Jeanne Crain

Jeanne Crain, debuted on screen in 1943 in, The Gang's All Here, her career lasted through the 50s. Crain was frequently cast as the "girl next door".

In 1944, she starred in the films, Home in Indiana and In the Meantime, Darling. She soon captured audience attention, which resulted in a roll in the film, Winged Victory (1944). Next she went on to co-star with Dana Andrews in the musical film, State Fair(1945). Directed by Walter Lang. The film is the first remake of the 1933 film of the same name. This version has original music by Rodgers and Hammerstein. Cast: Jeanne Crain, Dana Andrews, Dick Haymes, Vivian Blaine, Fay Bainter and Charles Winninger. This was the only musical Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote for film. The movie introduced such popular songs as "It Might As Well Be Spring" and "It's A Grand Night For Singing".

Also in 1945, Crain starred in the film, Leave Her to Heaven with Gene Tierney. The story revolves around a femme fatale who traps her husband and commits several crimes motivated by her insane jealousy.



In 1949, Crain starred in three films: A Letter to Three Wives, The Fan and Pinky, for which she was nominated for the Best Actress Oscar. Pinky was controversial, since it told the story of a light-skinned African-American woman who passes for white in the Northern United States.

In 1950, Crain starred opposite Myrna Loy and Clifton Webb in, Cheaper by the Dozen. Next, Crain paired up with Cary Grant in the film, People Will Talk (1951). The story about the life of Dr. Noah Praetorius, a physician who teaches in a medical school and founded a clinic dedicated to treating patients holistically. The plot contains two parallel story lines: a professional-misconduct challenge brought against Praetorius by Dr. Rodney Elwell, who dislikes Praetorius's methods and the struggle of a young woman named Deborah Higgins, who falls in love with Praetorius while dealing with an out-of-wedlock pregnancy.



Soon after, she starred in Charles Brackett's first film, The Model and the Marriage Broker (1951). Crain was reunited with Loy for, Belles on Their Toes (1952), the sequel to Cheaper by the Dozen.

Next, Crain played a young wife quickly losing her mind in the film, Dangerous Crossing (1953), co-starring Michael Rennie. Crain went on to star with Kirk Douglas in the film, Man Without a Star (1955).

Crain was able to show her dancing skills in, Gentlemen Marry Brunettes co-starring Jane Russell, Alan Young and Rudy Vallee. The film was based on the sequel to, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

In 1956, Crain starred opposite Glenn Ford, Russ Tamblyn and Broderick Crawford in the Western film, The Fastest Gun Alive. In 1957, she played a socialite who helps a crushed singer and comedian (Frank Sinatra) redeem himself in the film, The Joker Is Wild.

Film roles became fewer in the 1960s as Crain went into semi-retirement. She appeared as Nefertiti in the film, Queen of the Nile (1961) with Edmund Purdom and Vincent Price. She made several guest appearances on Burke's Law, a detective television series. She starred again with Dana Andrews in, Hot Rods To Hell (1967). Her last film role was in, Skyjacked (1972).

Another Day, Another Movie

I have just read the funniest news story that I have ever read in my entire life. Here is a link to the story. Basically a woman dressed up as a tomato to boost healthy eating (or something) at a local council garden party, and the mayor walked along, thought "hmmm that tomato looks like a good thing to leapfrog over!" and whilst trying to jump over her, his knee caught her head and she suffered a slipped disc. She was given £24,000 as compensation!

Moral of the story: never dress up as a tomato for a council garden party. The mayor just might break your neck. Not that anyone will be doing that anytime soon. I hope. It reminded me of the conversation from Tootsie where Micheal Dorsey (Dustin Hoffman) is begging his agent (Sydney Pollack) to get him a part in something, and his agent accuses him of being unreasonable. The conversation goes like this.

Agent: "I can't even put you up for a commercial! You played a Tomato for 30 seconds and they went a half a day over 'cause you wouldn't sit down!"
Micheal Dorsey: "Yes. It wasn't logical."
Agent: "YOU WERE A TOMATO! A TOMATO DOESN'T HAVE LOGIC! A TOMATO CAN"T MOVE!"
Micheal Dorsey: "That's what I said! How am I supposed to sit down! I was a juicy sexy beef stake tomato! I was the best eggplant, the best cucumber. I did a Waldorf salad that knocked the critics on their ass!"
Agent:"Micheal, I'm trying to stay calm here. You-you are... a wonderful actor."
Micheal Dorsey:"Thank You."
 Agent: "But you're too much trouble. Get some therapy."

Sydney Pollack and Dustin Hoffman dressed as a woman

One of the funniest movies ever made. I laugh just thinking about it. Dustin Hoffman dresses up as a woman to get a job as a hospital administrator in a hospital soap opera, and ends up falling for the woman who plays the nurse (Jessica Lang).

Here is today's review.

