Myrna Loy
Muriel Evans
Buster Keaton
Iris Adrian
Marie Wilson
Bette Davis
Bela Lugosi
Boris Karloff
Bob Hope
Bob Hope and Lucille Ball
Rosemary and Priscilla Lane
Arlene Dahl
Debbie Reynolds
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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 Bela Lugosi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bela Lugosi. Show all posts
Friday, December 22, 2017
Friday, October 31, 2014
Happy Halloween
From Bela Lugosi,
Clara Bow's onetime boyfriend, at the premiere of HOUSE OF WAX, circa 1953.
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Saturday, May 24, 2014
Suzanne Kaaren
The beautiful Suzanne Kaaren worked with the Three Stooges and appeared in other classic films.
Suzanne Kaaren
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Suzanne Kaaren | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | March 21, 1912 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Died | August 27, 2004 (aged 92) Englewood, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Resting place | Chestnut Hill Cemetery, Salisbury, North Carolina |
| Occupation | Stage, film actress |
Education and athletics
Kaaren attended Erasmus Hall High School and Hunter College before being signed by 20th Century Fox in September 1933. In 1931 she won a high-jumping contest in a New York City school contest. Her parents refused to let her compete in the Olympic Games. She collected butterflies as a hobby and had several books filled with the insects.Career
Early career
She acted with stock companies and posed as a model for commercial painters and cigarette advertising. Kaaren appeared in dramatic parts in New York theaters and trained at the Hedgerow Theatre in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This was the same venue that produced actress Ann Harding.She was one of the original Rockettes. Kaaren performed on stage on December 27, 1932, the night Radio City Music Hall opened.
Movie actress
Kaaren left for Hollywood in October 1933. Her starting salary was $150 per week, and was eventually cast opposite Tim McCoy in Ridin' Gents, a Monogram Pictures production. She was then signed by Republic Pictures to play a character in From Rags To Riches. Ridin' Gents was filmed without either McCoy or Kaaren.She joined a troupe assembled by producer Walter Wanger, which also included Gloria Youngblood. The theatrical company was known as Trade Winds. The comedy When's Your Birthday? (1937) showcased the zany Joe E. Brown, with Kaaren among the supporting players in an RKO Radio Pictures movie about an astrologer.
Kaaren figured prominently in several Three Stooges comedy short films. They are Disorder in the Court, Yes, We Have No Bonanza, and What's the Matador?. In the latter, she depicts Dolores Sanchez, and has the fourth lead after Curly Howard, Larry Fine, and Moe Howard.
Miracles for Sale (1939) was based on the novel Death From A Tophat by Clayton Rawson. Kaaren plays a woman who is separated into halves and then joined together again suspensefully. The murder mystery has Robert Young and Florence Rice in prominent roles.
She starred opposite Bela Lugosi in The Devil Bat. The cult film of the horror film genre is a Poverty Row production released by Producers Releasing Corporation. In the movie Lugosi breeds giant bats to attack people.
Her final appearance on film is uncredited role as the Duchess of Park Avenue (Manhattan) in 1984's The Cotton Club.
Theater
Kaaren stepped into the character usually played by Ann Thomas in a Broadway presentation of Chicken Every Sunday. Staged in September 1944, Thomas left the production to go to Hollywood. In July 1946, Kaaren's elder son, Brewster, was in the play with her as an eight-month-old. She was also joined by her husband on stage at the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, Pennsylvania. In addition to Brewster, the Blackmers had another son, Jonathen. In April 1953 the Blackmers starred in Glad Tidings in Atlantic City, New Jersey. A month later the show moved to the Quarterback Theatre, also in Atlantic City.In 1959, Kaaren appeared in The Royal Family at the Hinsdale Summer Theater in Chicago, Illinois. Linda Darnell starred; Karyn Kupcinet and Stuart Brent were also in the cast. The theme was a famous family of the American stage.
Personal life
She married stage and screen actor, Sidney Blackmer, on June 13, 1943, in a civil ceremony in Santa Ana, California. Raquel Torres was a witness at the wedding. Blackmer was married previously to Lenore Ulric.By this time, Kaaren was under contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The marriage was a turbulent one from the outset. The couple separated in September 1943 and Blackmer instructed his attorney to file for divorce in October, but the couple would remain together until Blackmer's death in 1973. The marriage produced two sons, Brewster and Jonathen.
Sidney Blackmer died in October 1973. The Blackmers had lived in his family home in Salisbury, North Carolina, until it was damaged by fire in 1984. Afterward, she resided in a rent-controlled Manhattan apartment at 100 Central Park South. According to her obituary, real estate developer Donald Trump bought the building and threatened to tear it down to build something more lucrative. Blackmer refused to budge, and, in 1998, a court ruled that Trump had to allow the rent-controlled tenants to remain.[1][2]
Suzanne Kaaren died from pneumonia in Englewood, New Jersey, in 2004, aged 92.
