Mr. Jordan is Looking at Joe. Bette is Looking at Joe. And Joe is Looking at ____?

  Evelyn Keyes, Bob & Claude Rains in Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)

Yeah, I'd like to get my hands on him too!

Nice to Have Mr. Jordan on Your Side

 It is not that often Bob is paired with only a male co-star in a publicity shot.  Actually, I can't think of any besides this photo for Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) with Mr. Jordan himself, Claude Rains.  Rains did such a great job with the character, giving him just the right amount of gravitas.  

And Bob did such a great job as Joe Pendleton, the nice guy who deserved a second chance.  You can see it in those smiling blue eyes.  

1941 Was Just Too Good a Year for Movies!

Back in the day, Life magazine would do a feature on a recent movie release.  In the August 18th, 1941, issue, the featured movie was Here Comes Mr. Jordan, a delightful movie worth the attention.  I mean, the cast was great:  Bob as the lovable boxer and the movie's hero; James Gleason as Max Corkle, Joe's trainer and music critic; Evelyn Keyes as Bette***, our heroine; Edward Everett Horton as the ever-frustrated messenger; Rita Johnson and John Emery as the delightful conniving murderers; and Claude Rains as the mysterious Mr. Jordan --- my, but wasn't he a great actor.  A great script and story, winning Oscars for both. And five more nominations:  Best Picture, Best Director (Alexander Hall), Best Actor (Our Bob!), Supporting Actor (Mr. Gleason), and Best Cinematography, Black and White (Joseph Walker).  Not bad.  And Bob had to go to Columbia Pictures to get a good role.  MGM certainly did waste the many talents of Mr. Montgomery.  Such a shame. 

The article contains a brief write-up of the movie and then tells the story in 16 captioned photos.  WARNING:  Spoilers abound! 

***Bob had the heroine's name changed to Bette as a tribute to his wife.  How sweet can you get!

In Glorious Black & White

Fan magazines of the 1930s were worth every penny of the 5 to 15 cents they cost ... then.  80 years later, they cost a tad more, and are most often worth it ... plenty of gossip, stories about the stars (with the occasional bit of truth) and some really nifty photos. 

                        Leslie Howard by Edward Steichen, 1934

Cary Grant, Gertrude Michael and Claude Rains, promo shot for "The Last Outpost" (1935).  Photo by William Wallinger. 

                              Phillip Reed, by Steichen, 1935