On August 30, I did a post (titled “MAC”) about the late great actor Fred MacMurray. In recent comments to the MAC post, faithful reader Thom Hickey and I opined that I should publish more posts on actors and actresses from Hollywood’s Golden Age, even though most of them are now little remembered, long forgotten, or unheard of. To the point, how many of these once-upon-a-time familiar film faces and names are familiar to you?
I know not who you know not (above), but I’ve spent some of my happiest hours being entertained (and often drawn in) by such silver screen sorcerers/sorceresses working their magic on my imagination. Watching that clip, it seemed almost unfathomable that nearly all those ‘reel-life’ characters I knew almost as well as I knew real-life family and friends, have gone over THE END. Rapt in their world, how was I to know immortals were mortal?
So, you can take this as a preview of coming attractions featuring close-ups of some of my favorite stars and character actors from the days when the likes of Charlie Chaplin was The Little Tramp….
what a trip down memory lane … know most of them, but a few I’ve not seen or heard of … I must be younger than you 😉
Had not realised Charlie was such a good-looker, he always acted the clown so I had no idea!
….and yet, that “Remembrance of Classic Hollywood Actors and Actresses” barely began a thoroughgoing trip down that memory lane. For example, what classic movie buff wouldn’t recall the likes of Buster Keaton, Lon Chaney, Boris Karloff, The Marx Brothers, Errol Flynn, Charles Laughton, Walter Huston, and so many more. In upcoming posts, I hope to take us a little farther down the road.
Thanks, Rg. I’ll be sure to include one or more of those Hollywood “glamour girls” in an upcoming post (I’m sure you would qualify if not for the Hollywood part).
Did you know that Fred Astaire said Rita Hayworth (not Ginger Rogers) was his favorite dancing partner? She is probably not best remembered for her dancing, but was in fact a superb dancer and starred in two musicals with Astaire.
Of course, I am constantly reminded of these old movies since my mother told me where my name came from; I always thought it was something to do with Ash trees (ash trees surrounded by a meadow-a ley) but it turns out that Mum’s favourite film was Gone With the Wind! Thank goodness I wasn’t called Rhett!
Just saw a clip about Audie Murphy. If only people looked up to true heroes like him instead of sports stars. But a man like Audie is so rare. The pain in his eyes from his lifelong struggle with PTSD is haunting. And all through it, he continued to serve. Loved him best in the film The Unforgiven.
Sorry to say I haven’t seen The Unforgiven, as (with a few exceptions) I’m not a big fan of westerns. However, I should have made this one of the exceptions, as I notice The Unforgiven was directed by John Huston and has a great cast. My bad.
I used to watch Barbara Stanwick in Big Valley. Remember that show? She was the matriarch. Gloria and Charlie not as much, but I remember them. Fun clips.
I didn’t watch Big Valley, but I’ve seen many of her movies — some of them (such as THE LADY EVE and REMEMBER THE NIGHT) multiple times. Truly a wonderful actress!
Watching the video In Remembrance brought back memories of when I used to watch old movies with my grandmother. She also got me into watching soap operas…lol
Watching soap operas is one habit I never got into….but I did watch many a ‘horse opera’ (western) when I was a kid. Oddly enough, I’ve never heard a fat lady sing in a horse opera, but I have heard many a horselaugh when the fat lady sings in The Marx Brothers At The Opera.
To clarify, I simply feel that so much of today’s politics and culture are so beyond the pale and so debased, that this generation has become increasingly foreign to the values and ideals we should stand for.
The film noir of the classic period (1941-59) is normally associated with the so-called Golden Age of Hollywood and its aftermath. In truth, the creative impetus for its most influential literary content dates back a full century.
In April 1841, Graham’s Magazine in Philadelphia published the first detective story, The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allen Poe and thus, mystery fiction was born. –-Lawrence Bassoff, CRIME SCENES
In my 11/30/16 post titled BOOKS RIGHT DOWN MY ALLEY, I wrote of finding a large cache of old movie books at a local library’s used book sale. One of those books was CRIME SCENES (subtitled Movie Poster Art of the Film Noir), from which the above quote is taken. How could I resist buying such a book, given that Film Noir has long been one of my favorite film genres, which includes such classics as THE MALTESE FALCON (1941), MURDER MY SWEET (1943), DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944), LAURA (1944), THE BIG SLEEP (1946), SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950), and STRANGERS ON A TRAIN (1951). The introduction states it “is the first genre retrospective collection of movie poster art on the topic ever published in book form.”
Bassoff writes that in the summer of 1946, ten American films whose French releases had been blocked by WW II (including the first five of the above) arrived in Paris theaters to be viewed by “new product-starved French filmgoers”….films based on American novels the French called “Serie Noire” by such authors as Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. The term “film noir” (first attributed to Frenchman Nino Frank in 1946) literally means “black film” for the “often low key, black and white visual style of the films themselves.”
And what great films they are! Even after having seen some of these films more than once, I could return to the scene of the crime once again; no doubt you could too — assuming you’re a film noir buff, which it would be a crime if you’re not. The test? Can you name at least half of the directors and stars of the above films? Answers (directors in CAPS):
THE MALTESE FALCON — JOHN HUSTON (making his directorial debut), Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet MURDER MY SWEET — EDWARD DYMTRYK, Dick Powell DOUBLE INDEMNITY — BILLY WILDER, Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson LAURA — OTTO PREMINGER, Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb, Vincent Price THE BIG SLEEP — HOWARD HAWKS, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall SUNSET BOULEVARD — BILLY WILDER, William Holden, Gloria Swanson STRANGERS ON A TRAIN — ALFRED HITCHCOCK, Farley Granger, Robert Walker
Moving on: if Basssoff’s book were not confined to Hollywood film noir, no such list would be complete without THE THIRD MAN (1949), a British-made classic directed by Carol Reed, starring Orson Wells and Joseph Cotton. And of course there are many other Hollywood tour de force classics worthy of being kept alive, including such killer-dillers as:
WHITE HEAT is considered by some to be in the gangster film realm rather than film noir, but there’s no law against crossover — in fact, WHITE HEAT is classified as film noir in CRIME SCENES and gangster film in CLASSIC GANGSTER FILMS (the latter being another used book sale find, which I may review in a future post). Meanwhile, I highly recommend the former — as Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) said of the bogus Maltese Falcon: It’s “the stuff dreams are made of.” And nightmares.
*HOLLYWOOD, DEAD LEFT ON VINE is a play on the famous intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street. I heard on the grapevine that the site was a ranch, and then a lemon grove, until 1903.
Good fun–I will never forget the creepiness of seeing Fred MacMurray in “Double Indemnity,” after growing up with him in Disney movies like “Son of Flubber”!
Now that you mention it, I recall thinking the same thing the first time I saw “Double Indemnity.” And I can’t think of a better way to characterize these ‘bad’ movies than as “good fun” — seriously!
Living la vida noire out here on the Left Coast, Sr. Muse. Did you see that the head of the European Union was going to start advocating for US states to leave the Union in retaliation for Trump promoting the dissolution of the EU? Ohio was specifically mentioned. Hopefully, I won’t need a passport to visit you if I ever get the chance.
I hadn’t heard (or seen) that, Ricardo, but I think the best place to start would be to advocate for Trump to leave the union….better yet, leave the planet (though I can’t imagine that the inhabitants of any other world would be gullible enough to fall for Trump’s con job).
Prudence dictates keeping my posts to a reasonable length, or I’d have listed many more movies. Sometimes I wish Prudence would mind her own business! 😦
Great movies of course I’ve seen them all and more than once. They did a remake of Out Of The Past called Against All Odds with Jeff Bridges, Rachel Ward and James Woods. In a bit of smart casting they also had Jane Greer in there.
But White Heat is one of the all time any type of movie you want to call it and no mention of it would be complete without…
These movies had it all: great writing, atmosphere, directors, stars, supporting casts — the works. I’ve only watched WHITE HEAT once or twice, but I’ve seen MALTESE FALCON and THE THIRD MAN at least 5 or 6 times each, DOUBLE INDEMNITY and SUNSET BOULEVARD probably about 3 times.
Mercy me — I fear my very limited French fails me in getting the gist of the sentence before “SVP” (which I understand stands for “s’il vous plait”). If you please, please translate into English. Merci!
