... and have a Happy New Year!

 Party time ahead!  Or maybe now.  We do need to celebrate making it through this god awful year.  

These party revelers aren't encumbered with today's covid restrictions.  What a loss it would be to have Mr. Montgomery's smile covered up by a mask!  

At a costume party at the West Side Tennis Club are Jean Arthur, Bob and Ida Koverman (if not acquainted with Ida, check her out on Wikipedia.  Interesting lady.) 
 

Kinda liked being on 'vacation', so I'm extending it through this week.  Best wishes to you and yours.  See ya' next year!

Merry Christmas, from Leon, Bob, June, Dick and Audrey!

Left to Right:  Leon Ames, Robert Montgomery, June Allyson, Dick Powell and Audrey Totter
 

P.S.  Lady in the Lake (1947) is being shown twice this Christmas season, Dec. 19th at 11:00 p.m. PST and Dec. 22nd at 11:00 a.m. PST.   

P.P.S. We'll be on vacation next week.  Meanwhile, have a great holiday. 

Time to Get those Cards in the Mail

That's Rex, as in Rex Allen, singing cowboy for Republic Pictures in the 1950s and the voice of Disney nature documentaries in the 1960s.  Great voice.  And good taste in Christmas cards.  (No, he didn't send it to me, darn it.) 

See You at the Loew's!

 Great way to advertise.

 Yeah ... I'd save the photo!

Methinks Joan Did Not Like to Lose ...

Be it backgammon or cards at the studio, horse racing in Santa Monica or baccarat in Monaco, Bob enjoyed playing the odds.  During the days of Robert Montgomery Presents, when he wasn't needed in D. C., Bob escaped the studio for backgammon at his private men's club.  I do not know, but I have this hunch that Bob won more than lost in these pursuits.  Yeah, I'd put money on it...

  "Joan Crawford and Robert Montgomery join in a game of back- gammon on the set of The Last of Mrs. Cheyney at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer."  

He'd Rather Tell Them To __ __ ____!!

 Good article about Bob, written in late 1940 (best guess).  It is an easy read, but if you're in a hurry, do read the last three paragraphs. 

 

A Troubled Twosome, No Place to Sit

 Whoa ... let's hear it for the costume department!  All the work required on Roz's dress.  All the effort required getting Bob's boots on!  It's no wonder he's on a resting board.  There's no way he could bend his knees to sit down. 

                Rosalind Russell and Bob in Trouble for Two (1936)
 

The hair and the mustache, now that's too much.   What a way to mess up a beautiful face. 

Happy Thanksgiving!!

This is exactly how our meal will look this afternoon ... in my dreams!   I am so unaccustomed to fixing special meals that harried me is just happy to get the food on the table, too tired to worry about how it looks.  It's just my husband and me, but I prepare a full Turkey Day meal.  Until this year, I have gotten the biggest bird I could find, in the 20-23lb. range.  We love turkey sandwiches, so none of it goes to waste, just frozen in small baggies for another day.  Hubby, who has been doing the grocery shopping this year, came home with a 14-lb. bird.  Insisted it was the biggest bird in the store.  Rather guessing it was his way of not having to tell me I wasn't up to hassling with a 21-pounder.  He's a treasure.  Do hope your Day hasn't been disrupted too much by all the interfering politicians.  Enjoy your Day to the fullest.  I will once I have that glass of champagne in hand!!

One Elegant Gent, And Not Bob or Bill!

 Just to appreciate a gorgeous photo of a dapper and exceptionally talented actor named Claude Rains.  Love the boutonniere.  A three-piece suit with a hanky displayed just so, the perfectly knotted tie.  Ah, but how life has changed ...

 

Wonder Who Drove Whom Home

 Edward J. (Eddie) Nugent was tall, dark and handsome; born in 1904 in New York.  Wow, I could be describing Mr. Montgomery!  He was in four movies with Bob playing small and sometimes uncredited roles.  The movies are in a three-year span, 1929 to 1931, a period of partying and high times for Bob.  I can imagine Bob saying a good word for Eddie to get those parts, always nice to have a good pal on the set and available at night to join in the partying. 

Eddie was one of those actors who almost made it big in Hollywood.  Almost.  Had lead roles in a few low budget movies, worked often between 1929 and 1936, but never got the big contract or role.  Did some stage work in the 1940s and had a contract with ABC to direct TV in the early 1950s.  Eddie lived to be 90, certainly beating out Bob (77) on that one!  And died in New York City, same as Bob.   

I have photos of Bob and Eddie together in three of the movies they made together.  Don't have any for Strangers May Kiss (1931), don't have many photos from that movie at all, darn it. 

 

   Bob, Joan Crawford, Director Jack Conway, Gwen Lee and Eddie Nugent in Untamed (1929)
 

  Bob, June Walker, Eddie Nugent and unknown in War Nurse (1930)                                                        

           Hedda Hopper, Bob and Eddie Nugent in Shipmates (1931)
                                                            
 Can you just imagine the attention those two handsome gents got when they entered a nightclub in full tuxedo regalia.  Rrrff!

P.S. Edward J. Nugent was not related to Elliott Nugent.  Elliott co-starred with Bob in So This is College (1929) and remained a life-long friend and often business associate. 

Benny Rubin was in 208 movies and TV shows

 I'm sure this 'bit' was hilarious 90 years ago.  Maybe it still is funny, it's me surviving in this awful year 2020 that prevents me from appreciating it.  Yeah, that's it.  Boo, 2020! 

