Portrayals of Mental Illness/Trauma in Film: Ronald Colman as Anthony John in "A Double Life" (1947)

Ronald Colman already had theatrical experience before he joined the London Scottish Regionals to fight in WWI. He had been a member of the West Middlesex Dramatic Society in 1908 to 1909 and debuted on stage in 1914. While fighting in the First Battle of Ypres, the Battle of Messines, on October 31, 1914, a piece of shrapnel tore through his ankle. "He managed to drag himself back to his own lines on his back, concerned that if he were to be killed, he didn't wish to be found with his back facing the enemy." (Ronald Colman in World War 1 and after) Colman served two more months until May 1915 when he was discharged from his injuries. By June 19th, 1916, he was back on stage playing a black-faced herald in the short sketch "The Maharani of Arakan" alongside Lena Ashwell at the London Coliseum. But through his four years of playing the London and Broadway stages, Colman had never played Shakespeare and was uncomfortable taking any Shakespearean roles.

Colman was still uncomfortable when Universal International approached him to play Anthony John in "A Double Life" (1947) when writers Garson Kanin and wife Ruth Gordon couldn't get Laurence Olivier. He almost turned down the script before director George Cukor and the Kanins convinced him the role would be guaranteed an Academy Award win no matter who played John and they would help him. At this point, Colman had been only nominated for two silent films and "Random Harvest" (1942), but had never won. George Cukor went as far as to hire Shakespearean theater actor Walter Hampden to coach him and to stage the "Othello" scenes in sequence so Colman could focus on playing the title role separately of the slowly driven mad John. Colman would consider Anthony John his most satisfying film role. 

Links to Check Out

Ronald Colman

Fashion Spotlight: Gwen Wakeling

Fashion artist Gwen Wakeling was hired by Cecil B. DeMille while he was working for Pathe Studios. She first costumed 1927's "King of Kings." When DeMille created Paramount Pictures with Adolph Zukor and Lasky, he brought Wakeling with him. In 1933, she was hired by Fox Films as head costume designer where she created her best known costumes in "Grapes of Wrath" (1940) and "How Green Was my Valley" (1941). But after a death in her family and suffering from a ruptured appendix, Wakeling quit Fox in 1942. She continued as a freelancer, creating gowns and costumes for "Roxie Hart" (1942), "Cover Girl" (1944), and "Samson and Delilah" (1949) which Wakeling had won the Oscar for. She also designed for the stage and television up until her death in 1982. 

Hedy Lamarr in "Samson and Delilah" (1949)

Basil Rathbone in "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" (1939)

Rita Hayworth in "Cover Girl" (1944)

#FridayShort Old Hollywood Footage

#SayHerName #SilentFilmEdition June Mathis

• Discovered Rudolph Valentino 
• Included German soldiers in drag in "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" (1921)
• Became chief of Metro's script department at 27
• The Los Angeles Times called her position at Metro "the most responsible job ever held by a woman"
• Is attributed to the standard screenwriting styles still used in films
• The only female executive at the Metro and Samuel Goldwyn units
• Had influence over director, casting and other aspects of production
• Insisted Metro hire Rex Ingram as director for "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" (1921)

Make This: John Rollin Ridge's "The Life and Adventures of Joaquín Murrieta: The Celebrated California Bandit"

Not much is known about the origins of Zorro except that a portion of his legend involves the life story of "The Robin Hood of the West," Joaquín Murrieta. Historian Susan Lee does attest to the actual facts of Murrieta's life that he was "drove [...] from a rich mining claim, [...] his wife was raped, his half-brother lynched, and Murrieta himself horse-whipped. He may have worked as a monte dealer for a time; then, according to whichever version one accepts, he became either a horse trader and occasional horse thief, or a bandit." A year after Murrieta's death in 1853, Yellow Bird's The Life and Adventures of Joaquín Murrieta: The Celebrated California Bandit was published and considered his biography according to many historians at the time. Most of the facts were expanded on. Murrieta would murder the white men who raped his wife and hung his brother, expanding on his friendships with the banditti he creates out of vengeance.