🙂
Fans of Hollywood’s Golden Age movies will recognize the above title as one of the classic last lines in film history, said by Joe E. Brown to Jack Lemmon at the end of Billy Wilder’s SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959). Today being Wilder’s birthday (June 22, 1906), and me being in the middle of a biography of Wilder by the same title, I thought I’d offer my own brief tribute to one of the great directors of all time, to be followed at a later date by a review of the book when I’ve finished reading it. Seeing as how I’ve owned the book for over a year and am not yet halfway through it, don’t expect the follow-up anytime soon. I may be retired, but I still can never seem to find time to catch up on my reading. Hey, nobody’s perfect.
Even the greatest directors made some films that weren’t so hot, and Wilder made a few such, but few directors and screenwriters have made more movies that bear repeated viewings (which is my standard for greatness) than Billy Wilder. Here is my Top Ten list of favorite Wilder films:
THE MAJOR AND THE MINOR (1942), starring Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland
DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944), starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck and Edward G. Robinson
THE LOST WEEKEND (1945), starring Ray Milland
SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950), starring William Holden, Gloria Swanson and Erich von Stroheim
STALAG 17 (1953), starring William Holden
SABRINA (1954), starring Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn and William Holden
WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION (1957), starring Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton and Tyrone Power
SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959), starring Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe
THE APARTMENT (1960), starring Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine and Fred MacMurray
ONE, TWO, THREE (1961), starring James Cagney
When Wilder died March 27, 2002, he took his wit to his grave. His headstone reads:
mistermuse you may not believe me but I have watched every single one of the movies on your favorite Billy Wider list. Not only that but I am guilty of watching them more than once. I finally had to stop since my husband had enough of “my hobby.” But some day when I am old and gray, and find myself sitting next to someone dressed as an elf, I will have the old folk’s nursing home television on The Dish, and watch Wilder’s movies as much as I wish!
This based not only on a fantasy. But after my December knee replacement surgery in 2008, we had “Santa” and his reindeer helpers plus a funny looking elf present a lovely Christmas show. The newly stitched up patients as well as the residents enjoyed it immensely. 🙂
Today is also my youngest daughter’s birthday. She is an Angel of Mercy and that is her vocation. (No, she did not become a Nun but at times I wish I had joined the convent when I was a young girl.)
Best wishes to you, my darling, Michelle, who cares for her patients with compassion, and efficiency. Love you, Mama Michaeline XOXO
Thank you so very much, mister muse. I am so glad we can communicate with each other. I am not complaining bu I have not yet made a lady friend here in St. Pete’s. Oh yes, the hair salon stylist and the waitresses at the various eateries we visit know me as well as my new Nurse Practioner. I think I may…and don’t let this upset you, my dear friend…become a member of the nearby Reform Judaic Temple. One great thing about places of worship is if they have a good following of nice women, I can usually find a friend or two. Maybe one that likes Billy Wilder films and playing Scrabble and of course, going out to eat. What retiree in Florida cooks at home any more? Oh, yes, my dear husband, Dave.
Toodles, mistermuse, looking forward to your next posting. 🙂
I salute you, Sr. Muse, for still trying to catch up on your reading, no matter how far behind you are. I long ago abandoned any hope of it. Now I have to scramble just to keep up with my writing.
When it comes to reading, I feel like the perfect example of the Lewis Carroll quote, “The hurrier I go, the behinder I get.” And yet I keep adding more books to my Father’s Day, Birthday and Christmas wish lists.
A lot of great movies here and this one is certainly not the best but the last 15 minutes or so of One, Two, Three are just hysterical. Cagney at his best. “Schlemmer you’re back in the SS. Smaller Salary!”
You’re right, Don. Cagney’s talent certainly wasn’t limited to being the classic tough guy of Hollywood’s Golden Age, He was also great at comedy, such as in ONE, TWO, THREE and MISTER ROBERTS, and at dancing, as in Cagney’s own personal favorite performance in YANKEE DOODLE DANDY.
It occured to me, as I was thinking about this, my 253rd post, that few (if any) of my previous 252 posts were about money….in fact, I can recall mentioning money in only one post, in the opening line of a 24-line poem titled A MIND IS A TERRIBLE THING TOO CHASTE:
Money may talk,
Though I can’t hear it —
It takes a walk
When I come near it.
So a mistermusing on the subject seems long overdue….not unlike many of the bills I owe. Just kidding. I don’t not owe nothing to no one — no one that I owe of, anyway.
