Surviving Stars From the Golden Age of Hollywood

Yesterday's passing of Dame Elizabeth Taylor saw a huge number of well deserved tributes in the media. Unfortunately, many of these tributes treated Miss Taylor as if she was last, sole remaining star from the Golden Age of Hollywood (which I say was roughly from 1930 to 1960). This is hardly the case. There are several other stars from the Golden Age who are still alive and some of them even matched Dame Elizabeth Taylor in the level of their stardom.

Here, then, is a short list of surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood. It is by no means complete, but it does demonstrate that many of our favourite actors from the Thirties, Forties, and Fifties are still alive.

Arlene Dahl (August 11, 1925): MGM contract star  who appeared in Life with Father, Reign of Terror, and other films.

Doris Day (born April 3, 1922): Still the biggest female box office star of all time. She starred in musicals such as April in Paris and Calamity Jane in the Fifties, but made her biggest impact in Sixties sex comedies such as Pillow Talk and Lover Come Back.

Olivia de Havilland (born July 1, 1916): The only surviving lead from Gone with the Wind. She co-starred with Errol Flynn in Captain Blood, The Adventures of Robin Hood, and several other films.

Joan Fontaine (born Joan de Havilland October 22, 1917): Olivia de Havilland's younger sister and a star in her own right. She appeared in Gunga Din, Hitchcock's Suspicion, the 1944 version of Jane Eyre, and many other classic films. Sadly, it seems Olivia and Joan have maintained their well known feud to this day.

Kirk Douglas (born December 9, 1916): One of the greatest action stars of all time. He starred in such films as Champion, 20000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Vikings, Spartacus, and many other films.

Zsa Zsa Gabor (born February 6, 1917): Never a major star, but always the archetypal celebrity, Zsa Zsa appeared in such films as Moulin Rouge (1952), Lili, Gigi, and Boys Night Out.

Angela Lansbury (born October 16, 1925):  A memorable supporting actress who appeared in such films as Gaslight, Samson and Delilah, The Long Hot Summer, and many other films. She is probably best known now as Jessica Fletcher on the show Murder, She Wrote.

Maureen O'Hara (born  August 17, 1920): Irish actress and major star, Maureen starred in everything from pirate movies (The Black Swan) to Westerns (McLintock!) to holiday classics (Miracle on 34th Street) to family comedies (The Parent Trap). She was also my mother's favourite actress of all time besides Marilyn Monroe.

Jane Powell (born April 1, 1929) : MGM contract player who appeared in such films as Royal Wedding, A Date with Judy, and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

Debbie Reynolds (April 1, 1932): Gene Kelly's co-star in Singin' in the Rain, as well as the star of  Tammy and the Bachelor. She appeared in such films as The Catered Affair and The Unsinkable Molly Brown. She is still acting.

Mickey Rooney  (born September 23, 1920): Andy Hardy himself, as well as the star of several MGM musicals. He is still acting, making memorable appearance in Night at the Museum.

Ann Rutherford (born November 2, 1920): Scarlett O'Hara's youngest sister in Gone With the Wind and Andy Hardy's long suffering girl friend

Ester Williams (born August 8, 1921): Champion competitive swimmer and star of MGM musicals.

Godspeed Dame Elizabeth Taylor

Screen legend Dame Elizabeth Taylor passed today at the age of 79. The cause was complications from congestive heart failure. She had been in poor health for many years.

Dame Elizabeth Taylor was born in London on 27 February 1932 to American parents. Her father was an art dealer. Her mother had acted on the stage in New York. Miss Taylor spent her early childhood in England. Her family moved to Pasadena, California shortly before World War II.