Notes and references
- Jump up ^ Obit in re Donald Trump
- Jump up ^ "Finally, a 'yes' on Blackmer house," Salisbury Post, June 23, 2012.
- Bismarck Tribune, New Browning Mystery Stars Suzanne Kaaren, September 9, 1939, Page 8.
- Fitchburg Sentinel, News and Comment Of Stage and Screen, October 2, 1937, Page 5.
- Long Beach Independent, Sidney Blackmer To Sue For Divorce, October 26, 1943, Page 2.
- New York Times, Screen Notes, September 27, 1933, Page 24.
- New York Times, Girl Athlete Gets Movie Job, November 11, 1933, Page 11.
- New York Times, News Of The Screen, March 22, 1938, Page 18.
- New York Times, Screen News Here And In Hollywood, August 29, 1938, Page 10.
- New York Times, Screen News Here And In Hollywood, June 26, 1941, Page 27.
- New York Times, Screen News Here And In Hollywood, October 24, 1941, Page 27.
- New York Times, Sidney Blackmer Marries, August 9, 1943, Page 10.
- New York Times, Three Plays Delay Broadway Debuts, September 15, 1944, Page 17.
- New York Times, Vera Allen Named By Theatre Wing, July 4, 1946, Page 23.
- New York Times, Atlantic City Bills Listed, April 17, 1953, Page 30.
- New York Times, Early-Season Attractions In Jersey, May 3, 1953, Page X17.
- Ogden Standard-Examiner, Photo Collector, February 4, 1934, Page 11.
- Olean Times-Evening Herald, All Ready? Then Get Your Eyes Ready For A New Screen Beauty!, November 11, 1933, Page 3.
- Suburbanite Economist, Linda Darnell Plays Hinsdale, August 5, 1959, Page 16.
- Syracuse Herald Journal. In Step With:The Rockettes, December 27, 1992, Page 182.
- Washington Post, Astrology, Boxing Bouts Mix In Latest Joe E. Brown Picture, March 4, 1937, Page 12.
- Washington Post, Sidney Blackmer, Noted Actor, Dies, October 7, 1973, Page B6.
External links
- Suzanne Kaaren at Find a Grave
- Suzanne Kaaren at the Internet Movie Database
- Suzanne Kaaren at AllRovi
* * *
Suzanne Kaaren was one of the original Radio City Music Hall Rockettes in 1932. But today she probably is best known for dancing in the courtroom in the Three Stooges' DISORDER IN THE COURT.
Her "New Year's Eve" picture was run in many newspapers in 1934.
Another New Year picture.
Bathing Beauty Suzanne
WOMEN MUST DRESS, 1935
DISORDER IN THE COURT, 1936
WHEN'S YOUR BIRTHDAY?, 1937
With Joe E. Brown
THE WOMEN ( 1939 )
Suzanne Kaaren, Joan Fontaine, Phyllis Povah, Norma Shearer, and Rosalind Russell.
DEVIL BAT, 1940
Cigarette cards
Watch DISORDER IN THE COURT
Watch DEVIL BAT
DISORDER IN THE COURT:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disorder_in_the_Court
Suzanne Kaaren:
http://www.westernclippings.com/interview/suzannekaaren_interview.shtml
http://immortalephemera.com/11208/suzanne-kaaren-blackmer-biography/
http://books.google.com/books?id=Vy41mDPFqYQC&pg=PA197&lpg=PA197&dq=disorder+in+the+court+suzanne+Kaaren&source=bl&ots=Qo6DksEfsf&sig=r3r7zzZwJ-xjgkhssiCd8hdy68Q&hl=en&sa=X&ei=BTsnU_e7E4a9qQHf6YGgBQ&ved=0CGsQ6AEwDA#v=onepage&q=disorder%20in%20the%20court%20suzanne%20Kaaren&f=false
Bela Lugosi:
http://www.belalugosi.com/
The Three Stooges:
http://www.threestooges.com/
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Saturday, September 14, 2013
THE STANDARD CASTING DIRECTORY For March 1929
In the edition for March of 1929, Jean Harlow is still listed as being under contract to Hal Roach, but not Thelma Todd. That was the way it was when the year began, but things would be different before the year was out.
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Sunday, December 30, 2012
Death Of Thelma Todd LA Times Pt. 7
Regular coverage of this story stopped in January 1936, but occasionally there would be more news items after that.
From January 19, 1936.
January 19, 1936 part 2
The sudden death of John Gilbert drew attention from the case of Thelma Todd, but coverage of that story would have ended in any case, as did the investigation itself.
An article that originaly appeared in the LA Times January 26, 1936.
