Bob Talks About Making Lady in the Lake

 Interesting interview from the May, 1947 issue of Movie Show Magazine.  Believe me, it is a faster read than it appears.

Three Men and a Lady, From Good to Bad to Elegant

 Sometimes a photo will catch my eye, for whatever reason, and provide such enjoyment that I just have to have it ... even if Bob isn't in it!  

Just love the big smile on Audrey Totter's face as she reacts to Edward Arnold's attempt to be the big, bad guy.  I don't know much about Mr. Arnold but have read snip-it's here and there of him being a really nice guy.  It's always refreshing to hear about the good guys in the movie business for a change.

I'm including Mr. Beery primarily because I'm on a diet and the sight of him chewing on a whole chicken with plenty of sides to go with it just set me off.  My stomach actually started to growl.  Aargh ... I need to hurry and finish this post before I lose control. 

                         Wallace Beery in The Bad Man (1941

And for a something completely different:  the amazingly elegant Mr. Colman in a fan card from the 1920s.  Goodness.  Perfection.  

Happy 120th Birthday, Mr. Montgomery!

 "BIRTHDAY SMILES ... Robert Montgomery celebrates his birthday on the set of a new Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film.  Helping him cut the cake which members of the company presented him is Audrey Totter, who plays opposite him in the film."

         Bob and Audrey Totter on the set of Lady in the Lake (1946)

Just love the smile.  So rare to see Bob actually laughing.  

Good month for catching some Montgomery movies on TCM.  Right now there are four movies available for streaming:  Forsaking All Others (1934) until June 8th; Night Flight (1933) until June 11th; Night Must Fall (1937) until May 30th; and Live, Love and Learn (1937) ends tomorrow, May 22th.  Then two Bob war movies will premiere during the Memorial Day weekend, They Were Expendable (1945) --- of course! --- on May 25th and War Nurse (1930) on May 27th.  

Audrey, the Cat Lady of Joliet

 Ms. Totter, one of my favorite actresses.  I greatly admire her for her performance in Lady in the Lake (1946), having to look at the camera while assuming unusual positions.  And to work with an inexperienced director to boot.

Mr. Montgomery had this thing for small glass figurines.  Looks like he has gifted her with, I'm guessing, two kitties.  

And Audrey is holding an even smaller kittie. 

There are five telephones on Totter's table, ID'd as Philadelphia, Burbank, New York, Joliet and London.  Wait, one of those cities doesn't fit in with the others ... Joliet?  I looked up Ms. Totter on IMDB.  Appears she was born in Joliet, IL.  A Cute in-joke for her behalf.  

Upward to the Stars?

 Uncovering the treasures held in the December 7th, 1946 issue of Picturegoer ... nice picture of David Niven and Loretta Young on the cover. 

 There are two items in the magazine that are of interest, Montgomery-wise.  I like the pictorial feature on Lady in the Lake (1946). 

The best find is this two-paragraph item.  Wonder what happened to the movie. 

 

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. 

Audrey Gets Her Message Across

 These photos are from an article in the March 4, 1947 french magazine Cinevogue.  Love the series of Audrey Totter flirting with the camera, or should I say with Bob as Philip Marlowe in Lady in the Lake (1946).  Audrey did such a really good job in the movie, considering the trying circumstances.  Film actors were taught to never, ever look directly into the camera lens.  Overcoming that was difficult for an old pro like Lloyd Nolan. 

 

Future director Dick Powell stops by to say hi to new director Bob.  It's also one Philip Marlowe handing over the reigns to a new one.  Dick played the character in 1944's Murder My Sweet.  Nifty.

 

Bob directs Lloyd Nolan as Lt. DeGarmot. 

 

Bob wears his favorite hat from the post-WWII period ... perhaps not PC these days, but definitely snazzy in 1946. 

 

"I'm in the Mood for Love"

Audrey Totter got a chance to sing and do a few dance moves, in The Saxon Charm (1948).  The movie "Bad Girl" got to strut her stuff, while playing Bob's girlfriend. 

Go for it, Audrey!

Tomorrow, December 20th, is Ms. Totter's birthday.  Born in 1917, she died only 5 years ago.  A good run by a classy lady. 

Lady in the Lake - 1947

(As a Christmas gift to me, Debbie is covering the blog for the rest of the year.  And it's a gift to you readers as well since she has written four great posts.  Thanks, again, Debbie.)  

