Park Row 1952
Viewed on: TCM
studio: U/A
Starring
Gene Evans ... Phineas Mitchell
Mary Welch ... Charity Hackett
Bela Kovacs ... Ottmar Mergenthaler
Herbert Heyes ... Josiah Davenport
Tina Pine ... Jenny O'Rourke
George O'Hanlon ... Steve Brodie
J.M. Kerrigan ... Dan O'Rourke
Forrest Taylor ... Charles A. Leach
Don Orlando ... Mr. Angelo
Neyle Morrow ... Thomas Guest
Dick Elliott ... Jeff Hudson
Stuart Randall ... Mr. Spiro
Dee Pollock ... Rusty
Hal K. Dawson ... Mr. Wiley
Plot
In New York's 1880's newspaper district a dedicated journalist manages to set up his own paper. It is an immediate success but attracts increasing opposition from one of the bigger papers and its newspaper heiress owner. Despite the fact he rather fancies the lady the newsman perseveres with the help of the first Linotype machine, invented on his premises, while also giving a hand with getting the Statue of Liberty erected.
My Thoughts
This is a pretty gritty and interesting self financed film by Samuel Fuller. Apparently the film didn't do to well business wise and I think it has to do with the fact that it was too "insider" for moviegoers at the time. It seemed like an accurate and well done film dealing with the heyday of the newspaper business in 1880s New York.
The other thing that makes this movie unique and I think, very interesting is the fact that it was populated by character actors. I immediately gravitated towards Gene Evans as the protagonist of the story. There was that old timey inked stain journalist stereotype in the character that made it very charming.
Basically the story has to do with Phineas Mitchell who as an editor for the New York Star had finally tired of the publisher's yellow journalism tactics to the point that he got himself and all his drinking buddies fired. Interestingly enough one of the bar patrons (I wasn't too sure on this seems like maybe he was dating/married to the barmaid) wanted to get himself in the papers. The guy (Brodie) jumps off the Brooklyn Bridge in the hopes that he'd get his story told. Sadly he discovers that the newspaper people are all fired. Next thing you know the cops are after Brodie and he gets thrown into the slammer.
In the midst of all this Mitchell bemoans the tactics of the Star and talks about how he'd run his very own newspaper. A kind hearted stranger comes up to Mitchell and introduces himself as Charles Leach. He says that he's been hearing Mitchell's ideas for 3 years and the passion and enthusiasm that Mitchell displays has made him decide to back Mitchell's ideas. Leach becomes the money man and houser of Mitchell's paper and thus the Globe is born with those who used to be his co-workers working for him.
Mitchell and co. start off modestly in a small rundown building with an old printing press. In fact, the very first edition of the Globe is printed on butcher paper because they don't have the proper paper to print on. They made a huge deal over the imprisonment of Brodie to the point that the public thinks that it was uncalled for. There's a neat scene the morning of the first edition when the publisher of the Star, Charity Hackett comes in to needle Mitchell about his small and soon to be dead newspaper. She walks out of the Globe building to see the whole street lined up with people reading the Globe.
Needless to say this gets Ms. Hackett upset. In fact, the Globe has quickly become the little engine that could. They're the first newspaper to introduce editorial cartoons on the front page and newstands. Ms. Hackett tries everything she can to derail the popularity of the Globe. The main scheme involves defrauding the Globe's charity drive to build the base for the Statue of Liberty. When that fails all hell breaks loose as she demands that the Globe be killed. This leads to people from the Star breaking apart the Globe's newstands, running over Leach and firebombing the printing press.
There's a lot more to this movie which is amazing considering it's only 83 minutes long but that's the barebones of the story while not revealing the ending. Mary Welch does an excellent job as Charity Hackett. She was beautiful but deadly in her pursuit to kill the Globe.
