"Lt. Commander Robert Montgomery and Mrs. Montgomery at the premiere of 'Since You Went Away' directed by John Cromwell." June, 1944
It's Bob's expression: does he look on the verge of losing it, or what? Betty, as is highly unusual, is walking a distance away and in front of Bob. She looks very stern/determined, as in daring anyone to get in her way, or for Bob to say anything to her at all. Since You Went Away is 2 hrs. and 57 min. long. That must have been a very exhausting experience.
KEEP IT CLEAN - Charles Boyer, Irene Dunne and Charles Coburn do a polish job on the status of the town's hero in Columbia's gay comedy, "Together Again."
I can't imagine a more awkward trio of pitchmen. But the old pros that they are, all have their best grins for the cameraman.
Think Small, Think Postcards
George Hurrell took a lot of portraits of Robert Montgomery. Unfortunately, very few are in circulation. Heck, even the postcard versions are rare.
It is Norma Shearer being won over by Bob in this publicity shot for Strangers May Kiss (1931). Yes, even posing for publicity shots could be enjoyable with the right partner.
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Two excellent pros in a delightful comedy.
TCM update for June: Fast and Loose (1939) and Night Must Fall (1937) will begin their June showings on June 4th and Lovers Courageous (1932) on June 13th. Meanwhile, three movies from May will continue to run until June 14th (The Divorcee and The Easiest Way) and June 15th (They Were Expendable). That's a lot of Bob available to watch!
I definitely need to check out Lovers Courageous. It has been ages. Bob and Madge made such a great couple.
Think Small, Think Trade cards
And, when you definitely do not have the extra money for an original Hurrell, try this trade card.
Nifty postcard of a very young Mr. Gable. Only one small problem with it.
The handkerchief is on the wrong side ... the image is flipped. Still nifty.
And what better way for Bob to celebrate his birthday then with friends (maybe family) at a hot new nightclub. He would have enjoyed that. This photo was not a birthday celebration, however. It was taken in August 1940 at Ciro's, which was a hot new nightclub. And they all are friends. The occasion is a fundraiser for War Relief.
The attendees are from left to right: Bob, holding court; Pat Paterson, Mrs. Boyer; Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.; an unknown lady; and the back of Mary Lee, Mrs. Fairbanks.
On the other side of the table are Charles Boyer; Betty Montgomery, partially hidden by Boyer's glass; and a very tall unknown gentleman.
Since I don't recognize the lady at the far end of the table, nor the gent across from her, I'm going to take a wild guess ... how about Bob's brother Don and his wife. Two of the few things I know about the brother are that he was taller than bob, by at least a couple inches, and he was in L.A. at least during the war when he handled Bob's businesses. Like I said, just a fun guess.
Anyway, for those of us not planning to go out on the town today, TCM has four Bob movies available for streaming at present: Riptide, until June 5th; The Divorcee and The Easiest Way, until June 14th; and They Were Expendable, until June 15th. Not a bad selection. Just think, next year we'll be able to watch our Letty Lynton DVD!!!!
Yikes ... Carrie just told me that pre-ordering on Amazon for Letty Lynton began today! I just ordered mine. Not knowing how many are available ... it will be delivered on June 30th. Can't wait!!
Don't know for sure, but best guess is that a good friend or sister has captured a photo of Jack Paar from his Friday night show, The Jack Paar Program which ran from 1962 to 1965. The writer is probably English, the date format of 21/12/62 (21st of December,1962) indicates that. And best guess is that the good friend or sister is in England after spending time in the States, getting to know of Robert Montgomery.
Enough guessing. Please just read the note ... it is priceless.
Yep, I agree, Ms. Hayes. Mr. Montgomery is to die for. Sigh. You can let him go now, Helen. Helen!
The Hurrell photographs for Riptide (1934) are great, just dripping with sex ... even those with Herbert Marshall in them! Norma gave it all for the shoot. No underwear to mess up the lines of the gown. Her two accompanying male stars exhausted by the vibes on set. Gooooo, Norma!
Riptide is available to stream on TCM until June 5th.
Thanks to Carrie for the official word about the June 30 release of Letty Lynton.
An only 40-day countdown remains. Gosh, but how many years has it been since we began wondering when or if Letty would ever be available in a viewable format?
So ... the TCM Festival did decide to have a second showing of Letty Lynton, on May 3rd. What a thrill for those lucky people.
According to Joan Crawford's grandson, who has been involved in bringing Letty back from the grave, the DVD will be released in the "coming months." What a tease! Anyway, I need to start saving money for that 4G Blu-Ray. Might be a good time to buy that 4G TV.
Jerry and Letty find romance ...
He looks even better in the white suit.
The movie is Louisa (1950), directed by Alexander Hall who also directed Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941). The plot: two guys (Edmund Gwynn and Charles Coburn) fight over one girl (Spring Byington). Yeah, another Bob/Clark/Joan movie ... well, sort of.
Anyway, Edmund decides on flowers and an evening in the parlor. Spring is interested.
Charles goes all out with assistance from Mother Nature. Again, Spring is interested, the little hussy.
Spring's son, Ronald Reagan gets involved, demanding Edmund watch himself. Picking on a very diminutive Edmund ... for shame Ron!
The boys decide to settle the matter once and for all. I'm putting my money on Edmund.
Bob directed "Calculated Risk" on Broadway in 1962. It turned out to be his last work in the entertainment business. Not a bad way to go out, directing a play on Broadway after a rather humble start as a stagehand some 40 years prior.
I just noticed that John Beal is a cast member. Mr. Beal's first movie was Another Language (1933), playing Bob's younger brother. He also appeared twice on Robert Montgomery Presents.
Yes, I know the lucky guy in the photograph is not Bob (Montgomery). I can appreciate another good-looking fellow on occasion. In this case, it is Bob Young with the perfectly beautiful Ms. Lamarr in a studio photo for H.M. Pulham, Esq. (1941). I like the pose ... Hedy dominating Young. Yeah, that works well.
Sorry for the briefness. Didn't remember I had a post to do until I was on the way to bed. The memory goes first ... Enjoy your weekend!
SCREEN STAR AND NOTED SPORTSMAN ARRIVE FOR POLO ---- LOS ANGELES, CALIF ...... Robert Montgomery, popular film star, and Snowy Baker, well known Australian whip cracker and all-round sportsman, as they arrived at the Riviera Polo Grounds for the match in which Hollywood notables recently participated. 3-23-1933.
Mr. Montgomery attired in all white ... the impeccable polo player. Looking good, young man. But there is something different here.
Oh, I finally see it. Bob is au naturel, in this case meaning he has not slicked (oiled) down his hair. Rather like it this way.
Whipcracking was actually a sport in Australia. Wiki has all the information you could ever want to know about it. I'll stick with baseball.
"M.G.M.'s leading light comedian and fastest wisecracker has his serious moments. He brought one with him for this picture. Bob has been making big pictures since 1930, when he appeared in "Inspiration" with Garbo. This year (1934) you saw him with Joan in "Forsaking All Others" and '"No More Ladies."
Can you guess what I can't stop thinking about these past few days? It is a range of emotions from sheer ecstasy (hopefully seeing a clear print of a Beautiful Bob movie for the first time!), to having a nightmare about the Paramount+/Warner Bros. Discovery merger killing any plans to release Letty on DVD! Aaarrggh!
Favor to ask, if any of you or anyone you know are fortunate enough to attend the screening, please, please, Please drop us a line or two or as many as you want! The word for the day, good people, is Share!
Bob in his prime. Wearing that gorgeous white suit. Nirvana.
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