Golden Age of Hollywood
Judy Garland
Summer Stock (1950) was directed by Charles Walters and is one of my very favorite musicals. How could it not be… it stars the extraordinary Judy Garland and the equally extraordinary Gene Kelly?!
The excellent musical also includes Gloria DeHaven, Eddie Bracken, Marjorie Main, Hans Conried, and Phil Silvers.
You can find the wonderfully entertaining Summer Stock on dvd (Amazon link) or watch on Prime Video.
Marjorie Main, Gloria DeHaven, Gene Kelly, and Judy Garland
Judy Garland and Gene Kelly
There’s just something about a musical to make the world seem blissfully perfect, isn’t there?! For me, it’s even more so if Judy Garland or Gene Kelly is involved… so when they’re in the SAME musical, look out! I will be smiling for days.
One of the musicals I watch and rewatch is Summer Stock (1950, directed by Charles Walters). In addition to Judy Garland and Gene Kelly, the musical stars (among others) Gloria DeHaven, Marjorie Main, Eddie Bracken, Phil Silvers, and the always entertaining Hans Conried.
You can find the wonderfully entertaining Summer Stock on dvd (Amazon link) or watch on Prime Video.
Shirley Jones and Gordon MacRae
When you spend as much time with old movies and classic television as I do (and have for a lifetime!), you find yourself with quite a few favorite stars – a look at the Hollywood Yesterday About Page will show you just how many! – but we all have what I like to call our “absolute favorites.” Our “ride or dies,” if you will. One of my own personal “absolutes” is Shirley Jones. I just love everything about her. Her movies, work on television, class… every bit of it.
I often find myself wondering why we (all of us who are immersed in old Hollywood – whether it’s from Silents through the 70s or only certain eras) don’t talk as much about the more recent stars as we do the older ones. I mean, Shirley Jones, Angela Lansbury, Ann-Margret, James Garner, Lee Marvin, Sally Field, Burt Reynolds, Robert Redford, James Caan, for example are every bit as wonderful and well-loved as, say, Marilyn Monroe, Rita Hayworth, James Stewart, Audrey Hepburn, Charlie Chaplin, and James Dean.
I believe part of it may be that when stars have been taken from us, we tend to try harder to keep their memory alive, whereas the wonderful stars who are still VERY much with us or who have only recently left us don’t cause us to feel quite as much of a pull to keep their face and name alive.
While that’s understandable to an extent, it’s also frustrating because I’d rather see all of us celebrate these stars while they’re still on this side of eternity to truly enjoy it. We have so many extraordinary stars who are still very much with us and I’m making it a mission to celebrate them just as much as anyone.
The only problem we run into at times has to do with photographs. Many of the stars of the early years of Hollywood have more photos available to us than the more recent stars. When it comes to photos that are in the public domain or images that are okay to use because they were promotional photos, the older may not necessarily be the better but the older is definitely the easier!
At any rate, I’m making it a personal mission to celebrate ALL of the stars of Hollywood Yesterday, regardless of just how “yesterday” it was!
The photos in this post are of the beautiful and talented Shirley Jones and her outstanding co-star Gordon MacRae from Carousel (1956, directed by Henry King). The movie also stars Cameron Mitchell and Barbara Ruick.
You can find the joyous musical Carousel on dvd (Amazon link) or watch on Prime Video.
Shirley Jones and Gordon MacRae
Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison
I don’t just love My Fair Lady with Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison… I ADORE My Fair Lady with Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison. Every word spoken, every note hit, every thread of every costume, every… oh, you get the idea. I’m completely infatuated with it and with the performance of each star.
The wonderful George Cukor directed this iconic musical. The cast also includes Stanley Holloway, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Jeremy Brett, and Gladys Cooper.
If it’s been a while since you’ve watched this absolute masterpiece, I hope you’ll revisit it soon. It’s even better than you remember.
You can find My Fair Lady on dvd (Amazon link) or watch on Prime Video.
Audrey Hepburn, My Fair Lady
Audrey Hepburn looks like a beautiful, exquisite princess in the photo above… then again, she looked that way all of her life – in photos and out! She was simply one in a billion and, boy, did they ever break the mold.
This stunningly beautiful picture of Audrey was for the 1964 musical My Fair Lady. This movie wasn’t just a wonderful film, it produced some of the most amazing promotional pictures of Audrey.
Audrey Hepburn
Think the camera loved her? I’m pretty sure it was obsessed with her!
You can find My Fair Lady on dvd (Amazon link) or watch on Prime Video. Few things I can think of that compare with spending a few hours with the always delightful and deliriously de-loverly Audrey Hepburn!
Audrey Hepburn
One of the most delightful movies ever made (musical or otherwise) and two of the finest performances (Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison) involve the same legendary film… My Fair Lady. It’s absolutely remarkable and, in my opinion, seems to get better with each subsequent viewing.
I’ve seen it at least 8 times and love it EVEN more after each revisit.
Audrey Hepburn
You can find My Fair Lady on dvd (Amazon link) or watch on Prime Video. Either way, it’s a sure fire way to brighten your entire day… possibly even your week!
Audrey Hepburn, My Fair Lady
Ethel Waters and Eddie Anderson
Cabin in the Sky (1943) is, unquestionably, one of my favorite musicals. It’s a fun, delightful, musically perfect, very entertaining film, directed to perfection by Vincente Minnelli. I used to hate that it wasn’t shown more on television, where new audiences could fall in love with it but (fortunately!) it’s being shown more often on TCM.
