Ronald Colman.

Ronald Colman (9 February 1891 – 19 May 1958). While still attending boarding school, he learned that he enjoyed acting. He was making plans to study engineering at Cambridge University, but his father's sudden death made it financially impossible.

During the war, he served with Claude Rains, Herbert Marshall, Cedric Hardwicke and Basil Rathbone. In the Battle of Messines, Colman was seriously wounded which left him with a limp for the rest of his life .

Ronald Colman, first performed in the England film, The Snow of the Desert. While performing on stage in New York in, La Tendress, Director Henry King saw him, and wanted him for the film, The White Sister(1923), opposite Lillian Gish. He gave wonderful performances in the silent films: The Dark Angel (1925), Stella Dallas (1926), Beau Geste (1927), and The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926). He did most of his own stunts until late in his career.

His first major talkie success was in 1930, when he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for two roles: Condemned, Bulldog Drummond, Raffles, The Masquerader, Clive of India, A Tale of Two Cities (1935), Under Two Flags, The Prisoner of Zenda and Lost Horizon ( 1937), If I Were King (1938), and The Talk of the Town (1941). He won the Best Actor Oscar in 1948 for the film, A Double Life.

Personal Quote:

"They talk of the artist finding liberation in work, it is true. One can be someone else in another, more dramatic, more beautiful world."

Video: 2nd part of a Ronald Colman tribute. Sorry, I could not find part 1.



Please click here to learn more about Ronald Colman.

Kiki (1926). Silent comedy film directed by Clarence Brown. The film is based upon a 1920 novel of the same name by Andre Picard.

Kiki, is a temperamental Parisian salesgirl, who lands a job as a chorus girl. Unfortunately, she gets into a fight with the shows "star" Paulette, who is married to director Renal. Soon after, she is fired from the show, Renal feels sorry for her and takes her out on dinner. When Paulette finds out, she takes Renal's best friend Baron Rapp, to the same restaurant and gets Kiki drunk.

Renal, feels sorry for her and takes her to his home. There, Kiki immediately settles right in to the lap of luxury. Paulette, returns home, determined to throw Kiki out. Kiki decides to confront Paulette and gets into a fight with her, where she is knocked unconscious. When a doctor says that she is in a coma, that could last two years, the baron loses his interest in her. Renal returns to Paulette, until Kiki comes to. Ronald Colman, plays the very handsome manager, in this wonderfully funny silent film.

Random Hall, North Random, Surrey.

 Today I watched the first film that ever actually made me sob, Random Harvest. The whole fiasco was not helped by the fact that I am in Greer Garson obsessive mode at the moment and she plays the lead. I sat at the computer (for it was in 10 minute sections on YouTube) and started the film. I had tears in my eyes the first moment I saw Ronald Colman. I cannot let this slip by without a review.

Random Harvest:

Cast:

• Greer Garson as "Paula Ridgeway"/Margaret Hanson
• Ronald Colman as Charles Rainier
• Susan Peters as Kitty

Plot:
Charles Rainier has been put in an asylum in a town called Melbridge because he was gassed in The First World War and became shell shocked and lost his memory. He has trouble speaking so can't be let into society until someone claims him. On the night that the war ended in 1918 he decided to leave the asylum and make a life for himself. While in a tobacco shop he bumps into the beautiful showgirl Paula.

She follows him and gets attached to him. She finds herself feeling more and more close to him as he learns to speak, and eventually falls in love with him. She calls him Smithy and the two become very close and soon move into a cottage in the country. A now aspiring writer, after hearing a letter that confirmed his first sale of an article, he asks her to marry him and she says yes.

They have a baby boy, but only a few day's after his arrival Smithy is called to Liverpool to discuss a permanent job at a newspaper there. He is hit by a car and when he awakes he can remember everything of his past, but nothing of his son and Paula. He is part of a wealthy family that live in Random Hall, North Random, Surrey. Years later a woman named Margaret Hanson turns up to apply to be his secretary. She tells him that she was married once and had a son, but they are both dead now (as soon as we see her it is obvious she is Paula). Now a business whizz, he falls in love and gets engaged to a distant non-blood relative but she feels in him that he still has a love for someone he knew before, even if he doesn't remember. In an attempt to discover his past, he goes to Liverpool and is followed by Ms. Hanson. He becomes dependant on her for help. They go to the hotel where he stayed to see if they still have his suitcase. They do, but he dismisses it saying "I would have been ashamed to be seen in such rags." Paula is devastated but can't say anything in case he doesn't believe her or dismisses her like the suitcase, a neglected and forgotten memory. He asks her to marry him (again, though he doesn't know it) for mainly organisational purposes. She agrees, but is soon devastated by his lack of emotion toward her. She goes away to South America and stops by at their old cottage on the way.