Gene Evans as I said earlier was tremendous in his role and he's surrounded by a great supporting cast including Herbert Heyes as the old reporter Davenport. He gives Davenport a sense of importance and of being someone who has seen it all. Even when his character dies he has written a moving obit that plays crucial to the ending of the movie.
As I noted earlier the movie is very "insider" in terms of detailing the history and importance of the press. There is a lot of waxing philosophical about the importance of a free and strong press. There are allusions to great men of the newspaper era as well.
John Sayles in the introduction to this movie with Robert Osborne compared the story in some ways to the dangers of McCarthyism where the press was discouraged from reporting the full facts on matters however, I see a better parallel with the current electronic media. Today, we have the major cable news nets all pandering in some form or another to modern day yellow journalism while the loud but sometimes unheard of voice of public independent blogs are being blotted out or used by the news nets to their own ends.
I give this movie 2 1/2 stars out of 5. I'd give it 3 stars but I found the ending just a tad too idealistic.
Diary of a movie fan
Hold Your Man 1933
Viewed on: TCM
Studio: MGM
Starring
Jean Harlow ... Ruby Adams
Clark Gable ... Eddie Hall
Stuart Erwin ... Al Simpson
Dorothy Burgess ... Gypsy Angecon
Muriel Kirkland ... Bertha Dillion
Garry Owen ... Slim (Eddie's partner)
Barbara Barondess ... Sadie Cline
Elizabeth Patterson ... Miss Tuttle (reformatory matron)
Inez Courtney ... Mazie (reformatory inmate)
Blanche Friderici ... Mrs. Wagner
Helen Shipman ... Miss Davis
Plot
Ruby falls in love with small-time con man Eddie. During a botched blackmail scheme, Eddie accidentally kills the man they were setting up. Eddie takes off and Ruby is sent to a reformatory for two years.
My Thoughts
I've never really seen a full Jean Harlow movie before so I gave this one a shot. I have to say I don't see the big deal about her. Yes she was a competent actress. She did her scenes in a professional manner and held my attention but really she was no great shakes IMO. I think, as is the case most of the time that her early demise made her greater then she actually was. I'm sure this opinion is anathema to most but before you break out the swords and attack me I didn't say I hated her. I'm just saying her reputation isn't all THAT.
I thought the movie was interesting (weird to see Gable without his mustache tho) but a little disjointed. The first third of the movie is clearly a Gable film but it ends up turning into a Woman in Prison film. Harlow does a pretty good job in her role and the ending is quite touching if a bit out there.
Anyways i'll be getting into full reviews of a couple Cagney films by the end of the week.
Viewed on: TCM
Studio: MGM
Starring
Jean Harlow ... Ruby Adams
Clark Gable ... Eddie Hall
Stuart Erwin ... Al Simpson
Dorothy Burgess ... Gypsy Angecon
Muriel Kirkland ... Bertha Dillion
Garry Owen ... Slim (Eddie's partner)
Barbara Barondess ... Sadie Cline
Elizabeth Patterson ... Miss Tuttle (reformatory matron)
Inez Courtney ... Mazie (reformatory inmate)
Blanche Friderici ... Mrs. Wagner
Helen Shipman ... Miss Davis
Plot
Ruby falls in love with small-time con man Eddie. During a botched blackmail scheme, Eddie accidentally kills the man they were setting up. Eddie takes off and Ruby is sent to a reformatory for two years.
My Thoughts
I've never really seen a full Jean Harlow movie before so I gave this one a shot. I have to say I don't see the big deal about her. Yes she was a competent actress. She did her scenes in a professional manner and held my attention but really she was no great shakes IMO. I think, as is the case most of the time that her early demise made her greater then she actually was. I'm sure this opinion is anathema to most but before you break out the swords and attack me I didn't say I hated her. I'm just saying her reputation isn't all THAT.
I thought the movie was interesting (weird to see Gable without his mustache tho) but a little disjointed. The first third of the movie is clearly a Gable film but it ends up turning into a Woman in Prison film. Harlow does a pretty good job in her role and the ending is quite touching if a bit out there.
