Win tickets to see “TCM Big Screen Classics: The Godfather Part II” on the Big Screen! In Select Cinemas Nationwide Sun Nov 10, Tues Nov 12 and Wed Nov 13
“My father taught me many things here – he taught me in this room. He taught me: keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.”
CMH continues with our 4th year of our partnership with Fathom Events – with the 13th of our 14 movie ticket giveaways for 2019, courtesy of Fathom Events!
We’ll be giving away EIGHT PAIRS of tickets to see “TCM Big Screen Classics: The Godfather Part II” on the Big Screen — starring Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton and Robert De Niro.
In order to qualify to win a pair of movie tickets via this contest, you must complete the below entry task by Saturday, Oct 26 at 6pm EST.
We will announce the winner(s) on Twitter on Sunday, Oct 27, 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.
Godfather Part II won six Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actor (De Niro)
ENTRY TASK (2-parts) to be completed by Saturday Oct 26 at 6pm EST…
1) Answer the below question via the comment section at the bottom of this blog post
THE QUESTION: Although not officially a classic-era film, what in your opinion makes “The Godfather Part II” a classic? And, if you haven’t seen it, 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: The Godfather Part II” on the Big Screen courtesy of @ClassicMovieHub & @FathomEvents – you can enter too at http://ow.ly/w1L750wE4mO
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.
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…
Al Pacino as Michael Corleone, 1974. (Photo by Paramount/Getty Images)
About the film: In what is undeniably one of the best sequels ever made, Francis Ford Coppola continues his epic Godfather trilogy with this saga of two generations of power within the Corleone family. Coppola, working once again with the author Mario Puzo, crafts two interwoven stories that work as both prequel and sequel to the original. One shows the humble Sicilian beginnings and New York rise of a young Don Vito, played by Robert De Niro in an Oscar®-winning performance for Best Supporting Actor. The other shows the ascent of Michael (Al Pacino) as the new Don. Reassembling many of the cast members who helped make The Godfather®, Coppola has produced a movie of staggering magnitude and vision, the film received eleven Academy Awards® nominations, winning six including Best Picture of 1974. A timeless classic best revered on the big screen, time tested fans and newcomers alike won’t want to miss this special event featuring exclusive insight 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).
The new film is bound to cause controversy among classic movie fans but Zellweger’s performance is Oscar-worthy.
Winter 1968: Showbiz legend Judy Garland (Renée Zellweger) arrives in London to perform in a sell-out run at Talk of the Town. It’s been decades since she shot to global stardom in The Wizard of Oz and many other MGM classics and if her spectacular voice has weakened, its dramatic intensity has only grown.
As Judy prepares for the show, battles with management, charms musicians, and reminisces with friends and adoring fans, her wit and warmth shine through. Even her dreams of romance seem undimmed as she embarks on a courtship with Mickey Deans (Finn Wittrock), her soon-to-be fifth husband. And yet Judy is fragile. After working for 45 of her 47 years, she is exhausted — haunted by memories of a childhood lost to Hollywood and gripped by a desire to be back home with her kids. Will she have the strength to go on?
Being a classic movie fanatic, I admit that I was skeptical about this film, but I have to say that British director Rupert Goold has created something quite remarkable. There are definitely some factual items that Judy’s diehard fans will take issue with along with some timeline inaccuracies, but as far as I’m concerned, Renée Zellweger’s performance is one for the ages. She captures late 1960s Judy Garland in a way I never dreamed possible, tapping into Garland’s humor, intelligence, and pathos with exquisite sensitivity and compassion.
Having worked for several years on a book with Meredith Ponedel about her aunt, Dottie Ponedel, Judy’s personal makeup artist and one of her closest friends, I have been steeped in first-person stories of Judy and I believe those stories mesh beautifully with the woman I see in this film.
I was delighted to sit down with Rupert Goold for Classic Movie Hub to talk about the joys and challenges of telling this story.
Danny Miller: In my classic movie circles, Judy Garland is hallowed territory. How nervous were you about taking on someone who is so revered by so many people?
Rupert Goold
Rupert Goold: Oh, quite nervous, I assure you! Judy Garland is also very disputed territory. I recognized that Judy has this aura among many people as being kind of like a secular saint. And there are definitely these Calvary-like qualities in this last period of her life, someone who feels abandoned at the hour of her departure. But I tried to move away from the idea that we were making a movie about the mythology. I had to. When I approached Judy as a character to be developed it finally helped me stop losing sleep over questions like “What if we don’t get the voice right?” “What if the hair is wrong?”
And yet the recreation, while not exact, is phenomenal, I thought it really conveyed the essense of Judy.
We had many extremely talented people in the tapestry working very hard to get their bit right: the costumes, hair, voice, makeup, posture. We figured all that out, but there was so much more we had to do. I remember one of our tests when we had finally all those pieces in place, and Renée was great — but I could see her kind of doing an impression of Judy. We worked to get away from that. In the end, we both felt that we needed to make this person a human character and not feel enslaved to a specific representation.
Which is why I think her performance is so extraordinary. As much as she gets Judy’s look and mannerisms down, in my view she never succumbs to the stereotypical depictions of the myth, she seems like a real person with that wonderful humor and intelligence and vulnerability intact. It’s such a remarkable performance. I wondered if all of your work with Shakespeare in the theater may have informed your work on this film.
Oh, that’s an interesting question. I think it may have in the sense of how Shakespeare looks at life. To see a great life on the wheel and those who bear witness to it.
Maybe it’s the other way around — maybe your work here will inform your future Shakespeare projects.
Yes, I think it might! (Laughs.) Working on this film certainly made me think of the years I spent in rehearsal rooms with great actors. It’s a weird thing when you direct opera or theater — you see things in the rehearsal room that you may never see on the stage.
Like a certain kind of vulnerability as the actor strives to find the character?
Yes, and also just extraordinary performances. In my opinion, no performance is greater than one of discovery. I remember doing a Pinter play with Michael Gambon a few years ago. We were all a bit worried, Mike was getting on a bit, and then I remember one rehearsal where the room just collapsed, I couldn’t believe what I was watching. It’s such a privilege to bear witness to that. For me, a big motivation for doing this film was that I wanted to make a love letter to what it means to be a performer. No one knew how to do that better than Judy Garland.
Director Rupert Goold working with Renée Zellweger on set
For all the problems she was having at this point in her life, magic could happen when she was out on that stage.
