Our September Guest Star: Karen Burroughs Hannsberry

Past chats with our guests.
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CineMaven
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Re: Our September Guest Star: Karen Burroughs Hannsberry

Post by CineMaven »

Hello Ms. Hannsberry. I'm CineMaven and I am a Noir Gal down to my DNA. Some of my fellow posters have mentioned some of my favorites (and you've responded) like Helen Walker and the beautifully fragile Gail Russell. I loved Hope Emerson in "Cry of the City."

I have three points of interest that I'm hopeful you would address, if your time permits:

1. I wonder if you would speak a little of two of my very fav'rite blondes, and two knock-out brunette(ish) gals: Gloria Grahame, Lizabeth Scott, Ella Raines and the best of lethal lady of 'em all (IMHO)...Jane Greer ; speak in terms of their private life or your thoughts on their place in the dark world of noir.

2. How long did your research take you, and did you have easy access to interviewing some of the stars who worked in Film Noir?

3. What's your favorite (a) film noir, (b) lethal lady, (c) leading man?

P.S. What actor and actress of today could you see being in a film noir?

Thanxx so much for visiting this Oasis. I'm enjoying the read very much! Yeah, I slipped in a fourth question. :D
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movieman1957
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Re: Our September Guest Star: Karen Burroughs Hannsberry

Post by movieman1957 »

Hello Karen. Thanks for taking the time to be with us. I appreciate it.

Is there a hidden gem in noir for you? A rare one you have seen and we probably have not that we should hunt down.
Chris

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Re: Our September Guest Star: Karen Burroughs Hannsberry

Post by Dewey1960 »

Hi Karen - Nice to have you here; I look forward to reading your books.
My question revolves around the actresses who appeared in poverty row noirs, most notably Ann Savage, Jean Gillie and Janis Carter. Do you have any opinions regarding the differences between these actresses (and the parts they played) and those who achieved a much higher level of fame. I'd also be interested in knowing how you feel about these poverty row noirs (Monogram, PRC, etc) in general.
Thanks!
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Re: Our September Guest Star: Karen Burroughs Hannsberry

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Dewey...that is a GREAT question! I'm lovin' Janis Carter.
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Re: Our September Guest Star: Karen Burroughs Hannsberry

Post by Dewey1960 »

Hey CM---the fetching JANIS CARTER lights up the ROXIE screen TONIGHT in the great 1947 Columbia B classic FRAMED. She shares one half of the double feature with Gloria Grahame in HUMAN DESIRE.
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Re: Our September Guest Star: Karen Burroughs Hannsberry

Post by mongoII »

Hi Karen and a hearty welcome to SSO. It's nice to have you with us.

I'm a big fan of film-noir and some of my favorites are "Double Indemnity", "The Blue Dahlia", "The Maltese Falcon", "Murder, My Sweet", "The Glass Key" etc.
In many of the film-noirs I'm facinated with the performances of the character actors especially Elsa Lanchester in "Mystery Street" and Esther Howard in "Born to Kill".
How would you rate those two films?

Thanks,

Joe aka Mongo
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Re: Our September Guest Star: Karen Burroughs Hannsberry

Post by Gypsy1962 »

CineMaven wrote:I have three points of interest that I'm hopeful you would address, if your time permits:

1. I wonder if you would speak a little of two of my very fav'rite blondes, and two knock-out brunette(ish) gals: Gloria Grahame, Lizabeth Scott, Ella Raines and the best of lethal lady of 'em all (IMHO)...Jane Greer ; speak in terms of their private life or your thoughts on their place in the dark world of noir.

2. How long did your research take you, and did you have easy access to interviewing some of the stars who worked in Film Noir?

3. What's your favorite (a) film noir, (b) lethal lady, (c) leading man?

P.S. What actor and actress of today could you see being in a film noir?
Hi, CineMaven!

I love the photo of Hedy that accompanies your posts!

