I chose this theme, which was nice of Wandering Through The Shelves to use as a theme, because you wonder how these actors can love each other on the screen but despise each other in real life. Some actors, like Joan Crawford, had few people who liked her...with good reason. Let’s just say I would never have wanted to know Ms. Crawford but that doesn’t mean she was evil since she always paid for a hospital bed in Texas( I believe) for people who could not afford it. No one knew about this until after she passed away. Olivia De Havilland and her sister Joan Fontaine really hated each other and didn’t talk to each other for over 40 years with Fontaine dying without any forgiveness on either part. We are well aware of Joan Crawford and Bette Davis’s famous feud since the Mini series was made about this recently but there are many other famous feuds between actors and when it comes down to it, it’s all about ego., for the most part. So, without further adieu, here are my 3...
1. GOLDEN EARRINGS-1947
This film stars Ray Milland and Marlene Dietrich as 2 people who find each other and fall in love. It’s a spy story where Milland is trying to retrieve information about poisonous gas but is found out by the dreaded Nazis. Enter a gypsy woman, yup, play by Dietrich, who hides him and sneaks him out but not before falling in love. Off camera, Milland was not enamoured by the fact that he would fall for an old broad like Dietrich even though he was only 6 years younger. Dietrich, heard about his way of thinking so in a scene with fish, she looked at him sucked out the eyeballs from some fish and then stuck her finger down her throat and threw them back up. Milland did a heave ho himself upon seeing her do this leaving Dietrich quite happy. She made it difficult for Milland throughout filming especially the kissing scenes. The film is not bad, not great but an ok flick, but I always laugh when I see Dietrich made up to look like a Gypsy.
2. JOHNNY GUITAR-1954
This is one crazy ass movie where the men seem to be in the womens’ roles and the female are the men. It’s quite a wild western with Joan Crawford owning a saloon who runs a tight ship and loves more than one man including Johnny Guitar played by wooden Sterling Hayden. Her rival and filled with jealousy is Mercedes McCambridge who wishes this chick would just upchuck and die. The antics off camera have become quite infamous with sides being taken between Crawford and McCambridge. Actually, after one scene Mercedes did created a round of applause by all the crew, Crawford became very jealous and would do her best to unnerve the Gal. Crawford was famous for knitting everywhere she went, so she would click her needles louder to disrupt the actress and, it seems, got her blackballed. According to McCambridge, she could not find work for quite a while and believes it was due to Crawford’s strength behind the camera and knowing all the big wigs.
3. HOLLYWOOD OR BUST-1956
This is the last movie starring the comedic team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. It’s a fun little comedy with Martin as a gambler who tries to swindle the naive Lewis out of the car he just won. Lewis won’t think of letting go of his car because he wants to go to Hollywood, with his Great Dane dog, to meet Anita Ekberg. The 3 of them( remember there is the dog) hit the road with Martin meeting a nice lass and realizing he likes this goofy guy. It's a nice comedy and typical formula for this duo but, by this time, this duo couldn't stand each other and never spoke to each other when not filming. They were close st one point but, by this point, they couldn't stand each other. One part was how Lewis was taking more and more control over their films plus getting more attention from their fans and the powers that be. When Frank Sinatra tried to get them to bury the hatchet when he brought Dean Martin onto Jerry Lewis’s telethon, the iciness was still apparent. Only when Dean Martin lost his son did Lewis call and they made, somewhat, amends. Lewis said he never watched this movie because it was just too painful.
Which actors can you think of that fit this bill?
Hi, Birgit!
ReplyDeleteHow are you today, dear friend? How's my skunk-eating buddy Harley? I hope you are both well and in good spirits.
I wasn't aware that the rivalry between actress sisters Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland was a bitter one, resulting in a lifelong feud that Joan carried to the grave. It's interesting that both sibs enjoyed long lives, with Joan living to age 96 and Olivia to 104.
Regarding Marlene Dietrich & Ray Milland, you wrote: "in a scene with fish, she looked at him sucked out the eyeballs from some fish and then stuck her finger down her throat and threw them back up."
Say what now???
Shucks, in my neck of the woods, when a gal does those things... she's pitchin' woo.
The trailer for Johnny Guitar made me chuckle. The narrator's script is loaded with trite phrases like "the story of a woman who lived and loved too hard," and the sound bites of dialogue also make one's eyes roll. It practically begs to be turned into a parody sketch by the regulars on The Carol Burnett Show. Whenever I encounter the name Mercedes McCambridge, I am reminded that the actress provided the voice of the demon that possessed Linda Blair in The Exorcist. (I wonder what possessed Linda to do Roller Boogie, a 1979 disco flick that got a rare 0% on Rotten Tomatoes.)
