A brief biography of Lennox Pawle, best remembered as Mr. Dick in MGM’s 1935 adaptation of Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield. A stage actor of some prominence in London and New York, Pawle only appeared in 12 movies, including Copperfield.
Popular Posts
Movie Star Biographies
Eugene Pallette – Brief Biography with Additional Trivia
A look at Eugene Pallette, the heavyset character actor with the gravelly voice. Did he retire due to ill health or did charges of racism run him out of the movies? A brief biography includes a look at Pallette’s ranch in Oregon.
Jean Muir – Why the 1930’s Warner Brothers Actress Left Film
The ups and downs of 1930’s Warner Brothers actress Jean Muir who left film on her own terms only to be branded a Communist when she attempted a return to TV.
Claudette Colbert, Her Start, Broadway Success and Earliest Films
A biography of Claudette Colbert covering her earliest days as she came to the stage, found Broadway success and transitioned to film. Claudette Colbert from France to New York, up until It Happened One Night (1934).
Adrianne Allen – Private Lives Star, Also Two Paramount Pre-Code Gems
A biography of Adrianne Allen, actress who rose to fame in Noel Coward’s Private Lives. Her sparse film career included two 1932 Paramount gems, MERRILY WE GO TO HELL and THE NIGHT OF JUNE 13TH. The former Mrs. Raymond Massey and mother of actors Daniel Massey and Anna Massey.
Helen Hayes Achieves Much More Than a Rose Garden
Later in life Helen Hayes said all that was left for her to achieve was a good rose garden. The First Lady of American Theater managed much more than that over her 80 year career on stage and screen.
Movie Reviews & Articles
Born to Be Bad (1934) Starring Loretta Young, Cary Grant
A pre-Code entry released so late into the period that it was boycotted and even banned. Loretta Young plays another customer’s girl in Born to Be Bad, co-starring Cary Grant and Jackie Kelk. One of fewer than two dozen 20th Century Pictures entries before they merged with Fox Films.
Manhattan Melodrama (1934) Starring Clark Gable, William Powell, Myrna Loy
Famed for its part in leading to the end of outlaw John Dillinger’s life, and revered by movie buffs as the first of the William Powell-Myrna Loy team-ups, MGM’s Manhattan Melodrama is a solid underworld effort highlighted by a top performance from Clark Gable.
My Name Is Julia Ross (1945) starring Nina Foch and George Macready
My Name Is Julia Ross is an incredible find for the first time viewer. This review walks through my first viewing with special notice given to George Macready’s frightening portrayal of Ralph.
Warner Baxter as The Crime Doctor: A Crime Doctor Episode Guide
A guide to the individual entries to Columbia’s Crime Doctor mystery series of the 1940’s. Each of the ten films star Warner Baxter. Packed with details yet spoiler free.
Don’t Bet on Blondes (1935) Starring Warren William and Claire Dodd
Warner Brothers Don’t Bet on Blondes (1935) features solid work by Warren William as bookmaker turned freak insurance man, Claire Dodd cast against type as his love interest and Guy Kibbee giving the strongest performance of the bunch as Dodd’s father, who takes out a policy against his daughter’s marriage. It is also Errol Flynn’s second Hollywood movie and Flynn’s early career is detailed within the post.
Bright Leaf (1950), Gary Cooper Takes Over Big Tobacco
Gary Cooper shines in “Bright Leaf” a story of tobacco in the late 19th century. Not so brilliant is Cooper’s love triangle with Lauren Bacall and Patricia Neal.