Here in the second of a series of four pieces I will be looking back on twenty of Hollywood’s forgotten stars. This week it’s the actresses numbered 5 - 1 in my countdown. I hope you enjoy it. As always your comments are more than welcome.
A dancer, a southern belle, a girl next door, a bag of nerves and a Queen
N.B.: This list is not intended to be definitive. It is merely intended to highlight the talent of ten largely forgotten actresses who played a significant role in Hollywood history, be it as a great box-office star, an Oscar winner, a pioneer or an unfulfilled talent that shone all too briefly. In deciding on my order, I have rated the actresses on both their contribution to cinema and how little I perceive them to be remembered by the general public. The biggest star will not necessarily come out on top.
5 – Eleanor Powell
Imagine a world where Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra were still as celebrated but no-one remembered Judy Garland. Or one where Clark Gable and Cary Grant were still regarded as great stars but Greta Garbo’s name was only familiar to a small, hardcore group of fans. It wouldn’t seem quite fair, would it? However, when we think of the great dancers of the screen we think of Fred Astaire in his top hat and tails or Gene Kelly splashing about in puddles and we forget the fleet footed brilliance of Eleanor Powell. Powell is best known for the ‘Broadway Melody’ series of films made between 1936 and 1940. They were typical early musicals – a love story set to the backdrop of a young hopeful getting their chance in a big show. There wasn’t much in the way of plot but there was always simply brilliant dancing from Powell. Her tap skills and the music of the great Cole Porter (who scored three of Powell’s movies) was a marriage made in heaven, almost certainly seen to best advantage in the ‘Begin the Beguine’ number from ‘The Broadway Melody of 1940’ (1940) with Powell and Astaire tapping up a storm. Unfortunately for Powell her career in the 1940s began to be that of a guest performer who was included for one or two sequences that were nothing to do with the main plot of the film. For fans of great tap dancing these brief cameos were worth the price of admission alone.
Watch Eleanor Powell in: As with many performers whose careers featured predominantly black-and-white movies, Powell’s films can be hard to get hold of and we are therefore reliant on compilation movies like ‘That’s Entertainment’ to see her in action. However, I have managed to see ‘Rosalie’ (1936) and if you watch it you may forget Astaire and Kelly ever existed… for 90 minutes at least.
4 – Lee Remick
Sometimes perky, sometimes sultry, sometimes perky and sultry, Lee Remick was the most talented of the numerous forgotten cinematic sex symbols of an era dominated by Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor. Her career got off to a fine start with roles in ‘A Face in the Crowd’ (1957), ‘The Long Hot Summer’ (1958) and ‘Anatomy of a Murder’ (1959) all of which helped to define her as a sexually forward but frustrated southern girl. However, Remick was not present purely for the purposes of decoration. These were great roles for a relatively unknown actress to launch her movie career with and her acting ability was much in evidence in all three roles as well as her physical appeal. She was cast as the bank teller blackmailed into robbery in Blake Edwards’ ‘Experiment in Terror’ (1962) which marked her first departure to a different type of role. The emotional vulnerability was still there but her looks were not as significant in shaping the character. Remick excelled in ‘Experiment in Terror’ and her next film ‘The Days of Wine and Roses’ (1962), again directed by Edwards, and then tried her hand at comedy in films like ‘The Wheeler Dealers’ (1963) and ‘The Hallelujah Trail’ (1965). Remick continued to choose interesting roles well into the 1970s but she never again recaptured the sort of magic we saw in her early years. However, for her to be remembered primarily as Damien’s adoptive mother in ‘The Omen’ (1976) is a terrible injustice to a lively, beautiful and skilled actress.
Watch Lee Remick in: Normally I would take any opportunity to recommend ‘Anatomy of a Murder’ but Remick is just one of a tremendous ensemble cast in that. Her performance opposite Jack Lemmon as a couple battling alcoholism in ‘The Days of Wine and Roses’ is probably Remick’s finest career appearance anyway.
3 – Teresa Wright
Teresa Wright’s film career started with a bang. She was nominated for an Oscar for each of her first three movies (the only actor ever to achieve that feat), winning once for ‘Mrs Miniver’ (1942). Her fourth movie ‘Shadow of a Doubt’ (1943) is one of the best of all Alfred Hitchcock’s thrillers and her sixth film ‘The Best Years of Our Lives’ (1946) was a multi-award winner and the sixth biggest box-office hit of the 1940s (and if you discount the all-conquering Disney studio of that era it was the biggest film of 1946 and the second most successful of the decade). After that almost anything would be considered a disappointment but Wright continued to make very good films like ‘Pursued’ (1947), ‘The Men’ (1950) and ‘The Actress’ (1953). Like so many stars of the era, her disillusionment with the studio system had a deep effect on her career but, as well as this, her popularity began to fade towards the end of the 40s. It was almost as if Wright was undone by her unprecedented early success and as she got older audiences didn’t accept her as anything but ‘the girl next door’. Her roles were far more layered than that and those ‘girls next door’ always had many more facets to their character than the lazy pigeon-hole normally allows. No-one since Wright has played those roles in anything like her style or with her ability.
