A look at Kind Lady from origins as Hugh Walpole story The Silver Mask, through Edward Chodorov’s stage adaptation and both film versions, especially the earlier 1935 film starring Aline MacMahon and Basil Rathbone.
The Voice of Bugle Ann (1936) Starring Lionel Barrymore with Maureen O’Sullivan
MGM’s The Voice of Bugle Ann (1936) with Lionel Barrymore provides a look at Missouri foxhunting. Post includes some background on American foxhunting and a bit about the quote Barrymore’s Spring Davis attributes to Senator Vest during his murder trial.
Somerset Maugham’s The Narrow Corner (1933) Starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
A personal look at this Somerset Maugham fan’s discovery of The Narrow Corner (1933) from Warner Brothers starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Patricia Ellis, and Ralph Bellamy. A Maugham tale of the South Seas on film with all the sex and sin of the pre-code era.
Dudley Digges on Film and Stage
A look at the career of Irish born character actor Dudley Digges beginning with his appearances in classic films of the 1930’s and 40’s before looking back at his stage origins with the Irish National Theatre in 1904 and long run on Broadway.
China Seas (1935) starring Clark Gable and Jean Harlow
The Clark Gable and Jean Harlow teaming peaks in China Seas, the 4th of their 6 MGM pairings, a tale of love and piracy at sea also starring Wallace Beery and Rosalind Russell.
Tyrone Power in Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake (1942)
Twentieth Century-Fox’s “Son of Fury” plays as a 98 minute epic tale of redemption which opens with a fight, leads to an escape, turns into a brief tale at sea, then an island romance and adventure, a return for vengeance, even a spectacle of a courtroom trial, before, of course, culminating in yet another big fight with the intervening years leading to a different outcome.