BORN TODAY

BORN TODAY: Greer Garson (1904–1996)




The British Greer Garson was one of the major box office draws for MGM studios, especially in the forties. She received an impressive seven Academy Award nominations - starting with her first Hollywood role in Goodbye Mr. Chips (1939). Her only actual win was for Mrs. Miniver (1942) - and deservedly so. She was responsible for the Academy issuing time limits on acceptance speeches - hers was five minutes and thirty seconds (!), a record that still stands. The actor who played her son in the movie would later become her husband.
Other memorable performances by Garson were in films like Pride and Prejudice (1940), Madame Curie (1943), and, my personal favourite, Random Harvest (1942), a somewhat far-fetched melodrama about amnesia, lost love, more amnesia and a happy ending. The picture received multiple Academy Award nominations, Best Film and Best Actor (Ronald Colman) among them. Garson wasn't nominated because her nomination for Mrs. Miniver that same year made her ineligible.
Greer Garson was a classy actress, her wit and personal charm were her strongest features. Always engaging, I've not seen her give a bad performance.

Quote: "I do wish I could tell you my age but it's impossible. It keeps changing all the time!"




With Walter Pidgeon in Mrs. Miniver (1942)

MOVIESTAR MORPH 8 - the answer

Despite my incorrect claim that she won an Oscar, a lot of people still guessed Judy Garland correctly (ofcourse the one time that I don't bother checking a fact I get it wrong! Who knew - she never won a thing!). Alyssa LM was the smarty pants who recognized Shirley MacLaine as the second actress - well done!



Here's the full morph sequence:

MOVIESTAR MORPH 8

Number 8! Hmmm...who are these two very talented ladies spliced together? They were born twelve years apart, they both have family members who became famous actors in their own right!

MOVIESTAR MORPH 7 - the answer

This Moviestar Morph was a little easier than usual and a lot of people identified both actors correctly. I used two of my blog friend Patti's favourite actors, as she had kind of requested - as an exception, by the way!


(I think the end result kind of looks like Liam Neeson!)

As usual, here's the full morph sequence:

MOVIE MAGAZINES

MOVIE MAGAZINES: Film Pictorial, October 1936

I have a collection of old movie magazines from which I will pick an issue now and then and show you some of the articles, reviews and gossip of the time.
First up is an issue of Film Pictorial from 1936, with cover girl Merle Oberon, who had just starred in These Three (1936), a William Wyler picture also starring Miriam Hopkins and Joel McCrea, which was a version of The Children's Hour (William Wyler later, rather splendidly, remade the film in 1961 with the lesbian theme intact from the play with Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine ). The same-sex origins of the story are never mentioned in the accompanying two-page article, calling the picture a 'drama of school life' instead.



Then there's an article about James Cagney who, apparently, is angry because he's convinced he's been blacklisted by Hollywood because he hasn't worked for a year. (Cagney had just fought Warner Brothers about his contract, and more or less won. However, other studios were now not so keen to hire him as they saw him as a troublemaker. Bette Davis would later go through an almost identical phase in her career.)
Another article, under the headline 'HUNTED!',tells how George Brent had on numerous occassions escaped death. He had been an Irish freedom fighter before becoming a star and was forever on the run from the authorities. The whole piece smells of a lot of studio image-building. If the article is to be believed he virtually single-handedly fought the English for his native Ireland and he was the most wanted man in Britain.



Which brings us to the gossip pages, which don't seem to be very gossipy at all. Ann Harding had a difficult divorce, Irene Dunne is moving into a new home ("It's all to be white! White rugs, Chippendale furniture painted white, sculptures in white Carrara marble. The only touch of colour will be my green pet turtle!"), The Marx Brothers are taking forever filming their new picture A Day At The Races, there's a budding romance between 'young' Jimmy Stewart and Eleanor Powell and Robert Taylor is overwhelmed by adoring fans wherever he goes, restricting his mobility and he receives over 8000 letters a week.

One of the most entertaining features in the magazine are the letters from readers. Here's a few samples:

- "Sir, Margaret Sullavan should speak her lines more clearly, instead of sounding as if she were suffering from a severe bronchial complaint!"

- "In recent films such as The Tunnel and Things To Come, the new invention of television has been prominently featured. There seems little doubt that, within a few years, it will have advanced to such an extent as to form part of our home lives, much as the radio does today. Accepting this as a fact, what steps will the film industry take to combat this threat?"

- "Patric Knowles is far more attractive and manly than Robert Taylor will ever be!"

Ofcourse there are some great ads in the magazine as well:

MOVIESTAR MORPH 7

A male morph again this time - who are the two famous actors merged together? They were born five years apart. They've received five Academy Award nominations total. Combined, they appeared in over 100 movies.