January 26, 1936 Part 2
Thelma Todd's part was largely eliminated from THE BOHEMIAN GIRL because Stan Laurel was afraid that adverse publicity would hurt the picture.
March 28, 1936
Although there was no proof that Thelma Todd had been murdered, there likewise had been no proof of suicide. Some people complained about the way the authorities had handled the case. Sometimes they would point to this particular incident. It is mentioned in a number of books about Hollywood's Unsolved Mysteries.
October 12, 1936
After selling Thelma Todd's posessions, Mrs. Alice Todd went back to live in Massachusetts, where she would live for the rest of her days.
L.A. Times Articles:
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Batman And Me
I was only a boy when the "Batman" tv show with Adam West began. When I was a young man, I was about the same height and weight as Adam West, and I appeared as Batman in a couple of local parades. Here I am at a parade in Beech Grove. I was on the library's float. The other guy in the picture is supposed to be Huck Finn, who could have been Robin's replacement that day.
Bob Kane, who was the creator of Batman, wrote in BATMAN AND ME that Batman was partly inspired by the character of "The Bat" in the 1931 movie THE BAT WHISPERS. Actually the picture he has to illustrate the Bat is from the original 1926 silent version, THE BAT. Both these movies were made by Roland West, who would later become involved with Thelma Todd. Jewel Carmen was one of the stars of the silent version, and she was later involved in Thelma Todd's Sidewalk Cafe along with Thelma Todd and Roland West.
The Bat (1926 film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Bat (disambiguation).
| The Bat | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Roland West |
| Produced by | Roland West |
| Written by | Roland West Julien Josephson |
| Starring | Tullio Carminatti Charles Herzinger Jewel Carmen Louise Fazenda Emily Fitzroy George Beranger Arthur Housman Robert McKim |
| Cinematography | Arthur Edeson |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
| Release date(s) | 14 March 1926 |
| Country | U.S. |
| Language | Silent |
The Bat (1926) is a silent film based on the 1920 hit Broadway play by Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood, directed by Roland West and starring Jack Pickford and Louise Fazenda. The story takes place in an old mansion, where people look for hidden loot while a caped killer (nicknamed "The Bat") murders them one by one.
Preservation status
The film was rediscovered[when?] after being thought to have been a lost film for many years.[1][citation needed]
Remakes
Director Roland West remade his film four years later as The Bat Whispers (1930), with Chester Morris and Una Merkel. A 1959 remake, The Bat, starred Vincent Price and Agnes Moorehead.
Comic-book creator Bob Kane said in his 1989 autobiography Batman and Me that the villain of the 1930 film The Bat Whispers was an inspiration for his character Batman.[2]
References
- ^ The Bat at Rottentomatoes.com
- ^ The Haunting of Robert Kane!, dialbforblog.com, September 2007. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
See also
External links
- The Bat at the Internet Movie Database
- The Bat is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more] (version with soundtrack)
- The Bat at AllRovi
Advertising for the first movie.
Bat-stationary
The bat-signal. In the movie, this turned out to be a moth on a headlight.
"The Bat" in the first movie wore a sort of bat costume that is vaugely similar to the later "Batman" costume. It was supposed to look frightening.
Jewel Carmen was supposed to think it was.
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Herald advertising THE BAT.
Herald for THE BAT, inside.
Poster for THE BAT WHISPERS.
Universal wanted Chester Morris for DRACULA, too, but Roland West had him under contract and didn't want him to do it. West went on to make the movie CORSAIR with Chester Morris, but it wasn't the hit that DRACULA was, and Chester Morris missed out on a chance to be a part of one of the most famous movies of all time.
Bob Kane said that DRACULA was another influence. He said he wanted everything to have a sort of dark, spooky look. There was even a Dracula-type villian in the early comics.
The "Batman" logo on the covers of the comics was similar to what had been done with the publicity material for the "Bat" movies and DRACULA.
This logo would be used again for the serials
And later television.
-
Looking at pictures from the "Bat" movies, it's easy to see the resemblances to what they later had in the comics with Batman. It's not hard to believe that "The Bat" was one of the inspirations of "Batman", even though there has been some controversy over Bob Kane's story and there were other influences, such as "The Shadow".
The Joker was also at least partially inspired by another character from a silent movie, THE MAN WHO LAUGHS, who was portrayed by Conreid Veidt.
| . |
Watch THE BAT online
http://travsd.wordpress.com/tag/roland-west/
Roland West: The Great Experimenter:
http://www.classichorror.free-online.co.uk/west.htm
Roland West - Discusses THE BAT And THE BAT WHISPERS:
http://mikegrost.com/west.htm
THE BAT WHISPERS:
http://www.in70mm.com/news/2011/bat_whispers/index.htm
My club for Batman:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/batmanonparade/
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