Dawn's favorite Movie actors and their films of the "60's".

Clint Eastwood:
1964 A Fistful of Dollars
1965 For a Few Dollars More
1966 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
1967 Le streghe
1968 Hang 'Em High
Coogan's Bluff
Where Eagles Dare

In 1963 Eastwood's co-star on Rawhide, Eric Fleming, rejected an offer to star in an Italian-made western, A Fistful of Dollars. Knowing that he could play a cowboy Harrison suggested Eastwood, who saw the film as a wonderful opportunity.

Eastwood later spoke about the transition from a television western to A Fistful of Dollars: "In Rawhide I did get awfully tired of playing the conventional white hat. The hero who kisses old ladies and dogs and was kind to everybody. I decided it was time to be an anti-hero." Eastwood, created the Man with No Name character, who smoked cigars.

The film was the beginning of spaghetti westerns and Eastwood became a major star in Italy and he also performed in, For a Few Dollars More (1965). Two months later Eastwood began work on the third Dollars film, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, in which he again played the, Man with No Name.

The Dollars trilogy was not shown in the United States until 1967 when A Fistful of Dollars opened in January, For a Few Dollars More in May, and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly in December. All the films were successful and turned Eastwood into a major film star. Stardom brought more "tough guy" roles for Eastwood. Next, he signed up to perform in the western, Hang 'Em High (1968). Across between Rawhide and Leone's westerns. Using money earned from the Dollars trilogy Leonard helped establish Eastwood's production company, Malpaso Productions, named after the Malpaso Creek on Eastwood's property in Monterey County, California.

While Eastwood was working on his next film, Coogan's Bluff, Jennings Lang arranged for Eastwood to meet Don Siegel, a Universal contract director who later became one of Eastwood's close friends, that would last for more than ten years. Coogan's Bluff also became the first of many collaborations with Argentine composer Lalo Schifrin, who would later score the jazzy themes to Eastwood's films. Eastwood created the prototype for his role as a cop of the Dirty Harry films.

Next he went on to perform in, Where Eagles Dare(1968), about a World War II squad parachuting into the mountains.

Eastwood then performed in his only musical of his career, Paint Your Wagon (1969). Eastwood and fellow non-singer Lee Marvin play gold miners who share the same wife. It was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.

Rock Hudson:
Seconds (1966)
Lover Come Back (1961)
Ice Station Zebra (1968)
Send Me No Flowers (1964)

In the 60s Hudson, performed in many romantic comedies such as: Pillow Talk, the first of several co-starring with Doris Day. This was followed by Lover Come Back, Come September, Send Me No Flowers, Man's Favorite Sport?, The Spiral Road, and Strange Bedfellows. Along with Cary Grant was regarded as one of the best-dressed male stars in Hollywood. He also performed in the science-fiction thriller, Seconds (1966). The film flopped but it later gained cult status, and Hudson's performance is often regarded as one of his best. He also tried his hand in the action genre with Tobruk (1967), the lead in 1968's spy thriller Ice Station Zebra, a role which he said was his personal favorite, and the western, The Undefeated (1969).

Kirk Douglas:
Spartacus (1960)
Seven Days in May (1964)
War Wagon, The (1967)
Lonely Are the Brave (1962)

Douglas, was a major box office star in the 60s, performing in many westerns such as, In Lonely Are the Brave (1962), his own favorite of his performances, Douglas plays a cowboy trying to live by his own code, much as he did in real life.

Douglas played many military men like in the films: Town Without Pity (1961), The Hook (1963), Seven Days in May (1964), Heroes of Telemark (1965), In Harm's Way (1965), Cast a Giant Shadow (1966), Is Paris Burning (1966). Douglas played the lead with an all-star cast in, Spartacus (1960). He was also the executive producer. Douglas also performed in comedies, such as in the film, For Love or Money (1963).

Douglas made a couple of films in the 60s with Burt Lancaster: The List of Adrian Messenger(1963)and Seven Days in May (1964).



