These titles will be available for FREE STREAMING all month long on the CMH Channel. All you need to do is click on the movie/show of your choice, then click ‘play’ — you do not have to opt for a 7-day trial.
In celebration of July Birthdays, we’re featuring the lovely and talented Olivia de Havilland (born Jul 1, 1916 in Tokyo, Japan) with Michael Curtiz’s The Proud Rebel, co-starring Alan Ladd. We’re also celebrating Barbara Stanwyck’s birthday (born Jul 16, 1907 in Brooklyn, NY) with the critically-acclaimed film noir The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, directed by Lewis Milestone. We’ll also be featuring films starring Charles Laughton, James Cagney and William Powell, born Jul 1, 1899, Jul 17, 1899 and Jul 29, 1892, respectively.
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We’re also celebrating Fan Favorites this month with some personal favorites 🙂
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For those of you who aren’t familiar with the service, Best Classics Ever is a new mega streaming channel built especially for classic movie and TV lovers. The idea of the channel is to make lots of classic titles accessible and affordable for all. That said, Classic Movie Hub is curating titles each month that our fans can stream for free on the Classic Movie Hub Channelat Best Classics Ever. If you’d like access to the entire selection of Best Classics Ever titles, you can subscribe to everything for a low monthly fee of $4.99/month (Best Stars Ever, Best Westerns Ever, Best Mysteries Ever, Best TV Ever) or for an individual channel for only $1.99/month.
You can read more about Best Classics Ever and our partnership here.
Noir Nook: Uncommon Ladies of Noir – Susan Hayward
Susan Hayward
Susan Hayward has long been one of my favorite actresses. When I was growing up, I thrilled with her performances in such films as Smash Up: The Story of a Woman (1947), for which she earned her first of five Oscar nominations; I Can Get It For You Wholesale (1951), where she starred as a ruthlessly ambitious fashion designer; and I’ll Cry Tomorrow (1955), based on the life of singer Lillian Roth. It wasn’t until years later that I discovered that she had quite a presence in the realm of film noir, with appearances in four features from the era: Among the Living (1941), Deadline at Dawn (1946), They Won’t Believe Me (1947), and House of Strangers (1949). This month’s Noir Nook shines the spotlight on this talented, versatile, and often-underrated actress.
Hayward was born Edythe Marrenner in the Flatbush section of
Brooklyn, New York. At the age of seven, she was hit by a car, suffering a
fractured hip. Although her doctors predicted that she would never walk again,
the future star was able to get around on crutches after six months and a year
later, she returned to school. The accident left her with one leg shorter than
the other – she wore a lift in one shoe, contributing to the sexy, strutting
walk that would become her trademark in years to come.
Edythe showed an early affinity for acting, performing in numerous plays at Girls Commercial High School, and started her career as a model for the Walter Thornton Agency. Shortly after she was featured in a spread in the Saturday Evening Post, she signed a test contract with Selznick Studios and became one of the countless young women who tried out of the part of Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With the Wind(1939) The part, of course, ultimately went to Vivien Leigh, but Edythe was undaunted. She boarded a train to California and before long had engaged an agent, signed a six-month contract with Warner Bros., and changed her name to Susan Hayward.
Although she was dropped by Warner’s at the end of her contract, Hayward was snapped up by Paramount, where she appeared in a small but memorable role in Beau Geste (1939) and a couple of programmers before entering the shadowy world of noir.
Among the Living (1941)
Susan Hayward and Albert Dekker in Among the Living (1941)
Released near the start of the noir era, Among the Living stars Albert Dekker in a dual role as twins – John Raden is a millionaire and his brother, Paul, who was thought to have died in his childhood, is a criminally insane serial killer. Hayward plays Millie Perkins, whose father owns the boarding house where Paul rents a room. Unaware that Paul is a killer, Millie uses her flirtatious ways to solicit his help in securing the reward for finding the murderer – who everyone thinks is John.
Deadline at Dawn (1946)
Susan Hayward and Paul Lukas in Deadline at Dawn (1946)
In this feature, Bill Williams is Alex Winkley, a naïve sailor on a 24-hour leave who finds himself in hot water when he learns that a woman he encountered while drunk has turned up dead. Alex enlists cynical-but-good-hearted dance hall girl June Goth (Hayward) to help him track down the killer. (A bit of trivia – and who doesn’t love trivia? – Bill Williams later married actress Barbara Hale, of Perry Mason fame, and the couple had three children, one of which was William Katt, who would later star in the 1976 horror classic Carrie and on TV’s Greatest American Hero. You’re welcome. Back to Susan.)
They Won’t Believe Me (1947)
Robert Young and Susan Hayward in They Won’t Believe Me (1947)
I was always fond of this noir-with-a-twist, but I liked it even more after seeing it with 20 minutes of restored footage as part of the 2021 TCM Virtual Film Festival. In this film, Hayward is Verna Carlson, one of three women involved with womanizing – and very married – stockbroker Larry Ballentine (Robert Young). Most of the film is presented in flashback, as we learn from Ballentine the circumstances that led to him being on trial for the murder of his wife.
House of Strangers (1950)
Richard Conte and Susan Hayward in House of Strangers (1950)
Richard Conte stars here as Max Monetti, whose bank owner father, Gino (Edward G. Robinson), and three brothers comprise the strangers of the film’s title. When Gino is arrested for his often illegal banking practices, Max is the only son to come to his father’s aid – but his methods land him in prison. As Max’s girlfriend, Hayward is devoted and passionate, but also strong-willed and independent – just what Max needs after a seven-year stint in the pokey.
Away from the big screen, Hayward was married for 10 years to actor Jess Barker; the couple had two children, but by all accounts, the union was a stormy one. Hayward fared far better with her second marriage, to Floyd Eaton Chalkley, an attorney and former FBI man from Carrollton, Georgia; they were together from 1957 to 1966, when Chalkley died of hepatitis. In 1973, Hayward’s son, Tim, revealed that she was suffering from several inoperable brain tumors and was only expected to live another six months. Like the strong-willed little girl who’d been told she would never walk, Hayward proved the doctors wrong; a year later, she appeared as a presenter at the 1974 Academy Awards, and she hung on nearly a year after that, finally succumbing on March 14, 1975, at the age of 56.
Hayward herself once summed up the determined, unyielding persona that propelled her to fame and saw her receive numerous accolades throughout her career, including the Academy Award for Best Actress for I Want to Live! In 1958: “I had to slug my way up in a town called Hollywood where people love to trample you to death. I don’t relax because I don’t know how. I don’t want to know how.
“Life is too short to relax.”
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– Karen Burroughs Hannsberry for Classic Movie Hub
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:
And — please join us on July 11th for our next Screen Classics Discussion Video Series Event with University Press of Kentucky and co-host Aurora from Once Upon a Screen, in which author Eve Golden will be discussing the book! It will be a live Facebook Chat, so you’ll be able to comment and ask questions!
