Crossroads(1942).

Crossroads(1942). Mystery directed by Jack Conway. Cast: William Powell, Hedy Lamarr, Claire Trevor and Basil Rathbone.

The story begins when, French diplomat David Talbot's marriage and his future plans to be Brazil's ambassador, are threaten after receiving an anonymous letter. Addressed to "Jean," which demands one million francs.

Later, David leaves a the money at the drop-off point, but.. when Carlos Le Duc, retrieves it, he is arrested.

At Le Duc trial, he testifies that the letter was only asking for money owed to him and that he knew David, when he was known as the criminal, Jean Pelletiel.



The next day, eccentric, kind hearted Dr. Tessier, testifies that David had been in a train wreck and suffers from amnesia.

Soon after.. his testimony is challenged by the well respected Dr. Dubroc, then singer Michele Allaine, who back ups Le Duc's story. Next, on the stand is, wine salesman Henri Sarrou, who says that he also knew Pelletier, before he died.

After De Luc's conviction, Sarrou comes to see David and demands one million francs. Sarrou says that he and Pelletier had been partners when Pelletier killed a man during a robbery, then disappeared with all the money. Sarrou, then tells him that Pelletier, has a powder burn on his hand. David, starts to make a call to the police when he sees the mark on his left hand and changing his mind. He now begins to suspect that he is... Pelletier.

The next day, Michele comes to see David and begs him for forgiveness and then warns him about Sarrou. He thinks she is part of the blackmailing scheme and threatens to turn her into the police. She then shows David a locket with a picture of the two of them together.

Later, Michele comes to see David and Lucienne and tries to show Lucienne the locket, but David stops her and tells his wife that Michele had come to apologize for what she said at the trial. Lucienne, begins to wonder what is really going on..

Soon, David receives a 1922 newspaper headline about the robbery. David then goes to see Michele at the night club where she is performing and confronts her, saying that he does not believe Sarrou's story and offers to pay them off. She angrily calls him a fake and tells him to go see Pelletier's mother, who was left penniless.

David goes to see Pelletier's mother, who says he resembles her son but, that is not her son. But, her odd behavior causes David, to believe that he could have been a thief and murderer in his past life.

The next day, Lucienne finds Tessier's address and goes to see him, saying that if David were Pelletier, she would still love him and would sell everything she has to pay Sarrou off.

The next day, Sarrou shows up at David's club, and tells him that Tessier came to see him. Sarrou then demands his money and says that David must bring it that night or the police will be contacted. David goes to Tessier, who tells him that his identity is only thing that matters.

David, goes into a travel agency and buys a single ticket to Saigon. That evening, David sends Lucienne, on ahead to a party at the home of Deval, saying that he has to help a colleague, but will join her later.

After she leaves, David gets a call from Sarrou, who knows about the ticket and threatens him. Meanwhile, at Michele's place, it is revealed that "Mme. Pelletier" is really De Luc's wife.

She leaves just before David arrives, who confesses to Sarrou that he does not have one million francs. Sarrou, suggests that they get the money from his office safe and make it look like a robbery.

Meanwhile, at Deval's, Lucienne sees the colleague with who David was supposed to be working and realizes that he lied to her. She leaves, seeing David and Sarrou, together on the street, she then follows them back to the office.

After David turns off the lights, Sarrou is able to sneak past the guard and take the money after David opens the safe. Lucienne, then arrives by cab and begs David not to go through with the plan, but Sarrou threatens them and orders that she tie David up. Just then, the police arrive and arrest them.

At police headquarters, David admits that he is Pelletier and, when Michele is brought in, he begs her and Sarrou to join him in confessing their past crimes. Is this a trick to bring out the truth or is he really Pelletier?

William Powell, plays a man who is very much in love with his wife and you will be hooked, as evidence begin to reveal, the possibility of his shady past. A must see for all William Powell and Hedy Lamarr fans.

Margaret Wycherly (26 October 1881 – 6 June 1956). She was best known as a stage actress, appearing in one silent film.