Douglas stated that the keys to acting success are determination and application, "You must know how to function and how to maintain yourself, and you must have a love of what you do. But an actor also needs great good luck. I have had that luck."Douglas had great vitality, "It takes a lot out of you to work in this business. Many people fall by the wayside because they don’t have the energy to sustain their talent.".

Cary Grant:
Charade (1963)
Father Goose (1964)
Walk Don't Run (1966)
That Touch of Mink (1962)

In the mid-1950s, Grant formed his own production company, Granart Productions, and produced a number of movies in the 60s such as: That Touch of Mink and Father Goose (1964).




In 1963, he also performed opposite Audrey Hepburn in the film, Charade (1963). His last feature film was Walk, Don't Run.

Grant was the first actor to "go independent" by not renewing his studio contract.  Because of this he decided which movies he was going to perform in, he also had the choice of the directors and his co-stars and at times even negotiated a share of the gross, something uncommon at the time.

Fred MacMurray :
Apartment, The (1960)
Absent Minded Professor, The (1961)
Son of Flubber (1963)
Follow Me, Boys! (1966)

In the 1960s, he starred in My Three Sons, which ran for 12 seasons, making it one of America's longest-running TV show. MacMurray, stared in 1961 as Professor Ned Brainerd in Disney's, The Absent-Minded Professor and in its sequel, Son of Flubber, in 1964.



MacMurray, had a provision in his "Sons" contract that all his scenes be shot first. This freed him to pursue his film work and golf . It's also interesting to note that two character names on "My Three Sons" were named after his real life children, Rob (as in Rob Douglas) and Katherine (Kate); he often referred to his TV son Robbie as 'Rob' and later TV daughter-in-law Katie Douglas as 'Kate.'

He was a staunch supporter of the Republican Party. He joined Bob Hope and James Stewart to campaign for Richard Nixon in 1968.

He was one of the wealthiest actors of the 60s and MacMurray usually brought a brown bag lunch to work. Friends and business associates referred to him as "the thrifty multimillionaire."

Jack Lemmon :
Apartment, The (1960)
Odd Couple, The (1968)
Great Race, The (1965)
Days of Wine and Roses (1962)

Lemmon, was a favorite actor of director Billy Wilder, who felt Lemmon had a natural tendency toward overacting. In the Wilder biography Nobody's Perfect quotes the director as saying, "Lemmon, I would describe him as a ham, a fine ham, and with ham you have to trim a little fat". The biography also quotes Jack Lemmon as saying, "I am particularly susceptible to the parts I play... If my character was having a nervous breakdown, I started to have one".

He also had a longtime working relationship with director Blake Edwards, starring in in the 60s films: Days of Wine and Roses (1962), The Great Race (1965) and That's Life! (1986).

Days of Wine and Roses (1962) was one of his favorite roles. He portrayed Joe Clay, a young, fun-loving alcoholic businessman. In that film, Lemmon delivered the line, "My name is Joe Clay ... I'm an alcoholic." Three and a half decades later, he admitted on the television program, Inside the Actors Studio, that he was not acting when he delivered that line, that he really was a recovering alcoholic at the end of his life.


Lemmon's production company JML produced Cool Hand Luke in 1967. Paul Newman was grateful to Lemmon for his support and offered him the role later made famous by Robert Redford in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid but Lemmon turned it down. He did not like riding horses and he also felt he'd already played too many aspects of the Sundance Kid's character before.

Lemmon often performed in films with Walter Matthau. Among their pairings was 1968's The Odd Couple, as Felix Ungar (Lemmon) and Oscar Madison (Matthau).

William Holden:
Wild Bunch, The (1969)
Paris - When It Sizzles (1964)
Casino Royale (1967)
Devil's Brigade, The (1968)

Holden was forced by studio contracts to perform in films such as, Paris When It Sizzles (1964), also co-starring Audrey Hepburn. By the mid-1960s, his career was beginning to fade.

