Forgotten Faces of Classic Hollywood (1 Viewer)

[Emcee]

The 1951 Show Boat perhaps?

I'm almost positive it was SHOW BOAT from 1951. Deanna Durbin was offered a number of pictures after retiring in 1948, but she turned them all down flat. She was done with show business.

Interestingly, Dorothy Dandridge, who was mentioned earlier in this discussion, heavily lobbied to play Julie LaVerne in SHOW BOAT sometime in 1950, but was declined even an audition because she was black. Ava Gardner, a close friend of Dorothy's, eventually got the part.

 

[Emcee]

Jeanne Crain had a show business career than spanned over forty years. She was a contract star for 20th Century-Fox in the forties and fifties, and was also well-renowned for her ice skating abilities.

Crain was around seventeen when she was crowned Miss Pan-Pacific at the Pan-Pacific Auditorium in Los Angeles. While she was still in high school, she was spotted by the multi-talented Orson Welles, who asked to film a screen test of her for one of his upcoming productions. She did not get the part, but she did however get a small role in THE GANG'S ALL HERE (1943) for Fox. Although her role was brief, the studio saw potential in the fresh-faced beauty and signed her to an exclusive contract. Crain's first assignment was a sizable role in HOME IN INDIANA (1944), and the film's success helped bolster her career. A delighted Darryl F. Zanuck, head executive of Fox, gave Crain top billing in her next film, IN THE MEANTIME, DARLING (1944), in which she played a war bride under the direction of Otto Preminger. The film proved another hit. She was then touted as the star of THE SHOCKING MISS PILGRIM in late 1944, a musical comedy the studio recently purchased. This version was eventually scrapped and later made in 1946 with Betty Grable as the star.

Jeanne Crain had quickly emerged as one of Fox's more "bankable" film stars, and more attention was given toward perfecting and advancing her screen success. She would received her first critical acclaim for her work in WINGED VICTORY (1944), a war drama where she was sandwiched between Lon McCallister and Red Buttons on the posters. This was quickly followed by STATE FAIR (1945), a big-budget adaptation of the Broadway hit, co-starring Dana Andrews and gifted musical performers, such as Dick Haymes and Vivian Blaine. She then co-starred in LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN (1945) as the "good" sister to Gene Tierney's "bad" sister. It was one of the first film noir genre movies to be shot in Technicolor, and it proved to be Fox's highest-grossing movie of the 1940s. Crain was originally touted to play the title role in the western MY DARLING CLEMENTINE (1946) for director John Ford, but Darryl F. Zanuck rejected the idea because he felt the role was "too small" for a star of her ever-increasing stature.

In 1946, she headlined Otto Preminger's musical CENTENNIAL SUMMER, which co-starred such stars as Cornel Wilde, Linda Darnell, Walter Brennan, Constance Bennett, and silent screen veteran Dorothy Gish. The film was Fox's attempt at capitalizing on the success of MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (1944) for MGM, but failed to live up to its hype. Crain's next film, MARGIE (1946), was one of the biggest hits of her career. It grossed over $4 million inside the Untied States. After taking the majority of 1947 off, she returned to films to star in YOU WERE MEANT FOR ME (1948) with Dan Dailey and APARTMENT FOR PEGGY (1948) with William Holden. Both films were successes at the box office.

The film A LETTER TO THREE WIVES (1949), made under the dutiful supervision of writer-director Joseph L. Mankiewicz, was a hit and was quickly heralded a classic. It co-starred Linda Darnell, Ann Sothern, Kirk Douglas, Paul Douglas, and Jeffrey Lynn. It was followed by PINKY (1949) shortly thereafter, in which Crain starred as light-skinned African-American woman who "passes" for white in the Northern United States. African-American actress Lena Horne had been originally considered for the role, but Darryl F. Zanuck refused her casting out of fear of receiving critical and audience backlash. PINKY was a resounding success nonetheless with Crain receiving an Oscar nod for her performance. She and Myrna Loy supported Clifton Webb in CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN (1950), which was followed by TAKE CARE OF MY LITTLE GIRL (1951), a reasonably popular drama about snobbery in college sororities.

Crain's career began slowing down in the early 1950s. She starred with Cary Grant in PEOPLE WILL TALK (1951), an offbeat drama that was originally planned for Anne Baxter, who withdrew from the project due to pregnancy. She starred in BELLES ON THEIR TOES in 1952, a sequel to CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN, which was a moderate success. The following year she starred in DANGEROUS CROSSING (1953), a noirish high seas intrigue film, and the mystery film VICKI (1953), a remake of Fox's own I WAKE UP SCREAMING (1941). Both films were reasonable box office successes. She then starred in the western CITY OF BAD MEN in 1954, but it was a disappointment. The lukewarm reception of her latest films caused Crain to leave Fox in 1954.

Her first post-Fox production was DUEL IN THE JUNGLE (1954), an adventure film shot in Great Britain, which proved costly, but successful nonetheless. Crain then signed a contract with Universal Pictures, where she was quickly given the female lead as tough ranch owner in MAN WITHOUT A STAR (1955), a western co-starring Kirk Douglas. This was soon followed with GENTLEMEN MARRY BRUNETTES (1955), opposite Jane Russell, a quasi-sequel to Fox's GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES (1953). She then headlined THE SECOND GREATEST SEX (1955), a quirky western comedy also featuring George Nader, Bert Lahr, and an up-and-coming Mamie Van Doren. Crain was then paired with Glenn Ford in the western THE FASTEST GUN ALIVE (1956) on a loan out to MGM. Back at Universal, she starred in the thriller THE TATTERED DRESS (1957), then played a socialite opposite Frank Sinatra as real-life comedian Joe E. Lewis in THE JOKER IS WILD (1957). In the late fifties, she played Daisy in a live television adaptation of THE GREAT GATSBY (1958), and Rose in a telecast version of MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (1959).