Absolutely. It’s so fascinating to me. I remember some doctor once did this study with heart monitors and he concluded that when someone goes out to perform in front of an audience it’s the equivalent of going through a 40 mile-per-hour car crash. My favorite line in the film is when Renée finishes her incredible opening night performance at Talk of the Town and Jessie (Buckley, who plays her London assistant Rosalyn Wilder) tells her how great she was and Renée turns to her and says, “What if I can’t do it again?” That’s based on something Olivier said to Ralph Richardson, and it’s something I think most performers can relate to — the fear and the bewilderment about why it worked that night.
Yes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen in any film the alchemy that is shown during that first performance at Talk of the Town. Judy is absolutely terrified and not on the top of her game, and then we slowly see her being fed by the audience to the point of giving an electric, killer performance. Renée did such a fantastic job in that scene. How nerve-wracking was that to shoot?
Oh God, there was a pin in that day for the whole schedule. I knew that if we didn’t get it just right, we didn’t have a film.
And I assume she was performing that live on the set?
Yes, it was a live vocal. We ended up doing nine takes which was pushing it, and quite exhausting. Everything about it was challenging. We built the whole scene around this very complicated crane shot but when we got the crane in, we realized it was too heavy for the floor. We lost the first three hours of the day figuring out how to make it work. Renée had the orchestra playing in her ear and during one of her best performances the feed cut out. She sang perfectly but the timing was just a bit off so we couldn’t use it. It was a very difficult day.
And yet the take you use in the film is just extraordinary. I was one of the people who was initially horrified that you weren’t using Judy Garland’s actual voice. But after seeing the film, I think I was wrong. It didn’t matter that Renée didn’t sound exactly like Judy Garland, what mattered was the overall performance and her relationship to it.
Exactly. And one thing I kept saying to Renée is that I bet Judy herself would have gone out on that stage in 1968 knowing that she no longer sounded like she used to. She only had about an octave left at the end of her life, it really wasn’t the voice people were accustomed to back in the day.
But because of her amazing performances and the history she brought with her, I imagine people listened to her through their own memories of what that voice was. It was still incredibly powerful and emotional, and wildly entertaining, just like Renée’s performance in that scene. But what a task she had for that day. Was Renée very nervous going in?
Oh, extremely.
But, of course, in this case those emotions could be used in the scene.
Absolutely. It was a bit of a risk doing that song because Renée sings Garland’s bluesy repertoire much better. She sang the hell out of “The Man That Got Away” even though we didn’t end up using it in the film, and she also sang “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” so beautifully, some of those songs fit her range perfectly. But I really wanted to use “By Myself.” It has this aria-like quality to it and I just loved the lyrics.
Every word of that song has a double meaning to where Judy was in her life at that time.
Definitely. It builds and builds and is wonderfully theatrical, but it was a real stretch for her, we rehearsed the hell out of it!
I can totally see both Judy AND Renée saying after that scene, “What if I can’t do it again?” I was quite nervous about her performing “Over the Rainbow” before seeing the film, it almost seemed like some kind of sacrilege, and yet I admit my wife and I both sobbed during that scene, she so perfectly nailed the emotions in that moment.
Yeah. I remember the orchestrator really wanted to put strings in the song and I resisted. We had a bit of a wrestle about it, I just felt it would be too synthetic, too MGM for this moment which needed to feel more delicate, more intimate.
I’m glad you won out. It was more about that exact time in her life.
Yes. And, in a way, the impossibility of hope that we still cling to. Renée was very nervous about doing that song, of course, from the beginning. But I think it helped that it came right off of “Come Rain or Come Shine.” Her adrenaline was pumping and then she just went down into it. I remember when she got to the line “That’s where you’ll find me” she was reaching for the note and it came out a bit cracky. I found that so moving.
I thought it was perfect. I think when Judy Garland sang that song towards the end of her career it had a different emotional resonance every single time based on what was happening in her life.I think Renée Zellweger did Judy proud with that rendition.
Western RoundUp: Preview of the 2019 Lone Pine Film Festival
Last fall I shared some of the history of Westerns filming in Lone Pine, California, along with a
look at five movies filmed in the area.
Those five films were just a tiny percentage of the Westerns which
have been filmed in Lone Pine over the years, which are celebrated annually at
the Lone Pine Film Festival. This year the 30th edition of the Lone Pine Film
Festival, titled “They Went That-a-Way,” will take place from October
10-13, 2019.
Lone Pine Film Festival 2019 Poster
This will be my sixth consecutive year at the festival, and I thought this year I would share a festival preview here outlining some of the films and experiences available at the festival. Perhaps this overview will inspire a few readers to make the trek up from Los Angeles to Lone Pine and join in the Western fun!
Lone Pine is a small, walkable town on Highway 395. Many of the festival’s events occur at the Museum of Western Film History, a “must-see” for Western fans in and of itself; some festival events take place in a small theater inside the museum, while the majority of screenings take place across the street in the Lone Pine High School Auditorium.
The Museum of Western Film History
In addition to screenings and other festival events, there are also over 15 guided car caravan tours to various spots in the Alabama Hills outside of town, as well as other area locations. In past years, for example, I have visited the ghost town of Dolomite, briefly seen as “Soda City” in Hitchcock‘s Saboteur (1942), and the town of Keeler, seen in Greed (1924) and I Died a Thousand Times (1955). Many of the tours are given multiple times during the festival, so guests can find times which fit their schedules.
This year, as always, the festival kicks off with a gala buffet at
the museum. This is often an opportunity to mingle with festival guests; for
instance, last year my husband took this snap of Robert Wagner (in pink) and
his friend and frequent co-author Scott Eyman:
Robert Wagner & Scott Eyman
This year’s scheduled honored guests will include Robert Carradine, Patrick Wayne, Bruce Boxleitner, Darby Hinton (Daniel Boone), stuntman Diamond Farnsworth (son of actor-stuntman Richard Farnsworth), Cheryl Rogers Barnett and Julie Rogers Pomilia (daughter and granddaughter of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans), Wyatt McCrea (grandson of Joel McCrea and Frances Dee), William Wellman Jr. (son of William Wellman), and Jay Dee Witney (son of director William Witney).
Many of the discussions will be moderated by film historians Ed
Hulse and Rob Word. Live piano accompaniment for a pair of silent films is
provided by the excellent Jay C. Munns.
Films shown at the fest most often were either filmed locally or feature festival guests. Or both! A few of the movies being shown this year:
*Bill Tilghman and the Outlaws (2019), a new film with
a cast of old favorites including Robert Carradine, Johnny Crawford, Lana Wood,
and Darby Hinton.
