Remembering Henry Travers 50 Years Later

Today is the 50th Anniversary of the death of Henry Travers, best known for his role as Clarence, "angel second class," in It's a Wonderful Life (1946).

Henry Travers was born Travers John Hegarty on 5 March 1874 in Ireland and then moving early on to Berwick-Upon-Tweed, Northumberland, England. When looking for his birthplace you may come up with several locations. This article explains how they found the right one. His parents were Dr. Daniel Hegarty and Ellen Gillman Hornibrook Belcher.

Trained as an architect, Travers joined the stage and changed his name to Henry Travers. A veteran of the British stage, he emigrated to the US in 1901. He continued working on Broadway and in 1933 appeared in his first Hollywood film, Reunion in Vienna. In the film he plays Father Krug, a role he had played first on Broadway.

His first wife was Amy Forrest-Rhodes, who died in 1954. His second wife was Ann G. Murphy.

Henry Travers died on this day in 1965 of artery disease.

Films:

Escapade (1935)

Dodge City (1939)

 

High Sierra (1941) as Pa

 

Ball of Fire (1941) as Prof. Jerome

 

Mrs. Miniver (1942) as Mr. Ballard the postman (nominated for Oscar)

Random Harvest (1942) as Dr. Sims

 

Shadow of a Doubt (1943) as Joseph Newton

The Very Thought of You (1944) as Pop Wheeler

 

The Bells of St. Mary's (1945) as Horace P. Bogardus

 

It's a Wonderful Life (1946) as Clarence

After that he made only four more films, retiring in 1949.

Sources:

TCMDb - click to see upcoming films of Henry Travers airing on TCM
IMDb
The Journal - UK: Wonderful Life of Henry Travers Revealed 
Find A Grave

Magazine Article

Remembering Joan Leslie

Joan Leslie passed away at the age of 90 this past Monday, October 12th, in Los Angeles. Read more about her on The Telegraph.

Born Joan Agnes Theresa Sadie Brodel on 26 January 1925 in Detroit, Michigan, she began her career early as a child performer. In 1936 she appeared in films under her real name. Her first big film was High Sierra (1941) with Humphrey Bogart and Ida Lupino. It was also the first film that she was billed as Joan Leslie.

 

She played mostly good girls and had an innocent "girl next door" quality. In 1950 she married Dr. William G. Caldwell with whom she had twin daughters Patrice and Ellen (both now doctors teaching at Universities). She retired from acting to raise them, occasionally guest appearing in TV shows, and returning to film in the 70s appearing on television and TV movies. She retired a second time in 1991. Her husband died in 2000.

 

Joan Leslie doing James Cagney and Ida Lupino Impressions

Most Notable Films:

High Sierra (1941)

Sergeant York (1941)

The Male Animal (1942)

Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)

The Hard Way (1943)

This is the Army (1943)

Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943)

Hollywood Canteen (1944)

Two Guys From Milwaukee (1946)

 

Signing autographs at the Hollywood Canteen

 

All images found via Pinterest

John Wayne and the Two Pedros

John Wayne films generally have in their cast of characters either Native Americans/"Indians" or Hispanics/Mexicans. The Mexicans generally fared better than the Indians as they were more likely to be on the same side as the Duke. When I learned of this Blogathon the two actors that sprang to mind were the two Pedros: Pedro Armendariz and Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez.

Pedro Armendariz, called the Clark Gable of Mexico, co-starred with John Wayne in three films. In Fort Apache (1948) he plays Sergeant Beaufort, a man who likes to drink but is also a valuable member of the company. In 3 Godfathers (1948) he plays one of the godfathers (along with John Wayne and Harry Carey Jr.). He was also in The Conqueror (1956) which I have not seen yet. 

Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez was (supposedly) in six John Wayne films, as Wayne was the one who spotted him on Groucho Marx's quiz show, You Bet Your Life and signed him with his production company. His most famous role is in Howard Hawks' Rio Bravo (1959). He plays a hotel owner and provides much of the humor in the film. His other Duke films include The High and the Mighty (1954), The Wings of Eagles (1957), McLintock! (1963), Hellfighters (1968) and Chisum (1970). His son, Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez Jr., starred alongside him in McLintock! It's been a while since I have watched some of these films but I only remember him in Rio Bravo (check out some behind-the-scenes photos from that film here).

If you're a John Wayne fan you read more posts on him here.

This post is part of the Hollywood Hispanic Heritage Blogathon hosted by Once Upon a Screen. Be sure and read all of the other posts honoring these few but great actors from south of the border.

