Photo Friday

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This is War

In February, 1942, a Saturday evening radio show was simulcast to the four major radio networks at the time. Think of yourself lounging in front of the fire in your living room. Or perhaps driving home from work or the store. This is what you hear:

What we say tonight has to do with blood and with bone and with anger, and also with a big job in the making. Laughter can wait. Soft music can have the evening off. No one is invited to sit down and take it easy. . . .

This is how the first of thirteen radio shows began in the series This is War! as described in Time Magazine, Feb. 13, 1942. More:

...But the script sang with the defiant tunes of people and machines, and the narrator, Navy's Lieut. Robert Montgomery, handled well the address at the end to the people of the United Nations:

"Take heart! Resist much! Fight how you can! We are building for you, we are on the move. . . ."

The Uninvited

It's Ray Milland radio time - The Uninvited on Screen Director's Playhouse, November 18, 1949. It's only a half hour, so it loses a lot of the story, but it's interesting nonetheless. No where as good as the movie though.

MP3 - 4.9 MB

Blue-Eyed Dough Boys

TCM has Movie News up on the Lady in the Lake DVD, by David Kalat. An interesting blurb yanked from the article:

Robert Montgomery had first come to Hollywood with the desire to be a screenwriter. "Yeah, I'm a top-billed movie star, but I really want is to write!" With his bland, somewhat doughy, good-looks and a vocal delivery that sounded like Cary Grant minus his distinctive accent, Montgomery racked up roles in over 50 films prior to 1945, settling happily into a rut as one of Hollywood's less-interesting performers. 1945, though, was when Fate struck a surprising blow: on the set of They Were Expendable, John Ford got sick. Montgomery filled in for him, secretly. He enjoyed the taste, and wanted more.

Can someone explain what the heck "doughy, good looks" means?

Related, Lileks.com has some fun comments on Audrey Totter's "in camera" glare.

Ambulances From America

You've seen this photo before - Robert Montgomery, Ambulance Driver.


Time Magazine has an article from June 3, 1940, talks about the American Field Service, the organization Bob was a driver for during the war.