Wonderland Burlesque's Let's All Go To The Movies: She's A Lady - Part X

Wonderland Burlesque's 

Let's All Go To The Movies

She's A Lady

Part X

Sometimes? It takes a lady.

Or so these films would have us believe.

They promise lots of drama, the occasional comedy or musical, and a little bit of dirt!

Let's take a walk down Hollywood Blvd. and shine a light on these magnificent classic films.

This way, if you please. But remember...

Ladies first!

--- ---

The Prizefighter And The Lady

(1933)

AKA: The Conquering Sex

Steve is just a bartender when Edwin J. Bennett, known as the Professor, starts training him for the ring. While doing road work, he is almost killed by a speeding car which crashes into a ditch. In the car is Belle Mercer and her driver. Steve takes Belle to a farmhouse and is smitten by her, but she is Willie Ryan's girl. The fight is a breeze and later, Steve again meets Belle with Willie. That night, Steve and Belle disappear and return married, much to Ryan's disappointment. Then Steve starts training in earnest and is 19 for 19 in the ring. However, he has an eye for the women and an expanding ego to match.

Adapted for the screen by John Lee Mahin and John Meehan from a story by Frances Marion, this pre-Code Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer romance was directed by W. S. Van Dyke and stars Myrna Loy and the professional boxers Max Baer, Primo Carnera, and Jack Dempsey.

Howard Hawks was the initial director, but walked off the set when he found out he would be working with non-actor Baer,  and not Clark Gable. MGM replaced Hawks with W. S. Van Dyke.

Film debuts of Max Baer and Primo Carnera. Baer was the main contender at the time for the Heavyweight Champion of the World title, which was, at that time, held by Carnera.

Primo Carnera was the world's heavyweight boxing champion when this film was made and released. He refused to make the movie using the first script, which had him knocked out at the end, but agreed to a revised script for an additional $10,000 salary.

Baer defeated Carnera in their real-life June 14, 1934, fight, knocking him down a record 11 times. In an interview, Myrna Loy stated that Max Baer carefully watched Primo Carnera's boxing style during the filming and used this information to beat him in their real-life match for the title in March, 1934.

This film did poorly at the box office, resulting in a loss of $105,000 for MGM.

This marked the Baer family's debut in the movie business. In addition to Max's many film appearance, there was also his brother, Buddy Baer, and, most successfully, his son, Max Baer, Jr. (Jethro on The Beverly Hillbillies).

Francis Marion was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Story.

--- ---

The Soldier And The Lady

(1937)

AKA: Michael Strogroff, The Bandit And The Lady, The Czar's Courier 

In Siberia, in 1879, allied Tartar and Mongol hordes, under the leadership of the vulgar rebel Ivan Ogareff, pillage the land and threaten the Tsar Alexander II's rule. From Russia, Alexander II dispatches courier Michael Strogoff to deliver secret military plans to Grand Duke Vladimir, 2,500 miles away at Irkutsk, a Siberian town that is now isolated because telegraph lines have been cut. Because his journey will take him through the town where his mother Martha resides, Michael must deny his natural inclination and pledge not to see her, so that his true identity will not be discovered. While en route by train, the disguised Michael meets the lone girl Nadia and the spy Zangarra, along with two amusing war correspondents, Cyril Blount and Eddie Packer, leading to adventures, danger, and romance!

Based on the 1876 Jules Verne novel, this American adventure was produced by Pandro S. Berman. Associate producer, Joseph Ermolieff, had produced two earlier versions of the film, Michel Strogoff in France, and The Czar's Courier in Germany. RKO Radio Pictures had purchased the rights to the French version of the movie, and used footage from that film in the American production. Both previous films featured the German actor Adolf Wohlbrück in the lead role. Berman brought Wohlbrück stateside, changing his name to Anton Walbrook to star in the American version of the story. It also stars Elizabeth Allan, Margot Grahame, Akim Tamiroff, Fay Bainter and Eric Blore. 

RKO bought the rights to the French version Michel Strogoff (1936) for $75,000, and specifically signed its star Anton Walbrook so that they could use some scenes from that movie. About 22 scenes were edited into the American version, including Siberia footage, battle footage, Tartar camps and the river on fire. The Hollywood Reporter mentioned that the new footage shot blended perfectly with the old footage.

Fay Bainter, who portrays Anton Walbrook's mother, was actually she only three years older than him.

Although this film was produced on a modest budget of $400,000 (due to re-using a lot of footage from a previous version) this picture still barely broke even at the box office

--- ---

Cowboy And The Lady

(1938)

Poor Mary Smith can't go night-clubbing or have any other fun because any hint of scandal could damage her father's political career. She decides to rebel and convinces her two maids to let her go along with them on a blind date with some rodeo performers. She tells her date, Stretch, that she's a parlor maid and that she left home because her father beat her. The two fall in love and elope. Now Mary has a double dilemma: continuing her charade with Stretch, and keeping her marriage a secret from her father.

