Immortal Archives – September 24, 2012 with Ernest Cossart on Buttling

Everything Immortal for September 24 ...

Born on this date ...

The popular character actor Ernest Cossart was born in Gloucestershire, England on this date in 1876!

Ernest Cossart as Sir Guy Standing's butler in Palm Springs Affair (1936)

On Butlers
Lucie Neville stepped in for Paul Harrison in the syndicated "Harrison's Reports" column on May 15, 1941 and wrote at length about butlers in film, with an especial concentration on Ernest Cossart.

"... At the same time we're trying to break away from our door-opening and 'Yes, madam' roles, we're congratulating ourselves on being constantly in demand and on our long engagements," said Cossart to Neville.

He continued, "9 times of of 10, the butler in a picture stays on salary from the first day to the end of shooting ... It's nice work--and I can get it, but I keep on looking for other types of parts."

Neville writes that Ernest Cossart first played a butler on stage way back in 1910. Critics panned him and he avoided butler roles for the next 25 years ... until Hollywood came calling. After being cast as the butler in Accent in Youth (1935), noted as second only to Ruggles of Red Gap (also 1935) in butler roles, Cossart played nothing but butlers for his first two years in Hollywood.

The Lucie Neville article appeared on page 6 of that May 1941 edition of the Dunkirk Evening Observer, among other papers round the country. It was written in conjunction with Ernest Cossart's return to screen buttling in Skylark (1941).

While I've yet to cover Ernest Cossart as butler, I have written about his next release after Skylark: Kings Row (1941) in which he played Pa Monaghan, kindly father of the Ann Sheridan character.

Ronald Reagan with Ernest Cossart in Kings Row (1941)

Also of interest to film fans and born on September 24 were jazz age novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1896 and ultra-wealthy film producer and all around eccentric Howard Hughes in 1905.

Retro Gallery

Gallaher issued several sets with a similar look about them in the mid to late 1930s including the 1935 Film Partners set we look back on today. Not too hard to come by, which means they can be had for a good price, the images are no less attractive. My favorite (perhaps)? Love the vibrant colors on this shot of Myrna Loy caressing Cary Grant from 1935's Wings in the Dark:

TCM Pick

For me a bum day on Turner Classic Movies. Westerns all day and an evening theme of atonement which puts a 1981 film on at 8 pm. My pick, 1952's The Lusty Men with starring Robert Mitchum and Susan Hayward. By no means a favorite, but possibly the only thing I'd stop to watch today!

Auction Notes

A few more 1950s Dutch trading cards ending Monday night on eBay and including Roy Rogers, Olivia de Havilland, Gene Kelly and, the only time I've seen him on a card, Bonzo! But tonight's highlights are the two single strip cards I've listed: One pre-Tarzan W512 strip of Johnny Weissmuller from the mid-1920s and a W565 stip from 1927 showing, again the only time I've seen this character, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. You'll find my active auctions here.

Elsewhere

Introducing the VAMP to those who haven't bumped into it yet. Inspired by a touch of controversy a couple of months back the Vintage Association of Motion Picture Blogs (V.A.M.P.) already includes several of my favorite writers and online friends ... and myself as well!

The perfect name comes with the perfect mascot, the silent screen's most notorious vamp, Theda Bara.

There isn't much to see over at the VAMP as of yet--it's brand spanking new--but if you love reading classic movie blogs you might find someone new in the member list shown as a blogroll on the right side of the page.

Here's hoping the VAMP grows into a great classic film community:

Wishing you a great start to the week, Cliff