Robert Redford:
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
This Property Is Condemned (1966)
Barefoot in the Park (1967)
Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969)

Redford, made his screen debut in the film, War Hunt (1962). Later he was cast in larger roles in movies such as, In Inside Daisy Clover (1965) with Natalie Wood, they also performed together in the film, This Property Is Condemned (1966). The same year saw his first teaming with Jane Fonda in, The Chase. Fonda and Redford were paired again in the film, Barefoot in the Park (1967) also the film, The Electric Horseman (1979).

Redford was cast in the film, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), scripted by William Goldman, in which he was paired for the first time with Paul Newman. The film cemented his screen image as an intelligent, reliable, good guy.




Redford did have a few box office flops, Downhill Racer (1969) and Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969).

Anthony Quinn:
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Guns of Navarone, The (1961)
Barabbas (1962)
Alexis Zorbas (1964)

By the 60s Quinn, was beginning to show his age and began his transformation into a major character actor. He played a Greek resistance fighter in the film, The Guns of Navarone (1961), a ex-boxer in the film, Requiem for a Heavyweight, and Auda abu Tayi in the film, Lawrence of Arabia (both 1962). He also played the title role in Barabbas. The success of the film, Zorba the Greek (1964) which won him another Oscar nomination for Best Actor. Other films include: The 25th Hour (1967), The Magus (1968), Guns for San Sebastian with Charles Bronson and The Shoes of the Fisherman, where he played a Ukrainian pope. In 1969, he starred in the film, The Secret of Santa Vittoria .

Henry Fonda:
Once Upon A Time In The West (1968)
Longest Day, The (1962)
Battle of the Bulge (1965)
Boston Strangler, The (1968)

In the 60s Fonda, was still performing in the western television series The Deputy (1959–1961), in which he starred as Marshal Simon Fry. The 1960s also saw Fonda perform in many war and western epics, including 1962's The Longest Day and How the West Was Won, 1965's In Harm's Way and Battle of the Bulge. In the Cold War suspense film Fail-Safe (1964), Fonda played the President of the United States who tries to prevent a nuclear holocaust through tense negotiations with the Soviets after American bombers are mistakenly ordered to attack the USSR. He also performed in the light-hearted film, Spencer's Mountain (1963), which was the inspiration for the TV series, The Waltons.

Fonda , performed against type as the villain 'Frank' in, 1968's Once Upon a Time in the West.

Fonda's was good friends with Jimmy Stewart and they teamed up to work on the film, Firecreek(1968), where Fonda once again played the bad guy.

The Mad Miss Manton (1938).

The Mad Miss Manton (1938). Comedy and mystery film starring Barbara Stanwyck playing a socialite Melsa Manton and Henry Fonda as newspaper editor Peter Ames. This was the first of three screen pairings for Stanwyck and Fonda, the others being The Lady Eve and You Belong to Me. Supporting Cast: Sam Levene, Frances Mercer, Stanley Ridges, Whitney Bourne, Vickie Lester, Ann Evers, Catherine O'Quinn, Linda Perry, Eleanor Hansen, Hattie McDaniel, James Burke, Paul Guilfoyle and Penny Singleton

The story begins when, Melsa takes her little dogs for a walk at 3:00 AM, near a subway construction site, where she sees Ronnie Belden run out of a house and drive away. Inside, Melsa finds a diamond brooch and Mr. Lane's dead body. As she runs for help, her cloak falls off with the brooch inside it. When the police arrive, the body, cloak, and brooch are gone. Melsa and her friends are notorious pranksters, so detective, Lieutenant Mike Brent, does nothing to investigate the murder. Ames writes an editorial about Melsa's prank, and she sues him for libel. Melsa and her friends, then decide they must find the murderer on their own in to defend their reputation.

This is one of those films where Barbara steals every scene, this is a good film to watch. Although Hattie, (before her Gone With The Wind day's)plays the sassy maid for comic relief, who gives her a run for her money..





Frances Mercer, (October 21,1915 -November 12, 2000). Daughter of Sid Mercer.

Let Us Live(1939). Based on a True Story.

Let US live(1939). Director: John Brahm. Cast: Maureen O'Sullivan, Henry Fonda and Ralph Bellamy.

