Win tickets to see “Lawrence of Arabia” on the Big Screen! In Select Cinemas Nationwide Sun Sept 1 and Wed Sept 4
CMH continues with our 4th year of our partnership with Fathom Events – with the 10th of our 14 movie ticket giveaways for 2019, courtesy of Fathom Events!
This is an extra exciting one for us! We’ll be giving away EIGHT PAIRS of tickets to see “TCM Big Screen Classics: Lawrence of Arabia” on the Big Screen — the 7x Academy Award winning epic masterpiece directed by David Lean and starring Peter O’Toole… painstakingly restored and presented in 4K.
In order to qualify to win a pair of movie tickets via this contest, you must complete the below entry task by Saturday, Aug 17 at 6pm EST.
We will announce the winner(s) on Twitter on Sunday, Aug 18, between 6PM EST and 7PM EST. If a winner(s) does not have a Twitter account, we will announce that winner(s) via this blog in the comment section below.
David Lean’s timeless epic, Lawrence of Arabia won seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director (David Lean) and Best Cinematography Color (Freddie Young)
The film will be playing in select cinemas nationwide for a special two-day-only event on Sunday Sept 1 and Wednesday Sept 4 at select times. Winners will be responsible for their own transportation to the Event. Only United States entries are eligible. Please click here before you enter to ensure that the Event is scheduled at a theater near you and that you are able to attend. (please note that there might be slightly different theater listings and/or screening times for each date)
ENTRY TASK (2-parts) to be completed by Saturday Aug 17 at 6pm EST…
1) Answer the below question via the comment section at the bottom of this blog post
THE QUESTION: What is it about ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ that makes it a classic? Or, if you haven’t seen it yet, why do you want to see it on the Big Screen?
2) Then TWEET* (not DM) the following message: I just entered to win tickets to see “TCM Big Screen Classics Presents: Lawrence of Arabia” on the Big Screen courtesy of @ClassicMovieHub & @FathomEvents – you can enter too at http://ow.ly/OXhY50vet2f
IMPORTANT: If you don’t have a Twitter account OR if your Twitter account is private, 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 (or it is private), so I am posting here to enter but cannot tweet the message.
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Peter O’Toole stars as WWI British officer T.E Lawrence
About the film: Winner of 7 Academy Awards® including Best Picture of 1962, LAWRENCE OF ARABIA stands as one of the most timeless and essential motion picture masterpieces. The greatest achievement of its legendary, Oscar®-winning director, David Lean (1962, Lawrence of Arabia: 1957 The Bridge on the River Kwai), the film stars Peter O’Toole – in his career-making performance – as T.E Lawrence, the audacious World War 1 British army officer who heroically united rival Arab desert tribes and led them to war against the mighty Turkish Empire. This predominant classic is not one to miss, don’t pass up your chance to see this revolutionary title on the big screen! Screenplay by Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson. The unique event includes exclusive insight from Turner Classic Movies. This digital print of Lawrence of Arabia is presented in 4K. Utilizing 8K scans of the 65mm original negative, the picture was painstakingly restored, removing the damage, deterioration and fading it had experienced over 50 years. Accompanied by remastered 5.1 audio, the film is presented in its original 2.20 aspect ratio, along with the original overture and intermission.
Please note that only United States residents are eligible to enter this giveaway contest. (see contest rules for further information)
BlogHub members ARE also eligible to win if they live within the Continental United States (as noted above).
I love to watch Westerns, and I also love to read about them!
A variety of books helped make me the classic film and Western fan that I am today. In this column, I’ll take a look at some of the books which shaped my interest in Westerns from an early age, as well as some more recent titles I have especially enjoyed.
One of the earliest books to expose me to Westerns, going back to
childhood years, was A Pictorial History of the Western Film by
the great historian William K. Everson. Like some of the other books to be
discussed here, I first read it thanks to my local library, then later acquired
my own copy.
A Pictorial History of the Western Film by William K. Everson
The book was first published in 1969, with my copy from The
Citadel Press being a softcover dating from 1975. Everson’s book is chock full
of movie Western history, covering silents and early sound Westerns, the
“B’s,” and the evolution of the Western through the ’60s.
As a young teenager exploring classic films, the photos were probably even more important to me than the text; in that pre-VHS (let alone DVD!), pre-cable, and the pre-Internet world, the stills helped to visually open up a world of films I could only dream of seeing one day. I often made lists of movies I’d like to see, based on the photos and descriptions; some would eventually turn up on television (often edited and always filled with commercials) and a few were screened in 35mm at the Los Angeles revival houses our family frequented, but many of the films depicted have only become part of my life in more recent years, thanks to cable TV and DVD. In fact, I’ve realized reviewing the book for this post that I will really benefit from a reread at this juncture, having been able to see so many of the films discussed in recent years!
Another key book in my movie Western education was The Western Film by Charles Silver, published in 1976 as part of the Pyramid Illustrated History of the Movies. That series, edited by Ted Sennett, had many wonderful titles by additional authors such as Leonard Maltin, Foster Hirsch, and Jeanine Basinger and was a big part of my early film education. I own over 50 titles in the series! The Western Film is a genre survey which, like Everson’s book, exposed me to Western film history and some of the greatest titles and stars.
The Western Film by Charles Silver
The book which started it all for me in terms of John Ford Westerns was undoubtedly The Western Films of John Ford (1974) by J.A. Place. With the exception of Drums Along the Mohawk (1939), which I grew up watching on TV regularly, this book was my first exposure to all things Ford. While I have always found some of the author’s analysis overwrought — I feel that sometimes “A door is just a door is a door” rather than having deeper meaning — the film plots, author insights, and other information made me long to see the movies described; the beautiful, well-chosen stills whetted my appetite even more.
The Western Films of John Ford by J.A. Place
The Western Films of John Ford was one of my very favorite film books in those early
years, one of the titles I finally owned after checking it out of the library
countless times. I also own the author’s The Non-Western Films of John
Ford and many other Ford books, but this was the book which first made
me think “I’ve got to see these movies!” Paging through the book
today, it’s hard to believe there was a time when I hadn’t seen the movies
described; I never take it for granted that I now have the ability to watch any
of the films whenever I want.
