I loved Ann Sheridan! a gorgeous, and a very underrated actress. She was terrific with Cagney in Torrid Zone, and Angels With Dirty Faces, and with Bogart in They Drive by Night. She was in Kings Row, the film that Ronald Reagan is best remembered for, and Come Next Spring, the best film ever to be released by Republic Studios. She was with Bette in the comedy, The Man That Came to Dinner, and the musicals, Thank Your Lucky Stars, and Shine on Harvest Moon. she co starred with Jack Benny in George Washington Slept Here, and with Cary Grant in I Was a Male War Bride.

She appeared in some great films but was never in the superstar bracket, she was warm, with great comic timing, and a lovely throaty laugh. When she died of cancer at only 51 one obituary summed her up perfectly, saying that like all true stars, she was unique and not quite like anyone else.

If you look at the "Adverts" album in my Stanwyck group you will see that she was promoting Max Factor from the early 1930's. All the stars did this, as the studio's advertised their latest films while promoting different products. Here are just some of the products that Barbara advertised, Lux Toilet Soap, Old Gold, Lucky Strike, L & M and Chesterfield cigarettes, Dixie Cup Ice Cream, Colgate Toothpaste, Liptons Tea, Calox Tooth Powder, Masland Rugs, Armand Leg Make Up, Royal Crown Cola, Ronson Lighters, Bates Bedspreads, Auto Light spark plugs, Star Kist Tuna, Kool Foam Pillows, and United States Saving Bonds.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz...le-cancer.html


Another face and link to this era gone as well as a link to one of the few Hollywood acting dynasties.

Thanks for your reply ⏫on Ann Sheridan Walter -I will reply fully later but I thought you'd be interested in this sad news on Diana Douglas.

Sad, but what a full life she had, and nice that she and Kirk stayed friends for all these years.

WOW I hadn't realised that those type of commercial promotions by stars was so commonplace back then and that the film studio's were so closely involved.
Did the fee/biggest cut go to the star or the studiofor allowing the arrangement?

What a relatively young age for Ann to die

Would you say she found her right level talent wise in the industry orwould you say she could of and should have been an a lister superstar and the studio's didn't see this full potential and utilise her better?
What was your favourite film of hers?

I don't know about the studios, but I know that the stars were paid extremely well for their endorsement of products. Douglas Fairbanks was paid $10.000 by a tobacco company, and Shirley Temple earned $50.000 for endorsing Puffed Wheat, and $75.000 for a doll promotion. MGM would not permit tie ins with either liquor products or cigarettes for it's players. Lux Toilet soap seemed to have been advertised by every female stars from every studio.

Anne Sheridan, who hated her nickname 'the oomph girl' was the first choice to play opposite Gary Cooper in Frank Capra's Meet John Doe, but there was a contract dispute with Warner's, and Barbara took over the role.

My favourite of all her films is Come Next Spring, (1956) for me the best film to be released by Republic Studio's.

Did "Come Next Spring receive much critical acclaim and award nominations? Do you know when Republic Studios ceased to be or is it now incorporated into one of today's big studio's? Obviously it's character will be lost but did they go out of business or just become submerged /superceded as part of another studio?

What an interesting nickname Ann Sheridan had!

It was a big hit with the critics and fans, but unbelievably it was released as the second half of a double bill. Those were the days when you always got a double feature when you went to the cinema. If you look it up on the Internet Movie Data Base you can see just how highly it is still thought of. Max Steiner, who composed most of the musical soundtracks for Warner's greatest films composed the score, and a young Tony Bennett sang the title song, this was the first time that I had heard of him.

From the mid 1940's onwards, Republic films often starred Vera Hruba Ralston, a former ice skater from Czechoslovakia who had won the heart of studio boss Herbert J Yates. Yates tried to build her up as a big dramatic star, but the general public found her quite resistible. She became the second Mrs Yates, and he billed her as "the most beautiful woman in films" but her charms were still lost on the general public. Years later, John Wayne admitted that the reason that he left Republic was because that he might have to make another film with Miss Ralston. The two that they made together were probably his only box office flops. Yates continued to be his wife's biggest fan, and she worked there right up to the end, Republic Pictures finally closed in 1959.

Oddly enough, a film that sticks in my memory was "I, Jane Doe" which I saw when I was around 12 years old. It starred Vera as a woman on trial for the murder of her husband, and I absolutely loved it. It would be interesting to see it again, just to see what I thought of it now.

Incidentally, probably the most popular film to come from Republic was The Quiet Man, but not with me, I couldn't take all that Irish blarney.

