The Divorcee (1930) is available to stream on TCM until March 31st. Not a bad movie for its time, well Bob's role could have been larger. I watched Broadway Melody the other night which was the 1930 winner of the Oscar for Best Picture, and no way as good as The Divorcee. The studios learned very fast how to make a talkie.
Another nifty photo of Mr. Montgomery. It is printed on double-weight photo paper with a matte finish. Really nice, even if the signature is not an original. Almost perfect.
It is unusual for a double-weight photo to have a pre-printed signature. It appears the photo was used as the master photo for this postcard. Same photo, just tilted a bit. Still nifty.
I was not very happy when the Feds took away our national holiday celebrating George Washinton's birthday. And then to switch to a "President's Day" so George is bunched in with the likes of Warren G. Harding ... I mean, really? George deserves a celebration of his birth. And the same goes for Abraham Lincoln. That'll do it. Federal employees get enough days off as is.
I plan on a cherry pie on Saturday.
... and a tailor-made scene-stealer. Adolphe Menjou was born February 18, 1890, in of all places, Pittsburgh, PA. He was fluent in six languages and had perhaps the largest wardrobe in the movies.
Bob wore that same hat numerous times. Gorgeous piece of attire. Too bad classy hats are no longer in style. Replaced by ballcaps. Menjou (and Bob) are cringing.
There are a number of absolutely gorgeous photographs of William Powell available for purchase. Unfortunately, there are plenty of admirers of Mr. Powell who seem to have an unending source of money, or at least that is how the photos are priced. I am not one of those lucky, lucky people.
I can afford the occasional substitute. Rather than an 8x10 photo, a 4x5 works just fine ... if you deal with scans a lot. And even 4x5's are getting rarer. The Bill/Jean Harlow photo below may not be in the greatest shape, but their sexy pose distracts from the image loss.
Another 4x5, this time with Myrna Loy. All Bill and Myrna photographs are great, no matter the size or condition of the print.
Or, you could pick up a reprint. Reprint quality ranges from pathetic to it's impossible to tell the difference from an original. I'd describe this one as being mid-range. Well, Asta looks pretty good.
All you need for an ad is a pack of cigarettes and an actor who is just a bit of a ham. The pack of Lucky Strikes on the desk, a perfectly formed circle of smoke heading for the pen ... will the ring make it or dissipate before it can encircle the pen? I like the phone not having a cord. You wouldn't want it to distract from the smoke ring.
A nice painting made for the 1928 silent, The Cardboard Lover. It appears to be one of a series printed as a 5x7 fan card. Quite the expensive ad campaign for a B&W 1928 movie. Of course, it was a Cosmopolitan produced film and William Randolph Hearst always saw that Marion Davies got only the best treatment in her career. Anyway, Nils and Marion make a handsome couple.
Poor Silky. Everything's going great, and then ...
A bootlegger with a gun phobia. I like the concept. And the look on his face after the confrontation with Doc Ramsey (Edward Arnold), the dead guy.
Tallulah Bankhead was born January 31, 1902, in Huntsville, Alabama. A very, very interesting lady. IMDB has a long list of her quotes, a number of great one-liners. One of my favorites: "My father warned me about men and booze, but he never mentioned a word about women and cocaine."
Tallulah Bankhead, Jan. 31, 1902, to Dec. 12, 1968No, you can't have too many photos of Danny. With the very expressive face of Mr. Montgomery, they are all different and interesting. Of course, I am a wee bit biased. I like the write-up that came with the photo. Quite informative.
"ROBERT MONTGOMERY: For the first time in years Robert Montgomery appears as the villain of a screen play in M-G-M's "Night Must Fall," the weird drama of murder produced by Hunt Stromberg. Montgomery has the role of a bellboy with a way with women, who kisses and kills. Rosalind Russell is opposite him, with Richard Thorpe directing the screen version of the London stage hit which ran 55 weeks in England. Half the London stage cast, headed by Dame May Whitty, was brought to Hollywood for the film."
Sally Starr (Sarah Kathryn Sturm) co-starred with Bob Montgomery in So This is College (1929). Born January 23, 1909, in Pittsburgh, PA, Sally was briefly promoted by MGM, but her career would consist primarily of short films until its end in 1938. There were just too many perky starlets in Hollywood.
"Here is the interior of the Angeleno, the world's record non-stop plane after it had been in the air for more than a week. The pilots Loren W. Mendell and Pete Reinhart had no use for the necktie, which is shown by Sally Starr, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer actress."
This is one of my bulk lot finds, three interesting photos of a young starlet. I had no idea who she was initially, until I noticed her name in the left-hand corner of the middle photo. Yeah, I couldn't read it either, twas just able to, using a magnifier! Her name is Maria Alba, born in Spain in 1910. She started in the silents, had roles as the fiery Spaniard and her Hollywood career ends in 1935. A rather sexy lady with an unfortunate thick accent limiting her roles. Too bad.
This quite long, but totally interesting article is from the July, 1943 issue of Cosmopolitan. Do keep in mind that the magazine was owned by William Randolph Hearst and there just might be a tad of propaganda mixed into the tale of Lt. Commander Montgomery. Whatever, the article does provide additional information regarding Bob's military service. I'm guessing a majority of it is basically true, just exaggerated. Anyway, it is a fun read.
Bob kills time on the set of Blondie of the Follies (1932). Piano lessons were de rigueur for children of society back in the day. Or basically every household that could afford a piano.
Bob certainly had the hands that would help him out on the keyboard. Just look at those long fingers! And the cigarettes ... looks like Camels. And he was doing Lucky Strike ads at this time ...
The time has finally come ... Letty Lynton's copyright has expired!! 2025 has come at last. Wunderbar. Well, not quite.
Warner Bros. still owns the film, I assume, but Warners Archives is no longer in operation, no DVDs being released. That would have made life too easy. I could find only two companies that would be able to deal with Warner and make the DVDs: Critic's Choice Video and Criterion. Neither company is exactly open to film selection ideas from lowly viewers, but I shared my thoughts with them anyway. And with TCM. I figured Warner Bros. was too worried about their staff upheavals to help me out with Letty!
Do any of you good people have a close relative working for Warners?
It is so darn frustrating to want something so much and not have the foggiest idea as to how to obtain it!
Oh, and to be clear ... yes, there are people out there producing Letty Lynton DVDs for sale. They are doing so legally now, but they are still horrid copies. Of course, you would need access to the film in Warners vault to produce a good copy. Ah, to be able to actually see the young Robert when he first leaves his ship cabin!
Another great month for Bob's movies on TCM ... there are four streaming presently, with three more to come.
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941) ends earliest, on January 9th.
Three Loves Has Nancy (1938) runs until January 31st
Then Blondie of the Follies (1932) and Ever Since Eve (1937) both end on February 2nd.
The Big House (1930) begins streaming January 14th.
Hide-Out (1934) was shown in December and begins another probably brief run on January 16th. (They should just make it a permanent listing!)
And The Earl of Chicago (1940) is the 7th movie showing in January starting January 31st.
Okay, Ray Milland's birthday is January 3rd. I began doing this post and realized today is the 4th. I'm late once again. I did remember it last year. The year before I was a week late. I really, really thought I'd get it right this year. Updated my calendar for his birthday a month ago. Have noted that reminder numerous times. Aaarrghh!
Anyway, love those blue-eyed men!
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