TCM Fan Favourites and Other News

If you watch Turner Classic Movies regularly, then you are probably familiar with their segment, Fan Favourites, in which fans are able to introduce some of their favourite films. The segment debuted last November and proved very successful. TCM aired another Fan Favourites segment in April. I was among those chosen for the segment and was honoured to get introduce A Hard Day's Night (1964) with Ben Mankiewicz. This Saturday will see the third instalment of Fan Favourites.

This time I only know of one of the Fan Favourite presenters. Meaghan Walsh Gerard, who will be introducing the Val Lewton classic I Walked with a Zombie (1943). Meaghan has attended TCMParties on Twitter before. While I don't know who the other three are, they all selected some great films for watching this Saturday! The films are as follows (all times are Central Daylight Saving Time):

Theodora Goes Wild (1936) 11:00 AM
I Walked with a Zombie (1943) 12:45 PM
Royal Wedding (1951) 2:15 PM
McLintock! (1963) 4:00 PM

Be sure to tune into Turner Classic Movies Saturday to watch this round of Fan Favourites. And if you're on Twitter, be sure to follow the hashtag #tcmparty. If it is like the other Fan Favourites, there should be a continuous TCM Party going on!

In other news, for the month of September Turner Classic Movies launched a new branding campaign with the tagline "Let's Movie". The new campaign is meant to draw a broader audience to TCM. Here it must be pointed out that the new campaign does not mean that TCM is changing its programming, as confirmed by Ben Mankiewicz himself. Turner Classic Movies is also launching a social media campaign with the hashtag #LetsMovie and has declared September 19 a “Lets Movie” holiday during which the channel encourages its fans to watch films on TCM with friends and family.

Below is the promo video to accompany the "Let's Movie" campaign, as well as their promo for what is airing in September.




While I have to confess I don't particularly care for the "Let's Movie" tagline (I really don't like it when nouns are used as verbs), I do love the idea behind the campaign itself. I encourage my fellow TCM Fans to participate. I know I will be tuned to TCM nearly all day September 19 and live tweeting films!

Dean Jones R.I.P.

Dean Jones died today at the age of 84. He had suffered from Parkinson's disease for some time.

Dean Jones was born on January 25 1931 in Decatur, Alabama. He was still attending Riverside High School in Decatur when he hosted his own, local radio show, Dean Jones Sings. He studied both acting and music for year at Asbury College in Wilmore, Kentucky before he enlisted in the United States Navy and served during the Korean War. He spent much of his time in the Navy in Special Services, putting on variety shows for his fellow sailors.

After being demobilised Mr. Jones got a job at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California. It was there that he was discovered by the songwriting team of Vernon Duke and Frank Loesser. Messrs. Duke and Loesser brought him to the attention of Dore Schary, then president of MGM. Mr. Schary signed him to a contract with the studio.

Dean Jones made his film debut in an uncredited role in Somebody Up There Likes Me in 1956. Mr. Jones had minor roles in the films These Wilder Years (1956), Tea and Sympathy (1956), The Opposite Sex (1956), and The Rack (1956) before receiving his first substantial role in the film The Great American Pastime in 1956. For the remainder of the Fifties Mr.Jones appeared in such films as Ten Thousand Bedrooms (1957), Jailhouse Rock (1957), Handle with Care (1958), Imitation General (1958), Torpedo Run (1958), Night of the Quarter Moon (1959), and Never So Few (1959). He made his television debut in an episode of Zane Grey Theatre in 1960. That same year he guest starred on the shows The Aquanauts, Outlaws, and Stagecoach West. He made his debut on Broadway in There Was a Little Girl in 1960 and appeared that same year in the play Under the Yum-Yum Tree.

Arguably the peak of Dean Jones's career was in the Sixties. Mr. Jones starred in the title role on the short lived television comedy Ensign O'Toole, which aired on NBC during the 1962-1963 season. While the show only lasted a single season, it brought Dean Jones to the attention of legendary producer and animator Walt Disney, having preceded Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Colour on the NBC schedule. Mr. Disney himself recruited Mr. Jones to star in a series of family friendly comedies produced by Walt Disney Productions. The first, and among the most popular of the Disney films in which Dean Jones starred was That Darn Cat (1965). It was followed by other Disney films starring Mr. Jones, including The Ugly Dachshund (1966), Monkeys, Go Home! (1967), Blackbeard's Ghost (1968), and The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit (1968). Perhaps the most successful film Mr. Jones made for Disney was The Love Bug (1968). Centred around a sentient Volkswagen Beetle named Herbie, the film proved very successful at the box office and produced several sequels and a TV series.

Of course, Mr. Jones did more than star in Disney movies during the Sixties. Beyond starring in Ensign O'Toole, he was also the host of the TV show What's It All About, World?. He guest starred on such TV shows as The Dick Powell Theatre, Bonanza, Wagon Train, Ben Casey, and Burke's Law. He reprised his role from Broadway as Dave Manning in the film adaptation of Under the Yum Yum Tree (1963). In the romantic comedy Any Wednesday (1966) he played opposite Jane Fonda. He also appeared in the films The New Interns (1964), Two on a Guillotine (1965), and Mr. Superinvisible (1970). On Broadway he originated the role of Robert in in Stephen Sondheim's Company.

In the Seventies Dean Jones continued to star in Disney comedies, including The Million Dollar Duck (1971), Snowball Express (1972), The Shaggy D.A. (1976), and Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo (1977).  He also appeared in the film Born Again (1978)  and had a cameo in the film The Sugarland Express (1974). He starred in the short lived sitcom The Chicago Teddy Bears and guest starred on the shows Medical Centre and Good Heavens. He appeared in the TV movies The Great Man's Whiskers, Guess Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed?, When Every Day Was the Fourth of July, and The Long Days of Summer.

In the Eighties Mr. Jones starred in the short lived television series Herbie, The Love Bug. He guest starred on The Love Boat; Finder of Lost Loves; and Murder, She Wrote. He appeared in the film St. John in Exile (1986). He appeared on Broadway in the play Into the Light.

In the Nineties Dean Jones played the villainous veterinarian Dr. Varnick in Beethoven (1992). He also appeared in the films Clear and Present Danger (1994) and That Darn Cat (1997). Mr. Jones provided the voice of George Newton on the animated series Beethoven. He provided the voice of Colonel Sam Lane in an episode of the animated series Superman and  Dean Arbagast in the straight-to-video animated release Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero, He was a guest voice on the animated series Adventures from the Book of Virtues and The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest. He appeared on television in the TV films The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes and The Love Bug. He guest starred on the short-lived cult series Nowhere Man. He appeared on Broadway in a revival of Company.

In the Naughts Dean Jones appeared Lavinia's Heist (2007) and Mandie and the Secret Tunnel (2009). He appeared in the TV special Scrooge and Marley.

There can be no doubt that Dean Jones was best known for the work he did with Walt Disney Productions. Indeed, for an entire generation of movie viewers Mr. Jones is perhaps as identified with Disney as Hayley Mills or Mickey Mouse. More often than not in the movies he made for Disney, Dean Jones played an average guy somewhat befuddled by the unusual circumstances in which he found himself. Over the course of several years in various Disney films he found himself contending with a very intelligent cat, a Great Dane who thought he was a dachshund, a sentient VW Beetle, and a duck that laid golden eggs. Dean Jones was perfect in such roles, coming off as an everyman who also happened to be handsome and intelligent, if a bit gobsmacked by the unusual events occurring around him. Indeed, it is hard to picture any other actor playing those parts.

Of course, Dean Jones made many more films than simply Disney movies. He appeared in two of my all time favourite Sixties sex comedies. Curiously, in both he plays a handsome, clean-cut everyman who finds himself in unusual circumstances. In Under the Yum Yum Tree he played David Manning, who finds himself in the then strange situation of living (platonically, of course) with his girlfriend Robin Austin (played by Carol Lynley) to determine their compatibility. In Any Wednesday he played Cass Henderson, who has the misfortune of falling in love with the mistress (played by Jane Fonda) of John Cleves (played by Jason Robards), of whom he is a client. Dean Jones excelled in both roles, proving that he could do far more than play opposite cats, dogs, and cars.