                Benny Rubin and Bob in Love in the Rough (1930)

Interesting look on Bob's face.  Looks like he's suffering from a hangover.  

This is rather nifty ... Benny has autographed the backside of the photo for Mike (or Milie!) dated Aug. 18, 1980.  Hey, I bet you don't have a Benny Rubin autograph! 

Bob at 49. Handsome Dude.

 Oh, my.  Another portrait of Bob joining my all-time favorites.  That big smile doesn't appear that often, particularly not in his older portraits.  I'll take a wild guess that Buffy is off-camera.  That's a happy man. 

The photo below is from the same session, and it was the one used on the 1953 ad campaign for Robert Montgomery Presents.  It is much more of a public version of Mr. Montgomery, only the tiniest hint of a smile.  Love the hands.

 

Happy Veterans Day, Nov. 11th

 If you love seeing this flag waving high against the sky ...

                                 Thank a Veteran!

Happy Birthday, Mr. McCrea!

 Rrrrff!  What an incredibly handsome man you were, Joel.  And a nice guy, too.  Made his fortune in real estate.  6' 2-1/2" of perfection.  Married to Frances Dee for 57 years.  Lucky lady. 

                          Joel McCrea in Bed of Roses (1933)
 

A Pleasant Distraction on a Hectic Day

     Maureen O'Sullivan & Norman Foster in Skyscraper Souls (1932)

 And do note there are several classic movies on TCM (Watch Live) that would provide a great break from 'counting chads':  Mrs. & Mrs. Smith (1941) (Comedy) with Bob and Carole; One Way Passage (1932) (Tearjerker) with William Powell and Kay Francis; She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) (Western) with John Wayne; Gunga Din (1939) (Adventure) with Cary Grant; and Top Hat (1935) (Musical) with Astaire & Rogers.  Something for everyone! 

BOO!!!!

 Happy Halloween! 

             Frank Lawton, Maureen O'Sullivan & Lionel Barrymore                                               in The Devil-Doll (1936)

                

Doing His Best for His Men and Country

 It's the Duke and Bob ready to take whatever the war throws at them, a still from They Were Expendable (1945).  Nifty scene, but the blog just is not set up to display the photo properly.  Shucks.

 So, we will just have to enlarge the best part of the photo for close review.  Why, surprise, it's Bob Montgomery!  No, wait.  It's Lt. John 'Brick' Brickley, not looking nearly as spiffy as he was in his Navy whites in the bar scene at the beginning of the movie. 

What he does look like is a man accepting his fate, determined to do his best for his men and country. 

Good job, Mr. Montgomery.

Bob Makes it to the Gossip Columns

"Reginald Denny and Robert Montgomery have decided that a rolling stone may gather some tan if it rolls far enough away to do it, so acquire the "alura" skin while chopping wood away off at the Denny mountain cabin, attired only in those dainty, masculine unmentionables referred to in in polite society, if at all, as shorts."

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 "Bob Montgomery is all in favor of European, especially Italian, speed laws.  They not only let you go as fast as you want, but in Italy they actually encourage you to see how fast you can make it.  They checked Bob out in his Bentley on a run to Milan (in 1935).  He did it averaging 70 miles per hour.  The cops were the first to congratulate Bob.  What a country!"

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Well, no caption came with the photo clipping.  Bob and Jimmy Cagney toast a life-long friendship ... that sounds about right.  

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"If you have learned by mail or somehow or other just exactly how to make an avocado tree grow in New England, it will be worth exactly one thousand dollars to you if you'll prove it to Bob Montgomery.  Bob wants to grow his favorite fruit on his New York farm, but doesn't know how.  He offers one grand for such horticultural success.  Don't push all you farmers and farmerettes."

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 "Yep---they've really gone horse crazy in Hollywood.  When Fred Astaire's wife had their baby the other day, Bob Montgomery, who is expecting one in the family any time now, sent a telegram to Fred:  Congratulations, it read.  Yours to win and mine to show."  (Slight problem in this story.  Astaire's son was born Jan. 21, 1936 and Bob Jr. was born Jan. 6th.  Perhaps it was Astaire who sent the telegram.  Whatever, it's just Hollywood!)

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"Wonder if you knew that Bob Montgomery has a brother?  Maybe you'll see him---if his test turns out all right.  Donald is his name.  He visited Bob the other day, and just a trip around the lot won him a break before the testing lens.  Handsome lad, he is, too.  Very much of the he-man type."  (This is from a 1936 magazine.)

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions ...

 This is an 11x14 poster of the young Mr. Montgomery.  I purchased a group of six, all of stars of the same era.  Haven't run across anything quite like them since.  Anyway, I am definitely happy with my purchase.  After finally getting it scanned, I played a bit with the appearance.  The first scan is very close to the original photo. 

 I decided to "up" the image a tad.  Maybe better.  Nice. 

 And then I tried a brown hue.  Yes!  Just love it. 

So, now the decision is how to store the photo scan.  Which version should I use?  Or do I figure out a way to retain all three.  Hmmm...  Decisions, decisions, decisions.. 

The Other MGM Robert in the Navy

 Handsome Gents, weren't they!

                                  Lt. Robert Taylor, USNR

Dr. Bob Researches Hollywooditis

 The following article was published in the August, 1938 issue of Hollywood Magazine.  It is a tad lengthy, but it is a good read.