Judy Garland is so tied to the role of Dorothy, and pretty much every role that followed it, that it's easy to forget what her career was like before she clicked her Ruby Slippers together. One of my favorites of her pre-Oz movies is 1938's Listen, Darling, a fun road trip-meets-Parent Trap dramedy that features durable … Continue reading Before the Rainbow
Shorter Basil
Mr. Rathbone, I presume... Basil Rathbone had the forceful act down pat. If he wanted to, he could take or throw a punch, hold his own with a sword, or bore a hole in his opponent with his eyes. In the 1935 film, Anna Karenina, where Rathbone played Alexei Alexandrovitch Karenin, the rejected husband of the … Continue reading Shorter Basil
Dickensian Barrymore
Nice to see the Barrymores again... Before Gone With the Wind or even Selznik International Pictures, David O. Selznik was a producer at MGM. L.B. Mayer had a vendetta against Irving Thalberg's success and respect in Hollywood, so when Thalberg was out ill, Mayer installed several other producers at the studio to take away some of Thalberg's … Continue reading Dickensian Barrymore
Taking Up Room 