As usual Thank you for the very detailed information and context. I think it just goes to show there are just some people who cannot be made into popular stars no matter how hard or what publicity tactics that the studio's employ.
Does Republic Studios ceasing to exist in 1959 make it one of the first of the old studio's to fold?

Oh I take it you've heard the sad news about Omar Sharif passing away. I hadn't realised he'd been one of the big Hollywood party animals /boozers in his time until the obituaries and tributes flagged it up.
I know it's a cliché on this thread but I always find it sad when another link from this era in film passes away especially a significant link

Speaking of links to the golden era The Wizard of Oz is making headlines in the below link in quite a bizarre way! Some film memorabilia really is worth a fortune! ⏬

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/07/12...lippers-reward

Bette Davis hit the nail on the head in an interview about studio heads trying to create a star.

"The public make stars, there are a few people who carry movies and the public come to see them, being a star means that people come to see you. Some people have it, and some people don't, and Mother and Daddy and God have a lot to do with it. Some people affect the public and some people don't. You cannot plan a star, Mr Goldwyn planned that Miss Anna Sten would be a great star, Mr Zanuck planned that Miss Elissa Landi would be a great star. He told the public that she was a great star, he spent millions of dollars on her, NEVER! the public tells the studio, and you suddenly become a commodity that makes money, the public does that."

Howard Hughes took over RKO studio's in 1954 and by 1957 it had closed down, so that was the first studio to fold.

I must confess that I still think of Omar Sharif as a recent name, as I do of anyone who came along in the 1960's, but then I did start going to the pictures in the early '40's.

I can't imagine why any film memorabilia would be worth millions, I collected photo's and posters of my favourite stars from childhood, but can't say that I would want an item of clothing or even ruby slippers. Although there was a fanatical Joan Crawford fan who bought one of her gowns from Torch Song, and then bought himself a Grand Piano so that he could drape it over it.

Again many thanks for answering all points. 👍

Yes that sounds like very wise words from the one and only Bette Davis!
I often wonder what kind of director someone like Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Barbara Stanwyck and Jane Wyman etc would have made

I think Ms Davis in particular would have been quite a task master and a tad unrelenting and intolerant if you were not on top form!

Do you think many of the big stars from this era had yearnings and hopes to do as Clint Eastwood did and eventually become a film director and all the opportunities for a creative outlet that gave them? Some stars strike me as being so passionate about films and how a story should or should not be told and not always shy about letting a director or studio bigwig know their opinions -that perhaps some of them really craved to be in the directors chair?


On the subject of expensive film memorabilia -I recall reading that Debbie Reynolds tried to set up in recent years a film memorabilia museum but the plan fell through because in large part the money needed to buy and secure all of the items totalled. many many millions. I could be rembering the precise details wrongly but it seems a shame that was the little interest from the industry itself in making or enabling this to happen. I think heritage is important although I wouldn't go as far as the fan of Joan Crawford's gown fan!

Do you recall that I actually asked Bette whether she would like to have been a director, when she appeared at the National Film Theatre in 1971? For those that missed it, this was her reply:

"No, because I love our business so much that if someone was doing it wrong I can just imagine myself whooshing in on my broomstick and screaming at them, NO, NO!! THIS IS HOW YOU DO IT!

I would like to have been a producer, I rather like the idea of bossing all those men around!"

When Barbara was asked if he would like to direct, she replied that she would rather stick to what she knew, and have someone in charge telling her how to do it.

I think that Joan was so insecure that she needed a strong director to take charge, especially as she usually had a fling with most of them, apart for Cukor, Edmund Goulding and Charles Walters who were gay.

Debbie said that she pleaded with the big wigs at MGM to do what they did at Universal and open the studio to the public. She said if they put in a turnstile she would be happy to sell the tickets, but they wouldn't listen to her, and sold off all their priceless memorabilia. Debbie emptied her bank account, more than $600,000 so that she could buy as much as she could of the fabulous collection of costumes and props when MGM put it all up for auction. She said the studio stupidly threw away their complete history which she displayed in her Las Vegas museum, but it went bankrupt in 1997. Sadly, so many of those treasures that she purchased are now scattered around the world.

Haha At least Bette was honest about herself and had some self awareness of her strength and weaknesses !I think Barbara Streisand had a go at directing in 1996 in the film The Mirror has two faces for which Lauren Bacall was nominated for an oscar.
I don't however think she has directed anything since?

Shame on the MGM bigwigs -a unique opportunity missed to preserve some unique cultural heritage. It saddens me that the money men in today's studio's are so blasé and uninterested in films splendid past.

Two names from the past died this week, both in their nineties, and I doubt if anyone but the most ardent films buffs over 70 will have heard of them.

