#jason robards sr.
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A Strange Adventure (1932) Phil Whitman and Hampton Del Ruth
October 13th 2024
#a strange adventure#1932#phil whitman#hampton del ruth#regis toomey#june clyde#william v. mong#lucille la verne#eddie phillips#jason robards sr.#dwight frye#nadine dore#alan roscoe#isabel vecki#eddy chandler#fred 'snowflake' toones#harry myers#pre-code
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Season 2 Episode 10
Manhunt - Number Five Iron - Syndicated - November 2, 1960
Crime Drama
Running Time: 30 minutes
Written by Jack Jacobs
Produced by Jerry Briskin
Directed by Fred Jackman
Stars
Victor Jory as Det. Lieutenant Howard Finucane
Patrick McVey as Ben Andrews
Michael Stefani as Det. Paul Kirk
Jason Robards Sr. as Raymond Marriner
John Hubbard as Stuart Graham
Irene Vernon as Leona Rogers
House Peters Jr. as Matt Williams
#Number 5 Iron#TV#Syndicated#1960's#1960#Crime Drama#Manhunt#Victor Jory#Patrick McVey#Michael Stefani#Jason Robards Sr#John Hubbard
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loving scenes
Man-I-Cured / Wife Tames Wolf / Twin Husbands / Hired Husband / Bet Your Life
Leon kissing Dorothy
High and Dizzy / Texas Tough Guy / Lord Epping Returns / One Wild Night + Twin Husbands
Dorothy regretting her marriage
Beware of Redheads / Wife Tames Wolf / Dad Always Pays / High and Dizzy
Dorothy's unlucky maidenhood
The Dancing Millionaire
golf club scenes
He Forgot to Remember / Twin Husbands
vase scenes
He Forgot to Remember / Oh, Professor Behave / Twin Husbands / Borrowed Blonde / Beware of Redheads / Texas Tough Guy / Punchy Pancho / One Wild Night
other violent moments #1
Maid Trouble
other violent moments #2
Borrowed Blonde
other Leon x Dorothy moments #1
Triple Trouble / Don't Fool Your Wife
other Leon x Dorothy moments #2
Lord Epping Returns
other Leon x Dorothy moments #3
High and Dizzy
other Leon x Dorothy moments #4
Borrowed Blonde
#dorothy granger#leon errol#leon and dorothy#man-i-cured 1941#wife tames wolf 1947#twin husbands 1946#hired husband 1947#bet your life 1948#high and dizzy 1950#texas tough guy 1950#lord epping returns 1951#one wild night 1951#beware of redheads 1945#dad always pays 1949#the dancing millionaire 1934#he forgot to remember 1944#oh professor behave! 1946#borrowed blonde 1947#punchy pancho 1951#maid trouble 1946#triple trouble 1944#don't fool your wife 1948#jason robards sr#suzi crandall#michael st. angel#grady sutton#claire carleton#myrna dell#byron foulger
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#Skelton Knaggs#Jason Robards Sr#Boris Karloff#Helen Thimig#1940s#horror#men's fashion#black and white#film
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Tom Cruise in Magnolia (Paul Thomas Anderson, 1999)
Cast: Jim Beaver, Jeremy Blackman, Tom Cruise, Robert Downey Sr., Henry Gibson, Clark Gregg, Luis Guzmán, Philip Baker Hall, Felicity Huffman, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Thomas Jane, Ricky Jay, Craig Kvinsland, William H. Macy, William Mapother, Alfred Molina, Julianne Moore, Michael Murphy, Patton Oswalt, Mary Lynn Rajskub, John C. Reilly, Jason Robards, Paul F. Tompkins, Melora Walters. Screenplay: Paul Thomas Anderson. Cinematography: Robert Elswit. Production design: William Arnold, Mark Bridges. Film editing: Dylan Tichenor. Music: Jon Brion.