Indeed, it is to Dean Jones's credit that while he usually played nice guys, he could play a villain when called upon to do so. In Beethoven Dr. Varnick was as evil as they come--a veterinarian involved in highly unethical, illegal, and usually fatal experimentation on animals.  He was also adept at acting in dramas. In the TV film When Every Day Was the Fourth of July he played a defence attorney defending a brain-damaged World War I veteran on a charge of murder. The film received critical acclaim, as did Dean Jones for his performance.

While Dean Jones was best known for his many comedies, it must also be pointed out that he had an incredible singing voice. In another time and place he could have easily had a career in movie musicals. His impressive voice was put to good use in Company. Although best known for the movies he made for Disney, Dean Jones a multi-talented actor who was equally at home performing musicals and drama as he was comedy. While he will probably always be best known for his Disney movies, he did so much more.

Godspeed Wes Craven

Wes Craven, the famed horror director known for such films as The Last House on the Left (1972), A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), and Scream (1996), died yesterday at age 76. The cause was brain cancer.

Wesley Craven was born on August 2 1939 in Cleveland, Ohio. He grew up in a strict Baptist household that not only forbade such things as swearing, drinking, smoking, and dancing, but strongly discouraged watching most movies. He was allowed to see Disney films, and particularly liked Fantasia (1940).  He attended Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, where he received a bachelor's degree in psychology and education. It was while he was at Wheaton that he paid to see a movie in the theatre for the first time. That movie happened to be To Kill a Mockingbird (1963). He received a Master's degree in philosophy from  Johns Hopkins University.

After receiving his master's degree, Wes Craven taught for a time as a humanities professor at Clarkson College in Potsdam, New York. Mr. Craven found teaching to be unsatisfying and left the profession. He worked as a taxi driver for a time before entering the film industry as a production assistant. Afterwards Mr. Craven was a a sound editor for a post-production film company and an editor on low-budget releases. For a  time he worked on pornographic films. In 1971 he was an associate producer on the low budget film Together, directed by Sean S. Cunningham.

The year 1972 saw the release of the first film directed and written by Wes Craven. Inspired by Ingmar Bergman's classic The Virgin Spring (1960), Last House on the Left was an ultra-violent, revenge horror film that could be described a forerunner of the torture chic genre. The film was a source of some controversy upon its first release. With the exception of Roger Ebert, critics generally deplored the film and labelled it "trash". Everyone from local censorship boards to even individual projectionists would make cuts to the film. In the United Kingdom Last House on the Left was refused a certificate by the British Board of Film Classification, effectively banning the film. It would not be released on video without cuts in the United Kingdom until 2008. Regardless of the controversy, Last House on the Left proved to be a success at the box office, largely due to its famous "It's only a movie..." advertising campaign. In the years since its release Last House on the Left has come to be regarded as a horror classic.

Regardless, the controversy over Last House on the Left would make it difficult for Wes Craven to make another movie right away. Following Last House on the Left he edited the films It Happened in Hollywood (1973) and Kitty Can't Help It (1975). He also directed the porn film Fireworks Woman (1975) under the name "Abe Snake". He returned to directing horror movies with The Hills Have Eyes (1977). Like Last House on the Left, The Hills Have Eyes was also an ultra-violent film. In fact, the MPAA ratings board initially gave the film an "X" rating before several cuts were made allowing for the film to be rated "R". Ultimately The Hills Have Eyes did not provoke the controversy of Mr. Craven's previous film, although it still did fairly well at the box office. Following The Hills Have Eyes, Wes Craven directed the television movie Stranger in Our House, which aired in 1978 on NBC. He served as the cinematographer on The Evolution of Snuff (1978) and as a gaffer on Here Come the Tigers (1978).

The early Eighties saw Wes Craven transitioning from the gritty brutality of Last House on the Left and The Hills Have Eyes to films that were a little bit more commercially mainstream. The poorly received Deadly Blessing was an example of this, combining more traditional horror fare with the grittiness of Mr. Craven's earlier work. The film received largely negative reviews and today is not considered one of his better works. Fortunately Wes Craven's next film, Swamp Thing (1982), was much better received. An adaptation of the DC Comic book of the same name, Swamp Thing had a lighter touch than much of his work (and also  than the comic book), and also featured more action as well. Wes Craven's most commercial film up to that time, Swamp Thing did moderately well at the box office and developed a cult following. Wes Craven followed Swamp Thing with the TV movie Invitation to Hell. The film aired on ABC and received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Art Direction for a Limited Series or a Special.

