The Long Night is going to air on Turner Classic Movies on Wednesday, May 16th at 6:15am PST.

Click here to see previous comments on The Long Night.

Today marks what would have been the 80th wedding anniversary of Ann Dvorak and Leslie Fenton.

On the morning of March 17, 1932, Ann and Leslie boarded a chartered plane from what is now the Bob Hope airport in Burbank, and flew to Yuma, Arizona. They were married by noon. Instead of flying back home immediately, they took a detour to the Agua Caliente resort in Mexico but did not tell anyone. When the couple did not show up at the expected time, and reports of a plane crash started appearing, the worst was feared. The newlyweds finally arrived in the early evening and were greeted by friends, family, and press photographers.

They marriage would last 14 years and during that time, Fenton would prove to have a great deal of influence over his wife. Ann’s pre-War years with Fenton did seem to be her happiest and most secure, and the day she eloped was probably one of the most memorable of her life.

Happy anniversary Ann & Leslie!

I have been a big fan of Tom Tierney’s paper doll books since I was a kid, when my grandma bought me his Vivien Leigh collection. I am now an even bigger fan of Mr. Tierney after coming across his “Movie Mobsters” paper dolls and discovering he included Ann Dvorak as Cesca Camonte in Scarface! The book was published in May of 2011, and how it could have not landed on my Ann-D radar for almost an entire year is a mystery. Oh how I wish I had Mr. Tierney’s talent, so I could create an entire paper doll book devoted to Ann and include such costumes as the “Fish Dress” from Midnight Court, the bird-like thing from Sweet Music, and the poofy-sleeved monstrosity from Merrily We Live.

This delighted me so much that I had to share. OK, back to writing the biography.

(Images reproduced with permission from Tom-Kat Paper Dolls.)

The Strange Love of Molly Louvain  is going to air on Turner Classic Movies on Tuesday, March 6th at 8:15 PST.

Click here to see my previous comments about The Strange Love of Molly Louvain.

If you have not seen this one, it’s an Ann Dvorak must!

In our last thrilling installment of “Ann Dvorak Biography Progress Report,” I had submitted the first seven chapters of the book to a prospective publisher for their review. They sent the manuscript to two anonymous readers who quickly sent back their assessments which I received in mid-January. Overall, their comments were very positive and both agreed that a full length book on Ann Dvorak has merit.  They both said my research was excellent, and much to my relief, thought my writing was strong. They did have some suggestions and a few criticisms which were totally fair and have helped strengthen the manuscript considerably.

This week, I completed the revisions based on the reader’s comments and have re-submitted it to the publisher. They will now send it back to at least one of the readers for a reassessment. If the response is positive, then it will go before an editorial board who will determine if they want to commit and give me a contract. I have also imposed on myself a September deadline for completing the book. This is the year the damn thing is going to be done!

One of the reader comments, which really stood out for me,  stated that there were not enough quotes from Ann herself and it was had to see things from her perspective. I kind of had my suspicions about this, and the reader confirmed it. I went through my sources and realized that I had been incredibly conservative in using quotes from the old movie magazines. I know there are people out there who have a big problem when biographers use these magazines as a source, which is why I was so gun shy. However, while I have some great primary sources for Ann’s later life, these magazine interviews are what exist for the early part of her career.

Author Patrick MacGilligan has been a huge help in guiding me through the writing process. When I posed the question about the legitimacy of the fan magazines, his response was, “Some of the people who wrote for fan magazines were journalists and some of those pieces are honest and factual enough.  (Some magazines are better than others, just as some of the journalists are better than others.)  I think if they “seem” accurate and journalistic to you that is good enough; you are the Ann Dvorak expert.” After re-evaluating these articles, I have to agree with him and I really think many of them are legit and the quotes ring true with Ann’s voice.

One of the pieces I really grappled with written by a journalist who claimed they had Ann’s journal from her chorus girl days. At first, I completely dismissed it because I could not imagine anyone handing over their diary to a magazine, plus I figured some of the naysayers would crucify me for using it as a source. I did include a small quote from it in the original manuscript, and this was something one of the readers targeted as a great example of Ann’s insight. I went back to the article, which I had only previously skimmed over, and realized that the entries were incredibly detailed and matched up to concrete sources I have. For example, one entry had Ann listing her weekly pay at MGM at $37.50, which her contract confirms. The scheduling of certain productions and gaps in employment coincide with MGM’s  records. I supposed the journalist  could have taken the time to do this kind of in depth research and create a long list of journal entries, but I really doubt it. The other thing that occurred to me is that while Ann may have not forked over the journal to a reporter, her mother would have in a heartbeat.  Ultimately, I decided the source was legitimate and the quotes were too good not to be included.

