Just 24 and Looks Younger

   And note that Bob is sitting down and Sally Starr is wearing heels, one diminutive lady.   Anyway, a nifty photo of the two.  So This is College (1929) is streaming on TCM until October 13th.  

Biff and Babs ... Too Cute.

 Sally Starr (Sarah Kathryn Sturm) co-starred with Bob Montgomery in So This is College (1929).  Born January 23, 1909, in Pittsburgh, PA, Sally was briefly promoted by MGM, but her career would consist primarily of short films until its end in 1938.  There were just too many perky starlets in Hollywood.  

"Here is the interior of the Angeleno, the world's record non-stop plane after it had been in the air for more than a week.  The pilots Loren W. Mendell and Pete Reinhart had no use for the necktie, which is shown by Sally Starr, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer actress."

Yes, Robert Montgomery Wasn't the Only Person in the Movie

This is Sally Starr and Phyllis Crane.  Sally plays Babs Babcock, the girl all the boys fight over, and Phyllis is Babs' best friend Betty.  The write-up on the back names their movie as "Happy Days".   

     Sally Starr and Phyllis Crane (1929)

Elliot Nugent portrays Eddie, Biff's best buddy.  (Biff is you know who!)   For this photo, the movie is referred to as "College Days".  

                                         Elliott Nugent, 1929

I am glad they finally chose So This is College.  Much better title.  

It's Bob & Elliott. Watch Out Girls!!

 Rather like this photo, the boys in football gear chatting up the girls in a hot roadster in a college setting.  

                 Bob and Elliott Nugent in So This Is College (1929)

The photo works as well when the brown from aging is removed.  

The boys, Bob and Elliott Nugent, were friends back in New York.  They look comfortable together.  Bob is 25 and Elliott 33.  Oh, a tad on the old side for college, but they fit in better than the padding they were given to look more athletic.  

I prefer the closer cropping in the B&W photo.  

And my favorite shot.  Love the hair.  

What?! Bob Loses the Girl?! Yikes.

1929 did not produce many great movies, not many good movies either.  Everybody was madly working out how to handle that new crazy development of sound.  Many movies featured musical numbers, although they were not musicals as we know them now.  The musical aspect was easier to understand than having people actually talk, that took a while to master.  So, you just needed a story line that will work with the occasional song being thrown in.  Hey, why not a college movie!

So This is College was one of those 1929 productions, featuring songs like the classic "I Don't Want Your Kisses". 

It starred young hopefuls Elliott Nugent and Robert Montgomery, and featured songster Cliff Edwards ... someone had to be able to sing!  Eddie (Nugent) and Biff (our so young Bob) are best pals, fellow football stars and leading gagsters at their fraternity.  Life is perfect for the two when ... shudder, shudder ... they find themselves in competition for the same girl. 

Yes, Babs (Sally Starr) is the new girl on campus and manages to win over both of the boys and breakup their friendship when she chooses Eddie over Biff (What?! Bob loses the girl? Eek.) 

Will Eddie and Biff get back together?  Will they reconcile long enough to play the big game and beat the hated rival?  For these answers, and more, check out the movie being shown on TCM tomorrow (Friday) at 7:00 p.m. PST

All Is Now Right With The World!

Ran across a photoplay book of Three Live Ghosts (1929), which was Bob's first movie.  While MGM had him under contract, they had not yet assigned him a picture.  So Bob sought one on his own and came up with a role in this film produced by a small production company.  It is the only film of Bob's that has been lost**, only a few lobby cards and stills have survived.  And this book!

I am including all the photos, along with their captions.  The first picture is of Bob and Joan Bennett, the young lovers.  Joan, with already six movie credits at 19, got fourth billing.  The totally unknown Bob was given seventh.  And, yes, So This Is College is usually listed as Bob's first movie, but it is the second one he made.  College was simply released before Ghosts. 

                   The "Three Live Ghosts" ask for their back pay.

                       "I've been looking a long time for you."

              "They were given to me by a very kind gentleman."

                   "Jolly little chick -- Took to me right away."

               Scotland Yard quizzes everyone suspected of the
                          jewelry robbery and kidnapping.
 

                Spoofy displays the treasures he has annexed
                                        at Lord Leicester's.

And --- saving the best for last --- this final photo is a real treasure find for me.  I have always thought of this movie as being a non-tuxedo film of Bob, since all the stills I had seen before show him in a tattered suit and scarf.   But NO! it actually is both the first appearance of Bob and the first time we see Bob in his trademark tux!  All is now right with the world. 

                                               Nifty!!

                                            
 ** Letty Lynton (1934) is only lost legally.  Some day a miracle could happen and we will be able to see a clear print ... some day.            
            

Three Live Ghosts ... No Longer Alive?

Bob was signed by MGM in January, 1929, one of many Broadway actors signed in a rush by the studios to appear in the new "talkies."  They had him, but apparently were not sure what to do with him, letting him sit idle.  Having been advised that he needed to get himself in a better position to get the attention of the MGM brass, Bob went looking for and found a role in a Joseph M. Schenck production which was distributed by United Artists.  It worked.  MGM immediately cast him in  So This is College and it would be some years before he was allowed any more idle moments by the studio.  Three Live Ghosts was released in September 15, 1929.  Bob would be co-starred in four films by MGM that were filmed before the end of the year.

Three Live Ghosts has become a ghost itself, no prints of the movie having survived the years.  We are left with a couple dozen stills, a herald and a lobby card (that I know of!).  Wouldn't it be fascinating to see Bob appear on screen for the first time?!  (And, yes, I know.  He was an extra in The Single Standard.  Whereas it is enjoyable to watch the young Bob dancing across the screen, it is his voice that makes the man for me.)

I've blown up Bob from the photo so you can see him without a magnifying glass.  Note how they have a scarf around that rather long neck.   And, whereas the hat is rather nifty, the rest of his attire is old and scruffy.  The first and last time you will see a scruffy Bob! 

That's One Long Finger!

Co-stars Robert Montgomery, Sally Starr and Elliott Nugent welcome Elliott's dad, J.C. Nugent to the set of So This is College (1929). 

"Robt." Montgomery?

So, they abbreviate his name to fit the herald?  Really?  Obviously, this movie was made before Robert was declared by MGM to be a "star" in 1931.  Afterall, it is the herald that should be designed to accommodate the star.  (At least they didn't use Bob!)

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.

Media History Digital Library Update

Robert Montgomery historians may want to check out the recent additions to Archive.org from the Media History Digital Library Project: issues of The Film Daily. To-date, it appears to be early issues 1927-1929. If you find anything good, drop me a note!

And this has been bugging me -I forgot where I had found out about this. Just remembered: The Shelf!

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.

I'm Helping You Spend Your Money

Grrr...I deleted this one from the other day...just re-adding.

What's cool is if you can't afford (or find) original old movie posters, you can buy reproductions. Found some really slick ones called "Masterprints." They're sold at a number of sites, but I've found the variety to change depending on where you look. I think AutographWorld.com has the best selection. Only two Robert Montgomery flicks:

• Mr & Mrs. Smith - Love the film. Bought the print.
• So This is College
  

$12 with a plastic sleve. Go buy one.

The other site selling Masterprints is www.moviegoods.com.