Classic Movies - Jean Harlow

Today, let’s talk Classic Movies of Jean Harlow! Although Jean Harlow died at the tender age of 26, the classic films of the feisty, wise-cracking “blonde bombshell” will forever be remembered as golden moments of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Early in her film career, Harlow appeared in over a dozen unaccredited roles, including several for Hal Roach Studios, before she was cast in the Howard Hughes production of Hell’s Angels (1930), the film that would launch her image as a “sex symbol”. (The slinky wardrobe she wore, throughout her career, further enhanced that image.) The Secret Six, with Clark Gable; Public Enemy, with James Cagney; and Platinum Blonde, with Loretta Young would follow in 1931. In 1932, she signed a contract with and made her first film for MGM Studios. That film was Red-Headed Woman, with Chester Morris. After that, the sky was the limit for the little girl from Kansas City, Missouri.

With her “peroxide blonde” hair, Cupid’s bow lips, and pencil-thin eyebrows, Jean Harlow’s “look” was imitated by many women, both on screen and off. Though often cast as “laughing vamps” in her early pictures, she quickly developed into a very fine comedienne. As Harlow’s roles changed, so did her appearance. Her “look” was softened, her hair color changed to a darker, more natural shade. By the mid-thirties, Jean Harlow had become such a box-office sensation that many credited her popularity with saving MGM Studios from bankruptcy, a common occurrence for many studios during the Depression.

Jean Harlow’s many classics include all six films with Clark Gable (listed in our previous post); Bombshell (1933), with Lee Tracy; Riffraff (1935), with Spencer Tracy; Suzy (1936), with Cary




Grant; and Libeled Lady (1936), with William Powell, to whom she had been engaged for two years, but never married. 1937’s Saratoga, with Clark Gable, was her last film and a very good one about horseracing. During the filming she became quite ill and she definitely looks unwell if you’ve ever seen the picture. Jean Harlow died of uremic poisoning due to kidney failure before the film was completed. Rather than recast her part, MGM used what footage of Harlow they had, wrote her character out of some scenes, and used a body double for long shots and a voice double when needed. The studio was unsure of the movie’s reception when it was released, but fans turned out in droves, making Saratoga MGM’s highest grossing film for 1937.

Dinner at Eight (1933), from the Kaufman-Ferber play, is the Jean Harlow classic in the spotlight today. It is a comedy/drama classic that showcases Harlow in one of her top comedic roles as Kitty Packard, the brassy, rather ditzy wife of crude mining magnate, Dan Packard (expertly played by Wallace Beery). She is hilarious as the bored, over-indulged woman who lies in bed all day in various negligees, eating chocolates, and waiting for her doctor-boyfriend to pay house calls. Her wise-cracking dialogue, baby-talk, and facial expressions are priceless. The main story revolves around an ill-fated dinner party that is being given by Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Jordan (Lionel Barrymore, Billie Burke) and the guests that are invited to the party. We are given a glimpse into the private lives of those guests prior to and during the party. Some of those glimpses are amusing, some tragic, but all are entertaining. The superb cast also includes John Barrymore, Marie Dressler, and Lee Tracy. Directed by George Cukor and produced by David O. Selznick, Dinner at Eight is a gem of the silver screen and one of Jean Harlow’s best performances. See it sometime soon.

**Trivia Question for Today: In Dinner at Eight, what does Kitty (Harlow) tell Carlotta (Dressler) that she’s recently been doing as they go into dinner and what is Carlotta’s startled reply?

Trivia Answer for Previous Post: Clark Gable’s third wife, actress Carole Lombard (33), was killed, along with her mother, in a plane that crashed on Mt. Potosi in Nevada on January 16, 1942. She was returning home from a war bond rally in Indiana at the time.

Classic Movies - Clark Gable

Today, let’s talk Classic Movies of Clark Gable! One of the top leading men of all time, Clark Gable, with his rugged good looks, rather large ears, and no-nonsense approach to acting, remained a favorite from the early 1930’s until his death in late 1960. Because of his “he-man” persona, as well as having a way with the ladies, Gable was popular with both men and women. His characters were usually tough, cynical, and a bit hard-hearted until the right woman came along, of course! Known throughout his career as “The King” or “The King of Hollywood”, Clark Gable was the first movie star to have a song dedicated to him. On his 36th birthday (1937), young Judy Garland immortalized him with her singing of “Dear Mr. Gable: You Made Me Love You”.

After working on stage and as a Hollywood extra, Clark Gable was given his first small part in The Painted Desert (1931). Better parts and bigger pictures would soon follow. His six classic films with feisty “blonde-bombshell”, Jean Harlow, were tremendous hits and are as follows: The Secret Six (1931),




Red Dust (1932), Hold Your Man (1933), China Seas (1935), Wife vs. Secretary (1936), and Saratoga (1937), Harlow’s last film before she died of uremic poisoning from kidney failure at age 26.



