Classic Movie Hub Blog

Noir Nook: Top 10 Favorite Bad Boys – Part 2

Posted on May 11, 2023 by Karen Burroughs Hannsberry

Noir Nook: Top 10 Favorite Bad Boys – Part 2

Last month, here at the Noir Nook, I served up the first half of my top 10 bad boys of noir. I’m finishing up the list this month with another spate of dastardly dudes. Watch yourself – they’re up to no good!

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Whit Sterling (Kirk Douglas): Out of the Past (1947)

This feature centers on private dick Jeff Markham (Robert Mitchum) turned filling station owner Jeff Bailey (Robert Mitchum), whose past catches up with him in the form of a gorgeously nefarious femme, Kathie Moffat (Jane Greer), and a ruthless gang boss, Whit Sterling. Out of the Past boasts one of those labyrinthine noir plots that you’d rather disregard than figure out, but in a nutshell, Whit hired Jeff to find his girl, Kathie, who’d stolen forty grand and took it on the lam, leaving Whit with a bullet in his side as a parting gift. Jeff finds Kathie, but instead of returning her to Whit, he falls for her and the two enjoy an idyllic sojourn – until they don’t.

In Whit Sterling, we have one of noir’s scariest characters – he’s smart but ruthless, refined but lethal, genial, with an affable façade that masks a monster. Whit isn’t in many scenes, but he dominates each one with a frightening air – you never know what he’s liable to do or say, or what duplicitous intentions are bubbling behind his pleasant and uber-calm comportment.

Favorite quote: “You’re gonna take the rap and play along. You’re gonna make every exact move I tell you. If you don’t, I’ll kill you. And I’ll promise you one thing: it won’t be quick. I’ll break you first. You won’t be able to answer a telephone or open a door without thinking, ‘This is it.’ And when it comes, it still won’t be quick. And it won’t be pretty. You can take your choice.”
— Kirk Douglas as Whit Sterling

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Slim Dundee (Dan Duryea): Criss Cross (1949)

Criss Cross – one of my very favorite noirs, incidentally – tells the story of Steve Thompson (Burt Lancaster), who returns to his hometown after a lengthy absence only to find himself getting mixed up with his irresistible and combustible ex-wife Anna (Yvonne DeCarlo) – and local gangster Slim Dundee. In an extended flashback, we see how Steve and Anna reconnected (despite Steve’s attempts to convince himself that he wasn’t interested); how, without warning, Anna married Slim; and how Anna and Steve schemed to reunite, double cross Slim, and wind up with a big payday in the bargain.

Slim is a hothead. Suspicious. Jealous. Mean. Abusive. Merciless. And you can’t take your eyes off of him – because he’s also cooler than the other side of the pillow. Take my favorite scene, when Slim returns home early from a trip and catches Anna and Steve together (with Steve in his undershirt, yet!). Silently declining the offer of a beer from one of his underlings, he greets Anna, then calmly offers: “You know, uh, it don’t look right,” he comments. “You can’t exactly say it looks right, now, can you?” But beneath that composed exterior, Slim is like a caged tiger, just waiting to pounce.

Favorite quote: “Is that polite? Is it hospitable? Tell me, Stevie, what kind of a job is this you need crooks?”
— Dan Duryea as Slim Dundee

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Cody Jarrett (James Cagney): White Heat (1949)

White Heat gives us a straightforward story – government agent Hank Fallon (Edmond O’Brien) goes undercover to infiltrate a gang headed by Cody Jarrett (James Cagney. Also along for the ride are Big Ed Somers (Steve Cochran), Cody’s right-hand man (until he stabs him in the back), and Cody’s gorgeously duplicitous girlfriend (Virginia Mayo).

An undeniable psychopath, Cody isn’t your everyday, garden-variety mobster: he suffers from debilitating migraines and an unnatural attachment to his mother (Margaret Wycherly). Ruthless, fearless, and utterly remorseless, Cody ultimately fails to get away with his crimes, but his comeuppance is particularly explosive, if you know what I mean.

Favorite quote: “Did I ask you for any advice? Look Pardo, I’ve been watchin’ you. And up to now you haven’t done anything I can put my finger on. And maybe that’s what bothers me. But I don’t know you. What I don’t know, I don’t trust. To me you’re just a face and a number and let’s keep it that way for now. When I want your help, I’ll ask for it.”
— James Cagney as Cody Jarrett

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Walt Radak (Raymond Burr): Desperate (1947)

This film stars Steve Brodie as Steve Randall, a newlywed truck driver whose wife, Anne (Audrey Long) is expecting the couple’s first child. All is sweetness and light in the Randall household until Steve is contacted by an old school chum, Walt Radak, who offers him a lucrative job hauling freight. When Steve learns that the freight consists of stolen goods, he tries to alert the authorities, but a gun battle results in a dead policeman, the arrest of Walt’s kid brother for the murder, and Steve and Anne on the run from both police and a vindictive Walt Radak.

Walt Radak was a hood with a one-track mind. Once he decided that Steve Randall was responsible for the arrest, conviction, and ultimate execution of his brother, he had Steve in his sights like a deer during hunting season. And he tracked him across the country with vengeful glee. Steve didn’t have a chance.

Favorite quote: “I’m sorry I can’t give you a choice of food, Steve, but it won’t make much difference. You’re not going to live long enough to get any nourishment out of it.”
— Raymond Burr as Walt Radak

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Johnny Rocco (Edward G. Robinson): Key Largo (1948)

A gang of criminals takes over a hotel in Florida’s Key Largo, led by exiled gangster Johnny Rocco, who has plans to conduct a transaction involving counterfeit cash with some of his former crime cronies. Held captive by Rocco’s gang in the midst of a hurricane are the hotel’s feisty, wheelchair-bound owner James Temple (Lionel Barrymore), his daughter-in-law Nora (Lauren Bacall), Frank McCloud (Humphrey Bogart), a war hero who’d served alongside Nora’s late husband and is in town visiting the Temples, and Rocco’s former moll, Gaye Dawn (Claire Trevor), who’s now a rather pitiable alcoholic.

Rocco possesses a multifaceted personality. He’s capable of tossing off a humorous quip, but he’s clearly afraid of the powerful storm raging outside the hotel. He’s mean-spirited, as he demonstrates by forcing Gaye to warble a tune in exchange for a drink, then refusing to keep his part of the bargain. He’s wily, as we see when he rattles off a smooth lie to the local sheriff seeking the killer of his deputy. And he’s overflowing with arrogance and egotism: “Thousands of guys got guns,” he says, “but there’s only one Johnny Rocco!”

Favorite quote: “After living in the USA for more than thirty-five years they called me an undesirable alien. Me. Johnny Rocco. Like I was a dirty Red or something!”
— Edward G. Robinson as Johnny Rocco

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That’s the end of my Top 10 list of Noir’s Bad Boys. Who would you add to this corrupt crew?

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– Karen Burroughs Hannsberry for Classic Movie Hub

You can read all of Karen’s Noir Nook articles here.

Karen Burroughs Hannsberry is the author of the Shadows and Satin blog, which focuses on movies and performers from the film noir and pre-Code eras, and the editor-in-chief of The Dark Pages, a bimonthly newsletter devoted to all things film noir. Karen is also the author of two books on film noir – Femme Noir: The Bad Girls of Film and Bad Boys: The Actors of Film Noir. You can follow Karen on Twitter at @TheDarkPages.
If you’re interested in learning more about Karen’s books, you can read more about them on amazon here:

Posted in Noir Nook, Posts by Karen Burroughs Hannsberry | Tagged Criss Cross, dan duryea, desperate, Edward G. Robinson, james cagney, Key Largo, Kirk Douglas, out of the past, Raymond Burr, White Heat | 1 Comment

Silver Screen Standards: A Woman’s Face (1941)

Posted on May 9, 2023 by Jennifer Garlen

Silver Screen Standards: A Woman’s Face (1941)

Although it’s not as iconic as films like The Women (1939) or Mildred Pierce (1945), I really enjoy the George Cukor murder melodrama A Woman’s Face (1941) because it gives us a different view – quite literally – of star Joan Crawford. When we imagine Crawford today, we usually think of the heavy eyebrows, smear of red lips, and shoulder pads version, an image crystallized by Faye Dunaway’s embodiment of Crawford in Mommie Dearest (1981), but classic film fans already know that Crawford’s long career took her through many incarnations, from flappers and chorus girls to diva of grand dame guignol. In this Hollywood remake of the 1938 Swedish picture starring Ingrid Bergman, Crawford gets to play a truly dynamic character, one whose face is only the most obvious thing about her that changes. In many ways, it’s a perfect Crawford companion piece to Bette Davis’ Now, Voyager (1942), and, in fact, Davis starred in a 1942 radio version of A Woman’s Face with Crawford’s costar Conrad Veidt. If you want to see as many aspects of Joan Crawford as possible in one picture, A Woman’s Face is an excellent choice.