The story begins when taxi driver Brick, is questioned as a murder suspect along with 120 other drivers, because a taxi was used as the getaway car in a robbery in which a man was killed. When one of the witnesses believes that Brick and his friend, Joe Linden, were the killers, the district attorney, brings the taxi drivers to trial even though Brick and his fiancee Mary were in a church during the robbery .

Brick and Joe are found guilty and sentenced to die in the electric chair, even though they are innocent of the crime. Mary, refuses to give up hope, and will not stop until the real killers are found. Will she find the proof they need in time?

This was a very thought-provoking film that might change your mind about the death penalty. While at times the performances might seem a little over the top, but... at the same time understandable. However, I did not get O'Sullivan's Irish accent which seemed a seemed a bit out of place. Although.. she gave a wonderful performance and Fonda's performance was also good.

Maureen  O’Sullivan (17 May 1911 – 23 June 1998). O'Sullivan's film career began when she met motion picture director Frank Borzage who was doing location filming on Song o' My Heart. He suggested she take a screen test. She did and landed a part in the movie, which starred John McCormack. She then traveled to the United States to complete the movie in Hollywood.

After several movie roles, she was chosen by Irving Thalberg to perform as Jane Parker in the film, Tarzan the Ape Man opposite co-star Johnny Weissmuller. Besides playing Jane, she was one of the more popular actors at MGM throughout the 1930s .

O'Sullivan played Jane in six features between 1932 and 1942. She did not mind doing the first two jungle movies, but feared being typecast and grew tired of the role.

She also starred with William Powell and Myrna Loy in, The Thin Man (1934) and played Kitty in the film, Anna Karenina (1935) with Greta Garbo and Basil Rathbone. She performed as Molly Beaumont in the film, A Yank at Oxford (1938). She played another Jane in the film, Pride and Prejudice (1940) with Laurence Olivier and Greer Garson, and supported Ann Sothern in the film, Maisie Was a Lady (1941).

After appearing in Tarzan's New York Adventure (1942), O'Sullivan asked MGM to release her from her contract so she could care for her husband who had just left the Navy with typhoid. She then retired from show business, devoting her time to being a wife and mother.

Happy Birthday: Henry Fonda!

Henry Fonda(May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982). Fonda headed for New York City, where he was joined by Stewart and the two made a small living performing on Broadway. Fonda was first to travel to Hollywood to make his first film, The Farmer Takes a Wife(1935), reprising his role from the Broadway production of the same name. The story is about a young man who works along the Erie Canal during the mid-19th century to raise money to buy a farm. While working, he meets Molly Larkins, a canal boat cook (Janet Gaynor). Although Harrow wants to marry Larkins, she does not know if she wants to be a farmer's wife.

Stewart soon after followed him to Hollywood, and they roomed together again, next door to Greta Garbo. In 1935 Fonda starred in the film, I Dream Too Much with the famous opera star Lily Pons.

Later Fonda, costarred with Sylvia Sidney and Fred MacMurray in the film, The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1936), A romance film based on the novel of the same name. It was directed by Henry Hathaway. It was the second full length feature film to be shot in Technicolor and the first to be shot outdoors. Much of the film was shot at Big Bear Lake in southern California. He also starred with ex-wife Margaret Sullavan in the film, The Moon's Our Home. Fonda got the lead role in, You Only Live Once (1937), also costarring Sidney, and directed by Fritz Lang. Fonda's first child Jane Fonda was born on December 21, 1937. He performed opposite Bette Davis, who had picked Fonda, in the film, Jezebel (1938).

He then landed the title role in the film, Young Mr. Lincoln (1939), his first film with director John Ford and as Frank James in Jesse James (1939). Another 1939 film was, Drums along the Mohawk, also directed by John Ford.

Ford to ask him to play "Tom Joad" in the film version of John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath (1940). Fonda was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in the film, which many consider to be his finest role. His son Peter Fonda was born in 1940.

