Showing posts with label barbara stanwyck. Show all posts
Showing posts with label barbara stanwyck. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

The Barbara Stanwyck Blogathon: Barbara Stanwyck's performance in the classic film Titanic(1953).


This is my contribution to "The Barbara Stanwyck Blogathon". Please click on poster located on the side- bar to view the other bloggers participating in the event.


Barbara Stanwyck, one of Hollywood's most natural and talented actresses, throws herself whole-heartedly into the role of Julia. She perfectly performs all of Julia's wide-ranging emotions ranging from: frustration, vindictive, calculating, loving, blunt, empathetic and heartbroken.

The film opens with the wealthy, Sturges family, who enjoy traveling from one exotic location to another. Julia worries that her children, Annette and Norman, will grow up spoiled and conceded. She lies to her husband Richard, saying that she is going back home to America for a visit. Julia books reservations for herself and the children on the Titanic, with no plans of returning to Europe.

Video: boarding the ship..




Her husband Richard wanting to change her mind boards the liner at the last minute. Once they are face to face the couple lets loose with 20 years of repressed anger and bringing out in the open a shocking heartbreaking secret.

Richard Sturges: My dear Julia, I've been around enough bridge tables to recognize someone who's holding a high trump - play it now if you will.

Julia Sturges: We'll discuss it later.

Richard Sturges: Now!

Julia Sturges: All right, Richard. One question first?

Richard Sturges: If it's about Norman, you know the answer. No court in the world, no power in the heavens can force me to give up my son.

Julia Sturges: He is not your son....



After, the ship hits an iceberg, their argument seems unimportant and eventually bringing their relationship full circle.....

Julia Sturges: Oh Richard, where did we miss out on each other? I beg your pardon, Sir. I put you down as a useless man, someone to lead a cotillion.

Richard Sturges: After all, it was my major talent.

Julia Sturges: I'm sorry, sorry about everything.

Richard Sturges: We have no time to catalog our regrets. All we can do is pretend 20 years didn't happen. It's June again. You were walking under some Elm trees in a white muslin dress, the loveliest creature I ever laid eyes on. That summer, when I asked you to marry me, I pledged my eternal devotion. I would take it as a very great favor Julia, if you would accept a restatement of that pledge.

They embrace passionately...

You know that Stanwyck took her part very seriously when she said: "It was bitter cold. I was 47 feet up in the air in a lifeboat...the water below was agitated. We were re-creating an actual tragedy and I burst into tears. I shook with great racking sobs and couldn't stop."

Please click here to view past Noir and Chick Flicks Titanic movie review.


Costume: Dorothy Jeakins Courtesy of the Icon Museum.

Dorothy Jeakins (January 11, 1914 – November 21, 1995). After graduating High School, she was offered a scholarship to study at the Otis Art Institute (now known as Otis College of Art and Design).

Jeakins got her start working as a Disney artist in the 1930's. Her fashion career began as a designer at I. Magnin's, where she was spotted by director Victor Fleming.

She worked steadily for the next thirty-nine years and was best known for her period costumes. Jeakins, who retired in 1990, once summed up her designing: "I can put my world down to two words: Make beauty. It's my cue and my private passion."




The Barbara Stanwyck Blogathon Schedule

July 16

July 17

July 18

July 19

July 20

July 21

July 22

Posted by at 16 comments:
Labels: , , ,

Monday, April 22, 2013

Ball of Fire(1941)


Ball of Fire(1941). Screwball comedy directed by Howard Hawks. Cast: Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck. The supporting cast includes: Oskar Homolka, S. Z. Sakall, Henry Travers, Richard Haydn, Dana Andrews, and Dan Duryea. In 1948, the plot was recycled for a musical film, A Song Is Born, starring Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo.

At the Daniel S. Totten Foundation in New York, Bertram Potts, an overly dedicated linguistics professor, is writing the new encyclopedia, on which he and his eight colleagues have been working on for nine years.

When their financial backer, Miss Totten, stops by to check on their progress, not happy with what she finds threatens to withdraw her support, Bertram flirts with her. Charmed, Miss Totten changes her mind, agreeing to continue to back the encyclopedia project.

Soon after, a garbage man knocks on the foundation's door and asks the professors for help on a radio quiz show questions. Intrigued by the garbage man's slang, Bertram believes that his section on slang is outdated and requires further research. Bertram then walks the streets, where he eavesdrops on many conversations and invites several people to participate on his project.

