I was obviously aware of the connection between Richard Carlson and Barbara Stanwyck but I had no idea about a connection between Barbara and Mae!! Did they remain friends do you know and did they ever work on the same production? I always find it interesting to hear about what stars were like before they were famous and who were friends before making it big.
I'm not surprised you became such a film buff and film connoisseur if All I desire was your introduction to the world of cinema -It's a great film!


I didn't realise that Jane Wyman worked with Alfred Hitchcock -I do hope he treated her better than he did Tippi Hedren!
Do you know if Jane had a favourite or preferred director to work with?

For some reason Barbara distanced herself from Mae Clarke when she got to Hollywood. When Mae contacted her she told her that she was too busy to see her. Whether it was because she wanted to forget the Ruby Stevens from Brooklyn that she had been, or whether it was her dominating first husband, we will never know. Not surprisingly, Mae was very upset, because they had been so close when they were struggling chorus girls. In a way I can understand it, sometimes we grow out of people when we move on and they don't, it has happened to me several times.

I am afraid that I confused you, All I Desire was not my first introduction to the cinema, I had been going for more than ten years when I saw that, and had already seen more than 20 of Barbara's films. What was so significant about All I Desire was that it was the first film that I saw in a West End cinema on my own, even though I had been at work for nine months. This was when it cost about one old shilling to go to the local cinema, while the cheapest seats in the West End were three shillings and 6 pence. This seemed very extravagant to my Mother, even though I was earning £2 10 shillings a week, from which I got 12 shillings and 6 pence all to myself. I was a very immature 16 year old and my Mum was probably worried about me wandering around the wicked West End on my own, but she eventually relented. After that there was no stopping me, and in the following months I saw Barbara in Titanic at the Leicester Square Theatre, Jeopardy at the Tivoli, and Executive Suite at the old Empire.

Do see Stage Fright if you can, it is very underrated, and has always been my favourite Hitchcock film.

I don't know Jane Wyman's favourite director, but I should imagine that Douglas Sirk would be very high on her list. She starred in some very big hits for him, including Magnificent Obsession, All That Heaven Allows, and Lucy Gallant.

She won her Best Actress Oscar for Johnny Belinda, directed by Jean Negulesco, so I expect he would be another favourite.

Just out of curiosity was the actor Richard Todd who Jane Wyman worked with related to Mike Todd who was a film producer husband of Elizabeth Taylor who died in a plane crash in 1958 leaving her a widow?

I get what your saying about Barbara and Mae -sometimes it's not a case of falling out with someone but simply outgrowing them. I imagine this too happened with some actors who were friends whilst working on a film together but their friendship whilst genuine was work based only and didn't really continue as such once the film was wrapped up and finished.

Confusion is now cleared up! 😁 Being a film buff was clearly and evidently in your dna from a very early age -a true passion of yours! I too loved going the cinema from an early age but obviously I'm from a different generation to you -I'm more from the Mel Gibson, Brad Pitt, Tom Hanks, Robin Williams, Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan, Kim Basigner generation of first time cinema goers!

Am I too take it that the Leicester Square theatre was the forerunner to Leicester Square Odeon Cinema were so many of the UK film premieres are now held?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eve_Arden

On this day April 30th in 1990 American actress Eve Arden died aged 82..

One of her more famous roles was starring with James Stewart in "Anatomy of a murder" in 1959.

She also received an Oscar nomination for her role in Mildred Pierce playing a friend of Joan Crawfords character.

In a career that spanned 60 years in her latter years she starred in timeless classic Grease and subsequently Grease 2.

No, Richard Todd was not connected in any way with Mike Todd. He became an instant star when he appeared opposite Ronald Reagan in The Hasty Heart, and received a Best Actor Oscar Nomination for his performance. I had the thrill of being an Extra in his very last appearance, when he was a guest star on Casualty.

Yes, I loved films from as far back as I remember, and was writing off to the Hollywood studios for signed photo's of the stars from the age of nine. I had my first letter printed in a film magazine when I was 12 years old.

I think that it is just great that you have such a fascination and interest in the Golden Years of Hollywood considering how young you are.

I am so confused with all the name changes of West End cinema's I am not sure which is which.
The Odeon Leicester Square was the big black marble cinema, I wasn't aware that the Leicester Square Theatre was also the Odeon, what an ridiculous idea. I haven't been there for years, and I doubt whether I ever will again, I am sure it must be all very depressing, I prefer to remember them how they were in the 1950's and 60's.

The Odeon Leicester Square, the black marble building on the East side, is still London's main venue for premieres.

The Odeon West End, built in the 1930's on the south side of Leicester Square, was completely demolished last year. A new Odeon will open on that site in a couple of years. It used to be the main West End venue for the London Film Festival.

The Leicester Square Theatre is a smaller building on a road to the north of the square and has never been a cinema.

The Leicester Square Theatre was most definitely a cinema originally, It was built in 1930, as a cine-variety venue for singer and dancer Jack Buchanan, who had a penthouse flat on the roof. It originally showcased both film and short variety performances before going over to film on a permanent basis. It was sold to J. Arthur Rank in 1937, and became Rank's first cinema.

I had no idea that the name was changed to the Odeon West End in 1988, because I have not been near there for years. In fact that was the year that I moved to Kent. I saw everything from Titanic (1952) Separate Tables (1959) to Madame X (1966) there. It is even featured in the film Turn the Key Softly, where a very young Joan Collins is waiting outside, and they are showing Susan Hayward, Gregory Peck, and Ava Gardner in The Snows of Kilimanjaro.

I Googled the other theatre that you mentioned, and I must confess that I have never heard of it. Not surprising as it has only had that name since 2008, long after I stopped visiting the West End. It was originally known at The Notre Dame Hall, Cavern in the Town, and The Venue.

I loved Eve Arden, along with Thelma Ritter she was my favourite character actress.

I never really think of her in Anatomy of a Murder when looking back at the best roles. For me it was Stage Door, where she spent most of the film with a cat slung around her neck, and as Ida, the wisecracking pal of Joan Crawford in Mildred Pierce. She had so many great one liners, especially when observing Joan's spoiled daughter Veda, (brilliantly played by Ann Blyth) "Personally, Veda's convinced me that alligators have the right idea, they eat their young."

She was also very moving as Dorothy McGuire's sister in The Dark at the Top of the Stairs. She covers up her frustration because of her husband's lack of attention by constantly making wisecracks, "God, I'd like a good fight, anything would be better than nothing!"

Ah, thanks Walter. The building I went to known as the Odeon West End (now demolished) was known as The Leicester Square Theatre from 1930 until 1988. The building currently known as The Leicester Square Theatre is something else entirely. I confused the two.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odeon_West_End

http://m.omaha.com/go/remembering-an....html?mode=jqm

A good time to remember this star from Hollywood's golden era and Rita Hayworths favourite leading man apparently.

Terrific actor who seemed to have a film released every other month in the 1950's and 60's. Many with a single name title, Jubal, Trial, Ransom, Cowboy, and Cimarron.

Barbara made a great Western with him in 1955, The Violent Men was released as Rough Company over here, but it is the American print that we see on TV.

He was in so many good films including Blackboard Jungle, the film that introduced the Bill Haley hit, "Rock Around the Clock." Incredibly he was never Nominated for an Oscar, and by 1987 wasn't considered important enough to be invited to Barbara's AFI Award tribute, even though he was one of her few leading men who was still around.

My fascination with old Hollywood started really I think when my Nan used to babysit me and she'd watch afternoon films and Bette Davis was in a black and white one and I was mesmerised. So I started to ask her about old film stars but the interest that these chats cultivated didn't really come to fruition until I got a DVD player years later in my bedroom. But I've always found the world of old Hollywood fascinating especially the strong female leads. It's a shame you've given up being a TV extra!Seeing behind the scenes must be so intriguing!