Her mother loved the movies and it was Miss Taylor's mother who encouraged her to act. She made an impressive film debut at the age of 9 in the film There's One Born Every Minute (1942), playing Gloria Twine. Signed to a contract with Universal, it was cancelled less than six months later, in February 1942. In October of that year MGM signed the young actress. Her first film for MGM would be Lassie Come Home (1943). She was loaned to  20th Century Fox to play Helen Burns in the 1944 adaptation of Jane Eyre, and went to England to appear in The White Cliffs of Dover (1944). Cast as Velvet Brown in National Velvet (1944) at MGM, Elizabeth Taylor attained stardom at the tender age of 12. Over the next few years she would appear in such films as Courage of Lassie (1946), Life with Father (1947), A Date with Father (1948), and Little Women (1948).

Little Women would be the last film in which Dame Elizabeth Taylor played an adolescent. While The Big Hangover (1950), in which she played her first adult role, was a failure, her next film, Father of the Bride (1950), would be a huge success. The film would prove successful enough to produce a sequel, also starring Miss Taylor, Father's Little Dividend (1951). The Fifties would prove to be a good decade for Dame Elizabeth Taylor. She appeared in such films as A Place in the Sun (1951), Ivahoe (1952), Beau Brummell (1953), The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954), Giant (1956), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), and Butterfield 8 (1960).

Miss Taylor's career declined slightly in the Sixties, perhaps due to the failure of the extremely expensive Cleopatra (1963). She appeared in such films as  The Sandpiper (1965), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woof (1966), The Taming of the Shrew (1967), Doctor Faustus (1967), The Comedians (1967), and The Only Game in Town (1970). In the Seventies she appeared in such films as X, Y, and Zee (1972), Ash Wednesday (1973), A Little Night Music (1977), and The Mirror Crack'd (1980). She made her television debut in the TV movie Divorce Hers-Divorce His and appeared in a presentation of The Hallmark Hall of Fame.

From the Eighties into the Nineties most of Dame Elizabeth Taylor's work was in television. She appeared in such shows as General Hospital, Hotel, All My Children, and the mini-series North and South. She also appeared in the telefilms Malice in Wonderland (as Louella Parsons) and Poker Alice. She provided the voice of Maggie in a memorable episode of The Simpsons, as was a guest voice on God, The Devil, and Bob (her last work) as well. She appeared in the film Il giovane Toscanini (1988). She also appeared on Broadway, in The Little Foxes, Private Lives, and The Corn is Green.

In 1999, Miss Taylor was knighted as Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Coverage of Dame Elizabeth Taylor's passing has made much of her personal life, her marriages and her poor health. Coverage of her passing has also made much of her beauty. And while there can be no doubt that Elizabeth Taylor was indeed beautiful (she had the most remarkable, violet eyes), it seems to me that the various media outlets have overlooked what made Dame Elizabeth Taylor a star to begin with--her acting. While the movies in which Dame Elizabeth Taylor appeared were not always the best, more often than not she gave very fine performances. For myself it is her earliest performances that stand out the best. She was convincing as Velvet Brown in National Velvet (no doubt helped by the fact that she was already an experienced rider) and she was convincing as Leslie Benedict in Giant. And while I enjoyed her early performances most, Miss Taylor was still an acting talent to be reckoned with in later years. She was impressive as gossip columnist Louella Parsons in the TV movie Malice in Wonderland.

Dame Elizabeth Taylor was hardly the last of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Sisters Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine are still alive, as are Kirk Douglas and several others. That having been said, she was perhaps one of the most recognisable names from the Golden Age where the general public was concerned. In some respects it may not be  refer to Dame Elizabeth Taylor a star or even a legend. She long ago transcended being either a star or a legend to become an icon.

When Stars Go "Bad"

One would very nearly have to be on a deserted island to avoid hearing Charlie Sheen's name mentioned several times a day on the news on TV, on talk shows, and in newspapers and magazines. Indeed, in February Sheen made derogatory comments about the producer of Two and A Half Men, Chuck Lorre, which some thought were tinged with anti-Semitism. The result of this was CBS and  Warner Brothers and CBS fired him from the hit sitcom. That having been said, given the history of actors and scandals, I rather suspect that had this taken place fifty years ago, Sheen could have already been fired.

