One Elegant Dude!

William Powell as Philo Vance in The Kennel Murder Case (1933)

Below:  Bill with his wife, Diana Lewis. 

Would it have been possible to dislike William Powell?  Nah...no way.  Just look at those eyes ... ya' just gotta' love him.  The young actress Diana Lewis did.  Their marriage lasted 44 years, until his death in 1984.  He may have been 27 years older than she, but, heh, it was William Powell!!  His nickname for her was "Mousie".   (I might have found that troubling coming from a man who had been married to Carole Lombard and engaged to Jean Harlow!)  Today is Mr. Powell's birthday.  Happy Birthday, William!

Bob and Bette, My Favorite Couple

I wish Bob and Bette Davis had made more movies together.  The two on the same set ... one could look forward to the moment Bette just can't take it anymore and goes after Bob with claws and teeth flaying.  It's that tension between them that adds another level of enjoyment watching June Bride.  How about this for a caption for the photo below:  Bette to the director, "If this S.O.B. steals one more scene from me, I'm out of here."  Bob's response, "Who, Me??"

 This photo stands alone, no words are necessary.


In closing, as Bette is quoted as saying about her co-star, Montgomery is "overbearing, pompous and ridiculously right wing."  I haven't run across a quote from Bob on Bette.  One is just left to imagine his thoughts, 'tis more fun that way. 

Bob (and sometimes Betty) Out and About

Photo Caption:  "Robert Montgomery locks his specially built number before entering the Berkeley Tavern.  What do you think of Bob's hat-band?"  (This photo was taken c. 1945.  Anyone know the location of a Berkeley Tavern?  L.A.?  NYC?  London?  Patterson, NY?)

I have nada info. on the photo below.  Clippings packages always have treasures, but photo descriptions are quite often missing.  An air show perhaps?  Whatever, Betty appears really into it.

Wanna Catch the Late Show at the Bijou?

An interesting ad:

A really good ad:

Mystery Solved

I ran across this photo a few years ago.  It's a 10x13 print, so I have been able to scan "most" of it.  The very young Mr. Montgomery is just so very cute, the big smile and all.  I try my best to find out as much as I can about a particular photo ... the year taken, the name of the photographer, why it was taken...and I rarely find out everything.  With this photo I started with zero information from the seller.  There is nothing on the back, no date or photographer stamp, darn it.  Bob is quite young, so it is early 30s for sure.  It's a rather odd setting for a portrait, and the setting does not match up with any scenes from his early movies.  So, I was stumped.  Until ...

I recently purchased a collection of Bob clippings that included this entry from Modern Screen Magazine.  Ta-da!!  Bob was featured in a series on Hollywood stars** and their favorite deserts, providing recipes so the homemaker can make the very foods of the stars to please her husband!  According to the article, Bob's favorite desert is pie, particularly peach and green apple.  And his second favorite desert is ice cream, particularly ice cream sandwiches.  (The article likes the word particularly.)  And per Bob, his favorite sandwich is "ice cream between two slices of toasted sponge cake with a chocolate or butterscotch sauce poured over the whole thing and perhaps some nuts sprinkled over it." Now, that does sound good. 

** Found another article from the series featuring Lee Tracy.  He liked blackberry shortcake and strawberry tarts.  (Both with a shot of whiskey, I'll guess.)