Mystery solved -I knew I wasn't 100% sure of my ground on the Odeon cinemas in London!


Eve seems to be another one with a solid body of work who seems underappreciated over time. I do need to research her more but I feel sure I've seen her in something? Did she guest star in a glitzy American soap like Dallas?

Ann Blyth thankfully is still with us and send me a signed dedicated photo autographed to me in 2011.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Extra work can be extremely tedious, usually a case of hanging around all day, waiting to work all night, then often working till the last trains have gone. My first job as a skinhead hustler consisted of walking up and down the Embankment gardens on a freezing February night. They dismissed us at 3am, and I ended up walking to Victoria. With a bursting bladder, and no Public Convenience in sight, I was desperate enough to relieve myself in a phone box, with two policeman strolling by, I was lucky not to get done for indecent exposure. I then had a three hour wait sitting on a hard bench at Victoria Station. Oh yes, the glamour of filming.

Incidentally, I mentioned that I worked on Casualty with Richard Todd, I should of course have said Holby City. I didn't like Elstree, we had to pay for our own meals, unlike when I worked at Deerpark Studios, Wimbledon, where I worked on The Bill, and stars and Extra's all sat in the same restaurant together.

I did see Shane Ritchie and June Brown at Elstree, but as I never watch Eastenders, it didn't mean anything to me.

If you see my post on the confusion about The Leicester Square Theatre, you will see that it had that name from 1930 to 1988 before becoming the Odeon West End. It was never my West End favourite cinema. I preferred The Empire, Warner, and the big Odeon over the road.

You may have seen Eve Arden in Love Boat or in her very last appearance in Falcon Crest. She was also Barbara's understanding friend in My Reputation, although she disappears halfway through.

Ann Blyth seems to be a lovely lady, and one of the few who only had nice things to say about Joan Crawford. You can see her talking about working on Mildred Pierce on Tube when she gave a chat at San Francisco's famous Gay cinema, The Castro.

Oh Ray I'm not sure that I can ever look at you in the same way again now that you've told me you've relieved yourself in a public phone box!!

Did you ever dream of being a Hollywood extra? I wonder if any consistently employed Hollywood extras have ever written a book on Hollywood based on the film Extra's perspective?

Thanks for the YouTube tip about Ann Blyth -Definitely something for me to check out as I don't know that much about her.

I suspect it may have been loveboat I saw Eve Arden star in.

I think looking up Hollywood dates of births, deaths and events is proving to be a wise move as it's helping uncover information in the discussion that I was never aware of -I certainly wasn't expecting so many Barbara Stanwyck links using this method in such a short space of time!

I blame Westminster council for closing all of the public conveniences, probably because they were being used for other purposes, if you know what I mean.

I certainly had visions of being successful as an Extra in British films, but soon lost that dream when my two days of filming on Night Flight with Christopher Plummer, ended up on the cutting room floor. Then when I was picked for the role of an MC in a boxing ring by the director of London's Burning because he thought that I looked menacing, "like the friendly face of the Mafia," I really thought that I had made it. I spent two days in a boxing ring announcing the name of the boxers until I almost lost my voice. One of them was Tristram Gemmil, Tracyluv's husband in Corrie, and I must say that he was a very convincing boxer. When it was eventually screened I must have been seen for at least three seconds. That was when I became rather disillusioned, although I did have my best role of the rapist of PC Gary Best in The Bill, and as my character escaped I thought that I might get asked back to face retribution. Well, I did get asked back, but as a different character, and all I had to do was mop out cell, that was when I realised my dreams of minor stardom were over. In fact the best exposure that I have had on TV have been this year. Then they even cut a lot of my appearance on the Palladium, so I guess that my 15 minutes of fame are up.