Anyways i'll be getting into full reviews of a couple Cagney films by the end of the week.
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cinemalover
- Posts: 1594
- Joined: April 17th, 2007, 10:57 am
- Location: Seattle, Washington
Excuse me sir, but you can't leave your review open ended like that! You have to assign some stars to it. How can I possibly figure out how much you really liked it if you don't give it those infamous stars! Pretty shoddy journalism, I should say!@ (Kidding)
Besides, I recorded it and need to know if it's worth the time to watch it.
Besides, I recorded it and need to know if it's worth the time to watch it.
Chris
The only bad movie is no movie at all.
The only bad movie is no movie at all.
Sorry Chris
I'd give it a 2 stars. The WIP portion seemed a bit slow to me. There's a lot of character interaction and good quips between Harlow and Gable's mollish woman who was also in the reformatory.
Other then that part of it the WIP portion was rather weak. I'd prefer if the movie had Gable and Harlow out on the lam together instead.
I'd give it a 2 stars. The WIP portion seemed a bit slow to me. There's a lot of character interaction and good quips between Harlow and Gable's mollish woman who was also in the reformatory.
Other then that part of it the WIP portion was rather weak. I'd prefer if the movie had Gable and Harlow out on the lam together instead.
Bogie:
You better answer cinemalover before he loses his lunch.
I'm inclined to agree with you about Harlow but for a different reason. I find her 'cute' as opposed to 'beautiful'. Her dimpled chin, and her eyes seem to bring out the protector side of me. I feel she should have been taken care of by her leading men. When she does those femme fatale roles, she looks like a little kid playing 'grown up'.
What do you guys think?
Anne
You better answer cinemalover before he loses his lunch.
I'm inclined to agree with you about Harlow but for a different reason. I find her 'cute' as opposed to 'beautiful'. Her dimpled chin, and her eyes seem to bring out the protector side of me. I feel she should have been taken care of by her leading men. When she does those femme fatale roles, she looks like a little kid playing 'grown up'.
What do you guys think?
Anne
Anne
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cinemalover
- Posts: 1594
- Joined: April 17th, 2007, 10:57 am
- Location: Seattle, Washington
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jdb1
In most of the movie star memoirs that I've ever read, Harlow is fondly remembered as beautiful. This may mean that (1) according to the fashions of the time she looked right; and (2) she may have been better looking in person than onscreen. In some very few movies, and in some photos, where she isn't wearing that heavy and very artificial-looking kewpie-doll makeup, she does look much nicer to me. I think a face like hers, all roundness and chin dimples, may have been difficult to light and photograph in those days.
Lady Killer 1933
Viewed on: TCM
Studio: Warner Brothers
Starring
James Cagney ... Dan Quigley
Mae Clarke ... Myra Gale
Margaret Lindsay ... Lois Underwood
Leslie Fenton ... Duke
Douglass Dumbrille ... Spade Maddock (as Douglas Dumbrille)
Russell Hopton ... Smiley
Raymond Hatton ... Pete
Henry O'Neill ... Ramick
Robert Elliott ... Detective Joe Brannigan
Marjorie Gateson ... Mrs. Marley
Willard Robertson ... Detective Conroy
William B. Davidson ... Director Williams (as William Davidson)
Douglas Cosgrove ... Detective Jones
Plot
When a movie theater usher is fired, he takes up with criminals and finds himself quite adept at various illegal activities. Eventually though, the police catch up with him, and he runs to hide out in Los Angeles. There he stumbles into the movie business and soon rises to stardom. He has gone straight, but his newfound success arouses the interest of his old criminal associates, who are not above blackmail..
My Thoughts
A little known Cagney comedy with a far fetched plot but it actually works. I don't know how it played as a comedy back then because some of the jokes didn't translate well to me. That's not to say that it wasn't funny because there were some scenes that had me laughing.
