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.
In order to qualify to win a pair of movie tickets via this contest, you must complete the below entry task by Saturday, Sept 28 at 6pm EST.
We will announce the winner(s) on Twitter on Sunday, Sept 29, 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.
ENTRY TASK (2-parts) to be completed by Saturday Sept 18 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 “Alien” 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: Alien 40th Anniversary” on the Big Screen courtesy of @ClassicMovieHub & @FathomEvents – you can enter too at http://ow.ly/KM9750waJre
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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.
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 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.
Cooking With the Stars: Claudette Colbert’s Cheese and Olive Puffs
A scene from The Palm Beach Story, with Joel McCrea and Claudette Colbert.
If you’re a Cooking with the Stars devotee, you might have noticed that I attempt to curate the recipes and honorees with a specific theme or date in mind each month. As summer is reaching its end, we find a break in the notable days and holidays. While there are a ton of significant classic movie star birthdays throughout the month of September, I thought it would be fitting to honor one specific star during Cooking with the Stars’ inaugural year: Claudette Colbert, who shares a birthday with yours truly on September 13th!
Claudette is an actress who has perhaps slid under the radar compared to other ladies in Tinseltown despite the array of incredible films that she left behind for the world to appreciate. Even I’ll admit that I’ve been severely lacking in my Claudette knowledge, aside from hearing about her recipe for this savory hors d’oeuvre and watching a few of her movies here and there, so I thought now would be the perfect opportunity to put Claudette on a well-deserved pedestal and show my readers what an instrumental part of Hollywood she truly was.
Claudette Colbert as a child, photo was taken from a vintage magazine article about Colbert’s early life.
Claudette Colbert was born Émilie Claudette Chauchoin on September 13, 1903 in Saint-Mandé, France. Her association with the theater came early in her life as she was given the nickname of ‘Lily’ after actress Lily Langtry. Due to the fact that many of Claudette’s relatives were born on the Channel Islands between England and France, the Chauchoins spoke both French and English. This proved helpful when the family emigrated to the United States in order to find work when Claudette was only three years old. They settled in a New York City apartment on the fifth floor, and Colbert later stated that climbing multiple flights of stairs to her home every day made her legs beautiful.
Once in America, Claudette’s legal name was changed to Lily Claudette Chauchoin, but despite her theatrical namesake, her dream as a youth was to become a painter. She studied at Washington Irving High School, which was known at the time for its arts program, and while there she was encouraged to audition for a play that her speech teacher had written. Colbert made her stage debut at the Provincetown Playhouse in The Widow’s Veil in 1919 at the age of 15, though this opportunity didn’t move the teenager away from her true aspirations.
Claudette Colbert in an early publicity shot, c. the 1920’s.
She enrolled at the Art Students League of New York with the intention of becoming a fashion designer, paying for her education by working in a dress shop. While attending a party with writer Anne Morrison, Colbert was offered a part as an extra in Morrison’s Broadway production of The Wild Westcotts in 1923, using a combination of her middle name, Claudette, and her maternal grandmother’s maiden name, Colbert, as her stage name. After her first Broadway appearance, her stage offers only multiplied, so Claudette decided to make a go of it as an actress and signed a five-year contract with producer Al Woods in 1925.
Woods was keen on promoting Colbert as his newest discovery, but the actress was disappointed by the stereotypical French parts she was given. As she later remarked, “In the very beginning, they wanted to give me French roles. That’s why I used to say my name ‘Col-bert‘ just as it is spelled instead of ‘Col-baire‘. I did not want to be typed as ‘that French girl.'” She was noticed by legendary producer Leland Hayward while starring as a snake charmer in the critically acclaimed play The Barker in 1927. He gave Claudette her first film role in For the Love of Mike (1927), which unfortunately failed at the box office and is now considered lost. It wasn’t long before Colbert was offered a contract with Paramount Pictures, which was largely due to her lovely speaking voice during a time when Hollywood was clamoring for actors who were able to deliver dialogue.
Claudette Colbert featured front and center in a publicity still for her 1934 version of Cleopatra.
At first Colbert was hesitant to dive into the motion picture business, attempting to find work on the stage in the evenings while she worked in front of a camera in the mornings, but as the Great Depression hit the nation, theater after theater closed their doors and she quickly found out which medium would be more lucrative in the long run. The coming decade seemingly made Claudette a star overnight. Some of her first speaking roles were in first-rate productions opposite some of the most sought-after leading men of her era, in works such as The Big Pond (1930) with Maurice Chevalier, Manslaughter (1930) opposite Fredric March, and His Woman (1931) with Gary Cooper.
Her career reached even greater heights when visionary Cecil B. DeMille saw potential in the up-and-coming star and cast her in one of the most iconic and provocative films of the pre-code era, The Sign of the Cross (1932), which is still considered notable today for her scandalous nude bathing scene. She reteamed with DeMille only two years later in the titanic role of Cleopatra (1934), and by this time she was ranked as the 13th highest-grossing star in the business. In addition, she was fortunate to star in a variety of leading roles that tested her acting talents and had the power to make some of her own decisions regarding her career, so when she was offered the lead in It Happened One Night (1934), she initially turned it down.
Shirley Temple presenting Claudette Colbert with her Best Acress Academy Award for It Happened One Night on February 27, 1935.
