Remember?, 1939, Is Playing on TCM on August 28 (USA)

Posted on August 21, 2018 by giraffe44

Remember?, 1939 is playing on Turner Classic Movies on Tuesday, August 28 at 10:30 a.m. est.  Not closed captioned.

RT5521Greer Garson was a rising star in 1939 and this film was her follow up to “Goodbye Mr. Chips.” She had proved unexpectedly popular and the studio hurried this into production. Robert Taylor was in a slump after Lady of the Tropics and before Waterloo Bridge. Robert Osborne, on Turner Classic Movies, commented that the screenwriters were either extremely clever or drunk. I tend to the latter interpretation.

The plot involves a love triangle consisting of Taylor, Garson and Lew Ayres. Taylor steals Garson from his old friend Ayres and the two marry. Subsequently Taylor neglects Garson by concentrating on his career. When he misses the boat for their honeymoon, she leaves him and they begin a divorce. Ayres, either to get Garson back or to help the couple, slips each of them an amnesia drug, so that they forget the last six months. It works and, in a manner reminiscent of Groundhog Day, they repeat their initial meeting and fall in love again, marry again and leave poor Ayres in the dust.

The entire cast is very smooth and professional, with Taylor and Ayres both outshining the still new Garson. Supporting actors include Billie Burke and Reginald Owen, both of them doing their signature type of character. Sara Haden is excellent as Taylor’s secretary.

There is a lot of good dialog, some genuinely funny situations and the usual MGM high gloss. Remember? is like a good dessert: rich, tasty but not substantial. Review by me for IMDB.

Some behind-the scenes photos:

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Left to right: Director Norman Z. McLeod, Robert Taylor, Lew Ayres; Ayres and Taylor; Taylor, McLeod, Greer Garson, Lew Ayres.

Promotional materials:

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Scenes that didn’t make it into the film:

 

 

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Robert Taylor on the Rogue River

Posted on August 18, 2018 by giraffe44

This gallery contains 6 photos.

The following quotation comes from the book Rogue River Guide and His Gold by Orval Robertson and James Magmer, copyright 2017 by Jeanne Magmer, C & M Communications.  The subtitle is The life and times of Southern Oregon Gold Miner/River … Continue reading →

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All the Brothers Were Valiant, 1953, Is Playing on TCM on August 20 (USA)

Posted on August 13, 2018 by giraffe44

All the Brothers Were Valiant, 1953 is playing on Turner Classic Movies on Monday August 20 at 2 p.m. est.  Closed captioned.  This film was very successful, bringing in $4,628,000.00 or $41,258,706.67 in today’s money.

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Robert Taylor and Ann Blyth.

This film has quite a good story by Ben Ames Williams, which was competently brought to the screen. Robert Taylor is the “good” brother and Stewart Granger the “bad” one. Ann Blyth is the woman who marries Taylor thinking Granger is dead. Three years later Granger and Taylor would star in The Last Hunt with a reversal of roles: Granger as the “good” guy and Taylor the “bad”. There are two aspects of this film which create a strong impression:1)the destructive relationship between the brothers, which started in childhood with Granger always taking for himself Taylor’s toys. Now Granger wants to take away Taylor’s ship and also his wife. 2)How Granger is able to seduce Ann Blyth by making her think her husband is a coward. Blyth is a bit too “angelical” for her role, when you see the ship you have the feeling you are seeing a miniature on MGM’s tank, but both Granger and Taylor are excellent. Great entertainment. Review for the IMDB by tmwest from S Paolo, Brazil.

Here are some behind the scenes photos:

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Left to right:  Robert Taylor and Stewart Granger; Mr. Granger and Mr. Taylor; Mr. Taylor, Lewis Stone, Director Richard Thorpe.

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Left to right:  Dore Schary and Robert Taylor; Mr. Taylor, Ann Blyth and a guest; Messrs. Granger and Taylor with Jean Simmons.

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Left to right: Joan Crawford and Robert Taylor; Richard Thorpe, Ms. Crawford, Ann Blyth, Mr. Taylor.  The original caption for the first photo: Joan Crawford, returning to MGM for the first time in a number of years to star in Torch Song, visited an old friend, Robert Taylor, on his set.

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The Last Hunt,1956, Is Playing on August 20 on TCM (USA)

Posted on August 13, 2018 by giraffe44

The Last Hunt, 1956, is playing on Turner Classic Movies on August 20 at 12 noon est.  Closed captioned.

