Golden Age of Hollywood Book Club discussion

Thanks for the new male photos. I admit men are probably easier because women can change their hair styles and its color, and look completely different.

Yes! #54. Indeed, Mike Kellin as a young man just starting out on his career.

We've all seen in him in so many films.

He has one of those craggy faces that's hard to forget.

#50.......Cleo Moore?

I think you got #54, Betsy.

#50 was a glam Italian star who bombed in the US
#51 has a surprisingly large filmography despite only being active between '30 and '35
#52 and # 53 are British; the kind of workhorse players who appeared in any and every type of role which they might be called upon for

Have been having trouble with the Internet. Any new clues? I haven't had much luck even though I've seen #52 and #53 before.

#51? Did he die since his work was only 5 years.?

You really fooled me on #50......I could have sworn it was Cleo Moore. I need to rethink that one since she was an Italian glam star.

#52 is partly why I don't choose males for these quizzes. To find really obscure male actors I need to toss in quite some dull fellows whom I never heard of and have little interest in. #52 though ...h'mmm... well, his is mostly a face you might see from Brit TV shows of the '60s. But --and I know this may stun you --he is in the cast of our favorite, 'Lawrence of Arabia'.

#53 is a simply one of those stalwart Brit supporting players who has been in dozens and dozens and dozens of films between the 30s and the 70s. All our favorites; and also a regular on one of the most famous BBC tv series too.

Although I said earlier that these two men were similar 'workhorses'. #52 in no way has a comparable filmography to #53.

Wild guess on #52......Peter Burton?

no banana!

#52 - Jack Headley?

Yes!! Three cherries for #52

the sorrowful-seeming blonde in #51 did not die after just five years of films; but she make a whole bunch of movies and --from what I can gather --simply retired. Maybe just tired out. Husband #1 divorce; husband #2 widowed her. She became a recluse.

A guess on #51 - Anita Page?

I think you got that one, Betsy. She had one of the lead parts in the early musical talkie Broadway Melody (some of the worst dancing in all of film history!!!).

still out on #51

H'mmm. More clues: although she only worked in movies for that brief period; she was surprisingly long-lived.

I see no major films in her mostly pre-code career. She starred in films with a lot of names we mostly don't know very well today. But there were some films she appeared in which also featured John Wayne, Jack Oakie, Irene Dunne; Pat O'Brien, Edward G., Lugosi, Karloff, Ralph Bellamy, Jean Arthur...

Westerns, mysteries, suspense, and romances. In spades! She made 14 or 15 films alone, in the year 1933.

Guess on #50 - Isa Miranda?

(#50) no; but here are some clues:

Gig Young and Marlon Brando both tried to date her when she arrived in LA.

I can only find eight films listed in which she appears.

Brian Keith, Errol Flynn, and Rock Hudson are the three biggest American stars she seems to have ever have co-starred with.

#50 - Rossana Rory?

Yes! Good work. That is indeed the blond bombshell from Italy. Seemed always to be in controversy, that donna.

She starred in 'The Big Boodle' with a sadly declining Errol Flynn.

At the time she said he was far from the ladykiller of his former reputation. She found him shy and unconfident around her.

#51 - Shirley Grey?

Another win! Two-fer in the same day! Impressive

Now for #53. He looks somewhat like Allan Cuthbertson, but I don't think so.

The champion strikes again.....good job, Betsy.

#53......Stephen Lewis?

'no' on Lewis and 'no' on Cuthbertson ...

Darn, he looks like Stephen who was in the comedy series "On The Buses"

Perhaps another clue for #53 would be helpful?

Well for #53, do you recall Alistair Cooke introducing Masterpiece Theater every week? This actor was a regular --albeit a minor player --on one of those long-running programs.

Let me know if this clue is too weak to take you anywhere.

I certainly do remember some of the great programs on Masterpiece Theatre, but there were quite a few. Is there any way to narrow it down although I was thinking it would be an earlier one as opposed to later?