After Columbia sweetened the pot by offering the actress more money and a quick shooting schedule that allowed her to take a vacation, she reluctantly agreed to star in her first feature opposite Clark Gable. Despite the fact that both leads wanted to walk away from this picture, it ended up being a resounding success and was the first film to sweep the Academy Awards, netting a Best Actress Oscar for Colbert as well as awards for Best Picture, Best Actor for Gable, Best Director for Frank Capra, and Best Screenplay for Robert Riskin.
The film is still regarded one of the finest romantic comedies of all time, making it a tough act to follow, but Colbert delivered in spades by starring in the original version of Imitation of Life (1934). If that wasn’t enough, Claudette Colbert climbed to the rank of sixth and eighth in the annual Top Ten Money-Making Stars Polls of 1935 and 1936 respectively and received her second Academy Award nomination for her role in the hospital drama Private Worlds (1935). The following year, she signed a new contract with Paramount which made her Hollywood’s highest-paid actress, only to renew her contract once again in 1938 for another salary increase. This made her the highest-paid star in Hollywood, man or woman, with a salary of $150,000 a film.
Claudette Colbert featured alongside Melvyn Douglas and Robert Young in a scene from my favorite film of hers, I Met Him in Paris.
The remainder of the 1930s were kind to Colbert as she continued to play the leading lady in a steady stream of successful films, such as my personal favorite picture of hers, I Met Him in Paris (1937) with Melvyn Douglas and Robert Young, Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife (1938), which paired her once again with Gary Cooper and is known for perhaps being the best example of the “meet-cute”, and It’s a Wonderful World (1939) with Colbert starring opposite James Stewart.
Even though she was a formidable moneymaker at Paramount, in 1940 Colbert made the courageous move to not renew her own contract with the studio after realizing that she could make more per film as a freelance actress than she could make per year at the studio that made her a star. Boom Town (1940) with MGM, her first picture away from Paramount, paired her with Clark Gable once again and added the attraction of Spencer Tracy and Hedy Lamarr, proving how successful Colbert could be on her own.
Colbert is shown with Ann Blyth in a publicity photo for Thunder on the Hill, one of Colbert’s last successful films.
She soon added another iconic comedy to her belt, The Palm Beach Story (1942), and held steady through the wartime period as well with hit features like So Proudly We Hail! (1943) and Since You Went Away (1944), picking up her third and final Best Actress nod for the latter work.
Colbert went on to maintain her reputation as a gifted star opposite Fred MacMurray in the comedy The Egg and I (1947), which became the 12th-most profitable American film of the 1940s and was still drawing in the masses as the 22nd-highest box-office star of 1949. Colbert was even set to play the role of Margo Channing in the iconic All About Eve (1950) until she was forced to leave the production due to a back injury, later stating: “I just never had the luck to play b*tches.” After a couple more film successes in movies such as Thunder on the Hill (1951) and Let’s Make it Legal (1951), Colbert worked mostly on television for the rest of the decade, effectively retiring thereafter and living between her Manhattan home and her summer plantation in Barbados for the rest of her life. She passed away after a series of strokes on July 30, 1996, at the age of 92.
Claudette Colbert’s Cheese and Olive
Puffs
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco
Dash of Worcestershire sauce
2 (10-ounce) jars of pimento-stuffed green olives, drained and blotted dry
Add cheese and butter to the bowl of a food processor and blend until smooth.
Add flour, Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce to form the dough.
Wrap each olive in a small amount of dough, completely covering the olive and forming a ball.
Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and freeze (should take two hours at most).
Place on a baking sheet and bake at 400˚ F for 12 minutes, or until crust is golden. Serve hot.
My version of Claudette Colbert’s Cheese and Olive Puffs.
Despite this recipe having few ingredients and steps, Claudette’s Cheese and Olive Puffs are certainly time-consuming to make. I was gifted a food processor a couple of Christmases ago, which I’m afraid to admit that I’ve barely used due to its massive size and many, many parts. I usually whip it out during the Thanksgiving season for Lucille Ball‘s Cranberry Sauce recipe and I can’t recall using it since then, but lo and behold, this was an occasion that required it. If you’re a food processor whiz, forming the cheesy dough probably wouldn’t take as long for you as it did me, but I basically had to re-learn how to assemble and use the appliance in order to recreate Claudette’s appetizers.
The dough ended up being very promising once it was finished, almost having a fancy Cheez-It sort of taste and consistency, so I had very high hopes for the final result. After struggling to open the jar of Spanish green olives for the better part of ten minutes, I finally was able to start covering each individual olive with the dough, which proved to be the most tedious part. Even though I only ended up using about three-quarters of one ten-ounce jar of olives before running out of dough, which was much less than the two full jars of olives the recipe calls for, I still feel like I faced enough hors d’oeuvres to feed an army.
These puffs need very little time to freeze, only about an hour and a half, before they’re ready for the oven. The dough was already a lovely golden color, so it was a little difficult to tell when the puffs were done, but after fifteen minutes I had some piping hot appetizers that really looked delicious. These little cheesy balls, however, were something entirely different than I expected. Believe me when I say that these puffs are INTENSE. I mean barely edible, enough to make you gag intensely. Don’t get me wrong, the flavor wasn’t objectionable, but the strongest-tasting olive wrapped in the strongest-tasting cheese was just too much for the human palate to handle. I tried to mellow the flavors out by dipping the puffs in ranch dressing, which helped some, but I couldn’t come anywhere near eating all of the appetizers I made.
