Golden Age of Hollywood Book Club discussion

Mildred Dunnock played the simple-minded kitchen cook in Tennessee Williams / Elias Kazan's "Baby Doll"; controversial flick with Karl Malden - Eli Wallach - Carole Baker. Banned by the League of Decency! Supposedly 'baby doll' style of lingerie came from this film.

Notorious for the giant picture of Carole outside prestigious theaters. One of the few that Tennessee was directly involved in. Love that film.

Feliks wrote: "Mildred Dunnock played the simple-minded kitchen cook in Tennessee Williams / Elias Kazan's "Baby Doll"; controversial flick with Karl Malden - Eli Wallach - Carole Baker. Banned by the League of D..."

I believe she also took the deathly plunge in a wheel chair down the stairway in Kiss of Death. It is still a shocking scene and Richard Widmark was simply amazing in that film.

One of my favorite character actors is Dabbs Greer, who is probably known best for his television work, but also appeared in movies like 'The Green Mile' and 'The Cheyenne Social Club.' His lined face and every man manner made him ideal as a good guy, but more often as a man who would try to get away with whatever he could

I know the latter but not the former

Spencer, yuh ole hellion. Yew wapscallion and rake-hell

Carole Baker fan eh? Any thoughts on 'Station Six Sahara'?

Dabbs Greer was a face that was so familiar in the 50-60s period. I haven't seen The Green Mile but didn't know he was still alive when that film was made.

He was on 'Perry Mason' 8 times, frequently as the murderer. That's where I remember him best.

Feliks wrote: "Spencer, yuh ole hellion. Yew wapscallion and rake-hell

Carole Baker fan eh? Any thoughts on 'Station Six Sahara'?"

Haven't seen that one.

I freely admit to being a Sue Lyon fan, too.

It came up recently as a pick in the recent Scorcese festival in NYC.

Link to it again, lots of unusual faves from Marty and his pal
https://tinyurl.com/ve7tsxy


Scorcese's series of nonfiction faves:
https://tinyurl.com/tdxn3hp

Harry Davenport will live forever thanks to his role in 'The Ox Bow Incident', 'Hunchback of Notre Dame', 'Gone with the Wind' and so many others. He was born all the way back in 1866! And he came from a long line of stage actors, too.

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

What a great supporting actor. His face was everywhere in film. I always think of him as Dr. Mead in GWTW

He was also Grandpa in 'Meet Me in St. Louis'. A versatile actor.

Oh, I forgot about that one. He was in so many films that I have lost track but Dr. Mead always stuck with me.

Another great that we haven't mentioned. Edward Arnold! That portly gentleman could play anything from a loving father to an evil crime boss. I loved him in You Can't Take It With You.

Ah yah. He had superb timing and delivery. I like him best in 'Meet John Doe' or 'Mr. Smith/Washington'.

Another big day on TCM. I watched 'Neptune's Daughter' earlier, and was reminded of Mike Mazurki who specialized in not-too-smart thugs and tough guys such as in 'Some Like It Hot.' He had the perfect face for it.

I always remember him searching for Velma in Murder My Sweet which is one of my favorite detective films. He had a good career and who would have thought that someone who looked as battered as he did, could have a successful career in Hollywood.

Always reliable. Handled a lot of thankless parts.

Rondo Hatton is an actor who I haven't decided about..... was he taken advantage of by Hollywood or not. He suffered from acromegaly, a glandular condition that strikes in adulthood and deforms the body, especially the face, in a rather horrible manner. He was put into films to play the "monster killer" and I felt sorry for him for being used for his physical deformities. But he obviously agreed to it, since acromegaly does not affect the mental processes but it reminded me of Browning's Freaks.

Didn't he also have a growly kind of voice or maybe I'm thinking of someone else?

TCM had Jean Hagen on today in her greatest role, and then one I'm very fond of--Lina Lamont and Missy LeHand. She was great as both.

There's an annual 'Rondo' award --in this era --for audacious new independent horror movie releases.

And we featured 'Rondo' once as our 'fun pic of the month' right here on this forum's front door-stoop.

All in all I don't think he is such a very bad looking guy. He'd probably beat me out on a given day

But he looked like this before struck by the acromegaly. It is such a deforming disease.

Betsy wrote: "TCM had Jean Hagen on today in her greatest role, and then one I'm very fond of--Lina Lamont and Missy LeHand. She was great as both."

Jean Hagen was hysterical as Lina Lamont. That voice!!!!!!

Amen! She camped it up with abandon! Jean Hagen was a talented woman.

TCM showed 'Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House' last night. Louise Beavers plays the cook/housekeeper. She must have been one of the more frequently employed African-Americans of the period although often in the same kind of role. She was in the 1934 version of 'Imitation of Life'.

My favorie scene in Mr. Blanding is Mrs. Blandings describing in intricate detail the colors she wants on the walls, but of course the painter just writes down basic white, yellow, etc.

"If you ain't eating WHAM, you ain't eating HAM!"

This is one of my favorite threads, but I haven't mentioned anyone for quite awhile. There are so many great character/supporting actors out there. Two I like are Gladys Cooper and Cathleen Nesbitt. In fact, I confess to getting them confused at times. Cooper probably had more memorable roles, but Nesbitt was a talented lady too.