When he invites nightclub performer Sugarpuss O'Shea to attend, Sugarpuss thinking him with the police refuses. Unknown to Bertram, Sugarpuss is wanted by the district attorney in connection with a murder that her gangster boyfriend, Joe Lilac, is suspected of committing. She and a couple of thugs, Asthma Anderson and Duke Pastrami, flee the club one step ahead of the police. Sugarpuss decides to take Bertram up on his invitation and shows up at the foundation's door step later that night.



Glad that Sugarpuss has changed her mind, Bertram, does not think it is proper that she stay the night, but.. his colleagues insist that she stay.

Meanwhile, at the district attorney's office, Joe is asked about a monogrammed bathrobe found in the murdered man's suitcase. Which the district attorney suspects belonged to Joe and was given to him by Sugarpuss. Concerned that Sugarpuss might agree to testify against Joe, his lawyer advises him to marry her.

Three days later, Sugarpuss, who has been helping Bertram with his slang expressions as well as teaching the other professors the conga, is visited by Asthma and Pastrami. The thugs present her with a beautiful diamond engagement ring from Joe and Sugarpuss, gladly accepts the ring and agrees to stay at the foundation until it is safe.

Just then, Miss Bragg, the professors' housekeeper, demands that Sugarpuss leave, as she has become too much of a distraction. Bertram, agrees and asks Sugarpuss to leave, admitting that she has distracted him from his work. Sugarpuss, quick on her feet says that she is.. "just plain wacky" for him and kisses him. Bertram, decides to propose to her and the next morning, he gives her a small diamond engagement ring.

Soon after, Joe telephones from New Jersey. As Joe has identified himself as "Daddy," Bertram assumes he is Sugarpuss' father and asks him for permission to marry her. Joe, agrees thinking it is the best way to get Sugarpuss past the police's dragnet, then insist that the wedding be performed in New Jersey.

Just as the wedding party is about to leave, Miss Bragg, having seen Sugarpuss' photo in the newspaper, threatens to call the police. Sugarpuss, slugs Miss Bragg and locks her in a closet, Bertram and the other professors leave for New Jersey.

On the way, Professor Gurkakoff, who is driving the car has an accident disabling the car. The wedding party is forced to spend the night at an auto court. Sugarpuss calls Joe with the news, he insists on picking her up that night.

While she waits in her bungalow, Professor Oddly, a widowed botanist, tells Bertram about his honeymoon, then retires for the night. Confused by Oddly's conversation with Sugarpuss , Bertram goes looking for him, but accidentally ends up in Sugarpuss' bungalow. Believing that he is speaking to Oddly, Bertram describes his love for Sugarpuss, she kisses him.

Joe and his gang arrive and expose Sugarpuss' for what she truly is. Finding lipstick on Bertram's face, Joe then attacks the professor. After lying to Miss Bragg, who escaped from the closet and the police saying that she has already left, Bertram confronts Sugarpuss. She tearfully apologizes, but Bertram returns to New York, heartbroken. Will Bertram ever forgive Sugarpuss and think her worthy of him?



Fun Facts:

Kathleen Howard was left with a fractured jaw when the punch that Barbara Stanwyck threw accidentally made contact. Stanwyck was reportedly mortified by the incident.

The roles of the seven professors (besides Gary Cooper) were inspired by Disney's Seven Dwarfs. There is even a photograph showing the actors sitting in front of a Disney poster, each one in front of his corresponding dwarf: S.Z. Sakall - Dopey; Leonid Kinskey - Sneezy; Richard Haydn - Bashful; Henry Travers - Sleepy; Aubrey Mather - Happy; Tully Marshall - Grumpy, and Oskar Homolka - Doc.

In the scene where Pastrami and Asthma have the professors hostage in the library, the gunmen begin shooting at random items. One gunman (Pastrami) says, "I saw me a picture last week," and proceeds to lick his thumb and then rubs it on the sight of his gun. This is a reference to star Gary Cooper's previous movie Sergeant York in which York uses this as a technique to improve his marksmanship.

Ginger Rogers was the original choice for Katherine 'Sugarpuss' O'Shea, but Rogers declined.

Lucille Ball was set to play Katherine 'Sugarpuss' O'Shea, but once producer Samuel Goldwyn found out that Barbara Stanwyck was available he gave her the part instead.

When Gary Cooper is taking notes of the news boy's slang, the marquee on the theater across the street advertises Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, an inside joke that refers to the script's inspiration.

To pick up authentic slang for the film script, screenwriters Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett visited the drugstore across the street from Hollywood High School, a burlesque house and the Hollywood Park racetrack.

