Fredric March on TCM
Carole Lombard, Fredric March in a Nothing Sacred publicity shot.
Fredric March has his "Summer Under the Stars" day on Monday, Aug. 24.
Turner Classic Movies will present 13 Fredric March films, including the TCM premiere of Richard Boleslawski’s Academy Award-nominated Les Miserables (1935), a handsome — if dramatically stale — adaptation of Victor Hugo’s classic novel that pits March’s bread-thief Jean Valjean against Charles Laughton’s law-enforcing sociopath Inspector Javert.
Among the other Fredric March must-sees that day are:
Produced by David O. Selznick, William Wellman’s 1937 version of A Star Is Born features Janet Gaynor the actress doing a delicious impersonation of Janet Gaynor the persona, here named Esther Blodgett (and later renamed Vicki Lester), an ambitious but [...]
by Andre Soares | August 19, 2009
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Tags: A Star Is Born, Anna Karenina, Carole Lombard, Classic Movies, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Fredric March, Greta Garbo, Les Miserables, Miriam Hopkins, Nothing Sacred, Rouben Mamoulian, Summer Under the Stars, TCM, Turner Classic Movies
QUEEN CHRISTINA – Greta Garbo, John Gilbert
Queen Christina (1933)
Direction: Rouben Mamoulian
Screenplay: H. M. Harwood and S. N. Behrman
Cast: Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Ian Keith, Lewis Stone, Elizabeth Young, C. Aubrey Smith, Reginald Owen, David Torrence
One of the most ambitious productions of the early 1930s, Queen Christina remains surprisingly modern in its execution thanks in large part to Rouben Mamoulian’s assured hand. Those looking for historical accuracy in the film, however, will be greatly disappointed, for credited screenwriters H. M. Harwood and S. N. Behrman kept themselves busy concocting a highly fictionalized version of the Swedish queen; one who experiences an all-consuming and ultimately tragic love affair with a Spanish envoy. (Garbo biographer Mark Vieira explains [see below] that credited screenwriter — and close Garbo friend [...]
by Andre Soares | April 14, 2009
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Tags: C. Aubrey Smith, Classic Movies, Crossdressing, David Torrence, Elizabeth Young, Film Reviews, Five-Star Movies, Gay Interest, Greta Garbo, H. M. Harwood, Historical Movies, Ian Keith, John Gilbert, Laurence Olivier, Lewis Stone, Mark Vieira, Queen Christina, Reginald Owen, Romantic Movies, Rouben Mamoulian, S. N. Behrman, Salka Viertel
Best Films – 1940
Henry Fonda in The Grapes of Wrath
FILM
The Blue Bird
d: Walter Lang; scr: Ernest Pascal
The Grapes of Wrath
d: John Ford; scr: Nunnally Johnson
Kitty Foyle
d: Sam Wood; scr: Dalton Trumbo
The Letter
d: William Wyler; scr: Howard Koch
The Mark of Zorro
d: Rouben Mamoulian; scr: John Tainton Foote, Garrett Fort, Bess Meredyth
Pinocchio
d: Hamilton Luske, Ben Sharpsteen; scr: Ted Sears, Otto Englander and others
Pride and Prejudice
d: Robert Z. Leonard; scr: Aldous Huxley, Jane Murfin
Rebecca
d: Alfred Hitchcock; scr: Robert E. Sherwood, Joan Harrison
Waterloo Bridge
d: Mervyn LeRoy; scr: S.N. Behrman, Hans Rameau, George Froeschel
Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell in His Girl Friday
CHECK THESE OUT
Busman’s Honeymoon / Haunted Honeymoon
d: Arthur B. Woods; scr: Monckton Hoffe, Angus MacPhail, Harold Goldman
His Girl Friday
d: Howard Hawks; scr: Charles Lederer
The Long Voyage Home
d: John [...]
