Dawn's Favorite Movie actresses and their films of the "60's".

These are my top 10 movie actresses of the 60's and the films that they performed in:

Katharine Hepburn:
1962 Long Day's Journey Into Night
1967 Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
1968 The Lion in Winter
1969 The Madwoman of Chaillot

By the 1960′s Katherine Hepburn had been making films for over 30 years, with 8 Academy Award Nominations and one win. In 1960 she was nominated a 9th time for Best Actress in the film, Suddenly Last Summer, opposite Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift. In 1963, she again was nominated for a tenth Oscar as Mary Tyrone in the film, Long Day’s Journey Into Night(1962). Then in 1968 and 1969, Kathrine won her second and third Oscar for Best Actress in, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, and The Lion in Winter. The 1960′s introduced her to a whole new group of fans.

Video is from: (1969) The Madwoman of Chaillot, which is based on a Giraudoux play about modern society endangered by the forces of power and greed.

Fay Dunaway:
1969 The Extraordinary Seaman
1969 The Arrangement
1968 A Place for Lovers
1968 The Thomas Crown Affair
1967 Bonnie and Clyde
1967 The Happening
1967 Hurry Sundown

Her first film was in 1967 in, Hurry Sundown, but that same year, she got the leading female role in, Bonnie and Clyde (opposite Warren Beatty) which won her an Oscar nomination. Very few actresses started off their Hollywood careers with Oscar nominated roles.

It would be another ten years before she won her Oscar, but in my opinion her greatest role was that of Bonnie Parker in, Bonnie and Clyde.

Audrey Hepburn:
1967 Wait Until Dark
1967 Two for the Road
1966 How to Steal a Million
1964 My Fair Lady
1964 Paris When It Sizzles
1963 Charade
1961 The Children's Hour
1961 Breakfast at Tiffany's
1960 The Unforgiven

Audrey Hepburn, best work may have been in the 1960′s with one of her best known roles as Holly Golightly in, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, or Eliza Doolitle in, My Fair Lady (even though her voice was dubbed in the singing parts). Beautiful, elegant, Hollywood.. had very few actresses like, Audrey.

Audrey's work with UNICEF, made the organization a household name.

Elizabeth Taylor:
1969 Anne of the Thousand Days
1968 Secret Ceremony
1968 Boom!
1967 The Comedians
1967 Reflections in a Golden Eye
1967 Doctor Faustus
1967 The Taming of the Shrew
1966 Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
1965 The Sandpiper
1964 Becket
1963 The V.I.P.s
1963 Cleopatra
1960 BUtterfield 8
1960 Scent of Mystery

In the 1960′s Taylor was known for her beauty, but she also was very talented. She was the winner of the 1960 Best Actress award in the film, Butterfield8 as a prostitute and in 1963′s Cleopatra and in 1966 she won the Best Actress award for the second time for her performance in, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolfe. Based on the controversial play by Edward Albee, this noir-ish 1966 drama stars former real-life couple Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, which maybe their best performances.

Video: 1960 BUtterfield 8 movie Trailer.

Jane Fonda:
1969 They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
1968 Barbarella
1968 Spirits of the Dead
1967 Barefoot in the Park
1967 Hurry Sundown
1966 Any Wednesday
1966 The Game Is Over
1966 The Chase
1965 Cat Ballou
1964 Circle of Love
1964 Joy House
1963 Sunday in New York
1963 In the Cool of the Day
1962 Period of Adjustment
1962 The Chapman Report
1962 Walk on the Wild Side
1960 Tall Story

Her stage work in the late 1950's help prepared her for her film career in the 1960s. She averaged almost two movies a year throughout the decade, starting in 1960 with Tall Story, in which she recreated one of her Broadway roles as a college cheerleader pursuing a basketball star, played by Anthony Perkins. Period of Adjustment and Walk on the Wild Side followed in 1962. In Walk on the Wild Side Fonda played a prostitute, and earned a Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer.

Fonda's breakthrough came with the film, Cat Ballou (1965), in which she played a schoolmarm turned outlaw. This comedy Western received five Oscar nominations. Soon after she performed in the comedies, Any Wednesday (1966) and Barefoot in the Park (1967).

In 1968 she played the lead role in, Barbarella, directed by her French film director husband Roger Vadim. The film, They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969) earned her first Oscar nomination. Fonda was very selective by the end of the 1960s, turning down lead roles in Rosemary's Baby and Bonnie and Clyde.

Video from: Barefoot in the Park.

Marilyn Monroe:
1960 Let's Make Love
1961 Misfits
1962 Something's Got to Give

Marilyn, had no real acting techniques. It was only Marilyn, a "star" and "sex symbol" of the "60's".

Her last completed film, The Misfits, was directed by John Huston and costarring Clark Gable, Montgomery Clift, Eli Wallach and Thelma Ritter. Shooting taking place in the hot Northern Nevada desert. Monroe was frequently ill and unable to perform. Making the film was a difficult experience for all the actors; in addition to Monroe's illness, Montgomery Clift had frequently been unable to perform and by the final day of shooting, Thelma Ritter was in hospital suffering from exhaustion. Gable, commenting that he did not fell well, left the set without attending the wrap party. Within ten days Gable had died from a heart attack. Gable's widow, Kay, commented to Louella Parsons that it had been the "eternal waiting" on the set of The Misfits that had contributed to his death.

In 1962 Monroe began filming Something's Got to Give. It was to be directed by George Cukor, and co-starred Dean Martin and Cyd Charisse.

On May 19, 1962, she attended a birthday celebration of President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden, at the suggestion of Kennedy's brother-in-law, actor Peter Lawford. Where Monroe performed "Happy Birthday".

Monroe returned to the set of, Something's Got to Give and filmed a scene in which she performed nude in a swimming pool. Commenting that she wanted to "push Liz Taylor off the magazine covers", she gave permission for several partially nude photographs to be published by Life. Monroe was dismissed and was replaced by Lee Remick, and Dean Martin refused to work with any other actress.

Following her dismissal, she gave an interview to Cosmopolitan and was photographed at Peter Lawford's beach house sipping champagne and walking on the beach. She next posed for Vogue in a series of photographs that included several nudes. Published after her death, they became known as "The Last Sitting".

In the final weeks of her life, Monroe was planning future film projects, and to continue negotiations on the film, Something's Got to Give.. Among the projects was a biography of Jean Harlow filmed two years later with, Carroll Baker. Starring roles in, Irma la Douce and What a Way to Go! were also discussed. A film version of the Broadway musical, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, and an unnamed World War I–themed musical co-starring Gene Kelly were also discussed, but the projects were never to be.

Brigitte Bardot:
1969 Les femmes
 1968 Shalako
1968 Spirits of the Dead
1967 Two Weeks in September
1965 Dear Brigitte
1965 Viva Maria!
1964 Agent 38-24-36
1963 Contempt
1962 Love on a Pillow
1962 A Very Private Affair
1961 Famous Love Affairs
1961 Please, Not Now!
1960 The Truth
1960 It Happened All Night

Brigitte's, "sex kitten" beauty took the US by storm. In 1965 she performed as herself  in, "Dear Brigitte" (1965) with James Steward (she only appeared in one scene).



She prefers life outside of stardom. The Paparazzi constantly hounded her with their cameras. After her life in the spotlight, Brigitte went on to become a leading spokesperson for animal rights and started the "Foundation Brigitte Bardot".

Goldie Hawn:
1969 Cactus Flower
1969 Five the Hard Way (unconfirmed)
1968 The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band.

Hawn, began her acting career as a cast member of the comedy Good Morning, World during 1967-1968, her role was the girlfriend of a radio disc jockey, with a stereotype "dumb blonde" personality. Her next role, was as one of the regular cast members on the 1968-1973 comedy show, Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. On the show, she would break out into giggles in the middle of a joke, and deliver a perfect performance a minute later. Hawn, was known as the "60s It" girl.

Hawn's Laugh-In personaiity was used in the film, Cactus Flower. Hawn had made her feature film debut in a bit role as a giggling dancer in the 1968 film, The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band, in which she was billed as "Goldie Jeanne", but in her first major film role, in Cactus Flower (1969), she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress as Walter Matthau's suicidal fiancée.




 

Sharon Tate:

Sharon Tate had performed only bit parts, but was considered a beautiful and rising actress. Tate met film director Roman Polanski then starred in Valley of the Dolls, followed by, The Wrecking Crew with Dean Martin.

1969 The Wrecking Crew
1967 Valley of the Dolls
1967 The Fearless Vampire Killers
1967 Don't Make Waves
1966 Eye of the Devil

Ava Gardner:
1968 Mayerling
1966 The Bible: In the Beginning...
1964 The Night of the Iguana
1964 Seven Days in May
1963 55 Days at Peking
1960 The Angel Wore Red

Ava Gardner, is thought of as one of the most beautiful actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age. In 1966, Gardner tried out for the role of Mrs. Robinson in the film, The Graduate (1967).

In 1968, she made what some consider to be one of her best films, Mayerling, in which she played the Austrian Empress Elisabeth of Austria opposite James Mason as Emperor Franz Joseph I.

H.M. Pulham, Esq (1941).

H.M. Pulham, Esq (1941). Directed by King Vidor and based on a novel by John P. Marquand. Vidor co-wrote the screenplay with his wife, Elizabeth Hill Vidor. Cast: Robert Young, Hedy Lamarr, Ruth Hussey, Charles Coburn, and Van Heflin. There is also an early uncredited appearance by Ava Gardner.

Harry Moulton Pulham Jr. is a middle-aged Boston businessman, who has a wife, Kay, with whom he has settled into a too comfortable marriage, but.. it did not start out that way.

Harry finds himself in charge of organizing a twenty-five-year college reunion, he thinks back to after the end of World War I. His friend Bill King, helps him get a job for a New York City advertising company, where he falls in love with, Marvin Miles. She does not want to be a traditional wife and he cannot imagine living anywhere other than Boston. So they break off their relationship. Harry,  marries a woman with the same ideas about marriage as he has.

Many years later, Marvin, who has also married arranges to meet Harry again where sparks begins to fly and Harry is tempted to have an affair, but they both realize that it would not be a good idea.



Harry, begs his wife to go away with him on a romantic vacation, to rekindle their love. At first, she says "no", but.. will she change her mind and agree to go away with him?

This was Hedy Lamarr's favorite film and she delivered the best dramatic performance of her career. Here she is not the mysterious seductive woman, as in her other films. She is loving and kind, in her role as a career girl who falls in love with her boss. Robert was not the first choice for the role. Both Gary Cooper and James Stewart turned the role down, leading Vidor to offer the role to Robert Young.

Ruth Hussey, was encouraged by a friend to try out for acting roles at the Providence Playhouse. The theater director there turned her down, saying the roles were cast only out of New York City. Later that week she traveled to New York City and on her first day there she signed-up with a talent agent who booked her for a role in a play starting the next day back at the Providence Playhouse.

In New York City she also worked as a model with the world-famous Powers agency. She then landed a role in the film,, Dead End and toured the country in 1937 and at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles where she was spotted by talent scout Billy Grady. MGM signed her to a players contract and she made her film debut in 1937. She quickly became a leading lady in MGM's "B" unit. For a 1940 "A" picture role she was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance as Elizabeth Imbrie, the magazine photographer and girlfriend of Jimmy Stewart's character in the film, The Philadelphia Story.

Hussey also worked with Robert Taylor in, Flight Command (1940), Robert Young in H.M. Pulham, Esq. (1941), Van Heflin in Tennessee Johnson (1942), Ray Milland in The Uninvited (1944) and Alan Ladd in The Great Gatsby (1949). In 1946 she starred on Broadway in State Of The Union the Pulitzer Prize play. In 1960 she co-starred in the film, The Facts of Life with Bob Hope.

Pawsome Pet Pictures: Ava Gardner

Happy Birthday: Ava Gardner!

Ava Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990), performed in small roles until her performance in the film, The Killers (1946). Please click here to view The Killers(1946) movie review.

Soon after, she became one of Hollywood's leading actresses and considered one of the most beautiful women of her day. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in, Mogambo (1953). Please click here to view Mogambo(1954) movie review.

She appeared in many films from the 1950s to 1970s: Bhowani Junction (1956), On the Beach (1959), The Night of the Iguana (1964),Please click here to view Night of the Iguana(1964) movie review. Earthquake (1974), and The Cassandra Crossing (1976). Gardner continued to act until 1986.

This video is from the film, Show Boat (1951).



Please click here to read more about Ava Gardner.

The Great Dramas: The Night of the Iguana (1964).

The Night of the Iguana (1964). Based on the 1961 play The Night of the Iguana by Tennessee Williams. Directed by John Huston.Cast: Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, and Deborah Kerr. It won the 1964 Academy Award for Best Costume Design, and was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography. Actress Grayson Hall received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, and Cyril Delevanti received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

A defrocked Minister by the name Shannon, is now working as a tour guide for Blake Tours, his first job is to take a group of Baptist School teachers on a bus to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Charlotte's aunt, accuses Shannon of trying to seduce her niece and fires him. Panicked, Shannon drives the bus and ladies, to a Costa Verde Hotel in Mismaloya on the coast of Mexico, where he tries to prevent Fellowes from calling his boss. Shannon is surprised when he hears that his old friend Fred, died a month earlier, and the hotel is now run by Fred's widow, Maxine Faulk. Soon after, Hannah Jelkes, a painter from Nantucket who travels from place to place with her elderly poet grandfather show up. They have run out of money and Shannon convinces the not to happy Maxine, to let them stay.

While Shannon ties to battle his demons, Miss Fellows niece continues to make trouble for him.

Shannon suffers a breakdown, the cabana boys tie him in a hammock, Hannah calms him with poppy tea and understanding..





Another emotional  scene.


Night of the Iguana is deeply emotional film. The characters all have their troubles, but.. they are also thoughtful and courageous. Creating a film that is absolutely amazing. One that you will want to watch many times.

The Hucksters (1947).

The Hucksters (1947). Cast: Clark Gable, Deborah Kerr, Sydney Greenstreet, Adolphe Menjou, Ava Gardner and Keenan Wynn .

War veteran Victor Albee Norman returns to New York City, wanting to land an advertising job with the Kimberly Advertising Agency. During his interview with Mr. Kimberly, Victor agrees to take on the company's toughest client, Evans Beauty Soap. Victor likes the idea of the new advertising campaign, in which twenty-five women, give testimonials for the soap in exchange for a donation to their favorite charity. At the photographer's studio, Victor and a representative from the Kimberly agency argue over how Kay should dress for the shoot. The argument results in an emergency board meeting, during which Victor meets Evans. To prove his point that consumers can be shocked into paying attention to advertisements, Evans catches the attention of the board members by spitting on the table. Evans shares his belief that the radio ad should irritate its listeners in order to be best remembered, Victor tell him that the soap should talk about cleanliness. Victor then impresses Evans with a new classier radio ad.



To celebrate, Kimberly and his wife take Victor and Kay out to the dinner club where Victor's past lover, Jean Ogilvie, is singing, Kimberly gets drunk and almost ruins the evening.

Later when they are alone, Victor and Kay make plans to spend a romantic evening together at the, Blue Penguin Inn. Victor is surprised to see that the hotel is under a new and less-than-attentive management. When Kay arrives, she takes one look at the hotel and misinterpreting Victor's intentions, immediately leaves. Victor is still waiting for Kay when he is called back to New York. His next job is to go to Hollywood to sign up radio personality Buddy Hare for the show.

While traveling Victor runs into Jean, after their conversation, Jean realizes that he is in love with Kay. Will Victor and Kay become engaged and will Victor complete his new assignment?

This was Ava Gardner's first big role in a major film. This was the first of three films she did with Gable, besides Lone Star and Mogambo. I think that you will love Ava's and Gable's, on screen chemistry.

Keenan Wynn (July 27, 1916 – October 14, 1986) was a character actor and member of a well-known show business family. His bristling mustache and expressive face were his stock in trade, and though he very rarely had a lead role, he received prominent billing in most of his movie and TV roles.

List of Keenan films I have seen :
Week-End at the Waldorf
Easy to Wed (1946)
The Hucksters (1947)
Song of the Thin Man
Neptune's Daughter (1949)
Annie Get Your Gun (1950)
Angels in the Outfield (1951)
Royal Wedding (1951)
Kiss Me Kate (1953)
The Long, Long Trailer (1954)
Men of the Fighting Lady (1954)
The Glass Slipper (1955)
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956)
That Kind of Woman (1959)
A Hole in the Head (1959)
The Absent-Minded Professor (1961)
Son of Flubber (1963)
Dr. Strangelove (1964)
Bikini Beach (1964)
The Great Race (1965)
Stagecoach (1966)
Welcome to Hard Times (1967)
The War Wagon (1967)
Point Blank (1967)
Terror in the Sky (1971) (TV)
The Mechanic (1972)
Hijack! (1973)
Herbie Rides Again (1974)
The Devil's Rain (1975)
The Shaggy D.A.
Best Friends (1982)

Ava Gardner.

Naked Maja, The (1959). Romantic biography of the Spanish painter Goya and his relationship with the Duchess of Alba. Cast: Ava Gardner, Anthony Franciosa, Amedeo Nazzari. Dir: Henry Koster.

On the Beach (1959). After a nuclear war, U.S. sailors stationed in Australia deal with the end of civilization. Cast: Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire.

Angel Wore Red, The (1960).A priest and a prostitute fall in love during the Spanish Civil War. Cast: Ava Gardner, Dirk Bogarde, Joseph Cotten. Dir: Nunnally Johnson.

55 Days At Peking (1963). An American major leads the defense against Chinese revolutionaries in 1900 Peking. Cast: Charlton Heston, David Niven, Ava Gardner. Dir: Nicholas Ray.

Hucksters, The (1947). A war veteran fights for honesty in the advertising game. Cast: Clark Gable, Deborah Kerr, Ava Gardner. Dir: Jack Conway.


Of all the Ava Gardner movies that are being featured today I have only seen, She Went To The Races (1945). A pretty scientist with a system for horse-race betting falls in love with a trainer. Cast: James Craig, Frances Gifford, Ava Gardner. Dir: Willis Goldbeck. Please click Ava Gardners  picture located on the side bar to read movie review.

Ava Gardner.

Mogambo(1953).In this remake of Red Dust, an African hunter is torn between a lusty showgirl and a married woman. Cast: Clark Gable, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly. Dir: John Ford.

Barefoot Contessa, The (1954). A Spanish dancer becomes an international star but still longs to get her feet in the dirt. Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Ava Gardner, Edmond O'Brien. Dir: Joseph L. Mankiewicz.

Bhowani Junction (1956). An Anglo-Indian beauty falls for a British officer as her country fights for independence. Cast: Ava Gardner, Stewart Granger, Bill Travers. Dir: George Cukor.


Little Hut, The (1957). A neglected wife is shipwrecked on a desert island with her husband and her would-be lover. Cast: Ava Gardner, Stewart Granger, David Niven. Dir: Mark Robson.

The Killers (1946)

The Killers (1946). Film noir. Based on the short story of the same name by Ernest Hemingway. The film was directed by Robert Siodmak Cast: Burt Lancaster in his screen debut, as well as Ava Gardner, Edmond O'Brien, and Sam Levene.

