost all the other film star biographies in this growing series, which includes so far, Alice Faye, Dick Haymes, Rosalind Russell, Van Johnson, Zachary Scott and Claudette Colbert (more of which later). As usual, I am saddened to have to report the deaths of so many names from the world of screen and stage lately, including: the Oscar-winning Hollywood leading lady Jennifer Jones (90) pictured here in 1943’s ‘The Song Of Bernadette’ (see page 49); British supporting actor Garfield Morgan (78) – latterly most memorable for the popular TV series ‘The Sweeney’; handsome American actor Dennis Cole (69); the French film director and screenwriter Eric Rohmer (89); British character actress Moyra Fraser (86) best recalled for playing Judi Dench’s sister-in-law in TV’s excellent series ‘As Time Goes By’; Cy Grant (90) a pioneering black actor of British films and television; lovely blonde American leading lady Connie Hines (78) forever remembered for co-starring with Alan Young and the talking horse in the 1960s TV series ‘Mr Ed’ – which I well remember as a child; the prolific British character actress and bit part player Marianne Stone (87) – pictured here, who amazingly appeared in over 200 films since 1948, including several of the ‘Carry On’s’ and was long married to actor/producer Peter Noble until his death in 1997; pretty blonde American singer Yvonne King (89) the last surviving member of the
famous quartet ‘The King Sisters’. The group (real life sisters) sang with numerous big bands and appeared in several Hollywood films of the 1940s. While mentioning musical performers, Al Alberts, a member of ‘The Four Aces’ has also passed away aged 87. The Four Aces are well remembered for their many recordings, especially the theme for 1954’s ‘Three Coins In A Fountain’. British producer, writer and director Robert S. Baker has died at the age of 92; popular, dark haired, handsome Hollywood leading man from the 1950s onwards who attained even bigger stardom on television, Gene Barry (90) pictured here. Remember ‘Bat Masterson’, ‘Our Miss Brooks’, ‘The Name Of The Game’ and ‘Burke’s Law’ from the 1950s to the 70s? 2
The British supporting actor Donald Pickering (76); talented British dancer and choreographer Wendy Toye, C.B.E (92) who went on to become one of the first women directors of stage and screen in Britain; the lovely Hollywood singing star Kathryn Grayson (88) shown here with Howard Keel - who co-starred with her in three films. Under contract to MGM during its glorious 1940s heyday, I’ll always remember an emotional Kathryn singing ‘After The Ball’ in the 1951 musical ‘Show Boat’ to her screen Papa, – Joe E. Brown. Tall, dark and handsome American leading man Pernell Roberts (pictured below) has died at the age of 81. Despite appearing in numerous films, he really made his name in the popular long-running TV series ‘Bonanza’ in the 1960s (alongside the late Dan Blocker, Lorne Greene and Michael Landon), before starring in his own series ‘Trapper John, M.D’ in the 1980s; the diminutive (only 4’3”) American supporting actress Zelda Rubinstein (76) latterly best recalled for the ‘Poltergeist’ series of movies; two Hollywood character actors Val Avery (85) and Dan Barton (88); minor American actress often in ‘B’ westerns – Beatrice Gray (98) and veteran Hollywood supporting actor Arnold Stang (91) also remembered for his many radio roles and voice characterisations. Last but of course not least, the British film industry has taken a severe battering, not only with the aforementioned death of MVM honorary John McCallum A.O, CBE (91) but also with the sad loss of Richard Todd OBE (90), the lovely Jean Simmons a few days before her 81st birthday; Ian Carmichael OBE (89) and Lionel Jeffries (83). See page 50. These greatly talented stars have all given us movie buffs an array of wonderful films over so many years and, like all those remembered here, they will indeed be sorely missed! On a brighter note, I was delighted to learn how the two-time Oscar winning star Luise Rainer recently celebrated her 100th birthday with a wonderful party at London’s Arts Club. The German born Miss Rainer has resided in London now for many years. One of the guests, Sir Ian McKellen, reported how “Luise entered the reception for some forty friends on her daughter’s arm, wearing a gold trouser suit and trademark Juliet cap (shown here), her smile as enchanting as it was in ‘The Great Ziegfeld’ back in 1936”. Of course everyone knows how Luise won the Best Actress Oscar for this film – and did the same thing the following year for ‘The Good Earth’ in which she portrayed a Chinese woman. Her screen career petered out just as quickly as it had begun – after only a handful of other films, which included ‘The Emperor’s Candlesticks’ (1938), ‘The Toy Wife’ (1938), ‘The Great Waltz’ (1938), ‘Dramatic School’ (1939) and ‘Hostages’ in 1943. She didn’t approve of the Hollywood lifestyle and studio ‘rules’, subsequently falling out with studio head Louis B. Mayer – and terminating her contract. After 3
a small handful of TV appearances, Luise was lured out of retirement to appear in the 1997 film ‘The Gambler’ – gaining good notices. Her only child, daughter Francesca (63) is from her second marriage to publisher Robert Knittel (who died in 1989 after 44 years of marriage). Her first husband (divorced) was the notable playwright Clifford Odets. Longevity may be genetic but Luise Rainer has stayed young through walking regularly and apparently being genuinely interested in everyone she meets, especially the men! Pictured here with Melvyn Douglas and Robert Young in ‘The Toy Wife’, I’d just like to say ‘Congratulations – and Many Happy Returns, Miss Rainer!’ I was amazed to learn how the famous singing group ‘The Sons Of The Pioneers’ have recently celebrated their 75th anniversary in the business. The original group was founded in 1934 by an aspiring cowboy singer named Leonard Slye – who would later become ‘King of the Cowboys’ after changing his name to Roy Rogers! This popular five-man singing group would eventually go on to appear in countless films, many of them with their founder Roy Rogers, along with his ‘sidekick’ George ‘Gabby’ Hayes and Roy’s lovely wife and ‘Queen of the West’ – Dale Evans. Their many hits included ‘Cool Water’, ‘Way Out There’ and ‘Tumbling Tumbleweeds’ to name but three. ‘The Sons Of The Pioneers’ have been giving 75th anniversary concerts in California with much success – so many congratulations are certainly in order for this evergreen country & western group! Yet another fascinating and in-depth new biography has joined my bursting-at-the-seams book shelves, namely ‘Jeff Chandler – A Biography’ by Marilyn Kirk. With over 500 pages and very well illustrated throughout, I found this book absolutely packed with information on Jeff’s family background and aspirations (also included is his complete filmography, with cast and credits, dates, etc) and at last we learn why he died so tragically young whilst in hospital, after much suffering, in 1961 aged only 42. Miss Kirk has certainly undertaken some thorough research over many years, gaining quotes along the way from many of Jeff’s friends and co-stars, such as Rhonda Fleming, Loretta Young, Jeanne Crain, Anthony Quinn, Julie London, Dolores Hart, John Saxon, Marsha Hunt, etc, etc. Everybody liked Jeff, who was warm, caring, quiet and thoughtful and a much loved father to his two daughters. On screen from 1947 in bit part roles, it wasn’t until ‘Broken Arrow’ (1950) and his portrayal of the Indian ‘Cochise’ that he finally made his mark. Under contract to Universal, Jeff quickly established himself in a series of action dramas and westerns, playing 4
notable Red Indians more than once! His striking good looks with premature steel grey hair and an impressive physique was an instant magnet for the ladies – and he appeared opposite many of the screen lovelies of the day, including Maureen O’Hara, Rhonda Fleming, Debra Paget, Evelyn Keyes, Linda Darnell, June Allyson, Jane Russell, Marilyn Maxwell, Joan Crawford, etc, etc. This book is long overdue - and I well recommend it to all fans of the talented Jeff Chandler – who left us way too soon and whose death, apparently, could certainly have been avoided. Whilst undergoing back surgery for a painful ruptured disc, a main artery was accidently partially severed, which in turn caused fatal internal bleeding. It was a real tragedy, robbing the screen of a unique talent for sure. His ex-wife and their two daughters were financially cared for after medical compensation – but even sadder, was learning how both daughters succumbed to cancer in their early 50s just eight months apart in 2002/03. There were three grandchildren, whom Jeff would never know. The author of this book is a freelance writer – and a devoted fan – and it has taken her many years to get the book completed and published by 1st Library Books. Fans of Jeff Chandler will not be disappointed with this weighty tome with easy-toread print. Recently, after many a year, I enjoyed a rare showing on standard UK TV of the excellent 1954 air drama ‘The High And The Mighty’ – with an all-star cast. Beginning with its haunting, melodic Oscar-winning score (by Dimitri Tiomkin), this Technicolor hit (directed by the experienced William Wellman) starred John Wayne as a washed-up pilot (who naturally saves the day) alongside an edgy, younger Captain (Robert Stack) and youthful crew William Campbell and Doe Avedon. The wonderful array of assorted passengers included Claire Trevor, David Brian, Jan Sterling, Robert Newton, Laraine Day, Phil Harris, Paul Kelly, John Howard, Paul Fix and a bitter Sidney Blackmer along with Julie Bishop and Ann Doran – who both had a real chance to shine in this film. The inter-woven stories of all the characters building up to their stricken flight were all so interesting and well acted by the talented players. It didn’t disappoint me and made fascinating viewing – and what a cast! The 12th Annual Silver Spur Awards, presented by the Reel Cowboys Organisation and held at the Universal Sheraton Hotel in Universal City, California, last November - was yet another great success with many stars in attendance, including Ernest Borgnine, L.Q Jones, Stella Stevens, Ben Cooper, Morgan Woodward, Ty Hardin, Ron Howard, Della Reese, Herb Jeffries, Marty Ingels and lovely wife Shirley Jones, etc. Judging by the many photographs shown in February’s issue of ‘Classic Images’ a good time was certainly had by all at this popular event which continues to acknowledge the contributions of all those who work in the western genre. And rightly so! Well, that’s all for now folks, so eyes down, look in – and on with the MVM show! Chris.
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‘YOUR LETTERS’
What another fine issue of MVM (No.66) and a most delightful Christmas present, arriving on Christmas Eve, thanks Chris. Sadly there were a lot of deaths to report – over twenty in fact – and not many letters this time – which I always enjoy. I do so agree that Eleanor Parker should indeed receive an ‘Honorary Oscar’ as she is an excellent actress with such fine and varied roles in a long screen career. Recently I read that the Charles Farrell of British films was actually born in Dublin and grew up in Canada which could account for him often playing Americans. Many thanks to John Vicary for informing us all how Dorothy Adams was married to Byron Foulger. They were both good supporting players. The reason that Ann Dvorak was in wartime Britain was because her then husband Leslie Fenton was British and they came over so that he could join up. At the First Night of ‘Damn Yankees’ at London’s coliseum Theatre, I was surprised to see Hollywood actor Barry Sullivan enter the building. When I asked him what had enticed him to see the show, he said how he had been in movies with Belita – who was starring in show. Reading the nice tribute to Brenda Joyce in MVM 66 reminded me of how, as a schoolboy, I had a crush on her after seeing ‘The Rains Came’ (1939). Astor Sklair gave us another fine interview, this time with Jean Kent, whose film career I followed with much interest right from the start! It was also good to read of William Wyler who has always been one of my favourite directors. John Vicary has an amazing memory and I enjoyed his ‘Bathing Beauties’ article very much. As for John Clarke’s interesting feature ‘Roles They Should Have Played’ I really don’t think one of them would have been better than the final screen choices! Personally, I just can’t see Frank Sinatra in ‘Some Like It Hot’ as he could never have succeeded in ‘drag’ – and his ‘Pal Joey’ went against the whole point of the show in which he was meant to be much younger than Rita Hayworth’s character in the film (shown here), whereas he was actually older! It is always good to have our ‘Editor’s Extra Notes’ – as in the case of the delectable Marion Martin (well recalled by Albert Leonard) and he usually manages to give us some new information. What a great article on Claire Trevor by Michael Burrows. It was a nice surprise to find Claire at a London Theatre Garden Party several years ago – and MVM member Stan Smith had his photograph taken with her! I loved all the different illustrations of Claire in MVM 66. I am rather ashamed to admit that I had never heard of character actor L.Q Jones, not being a great western fan. Lastly, I can’t find anything good in ‘The Opposite Sex’ (1956) to compare with ‘The Women’ (1939) – and June Allyson (nice lady that she was) did have the misfortune of appearing in several remakes in the 1950s – when the original 1930s leading ladies like Norma Shearer, Irene Dunne, Claudette Colbert and Carole Lombard far outshone her, I’m afraid! Ken Sephton, London The Christmas issue of MVM was a most welcome present – and it was nice to learn from Alan Moore in Australia how Doris Day is keeping quite well at 87. Great to hear also that Hollywood has awarded Lauren Bacall with an ‘Honorary’ Oscar. It’s just a pity we couldn’t 6
see the actual presentation. Lauren’s film career highlights are undoubtedly her four films with Bogie and I’m so glad that I was able to see her on the London stage (several times) during the 1970s in ‘Applause’ – the musical version of the classic ‘All About Eve’. Lauren was just great in the Margo Channing role. As much as I love Claudette Colbert, I cannot imagine her as Margo in the 1950 movie – and as Robert Rosterman rightly says, Claudette would have been Ina Claire in contrast to Bette’s Tallulah Bankhead! What a lovely story about Eva Marie Saint keeping the matchbook Cary Grant threw to her in ‘North By Northwest’ to warn her of imminent danger. Incidentally, I do so love Bernard Herrmann’s exciting music for this classic 1959 Hitchcock thriller. I enjoyed Albert Leonard’s tribute to Barry Sullivan (and Chris’s comments) and I know exactly the scene Albert refers to in ‘Forty Guns’ (1957) when Barry is facing John Ericson – who is ruthlessly holding Barbara Stanwyck (his sister in the movie) in front of him as a shield. Quite suddenly, Barry’s character takes aim and shoots Barbara who falls to the ground wounded. Ericson’s look of disbelief echoes the viewers as he too is gunned down! Just one of the wonderfully unexpected moments in a film. I liked Barry Sullivan in ‘The Bad And The Beautiful’ (1952) but his role in ‘Jeopardy’ (1953) – again with Stanwyck, was a rather thankless one, as he is trapped as the sea increasingly threatens to drown him. In addition to Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Crawford and Bette Davis, Barry also partnered Claudette Colbert in ‘Texas Lady’ and he lost Greer Garson to Robert Ryan in ‘Her Twelve Men’. As Chris says, Barry was part of a great cast in ‘Any Number Can Play’ (1949) – and I agree, he was an unsung screen hero! What a lovely portrait of Marion Martin by Albert Leonard. I really only knew Marion from ‘Lady Of Burlesque’ in which she lights up the screen as the warm and funny, tall dumb blonde. Reading Clive Roberts’ tribute to Frank Sinatra, I keep wondering why ‘Meet Danny Wilson’ isn’t out on DVD. Does anyone know why? As Clive says, Frank has some great songs in it. How Clive must treasure that signed photograph from Frank. I did enjoy John Clarke’s article ‘Movie Roles They Should Have Played’ but if one reads the book ‘Inside Warner Brothers’, George Raft was never offered the role of Rick in ‘Casablanca’. The producer Hal Wallis makes it clear that Humphrey Bogart was the first choice! (Wallis’s memos from the Warner archives are so interesting). Carol Hughes, Glasgow 7
