TCM Bob Schedule for June

All times are eastern, so check your local listings for exact times.

June 1
4 a.m. Lady In The Lake (1947)
Philip Marlowe searches for a missing woman in this mystery shot entirely from the detective's viewpoint. Cast: Robert Montgomery, Audrey Totter, Lloyd Nolan. Dir: Robert Montgomery.

June 23
2:15 a.m. Last Of Mrs. Cheyney, The (1937)
A chic jewel thief in England falls in love with one of her marks. Cast: Joan Crawford, Robert Montgomery, William Powell. Dir: Richard Boleslawski

June 25
3:45 p.m. They Were Expendable (1945)
A Navy commander fights to prove the battle-worthiness of the PT boat at the start of World War II. Cast: Robert Montgomery, John Wayne, Donna Reed. Dir: John Ford

Photo Friday: Rage in Heaven

Heaven hath no rage like love to hatred turned.

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Their Own Desire (1929)

I've crossed off one more Robert Montgomery film from the "To See" list (down to three now), Their Own Desire.

It's an early talkie, and it shows (or would that be "hears"), but you get over it quickly. I'm never good at giving film overviews (just comments), so allow me to grab this from IMDB:

Lally is a rich girl whose Father who writes books and plays Polo. After 23 years of marriage, Father decides to divorce Harriet, his wife, and marry Mrs. Chevers who is also divorcing her husband. This sours Lally on all men, but on vacation she meets Jack, who succeeds in stealing her heart. The trouble begins when Lally discovers that Jack is the son of Beth Chevers, the woman who is to marry her father.

The first 15 minutes of the film - love it. Jack (Bob) & Lally (Norma Shearer) meet at an art deco pool, set on the shores of Lake Michigan. How Jack "picks up" Lally is priceless - she high-dives into the pool and gets a kiss from a total stranger underwater. That night, there's a party poolside where everyone is dressed to the nines. The filming of the scene is unique in how the camera makes its way through the dancers to Jack & Lally. It's the atmosphere...sigh.



From there, IMO, the film gets a bit melodramatic. The couple is just dying to be together (almost literally) and one late night, they sneak away to the lake. Spoiler Alert. While on an island, a storm approaches and Lally is desperate to get back to her mother (she is suicidal from the breakup). Frantically paddling back home, the storm tosses the boat and washes them up on a deserted island. Days pass and Lally gets a bit overprotective over Jack's limp body - is he dead? Following searches by air, Lally's father finds them and, well, everyone makes it out alive. The movie cuts off way too early with the two contemplating marriage, again. I couldn't help but think that Jacks' mother & Lally's father won't get married - they displayed some behavior that to me read that they weren't quite ready. Perhaps the love of their kids' relationship would trump their own.

One last observation, I had to check and see how many islands there are in Lake Michigan for Jack & Lally to get stranded on - I could only think of one. Wikipedia is listing five named islands. You learn something new every day...

Now jump on over to Laura's blog where she has some interesting info on location filming for Desire.

On this Memorial Day

A heartfelt thank you to all of the service men and women, past and present, who have served and given their lives to defend freedom.

Love in What Rough?

From 9 to 5 we're buried alive...

I started watching Love in the Rough last night because of a question that came into the blog yesterday: At what golf course was it filmed?

As one always up for historical tidbits, if you know the answer, please leave a comment.

Update: We've got an answer thanks to Laura - Lake Norconian, Norco, CA. Fascinating looking place (reading up...)

Like Peanut Butter & Jelly

Just great together - Bob Montgomery & Joan Crawford:

Our Blushing Brides


The Last of Mrs. Cheyney


Forsaking All Others


Letty Lynton


No More Ladies


Untamed

In the Navy

Hell Below

Shipmates

They Were Expendable

Real Life - LCDR Montgomery

Two-gether

Continuing the birthday picspam-o-rama:

Virginia Bruce, The First Hundred Years

Marion Davies, Blondie of the Follies

Audrey Totter, The Lady in the Lake

Elizabeth Allan, The Mystery of Mr. X

Fightin' Norma Shearer, Private Lives

Leila Hyams, The Sins of the Children

Carole Lombard, Mr. and Mrs. Smith

Happy Birthday, James Stewart

Another famous actor's birthday is this week - James Stewart's today. 100 years of Jimmy, wow...

Bob Montgomery Birthday Week

In honor of Robert Montgomery's birthday on Wednesday, it's Bob picspam week here on the blog. Whatever I dig up, it's going up. Any requests?

Ten Minutes With Bruce Farnsworth

Ten minutes and eleven seconds to be exact. Just one of 10 scenes on YouTube from Here Comes Mr. Jordan. I think the entire film may be online at YouTube...

Fueling the Letty Lynton Fire

When I was a youngster, I was always told not to play into rumors or start them. Oh hell, this one is too interesting to pass up. I'll leave it to you to decide whether to take it as total BS or bet your life on it.

Letty Lynton on DVD - it's a wish for many. I've caught myself daydreaming a few times of watching the re-release on the big screen in a cushy, new, stadium-seated movie theater.

There's a rumor swirling that Letty Lynton will be played on TCM in the future and if all goes well, be released on DVD in 2012 when the copyright expires (I'm not even sure if that's a correct copyright fact). For me, the weak spot in the rumor is the "play it on TCM and see if anyone complains about the copyright" part. You don't screw with laws, especially if you're a television network. I'll tell you this though, I'd be happy to chip in a few PayPal bucks for the attorney who wants to fight any copyright issues that'd come up.

A tip of the hat to Nadya for passing this tidbit along.

Photo Friday: Franchot Tone and...

Continuing on last week's theme of "what movie is this from?" this week's mystery is Franchot Tone and...

Inquiring minds want to know - - If you know, please leave a comment!

UPDATE: Pic is from The Girl Downstairs, 1938, w/Rita Johnson & Franciska Gaal. Many thanks to Carrie Liz for another photo ID!

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Home From The Pacific Front

Home From The Pacific Front . . . Lieutenant-Commander Robert Montgomery after more than a year in the battle zones in which he took part in a number of major engagements, the former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer screen star has been temporarily stationed at a pacific port. This picture was taken at his home in Beverly Hills.

Believe it or not, the one part of the photo that interests me most is hidden on the right-hand side of the mantle:

After some digging around, I think he's standing next to the Navy/Marine version of the B-25 Mitchell bomber, the PBJ-1. Boy, aren't I being nerdy. I just think it's interesting that a photo like that would have a place on a mantle. If you've seen a larger version of the photo, please drop me a line.

Photo Friday: Robert Young and ?

Love the angle on this shot - a still that's actually creative! If anyone recognizes the actress or the film, please leave a comment!

Update: Looks like we have an ID, thanks to Carrie Liz: Unashamed w/Helen Twelvetrees, 1932.

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