In the meantime, please don’t forget to check out our other author discussions in the series, embedded for your convenience way down near the bottom of this post: “Vitagraph: America’s First Great Motion Picture Studio,” “Jane Russell and the Marketing of a Hollywood Legend” and “Growing Up Hollywood”.
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In order to qualify to win this book via this contest giveaway, you must complete the below entry task by Saturday, July 31 at 6PM EST. Winners will be chosen via random drawings.
We will announce our four lucky winners on Twitter @ClassicMovieHub on Sunday, August 1, around 9PM EST. And, please note that you don’t have to have a Twitter account to enter; just see below for the details.
To recap, there will be FOUR WINNERS, chosen by random, all to be announced on August 1st.
Edmond O’Brien, Jayne Mansfield and Tom Ewell in The Girl Can’t Help It
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And now on to the contest!
ENTRY TASK (2-parts) to be completed by Saturday, July 31, 2021 at 6PM EST
1) Answer the below question via the comment section at the bottom of this blog post
2)ThenTWEET (not DM) the following message*: Just entered to win the “Jayne Mansfield: The Girl Couldn’t Help It” #BookGiveaway courtesy of @KentuckyPress & @ClassicMovieHub – #EnterToWin http://www.classicmoviehub.com/blog/jayne-mansfield-the-girl-couldnt-help-it-book-giveaway-july/
THE QUESTION: What is your favorite Jayne Mansfield film and why? And, if you’re not familiar with Jayne’s movies, why do you want to win this book?
*If you do not have a Twitter account, you can still enter the contest by simply answering the above question via the comment section at the bottom of this blog — BUT PLEASE ENSURE THAT YOU ADD THIS VERBIAGE TO YOUR ANSWER: I do not have a Twitter account, so I am posting here to enter but cannot tweet the message.
NOTE: if for any reason you encounter a problem commenting here on this blog, please feel free to tweet or DM us, or send an email to clas…@gmail.com and we will be happy to create the entry for you.
ALSO: Please allow us 48 hours to approve your comments. Sorry about that, but we are being overwhelmed with spam, and must sort through 100s of comments…
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Join us on Sunday, July 11 at 9pm ET (6pm PT) for a Facebook Live Chat with Author Eve Golden
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If you missed our other chats in the Screen Classics Discussion Series, you can catch them on Facebook and YouTube:
Vitagraph: America’s First Great Motion Picture Studio – with Author Andrew Erish:
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Jane Russell and the Marketing of a Hollywood Legend – with Author Christina Rice:
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Growing Up Hollywood with Victoria Riskin and William Wellman Jr:
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About the Book: In the first definitive biography of Mansfield, Eve Golden offers a joyful account of the star Andy Warhol called “the poet of publicity,” revealing the smart, determined woman behind the persona. While she always had her sights set on the silver screen, Mansfield got her start as Rita Marlowe in the Broadway show Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?. She made her film debut in the low-budget drama Female Jungle (1955) before landing the starring role in The Girl Can’t Help It (1956). Mansfield followed this success with a dramatic role in The Wayward Bus(1957), winning a Golden Globe for New Star of the Year, and starred alongside Cary Grant in Kiss Them for Me (1957). Despite her popularity, her appearance as the first celebrity in Playboy and her nude scene in Promises! Promises! (1963) cemented her reputation as an outsider.
Sophia Lauren shoots Jayne the world’s most famous side-eye, April 12, 1957
By the 1960s, Mansfield’s film career had declined, but she remained very popular with the public. She capitalized on that popularity through in-person and TV appearances, nightclub appearances, and stage productions. Her larger-than-life life ended sadly when she passed away at age thirty-four in a car accident. Golden looks beyond Mansfield’s flashy public image and tragic death to fully explore her life and legacy. She discusses Mansfield’s childhood, her many loves―including her famous on-again, off-again relationship with Miklós “Mickey” Hargitay―her struggles with alcohol, and her sometimes tumultuous family relationships. She also considers Mansfield’s enduring contributions to American popular culture and celebrity culture. This funny, engaging biography offers a nuanced portrait of a fascinating woman who loved every minute of life and lived each one to the fullest.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been challenging for the entire planet, to say the least, but it has also produced some unexpected gifts. If not for the pandemic, a British woman named Debbie Wileman, who hadn’t sung professionally in years, would never have started her “A Song a Day” project on Facebook where she simply wanted to entertain her friends in lockdown. To Debbie’s shock and surprise, her videos began to go viral, turning countless people around the world into avid fans who looked forward to her incredible videos. Debbie has a gorgeous voice that she uses to sing a range of songs — as herself and in the style of various singers including Shirley Bassey, Dusty Springfield, Cass Elliott, Janis Joplin, Barbra Streisand, and Marilyn Monroe. But it is Debbie’s ability to take on the persona of her lifelong idol, Judy Garland, that really got the Internet buzzing. It’s an astounding recreation that borders on channeling. I was thrilled to talk to the delightful Debbie Wileman by phone from her home north of London.
Danny Miller: Debbie, I can’t begin to tell you how much pleasure you’ve given me and my family over the past year. To get my kvelling out of the way, I’ve seen many amazing singers, I’ve seen lots of people do tributes to Judy Garland, but there’s just nobody that can compare to what you do, it’s pretty insane. I love when you sing as yourself, I love your tributes to other singers, but your Judy Garland videos are just astounding. Before you started doing these videos during the pandemic, you were singing all the time, right?
Debbie Wileman: I mean, not really. To be honest, just in the shower for myself, and I hadn’t been doing the Judy Garland singing for ages.
That’s incredible. In addition to your amazing voice, what kills me is that you seem to get every speech pattern, every nuance down perfectly. Have you been studying Judy for years?
It started when I was at university getting a performing arts degree. At the end of my three-year course, you could write a thesis or put on a performance. I just thought, “Ooh, what would I like to do?” Well, I loved Judy Garland and decided to write a play where I’d get to be Judy Garland so I could sing her songs. That’s when I really started watching her very closely. I was already a huge fan, obviously. I had watched all of her films and her TV shows, and had loved her since I was six. It was my Nana who introduced me to her originally, we both shared a love of Old Hollywood, and I used to try to sing like Judy when I was a little girl to make my Nana laugh. But that was just the singing, it was only when I decided to do this play that I started studying her mannerisms.
Did anything happen with that play?
Yes, I did it at this small theater that was part of my university — this was the University of Salford in Manchester. Someone from a gay bar theatre in Manchester saw it and asked me if I’d like to make it a bit longer and perform it there. So I wrote a bit more and did it for a week. I was 21 at the time. And then I got a chance to do it at a few other places including London at the King’s Head Theatre in London. It was a lot of fun.
Did this lead to other acting and singing engagements?
Some, but unfortunately I just didn’t get enough work to make a living. I tried for a few years but I’m not from a rich family or anything and I just couldn’t afford to keep doing it. I had to go and get a job and that was it, really. I haven’t done much singing for years because I was an honest working stiff as they say!
And then when the pandemic happened, you just had the idea to start putting some videos out?