Diego Luna as Joaquín Murrieta

Sam Elliott as Captain Harry Love

Gael Garcia Bernal as Reyes Feliz

#FridayShort Hollywood on Parade

#WomenDoingAwesomeThingsWednesday Janet Leigh dealing with Howard Hughes

Since their meeting at Melvyn LeRoy's party, Howard Hughes had become obsessed with Janet. He persisted in unwanted attentions, following her to restaurants or clubs when she went on dates with other men, seating himself close by, and staring the entire time. The first manipulation Hughes tried to make in Janet's life was to offer Barry Nelson, through RKO, a part in a film in South America for a tremendous amount of money. He wanted Barry out of the way; however, Nelson had already committed to a play on Broadway. Hughes later tricked Janet into taking a brief plane ride (Hughes had a particular passion for airplanes), but she felt only anger and fright about the whole experience. She did not find his obsession amusing. Hughes' manipulative behavior manifested once again when he learned that Janet was dating the heir to the Loew's theatrical fortune, Arthur Loew, Jr., and tried to discredit him. As Janet recalled: 

He called me in and said, "I just want you to see this." He hands me these papers, and I said, "What is this?" He says, "Well, I have ways of getting hold this kind of information. And I want you to know what kind of person you're going out with." I said, "Why can't you be like a human being and if you want to go out with me ask me out like a person, like a man?" And he said he didn't like to do that. I think he was afraid of rejection, and so he said, "All right, will you go out with me?" I said no. And then I said -- I thought. "Oh, this will fix it" -- I said, "OK, I'll go out with you with my mother and father. 

Surprisingly, Hughes agreed. The following evening Janet, Fred and Helen had dinner with the magnate at the Sportsman's Lodge. "The three of them had a wonderful time," recalled Janet. "And I was bored to tears. I mean, it was fun because I saw Mom and Dad were having a good time." 

- Michelangelo Capua, Janet Leigh, A Biography. (2013)

Portrayals of Mental Illness/Trauma in Film: Humphrey Bogart as Duke Mantee in "The Petrified Forest" (1936)

Robert Emmet Sherwood's "The Petrified Forest" opened on Broadway January 7th, 1935 which wasn't the best time for his friend and sometimes film but established theater actor Humphrey Bogart. His 1930 Fox contract was dropped after five films and he had moved back and forth from Hollywood to New York multiple times. His father had died in his arms during this time and leaving him ten thousand dollars worth in debts while during the beginnings of the Depression. One of his sisters also passed away of alcoholism and another left by her husband and penniless, falling into poor mental health while taking care of her only child.

But Bogart was adamant in getting the part of Duke Mantee, going as far as to study film footage of gangster John Dillinger which Sherwood had based the character on and copying many of his mannerisms. Sherwood was ready to suggest him for a different role, but producer Arthur Hopkins was hesitant. Hopkins would later describe Bogart's reputation on stage as "an antiquated juvenile who spent most of his stage life in white pants swinging a tennis racquet." (Edward Copeland's Tangents: "This is Duke Mantee, the world-famous killer ... and he's hungry!")  Even fellow producer and the star of the show, movie superstar Leslie Howard liked him and even wanted Bogart to play opposite him in the film version. Howard even told Bogart he would do his best to get him to repeat the role in the upcoming screen version which he already held the rights to. Bogart would hold him to this.

But Warner Brothers had tested other actors for Mantee and even announced in the trades that Edward G. Robinson for the role which Bogart found out right away. He immediately cabled Howard while he was vacationing in Scotland and Howard got back to Warner Brothers informing them "he would not play in the picture if Bogart was not cast in it." (Schickel, Richard. Bogie: A Celebration of the Life and Films of Humphrey Bogart. 2006) Warner Brothers listened.










Links to Check Out
Leslie Howard: The Petrified Forest