In Memory: Myrna Dell (March 5, 1924 - February 11, 2011).

I was just informed by Tom from Motion Picture Gems, that Myrna Dell, who was a film femme fatale in the 1940s and 1950s, died in Studio City, California, on February 11, 2011. My condolences goes to her daughter, Laura Patterson.

I re- posted a couple comments left on N and CF a few months ago..

Anonymous said...

I met Myrna years ago in a McDonalds in Studio City, Ca. I was on vacation with my sister and cousin. We didn't have much money so we ate at McDonalds alot that vacation. This woman was sitting there and called me over to her table and we started chatting. She told me who she was but I had no idea. She wrote to me and sent us autographed pictures. She did talk to me about acting because at the time I wanted to be an actress but didn't know how to get started. Well,all said and done, I never fulfilled my dream. Do you know if she ever was married or had children?

October 8, 2010 2:39 PM

Anonymous said...

Hello,

My name is Laura Patterson, and I am the only child of Myrna Dell. She married a handsome actor by the name of Herbert Patterson, and retired from Show Business to raise me in the 1960's


February 21, 2011 1:12 PM

Myrna Dell- "B" cheesecake blonde and glamour girl of the 40s and early 50s.

Myrna Dell, made her first film, A Night at Earl Carroll's (1940). Then signed with MGM, she performed in the film, Ziegfeld Girl (1941). She soon began performing at the Billy Rose Nightclub, then spent a season in the "George White's Scandals" revue. Bitten by the acting bug, Hollywood never left her, and she went back in 1943 and performed in westerns with, Bob Steele and Hoot Gibson. She had a small part in the classic, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944), and soon signed a contract with RKO Pictures. RKO kept her busy, putting her in more than 20 films over the next few years, even performing with future US President Ronald Reagan in, The Girl from Jones Beach (1949). She gave a good performance in the western The Bushwhackers (1952).



The story begins when, Confederate Veteran, Jeff Waring, arrives in Independence, Missouri shortly after the Civil War. Wanting never to use a gun again. Until, he meets up with rancher, Taylor and his henchmen, Sam Tobin and Cree, who are forcing out the settlers in order to take their land for the railroad. Myrna Dell, is Taylor's daughter and Dorothy Malone plays the school marm.

Destination Murder (1950)."B" crime/suspense drama.

Destination Murder(1950). Noir. Cast: Joyce Mackenzie, Stanley Clements, Myrna Dell and Hurd Hatfield.

During the intermission between shows, Jackie Wales slips away from his date and climbs into a waiting car. As he is riding in the car with Armitage, Jackie changes into a messenger outfit, to murder businessman Arthur Mansfield.

Mansfield's daughter Laura, sees Jackie running back the car and later picks him out of a police lineup. Worried that Brewster is not doing enough to find her father's killer, Laura takes on the investigation herself. Laura pretending to be looking for a cab, strikes up a conversation with Jackie, outside the police station. Jackie offers to give Laura a ride home. She then watches him jump over her front gate as he did after killing her father and feels sure that he is the killer. Laura telephones Brewster, but the lieutenant down plays the information.

Laura begins to date Jackie, who later goes to the Vogue nightclub to blackmail Armitag. Armitage, refuses to be blackmailed and beats Jackie with a belt.

Suspecting that Armitage is involved with her father's murder, Laura returns to the club and asks Stretch for a job. Stretch hires her as a cigarette girl, which does not make Alice Wentworth, Armitage's girl friend very happy.

Stretch and Armitage make plans to kill Jackie, making his death look like a suicide and implicating him as an accomplice of Frank Niles, who has been arrested for the murder. Before Armitage can carry out the plan, Alice goes to Jackie and convinces him to write a confessional letter to use against Armitage. In exchange for keeping the letter safe, Alice wants fifty percent of Jackie's blackmail money. Will Armitage discover the betrayal, and will Laura get closer so she can prove him guilty?

I saw Destination Murder, for the first time on TCM this morning. I thought this was a good "B" crime/suspense drama. There is at least one interesting twist in the plot which makes the film better than most of the "B" noirs.

Hurd Hatfield, best known for his performance in the Oscar-winning 1945 film 'The Picture of Dorian Gray'. A native of New York, Hatfield came to England to study acting at the Chekhov Theatre Studio in Devonshire. He had lived in Ireland since the early 1970's. even though he performed in many movies, television and stage productions, he was forever remembered in his performance in the film of Oscar Wilde's novel.