Yeah, it was when everyone was in lockdown last year. It was a really scary time and so many people were by themselves. I just thought, well, it might be nice to sing a song on Facebook every day, just for my few friends. It would give me something to do and it might be nice for people who were isolating by themselves. I had no idea that anything would come of it — I really doubt that I would have done it if I had known. I would have thought it was a bit cringe-o, if you know what I mean. I wouldn’t have put myself out there like, “Look at me, world, I’m singing a song!” If not for the pandemic, I never would have done any of this.
Wow. And how long did it take before you realized your videos were really catching on and spreading like wildfire?
It was so crazy. The first one I did was just me singing a Johnny Mathis song. Then I think I did the Etta James song, “At Last.” And then on Day 3, I thought, oh, go on, I’ll go find my old Judy wig that’s somewhere in the attic, and I’ll sing “The Man That Got Away.” Why not, that will be fun!
And that’s the first one that went viral?
Well, I had the idea to share it with the Judy Garland group on Facebook and that’s what did it. I suddenly started getting all of these friend requests, and not knowing any better, I just accepted them all. “You want to be my friend? Sure, okay, accept, accept, accept!” I didn’t know who any of them were. It was mostly excellent but I did get a few unsolicited ‘images’ coming my way!
Oh my, is nothing sacred?
Judy Garland with John Meyer
I know! All these people friended me but I had no clue who they were. For example, I had no idea that the person I had accepted called John Meyer was THE John Meyer, the man who had dated Judy Garland in the 60s! Much later, when I did Judy’s “I’d Like to Hate Myself in the Morning,” he commented on that post and I couldn’t believe he was already my friend! I sent him a photo of me reading his book, Heartbreaker!
I remember the first time I saw someone post a link to one of your Judy videos. To be honest, my first thought was, “Oh, no, not another one! Who is this woman and how dare she think she could perform as Judy Garland!”
(Laughs.) I’m exactly the same! Very protective of Judy!
And then when I watched it I thought, “Oh, she must by lip-syncing.” When I realized that was actually your voice, I thought, “Oh, this is something different!” I’ve watched every video since. I love watching you get into character. It reminds me, forgive me, of someone like Sybil when she’s transforming into one of her other personalities and you just see that change come over her face, like she’s accepting another entity into her body. Does it feel like that for you? Or can you just pop into it without any notice at all?
[switching to perfect Judy Garland voice] Well, no, Danny, it just kind of happens, I can’t really explain it. I have to think about it a little bit but not that much!
Oh my God, I’m talking to Judy Garland! Goosebumps! I love all your Judy videos but the one I saw the other day when you’re singing “Happy Harvest” from Summer Stock sitting in the tractor may have been my favorite, including your young daughter’s cameo. How the hell did you find that tractor that was so much like the one Judy is sitting in for that song?
I live in North Essex, just above London, and were driving to the next village one day when I saw this tractor in the park and I thought, “Ooh, I have to use that!” Now I’m constantly looking for things that I can use as props for these songs. I was visiting my parents on the South Coast last summer and discovered this miniature steam railway down there. I spoke to the woman who ran it and asked her if I could record a video on it. She said it would be fine but then we had another lockdown and a bunch of new restrictions in the UK so I haven’t been able to do it yet, but I still plan to. That’s a bit of a spoiler alert, I think you can guess what song that will be!
Then you pull that throttle, whistle blows Huffing and puffing and away she goes All aboard for California On the Atchison Topeka and the Santa Fe!
I can’t wait! I notice that when you’re speaking as Judy, it’s usually Judy in the 1960s, but I love how you can change your voice depending on what era you’re trying to emulate. Have you done any of the songs she sang as a young girl in the 1930s?
Not too many of the songs when she was properly young which is good because I still have a lot more to do. I have done “I’m Nobody’s Baby” and “But Not for Me” and I even did those in black and white for the effect!
As the pandemic begins to recede, you have to start doing live performances. Could you imagine doing a whole evening as Judy?
Yeah, of course, I would love it! I did it in my early twenties and I think I’ve gotten better at it since I’m older now and my voice has matured.
I assume you’ve seen the play End of the Rainbow, and the film Judy?
To be honest, I’m not a big fan of the doom and gloom aspects that always seem so popular when people do things about Judy. It’s always very tragic and miserable and I’m like, “No!” Every person I’ve spoken to that knew her has said how fun she was and she wasn’t in any way a tragic figure.
That’s exactly the message that her good friend Dottie Ponedel wanted to get across and why her niece Meredith Ponedel and I published the book About Face, about Dottie’s friendship with Judy.
Debbie reading About Face
Yes, I always heard that she was such a fantastic friend and so warm and fun. That’s why I hate the doom and gloom portrayals. Yes, it’s sad that she died so young but she was so funny and talented and great and witty that you want to celebrate that. I think that would make a much more entertaining film.
Does the thought of hearing from any of her children make you nervous?
Not nervous, I would be overjoyed! I think Liza is absolutely brilliant, I love her and have seen her in concert twice. Apart from the Judy connection, Cabaret is one of my favorite films ever. Even if she wasn’t Judy Garland’s daughter I would still absolutely adore Liza Minnelli, so if I ever did hear from her that would be brilliant. I know that all of the children are understandably a bit wary about people doing their mum, which is completely fair, but I would hope that if they ever did hear me, they’d know that it was done with so much love and respect.
I love your Liza songs as well on your videos!
If I put you on the spot and said, what are your three favorite Judy Garland movies off the top of your head, what would you say?
Easter Parade, definitely, that is my favorite. Next, I Could Go On Singing, possibly because I’m a Londoner and I love it, and third, probably Summer Stock!
All excellent choices, although her final film, I Could Go On Singing, is a bit of an outlier. Are there other classic movie stars that you’re obsessed with?
Oh, lots, but the biggest for me are definitely Judy and Marilyn. I really love Marilyn Monroe.
Oh, let’s see one of your Marilyn songs!
You did a song a day for a while but now you’re doing three a week, which is still a lot!
Yes, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. I usually do them at night after my daughter goes to sleep. Which is why I often end up doing them from my car because my neighbor complains.
He complains? If you were my neighbor I’d set my clock to your performances and invite people over to listen!
Oh, they don’t like it if it gets too late! So I have to get into my car and drive to an empty car park. I got stopped by the police once. I was dressed as Judy with the wig and full makeup and I had a skipping rope I was using as my long corded microphone! The police officer knocked on my window — he was very suspicious because, as I later found out, there are a lot of naughty goings-on in small Essex car parks! Who knew? [switches to Judy voice] “Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore!”
I hope that when the officer knocked on your window that you spoke to him as Judy Garland,
Oh, I wish I had! He was like, “What are you doing in there?” And I said “Well, I’m singing a song and recording myself.” And he said, “What?”
I love it!
You have to be very resourceful dong this work with no budget!
I just saw the great video you did for “The Boy Next Door” from Meet Me in St. Louis. It looked like you had a full costume for that one.
Look closer, Danny, that bow I’m wearing is made out of toilet paper!