*Gunga Din (1939), which was filmed in the Alabama Hills; you can still see the spots where the bridge was anchored to boulders and occasionally stumble across a piece of 80-year-old plaster from a set.
*Saga of Death Valley (1939) starring Roy Rogers, introduced by his daughter Cheryl.
*The Round-Up (1920), a Fatty Arbuckle film which is believed to be the first feature-length film shot in the area.
The Round-Up (1920)
*Red River (1988), a TV remake starring James Arness, introduced by costar Bruce Boxleitner. (Update: This was cancelled due to Boxleitner’s filming schedule and replaced with a screening of The Way West introduced by cast member Michael McGreevey.)
*The Cowboys (1972), followed by a discussion with Robert Carradine, Patrick Wayne, and Diamond Farnsworth.
*Hopalong Rides Again (1937), one of many “Hoppy” films shot in Lone Pine; it costars child actor Billy King, a lovely man met at past fests, who recently passed away.
Hopalong Rides Again (1937)
*Blazing Days (1927), directed by the great William
Wyler.
*King of the Khyber Rifles (1953) starring Tyrone Power, who made several films in Lone Pine and was beloved by local citizens for his friendliness and lack of pretension.
*Indian Agent (1948) starring Tim Holt, who has a street named after him in Lone Pine! Other streets are named for Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, and Hopalong Cassidy.
This is just a partial list of the movies available to see during
the festival!
Indian Agent (1948)
Tours will be available specifically based on some of the films shown, including Gunga Din (a must for festival newcomers) and King of the Pecos. Other tours this year include “Randolph Scott in Lone Pine”; multiple Hopalong Cassidy tours with varied locations; a tour of the townsites from Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) and The Law and Jake Wade (1958); a tour based on The Twilight Zone episode “The Rip Van Winkle Caper”; a tour of science fiction and fantasy locations including Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) and Iron Man (2008); a sunrise tour of the Alabama Hills, including a light breakfast; and several more.
The Law and Jake Wade (1958)
Some of the tours, such as the sunrise tour, repeat annually,
while others vary year to year. Most of the guides have many years of
experience conducting tours in the Alabama Hills and other areas around Lone
Pine; they provide outstanding history and insights into movie production along
with pointing out locations.
Other events typically available during the festival include a stunt show (held this year at the high school gymnasium); a horseback ride in the Alabama Hills, led by wranglers from McGee Creek Pack Station; “Cowboy Church,” a nondenominational Christian service held Sunday morning (this year it will take place at the nearby Anchor Ranch movie location site); Sunday breakfast at the town VFW Post; a Sunday afternoon parade down Main Street featuring festival celebrities and local civic groups; and a Sunday evening closing campfire at Russell Spainhower Park, which is named for the man who spearheaded bringing the movie business to Lone Pine in the early days of Southern California filmmaking.
The Lone Pine Mountains
For complete information, please visit the festival section of the Museum of Western Film History website.
I can’t stress enough how much fun this festival is for a Western
film fan. The vibe is relaxed, the folks are friendly, the scenery is gorgeous,
and there are many activities and screenings from which to choose. And where
else will you see cowboys on horseback going through the McDonald’s
drive-through line?!
Some cowboys on a lunch break!
Most importantly, there is simply nothing like watching a Western
with fellow fans and then minutes later standing in the Alabama Hills in the
very spot where that movie had been filmed.
Hope to see you there!
…
– 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: The Irrepressible Harold Lloyd
If we can credit a single figure for being a silent comedy legend, a gifted performer, a pioneer of the cinema, and the very personification of the can-do spirit of the 1920s, it’s comedian Harold Lloyd. While he’s perhaps not as well known today as fellow clowns Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton (indeed, you can rarely keep the names of the three entertainers separate), few souls out there won’t recognize Lloyd’s signature round spectacles–or that famous still of him dangling from a clock in Safety Last!(1923).
Lloyd hangs from a clock in Safety Last! (1923)
And if you take a look at Lloyd’s films,
you’ll quickly discover a fresh, funny, and timeless body of work that can
still delight and inspire us today. It’s not for nothing that Lloyd was one of
the most popular entertainers of the entire silent era–and that’s no
exaggeration.
He was born April 20, 1893, in the tiny village of Burchard, Nebraska (today, its population hovers around a mere 80 people). His father “Foxy” Lloyd and his mother Elizabeth clashed over Foxy’s failed business endeavors and they would divorce in 1910–which was unusual for the time period. Lloyd would decide to move with his father to San Diego. Family lore holds that the two Lloyds couldn’t decide whether to move to California or New York and decided to flip a coin. Fortunately for the world, California was the winner.
a young Harold
In 1913, the Edison Film Company was shooting
in San Diego and was looking for extras. Since he always had the ambition to be
an actor, Lloyd decided to give moving pictures a shot, making his first
appearance in Edison’s The Old Monk’s
Tale (1913). Enjoying the work, he decided to head to Los Angeles and
become a part of this fascinating new business.
Always a go-getter, Lloyd was so determined to be in pictures that he figured out how to sneak onto the Universal lot. He’d later recall: “The gatekeeper was a crabby old soul who let me understand that it would be a pleasure to keep me out. As I lurked about I noticed that at noon a crowd of actors and extras drifted out in make-up to eat at a lunch counter across the way, passing the gatekeeper without question each way. The next morning I brought a make-up box. At noon I dodged behind a billboard, made up, mingled with the lunch-counter press and returned with them through the gate without challenge.” Lloyd’s daring paid off, and he would be an extra in films like Rory O’ the Bogs(1913) and The Patchwork Girl of Oz(1914)–working alongside fellow extra Hal Roach, who would later be pivotal to his career.
In the spring of 1915 Lloyd briefly worked at the Keystone Film Company–the mighty “Laugh Factory” itself. After this stint, Hal Roach contacted him with an offer to star in a silent comedy series as a Chaplinesque character named “Willie Work.” The series was rather tepid, so Lloyd changed his character to “Lonesome Luke,” who became more popular. By 1917, Lloyd decided he wanted to be more unique–and decided to be a normal-looking, energetic “everyman,” distinguished only by his round spectacles (he’d call his “everyman” the “Glass” character). In the sea of screen clowns in pancake makeup, ill-fitting clothes and fake mustaches, this truly did make him stand out.