A Womans Face Conrad Veidt, Joan Crawford and Melvyn Douglas — Joan Crawford stars as Anna Holm, a woman caught between the possible lives represented by her criminal partner (Conrad Veidt) and a kind plastic surgeon (Melvyn Douglas)

Crawford plays Anna Holm, a woman whose childhood facial injury has always prevented her from being part of normal society. She turns to crime to survive and punish those who have ostracized her, but her blackmail business eventually leads her to a fateful encounter with plastic surgeon Gustaf Segert (Melvyn Douglas), who commits to repairing her damaged face. After a series of painful operations, Anna has the chance to begin a new life, but her old partner, Torsten Barring (Conrad Veidt), refuses to let her leave the past behind. Those who have known Anna both before and after her transformation reveal the circumstances through which Anna becomes embroiled in the murder trial that forms the frame tale of the story.

Womans Face Melvyn Douglas and Joan Crawford — Dr. Segert tells Anna that he can repair her damaged face with a series of operations

Like Grand Hotel (1932) and The Women, A Woman’s Face features an impressive ensemble cast, but Crawford is absolutely the star. Her performance is supported by two leading men, Melvyn Douglas as the generous but unhappily married surgeon, and Conrad Veidt as the charming but unscrupulous schemer. The two male leads play angel and devil to Crawford’s Anna, one urging a path to righteousness and the other luring her back into the dark. The rest of the cast includes Osa Massen, Reginald Owen, Marjorie Main, Donald Meek, Connie Gilchrist and even George Zucco and Henry Daniell filling small roles as lawyers in the murder trial. Richard Nichols is a tiny scene-stealer as Lars-Erik, which makes it even worse that Torsten, his uncle, wants the child dead. Each of the characters offers a different take on Anna as part of the testimony, while the flashback scenes allow us to see how each character has interacted with her in the past, bringing out anger, longing, grief, hope, and tenderness depending on the circumstances. Each witness brings us a little closer to understanding Anna and her actions, although the film carefully holds some of its secrets until the climactic end (and I won’t spoil them here).

A Woman's Face Joan Crawford mirror — After the operations, Anna pauses to admire her own reflection in a mirror

Facial disfigurement frequently appears as a plot point in movies, often in problematic ways that use a scar or other marks to signify villainy, but A Woman’s Face pushes back against that reading to a certain degree. Anna is scarred because her drunken father accidentally set her room on fire when she was just a child, and she was also orphaned as a result of the incident. In a society where women must have pretty faces or strong protectors to survive, Anna has had neither. She is the victim of a system that failed to protect her, which makes her even more vulnerable to Torsten’s seductive powers. Gustaf, however, sees her as either his Galatea or his Frankenstein’s monster, a creation that he brings to life, which makes him a problematic love interest, too. Although the film argues that Anna’s hardness was always a façade put up to defend her from the world’s cruelty, it still ultimately depicts scarred Anna as a criminal and beautiful Anna as a kind governess, so it’s not nearly as radical a reading of the disfigured protagonist as The Man Who Laughs (1928), which naturally comes to mind because it also stars Conrad Veidt. On the other hand, A Woman’s Face offers a much more nuanced depiction of the theme than Stolen Face (1952), in which Lizabeth Scott’s character is just a terrible person no matter how she looks. It’s also a narrative that centers the experience of the scarred character without being a horror story, which is something of a rarity, especially for a female protagonist. The most iconic example from the horror genre is, of course, Eyes without a Face (1960), which ends in a nihilistic blaze of gory glory that we’re happily spared in A Woman’s Face.

A Woman's Face Joan Crawford oath — Anna takes the stand in her own defense at the murder trial

Joan Crawford starred in A Woman’s Face toward the end of her time at MGM; she would eventually leave the studio for Warner Bros. and her Oscar winning success with Mildred Pierce. She also earned Academy Award nominations for Possessed (1948) and Sudden Fear (1953), but if you want a full tour of the many faces of Joan Crawford, start with silents like The Unknown (1927) and Our Dancing Daughters (1928). In addition to the big hits already mentioned, savor the variety represented by films like Dancing Lady (1933), The Damned Don’t Cry (1950), Johnny Guitar (1954), and, of course, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962).

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— Jennifer Garlen for Classic Movie Hub

Jennifer Garlen pens our monthly Silver Screen Standards column. You can read all of Jennifer’s Silver Screen Standards articles here.

Jennifer is a former college professor with a PhD in English Literature and a lifelong obsession with film. She writes about classic movies at her blog, Virtual Virago, and presents classic film programs for lifetime learning groups and retirement communities. She’s the author of Beyond Casablanca: 100 Classic Movies Worth Watching and its sequel, Beyond Casablanca II: 101 Classic Movies Worth Watching, and she is also the co-editor of two books about the works of Jim Henson.

Posted in Films, Posts by Jennifer Garlen, Silver Screen Standards | Tagged A Woman's Face, conrad veidt, George Cukor, joan crawford, melvyn douglas | Leave a comment

Classic Movie Travels: Arlene Golonka

Posted on May 4, 2023 by Annette Bochenek

Classic Movie Travels: Arlene Golonka

Arline Leanore Golonka was born on January 23, 1936, in Chicago, Illinois, to Elinor Wroblewski Golonka and Frank Golonka. Her father passed away when she was two years old and her mother later married Edward Rejba. Elinor and Edward then had two children named Zorine and Jimmy.

Golonka was of Polish descent, living in a Chicago neighborhood and attending Wicker Park School. A social worker encouraged her to follow her dream of becoming an actress.

Over the years, she worked as a waitress while also pursuing her interest in acting by appearing in summer stock productions as Arlene Golonka. She took singing and acting classes in her pre-teen years.

Eventually, she studied at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre and the Second City, later becoming a member of The Actors Studio. She also performed at the Chicago Playboy Club and in the Hinsdale Summer Theatre’s production of Burlesque alongside Burt Lahr. Her roommate in New York City was Valerie Harper, who would also go on to realize a successful career in entertainment.

Arlene Golonka early — Arlene Golonka as Millie on Mayberry R.F.D.

Following her first major production, The Night Circus, she performed at the Shubert Theater in Connecticut and on Broadway in 1958. Though the play closed after seven performances, her stage career continued with other Broadway productions, including Take Me Along; Come Blow Your Horn; and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. She recorded a comedy album called You Don’t Have to Be Jewish in 1965.

By 1967, Golonka relocated to Los Angeles to pursue a career in television. During this period, she made numerous appearances in small roles on The Flying Nun, Barnaby Jones, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, M*A*S*H, The Andy Griffith Show, Mayberry R.F.D., and many more. She also occasionally provided voices in animated serials, including Yogi’s Treasure Hunt and The New Scooby-Doo Movies. Her career also continued with supporting roles in over thirty films, along with Golonka teaching acting.

Allan Melvin, Jack Dodson and Arlene Golonk in The Andy Griffith Show (1967)

Golonka passed away on May 31, 2021, due to complications from Alzheimer’s disease. She was 85 years old.

In the 1940s and 1950s, Golonka resided at 2053 Evergreen Ave., Chicago, Illinois, which remains today.

Arlene Golonka 2053 Evergreen Ave., Chicago, Illinois home — 2053 Evergreen Ave., Chicago, Illinois home

The Goodman Theatre operates at 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago, Illinois.

Chicago’s Second City is located at 230 W. North Ave., Chicago, Illinois.

The apartment she shared with Valerie Harper stands at 290 Riverside Dr., New York, New York.

Arlene Golonka - apartment she shared with Valerie Harper stands at 290 Riverside Dr., New York City — 290 Riverside Dr., New York City, apartment

The Shubert Theatre is located at 225 W. 44th St., New York, New York.

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–Annette Bochenek for Classic Movie Hub

Annette Bochenek pens our monthly Classic Movie Travels column. You can read all of Annette’s Classic Movie Travel articles here.

Annette Bochenek of Chicago, Illinois, is a PhD student at Dominican University and an independent scholar of Hollywood’s Golden Age. She manages the Hometowns to Hollywood blog, in which she writes about her trips exploring the legacies and hometowns of Golden Age stars. Annette also hosts the “Hometowns to Hollywood” film series throughout the Chicago area. She has been featured on Turner Classic Movies and is the president of TCM Backlot’s Chicago chapter. In addition to writing for Classic Movie Hub, she also writes for Silent Film Quarterly, Nostalgia Digest, and Chicago Art Deco Society Magazine.

Posted in Classic Movie Travels, Posts by Annette Bochenek | Tagged Allan Melvin, Arlene Golonk, Jack Dodson, Mayberry RFD, The Andy Griffith Show | 2 Comments

Western RoundUp: Final Resting Places, Western Filmmakers

Posted on April 25, 2023 by Laura Grieve

Western RoundUp: Final Resting Places,
Western Filmmakers

In this month’s Western RoundUp column we’ll return to the topic of the final resting places of Western filmmakers, visiting the gravesites of 13 actors, actresses, and directors.

