March 24, 2023

In the last week, I've watched 3 movies from the 1930s, all with the same great old movie star.

I'll let you guess for a while and will reveal the answer soon. It's surprising!

68 comments:

Aggie said...

William Powell.

Mr. D said...

Tyrone Power

Temujin said...

Marlene Dietrich.

Or
Maurice Chevalier

Looking past the obvious ones. ??

wildswan said...

Humphrey Bogart

Limited blogger said...

Gotta be Claudette Colbert! 'It Happened One Night'

mezzrow said...

Hoping it's Ginger Rogers.

Joe Smith said...

Errol Flynn

Rob said...

1930's, eh? Too early to be Francis the Talking Mule.

J2 said...

Myrna Loy

J2 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Quayle said...

Clark Gable

Dustbunny said...

Carol Lombard?

Wince said...

When I Googled "1930s movie stars" I was surprised by how many were women. Google even autofilled women. I searched both:

"1930s movie stars men" = 10

"1930s movie stars women" = 25

Gravel said...

Peter Lorre.

Mark said...

Cary Grant
or
Edward G. Robinson
or
Shirley Temple

Ann Althouse said...

Temujin wins!

It was Maurice Chevalier!

Ann Althouse said...

"The Smiling Lieutenant"

"One Hour With You"

"Love Me Tonight"

Have you seen any of these wild and crazy movies?

Ann Althouse said...

I highly recommend the first 18 minutes of "Love Me Tonight."

Freeman Hunt said...

Too many great ones to guess! But I'll guess one that hasn't been guessed.

Greta Garbo:
Ninotchka, Camille, Grand Hotel


Freeman Hunt said...

Ha! I guessed, the page reloaded, and the answer was revealed! Satisfying.

Kai Akker said...


Two Lubitsch pictures. (I'll still nominate Barbara Stanwyck as worth watching at any time.)

Lots of great Lubitsch pictures out there for your queue!

Limited blogger said...

At least I had the French accent right.

Ann Althouse said...

I should note that there is another star, a character actor, who appears in all 3 movies. This is a guy who was in so many movies and TV shows it's just uncanny.

He was in movies going all the way back to 1914 and still managed to appear in the TV shows "The Real McCoys," "The Beverly Hillbillies,""The Man from U.N.C.L.E.," "The Munsters," and "Bonanza."

What a career!

William said...

I sometimes seek refuge from pc by watching old movies. I recently saw Twentieth Century. It starred John Barrymore and Carole Lombard. Worth seeing. Directed by Howard Hawks with dialogue by Hecht/MacArthur. In some scenes Lombard wears lingerie. No bra. I'm pretty sure you can spot the nipples. She was born before fitness trainers and nutritionists, but, for the era, she had a pretty good body.....She had a tragic death. She was married to Clark Gable and she died in a plane crash while on a war bond drive. Gable flew on combat missions and she was the one who died in a plane crash.....Marilyn Monroe's death has completely overshadowed hers, but it was a worthy exit for a star. Better than Jayne Mansfield's certainly. I'd even put it ahead of Jean Harlow's. More pathos in Harlow's death but Lombard's death was patriotic so points for that.....Too much pc causes the gag factor, but so does too little. In the movie the Pullman porter is absurdly deferential and shuffles his feet worse than Biden. The Irish publicity agent is always drinking and doesn't shut up. The Jewish producer wears a prosthetic nose. Barrymore plays a producer/director with pronounced Weinstein tendencies that are glamorized more than criticized....Anyway, it was a good movie.

Known Unknown said...

Charles Ruggles! For a second I thought it might be Cuddles Sakall, but he didn't live as long.

MountainMan said...

The character actor must have been Charlie Ruggles.

Lurker21 said...

He was in movies going all the way back to 1914 and still managed to appear in the TV shows "The Real McCoys," "The Beverly Hillbillies,""The Man from U.N.C.L.E.," "The Munsters," and "Bonanza."

I guessed Leo G. Carroll or Walter Brennan, but you are probably looking for someone even more obscure.

Charles Ruggles? Who I never heard of before. Thank you, IMDB.

Tom T. said...

I was going to guess Boris Karloff, figuring that Ann was on a Frankenstein binge

love johnson said...

Asta

Mike Petrik said...

My best guess is the great John Carradine, but I had not realized that his film career started so early.

rhhardin said...

Groucho Marx

Wilbur said...