He starred in the film, The Return of Frank James (1940). A western directed by Fritz Lang with Gene Tierney. The film loosely follows the life of Frank James following the death of his outlaw brother, Jesse James at the hands of the Ford brothers. The film is considered historically inaccurate, but was a commercial success.

Please click here to view Return Of Frank James(1940) movie review.

Fonda went on to perform opposite Barbara Stanwyck in, The Lady Eve (1941). A comedy about a mismatched couple who meet on a luxury liner, written by Preston Sturges based on a story by Monckton Hoffe, and directed by Sturges.

He teamed up again with Gene Tierney in, Rings on Her Fingers (1942). Tierney was one of Fonda's favorite co-stars, they performed in three movie together. The story begins when Susan Miller, wishes for a luxurious life full of wonderful people. Everything changes for Susie's when she meets Mrs. Maybelle Worthington and Warren, two con artiest who use girls to rob wealthy men. Maybelle and Warren convince Susie to work for them. The three start looking for prospects, with Susie playing the part as Linda Worthington, Maybelle's daughter. They make a good living off rich men who become interested in Susie, until one day, on Santa Catalina Island, they meet John Wheeler, who is looking to buy a yacht. Susie and Maybelle, also pretend to be interested in the yacht , which they allow John to buy instead. John, does not know that the man he buys the boat from is not the real owner, but Warren.

Susie, Maybelle and Warren decide to move quickly to Connecticut, where they move in with wealthy Tod Fenwick and his parents. Tod is in love with Susie, and Maybelle and Warren plan on profiting from their marriage. They are surprised to see John, who is their accountant. Susie and John, fall in love and decide to marry, and even though Maybelle's says that she cannot quit so easily, Susie leaves with John. Wanting to return John's money without him knowing. Susie gives $15,000 to a casino owner friend, who arranges for John to win the money while gambling. Will John ever figure out who robbed him out of his life savings?

Henry Fonda, is wonderful in this film, playing the likeable, everyday guy. Opposite him, Gene Tierney looks absolutely beautiful. Spring Byington and Laird Cregar are wonderful playing the villians.films together.

He was acclaimed for his role in, The Ox-Bow Incident (1943). A story about two drifters who are passing through a Western town, when news comes in that a local farmer has been murdered and his cattle stolen. The townspeople, joined by the drifters, form a posse to catch the cattle rustlers.

Fonda then enlisted in the Navy to fight in World War II and after the war, Fonda took a break from movies and enjoyed civilian life. Later, Fonda played Wyatt Earp in John Ford's, My Darling Clementine (1946) and performed in the film, Fort Apache (1948), with John Wayne and Shirley Temple in her first adult role.

Fonda did seven post-war films until his contract with Fox ended, the last being, Daisy Kenyon (1947), opposite Joan Crawford , who played a commercial artist who becomes involved with married lawyer Dan O'Mara. She meets veteran Peter, whom she does not love and marries him... just as Dan gets a divorce.

After a few years absent from films, he starred in the 1955 film version of Mister Roberts opposite James Cagney, William Powell and Jack Lemmon. Fonda followed Mr. Roberts with Paramount Picture's production of the Leo Tolstoy epic War and Peace, in which he played Pierre Bezukhov opposite Audrey Hepburn, and which took two years to shoot. Fonda worked with Alfred Hitchcock in 1956, playing a man falsely accused of robbery in The Wrong Man, a story based on an actual incident and partly filmed on location.

In 1957, Fonda performed in the film,12 Angry Men, directed by Sidney Lumet. The film was completed in only seventeen days of filming mostly in one small jury room and had a huge cast: Jack Klugman, Lee J. Cobb, Martin Balsam, and E. G. Marshall. The film about twelve jurors deciding the fate of a young Puerto Rican man accused of murder.

Fonda, went on to perform in many war and western epics, including 1962's The Longest Day and How the West Was Won, 1965's In Harm's Way and Battle of the Bulge, Fail-Safe (1964), Fonda played the President of the United States who tries to stop a nuclear holocaust through negotiations with the Soviets after American bombers are mistakenly ordered to attack the USSR. He also returned to more light-hearted cinema in, Spencer's Mountain (1963), which was the inspiration for the TV series, The Waltons.

