A look at William Frawley in the years before he achieved his greatest fame as Fred Mertz on I Love Lucy. Special attention is paid to his baseball movies and his early days on the vaudeville circuit and Broadway. The article is illustrated with seven promotional photos from the 1939 film St. Louis Blues.
Popular Posts
Movie Star Biographies
Norman Kerry, Chaney’s co-star in The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Phantom of the Opera
A brief biography of Norman Kerry, a silent film star you probably remember better than you think. Co-starred with Lon Chaney in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Phantom of the Opera and The Unknown.
Adolphe Menjou’s Wit and Wisdom – It Took Nine Tailors, a Review
A biography of Adolphe Menjou layered with several quotes from his 1948 autobiography It Took Nine Tailors. Covers his background, silent stops and starts, to talkie breakthrough, often in Menjou’s own voice.
Barbara Kent, 103, of Flesh and the Devil (1926); Welcome Danger (1929)
One of our last stars of the silent screen, Barbara Kent, has died at age 103. A brief biography and remembrance including a Barbara Kent gallery of collectibles.
Lennox Pawle – The Career of Copperfield’s Mr. Dick
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.
Celeste Holm, 1917-2012
Remembering Celeste Holm, Oscar winner and three time nominee who rose to prominence as the original Ado Annie in Oklahoma! on Broadway. Reviewing Holm’s career from Broadway to Hollywood and all stops in between.
Movie Reviews & Articles
First Impressions: Arrowsmith (1931) with Ronald Colman and Helen Hayes
Brief first impressions of Arrowsmith (1931) written shortly after a first viewing. Starring Ronald Colman and Helen Hayes with Myrna Loy.
The Criminal Code (1931) Starring Walter Huston with Boris Karloff
A spoiler-free look at Howard Hawks’ The Criminal Code starring Walter Huston and providing Boris Karloff with his most important role to date. With a special focus on Phillips Holmes.
Government Girl (1943) Starring Olivia de Havilland and Sonny Tufts
Olivia de Havilland is Smokey Allard in RKO’s Government Girl (1943). Far from perfect and suffering greatly in comparison to other home front titles such as The More the Merrier, Government Girl is still an interesting slice of history.
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.
Henry Hull is the Werewolf of London (1935)
The first werewolf movie in Universal’s horror cycle Werewolf of London (1935) takes a back seat to The Wolf Man (1941) today, but Henry Hull’s monster is underrated. Also starring Warner Oland, Valerie Hobson and Lester Matthews, a brief look at 1935s Werewolf of London.
Men Against the Sky (1940) – Richard Dix’s Ace of Aces Goes Modern
The public was air-minded when RKO released Men Against the Sky (1940), an exciting “B” film starring former “Ace of Aces” Richard Dix, with Kent Taylor, Wendy Barrie, and Edmund Lowe. A look at why the public was so fascinated by flying at that time, and how the four stars and other elements of the film worked so well together.