Two hit men, Max and Al, drive to small town diner, looking for,"the Swede" . They find him held up in a boarding house where, they carry out thier plans to murder him.

The Swede had life insurance, so Investigator Jim Reardon, is assigned to look into the murder for his company. Interviewing people from his past, Reardon believes that The Swede's murder was because of a payroll robbery masterminded by, Big Jim Colfax and Kitty Collins , the woman Swede loved.

The film was very entertaining.. Although, I never quite figured out why Swede allowed himself to be murdered, and who ordered the killing.

Video: First of 10.

Virginia Christine, was best known as the "Folger Coffee Woman". After moving to Los Angeles, Virginia worked in radio while attending the University of California, Los Angeles. She was trained for a theatrical career by actor/director Fritz Feld, whom she married in 1940. In 1942, she signed a contract with Warner Bros. and began performing in films: Edge of Darkness (1943), High Noon (1952), Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), The Mummy's Curse (1944) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956). She was a favorite of Stanley Kramer, performing in a number of his films. But her greatest fame came in the 1960's when she started her 21-year appearances as "Mrs. Olson", who always had comforting words for young married couples while pouring Folgers Coffee.

Ava Gardner.

Ava Gardner was born on Christmas Eve, 1922, in Grabtown, NC. She was the youngest of seven children. Ava Gardner’s, rise to stardom came when she went to visit her older sister, Beatrice Gardner who had moved to New York and married Larry Tarr, a professional photographer. One of the pictures of Ava he had displayed in the window of his shop caught the eye of Barney Duhan, a young man who worked in the legal department of Lowe’s Theatres, who posed as a talent scout for MGM. The receptionist knew what he was up to and stalled him off by promising to deliver the message. Recognizing an opportunity, Larry Tarr and his staff worked through the night to print more photos of Ava. Tarr delivered them the next day to MGM’s New York office, and Ava soon got the call and was asked to appear for a screen test, and in 1941 at the age of 18, Ava signed a seven-year movie contract with MGM studios.

Shortly after arriving in Hollywood, Ava met and married Mickey Rooney. The marriage lasted one year. Her second short-lived marriage was to bandleader Artie Shaw. Ava’s third and last husband, and the love of her life, was singer Frank Sinatra. They were married in 1951 and divorced in 1957, unable to survive the pressures of their careers and their jealousy of each other.

Ava had small roles in 15 MGM movies before her career began to take off. In 1946, MGM loaned her out to Universal to play, Kitty Collins in the film noir, The Killers. Louis B. Mayer wasted no time casting Ava opposite Clark Gable in , The Hucksters. Other studio directors started also taking notice, and Ava soon landed the title role in, One Touch of Venus and was on her way to becoming a Hollywood legend.

In 1950, MGM chose Ava to perform in the role of Julie Laverne in Show Boat, one of the greatest musicals of all time. Ava teamed up with with Gable again in 1953 to shoot Mogambo, a remake of Gable’s 1932 film Red Dust. Ava received a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her role as Honey Bear Kelly in the film.


In 1964, Ava received a Golden Globe nomination for her role in the film, Night of the Iguana.


After starring in many disaster films during the 1970s such as Earthquake and The Cassandra Crossing, Ava begin working in television in the mid-1980s, including one season on the popular CBS drama Knots Landing.

At age 33, Ava moved to Madrid, Spain, where she lived for more than 10 years. Then, in 1968 she moved to London, England, where she lived the rest of her life.

List of Ava Gardner Movies I have seen:
This Time for Keeps
She Went To the Races
Whistle Stop
The Bribe
Show Boat
The Snows of Kilimanjaro
The Band Wagon
Mogambo
The Barefoot Contessa
The Sun Also Rises
The Night of the Iguana
Earthquake

Ava Gardner "looks like" Ashley Judd.