Oh, the glamour!
Check out Debbie Wileman’s fantastic YouTube Channel. My fantasy is that she’ll be invited to next year’s TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood to help celebrate Judy Garland’s 100th birthday!
Long before Fred and Ginger, Vernon and Irene Castle were lauded as an exceptionally talented dancing duo. Though a tragedy ended their partnership, their influence as dancers as well as Irene’s activism continues to live on.
Irene Foote was born on April 17, 1893, in New Rochelle, New York. Her
father was a physician and her mother was a homemaker. As Foote grew, she
developed an interest in dancing and studied the art, participating in a
variety of performances before meeting established dancer and comedian Vernon
Blyth. The two were introduced at the New Rochelle Rowing Club and, with his
influence, Foote was hired for her first professional dancing role in “The
Summer Widowers.” Their friendship quickly blossomed into a romance, leading
them to be married on May 28, 1911, in New Rochelle.
Blyth worked under the stage name of Vernon Castle, which Irene adopted as
they began performing together. They worked in The Hen-Pecks (1911) and toured Paris, performing numerous American
ragtime dances, including the Turkey Trot and Grizzly Bear. They returned to
New York with great fanfare, finding that they were in high demand on the stage
as well as in films. They appeared on Broadway regularly, including roles in
Irving Berlin’s Watch Your Step (1914),
for which he wrote his first score with the Castles in mind. Along the way, the
Castles popularized the Foxtrot.
A young Vernon & Irene
In the same year, the Castles opened “Castle House” in New York, which was
their dancing school. They also opened up a restaurant called Sans Souci as
well as the Castles by the Sea nightclub in Long Beach, New York. During the
day, they would teach at Castle House, while by night, they would perform at
their nightclub. In addition, they offered private lessons and appearances at
parties.
Irene was noted as a fashion trendsetter of the time
In addition to their success as a team, the Castles made close dancing
respectable to the tune of ragtime and jazz. Irene even became a popular
fashion trendsetter, showcasing short, full skirts and loose corsets and
frequently designing clothes herself. She is also credited with bringing the
bob to America.
Though Vernon and Irene never had children, they loved animals and had numerous pets. Many of these animals were performing animals that they rescued. Among their many pups — including a beloved dog named Zowie — was also a pet monkey. They eventually purchased an estate near the Long Island Sound with kennels and stables for their 24 dogs, 5 horses, a donkey, and many more animals.
Irene and her beloved dog, Zowie
Unfortunately, Vernon died in a plane crash at the age of 30 after sailing to England to enlist as a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps during World War I. During training over Benbrook Field in Texas, his plane stalled and he was not able to regain control. Irene wrote My Husband as a tribute to Vernon.
Irene
would marry three more times after Vernon, having two children with Fredric
McLaughlin, founding owner of the Chicago Blackhawks. Upon relocating to
Chicago, Irene was credited with designing the original sweater for the
Blackhawks Hockey Club.
Beyond dancing, Irene heavily invested herself in animal rights activism. She founded Orphans of the Storm animal shelter, named after D.W. Griffith‘s Orphans of the Storm(1921), in Deerfield, Illinois, aiming to save the lives of Chicago animals and place them in loving homes.
Irene and some of her many rescued pets
Irene passed away at the age of 75 in her Arkansas home on
January 25, 1959. Vernon and Irene are buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in New York.
At the time of Vernon’s death, Irene
posed for the weeping ballet dancer memorial marker, entitled “End of the
Day.”
Vernon Castle’s grave with a ballet dancer sculpture modeled by Irene
Today, the Castles are honored in numerous ways. The story of the Castles was turned into a film called The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle(1939), starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Though Irene served as a technical advisor for the film, she argued with Rogers, who did not wish to wear Castle’s bob or darken her hair. Castle was also against the casting of white actor Walter Brennan as the Castles’ manservant in the film, who, in real life, was black.
Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers
The Castles split their time between residences in Long
Island and New York City, with a townhouse at 120 Lexington Ave. in New York.
Here is the property today:
120 Lexington Ave., New York, NY
Vernon’s
crash site now has a memorial in his honor, located in Benbrook, Texas. It can
be located after taking the I-20 exit 429 onto US 337/Benbrook Blvd, heading
south a little over a mile, and left onto Sproles Drive.
The memorial at the site of Vernon’s fatal plane crash
In
1954, Irene and her fourth husband relocated to Eureka Springs, Arkansas,
living at Destiny Farm. The sign, which Irene helped design, still remains.
Destiny Farm at Eureka Springs, Arkansas
Seven of Irene’s many pets were buried in the Castle plot at Hartsdale Pet Cemetery in New York. Each pet has a special epitaph. Her beloved Zowie’s reads:
To My Adored Zowie.
I do not cringe from death so much,
Since you are gone, my truest friend,
Thy dear, dumb soul will wait for me.
However long before the end.
Irene’s pet cemetery plot in Hartsdale, NY
Orphans of the Storm, Irene’s pride and joy, continues to operate to this day. While their mission is going strong, aside from a short YouTube video, little is celebrated and discussed regarding its history and connection to Castle. My inquiries relating to their history went unanswered and, unfortunately, the name Irene Castle did not seem to ring a bell to the staff. Nonetheless, I think Irene would be pleased to see her work carrying on as animals continue to be adopted from Orphans regularly. Upon my visits, I enjoyed playing with the cats and giving them some extra cuddles–getting pretty attached to one named “Pigeon,” in particular! Sadly, I wasn’t in a place to adopt a pet at the time but I’m happy to say that my favorite cat of the bunch is now in a happy home. (…and I have since adopted a sweet dog!)
Meet Pigeon!
Though the Castles may not be discussed quite so often today, their influence in dancing and dedication to the welfare of animals lives on.
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 SocietyMagazine.
In past columns, I’ve taken a look at Western movie locations in Lone Pine and Corriganville. This month my focus is a popular Western location further afield from Hollywood: Kanab, Utah.
Kanab is in the southern
part of the state, not far from the Arizona border. Founded in 1870, the
current population is around 4700.
I could go on with a
much longer list of titles, but that gives readers a good idea of some of the
films made in the area.
Just as Lone Pine’s Dow
Villa Hotel regularly served movie companies, film productions shooting in the
Kanab area often stayed at the Parry Lodge, which first opened in 1931.
Parry Lodge, Kanab, Utah
The lodge is still in operation today, nine decades later, although it’s currently closed for the 2021 season due to COVID. On a recent visit to Utah, I was able to take a number of photographs of the closed lodge.
Parry Lodge entrance
The rooms outside the main building are labeled with the names of some of the stars who stayed there while working in Utah.
Joel McCrea Room
Robert Taylor Room
In front of the hotel, there’s a row of signs honoring numerous filmmakers who worked in Kanab.
Parry Lodge not only served as headquarters for countless film production companies, it was also a key location in the crime film The Girl in Black Stockings (1957), starring Lex Barker, Anne Bancroft, and Mamie Van Doren. That movie, which was released by United Artists, provides some wonderful shots of the lodge, including the pool area.