Several of our favorite films from Clark Gable’s 30-year career include Frank Capra’s delightful comedy, It Happened One Night (1934), with Claudette Colbert (for which Gable won his only Academy Award);




San Francisco (1936), with Spencer Tracy; Gone With The Wind (1939), with Vivien Leigh (we’ll talk about that film on a future post);

Boom Town (1940), with Spencer Tracy; Honky Tonk (1941), with Lana Turner; Across the Wide Missouri (1951), with Ricardo Montalban; Mogambo (1953), a remake of Red Dust, with Ava Gardner (“only Gable could play Gable 21 years later”);




Band of Angels (1957), with Sidney Poitier; Teacher’s Pet (1958 ), with Doris Day; Run Silent, Run Deep (1958), with Burt Lancaster; and his final film The Misfits (1961), with Marilyn Monroe, also in her final screen appearance. Always self-


deprecating concerning his acting ability, it is a shame that Mr. Gable did not live to see the release of The Misfits. Many consider his performance in that film to be his finest.

The Gable classic movie in the spotlight today, however, is the exciting sea adventure, Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), with Charles Laughton and Franchot Tone. You will never forget the tyrannical Captain Bligh (Laughton) as he drives his “HMS Bounty” crew to the limit with his harsh, often cruel, discipline, nor the daring revolt led by first-mate, Fletcher Christian (Gable), that results in taking the ship from Captain Bligh and casting him out to sea in a small boat, along with a few loyal shipmen. Bligh’s superior navigating and sailing experience sees them through, rather admirably, and upon reaching England, the chase is then on to bring the mutinous crew to justice. It really is an amazing story, based on actual events that occurred in the Royal Navy in 1789. In the role of Fletcher Christian, Clark Gable felt he was miscast, but the film proved to be such a success that he, Laughton, and Tone were all nominated for the Academy Award for best actor (the best supporting actor category would be in force the next year, due to that rather awkward occurrence). None of them won the coveted award, but Mutiny on the Bounty did win for best picture that year. We think this is one of Clark Gable’s best movies and a true classic. Take a look at it when you get a chance and see what we mean. Read a new post every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on Let’s Talk Classic Movies.

**Trivia Question for Today: What happened to Clark Gable’s third wife, actress Carole Lombard, in 1942? Check our next post for the answer.

Trivia Answer for Previous Post: Janet Leigh’s character (Marion) in Psycho is only in the film for the first half of it before she is “killed off”. This was very unusual and unexpected for a leading role and a major star. Audiences had a difficult time accepting the fact that Janet Leigh was no longer in the picture. Actress, Vera Miles, who is only seen in the second half of the film, more or less replaces Janet Leigh as the female lead. She plays Marion’s sister, Lila.

Classic Movies - Alfred Hitchcock Final Films

Today, let’s talk Hitchcock Classic Movies-The Finale! In this blog, we will conclude our review of Hitchcock classic films with the 1960’s and 1970’s. During those decades he made seven films before his death in



1980 at the age of 80. Those movies are
Psycho (1960); The Birds (1963);
Marnie (1964); Torn Curtain (1966); Topaz (1969); Frenzy (1972); and Family Plot (1976). All are American films with the exception of Frenzy, his last British film. Of those final movies, we are spotlighting the two that we consider the best of the bunch and two of our favorites. Both films are indeed classic Hitchcock.

Psycho was probably Hitchcock’s most graphic and horrific motion picture up to that time. In a chilling performance by Anthony Perkins, as the emotionally disturbed, Norman Bates, a new breed of psychological killer was presented to the movie-going audience. The brutal shower scene involving Marion (Janet Leigh) is film legend. You will notice that Hitchcock reverted back to black and white for this film. This may have been because people were more squeamish at the sight of blood in those days, but it was probably because he wanted to make one of the “low-budget” thrillers that had become so popular at that time. With Psycho, Hitchcock created for his audience an unforgettable experience in terror at the “Bates Motel” and the frenzied musical score by Bernard Herrmann was and is absolutely hair-raising. We’ve heard on interviews that Hitchcock didn’t expect Psycho to have the tremendous impact that it did. In fact, he was quite surprised by it. We fail to see why. The film still stands the test of time and continues to scare those who watch it for the first or fortieth time. It is a true horror classic-Hitchcock style!

The Birds, by Daphne du Maurier, was the first Hitchcock film we were actually old enough to see at the theater and it was pretty intense! We will never forget the various scenes of the congregating birds as they prepared for and carried out mass attacks on their human targets. We still think of this movie whenever we see large flocks of birds gathered in trees or along electrical wires. ‘Tippi’ Hedren and Rod Taylor are fabulous in this frightening film that causes all who see it to wonder what might happen if “our feathered friends” should start fighting back. The Birds is a great motion picture and another Hitchcock triumph.