For sheer variety and scope, this new issue 66 has got to be the best yet, which is saying something as they have always been one hundred per cent satisfactory. What a great set of writers Movie Memories has. Because Barbara Stanwyck underplayed many scenes in her films, when she erupted in each one of them such as in ‘Blowing Wild’ and ‘Clash By Night’, in my opinion neither Joan Crawford or even Bette Davis could touch her for intensity. Oh dear Jean, did you really hate your film ‘2,000 Women’? I thought you seemed like a British Rita Hayworth in 1944, because of your hairstyle and sexy demeanour in this movie. I was surprised then saddened to read how actress Betty Jardine – with whom Jean had that realistic ‘knock-down’ fight in ‘2,000 Women’, died in childbirth in 1945. What a terrible tragedy. In my opinion, practically no autobiography tells the absolute truth about its subject and I suggest Maureen O’Hara’s is probably no exception. Maureen was almost libellous, stating that Linda Darnell was Darryl F.Zanuck’s one-time mistress. Darryl ‘tried it on’ as soon as Linda became seventeen – and was told in no uncertain terms that she wasn’t interested, as indeed had Alice Faye and Betty Grable earlier. All three ladies were down-to-earth with no ‘star’ egos at all. Linda gave to so many charities in Italy whilst making two films there in the 1950s – that she came home with no salary left at all! Ann Miller once told me that Linda (pictured here) simply didn’t have a selfish bone in her body! An even more striking looking actress than Mary Morris – was the British character actress, theatre director and author, Beatrix Lehmann (1903-1979) photographed here by Angus McBean in 1937. I wonder if any MVM readers remember her? Judging by the photo of Jill Balcon on page 2 of MVM 66, the present-day actor Daniel Day Lewis has a strong facial resemblance to his mother – he certainly has her nose! Stuntman Gerry Crampton was known as ‘the muscle-man with the pouch’ from his many poses in various body-building magazines of the 1950s and 60s. And on page 20 of MVM 66, young Johnny Sheffield looks more toned than ‘Tarzan’ – Johnny Weissmuller! Has anyone ever seen any of the ‘Bomba The Jungle Boy’ series of films (12 in all from 1949 to 1955) which starred Johnny Sheffield? Lastly, I feel sure that the normally blonde Claire Trevor was asked (or maybe told) to wear a dark brown wig in ‘Honky Tonk’ (1941) in contrast to the new blonde sensation Lana Turner! Albert Leonard, London
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Many thanks for the brilliant issue number 66 received over the Xmas period, which featured some lovely photographs and articles. I’m a very big Frank Sinatra fan, so reading Clive Roberts’ piece on him was just great. Also I loved the super cover photo of Rock Hudson, another favourite. I’m delighted to see that Jean Kent and Michael Craig have joined the growing band of wonderful ‘honorary’ members too. Please carry on with the good work and every success for 2010. Vi Joyce, Bromley Thank you for yet another excellent MVM! I would be most interested in any information concerning the wonderful character actor Walter Brennan, who hasn’t been featured in MVM to date and also the truly multi-talented Donald O’Connor – who was sadly underused by Hollywood, in my opinion. I recently watched again ‘Singin’ In The Rain’, wherein Donald matched Gene Kelly’s dancing step for step as well as performing his own acrobatic routines (they are shown together here in a scene from the film). Donald (pictured below in a more sedate pose) also had a pleasant baritone voice and was certainly a good comic actor. I believe he came from a family of acrobats, but I’d appreciate further information on this talented star. I also remember him in several ‘teenage’ musicals of the 1940s alongside the likes of Peggy Ryan, not forgetting his later series of ‘Francis The Talking Mule’ films! To conclude, I’d like to reiterate my previous remarks concerning the ‘over dramatic’ acting of the Lana Turner style which was common in the early 1940s and really more suitable for the stage. It was mentioned in Esther Williams’ memoirs of how the studio coach taught this particular style of acting at that time – and how the more natural, trained actors like Spencer Tracy – avoided it like the plague. When compared with the more contained and restrained acting of the true actors as opposed to numerous ‘stars’ – the difference was quite obvious. Peter Parker, Wisbech Thank you so much for MVM 66, with the sad news of Brenda Joyce’s and many other departures. In view of Rock Hudson being the cover star, I thought there must be an article inside – but, no luck, so I hope I have remedied that situation regarding his screen work in this issue (see page 35). Yes indeed, it is strange how Eleanor Parker has not been awarded an ‘Honorary Oscar’ after her great acting in so many good movies like ‘Caged’, ‘The Detective Story’ and ‘The Man With The Golden Arm’ to name but three. Her dual roles in 1948’s ‘The Woman In White’ impressed me greatly too. What a shame that Alan Moore didn’t get to meet up with Doris Day, after running her Australian Society for so long. It would appear that past events have turned Doris into a semi-recluse, as such things can. I know from experience! I think Albert Leonard is right 9
about little Connie Marshall in ‘Mother Wore Tights’ (1947). That musical deteriorated quite a bit once Betty Grable and Dan Dailey’s screen children were brought into it so frequently. It was very nice to have a feature on Barry Sullivan, who was torn between those lovely blondes Ann Sothern and Jane Powell in ‘Nancy Goes To Rio’ – an under-rated 1949 MGM musical. Walter Pidgeon, Kay Francis and Deanna Durbin had starred in its predecessor ‘It’s A Date’ (1940). It was also good to see Astor Sklair’s fascinating interview with Jean Kent, for such a tribute was long overdue for this lady. I’m pleased that ‘Trottie True’ is one of her own personal favourite roles. May I add a few more memories of Marion Martin? For example, what about her bit part as a French courtesan in ‘The Man In The Iron Mask’ (Louis Hayward version) in 1940? Marion had even smaller parts later, in ‘Tales Of Manhattan’ and in the opening modern bar-room sequence of ‘Oh, You Beautiful Doll’ – and in another bar, quite an important scene during that excellent ‘B’ thriller ‘Black Angel’ (1946). It involved some jewellery the murderer had given her and, although Marion was announced she was ‘Millie’, I don’t recall her name being in the cast list in that or the aforementioned two films! What great articles on Claire Trevor (by Michael Burrows) and Frank Sinatra (by Clive Roberts) but I’m afraid the name of L.Q Jones was not familiar to me – not even in a favourite Elvis Presley movie ‘Flaming Star’! John Vicary, Exmouth MVM now has that professional edge in looks – and it is a joy. I have the complete set – and I intend to keep it that way, as I often refer to them again and again. I was delighted to see that Jean Kent and Michael Craig will now be able to share with us the many memories we all have of the cinema’s ‘golden age’. News of Virginia McKenna is always welcome and it’s good to know she has been filming again – let’s hope this talented and compassionate lady is soon made a Dame – long overdue is it not? The loss of John McCallum (pictured here) is truly sad and our thoughts are with his wife Googie Withers and their family. It was also distressing to lose two beautiful actresses, Jean Simmons and Jennifer Jones, as I have followed Jennifer’s career in films since I was ten years old and often replay them. Another legendary star recently celebrated her 100th birthday, the double Oscar winner Luise Rainer, who some years ago was reportedly actively writing her autobiography. I hope it will surface in due course, for what a fascinating insight into Hollywood’s golden era that should be! It was nice to see the re-appearance of Jean Arthur’s western ‘Arizona’(1940) – out at last on DVD, in which she co-stars with the much younger William Holden (hard to believe there was a seventeen-year age difference, for Miss Arthur certainly played it youthfully!) Derek Chamberlain asked about little Beverly Simmons, but I don’t know what became of her in later life. Possibly her last film was ‘Buck Privates Come Home’ (1947) which was Abbott & Costello’s sequel to their earlier hit (alongside the Andrews Sisters) in ‘Buck Privates’. I did enjoy Ken Sephton’s tribute to the talented Mary Morris, but he didn’t mention the brilliant BBC sci-fi serial from 1961 called ‘A For Andromeda’ which marked Julie Christie’s ‘small screen’ debut in which she played an organically grown humanoid computer! I refer to it as I seem to recall that Mary Morris had a featured role in this (unless I am mistaken!) 10
Unfortunately, this classic seven-part series remains ‘missing, believed wiped’ by the BBC who didn’t realise the cult status the programme would attain – and it remains hotly sought after by them today! Ian Lukes, Chatham As usual, MVM 66 was welcomed with expectation as it came safely through my letter box over the festive season – and what a treat! From the great drawing of Barbara Stanwyck (on the inside front cover - by Albert Leonard) it was a feast of information with super articles, ending with another great Leonard drawing of Charles Laughton – with that amiable smile of his. (He is shown here in later life). One of the features of particular interest to me was of the wonderful Claire Trevor (by Michael Burrows). She was a great actress with a distinctive voice – and I greatly admired her. All in all, the entire magazine was superb and I’d like to thank everyone concerned for making each article so interesting! Ron Humphrey, Swindon Thank you so much for my latest ‘Movie Memories’ which was a lovely read for me over the New Year. I really do enjoy MVM – and look forward to it so much that I wish it was a monthly publication!! Margaret Roberts, Anglesey No sooner had I thanked Chris for issue 65 when number 66 arrived – a double treat – and I welcomed the news of Jean Kent joining our ‘honoraries’. Versatile and often under-rated, Jean brought glamour and allure to the often small but showy roles in various Gainsborough costume dramas of the war years, which of course took our minds off the dreadful conflict going on around us. Often, it was Jean you remembered most from these films, as she always seemed to be type-cast playing ‘floozies’ - as she told Astor Sklair in his excellent and most welcome interview with her for MVM 66. Albert Leonard’s movie portraits seem to improve with age, none better than his latest of the gorgeous blonde Marion Martin (shown here) who also made a career out of playing chorus girls and floozies. I vividly recall her in a Bob Hope comedy ‘They Got Me Covered’ (1942) if memory serves me well. Marion was on stage throwing fake snowballs at the audience – and they were throwing them back, but one, thrown by Otto Preminger (in a rare cameo role as a Nazi spy) had a knife through it – giving Marion a shot at winning an Oscar for her death scene in Bob’s arms. I once asked Albert why he nearly always portrayed mostly exotic, sultry sirens of the screen like Linda Darnell, Hedy Lamarr, Joan Bennett, etc – and he replied “They (the lookers) are really the only ones that interest me!” I look forward to meeting up with many familiar faces (all being well) at MVM’s annual gathering in May! John Clarke, Middleton-on-Sea Please accept my subscription renewal plus a little extra donation towards MVM’s upkeep, as I should hate to think of the magazine ceasing publication! I love all the wonderful issues packed with beautiful pictures of our favourite stars - with lots of information which we otherwise wouldn’t know about! Please keep them coming! Joyce Smith, Southampton 11
Christmas 2009 began well for me! On Christmas Eve morning I attended a showing of ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ at the cinema – and when I returned home, there was MVM 66 waiting for me on the doormat! It was well up to its usual high standard. I appreciated Alan Moore’s letter about my favourite star, Doris Day. Just prior to my 70th birthday, I wrote to Doris and enclosed a photograph of her to sign for me and return. Sure enough, it subsequently arrived with a lovely personalised message, such a kind gesture from a true lady! I was very sad to read of Richard Todd’s death, for only a few years ago, I saw ‘Stage Fright’ (1950) in Nottingham – and Richard attended the showing (unannounced). Afterwards he took part in an entertaining ‘question & answer’ session. Pictured here with the also recently deceased Jean Simmons, I asked him about some of his leading ladies, such as Ruth Roman, Patricia Neal, Jean Peters and Dana Wynter. Richard jokingly suggested that I knew more about his films than he did! I enjoyed Albert Leonard’s appreciation of Barry Sullivan, who was just one of a number of Hollywood actors who always gave good performances – alongside the likes of Richard Carlson, Gary Merrill, George Macready, Kent Smith, Frank Lovejoy and John Russell, to name a few. Chris paid tribute to the lovely Eleanor Parker – and I agree with his comments, for who can ever forget her strong performance in 1955’s ‘Interrupted Melody’ portraying Marjorie Lawrence – the Australian opera singer stricken with polio? Lastly, thank you Chris, for providing more details about John Cohen’s book ‘Lost Treasures Of The Odeons’. I have now obtained a copy – and it is a real must for us vintage film buffs! David Richmond, Sutton-in-Ashfield May I take this opportunity once again to thank Chris and everyone concerned with MVM most sincerely, for all the work undertaken in order to bring this priceless magazine to today’s level of publication so that we all may benefit – and indeed we do, not forgetting all the information needed to collate before MVM reaches its final form. As a film fanatic of the 1930s, 40s and 50s, I eagerly await its arrival, as it truly contains ‘the stuff that dreams are made of’ and it is produced with all the professionalism of the film albums and magazines produced back then, namely Picturegoer, Picture Show, Film Review, Hollywood Album, etc, etc. Long may MVM continue! Marilyn Davies, Aberdare I am a new member of MVM and I must say I’m enjoying all the magazines so far. What a splendid interview Astor Sklair did with Jean Kent (pictured here). I always thought Jean was the most versatile of her contemporaries – and I agree with her – ‘Trottie True’ was my favourite of Jean’s films. It proved she could certainly do musicals with the best of them in Hollywood. Of course back then in England, the studios didn’t really know what to do with musical talent – and apparently there was to be a follow-up of ‘Trottie’ but sadly nothing came of it. Jean was so good in comedy too, but unfortunately she never made another musical, which was such a 12
waste in my opinion. We were, however, able to see Jean in musical theatre and Pantomime in the 1950s. Incidentally, I remember reading an interview with Bing Crosby around 1950, in which he was asked if he would like to make a film in England. Bing replied ‘Yes, I would like to make a musical - with that girl called Kent!’ How marvellous that would have been, don’t you agree? Reg Taylor, New Brighton Well, Chris told me that MVM 66 would reach me by Christmas Eve – and reach me on Christmas Eve morning it did! I feel readers of ‘our’ gorgeous magazine won’t mind in the least that the subscription fee had to be raised slightly after staying the same for almost six years. It is worth every penny! I guess that my favourite article this time was probably Reg Otter’s appreciation of the brilliant William Wyler, who with three of his films in my ‘top ten’ (‘The Best Years Of Our Lives’, ‘Roman Holiday’ and ‘Ben Hur’) bids fair to be my favourite director. The letter he wrote me is just about the nicest I have ever received from a famous person. Prior to giving a talk at London’s National Film Theatre in May 1981, I queued up to meet him, clutching his letter in my hand, but just as my turn came, a publicity agent tapped him on the shoulder and led him away. I didn’t realise until I read Jan Herman’s excellent biography on him that Mr Wyler was not at all well that day – and his family were most concerned about him. Indeed, he sadly died only a few weeks later after returning to his New York home. His lovely wife, former actress Margaret Tallichet (pictured here) who gave William such a long and happy marriage, actually played the unsympathetic role of the ‘other woman’ in one of my favourite Deanna Durbin films ‘It Started With Eve’ in 1941. In April 1946 my mother actually fought a burglar on our upstairs landing in the middle of the night! I only mention this because the account of her bravery appeared in the Daily Mirror on Saturday, April 13, alongside a photograph of our delightful new ‘honorary’ member – Jean Kent - on her wedding day! In Robert Rosterman’s ‘Pot Pourri’ feature, he briefly pays tribute to Boris Karloff – and this is where my mother comes into the picture again, because she was in King Edward’s Hospital, Midhurst at the same time as Boris – and she always remembered what a perfect gentleman he was, kind and considerate – and always opening the door for her! In the same article, Robert says how Joan Crawford would never go out – even to post a letter, without looking every inch the movie star! I remember the lovely musical comedy star Binnie Hale (pictured here whilst starring in ‘Home And Beauty’ in 1937) once saying that, when she was in a C.B Cochran show, she always had to come out of the stage door looking glamorous – even though, more often than not, she was going home to cook her husband’s supper!! I agree 100% with Ken Sephton’s choice of the ‘Top Ten British Films Of The 1940s’, except that I would have found a place for that excellent thriller, ‘Green For Danger’ (1946). 13
