Golden Age of Hollywood Book Club discussion

I just know that I recognize the guy in #88 but I can't trace him down and Feliks has given plenty of clues. And #89 reminded me of Leo Genn and now I can't get him out of my mind.

I know what you mean. Have done research, and it hasn't been too successful.

For #89 you need to think about tiny little roles for older gentlemen --doctors, priests, or judges--who flash for maybe thirty seconds in a film, speak five lines, and vanish for the rest of the story.

For #88, his name is a super trivia answer because he's a cast member we all are intensely familiar with, a brief but always recognizable figure in a movie we all know so well and which most people love. It's just that few people probably ever even thought about whether he had a name or not.

He's also been in one of your own personal fave flicks you've raved about --and very recently too, Jill --in discussions here to the rest of us. That's right. I'm saying he is practically in your #1 favorite movie of all time. Boy, will your face be red!

#89 is the one whom you feel looks like Leo Genn and he has a tremendously long filmography. The number of faceless, thankless bit parts he accepted is staggering. He was apparently willing to play any loafer, or doorman, or barfly, or 'sleeping car train passenger' anytime MGM called for it.

Quiz #91. Both an American + a Brit.

My favorite film is Casablanca and he isn't in it. We also recently discussed Paul Kelly and I raved about a film called Star of Midnight but he isn't in that either.I am going to have to go back to all of our recent discussions about films in all the topics to figure out what film you are talking about. Yes, my face is going to be red, I'm sure.....probably crimson or puce.

Yep. Mark m' words! Your pigeons are coming home to roost! Of course, none of us are immune from this...casting being the way that it always is ...

Quiz # 91 (just above) is another example of someone most of us know from a later decade but we'd be hard pressed to connect him with this young man. That rascal Spencer should be put on the spot for #91.

Stumped eh? Met your Waterloo?

Not quite yet..........you haven't won this war yet but you are getting close.

it's true no one has yet 'said uncle' in this quizzo. Must admit!

Oh --wait --maybe there was one 'forfeit' at the very beginning, the challenge was Zachary Scott. So odd, that one of cinema's well-known ladykiller would go unrecognized.

But that was probably due to the photograph being extremely dark. 'The Mask of Dimitrios' was a tremendously shadowy film.

Message #9..........."You win! You did it! Zachary Scott it is. Huzzah!" It was almost a forfeit as I was giving up after that guess.

Ah yes! I stand corrected. That was a 'buzzer basket' or something like Pat O'Brian as Knute Rockne --'victory snatched from the jaws of defeat'.

If I said #89 was one of Robin Hood's 'Merry Men' in the wonderful Michael Curtiz' 'Adventures of Robin Hood' made in 1938, I would too easily tip you off to the answer.

But I'm not saying that.

What I'm saying is that #89 is a studio stalwart who --by chance--portrays a character just as much that well-known and that much beloved by classic fans ... as anyone would be, who co-starred in a similar movie made around the same time.

Was the movie you referred to in message 1036 as having 11 nominations either 'Sergeant York' (1941) or 'Pride of the Yankees' (1942)?

Yes.

Guess #89 - Spencer Charters?

negative

judges, family doctors who make house calls, the parish priest on hand to deliver last rites, the town banker who holds the mortgage on the family home. ...that's the kind of role #88 excels in

Would you have another photo of #89?

Yes. Here is #89.

Still another angle on #89 (who resembles Leo Genn)

(this link is to our photo gallery, look there if link fails)

What a face that guy has

reminder: #89 has an enormous long filmography; whereas #88 only has 21 films total from '39 to the mid 1940s

#88 - Vaughan Glaser?

Yes! Vaughan Glaser is #88. Fine sleuthin'!

He was the doctor for Gary Cooper's Lou Gehrig ('Pride of the Yankees') and he has a small role in 'Meet John Doe'. Also parts in 'Saboteur', and 'Shadow of a Doubt' and 'Arsenic & Old Lace'

Wild guess #89 - Mitchell Lewis?

Yes!! Wow!

Mitchell Lewis plays the 'Captain of the Winkie Guards' outside the Wicked Witch's fortress, in 'The WIzard of Oz'.

He informs Dorothy that she has won. Pretty crucial speech for an 'un-credited' part.

He's also found in Jill's favorite, 'The Picture of Dorian Gray'.

Perhaps another clue for #91 is in order? Is one of his parents British or what?

He was an American but forced to leave the USA and work abroad.

Outside guess for #91 - Phil Brown?

A winnah! That's him!