Nova Pilbeam's last screen appearance was in 1948, yet she was one of Hitchcock's blondes who appeared in two of his 1930's hits, Young and Innocent and The Man Who Knew Too Much.

Born in 1919, she was only 14 when she made her film debut in a Gaumont British production, Little Friend. Critics praised her performance, and the film was a box office hit.
She won a seven year contract with Gaumont British and a starring role opposite Peter Lorre in Hitchcock's first version of The Man Who Knew Too Much.

In 1936 she was cast as Lady Jane Grey in Tudor Rose, and won the Film Weekly Medal as Best Actress of the Year. Hitchcock wanted her for the role of the second Mrs de Winter in Rebecca, but her agent was worried about the five year contract that she would have to sign with Selznick, so the role went to Joan Fontaine, and a star was born. Meanwhile, she had fallen in love and married, Hitchcock's assistant Pen Tennyson, great grandson of Alfred, Lord Tennyson. His death in a plane crash in 1941 seemed to deprive Nova of any interest in her career, and she only appeared in six more films.

She did tour with a stage production of The Philadelphia Story in 1951, playing the Katharine Hepburn role, but when she remarried and gave birth to a daughter she retired to full time domesticity. Nova Pilbeam died 17th July aged 95.

I honestly thought that Theodore Bikel had died years ago, but in fact he died this week aged 91. I remember seeing him as the German ships first officer in The African Queen, and two Susan Hayward films, I Want to Live and A Woman Obsessed.

I didn't realise that he had created the role of Captain Von Trapp in the 1959 Broadway production of The Sound of Music. He also played the role of Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof In 1967 and played more than 2.000 performances.

Sorry for the delayed reply -I was going to post about Nova but you got there first but with far more detail than O would have had. Was Nova on your list posted very early on in this threads life ?

Nova certainly seems to have many links to some of the eras big stars.

I suppose it's possible there are still some stars that we've assumed with the passing of time have long died but actually haven't. I think Zsa Zsa Gabor falls into this category for many because she's been so I'll for so long.

On word on the health of other ageing stars such as Arlene Dahl and Eva Marie Saint?

One thing I've wondered about Walter is film royalties /artists fees? I know the system has changed a lot since the golden era so this may not be applicable. But do you know what the situation is with actors /actresses fees? Do the stars still living receive fees sometimes when one of their films is aired on TV, sold on DVD etc and do the stars descendants receive the fee once the star passes away? Or is it time limited? Is this a subject your expertise stretches too please?

Nova wasn't on my list because to be honest she was even before my time, having made her last film in 1948 when I was eleven years old, and just about to write my first fan letters.

Eve Marie Saint looks marvellous at 91, and Arlene is 90 next month. I guess she looks good for her age, but the dyed red hair now has a ginger tinge to it, which is not a flattering look on a lady of such senior years. I still think that Barbara had the last laugh at the people who criticised her for not dying her silver hair. It was so flattering to her face as she aged, because as we all know, your skin tone changes as you age, and harshly dyed hair can add years to a mature face.

When Bette was asked if she felt bitter that she didn't receive residuals when her films were shown on TV she said No. As she explained, the first films sold to TV in the USA were from Warner's, and 50 of them were hers. Many of the younger generation were seeing her for the first time, and so she had a whole lot of new fans who would never have known of her if it hadn't been for these films. So as she said, this more than made up for the residuals she didn't receive, and this of course applied to all the other stars of the Golden Age.

Not sure if her name's been mentioned in this thread before but having watched an old Universal B Movie ("Calling Dr. Death" with Lon Chaney Jr) last night I was surprised to see that the leading lady Patricia Morison is still with us, having celebrated her 100th birthday last March.

No, her name isn't on the list, and shame on me for overlooking her. She certainly deserves a mention as she was often overlooked by Hollywood.

She was part of Paramount's Golden Circle in the late 1930's, but she never got the breaks that some of her contemporaries like Susan Hayward, Bill Holden and Robert Preston got

I hear that she was fabulous on Broadway in Kiss Me Kate, but when MGM filmed it they preferred their own screeching Diva, Kathryn Grayson.

I am watching a wonderful 63 minute interview with Patricia on YouTube recorded when she was 98, and what a fabulous lady. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQswR26fDFMM

Those of you who have Sky and can get Talking Pictures on channel 343 can see the lady who inspired this thread over a year ago.

Joan Lorring is just stunning in the role of Celestine in the Enterprise production of The Other Love. This was the film that it's star Barbara Stanwyck made her only trip to the UK, so that she could attend the London premiere at the Empire, Leicester Square with her then husband Robert Taylor in March 1947.

I love this film, and her performance, and it made me a fan for life, but Joan Lorring also left a lasting impression, and she is still luminous nearly 70 years later.

That's wonderful news -Thank you for posting and letting us film buffs know. Hopefully there's gonna be a nice 100th Birthday party celebration next July for Olivia De Havilland!


Thanks for this information Walter -To still have such an effect and leave such an impression on you after all of this time despite not being an A lister shows what a class act she was ;If only things had panned out differently and she'd of become an A lister.


Again thank you for your reply and apologies for my delayed reply. It's good to hear that Arlene Dahl and Eva Marie Saint are still going strong -I wouldn't be at all surprised if one of them also reached their 100th.

It's good to hear that Bette wasn't bitter over residuals -although I'd always assumed that most actors would be a bit angry over it. I'm sure I've heard many tv actors over the years complaining about a lack of residuals /royalties although perhaps not film actors.

I wasn't sure if residuals were part of the changes that Olivia De Havilland etc had successfully won /achieved when she fought for changes in the studio system.

Random question -Do you have a favourite Joan Leslie film?

Joan Leslie was never a favourite of mine, there are two of her films that ARE favourites, but only because of the other stars in them.

The Hard Way starred the great Ida Lupino as her ruthless sister who did everything to push her to the top in show business. The only problem for me was that Joan Leslie didn't have the charisma or star quality to get to the top, as she didn't in real life.
This was the only film that Ida ever won anything for when the New York Film Critics gave her their Best Actress of the Year Award for 1942.

Hollywood Canteen was all about the creation of Bette Davis and John Garfield who got all of the great stars to entertain the soldiers when they were in leave. As it was a Warner Brothers film, just about every star from that studio made an appearance, Bette, Barbara, Joan, Ida, Jane Wyman, Eleanor Parker etc. Shame that they had to have this ridiculous story about a soldier who was the millionth visitor to the canteen and gets to meet his favourite star.

So with every big Warner name in the film, who doe he choose? Joan Leslie!!

When he meets Barbara he says, "Gee, you're Barbara Stanwyck, you were my favourite star until I saw Joan Leslie"

Yeah, right!!

Coleen Gray, who made her name in 1940's film noir, has died, age 92.

http://variety.com/2015/film/news/co...ng-1201556008/

I was going to mention Coleen earlier this morning but had to dash off to the gym, so thanks for that!

There is a marvellous site called Eddie Muller's Film Foundation where you can see interviews with many stars and directors from the 40's and '50's, including Colleen.

You can also see writer Victoria Wilson talking about her mammoth biography on Barbara Stanwyck. Just one tip, when an interview seems to come to the end and the credits roll it often carries on, so don't rush to switch it off, because there could be more.

To see Colleen go to:

http://www.filmnoirfoundation.org/video3.html#colleen

Deary me! Choosing Joan Leslie over Barbara Stanwyck is not a plausible scenario at all! Just goes to show how far some studio's go into trying to make somebody a big star adored by the audience! 😁
Would you say Barbara viewed comparisons with other female stars especially when the studio's went into overdrive trying to make someone the next big thing and in a way supplanting established stars with bemusement or anger?


Thank you for posting this. We also lost British actor George Cole today who while he never persuaded a big Hollywood career did star in the legendary Cleopatra starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.


Thanks for this Walter -good to see so many archived interviews now available online.

I would have guessed that she would have viewed it with cynical amusement, I wish that she HAD been more competitive and fought harder for roles. In 1944 she was red hot at the box office after her success in Double Indemnity . She was the first choice for Mildred Pierce yet lost it to Joan Crawford who was box office poison at the time. Yet Joan went on to win the Best Actress Oscar for 1945, and then did some of her best work under her new Warner's contract.

Barbara, just like Cary Grant always missed out at Oscar time because neither of them would be tied down to one studio, and a studio would always publicize and back their contract stars.

[/quote] Thank you for posting this. We also lost British actor George Cole today who while he never persuaded a big Hollywood career did star in the legendary Cleopatra starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. [/quote]

Yes, I mentioned George in the tribute to him in the Showbiz section, a terrific actor who had a marvellous career.

We also lost the lovely Natasha Parry who I first saw in Dance Hall in 1950m the only survivor left from that film is the lovely Petula Clark, still touring at 82.

[/quote] Thanks for this Walter -good to see so many archived interviews now available online.[/quote]

There are some fascinating interviews there, and even some who weren't particular favourites have such wonderful memories, including 81 year old Patricia Crowley who was just 22 when she worked with Barbara in There's Always Tomorrow, and speaks so warmly about her.