Harold as the “Glass” character
A tireless worker, Lloyd made short after short and was swiftly making a name for himself. He was only slowed down by a freak accident in 1919 when a prop bomb he was holding during a photoshoot turned out to be the real deal. The explosion caused burns, temporary blindness, and destroyed his right thumb and one of his fingers. His later recollections of the accident sum up his amazingly optimistic attitude toward life: “I thought I would surely be so disabled that I would never be able to work again. I didn’t suppose that I would have one five-hundredth of what I have now. Still, I thought, ‘Life is worthwhile. Just to be alive.’ I still think so.” He would continue with acting and even performing stunts with a special glove concealing his injured hand.
Mildred Davis and Harold Lloyd in Number, Please? (1920)
By the 1920s Lloyd made a savvy transition to comedy features, starting with A Sailor-Made Man(1921). He set high standards for his work and made sure to have a solid team of writers and gag men. His carefully-crafted features were widely acclaimed and wildly popular–some of the biggest box office hits of the 1920s. His thrill comedy Safety Last! (1923) became his most iconic film thanks to the famous clock-dangling scene, and he was critically admired for the nuanced Grandma’s Boy (1922) and inspiring The Kid Brother(1927). To the adoring public, the beaming, thrill-seeking boy-next-door Harold Lloyd could do no wrong. He was very much a national role model.
Fabulously wealthy, Lloyd would build a 44-room mansion called Greenacres that even had its own 9-hole golf course. He and his wife Mildred Davis–a former actress in his films–had two children, Gloria and Harold Jr., and also adopted a girl, Marjorie. He and Mildred would stay married until her death in 1969–and it was their only marriage, too.
The Freshman (1925)
By the 1930s his star finally started to fade, although his initial talkies did well. After a few hits, a flop, and an unsuccessful homage film called The Sin of Harold Diddlebock(1947), Lloyd retired from his filmmaking endeavors and concentrated on hobbies and family. He became a noted photographer and was heavily involved with the Freemasons and the Shriners, frequently visiting sick children at Shriner hospitals.
Lloyd in a traditional Freemason’s hat
The beloved Harold Lloyd would pass away in 1971 from prostate cancer. He had guarded his films zealously, not wanting subpar prints circulating with bad music. While this made his films less familiar to today’s audiences than, say, Chaplin’s, you might say that Lloyd had been right all along. In this 21st-century digital era, his films have been restored and are frequently exhibited with beautiful scores, just as he would’ve wished. And if he could see one of our modern audience enjoying his lovingly-made comedies, laughing just as much as they did back in the 1920s, he would be justly proud.
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.
Not long ago, I was interviewed on a podcast about my very favorite film noir – Double Indemnity (1944). I had an absolute ball talking about the superb writing and direction, the distinctive cinematography and music, and the first-rate performances by Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson, and the rest of the film’s perfect cast.
In case you don’t know the story (not The Philadelphia Story!), it focuses on a steamy affair between insurance salesman Walter Neff (MacMurray) and L.A. housewife Phyllis Dietrichson (Stanwyck), who team up to murder Dietrichson’s husband and collect the proceeds from his accident insurance. Also on hand is insurance claims manager and Walter’s best pal, Barton Keyes (Robinson), who tosses a monkey wrench into their best-laid plans. The film’s title refers to the insurance policy clause that pays double for certain fatal accidents that rarely occur.
Billy Wilder directs Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray
I’m still basking in the glow of my recent deep dive into this classic, so I’m devoting this month’s nook to sharing some of my favorite Double Indemnity trivia and fun facts. Enjoy!
An early version of the Double Indemnity screenplay contained a line in which Walter advises
Phyllis to wear gloves when she handles the insurance policy. Joseph Breen,
head of the Production Code Administration – to which films had to be submitted
to receive a stamp of approval – objected to this sentence because he felt it
would give the heads-up to would-be criminals that they could be traced through
their fingerprints. The line was removed.
Indemnity’s director, Billy Wilder, was the first to win Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay for the same film – The Apartment (1960). Only eight directors have earned this honor.
Jean Heather and Barbara Stanwyck
Barbara Stanwyck was initially reluctant to take
on the role of the murderous Phyllis. Up to that time, she’d never played what
she termed “an out-and-out, cold-blooded killer.” According to Stanwyck, Billy
Wilder asked her, “Are you a mouse or an actress?” Stanwyck responded that she
was an actress and Wilder said, “Then take the part.”
Cinematographer John Seitz was nominated for an Oscar for Double Indemnity, although he lost to Joseph LaShelle for Laura (1944). During his career, Seitz was nominated for a total of seven Oscars, including nods for two other Billy Wilder-directed features, The Long Weekend (1945) and Sunset Boulevard (1950).
The luckless Mr. Dietrichson was played by Tom Powers, who started his career in silent movies and appeared in stage and radio productions for nearly 30 years. Double Indemnity was his first big-screen appearance since his last silent film in 1917. Speaking of Mr. Dietrichson, his first name is never spoken in the film.
Double
Indemnity is set in 1938, but in the scene where Walter and Phyllis first
meet, he makes a reference to The
Philadelphia Story, which didn’t open on Broadway until a year later, in
1939, and was made into a film in 1940.
Tom Powers with Fred MacMurray, Jean Heather, and Barbara Stanwyck
The film was inspired by the real-life 1927 murder of Albert Snyder, who was killed by his wife, Ruth, and a traveling corset salesman named Judd Gray. Prior to the murder, Ruth had taken out an insurance policy on her husband’s life that contained a double indemnity clause. Unlike Phyllis and Walter’s intricate, well-designed scheme, the murder plot hatched by Snyder and Gray was so inept that famed newsman Damon Runyon labeled it “the dumb-bell murder case … because it was so dumb!”
Phyllis’s stepdaughter in the film was played by Jean Heather, who had roles in only nine movies during her five-year Hollywood career. Ironically, one of her films was Going My Way, which beat out Double Indemnity in the Oscar race in three categories: Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. (Insert massive eye-roll.)
James M. Cain, the author of the novel on which the film was based, was pleased with the adaptation penned by Wilder and mystery writer Raymond Chandler. He said that “it’s the only picture I ever saw made from my books that had things in it I wish had thought of.”
What do you think of Double Indemnity? Leave a comment and let us know!