Pyramid editor Ted Sennett authored Great Hollywood
Westerns, an oversized 272-page coffee table book published in 1990. I
didn’t have either VHS or cable TV until later in the ’90s — instead, I was an
early adopter of the Beta format! — so while I’d seen a good number of Westerns
by that point, the book still left me dreaming of many others I hoped to see
one day. The book also contains extensive text on movie Western history.
Great Hollywood Westerns by Ted Sennett
Don Miller’s Hollywood Corral: A Comprehensive B-Western Roundup was written in 1976, then freshly edited by Ed Hulse and Packy Smith for republication in 1993, adding additional essays by other historians and an all-new selection of photos. This big 559-page book is filled with terrific info, including a wonderful chapter on Western locations by Dave Holland, who also wrote On Location in Lone Pine (1990). This book is a must-own history for fans of “B” Westerns.
Hollywood Corral: A Comprehensive B-Western Roundup by Don Miller
Switching to relatively recent books, below are a few of the titles
I love today, both for reading and for reference.
Those who read my column on Universal Gems know how much I love Universal Westerns!
Universal International Westerns, 1947-1963 by Gene Blottner
I first read Universal International Westerns, 1947-1963 (2000)
by Gene Blottner thanks to the kindness of my friend Toby Roan of the great
blog 50 Westerns From the 50s. The book was so invaluable that I later had to
get my own copy. It contains cast and crew listings, locations, plots,
background notes, and excerpts from original reviews for the 114 Westerns
released by Universal in this time period. Needless to say, it’s a must for
those who share my love for these movies.
Western historians Michael G. Fitzgerald and Boyd Magers have
published two remarkable books, Westerns Women (1999)
and Ladies of the Western (2002).
Westerns Women and Ladies of the Western by Michael G. Fitzgerald and Boyd Magers
These books contain detailed interviews with a total of 101 actresses who appeared in film and TV Westerns. Jane Adams to Virginia Vale, Julie Adams to Marie Windsor, and so many more, sharing their individual memories of making Westerns. A Western filmography is also provided for each actress. These books are essential reading for serious Western fans.
These books are so new to my collection that I’ve only read a small portion of each one, but I’m so impressed with the depth of the information included that I wanted to mention them here.
Six-Gun Law and Six-Gun Law 2 by Barry Atkinson
Both books are thick paperbacks with fairly small print, and they discuss the actors’ Western films in considerable depth. While I have other good books on Scott, McCrea, and Murphy, being able to read up on the films of Western stars like Montgomery, Calhoun, and Cameron is a Western fan’s dream come true, given the relative dearth of information published on their movies. I haven’t agreed with all of Atkinson’s opinions, but I respect them, and once again books are causing me to jot down lists of Western titles I need to watch!
Needless to say, this survey barely scratches the surface of
worthwhile books, including titles on specific actors, and I intend to write
about additional “Western movie books” in a future column…or two!
In the meantime, I hope readers will share some of their favorite
book recommendations in the comments.
Happy Western viewing…and reading!
…
– 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.
Silents are Golden: A Closer Look At – The Kid (1921)
Of all the Charlie Chaplin masterpieces we can name — and from Easy Street(1917) to Modern Times(1936), there’s quite a few — one feature is perhaps extra special: The Kid(1921). One of Chaplin’s earliest features, it’s certainly the most heartfelt and personal film he ever made.
Charlie Chaplin and Jackie Coogan in The Kid (1921)
At the time, Chaplin was at a turning point in his career. The Kid was the fifth film he made for First National, the others being A Dog’s Life (1918), Shoulder Arms(1918), A Day’s Pleasure (1919) and Sunnyside(1919). Unlike the Keystone, Essanay and Mutual studios he’d worked for previously, First National gave Chaplin the time and creative freedom he needed to meet his own (insanely) high standards.
Another reason he was at a turning point was the tepid response to A Day’s Pleasure and especially Sunnyside. After the years of Chaplinmania that even the dourest critics weren’t immune from, the two shorts were considered disappointments. With stars like Roscoe Arbuckle and Harold Lloyd gaining their own huge followings, people wondered if the Little Tramp was losing his touch. Little did they know that Chaplin’s attention had already turned to his latest feature, a profound project that would draw upon his impoverished childhood in London as well as a very recent personal tragedy.
The Kid was Charles Chaplin’s first feature film.
Around 1917, Chaplin had met sixteen-year-old actress Mildred Harris at a party held by Samuel Goldwyn. The two became involved, and as Chaplin later delicately put it: “There were dinners, dances, moonlit nights and ocean drives, and the inevitable happened — Mildred began to worry.” Wanting to avoid the scandal an out-of-wedlock pregnancy would cause, the two married — only to discover Mildred’s condition was a false alarm. The marriage was limping along when Mildred did indeed become pregnant, and on July 7, 1919, their son Norman Spencer Chaplin was born. Sadly, the infant had an intestinal deformity and only lived three days. Later in life, Mildred would recall: “That’s the only thing I can remember about Charlie…that he cried when the baby died.”
Only ten days after little Norman’s death, Chaplin was auditioning babies at his studio, the threads of a story forming in his mind. And as luck would have it, during this time he also saw four-year-old Jackie Coogan, a child actor who was appearing in his father’s act at the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles. When he met the Coogans at the Alexandria Hotel a couple of days later, Chaplin spent nearly two hours talking to and playing with little Jackie in the lobby, later proclaiming: “This is the most amazing person I ever met in my life.”
Child Actor, Jackie Coogan
Chaplin began filming his new project in 1919, under the working title of The Waif. The story was relatively straightforward but deeply emotional: a poverty-stricken mother (Edna Purviance) leaves her baby boy in a wealthy family’s automobile, with a note saying, “Please love and care for this orphan child.” The car is stolen by two thugs who abandon the infant in an alley. He’s found by the Tramp, who reluctantly decides to adopt him. “The Kid” grows up very poor but well-looked after, the Tramp fastidiously making sure he’s clean and well-fed. All is relatively well until the Tramp gets mixed up with authorities who try to forcibly take the Kid away from him.
