Golden Age Actresses

[foxy]

One of my favorites, Judy Holliday is being featured this month at MoMA. A brilliant actress who played the dumb blond and died way way too young.

[body2body]

One of my favorites, Judy Holliday is being featured this month at MoMA. A brilliant actress who played the dumb blond and died way way too young.

When Judy Holliday died my Mother cried saying that she was taken too young, and had brought the gift of laughter to so many people.

[Despardo]

Venturing away from the leading lady category for a moment, I'd like to mention Jane Darwell's performance as Ma Joad in The Grapes of Wrath. She lets you see life through her eyes and it breaks your heart.

She was great in G 0f W. She also played a cameo in Mary Poppins as the old bird woman.

[Despardo]

She was terrific. I've always thought it was a testament to her talent and versatility that she could be so right for the role of the sensible mother with the house full of kids in Meet Me in St. Louis just three years after being so right for the role of the deceitful femme fatale in The Maltese Falcon.

 

I think the great line about the stages of an actor's life has been attributed to others, but most often to her: There are five stages in the life of an actor: Who's Mary Astor? Get me Mary Astor. Get me a Mary Astor type. Get me a young Mary Astor. Who's Mary Astor?

I heard it with "Get me a cheaper Mary Astor."

[Kippy]

Greer Garson is a talent often over looked-- an accented/affected voice that can't be duplicated in tone or cadence.

 

 

[+ WilliamM]

I am not sure if anyone's cable package includes the station Decades. Throughout the day Decades shows 90-minute Dick Cavett Shows from the early 1970s. This morning Lucille Ball was the only guest. Cavett asked whom she misses who had passed away. Lucy mentioned a lot of people, including Carole Lombard, who was a close friend. Lucy also knew Hedda Hopper to Clark Gable to Harpo Marx to John Ford to Bogart & Bacall. Lucy lived across the street from Jimmy Stewart in Beverly Hills.

 

Can anyone recommend great Carole Lombard Films? Many of her films are available on YouTube.

[actor61]

I am not sure if anyone's cable package includes the station Decades. Throughout the day Decades shows 90-minute Dick Cavett Shows from the early 1970s. This morning Lucille Ball was the only guest. Cavett asked whom she misses who had passed away. Lucy mentioned a lot of people, including Carole Lombard, who was a close friend. Lucy also knew Hedda Hopper to Clark Gable to Harpo Marx to John Ford to Bogart & Bacall. Lucy lived across the street from Jimmy Stewart in Beverly Hills.

 

Can anyone recommend great Carole Lombard Films? Many of her films are available on YouTube.

I am not sure if anyone's cable package includes the station Decades. Throughout the day Decades shows 90-minute Dick Cavett Shows from the early 1970s. This morning Lucille Ball was the only guest. Cavett asked whom she misses who had passed away. Lucy mentioned a lot of people, including Carole Lombard, who was a close friend. Lucy also knew Hedda Hopper to Clark Gable to Harpo Marx to John Ford to Bogart & Bacall. Lucy lived across the street from Jimmy Stewart in Beverly Hills.

 

Can anyone recommend great Carole Lombard Films? Many of her films are available on YouTube.

I've watched that Cavett interview with Ball before (today was a repeat). He has always driven me nuts and I don't understand why he was so popular. I think he's one of the worst interviewers ever. Ball was interesting but her endless fiddling with the fucking feathers she was wearing at her neck and cuffs was terribly distracting! And her arrogance kind of peeked out at times too. But interesting nevertheless.

 

I loved Carole Lombard. I think her best performance was in a forgotten film with Charles Laughton called "They Knew What They Wanted". (It was later turned into the musical "The Most Happy Fella".) She was famous for comedy but was quite an effective dramatic actress as well. And so pretty in an unspectacular way. I think that was one of her secrets - she was lovely but not threatening and that made her believable in just about everything she did. The great beauties such as Elizabeth Taylor or Sophia Loren are just awful in comedies because you can't believe anybody that gorgeous would take a pie in the face. Colbert, Lombard, Dunne, Ball were pretty enough to be appealing but not gorgeous enough to be distracting. Ball could be an effective dramatic actress too. She is wonderful in "The Big Street".

 

So, to return to the original question: the Lombard films I recommend are "My Man Godfrey" (of course), "They Knew What They Wanted", "To Be or Not To Be", "Mr. and Mrs. Smith", and "Nothing Sacred".

[Kenny]

"The Women" (1939) is a nearly flawless period-piece romp with almost uniformly great performances by an ensemble cast of just, well, women. Even Norma Shearer is watchable. And Rosalind Russell and Mary Boland rock. One of the funniest movies ever.

[+ WilliamM]

I've watched that Cavett interview with Ball before (today was a repeat). He has always driven me nuts and I don't understand why he was so popular. I think he's one of the worst interviewers ever. Ball was interesting but her endless fiddling with the fucking feathers she was wearing at her neck and cuffs was terribly distracting! And her arrogance kind of peeked out at times too. But interesting nevertheless.

 

Dick Cavett wrote for Jack Paar when Parr was the host of "The Tonight Show." Paar had the usual talk show guests, but also Bea Lillie, Elsa Maxwell, Robert Morley, Oscar Levant, Noel Coward. Lynn Fontanne, Mary Martin, David Merrick. Paar was the first talk show host who interviewed Judy Garland. Cavett was a mix of Jack Paar and Johnny Carson, but more intellectual.

 

I thought Lucy lacked patience, rather than showing arrogance. She did not hesitate to quietly accuse Carson of giving male actors who specialized in comic roles more credit the female actresses who did the same thing, including Carole Lombard.

[Kenny]

I thought Lucy lacked patience, rather than showing arrogance.

I wonder whether Lucy's alcoholism had anything to do with it.

[+ WilliamM]

I wonder whether Lucy's alcoholism had anything to do with it.

 

Absolutely.

 

I remember reading a book by a distant relative of Lucy's husband, Gary Morton. The young man (and occasionally, his partner) became pals with Lucy near the end of her life. She was very demanding, but he was totally in awe of her. After the book was published, I remember someone who knew Lucy saying she treated the young pal/author like shit.

[+ WilliamM]

@Kenny, Dick Cavett asked Lucy about her son's playboy image. Desi Arnaz, Jr. was then dating Liza Minnelli. They were living in Lucy's guest house.

Lucy immediately said, "You can not domesticate Liza," and said she had told her son directly.

 

Lucy made a point to say that she liked Liza, which I believe was true.

 

Liza's dad, Vincente Minnelli, directed the Lucy-Desi film, "The Long, Long Trailer."

[Kenny]

@Kenny, Dick Cavett asked Lucy about her son's playboy image. Desi Arnaz, Jr. was then dating Liza Minnelli. They were living in Lucy's guest house.

Lucy immediately said, "You can not domesticate Liza," and said she had told her son directly.

 

Lucy made a point to say that she liked Liza, which I believe was true.

 

Liza's dad, Vincente Minnelli, directed the Lucy-Desi film, "The Long, Long Trailer."

Vincente Minelli was also partial to green eye shadow, from what I understand.

[Lookin]

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-copDmB4whVM/VyB3ZaQhxUI/AAAAAAAABlo/C2gWO3v_PdQfFb8SGJYSn0bNYA7i_O7XACK4B/s1600-r/P%25C3%25A9ch%25C3%25A9%2Bmortel.jpg

[N13]

Gene Tierney

[+ Kufrol]

I always admired Penny Singleton who played Blondie from 1938 to 1950, and later provided the voice for Jane Jetson. She distinguished herself off stage by becoming the first woman president of an AFL-CIO union (AGVA) and was among the first performers to negotiate a residuals clause in her contracts.