The pool at Parry Lodge
One of the very finest films which did extensive filming in the Kanab area was the previously mentioned Westward the Women, with Robert Taylor heading an outstanding cast. A few miles outside of Kanab, a Western town was built for the film, which was also used as a set in a number of other productions over the years.
Town scene from Westward the Women (1951)
Today the crumbling
remains of that town set may still be seen by anyone who turns off Highway 89
and drives 5.4 miles down Johnson Canyon Road. Given my love for Westward
the Women, I found it an extremely moving experience.
Here are screenshots of
the pavilion seen in the film’s closing sequence, after the women arrive at
their destination in California:
Here’s that very same
pavilion building today. It looks as though a later production finished the
interior so it looked more like a house, but the exterior is easy to identify
by matching it up with screenshots from the film.
Another town building is seen above.
I don’t know for certain, but I’m guessing the crumbling chimney seen in the photograph below is the same chimney seen in the screenshots shown here from the opening minutes of the movie:
John McIntire
It’s remarkable to find the town still standing — in a manner of speaking — seven decades after the movie’s release. Looking around one could just imagine Robert Taylor, John McIntire, Denise Darcel, and the rest of the cast having been there.
Beverly Dennis, Renata Vanni, Marilyn Erskine, Robert Taylor, Denise Darcel, Julie Bishop, and Lenore Lonergan in Westward the Women (1951)
Anyone who visits the
set should be aware that it sits on private property, so bring a telephoto lens
to photograph it from the public road.
For additional information on Westerns filmed in Kanab and elsewhere in Utah, I highly recommend the book When Hollywood Came to Town: A History of Moviemaking in Utah by James D’Arc. I wrote more about that book in my January 2021 column Western Film Book Library – Part 4.
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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.
Lives Behind the Legends: Mae West – Spiritual Vixen
Mae West
Mae West has gone down in history as a larger-than-life character. Ballsy, confident, funny and sexy; she was a trailblazer in the conventional 1930’s. Nothing could stop this street smart vixen. Still, there was a surprising side to her that not many people are aware of. You would be forgiven for thinking that the sassy Miss West was as down to earth as it gets, but in reality, Mae was a very spiritual person. She meditated, considered herself psychic and loved to hold séances with friends.
The year was 1928. Mae West had just become the biggest star on Broadway with her self-written play Diamond ‘Lil. The tough-talking, independent and fun ‘Lil would be a part of the Mae West persona forevermore. But the real Mae was being plagued by extreme abdominal pains. Doctors ran tests, but no reason was found. Mae’s manager and best friend James Timony took matters into his own hands and introduced her to yogi healer Sri Deva Ram Sukul, who was the president of the Yoga Institute for America. When Mae and the yogi met, he chanted a Hindu prayer, stood behind her and pressed his hands on her stomach for a few minutes. When he suddenly released his hold, the pain was gone. Mae asked the yogi what had caused the pain and he told her that it was other people’s envy. This was Mae’s first tangible experience with spirituality and it made a big impression on her.
Though Mae attended church from time to time, she wasn’t particularly religious. She was interested in a broader concept of spirituality. She wanted to know if there ‘was more,’ and events like this strengthened her belief that there truly was. Mae was especially fascinated by the spirit world, so she was game when she was asked to participate in a séance in the early 30’s, reportedly by none other than aviatrix Amelia Earhart. This may seem like a random pairing, but these two independent career women had long admired each other before becoming acquainted. In any case, Mae was vacationing at posh resort, La Cinta, and she offered up her bungalow for the small gathering. This would be Mae’s first séance and she became a true believer. Her deceased father came through with a message about the men she was dating.
Mae surrounded by men in Belle of the Nineties
One was ‘okay’, the other was not. But the real highlight was when a message came through that nobody understood, until someone pointed out that it was in Yiddish. One of the guests was Jewish and had been in a long-term relationship with a Catholic woman. The message was from the man’s mother and said: ‘do what your heart tells you and never mind your father.’ The message moved Mae deeply. Especially since the pair then married, the father came around, and they lived a long and happy life together.
Mae had always fancied herself an intuitive person and she became more and more drawn to developing her own spiritual abilities. She started reading up on psychic research and learned how to meditate. She was a self-confessed quick study, later stating that she learned how to meditate in a week. She was keen to meet spiritual mentors and she even took a yogi with her when traveling for a while. Mae was always straightforward about using the ‘Forces’, as she called them, for her life and her work. When she was writing a screenplay, she would ask them for help. Afterward, she would write or dictate in a stream of consciousness. ‘I believe the Forces have a lot to do with what we call inspiration,’ she said. No matter how she got the inspiration, it worked, and Mae became a power player on stage and in Hollywood. Still, she started feeling that there was something missing in 1941. Her career was at a high, but her life felt incomplete. She decided to take six months off to really dive into that spiritual world that she was so fascinated with. ‘The best is knowing the powers within you,’ she later pointed out. Mae chose Jack Kelly, founder of the Spiritual Church of Life, as a guide on this journey. It was said that he was tested by Duke University and was found to possess psychic powers. Mae was even more convinced of his powers when he personally predicted to her that the Japanese would launch a surprise attack on America and Pearl Harbor was attacked soon after.
Mae West with Jack Kelly (middle)
Kelly found that, though everyone has the ability within them, Mae truly had the ‘Gift’ when it came to contacting the spirit world. For weeks she trained, getting her mind blank through meditation and inviting in the spirits. Finally, they came to her in full form, but not in the way she had hoped. ‘There were a lot of them, I think all men, and they weren’t interested in me, so that didn’t make any sense. They must have been really dead. They sort of just talked with each other. And I never did like crowds.’ What Mae really wanted was to make contact with her mother. Kelly told her that she had to be patient and that her gift was undisciplined. After a while, Mae grew tired of the uninvited guests and told them to leave. They did, and Mae never tried to contact the spirits in that way again. Still, she was satisfied knowing that there was more, and that she had the ability to make contact. She felt reassured that her mother was somewhere watching over her, even if neither of them knew how to make contact. Though this experience had been a little too intense, Mae kept her connection to the other side. She continued to ask the spirits for help and information and she loved hosting séances by psychics for her friends.
It was not just the supernatural that Mae was interested in; other spiritual beliefs had her attention as well. For instance, she felt that astrology explained her personality. As a fiery Leo with her rising sign in beauty planet Venus, she said that it was predetermined she would be ‘strong like a lioness and at the same time totally feminine.’ In her book Mae West on Sex, Health and ESP, she even relayed her experiences with men throughout the signs. Quipping about Aries: ‘They don’t call the guys born under this sign the Rams for nothing.’ She would consult her astrology chart from time to time to help her make decisions. Mae reportedly even had her chart read on set by veteran silent film actor Stuart Holmes, whose wife Blanka was a Hollywood astrologist. According to a 1935 Australian Women’s Weekly article, Holmes found that Mae would have made a good nurse, the height of her screen career would be reached in 1939, Hollywood was the best place for her to reside in, and she might be married in three years. He may have misread that last prediction, but Mae still generously called him a ‘remarkable researcher.’ Mae did not just depend on outside sources, she was also a firm believer in the power of positive thinking. She never allowed a negative thought to take root in her mind. She felt that by thinking and feeling positive you created a better understanding of yourself, and it would enable you to accomplish things you never thought you could. Her advice was always that self-confidence was the most important thing to possess, a belief that was mirrored by the self-assured stage persona we know and love.