A Letter To Three Wives

Cast:

• 	Jeanne Crain as Deborah Bishop		Jeffrey Lynn as Bradford "Brad" Bishop
  	Linda Darnell as Lora Mae Hollingsway		Paul Douglas as Porter Hollingsway
  	Ann Sothern as Rita Phipps		Kirk Douglas as George Phipps

  Thelma Ritter as Sadie (uncredited)
• Celeste Holm as Addie Ross (voice) (uncredited)

Plot:
Three typical American suburban housewives receive a letter addressed to the three of them from their "best friend" Addie Ross (Celest Holm voice-over, surprisingly, uncredited), saying that she has left town with one of their husbands, but doesn't say which one. The first wife, Deborah Bishop (Jeanne Crain) reacts with instant suspicion as we see her flashback. It shows her and her husband first meeting his friends Rita (Ann Sothern) and George Phipps (Kirk Douglas) and Lora Mea (Linda Darnell) and Brad Hollingsway (Jeffrey Lynn). They all make subtle references to Addie's "class", but no one says anything that might overtly lead to suspicion of an affair. The same thing happens to both other wives, but each husband has their own link to Addie.


The Review:

The DVD cover says "three very different marriages. One of convenience, one stable, and one filled with lies and suspicion," And it's dang right. Never have I seen such different marriages! My favourite wife is by far Ann Sothern, who vaguely reminds me of Agnes Moorhead. All the other actors (if anyone can tell who they are!) are very good. I love Kirk Douglas ("I am Spartacus!").

The film was directed and written by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and he won both of those Oscars that year. On the set of All About Eve he was waiting around for some rain to come so that Celest Holm could do her scene where she meets Eve: but it didn't come. So they set up some hoses, and got ready to start filming. Sat on a ladder, he called out "Ok, lets have the rain!" But before the prop men could turn on the hoses, clouds moved in and it started to rain. Ann Baxter (Eve Harrington, the villain of the story) said to Bette Davis (Margo Channing, the "hero" of the story)  "Even god has heard of Joe's two Oscars."

Here is a picture of Ann Sothern that is so far away from her in A Letter To Three Wives, that I found it quite strange.

~Bette

Michelle Pfeiffer "Looks Like" Jeanne Crain

Jeanne Crain (May 1925 - December 2003) Star of such films as State Fair, Home In Indiana, Leave Her To Heaven, Pinky, and A Letter To Three Wives.


Michelle Pfeiffer (born April 29th, 1958) and star of such films as The Witches of Eastwick, Batman Returns, The Fabulous Baker Boys, Scarface, Dangerous Liaisons, and Married To The Mob

Happy Birthday Jeanne Crain

(1925-2003)

Jeanne Crain Photos

Jeanne Crain was born in Barstow, California, on May 25, 1925. The daughter of a high school English teacher and his wife, Jeanne was moved to Los Angeles not long after her birth after her father got another teaching position in that city. While in junior high school, Jeanne played the lead in a school production which set her on the path to acting. When she was in high school Jeanne was asked to take a screen test to appear in a film by Orson Welles. Unfortunately, she didn't get the part, but it did set her sights on being a movie actress.

After her high school career, Jeanne enrolled at UCLA to study drama. At the age of 18, Jeanne won a bit part in Fox Studio's film entitled The Gang's All Here (1943) and a small contract. Her next film saw Jeanne elevated to a more substantial part in Home in Indiana (1944) the following year, which was filmed in neighboring Kentucky. The movie was an unquestionable hit. On the strength of that box-office success, Jeanne was given a raise and star billing, as Maggie Preston, in the next film of 1944, In the Meantime, Darling (1944). Unfortunately, the critics not only roasted the film, but singled out Jeanne's performance in particular. She rebounded nicely in her last film of the year, Winged Victory (1944). The audiences loved it and the film was profitable.

In 1945, Jeanne was cast in State Fair (1945) as Margie Frake who travels to the fair and falls in love with a reporter played by Dana Andrews. Now, Jeanne got a bigger contract and more recognition. Later that year, Jeanne married Paul Brooks on New Year's Eve. Although her mother wasn't supportive of the marriage, the union has lasted to this day and produced seven children. Her 1947 was an off year for Jeanne as she took time off to bear the Brinkman's first child.

In 1949, Jeanne appeared in three films, A Letter to Three Wives (1949), The Fan (1949), and Pinky (1949). It was this latter film which garnered her an Oscar nomination as Best Actress for her role as Pinky Johnson, a nurse who sets up a clinic in the Deep South. She lost to Olivia de Havilland for The Heiress (1949). Jeanne left Fox after filming Vicki (1953) in 1953, with Jean Peters. She had made 23 films for the studio that started her career, but she needed a well-deserved change. As with any good artist, Jeanne wanted to expand her range instead of playing the girl-next-door types.

She went briefly to Warner Brothers for the filming of Duel in the Jungle (1954) in 1954. The film was lukewarm at best. Jeanne, then, signed a contract, that same year, with Universal Studios with promises of better, high profile roles. She went into production in the film Man Without a Star (1955) which was a hit with audiences and critics. After The Joker Is Wild (1957) in 1957, Jeanne took time off for her family and to appear in a few television programs. She returned, briefly, to film in Guns of the Timberland (1960) in 1960. The films were sporadic after that. In 1967, she appeared in a low-budget suspense yarn called Hot Rods to Hell (1967). Her final film was as Clara Shaw in 1972's Skyjacked (1972).

Jeanne died of a heart attack in Santa Barbara, California, on December 14, 2003. Her husband Paul Brooks had died two months earlier.