Claire Trevor

When I think of my favorite stars from classic Hollywood, there are often a few adjectives that accompany their name and image in my thoughts.

A couple of examples:

In addition to very talented, these are a few words that I attach to these three –

Maureen O’Hara… beautiful, Irish, strong

Ann-Margret…. beautiful, charismatic, big personality

Melvyn Douglas… lovable, underrated, compelling

Lena Horne… beautiful, charismatic, strong presence

When Claire Trevor strolls into my thoughts, one of the phrases that accompanies her is “fiercely talented.” She had a commanding, yet also distinctly feminine, presence onscreen and, like Melvyn Douglas, was very compelling in each and every scene she was in. She’s one of those stars that when you say “talented,” alone, it doesn’t seem quite descriptive enough.

No… it must be fiercely talented for this lady.

Some of my favorite Claire Trevor films are Stagecoach, Key Largo, Murder My Sweet, The Stranger Wore a Gun, The Desperadoes, Johnny Angel, and Allegheny Uprising. She was always sheer perfection – not just in every role, but in each and every scene. She often stole scenes in which she never uttered a word!

I’m trying to work my way through her filmography (fun job!), so the list of favorites, above, will surely grow.

Fiercely talented people cause that sort of thing, you know.