Cagney's character gets mixed up in the criminal world in the most innocent of ways. After he's been fired from his ushering job he's at some place (not really sure what kind of place it was) but sees the beautiful Mae Clarke who just happens to drop her purse as she leaves. Cagney is kind enough to take the purse back to her place and flirts with her a bit. Suddenly, a man walks in and invites Cagney to a game of cards. Naturally, Cagney loses and leaves just in time to see another guy with the exact same kind of purse! Needless to say Cagney catches on to the con and blackmails them all into letting him in their activities.
Needless to say Cagney becomes a natural at it and becomes more or less the Idea man for the gang. They spot a rich woman who they want to clean out so they stage an accident involving her and Cagney. The rest of the gang pose as a doctor and ambulance attendants while Cagney is taken to the lady's house. He gets the layout of the home and they all raid it. Something goes awry though as the maid spots them and gets knocked out for her trouble. Unfortunately it turns out that the lady dies and they're all implicated in murder.
I'll leave it there for now as you got the basic setup of the film. I'll relate some scenes and such though.
First i'd like to mention Mae Clarke some more. She looked a LOT like a young Carrie Fisher in this movie or should I say a young Carrie Fisher looked a lot like her? "headache"
Anyways she and Cagney decide to go to California where she reads a brochure about how it's always sunny and mild there. She even reads aloud about the other things in California such as grapefruit Nonetheless once they reach California it's raining cats and dogs!
Once Cagney gets into Hollywood as an extra he even sets up a phony letter writing campaign so he can become a headliner which I thought was neat and clever.
I don't really want to spoil more things but I have to relate one last funny scene. Naturally Cagney finds a gal in Hollywood in starlet Lois Underwood played by Margaret Lindsay anyways she's mad at Cagney because the moll from his old gang was in his bed when he was showing off his apartment. Cagney of course had nothing to do with her anymore as he broke away from the gang but Lois doesn't believe him. Anywho, they have to do a love scene and they pull it off perfectly. As soon as the director yelled "cut!" she pushes Cagney into the fountain that they were sitting by!
I thought overall the movie was pretty good and there are some nice scenes especially Cagney's first scene as an extra. The movie went by briskly and while the story is far fetched it wasn't so crazy that you couldn't believe it at all.
A solid 2 1/2 stars out of 5.
Viewed on: TCM
Studio: Warner Brothers
Starring
James Cagney ... Dan Quigley
Mae Clarke ... Myra Gale
Margaret Lindsay ... Lois Underwood
Leslie Fenton ... Duke
Douglass Dumbrille ... Spade Maddock (as Douglas Dumbrille)
Russell Hopton ... Smiley
Raymond Hatton ... Pete
Henry O'Neill ... Ramick
Robert Elliott ... Detective Joe Brannigan
Marjorie Gateson ... Mrs. Marley
Willard Robertson ... Detective Conroy
William B. Davidson ... Director Williams (as William Davidson)
Douglas Cosgrove ... Detective Jones
Plot
When a movie theater usher is fired, he takes up with criminals and finds himself quite adept at various illegal activities. Eventually though, the police catch up with him, and he runs to hide out in Los Angeles. There he stumbles into the movie business and soon rises to stardom. He has gone straight, but his newfound success arouses the interest of his old criminal associates, who are not above blackmail..
My Thoughts
A little known Cagney comedy with a far fetched plot but it actually works. I don't know how it played as a comedy back then because some of the jokes didn't translate well to me. That's not to say that it wasn't funny because there were some scenes that had me laughing.
Cagney's character gets mixed up in the criminal world in the most innocent of ways. After he's been fired from his ushering job he's at some place (not really sure what kind of place it was) but sees the beautiful Mae Clarke who just happens to drop her purse as she leaves. Cagney is kind enough to take the purse back to her place and flirts with her a bit. Suddenly, a man walks in and invites Cagney to a game of cards. Naturally, Cagney loses and leaves just in time to see another guy with the exact same kind of purse! Needless to say Cagney catches on to the con and blackmails them all into letting him in their activities.
