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.  

And Which Is Your Favorite?

 Okay.  There are two photos of Bob in his "real" dress uniforms, and three in movie produced uniforms.  I consider the pilot uniform to fall under the 'dress' uniform heading, it has a mink collar after all!  So which would turn you on the most?

 

Hard to choose, isn't it!

To My Darling Wife, Julie

I rather enjoy watching Night Flight (1933).  For me, the few short scenes featuring Montgomery are such a pleasure that I'm still grinning through the rest of the movie.  The script can be a snore, poor Helen Hayes gets to wade through much of the melodramatic morass.  The disappointment of Night Flight (1933) is not having the stars appear together.  Helen and Clark Gable are married, but their screen time together is comprised of Helen looking longingly at an 8x10 of flyer Clark.  Gable's appearance is limited to sitting in his plane's cockpit looking brave.  Myrna Loy has a scene with hubby pilot William Gargan (who?).  Bob's scenes are with Lionel Barrymore.  I mean, it's too evident that this movie was filmed around the filming schedules of the stars.  It was filmed March to July of 1933.  In this five month period, Bob did his scenes for Night Flight, filmed When Ladies Meet and Another Language, and left town for his summer vacation in New York. 

 

But the entrance Auguste Pellerin (Montgomery) makes is choice.   Love it.  TCM is showing Night Flight today at 3:00 p.m. EST.  Or better yet, pickup the DVD on eBay with the super nifty cover. 

"I want you to stop meddling with my fiancee!"

... exclaims Sir James Felton (Reginald Owen) to Dascom Dinsmore (Bob) as Irene (Myrna Loy) watches in surprise in Petticoat Fever (1936).  A fun movie.  I bet it was a roaring success at the "Tavern Casino" on Friday! 

TCM will be showing Petticoat this Wednesday at 5:00 a.m. EST.  I don't know that I'd be able to make that show time, so I am hoping they show it on demand later.  You can see Night Flight (1933) on demand today, and Rage in Heaven (1941) through Friday.  And three move Bob movies will be shown this Month:  Lady in the Lake (1947) on the 14th; Hide-out (1934) on the 17th; and Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) on the 18th.  That's a lot of Montgomery all in one month!  And so many are my favorites, and I would imagine yours as well.

None of Bob's movies are scheduled on TCM for his birthday on the 21st.  That's kind of a let down after showing nine movies last year.  Six of his better movies in the weeks before will just have to do.

... It's That Glorious Head of Curly Hair!

It's another treasure find.  Not recognized in a lot of photos up for auction, was this worn, but in excellent shape for its age, still from Three Live Ghosts (1929).  Gosh, but it's fun coming across a photo of young Mr. Montgomery, not easily recognizable because he is not wearing his usual tuxedo!  And it is one I haven't seen before, so doubly nice. 

Actually, it is never the clothing that helps me recognize young Bob ... it's that glorious head of curly hair!

It still amazes me that there are stills and lobby cards existing for this long-lost movie.  I have more Three Live Ghosts stills in my collection than a number of his other movies.  Night Flight items are rare, no promotional photos that I know of, just a few terrific posters, none of which I can afford!  And I have few items from any of Bob's Norma Shearer movies.  Part of my problem there is all those gorgeous photos taken by Hurrell for Norma's movies.  The photos for Riptide alone ... need to get back to buying Lotto tickets.

As for this expenditure, that lot I bought ... anybody interested in some Joe E. Brown stills?  Have I got a deal for you! 

Bob & Three Starlets ... Life Could Be So Tough

Yes ... I am sure Bob spent his time riding a bicycle along with three starlets on the studio grounds.  And, I am sure Bob, along with all the contract players, just loved the publicity part of their jobs.  Big stars had to do it, as well as the lowly starlets and young Bobs-to-be.

This photo was taken in 1933, used as a publicity shot for Night Flight.  The three young ladies are Jean Parker, Irene Hervey and Jean Howard.  I found it rather surprising that all three had successful lives, an unusual happenstance for young contract players. 

Jean Parker was very busy as a supporting player in movies in the 30s and 40s, switching over to TV and Broadway in the 50s.  Irene Hervey was also a successful actress, keeping busy into the 1970s.  She married Alan Jones, and was the mother of singer Jack Jones.  Jean Howard basically quit the movies in the 30s, and found her success as the socialite spouse of super agent turned powerful producer, Charles K. Feldman.  She later published a book, Jean Howard's Hollywood, a photographic memoir of her life in the 40s and 50s, featuring stars and other famous people of the era.  And all three ladies lived very long lives, Jean lived to 90 and both Irene and Jean to 89.  Yes, three fortunate starlets, all starting their careers riding with Bob.  Not bad. 

Bob Always Looked Great in a Uniform

TCM will be showing Night Flight (1933) Friday, December 9th at 8:00 p.m. PST.  Bob's part in the movie isn't nearly as large as one would wish, but..."what there is is choice!"  It is basically a John and Lionel Barrymore movie with guest stars Helen Hayes, Clark Gable, Myrna Loy and Bob. 

                 Bob and Lionel Barrymore in Night Flight (1933)

Bob portrays a pilot, one of his few action roles.  Of course he is still our lovable playboy, making a great entrance at 8 minutes into the movie.  The two-minute scene with its pre-code banter between Bob and his "girl" makes the movie worth watching!  He has a couple more scenes later in the movie, so don't give up on the movie.  It is too bad Clark, Helen, Myrna and Bob do not have any scenes together.  That would have helped a somewhat weak movie.  And it definitely needs more Bob!!

Am showing the above blow-up of Bob's face, well, just because he looks so great in the uniform. 

Bob's August Birthday Ladies, No. 1 Myrna Loy

Cuddling up on a cold winter's night quite often has its consequences.  My brother and I are consequences of this particular activity, August being my birth month and September my brother's.
This time-honored tradition was around well before our time.  For example, eight of Bob's ladies were born in August.  Thought a month long salute would be appropriate. 

Myrna Loy was born on August 2nd in Radersburg, Montana.  Lot of cold nights in Montana.  She and Bob made two movies together, When Ladies Meet (1933) and Petticoat Fever (1936).  (They were both in Night Flight (1933), but not together!)  They were a great couple on screen and close friends off screen ... until politics got in the way in the late 1940s.  (Is there really anything good about politics?!)  I need to watch Petticoat again to find out just what Bob and the Eskimo girl are up to in the still below. 

                                     Petticoat Fever (1936)

                                   Loy portrait made in 1935. 

                                     Broadway Bill (1934)

Broadway Bill was released as Strictly Confidential in England.  I don't see Myrna and Warner Baxter as a couple, just no way.  Would like to see the movie some day, just a great supporting cast.  Check out the movie on IMDB, in particular the list of uncredited performers.  I mean, Bess Flowers AND Ward Bond ... too much!

Wanna Catch the Late Show at the Bijou?

An interesting ad:

A really good ad:

Looking Forward to April 16th (And Not Just Because it is the Day After Taxes!)

War Nurse (1930) is certainly not one of Bob's better movies.  However, it is a great movie for Bob watching, just enjoying the ever so young, slender and handsome Mr. Montgomery.  The main drawback is that Bob isn't on the screen enough.  I know, the movie is titled War Nurse, so why would one expect him to be in every scene, but...  At least the movie did produce some of the best stills.

That's June Walker as "Babs" sitting next to Lt. Wally O'Brien.  Wally??  Does Bob look like a Wally to you?  Dill, Sheridan or even Dascom, yes, but Wally?? 

Anyway, I am excited about finally being able to replace my VHS recording of the movie.  Looking forward to watching a clear print, so I can enjoy young Mr. Montgomery to the fullest.  

TCM is showing five Montgomery movies this month (times given are PDT):

              April 10 - 9:45 a.m., Hide-Out (1934)

              April 16 - 7:00 a.m.,  War Nurse (1930)

              April 23 - 5:00 p.m., They Were Expendable (1945)

              April 28 - 6:30 a.m., Free and Easy (1930)

              April 28 - 12:30 p.m. Night Flight (1933)

Night Flight (1933)

Bob's lady is listed in the credits as a "Nightclub Vamp."  How quaint.

Night Flight Now on DVD

As of today, Night Flight (1933) is now on DVD. A nice surprise in my mail today as I had pre-ordered from Amazon months ago. Add another Montgomery movie to the DVD list...

Night Flight Coming to DVD

Great news via Laura's Miscellaneous Musings: Night Flight is coming to DVD June 7 on Warner Home Video. Yes, folks - Home Video not the Archive Collection. This 1933 star-packed film includes Clark Gable, Lionel Barrymore, Helen Hayes, Myrna Loy, and our favorite . . . in a smaller part.

Even cooler, Night Flight will be shown at the TCM Film Festival this April. If you're going, Classic Montgomery needs a report!

History's Mysteries: Antoine de Saint Exupéry

Y'all know I'm a film/aviation/history nerd by now. Here's a news bit that includes all three. A Luftwaffe pilot is claiming that he shot down the author/pilot Antoine de Saint Exupéry during WWII. Saint-Exupéry wrote The Little Prince and a number of aviation related stories, including Night Flight, which was made into a movie in 1933.

Horst Rippert, the Luftwaffe pilot, noted in an interview: "If I had known it was Saint Exupéry I would never have shot him down."

Oops.

In 1998, Saint Exupéry's P-38 aircraft wreckage was located, excavated, and given to a museum in France.