Star Of The Month-Janet Gaynor

 

JANET GAYNOR

BIRTH: October 6, 1905

DEATH: September 14, 1984

AGED: 77 years old

DIED FROM: Pneumonia as a result from a devastating car crash

REAL NAME: Laura Augusta Gainor

NICKNAME: Lolly

MARRIED: 3 times most notably Adrian ( 2nd  marriage)

AFFAIRS: Charles Farrell, Tyrone Power and possibly, Margaret Lindsay and Mary Martin

CHILDREN: 1 child, with Adrian

OSCAR WINS: Won 1 Oscar but for 3 films, the first and only time this occurred- Sunrise, 7th Heaven and Street Angel

OSCAR NOMINATIONS: A Star Is Born

TALENT:  Oil Painting, she loved this over acting.

KNOWN FOR: her diminutive size- maybe 5 ft. Her quiet strength against the studio system. Possibly gay or bi-sexual..who cares.

Janet is the very first recipient of the Oscar when she was only 22 years old. She was the youngest winner until Marlee Matlin won her Oscar in 1986. The year was 1929 and for the first, and only, time she won for 3 film roles. She was a huge star and one that easily adapted to sound films from the Silent era. This was a huge event because so many big stars lost everything when sound films took hold. Some, like Karl Dane, committed suicide and others, went into alcoholism, like John Gilbert and Marie Prévost. Janet, dammit! Made it! Her dad was one who saw her as something more than just his little girl and trained her in song and dance, acting etc.. when her parents, sadly, divorced, her step-dad took over the reins and they moved to Hollywood. Janet made such an impression on her first film that she went from an extra to a co-star and a star was born. 

She was the sweetheart of America and was teamed with Charles Farrell in 11 films! People couldn’t get enough of these screen lovebirds which carried on offscreen. They had a passionate affair with their mutual friend, Douglas Fairbanks Jnr. Often leading reporters astray. Charles proposed marriage but they broke up instead and she quickly married a lawyer. That didn’t last and during the mid-30s, she was often seen with Margaret Lindsay, another big star of the 1930s. Now Margaret was known to lean towards the ladies so there has always been speculation that these 2 had an affair. Oddly, Janet had, what one calls, a lavender marriage with Gilbert Adrian. He was/is a celebrated costume designer and well known gay man but they had a son together and stayed married until his death in 1959. Her last marriage was also  nice one and, also, apparently, a lavender marriage to her friend and stage Producer, Paul Gregory and remained together until her death. The biggest speculation of a lesbian affair was with her close friend Mary Martin (Larry Hagman’s mother). Mary was also a screen star and a big theatre star playing Peter Pan to perfection. Robert Cummings( another actor) famously quipped, “Janet Gaynor’s husband was Adrian but her wife was Mary Martin.”  You know, this could be the case and why not! I just think about my deep friendship with my best friend and we love hanging out with each other and we both feel we are soul mates but I am not gay. If we were in the entertainment field, I bet there would be speculation.

Janet made great films, both silent and sound and, after 17 years, she decided to call it a day although she did show up in some tv spots including, yes, The Love Boat, but she truly enjoyed oil painting. She considered herself a painter first and acting done on the side. One of her final films she made was “A Star Is Born”  and, although not her final film, this film was a high point in her career. Sadly, she had a difficult ending. Janet, her husband, Mary Martin and her manager were in a taxi when a van ran a red light, hitting the taxi ramming it into a tree. Mary’s manager died. Mary suffered 2 broken ribs and a broken pelvis. Janet’s husband suffered 2 broken legs but Mary suffered a fractured collarbone, 11 broken ribs, pelvic fractures, a punctured lung and bladder and injuries to her kidneys. She was in the hospital for months. The driver of the van, a former policeman, was charged with drunk driving and went to prison for…3 years. Janet never truly recovered from these injuries and died of pneumonia 2 years later. 

She was effervescent, sweet but strong in such a small frame. I wish more people would know her but both “A Star Is Born”  and the great F. W. Murnau film, “Sunrise”  will keep her in peoples’ minds for many years to come.

FILMS

1. Sunrise-1927

2. A Star Is Born-1937

3. 7th Heaven-1927

4. Street Angel-1928

5. The Farmer Takes a Wife-1935

6. State Fair-1933

7. 4 Devils-1928

8. Daddy Long Legs-1931

9. Johnstown Flood-1926

10. Sunnyside Up-1929

One of her paintings

Ahoy, Matey’s

 

Over at Monday Music Moves Me, this week was all about Pirates and it got me thinking about all the Pirate movies that are out there. Thank you Cathy, from Curious As A Cathy, for this inspiration. 

