Robert Taylor: Star of the Month

[moira finnie]

Forgot to post about Robert Taylor as SoTM earlier this week.

I actually liked Robert Taylor's looks when he was considerably older and had more character in his face as well as symmetry, but I couldn't resist adding this picture. Doesn't look real.

I apologize for this late message, but I just got home and noticed that one of Robert Taylor's first movies, A Wicked Woman (1934) with Charles Bickford, Mady Christians and Jean Parker, some of my faves from that decade is being broadcast starting at 6:30pm EDT. I wonder if this is the movie in which Taylor, who was being groomed for stardom gave an interview in which he very articulately outlined his character's motivation and place in the story. Once the article was published, Taylor allegedly was called on the carpet at MGM and told to dummy up--literally and figuratively. They didn't want their matinee idol getting a rep as an (horrors!!) intellectual.

Taylor appears to have dummied up for the next 25 years, becoming, I believe, one of the few MGM actors to collect his pension from the place.

All that aside, I like the guy after seeing him in Devil's Doorway, Party Girl, Waterloo Bridge, Johnny Eager, and especially High Wall in the last few years.

Here's a link to TCM's complete list of his upcoming movies this month:

http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article/?cid=294345

[JackFavell]

Thanks, Moira! I didn't understand the schedule at all tonight... very confusing.....I didn't understand that they were starting early.

I am enjoying finding good things about actors and actresses I was never fond of before, and the SOTM is an ideal time to try to open my mind. I have never liked Taylor, but found his performance in The Last Hunt during Stewart Granger month to be an eye opener. He was excellent in it. I am going to try to figure out what the deal is with him, and whether I can like him.

I can actually watch Glenn Ford now, thanks to the SOTM programming, and really like Kay Francis now, so it's not a lost cause.

[rudyfan]

If anyone is recording Magnificent Obsession (starting in 30) please contact me offboard. I'm not getting off work on time and I was already scheduled with Dragonwyck this morning.

[pvitari]

The 1935 John Stahl-directed version of Magnificent Obsession is available on DVD as an "extra" on the Criterion edition of the Sirk Magnificent Obsession.

http://www.criterion.com/films/973-magn ... -obsession

[Ann Harding]

Oh! I had not noticed that. I am glad TCM is actually paying tribute to Taylor. I think he is vastly underrated and he was himself far too modest about his achievements. After all, he made pictures with Wellman, Borzage, Minnelli, Ray, Mann, Cukor and Stahl. And these pictures have stood the test of time. he remains a favourite of mine.

[feaito]

The 1935 John Stahl-directed version of Magnificent Obsession is available on DVD as an "extra" on the Criterion edition of the Sirk Magnificent Obsession.

http://www.criterion.com/films/973-magn ... -obsession

I did not know that either!!! Thanks pvitari.

[moira finnie]

It's news to me, too. Thanks, Paula.

Did anyone catch Lucky Night (1939) with the sublime Myrna Loy in a romantic comedy with Taylor that was on earlier today? Myrna plays a rich girl using that old ploy of playing poor to get a guy who really loves her for her. Gee, I doubt if any sane guy would care if Myrna had money or not, but, long story short, who does she share a park bench with while pursuing this desire--but a guy who looks just like Robert Taylor, boy Adonis?! Happens all the time, doesn't it?

There are some really nice scenes while the pair get to know each other, but the story peters out badly by the last half hour. Charles Lane had some good scenes as Taylor's boss. Marjorie Main is a welcome sight in a straight role as a nice landlady. Ms. Main was very svelte in this movie too. Why did the MGM screenwriters keep showing Taylor as a drinking man? Fashion, or an attempt to make him look like a tough guy? It got tedious pretty quickly.

Also, did anyone else get thrown for a loop when the tourists (who include playboy Robert Taylor), land in Saigon in the movie, Lady of the Tropics (1939), and immediately start to wax poetic about the beauty of the inscrutable East, the Paris of the Orient, and all things inscrutable? My favorite scene: Hedy Lamarr (who is of French and Vietnamese background in this story), at Angkor Wat in an outfit that Adrian must have put his heart into. All of Hedy's costumes--which all seemed to be inspired by 19th century Zouave uniforms, were outstanding in this movie. Can't say the same about the acting, though the leads did a good job in the climax. Joseph Schildkraut made my flesh crawl, but then he was supposed to, wasn't he? Btw, Taylor got drunk more than once in this movie...again.

Lady of the Tropics was really an excuse to film Robert Taylor in the same frame as Hedy, don't you think? Btw, the print that TCM showed was a hundred times better than this:
[youtube][/youtube]

[ken123]

" They only make them " - Priest to Taylor in regard to whites having " half - caste " children . A film a head of its time. Hedy was out of this world.

[mrsl]

.
I guess my taste runs to a different drum because I haven't watched any of the films so far discussed starring Robert Taylor. However, I did DVR a few which I am slowly getting to see. I still have three of Walter Huston's left to watch, so it is slow going.

Flight Command:

Although a little too 'Hollywood' for me, I kind of liked this one for it's originality if nothing else. How one guy can turn a whole crew against another guy is hard to figure, especially with no real proof of any kind, other than a good imagination about a scene which a question could have solved easily enough. The two planes landing on that island was awkward to say the least. They could have worked on their 'special effects' a little more.

Escape:

This is one I never heard of and was glad to get to see this time around. I'm pretty sure that even in 1936 America knew some of what was going on in Europe, so Taylor's anger at everyone for being so evasive got a little hard to take. When one person evades you, okay, but when you get to the 4th or 5th, by then you should realize they are scared out of their wits. But once he found his mother, his attendance was well played, but they sure got over to Switzerland easily enough. I wonder what ever would have happened to that poor little school girl whose passport they borrowed. But, that's the movies

Remember:

I love Greer Garson and by now I'm getting used to Robert Taylor, but PULEEZE Good thing they didn't make any other movies together because there was no sense of chemistry at all.

The Gorgeous Hussy:

Now, as big a star as Taylor became, why did TCM choose to use this as one of 'his' features? He was only in it for a few minutes, and it was a showcase for Crawford more than anything else. Maybe I shouldn't say anything until the end of the month to see if they fill all 4 SOTM days with his bigger starring roles.

Everytime I go to the TCM site my computer goes nuts with strange "unknown scripts", so, I avoid going over to pull up the schedule, but I'm hoping they will play Westward the Women so more people will see it. You know I'm always spouting about it, and I would like people to see what I'm mouthing off about because I think it's so good. I'm also hoping they play Undercurrent again because no matter what the critics said, I think it is a very good movie, and of course Robert Mitchums' in it.

So, comments anyone? I would appreciate hearing from others who have seen these.
.

[movieman1957]

Westward The Women - April 21 at Noon EDT.

[klondike]

Westward The Women - April 21 at Noon EDT.

Mark your calendars for this one, troops; it's a copper-jacketed keeper, and damned hard to find a copy of, let me tell you; I still shudder to recall what I paid for a better-than-average bootleg disc on eBay three years ago!
But at least make space in your schedule to sit down & look at it, as it is one truly unusual, and good, Western drama, with a terrific performance by the ever-delightful Hope Emerson, and a meatier-than-typical supporting role from my clansman, John McIntire.

[knitwit45]

I'll be recording Westward the Women! it is definitely a keeper. The ladies in all their "finery" at the end is worth the whole movie.

[Ann Harding]

Absolutely agree, Westward the Women is a very good western. For those interested, the film is actually available on DVD in France: click here.

[JackFavell]

I have been waiting for at least a year and a half to see Westward the Women, since TCM showed the short documentary about it made by the studio. I believe they showed that in between some of the John Ford films - it was fascinating and made me want to see the movie. I have been requesting it and requesting it, and I mention it on the boards every chance I get. I'm terribly happy they are finally showing it.

[knitwit45]

Wendy, even tho R Taylor is not one of my favorites (just can't forgive him for dumping Barbara) this is one of his better roles. He does cranky/angry very well, and all the women are terrific in their roles. You will definitely enjoy this one, and please let us know your thoughts on it.