…
– 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:
The 2018 documentary, Truly Miss Marple – The Curious Case of Margaret Rutherford, is currently available for streaming on Amazon Prime, so this is a perfect time to learn more about the iconic character actor and revisit some of her most memorable roles. Agatha Christie fans, of course, know her as the original film incarnation of the lovable busybody Miss Marple, but Margaret Rutherford also made an impression with her portrayals of other quirky characters, eventually winning an Oscar for her performance as the Duchess of Brighton in The V.I.P.s (1963). Although Rutherford came to acting rather late in life and never possessed the glamorous beauty of traditional leading ladies, she deserves a place of honor among the many great character actors of classic cinema because she always delights and amuses with her distinctive screen presence.
Rutherford’s Miss Marple is a quirky character, seen here sticking out her tongue while riding a train in Murder, She Said.
As one might expect from the title, Truly Miss Marple focuses primarily on Rutherford’s embodiment of the spinster sleuth first introduced by Agatha Christie in a short story in 1927, a role that has since been played by Angela Lansbury, Helen Hayes, Joan Hickson, Geraldine McEwan, and Julia McKenzie. Rutherford, despite being quite different from Christie’s vision of the character, had the advantage of being the first actor to play Miss Marple on screen, starting with Murder, She Said in 1961. Three more Miss Marple films followed: Murder at the Gallop (1963), Murder Most Foul (1964), and Murder Ahoy (1964). While Agatha Christie was not thrilled with the light, comical turn of the pictures, she liked Rutherford enough to dedicate one of the Miss Marple novels, The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side (1962), to the performer. Like the various screen versions of Philip Marlowe, Sherlock Holmes, and Hercule Poirot, every Miss Marple is different and has her devotees, but Rutherford’s Marple pictures are great fun even if they stray far afield from their source material. Along as the sleuth’s sidekick in each movie is Rutherford’s real life husband, Stringer Davis, and the oddball chemistry between the two companions is part of the films’ appeal.
Madame Arcati summons the spirits during a séance in Blithe Spirit.
Rutherford, however, was much more than Miss Marple, with a career that spanned thirty years and over 50 film and television appearances, not including her extensive work in live theater. Born in 1892, Rutherford became a stage actor at 33 and was already 44 years old when she made her screen debut in 1936. She played a number of small roles in various British pictures but got her first really memorable part in the 1945 film adaptation of Noel Coward’s play, Blithe Spirit, in which Rutherford reprised her role as Madame Arcati from the stage production.
Rutherford plays the dotty Miss Prism in the 1952 film version of The Importance of Being Earnest.
Stage play adaptations continued to be fertile ground for Rutherford, who went on to play not one but two different characters in different adaptations of The Importance of Being Earnest; she appeared as the indomitable Lady Bracknell in a 1946 TV movie but really made a mark with her portrayal of the flighty Miss Prism in the 1952 film version directed by Anthony Asquith. In 1950 she also reprised her stage role from The Happiest Days of Your Life for the film adaptation co-starring Alastair Sim. Other notable film roles include Mistress Quickly in Orson Welles’ Chimes at Midnight (1965) and, of course, her Oscar-winning turn as the Duchess of Brighton in The V.I.P.s (1963), but I’m personally quite fond of her performance as Nurse Carey in the delightfully odd mermaid comedy, Miranda (1948), and its sequel, Mad About Men (1954).
Rutherford plays the role of Mistress Quickly in the 1965 Orson Welles film, Chimes at Midnight, seen here with costar Jeanne Moreau.
Rutherford’s real life was as unconventional as her film
characters, although it was tinged with early tragedies that affected her
deeply. Her father murdered his own father in a fit of insanity, her mother
committed suicide while living in India, and Margaret was told that her father
had died when in fact he had ended up being committed again to a psychiatric
hospital. Rutherford herself suffered from depression and anxiety and
eventually succumbed to Alzheimer’s disease; her devoted husband, Stringer
Davis, died within a year of her own passing. Truly Miss Marple delves
into these darker elements of Rutherford’s life and provides interviews with
some of Rutherford’s friends, making it a very intimate source for insights on her
personal history. If you’re already familiar with the most notable of
Rutherford’s film roles, the documentary is an excellent way to learn more
about her, but if you haven’t actually seen Margaret Rutherford in action then
start with Blithe Spirit, The Importance of Being Earnest, and Murder,
She Said to get a sense of her legacy before diving into the details of her
biography.
Win tickets to see “TCM Big Screen Classics: Alien 40th Anniversary” on the Big Screen! In Select Cinemas Nationwide Sun Oct 13, Tues Oct 15 and Wed Oct 16
“This is Ripley, last survivor of the Nostromo, signing off.”
CMH continues with our 4th year of our partnership with Fathom Events – with the 12th of our 14 movie ticket giveaways for 2019, courtesy of Fathom Events!
We’ll be giving away EIGHT PAIRS of tickets to see “TCM Big Screen Classics: Alien 40th Anniversary” on the Big Screen — starring Tom Skerritt andSigourney Weaver.
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1) Answer the below question via the comment section at the bottom of this blog post
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Sigourney Weaver in Alien
About the film: Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Alien! Directed by Ridley Scott, the original sci-fi classic follows Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) investigating a suspected SOS on a remote planet and makes a terrifying discovery. This anniversary event includes exclusive insight from Turner Classic Movies.
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I am forever indebted to Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. The duo were my entry point into classic film as a kid, and many of their comedies (Buck Privates, Rio Rita, Abbott & Costello Meet the Invisible Man) still rank among my all-time favorites. Their timing was immaculate, their wordplay was first rate, and their nonstop energy made other comedy acts look stale by comparison. With these attributes in mind, I thought it would be interesting to look at a rarely discussed aspect of Abbott and Costello’s career: their ties to film noir.
The lifespan of the comedy duo and classical film noir parallel each other rather neatly. Like noir, Abbott and Costello were at their commercial peak in the 1940s. They too struggled to adjust come the following decade, and by the late 1950s, they fizzled out. They also played opposite actors like Dick Powell,Thomas Gomez, William Bendix and Marie Windsor, each of whom found concurrent success in film noir. Despite these similarities, however, the wholesome appeal of Abbott and Costello rarely overlapped with a gritty crime aesthetic. In truth, the only film that qualifies as legitimate noir is the 1949 oddity Abbott & Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff.
The film’s original poster
I use the word “oddity” because the film is the rare Abbott and Costello vehicle that fully commits to its genre. Where previous films such as Who Done It? (1942) or The Noose Hangs High (1948) flirted with noir, … Meet the Killer is a full bore parody, with moody visuals and dead bodies scattered throughout. Abbott plays Casey Edwards, a hotel detective, and Costello plays Freddie Phillips, a bumbling bellhop. Freddie gets into a quarrel with one of the hotel guests (Nicholas Joy), but things sour when the guest turns up dead, and he’s made a prime suspect. Casey agrees to help Freddie clear his name, only to find that they’re both in over their head.