In the obituaries section in MVM 66, Chris mentioned the character actress Pearl Hackney, which reminded me of when I worked behind the scenes on the 1971 stage production of ‘Show Boat’ (produced by the recently deceased Wendy Toye) at London’s Adelphi Theatre. Pearl played Captain Andy’s wife ‘Parthy’ and she was always unfailingly kind to me. A friend of mine recently gave me a DVD of a simply splendid 2008 film ‘Hollywood Singing And Dancing – A Musical History’ which was hosted by Shirley Jones, who, during the question & answer session with an audience on the second disc, stated that when she was a child, Judy Garland, Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire were her mentors – and that she would sit through their many films in her local cinema dozens of times! Brian Glanvill, Leominster I’m sure everyone will lavish accolades on the latest splendid MVM! There were just so many items of interest – as usual. May I add to David Richmond’s mention of dancing star Marge Champion – who was in fact, the half sister of child prodigy and later silent film actress Lina Basquette (born in 1907), who was billed in the ‘Ziegfeld Follies’ of 1916 as ‘The Baby Pavlova’ and for the 1923 and 1924 ‘Ziegfeld Follies’ she choreographed her own numbers, aged only 16! At 18, Lina (pictured here at the height of her beauty) married Sam Warner, the ‘elder statesman’ of the famous Warner Brothers, whose foresight was responsible for bringing talking pictures to the screen at the Warner’s studio, thus the moneymaking ‘The Jazz Singer’ became a reality in 1927. Lina’s daughter Lita was born in 1926, then Sam Warner tragically died from a brain abscess the following year on the eve of ‘The Jazz Singer’s premiere. Lina’s step-father (and Marge Champion’s father) was Ernest Belcher, who choreographed ‘The Jazz Singer’ and had his own school of dancing in Los Angeles. In 1929, Lina achieved fame starring in Cecil B. DeMille’s ‘The Godless Girl’ (which became the title of her 1990 autobiography). Off screen, the seven times married Lina Basquette certainly led a colourful private life, but her career in ‘talkies’ sadly never took off. She died in 1994 at the age of 87. The leading lady in ‘The Jazz Singer’ was the diminutive (4’11”), convent educated May McAvoy and she excelled as the demure support to Al Jolson’s frenetic top-billing. She will always be remembered for uttering the famous line regarding Jolson’s style; “He sings with a teardrop in his voice!” Earlier, May had enjoyed success as the second female lead in 1925’s epic ‘Ben Hur’ – a spectacular production for its day, which took almost three years to make and employed some 150,000 ‘extras’ in the cast! Derek Chamberlain, Bracknell 14
It gives me great pleasure to renew my subscription for another wonderful year of MVM. I am very fortunate to be one of the early members who has a complete set of the magazine from issue one and can truly say it has gone from strength to strength, each new issue seems to surpass the previous one, if that is possible! Surely there is no other publication that gives so much information on ‘who was who’ in the golden age of movies – and the coverage of less well known names makes it doubly interesting. As do the photos and drawings which I love. The fact that its existence is all due to the efforts of a small group of dedicated people and has been since its beginning twenty years ago, is amazing – it must be a true labour of love! I’d like to take this opportunity of wishing Chris and all the contributors to MVM a happy and healthy 2010 – and as the first issue was in August 1990 this must indeed be our twentieth anniversary, so I think it only fitting that my subscription should this time be £20, which I’m more than happy to enclose! Claire St.Louis, Whyteleafe Many thanks for the latest issue which was excellent as usual. I noticed in the ‘Letters’ section of MVM 66, that Derek Chamberlain enquired to the whereabouts of child actress Beverly Simmons who appeared memorably for him in Yvonne De Carlo’s ‘Frontier Gal’ (1945). Well, I’m sorry to have to report that she died on April 29th, 2003 in San Diego, aged only 64. I hope this will be of factual interest to Derek and any other MVM readers. Alun Jones, Anglesey Never, ever underestimate just how much ‘Movie Memories’ means to those of us who can be described as ‘golden oldies’; for, as someone (like many others) who was ‘confined to barracks’ by the dreadful ‘big freeze’ during the first month of 2010, MVM may not have been a lifesaver – but it certainly was a sanity saver! I estimate a high percentage of MVM members will be senior citizens who, like me, were unable to get about because of all the snow and ice – and therefore happily enjoyed another trip down memory lane with the winter issue of MVM. I can still recall where, when and with whom I initially saw a particular film for the first time at the cinema – and today am more than happy to remember my day(s) ‘at the pictures’ with a warm glow. Thank you Chris and all the writers for my ‘nostalgic’ journeys! Lily King, Cumbernauld Many thanks for MVM’s 65 and 66, all devoured with much pleasure! I certainly agree with Chris regarding James Mason’s unique voice. Looking back at the stars of MVM’s era, so many of my favourites had such special voices – like Claude Rains, Basil Rathbone, Ronald Colman, Leslie Howard, Anthony Quayle, etc. I’m afraid I don’t watch too many modern films, but I really can’t name any ‘special’ voices from today’s screen stars, unfortunately. Please keep up the fantastic work with MVM – it is so very much appreciated! Gwyneth Peters, Pembrokeshire 15
Issue 66 was easily up to MVM’s usual high standard. I particularly enjoyed the articles about Brenda Joyce, Claire Trevor and Mary Morris. Astor Sklair’s excellent interview with Jean Kent was most informative, with such wonderful photographs too. Miss Kent has always been one of my favourite screen ladies. Many thanks to everyone concerned for all the hard work in producing such a unique and interesting magazine, crammed full of such varied and fascinating articles. Long may it continue! Barrie Curryer, Eastbourne Thank you very much for Issue 66 – another brilliant read. It was great to hear that Michael Craig and Jean Kent are now ‘honorary members’ as their work on the screen has given us all so much pleasure over the years. What a fascinating piece on Mary Morris by Ken Sephton, for she was such an intriguing presence, yet with such an aloof, enigmatic air. I remember her also on a children’s Sunday TV programme – an adaptation of ‘Ballet Shoes’ where even in old age she was commanding and fascinating! Astor Sklair’s interview with Jean Kent was also a highlight for me, as was Clive Roberts’ vivid appreciation of Frank Sinatra – and that personally signed photograph must surely be treasured by Clive. I also greatly appreciated Michael Burrow’s detailed piece on Claire Trevor – who was one of those stars we just took for granted! Another actor in that category is the under-rated British star, John Gregson (1919-1975) pictured here. He was a great comedy actor in films like ‘Genevieve’; an authoritive, likeable figure in thrillers like the excellent ‘Tomorrow At Ten’ and fans of his will also remember and appreciate his TV series ‘Gideon’s Way’ (1964-67). This super crime drama series (now available on DVD) was a critical and commercial success when first broadcast – but has never been shown on TV since! It is well worth looking out for - and pleasingly, the company called Network – who specialise in releasing archive television series like this, have stated how ‘through word of mouth’ ‘Gideon’s Way’ has become one of their best sellers! Pete Johnson, St.Albans Many thanks indeed for the latest issue of ‘Movie Memories’ – for it is always a great pleasure to read – and the cover photographs are magnificent! Personally, I thought the one of Robert Mitchum on MVM 64 was superb. Instead of his ‘bad boy’ image, I think it brought out his sincerity and vulnerability, which was a refreshing change. I preferred this cover to the latest one of Rock Hudson, but then we all have our own special favourites, do we not? I know that a tremendous amount of work goes into producing a magazine like MVM – and I appreciate the effort made to give all of us vintage film buffs such satisfaction. I hope MVM will continue for many years to come! Elsie Davidson, Northumberland 16
Thank you yet again, for another enjoyable read with MVM 66. I remember the splendid Jean Kent appearing at London’s National Film Theatre a few years ago, as forthright as ever, correcting the interviewer and stating that ‘Trottie True’ was her favourite of her films – and could she have a copy? A marvellous lady – and so entertaining. I feel that she really should have played the role of Alice in ‘Room At The Top’ (1959) – no disrespect to Simone Signoret. I could identify so much with the content of the book ‘Lost Treasures Of The Odeons’, which was very much my era – and where are all of these movies now? Although the author John Cohen doesn’t wish to include any Satellite/Cable showings – some have been shown there. Of course in the USA, there is TCM (Turner Classic Movies) which seems to screen everything you could wish for from the ‘golden age’ which at times is mouth watering! I was so sad to hear of the demise of the excellent Jean Simmons (shown here as Estella in ‘Great Expectations’ (1946). I spent a weekend viewing ‘Home Before Dark’ (1958) – what a role for her and she excelled as always as the deceived wife emerging from the ‘asylum’. Then I watched ‘Uncle Silas’ (1947) where she was the very young and frightened heroine playing opposite a most animated Katina Paxinou. ‘Until They Sail’ and ‘This Could Be The Night’ (both 1957) – the latter a delightful semi-musical, were both under-rated but never less than interesting – and often a great deal more. I recall my first sighting of Barry Sullivan (those wonderful cheekbones) opposite Joan Crawford in ‘Queen Bee’ which my mother took me to see at a matinee not long after its release in 1955. I don’t think it was really suitable fodder for me – but I enjoyed it all the same. ‘Night Of The Hunter’ is such a remarkable film, so beautiful to watch. Not surprisingly it was a commercial failure at the time (1955) but is now regarded as a classic. And it seems that Robert Mitchum is so much more appreciated now than when he was making all of those movies in the 1940s and 50s – and deservedly so! It was such a pleasure to read all about Claire Trevor, whom I first saw as Natalie Wood’s mother in 1958’s ‘Marjorie Morningstar’, but shortly afterwards – and on television I was mesmerised by her being forced to sing ‘Moanin’ Low’ in ‘Key Largo’ (1948) by that nasty Edward G. Robinson. Claire was just so watchable – and someone you would always think of as being a lovely lady. Finally, I recall Douglas Sirk’s 1944 film ‘Summer Storm’ (with George Sanders & Linda Darnell) being discussed in an earlier edition of MVM a few years ago – and I now have the DVD, just released on Region 1, so I am looking forward to seeing it once again! John Hutchinson, Beckenham Many thanks Chris, for all the back issues I ordered from you – and I am delighted to have them. I had a laugh here and there whilst reading through them – and I kept looking at the front covers to remind myself of the year! Time has answered lots of questions posed in these back issues – and I hope to one day complete my ‘set’ of MVM’s. I must say though, how impressed I was to discover just how MVM has grown in quality and appearance over the years, with an increased ‘Letters’ section – and the ‘look’ of a professionally produced 17
magazine (black & white gone forever – and in its place, some glorious colour covers which enhance photographs of a bygone era). All credit to Chris and the handful of regular contributors – for bringing ‘our’ MVM into the 21st Century! Joyce Dussold, Didcot Issue 66 was another super read – and I was delighted to see Jean Kent has joined our cherished list of ‘honoraries’ and I loved her interview with Astor Sklair. Jean was a big favourite of mine – and many years ago I was a member of her Fan Club. If my memory serves me correctly, I recall seeing Jean in Pantomime at Hammersmith, in, I believe ‘Cinderella’ playing the Principle boy. Also in the cast was a young comic called Derek Roy – playing Buttons! Such happy memories for me, from the late 1940s and early 1950s. It’s no joy growing old – but at least I have my wonderful film memories to cheer me along. Thank you Chris - and all the regular contributors for improving my life with MVM, it is much appreciated. Beryl Thomas, London It was nice to read Chris’s comments on the lovely Brenda Joyce, who I feel was perfectly cast as ‘Fern’ in her 1939 screen debut ‘The Rains Came’ – and was delightful in her subsequent films, including her very attractive ‘Jane’ to Tarzan! On an airport paperback book rack recently, I noticed a pulp novel or two, written by a Brenda Joyce – but certainly not the same person we knew from the movies! It is curious how the same name often pops up in the cinema – for instance, our ‘honorary’ member – Oscar-winning costume designer Julie Harris, (pictured here with MVM member Philip Yaxley at last years annual MVM gathering) is not to be confused with the equally distinguished American leading actress from ‘The Member Of The 18
Wedding’, ‘East Of Eden’ and ‘The Haunting’ amongst others – and the UK’s Margaret Whiting is not to be confused with the American songstress daughter of composer Richard Whiting (and sister of the late Barbara Whiting). If one endures the epic cast and technical credits at the conclusion of present day films, one can often spot the same moniker. Lately I’ve seen a crew member called Andrea King – and would you believe a catering service headed by another Judy Garland!! However, I somehow doubt that we’ll ever see a credit for another Maria Ouspenskaya!! Most surprising for me was to discover a contemporary young actress going by the name of Madeleine Carroll! Thank you to John Davies for the most informative article on stuntman Gerry Crampton, as it is always great to read about those ‘behind-the-scenes’ personnel. I also learned a lot about L.Q Jones from Brian Beard’s fine article – and had never been aware that he took his screen name from the character he played in ‘Battle Cry’ (1955). He joins the parade of others who also adopted their screen character names for their careers, such as Anne Shirley, Gig Young and May Wynn, to mention three. MVM 66 really was chock full of articles that educated me about such interesting professionals, with such fascinating revelations about the ‘thrifty’ British producer Peter Rogers – all this and a great tribute to Marion Martin by Albert Leonard with the added bonus of his outstanding portrait. Maurice Headland’s report about Harry Carey Jnr being billed but completely edited out of ‘Rio Bravo’ brought to mind another curious case. Although he was not completely omitted in 1940’s ‘The Letter’, Cecil Kellaway received prominent supporting cast billing, yet his appearance in the film was a very short sequence, no more than a bit-part. One wonders if Cecil had much more to do, but his part ended up on the cutting room floor! Albert Leonard’s appreciation of Barry Sullivan was very good – and I hope that one day Albert will have the opportunity of seeing ‘Payment On Demand’ (1950). Although this RKO film has never achieved great fame in Bette Davis’s legendary career, it is a splendid movie – and one Bette was personally fond of, even though she objected to the change of title. It was originally filmed as ‘The Story Of A Divorce’ – a most apt title, but Bette felt that RKO ‘sensationalised’ the film with a title change to ‘Payment On Demand’. This movie not only presents a fine Bette Davis performance, but there is a choice role in it for the legendary Broadway actress Jane Cowl in an extremely rare screen appearance (she sadly died of cancer soon after its completion, aged only 65). Robert Rosterman, Chicago, USA Many, many thanks for all three MVM’s during 2009, for we do appreciate all the hard work that goes into creating each edition. I loved Astor Sklair’s interview with Jean Kent, who will always be ‘The Woman In Question’ for me – it was her best role in my opinion. Also ‘The Browning Version’ which gave her plenty of meat to get her teeth into. And of course, how can we forget ‘Trottie True’ in glorious colour! Late last year, I watched ‘The Whisperers’ (1966) for the first time – and I wasn’t disappointed. Dame Edith Evans gave a superb performance, almost stealing the whole show, alongside Eric Portman and Nanette Newman, directed by Bryan Forbes. It was a little jewel of a film! How great that Debbie Reynolds is touring the UK in April, ending up in London in May. I met Debbie some years ago at her theatre in Las Vegas and after the show she kindly signed my programme – along with a nice hug and kiss. What a evening that was for me! Please don’t worry about the subscription increase, for you can look in Waterstones or W.H Smiths - but you won’t find any other publication of MVM’s quality, covering the ‘golden age’! Doug & Violet Ward, Retford 19
REMEMBERING TOM DRAKE
By Albert Leonard