The fact that Barbara was in Hollywood from 1929 till 1990, it is not surprising that she is linked to so many of the names that you mention, and even before that, with her connection to Mae Clarke from her chorus girl days. It will be interesting to see how many more names that you mention will be connected to her in some way.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeleine_LeBeau

According to Wikipedia and a number of websites Madeleine LeBeau has died.

I will reply to your most recent post later Ray as I'm nearly half asleep!

I am not surprised that you are nearly asleep at 3.02am, I just hope that you didn't have to get up too early this morning.

I must admit that I have never heard of that lady, but then unlike most film buffs I am not a fan of Casablanca because any film with Bergman in it puts me off.

Now that would be a good subject to discuss, who can't you bear to watch on screen? I will start the ball rolling, with Bergman and Rita Hayworth.

Have to say I've never been a big fan of Marlon Brando or James Dean. Thought Brando was the weakest of the main stars in Guys & Dolls

I agree about both of them, I know that Sinatra wanted the role of Sky Masterson rather than Nathan Detroit, and he would certainly have made "Luck Be a Lady" a darn sight more memorable than Brando's reedy rendition.

I don't think Dean would be remembered today if he hadn't died so young. I liked him at the time, but I was 18 and easily impressed. I now find his mumbling style of acting, self indulgent and dated.

Paul Newman was once called a poor man's Brando, and he got his big break when he replaced Dean in the Rocky Graziano story, "Somebody Up There Likes Me."

He proved over many years that he was more versatile than either of them, and certainly far more attractive and likeable. Brando was like a gross, bloated caricature of his early self by the time he reached 60, while Paul was still a slim, handsome, active man, and racing cars well into his 80's.

More so than Shirley Temple?

Not really anyone from the Golden Age of Hollywood that I dislike on screen. Mickey Rooney could be irritating. I preferred Bergman to Garbo.

No, never liked Temple, although she was even before my time, but she was no better when she became an extremely irritating adolescent. She stuck out like a sore thumb in the otherwise beautiful Since You Went Away, in which she played Claudette Colbert's precocious younger daughter.

My favourite child stars as I have mentioned before were Margaret O'Brien and Dean Stockwell, but then I felt that I had grown up with them as I am almost the same age.

There was something about the Swedes that turned me off, I saw all of Garbo's films when they were re-released in the 1960's, but she leaves me cold.

No I was having a lazy day today after an evening of indulgence!

Who can't I bear to watch onscreen! That's an awkward one! Dare I say I find Bob Hope's appeal a bit of a mystery?! 😁

On this day May 3rd in 1903 Bing Crosby was born so would be 113 today! Any Barbara Stanwyck connection I wonder? 😉😁

Also on this day in 1906 American actress from the pre talkies era Mary Astor was born and would be 110 today!

Also Hollywood musical actress Betty Comden shares this birthday too.

I used to love the Hope and Crosby films when I was young, although they are rather dated now. He also did some great comedies with an assortment of very glamorous leading ladies, The Cat and the Canary with Paulette Goddard, My Favourite Blonde with Madeline Carroll, My Favourite Brunette with Dorothy Lamour, My Favourite Spy with Hedy Lamarr, and The Paleface with Jane Russell, in which Jane displayed her talent for comedy for the first time.

Bob will always be my all time favourite Master of Ceremonies at the Acadamy Awards. His witty repartee was a joy to watch, and far superior in every way to the tacky circus that it has become.

From what I've seen he's s good presenter and raconteur but I struggle to enjoy him in film. It's not that I can't enjoy a film he's in but he's not the reason I'd enjoy the film.

I guess I just don't find him funny but that could be a generational thing. I tend to lean towards preferring females for comedy like Joan Rivers, Ruby Wax, Victoria Wood, Jenny Exclaim, Jo Brand etc.
Perhaps it's more to do with that than me finding him poor at it. A question of taste rather than talent.

It doesn't seem like more than a decade since Bob Hope turned 100 but this year he'd be 113 just as Bing Crosby would have been yesterday on his birthday!