Happy Birthday Rudolph Valentino and Orson Wells
I decided to write the blog early for Valentino is being featured on TCM on Friday for the anniversary of his birth. I have seen all the films being shown (thanks to TCM and the Kansas Silent Film Festival). All times are eastern.
8 AM Beyond the Rocks also starring Gloria Swanson, written by Elinor Glyn (based on her book). Released 5/7/22, 80 minutes. Gloria is forced to marry an older man. She meets Valentino before her marriage and several times throughout the marriage and they fall in love. There is a great scene where Gloria has written letters to each man but they end up going to the wrong man. Valentino tries to spare the husbands feelings but he has already read the letter. The husband goes on an expedition to Africa so the lovers can be together. It was considered a lost film except for one minute of footage. A print was found in Netherlands in 2003 and has been released on DVD.
9:30 AM Moran of the Lady Letty also staring Dorothy Dalton. Released 2/12/22, 71 minutes. Valentino as a Spaniard who is impressed onto a ship. He meets and falls in love with Dorothy a fellow crew member. In the Flicker Alley booklet the description “paramount pitched Moran as a rip-roaring seafaring adventure that would appeal to men as well as women and one Valentino picture that steered clear of anything exotic. It would showcase his he-man athletic prowess and beefcake appeal.”
10:45 AM Young Rajah also staring Wanda Hawley. Released 11/12/22, 53 minutes (restored). Valentino plays a young man who is told by his adopted father that his real father was an Indian Maharajah who was overthrown and he was taken to America for safety. He is convinced to go to India to overthrow the Maharaja. He is welcomed by the people and the army revolts. The film was considered lost. There is missing footage but TCM financed the restoration. There are stills and title cards that help to explain the missing sequences.
11:45 AM Camille also staring Alla Nazimova. Released 9/26/21, 70 minutes. It is a modern telling of the French story La Dame aux Camelias by Alexandre Dumas, fils. Nazimova plays a courtesan to whom Valentino falls in love with. Valentino’s father breaks up the relationship and both characters fall to ruin.
1 PM The Conquering Power also staring Alice Terry. Released 7/8/21, 89 minutes. After the death of his Father Valentino is taken into is uncle’s family. The uncle is a miser and plans to cheat Valentino out of his father’s money. Valentino falls in love with his cousin, but the uncle doesn’t like this and sends Valentino away and hides his letters. The uncle kills his wife and becomes unhinged, becoming more miserly and paranoid. He accidently locks himself in his safe room and he hallucinates (a really good scene) and then dies. There is pressure on the daughter to marry, now that she is a wealthy woman. After she announces her engagement Valentino comes back. It has been awhile since I have seen the film, but it seemed like many years had passed from when he was sent away to when he came back.
2:45 PM The Fourhorsemen of the Apocalypse also staring Alice Terry. Released 3/6/21, 133 minutes (edited addition). This one is hard to describe. An Argentine land owner has a son-in-law who is German (who he does not care for) and a son-in-law who is French (who he favors). Valentino plays his French grandchild. When the land owner dies the families go to their respective countries. In Paris he falls in love with Alice Terry a married woman. WWI breaks out. The cousins are reunited on the battlefield. There is a great Tango scene at the beginning that introduces the Valentino character. It is considered an anti-war film. During the French scenes Valentino and Terry spoke French to impress the lip readers. Part of the Library of Congress National Film Registry.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
May 5 Tyrone Power
To celebrate Tyrone Power’s birthday I watched Nightmare Alley. Tyrone plays a carney barker working with Zeena mystic played by Joan Blondell. He loves everything about the carnival. Joan is married to her partner whom she has been working an act in vaudeville. He is an alcoholic. Joan decides to put him in treatment. Tyrone buys a bottle of moonshine. When he sees the man he puts it in a trunk to hide it from him. As they talk Tyrone pulls out the bottle and gives it to him. The next morning the man is dead. The bottle was wood alcohol used as part of the act. Tyrone goes to the trunk and pulls out a bottle. It is the moonshine. He hides the bottle in the truck.
Tyrone and Joan revive the mind-reading act that was done in vaudeville. She is blindfolded and he holds up an item and she tells what he is holding. There is a code. I can’t figure out how they are selling tickets or making money on the act. Tyrone is interested in Colleen Gray a fellow performer Electra. The sheriff comes to arrest a few of the workers. Colleen for wearing a skimpy costume, the Geek for eating live chickens and another. Tyrone talks him out of it and the sheriff leaves without arresting anyone. Joan and Tyrone are going to leave the carnival and go onto better things. Tyrone and Colleen spend a lot of time together and her companion decide that she and Tyrone must get married. Tyrone decides to take the act into nightclubs with Colleen.
