Classic Spotlight: Merle Oberon

Classic Spotlight: Merle Oberon
This is the second of this segment which will spotlight classic directors, actors, & actresses. These classic individuals deserve a focus on them specifically and each of there contribution to the golden age of Hollywood...Merle Oberon  is one of those ladies without a doubt!

Merle Oberon was born Estelle Merle Thompson on February 19, 1911 in India. The nickname "Queenie" was given to Merle as a young child in honor of Queen Mary who visited India in 1911. Merle's family lineage is something of a mystery since she herself kept it more personal and did not speak much about it. There is specualtion that according to the film star's birth certificate that who is claimed to be the parents are British though she referred to her mother as a sister. There is also questions about a possible Chinese heritage as well.

In 1917, Merle as a young child moved with what we now know is her grandmother to Calcutta and attended a private all girls academy where she was taunted for her unique and different look. While at the academy she started her passion for motion pictures and started her acting through the Calcutta Amateur Dramatic Society. As a young lady in 1929, she met and had a short relationship with former actor named Colonel Ben Finney at Firpo's a restaurant in Calcutta. Ben introduced Merle to Rex Ingram of Victorine Studios in France where she was loved for her exotic looks and was hired as an extra in her first film: "The Three Passions" in 1929. 

For a few years Merle was hired for small roles in feature films. The big break through that made the pivotal point of her acting career was relocating to London where she the famed director Alexander Korta. Alexander was smitten with her and provided her with the new stage name of: "Merle Oberon." This new name was now going to be featured as a supporting role in a huge film "The Private Live of Henry VIII in 1933 as Anne Boleyn. This film had Merle now starring with the famed actor in the title role Charles Laughton. This film was a blockbuster hit which then led to leading lady roles and a lot of media attention. Merle started a relationship with Alexander Korta which eventually led to her first marriage in 1939 and later divorced in 1945.

Her career was now at a new heights starring in "The Scarlet Pimpernel" in 1934 alongside Leslie Howard and then in 1935 in "Dark Angel" where she starred alongside David Niven and reportedly started a love affair with him. Merle received her first and only nomination for an Academy Award for her role as Kitty Vane in this film.

  
Merle Oberon Film Highlights:

• The Private Life of Henry VIII. (1933) Charles Laughton
• The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934) Leslie Howard
• The Dark Angel (1935) David Niven
• These Three   (1936) Miriam Hopkin & Joel McCrea
• Beloved Enemy (1936) Briam Aherne
• I, Claudius (1937) Charles Laughton
• The Divorce of Lady X (1938) Laurence Olivier
• Over the Moon (1939) Rex Harrison
• Wuthering Heights (1939) Laurence Olivier
• Lydia (1941) Joseph Cotten
• A Song to Remember (1945) Cornel Wilde
• Temptation (1946) George Brent
• Berlin Express (1948) Robert Ryan
• Desirée (1954) Marlon Brando & Jean Simmons

Merle Oberon Quotes:

~ Without security it is difficult for a woman to look or feel beautiful.
~ Even when I was single, I owned homes and gardens. I buy beauty when other women buy jewels. Land is security to me. I need gardens that are mine to walk on.

Happy Holidays: The Classic Movie Style!! (Part 10)

Esther Williams!

Happy Holidays: The Classic Movie Style!!!! (Part 10)

Here is our tenth in the holiday season's best in pictures, music and all things Classic Movies!! Hope you enjoy these installments as much as I do with putting them together. It is a lot of fun to see our favorite screen celebrities and lovely tunes to enjoy, what true gifts in my book! I will be posting a few of these to keep us all posted as to what our ladies and gentlemen of the silver screen are up to and singing for this holdiay season, so let's get a good egg nog and put the lights down for some fun yule tides!!!! Happy watching. : )

Joan Crawford

Alice Faye

Dorothy Jordon

Jeanette MacDonald

Rita Hayworth!

Ida Lupino!

Virginia Grey

Ann Miller!

Happy Holidays: The Classic Movie Style!! (Part 9)

Lucy & Desi!!

Happy Holidays: The Classic Movie Style!!!! (Part 9)

Here is part nine of our holiday season's best in pictures, music and all things Classic Movies!! Hope you enjoy these installments as much as I do with putting them together. It is a lot of fun to see our favorite screen celebrities and lovely tunes to enjoy, what true gifts in my book! I will be posting a few of these to keep us all posted as to what our ladies and gentlemen of the silver screen are up to and singing for this holdiay season, so let's get a good egg nog and put the lights down for some fun yule tides!!!! Happy watching. : )

Mary Martin

Shirley Temple

 

Anita Louise

 

 

Gloria Swanson

Arelene Dahl

Sally Phipps


 

It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947) A lovely holiday story to help one and all!

It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947) / Allied Artists Pics

Directed By: Roy Del Ruth  
Starring: Don DeForce, Ann Harding, Charles Ruggles, Gale Storm & Victor Moore

~ Nominated for Academy Award in 1948 for Best Writing.

Tagline: It's Happer Than Heaven ... the Hit of '47!

Plot:

It is New York City in the 1940's where a homeless man in rough time see a beautiful boarded-up mansion in no other than on Fifth Avenue. This down on his luck man, Aloyisius T. McKeever (Moore) decides to set his sights on this empty place that he would love to call him since not having a roof over his head.

The home has not gone abandoned it is just empty during the winter since the homeowner being millionaire Michael J. O'Connor's (Ruggles) is in the south enjoying the warmth.

McKeever moves into the residence and loves the new home and decides to take in a homeless ex-GI named Jim Bullock (DeForce). Jim just has been evicted from his apartment that actually the real homeowner is tearing down to build a skyscraper. Trudy "Smith" (Storm) now is in the picture who is a 18 year old run away and no one except herself know that her actual father is the millionaire O'Connor. There seems to be a very short degree of seperation between each person.