Ah yes, he was Daddy Fahrquar (Mrs. Drysdale's father) on the 'Billies, and played an addled rural DMV clerk/justice of the peace character on the Munsters.

robother said...

Turtlenecks go back further than I imagined. And Chevalier wears it so well.

Quaestor said...

If I was somehow restricted to one and only one film from the 1930s (geez, what a grueling choice) it must be Juarez (Warner Brothers, 1939).

Paul Muni, Bette Davis, Claude Raines, Brian Ahern, John Garfield, Donald Crisp, and 15 other A-list stars. What a cast! What a story! And music by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, the most remarkable child prodigy composer since that other Wolfgang was born in 1756.

Many people living today have seen Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz, two standout films from the same banner Hollywood year, and probably on television, broadcast from restored and digitally enhanced prints. Unfortunately, Juarez has not been given a similar treatment. Do see it, and then read The Last Emperor of Mexico by Edward Shawcross.

Kai Akker said...

---"The Smiling Lieutenant"

How did you like Miriam Hopkins? She was never bad. Underrated and much too much forgotten now. Such a smart actress.

Ann Althouse said...

"Ninotchka, Camille, Grand Hotel"

I should have given the clue that there were all movies I'd never seen, because I couldn't have missed Ninotchka, Camille, Grand Hotel. I'd already seen all of those before I was 30. Rewatched Ninotchka fairly recently (and blogged about it).

gspencer said...

"You mugs've got it all wrong, see. I'm the guy, see."

EGR

Ann Althouse said...

"Lots of great Lubitsch pictures out there for your queue!"

I also watched another Lubitsch movie in the past week: "Broken Lullaby."

The non-Lubitsch movie in the set of Maurice Chevalier movies is "Love Me Tonight." I thought it would be a step down in terms of artistry, but the first few minutes are a stunningly arty display of Paris.

I don't know why we don't hear too much about that director, Rouben Mamoulian.

"Love Me Tonight" also has songs by Rogers and Hart — "Isn't It Romantic?" and "Mimi" are especially fantastic, as songs and as presented moving the story and the scenes along. There's also another song that we were laughing and laughing about but to tell you the title would reveal a plot point. A thoroughly guessable plot point, but a spoiler nonetheless.

Ann Althouse said...

I've watched a few other Lubitsch movies pretty recently, "Trouble in Paradise" for the first time and rewatched "To Be or Not To Be" and "Design For Living."

Ann Althouse said...

"In some scenes Lombard wears lingerie. No bra. I'm pretty sure you can spot the nipples. She was born before fitness trainers and nutritionists, but, for the era, she had a pretty good body.."

The 3 movies I just watched were made in 1931 and 1932, and the women's bodies and clothes were a big part of the show. It was clearly the style not to wear a bra. The dresses were incredibly slinky and form fitting with perfectly fit bodies underneath. When the women were shown in their underwear, it was a silky teddy, nothing at all restrictive. And by the way, these women were aggressively interested in having sex. Sex with Maurice Chevalier, who was so sexually responsive at any moment's notice, that I took to referring to him as "the human penis." His penishood is especially pronounced in "The Smiling Lieutenant."

"The Smiling Lieutenant" is also notable for the song Carole Lombard and Claudette Colbert sing about lingerie. It's a bit of a spoiler, so that's all I'll say. You can easily find the scene if you want.

I also love the scene in "The Smiling Lieutenant" where Claudette Colbert and Maurice Chevalier eat breakfast together — which means they spent the night together — and they sing lines comparing each other to the food, such as bacon. It's quite absurd.

Kai Akker said...

That's not Carole Lombard.

Ann Althouse said...

""The Smiling Lieutenant" is also notable for the song Carole Lombard and Claudette Colbert sing about lingerie. It's a bit of a spoiler, so that's all I'll say. You can easily find the scene if you want."

Sorry, that's Miriam Hopkins and Claudette Colbert

Robert Cook said...

As for the character actor, I'm guessing Walter Brennan.

As for the Hollywood star, before I saw your reveal, I was going to guess Jean Arthur, only because she is one of my favorites from that era, and she has always been relatively obscure.

I also always liked Joan Blondell.

Eva Marie said...

Movie night tonight! Thanks for all of these suggestions.

Immanuel Rant said...

Carole L. will never replace Myrna Loy in my heart.



. . . But I wouldn't kick her out of bed for eating crackers.

William said...

What bitter irony! They were flashing more skin in the thirties than in our own more enlightened age. Prurient interest is the most interesting part of any movie. It's even better than car chases....Further reflections on thirties bods: I don't think a woman gains all that much sex appeal if she has Olympic level fitness, but that's what it takes to play a Marvel superhero. The fitness regimen those poor girls go through to fit into superhero costumes is a far worse form of oppression than making them wear lingerie. And,anyway, a sensuous slouch in a slightly out of shape body is sexier than a body capable of delivering some kind of karate death kick.....The most pronounced contrast in past and current bods, however, occurs among the men. Most male stars back then drank heavily and smoked cigarettes every waking moment when they were not eating red meat. They weren't fat but neither were they terrific physical specimens. I bet Chris Pine could bench press Humphrey Bogart while stomping Tyrone Power.

Spiros Pappas said...

Mae West?

Big Mike said...

Charles Ruggles? Who I never heard of before.

You may not have heard of him, but looking at his list of films and TV credits in Wikipedia, I’ll bet you’ve seen him.

Readering said...

Threads like this give lots of food for thought. No wrong answers, really.

A dvd fan, I just checked out from library Conquest to watch. Greta Garbo loves Oscar-nominated Charles Boyer as Napoleon. 1937.

Ann Althouse said...

Charles Ruggles is the character actor

Readering said...

Juarez I watched recently. Another Napoleon, played by favorite Claude Rains. A painless way to get important history.

Plan to turn next to Rains in Now Voyager, again with Bette Davis. And then rewatch him in Notorious, with 2 of the greatest, Grant and Bergman.

Kai Akker said...

A Joan Blondell fan here, too. Classic Hollywood is such a great pleasure. I once read someone commenting on some website with surprise that he had enjoyed a '40s movie, probably a Joan Crawford vehicle. It should not be a surprise. Those movies were made with a lot more artistry than we see on average today. And way more wit. The resources available are much greater today, but that is why there was more artistry then. TV and regulation attacked the studio system, whose heyday was surprisingly brief, though it seemed at the time like an invincible monolith. For whatever its flaws might have been, a heckuva lot of great stuff came out of it.

Kai Akker said...

The Busby Berkeley extravaganzas must be due for a revival.

doverbeach said...

Cary Grant. "Brining up Baby," "Madame Butterfly" and IDK the third ...

Larry said...

Perhaps I scanned too quickly and it was mentioned that all three of those Chevalier films were Lubitcsh products.

Cheavalier quivers, I think, not just with sexuality but with happiness at being Maurice.

I am a long time fan of Charlie Ruggles. One of his greatest screen appearances was in Ruggles of Red Gap, although that was set in Eastern Washington, far from Cathlamet where I live on the banks of the Columbia. Leo McCarey directed!

Which reminds me, a new print of Make Way for Tomorrow has been re-released. The best moving on the aged and their chioldren ever made. No one else of that period had the guts of McCarey to make amovie like that,

As a by the by, Charles Laughton gives one of the greatest readings of the Gettyberg Address that I have ever heard.

Charlie's brother Wesley had some good old movies as a director, too.

Don B. said...

Wallace Beery

Ann Althouse said...

The 3 movies are all on the criterion channel which is featuring some "pre-code" Hollywood movies

Ann Althouse said...

“ Cheavalier quivers, I think, not just with sexuality but with happiness at being Maurice”

Yet he suffered from depression and died of damage done in attempting suicide

melk said...

Given that you think the answer is surprising, I'm also with Maurice Chevalier

grimson said...

I'll have to watch the Chevalier, particularly with Miriam Hopkins. "Trouble in Paradise" is wonderful Lubitsch, story and dialog.

Mariette Colet: When a lady takes her jewels off in a gentleman's room, where does she put them?
Gaston Monescu: On the - On the night table.
Mariette Colet: But I don't want to be a lady.

KellyM said...

So many great movie suggestions for the weekend! Thanks, everyone!

Lurker21 said...

"You Americans are dumb. You admire Lafayette and Maurice Chevalier. They're the dumbest of all Frenchmen." -- Jean-Paul Belmondo in Breathless.


Madame Defarge:
We don't even have a language! Just a stupid accent!

Peasant Man:
Yeah she's right. We all sound like Maurice Chevalier. Honh, honh, honh!
-- History of the World, Part I by Mel Brooks


Archie Bunker called him "Maurice Chevrolet."


Maurice would get cancelled now for "Thank Heaven For Little Girls."

Well, that and World War II.

Which wasn't his fault.

gpm said...

I don't watch much TV other than Jeopardy and TCM. In a lot of ways, the 30s really were the Golden Age of Hollywood. TCM repeats the same "big" movies too much, but there are often older, more obscure and interesting ones during the day during the work week. And the always great pre-Code stuff from the early 30s, like Althouse's movies here.

I know I've seen The Smiling Lieutenant, but I don't remember very much about it. As far as I can recall, I haven't seen the other two of Althouse's movies.

The first thing that comes to mind for Charlie Ruggles is the daffy "big-game hunter" in Bringing Up Baby. Much, much later he was the Boston grandfather in the Hailey Mills' Parent Trap movie. I see from IMDB that he was in a bunch of TV shows in the 60s; I remember a lot of the shows, but not his appearing in them.

Looking further at his movies on IMDB, I have seen It Happened on Fifth Avenue, A Stolen Life, and Ruggles of Red Gap. I've probably seen a number of the others, but nothing jumped out at me. It Happened on Fifth Avenue has the always-annoying Victor Moore, but the other two are pretty good.

I've seen a lot of the Lubitsch movies, but they aren't really at the top of my list. Saw Design for Living and Trouble in Paradise for the first time decades ago. To Be or Not to Be grates on me a bit.

TCM plays Busby Berkeley movies all the time. Just in the last two weeks or so, they showed two of the best, Gold Diggers of 1933 and 42nd Street, both with a lot of other great performers but also the awesomely untalented Ruby Keeler (who also shows up in the mind-boggling Shanghai Lil number from Footlight Parade; I think they've also showed the number, if not the movie, in the last couple of weeks). The movies are a bit of a mess, but the musical numbers are fantastic.

Count me among the Joan Blondell fans.

--gpm

gpm said...

I don't watch much TV other than Jeopardy and TCM. In a lot of ways, the 30s really were the Golden Age of Hollywood. TCM repeats the same "big" movies too much, but there are often older, more obscure and interesting ones during the day during the work week. And the always great pre-Code stuff from the early 30s, like Althouse's movies here.

I know I've seen The Smiling Lieutenant, but I don't remember very much about it. As far as I can recall, I haven't seen the other two of Althouse's movies.

The first thing that comes to mind for Charlie Ruggles is the daffy "big-game hunter" in Bringing Up Baby. Much, much later he was the Boston grandfather in the Hailey Mills' Parent Trap movie. I see from IMDB that he was in a bunch of TV shows in the 60s; I remember a lot of the shows, but not his appearing in them.

Looking further at his movies on IMDB, I have seen It Happened on Fifth Avenue, A Stolen Life, and Ruggles of Red Gap. I've probably seen a number of the others, but nothing jumped out at me. It Happened on Fifth Avenue has the always-annoying Victor Moore, but the other two are pretty good.

I've seen a lot of the Lubitsch movies, but they aren't really at the top of my list. Saw Design for Living and Trouble in Paradise for the first time decades ago. To Be or Not to Be grates on me a bit.

TCM plays Busby Berkeley movies all the time. Just in the last two weeks or so, they showed two of the best, Gold Diggers of 1933 and 42nd Street, both with a lot of other great performers but also the awesomely untalented Ruby Keeler (who also shows up in the mind-boggling Shanghai Lil number from Footlight Parade; I think they've also showed the number, if not the movie, in the last couple of weeks). The movies are a bit of a mess, but the musical numbers are fantastic.

Count me among the Joan Blondell fans.

--gpm

Robert Cook said...

Yes, I always liked Charlie Ruggles. I haven’t thought of him in a long while.

Dustbunny said...

Every great actress finds her truth in Carol Lombard. I don’t event know what that means except Lombard was the template.

H said...

A lot of pre-code movies are available on youtube. Love me tonight is free and uninteruppted by ads on youtube.

The music is by Rodgers and Hart (who also wrote music for Babes in Arms, Boys from Syracuse, Pal Joey, etc.

Other familiar faces in the supporting cast: chubby butler Robert Grieg, bewildered sot Charles Butterworth.

Leora said...

Just watched Big Brown Eyes and Me and My Gal on the Criterion Channel. I have put Love Me Tonight on the list. I love 30's and 40's movies. I've got Netflix but I always end up at Criterion Channel.