In 1929 at the advent of sound pictures she appeared in her second film, but first talkie, The Thirteenth Chair, based on the 1916 play by her husband in which she had starred. The film was directed by Tod Browning and was in the genre of mystery-old house melodrama.

Twelve years later, Wycherley appeared in Sergeant York in 1941. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the role of Mother York, though perhaps her best remembered screen role was as "Ma Jarrett", the mother of the psychopathic gangster Cody Jarrett, in White Heat (1949), which starred James Cagney.

Wycherly starred in several popular Broadway plays, including Tobacco Road, Random Harvest, Liliom, Six Characters in Search of an Author and The Thirteenth Chair (which role she reprised in the film of the same name).

Her other films include Keeper of the Flame, The Yearling, Forever Amber, The Man with a Cloak and Johnny Angel starring George Raft.

Pawsome Pet Pictures: Hedy Lamarr.

Personal Quote:

 (speaking in the 1960s) "It would be wrong of me to say so, but in this country (USA) money is more important than love. Most people here betray you and that's why there is so much chaos. I want to get away from here. I am homesick for Vienna ... because my home is Vienna and Austria, not America...never!"

The Heavenly Body (1944).

The Heavenly Body (1944). Romantic/comedy. Cast: William Powell and Hedy Lamarr. Joan Crawford was offered the lead role but turned it down saying, "It was about a girl who stands around and does nothing. I told the studio to give the part to Hedy Lamarr."

The story begins with Astronomer William S. Whitley, who is about to make scientific history with his discovery of a new comet. His wife Vicky, is supportive of his work, but.. she is left alone most of the time and is very lonely. She decides to visit astrologer Mrs. Margaret Sibyll, after her eccentric neighbor, Nancy Potter, suggest that she go for a reading about her future.

After her reading Vicky's astrological chart, Mrs. Sibyll predicts that "something important" is going to happen to her.



 Later, at home, Vicky tells Bill that because of her astrological reading he can no longer kiss her on Tuesdays. Angry, Bill runs next door and hoses down, neighbor, Nancy Potter, for interfering in their lives.

Two weeks later, Vicky goes to see Bill while he is working at the observatory, to tell him that she is leaving him. So, she will be free to meet her "dream" man. Bill, does not take her very seriously, until.. Vicky, moves out of their bedroom .

Two weeks later, Vicky calls Bill at work to tell him that that there is no dream man and that Mrs. Sibyll, is a fake. Bill, wastes no time getting home, but.. before he arrives, Vicky meets the tall dark and handsome Lloyd, a neighborhood air raid warden. He fits Mrs. Sibyll's description of Vicky's dream lover perfectly. Everyone, seems to hit it off at first.

The next day, Lloyd returns to the Whitleys,' to pick up a bag he left behind. Bill, can not believe it when he finds out that Lloyd, plans to marry Vicky. Bill, convinces Lloyd, to changing his route to avoid Vicky, but.. he quickly changes his mind and confess that he plans on seeing her again..

Later, Bill at the end of his rope, jumps from Professor Stowe's car, on the way to his lecture, to see if he can put a stop to Vicky and Lloyd's plans. With Bill gone, Stowe, prepares to give the lecture himself, when Bill shows up at the observatory last minute... happy thinking that he has broken up Vicky and Lloyd relationship, once and for all. As Bill is looking through a small telescope, he sees that she has gone to their mountain cabin, the same place where he sent Lloyd. Bill, tries to carry on with his lecture.

Soon after Bill, rushes to the cabin and finds Lloyd seranading Vicky, who tells Bill, "that this is further proof that they are destined to be together".

The next day, Bill comes up with the idea to steal Vicky's weekly horoscope and replace it with one that predicts his death. Vicky, not believing her horoscope calls Mrs. Sybill, to confirm the prediction. Bill, is with the astrologer, threatening to expose the truth about her being a rations hoarder (much frowned upon during WWII). As hoped, Bill's plan works like a charm. Until, Bill starts to re-write his will and Vicky is summoned by Mrs. Sibyll, who wants to come clean..

