Golden Age of Hollywood Book Club discussion

If you're not stumped by John-Sutton-sans-moustache then this is no feat.
quiz #8

A character actor with 60+ films to his name...
quiz #9

Hans Conreid

Yes!

John Sutton is a favorite mine, but Jill beat me to it! :(

Really! I myself know nil about him. What makes him stand out?

I'm shocked that Jerome Cowan was Archer of 'Spade & Archer'. He really must have let himself go.

Feliks wrote: "Really! I myself know nil about him. What makes him stand out?"

Betsy wrote: "John Sutton is a favorite mine, but Jill beat me to it! :("

Sorry, Betsy. I jumped the gun plus I wasn't sure it was correct.

I'm not sure what makes him stand out, Feliks. He was rather suave (I overuse that word) and probably should have been a bigger presence in the film world. He sometimes is confused with John Loder.

Whoops, on #9. I know him but it is going to be another struggle to come up with his name.

I came up with his name but am going to wait and see if Betsy recognizes him.

Whew. I didn't think anyone knew him but me. This is at his youngest, too.

Anyway it's good sportsmanship to give others a chance. Bravo

C'mon Betsy. You have seen this fellow in a film we all talked about at length on another topic.

This is not my best day so feel free to name him. :-)

Hope you are Ok.

It is Leon Belasco and he was the dealer in Rick's Casino in Casablanca, as well as gobs of other films.

Correct! I know him more from radio however. He plays a hilariously conniving and untrustworthy sidekick to Herbert Marshall in 'The Man Called X'.

I forget what his lines were in Rick's cafe. Marcel Dalio was the croupier at the roulette table, and he was he one who goofed up with a player forcing Rick to open his safe?

A good radio series very much like 'Casablanca' is 'Rocky Jordan', set in Cairo.

Don't get me started on another of my favorite things...old radio. I have several collections of CDs with old programs on them and sometimes turn them on at night to listen to before going to sleep. I am going to have to look and see if there are any radio clubs here on GR or maybe you are already in one, Feliks.

Seems mighty unlikely (radio clubs on Goodreads) but it strikes me now that I've never looked.

My impression is that the www in general, does not thrive with forums for the topic. Yes, plenty of informative websites (reviews, trivia, etc) but I daresay no one gets together online to talk about it.

By accident it happens to be something I'm pretty informed on.

I don't know if you would call me informed but I know just about enough to be dangerous!!! ;0)

Radio is intriguing because you can approach a point of mastery in this subject matter. Its not that difficult to absorb. Whereas, cinema is so sprawling. No one can possibly know even half of it. So many names displayed in the credits, as each film rolls. Radio programs have four or at most, seven distinct voices per show, and apart from that just a sound man and an orchestra leader. The real experts in the field, can tell you things like the length of a show's run down to the very date but that's hardly daunting. So it's a very friendly and accessible field.

I think the other thing I so embrace about old radio is the fact that the physical looks of the characters and the setting were left to the imagination of the listener. So when you hear The Shadow, you can conjure up all types of physical characteristics and everyone has a different picture in their mind. And it is all based on the voice of the actor and the incidental background music/sound effects. Wonderful stuff!

'The theater of the mind' --purest of all entertainment media!

Spot on, Feliks.

'nother one to try

quiz #10

Is his first name Frank?

Isn't #10 Ken Lynch?

Betsy with the win

Lynch, known for his dry, gravel voice and unimpressed, cynical, 'seen it all' expression

I'd heard him on radio countless times but never thought much about him. Then --matching things up by vocals alone --I finally figured out that Lynch appears in 'Anatomy of a Murder', a film I constantly return to. He's the very forgettable police lieutenant who arrests murder suspect Ben Gazzarra and later appears on the stand to answer questions by Jimmy Stewart about how Gazzarra behaved when arrested.

Way to go, Betsy. I don't know why I thought his first name was Frank, so obviously I was struggling to identify him even tho' I had seen him many times.

He's probably portrayed police detectives more than almost anyone else can boast

He's also portrayed unsavory characters on television, such as 'Perry Mason.' That's mainly where I've seen him.

one of my buddies is a leading expert on Erle Stanley Gardner and Perry Mason.

Betsy wrote: "He's also portrayed unsavory characters on television, such as 'Perry Mason.' That's mainly where I've seen him."

I think that is where I remember him the most but his name wasn't anywhere in my memory.

Here's an easy one (although not circa "the 1850s"). Name this memorable character actor anyway! No research either; just name him off the-cuff-of-your-shirtsleeve or admit 'you know the face but ...'. No shame in that!

a real trooper

The Erie Kid from The Sting. I believe his name is Jack.

Good. Yep he's the Erie Kid. He 'had moxie'

First name is Jack, yes.

Is he the one who got punched in the nose?

Yes, by Charles Durning. Head is slammed down on the table, rather. What an interesting face he has though. I see faces like that every day in New York. Skinny neck and bulging eyes. He's in 'Serpico' too.

here's one

quiz 11

Back to The Sting guy, Jack. I think his last name begins with a K or a C but I can't get any further than that and I'm not even sure that is correct.

#11: a mainstay of the 'I Love Lucy' episodes as a game show host. Frank smething. His voice had a way of rising when excited.

That's him......Frank Nelson. I think he used to also be one of the actors in the early Jack Benny tv show.

Correct! Frank Nelson was a cultural icon thanks to the Jack Benny program (radio then tv) where he bantered back and forth with the neurotic Benny. Usually played 'twisted' store managers or bank managers who often gave back just as good as he got.

Close enough!

...'the Erie Kid' is named Jack Kehoe in real life. That face is one-of-a-kind...

I knew it started with a C or a K but just couldn't get that last name. Betsy got the first name on both of the last two quizzes. We seem to be having trouble remembering last names!

next!
quiz #12

Edmund Lowe.....a real heart throb in early film.

Correct!

He had that slicky Brylcreme hair.

Frank Nelson was a great radio actor, a real mainstay on the Lux Radio Theatre, and of course known on the Jack Benny show with his yessssss. The writers of the Simpsons also payed homage to Frank Nelson.

I always felt the Merry Melodies episode with Bugs Bunny running amok in a department store, had a Frank Nelson character in it as the manager

A real comedic talent anyway; terrible hair but superb intonation and timing. Anyone on Benny's show was there for a reason. The Benny show in general never gets enough credit in the modern era, for how innovative it was. It's like the prototype for all contemporary sitcoms.