Classic Movies - American War Heroes: Alvin York

We would like to honor our veterans on Memorial Day. Here is a poem we found that we would like to share in remembrance of those who bravely fought and/or died for our freedom.

A National Moment of Remembrance On Memorial Day

by Del “Abe” Jones 4-25-2005

That poem about where “poppies blow”

And, “the crosses, row on row”

Still rings true, these ninety years

After written, still brings tears.

We still have Dead, “amid the guns”

And lose our young and our loved ones

Those who lived, “short days ago”

Who, “felt dawn, saw sunset glow”.

In Flanders Fields, “the poppy red”

Still grow near where the blood was bled

They, “Take up our quarrel with the foe”

And still die for Freedoms that we know.

They pass, “The torch” to, “hold it high”

And not, “break the faith with us who die”

For they, “shall not sleep, though poppies grow”

Beneath all those, “crosses, row on row”

In Flanders Fields.

This week, let's talk Classic Movies of American War Heroes! There are three movies we would like to share that were made about actual American war heroes from WW I and WW II: Sergeant York (1941), Sgt. Alvin York, a WW I war hero portrayed by Gary Cooper; To Hell and Back (1955), Second Lt. Audie Murphy, a WW II war hero, starring Audie Murphy as himself; and The Fighting Sullivans (1944), George, Frank, Joe, Matt, and Al - five brothers who grew up together and all joined the Navy during WW II.

The American war hero classic movie that we are featuring today is one in which Gary Cooper played a real American hero of World War I. It also captured for him the first of his two best actor “Oscars”. Of course, that film is Sergeant York (1941), with Joan Leslie and Walter Brennan. As the hillbilly sharpshooter from Tennessee who became one of the most decorated heroes of “The Great War”, Gary Cooper was a perfect fit for the title character. He was, in fact, the only actor the real Sgt. Alvin York (who had to give his consent) would even consider for the role. We think you’ll agree that Gary Cooper is wonderful to watch as his character transforms from drunken rowdy to converted Christian and from “conscientious objector” to war hero. 'Alvin York' declares throughout the movie, “The Lord sure does move in mysterious ways”, a statement that rings true time and again in the extraordinary biographical story of Sergeant York. We love this film and think you will, too.

We hope you enjoy the Sgt. Alvin York Tribute. He was a true American hero who risked his life for the safety of the men around him, and for the freedoms we all still enjoy over ninety years later.

**Trivia Question for Today: When shooting at enemy soldiers, what trick did Sgt. York use to coax them out in the open?

Trivia Answer for Previous Post: Katharine Hepburn was nominated for an Academy Award for best actress 12 times in her career. The other film she made with Cary Grant was Sylvia Scarlett (1935).

Classic Movies of Legendary Couple, Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn

Today, let’s talk Classic Movies of Katharine Hepburn! Voted #1 actress of all-time by the American Film Institute in 1999, Katharine Hepburn’s screen portrayals are indeed fabulous. This four-time Academy Award winner for best actress made many wonderful films, with and without Spencer Tracy. It is hard to believe that in the late 1930s, she was considered “box office poison” in spite of having won her first “Oscar” in 1933 for Morning Glory, her first film with Cary Grant. Several of our Hepburn favorites made during that decade include Little Women (1933), with Joan Bennett; Alice Adams (1935), with Fred MacMurray; Stage Door (1937), with Ginger Rogers and Lucille Ball; and Bringing up Baby (1938), co-starring Cary Grant, with whom she made four pictures.

After her triumphant Broadway appearance in “The Philadelphia Story”, Ms. Hepburn was able to secure the rights to the play and jump-start her Hollywood career when she starred in the film version with Cary Grant and James Stewart. It is The Philadelphia Story (1940) that is in our spotlight today. It is an amusing comedy of high society in the “city of brotherly love” and revolves around the approaching marriage of wealthy divorcee, Tracy Lord (Hepburn) to a self-made man named George Kittredge (John Howard). Hilarious complications arise when her ex-husband, Dexter Haven (Grant) and tabloid reporter, Mike Connor (Stewart) arrive on the scene a day or two prior to the wedding. Both men eventually declare themselves to be in love with her before she can tie the knot to “good old George”, causing Tracy endless confusion and doubt about herself and her choice of husband. Which guy gets the girl? You’ll just have to watch The Philadelphia Story to find out if you haven’t seen it before. It is a very amusing comedy and was remade as the musical, High Society in 1956 with Grace Kelly, Bing Crosby, and Frank Sinatra. Both versions are quite entertaining. We highly recommend them for your viewing pleasure.

