Three Men and a Lady, From Good to Bad to Elegant

 Sometimes a photo will catch my eye, for whatever reason, and provide such enjoyment that I just have to have it ... even if Bob isn't in it!  

Just love the big smile on Audrey Totter's face as she reacts to Edward Arnold's attempt to be the big, bad guy.  I don't know much about Mr. Arnold but have read snip-it's here and there of him being a really nice guy.  It's always refreshing to hear about the good guys in the movie business for a change.

I'm including Mr. Beery primarily because I'm on a diet and the sight of him chewing on a whole chicken with plenty of sides to go with it just set me off.  My stomach actually started to growl.  Aargh ... I need to hurry and finish this post before I lose control. 

                         Wallace Beery in The Bad Man (1941

And for a something completely different:  the amazingly elegant Mr. Colman in a fan card from the 1920s.  Goodness.  Perfection.  

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.  

He kinda catches your attention, doesn't he!

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. 

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!