Vintage Powder Room

Welcome to the Vintage Powder Room Cinema!  Today’s feature is THAT WONDERFUL URGE [1949] starring Gene Tierney, Tyrone Power, Reginald Gardiner, and Arleen Whelan.

Enjoy the movie!

TCM says:

Sara Farley, a madcap grocery store heiress, is the subject of a series of articles published in the New York Chronicle by Thomas Jefferson Tyler. Duffy, Tom’s editor, wants him to produce more quotes from the heiress, so he follows her when she goes on a skiing trip to Sun Valley with her fiancé Count Andre de Guyon and her aunt Cornelia, posing as Tom Thomas, a small-town newspaperman. When Sara goes dogsledding with Tom as her driver, they have a minor collision with a tree, lose the dogs and have to spend some time in an emergency ski cabin. After Tom asks her to read and comment on a phony, complimentary story he has written about her, the unsuspecting Sara agrees to tell him her life story.

Welcome to the Vintage Powder Room Cinema!  Today’s feature is THE LEMON DROP KID starring Bob Hope, Marilyn Maxwell, Lloyd Nolan. It’s a different sort of holiday tale.

Enjoy the movie!

The New York Times said:

The Screen in Review: Bob Hope as Hapless Racetrack Tout in ‘The Lemon Drop Kid’ Opening at Paramount

By Bosley Crowther

Published: March 22, 1951

 Damon Runyon’s old story, “The Lemon Drop Kid,” which, was about a race track tipster who leaped from the frying-pan into the fire, has been given a pretty thorough shakedown under the capable hands of Bob Hope in the slapstick farce of the same title that came to the Paramount yesterday. The consequent entertainment, populated throughout by Mr. Hope, may be a far cry from Mr. Runyon’s story, but it’s a close howl to good, fast, gag-packed fun.

Welcome to the Vintage Powder Room Cinema!  Tonight’s feature is DOUBLE HARNESS starring Ann Harding, William Powell, Henry Stephenson, Lilian Bond, George Meeker and Reginald Owen.

Enjoy the movie!

TCM says:

After her extravagant, irresponsible sister Valerie marries Dennis Moore, Joan Colby sets her sights on John Fletcher, a notorious San Francisco playboy. Joan’s old-fashioned father, Colonel Sam Colby, complains that John, who inherited his father’s shipping business, is so lazy that he is driving his company into bankruptcy. In spite of the colonel’s disapproval, Joan pursues a romance with John and announces to Valerie that, while she does not love John, she intends to marry him. Joan explains to her sister that marriage is the business of women and that love is a complication to be avoided.

Welcome to the Vintage Powder Room Cinema!  Tonight’s feature is THREE GIRLS ABOUT TOWN starring Joan Blondell, Binnie Barnes, Janet Blair, Robert Benchley and John Howard.

Enjoy the movie!

TCM says:

As the Merchants Hotel readies for a morticians convention and the mediation committee meeting of a group of aircraft manufacturers and workers, hotel manager Wilburforce Puddle worries about a newspaper editorial critical of the hotel’s policy of employing hostesses. Angered by the editorial, head hostess Hope Banner storms into the hotel press room to confront her fiancé, reporter Tommy Hopkins. Tommy denies that he had prior knowledge about the editorial, although he would like Hope to resign as hostess and find a “regular” job. Hope, however, argues that she needs the extra money to send her younger sister Charity to private school. After Hope leaves, Charity appears in the press room looking for her sister, and Tommy escorts her to Hope’s room. There, Charity announces to Hope and her other hostess sister Faith that she intends to quit school and follow in her sisters’ footsteps. Both Faith and Hope oppose her decision, asserting that she is too young and innocent to leave school.

Welcome to Vintage Powder Room Cinema!  Tonight’s feature is LADY OF BURLESQUE starring Barbara Stanwyck, Michael O’Shea and directed by William Wellman.   I think this film makes a nice companion piece for tonight’s post about the La Cherte face powder box.

Enjoy the movie!

Wikipedia says:

In 1941, Lee authored a mystery thriller called The G-String Murders, which was made into the sanitized 1943 film, Lady of Burlesque starring Barbara Stanwyck. While some assert this was in fact ghost-written by Craig Rice, there are those who claim that there is more than sufficient written evidence in the form of manuscripts and Lee’s own correspondence to prove that she wrote a large part of the novel herself under the guidance of Rice and others, including her editor George Davis, a friend and mentor. Lee’s second murder mystery, Mother Finds a Body, was published in 1942.