In the early to mid-Eighties the horror movie genre was dominated by a cycle towards slasher movies that included such films as Friday the 13th (1980),  My Bloody Valentine (1981), and  Prom Night (1980). Wes Craven's next film is still often lumped together with the slasher movies, even though it had much more in common with such supernatural horrors as Demons (1985) and Hellraiser (1987). A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) introduced the world to Freddy Krueger, a psychopathic ghost with the ability to kill people in their dreams. A Nightmare on Elm Street received largely positive reviews and did extraordinarily well at the box office It would produce numerous sequels, only one of which would be directed by Wes Craven, as well as a syndicated anthology series titled Freddy's Nightmares, with which Mr. Craven had very little to do.

Following A Nightmare on Elm Street, Wes Craven directed the TV movie Chiller, the poorly received sequel The Hills Have Eyes II (1985), the sci-fi/horror film Deadly Friend (1986), The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988), Shocker (1989), and the TV movie Night Visions. He also directed several episodes of the Eighties incarnation of the TV show The Twilight Zone. He wrote the screenplay for A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) as well.

In 1991 Wes Craven's film The People Under the Stairs was released. He created the short lived TV series Nightmare Cafe, six episodes of which aired on NBC in early 1992. He wrote two episodes of the series and directed one episode. Wes Craven directed Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994), a sequel to A Nightmare on Elm Street set outside the film's continuity in which the fictional Freddy Krueger breaks into the real world to menace the cast and crew of the Nightmare... films (including Mr. Craven himself). He followed it with the mainstream horror comedy Vampire in Brooklyn (1996).

It was in 1996 that Wes Craven's film Scream was released. Scream parodied the slasher film genre, with numerous references to its cliches. The film received overwhelmingly positive reviews and did very well at the box office. Wes Craven followed Scream with a sequel, Scream 2, released in 1997. Mr. Craven directed the drama Music of the Heart (1999) before directing Scream 3 (2000). During the Naughts Wes Craven directed the horror comedy Cursed (2005), the action film Red Eye (2005), a segment of the portmanteau film Paris, je t'aime (2006), and the supernatural horror film My Soul to Take (2010). His final film as director was Scream 4, released in 2011.

In my humble opinion, along with John Carpenter, David Cronenberg, and possibly Sam Raimi (if one counts him as part of the genre), Wes Craven was one of the last great horror directors. He was one of the last horror directors to truly know what frightened people. In the Seventies and Eighties, when many horror movies depended more upon shock or revulsion, Mr. Craven was still making films that were truly scary. I have no doubt that much of the success of Nightmare on Elm Street was due to the fact that it was one of the few frightening films released in those years dominated by rather banal, non-threatening, slasher films.

Not only did Wes Craven make some truly scary movies, but he also made movies that were truly original. In fact, he was something of a trendsetter. Last House on the Left took the horror movie genre to levels of gritty brutality it had never been taken before, to the point that even today many scenes in the film would be considered shocking. It paved the way for yet other graphic horror films, including The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) and Shivers (1975). Released in the midst of a cycle towards slasher films, A Nightmare on Elm Street marked a shift back towards supernatural horror. It would be followed by such films as Hellraiser (1987), The Gate (1987), and Warlock (1989). In 1996 With Scream Wes Craven gave us a slasher film that not only had strong elements of humour, but parodied the genre and constantly made reference to the genre as well. For better or worse, Scream not only revived interest in the slasher films of the Eighties, but spurred a generation of self-referential slasher films, including I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) and Urban Legend (1998). For most of his career, Wes Craven created trends rather than followed them.

