I have never been able to sit through The Awful Truth, I was never a big Irene Dunne fan, apart from "I Remember Mama" in which she gave a beautiful performance and should have beaten Jane Wyman for the Oscar in 1948.

Hilda, it was the dress circle that Joan ignored, all the questions came from the stalls.

I'm not very technical -I was sat in the centre second row -the nasty cheeky guy sat on the far left of me quite near to the theatre wall? Don't know if that means I was in centre stalls and he was on left stalls or he was on the dress circle??

Anyway Joan was not amused at being called a soft porn star!

Would you say The Awful Truth was Cary Grant's worst film then?

I couldn't honestly say, as I can't recall anything about it Some much praised films just leave me cold, Casablanca, It's a Wonderful Life, and Gilda spring to mind.

Anyway, on to really important things, did you see Danny Mac performing his sublime quickstep in white tie and tails last weekend? I still haven't recovered.

I made the front page of our local paper this week, as well as an article on page 2. I can't find a link to it, but you can see it on my Facebook page.

Awe why didn't they give you whole of the front page as your achievements are fantastic! Have you now been in the local paper two weeks in a row or am I confused?

Yes I've been enjoying Danny Mac but it's Italian dancer Giovanni who's making me melt!

I liked the new Spanish dancer Gorka too but he's been eliminated

Speaking of dancing -when did the dancing type films of Hollywood really start to get noticed? Where they popular before Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire?

Gorka will be dancing with Anastacia tomorrow as Brendan is ill with a lung infection.

The Talkie's had only been going for four years when Astaire and Rogers appeared together for the first time in Flying Down to Rio in 1933. They were billed under the main stars of the film, Dolores del Rio and Gene Raymond.

They were an immediate hit, and followed it with The Gay Divorcee, Roberta, Top Hat, and Follow the Fleet. They starred in nine films together, and 6 of them became RKO's biggest moneymakers.

So I think that we can say that they were responsible for the start of the popularity of dancing films.

Which would you say were the superior Ginger Astaire films -their earlier ones or later ones?

I'm sure this has been mentioned before but I'm sure Ginger Rogers was the cousin of another famous golden era star or am I getting confused?

Yes I enjoyed Gorka tonight and Danny Mac's scantily top dressing not to mention his moves on those hips!

PS Not long to go now until Kirk Douglas reaches 100 and he seems in decent fettle giving an interview recently on why he thinks Donald Trump would make an awful US President, indeed even Joan Collins has been favouriting tweets that are critical of Trump and his tax dodging, sexist, unpleasant antics.
To lose the support of moderate republican /Conservatives in Hollywood (although Joan doesn't vote in USA) is not a good sign. No rallying for their guy amongst Hollywood republicans like they did with Ronald Reagan.

I thought that Rogers was a big phony, so never really enjoyed their films. Much preferred Fred with Judy and Ann Miller in Easter Parade, with Cyd Charisse in Band Wagon and Silk Stockings, and best of all, with Eleanor Powell in Broadway Melody of 1940. Their incredible tap dance number to Begin the Beguine is my favourite dance routine of all time. Watch it on YouTube and you will see why.

Donald Trump is the most repellent individual ever to stand for office, Hilary Clinton is pretty shady, but she is the best out of a bad lot.

You can see my latest newspaper article if you Google. "Ray to run his third London Marathon - Kent Online". .

Take a look at @ClassicalCinema's Tweet: https://twitter.com/ClassicalCinema/...723056640?s=09


Any Barbara connection here Walter? Also did Vincent ever try to break out of the horror genre in terms of his acting career or was he pretty much pigeon holed?

Agree with you about Trump he's appalling.
I'm curious if when Ronald Reagan run for office if any golden era Hollywood stars -his acting showbiz peers if you like came out and criticised him and his politics /policies?

Or was he a gent or someone who's style helped make it possible for the political and personal to be pretty much kept separate?

PS Will Google about your run -cheers for information and congratulations again

Just read it Walter!

Respect, gratitude and appreciation for all the money you've raised for MS and cancer charities!

Your a true gem! 👏👏👍

So many actors, as well as producers, directors and screenwriters, were blacklisted after WW2 I doubt they thought too highly of Reagan, who was an FBI informant in the late 40s.

I have just one photo of Barbara and Vincent together, taken at a charity function in Hollywood in 1960, but there is another connection. His first wife Edith Barrett played Barbara's older sister in Universal's The Lady Gambles (1949). She was in fact only 6 months older, but she always played characters older than herself. She had divorced Vincent the previous year, and it seems became very bitter, not helped by an addiction to alcohol and amphetamines, she died in 1977 ages 70.

Another interesting point about this film was that billed 14th down the cast list was 24 year old Anthony Curtis in his third film, he played a bellboy. He had just four lines, and about 10 seconds onscreen, but he made the most of it. In just two years he had shortened his first name to Tony, and was one of Universal International's biggest stars.

The Lady Gambles is an excellent film about a woman with a gambling addiction, and Barbara has some wonderful scenery chewing moments as she goes from a respectable housewife, to a peroxide blonde playing crap games in an alley. It is available from Amazon for under £10.

Vincent made his film debut in 1938, and appeared in 33 films, many of then classics like Laura, and Leave her to Heaven, before he starred in his first Horror film, House of Wax in 1953. I don't think that he was pigeon holed. In between the horror films he appeared in such classics as The Ten Commandments and The Fly. They also made him wealthy and allowed him to indulge in his other interests such as Gourmet cooking and fine art.. He also met his last wife Coral Browne while filming Theatre of Blood.

All I remember about Reagan's time in office was when Bette Davis said that he was always known at Warner's as "Little Ronnie Reagan", but she did later admit rather grudgingly that he hadn't been a bad President.

Thank you so much Hilda, you are too kind.

I am loving my training, I have six months in which to get fit enough to knock at least an hour off my last time. I will be disappointed if I don't finish in under 5.1/2 hours.

Well done Walter. Just read the article online. Really admire you and your fundraising.

Hilda - I really like The Awful Truth, I also like My Favourite Wife and Penny Serenade - all starring Irene and Cary. Irene was a trained opera singer, I believe, not sure why she didn't pursue that as a career but I thought she was a good actress.

And on a side note, Gorka is my favourite - he is a beautiful looking man and seems so sweet too, pity he is married

Thank you David.

Gorka is lovely, but my heart belongs to Danny Mac.

I now have "My Heart Belongs to Daddy (Danny)" in my head.

I never realised when I wrote that, but the lyrics could fit for Danny as well as Daddy.

While tearing off a game of golf, I may make a play for the Caddy.
But when I do I don't follow through, cause my heart belongs to Daddy.

If I invite a boy some night to dine on my fine food and haddie,
I just adore his asking for more, but my heart belongs to Daddy

Yes my heart belongs to Daddy, so I simply couldn't be bad.
Yes my heart belongs to Daddy.

If I invite a boy some night to cook up some hot enchilada.
Though Spanish rice is all very nice, my heart belongs to Daddy.

So I want to warn you laddie, though I know that you're perfectly swell.
That my heart belongs to Daddy, because my Daddy he treats me so well.

This song was sung my Marilyn in Lets Make Love, not one of her best films, but this was one of the highlights.

http://godtoday.com/son-of-kirk-doug...-your-prayers/

Came across this article online, it'd a bit non specific and the article content doesn't totally tally with the headline but concerning all the same.

Could just be a turn of phrase but so close to his 100th birthday I really hope he reaches his milestone.

Walter with regards to Vincent Price it may be me and a generational thing as rather than him being pigeonholed by horror films it's me in my ignorance pigeon holing him as I've always thought of him as primarily an actor in horror films.

I'm shocked to read this as I hadn't realised that Reagan was an official government informant -I'd assumed it was just rumour!

I wouldn't take any notice of that Hilda, just some rag spouting the usual religious crap. (Yes, I am a devout atheist)

It is quite understandable that you would think of Vincent as mainly starring in horror films, by the time you started going to the cinema that was really all he was doing.

It is similar to Barbara, who many people only knew as the matriarch of TV's The Big Valley. The advantage of that was that many TV viewers discovered her classic films, and she was rediscovered all over again.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-37821400

Tippi Hedren makes this revelation in her new autobiography which Hitchcock aside may contain some interesting perspective and anecdotes on the golden era.

Your probably right Walter about that Kirk Douglas article as he really seems to exceptionally active and engaged for someone aged 99 unlike say Zsa Zsa Gabor.

Speaking of stereotypes did Larry Hagman have much of a film career pre playing JR in Dallas alongside Barbara Bel Geddes?

Larry Hagman was lucky to get Dallas, because he made very little impact before getting the role of J.R. I have to say that I never watched a full episode, it never appealed to me, and I always found Barbara Bel Geddes very dreary.

He got his first break at the age of 20 when he appeared on stage at Drury Lane in South Pacific with his mother Mary Martin.

He had a couple of small film roles, in Henry Fonda's Fail Safe, and John Wayne's In Harm's Way. The first time that I noticed him was in the TV series, I Dream of Jeannie.

Loved "I Dream of Jeannie". Hagman and Barbara Eden worked well together in that. Eden is still with us at 85 though her movie career never really took off.

I watched the early series of "Dallas". Seems most people did back in the day (except Walter, of course). Who shot JR? was headline news. Daft times.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/11/01....google.co.uk/

Thought you might be interested in this Walter -especially the Barbara Stanwyck connection where it is indicated she came onto his roster as an agent later on.

Another link to the golden era of Hollywood and indeed to Barbara Stanwyck now gone.

In terms of Larry Hagman -Would you say his actress mother Mary Martin who he was estranged from for year's had the more accomplished career in film acting in Hollywood?

Oh btw in terms of Tippi Hedrens autobiography claims about Hitchcock. Did Grace Kelly or any of the other actresses he worked with hint at similar or has it been hinted alleged in books etc on this era?

Thanks for that Hilda, I had heard of him, although Barbara's most famous agent during the 1930's and '40's was Zeppo Marx, the one brother who left the act to go into business. They even co owned a ranch together, called "Marwyck".

Whatever Mary Martin may have had on stage it certainly didn't transfer to the screen, I know that I must have seen her in films, but she made absolutely no impression on me at all.

I believe that Hitchcock had his kinky side, and he seemed to have an obsession with blondes, but as I have never read a book on him, I don't know anymore about him than you.

Walter - how many ranches did Barbara own? I know you said she owned one with Robert Taylor before they married. Would this be an investment thing or did she love horses? On that note, i watched 40 Guns the other day - very good - did Barbara ride or have a stunt double?

Hilda - I am not sure about Hitchcock assaulting any other actress but I agree with Walter, that he was obsessed by blondes and Tippi had mentioned before he was cruel to her on set etc, I think a few actresses have said before that he was not great to work with as he could be a tyrant on set. Saying that, quite a few actors and actresses worked with him more than once so maybe he was not all bad?

Love many of his films though.