Tom’s real name was actually Alfred Alderdice Jnr and he was born in Brooklyn in August, 1918. He began his acting career in stock companies whilst in his teens, then appeared on Broadway in several plays from the late 1930s. His film debut came in a small part in 1940’s ‘The Howards Of Virginia’ which starred Cary Grant and Martha Scott. When no more roles were forthcoming, he returned to the stage, where he was eventually spotted by a talent agent for MGM. Signed to a contract, his first film there – and one of two that I recall mainly, was 1944’s ‘Two Girls And A Sailor’ in which he played Gloria De Haven’s young soldier admirer. (They are pictured together here). Van Johnson and June Allyson also starred. I remember a young girl once telling me how she found Tom’s husky-voiced Texas drawl ‘extremely sexy, coming from such a young-looking face’. Just one day before writing this article, I watched Tom on television in one of Ann Sothern’s ‘Maisie’ films, playing a young soldier (again) married to an amazingly youthful Ava Gardner! A couple of films with the likes of Lana Turner and Greer Garson led to his casting as John Truett, Judy Garland’s ‘boy-next-door’ in the wonderful ‘Meet Me In St. Louis’ and this, of course, is the other of the two films I mentioned earlier, as being the high spots of his film career, in my opinion - and I well remember Tom being ‘beaten up’ by an angry Judy when she mistakenly thinks that he is responsible for her small sister Margaret O’Brien’s accident. ‘The Green Years’ (1946) was just as memorable a film, where Tom plays the grown-up hero to Dean Stockwell’s childhood version, although the film was stolen by a bearded Charles Coburn in a very extrovert role as Tom’s grandfather. A very pretty girl called Beverly Tyler was the love interest in this film and in fact she and Tom had quite a serious real-life relationship for some time. She died only a couple of years ago, I recall. Over at Universal, Tom was Deanna Durbin’s leading man in ‘I’ll Be Yours’ in which he spent some time in the film sporting a goatee – which made him look even more like a very young man with a false beard! Back at MGM, Tom played Richard Rodgers to Mickey Rooney’s highly fictionalised Lorenz Hart in the all-star ‘Words And Music’ (1948) where, as with ‘Till The Clouds Roll By’, we had to sit through overlong stretches purporting to be the life story – to enjoy the truly great musical numbers. Of course, there were other top-grade films for Tom, but they were always supporting if important roles such as ‘Courage Of Lassie’ in which Elizabeth Taylor demonstrated that she was the most beautiful child star ever to appear in films; ‘Cass Timberlane’ (1947) – a good but not outstanding Spencer Tracy item; ‘The Beginning Or The End’ (1947) – a worthy but ‘so what’ account concerning the atomic bomb discovery; ‘Marriage Is A Private Affair’ with other actors John Hodiak and James Craig in more important roles opposite Lana Turner again and ‘Mr Belvedere Goes To College’ (1949) – which gave Tom the opportunity to romance the grown-up Shirley Temple. After 1950 he got 20
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only the occasional good role, as in ‘Sangaree’ (1953) with Arlene Dahl – and ‘Raintree County’ (1957) wherein he played Elizabeth Taylor’s brother, a role which Elizabeth personally obtained for her friend. Her loyalty to her young co-workers from earlier MGM days was one of her endearing features. They appeared together again later on in 1965’s ‘The Sandpiper’. Tom went back to the stage in the 1950s in between film performances and he also appeared on television – though not in starring roles, right through to the 1970s. His final film was 1973’s ‘The Spectre Of Edgar Allan Poe’. After this, nothing much was heard about him for the remainder of his life. Apparently Tom was yet another former star who was reported as having a serious drink problem – and in a 1998 interview, his former co-star Gloria De Haven described him as being “his own worst enemy.” From the mid 1970s, Tom (pictured here with Judy Garland in ‘Meet Me In St Louis’) was discovered working as a salesman for a motor car company in Culver City, very close to the old MGM studios where he once briefly shone in the 1940s. I wonder how he managed to deal with that situation? In private life, he was married just the once (no children), to the unusually named actress Christopher Curtis, which ended in divorce in 1947 after only three or four years. Tom Drake sadly died in 1982, from lung cancer at the age of 64, but will forever be remembered as MGM’s one-time ‘boy-next-door’, preserved forever in the classic ‘Meet Me In St Louis’. ‘STARS ON LONDON TRANSPORT’
By Ken Sephton
During WWII, with the petrol shortage, it really was the time to see stars actually travelling on public transport. I recall once being surprised to spot Jessie Matthews looking very elegant in a mink coat, awaiting a train on the Underground. When it arrived, she stepped into the carriage – and it was crowded – so we both had to ‘strap-hang’. I was amazed that no one seemed to recognise her and I didn’t speak to her as I felt it was not the right occasion. Another time on the Underground, I found myself strap-hanging near Roland Culver – and when he pushed his hat back to scratch his head I was surprised to notice that he was bald! As a teenager then, I had not yet been able to spot wigs and/or hair pieces! Standing beside Peter Ustinov in Army uniform waiting to get off the Tube train, I was so envious of his perfect complexion – while I at that time was having problems with mine! I saw Laurence Olivier leave the Stage door of the New Theatre in 1944, dressed like a businessman – and I followed him down the escalator of Leicester Square Tube station and was surprised how no-one spotted him while he walked right to the end of the platform. I followed and politely asked him if he knew when his film ‘Henry V’ would be opening in the 22
cinema. Pictured below, he replied “Sometime in November” – and indicated that that was the end of the conversation! Years later, when Denis Quilley was doing matinees at the National Theatre – and I was going to the NFT, we were often on the same Tube train - and as we both used the front carriage, we often sat and chatted. He was extremely friendly and genuinely nice. On many occasions I travelled on the train with Renee Houston when she was appearing in a Revue at the Cambridge Theatre in the early 1950s and we had many jovial conversations. Renee was extremely chatty and even knew what year I had seen herself and her sister Billie Houston in the pantomime ‘Babes In The Wood’ in my home town of Belfast. One time she introduced me to one of her young sons (from her second marriage to Pat Ahearne) who was visiting her from Hollywood. Others I saw on the Tube trains without speaking to them, included Eric Porter, Ernest Thesiger, Griffith Jones and his wife, Alfred Marks, Nyree Dawn Porter, Peter Barkworth, Genevieve Page, Denholm Elliott, Bill Owen – and the most exciting for me – Nova Pilbeam (pictured here in her late 1930s heyday ) during the 1990’s. When I sat beside her, she was so surprised that I actually recognised her, as I hadn’t seen her for decades. (Nova had retired from the screen in 1949). Unfortunately it was a rather rushed conversation as I could not know how long she would be on the train. As it was, she got off after only a couple of stations, but I still managed to have several questions answered. Nova told me how Alfred Hitchcock had wanted her to star in ‘Rebecca’ (1940) but David O. Selznick didn’t think she was a big enough ‘name’. I haven’t seen nearly so many stars of the stage, screen and television on London buses, but one I do recall, came towards the end of WWII and was none other than the famous George Arliss with his actress wife Florence Arliss in Regent Street – but again I didn’t feel that it was the right occasion to speak to them. So, it really is worth keeping your eyes open while travelling around London on public transport as you never know just who you may see! 23
MUSIC FROM THE MOVIES
By Astor Sklair
One of my most potent childhood memories was being taken into posh cinema seats at the Green’s Playhouse Cinema in Glasgow some seventy years ago to see ‘Gone With The Wind’. The thrill of hearing the rousing opening bars of the music has remained with me and created a lifetime interest in film scores. Max Steiner (pictured here) was the composer - and his contribution was as memorable as the unexpected interval in the middle of the movie – which enabled me to rush ‘to the loo’ without missing an inch of the movie!. Max Steiner was born in Vienna in 1888 and really set a new standard for film music with his score for ‘King Kong’ (1933) for RKO. At Warner Brothers he wrote that wonderful fanfare that introduced their movies – and he was Bette Davis’s favourite composer, working on ‘Dark Victory’, ‘The Letter’ and ‘Now Voyager’. Other memorable Max Steiner scores include the much loved ‘Casablanca’ plus ‘The Big Sleep’, ‘The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre’ and ‘The Caine Mutiny’. He died in 1971. Another ‘Vienna-to-Hollywood’ composer was Erich Wolfgang Korngold who was born in 1897. Pictured below, he created some wonderful music for some great movies, beginning with ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ in 1935, adapting Mendelssohn’s music – and going on to compose several stirring romantic themes for Warner Brothers, with ‘Captain Blood’, ‘The Sea Hawk’ (one of my absolute all-time favourite scores), ‘The Adventures Of Robin Hood’ (all starring Errol Flynn) not forgetting ‘Kings Row’. Korngold once stated how he treated each film as ‘an opera without singing!’ Sadly, he died in 1957 following a stroke, aged only 60. Dmitri Tiomkin was born in the Ukraine in 1894 and his first major score was for ‘Lost Horizon’ in 1937. His music for the classic ‘High Noon’ gained him a Best Song Oscar for ‘Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darlin’ – and he scored four Hitchcock movies; ‘Shadow Of A Doubt’, ‘Strangers On A Train’, ‘I Confess’ and ‘Dial M For Murder’. Also, let’s not forget his Oscar winning ‘The High And The Mighty’ in 1954. Tiomkin passed away in 1979. Bronislau Kaper – born in Warsaw in 1902, was first noticed for writing the title song for ‘San Francisco’ (1936). He was then responsible for a couple of Marx Brothers films before going on to the likes of ‘Gaslight’ and ‘The Forsyte Saga’. Later he won an Oscar for ‘Lili’ and his other notable credits include ‘The Brothers Karamazov’, ‘Butterfield 8’ and the Marlon Brando version of ‘Mutiny On The Bounty’ – which wasn’t a huge success, but the Oscar-nominated music has been described as ‘a rip-roaring masterpiece!’ Kaper died in 1983. Miklos Rozsa, born in Hungary in 1907, was yet another European who ended up composing film music in Hollywood, though he first worked in England for Alexander Korda on ‘The Four Feathers’ and ‘The Thief Of Baghdad’. Rozsa found his way to Hollywood when Korda transferred his organisation there at the beginning of WWII. His atmospheric scores for ‘Double Indemnity’, ‘Spellbound’ 24
and ‘The Lost Weekend’, followed by the epics ‘Quo Vadis’ (1951) and ‘Ben Hur’ (1959) which made him one of the most famous of all Hollywood composers, winning a total of three Oscars. Miklos Rozsa published his autobiography in 1982, entitled ‘A Double Life’ and died in 1995. Franz Waxman (shown here) was born in Germany in 1906 – and his first movie was ‘The Bride Of Frankenstein’ in which he created some wonderfully scary music as Elsa Lanchester was brought to life! He was also responsible for four great film scores for Hitchcock; ‘Rebecca’, ‘Suspicion’, ‘The Paradine Case’ and ‘Rear Window’ and he had the distinction of winning two Oscars two years running with ‘Sunset Boulevard’ (for which he created a tango theme and distorted versions of 1920s and 30s popular music) and ‘A Place In The Sun’. Waxman died in 1967. Victor Schertzinger – born in Pennsylvania in 1880, was a violin prodigy at the age of four and he had the unusual talent of not only composing film scores but also directing movies at Paramount. He is credited with writing the first ever film score for the silent ‘Civilisation’ in 1915. He wrote the music for several well-known songs with Frank Loesser, including ‘Kiss The Boys Goodbye’ and ‘Sand In My Shoes’ and with Johnny Mercer, including ‘I Remember You’ and ‘Tangerine’. Mr Schertzinger directed the first two of the highly successful ‘Road’ movies – ‘Road To Singapore’ and ‘Road To Zanzibar’ (see below) and his final film was ‘The Fleet’s In’, which was released after his early death in 1941. . Victor Young was born in Chicago in 1900 and started out as a classical composer and concert violinist. His movie scores included ‘Golden Boy’ (1939), ‘For Whom The Bell Tolls’, ‘The Quiet Man’ and ‘Shane’. He also wrote the music for a lot of well-loved standards, including ‘When I Fall In Love’, ‘My Foolish Heart’, ‘Love Letters’ and ‘I Don’t Stand A Ghost Of A Chance With You’. His movie scores were Oscar-nominated an amazing 22 times – and although he won none in his lifetime, his music for ‘Around The World in Eighty Days’ was awarded a posthumous Oscar just four months after his death in 1956. Georges Auric, born in France in 1899, was a child prodigy who began his film composing in his native country, but became known for his great work on the music for many of the Ealing comedies, which earned him the comment ‘French yet very English!’ These included ‘Passport To Pimlico’, ‘The Lavender Hill Mob’ and ‘The Titfield Thunderbolt’. His other credits include ‘Roman Holiday’ and ‘The Wages Of Fear’. Georges Auric died in 1983. 25
Alfred Newman – born in absolute poverty in New Haven, Connecticut in 1900, was the eldest of ten children. Pictured here, he finished up being involved with more than 250 film scores, going on to be Oscar-nominated an amazing 45 times – including twenty consecutive years between 1939 and 1957 – and he won nine in total. His first movie was ‘Street Scene’ and his last was 1969’s ‘Airport’ – and in-between those were so many memorably scored films, including ‘Dodsworth’, ‘Dead End’, ‘Alexander’s Ragtime Band’, ‘Gunga Din’, ‘Tin Pan Alley’, ‘The Grapes Of Wrath’, The Song Of Bernadette’, ‘The Razor’s Edge’, ‘Mother Wore Tights’, ‘With A Song In My Heart’, ‘Call Me Madam’, ‘Love Is A Many Splendored Thing’, ‘The King And I’ and ‘How The West Was Won’ – such an impressive list. The great Alfred Newman died from emphysema in 1970, aged only 69. Alex North, born in 1910, came from a poor family in Pennsylvania, where his mother had to take in lodgers following the death of his blacksmith father. He received fifteen Oscar nominations – but didn’t win once, although he eventually received a Lifetime Achievement Oscar as compensation in 1986. His jazz-based score for ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ (1951) set the New Orleans atmosphere perfectly and his beautiful Mexican-style music for ‘Viva Zapata’ was another example of his extensive musical talent. Some of his other films include ‘The Rose Tattoo’, ‘Spartacus’ and ‘Cleopatra’. He wrote a score for Stanley Kubrick’s ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’, only to find Kubrick had replaced his music with classical pieces. North’s music for the fairly obscure film ‘Unchained’ became ‘Unchained Melody’ – a hugely successful and widely recorded song. Alex North passed away in 1991. Bernard Herrmann (pictured here) was born in New York in 1911. He worked in radio at CBS – and it was there that he met Orson Welles – and wrote music for Welles’ Mercury Theatre Productions, going on to compose the music for the film ‘Citizen Kane’, (1941) ranging across numerous musical styles including Grand Opera. He did several Hitchcock movies; ‘The Man Who Knew Too Much’, ‘Vertigo’, ‘North By Northwest’ and ‘Psycho’ with appropriate dizzying music, but when it came to 1966’s ‘Torn Curtain’, Hitchcock wanted a jazzy-pop theme – and Herrmann always said “I have the final say or I don’t do the music” – so he turned the project down. His final film score was for ‘Taxi Driver’ (1975) shortly after which he died aged only 64. Nino Rota was yet another child prodigy, born in Milan in 1911. He wrote operas and ballet music before moving into Italian films with Fellini, who described Rota as ‘The most precious collaborator I’ve ever had!’ Their successes included ‘I Vitelloni’, ‘La Strada’ and ‘La Dolce Vita’. He also wrote scores for Visconti and Zeffirelli, including the latter’s ‘Romeo And Juliet’ but it was when he teamed up with Francis Ford Coppola for ‘The Godfather’ that his wonderful music will be best remembered and for which he won his welldeserved Oscar. He died in 1979. Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) was born into a Russian Jewish family in Massachusetts and was responsible for only one movie score, apart from film versions of his great stage musicals. That was ‘On The Waterfront’ (1954) which he claimed was the most difficult work he ever did, being tense, dramatic and superbly lyrical. 26
David Raksin was born in Pennsylvania in 1912 and made the move from Broadway (where he arranged music) to Hollywood, where his first assignment was to arrange the music of Charlie Chaplin for ‘Modern Times’ (1936) which Chaplin hummed and whistled to him as he wrote it down! His haunting melody for ‘Laura’ (1944) contributed greatly to the success of that movie – and when Johnny Mercer added the lyric, it became one of the most recorded songs ever. Other Raksin movie scores include ‘Force Of Evil’, ‘The Bad And The Beautiful’, ‘Separate Tables’, ‘Two Weeks In Another Town’ and ‘Will Penny’. Jerome Moross, born in Brooklyn in 1913, was a child prodigy, composing at the age of eight! He had a special talent for developing great Western themes, most notably for ‘The Big Country’ (1957). His other excellent film scores include ‘The War Lord’ and ‘Rachel, Rachel’. Andre Previn was born into a Jewish family in Germany in 1929. He was responsible for so many great stage-to-film adaptations, including ‘Gigi’, ‘Porgy And Bess’ and ‘My Fair Lady’, but he also composed beautiful scores for movies like ‘Bad Day At Black Rock’ (1954) and ‘Elmer Gantry’ (1960). Shown here as he is today, Andre Previn is a brilliant pianist, conductor and composer – and with his vast movie background it is somewhat ironic that he is perhaps best remembered as ‘Andrew Preview’ in the oftrepeated brilliant sketch from the famous 1970s Morecambe & Wise Christmas TV Show – and he claims that taxi drivers still call him ‘Mr Preview’! Elmer Bernstein was born in New York City in 1922. His great film scores include ‘The Ten Commandments’, ‘The Magnificent Seven’, ‘The Great Escape’ and ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’. His political views led him to be grey-listed (not as heavy as black-listed!) during the McCarthy era. This meant he was kept away from major movies for quite a while – and had to settle for the likes of ‘Robot Monster’ and ‘CatWomen Of The Moon’. He redeemed himself with such later offerings as ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’, ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie’ and ‘True Grit’. Henry Mancini was born in the Little Italy neighbourhood of Cleveland, Ohio in 1924 and brought up in a little mill town in Pennsylvania. Her learned to play the flute and later piano and became an arranger for Universal Pictures in films like ‘The Glenn Miller Story’ and ‘The Benny Goodman Story’. His real breakthrough came when he composed the music for Orson Welles’ film noir ‘Touch Of Evil’ (1958) and he was responsible for the menacing theme for the ‘Peter Gunn’ TV series starring Craig Stevens. Henry Mancini will always be remembered for his Oscar-winning songs ‘Moon River’ (for ‘Breakfast At Tiffanys’) and ‘The Days Of Wine And Roses’ – both with Johnny Mercer’s lyrics, along with the most recognisable movie themes of all time – ‘The Pink Panther’ (immortalising Peter Sellers’ bumbling detective!) Maurice Jarre was born in Lyon, France in 1924 – and went on to make a world-wide impression with his score for ‘Lawrence Of Arabia’ (1962). It was film producer Sam Spiegel who invited Jarre on to that project (directed by David Lean) and Jarre also supplied the music for Lean’s ‘Dr Zhivago’ featuring the haunting but lyric-less ‘Lara’s Theme’. Those two movies both gained Jarre Oscars – and David Lean was again the director on ‘Ryan’s Daughter’ (1970) and ‘A Passage To India’ (1984). Maurice Jarre passed away in 2009. 27
