Bingo Ready to Defend Andy from the Darkness

Bob and Joan Crawford in Untamed (1929)

TCM is showing five (!) Bob movies during September.  Well, there are just 4 upcoming, The Big House (1930) has already come and gone.  The remaining 4 have horrid show times (all in early a.m.), but should all stream afterwards.  Hey, better than no showings!

      FREE AND EASY (1930), Sept. 12th at 4:00 a.m. PT

      PRIVATE LIVES (1931), Sept. 19th at 4:15 a.m. PT

     THE LAST OF MRS. CHEYNEY (1937), Sept. 22nd at 6:30 a.m. PT

     UNTAMED (1929), Sept. 27th at 4:30 a.m. PT

A Flawed Bob ... Could That Really Be?

Do you see the flaw in Bob's appearance in the photo below?  No...?

                    Bob and Anita Page in Free and Easy (1930)

Perhaps if I blow up Bob's head ... can you see it now?  No...?

There's a hair hanging astray, upper right side.  Hey, we all know 25-year-old Robert Montgomery had no flaws in his appearance.  T'was just kidding with you.  And giving you another chance to admire that gorgeous shock of wavy hair! 

Such a Handsome Young Man

An original 8x10 photo of Bob taken in 1930, a Louise photograph (pre-Hurrell!) with his autograph...what's not to like!  You can even tell he has blue eyes, the iris in the right eye is definitely on the light side, something not caught by most of his photos.

What made this photo even more of a treasure for me is what I discovered on the back, a list of Bob's movies starting with Three Live Ghosts (1929) through Ever Since Eve (1937).  The consistency of the handwriting indicates it was written in 1937 or after (my handwriting certainly changed over any 17-year period).  The earlier movies are slightly out of order, but close.  Interestingly, three of his movies are listed using the working titles:  The Richest Man in the World for Sins of the Children (1930), The Girl I Made for Made on Broadway (1933) and The Suicide Club for Trouble for Two (1936).  And two movies have been combined as Free and Easy Divorce ...makes a great title!

Wonder why the list was made after all those years.  Did the photo change hands and the new owner made the list?  Or was the original owner testing her/his memory?  And why the use of working titles?  I am puzzled.  As I usually am about so much of Mr. Montgomery.  What's the saying; "The more I know, the more I realize how little I know."  Yep, that's me. 

Anita Page and Robert Montgomery find Romance at the Movies

Their seats for Anna Christie aren't in the back row, unfortunately.

He nearly tears his hat when Greta Garbo first appears, and speaks!

The candy vanishes during a tense scene.

There is a desperate fight, and they are on edge.

There is a love scene, much to their mutual satisfaction.

Then she spoils it all by getting excited about Charles Bickford, while Greta is nowhere in sight.

They are visibly affected when Anna tells her sad story.

 

The fade-out...

Pictures and text from a magazine article using photos by C. S. Bull for the movie Free and Easy (1930).


Bob's August Birthday Ladies, No. 2.  Anita is the day's birthday lady.  Born August 4, 1910, she was only 19 when the movie was filmed and had already appeared in nine features for MGM.  She was retired for 60 years when she developed a cult following after giving some great interviews about her movie career.  She and Bob define the concept of "a cute couple."

Looking Forward to April 16th (And Not Just Because it is the Day After Taxes!)

War Nurse (1930) is certainly not one of Bob's better movies.  However, it is a great movie for Bob watching, just enjoying the ever so young, slender and handsome Mr. Montgomery.  The main drawback is that Bob isn't on the screen enough.  I know, the movie is titled War Nurse, so why would one expect him to be in every scene, but...  At least the movie did produce some of the best stills.

That's June Walker as "Babs" sitting next to Lt. Wally O'Brien.  Wally??  Does Bob look like a Wally to you?  Dill, Sheridan or even Dascom, yes, but Wally?? 

Anyway, I am excited about finally being able to replace my VHS recording of the movie.  Looking forward to watching a clear print, so I can enjoy young Mr. Montgomery to the fullest.  

TCM is showing five Montgomery movies this month (times given are PDT):

              April 10 - 9:45 a.m., Hide-Out (1934)

              April 16 - 7:00 a.m.,  War Nurse (1930)

              April 23 - 5:00 p.m., They Were Expendable (1945)

              April 28 - 6:30 a.m., Free and Easy (1930)

              April 28 - 12:30 p.m. Night Flight (1933)

Anita Page's Thoughts On Bob

Anita Page starred in 4 Robert Montgomery films over her short career: Free and Easy, Our Blushing Brides, War Nurse, and The Easiest Way. Alternative Film Blog has posted an interview (in 2 parts) with author Allan Ellenberger, who interviewed Anita for his Ramon Novarro book.


