Search Results for: three on a match

Ann Dvorak “Festival” at NYC’s Film Forum

I accompanied my comic-book-writing hubby to New York  last week  for Comic-Con. I usually make the rounds with Josh at the Con, visit the one vintage movie memorabilia dealer who always shows up at these events, and wait in line for a half an hour at the Starbucks stand (convention Starbucks is even pricier than airport Starbucks which is even pricier than regular Starbucks).  I can only be the dutiful wife for so long before Comic-Con madness starts to set in (I once damn near had a nervous breakdown at the San Diego Con and calmed myself by purchasing a $130 Bat Girl doll),  and I need to take a break from the festivities.

This time around I took my Con reprieve  at the Film Forum Theater who is currently celebrating the country’s financial woes by screening a bunch of great Depression-era flicks for their “Breadlines & Champagne” festival. I caught  Frank Capra’s riveting bank drama American Madness, which I thoroughly enjoyed, but was more than a little bitter when I realized they would be showing, not one but TWO Ann Dvorak films later this month.

OK, two films screened on separate, though consecutive, dates probably does not constitute a “festival,” but in the world of Ann Dvorak, this is about as close as it gets. For those of you lucky enough to be in the Big Apple next week, you have the supreme opportunity to sit in a darkened theater with an appreciative crowd and watch:

Three on a Match: Friday, February 20 at 3:20, 6:30, 9:45

Scarface: Saturday, February 21 at 2:50, 6:10, 9:30

I have seen Scarface a few times in theaters around Los Angeles, but have never been to a screening of Three on a Match, which is the first Ann-D movie I ever saw, and is still my favorite. If anyone is able to catch this on the 20th, please let me know how the audience responds when Ann becomes a total coke-head.

The Film Forum Theater is located at 209 W Houston St.

“Heat Lightning” on TCM

Heat Lightning is going to air on Turner Classic Movies on Friday, April 18th at 11:15am EST.

Heat Lightning is one of my favorite Ann Dvorak movies, so I am really excited this little seen pre-code gem is being aired. The tale of two sisters running a gas station/rest-stop in the middle of nowhere was directed by Mervyn Leroy, who brought us the glorious Three on a Match, and costars Aline MacMahon. Ann’s role as Myra is relatively small compared to Aline’s, but it’s more substantial than most of her other 1934 Warner Brothers appearances (Gentlemen Are Born, I Sell Anything), and she has a great meltdown scene towards the end. Filmed on location in Victorville in late November of 1933, the strong supporting cast includes Preston Foster , Warner regulars Glenda Farrell, Lyle Talbot, Ruth Donnelly and Frank McHugh, as well as Jane Darwell and Edgar Kennedy. It’s fantastic.

I don’t know if TCM has ever shown Heat Lightning (my old copy is from a TNT airing), so this is one Ann Dvorak screening not to be missed!

“Housewife” on TCM

 

Housewife is going to air on Turner Classic Movies on Friday, April 11 at 10:15am EST.

It’s been a while since I watched this 1934 feature which pairs up Ann Dvorak and Bette Davis for a second and final time. This story about a devoted housewife (Dvorak) who supports her husband both morally and financially, only to have him stray after a successful vixen (Davis) is not groundbreaking, but it’s enjoyable enough. Bette has far more to do in this one than their previous pairing in Three on a Match, and it’s always fun to watch a couple of great Warner ladies sparring on screen.

I do not believe that Davis was overly fond of either picture she made with Ann, but in Whitney Stine’s Mother Goddam she did mention that she “was always impressed with Ann Dvorak’s performances. She was also a smashingly nice person.”

Ann Dvorak Featured in TCM Documentary

I received my Forbidden Hollywood Collection, Vol 2 in the mail late last week and immediately viewed the original documentary Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood. In 2003, TCM produced another pre-code documentary, Complicated Women, which was excellent but did not mention Ann Dvorak other than flashing a quick film clip. I was expecting more of the same with this recent offering, and was pleasantly surprised when her performance as the doomed Vivian Revere in Three on a Match was singled out and commented on by author/photographer Mark Vieira and director John Landis. Also featured are a couple of clips from The Strange Love of Molly Louvain. Since the hits on my website more than doubled after Thou Shalt Not aired, it looks like this box set is going to introduce a lot more fans to Miss Dvorak.

The print of Three on a Match on the set is great. Looking forward to watching the rest of the films on this one.