SERIOUS  PLOT  SPOILERS  AHEAD,  BUT  I  CAN'T  RESIST!!!  PLEASE  SKIP  IF  YOU WANT  A  SURPRISE!!!
Meanwhile, he has had his memory jogged by a visit to Melbridge cable works, and ends up at the cottage just before Paula/Margaret (what is her real name?) and she says from behind him, "Smithy?" they then embrace, and all the while she is muttering, "Smithy...Smithy...Smithy..."

The Review:
My top ten list is forever being juggled about as you know, but it is rare for a new film to get into it. There is a first time for everything. This film has knocked Jezebel out of my top ten and replaced it. It is one of the most magical films I think I have ever seen. Greer Garson is enchanting as Paula/Margaret and Ronald Colman is so upsetting as Smithy (so what if he is called Charles - to me he will always be Smithy.). I am so upset they didn't win Oscars, but Greer did for Mrs. Miniver (instead of Bette Davis as Charlotte Vale in Now Voyager, but I really couldn't chose between the two.). What a great year! It's up there with 1950 (Sunset Boulevard, All About Eve)! It had Now Voyager, Mrs. Miniver, and Random Harvest. Wow. The performances from all concerned are directed to perfection by Mervyn LeRoy, especially the part of Smithy, which was such a hard to get right.

Bette Davis and Greer Garson together. They must have liked each other, I have several pics of them together.

Just wow. Greer Garson is just so lovely, and one of the best actresses ever. And where do I even start with Ronald Colman? I can't imagine any other actor playing Smithy. He too is an amazing actor, here's a link to my review of  The Talk Of The Town which he is in.

{2nd April 2011, I just re-read this following a link from my traffic statistics and was shocked to see how little there was about Ronald Colman in it! So I changed bits as necessary. Hope you enjoyed it!}

~Bette

Lucky Partners(1940).

Lucky Partners(1940). Cast: Ronald Colman, Ginger Rogers, Jack Carson and Spring Byington.

Artist David Grant, wishes book store owner Jean Newton, good luck when she passes by. When, Jean is given a beautiful dress she decides that David has brought her good luck. She then asks him to buy a sweep stake ticket with her, and he agrees on the condition that if they win, she will take a trip with him, before she marries Freddie. When David promises that the trip will be kept on a strictly impersonal basis, Freddie agrees .

Their ticket is picked and with their winnings they decide to vacation in, Niagara Falls, with Freddie not far behind. Expecting to find the couple together, Freddie breaks down their door, only to find that David has checked out of the hotel and is driving back to Manhattan. While driving home David is stopped on the road and arrested for stealing Jean's car. In court, Jean and Freddie try to explain the situation, but their story fails to convince the judge.After David and Jean cross-examine each other, the judge fines Freddie for breaking down the door. Will Jean and David ever declare their love for each other.

Ronald Colman had first performed in films in England in 1917 and 1919 for Cecil in, The Snow of the Desert. While performing on stage in New York in, La Tendress, Director Henry King saw him, and hired him for the film, The White Sister(1923), opposite Lillian Gish. Colman left the the stage for film. He became a very popular silent film star in both romantic and adventure films: The Dark Angel (1925), Stella Dallas (1926), Beau Geste (1927), and The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926). His dark hair and eyes and his athletic and riding ability led reviewers to describe him as a "Valentino type". He was often cast in similar roles. Towards the end of the silents era, Colman was teamed with actress, Vilma Banky and the two became a popular movie team rivalling Greta Garbo and John Gilbert.

Oh, Leopold!

Hello all you reader peoples! I have been very busy these past few days with homework, buying birthday prezzies (why is every one's birthday in October?), practicing music, and all that jazz. So here is a review of The Talk Of The Town.

The Talk Of The Town

Cast:

• Cary Grant as Leopold Dilg - Joseph
• Jean Arthur as Miss Nora Shelley
• Ronald Colman as Professor Michael Lightcap

Plot:
A mill worker and political activist, Leopold Dilg (Cary Grant), is charged with arson after supposedly burning down the mill he worked at, killing one of a foreman in the process. During his trial, he escapes jail and runs to an old school friend's house. The friend is named Nora Shelley (Jean Arthur) and Dilg has had a crush on her for years. But she is renting her house out for the summer to a professor of law (figures!), Mr. Micheal Lightcap (Ronald Coleman). Unfortunatley they arrive whithin minutes of each other and when they accidentaly meet, Nora introduces Leopold as "the gardener". She manages to stay there with them by bullying Mr. Lightcap into hiring her as his secretary. Leopold and him have lots of very interesting political discussions. Leopold prefers the practical way, and Mr. Lightcap prefers the academic way. They become very close friends in spite of their differences.

