Golden Age of Hollywood Book Club discussion

#92..........Syd Saylor?

nawp

Bahhhh!

Amid all his lesser-known work, #93 (the be-spectacled gentleman) enjoyed roles in one film each by Capra, Wellman, Capra, Hawks, and Lang from the late '30s to the mid '40s. And in that exact order.

#92 --the gangly, goggle-eyed bloke --has a lengthy resume of comedy shorts and when he finally made his break into the big time, you can find him in bit-parts in some early musicals. Astaire/Rogers, etc. He passed away in '41.

#92 - Harry Bowen?

Yes! Winnah! Harry Bowen was in Astaire/Rogers first movie and then also in 'Flying Down to Rio' which we've chatted about hither and yon.

Excellent!

Good job, Betsy. And I thought I knew everybody in that favorite film.....guess not.

Well even if you're intimately familiar with a movie, you still might miss someone in an un-credited role. You'd have to have the experience of watching the film and then reading about it on IMDb to get all the possible factoids.

I've had three hat tricks and nothing since. I am slipping badly!!!!!

Quiz #95. Relatively famous American character actor. Here he is in a picture which looks as LEAST like him as possible.

Quiz #96? British.

95..................Glenn Strange?

Nay.

This actor (I will admit) is usually cast as intellectual, 'member of the establishment' characters. He typically sports dapper, tiny, clipped little moustaches. A 'suit and tie and glasses' type. He has a distinguished career as a supporting player. This is not an unknown.

Current challenges: #93, #95, #96.

recent standings:

# 63 Hugh Williams (Welsh idol)
# 64 Constance Cummings (both 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)
#79 Richard Ney (Mrs. Miniver)
#80 Frank Craven ('Our Town')
#81 Frank Albertson ('Psycho')
#82 Paul Kelly (Irish thespian)
#83 Irving Bacon (droopy faced comic)
#84 Pierre Watkin (of the 'Daily Planet')
#85 Charles C. Wilson ('It Happened One Night')
#86 Ted del Corsia (noir heavy)
#87 Bethel Leslie (Perry Mason fave)
#88 Vaughan Glaser (one of Capra's stable)
#89 Mitchell Lewis (from 'Wizard of Oz')
#90 Constance Collier (drama coach of the stars)
#91 Phil Brown (Yank blacklisted to career in GB)
#92 Harry Bowen (Astaire+Rogers, & King Kong)
#93 ________________
#94 Harry Bellaver (thug from "The Thin Man")
#95 ________________
#96 ________________

Way out guess for #95 - Louis Calhern?

just a tad too far out

in the right ballpark though. And I'll admit this joe got his start specifically in '41 if that helps narrow it down.

I actually drew on the screen a small moustache on the #95 picture with a magic marker. That is called desperation!!! The closest I could get was Reginald Gardiner and he's British and just too effete to play a part like that. So I am still trying. You hope that Betsy will nail it at some point.

I bet another picture would help; now that you've been driven to desperation

Here he is with a younger, more dashing cut of figure
(You still might only know him as a man in his early 40s, that is when he seems to have made his most fame)



When I say 'distinguished' ..how many character actors do you know who play chubby Apache warriors and also in Shakespeare? This gent has

Would you have another photo of #93?

#93 kinda looks the same in every pic I've found so far

Did he play Shakespeare on film?

He appeared in a Shakespearian role on film, yes. He's no Alex Cord or Doug McLure.

Thanks. Guess I was hoping a different perspective might ring a bell on #93.

#95.....a wild guess.......Kent Taylor?

Unh-unh

the only solace I can offer is that all these challenges have decent filmographies to their names.

I won't parade before you, someone who has only been in 1-2 or 3-4 films. If I ever have done that, shame on me!

Are we going to kick ourselves over #95?

well ...no, I wouldn't say he is a "commonly-known" name. But he has some famous perks in his resume which make him not just the 'usual unknown' supporting actor.

Surprisingly, he's been in six films --discussed either here in Photo Quizzo --or elsewhere, in this group's various chats.

We've somehow, skated right over him.

But it seems to me, my admission that he appears in a Shakespearian role in cinema --on the BIG screen --is a significant clue to follow-up on. Not just any actor can claim that distinction.

His circa? 1907-1964.

Here is yet another angle on #95! See the moustaches?

#95 - Edgar Barrier?

Yes! Betsy swoops in and nabs the peach

One can't give that Betsy too many clues, she zooms in like a hawk

Edgar Barrier was with Welles' Mercury Theatre in the '30s and Welles' called on him when he made his '48 version of 'Macbeth'.

But a glance at his resume shows he has curiously been in many films we've chatted about around here. Strange!

(Where can I get a helmet like that). Edgar Barrier as 'Banquo', 1948

Thank heavens. I went through the Shakespeare plays on film and his name didn't come up in the cast or I obviously missed it. Hooray, Betsy!!

I recognized the third picture as one I'd seen so that helped. Now for #93.

#96.......Harold Lang?

neg

A guess - #93 - Grant Mitchell?

non

#96..........................David Farrar?

no soap

Any clues for #96?

#96 is one of those British film industry workhorses very like others we've posed earlier in this thread. He's in simply scads of pictures. Gobs of 'em. It makes it hard for me to describe him, there's no one easy 'handle' to tag him with. He plays an extraordinary number of police sergeants, Scotland Yard detectives, Scotland Yard superintendents...bureaucrats, officials and clerks in dozens and dozens of titles. Morale boosting war flicks, Ealing Studio comedies, espionage, crime, noir. I see his name in three, maybe four 'big' films but he is really just one of those 'face in the background' type players. Long-lived: 1909 - 1974; first role in '38 and his last in 1966. I see him in a Hitchcock flick and a Graham Greene flick.

William Hartnell? I know he was in Dr Who but that clue would have been too obvious, so I taking a chance

You've guessed Hartnell before and he's a fave actor of mine. Thus, I'd never use him as a challenge because I've already divulged that I admire his work.

#96 - Cyril Chamberlain?

Betsy aces another! #96 is another laurel for her to enjoy. What a dab hand.

Chamberlain was in a goody amount of those, "Carry On ..." serial comedies. But once glance at his resume shows how he was everywhere in the British film industry.

Big titles he is found in: 'Lavender Hill Mob', 'Brighton Rock', 'Stage Fright', and (a fave noir of mine) 'The Clouded Yellow' with Trevor Howard.

I am thinking about turning in my detective's license and become Dr. Watson to Betsy's Sherlock Holmes.And writing a book called "Holmes and the Pictures of Little Known Men Mystery".