Hal McIntyre can be seen in the saxophone section during the number "Drumboogie". Also, Roy Eldridge has a brief trumpet solo.

Even though they play two of the "old men" lexicographers, Leonid Kinskey (Prof. Quintana) and Richard Haydn (Prof. Oddly) were both under 40 years old when they made this movie.

Lighthearted romantic comedy that belongs to Barbara Stanwyck, who is perfect for the part of Sugarpuss O'Shea. A Nice for a change to see Gary Cooper play a person who is awkward,intelligent and romantic. Please click here to view past Ball of Fire review with videos.



Oskar Homolka (August 12, 1898 – January 27, 1978). After serving in the Austro-Hungarian Army during World War I, Homolka attended the Imperial Academy of Music and the Performing Arts in Vienna and began his career on the Austrian stage.

Success there led to work in the much more prestigious German theatrical community in Munich where in 1924 he played Mortimer in the premiere of Brecht's play, The Life of Edward II of England at the Munich Kammerspiele and since 1925 in Berlin where he worked under Max Reinhardt.

Homolka's made at least thirty silent films in Germany and starred in the first talking picture ever made there.

After the Nazi rise to power, Homolka moved to Britain, where he starred in the films Rhodes, Empire Builder, with Walter Huston, 1936 and Everything Is Thunder, with Constance Bennett.

In 1936, he appeared opposite Sylvia Sidney in Alfred Hitchcock's thriller Sabotage. Although he often played villains such as Communist spies and Soviet-bloc military officers or scientists, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of the crusty, beloved uncle in I Remember Mama (1948).

He also acted with Ingrid Bergman in Rage in Heaven, with Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch, with Ronald Reagan in Prisoner of War, and with Katharine Hepburn in The Madwoman of Chaillot.

He returned to England in the mid-1960's, to play the Soviet KGB Colonel Stok in Funeral in Berlin (1966) and Billion Dollar Brain (1967), opposite Michael Caine.

His last film was the Blake Edwards romantic drama The Tamarind Seed(1974).

In 1967 Homolka was awarded the Filmband in Gold of the Deutscher Filmpreis for outstanding contributions to German cinema.

His career in television included appearances in several episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents in 1957 and 1960.

Homolka married four times: His first wife was Grete Mosheim, a Hungarian Jewish actress. They married in Berlin on June 28, 1928, but divorced in 1937. She later married Howard Gould. His second wife, Baroness Vally Hatvany (died 1938), was also a Hungarian actress. They married in December 1937, but she died four months later. In 1939, Homolka married socialite and photographer Florence Meyer (1911–1962), a daughter of The Washington Post owner, Eugene Meyer. They had two sons, Vincent and Laurence, but eventually divorced. His last wife was actress Joan Tetzel whom he married in 1949. The marriage lasted until Tetzel's death in 1977.

Oskar Homolka made his home in England after 1966. He died of pneumonia in Sussex, England, on January 27, 1978, just three months after the death of his fourth wife, actress Joan Tetzel. He was 79 years old.



Posted by at 3 comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Monday, April 15, 2013

Pre-Code: Ladies They Talk About (1933).


Pre-Code: Ladies They Talk About(1933). Based on the play Women in Prison by Dorothy Mackaye and Carlton Miles. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Preston Foster and Lillian Roth.

Nan Taylor, is arrested after helping two men during a bank robbery. David Slade, a radio evangelist, recognizes Nan as a former classmate. Taking advantage of his feelings for her, Nan tells him that she is innocent of the crime and asks for his help.

He agrees and she is paroled into Slade's care, until she confesses to Slade, that she actually was involved in the robbery. Slade, no longer feels he can help Nan and she is sentenced to prison.



In the nicest prison I ever saw, she refuses to see Slade, until Nan learns that the other members of he gang have been arrested. She slips a letter into Slade's pocket which contains information about their escape and the police find it and her paroled denied..

She believes that Slade turned her in, so when she is released, she goes looking for him pretending to be sorry for her crimes, shoots him in the heat of the moment... will he survive?

Some very risque (for 1933) lines and situations in this pre- code film. Barbara Stanwyck's character's romantic relationship with Preston Foster, does not make much sense but.. it is still fun movie to watch.. some good acting at the end..




Lillian Roth (December 13, 1910 — May 12, 1980), was only 6 years old when her mother took her to Educational Pictures, where she became the company's trademark, symbolized by a living statue holding a lamp of knowledge.

The following year she made her Broadway debut in, The Inner Man.

Her motion picture debut came in 1918 in Pershing's Crusaders as an extra.

