An Afternoon of Robert Taylor Films: Ivanhoe and Valley of the Kings on April 15 (USA)

Posted on April 14, 2017 by giraffe44

Two Robert Taylor movies are playing one after the other on Saturday, April 15.  At 2 p.m. est it’s Ivanhoe, 1952, co-starring Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Fontaine and George Sanders.  Closed captioned.  Ivanhoe was one of the most successful films of the year and brought in over $10 million at the box office, about $89,823,018.87 in 2015.

The other film is Valley of the Kings, 1954,  playing at 4 p.m. est.  This is one of my personal favorites.  Mr. Taylor and the lovely Eleanor Parker had great chemistry.

Ivanhoe.  Wonderful movie! This film is an exciting adventure-romance which never once loses its pace or feel. Robert Taylor brings depth to a potentially dull lead character. Jean Fontaine is great as his love, the Lady Rowenna. Elizabeth Taylor, though, steals the show with her stunning portrayal of Rebecca of York! This film has aged very well and shows first-hand to a young generation just why Elizabeth Taylor was such a star.

Although this film is an extremely enjoyable adventure, it also has the guts to tackle some complicated issues and resolve them in a very non-Hollywood fashion. As Ivanhoe feels his love for the beautiful Rebecca grow will he defy convention and pursue the lovely Jewish girl or remain with the safe charms of the blond, Anglo-Saxon Rowena The answer is intelligently handled and surprising. This film is one of the greatest examples of the classic adventure.  Review by David Arbury for the IMDB

Here are a few behind the scenes photos:

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Left to right: Mr. Taylor and Peter Ustinov; waiting; with unknown person.

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Left to right: with Joan Fontaine who played Rowena; with Ms. Fontaine and director Richard Thorpe.

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Left to right: with Elizabeth Taylor; with Liz and Emlyn Williams

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Left to right: with George Sanders and Liz Taylor; with Liz Taylor.

Valley of the Kings.  Mark Brandon, the ruggedly handsome archaeologist played by Robert Taylor is thought to be the inspiration for Indiana Jones.

RT5571This is one of my favorite Robert Taylor pictures. Eleanor Parker and he had wonderful chemistry and both of them looked their best in this exotic action-adventure film.  The following is my review for the IMDb.

This isn’t a serious or “meaningful” film. It is pure entertainment, beautifully photographed on location in Egypt. The stars, Robert Taylor and Eleanor Parker, had great chemistry both off-screen and on. Taylor manages to be glamorous even when trapped in a sandstorm. The plot is relatively thin with Parker seeking to validate part of the Old Testament by finding the tomb of the Pharaoh who reigned in the time of the Biblical Joseph. She bats her eyelashes at Taylor who comes along happily. Then she introduces her husband, Carlos Thompson. There are horse and carriage chases, murders, the aforementioned sandstorm, a spectacular fight at Abu Simbel, a scorpion attack–all in ninety minutes. Given the slower pace of movies in the 1950s, there is also time for Taylor and Parker to discover each other more thoroughly (over some fermented goat). Egyptian belly dancer Samia Gamal shakes her stuff at the demure Parker. Highly enjoyable.

RT2304One of the best screen kisses–ever!

Some behind the scenes photos:

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From left: Robert Taylor horsing around with a donkey; looking insecure on a camel.

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From left: Robert Taylor with belly dancer; with Kurt Kazsnar and Carlos Thompson; at the sphinx.

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From left: Robert Taylor and Eleanor Parker at the Mena House Hotel; touring by carriage.

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From left: Mr. Taylor and Ms. Parker in Egypt.

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From left: Mr. Taylor and Ms. Parker, taking pictures; with director Robert Pirosh; saying hello to a camel.

Actress Eleanor Parker, on her kneels, helps Robert Taylor, dressed up as an archaeologist, to lace up a boot on the set of the movie 'Valley of the Kings'. Egypt, 1954. (Photo by Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)

Actress Eleanor Parker, on her knees, helps Robert Taylor, dressed up as an archaeologist, to lace up a boot on the set of the movie ‘Valley of the Kings’. Egypt, 1954. (Photo by Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)

Mr. Taylor injured his knee jumping off a camel and may have had difficulty lacing his boots.  They both look happy about it.

 

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A Yank at Oxford, 1938, Is Playing on TCM on April 2 (USA)

Posted on March 30, 2017 by giraffe44

A Yank at Oxford, 1938, is playing on Turner Classic Movies on Sunday April 2 at 6:15 a.m. est.  Closed captioned.

RT6528A Yank at Oxford is one of several films intended to “toughen up” Robert Taylor’s image after his success in a number of boudoir romances. Taylor plays Lee Sheridan, a college boy who has been spoiled rotten by his newspaper owner father, played by Lionel Barrymore. Father Sheridan’s habit of holding the presses for Lee’s latest athletic triumph has only contributed to the boy’s swollen head.

Despite his lack of academic focus, Taylor is offered a place at Oxford. Upon his arrival, he immediately encounters a group of his fellow students, who begin a campaign to humiliate him. He also meets the leading lady, Maureen O’Sullivan.

The rest of the delightful and humorous picture focuses on the relationships among three people: Taylor and O’Sullivan, boyfriend and girlfriend; Taylor and Griffith Jones, his leading tormentor; O’Sullivan and Jones, brother and sister. A nymphomaniac Vivien Leigh adds spice to the mix.

