Week in Review

Films I've Viewed

• The Bribe (1949) - Robert Taylor (Rigby), Ava Gardner (Elizabeth Hintten), Charles Laughton (J.J. Bealer), Vincent Price (Carwood), John Hodiak (Tigwell "Tug" Hintten).  Taylor plays a cop, sent to find a group of people smuggling airplane motors and selling them illegally.  Ava is a down on her luck singer in a seedy nightclub, torn between her attraction to Rigby and her devotion to her shady, dying husband.  Elizabeth's husband is part of the gang, so if he does anything it will hurt her.  Robert Taylor is divine.  One of my favorite leading men.  Ava played the sultry singer well.  I don't think she was worth the trouble, but then, Ava is not one of my favorite actresses.  Charles Laughton and Vincent Price were fabulous as the bad guys.  Their portrayals were worth the film alone.  Well worth the view.

Groucho Acting Goofy

In honor of what would have been Groucho Marx's 123rd birthday, here are some pictures from Night in Casablanca (1946).

I haven't seen it in a while, but the Marx Brothers are quite funny.

Sunburning with the Stars - Ida Lupino

Ida Lupino; Physical Culture; June 1946

Wayne's Bubbles Pop

"Wayne Morris says emphatically that even though his mother-in-law desires it, he and "Bubbles" Schinasi will not reconcile." (Film Fun, 1941)

Wayne Morris (February 17, 1914 - September 14, 1969) started out playing college football and working as a forest ranger. He went back to school to study acting, and was discovered by Warner Brothers while acting at Pasadena Playhouse. Wayne loved flying and became a navy flier in the Pacific Theater of World War II in 1942, earning four Distinguished Flying Crosses. Playing mainly the boy-next-door, he appeared mainly in B Westerns. Some of his more well known films include: Kid Galahad, Brother Rat, and Paths of Glory.

Wayne married Leonora "Bubbles" Schinasi, stepdaughter of tobacco baron Leon Schinasi when she was 18 years old. Wayne and Leonora were married only a year (1939-1941), but had 1 son, Michael. Both would remarry. Wayne would marry Patricia O'Rourke on February 25, 1942 and would stay married to her until his death at age 45 from a heart attack. Leonora would marry producer Arthur Hornblow (former spouse of Myrna Loy) in 1945 and stay married to him until his death. Leonora also became an author, writing several children's books.

New Warner Brothers Stars for 1941

Warner Brothers astrologers have discovered five new stars, and names them. They are:

Eddie Albert

Brenda Marshall (from Circa)

Dennis Morgan (from Find a Grave)

Ronald Reagan (seen here with Adele Gergans at Mogambo)

and James Stephenson (from Wikipedia)

Tough Assignment: One Foot in Heaven

Tough Assignment: It's comparatively easy to find locations for highways that lead down in Movietown, but the Warner Brothers aerial location scout had a heck of a time finding a mile-high cloud band for the forthcoming production, One Foot in Heaven.

One Foot in Heaven, released in 1941, stars Fredric March, Martha Scott, Gene Lockhart, Beulah Bondi, and Laura Hope Crews. It follows the struggles to be relevant in the 20th century of Minister William Spence (played by Fredric March) and his wife Hope Morris Spence (played by Martha Scott). Set in 1917, it sounds like a sweet picture. Anyone wanting to check it out, it is playing October 12th at 1am est on Turner Classic Movies.