Golden Age of Hollywood Book Club discussion

I said that i thought that the mouth looked familiar and Gale Gordon popped into my mind. I was pretty sure it was him. Good one, Feliks.

#21 looks so familiar to me but the name just won't come.

The latest one (#26) doesn't look at all familiar. Uh oh.

I have given up on #21 unless there's another clue so I will have to concentrate on #26 when I can.

Here a couple more pics of the elusive man in #21.

who is

this man

Is it Michael O'Shea?

Yes!

He plays the baggy-pants vaudeville comic hot for dancer Babs Stanwyck in William Wellman's "Lady of Burlesque" (adapted from a mystery story of Gypsy Rose Lee). And I love vaudeville so it's one of my favorite films. We've spoken about it at least once in this group.
yay

hurrah

Wow!!! That was a really wild guess.

Good one, Jill. Glad you got it, especially since O'Shea was from Hartford, not Boston.

Ach. I probably meant to type 'Boston area' or something.

The second picture you posted gave it to me.

I hope not because his signature is at the bottom of the photo? Lol oufff!

I didn't even see that. It was the picture preceding that one which brought the name to mind. I think the third picture had the signature but I sure missed that.

I think that again the mouth may be the key. She is very toothy like Jessie Mathews. British or American?

#26 is an American actress. She wasn't a supporting player; she had the female lead in a handful of 'big' pictures of the 20s and 30s. Her total number of her films is approximately two dozen. In the 30s she can be seen in a major Bette Davis film; and though she was fading by the early 40s she nonetheless still makes an appearance in a Cary Grant flick.

Oh! She's also in a Gary Cooper film.

Gayle Patrick?

no banana

Kay Johnson?

Betsy for the golden apple! Yay Betsy

Kay Johnson got her start with DeMille

here's a sample:

w00t

What movie was that for?

'Madam Satan'! by C.B. DeMille

WTG, Betsy. We are on a roll but Feliks is going to stump us eventually, even with his clues. :>)

I read the description of 'Madam Satan.' Sounds complicated and a bit risque, but it is pre-code.

Maybe so, Jill, we'll have to see.

I have seen scenes from Madame Satan and it was a bit risque. They got away with murder in the pre-code days. Think of Barbara Stanwyck in Baby Face........that was one very specific film.

Is that the one where she fights her way to the top of New York's wealthy elite even though she came from 'across the tracks'?

Anyway a pal steered me to 'Madam Satan' because he knows my longstanding infatuation with zeppelins, autogyros, and dirigibles, and this zany movie has a masquerade party set on a zeppelin tethered over New York City. Outlandish. It gets struck by lightning and the party guests must 'parachute' to the ground. Can you imagine??? Good grief!

Feliks wrote: "Is that the one where she fights her way to the top of New York's wealthy elite even though she came from 'across the tracks'?"

Yes and it is pretty explicit. Good film though.

Feliks wrote: "Anyway a pal steered me to 'Madam Satan' because he knows my longstanding infatuation with zeppelins, autogyros, and dirigibles, and this zany movie has a masquerade party set on a zeppelin tethere..."

That's what the Empire State Building was originally supposed to be--a tether for dirigibles. Have you been to been to Lakehurst where the memorial for the Hindenburg is?

Yep. I'd like to sneak some zeppelin pics in here sometime but I think it's too far off-topic.

But seriously they were amazing. Ocean-liners of the sky.

You've heard the now famous "oh, the humanity" broadcast by Herb Morrison from Lakehurst. He was a college friend of my uncle Felix (a family name, btw, Feliks) and I got to meet him when I was in Jr. high school. He had some real stories about that incident. I don't know if the stories took on some additional information over the years but it was interesting.

Wow, that would be something to hear from someone like that. Impressive

Economists say that right now, the country is almost in the exact same condition as we were, right before the Crash of '29. In terms of the gap between rich and poor. So it's like we're standing still, or going around in a circle.

But as far as I'm concerned the difference between then and now is that its a lot less beautiful a world.

I wish airships were still around, and I wish girls didn't have pea-green hair color and brass rings dangling from their nostrils.

quiz #27

Maria Montez in Cobra Woman.

Yes!

That was one of your easiest ones and there have been very, very few easy ones.

#27 - Maria Montez?

Oops, looks like Jill got there first! :-)

I didn't know for sure. Never heard of actress or movie before today. I didn't know Robert Siodmak even did any color movies.

To be honest, I don't remember this film being in color but there were several sequels which were probably b/w.

Quiz #28!

Uh oh. She resembles Ann Sheridan but it isn't. Maybe a second tier starlet?

Can you define 'second tier starlet' with some examples? To my way of thinking this young lass developed into a well-known actress. Not a first-tier star like Sheridan, but someone on equal footing with some of (my) faves like Peggy Dow, Priscilla Lane, Sheree North, Helen Walker.

Quiz #29

Feliks wrote: "Can you define 'second tier starlet' with some examples? To my way of thinking this young lass developed into a well-known actress. Not a first-tier star like Sheridan, but someone on equal footing..."

Hard to define. Someone who may have been being groomed for stardom but didn't get much beyond small supporting roles.

Who are we identifying in #29?......the Debra Paget look-alike or the Katherine Hepburn look-alike with what look like bandages around her legs?

You got Debra Paget. I'm not very familiar with that actress. The other is Dona Drake, another obscure (name to me). The movie is 'Princess of the Nile'.

I knew she looked like Paget but stumbled on the right answer. :>)

We may have to depend on Betsy for #28....she doesn't ring any bells for me since I can't get Sheridan out of my mind.

#28 grew into more auburn or strawberry-blonde; and always wore her hair 'up' if it helps any.

Debra Paget was John Derek's love interest in '10 Commandments' and with Elvis Presley in 'Love Me Tender'. Her sister, Lisa Gaye, who resembled her, was also an actress but mostly in television.

#28 looks a bit like Arlene Dahl.

I'm not very familiar with her. But, no banana.

By the way, any fans of Deanna Durbin around here? She had quite a cult.