Bob and Madge made such a great couple

TCM update for June:  Fast and Loose (1939) and Night Must Fall (1937) will begin their June showings on June 4th and Lovers Courageous (1932) on June 13th.  Meanwhile, three movies from May will continue to run until June 14th (The Divorcee and The Easiest Way) and June 15th (They Were Expendable).  That's a lot of Bob available to watch!  

I definitely need to check out Lovers Courageous.  It has been ages.  Bob and Madge made such a great couple.  

                 Bob and Madge Evans, Lovers Courageous (1932)

Happy Birthday, Mr. Montgomery!

 And what better way for Bob to celebrate his birthday then with friends (maybe family) at a hot new nightclub.  He would have enjoyed that.  This photo was not a birthday celebration, however.  It was taken in August 1940 at Ciro's, which was a hot new nightclub.  And they all are friends.  The occasion is a fundraiser for War Relief.   

The attendees are from left to right:  Bob, holding court; Pat Paterson, Mrs. Boyer; Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.; an unknown lady; and the back of Mary Lee, Mrs. Fairbanks.

 

 On the other side of the table are Charles Boyer; Betty Montgomery, partially hidden by Boyer's glass; and a very tall unknown gentleman.  

Since I don't recognize the lady at the far end of the table, nor the gent across from her, I'm going to take a wild guess ... how about Bob's brother Don and his wife.  Two of the few things I know about the brother are that he was taller than bob, by at least a couple inches, and he was in L.A. at least during the war when he handled Bob's businesses.  Like I said, just a fun guess.  

Anyway, for those of us not planning to go out on the town today, TCM has four Bob movies available for streaming at present:  Riptide, until June 5th; The Divorcee and The Easiest Way, until June 14th; and They Were Expendable, until June 15th.  Not a bad selection.  Just think, next year we'll be able to watch our Letty Lynton DVD!!!!

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. 

What's Better than Bob? Six Bobs ....

Good month for Bob on TCM.  There are six movies coming and going, all of them in the better Robert Montgomery films group.  

Two movies are almost through their showing.  Private Lives (1931) ends on the 21st and Piccadilly Jim (1936) the 23rd.  The Divorcee (1930) will be shown until May 1st.  The Man in Possession (1931) is just being shown this morning.  Hope it gets a long run.  Everybody should see the role just made for the young Mr. Montgomery.  He handles it so well.  And an excellent cast simply makes this movie a gem of pre-code Hollywood.  Cheers for Charlotte Greenwood, Irene Purcell, Reginald Owen, C. Aubrey Smith and Beryl Mercer.  

And two more movies will "open" in April:  Lady in the Lake (1946) on the 20th and Night Must Fall (1937) on the 30th.  And everybody should see these two movies ... Mr. Montgomery's passions.  

Some great viewing!  Enjoy.  

Victor & Amanda & Elyot & Sibyl

Love the heralds produced in Germany after WWII for U.S. films.  They're larger than ours, the scans below are just about actual size, and have more pages.  And the photo montages are quite good.  Good memorabilia, even if your 'Deutsche ist nicht sehr gut.' 

TCM is showing Private Lives (1931) this Thursday at 8:00 p.m. EDT /5:00 p.m. PDT.  Quite the enjoyable movie.  Hope they show it on demand afterwards (as they are The Divorcee (1930) until March 26th). 

Yes siree, Bob!***

Yes siree!  This ad would sure have caught my attention in 1937.  I mean, my sweet Bob wanted for murder?!  Shocking.  Would definitely have to see the movie to find out what this is about. 

'Tis a good night for watching TCM ... TWO Bob movies in a row, at decent show times.  The Divorcee (1930) is showing at 7:00 p.m. CST, followed by Night Must Fall (1937) at 8:30 p.m. CST.  And then a third Bob, They Were Expendable (1945), gets another showing at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow.  Not bad. 

***Did you know:  During the mid-19th century, "Bob" was used as a euphemism for "God," as in "So help me, Bob!"  I'll pass at making any comparisons between the two.

Have You Ever Crawled into a Haystack? --- I Don't Recommend it!

Fast and Loose (1939) was the last picture Bob and Rosalind Russell made together.  Kinda wish they could have continued pairing up as they grew older, watching the relationship change with Roz developing into the more dominant figure.  Anyway, it has been some time since I saw the movie so I am looking forward to seeing it tomorrow, July 12th at 10:30 PST on TCM.  TCM is also showing The Divorcee (1930) on demand until July 18th.  A double feature, maybe!  Let's see, I have popcorn and Pepsi ... yeah, I'm ready! 

                          Bob and Roz in Fast and Loose (1939)

One Handsome Gent (Well-Dressed too!)

This photo was used on the cover of Cine Monde, a french magazine, in 1933. ( I was relieved to discover that there was no inside article on him that I would have to translate, my interest was purely the photo anyway.  Do note the spelling of Bob's name in the blurb!)

