Thelma Todd: June Brewster

Showing posts with label June Brewster. Show all posts

Saturday, September 27, 2014

June Brewster

June Brewster was teamed with Carol Tevis in the "Blondes and Redheads" series at RKO, which was produced by George Stevens and has been likened to his "Boy Friends" series at Roach, but the focus was on the girls, and the characters were not teenagers. June Brewster appeared in minor roles in features as a pretty girl, and can frequently be seen in leg art publicity photos. She appeared in HIPS, HIPS, HOORAY with Wheeler and Woolsey and in MEET THE BARON ( 1933 ) with The Three Stooges and Ted Healy, with whom they were working at that time.

She bred pedigree show dogs in addition to acting (source: "The Film Daily, Apr-Jun 1935").

MELODY CRUISE ( 1933 ) with Charles Ruggles and Phil Harris.

FLYING DEVILS 1933 RKO with Cliff "Ukelele Ike" Edwards.

The same studio also made FLYING DOWN TO RIO in this period, June Brewster was also in that. Here is a publicity photo of her from that movie.

HIPS, HIPS HOORAY ( 1934 ) with Robert Woolsey
Reblogged from http://pre-code.com/tag/june-brewster/

PRIVATE SCANDAL ( 1934 )

Leg art with the Graflex.

June Brewster married Guy McAfee, who ran gambling first in Los Angeles and later in Los Vegas.

Reblogged from http://derangedlacrimes.com/?tag=guy-mcafee - which has June Brewster confused with McAfee's previous wife, who had been a Los Angeles madam*.

Reblogged from http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0108288/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

( Guy ) McAfee was a former L.A. vice squad captain, turned proprietor of an illicit gambling den, the Clover Club on Sunset Strip, which was equipped with gaming tables that could be flipped over and hidden during raids. This did not, ultimately, stop a successful raid by the police. McAfee, with wife June in tow, duly left for Las Vegas, where he acquired the Pair-O-Dice Nightclub and Casino on Highway 91. He purchased several other lucrative properties during the 1940's: the Frontier Club, the Mandalay Lounge, the Pioneer Club, the SS Rex (which became Benny Binion's Horseshoe), and, most famously the Golden Nugget in 1946. At the time of his death fourteen years later, McAfee was considered one of the most successful operators in the history of America's gambling capital.

June Brewster card

*Another erroneous assumption: the American Film Institute Catalog of Feature Films 1931-1940 mistakenly identifies June Brewster as one of the Brewster Twins; this is incorrect. Barbara Brewster and Gloria Brewster were the Brewster Twins.

Blondes And Redheads series:
http://benny-drinnon.blogspot.com/2013/02/blondes-and-redheads.html

June Brewster:
http://www.threestooges.net/cast/actor/1687

http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/w/e/s/Darrell-K-Wesley/GENE2-0111.html

June Brewster divorces Guy McAfee:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2206&dat=19410520&id=C1QtAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cdgFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5215,4961198

Guy McAfee:
http://www.onlinenevada.org/articles/guy-mcafee

http://read.uberflip.com/i/81330/52

http://derangedlacrimes.com/?tag=guy-mcafee

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/lasvegas/peopleevents/p_mcafee.html

A

Saturday, August 9, 2014

Ad For RKO Short Subjects

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.

A

Saturday, July 5, 2014

Thelma Todd And Marion Byron in HIPS, HIPS HURRAY

HIPS, HIPS, HOORAY was a Wheeler and Woolsey movie. Bert Wheeler can be seen in the middle and Robert Woolsey on the right, kissing Marion Byron to test the lipstick they're selling. Thelma Todd, left, seems to disapprove of the proceedings.

June Brewster ( "Blondes and the Redheads" series ) is one of the girls in this movie and is probably in this picture, but I don't know which one is her.

A

Monday, April 14, 2014

June Brewster In The Fan Magazines

June Brewster was in the "Blondes and Redheads" series with Carol Tevis. Although the posters for the series I've seen had Carol Tevis, I see more publicity pictures of June Brewster.

June Brewster on the left.

Mary Pickford, right, was from the silent era. But in the thirties she was still considered one of the glamour girls.

Bathing Beauty Brewster at bottom right.

Bathing Beauty Brewster at bottom right.

June Brewster at the right in a Spanish language fan magazine.

Dorothy Dell, bottom center, died in a traffic accident not long afterwards. Ida Lupino had come over from England recently at the time this picture was taken.

Bathing Beauty Brewster on the right of this Spanish language fan magazine.

June Brewster on the left in a Spanish language fan magazine.

Olivia Haviland, bottom, as she looked early in her career.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

CONTENTED CALVES - Blondes And The Redheads

CONTENTED CALVES was a "Blondes and Redheads" comedy with Carol Tevis and June Brewster. I don't think I've seen that one, but I've got a little related to it.

Here is a review.

Some frame enlargements.

Carol Tevis looking at the want ads.

Grady Sutton

June Brewster

The hosiery ad tells us that June Brewster wears their hosiery and all the men like her, but that Carol Tevis doesn't wear them and the men don't like her.

If those guys don't like Carol Tevis, I'm afraid there's no hope for them.

The Blondes And The Redheads:
http://benny-drinnon.blogspot.com/2013/02/blondes-and-redheads.html

A

Monday, March 31, 2014

Carol Tevis In The Fan Magazines

A few items for Carol Tevis , who appeared in the "Blondes and the Redheads" series and other comedy films of the thirties, as well as providing voices for Minnie Mouse and the Munchkins in THE WIZARD OF OZ.

Carol Tevis at top left.

A "Blondes and Redheads" item in the lower left hand column.

Review of CONTENTED CALVES on lower right.

An article about movie stars on the radio, including Carol Tevis.

Carol Tevis mentioned as being on CBS.

Carol Tevis mentioned in this article, along with many other movie stars.

Carol Tevis is mentioned in the upper part of the column on the right side of this page.

Will Rogers, a top star of the thirties who had worked for Roach in the silent era, is mentioned in the lower part of the column on the right.

Irvin S. Cobb, who worked with Will Rogers and made some short subjects for Hal Roach, is mentioned at the start of this page.

The Blondes and the Redheads series:
http://benny-drinnon.blogspot.com/2013/02/blondes-and-redheads.html

Carol Tevis:
http://www.lordheath.com/index.php?p=1_1225_Carol-Tevis

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0856674/

A

Friday, February 8, 2013

Blondes And The Redheads

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