We’ll start in the little town of Marysvale, Utah, where widely admired actress Marie Windsor is buried in her hometown. She’s interred along with her husband, former USC basketball star Rodney Hupp; her gravestone includes both her birth name and her stage name.

My husband and I were fortunate to be able to make a stop in Marysvale on a road trip through Utah last year. Marie Windsor was in several Westerns over the course of her career, with one of the best being Hellfire (1949) opposite Bill Elliott.

Marie Windsor resting place — Marie Windsor (1919 – 2000)

Returning to California, here is the gravesite of Fritz Lang, who directed a Western I reviewed here very recently, Rancho Notorious (1952). Lang also directed the Westerns The Return of Frank James (1940) and Western Union (1941). He’s buried at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills.

Fritz Lang resting place — Fritz Lang (1890 – 1976)

Another director buried at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills is George Stevens, director of the classic Shane (1953). Stevens also directed Barbara Stanwyck as Annie Oakley (1935).

George Stevens resting place — George Stevens (1904 – 1975)

The star of Shane, Alan Ladd, is interred in a mausoleum at Forest Lawn Glendale. He’s surrounded by several other stars, including Nat King Cole, Clara Bow, Jeanette MacDonald, and George Burns and Gracie Allen. Ladd’s other Westerns included Whispering Smith (1948), The Big Land (1957), and The Proud Rebel (1958), which I wrote about here in 2020.

Alan Ladd resting place — Alan Ladd (1913 – 1964)

Mona Freeman, who starred opposite Alan Ladd in the Western Branded (1950), is at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills. She also appeared with William Holden and Macdonald Carey in Streets of Laredo (1949); other Westerns included Copper Canyon (1950) and The Lady From Texas (1951). Off the screen Freeman was an artist whose best-known work is the portrait of Mary See which hangs in all See’s Candies shops.

Mona Freeman resting place — Mona Freeman (1926 – 2014)

Macdonald Carey, who appeared in Streets of Laredo and Copper Canyon with Mona Freeman, is at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. I particularly admire his charismatic villain in Copper Canyon. Carey’s long film career included films such as Alfred Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt (1943), but he is ultimately best remembered as the longtime star of the soap opera Days of Our Lives.

Macdonald Carey resting place — Macdonald Carey (1913 – 1994)

’30s “B” Western star Bob Steele, who went on to play bit parts in many later Westerns, is at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills under his birth name, Robert N. Bradbury. He’s interred with the remains of his twin brother Bill and his sister-in-law. The boys’ father, also named Robert Bradbury, was a “B” Western director.

Bob Steele resting place — Bob Steele (birthname Robert N. Bradbury) (1907 – 1989)

Gail Davis, buried at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, starred as TV’s Annie Oakley and was a frequent leading lady in Gene Autry Westerns. In 2004 she was posthumously inducted into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Texas.

Gail Davis resting place — Gail Davis (1925 – 1997)

Also at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills is Lynne Roberts, who appeared in Westerns opposite numerous stars, including Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Tim Holt, and George Montgomery, to name just a few. In some of her early films she was billed as Mary Hart.

Lynne Roberts resting place — Lynne Roberts (1922 – 1978)

“B” Western actor-singer Eddie Dean is at Valley Oaks Memorial Park in Westlake Village, California. Dean was born Edgar Dean Glosup, hence the unfamiliar name across the top of the gravestone. He appeared in films for about a decade, beginning in the late ’30s.

Eddie Dean resting place — Eddie Dean (1907 – 1999)

Another “B” Western actor-singer, Jimmy Wakely, is at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills. In addition to many “B” Westerns, he sang in the very good Arrow in the Dust (1954) with Sterling Hayden and Coleen Gray. Besides Wakely’s work in Westerns, his duet of “Silver Bells” with Margaret Whiting is still heard often at Christmastime.

Jimmy Wakely resting place — Jimmy Wakely (1914 – 1982)

Actress-Singer Julie London is perhaps best remembered today for her role on TV’s Emergency!, but she starred in a number of Westerns, including Saddle the Wind (1958) with Robert Taylor, Man of the West (1958) with Gary Cooper, and The Wonderful Country (1959) with Robert Mitchum. She’s at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills along with her multitalented husband — and Emergency! costar — Bobby Troup.

Julie London resting place — Julie London (1926 – 2000)

One of my favorite actors, Tyrone Power, starred in a few Westerns, including Jesse James (1939) and Rawhide (1951). He was said to be a popular figure when filming Westerns in Lone Pine, California, where he was friendly to all and known to occasionally get behind a bar and pour out drinks. He passed on far too young and has this impressive burial site at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Tyrone Power resting place — Tyrone Power (1914 – 1958)

For additional photos of the burial sites of Western actors, please visit my columns from May 2019, February 2022, November 2, 2022, and November 29, 2022.

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– Laura Grieve for Classic Movie Hub

Laura can be found at her blog, Laura’s Miscellaneous Musings, where she’s been writing about movies since 2005, and on Twitter at @LaurasMiscMovie. A lifelong film fan, Laura loves the classics including Disney, Film Noir, Musicals, and Westerns. She regularly covers Southern California classic film festivals. Laura will scribe on all things western at the ‘Western RoundUp’ for CMH.

Posted in Posts by Laura Grieve, Western RoundUp | Tagged Alan Ladd, Bob Steele, Eddie Dean, Fritz Lang, Gail Davis, george stevens, Jimmy Wakely, Julie London, Lynne Roberts, macdonald carey, Marie Windsor, mona freeman, Tyrone Power | 6 Comments

Silents are Golden: What Were the Top Box Office Hits Of 1923?

Posted on April 20, 2023 by Lea Stans

Silents are Golden: What Were the Top Box Office Hits Of 1923?

Recently I attended the Kansas Silent Film Festival (and yes, that is my plug for that delightful–and free–event!) where the theme was the silent films of 1923. It got me pondering: what were the highest-grossing films from exactly one century ago? I could make an educated guess about the top two or three, but could I put together a top ten list?

It’s a trickier task than you might think. Silent film box office statistics are notoriously difficult to figure out in detail since the numerous movie theaters of the time didn’t have to report detailed bookkeeping numbers. Theaters normally paid a flat fee to rent a film (often around 10 cents per foot) and then played it as many times as they liked. Films tended to be distributed on a state’s rights basis, meaning there were various companies that simply doled out completed films to different regions. Plus, prestigious, big-budget films were sometimes given a roadshow presentation, where they had a limited release in the fancier theaters (with higher ticket prices to match) before being distributed more widely. Most box office statistics from the 1910s and 1920s depend a lot on educated guesswork–and the admission, “Well, we can’t know for sure.”

So let’s compare different figures and see if we can come up with a list that’s maybe pretty close to being on the right track. Just don’t take the figures as gospel–and did I mention that sometimes “worldwide grosses” get lumped in with “U.S. and Canadian grosses”?

10. Our Hospitality – $540,000

Buster Keaton and Natalie Talmadge in Our Hospitality (1923) — Buster Keaton and Natalie Talmadge in *Our Hospitality* (1923)

Buster Keaton’s second feature-length comedy and first period piece was a popular and critical hit. It was set in the 1830s American South and based on the story of the Hatfields and McCoys. Its success proved that Keaton was not only an exceptional comedian, but an exceptional filmmaker too.

9. Main Street – $550,000

Monte Blue, Alan Hale, Florence Vidor, and Louise Fazenda in Main Street (1923) — Monte Blue, Alan Hale, Florence Vidor, and Louise Fazenda in *Main Street* (1923)

This drama was based on the famous, somewhat humorless novel by Sinclair Lewis, about a librarian who moves with her husband to the small, humble town where he grew up. It starred Florence Vidor and Monte Blue and was also the first film released by Warner Bros. after it was incorporated in April of 1923. It’s now considered a lost film.

8. A Woman of Paris – $630,000

Carl Miller and Edna Purviance in A Woman of Paris (1923) — Carl Miller and Edna Purviance in *A Woman of Paris* (1923)

This was an oddity of sorts in the Charlie Chaplin directorial canon, being a serious drama where he doesn’t even appear (except for a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo). It’s beautifully filmed and did respectably well, but it’s not hard to suspect that many people saw it out of curiosity.

7. The White Sister – $660,000

Lillian Gish in The White Sister (1923) — Lillian Gish in *The White Sister* (1923)

Starring the lovely Lillian Gish and the dashing Ronald Colman, this romantic film was made on location in Rome and Naples. Ms. Gish had a say in much of its planning and production. She was also very drawn to accurately recreating the Catholic ceremony of nuns “taking the veil,” which had never been shown on screen before. The Catholic Church served as an advisor, ensuring these scenes would be done reverently.

