Are the Lads Just a Tad Bored? Could be.

Do you think they are waiting for Irene Dunne to finish her makeup?  Or are they waiting for Director La Cava and the writers to confer over some script changes?  All the possibilities ... Poor lads.

              Bob and Preston Foster in Unfinished Business (1941)

A Rabbi, A Priest and a .......

 So, I'm guessing Jimmy stops by the set of Unfinished Business (1941) to see Bob, and fellow Irish Mafia member Ralph has tagged along.  Preston looks like he fits right in with the boys, Bob a little reserved.  Or maybe he has just heard Jimmy's joke before.  Wouldn't you love to hear what Jimmy said to make everyone laugh.  

             Bob, James Cagney, Preston Foster and Ralph Bellamy

Bob in Color (Almost)

A nice photo, anyway. 

                    Bob and Irene in Unfinished Business (1941)

Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)

"Swapping yarns between scenes of Universal's comedy-drama, Unfinished Business, are Preston Foster and Robert Montgomery, who are cast as brothers in the new film."  Well, that is one possibility. 

You can tell it's 1941, when 99.9% of men smoked. 

And right down to a nub. Criminy, Bob.  Did you have to smoke so much?  

Hey, It's Still Thursday....

"Just a couple of great guys ... thinking about a couple of great gals ... Meet Brick ... he's the guy on the right.  He's in love with a PT boat.  He's got a date with a Diesel ..." 

Let's see ... Bob goes from marrying Irene Dunne in Unfinished Business (1941) to having a date with a Diesel in They Were Expendable (1945).  Hang in there, Bob.  It was rough for you adjusting to civilian life, and it will take several years to find your new successful career in television, but you'll come through it all in style (...no more Diesel dates). 

An Evening With Lucky & Pauline. How Nice!

Real life can be too darn distracting at times...  Meanwhile, Hide-Out (1934) is finally out on DVD!!  Very good.  It was just released Nov. 13th, so I'm not behind too much.  Still a few Bob movies out there to save.  Personally, I'd like to see a decent copy of Unfinished Business (1941).  It was shown at a Gregory LaCava retrospective in Los Angeles a few years back, so it exists!  And when Letty Lynton (1932) is finally dug out of its legal morass, it really needs to be a remastered copy!  After such a long wait, we deserve it!

Audrey and Irene, Two Peas in a Pod

Well, if astrology is correct, then today's birthday ladies are!  Hmmm, I have never thought of Irene "First Lady of Hollywood" Dunne and Audrey "Bad Girl" Totter as being in anyway similar, but perhaps it's the roles they played that separated them and not their selves.

Let's see ... they both starred in movies with Bob, Irene in Unfinished Business (1941) and Audrey in both Lady in the Lake (1947) and The Saxon Charm (1948).  

            Irene reads Bob's palm on the set of Unfinished Business

            Adrienne (Audrey) offers coffee to Marlowe (Bob) in 
                                 Lady in the Lake

And they both had just one husband, rather unique for Hollywood.  Irene was married to Dr. Francis Griffin, a dentist, for 37 years and Audrey to Dr. Leo Fred, an assistant Dean of Medicine at UCLA, for 43 years.  Both ladies outlived their husbands and died in their 90's, Irene 91 and Audrey 95!  They were both involved in politics, particularly Ms. Dunne, and like Bob, were staunch Republicans.

Above all, they were both classy ladies.  

Bob Movies in Living Color

Colorizing lobby cards is an interesting concept.  Like, maybe the movie goer wouldn't later notice that the film they're watching is actually in black & white?  Whatever, the colorization was sometimes successful, and sometimes not.  In the scene below, at least the background has color.

                                  Live, Love and Learn (1937)

Now, why do I think David and Lynn Conway did not decorate their home in beige and brown?  Dig the floral armless couch and matching curtains ... 

                                The First 100 Years (1938)

In no way does color improve this scene with Tommy Duncan and his manservant Elmer.  (Elmer??)  Well, the image of Bob under a purple comforter has its pluses.  (Down, woman!)  Do note how the coffee table is decorated:  a cigarette lighter, a cigarette box and not one, but TWO ashtrays.  Ah, times do change.  

                                Unfinished Business (1941)

Bob's entire career was in B&W, even on TV.  I certainly don't mind B&W movies, but it would have been interesting for him to have made at least one color movie so we could check out his blue eyes.  Hideout in color, maybe?  Or Piccadilly Jim?  Never Night Must Fall!

Another abrupt change of thought:  a slightly belated Happy Birthday to humorist Robert Benchley!  Below, he appears to be having a liquid breakfast.  This probably did not require much acting.  But a very funny man, none the less.

                        Robert Benchley (b. September 15, 1889)

Robert Montgomery Birthday Week - Stills

Some photos do save a thousand words. 

               Man in Possession (1931) with Charlotte Greenwood

               But the Flesh is Weak (1932) with C. Aubrey Smith
                   (Isn't nude Young Bob just way too precious!)