You’ve given me a lot to think about. First off, the women you mentioned are among my favorites as well. Of the four, I really love Gloria Grahame. She’s one of those actresses that I would like to have known in real life – she was fascinating both off screen and on. Grahame appeared in at least seven films noirs – my top picks are In a Lonely Place, Sudden Fear, and The Big Heat – she was outstanding in all three. Off-screen, she seemed to have an obsession with her looks, undergoing several cosmetic surgeries to her mouth due to, according to producer John Houseman, “a passionate desire to be sexy.” She also caused a stir when, in 1960, she married her 20-year-old former stepson, the son of her second husband, director Nicholas Ray. Her real-life antics notwithstanding, I think that Grahame is one of the icons of the era.

I’m also fond of Lizabeth Scott, although I think she often gets a bad rap for her acting abilities (or, some would say, the lack thereof). Sure, she was no Sarah Bernhardt, but I think she was ideally cast in such noirs as The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, Pitfall, Dead Reckoning, and The Racket. In the mid-1950s, with her career already on the wane, Scott suffered a blow that nearly ended her screen career. The infamous scandal rag, Confidential, printed an article suggesting that Scott was leading a lesbian lifestyle, pointing out that she had “never married and never even gets close to the altar” and that she “was taking up almost exclusively with Hollywood’s weird society of baritone babes. As further proof, the article also cited Scott’s own admission that she “always wore male colognes, slept in men’s pajamas, and positively hated frilly feminine dresses.” Scott hired famed attorney Jerry Geisler and sued the publication for $2.5 million, but the case was later thrown out of court on a technicality, and although she’d charged that she had been portrayed in a “vicious, slanderous and indecent manner,” Scott declined to pursue the matter further.

Ella Raines only appeared in 22 films in her career, including four films noirs. She wasn’t the femme fatale in her appearances, but she made her mark in her best noir feature, Phantom Lady, where she played a loyal secretary of an engineer accused of murdering his wife. She played a somewhat similar role in Impact, standing by Brian Donlevy’s side and helping to prove his innocence in the murder of his wife’s lover. She was never reached the heights of true stardom, but she was certainly shown to good advantage in these two features.

Of course, Jane Greer played a femme fatale of the first order in one of noir’s most classic offerings, Out of the Past. I adore her performance as Kathy – she was so beautifully luminous, you could well understand why both Robert Mitchum and Kirk Douglas went to such lengths on her behalf. But behind that beauty was a fascinating sociopathy that shocked you every time it reared its head. By the way, Greer had three sons by her second husband, producer Edward Lasker. Her oldest son, Alex, is an Oscar-nominated writer; her son, writer/producer, Lawrence, has been nominated for two Oscars, and her youngest, Steven, is a Grammy-winning record producer.

As for the research on my books, both took several years – when I wrote the first, my oldest daughter (now almost 14!) was a baby, and when I did the second, both my girls were under the age of four. Needless to say, I wasn’t exactly able to devote great stretches of time on research. It helped that my brother lived in New York at the time I wrote Bad Boys, and he did a lot of research for me, and I also hired a young lady in L.A. to look up information for me there. They were both invaluable. Incidentally, I was able to visit the Library of the Academy of motion Picture Arts and Sciences while working on Femme Noir, and all these years later, it remains one of my favorite places in all the world. I hope to be able to visit there again some day and spend some real time – it is truly a treasure trove of cinematic history.

It’s hard to name my favorite lethal lady in film noir – there’s Jane Greer in OOTP, Yvonne DeCarlo in Criss Cross, Ava Gardner in The Killers, Claire Trevor in Murder, My Sweet, and Lana Turner in The Postman Always Rings Twice. I’ll have to take the easy way out on this one and name Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity. Her Phyllis Dietrichson was the epitome of the femme fatale for me – sexy, mercenary, shrewd, fearless, hard-hearted, intelligent, and resourceful. Even after countless viewings of Double Indemnity, she never fails to thrill. As for a leading man, again, there are many to choose from – Dan Duryea, Humphrey Bogart, Kirk Douglas (who was my favorite several years ago), Richard Widmark, Robert Ryan, Dick Powell. But my pick is an easy one – Richard Conte does it for me. His performance in The Big Combo alone would secure his place in my top spot, but he was also outstanding in New York Confidential, Cry of the City, House of Strangers, Thieves’ Highway, and The Brothers Rico. With his swarthily handsome visage, ultra-cool demeanor, and rapid-fire dialogue delivery, he’s always nothing short of captivating.

