The Silver Screen Oasis

Sorry, Knitty.

Although I certainly wasn't a Rat Packer, I was in the original movie that much later seemed to become a franchise. You would probably never see me in Margaritaville, but you would see me in Alphaville. And those two movies for which I received Academy Award nominations? The leading man in both was a fella by the name of Cooper (and I don't mean Jackie). Hey! And one of those was directed by the same guy who directed that Rat Pack movie. My characters sure got around, didn't they -- Vegas, Alphaville, Peru, Spain, Turkey and on and on. One even owned a hotel in North Africa and another died in a hotel on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Akim Tamiroff

Thank you. The long national nightmare is now officially over.

when you have a guest who is hard to identify...just makes it more fun!!!! way to go, O and M!!!!

Gee, ChiO, I almost said Maria Ouspenskaya, except that I didn't think she appeared in too many movies (edited with a meat axe or not) decades after her death in the 1940s. She may have looked tired in some movies, but not dead exactly.

Born in Ireland, I appeared in only a handful of films near the end of my long stage career.

When young I brought a famous character to life on stage to wide acclaim. Decades later this character became a central figure in a Disney film.

My motion picture career allowed me to work with two famed directors, both at the top of their profession when I was cast in their films.

I appeared with one young actress three times, and in one of the films I played her close relative with a jittery manner. Both the young actress and I were Oscar nominated for this film. In the other movie I played the dreamy parent of the same girl.

Who am I?

Una O'Connor?

No, but good guess, Nancy.

I played in the supporting cast of a movie made during the Second World War that was later regarded as highly controversial during the McCarthy era. One of the star's mother testified before Congress about it.

Patricia Colinge?

I have in high regard her supporting roles in "The Little Foxes" and "Shadow of a Doubt". She was an exquisite actress. Delicacy and femininity=Patricia Collinge.

Patricia Colinge?

I have in high regard her supporting roles in "The Little Foxes" and "Shadow of a Doubt". She was an exquisite actress. Delicacy and femininity=Patricia Collinge.

Give the man a cigar!!!

Here is the highly skilled Patricia Collinge in a role that she first created on stage in 1916 when she was twenty-four--Pollyanna!



The actress appeared in dozens of classic plays, but also played the role of the gentle girl Kitty Fahnestock, who loved two soldiers in WWI in The Dark Angel when it was on Broadway. Vilma Banky played this part in the '25 silent version with Ronald Colman and in the '35 version Kitty was beautifully played by Merle Oberon opposite Fredric March and Herbert Marshall.

I saw Patricia yesterday in The Nun's Story (1956) when she appeared as one of the sisters training Audrey Hepburn in their religious order's rules. Her voice was instantly recognizable, even if she was hidden within the wimple of her habit.

A later, more familiar image of Miss Collinge in the '40s.


The young actress she worked with three times was Teresa Wright in The Little Foxes, Shadow of a Doubt, and Casanova Brown.

The wartime movie that became controversial during the McCarthy years was Tender Comrade (1943-Edward Dmytryk). Leila Rogers (Ginger Rogers' rabid mother) claimed that she had communistic dialogue removed from the script, which centered around a communal household of women in wartime. I guess if you are nuts enough, even having a roommate is suspicious.

If you ever have a chance to see Pier Angeli's debut film, Teresa (1951-Fred Zinnemann), check out Patricia Collinge's mother-in-law character. She was 180 degrees away from the gentle Birdie in The Little Foxes. Sorry to natter on about Collinge, but she was only in 7 movies, and I thought she was brilliant.

Your turn, Mr. Silva!!

Thanks Moira...

I have to think one.....

Our mustery guest came to Hollywood with the advent of talkies and was initially cast as a clean-cut, debonair young man, in musicals, comedies and dramas opposite some of the biggest stars of that Era. Later in his career he starred in some very highly regarded psychological-Noirs....he was the father of the star of a well-known sitcom that was very popular throughout the 1960s. Who Am I?

Did he ride a pink horse with a bewitched lady in the lake? Robert Montgomery.

Yes Owen way to go!!! Congrats, your turn now.

Maybe I'll try Akim Tamiroff again.

I was born in France and came to the United States at the end of WWI. I soon found my way to a Hollywood studio and starred in several movies, both silents and talkies. I was so popular that some say I saved the studio from bankruptcy. One popular story -- whether true, I would never tell -- is that I died in the arms of Jean Harlow. But before I died, I started a large family, and several of my descendents became popular actors in movies and on radio and TV, often portraying the same character that made me such a hit.

Who am I?