Paul Thomas Anderson's movies are so loaded with crazy stuff that it's possible to recall only some of the jaw-droppers in them, like the "milkshake" scene in There Will Be Blood (2007) or the rain of frogs in Magnolia. That's why it's always worth rewatching them after some passage of time. There is so much more going on in Magnolia than I remembered. It's really the detail work that comes to the fore when you watch it again. The film has that loose, semi-improvised quality that I have come to admire in Godard. I'm talking especially about Philip Seymour Hoffman's touching performance as Jason Robards's nurse, John C. Reilly's naive cop, Melora Walters's scattered druggie, Philip Baker Hall's disintegrating game show host, and Julianne Moore's descent into hysteria. Most of the attention on the first viewing went to Tom Cruise, who lets out the manic quality that we had only glimpsed before in his work. The performance earned him an Oscar nomination, as over-the-top and supposedly out-of-character performances tend to do. (We would later, in the Katie Hughes era and as his commitment to Scientology came to the fore, come to wonder how out of character this manic Cruise really was.) I think the movie is too long (it runs 188 minutes), and that perhaps some of its segments exist only because of Anderson's commitment to the actors who made his breakthrough film, Boogie Nights (1997). I'm thinking here of William H. Macy's character, which seems to me like a dangling thread in the fabric of the film -- though it does result in a wonderful scene in which Macy and Henry Gibson compete for the attention of a hunky bartender (Craig Kvinsland). As for the frogs, I refuse to speculate on their "meaning," preferring the reaction of Stanley (Jeremy Blackman): "This happens. This is something that happens."
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ISLE OF THE DEAD (1945) – Episode 163 – Decades Of Horror: The Classic Era
“I meet my old familiar enemy, Death. I’ve fought him before. I’ve won, often. Now he wins. Let him come for me.” Yes, Death is a resident of this particular island. Join this episode’s Grue-Crew – Chad Hunt, Daphne Monary-Ernsdorff, Doc Rotten, and Jeff Mohr – as they journey to an island cemetery off the coast of Greece in Val Lewton’s Isle of the Dead (1945).
Decades of Horror: The Classic Era Episode 163 – Isle of the Dead (1945)
Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content! https://youtube.com/gruesomemagazine
ANNOUNCEMENT Decades of Horror The Classic Era is partnering with THE CLASSIC SCI-FI MOVIE CHANNEL, THE CLASSIC HORROR MOVIE CHANNEL, and WICKED HORROR TV CHANNEL Which all now include video episodes of The Classic Era! Available on Roku, AppleTV, Amazon FireTV, AndroidTV, Online Website. Across All OTT platforms, as well as mobile, tablet, and desktop. https://classicscifichannel.com/; https://classichorrorchannel.com/; https://wickedhorrortv.com/
On a Greek island during the 1912 war, several people are trapped by quarantine for the plague. If that isn’t enough worry, one of the people, a superstitious old peasant woman, suspects one young girl of being a vampiric kind of demon called a vorvolaka.
Directed by: Mark Robson
Writing Credits: Ardel Wray; Val Lewton (uncredited), Josef Mischel (uncredited)
Produced by: Val Lewton (producer); Jack J. Gross (executive producer)
Music by: Leigh Harline
Cinematography by: Jack MacKenzie (director of photography)
Selected Cast:
Boris Karloff as Gen. Nikolas Pherides
Ellen Drew as Thea
Marc Cramer as Oliver Davis
Katherine Emery as Mrs. Mary St. Aubyn
Helene Thimig as Madame Kyra
Alan Napier as St. Aubyn
Jason Robards Sr. as Albrecht (as Jason Robards)
Ernst Deutsch as Dr. Drossos (as Ernst Dorian)
Skelton Knaggs as Andrew Robbins (uncredited)
Sherry Hall as Col. Kobestes (uncredited)
Erick Hanson as Officer (uncredited)
Rose Hobart as Mrs. Mary St. Aubyn (in long shot) (uncredited)
The Grue-Crew join producer Val Lewton, director Mark Robson, and legend Boris Karloff for a quietly creepy and haunting masterpiece from RKO Radio Pictures, Isle of the Dead (1945). This is the second of three films Lewton and Karloff would make together (along with Bedlam and The Body Snatcher) and the fourth of five films Lewton would make with Robson. The tagline promises, “Will Keep You Screaming!” – and, this time, it just might. Check out what Chad, Daphne, and Jeff take away from this undeniable classic.