A fun romantic comedy with a wartime/astrological subplot. William Powell and Hedy Lamarr, are very charming together and you hope there is a happily ever after ending for everyone... Astronomy, is one of my hobbies, so I loved all the scenes at the observatory. Spring Byington, is one of my favorite character actors, so it was a special treat seeing her in this cute film.

Fay Okell Bainter (December 7, 1893 - April 16, 1968). MGM persuaded her to try films and her movie debut was in, This Side of Heaven (1934), the same year she appeared in, Dodsworth on Broadway and the film, It Happened One Day (1934).

Bainter quickly achieved success, and in 1938 she became the first performer nominated for both the Academy Award for Best Actress, for White Banners (1937), and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Jezebel (1938), winning for the latter. Since then, only nine other actors have won dual nominations in a single year. She was again nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in, The Children's Hour (1961).

Fay Bainter and Reginald Venable married on June 8, 1921, in Riverside, California. The couple had one son, Reginald Venable Jr. (1926–1974), who became an actor. Bainter was the aunt of actress Dorothy Burgess.

Her Highness and the Bellboy(1945).

Her Highness and the Bellboy(1945). Cast: Hedy Lamarr, June Allyson, Agnus Morehead and Robert Walker.

The story begins, when a beautiful princess falls in love with a handsome American reporter. She travels to New York, just to be with him. While staying at one of the city's best hotels she meets a bellhop who thinks she is her a maid. She invites him to be her escort, not realizing he has fallen in love with her. It is not long before he thinks that she feels the same way he does.

Later, the bellhop goes to visit a young woman who is a invalid. He doesn't realize that the girl is in love with him. After the princess finds her reporter, he turns her way, because he thinks they are from two different worlds. She is broken hearted and the bellhop asks if he can help. She asks him to take her to a bar called Jake's Joint to look for her reporter.

In a tuxedo, the bellhop stops by to visit his invalid friend before his date. He gives her the corsage he had bought for the princess and after he leaves, she cries. At the club, the princess looks for the reporter, but he is no where to be found. The bellhop's friend is there with some thugs and a fight breaks out. The police raid Jake's Joint and the princess is hauled off in the paddy wagon. The reporter gets there in time to see her carried off.

When the bellhop gets back to the hotel, he learns the princess's father has died and she is now queen. The reporter bails her out and they return to her hotel. When the queen learns her father has died she makes plans to go home and offers the bellhop a job. But instead, the bellhop thinks she wants him to be her consort. When he visits his invalid friend to say goodbye, she takes a step and he promises that she will get well. Both the new queen and the bellhop have some big decisions to make.

Fun Facts:

M-G-M saved money by utilizing the same main set as the one from "Weekend at the Waldorf" (1945). When that company finished, "Her Highness and the Bellboy" moved in.

Mickey Rooney was supposed to star in this movie but Rooney ended up being drafted into the war, so Robert Walker was cast instead.

This was Hedy Lamarr's last film she did for MGM under her contract. After this she went on to free lance.

What I was expecting was a fluffy chick flick film, turned out to be a really a beautiful movie, which makes you think about who your friends really are.

I Take This Woman (1940)

I Take This Woman(1940), Drama film starring Spencer Tracy and Hedy Lamarr.

Heartbroken, after breaking up with Phil Mayberry, a married man who refuses to divorce his wife. Georgi Gragore, decides to end her life by jumping into the sea from the upper decks of the ocean liner. Dr. Karl Decker, saves her just in time. After arriving in New York, Georgi decides to visit Karl, at his clinic. Karl gives Georgi, a job and soon finds himself falling in love with her. After the two are married, Karl meets Georgi's wealthy friends and begins to worry about supporting her in the style to which she is used to. When Dr. Duveen, offers him a position in private practice, Karl gives up his clinic, to make more money.

