Table Talk

Alexis Smith and John Emery

Charles Boyer and Adolfe Manjou

Errol Flynn, Flo Hall and Bruce Cabot

Frances Dee and Joel McCrea with Barbara Stanwyck Robert Taylor

Cary Grant and Ava Gardner

Gary Merrill and Bette Davis

Joan Bennett and James Dunn

Lana Turner and Bob Topping with Joan Fontaine and Bill Dozier

Otto Preminger, Liza Minnelli and Ken Howard

Table Talk!

Hume Crohn, Jessica Tandy, and Gregory Peck

Joel McCrea and Lili Damita

Lana Turner and Turhan Bey aka "The Turkish Delight"

Jack Oakie, Loretta Young, and Clark Gable

Peter Lorre and Sophia Loren

Nancy and Ronald Reagan with Jeanne and Dean Martin

Ronald Colman and Claudette Colbert

Troy Donahue (not Tab Hunter---thanks Silvia!) and Suzanne Pleshette

Tonight on TCM!

The Invisible Man (1933) A scientist's experiments with invisibility turn him into a madman. Dir: James Whale Cast: Claude Rains, Gloria Stuart, William Harrigan.

The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)

Is Jonathan Shields (Kirk Douglas) a jerk? Sure! Has he done some pretty terrible things to his friends? Of course! Is he really just a bad person? Uh...hard to say.

Sure Jonathan sacrificed a talented and powerful friendship to get a step up in the production business and get his own studio. But what he did to Fred (Barry Sullivan) turned in Fred's favor- he became a successful director, sought out by all studios and given the freedom to choose what he would direct after years of sub par projects being thrown his way.

Sure Jonathan sacrificed the chance at true love with a devoted woman like Georgia (Lana Turner) who would have given up her entire career, one Jonathan helped build, just to be with him. Instead he turned her away and she became the famous actress she is now, making money for another studio having quit Jonathan's.

Sure Jonathan sacrificed a wonderful collaboration and friendship with author cum screenplay writer James Lee Bartlow (Dick Powell) by getting him to concentrate more on his screenplays than his wife, Rosemary (Gloria Grahame) who easily gives in to outside forces. James Lee finally got that second novel written with Jonathan's help.
So, when Jonathan Shield's studio is down and out, when he is in need of the three most important people whose lives have forever been changed by his actions, will his most faithful employee Harry Pebbel (Walter Pidgeon) be able to convince them to work with Jonathan again?

 Alternating between being a complete heel and vulnerable prankster, Douglas's Johnathan Shields is just as easy to hate as he is to love. Douglas reminds me much of James Cagney, having this ability to be wicked and fearsome, but also funny and endearing.
This movie packs a powerful punch and is definitely a must see. Lana Turner, Dick Powell and Gloria Grahame play wonderful supporting roles.

Tonight and well into Wednesday on TCM!
Kirk Douglas!!

LIFE! What a racket!

 Fred Astaire

 Ginger Rogers

 Joan Crawford

 Dennis Hoffman

 Claudette Colbert

Lana Turner

Table Talk!

 Joan Blondell and husband Dick Powell

 Mickey Rooney give Busby Berkley an oral exam.

 Peter Lawford and Lana Turner.

 Laurel and Hardy break bread.

 Jean Harlow and William Powell.

 John Wayne, Keenan Wynn, and John Ford enjoy a long repast.

 Roy Rogers and Dale Evans will eat with anyone!

Warren William and wife Helen

Tonight on TCM! Charles Laughton's one and only directorial debut! Can't wait!

The Night of The Hunter (1955) Atmospheric allegory of innocence, evil, and hypocrisy, with psychotic religious fanatic Mitchum chasing homeless children for money stolen by their father.

Ziegfeld Girl (1941)

Zeigfeld Girl is a moral story told through the parallel experiences of three girls who have been chosen to perform in the Ziegfeld Follies. Susan Gallagher (Judy Garland) is the youngest and most innocent. She’s packed with talent having travelled the vaudeville circuit with her father ‘Pop” Gallagher (Charles Winninger). She will make out the best, becoming a huge star and finding true lasting love. Then there is Sheila Regan (Lana Turner) a girl who grew up poor but honest. She has the love of a great man Gilbert Young (James Stewart) but trades in all in for expensive gifts and booze. It will not end well for her despite the love and support of her friends and family. Then there is Sandra Kolter (Hedy Lamarr) a married woman caught up in the Ziegfeld show by chance. She was with her husband while he auditioned for the orchestra and the producers took note of her extraordinary European beauty. Her husband Franz (Philip Dorn) is not keen on her entering the show but Sandra knows they need money to eat and live. They argue and it takes the rest of the movie for Sandra to realize what is important to her.

Ziegfeld Girl was an interesting film and apparently an omen of things to come for Lana Turner. I have never seen Turner act before and her reputation off screen has always overshadowed her talent. It was nice to see her in one of her earlier films and refreshing to realize she was actually quite good in her craft. This movie would prove to be her star making vehicle and stamp her as the new “sweater girl” of MGM. It was also interesting to see Hedy Lamarr packed between Garland and Turner- she was over seven years older than both women and her beauty was so exotic she stood out amongst them. This must have been very difficult for Garland who was always severely self-conscious of her looks. You’ll notice in the film that she is not one of the beauties on display like Turner and Lamarr. Before her singing talent is discovered, she’s mostly in the background on stage. You’ll also notice if you have seen The Great Ziegfeld (1936) that the final shot Ziegfeld Girl is recycled footage from that film.
Packed full of wonderful musical numbers like “Laugh, I Thought I’d Split My Sides”, “Minnie From Trinidad” and “Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Steen”, Ziegfeld Girl is a movie I recommend you see if only to check out Turner’s talent and Garland’s wonderful voice.

Side note: This was James Stewart's last performance before serving military service in World War II. He would come back 5 years later to star in the classic It's a Wonderful Life (1946).

Tonight on TCM!

Indiscretion Of An American Wife (1954) An American woman tries to break it off with her Italian lover. Cast: Jennifer Jones, Montgomery Clift, Gino Cervi, Dick Beymer Dir: Vittorio De Sica

The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) A young girl comes of age while hiding from the Nazis.
Cast: Millie Perkins, Joseph Schildkraut, Shelley Winters, Richard Beymer Dir: George Stevens

Smokin'!

The hardest part about watching classic cinema is that it makes me wanna smoke. With as much as the stars smoked, you'd think developing a habit was prerequisite to being a film star. In a report that was discovered in 2008, researchers found just such evidence that supports smoking in movies as a neccessary artistic devise. Contracts were found between big tobacco companies, Hollywood movie studios and stars who endorsed certain brands of cigarettes. For instance movie stars who endorsed Lucky Strikes cigarettes in 1937 were paid $218,750, the equivalent to $3 million in today’s dollar amount! And all the big stars were in on it, Joan Crawford, Gary Cooper, John Wayne and on and on. The advertisements were the end product of a commercial/PR endeavor for the tobacco industry that proved, like the tobacco itself, quite addictive and profitable.

Tonight on TCM!

Summer Under the Stars: Gloria Grahame