I know him from Edward Dymytrk's 'Obsession" a nifty Brit-noir. He has a charming, salty, crisp style of speech.

Three-fer in a row for Betsy past two days!

This actor would one day star as the uncle of Luke Skywalker when George Lucas sneakily moved his production to Great Britain for the sake of more millions.

I looked up the movie poster for Obsession. The drawing really looks like him.

I was shocked to learn (when I crafted that challenge) that Luke's sourpuss farmer uncle was actually a real, genuine, actor from the mid-20th century's cinema peak. I thought he was perhaps just some stumblebum that wandered in off the street. Phil Brown sure let himself go; geez.

Ha! Ha! I just glanced at the cast list for 'Picture of Dorian Gray' and I see something I hadn't thought about in a long time. Angela Lansbury as Sibyl Vane. Lol. Now that is savvy casting. No female could pull a sneer quite like Lansbury. It was dagger-like.

What's more, her mother Moyna McGill co-starred with her in this same movie. Moyna McGill was one of our photo challenges many weeks ago.

If you haven't seen 'Obsession' (aka, 'the Hidden Room') I would affirm to anyone that it is a real treat from Edward Dymytrk. A story which sticks with one for a long time.

Robert Newton's London surgeon in this tale, is a classic elitist, upper-class English monster. He's a doctor with a vivacious wife (Sally Grey, another one of our quizzes) and she's sleeping around with too many men on the side. He is determined to teach her a lesson.

One of her beaus happens to be a 'rather decent' American. He's not a 'brash' American in a Brit flick --refreshing! He's played by Phil Brown. Just a regular joe.

Brown's character couldn't be more bewildered in this tale. He's marked for murder by the jealous, calculating Newton. In fact, Newton rather likes him.

Newton's character though, is the sort that 'goes through with whatever he starts' so the story quickly becomes the tale of two men trying to outwit the other.

Its an unusually superb battle of wits. Newton's plan is this: rather than kill Brown's character outright, he kidnaps him so that the police will mark it down as a mere disappearance. Such cases are forgotten; filed away.

But when everyone has forgotten about the missing man (six months later or so) then Newton will kill him.

Highly recommended.

It does sound rather intriguing. Might give it a try if I can find it.

Quiz # ...err, what numbah are we on now?

Quiz #92. Born in Brooklyn and starred mostly in shorts and silents. He hit his stride between '31 and '37; with his biggest fame in '33. He has bits in a few of the hugest films of the decade. Never became a familiar face to the public though. More notably, he has appeared in several titles we have discussed among ourselves right here on this very forum, very recently. Think about what titles have come up and that's probably the way to track him down.

Quiz #93 American. He had small roles in dozens of pictures in the '30s and '40s with a hefty handful of them being well-known and well-loved classics.

Quiz #94. American. Similar to the above, only less lengthy a resume. I would never spring a complete unknown on you; this guy is a 'palooka' type but he got his start in one of the 'Thin Man' movies and although he remained mostly an unknown, he has a credit in a couple gigantic titles.

these sure aren't the plunging-neckline starlets and noir-damsels I was hooked on for a while back there

Eat your heart out, you trivia -mavens! These classic-era 'mugs' will give your molars something to chaw on!

':^D

Actually Phil Brown was #91 so these 3 new fellows are #92, #93, and #94.

Whew thanks. I will make amends

#94 (man in cap) - Harry Bellaver?

Yes! Very deft! That indeed is Harry Bellaver. He had roles in 'From Here to Eternity', 'Love Me or Leave Me', 'The Old Man and the Sea', 'Side Street', and 'Another Thin Man'.

I've usually seen him playing thugs. Might try for #92 next since he looks familiar.

I'm back. Sorry I was gone for a few days due to a COVID scare in our family, but leave it to Betsy to do some great detecting. I knew Harry Bellaver. But my face is indeed red over the miss on Mitchell Gray from The Picture of Dorian Gray. Oh well, let me get back into the swing of things...or at least try.

Glad you're back, Jill, and that all is okay with your family. I'm working on #92, but #93 doesn't ring any bells. Any ideas?

Indeed, glad all is well with our teammate

I've enjoyed the last few challenges myself, I learned something new with Mitchell Lewis. Its a great bit of trivia knowing who the Wicked Witch's head guard was.

My niece, a nurse, tested positive for COVID but was not very sick (headache and loss of sense of smell). She is 22 and in good health so she lucked out. But we were panic stricken as you can imagine. She is out of quarantine and recovered.

#92 is very familiar but #93 is drawing a blank