6. Scaramouche – $1 million

Alice Terry and Ramon Novarro in Scaramouche (1923) — Alice Terry and Ramon Novarro in *Scaramouche* (1923)

Rex Ingram’s popular swashbuckler was reportedly an expensive, difficult production that had frequent delays. Fortunately its popularity helped make up for it, no doubt partly due to its fine cast, including Alice Terry, Lewis Stone and the handsome Hispanic actor, Ramon Novarro.

5. Safety Last! – $1.4 million

Harold Lloyd in Safety Last! (1923) — Harold Lloyd in *Safety Last!* (1923)

This nailbiter of a comedy was a big hit for Harold Lloyd, who famously performed much of the stunt work himself (the main set for the climbing scene was actually on a building’s roof, although close enough to the edge to give the illusion of hanging in space). Still a classic today, everyone’s seen that famous still of the bespectacled Harold dangling from a huge clock, if anything.

4. Little Old New York – $2.4 million

Elizabeth Murray, Harry Watson and Marion Davies in Little Old New York (1923) — Elizabeth Murray, Harry Watson and Marion Davies in *Little Old New York* (1923)

There’s differing opinions on where exactly this Marion Davies feature should be placed on this list, but it was definitely a high grosser–enough for Hollywood to declare the talented Ms. Davies the #1 female star of 1923. Set in 1800s New York City, it revolved around Marion’s character disguising herself as a boy in order to claim a rightful inheritance for her family.

3. The Hunchback of Notre Dame – $3.5 million

Lon Chaney in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) — Lon Chaney in *The Hunchback of Notre Dame* (1923)

Lon Chaney was a shoo-in for the role of Quasimodo, which involved a sizable amount of the grotesque makeup, prosthetics, and difficult body language that he excelled at. The elaborate sets recreating the exterior of Notre Dame and its surrounding medieval streets took six months to build. Happily the film was a huge success, and Chaney’s performance is considered legendary even today.

2. The Covered Wagon – $4 million

The Covered Wagon (1923) — *The Covered Wagon* (1923)

A massive hit at the time, this is regarded as the first great Western epic. It followed the journey of a wagon train during the great westward expansion of the 19th century, with all its attendant adventures and hardships. Interestingly, the many covered wagons used in the filming weren’t replicas, but actual heirlooms owned by the families of former pioneers.

1. The Ten Commandments – $4.2 million

Theodore Roberts in *The Ten Commandments* (1923)

And the number one biggest blockbuster of 1923 is… Cecil B. DeMille’s first version of The Ten Commandments. Most people today are very familiar with the 1956 Charlton Heston version, and know little about the original silent – if they’re aware it exists at all. Differing in many ways from the Heston version, much of the Exodus story is contained in a long “prologue,” with a modern story being the focus of the second half of the film. The Exodus scenes were filmed in the sand dunes of Santa Barbara county where DeMille built the giant set of the gates of Rameses. Rumor had it that he had the sets destroyed and buried after filming, to keep rivals from using it for other films. Decades later, remains of the sets were indeed discovered in the sand.

I hope you enjoyed this breakdown of some of the blockbusters of 1923! It may be an educated guess – except for the undeniable popularity of the top three – but it’s sure interesting to see what made audiences flock to the theaters a full century ago.

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–Lea Stans for Classic Movie Hub

You can read all of Lea’s Silents are Golden articles here.

Lea Stans is a born-and-raised Minnesotan with a degree in English and an obsessive interest in the silent film era (which she largely blames on Buster Keaton). In addition to blogging about her passion at her site Silent-ology, she is a columnist for the Silent Film Quarterly and has also written for The Keaton Chronicle.

Posted in Posts by Lea Stans, Silents are Golden | Tagged 1923, A Woman of Paris, Alan Hale, Alice Terry, Buster Keaton, Carl Miller, cecil b. demille, charlie chaplin, edna purviance, Elizabeth Murray, Florence Vidor, Harold lloyd, Harry Watson, lewis stone, Lillian Gish, Little Old New York, Lon Chaney, Louise Fazenda, Main Street, marion davies, Monte Blue, Natalie Talmadge, Our Hospitality, Ramon Novarro, Rex Ingram, ronald colman, Safety Last, Scaramouche, silent film, silent films, silent movies, silents are golden, The Covered Wagon, the hunchback of notre dame, The Ten Commandments, The White Sister, Theodore Roberts | 1 Comment

Noir Nook: Top 10 Favorite Bad Boys – Part 1

Posted on April 13, 2023 by Karen Burroughs Hannsberry

Noir Nook: Top 10 Favorite Bad Boys – Part 1

The days are getting longer, the flowers are starting to bud… and it’s a great time for a list! (No, there’s no real connection, but still – what a great time for a list, am I right?)

This month’s Noir Nook takes a look at some of my favorite bad boys. The fatal femmes are no strangers to the spotlight, so I thought it was time to give the nods to the fatal fellas (if you will). Let me know if some of the dudes you love to hate made the list!

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Tommy Udo (Richard Widmark): Kiss of Death (1947)

Richard Widmark and Mildred Dunnock in Kiss of Death (1947) — Richard Widmark and Mildred Dunnock in *Kiss of Death* (1947)

When small-time thief Nick Bianco (Victor Mature) is nabbed after a botched robbery, he refuses to drop a dime on his buddies and goes to prison, leaving his wife and two small girls behind. But he doesn’t hesitate to rate on his pals after his wife commits suicide and his daughters wind up in an orphanage. Bianco is later released on the condition that he continue to work with authorities as a “stool pigeon” – but after remarrying and settling down with his new family, he finds that they’re in jeopardy when they’re targeted by one of guys Bianco fingered: Tommy Udo.

Udo is an undeniable psychopath; this is the guy who famously ties an invalid to her wheelchair and sends her careening down a flight of stairs, delivering his trademark maniacal giggle as he prepares to end her life. There’s not a single scene featuring this character that doesn’t make you more than a little uncomfortable – and grateful that you’re not the one sitting across from him.

Favorite quote: “You know what I do to squealers? I let ‘em have it in the belly. So they can roll around for a long time, thinkin’ it over.”
– Richard Widmark as Tommy Udo

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Mr. Brown (Richard Conte): The Big Combo (1955)

Richard Conte and Cornel Wilde in The Big Combo (1955) — Richard Conte and Cornel Wilde in *The Big Combo* (1955)

Police detective Leonard Diamond (Cornel Wilde) is obsessed with nabbing local kingpin, Mr. Brown, who he suspects of murder. Diamond is not only obsessed with bringing Brown to justice, but he also has eyes for Brown’s girlfriend, Susan Lowell (Wilde’s then-wife Jean Wallace). Brown seems untouchable, but as the authorities close in, he proves that nobody is expendable in his resolve to remain free.

Brown is cooler than the other side of the pillow – and heartless as a stone. He treats his right-hand man (Brian Donlevy) with contempt and his henchmen (Earl Holliman and Lee Van Cleef) as disposable tools. His only soft spot seems to be Susan, but don’t let this fool you. For Mr. Brown, Susan is merely a trophy – something he owns and is determined to keep.

Favorite quote: “Joe, tell the man I’m gonna break him so fast, he won’t have time to change his pants. Tell him the next time I see him, he’ll be in the lobby of the hotel, crying like a baby and asking for a ten dollar loan. Tell him that. And tell him I don’t break my word.”
– Richard Conte as Mr. Brown

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Sam Wild (Lawrence Tierney): Born to Kill (1947)

Lawrence Tierney in Born to Kill (1947) — Lawrence Tierney in *Born to Kill* (1947)

The aptly named Sam Wild commits a double murder in Reno after finding his sometime girlfriend (Isabel Jewell) on a date with another fella, then hightails it to San Francisco (on the advice of his wise and loyal BFF, played by Elisha Cook, Jr.). On the way, he meets and falls for newly divorced Helen Trent (Claire Trevor). What he doesn’t know is that Helen discovered the bodies. And what he’s soon to find out is that Helen doesn’t care that he’s the murderer. But she will.

This Sam Wild is one scary, but fascinating, dude. He’s the kind of guy who doesn’t shy away from homicide, but he’s also an ambitious social climber who marries Helen’s wealthy foster sister (Audrey Long), then insists on taking over the family newspaper business. This is a guy who wants to BE somebody.

Favorite quote: “We’ll not only be rolling in dough, but marrying into this crowd’ll fix it so as I can… spit in anybody’s eye.”
– Lawrence Tierney as Sam Wild

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Lester Blaine (Jack Palance): Sudden Fear (1952)

Joan Crawford and Jack Palance in Sudden Fear (1952) — Joan Crawford and Jack Palance in *Sudden Fear* (1952)

Following an unusual meet-cute (that’s really not so cute), and a whirlwind romance, playwright and heiress Myra Hudson (Joan Crawford) marries actor Lester Blaine and settles down with her new hubby for a life filled with love and luxury. She didn’t reckon on a little monkey wrench in the form of Lester’s former lover, Irene Neves (Gloria Grahame). And when Lester and Irene get their heads together, it spells murder for lovestruck Myra.

I find Blaine to be a particularly unlikable character, who’s as transparent as a pane of glass. His charm and seeming devotion to Myra can’t be denied, but I can’t say I was exactly shocked to learn that his wife’s primary allure was her bank account. Nor was I surprised when he proved that he’d do anything (and I mean ANYTHING) to keep his hands on it.

Favorite quote: “I’ve got to think fast. Got to think of a nice, foolproof little accident.”
– Jack Palance as Lester Blaine

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Emmet Myers (William Talman): The Hitchhiker (1953)

Frank Lovejoy, William Talman and Edmund O'Brien in The Hitchhiker (1953) — Frank Lovejoy, William Talman and Edmund O’Brien in *The Hitchhiker* (1953)

Two buddies, Roy Collins and Gilbert Bowen (Edmund O’Brien and Frank Lovejoy), off on a weekend fishing trip, get more than they bargain for when they pick up a hitchhiker along the side of the road. It turns out that their passenger is one Emmet Myers, who has recently escaped from prison, is in the midst of a killing spree, and has no qualms about adding Collins and Bowen to his roster.

Myers is the kind of killer who leaves you with a sense of utter defeat; he’s equipped with a frightening countenance and an attitude which makes it clear that your life means less to him than a stray pebble on the highway. But worst of all, he has a peculiar affliction that allows him to literally sleep with one eye open. What chance do you have?

Favorite quote: “Nobody ever gave me anything. So I don’t owe nobody. My folks were tough. When I was born, they took one look at this puss of mine and told me to get lost. Well, I didn’t need ‘em. I didn’t need any of ‘em. Got what I wanted my own way.”
– William Talman as Emmet Myers

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Next month’s Noir Nook will feature the second half of my Top 10 Bad Boys. Hope you’ll join me!

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– Karen Burroughs Hannsberry for Classic Movie Hub

You can read all of Karen’s Noir Nook articles here.

Posted in Noir Nook, Posts by Karen Burroughs Hannsberry | Tagged Born to Kill, brian donlevy, claire trevor, Cornel Wilde, earl holliman, Edmond O'Brien, Elisha Cook Jr, film noir, frank lovejoy, gloria grahame, Isabel Jewell, Jack palance, joan crawford, kiss of death, lawrence tierney, Lee Van Cleef, Noir, Noir Nook, richard conte, richard widmark, Sudden Fear, the big combo, The Hitch-Hiker, victor mature, William Talman | Leave a comment

Western RoundUp: Tombstone (1993)

Posted on April 11, 2023 by Laura Grieve

Western RoundUp: Tombstone (1993)

Was the 1881 gunfight at the OK Corral the most-filmed true incident in Western film history?

I’ve never tried counting how many movies the gunfight appears in, but it’s a significant number. I’ve previously written here about four different films in which the gunfight (or Wyatt Earp) features; in a 2018 column I covered Frontier Marshal (1939), Tombstone: The Town Too Tough to Die (1942), and Wichita (1955), and I also wrote a 2021 review of Hour of the Gun (1967).

This month we’ll return to the subject of the Earps and the Clantons with a look at Tombstone (1993) starring Kurt Russell as the famed lawman Wyatt Earp.

Wyatt’s brothers, Virgil and Morgan, are played by Sam Elliott and Bill Paxton, with Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday.

This was my first viewing of Tombstone, which I’d frankly avoided in part due to my concern about the level of violence, given the R rating. And truth to tell, based on the advice of those who know my tastes, I didn’t watch the first few opening minutes of mayhem; instead I began the film at the point when Wyatt Earp arrives in Tombstone, Arizona. I’m glad my curiosity finally got the better of me, as I enjoyed the movie.

Tombstone covers much of the same ground as other films on Wyatt Earp and his brothers, including not only the famous gunfight but key events which follow. Part of what’s interesting about the Earp movies is what the individual films choose to include and their varied styles; each film has unique aspects while covering familiar ground.

Tombstone (1993) Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday and Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp — Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday and Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp

The placement of the OK Corral gunfight in various narratives is especially interesting. In John Ford‘s My Darling Clementine (1946), the gun battle provides the climax of the movie, while Hour of the Gun takes a completely different approach: It’s how the movie begins!

In Tombstone the movie splits the difference and places the gunfight roughly halfway through the film’s 130-minute running time.

I found Tombstone a strong and memorable film which has numerous classic moments. I would not call the film itself a classic, for reasons I’ll go into below, but it’s a well-made film with much to recommend it.

Tombstone begins with the Earp brothers and their wives reuniting in Tombstone. Wyatt has retired from being a lawman, and the brothers intend to live quieter lives. But despite Wyatt’s protestations that he’s done with the law, he can’t resist the challenge of helping a saloon owner eject an unwanted faro dealer from his business.

Dana Delany as Josephine Marcus in Tombstone (1993) — Dana Delany as Josephine Marcus in *Tombstone* (1993)

The Earps make money in Tombstone, and in their free time they also enjoy watching a theatrical troupe whose players include Josephine Marcus (Dana Delany) and Fabian (Billy Zane). However, Tombstone is a wild town, and the murder of the town marshal (Harry Carey Jr.) by Curly Bill Brocius (Powers Boothe) is but one reminder.

Eventually Virgil feels guilty about ignoring the plight of the townspeople at the hands of the Cowboys, a violent gang which includes the Clanton family; he accepts a job as marshal, which ultimately leads all three brothers and Wyatt’s good friend Doc Holliday to the gunfight.

As depicted in some of the other films on Earp lore which continue past the OK Corral, there is later retribution by the Cowboys against Wyatt’s brothers, followed by Wyatt and Doc hunting down the remaining members of the gang.

One of the things I liked best about Tombstone is the way it pulls together different bits and pieces of lore from past films; it’s natural that there’s repetition of story elements, but some of the moments almost seem like tributes to films which have gone before.

Tombstone (1993) Kurt Russell, Paula Malcomson, Dana Wheeler-Nicholson, Lisa Collins, Sam Elliott And Bill Paxton — Kurt Russell, Paula Malcomson, Dana Wheeler-Nicholson, Lisa Collins, Sam Elliott, and Bill Paxton

In particular, there’s a dancing theme with Wyatt and Josephine which of course calls to mind Henry Fonda and Cathy Downs‘ dance in My Darling Clementine; the Shakespearean actor and even one of the Earps sitting with his boots up on a fence also conjure up memories of the Ford classic.

The depiction of the point-blank shootout made me think of Tombstone: The Town Too Tough to Die, while the dead men in glassed-in caskets called to mind a scene Samuel Fuller‘s Earp-inspired Forty Guns (1957), which I wrote about here last year. Wyatt’s visits to the ill Doc at the sanitarium near movie’s end were strongly reminiscent of Hour of the Gun.

The film’s atmosphere is also greatly aided by its use of some of the great “faces” of Westerns past, including the previously mentioned Carey. Names like Pedro Armendariz Jr., Chris Mitchum, Don Collier, Buck Taylor, and Gary Clarke are threaded throughout the film in tiny roles, with the film itself narrated by Robert Mitchum.

Tombstone (1993) Charlton Heston as Henry Hooker — Charlton Heston as Henry Hooker

Even Charlton Heston randomly shows up in a couple of scenes, though while he’s great, his appearance is a bit inexplicable. Heston’s memoir In the Arena, published shortly after Tombstone‘s release, offers no insight. I suspect there’s a story there worthy of future research having to do with the film changing directors while in production.

Kilmer rightly receives acclaim for his off-kilter performance as Doc Holliday; indeed, the fateful moment where he winks his eye at the OK Corral is perhaps the movie’s greatest moment, as Wyatt sees the resulting change in expression of their opponents and realizes what’s about to go down. It’s a real “Whoaaaa!” moment which makes the viewer sit up and take notice.

Russell is excellent playing a conflicted Wyatt, who warns his brothers killing someone won’t feel like they expect. And as a Sam Elliott fan from way back, I also loved him in a fairly large role as Virgil, though sadly a bit of the light goes out of the movie when he gets on the train for California about two-thirds of the way into the film.

Tombstone (1993) Val Kilmer, Kurt Russell, Bill Paxton and Sam Elliot — Val Kilmer, Kurt Russell, Bill Paxton, and Sam Elliott

And that’s really part of the movie’s overall problem, as the strong narrative structure falls apart a little in the last third or so of the film. At that juncture, Wyatt’s brothers are dead or gone, and, like Hour of the Gun, Wyatt and Doc spend the rest of the film hunting down the villains, periodically interrupted by moving scenes with the dying Doc.

