Picture of the Day | Hollywood Yesterday

Veronica Lake: So Proudly We Hail

April 19, 2021 By Joi Leave a Comment

Veronica LakeIf being uncommonly pretty, coupled with being impossibly adorable and talented all at the same time were illegal… Veronica Lake owes a huge debt to society – even to this day! She is best-remembered for her looks (which is understandable, if we’re being honest, she was a little beauty), but those of us who have watched and loved many of her films also remember her as a wonderful actress with a talent for both drama AND comedy.

Whereas some stars, in my opinion were better suited for one of the two, Veronica Lake was exceptional in BOTH. Her comedic timing really doesn’t get enough credit. I, personally, think she stood toe to toe with other great comedic actresses such as Lucille Ball and Rosalind Russell when it came to comedies. As for dramas (including film noirs), she was (again) as talented as anyone.

In addition to Veronica Lake, How Proudly We Hail (1943) starred several actresses who could do anything asked of a role – Claudette Colbert and Paulette Goodard. What. A. Cast!

How Proudly We Hail’s Plot: Nurses returning from the war in the Philippines recall their experiences, both in combat and love.

You can find the wonderful How Proudly We Hail on dvd (link to the dvd on Amazon). Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be on Prime Video yet.

Veronica Lake

Linda Darnell and Tyrone Power, Blood and Sand

April 18, 2021 By Joi Leave a Comment

Tyrone Power and Linda Darnell

When I first saw Blood and Sand (1941) – many years ago – I did so as a huge fan Rita Hayworth and Tyrone Power. They were two of my favorites, so I was on an obsessive mission to see everything they’d made. When I saw they had a movie together, I couldn’t wait to find it and dive right in.

Funny thing happened, though… I spent the entire movie yelling at her and most of it rolling my eyes at him! I also came away with an actress who then joined Tyrone Power and Rita Hayworth on my list of favorites, Linda Darnell. While I spent the movie hating on THEM, I spent it loving her. All I wanted was for her to slap the redhead and throw him and his wandering eye off a cliff!

If you’ve seen the movie, you know that it was the characters Tyrone and Rita played that brought about such a reaction… certainly not the stars, themselves.

It’s funny, how often does old Hollywood cast beautiful actresses in roles of an “unattractive” sister or plain Jane who can’t hold on to her guy… Olivia de Havilland, in The Strawberry Blonde, for example. She was as beautiful as anyone, yet we were supposed to believe she wouldn’t immediately catch James Cagney’s eye… as if!

Blood and Sand asks A LOT of its viewers when it asks us to accept Linda Darnell as a woman who couldn’t keep her guy from wandering. I mean… come on, look at her!

How did the casting department think, “We need a meek, mild… you know, plain… woman in this role as the one who is cast aside…. hmmm… I know! Linda Darnell!”

Seriously?!

Again. LOOK AT HER!

Linda Darnell, in my opinion (and, remember this is coming from as big a Rita Hayworth fan as you’ll ever find and a darn huge Tyrone Power fan) steals the movie. Her acting is perfection and she creates a character you feel deep empathy for. She’s stunning, in every way, in this film. She is, I’d go on to say, the number one reason to watch the movie. She isn’t on screen as much as the other two stars, but she steals not only their scenes but (as I said) the movie, itself.

You can find Blood and Sand on dvd (Amazon link). I’m kind of surprised it isn’t on Prime Video yet.

Beautiful Linda Darnell

Dorothy Lamour and George Montgomery, Lulu Belle

April 17, 2021 By Joi Leave a Comment

Dorothy Lamour and George Montgomery

Dorothy Lamour and George Montgomery starred in the 1948 drama-romance Lulu Belle. The cast is the thing that makes this movie really work, in my opinion. The ambitious plot is pretty busy and a weaker cast wouldn’t be able to make it all come together so well. There’s just a certain measure of magic in this cast that makes what could have been a pretty good movie become a really good movie.

In addition to Dorothy Lamour and George Montgomery (who are always, always exceptional), the cast includes Otto Kruger, Glenda Farrell, Greg McClure, and Albert Dekker – all extraordinary stars.

I was very pleasantly surprised to find that Lulu Belle is available on Prime Video. I can’t wait to watch it again – it has been too many years since I watched Dorothy Lamour in this colorful role. The movie is also available on dvd (see Lulu Belle on dvd and Blu-ray on Amazon) – for those of us who love to collect our own dvds, creating a movie library no one can snatch away from us!