1. JAMAICA INN- 1939

Believe it or not, this is an Alfred Hitchcock film, but considered one of his lesser works. This stars Charles Laughton, who helped produce the film, and it co-stars Laughton’s protege, Maureen O’Hara in her first film role. This young gal wishes to live with her Aunt at Jamaica Inn which is right on the coast where many ships have run aground. She is caught in a storm and the kindly, rich man, played by Laughton, gives her shelter in his very large home. When she finally meets her Aunt at the Inn, she is, unwittingly, brought into a den of thieves who follow a pirate deliberately crashing the ships onto the rocks to steal their loot. As in all Hitchcock films, not everything is as it seems and this is a good movie to find out all that is going on. 

2. THE PRINCESS AND THE PIRATE-1944

This is. Funny Bob Hope comedy that co-stars Virginia Mayo as a princess who is kidnapped by a pirate. Bob Hope plays an actor who takes cowardice to a new level. When the pirates’ men take on a ship where Hope is on, he disguises himself as a Gypsy. He is one butt ugly Gypsy! It is very funny and the ending is pure gold.

3. THE PIRATE-1948

This is a technically, beautiful film with rich colours especially the reds and oranges. Vincente Minelli has his mark on the cult film. It did tank at the box office but it is now a cult film that stars Gene Kelly and Judy Garland as a circus performer (Kelly) who falls for the unhappily engaged lady(Garland). When he dins out she has the hots for the mysterious pirate, Macoco. Kelly knows who the real pirate is and blackmails him so that Kelly can play the pirate. Things do not go as planned and he is looking at the noose meant for him. He dances with the famous Nicholas Bros. In the “Be A Clown” scene which is a highlight. Sadly, this could easily be cut from the film so it could be seen in the Southern States since they are still very prejudicial and would not see this film because of the dance scene. 

O these re my pirate picks. What are your’s. Sorry for being late, I am writing this this morning and I keep dozing off. I have a bit of narcolepsy and ran out of my meds. My dr. Gave the wrong meds to my pharmacist so I have been out for 2 days now. I hope I don’t sleep at work but I probably will. It sucks!

Pirates Ahoy!

 

Why am I showing Kaspar this week, over at Monday Music Moves Me, which is all about the Pirate? Well, I was watching a documentary about WW2 ships and the sinking of them by German subs. When one ship was sunk by a torpedo, they not only saved many soldiers, but they saved their mascot, a tuxedo cat ( sorry, I forgot his name). The cat is considered a good luck charm( I thought it was the opposite), well, this cat went to another ship which was, also, torpedoed and sunk..but the pussy cat survived and lived a nice long life. So, hats off to that tuxedo cat and to my Kaspar. Here are my 3 picks for the good ole’ pirate songs..

1. THE DEVIL’S SON BY THE JOLLY ROGERS-1997

I was looking for Pirate songs and heard this song about Blackbeard and thought this sounds great. I hope you enjoyed it.

2. GRACE O’MALLEY BY ROWDY BUNCH-2026

I love this Celtic style song about the famous Irish, female pirate from the 1500’s  who defied convention  and became a famous pirate. How cool!

3. MACK THE BLACK SUNG BY JUDY GARLAND-1948

This is a song, by Cole Porter, for the innovative film, “The Pirate”  that starred Judy Garland and Gene Kelly. I always liked this song and Judy did a great job lusting after this mysterious pirate. 

Hope you enjoyed my choices for Pirate songs…

Bonus..

GEORGE HARRISON SINGS A PIRATE SONG-1976

This is from some British TV show where George surprised everyone including his musicians, by singing a pirate song. He caught everyone off guard and I love it!

Oh, of course, I forgot to let you know last week’s Oscar guess for 1938. So, yup, “Thanks for the Memory” won the Oscar, “Jeepers Creepers” was nominated and “In September” received nuttin! 

