Classic Movies - Famous Child Star: Margaret O'Brien - Jane Eyre

Margaret O'Brien and

Joan Fontaine - 1944

This week we will conclude our Back to School month and talk Classic Movie Child Star – Margaret O’Brien. One of the most popular child actresses of the 1940s, Margaret O'Brien was precocious- yet-genuine, and unlike-any-other-girl-in-the-neighborhood in a variety of starring and supporting roles for MGM during the World War II and immediate post-war era. Set apart from other cute faces of the time by her mature acting abilities, Margaret even earned a special juvenile Oscar in 1944. Young Margaret made her film debut at age four in the Mickey Rooney/ Judy Garland musical Babes on Broadway (1941). She didn't sing, but had an uncredited "bit part" as a little girl who auditions for Broadway producer Thornton Reed crying, "Please! Please! Don't send my brother to the chair! Don't let him burn!" It was hardly a role, but it made an indelible impression.

After signing with MGM at age five, O'Brien was given her first starring role in Journey for Margaret (1942), also starring Fay Bainter, Robert Young, and Laraine Day. Her performance as a young war orphan in World War II London made her an instant audience favorite, and MGM wasted no time publicizing her as the most gifted child actress since Shirley Temple (avoiding comparisons with the 1930s song-and-dance prodigy). Recognizing her value as a performer lay in her grown-up acting talents, Journey for Margaret director W.S. Van Dyke called her a young Sarah Bernhardt, and the studio set about trying to find suitable vehicles for its rising star.

In 1944, Margaret was loaned to 20th Century-Fox for another supporting part. She portrayed a young French girl, Adele Varens, in Jane Eyre, which is the movie we would like to feature today. The film was adapted from Charlotte Brontë 's novel of the same name. Jane Eyre also featured two other rising child stars, Peggy Ann Garner and Elizabeth Taylor, though O'Brien received the highest billing of the three girls. Directed by Robert Stevenson, the film stars Joan Fontaine, Orson Welles, Margaret O’Brien, John Sutton, Agnes Moorehead, Sara Allgood, Henry Daniell, and Hillary Brooke.

Jane Eyre begins in Gateshead Hall, where a ten-year-old orphan named Jane Eyre (Garner) is living with her mother's brother's family. The brother, surnamed Reed, dies shortly after adopting Jane. His wife, Mrs. Sarah Reed (Moorehead), and their three children (John, Eliza and Georgiana) neglect and abuse Jane, for they resent Mr. Reed's preference for the little orphan in their midst. In addition, they dislike Jane's plain looks and quiet yet passionate character. Thus, the novel begins with young John Reed bullying Jane, who retaliates with unwonted violence. Jane is blamed for the ensuing fight, and Mrs. Reed has two of the servants drag her off and lock her up in the red-room, the unused chamber where Mr. Reed had died. Still locked in that night, Jane sees a light and panics, thinking that her uncle's ghost has come. Her scream rouses the house, but Mrs. Reed just locks up Jane for longer. Then Jane has a fit and passes out. A doctor, Mr. Lloyd, comes to Gateshead Hall and suggests that Jane go to school.

Mr. Brocklehurst (Daniell) is a cold, cruel, self-righteous, and highly hypocritical clergyman who runs a charity school called Lowood. He accepts Jane as a pupil in his school. Jane is infuriated, however, when Mrs. Reed tells him, falsely, that Jane is a liar. Jane finds life at Lowood to be grim, but is impressed with one pupil, Helen Burns (Taylor), who accepts the school's deficiencies with passive dignity, practicing the Christian teaching of turning the other cheek. Jane admires and loves the gentle Helen and they become best friends, but Jane cannot bring herself to emulate her friend's behavior. While the typhus epidemic is raging, Helen dies of consumption in Jane's arms. Jane refuses to go back to school and has given up until Dr. Rivers (Sutton) encourages her to go back to get educated and prepare her life to do God's work.

Eight years later – Jane Eyre forwards as Jane has been a teacher at Lowood for two years now, but she thirsts for a better and brighter future. Small, plain and poor, Jane Eyre comes to Thornfield Hall as governess to the young French girl, Adèle Varens (O’Brien), ward of Edward Rochester (Welles). Denied love all her life, Jane can't help but be attracted to the intelligent, vibrant, energetic Mr. Rochester, the brooding lord of a mysterious manor house and a man twice her age. But just when Mr. Rochester seems to be returning the attention, he invites the beautiful and wealthy Blanche Ingram (Brooke) and her party to stay at his estate. Meanwhile, the secret of Thornfield Hall could ruin all their chances for happiness.

Will Jane’s love be revealed? Will the secret of Thornfield Hall ruin their lives? We highly recommend watching 20th Century-Fox’s Jane Eyre. Read “Let’s Talk Classic Movies” for more classic movie presentations and trivia.