The Kid is infused with autobiographical details. After his alcoholic father abandoned the family, Chaplin also grew up in poverty. He also had to contend with authorities who sent him and his brother to various charity schools. He went through the pain of having to commit his own mother, a struggling singer, to an insane asylum. The gritty attic where the Tramp and the Kid live is based on 3 Pownall Terrace, the cramped, dingy London garrett where the Chaplins once lived. The Tramp is the devoted father figure Chaplin never had, and Edna Purviance’s character eventually becomes a successful singer — a fate Chaplin no doubt fantasized for his own unfortunate mother. Some scholars have theorized that The Kid was Chaplin’s way of working through his painful childhood memories. And perhaps he was reinventing his life story to become more at peace with it.
The portrayal of poverty and the cruelty of welfare workers are reminiscent of Charles Chaplin’s own childhood in London. This makes it the most autobiographical film he ever made.
The Kid’s most famous sequence, where the Tramp and the Kid are separated by
the authorities, took over a month to film. Its most famous and heart-tugging
scene, the moment when the Tramp and the Kid tearfully reunite, was filmed in
Olvera Street in the oldest part of Los Angeles. (The brick buildings in the
background still stand today, worn but instantly recognizable.) Jackie’s father
took on the task of making sure his son cried during the emotional shoot,
apparently whispering that he’d be sent to an orphanage if he didn’t. Indeed,
Jackie cried so stormily that Chaplin would feel alarmed, although the child
actor insisted, “I knew Daddy was fooling.”
Chaplin patiently coaxed an amazing
performance from little Jackie, who had a wonderful gift for mimicry. One of
Jackie’s parents were always on hand to watch rehearsals, and they were
continually amazed by how beautifully the two worked together, and how warmly
paternal Chaplin was to Jackie off the set. Clearly, the precocious child actor
was a stand-in for the son Chaplin had so recently lost.
The off-screen chemistry between Charles Chaplin and Jackie Coogan was just as strong as their onscreen relationship.
To the world, Jackie Coogan was also a stand-in for the many orphans of World War I, which had ended only a couple of years prior. He would also come to symbolize orphans of other conflicts. Becoming a major star in the 1920s, in 1924 he toured for the Near East Relief Foundation, which raised the modern-day equivalent of $13 million for children in need.
Today, The Kid has more than stood the test of time. With its universal themes of the relationship between parent and child, the helplessness children can experience, the fear of loss, and the struggle of poverty — all sweetened by some of Chaplin’s finest gags and comic touches — its story remains every bit as powerful as it was back in 1921.
Charles Chaplin and Jackie Coogan met for the last time in 1972, during Chaplin’s brief return to America for an Honorary Academy Award.
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 Quarterlyand has also written for The Keaton Chronicle.
Cooking With the Stars: Katharine Hepburn’s Brownies
Katharine Hepburn
Happy summer, classic movie chefs! After months of writing about some incredible stars and recipes for this column, I knew that I wanted to do something truly special to ring in the second half of this year. Following much deliberation, the time finally came for me to write my most requested Old Hollywood star recipe: none other than Katharine Hepburn‘s brownies!
This is a dessert that’s been requested by just about everyone close to me for this column, from dear friends to strangers and fans of Cooking with the Stars alike. Granted, this isn’t exactly the epitome of a summer treat and I know many of you won’t want to turn your ovens on in the midst of July, but after recreating so many delectable main courses, I thought it was high time for me to do some baking for a change and honor one of the most iconic and formidable women to ever grace the silver screen.
Katharine Hepburn as a baby, shown here in the arms of her mother, Katharine Houghton.
Katharine Houghton Hepburn was born on May 12, 1907, in Hartford, Connecticut to Thomas Hepburn, a urologist at the nearby Hartford Hospital, and to Katharine Houghton, a noted suffragette who campaigned for birth control alongside Margaret Sanger. Katharine’s parents raised their six children to be outspoken freethinkers while also encouraging them to test themselves athletically. Kate’s mother invited her young daughter along to women’s suffrage protests while her father taught her sports such as tennis, wrestling, swimming, and especially golf, which became Kate’s favorite pastime. She practiced each day in her youth, soon competing in the semi-final of the Connecticut Young Women’s Golf Championship.
Another hobby of Hepburn’s was going to the movies each week, which inspired her to perform for her family and neighbors. She charged fifty cents per ticket to her homemade shows, which she donated to the Navajo people. However, her jovial childhood came to a screeching halt in the spring of 1921. At age fourteen, Katharine and her brother Tom were staying with a family friend in New York. She discovered Tom’s body on April 3, dead from an apparent suicide. Much is unclear about the specifics of his passing – whether it was a poorly executed hanging trick, taught to him by their father, or whether he deliberately took his own life. Still, Hepburn’s harrowing discovery led to her retreating from others, becoming shy and dropping out of private school.
Katharine Hepburn in The Warrior’s Husband (1932), one of the most successful plays of her stage career.
For years following the incident, she took Tom’s birthday of November 8 as her own and received private tutoring until she felt confident enough to attend Bryn Mawr College, which she did to satisfy her mother by attending her alma mater. Hepburn initially struggled in her studies due to her extended absence from school, but she received the motivation she needed to excel after being barred from performing in Bryn Mawr’s school plays until her grades were up to par. Kate appeared often in the school’s productions, snagging the lead part in The Woman in the Moon during her senior year. The positive reviews that she received convinced Hepburn to pursue a career on the stage, and the day after her graduation in 1928, she traveled to Baltimore and joined a successful stock theater company. Her first performance with the company was also the first to give her unfavorable reviews, specifically about the shrillness of her voice, so she quickly moved back to New York in order to study with a vocal coach. She spent the following years in and out of various stage productions, and it was obvious that critics were unsure of what to make of this new talent, with some opining that Hepburn was the greatest discovery of the entire profession and others feeling just the opposite. In 1932 she portrayed the lead role in her first widespread success, a Greek fable titled The Warrior’s Husband, where she was spotted by a scout for legendary Hollywood agent Leland Hayward.
Katharine Hepburn alongside John Barrymore in a scene from A Bill of Divorcement (1932), her first Hollywood film.