Jerry Goldsmith (1929-2004) was born in California and became a contract composer for 20th Century Fox. His many film credits include ‘Seven Days In May’, ‘The Sand Pebbles’, ‘Planet Of The Apes’ and the ‘Star Trek’ movies. His chilling score for ‘The Omen’ (starring Gregory Peck and Lee Remick) contributed enormously to the success of that movie. We really mustn’t forget Anton Karas, born in Vienna in 1906. Apparently he found an old zither in his grandmother’s attic when he was twelve years old. His zither playing music for ‘The Third Man’ (1949) – which involved working on the score for fourteen hours a day for twelve weeks, was his one and only film score, with his ‘Harry Lime Theme’ becoming an international smash hit! The wonderful music of the major classical composers has often been used effectively in movies – and when carefully selected has added greatly to the atmosphere of the films, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Chopin and Wagner included. Their superb melodies have contributed mightily over the years and they had the advantage of saving the producers money by being long dead! British classical composers of more recent times have brought us some powerful film scores. Sir Arthur Bliss (18911975) with ‘Things To Come’ (1936) proved it was perfectly respectable for serious composers to write for film. Sir William Walton (1902-1983) was responsible for the scores of Laurence Olivier’s Shakespeare films of ‘Henry V’, ‘Hamlet’ and ‘Richard III’, but he also composed the music for ‘The First Of The Few’ (1942) – and although only part of his work was included in ‘The Battle Of Britain’, that scene of the climatic air battle, was played without sound effects, creating a beautiful lyrical quality. Other British classical composers who were involved with movies include Ralph Vaughan Williams (‘Scott Of The Antarctic’), Arnold Bax (‘Oliver Twist’) and Sir Malcolm Arnold (‘The Bridge Over The River Kwai’). Richard Addinsell (1904-1977) wrote scores for ‘Fire Over England’, ‘Goodbye Mr Chips’, ‘Gaslight’ and later ‘The Prince And The Showgirl’ (starring the rather odd pairing of Laurence Olivier and Marilyn Monroe) but it is for ‘Dangerous Moonlight’ (1940) that he will be best remembered, because it featured the hugely popular ‘Warsaw Concerto’. Apparently the producers wanted Rachmaninoff to compose the concerto but he turned it down, so Addinsell actually created the concerto in the style of Rachmaninoff! I remember the film (which starred Anton Walbrook opposite the beautiful blonde Sally Gray) running for several years at the tiny Grainger Cinema in my home town of Newcastle-upon-Tyne during WWII, solely because of the haunting ‘Warsaw Concerto’. There are, of course many newer composers who have dominated the screen in the last forty years, like John Williams and John Barry to name just two, but looking back over the history of movie music, the important influence of those Europeans, escaping Fascism and anti-Semitism cannot be exaggerated. And another thought that occurred to me during my research, with all the talk of equality of the sexes, whatever happened to the lady movie composers? Ah well, I won’t think about that today. I’ll think about that tomorrow, because, as Scarlett O’Hara insisted at the end of ‘Gone With The Wind’…… “tomorrow is another day!” 28
MARGARET RUTHERFORD – CINEMA’S BLITHE SPIRIT
By Pete Johnson
‘If you have a face like mine, the thing is to learn to live with it and come to terms with it. This, I think I have managed and it has, after all, been rather good to me.’ The speaker was Margaret Rutherford, whose unique appearance and demeanour (‘that of a startled turkeycock’, wrote David Shipman) meant she was also, as Ron Moody observed ‘a consummate professional – each performance a collector’s piece.’ There was something else too: a wonderful other worldliness which as Roger Lewis observed made her ‘a cross between a games mistress and a fairy.’ Andy Merriman’s superb new biography (briefly mentioned by Chris in MVM 66) entitled ‘Margaret Rutherford – Dreadnought And Good Manners’ does full justice to her film legacy – as well as detailing her many stage appearances which I knew little about. But, admirers will also be shocked by just how grim and tragic Margaret’s early life was. Her father, William was admitted to an asylum suffering from depression – and upon his release, his father took him on a recuperative holiday. William showed his gratitude by beating his father to death with a chamber pot – and then went on to spend seven years in Broadmoor for the crime. Margaret was born in 1892, two years after his release. Even more tragedy followed when Margaret’s mother hanged herself when Margaret was just two years old. (William would eventually die in another asylum in 1921.) Margaret, brought up by aunts in Wimbledon, threw herself into the make-belief of acting. “I was eight years old when I made my mind up to become an actress.” When a cousin fell ill, Margaret stepped into his shoes to play the prince. ‘That night’, she wrote, ‘I went to bed filled with dreams of being an actress. This was to be my life – there could be nothing else.’ But it wasn’t until Margaret was in her 40s that she really hit her stride, notably (and very surprisingly) playing the sinister Mrs Danvers in ‘Rebecca’ at the Piccadilly Theatre in 1940. But, it was the role of the eccentric medium – Madam Arcati in Noel Coward’s ‘Blithe Spirit’ which made her a star. She played this role on the stage and in David Lean’s very enjoyable 1945 film. The superb cast was headed by Rex Harrison, Kay Hammond and Constance Cummings, but Margaret Rutherford steals every scene; as the hearty bicycling Madame Arcati who skips about in triumph when she brings off a coup; she is wildly funny, yet touching and true also. Nothing about her performance feels false or manufactured – and as one critic observed: ‘To see her Madame Arcati get up from an armchair is a lesson in eccentric observation!’ Other great films include ‘The Happiest Days Of Your Life’ (1949) – see illustration over the page – in which she is a headmistress matching wits with Alastair Sim’s headmaster. Both are quite superb – and as a critic wrote: ‘She was unflaggingly funny in her wildest vein and yet as always with her, disbelief was suspended.’ There was also, of course, ‘The Importance Of Being Earnest’ (1952) in which she was a delightful Miss Prism – and ‘Miranda’ (1947) (and its sequel ‘Mad About Men’ in 1953) in which she plays the mermaid’s nurse. The director of ‘Miranda’ – Ken Annakin, noted: ‘Margaret had the gift of making a character real, but also full of imagination……one of our great British character actresses.’ Margaret should have won an Oscar for ‘Blithe Spirit’ and finally did win one in the 1960s for ‘The V.I.P.s’ in 29
the ‘Best Supporting Actress’ category, playing a pill-popping Duchess: “I’ve got two enormous purple things that apparently knock you out. I’ve also taken a couple of pep pills which have pepped me up all over. I’m flying already!” She steals the whole film from the deeply boring stars Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. She also famously played Miss Marple in four films in the 1960s. None of them – and especially the later ones, were really worthy of her, or Agatha Christie, but they are jaunty and Margaret is fun striding about in billowing capes – and her co-star is her real-life husband, Stringer Davis. They married late in life (1945) and some, such as Frith Banbury believed it was a lavender marriage. He says waspishly; “I can’t imagine there was much action in the bedroom – neither of them would have known what to do!” But in reality, Stringer Davis was of great support to her – and truly adored and ‘nursed’ her to the end. Throughout her personal life, Margaret suffered from what she called ‘occasional ill health’ (she had several break-downs and underwent intensive bouts of electro-convulsive therapy). These break-downs were caused by manic depression – now referred to as bipolar disorder. With Margaret’s tragic background, it really wasn’t surprising that she was unable or unwilling to admit to such a diagnosis!
Yet she always bounced back, aided by Stringer Davis and her many friends. A great number of them are interviewed in this new book. For instance, Petula Clark, who had been seriously ill in hospital, was woken and told there was a visitor who had been waiting a considerable amount of time to see her. As the nurse helped Petula steadily along the corridor, she heard the unmistakable voice of Margaret Rutherford, exclaiming “My dear, how wonderful to see you on your feet!” Petula continued “The hands went up, the flowers went around me and I found myself looking into a lined and whimsical face which mirrored all the kindness and pleasure in the world.” Dame Margaret Rutherford died in 1972 at the age of 80, after a lengthy bout of fragile health, followed a year later by her devastated and devoted husband Stringer Davis. Andy Merriman’s fine biography (Aurum Press, 295 pages and nicely illustrated) is indeed full of marvellous stories, bringing this inimitable actress to glorious life. However, there is one rather amusing quote about Margaret Rutherford which the author has missed – and it came from one of Britain’s most popular and handsome leading men of MVM’s era, James Mason. When asked who was his favourite leading lady, Mr Mason answered, saying how he had tried to rate all of his leading ladies with a ‘star’ system – and the only ‘five-star’ lady was none other than – Margaret Rutherford! 30
REMEMBERING FRED MacMURRAY
By Robert Osborne
I still recall the 1991 radio announcement: ‘Actor Fred MacMurray has died at the age of 83. He starred in TV’s ‘My Three Sons.’ End of the announcement! Well, I guess one shouldn’t be surprised at the short shrift given to Mr MacMurray, for he was always under-rated and never given his due, certainly not in his lifetime, unfortunately. Fred MacMurray was one of the best, most versatile performers Hollywood ever made famous – and he could do it all, be it screwball comedy or film noir (just say ‘Double Indemnity’ and say no more). There were romances (a la Hepburn in ‘Alice Adams’ and Barbara Stanwyck in ‘Remember The Night’); westerns (‘The Moonlighter’ and ‘Trail Of The Lonesome Pine’); dramas (‘The Caine Mutiny’ with Humphrey Bogart and ‘The Apartment’ with Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine) and even musicals (‘Sing You Sinners’ with Bing Crosby and ‘And The Angels Sing’ with Dorothy Lamour). Fred worked for all the Hollywood studios including Walt Disney – and even Republic, where he had to endure the boss’s wife Vera Hruba Ralston as his co-star – and he was always well-liked and a true professional. But, Fred MacMurray never got an AFI Lifetime Achievement Award and tribute. There was no Kennedy Centre or Lincoln Centre honour for him. Not even a single Academy Award nomination came his way, despite the portfolio, despite the high grade work. Maybe that was MacMurray’s problem: continued excellence! He was never bad – so that the good work was noticeably impressive. One hopes that he personally felt rewarded by the results of his efforts and by the public’s continued affection throughout his long career on screen and television. John Q. Public certainly liked him even if Hollywood itself took him for granted. Maybe now that he is no longer with us, people will take a good and serious look at Fred MacMurray’s prolific work on the silver screen. For as Errol Flynn once said back in the 1950s, “They have great respect for the dead in Hollywood – but none for the living!” Cynical, yes, but more often than not, too true! Editor’s Note: At least in private life, Fred apparently found much happiness in his long second marriage to the lovely June Haver, (from 1954 until his death) with whom he adopted twin daughters. His first wife sadly died in 1953, leaving him to bring up their adopted son and daughter. I’ve never seen his TV series ‘My Three Sons’, has it ever been shown on UK television, I wonder? 31
‘HAPPY 90th BIRTHDAY BETTY’
By Susan King
Betty Garrett’s life can be summed up by these lyrics from Stephen Sondheim’s ‘I’m Still Here’ from his 1971 masterwork ‘Follies’: “Good times and bum times, I’ve seen them all and, my dear, I’m still here!” The vivacious 90 year old had a talented husband – Larry Parks and has two equally talented sons, Garrett and Andrew (and a much adored granddaughter). She appeared in such classic MGM musicals as ‘Take Me Out To The Ball Game’ (1948) and ‘On The Town’ (1949) and much later gained new audiences as a regular on two TV series’ – ‘All In The Family’ and ‘Laverne And Shirley’. A founding member of Theatre West on Cahuenga Boulevard in Los Angeles, Betty has done four plays there in the last two years alone – and she heads its musical theatre workshop. But behind her success and triumphs was also the insidious Hollywood blacklist that destroyed her husband’s film career and was nearly the death knell to hers. “People say how come you’ve lasted this long?” says the gracious actress in the dining room of her Studio City hills home she and her late husband bought in 1963. Betty currently shares her home with her son, composer-musician Garrett, his wife, singer Karen Culliver – and their daughter Maddy. “I say I think it’s because all of my life I have gotten to do what I love to do” says Betty, who threw a big birthday bash, directed by David Galligan. Said Betty; “I told David how I wanted this party to be very personal. I wanted to be mistress of ceremonies – and I wanted my family and close friends to be in it.” So, her daughter-in-law Karen’s group ‘The Phantom Ladies’ sang, her son Garrett played boogie woogie on the piano and son Andrew gave a speech. Betty (pictured below as she is today) performed her bawdy limericks “One of my great talents” said Betty, smiling. “When I did my last show, where I put together a musical revue of all the songs I had written in my life – I think the Devil got into me! I did my bawdy limericks – and they were the biggest hits of the whole show!” Betty Garrett credits her mother, Octavia, for allowing her to pursue a career in entertainment. “She was a very intelligent lady, very musical. She played the piano and worked in a music store. Early on I guess she saw that I was a performer!” Through a friend of her mother’s, Betty got an interview with dancer Martha Graham – who in turn arranged for her to receive a scholarship at Neighbourhood Playhouse in New York City – at the age of 16. Her mother gave up her job and came with her. She eventually met handsome actor Larry Parks (of ‘The Jolson Story’ fame) and married him in 1944. The couple were devoted until his early death in 1975. After the blacklist ended Larry Parks’ film career in 1951 (Betty avoided being called before the House Un-American Activities Committee because she was pregnant with Andrew) the couple got involved with real estate. “We bought property between Santa Monica and Wilshire Boulevard and we built two-storey apartment complexes – and that income saved our lives!” Betty and Larry performed in clubs and on Broadway and came over to Britain – playing the London Palladium twice. But the blacklist would often rear its ugly head. Said Betty “One time Larry and I got a call to do The Arthur Murray Show – the first TV job we had been offered in a long time. We got to New York and spent the day rehearsing, when 32
we received a message at the hotel that said they had gone overtime and didn’t need us. We knew what it was. That was heartbreaking.” Editor’s Extra Note: Despite all the hardships Betty has endured over the years, she remains upbeat and a delightful, warm and gracious lady. After the blacklist, Betty did have at least one more notable screen role in 1955’s ‘My Sister Eileen’ with Janet Leigh and Jack Lemmon. And, after a period of more than forty years, Betty and Jack Lemmon reteamed for the 1998 TV movie ‘The Long Way Home’ – which I have yet to see, hopefully! So, Many Happy Returns, Betty Garrett – and continued good health and happiness, always! It is well deserved! MY TOP SIXES!