There have been other articles that do seem generic and fabricated, and those I have not used. Therefore, I will not be sharing Ann Dvorak’s fudge recipe or her personal beauty regimen, but there are many other quotes that are being included after careful evaluation. For those of you who loathe the use of movie magazines as a source,  you now have fair warning and may not want to read the book when it comes out.

Since I am now on a deadline and am using most of my spare moments for working on the book, the posts on this website will be minimal for the time being. Thanks to everyone for your continued support. Hopefully, the next progress report will include a confirmation on a publisher.

This week, the Warner Archive, adds The Woman Racket, to its list of “Ann Dvorak MGM Chorus Girl” titles. With this release, they’ve gotten through about half of the known features Ann appeared in back in her chorine days. I am especially impressed that someone over at the Archive caught that Ann is in this one and listed her in their description, something they have failed to do on some of her Warner Bros. films.

Right now, I am in the process of beefing up the chapter in the book about Ann’s MGM period and have been revisiting some of these films, so it’s great that so many of them are now available. If anyone at the Warner Archive is reading this, I certainly hope Ramon Novarro’s Devil May Care is in our future!

The availability of the following titles is not exactly recent news, but still worth reporting, even a few months later.

The Private Affairs of Bel Ami, a 1947 period drama based on the Guy de Maupassant novel Bel Ami, is available via Netflix streaming. For years, my copy of this film was so bad that it was barely watchable, and I did not much care for it. However, having viewed a decent print though Netflix, I have revised my opinion. In fact, I  found the film so enjoyable that I watched it a second time within a couple of days.

The story revolves around the ever-charming George Sanders as Georges Duroy, a cad and scoundrel who snogs his way up through 1880s Parisian society. Ann Dvorak, is Madeleine Forestier,  a prize conquest who still gets thrown over when Sanders moves onto greener pastures.  I have yet to see a George Sanders film that wasn’t made completely watchable by his presence, and this is no exception. Madeleine is one of the stronger roles of Ann’s post-war career, and she was so anxious to play the part that she reportedly bought her way out of her contract with Republic Pictures in order to appear in the movie. I am not sure if she thought the film would give her career a big boost, which it didn’t, but Madeleine is an interesting female character and it’s easy to see why Ann coveted the part. On a completely superficial note, this is one of the few times she appeared in period clothing and looks stunning. The film also marked an onscreen reunion of sorts for Ann and Warren William, her long suffering husband in Three on a Match. This would end up being William’s last film. Plus, how can one resist a 22-year-old Angela Lansbury throwing herself at Sanders and dancing her head off?

Incidentally, the film has been remade as Bel Ami, with Uma Thurman in the Ann Dvorak role, and is due to be released in March of this year.

Over at the Internet Archive, four presumably public domain titles are now available for anyone to view.

Gangs of New York (1938) – This has nothing to do with the Martin Scorsese film of the same name and was unavailable for many years. This Republic Production was highly coveted by Sam Fuller fans, as this was one of his early script writing credits. Unfortunately, it’s pretty lame and Ann’s hair and costumes are hideous. Additionally, the cat-fight in the above photo never takes place onscreen. I only recommend this if you are a Charles Bickford completest, though judging from the two reviews posted on the Internet Archive, I may be in the minority in my dislike for this one.

Manhattan Merry-Go-Round (1937) – Another Republic stinker Ann made shortly after leaving Warner Bros., though it’s not unlike a lot of the tripe she made over in Burbank in the mid-1930s. It’s been years since I have seen it, so I don’t recall the plot (if there was one) but I know Ann is a secretary and loyal girlfriend (yawn) and Gene Autry, Joe DiMaggio, and Cab Calloway show up at some point.

Murder in the Clouds (1934) – Someone must have been asleep at the copyright-wheel over at Warner Bros., because this is the only Dvorak title from that studio which seems to have fallen into the public domain. Ann is the loyal sister and girlfriend to Robert Light & Lyle Talbot in this quickie aviation drama. It’s typical fair for 1930s Ann Dvorak films, but in this one she gets to write out an SOS message on a rooftop which is a slight change of scenery for her.

Abliene Town (1946) – One of a handful of westerns Ann appeared in during the latter half of her career. She wears fancy costumes, gets to sing and dance a bit, and spars with Randolph Scott. Not great, but enjoyable enough and Ann’s characterization of the spunky Rita is what prompts me to think that she may have made a decent Belle Watling.

There’s nothing coming up on TCM for a couple of months, so this should wet your appetite for Ann in the meantime.

Happy New Year!

Bright Lights is going to air on Turner Classic Movies on Tuesday, November 30 at 7:45 EST.

Click here to see previous comments on Bright Lights.

Earlier this year I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. I know, it sounds terrible and is the type of thing most people do not want to think about, including myself. Fortunately, it was caught very early on and I should be A-OK except I am now missing my thyroid in addition to my appendix and tonsils.