Soon afterward, Hepburn was encouraged to read for the leading part in RKO’s A Bill of Divorcement (1932). Director George Cukor was blown away by her audition, realizing how much potential the actress had to be a great movie star, so he encouraged RKO head, David O. Selznick, to give in to her lofty request of $1,500 a week for the picture. Despite playing opposite a theatrical legend like John Barrymore for her first film, Katharine was unfazed, giving a characterization that the New York Times considered “one of the finest seen on the screen”. However, similarly to Hepburn’s stage work, reviews for each of her pictures were exceedingly mixed at first. She received her first of four Academy Awards the year after for Morning Glory (1933) and continued her success with an iconic portrayal of Jo March in Little Women (1933), but many of her following releases were commercial and critical disappointments, such as The Little Minister (1934), Break of Hearts (1935), and Mary of Scotland (1936). Still, for every feature of Kate’s that flopped, there was one that garnered acclaim, like Alice Adams (1935), which gave her a second Oscar nod, the delightful Stage Door (1937), and the master of screwball comedies, Bringing Up Baby (1938). Despite achieving several victories onscreen, in 1938 the Independent Theatre Owners of America included Katharine Hepburn on a list of actors considered “box office poison”, which threatened to terminate her career for good.
Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, and James Stewart in The Philadelphia Story (1940), the movie that resuscitated Hepburn’s career and earned the actress her third Oscar nomination.
While this list effectively ended the onscreen presence of some of Hollywood’s finest stars like Greta Garbo and Norma Shearer, Kate was determined to keep her head above water. After RKO offered her a role in the B-movie Mother Carey’s Chickens (1938), she made an unthinkable move for the time and bought out her own contract for $75,000, determined to work as an independent in films and plays outside of the studio’s protection and influence. Her next move was to star in the expertly written play The Philadelphia Story in 1939. Howard Hughes, who was seeing Hepburn at the time, understood that the work would make a ripe screen comeback for Kate, bought the film rights and subsequently gave them to Hepburn. From there, studios came knocking on her door for the chance to adapt The Philadelphia Story, and she ended up giving the chance to number-one studio MGM under the condition that she would not only star but have her choice of director and co-stars. The film was a monumental success and became the fifth-highest grossing picture of the year, earning Hepburn her third Academy Award nomination and cementing her status as a beloved actress in Hollywood.
Katharine Hepburn on the set of The African Queen (1951)
Her next significant onscreen success was Woman of the Year (1942), her first of nine pictures with Spencer Tracy, who would become the love of her life. While the two never wed due to Tracy’s existing marriage, they remained together for twenty-six years, their partnership resulting in hit films like Adam’s Rib (1949), Desk Set (1957), and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967). Hepburn’s success continued through the decades outside of her on-and-offscreen romance as well, with The African Queen (1951), Summertime (1955), and Suddenly, Last Summer (1959) all resulting in Oscar nomination for the actress. She would receive twelve nominations in total throughout her career and win three more in addition to her prior win for Morning Glory (1933), for Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967), The Lion in Winter (1968), and On Golden Pond (1981). She continued to act well into the 1990s before eventually passing away on June 29, 2003, at the age of 96.
Katharine Hepburn’s Brownies
½ cup cocoa or 2 ounces unsweetened baker’s chocolate
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup of sugar
2 eggs
¼ cup flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
Pinch of salt
1 cup roughly chopped walnuts or pecans
1 8×8 inch baking dish
Melt the butter with the cocoa or chocolate together in a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat, whisking constantly until blended.
Remove from heat and stir in sugar.
Whisk in the eggs and vanilla.
Stir in the flour, salt, and walnuts. Mix well and pour into a well buttered 8×8 inch baking pan.
Bake at 325 degrees for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely and cut into squares.
Serves 9
My version of Katharine Hepburn’s Brownies
I want to mention first and foremost that I’m a brownie kind of gal. I’m not sure why, but pies, cakes, and tarts haven’t been my favorites as opposed to brownies, cookies, and especially ice cream. While we’re on the subject of ice cream, I couldn’t imagine a better pair for Katharine Hepburn’s brownies than a generous scoop of vanilla to make this dessert a brownie a la mode, perfect for the summer months.
Katharine’s brownies are extremely fudgy, which I actually prefer brownies to be, and they’re not overly sweet due to the inclusion of unsweetened chocolate. However, I do have to admit that this recipe has a couple of flaws in my book. For one thing, the method that Kate uses to incorporate the ingredients together requires way too much mixing. Once I pulled my finished dessert from the oven, I noticed tons of tiny bubbles on the surface, even after I had attempted to tap some of them out before baking. Mixing each individual ingredient in as you make the batter almost guarantees that the end result will be overmixed, so I suggest adding a few ingredients at a time and mixing very minimally.
On top of that, I was also stunned that these brownies call for a whole cup of chopped nuts, the same amount as the sugar! I don’t mind a few nuts in my brownies, but I suspected before I even added the walnuts to the mixture that they would overpower the other components of the treat, and sure enough, they did. While the actual brownie batter was a winner, the texture was so smooth that it melted in my mouth, leaving the walnuts awkwardly hanging instead of going down as one cohesive dish.
Overall these definitely were tasty brownies, but in this instance, I think the curiosity surrounding one of Katharine Hepburn’s recipes is the reason why her version has withstood the test of time. I think there are better brownie recipes out there, so I personally give this dessert three out of five Vincents. However, if you’re a fan of Kate and you want to try these out for yourself, the simplicity of this recipe combined with the taste makes Katharine Hepburn’s brownie recipe one that you won’t feel sorry for trying.
Hepburn’s Brownies get a Three-Vincent rating!
…
–Samantha Ellis for Classic Movie Hub
Samantha resides in West Chester, Pennsylvania and is the author of Musings of a Classic Film Addict, a blog that sheds light on Hollywood films and filmmakers from the 1930s through the 1960s. Her favorite column that she pens for her blog is Cooking with the Stars, for which she tests and reviews the personal recipes of stars from Hollywood’s golden age. When she isn’t in the kitchen, Samantha also lends her voice and classic film knowledge as cohost of the Ticklish Business podcast alongside Kristen Lopez and Drea Clark, and proudly serves as President of TCM Backlot’s Philadelphia Chapter. You can catch up with her work by following her @classicfilmgeek on Twitter.