Speaking of Nesbitt, she starred with one of my all-time favorites, William Windom, in the TV version of 'Farmer's Daughter.' What a talented man he was.

Thanks heavens I am not alone in getting Nesbitt and Cooper mixed up sometimes. Cooper was very popular in the UK and did have more memorable roles but they were both quite good.

BTW have any of you seen Edward Everett Horton in a serious role? I think he is just wonderful in comic support but have never seen him in anything else that would be considered a serious role.

Now that you mention it, I decided to look him up, and he did have some serious parts. One movie I'd like to see is FOREVER AND A DAY from 1943. But he's definitely remembered for comedy.

One of the best supporting actors who was the perfect foil for the Marx Brothers was Margaret Dumont. Groucho usually picked on her endlessly and she remained stoic. I had read once that she didn't really understand the Marx Brothers schtick, which may or may not be true. But none of their films would have been complete without her.

I must admit I've never been a fan of Groucho Marx so I've never seen any of their movies.

I can understand that since they took some getting used to. I haven't seen one of their films for quite a while and might look at them differently now

We were talking about this great supporting actress on another thread.......famous for being the woman in the wheelchair who was pushed down the steps by an insane Richard Widmark in Kiss of Death. She had a long and successful career.

Mildred Natwick

It was Mildred Dunnock who was Mrs. Rizzo. She was good in 'The Nun's Story' too. She always seemed to have more serious roles than than Mildred Natwick.

Mildred Natwick was a fine actress too. She starred with Helen Hayes in a TV series as amateur sleuths. She was also in a remake of 'Arsenic and Old Lace.'

I can't believe I did that since I knew it was Mildred Dunnock. Boy, do I feel stupid!!! I think staying at home like a hermit during this pandemic has affected my memory!!!!!

No problem. It's easy to confuse names, especially since their first names are the same. After this year, we're lucky to be still getting around. 😊

For all the new people in the group, this is one of my favorite topics because as much as I like most of the great classic stars of Hollywood, I really appreciate the work of the supporting actors and actresses who addrd so much to the movies we love. I bring this up now because of William Bendix who I have seen recently in a couple of Film Noir performances. As a kid I remember seeing him as the jovial working man, 'Life of Riley' on TV. So I was startled to see him as a brutal thug or the injured vet in Blue Dahlia. Quite a turnaround. We are fortunate to be able to see their performances on television or in other ways. Anybody have someone they appreciate?

Supporting actors are the backbone of film. Like Betsy, I am attracted to many of those somewhat and sometimes forgotten. The presence of Claude Rains in a film can almost guarantee that he will steal the show in a supporting role.Just think of him as Louis in Casablancea. Superb! He is probably my favorite and of course he did have the leading role in many films. He may be the only actor in history who was the "star" whose face wasn't seen until the very last minute of the film.... that is his debut in The Invisible Man. He was Bette Davis's favorite man with whom to work and they were in several films together. His career spanned decades with his last appearance in Lawrence of Arabia. And he had one of the most resonant voices in film.

Claude Rains was marvelous actor with a touch of the 'cad' in most of his performances. Truly unique.

One of the most handsome supporting actors was Louis Calhern. He had loads of class and could play a villain with panache. But it is odd to see him in the Marx Brothers Duck Soup.....he seemed so out of place. He didn't make that mistake again and went on to films more appropriate for his looks and acting style. Probably my favorite of his roles was as the crooked lawyer and "sugar daddy" to a very young Marilyn Monroe in Asphalt Jungle.

Can't imagine Calhern in 'Duck Soup'.

I know. Why the studio did that is beyond me but there he was, playing an ambassador (or something like that).

I know where you're coming from. I knew Calhern first from 'Asphalt Jungle' but then I got into pre-codes and he kept popping up (Road to Singapore, They Call It Sin, The Woman Accused) as young-ish man. Something similiar happened with Wallace Ford whom I knew from Noirish stuff like 'He Ran All The Way', 'Breaking Point', 'The Furies' or even 'Harvey'. I know this sounds silly but I'd always assumed that he was middle-aged forever. And then there he was in (Pre-Codes) 'Employee's Entrance', 'Skyscraper Soul' and 'Three Cornered-Moon', the same but in young...

Calhern seemed to always be a "mature" man and quite dignified looking. I was surprised to learn that he died at age 61 since I always thought he was about that age in several films.

Somebody we forgot about who was a supporting actress until she got her own "b" film series. It is Marjorie Main. Everybody knew her as Ma Kettle in that series but she had a long career in film. One of her best was as the mother of Humphrey Bogart (but was only 9 years older that he was) in Dead End (1937). She was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and was actually a singer.

Wasn't she also the formidable ma in 'Murder He Says'? Hilarious, that one.

Marjorie Main was terrific. She was the cook in 'Meet Me in St. Louis' and the aunt in 'Belle of New York', which I just saw. Would like to see her in 'Murder, He Says.'

One of those supporting actors who seemed to be in every other film in the 30-40's was little George E. Stone. You will remember him as the stage manager in42nd Street. But he seemed to drop from view. Then while watching the "Perry Mason" tv show from 1959 (thanks, Betsy) and saw a glimpse of the court clerk who was on camera for about 5 seconds and had no lines........it was Stone and he was listed in the show's credits. It appears that he was in several of those shows in the same "role" (it was barely a walk-on). It was rather sad to see him reduced to that type of role.