Together with her sister Ann she toured as "Lillian Roth and Co." At times the two were billed as "The Roth Kids". One of the most exciting moments for her came when she met U.S. President Woodrow Wilson. The President took Lillian and her sister for a ride around the block in his chauffeur driven car, after attending a performance of their vaudeville act.

She performed in, Artists and Models in 1923 and went on to make Revels. During production for the former show, she told management she was nineteen years of age.

In 1927, when Roth was seventeen years old, she made the first of three Earl Carroll Vanities, which was soon followed by, Midnight Frolics, a Florenz Ziegfeld production.

Soon she signed a seven-year contract with Paramount Pictures. Among the films she made with Paramount were: The Love Parade (1929) with Maurice Chevalier, The Vagabond King (1930), Paramount on Parade (1930), Honey (1930; in which she introduced "Sing, You Sinners"), Cecil B. DeMille's Madam Satan (1930) with Reginald Denny and Kay Johnson, Sea Legs with Jack Oakie, and the Marx Brothers second film, Animal Crackers (1930).

She took over Ethel Merman's stage role in the film version of, Take a Chance, singing "Eadie Was a Lady". After leaving Paramount, she had a supporting role in the women's prison film Ladies They Talk About (1930) with Barbara Stanwyck.

Unfortunately, her personal life was overshadowed by her addiction to alcohol. Roth was out of the limelight from the 1930's.

Roth was married at least five times: aviator William C. Scott ("Willie Richards"), Judge Benjamin Shalleck, Eugene J. Weiner ("Mark Harris"), Edward Goldman ("Vic") and Thomas Burt McGuire.

Her last employment included: work at a bakery, hospital attendant and package wrapper and she cut pies at the Automat.

In 1971, she returned to feature films, which she had left in 1934, to play a pathologist in the cult horror classic Alice, Sweet Alice (also known as Communion) in 1976.

Her last film was Boardwalk, with Lee Strasberg, Ruth Gordon and Janet Leigh (1979).

Roth died from a stroke in 1980, at the age of 69.



Posted by at 5 comments:
Labels: , , , , ,

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Titanic (1953).


Titanic(1953). A drama directed by Jean Negulesco. Its plot centers on an estranged couple sailing on the maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic, which took place in April 1912. Cast: Clifton Webb, Barbara Stanwyck, Audrey Dalton, Harper Carter, Robert Wagner and Thelma Ritter.

Titanic won the Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Art Direction. The film was also nominated for the Directors Guild of America Award.



Desperate, to buy a ticket on the maiden voyage of the Titanic, Richard Sturges, at the last minute finds a willing immigrant family to sell one one theirs. Once aboard, he learns that his wife is trying to take their two children, 18-year-old Annette and ten-year-old Norman, to America. As the ship prepares for departure, captain, E. J. Smith, receives word from the shipping company representative that a fast passage is what they are expecting.

Other passengers include: Molly Brown, Maude Young, Earl Meeker; a 20-year-old Purdue University tennis player, Gifford "Giff" Rogers and George S. Healey, a Catholic priest who has been defrocked for alcoholism.

When Annette learns what her mother is planning on leaving her father, she insists on returning to Europe with her father. Julia, agrees that her daughter is old enough to make her own decisions, but insists on keeping custody of Norman. They get into another argument where Julia confesses that Norman is not Richard's child, but rather the result of a one-night stand. Heartbroken, he agrees to give up Norman.

The next morning.. Norman reminds Richard, about a shuffleboard game they had scheduled, Richard coldly brushes him off.

Meanwhile, Giff falls for Annette at first sight and they become friends after she plays hard to get.

That night, Giff, Annette and a group of his friends sing and play the piano in the dining room, while Captain Smith watches at a corner table. Second Officer Lightoller expresses his concern about the ship's speed to Captain Smith when they receive two messages from other ships warning of iceberg sightings near their route. Smith, promises him that there is no danger.


Later, a lookout spots an iceberg dead ahead. The crew tries to steer clear of danger, but.. the ship is gashed below the waterline and begins taking on water. When Richard finds the captain, he insists on being told the truth... the ship is doomed. He tells his family to dress warmly, then... they head for the lifeboats.


Richard and Julia, truly love each other and make up, right before Julia and the children board the lifeboat. Unnoticed by Julia, Norman gives up his seat to an older woman (Mae Marsh) and goes looking for his father. When one of the lines becomes tangled, preventing the lifeboat from being lowered, Giff climbs down and fixes the problem, only to lose his grip and fall into the water. His unconscious body is dragged into the boat. Meeker disguises himself as a woman to get aboard a lifeboat, but is caught...

