Back Before the Digital World

"Actor-director Robert Montgomery inspects models of the sets to be used in Lady in the Lake with art designer Preston Ames."

I like Bob's using the child's wagon as a place to store his hat.  

Messrs Tully and Nolan Meant Business

 THEY MEAN BUSINESS......Tom Tully (left) and Lloyd Nolan, both detectives, prepare to make an arrest after a savage fight with a murder suspect in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's "Lady in the Lake".  The picturization of the exciting Raymond Chandler mystery story has Robert Montgomery as both star and director.  

               Tom Tully & Lloyd Nolan in Lady in the Lake (1946)

I've always liked Tom Tully.  (Hey, and Lloyd Nolan as well.)  Tully played the tough cop enough to earn retirement salary from the L.A. Police Department.  He also did a great job as Mr. Brinker in June Bride (1948).  The apple cider scene with he and Bob was just great, one of my all-time favorites.  

"Lady" is being shown on TCM starting March 8th.  

Bob Talks About Making Lady in the Lake

 Interesting interview from the May, 1947 issue of Movie Show Magazine.  Believe me, it is a faster read than it appears.

Happy 120th Birthday, Mr. Montgomery!

 "BIRTHDAY SMILES ... Robert Montgomery celebrates his birthday on the set of a new Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film.  Helping him cut the cake which members of the company presented him is Audrey Totter, who plays opposite him in the film."

         Bob and Audrey Totter on the set of Lady in the Lake (1946)

Just love the smile.  So rare to see Bob actually laughing.  

Good month for catching some Montgomery movies on TCM.  Right now there are four movies available for streaming:  Forsaking All Others (1934) until June 8th; Night Flight (1933) until June 11th; Night Must Fall (1937) until May 30th; and Live, Love and Learn (1937) ends tomorrow, May 22th.  Then two Bob war movies will premiere during the Memorial Day weekend, They Were Expendable (1945) --- of course! --- on May 25th and War Nurse (1930) on May 27th.  

What's Better than Bob? Six Bobs ....

Good month for Bob on TCM.  There are six movies coming and going, all of them in the better Robert Montgomery films group.  

Two movies are almost through their showing.  Private Lives (1931) ends on the 21st and Piccadilly Jim (1936) the 23rd.  The Divorcee (1930) will be shown until May 1st.  The Man in Possession (1931) is just being shown this morning.  Hope it gets a long run.  Everybody should see the role just made for the young Mr. Montgomery.  He handles it so well.  And an excellent cast simply makes this movie a gem of pre-code Hollywood.  Cheers for Charlotte Greenwood, Irene Purcell, Reginald Owen, C. Aubrey Smith and Beryl Mercer.  

And two more movies will "open" in April:  Lady in the Lake (1946) on the 20th and Night Must Fall (1937) on the 30th.  And everybody should see these two movies ... Mr. Montgomery's passions.  

Some great viewing!  Enjoy.  

Only Eleven Days To Go ... Eek!

 Rather hectic time of year isn't it!  We all need to take a break, sit down and watch a Montgomery movie.  Yeah, that sounds good.  TCM is offering three Bobs to watch:  Another Language (1933) with Helen Hayes beginning December 15th; Lady in the Lake (1946) on the 20th; and Night Must Fall (1937) the 28th.  Lady in the Lake for Christmas and Night Must Fall for New Years ... sounds great.  Which reminds me, need to add eggnog to the shopping list.  

Audrey, the Cat Lady of Joliet

 Ms. Totter, one of my favorite actresses.  I greatly admire her for her performance in Lady in the Lake (1946), having to look at the camera while assuming unusual positions.  And to work with an inexperienced director to boot.

Mr. Montgomery had this thing for small glass figurines.  Looks like he has gifted her with, I'm guessing, two kitties.  

And Audrey is holding an even smaller kittie. 

There are five telephones on Totter's table, ID'd as Philadelphia, Burbank, New York, Joliet and London.  Wait, one of those cities doesn't fit in with the others ... Joliet?  I looked up Ms. Totter on IMDB.  Appears she was born in Joliet, IL.  A Cute in-joke for her behalf.  

BULLETIN: Just noticed this ...

What's the Christmas season without it ... TCM will be showing Lady in the Lake (1946) this evening at 9:00 p.m. PT/Midnight ET.  If nothing else, catching the opening credits should help get you into the Christmas mood.

Office Christmas parties certainly have changed over the years.

Upward to the Stars?

 Uncovering the treasures held in the December 7th, 1946 issue of Picturegoer ... nice picture of David Niven and Loretta Young on the cover. 

 There are two items in the magazine that are of interest, Montgomery-wise.  I like the pictorial feature on Lady in the Lake (1946). 

The best find is this two-paragraph item.  Wonder what happened to the movie. 

 

What a Shame to Hide that Beautiful Curly Hair (Bob's, of course)

 A couple Bob and Norma movies today on TCM.  Their Own Desire (1929) is showing at 11:15 a.m. and Riptide (1934) at 2:00 p.m., both ET.  Hopefully they'll be included on the streaming service afterwards, as has No More Ladies (1935) after its one showing last Monday.  Lady in the Lake (1946) is also being shown.  Four Bob movies available to view, not bad for these days. 