Mae really was ahead of her time in many ways. Her stage persona paved the way for confident, sexy women who were not afraid to speak their minds. Mae was this way off-stage as well; she wrote all of her own material and held a tight grasp on her image, so it shouldn’t really be a surprise that even her spiritual side was ahead of its time. Meditation, astrology, the power of positive thinking, and a belief in an energy that connects us are almost commonplace in the 21st century. In the 30’s and 40’s, Mae was an outsider in her convictions, but she didn’t care. Her open-mindedness in every facet of life and her steadfast confidence were her biggest strengths. As society finally caught up with Mae, people became more open-minded about sex and spirituality. Because of this, Mae had a career resurgence in the 1970’s as people appreciated, once again, what a trailblazer she had been.
Mae and her fans
Mae, a savvy businesswoman, saw an opportunity and released her novel Mae West on Sex, Health and ESP. She was introduced to, and embraced by, a whole new generation while in her eighties. As an entertainer at heart, she loved every minute of it.
Arancha has been fascinated with Classic Hollywood and its stars for years. Her main area of expertise is the behind-the-scenes stories, though she’s pretty sure she could beat you at movie trivia night too. Her website, Classic Hollywood Central, is about everything Classic Hollywood, from actors’ life stories and movie facts to Classic Hollywood myths. You can follow her on Twitter at @ClassicHC.
“If I knew you were coming, I would’ve set fire to the place.”
Remakes are a risky endeavor, especially in the world of film noir. There have been countless instances of remakes coasting on the iconography of its predecessor, sans the emotion and angst that made them impactful. The 1981 version of The Postman Always Rings Twice is too lewd for its own good, and 1988’s D.O.A. trades in the electricity of the original for a broad, over-stylized approach. It’s never easy. That said, there are some remakes that defy the odds and add something worthwhile to the noir canon. One such remake is 1964’s The Killers.
The Killers, or The Killers ‘64, was set to be one of the early TV movies to air on NBC. It was pitched as an episode of the Project 120 series, but once the network got a look at the final product, they decided it was too violent for homes and repurposed it for theaters. The decision proved to be a beneficial one, as the film performed well at the box office and earned Lee Marvin a BAFTA Award for Best Actor. But how did The Killers ‘64 escape the curse of so many noir remakes? What did it do to differentiate itself from its predecessor? The solution, simple as it may be, is change everything.
The film’s New Wave-inspired poster
The film was always going to have to contend with the legacy of The Killers (1946), the landmark noir that launched the careers of both Ava Gardner and Burt Lancaster. It was a near perfect translation of the Ernest Hemingway short story, bolstering the parameters of his doomed world while adding layers of angst and sexual frustration. Don Siegel, the director of the remake, was all too familiar with the 1946 version, as he had been fired from the project and replaced with the more established Robert Siodmak. When it came time to remake the film, the wily Siegel worked with screenwriter Gene L. Coon on a treatment that disregarded most of what came before. He was crafting a remake in name, but a wholly original film in spirit.
Charlie (R) and Lee kill time between killings
The differences between the 1946 and 1964 versions are evident from the opening scene. The former opens with a Hopperesque diner, and culminates with the shooting of boxer Swede Anderson in a seedy motel. Clean and professional, like clockwork. The latter takes place at an institute for the blind, where hitmen Charlie (Lee Marvin) and Lee (Clu Gulager) saunter through the lobby, bullying hapless patients. They instigate as much chaos as possible before cornering Johnny North (John Cassavetes) and subjecting him to a hail of gunfire. The endgame is the same, but The Killers ‘64 has something else on its mind. It savors the anarchy of its lawless characters and invites us to do the same. The overriding mood of the original was doom, but here, it’s psychotically gleeful.
The rest of the film unfolds with similar irreverence. Charlie and Lee are confused by the ease with which Johnny North accepted his fate, and decide to look into his past. They already got paid, so they kill time by looking up Johnny’s best friend Earl (Claude Atkins) and on/off girlfriend Sheila (Angie Dickinson). What makes these interrogation scenes so memorable is not the discovery of information, but the brutish way Charlie and Lee go about getting it. These are the men that ended Johnny’s life and here they are dangling Sheila out of a window because she’s refusing to disclose his secrets.
Coon’s screenplay was quietly radical in terms of how it stitched seemingly incongruent noir tropes together. In the past, hitmen had been dismissed as loners or psychopaths, doomed to die before the final reel. By contrast, private detectives were seen as trustworthy, and given access to exclusive information. Charlie and Lee are given the access of the more congenial private detective, but their homicidal tendencies lead them to abuse their power and belittle their various witnesses. We never know what they’re going to do next, and the result is as sickening as it is exciting.
John Cassavetes and Angie Dickinson in a promotional still
Marvin and Galugar deserve all the credit in the world for making their hitmen so magnetic. They have contrasting but complimentary styles: Charlie is the economic veteran and Lee is the showboat kid who loves inflicting pain. Their shared concern for money bonds them, and their banter keeps the film hurtling along like the view from their train compartment. Marvin is particularly good here, tossing off quotables with palpable disdain. “Whoever laid this contract wasn’t worried about the million dollars, and the only people that don’t worry about a million dollars are the people that have a million dollars”, he asserts. Later, when faced with having to shoot another victim, he delivers another gem: “You see, the only man that’s not afraid to die is the man that’s dead already.” Marvin later referred to the role as one of his best, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t agree with him.
The flashbacks detailing Johnny’s fall from grace are similarly kinetic. The filmmakers wisely changed the profession of the character from boxer to race car driver, which dovetails nicely with his eventual getaway driver gig. The subsequent driving scenes make use of rear projection (sometimes a little too obviously), but Siegel’s implementation of real life racing footage helps to sell the illusion of anxiety. Cassavetes’s laconic presence also does wonders for the film’s quieter moments. He’s constantly leery of his surroundings, as though he knows his number will soon be up.
Ronald Reagan quietly waits out his final film role
If there’s one element of The Killers ‘64 that pales in comparison to the original, it’s the casting of Ronald Reagan as the antagonist. Reagan is the gangster who romances Sheila and pushes Johnny into the heist, despite not possessing the moxy to do either. He’s hopelessly outmatched in scenes opposite Cassavetes, and given that he retired from acting soon after the film’s release, one can assume his heart wasn’t invested in his work. Fortunately, the limitations of Reagan’s performance are salvaged by the finale, where Siegel delivers some of the most brutal and stylized directorial work of his career.