Meanwhile, my boyfriend barely ate a single puff before stating that they’re “just too much” and refused to eat anymore. I became so captivated by Claudette through the process of writing about her and discovering her work, but disappointingly I can only give her recipe for Cheese and Olive Puffs two out of five Vincents as it is. These puffs could very possibly be saved if the more mellow black olive is used with a milder cheese, and I would strongly suggest that my readers give these a try with those modifications! No matter what, I feel so grateful and honored to share a birthday with this incredible and accomplished actress, and I urge everyone to watch more of her films and fall in love with her as I did!
Claudette Colbert’s Cheese and Olive Puffs get two-out-of-five Vincents!
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–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.
Celebrating Women Pioneer Filmmakers! We’re Giving Away 5 Alice Guy-Blache Documentary DVDs this Month!
A scrupulously well-researched documentary about one of early cinema’s greatest pioneers and the world’s first woman filmmaker – The Hollywood Reporter
This month we kick off our Women Pioneers Filmmaker Celebration with a very special giveaway! We are happy to say that we’re giving away FIVE COPIES of the Classic Movie Documentary “Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blache”, courtesy of our friends at Kino Lorber and Zeitgeist Films!
Alice Guy-Blaché, pioneer woman filmmaker, wrote, directed, and/or produced about 1,000 films…
In order to qualify to win one of these prizes via this contest giveaway, you must complete the below entry task by Saturday, Oct 5 at 9PMEST. However, the sooner you enter, the better chance you have of winning, because we will pick our winners on five different days within the contest period, via random drawings, as listed below… So if you don’t win the first week that you enter, you will still be eligible to win during the following weeks until the contest is over.
September 7: One Winner
September 14: One Winner
September 21: One Winner
September 28: One Winner
October 5: One Winner
We will announce each week’s winner on Twitter @ClassicMovieHub (or this blog, depending how you entered), the day after each winner is picked at 9PM EST — for example, we will announce our first week’s winner on Sunday September 8 at 9PM EST.
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About the DVD. Alice Guy-Blaché was a true pioneer who got into the movie business at the very beginning — in 1894, at the age of 21. Two years later, she was made head of production at Gaumont and started directing films. She and her husband moved to the United States, and she founded her own company, Solax, in 1910 — they started in Flushing and moved to a bigger facility in Fort Lee, New Jersey. But by 1919, Guy-Blaché’s career came to an abrupt end, and she and the 1000 films that bore her name were largely forgotten. Pamela B. Green’s energetic film is both a tribute and a detective story, tracing the circumstances by which this extraordinary artist faded from memory and the path toward her reclamation. Narration by Jodie Foster. Directed by Pamela B. Green.
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ENTRY TASK (2-parts) to be completed by Saturday, October 5 at 9PM EST— BUT remember, the sooner you enter, the more chances you have to win…
1) Answer the below question via the comment section at the bottom of this blog post
2) ThenTWEET (not DM) the following message: Just entered to win the “Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blache” #DVDGiveaway courtesy of @KinoLorber and @zeitgeistfilms #CMHContest Link: http://ow.ly/MQeC50vU4BY
THE QUESTION: Why would you like to win a copy of this Alice Guy-Blache documentary?
*If you do not have a Twitter account, you can still enter the contest by simply answering the above question via the comment section at the bottom of this blog — BUT PLEASE ENSURE THAT YOU ADD THIS VERBIAGE TO YOUR ANSWER: I do not have a Twitter account, so I am posting here to enter but cannot tweet the message.
ALSO: Please allow us 48 hours to approve your comments. Sorry about that, but we are being overwhelmed with spam, and must sort through 100s of comments…
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Please note that only Continental United States (excluding Alaska, Hawaii, and the territory of Puerto Rico) entrants are eligible.
And — BlogHub members ARE eligible to win if they live within the Continental United States (as noted above).
And if you can’t wait to win this DVD, you can click on the images below to purchase on amazon:
I promised then that I’d be looking at additional leading ladies of “B” Westerns in the future, so here’s a sequel to that column. This time around we’ll take a look at Marjorie Reynolds, Lola Lane, and Anne Jeffreys.
Marjorie Reynolds and Carlyle Moore in The Overland Express (Drew Eberson, 1938)
Marjorie Reynolds was born in Idaho in 1917. Like Virginia Grey, one of the actresses I wrote about earlier this year, Reynolds started out in the movies working as a child actress before moving into bit parts as an adult.
Reynolds’ first opportunities as a leading lady were in “B” Westerns opposite Western stars such as Buck Jones, Tex Ritter, George O’Brien, and Ken Maynard. Marjorie was 20 when she appeared opposite Jones in The Overland Express (1938) for Columbia Pictures. It was one of her first couple of credited leading roles, just after she made Tex Rides with the Boy Scouts (1937) with Ritter.
Overland Express is the story of a Pony Express line started in Sacramento, California, by Buck Dawson (Buck Jones). Californians have grown weary of delays receiving mail from the East, especially after they only belatedly learned of the start of the Civil War.
