Regretfully this will be my last post at Vienna’s Classic Hollywood. I’ve had 12 years of enjoyable research and writing about Classic Hollywood.
It’s always been a pleasure to hear from fans and to follow other bloggers, but now seems the right time to hang up my pen , sit back , put the dvd player on and pick a film off the shelf.
In between movies, I’ll be checking out my favourite bloggers – Laura……Colin…….Karen……Mike…..Aurora……Theresa. All great writers who will always keep the memories of bygone Hollywood alive.
I’m active on Instagram, still under Vienna’s Classic Hollywood.
My thanks to everyone who has contributed comments over the years. We’ve had some good discussions.
To my sister, Vi, sorry I didn’t get round to writing about Cornel Wilde and Dale Robertson , but here’s two pictures for you.
Cornel Wilde
Dale Robertson
My best to everyone,
Carol (aka Vienna)
A mistake in my very last post! It’s been ten years since I started the blog, not 12.
“Show Business” is a wee gem of a musical, with four good leads – Constance Moore and George Murphy for the romance , and Joan Davis and Eddie Cantor for the comedy, plus a slew of tuneful numbers.
”Show Business” is just that, a story of four performers and their efforts to be a success , their ups and downs, set around the First World War.
A quirk of the film was having the five main performers using their own Christian names – Eddie, George, Joan, Connie and Nancy (Nancy Kelly).
Joan Davis, Eddie Cantor
Joan and Eddie do a sketch of “Anthony and Cleopatra” ,with some funny dialogue:
Joan: “Do’eth thou’eth love’eth me’eth?
Eddie: “Yeth.”
Joan: “Will’t thou cares for an Egyptian cigarette?”
Eddie: “No, I am smoking already!”
Joan: Shooteth a little crap?”
Eddie: Thou knowest I never gamble.”
Joan: “Drink?”
Eddie: “I never drink.”
Joan:”May I give you a flower. You must smell.”
Eddie: ……”Remember , my Queen, I’m only a boy, just past twenty.”
Joan: ”Past it? You’ve lapped it two or three times .”
And every so often, Joan turns to the camera and says, “I love that boy, love him , I tell you.”
George Murphy, Constance Moore.
“I wanna a girl just like the girl that married dear old dad.”
Great song ,and Constance Moore sings it beautifully.
Nancy Kelly
Nancy Kellyhas a smallish role as a singer who tries to break up the Murphy/Moore romance. Nancy has a lovely number, “You May Not Remember” – dubbed by Nora Martin.
The film’s director was Edwin L.Marin who was also responsible for several Randolph Scott westerns, also Nocturne, Johnny Angel, several of the Maisie films; and even a couple of Judy Garland’s early films. A versatile director who was only 52 when he died in 1951.
Constance Moore, John Maschio
i was impressed by Constance Moore (1920-2005) who married John Maschio, a theatrical agent in 1939. After that Constance only worked intermittently in films, but appeared on many radio shows, sang in nightclubs and on Broadway ( in “BY JUPITERL, with Ray Bolger.)
She had glamour, style and a lovely singing voice.
There’s a wonderful collection of colour portraits for sale at FINEARTAMERICA.COM , mainly by the artist John Springfield (about whom I could find nothing on the agency which displays his work –The Esoteric Art Agency.
All the paintings can be bought as framed prints, posters, greetings cards etc. And the prices range from £18 upwards.
It’s been available since 2021 on dvd and blu-Ray ( from the excellent Flicker Alley), and I finally got round to viewing this rare 1951 independent drama, made by producer Louis De Rochemont (1899-1978).
Almost documentary in style, it’s the story of a small New Hampshire town whose main employer is Doubleday Plastics . The factory’ s whistle was an integral part of the town –
“That whistle marked the beginning and end of each day. It was our curfew , our fire alarm – we even set our clocks by it….”
The company is losing money. To keep the factory open, it needs more modern machinery and there will be potential lay-offs.
Lenore Lonergan, Lloyd Bridges, Ernest Borgnine.
Lloyd Bridges is the union leader who is asked by the factory’s owner, Dorothy Gish to take over the running of the plant after her husband dies in an accident.
Dorothy Gish
A small role for Dorothy Gish as the factory owner who decides to take a chance on the union organiser running the company.
Diana Douglas, Lloyd Bridges.
Diana Douglas plays Lloyd Bridges’s wife. ( she was married to Kirk Douglas at the time).
James Westerfield, Lloyd Douglas.
Ernest Borgnine, Arthur O’Connell, Lenore Lonergan, Lloyd Bridges.
Lenore Lonergan
I was impressed by Lenore Lonergan (1928-1987) as a union activist .Lenore only made a few films, including “Westward The Women”. She had played ‘Dinah Lord’ in the original Broadway production of “The Philadelphia Story.”
