Spencer Tracy arrives at MGM and embarks on a run of films that grow in critical and popular success. Inspired by the biography by James Curtis with partial review.
Popular Posts
Movie Star Biographies
Humphrey Bogart Seeks Hollywood Party, Rises to Stardom
TCM examines Humphrey Bogart as major film star during their August 1 Summer Under the Stars presentation. Here we trace his stardom backwards from High Sierra down to a 1930 newspaper interview which finds Bogie on the hunt for a Hollywood party.
Edward Arnold: Before Hollywood
A brief look at the life and career of Edward Arnold before he arrived in Hollywood and became the beloved character actor we remember him as today. Illustrated by period stills.
Fay Holden – Brief Entry About the Hardy Family Matriarch
Best known for playing Andy Hardy’s mother in 14 of MGM’s Hardy family movies, Fay Holden was discovered in England by Mrs. Patrick Campbell. She originally worked as Gaby Fay.
Richard Dix – His Life and Film Legacy
Five thousand words about the life of Richard Dix including a look at his most important movies: The Vanishing American (1925), Cimarron (1931) and The Ghost Ship (1943) plus, author’s choice, Ace of Aces (1933).
Edward Everett Horton – Biography of the Beloved Character Actor
A brief biography of character actor Edward Everett Horton, star of stage, screen and television. Famed as Fred Astaire’s sidekick in several Astaire and Ginger Rogers musicals and later the voice of Fractured Fairy Tales on the Rocky & Bullwinkle Show.
Movie Reviews & Articles
Clear All Wires! (1933) – Journalism in Classic Film Blogathon
MGM’s Clear All Wires! (1933) finds foreign correspondent Lee Tracy butting heads with the Soviet secret police in Russia, 1932. Una Merkel and Benita Hume co-star.
The Razor’s Edge (1946) Starring Tyrone Power, A Success Story
A long article about a personal favorite attempts to tell the story of The Razor’s Edge from Somerset Maugham’s novel to Darryl F. Zanuck’s on-screen vision with a focus on both the adaptation and Tyrone Power as Larry Darrell.
Big City Blues (1932), Pre-Code Party in Depression-Era New York
Eric Linden finds fun, trouble and Joan Blondell in Depression-era New York in Warner Bros.’ Big City Blues (1932). Directed by Mervyn LeRoy with an unbilled supporting appearance by Humphrey Bogart along with several others.
Frank Capra’s Broadway Bill (1934) Starring Warner Baxter and Myrna Loy
A look at Frank Capra’s follow-up to It Happened One Night, the 1934 holiday release Broadway Bill starring Warner Baxter, Myrna Loy and a horse named Broadway Bill. With comparison to 1950 remake Riding High and explanation of why Bill wound up out of circulation until 1992.
The Films of Helen Twelvetrees – Capsule Reviews of 20 Movies
The films of Helen Twelvetrees. A page providing capsule reviews of 20–and counting–Helen Twelvetrees movies. Pre-Code stardom through late 1930s decline.
Peggy Hopkins Joyce, W.C. Fields, et al., in Paramount’s International House (1933)
International House, billed in its day as The Grand Hotel of comedy, found Eddie Sutherland directing a cast headed by W.C. Fields, Burns and Allen, and Bela Lugosi, with top bill actually going to socialite Peggy Hopkins Joyce in what was the final film of her sporadic movie career. The films’ everyman is played by […]