Not only was Wes Craven very original, he was also very versatile. With Last House on the Left and The Hills Have Eyes he made films that were so realistic in their portrayal of violence that they were not only brutal, but for many very hard to watch. With Nightmare on Elm Street he crafted a truly frightening supernatural horror film. Scream blended horror and humour. Indeed, Mr. Craven directed films that could be considered outright comedies, including Vampire in Brooklyn and Cursed. He also directed the drama Music of the Heart and did a fairly good job at it, as well as the action film Red Eye. Wes Craven was best known as a horror director, but he could direct other sorts of films and even his horror movies varied wildly. Indeed, it is sometimes hard to believe the same man directed Scream as directed Last House on the Left.

It must be also be pointed out that Wes Craven's films were often much more sophisticated than other horror films made in the last three decades of the 20th Century. Indeed, a recurring motif in Mr. Craven's films was the nature of what is real and what is not. While the motif is perhaps felt most strongly in A Nightmare on Elm Street, in which the line between dreams and reality is nearly non-existent, it occurs in many of his other films as well.  In his underrated The Serpent and the Rainbow the protagonist finds it difficult to distinguish between hallucinations and reality after drinking a  hallucinogenic potion. Scream and its sequels are slasher films in which the conventions of the genre are constantly referenced, a prime example of metacinema if there ever was one. While other horror directors in the Eighties were content to have nubile young people chopped up by generic serial killers, Wes Craven was using his films to explore the nature of reality.

Of course, beyond being a talented auteur (Mr. Craven wrote many of his films as well as directed them), from all reports Wes Craven was also a very nice man. Those people I know who had the honour to meet him always said the same thing. He was very warm and funny, a soft spoken man who seemed to truly appreciate his fans. As is sometimes the case, those who can summon up the greatest horrors on the silver screen are in reality the nicest people around. I have to suspect that much of the reason Wes Craven is being so mourned isn't just because he was a talented director, but because he was also a very nice man.

"Good Vibrations" by The Beach Boys

It looks like this week I will once more be writing at least one eulogy. I then thought I would post something quite a bit happier tonight. Here is "Good Vibrations" by The Beach Boys.

The 100th Birthday of Ingrid Bergman

It was 100 years ago today that Ingrid Bergman was born in Stockholm, Sweden. To this day she remains one of the most famous stars from the Golden Age of Cinema and one of those who is still recognised by the general public. She won three Academy Awards, making her tied for second place in number of Oscar wins with Walter Brennan, Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep, and Daniel Day Lewis as far as actors are concerned. Miss Bergman also won two Emmy Awards and one Tony Award. In the American Film Institute's list of the 25 top female stars, Ingrid Bergman ranked fourth.

Ingrid Bergman knew from an early age she wanted to be an actress. She made her film debut in 1932 as an extra in the film Landskamp.  She won a scholarship to the Kungliga Dramatiska Teatern or Dramaten (the Royal Dramatic Theatre) in Stockholm, at which Greta Garbo, among other Swedish stars, had trained in acting. It was there that she made her professional stage debut. It while she was on a break during the summer from the Royal Dramatic Theatre that she was cast in a small role in Munkbrogreven (1935).

Over the next few years Ingrid Bergman appeared in the films Bränningar (1935), Swedenhielms (1935), and Valborgsmässoafton (1935). Her breakthrough role came in 1935 with Intermezzo (1935), in which Miss Bergman played a piano teacher who has an affair with her student's father. Previously cast in supporting roles, after Intermezzo Miss Bergman played the female lead in the films Dollar (1938), Die vier Gesellen (1938), En kvinnas ansikte (1938), and En enda natt (1939).

It would be Intermezzo that would bring Ingrid Bergman to Hollywood. Producer David O. Selznick's assistant Kay Brown had seen the film and as a result Mr. Selznick sent Miss Brown to Sweden in order to secure the rights for an American remake. Once Kay Brown returned to the United States with the rights to do a remake of Intermezzo, David O. Selznick decided he also wanted to sign the film's star. Kay Brown then returned to Sweden where she talked Ingrid Bergman into signing a contract with Mr. Selznick.

This is not to say that signing Ingrid Bergman did not come off without a hitch for David O. Selznick. Ingrid Bergman would only commit to one film before deciding if she wanted to stay in Hollywood. And as incredible as it must seem today given Ingrid Bergman's status as one of the great beauties of the Golden Age of Film, Mr. Selznick wanted to give her a Hollywood makeover, including plucking her eyebrows, dyeing her hair, and capping her teeth. Ingrid Bergman refused to have herself made over, and as a result David O. Selznick decided to capitalise on her "naturalness".

