Win tickets to see “The Shawshank Redemption 25th Anniversary” on the Big Screen! In Select Cinemas Nationwide Sun Sept 22, Tues Sept 24 and Wed Sept 25
“I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy living, or get busy dying.”
CMH continues with our 4th year of our partnership with Fathom Events – with the 11th 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 Shawshank Redemption 25th Anniversary” on the Big Screen — starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman.
In order to qualify to win a pair of movie tickets via this contest, you must complete the below entry task by Saturday, Sept 7 at 6pm EST.
We will announce the winner(s) on Twitter on Sunday, Sept 8, 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 7 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 Shawshank Redemption” 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 Shawshank Redemption 25th Anniversary” on the Big Screen courtesy of @ClassicMovieHub & @FathomEvents – you can enter too at http://ow.ly/UofZ50vF8mM
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…
Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman in The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
About the film: From a novella by best-selling author Stephen King comes a poignant tale of the human spirit. Red (Morgan Freeman), serving a life sentence, and Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), a mild-mannered banker wrongly convicted of murder, forge an unlikely bond that will span more than twenty years. Together they discover hope as the ultimate means of survival. This 25th 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).
Film noir is teeming with well-known starring roles for women — Jane Greer in Out of the Past, Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity, and Gene Tierney in Laura come immediately to mind. But there are also lots of one-scene wonders, those female characters whose physical presence may come and go, but whose impact packs a wallop. This month’s Noir Nook serves up a new series by taking a look at these characters – my inaugural entry in the series shines the spotlight on one such character in one of my favorite noirs, The Big Heat(1953).
Dorothy Green
This first-rate film stars Glenn Ford as Dave O’Bannion, a tough, uber-righteous big-city detective who is determined to unearth the truth behind the suicide of a fellow cop, Tom Duncan, and his connection to a local mob boss, Mike Lagana (Alexander Scourby). Others in this multi-layered feature include Lagana’s right-hand man, the sadistic Vince Stone (Lee Marvin); Vince’s money-loving girlfriend, Debby Marsh (Gloria Grahame), who’s flighty on the outside but steely on the inside; and Bertha Duncan (Jeannette Nolan), the not-so-grieving widow of the dead cop.
Dorothy Green and Glenn Ford in The Big Heat (1953)
Aside from these featured roles, there’s another character in the film
who, while appearing in only one scene, plays a pivotal role in the film’s
plot. She’s Lucy Chapman (Dorothy Green), a world-weary, self-described “B-girl,”
who contacts the dead cop’s superiors, insisting that Duncan couldn’t have
committed suicide. Dave O’Bannion is dispatched to meet with the woman, and he
promptly learns that she was Duncan’s mistress. Lucy maintains that, contrary
to his wife’s claims, Tom Duncan was in perfect health and had been in
especially good spirits since his wife had agreed to a divorce. O’Bannion’s
response is skeptical, bordering on insulting: “What’s your pitch, Lucy?” he
asks her. “You trying to use us for a shakedown?” Despite O’Bannion’s derisive
reaction to her claims, Lucy is earnest and resolute, even threatening to take
her story to the newspapers. O’Bannion maintains his doubts during their
interview, but Lucy’s story gives him pause, and he ends up returning to the
home of Duncan’s widow for more questioning. Sadly, his change of heart comes
too late for Lucy – the following day, she is found strangled to death.
Lucy’s abbreviated, seemingly inconsequential interaction with O’Bannion becomes the catalyst that leads to his relentless investigation of Duncan’s death and ultimately connects Duncan and his wife to the criminal enterprise run by the refined but ruthless Mike Lagana. While Lucy’s life and death are dismissed by O’Bannion’s boss (“Some of these babes keep pretty shady company,” he says. “They know nobody cares much what happens to them”), O’Bannion believes her story and her courage in coming forward is invaluable.
An autographed photo of Green
The character of Lucy was played by Dorothy Green, who was born in Los Angeles in 1920. She wasn’t bitten by the acting bug until she was in her early 30s after she was married and had started a family. After a chance meeting at a charity event with the wife of an agent, the woman introduced Green to her spouse and the agent encouraged Green to pursue acting. Her first acting gig was in 1953 on an episode of TV’s The Jack Benny Program; later that year, she made her feature film debut in The Big Heat. Green went on to appear in small parts in such big-screen features as Them! (1954); Trial (1955), another Glenn Ford starrer; and The Helen Morgan Story (1957), as well as numerous television shows, most notably on the daytime soap The Young and the Restless. Her last appearance was on a Canadian television show in 1997; she died nine years later at the age of 88.
Stay tuned to the Noir Nook for more minor but memorable women (and men!) in film noir. And let me know if you have any suggestions for future posts!
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– Karen Burroughs Hannsberry for Classic Movie Hub
Karen Burroughs Hannsberry is the author of the Shadows and Satin blog, which focuses on movies and performers from the film noir and pre-Code eras, and the editor-in-chief of The Dark Pages, a bimonthly newsletter devoted to all things film noir. Karen is also the author of two books on film noir – Femme Noir: The Bad Girls of Film and Bad Boys: The Actors of Film Noir. You can follow Karen on Twitter at @TheDarkPages. If you’re interested in learning more about Karen’s books, you can read more about them on amazon here:
Silents are Golden: Before Valentino – 6 Heartthrobs Of The 1910s
When Rudolph Valentino became a 1920s superstar thanks to the megahits The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse(1921) and The Sheik(1921), he basically changed the definition of “matinee idol” forever. Unlike many popular actors at the time, who tended to be steady, “regular guy” types, the young Italian often played characters with a dangerous edge and definite air of sensuality. Even today, it’s not hard to see why women became obsessed with him.
Which might make you wonder: before Valentino, which leading actors were considered major heartthrobs? After all, when we list handsome silent film actors today, 1920s personalities like John Gilbert or Ramon Novarro will spring to mind–but who were the “hotties” of the Edwardian era?
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6.
Harold Lockwood
Harold Lockwood
You’ve probably never heard of Harold Lockwood, but in the mid-1910s his name was known from sea to shining sea. Raised in Newark, New Jersey, in his late teens Lockwood felt drawn to the stage, at which point his father promptly (and unsurprisingly) convinced him to go to business school. After his studies, he became a drygoods salesman — all of which pretty much cemented Lockwood’s desire to become an actor. After several years in the theater, in 1911 Lockwood sent a letter of introduction to director Edwin S. Porter. Having a hunch about the good-looking young man, Porter made Lockwood one of his lead actors.