Needless to say Cagney becomes a natural at it and becomes more or less the Idea man for the gang. They spot a rich woman who they want to clean out so they stage an accident involving her and Cagney. The rest of the gang pose as a doctor and ambulance attendants while Cagney is taken to the lady's house. He gets the layout of the home and they all raid it. Something goes awry though as the maid spots them and gets knocked out for her trouble. Unfortunately it turns out that the lady dies and they're all implicated in murder.
I'll leave it there for now as you got the basic setup of the film. I'll relate some scenes and such though.
First i'd like to mention Mae Clarke some more. She looked a LOT like a young Carrie Fisher in this movie or should I say a young Carrie Fisher looked a lot like her? "headache"
Anyways she and Cagney decide to go to California where she reads a brochure about how it's always sunny and mild there. She even reads aloud about the other things in California such as grapefruit
Nonetheless once they reach California it's raining cats and dogs!Once Cagney gets into Hollywood as an extra he even sets up a phony letter writing campaign so he can become a headliner which I thought was neat and clever.
I don't really want to spoil more things but I have to relate one last funny scene. Naturally Cagney finds a gal in Hollywood in starlet Lois Underwood played by Margaret Lindsay anyways she's mad at Cagney because the moll from his old gang was in his bed when he was showing off his apartment. Cagney of course had nothing to do with her anymore as he broke away from the gang but Lois doesn't believe him. Anywho, they have to do a love scene and they pull it off perfectly. As soon as the director yelled "cut!" she pushes Cagney into the fountain that they were sitting by!
I thought overall the movie was pretty good and there are some nice scenes especially Cagney's first scene as an extra. The movie went by briskly and while the story is far fetched it wasn't so crazy that you couldn't believe it at all.
A solid 2 1/2 stars out of 5.
The Time of Your Life 1948
Viewed on: TCM
Studio: Released through UA
Starring
James Cagney ... Joseph T. (who observes people)
William Bendix ... Nick (saloon owner who loves horses)
Wayne Morris ... Tom (Joe's stooge and friend)
Jeanne Cagney ... Kitty Duval (stage name of Katerina Koronovsky)
Broderick Crawford ... Krupp (a bewildered policeman)
Ward Bond ... McCarthy (a blatherskite)
James Barton ... Kit Carson (a cowboy also called Murphy)
Paul Draper ... Harry (the natural-born tap dancing comedian)
Gale Page ... Mary L. (a woman of quality)
Jimmy Lydon ... Dudley Raoul Bostwick (a young man in love) (as James Lydon)
Richard Erdman ... Willie (the pinball machine maniac)
Pedro de Cordoba ... Arab philosopher
Reginald Beane ... Wesley (the pianist)
John 'Skins' Miller ... Drunk
Tom Powers ... Freddy Blick (a stool pigeon and frame-up artist)
Plot
Joe spends a lot of his time at Nick's Pacific Street Saloon. Tom, who credits Joe with once saving his life, stops by regularly to run errands for Joe. Today, Tom notices a woman named Kitty when she comes into Nick's, and he quickly falls in love with her. Meanwhile, a distraught young man repeatedly calls his girlfriend, begging her to marry him. Nick himself muses on all the various persons who come into his bar, some to ask for work and others just to pass the time
My Thoughts
Two words immediately jump to mind when I watched this movie: "Interesting failure". This is more or less a filmed play as evidenced by the rather charming credits above. The plot synopsis up there is basically the gist of what really was a stream of conscience movie so I won't bother with the traditional "talking about the plot to set up the movie" stuff I usually do. Instead i'm going to focus on the wacky characters and I do mean WACKY!
First let's take a look at Cagney's character Joe. There's something a little weird about a guy who seemingly does things at random and has a guy doing things for him at his beck and call. If I were Tom i'd have walloped Joe a long time ago. Joe's a bit of a philosopher and observer of people. I like the line that he says about trying to live a life that doesn't harm another life. In some ways that's a very profound and idealistic statement.
Tom is played wonderfully by Wayne Morris. Yes, he's a stooge but a lovable one. He seems to also be a brick short of a load as well. The only thing I didn't like about his character is that he's in love with Kitty but has NO clue what to do. It goes so far as Joe sitting on a beach with Tom and Kitty as they're getting all romantic. That scene gave me some very bad thoughts like maybe Joe eventually got an eye full if you know what I mean
Nick the saloon keeper is played expertly by William Bendix. The guy has a rough side to him but underneath that rough exterior he's really a good guy at heart. This is exemplified in the fact that he allows and condones all the looniness that goes on in his bar! I mean at one point you got a guy tap dancing all over the place, a drunk stumbling around and a guy pounding away on the piano!
Let's get to that dancing guy. Paul Draper played Harry who's the hopeless tap dancing comedian. He wants people to find him funny but he just isn't instead, he's a great tap dancer who does some real great hoofing throughout the picture. I don't know how famous Draper was but if he wasn't renowned for his dancing skill then that's a damn shame.
I'll touch on two more characters and then give a rating. Jimmy Lydon (who looked real young with the glasses on, not so much when he took them off) is the love sick Dudley. He's also hyper active as he's trying to call and get back his girl Elsie. He's so frantic that he calls up another woman by mistake and invites her to the bar not realizing she's an old lady!
Finally James Barton stole the spotlight whenever he was on camera as the fast talking, tall tale telling old time cowboy. He has a story for everything and in his introductory scene Joe listens to Kit's entire spiel and encourages it by having him drink mug after mug of beer. I loved his crazy character and wish he was in the movie more.
I give this movie 2 1/2 stars. It's one of the most unique failures i've ever seen in Hollywood and it's very interesting to see Cagney in a very dialed down role. right at the end of the movie you get a classic Cagney fistfight. So I guess even when he was trying to be different he still had an image to protect
Viewed on: TCM
Studio: Released through UA
Starring
James Cagney ... Joseph T. (who observes people)
William Bendix ... Nick (saloon owner who loves horses)
Wayne Morris ... Tom (Joe's stooge and friend)
Jeanne Cagney ... Kitty Duval (stage name of Katerina Koronovsky)
Broderick Crawford ... Krupp (a bewildered policeman)
Ward Bond ... McCarthy (a blatherskite)
James Barton ... Kit Carson (a cowboy also called Murphy)
Paul Draper ... Harry (the natural-born tap dancing comedian)
Gale Page ... Mary L. (a woman of quality)
Jimmy Lydon ... Dudley Raoul Bostwick (a young man in love) (as James Lydon)
Richard Erdman ... Willie (the pinball machine maniac)
Pedro de Cordoba ... Arab philosopher
Reginald Beane ... Wesley (the pianist)
John 'Skins' Miller ... Drunk
Tom Powers ... Freddy Blick (a stool pigeon and frame-up artist)
Plot
Joe spends a lot of his time at Nick's Pacific Street Saloon. Tom, who credits Joe with once saving his life, stops by regularly to run errands for Joe. Today, Tom notices a woman named Kitty when she comes into Nick's, and he quickly falls in love with her. Meanwhile, a distraught young man repeatedly calls his girlfriend, begging her to marry him. Nick himself muses on all the various persons who come into his bar, some to ask for work and others just to pass the time
My Thoughts
Two words immediately jump to mind when I watched this movie: "Interesting failure". This is more or less a filmed play as evidenced by the rather charming credits above. The plot synopsis up there is basically the gist of what really was a stream of conscience movie so I won't bother with the traditional "talking about the plot to set up the movie" stuff I usually do. Instead i'm going to focus on the wacky characters and I do mean WACKY!