I was aware that Martin and Lewis couldn't stand each other, but the tidbits about their last collaborative feature, Hollywood Or Bust, are new to me. I remember Dean losing his son, but didn't know that Jerry reached out at the time, a gesture that temporarily broke the ice between the two. Dean Paul Martin figured into my boomer youth as a member of Dino, Desi & Billy, the teen pop trio that included Desi Arnaz Jr. and Billy Hinsche. "Dino" was only 13 when he joined the group.
The only example I can think of is one that everyone knows, the off-screen chill between Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, stars of Dirty Dancing. On the small screen, Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis in their hit 1980s series Moonlighting.
Enjoy the rest of your week and have a wonderful weekend, dear friend BB!
Yes, Marlene put me off fish eyes for a long time:). I am glad she grossed him out so he had to upchuck. From what i heard he was a real jerk.
DeleteYes that is over the top trailer but the film is rather over the top. Joan had a hard time with Sterling as well but Sterling was known to be difficult. Joan slept her way to the top and used her powers to hurt another actor if she felt threatened. I could have chosen a few movies of Joan's but i went with this one because poor Mercedes had a hard time getting work. Do you know she had to sure the producers, etc. of the Exorcist for money owed to her because they never gave her any credit. Now, they do but not back when it came out.
Martin and Lewis hit it off at the beginning but as Lewis got bigger in recognition for his comedic talent (many must be French:)) his head got bigger to the point it couldn't fit through the door. He had a huge ego and Dean ...that was not his style. He did want to be recognized for helping Lewis become that big.
Yes, Swayze had a hard time with Grey because she whined....a lot! She complained about the hours of work she had to put in for the dancing and the cold water when they practised in it. Swayze was old school and was a great dancing talent who knew how to work hard. Grey was on my Dancing With The Stars and she won the Mirrorball Trophy but oh boy did she whine and complain. her teacher/dance partner, Derek Hough, had the patience of a saint.
Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel - after the last Fast and Furious film with both of them in it, Johnson said he absolutely could not work with Diesel again. (Thus the spin-off movie, Hobbs and Shaw.)
ReplyDeleteI heard about this and I think Vin felt threatened because Dwayne is a bigger and better star.
DeleteI was looking forward to your post the most this week since you picked the theme! I haven't seen any of these, but I enjoy the drama of reading about people not getting along. lol
ReplyDeleteI am waiting to see something about the sisters Fontaine and DeHavilland. They are infamous for not liking one another yet they were sisters. DeHavilland smarted when Fontaine won the Oscar first but Fontaine was no saint either. I read her book, "No Bed of Roses" and it was insufferable.
DeleteHi Birgit - I haven't seen any of these ... and I'm sure there are other actors who despised each other after a while ... I remember one actress who went out for lunch ate garlic and came back to torment her tormentor actor - she was cross with him (polite way of putting it) ... cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteYes and now, I will rack my brain about who this was. I know Vivien Leigh was put off by Clark Gable's bad breath and she disliked Marlon Brando brutish manner on the set which he played up for her. Vivien was highly cultured.
DeleteLove you picks!!
ReplyDeleteGolden Earrings is a bit of a scrambled mess but I always enjoy Marlene, and Ray too to a lesser extant.
Johnny Guitar strange bird that it is is much better. The offstage enmity between Joan and Mercedes is legendary with McCambridge cutting off anyone who asked about it with the simple quote that Joan was a "rotten egg" lady.
Martin & Lewis films are usually fun...once. That goes for this one but Dean was much better on his own. Jerry could be funny but the buffoon act wears after a while.
So many films where the actors didn't throw kisses at each other between takes!! Hard to choose but these are the first three that come to mind.
1942's I Married a Witch, an absolutely delightful piece of whimsy which served as one of the inspirations for the TV series "Bewitched". Veronica Lake and Fredric March seem completely smitten with each other which is a testament to both their acting prowess since they D-E-T-E-S-T-E-D each other behind the scenes. Veronica had just hit it big the year before and she overheard March refer to her as a jumped-up starlet, plus he put the moves on her and she shot him down. At one point Freddie had to sweep her up in his arms and Veronica, a tiny thing weighing about 100 pounds sewed 40 lbs. of weights into the hem of her dress nearly giving him a hernia! When he commented on how heavy she seemed she said she had big bones. He found out of course and it was complete warfare afterwards.
The next is 1983’s Terms of Endearment which won Shirley MacLaine her Oscar at last. A real heart tugger Shirl and Debra Winger as her daughter infamously fought both on screen and off during the making of it. Both have commented that it was a tough shot emotionally which fed into their conflict plus they had different processes which didn’t always mesh. However, when both were nominated for Best Actress and Shirley won both were very gracious to each other, Shirley commenting on Debra’s stormy brilliance and Debra responding with happy tears. Both have said they’d never work together again but they respect each other.
