“Mrs. O’ Malley and Mr. Malone†on TCM
Mrs. O’ Malley and Mr. Malone is going to air on Turner Classic Movies on Wednesday, November 24th at 2:15pm PST.
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Previous comments on Mrs. O’Malley and Mr. Malone can be found here.
“Merrily We Live” on TCM
Merrily We Live is going to air on Turner Classic Movies on Friday, October 22nd at 12:00pm PST.
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“College Coach†on DVD
This week, the Warner Archive releases another 1930s Ann Dvorak feature on DVD. College Coach co-stars Dick Powell, Pat O’Brien, Lyle Talbot, and contains a brief walk-on by a then little-known actor named John Wayne.
I talked a bit more in-depth about College Coach on a previous post which can be viewed here.
This makes three 1930s Dvorak films to be released by the Warner Archive in less than a month. Looking forward to what else they have in the works, especially if it’s Heat Lightning.
Ann Dvorak Double Feature Released by Warner Archive
This week, the grand and glorious Warner Archive releases a handful of two-for-the-price-of-one double features of 1930s comedies. Low and behold, one set features our beloved Ann Dvorak in Side Streets & Stranger in Town.
Side Streets (1934) stars Aline MacMahon as, of all things, a furrier in San Francisco who has bad taste in men, namely Paul Kelly. In terms of Ann Dvorak, Side Streets is wholly unsatisfying because she is barely in it with a minuscule role as the other woman . However, it’s watchable because Aline is so damn good. I am always fixated by how she clutches her purse throughout the film. Even in a scene where she is wearing pajamas, the purse is in hand. This affectation is never explained and I like to think Aline worked out an in depth back-story for her character, complete with poverty and a purse snatching. The working title for this one was Fur Coats, which I think is much more appropriate. Interestingly, the title for the British release was A Woman in Her Thirties.
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The other title in the double feature is Stranger in Town co-starring David Manners and Chic Sale. Ann’s part in this one is very typical of the many bland leading lady roles she was subjected to at the hands of Warner Bros. between 1932-1936. In this one, her loyalties are torn between her grandfather and her new love who own competing grocery stores in a small town. This slight comedy was Ann’s second pairing with David Manners in 1932, the first being Crooner. This was also a reunion of sorts for Ann and Chic Sale. When Ann was a wee girl, she accompanied her mother on vaudeville tour in 1914 which also featured Chic on the bill.
The double set can be yours for a mere 19.95 and ordered at the Warner Archive.
“Secret of Convict Lake” on Fox Movie Channel
Secret of Convict Lake is going to air on the Fox Movie Channel on Tuesday, August 10 at 3:00am PST
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As is turns out, Turner Classic Movies is not the only channel airing Ann Dvorak flicks these days. Last week, the Bachelor’s Daughters was shown on something called Golden Eagle Broadcasting (GEB) (sorry, I found out about this airing too late to post it here). Now this week, the Fox Movie Channel is airing 1951’s Secret of Convict Lake.
This dark western about a group of escaped convicts who impose their will on an outpost of woman whose husbands are away, stars and impressive ensemble cast, including Glen Ford, Gene Tierney, Ethel Barrymore, Zachary Scott, Ruth Donnelly, and of course, Ann Dvorak. As with most of Ann’s films toward the end of her career, the role is not large but she delivers big. The scenes between Ann and a smarmy Zachary Scott are some of the most memorable in the film.
While Ann would briefly continue with some television work, Secret of Convict Lake capped off film career that spanned over 35 years.
Dvorak Biography Progress Report #3
I just realized it’s been an embarrassingly long time since I posted an update on the progress of the Ann Dvorak biography. Right after I wrote the last report in October, I found out I was pregnant with my first child. While I was spared the horrors of morning sickness, I was unable to stay awake past 7:30pm on most days during the first trimester, and had to put Ann-D on hold. During the remainder of the pregnancy, I did manage to write a couple more chapters. I have finally gotten into Ann’s tenure at Warner Bros. which means I have lots of movies to watch to refresh my memory.
