The Silver Screen Oasis

What a lovely post! Glenda Farrell has always been a favorite of mine. Whenever I see her, the song "The Sadder but Wiser Girl" from The Music Man always sounds in my head... Thanks for sharing all the great info on her. And by the way, welcome to the SSO!!!

No board rules bent or broken with your fine essay on Glenda Farrell's life and career, hb. It is great to see you able to post and your reminder of Glenda Farrell's contributions to film is very welcome. Do you have a favorite role played by Farrell other than the Torchy Blane series?

I particularly enjoyed this actress' salty byplay with the delicious Ruth Donnelly in Heat Lightning (1934), in which Glenda played "Feathers" Tifton and Donnelly was "Tinkle" Ashton-Ashley, two dames just returning from their latest divorce proceedings in Reno. A put-upon Frank McHugh, who seems to resent having his boyish virtue threatened by the lubricious and rather randy pair, played the ladies' chauffeur.

In 1957 a condensed television remake of Thelma Ritter's The Model and the Marriage Broker (1951) was retitled "The Marriage Broker" for the The 20th Century Fox Hour starring Glenda Farrell in the lead role. While I never thought anyone could touch the work of the sublime Ritter, Glenda's sadder, somewhat more cynical and interestingly ethnic interpretation of the matchmaker remains one of the most enduring memories I have of Farrell. A few years ago this show was re-broadcast on the Fox Movie Channel, though as far as I know there do not appear to be plans to release this on DVD in the future--which is a shame! (Maybe the Fox Archive MODs will include obscure stuff like this?)

knitwit45 wrote:Whenever I see her, the song "The Sadder but Wiser Girl" from The Music Man always sounds in my head...

Knitty, that song is a perfect choice for Glenda!

Do you have a favorite role played by Farrell other than the Torchy Blane series?

Other than Torchy Blane, which is my very favorite, my second-favorite is Florence Dempsey in Mystery of the Wax Museum. It was in Mystery of the Wax Museum that I first saw Glenda Farrell, and it was her performance in it that first impressed me and caused me to seek out more of her movies.

In 1957 a condensed television remake of Thelma Ritter's The Model and the Marriage Broker (1951) was retitled "The Marriage Broker" for the The 20th Century Fox Hour starring Glenda Farrell in the lead role. While I never thought anyone could touch the work of the sublime Ritter, Glenda's sadder, somewhat more cynical and interestingly ethnic interpretation of the matchmaker remains one of the most enduring memories I have of Farrell. A few years ago this show was re-broadcast on the Fox Movie Channel, though as far as I know there do not appear to be plans to release this on DVD in the future--which is a shame! (Maybe the Fox Archive MODs will include obscure stuff like this?)

Sadly, I haven't been able to find that one. A lot of her 1950s television appearances are so rare that they don't appear to be available anywhere.

What a saucy, sexy, and somewhat dangerous lady! I haven't seen much of this actress. Most of her films are so old and so obscure I've missed them. But she's deliciously manipulative in "Chain Gang." Fine in LITTLE CAESAR. Provides effective support in "Mary Stevens." This is a performer who made such an impression on me I was surprised to learn how little I know of her work. I checked IMDB; I count about five movies!

Red, do yourself a favor and watch Heat Lightning and Mystery of the Wax Museum. Then go right on through the Torchy series, and don't forget Lady for a Day.

Ann Dvorak and Aline MacMahon are both wonders in Heat Lightning, and Glenda Farrell and Ruth Donnelly and Frank McHugh.....all marvelous!. I caught this on Ann's SUTS day, I believe, last year...what a revelation.

It's a great movie, I mean what a cast of strong women!

And Frank McHugh.

HEAT LIGHTNING is a great title. I must see that! I have seen "Wax Museum" and LADY FOR A DAY.

Lzcutter wrote:She is terrific in I Love Trouble. Marco and I were fortunate to see this nifty little thriller at one of Dewey's film festivals last year and we really enjoyed it!

As Hazel Bixby, wisecracking and long-suffering secretary (aren't all movie secretaries long suffering?) to Franchot Tone's private detective, Stuart Bailey, she steals the movie with her tart (not that kind of tart) performance.

If you haven't seen this one, you should!

JackFavell wrote:I haven't seen it but I am going on a search for it, Lynn!

I love Trouble is in the public domain, and available on Archive.org. Unfortunately, the picture quality is poor, but if you aren't able to find it anywhere else, it's better than nothing. Some people have complained about various issues with the video files, but the one I got (the 768 MB one) didn't give me any problems.
http://archive.org/details/I_Love_Trouble_movie

I Love Trouble was based on the novel The Double Take by Roy Huggins. The main character, Stuart Bailey, was later played by Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. in the movie Girl on the Run, which was spun off into the television series 77 Sunset Strip.

Thanks for the link Hbenthow! I'll give it a try, it sounds just my speed.

More photos of Glenda:










This one at the well is my favorite.

I haven't seen those last two before. I agree about the one with the well. It's a very nice one.

Here are a few more I'm particularly fond of:









And here is an interesting oddity. It's a children's record narrated by Glenda Farrell. (The linked page is part of a children's record preservation project, and has an audio file of the recording). It's interesting how different this side of her vocal range is from the one she's known for.

http://www.kiddierecords.com/2007/archive/week_18.htm

That's so cool! I wish I had a younger child I could play it for. I'll be checking it out later on.

I love the photo with the lion cubs... is that Una Merkel on the left? She's another favorite who could seemingly play anything. Who's on the right, do you know? I'd say Pert Kelton but the face isn't quite right... if it is, you'd have three of my favorite actresses in one shot together, pretty impressive.

The one on the right is Patricia Ellis, and on the left is her mother, Mrs. Alexander Leftwich.

The original caption for the photo reads:

"A Trio of Leopard Corsages: Mrs. Alexander Leftwich, Glenda Farrell, Patricia Ellis (Daughter of Mrs. Leftwich) pose with three pets on the Warner 'lot.' Maybe the Leopards with grow into three nice coats some day."

Oh dear! I really got that wrong! My brain wanted them all to be famous actresses. Yikes, I hope those poor leopard cubs weren't turned into fur coats!

Is that Arthur Lake in your avatar? (I hope I get this one right)