My Favorite Wife (1940) & Move Over, Darling (1963)

Well, here is your blogathon host saving the best for last. Just kidding! All of the entries to the They Remade What?! Blogathon that I have had a chance to read so far have been amazing!!! I am constantly blown away by all of the talented writers I come across. I can't wait to read the rest of them!

For my films I chose My Favorite Wife (1940) starring Irene Dunne and Cary Grant and Move Over, Darling (1963) starring Doris Day and James Garner. Now usually when it comes to remakes one stands above the other in my opinion. In the case of these two films it's pretty close.

Pardon me, did you say they remade My Favorite Wife?

My Favorite Wife (1940) is the film that is better known because, let's face it, Cary Grant is in it, not to mention the extremely talented Irene Dunne. Now to big fans of Doris Day maybe it's the other way around, but for me the only version I knew for several years was the original. Recently I signed up for Netflix and discovered Move Over, Darling (1963). When I realized what it was a remake of, and as a fan of James Garner, I put it on my list.

 

Both films are essentially the same with My Favorite Wife having more scenes at the end (Cary Grant dressed up like Santa Claus anyone?).

 

The basic storyline is this: Ellen Arden (Dunne, Day) is lost at sea and after 7 years is officially claimed dead. This gives her husband, Nick Arder (Grant, Garner), the chance to finally remarry. The only problem is, the day he gets married, Ellen shows up - very much alive!

 

    

 

Nick is overjoyed to find out that his wife is still alive. The problem is, how does he explain it to his new bride, who is in a 'honeymoon' mood?

 

 

Ellen can't understand why Nick can't just tell her but she has problems of her own. She can't seem to tell the kids that she is their mother. She also happened to not mention that she wasn't alone all those years. She was with a man who she called 'Adam,' and who called her 'Eve.'

 

                     

 

Ellen hires someone to pretend he's Adam, someone that Nick could never be jealous about, a timid, small man. Unknown to her, however, Nick has already tracked down Adam at the pool: big, strong, handsome, athletic, real good with the ladies - you get the picture.

 

Ellen eventually knows that Nick knows who the real Adam is and ... this is where the two pictures differ. In My Favorite Wife, Dunne and Grant string each other along a little longer. Dunne takes the children up to a cabin in the mountains so that she can tell them she is their mother. Grant makes an excuse so that he has to spend the night too. Dunne makes him sleep in the attic. After he keeps bothering her, she tells him that she will make her decision at Christmas. Enter Cary Grant as Santa Claus. The children have of course already figured out that Dunne is their mother and everything ends happily ever after, with Grant divorcing his second wife, Bianca, and having Dunne declared alive again.

 

 

In Move Over, Darling, Day and Garner go to court, have both marriages dissolved, and go their separate ways, so to speak. Garner goes home with Day following shortly after so she can pack her things. She goes around the back of the house to discover Garner and their kids in the pool. He has already told them who their mother is and they too have a happy ending.

I love both films but I have to say, the supporting cast is better in Move Over, Darling. We get Thelma Ritter as Garner's mother (she's always a plus) and Don Knotts (The Andy Griffith Show) as a nervous shoe salesmen that Day pays to pretend he's 'Adam.' Adam is played by Chuck Conners (The Rifleman). Polly Bergan takes on the role of Bianca. Other television stars, aside from James Garner (Maverick) and the two mentioned above, include Alvy Moore (Mr. Kimbell - Green Acres) as a room service waiter and John Astin (Gomez Addams - The Addams Family) as an insurance man.

In My Favorite Wife we get Randolph Scott as Adam and Gail Patrick as Grant's new wife, Bianca. We also get Asta the dog from The Thin Man series!

 

Even though the films are virtually identical, they each have their own comedic scenes that aren't in the other and as both have wonderful casts they are definitely both worth watching.

Trivia:

• From IMDb: Move Over, Darling was a re-shot version of Something's Got to Give (1962), the never completed film Marilyn Monroe was working on when she died. It co-starred Dean Martin as Nick and Cyd Charisse as Bianca. It was supposed to begin filming on April 23, 1962, but the schedule was reorganized due to Monroe suffering a sinus infection. Production shot around her scenes using the rest of the cast. Soon enough, the shooting fell 10 days behind schedule. Monroe's last day on the set fell on her birthday, June 1, 1962. When Monroe called in sick again the following Monday, June 4, she was fired a few days later on June 8. Dean Martin refused to continue filming without Monroe, and the movie was left unfinished (most of the footage was unseen, until it was restored into a 37-minute short which aired on television on June 1, 2001. You can watch it here and the unedited footage here). The following year, it was recast with James Garner, Doris Day and Polly Bergen, retitled Move Over, Darling and released in December 1963. Many of the same sets were used.