Compiled by Clive Roberts
Alfred Hitchcock (pictured here in 1960) once sent me a personal letter in which he listed the SIX favourite films he had directed. I would therefore like to share this information with all MVM readers, so, here is the list: No.1 ‘Shadow Of A Doubt’. 2). ‘North By Northwest’. 3). ‘Strangers On A Train’. 4). ‘The Trouble With Harry’. 5). ‘Rear Window’. 6). ‘Psycho’. This got me started on what other directors (and stars) would perhaps have chosen as their best six! Unfortunately I never met Billy Wilder and it is obviously too late to ask him now, so here is MY selection of what might have been his choice: 1) ‘Ace In The Hole’. 2). ‘Double Indemnity’. 3) ‘Sunset Boulevard’. 4). ‘Witness For The Prosecution’. 5). ‘The Apartment’. 6). ‘Some Like It Hot’. How about some of the great actors and actresses? What would have been their ‘six of the best’, I wonder? If Humphrey Bogart had been asked what he considered to be his six best films – would he perhaps have selected the same six that I have? 1). ‘The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre’. 2). ‘Casablanca’. 3) ‘The Maltese Falcon’. 4). ‘High Sierra’. 5). ‘The African Queen’. 6). ‘The Caine Mutiny’. What about Frank Sinatra? Whether in a musical or a dramatic part, Frank was always worth watching – one of the real Hollywood superstars! Here is my choice of his six best: 1). ‘Meet Danny Wilson’. 2). ‘The Joker Is Wild’. 3). ‘The Manchurian Candidate’. 4). ‘Pal Joey’. 5). ‘From Here To Eternity’. 6). ‘Some Came Running’. And what about Marilyn Monroe? (Shown here). She appeared in 28 films during her short (1948-1961) career and in most of the earlier ones she had small supporting roles, as in ‘The Asphalt Jungle’ in which she was wonderful – and ‘All about Eve’, having very little screen time in both of these movies. Surprisingly, Marilyn only actually starred in twelve films, but is still one of the most famous of all Hollywood stars, even today. 1). ‘Some Like It Hot’. 2). ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’. 3). ‘There’s No Business Like Showbusiness’. 4). ‘Niagara’. 5). ‘The Seven Year Itch’. 6). ‘Bus Stop’. One of the true Hollywood ‘greats’ of the ‘golden age’ was undoubtedly Bette Davis. Who can forget all those Warner Brothers’ classic dramas of the 1930s and 40s? Here is my choice of six of Bette’s best: 33
1). ‘All About Eve’. 2). ‘Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?’ 3). ‘Jezebel’. 4). ‘Now Voyager’. 5). ‘Mr Skeffington’. 6). ‘The Petrified Forest’. Edward G. Robinson was always a favourite of mine even though he wasn’t the typical leading man type and was never very convincing in love scenes! He had a long career and starred in many great movies, initially at Warner Brothers before going on to become an outstanding character actor. Here are six of his best, in my opinion: 1). ‘Double Indemnity’. 2). ‘Woman In The Window’. 3). ‘Scarlet Street’. 4). ‘Night Has A Thousand Eyes’. 5). ‘The Prize’. 6). ‘Key Largo’. William Holden spent several years in inferior roles at Paramount and Columbia until Billy Wilder cast him opposite Gloria Swanson in ‘Sunset Boulevard’. He then went on to become one of Hollywood’s most popular leading men. I wonder if he would have agreed with my six best of his films: 1). ‘Sunset Boulevard’. 2) ‘Stalag 17’. 3). ‘The Bridge On The River Kwai’. 4). ‘Golden Boy’. 5). ‘Executive Suite’. 6) ‘The Wild Bunch’. To finish I would also have liked to speculate on the ‘six best’ of many others stars, such as Spencer Tracy, Alan Ladd, Richard Widmark, Alice Faye, Burt Lancaster, James Stewart, Cary Grant, etc, etc, but I am limited for space! Perhaps other MVM readers might care to select their ‘six best’ choices at some later date? MEMORIES OF GRETA GYNT
By Sheila Gow, MBE
The glamorous star (and former MVM honorary) Greta Gynt (shown below) and her last husband, plastic surgeon Frederick ‘Gerry’ Moore’ designed their own home when they moved to Forest Row, East Grinstead after their marriage in 1957. Known as White Acres, in Highgate Road, the building was designed to look like a typical Sussex farmhouse – but inside it was way ahead of its time. Set in nearly two acres of landscaped gardens, the interior was entirely open plan with no doors. Rooms were connected by archways and the heating system which cost the sum of £1,000 (an enormous figure fifty years ago!) kept the temperature at a constant 70 degrees. The pine staircase had a wrought iron balustrade, the dining room was of Nordic design and there were gold-plated taps in the bathroom. The Norwegian born Miss Gynt, whose film career had begun before WWII became one of J. Arthur Rank’s best known faces in the post war years when the British film industry was getting back on its feet. Following the example of many in the film world, Greta and her husband looked for an escape from London to the country. Greta loved her home in Forest Row and became well known in the area, being ‘guest of honour’ at various local events. Amongst her neighbours was the film director Michael Balcon who lived just up the road at Coleman’s Hatch. A photograph published in the East Grinstead Courier in 1960 showed Greta Gynt as president of Forest Row Tennis Club attending a dinner at the Ashdown Forest Hotel. Two years later she was pictured presenting the prizes at the Imberhorne Resident’s Car Rally. In 1964, with her film career on the wane, Greta and her husband put White Acres on the market for £17, 500 and moved back to London - where she chose to …. 34
become known as ‘Mrs Moore’. The East Grinstead tourism officer, Simon Kerr recalls walking past White Acres on his way to school in the mornings. “Showbiz glamour wasn’t too evident in Forest Row in 1960. I never saw Miss Gynt slipping out the back door to line up her empty milk bottles – but it wasn’t for lack of trying!” Frederick Moore died in 1983 and lovely Greta Gynt passed away in 2000. Fans who remember her as a sparkling post-war star were disappointed that there were very few tributes paid to her when she died. ROCK HUDSON ON THE SCREEN
By John Vicary
As far as I can recall, Rock’s first ever screen appearance was a one-line bit part in 1948’s ‘Fighter Squadron’ for Warner Brothers. Soon signed by Universal – where he remained for nearly twenty years, Rock received the usual dramatic and action training and star-building along with other newcomers like Tony Curtis and Jeff Chandler before getting small roles in several Universal movies of the early 1950s. Am I correct in thinking he was a non-speaking Indian in James Stewart’s very successful ‘Winchester 73’? Other early brief appearances included ‘Undertow’, ‘The Desert Hawk’ and ‘I Was A Shoplifter’ before slightly better opportunities came Rock’s way. (He was actually born Roy Fitzgerald in 1925). I do remember him in ‘Has Anybody Seen My Gal?’ (1952) alongside Lynn Bari, Charles Coburn and Piper Laurie (with whom he is shown over the page) followed by ‘The Golden Blade’, ‘Scarlet Angel’ and others of that ilk. Besides Piper Laurie, Rock’s many other leading ladies included Yvonne De Carlo, Donna Reed, Arlene Dahl, Barbara Hale, Cyd Charisse, Lauren Bacall, Dorothy Malone, Gina Lollobrigida, Anne Baxter, etc and his male co-stars included John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Dean Martin, Robert Stack, etc. He appeared with James Stewart again (this time in a speaking part) in the western ‘Bend Of The River’ and more of that type, such as ‘Seminole’, ‘The Lawless Breed’ and ‘Taza, Son Of Cochise’ in which Jeff Chandler’s cameo reprised his former role of that great Indian Chief, Cochise. Around that time also, Jeff and Rock played boxers in ‘Iron Man’ (with Evelyn Keyes as the love interest). Rock was the winner in the boxing ring! Films like ‘One Desire’ and ‘Never Say Goodbye’ were made around the same time as Rock’s co-starring role opposite Oscar winner Jane Wyman in the tear-jerker ‘Magnificent Obsession’ (1954) followed the next year with a re-teaming in ‘All That Heaven Allows’ both of which were very successful at the box-office. So were ‘Written On The Wind’ (1956) and ‘The Tarnished Angels’, but I’m uncertain of how ‘Battle Hymn’ and ‘Twilight Of The Gods’ (1958) fared. Interspersed with all of the above mentioned were studio loan-outs for ‘Something Of Value’ and the much more memorable ‘Giant’ (1956) for which Rock was Oscar-nominated. Another young star of that film – James Dean, suffered an untimely death before the movie was released – and took some of the publicity away from some of the other players – Elizabeth Taylor, Carroll Baker, Mercedes McCambridge and even Jane Withers – making a sort of come-back in character roles. Up until then, the ‘beefcake’ actor Rock had 35
not done much comedy, but he scored heavily with Doris Day in ‘Pillow Talk’ (1959) which proved so successful they reteamed for ‘Lover Come Back’ and ‘Send Me No Flowers’. There were, in between, more action films such as ‘Bengal Brigade’, ‘Captain Lightfoot’, ‘Tobruk’ and ‘The Last Sunset’ plus comedies like ‘Come September’ (1963) and ‘Strange Bedfellows’. Incidentally, a 1958 loan-out to David O. Selznick to star opposite Mrs Selznick (Jennifer Jones) in the heavy, down-beat war story ‘A Farewell To Arms’ was not a success. Most studios would often ‘develop’ someone likely to take a star’s place – and John Gavin looked set to take over from Rock at Universal in movies like ‘A Time To Love & A time To Die’ and ‘Spartacus’ (not forgetting Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’ in 1960) but his leading man career was relatively short. Rock moved successfully into television in the early 1970s for several years with the popular series ‘McMillan & Wife’ with Susan Saint James and Nancy Walker as their very droll (but funny) housekeeper. He made several top rated TV movies almost up until his death, remaining a highly popular star to the very end. Editor’s Note: Hunky, six-foot-four Rock Hudson certainly was one of the best looking Hollywood males of the 1950s and 60s, with an enormous fan following. I always liked him in any film – he just had that certain something – a twinkle in his eye, which set him apart from the others. I know there has been such a wealth of rather tawdry bits and pieces published about his private life over the years – and to keep his homosexuality a secret at that time must have been extremely stressful for him (and the studio). He was well liked by his costars, especially the ladies – and it was so sad to see him literally dying in front of our eyes in 1985 from a terrible AIDS related illness which claimed him at only 59. He well deserves to be remembered for his fine body of film work over a thirty year period – and indeed, his very funny comedies with the delectable Doris Day are still immensely watchable today. ‘MOVIE ROUND-UP’
By Carol Hughes
‘Chicago Deadline’ (1949). Alan Ladd plays a reporter investigating the life of a girl (Donna Reed) who is found dead in a cheap apartment. There are flashbacks – June Havoc was her flat-mate and Arthur Kennedy her brother. There were definite shades of ‘Laura’ here! ‘Night Without Sleep’ (1952). This one reminds me of ‘Black Angel’ (1946). Gary Merrill plays a composer who marries a rich and ruthless June Vincent. In flashbacks, he meets Linda Darnell and another old flame Hildegarde Neff – and we find his wife has been murdered! ‘Loophole’ (1954). Barry Sullivan plays a bank tiller, suspected of a bank theft. Dorothy Malone is his supportive wife – and Charles McGraw is the insurance investigator convinced that Barry is guilty. This is a good thriller. ‘So Dark The Night’ (1946). It was interesting to see Steve Geray in a leading role as a detective who goes on holiday and falls for a young girl (Micheline Cheirel). Made by Columbia, the film is set in Paris (we see a picture of the Eiffel Tower). ‘Shadow On The Wall’ (1950). It was amazing to see the lovely 36
Ann Sothern - here playing a devious murderer! Honestly! Unfortunately, this film ended Ann’s career at MGM, though her performance was a good as ever. ‘The Hunted’ (1947). Starred Belita – who was new to me. In fact her accent was so good, I thought she was American! This English ice-skater couldn’t have been more different from Sonja Henie in her film roles in thrillers. Preston Foster is a detective in this, whose girlfriend (Belita) is arrested by him for robbery. After four years in prison, she is still trying to convince him she is innocent! This is a film noir, with Belita’s skating ability incidental to her acting. She certainly impressed me. Lastly, ‘Suspense’ (1946). Belita stars again in this Monogram drama with a cast including Barry Sullivan, Bonita Granville, Albert Dekker and Eugene Pallette – in a noncomedy role! My thanks go to Jim Simpson for making it possible for me to see some of these rare films. DOROTHY MALONE REMEMBERS…..
By Donald Liebenson
What happened in Peyton Place did not stay in Peyton Place! The fictional Massachusetts town became synonymous with American small-town secrets and scandal, first in Grace Metalious’ sensational 1956 novel, followed by the Oscar-nominated 1957 film, the 1959 sequel novel, the 1961 sequel film and then, in 1964 as American television’s first prime-time serialised drama – initially airing twice a week. Fans of the 1960s TV series can now relive ‘the continuing story of Peyton Place’ from the beginning with the DVD release of the first 31 episodes (only 483 to go!) Described at the time by executive producer Paul Monash as ‘a television novel’, Peyton Place paved the way for the more outrageous later programs like ‘Dallas’, ‘Dynasty’ and ‘Desperate Housewives’. ‘Peyton Place’ brought Oscar-winning actress Dorothy Malone (picture here) to series TV and put co-stars Ryan O’Neal and Mia Farrow on the map. Dorothy starred as Constance MacKenzie, a bookstore owner and over-protective single mother with a devastating secret and Mia played her 19 year old daughter Allison, with Ryan O’Neal portraying the brooding ‘golden boy’ Rodney Harrington. Dorothy Malone’s TV stardom came at the end of Hollywood’s ‘golden age’ of movies. Her first notable role was as the bookstore clerk who closed the shop early to put the make on Humphrey Bogart’s Philip Marlowe in 1946’s ‘The Big Sleep’. (She is shown here at around that period). Dorothy went on to win the 1956 Oscar for Best Supporting Actress as the promiscuous and alcoholic oil baron’s daughter in ‘Written On The Wind’. Today, at the age of 85, Dorothy lives in Dallas, Texas where her family moved from Chicago when she was a child. In a telephone interview, Miss Malone was gracious and good spirited – and her affection for the series and its cast was undimmed. When I 37
asked her if she was at first hesitant about doing a TV series, she replied “My dear, I didn’t even give it a thought. I just enjoyed the acting.” She called Mia Farrow ‘delightful, very fresh and sweet.’ And O’Neal was ‘adorable – he had a lot of sex appeal and I was always crazy about Ed Nelson’ (who played Peyton’s new Doctor, Michael Rossi). The feeling is obviously mutual, for in another telephone interview, Ed Nelson (80) who has recently published his autobiography entitled ‘Beyond Peyton Place: My Fifty Years On Stage, Screen And Television’ said fondly “Dorothy was always a joy. When I had a scene with her, I knew it was going to be a good one. She had one quality that they never captured – and that was her marvellous sense of humour. We used to laugh around the set all the time.” Dorothy Malone’s daughter Mimi observed that her mother was ahead of her time. While Oscar winners did not ordinarily choose series television as a career move “Mom just knew that the series was going to be successful!” Off-screen, Dorothy’s life was also rife with drama. In 1965, she underwent lifesaving surgery after more than 30 blood clots were found in her lungs. Medical updates were flashed on the electronic tickertape in New York’s Times Square (and Lola Albright took over her role of Constance temporarily, while she recovered). “But” says Mimi, “Mom has a very strong faith – and that has sustained her. She is a survivor.” Dorothy Malone (shown here in the late 1960s) departed ‘Peyton Place’ before the series ended, partly because, in a bid to attract young viewers, the writers were focusing on the series’ younger characters. However, she continued to divide her time between movies and television, going on to appear in one of American TV’s first mini-series ‘Rich Man, Poor Man’ (1976) and she reprised her role as Constance in the TV movies ‘Murder In Peyton Place’ (1977) and ‘Peyton Place: The Next Generation’ in 1985. Her last feature film (to date) was the hit melodrama ‘Basic Instinct’ starring Sharon Stone and Michael Douglas, in 1992, in which her role was small but most telling. Dorothy Malone’s favourite role, however, has always been that of a loving mother to her two daughters and whilst living in Hollywood, she made an extra effort to ensure that they were well grounded. She finally moved the family back to Dallas in the late 1960s after she and her first husband, actor Jacques Bergerac (the father of her girls) were divorced. Her daughters were still quite small then. “She wanted to get us out of the crazy Southern California scene – and grow up where she grew up, back in Dallas, Texas” stated Mimi – and both daughters and their families still live there now. Today, Dorothy Malone enjoys being with her family and her six grandchildren. She thoroughly enjoys watching ‘Dancing With The Stars’ on television – and receiving fan mail which continues to arrive from all over the world. It simply brightens her day, says her daughter Mimi. “Dorothy Malone’s approachable, down-to-earth quality would play well right now” continued Mimi. “It’s not something you can be taught. She was always ‘down-home’ and caring about her family – but when she would turn it on (for the camera) - it was like magic to watch!” 38
THE THALIANS BALL – A REPORT
By Bob Isoz
For the past fifteen years straight, I have had the great pleasure of being personally invited to attend this wonderful annual event in Beverly Hills, California, by my good friends Debbie Reynolds and Ruta Lee. Amazingly, each year seems better and better – and there are so many stars (especially from MVM’s era) attending and contributing to this wonderful charity for mental health causes. Once again, the Ball was held at the beautiful Beverly Hilton Hotel. This year, the Thalians ‘honour’ went to legendary Hollywood star Mickey Rooney. Many of Mickey’s friends and co-stars from his amazingly long career came to greet and honour him for this very special award – and we enjoyed numerous film clips from his vast list of movies - and entertainment shows. Mickey entered the proceedings on the arm of his wife Jan, herself a talented singer with whom he has often performed in shows. Several of the celebrity guests also entertained the audience with some great musical numbers – especially the lovely Ann Blyth and Shirley Jones who are pictured over the page. These two still elegant ladies were stand-outs – and when they sang, time just seemed to have stopped – it could have been forty years ago! Then Nancy Sinatra (with whom I am shown below) sang her popular number ‘These Boots Are Made For Walking’ which was much appreciated. Amongst the many other stars who were on hand and equally enjoying the evening were Mitzi Gaynor, Betty Garrett, Richard Anderson, Margaret O’Brien, Dick Van Patten, Marsha Hunt – and Ann Rutherford – who gave a fabulous speech to honour Mickey. It was so hard to believe that it is over seventy years ago since Ann (as Polly Benedict) and Mickey played sweethearts in several of the popular ‘Andy Hardy’ films at MGM. I praised Ann for her touching speech afterwards and she was so pleased that it was appreciated. As always, Debbie Reynolds and Ruta Lee entertained us all with songs and jokes, so a big THANK YOU to both ladies for hosting yet another sensational Thalians Ball – I can’t wait until next year’s event!! All the photos on pages 40 & 41 were taken during this memorable evening and I hope MVM readers will love seeing them all! 39
Pictured above, left to right; of course, the always glamorous Debbie Reynolds, Mickey Rooney and his wife Jan – and the still bubbly Mitzi Gaynor, all having a great time!