Filmography

Films 

The Uncredited Years

On the Brink of Stardom

Actress for Hire

Stage

  • Eve of Saint Mark (1943)
  • Respectful Prostitute, The (1948) 
  • People Like Us (1949) 
  • Anna Lucasta (1949)

The Book

Book Cover

“Rice is a superb writer with just the right touch—not too heavy, not too light. We really get to know Ann Dvorak.”– Eve Golden, author of John Gilbert: The Last of the Silent Film Stars

Possessing a unique beauty and refined acting skills, Ann Dvorak (1911–1979) found success in Hollywood at a time when many actors were still struggling to adapt to the era of talkies. Seemingly destined for A-list fame, critics touted her as “Hollywood’s New Cinderella” after film mogul Howard Hughes cast her as Cesca in the gangster film Scarface (1932). Dvorak’s journey to superstardom was derailed when she walked out on her contractual obligations to Warner Bros. for an extended honeymoon. Later, she initiated a legal dispute over her contract, an action that was unprecedented at a time when studios exercised complete control over actors’ careers.

As the first full-length biography of an often-overlooked actress, Ann Dvorak: Hollywood’s Forgotten Rebel explores the life and career of one of the first individuals who dared to challenge the studio system that ruled Tinseltown. The actress reached her pinnacle during the early 1930s, when the film industry was relatively uncensored and free to produce movies with more daring storylines. She played several female leads in films including The Strange Love of Molly Louvain (1932), and Three on a Match (1932), and Heat Lightning (1934), but after her walk-out, Warner Bros retaliated by casting her in less significant roles.

Following the casting conflicts and illness, Dvorak filed a lawsuit against the Warner Bros. studio, setting a precedent for other stars who eventually rebelled against the established Hollywood system. In this insightful memoir, Christina Rice explores the spirited rebellion of a talented actress whose promising career fell victim to the studio empire.

Ann Dvorak: Hollywood’s Forgotten Rebel is now available from University Press of Kentucky.

For media inquiries, please contact Cameron Ludwick at the University Press of Kentucky: cameron.ludwick@uky.edu

Ann Dvorak

 

Ann Dvorak and her father, Edwin McKim in 1934 

Ann Dvorak made her first big entrance on August 2, 1911 in New York as Anna McKim. The only child of two vaudevillians, young Anna was raised in the business that would later make her a star (or at the least, a respected leading lady). Her father, Edwin McKim worked as a director for the Lubin Studios, and her mother, Anna Lehr, would find success as the star of many silent features. The couple split when Ann was four, and she and her mother moved to Hollywood. Ann would not see her father again until a national appeal to the press reunited the two in 1934.


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Ann as an MGM chorus girl in 1929

Ann made her film debut as “Baby Anna Lehr” in the 1916 drama Ramona. Two more silents would follow, then Ann briefly retired from show business to concentrate on her studies at the Page School for Girls in Los Angeles. In 1929, the teenager was employed with MGM as a chorine. Appearing in over 20 features and shorts for the studio, she also served as “assistant choreographer” to Sammy Lee. As the 1930s began, Hollywood was pushing the limits of “public decency” with on-screen tales of urban decay, and Ann was about to play a part in the gritty world of pre-Code cinema.

Ann is transformed from an unpolished chorus girl into a pre-Code force to be reckoned with in Scarface

At various times Hollywood lore has credited Joan Crawford, George Raft and Karen Morley with encouraging Howard Hughes to consider the young actress for the pivotal role of Cesca in his gruesome 1932 masterpiece Scarface (it was in fact, Morley who knew Ann from MGM and had already been cast in Scarface). The 19 year old, now going by the name Ann Dvorak, was signed to Hughes’ Caddo Company and cast opposite Paul Muni in the legendary gangster film, directed by Howard Hawks. After appearing with Spencer Tracy in Sky Devils, Hughes began loaning her out to Warner Bros. After a few short years in the movies, Ann looked like she was on the verge of becoming a star.

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Ann and husband Leslie Fenton during one of their many honeymoon adventures in 1932/33

In 1932 Ann was appearing on film along side such greats as James Cagney and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and was given a meaty role in the pre-Code classic, Three on a Match, with Bette Davis and Joan Blondell. Warner Bros seemed to be grooming the talented actress for stardom when they purchased her contact from Hughes shortly after casting her in the title role in The Strange Love of Molly Louvain. It was on the set of this film that she met and fell in love with co-star Leslie Fenton. The two soon eloped and sailed to Europe for a year-long honeymoon in July of 1932. Ann’s relationship with Warner Bros. suffered and the remainder of her contract was spent either as leading ladies in mostly lackluster films, or in litigation, objecting to these types of roles. After many public battles with the studio, Ann left Warner’s in 1936 with her damaged reputation, and began to freelance for various studios.

