Pre-Code Bob Times 8 ...Just Great!

 Ah, gee, aren't they cute.  Dorothy Jordan was such a petite lady.  Check out her right hand resting on top of Bob's rather large hand.  Almost doesn't look real.  

               Bob and Dorothy Jordan in Love in the Rough (1930)

Hope you got a chance to watch some of Bob's movies from Monday's mini marathon.  So far, four of them will be available to stream on TCM until mid-August:  Love in the Rough, Strangers May Kiss (1931), Untamed (1929), and Lovers Courageous (1932).  The Divorcee (1930) is available only to July 21st.  For some reason, Another Language (1933) and Private Lives (1931) are shown as available to be streamed, but the ending dates are not included in the write-up.  And When Ladies Meet (1934) is not listed at all.  Not that I'm complaining.  Overall, this summer is proving to be just great for Bob movies.  Thanks again to the programmer at TCM!  

Thanks to TCM for a Very Pleasant Surprise!

Ta- Da!!  Coming this Monday, July 14th on TCM:  Daytime Theme - Robert Montgomery Pre-Codes!  Eight, yes EIGHT!! Bob films.  From Untamed (1929) to When Ladies Meet (1934), watch a young and eager youth develop into an excellent actor and handsome leading man.  

                Bob and Myrna Loy in When Ladies Meet (1934)

Now, I probably won't make it up for Lovers Courageous (1932) which begins the celebration at 6:45 a.m. PDT ... but the second half looks doable.  Hopefully the streaming schedule is good for all eight movies.  The movies in order shown, all times PDT.  

         6:45 a.m.     Lovers Courageous (1932)

         8:15 a.m.     Private Lives (1931)

         9:45 a.m.     Untamed (1929)

        11:15 a.m.    Love in the Rough (1930)

        12:45 p.m.   The Divorcee (1930)

         2:15 p.m.    When Ladies Meet (1934)

         4:00 p.m.     Another Language (1933)

         5:30 p.m.     Strangers May Kiss (1931)

Hope everyone has the chance to see a favorite once more or discover a new one. 

Like Bob and Dorothy Needed Any Help From a Mistletoe Bough

He Was a Sportsman Out In The Open -

 but an even greater indoor sport!  Love in the Rough!  Boy, read whatever you want into that.  

I'm not sure just how the movie went over in Bombay, India.  

The center pages of the herald are rather plain, compared to the usual rather busy herald pages of the 1930s.  Of course it is a rather simple movie, and it's even 1930.  Gotta give them time to develop.  

Besides, the only real entity of interest is:

Bob had to deal with a lot of Leo's - Seven Leading Ladies

Yes, another publicity shot of Bob and Dorothy Jordan for Love in the Rough (1930).  The PR department certainly used up its budget for the movie.  Glad they did.  The photos are more worth seeing than the movie.  Well, except for the opportunity to hear Bob croon and also see him without his pants.  Meanwhile......Dorothy was born August 9, 1906, in Clarksville, Tennessee.  She auditioned for Melanie in Gone With the Wind.  Yes, I can see that.   

            Bob and Dorothy Jordan in Love in the Rough (1930)
 

And Norma Shearer was born August 10, 1902.  Selznick considered Norma for the role of Scarlett in GWTW.  Sorry, Norma, that was Vivien Leigh's role, totally.  But, you got to make 5 movies with Robert Montgomery.  Tough, wasn't it.  

                    Bob and Norma Shearer in Riptide (1934) 

Benny Rubin was in 208 movies and TV shows

 I'm sure this 'bit' was hilarious 90 years ago.  Maybe it still is funny, it's me surviving in this awful year 2020 that prevents me from appreciating it.  Yeah, that's it.  Boo, 2020! 

                Benny Rubin and Bob in Love in the Rough (1930)

Interesting look on Bob's face.  Looks like he's suffering from a hangover.  

This is rather nifty ... Benny has autographed the backside of the photo for Mike (or Milie!) dated Aug. 18, 1980.  Hey, I bet you don't have a Benny Rubin autograph! 