Porter’s hunch was correct, for Lockwood swiftly became one of the biggest names in Hollywood, acting in over 130 films. He was frequently being paired with actress May Allison, and they were considered an adorable screen pair. Unfortunately, Lockwood’s stardom wouldn’t last long; like millions of other unfortunates, he contracted the Spanish flu during the great 1918 epidemic. He passed away at a hotel in New York City, at the mere age of 31.
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5.
Francis X. Bushman
Francis X. Bushman
This portrait might hold some clues as to why Francis X. Bushman was so popular. As a youth, Bushman developed an interest in bodybuilding, eventually worked as a sculptor’s model, and in 1911 got into “pictures.” During his busy career, he would star in almost 200 films, and was dubbed “The Handsomest Man In The World” and “The King of the Movies.” He also donated land on Hollywood Boulevard to showman Sid Grauman, who used it to build the world-famous Chinese Theater.
All wasn’t smooth sailing for Bushman, however. In 1918 there was a nation-wide scandal when it was revealed he was having an affair with actress Beverly Bayne (Bushman would be married four times in all). He career had a downturn by 1919, and he attempted a comeback with the role of Messala in the wildly-anticipated Ben-Hur (1925). But even Ben-Hur couldn’t bring him back to superstardom, so eventually, he turned to keeping busy in radio and television until his death from a heart attack in 1966.
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4.
Earle Williams
Earle Williams
In the Edwardian era, Earle Williams’s popularity was at such a height that fan magazine polls voted him “most popular actor” in 1915. After acting stints in the theaters of San Francisco, he got a head start in “moving pictures” in 1908. Becoming a lead player at the pioneering Vitagraph Studio, he was frequently paired with the popular Anita Stewart. Some of his biggest hits included The Juggernaut (1915), a thrilling disaster drama that involved crashing a real train, and the serial The Goddess (1915).
His career stayed strong throughout the 1920s when he became one of Paramount’s most dependable players. But he wouldn’t live to see the talkies — he passed away from bronchial pneumonia in 1927. His pallbearers would include such esteemed Hollywood figures as Irving Thalberg and Louis B. Mayer.
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3.
Sessue Hayakawa
Sessue Hayakawa
Of all the 1910s heartthrobs, Sessue Hayakawa was the biggest kindred spirit to Valentino’s dangerous 1920s sheik. His background was tinged with both drama and good fortune: after failing to get into a Japanese naval academy, a rift came between him and his father and he attempted suicide. Upon his recovery, he went to study at the University of Chicago. While in Los Angeles planning on taking a ship back to Japan, he decided to visit the Japanese Theatre in Little Tokyo. Fascinated, he decided on a career in the theater.
His innate talent led to being spotted by movie producer Thomas H. Ince. His popularity took off and soon, Hayakawa was one of the top-paid actors in cinema. Frequently playing suave, “exotic” villains, his brooding good looks made him a major sex symbol of the era. In the 1920s he turned his attention to Japanese and European cinema, and his most famous talkie role would be in The Bridge on the River Kwai. He passed away in 1973, having made over 100 film appearances.
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2.
Antonio Moreno
Antonio Moreno
A native of Spain, Antonio Moreno emigrated to the U.S. as a teenager and became an actor in the Massachusetts theaters. Heading to Hollywood in 1912, he signed with the prestigious Biograph studio and then moved to Vitagraph where he co-starred with the popular Norma Talmadge. His prolific work in serials earned him the title of “King of the Cliffhangers.”
In the 1920s, Moreno’s smoldering looks made him a worthy rival to Valentino’s “Latin Lover” roles. His versatility led to acting with numerous superstars like Clara Bow, Greta Garbo, Gloria Swanson, and Colleen Moore. His thick Spanish accent made the talkies difficult for him, however, and he would supplement his Hollywood work with roles in Mexican films. Reinventing himself as a character actor, he had a number of lauded roles in the ‘40s and ‘50s, including appearances in The Searchers, Captain from Castileand Creature From the Black Lagoon. Retiring in the ‘50s, he lived out his days in Beverly Hills, passing away in 1967.
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1.
Wallace Reid
Wallace Reid
Often called “Wally” by his adoring fans, Wallace Reid was perhaps the biggest matinee idol of the 1910s. Born into a show business family from St. Louis, Reid began working in cinema after his father Hal started writing and directing films around 1910. A clean-cut, athletic type with an easy sense of humor, Reid was soon cast in leads (he also enjoyed directing) and his star rose very quickly. A car enthusiast, in the late 1910s he became a kind of action hero, playing race car drivers in thrillers like The Roaring Road(1919) and Excuse My Dust(1920).
By the end of the decade, Reid’s film schedule grew increasingly hectic. In 1919 he was injured in a trainwreck, and a doctor prescribed morphine for the pain — and to help keep Reid churning out 8-9 features a year. Reid quickly became addicted, however, and tragically the beloved actor passed away in 1923. His wife, actress Dorothy Davenport, would release a film called Human Wreckage(1923) warning of the dangers of drug addiction.
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They came from different backgrounds, different countries, and are largely forgotten today, but all of these actors managed to make their mark on Hollywood history — and on countless adoring fans. And today, watching these clean-cut Edwardian gentlemen in their well-tailored clothes reminds me that really, tastes haven’t changed all that much.
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.
It was an early afternoon in June as I trooped along from Edinburgh’s Royal Mile near George IV Bridge with my family in tow. We were headed for Greyfriars Kirkyard to poke around the tombs until our tour time at Edinburgh Castle, and the old city heaved with tourists from around the globe, all jostling for selfies with the statue of Greyfriars Bobby and gawking at the inevitable bagpipers kitted out in full Highland garb and blasting “Loch Lomond” for spare change. I was winded, hungry, and rather out of sorts after the long uphill climb from Princes Street, which my knees very much resented, when I looked up and found myself staring into the enormous face of Frankenstein’s monster. Frankenstein! I laughed out loud. Boris Karloff had been haunting me through our whole UK trip, and now here we were, face to face, at the entrance to a pub called Frankenstein.