Noir Nook: Ripped from the Headlines – Rope (1948)
Rope is a 1948 feature directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring James Stewart, John Dall, and Farley Granger. It may not be necessarily categorized as film noir, but it is undeniably imbued with a feeling of trepidation and inevitable doom that is a hallmark of the era.
Farley Granger and John Dall in Rope (1948)
The film, which takes place in real time, focuses on two college students – Brandon (Dall) and Philip (Granger) who, for no other reason than to prove that they can, strangle a classmate and stuff his body in a large wooden chest in their apartment (“We’ve killed for the sake of danger and the sake of killing,” Brandon crows after the deed is done.)
But that’s not all. That very night, they’re hosting a dinner party – with a guest list that includes the dead boy’s parents – and they use the chest (unlocked, mind you) as the centerpiece from which the evening’s bill of fare is served. The remainder of the film is set at the dinner party as the boy’s parents become increasingly concerned, Brandon and Philip’s former school housemaster (James Stewart) becomes increasingly suspicious, and the two killers become increasingly unhinged.
Alfred Hitchcock called Rope “an experiment that didn’t work out” and, indeed, the film was kept out of circulation for nearly 30 years. The “experiment” was Hitchcock’s idea to shoot the movie without any visible cuts in the action so that it appears to be in one continuous shot. I’m not at all sure why Hitchcock was so critical of the film – for my money, it ranks up there with his best. It literally left me a bit breathless and on the edge of my seat.
Rope was Alfred Hitchcock’s first film in color
Based on a 1929 play by Patrick Hamilton, the film was adapted by actor Hume Cronyn with the screenplay by Arthur Laurents, who also wrote the screenplay for The Snake Pit (1948) and the 1949 noir, Caught, starring Robert Ryan and Barbara Bel Geddes. Hamilton’s play was reportedly inspired by the 1924 real-life case of Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb.
Leopold and Loeb were two wealthy teens who lived in the Kenwood section of Chicago – Loeb’s father was the vice-president of Sears, Roebuck, and Company and Leopold’s father, who inherited a shipping company, made a second fortune in manufacturing of aluminum cans and paper boxes. In 1924, Leopold was studying law at the University of Chicago, and Loeb was taking graduate courses there. Loeb often engaged in such illegal activities as stealing cars, setting fires, and smashing storefront windows, and Leopold, drawn to the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche, frequently discussed the mythical “superman” who stood outside the law.
Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb
It was Loeb’s idea to kidnap a child for ransom in order to commit the perfect crime. By sheer chance, they chose Loeb’s 14-year-old cousin, Bobby Franks, who happened to be walking down the street near his home as Leopold and Loeb were driving around looking for a potential victim.
Leopold and Loeb lured Bobby into their car, bludgeoned and suffocated him to death, then stopped to grab a meal of hot dogs and root beer, which they ate in the car with Bobby’s body in the back seat under a blanket. (Incidentally, part of the killers’ original plan to commit “the perfect crime” had involved strangling the victim with both their hands on the rope in order to be sure they would both share equally in the guilt, similar to the murder in the Hitchcock film.)
They then dumped his body in a drainage culvert several miles outside of Chicago and mailed a ransom note to the boy’s parents. Before Bobby’s father could gather together the ransom money, Bobby’s body had been found – along with the pair of eyeglasses that had fallen out of Leopold’s pocket. The glasses were traced back to Leopold and investigators determined that the ransom note had been written on Leopold’s typewriter.
Ten days after the crime was committed, later, the young academics were taken into custody and confessed to the kidnap-murder. At their sensational trial, Leopold and Loeb were defended by the famed attorney Clarence Darrow, who argued that the boys were an unavoidable product of their high-society upbringing. They were both found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. Loeb was stabbed to death by a fellow inmate in 1936 and Leopold was released in 1958.
The 7,000 square foot mansion where Bobby Franks lived is less than a one minute walk from the Chicago apartment where I grew up – it seems like I’ve always known about the Bobby Franks house. Bobby’s father, Jacob, moved out of the house shortly after the conviction of his son’s killers and sold it to theater magnate Joseph Trinz, who operated 27 local properties (including the famed Biograph Theater, the location where gangster John Dillinger was shot in 1934).
Trinz died just two years later and the house was sold to the president of a meat packing firm and then sold again and renovated for use as the Ffoulkes School for Boys and Girls. By 1959, the building had become the DeLena Day School (which my older brother attended); DeLena closed in 1991 and the building has remained vacant since then. It was sold at auction by DeLena in 2008 for $484,000, and renovations have been in process at the house for the last several years, but they are, to date, incomplete.
If you’ve never seen Rope, do yourself a favor and check it out. You won’t be sorry.
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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:
For the very first post of a column called “Silver Screen Standards,” I can’t think of a better choice than The Wizard of Oz (1939), a film that continues to delight and amaze viewers of all ages eighty years after its original release. People often ask me to name my favorite movie, a request I find utterly impossible, but when people ask me about the first classic movie a newcomer should see, The Wizard of Oz is always one of my top suggestions.
Character actor Frank Morgan appears in six different guises in the film, most notably as Professor Marvel and the Wizard himself. Although he acted in 100 films, Oz is by far his most memorable effort.
It’s a fantastic introduction to classic films for children (as long as they’re old enough to endure the terrifying flying monkeys), but it’s also a familiar picture that adults just getting into classic movies in a serious way should definitely go back and watch, especially if they haven’t seen it since they were kids. The Wizard of Oz rewards viewers of all ages with its delightful songs and spectacular effects, but it also offers a perfect primer for appreciating the classic Hollywood musical, the importance of character actors, and the ways in which various elements of a film, from scores to costumes to choreography, come together to create the whole.
Furthermore, The Wizard of Oz reveals new layers of nuance and meaning with each repeat viewing, which means that even those of us who’ve seen it fifty times can return to Oz and find something previously unnoticed to appreciate.