Indeed, it was in 1921 that comedy star Fatty Arbuckle was accused of the rape and murder of starlet Virginia Rappe. While Fatty Arbuckle was eventually acquitted at the following trial, his career would never recover. Although friends such as Buster Keaton would send some directorial work his way, he was more or less blacklisted in the Hollywood community. He died in 1933 at the age of 46 a broken man. The scandal surrounding Fatty Arbuckele would also lead to the creation of the infamous "morality clause," that part of a star's contract forbidding them from doing anything immoral, even if wasn't necessarily illegal.

Fatty Arbuckle would not be the only actor whose career would suffer from scandal. In 1941 Lionel Atwill was accused of holding sex orgies at his home. In 1942 he was convicted of perjury in the trail regarding the alleged orgies. Lionel Atwill continued to act, but his career would never be the same. Perhaps no star suffered as great a fall from grace as Ingrid Bergman. One of the biggest stars in Hollywood, Ingrid Bergman had begun an affair with director Roberto Rosellini while filming Stromboli in 1950. In 1951 she was pregnant with his child. While this might seem minor today, in the Fifties it became a cause célèbre in the United States.She was even denounced on the floor of the U. S. Senate. Ed Sullivan even cancelled her appearance on his show. Effectively blacklisted by Hollywood, Miss Bergman would spend her next several years in Italy, where she continued to make movies. She would not return to Hollywood until 1956 when she appeared in Anastasia

Indeed, in past years even the movies one made could end his or her career. Michael Powell had been one of the top British directors from the Forties into the Fifties. He had directed such classic films as Thief of Baghdad (1940) and The Red Shoes (1948). It was in 1960 that his film Peeping Tom was released. Now regarded as a classic, the movie was regarded by many British critics as a base exploitation film at best and outright pornography at worst. Backlash against the film was so great that it effectively ended Mr. Powell's career in the United Kingdom.

Of course, there were stars who survived scandal. Mary Astor had just started shooting Dodsworth (1936) when her husband Dr. Franklin Thorpe threatened to reveal the contents of her diary, which allegedly told of her many affairs, as evidence in the custody battle between the two. Because of the morality clause in her contract, producer Samuel Goldwyn was urged to fire her. He stood by Miss Astor, however, as did the public. As to the diary, it was never made public. In 1942 Errol Flynn was accused of statutory rape by two under age girls. Like Fatty Arbuckle before him, Flynn was cleared of any charges. Unlike Fatty Arbuckle, Errol Flynn's career did not suffer because of the scandal. It was in 1948 that Robert Mitchum and Lila Leeds were arrested for possession of marijuana, something much more scandalous then than it is now. Mr. Mitchum served a week in the county jail, but the arrest did little to hurt his career. The studio simply warned Robert Mitchum to straighten up. It would in 1951 that the conviction would be overturned by the Los Angeles District Attorney's office.

I suppose the whole point of this is that there has been little consistency in the film industry with regards to scandal. Fatty Arbuckle was acquitted and there seems to have been no real evidence to connect him with the rape and murder of Virginia Rappe, but his career went down in flames. Errol Flynn was acquitted and there was no real evidence that he had committed statutory rape with the two girls, but his career continued to thrive. Mary Astor's extramarital affairs came to light with no negative impact on her career, while Ingrid Bergman's affair with Roberto Rosellini nearly ended hers. Here it must be pointed out that the popularity of these stars seems to have played no role in surviving scandals. Admittedly Errol Flynn was a huge star in 1942, but so was Fatty Arbuckle in 1920 (in fact, he made more money than Charlie Chaplin). And Ingrid Bergman was a much bigger star in 1950 than Mary Astor ever was, especially in 1936. It is difficult to say why some stars are so damaged by scandal and others are not, as there seems to be no real consistency in the matter.

