Category Archives: Movies

Classic Hollywood #168 – Carole Lombard In A Candid Photo On Set

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Carole Lombard Laughing Between Scenes Of Fools For Scandal – 1938

Carole Lombard and Fernand Gravet (Gravey) starring in director Mervyn Leroy’s Fools For Scandal (1938) are apparently amused by something during a break in filming. The candid photograph taken by Otto Dyar perfectly displays Lombard’s exuberant personality.

During a war bond drive. Lombard, along with her mother, died tragically in a plane crash on January 16, 1942. She was 33.

Kyle Crichton’s biting memoir of literary. political and celebrity attachments,Total Recoil (1960) Doubleday & Company, gives a brief portrait of Lombard. Continue reading →

Classic Hollywood #167 – Betty Grable

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Betty Grable & Poodle – 1944

Pin-Up Queen Gets On The Ball
Hollywood, Calif. – Vivacious Betty Grable, a “Mamma” of five months, romps with this frisky poodle as she gets back in the groove on her return to the kleig lights. The famous Grable gams will dance their way through 20th Century-Fox’s Technicolor musical, “Diamond Horseshoe” now in production. photo: Acme 8/19/1944

Gams. Talk about 1940s jargon. I don’t think I’ve recently heard anyone refer to a woman’s legs as gams except in the movies.

Supposedly Grable’s legs were insured for $250,000 dollars by Lloyds of London. It was a publicity stunt, but an effective one at drawing attention. Continue reading →

James Caan’s First Wife Dee Jay & Yankees Manager Ralph Houk – 1962

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Ralph Houk & Dee Jay Mattis At Yankee Stadium – 1962

DIAMOND DOINGS
Dee Jay Mattis, dancer on Sing Along With Mitch over NBC-TV, shows manager Ralph Houk of the New York Yankees that in addition to dancing she can also swing a bat. Dee Jay has been named honorary mascot of the team. photo: July 5, 1962, Hazleton-Standard Speaker staff photo / Milburn McCarty Associates Public Relations

Dee Jay (Dorothy Jeanne) Mattis of Union, NJ main claim to fame is being the first wife of actor James Caan. The two married In Halifax, NC on July 8, 1961 when Dee Jay was 19.

Mattis quit Mitch Miller’s show in 1963 to join her husband in California as his acting career was getting busy with roles in television series such as Route 66, The Untouchables, Wide Country and  Dr. Kildare to name a few.

The pair had a daughter Tara Alisa in 1964. Caan described the marriage as turbulent. On January 16, 1966 Mattis and Caan divorced. Mattis said it was more important for Caan to go out with his friends than being with her or their year-old daughter. She also complained Caan swore at her, struck her several times and belittled her in the presence of his friends. Continue reading →

Classic Hollywood #166 – Christie Comedy Starlets

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Christie Chorus “Sports Girls” Prepare For A Scene – 1925

What is about to happen in this 1925 film is anybody’s guess. But these 16 chorus girls are ready to do some sort of athletic routine in their spiffy hats. As the news slug says:

The athletic training indulged in by the Christie Sports Girls even comes in handy now and then in the pictures. Witness this gym scene in a new Bill Dooley comedy. photo: NEA,(Newspaper Enterprise Association)  December 3, 1925

Forgotten today are brothers Al and Charles Christie of the Christie Film Company. Continue reading →

Classic Hollywood #164 – Theda Bara Learns A Game

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Theda Bara Is Taught The Chinese Game Pung-Chow 1922

The Original Movie Vampire Learns Intricate Chinese Game
Theda Bara the original movie vampire learned a new game yesterday, while at the Westchester-Biltmore Club. It is called Pung-Chow, the Royal Game of China, played for thousands of years in the land of Confucius, the mystic charm of the East, combined with the excitement and entertainment which Americans demand, and a game for young and old. The game is even more intricate than chess and Miss Bara had the pleasure of being instructed by these two fair Chinese experts. photo: Wide World Photos 12/7//1922

Theda Bara (born Theodosia Goodman 1885-1955) is virtually unknown today because she was a silent star and only six of her films are extant. People usually recognize publicity stills of Bara without necessarily knowing her name as the title character in Cleopatra (1917). That film is lost, as are 40 of Bara’s other movies.

A huge star earning $4,000 per week when there was practically no income tax, Bara slowed down after making dozens of films in the nineteen teens. From 1920-1926 Bara made only more three films.

In 1921 Bara married Continue reading →

Classic Hollywood #163 – Peter Sellers & Ringo Starr

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Peter Sellers & Ringo Celebrate Completion Of “The Magic Christian” 1969

Ringo & Sellers At A Party
Peter Sellers and Beatle drummer Ringo Starr are seen playing roulette at a party at Les Ambassadeurs in London. The party was to celebrate the completion of the film  “The Magic Christian” in which they co-star. Among other guests at the party were Beatle John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono who have just bought a 72 acre estate and mansion at Tittenhurst Park, near Ascot, Berks. photo:Syndication International (Daily Mirror) May 5, 1969

One does not necessarily associate Peter Sellers with The Beatles. But strange casting for a strange film brought the two stars of different genres together. Continue reading →

Classic Hollywood #162 – Ricardo Montalban & Audrey Totter

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Ricardo Montalban and Audrey Totter Dine At Romanoff’s – 1951

INSIDE HOLLYWOOD by Nat Dallinger (week ending July 13 1951)
Audrey Totter is an attentive listener as Ricardo Montalban related a story during a dinner at Romanoff’s, in Beverly Hills. A radio actress before embarking on a screen career, Audrey once worked as a door-to-door saleslady for a wax concern. After a highly successful career in radio, she received offers from the New York stage and Hollywood. Selecting the latter, this blue-eyed blonde has won top starring roles for herself in numerous motion pictures. Romantically she is expected to become the bride of film producer Armand Deutsch. photo: Nat Dallinger for King Features Syndicate

Nat Dallinger would capture Hollywood celebrities in candid moments for his syndicated photo column Inside Hollywood.

Audrey Totter (1917-2013) never became a Hollywood star of the first magnitude but appeared steadily in films throughout the 1940s and early 50s. Continue reading →

Ronald Reagan Talks About Getting A Pitching Lesson From Bob Lemon

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Cleveland Indians Star Bob Lemon Teaches Pitching To Ronald Reagan – 1952

Bob Lemon And Ronald Reagan Reminisce 30 Years After Making A Movie Together

Pitching For Pictures
Hollywood, Calif. – Bob Lemon, (left) star hurler of the Cleveland Indians, goes through some mound paces with actor Ronald Reagan, who’ll play the famed Grover Cleveland Alexander in a film now in production. Lemon, who also has a part in the film, was hired to give Reagan a few tips on pitching style. credit: United Press (1/28/52)

The subject has the makings of a fine dramatic movie. The Winning Team (1952) starring future President Ronald Reagan along with Doris Day is Continue reading →

Classic Hollywood #161 – Eight Warner Bros. Bathing Beauty Starlets 1937

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Jane Wyman & Marie Wilson Among Warner Bros. Hopefuls

The Charge of The Powder Puff Brigade
These Warner starlets (L. to R.) Jane Wyman, Shirley Lloyd, Ann Nagel, Marie Wilson, Linda Perry, Jane Bryan, Rosalind Marquis and Carol Hughes, prepare to “fire” from their portable outdoor dressing table. photo: Warner Bros. Pictures Inc. 1937

The headline here is a spoof of the 1936 film The Charge of The Light Brigade starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. Continue reading →