Bulletin: Rage in Heaven Tonight

 Just found out myself ... TCM is showing Rage in Heaven (1941) tonight at 4:45 a.m. ET.  It doesn't get shown that often, but worth a watch.  I apologize for the lack of warning.  Meanwhile, I'm now running late for a doctor's appointment, but Bob is always a priority!  

Bob Being Bob ... What Could be Better?

 It's Bob and Ingrid Bergman sitting in the doorway of Bob's portable dressing room on the set of Rage in Heaven (1941).  Wonder what they are both looking at so intently.  Is it the first time they've met 6'3" George Sanders?  I can just read Bob's mind ... "I'll have to share scenes with that giant?!"

I haven't seen Bob so wide-eyed before.  Nor so youthful at 36.  Perhaps it's the camera capturing momentary innocent thoughts of surprise or inquisitiveness emanating from Bob's bright mind.   No, I'm not saying Bob was an innocent soul, but a man of many facets including a youthful interest in the world around him.  And it does not appear to be a posed look which would be common for on-the-set publicity photos.   Yup, it's just Bob being Bob.  Nifty. 

G'Lord, George. How Tall ARE You?

       George Sanders, Bob and Ingrid Bergman (b. August 29, 1915)

                                Happy Birthday, Ingrid!

From Mad to Cad

     Bob, as mad Philip, and Ingrid Bergman in Rage in Heaven (1941)

       

                                  Ingrid with George Sanders

Both male leads in Rage in Heaven were cast against type.  Bob is the psychotic villain while Sanders plays the noble, nice guy Ward who wins Ingrid in the end.  George does a nice job, but he played the cad/purring villain with such absolute perfection that the movie is a true waste of his particular talent.  (In case you haven't read it already, do try Brian's Aherne book on Sanders, titled "A Dreadful Man.")

Robert Taylor and 8 Beautiful Ladies

The result of snuggling couples on a cold December night --- a lot of August birthdays!  John Huston was born on August 5th, as was Robert Taylor. (Two more different people I can hardly imagine!)  Bob is 35 at the time of the photo below.  He has passed from his incredibly beautiful stage to merely extremely handsome. 

                                     Undercurrent (1946)   

And eight of Robert Montgomery's leading ladys were born in August:

                               August 2nd   - Myrna Loy
                               August 4th    - Anita Page
                               August 7th    - Ann Harding
                               August 7th    - Irene Purcell
                               August 9th    - Dorothy Jordan***
                               August 10th  - Norma Shearer
                               August 16th  - Ann Blyth
                               August 29th  - Ingrid Bergman

***Which also happens to be my birthday ... Me and Dorothy ... another argument against astronomy!  She was just so darn cute.

               Bob and Dorothy Jordan in Shipmates (1931)
 

Eight Years Can Take Their Toll

Bob's August Birthday Ladies, No. 8:  Ingrid Bergman was born on August 29th and died 67 years later on the same day.  That's a rather odd distinction.  In December of 1940, she began filming Rage in Heaven with Bob as her co-star.  Eight years later, on December 13, 1948, she appeared with Bob in Lux Mystery Radio Theater's presentation of The Seventh Veil.  It's a fun listen, the mature Bob with his deeper and more resonant voice invoking Crazy Danny from Night Must Fall. 
 

                                   Rage in Heaven (1941)

 Bob and Ingrid taking a coffee break while preparing for their performance on Lux Mystery Radio Theater on December 13, 1948. 

Bob scores points for keeping his pinkie off the cup!  The photo is from a magazine so the resolution is not the greatest ... wish I could read the printing on the cup.  

That's Our Bob

 ... always a ready smile for the fairer sex.

"WHO WOULDN'T ENJOY REHEARSING WITH INGRID BERGMAN?  Robert Montgomery seems to enjoy it, going over his lines with the lovely Swedish star for the new starring MGM picture, Rage in Heaven."   (Photo Caption)

Happy Birthday, Ingrid!

A young, career-minded Ingrid Bergman did not enjoy her experience working with Bob in "Rage In Heaven."  In her 1980 autobiography, My Story, she relates Bob told her and co-star George Sanders that he would not be acting during the movie as a form of protest because MGM had not allowed him to take a month's vacation before starting another movie.   "The first director lasted two weeks.  Then the second one came in and Robert Montgomery went on the same way, his face just an impassive mask.  So the second director quit...  The picture was put together, released and Bob Montgomery got the most glorious reviews because he gave such an original performance.  You see, he was a light comedian, the rage of Hollywood, everybody adored him, and here was Bob being out of character, this absolutely flat performance as a psychopath, and people thought it was great.  They didn't think he had it in him.  So it turned out very well.  For him."