                Bob and Norma Shearer, Their Own Desire (1929)
 

Merry Christmas, from Leon, Bob, June, Dick and Audrey!

Left to Right:  Leon Ames, Robert Montgomery, June Allyson, Dick Powell and Audrey Totter
 

P.S.  Lady in the Lake (1947) is being shown twice this Christmas season, Dec. 19th at 11:00 p.m. PST and Dec. 22nd at 11:00 a.m. PST.   

P.P.S. We'll be on vacation next week.  Meanwhile, have a great holiday. 

Audrey Gets Her Message Across

 These photos are from an article in the March 4, 1947 french magazine Cinevogue.  Love the series of Audrey Totter flirting with the camera, or should I say with Bob as Philip Marlowe in Lady in the Lake (1946).  Audrey did such a really good job in the movie, considering the trying circumstances.  Film actors were taught to never, ever look directly into the camera lens.  Overcoming that was difficult for an old pro like Lloyd Nolan. 

 

Future director Dick Powell stops by to say hi to new director Bob.  It's also one Philip Marlowe handing over the reigns to a new one.  Dick played the character in 1944's Murder My Sweet.  Nifty.

 

Bob directs Lloyd Nolan as Lt. DeGarmot. 

 

Bob wears his favorite hat from the post-WWII period ... perhaps not PC these days, but definitely snazzy in 1946. 

 

Time to Prepare for the Celebration!

Okay, everyone, mark this on your calendar!!  Bob's birthday is next Thursday, the 21st, and TCM will be showing eight (yes, 8!) of his movies!!  Unfortunately (for me, anyway), it is a daytime marathon, so get those DVR's ready.  The movies are as follows (ET):

                     6:30 a.m.  Yellow Jack (1938)
                     8:00 a.m.  Fugitive Lovers (1934)
                     9:30 a.m.  Hide-Out (1934)
                   11:00 a.m.  Piccadilly Jim (1936)
                   12:45 p.m.  Ever Since Eve (1937)
                     2:15 p.m.  Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941)
                     4:00 p.m.  Night Must Fall (1937)
                     6:00 p.m.  Lady in the Lake (1946)

It has been some time since I saw Yellow Jack and Fugitive Lovers, so they will be my 'must sees' this year.  Bob is ever so handsome in Fugitive Lovers.  Rrrff!

                  Bob and Madge Evans in Fugitive Lovers (1934)

Mr. Montgomery and his Dark Side

One gorgeous print ... double-weight and not one mark on it.  Well, except for the autograph.  Bob was quite good at how he signed photos, signing in a background area if possible.  As in no scribbling across that handsome face. 

Can There Be Too Many Bobs? No Way.

ROBERT MONTGOMERY FINDS A DIRECTOR'S LIFE IS A BUSY ONE ..... After sixteen years as a motion picture actor, Robert Montgomery turns to directing in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's "Lady in the Lake"...... Here we find Montgomery in his new role of movie director.

Montgomery lunches in his portable dressing room on the set while Bob Pierce, electrician provides impromptu luncheon music.  The busy director-actor seldom left the set while the film was in production.  
 

Bob eating lunch with a crew member providing music background on the accordion ... wouldn't today's unions have a complaint about this!  I think it's a good guess that photographer Bob set up the shot.  Do note the mirrors in the photo.  On the left side you see Bob reflected in a full-length mirror.  There's also a shadowy figure in the reflection, maybe the photographer. 

Bob is also seen in the dressing table mirror, along with a gent catching the entertainment. 

Which brings us to the six photos stuck in the frame of the dressing mirror.  These three are clear enough to determine that all are "candids" taken of Bob on the set.  So, 6 small photos of Bob, 2 reflections of Bob, and one original Bob.  Good one, Mr. Montgomery. 

P.S.  June Bride is being shown on demand on TCM until December 19th. 

Strangers May Kiss (but they don't have to)

I enjoy photoplay editions of books upon which movies are based.  The They Were Expendable edition is just great, eight photos and six have Bob in them!  On the other end of the pole, the photoplay edition of Lady in the Lake does not have any photos at all inside, just those on the dust jacket.  Strangers May Kiss is kinda in between those two books ... four photos and none of them feature Bob!  But, they are decent photos, particularly the photo of Ms. Shearer at the front of the book.  I'd say it gives one a pretty good idea of the flavor of the book. 

The captions are worth showing in a legible print size...

                      Elizabeth aches for the kiss of this stranger - 
                             yielding to a passionate embrace.

                     Alan tires of their unconventional interlude.

               In one mad night after another, Elizabeth sought
                        escape from the spectre of her folly.

By the way, Happy Birthday thoughts for Norma Shearer whose birthday is August 10.  And the same for Dorothy Jordan whose birthday is August 9.  And belated Birthday thoughts for Ann Harding and Irene Purcell who share August 7 as their birthday.  My, but Bob had to work with a lot of Leos!!