A personal note:  Mr. Taylor is superb in this picture. He should have had at least an Oscar nomination.  However, there are graphic scenes of buffalo being killed that really bother me.

ARCHIVES : RICHARD BROOKSHave no illusions, this IS a morality story. Granger is the troubled ex-buffalo hunter, tempted back to the plains one more time by kill-crazed Taylor. Granger can see the end is near, and feels deeply for the cost of the hunt-on the herds, the Indians and the land itself. Taylor, on the other hand admittedly equates killing buffalo, or Indians to ‘being with a woman.’ While Granger’s role of the tortured hunter is superb, it’s Taylor who steals the show, as the demented, immoral ‘everyman’ out for the fast buck and the good times. There’s not a lot of bang-bang here, but the story moves along quickly, and we are treated to a fine character performance by Nolan. The theme of this story is just as poignant today, as in the 1800s-man’s relationship to the land and what’s on it, and racism. Considering when this was made, the Censors must have been wringing their hankies during the scenes in the ‘bawdy house’, Taylor’s relationship with the squaw, and much of the dialogue. Although downbeat, this is truly a great western picture. Review by bux for the IMDB.

Here’s a few photos on the set:

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From Left: Robert Taylor and Richard Brooks; Stewart Granger, Debra Paget, Mr. Taylor; Ms. Paget and Mr. Taylor; Mr. Taylor, Ms. Paget, Mr. Granger

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Here’s a wonderful story from Charles Tranberg’s book Robert  Taylor: a Biography, Bear Manor Media, pages 279-280.

The only thing about Brooks which Bob didn’t like was the fact that he was constantly swearing on the set, and not just  mild expletives but some of the bluest language imaginable.  Ordinarily, this wouldn’t have bothered a man’s man like Bob Taylor, except that on location there were many sightseers who often turned up who could hear Brooks bellowing “F— this” and “F— that” over a bull horn.  Many of these sightseers were women and children and Bob, always the gentleman, wasn’t one to use that kind of language in front of them.  Bob spoke with MGM publicity director George Nichols about it one night.  Bob and Nichols hatched a plan to take Brooks out for a drive with Bob driving and Brooks in the middle.  Nichols and Bob would talk back and forth to one another using the dirtiest language imaginable with Brooks not getting a word in edge wise sitting in the middle.  The ploy apparently worked because he returned to the set Brooks stopped using the offensive language.

 

 

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They Shot the Works that Night

Posted on August 9, 2018 by giraffe44

This is from an unknown movie magazine from about 1943.

They shot the works that night, he and Barb.  Flung a big, gorgeous, noisy party.  Got mellow and made speeches.  Yard-long speeches that ended in a toast.  Then glasses clinked and they sat down for long enough for everyone to toast them back.  “To  your fourth anniversary!”  “To your health!”  “To your Navy blues!”  “To the best darn couple of joes in Hollywood!”  It was a good party!  A thing to remember!  “Yes, but let’s not get down to past tenses,” Bob says.  “Makes things sound so final, and they’re not.  They’ll all be there when I get back.  The house–and the lawn knee-deep in crab grass.  The brat (Dion) riding me about not joining the Marines.  Barbara sprawled on the sofa gulping her 10th  cup of coffee and her 20th book-of-the-month.  It’ll all be there.  So you change the subject and talk about that new contract M-G-M’s holding for him; $4,000 a week for 20 years.  “Hey, that’s almost a quarter of a century.”  “Yes,” he says, “but at that price I can spare the time.  And then you talk about the Navy Air Corps and how Lt. (j.g.) Taylor passed his exams double-A-Plus.  He laughs and says you should have been there the time he sailed onto the runway smooth as glass and then got caught in a frisky wind.  “The plane spun around like it was chasing its own tail, and before I knew it, I was bumping over a watermelon patch.  The air was so thick with flying seeds it looked like Antarctic hail, only brown.”  Sooner or later the conversation edges around to Barbara, and he tells you how she thinks the uniform is sharp, “but what happens above the ears shouldn’t happen to a chow.”  That’s when he drags out three shiny medals, a St. Christopher for the cockpit of his plane, a couple to dangle around his neck.  “Silly, huh?  They’re from Barb, the dope!  But the corners of his mouth curl up and his eyes grin.

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