Katharine Hepburn went on to bigger and better roles throughout the following decades, not only in the classic string of films with Spencer Tracy, which were covered in our previous post, but in many other fine screen portrayals. Several of those diverse Hepburn classics are The African Queen (1951), with Humphrey Bogart (check our archives for our Bogart post which features this film); The Rainmaker (1956), with Burt Lancaster; Suddenly Last Summer (1959), with Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift; A Lion In Winter (1968), with Peter O’Toole and for which she won her third “Oscar”; Rooster Cogburn (1975), with John Wayne; and On Golden Pond (1981), with Henry Fonda in her fourth and final “Oscar”- winning performance.

There were also TV movie roles for Ms. Hepburn including The Glass Menagerie (1973) and The Corn is Green (1979). Her final screen appearance was in 1994 in Love Affair starring Warren Beatty. As she aged and her health began to fail, Ms. Hepburn retired to her home in Connecticut where she died in 2003 at the age of 96. Her star had shone brightly throughout her many decades of acting brilliance on stage, screen, and television. There will never be another like “The Great Kate”.

**Trivia Question for Today: How many times was Katharine Hepburn nominated for an Academy Award for best actress and what was the other (unmentioned) film she made with Cary Grant? Bonus Trivia: The movie she won her second “Oscar” for and is not listed above is Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967), her final pairing with Spencer Tracy.

Trivia Answer for Previous Post: In Captains Courageous, Spencer Tracy's character, Manuel, played the “cranked” musical instrument called a hurdy-gurdy. It was a hand-held version of the box-like instrument that was most often played on the street corners of large cities.

Classic Movies of Legendary Couple, Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn

Today, let’s talk Classic Movies of Spencer Tracy! He may not have had Gable’s glamour, Cooper’s good looks, or Cagney’s explosiveness, but Spencer Tracy was one of the most gifted and “natural” actors to ever appear on screen. We’ve heard it said that Tracy followed a very simple rule when acting: “Just know your lines and don’t bump into the furniture”. He was always consistently natural and brilliant whether playing gangster, priest, fisherman, or father; comedy or drama.

Tracy’s first films, beginning with Up the River (1930), with Humphrey Bogart, were mostly “B” gangster pictures for Fox Studios, but he became wildly known in 1933 when he replaced James Cagney (who was fighting with the studio) in 20,000 Years in Sing Sing with Bette Davis. A number of films followed in rapid succession and though Tracy’s performances were uniformly good, the executives at Fox were often displeased by his unruliness. They weren’t overly concerned when Spencer Tracy moved to MGM in 1935, convinced that he lacked sex appeal.

While at MGM, Tracy got off to a promising start with Riff Raff (1936), with Jean Harlow, but top stardom came with Fritz Lang’s Fury and with the big-budgeted disaster film *San Francisco, with Clark Gable. Both of these films were also made in 1936. Tracy would be nominated for a best actor Oscar a total of nine times in his long and illustrious career (those nominated films are indicated by an * throughout this post) and would win the award twice, both times in the 1930s. Those wins were in consecutive years, a record for a male star. His first Academy Award was for 1937’s *Captains Courageous and his second was for his role as Father Flanagan in 1938’s *Boys Town. We enjoy both of these films very much, but Captains Courageous is in the spotlight today.

Based on the novel by Rudyard Kipling, Captains Courageous tells the tale of young Harvey Cheyne (Freddie Bartholomew), a spoiled rich kid who falls overboard when he and his father (Melvyn Douglas) are sailing on a trans-Atlantic luxury liner near The Grand Banks. Harvey is “fished out” of the ocean by Portuguese fisherman, Manuel Fidello, (Spencer Tracy) and taken aboard the fishing schooner, “We’re Here”, which is owned and operated by Captain Disko Troop (Lionel Barrymore). While on board, Harvey learns what it is to work hard without the indulgence he is used to and Manuel teaches him valuable life lessons about friendship, fairness and integrity. The film is one of our favorites from childhood and one we will always remember fondly, although when we were small, we used to think Spencer Tracy’s “Manuel” was being played by Chico Marx of the Marx Brothers. (Tracy has curly, dark hair, wears a cap, and speaks with a similar accent in the film, so we confused him with Chico.) Captains Courageous is a terrific motion picture and one we highly recommend for family viewing, although there are some moments of tragedy. The wonderful cast also includes Mickey Rooney, John Carradine, and Charley Grapewin.