Boris Karloff is a quintessential name in classic horror, leaving one to wonder if William Henry Pratt would have been so successful had he not adopted the ominous Continental pseudonym. He was born in Camberwell, now part of South London, in 1887, the youngest of nine children. He left England for Canada and then Hollywood, but he returned to his native country late in life and died there in 1969. His most famous role, that of the nameless creature in Frankenstein (1931), doesn’t particularly connect him with England or make use of his rich, distinctly British voice, but it wasn’t only Frankenstein that kept Karloff on my mind as I toured London, York, and Edinburgh over a ten-day trip.
In Bedlam, Karloff’s evil keeper terrorizes the inmates of the notorious 18th century London mental asylum.
In London, I thought of Karloff as the club-footed henchman to Basil Rathbone’s Richard III in Tower of London (1939) and as the keeper of the infamous madhouse in Bedlam (1946). We toured the west side of Highgate Cemetery, where the guide’s lecture on Victorian cemetery security measures put me in mind of Corridors of Blood (1958), in which Karloff’s London physician gets mixed up with cadaver trader and murderer Resurrection Joe, played to menacing effect by Christopher Lee. Highgate is a mecca for classic horror fans, having appeared as a location in Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970), The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971), and Tales from the Crypt (1972), among others. If it doesn’t set your imagination swirling with images of horror icons nothing will. As I stood in a dark crypt surrounded by moldering coffins I could almost hear Karloff, in the slow rumble of Frankenstein’s creature in Bride of Frankenstein (1935), insisting “We belong dead.” It sent a shiver up my spine.
In Corridors of Blood, Karloff plays a pioneering surgeon in Victorian London whose pursuit of medical innovation leads to addiction and murder.
The rest of our journey continued the Gothic mood as history and horror entwined at every stop. York has its own connections to Richard III, of course, but a ghost bus tour on a rainy night prompted thoughts of The Old Dark House (1932) and The Ghoul (1933) and a visit to a castle prison helped to keep Tower of London and Bedlam stirring in my thoughts while adding The Strange Door (1951) into the mix. We stayed in a 17th-century convent where we peered down into the gloomy confines of a priest hole in the chapel, but we didn’t get a glimpse of their most prized possession, the severed hand of the Catholic martyr Margaret Clitherow, whose execution by pressing was as gruesome as any horror film could devise. It was just the sort of thing that Mord, Karloff’s character in Tower of London, would have enjoyed inflicting on his victims in Richard’s dungeon.
Karloff stars as the grave robber John Gray in The Body Snatcher, which is set in Edinburgh and inspired by the crimes of real-life resurrection men Burke and Hare.
By the time we reached Edinburgh, I had a head full of cemeteries, monsters, and murder, which is probably the perfect attitude in which to tour a city so famous for dark deeds. No wonder the Frankenstein pub is situated there! We got a thorough review of Edinburgh’s history of horrors at the Edinburgh Dungeon, where a segment of the tour is devoted to the infamous grave robbers Burke & Hare, along with their accomplice Dr. Knox. That, of course, reminded me of Karloff’s role in the 1945 film, The Body Snatcher, adapted from a short story by Edinburgh’s own Robert Louis Stevenson and directly inspired by the notorious grave robbers. It was the perfect conclusion to a trip where Karloff’s presence had constantly haunted me.
The persistence with which Karloff recurred in my thoughts during our journey reminded me how essential he is to our sense of classic horror. Whatever he plays, whether henchman or monster or tormented gentleman, Karloff always excels, and he looks equally at home in medieval torture chambers and gaslit Victorian alleys. Imagine Universal or Val Lewton or even Roger Corman without his talents. Frankenstein (1931) made him famous, but The Mummy (1932) showed his uncanny ability to mesmerize the audience with his rich voice and dark, piercing gaze. Lewton was very good at giving Karloff later roles that made the most of his tremendous screen presence, especially in The Body Snatcher and Bedlam, while Corman gave him the chance to show his comedic side in the last years of his career, particularly in The Comedy of Terrors (1963).
When he died, Karloff was cremated, and his ashes were deposited at Guildford Crematorium in Surrey, but you don’t need to visit Guildford to feel close to him. Any shadowy cemetery crypt or foggy cobblestone street can conjure him, especially in the history haunted settings of his native country. Frankenstein’s monster might be long dead, but Boris Karloff lives on, not just in his roles but in the delicious, dreadful thrill of familiarity we feel when we find ourselves in places where horror films and history overlap.
How many Films did Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Taylor Star in Together?
Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Taylor were married on May 14, 1939, after about three years of ‘dating’… They divorced in February 1952 (some sources say 1951), and although they did not star in any films together during their 12-plus-year marriage, they did make three films together over the course of their careers.
Stanwyck and Taylor starred in THREE FILMs together, two before their marriage, and one 12+ years after their divorce.
His Brothers Wife (1936) (romantic drama directed by W.S. Van Dyke)
This is My Affair (1937) (crime drama directed by William A. Seiter)
1. Stanwyck and Taylor got their marriage license about a week prior to tying the knot, keeping their plans a secret, and registering under their legal names Ruby (Catherine) Stevens and (Spangler) Arlington Brugh.
Newlyweds Brugh and Stevens, aka Taylor and Stanwyck
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2. The couple eloped to San Diego and were married a little after midnight on May 14th, superstitious of getting married on the 13th.
3. Zeppo Marx ‘s wife, Marion, who introduced Stanwyck to Taylor, was Stanwyck’s Matron of Honor.
Barbara Stanwyck, Zeppo and Marion Marx, and Robert Taylor, 1939.
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4. Stanwyck and The Marxes were steadfast friends, and together they established Marwyck (now Oakridge Estate), a thoroughbred ranch and state of the art horse breeding facility.
While many think of MGM studios when reflecting upon some of the best musical films made during the Golden Age, 20th Century Fox certainly had its fair share of musical stars. Among the many Fox actresses was June Haver, who was intended to become the next Betty Grable. Though not necessarily synonymous with Grable, she led a successful career with personal interests that differed from Grable’s.
Beverly June Stovenour was born in Rock Island, Illinois, on June 10, 1926, and was the middle child with two sisters. Her parents divorced at an early age and she was adopted by her stepfather, Bert Haver. June took on his name as her family prepared to relocate. Her family moved to Cincinnati, where she made her stage debut at the age of six in a local production of Midnight in a Toyshop. By age seven, she entered and won a contest hosted by the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. At age eight, she took part in a screen test contest by imitating the likes of Greta Garbo, Katharine Hepburn, and Helen Hayes. When she turned ten, she started performing for crooner Rudy Vallee and was winning musical contests.