As a follow-up to the surgery, my doctor recommended a low dose of  iodine radiation, just to make sure any remaining thyroid tissue was taken care of. For those of you not in the know, this type of radiation consists of popping a pill and has very few physical side effects other than the patient emitting unsafe levels of radiation. Turns out, this is a pretty big side effect, especially if one lives with a small child, as I do.

I would need to be isolated from the human race for a few days,  stay away from my daughter for a full week, and have limited contact with her for an additional seven-or-so days. Previously, I had only been away from her for one night, when I had the thyroid-ectomy, and that was damn unbearable, so a week would be pure torture. We had the option for me to spend a couple of nights in the hospital and then be locked in our bedroom, with the hubby sleeping on the couch, but decided that being quarantined at my mom’s house for the full week was the best route.

At the beginning of September, I put my daughter down for her nap, had a crying jag in the arms of my husband, and headed to the hospital. The doctors slapped a bright yellow bracelet on my wrist which proclaimed I was radioactive and set a led canister  in front of me which contained The Pill, encased  in its own container (kinda like the plutonium in Back to the Future. I really wanted to scream out “1.21 gigawatts? Great Scott!,” but thought better of it).  A few minutes after taking The Pill, they sent me on my merry way, and I began the trek from Burbank to my mom’s house in Glendora.

Now,Mom was thrilled to have me at her place for a full week, even though it was because of cancer and she would have to have conversations with me from the other side of the room. I was happy to spend some quality time with her, though she would be gone most of the day at work. Even though the hubby and I planned to engage in a fair amount of Face Time, I would still need something to keep my mind off how much I was missing him and my daughter.

That something was Ann Dvorak.

I had hoped the silver-lining to this lousy situation would be time to work on the book and that did turn out to be the case. I brought along my mountains of research, along with DVDs of movies aired on Ann Dvorak Day, and spent a week completely immersed in the project. I revisited Massacre (damn fine movie), Gentlemen Are Born (not as bad as I remembered, though Ann’s talents are wasted), and Friends of Mr. Sweeney (just as bad as I remembered, though Ann is adorable in it). I even watched F.P.1 Doesn’t Answer, the film Leslie Fenton made while he and Ann were on their extended transcontinental honeymoon (started out strong, then I kind of lost interest).

I also pounded out a couple more solid chapters dealing with Ann’s first few films at Warner Bros., her courtship and marriage to Leslie Fenton, and her walk-out on Warners in order to go honeymooning. I have never been a huge fan of Leslie Fenton and will always lay some of the blame on Ann’s stalled career on the poor decisions she made while under his influence. However, as I was writing about their early relationship, I came to see Fenton through Ann’s young eyes and started to appreciate the qualities she saw in him. This doesn’t change the fact that he caused her to take some questionable actions in regards to Warner Bros., but I do believe thought he was acting in her best interest.

Even though I have spent the past decade with Ann Dvorak, I never felt like I had much in common with her. As much as I admire her acting abilities,  I have always viewed her from a distance as the subject I was writing about. While drafting this early part of her life, I really connected with her for the first time. I may not always agree with her decisions, but I came to understand why she made them. Considering the emotionally troubled years she would have later on, I was happy that, for at least a little while, she experience a period of relative joy, which seems to have been the case during the early Fenton era. Clearly, I have always been interested in Ann, both as an actress and a person, but during that week, I was grateful for her. I appreciate that she was able to distract how miserable I was to be away from home and that I was able to experience some emotional highs as I re-lived the spring of 1932 with her.

In the midst of all my health issues, we closed escrow on our first home and are now dealing with the hell of unpacking. New home-ownership has put the breaks on writing for the moment, but those first seven chapters have been polished and edited, and are being sent to a prospective publisher on Monday. Fingers crossed they are interested in giving give me a contract, and most importantly, a deadline.

Thanks again to all of you who have been so supportive and enthusiastic about the project. And most of all, thank you Ann Dvorak.

It’s been a pretty slim year for Ann Dvorak releases from the Warner Archive, but this week ends the drought with Housewife now available for the first time.

Housewife was one of nine films Ann appeared in for Warner Bros in 1934. While it’s not the best of the run, it probably allotted her the most screen time. After all, she is the housewife referenced in the title. George Brent is her weak-willed husband who needs Ann to serve as his backbone as he tries to move up in the world of advertising, and Bette Davis is the career girl who vies for Brent’s attention.

As far as Ann Dvorak movies go, it’s actually one of her better titles, mainly because she’s in it more-so than a lot of the other WB flicks. Plus, her clothes are quite fashionable. As far as Bette Davis movies go, it’s probably not so great. I won’t give anything away except to say I hate the ending, but if you love Ann-D as I do, go ahead and order this one. Plus, the decorative box are is Anntastic.

Now, if the Warner Archive would release The Crowd Roars, Love is a Racket, and Massacre I would be a very happy gal.