To compliment Abbott and Costello on their chemistry would be like praising Olivier for his reading of Hamlet. Certain things go without saying. The duo are sharp as ever here, playing off each other and improvising funny bits of action as only seasoned veterans can. I especially like the scene where Casey tries to console Freddie in his hotel room. He assures him that the police would need a murder weapon and DNA to link him to the scene of the crime. All the while, Freddie realizes that someone snuck a blood-soaked handkerchief into his pocket and a warm pistol under his sheets. It’s a clever little bit that shows off the duo’s combined physical and verbal talents.
Freddie has a hypnotic standoff with the Swami.
Boris Karloff is not the killer, despite the blatantly suggestive title. He’s merely a red herring for the duo to investigate. He is, however, responsible for one of the best scenes in the film. As a former client of the murder victim, Karloff’s Swami attempts to hypnotize Freddie into committing suicide. He orders the hapless bellhop to hang himself, but each time out, he’s foiled by Freddie’s inability to follow directions. Karloff doesn’t have as much screen time as one might expert, but he is superb here, ramping up the character’s frustration in ways that are increasingly funny to watch. He delivers the single best line in the film: “You’re going to commit suicide if it’s the last thing you do!”
… Meet the Killer also benefits from its textured visuals. Most Abbott and Costello comedies rely on standard, high-key lighting, but cinematographer Charles Van Enger takes advantage of the film noir aesthetic here, and the results are surprisingly moody. The black humor of the Karloff scene is punctuated by chiaroscuro lighting that casts ominous shadows on the wall. A later scene, where Casey and Freddie disguise two (!) dead bodies by sitting them up and staging a poker game, is heightened by stark, single source lighting. It’s little touches like these that sell the parody, and allow the world to feel as dangerous as the eponymous killer.
Freddie ventures into the chilling cavern.
In yet another departure from standard comedy formula, … Meet the Killer features a suspenseful climax. Freddie is lured into a bottomless cavern to confront the killer, where he nearly falls to his death. The cavern set is beautifully designed, and director Charles Barton makes us feel the dizzying heights from which Freddie is dangling. Barton made some of the duo’s sharpest comedies, including Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) and the underrated Time of Their Lives (1946), but his talent for staging and pacing is best exemplified here. I won’t disclose the identity of the real killer, or how Freddie escapes the cavern, in the interest of preserving the film’s knotted mystery.
I concede that …Meet the Killer is a minor Abbott and Costello film. It lacks the airtight humor of their best work, or the memorable routines that boosted their lesser films. What it does have, however, is style, a sustained tone, and the appeal of seeing two comedy powerhouses fumble through a murder case. You won’t see … Meet the Killer on any noir lists, but I maintain that anyone with a penchant for classic noir, and a passing knowledge of Abbott and Costello, is in for a treat. B
TRIVIA:Abbott & Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff is the only Hollywood film in history with three of the actors’ names in the title.
…..
–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.
“If things get too much for you and you feel the whole world’s against you, go stand on your head. If you can think of anything crazier to do, do it.” — Harpo Marx
Laughter from physical comedy has likely been around since
the first cave dweller slipped on a banana. But I wager to guess the art of
physical comedy was first perfected on the vaudevillian stage. All the true
masters of this form of humor based their gags on these origins in vaudeville.
It’s no surprise that the most famous comedy brothers of all time, the Marx
Brothers, became huge successes thanks to their workings and reworkings of
vaudevillian slapstick and routines, which they brought to the Broadway stage,
and later to the silver screen.
Harpo Marx
The Marx brothers were a talented lot: Groucho, Chico, Harpo, Zeppo, and Gummo. Born Milton Marx on October 23, 1893 in Manhattan, NY, Gummo was the first of the Marx boys to join their uncle on the vaudeville stage, but he disliked his brief nip at showbiz before joining WWI. After working in the raincoat business for a time, Gummo and his brother Zeppo ran a theatrical agency together. Gummo went on to represent talent in Hollywood for the duration of his career.
Zeppo (born Herbert Manfred Marx on February 25, 1901, in Manhattan, NY) was the youngest of the Marx kids and performed in the first five of the Marx Brothers feature films (1929 – 1933). Additionally, he played a bit role in the 1925 silent film, A Kiss in the Dark, starring Adolfe Menjou. Unlike his more famous brothers, Zeppo usually played it straight and often as the love interest. A natural mechanical tinker and inventor, he left acting to become an engineer and theatrical agent. Both Gummo and Zeppo obtained patents for a few of their inventions.[
The Marx Brothers: Zeppo, Groucho, Chico, Gummo and Harpo.
Undoubtedly, the threesome of Groucho, Chico, and Harpo are the most known of the five, as the trio showcased major motion pictures. Groucho is considered the leader (born Julius Henry Marx on October 2, 1890, in NY, NY) with his brilliant wordplay, where no one was safe from his quick, verbal barbs. Chico (born Leonard Joseph Marx on March 22, 1887, in NY, NY) played the street-wise, Italian-accented shyster who played the piano with a uniquely playful flair. Finally, Harpo (born Adolphe Marx on November 23, 1888, in NY, NY, who later changed his name to Arthur) stood out as the pantomime, donning a blond, curly wig and a rumpled trench coat which contained unlimited props. Like his brother Chico, Harpo also possessed musical talents with the harp and piano.
Harpo and his wonderful coat of props
Of the many contributions to the entertainment industry
across this extraordinary family, I could extoll on all of their talents at
great length. But for the purpose of this month’s article, I want to focus on one
particular Marx- the only brother who took on the challenge of physical comedy
with hilarious silence… Harpo. Without the benefit of clever dialogue, I will
highlight my favorite ‘Harpo moments’ and his unforgettable ‘Harpo-isms’ from
his movie characters…
…..
Chasing Dames:
-Unlike Chico and Groucho who either flirt directly with
women, or flirt with an agenda of poking fun at them, Harpo acts a bit more
aloof in a childish way. He often plays the mischievous, wildly unconventional man-child.
He’s briefly coy and shy, then BAM! He slips in a prank. Harpo was always more
interested in partnering up with Chico and sometimes Groucho in some scheming
plot, rather than catching the pretty girl. If anything, he ultimately chases
the ladies away.