By 1936, Haver and her mother
returned to Rock Island. Haver’s mother was an actress and her father was a
musician, leading Haver to be unsure of which career path to follow. Her mother
did not want Haver to become an actress because she felt that she was too
young.
Instead, Haver became a noteworthy
child star on the radio, singing on the WHBF local radio station, and worked
regularly as a band singer during her teen years. She performed with the Ted
Fio Rito Orchestra, in addition to working for bandleaders Dick Jurgens and
Freddy Martin. All the while, she was a parishioner at St. Mary’s Catholic
Church in Rock Island.
A young June
While touring with these bands, Haver and her mother arrived in California. By the summer of 1942, with Haver aged 16 years, they moved to Hollywood, where Haver finished high school and participated in plays. Haver was discovered by a scout from 20th Century Fox during a school production in which she was costumed as a southern belle and was signed to a contract with the studio. She made her film debut in an uncredited role in The Gang’s All Here(1943) as a hat-check girl but was dropped because studio executives felt that she looked too youthful. However, she was signed once again and her costume and hairstyle were adapted to make her look older.
The studio began to fashion Haver into a glamorous potential stand-in for top stars Alice Faye and Betty Grable. Haver carried out a supporting role in Home in Indiana(1944) and soon replaced Faye in the Technicolor musical Irish Eyes Are Smiling(1944). She would co-star with her future husband, Fred MacMurray, in Where Do We Go From Here? (1945).
Haver would return to her home state
for the premiere of The Dolly Sisters at the Chicago Theatre.
In 1947, Harried married trumpet
player James Zito, who she met at 15 when touring with Fio Rito’s orchestra.
Though they lost contact when Haver moved from Illinois to Beverly Hills, they
started dating when Haver made a visit to her Illinois hometown in 1946. She
filed for divorce less than a year after eloping with Zito, feeling that she
had not really known him and that he was basically a stranger to her. Since she
was a devout Catholic, she tried to make the marriage work and to overcome her
unhappiness by turning to the church.
As mentioned above, Haver made a
highly publicized visit to her hometown of Rock Island, Illinois. The
festivities included a parade in her honor and tributes to Haver at the local
Chamber of Commerce. October 31, 1946, was dubbed “June Haver Day” in
Rock Island, during which she was given a golden key to the city at the Fort
Armstrong Hotel and signed autographs for fans.
June Haver in Look For the Silver Lining (1949)
As part of her visit, she was also
named Mayor for the day. Across from the Fort Armstrong Hotel, Haver was a
guest at the Fort Theater. According to a 1946 publicity article, the theater
was “doing a Grauman and casting her feet in cement.” She appeared in
a white strapless evening gown and white gloves, with orchids from the Chamber
of Commerce attached to her ermine stole. She held on to the Mayor as she
stepped in the wet cement with her shoes on.
The next day, Haver traveled to
Moline, IL, to catch a football game between Rock Island and Moline High
Schools. Not only was she a special guest, but she helped drive the train.
Just before the game, Haver was on
the receiving end of some autographs for a change. She was gifted with a
football signed by the Rock Island team.
Her visit would be mentioned several
times in the Rock Island High School Yearbook.
June Haver as Marilyn Miller in Look for the Silver Lining (1949)
After divorcing Zito, Haver dated
Dr. John L. Duzik, whom she knew prior to her marriage with Zito. Though they
planned on marrying, Duzik died from surgery complications in 1949.
While Haver’s star continued to
shine, she remained close to her family throughout. Her sisters, Evelyn and
Dorothy, followed her to Hollywood and worked as her stand-ins and her mother,
Marie, was her personal secretary.
Haver also built an apartment house
in Westwood, CA, in 1949 after learning that her sister could not get an
apartment because she had a child and a puppy. The grounds were fenced in for
the child’s safety and each apartment had closets with miniature hangers for
the children’s clothes. Haver refused to rent to anyone without children.
As Haver continued to appear in more musicals, she also found herself teamed with Marilyn Monroe, the latest studio bombshell in Love Nest(1951). While Haver received top billing, the publicity centered around Monroe and would be Haver’s only black and white film.
After Duzik’s death, Haver grew
disenchanted with Hollywood. In February of 1953, she became a postulate nun
with the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth in Kansas, but she stayed until
October of that year because of poor health.
Haver returned to California and
reunited with MacMurray and soon developed a romance. They married on June 28,
1954. After they married, Haver expressed a desire to adopt a little girl, but
MacMurray–18 years older than her–refused because he had already been a
father. Nevertheless, he eventually agreed to adopt and they adopted twin
daughters. The couple remained together until MacMurray’s passing in 1991.
Fred and June with their adopted twin daughters
After Haver married MacMurray, she essentially retired from acting, aside from occasional television appearances. Her final film appearance would be The Girl Next Door(1953).
Thinking about the future and her legacy, Haver finally joined the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science at age 75, thanks to the urging of her friends Ann Miller and Ann Rutherford. To this day, the Academy Film Archive houses the Fred MacMurray-June Haver Collection, complemented by their papers at the Academy’s Margaret Herrick Library.
Haver passed away on July 4, 2005,
at age 79.
Today, there are traces of Haver’s
legacy in Illinois, particularly in her hometown.
According to the 1930 census, Haver’s
family lived at 8046 Ingleside Ave., in Chicago, IL. Here is a shot of the
property today:
Haver residence at 8046 Ingleside Ave., in Chicago, IL
Her Rock Island address was 1814 1/2
13th St. in 1940. This is the property currently:
Haver’s 1940 Rock Island residence
Rock Island High School, which
celebrated June Haver Day in 1946, stands today at 1400 25th Ave., in Rock
Island, IL.
Rock Island High School
St. Mary’s Church, where Haver
worshiped during her time in her hometown, exists at 2208 4th Ave. in Rock
Island.
June’s Hometown Church, St. Mary’s.
The Fort Armstrong Hotel, where she
arrived and received a key to the city, is a historic structure. Though no
longer a hotel, it is an assisted living facility at 1900 3rd Ave. in Rock
Island.