Written by S.N. Behrman and Sonya Levien and based on a story by Frank R. Adams and veteran film director Leo McCarey, this American Western romantic comedy was directed by H.C. Potter, and stars Gary Cooper and Merle Oberon. 

This one had a difficult birth.

The original writer, director Leo McCarey, declined Samuel Goldwyn's offer to direct. William Wyler then began as director of the film, but walked off the set after an argument with Goldwyn about the extensive retakes Goldwyn demanded. Goldwyn suspended Wyler, who did not return as director. H.C. Potter was brought in to replace Wyler, but production and script problems resulted in the film going way over schedule, and Potter had to leave before the film was finished due to his commitment to direct another picture. Editor Stuart Heisler was brought in to finish directing the film.

Several trade papers and national magazines noted that the film, at that time, set a record for the number of screenwriters who worked on the script. Besides the four credited onscreen, at least 13 others were involved.

The role of Mary's father, Horace Smith, was originally assigned to Thomas Mitchell, but due to various production issues, shooting was delayed, and Mitchell, who had a previous commitment, had to leave before his scenes were completed. All of his previously shot scenes were scrapped, and his part was re-cast with Henry Kolker.

Initially, David Niven was to star as a British diplomat, and Benita Hume was to play Mary's stepmother, but all of their scenes ended up on the cutting room floor.

This film won an Academy Award for Sound Recording (Thomas T. Moulton), and was nominated for Original Score (Alfred Newman) and Original Song (The Cowboy and the Lady by Lionel Newman and Arthur Quenzer).

Merle Oberon and Gary Cooper

--- ---

The Bullfighter And The Lady

(1951)

Johnny Regan, a U.S. citizen, goes to Mexico and takes up bullfighting, hoping to impress a Mexican beauty, Anita de la Vega. He fails to take studying under the tutelage of aging matador Manolo Estrada seriously, and it leads to tragedy.

This romantic sport drama was directed and written by Budd Boetticher and stars Robert Stack, Joy Page, Gilbert Roland, Virginia Grey, John Hubbard, and Katy Jurado.

The film was originally called Torero. Boetticher had been a bullfighter and told his life story to Ray Nazarro. Boetticher says he wrote it all down and Nazarro typed it up and sold the project to Dore Schary at MGM. 

Filmed on location in Mexico, the film focused on the realities of the dangerous sport of bullfighting. Boetticher, who was an experienced bullfighter, used a semi-documentary while filming. 

According to director Budd Boetticher, director John Ford, at John Wayne's insistence, came in and edited out 42 minutes from the film. Boetticher wasn't happy with the decisions in the re-edit, though, later, the two directors became good friends. Boetticher says the film got made because John Wayne liked the story. He said Wayne "and John Ford cut 42 minutes out of" the film "so that it would be less than 90 minutes, a 'B' picture. It took me forty years to get it back the way I wanted it. It was a helluva blow, I tell you."

In real life, Gilbert Roland's father was a toreador.

A Mexican stunt man was killed by a bull while filming one of the bullfighting sequence.

This film earned Boetticher his only Academy Award nomination, for Best Story, which he shared with co-writer Ray Nazarro. Together with Seven Men from Now, Boetticher regarded Bullfighter as one of "the two best films I ever made."

Virginia Grey and Gilbert Roland

Virginia Grey appeared in over 100 films and numerous television and radio programs. As a child, one of her babysitters was Gloria Swanson. Grey had an intermittent love affair with Clark Gable in the 1940s. After Gable's wife Carole Lombard died and he returned from military service, Gable and Grey were often seen at restaurants and nightclubs together. Many, including Grey herself, expected Gable to marry her, and tabloids often speculated on a wedding announcement. It was a great surprise when Gable hastily married Lady Sylvia Ashley in 1949, leaving Grey heartbroken.

Robert Stack

--- ---

Gambler And The Lady

(1952)

A greedy but successful professional gambler wants to join the British Establishment when he falls in love with a blue-blooded lady. But first he must mend his ways and then dump his nightclub singer girl friend. Unfortunately, she's not so easy to shake, but then neither is his past.

Made by Hammer Films, this British crime drama was directed by Patrick Jenkins and Sam Newfield and stars Dane Clark, Kathleen Byron and Naomi Chance. 

--- ---

And that's all for now, folks.

Tune in next time...

Same place, same channel.

The Cowboy And The Lady - Movie Trailer

(1938)