**Trivia Question for Today: Margaret O’Brien was named Angela Maxine O'Brien at birth. What inspired her to change her name to Margaret?

Trivia Answer for Previous Post: There were 11 movie adaptations made from the novel Treasure Island (including the 1934 version). The first film was made in 1920.

Classic Movies - Famous Child Star: Jackie Cooper - Treasure Island

Starring

Wallace Beery

Jackie Cooper

Lionel Barrymore

Otto Kruger
Lewis Stone
Nigel Bruce

and

Dorothy Peterson

Today let’s conclude talk Classic Movie Child Star – Jackie Cooper. In 1934, Cooper teamed up with Wallace Beery again in Treasure Island, an adaptation of the classic novel by Robert Louis Stevenson of the same name. Directed by Victor Fleming, Treasure Island has an all-star cast including Jackie Cooper, Wallace Beery, Lionel Barrymore, Otto Kruger, Lewis Stone, Nigel Bruce, and Dorothy Peterson. It tells a tale about young Jim Hawkins (Cooper) who discovers a treasure map and travels on a sailing ship to a remote island, but pirates led by Long John Silver (Beery) threaten to take away the honest seafarers’ riches and lives.

Rum-craving former pirate Billy Bones (Barrymore) boards at the seaside inn operated by Jim Hawkins and his mother (Peterson), and confides his dread of discovery by his old cohorts to the young boy. It soon becomes evident that Bill is a hunted man. Shortly after sundown, a blind man delivers Bill “The Black Spot,” a death sentence. Overcome, Bill later dies of a stroke, and Jim and his mother break into Bill’s sea-chest to recover what they are owed. Jim grabs a map and escapes with his mother before a small group of men break into the inn, looking for that very item. Jim shares his treasure map with the reputable gentry, Dr. Livesey (Kruger) and Squire Trelawney (Bruce), who organize an expedition to recover the buried loot of the notorious pirate Captain Flint. They decide to seek it out. The naïve squire leaves to hire a ship and crew. He does well in choosing a fine ship, the Hispaniola, and a trustworthy Captain Smollett (Stone), but makes a grave mistake in hiring one-legged Long John Silver as ship’s cook and allowing him to recruit many other crewmen. Silver, a charming but ruthless rogue, is the leader of the cutthroats who broke into the inn. He is able to infiltrate the ship with his pirate co-conspirators.

As the voyage goes on, Silver tries to persuade the rest of the crew to join him; any who refuse to join meet with fatal "accidents". Finally, the island is sighted. That night, Jim overhears Silver's plot to mutiny while hidden inside an enormous apple barrel. Realizing they are now outnumbered, Captain Smollett decides to seize the ship if enough of the crew goes ashore. Jim, though, sets foot on the island too. He wanders into the jungle, where he runs into Ben Gunn (Charles 'Chic' Sale), a little unhinged after being marooned alone on the island for years.

Meanwhile, too many pirates are left aboard, so the captain and his few trustworthy men go ashore to make a stand in Flint's old stockade. After Smollett expresses his fear that Silver will have a cannon brought from the ship to blow them up, Jim slips off into the night to cut the ship loose from its mooring. Jim grounds the ship at another spot on the island and returns to the blockhouse only to find it now held by Silver and his brigands. Silver had allowed Smollett and his men to leave in exchange for the map. The pirates want to kill Jim when he tells them what he has done, but Silver admires his spirit and stops them. They set out for the treasure, but when they reach the spot, they find only a few coins. As the disgruntled men are about to turn against Silver, Smollett and his men launch a surprise attack and kill or drive off the remaining cutthroats. In the subsequent struggle with the mutineers over the buried gold, half-witted marooned pirate Ben Gunn may hold the key to victory.

Will the Captain Flint treasure be found? What happens to Long John Silver? Watch Treasure Island to find out the answers to these questions. We recommend our favorite version from 1934. Read “Let’s Talk Classic Movies” every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for more classic movie presentations and trivia.

**Trivia Question for Today: How many movie adaptations were made from the novel Treasure Island (including the 1934 version)? What year was the first film made?

Trivia Answer for Previous Post: The Champ was rescripted by writer Frances Marion in 1950 as The Clown, starring Red Skelton.

Classic Movies - Famous Child Star: Jackie Cooper - The Champ

Starring
Wallace Beery

Jackie Cooper

Irene Rich

Roscoe Ates

Hale Hamilton

and

Marcia Mae Jones

Today let’s continue talk Classic Movie Child Star – Jackie Cooper. One of our favorite Cooper movies is The Champ, 1931. Directed and produced by King Vidor, MGM’s The Champ was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. The movie stars Wallace Beery, Jackie Cooper, Irene Rich, Roscoe Ates, and Hale Hamilton.