The former Fort Armstrong Hotel
Although the Fort Theater no longer
exists, her footprints are still safe and secure. They are now situated at the
Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse located at 1828 3rd Ave. in Rock Island.
June Haver’s prints are immortalized in Rock Island, IL
Whether you enjoy Haver’s films or are able to pass through her hometown, it is heartening to see that she is remembered and echoes of her legacy remain.
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.
Win tickets to see “Lawrence of Arabia” on the Big Screen! In Select Cinemas Nationwide Sun Sept 1 and Wed Sept 4
CMH continues with our 4th year of our partnership with Fathom Events – with the 10th of our 14 movie ticket giveaways for 2019, courtesy of Fathom Events!
This is an extra exciting one for us! We’ll be giving away EIGHT PAIRS of tickets to see “TCM Big Screen Classics: Lawrence of Arabia” on the Big Screen — the 7x Academy Award winning epic masterpiece directed by David Lean and starring Peter O’Toole… painstakingly restored and presented in 4K.
In order to qualify to win a pair of movie tickets via this contest, you must complete the below entry task by Saturday, Aug 17 at 6pm EST.
We will announce the winner(s) on Twitter on Sunday, Aug 18, between 6PM EST and 7PM EST. If a winner(s) does not have a Twitter account, we will announce that winner(s) via this blog in the comment section below.
David Lean’s timeless epic, Lawrence of Arabia won seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director (David Lean) and Best Cinematography Color (Freddie Young)
The film will be playing in select cinemas nationwide for a special two-day-only event on Sunday Sept 1 and Wednesday Sept 4 at select times. Winners will be responsible for their own transportation to the Event. Only United States entries are eligible. Please click here before you enter to ensure that the Event is scheduled at a theater near you and that you are able to attend. (please note that there might be slightly different theater listings and/or screening times for each date)
ENTRY TASK (2-parts) to be completed by Saturday Aug 17 at 6pm EST…
1) Answer the below question via the comment section at the bottom of this blog post
THE QUESTION: What is it about ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ that makes it a classic? Or, if you haven’t seen it yet, why do you want to see it on the Big Screen?
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Peter O’Toole stars as WWI British officer T.E Lawrence
About the film: Winner of 7 Academy Awards® including Best Picture of 1962, LAWRENCE OF ARABIA stands as one of the most timeless and essential motion picture masterpieces. The greatest achievement of its legendary, Oscar®-winning director, David Lean (1962, Lawrence of Arabia: 1957 The Bridge on the River Kwai), the film stars Peter O’Toole – in his career-making performance – as T.E Lawrence, the audacious World War 1 British army officer who heroically united rival Arab desert tribes and led them to war against the mighty Turkish Empire. This predominant classic is not one to miss, don’t pass up your chance to see this revolutionary title on the big screen! Screenplay by Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson. The unique event includes exclusive insight from Turner Classic Movies. This digital print of Lawrence of Arabia is presented in 4K. Utilizing 8K scans of the 65mm original negative, the picture was painstakingly restored, removing the damage, deterioration and fading it had experienced over 50 years. Accompanied by remastered 5.1 audio, the film is presented in its original 2.20 aspect ratio, along with the original overture and intermission.
Please note that only United States residents are eligible to enter this giveaway contest. (see contest rules for further information)
BlogHub members ARE also eligible to win if they live within the Continental United States (as noted above).
I love to watch Westerns, and I also love to read about them!
A variety of books helped make me the classic film and Western fan that I am today. In this column, I’ll take a look at some of the books which shaped my interest in Westerns from an early age, as well as some more recent titles I have especially enjoyed.
One of the earliest books to expose me to Westerns, going back to
childhood years, was A Pictorial History of the Western Film by
the great historian William K. Everson. Like some of the other books to be
discussed here, I first read it thanks to my local library, then later acquired
my own copy.
A Pictorial History of the Western Film by William K. Everson
The book was first published in 1969, with my copy from The
Citadel Press being a softcover dating from 1975. Everson’s book is chock full
of movie Western history, covering silents and early sound Westerns, the
“B’s,” and the evolution of the Western through the ’60s.
As a young teenager exploring classic films, the photos were probably even more important to me than the text; in that pre-VHS (let alone DVD!), pre-cable, and the pre-Internet world, the stills helped to visually open up a world of films I could only dream of seeing one day. I often made lists of movies I’d like to see, based on the photos and descriptions; some would eventually turn up on television (often edited and always filled with commercials) and a few were screened in 35mm at the Los Angeles revival houses our family frequented, but many of the films depicted have only become part of my life in more recent years, thanks to cable TV and DVD. In fact, I’ve realized reviewing the book for this post that I will really benefit from a reread at this juncture, having been able to see so many of the films discussed in recent years!
Another key book in my movie Western education was The Western Film by Charles Silver, published in 1976 as part of the Pyramid Illustrated History of the Movies. That series, edited by Ted Sennett, had many wonderful titles by additional authors such as Leonard Maltin, Foster Hirsch, and Jeanine Basinger and was a big part of my early film education. I own over 50 titles in the series! The Western Film is a genre survey which, like Everson’s book, exposed me to Western film history and some of the greatest titles and stars.
The Western Film by Charles Silver
The book which started it all for me in terms of John Ford Westerns was undoubtedly The Western Films of John Ford (1974) by J.A. Place. With the exception of Drums Along the Mohawk (1939), which I grew up watching on TV regularly, this book was my first exposure to all things Ford. While I have always found some of the author’s analysis overwrought — I feel that sometimes “A door is just a door is a door” rather than having deeper meaning — the film plots, author insights, and other information made me long to see the movies described; the beautiful, well-chosen stills whetted my appetite even more.
The Western Films of John Ford by J.A. Place
The Western Films of John Ford was one of my very favorite film books in those early
years, one of the titles I finally owned after checking it out of the library
countless times. I also own the author’s The Non-Western Films of John
Ford and many other Ford books, but this was the book which first made
me think “I’ve got to see these movies!” Paging through the book
today, it’s hard to believe there was a time when I hadn’t seen the movies
described; I never take it for granted that I now have the ability to watch any
of the films whenever I want.
Pyramid editor Ted Sennett authored Great Hollywood
Westerns, an oversized 272-page coffee table book published in 1990. I
didn’t have either VHS or cable TV until later in the ’90s — instead, I was an
early adopter of the Beta format! — so while I’d seen a good number of Westerns
by that point, the book still left me dreaming of many others I hoped to see
one day. The book also contains extensive text on movie Western history.
Great Hollywood Westerns by Ted Sennett
Don Miller’s Hollywood Corral: A Comprehensive B-Western Roundup was written in 1976, then freshly edited by Ed Hulse and Packy Smith for republication in 1993, adding additional essays by other historians and an all-new selection of photos. This big 559-page book is filled with terrific info, including a wonderful chapter on Western locations by Dave Holland, who also wrote On Location in Lone Pine (1990). This book is a must-own history for fans of “B” Westerns.
Hollywood Corral: A Comprehensive B-Western Roundup by Don Miller
Switching to relatively recent books, below are a few of the titles
I love today, both for reading and for reference.
Those who read my column on Universal Gems know how much I love Universal Westerns!
Universal International Westerns, 1947-1963 by Gene Blottner
I first read Universal International Westerns, 1947-1963 (2000)
by Gene Blottner thanks to the kindness of my friend Toby Roan of the great
blog 50 Westerns From the 50s. The book was so invaluable that I later had to
get my own copy. It contains cast and crew listings, locations, plots,
background notes, and excerpts from original reviews for the 114 Westerns
released by Universal in this time period. Needless to say, it’s a must for
those who share my love for these movies.
Western historians Michael G. Fitzgerald and Boyd Magers have
published two remarkable books, Westerns Women (1999)
and Ladies of the Western (2002).
Westerns Women and Ladies of the Western by Michael G. Fitzgerald and Boyd Magers
These books contain detailed interviews with a total of 101 actresses who appeared in film and TV Westerns. Jane Adams to Virginia Vale, Julie Adams to Marie Windsor, and so many more, sharing their individual memories of making Westerns. A Western filmography is also provided for each actress. These books are essential reading for serious Western fans.
These books are so new to my collection that I’ve only read a small portion of each one, but I’m so impressed with the depth of the information included that I wanted to mention them here.
Six-Gun Law and Six-Gun Law 2 by Barry Atkinson
Both books are thick paperbacks with fairly small print, and they discuss the actors’ Western films in considerable depth. While I have other good books on Scott, McCrea, and Murphy, being able to read up on the films of Western stars like Montgomery, Calhoun, and Cameron is a Western fan’s dream come true, given the relative dearth of information published on their movies. I haven’t agreed with all of Atkinson’s opinions, but I respect them, and once again books are causing me to jot down lists of Western titles I need to watch!
Needless to say, this survey barely scratches the surface of
worthwhile books, including titles on specific actors, and I intend to write
about additional “Western movie books” in a future column…or two!
In the meantime, I hope readers will share some of their favorite
book recommendations in the comments.
Happy Western viewing…and reading!
…
– Laura Grieve for Classic Movie Hub
Laura can be found at her blog, Laura’s Miscellaneous Musings, where she’s been writing about movies since 2005, and on Twitter at @LaurasMiscMovie. A lifelong film fan, Laura loves the classics including Disney, Film Noir, Musicals, and Westerns. She regularly covers Southern California classic film festivals. Laura will scribe on all things western at the ‘Western RoundUp’ for CMH.
Silents are Golden: A Closer Look At – The Kid (1921)
Of all the Charlie Chaplin masterpieces we can name — and from Easy Street(1917) to Modern Times(1936), there’s quite a few — one feature is perhaps extra special: The Kid(1921). One of Chaplin’s earliest features, it’s certainly the most heartfelt and personal film he ever made.
Charlie Chaplin and Jackie Coogan in The Kid (1921)
At the time, Chaplin was at a turning point in his career. The Kid was the fifth film he made for First National, the others being A Dog’s Life (1918), Shoulder Arms(1918), A Day’s Pleasure (1919) and Sunnyside(1919). Unlike the Keystone, Essanay and Mutual studios he’d worked for previously, First National gave Chaplin the time and creative freedom he needed to meet his own (insanely) high standards.
Another reason he was at a turning point was the tepid response to A Day’s Pleasure and especially Sunnyside. After the years of Chaplinmania that even the dourest critics weren’t immune from, the two shorts were considered disappointments. With stars like Roscoe Arbuckle and Harold Lloyd gaining their own huge followings, people wondered if the Little Tramp was losing his touch. Little did they know that Chaplin’s attention had already turned to his latest feature, a profound project that would draw upon his impoverished childhood in London as well as a very recent personal tragedy.
The Kid was Charles Chaplin’s first feature film.
Around 1917, Chaplin had met sixteen-year-old actress Mildred Harris at a party held by Samuel Goldwyn. The two became involved, and as Chaplin later delicately put it: “There were dinners, dances, moonlit nights and ocean drives, and the inevitable happened — Mildred began to worry.” Wanting to avoid the scandal an out-of-wedlock pregnancy would cause, the two married — only to discover Mildred’s condition was a false alarm. The marriage was limping along when Mildred did indeed become pregnant, and on July 7, 1919, their son Norman Spencer Chaplin was born. Sadly, the infant had an intestinal deformity and only lived three days. Later in life, Mildred would recall: “That’s the only thing I can remember about Charlie…that he cried when the baby died.”
Only ten days after little Norman’s death, Chaplin was auditioning babies at his studio, the threads of a story forming in his mind. And as luck would have it, during this time he also saw four-year-old Jackie Coogan, a child actor who was appearing in his father’s act at the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles. When he met the Coogans at the Alexandria Hotel a couple of days later, Chaplin spent nearly two hours talking to and playing with little Jackie in the lobby, later proclaiming: “This is the most amazing person I ever met in my life.”
Child Actor, Jackie Coogan
Chaplin began filming his new project in 1919, under the working title of The Waif. The story was relatively straightforward but deeply emotional: a poverty-stricken mother (Edna Purviance) leaves her baby boy in a wealthy family’s automobile, with a note saying, “Please love and care for this orphan child.” The car is stolen by two thugs who abandon the infant in an alley. He’s found by the Tramp, who reluctantly decides to adopt him. “The Kid” grows up very poor but well-looked after, the Tramp fastidiously making sure he’s clean and well-fed. All is relatively well until the Tramp gets mixed up with authorities who try to forcibly take the Kid away from him.
The Kid is infused with autobiographical details. After his alcoholic father abandoned the family, Chaplin also grew up in poverty. He also had to contend with authorities who sent him and his brother to various charity schools. He went through the pain of having to commit his own mother, a struggling singer, to an insane asylum. The gritty attic where the Tramp and the Kid live is based on 3 Pownall Terrace, the cramped, dingy London garrett where the Chaplins once lived. The Tramp is the devoted father figure Chaplin never had, and Edna Purviance’s character eventually becomes a successful singer — a fate Chaplin no doubt fantasized for his own unfortunate mother. Some scholars have theorized that The Kid was Chaplin’s way of working through his painful childhood memories. And perhaps he was reinventing his life story to become more at peace with it.
The portrayal of poverty and the cruelty of welfare workers are reminiscent of Charles Chaplin’s own childhood in London. This makes it the most autobiographical film he ever made.
The Kid’s most famous sequence, where the Tramp and the Kid are separated by
the authorities, took over a month to film. Its most famous and heart-tugging
scene, the moment when the Tramp and the Kid tearfully reunite, was filmed in
Olvera Street in the oldest part of Los Angeles. (The brick buildings in the
background still stand today, worn but instantly recognizable.) Jackie’s father
took on the task of making sure his son cried during the emotional shoot,
apparently whispering that he’d be sent to an orphanage if he didn’t. Indeed,
Jackie cried so stormily that Chaplin would feel alarmed, although the child
actor insisted, “I knew Daddy was fooling.”
Chaplin patiently coaxed an amazing
performance from little Jackie, who had a wonderful gift for mimicry. One of
Jackie’s parents were always on hand to watch rehearsals, and they were
continually amazed by how beautifully the two worked together, and how warmly
paternal Chaplin was to Jackie off the set. Clearly, the precocious child actor
was a stand-in for the son Chaplin had so recently lost.
The off-screen chemistry between Charles Chaplin and Jackie Coogan was just as strong as their onscreen relationship.
To the world, Jackie Coogan was also a stand-in for the many orphans of World War I, which had ended only a couple of years prior. He would also come to symbolize orphans of other conflicts. Becoming a major star in the 1920s, in 1924 he toured for the Near East Relief Foundation, which raised the modern-day equivalent of $13 million for children in need.
Today, The Kid has more than stood the test of time. With its universal themes of the relationship between parent and child, the helplessness children can experience, the fear of loss, and the struggle of poverty — all sweetened by some of Chaplin’s finest gags and comic touches — its story remains every bit as powerful as it was back in 1921.
Charles Chaplin and Jackie Coogan met for the last time in 1972, during Chaplin’s brief return to America for an Honorary Academy Award.
Lea Stans is a born-and-raised Minnesotan with a degree in English and an obsessive interest in the silent film era (which she largely blames on Buster Keaton). In addition to blogging about her passion at her site Silent-ology, she is a columnist for the Silent Film Quarterlyand has also written for The Keaton Chronicle.
Cooking With the Stars: Katharine Hepburn’s Brownies
Katharine Hepburn
Happy summer, classic movie chefs! After months of writing about some incredible stars and recipes for this column, I knew that I wanted to do something truly special to ring in the second half of this year. Following much deliberation, the time finally came for me to write my most requested Old Hollywood star recipe: none other than Katharine Hepburn‘s brownies!
This is a dessert that’s been requested by just about everyone close to me for this column, from dear friends to strangers and fans of Cooking with the Stars alike. Granted, this isn’t exactly the epitome of a summer treat and I know many of you won’t want to turn your ovens on in the midst of July, but after recreating so many delectable main courses, I thought it was high time for me to do some baking for a change and honor one of the most iconic and formidable women to ever grace the silver screen.
Katharine Hepburn as a baby, shown here in the arms of her mother, Katharine Houghton.
Katharine Houghton Hepburn was born on May 12, 1907, in Hartford, Connecticut to Thomas Hepburn, a urologist at the nearby Hartford Hospital, and to Katharine Houghton, a noted suffragette who campaigned for birth control alongside Margaret Sanger. Katharine’s parents raised their six children to be outspoken freethinkers while also encouraging them to test themselves athletically. Kate’s mother invited her young daughter along to women’s suffrage protests while her father taught her sports such as tennis, wrestling, swimming, and especially golf, which became Kate’s favorite pastime. She practiced each day in her youth, soon competing in the semi-final of the Connecticut Young Women’s Golf Championship.
Another hobby of Hepburn’s was going to the movies each week, which inspired her to perform for her family and neighbors. She charged fifty cents per ticket to her homemade shows, which she donated to the Navajo people. However, her jovial childhood came to a screeching halt in the spring of 1921. At age fourteen, Katharine and her brother Tom were staying with a family friend in New York. She discovered Tom’s body on April 3, dead from an apparent suicide. Much is unclear about the specifics of his passing – whether it was a poorly executed hanging trick, taught to him by their father, or whether he deliberately took his own life. Still, Hepburn’s harrowing discovery led to her retreating from others, becoming shy and dropping out of private school.
Katharine Hepburn in The Warrior’s Husband (1932), one of the most successful plays of her stage career.
For years following the incident, she took Tom’s birthday of November 8 as her own and received private tutoring until she felt confident enough to attend Bryn Mawr College, which she did to satisfy her mother by attending her alma mater. Hepburn initially struggled in her studies due to her extended absence from school, but she received the motivation she needed to excel after being barred from performing in Bryn Mawr’s school plays until her grades were up to par. Kate appeared often in the school’s productions, snagging the lead part in The Woman in the Moon during her senior year. The positive reviews that she received convinced Hepburn to pursue a career on the stage, and the day after her graduation in 1928, she traveled to Baltimore and joined a successful stock theater company. Her first performance with the company was also the first to give her unfavorable reviews, specifically about the shrillness of her voice, so she quickly moved back to New York in order to study with a vocal coach. She spent the following years in and out of various stage productions, and it was obvious that critics were unsure of what to make of this new talent, with some opining that Hepburn was the greatest discovery of the entire profession and others feeling just the opposite. In 1932 she portrayed the lead role in her first widespread success, a Greek fable titled The Warrior’s Husband, where she was spotted by a scout for legendary Hollywood agent Leland Hayward.
Katharine Hepburn alongside John Barrymore in a scene from A Bill of Divorcement (1932), her first Hollywood film.
Soon afterward, Hepburn was encouraged to read for the leading part in RKO’s A Bill of Divorcement (1932). Director George Cukor was blown away by her audition, realizing how much potential the actress had to be a great movie star, so he encouraged RKO head, David O. Selznick, to give in to her lofty request of $1,500 a week for the picture. Despite playing opposite a theatrical legend like John Barrymore for her first film, Katharine was unfazed, giving a characterization that the New York Times considered “one of the finest seen on the screen”. However, similarly to Hepburn’s stage work, reviews for each of her pictures were exceedingly mixed at first. She received her first of four Academy Awards the year after for Morning Glory (1933) and continued her success with an iconic portrayal of Jo March in Little Women (1933), but many of her following releases were commercial and critical disappointments, such as The Little Minister (1934), Break of Hearts (1935), and Mary of Scotland (1936). Still, for every feature of Kate’s that flopped, there was one that garnered acclaim, like Alice Adams (1935), which gave her a second Oscar nod, the delightful Stage Door (1937), and the master of screwball comedies, Bringing Up Baby (1938). Despite achieving several victories onscreen, in 1938 the Independent Theatre Owners of America included Katharine Hepburn on a list of actors considered “box office poison”, which threatened to terminate her career for good.
Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, and James Stewart in The Philadelphia Story (1940), the movie that resuscitated Hepburn’s career and earned the actress her third Oscar nomination.
While this list effectively ended the onscreen presence of some of Hollywood’s finest stars like Greta Garbo and Norma Shearer, Kate was determined to keep her head above water. After RKO offered her a role in the B-movie Mother Carey’s Chickens (1938), she made an unthinkable move for the time and bought out her own contract for $75,000, determined to work as an independent in films and plays outside of the studio’s protection and influence. Her next move was to star in the expertly written play The Philadelphia Story in 1939. Howard Hughes, who was seeing Hepburn at the time, understood that the work would make a ripe screen comeback for Kate, bought the film rights and subsequently gave them to Hepburn. From there, studios came knocking on her door for the chance to adapt The Philadelphia Story, and she ended up giving the chance to number-one studio MGM under the condition that she would not only star but have her choice of director and co-stars. The film was a monumental success and became the fifth-highest grossing picture of the year, earning Hepburn her third Academy Award nomination and cementing her status as a beloved actress in Hollywood.
Katharine Hepburn on the set of The African Queen (1951)
Her next significant onscreen success was Woman of the Year (1942), her first of nine pictures with Spencer Tracy, who would become the love of her life. While the two never wed due to Tracy’s existing marriage, they remained together for twenty-six years, their partnership resulting in hit films like Adam’s Rib (1949), Desk Set (1957), and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967). Hepburn’s success continued through the decades outside of her on-and-offscreen romance as well, with The African Queen (1951), Summertime (1955), and Suddenly, Last Summer (1959) all resulting in Oscar nomination for the actress. She would receive twelve nominations in total throughout her career and win three more in addition to her prior win for Morning Glory (1933), for Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967), The Lion in Winter (1968), and On Golden Pond (1981). She continued to act well into the 1990s before eventually passing away on June 29, 2003, at the age of 96.
Katharine Hepburn’s Brownies
½ cup cocoa or 2 ounces unsweetened baker’s chocolate
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup of sugar
2 eggs
¼ cup flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
Pinch of salt
1 cup roughly chopped walnuts or pecans
1 8×8 inch baking dish
Melt the butter with the cocoa or chocolate together in a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat, whisking constantly until blended.
Remove from heat and stir in sugar.
Whisk in the eggs and vanilla.
Stir in the flour, salt, and walnuts. Mix well and pour into a well buttered 8×8 inch baking pan.
Bake at 325 degrees for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely and cut into squares.
Serves 9
My version of Katharine Hepburn’s Brownies
I want to mention first and foremost that I’m a brownie kind of gal. I’m not sure why, but pies, cakes, and tarts haven’t been my favorites as opposed to brownies, cookies, and especially ice cream. While we’re on the subject of ice cream, I couldn’t imagine a better pair for Katharine Hepburn’s brownies than a generous scoop of vanilla to make this dessert a brownie a la mode, perfect for the summer months.
Katharine’s brownies are extremely fudgy, which I actually prefer brownies to be, and they’re not overly sweet due to the inclusion of unsweetened chocolate. However, I do have to admit that this recipe has a couple of flaws in my book. For one thing, the method that Kate uses to incorporate the ingredients together requires way too much mixing. Once I pulled my finished dessert from the oven, I noticed tons of tiny bubbles on the surface, even after I had attempted to tap some of them out before baking. Mixing each individual ingredient in as you make the batter almost guarantees that the end result will be overmixed, so I suggest adding a few ingredients at a time and mixing very minimally.
On top of that, I was also stunned that these brownies call for a whole cup of chopped nuts, the same amount as the sugar! I don’t mind a few nuts in my brownies, but I suspected before I even added the walnuts to the mixture that they would overpower the other components of the treat, and sure enough, they did. While the actual brownie batter was a winner, the texture was so smooth that it melted in my mouth, leaving the walnuts awkwardly hanging instead of going down as one cohesive dish.
Overall these definitely were tasty brownies, but in this instance, I think the curiosity surrounding one of Katharine Hepburn’s recipes is the reason why her version has withstood the test of time. I think there are better brownie recipes out there, so I personally give this dessert three out of five Vincents. However, if you’re a fan of Kate and you want to try these out for yourself, the simplicity of this recipe combined with the taste makes Katharine Hepburn’s brownie recipe one that you won’t feel sorry for trying.
Hepburn’s Brownies get a Three-Vincent rating!
…
–Samantha Ellis for Classic Movie Hub
Samantha resides in West Chester, Pennsylvania and is the author of Musings of a Classic Film Addict, a blog that sheds light on Hollywood films and filmmakers from the 1930s through the 1960s. Her favorite column that she pens for her blog is Cooking with the Stars, for which she tests and reviews the personal recipes of stars from Hollywood’s golden age. When she isn’t in the kitchen, Samantha also lends her voice and classic film knowledge as cohost of the Ticklish Business podcast alongside Kristen Lopez and Drea Clark, and proudly serves as President of TCM Backlot’s Philadelphia Chapter. You can catch up with her work by following her @classicfilmgeek on Twitter.
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