A Blog For Thelma Todd
Thelma Todd was a star of silent movies and later the talkies. She is remembered as much today for her mysterious death as she is for her films. In this blog, we take a look at Thelma Todd, her movies, and various commentaries.
Showing posts with label Merian C. Cooper. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Merian C. Cooper. Show all posts
Merian C. Cooper is profiled in ABOVE THE CROWD. Cooper was a movie producer who made KING KONG, FLYING DOWN TO RIO, and many other movies. He was also said to have been the only man to make it out of a Russian prison camp and then Russia while the communists were in power.
Here we have an ad for the movie HIPS, HIPS, HOORAY with Wheeler and Woolsey, Dorothy Lee, Thelma Todd, and Ruth Etting, who was also mentioned in the ad for RKO short subjects.
Ruth Etting is shown in the small picture at lower right, but neither Thelma Todd or Dorothy Lee appear in this ad, although they are listed among the cast.
Merian C. Cooper is again mentioned as executive producer.
Here we have an ad for RKO short subjects, which would seem to include short subjects made by Charlie Chaplin in the silent era as well as Van Beuren cartoons and the Pathe news.
Clark and McCullough are depicted at left next to Charlie Chaplin. Edgar Kennedy is at right, the girl near him is Florence Lake, who played his wife in the movies. The Blondes and The Redheads are presumably among the girls in the background. Ruth Etting would be in there somewhere as well, possibly she's the one waving her arms.
Note that Merian C. Cooper is named as Executive producer. He is probably most famous for making KING KONG, but as we have seen he was also involved in the making of FLYING DOWN TO RIO, which featured Carole Tevis and June Brewster in the musical numbers.
After George Stevens left the Roach studio, he went to RKO and started a new series of two-reel comedies called "The Blondes And The Redheads". This series may be obscure today, but it is linked to some of the most famous classic movies of all time.
The Blondes and the Redheads had some similarities to "The Boy Friends" series Stevens had at the Roach studio, but the emphasis was on the girls in the series rather than the boys. To begin with, the blonde was baby-voiced Carol Tevis and the redhead was June Brewster. Eventually June Brewster was replaced by Dorothy Granger. She had been part of the Boy Friends series, as had Grady Sutton, another regular in the series. Others who took part in both series include David Sharpe and Charlie Hall.
The series began in 1933 and ended in 1935, after George Stevens had graduated to features.
The other people involved in the series were involved in features as well.
Both June Brewster and Carol Tevis appeared in FLYING DOWN TO RIO, a film which featured many of the glamour girls in an airborne sequence.
Carol Tevis was the little blonde who was blindfolded because she was scared to take part in the air show. Here she can be seen at center without a blindfold.
If these dames weren't dizzy to start with, they soon will be.
Air shows were popular in real life during this period, although this movie tended to exaggerate the number of people who acually would have been involved in such a spectacle.
This was the first movie to team Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. They went on to great success in a series of movies afterwards, and George Stevens worked with them again in this period.
Ginger Rogers is wearing a somewhat fancier version of a what the aviatrixes used to wear at the time.
FLYING DOWN TO RIO was produced by Meriem C. Cooper, who had a history of involvement with aviation and also produced KING KONG in this period.
The story in KING KONG also involved aviation.
Which could have been Cooper's idea.
One of Carol Tevis' last roles was as the voice of one of the Munchkins in THE WIZARD OF OZ.
Which is one of the most famous movies of all time.
And George Stevens went on to make many other famous classic films, including ANNIE OAKLEY, GUNGA DINN, PENNY SERENADE, SHANE, THE DIARY OF ANN FRANK, and THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD.
FLYING DOWN TO RIO: Mary Kornman
FLYING DOWN TO RIO: Sky Dance
FLYING DOWN TO RIO At Gingerology ( Ginger Rogers Site ):
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