There are a few almost-found-out situations. One of them occurs when Mr. Lightcap opens up the morning paper and Dilg is on the front page. Nora screams, "AAAAHHHHHH! No, no, no, no, no!", pushes his fried egg onto the table to cover Dilg's face, "It's NOT your egg morning!". Mr. Lightcap had previously asked for eggs every other morning. Later on he discovers Dilg and reports him. After Leopold escapes again, he does the same thing. But while Leopold is in custody he decides to find out more about this "dead" foreman. Meanwhile, Nora has to chose between the passionate and tough Leopold and the charming and intelligent Mr. Lightcap.

The Review:
Pure classic-movie-farce bliss. The scene where she throws the egg all over the newspaper is one of my favourite comic scenes ever. And Ronald Coleman's mustache is definitely a must. When he shaves it off, he just isn't the same. I just love everything about this film. The direction is pretty good. It is by George Stevens and it is yest again about a woman trapped between two men, as is Shane and Giant. Both directed by George Stevens! I mean, I would probably find it pretty hard in Nora's situation. Hmmm, Cary Grant or Ronald Coleman...

I would recommend this to anyone any day, it is just so cute and funny. Jean Arthur is just a treat in it. Here's something big for you, when Jean Arthur was teaching drama at Vassar College, she taught a young Meryl Streep! She saw her in a play at Vassar and said "it was like watching a movie star."

Yesterday I watched two thirds of Paris When It Sizzles, and it really is pretty strange. Not to say that I didn't love it for all of it's madness and in-joke-ness - anyone who can compare My Fair Lady and Frankenstein is crazy. But, Audrey Hepburn is very ooshkiminooish (see "this blog") in it, and there is an eerie scene where William Holden (dressed as a vampire) chases Audrey around a laboratory table in an underground lair. As you do.

~Bette

" THE WINNING OF BARBARA WORTH" (1926) Gary Cooper

"The Winning of Barbara Worth" (1926) is a silent western that stars Ronald Colman, Gary Cooper, and Vilma Banky. Directed by Henry King and based on the novel by Harold Bell Wright, this film is one of the great epic westerns of the silent era. The story begins with a wife burying her husband in the desert as her little girl looks on. Another wagon arrives soon after and the girl, Barbara, is saved from the terrible dust storm. However, it is too late for the mother. A man named Jefferson Worth rescues the little orphan and she becomes his adopted daughter. Fifteen years later, Barbara Worth, played by Vilma Banky, is now a young beautiful woman living with her father in the small desert town of Rubio City. Mr. Worth's dream is to bring water to the desert through irrigation. Rich land developer, James Greenfield, plans to fulfill everyone's dream by making the barren land into a paradise.

Engineer Willard Holmes, played by Ronald Colman, is hired by Greenfield to help bring water to the desert. Unfortunately, trouble lies ahead. Barbara is loved by her childhood sweetheart, Abe Lee, played by Gary Cooper. Willard falls for Barbara and a bitter rivalry develops between him and Abe. Since both men are exceedingly handsome, who will win the heart of Barbara Worth? In the meantime, Greenfield fires all the workers before the dam is properly reinforced, and in protest Worth has his men establish a new town on a mesa. However, he finds he cannot meet his payroll because of Greenfield's blockade. When the people realize they cannot be paid, they want to burn down the town. They are ready to lynch Worth and his daughter, Barbara. From that point on it is a race against time as Willard and Abe try to get the payroll to the townspeople. The climax of the film involves the breaking of the dam and the flooding of the entire area. The ending is very surprising. Although it was a landmark film in its own right, "The Winning of Barbara Worth" is best known for launching Gary Cooper's career. This film gave western stuntman and bit player Cooper his first featured role. Cooper's good looks and natural style of acting were immediately noticed by audiences and critics alike. An outstanding performance was given by Gary Cooper as well as Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky. The cinematography is breathtaking with beautiful use of light and shadow. The images of wagons and people and horses moving against a background of yellow-tinted desert looks stunning. The special effects were impressive for its time especially the flooding of the Colorado River. "The Winning of Barbara Worth" is not only a high quality production by Samuel Goldwyn, but it also blends romance and drama into an engrossing western epic.

* It is interesting to note that "The Winning of Barbara Worth" was filmed in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada.