Cary Grant behind the scenes in “Arsenic and Old Lace”

Cary Grant in “Arsenic and Old Lace”

Cary Grant getting ready for a little insanity on the set of the 1944 movie, “Arsenic and Old Lace.”

Source: Filmmaker IQ

 

“A Trip Thru a Hollywood Studio” (Warner Brothers, 1935)

Come with me and sneak a peak of some Hollywood stars going about their day. On the way, we’ll visit some major studios, and then get a chance to go behind the scenes to learn how movie equipment of its day captured the sights and sounds of the movies. So, let’s go via a Warner Brothers short film called, A Trip Thru a Hollywood Studio (1935).

First, we’ll get a quick look at some major studios of the mid 1930’s. Up high with some great aerial shots, we can see Fox, RKO, Warner Brothers, Paramount, MGM, and Universal!

Stopping at Warner Brothers, we spot the great choreographer Busby Berkeley and dance director Bobby Connolly directing some hard-working chorus girls!

Next, we catch comedic actor Hugh Herbert putting on his make-up. “A little powder, a little paint, make little Hughie look what he ain’t!”

Let’s wave to heartthrob Rudy Vallee as he leaves Warner Brothers studio!

Watch out as Hollywood dogs take their owners for a jaunt: three Scottish Terriers enjoy Jean Muir and Warren William while Alice White’s sheepdog begs to be her lapdog.

Don’t throw in the towel yet; watch actor/boxer Pat O’Brien and actress/manager Ann Dvorak as Pat spars with former welterweight champion Jackie Fields.

Hold on a minute as “regular guy” James Cagney gets a light for his cigarette.

Let’s be a bit quiet here while Dolores del Rio poses for a still photographer.

Now, back to Hugh Herbert as he hams it up in a scene with a Hollywood harem!

On the last bit of the tour, Hugh runs through his scene while we visit all the amazing film equipment used for creating a Hollywood movie. From the microphone, to the disk recording machine, to the editing and printing rooms, to the movieola, and finally to the projection room to watch Hugh’s completed scene.

See ya on the next tour!

Thanks to Victoria Mentz for making this short subject available.

 

“Dr. Jekyll – Loved by beautiful women, sought by society. Mr. Hyde – fiend and criminal.”

Fredric March in Paramount’s 1931 “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”

Beware, people of London! 

Fredric March mesmerizes us as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in a page from “Paramount’s 20th Birthday Jubilee Announcements of 1931.” A perfect Oscar-winning monster movie to watch this Halloween. Complete with marvelous make-up transitions and fearful co-stars, Miriam Hopkins and Rose Hobart. 

Did you know that this was the only version in which Jekyll’s name is pronounced correctly as “Jee-kall”? More trivia revealed on IMDb’s site.

Source: Media History Digital Library. Artist unknown.

 

The family that smiles together stays together? NOT!

Gregory Peck, Harvey Stephens, Lee Remick in “The Omen”

The Omen, 1976, with Gregory Peck, Lee Remick and Harvey Stephens. One of the scariest movies I saw at that time! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Source: Collider.com 

 

“The Dog-Watch” with “The It Girl,” Clara Bow!

Clara Bow, dog

Clara and canine wait for Santa Claus from the Motion Picture Classic magazine, January 1929 edition.

Clara Bow appeared in a handful of silent and talkie short subjects from the 20’s to the 40’s: Screen Snapshots Series, etc. Visit IMDb for select titles under the “Self” section located after her main feature films.

Source: Media History Digital Library

 

“Hollywood Hobbies” (1939) A surplus of Hollywood stars!

Jump in and take a Hollywood tour with two star-crazed ladies (Joyce Compton & Sally Payne), who get a spectacular chance to see Hollywood celebrities with tour guide William ‘Billy’ Benedict. Stick with these guys and catch scads of movie stars in MGM’s 1939 short subject, Hollywood Hobbies!

Pre-tour note: Morey “Buddy” Amsterdam, from The Dick Van Dyke Show, wrote the story and screenplay!

Are you ready to see the stars? Here we go …

First stop, we see Reginald Denny at his model airplane factory.

Gosh, isn’t that Clark Gable at home whitewashing his barn?

Awwww, look who is expecting. It’s Robert Young and Allan Jones as “expectant” godfathers of a new foal! Irene Hervey helps usher in the new equine!

Our last stop is a Hollywood baseball game with commentator Truman Bradley and baseball fans: Jimmy Stewart, George Murphy, Cesar Romero, Joan Davis, Spencer Tracy, Virginia Bruce, and James Cagney (with mom Carolyn).