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Ann in the 1940s

In 1940, Ann temporarily put her career on hold to support her husband who was a British citizen and a member of the Royal Navy. Although she did make three feature films and one short film in England during this time, Ann devoted most of her energy to the war-effort as a member of the Women’s Land Army, an ambulance driver, a newspaper columnist, and a BBC broadcaster. Returning to Hollywood in 1943, Ann soon filed for divorce from Fenton, referring to the broken marriage as a “war casualty.” She continued to make films throughout the 1940s and into the early 1950s and appeared on Broadway in The Respectful Prostitute in 1948. She also tried her hand at marriage for a second time. Ann ended this union with Russian dancer Igor Dega in 1951, the same year she retired from the screen.

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Ann as “Gert” in Our Very Own

Ann was married for a third time in 1951 to architect/television producer Nicholas Wade. The couple resided in both Honolulu, Hawaii and Malibu, California, traveled and amassed an impressive collection of rare books. The marriage was a tumultuous one, and when Ann returned to California to care for her ailing mother in 1974, she stayed until Wade passed in 1975.  Ann returned to the island where she remained until her own death on December 10, 1979. Her ashes were scattered off the coast of Waikiki Beach. Because she was living under her married name, Los Angeles newspapers did not report the death of the actress until Christmas Eve.

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Ann as photographed by George Hurrell in 1937

While Ann Dvorak has not survived the ages as a household name, she still managed to carve a small niche in the conscious of American pop culture. A discussion of pre-Code films should always pay homage to Ann’s convincing death scenes, and her attempt to seduce George Raft in Scarface by suggestively slinking about in a revealing black gown has been shown to film students all over the country. While the films were not always good, her performances were always great. She could be tragic, (Three on A Match, G-Men) she could be loyal, (Bright Lights, Blind Alley, Thanks a Million) she could be funny (Merrily We Live, Out of the Blue) but above all she was always damn good (Scarface, A Life of Her Own, and many others)! Maybe some of the films are forgettable, but the personality she brought to all of her characters, as well as her own strong-willed personality, should never be forgotten.

Book Cover

Additional information about Ann can be found in the full length biography Ann Dvorak:Hollywood’s Forgotten Rebel (2013, University Press of Kentucky).

Ann Dvorak Featured in Volume 2 of “The Pre-Code Companion”

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If you’re visiting this website and are not familiar with Pre-Code.com, then you need to correct that wrong immediately. It’s a comprehensive ready-reference source of pre-Code film titles, actors, and resources that was conceived and constructed by a fella named Danny Reid who maintains the site out of passion, not profit. I refer to it fairly often and utilized it quite a bit while preparing a pre-Code lecture earlier this year.

I first started following Danny on Twitter years ago when he was watching and reviewing every Audrey Hepburn movie. I respected his being honest about not liking the much revered Funny Face, which is a film I have always secretly loathed, but usually don’t fess up to in polite company. In the ensuing years, Danny and I have become friends and I was happy to be a contributor to his brainchild Thoughts on the Thin Man which was released last year and includes my ode to the Thin Man display at the dearly departed Movieland Wax Museum.

Recently, Danny launched an online journal called The Pre-Code Companion which is largely designed to serve as a primer to pre-Code films and actors. Each issue spotlights three actors/actresses along with one film each of those actors appeared in.  The first issue was released in August and focuses on Barbara Stanwyck/Baby Face, Jean Harlow/Red Headed Woman, and Mae Clark/Waterloo Bridge.

When Danny put out a call for the second issue, which included Ann Dvorak, I just had to throw my hat in. My piece, which compliments Danny’s essay on Three on a Match, briefly discusses Ann’s pre-Code experience and how those films cause her to sink into obscurity post-retirement, but have ultimately brought her talents to the forefront with classic film fans. Since a huge chunk of my brain is still a Dvorak repository, I was happy to be included and appreciate that Danny didn’t scoff at having me write the Ann essay.