Anyway, what I want to say, as is my wont to say when I can think of nothing more to say, is that I hope you enjoy the following quotes. I trust you will find them on the money:
A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don’t need it. –Bob Hope
The lack of money is the root of all evil. –Mark Twain
Money was fun only until you ran out of things to buy. –Gloria Swanson, actress (silent films, Sunset Boulevard, other movies)
Money, it turned out, was exactly like sex, you thought of nothing else if you didn’t have it and thought of other things if you did. –James Baldwin
Money and women are the most sought after and the least understood of any two things we have. –Will Rogers
Where I was brought up, we never talked about money because there was never enough to furnish a topic of conversation. –Mark Twain
What this country needs is not more money, but more people who have some of it. –Evan Esar
I am having an out of money experience. –Anonymous
We live by the Golden Rule. Those who have the gold make the rules. –Buzzie Bavasi
If you lend someone $20, and never see that person again, it was probably worth it. –Anonymous
Cocaine is God’s way of saying you’re making too much money. –Robin Williams
You already know this but will tell you again. I enjoy all of your posts. The money quotes are really great. Even if I have read some of them before, they still are funny.
But the best part of your blog isn’t the quotes but your lead in to them … or what ever you are presenting. I could have stopped reading before the quotes and enjoyed. 🙂
I think I’ve said this before to faithful follower Don, but I believe in gender equality, so I’ll say it to you as well: If I ever need a press agent, you da man – I mean woman. Bless you, my child.
Don Frankel
4:12 pm on December 9, 2014 Permalink
| Reply
I give to to Twain here although the Robin Williams quote is pretty good. The one about the $20 I heard used in the movie a Bronx Tale but it might have been around.
Here’s another one I left out that I probably should have closed my post with:
“Money will buy you a fine dog, but only love can make it wag its tail.” -Richard Friedman
I enjoyed all of the comments here on mistermuse’s blog. Especially liked the Mark Twain one, the Richard Friedman one and the Bob Hope and Yogi Berra quotes.. All the quotes and the poem you wrote before and were intertaining.
America On Coffee 12:17 am on October 13, 2019 Permalink |
Beautiful. I believe the featured actress is Barbara Stanwyck. I love her.
LikeLiked by 3 people
mistermuse 12:58 am on October 13, 2019 Permalink |
Likewise. Not only was she one of the most versatile actresses in screen history, but one of the most professional and well thought of.
LikeLiked by 2 people
calmkate 2:20 am on October 13, 2019 Permalink |
what a trip down memory lane … know most of them, but a few I’ve not seen or heard of … I must be younger than you 😉
Had not realised Charlie was such a good-looker, he always acted the clown so I had no idea!
LikeLiked by 3 people
mistermuse 8:38 am on October 13, 2019 Permalink |
….and yet, that “Remembrance of Classic Hollywood Actors and Actresses” barely began a thoroughgoing trip down that memory lane. For example, what classic movie buff wouldn’t recall the likes of Buster Keaton, Lon Chaney, Boris Karloff, The Marx Brothers, Errol Flynn, Charles Laughton, Walter Huston, and so many more. In upcoming posts, I hope to take us a little farther down the road.
LikeLiked by 3 people
calmkate 9:32 am on October 13, 2019 Permalink
yea, I’m looking forward to it … and please don’t forget Charles Bronson 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Rivergirl 9:09 am on October 13, 2019 Permalink |
Love classic Hollywood. Such glamour!
LikeLiked by 2 people
mistermuse 11:57 am on October 13, 2019 Permalink |
Thanks, Rg. I’ll be sure to include one or more of those Hollywood “glamour girls” in an upcoming post (I’m sure you would qualify if not for the Hollywood part).
LikeLiked by 1 person
Rivergirl 4:01 pm on October 13, 2019 Permalink
I always had a soft spot for Rita…
LikeLiked by 1 person
mistermuse 6:07 pm on October 13, 2019 Permalink
Did you know that Fred Astaire said Rita Hayworth (not Ginger Rogers) was his favorite dancing partner? She is probably not best remembered for her dancing, but was in fact a superb dancer and starred in two musicals with Astaire.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ashley 10:05 am on October 13, 2019 Permalink |
A wonderful post. The “Remembrance” video had me smiling, and with tears in my eyes!