There is a Theme

 

September is Suicide Awareness Month so I thought my theme would be about this jocular  event that has touched ll our lives in one form or another. I decided to look at this in a more humorous vein and chose 3 films that strike a funny bone…

1. MEET JOHN DOE-1941

This Frank Capra film stars Barbara Stanwyck as a disgruntled former newspaper reporter who writes her last story, a fictional tale told as truth, about an ordinary man who decides to commit suicide on Christmas Eve as a protest against the ills of the world. Little did she or the men at the newspaper realize that this tale would create a storm amongst the readers. Now another Newspaper wants to show up the story as the fraud it is. Stanwyck and the guys look for the perfect bum to sell the story as true and in walks Gary Cooper. At first, he’s against this but soon convinces himself that he could be a force for good plus use the money he would make to get the operation he needs so he can play baseball again. When he wishes to tell the truth and holds a rally, the money men pull the plug so the average joes can’t hear him and believe the money men becoming a mob against Cooper. Of course, Stanwyck falls for this man and believes in the common man, even when they can turn against someone so quickly. I do like this movie but I  became disenchanted with the average joes who could turn so easily against their “hero”. I just didn’t buy into the common folk being nice people when they could turn on someone at a drop of a hat. Love the acting from everyone even though I am not a big Cooper fan and it is quite funny in parts even though it deals with suicide. It is worth checking out.

2. THE END-1978

This is one funny picture that stars Burt Reynolds who finds out he has only a few months to live. Upset by how his last days will be, he decides to take his life into his own hands by committing suicide. The only problem is he sucks at it. He wakes up in a mental asylum and is pissed off that he is still alive. He meets a real nutjob, played so, so perfectly, by Dom DeLuise and asks this crazy to kill him because he does not want to die the way the Doctor decried. Dom is all too happy to oblige even when they escape from the asylum, Dom keeps trying and Burt wants it but they keep fowling things up. This was very well written and quite funny. Burt was great in this role and this film deserved to win more than it did, which wasn’t much. I need to see this again.

3. A MAN CALLED OVE-2015

This is not the Tom Hanks film, which is good, but I prefer this Swedish film that stars Rolf Lassgard as the ornery goat who is not well liked in his neighbourhood which is fine because he doesn’t care for most of them. Little does anyone realize how much pain he is in from losing the love of his life, his beloved wife. He decides to end it all, but just when he is about to do the deed, a new neighbour knocks on the door and she, played by Bacar Pars, needs Ove’s help. Every time he tries to commit suicide, she needs him which wakes him up that his life is not over and he can let go his anger and sadness becoming part of the new family. I love this film because of the acting, writing, directing and that wonderful orange cat. Tom Hanks is excellent but I love this movie more.

bonus…

4. HARD LUCK-1921

I love Buster Keaton and this was supposed to be a lost film until parts were found, not sure where, and it was reconstructed but the pivotal last part was still missing until it was found in some Russian archive. Buster is down on his luck who loses his job and his girl and decides to end it all. After many, funny attempts, he joins some troop trying to catch a poor armadillo bolstering his confidence. He just is beginning to love life when he dives off a pool, missing it and hits the ground so hard a hole appears. It doesn’t end there and it is very funny. Remember, Buster Keaton did all his own stunts and it is very real since  there was no real trick photography and you find out how brilliant Keaton was because he had to be precise or, in my cases, he would have died. I hope you enjoy this famous short.

Which Song Won The Oscar-1938

 

I don’t think I have done 1938 yet, which will conclude the 1930s so, since it’s freebie week over at Monday Music Moves Me, I thought this will be the perfect time for you to figure out which song won the Oscar, which song was nominated and which came up with lint,,,,you know, empty pockets. Here we go…

1. SEPTEMBER IN THE RAIN SUNG BY JULIE LONDON

OK, this is  a great song written by Harry Warren and Al Durbin and was in the film, “Melody For Two”  originally sung by James Melton. I love Julie London( no kidding)  so I chose her version from her album, “Calendar Girls” which I would love to own. This is a famous song that has been done by numerous singers and musicians and I understand why.

2. JEEPERS CREEPERS SUNG BY LOUIS ARMSTRONG 

Who doesn’t love the great Satchmo, Louis Armstrong’s nickname, in case you don’t know. He introduced this song in the film, “Going Places”  which was written by Harold Arlen with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. We get, not only his unique voice but his great trumpet playing. I always loved this song which seems to go with the mood of the upcoming month of October.

3. THANKS FOR THE MEMORY SUNG BY BOB HOPE AND SHIRLEY ROSS

This song became Bob Hope’s signature song that followed him on his many, many excursions to the wars to entertain the troops from World War 2 to the Persian Gulf. I always heard it on his many TV specials and when he did the talk show circuit. It first appeared on the, “ Big Broadcast of 1938” and it was written by Ralph Rainger with lyrics by Leo Robin and it’s such a Sweet moment in this movie. 

So…can you guess which song won the Oscar, which was nominated and which came up with nuttin’?