As to Charlie Sheen, I rather suspect if not for the more lax morality of our times, he would have been fired long ago. My reasoning is simply that Sheen's misbehaviour has gone far beyond extramarital affairs or smoking pot. He has had problems with alcohol and drugs for some time. Even in the Golden Age of Hollywood this could have been overlooked, but it seem obvious that Sheen's problems went beyond alcohol and drugs. As far back as 1996 he was arrested for assaulting then girlfriend Brittany Ashland. In 2006 then wife Denise Richards accused him of physical and mental abuse. In 2009 he was arrested on suspicition of second degree assault in an altercation with then wife Brooke Mueller. In October 2010 he was taken into custody after causing $7000 in damage at the Plaza Hotel in New York City.

That brings us to this year, when Charlie Sheen criticised the producers of Two and a Half Men and began his sometimes incoherent tirades. As if his past behaviour was not frightening enough, his tirades can be even more frightening. Indeed, they remind me of the tapes of individuals with schizophrenia and other mental disorders we listened to in my psychology class. Whether simply because of his drug use or some underlying mental condition, it seems obvious to me that Sheen is not a well man. This especially seems quite likely after the various incidents of the past many years, incidents that have gone far beyond things that have gotten actors fired in the past.

Now I will admit that I am not a big fan of morality clauses in contracts. Quite simply, I think people's views of what is moral and what is immoral vary so what one might find objectionable another might find perfectly acceptable. That having been said, I think Charlie Sheen's behaviour the past many years has gone far beyond simply being immoral to being downright dangerous, both to himself and those around him. While I do not condone adultery, the extramarital affairs actors and actresses may have had in the past are in no way comparable to what Sheen has done. I rather suspect that even if he had lived and been a huge star in, say, 1939, and behaved in the same way, he would have been out of a job long ago. Sadly, it seems there is a rumour that Warner Brothers wants to talk to Sheen about returning to his sitcom. I think this could be a big mistake, at least until he seeks some serious, professional help.

The Late Great Michael Gough

Actor Michael Gough, who played Arthur in the classic Hammer version of Dracula and made a memorable appearance on The Avengers as Dr. Clement Armstrong (inventor of the dreaded Cybernauts), passed yesterday at the age of 94.

Michael Gough was born in what is now Kuala Lumpur, Mayalasia on 23 November 1917 to English parents. He attended Rose Hill School, Tunbridge Wells, and Durham College. For a brief time he attended Wye Agricultural College before dropping out to join the Old Vic Theatre School. He played small roles as part of the Old Vic Company and first appeared on the West End in Dorothy Sayers' The Zeal of Thy House. During World War II he was a conscientious objector, serving in the Non-Combatant Corps. Following the war he rejoined the Old Vic. He made his debut on television in an adaptation of Androcles and the Lion in 1946. He made his film debut in Anna Karenina in 1948.

In the late Forties in to the Fifties Mr. Gough appeared several times on stage in the West End. He also appeared in such films as Saraband (1948), The Sword and the Rose (1953), Rob Roy the Highland Rogue (1953), Richard III (1955), Reach for the Sky (1956), and Horrors of the Black Museum (1959). It was in 1958 that he appeared in one of his most notable roles, as Arthur in the Hammer adaptation of Dracula. He also appeared on television on Rheingold Theatre, Sherlock Holmes, BBC Sunday Night Theatre, and The Adventures of Robin Hood. He appeared as Squire Mercer in the mini-series Dancers in Mourning. He appeared on Broadway in Compulsion (1959).

In the Sixties Michael Gough appeared in such films as Mr. Topaze (1961), Konga (1961), the Hammer version of Phantom of the Opera (1962), Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965), They Came From Beyond Space (1967), Berserk (1967), Curse of the Crimson Altar (1968), Women in Love (1969), Julius Caesar (1970), and Trog (1970). He appeared on such shows as ITV Play of the Week, The Man in Room 17, The Saint, Orlando, Dr. Who (as the Celestial Toymaker),  The Avengers, and  The Champions. He played Mr. Bennett television mini-series adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. In the Seventies Mr. Gough appeared in such films as The Corpse (1971), Henry VIII and His Seven Wives (1972), Horror Hospital (1973), The Legend of Hell House (1973), The Boys from Brazil (1978), and Question of Love (1978). He appeared in such shows as Colditz, The Protectors, Moonbase 3, QBVII, Sutherland's Law, and Blake's 7. In 1979 he appeared on Broadway in Bedroom Farce.