Here are the other Decades of Horror Classic Era episodes on Lewton-produced movies:
CAT PEOPLE (1942) – Episode 37 – Decades of Horror: The Classic Era
THE BODY SNATCHER (1945) – Episode 66 – Decades of Horror: The Classic Era
THE SEVENTH VICTIM (1943) – Episode 97 – Decades of Horror: The Classic Era
At the time of this writing, Isle of the Dead can be found streaming from multiple PPV sites and is currently available on disc as a Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.
Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror: The Classic Era records a new episode every two weeks. Up next in their very flexible schedule, as chosen by Daphne, is The Head (1959), a German film whose original title is Die Nackte und der Satan. Head transplants, a hunchbacked nun, and a sexy dancer. You definitely won’t want to miss this one!
Please let them know how they’re doing! They want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans: leave them a message or leave a comment on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel, the site, or email the Decades of Horror: The Classic Era podcast hosts at [email protected]
To each of you from each of them, “Thank you so much for watching and listening!”
Check out this episode!
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The story of the Buckman family and friends, attempting to bring up their children. They suffer/enjoy all the events that occur: estranged relatives, the ‘black sheep’ of the family, the eccentrics, the skeletons in the closet, and the rebellious teenagers. Credits: TheMovieDb. Film Cast: Gil Buckman: Steve Martin Karen Buckman: Mary Steenburgen Helen Buckman Lampkin Bowman: Dianne Wiest Frank Buckman: Jason Robards Nathan Huffner: Rick Moranis Larry Buckman: Tom Hulce Julie Buckman-Lampkin Higgins: Martha Plimpton Tod Higgins: Keanu Reeves Susan Buckman: Harley Jane Kozak Garry Buckman-Lampkin: Joaquin Phoenix David Brodsky: Dennis Dugan Marilyn Buckman: Eileen Ryan Grandma: Helen Shaw Kevin Buckman: Jasen Fisher George Bowman: Paul Linke Taylor Buckman: Alisan Porter Justin Buckman: Zachary La Voy Patty Huffner: Ivyann Schwan Cool Buckman: Alex Burrall Stan: Lowell Ganz Dean at College: Rance Howard Young Gil Buckman: Max Elliott Slade Lou: Clint Howard Fotomat Clerk: Lamont Lofton Amy: Erika Rafuls Matt: Jordan Kessler Eddie: Billy Cohen Barbara Rice: Isabel Cooley Opposing Coach: Walter von Huene Kid in Classroom (uncredited): Howie Dorough Doctor Lucas: Greg Gerard Kevin Buckman – Age 21: Paul Keeley Student 1 at College: Claudio Jacobellis Umpire: W. Bruce O’Donoghue Student 2 at Collage: Hillary Matthews Screaming Co-ed: Sherry Ferguson Track Official: Todd Hallowell Young Frank Buckman: Richard Kuhlman Nurse at Hospital: Charmin Lee Film Crew: Story: Ron Howard Director of Photography: Donald McAlpine Story: Babaloo Mandel Story: Lowell Ganz Unit Production Manager: Joseph M. Caracciolo Editor: Daniel P. Hanley Editor: Mike Hill Producer: Brian Grazer Costume Design: Ruth Morley Production Design: Todd Hallowell Songs: Randy Newman Casting: Jane Jenkins Casting: Janet Hirshenson Stunt Coordinator: Artie Malesci First Assistant Director: Joe Napolitano Second Assistant Director: Tony Adler Art Direction: Christopher Nowak Set Decoration: Nina Ramsey Assistant Art Director: Beth Kuhn Set Dresser: William A. Cimino Set Dresser: Linda Marais Set Dresser: Nicklas Farrantello Camera Operator: Tom Priestley Jr. First Assistant Camera: Gary Muller Steadicam Operator: Robert Ulland Still Photographer: Phillip V. Caruso Camera Trainee: Mollie S. Mallinger Sound Mixer: Richard S. Church Boom Operator: Glen Gauthier Music Editor: Dan Carlin Sr. Supervising Sound Editor: Anthony J. Ciccolini III Supervising ADR Editor: Michael Jacobi Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Rick Dior Script Supervisor: Cynthia Streit Unit Publicist: Andrew Lipschultz Makeup Artist: Fern