Film Noir Photos

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Happy Birthday, Claire Trevor (1910-2000),

A remarkable actress, Claire Trevor was famous for playing molls, floozies and broads, and was cast as the owner of a rowdy saloon in many a western. She made her debut in 1933, and became a glamorous leading lady, opposite the likes of John Wayne, Clark Gable, Glenn Ford or William Holden. Brilliant in Stagecoach (1939), the film that catapulted her to success, she won an Academy Award for Key Largo (1948).

Claire Trevor in 1932

Jimmy and Sally (1933)

in Navy Wife (1935) with Ralph Bellamy

Song and Dance Man (1936)

Dead End (1937)

The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938)

The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938)
with Edward G. Robinson and Humphrey Bogart

The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938) with Edward G. Robinson

Stagecoach (1939)

Director John Ford tapped her for his first big sound western, Stagecoach (1939), the film that made a star of John Wayne. All her abilities to bring complexity to a character showed in her kicked-around dance hall girl "Dallas", one of the great early female roles. She and Wayne were electric, and they were paired in three more films during their careers.

Stagecoach (1939) with John Wayne

Donald Meek, John Wayne, Andy Devine, Claire Trevor, George Bancroft, Louise Platt,
Tim Holt, John Carradine, Berton Churchill, and Thomas Mitchell in
Stagecoach (1939)

Stagecoach (1939) with John Wayne

I Stole a Million (1939)

with George Raft in I Stole a Million (1939)

Allegheny Uprising (1939)

Allegheny Uprising (1939) with John Wayne and Chill Wills

Dark Command (1940)

Clark Gable, Lana Turner and Claire Trevor in Honky Tonk (1941)

Clark Gable, Albert Dekker and Claire Trevor in Honky Tonk (1941)

The Adventures of Martin Eden (1942) with Glenn Ford

Street of Chance (1942)

The Desperadoes (1943) with Randolph Scott

The Desperadoes (1943)

The Woman of the Town (1943)

Murder, My Sweet (1944)

with Dick Powell in Murder, My Sweet (1944)

Claire really came into her own in the genre that would later come to be known as film-noir. Her film-noir resume includes Street of Chance (1942), Murder, My Sweet (1944), Johnny Angel (1945), Crack-Up (1946), Born to Kill (1947), Raw Deal (1948), Key Largo (1948) and Hoodlum Empire (1952). She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of washed-up, boozy nightclub singer Gaye Dawn in Key Largo (1948). The film hangs on her wrenching performance during a pathetic rendition of the torch song "Moanin' Low", sung in humiliation to gain a desperately wanted drink.

Johnny Angel (1945)

Johnny Angel (1945) with George Raft

Crack-Up (1946)

Born to Kill (1947)

Born to Kill (1947) with Lawrence Tierney

Raw Deal (1948)

with Dennis O'Keefe and Marsha Hunt in Raw Deal (1948)

Key Largo (1948)

with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in Key Largo (1948)

with Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson
and Lauren Bacall on the set of Key Largo (1948)

Borderline (1950)

Jose Torvay and Claire Trevor in Borderline (1950)

The High and the Mighty (1954)

John Wayne, John Qualen, Paul Kelly, Claire Trevor
and Jan Sterling in The High and the Mighty (1954)

John Wayne, Paul Kelly, Claire Trevor
and Jan Sterling in The High and the Mighty (1954)

Marjorie Morningstar (1958)

with Natalie Wood and Everett Sloane in Marjorie Morningstar (1958)

Kirk Douglas, Edward G. Robinson and Claire Trevor

Two Weeks in Another Town (1962)

How to Murder Your Wife (1965)

Trevor and her third husband, producer Milton H. Bren, had long been residents of tony Newport Beach, CA, to which they returned in 1987 when Trevor finally retired from screen work. However, she did maintain an active interest in stage work, and became associated with The School of Arts at the University of California, Irvine. She and her husband contributed some $10 million to further its development for the visual and performing arts, including three endowed professorships. After her passing in April 2000 at age 91, the University renamed the school The Claire Trevor School of the Arts. Her Oscar for Key Largo (1948) stands in an exterior glass window on view in the school's Arts Plaza complex.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Happy Birthday, John Garfield (1913-1952)

Born on Lower East Side of New York City to David and Hannah Garfinkle, Jacob Julius Garfinkle was sent to a special school for problem children after his mother's death in 1920, when he was 7, where he was introduced to boxing and drama. He won a scholarship to Maria Ouspenskaya's drama school and, in 1932, joined the Civic Repertory Theatre, changing his name to Jules Garfield and making his Broadway debut in that company's Counsellor-at-Law.

Later, he became a member of the Group Theater. The Group's play Golden Boy (1937) was written for him by Clifford Odets, but ultimately he was cast in a supporting role rather than the lead. Miffed at this rejection, Garfield decided to leave Broadway and try his luck in Hollywood. In 1938, he received wide critical acclaim and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Four Daughters (1938).

They Made Me a Criminal (1939)

Castle on the Hudson (1940)

Castle on the Hudson (1940) with Ann Sheridan

Castle on the Hudson (1940) with Burgess Meredith and Pat O'brien

Flowing Gold (1940)

Flowing Gold (1940) with Pat O'brien and Frances Farmer

East of the River (1940)

East of the River (1940) with Brenda Marshall

Out of the Fog (1941)

At the onset of World War II, Garfield immediately attempted to enlist in the armed forces, but was turned down because of a heart condition. Frustrated, he turned his energies to supporting the war effort. He and actress Bette Davis were the driving forces behind the opening of the Hollywood Canteen, a club offering food and entertainment for American servicemen. He later traveled to Yugoslavia to help entertain for the war effort.

Tortilla Flat (1942)

with Hedy Lamarr in Tortilla Flat (1942)

Air Force (1943)

The Fallen Sparrow (1943)

with Eleanor Parker in Pride of the Marines (1945)

The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)

Lana Turner watches as John Garfield murders Cecil Kellaway in
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)

with Lana Turner in The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)

Humoresque (1946)

Humoresque (1946) with Joan Crawford

Garfield graduated to leading roles in films such as The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)Lana Turner, Humoresque (1946) with Joan Crawford, and the Oscar-winning Best Picture Gentleman's Agreement (1947). In 1948 he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his starring role in Body and Soul (1947).

Body and Soul (1947)

in Body and Soul (1947) with Anne Revere

Body and Soul (1947)

Gentleman's Agreement (1947)

with Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire and Celeste Holm in
Gentleman's Agreement (1947)

with Gregory Peck, Celeste Holm and Robert Karnes in
Gentleman's Agreement (1947)

Gentleman's Agreement (1947)

Force of Evil (1948)

Force of Evil (1948) with Marie Windsor

Force of Evil (1948) with Beatrice Pearson

Force of Evil (1948) with Thomas Gomez and Beatrice Pearson

Force of Evil (1948)

Under My Skin (1950)

The Breaking Point (1950)

He Ran All the Way (1951)

Long involved in liberal politics, Garfield was caught up in the Communist scare of the late 1940s and early 1950s, and supported the Committee for the First Amendment, which opposed governmental investigation of political beliefs. When called to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, Garfield refused to name communist party members or followers, testifying that, indeed, he knew none in the film industry. However, his forced testimony before the committee had severely damaged his reputation. He was blacklisted and barred from future employment as an actor by Hollywood movie studio bosses for the remainder of his career. Long-term heart problems, allegedly aggravated by the stress of his blacklisting, led to his early death at the age of 39 on May 21, 1952.

His funeral was mobbed by thousands of fans. It was the largest funeral attendance for an actor since Rudolph Valentino.