Robert Osborne interviews Ann Blyth at a screening of Mildred Pierce (1945)

Ceiling of the Grauman's Egyptian Theatre

Press Photo

I had the privilege of attending a special screening of Mildred Pierce (1945) at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood as part of the TCM Classic Film Festival. This event was #1 on my list of all the events and screenings I wanted to attend.

I will try to transcribe the interview that happened before the screening to the best of my ability. It's not word-for-word and some paraphrasing is used.

Robert Osborne introduced Ann Blyth and said she was one of the sweetest nicest people in the world. But we all know her as Veda, the evil daughter in Mildred Pierce (1945). He encouraged us all to hiss and boo at her now and get it over with. To which Ann Blyth responded "I don't care."

Robert Osborne: Osborne notes that Blyth was so wonderful as the evil Veda but she was never typecast because of that role. It's kind of a miracle given Hollywood tendency to typecast during that time period. After Mildred Pierce, Blyth went on to play very lovely ingenues, very nice ladies, etc. Osborne asked Blyth how she came to play Veda in Mildred Pierce.

Ann Blyth: Blyth had to test for the part and she learned much later that a lot of actresses tested for the same role. She says that she was the lucky one and mentions hitting it off with director Michael Curtiz. Joan Crawford did the test with Blyth which was very unusual for a star of Crawford's stature at that time. It made a huge difference in how Blyth started to think about the character having the actress who will be playing opposite her as her mother doing the test with her.

Osborne: We hear so many negative stories about Joan Crawford

Blyth: "I have nothing but wonderful memories of her." Blyth said it was a wonderful learning experience working with Joan Crawford. Crawford was kind to her all during the making of the movie and in private afterwards for many, many years.

Osborne: Blyth was an actress on Broadway and was in Watch on the Rhine as a very young girl.

Blyth: Blyth noted that that was what brought her to Los Angeles and Universal Pictures.

Osborne: Osborne notes that Blyth was loaned out to Warner Bros.

Blyth: And every other studio too! Paramount, 20th Century Fox, etc. She was sent to London to do a picture with Tyrone Power [I'll Never Forget You (1951)]. Blyth got excited talking about Power and remembering his beautiful face and gorgeous brown eyes.

Osborne: Osborne pointed out that Blyth had a batch of handsome leading co-stars.

Blyth: Someone had asked Blyth years ago who she would want to be stranded on a deserted island with. They started listing all the names of the men she had co-starred with and she responded "well, couldn't I take them all with me?"

Osborne: Osborne noted that Blyth's last film was with Paul Newman.

Blyth: Blyth said Newman was a dream and was always well-prepared and professional. That film was The Helen Morgan Story (1957) which was also directed by Michael Curtiz.

Osborne: Osborne asked if she had a favorite among the men she worked with.

Blyth: They were all so different, so talented each in their own particular way. Blyth noted that they were all so good looking and that was the easy part for her. It would be very hard for her to chose a favorite. Can't she chose them all? She had some of the best experiences with actors like Farley Granger, Gregory Peck, etc.

Osborne: Osborne pointed out that Blyth had made a few films in which her leading men were much much older than her. He included Charles Boyer as an example. Boyer was 29 years Blyth's senior [A Woman's Vengeance (1948)].

Blyth: It never entered her mind that these actors were much older. She just appreciated working with such wonderful and talented people. Age had nothing to do with it.

Osborne: Blyth has a wonderful singing voice but wasn't used in musicals for a long time.

Blyth: Blyth noted that she sang in her very first movie. Chip off the Old Block (1944) with Donald O'Connor. Universal didn't use her in musicals after she did Mildred Pierce but she did do a lot of musicals when she moved to MGM.

Osborne: Osborne asked Blyth if making musicals was fun for her.

Blyth: She replied yes especially because of all the beautiful music she was able to sing and called it a "hell of an experience."

Osborne: Osborne points out Kismet (1955), The Student Prince (1954), Rose Marie (1954) in particular. After Blyth treated us with a few musical notes, Osborne asked her why did she stop making films right after The Helen Morgan Story (1957).