One of the questions posted to Allan was what were Anita's thoughts on her on-screen romantic partners. On Robert Montgomery:

"I thought Robert had a marvelous manner of acting and a great line delivery. I once asked him how he achieved this style and he said 'stage work.' He told me that learning basic acting is essential, but real technique must come from working before a live audience. You learn how to time comic line-delivery, as well as develop your acting skills.

"When I asked if he played people like himself, he said 'no, no. You get costumes that are entirely different.' He also said that was one way to get rid of stage fright. It helps keep you anonymous with [the] audience — so if you forgot your lines, they wouldn't recognize you when you became another character. You were less nervous. I never forgot Bob's tip that day on the set, so when the door was open for me to do a live performance, I jumped on it!"

Picture in Picture - Free and Easy

Eagle-eyed fangirl Stellypippin picked this one out of Free and Easy. If you recall (or don't), Elvira and her mom get invited to the premier of the latest Larry Mitchell movie, The Love Call. If you're quick, you'll spot that the film they're playing is actually Untamed.



Heh, Larry Mitchell & Joan Crawford...

Free and Easy?

Does anyone out there own TCM's Buster Keaton Collection DVD set? It includes The Cameraman, Spite Marriage, and Free and Easy. I have Free & Easy burned on DVD from TCM itself, but I'm just curious if there's anything worthwhile in buying the set. It's 1930 super-early Robert Montgomery.

If you haven't seen Free and Easy, it's Buster's first talking film. While it has awkward moments, it's a cute movie - I can't think of any other word than cute. Here's a quick rundown from Amazon:

Gopher City Kansas hosts a beauty contest. The winner, Elvira Plunkett (Anita Page), and her mother go to Hollywood. The Chamber of Commerce also provides Elvira with an agent, Gopher City's own Elmer J. Butz (Buster Keaton). Elmer likes Elvira and the shy Elvira likes him, but Mrs. Plunkett, a formidable woman, has little use for hapless Elmer. On the train west, they meet movie star Larry Mitchell (Robert Montgomery), who takes a shine to Elvira and helps her meet MGM directors once they get to Tinsel Town. Elmer, meanwhile, wants to help Elvira with her career and he also wants to be her man. Movie stardom does come to the Gopher City entourage, but to whom is a surprise. And who will win the lovely Elvira's hand?

Some of my fav. moments include:

• Buster trying to get the attention of Cecil B. DeMille on the MGM lot
• Buster & Bob discussing Kansas
• The costumes
• The darn catchy tune at the end

Holy Hurrell...

I finally found a local library that had a copy of Mark Vieira's Hurrell's Hollywood Portraits book - before I shelled out the bucks to see it sight unseen. Holy wow wow. I hate to say it again, but Hurrell's pics are what movie stars are supposed to look like. There's a great example of before and after retouching for Joan Crawford (looks like she had freckles).

Not as many Bob pics in the book as I would have like to have seen. I did see Jean Harlow's nipple, which I could have done without. Let me grab some of the captions from the Bob stuff:

"By the end of his first month at M-G-M, George Hurrell was so well liked that he was invited to the set of Free and Easy to shoot production stills. "I invited him there," recalls Anita Page, seen here with directory Edward Sedgwick and co-star Robert Montgomery."

The size of the photo in the book (above) doesn't do it justice. If you really look at it, you can see Anita's face reflected in the movie camera lens. That & Bob's eyes look like they're on fire. Here's another photo that I think is Hurrell (to the right.....it's the shoes).

"In 1979, Robert Montgomery told Yankee magazine, "When I signed with M-G-M, they gave me a big pitch about how I was going to play opposite Norma Shearer and Joan Crawford. I didn't have any idea whom they were talking about. I had actually seen only two films when I went to Hollywood in '29."

"Hurrell used George Bellows prints to accent this March 1932 portrait of Robert Montgomery for Letty Lynton. Montgomery was the most intelligent, versatile - and unimaginatively cast - actor at M-G-M. The monolithic studio could be a frustrating place to work." (below photo)

If you look at a few of Hurrell's other RM pics, you can see the same art deco sculptures...