Georgi, still struggling with her feelings for Mayberry, goes to see him at his apartment, where she soon realizes that she no longer in with love him. When Karl hears about Georgi's visit, he is crushed. Soon after, Karl, is called back to the hospital on an emergency, where a young woman dies. Karl, disillusioned with his life, gets ready to leave for China. Will Georgi be able to stop him in time?



Spencer Tracy and Hedy Lamarr, made a odd couple. Lamarr's performance was my favorite, she is always so much fun to watch.

Mona Barrie (December 18, 1909 – June 27, 1964). An English actress who made her debut as a ballet dancer at the age of sixteen. In 1933 she moved to New York and was given a screen test which led to her film debut in, Sleepers East(1934). Her film career spanned almost twenty years and she performed in more than fifty films.

H.M. Pulham, Esq (1941).

H.M. Pulham, Esq (1941). Directed by King Vidor and based on a novel by John P. Marquand. Vidor co-wrote the screenplay with his wife, Elizabeth Hill Vidor. Cast: Robert Young, Hedy Lamarr, Ruth Hussey, Charles Coburn, and Van Heflin. There is also an early uncredited appearance by Ava Gardner.

Harry Moulton Pulham Jr. is a middle-aged Boston businessman, who has a wife, Kay, with whom he has settled into a too comfortable marriage, but.. it did not start out that way.

Harry finds himself in charge of organizing a twenty-five-year college reunion, he thinks back to after the end of World War I. His friend Bill King, helps him get a job for a New York City advertising company, where he falls in love with, Marvin Miles. She does not want to be a traditional wife and he cannot imagine living anywhere other than Boston. So they break off their relationship. Harry,  marries a woman with the same ideas about marriage as he has.

Many years later, Marvin, who has also married arranges to meet Harry again where sparks begins to fly and Harry is tempted to have an affair, but they both realize that it would not be a good idea.

 

 Harry, begs his wife to go away with him on a romantic vacation, to rekindle their love. At first, she says "no", but.. will she change her mind and agree to go away with him?

 This was Hedy Lamarr's favorite film and she delivered the best dramatic performance of her career. Here she is not the mysterious seductive woman, as in her other films. She is loving and kind, in her role as a career girl who falls in love with her boss. Robert was not the first choice for the role. Both Gary Cooper and James Stewart turned the role down, leading Vidor to offer the role to Robert Young.

Ruth Hussey, was encouraged by a friend to try out for acting roles at the Providence Playhouse. The theater director there turned her down, saying the roles were cast only out of New York City. Later that week she traveled to New York City and on her first day there she signed-up with a talent agent who booked her for a role in a play starting the next day back at the Providence Playhouse.

In New York City she also worked as a model with the world-famous Powers agency. She then landed a role in the film,, Dead End and toured the country in 1937 and at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles where she was spotted by talent scout Billy Grady. MGM signed her to a players contract and she made her film debut in 1937. She quickly became a leading lady in MGM's "B" unit. For a 1940 "A" picture role she was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance as Elizabeth Imbrie, the magazine photographer and girlfriend of Jimmy Stewart's character in the film, The Philadelphia Story.

Hussey also worked with Robert Taylor in, Flight Command (1940), Robert Young in H.M. Pulham, Esq. (1941), Van Heflin in Tennessee Johnson (1942), Ray Milland in The Uninvited (1944) and Alan Ladd in The Great Gatsby (1949). In 1946 she starred on Broadway in State Of The Union the Pulitzer Prize play. In 1960 she co-starred in the film, The Facts of Life with Bob Hope.

Happy Birthday: Heddy Lamarr!

Hedy Lamarr(November 9, 1913 – January 19, 2000). Was best known for her film career as a major star of MGM's "Golden Age", she also co-invented an early technique for spread spectrum communications, a key to many forms of wireless communication. To learn more about Lamarr, please click here.

Tortilla Flat (1942)

Tortilla Flat (1942). Cast: Spencer Tracy, Hedy Lamarr, John Garfield, Frank Morgan, Akim Tamiroff, and Sheldon Leonard based on the novel by John Steinbeck. It was directed by Victor Fleming.