Charlie and Lee trace the source of the hit to Reagan’s gangster, but both men have been shot and are bleeding out. The former struggles to maintain focus, which Siegel emulates through the camera lens, before lifting his pistol and popping the gangster in spectacular fashion. The image of Charlie’s pistol aiming down the barrel of the camera is the most iconic in the film, and one that maintains its singular power some 50 years later. Equally powerful, though perhaps less known, is the last frame, where a bloodied Charlie succumbs to his wounds and dies on the front lawn of a suburban home. It’s an appropriately twisted ending for such a sadistic man.
The film’s most iconic shot (in more ways than one)
The Killers ‘64 was one of the first noir remakes to go into production, and it’s a testament to its quality that it remains one of the finest. The decision to use the original premise as a jumping off point for another story was inspired, and the nimble execution by Siegel and Coon qualifies it as some of their best work. The 1946 version may still have the upper hand, but the splashy, irreverent influence of The Killers ‘64 can be seen more readily in neo-noir like Pulp Fiction (1994) and In Bruges (2007). In other words, it manages to be a classic all on its own.
TRIVIA: Despite having a John Williams score, the film’s opening and end title music was taken from Touch of Evil (1958), which was scored by Henry Mancini.
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–Danilo Castro for Classic Movie Hub
Danilo Castro is a film noir aficionado and Contributing Writer for Classic Movie Hub. You can read more of Danilo’s articles and reviews at the Film Noir Archive, or you can follow Danilo on Twitter @DaniloSCastro.
I adore Rita Moreno. I mean, who doesn’t? The 89-year-old actress has it all. I loved her as silent movie star Zelda Zanders in the MGM classic Singin’ in the Rain, I loved her as poor Tuptim in the spectacular musical The King and I, I loved her Oscar-winning turn as Anita in West Side Story (one of the only actual Puerto Ricans in the cast), I loved her on the great PBS children’s series, The Electric Company, I loved her as Sister Peter Marie in the gritty HBO series Oz, and I love her as Lydia in the fabulous reboot of Norman Lear’s One Day at a Time.
I read Moreno’s wonderful memoir a few years ago and jumped at the chance to talk to Mariem Pérez Riera, the talented director of the brand new documentary about the actress that premieres today, Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It (there’s a funny story in the film about how the doc got that title). Riera has created an indelible portrait of the fabulous star that is one of the most honest and entertaining biographical documentaries I’ve ever seen. Like Moreno, Riera is an actress who was born in Puerto Rico and who, at the age of nine, starred in the acclaimed film, The Two Worlds of Angelita. Her first documentary, Cuando lo pequeño se hace grande, about the Puerto Ricans who fought against the US Navy presence on the island of Vieques, won awards at film festivals around the world, as have many of her later films. Riera was the perfect person to tell Rita Moreno’s fascinating story.
Over a career that has endured more than seven decades, Rita Moreno defied both her humble upbringing and relentless racism to become a celebrated and beloved actor, one of the rare EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) Award Winners of our time. Born into poverty on a Puerto Rican farm, Moreno and her mother immigrated to New York City when Moreno was five years old. After studying dance and performing on Broadway, Moreno got a movie contract and was cast as any ethnic minority that the studio needed filled, be it Polynesian, Native American, or Egyptian. Despite becoming the first Latina actress to win an Academy Award, the studios continued to offer Moreno lesser roles as stereotypical ethnic minorities.
Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for it illuminates Moreno’s humor and grace, as well as some of the lesser-known struggles she faced on her path to stardom, including horrendous sexism, a toxic long-term relationship with Marlon Brando, and a serious depression. Moreno’s talent and resilience triumphed over adversity as she broke barriers, fought for representation, and forged the path for new generations of artists. This winter she’ll appear in Steven Spielberg’s new version of West Side Story, this time with an appropriately Latinx cast. I spoke with director Mariem Pérez Riera via Zoom.
Danny Miller: I loved this documentary so much and was stunned at how honest Rita Moreno was in front of the camera. Were there things you learned about her during the making of this film that surprised you?
Mariem Pérez Riera
Mariem Pérez Riera: Oh, yes. One thing that surprised me was how important she feels therapy has been to her life and career, and how it helped her become the person that she is today. She talked about that a lot in our interviews.
Despite some of the enormous success she had early in her career (Singin’ in the Rain, The King and I, and, of course, West Side Story), I was still shocked at some of the abuse she had to suffer through in Hollywood before and even after appearing in those A-list films. I think many other people would have cracked under the pressure of that and left the business. How do you account for Rita Moreno’s ability to survive and thrive against all odds?
Moreno in Singin’ in the Rain (1952), The King and I (1956), and West Side Story (1961)
Honestly, she is a person with amazing stamina. She just wouldn’t quit no matter what was thrown her way. I think that partly comes from starting out as a dancer. She was like an athlete and had incredible amounts of energy and discipline. I mean, to see the energy she has today at 89, it’s really incredible. I’m half her age and I can’t keep up!
Like so many people, I think the “America” sequence in West Side Story is one of the greatest musical numbers ever put on film, but I’m so glad that she discussed the painful aspects of that in the documentary. It always struck me, especially after reading her book and seeing what a strong connection she still has to her beloved Puerto Rico, how awful it must have been for her to sing so negatively about the place of her birth. I hadn’t realized that she was responsible for forcing them to change the original opening lyrics of that song in the Broadway play (“Puerto Rico, you ugly island, island of tropic diseases), but even with the change it must have been tough that Anita was so down on the place.
Absolutely. And that’s why I really wanted to show that in the documentary, because I don’t think a lot of people understand that. They see this amazing Oscar-winning film, and Rita’s fantastic performance in it, but they don’t understand the dichotomy of the message the film gave to our community. It’s kind of a different story for us.
Rita Moreno and George Chakiris performing “America” in West Side Story
I mean, as great as it is, in the end it’s still a story written by a bunch of white dudes.
Exactly. At the time she was not able to share these concerns with the public so it was important for me to give her that chance in the documentary. As great as her success was in the film, parts of it were very difficult for her, including some of the casting decisions. I think that’s why she’s so delighted to be in the new film with its largely Puerto Rican cast.
I love how she talks about her own journey as a little girl from Puerto Rico to New York as a kind of reverse Wizard of Oz — she left the colorful, magical fantasy of Puerto Rico for dreary black-and-white New York. I’m so glad that in West Side Story she was at least able to have those opening lyrics changed. As a Puerto Rican friend of mine said to me the other day, “No living Puerto Rican would ever call that place an ‘ugly island’.”
Absolutely. She knew that she had to sing the song, and it’s a magnificent number. But it weighed on her.
Natalie Wood and Rita Moreno
I got to talk to some of the original West Side Story actors when there was a 60th anniversary screening at this year’s virtual TCM Festival and I was surprised at Moreno’s honesty in talking so openly about her displeasure at Natalie Wood’s casting in the film. Not against her personally, but just how wrong it was to cast all of these people who had no connection to the culture.