Unlimited Pockets:
-There is no other clown that comes to mind that pulls more
unexpected items from a seemingly bottomless pockets than Harpo. While
magicians grow stale pulling rabbits and doves from their top hats, Harpo
surprises his ‘victims’ and us audience members with absurd objects. Even lit
candles and piping hot cups of coffee have managed to pop out of that
miraculous trench coat.
Talking through Honks:
-Tasked with his mute communication, Harpo always rose to more creative and innovative ways to express himself. In addition to hand gestures, whistles and props, Harpo would often use his famous horn. This was handy beyond counting. It could also express like a musical instrument with just the right pitch. Two examples immediately come to mind. One, giving count of eggs when Groucho is ordering food in a very tiny, extremely crowded cabin room in A NIGHT AT THE OPERA (1935).
Ordering Dinner and Crowded Cabin Scene
[Another funny bit can be found when Harpo pretends to be ill and his only voice comes via the squeezing Kewpie doll ‘honks’ in ROOM SERVICE (1938). [
Harpo and the Little Doll
Loud Chaos Through
Silence:
-Harpo built his career on pantomime and site gags. After his first attempt on stage, the brothers agreed Arthur would do better voiceless and based on his talents as a harpist, “Harpo” stuck. It may be hard to imagine how someone so completely non-verbal can create such havoc. But that’s exactly the intent and main staple of Harpo’s gags. What makes this especially true is the almost innocent, joyous playfulness of his characters, so those caught in the cross-hairs of his destructive path are usually caught off-guard. But this is not run-of-the-mill mayhem. Take for example, the operating room scene with Dr. Hackenbush (Groucho) and his fellow quack docs Steinberg, Chico and Harpo in A DAY AT THE RACES (1937). The results are completely screwy and finishes with Chico and Harpo riding off on a horse.
Mirroring:
-One of Harpo’s most iconic bits is a classic scene of mimicry in the ‘Mirror Scene’, expertly carried out by Groucho as Firefly, President of Fredonia and Harpo as Pinky, the spy from Sylvania, in DUCK SOUP (1933). While sneaking about, dressed in disguise as Groucho in a long nightgown and nightcap- even down to the signature Groucho eyebrows, glasses, and mustache- a full-length mirror is broken and thus the mirroring skit begins. The jig is up when the other identical imposter (Chico as Chicolini) comes along. This wasn’t the first time this routine was performed. You can see something similar in Seven Years Bad Luck (1921), with Max Linder. But the Marx Brothers perfected it. Being such a crowd pleaser, Harpo joined forces again with Lucille Ball (they were co-stars in ROOM SERVICE, 1933) in the “I Love Lucy Show” (“Lucy and Harpo Marx” season 4, episode 28, May 9, 1955) to reprise this famous skit. To this day, this remains one of the most memorable “I Love Lucy” episodes. [
Lucy and Harpo
Musical Merriment:
-Overall, the Marx Brothers comedy stylings are musical. In
addition to the musical numbers and songs, even the jokes are lyrical in pace
and pattern. Although completely lacking much of a formal education, not only
was Arthur “Harpo” Marx very intellectual, he was self-taught in his musical
skills and dabbled as a painter. While Chico played the piano in his own,
wisecracking, unique style of flicking his index finger with key strokes, Harpo
was considered a virtuoso on the harp and could play up to six instruments. As
the Marx Brothers films became bigger and had evolved from a string of
vaudevillian acts from their Broadway shows to actual plots that followed more
of a typical storyline, they always made room for musical numbers from Chico
and Harpo. A personal favorite of mine is watching Harpo play the piano with so
much vigor, that he pounds it into pieces, and magically turns the piano wires
into a harp, of sorts. He continues to play this makeshift harp, while barely
skipping a comedic nor a musical beat. It’s jaw-dropping, wondrous, and madcap.
Take a look:
The Marx Brothers (1937) A Day at the Races (Piano Finished)
[Those Facial Expressions:
-Another Harpoism are the whacky facial expressions he commonly
made. A mainstay was what I call his ‘fish face.’ With his cheeks puffed out,
his eyes cross-eyed, an open, round mouth with the tongue flat rolled to fill
the edges, this is what Harpo called a “Gookie,” originally in namesake from a
cigar roller.
Another funny interpretation of his Gookie expression is his “get tough” face. It’s pretty similar but he exaggerates an angry faced version while repeatedly shrugging up his shoulders with arms dangling to his side, all while making a panting, huffing sound. This scene from HORSE FEATHERS (1932) shows Harpo ‘getting tough’ with a couple of football players (including a rather fit and young-looking 37 year-old Nat Pendleton).
Harpo Gets Tough
Whistling Charades:
-One of the other ways that Harpo would creatively pantomime in order to communicate would be via whistling. Luckily for Harpo, he was one of those rare birds who can two-finger whistle like a whiz. Chico was often his sidekick pal and best interpreter in most of these films. I can think of no better example of this than in a whistling charades scene from A NIGHT IN CASABLANCA (1946). Here’s a clip:
Harpo and Chico Charades, A Night In Casablanca
Unusual Appetites:
-Lastly, a hilarious running gag that Harpo pitched so well
was an insatiable appetite. One cannot forget the time Groucho, Chico, Harpo
and Frank Albertson as Leo order ROOM SERVICE (1938), with Harpo swiftly
shoveling tiny morsels of food into his mouth like a well-oiled assembly line.
Considering Lucille Ball was a co-star in this film, perhaps this was
inspiration for her famous “Job Switching” episode in “I Love Lucy” made 14
years later, where she utilizes the same speedy method with chocolate candies.
But Harpo’s zany appetite was not always limited to food. In A NIGHT IN
CASABLANCA (1946), Harpo offers up his “human guinea pig” services to test
Groucho’s lunch by eating everything from a burning candle and a tea cup to a
phone! [
The Marx Brothers, A Night in Casablanca
In real life, Harpo was a fascinating man with natural-born talents and was considered likely the happiest and most well-adjusted of the brothers. In 1936, he married Susan Fleming. They had 4 children and a happy home life. Not only was he a painter, but he collected art, too. His collections included works from famed artists such as his friend, Salvador Dali. Although self-taught in his own method, he took his harp skills quite seriously, often practicing up to 3 hours a day. He even had a harp in his bathroom, to practice on the toilet. In addition to performing the harp with world-class musicians like singer Mahalia Jackson, he composed his own music. He cut 3 albums in the 1950s- Harp By Harpo (1952), Harpo In Hi-Fi (1957), and Harpo At Work! (1958). Despite his lack of a formal education, he also authored a book, “Harpo Speaks!” (1961).