In Monterrey, California, Danny Alvarez inherits a gold watch and two houses in the area known as Tortilla Flat from his grandfather. One of his friends by the name of, Pirate, is saving money which Pilon makes plans to steal, until he learns that he is saving to buy a golden candlestick, which he plans to burn for St. Francis.

One of the houses burns down, so Danny allows his friends to move into the other house with him. Things are fine at first until Danny's love for a girl causes him to look for work at the cannery. A misunderstanding causes Danny to become drunk and almost dies in an accident. He then marries his sweetheart with the promise that he will become a fisherman now that Pilon has the money to buy a boat.

This is a wonderful movie, with strong performances from: Spencer Tracy, Frank Morgan, who is very memorable as a hermit dog lover. Hedy Lamarr, who gives a wonderful performance as a poor Portuguese girl. She went on to make only five more films.

Frank Morgan, is best known for his performance of the title character in the film, The Wizard of OZ (1939).

His first film was in, The Suspect (1916).

Morgan's career continued as talkies began, he was usually typecast in roles of a befuddled but good-hearted middle-aged man.

He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor in, The Affairs of Cellini(1934), where he played the, Duke of Florence and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in, Tortilla Flat(1942), where he played a Hispanic man.

Other well known movies: The Great Ziegfeld, The Shop Around the Corner, The Human Comedy, The Mortal Storm, The White Cliffs of Dover and his last movie, Key to the City.

Like most character actors of the studio era, Frank Morgan had numerous roles in many motion pictures. One of his last roles was in, The Stratton Story, a true story about a ballplayer who makes a comeback after losing a leg in a hunting accident.

Come Live With Me(1941).

Come Live With Me(1941). A romantic comedy film starring James Stewart and Hedy Lamarr.

A native of Vienna, Austria Johnny Jones, is having an affair with married man named, Barton Kendrick. An officer from the Department of Immigration, tells her that she will be deported because her passport expired, but if she can get married within a week, she can stay.

Down-on-his-luck writer, Bill Smith runs into Jones in a diner, where she explains to him that she needs to marry an American citizen within a week and she would pay him $17.80 each week.

Two months later, Smith begins writing a book about their marriage.

Kendrick tells Jones, that he is leaving his wife and wants to marry her. She tells Bill she wants a divorce, which he agrees to. Smith, finishes his book and sends it to Kendrick's publishing company, where Kendrick's wife Diane, shows the book to Kendrick and he realizes that Smith is Jones' husband.

After seeing Kendrick's reaction to the book, his wife realizes that the book is real and he has been having an affair. Mrs. Kendrick wants to see if Jones' is really in love with her husband.

Smith buys a new car and wants Jones to go on a trip with him before he signs the divorce papers.

Will they fall in love while on their trip?

This is a wonderful romantic and sentimental movie. Jimmy Stewart's grandma in the movie is priceless.

Verree Teasdale (March 15, 1903 – February 17, 1987), trained as a stage actress at the New York School of Expression. She first appeared on Broadway in 1924-1932.

After co-starring in the play, The Constant Wife with Ethel Barrymore in 1926-27, she was offered a film contract, and her first film, Syncopation(1929).

Teasdale appeared older than she was, which allowed her to play bored society wives, scheming other women and second leads in comedies such as, Roman Scandals (1933).

In 1935 she married actor Adolphe Menjou, and they remained together until his death in 1963.

Teasdale and Menjou performed together in two films: The Milky Way (1936) and Turnabout(1940), and they were also co-hosts of a syndicated radio program in the late 1940's and early 1950's.

Boom Town (1940). A wonderful movie about romance, friendship.

Boom Town (1940) Adventure/ drama. Cast: Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Claudette Colbert, Hedy Lamarr, and Frank Morgan. A story written by James Edward Grant in Cosmopolitan magazine titled "A Lady Comes to Burkburnett" was the inspiration for the film.