She’s actually one of the executive producers on the new version of West Side Story and believe me, the casting of that film was a huge deal for her. As much as she loves having been part of the original, she was adamant about the new film not making the same mistakes.
She’s such a remarkable person, and I’m so glad this intimate portrait of her is now available for all to see. In addition to all that we learn from Rita herself and the amazing people who are interviewed in the film such as Lin-Manuel Miranda, Héctor Elizondo, Morgan Freeman, Whoopi Goldberg, Mitzi Gaynor, George Chakiris, Eva Longoria, Justina Machado, and Norman Lear, I loved the amazing animation with the paper dolls. So effective!
That was part of my first pitch when I thought of making this documentary. I had read her book many times and could see how this little girl, Rosita Dolores Alverio, was always inside of her. I used to play with paper dolls as a child, and so did Rita, and they are pretty fragile. I wanted to show that part of her, the vulnerable and insecure child who everyone wanted to dress and act and be a certain way. And yet Rita Moreno was able to triumph over all of that and come to discover who she really was.
Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It opened today in actual THEATERS and is also available for streaming.
Silents are Golden: The Silent Films of Cecil B. DeMille
Well known for beloved classics like The Ten Commandments(1956), Cecil B. DeMille is indisputably one of Hollywood’s great directors. While he is perhaps not considered as “artsy” as some of his contemporaries, he did have a distinct flair for the epic and dramatic, much to the enjoyment of generations of viewers.
It may be surprising today, but in the late 1910s and early ‘20s, DeMille was known more for fluffy “society” comedy dramas than gigantic Biblical spectacles. These were full of lavish gowns (often on the “extreme fashion” end of the spectrum), and “rich people” toys like couches with fancy hidden bars in the armrests. Of course, it wasn’t long before DeMille starting making his grand epics, too. Let’s look at some highlights from his early filmography:
Thomas Meighan and Gloria Swanson in Male and Female (1919)
While on the surface it seems like one of the sillier DeMille society dramas, deeper down Male and Female is a wry study of class difference – with a heavy dash ofSwiss Family Robinson. It stars Gloria Swanson and the early matinee idol Thomas Meighan. Swanson had gotten her start in comedies at Sennett and was happy to transition to wearing ballgowns in DeMille romance features. His films certainly helped make her a major star.
In Male
and Female, based on J.M. Barrie’s play The
Admirable Crichton, Swanson plays the spoiled daughter Lady Mary in a
wealthy family and Meighan is their butler Crichton. The two are attracted to
each other but Mary rejects Crichton because of his “lowly” status.
Circumstances change, however, when the household becomes shipwrecked on a desert
island and are forced to defer to Crichton, who turns out to have excellent
survival skills. Filmed attractively and with plenty of humor, it’s a fun “what
if?” scenario and also offers a famous fantasy sequence where Swanson, in a
scene set in ancient Babylon, did a dangerous shot with a real, roaring lion.
Gloria Swanson and Thomas Meighan in Why Change Your Wife? (1920)
This author’s personal favorite of DeMille’s “upper crust” fantasies is Why Change Your Wife? again starring Swanson and Meighan. The plot concerns the travails of Robert, dismayed over his wife Beth’s current frumpiness and prudishness. He longs for her to be more of a “sweetheart” again, and she can’t understand why he’s less interested in her more “cultured” pursuits. Eventually, Robert has an affair with the very stylish and flirty Sally (Bebe Daniels). When Beth finds out – and also discovers everyone is gossiping about her failing marriage – she angrily decides that if an “indecent” flirt is what’s in vogue, then she would give herself the most extreme makeover she could and really show everyone!
While the plot hasn’t aged quite like fine wine, the film is so
frothy and full of outrageous fashions that I can’t help finding it
irresistible. Plus, there is the spectacle of a very serious “artsy” character
in the most ridiculous male bathing suit of all time, and that alone is worth
the price of admission.
Gloria Swanson and Wallace Reid in The Affair of Anatol (1921)
Swanson again is one of the stars in this film, the other being the legendary Wallace Reid, the handsome picture idol who was gone too soon. Anatole Spencer (Reid), a “high society” man, has a shaky marriage with his wife Vivian (Swanson). His relationship is further complicated by his, say, unusual propensity to try and help “fallen” female friends lead better lives. He tries to save young Emilie from being the sugar baby of a wealthy gent, but she winds up falling for him. After Emilie shows herself to be unrepentant after all, Anatole is outraged and vows to stop “rescuing” women in the future (the scene where he trashes an entire room in his anger is something to behold). Naturally, Anatole’s promise doesn’t last long.
This is the last surviving full feature of Reid’s before his unfortunate death from morphine addiction in 1923 (he was originally prescribed morphine by doctors). Despite his affliction at the time, his charm and good looks still shine. The film is also worth taking in for Bebe Daniel’s role as an infamous performer named – no joke – Satan Synne, in appropriately theatrical outfits.
Theodore Roberts as Moses in The Ten Commandments (1923)
This article certainly couldn’t leave out one of DeMille’s biggest hits, without which the beloved 1956 Charleton Heston version wouldn’t exist. The epic Egyptian sets and grandiose performances are all there, but with the added twist of the Exodus story being recounted in a long prologue, and the main story having a modern setting.
After watching the story of Moses (Theodore Roberts) and the creation of the Ten Commandments, we’re introduced to the two brothers John (Richard Dix) and Dan (Rod La Rocque) McTavish. Their God-fearing mother teaches them to follow the Ten Commandments, but only John listens, becoming a poor but honest carpenter. Dan, on the other hand, becomes an atheist and decides not to let any Bible teachings get in the way of becoming a worldly success. Dan’s decisions, of course, ultimately catch up with him.
Even back then the modern story was considered
a bit of a letdown after all the Biblical spectacle, but The Ten Commandments was still one of the big hits of 1923. Today
the film still has its fans, despite inevitable comparisons with the 1956
version.
Joseph Striker, Micky Moore, H.B. Warner, and Ernest Torrence in The King of Kings (1927)
A major blockbuster of the era, DeMille’s epic tale of Jesus Christ pleased both crowds and critics alike. Starring H.B. Warner, it focused on Christ’s adult years, with some added concentration on the heavily fictionalized stories of Mary Magdalene (who at one point drives a chariot pulled by zebras!) and Judas Iscariot. Deeply reverent and beautifully filmed, it has thought-provoking moments like Judas secretly rejecting the bread and wine at the Last Supper and touching scenes like Christ “healing” a child’s doll. It’s an ambitious work that’s well worth watching today.
The King of Kings was the first film to play at Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood, and some theaters had special afternoon screenings specifically geared toward elementary and high school students. It’s regarded as one of the most widely seen silents of the 1920s.
When we watch silent films today, we tend to
gravitate towards the era’s artsy features, epic spectacles, or crowd-pleasing
comedies. Any curious viewers who want to explore DeMille’s early filmography
will be delighted to see that he manages to offer a bit of all the above.
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.
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