Getting Testy!

Tonight on TCM! Can't wait!

The Constant Nymph (1943) A composer finds inspiration in his wife's romantic cousin. Edmund Goulding Cast: Charles Boyer, Joan Fontaine, Alexis Smith.

An Earthquake and Hurricane in the same week? I think it's time to discuss The Rains Came (1939)

Tom Ransome (George Brent),  a nonchalant philanderer has spent years in India watching the people and the rains come and go. He has an ardent admirer in Fern Simon (Brenda Joyce), the daughter of American missionaries who is fascinated by Tom and his reputation. However, Tom regards her as a child. When he runs into an old flame who is now Lady Edwina Esketh (Myrna Loy), having married the wealthy and uncouth Lord Esketh (Nigel Bruce), Tom is alarmed by her behavior. Worse yet, he realizes he has built his reputation on behaving just like her.  

Edwina, bored with her marriage, carelessly tries making a conquest of Tom's friend, Major Rama Safti (Tyrone Power). However, the major is too preoccupied with his work as a doctor to pay her any attention. Meanwhile, as the rains fall, Tom finds himself falling in love with Fern. Then disaster strikes when an earthquake destroys the dams and releases flood waters into Ranchipur, killing Lord Esketh and the Maharajah (H. B. Warner). When the Maharani (Maria Ouspenskaya) asks Tom to help her people, Fern joins him. Plague sweeps the city and as the major fights to contain it, Edwina volunteers to help in the hospital despite the risks. The major, touched by her selflessness, finally falls in love with her. However, in the most harrowing scene Edwina accidentally drinks from a contaminated glass and falls victim to the plague. The major is unable to save her. Tom and Fern get married and the major, successfully contains the plague to become the Maharajah.

The Rains Came isn't quick entertainment, it has its slow moments but it also has a few heavy hitters. Besides some pretty good special effects, Brent, Power, Ouspenskaya, and Joyce play their parts wonderfully. The real star however, is Loy. An unusual part for her as evidenced in her future work, she nonetheless shows her dramatic chops and is most touching in her deathbed scene. Definitely worth seeing just once.


Tonight on TCM- if the power stays on...
Linda Darnell! Oh, A Letter to Three Wives sounds fun!

Stars and Cars!

Spencer Tracey

Broderick Crawford

Marlon Brando

George Reeves

Maurice Chevalier

Tyrone Power

Witness for the Prosecution (1957)

When Leonard Vole (Tyrone Power), is accused of murdering Mrs. French (Norma Varden), a wealthy widow, he is advised by his solicitor Mayhew (Henry Danielle) to seek out a barrister for his defense. The best barrister for the case, Sir Wilfrid Robarts, is currently recovering from a near-fatal heart attack and has been strictly ordered to get involved only in bland, unexciting civil suits. With his irksome nurse Miss Plimsoll (Else Lanchester) watching his every move, Sir Wilfrid must resort to slyness in order to get what he wants. However, Vole’s case intrigues him after he meets the somewhat cold and removed Mrs. Vole and he is determined to take the case despite Miss Plimsoll’s protestations. Thinking Mrs. Vole will not be much help with the alibi; Sir Wilfrid is perplexed when she decides to be a witness not for the defense but for the prosecution.

 It must have been in Dietrich's contract that she show her legendary gams at least once in each film.

This is definitely a movie I do not want to spoil for anyone. It’s a must see! Cleverly acted by Laughton and Dietrich, there is not a dull moment in the film and the ending is quite a twist. Kudos again for Laughton’s acting, which was much more verbally based in this feature but no less powerful. The scenes between him and Elsa Lanchester were again hilarious and offered comic relief in a suspenseful film. Kudos too for Dietrich who is just as clever and sneaky as Laughton with the added bonus of breaking away from her usually composed and cool characters to grace us with a bit of humanity when she takes the stand for a second time.

Oscar Trivia:

Director Billy Wilder had eight nominations for an Academy Award for Best Director in his career. This makes him the second most nominated director in the history of the Academy Awards, behind William Wyler. Out of these nominations, Wilder won twice for the films The Lost Weekend and The Apartment.


Elsa Lanchester was nominated twice in her career for Best Supporting Actress, first in Come to the Stable and again in Witness for the Prosecution in which she won the award.

Charles Laughton was nominated for Best Actor three times in his career for The Private Life of Henry VIII, Mutiny on the Bounty, and Witness for the Prosecution. He won only once, for The Private Life of Henry VIII. Mo matter, reportedly he had a Hepburn-esque attitude for awards and award ceremonies.

Marlene Dietrich received only one Best Actress Academy Award nomination in her entire career and that was for Morocco.

Tyrone Power never received any Academy Award nominations, however, he acted in five films that were nominated for Best Picture: Flirtation Walk, In Old Chicago, Alexander’s Ragtime Band, The Razor’s Edge, and Witness for the Prosecution.

Stars! They're just like us!

They motorbike!

They get their hair done. Halo Medusa!

They paint their own homes!

They raid the fridge!

They do laundry!

They sun bathe! Oh, the tan lines!