LikeLiked by 2 people
mistermuse 12:00 pm on October 13, 2019 Permalink |
I know what you mean, Ashley. It’s sad to think that so many of those who gave us so much joy are gone.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ashley 5:17 am on October 14, 2019 Permalink
Of course, I am constantly reminded of these old movies since my mother told me where my name came from; I always thought it was something to do with Ash trees (ash trees surrounded by a meadow-a ley) but it turns out that Mum’s favourite film was Gone With the Wind! Thank goodness I wasn’t called Rhett!
LikeLiked by 2 people
mistermuse 4:07 pm on October 14, 2019 Permalink
If you had been called Rhett, you could always claim the BULER did it (ha ha).
LikeLiked by 1 person
scifihammy 11:37 am on October 13, 2019 Permalink |
A lovely trip down memory lane. 🙂 I wonder how many of today’s actors will be as well-remembered?
LikeLiked by 2 people
mistermuse 12:12 pm on October 13, 2019 Permalink |
Shakespeare (in HAMLET) said, “I shall not look upon his like again.” That’s how I view yesterday’s actors compared with today’s, scifi.
LikeLiked by 2 people
mlrover 8:56 am on October 16, 2019 Permalink |
Just saw a clip about Audie Murphy. If only people looked up to true heroes like him instead of sports stars. But a man like Audie is so rare. The pain in his eyes from his lifelong struggle with PTSD is haunting. And all through it, he continued to serve. Loved him best in the film The Unforgiven.
LikeLiked by 1 person
mistermuse 12:12 pm on October 16, 2019 Permalink
Sorry to say I haven’t seen The Unforgiven, as (with a few exceptions) I’m not a big fan of westerns. However, I should have made this one of the exceptions, as I notice The Unforgiven was directed by John Huston and has a great cast. My bad.
LikeLike
Don Ostertag 4:29 pm on October 14, 2019 Permalink |
One of the little granddaughters asked why I always watched movies with the color turned off.
LikeLiked by 4 people
mistermuse 4:58 pm on October 14, 2019 Permalink |
A very logical question when you stop to think about it. Love it! Thanks, Don.
LikeLiked by 1 person
D. Wallace Peach 4:31 pm on October 15, 2019 Permalink |
I used to watch Barbara Stanwick in Big Valley. Remember that show? She was the matriarch. Gloria and Charlie not as much, but I remember them. Fun clips.
LikeLiked by 3 people
mistermuse 5:26 pm on October 15, 2019 Permalink |
I didn’t watch Big Valley, but I’ve seen many of her movies — some of them (such as THE LADY EVE and REMEMBER THE NIGHT) multiple times. Truly a wonderful actress!
LikeLike
mlrover 8:56 am on October 16, 2019 Permalink |
Loved The Lady Eve.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thom Hickey 3:37 pm on October 18, 2019 Permalink |
Looking forward to an extensive series!
Regards Thom
LikeLiked by 2 people
Cheryl Wright 12:17 pm on October 22, 2019 Permalink |
Watching the video In Remembrance brought back memories of when I used to watch old movies with my grandmother. She also got me into watching soap operas…lol
LikeLiked by 1 person
mistermuse 3:34 pm on October 22, 2019 Permalink |
Watching soap operas is one habit I never got into….but I did watch many a ‘horse opera’ (western) when I was a kid. Oddly enough, I’ve never heard a fat lady sing in a horse opera, but I have heard many a horselaugh when the fat lady sings in The Marx Brothers At The Opera.
LikeLike
Susi Bocks 10:15 pm on October 22, 2019 Permalink |
I’m not from that era but I was fortunate to have a step-father who exposed us to a lot of the generations we weren’t a part of. Lovely! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
mistermuse 9:38 am on October 23, 2019 Permalink |
I’m so old, I’m a part of many generations (but ‘apart’ from today’s).
LikeLiked by 1 person
Susi Bocks 11:21 am on October 23, 2019 Permalink
Sorry to hear that?
LikeLiked by 1 person
mistermuse 12:30 pm on October 23, 2019 Permalink
To clarify, I simply feel that so much of today’s politics and culture are so beyond the pale and so debased, that this generation has become increasingly foreign to the values and ideals we should stand for.
LikeLike
Silver Screenings 8:34 pm on November 16, 2019 Permalink |
I’m very much looking forward to this series. At some point this weekend, I’m going to settle down with a cup o’ tea and binge read you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
mistermuse 10:02 pm on November 16, 2019 Permalink |
Enjoy the multi-post series, SS. You’ll know it’s over when the fat lady sings.
LikeLike