Marjorie plays tomboyish Jean Greeley, who alternates wearing
pants and cowboy hats with pretty dresses and bonnets. Jean has a crush on Pony
Express rider Tommy (Carlyle Moore Jr.), but Tommy’s life will soon be in
danger due to the machinations of the owners of a stage line who want the mail
contract for themselves.
Still from The Overland Express (1938)
The movie is somewhat interesting, depicting the establishment of
Pony Express stops in real locations such as Friday’s Station, California, and
Genoa, Nevada, but the combination of “just the facts” story with
lots of stock footage of riders and Indian battles doesn’t leave a great deal
of room for character development or emotion. The latter is supplied only due
to Marjorie’s performance, when about halfway through the film Jean witnesses
Tommy’s limp body return to town slung across a horse; her ensuing scenes are
moving and provide the film’s only real emotional pull. Without Marjorie’s
performance, this lesser Buck Jones Western would have been dull fare indeed.
“Smashing Saga of The Pony Express!”
After appearing in numerous Westerns, Marjorie hit it big dancing with Fred Astaire and introducing “White Christmas” (albeit dubbed by Martha Mears) with Bing Crosby in Holiday Inn (1942). While many of her films after that point would continue to be relatively minor, she also had notable roles in a few additional films, including the classic Fritz Lang thriller Ministry of Fear (1944) and the Abbott and Costello comedy The Time of Their Lives (1946). She also starred with William Bendix in the TV series The Life of Riley from 1953 to 1958.
Lola Lane in Lost Canyon (Lesley Selander, 1942)
You never know who will turn up in a Hopalong Cassidy Western, and in this case, it’s lovely Lola Lane of the Lane Sisters. Lane was born in Indiana in 1906; while she started in films in 1929, she was perhaps best known for starring with her younger sisters Priscilla and Rosemary in Four Daughters (1938) and its sequels. Lola continued to work in roles large and small in a variety of films, including a couple of Westerns, before retiring from the screen in 1946.
Here she stars with William Boyd in the Paramount Pictures release Lost Canyon (1942), a remake of an earlier Hoppy film, Rustlers’ Valley (1937). Lola plays Laura Clark, who is engaged to Jeff Burton (Douglas Fowley, remembered by many as the director in Singin’ in the Rain).
Jeff doesn’t want Laura to be friendly with her old family friend Hoppy, which perplexes her; Laura is unaware Jeff and Hoppy had come to blows when Jeff made a crack about the death of Hoppy’s sidekick Johnny (Jay Kirby). Johnny is believed to have robbed a bank, but naturally, no friend of Hoppy’s would be a bank robber, and thankfully he’s not really dead, either.
Jeff has been up to no good and becomes increasingly obnoxious
every time he happens to see Laura being friendly with Hoppy. Jeff isn’t very smart,
as it doesn’t seem to register with him that driving his fiancee away will
spoil his plan to acquire her father’s ranch along with their marriage. As
Hoppy sets out to clear Johnny’s name, things are unlikely to end well for
Jeff.
Lane is a very pleasant addition to this film, and although Laura and Hoppy aren’t romantically involved, it was rather nice to see Boyd play opposite an actress who was much closer to his age than many of the actresses who appeared in the series. Boyd and Lane convey a comfortable and appealing friendship in their scenes together. I especially enjoyed a couple of scenes where they listen to The Sportsmen Quartette — including future “Tony the Tiger”/Disney voice Thurl Ravenscroft — singing “I Got Spurs That Jingle Jangle Jingle.” The only thing that would have been nicer would have been if Lane had the opportunity to sing as well!
Anne Jeffreys in Calling Wild Bill Elliott (Spencer Gordon Bennet, 1943)
Anne Jeffreys, born in North Carolina in 1923, had just started making films in 1942, yet the 1943 release Calling Wild Bill Elliott was her 12th film! It was the first of eight Westerns she made at Republic opposite Bill Elliott. She then moved on to RKO in 1944, where one of her first roles was starring opposite Robert Mitchum in the “B” Western Nevada (1944).
Calling Wild Bill Elliot Theatre Card
Anne doesn’t enter Calling Wild Bill Elliott until
around halfway through the 55-minute running time, but she quickly has a very
nice scene where she sings while “Wild Bill” is listening outside a
window.
The plot concerns a greedy governor (Herbert Hayes) driving
ranchers off their land, and Wild Bill Elliott comes to the help of his
friends. Spunky Edith (Jeffreys), newly arrived in town, initially has the
wrong impression of Bill, especially when she believes he’s murdered her father
(Forbes Murray), but when shown she’s wrong she quickly takes action to set
things right.
Calling Wild Bill Elliot movie poster
While I would have loved for Anne to have more screen time, she
does a nice job in this fast-paced and enjoyable film, showing the same
forthright confidence the actress radiated in her later movies.
Anne was interviewed by Michael G. Fitzerald and Boyd Magers for their book Ladies of the Western, where she remembered her frequent costar Bill Elliott as “a very nice gentleman.” She said, “He had it all planned what he was going to do and how he was going to do it. And he accomplished it. He became a big Western star practically overnight. He was always sort of reserved and quiet, but fun…had a nice sense of humor.”
Anne would later appear in a pair of Randolph Scott “A” Westerns, Trail Street (1947) and Return of the Bad Men (1948). After the latter film, Anne only appeared in a handful of additional movies, but she went on to very successful careers in both musical theater and television, where her credits included starring with her husband, Robert Sterling, in Topper from 1953 to 1955.