Buchner Makeup Artist: Peter Wrona Jr. Makeup Artist: Frank Griffin Hairstylist: Linda Trainoff Hairstylist: Romaine Greene Hairstylist: Donna Battersby Greene Location Manager: Peggy Coleman Negative Cutter: Ray Sabo Color Timer: Bob Hagans Color Timer: Dale Caldwell Movie Reviews: Peter McGinn: Parenthood is a great movie, and has aged well after 30 years have passed. The writing team included the writers who also gave us two other movies I like: City Slickers and Fever Pitch. Parenthood accomplishes in general what the movie Rain Man did for my wife and me. It reminded us of our autistic daughter And made us laugh at stuff that frustrated us in “real life.“ Similarly Parenthood touches upon a lot of hotspots in the parenting experience and helps us laugh at them. Their is a fine Ensemble cast. I particularly like KianU Reeves as Tod, who seems like an inappropriate boyfriend for the daughter but who proves to be valuable in mentoring their disaffected son. There are many memorable situations but one line my wife and I often quote even after all these years occurs when the other son Larry is pushed out of a still moving vehicle by people he owes money to. His father, played straight by Jason Robards, asked who they were. Tod replies that they were just some friends. The memorable line by Robards’ character is, “Friends. Friends slow down; they even stop.” The movie is full of good one-liners, as well as more in-depth sources of humor. You must ...
#children&039;s party#dysfunctional family#family relationships#grandparent grandchild relationship#parent child relationship#parenting#Top Rated Movies
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Impact
“Charming” isn’t a word normally associated with film noir, yet it fits Arthur Lubin’s IMPACT (1949, TCM, Tubi, Plex, Prime, YouTube). From the intricate plot in which everything falls neatly into place to the location photography in San Francisco and Larkspur, CA, to, most importantly, the not quite love scenes between Brian Donlevy and Ella Raines, it’s an ongoing delight. Wealthy industrialist Donlevy is driving to Denver for a plant opening when his wife (Helen Walker) contrives to have her lover go along for the ride and kill him. The lover is neither very good with a tire iron nor with a steering wheel and ends up dead in a fiery car crash while Donlevy, stunned to discover what the Mrs. had been doing, wanders the countryside until he winds up at war widow Raines’ filling station. Romance is as inevitable as Hollywood usually makes it. Meanwhile, police detective Charles Coburn, in one of his least fussy performances, tries to make sense out of the plot.
With lots of scenes shot on location (including the same San Francisco hotel where Kim Novak’s character stayed in VERTIGO), IMPACT is a lot sunnier than most film noirs, but the plot is so twisted and Walker such a great femme fatale it doesn’t matter. The script, by Dorothy Davenport (that’s Mrs. Wallace Reid to you) is a masterpiece of efficiency, with key facts and events planted effortlessly and events communicated through telegrams, newspaper headlines and even a radio broadcast by gossip columnist Sheilah Grahame. Raines was never distinctive enough to be a star, but she’s a darned good actress and lots better than you’d expect from a film noir good woman. Donlevy, whose leading man days were largely over by 1949, has beautiful moments as he realizes what’s going on in his life. Anna May Wong deserved a lot better than her brief role as Walker’s maid, but she delivers a solid performance in her next-to-last film. Her friend (and merkin?) Philip Ahn is on-hand in old-age makeup as her uncle. You may also spot Robert Warwick as a police captain, Clarence Kolb as chairman of Donlevy’s board, silent great Mae Marsh as Raines’ mother, Jason Robards, Sr. as a judge, Erskine Sanford as a doctor and horror film standby Morris Ankrum as Donlevy’s assistant.