by Andre Soares | April 4, 2009
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Tags: Aldous Huxley, Alfred Hitchcock, Alfred Newman, Anita Loos, Basil Rathbone, Bella Spewack, Bess Meredyth, Best Films, Bette Davis, Busman's Honeymoon, Cary Grant, Cedric Hardwicke, Charles Chaplin, Charles Lederer, Classic Movies, Constance Cummings, Edna May Oliver, Ernest Haller, Florence Bates, Frieda Inescort, George Barnes, Ginger Rogers, Greer Garson, Henry Fonda, Herbert Marshall, Herbert Stothart, His Girl Friday, Howard Hawks, Howard Koch, Irene Dunne, Irving Pichel, Jack Oakie, James Stephenson, Jane Darwell, Jane Murfin, Joan Crawford, Joan Fontaine, Joan Harrison, Joel McCrea, John Ford, Judith Anderson, Karl Freund, Kitty Foyle, Laurence Olivier, Leo McCarey, Marjorie Main, Mary Boland, Max Steiner, Melville Cooper, Mervyn LeRoy, Micheline Presle, Nunnally Johnson, Pinocchio, Pride and Prejudice, Ray Rennahan, Rebecca, Robert E. Sherwood, Robert Montgomery, Robert Z. Leonard, Rosalind Russell, Rouben Mamoulian, Roy Webb, Sam Spewack, Sam Wood, Susan and God, The Blue Bird, The Grapes of Wrath, The Great Dictator, The Letter, The Long Voyage Home, The Man I Married, The Mark of Zorro, The Philadelphia Story, Tyrone Power, Virginia City, Vivien Leigh, Walter Lang, Waterloo Bridge, William Wyler
Best Films – 1933
Greta Garbo in Queen Christina
FILM
Baby Face
d: Alfred E. Green; scr: Gene Markey, Kathryn Scola
The Barbarian
d: Sam Wood; scr: Anita Loos, Elmer Harris
Dinner at 8
d: George Cukor; scr: Frances Marion, Herman J. Mankiewicz, Donald Ogden Stewart
Gold Diggers of 1933
d: Mervyn LeRoy; scr: Erwin Gelsey, James Seymour, David Boehm, Ben Markson
I’m No Angel
d: Wesley Ruggles; scr: Mae West
The Kennel Murder Case
d: Michael Curtiz; scr: Robert Presnell, Robert N. Lee, Peter Milne
King Kong
d: Ernest B. Schoedsack, Merian C. Cooper; scr: James Ashmore Creelman, Ruth Rose
The Mystery of the Wax Museum
d: Michael Curtiz; scr: Don Mullaly, Carl Erickson
Queen Christina
d: Rouben Mamoulian; scr: H. M. Harwood, S. N. Behrman
Nils Asther, Barbara Stanwyck in The Bitter Tea of [...]
by Andre Soares | April 3, 2009
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Tags: Alfred E. Green, Aline MacMahon, Baby Face, Barbara Stanwyck, Best Films, Blood Money, Classic Movies, Constance Bennett, Dinner at 8, Elmer Harris, Ernest B. Schoedsack, Frances Dee, Fredric March, George Cukor, Gold Diggers of 1933, Greta Garbo, Hilda Vaughn, I'm No Angel, Jean Harlow, King Kong, Ladies They Talk About, Lady for a Day, Lionel Atwill, Mae Clarke, Marion Davies, Mary Boland, Merian C. Cooper, Michael Curtiz, Myrna Loy, Peg o' My Heart, Queen Christina, Ramon Novarro, Robert Montgomery, Rouben Mamoulian, Ruth Chatterton, The Barbarian, The Eagle and the Hawk, The Kennel Murder Case, The Mystery of the Wax Museum, Warren William, Wesley Ruggles
Best Films – 1931
Willi Fritsch and Lilian Harvey in Congress Dances
FILM
À nous la liberté / Liberty for Us
d, scr: René Clair
City Streets
d: Rouben Mamoulian; scr: Max Marcin, Oliver H. P. Garrett, Dashiell Hammett
Daybreak
d: Jacques Feyder; scr: Ruth Cummings, Cyril Hume, Zelda Sears
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
d: Rouben Mamoulian; scr: Samuel Hoffenstein, Percy Heath
Five Star Final
d: Mervyn LeRoy; scr: Robert Lord, Byron Morgan
Der Kongreß tanzt / Congress Dances
d: Erik Charell; scr: Norbert Falk, Robert Liebmann
The Maltese Falcon / Dangerous Female
d: Roy del Ruth; scr: Maude Fulton, Lucien Hubbard, Brown Holmes
The New Adventures of Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford
d: Sam Wood; scr: Charles MacArthur
The Public Enemy
d: William A. Wellman; scr: Kubec F. Glasmon, [...]