The American remake of Intermezzo,  Intermezzo: A Love Story (1939), proved to be a success. David O. Selznick then signed Miss Bergman to a seven year contract. The years immediately following the release of Intermezzo: A Love Story would prove to be the height of Ingrid Bergman's career. She appeared in Rage in Heaven (1941) and MGM's version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) before appearing in what remains her best known film, Casablanca (1942). She was nominated for the first time for an Oscar for the film For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943) and won her first Oscar for Gaslight (1944). Miss Bergman was nominated for two more Oscars for The Bells of St. Mary's (1945) and Joan of Arc (1948). During this period Ingrid Bergman worked three times with director Alfred Hitchcock, appearing in three of her best known films: Spellbound (1945), Notorious (1946), and Under Capricorn (1949).  The two developed a close and long lasting friendship. In fact, while Miss Bergman valued Mr. Hitchcock as a friend and nothing more, the great director fell in love with her.

In addition to making films during the Forties, Ingrid Bergman also appeared on stage. In 1940 she appeared on Broadway in Liliom. In 1947 she appeared on Broadway in Joan of Lorraine.  She also appeared in the play Anna Christie.

Once her contract with David O. Selznick ended Ingrid Bergman went freelance. She appeared in the films Arch of Triumph (1948) and Joan of Arc (1948). She also sought out director Roberto Rossellini.  Miss Bergman had seen Mr. Rossellini's films Roma città aperta (1945), known in English as Open City, and Paisà (1945), known in English as Paisan, and admired both of them. Miss Bergman then wrote to Mr. Rossellini and offered to work with him. In the end Ingrid Bergman travelled to Italy to appear in his film Stromboli (1950).

Ultimately Ingrid Bergman and Roberto Rossellini fell in love with each other. Miss Bergman left her husband, Petter Lindström, for Mr. Rossellini, and she was not yet divorced when she was pregnant with their first child, Robertino Rossellini. Unfortunately the affair would cause a scandal in the overly conservative United States of the 1950s, with the end result being that Miss Bergman's career would suffer in America. She was widely denounced in the American press and even on the floor of the Senate by Senator Edwin C. Johnson. At the time individuals such as Steve Allen, who had Ingrid Bergman as a guest on his show during the ensuing scandal, seemed increasingly rare in the United States. Having gone from one of Hollywood's top stars to persona non grata almost overnight, Ingrid Bergman moved to Italy. There she made such films as Europa '51 (1951), Viaggio in Italia (1954), and Elena et les hommes (1956). As to Stromboli, it would come to be regarded as one of Ingrid Bergman's greatest films. Despite the scandal that ensued in the United States, she won the Italian Syndicate of Film Journalists' award for Best Foreign Actress in Italian Film and Roberto Rossellini was nominated for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.

Fortunately Ingrid Bergman would be able to make a comeback in Hollywood with the film Anastasia (1956). In the film Miss Bergman played an amnesiac who may or not be the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia. The cast included such stars as Yul Brynner, Miss Bergman won another Oscar for Best Actress in a Lead Role for the film. She did not attend the Academy Awards ceremony, so her friend Cary Grant accepted for her. Miss Bergman was a presenter at the 1958 Academy Awards ceremony, at which she received a standing ovation.

Following Anastasia Ingrid Bergman appeared in several films, as well as television. She won her first Emmy in 1959 for an adaptation of Turn of the Screw that aired on the anthology series Startime. She won a second Emmy for her role in the mini-series A Woman Called Golda, which would also be her final acting role. She won the Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Murder on the Orient Express (1974) and was nominated for the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Höstsonaten (1978). Over the years she appeared in such films as Indiscreet (1958), The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958), and Cactus Flower (1969). The United States Senate would even make amends for the attack on her because of her affair with Roberto Rossellini in 1950. In 1972 Senator Charles H. Percy entered an apology into the Congressional Record for the earlier attack.

Sadly, Ingrid Bergman died from breast cancer in London on her 67th birthday, August 29 1982.

