OT: Old Movies Trivia

[Bama fan]

Luise Rainer (spell check needed) in The Great Ziegfeld and The Good Earth.

The Great Ziegfeld was on TCM this week, but I did not watch it.

 

[NY Fan]

Kate Hepburn won back to back best actress awards in 1967 and 1968. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and The Lion in Winter. If that is the "actress" question I think you mean.

Credits to you, I missed that one. It was Luise Reiner I was thinking off.

 

[Scud49]

And The Good Bad and Ugly. For Bonus points what was the common denominator in the Spaghetti Westerns, Once Upon a Time in the West, Once Upon a Time in America, and Cinema Paradiso?

Some classic LVC - he was just made for these roles in movies like TGTBTU and FAFDM:

 

[NY Fan]

Anyone know what future Academy Award winner turned down the role of Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind because he thought it was going to be the biggest flop in movie history?

It wasn't Errol Flynn who was considered and who might have pulled it off. But no way he would have turned it down. So who?

 

[Redux]

Anyone know what future Academy Award winner turned down the role of Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind because he thought it was going to be the biggest flop in movie history?

EDIT: Not Errol Flynn. He was offered and would have killed for it but Warners wanted full distribution rights and at that point Selznik didn't want to give that up. Of course he wound up giving up even more than that to MGM.

Some key points. The actor in question was not going to be allowed to do the movie when he made those comments, which thus could be considered sour grapes. He would have had to break a contract with Goldwyn and he was (contrary to some outside bravado) very insecure as an actor and was not going to do that. In fact he later said his real reason for turning it down was he didn't see himself as a smooth kind of character, much more rough-hewn. Despite all that he regretted turning it down the rest of his life, though he was very complimentary of Gable's performance..

Finally, it's been years since I read the novel, but my opinion then and that of many was that this guy was closer to Rhett Butler as written than was Gable (though Gable was the public's first choice). You have to remember that he was Selznik's first choice over Gable.

 

[Bigboote]

Kate Hepburn won back to back best actress awards in 1967 and 1968. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and The Lion in Winter. If that is the "actress" question I think you mean.

I had been thinking of Jennifer Jones, but I just looked her up. She was nominated (not all for leading actress) four years in a row, but only won for Song of Bernadette.

 

[Alydar]

What comedy was Elsa Lanchester in along with Peter Ustinov?

What film was she in with Charles Laughton?

 

[stormsurge]

boy on the GOTW Rhett Butler ... you got me interested

who could have been such a big star then that could have pulled off that role?

wild guess....Gary Cooper?

 

[NY Fan]

What film was she in with Charles Laughton?

I was thinking of Witness for the Prosecution. Redux also had Tales of Manhattan and The Big Clock.

 

[mhshuskies]

What film was she in with Charles Laughton?

Tales of Manhattan

 

[mhshuskies]

EDIT: Not Errol Flynn. He was offered and would have killed for it but Warners wanted full distribution rights and at that point Selznik didn't want to give that up. Of course he wound up giving up even more than that to MGM.

Some key points. The actor in question was not going to be allowed to do the movie when he made those comments, which thus could be considered sour grapes. He would have had to break a contract with Goldwyn and he was (contrary to some outside bravado) very insecure as an actor and was not going to do that. In fact he later said his real reason for turning it down was he didn't see himself as a smooth kind of character, much more rough-hewn. Despite all that he regretted turning it down the rest of his life, though he was very complimentary of Gable's performance..

Finally, it's been years since I read the novel, but my opinion then and that of many was that this guy was closer to Rhett Butler as written than was Gable (though Gable was the public's first choice). You have to remember that he was Selznik's first choice over Gable.

Gary Cooper as Rhett, not as suave or flamboyant as Gable, more rougher and tougher? But similarly, a what if the author of Breakfast at Tiffanys had been able to get his choice for the lead? Supposedly Truman Capote wrote it specifically for Marilyn Monroe!

 

[NY Fan]

Tales of Manhattan

As great as Tales of Manhattan is, the greater interaction between Laughton and Lanchester was in Witness for the Prosecution.

For more extra credit points: who were the actor and actress who played in the Witness for the Prosecution remake?

 

[veryolddog]

Ok.... here is another one. Who was the child actor in the movie "Boys Town" who was hit by the car.

 

[f1f1ferrari]

Ok.... here is another one. Who was the child actor in the movie "Boys Town" who was hit by the car.

Argh! I just watched it last week and I can't think of his name! Pretty sure his first name was more of a nickname.

 

[veryolddog]

Argh! I just watched it last week and I can't think of his name! Pretty sure his first name was more of a nickname.

Don't you hate when that happens, especially at my age and you know it but it just won't come out.

 

[veryolddog]

Ok...another one. What was the name of the actor who played "Little John" in the 1939 version of Robin Hood? And the character actor who played Friar Tuck.

 

[veryolddog]

Another one: who were the two male stars of the Movie made in the 30's by Warner Bros. called "They Drive by Night".

 

[veryolddog]

Here's a good one. In the movie "The Grapes of Wrath", who played Ma, the mother of Henry Fonda?

 

[f1f1ferrari]

Another one: who were the two male stars of the Movie made in the 30's by Warner Bros. called "They Drive by Night".

I know Bogart is one, is the other George Raft?

 

[NY Fan]

Ok...another one. What was the name of the actor who played "Little John" in the 1939 version of Robin Hood? And the character actor who played Friar Tuck.

Eugene Pallette, one of the very best supporting actors in so many films including Tales of Manhattan, My Man Godfrey, Mr Smith goes to Washington and so many more including Friar Tuck. Alan Hale as Little John. I think he was part of that Warner Brothers ensemble that showed up together, especially when Errol Flynn starred.

 

[NY Fan]

Another one: who were the two male stars of the Movie made in the 30's by Warner Bros. called "They Drive by Night".

Bogie and George Raft

 

[veryolddog]

Eugene Pallette, one of the very best supporting actors in so many films including Tales of Manhattan, My Man Godfrey, Mr Smith goes to Washington and so many more including Friar Tuck. Alan Hale as Little John. I think he was part of that Warner Brothers ensemble that showed up together, especially when Errol Flynn starred.

Warner Bros had a nice group of folks that would show up in lots of their movies. During the 30's, Jack Warner hired many actors that ran to the USA after Hitler took power and before he overran Europe. The movie "Casablanca" was loaded with them. Can you name a few of them?

 

[darkstar1]

As a child, I loved watching Abbot and Costello movies. One I remember particularly, although not one of their early hits like Buck Privates, was a movie where Costello played the ghost of a tinker. The female lead character was called Melodie. Any guesses?

 

[f1f1ferrari]

As a child, I loved watching Abbot and Costello movies. One I remember particularly, although not one of their early hits like Buck Privates, was a movie where Costello played the ghost of a tinker. The female lead character was called Melodie. Any guesses?

Is it Marjorie Reynolds? (I may be way off on this one)

 

[darkstar1]

Great job! She was in lots of movies in the 40s and 50s. Biggest hit was Holiday Inn with Crosby and Astaire.