And let’s see . . . of today’s stars, there aren’t many that I could imagine transplanted into the world of noir, but I do believe I could see Johnny Depp in just about anything!
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Re: Our September Guest Star: Karen Burroughs Hannsberry

Post by CineMaven »

Thank you thank you thank you for responding to my questions, "Gypsy."

Did you ever get a chance to meet Lizabeth Scott? Or any of the others (the great Marie Windsor, Audrey Totter et al). Seeing as you were writing the book, would these stars have been amenable to being interviewed knowing that their star power would be featured again for newer audiences?

Gee...a real live author. Others here can tell you I have a tendency to gush. Again, I thank you for your response and as for Hedy Lamarr...aaaah, that's another story!!

Thank you. :D
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Re: Our September Guest Star: Karen Burroughs Hannsberry

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movieman1957 wrote:Is there a hidden gem in noir for you? A rare one you have seen and we probably have not that we should hunt down.
Hi, Movieman!

The film that first comes to mind is one that I’ve mentioned several times here already – New York Confidential. Released in 1955 and directed by Russell Rouse (who also co-wrote D.O.A. and Wicked Woman, and was married to Wicked Woman star Beverly Michaels), it stars Richard Conte, Broderick Crawford, a young Anne Bancroft, and Marilyn Maxwell. I was taken to task just today by a reader who complained about my habit of describing film plots in my books, so I don’t want to make the same mistake with this one. It’s hard for me to talk about a film at any length without giving it away, but I’ll give it a try. Conte stars as Nick Magellan (love that name), a Chicago hitman who is called in by New York crime boss Chalie Lupo (Crawford) to knock off a member of his organization who carried out an unauthorized killing. Anne Bancroft plays Lupo’s rebellious daughter, Kathy, who is ashamed of her father’s criminal exploits, and Maxwell is Lupo’s elegant girlfriend who also has eyes (and who wouldn’t?) for Nick Magellan. That’s all I’m going to say, except that this is one of my favorite films noirs – I could watch Richard Conte and Brod Crawford in just about anything, and Bancroft gives an outstanding performance as well. If you ever have the opportunity to get your hands on this one, grab it.
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Re: Our September Guest Star: Karen Burroughs Hannsberry

Post by movieman1957 »

So noted. Thanks so much.
Chris

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Re: Our September Guest Star: Karen Burroughs Hannsberry

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Dewey1960 wrote:My question revolves around the actresses who appeared in poverty row noirs, most notably Ann Savage, Jean Gillie and Janis Carter. Do you have any opinions regarding the differences between these actresses (and the parts they played) and those who achieved a much higher level of fame. I'd also be interested in knowing how you feel about these poverty row noirs (Monogram, PRC, etc) in general.
Thanks!
Hi, Dewey!

Talk about giving me food for thought! Here goes . . .

Of the three actresses you named, Janis Carter, of course, reached the highest level of fame, and she was the only one to have significant roles in films at studios like MGM, Columbia, and 20th Century Fox in her resume. She also appeared with some of the top stars of the day, including Glenn Ford, with whom she co-starred in Framed; John Wayne and Robert Ryan in The Flying Leathernecks; and Franchot Tone in I Love Trouble. Because of this, and because I’d seen her in several films before I started my film noir journey (unlike Gillie and Savage, of whom I’d never heard before I saw Decoy and Detour), I don’t know that I’d put Janis Carter in the same category.

