B4 They Were Stars - Tony Curtis

I would like to fill in some bigger stars with details about their career before they gained stardom.  That's why I have added the label B4 They Were Stars to my list at the right.  I thought I would write about someone today, but I am struggling to find the right star.

Cary Grant first came to mind.  He was a stage actor before coming to the movies, and when he first appeared on screen, he was an instant hit.  He made some early films with Mae West, and he did have a short spell of work that wasn't the best.  But his popularity, particularly with West, helped to save Paramount, so I don't think he could ever be considered a Bit Actor.  I wonder what would have happened to him if he retained his real name, Archie Leach?

My next thought was Katherine Hepburn.  Same basic story.  Her first film, A Bill of Divorcement (1932) with John Barrymore made her a star.

You can't think of Hepburn without thinking of Spencer Tracy.  Another star from the start!  He made a few early short films in 1930 and was seen by John Ford who gave him the lead in Up The River (1930).

Maybe in those early days of talking films, if you had so much talent and stage acting experience, it was easy to make it big on screen.  The depression was just starting and it was much easier for the cash-strapped public to go to the movies than the theater, so the studios needed great talent to promote in all the films they were pushing out.

Let's try a few more recent titles and see where those stars came from.  Jack Lemmon started his screen acting on television in 1949.  It wasn't until 1954 that he made his first movie.  That was It Should Happen to You, starring Judy Holliday and, you guessed it, Jack Lemmon.

Intense, and Handsome

I can't think of Jack Lemmon without thinking of Tony Curtis (1925 - 2010) and that actress, Marilyn something-or-other.  Maybe Curtis will fill my need.  Curtis' first film was a 16mm documentary short called How to Smuggle a Hernia Across the Border (1949)  Anyone who would be in a movie with that title must either be a Bit Actor, or a friend of Jerry Lewis.  It was, in fact, the first film directed by Lewis, and it was shot at his house.  No Oscars were awarded.

Tony's early films were either uncredited or he was billed at Anthony Curtis.  He did make quite a few films before catching on, or rather, before the public caught on to his considerable talent and good looks.  In 1950 he was in Francis, a story about a talking mule, but it was a Donald O'Connor film.

Winchester '73 (1950) is one of my favorite Jimmy Stewart westerns, and Anthony had a small part in it, along with a Native American named Rock Hudson.  Curtis made two films in 1950 with Audie Murphy.  He then stars in The Prince Who Was a Thief (1951), Flesh and Fury and No Room for the Groom both in 1952, but they were not big hits and those films didn't really include any other big stars.

These early starring roles may not have been blockbusters, but they are a proving ground for a young actor who is working out his character.  After Son of Ali Baba (1952), he has the title role in Houdini (1953) and I believe that may have been a turning point for him.  As with most actors, not every film is a success, but he went on to complete about 130 titles over a 59 year span of work.  And let's not forget Jamie Lee.  Another one of his successes!

Tony Curtis (1925 - 2010)

I guess everyone knows that Tony Curtis passed away last week.  He was born Bernard Herschel Schwartz...no wonder he changed his name. 

In his early starring roles we find Houdini (1953) which I have always loved.  Let's look at that movie and some other people who worked with Tony.

Hodini's mother was very important to him, so much that he was obsessed with contacting her spirit after she passed away.  He would seek mediums who claimed to be authentic, and then he would end up exposing their tricks.  His friend, the writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859 - 1930) of Sherlock Holmes fame, was a firm believer in the afterlife and being able to contact the dead.  Harry kept asking him for leads to authentic mediums, and then exposed them all as fakes.

Hodini's mother was played by Angela Clarke (b. 1912).  She has 64 roles listed on IMDb, starting in 1947 and going into TV.  Her last role was a TV movie in 1986 called "Killer in the Mirror" with Ann Jillian (b. 1950).  She also played Enrico Caruso's mother in The Great Caruso (1951) starring Mario Lanza (1921 - 1959).  In fact, she is listed as a mother in TEN of her roles.

Ian Wolfe (1896 - 1992) is another Bit Actor in Houdini.  He has been around, starting in films in 1934 after doing some stage work.  In his 288 titles are The Mighty Barnum (1934) starring Wallace Beery (1885 - 1949), and Mutiny on the Bounty (1925) starring Charles Laughton (1899 - 1962) and Clark Gable.  In 1938 he was in You Can't Take it With You and Blondie.  He was in Hitchcock's Saboteur in 1942.  I think I better move on because his roles are so varied and interesting, it could take an entire blog.

Connie Gilchrist (1901 - 1985) played in 117 titles from 1940 and a movie called Hullabaloo with Frank Morgan (the Wizard of Oz) and Billie Burke (The Good Witch of the East).  Possibly her biggest role was in Long John Silver (1954), and her last role was with Dick Van Dyke in 1969's Some Kind of Nut.

Some others in Houdini include Frank Orth (1880 - 1962) as a safe expert.  Frank has 176 titles on IMDb.  Barry Bernard (1899 - 1978) who has 68 titles, and Douglas Spencer (1910 - 1960) with 84 roles. 

Tony Curtis was a handsome man!  I am glad that we can continue to enjoy his movies, and I also appreciate Jamie Lee Cutris who wouldn't be here without him

BTW, my post about Blondie was just selected for re-posting on a new blog, Movie Fan Fare, which is hosted by Movies Unlimited.  Movies Unlimited is one of the most respected sources for movies, and they have an incredible catalog that is also sold by Turner Classic Movies.  It is a very good site and well worth a look.  I will add a button link on my page this weekend.

Winchester '73

One of my favorite westerns is Winchester '73 from 1950 starring Jimmy Stewart.  (Come to think of it, I have a lot of favorite westerns.)  It was a breakout role for Stewart.  He wanted to do something other than the tall, fair-minded, honest bloke he usually played.  He was the good guy in Winchester '73, but there was a fine line separating good and bad in this movie.

According to IMDb, Stewart would receive $200,000 for his salary, but the studio couldn't afford it.  He made a deal to take a portion of the profits, and took home about $600,000.  This was the first such deal after the silent era ended, and is now the way most big stars get paid.

On to the good stuff.  In what truly stands out as miscasting, the small part of the Native American chief, Young Bull, was played by Rock Hudson.  I'm sorry, but he doesn't look like an Indian!  Nonetheless, the part could be considered a bit part in that he had little screen time, but it was important so that the story of this famous rifle could be followed.

Will Geer played Wyatt Earp in the beginning of the film at the sharpshooting contest.  He said that he thought he was miscast in the role.  That may be.  Geer was 48 years old when the film was made, and I thought he looked older than that.  The story takes place in 1876, when Wyatt Earp would have been 28 years old.  But Geer played the part well.  He had an air of authority about him, which I am sure Earp also possessed.  Much later, Geer became Grandpa on TV in "The Waltons."

We also find Tony Curtis in a bit part.  This was three years before he played Harry Houdini.  And another great character actor, John Douchette (1921 - 1994), had a small part.  He had about 286 roles in film and TV and he has one of those faces you never forget.  He was great as General Truscott in Patton (1970), and played in four westerns with Stewart, this one, Broken Arrow the same year, Carbine Williams in 1952, and The Far Country in 1954.

I guess the weekend is the best time for a good western!