Many classic movie fans can count The Wizard of Oz as a starting point for their passion. When I was growing up in rural Georgia, classic movies were not easy to see, but every year I looked forward to watching the annual TV airing of Dorothy’s Oz adventure. The first time I remember seeing it was on a black and white television, which spoiled the Oz Technicolor reveal, but I still loved the movie even when I had no idea that most of it was supposed to be in color. Imagine my surprise the first time I saw it on a color set! That yearly TV broadcast starting in 1956 introduced generations of viewers to Oz, and it continued to be a huge annual event until the 1980s and the advent of cable.
For millions of American kids who saw the original movie on television, The Wizard of Oz offered a first encounter with the spectacle of a Hollywood musical, the powerful appeal of Judy Garland, and the unique talents of character actors like Margaret Hamilton and Frank Morgan. Today’s kids can access thousands of movies no matter where they live thanks to streaming services, Redbox, and their smartphones, but they’ll never have the same experience that previous generations did waiting every year for the return of The Wizard of Oz with the same anticipation that they awaited Halloween and Christmas. That annual airing helped the film become the classic favorite that it remains today, and its enduring popularity with those decades of TV viewers proves its timeless appeal.
Judy Garland glows as the sweet but determined Dorothy, a Kansas farm girl transported to the magical land of Oz. The costume department couldn’t keep her pigtail length consistent, but her performance itself is perfection throughout.
One of the reasons that The Wizard of Oz proved such a reliable hit with television viewers is that its pleasures grow with age; as we get older we begin to see and appreciate the film in new ways. We go back and watch it again for its familiarity but instead find some previously unrecognized gem in a dance step, the delivery of a line, or a performer we hadn’t paid enough attention to before. We begin to understand what a magical experience is created when everything in a film comes together. We watch for the changing lengths of Dorothy’s pigtails and anticipate the next appearance of the omnipresent Frank Morgan, especially when showing someone else the picture for the first time.
After terrorizing generations of children as the Wicked Witch of the West, Margaret Hamilton appeared on television shows like Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood to let them know that she wasn’t scary or terrible in real life.
We also think more deeply about the picture’s persistent use of doubling in its characters and how that shapes our understanding of Dorothy’s adventure as more psychological than literal. A nasty neighbor becomes an actual witch, a sideshow huckster becomes a fraudulent wizard, and a trio of goofy farmhands transform into sidekicks full of failings but also full of wisdom, love, and courage. Why doesn’t Aunt Em have an Oz counterpart? Why doesn’t a version of Glinda exist in Dorothy’s Kansas? There’s always something else to notice and think about when we revisit the film.
As a starting point, then, for a column about the essential film experiences every fan should have, I can’t really think of a better choice than The Wizard of Oz. It’s one of the first classic movies I showed my daughter when she was little, and it’s a never fail hit when I show it to groups of seniors. Maybe it’s time you dusted off your copy and showed it to the people in your life. Who knows? You might set yet another viewer off on the yellow brick road to a lifelong passion for classic films.
Win tickets to see “Hello Dolly” on the Big Screen! In Select Cinemas Nationwide Sun Aug 11 and Wed Aug 14
CMH continues with our 4th year of our partnership with Fathom Events – with the 9th of our 14 movie ticket giveaways for 2019, courtesy of Fathom Events!
That said, we’ll be giving away EIGHT PAIRS of tickets to see “TCM Big Screen Classics: Hello Dolly 50th Anniversary” – on the Big Screen — starring Barbra Streisand and Walter Matthau.
In order to qualify to win a pair of movie tickets via this contest, you must complete the below entry task by Saturday, July 27 at 6pm EST.
We will announce the winner(s) on Twitter on Sunday, July 28, between 6PM EST and 7PM EST. If a winner(s) does not have a Twitter account, we will announce that winner(s) via this blog in the comment section below.
The film will be playing in select cinemas nationwide for a special two-day-only event on Sunday Aug 11 and Wednesday Aug 14 at select times. Winners will be responsible for their own transportation to the Event. Only United States entries are eligible. Please click here before you enter to ensure that the Event is scheduled at a theater near youand that you are able to attend. (please note that there might be slightly different theater listings and/or screening times for each date)
ENTRY TASK (2-parts) to be completed by Saturday July 27 at 6pm EST…
1) Answer the below question via the comment section at the bottom of this blog post
THE QUESTION: What is it about ‘Hello Dolly’ that makes it a classic? Or, if you haven’t seen it yet, why do you want to see it on the Big Screen?
2) Then TWEET* (not DM) the following message: I just entered to win tickets to see “TCM Big Screen Classics Presents: Hello Dolly 50th Anniversary” on the Big Screen courtesy of @ClassicMovieHub & @FathomEvents – you can enter too at http://ow.ly/GrkR50v06BQ
*If you don’t 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…
Barbra Streisand as matchmaker Dolly Levi who seeks a wife for Walter Matthau, the ‘half-a-millionaire’ Horace Vandergelder, in Hello Dolly
About the film: Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Hello, Dolly! Dolly Levi uses her matchmaking skills in New York City to orchestrate the love lives of her friends, all while trying to get the man she likes to fall for her. This event includes exclusive insights from Turner Classic Movies.
Please note that only United States residents are eligible to enter this giveaway contest. (see contest rules for further information)
BlogHub members ARE also eligible to win if they live within the Continental United States (as noted above).
Classic Movie Travels: Mae Busch – Melbourne, Australia
Mae Busch
Mae Busch worked with so many Hollywood greats during her lifetime. Billed as the “Versatile Vamp” during the silent era, she also enjoyed success during the time of talkies. Throughout her career, she worked alongside the likes of Erich von Stroheim, Lon Chaney, Charley Chase, James Finlayson, and Oliver Hardy, to name a few.
Annie
May Busch was born in Melbourne, Australia, to Australian vaudeville performers
Elizabeth Maria Lay and Frederick William Busch. Both of her parents toured all
over the world, taking breaks when their two children were born. Dorothy Busch
was born in 1889 but passed away after four months, while Annie May was born in
1891.