Watch Teresa Wright in: ‘Shadow of a Doubt’ is a tense and unnerving thriller where Wright plays a girl who idolises her Uncle Charlie until she suspects he is hiding a terrible secret. Absolute magic.
2 – Jean Arthur
Once described as the quintessential comedic leading lady, Jean Arthur had a dazzling screen career despite suffering from such terrible nerves that she was violently sick before takes and left a number of stage plays early in their run due to stage fright. Those nerves actually contributed to what is felt to be Arthur’s trademark, her high pitched, slightly shaky voice. After a number of supporting roles in serials and B-features she scored her break opposite Edward G. Robinson in ‘The Whole Town’s Talking’ (1935). Over the next nine years she made a series of films of a quality that was almost certainly unmatched by any other star working at that time. She was the great Frank Capra’s favourite actress and worked with him on ‘Mr. Deeds Goes to Town’ (1936), ‘You Can’t Take it With You’ (1938) and ‘Mr. Smith Goes to Washington’ (1939), three of the director’s most acclaimed and best-loved works. She was also a favourite of George Stevens’ and he directed her in two further classics ‘The Talk of the Town’ (1942) and ‘The More the Merrier’ (1943). All of these movies were made at Columbia Studios along with here other notable films (‘The Plainsman’ (1936), ‘Easy Living’ (1937), ‘Only Angels Have Wings’ (1939) and ‘The Devil and Miss Jones’ (1941)). When her contract expired she ran through the lot shouting “I’m free!” and then retired, only appearing on the big screen again twice in Billy Wilder’s ‘A Foreign Affair’ (1948) and Stevens’ ‘Shane’ (1953). Easily one of the greatest stars of the so-called ‘Golden Age of Hollywood’, the only thing more remarkable that Arthur battling her crippling nerves to make so many top-drawer films is the sad fact that her name is now so little known.
Watch Jean Arthur in: With so many great performances to choose from it seems almost silly to single out one but I will go for ‘Mr. Deeds Goes to Town’. It’s one of the greatest comedies ever filmed and alongside Gary Cooper she shines.
1 – Norma Shearer
In compiling this list I tried to consider as many actresses as I could and then measure their contribution to the history of cinema, their star power, their ability to act and how little they are recognised or known today. I will not deny that some of the choices have had a more personal touch to them but, as I state at the top, a list of this kind can never be definitive. Many came close to inclusion – Joan Fontaine, Luise Rainer, Kathryn Grayson – but no matter whom you thought deserved inclusion, I don’t think many will argue with my number one choice once they know why I think Norma Shearer is the biggest forgotten star in Hollywood history.
During the 1930s, Norma Shearer was the female equivalent of Clark Gable. Clark was ‘King’, Norma was ‘Queen’. She made movies for the biggest studio, MGM, and she was their biggest female star. Yes, she was married to Irving Thalberg (MGM's legendary ‘boy-wonder’ Vice-President) but no matter how she became a star there were few bigger than Shearer. She started in ‘girl next door’ roles in silent movies though her dual role in ‘Lady of the Night’ (1925) showed her versatility. From the beginning of her career she scored 19 successive box office smashes before she made ‘The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg’ (1927) for Ernst Lubitsch. Even though the film lost money, it was one of MGM’s ‘marquee’ pictures of the year – in other words a film that was made primarily for artistic and critical praise, not for financial gain. When talkies came in Shearer’s clear, medium pitched voice ensured her continued popularity whilst others fell by the wayside due to unsuitably high or foreign accented voices. Shearer, though, didn’t stop at reinventing herself as a talking star. She employed a photographer to take a set of sexy studio portraits in an effort to shed her good girl image. It worked and Shearer scored her biggest successes yet in a series of racy romantic comedies including ‘The Divorcee’ (1930) for which she won an Academy Award. For the rest of the 1930s Shearer continued to alternate between highly successful box-office hits (‘Strange Interlude’ (1932), ‘The Barretts of Wimpole Street’ (1934)) with prestigious productions (‘Romeo and Juliet’ (1936), ‘Marie Antoinette’ (1938)). Shearer retired from the screen in 1942 and her career was always plagued by suggestions that her relationship with Thalberg was the only reason for her prominence. However, she was already MGM’s biggest star before she started dating him and her popularity continued after his early death in 1936. And besides any one who has seen Shearer in action, be it silent or sound, can feel that appeal radiating from the screen that only certain stars had. Shearer was a golden presence in a golden age and whilst time seems to have forgotten her, it hasn’t diminished her lustre.