Hank (Edward Ryan & Whitey (Alan Hale Jr.) are Jim's war buddies who also move into the mansion that has plenty of space to accomodate everyone. During this time Trudy falls in love with Jim and she convinces her father to move into the house as a panhandler "Mike" to make sure that there is no love for wealth going on. Then Trudy asks her mother to fly back from Florida to play a part in this. Her mother Mary (Harding) does accept and takes on the role of a servant a cook in the mansion. Mike is furious and wants to arrest these people that are tresspassing but now his wife is now in the thick of it.

Mike decides to end all of this by getting his construction company to offer a wonderful job to Jim in Bolivia. To Mike's surprise Jim turns it down to follow his dream. The ex-GIs staying in the mansion have a grand idea of purchasing a former Army camp and make it into affordable housing. Mike and Jim with no idea are actually bidding against one another for the land.

It is now Chrsitmas Eve and all are celebrating it together. The patrolmen that now see the lights inside go in and see all these families staying and agree to be kind and allow them to stay there until the New Year. Which makes everyone celebrates and then Jim has big news that he lost the bid for the camp to Mike. Jim is now shattered and now accepts the job in Bolivia and breaks things off with Trudy since it is not worth chasing his dreams. Mary and Trudy are angry about what horrible things Mike has done to Jim and will leave the next day to Florida. McKeever is now sad and no longer wants to call this mansion a home. After a big meeting the men find out that Mike is actually O'Connor and will give the camp to them with the condition that they never reveal who he is to McKeever. That night there is a lot to celebrate and they do with a wonderful meal and then put the house the way they got it. To top it all off McKeever is now heading to the family's mansion in Virginia to stay as family!!!

Classic Mr & Mrs. Clause: Mitchum & Rogers (2nd Annual)

Welcome to "Love Those Classic Movies!!!" Second Annual Classic Mr. & Mrs. Clause.
 This year to kick it off we have two extrememly gifted (and perhaps a team one would NEVER thought would see as a couple) and top classic leading actor and actress:

Robert Mitchum & Ginger Rogers.

These personalities will keep a room filled all night and enteretained!!!

Robert Mitchum & Ginger Rogers have both been good sports and have dressed up in various Christmas outfits and posed for us during their busy schedules, so thank you!!! After a lot of assistants to help with getting the right outfits and the rest of the glamour squad to do hair the photo shoots were just swell! These two know how to ham it up for the camera and for the fans all the time and to look glamorous!

                                   


                           


                                   
                                   


                   


                                                



                                    



                               



                     



                                    


                                 

Star of Midnght (1935) Sleuths Powell & Rogers!

Star of Midnight (1935) / RKO Radio Pics.

Directed By: Stephen Roberts

Starring: William Powell, Ginger Rogers & Gene Lockhart

Gowns by: Bernard Nweman

Taglines: The titian-haired star of "Gay Divorcee" and "Roberta" joins hands with the master of all screen sleuths in a sparkling, mystery drama breathless with thrills...


Plot:

Clay 'Dal' Dalzell (Powell) is a successful lawyer and on the side plays detective and is very good at it. Clay is able to get his muderer and is asked by a friend Tim Winthrop to work for him on a case. The case involves a missing girl from a year ago with no trace and this girl Alice is esepcially close to Tim since it is his girl. Clay of course loving to solve a good mystery takes this on.

On Clay's arm is the beautiful socialite Donna Mantin (Rogers). Donna is drapped in the most beautiful gowns and diamonds fitting for the most stylish 1930's styles of the day. Donna asks for Dal to stop a story to stop occurring on notes a gentleman she was seeing and of course with some choice words our man steps up and gets the notes back and saves the young lady from a harmful story being printed. The gossip columnist Tommy Tennant goes to see "Dal" in his art deco lavish apartment and during the visit is shot dead by someone outside. The police arrive a believe that Dal shot Tennant due to a story that he was going to publish and confirm. In order to shut Tennant up the thought goes that Dal shot him dead and in accident shot himself and grazed his head as well. This leaves no option since now Dal is prime suspect in the murder of Tennant to take on the case. Donna heads up and meets with Dal and obtains the notes and now finds out the letters written were not from her but from her from married friend that she was saving.

Donna and Dal are smitten with one another and together arm in arm (a beautiful couple at that) go to solve the dissappearance of this lady going missing and to clear Dal's name and to find the true killer of Tennant and what happened to Alica the veiled stage performer.


Note from the classic movie gentleman:

~ Ginger Rogers at this time just starred in her huges successful Astaire/Rogers musicals for RKO and became for her studio: RKO box office bonanza! At this same time the "Thin Man" film from MGM Studios were released starring William Powell & Myrna Loy and were as well HUGE box office success. The thought of course for many studios was to duplicate the success of the husand and wife mysteries such as RKO borrowing William Powell and pairing him up with their queen Ginger Rogers in a high class murder mystery. This film did not have sequels and Powell & Rogers sadly never made another motion picture again and seeing them together they were actually very good together. RKO used their lavish sets in this film to show Dal's apartment in the city and the fancy clubs then showing there beautifu leading lady in aptly designed gowns. A very nice team in this classic gem!!                     

Vote for Mrs. Clause! (2nd Annual)

Vote for Mrs. Clause!! (2nd Annual) 
It is time to start the voting for the 2nd Annual Mrs. Clause!!!

We now have the six classic leading lady contenders who all what your vote today!

Start posting your comments here for your leading lady!!!

The follow 6 CLASSIC LEADING LADIES ARE UP FOR VOTING:

1) Lucille Ball

2) Ginger Rogers

3) Ann Margret

4) Elizabeth Taylor

5) Doris Day

6) Ann Miller