The Champ tells the story of a washed up alcoholic boxer who tries to put his life together for the sake of his young son. A little rough around the edges and currently living in Tijuana, Andy Purcell (Beery), also known as “Champ”, is an ex-world heavyweight boxing champion who is trying to make a comeback. His career ended as a result of drinking, a vice which may thwart his chances at the comeback. Andy's adolescent son, nicknamed Dink (Cooper), is his father's protector. Dink loves his father and does whatever he can for him. Despite vowing to lay off his other vice, gambling, Andy comes into a gambling windfall and based on a dream that Dink has, Andy buys him a race horse, who they rename Little Champ. At the racetrack, Dink meets a fellow race horse owner, the elegant and kindly Linda Carleton (Rich), who he eventually learns is his biological mother. She believes that the life that Andy has provided for their son is not the type of life an impressionable young boy should have. She holds no grudges against her ex-husband, but she, with her wealthy husband Tony (Hamilton) at her side, want custody of Dink. The foursome, collectively and individually, need to decide what is best for all, including if Andy should pursue his boxing comeback.

But fight-night arrives. Tony and Linda arrive at the arena, and Tony talks to Champ. Tony says he and Linda realize Dink wants to stay with Champ, but he is concerned that Champ might be injured in the fight. Tony even offers to pay Champ not to box, but Champ says he can beat his opponent and refuses the offer. The fight is a brutal one. Champ is brutally beaten by the Mexican, but stays on his feet round after round in a vain attempt to win the purse. Champ is finally beaten to the ground by a flurry of vicious blows, and he collapses. He is saved by the bell. In the Champ's corner, a weeping Dink begs him to throw in the towel, but Champ refuses. Champ returns to the ring, and defeats the now-overconfident young Mexican fighter.

As he leaves the ring, Champ apparently in great mood shows his son the horse he managed to regain, but suddenly has a heart attack. He is taken to his dressing room and dies. Linda takes the hysterical Dink in her arms and takes him away. Dink, weeping on Linda's shoulder, finally turns his face toward her and cries, "Mother!"

We highly recommend watching the 1931 version of The Champ. But when you do, make sure that you have plenty of tissues for this tear-jerker ending. Jackie Cooper performs an astounding crying seen that will tear at your heart strings.

Join “Let’s Talk Classic Movies” every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for more classic movie presentations and trivia.

**Trivia Question for Today: The Champ was rescripted by writer Frances Marion for a 1950 picture to star Red Skelton. What was the name of the film?

Trivia Answer for Previous Post: The sequel to Skippy was named Sooky, after the character portrayed by Robert Coogan in Skippy.

Classic Movies - Famous Child Star: Jackie Cooper - Skippy

America's Boy

This week let’s talk Classic Movie Child Star – Jackie Cooper. He was born John Cooper, Jr. in Los Angeles, California on September 15, 1922. His father, John Cooper, left the family when Jackie was two years old. Despite the father absence in his life, Cooper was destined to become successful. There was a tremendous influence in his show business career by family connections. His mother, Mabel Leonard Bigelow, was a stage pianist and former child actress. Cooper's maternal uncle, Jack Leonard, was a screenwriter, and his maternal aunt, Julie Leonard, was an actress married to director Norman Taurog. Cooper's stepfather was C. J. Bigelow, a studio production manager.

Jackie Cooper first appeared in films as an extra with his grandmother, who would bring him along in hopes of aiding her own attempts to get extra work. At age three, Jackie appeared in Lloyd Hamilton comedies under the name of Leonard. He graduated to bits in feature films such as Fox Movietone Follies of 1929 and Sunny Side Up. His director in these two films, David Butler, recommended the boy to director Leo McCarey, who arranged an audition for the Our Gang comedy series produced by Hal Roach. Cooper joined the Our Gang youngsters in the short Boxing Gloves in 1929. He was signed to a three year contract. He initially was only a supporting character in the series, but by early 1930 he had done so well with the transition to sound films that he had become one of the Gang's major characters. He was the main character in the episodes The First Seven Years, When the Wind Blows, and others. His most notable Our Gang shorts explore his crush on Miss Crabtree, the schoolteacher played by June Marlowe, which included the trilogy of shorts Teacher's Pet, School's Out, and Love Business.

According to his autobiography, Cooper, under contract to Hal Roach Studios, was loaned in the spring of 1931 to Paramount to star in Skippy (directed by his uncle, Norman Taurog), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor—the youngest actor ever (at the age of 9) to be nominated for an Oscar as Best Actor. Although Paramount paid Roach $25,000 for Cooper's services, Cooper received only his standard Roach salary of $50 per week. The movie catapulted young Cooper to super-stardom. Our Gang producer Hal Roach sold Jackie's contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in mid-1931, as he felt the youngster would have a better future in features. He began a long on-screen relationship with actor Wallace Beery in such films as The Champ (1931), The Bowery (1933), The Choices of Andy Purcell (1933), Treasure Island (1934), and O'Shaughnessy's Boy (1935).