A Yank at Oxford allows Robert Taylor to show that he is not only a fine actor but also a fine athlete. Granted that the script specified that he would always win, Taylor is believable as a runner and as a rower. He can also swim.

O’Sullivan is a charming coed torn between her boyfriend and her loyalty to her brother. Jones and Taylor cover up for one other for different peccadilloes. They evolve from antagonists to teammates to friends. A remarkable scene that deserves special mention concerns the venerable English tradition of “debagging.”

The cast is uniformly good. Taylor looks and acts younger than his twenty-seven years. Jones is one of a fine contingent of British actors including Edmund Gwenn, Robert Coote and Edward Rigby. Lionel Barrymore shines as the older Sheridan. A pre-Scarlett Vivien Leigh is lovely and engaging.

A Yank at Oxford was MGM’s first British-made film. Jack Conway, the American director keeps things moving at a brisk pace. Harold Rosson’s photography has a newsreel-like immediacy. And Oxford, of course, looks wonderful. Review by me for the IMDB.

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Some behind the scenes photos:

At Home in England. RT, while appearing in MGM's British Studios' "A Yank at Oxford," made his home at a 15th centur farmhouse near High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. There, when hehad any spare time, he lived the lifeof an English county squire.

At Home in England. Robert Taylor, while appearing in MGM’s British Studios’ “A Yank at Oxford,” made his home at a 15th century farmhouse near High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. There, when he had any spare time, he lived the life of an English county squire.

Rt and Edmund Gwenn, seen here with Director Jack Conway, discussing a scene of MGM British Studios' "AYaO," in which Maureen O'Sullivan and Lionel have leading roles.

Robert Taylor and Edmund Gwenn, seen here with Director Jack Conway, discussing a scene of MGM British Studios’ “A Yank at Oxford,” in which Maureen O’Sullivan and Lionel Stander have leading roles.

Robert Taylor and British Sculling Champion Ted Phelps during the filming of "A Yank at"Oxford.

RT and British Sculling Champion Ted Phelps during the filming of “A Yank at”Oxford.

Director Jack Conway & producer Michael Balcon with Robert Taylor on the set of film "A Yank at Oxford" filming in England.

Director Jack Conway and producer Michael Balcon with Robert Taylor on set of film “A Yank at Oxford” filming in England.

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Left to right: working out at USC; early in the film.

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Left to right: Maureen O’Sullivan and Mr. Taylor, with William Powell and another man on the set; with Griffith Jones.

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A very cold dip in the Thames (or Isis as it’s called at Oxford).

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During filming.

 

 

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He Said, She Said Part Two: Taylor on Stanwyck

Posted on March 30, 2017 by giraffe44

This gallery contains 6 photos.

The date is the late 1940s.  It is “as told to Gladys Hall.” You’re the gosh-darndest traveling companion that I’ve ever been married to!  You’ve got a laundress complex.  On shipboard, for instance, I put on a pair of socks, … Continue reading →

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Remembering Robert Osborne

Posted on March 12, 2017 by giraffe44

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Robert Osborne, who displayed an encyclopedic knowledge — and love — of films and film history as the primary host of Turner Classic Movies, has died in New York, the network said Monday. He was 84. Osborne was a former … Continue reading →

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Many Rivers To Cross, 1955, Is Playing on TCM on March 18 (USA)

Posted on March 12, 2017 by giraffe44

According to reports Turner Classic Movies will be playing a 48 hour tribute to Robert Osborne on March 18 and 19.  Therefore it is likely that this will not play.

Many Rivers To Cross, 1955, is playing on Turner Classic Movies on Saturday March 18 at 8:45 a.m. est.  Closed Captioned.  This outrageous farce is one of my favorites–tremendous performances from both of the leads.

 

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This wonderful rollicking comedy set in the early days of the republic, roughly sometime in the Federalist era had to take its inspiration from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers from the year before. In fact two of the brothers, Jeff Richards and Russ Tamblyn are featured in Many Rivers to Cross.

The surprise to me in this film is Robert Taylor. At the time he did this film Taylor had been doing dramatic parts for many years. He did some comedy roles in his early days at MGM, but they were the modern sophisticated sort of stuff.

Robert Taylor is Bushrod Gentry, a frontier trapper who’s a pretty fancy free and footloose sort of character very much like Adam Pontipee in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. But while it was Howard Keel who was looking for a wife in that film, here it’s the woman who does the chasing and it’s the woman who comes from a pretty frisky frontier family herself. Eleanor Parker is Federalist era Calamity Jane who takes a real shine to Taylor.

Of course she pursues Taylor through out the film, try as he may to get back to his trapping. Their last escape from some pursuing Shawnee Indians is an absolute comic riot.

Good as Taylor and Parker are, Many Rivers to Cross almost cries for a song or two other than the theme about the Berry Tree. In a musical I could have seen Howard Keel and Doris Day doing it easily.

In any event I’m sure that when Taylor and Parker settle down and commence to having children that they were the ancestors a hundred years later of that Pontipee clan in the Pacific Northwest.  Review by bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York for the IMDb.

Some behind-the-scenes photos:


Left to right: Newlyweds Ursula and Robert Taylor; getting bullwhip instruction from Abel Fernandez(?); with co-star Eleanor Parker.


Left to right: with Katie the dog and the picture’s original caption; with director Roy Rowland.

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