In the Eighties Michael Gough appeared in such films as Venom (1981), The Dresser (1983), Top Secret (1984), Oxford Blues (1984), Out of Africa (1985), The Fourth Protocol (1987), and The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988).  In 1989 Mr. Gough first played Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne's butler, in Batman. He would reprise the role in three sequels. He appeared on such shows as Brideshead Revisited, Smiley's People, Dr. Who, Crown Court, Inspector Morse, and Hallmark Hall of Fame. He was a regular on the series Blackeyes.

From the Nineties into the Naughts, Michael Gough appeared in such films as The Wanderer (1991), Let Him Have It (1991), The Age of Innocence (1993), The Advocate (1993), and Sleepy Hollow (1999). He did voice work for both The Corpse Bride (2005) and Alice in Wonderland (2010). He was a regular on the TV series The Diamond Brothers and Sleepers. He also appeared on such shows as Children of the North, and The Good Guys.

While the average person most likely remembers Michael Gough best as Alfred in the Nineties Batman movies, he had a long career and play many different roles. Indeed, when I think of Mr. Gough, it is not Bruce Wayne's long suffering and extremely loyal butler who comes to mind, but the crazed Dr. Armstrong in The Avengers episode "The Cybernauts." He was every bit as convincing as a mad genius in that episode as he was the Dark Knight's butler. Of course, this points to why Mr. Gough had such a long career. He was extremely versatile. Michael Gough played everything from an evil thriller writer who compels his assistant to commit crimes about which he can write (Horrors of the Black Museum) to Leo Tolstoy (in an episode of The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones). He played all of these roles very convincingly. Most character actors become known for a particular type of character. Michael Gough played nearly every type of character there was.

St. Patrick's Day Movies

(For those who are wondering, I will eulogise the great character actor Michael Gough tomorrow when I have more time to write a eulogy deserving one so talented.)

As many of you may already know, I do not celebrate St. Patrick's Day. It is not that I have any thing against the holiday, but the truth is that I am primarily English and German in descent, and I do not have one single drop of Irish blood in me. Indeed, we never celebrated St. Patrick's Day at home when I was growing up, and I knew very few people who did. I feel that if I did celebrate St. Patrick's Day, I would simply be misappropriating someone else's holiday for my own--it would be like celebrating Hanukkah for me.

That having been said, I have always appreciated Irish mythology, folklore, culture, and brunettes, so that I do enjoy the fact that others so celebrate St. Patrick's Day and I do enjoy wishing those who celebrate the day a happy one. Keeping this in mind, I gave thought to what would be suitable movies to watch on St. Patrick's Day. I think these movies would fit the bill.

Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959): Okay, Sean Connery could not speak in a proper Irish brogue if he wanted to (indeed, he even had that Scottish accent as Bond, who is presumably English...), .and I rather suspect that some of the characters could qualify as outright Irish stereotypes, but when I think of Ireland, I must confess this is the first movie that comes to mind. Let's face it, the movie is based on the books by Herminie Templeton Kavanagh and like the books draw heavily upon Irish folklore. Indeed, the film centres on leprechauns and even features a pooka, a shape changing spirit of Celtic mythology, a banshee, and the cóiste-bodhar (the ghostly, death coach which carries the deceased to the afterlife). Besides being firmly rooted in Irish folklore, the movie is generally fun in the way most movies made by Disney were in the late Fifties and early Sixties.