As the Titanic is about to sink, Norman and Richard find each other. Richard tells his son that he has been proud of him every day of his life, never so much as in that moment. Then, they join the rest of the doomed passengers and crew in singing the hymn "Nearer, My God, to Thee".

The Titanic rapidly sinks under the icy water.



I think, you will love this is a very touching and heartbreaking story about passengers on the doomed ship, Clifton Webb and his wife Barbara Stanwyck and their children. This beautiful film deserved more Oscars than it received.

Fun Facts:

Many of the sets (including the ship model) were reused for several other films after this such as Dangerous Crossing and in particular the dining room, cabins, grand staircase, lounge, radio room, boat deck, promenade deck and the deck chairs. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes used the ship model (remodified), the dining room walls, the lounge, the promenade deck, and the deck chairs again. A Blueprint for Murder the ship model (remodified), the dining room, promenade deck and deck chairs were all reused again. Then finally in Woman's World, which also starred Clifton Webb only the dining room walls were used. The ship model is displayed at the Marine Museum of Fall River in Fall River, Massachusetts.

To ensure authenticity, the producers recruited a former captain of the Queen Elizabeth as a technical consultant, and no background music was played during the feature film-the only music heard was that of the musicians aboard the ship.

The filming of the disaster had a powerful effect on Barbara Stanwyck, who recalled: "The night we were making the scene of the dying ship in the outdoor tank at Twentieth, it was bitter cold. I was 47 feet up in the air in a lifeboat swinging on the davits. The water below was agitated into a heavy rolling mass and it was thick with other lifeboats full of women and children. I looked down and thought: If one of these ropes snaps now, it's goodbye for you. Then I looked up at the faces lined along the rail - those left behind to die with the ship. I thought of the men and women who had been through this thing in our time. We were re-creating an actual tragedy and I burst into tears. I shook with great racking sobs and couldn't stop."

Mae Marsh (born Mary Wayne Marsh, November 9, 1894 – February 13, 1968), first started as an extra in the movies and played her first substantial role in the film, Ramona (1910) at the age of 15.

“I tagged my way into motion pictures, I used to follow my sister Marguerite to the old Biograph studio and then, one great day, Mr. Griffith noticed me, put me in a picture and I had my chance. I love my work and though new and very wonderful interests have entered my life, I still love it and couldn't think of giving it up.”

Her big break came when Mary Pickford, a married woman at that time, refused to play the bare-legged, grass-skirted role of Lily-White in, Man's Genesis.

Working with Mack Sennett and D.W. Griffith, she performed in eight movies a year and often paired with Robert Harron in the romantic roles:

In The Birth of a Nation (1915) she played the innocent sister who waits for her brothers to come home from war and who, in one of the film's most racially charged scenes, leaps to her death rather than submit to the lustful advances of Gus, the so-called "renegade Negro" who is later killed by the Ku Klux Klan.

In Intolerance  (1916) she plays the wife who has her baby taken away after her husband is unjustly convicted of murder. She signed a lucrative contract with Samuel Goldwyn worth $2,500 per week after Intolerance, but none of the films she made with him were particularly successful.

Marsh's last notable starring role was as a flapper for Griffith in, The White Rose (1923) with Ivor Novello and Carol Dempster.

She re-teamed with Novello for the film version of his hit stage play, The Rat (1925).

In 1955, Marsh was awarded The George Eastman Award, given by George Eastman House for distinguished contribution to the art of film.

Marsh returned from retirement to perform in "talkies" and played a role in Henry King’s remake of, Over the Hill (1931).

Marsh performed in the films: Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1932) and Little Man, What Now? (1934).

She also became a favorite of director John Ford, performing in: The Grapes of Wrath (1940), How Green Was My Valley (1941), 3 Godfathers (1948), The Robe (1953), and The Searchers (1956).

She married Sam Goldwyn publicity agent Louis Lee Arms, in 1918 they three children. They were married until her death, in 1968.

Her sister Marguerite Marsh died in 1925 at the age of 37. Her only brother Oliver Marsh, a renowned cinematographer, died in 1941. Husband Louis Arms died in June 1989, at age 101.



Posted by at 2 comments:
Labels: , , , , , ,

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Stella Dallas (1937).