In addition to Ann/Three on a Match, Volume 2 of The Pre-Code Companion features Ruth Chatterton/Female and Grant Withers/Other Men’s Women. As if reading about pre-Code cinema wasn’t great on its own, 100% of the proceeds go to the ASPCA. You’ll be reading about Ann Dvorak AND helping adorable animals. It’s a win-win!

Both issues of The Pre-Code Companion are available on Amazon with more issues around the corner.

Ann Dvorak in “I Sell Anything” to be Released on “Forbidden Hollywood, Volume 9”

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When I first discovered Ann Dvorak around 1995, finding copies of her movies was an exercise in futility. Other than Three on a Match, Scarface, and G-Men, I was sunk and my quest to become better acquainted with Ann the actress remain unfulfilled. Eventually, I made the right connections and entered the network of classic film fans who readily produced VHS copies of films in their personal libraries. These would be swapped for titles they had been unable to find or even sent out at no charge except for the cost of postage. I was really impressed by how generous these fans were in wanting to share classic films, but the one downside to this system was the quality of the prints. These would frequently be copies taped off of TNT, with the commercials crudely edited out. I am guessing by the time I received some of these Dvorak titles, they were 10th generation copies and were barely watchable because the quality was so bad. This could sometimes taint my perception of the film itself. For example, the first time I watched my lousy print of The Private Affairs of Bel Ami, I thought it stank. Years later, when a good copy showed up on one of the streaming services, I discovered that I in fact loved it, and it remains one of my favorite Ann Dvorak films.

I am hoping this is the case with I Sell Anything, which is going to be released later this month via the Warner Archive on the Forbidden Hollywood Volume 9 set.  I have watched this yarn twice and absolutely hated it both times. Well, hate may be too strong a word, because I really found it too boring to stir up an emotion as intense as hate. Still, it is one of my least favorite Dvorak films.

The first viewing came sometime around 2003 when I initially got my hands on a copy. The second time was nearly a decade later when I had to revisit I Sell Anything in order to write about it in Ann Dvorak: Hollywood’s Forgotten Rebel. I don’t recall too much about the film, other than thinking  that watching Pat O’Brien as a con-man should be way more interesting, and that this film might be the biggest waste of Ann’s talents that Warner Bros. subjected her to. She has very little to do, and I am under the impression that her part was hastily added after the script was done. A lot of her dialogue seems like it was taken from the supporting male cast and passed along to her, and she serves very little purpose other than giving the film a pseudo happy ending. I had similar feelings the first time I watched Gentlemen Are Born, mainly due to how Dvorakless it is, but eventually came to appreciate its reflection on the struggles of college graduates in an extremely depressed economy. I don’t think I Sell Anything has as much interesting social commentary to offer. My mom was with me for the second viewing, and halfway through she turned to me and said, “Gee, this isn’t very good, is it?”

I Sell Anything has not been shown on TCM recently, if ever, so I am interested to hear what people think of it. I don’t remember the film being deliciously pre-Code, so I was actually surprised to see it on the set, alongside:

• Mervyn LeRoy’s BIG CITY BLUES (1932, Warner Bros) w/ Joan Blondell, Eric Linden
• Rowland Brown’s HELL’S HIGHWAY (1932, RKO) w/ Richard Dix
• Michael Curtiz’s THE CABIN IN THE COTTON (1932, First Nat’l) w/ Bette Davis, Richard Barthelmess (Ann was originally pegged for the Davis role!)
• Harry Beaumont’s WHEN LADIES MEET (1933, MGM) w/ Robert Montgomery, Myrna Loy

Despite any misgivings I have about the film, I will be purchasing the set on October 27th and revisiting I Sell Anything, in hopes that a good print will render it more enjoyable. Plus, like I always say – any Dvorak is good Dvorak and it’s always great to check off one more title on her filmography that fans are able to see.

Extra special thanks to the always special Will McKinley for breaking this story in Social Media Land, last night!

Ann Dvorak Goodies From the Upcoming Morris Everett Auction

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As a hardcore collector of all things Ann Dvorak, there is one place I regret not travelling to in my quest to be a Dvorak completest. That place is Cleveland. For it is in Cleveland that Morris Everett and his massive collection of lobby cards reside.

My understanding is that Mr. Everett attempted to collect a lobby card from every American film ever made, and that he came pretty damn close. Last year he tried to sell the collection as a whole through Profiles in History, but no buyers came forward. Now, the first round of individual lots is set to go up for auction at the end of the month, and wow, just wow. The items are beyond description.