#film noir#arthur lubin#dorothy davenport#brian donlevy#ella raines#helen walker#anna may wong#charles coburn#robert warwick#clarnce kolb#mae marsh#jason robards#erskine sanford#morris ankrum
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me in 1947: attention everyone, a credited jason robards sr. appearance!!!
crying at this cop in a noir i just watched having 10 minutes of screentime and spending half of them doing his nails. also his name is ferrari
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BLOGTOBER 10/4/2022: ISLE OF THE DEAD (1945)
ISLE OF THE DEAD tells you what it's up to right away when it makes the following, rather accusative statement:
"Under conquest and oppression the people of Greece allowed their legends to degenerate into superstition; the Goddess Aphrodite giving way to the Vorvolaka."
I don't know if I'm ready to dissect the idea that this Greek vampire concept is a specific corruption of the goddess of love and fertility…but it's certainly an option! In the meantime, if you must allow your legends to degenerate, at least let it be under conquest and oppression. In spite of this transparent setup for a thriller whose central villain is delusional belief, the film is still surprising and disturbing in execution. It is the fourth collaboration of producer Val Lewton with director Mark Robson (following horror outings THE SEVENTH VICTIM and GHOST SHIP), and scribe Ardel Wray (on the heels of I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE and THE LEOPARD MAN), and it is as beguiling and sophisticated as that may suggest.
The 1945 production takes place during the Balkan Wars of 1912, planting the viewer in the middle of a veritable potters field of dead and dying soldiers (causing me to wonder how many graphically cynical movies about war were produced in the US at this time). In this setting, plucky American journalist Oliver Davis (Marc Cramer) encounters the singularly dogmatic General Pherides (Boris Karloff)—also known as the Watchdog—in the midst of executing a commanding officer for allowing his troops to lag during a deployment. After Oliver witlessly insults the memory of the General's wife, he promises to accompany him to the island where the the woman is buried. Jarringly, they find that all the tombs there have been looted, and now they are trapped with a group of people beset by septicemic plague. There, as the opening text suggests, the native Greeks are overcome by their inveterate cultural fear of vampires, as the international characters wait and pray for the arid sirroco winds to arrive and burn off the pestilence.
The Watchdog is proud of having survived a rural, superstitious upbringing to become a man of strict reason. Unfortunately, this is soon undone by the poisonous whispers of Madame Kyra (Helene Thimig), the housekeeper of his host, Swiss archeologist Dr. Aubrecht (Jason Robards, Sr.). The two focus their phobia on lovely young Thea (Ellen Drew), who isn't sickly enough for their liking as the other guests rapidly waste away. Madame Kyra appeals to the Watchdog's Greek heritage, convincing him that whatever fears prick up in him are the result of his latent ability to perceive things that the foreigners cannot. Thus emboldened, the General destroys any means of escape and subjects Thea to a campaign of terror and surveillance, driving the whole episode to an inevitably violent, hysterical conclusion.
Though we don't doubt that the supernatural element of the story lies only in the minds of Kyra and the Watchdog, ISLE OF THE DEAD still weaves a hallucinatory spell that deranges one's rational feeling. The island itself is designed after symbolist painter Arnold Böcklin's popular painting of the same name, which is generally regarded to depict the psychopomp Charon transporting souls to their final destination. Layers of spiritual belief—folk, hermetic, christian—overlap as the doomed characters cry out for aid when science fails to save them. A feverish hand-washing montage is one of the most striking images in the film, and the logical explanation for various disturbing events provides little comfort: for instance, Dr. Aubrecht's confession that the grave robberies were ultimately his fault, as he made it so profitable for the locals to provide him with artifacts to study. It seems that destructive spiritual belief has snuck in where civilized society has collapsed, reinforcing order in its own perverse way.
Order itself is always in question in ISLE OF THE DEAD, as various ideologies compete with and destroy each other, rather than falling into a hierarchy. The Watchdog receives a cold welcome from those on the island who remember his ruthless tax collection techniques. "Who is against the law of Greece is not a Greek!" he defends himself, and Thea retorts, "Laws can be wrong, laws can be cruel. And the people who live only by the law are both wrong and cruel." Her statement applies both to his military career, and to the resurgence of his faith in the folklore with which he was raised. In the bigger picture, these people are failed even by the laws of hygiene, as one after another of them succumbs to the plague, and standard medical procedures fail to determine who is properly dead, and who is still alive.
In this sense ISLE OF THE DEAD is a truly apocalyptic film, in which one is failed just as badly by spirituality as by established scientific principle. Even the line between life and death is unreasonably hard to determine, which surely reflects the psychological state of affairs for people just barely emerging from World War II. I'm sure finer minds than mine have commented on this extensively, so I'll leave it there, but regardless of your historical acumen, the film remains a singularly haunting work of 20th century art.
#blogtober#blogtober 2022#isle of the dead#val lewton#mark robson#ardel wray#boris karloff#marc cramer#helene thimig#ellen drew#jason robards sr.#Arnold Böcklin#war#superstition#vampire#Vorvolaka#folklore#mythology#psychological thriller#horror
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Dolores Costello-Jason Robards Sr. "The hearts of Maryland" 1921, de Tom Terriss.
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The Woman Condemned (1934) Dorothy Davenport
November 3rd 2024
#the woman condemned#1934#dorothy davenport#claudia dell#richard hemingway#lola lane#jason robards sr.#mischa auer#mrs. wallace reid#pre-code
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Acapulco - NBC - February 22, 1961 - April 24, 1961
Adventure (8 episodes)
Running Time: 30 minutes
Stars:
Ralph Taeger as Patrick Malone
James Coburn as Gregg Miles
Telly Savalas as Mr. Carver
Bobby Troup as Himself
Allison Hayes as Chloe
Jason Robards, Sr. as Max
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#bedlam#film#review#criterion channel#val lewton#mark robson#boris karloff#anna lee#billy house#richard fraser#glen vernon#ian wolfe#jason robards sr.#leyland hodgson#val lewton presents
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THE FIRST YEAR
1920
The First Year is a play in three acts by Frank Craven. It was originally produced by John Golden and directed by Winchell Smith starring Mr. Craven as Tommy Tucker.
The play takes place in the Livingston home in Reading, IL and Tommy's apartment.
Gracie is hard put to decide between her two suitors, Dick Lorine and Tommy Tucker. Dick is a romantic builder of bridges. Tommy’s job is real estate, the sort of man who would consult a girl's parents before asking for her hand. Tommy wins her hand. The second and third acts are given over to the working out of difficulties which arise during that trying first year in the Tucker household.
The First Year had its world premiere at Nixon’s Apollo Theatre in Atlantic City NJ on October 7, 1920. On October 11th it moved to Ford’s Opera House in Baltimore MD.
The play opened at the Little Theatre (now the Hayes Theatre), Broadway’s smallest venue, on October 20, 1920.
“In no play that Mr. Craven has written has he achieved an equal felicity of expression or anything like the same lightness of touch, for while the dialogue throughout the piece is perfectly commonplace and 'everyday,’ the various characters in it are so clearly delineated by means of their talk and with such a delightful humor withal, that the little comedy becomes an admirable reflection of contemporary life.” ~ BALTIMORE EVENING SUN
It ran 760 performances at the Little, closing in August 1922. That same month, Golden and Craven launched his new play The Spite Corner at the Savoy in Asbury Park. Like The First Year, Craven wrote and starred in The Spite Corner, but only for its pre-Broadway engagement. After AP, the tour and Craven moved to AC, back at the Apollo Theatre for a 3-night run.
When The Spite Corner moved to Broadway (again at the Little Theatre), Craven’s role was taken by Jason Robards Sr., father of the Triple Crown Award-winning actor. Meanwhile, Craven resumed his role as Tommy Tucker in the Chicago production of The First Year.
In 1926, a film version of The First Year was released starring Matt Moore in the role of Tommy Tucker. Frances Marion wrote the screenplay based on Craven’s script.
The film opened in Atlantic City at the Stanley Theatre on the Boardwalk on February 12, 1926.
A second film adaptation in 1932 starred Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell as Tommy Tucker. Lynn Starling wrote the screenplay.
The film opened in Atlantic City (and nearby Ventnor) at the Strand Theatre, opposite Steel Pier on the Boardwalk on July 27, 1932.
On January 13, 1946 WNBT (the NBC flagship television station in New York City) produced the play on television. It marked the TV debut of Ruby Dee, in a supporting role. Author Craven had died four months earlier, in September 1945.
#The First Year#Frank Craven#Atlantic City#Nixon's Apollo Theatre#John Golden#1920#The Little Theatre#Broadway Play#Janet Gaynor#Ruby Dee#Asbury Park#Jason Robards Sr.
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365 Day Movie Challenge (2017) - #182: The Woman Condemned (1934) - dir. Mrs. Wallace Reid (aka Dorothy Davenport) (52 Films by Women 2017: #13)
Available on DVD via Alpha Video, The Woman Condemned is a cheaply made B-movie that is primarily of interest for having been directed by Dorothy Davenport, who was better known at the time as Mrs. Wallace Reid. Reid (the husband) was a hugely popular silent movie star who died from influenza in 1923, his system have been fatally weakened by a morphine addiction that he developed after suffering debilitating injuries in a train crash in 1919. Reid’s widow, Dorothy, used her grief as a catalyst for writing, directing and producing films about drug addiction (Human Wreckage), prostitution (The Red Kimona), premarital sex/abortions (two film versions of The Road to Ruin), marriage between an older man and a younger woman (Linda) and the danger of scams run by fake “spiritualists” (Sucker Money).
Davenport’s final film as a director, The Woman Condemned, is a murder mystery in which a mysterious young lady, Barbara Hammond (Claudia Dell), must work as a sleuth alongside a young man she meets in night court, Jerry Beall (Richard Hemingway), to solve the riddle of what happened to radio star Jane Merrick (Lola Lane). Merrick supposedly died from a gunshot wound in her apartment... or did she? Davenport weaves a messy web from this scenario, resulting in a film so convoluted that I couldn’t even remember elements of the plot it when I was watching, let alone now, weeks later. The actors try their best, though, which makes the film tolerable, in spite of the bogus ending.
At least a few notable character actors pop up in Davenport’s film: Jason Robards, Sr. as Jim Wallace, the head of the radio show that Jane Merrick works for; Mischa Auer (undoubtedly the best performer in the film) as Dr. Wagner, a clichéd mad scientist (although a very entertaining one at that); Louise Beavers as Jane Merrick’s maid; Mary Gordon as an accused woman bawling during her sentencing hearing in the night court scene. The Woman Condemned falls apart as a whodunit, but as a document of film history - it was made during a decade when you could count the number of women directors in Hollywood on one hand - The Woman Condemned is worth seeing once.
#365 day movie challenge 2017#the woman condemned#1934#1930s#30s#dorothy davenport#mrs. wallace reid#wallace reid#claudia dell#richard hemingway#lola lane#jason robards sr.#jason robards sr#mischa auer#louise beavers#mary gordon#old hollywood#52 films by women 2017#women in film#women filmmakers#women directors#female filmmakers#female directors
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