Blyth: Things were really beginning to change a lot at that time. However, she did make a serious mistake because there was interest in her doing The Three Faces of Eve (1957) which she turned down. She reminisced that it would have been extraordinary to do that film. The role eventually went to Joanne Woodward.

Osborne: Osborne asked if it was different at each of the several studios she worked at.

Blyth: The movie she made with Tyrone Power was filmed in England so her experience with 20th Century Fox Studios didn't amount to very much. Blyth grew up at Universal so she has distinct memories of that studio. They had a little schoolhouse she attended. She had marvelous teachers when she was there and felt very cared for. They would be with her on the set of different films. Universal was a small studio in comparison to MGM and Paramount.

Osborne: Osborne pointed out to us that Blyth still stays in touch with a lot of her friends from her Hollywood days.

Blyth: Jane Powell, Jane Withers, Joan Leslie, etc. They get together at least 4 times a year especially during Christmas time (My interjection: CAN I HANG OUT WITH YOU LADIES TOO?!).

Blyth says that she feels very blessed and Osborne notes that we were all very blessed to have her there that day. And I agree! It was such a wonderful experience to hear Blyth talk and to watch her on the big screen in Mildred Pierce!

Unsinkable: A Memoir by Debbie Reynolds

Unsinkable: A Memoir by Debbie Reynolds
Hardcover
9780062213655
April 2013
William Morrow
320 pages

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In 1988, Debbie Reynold's autobiography Debbie: My Life was released. It depicted the often times tumultuous life of the perky and vivacious movie star who became famous with her roles in films such as Singin' in the Rain (1952) and The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964). At the time of that book's publication, Reynolds was newly married to Richard Hamlett. Little did she know that more trials and tribulations were waiting around the corner.

Unsinkable: A Memoir picks up in the timeline of Debbie Reynolds life when she married Hamlett in 1984. Reynolds describes her tumultuous marriage to Hamlett, the messy divorce that followed, the rise and fall of her Las Vegas hotel, her daughter Carrie Fisher's emotional and physical problems, her relationship with her son Todd and the repeated disappointments and financial hardships she endured in trying to create a museum for her vast collection of movie memorabilia.

The book is divided into two parts. Part One follows Reynolds life from 1984 to 2011. Part Two kicks off at 2012 and dips back into time following her movie career from 1948 until 2013. It's mostly a continuation of her first autobiography but she does include plenty of information about her early movie career and her troubled marriages to Eddie Fisher and Harry Karl.

Reading Unsinkable was quite an interesting experience for me. Debbie Reynolds is very candid. Some readers might be a little uncomfortable with some of the things she reveals. I don't think I'll ever look at Tony Randall the same way after reading this book. But that very open and sharing nature is just Debbie Reynolds' style. Her personality definitely comes through, whether the writing is mostly hers or that of her co-wrieter Dorian Hannaway. Reynolds also makes some big revelations including the fact that she thinks her third husband Richard Hamlett tried to kill her.

Debbie Reynolds spends a lot of time in this book discussing her passion for movie memorabilia and how she treasured the costumes and props she purchased or collected over the years. In 2011, Reynolds was facing financial difficulties and after years of trying to create a museum for her memorabilia she made the controversial decision to sell the pieces at auction instead. The most famous piece was the white dress that Marilyn Monroe wore in the subway grate scene in The Seven Year Itch (1955). Reynolds spends a lot of time talking about the memorabilia, her attempts at creating the museum, her regrets and how it pained her to auction off all those pieces. She seems genuine enough but sometimes I wondered if she was trying to seek validation from her readers and her skeptics.

By Part Two, I wasn't sure if I would find much value in this book. Her stories were interesting and I was especially intrigued to read about her very complicated relationship with Elizabeth Taylor. However, one chapter into Part Two and I discovered the real value of the book. Starting on page 183, Reynolds goes back to 1948 to her very first movie and reminisces about (almost) each and every movie she made up until her most recent one Behind the Candlelabra (2013) in which she plays Liberace's mother (with whom she was good friends in real life). This part was the most interesting to me. She shares her personal experiences and memories from each of those films. This is what separates a biography from an autobiography in my opinion.

This book has its bias. Reynolds is not afraid to pass judgment on certain people in her life and with some of her over sharing I wonder what she is hiding as well. I tried to take most things in the book with a grain of salt. With that said, Debbie Reynolds is quite charming so it's very likely she'll win you over with her candid style.

