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!   

Looks Like Rita Has a Good Hold on Bob

Rita Johnson, Robert Montgomery, and Evelyn Keyes in Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)

As of today, there will be four Bob movies streaming on TCM:  

                Biography of a Bachelor Girl (1935), until Feb. 28th;

                 Live, Love and Learn (1937), until Feb. 28th;

                 Our Blushing Brides (1930), until March 7th; and

                 Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) first shows today at                          3:15 p.m. PT and then onto streaming.

Oh, and The Secret Land (1948) sneaks in at 4:30 a.m. on Feb. 21.  It's doubtful I will catch that!

Bob and Joan, the Cameras Loved Them

Our Blushing Brides (1930) is being shown tonight at midnight PST.  Unless you are a night owl like me, that is not the best viewing time of any Bob movie (Well, Night Must Fall, perhaps!).  Hopefully it will be available for streaming after the showing.  It is not the best of Mr. Montgomery's movies, but he and Joan make for a very sensual pairing and a good reason to watch it.  And just look at that curly hair (Bob's, not Joan's) ...

               Joan Crawford & Bob in Our Blushing Brides (1930)

Bob, Joan, Franchot, George & Adrian

September is a big month for Bob movies on TCM, five movies in total.  That's a lot these days.  Two of his movies with Joan Crawford will be shown in the wee early hours of Friday, Our Blushing Brides (1930) and No More Ladies (1935).  Ladies produced some great publicity stills, with the always wonderful photography of George Hurrell, and aided by Ms. Crawford's gown by Adrian.

            Bob, Joan and Franchot Tone in No More Ladies (1935)

The photo below was not taken by Hurrell ... but, it is, well, interesting.

Happy Birthday, Joan!

Bob and Joan Crawford ... a pairing on the screen that progressed from young and adorable in Untamed (1929) to ever so handsome in The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1937).  The camera loved both stars and captured a connection between the two that flattered them both.  For the lack of a better description, they simply had "IT" when sharing the screen.   
 

                                        Untamed (1929)

I have not always been a big fan of Ms. Crawford, but always, always had a great admiration and respect for her.  To come from such a tough environment and, yet, somehow manage to become one of the most famous and highest-paid women in the entire world ... whoa, impressive.  So much determination, drive, hard work, talent and whatever else it took for Lucille LeSeuer of San Antonio, Texas, to become Joan Crawford ... if I had only had 1/10th of that mix!

                              The Last of Mrs. Cheney (1937)

Bob and Joan also co-starred in Our Blushing Brides (1930), Letty Lynton (1932), Forsaking All Others (1934), and No More Ladies (1935).  Hey, Joan's birthday today sounds like a great excuse to watch one of their movies.  Let's see, I could once again strain my eyes watching my blurry copy of Letty Lynton (but oh so worth it!) or, maybe, enjoy the youthful exuberance of Untamed.  Decisions, decisions ... 

What's Better Than One Montgomery? SEVEN!!

                                          Untamed (1929)

Well, are we all thoroughly satiated and exhausted ... ready to face more goodies and celebration on New Years Eve?  Hope Santa was good to you, no coal in the stocking at least!  Santa's gift to me came in the form of the TCM Now Playing Guide.  Joan Crawford is the featured star for January and they are showing all five of the movies she made with Bob!!  And if that prospect was not good enough, they have included two more Bob movies, Lady in the Lake and Private Lives.  It is just a great way to start off the year, 2014 is already better than 2013 has been, for me anyway.  Thought I would list them for you, as an aid to remembering to spend several delightful hours with Bob and Joan, Bob and Audrey and Bob and Norma.   All times given are PST. 

         Jan. 2  - 9:00 p.m., Our Blushing Brides (1930)

         Jan. 3  - 8:00 a.m., Untamed (1929)

         Jan. 6  - 3:00 p.m., Lady in the Lake (1947)

         Jan. 9  - 10:30 p.m., Forsaking All Others ( 1934)

         Jan. 10- 8:30 a.m., No More Ladies (1935)

         Jan. 10- 3:15 p.m., The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1937)

         Jan. 23- 7:45 a.m., Private Lives (1931)

Enjoy! 

Hey, Hon. Look at the girl on the Left, isn't that...

As any movie fan can appreciate, it is always great fun to spot a future star in a movie or photo wherein they are merely an unlisted extra or bit player.  I ran across the picture below on the web, and once my eyes finally left the image of a very young Bob, I noticed the girl next to him and realized it was a very, very young Ann Dvorak.  She had just turned 17.

                                   So This Is College (1929)

Later, I identified her as one of the models in a still from Our Blushing Brides (1930)  She is second from the left, had to check the cast credits to make sure.  She also appears in Bob's Free and Easy (1930) in an uncredited role as a chorine.  Have not found a still of her in that, as yet. 

Ann gets her big break in Scarface (1932), becomes embroiled with her bosses at Warner Bros. over salary and the quality of the movies they put her in, and moves to England with her British husband to assist in the war effort (that's WWII, folks) by driving an ambulance.  An interesting lady for sure. 

And, if you have not already done so, do check out anndvorak.com.  It is a great blog with daily posts on Ann and the author's (Christina Rice) lengthy journey of researching, writing and successfully getting her book on Ann published.  The book is "Ann Dvorak: Hollywood's Forgotten Rebel," a great tribute by a fan to help keep her star's memory alive.

401k vs. Movie Collectibles

Profiles in History has a massive auction coming up Dec. 14 and has posted an ton of really neat (technical term) items for viewing on ebay. I'll tell you, the four drawer metal file cabinets full of stills really has my interest. I'm sure they went through them first to weed out the nice items, but that whole "grab bag" idea gets your imagination going. Shipping will be murder, I'm sure. As hinted to in this post's title, collectibles just might be doing better right now in value than my retirement.

Now it wouldn't be a Classic Montgomery post without mentioning there are some sweet Bob Montgomery photos up for sale. In addition to Hurrell portraits, stills from films such as No More Ladies, Untamed, Letty Lynton, When Ladies Meet, and Our Blushing Brides, Faithless are up for grabs.

If you go digging, I recommend checking out ebay and also Profile's Web site at ProfilesInHistory.com. I've noticed for some lots, additional or different photos are on their Web site vs. ebay (and vice versa).

Oh, and one more hint, hunters. Search for film titles or co-stars to your fav. films - you'll find more.

Joan representing fangirls worldwide

A Hurrell from Faithless (also a Picture in Picture topic)

Just Joan

Like Peanut Butter & Jelly

Just great together - Bob Montgomery & Joan Crawford:

Our Blushing Brides


The Last of Mrs. Cheyney


Forsaking All Others


Letty Lynton


No More Ladies


Untamed

Anita Page's Thoughts On Bob

Anita Page starred in 4 Robert Montgomery films over her short career: Free and Easy, Our Blushing Brides, War Nurse, and The Easiest Way. Alternative Film Blog has posted an interview (in 2 parts) with author Allan Ellenberger, who interviewed Anita for his Ramon Novarro book.


One of the questions posted to Allan was what were Anita's thoughts on her on-screen romantic partners. On Robert Montgomery:

"I thought Robert had a marvelous manner of acting and a great line delivery. I once asked him how he achieved this style and he said 'stage work.' He told me that learning basic acting is essential, but real technique must come from working before a live audience. You learn how to time comic line-delivery, as well as develop your acting skills.

"When I asked if he played people like himself, he said 'no, no. You get costumes that are entirely different.' He also said that was one way to get rid of stage fright. It helps keep you anonymous with [the] audience — so if you forgot your lines, they wouldn't recognize you when you became another character. You were less nervous. I never forgot Bob's tip that day on the set, so when the door was open for me to do a live performance, I jumped on it!"