by Andre Soares | April 3, 2009
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Tags: A nous la liberte, Alfred E. Green, Aline MacMahon, Barney McGill, Bartlett Cormack, Best Films, Boris Karloff, Brown Holmes, Byron Morgan, Carl Hoffman, Carl-Heinz Schroth, Charles Lederer, Charpin, Cimarron, City Streets, Classic Movies, Congress Dances, Cuban Love Song, Cyril Hume, Dashiell Hammett, Daybreak, Der Kongress tanzt, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dracula, Dudley Digges, Edmund Lowe, Edna May Oliver, Edward G. Robinson, Ernest Torrence, Ernest Vajda, Ernst Lubitsch, Five Star Final, Francis Edward Faragoh, Garrett Fort, Gary Cooper, George J. Folsey, Greta Garbo, Guy Bolton, Guy Kibbee, Harvey Thew, Helen Chandler, J. Grubb Alexander, Jacques Feyder, James Whale, James Wong Howe, Janie Mareze, John Barrymore, John L. Balderston, Joseph Jackson, Karl Freund, Karl Struss, La Chienne, Lee Garmes, Lewis Milestone, Lilian Harvey, Little Caesar, Louise Fazenda, Lucien Hubbard, Lyn Harling, Marius, Marlene Dietrich, Mata Hari, Maude Fulton, Max Marcin, Merritt B. Gerstad, Mervyn LeRoy, Michael Curtiz, Michel Simon, Miriam Hopkins, Ona Munson, Otto Matieson, Paul Lukas, Percy Heath, Raimu, Ramon Novarro, René Clair, Ricardo Cortez, Robert Lord, Robert N. Lee, Rouben Mamoulian, Roy Del Ruth, Ruth Cummings, Sam Wood, Samson Raphaelson, Samuel Hoffenstein, Smart Money, Sylvia Sidney, The Bitch, The Hot Heiress, The Mad Genius, The Maltese Falcon, The New Adventures of Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford, The Public Enemy, The Smiling Lieutenant, Transatlantic, Willi Fritsch, William A. Wellman, William H. Daniels, William Haines, William K. Howard, Zelda Sears
Miriam Hopkins III: BECKY SHARP
Miriam Hopkins: Q&A with Allan Ellenberger Part II
Becky Sharp was the first feature film in three-strip Technicolor. Why was Miriam Hopkins selected for the title role? And what was filming like?
Hopkins was producer Jock Whitney’s choice for the role from the beginning; I’m not aware of anyone else being mentioned. However, she almost lost it when she couldn’t come to an agreement with RKO over her salary. The studio then considered replacing her with Myrna Loy (who had starred in a modern-day version in 1932) or Claudette Colbert, who turned down the role after reading the script. Finally, Hopkins and RKO came to terms and she was reinstated.
Jock Whitney and his Pioneer Pictures’ first attempt at Technicolor [...]
by Andre Soares | January 9, 2009
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Tags: Allan Ellenberger, Becky Sharp, Cedric Hardwicke, Classic Movies, Edward G. Robinson, Fredric March, Interviews, Lowell Sherman, Miriam Hopkins, Rouben Mamoulian, Samuel Goldwyn
Rouben Mamoulian Retrospective at Film Forum
"Mamoulian," a complete retrospective of Hollywood director Rouben Mamoulian (1897-1987), one of cinema’s greatest stylists and innovators, will run at the Film Forum from Friday, September 7 through Tuesday, September 18.
As per the Film Forum’s press release, Mamoulian was born in Tbilisi, Georgia, to an Armenian family. He worked at the Moscow Art Theater while attending university, and, following a chance meeting with industrialist/philanthropist George Eastman (founder of the Kodak film company) he moved to Rochester, New York, to direct plays.
Shortly thereafter he was on Broadway, directing Dorothy and Dubose Heyward’s Porgy, which became the basis for George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, a musical that Mamoulian would also direct. [See Porgy and Bess screening in New York.]
That initial [...]
by Andre Soares | August 22, 2007
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Tags: Applause, Arthur Miller, Becky Sharp, Bess Meredyth, Blood and Sand, Classic Movies, Ernst Lubitsch, Film Festivals, Film Forum, Greta Garbo, Jeanette MacDonald, Linda Darnell, Love Me Tonight, Maurice Chevalier, Miriam Hopkins, Porgy and Bess, Pre-Code Hollywood, Queen Christina, Ray Rennahan, Rouben Mamoulian, The Mark of Zorro, Tyrone Power