3 Bobs to help with the Summer Doldrums

TCM is showing three Bob movies this week ... very good.  The three are good studies of the growth of Mr. Montgomery as a movie actor.  In Love in the Rough (1930) Bob is still inexperienced.  By No More Ladies (1935), he is a very accomplished performer, the playboy role is definitely mastered.  To top it off, Bob is superb in They Were Expendable (1945).  Just superb.
 


           Wed. 22nd at 10:30 a.m. EST - Love in the Rough (1930)
           Thurs. 23rd at 12:15 p.m. EST - No More Ladies (1935)
           Fri. 24th at 3:30 p.m. EST - They Were Expendable (1945) 
                         

Just What Is Bob Aiming to Hit

An interesting photo taken of Bob during a break in the filming of Love in the Rough (1930).  Is this supposed to be from the golf ball's point of view?  Or is it just the photographer's, who is trying for a new angle to catch his editor's eye. 

Whatever, it's not the most flattering photo for Bob.  It makes his shoulders look even narrower and highlights the oversize collar they made him wear to cover up his long neck.  But, hey, you can't mess up that handsome face, and that's what counts. 

Love the shoes.

Bob Plays an Interesting Round of Golf

What are all those people watching?

Oh, why it's Bob and Dorothy Jordan.  Yeah, I'd stop and watch them too. 

Aren't they the cutest couple.  Isn't she just so petite.  And young Bob, of the beautiful head of hair.  I was never that petite.  Nor did I have such a thick shock of wavy hair.  One of the many reasons why I would much rather look at movie photos than my mirror ...

           Bob and Dorothy Jordan in Love in the Rough (1930)                      

5'2", And Oh What Those 5 Feet Could Do

Dorothy Jordan was born August 9, 1906, in Clarksville, Tennessee.  A cute southern belle to be teamed with cute northerner Bob in two movies (Love in the Rough and Shipmates).

In 1933 after four years in the movies, Dorothy decided she'd change her career to marriage and raising three children.  She did make a test for the role of Melanie in Gone With The Wind.  I think she would have been a good choice. 

It's always fun to think of "What ifs" when it comes to classic roles.  My favorite is Bob as the lead in the original stage production of "My Fair Lady".  He was asked to consider the role, not sure how wholeheartedly.  I think the then 50-year-old Bob would have made the role of Professor Henry Higgins His!!!  Of course, he had his TV show and his work for Ike to use as an excuse to avoid trying it.  But, still, wouldn't it be great to have a recording of Bob singing, "I'm just an ordinary Man!"

Dorothy and Norma ....... Well, They Did Have Bob in Common

Two of Bob's ladies with August birthdays ... Dorothy Jordan, August 9th, and Norma Shearer, August 10th.  Cute and demure Dorothy and strong-willed Ms. Shearer, quite a contrast.  Goes along with the contrasting roles Bob played in their movies together.  Bob, youthful and earnest in Love in the Rough and Shipmates, a great match for co-star Jordan.  

               Dorothy Jordan and Bob in Love in the Rough (1930)

In his movies with Norma (Their Own Desire, The Divorcee, Strangers May Kiss, Private Lives and Riptide), Bob perfects the role of the tuxedoed playboy with martini in hand, readily able to entertain his lady of the evening. 

        Norma Shearer, Skeets Gallagher and Bob in Riptide (1934)

Whatever the persona, Dorothy and Norma were most fortunate to have had Bob as their co-star.  I am so, so envious.    

2 Very Young Bobs and 1 Very Handsome Bob

TCM is showing three of Bob's movies this weekend:  

     Untamed (1929) on Friday, 22nd at 9:00 a.m. EST/6:00 a.m. PST
     Hell Below (1933) also on Friday at 2:45 p.m. EST/11:45 a.m. PST
     Love in the Rough (1930) on Sunday, 25th at 5:00 p.m. EST/                       2:00 p.m. PST. 

Untamed and Love in the Rough are hardly great movies, but both have some fun moments.  Bob's amorous duet with Joan Crawford in Untamed is a hoot, and his fight scene at the party is great fun ... a rare shirtless Bob!  In Love in the Rough you get to see him pantless (egads!) in an early musical number. 