So what do I really think of the book? If it wasn't for that movie-by-movie rundown in Part Two, I wouldn't have liked the book at all. That really saved it for me. I would recommend reading Unsinkable if you are very interested in Debbie Reynolds as an actress and a woman and definitely if you had read her first book. It's also for those of you who are curious about Debbie Reynolds' decision to sell her memorabilia and want to know her side of the story.

Thank you so much to William Morrow for sending me a copy of Unsinkable for review!

Ultimate Gangsters Collection: Classics Blu-Ray Review

Ultimate Gangsters Collection: Classics Blu-Ray 
On Sale May, 21 2013
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The Ultimate Gangsters Collection: Classics Blu-Ray boxed set went on sale this week. There is also a Contemporary version of the same set with 4 different movies. The Classics set includes four of the best original gangster movies including Little Caesar (1931), The Public Enemy (1931), The Petrified Forest (1936) and White Heat (1949).

Thanks to Warner Bros. I got a chance to review this set. I've had a Blu-Ray player for quite a while but haven't really been upgrading to Blu-Rays quite yet since so many classics are still only available on DVD. I was happy to get this on Blu-Ray because I love the quality even with black and white films.

This set comes with four Blu-Ray discs, each with one of the movies  Each Blu-Ray has some extras including commentary, an intro by Leonard Maltin, a newsreel, a short, a trailer and a featurette. I don't believe these extras are anything new and were most likely available in the previous editions of these films on DVD.

I had a Twitter conversation with some folks about DVD and Blu-Ray extras. Some folks didn't care about extras and others thought really good extras could make or break a set. I liked what Laura from Laura's Miscellaneous Musings had to say. She says the best DVDs or Blu-Rays with extras are like a "film school in a box". The extras add to your knowledge of the film and that time period. I agree with her. Those types of extras really add big value to a set. I wouldn't say that this Blu-Ray set is a "film school in a box" however it's a nice introductory set for people who like the gangster movie genre but didn't know much about these films to begin with. Perhaps a "gangster film intro class in a box".

The Blu-Ray set also comes with a Bonus DVD (note it's a DVD not a Blu-Ray) which has the feature-length documentary Public Enemies: The Golden Age of the Gangster Film. The documentary has interviews with notable film experts. I noticed that almost all of the talking heads were men except for Molly Haskell. I found the documentary a bit repetitive and I lost interest in it. I do think it has value perhaps for someone who is learning about these films for the first time. I'm definitely going to give the documentary another shot!

The set also comes with a 32 page 2-color booklet (black and white with gold) which includes some information about the time period, the gangster movie genre and the specific films. I'm always happy to see booklets in DVD or Blu-Ray sets because I think they add nice value to the set.

I would recommend this Blu-Ray set as a gift to someone who you think would appreciate early gangster movies. This would make a great Father's Day gift especially since that's right around the corner. However, I think women would enjoy this set too because I know I love gangster films and can't get enough of them! Also, if you are a classic film enthusiast looking to encourage someone to watch more old movies, I think this would be a great way to convert them. The real value of this set is as a gift or as a collector's item.

I loved revisiting Little Caesar (1931), The Public Enemy (1931) and The Petrified Forest (1936). I was especially moved by The Petrified Forest and I connected with the film on this viewing in a way I hadn't done so before. The message of personal freedom and independence of spirit really struck me. White Heat (1949) is one of those films I always thought I had seen but really had not. It comes pretty late in the era of gangster movies and is famous for the last scene with James Cagney saying "made it Ma, top of the world!". I enjoyed White Heat immensely. I love Cagney and one of my favorite actors Edmond O'Brien plays opposite him. There are a lot of O'Brien haters out there. I know a particular blogger who found the worst picture of him she muster up to demonstrate how gross he was. Pshaw! Just watch O'Brien in White Heat and you'll learn to appreciate him. White Heat is such a fantastic film and I'm glad I got a chance to see it. And with this set you get three of the best actors at the top of their game playing the gangster roles: Edward G. Robinson, Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney.

Thank you to Warner Bros. for sending me a copy of this set to review!