In recent months, I have discovered more about the career of Ann’s father in the early 1920s, and spent an afternoon at USC accessing primary documents from her M-G-M days. I now need to go back and add this info into previous chapters. In the waning days of my pregnancy, I finally made the trek to Norwalk to visit the Registrar Recorder and discovered some new information about Miss D via real estate records. I’ve been with Ann for almost 13 years, and the research is never ending!
My daughter, Gable, was born in early June and has proven to be two full time jobs. I still have another month of maternity leave, and now that I am getting the hang of this mother thing, I hope to get a couple more chapters in before I go back to work, but that could be a supremely naive statement.
Thanks to everyone who has sent kind words of encouragement. It’s always great to know there are fans out there who are interested in reading a full length biography on Ann Dvorak. I appreciate everyone’s patience as I slowly work my way through Ann’s story. No one wants this book to be done more than me, but life has a way of altering the best laid plans. In this case it has been a good thing!
This Day in Ann Dvorak History
Today would have been the 99th birthday of Ann Dvorak who was born in New York City on August 2, 1911. Happy B-Day Ann-D!
“Bright Lights” on TCM
Bright Lights is going to air on Turner Classic Movies on Wednesday, July 18th at 1:45pm PST
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In July 1932, Ann Dvorak walked out on Warner Bros to go honeymooning abroad with hubby Leslie Fenton. While she was gone, the studio started producing Depression Era feel-good films featuring over-the-top musical numbers choreographed by Busby Berkeley. Given Dvorak’s background as a chorus girl, there is a good chance she may have appeared in films such as 42nd Street, Footlight Parade, or Gold Diggers of 1933. When she finally came back to work, she did feel as though she had missed out on the opportunity to show off her dancing skills, causing her to successfully lobby for a role in the musical Sweet Music.
In 1935, she finally got the opportunity to work with Busby Berkeley with a lead role in Bright Lights starring Joe E Brown. Dvorak had previously worked with Berkeley who choreographed a quicky routine for Sky Devils, but this time around he was the film’s director. This tale of a married vaudeville couple whose marriage is put to the test when the husband goes on Broadway does not contain any of Berkeley’s signature dance numbers, but does let Dvorak show off a step or two. Bright Lights isn’t the most memorable film and Joe E. Brown can wear a bit thin at times, but overall it’s enjoyable enough. Dvorak and Brown have great chemistry and the movie is strongest when they are on screen together.
For those of you interested in Los Angeles history, some parts of Bright Lights, where filmed inside Child’s Opera House on Main Street shortly before the theater was demolished.
“Our Very Own” on TCM
Our Very Own is going to air on Turner Classic Movies on Monday, June 7 at 11:45pm PST.
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“Murder in the Clouds” on TCM
Murder in the Clouds is going to air on Turner Classic Movies on Tuesday, May 11th at 11:30am PST.
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1934 was the most prolific year of Ann Dvorak’s film career, in quantity if not always in quality. In the nine films released that year by Warner Bros, Ann mainly found herself in supporting roles and frequently as the devoted leading lady to the star of the film. Murder in the Clouds is just that with Ann playing faithful to Lyle Talbot, though at least in this film she gets to be a kidnap victim and uses her wiles to get rescued.
This hour long aviation drama with a Dore Schary story credit is not as strong as other 1934 offerings like Massacre and Heat Lightning, but is still more watchable than titles like I Sell Anything and Gentlemen Are Born. For some reason, it was the only 1934 Dvorak title readily available on DVD, until the Warner Archive recently released Midnight Alibi.
Images Courtesty of Heritage Auction Galleries
On a side note, the one-sheet for Murder in the Clouds is the most expensive Ann Dvorak poster I own. I can only guess that an airplane fanatic tried to outbid me on this one, unless there’s a Lyle Talbot devotee out there who’s passion matches mine for Ann-D.
Enjoy!