This year I have discovered Auction Catalogs. Unfortunately - rather than being collected in one fabulous museum - costumes, jewelry, photos, and props from Classic Hollywood films are often owned by private collectors or consist of personal collections auctioned off by the actor or actress's family after their passing. Oftentimes the person who buys these items ends up selling them after a while and we end up with annual actions with catalogs featuring pages of fabulous items.
On Nov. 18, Julien's Auctions is having an auction consisting entirely of jewelry from the famous Joseff of Hollywood. The catalog, which you can view online, has over 400 pages of glittering jewels that once adorned the most beautiful of women and the most handsome of men. Here are a few of my favorite pages.
If you could own any of these pieces, or any of the other pieces in the catalog, which would you choose? Oh! To be fabulously wealthy at a time like this!
Update: Last night I started watching Rose-Marie (1936) and I noticed the bracelet Jeannette MacDonald wears on her left wrist appears to be the same one worn by Myrna Loy I shared above. As both films were made by MGM in 1936 and had their jewelry provided by Joseff of Hollywood I am almost certain it is the same piece.
October turned out to be Jane Fonda/Robert Redford/1970s month. I've posted before on my blog facebook page and on twitter my pitifully small list of films I've seen and enjoyed from the 1970s so I was excited to find three films (two starring Jane Fonda) and a TV mini-series that I enjoyed. And due to my access to WatchTCM I have been able to see many movies I would have never recorded (aka I watched a ridiculous amount of movies this month).
Does anyone else think Drew Barrymore looks like Zita Johann?
I thought they must be related but they aren't.
I watched the Sissi trilogy starring Romy Schneider, making it's TCM debut. I loved it! I took a ton of screenshots of the lavish costumes and gorgeous Austrian scenery, where it was filmed. The trilogy, and Schneider's The Story of Vickie, were my first German language films! A new dvd set of the four films, plus the condensed-into-one dubbed English Sissi movie Forever My Love, was released yesterday! It also includes a 20 min. making of feature and a 20 page booklet. You can buy it here. I really want it!
Two movies I was happy to FINALLY get around to watching were The Mummy (1932), Old Acquaintance (1943), and The Innocents (1961). I also watched my first Lizabeth Scott, Margaret Lockwood, Romy Schneider, Marge & Gower Champion, and Robert Donat films! I also discovered Paula Prentiss in Where the Boys Are (1960). I'm excited to watch all of her films from the 60s!
(* means a rewatch)
The Mummy (1932) - Boris Karloff, Zita Johann
Murder in the Private Car (1934) - Charles Ruggles, Una Merkel
Knight Without Armour (1937) - Robert Donat & Marlene Dietrich
Joy of Living (1938) - Irene Dunne & Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Lucille Ball
Castle on the Hudson (1940) - John Garfield & Ann Sheridan, Pat O'Brien, Burgess Meredith
The Great Lie (1941) - Bette Davis, Mary Astor, George Brent
All Through the Night (1942) - Humphrey Bogart, Conrad Veidt, Peter Lorre
Joe Smith, American (1942) - Robert Young & Marsha Hunt, Darryl Hickman
The Affairs of Martha (1942) - Marsha Hunt, Marjorie Main
I Walked with a Zombie (1943) - Frances Dee, Tom Conway
Old Acquaintance (1943) - Bette Davis, Miriam Hopkins, Gig Young
A Place of One's Own (1945) - Margaret Lockwood, James Mason
Anna and the King of Siam (1946) - Rex Harrison & Irene Dunne, Linda Darnell, Lee J. Cobb, Gale Sondergaard
Boomerang (1947) - Dana Andrews & Jane Wyatt
*Portrait of Jennie (1948) - Joseph Cotten & Jennifer Jones, Ethel Barrymore
April Showers (1948) - Jack Carson & Ann Sothern
Night Unto Night (1949) - Ronald Reagan
Easy Living (1949) - Victor Mature, Lizabeth Scott, Lucille Ball, Los Angeles Rams
Little Women (1978) - Dorothy McGuire, Robert Young, Greer Garson
The Electric Horseman (1979) - Robert Redford & Jane Fonda
The China Syndrome (1979) - Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon, Michael Douglas
Our Souls at Night (2017) - Robert Redford & Jane Fonda
Least Favorite Film of the Month: It was a pretty good month for me. Scaramouche was kind of lame but I was watching it for Eleanor Parker. Same goes for The Actress and Jean Simmons. And I didn't like the rape storyline in Where the Boys Are. It had started out as such a fun movie! Also, I really wanted Esther Williams to walk out on Van Johnson in Easy to Love. She deserved better! The Florida-shaped pool was pretty epic though :)
Favorite Movie: The Sissi Trilogy, as I mentioned above. The Solid Gold Cadillac was great (despite the author's contrary opinion in Holliday's biography...) as well as the Fonda films. Our Souls at Night was very sweet. I would highly recommend it to any Fonda/Redford fan (get the one month free trial if you have to). What's Up, Doc? was a throwback to the Screwball days, a la Bringing Up Baby. Also, Rod Taylor was adorable in World Without End ;)
Some months there are too many movies I enjoyed and I feel like I should write little blurbs about some of them. Would anyone be interested in that?
