More from 1930s Warner Brothers

I recently rewatched some old movies.

The Big Shakedown (1934): Chemist Jimmy (Charles Farrell) and fiancee Norma (Bette Davis) are running a neighborhood drug store but not making much money. A representative from a big chain store offers a low bid for the store, threatening that what the chain wants, it usually gets. Enter Dutch Barnes (Ricardo Cortez). His beer business is on the rocks and he's looking for a headache powder. Jimmy mixes up one as good as the brand name. Dutch starts a new business counterfeiting toothpaste and makeup that Jimmy makes. When Dutch moves into counterfeiting drugs, Jimmy tries to quit, but finds it's not so easy. 

Bette is the female lead but has nothing to do. At least, Glenda Farrell gets a catfight and a death scene.

The trailer billed Charles Farrell and Davis the newest love team in their first pairing.  Okay, they must have written that before they saw the footage. Or they saw something that I didn't. (Wonder how Glenda Farrell and Davis would fare.)

Bullets or Ballots (1936): I hadn't seen this one in years. The title comes from a speech by anti-crime crusader Ward Bryant (Henry O'Neill) shortly before he is murdered, but voting has nothing to do with the plot.

Robinson plays Johnny Blake a cop demoted to the outer boroughs who expects a break when his buddy is appointed to a special commission. Instead, he is fired. Luckily, local racketeer Al Kruger (Barton MacLane) offers Blake a job. But, his second-in-command Bugs Fenner (Humphrey Bogart) doesn't like it. 

One thing I really liked about this film was that it was halfway through before it was revealed that Blake is working as an undercover cop. What a relief! He was a good guy all along. The Hayes Office must have been relieved. 

Although four bulled, Bogart is the Robinson's main antagonist. MacLane's Al Kruger is more of a crooked businessman than a thug; he's just a link to the big bosses--supposedly upright citizens. It's Bugs Fenner who kills Bryant and later Kruger. He's also responsible for Blake's death, but Blake manages to deliver money to the big bosses to complete his assignment. 

Joan Blondell is second billed as Lee Morgan, the girl that got away. She's actually a pretty well rounded character--a smart businesswoman rather than the girlfriend waiting for her man. Lee was instrumental in Blake's successful assignment. But she must have been racked with guilt for not recognizing he was near death.  I wonder what happened to her after the film ended.

More from TCM--Starring Bette Davis

Lately, I've really been into old movies from the 30s (mostly) and 40s. Some are classics, some not so much. 

One of my top five films and favorite Bette Davis movie is The Letter. I've written about it here. I ended up watching it in bits and pieces as I made dinner, etc. In this last watch, I was shocked that I didn't remember one scene. Leslie (Davis) and her attorney (James Stephenson) go to retrieve the incriminating letter of the title in a store. Leslie handles an ornate knife. The knife appears in one of the final scenes of the movie. I really need to rewatch this film with no distractions to truly appreciate it. 

The most recent film I re-watched was Bordertown; here's my post about it. I don't have a lot to add, but it struck me on this viewing is how unlikable all the characters are. 

At the beginning of the film, Johnny (Paul Muni) is lauded for his hard work ethic and escaping a life of crime. But Johnny is unbelievably arrogant as well as hot-headed, and prone to violence. He takes all the wrong lessons from his failure as a lawyer and from his interactions with snobby socialite Dale (Margaret Lindsay.) Dale is cruelly oblivious to Johnny's feelings. 

Marie (Bette Davis) is a murderer who falsely accuses Johnny. Johnny's mother (Soledad Jimenez) is slightly more than a stereotype because she didn't believe in him. She prays for him to win his first case. Padre supposedly supports him, but might as well be singing, "stick to your own kind" a la Anita in West Side Story.

Only Charlie Roark (Eugene Pallette) Marie's husband and murder victim and Johnny's boss then partner, is remotely likable. And he is portrayed as a drunken clown.

I still enjoy watching this film. 

TCM March Star of the Month: George Brent

I wish I had seen that George Brent was the Star of the Month earlier. He co-starred with Bette Davis in 11 films. I knew some of her films would be included. 

Here are a few that I caught.

First I watched: The Keyhole (1933) the first of six pairings between George and Kay Francis. Kay is unintentionally a bigamist. Her first husband is a blackmailer, and her current husband is suspicious of her activities. She sails to Cuba in a plan to get the blackmailer out of  the US. Her suspicious husband sends PI George Brent in pursuit. George's specialty is seducing married women. Of course, Kay and George fall in love and all obstacles to their romance disappear by the end of the film. 

