Recycled Costumes from "The Fallen Sparrow" (1943)

This month we have a special feature on recycled costumes originally worn by Maureen O'Hara in The Fallen Sparrow (1943) - apologies for the lack of recycled costume posts lately. I started a new job where I'm on the computer all day so the last thing I want to do in my free time is stare at a computer...

These stunning outfits were created by Edward Stevenson, head designer for RKO.

Worn by the hotel proprietress in The Falcon in Mexico (1944).

Worn by Jean Brooks in The Falcon in Hollywood (1944).

Worn by Jean Brooks (center) in Two O'Clock Courage (1945) and 

for a publicity portrait of Anne Jeffreys. I absolutely love this gown!

Worn by Laraine Day in Bride by Mistake (1944), a remake of The Richest Girl in the World (1934). 

Bette's Hats & Reviews: The Big Shakedown (1934)

Bette's first film of 1934 was The Big Shakedown. She only references it sarcastically in her autobiography, The Lonely Life: "They needed me desperately for such historic milestones as The Big Shakedown and The Man with the Black Hat."

The first hat is only on the screen long enough for the Justice of the Peace to say "By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife. That'll be $2." You can see a better shot of the hat here.

Bette Davis has little to do but look attractive as an ingenue, the wife of the chemist (Charles Farrell).

~ Picturegoer Weekly, March 3, 1934

The only advantage Bette Davis enjoys is that she is not on much and so does not bore as often. 

~ Variety

Farrell and Miss Davis are not at their best.

~ Film Daily

I wonder if this photo is from a scene cut from the film? It says it's from The Big Shakedown.

Movies I Watched in March

Love is a Many Splendored Thing (1955)

As usual, there wasn't much on TCM for their 31 Days of Oscar programming that I wanted to watch and, as I'm still watching lots of Kurt Russell movies, this month didn't have as many pre-1970 films as it typically does. I also watched several television episodes in which Russell guest starred in, as well as some episodes of a show he starred in as a kid, The Travels of Jamie McPheeters (they're on a YT channel devoted to the Osmond brothers).

1. The Dark Angel (1935) - Fredric March, Merle Oberon, Herbert Marshall
2. A Letter to Three Wives (1949) - Jeanne Crain & Jeffrey Lynn, Ann Sothern & Kirk Douglas, Linda Darnell & Paul Douglas, Thelma Ritter, Celeste Holm (voice)
3. Fancy Pants (1950) - Bob Hope & Lucille Ball, Bruce Cabot, Eric Blore, John Alexander 
4. Hong Kong (1952) - Ronald Reagan & Rhonda Fleming 
5. Love is a Many Splendored Thing (1955) - William Holden & Jennifer Jones
6. The Night My Number Came Up (1955) - Michael Redgrave, Sheila Sim, Alexander Knox, Denholm Elliott
7. Judgement at Nuremberg (1961) - Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Marlene Dietrich, Richard Widmark, Maximilian Schell, Montgomery Clift, Judy Garland, William Shatner, Werner Klemperer
8. Love with the Proper Stranger (1963) - Natalie Wood & Steve McQueen 
9. The Golden Head (1964) - George Sanders, Buddy Hackett, Jess Conrad
10. Butterflies are Free (1972) - Goldie Hawn & Edward Albert, Eileen Heckart
11. Search for the Gods (1975) - Stephen McHattie, Kurt Russell, Ralph Bellamy
12. Amber Waves (1980) - Dennis Weaver, Kurt Russell 
13. The Thing (1982) - Kurt Russell
14. Summer Rental (1985) - John Candy
15. Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) - Kathleen Turner & Nicholas Cage, Jim Carrey, Helen Hunt, Leon Ames & Maureen O’Sullivan
16. Big Trouble in Little China (1986) - Kurt Russell, Dennis Dun, James Hong, Kim Cattrall
17. Tango & Cash (1989) - Sylvester Stallone, Kurt Russell, Jack Palance, James Hong
18. Stargate (1994) - James Spader, Kurt Russell, Viveca Lindfors 
19. *While You Were Sleeping (1995) - Sandra Bullock & Bill Pullman, Peter Gallagher, Peter Boyle, Jack Warden, Glynis Johns
20. Soldier (1998) - Kurt Russell 
21. Dreamer (2005) - Dakota Fanning, Kurt Russell, Kris Kristofferson, Freddy Rodriguez
22. Bottle Shock (2008) - Chris Pine, Alan Rickman, Bill Pullman, Freddy Rodriguez, Rachel Taylor
23. The Iron Lady (2011) - Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent, Olivia Colman
24. Safe Haven (2013) - Julianne Hough & Josh Duhamel

Least Favorite Film: I’m going to say The Thing mainly because there were a lot of gross parts that I had to skip. 

Favorite Movie: Lots of great movies this month. I’m obsessed with the soundtrack to Love is a Many Splendored Thing. I thought Kurt Russell was great in Soldier. Also, I need him to have been in a boxing movie...

Favorite Quote: "To go on living, one must be occasionally unwise." ~ Jennifer Jones in Love is a Many Splendored Thing (1955).

I recently started a new job and was unable to get out my Recycled Costume post and Royal Film Performance post (I'm waiting on some material for that anyway so I was already planning on postponing it).

There will not be a Cinema Wedding Gown post next month because of Easter. It will return in May. 

Me trying to write under "work" conditions ;)