Stella Dallas (1937). A film based on the Olive Higgins Prouty novel of the same name. It was directed by King Vidor. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, John Boles and Anne Shirley. Stanwyck was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role and Shirley for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

Stella Martin, the daughter of a mill worker, falls in love with mill executive Stephen Dallas. just after his father, kills himself after losing his fortune.

Stephen, intending to marry his fiancee Helen, once he was financially able to support her, is broken-hearted after he reads in the newspaper the announcement of her wedding. He marries Stella, on the rebound.

A year later, their daughter Laurel is born, she is the only bond between her parents.

 

Stephen, tries to help Stella become more sophisticated, but without success. He also disapproves of her friendship with the low life, Ed Munn.

When Stephen, receives a promotion that has him to moinge to New York, Stella tells him he can go by himself. Laurel stays with her mother, but visits her father whenever she can..

Years later, Stephen runs into Helen, now a wealthy widow with three sons. They renew their love affair. Stephen asks Stella for a divorce, but she turns him down.

Stella takes Laurel to a fancy resort, where Laurel and Richard Grosvenor III fall in love.

Stella, recovering from an illness, becomes ridiculed for her tacky appearance. Embarrassed, Laurel wants to leave without telling her why. On the train, Stella overhears the truth.

When Stella goes to speak with Helen, she learns that Helen and Steve are in love and agrees to a divorce and asks that Laurel live with them. Helen, understands and agrees. When Laurel learns of the agreement, she refuses and returns home. Stella, pretends that she wants Laurel off her hands so she can marry Ed Munn and travel to South America. Heatbroken Laurel runs back to her father.

Later, Laurel and Richard get married. Stella watches from across the street through a window, Helen leaves the curtains open, so Stella can watch from the street below. Happy, she walks away in the rain.


This is a wonderful movie and Barbara Stanwyck, is one of the few actresses who can easily play poor and classy with no problem. You will never forget her performance in the birthday party scene.

Dawn Evelyeen Paris (April 17, 1918 – July 4, 1993). She began acting at the age of five, in Pre-Code movies, appearing in the: 1930 version of Liliom, Tom Mix's Riders of the Purple Sage, So Big, Three on a Match and Rasputin and the Empress.

In 1934 she starred as the character of Anne Shirley in Anne of Green Gables and took that character's name as her stage name.

She starred in Steamboat 'Round the Bend, Make Way for a Lady and Stella Dallas, for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Later roles: Vigil in the Night, Anne of Windy Poplars, The Devil and Daniel Webster and Murder, My Sweet, her final film.

Her first husband was the actor John Payne, and their daughter is former actress Julie Payne.

Her second husband was producer Adrian Scott. When he was blacklisted and decided to move the family to Europe, at the last minute she wrote him a "Dear John" letter saying she'd rather stay behind and divorce him.

Her third husband was Charles Lederer, nephew of Marion Davies. They had a son named Daniel Lederer.




Posted by at 6 comments:
Labels: , ,

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Star of the Month: Barbara Stanwyck.


Forty Guns (1957). A western film written and directed by Samuel Fuller. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Barry Sullivan and Gene Barry.

Reformed gunslinger and now a lawman Griff Bonnell and his brothers Wes and Chico arrive in an Arizona town. They are looking to arrest Howard Swain for mail robbery. Swain, is one of landowner Jessica Drummond’s hired guns.

She runs the territory and her brother, Brockie Drummond, who is a drunken and bully, who shoots and kills Marshal Chisolm in cold blood.

Wes, falls in love with Louvenie Spanger and then decides to settle down and become the town's sheriff. Griff, falls in love with Jessica after she is dragged by her horse during a storm.

Logan and Savage, try to ambush of Griff in an alley. He is saved by youngest brother Chico, who kills Savage. Jessica's brother and hired guns try to turn the town against the Bonnell brothers.

On his wedding day, Wes is killed and Brockie is jailed for the murder. He tries to escape by using his sister as a shield, daring Griff to shoot ... which Griff does.. only wounding Jessica. Brockie, is the first man Griff has had to kill in 10 years. Chico, decides to take the sheriff's job. Griff, believes that Jessica hates him for killing her brother, but he maybe in for a surprise.




The Maverick Queen(1956). A Pinkerton detective goes undercover to investigate a gang of thieves whose boss is a lady saloonkeeper. Video one of ten.

 




The Violent Men(1955). A Western/drama directed by Rudolph Mate. Cast: Glenn Ford along with Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson, Brian Keith and Diane Foster. Based on the novel Smoky Valley by Donald Hamilton.

Union Army ex-officer Parrish, wants to sell his land and move east with his fiancee, Caroline, but the low price offered by Lew Wilkison and after one of Parrish's men is murdered, he changes his mind about leaving.