Unfortunately, the final five films of Alfred Hitchcock’s career do not quite compare to Psycho and The Birds, but they do have their moments, as do most of his movies. Watch any of Hitchcock’s fabulous films and see for yourself. You may find one that you like better than any of those we’ve recommended in our blog about the legendary director.

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**Trivia Question for Today: As one of the leading stars of Psycho, what was so unusual about Janet Leigh’s role in the film?

Trivia Answer for Previous Post: The MacGuffin, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is a term coined by Alfred Hitchcock circa 1939 and is defined as follows: An object, event, or character in a film or story that serves to set and keep the plot in motion despite usually lacking intrinsic importance. In Psycho, for example, the $40,000.00 that Marion stole was the reason she was on the run and stopped at the Bates Motel, but it had nothing to do with what happened at the motel. The money was merely the catalyst that set things in motion. It was the MacGuffin!

Classic Movies - Alfred Hitchcock American Films Part 2

Today, let’s talk More Hitchcock American Movie Classics! In this blog, we will shine the spotlight on the great director’s blockbuster hits of the 1950’s. Even with all the success of the previous decade, Alfred Hitchcock really hit his stride in the “fifties”. With the use of elaborate sets, glamorous locales, color, and bigger budgets, many of the best and most creative films of Hitchcock’s genius were born in the 1950’s.

Who will ever forget the classic thrillers so many of us enjoyed, either at the theater or while watching “Saturday Night at the Movies” on TV? Those wonderfully suspenseful films set in such fabulous locations as Morocco, London’s “Albert Hall” Opera House, the French Riviera, San Francisco and Golden Gate Park, The United Nations Building, or high atop Mount Rushmore will always be part of our memories. Other, more mundane, settings of isolated cornfields, rushing trains, amusement parks, and apartment complexes, also come to mind when remembering Hitchcock’s finest films of the “fifties”.

We warmly recommend any of the Hitchcock classics made during that time period. All are legendary and include such tremendous hits as Dial M for Murder (1954), Rear Window (1954), and To Catch a Thief (1955), all starring


Hitchcock’s favorite blonde, Grace Kelly, as well as Ray Milland, James Stewart, and Cary Grant, respectively. James Stewart also starred in the 1956 remake of The Man Who Knew Too Much with Doris Day (in which she sang her signature song, “Que Sera, Sera”), and with Kim Novak in 1958’s Vertigo (a film which has reached “dizzying heights” of new-found popularity in the last few years).

Today, we want to focus on two of our favorite “fifties” films of Alfred Hitchcock. One was at the beginning of the decade, the other at the end. Strangers on a Train (1951), starring Farley Granger and Robert Walker, is a childhood favorite that we’ve never forgotten. From the “hypothetical” discussion of crisscross murders between two train-riding strangers, to the murder of Guy's (Granger) unfaithful wife, to the wonderful cat-and-mouse game played by “crazy” Bruno (Walker), to the tension-filled tennis match, to the thrilling finale on a carousel gone wild, Strangers on a Train is marvelous entertainment from the “Master of Suspense”. We will forever associate the old tune, “And the Band Played On” with this movie. Watch it and you will understand why. This film is classic Hitchcock! (Take note of the supporting actress who plays Barbara, the younger sister. That’s Pat Hitchcock, Alfred’s daughter.)

North by Northwest (1959) is the other film we want to focus on today. Starring Cary Grant as a victim of mistaken identity, this action-packed thriller takes him across the U.S. in pursuit of foreign agents, mysterious microfilm, and a beautiful blonde (Eva Marie Saint). From New York City to Chicago and from a Midwestern cornfield to South Dakota’s Mount Rushmore, Hitchcock weaves a complex web of murder, intrigue, romance, and adventure. You will never forget Cary Grant as he runs through the remote cornfield while being shot at from a low-flying airplane, or the climactic chase scene as Grant and Eva Marie Saint climb down the faces of the presidents on Mount Rushmore. North by Northwest is definitely a film to see and see again. Another Hitchcock masterpiece!

**Trivia Question for Today: What did Hitchcock mean by the term, The MacGuffin?

Trivia Answer for Previous Post: According to an AMC biographical presentation called, "Dial H for Hitchcock", the film, Rope, “was a cinematic experiment of twelve extended, unbroken, and unedited takes, with the camera following in real time”. In our own words, there are no fade-ins or fade-outs to other settings or times. The action steadily takes place as it would in the normal course of an evening. Perhaps, that is why Rope is also Hitchcock’s first color film-to add to the realistic quality.