While
her family was touring the United States, Annie May was placed in a convent
school in New Jersey. By the time she turned twelve, she became part of the
family act, which was the Busch Devere Trio, working from 1903 to 1912. She
performed with her mother as Mae Busch and earned positive reviews. She
achieved more notice when she replaced Lillian Lorraine as the lead actress in
“Over the River” with Eddie Foy on Broadway.
Having gained experience on the stage, Busch attempted to find work in Hollywood. In order to do so, she claimed that she once lived in Tahiti and was able to swim and dive. She planned to use this story to ideally be cast in The Water Nymph (1912). Unfortunately, she was injured during a dive and returned to New York. After working in the theater more, she developed a reputation for herself that led her to become a potential leading lady.
Mae Busch, Vamp Style
By 1915, Busch was working at Keystone Studios and appearing in comedic two-reelers. Her romantic involvement with Mack Sennett ended his engagement to Mabel Normand, who was also a friend of Busch’s. Reportedly, when Normand walked in on the pair, Busch inflicted a serious head injury on Normand by hitting her with a vase—something that audiences would often see Busch’s aggressive characters do in comedies, usually to fictitiously antagonize Oliver Hardy.
After Busch appeared in a string of films such as The Devil’s Pass Key (1920), Foolish Wives(1923), and The Unholy Three (1925), she walked out on her contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and experienced a nervous breakdown. Upon her return, she worked in supporting roles at studios such as Gotham and Tiffany.
In 1927, Busch received an opportunity that reinvigorated her career. At that point, she was offered a lead role in the Hal Roach two-reeler comedy, Love ‘em and Weep(1927), which began her working relationship with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. In total, she appeared in thirteen comedies with them, often playing high-strung or shrewish women, though she did appear in more sympathetic roles. Some of her credits with Laurel and Hardy include Chickens Come Home(1931), Come Clean (1931), Their First Mistake (1932), Sons of the Desert (1933), Them Thar Hills(1934), Tit for Tat (1935), The Fixer Uppers (1935), and The Bohemian Girl(1936). Beyond 1936, most of her film roles were uncredited.
Oliver Hardy, Mae Busch, Stan Laurel
Busch appeared in roughly 130 films between 1912 and 1946, including a role in the recently-discovered feature, The Grim Game (1919), which was the first feature to star Harry Houdini.
Sadly,
Busch died at the age of 54 in San Fernando Valley, at a sanitarium. She had
been suffering from colon cancer and her ashes were left unclaimed.
Today,
Busch has tributes in her home country of Australia. Her birthplace, located at
57 Page Street, was renumbered to 56 Page Street and stands in Melbourne,
Australia.
Busch’s Home, 57 Page Street and stands in Melbourne, Australia
Thanks to the Sons of the Desert, an international Laurel and Hardy fan club, and its Melbourne Night Owls chapter (or tent), Busch’s home now has a plaque installed on its fence in honor of Busch.
Mae Busch’s plaque installed on her home
Back in
the United States, the Sons of the Desert’s Way Out West tent went through the
process of claiming her ashes and paid for her interment at the Chapel of the
Pines Crematory in Los Angeles.
Busch’s Headstone
It is heartening to see that Busch’s work still resonates with film fans today, particularly with the members of the Sons of the Desert.
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.
Even the poster makes it clear Tallulah Bankhead is the star
One of the captivating traits found in a Pre-Code film is a dark tone, that often reflects a discernible note of danger. I suppose it’s a flair for the dramatics that draws many to the dark side of Pre-Code cinema. There are many such themes of sins and malice found in George Abbott’s The Cheat(1931) .
The alluring Tallulah Bankhead is Elsa Carlyle, an extravagant spender who lives beyond her means and an unsuccessful gambler. She finds herself in debt to the tune of $10,000 one night at a high-end/high-stakes card game, which is more than her husband (Harvey Stephens as Jeffrey Carlyle) can afford. He’s a stockbroker on a tight budget awaiting the next big deal. Outlook grows more grim and perverse when she meets Irving Pichel as Hardy Livingstone.
Irving Pichel portrays Livingston, who plays a dangerous game.
Livingstone intrigues her high-risk inclinations by welcoming her to his exotic house. He is an international traveler with a specific taste for authentic Japanese decor and antiquities. Oddly, he first shows off his enormous ‘Yama, god of destruction’ statue. It’s a frightening and imposing figure, hidden behind closed doors. He goes further in revealing his secret cabinet of dolls. Initially, she finds this to be a queer but amusing display until he explains the symbol embellished on each as his own Japanese crest.
He claims each doll represents the women in his life: “I brand all my belongings with it. It means, possess.” Foreshadowing alerts of strangeness, which lies ahead.
If these dolls could talk, she’d (Tallulah Bankhead as Elsa) run now.
Once again acting impulsively and secretly from her husband’s
gaze, her $10,000 debt doubles when she makes a high-risk investment that
fails. Desperate, she makes a deal with Livingstone. He’ll give her the money
in exchange for her company. While not stated outright, it’s implied his terms
demand a currency of sexual favors.
The next day, thanks to her husband’s financial savvy, he lands
a million dollar windfall thereby allowing her to repay her debts (after she
painfully admits a washed down version of her embarrassing situation). She goes
to Livingstone’s house to return his check. But he doesn’t want the terms
changed. Cue the strange danger lurking.
The pace picks up now when Livingstone demands payment,
despite Mrs. Carlyle returning his money in full. She tells him she would
rather end her life than do his bidding. He presents her with a pistol, daring
her. In a violent struggle when she refuses to comply with any of his vile
absurdity, he rips down her shirt to expose her chest and shoulder. And now for
the truly strange, he takes a hot poker from the ready flames and brands her.
That’s right, just like his twisted trophy dolls, he burns her flesh with a
fire-hot iron on her bare chest as his possession.
An intensely shocking scene, and not just for the bare shoulder. GIF credit: Pre-Code.com
I’ll leave you at this jaw-dropping cliffhanger juncture in
this bizarre story before revealing any more juicy plot tidbits, including its
conclusion. Instead, to whet your appetite, I’ll share my thoughts on why I
believe this Pre-Code makes for an interesting screening.
