A critique of the 2012 TCM Una Merkel birthday schedule along with highlights of her biography and several quotes attributed to her throughout her career.
Popular Posts
Movie Star Biographies
Dudley Digges on Film and Stage
A look at the career of Irish born character actor Dudley Digges beginning with his appearances in classic films of the 1930’s and 40’s before looking back at his stage origins with the Irish National Theatre in 1904 and long run on Broadway.
Robert McWade – Brief Biography of the Grouchy Character Actor
A brief look at the career of 1930s character actor Robert McWade including images of him in some of his more famous movies. Son of a stage legend, he managed to upstage his father at the very end.
Louis Wolheim – Biography of the All Quiet on the Western Front Star
A look at the life and career of Louis Wolheim, star of the All Quiet on the Western Front on screen, and the originator of key roles in The Hairy Ape and What Price Glory? on stage.
Arthur Hohl – Broadway to Hollywood, Double-Dealers All the Way
A biography of character actor Arthur Hohl, whose Broadway stardom typed him as cowardly villains and humorless prosecutors throughout Hollywood’s Golden Age.
Elizabeth Allan – Dickens Movie Star Sues MGM and Thrives Back Home
Biography of actress Elizabeth Allan from her youth to success on British stage and screen. Allan becomes a Hollywood star and then sues MGM before going back home and becoming a success all over again.
Movie Reviews & Articles
Walter Huston is Dodsworth (1936) with Ruth Chatterton and Mary Astor
Water Huston plays perhaps his finest role when he brings his Sam Dodsworth from the stage to the screen for Sam Goldwyn under William Wyler’s direction. Winner of 1 Oscar, nominated for 6 more, Dodsworth gives us a peek at the complicated married life of a middle-aged couple.
Remembering Jackie Cooper, 1922-2011, with Peck’s Bad Boy (1934)
Remembering Jackie Cooper, who died today at age 88. His career and legacy, plus a look at 1934’s Peck’s Bad Boy starring Cooper with Thomas Meighan.
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.
MGM’s Hardy Family Series #5 – Out West with the Hardys (1938)
The fifth entry of the Hardy Family series, Out West with the Hardys (1938), puts focus on each of the core family members in a Western setting. Virginia Weidler is Mickey Rooney’s sidekick in this one. Sara Haden returns as Aunt Milly.
Best Picture Cavalcade (1933) Sets Stage for Upstairs, Downstairs and Beyond
Looking at the 1934 Academy Award winning Best Picture, Hollywood-made Cavalcade (1933) based on Noel Coward’s hit London play. Fans of Upstairs, Downstairs and Downton Abbey will find themselves in a familiar place. Piece also includes brief biographies of Cavalcade stars Diana Wynyard, Herbert Mundin and Ursula Jeans.
White Woman (1933) Starring Charles Laughton and Carole Lombard
The boys play rough in White Woman (1933) with Charles Laughton and Charles Bickford upstaging Carole Lombard at every turn. Poor Kent Taylor seems to be more in peril than Lombard. Jungle terror from a Malaysian rubber plantation run by Laughton’s “King of the River.”