A brief biography of the popular supporting actor Thomas Mitchell including original quotes taken from a 1939 autobiographical piece in Screen & Radio Weekly.
Popular Posts
Movie Star Biographies
Una Merkel – Biographical Notes and Quotes
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.
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.
Herbert Marshall, Biography of the Trouble in Paradise Star
Biography of actor Herbert Marshall with an appreciation of his biggest films including Trouble in Paradise (1932) and The Razor’s Edge (1946). Article includes details about his having lost his right leg during World War I and of his affair with Gloria Swanson in the 1930s.
Dolores Costello – Her Career plus Can You Help Identify This Painting?
A biography in brief of child star and later screen beauty Dolores Costello, who would later marry John Barrymore. Also a reader contributes an image of a painting of Costello and asks for some help in identifying it.
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.
Movie Reviews & Articles
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.”
One Night at Susie’s (1930) – Movie Compared to Short Story, Plus Helen Ware Biography
A look at First National’s One Night at Susie’s, a 1930 crime film starring Billie Dove and Douglas Fairbanks Jr., but really showing off Helen Ware to advantage. Frederick Hazlitt Brennan’s 1929 short story from Liberty magazine is discussed and a biography of Miss Ware is also included. Plus, just exactly how long is this movie?
Cass Timberlane (1947) starring Spencer Tracy and Lana Turner
MGM’s Cass Timberlane (1947) stars Spencer Tracy in the title role, features an excellent performance by Lana Turner. After a promising first hour a couple of key plot points are rushed and the quality suffers in the second half of the film.
Washington Merry-Go-Round (1932) with Lee Tracy and Constance Cummings
Lee Tracy stars in Washington Merry-Go-Round (1932), Columbia’s pre-Code precursor to Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) with Constance Cummings, Alan Dinehart and Walter Connolly.
Edward G. Robinson in The Sea Wolf (1941) with Alexander Knox
Is there a more brutal film from this period than Warner Brothers’ The Sea Wolf? Adapted by Robert Rossen from Jack London’s original story, directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Edward G. Robinson, John Garfield, Ida Lupino and Alexander Knox.
Eric Linden Comes of Age in MGM’s Ah, Wilderness! (1935)
Eric Linden loves Cecilia Parker in Ah, Wilderness! (1935), but his passion threatens to take him down the same road that has doomed Wallace Beery with Aline MacMahon. MGM adapts Eugene O’Neill’s “comedy of recollection.” Directed by Clarence Brown.