• In the scene where Garner pulls Day off of Bergan, he accidently broke several of her ribs. Day didn't tell him and finished the scene. The next day Garner discovered what had happened when he put his arms around and felt the bandages.

• Leo McCarey was supposed to direct My Favorite Wife, but shortly before the filming began he was injured in an automobile accident, and had to hand over the direction to Garson Kanin. Actress Gail Patrick has stated that the severity of McCarey's injuries had an effect on the film company, and they found it very difficult to enter into the spirit of the comedy with the serious hospital bulletins they were hearing.

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My Favorite Wife airs on Turner Classic Movies November 27 at 10am and again on December 22 at 10pm.
Move Over, Darling is still on Netflix, at the time of this posting (As of April 1st, 2017, it has been taken down and then recently put back up).

They Remade What?! Blogathon

Well, the day is here, the kickoff to my first Blogathon!!! Here is where you will find all the links to the entries. I will update the page as they come in over the next few days. A big THANK YOU to everyone who participated and made this blogathon a success!!! I can't wait to read all of the wonderful entries!!!



How interesting...

Movie Movie Blog Blog proves that the second time around definitely isn't the charm in Double Indemnity - 1944 & 1973

                   

Love Letters to Old Hollywood gives us "Twice the Laughs" in her post on Libeled Lady (1936) and Easy to Wed (1946). Libeled Lady will be airing on TCM on November 13th at 11pm so MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

                     

Love Letters also gives us twice the fun in two locations with her second entry on That Night in Rio (1941) & Trouble on the Riviera (1951).

Silver Screenings shows us that  A Love Affair Recycled can turn out pretty good.

CineMaven looks at the cult classic Cat People (1942) and it's remake (1982) from the safety of her couch (check out the cool banner she made!).

 

BNoirDetour contemplaits age differences in The Big Sleep (1946) & The Long Goodbye (1978).

Cinematic Scribblings takes a look at a foreign remake by it's own director in Ozu vs. Ozu: A Story of Floating Weeds (1934) and Floating Weeds (1959)

Wide Screen World compares horror in 1960 vs. 1986 in Little Shop of Horrors.

               

The ships have sailed over at Caftan Woman's as she looks at One Way Passage (1932) & 'Til We Meet Again (1940).

Sometimes They Go To Eleven looks at, not eleven, but Ten Films Remade By Their Directors.

So many deadly ways...

NITRATEGLOW hunts down the deadly differences in The Most Dangerous Game, A Game of Death, & Run For the Sun.

Serendipitous Anachronisms takes a "swingin’ trip to Coolsville" with Ocean's 11 (1960) & Ocean's Eleven (2001).

Speakeasy shows how Ransom isn't always a bad thing, when it's a remake of a movie that is.

Old Hollywood Films proves that love letters never go out of style with The Shop Around the Corner and Its Remakes.

Crítica Retrô recommends lots of Kleenex when watching Imitation of Life (1934 & 1959).

Musings of an Introvert pits Danny Kaye against Ben Stiller in A Duel of Walter Mitty!

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World takes us on a jungle adventure with Irwin Allen's The Lost World.

Silentology pays homage to her favorite vampire film Nosferatu (1922 & 1979) in time for Halloween.

Silver Scenes clues us in on what happens when you mix zombies with zany comedy in Scared Stiff (1953).

They remade what?

Once Upon A Screen brings us another classic noir with Out of the Past (1947) remade Against All Odds (1984).

                   

Movie Classics shares a pocketful of Apple Annie with Frank Capra's Lady for a Day (1933) and Pocketful of Miracles (1961)

The Wonderful World of Cinema explores what happens when classic Katharine Hepburn gets remade in Music in the High Society of The Philadelphia Story.

Why? Just why?

Movies Silently takes on child stars and silent vs. talkies in Peck's Bad Boy (1921 & 1934).

Reel Distracted tackles Mummy Issues with The Mummy (1932 & 1999).

Remakes sure are painful!

Our Cynical Omelet brings us Paris and Gamines and Spies, Oh, My! Charade and Its Remake.

Poor kid. She watched too many remakes.

 

Musings of an Introvert wonders How Many Times Can You Remake Little Miss Marker?!

Mother Time Musings looks at Pre and Post Depression Era Wealth in Holiday (1930 & 1938)

Back to Golden Days brings us a Clark Gable remake of Clark Gable in Red Dust (1932) & Mogambo (1953).

        

Your host has trouble picking a favorite when she compares My Favorite Wife (1940) & Move Over, Darling (1963).

THANK YOU ! THANK YOU!