In looking at all three actresses, let me begin by confessing that I have only seen Jean Gillie in Decoy and Ann Savage in Detour, so I can only speak of their performances in these films. As for Janis Carter, her film Night Editor seems most like these two, although, interestingly enough, while it has the look of a Poverty Row feature (and I originally thought it was), it was produced by Columbia. The characters in these films were all very different, but I found that they had in common two primary qualities: determination and intelligence. Ann Savage’s Vera in Detour was unrefined, ill-mannered, coarse and vulgar, with none of the surface niceties often seen in noir femmes. Carter’s character in Night Editor, Jill Merrill, was wealthy and sophisticated, far more likely to be seen throwing an elegant dinner party than on a dusty highway hitching a ride. And as Margot in Decoy, Jean Gillie was somewhere in the middle – despite her soft English accent, furs and jewels, and slinky dresses, she could get down and dirty with the best of them. But all three characters possessed a strong sense of purpose – whether it was, in the case of Jill Merrill, her obsession with a married cop, or the financial quests of Margot and Vera, these women had a never-say-die (unless absolutely necessary) attitude that didn’t allow any room for failure. They evidenced their determination through their intelligent actions – coming up with elaborate, well-thought-out schemes, as well as alternate plans at the drop of a hat. No matter the obstacles, they never wavered from the objects of their desire and they never gave up.

In comparing these actresses, and their roles, with women who achieved higher fame in film noir, I looked at three actresses who typify the era for me – Barbara Stanwyck (Double Indemnity, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, The File on Thelma Jordon), Claire Trevor (Murder, My Sweet, Born to Kill, Street of Chance), and Ida Lupino (Private Hell 36, Road House, Beware, My Lovely). The roles the actresses played in these films were all quite varied and nuanced – and in many cases, they represented a departure from the classic femme fatale. In Thelma Jordon, for instance, Stanwyck’s character was positively mercenary, undeniably a killer, and definitely guilty of using a man in her effort to further her cause – but she seemed to enter many of her deeds with reluctance, and was redeemed by love by the film’s end. And in Road House, Lupino’s Lily Stevens was a hard-as-nails, scotch-drinking singer who didn’t hesitate to deliver a sharp word or vigorous slap to any man, and she, ultimately, proved herself killer-capable, but it was due not to self-advancement but self-preservation.

As for the Poverty Row noirs, I’m a fan – they weren’t slick or glossy, like such noirs as Laura, Gilda, Sudden Fear, Dead Reckoning, and many others I could name. There was a grittiness about them – a sensation of reality and everyday-ness that is appealing to me. In fact, I can highly recommend a number of features made by these studios – in addition to Detour and Decoy, there’s City That Never Sleeps, Moonrise, The Pretender, When Strangers Marry, I Wouldn’t Be In Your Shoes, Suspense and Loan Shark. Each are worthy of their inclusion in the noir era and well-worth a look-see.
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Re: Our September Guest Star: Karen Burroughs Hannsberry

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mongoII wrote:I'm a big fan of film-noir and some of my favorites are "Double Indemnity", "The Blue Dahlia", "The Maltese Falcon", "Murder, My Sweet", "The Glass Key" etc. In many of the film-noirs I'm facinated with the performances of the character actors especially Elsa Lanchester in "Mystery Street" and Esther Howard in "Born to Kill". How would you rate those two films?
Hi, Mongo!

Like you, I share a great fondness for (need I say it yet again?) Double Indemnity, as well as The Maltese Falcon and Murder, My Sweet.