Finian's Rainbow (1968): Okay, Petula Clark is about as convincing as an Irish girl as Sean Connery was an Irishman and I am not sure I can entirely buy Tommy Steele as a leprechaun., but I still enjoy Finian's Rainbow. Never mind that Fred Astaire proved that he was still a skilled dancer with this movie. Never mind that the songs are enjoyable and fun. The plain truth is that like Darby O'Gill and the Little People, Finian's Rainbow draws a bit upon Irish folklore. Indeed, central to the plot is that Finian took off with a pot of gold and hot on his heels is the leprechaun who owns it.

The Quiet Man (1952): I must admit, The Quiet Man is a idealised picture of Irish society. Its portrayal of an Ireland unaffected by the divisions of religion, class, or ethnicity is even more of a fantasy that either Darby O'Gill and the Litlte  People or Finian's Rainbow. And I elieve the movie's story does have some fundamental flaws. That having been said, I do like The Quiet Man. After all, the film gives us some magnificent shots of the Irish countryside, as well as Victor Young's fantastic score. I must also confess I have a fondness for the film because of its two leads.--John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara remain two of my favourite actors from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

The Secret of Roan Inish (1994). The novel upon which it was based, The Secret of Ron Mor Skerry by Rosalie K. Fry, was originally set in Scotland, but for practical reasons the movie was set in Ireland. Both deal with the shape shifting creatures known as selkies,  common not only to Irish and Scottish folklore, but Faoerese and Orcadian folklore. Regardless, speaking as someone without a drop of Irish blood in him,  The Secret of Roan Inish has a very Irish feel to it to me. Indeed, much as I picture Ireland itself in my mind (even if it is not actually that way), The Secret of Roan Inish is a fluid blend of mythology, nature, and is people. Most of the film's appeal is then twofold--its cinematography, with shots of the rugged Irish coastline, and the relationships between young Fiona (Jeri Courtney) and her tale telling grandfather (Mick Lally). The Secret of Inish is a wonderful family film that, sadly, most people have never seen.

This is my very short list of films that I would think anyone who celebrates St. Patrick's Day would do well to watch. If I celebrated St. Patrick's Day, I would watch any of them (although, I will confess, Darby O'Gill and the Little People is my favourite). Please let me know if you can think of any other films suitable for St. Patrick's Day viewing.

Facebook, AGAIN...Please Forgive Me

Okay, given that I have not done too many real blog posts of late, I hope you forgive me if I once more vent about Facebook. As anyone who reads this blog well knows, I have repeatedly complained about changes the social networking site has made the past few years. Most recently I posted about the changes Facebook made to user profiles and to fan pages. Now I have yet another complaint against a change made by Facebook, which like other recent changes have reduced the usability of the site. Namely, now one submits his or her comments by hitting the enter key on one's keyboard.

On the surface, this might not sound like a bad idea. After all, wouldn't it be easier to simply hit "Enter" on one's keyboard than press a submit button? For brief comments that might be fine, but if you are like most of my friends and myself, you like to have paragraphs, which could once be created by hitting "Enter."  Unfortunately, hitting "Enter" will now submit one's comment rather than create a new paragraph, thus forcing one to comment again if he or she wants to add anything in another paragraph!

Fortunately, unlike the changes to both the profiles and the pages, there is a work around to this problem. One can create page breaks in comments, thus allowing for paragraphs, by hitting "shift + enter (well, on PCs anyway...)." Granted, this is not as easy as hitting "enter" to create a new paragraph, but it is better than not being able to create paragraphs at all. At any rate, perhaps with some luck and by some miracle Facebook will do away with having one hit "Enter" to submit comments and put the pages and profiles back to the way they once were. Sadly, I rather suspect they won't.

It's Only Love by Cheap Trick

I feel I have to apologise for not posting so far this week. Sadly, it has been a rough week at work and I feel a little under the weather. Since I do not feel up to a full post, I will simply leave you with one of my favourite songs by one of my favourite bands, "It's Only Love" by Cheap Trick.