Frankly it gets a bit tedious watching men riding around having gun battles, and the movie is a good ten minutes too long, punctuated with the occasional moments of brilliance, such as “Thanks for always being there, Doc.”

The film is quite modern in its “elliptical” storytelling, where we join the film mid-story and not everything is spelled out. Though it’s the current style, it’s also a bit problematic, as we’re left to ponder many questions for ourselves, such as why the brothers, as would-be settlers, don’t have a child among them, and there’s also a curious comment about where they “found” their wives.

Indeed, the brothers seem “betwixt and between” two worlds, often representing the law yet working in a rowdy gambling house; they’re married yet not precisely “family” men, and their wives are of questionable backgrounds.

Tombstone (1993) Dana Wheeler-Nicholson, Kurt Russell, Paula Malcomson, Sam Elliot, Lisa Collins and Bill Paxton — Dana Wheeler-Nicholson, Kurt Russell, Paula Malcomson, Sam Elliott, Lisa Collins, and Bill Paxton

We also wonder about the disappearance of Doc’s girlfriend Kate (Joanna Pacula), and Wyatt’s abandonment of his laudanum-addicted wife Mattie (Dana Wheeler-Nicholson) also receives short shrift. He puts Mattie on the train to California with Virgil, Allie (Paula Malcomson), and Louisa (Lisa Collins), and that’s the end of that.

An end card mentions Mattie’s fate, though it doesn’t clarify exactly when it happens in conjunction to Wyatt beginning his relationship with Josephine.

Let’s just say I spent quite a while on Google after movie’s end trying to fill in the blanks. Again, that’s both a blessing and a curse, as I love when a film causes me to delve deeper into history, but there was an awful lot of time focused on men riding around shooting guns that could have instead been better spent on more character development.

That said, it was fascinating to learn of some unexpected things in the film which were actual history, rather than screenwriter Kevin Jarre’s creation, including the wounded Virgil telling his wife Allie not to worry, that he still had a good arm to hold her.

Tombstone (1993) Val Kilmer, Sam Elliot, Kurt Russell and Bill Paxton — Val Kilmer, Sam Elliott, Kurt Russell, and Bill Paxton

The film was directed by George P. Cosmatos, with writer Jarre doing uncredited direction of Heston’s scenes. The movie was filmed by William A. Fraker and scored by Bruce Broughton (Silverado).

The excellent cast also includes Billy Bob Thornton, Jason Priestley, John Corbett, Jon Tenney, Michael Biehn, Thomas Haden Church, Stephen Lang, and Frank Stallone.

The year after Tombstone was released, Kevin Costner starred in the title role in Wyatt Earp (1994), which I plan to review here at a future date along with Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957).

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– Laura Grieve for Classic Movie Hub

Posted in Posts by Laura Grieve, Western RoundUp | Tagged Bill Paxton, cathy downs, charlton heston, Forty Guns, Frontier Marshal, Gunfight at the OK Corral, harry carey jr., Henry Fonda, Hour of the Gun, john ford, Kurt Russell, my darling clementine, robert mitchum, Sam Elliott, samuel fuller, Tombstone (1993), Tombstone: The Town Too Tough to Die, Val Kilmer, Wichita, Wyatt Earp | 10 Comments

Silver Screen Standards: Ruby Keeler in 42nd Street (1933)

Posted on April 11, 2023 by Jennifer Garlen

Silver Screen Standards: Ruby Keeler in 42^nd Street (1933)

Every time I watch 42^nd Street (1933) I fall in love with Ruby Keeler all over again. Just like Peggy Sawyer, the character she plays in the movie, Keeler was a bright newcomer getting her big break; although she had been dancing on stage since she was barely a teenager, she was a new face in Hollywood, just getting started in films after marrying the much older Al Jolson. In 42^nd Street, she appears in a veritable mob of Hollywood stars, but she still manages to shine brightly enough to attract our attention, even with roguish charmers like Ginger Rogers and Una Merkel hamming it up. She might not be the greatest singer or even the most talented tap dancer, as she herself admitted, but Ruby Keeler is the sweetheart soul of 42^nd Street, the youngster destined to be a star.

42nd Street (1933) Ruby Keeler — Peggy makes her debut in Pretty Lady not as an anonymous chorus girl but as the leading lady of the show.

Keeler’s character, Peggy, strikes it lucky when she arrives at the casting call for Pretty Lady and makes some important new friends. First, she meets juvenile star Billy Lawler (Dick Powell), who takes a shine to her right away. Experienced chorus girls Ann (Ginger Rogers) and Lorraine (Una Merkel) help Peggy make it through the first cuts, and she eventually lands a spot in the chorus, where she rehearses to exhaustion for obsessive director Julian Marsh (Warner Baxter). Peggy also becomes an accidental participant in the romantic difficulties of vaudeville performer Pat Denning (George Brent), whose former partner and girlfriend Dorothy Brock (Bebe Daniels) has the starring role in Marsh’s show thanks to her current wealthy benefactor (Guy Kibbee). When a drunken Dorothy becomes jealous of Peggy’s friendship with Pat, their confrontation has dramatic consequences for both of them, which culminates in Marsh’s iconic speech, “You’re going out a youngster, but you’ve got to come back a star!”

42nd Street (1933) legs — Busby Berkeley’s choreography makes the most of eye-popping optics and prurient imagery as only a pre-Code musical can.

Along with costar Dick Powell, Keeler represents the plucky but innocent aspect of Depression Era America, a necessary reminder to the downtrodden not to lose hope in spite of widespread suffering. They might seem a bit too saccharine for some modern viewers, but their sweetness is an important part of the mix that makes up the whole of the early 30s Hollywood musical. As a Pre-Code picture, 42^nd Street gets away with plenty of innuendo and exposed female flesh, but Peggy and Billy balance that element with a friendship that grows into chaste romance. Ironically, it’s Billy who is caught in his underwear at their first meeting, a nice counterpoint to the scores of scantily clad chorus girls who appear throughout the picture. Peggy has sexually charged encounters with other men, but neither of them amounts to much. Pat Denning seems drawn to her in spite of his relationship with Dorothy, and Julian Marsh kisses her in order to inspire her to perform a scene properly (also perhaps to mark the character as heterosexual because he was originally depicted as gay in Bradford Ropes’ 1932 novel). With her slim, clean figure and doe-eyed face, Keeler is the quintessential ingénue, but the more experienced characters support and protect her rather than tear her apart. Even Dorothy, the star whose place Peggy takes, shows up to encourage her on opening night. It might seem strange, but it has the same value as the kindness inevitably shown to a Shirley Temple heroine; in a ragged world of poverty and strife, people want to see something untarnished and pure survive. Keeler is so appealing that we understand the other characters’ reaction to her; she radiates a particular kind of star power, a soft but unadulterated light.

42nd Street (1933) Ruby Keeler, George Brent — Despite the romantic mood, the relationship between Peggy and Pat Denning (George Brent) turns out to be mere friendship.

Ruby Keeler’s career depended on roles that made the most of that luminous quality, which limited her options, and after her divorce from Al Jolson in 1939 she made very few appearances in films. In the wake of the financial success of 42^nd Street, however, there was a brief wave of great Ruby Keeler musicals: Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933), Footlight Parade (1933), and Dames (1934). All of them costar Dick Powell, with whom Keeler would make seven pictures for Warner Bros. Other members of the cast also return for some of the later productions, including Ginger Rogers, Guy Kibbee, and Ned Sparks, although Footlight Parade is particularly notable for adding James Cagney in a leading role and reuniting Keeler with 42^nd Street director Lloyd Bacon. Each of them offers a similar mix of showbiz life, musical numbers, comedy, and romance. The later Gold Diggers movies, Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935) and Gold Diggers of 1937 (1937), repeat the same formula with Dick Powell continuing to star but Keeler no longer appearing. She made only one movie with Al Jolson, Go into Your Dance (1935), but her other films with Powell include Flirtation Walk (1934), Shipmates Forever (1935), and Colleen (1936). After Sweetheart of the Campus in 1941, Keeler disappeared from the movies; she remarried in 1941 and settled down to raise four children with her second husband, John Homer Lowe, in addition to the son she had adopted while married to Jolson. Her marriage to Jolson ended so badly that Keeler refused to let her name be used in the 1946 biopic, The Jolson Story, which replaces her with a fictionalized character named Julie Benson (played by Evelyn Keyes).

42nd Street (1933) Ruby Keeler, Una Merkel and Ginger Rogers — Peggy (Ruby Keeler) gets an assist from chorus girls Lorraine (Una Merkel) and Ann (Ginger Rogers).

