A Bunch of Old Pros - On TCM thru March 17th

I have always enjoyed watching well-seasoned professionals doing their thing.  Watching The Last Hurrah (1958) one gets to enjoy a rather large gathering of them, five of them are pictured below.  Clockwise from upper left, we have James Gleason, most famous for the role of Max Corkle in Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941), and as Sylvester the cab driver in The Bishop's Wife (1947).  On his left is Ricardo Cortez born Jacob Krantz, son of Jewish Austrian immigrants, who was anointed by Hollywood as one of the second comings of Valentino.  Well, he wasn't but he did a good job as Sam Spade in the original The Maltese Falcon (1931) and would keep his acting career alive through the 1940s.  

Next, seated, is Pat O'Brien.  I did not know before this that O'Brien was a classmate of Tracy, and both were born in Milwaukee!  The other three gents were all born in New York City, a much more commonplace hometown for performers.  Anyway, the two friends even joined the Navy together to fight in WWI, but the war was over before they completed training.  They probably had a beer or two to celebrate that blessing.  

                                       The Last Hurrah (1958)

I'll skip Spencer Tracy.  Nothing to add to the above trivia.  The last person is Edward Brophy, who portrays "Ditto" in the film.  The small chubby faced gent played a number of similar characters throughout his career.  As an MGM contract player, he appeared in three of Mr. Montgomery's movies:  Free and Easy (1930) (an uncredited role as Benny the Stage Manager - look fast!); Our Blushing Brides (1930); and Hide-Out (1934) (as Detective Britt who arrests "Lucky").  

The rest of the cast isn't shabby.  Pros to include Basil Rathbone, Donald Crisp, John Carradine, Frank McHugh, and Wallace Ford.  It would take John Ford as director to keep this crowd under control!   

Bob ... And the Ever Present Ladies

Love my clippings ... cheap!!  And they are just so seldom available in the original photo form.  I mean how else are you going to find a photo of Preston Foster, Eddie Adams, Bob, Una Merkel and James Gleason!  The photo was taken at the 1937 Screen Actors Guild Ball.  (Does anyone know who Eddie Adams was?  Did she perhaps have a position in the union?  Can't find anything on her on IMDB.  Bugs me when I can't identify someone!) 

And a photo of Robert Young, Gertrude Niesen, Frank Morgan, Rita Johnson and Bob ... well, maybe not priceless.  The cheery group is singing in celebration of Frank Morgan's 25th Wedding Anniversary.  Now this is obviously an MGM public relations photo.  Young, Morgan, Johnson and Bob are all MGM contract players.  They would know each other and were probably at the studio working that day.  But...Gertrude Niesen?  She was a singer that made a few movie appearances at other studios, never worked for MGM.  Did they hire a singer so some one in the group could carry a tune?  (Sorry, Bob, an unkind remark in deed.)

And, lastly, a still from Night Must Fall (1937) with Dame May Whitty.  Just look at that face, that smile.  Want to share some chocolates, my dear, dear Danny?  

Lot of Good People Born in May

Besides Bob ...
    May 15 - Constance Cummings, Bob's co-star in Haunted
                  Honeymoon (1940)
    May 17 - Maureen O'Sullivan, Bob's co-star in Hide-Out (1934)
 

                        Lucky shows his farming skills to Pauline

   May 20 - Jimmy Stewart, well, just because!
   May 23 - James Gleason, Bob's very able supporting actor
                   in Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)

             Mr. Gleason could steal a scene under any circumstance

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!

One of the Better Scene Stealers

Ah, we have survived Thanksgiving and Black Friday.  That is no mean feat these days.  Of course, this has all been a warm-up to the Christmas season.  Thankfully, the season brings with it a long list of great movies to help us get into the spirit.  One of the better ones is The Bishop's Wife starring Cary Grant, Loretta Young and David Niven.  The supporting cast is just as good, including Monty Woolley as The Professor, Gladys Cooper as Mrs. Hamilton, Elsa Lancaster as Matilda and James Gleason as Sylvester the taxi driver.  Scene stealers all.  Below, Cary eyes Gleason with a look of resignation, no point in competing for a scene with a pro like Jimmy.

                                 The Bishops Wife (1947)

Gleason was 47 years old when he arrived in Hollywood along with the talkies.   After years in stock companies and touring shows, he had already developed the persona which would help him become a highly successful and very busy character actor.  Always older, always balding and always the tough, warmhearted character, Jimmy played variations of the role for 29 years.  His first movie with our Bob was Blondie of the Follies.  He plays 'Pa' McCune, to Marion Davies' Blondie. 

                               Blondie of the Follies (1932)

Nine years later he is Max Corkle in Here Comes Mr. Jordan, the long suffering trainer of Bob's Joe Pendleton.  Max has to put up with Joe's saxophone playing, his reincarnations and the mysterious, invisible Mr. Jordan.  He is just great in the role and is appropriately rewarded with a nomination as best supporting actor. 

                              Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)

Jimmy, who was born into a theater family, joined the army at the age of 16 to fight in the Spanish American war and, before serving again in WWI, he marries Lucile.  Lucile was his partner in the theater as well, and became a successful character actress in the movies.  She and Jimmy were two of the 21 founding members of the actor's guild, Lucile becoming the guild's first treasurer.  Jimmy continued to act until a year before his death in 1959.  His last role was as 'Cuke' Gillen in John Ford's The Last Hurrah starring Spencer Tracy.  Quite fittingly, he was one of a superb supporting cast including Pat O'Brien, Basil Rathbone, Donald Crisp, Edward Brophy, John Carradine, Wallace Ford and Frank McHugh.  And does he ever hold his own in his last scene of the movie and his career.  Good job, Mr. Gleason.
 

                                  The Last Hurrah (1958)