Golden Age of Hollywood Book Club discussion

splat splat splat. all wide of the bullseye.

Nice try, no cigar.

#76 - Muriel George?

Yes!

We all learned a new name. Now we can look for her in any film we see from now on.

For me, she stars in '42 "Went the Day Well?" which is a superb WWII movie set in a small English village.

Good job!

Just to clarify on #75: the older picture shown comes from one of the two films Alfred Hitchcock made in 1940. Is that correct?

Yes. Not sure what that hairstyle is called with the two big curls on either side of her head.

#75....Hilda Plowright?

noooes

Ferocious memory skills. I'm really taken aback by this display of skill!

I have another question for clarification. In Message 859 you refer to a movie that both #75 and #76 appear in (or at least it seems so) but Muriel George (#76) is not in either of the 2 movies Hitchcock made in 1940 so do you you mean that they were in another movie together? Sorry to be so questioning but #75 is a puzzle.

#75 and #76 --I created those two challenges at the same time. (#76 is solved).

When I added these challenges, I seemed to recall that in past discussions around here, either Jill/Betsy/Katie/Mollie/Spencer (one or more of you) had claimed that one of the films in which #75 appears, as a personal fave of theirs.

The particular flick I have in mind is a Hitchcock film from 1940.

My real problem is that I could only find 'Rebecca' and 'Foreign Correspondent' for 1940, and none of the actresses fit. Have I missed something somewhere?

It must have been hasty typing on my part. I should have said 'early 1940s' or 'around 1940'. Try the approximate year of 1940, for a Hitchcock movie.

#75 - Marie Ney?

Yes! Good work! Marie Ney is the housekeeper in 'Jamaica Inn'

I love how these 1940s and 1950s movies constantly utilize former stars from the 20s and 30s in tiny, insignificant bit-parts!

p.s. you all know the 'Best Western' chain of hotels?


There's a neighborhood in New York City (in Queens, near JFK airport) called 'Jamaica', where they have a location.

So its 'Best Western - Jamaica Inn - NY' on the map. Look for yourself. Can you picture yourself checking in there on a layover? Hoot!

I wonder if anyone in that neighborhood gets the joke.

Good job, Betsi. Now we just have #78 who looks like Dane Clark but isn't. I have been running through all the great westerns but can't seem to come up with a match. Let me ask one question.....is it a 1950s film in which he had a fairly good part?

I don't know how to describe it other than to confirm he's not just a cowhand in the background, performing usual cowhand duties. He's not just 'window-dressing' in the flick. His character has a conflict and an arc; a resolution. He is the son of the primary villain of the film.

Is it a John Wayne film? I have been trying to narrow the films down from this period, and he has so many.

Not a Wayne film, no.

Is it a 1950's film?

#78 - William John Eythe?

That's correct Betsy! William Eythe it is. He is the 'cowardly son' in 'The Ox-Bow Incident'. Huzzah!

Excellent Betsy!!!!!!

Jill I don't know whatever websites you were sifting through, omitted a mention of 'Ox-Bow Incident' as one of the greatest westerns ever made. How did they miss citing it?

Anyway, this hangdog, cowardly role Eythe played was well-done. His character is one of the only five men present at the lynching who will escape punishment.

I like when he returns home with his father, jiggles the doorknob, and realizes the blowhard has locked him out. Then he jeers through the window: 'Come on out here! I wanna see your face, murderer!'

Obviously I was looking in the wrong place!! I'm glad that one has been solved.

recent standings:

# 63 Hugh Williams (Welsh idol)
# 64 Constance Cummings (Goldwyn Girl + OBE)
# 65 Linden Travers (Scotswoman)
# 66 Susannah Foster (Phantom, '43)
# 67 Skip Homeier (American TV)
# 68 Frank Overton (American TV)
# 69 Estelle Taylor (silent-era beauty)
# 70 Dabbs Grier (American TV)
# 71 Mari Blanchard (noir star)
#72 Ralph Forbes (1930s Brit theater)
#73 Brenda Forbes (1940s Brit theater family)
#74 Mary Forbes (1920s Brit theater family)
#75 Marie Ney (Jamaica Inn)
#76 Muriel George (Ealing player)
#77 Ruth Chatterton (pioneer airwoman)
#78 William Eythe (Ox-Box Incident)

Oops..you omitted .Ruth Chatterton at #77 so William Eythe was #78

thanks!

Who's ready for more quizzo? Any tweaks needed? Different areas of filmdom needing to be tapped? More French films, more Asian stars? Speak up now.

Have been thinking about this. While I think we could handle a few Asian, French, etc. actors, I would prefer to stick mostly to British/American actors and actresses because we are more familiar with their work. That said, if you want to include some others, why not?

Maybe a few French but I think, like Betsy, that American and British actors are the ones that ring the bell......even though my bell seems to be broken at the moment! Let 'er rip, Feliks!

Quiz #79, British

Looks vaguely familiar but a clue might get the grey cells going.

#79 is a handsome rake but similar to #78 in that he seems to be remembered for one supporting role instead of for the dozen lesser-known pictures he actually made. He was famously married to a Brit during that one lone memorable role.

p.s. I have made a mistake and misread his bio. He is in fact, an American, but I think anyone could be excused for assuming his Englishness. He often co-starred with Brits and in Brit-like movies.

Richard Ney?

Yes! Blue Ribbon for Jill. How did you do it?

Richard Ney was 'briefly' married to our favorite redhead, Greer Garson. He had co-starred with her as her son(?) in the legendary 'Mrs. Miniver'

I knew that face immediately but don't know why. He never really rose to stardom but was a good supporting actor in a number of films. Rather a handsome devil!!

Yea, Jill! Good start to the new quizzes.

Quiz #80 - American

Oh, I know this guy but it will take me a while for the little grey cells to kick in. At first I thought it was Charles Halton but he isn't. It will come to me or to Betsy. He was in gobs of films.

Thirty-eight roles, to be exact. Born in 1875.

Quiz #81, American

#81 looks so familiar.

#81 has a brief part in one of the most famous classic films of all time.

Does #81 usually have a mustache?

A glance at his gallery seems to suggest that once his face became fuller and craggier and his hair went to a salt+pepper mix, (in the 1950s and 1960s) then yes he invariably has a moustache. He cultivates a distinguished-looking but at the same time, 'hometown American citizen' looking, type of character actor.

81 - Selmar Jackson?