Eve Arden | Hollywood Yesterday

Eve Arden and Paul Douglas: We’re Not Married

September 18, 2021 By Joi Leave a Comment

Paul Douglas and Eve Arden

You’re looking at two of my favorite stars above – Paul Douglas and Eve Arden. Each had a way of making every movie… every scene.. better simply by being there. The two of them sharing a screen is almost too good to handle.

She had a certain magic about her that you couldn’t help but notice.

Paul Douglas was quite magical, himself, if we’re being honest. Somehow neither got the “lead star” treatment by Hollywood and it’s a shame – each could have certainly handled the weight of carrying a movie. Having said that, I very, VERY much enjoy and embrace the careers they did have. Each left us with such a legacy of entertainment and joy.

As I often say, that kind of legacy is darn near impossible to beat.

We’re Not Married was a 1952 romantic comedy directed by Edmund Goulding. It had the kind of cast directors and movie fans dream of: Ginger Rogers, Marilyn Monroe, Eve Arden, Victor Moore, Paul Douglas, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Mitzi Gaynor, Fred Allen, David Wayne, James Gleason, Jane Darwell… no wonder it’s so hilarious – the casting department left nothing to chance.

You can buy We’re Not Married on dvd (Amazon link) or watch the film on Prime Video.

Ginger Rogers, Katharine Hepburn, Gail Patrick, and Eve Arden: Stage Door

September 6, 2021 By Joi Leave a Comment

Ginger Rogers and Gail Patrick

Stage Door (1937, directed by Gregory La Cava) is one of the all-time great films. The cast is BEYOND perfection and includes Ginger Rogers, Katharine Hepburn, Lucille Ball, Eve Arden (practically steals the whole movie!), Adolphe Menjou, and Gail Patrick.

If you’ve never seen this outstanding movie, I hope you’ll see it as soon as possible – every single minute is fast-paced, flawless, and mesmerizing. While there is a great deal of humor (the dialogue is fast, furious, and fantastic), it will also break your heart at one point. Phenomenal movie.

You can find Stage Door on dvd (Amazon link) or watch it on Prime Video.

Kathrine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Eve Arden, Pamela Blake, and Andrea Leeds

Arthur O’Connell, Eve Arden, and James Stewart Make Anatomy of a Murder a PERFECT Movie

September 1, 2021 By Joi Leave a Comment

Arthur O’Connell, Eve Arden, and James Stewart

One of my all-time favorite movies is the wonderful Anatomy of a Murder (1959), directed to the hilt by Otto Preminger. The story, the cast, the directing.. all of it is completely flawless.

The movie stars James Stewart, Arthur O’Connell, Eve Arden, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara, Kathryn Grant, George C. Scott, and a name you may not be familiar with… Brooks West. Why might you not be familiar with this actor? Because, unfortunately, this is the only movie he made! He was married to the wonderful Eve Arden and they made this great movie together. I guess if you’re only going to make one film, make it a legendary one!

After watching this film for the first time last year, I searched out Brooks West’s filmography (intending to see every other movie he had made). Imagine my surprise when I saw that I already HAD seen every movie he ever made.

He was perfect in this film and fit in with a cast of “veteran stars” seamlessly.

You can find Anatomy of a Murder on dvd (Amazon link) or watch it right away on Prime Video. Personally? I’d recommend both. You’ll very much want this one in your collection.

BOTD in 1908, the Wonderful Eve Arden

April 30, 2021 By Joi Leave a Comment

Groucho Marx and Eve Arden

Eunice Mary Quedens was born on this date in Mill Valley, California in 1908. Eunice Mary would go on to become one of our best-loved stars, Eve Arden. As I said earlier on Twitter, she’s one of those rare stars who is loved by everyone – you can’t imagine coming across anyone who DOESN’T like Eve Arden.

But I can take it one step further… I’m not sure I’d even want to cross paths with someone so out of their mind that they don’t love her!

The photos shown here need very (very, very) little identification. It is, of course, Groucho Marx and our birthday beauty, Eve Arden. These are from the hilarious 1939 comedy At the Circus.

The movie also stars Chico, Harpo, Kenny Baker, and Florence Rice.

At the Circus is on Prime Video (I always get a huge kick out of seeing our beloved classics on Prime Video!) and can also be found on dvd in a Room Service and At the Circus Double Pack (link to the dvd on Amazon). Room Service stars another beautiful, universally loved actress… Lucille Ball.

Groucho Marx and Eve Arden

How Well Do You Know Eve Arden?

June 22, 2019 By Joi Leave a Comment

Eve Arden

As I’ve said many times before, when you watch as many old movies as I do, new “favorites” come into your life regularly. Maybe it’s an actor or actress you’d seen before but seeing them in a particular role bolts them toward the top. Or, maybe it’s one you’d somehow never come across before… but now that you have, you vow to see every movie they ever made.

Eve Arden is fairly new to my world or favorites – I have no idea how our paths hadn’t crossed sooner! She is delightful and entertaining in every conceivable way and I am mowing through her filmography and television appearances. I’m also researching and reading everything I can about her. She was a very, very interesting lady – that always makes research more fun!

“I’ve worked with a lot of great glamorous girls in movies and the theater. And I’ll admit, I’ve often thought it would be wonderful to be a femme fatale. But then I’d always come back to thinking that if they only had what I’ve had – a family, real love, an anchor – they would have been so much happier during all the hours when the marquees and the floodlights are dark.” – Eve Arden

Below are some facts about this VERY lovely and VERY talented actress.

She was born Eunice Mary Quedens on April 30, 1908.
Eunice Mary made her film debut in a musical, Song of Love, in 1929.
In 1933, she moved to NYC to pursue work in theater.
When she was cast in the 1934 Ziegfeld Follies, she was told to change her name. Looking at her perfume and cosmetics, she chose Eve from Evening in Paris and Arden from Elizabeth Arden. Eve Arden… perfect. She created one of the most lyrical and perfect names in all of classic Hollywood and its elegance fit her perfectly.
When she returned to Hollywood in 1937, she was cast in Stage Door (only one of the best movies ever made, that’s all) and found herself sharing the screen with Ginger Rogers, Katharine Hepburn, Ann Miller, and Lucille Ball. I once read where someone said she held her own with these ladies… I remember thinking, “Excuse me? They held their own with her!” Her character, Eve, is one of the many highlights of the movie.
Like many stars who were simply trying to do what it took to keep working, she was known to “get creative” when giving her age and birth year. Personally, I love a little creativity and would have done the same thing.
She was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1995. This was so very deserving. If you’ve never heard her and her wonderfully distinctive voice on radio – seek her shows out. They’re spectacular.
Her autobiography is titled Three Phases of Eve (Amazon link).
She was awarded two Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, for Television and Radio.
Eve Arden had four children.
Jane Wyman and Eve Arden were lifelong friends. (Arden guest-starred on Jane Wyman’s Falcon Crest.)
She was in three movies nominated for Best Picture Oscars: Stage Door (1937), Mildred Pierce (1945) and Anatomy of a Murder (1959).
Profiled in book “Funny Ladies” by Stephen Silverman.
She was married to producer/actor Brooks West from August 24, 1952 to his death in February of 1984. He made Anatomy of a Murder with her – he portrayed District Attorney Mitch Lodwick and was so darn good I am FLOORED that this was the only film he made! He shared the screen with James Stewart and Ben Gazzara and you’d never know he hadn’t been in just as many films as either of these legends.