Fonda performed as the villain 'Frank' in 1968's Once Upon a Time in the West. After turning down the role, he was convinced to accept it by actor Eli Wallach and director Sergio Leone.

Fonda and Jimmy Stewart teamed up for 1968's Firecreek, where Fonda once again played the heavy. In 1970, Fonda and Stewart costarred in the western, The Cheyenne Social Club. They had first appeared together on film, in On Our Merry Way (1948), a comedy which also starred William Demarest and Fred MacMurray. A few more of my favorite Henry Fonda films are: Advise and Consent, How the West Was Won, 1964 Sex and the Single Girl, 1968 Yours, Mine and Ours and 1981 On Golden Pond.

Henry Fonda

Henry Fonda, began his acting career on stage as a Broadway actor. He made his first Hollywood film in 1935. He became well known after his Academy Award-nominated performance as Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath(1940), an adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel about an Oklahoma family who moved west. Over six decades in Hollywood, Fonda had amazing performances in the films, The Ox-Bow Incident, Mister Roberts and 12 Angry Men. Later, Fonda performed in a very different role in the film, Once Upon a Time in the West and a much lighter role in family comedies like Yours, Mine and Ours.

Fonda comes from of a family of famous actors, daughter Jane Fonda, son Peter Fonda, granddaughter Bridget Fonda, and grandson Troy Garity.

One of my favorite Henry Fonda movies that TCM is featuring is, Fort Apache(1948). Western film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne and Henry Fonda. The film was the first of the director's "cavalry trilogy" and was followed by She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) and Rio Grande (1950), both starring Wayne. The story, which screenwriter James Warner Bellah based loosely on George Armstrong Custer and the Battle of Little Bighorn, was one of the first to show an authentic and sympathetic view of the Native Americans involved in the battle.

Some of the film's location shooting were in, Monument Valley, Utah. The exteriors involving the fort itself and the renegade Indian agent's trading post were filmed at the Corriganville Movie Ranch.

Jezebel

Hi Everyone,

This post was going to be a review about Born Yesteday, but all I can say about it is that it is quite slow, has not got a very good plot, and that Judy Holiday's performance as a dumb turned mildly intelligent blond should not have won the best actress award instead of Bette Davis as Margo Channing in All About Eve!

Name: Jezebel

Cast:
Bette Davis as Julie Marsden
George Brent  as Buck Cantrell
Henry Fonda as Preston Dillard


Plot:
Spoilt and strong willed, New Orleans woman Julie Marsden is engaged to wealthy banker Preston (or "Pres") Dillard. When he refuses to break up a board meeting to accompany her to buy a dress for a ball they are attending that night, she rebelliously buys a low cut red dress. At the time in New Orleans all unmarried women were supposed to wear white to dances and balls. After warning her not to wear the dress, when he goes to collect her she is defiantly wearing the dress. Instead of scolding her or punishing her, he takes her to the ball where she is greeted by many surprised and dissaproving faces. The relationship ends that night when he takes her home after realising that she is untamable. After a long trip north for his work, he returns home. Julie has spent the past year he has been away dreaming of his return. When he arrives at Julie's house for a welcome home party, she is greeted with an unwelcome surprise.

The Review:
I loved this film and i think that Bette Davis' performance is just outstanding, and Henry Fonda is very believable in the role opposite her. The plot is very interesting and moving, and Julie's character is written in a way that makes you feel sorry for her in some scenes, and hate her in others. The costume design is just amazing. All of the period costumes are just beautifull. It is all in all, a very good film.

Awards Won:
Bette Davis - Academy Award for Best Actress

Fay Bainter - Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Venice Film Festival: Special Recommendation for its overall artistic contribution - William Wyler Trivia: ~Jezebel was said to have been offered to Bette Davis because she did not get the part of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With The Wind. Poster: ~ Bette