John McMasters and John Sand, are having no luck on their own in the oil business . So they decide to become partners. Without enough money, they steal drilling equipment from Luther Aldrich. Their well is a bust and Aldrich shows up with the sheriff, to pick up his equipment. To get Luther Aldrich, to back them for a second time, they cut him in for a percentage of the well. This time, they strike it rich.

On the day the partners wildcat well comes in, Betsy arrives to see John Sand, and meets John McMasters. It is love at first sight for Betsy and John Mc Masters, and they marry. When they inform John Sands, of their marriage he is heartbroken. When John McMasters begins to take his wife for granted, John Sand's becomes angry. They get into an argument which they solve by tossing a coin for ownership of the well. John Sand wins and John McMasters and Betsy, pack up for Oklahoma, where John McMasters, becomes a oil baron. John McMasters meets Harry Compton and Karen Vanmeer, and decides to expand his investments to the oil refineries back East. In New York, John McMasters, spends most of his time with Karen and less time with his wife and son Jack. To help Betsy, John Sand joins with Compton, in a business deal, which gets John McMasters into trouble with the government, and he is charged with violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. Which goes to trial. Will John McMasters, be vindicated and reunite his wife.



I love this movie! love the cast! For me, it is It a wonderful movie about romance, friendship.

Marion Martin (June 7, 1909 - August 13, 1985). She made her film debut in She's My Lillie, I'm Her Willie and played minor roles, often as showgirls. Several of her early roles were in musicals.

She had played leading female roles in several "B" pictures, playing one of her most best known roles in, Sinners in Paradise (1938). She was cast in minor role in the film, His Girl Friday (1940), Boomtown (1940) in which she played a dance hall singer who is briefly romanced by Clark Gable, The Big Store, Gildersleeves Ghost. Her more substantial roles included Alice Angel, a dizzy showgirl, in the murder mystery Lady of Burlesque with Barbara Stanwyck and Angel on My Shoulder. She also appeared in The Big Street with Lucille Ball.

By the late 1940s, her roles were often minor. Three Stooges fans will remember her as western cowgirl Gladys in, Merry Mavericks.

Comrade X (1940)

Comrade X is a 1940 lighthearted spy movie, starring Clark Gable and Hedy Lamarr and directed by King Vidor. Recommended by Paul.

Newspaper reporter McKinley B. Thompson, wants to hide his identity as Comrade X, the reporter who is writing stories about Russia for the big newspapers. Vanya, the valet in his Moscow hotel, has found out who he is and demands that the he take his daughter out of the country before she is shot as a Communist. Thompson agrees to meet Vanya's daughter, a streetcar conductor who uses the name Theodore. Thompson tries to convince the girl to go to America with him, but she wants to investigate him first.



Later, Theodore shows up on Thompson's doorstep and announces that they will be married because that is the only way they can leave the country. After returning from their wedding he is questioned about the camera of Comrade X that was found in Vanya's room. Sentenced to death, Thompson offers to expose the head of the counter-revolution in exchange for his life and those of Vanya and Theodore.

Taken to the commissar's office, Thompson is shocked to find not Vasiliev but Michael Bastakoff, the new commissar and the former leader. Tricking Bastakoff by offering to turn over his evidence, Thompson escapes with Vanya and Theodore. The threesome steal a Russian tank with the general inside and followed by the Soviet army. Will they cross over the Romanian border in time?

The second and final film Hedy Lamarr and Clark Gable made together. It's a fun comedy and Hedy Lamarr is just adorable in all her interesting outfits. Clark Gable's humor works perfectly in this movie.

Eve Arden (April 30, 1908 – November 12, 1990). Her 60-year career crossed most media frontiers with supporting and leading roles, but she may be best-remembered for playing the sardonic but engaging title character, a high school teacher, on Our Miss Brooks, and as the Rydell High School principal in the films Grease and Grease 2.

At age 16, she left Tamalpais High School and joined a stock theater company. She made her film debut, in the backstage musical, Song of Love (1929). She played a wisecracking showgirl who becomes a rival to the film's star, singer Belle Baker.