Oh la la! Joe E. Brown is kissing Harry Ritz!

Buddy Ebsen’s on the bench. Tyrone Power is in the seats.

Jane Withers autographs a baseball. Milton Berle steps in as shortstop.

Buster Keaton covers 3rd base. John Boles is in left outfield.

Throwing out the first ball is Mary Pickford.

Frank Mitchell & Jack Durant attempt to bat while stacked on top of each other!

Arthur Lake garbles some pre-game chatter. Nat Pendleton steals home.

The Ritz Brothers umpire, if you can call it that!

Dick Powell bats a home run, ending the game and knocking out the tour guide!

All is well in Hollywood!

Thank you to HollywoodHobbies for making it available on YouTube!

 

“Why? Because!” – Judy Garland asks and Fanny Brice answers in “Everybody Sing”!

“Why? Because!” sings Judy Garland and Fanny Brice from the 1938 musical, Everybody Sing.

Although not a short subject, I couldn’t resist showing this film clip with Judy and Fanny together. Obviously, Judy needs no introduction, but Fanny, on the other hand, might for many of you.

Fanny Brice, probably more well-known for Barbra Streisand playing her in Funny Girl and Funny Lady, was a consummate comedian, singer, and actor of almost every medium. About Fanny’s two husbands, both portrayed in the biographical movies, she amusingly reminisces, “With Nick Arnstein, I was miserably happy. With Billy Rose, I was happily miserable.” 

Fanny does one of her best characters, “Baby Snooks” in this film clip. A two-star, Hollywood Walk of Famer, Fanny was born in NY in 1891. A cerebral hemorrhage ended her life in 1951.

Judy Garland stars in Everybody Sing a year before she wows us in the 1939 movie, The Wizard of Oz. Keep an eye out for Judy’s witch pal, Billie Burke (Glinda), if you get a chance to watch the whole feature of Everybody Sing. 

Thank you gcuriosidades for making it available on YouTube!

 

Stars galore! You won’t believe how many Hollywood stars appear in this short subject, The Stolen Jools!

Stars galore! You won’t believe how many Hollywood stars appear in this short subject, The Stolen Jools! Just to wet your appetite: Norma Shearer, Buster Keaton, Laurel & Hardy, Joan Crawford, Barbara Stanwyck, Gary Cooper, Irene Dunne, Loretta Young, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Maurice Chevalier, Bebe Daniels, Joe E. Brown, and 48 more!

The Stolen Jools (1931) was a promotional short film to raise money for the National Variety Artists Tuberculosis Sanatorium. This comedy begins with Norma Shearer’s jewels having been pinched from a Hollywood party. Detective Kane snoops around, grilling all the stars who might have attended this said party. Very fun to see how many stars you can spot.

Trivia: Alternate title is The Slippery Pearls. All actors, but a few, are credited at the end of this film. Oddly enough, this fund raiser for tuberculosis was sponsored by Chesterfield Cigarettes! Check out IMDb for the whole cast.

Thank you to Guérin Pascal for making it available on YouTube!

(Source: http://www.imdb.com/)

 

Ready for your swim, Miss Crawford!

Joan Crawford appeared in at least 15 short subjects from the 1920’s-1950’s. Picture above is Crawford in the April, 1940 Hollywood magazine, brought to you by Media History Digital Library.

Selected Short Subjects
1925 Studio Tour (1925)
Wampas Baby Stars of 1926 (1926)
Voices Across the Sea (1928)
Hollywood Snapshots, #11 (1929)
Screen Snapshots series (1930-1939)

Click on Joan Crawford’s name here to find out more.

 

Tough times, tough guy … “The Hard Guy” with Spencer Tracy.

Don’t miss this six-minute short subject with a young, dark-haired Spencer Tracy! Only eight years before he “was listed as the fifth biggest money-making star of 1938,” and twelve years before his partnership began with Katharine Hepburn. “The Hard Guy,” a 1930 Warner Brothers “Vitaphone Varieties” is a must for Tracy fans!

The film begins with Guy, a despondent WWI veteran, battling unemployment in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of NY. (Had to look it up: Hell’s Kitchen is the area from 34th to 59th street). Desperate and needing food for his family, Guy protests, “Boy, what a picnic that war was compared to this one. I was a hero once, now I’m a bust!” As he leaves to look for work, his wife discovers a hidden revolver in his coat pocket … will Guy rob for food? Don’t ditch before the plot twist.

Thank you, Eldon Stuhr!