Very nice shots, Alison. Thanks for posting. Especially like the shot of George socializing with Spencer Tracy. That's one I really would like to have had in my book; very unique, and yes, George definitely knew fashion (thanks, of course, to Virginia Pine). The photo of a "young George Raft". Wow, that's anyone's guess. Would love to know for sure, though. Only younger pre-Hollywood images I've seen are the baby pic - then the pre-ear job one taken in George's twenties, nothing in-between. But it almost makes sense; would show that Georgie was a sharp dresser even then!
Don't recognize the origins of some of these, but I can tell you the ruffled shirt image is a behind-the-scenes from Rumba. The image below that is from Limehouse Blues (George as an Asian gangster; you had to love Hollywood's early casting practices). I'm totally lost on the picture of him sitting behind that gal - though it clearly was from one of his later films.
I'll try to find some more pics later, I'd love to see Rumba if only for that costume and Limehouse Blues just to see how ridiculous it is. Are films like Rumba, Limehouse Blues, The Glass Key and TheBowery played often on TCM. I'd love for them to have a George Raft day and show some early pictures. I've got a huge pile on ironing to get through so I'm going to put on The Man From Cairo, I guess if I can get through that, he'll have to go on to my list of people who I'll watch whatever the film and there's not many on that list.
Is James Cagney's later work as good as George's? Did he do noir type roles? I love the iconic White Heat and I think he gives one of his best performances in Love Me or Leave Me, he was brilliant as Snyder. I don't think I've searched out any of his other films, apart from One, Two, Three which I wanted to like but couldn't. Did Cagney get along with Bogart, they made a few movies together although not after Bogart hit the big time. Do you think he got along better with Bogart or George, I have the impression that he was everyone's friend apart from Horst Buccholz and perhaps that translated into a warmer relationship than George had with Bogart. Also whe Raft was brought to Warners to solve problems with Murderer's Row who was it Cagney who was being paid the most or was he still being punished for his rebellion.
Back to The Man From Cairo.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
No, TCM hasn't played any of Raft's Paramount films, to my knowledge. I actually inquired the network about possibly doing a George Raft Day (on September 26), but the best they've done is feature a trio of his films on a mini-tribute night. Still, better than nothing.
Will be curious to get your feedback on "The Man from Cairo". Definitely one of the nadirs of George's career, IMO.
Cagney definitely fared better than Raft in his later career. He was still getting starring roles in good projects while George was slipping down the billing ladder in mediocre films. After "Jet Over the Atlantic" (third billed after Guy Madison and Virgina Mayo) he was pretty much relegated to cameos for the rest of his career. The one exception was a gangster picture he did with Jean Gabin called "The Upper Hand", which is rarely shown. I've never seen it. But I have sat through some pretty bad later films just to catch a ten-second appearance by George, including "Sextette". I must be a fan.
No question that Cagney got along better with George. They were much the same: tough street kids, professional dancers, nondrinkers. Bogie was none of the above. Cagney didn't dislike Bogart, just wasn't chummy with him.
By the time Raft went to Warners, Cagney was back at the studio with a huge per picture contract that also gave him profit participation. Not sure if he was the highest paid at the studio, or if it was Muni. But Cagney certainly came far in just eight years at Warners.
I've seen very few Raft pictures on TCM. Rogue Cop, If I Had a Million, They Drive By Night and Johnny Angel are pretty much the only ones I've seen listed recently. I'm thinking of downloading a bunch of Walsh movies, like The Bowery. Alison if you can download films, I know it shows up on torrent lists.
I don't know how to download movies but I know a man who can, if he will, he's very straight laced about these kind of things but for a movie that can't be bought or isn't shown I might overcome his scruples.
Stone, I liked The Man from Cairo, it's not going to win any awards and it was a little confusing and some of the characters where laughable but it was so silly I enjoyed it, it kept me going whilst I went through a large pile of ironing. I'm happy to be quite completist about his movies but I don't know about the later movies. I'd love to know what movie that still was from though.
I didn't know Cagney didn't drink either, they had lots in common. I wonder who cooked up that out take, who was the joker in that cast?
I know so little about Muni, I know George liked him and thought he was a tremendous actor, I know he took his craft seriously and had his projects he wanted to get off the ground.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
Maybe I should give The Man from Cairo another looksee. Been a while since I last saw it and found it pretty draggy and dull with Raft giving a quite lifeless performance. Love that opening scene of George "pretending" to read a newspaper. At that point I gave up hope for the film. But perceptions change.
Cagney's dad was a very serious alcoholic; not a mean drunk, mind you, but irresponsible. Because of that Jimmy never had much to do with drinking. His brothers apparently followed suit and pretty much abstained from alcohol. Interesting, though, how Jimmy's best friend was Pat O'Brien, a man well-known for tipping back a few.
Muni was a great actor in his day but a very difficult, temperamental artist. He had many arguments with Warners but unlike most of the stars' grievances, Muni was more concerned about the quality of his roles than getting more money out of the studio. Bette Davis was much the same way. Artistic integrity over commerce. I mean why would Muni literally tear up a contract that supposedly paid him ten grand a week just because J.L. wanted him to go commercial with High Sierra rather than take a gamble with a prestige biopic of Beethoven!
Has anyone ever written a biography of Paul Muni? He sits with me like Fredric March who although not as serious a film actor turned in some great performances and returned to the stage periodically. Did Muni end up back on the stage. I see him as a stage actor who turned to film without really giving up on the stage or his training. I might be wrong.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
Yep, there is "Actor" by Jerome Lawrence and "Paul Muni: His Life and Films" by Michael Druxman. Both are good; the latter gives more insight into Muni's movies while the Lawrence bio is more intimate since he knew Muni well.
There was also a TV-movie based (kinda) on the Lawrence book. Saw it a long time ago. Deals mainly with Muni's early years traveling with his parents and, if I remember correctly, was a quasi-musical.
Muni ALWAYS remained loyal to the stage. In fact, Lawrence, along with his partner, wrote "Inherit the Wind", one of Muni's best-known stage roles. Interesting how he was never considered for the film version.
Which role did he play? It's the only film of Freddy March's that I've watched when I found him over the top, I know his character was meant to be but Spence was superb as was Gene Kelly. What a pity he wasn't considered for the film. Did Muni and George have much to do with one another after Scarface? Luise Rainer says that he was serious and pulled a face at the TCM festival but she is 100 and is allowed to speak her mind. He was generous with George.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
Muni originated the part that Tracy played in the film, Henry Drummond. Ed Begley played Matthew Brady and a young Tony Randall played Bertram Cates. During the run of the play Muni was forced to take a leave of absence to have a cancerous eye removed; Melvyn Douglas took over the role of Drummond during this time. After he recovered, Muni later returned to the play. Apparently neither Lawrence nor co-author Robert Lee knew that Muni was going to appear and both were pleasantly and tearfully surprised.
Muni also appeared in the stage version of "Key Largo", performing the Bogart role, though named King McCloud, and if I'm not mistaken, the character dies at the end.
Raft and Muni apparently got on well enough. As for their keeping in touch, in my book I tell the one story of a much-later meeting when George apparently went to see Muni to discuss a remake of Scarface, which Muni refused.
I didn't know that about Muni, I'm touched by it. I couldn't imagine Scarface getting off the ground again, it was iconic, one of the best gangster movies, of it's time and they both died.
Where did George get a reputation as a guy who couldn't act? Before you start this thread I'd seen a handful of movies so I knew he could but before I saw any of his movies I'd expected him to be a poor actor, the first movie I saw because I was watching Bogie movies was They Drive By Night and he wasn't the actor I expected at all. Then I saw Manpower and Scarface and this wasn't the guy I expected. I've never got the impression from this forum but when I was watching Johnny Angel the other day I looked up the movie and noticed someone had started a thread on how dreadful he was, no one had replied. Admittedly from what I've watched he's not an Oscar winner but he's not just not bad, he's good. The later movies are a bit jaded, they're capitalising on his name and The Man from Cairo is rather silly but he's nearing 60 and still entertaining his audience if gaining no new fans he's no better or worse than most movie stars of that age who were created as stars rather than actors who like to act. I feel he's been unjustly maligned acting wise but it's so easy to string the lucrative film career with the fact that the gangsters put him there.
I don't want to get your hopes up for The Man From Cairo but I enjoyed it. I have noticed that he always gets to take his leading lady around the dance floor at least once in these later movies. Perhaps the audience wanted it and I'm not complaining.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
I agree Alison, I just can't understand how he got the reputation for being a lousy actor. I don't think he's bad at all.
According to the Raoul Walsh biography I just read, he was difficult to work with in the extreme, but I am taking that with a grain of salt, since no information was used to back up that claim. Is it possible that a Hollywood insider who did not like him started these rumors about his acting?
I don't think he was easy Wendy for some people but he was a darling for others. As to the reputation, I don't know whether it is lazy journalism or it sounds better if he was placed there by rotten connections rather than earning it his own merits.
I don't know how fimilair you are with Griff Rhys Jones, in the 1980s he shot to fame in a series called Not The Nine O'Clock News and made a series of funny adverts advertising Holstein Pils using old film footage, the best known are one with Marilyn Monroe from Some Like it Hot and one from The Dambusters, here's one of the lesser known ones with George
[youtube][/youtube]
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