Things become more complicated when the evil owner's wife, Martha, has taken up with his brother, Cole, who has a Mexican spy in town.

When Wilkisons' daughter, Judith, comes to see what her family has done she decides join forces with Parrish and make things right with the cattlemen in their small town.

 




Trooper Hook (1957). After Indian warriors kill a troop of soldiers, Sergeant Hook captures them and their chief Nanches. Among the prisoners is Nanches' son and the boy's white mother. Hook's, job is to escort the mother and son back to the woman's husband. Traveling by stagecoach, they learn that Nanches, has escaped and that he and his warriors and are planning to take back his son.




The Moonlighter(1953). A Western film starring Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray. A cattle rustler escapes a lynch mob and returns to his life of crime. His ex-girlfriend is deputized and vows to bring him to justice.




Annie Oakley (1935). Annie Oakley is a 1935 biographical film about the life of Annie Oakley. It stars Barbara Stanwyck in the title role and Preston Foster.

The story begins when Annie Oakley delivers six dozen quail she has shot to the owner of the general store. He sends them to the MacIvor hotel in Cincinnati, where the mayor is holding a dinner to honor Toby Walker, the "greatest shot in the whole world".

At the dinner Jeff Hogarth makes Walker, part of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. MacIvor arranges for "Andy" Oakley to compete against Walker. The contest ends up in a tie, so they compete to sudden death. The two sharpshooters continue hitting their targets. Oakley's mother tells her to deliberately miss her next shot.

When the Oakleys return home, Annie promises to pay back all those who bet on her. Hogarth shows up and tells Annie that he never bet her money. He then invites her to join the Wild West Show. Oakley, having developed a crush on Walker, jumps at the chance.

Later, Walker overhears Buffalo Bill telling Hogarth that he might have to fire Oakley, because she lacks showmanship, he teaches her some 'fancy shootin' tricks.

At the first show, Chief Sitting Bull is in the audience with his translator, Iron Eyes Cody. Ned Buntline, Buffalo Bill's publicist, tries to sign him up for the show, but the chief is bored with the acts.. until he sees Annie, shoot five targets thrown in the air.

Oakley and Walker fall in love, despite Hogarth, who also has feelings for Oakley.

One day, Walker grabs a man's gun just as it goes off, saving Sitting Bull's life. His eyes are damaged by the closeness of the shot. He hides his injury, but ends up shooting Oakley in the hand and is fired from the show. Oakley, heartbroken cannot forget him. After touring Europe, the show travels to New York City, Walker's home town. Will the couple find each other and get back together?

 




Night Nurse (1931). Pre-Code, crime/drama/mystery directed by William A. Wellman. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Ben Lyon, Joan Blondell, Clark Gable, and Vera Lewis.

Lora Hart applies for a job as a trainee nurse in a hospital, but is rejected for not having graduated from high school. Fortunately, a meeting with the hospital's chief of staff, Dr. Arthur Bell she is hired. Lora's roommate and fellow nurse, Miss Maloney, becomes her best friend.

One day, Lora treats bootlegger Mortie, for a gunshot wound and they become friends when she does not report him to the police.

Later, Lora is hired for a private case, taking care of, Desney and Nanny Ritchie at the mansion of their alcoholic mother, where there is always a party going on. When a drunk guest makes a pass at her, the chauffeur Nick knocks him out. When she refuses his demand to pump out the stomach of a very drunk Mrs. Ritchie, he knocks Lora out and takes her to her room.

Lora, becomes concerned about the children's treatment prescribed by Dr. Ranger. She sees that the children are being slowly starved to death, but she can not get anybody to believe her. She quits and takes her suspicions to Dr. Bell. He advises her to return to the house so she can get more proof.

Nanny Ritchie becomes so weak, that Lora fears for her life. By chance, her friend Mortie is making a booze delivery to the mansion. Desperate, Lora sends Mortie for milk for a bath for the child. The worried housekeeper Mrs. Maxwell, confides to Lora that Nick and Dr. Ranger, both want the children out of the way in order to get at their trust fund.

Dr. Bell shows up and examines the little girl, but when Bell tries to get the child to the hospital, Nick punches him. Will Dr. Bell be able to save the child's life in time?

 





Posted by at No comments:
Labels:

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Star of the Month: Barbara Stanwyck.


Crime Of Passion (1957). Crime/noir directed by Gerd Oswald and written by Jo Eisinger. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Sterling Hayden, Raymond Burr and Fay Wray.