The last is 1994’s I Love Trouble, a real dog of a picture costarring Julia Roberts and Nick Nolte. The production was notoriously contentious between Roberts and Nolte and their utter abhorrence is something that seeps out of every frame of the movie. In some scenes you can feel their hatred for each other.
Joel, you just reminded me of another example - Gere and Winger - the leads of An Officer and a Gentleman.
DeleteYes, Earrings is a mess but I love watching Dietrich as a Gypsy:). Mercedes always said she couldn't find work after that movie and knew it was Joan who got her blackballed. I can see that. I find watching Martin & Lewis films good, once only or it's been decades since watching the pair but not because of Dead...it's Lewis whom I just always want to smack. I find his comedy grating.
DeleteFrederic March was a pig. I wonder why Florence Eldredge stayed married to him. He tried to get into the pants with every actress. I loved what Carole Lombard did. She strapped a dildo under her outfit so when he tried and found the dildo, she smiled at him and he ran away and never tried again. I heard Veronica could also be beastly because her ego grew too big but I laughed with what she did to him.
The MacLaine/Winger hatred is infamous. I remember MacLaine being asked about Winger on the red carpet and she just flat out called her a brat and a nasty person.
I have never seen that pic with Roberts and Nolte but I don't understand why they would be paired in the first place. I think, at that time, Roberts was a bit of a snoot and Nolte was known to be difficult and brutish so oil and water is the true name of this movie.
You are right about Gere and Winger, Shady. Again Winger thought she was THE best. Hard to work with someone like that.
From what I've read it wasn't so much Veronica's ego that got in the way as the fact that she had an untreated bipolar disorder.
DeleteAt the time it was still call paranoid schizophrenia, she had been diagnosed with it as a teenager but those being the days when such things were regarded with extreme shame Veronica's mother chose to withhold treatment nor did she share the fact that she had the condition with her. The result being she could be wildly mercurial, which would explain her difficult disposition, and as was common at the time self medicate with booze which not only ruined her career but ultimately killed her. A very sad case but she remains luminous on screen.
BIRGIT ~
ReplyDeleteHaving co-written the cheap, self-produced 'Calamity Cat & Black Cole Kid's Uncomplicated Guide To Western Movies For The Simple-Minded Cowperson', I consider myself something of an expert on this genre.
I gave 'JOHNNY GUITAR' a grade of C and, in part, my Guide says this about it:
"Lots of neat, snappy dialogue, too bad it's ALL cliche."
And you stole my thunder with 'HOLLYWOOD OR BUST'. That's the first movie that entered my mind, because it's also my #1 all-time favorite "guilty pleasure" & escapist movie. I watch it any time the ways of "this world" become too much for me (i.e., I watch it more and more with each passing year!!)
~ D-FensDogG
STMcC Presents BATTLE OF THE BANDS
I like Johnny Guitar but it is just batshit crazy. Interesting how much you love Hollywood or Bust as I was ok with it but I love the dog the most. I think I prefer the Martin & Lewis movie, "Scared Stiff." the best.
DeleteOh, yeah, Mr. Bascom was the Trigger of Hollywood canines! ("Smartest Dog In The Movies!")
DeleteEssentially, Mel Brooks "borrowed" his ending for 'Blazing Saddles' from the ending of 'Hollywood Or Bust'. To me, HOB is really funny, outlandish escapism (and I always love clever ways of 'breaking the fourth wall'). Plus, I actually studied acting for a time at The Redhead's acting academy in Hollyweird.
("Say goodbye to the Redhead".
"Goodbye, Redhead".)
Yeah, 'Scared Stiff' was a goot juan, but my second favorite Martin & Lewis movie would be 'Sailor Beware', with James Dean having a cameo role in one of the movie's two funniest scenes.
~ D-FensDogG
'Loyal American Underground'
All of these films are new to me Birgit, but I did know that Joan Crawford wasn't well liked, Kate x
ReplyDeleteI have not seen a one of the movies you picked--at least not to my memory. And that is part of my problem with this theme. For the most part I don't keep up with lives of actors and disputes on sets and I know I've heard stories about this sort of relationship thing, but those tales don't stick with my memory banks. I'm trying to think, but can't remember any instances where actors worked together and didn't get along. I'll bet it happens quite often.
ReplyDeleteArlee Bird
Tossing It Out
I have seen Hollywood or Bust, and heard the backstory at the time (it was one of those movie shows where a host talked about the movie at the commercial breaks). Sad. It's a cute movie, but the formula was wearing thin by then.
ReplyDeleteI've not seen any of these, but I have known about Crawford for years. Then I saw the Bette Davis/Crawford film and loved it. Crawford was a mean, cruel woman who didn't seem to like anyone. In a way, I feel sorry for her. Great synopses, all this week.
ReplyDeleteWe match on *Johnny Guitar*! I read that Crawford and Sterling Hayden also had a difficult time working together.
ReplyDelete