Connie Knew A Good Thing, er, Man When She Saw Him!

 Happy 120th Birthday tomorrow, Mr. McCrea.  Always the handsome young man in our memories.

         Joel McCrea and Constance Bennett in Bed of Roses (1933)

Happy 119th BD to Mr. McCrea!

 Let's see, Joel was 6'2-1/2 " tall.  Veronica was 4'11".  Pity the poor cameraman who had to keep them in frame.  

          Veronica Lake and Joel McCrea in Sullivan's Travels (1941)

Hold 'Em Tight, Lady. He's Worth it!

November 5th is the birthday of one of my favorite leading men, Joel McCrea.  My, but he was a beautiful young man, tall with a great physique, wavy hair, etc., etc., etc.  And by all accounts, a nice guy!  Frances Dee was one lucky lady.   

         Joel McCrea and Marian Marsh in The Sport Parade (1931)**

Recognizing actresses, especially non-MGM ladies, is not my forte.  I'm thinking the lady holding onto Joel might be Priscilla Lane (she's small enough!), but can't identify a movie with the two of them.  Any ideas, anyone?   

**  Thanks to Anonymous for the info. re Marian Marsh.  

At Least Frenchie was in Technicolor

 Happy Birthday, Joel McCrea!  Well, almost, his birthday is this Friday the fifth.  And, yes, he is one of my 'other' men ... gorgeous, tall, athletic build and thick wavy hair.  Rrrff.  The still below is from Bed of Roses (1933) starring Constance Bennett.  Lucky Constance!

Between 1946 and 1959, Joel was in a whole lot of movies and only one was not a western.  Great career move.  A cowboy can be middle-age, no having to look younger for his 20-year-old leading lady, his horse.  He was still one handsome cowboy as in 1950s Frenchie.  His co-star was Shelley Winters.  I personally don't see that pairing work all that well.  1950 was a bad time for the industry as a whole.  Our Mr. Montgomery was wise to bail out and go into television.  A Great career move as well.

Happy Birthday, Mr. McCrea!

 Rrrrff!  What an incredibly handsome man you were, Joel.  And a nice guy, too.  Made his fortune in real estate.  6' 2-1/2" of perfection.  Married to Frances Dee for 57 years.  Lucky lady. 

                          Joel McCrea in Bed of Roses (1933)
 

I'm Blaming Daylight Savings Time for Messing up my Biological Schedule!

Well, heck.  This week I managed to both overlook Joel McCrea's birthdate (Nov. 5th) and get my Thursday post set up on time.  Geesch.  Anyway, righting both wrongs with one action, I present Mr. McCrea in a promotional photo for Union Pacific (1939).  At the age of 34, Joel has passed through his beautiful young man stage and entered his extremely handsome stage, which lasts for a very long time.  And he was a basically good man, as well.  A rarity was Mr. McCrea.  Happy Belated Birthday, Joel. 

                                        Joel McCrea, 1939

Mark December 1st on Your Calendar!

A tad late Happy Birthday to Mr. Joel McCrea, born November 5, 1905 in Pasadena, CA.  A cowboy at heart, when Joel married actress Frances Dee, the young couple moved to his new ranch house near Moorpark, CA.  The ranch was quite large initially, much of it being sold off during the housing boom in the late 50s and early 60s.  (Mr. McCrea was a very wealthy man.)  The couple remained married until his death in 1990, a mere 57 years later.  

To find out more about the ranch, check out this site, McCrea Ranch Foundation.  Be sure and check the upcoming events.  A tour of the ranch sounds like great fun.
                                                          

Hot Screen Lovers, 1932 Version

How not to disagree.  British magazine "Picturegoer" published a supplemental with full page photos of 1932's noted screen lovers, and placed a photo of Bob and Joan Crawford from Letty Lynton on its cover.  Yes, yes.  Bob and Joan were the hot couple for the year. 

James Cagney and Joan Blondell are featured.  I love both, but I view them as a "good friends" couple, as they were off screen as well.

I don't feel any heat coming off this couple, either.   Understandable, since Norma Shearer has the hots for Fredric March in the movie Smilin' Through, not Leslie Howard.   Need to check out that movie again.

Lucky Kay Francis ... jewels AND Bill Powell.  For myself, jewels would not be necessary.

Now this is hot. Sizzling.  Joel McCrea and Fay Wray in The Most Dangerous Game.  Get this couple a bucket of ice water!

Jack Oakie was an excellent comedic actor, master of the "triple take".  Before his weight gain, he had serious roles as well.  Bit of a handsome dude at this stage.  But, all the same, it is difficult to see him and Miriam Hopkins as hot lovers. 

1932.  Handsome men and sexy ladies.  And it was all pre-code.  Hot. 

Birthday Greetings to Mr. McCrea!

 Joel McCrea was born on November 5th, 1905.  That makes him only one year younger than Mr. Montgomery.  For some reason, I have always thought of him as coming from a younger generation of actors, perhaps because Bob's last movie performance was in 1950 while Joel kept busy in the 1950s and took the occasional role into the 1970s.  I'm glad he kept working.  Ride the High Country (1962) was just a superb movie.

My, but wasn't he a handsome lad ...

         Joel McCrea & Dorothy Jordan in The Lost Squadron (1932)

This does not have much to do with Joel, but I love the cast of The Lost Squadron.  It is a perfect example of actors being typecast in their roles.  The principle actors in alphabetical order are Robert Armstrong, Richard Dix, Hugh Herbert, Joel McCrea and Erich von Stroheim.  The roles portrayed consist of three stunt pilots, a dictatorial director and a comic relief named Fritz.  Almost needless to say, casting directors were not a big deal back then.  

Happy Birthday, Joel ... Rrrrff!

                                    Joel in 1938 at age 33.

               Sharing a bed with 28-year-old Joel ... ah, to die for. 

               Joel with Constance Bennett in Bed of Roses (1933)

Guest Hunks in Cowboy Hats

How could one not like Glenn Ford.  Just look at that smile...almost as good as Bob's!

Joel McCrea looks good no matter the outfit, or lack thereof.  He does look comfortable in western attire.

Dan Duryea in a western outfit ... not quite comfortable but not so bad.  The scruffy beard helps.  A really good man, so I understand, who could play irritating bad guys so well.  Maybe if he had worked on his smile ...

Who Ever Said Life Was Fair?

So tell me, is it fair that men, even actors made up to look older, age so much better than women?   Just asking.  

               Joel McCrea and Frances Dee in Wells Fargo (1937)

       Brian Aherne and Madeleine Carroll in My Son, My Son (1940)

Heartthrob of the Day, Joel McCrea

I have to admit to a wavering eye ... there were so many handsome men in those Golden Age movies.  Some, like Bob when he was young, fit in the beautiful class.  In my eye, Joel McCrea was a beautiful young man, and remained a handsome man throughout his career. 

For a few years in the 1980s, I lived in Moorpark, CA, which neighbored the McCrea ranch.  Drove passed the entrance to his ranch numerous times, always hoping to catch a glance of the famous family.  No such luck.  Did know several people who had met Joel, never heard a bad thing said about the man.  Just not your typical Hollywood star. 

In 1962 he co-starred with Randolph Scott in Ride the High Country.  If you haven't seen the movie, do try to catch it.  It's just great fun to watch two old pros strut their stuff.  Of course, ever the modest man, Joel described their performance as simply "washed-up actors playing washed-up law men."  I do so have to disagree with you, Mr. McCrea.