Watch for looks at additional leading ladies of the “B’s” here in the future!
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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.
Cooking With the Stars: Dolores del Río’s Enchiladas
Dolores del Río
As summer continues, the temperatures are still rising over at Cooking with the Stars HQ! While I’ve been staying inside and preparing for the epic programming of TCM’s Summer Under the Stars, I’ve been giving a lot of thought as to which recipe and star would be the perfect one to honor during the month of August. While there are many amazing actors and actresses appearing on TCM this month that I would be thrilled to write about, I decided to mix things up a little bit and take a trip south of the border to whip up some authentic enchiladas and pay tribute to my favorite actress of color for the wonderful occasion of her 114th birthday: Dolores del Río!
Dolores del Río is shown here during her early days in cinema
Dolores was born on August 3, 1905, under the name of María de los Dolores Asúnsolo y López-Negrete in Durango City, Mexico. It was reported that her family was one of the wealthiest in the country, as her father was the director of the Bank of Durango and her mother descended from Mexican aristocracy and Spanish nobility. On her mother’s side, Dolores was also a cousin of two other Hispanic pioneers in cinema, famed Latin silent star Ramón Novarro, and actress Andrea Palma.
Despite her family’s wealth and success, the Mexican Revolution stripped them of their assets and threatened their lives. While Dolores’ father decided to flee to the United States, Dolores and her mother boarded a train for Mexico City in disguise, barely escaping the power and influence of Pancho Villa. The patriarch of the Asúnsolo family would soon reunite with his wife and daughter, and in 1912 they were able to settle in the nation’s capital due to the protection offered by Dolores’ mother’s cousin, President Francisco Madero.
As Dolores grew up, she became inspired by the theater and yearned to become a dancer. She began studying under famed teacher Felipita Lopez, and by the age of seventeen, she was invited to perform at a local hospital benefit, where she met Jaime Martínez del Río y Viñent, who would become Dolores’ first husband just two months later on April 11, 1921. Their honeymoon lasted two years, during which the couple sailed all over Europe and Dolores danced for the King and Queen of Spain. The two eventually settled at Jaime’s cotton ranch in Mexico City but soon faced destitution when the price of cotton took a nosedive. Around the same time during early 1925, Dolores met influential American filmmaker Edwin Carewe, who was immediately taken with the young dancer and became determined to make her a star. She and Jaime saw the chance meeting as an opportunity to save themselves financially and boarded a train to Los Angeles.
Dolores del Río alongside Edmund Lowe and Victor McLaglen in a publicity photo for her most acclaimed silent film, What Price Glory? (1926)
As soon as she arrived in Hollywood, Dolores del Río took Carewe on as her manager, agent, and primary collaborative partner, and the two went to work in order to mold her into the female equivalent of Rudolph Valentino. They used her aristocratic background to get her foot in the door to Hollywood glamour, and within the same year of meeting Carewe, she appeared in her first film, Joanna (1925), in a minor part. As the mystique surrounding the Latina actress grew, so did her roles, and she quickly worked her way up in features such as High Steppers (1926) with Mary Astor and The Whole Town’s Talking (1926) produced by the legendary Carl Laemmle.
Her first starring role was in the comedic picture Pals First (1926), which is now considered lost, but del Río soon followed up the movie’s success with what’s now known as one of the most acclaimed silent films of all time, What Price Glory? (1926) co-starring Victor McLaglen and Edmund Lowe. The picture became the second-highest-grossing film of the year. At the same time, Dolores became one of 1926’s WAMPAS Baby Stars, an honor which was also received by Joan Crawford, Janet Gaynor, and Fay Wray that year. From there, Dolores’ career could go nowhere but up, and she continued to star in successful silent features right up until the end of the decade while also proving her singing and talking abilities on the radio.
After breaking off her professional relationship with Carewe due to his inappropriate advances, del Río starred in The Bad One (1930), her first talkie. That same year, the actress also met the finest art director in Hollywood and winner of 11 Academy Awards, Cedric Gibbons, who would go on to become her second husband just as she secured a deal with RKO.
Dolores enjoyed continued success in groundbreaking features at the studio, including Bird of Paradise (1932) with Joel McCrea, and Flying Down to Rio (1933), where she played the leading lady in Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers‘ first picture together. Before long, however, RKO’s rising costs led to the studio not renewing del Río’s contract. In a move that would be career-ending for many stars, it was still just the beginning of her incredible career in film, as she was quickly picked up by several studios and placed in starring roles such as Wonder Bar (1934) and the lavish pre-code Madame du Barry (1934) for Warner Bros, my favorite feature of hers, The Devil’s Playground (1937) for Universal, and even a two-picture deal opposite George Sanders for 20th Century Fox.
Dolores del Río is shown here alongside Orson Welles in 1941
From there, Cedric Gibbons attempted to use his clout in order to star his wife in MGM pictures, but aside from her film The Man from Dakota (1940), the studio simply wasn’t interested in furthering the career of a Latina actress. To make matters worse, del Río was also placed on a list of actors who were considered “box office poison” alongside stars like Norma Shearer, Greta Garbo, and last month’s Cooking with the Stars celebrity Katharine Hepburn.
