A biography of Warner Baxter who won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1930 for his performance as The Cisco Kid in In Old Arizona. Most fondly remembered today as Broadway producer Julian Marsh in 42nd Street.
Movie Star Biographies

Kathleen Burke Wins Nationwide Contest! The Road to Panther Woman in Island of Lost Souls
A look at Paramount’s Summer 1932 nationwide contest to cast Lota, the Panther Woman in Island of Lost Souls. Focus on the eventual Panther Woman winner, Kathleen Burke. Lots of old news clippings.

Dorothy Dell, Star of Little Miss Marker (1934), Gone at Just 19
Dorothy Dell had only appeared in three feature length films when she died, age 19, in a 1934 car accident. This biography includes her rise to fame and looks at all three movies.

Grant Mitchell – WHAT A CHARACTER! – Broadway to Hollywood, 1902-1948
Biography of prolific Hollywood character actor Grant Mitchell. His great-uncle was a US President and his father a famed Civil War General. Mitchell tried careers in law and the military, but eventually took to the stage where he began a slow rise to stardom in 1902.

Mary Boland Biography – TCM’s Summer Under the Stars
A complete and illustrated biography of stage actress and later film star Mary Boland prepared to coincide with TCM’s Summer Under the Stars presentation of Boland movies, August 4, 2013.

Helen Vinson Biography – A Socialite Specializing in Socialites
Born Helen Rulfs in Beaumont, Texas, this biography traces Helen Vinson’s life and career through Houston to New York, Hollywood, and beyond. Born to money, Vinson excelled at playing icy socialites in the movies. Married three times including her 1930s union with Wimbledon champ Fred Perry.
Movie Reviews & Articles
Viewing The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934) for Leslie Howard’s Birthday
Happy birthday to Leslie Howard (1893-1943) today. I celebrate with a viewing The Scarlet Pimpernel and sharing my thoughts on both the film and Howard in this space today, all illustrated by movie cards and collectibles.

In Brief: Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Does Impressions in Our Modern Maidens (1929)
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. makes Our Modern Maidens (1929) more memorable than it would have been otherwise through a series of impersonations of John Barrymore, John Gilbert and his own father, Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.

The Beast of the City (1932) starring Walter Huston and Wallace Ford
A review of an under appreciated 1932 pre-Code classic, The Beast of the City, starring Walter Huston and with Jean Harlow.

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.

Symphony of Six Million (1932) starring Ricardo Cortez
RKO’s Symphony of Six Million (1932) is an interesting David O. Selznick produced film with a then unusual focus on a Jewish family. Ricardo Cortez stars as a young doctor with Anna Appel and Gregory Ratoff as his parents and Irene Dunne as the handicapped girl who’s loved him since childhood.

The Story of Louis Pasteur (1935) starring Paul Muni with Josephine Hutchinson
No, it’s not about Pasteurization! Paul Muni turns in another grand performance as Louis Pasteur in the 1935 Warner Bros biopic. William Dieterle directs.