Today we would like to feature Paramount’s 1931 film, Skippy. The film was based on the American comic strip of the same name written and drawn by Percy Crosby that was published from 1923 to 1945. The movie stars Jackie Cooper, Robert Coogan, Mitzi Green and Jackie Searl. Director Norman Taurog won the Academy Award for Directing. The movie focused on Skippy Skinner, a young boy living in the city. Usually wearing an enormous collar and tie and a floppy checked hat, he was an odd mix of mischief and melancholy who might equally be found stealing from the corner fruit stand, failing to master skates or baseball, complaining about the adult world, or staring sadly at an old relative's grave ("And only last year she gave me a tie"). Skippy interrupts his usual routine of finding loopholes in his parents' rules when he makes friends with Sooky, a boy from the other side of the tracks. The two boys have three days to come up with a way to pay for a license for Sooky's dog and keep the dogcatcher from putting him to sleep. Skippy also has to convince his father - the local health supervisor - not to tear down the shantytown where Sooky and the local poor folk live, while also getting himself involved with local bullies, kids' shows, lemonade stands and assorted other adventures. And then there's that new bike he's saving for . . .

Skippy is a very rare film and we apologize for not being able to offer any clips of the movie. However, you can stream Skippy to your computer from Netflix. Click on our ad for Netflix below and become a member, first month is FREE! We highly recommend watching Skippy. This is the movie that started Jackie Cooper’s wonderful movie career! Read “Let’s Talk Classic Movies” every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for more classic movie presentations and trivia.

**Trivia Question for Today: Skippy did well enough to inspire a sequel. What was the name of the sequel?

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 - Famous Child Star: Freddie Bartholomew 1937

Starring

Freddie Bartholomew
Spencer Tracy
Lionel Barrymore

Melvyn Douglas

Charley Grapewin

and

Mickey Rooney

Today we will conclude let's talk Classic Movie Child Star - Freddie Bartholomew. We have talked about two of our favorite Bartholomew movies, and would like to end the trilogy this week with Captains Courageous. The wonderful cast includes Freddie Bartholomew, Melvyn Douglas, Spencer Tracy, Lionel Barrymore, Mickey Rooney, John Carradine, and Charley Grapewin. Based on the novel by Rudyard Kipling, Captains Courageous tells the tale of young Harvey Cheyne (Bartholomew), a spoiled rich kid and his father, business tycoon Frank Burton Cheyne (Douglas).

In the opening scene at his wealthy father's imposing mansion, the pampered Harvey orders his butler to bring him breakfast in bed, as he tries to impress some visiting schoolmates. Later, as the lads travel back to their exclusive private boys' school in the Cheyne's chauffeur-driven limousine, Harvey attempts bribery and finally threatens in order to join a school fraternity, the "Buffaloes".

Harvey finds himself eventually shunned by his classmates [sic] "sent to Coventry", and rebels against the school's discipline. When the headmaster informs Mr. Cheyne that his son has been "rusticated" (suspended) for the remainder of the term, the mogul realizes that the boy needs closer attention and guidance. Cheyne takes his son with him on a business trip to Europe.
Enroute, Harvey, as a result of another display of arrogance, falls overboard from a trans-Atlantic steamship on The Grand Banks. He is rescued by a Portuguese-American fisherman, Manuel Fidello (Tracy), and taken aboard the fishing schooner We're Here. Harvey can neither persuade the captain of the vessel, Disko Troop (Barrymore), to take him ashore nor convince him of his wealth. However, the captain offers him a low-paid job as part of the crew until they return to port months later. With no other choice, Harvey eventually accepts. Befriended by Captain Troop's son, Dan (Rooney), he begins to learn the ways of working at sea.

Under the guidance of Manuel and his equally tough crew-mates, Harvey thrives, coming to learn that his former practices of cheating, bragging and whining do not go far in real life. Tragically, Harvey loses his surrogate father when Manuel is drowned in an accident as the boat heads for port. Eventually, the schooner returns to port and Harvey is reunited with his father, who had given him up for dead (not having any word since his son's disappearance - the vessel We're Here has no radio). Rushing to the fishing town (Gloucester, Massachusetts), the father is surprised to find that his self-centred child has become mature and considerate. The father also realizes that he has neglected his motherless son and learns the joy of being a good father.

The film is one of our favorites from childhood and one we will always remember fondly. Captains Courageous is a terrific motion picture and one we highly recommend for family viewing, although there are some moments of tragedy. Join "Let's Talk Classic Movies" for more classic movie presentations and trivia.

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

Trivia Answer for Previous Post: The item the Earl of Dorincourt ‘takes off occasionally’ according to a conversation he has with Cedric in Little Lord Fauntleroy is a coronet (tiara).