However, fate stepped in once again for the actress, who met visionary filmmaker Orson Welles in 1940. The two began a clandestine affair which also led to her getting work in live shows with his Mercury Theatre company as well as in his film Journey Into Fear (1942), but when Welles decided to leave the production on a goodwill tour in Brazil and step out on Dolores, she ended the relationship and realized that she should return to Mexico and continue her career, stating: “I wish to choose my own stories, my own director, and cameraman. I can accomplish this better in Mexico. I wanted to return to Mexico, a country that was mine and I did not know. I felt the need to return to my country.” She won three Ariel Awards (the Mexican equivalent of the Academy Award) over the following two decades, cementing herself as one of the finest Mexican actresses of all time.
Dolores del Río continued her successful career in both English and Spanish films right up until her retirement in 1978 and passed away of kidney failure on April 11, 1983, at the age of seventy-eight. In the years following her death, horror icon Vincent Price signed his autographs under her name, and when he was asked why, the actor responded: “I promised Dolores on her deathbed that I would not let people forget about her.” The world certainly hasn’t forgotten about this cinematic pioneer, as countless memorials still stand in her memory in both Mexico and in Hollywood. She most notably stands as one of the four pillars of the Four Ladies of Hollywood Gazebo which marks the beginning of the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Dolores del
Río’s Enchiladas
2 small cans of Ortega green chiles
1 pint of sour cream
1 pound fresh tomatoes
1 medium onion (I used white)
1 dozen tortillas (I used flour)
4 asaderos, a Mexican cheese
Scald tomatoes and peel.
Cut onions fine and fry in lard.
Add tomatoes to mixture and mix.
Cut chiles fine and add to mixture, seasoning with salt.
Add asaderos and mix until it begins to melt. Remove from fire.
Fry tortillas, one by one, in lard, leaving them soft.
Place tortillas on a plate and put the tomato mixture in the center of each.
Roll each filled tortilla and cover with sour cream. Serve immediately.
My execution of Dolores del Río’s enchiladas. These definitely don’t get points for presentation
I can tell just by looking at this recipe that it’s very old, possibly one of the oldest recipes I’ve ever made even though I’m not sure of the year that the recipe is from.
The use of lard and the word “fire” instead of stove really makes me wonder, and the use of asaderos is quite interesting. It took a good deal of research to figure out exactly what cheese I should use in place of asaderos, which I couldn’t find at my local grocery store. On one hand, any of the typical Mexican shredded cheese blends claim to contain asaderos, and in hindsight, I should have probably used that. Instead, I used the queso fresco cheese that I believed would be more authentic.
I wouldn’t recommend doing this at all as the cheese should really only be used as a topping; adding it to my enchilada filling mixture turned out to make it a flavorless, watery, and crumbly mess. Despite that, I enjoyed frying the tortillas and I really loved all of the other elements of the mixture, including the chiles, the onion, and the fresh tomato. I absolutely adore sour cream, but the idea of covering my whole pan of enchiladas with it and not baking the entire dish as I would in most enchilada recipes really turned me off.
Still, for the sake of authenticity, I went ahead and followed the recipe, which led to a strange result. Even after all these changes from my go-to enchilada recipes, Dolores del Río’s enchiladas were very good. I ate all of the leftovers (of which there were a lot), but I think this recipe needs a huge update for modern times. It could be an awesome staple in my weeknight dinner menus, but if I were to make this dish again, I would probably use canned diced tomatoes cooked with the onion, chiles, and shredded Mexican cheese. I would still fry the tortillas, but I would cover the dish with a modern green or red enchilada sauce and top the whole thing with more cheese, baking until everything is golden and bubbly, and only then would I use sour cream in moderation.
As it stands, this recipe receives three Vincents from me, but with some modernization, it could be taken into the stratosphere! No matter how you decide to interpret Dolores’ entrée, you’ll still have a hearty Mexican meal that will serve your entire family, and this dish is the perfect way to salute this icon in Latin cinema.
Dolores’ Enchiladas get 3 Vincents!
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–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.
Exclusive Interview with Ted Donaldson about his career, special memories of Cary Grant, Harry Cohn, Elia Kazan and more…
I’m so excited to say that I was able to sit down with Ted Donaldson for an exclusive video interview! I met Ted at the 2018 TCM Film Festival and had such a lovely chat with him, that I just had to ask if he would do us the honor of officially chatting with us for a YouTube interview while at the 2019 Festival. And to my delight, he graciously agreed!
Ted starred in two of my personal favorite films… opposite Cary Grant and Janet Blair in Once Upon a Time (1944) and with Dorothy McGuire, Joan Blondell, James Dunn and Peggy Ann Garner in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945). In our interview, Ted shares special memories about meeting Cary Grant for the very first time, as well as his experiences behind the scenes with Grant. He also talks about Cary Grant attending his high school graduation, and how he received a very special phone call from Grant about 30 years later. Ted shares his thoughts about Elia Kazan and the cast of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945), as well as how he got his start in radio and on Broadway before his audition for Harry Cohn that kicked off his film career.
