A look at Joan Blondell’s career up until the time of Nightmare Alley with a special focus on her Zeena the Seeress from that film noir classic starring Tyrone Power.
Popular Posts
Movie Star Biographies
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.
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.
Marian Marsh – Forever Trilby, Biography of the 1930s Screen Beauty
Marian Marsh will always be first recalled as John Barrymore’s Trilby in Svengali but don’t overlook her in Beauty and the Boss and Crime and Punishment. A biography of the gorgeous young actress of the 1930s.
Elissa Landi Star of Stage and Screen, Author, Royalty?
I worked from over two dozen sources in this biographical post about the interesting life and career of Classic Film Star Elissa Landi, star of The Sign of the Cross (1932). Also includes a look at her fascinating parents–her father tried to raise the Lusitania, her mother claimed to be the unrecognized daughter of Emperor Franz-Joseph of Austria!
Helen Lowell, 1880s Gilbert & Sullivan to 1930s Cranky Character Parts
A brief appraisal of Helen Lowell’s brief 1930s movie career followed by a collection of clippings highlighting her stage work from 1882 through the 1920s.
Movie Reviews & Articles
Attorney for the Defense (1932) – Edmund Lowe’s Fallon for Columbia
Edmund Lowe stars in Attorney for the Defense, second of four 1932 pre-Code crooked lawyer movies based on the exploits of William J. Fallon. With Evelyn Brent and Constance Cummings; Directed by Irving Cumming for Columbia.
Abandon Ship (1957) aka Seven Waves Away – Tyrone Power Commands This Lifeboat
Abandon Ship (1957) aka Seven Waves Away stars Tyrone Power in command of an overcrowded lifeboat forced to make decisions over who deserves to live or die.
More on That Forsyte Woman (1949), Especially an Altogether Different Errol Flynn
A quick look at That Forsyte Woman (1949), a Greer Garson MGM feature where Errol Flynn steals the show playing against type with more skill than I would have expected.
Mary Burns, Fugitive (1935) Starring Sylvia Sidney with Melvyn Douglas
Sylvia Sidney stars in Mary Burns, Fugitive (1935) her first film under contract to Walter Wanger for Paramount. Introduces Alan Baxter as gangster Babe Wilson. Also featuring Melvyn Douglas, Wallace Ford, Brian Donlevy and Pert Kelton.
Downstairs (1932) Starring John Gilbert, From a Story by John Gilbert
Despite its poor reception in 1932, today Downstairs is often pointed to as John Gilbert’s best talkie and further evidence that his voice was not poor. A look at some key scenes with Virginia Bruce and Paul Lukas, plus just how bad of a guy was Gilbert’s Karl?
G Men (1935) Starring James Cagney, Margaret Lindsay, and Ann Dvorak
A look at Warner Brothers’ G MEN (1935) starring James Cagney, this time as the good guy. Based on several real incidents and infamous names, it’s the movie that began the G-Men cycle of films.