Ava Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990). Signed a contract with MGM in 1941 and performed in small roles until her performance in, The Killers (1946). She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses, considered one of the most beautiful women of her day. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her work in Mogambo (1953). She performed in many films from the 1950s to 1970s: Bhowani Junction (1956), On the Beach (1959), The Night of the Iguana (1964), Earthquake (1974), and The Cassandra Crossing (1976). Gardner continued to act until 1986.

Ashley Judd (born April 19, 1968). Actress, who is best known for playing strong characters in films: Ruby in Paradise, Kiss the Girls, Double Jeopardy, Where the Heart Is and High Crimes.

Whistle Stop(1946): She spelled trouble for every guy that made a play for her!

Whistle Stop(1946). Director: Leonide Mogur. Cast: George Raft, Ava Gardner, Victor McLagle, Tom Conway and Jane Nigh.

When Mary returns home to sell her house, her first stop is to visit Molly Veech. Mary was in love with Molly's son Kenny, a lazy bum who's stuck in a small town, indulged by his mother. Mary is disappointed to learn Kenny still spends his nights gambling and drinking. That night at dinner, Kenny is jealous when Mary receives roses from Lew, the owner of the town's hotel and bar, and goes into town with her when she goes to thank him. Lew is watched by Kenny and his girlfriend, Fran. Kenny an Lew's animosity results in antagonism and arguments as they compete for Mary's affections. Later, when Kenny sees the bartender in Lew's club, he suggests that he and Kenny steal the money from the local carnival earnings and then murder Lew. At first, Kenny says "no", but when Mary tells him that she is leaving town, he may decide to go through with it. The results could be deadly, but.. for who?.

Even though this movie seemed clunky at times, I did enjoy Victor McLaglen's performance in the role of the bartender. As for Ava Gardner, she is perfect for the part and she gives an excellent performance, in this "B" film. Tom Conway, also does an excellent job of playing an evil and ruthless nightclub owner. This may not be George Raft, best performance, but he was fun to watch..

Click to view the movie: Whistle Stop.


George Raft, was best known for his portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s. George Raft, is also known for his role in, Some Like it Hot, Scarface (1932), Bolero (1934), and They Drive by Night (1940).


Jane Nigh, was discovered in 1944 by Arthur Wenzler while working in a defense plant. She later signed a contract with Fox Studios. She performed in movies such as Give My Regards to Broadway, Sitting Pretty, Dragonwyck and Laura (uncredited).

She Went to the Races(1945). A NECK-TO-NECK FINISH!

She Went To the Races(1945). Director: Willis Goldbeck. Cast Frances Gifford, James Graig and Ava Gardner.

I did not get home in time to see the movie Heavenly Body, but.. I did catch the movie, She Went to the Races. I was surprised that it was such a cute movie to watch while I was cooking dinner.

When Dr. Ann Wotters, a young scientist at the Brockhurst Institute of Research, learns that her uncle Dr. Homer Pecke, is being forced to retire because the institute could not raise the $20,000 needed for his research, she wants to do something to help. Dr. Gurke, Dr. Pembroke and Dr. Collyer, are also worried about Homer, and they learn a quick way to raise money from, the janitor,who tells them about his winnings at the racetrack. Gurke, Pembroke and Collyer come up with a "scientific" formula to predict the outcome of future races. After, they let Ann in on their plans, they head off for Pasadena, where they hope to look for a place to stay and conduct thier experiments. Soon the scientists find out that all the hotels are booked. Not to be stopped, Ann talks her way into a hotel room that has been reserved for Steve Canfield, a horse owner. When Steve arrives in his room, Ann charms him into letting her stay. After, falling in love with Steve, Ann's troubles begin when socialite Hilda Spotts, the beautiful ex- girlfriend of Steve's, who owns a competing horse, shows up. (Ava Gardner, who steals the picture). Gurke, Pembroke and Collyer belive that Steve's horse, Mr. McGillicudy, will win the upcoming race, but Steve tries to discourage Ann from betting on his horse, saying that he cannot win in the rain. Will Ann win big at the racetrack and her new man?