Watch Norma Shearer in: Like so many silent movies, a lot of Shearer’s output pre-1929 is lost so maybe it isn’t fair to judge. From the sound era you can’t go wrong with her role as Elizabeth Barrett Browning in ‘The Barretts of Wimpole Street'.
5 – Eleanor Powell
Imagine a world where Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra were still as celebrated but no-one remembered Judy Garland. Or one where Clark Gable and Cary Grant were still regarded as great stars but Greta Garbo’s name was only familiar to a small, hardcore group of fans. It wouldn’t seem quite fair, would it? However, when we think of the great dancers of the screen we think of Fred Astaire in his top hat and tails or Gene Kelly splashing about in puddles and we forget the fleet footed brilliance of Eleanor Powell. Powell is best known for the ‘Broadway Melody’ series of films made between 1936 and 1940. They were typical early musicals – a love story set to the backdrop of a young hopeful getting their chance in a big show. There wasn’t much in the way of plot but there was always simply brilliant dancing from Powell. Her tap skills and the music of the great Cole Porter (who scored three of Powell’s movies) was a marriage made in heaven, almost certainly seen to best advantage in the ‘Begin the Beguine’ number from ‘The Broadway Melody of 1940’ (1940) with Powell and Astaire tapping up a storm. Unfortunately for Powell her career in the 1940s began to be that of a guest performer who was included for one or two sequences that were nothing to do with the main plot of the film. For fans of great tap dancing these brief cameos were worth the price of admission alone.
Watch Eleanor Powell in: As with many performers whose careers featured predominantly black-and-white movies, Powell’s films can be hard to get hold of and we are therefore reliant on compilation movies like ‘That’s Entertainment’ to see her in action. However, I have managed to see ‘Rosalie’ (1936) and if you watch it you may forget Astaire and Kelly ever existed… for 90 minutes at least.
4 – Lee Remick
Sometimes perky, sometimes sultry, sometimes perky and sultry, Lee Remick was the most talented of the numerous forgotten cinematic sex symbols of an era dominated by Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor. Her career got off to a fine start with roles in ‘A Face in the Crowd’ (1957), ‘The Long Hot Summer’ (1958) and ‘Anatomy of a Murder’ (1959) all of which helped to define her as a sexually forward but frustrated southern girl. However, Remick was not present purely for the purposes of decoration. These were great roles for a relatively unknown actress to launch her movie career with and her acting ability was much in evidence in all three roles as well as her physical appeal. She was cast as the bank teller blackmailed into robbery in Blake Edwards’ ‘Experiment in Terror’ (1962) which marked her first departure to a different type of role. The emotional vulnerability was still there but her looks were not as significant in shaping the character. Remick excelled in ‘Experiment in Terror’ and her next film ‘The Days of Wine and Roses’ (1962), again directed by Edwards, and then tried her hand at comedy in films like ‘The Wheeler Dealers’ (1963) and ‘The Hallelujah Trail’ (1965). Remick continued to choose interesting roles well into the 1970s but she never again recaptured the sort of magic we saw in her early years. However, for her to be remembered primarily as Damien’s adoptive mother in ‘The Omen’ (1976) is a terrible injustice to a lively, beautiful and skilled actress.
Watch Lee Remick in: Normally I would take any opportunity to recommend ‘Anatomy of a Murder’ but Remick is just one of a tremendous ensemble cast in that. Her performance opposite Jack Lemmon as a couple battling alcoholism in ‘The Days of Wine and Roses’ is probably Remick’s finest career appearance anyway.
3 – Teresa Wright
Teresa Wright’s film career started with a bang. She was nominated for an Oscar for each of her first three movies (the only actor ever to achieve that feat), winning once for ‘Mrs Miniver’ (1942). Her fourth movie ‘Shadow of a Doubt’ (1943) is one of the best of all Alfred Hitchcock’s thrillers and her sixth film ‘The Best Years of Our Lives’ (1946) was a multi-award winner and the sixth biggest box-office hit of the 1940s (and if you discount the all-conquering Disney studio of that era it was the biggest film of 1946 and the second most successful of the decade). After that almost anything would be considered a disappointment but Wright continued to make very good films like ‘Pursued’ (1947), ‘The Men’ (1950) and ‘The Actress’ (1953). Like so many stars of the era, her disillusionment with the studio system had a deep effect on her career but, as well as this, her popularity began to fade towards the end of the 40s. It was almost as if Wright was undone by her unprecedented early success and as she got older audiences didn’t accept her as anything but ‘the girl next door’. Her roles were far more layered than that and those ‘girls next door’ always had many more facets to their character than the lazy pigeon-hole normally allows. No-one since Wright has played those roles in anything like her style or with her ability.