There's a subplot with Glenda Farrell and Allen Jenkins. Glenda is a gold digger pretending to be a wealthy woman. Allen is working with George, posing at his valet. With Glenda, he pretends that George is the valet. I was hoping they would also get a happy ending.

The Goose and the Gander (1935) I selected this because of Genevieve Tobin. She was memorable as Mrs. Chisholm in The Petrified Forest. She was also good in another film with George Brent, Snowed Under. Here, Genevieve is planning a weekend getaway with George even though she's married to Ralph Forbes. Kay Francis, Ralph's first wife, overhears their plans and plots revenge against Genevieve who stole Ralph from her. After meeting George, Kay no longer cares about her ex nor getting back at Genevieve. They fall in love in record time.

Add in a couple of jewel thieves, and this film has has real potential as a farce. Too bad it doesn't quite deliver.

Stranded (1935) Kay Francis works for Traveler's Aid which is more like all the social service agencies in one. George Brent comes in looking for a worker for the bridge he is building. George falls for Kay in record time (again) and immediately gets bossy and demanding. They want to get married but he insists she immediately quit her job. He tells Kay her work is useless. Kay breaks it off.

But trouble brews at the bridge construction site thanks to Barton MacLane. He's trying to stop the bridge construction because George won't pay safety money. Kay even rushes down to a workers' meeting to defend George.   

Miss Pinkerton (1932) Policeman George Brent enlists nurse Joan Blondell to assist in a murder mystery in a spooky house. Or is it a suicide? I never did understand what the sleazy looking/acting doctor was up to, but apparently, he was just a sleazy guy and not a murderer.

South of Suez (1940) I watched this for Lee Patrick, but she's only in the beginning and end of the film. At least, I think. I watched this film over a few days, lost my place one time, and later fell asleep. Maybe I need another try. 

Happy Birthday Bette Davis

When I saw the date this morning, I knew it was something I should remember. I give Jace his heartworm medicine on the 5th, but that wasn't it. Then I checked imdb.com--it was Bette Davis's birthday. Since George Brent was March's Star of the Month, I recently watched three of his films with Bette, In This Our Life, Housewife, and Special Agent. 

I've always enjoyed In This Our Life, even though it's not a great movie. I'm not even sure I would call it good. I enjoyed watching Bette with Dennis Morgan. Charles Coburn's performance is the highlight--he was great.

I haven't seen Housewife in years. Bette is the other woman in the marriage between George Brent and Ann Dvorak. Bette and George are so obvious in public--it's just ridiculous. Actually, the entire plot is ridiculous. 

Next, I watched Special Agent--one of two films Bette did with Ricardo Cortez. Bette is the bookkeeper to mobster Ricardo and testifies against him. George is the special agent posing as a reporter. Bette has a bigger role than I remembered. Not a memorable film.

TCM Movie Matinees

On the third day of the four day heat wave, I only left our place as necessary--to walk Jace. Over breakfast, I turned on Fog over Frisco with Bette Davis. 

I like this movie. The cast is good (except Douglas Dumbrille) and the story is fast-paced. Plus, one of the stars is Skippy, the portrayer of Asta in the Thin Man series. Unfortunately, I can't find the article I read the other day: it contrasted the bedroom styles of Arlene (Bette Davis) and Val (Margaret Lindsay) and how they reflect the sisters' personalities. How did I miss that?

I guess I have a reason to watch the movie again.

Crack-Up is the only art oriented noir I've ever heard of. After surviving a train wreck, George Steele (Pat O'Brien) breaks into the art museum where he worked and destroys a sculpture. But there was no train wreck, and Steele remembers nothing after that. Just what did happen? Steele is determined to find out, supported by Herbert Marshall and Claire Trevor (wasted in a blah role as the girlfriend.)

After another miserable loss by the Mets, we caught about half of Now Voyager. Bette is fantastic as repressed "spinster aunt" who finds herself through therapy, a makeover, love, and a new purpose in life. I love the whole cigarette lighting thing that she and Paul Henreid do. The whole cast is great. For the first time in years, I cried at the end. The power of a good movie. 

Rewatching The Little Foxes

One of the fun things about re-watching great movies is noticing new things and appreciating things you've seen before. 

The actors who play the Hubbard Brothers--Charles Dingle and Carl Benton Reid  are wonderful--it's Reid's film debut. I've mentioned Dan Duryea before--he is memorable as Leo. Teresa Wright is luminous as Alexandra. Who can forget Herbert Marshall as he crawls upstairs to get the heart medicine he needs after his wife Regina (Bette Davis) tells him of her contempt for him and how she wishes for his death? 

Patricia Collinge has the best scene in the film as she explains to Alexandra that she doesn't really have headaches, but that she drinks; how everyone but her knew that her husband married her for her family's cotton.

Four paragraphs before I even address Bette's performance. She's brilliant as she maneuvers among her brothers, taunts her husband, realizes she's lost her daughter. 

This is a good film with great performances--a classic.

Thankful Thursday Thoughts

In keeping with my attempt to be positive, and borrowing from the Frugal Girl, I'm going to list things that make me thankful.

• After horrible flooding rains on Sunday, the weather has been great--sunny and cool. I've been wearing jackets in the morning. It's refreshing.
• On my morning walk with Jace, I saw a deer today running across the field at Mathews Park. It was beautiful and made me happy.
• The doctor figured out what was wrong with me from my colonoscopy. We have an appointment to discuss treatment.  
• I've enjoyed the last two Sara Paretsky mysteries I borrowed from the library.
• It was Bette Davis Day on TCM: 24 hours of Bette's movies. 
• The Mets had a second walk off homer against the Orioles yesterday and won the series. LGM.

Book Five: Harvest Home by Thomas Tryon

I got up this morning and decided to read. I take a medication on Monday morning and can't eat or drink anything or lie down for a half hour afterward. I recently realized I'm reading too much on my phone instead of reading books. Five books for the first quarter of the year isn't a good rate with a goal of reading 40 books, but I'm not going to sweat it. 

Anyway, back to Harvest Home: I picked up the book because I remember liking the TV mini-series starring Bette Davis back in 1978. I have mixed feelings about the book. The story was a slow moving one. I'm okay with that, but don't think it was necessary to read so much detail about Beth's childhood. But the last hundred pages or so were compelling. I finished the book as I ate lunch.

Then there's the writing. Some language is very florid--I often had to re-read a line or two. I also had to look up words several times. Tryon lost me with something to the effect of breasts straining against the woman's blouse--it's such a cliche. It reminds me of the dangerous amounts of leg and breast in some early Preston & Child books. 

The story itself was good enough to outweigh the annoying writing style. 

TCM Re-watch: Bordertown

Bordertown is one of my favorite films from Bette Davis's early years in Hollywood. Paul Muni plays the main character Johnny Ramirez, a poor Mexican who believes he can achieve his dreams when he graduates from night law school. Unfortunately, Johnny loses his first case against socialite Dale Elwell (Margaret Lindsay) who wrecks the truck of a poor friend of Johnny's in an auto accident. When the opposing counsel (who is also Dale's boyfriend) calls Johnny a shyster lawyer, Johnny loses his temper and decks the opposing attorney which gets him disbarred. 

Johnny believes he lost his case because he doesn't have any money. He leaves Los Angeles and ends up working as a bouncer in the Silver Slipper nightclub. He eventually becomes a partner of the proprietor Charlie Roark (Eugene Paulette) and catches the eye of Charlie's bored wife Marie (Bette Davis.)

Johnny tells Marie he could go for her, but he won't betray his partner. Soon Marie sees her chance: she leaves a drunk, unconscious Charlie in the running car and allows the automatic garage doors to close. Charlie's death is ruled an accident.

Marie and Johnny partner on La Rueda--a new high end nightclub. But Marie's plans for a personal partnership are foiled when Dale arrives at opening night. Johnny believes now that he has money, he's worthy of her. He doesn't realize she's just slumming. 

Marie confronts Johnny about his new romance, telling him she committed murder to get him. Johnny leaves her in disgust. Marie then goes to the police and tells them that Johnny made her kill Charlie. 

It looks bad for Johnny until Marie has a breakdown on the stand, and the case is thrown out. Johnny returns to Dale and proposes. She rejects him, telling him he's from a different tribe. Johnny  becomes furious: Dale calls him a brute and runs into the path of an oncoming car.

Johnny sells La Rueda to help endow a law school, and he returns where he belongs with his own people.

There's a lot to unpack here. Johnny is clearly subjected to racism and prejudice, But the movie shies away from dealing with this explicitly. This review discusses the racism. Other user reviews on IMDB.com call the film politically incorrect. 

But I have to say that Johnny is clearly over his head in the trial against Dale. He doesn't understand the rules of evidence and what is admissible in court. I'm not denying that the lawyer and judge are racist and condescending. The judge could have helped Johnny, but immediately declares Johnny is "not a lawyer at all" but "a ruffian at heart, brutal, cheap and bad-tempered." 

Of course, the whole trial scene is ridiculous. Dale's lawyer is also her boyfriend who was in the car at the time of the accident. He would never represent her. Also, why didn't they settle the case? Because then there wouldn't be a movie.

The ending of the film doesn't sit well with me: keep in your own place. There's nothing wrong with Johnny endowing a law school to help his people. It's a shame that he's come to that realization only because of the snobby Dale.

About the performances. Paul Muni is a little over the top, but so is Johnny. I've seen Muni in subtle performances (one is Juarez, his second film with Bette Davis.) Bette is wonderful, expressing her frustration with her drunken husband, her guilt, fear, and paranoia after the murder, her confrontation with Johnny when she confesses the murder. Some commenters on IMDB criticize her courtroom scene as over the top. She toned down what the director wanted. I thought it was effective.  

Eugene Pallette does a good job as happy-go-lucky Charlie. Too bad he doesn't guess what Marie is capable of. Margaret Lindsay is also good as the spoiled socialite Dale. 

One last thing on this already long post. The poster for this movie shows Muni in a sombrero, which he never wears in the film. One last stereotype.

Thursday Thoughts

I've spent a lot of time cleaning over the past few days. The main impetus was the return of Jeff's sisters to Connecticut for a brief house-hunting visit. They were supposed to come here. One came inside for five minutes; the other waited in the car until we met for dinner. I thought it was rude. At least I didn't bother to make appetizers. 

Yesterday was Bette Davis's birthday. I can't believe I forgot it. I recorded one of her early movies from TCM--So Big--starring Barbara Stanwyck. Bette is only in a few scenes. I would have loved to see the two of them together in a film with meaty parts for both of them. 

I got Jace a new easy walk halter. Two trainers told me the halter with the loop in the back that we had been using is bad for pulling. It seems so obvious now. Plus, we may need a smaller size--small/medium. I have to take Jace's measurements. 

I decided not to take the Norwalk Library spring writing class. I didn't care for most of the winter class prompts and felt like I was going through the motions. It was also easier to write a story for class than to do the hard work on my book. This Monday, I kept busy, so I wouldn't think about the class much. I haven't written except for this post. Sigh. 

Ranking Bette Davis's Performances

In honor of the release of a restored version of Now,Voyager, The Guardian ranked 20 of Bette's best performances. 

1.  All About Eve
2. Now, Voyager
3. Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
4. Dark Victory 
5. The Little Foxes
6. Marked Woman
7. Jezebel
8. Dead Ringer     
9. The Letter
10. Dangerous
11. Mr. Skeffington
12. Hush...Hush Sweet Charlotte
13. The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
14. Of Human Bondage
15. The Man Who Came to Dinner
16. All This, and Heaven Too
17. Juarez
18. The Scapegoat
19. The Star
20. Death on the Nile

Here is my list.

1. The Letter
2. All About Eve
3. Now, Voyager
4. The Little Foxes
5. Jezebel
6. Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
7. Dark Victory 
8. Of Human Bondage
9. Juarez
10. The Petrified Forest
11. Marked Woman
12. Dangerous
13. Mr. Skeffington
14. All This, and Heaven Too
15. Bordertown 
16. Hush...Hush Sweet Charlotte
17. The Star
18. The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
19. The Man Who Came to Dinner
20. The Cabin in the Cotton

Selecting my top 20 wasn't too difficult, but ranking them was. I was surprised at how low Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian ranked The Letter (#9 compared to my #1.) I also favor earlier films (The Petrified Forest, Bordertown, and The Cabin in the Cotton) while Bradshaw prefers later films (Dead Ringer, The Scapegoat, and Death on the Nile.) We both selected the same seven films in the Top 10. 

We can both agree that Bette Davis is a wonderful actress. 

8-2-21 Edited to add: I think I was wrong to exclude The Old Maid  from this list. We see Bette as a young woman in love, a mother hiding her illegitimate child away, a bitter spinster aunt, and a woman touched by a lovely gesture from the daughter who doesn't know their relationship.

My new 20: 

1. The Letter
2. All About Eve
3. Now, Voyager
4. The Little Foxes
5. Jezebel
6. Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
7. Dark Victory 
8. Of Human Bondage
9. Juarez
10. The Petrified Forest
11. Marked Woman
12. Dangerous
13. Mr. Skeffington
14. All This, and Heaven Too
15. Bordertown 
16. Hush...Hush Sweet Charlotte
17. The Star
18. The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
19. The Old Maid
20. The Man Who Came to Dinner

I bumped The Cabin in the Cotton out of the Top 20, added The Old Maid, and moved The Man Who Came to Dinner to #20.

The Great Lie 1941

TCM was showing this film as part of its 31 Days of Oscar: Mary Astor won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Sandra Kovak. 

The script is pure soap. Astor and Bette Davis (Maggie) worked together to re-write parts of the script to improve it. I can only imagine how soapy the original was.

I've seen this movie several times, and it's not a favorite, so I usually don't record it. This time I did, and I'm glad. For one thing, I had forgotten the beginning. Sandra's maid (Doris Lloyd) is quite funny as she looks over the trashed apartment after a wild party/bender during which Sandra marries Pete (George Brent.) She says something like I'm only getting $14 a week. 

I had also forgotten that Grant Mitchell (Sandra's manager) and Jerome Cowan (Pete's lawyer) are in this movie. 

Sandra had some good lines in her scenes with Maggie: "Who ever heard of an ounce of brandy?" Another line: "I'm not one of you anemic creatures who can get nourishment from a lettuce leaf."

I've written about this film and one annoying scene before. That scene bugged me this time as well, but the scene with Sandra's maid helped me forget about it. 

Bette Davis in the Checkout Aisle

I was thinking about Bette Davis the other day. I asked myself if it was her birthday. I was two days late; her birthday was April 5. 

On Friday I went grocery shopping, and there was Bette staring at me from the cover of Closer magazine with the headline, "A Life of Fame & Tragedy."

The headline and part of the subhead, "suffered the ultimate betrayal on her deathbed" are over the top for the article, based on an interview with Kathryn Sermak, Bette's last assistant. The deathbed portrayal, for instance, occurred in the last decade of her life. 

Kathryn shared a few stories from her book, Miss D and Me. I'll read that book. I'm always glad to hear about and watch Bette. 

Thoughts on the Casting of Mildred Pierce

Another Noir Alley selection: Mildred Pierce. I've seen the movie before, but this was this first time in years that I watched the entire film.

I admit I'm not a big Joan Crawford fan. Maybe Bette Davis prejudiced me against her. Joan's good as Mildred, but I don't know if her performance was Oscar-worthy. I was more impressed with the work of Ann Blyth, Jack Carson, and Eve Arden.

I'm also more interested in who didn't play Mildred. Bette Davis turned the role down. She said she couldn't stand to work with director Michael Curtiz again--they made seven films together. According to TCM host Eddie Muller, Ann Sheridan also turned down the role. I don't know why--she would have been good.

The oddest part of Muller's story is that Barbara Stanwyck wanted the part and they turned her down. That's shocking; she would have been great. I would have loved to see her as Mildred--a lost opportunity.

Happy Birthday Bette

I spent the morning thinking that April 5 meant something to me. Then it dawned on me--it's Bette Davis's birthday. She was one of the screen's great actresses and my favorite.

I've seen most of her films and several of her TV appearances. An early film I'd like to see is The Menace. On TV, I'd love to see Madame Sin; I think I've only seen excerpts of that. Another telefilm I'd like to see is Right of Way with Bette and James Stewart. She had always wanted to work with him, she finally got her chance.

Thoughts about Co-Stars in June Bride

June Bride is one of the last movies Bette Davis made for Warner Brothers in 1948. The gist of the plot is that magazine editor Linda Gilman (Bette Davis) and her team are sent to Indiana for a magazine feature on a June wedding. A new member of her team is a foreign correspondent Carry Jackson (Robert Montgomery) who had been involved with Linda in the past.

Bette Davis wasn't known for her comedies, but I enjoyed her work in It's Love I'm After, The Bride Came C.O.D., and The Man Who Came to Dinner. She's good in June Bride too.

I never liked Robert Montgomery in this film. He was annoying, smirking, and making faces. I recently read on IMDB that Bette wanted either Jack Carson or Dennis Morgan for the part of Carey Jackson. Jack Carson is underrated; he was good in both comedy and drama. Dennis Morgan was wonderful as the sailor in the comedy Christmas in Connecticut. At any rate, neither Jack Carson nor Dennis Morgan would have annoyed me as much as Montgomery did.

Here's more from IMDB: Bette Davis was originally cast as the lead in Christmas in Connecticut. Barbara Stanwyck was terrific, but I wonder at what might have been.

Last Day for the Star of the Month

Technically Bette Davis is Star of the Month for another three days. But Tuesday was the fourth day of a 24-hour Bette Davis-athon, and I didn't see any other Bette Davis movies on the schedule for the rest of the month.

The Tuesdays featured films in a rough chronological order. The first Tuesday covered films from 1931 to 1935, the second 1935 to 1940, the third 1940 to 1948, the fourth 1948 to 1987. I've seen all the movies before. I recorded some I hadn't seen in a while and watched parts live when I was home.

A few thoughts. I was disappointed not to see Beyond the Forest on yesterday's listing. I haven't seen that film in years. It may be Bette's worst performance.

The first film yesterday was Winter Meeting, It's a boring film; Bette is unattractive with short bangs (worse than those my mother cut for me) with no makeup. I did fall in love with Bette's New York apartment.

The best of Tuesday's bunch was All About Eve. Bette is so incredible as Margo Channing that it's hard to believe that Claudette Colbert was originally cast in the part.

I recorded The Star: one film I hadn't seen in a while.

I would love to create my own Bette Davis film festival.

Marked Woman 1937

It's been years since I've seen the movie Marked Woman. Over the last two days, I watched it twice.

This was Bette Davis's first film after a suspension from Warner Brothers. It was a better role and a better film than some others Warners had offered her (lady lumberjack, anyone?)

Here are a few weird things in the beginning of the film that I noticed. Only the men's last names are listed in the cast of characters. A message says that the film was fictitious. It was widely known to be a version of Lucky Luciano's story. A Warner Brothers movie Black Fury is shown on a movie marque in the opening shot.

The story starts with a new man in town: Johnny Vanning (Eduardo Ciannelli) taking over all the nightclubs/clip joints in the city. He already knows Gabby (Lola Lane) is impressed with Mary's (Bette Davis) smarts, and is interested in Emmy Lou (Isabel Jewell.)  In the next scene, the "girls" (as they're called throughout the film) walk home together.

This is not a subtle movie. The dialog can be over the top. Mary says she knows all the angles, and plans to get to easy street. Here are some direct quotes:

"They found him in a ditch full of slugs."

"I'll get you even if I have to crawl back from the grave to do it."

Davis seems a bit over dramatic in a few scenes. At first it makes sense because Mary is acting to convince attorney David Graham (Humphrey Bogart) to believe her false testimony. In a later scene with Bogart, I don't get the overacting.

In Bette's defense, she fought for realism on this film. Instead of the tiny movie star bandage, she went to her own doctor to be bandaged as a woman who was severely beaten.

There is some weird dialogue in the courtroom scenes. Vanning's lawyer Charlie Delaney (John Litel --an upstanding lawyer from the Nancy Drew films) asked questions that were logically better asked by the prosecution. Did John Litel just need more lines?

I loved the last few minutes of the film. Vanning is found guilty of murder of Mary's sister (Jane Bryan) based on the testimony of the girls. They leave the courtroom as David Graham seeks Mary. He wants to help her because she's had a bad time. She seems to be hoping for more.

Reporters clamor for David--he could be the next district attorney or even the next governor--as the women walk off in the night. (Are court proceedings at night? Never mind, it's a great visual.)

The women walk off and literally disappear into the fog.

Star of the Month: Bette Davis

Bette Davis is the star of the month for November on TCM. On Tuesdays, it's Bette films for (approximately) 24 hours. The first Tuesday, I watched parts of the films when I could and recorded several that I haven't seen recently. I was psyched to see Special Agent again; it had been years.

Frankly, Special Agent isn't very good. Many of Bette's early films aren't or she had very small parts. It's still fun to watch her. I've been working my way through the recordings.

I've seen all these films before. Now I'm noticing small things in Bette's expressions and movements. I'm also noticing the supporting actors. For example, Allen Jenkins is in five films with Bette; Frank McHugh in four, and Ricardo Cortez in two.

Thanks TCM.

Happy Birthday Bette Davis!

In honor of Bette's birthday, we watched The Working Man starring Bette in her second pairing with George Arliss.

Jeff had never seen it, and I hadn't seen it in years.

It's not a great movie, but it's a lot of fun and farce.

Shoe manufacturer Reeves (Arliss) accidentally runs into the children (Davis and Theodore Newton) of his recently deceased rival. Annoyed at his own nephew (Hardie Albright who's running his company) and concerned about his rival's children, Reeves works with them to make their company a success. Meanwhile Davis works for the  Reeves company to learn the shoe business and falls in love with Albright.

All ends well when the firms merge.