Hedy Lamarr, Judy Garland, and Lana Turner: Ziegfeld Girl

April 16, 2021 By Joi Leave a Comment

Hedy Lamarr, Judy Garland, and Lana Turner

Talk about three beautiful faces! Hedy, Judy, and Lana were as beautiful as it gets. Sadly, Judy never seemed to realize just how beautiful she was. From what I’ve read, she considered Lana Turner to possess the ultimate beauty but, each time I see Judy’s angelic face, I think, “Girl, you should have paid more attention to the mirror… you were a beauty in your own right!”

Ziegfeld Girl (1941) is a colorful, enjoyable extravaganza with an a great cast. In addition to the three talented ladies pictured here, the movie also starred James Stewart, Jackie Cooper, Edward Everett Horton, Eve Arden, Ian Hunter, and Tony Martin.

Lana Turner and James Stewart

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before – once or a million times, I forget which – but James Stewart and Lana Turner’s storyline is my favorite part of this movie. They had an extra special chemistry together that rivaled any other film couple… including Maureen O’Hara/John Wayne, Katharine Hepburn/Spencer Tracy, and Lauren Bacall/Humphrey Bogart.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Hedy and Judy Garland too… James and Lana just brought a little extra magic.

You can find Ziegfeld Girl (Amazon link) on dvd or watch the movie on Prime Video. Just be warned… James Stewart and Lana Turner will leave you speechless and wishing SO HARD that they’d made many more movies together.

Judy Garland, Hedy Lamarr, and Lana Turner

Josephine Hull in a Wonderful Harvey Publicity Photo

April 15, 2021 By Joi Leave a Comment

Josephine Hull in a Publicity Photo for Harvey… Too Cute!

I recently wrote about the wonderful movie Harvey, Starring James Stewart and Josephine Hull. It truly is a joyful, charming (in every way) movie and one of my favorites. I wanted to devote another picture of the day to the movie by spotlighting one of the stars who make this film such a classic – Josephine Hull.

Josephine (so very deservedly) won the Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. James Stewart believed that Josephine Hull had the most difficult role in the film, since she had to believe and not believe in the invisible rabbit … at the same time… and he may have an excellent point.

She was absolutely wonderful in the role of Elwood’s concerned sister.

You can watch Harvey on Prime Video or buy the wonderful dvd (Amazon link) on Amazon.

Josephine Hull and James Stewart

Henry Fonda and Alfred Hitchcock: Behind the Scenes of The Wrong Man

April 14, 2021 By Joi Leave a Comment

Legends Henry Fonda and Alfred Hitchcock

It seems kind of remarkable, to me, that Henry Fonda and Alfred Hitchcock made only one film together – but what a great one The Wrong Man was! Ironically, Henry Fonda’s close friend James Stewart made four films with the great director.

The Wrong Man (1953) is an excellent film noir. Henry Fonda plays Christopher Emanuel “Manny” Balestrero, an innocent man who is arrested after a case of mistaken identity. The consistently wonderful Vera Miles stars as his wife. If you’ve never seen this one, it’s very much worth searching out.

If you HAVE seen it… it’s very much worth seeing again!

You can find The Wrong Man (Amazon link) on dvd or watch it on Prime Video.

Henry Fonda and Alfred Hitchcock, Behind the Scenes of The Wrong Man

The Sainted Sisters: Hilarious 1948 Comedy Starring Veronica Lake, Joan Caulfield, and Barry Fitzgerald

April 13, 2021 By Joi Leave a Comment

Veronica Lake, Joan Caulfield, and Barry Fitzgerald

The Sainted Sisters (1948) stars Veronica Lake & Joan Caulfield as cons from New York who are hiding from the law in a small town in Maine. They’re forced to form good deeds, which goes very much against the grain for them!

The outstanding cast also includes Barry Fitzgerald, Beulah Bondi, William Demarest, and George Reeves.

A while back I was bellyaching about Veronica Lake’s films not being shown on television NEARLY enough. Here’s yet another film that is wonderful, yet never televised. I’m also having a next-to-impossible time finding this one on dvd.

UGH!! Come on tv programmers and dvd companies, help a Veronica Lake fan out here.

If you’re ever able to find this one, watch it right away. It’s hilarious and the cast is absolutely perfect.