Keeler’s filmography might lack the breadth and depth of Hollywood legends like Bette Davis or Katharine Hepburn, and her early costar Ginger Rogers had a much longer and more varied career, but there’s something about her that always gets to me. Her best musicals from the early 30s are a sure-fire tonic for whatever ails me, and 42^nd Street is the movie that first shared her sweetness and light with the world. She really did come back from that outing a star, and she still shines brightly whenever I make a return trip to the bawdy, gaudy backstage world of 42^nd Street.

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— Jennifer Garlen for Classic Movie Hub

Jennifer Garlen pens our monthly Silver Screen Standards column. You can read all of Jennifer’s Silver Screen Standards articles here.

Posted in Posts by Jennifer Garlen, Silver Screen Standards | Tagged 42nd street, al jolson, bebe daniels, bette davis, Colleen, dames, Dick Powell, Evelyn Keyes, Flirtation Walk, footlight parade, George Brent, Ginger Rogers, go into your dance, gold diggers of 1933, Gold Diggers of 1935, Gold Diggers of 1937, Guy Kibbee, james cagney, katharine hepburn, lloyd bacon, Ned Sparks, Ruby Keeler, Shipmates Forever, shirley temple, Sweetheart of the Campus, The Jolson Story, Una Merkel, Warner Baxter | 2 Comments

Classic Conversations: Eddie Muller and Dave Karger Preview the 2023 TCM Classic Film Festival

Posted on April 11, 2023 by Danny Miller

As a huge classic movie fan, I find myself counting the days until the TCM Classic Film Festival that takes place in Hollywood every spring — for us fans it’s like the movie version of Woodstock. I’ve attended every festival since it began in 2010, and have gotten the chance to hear from so many of the greats, including people like Angela Lansbury Kirk Douglas, Jane Powell, Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Maureen O’Hara, Debbie Reynolds, Liza Minnelli, Tony Curtis, Pam Grier, Faye Dunaway, Kim Novak, Mel Brooks, Barbara Rush, Luise Rainer, Dustin Hoffman, Sophia Loren, Mickey Rooney, Nancy Kwan, Betty Garrett, Esther Williams, Warren Beatty, Tippi Hedren, Burt Reynolds, Leslie Caron and so many others including directors Stanley Donen, Martin Scorsese, and William Friedkin. That list is just off the top of my head, I’m sure I’m leaving out dozens of my favorites who have attended the festival, many of them no longer with us. Fans come from all over the world to attend this spectacular event which this year begins on Thursday, April 13^th, with the world premiere restoration of Howard Hawks’ 1959 film Rio Bravo. One of the film’s stars, Angie Dickinson, will be in attendance at the gala opening at the world-famous Chinese Theater on Hollywood Boulevard along with Steven Spielberg and Paul Thomas Anderson who will be talking about the important work of the Film Foundation that saves so many of these classic movies.

There will be over 80 films and presentations at this year’s festival which lasts until Sunday, many of them running concurrently at several different theaters in Hollywood so festivalgoers are forced to make many difficult choices over the course of the four days. In preparation for Thursday’s opening, I had a great time talking to two of my favorite TCM hosts this week, the “Czar of Noir,” Eddie Muller, and Dave Karger, about what they’re most looking forward to.

Danny Miller: It’s kind of ridiculous how much I look forward to the festival all year long. I’m part of a Facebook group related to the fest and we talk about it for months beforehand, as soon as the first little bits of info are released. As longtime TCM hosts, do you get a say in the program? Do you share your wish lists with Charlie Tabesh and the other people planning the festival?

Eddie Muller: Putting this festival together is very tricky because you have to take so many different factors into account. Producing my own Noir City festival around the country, I know how difficult it is to balance everything. But yes, I make suggestions to Charlie all year long and then we see if they fit the theme or need to be saved for later. Over the years, Charlie has been very accommodating to my suggestions!

Dave Karger: Charlie and the people on the programming team are the real geniuses of the festival. My favorite part comes after the lineup is settled. They invite us to let them know who we would love to interview and which films we want to introduce. It’s so fun to see the schedule take shape and figure out who I’m going to talk to — and I have some really exciting people that I get to interview this year!

Who’s on your docket?

Well, you know I’m a big musical guy, I absolutely love musicals, so you can imagine how thrilled I am that I’m going to be interviewing Ann-Margret on Saturday at the Bye Bye Birdie screening.

Ooh, lucky! But don’t remind me of the nightmare choice we all have to make during that time slot because it’s at the same time as Crossing Delancey, which I also love, being introduced by Amy Irving and Peter Riegert.

Oh, I know, these choices are so difficult! I’m also going to talk to Shirley Jones after The Music Man.

Wow, classic movie musical royalty!

And there’s going to be a little bit of a surprise during that interview, but I can’t tell you what it is.

Oh my — I’m imagining Ron Howard coming out and singing “The Wells Fargo Wagon” with his big sister, Shirley Jones?

Haha, I can neither confirm nor deny! Also, I’m really excited that I get to interview Frankie Avalon before the poolside 60^th anniversary screening of Beach Party on Friday night. As someone who was five years old when Grease came out, I am beyond thrilled, and I feel like Didi Conn about to talk to Teen Angel during “Beauty School Dropout.” It kind of blows my mind, I’m going to try very hard not to dork out with Frankie!

What films are you looking forward to introducing, Eddie?

Well, of course I’m introducing a couple of great noir films such as The Killers and Sorry, Wrong Number, and I love those movies, but I also love getting out of my usual niche at the festival, it’s such a fun opportunity to do that. I’m very excited about introducing a 70mm print of Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch and a restored 75^th anniversary version of Powell & Pressburger’s gorgeous The Red Shoes.

Oh, fun. I look forward to having the spectacular Technicolor of The Red Shoes hurt my eyes, I love that movie.

And I’m very happy to be presenting Joan Micklin Silver’s Crossing Delancey and to talk to Amy Irving and Peter Riegert, who don’t do this kind of thing very much.

Ann-Margret in *Bye Bye Birdi*e, Amy Irving, and Peter Riegert in *Crossing Delance*y

Oh God, that choice again! I worship both Bye Bye Birdie and Crossing Delancey and I think because I’ve already seen Ann-Margret talk about the former at an Academy screening, I’ll have to head to Delancey. Sorry, Dave!

Dave Karger: Don’t worry, I understand! Some of these choices are impossible!

Eddie Muller: I’m really looking forward to talking to Amy and Peter. It’s a little weird because I just happen to be very good friends with Peter Riegert’s wife so I’ve met him but have never talked about this film with him.

I always tell everyone, “Marry the Pickle Man!” I was hoping that they’d show a double feature of Crossing Delancey and Joan Micklin Silver’s other fantastic movie about American Jews, Hester Street.

Now you’re thinking like a programmer! That would be a great double bill.

Oh, you should hear our constant debates about which films should be shown. As you know, classic movie fans never lack for strong opinions!

Haha, yes, I know!

Like the other day on Doris Day’s birthday, I started obsessing on her very hard-hitting film with Ginger Rogers about the KKK called Storm Warning and wishing they’d show that at the fest.

Fantastic movie. I’m showing it later this year on Noir Alley on TCM with a new intro, but it’s also screening on the network this month because of the Warner Bros. centennial which we’re also celebrating at the festival. It’s one of the great Warner Bros. films that has been restored by the Film Foundation. And Doris is so wonderful in it. I’ve read some criticism by people saying that she and Ginger Rogers are not believable as sisters, but I could not disagree more. Do you know a little piece of Doris Day trivia concerning that film?

No, what?

Of all her movies, it’s the only one in which she dies.

Spoiler alert! So interesting, even though she’s come close in a bunch of other movies. I’ll definitely be there on Sunday morning to watch her being terrorized in Hitchcock’s brilliant The Man Who Knew Too Much at the Chinese. I know it’s an impossible question, but do either of you have a dream interview, alive or dead, that you wish you could do at the festival?

Dave Karger: That is a tough one! The first thing that comes to mind is how sad I am that I never got to meet Cary Grant or Randolph Scott, they’re two of my absolute favorites. Of the living, I would love to talk to Harrison Ford even though I know he can be a challenging interview. I hope to talk to him at the festival some day and show some of his lesser-known films such as The Conversation or The Mosquito Coast or maybe even Witness — something that is not part of a big franchise. And then, because I’m such a 1980s person, I’d love to have Molly Ringwald at the festival as we expand the scope of what is considered classic. As you’ve noticed, we have some films from the 80s and 90s this year, and even a film from after 2000, A Mighty Wind. I think there’s definitely room for someone like Molly at the festival.

I totally agree, the crowd would love it. I love the idea of showing The Mosquito Coast and you could also bring in Martha Plimpton who is so interesting talking about her career as a young actress.

Oh my God, that would be fantastic!