No, no. This won't do at all. I shall have to suggest another route. Let see...ah, I notice that near the very end of his career (playing figures-of-authority like judges, bankers, politicians, churchmen, etc) usually with a gaggle of other ensemble-worn Brits, he finally gets a slot in a movie of Lawrence Olivier's. If I deem this correctly, his second-to-last film is with Larry.

I must say this is frustrating. The clues are so broad that I am unable to focus in, and yet I know that I have seen #53. Were his active years late 40s-early 60s?

Well he was born 1904; and yes he appeared in Ealing comedies when Ealing was at its peak ...his overall tenure in films is described as spanning 'the 1930s to the 1970s'. More or less. He's called 'a staple of British films' of the period.

I would personally rank 4-5 of his titles as 'rather big' although of course, he is usually a minor figure in everything (judges, petty bureaucrats, chief inspectors, etc). But he's in one of my favorite comedies; and also a fine Graham Greene movie, still another wonderful espionage-action romp; and also an outstanding WWII classic of pure action. He's been in a Marlene Dietrich movie and a David Lean directed movie. This is what catches my eye.

I confess this bloke is tough to provide clues for. Some clues would be sure to give the whole thing away and other clues must admittedly remain too cryptic. Not sure what else I can divulge.

I will say the pic for #53 is a rare and candid shot of him with a big grin. In most of his pictures he is dour-faced and stentorian. Maybe that's throwing you off.

Will do. #53

Raymond Huntley?

And some more for this elusive feller:


I guess you'll be kicking yourself after you finally get him!

He's like the British version of Whit Bissell

How about Raymond Huntley for #53?

YES!!

What finally tipped you off?

Indeed it is he. A name we shall now, none of us forget. Yep. None other than the actor who starred in:

'Passport to Pimlico' (my favorite Ealing comedy)
'Night Train to Munich' (one of the best action-espionage flicks ever)
'Hobson's Choice' (David Lean movie with Charles Laughton)
'Knight Without Armor' (Marlene Dietrich film)
'Our Man in Havana' (Graham Greene's story)
'The Dam Busters' (one of the great action classics)

We did it, Jill! Congrats! Seeing him as an older man helped. It was in 'Dam Busters' that I saw him.

Wow yeah you both buzzed in simultaneously.

And of course, he was in 'Upstairs Downstairs' on Masterpiece Theatre.

I just didn't know how to steer you to that without tippin' me mitt.

Big win for ye both

Gad I love the Brits. What a fine people. I'm finishing up a WWII writing project this month and kicking myself that I can't find ways to shoehorn in more Brit-icisims. You know, like the way they say 'kerb' and 'cor' and 'crikey' and 'toodles' and so many other wonderful phrases.

Because you asked for it, you got it! More obscure male thespians. This one is also British. I don't know anything about him other than for the purposes of this quiz. Similar to Huntley, he's a stalwart of zillions of movies.

Quiz #54!

Quiz #55

recent solutions

#37 Nicole Maurey (French import)
#38 Peggy Stewart (B-Westerns)
#39 Valerie French (Brit actress in American westerns)
#40 Hazel Brooks (noir icon)
#41 Judy Tyler (Elvis' girlfriend)
#42 'High Treason' (Humbertson Wright/Basil Gill)
#43 Dorothy Hart (B-cowgirl)
#44 Joan Valerie (Wisconsin blonde bit-player)
#45 Jean Gillie (comedienne turned mantis)
#46 Janis Paige (Broadway sensation)
#47 Robert Douglas (scheming court fiend)
#48 Valerie Hobson (British Dame)
#49 Anna Neagle (British Dame)
#50 Rosanna Rory (Italian dud)
#51 Shirley Grey ('30 - '35 forlorn blonde)
#52 Jack Hedley (reporter in 'Lawrence of Arabia')
#53 Raymond Huntley (Ealing player)
#54
#55

Well, you might as well give us a clue since I've never seen either #54 or #55. At least, I'd seen #52 and #53! :-)

#54 looks slightly familiar but not #55.

And thanks for reviewing the ones that we got since I start to lose track.