Thank goodness, because this one is extra, extra special.
The outstanding cast includes Eddie Anderson, Ethel Waters, Lena Horne, Rex Ingram, Louis Armstrong, Mantan Moreland (love him!), and Oscar Polk. Tragically Oscar Polk was killed six years later (at the age of 49) when he was hit by an automobile, making this his last role.
You can buy Cabin in the Sky on dvd (Amazon link) on watch it on Prime Video.
Jane Powell and Howard Keel
There are certain stars from old Hollywood and classic television who I “collect,” as in buy and acquire anything and everything I can that pertains to them. Jane Powell is one of these chosen stars – I just adore her. I have since I first saw her MANY years ago in the film she is probably best known for, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (Amazon dvd link).
While I love the entire cast, Jane Powell, Julie Newmar, Ruta Lee, and Russ Tamblyn are my stand out favorites.
Speaking of Russ Tamblyn, how in the world is he not a household name?! He was as talented as anyone – whether it was dancing, acting, charisma… he had every bit as much going on for him as anyone and more than many. Okay, rant over, but it is mystifying how some stars were handpicked for lead roles when others weren’t. Russ could have been a delightful mixture of Danny Kaye and Fred Astaire and audiences would have absolutely loved him as a leading man.
I also wonder how in the world Hollywood ever kept from casting Julie Newmar and Ruta Lee in more leading roles too. Again, they would have been more than capable of carrying a movie.
Russ Tamblyn
You can watch this joyful, entertaining, and in all ways delightful musical on Prime Video. If you haven’t seen it in awhile, you’re going to be amazed at just how good it is – I think, as years pass, we tend to forget how excellent many of our favorites really were. Then, when we’re sitting and reliving the magic, we notice the spectacular costumes, flawless choreography and dancing, and joyful songs and humor.
This truly is a spectacular musical and a celebration of movies in general.
Howard Keel, Russ Tamblyn, and Julie Newmar
Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy, Maytime
Of her many extraordinary films, Jeanette MacDonald’s favorite was Maytime (1937). The dramatic musical was directed by Robert Z. Leonard and starred Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy, and John Barrymore.
She is (as always) exquisite in the role.
Jeanette MacDonald and John Barrymore, Maytime
Eddie Anderson, Behind the Scenes of Cabin in the Sky
This photo of Eddie Anderson is honestly just too, too cool. I’d love it blown up, framed, and hanging on a wall – it’d make any room instantly cooler!
Cabin in the Sky (1943) is, unquestionably, one of my favorite musicals, and not just because it stars my much-loved Lena Horne! It’s a fun, very entertaining film, directed to perfection by Vincente Minnelli. The movie includes stars Eddie Anderson, Ethel Waters, Lena Horne, Rex Ingram, Louis Armstrong, Mantan Moreland (love him!), and Oscar Polk.
You can buy Cabin in the Sky on dvd (Amazon link) on watch it on Prime Video!
My main goal with Hollywood Yesterday is to keep the names, faces, and films of the stars that mean so much to me shining brightly. When I’m guilty of focusing more time on my personal favorites (such as Olivia de Havilland) than other stars, I hope you’ll forgive me. I am, by all indications, very human!
Also, please know that I try to keep my posts (except for book reviews) short and to the point, so you can enjoy the pictures, grab the information, and get back to your life. I don’t appreciate anything that’s overly wordy, so I don’t want to do that to others. For better or worse, I write as I talk, so if you ever feel like you’re reading the words of someone who’s a cross between Lucy Ricardo, Daisy Duck, and a Jerry Lewis character, that’s just because you are!
Wait. What did I just admit to??
Another personal absolute favorite of mine is Barbara Stanwyck. Not only was she beautiful and outrageously talented, she was exceptionally bright, charismatic, and colorful. This growing collection of Barbara Stanwyck Quotes will give you an idea of just how colorful she was!
There’s nothing quite like watching a movie from the Golden Age of Hollywood. Whether it’s a Musical, Western, Comedy, Romance, Film Noir, or Drama – if it’s on, I’m not too far away… with popcorn and raspberry tea in hand and a couple of cats nearby.
Below are a few Old Hollywood movie reviews I’ve done on the blog. There are, as you’d imagine, a lot more to come. – Joi (“Joy”)
We’re in the Money (Joan Blondell, Glenda Farrell)
The Naked Spur (James Stewart, Janet Leigh)
The Prince and the Showgirl (Marilyn Monroe, Laurence Olivier)
The White Sister (Helen Hayes, Clark Gable)
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (Howard Keel, Jane Powell, Russ Tamblyn, Julie Newmar)
Rio Bravo (John Wayne, Dean Martin, Angie Dickinson, Ricky Nelson, Walter Brennan)
El Dorado (John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, James Caan, Charlene Holt, Michele Carey)
Rio Grande (John Wayne, Maureen O’Hara)
Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein (What is it With Me and These Movies??)
The Stooge (Jerry Lewis’ favorite Lewis and Martin Movie… for good reason.)
Critic’s Choice (Hilarious movie starring Bob Hope and Lucille Ball)
To Please a Lady (Clark Gable and Barbara Stanwyck team up in a fast track movie)
Grand Hotel (Joan Crawford, Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore)
Hearts Divided (Marion Davies, Dick Powell)
The Quiet Man (John Wayne, Maureen O’Hara, Barry Fitzgerald)
More Old Hollywood Movie Reviews
Find out just how much I (truly) Love Lucy in the Lucille Ball category. I’m warning you, I call it an obsession for a very good reason…