Eddie Muller: My absolute dream, which is obviously impossible since she is no longer around, would be to do a full-on in-person tribute to Barbara Stanwyck, in my view the greatest actress in motion picture history. Wouldn’t it be something to do a retrospective of her films, from the pre-Codes of the early 1930s all the way up to the end, and have her there the whole time talking about her movies?

Oh lord, I’d get in line a year in advance. My 13-year-old son’s bedroom is lined with pictures of Stanwyck, she’s a favorite in my house, and she really helped to get us through the pandemic.

It sounds like you’re doing good work as a parent!

Have you noticed any shifts in the demographics of the festival over the years? I’m always excited to see younger people there, as obsessed about the classic movies as we are.

I have. I’m surprised and delighted to see how the festival draws an increasingly younger audience each year. I’m also very happy about the strength of the African American audience that attends. I’ve gotten to know many of these diehard fans who come from all over the country. That audience has only grown since I started doing the festival and the TCM cruises.

Dave Karger: I love seeing people of all ages. One thing I have really liked that they’ve done lately is invite local students to come including from USC and other local universities. That’s exciting to me because it will keep classic film alive way longer than we’re going to be around.

Yes, totally. That made me remember a festival screening of Children of a Lesser God a few years ago that Marlee Matlin invited a lot of young deaf students to attend. They loved the film and I really believe their interaction with Marlee may have changed some lives — I can see some of those kids deciding to go into the arts after that inspiring screening and discussion.

Absolutely. And how wonderful if we can be a tiny part of something like that. I’ve interviewed Marlee Matlin before and it was a total joy.

Robert Osborne at the TCM Classic Film Festival

I think you two and all the current hosts do such a great job on the network and at the festival, but of course the memory of the great Robert Osborne still looms large. Did your time at TCM overlap with his?

I actually met Robert for the first time in 2007 when I was working at Entertainment Weekly. I was invited to go down to Atlanta and co-host with Robert as part of the 31 Days of Oscar. We spent the whole day together and really hit it off, I really connected with him. What ended up happening was that when he was still alive, but too Ill to film his segments, he actually gave the blessing for me to fill in for him. I have him to thank for my role at TCM.

Eddie Muller: I definitely credit Robert with getting my gig at TCM. Did you know that before TCM started he used to run his own film festival? He invited me to come introduce some movies there, I remember talking with him at a screening of Double Indemnity and it was like getting an audience with the Pope! It was a wonderful experience and the cherry on top was that the person who was supposed to introduce Robert’s favorite movie, All About Eve, which we’re also showing this year, didn’t show up and he asked me if I wanted to do it with him. I don’t know that movie nearly as well as he does, but boy, did I get an education including on how to deal with people so beautifully in a public situation. Robert was so kind to me, we got along famously. And, I have to point out, and I don’t mean to be weird about this, but the day that I began my regular Noir Alley gig on TCM, March 6, 2017, was that day that Robert died.

Oh wow, that’s so meaningful, I’m sure he was looking down on you.

He was just a wonderful guy. Even though I had already been doing my own festivals and screenings for seven or eight years before I met Robert, I learned more in 10 minutes on stage with him than I did in all that time. Just watching him and understanding how he handled a microphone, how he sat on the stage, how he would bring another person into a conversation — that was the best education I could ever get. He always said that the point was not to try to impress upon people how much you know about movies, and he knew plenty, the point was to make people feel good about being there to watch a movie together.

The TCM Classic Film Festival takes place in Hollywood from Thursday, April 13 to Sunday, April 16. Click here to see the schedule of this year’s films and events.

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–Danny Miller for Classic Movie Hub

You can read all of Danny’s Classic Conversation Articles Here

Danny Miller is a freelance writer, book editor, and co-author of About Face: The Life and Times of Dottie Ponedel, Make-up Artist to the Stars. You can read more of Danny’s articles at Cinephiled, or you can follow him on Twitter at @dannymmiller.

Posted in Classic Conversations, Film Festivals, Interviews, Posts by Danny Miller, TCM, Turner Classic Movies | Tagged Dave Karger, Eddie Muller, TCM, TCM Classic Film Festival 2023 | Leave a comment

Classic Movie Travels: Mickey Daniels

Posted on April 10, 2023 by Annette Bochenek

Classic Movie Travels: Mickey Daniels

Richard Michael “Mickey” Daniels was born on October 11, 1914, in Reliance, Wyoming, to Richard and Hannah Reese Daniels. Per his draft card, his birthplace is listed as Reliance. He was one of eleven children in the family, with siblings Ruth, Clifford, Adele, Leonard, Louise, Elsie, Margaret, Sarah, Melvin, and Edgar. His father was of Welsh descent and had a background as a miner.

Daniels grew up in Rock Springs, Wyoming, where he was spotted at the Rialto Theatre during an amateur variety show. Gene Kornman, photographer and father of Our Gang player Mary Kornman, was a friend of the Daniels family and recommended freckled, red-haired Daniels as a possible addition to the cast.

Daniels was soon signed to the Our Gang series as one of the lead children, appearing in the shorts from 1922 through 1926. Daniels’s distinct laugh was featured in numerous Our Gang shorts and was also captured as a stock sound used throughout various other Hal Roach productions, namely dubbed in as an animal’s guffaw. He could also be spotted in various other Hal Roach films, even appearing alongside Harold Lloyd in Safety Last! (1923) and Girl Shy (1924). His father also appeared in several Our Gang shorts with him, in addition to Roach’s Girl Shy. His brother, Leonard worked for Roach in the studio’s transportation department.

When his time at Our Gang came to a close, he performed in vaudeville and also in a wide range of bit parts in feature films. In 1930, Daniels transitioned to The Boy Friends, produced by Roach featuring a cast of teenagers. The series of short subjects ended in 1932. He also carried out minor roles in It Happened One Night (1934); Magnificent Obsession (1935); and The Great Ziegfeld (1946), among other film roles. In 1932, his name appeared in several newspapers noting an engagement to Dorothy Mattice, which was called off.

Mary Kornman and Mickey Daneils in Air-Tight (1931) — Mary Kornman and Mickey Daneils in *Air-Tight* (1931)

By the 1950s, Daniels was no longer working in the film industry. His draft card states that his employer was “Louis Meyer, Inc.,” but this was crossed out to read “Kaiser Shipyards.” He worked in construction engineering. The card cites him as having a scar on his upper-left lip and also notes that he had a wife named Esther; additional sources point to him having a daughter named Diane.

After struggling to get roles, Daniels became disenchanted with Hollywood and depressed. He drank heavily during this period and gambled, while spending time living with his brother. He also took on several construction jobs overseas, participating in construction projects in Europe, Pearl Harbor, and Africa. His niece, Marlene Fund, remembered him as a fun uncle. She also recalled him partying and carousing at night, with him often getting kicked out of the house, as a result. In the mid-1960s he was traced in Tasmania working as a materials supervisor at an iron ore mine for the Bechtel Pacific Group under the name of Mike Daniels. By that time, he was divorced and his ex-wife, daughter, and grandson were all living in Los Angeles.

Beyond this point, Daniels was quite difficult to track. His childhood co-stars could not locate information about him for the documentary Our Gang: Inside the Clubhouse (1984), being unable to confirm a rumor that he had passed away overseas. Tragically, 21 years after his passing, details about his final years came to light. He returned to the states and lived in a San Diego, California, motel, working as a taxi driver for Red Top Taxi Cabs during his final three years. He passed away alone in the motel on August 20, 1970, from cirrhosis. His cremated remains went unclaimed during those 21 years until they were recovered and buried near his parents’ graves at Forest Lawn Memorial Park—Glendale in Glendale, California, in an unmarked grave. Film fan Bob Satterfield raised money for a headstone in honor of Daniels, which was unveiled and dedicated on September 27, 2019.

Few tributes to Daniels exist today. The Rialto Theatre, where he was discovered, stood at 314S. Front St., Rock Springs, Wyoming. It has since been razed.

In the 1920s, the Daniels family resided at Ahsay Ave. in Rock Springs, Wyoming. This home has since been razed, though Ahsay Ave. remains. By 1930, the Daniels family relocated to 3911 ½ S. Harvard Blvd., Los Angeles, California. At this point, Daniels was already an actor. The home would remain in the family for years to come, as Daniels’ wife, Esther, is cited as living at this address in 1940. The home still stands today.

3911 ½ S. Harvard Blvd., Los Angeles, California

In 1940, Daniels was residing at 1213 N. Ainsworth Ave., Portland, Oregon, while he was working at the Kaiser Shipyards. This home also remains.

In 1950, he lived at 308 S. Holt St., Los Angeles, California, which no longer stands.

The most poignant tribute to him is the marker at his final resting place, thanks to funds contributed to the fans that enjoyed his on-screen performances.

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–Annette Bochenek for Classic Movie Hub

Annette Bochenek pens our monthly Classic Movie Travels column. You can read all of Annette’s Classic Movie Travel articles here.