With the 1940s, of course, would come Tracy’s pairing with Katharine Hepburn for their classic films (see our previous post), but those won’t be covered today. Spencer Tracy made many enjoyable films throughout his career and some of our favorites include Northwest Passage (1940), with Robert Young; Boom Town (1940), with Clark Gable; Edison the Man (1940), with Gene Lockhart; Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941), with Ingrid Bergman; *Father of the Bride (1950)and its sequel, Father’s Little Dividend (1951), both with Elizabeth Taylor; *Bad Day at Black Rock (1955), with Robert Ryan; *The Old Man and the Sea (1958); *Inherit the Wind (1960), with Fredric March; *Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), with Burt Lancaster; and It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1962), with an all-star comedy cast.

















Spencer Tracy made one final film with Katharine Hepburn in 1967 (*Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner) before he died of a heart attack 17 days after completion of filming. He was 67. During his life, Spencer Tracy fought many “demons”, but his problems never seemed to effect his magnificent screen portrayals except, perhaps, to lend them more depth. He was indeed a legendary performer whose film masterpieces will live on as long as film art endures.

**Trivia Question for Today: What musical instrument does Spencer Tracy’s character, Manuel, play in Captains Courageous?

Trivia Answer for Previous Post: In Adam’s Rib, Adam’s nickname for Amanda is “Pinkie” and her nickname for him is “Pinky”.

Classic Movies of Legendary Couple, Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn

As we continue our Legendary Classic Movie Couples Month, we are proud to bring you another wonderful screen duo and as before we will first discuss their films together today, then on Wednesday we will discuss the male actor's individual films and on Friday, the female actor's individual films. Our twosome for today has been featured in an earlier post, but we feel they are so special, we must feature them again due to their status as the one of the most beloved couples to ever grace the silver screen.

Today, let's talk Classic Movies of Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn! This terrific team was comprised of two dynamic and accomplished actors who created an amazing number of classic motion pictures both together and apart. He was a two-time, back-to-back winner of the Academy Award for best actor while she was an incredible four-time Academy Award winner for best actress. Many of their individual screen appearances will be discussed later in the week, but it is their nine films together that we wish to present today. Most are considered classics and include Woman of the Year (1942), a delightful comedy about two reporters from very different backgrounds who fall in love, marry, and find they have very little in common (except love, of course); Keeper of the Flame (1942), a serious drama involving the mysterious death of an idealized statesman; Without Love (1945), a very funny comedy co-starring Lucille Ball and Keenan Wynn; Sea of Grass (1947), a Western drama of range violence and marital infidelity; State of the Union (1948) has Tracy’s character running for President of the United States; Pat and Mike (1952), another delightful comedy which displays Ms. Hepburn’s tremendous athletic ability; Desk Set (1957) humorously presents the dawning of the computer age; and of course, their final pairing in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967) in which both were nominated for Academy Awards. Ms. Hepburn won, but Mr. Tracy did not. He, in fact, had died after the making of the movie and was nominated posthumously. After 25 years, the Tracy-Hepburn collaboration had come to an end, both on and off the screen.

Our favorite of all the Tracy-Hepburn vehicles is (drum-roll please) 1949’s Adam’s Rib. This hilarious “battle between the sexes” tale pits married lawyers, Adam and Amanda Bonner (Tracy and Hepburn), against each other in a courtroom/bedroom romp that truly is classic comedy. The great supporting cast of Judy Holliday, Tom Ewell, David Wayne, and Jean Hagen add their considerable talents to the humorous antics in and out of the courtroom, making Adam’s Rib one of the most delightful romantic comedies ever filmed. The witty dialogue by married screenwriters, Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon, is also superb. Don’t miss the fun! If you’ve never seen it, see it soon! If you’ve seen it before, see it again! We love it! We hope you will, too. If you have a favorite Tracy-Hepburn film, let us know. We love to talk about classic movies!

**Trivia Question for Today: What are Amanda’s and Adam’s nicknames for each other in Adam’s Rib? The answer will appear in our next post. Check out Let's Talk Classic Movies every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Trivia Answer for Previous Post: Ginger Rogers appeared as the Queen in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s TV musical production of Cinderella in 1965. The cast also included Lesley Ann Warren as Cinderella, Stuart Damon as the Prince, Walter Pidgeon as the King, Celeste Holm as the Fairy Godmother, and Jo Van Fleet as the Wicked Stepmother.

Classic Movies of Legendary Couple, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers

Today, let’s talk Classic Movies of Ginger Rogers! As the other half of our legendary screen duo, Ginger Rogers also had an outstanding movie career outside of her pairing with Fred Astaire and beyond the realm of movie musicals. She was also a gifted comedienne and dramatic actress.