Watch Teresa Wright in: ‘Shadow of a Doubt’ is a tense and unnerving thriller where Wright plays a girl who idolises her Uncle Charlie until she suspects he is hiding a terrible secret. Absolute magic.
2 – Jean Arthur
Once described as the quintessential comedic leading lady, Jean Arthur had a dazzling screen career despite suffering from such terrible nerves that she was violently sick before takes and left a number of stage plays early in their run due to stage fright. Those nerves actually contributed to what is felt to be Arthur’s trademark, her high pitched, slightly shaky voice. After a number of supporting roles in serials and B-features she scored her break opposite Edward G. Robinson in ‘The Whole Town’s Talking’ (1935). Over the next nine years she made a series of films of a quality that was almost certainly unmatched by any other star working at that time. She was the great Frank Capra’s favourite actress and worked with him on ‘Mr. Deeds Goes to Town’ (1936), ‘You Can’t Take it With You’ (1938) and ‘Mr. Smith Goes to Washington’ (1939), three of the director’s most acclaimed and best-loved works. She was also a favourite of George Stevens’ and he directed her in two further classics ‘The Talk of the Town’ (1942) and ‘The More the Merrier’ (1943). All of these movies were made at Columbia Studios along with here other notable films (‘The Plainsman’ (1936), ‘Easy Living’ (1937), ‘Only Angels Have Wings’ (1939) and ‘The Devil and Miss Jones’ (1941)). When her contract expired she ran through the lot shouting “I’m free!” and then retired, only appearing on the big screen again twice in Billy Wilder’s ‘A Foreign Affair’ (1948) and Stevens’ ‘Shane’ (1953). Easily one of the greatest stars of the so-called ‘Golden Age of Hollywood’, the only thing more remarkable that Arthur battling her crippling nerves to make so many top-drawer films is the sad fact that her name is now so little known.
Watch Jean Arthur in: With so many great performances to choose from it seems almost silly to single out one but I will go for ‘Mr. Deeds Goes to Town’. It’s one of the greatest comedies ever filmed and alongside Gary Cooper she shines.
1 – Norma Shearer
In compiling this list I tried to consider as many actresses as I could and then measure their contribution to the history of cinema, their star power, their ability to act and how little they are recognised or known today. I will not deny that some of the choices have had a more personal touch to them but, as I state at the top, a list of this kind can never be definitive. Many came close to inclusion – Joan Fontaine, Luise Rainer, Kathryn Grayson – but no matter whom you thought deserved inclusion, I don’t think many will argue with my number one choice once they know why I think Norma Shearer is the biggest forgotten star in Hollywood history.
During the 1930s, Norma Shearer was the female equivalent of Clark Gable. Clark was ‘King’, Norma was ‘Queen’. She made movies for the biggest studio, MGM, and she was their biggest female star. Yes, she was married to Irving Thalberg (MGM's legendary ‘boy-wonder’ Vice-President) but no matter how she became a star there were few bigger than Shearer. She started in ‘girl next door’ roles in silent movies though her dual role in ‘Lady of the Night’ (1925) showed her versatility. From the beginning of her career she scored 19 successive box office smashes before she made ‘The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg’ (1927) for Ernst Lubitsch. Even though the film lost money, it was one of MGM’s ‘marquee’ pictures of the year – in other words a film that was made primarily for artistic and critical praise, not for financial gain. When talkies came in Shearer’s clear, medium pitched voice ensured her continued popularity whilst others fell by the wayside due to unsuitably high or foreign accented voices. Shearer, though, didn’t stop at reinventing herself as a talking star. She employed a photographer to take a set of sexy studio portraits in an effort to shed her good girl image. It worked and Shearer scored her biggest successes yet in a series of racy romantic comedies including ‘The Divorcee’ (1930) for which she won an Academy Award. For the rest of the 1930s Shearer continued to alternate between highly successful box-office hits (‘Strange Interlude’ (1932), ‘The Barretts of Wimpole Street’ (1934)) with prestigious productions (‘Romeo and Juliet’ (1936), ‘Marie Antoinette’ (1938)). Shearer retired from the screen in 1942 and her career was always plagued by suggestions that her relationship with Thalberg was the only reason for her prominence. However, she was already MGM’s biggest star before she started dating him and her popularity continued after his early death in 1936. And besides any one who has seen Shearer in action, be it silent or sound, can feel that appeal radiating from the screen that only certain stars had. Shearer was a golden presence in a golden age and whilst time seems to have forgotten her, it hasn’t diminished her lustre.
Watch Norma Shearer in: Like so many silent movies, a lot of Shearer’s output pre-1929 is lost so maybe it isn’t fair to judge. From the sound era you can’t go wrong with her role as Elizabeth Barrett Browning in ‘The Barretts of Wimpole Street'.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment