N

……….Was this really the best cover Eureka could muster for their UK Blu-ray release of THE AFRICAN QUEEN?  It is not even a new cover, and the depiction of Katharine  Hepburn is laughable.

i read that this cover was the original theatrical poster. Can anyone confirm?

The Blu-ray will be out on 18th November, 2019 and is a limited edition of 3000 copies. It has a an audio commentary by Jack Cardiff; a 60 page collectors book; and a 59 minute documentary.

 

 

If they couldn’t come up with some new art work, I’d have settled for the above .

In 1952, there was a radio adaptation of The African Queen, with Bogie and Greer Garson. I guess Kate Hepburn wasn’t available.

 

 

………….A friend who is a Marlene Dietrich fan sent me these three photos of his lovely limited edition  box set of Marlene films .

 

 

 

………..And what a lovely portrait of Marlene by Boris Chaliapin which I found recently from the Smithsonian museum.

 

………Three stages of a career.

 

 

Character actor PERCY HELTON (1894-1971) made a few silent movies from 1915, but most of his early career  was on the stage, returning to films in 1947.
But,boy, when he returned to the screen, he never stopped. In 1949 he was in 11 movies. In total, he made over 100 movies and appeared in every major television series.

 

Can you spot Percy in this poster for CRISS CROSS (‘The Hug Of Death’.)

 

With  George Tobias and Robert Ryan in THE SET UP.

 

Not always the friendly old man, he tries to squeeze some money out of Ralph Meeker, with  Gaby Rogers looking on in KISS ME DEADLY.

 

Love this early shot of Percy from his stage career.

Percy was married for 40 years until his death in 1971.

One of the great character actors.

 

 

………Dark, smooth talking and generally on the wrong side of the law, that’s JOHN BARAGREY (1918-1975). Hardly ever a leading man in films, John probably had bigger and better roles on stage and on television. He only made about a dozen films and yet any time he was on screen, he stood out. It’s a pity his film career was so short.

 

 

Playing Otto Kruger’s son in COLOSSUS OF NEW YORK, a thankless role – he and Kruger deserved better.

 

 

Quietly menacing in “Tall Man Riding”, but never going to win against Randolph Scott.

 

…………THE PREMIERE OF “ARIZONA” (1940)

Columbia’s big western, ARIZONA, (budget $2.3 million!)  was premiered in Tucson,Arizona at the State and was screened at four other local theaters simultaneously – the Fox, The Lyric, The Rialto and the Temple of Music.

What’s  amazing is that the stars of the film,Jean Arthur and William Holden went from theater to theater, to introduce the film!!