Bridges finds being on the management side isn’t easy. He has plenty of opposition from both sides.
Arthur O’Connell, Ernest Borgnine
The film’s producer, Louis de Rochemont won two Oscars for his historic MARCH OF TIME newsreels in the 1930s.
He joined Fox in 1943 and produced four films between 1945 and 1949 – The House in 92nd Street, 13 Rue Madeleine, Boomerang, Lost Boundaries. All reflective of the social issues de Rochemont was interested in. (I’ve yet to see “Lost Boundaries “.)
Many scenes were shot on location in New Hampshire (where de Rochemont came from).
Thanks are due to the De Rochemont family for initiating the project of bringing The Whistle at Eaton Falls back to life.
Directed by Robert Siodmak , this is a film I’ll be watching again. Variety called it ‘ overlong and slow’ and needing ‘plenty of scissoring’. I found it totally gripping and dramatic and well acted by an excellent cast.
Would love to see this photo in colour and full size. If you zoom in, you can see Michael Curtiz in front of the head table on the left, with Errol Flynn to his right.
It’s the scene where Robin has marched in and slung the stag on the table. Directly in front of Errol, sitting facing him is Claude Rains as Prince John , Basil Rathbone as Sir Guy of Gisbourne and Melville Cooper as the Sheriff of Nottingham.
The man in the white shirt to the left of the camera could be Sol Polito, the cinematographer.
The photo gives you an idea of the enormous size of the set and all the people involved – and that huge crane carrying the Technicolor camera. And the huge lights overhead. The set must have been so hot.
The soldiers nearest the camera stand to attention but those at the back are at ease!
And here’s Claude Rains taking it easy between scenes. To his left, what looks like a huge “No Smoking” sign, needed on the set for safety reasons. . Love the shoes!
Hotel de Paree. 1959 (Western series starring Earl Holliman).
Love the casual wear and sneakers.
Jane Withers, Joan Fontaine. 1961 General Electric Theater
With Sally Forrest. NEVER FEAR (1949).
With sister Rita. OUTRAGE 1950.
With Rod Taylor. HONG KONG 1960
HARD FAST AND BEAUTIFUL. 1951.
Robert Ryan visits on set of HARD FAST AND BEAUTIFUL.
Studying the next scene.
A pity the big film studios didn’t use Ida’s directing talents, but a sign of the times I guess. At least she could direct on television when she wasn’t making her own films.
Harry Morgan (1915-2011) didn’t have his name above the title but we all know him well and value his contribution to Hollywood history.
Born Harry Bratsberg, he was In the original stage production of Golden Boy and made his film debut in 1942 In To The Shores of Tripoli, using the name Henry Morgan (which he used for a good part of his career).
Averaging three or four films a year, Harry was never out of work for the next 50 years.
With Henry Fonda. THE OX-BOW INCIDENT.
With Richard Widmark, Robert Arthur.YELLOW SKY.
With Jack Webb .DARK CITY.
DRAGNET
With Lon Chaney Jr.,Thomas Mitchell. HIGH NOON.
With James Stewart, Charles Drake. THE GLENN MILLER STORY.
With Spencer Tracy, Fredric March.INHERIT THE WIND.
Harry had his own TV comedy series, Pete And Gladys, costarring Cara Williams. The show ran for two years from 1960 and was a spin-off of a show called December Brides.
Episodes are available on You Tube.
Guesting on an episode of Gunsmoke, with James Arness.
MASH.
Harry played a no-nonsense judge in two very good TV movies in which he costarred with Walter Matthau.
After his first wife, Eileen died in 1985, Harry married again in 1986 to Barbara Bushman (daughter of Francis X. Bushman).
How about that. It isn’t quite Rick’s Cafe Americain, but it is RICK’S CAFE and it is in Casablanca.
Opening in 2004, RICK’S CAFE came to life because former American diplomat Kathy Kriger saw an opportunity to recreate the classic cafe from “Casablanca”. (Kathy had been stationed in Morocco).
You’ll see the grand doors, potted palms, beaded table lamps – and of course a piano (baby grand, not upright?)
The film is played on a loop ( silently, with subtitles.)
RICK’S CAFE is located at 248 Boulevard Sour Jdid, Place du Jardin Public, Casablanca. Their website is www.rickscafe.ma.
Kathy Kriger (1946-2018) chronicled her story of creating Rick’s Cafe. She was known as ‘Madame Rick’.
Kathy Kriger
Visitors to the Cafe have included the daughters of Paul Henreid and Claude Rains.
The current manager ( and pianist), Issam Chabaa, said: “People don’t come for the food – they come for the dream”.
L.A Times writer, Bob Drogin, in 2018 described Rick’s Cafe as “…the re-creation of something that never was.”
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