Her film career began in 1937, when she performed in the films: Oh Doctor and Stage Door. Her Stage Door performance as the witty supporting character, was to be a template for many of Arden's future roles.

Her many memorable screen roles include: Mildred Pierce (1945) for which she received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress, and James Stewart's wistful secretary in, Anatomy of a Murder (1959). (One of her co-stars in that film was husband Brooks West.) She also performed some acrobatics while trying to steal a wallet from Groucho Marx in the film, At the Circus (1939).

Hedy Lamarr

By the time Hedy Lamarr was a teenager, she decided to drop out of school and become an actress. Her first performance was a small part in, Money on the Street (1930). It was her fifth film, Ecstasy(1932), that brought her worldwide fame. The film's nude scenes created a sensation all over the world. The film was banned by the US government. Although, the film brought her to the attention of MGM's Louis B. Mayer, who signed her on against his better judgment, but the money he knew she would bring in to the studio overrode any "moral" concerns he had. He insisted she change her name and she was to make wholesome films. Hedy made her first American film, Algiers (1938). This was followed a year later by Lady of the Tropics (1939). Next she performed in the film, White Cargo (1942). After World War II, MGM decided it would be in the interest of all concerned if her contract were not renewed. Unfortunately, for Hedy, she turned down the leads in both: Gaslight (1940) and Casablanca (1942). She did perform as Delilah opposite Victor Matures Samson in Cecil B. DeMille's epic, Samson and Delilah (1949). The film's success led to more parts, but it was not enough to help her financial problems. She was to make only six more films between 1949 and 1957, the last being The Female Animal (1958).

Hedy Lamarr Official Website.

FUN FACTS:

Was co-inventor with composer George Antheil, of the earliest known form of the telecommunications method known as "frequency hopping", which used a piano roll to change between 88 frequencies and was intended to make radio-guided torpedoes harder for enemies to detect or to jam. The method received U.S. patent number 2,292,387 on Aug. 11, 1942, under the name "Secret Communications System". Frequency hopping is now widely used in cellular phones and other modern technology. However neither she nor Antheil profited from this fact, because their patents were allowed to expire decades before the modern wireless boom. She received an award from the Electronic Frontier Foundation in 1997 for her work pioneering work in spread-spectrum technology. Info from: Wikipedia.

The mansion used in The Sound of Music (1965) belonged to her at the time.

Lady of the Tropics(1939). Is a very sly woman.

Lady of the Tropics (1939). Drama/romance. Director: Jack Conway. Cast: Hedy Lamarr and Robert Taylor.

Bill Carey, arrives in Saigon by yacht owned by Alfred Z. Harrison, whose daughter Dolly, he plans to marry until he meets exotic Manon. Bill falls madly in love when they meet in a bar and look into each other eyes. Back on the yacht, Bill can not live without her and decides to jump ship so they can be reunited. In the past Manon, has been denied a passport because of her heritage. She sees Bill as her way out of Saigon, but she falls in love with Bill and wants to give up a planned marriage with a Asian nobleman.

Delaroch, who lives a very shady life, also wants Manon for himself and causes problems for Bill and Manon. His political power insures that he gets what he wants. To buy time Manon promises to marry him, even though she is going to marry Bill at the Mission, later that afternoon. Father Antione warns Bill about marring her, but Bill ignores his warnings about her being a very sly woman and marries her anyway.

Angry, Delaroch prevents Manon from leaving the country by ordering the governor to refuse her a passport. Soon they find themselves destitute, Manon arranges a job for her husband at one of Delaroch's rubber companies, in exchange for her company. On his way home, Bill learns the price that his wife has paid, when he reads an item from a society column, which mentions that Manon and Delaroch, had been seen at the opera together. At first Bill does not believe the society column, until Manon tells him that she has recieved her passport, he becomes enraged and promises to kill Delaroch. Will Manon and Bill have their revenge?



This is one of those black and white movies I wish were in color, the scenery was amazing. Hedy Lamarr, performance was wonderful as well as Robert Taylor's performance.. There is plenty of romance and plenty of drama in this film..