Veronica Lake

James Stewart… A Favorite Actor in a Favorite Movie

April 12, 2021 By Joi Leave a Comment

James Stewart and Harvey

One of my absolute favorite actors is James Stewart. In fact, at any given time you can find me either watching or getting ready to watch a James Stewart movie or listening to/getting ready to listen to James Stewart’s radio show The Six Shooter.

He has been one of my favorites since I first saw him as a little girl in It’s a Wonderful Life and, over the years, I’ve only come to adore him more.

Have you ever seen Harvey (1950)? In spite of adoring the main actor, I somehow only saw it (for the first time) in the past year. Where have I been?!

Plot: James Stewart plays the lovable Elwood P. Dowd who has a constant companion named “Harvey.” This companion causes a host of problems for Elwood because he’s a 6 foot rabbit that only Elwood can see! Understandably, his family believes him to be insane – but is he? Or… is he more “in the know” than any of them?!

Harvey was masterfully directed by Henry Koster. He (brilliantly) took a suggestion from James Stewart that, in my opinion, worked to perfection – he changed many shots (making them wider) so that “Harvey” would be in the frame. It works like a charm… so to speak.

James Stewart later declared in an interview that Josephine Hull (who gave a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award-wining performance ) had the most difficult role in the film, because she had to believe and not believe in the invisible rabbit at the same time!

Director Henry Koster worked very well with his star, James Stewart. Koster said working with Stewart was “without any doubt one of the most pleasant experiences of my life…It must have been his spirit. There was very little friction, ever, only ambition and craftsmanship and precision, just doing it right professionally. On top of that he put the whipped cream of great talent…He was always the first on the set.”

The entire film experience must have been joyful – the entire cast and crew seemed to have a jovial time. As a joke, they would often set a chair for “Harvey”at lunch and order him something to eat. Love that!

Editorial Review:

James Stewart gives one of his finest performances in this lighthearted film, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play. Stewart stars as the good-natured Elwood P. Dowd, whose constant companion is Harvey, a six-foot tall rabbit that only he can see. To his sister, Veta Louise, Elwood’s obsession with Harvey has been a thorn in the side of her plans to marry off her daughter. But when Veta Louise decides to put Elwood in a mental hospital, a hilarious mix-up occurs and she finds herself committed instead. It’s up to Elwood to straighten out the mess with his kindly philosophy, and his “imaginary” friend, in this popular classic that features a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award-wining performance by Josephine Hull.

You can watch Harvey on Prime Video or add the wonderful dvd (Amazon link) to your collection.

James Stewart

The Hunchback of Notre Dame: Maureen O’Hara and the MAGNIFICENT Charles Laughton

April 10, 2021 By Joi Leave a Comment

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

One of the all-time great cinematic masterpieces, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939, wonderfully directed by William Dieterle), airs on TCM tonight (please check your local listings for time). Charles Laughton simply does NOT get enough credit today. The man was an absolute powerhouse of an actor and blows me away each time I see this film.

As a VERY emphatic person (meaning I literally FEEL what others are going through… fictional or not), this is a difficult movie for me to watch. However, as someone who loves old movies, Maureen O’Hara, and great acting, it’s a difficult movie for me not to watch.

Maureen O’Hara and Charles Laughton

Be sure to watch the movie on TCM tonight or, at the very least, record it on dvr. While I have a huge dvd collection, I love watching films live on TCM – not only does it feel as though I’m supporting a very important channel (let’s make that vital and essential channel!), I love the commentary their wonderful hosts give before and after a movie. It feels as though I’m watching it with them and that’s pretty darn cool.

And I don’t even have to share my popcorn! Also cool.

You can find The Hunchback of Notre Dame on dvd (Amazon link) or watch the movie on Prime Video.

Charles Laughton as Quasimodo, The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Piper Laurie and Tony Curtis: The Prince Who Was a Thief

April 9, 2021 By Joi Leave a Comment

Tony Curtis and Piper Laurie

I don’t, yet, have many photos of Tony Curtis OR Piper Laurie on the old Hollywood blog but it certainly isn’t because I don’t like them. Truth be told, I’m a huge fan of each. Unfortunately, I haven’t had many pictures of them. I’ve recently added to my collection, however, so watch for a lot more of these wonderful stars in the future!

This photo is from their film The Prince Who Was a Thief (1951). This movie can be impossible to find on television, so if you ever see it listed, you’d better jump on it fast.

You can find The Prince Who Was a Thief (Amazon link) on dvd… but be prepared to gasp when you see the price. I mean….