By 1933, we've gotten away from the "all singing, all dancing" approach to movies.  However, Hell Below gets bogged down with gratuitous "humor" scenes.  If you can survive the Jimmy Durante bits, Hell is a decent enough action movie for the time. 

                                 Bob and Madge in Hell Below

                                   ... and a tad closer up.

Bob gives a good, totally serious performance in Hell.  It really is a shame he was given only a few dramatic roles.  

Hey, this gives me the excuse to revisit one of my favorite Bob photos!  29 and ever so handsome ...

                  Bob and Walter Huston on the set of Hell Below

Perfect Trio: Bob, Dorothy & Those Rad Shoes

    Bob Montgomery and Dorothy Jordan in Love in the Rough (1930)

Robert Montgomery Birthday Week - Co-Stars

Besides being favorite photos, I chose five ladies who were good matches for Bob.  The ever so cute Dorothy Jordan paired well with the youthful Beautiful Bob.  One of my favorite pairings was Bob and Maureen O'Sullivan, a truly beautiful couple.  Darn, but I wish they had made more movies together.  Helen Hayes was Bob's personal favorite leading actress and you can see his respect and adoration for her come through onto the screen.  After five movies together, Bob's and Rosalind Russell's performances were seamless, and a laugh shared at work was real, not just for the camera.  Lastly, only because of my timeline, 30-year-old Audrey Totter's "bad girl" was a great match for older Bob's tough guys.  And what did they all have in common?  The good fortune of sharing the screen with Bob.  Lucky ladies.

                    Love in the Rough (1930) with Dorothy Jordan

                       Hide-Out (1934) with Maureen O'Sullivan

                 Vanessa:  Her Love Story (1935) with Helen Hayes

                   Trouble for Two (1936) with Rosalind Russell

                         Saxon Charm (1948) with Audrey Totter

Love the Hat!

                  Love in the Rough (1930) with Dorothy Jordan
 

Bob Shipmate Dorothy Jordan

The latest edition to my Bob and Dorothy collection.  Wish I had them all.  Mr. Hurrell certainly did some great work. 

                                      Shipmates (1931)

Dorothy was Bob's co-star in two movies:  Love in the Rough (1930) and Shipmates (1931).  She had a brief but successful career in movies, retiring in 1933 when she married producer Merian C. Cooper, a marriage that lasted until his death in 1973.  During the 1950s, Dorothy agreed to take small roles in three movies made by Cooper's partner in Argosy Productions, John Ford, wanting to prove to her three children that she was indeed an actress.  In The Searchers (1956), Dorothy plays John Wayne's mother --- she was less than one year older than John, and looked even younger.  Dorothy is in the classic opening scene wherein she walks out of the darkness of her home to see the bright desert vista and her son returning from war.  Not a bad coda to her career. 

More Bob & Dorothy

 

Ho Hum

Bob and Dorothy Jordan

It was a quite different pairing from Bob and Joan Crawford, but equally great.  Instead of Bob being protected by Joan, Bob got to be the beautiful, young protector to Dorothy.  Dorothy quit the movies in 1933, got married, had three children and stayed married to the same man until his death forty years later.  Good for her.  Just glad she stayed in the movies long enough to co-star with Bob in Love in the Rough and Shipmates.  The photos of them are all priceless.  
 

                              Love in the Rough (1930)

More Bob From WB

The Warner Archive has announced a new batch of DVD-on-demand releases, and two are early Robert Montgomery films:

• Love in the Rough
• So This is College

My copy of College is like looking through eyeglasses smeared with Vaseline - this has to be an improvement.

Water Boarding (Minus the CIA)

In the 2009 Bob calendar, July's photo has been somewhat of a mystery: who is the lady with Bob? Carrie Liz dropped me a note thinking it's Dorothy Jordan. I think she's right.

I did some digging - something about the background all of a sudden clicked when she said Dorothy. They're water boarding on Lake Norconian. I dug out my copy of The Norconian Resort by Arcadia Publishing and sure enough, there's a photo that has the same background angle and water board (p. 90). 1930s Love in the Rough starred the two and was filmed at The Norconian.

Heh, then again, I suppose it could be Norma Shearer since they also filmed Their Own Desire at that resort. But I can't picture Norma skimming along a lake . . .