One night a woman tries to trick him. He sees through the trick. She invites him to his office to find out how he did it. She is a psychoanalyst who records what her clients say for further research. Tyrone sees this and decides that it is a new racket that he would like to get into when his night club contract ends. He works with the analyst in a con for $150,000. He is given $150 one dollar bills. He goes back to the analyst to get the money and he falls apart. He goes to the station where his wife meets him. He puts her on the train and he leaves the station. He becomes homeless and an alcoholic. He goes to a carnival and is offered a job as a Geek. That night he goes wild and his wife sees him and goes after him.
Tyrone is really good in the film. He starts off as a charming, handsome and ambitious man to a middle aged worn out alcoholic. The makeup at the end of the film has him look like the beast that he is playing.
Tyrone and Joan revive the mind-reading act that was done in vaudeville. She is blindfolded and he holds up an item and she tells what he is holding. There is a code. I can’t figure out how they are selling tickets or making money on the act. Tyrone is interested in Colleen Gray a fellow performer Electra. The sheriff comes to arrest a few of the workers. Colleen for wearing a skimpy costume, the Geek for eating live chickens and another. Tyrone talks him out of it and the sheriff leaves without arresting anyone. Joan and Tyrone are going to leave the carnival and go onto better things. Tyrone and Colleen spend a lot of time together and her companion decide that she and Tyrone must get married. Tyrone decides to take the act into nightclubs with Colleen.
One night a woman tries to trick him. He sees through the trick. She invites him to his office to find out how he did it. She is a psychoanalyst who records what her clients say for further research. Tyrone sees this and decides that it is a new racket that he would like to get into when his night club contract ends. He works with the analyst in a con for $150,000. He is given $150 one dollar bills. He goes back to the analyst to get the money and he falls apart. He goes to the station where his wife meets him. He puts her on the train and he leaves the station. He becomes homeless and an alcoholic. He goes to a carnival and is offered a job as a Geek. That night he goes wild and his wife sees him and goes after him.
Tyrone is really good in the film. He starts off as a charming, handsome and ambitious man to a middle aged worn out alcoholic. The makeup at the end of the film has him look like the beast that he is playing.
May 4 Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn
TCM celebrated Audrey Hepburn’s birthday with a marathon. I watched A Nun’s Story. Audrey played a young woman who becomes and nun and her life as a nun. It is not the most exciting movie I have ever seen, but it has its moments. At the beginning the journey into nunhood made me think of a person going into jail. Your identity changes from a person to a number. You cannot speak during parts of the day you cannot speak to the other nuns, you have your hair shortened and you to practice strict obedience.
After becoming a nurse she goes into the Congo to serve. Even in surgery she has to wear her habit. It is covered with a surgical gown, but it is still there. She has to take communion separately if she is assisting in a surgery. She becomes ill and after a short recuperation she is sent back home to fully recover. While at home Nazi solders have killed her father. She takes hate to her heart and feels that she cannot forgive her fellow man and decides she must leave the church. Everyone believes that she is taking it too hard and that she should stay in the church.
I always thought that Audrey Hepburn made a good nun because she had a ethereal presence.
TCM celebrated Audrey Hepburn’s birthday with a marathon. I watched A Nun’s Story. Audrey played a young woman who becomes and nun and her life as a nun. It is not the most exciting movie I have ever seen, but it has its moments. At the beginning the journey into nunhood made me think of a person going into jail. Your identity changes from a person to a number. You cannot speak during parts of the day you cannot speak to the other nuns, you have your hair shortened and you to practice strict obedience.
After becoming a nurse she goes into the Congo to serve. Even in surgery she has to wear her habit. It is covered with a surgical gown, but it is still there. She has to take communion separately if she is assisting in a surgery. She becomes ill and after a short recuperation she is sent back home to fully recover. While at home Nazi solders have killed her father. She takes hate to her heart and feels that she cannot forgive her fellow man and decides she must leave the church. Everyone believes that she is taking it too hard and that she should stay in the church.
I always thought that Audrey Hepburn made a good nun because she had a ethereal presence.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
May 3 Aline MacMahon
Happy Birthday Bing Crosby, Mary Astor, Aline MacMahon and Walter Slezak.
Of the above only Aline MacMahon does not get a birthday marathon. Bing Crosby got a day on Monday the 2nd, Mary Astor Tuesday the 3rd and Walter Slezak films will be shown Friday the 13th. There is one film shown in Mary’s honor that also has Aline MacMahon, The World Changes. Aline may be the lesser known of the three but she is a talented actress with a wide range of roles. My favorites are a con-artist countess in One Way Passage and a Fur coat designer in Side Street a pre-code drama. A lot of her films are available at WBshop.com/archive.