 

                           Petticoat Fever (1936) with Myrna Loy

                 Unfinished Business (1941) with Eugene Pallette

                    Once More, My Darling (1949) with Jane Cowl

Just Three Typical Sailors on Shore Leave

Jimmy Durante, Bob and Eugene Pallette posing for the studio photographer on board ship departing for Honolulu from, I assume, Long Beach, CA.  It is November, 1932, and they are headed for location filming for Hell Below.  (I used a sister photo to this one in my July 15 entry, "Watch Out Girls, Here They Come." )

                                      Hell Below (1933)

In the mid 50s, Bob will have his own TV show, "Robert Montgomery Presents," as will Durante, "The Jimmy Durante Show."  Not exactly original show titles, but there is no confusion as to what the shows are about.  Of course, Jimmy ended all of his shows walking off into the darkness under a single spotlight, stopping briefly to say "Goodnight, Mrs. Calabash --- where ever you are!"  Just a great finale. 

Eugene Pallette, a man of size with a great gravelly, bullfrog voice, made over 240 movies, many of them silents.  He was of "normal" statue in his early career, making numerous westerns.  In the late 1920s, he started developing the girth that becomes a large part of his persona and turns primarily to comedies.  I have to admit it seems odd to think of him competing with Adolphe Menjou for the girl!

                                   His Private Life (1928)

Palette was great as the valet/manservant.  He gave hungover Bob a rough time in both Made on Broadway (1933) and Unfinished Business (1941).  He is one of a trio of my favorite manservants, competing with Eric Blore and Arthur Treacher.  Well, they actually share a special place in my heart for actors who have brought much joy into my life. 

Happy Birthday, Irene - A Day Early!

Two of Bob's ladies were born on December 20th.  Irene Dunne was a classy lady, I do not imagine she would mind celebrating hers a day early.

                                      Unfinished Business (1941)

Actress (received five Best Actress nominations), singer, devout Catholic, philanthropist, Republican activist ... only one  marriage which lasted from 1928 to 1965 (his death) ... resided just a few mansions away from Bob in Holmby Hills ... named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1958.  Is it any wonder she and Bob could share a good laugh?

          Gregory LaCava, Irene & Lt. Montgomery, March 11, 1942

Unfinished Business

Thanks to Kathy for sharing this blurb from The New Yorker about a showing of Unfinished Business (this weekend) in NYC.

Yeah, the big cities get all the fun...

Photo Friday: Unfinished Business

Sleeping under the bed, hung over & not remembering the wedding from the night before. Just one example of the fine cinema you'll find in Unfinished Business (1941) ;)

Larger Photo

Alka-Seltzer & Unfinished Business

Continuing the video theme this week, today's post is a clip from 1941's Unfinished Business. Here we're treated to a hung-over, disheveled, newlywed Bob, his wife, Irene Dunne, and a way too unappreciated Eugene Pallette. And yes, there will be a quiz on Spanish movie lines after the film.

Irene Dunne

My theme this week seems to be directing y'all to interesting reads on other sites. So with that - Bright Lights Film Journal has a good writeup on the career and life of actress Irene Dunne.

h/t Alternative Film Guide blog

Go take a ride in the park with Mr. Duncan

Watched Unfinished Business, a little 1941 gem I've never seen before. It's one movie that I both love & have a problem with. Let me start with the problem - the ending.

First off, I'm not going to spoil the ending for those of you who haven't seen the film. Let's just put it this way, I felt like the writers looked at their watches, learned they had five minutes left, and quick whipped up the end. Yes, it's certainly a credible end, considering the - *ahem* - beginning of the story & some piano action, but come on! OK, enough whining, there's still a bunch of good movie left.

A quick overview, courtesy of IMDB: Small town girl (Dunne) Meets and falls for a playboy type (Foster) on a train to New York. For him, the fling is over when they arrive, but she continues to carry a torch. She meets and marries his brother (Montgomery), a mismatch which eventually grows into real love. Pretty lame overview, eh? The movie's more entertaining than that lets on.

There are a number of good "nuggets" - scenes that really pop out. Let me give you a few of my favorites:

• Bob answering the switchboard at the night club - while he's toasted. I nearly laughed my a** off during this scene. He has no clue how to use the switchboard but pulls up a chair & headphones and starts answering calls with "Schwab's Fish Market - Can I Sell you a Herring?" and "Hello, The Aquarium."
  
• Bob & Irene doing shots of a milk based cocktail, called a Whizboom. "You can hear the whiz but you'll never feel the boom."
• Bob waking up under his bed - after a night of Whizbooms (the drink that is).
• Irene Dunne's hat - marry a woman into some money and they gravitate toward the oddest fashions.
• The mannerless butler, played by Eugene Pallette, is loveable. Tis also the same butler from Made on Broadway. Not afraid to say what's on his mind!
  

An irresistible force seems to be drawing me toward movies with heavy drinkers...

And thanks to bantaskin for hooking me up with the movie!

The closest I could find to Whizboom:

WHIZ BANG
This recipe is so evocative of the jazz age, speak easys and flappers, I could not resist listing it here.
2 oz. Scotch
1/2 oz. Dry Vermouth
2 Dashes Grenadine
2 Dashes Pernod
2 Dashes Orange Bitters

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled martini glass.