Firstly, I have a personal curiosity for the lure of
Tallulah Bankhead. I haven’t seen many of her films but her raspy-voiced
confidence and strong screen presence is rather appealing. She immediately
comes across as a woman who can hold her own in any situation, and certainly
with men. Which is why it is all the more compelling when she demonstrates her authentic
portrayal of a flawed character with vulnerabilities. In this film, she does
not disappoint.
Harvey Stephens as Jeffrey Carlyle, Tallulah Bankhead as his wife, Elsa
I appreciated the dynamics between Mr. and Mrs. Carlyle. She is self-aware of her own weaknesses, and there is no doubt of the challenges in their differences. But there is a gentle kindness and respect within their marriage. Evidence of the strength of their relationship is tested and proven by a climatic conclusion via a courtroom trial.
Bankhead as Elsa looks stunning, but at what price?
Symbolisms and themes are sprinkled in: racial stereotypes, sex,
cheating, secrets, gambling and other addictions, debt and financial woes, domination,
misogyny, objectifying, manipulation, and psychopathic violence. I must say the
branding scene was uniquely shocking, even for a Pre-Code.
I own a DVD of this film, as part of my Universal Backlot series, Pre-Code Hollywood Collection. Fortunately, I was delighted to discover a free copy on YouTube. Be aware that this is a remake. There are two silent film versions of this movie; with one considered to be lost, and the other directed by Cecile B DeMille in 1915. I encourage you to explore this unusual film, should you steel yourself in preparation for the creepy perversity, and share your thoughts with me here!
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–Kellee Pratt for Classic Movie Hub
When not performing marketing and social media as her day gig, Kellee Pratt writes for her own classic film blog, Outspoken & Freckled (kelleepratt.com). Kellee teaches classic film courses in her college town in Kansas (Screwball Comedy this Fall). Unapologetic social butterfly, she’s an active tweetaholic/original alum for #TCMParty, member of the CMBA, Social Producer for TCM (2015, 2016), and busy mom of four kids and 3 fur babies. You can follow Kellee on twitter at @IrishJayHawk66
Joel McCrea has been one of my favorite actors since I was a teenaged classic film fan, and in the ensuing decades my admiration for Joel, as both an actor and a person, has only deepened.
Joel McCrea could do it all: Hitchcock, classic comedies, and of course Westerns. But while Joel loved working in the movie business, he famously listed “rancher,” not actor, as his occupation on tax returns. The center of Joel’s life was living with his family on his beloved ranch in Moorpark, California.
Welcome to the McCrea Ranch!
It was thus a dream come true when I first had the opportunity to
visit Joel’s ranch when it opened for public tours in 2011. I’ve been
privileged to visit McCrea Ranch on several occasions since then, and I’d like
to take Western Roundup readers along on my most recent visit to the ranch in
May 2019, sharing a bit of the ranch’s history along the way.
“I always felt so much more comfortable in the Western. The minute I got a horse and a hat and a pair of boots on, I felt easier. I didn’t feel like I was an actor anymore. I felt like I was the guy out there doing it.” – McCrea
The occasion for my latest visit was the ranch’s annual Cowboy
Cookout fundraiser, which helps to support ongoing restorations at the ranch,
where California’s film and ranching history intersect.
Beautiful view from the Ranch
Joel bought the ranch in the early ’30s with the encouragement of his mentor, Will Rogers. Joel and his bride, actress Frances Dee, moved into the ranch soon after their wedding in October 1933. They raised three sons: Jody (born 1934), David (born 1935), and when the first two boys were grown, along came Peter (born 1955). The McCreas lived on the ranch for decades, until Joel’s passing on their 57th wedding anniversary in 1990.
Joel McCrea and Frances Dee in Wells Fargo (1937)
The McCreas grew oats and barley along with raising cattle.
Whenever I visit I muse how surprised many people would be at the simplicity of
the McCreas’ lifestyle; there’s nothing “movie star” about it. Their
home was sprawling and comfortable yet many of the rooms are quite small by
modern standards, heated with simple wood-burning stoves. The decor included a
sampler hand-stitched by Joel’s mother and a bedstead which had long been in
the McCrea family, shipped around Cape Horn to reach California.
The front of the McCrea home
Views of the McCreas’ front porch and yard, which includes a
treehouse and a simple “swimming hole” only filled during the summer:
Before their deaths the McCreas donated much of their land to
local groups including the YMCA and the Boys and Girls Club. After Joel’s death
the family donated 225 acres, including the ranch house, to the Conejo
Recreation and Park District.
A Visitor Center opened on the ranch in 2011, with informative
displays about the family and the ranch and a short introductory documentary.
Several areas of the ranch, including the milk house and the ranch shop, are
available to tour on days the ranch is open for visits. Joel’s 1947 pickup is parked
at the ranch, and it still runs!
McCrea Ranch Visitor Center sign
McCrea’s family and home life exhibit
“Ranching Life” exhibit
Frances Dee exhibit
McCrea Memorabilia
The Ranch is now on the National Register of Historic Places.
McCrea Ranch noticed in the National Register of Historic Places
Today David McCrea’s son Wyatt lives on the ranch and spearheads
work preserving it for future generations. He’s on the left in this photo taken
at the Cowboy Cookout with stuntman Diamond Farnsworth, son of actor-stuntman
Richard Farnsworth:
Wyatt McCrea and Diamond Farnsworth
Actor Bruce Boxleitner, who chatted with fans at the cookout, is
another supporter of the ranch, serving as the on-camera host and narrator of
the Visitor Center documentary.
My husband Doug visiting with William Wellman Jr. at the cookout.
Here’s a look at the cookout scene. Live music was provided along
with a terrific barbecue!
McCrea Ranch Cowboy Cookout 2019
Many items were raffled off to raise additional funds for ranch preservation. I was thrilled to win these original posters for The Virginian(1946)!
Raffle including an original The Virginian Poster!
Events are periodically held at the ranch by the Conejo Recreation and Park District, so Western fans should be sure to watch their website for upcoming events when planning a visit to Southern California. Classic film fans who’d like to help support the preservation of McCrea Ranch for future generations may visit the Joel and Frances McCrea Ranch Foundation for more information.
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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.
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