Just want to extend a Big Thank You to Ted for spending time with us – and for all those who helped make this interview possible including Thomas Bruno, Kelly J Kitchens, Theresa Brown and Kellee Pratt…
Classic Conversations: Oscar Winners Sandy Powell and John Myhre on How the Classic Film Inspired Their Work on ‘Mary Poppins Returns’
Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins (1964) and Emily Blunt in Mary Poppins Returns (2018)
Mary Poppinswas one of the first films I saw in a movie theater as a child and I remember it as a life-changing experience. I was so obsessed with the film that my mother used to put us to bed with the LP playing on our old Sears record player in the corner of the room I shared with my brother and sister. To this day, I remember every lyric of every song, including the plea from Jane and Michael Banks that brought Mary Poppins down from the clouds:
Never be cross or cruel Never give us castor oil or gruel Love us as a son and daughter And never smell of barley water…
When I heard a sequel to the film was coming more than half a century after the original, I was concerned. How could they possibly recapture the magic? Who could possibly fill the sensible shoes of “practically perfect in every way” Julie Andrews who won a Best Actress Oscar for her film debut? There was only one person I could think of, and director Rob Marshall was smart enough to hire her. As Mary Poppins, Emily Blunt conveys all of the no-nonsense sternness of Julie Andrews’ Mary, sprinkled with the same magical underpinnings that help troubled souls find their paths and regain their faith in humanity. In this film, it’s the grown-up Michael Banks (Ben Wishaw) who desperately needs Mary’s help as he struggles with his sister Jane (Emily Mortimer) to find peace after a series of hard knocks. The new film also featured delightful performances by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Meryl Streep, Julie Walters, Colin Firth, Angela Lansbury, and a cameo by the beloved Dick Van Dyke who starred in the original.
Two of the people most responsible for the success
of the new film, which just debuted this week on Netflix, are production
designer John Myhre and costume designer Sandy Powell. The extraordinarily
talented pair have been nominated for countless Academy Awards and have won five
Oscars between them: John for Chicago and Memoirs of a Geisha and
Sandy for The Young Victoria, Shakespeare in Love, and The Aviator.
I was delighted to sit down with this pair recently for Classic Movie Hub and
talk with them about the ways that the classic film from 1964 had an impact on
their work in Mary Poppins Returns.
John Myhre and Sandy Powell with two of their five Academy Awards
Danny Miller: I so
enjoyed Mary Poppins Returns, and trust me, as a Mary Poppins fanatic, I
was very worried when I heard that a sequel was coming. As far as I’m
concerned, your costumes and production design are the stars of the movie every
bit as much as wonderful Emily Blunt. I saw it twice the first week it came
out.
John Myhre: Thank you! One of the nicest things I’m hearing is that so many people want to watch the movie again and again.
Sandy Powell: I know I did when it first came out. I think when we first see our films, we’re mostly looking at our own work and we tend to be very critical about it. But on subsequent viewings, I’m able to really enjoy the story and forget my part of it!
I was five years old when the original Mary Poppins came out and it was a pretty seminal moment in my childhood. I wanted Julie Andrews to be my nanny and Matthew Garber and Karen Dotrice to be my brother and sister!
Karen Dotrice, the original Jane Banks, on set with Lin-Manuel Miranda
Sandy Powell: Did you spot Karen Dotrice in the film?
Yes, I was thrilled to
see her pop up in that scene with her grown-up counterpart! My daughter
actually went to school with Karen Dotrice’s daughter here in L. A. and I would
constantly ask Karen about working on Mary Poppins when I ran into her
at school! I loved all the touches you both added to appease to the nostalgia
crowd like me while still creating a totally new story.
Sandy Powell: We wanted to keep it fresh while also making subtle nods to the original
film.
Hermione Baddeley, Glynis Johns, and Reta Shaw in Mary Poppins (1964)
Going in, my one
obsession is that I really wanted to see Mrs. Banks’ “Votes for Women”
suffragette banner. To see it just sitting there in the garbage at first and
then to have it become such an important part of the film with Michael’s old
kite, well, that was the first of several times I cried while watching this
movie!
Sandy Powell: Oh, that’s nice!
I assume your primary source material for your work was the 1964 film but did you also go back to the original books by P.L. Travers?
Sandy Powell: A little bit. To be honest, I mostly looked at the illustrations as I was preparing to work on the film, and those were very helpful. Did you read them, John?
John Myhre: I did! I read as many as I could get my hands on, and I thought they were just fantastic. I remember I was reading them on airplanes for a while and I kept wondering what people thought when they saw this old man sitting there reading children’s books!
Haha. “Honey, don’t sit
next to that guy!”
John Myhre: Yes, people kept looking at me a bit strangely. But they’re so
fun because the books are just a series of adventures, there’s not really a
beginning, middle, or end. They’re just lovely and they inspired me a lot.
Sandy, was it a specific
goal of yours to make a clear distinction between Julie Andrews and Emily Blunt
in terms of Mary Poppins’ look? I mean, I realize several decades have passed
since the events of the first film so that’s already going to change things.
Sandy Powell: Yes. I mean, I definitely wanted to make her recognizable as the
same character but updated to 1934 so I obviously wasn’t going to put her back
in Edwardian clothing. Luckily, 1930s fashion, or at least that particular bit
of it in 1934 lent itself very well to that transition because they used a long
line for women along with a mid-calf hem length that evoked the Mary Poppins we
all knew and loved. I could do some elegant coats in the style of the Edwardian
coat from the original but updated with new patterns and fabrics.