The last film Robert Montgomery made for MGM is an interesting one.  (I must admit, it is not my favorite Noir film Bob made, "Ride the Pink Horse" is my favorite).  But, still an interesting film it is.  Montgomery not only starred in this one but directed it as well.  The entire film was shot in the viewpoint of the central character (Philip Marlowe, played by Bob).  You are only allowed to gaze on that oh so handsome face when the character is looking in a mirror, or in the opening and closing scenes.  The remainder of the story is seen through Marlowe's eyes.  We see what he sees.

                                    Bob and Audrey Totter

                        Marlowe looking at himself in a mirror

The film was adapted from a Raymond Chandler novel.  Chandler actually wrote a screenplay for the film in 1943, but a version written two years later by Steve Fisher was used.  The film's timeline was changed from midsummer to Christmastime.  The holiday themes were an ironic contrast to the grim story line.  The opening credits are shown on a series of Christmas cards that supposedly are concealing a hidden gun.  I'll admit I've never been able to find it.  Photographs of the credits are hard to come by and not that clear.

                                        Opening Credits

The film had a great supporting cast that included Audrey Totter, Lloyd Nolan, Leon Ames, Jayne Meadows and Tom Tully.

                     Production candid of Bob and Lloyd Nolan

If you have a chance, check it out.  "The Maltese Falcon" it's not, but still very interesting and Robert Montgomery is much easier on the eye than Humphrey Bogart.

Oh, by the way, most of the movie posters show Bob with brown eyes.  This is a picky observation, but one that drives Kathy and me absolutely crazy.  Here is a rare "Blue Eyes" poster.

It's Audrey Totter Day on TCM

An entire day of Audrey Totter.  That is a deserving tribute.  There are three excellent movies being shown beginning at 8:00 p.m. EST/5:00 p.m. PST.  The first one, Tension (1949) co-stars Richard Basehart.  It is a noir classic and Audrey is just terrific, the noir Bad Girl personified. 

High Wall (1947) follows with co-star Robert Taylor.  Audrey gets to play a Good Girl for a change!  And closing up the evening is Lady in the Lake (1946).  Ms. Totter had a great snarl. 

Yes, Reggie ... It's Petticoat Fever!

I believe Audrey Totter deserved a special award for all the looks she gave Bob in Lady in the Lake (1947), and many of them were of the sneer variety as pictured below.  (I would have found it very difficult to sneer at Mr. Montgomery!)  You can check out all those great looks of hers when the movie is shown on TCM tomorrow (March 10th) at 1:30 p.m. PST.  She really did have a difficult role to play with all the "odd" cinematography. 

                 Bob and Audrey Totter in Lady in the Lake (1946)

Speaking of difficult roles, playing the straight man between Bob and Myrna Loy must have been a challenge for Reginald Owen.  Of course, he did have the experience for the role, having previously lost the girl to Bob in The Man in Possession (1931).  You can catch Petticoat Fever (1936) on TCM this coming Tuesday (March 14) at 9:00 a.m. PDT (It will be daylight time then, right?  Please don't rely fully on my airing times!) 

                Bob and Reginald Owen in Petticoat Fever (1936)

These are two of the four Bob movies shown by TCM this month, two to three times more than the usual number of showings!  My position is that more is always better, particularly favorites such as Petticoat.  Four cheers for TCM!  (If only they would pull Letty Lynton (1932) out of its legal morass and give that beautiful movie back to Bob's and Joan's fans, while we're still around to appreciate it!)  

Audrey and Irene, Two Peas in a Pod

Well, if astrology is correct, then today's birthday ladies are!  Hmmm, I have never thought of Irene "First Lady of Hollywood" Dunne and Audrey "Bad Girl" Totter as being in anyway similar, but perhaps it's the roles they played that separated them and not their selves.

Let's see ... they both starred in movies with Bob, Irene in Unfinished Business (1941) and Audrey in both Lady in the Lake (1947) and The Saxon Charm (1948).  

            Irene reads Bob's palm on the set of Unfinished Business

            Adrienne (Audrey) offers coffee to Marlowe (Bob) in 
                                 Lady in the Lake

And they both had just one husband, rather unique for Hollywood.  Irene was married to Dr. Francis Griffin, a dentist, for 37 years and Audrey to Dr. Leo Fred, an assistant Dean of Medicine at UCLA, for 43 years.  Both ladies outlived their husbands and died in their 90's, Irene 91 and Audrey 95!  They were both involved in politics, particularly Ms. Dunne, and like Bob, were staunch Republicans.

Above all, they were both classy ladies.