Of the two films you named, I’ve only seen Mystery Street once. I recall it as a time-worthy, but it wasn’t one of those that necessarily made me want to watch it again and again. Born to Kill, on the other hand, is one of my favorites – I’ve seen it countless times, and I simply cannot get enough. In addition to great dialogue and memorable storylines, what I love most about film noir is the characters – and Born to Kill offers a plethora of unforgettable ones. First off, there’s the psychopathic killer, Sam Wild, played by Lawrence Tierney, who never saw an opportunity for murder that he didn’t take, and the great Claire Trevor who, as Helen Trent, was inexplicably drawn to Sam, even though she knew he was a killer and more than slightly off-balance. But there was also Esther Howard, as you mentioned, who demonstrated both pathos and strength as Mrs. Kraft, who is determined to find her friend’s killer, and Isabel Jewell, who had a small but effective role as the ill-fated Laury who is attracted to Sam despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that he was the type who, “if you got out of line, he’d kick your teeth down your throat.” Also featured in standout roles were Walter Slezak as the crafty detective who could be bought for the right price; Audrey Long, who played Helen’s wealthy foster sister; Phillip Terry (Joan Crawford’s second husband), as Helen’s straitlaced fiancé who ultimately abandons her; and Elisha Cook, Jr., as Sam’s loyal best friend who advises him in the famous line that he “just can’t go around killing people whenever the notion strikes you. It’s not feasible!”
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Re: Our September Guest Star: Karen Burroughs Hannsberry

Post by moira finnie »

Thanks for coming back again tonight, Karen.

I was delighted to read that I'm not alone in my soft spot for Richard Conte, but was wondering if you could please write a bit about the many character actors who have enriched film noir, making every gunsel, crooked cop and rummy believable. I've always found that fine supporting actors such as Roy Roberts (always an untrustworthy authority figure), Leon Ames, (ditto, in spades), James Whitmore, Hope Emerson, Marc Lawrence, Lee Patrick, Esther Ralston, Jay Adler, and of course Elisha Cook, Jr. added enormously to the believability of these movies.

Have you any favorite film noir character actors?
Are there any movies you would recommend watching just for the character work of these too often unsung men and women?
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Re: Our September Guest Star: Karen Burroughs Hannsberry

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CineMaven wrote:Did you ever get a chance to meet Lizabeth Scott? Or any of the others (the great Marie Windsor, Audrey Totter et al). . . .Gee...a real live author. Others here can tell you I have a tendency to gush. Again, I thank you for your response and as for Hedy Lamarr...aaaah, that's another story!!
Cinemaven, I would love to know your story about Hedy Lamarr some day. And I greatly appreciate the gush, let me tell you!

Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to interview the stars you named, although I did write to them all. After Femme Noir was released, however, I did write to each of them to tell them about the book's publication and ask them to autograph a photo for me – they all responded, and Marie Windsor wrote an especially kind note. Also, a number of stars responded in writing to questions I asked, including Marie Windsor, Victor Mature, Jane Greer, Kirk Douglas, Rosemary DeCamp, Signe Hasso, Charles Korvin, and directors Robert Wise and Richard Fleischer, and I got a chance to do telephone interviews with Coleen Gray, Jeff Corey, Sally Forrest, and Farley Granger, and the children of George Macready, Sidney Sheldon, Gene Lockhart, Glenn Ford and, via email, Ed Begley. The whole experience was a big thrill for me, whether I was talking to someone on the phone or receiving a letter. Next to interviewing Jeff Corey and Coleen Gray, both whom were a sheer joy to talk to, my most exciting moment was coming in the door after work one day to a ringing telephone, picking it up, and hearing a voice say, “Hello, Karen? This is June Lockhart.” Talk about gushing . . .
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Re: Our September Guest Star: Karen Burroughs Hannsberry

Post by CineMaven »

Thank you again for your response Gypsy.

Tell me, us...what is your next project? What do you have in the works?

I just finished watching "Kiss of Death" and "Road House" (on the Fox Movie Channel). I wasn't quite taken by Ida Lupino in this as I was with Celeste Holm. I know she's not NOIR but do you have any thoughts on her?

And as for Richard Widmark (in both films)...has there ever been anyone before (maybe Peter Lorre) or since who was so hateful as to pin a human being down under his thumb as soon as pull the wings off a butterfly? And how has he turned his screen persona around to be seen as a hero?

June Lockhart, ey? :-)
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