There are those stars whose primary claims to fame are that they are exceptionally beautiful or exceptionally glamorous. Ingrid Bergman was incredibly beautiful and she was also very glamorous, but her fame stems from much more than that. Quite simply, Ingrid Bergman was one of the greatest actresses to grace the silver screen. Much as she was acclaimed for her natural beauty, Ingrid Bergman's acting style was entirely natural as well. Her acting was never forced or contrived. The characters she played in her films seemed less like movie characters than they did real people. The sensitivity Miss Bergman approached her roles and her sheer versatility in the sort of roles she played could not help but endear her to the movie viewing public. Over the years Ingrid Bergman played everything from the wife of a resistance leader to a nun to an amnesiac who may be the last surviving daughter of Tsar Nicholas II.

While Ingrid Bergman was and still is loved by the general public, she was valued by the movie industry as well. She was well known for her professionalism. She was well known for her lack of temperament and was known for going into roles fully prepared. She continued to work even after she was diagnosed with cancer, even then still displaying the professionalism she had earlier in her career.

One hundred years after her birth Ingrid Bergman is still one of the most famous film stars of all time. While many once famous stars are now only known to classic movie buffs, "Ingrid Bergman" is still a name familiar to the general public. Indeed, her best known films (Casablanca, Notorious, Spellbound, and The Bells of St. Mary's) continue to be popular. One has to suspect that one hundred years from now Ingrid Bergman will still be as famous and beloved as she is now.

Ingrid Bergman in Gaslight (1944)

Arguably the height of legendary actress Ingrid Bergman's career was the mid-Forties. It was in 1942 that she appeared in what may be her most famous film, Casablanca. The success of Casablanca was followed by other successful hit films, including For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943), Spellbound (1945), and Notorious (1946). Among Miss Bergman's successes of the era was Gaslight (1944), in which she played  Paula Alquist Anton, a woman nearly driven to madness by her husband (Gregory Anton, played by Charles Boyer).  For her role as Paula, Ingrid Bergman won the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Lead Role.

In retrospect there should be little wonder that Gaslight (1944) was a success. Not only were both stars Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer at the peaks of their careers, but the film was based an already existing and very successful property. The film was based on the play Gas Light by Patrick Hamilton, which debuted on London's West End at the Apollo Theatre in December 1938. Gas Light proved extremely successful, so much so that both it and its subsequent movie adaptations would give rise to the term gaslighting, referring to the psychological manipulation of someone into questioning his or her own sanity. Gas Light made its way to the United States where it ran on Broadway, for whatever reason, under the name Angel Street. Angel Street debuted on Broadway on December 5 1941 and ran until December 30 1944.

The popularity of the play Gas Light in the United Kingdom guaranteed that there would be a film adaptation. Indeed, the first one was made before the play even arrived on American shores. Gaslight (1940) was produced by British National Films and directed by Thorold Dickinson. It starred Anton Walbrook and Diana Wynyard in the lead roles of Paul and Bella Mallen respectively. Gaslight (1940) was well received by audiences and critics alike in the United Kingdom.

Columbia bought the American distribution rights to Gaslight (1940) and planned to release it in the United States. For various reasons, Columbia never did release the original, British adaptation of the play. Regardless, the success of the play on both sides of the Atlantic would lead MGM to buy the American film rights for $150,000.  As early as  August 1944 The New York Times reported the rumour that MGM had ordered every single copy of the 1940 adaptation of Gaslight destroyed. Despite the persistence of the rumour to this day, Gaslight (1940) would eventually be released in the United States under the title Angel Street by Commercial Pictures in April 1953.

While Ingrid Bergman would go onto win the Oscar for Best Actress for her role as tormented wife  Paula Alquist Anton, she very nearly did not get the part. In October 1942 it was Irene Dunne and Melvyn Douglas who were announced as the stars of MGM's adaptation of Gaslight. MGM later offered the role of harassed wife Paula to Hedy Lamarr, who turned the role down (curiously, she had earlier turned down Casablanca, perhaps Ingrid Bergman's most famous role). Miss Bergman had seen the play when it had been on Broadway and even tried persuading David O. Selznick (to whom she was under contract) to buy the film rights. Unfortunately, Mr. Selznick refused. Quite naturally when she learned MGM was producing its own version of the play, Miss Bergman asked him to loan her to MGM so she could play the female lead. Unfortunately Mr. Selznick would do so only if she was given top billing over Charles Boyer. Mr. Boyer refused to take second billing to Ingrid Bergman. At last Ingrid Bergman broke down in tears and begged David O. Selznick to loan her to MGM for the film. Fortunately, Mr. Selznick acquiesced.