And, of course, Mary
herself is somewhat otherworldly.
Sandy Powell: It’s true, Mary is otherworldly but someone like Mary is also going to be very up-do-date and chic — in a reserved kind of way. Rob and I discussed giving her little hints of eccentricities. So, for example, she’s all demure and done up, but then you suddenly see a flash of the bright red polka dot lining in her coat or the little robin with the curly tail on her hat. Just to provide little hints of her unusual nature!
Emily Blunt as Mary Poppins with Michael’s three children
John, since we’ve all
seen the movie a hundred times, did you use that as the blueprint for your
gorgeous set design? Did you recreate the 1964 version of the house at 17
Cherry Tree Lane and then imagine how it would have changed over the years?
John Myhre: We all grew up loving the film, it was the first film I saw as
well, but Rob reassured me from the very beginning that he didn’t want me to
slavishly recreate anything from the original movie. There were really only a
handful of things that we recreated exactly but we had a bit more of a free
hand because our story was so different.
Oh, that’s interesting. Of course, certain things just had to be there like the admiral’s house shaped like a ship next door.
John Myhre: Yes, it’s true. We had to have Admiral Boom’s house and there
were certain elements that seemed necessary. For example, when the door opened
at 17 Cherry Tree Lane, I needed to see the staircase in front of me and then
the living room to the left. But it’s not like we were constantly making
side-by-side comparisons.
Oh, really, so it’s not
like the patterns on the floor or the wallpaper were necessarily the same.
John Myhre: No, not at all. First of all, remember that many years have passed. Second, the family living in the house in the first film was a very different family — the father was absolutely the head of the household and the children had very little imprint on the house. In our film, the children were practically running the house! Everything is much more colorful here than the original — there’s a bit of a Bohemian feel and it’s all very lived in. Do you remember that in the original there wasn’t even a sofa in the front room?
Sandy Powell: Is there not? How weird!
John Myhre: That house in the original was not built with comfort in mind.
Sandy Powell: Oh, it’s true, they’re often standing up, aren’t they, now that I think about it. Coming in and having conversations standing up.
John Myhre: Right, and our house is much more based on the family’s current reality, especially with Michael’s wife being gone. The kids are there, their mess is all around, children’s books everywhere, teacups on the side. It’s a real lived-in place.
The interior of 17 Cherry Tree Lane
But I did so appreciate
all those subtle touches that reminded us of Jane and Michael Banks’ childhood.
That scene when they’re looking through their old things in the attic was so
poignant.
John Myhre: The bit with the children’s snow globe was lovely. Rob Marshall
and I went to the Disney Archives early on and asked if there were things we
could see from the 1964 film. They had one of the three carpetbags made for
Mary but believe it not, they hadn’t saved any of them so they had to buy it
back at an auction from someone who had won it in a magazine contest! But Disney did have the building blocks from
the children’s nursery that you see in “Spoonful of Sugar” along with the
Jack-in-the-box and the snow globe. When they pulled out the box with the snow
globe, it had broken and so was empty, there was no longer any water. Rob and I
just looked at each other and thought, oh my God, this tells everything we need
to convey about how Michael feels about his childhood. So we used it.
Oh, wow. Sandy, I have
to say how much I loved Emily Mortimer’s clothes as Jane Banks. How did you
determine her grown-up look?
Sandy Powell: I put Jane in pants because I wanted to show that she was her
mother’s daughter, still very progressive and fighting for change. I wanted to
show her as a modern emancipated woman. That wasn’t in the script or anything,
I just wanted to get her in pants!
Love it. How about
Michael?
Sandy Powell: We knew that Michael wanted to be an artist but was forced to
work in the bank for financial reasons. We decided he should always have an air
of dishevelment.
So different from his
dad!
Sandy Powell: Right. Even when he puts on his suit to go to work, he still
looks disheveled because it’s just not his thing.
Emily Mortimer and Ben Wishaw as the grown-up Jane and Michael Banks
What’s the process like
of working with the actors and Rob. Is there a lot of interplay with the
designs? Not that I can imagine anyone questioning your instincts.
Sandy Powell: Oh sure, lots of little things, nothing really drastic. I think
I’d be very bored if it was just me designing something with no one having any
comments about it. Ultimately, I’m working for the director.
John Myhre: Yeah, the fun part is the collaboration.
Sandy Powell: Exactly. I love when someone questions something and it makes me
think about it. It might force me down a different avenue where I can find
something better.
And I assume that the collaboration
between you two is very strong as well.
Sandy Powell: Yes. We work in very close proximity to each other. My room was
very close to John’s and I would very often look at his plans and the colors
and think about how the costumes would look in those sets. I need to know what
the room is going to be, you don’t want characters blending into the background
or clashing with the wallpaper!
John Myhre: I remember how exciting it was when we did our first camera
tests. We just used the most simplistic backgrounds but in the right colors and
then your beautiful work came in Sandy, and it was so exciting for me to see
them come together for the first time.
Sandy Powell: It would be impossible to do something like this in isolation.
You can’t have John doing his thing over there and have me doing my thing over
here, and just hope it all comes together. That would never work.
Mary Poppins Returns (2018)
Mary Poppins Returns is now available on DVD and Blu-ray and can be viewed on various
digital platforms including Netflix.
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