The pert and pretty actress was Broadway-trained and her appearance in George and Ira Gershwin’s “Girl Crazy” in 1929 is said to have made her a star (at age 19) along with another musical comedy legend, Ethel Merman. Ironically, Fred Astaire was the choreographer of the show. When Ginger went to Hollywood in 1930, she created a considerable stir with one single movie line-“Cigarette me, big boy”- in a small part in Young Man of Manhattan. Although she appeared in several films and shorts, it wasn’t until 1933 that she had her first breakout role as a chorus girl in the Warner Brothers production of 42nd Street, with Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell. The films with Fred Astaire at RKO would begin that same year and would continue throughout the 1930s. (Those films were discussed previously and will not be covered in today’s post.) In 1937, Ginger Rogers would co-star in Stage Door, with a marvelous ensemble cast including Katharine Hepburn and Lucille Ball. The RKO films with Fred Astaire ended in 1939, but there was much more to Ginger Rogers than feathered gowns and dancing slippers. She most definitely proved that when she promptly won the Academy Award for best actress for her non-dancing, non-singing performance in Kitty Foyle (1940). She delivered another outstanding dramatic performance in Primrose Path (1940), with Joel McCrea. We also enjoy her later dramatic performances in Magnificent Doll (1947) in which she portrays First Lady, Dolly Madison and in Storm Warning (1951). Ronald Reagan and Doris Day co-star in this film that takes a stand against the racism of the Ku Klux Klan.

Throughout her career, Ginger Rogers also starred in many delightful comedies. Several of our favorites are the very funny Bachelor Mother (1939), with David Niven; the screwball comedy, It Had to Be You (1947), with Cornel Wilde; and the hilarious Monkey Business (1952), with Cary Grant and Marilyn Monroe. Another favorite comedy and the Ginger Rogers film in the spotlight today is Billy Wilder’s side-splitter, The Major and the Minor (1942). The film follows the exploits of Susan Applegate (Rogers), a small-town girl working in New York who decides to call it quits and go home after a run-in with a “wolf” while trying to give him a scalp massage. Not having the full fare for the train ride back to Iowa, Susan disguises herself as a “big for her age” 12-year-old “minor” nicknamed Su-Su. During the train trip, she meets and is taken under the wing of “the Major” (Ray Milland) who suggests she call him “Uncle Philip”. He is unaware of her deception (due, in part, to his myopic eyesight) and invites her to be his guest for a few days (at his fiance’s house, of course) at the boy’s military academy where he teaches. There the fun and fireworks really begin as all the smitten young men try to woo Su-Su with “battlefield maneuvers” in the moonlight. Especially amusing is the dance with the local girl’s school. All the young ladies and teachers try to imitate actress, Veronica Lake, with her “peek-a-boo bang” hairstyle. Between the Major’s suspicious fiancé and her own growing love for him, Su-Su finds herself in one amusing predicament after another. To see how she worms her way out of the mess, you really must see The Major and the Minor. Note: The film was remade in the 1950s as a vehicle for Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis called You’re Never Too Young. Actress Diana Lynn appears in both film versions; first as a real 12-year-old who sees right through Su-Su’s disguise and then as Dean Martin’s fiancé in the second. Also worth mentioning-Ginger Rogers' real mother, Lela Rogers, portrays Susan’s mother in The Major and the Minor.

Ginger Rogers made a final film with Fred Astaire in 1949 and many other films after that. She also made some TV guest appearances later on shows such as The Love Boat and Here’s Lucy with old friend, Lucille Ball. Her final acting appearance was on the popular TV show, Hotel, in 1987. Ginger Rogers died in 1995 of congestive heart failure. She was an exceptional talent and the “stuff” legends are made of.

**Trivia Question for Today: In what TV Musical did Ginger Rogers appear in 1965 and what role did she play?

Trivia Answer for Previous Post: Fred Astaire was married twice. His first wife was Phyllis Livingston Potter, the mother of his son, Fred, Jr. and daughter, Ava. (Phyllis also had a son, Peter, by a previous marriage.) She died of cancer in 1954. Astaire married again in 1980 to female jockey, Robyn Smith. She was 35, he was 81.

Classic Movies of Legendary Couple, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers

Today, let’s talk Classic Movies of Fred Astaire! One half of our legendary screen couple, Fred Astaire, was a very gifted dancer, choreographer, and actor. In the 1920s, he and his sister, Adele, were the “dancing darlings of Broadway”, but when Adele married and retired, Fred went to Hollywood to make his first picture in 1933. That picture, MGM’s Dancing Lady, with Joan Crawford and Clark Gable, was not a triumph for any concerned, but Fred Astaire’s foot (or should we say feet?) was firmly in the Hollywood door and he would soon be paired with Ginger Rogers at RKO Pictures. That pairing would indeed be a triumph and the rest, as they say, is history.