There was one minor complication in Ingrid Bergman playing opposite Charles Boyer, one that seems somewhat laughable today. Ingrid Bergman was tall for a woman of the era, standing 5 foot 9 inches. Charles Boyer was about average height for a man of the era, also standing 5 foot 9 inches.  Unfortunately at the time Hollywood liked for its male leads to be taller than its female leads. As a result Charles Boyer played many of his scenes opposite Ingrid Bergman standing on a box or wearing shoes with two inch heels!

Here it should be noted that in addition to Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer, the cast also boasted Dame Angela Lansbury in her film debut. Miss Lansbury was only seventeen when shooting on the film began, so that a scene in which she smokes a cigarette had to be delayed until after her eighteenth birthday. It was an auspicious start  to Miss Lansbury's career. Not only did she have a significant role in a hit film, but she was nominated for the Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

Gaslight would turn out to be a hit with both critics and audiences. Gaslight earned  $2,263,000 in the United States and Canada, and it was the thirteenth highest grossing film in the United States for 1944. The film also did well as the Academy Awards. In addition to Ingrid Bergman's win for Best Actress in a Leading Role for the film, Gaslight also won the Oscar for Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White. It was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Picture; Best Actor in a Leading Role (for Charles Boyer); Best Actress in a Supporting Role (for Angela Lansbury); Best Writing, Screenplay; and Best Cinematography, Black-and-White.

Over the years there has been some debate as to whether Ingrid Bergman deserved to win the Oscar for Best Actress for Gaslight. After all, 1945 was the year that Barbara Stanwyck was nominated in the category for Double Indemnity (1944), while Bette Davis and Greer Garson received nominations for Mr. Skeffington (1944) and Mrs. Parkington (1944) respectively. While one could debate whether Ingrid Bergman or someone else deserved to win, it is hard for me to understand how anyone could say that Ingrid Bergman did not give a good performance as Paula in Gaslight. Bergman does a good job of taking Paula from a naive young girl in love to a young woman who is convinced that she is going out of her mind. What is more, she plays off Charles Boyer and he plays off her quite well. Including Angela Lansbury in her first film role, it would seem obvious that Gaslight is very much a film to watch for its cast's performances.

Today Gaslight remains one of Ingrid Bergman's better known films. It marked the occasion of her second Oscar nomination (the first was for For Whom the Bell Tolls) and the first Oscar she ever won. It remains one of those films every Ingrid Bergman fan must see.

Congratulations to Debbie Reynolds!

I must confess that almost as far back as I can remember I have always had a crush on Debbie Reynolds. I'm not sure where I first encountered Miss Reynolds. It may have been on her short-lived sitcom on NBC or it may have been one of her many movies. Regardless, my heart has always beat a little faster any time I see her on the small or big screens. Indeed, as a boy I figured Eddie Fisher must have been crazy to have left Debbie Reynolds for Elizabeth Taylor. Okay, I learned soon enough that at the time Elizabeth Taylor was considered the "most beautiful woman in the world", but Debbie Reynolds was, well, Debbie Reynolds.

Given I have carried a torch for Debbie Reynolds for more years than I would like to remember, I was very happy to learn that she is receiving the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science's Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the seventh annual Governors Awards, which will be held November 14  at the Grand Ballroom at Hollywood and Highland in Los Angeles. Director Spike Lee and actress Gena Rowlands will also receive honorary Oscars.

Anyhow, congratulations to Debbie Reynolds! To celebrate here are a few pictures from her career.

Debbie Reynolds and  Donald O'Connor in a publicity still for I Love Melvin (1953)

Debbie enjoying the sun. I'm not sure when this photo was taken.

Debbie Reynolds circa 1959

A publicity shot of Marge Champion and Debbie Reynolds from Give a Girl a Break