Like his siblings, he was naturally athletic, which proved essential
for the physicality of his comedy. He enjoyed sports like golf and croquet. He even
had a ‘cold room’ built to store his mallet at the perfect temperature and zero
humidity, and he was posthumously inducted into the U.S. Croquet Hall of Fame. Harpo
died at the age of 75 years old on September 28, 1964. His ashes were sprinkled
at his favorite spot at the 7th hole sand trap at the Rancho Mirage
golf course.
Words of wisdom from a man known for his silence….
“I don’t know whether my life has been a success or a failure. But not having any anxiety about becoming one instead of the other, and just taking things as they come along, I’ve had a lot of extra time to enjoy life.” — Harpo Marx
When not performing marketing as her day gig, Kellee Pratt teaches classic film courses in her college town in Kansas (Film Noir, Screwball Comedy, Hitchcock, Billy Wilder and more). She’s worked for Turner Classic Movies as a Social Producer and TCM Ambassador (2019). Unapologetic social butterfly, she’s an active tweetaholic/original alum for #TCMParty, member of the CMBA, and busy mom of four kids and 3 fur babies. You can follow Kellee on twitter at @IrishJayhawk66 or her own blog, Outspoken & Freckled (kelleepratt.com).
Classic Movie Travels: Adriana Caselotti – Los Angeles and Burbank
Adriana Caselotti
When one reflects upon voice actors and the many animated
features in which they have worked, some individuals and their characters are
iconic or inseparable from one another. Some vocal actors are publicly known
for offering their voiceover talents and giving certain characters the change
to speak. In other cases, some of these individuals and their talents went on
rather unsung.
Adriana Caselotti seems to be one of those individuals who may not be remembered by name. Nonetheless, her voice is a revelation. A talented singer and performer, Caselotti gave Walt Disney’s first animated princess the gift of her voice. While this is noteworthy for her career, this move also proved to be restrictive in terms of the chance for her to grow as a professional in the entertainment industry.
Caselotti was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to Guido and
Maria Caselotti. Her family was Italian, with her father working as a piano
teacher and vocal coach, while her mother was a singer for the Royal Opera
Theatre of Rome. Her sister, Louise, was also a reputable opera singer and
vocal coach.
A young Caselotti
Once Caselotti turned seven, her family returned to Italy to
follow her mother as she toured with the opera. During this time, Caselotti
went to school at an Italian convent named San Getuli near Rome.
Three years later, the Caselotti family returned to the
United States and took up residence in New York. There, Caselotti worked on
re-learning English and studied voice with her father.
By the 1930s, Caselotti was living in California and working in films. She briefly worked as a chorus girl and singer at MGM, appearing in uncredited roles as the Dancing Doll in Naughty Marietta(1935) and as the First Peasant Girl in The Bride Wore Red(1937).
By age 18, she was hired by Disney to voice the heroine of his first full-length animated feature, Snow White for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs(1937). Disney had just decided against Deanna Durbin for the role; he felt that her voice was too mature, despite being 14 years of age—the same age as Snow White. After auditioning over 150 singers for the role, Disney’s representative phoned Caselotti’s father to see if any of his students would be right for the role. Caselotti listened in on the phone conversation and showcased her singing talents and childlike voice over the phone and auditioned for the part.
Adriana as the voice of Disney’s iconic Snow White
At the studio, Caselotti sang along with only a piano for
her recordings, as the film’s soundtrack would be orchestrated later. “I’m
Wishing” and “Someday My Prince Will Come” were essentially recorded a
cappella. Caselotti was paid a total of $970 for her work on the film albeit
going uncredited.
At the film’s premiere in 1937, Caselotti was surprised to
learn that it was feature-length. After recording her dialogue independently,
without any other vocal actors there for a more natural exchange, she initially
thought that the film would be an animated short.
Unfortunately, Disney wanted to keep Caselotti’s voice special by having it be linked to Snow White and nothing else. As a result, he kept Caselotti to a strict contract. Aside from a fleeting moment in The Wizard of Oz (“Wherefore art thou, Romeo” during the “If I Only Had a Heart”) and in It’s a Wonderful Life(1946) (singing in Martini’s bar as Jimmy Stewart’s character is praying), she never had a real singing part in a movie again, even though she was classically trained. Her appearances on the radio were also prevented by Disney. When Jack Benny asked permission from Disney to have her appear on his radio show, he was told that he would not be able to do so because Disney “did not want to spoil the illusion of Snow White.”
As the years went on, Caselotti continued singing and
invested in stocks and real estate. She attempted a career in opera but did not
match the success of her iconic Snow White role. She married four times
(divorced twice and widowed twice) and all the while remained active in the
promotion and publicity of Snow White. In
fact, she lived in a home that was themed to the film, complete with a wishing
well and film memorabilia from fans. Her answering machine greeting featured
her singing “I’m Wishing,” and she would often greet the children of visitors
by singing in her Snow White voice. Years after the release of Snow White, she tried to sue Disney
for a larger portion of the film’s profits but lost.
Thirty years after the initial recording sessions for Snow White, Caselotti returned to
Disney Studios to record once again. This time, she offered her voice for an
exhibit at the Telephone Association of Canada in Montreal, which offered
children to dial a phone and have a “conversation” with their favorite Disney
character. In the 1990s, she would work with the Disney Company again,
re-recording “I’m Wishing” for Disneyland’s Snow White Wishing Well at the age
of 75. She was named a Disney Legend in 1994.
Caselotti passed away at the age of 80 from lung cancer in
her Los Angeles home.
Today, there are very few tributes to Caselotti, with far
more recognition being given to the character she voiced than for herself. Her
family’s 1930 home at 1340 N Douglas St in Los Angeles no longer stands. In
1940, she lived at 6864 Alta Loma Terrace in Los Angeles. Here is the property
today:
Caselotti residence at 6864 Alta Loma Terrace in Los Angeles, CA
Her themed to her iconic role stands at 201 S. Larchmont
Blvd. in Los Angeles. Here it is today:
A house fit for Snow White herself!
When she was honored as a Disney legend, Caselotti had a
handprint ceremony. The prints would be made into a bronze cast, which is now
on display at the Disney Legends Plaza at the Walt Disney Studios in
Burbank.
Caselotti is forever immortalized as a Disney Legend!
While not often recognized by her name, Caselotti’s memorable voice continues to enchant audiences to this day.
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.
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