I thought She Went to the Races, was a very cute romantic comedy. The supporting cast, is what really made this movie work for me.. Edmund Gwenn and Sig Rumann, as well as Ava Gardner in a well-played role as the other woman.

BEHIND THE SCENES OF: NIGHT OF THE IGUANA (1964).

I always find it fascinating to learn what goes on behind the scenes of my favorite films. The Night of the Iguana(1964), is one of my favorites. The film is based on the 1961 play The Night of the Iguana by Tennessee Williams. Directed by John Huston. Cast: Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, and Deborah Kerr. It won the 1964 Academy Award for Best Costume Design, and was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography. Actress Grayson Hall received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, and Cyril Delevanti received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor. The film had plenty of behind the scene stories. Richard Burton brought his soon-to-be-wife Elizabeth Taylor to the location shoot. The filming attracted the paparazzi, and turned the city of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico into a tourist attraction.






Director John Huston, was a filmmaker, screenwriter and actor. Along with Night of the Iguana, he directed: The Maltese Falcon (1941), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), Key Largo (1948), The Asphalt Jungle (1950), The African Queen (1951), Moulin Rouge (1952) The Misfits (1960), and The Man Who Would Be King (1975).
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Poem from Night of the Iguana

How calmly does the olive branch
Observe the sky begin to blanch
Without a cry, without a prayer
With no betrayal of despair

Some time while light obscures the tree
The zenith of its life will be
Gone past forever
And from thence
A second history will commence

A chronicle no longer gold
A bargaining with mist and mold
And finally the broken stem
The plummeting to earth, and then

And intercourse not well designed
For beings of a golden kind
Whose native green must arch above
The earth's obscene corrupting love

And still the ripe fruit and the branch
Observe the sky begin to blanch
Without a cry, without a prayer
With no betrayal of despair

Oh courage! Could you not as well
Select a second place to dwell
Not only in that golden tree
But in the frightened heart of me.

The Bribe(1949). Story about love and temptation.

The Bribe (1949). Crime/film noir. Director: Robert Z. Leonard and written by Marguerite Roberts, based on a story written by Frederick Nebel. Cast: Robert Taylor, Ava Gardner, Charles Laughton, and Vincent Price.

Rigby remembers, when his boss, Gibbs, first briefed him on how racketeers have been stealing war supplies and airplane motors headed Central America. Rigby, is told that the government suspects war veteran Tug.

After arriving in Carlota, Rigby, finds Tug's wife Elizabeth, singing at a nightclub and they become friends.



Soon, Rigby and Elizabeth fall in love, Tug is either too drunk or too busy to notice. One night, Rigby is approached by J. J. Bealer, a thief, who, offers him $10,000 to leave the island. Rigby rejects the bribe and begins to suspect Carwood, who is posing as a mine owner.

The next day, wanting to learn more about Carwood, Rigby joins him on a fishing trip. The fishing trip almost becomes fatal for Rigby when Carwood causes the fishing boat to lurch forward while Rigby is trying to bring in a huge Marlin. Rigby is falls into the water, the boatman, jumps into the water and saves him. Unfortunately, the boatman is killed by a shark while trying to swim back to the boat. While informing the boat mans father of his sons death. The father confirms Rigby's suspicions and volunteers to help Rigby with his investigation.

Rigby, finds himself torn between his love for Elizabeth and his investigation. He wants to save Elizabeth by accepting Bealer's bribe and leaving the island with her. Before Rigby can tell Elizabeth, Bealer informs Elizabeth, that her husband is a criminal and that Rigby is an investigator, who is going to put him in prison. Tug talks Elizabeth into drugging Rigby long enough to allow him to leave. Rigby loses consciousness after drinking a cocktail laced with a sedative. Will he come to in time to catch the smugglers?

This is the first time I have seen, THE BRIBE. I thought Laughton and Price gave the best performances.. My favorite part takes place at the end, which is exciting and visually awesome.