It’s Cat Month!

 

I found out that September is National Cat Month, so this movie theme is all about the Pussy cat. There are a ton of cat movies and I already spoke about “Bell, Book and Candle” with James Stewart and Kim Novak( I think a couple of times)m so I am going with these pussy cat tails…

1. THE CAT FROM OUTER SPACE-1978

This is a silly Disney movie and I enjoyed watching way back when and would love to see it again. Basically, a spaceship crash lands on earth and out comes a cat. He has been separated from his mother ship and now must try to fix his ship so he can meet back up with his fellow felines. He hooks up with a scientist, Ken Barry, letting him know that his thoughts, while ridiculed by his fellow scientists, is right on track. Somehow, they get involved with gamblers and horse racing to make enough money to buy gold needed to fix the cat’s ship. You have Sandy Duncan, Harry Morgan, Roddy McDowell and McLean Stevenson in this silly movie, but the star is this cat who does steal every scene. Thank Goodness no AI is in this movie

2. THE ADVENTURES OF MILO AND OTIS-1986

I came across this movie one day while channel surfing and thought I’d give it a a chance since it’s all about the exploits of these 2 main characters-Milo is an orange tabby and Otis is a pug. Milo is always getting into trouble and Otis follows him to help Milo out. Milo ends up in a box on the edge of a river and what is a cat to do with a box? Yup, he jumps in it only for the box to dislodge and travel down the river. Otis, scared for his friend, follows him. Milo ends up out of the box and meets up with all sorts of animals on his journey home. He ends up in a pit where Otis finds him and helps Milo out of the pit. Together they find their way home. It is a sweet film with real animals, not animated, not A. I., just trained animals which is so cool. I really love this sweet fairy tale movie and would love to see it again.

3. HOCUS POKUS-1993

I finally saw this movie a couple of months ago and it is fun, especially love Bette Midler as her evil witch self along with her nasty sisters, Kathy Najimy and Sara Jessica Parker. They have been, unwittingly, unleashed onto present day earth. They mean trouble and the only ones to stop them are these teens and this black cat. The cat can talk because it is actually, a young man who was turned into a cat by these witches after they drained the life force of the love of his life way back in the 1500s. Now, these bad witches need the teens life force so they can remain young and not die by the time the sun rises. It's, also, a bit silly but I did enjoy the dance scene where these ugly witches put a spell on all the adults to have them dance and dance. I love the cat especially since he is a black cat. Black cats get a bad rap as I always found them very affectionate.

Which cat do you love in movies? 

Happy Cat Month

 

Yes, these are our 2 pussy cats, Kaspar( not Hitler) and Lexi, my sweet little girl who can be devilish on occasion. Kaspar is my hubby’s cat who just moos like a sick cow when he sees my hubby outside. As soon as hubby comes in, Kaspar meow cries running to him as if my hubby was gone for a month. He is a real suck and sweetly sleeps on hubby’s legs in pure contentment. Lexi, my sweetie, follows me everywhere and tells me when she wants to go upstairs. Why? She loves to drink the water from the tap. She is my suck who likes to redecorate my home by scratching off the wallpaper. She also loves to play fetch using the plastic round piece that comes off when you open an orange juice container. She meows and I look at her and see the orange round thingy by her feet. I throw it and she chases it, grabs it and brings it back to me! Yup, she fetches like a doggie and makes me laugh. It is national cat month and over at Monday Music Moves Me it’s all about the pussy…..cat. 

1. MADEMOISELLE KITT SUNG BY EARTHA KITT-1956

I can not help but think of Eartha Kitt who loved to act like a sly, sexy kitty kat. She purred and moved like a black cat should. Just watch the old Batman TV show because Earthy Eartha took over the role from the purrfect Julie Newmar as Catwoman and was great in this sexy role. I enjoyed this song that was written by Mesi Julian which Ms. Kitt makes it her own. I hope I have the right song...oh well...

2. PUSSY CAT SONG ( NYOW! NYOW! NYOW!) SUNG BY LOUIS PRIME AND KEELY SMITH-1956

This is another fun song from one of the Andrews sisters and Bob Crosby. I found this very fun and engaging. What more can I say?

3. ROSSINI’S CAT DUET SUNG BY KIRI TE KANAWA AND NORMA BELLOWS-1982

When I first heard this song on the classical station, I started to laugh. It is so funny and you can tell the singers had a lot of fun.

What cat songs can you think of? Do you have a cat? What unique things do they do?