In The World Changes the story takes place 1856 to 1929. At the beginning of the film Aline plays a young married woman pregnant on a wagon in the Dakota territory. Next she is chopping wood with the baby in the cradle nearby. As a town develops she decides it will be called Orinville after her child and husband. A wedding takes place in town and Orin makes a speech which she tries to make him stop and she watches how much she drinks. When Custer comes into town to clear the Indians higher into the mountains he tells the people the war is over. “What war?” she asks. The war between the north and the south. We have been fighting the war for America since we got here. Orin, now grown, played by Paul Muni, decides to go to Texas to by cattle and bring them north to get better price his mother protests. We came out here to get land and a home for us. Not selfish seeking money. Orin leaves early in the morning with a note. She sees him leaves and a smile comes to her face.
1929 Orin’s granddaughter is getting married. Aline in Orinville sees the story in the paper and decides to go to NY for the wedding, On the train she gives final instructions to her workers. The grandchildren she has never seen thinks to put her in a quite corner and get her a nurse. When she gets to NY she stays with her grandchildren. She drills her great children and they don’t work. She grills her granddaughter’s husband to be, an English baron what he does and he can’t handle it and leaves the room. She becomes angry with her son, is this how you raised your children? The crash happens and Orin’s son, a broker commits suicide. Orin sees him lying dead on the ground and his life flashes before his life and he dies. Aline and her great-grandson Orin go to Orinville where they pray over the land. She sees in the distance her old wagon and the final shot of the film is her smiling a sad smile.
The montages that show the passage of time are very well done. There are pictures of major innovations with a world turning in the background.
Of the above only Aline MacMahon does not get a birthday marathon. Bing Crosby got a day on Monday the 2nd, Mary Astor Tuesday the 3rd and Walter Slezak films will be shown Friday the 13th. There is one film shown in Mary’s honor that also has Aline MacMahon, The World Changes. Aline may be the lesser known of the three but she is a talented actress with a wide range of roles. My favorites are a con-artist countess in One Way Passage and a Fur coat designer in Side Street a pre-code drama. A lot of her films are available at WBshop.com/archive.
In The World Changes the story takes place 1856 to 1929. At the beginning of the film Aline plays a young married woman pregnant on a wagon in the Dakota territory. Next she is chopping wood with the baby in the cradle nearby. As a town develops she decides it will be called Orinville after her child and husband. A wedding takes place in town and Orin makes a speech which she tries to make him stop and she watches how much she drinks. When Custer comes into town to clear the Indians higher into the mountains he tells the people the war is over. “What war?” she asks. The war between the north and the south. We have been fighting the war for America since we got here. Orin, now grown, played by Paul Muni, decides to go to Texas to by cattle and bring them north to get better price his mother protests. We came out here to get land and a home for us. Not selfish seeking money. Orin leaves early in the morning with a note. She sees him leaves and a smile comes to her face.
1929 Orin’s granddaughter is getting married. Aline in Orinville sees the story in the paper and decides to go to NY for the wedding, On the train she gives final instructions to her workers. The grandchildren she has never seen thinks to put her in a quite corner and get her a nurse. When she gets to NY she stays with her grandchildren. She drills her great children and they don’t work. She grills her granddaughter’s husband to be, an English baron what he does and he can’t handle it and leaves the room. She becomes angry with her son, is this how you raised your children? The crash happens and Orin’s son, a broker commits suicide. Orin sees him lying dead on the ground and his life flashes before his life and he dies. Aline and her great-grandson Orin go to Orinville where they pray over the land. She sees in the distance her old wagon and the final shot of the film is her smiling a sad smile.
The montages that show the passage of time are very well done. There are pictures of major innovations with a world turning in the background.
May 2 Brian Aherne
To celebrate Brian Aherne’s birthday I watched I Confess. It is a noir(ish) black and white Alfred Hitchcock film. The opening credits were over a church that was photographed from a boat on the river in Quebec. After the credits there is a sign after sign of “direction” a one way arrow. The final one points in a window where a body is seen on the floor with blood on his forehead. As the camera comes in the room the beaded curtain swings. It looks like a man in a priest coat walking out of the he building. A camera views sideways and upwards at the church. The camera shows Montgomery Clift in priests cloth at the window with the church reflected in the window. A man, the maintenance man at the church confesses to Clift that he killed a man by accident.
