Buy Me a White Sable and I'd Smile

Bob and Betty arriving at a premiere, Bob with tickets in hand and Betty looking stunning in a full length white sable coat.  I like the woman behind Bob to his right checking him out with a big grin.  

Have you noticed what is different about this photo compared to others when Betty's with Bob?  ....  She is not holding onto his left arm!  There is a zone of separation between the two.  And Betty is not smiling.   Hmm...  They were a different kind of couple.  

Wayne Morris the Hero, Great Casting by the Navy!

 It's 1941 and Paramount, like all of Hollywood, was in a big hurry to make some war movies before they lost all their youngish stars to the war effort.  For I Wanted Wings they gathered Ray Milland, William Holden and Wayne Morris to play the young pilots.  In real life, both Milland and Morris were actually pilots.  Morris would later become a certified war hero, a flying ace, etc.  Do check him out on IMDB, interesting guy.  Holden served three years in the service, doing PR and making training films ... that's heroic duty as well!  Mr. Milland was turned down for service, being 4F because of a crippled hand, although they would later hire him to train pilots as a civilian.  

I Wanted Wings was a so-so movie, but they had one imaginative still photographer on board.  Below, Ray and Constance Moore are shown looking off to the sky while holding up a section of a plane.  

Then, they had Bill Holden join them, helping them hold up the flap, rudder or whatever.  Just what the heck are these people supposed to be doing?  

Wayne Morris just looked like a war hero.  Great casting by the U.S. Navy!  

Shaving Off Bob's Sideburns ... Not Nice!

 Not screwing up the star's hair is certainly important.  Below, we have the film's director, George W. Hill, supervising while the studio hairdresser prepares Bob's hair before handing him over to the older gent who portrays the barber who gets blamed for the haircut in the movie.  (Wow...one long rambling sentence!)  

Eeks...they shaved off Bob's sideburns!  Ah, the suffering actors have to go through.  

A reminder:  The Big House (1930) is available to stream on TCM until April 27th, as is June Bride (1948).  Night Must Fall (1937) ends the 25th.  Three good movies to watch.  

Danny Admires His New Knife

 Just what could he be thinking of doing with it, I wonder.  (Bob looks really in touch with his inner Danny.)  

                  Robert Montgomery in Night Must Fall (1937)

And Just Who Was the More Beautiful?

"Here they are ... Maureen O'Sullivan advises Robert Montgomery in this scene from the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer picture, "Hide-Out," directed by W.S. Van Dyke."

As we have lamented many times in the past, it's really too bad they didn't pair Bob and Maureen at least one more time to answer the big questions, "Will Lucky return after he has served his prison term?  Will Pauline want him back?"  They were just so cute together.  

Bob (Montgomery) and Eddie (Nugent)

 A fun and interesting read.  A friendship from the time that Bob was busy on the nightclub scene.  Two very handsome young men ... as far as the MGM public relations department was concerned, Betty did not exist until sometime in 1930 --- Bob signed with MGM in January, 1929.  The poor lad just had to party hard to not sully his reputation!  Great deal for Bob.  Wonder what Betty got out of the deal.  

An Enemy of Louis Mayer ... Aren't We All!

William Haines (1900-1973), another good-looking guy.  Best friend of Joan Crawford.  Enemy of Louis B. Mayer, who finally got Haines off the MGM lot in 1932.  As you probably know, Haines was openly gay and would not marry because Mayer ordered him to.   

In 1930 Haines was assigned a movie called Remote Control, gets a 5.6 rating on IMDB.  I ran across this still from the movie with an oddly attired Mr. Haines.  I'm guessing he would've quit movies on the spot, but that MGM contract paid all too well.  

                    William Haines in Remote Control (1930)

The one good thing from the movie:  one nifty music sheet cover.  

Before He Wore Cowboy Boots 24/7

 A good-looking lad was he ...

And in a movie wearing a suit and tie ... yes, a good-looking lad.  His co-star in the movie Girls Demand Excitement (1931) was Virginia Cherrill, Cary Grant's first wife (they met in 1932, got married in 1933 and divorced in 1934.  Ahh, true love.)