Video: Movie in full.



Please click here to view past movie review.





The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947). Film noir directed by Peter Godfrey. Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Barbara Stanwyck, Alexis Smith and Nigel Bruce.

Please click here to view past movie review.




Cry Wolf (1947). Mystery. Cast: Errol Flynn and Barbara Stanwyck, based on the novel of the same name by Marjorie Carleton.

The story is about.. A woman, who shows up to claim the inheritance of her late husband and receives a cold reception.

Please click here to view past movie review.






The Gay Sisters(1942). Drama film directed by Irving Rapper. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Donald Crisp, Gig Young and Nancy Coleman. Based on a novel by Stephen Longstreet.

After Fiona, Evelyn and Susanna's mother dies on the sunken RMS Lusitania and their army officer father, Penn Gaylord, is killed in France, they find themselves running their Fifth Avenue mansion alone. They do not know anything about their half billion dollar inheritance.

Fiona, is the oldest of the three girls and is now "the head of the household". Fiona, tells the servants that she will now be called... "Miss Gaylord".

Fiona marries Charles Barclay, so she can finalize the probate of Penn's will, which had been tied up in court for 25 years. Barclay, has done everything he could to keep the will from being settled, so he could force the sisters to sell him their mansion so he could develop the land. Barclay, says his reason for tying up the will of 10% of the estate was to give the money to a orphanage.

Fiona, has no objection to the orphanage, but she is opposed to the real estate development. She makes this known at a court proceeding before she and her sisters walk out.

 





Ladies They Talk About (1933). Pre-Code prison film about a woman, who is sent to San Quentin. Based on the play Women in Prison by Dorothy Mackaye and Carlton Miles. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Preston Foster and Lillian Roth.

Nan Taylor, is accused of robbing a bank. David Slade, who in love with her, but when she confesses to the crime, he has her imprisoned. Inside, she meets inmates Linda, "Sister Susie" and Aunt Maggie and prison matron Noonan .

Unlike most films of the women in prison genre.. her fellow inmates are criminals, rather than women in prison by mistake. Taylor gets herself involved in a prison escape, has a year added to her sentence, and goes looking for revenge after she is released.

Video: First of 5.






The Purchase Price(1932). Pre-Code directed by William Wellman and adapted from Arthur Stringer's novel, The Mud Lark (1932).

Singer Joan Gordon, who has been performing on Broadway, runs away from her gangster boyfriend Eddie Fields, to marry Don Leslie, who promises her a better life. Her plans are ruined when, Don's father finds out about her past relationship with Eddie. After, Don breaks it off with her, she decides to run away from town, rather than returning to Eddie.

In Montreal, she changes her name and starts working as a performer.

Things are going well until one of Eddie's men recognizes her and informs her boss. Joan, decides to trade places with the hotel's maid, who had used her picture when writing a North Dakota farmer, named Jim Gilson. She then pays the maid a lot of money for the farmer's address and Joan becomes the mail-order bride.

They begin their relationship has a rocky start, when Joan suggests that they sleep apart.

Over time, Joan, falls in love with him and tries to win his affection, but.. Jim is not interested. He is more worried that he will lose his land if he can not make any money. Even though he is certain that his wheat can save his land, but.. he has to convince farmer Bull McDowell, who has offered to buy his land in exchange for Joan's company.

Despite, not being in love with Joan, he is unhappy with another man showing any interest in her and starts a fight with him.

Sometime later, Joan drives out to an woman who is giving birth. She helps the woman and her adolescent daughter, and then travels through a snow storm to return home to her husband. Once she arrives, Jim tells her that he has taken in a man who was injured during the storm. She sees that the man is Eddie. She pretends not to know him, but Eddie tries to take her with him.

Realizing that his wife's past is a big lie, Jim suggests that she leave with Eddie. Joan, refuses to leave him and even goes as far as asking Eddie for a loan to save Jim's land. Through the loan, Jim is allowed to pay of his debts until after the harvest.

Bull, has set the farm on fire and Joan and Jim, are able to put out the fire. But...will Jim ever forgive her lies and admit that he loves her?







Forbidden (1932). A melodrama film directed by Frank Capra. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, who plays a librarian who falls in love with a married man played by Adolphe Menjou, with a tragic ending.






Ten Cents A Dance (1931). Is a romantic drama film starring Barbara Stanwyck, who plays as a married dancer who falls in love with one of her customers. The film was inspired by the popular song of the same name, which is sung over the title sequence.







Posted by at 3 comments:
Labels: , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)