Battle of the Reginald's

 Everybody Sing (1938) starred Alan Jones and Judy Garland.  It may not have been a highly rated movie, but it did have some excellent supporting actors to attempt to save it from being too much of a bomb.  Reginald Owen, Reginald Gardiner and Billie Burke, each in their own unique way, were great actors.  Mr. Owen, whose birthday is August 5th, could seemingly play any type of role to perfection.   Mr. Gardiner was really good at playing the "upper-crust English twit."  And Ms. Burke was a master at portraying "Billie Burke", one of a kind for sure.  

Thumbs up to Mr. Gardiner for going face-to-face with Mr. Owen.  I'd say the eyes have it!  (Sorry, I'm working on this much too late in the day.)

A slightly late update of Bob on TCM ... June Bride (1948) is available until August 11th and The Big House (1930) ends a brief run on August 7th.  

I just learned how to spell "doppelganger"

 August 28 is Charles Boyer's birthday.  He committed suicide two days before his birthday in 1978, two days after his wife died.  He fell in love with his wife Pat Paterson at first sight, their marriage lasted 44 years and Charles was a totally devoted husband - ever so rare in Hollywood, particularly for a native of France!  A sad death or ever so romantic?  Both, I guess.  

                                      Charles Boyer, 1934

Boyer was a unique Hollywood star.  Besides English and French, he could speak German, Italian and Spanish.  (I wonder what his accent sounded like in Italian!)  He earned a degree in Philosophy from the Sorbonne.  Balding significantly since his 20's, he did not wear a toupee except as required in his movies.  Wikipedia has a rather thorough write-up of his career that is definitely worth a read.  A rather interesting gentleman.  

                              Charles Boyer, Gaslight (1944)

And just what is his connection to Bob, you ask?  How about MGM bringing Boyer to the states in 1931 to portray Chester Morris's role in The Big House.  Besides, I just plain like the guy.  No one agrees with me, but I think he looks like Mr. Montgomery.  I just dug up a photo which supports my argument better.  Not exactly a doppelganger, but ...

More and More and More Bob Movies

Another great month for Bob's movies on TCM ... there are four streaming presently, with three more to come.  

Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941) ends earliest, on January 9th.  

Three Loves Has Nancy (1938) runs until January 31st

Then Blondie of the Follies (1932) and Ever Since Eve (1937) both end on February 2nd.

                    Robert Montgomery in The Big House (1930)

The Big House (1930) begins streaming January 14th.

Hide-Out (1934) was shown in December and begins another probably brief run on January 16th.  (They should just make it a permanent listing!)

And The Earl of Chicago (1940) is the 7th movie showing in January starting January 31st.  

 Young "Kent" anticipating what his life will be like in prison.

Is there any movie you'd get up to see at 3:30 a.m.?

Just love original photographs, especially from the early 1930s.  Gorgeous quality, you can see it even when it is displayed in such small scale, as is the photo below.  You can see our Bob checking out the gun Chester Morris has, and not liking the situation he is in one bit.  

A good photograph allows me to blow up points of interest, the young Mr. Montgomery is always interesting.  Love that curly head of hair.  

The Big House (1930) utilized a large number of extras.  Great up on a theater screen, but a tad vision blurring on this blog.  

Bob and Chester are not in this shot, just Wallace Beery as Butch, everyone's favorite cellmate!  

The Big House will be shown on TCM this Wednesday at 3:30 a.m. PT.  Have not seen it for a while.  Hopefully it will be streamed for a while afterwards, 3:30 a.m. not being a great viewing time, for any movie.  

Shaving Off Bob's Sideburns ... Not Nice!

 Not screwing up the star's hair is certainly important.  Below, we have the film's director, George W. Hill, supervising while the studio hairdresser prepares Bob's hair before handing him over to the older gent who portrays the barber who gets blamed for the haircut in the movie.  (Wow...one long rambling sentence!)  

Eeks...they shaved off Bob's sideburns!  Ah, the suffering actors have to go through.  

A reminder:  The Big House (1930) is available to stream on TCM until April 27th, as is June Bride (1948).  Night Must Fall (1937) ends the 25th.  Three good movies to watch.  

Waiting ... Hating ... Hoping ...

 This one-page piece on The Big House (1930) came with a group of clippings.  The magazine's name is not on the page, and neither is an author's name.  I'm guessing it might be straight from MGM's publicity office, without the pretense of it being written by a reporter for the magazine.  Anyway, it is a different take on PR releases.  

Now, That's a Hat!

 How did they attach those hats so they stayed in place?  Anyway, this one plus the dress frills makes for a nifty photo.  And it helps to have Marion Davies model it and Robert Montgomery simply be in the photo.  This print is the 'Art Souvenir' 16"x10" foldout from the February 4, 1933 issue of Picture Show Magazine.  It is in superb shape, except for the fold wear.  After 88 years, I was amazed it was still in the magazine and in one piece.  It deserves to be framed and displayed.  In my next life ...

 Blondie of the Follies (1932) is available for streaming on TCM through April 1st.  Also, The Big House (1930) can be seen through April 3rd and Hide-Out (1934) until April 11th.  That's a nice selection of early Montgomery movies for your viewing pleasure. 

He kinda catches your attention, doesn't he!