Brian Aherne plays a prosecutor. Detective Karl Malden comes to his office with a few witnesses. “Shall I bring in the girls?” the assistant asks. “Yes brings in the girls” Brian states with a gleam. In comes two pre-teen school girls. “Oh” he states disappointedly. He does several parlor tricks throughout the film.
During the investigation they go from church to church. There are camera views of upward and sideway shots of churches, mainly close up of steeples. Very interesting angles.
During the trial Brian Aherne is very soft spoken in his questions. He doesn’t come over as a bully or overbearing as most prosecutors are portrayed in films.
Brian Aherne plays a prosecutor. Detective Karl Malden comes to his office with a few witnesses. “Shall I bring in the girls?” the assistant asks. “Yes brings in the girls” Brian states with a gleam. In comes two pre-teen school girls. “Oh” he states disappointedly. He does several parlor tricks throughout the film.
During the investigation they go from church to church. There are camera views of upward and sideway shots of churches, mainly close up of steeples. Very interesting angles.
During the trial Brian Aherne is very soft spoken in his questions. He doesn’t come over as a bully or overbearing as most prosecutors are portrayed in films.
May 1 Glenn Ford
Happy Birthday Danielle Darrieux and Glenn Ford.
TCM showed Tea House Of The August Moon on Glenn Ford’s birthday. Glenn Ford plays Captain Grisby a man who was requested to request a transfer during the American occupation of Asia after WWII. He was requested to ask for a transfer from psychological warfare after his campaign of propaganda to undermine the enemies moral, undermined the staffs moral instead. Before that he had been asked to transfer from payroll where he had overpaid a total of half a million dollars in wages.
He is sent to instill democracy into Tobiki. He goes and creates a cabinet of leaders. It is decided to take the wood that is meant to build a school to make a tea house. There is a local drink of brandy which is created by sweet potatoes that they decide to manufacture and sell to raise money. The company is called Tobiki Brewing Co.
My favorite part is once the tea house is completed there is native dancing. The costume, the grace, the fan and the music just seem magical. Then Glenn and Edward Arnold sing and get the natives to clap during Deep In The Heart of Texas. The area commander comes and finds out what happened. He orders the tea house taken down and the stills broken. When he finds out that each person gets a share “that’s communism”. He orders Glenn to leave. Glenn tells Lotus Blossom good bye through interpreter Marlon Brando. The commander gets a call and a senator in the area wants to see the company as an example of American ingenuity. The natives put the tea house back together.
TCM showed Tea House Of The August Moon on Glenn Ford’s birthday. Glenn Ford plays Captain Grisby a man who was requested to request a transfer during the American occupation of Asia after WWII. He was requested to ask for a transfer from psychological warfare after his campaign of propaganda to undermine the enemies moral, undermined the staffs moral instead. Before that he had been asked to transfer from payroll where he had overpaid a total of half a million dollars in wages.
He is sent to instill democracy into Tobiki. He goes and creates a cabinet of leaders. It is decided to take the wood that is meant to build a school to make a tea house. There is a local drink of brandy which is created by sweet potatoes that they decide to manufacture and sell to raise money. The company is called Tobiki Brewing Co.
My favorite part is once the tea house is completed there is native dancing. The costume, the grace, the fan and the music just seem magical. Then Glenn and Edward Arnold sing and get the natives to clap during Deep In The Heart of Texas. The area commander comes and finds out what happened. He orders the tea house taken down and the stills broken. When he finds out that each person gets a share “that’s communism”. He orders Glenn to leave. Glenn tells Lotus Blossom good bye through interpreter Marlon Brando. The commander gets a call and a senator in the area wants to see the company as an example of American ingenuity. The natives put the tea house back together.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
April 29 Celeste Holm
Happy Birthday Duke Ellington and Celeste Holm
To celebrate Celeste Holm’s birthday I watched All About Eve. It is a film that I have tried to watch several times but just could not get into. When it aired recently I was able to see the last half hour. That got me intrigued and I decided to give the film another try. I am glad I did it is very well acted and a cohesive plot.