28-year-old Bob was just so very handsome, and this is a nifty photo of him.  He appears to be modeling the perfect ensemble for recreational horseback riding, for the country club set.

I later realized I had a sister photo ... two excellent environmental portraits. 

Almost as good as this one, taken a few years later on his new yacht.  Still handsome and wearing the perfect yachtsman attire, I'm sure.  The man had class.  

                                              Bob at 57.

And two alerts for Bob movies on TCM:  Another Language (1933) will be shown tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. EST/11:30 a.m. PST, and The Divorcee (1930)'s showtime is Thursday at 7:30 a.m. EST/4:30 a.m.

The Look, The Drink ... But Where's the Tux?

Well, it's not bad for a magazine clipping.  It would definitely be nice to have an original photo of Bob and Norma setting off sparks.  Yet, reading what Bob has in mind is certainly not diminished by the poor quality of the print.

                  Bob and  Norma Shearer in The Divorcee (1930)

TCM will be showing The Divorcee this Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. EST/6:00 a.m. PST.  The movie would have been improved significantly if they had given Bob more screen time.  Mrs. Thalberg may have gotten an Oscar for her performance, but Norma's particular style of overacting can be a tad unnerving.  Yet, I admire her for succeeding in an extremely tough profession.  Besides, one has to be thankful to her for her role in helping to boost Mr. Montgomery's early career.  Thank you, Ms. Shearer.

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. 

It's the Last Day Before Bob's Day on TCM!!

Are we ready??  Programming begins at 6:00 a.m. EDT/3:00 a.m. PDT with a showing of The Divorcee and wraps up with Night Must Fall at 3:45 a.m. EDT/12:45 a.m. PDT on Tuesday.  Enjoy!!

                   Norma Shearer and Bob in The Divorcee (1930)

                                               Danny

Four Days To Go For Bob's Day on TMC

Don't Forget!!  Bob's Day on TMC is this coming Monday, August 22nd.  14 of his movies, just great.  And they have done a very good job in their selections.  I would wish they had included Petticoat Fever (1936), Bob at his prime in a delightful romp with Myrna Loy, and Once More, My Darling (1949), older Bob poking fun at his movie career and reputation as a ladies man on the screen.  But, hey, there are only 24 hours in a day.  Next time, right TMC?!  When you also bring Letty Lynton back to the screen where it belongs!! 

The first seven movies shown are in chronological order, starting with The Divorcee (1929), one of the five movies he made with Norma Shearer that gave him such a boost to his career.  It is certainly understandable why Norma would chose the 25-year-old Bob for a fling, to get back at Chester Morris.  
 

                        The Divorcee (1929) with Norma Shearer

The Man in Possession is just a delightful pre-code romp, straight to the bedroom and torn undergarments.  A definite must see if you haven't already. 

                  The Man in Possession (1931) with Irene Purcell

In a more serious vein, Bob is injured in an auto accident and spends much of his screen time in bed in Faithless.  It is very much Tallulah Bankhead's movie, with Bob looking ever so handsome as her near death husband. 

                       Faithless (1932) with Tallulah Bankhead

When Ladies Meet is an ensemble movie, with Ann Harding and Myrna Loy in the primary roles, given great support by Alice Brady, Frank Morgan and, of course, our Bob.  It is a tad chatty, but quite interesting, especially for the time. 

  When Ladies Meet (1933) with Myrna Loy, Alice Brady, Ann Harding       and Frank Morgan

The Mystery of Mr. X is a refreshing change for Bob.  He portrays a jewel thief who tracks down a mysterious murderer, even disguising himself as a Bobbie while chasing Mr. X in an exchange of gunfire.  The movie is not shown very often, so have your DVR ready. 

                                The Mystery of Mr. X (1934)

One of my all time favorite movies is Hide-Out.  Bob and Maureen make an incredibly cute couple.  Such a delightful movie.  This movie calls out for a sequel.  We need to find out just what happens to Lucky and Pauline!

                       Hide-Out (1934) with Maureen O'Sullivan

Piccadilly Jim is the fifth and last of the movies Bob makes with Madge Evans, a great co-star for Bob.  I have always thought it would be great to see them together in a movie made near the end of Bob's career.  It is difficult for me to imagine older Bob with Norma Shearer or Joan Crawford.  Anyway, any movie with Eric Blore is worth watching. 

                           Piccadilly Jim (1936) with Eric Blore

 I'm running out of gas here ...  hopefully, I'll continue with the remaining seven movies tomorrow. 

Photo (Advertising) Friday: A Free Soul

In support of Norma Shearer week over on Out of the Past...

Large image

The Divorcee to DVD

Great news for all you Norma Shearer & Robert Montgomery fans out there. On March 4, Forbidden Hollywood Vol. 2 will be released with The Divorcee as one of the films in the set - with commentary. Also included will be:

• A Free Soul
• Three on a Match
• Female
• Night Nurse
• Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood

Now can't we get Private Lives, too?

h/t - Pre-Coded Messages