This month a wonderful thing happened. My tv provider - Spectrum - was finally added to WatchTCM!!!! Which means I no longer have to dvr every movie I want to watch on TCM and can discover movies that I would have originally passed over!
Another awesome discover was scans of Old Hollywood Photoplay magazines! I've made a separate page for them at the top of my blog where I linking them in chronological order. Check it out!
The Beast of the City (1932) - Walter Huston, Jean Harlow
Brief Moment (1933) - Carole Lombard
The Gay Bride (1934) - Carole Lombard & Chester Morris
Love, Honor and Behave (1938) - Wayne Morris & Priscilla Lane
Topper Returns (1941) - Roland Young, Carole Landis, Joan Blondell, Billie Burke, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson
Out of the Fog (1941) - John Garfield & Ida Lupino, Thomas Mitchell
The Mysterious Doctor (1943) - John Loder, Eleanor Parker
Dead Men Walk (1943) - George Zucco
The Unsuspected (1947) - Claude Rains, Audrey Totter, Constance Bennett
The Sin of Harold Diddlebock (1947) - Harold Lloyd
State of the Union (1948) - Spencer Tracy & Katharine Hepburn, Angela Lansbury, Van Johnson, Adolph Menjeu
At Sword's Point (1951) - Maureen O'Hara
Escape from Fort Bravo (1953) - William Holden & Eleanor Parker
Code Two (1953) - Ralph Meeker, Keenan Wynn
It Should Happen to You (1953) - Judy Holliday & Jack Lemmon, Peter Lawford
Phffft! (1954) - Judy Holliday & Jack Lemmon, Jack Carson, Kim Novak
Miracle in the Rain (1956) - Jane Wyman & Van Johnson
A Hole in the Head (1959) - Frank Sinatra, Edward G. Robinson, Thelma Ritter, Eleanor Parker, Carolyn Jones
The Scapegoat (1959) - Alec Guinness
Murder She Said (1961) - Margaret Rutherford (based on 4:50 From Paddington, which I've read)
Cairo (1963) - George Sanders
Spencer's Mountain (1963) - Henry Fonda & Maureen O'Hara, James MacArthur
Walk Don't Run (1966) - Cary Grant, Jim Hutton, Samantha Eggar
Titanic (1997) - Kate Winslet & Leonardo DiCaprio (first time watching!)
The Cobbler (2014) - Adam Sandler, Dustin Hoffman
Beauty and the Beast (2017) - Emma Watson & Dan Stevens (better than I expected)
Least Favorite Film: I did not like The Nanny at all. When a movie starts with kids chanting or singing, I probably won't like it. Those kind of movies creep me out. I also *gasp* did not like Out of the Fog. If you've followed me for a while you might know I'm kind of obsessed with John Garfield - I hosted a blogathon in his honor this year - but I sincerely hated him in this film. That just goes to show you what a fantastic actor he is, to make ME hate HIM!
Favorite Film: Hands down It Should Happen to You (1953) followed closely by Phffft! (1954). Walk Don't Run ended up better than I thought. It doesn't compare to the original of course but I still enjoyed it and wouldn't mind owning it on DVD (and btw, Cary Grant is more physically appealing at 62 then Jim Hutton is at 32). I also enjoyed The Unsuspected, Topper Returns, and Miracle in the Rain (which made me cry).