The film starts off at an award banquet. The final award has Eve Harrington’s name listed. George Sanders introduces the characters in a voice over. Celeste Holms is a playwrights wife. She is in the theater by marriage. A housewife with a very soft spoken voice (my description not George Sanders). Eve (Anne Baxter) is given the award and every one but Celeste Holms and Bette Davis applaud. The rest is a flashback. Celeste is the person who first meets Eve outside of the stage door and takes her backstage to meet Bette Davis a 40 year old living legend actress. Eve gets a job working as an assistant to Bette. Celeste and Eve talk at a party. Eve asks Celeste to talk with the producer to get him to hire her as the understudy for the play, which she gets. There is a great scene where people sit on the stairs at the party and talk. It is very intimate. Celeste sits at the top. She is part of the crowd but separate. Eve talks about what acting means to her and Celeste is very taken and sympatric with her. At rehearsal the playwright and Bette argue. Celeste has an idea that will give Eve her chance. When Bette is driven to the station after a visit out of town the car runs out of gas. A strange look comes over Celeste’s face. As she and Bette talk waiting for assistance she realizes how wrong about Bette and is racked in guilt. Eve plays the role that night. Which the critics knew she would before Bette even started for the station. The next day there is a piece in the paper about the performance and Celeste goes to console Bette, guilt and shame in her face and body movements. Eve then goes for the playwright. The playwright has a new play ready which he may give to Eve, but Eve wouldn’t ask for that. Celeste states “Eve would ask Abbott to give her Costello”. That is a great line. She has seen through Eve and her loyalties have changed.
At a restaurant after a performance Eve asks Celeste to meet her in the ladies lounge. As Eve explains what happened Celeste does not believe her and is very cynical. Then Eve talks her over again and Celeste starts to defend Eve to Eve. Eve wins her over again. Celeste is to tell her husband that Eve is the best for the lead in the new play. Eve blackmails Celeste “simple exchange of favors” by threatening to tell Bette about what really happened to cause her to miss the performance. Eve leaves and the camera stays on Celeste as she sits for a few moments trying to compose herself. When she goes back to the table she is not herself. When Bette states that she does not want the role in the new play Celeste starts laughing hysterically. Bette moves the glass of Champaign away from Celeste. Back to the opening banquet Celeste congratulates Eve politely then leaves.
Bette Davis has the best lines and gives a wonderful performance. All the actors were great. There is almost a subtext story of woman vs. man. Some of the lines repeat from character to character and they are said when the other characters are not present making it somewhat universal.
To celebrate Celeste Holm’s birthday I watched All About Eve. It is a film that I have tried to watch several times but just could not get into. When it aired recently I was able to see the last half hour. That got me intrigued and I decided to give the film another try. I am glad I did it is very well acted and a cohesive plot.
The film starts off at an award banquet. The final award has Eve Harrington’s name listed. George Sanders introduces the characters in a voice over. Celeste Holms is a playwrights wife. She is in the theater by marriage. A housewife with a very soft spoken voice (my description not George Sanders). Eve (Anne Baxter) is given the award and every one but Celeste Holms and Bette Davis applaud. The rest is a flashback. Celeste is the person who first meets Eve outside of the stage door and takes her backstage to meet Bette Davis a 40 year old living legend actress. Eve gets a job working as an assistant to Bette. Celeste and Eve talk at a party. Eve asks Celeste to talk with the producer to get him to hire her as the understudy for the play, which she gets. There is a great scene where people sit on the stairs at the party and talk. It is very intimate. Celeste sits at the top. She is part of the crowd but separate. Eve talks about what acting means to her and Celeste is very taken and sympatric with her. At rehearsal the playwright and Bette argue. Celeste has an idea that will give Eve her chance. When Bette is driven to the station after a visit out of town the car runs out of gas. A strange look comes over Celeste’s face. As she and Bette talk waiting for assistance she realizes how wrong about Bette and is racked in guilt. Eve plays the role that night. Which the critics knew she would before Bette even started for the station. The next day there is a piece in the paper about the performance and Celeste goes to console Bette, guilt and shame in her face and body movements. Eve then goes for the playwright. The playwright has a new play ready which he may give to Eve, but Eve wouldn’t ask for that. Celeste states “Eve would ask Abbott to give her Costello”. That is a great line. She has seen through Eve and her loyalties have changed.
At a restaurant after a performance Eve asks Celeste to meet her in the ladies lounge. As Eve explains what happened Celeste does not believe her and is very cynical. Then Eve talks her over again and Celeste starts to defend Eve to Eve. Eve wins her over again. Celeste is to tell her husband that Eve is the best for the lead in the new play. Eve blackmails Celeste “simple exchange of favors” by threatening to tell Bette about what really happened to cause her to miss the performance. Eve leaves and the camera stays on Celeste as she sits for a few moments trying to compose herself. When she goes back to the table she is not herself. When Bette states that she does not want the role in the new play Celeste starts laughing hysterically. Bette moves the glass of Champaign away from Celeste. Back to the opening banquet Celeste congratulates Eve politely then leaves.
Bette Davis has the best lines and gives a wonderful performance. All the actors were great. There is almost a subtext story of woman vs. man. Some of the lines repeat from character to character and they are said when the other characters are not present making it somewhat universal.
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