Fred Astaire’s screen partnership with Ginger Rogers was, however, only one phase of his long and successful career. We previously discussed the ten films the team made together, but in today’s post, we’ll share several of Fred’s legendary screen performances minus Ginger. Most of us think only of his illustrious MGM career, but the truth is that after RKO, Astaire worked for many movie studios including MGM. It was there that he made Broadway Melody of 1940 with Eleanor Powell. Although the film received mixed reviews, the dance with Powell to Cole Porter’s “Begin the Beguine” on that very shiny floor is one of our favorite Astaire numbers of all time. He worked at Paramount and paired up with Bing Crosby for Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn (1942) which showcased both Astaire’s dancing brilliance with his famous Fourth of July “firecracker” dance and Crosby’s incredible singing with his marvelous rendition of “White Christmas” which was first introduced in that film. Crosby and Astaire teamed up again in another Berlin musical, Blue Skies (1946) in which Astaire danced his wonderful “Puttin’ on the Ritz” number. Astaire also partnered with gorgeous Rita Hayworth in You’ll Never Get Rich (1941) and You Were Never Lovelier (1942) for Columbia Pictures. Those films sky-rocketed the young pin-up girl to stardom.

When Fred Astaire did begin making the big, splashy musicals of MGM’s heyday in the late 1940s to early 1950s, another phase of his legendary career began. With his fabulously innovative dance numbers, the movie musical would reach new heights in such screen gems as Ziegfeld Follies (1946), with an all-star cast including the equally innovative Gene Kelly with whom Fred teams up for a terrific dance number called “The Babbitt and the Bromide”; Easter Parade (1948), with another screen legend, Judy Garland; Three Little Words (1950), with Red Skelton and Vera-Ellen in a musical biopic of songwriting team, Kalmar and Ruby; Royal Wedding (1951), with Jane Powell in a story of a brother-sister act that plays London at the time of Queen Elizabeth’s wedding to Prince Phillip (watch for the incredible “ceiling dance” in which Astaire dances all over the walls, floor, and ceiling of a room-people still wonder how he did it); and Silk Stockings (1957), with wonderful Cyd Charisse in a “cold war” musical spoof. He also made the films Daddy Long Legs (1955), with Leslie Caron and Funny Face (1957), with Audrey Hepburn. Both are enjoyable musicals, especially the latter, although Fred Astaire looks rather old beside his very young leading ladies.

The Fred Astaire classic movie in the spotlight today is 1953’s The Band Wagon, with lovely Cyd Charisse. As an aging movie actor who is set to star in a Broadway musical, Astaire is perfectly cast. He has doubts about his ability to dance with the beautiful, young ballerina (Charisse) who is chosen as his leading lady, but when a famous dramatic director (Jack Buchanan) comes on board and wants to turn the musical comedy into a Faustian nightmare, everyone is ready to quit. With the help of the play’s original writers (comically portrayed by Nanette Fabray and Oscar Levant), Astaire, Charisse, and company take matters into their own hands to create the kind of show the musical play was intended to be. There are lots of wonderful musical numbers in The Band Wagon including the classic Astaire rendition of “By Myself”, the romantic yet simple “Dancing in the Dark” sequence between Astaire and Charisse in Central Park, the “film noir” dance, “A Rag, A Bone, and a Hank of Hair”; and the finale number “That’s Entertainment” sung by the cast at the picture’s end. The selection we enjoy most, however, is “Triplets” with Astaire, Fabray and Buchanan dressed as babies. It really is funny. Take a look at The Band Wagon sometime and see for yourselves.

Fred Astaire went on to appear in several non-musical roles. With the nuclear doomsday classic On The Beach (1959), starring Gregory Peck; the disaster film, The Towering Inferno (1974), with Paul Newman; and the thrilling Ghost Story (1981), with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Fred proved himself to be a fine dramatic actor as well as Musical legend. Several of Astaire’s later films also include a final “unsuccessful” musical, Finian’s Rainbow (1968), with Petula Clark as well as appearances in the MGM Musical tribute films That’s Entertainment (1974), That’s Entertainment II (1976), and That’s Dancing (1985). Fred Astaire died in 1987 at the age of 88. His life had been rich and full of accomplishment. His legacy will live on forever in the Musical genre he helped to pioneer.

**Trivia for Today: Was Fred Astaire ever married and if so, to whom?

Trivia Answer for Previous Post: Swing Time (1936) is considered to be the best of the Astaire-Rogers films and was the favorite of Ginger Rogers.