Pictured above, Betty Garrett and on the right, Debbie is shown with the charming Ann Blyth.
Shown on the left, is Bob Isoz with the still lovely Shirley Jones. Above, Debbie Reynolds and her equally lively co-host Ruta Lee are flanking the guest of honour, Mickey Rooney along with his wife, Jan. 40
Pictured left to right are; Ann Rutherford, Margaret O’Brien - and Bob Isoz with Marsha Hunt. A TRIBUTE TO KARL MALDEN Academy Award winning actor Karl Malden passed away last July, at the great age of 97. Born Mladen Sekulovich on March 22, 1912 in Chicago, Illinois, he was the eldest of three sons and was raised in the Serbian community of Gary, Indiana, where his father Petar was a milkman. Malden spent his high school years as a basketball player – and as president of his class, but he developed a deepening fondness for acting in the school plays. His father had been the director of the productions at the Serbian Orthodox Church and had introduced him to the theatre throughout his childhood. Malden happily left behind his job in the Gary mills when he was offered a scholarship to attend Chicago’s Goodman Theatre and it was there that his passion for acting was truly ignited. There too, he met another scholarship student, Mona Greenberg and the two frequently played opposite each other in the Goodman’s renowned children’s theatre productions. The couple were married in 1938 – and celebrated their seventieth wedding anniversary in December 2008! They lived in New York where Malden (having changed his name) appeared on Broadway for twenty years in such landmark productions as Arthur Miller’s ‘All My Sons’ and Tennessee Williams’ ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’. During this time, he developed working relationships and lifelong friendships with director Elia Kazan and co-star Marlon Brando. Malden’s recreation of the role of Mitch in the film of ‘ A Streetcar Named Desire’ earned him an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 1951 and he was later nominated in the same category for playing Father John in ‘On The Waterfront’ (1954) again with Brando. In 1959, Malden moved his family – now including two daughters Mila and Carla to los Angeles so that he could pursue his film career. He appeared in over seventy films including ‘Baby Doll’, ‘One-Eyed Jacks’, ‘Pollyanna’, Gypsy’, ‘The Cincinnati Kid’, ‘Nevada Smith’, ‘How The West Was Won’, ‘Birdman Of Alcatraz’ and ‘Patton’ to name a few. Malden liked to say how he had an ‘open hearth face’, but it was his Everyman quality that made him one of the most well-respected character actors of his generation. In the 1970s, Karl Malden made the transition to television, starring in the popular series ‘The Streets Of San Francisco’ which introduced Michael Douglas as his co-star. Michael has credited Malden as his mentor ever since. It was during that time that Malden became the spokesman for American Express Travellers Cheques, making the slogan ‘Don’t leave home without them’ a household phrase in the US. He went on to win an Emmy award for his portrayal of the distraught father in 1984’s television movie ‘Fatal Vision’. After serving on its board for nine years, Malden was elected president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1990. He served 41
three terms during which he put his career on hold to devote his efforts to the position full time. He was instrumental in establishing the Academy Library which stands today on La Cienega Boulevard – and in 2003, Malden was honoured with the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award. In business having a reputation for casual acquaintances, Malden (shown here with his TV co-star Michael Douglas) maintained cherished lifelong friendships, not only with Kazan and Brando, but also with Richard Widmark, Eli Wallach, Eva Marie Saint, Norman Lloyd, Kirk Douglas and of course, Michael Douglas. Ultimately, Karl Malden was a working actor, not a Hollywood personality – and he thought of himself that way. For Malden, the work always came first as evidenced by the title of his autobiography ‘When Do I Start?’ But what was most important to him was his family, which grew to include his beloved sons-in-law Dr Tom Doerner and Laurence Starkman and he considered his greatest blessings to be his three granddaughters – and in recent years his great-grandchildren Mila, Stella, Charlie and Thomas Karl. As Serbian tradition exclaims ‘Zivio!’…which translated means ‘To Life!’ At the time of Karl Malden’s death, Michael Douglas released the following few words: “He was my lifelong mentor, both professionally and personally. I worshipped the man. He took me under his wing and helped me understand the whole acting process in a way that I never would have, as far as learning how to listen. You understand why he was a co-star of Marlon Brando’s for so many years in movies like ‘On The Waterfront’ and ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’. He was a great listener and he had a phenomenal work ethic. The writers on ‘The Streets Of San Francisco’ would hate us because we would rehearse so much that we would pick up the pace – so the scripts had to be six or seven pages longer! And he had a great sense of humour – he loved a dirty joke as much as anyone I knew!”
.......BUYING………SELLING………TRADING….. FOR SALE: Picturegoer Postcards. ‘Wants’ Lists are welcomed as I have thousands! (No list available). Also I have numerous Back Issues of Movie Memories for sale. Please contact Eric Kent at 8 The Croft, Flitwick, Beds. MK45 1DL. Tel.01525 752222. Thank you. WANTED: DVD’s or video copies of the following Rock Hudson films: ‘Captain Lightfoot’, ‘One Desire’, ‘Pretty Maids All In A Row’, ‘Better Than Before’, ‘Twilight For The Gods’, ‘Fighter Squadron’ and ‘Embryo’. Also his TV mini series, such as ‘Wheels’, ‘The Star Maker’, ‘The Martian Chronicles’, ‘The Devlin Connection’, ‘The Las Vegas Strip Wars’, etc. Please contact Pauline Franks at 66 Heathview Road, Grays, Essex. RM16 2RS. Thank you. FOR SALE: A large collection of Postcards of film stars from the 1930s right up to date. Plus numerous books and other film collectables. Also Wanted: Any photographs or postcards of comedy actor Victor Spinetti. Please contact Mr Berwyn Jones at 408 Selbourne Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. LU4 8NU. Thank you. 42
SUSAN HAYWARD – TRUE GRIT
By Michael Burrows
At home in Brooklyn, with elder sister Florence, brother Walter (Wally) and loving, devoted and supportive parents Walter and Ellen, Edythe Marrener was born on June 30th, 1918. She was to enjoy a frugal but happy childhood; taught self-reliance, integrity and hard work, together with perseverance, all of which would remain with her throughout the rest of her days. Brought up during the Depression years, when her father worked as a subway guard, her parents had to resort to the instalment plan to equip their tenement home – similar to the family graphically portrayed in 1944’s ‘A Tree Grows In Brooklyn’. Edythe resolved never to incur debt – and she would, of course, eventually acquire considerable riches. Unfortunately, the family goodwill was not shared by all the residents of Brooklyn. Singing for pennies under the windows of the high residences, Edythe and her friends welcomed coins thrown to them by the occupants. However, it was not only their hands that were burnt when they became the victims of some adults who first heated the coins on their stoves before hurling them out of the windows to be eagerly seized by the hapless youngsters below. Edythe learned many lessons from these encounters, but happily she profited from them, avoiding any bitterness. Nevertheless, her strong determination and quite hard outlook on life may be traced to her early days. In a phrase, through battling hardship, what she acquired was indeed – true grit! On October 30th, 1937, ‘The Saturday Evening Post’ featured a photograph pose by 19 year old Edythe that led directly to a screen test for no less a part than Scarlett O’Hara in the projected ‘Gone With The Wind’. But for the drama student and embryonic actress, such a challenge was too much too soon – and as we all know, Vivien Leigh secured the much-vaunted role. However, our attractive, confident, red-haired young lady attracted interest in Hollywood and she was soon signed by Warner Brothers, who changed her name to Susan Hayward. Her screen debut in 1937’s ‘Hollywood Hotel’ directed by Busby Berkeley, was made in good company. Starring Dick Powell, it featured Carole Landis, Ronald Reagan and Susan in very small parts. Little progress was made for two years, when, under the auspices of Paramount, Susan secured fifth billing in the important, highly successful ‘Beau Geste’ supporting Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, Robert Preston and Brian Donlevy under William Wellman’s inspired direction. The unusual 1941 ‘B’ movie ‘Among The Living’ starred sinister Albert Dekker (in what was probably his best screen role in a long career that ended with his bizarre suicide in 1968.) The film also featured Susan along with the ill-fated Frances Farmer. Ingrid Bergman triumphed in the beautifully acted family drama ‘Adam Had Four Sons’ (1941) but she was almost eclipsed by a powerful performance from Susan Hayward as the vicious wife of one of the sons. ‘Reap The Wild Wind’ (1942) was a Technicolor sea adventure, advertised as ‘a tale of daring piracy and hot-blooded love!’ Produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille, it costarred Susan with John Wayne, Ray Milland and that most talented and lovely star, Paulette 43
Goddard. Many of us will remember this Technicolor seafaring period adventure in which diver John Wayne battles a giant squid! Susan was ambitious for stardom and this popular film was a major step forward. ‘The Forest Rangers’ (19420 was another Technicolor hit – and a fairly routine adventure of ‘the thrilling story of women who play with fire – and men who fight it!’ Once more the cast was strong, including Fred MacMurray and Paulette again. ‘I Married A Witch’ was an intelligent, delightful fantasy enabling Susan to exhibit that combination of haughtiness, sharp tongue and obstinacy that she needed in attempting to deflect Veronica Lake from stealing her fiancé, Fredric March. Her performance was most effective in one of Rene Clair’s best American features. Thirty years separated the linkings of Susan with William Holden and although ‘Young And Willing’ (1943) offered them an opportunity to indulge in comedy, neither this film nor the much later ‘The Revengers’ (1972) was memorable. However, 1943’s ‘Jack London’ is one of my personal favourites. Perhaps that two of its players – Virginia Mayo and Michael O’Shea – met on the set and married shortly afterwards, appeals to the romantic in me! It has always been Susan’s portrayal of writer Jack London’s loving and loyal wife that entrances. Her adoration makes the viewer’s heart warm. Unfortunately, as a film, ‘Jack London’ failed primarily on the reputed lack of charisma showed by Mr O’Shea, who although a likeable actor, didn’t possess the gritty, emotional power of John Garfield who was originally sought for the lead. But it speaks volumes of Susan Hayward’s standing that the real Mrs London personally approved her casting. In 1944’s ‘The Hairy Ape’, Susan appeared most effectively as a spoiled socialite returning to America on a tramp steamer, who is horrified when William Bendix – the ship’s ‘hairy ape’ stoker approaches her. The London ‘Daily Herald’ described Miss Hayward’s playing as being ‘provocative, heartless and enticing’ and it was a clever characterisation in this little-known film. Beautiful, highly talented, aloof and strong-willed as a person, Susan Hayward was to appear opposite so many of Hollywood’s most famous leading actors of the 1940s and 50s, including John Wayne, Dana Andrews, Gary Cooper, Gregory Peck, Tyrone Power – and most effectively with Richard Conte. 20th Century Fox’s ‘I’d Climb The Highest Mountain’ (1951) wasn’t one of Susan’s favourite films, but in his excellent and comprehensive biography ‘A Star, Is A Star, Is A Star – The Lives And Loves Of Susan Hayward’, author Christopher P. Andersen reports that of the film: ‘Susan would never take her part all that seriously, but she was to receive the help of providence when she nearly lost her life on location near Dawsonville, Georgia. Whilst taking personal snapshots of the breathtaking scenery, 44
she was not aware that she was actually on the very edge of a 729ft gorge; a fall would certainly have been fatal. Mercifully, studio chauffeur Will Gray saw the danger, raced to her side and caught her ‘at the last second’! So delighted was the State Governor with the resultant film, that the Senate voted Susan as ‘an adopted daughter of Georgia!’ When American soldiers were fighting in Korea in 1952, Susan (pictured here with Richard Conte) persuaded the Hollywood community to donate Christmas presents for the troops, of whom there were 100,000. Generally, however, Susan Hayward was a very private person; she disliked parties and when filming, preferred to mix with the technicians rather than her fellow players. However, she was extremely loyal to her few friends in Hollywood, which included Jeff Chandler and Thelma Ritter. When greeting a group of servicemen – and felt comfortable, she would endear herself to them with her rousing cry: ‘Anyone here from Brooklyn?’ But, above all, she was a loner. In 1955’s ‘The Conqueror’, quite inappropriately, John Wayne appeared as Genghis Khan. The director of this rather improbable film was former actor and crooner Dick Powell. Filmed near St. George in Utah, in very high temperatures, it was not realised that the location was only 140 miles from the site of the atomic bomb tests – and directly in the path of nuclear fallout! Also, producer Howard Hughes had arranged for 60 tons of Utah earth to be transferred to a Hollywood sound stage for retakes! Of 220 people who worked on ‘The Conqueror’, over 90 contracted some form of cancer, including Susan, Pedro Armandariz, Agnes Moorehead, John Wayne and Dick Powell who all suffered early, painful deaths from this dreadful disease. The film itself (one of Hughes’ personal favourites) was unsuccessful, but Susan has recorded that ‘of all my leading men, the ‘Duke’ was my favourite!’ (They worked together three times). Susan had also always admired Bette Davis’s performances. 1938’s ‘The Sisters’ starring Bette, had contained a minor role for Susan, but now, twenty six years later, the two actresses costarred in ‘Where Love Has Gone’ (1964). Director Edward Dmytryk has recalled: ‘Susan was a very difficult person to know. She was reserved, nervous and withdrawn. Bette mistook that apparently, for rudeness. They were the exact opposites!’ In ‘More Than A Woman’, author James Spada writes: ‘Bette’s vociferous demands for script revisions further alienated Hayward, who was certain that her co-star’s main goal was to enlarge her own part and truncate hers! “If the script is changed, I walk!” Susan told her producer. At this, the bad blood between Bette and Susan completely curdled! Reputed to have been based on the Lana Turner/Johnny Stompanato/Cheryl Crane murder case of 1957, ‘Where Love Has Gone’ was 45
a rather squalid film, as also was 1967’s ‘Valley Of The Dolls’ – in which Judy Garland had originally been cast but couldn’t subsequently cope with the role, being very reminiscent of her own drug problems. Judy was replaced by Susan, who only agreed to do it on the following terms: that she would get top billing; that Judy Garland would be paid full salary – no questions asked – and that whatever Garland would be paid, Susan would get double! In actual fact, Susan received $50,000 for two weeks work! Handsome actor Jess Barker is listed in Halliwell’s as being ‘a lightweight American leading man of minor 1940s films’. He was four years older than Susan, to whom he was married for ten years before a hotly contested divorce in 1954. Apart from roles in ‘Keep Your Powder Dry’ (1945) and ‘This Love Of Ours’ (1946) he continued acting throughout the 1950s and into the 1960s. Incidentally Susan and Jess never appeared in a film together. Susan was horrified by the publicity of her sensational divorce case, but she was awarded custody of their young twin sons, Timothy and Gregory. Jess Barker outlived his ex-wife by twenty five years, dying in 2000 aged 85. The strain of her career along with the role of mother and dealing with marriage problems (brought to the fore in the publicity aired over the divorce proceedings) led to a suicide attempt with an overdose. Mercifully, due to the efforts of her mother and that of two Los Angeles police officers, her life was saved by doctors in the Cedars of Lebanon Hospital. Contracted to make ‘I’ll Cry Tomorrow’, director Daniel Mann was relieved to know that Susan was keen to resume her career with portrayal of the former alcoholic 1930s actress/singer, Lillian Roth. The earlier troubled Miss Roth had visited Susan in hospital to identify with and comfort her. A truly realistic and authentic script, ‘I’ll Cry Tomorrow’ (1955) had appealed strongly to Susan who personally petitioned MGM studio head Dore Schary to give her the role; it had been considered for June Allyson. Susan’s success was recognised both by her Oscar nomination and the Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Award. In fact, three films dominated Susan Hayward’s own list of her personal achievements. Naturally, as her fifth Academy Award nomination was at last converted into the Oscar (see above) for 1958’s ‘I Want To Live!’ stood high on her list, yet she was most proud of ‘I’ll Cry Tomorrow’ in which she had used her own voice for Miss Roth’s songs, fully capturing her presence. Amazingly, she lost out to Anna Magnani for ‘The Rose Tattoo’, by coincidence also directed by Daniel Mann. A similar fate followed Susan’s heart-warming, sensitive playing of singer Jane Froman’s inspiring life after she (Miss Froman) was badly injured in a plane crash in ‘With A Song In My Heart’ (1952). In this melodrama/musical, detailing Jane’s valiant battle to regain her mobility, Miss Froman did her own singing – with Susan miming expertly. Despite this film gaining Susan a third Oscar nomination (the two earlier ones were for ‘Smash-Up: The Story Of A Woman’ (1947) and 1950s ‘My Foolish Heart’), ‘With A Song In My Heart’ didn’t result in the Oscar going to Susan; instead it was awarded to Shirley Booth for 46