Welcome to Vintage Powder Room Cinema!  Tonight’s feature is A STAR IS BORN in glorious Technicolor. It has an all-star cast: Janet Gaynor, Fredric March, Adolphe Menjou, May Robson, Andy Devine, and Lionel Stander.

Enjoy the movie!

From TCM:

 A screenplay entitled “A Star Is Born” is stamped with the words, “Final Shooting Script,” then opened to reveal the following story: Esther Blodgett returns one winter evening to her home, an isolated farmhouse in North Dakota, after seeing a movie with her little brother Aleck, which starred her screen idol, Norman Maine. Esther’s Aunt Mattie disdains Esther’s obsession with the movies, and her father and grandmother Lettie are surprised to hear that Esther wants to be a movie star. After Mattie berates her, Esther runs to her room in tears. Lettie then tells Esther of her own past dreams of coming across the country in a “prairie schooner,” and although she cautions Esther about the heartbreak that always comes to those who pursue their dreams, Lettie encourages Esther and gives her money to take a train to Hollywood.

Welcome to Vintage Powder Room Cinema!  In keeping with the theme of yesterday’s post, victory rolls and the Greatest Generation–this week’s feature is A YANK IN THE RAF starring Betty Grable and Tyrone Power. Enjoy the movie!

From TCM:

Prior to the United States’ entry into World War II, egotistical American pilot Tim Baker seeks adventure and money by ferrying a bomber from Canada to England. While in London, he meets a former girl friend, Carol Brown, a nightclub performer who volunteers in the ambulance reserve during the day. Carol is both pleased and annoyed to see Tim, with whom she broke up a year earlier because of his irresponsible nature. Hoping to win Carol back, Tim accepts her dare to join the R.A.F. but quickly becomes bored with the classes teaching basic flying techniques. One afternoon, Carol goes to the airfield and meets Wing Commander John Morley, who is immediately taken with her. Morley sees her nightclub show and escorts her home, after which Carol, angry at Tim for standing her up that evening, tells him that she has a new man in her life. 

Welcome to Vintage Powder Room Cinema!  This week’s feature is PARIS WHEN IT SIZZLES in glorious Technicolor, starring Audrey Hepburn and William Holden. Enjoy the movie!

From TCM:

Film producer Alexander Meyerheimer is in Cannes and upset because scriptwriter Richard Benson is late delivering the script for The Girl Who Stole the Eiffel Tower , Meyerheimer’s latest production. He wires Benson in Paris that he has only 2 days to complete the script; and Benson, who has written nothing, hires a secretary, Gabrielle Simpson, to move in and assist him. As they grind out a script that combines all the elements of a spy thriller, a comedy, a love story, a western, a musical, and every other basic motion picture genre, Richard and Gabrielle project themselves into the story and actually become the hero, heroine, and villain of each scene they create. They return to reality only for story changes, champagne suppers, and romantic interludes.

Welcome to Vintage Powder Room Cinema!  This week’s feature is LADY OF BURLESQUE [1943] starring Barbara Stanwyck. Enjoy the movie!

From TCM:

S. B. Foss, owner of the Old Opera House on Broadway in New York City, promotes his new recruit, burlesque dancer Dixie Daisy, hoping that she will draw a large audience. Dixie’s performance draws cheers from the crowds and from comedian Biff Brannigan, who ardently admires Dixie even though she hates comics because of past experiences with them. When someone cuts the wire to the light backstage that signals the presence of the police, the performers are surprised by a raid, and pandemonium ensues. As Dixie flees through a coal chute, someone grabs her from behind and tries to strangle her, but her assailant escapes when a stagehand comes along.

 Welcome to Vintage Powder Room Cinema!  This week’s feature is BLONDIE [1938] starring Penny Singleton and Arthur Lake and based on the comic strip by Chic Young.  If you’ve never heard of a Dagwood sandwich, it was named after Blondie’s hapless spouse, Dagwood Bumstead

From TCM:

On the eve of their fifth wedding anniversary, Blondie and Dagwood Bumstead, and their child Baby Dumpling, are in financial trouble. Blondie presses Dagwood to ask his boss Mr. Dithers for a raise because she has purchased a new set of living room furniture on credit as a surprise. Unfortunately, when Dagwood arrives at the construction company where he works, he discovers that he is being held responsible for repayment of a loan note he approved for Mr. Dither’s former secretary, Elsie. Anxious to cover the loan, Dagwood begs Mr. Dithers for a raise.