Lombard in The Gay Bride (1934). I took way too many screenshots from this movie.
Dennis Morgan and Jack Carson, Warner Brother's answer to the Bing Crosby/Bob Hope "Road" movies of Paramount, made fifteen films together. The two were good friends in real life making their on-screen friendships very authentic and a joy to watch (check out my posts on Dennis Morgan and Jack Carson by clicking on their names).
One of my favorite films of theirs is Two Guys From Texas (1948), a follow-up to the successful Two Guys From Milwaukee (1946). Not only is their off-screen friendship evident on-screen, but it also features some great songs, including one that shows off Jack Carson's rich baritone. It's also set in Texas, which is the subject of The Midnite Drive-In's latest blogathon, of which this post is part of (it also gives me a chance to share several clips I recorded from the film).
Trailer
The film starts with sing and dance partners Steve Carroll (Morgan) and Danny Foster (Carson) on a road trip to California. While driving through the wide spaces of Texas (aka the WB Studios and Thunderbird Ranch in Palm Springs, CA) they run out of gas - not before they sing a song though.
Video from my YouTube Channel. Sorry about the quality. I recorded it with my iPad.
Watching this song, "There's Music in the Land," it is easy to imagine that this is something Morgan and Carson did in real life, not just in the movies. Their camaraderie is undeniable. This little clip was just after the song but I didn't want to record the song again so it's only a few seconds.
Anyway, they run out of gas and hitch a ride to a nearby Dude Ranch. There they meet an old friend of theirs, Maggie Reed (Penny Edwards). When their car is stolen, Reed helps them get a job doing their act at the ranch. The owner, the very pretty Joan Winston (Dorothy Malone) is none to keen on the two but they are completely broke and doing their act is a way to get free room and board. It also gives Morgan and Carson a chance to sing several songs. Carson singing "I Never Met a Texan" is a highlight.
Both of boys also take an instant liking to Joan, who has an "understanding" with the sheriff, who incidentally never seems to be out looking for the stolen car. Joan, somewhat reluctantly, becomes attracted to Steve, causing Danny to seek the advice of Dr. Straeger (Fred Clark), a guest at the ranch. Danny reveals a recurring dream he has. Enter a ridiculous cartoon sequence (Bugs Bunny's first appearance in a feature film!) where Danny is a shepherd who always loses his sheep to a wolf that just happens to look like Steve. This has in turn created a real-life fear of animals. The scene is too funny not to watch, as the caricatures are spot on.
The Doctor (later revealed to be a veterinarian) advises Danny to steal a girl away from Steve, which Danny does that very evening. Joan, who is trying to decide between Steve and Tex, willingly uses Danny to get out of an awkward situation, and even kisses him. It is in this scene Carson finally gets to sing a song straight, without trying to be funny (though he still pulls a few faces). I knew he could carry a tune but wow!! "Hankerin' " is my favorite song from the film.
The next morning, Danny finds he is no longer afraid of animals, just in time for the annual rodeo. While at the rodeo, the two guys who stole Steve and Danny's car, use it for a quick getaway after robbing the rodeo ticket booth. Tex is more than happy to throw them in jail, especially Steve. The boys escape and put on a disguise. Back at the ranch they overhear the bad guys (they work at the ranch) planning another robbery. Steve and Danny go back to the rodeo and set up a trap in order to catch the crooks and clear their names. In the course of their plan, Danny's fake beard falls off and while running from Tex he ends up joining and winning the bucking bronco contest.
The film ends with the bad guys getting caught and Steve and Joan deciding to get married. Their friend Maggie decides to marry Tex. What about Danny you ask? Throughout the film he is followed by an old Indian squaw who he thinks wants to marry him but turns out she wants him to marry her very beautiful daughter. So everyone is happy.
A few more photos...
Two Guys From Texas is airing on TCM
October 27th at 3:15pm ET.
This post is part of The Texas Blogathon hosted by The Midnite Drive-In. Be sure to check out the other posts celebrating the wide-open spaces of Texas (or the studio backlot, whatever).
I want to thank Emily for asking me to co-host this unique blogathon with her! I also want to thank all the participants. Without you there is no blogathon!
I watched Titanic for the very first time this week.