‘Come Back, Little Sheba’. (Susan is shown below with David Wayne, Una Merkel and an actor unknown to me in a scene from ‘With A Song In My Heart’). In ‘The United Artists Story’, author Ronald Bergan records that ‘The Los Angeles Police Department’ and many other people in the film industry tried to dissuade producer Walter Wanger from tackling the subject of a woman executed in the gas chamber and containing an anti-capital punishment message. Mr Bergan commends Robert Wise’s clinically realistic direction and the gritty performance by Miss Hayward, who showed the vulnerability but also the toughness of the woman. Sordid and harrowing, ‘I Want To Live’ is compelling viewing with Susan absolutely credible in her role. As sole star, she virtually carries the complete film on her own shoulders – and she does it magnificently. In ‘Child Of Fate’, the biographer Lawrence J. Quirk assesses Margaret Sullavan’s work in 1941’s ‘Back Street’ as being: ’a poignant, strong, delicately modulated performance – her finest film achievement! It was a truly riveting portrayal but I haven’t seen either its forerunner (in 1932 with Irene Dunne) or Miss Hayward’s successful endeavour in 1961.’ Halliwell commented on Susan’s version of ‘Back Street’ by stating ‘A glossy remake typical of its producer Ross Hunter, but unfortunately it fails to work because the heroine suffers too luxuriously! Of course, with Miss Sullavan, my selection may be prejudiced! In February 1957, Susan married Floyd Eaton Chalkley, a divorcee nine years her senior. A businessman and devout Catholic, they had a most happy marriage, which sadly ended in January 1966 when her husband suffered a fatal recurrence of jaundice, aged only 56. During their marriage, Mr & Mrs Chalkley had financed the building of a Church – Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Carrollton, Georgia, where they lived – and it was there that her husband – whom she described as ‘the strongest man I ever knew – and the tenderest’ was buried, with the adjoining plot reserved for Susan. Apparently Susan and Floyd had once received a private audience with Pope Paul VI and much earlier, his Eminence John XXIII had presented Susan with a large onyx crucifix. In 1969, Susan attempted a return to the stage when she opened in ‘Mame’ but she had to leave the production with exhaustion; Celeste Holm took her place. Her final public appearance took place on April 2, 1974 at the Academy Awards ceremony. With Charlton Heston at her side, she quickly announced Glenda Jackson as Best Actress for ‘A Touch Of Class’ – but Susan’s valiant effort in attending the ceremony was only made possible by strong tranquilizers on top of her cancer medication. She left the building – and shortly afterwards collapsed with a seizure. In fact, she had less than a year to live. On March 14, 1975, after some considerable 47
suffering borne so courageously, Susan Hayward died at her home in Laurel Way, Los Angeles. Soon afterwards, she was laid to rest beside her husband Floyd Eaton Chalkley. To the gentle ground of Georgia, its adopted daughter had come home, to eternal peace at last. Sadly, the former gutsy, tempestuous, red-haired screen beauty was only 56 years of age. MEETING DEBBIE REYNOLDS
By Charles Crowell
I have been a long-time fan of the wonderful Debbie Reynolds – and last July I was able to meet up with her as she re-opened the almost refurbished old ‘Strand Theatre’ in the rural town of Zelienople – in southwest Pennsylvania, not too far from my home in Trafford. (We are pictured together here). The theatre has been undergoing a $1.5 million renovation in phases – and after a ribbon-cutting ceremony, Debbie later took to the stage area to give one of her fascinating ‘one woman’ shows, (the first of her four weekend shows for the theatre’s grand opening celebration) charming the appreciative crowd with her great sense of humour, poking fun of the town’s unusual name, her marriages and telling stories of her experiences in Hollywood in between singing songs from her movies (plus showing us several delightful film clips) – and giving us some excellent impressions of the likes of Bette Davis and the Gabor sisters which were great fun. Debbie even performed a country hits medley. Said Debbie “This is an adorable little theatre” after earlier joking in the show that it was the smallest theatre she had ever performed in. “Can you really believe they got me here” quipped Debbie before continuing “People offer me a job, I go there!” Debbie closed out the show with a lovely tribute to her friend and favourite actress, the late, great Judy Garland. There was a week of festivities around the opening of the Strand Theatre – which had previously been dark and vacant for twenty five years! Also on hand at this occasion were representatives of the USDA Rural Development which provided $400,000 to complete the renovation. Because of them, workers were able to complete Phase One of the Strand’s renovation, creating a functional facility for the local community to enjoy, with many events already lined up for the old theatre. Debbie and I are pictured here enjoying a good laugh as I showed her one of the many photographs of Debbie I have collected over the years as I avidly followed her career. She certainly is a great entertainer, very gracious to her many loyal fans and it was such a pleasure to be able to say ‘hello’ in person at this excellent and most worthwhile occasion in Zelienople, Pennsylvania. 48
PASSING PARADE
Editor
I know how each issue of ‘Movie Memories’ unfortunately brings us sad news of the passing of several ‘golden age’ performers, but on this occasion we appear to have lost far more talented, memorable artistes than usual, which has prompted me into giving a mention, however brief, to the following much missed stars. The unique Jennifer Jones was a most unusual actress, whose input was not prolific, but certainly of merit. Initially, I wasn’t aware of her early screen roles in ‘B’ westerns under her real name of Phyllis Isley, but of course she came to prominence in 1943’s highly dramatic and emotional ‘The Song Of Bernadette’ – a true life story – and not to be missed if you’ve never seen it. A complete contrast came in ‘Duel In The Sun’ (1945) as a Mexican ‘half-breed’ Pearl, the object of affection for two brothers, Gregory Peck (the bad one) and Joseph Cotton (the good one). In real life, after divorcing actor Robert Walker (the couple had two sons), Jennifer married her mentor, David O. Selznick in 1949 (one daughter) who guided her film career until his death in 1965. ‘Since You Went Away’, ‘Madame Bovary’, ‘Carrie’, ‘Good Morning Miss Dove’ come to mind and she was perfect in the haunting ‘Love Is A Many Splendored Thing’ opposite William Holden. I didn’t enjoy ‘A Farewell To Arms’ (1958) with Rock Hudson, at all, as it was just so depressing and downbeat. She was a welcome and most gracious supporting actress in her final film ‘The Towering Inferno’ (1974) and her romantic scenes with Fred Astaire were emotional, even though you just knew something awful would happen along the way. A third marriage to millionaire art dealer Norton Simon eventually left her a very wealthy widow and she generously donated huge amounts to various charitable causes before her own recent death at the age of 90. Three equally talented British actors – and memorable in their own way, were Richard Todd, Ian Carmichael and Lionel Jeffries. Handsome leading man Richard Todd really ‘arrived’ with his performance as a dying Scotsman and patient of nurse Patricia Neal in ‘The Hasty Heart’ (1949) set in a military hospital and he carved out a career with numerous ‘stiff upper lip’ typically British action heroes in a whole mixture of adventure films over a significantly lengthy period. (Let’s not forget his Rob Roy and Robin Hood along the way!) One always associates him with ‘The Dam Busters’ and ‘D-Day The Sixth Of June’ and he did indeed suit the uniforms of the various armed forces which he wore with conviction on the screen (after actually serving in WWII). An excellent, illustrated tribute was paid to Richard by Ken Sephton in the recent MVM 65. Ian Carmichael had an equally long career (and life) and was very popular in the 1950s as a typical dithering blunderer in numerous comedies since his screen debut in 1948. Who remembers ‘Private’s Progress’, ‘Brothers In Law’, ‘Happy Is The Bride’, 49
‘I’m Alright, Jack’, ‘School For Scoundrels’, etc, etc. Always a likeable character however silly, his type of comedy eventually appeared a little dated, before he went on to enjoy TV fame as the upper class Lord Peter Wimsey and Bertie Wooster with much success. It was nice to see him still slim and regal in the popular recent hospital TV drama series ‘The Royal’ in his eighties – looking twenty years younger. He died aged 89, working almost to the end. Lionel Jeffries (shown here) was another unique performer who was equally adept at playing villains, petty crooks, military or comedy roles with ease. With a deep, commanding voice, he didn’t really come into his own until later life despite making his screen debut in 1950. Films that come to mind include ‘Two-Way Stretch’, ‘The Wrong Arm Of The Law’, ‘Rocket To The Moon’, ‘Camelot’ and of course ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ in which he was wonderful as the dotty grandfather, singing ‘The Travelling Life For Me’. He turned to direction in the 1970s beginning with the all-time classic ‘The Railway Children’ which is still a great favourite today, having recently celebrated its 40th anniversary with cast reunions. One of my own personal favourite Lionel Jeffries performances came in the 1989 TV movie ‘Ending Up’ – a black comedy co-starring John Mills, Wendy Hiller, Michael Hordern and Googie Withers – a dream cast if ever there was one. Mr Jeffries passed away at the age of 83. Lastly for now, the announcement of the death of Jean Simmons on January 22 (the same day as Queen Victoria in 1901) came as a real shock to me, as I’d no idea she had been suffering from cancer for a while. On screen since 1944, I recall one of her earliest appearances singing ‘Let Him Go, Let Him Tarry’ in the RAF dance scene from ‘The Way To The Stars’ aged just 16. Of course she was brilliant as the young, cold and heartless Estella in the 1946 David Lean classic ‘Great Expectations’ and that same year she was a complete contrast as the bejewelled pretty young Indian girl smitten by Sabu’s Prince in the highly atmospheric ‘Black Narcissus’. She stood out as the endangered heroine in the creepy period drama ‘Uncle Silas’ (1947) being menaced by an over-the-top Katina Paxinou and Derrick de Marney. And she stood out as the blonde-haired Ophelia to Laurence Olivier’s ‘Hamlet’ in 1948. Marriage to British heart-throb Stewart Granger (she is pictured here with Granger and Frank Sinatra) took her to Hollywood (unknowingly and unhappily under contract to Howard Hughes) where she eventually became a major player in such hits as ‘The Robe’, ‘Guys And Dolls’, ‘The Big Country’, ‘Elmer Gantry’ and ‘Spartacus’ to name just a few. Hollywood certainly glamorised her and she looked stunning throughout the 1950s – even with an impish short hairstyle. In later life, she made a big impact for me in the dramatic TV blockbuster ‘The Thorn Birds’ (1983) and she continued to film sporadically up until her death just a week before her 81st birthday. In private life, Jean Simmons had one daughter from her marriage to Stewart Granger (divorced in 1960) and a second daughter from her marriage to the director Richard Brooks (later divorced). She will indeed be missed. 50
‘POT POURRI’……
Compiled by Robert Rosterman
Katharine Hepburn (no surprise there) will be the next movie legend to be featured on a US postage stamp from the ‘Performing Arts’ series – and the stamp will be released on Kate’s true birthday, May 12 (1907). Miss Hepburn always gave out a November 8 birth date for many years – in order to avoid birthday bashes! Prior to Hepburn’s stamp (of approval!) there is a quartet of US postage stamps out honouring movie ‘cowboys’ – Tom Mix, William S. Hart and the two pride and joys of Republic Studios – Roy Rogers and Gene Autry………… Fans of James Bond, Agent 007 – and the James Bond films might be tempted when in London – and in an extravagant mood, to try the little bar in Dukes Hotel where author Ian Fleming first gave Bond’s definitive ‘shaken, not stirred’ instructions to the barman in creating his ‘perfect martini’. You are warned not to indulge in more than one!!.................. Even with her Broadway accolades and Tony Award win for her superb performance as Madame Arcati in the recent New York revival of Noel Coward’s ‘Blithe Spirit’, Angela Lansbury – at the age of 84, ‘ain’t down yet! Angela told the New York press that she’s still waiting for a well-written movie role to come her way, but “I don’t want to play somebody dying of Alzheimer’s. Julie Christie did that well enough for everyone!” Let’s hope Angela finds that rare, solid role for another screen appearance – sixty six years after her 1944 debut!.......................................................................................................................... When the American Film Institute (AFI) selected Michael Douglas as the 2009 recipient of its Lifetime Achievement Award, it marked the first time that a previous winner Kirk Douglas (who was the 19th Achievement Award recipient) was on hand to see the honour passed to his son Michael – the 37th recipient. “I’m too young to have a son getting a lifetime achievement award” quipped Kirk, then a sprightly if slightly disabled 92 year-old. Continued Kirk: “I’m so proud of my son Michael. I don’t tell him that very often!” Joking or not, Kirk, it is important to always let relatives and friends know just how meaningful they are ‘in this our life.’……………………………………………… Every fan has their own personal favourite of the famous Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour ‘Road’ films. My particular favourite would have to be 1945’s ‘Road To Utopia’ which opens with a voice-over by humorist Robert Benchley. Yes, I know that this was pointless and unnecessary – which is exactly why it’s so great. Benchley is assigned the thankless task of explaining the ‘plot’ of the movie – whose plot is entirely beside the point, so he takes the opportunity of conducting a running narrative (years before audio commentaries) on where the film goes wrong! As Benchley gleefully points out various continuity errors – and some terrible jokes, the film’s opening ‘voice-over’ gets the audience set for complete disbelief – and a good laugh! To add to the joys of ‘Road To Utopia’ we have Dorothy Lamour delivering the sprightly song ‘Personality’ – which the delectable Dottie possessed, indeed!.................... 51
‘AND FINALLY’……….
As always, my grateful thanks go to ALL
the writers in this issue – and of course to Albert Leonard for his usual splendid drawings. I’d also like to thank everyone who helped with illustrations, including Astor Sklair, Clive Roberts, Charles Crowell, Michael Burrows, Bob Isoz, Josie Whibley, AllPosters.co.uk – and Albert once again. My special thanks go to Robert Rosterman, Charles Crowell, Bob Isoz and Robert Osborne for their invaluable up-to-date news direct from Hollywood and the rest of the USA – which is always so very much appreciated. As mentioned in my initial editorial, the latest excellent film star biography in the series from the University Press of Mississippi is ‘Claudette Colbert – She Walked In Beauty’ by Bernard F. Dick. With over 300 pages and well illustrated, this first major biography on Claudette Colbert (19031996) published in over twenty years is a real treat for fans of the classy, Oscar winning Miss Colbert – shown here in 1932. The book has full lists of her screen, stage, radio and TV credits in a career spanning almost seventy years! It also explores her early life in Paris and New York, from Broadway to Hollywood and back – and onto the London stage. The smart and talented Miss Colbert appeared to be ageless and starred in so many great Hollywood films of the 1930s and 40s, alternating between drama and comedy, performing both with ease. She lived out her final days at her beautiful Barbados home – and truly did live a seemingly happy and contented life off the screen, unlike so many top leading ladies of her era. I do recommend MVM readers to get hold of a copy of this enlightening biography, for it doesn’t disappoint in any way. Finally, I do hope to see some familiar (and new) faces on May 22 at MVM’s annual gathering at the Concert Artistes Association (CAA), 20 Bedford Street, in London’s Covent Garden area – as usual. The entrance is almost opposite the gates of the Actor’s Church. The doors open at 1.45pm – but please do not arrive early as I have to set the hall up beforehand, thank you. I hope to have a couple of celebrity guests on hand to make the afternoon a little more special, so why not come along and say ‘hello’ especially those of you who live in the London area! I would also like to apologise to anyone whose article has not appeared in this issue – I simply ran out of space and could easily have run to 70 pages or more if it wasn’t for the hefty postal charges! Please rest assured your unpublished articles WILL see the light of day soon!! So, until the next time, I’ll leave you with yet another humorous Mae West quote: “I’m not hard to please – as long as the price is high enough!” A happy and healthy summertime to all MVM members, as always. Chris. ********************************************************************************************************** SUBSCRIPTION DETAILS: ‘MOVIE MEMORIES MAGAZINE’ Annual subscription £14 (£18 overseas). Payment in sterling only or US dollar bills, please. Cheques or Postal Orders payable to C.Roberts, thank you. Advertisements: Small advert £3, half-page £7 and full page £15. Back Issues: I have a limited supply of back issues available from Issue 37, plus a few selected earlier ones. Please write first for details. All are £3 each – inclusive of postage. EDITOR: Christopher Roberts, 10 Russet Close, Scunthorpe, N.Lincs, DN15 8YJ, England. I can be emailed at crob.mvm@ntlworld.com Thank you. 52
COPYRIGHT 1990