Crain's film career was all but over by the early 1960s. Her heyday was certainly behind her, with her primary offers being second-rate features, such as NEFERITI, QUEEN OF THE NILE (1961) and PONTIUS PILATE (1961), which was made in Italy. As her film career dissolved, she spent the majority of her time campaigning for the Republican Party in rallies.

Jeanne Crain died of a heart attack in 2003, aged seventy-eight.

 

[Robin9]

State Fair was not a Broadway musical. The movie was original and Rodgers & Hammerstein wrote their songs for the film.

 

[Emcee]

State Fair was not a Broadway musical. The movie was original and Rodgers & Hammerstein wrote their songs for the film.

You're right. But it was based on a 1932 novel, which had been originally filmed in 1933 as a dramedy instead of a musical.

I must've confused the novel with Broadway, or I might have just --- wrongfully --- assumed that STATE FAIR originated as a stage musical.

 

[Emcee]

Still alive and kicking, Mitzi Gaynor was one of the darlings of American cinema in the 1950s. Her parents separate while she was still very young, and after her father remarried, she became the stepsister to future anti-war activist Donald W. Duncan. When she was eleven, she moved with her family to Hollywood, where she began studying to become a ballerina. A couple of years later she started singing and dancing for the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera.

She signed a seven-year contract with 20th Century-Fox in 1950 when she was seventeen. One studio executive felt the name "Mitzi Gerber", which was her stage name at the time, reminded him of a delicatessen and he suggested the surname Gaynor instead. Thereafter, she was professionally known as Mitzi Gaynor. Her first role came in MY BLUE HEAVEN (1950), a musical where she supported Betty Grable and Dan Dailey. The film was a big success, and she was soon given cast in TAKE CARE OF MY LITTLE GIRL (1951), starring Jeanne Crain and Jean Peters.

Impressed, Fox chief Darryl F. Zanuck gave Gaynor the starring role in GOLDEN GIRL (1951), a biopic about entertainer Lotta Crabtree. It co-starred Dale Robertson and Dennis Day, enjoyed favorable reviews from critics, and was a moderate box office success. Then came WE'RE NOT MARRIED! (1952), an anthology-style romantic comedy where she and Eddie Bracken played newlyweds who learn they are not legally married. The picture was full of well-known names, such as Ginger Rogers, Fred Allen, Eve Arden, Paul Douglas, Marilyn Monroe, David Wayne, Victor Moore, Louis Calhern, and Zsa Zsa Gabor. Despite boarding on B-movie territory, the film is delightfully witty, and proved popular with audiences. Gaynor was given top billing in BLOODHOUNDS OF BROADWAY (1952), which also proved quite popular at the box office. The film was remade in 1989.

Gaynor was then cast in THE I DON'T CARE GIRL (1953), in which she played Eva Tanguay, "the girl who made vaudeville famous". The film was not particularly successful, and neither was her next feature entitled DOWN AMONG THE SHELTERING PALMS (1953), a title derived from the popular standard of the same name from 1914. Fox then decided to "shake up" Gaynor's on-screen persona and gave her the lead in THREE YOUNG TEXANS (1954), a Technicolor western co-starring Jeffrey Hunter and featuring a young Aaron Spelling. The change in direction did not prove as successful as the studio had hoped. She was then given a supporting role in IRVING BERLIN'S THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS (1954), a lavish back-stage musical dramedy that also starred the likes of Ethel Merman, Donald O'Connor, Dan Dailey, and Marilyn Monroe. The film proved costly due to production delays, received mixed reviews from critics, and failed to regain its financial investment.

Mitzi Gaynor left Fox in 1955, two years earlier than contractually stated. She soon signed with Paramount Pictures, however, who quickly ushered her into a big-screen version of ANYTHING GOES (1956), which teamed her with Bing Crosby, Donald O'Connor, and French dancer-actress Zizi Jeanmaire. The film had been loosely derived from the musical, and was a popular success in American theaters. Paramount they cast her in THE BIRDS AND THE BEES (1956), a remake of the 1941 Barbara Stanwyck vehicle called THE LADY EVE. It co-starred George Gobel and David Niven and was only a minor success. She was the leading lady to Frank Sinatra in THE JOKER IS WILD (1957), a biographical drama about the life of Joe E. Lewis. Gaynor received positive reviews for her performance and the film was a hit at the box office. She was soon loaned to MGM where she made LES GIRLS (1957), a stylish musical opposite Gene Kelly and Kay Kendall.

Gaynor's biggest international fame came when she was picked to play Ensign Nellie Forbush in SOUTH PACIFIC in 1958, based on the Rodgers & Hammerstein's musical of the same name. Her rendition of "washing men out of her hair" is a career highlight, and one of the more iconic pieces of American musical cinema. SOUTH PACIFIC was a global success, earning more than $36 million at the box office. Gaynor's performance was singled out for praise, and she received a Golden Globe nomination. Gaynor's film three films, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY (1959), SURPRISE PACKAGE (1960), and FOR LOVE OR MONEY (1963), were moderate successes.

Gaynor turned her attention to the stage and television starting in the early 1960s. She became a audience favorite performer in nightclubs, on television variety shows, and records.

 

[Matt Hough]

Mitzi just bubbled when she performed. I think that effervescent personality is what appeals to me most about her.

 

[Emcee]

Mitzi just bubbled when she performed. I think that effervescent personality is what appeals to me most about her.

Is is quite lovely, beautiful, and talented, although mainly in musical fare.