Herr Montgomery in "Das Graue Haus"

It is too bad that movie heralds went to the wayside over the years.  They were one nifty souvenir of the movies you had seen, and I would have had boxes of them.  Most of the original heralds in the U.S. were just one sheet folded over, but the graphics were usually quite good.  They told you the basics, who the stars were, the studio that produced it and conveyed what kind of movie it was. 

Austria produced this 6-page herald of The Big House (1930).  It not only has numerous stills from the movie, but an actual story line.  I do not know when the herald was used, it could be from after WWII.  Between Hitler's censorship and the war itself, U.S. movies were not shown in Germany and their conquered countries until the war ended. 

By the way, "Das Graue Haus" translates to "The Grey House."  Evidently, the American slang, The Big House, was not known in German speaking countries. 

"The Big House" will be shown on TCM today at 9:15 p.m. PST.  The Sins of the Children (1930) is also being shown at 7:45 a.m. PST.  1930 was a busy year for our young Bob, eight of his movies were filmed that year.  No three-month vacations for him at this stage of his career. 

Nice Little Surprises Can Make My Day

Another treasure find, after buying a large lot of photos.  There are only two of them, about 4x5, very rare ads for The Big House (1930).  The first card has three scenes, the first three images shown below.  The 2nd card gets to the point of what they are selling, guns and violence.  You'll note that Bob isn't in any of the scenes.  Bob got fourth billing, but he has only a supporting role to Chester Morris and Wallace Beery. 

TCM is showing the movie tomorrow,  January 7th at 6:30 p.m.
EST.   I find it an enjoyable movie, worth a watch. 

Happy Birthday to Boston Blackie!

Chester Morris was born February 16, 1901.  He and Bob made back-to-back movies together, The Divorcee and The Big House, forging a close friendship in the early 1930s when both actors became so highly successful in their careers.  Actually, Morris was a step or two further up the ladder than Bob was in 1930, when The Big House really made his career.

The photo below is a publicity shot for Corsair (1931).  I love the IMDB synopsis for the movie: "Stock market broker plans to liven up his boring life by taking up piracy on the high seas."  Good one.  Check out the striped pants.

Chester's career took a dive in the late 30s, so signing on to the Boston Blackie movies in the 1940s was a great financial boon for the struggling actor.  When they ended, he switched to theater and television in the 1950s.  In 1970, he was diagnosed with stomach cancer and dies of a barbiturate overdose.  The coroner could not determine if it was suicide or an accident.  Whichever, it was an understandable reaction to cancer at the time and ever so sad. 

Wallace Beery Plays Himself, errr, Butch!

TCM is showing The Big House (1930) this coming Thursday.  Definitely worth a watch, even if prison movies aren't your thing.  Chester Morris and Wallace Beery are the stars, Bob has a major supporting role.  The movie begins with Bob's character, clean cut Kent Marlowe, being checked into the overcrowded and dated prison to serve a 10-year sentence for killing a man in a drunken-driving accident.  The sequence is really quite good, showing the dehumanization of Kent as he is changed into prisoner no. 48642.  And then the poor guy meets his new cellmates, Morgan (Chester Morris) and Butch (Wallace Beery), with Butch as everyone's nightmare roomie. 

     Chester Morris, Bob and Wallace Beery in The Big House (1930)

Kent has a completely rational reaction to his fate, he is scared to hell facing a life situation filled with violence for which he is ill-prepared.  Love the look on Bob's face in the photo below.  You're so right, Bob.  Nothing good is going to come for you in this prison break. 

It's great seeing Bob in a different kind of role.  But his future has already been determined by the two movies he has made with Norma Shearer, Their Own Desire (1929) and Divorcee (1930).  He just looked too darn good in a tuxedo! 

Reminder: Bob's Mini-Marathon on TCM

Just in case you don't already have a copy, or you'd just like to spend the day with Bob, TCM will be showing six of his movies on his birthday tomorrow. 

Times shown are Eastern:
        * 12:15 p.m. The Easiest Way
        *   1:30 p.m. Hide-Out
        *   3:00 p.m. Night Must Fall 
        *   5:00 p.m. Three Loves Has Nancy 
        *   6:15 p.m. Mr. & Mrs. Smith
        *   4:30 a.m. The Big House

And below, Roz Russell gives birthday boy, Jimmy Stewart a big hug.  Looks like they're both enjoying it.  

                                No Time for Comedy (1940)

Happy Birthday, Robert Montgomery!

Early Ruth Harriet Louise Portrait

The Big House - 1930

They Were Expendable - 1945

Robert Montgomery Presents: The Lost Weekend - 1955

More Bob on DVD

I'm sure this news is making it's way along the blogosphere pretty quick: Warner Bros. is now offering made-to-order DVDs and digital downloads of a number of classic films. Downloads are $14.95 and mailed DVDs are $19.95. While the films are bare-bones, no extras, they're still a welcome sight. For you Robert Montgomery fans:

• Forsaking All Others
• Private Lives
• The Big House
  

h/t: Laura's Miscellaneous Musings

Photo Friday: 1930

Sorry for being late on this, technically it's Photo Saturday...

Today's still is a portrait from 1930, attributed on the back to The Big House.

A larger look

The Big House (1930)