Table Talk!

 Charles Laughton and Judith Anderson

 Basil Rathbone and Angela Lansbury

 Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood

 Joan Crawford and Caesar Romero

 Ann Dvorak, Hedy Lamarr, and Ann Baxter

 Marlene Dietrich and Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

 Ben Gazzara and Fred Clark

Brian Aherne, Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland

Tonight on TCM!

All Quiet On The Western Front (1930) Young German soldiers try to adjust to the horrors of World War I.

Dir: Lewis Milestone Cast: Louis Wolheim, Lew Ayres, John Wray.

Let's Go Ride A Bike!

Agnes Moorehead

Audrey Hepburn

Humphrey Bogart

Ginger Rogers

Charles Coburn

Gary Cooper

Marlene Dietrich

Lizbeth Scott

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Break out the Pepsi and wire hangers, it's time to spend an evening with Joan Crawford!

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.

The Lady Pre-Furs

Pre-Code Dip: The Scarlet Empress (1934)

Though The Scarlet Empress is loosely based off the story of Catherine the Great, like most early Hollywood biopics, it should not be used as a lesson in history. Instead it plays out as a vehicle to propagate the vast and outrageous rumors of Catherine's sexual prowess against a very single-minded vision of a Russian Imperial household. Filmed as the Hays code was starting to take serious affect, von Sternberg manages to get away with murder. The use of double entendres, props, and Dietrich's singular smoldering looks into her soldiers 'nether regions" is both blatant and non-stop.

The Scarlet Empress involves Dietrich playing the wide-eyed innocent debutante who is chosen to be Peter III's wife. Before arriving in Russia, Count Alexei (John Lodge or as I refer to him, that guy who looks like Bill Hader in a funny period sketch for SNL) has already admitted his infatuation with her. This will be Catherine's first inkling of what her beauty can do, something her mother is steadfastly aware of and despises. Ironically, this is parallel to how Dietrich's own mother felt about her young daughter as she grew into womanhood.

Once in the Russian court, she is greeted by an Empress Petrovna (Louise Dresser) who sounds more like a Midwestern saloon-keeper hocking her wares than Russian royalty. She meets her soon-to-be husband Peter (Sam Jaffe) who plays a frightening half-wit bent on one day killing her. With orders to produce an heir, Catherine must rely on her own wit and cunning to get the job done since her husband won't touch her. Once her duty is done and Catherine has gained knowledge of the wonders of love making, she embarks on the Holy Grail of sexual conquests and subsequently earns the undying devotion of most of the Russian guard which will aid her in killing off Peter and taking his throne.

I'm astounded by the strong detail von Sternberg gave to his set and yet let the characters beyond Jaffe and Dietrich fall to the wayside. Then there is his vision of eighteenth century Imperialist Russia that beyond the heavy iconic doors is so very biased and insulting, it makes you wonder what his true feelings for Russia were. Even Dietrich is quoted as saying "All those depressing faces- all over the place! Every time I come around a corner, there is another corpse looking at me. Russia wasn't that bad! I know Jo wants 'decadence,' but isn't he overdoing it?"

The Scarlet Empress, beyond the costumes which Dietrich had a heavy hand in designing, and the bawdy humor, wasn't all that interesting. The story gets lost among the elaborate costumes and oppressive set, puts Dietrich on a pedestal as a beautiful but not very talented star.

Sidenote:

Maria Riva, Dietrich's daughter, plays the young Sophia as a child.

Tonight on TCM!
Small Town Girl (1936) After marrying a drunken playboy, a young girl tries to capture his heart while he's sober. Cast: Janet Gaynor, Robert Taylor, Binnie Barnes, Andy Devine Dir: William A. Wellman

A Foreign Affair (1948) "Let's go up to my apartment. It's only a few ruins away from here."

When her congressional committee visits occupied Berlin to investigate G.I. morals, Congresswoman Phoebe Frost (Jean Arthur) is appalled at the widespread evidence of soldiers using bribery and black market trading for their nefarious needs. She is further upset to learn there are rumors that cafe singer Erika (Marlene Dietrich), former mistress of a wanted war criminal, is being "protected" by an American officer. After seeing Erika with Adolf Hitler in a newsreel filmed during the war she enlists the help of Captain John Pringle (John Lund) to help her investigate, unaware that Pringle is Erika's current lover. In order to distract her, John woos Phoebe and she succumbs to his charms.Meanwhile, Colonel Rufus J. Plummer (Millard Mitchell) is trying to dissuade Phoebe from probing further into Erika’s case. He is aware of Pringle’s relationship with Erika and orders him to continue seeing her in the hope that her ex-lover, ex-Gestapo agent Hans Otto Birgel (Peter von Zerneck), who is in hiding will show up to confront Erika. However, John has fallen victim to his own wooing of Phoebe and though he loves her, his mission is important and he isn’t sure if he’s ready to settle down yet.Before Phoebe returns to America, convinced that John will join her, Erika confesses John is her lover and tricking Phoebe.Will John and Phoebe reconcile? Will one ex-Nazi’s jealous deeds lead to a fortuitous realization for them both?

Proving that he can handle sensitive subjects with poignancy and humor, Billy Wilder’s A Foreign Affair stands out as an amusing education on the consequences of life in Germany in the aftermath of World War II. The Arial footage of Berlin used in the film was had me awestruck. So much destruction!
Using Arthur’s and Dietrich’s distinctly different comedic and dramatic deliveries worked surprisingly well together. The only drawback, for me, was that in comparison to someone like Dietrich, Arthur who plays neurotic well; comes off more to the extreme. However, this works in Lund’s favor as his character realizes the sordid mess he has fallen prey to and finds himself less interested in a siren and more interested in an innocent. If Jean Arthur is anything onscreen, it’s innocent.


Side note:
Robert Osborne said that director Billy Wilder had difficulties with both Marlene Dietrich and Jean Arthur in the film. Wilder is quoted as having said, "I have one dame who's afraid to look at herself in a mirror and another who won't stop looking!"

Tonight on TCM!
Bang The Drum Slowly (1973)

A baseball player faces terminal illness with the help of his closest teammate. Cast: Michael Moriarty, Robert De Niro, Vincent Gardenia, Phil Foster Dir: John D Hancock

Moonstruck (1987) Olivia Dukakis and Vincent Gardenia make this movie! It's hilarious!
When she tries to make peace in her new family, an engaged woman falls for her fiance's brother.
Cast: Cher, Nicolas Cage, Vincent Gardenia, Olympia Dukakis Dir: Norman Jewison