First let's take a look at Cagney's character Joe. There's something a little weird about a guy who seemingly does things at random and has a guy doing things for him at his beck and call. If I were Tom i'd have walloped Joe a long time ago. Joe's a bit of a philosopher and observer of people. I like the line that he says about trying to live a life that doesn't harm another life. In some ways that's a very profound and idealistic statement.
Tom is played wonderfully by Wayne Morris. Yes, he's a stooge but a lovable one. He seems to also be a brick short of a load as well. The only thing I didn't like about his character is that he's in love with Kitty but has NO clue what to do. It goes so far as Joe sitting on a beach with Tom and Kitty as they're getting all romantic. That scene gave me some very bad thoughts like maybe Joe eventually got an eye full if you know what I mean
Nick the saloon keeper is played expertly by William Bendix. The guy has a rough side to him but underneath that rough exterior he's really a good guy at heart. This is exemplified in the fact that he allows and condones all the looniness that goes on in his bar! I mean at one point you got a guy tap dancing all over the place, a drunk stumbling around and a guy pounding away on the piano!
Let's get to that dancing guy. Paul Draper played Harry who's the hopeless tap dancing comedian. He wants people to find him funny but he just isn't instead, he's a great tap dancer who does some real great hoofing throughout the picture. I don't know how famous Draper was but if he wasn't renowned for his dancing skill then that's a damn shame.
I'll touch on two more characters and then give a rating. Jimmy Lydon (who looked real young with the glasses on, not so much when he took them off) is the love sick Dudley. He's also hyper active as he's trying to call and get back his girl Elsie. He's so frantic that he calls up another woman by mistake and invites her to the bar not realizing she's an old lady!
Finally James Barton stole the spotlight whenever he was on camera as the fast talking, tall tale telling old time cowboy. He has a story for everything and in his introductory scene Joe listens to Kit's entire spiel and encourages it by having him drink mug after mug of beer. I loved his crazy character and wish he was in the movie more.
I give this movie 2 1/2 stars. It's one of the most unique failures i've ever seen in Hollywood and it's very interesting to see Cagney in a very dialed down role. right at the end of the movie you get a classic Cagney fistfight. So I guess even when he was trying to be different he still had an image to protect
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jdb1
Bogie, Paul Draper was very famous in his day. He was known as a creative and sort of "artsy" tapper, and did specialty numbers in both Broadway and Hollywood musicals. He came from a very accomplished and talented family. His sister was the well-known writer and monologist, Ruth Draper.
Draper teamed up with classical harmonica player Larry Adler in the 1940s, and they appeared in concert together, doing a kind of interpretative tap routine. Draper also did many solo tap routines. They were big favorites in my family, and I remember relatives and friends discussing their performances (their partnership was before my time, but I do remember seeing both of them separately, either in live performance or on film, I can't remember which).
Both men were blacklisted for their left-wing leanings (both were avowed Socialists). They both left the country and went their separate ways. Draper performed in Europe, and eventually came back to the US to perform (I remember posters for his apperances at Town Hall and City Center in Manhattan). He also taught theater courses at Carnegie-Mellon.
Adler remained in England, and worked as a movie composer and scorer. I believe he did the scores for A High Wind in Jamaica and Genevieve, among many others.
Draper teamed up with classical harmonica player Larry Adler in the 1940s, and they appeared in concert together, doing a kind of interpretative tap routine. Draper also did many solo tap routines. They were big favorites in my family, and I remember relatives and friends discussing their performances (their partnership was before my time, but I do remember seeing both of them separately, either in live performance or on film, I can't remember which).
Both men were blacklisted for their left-wing leanings (both were avowed Socialists). They both left the country and went their separate ways. Draper performed in Europe, and eventually came back to the US to perform (I remember posters for his apperances at Town Hall and City Center in Manhattan). He also taught theater courses at Carnegie-Mellon.
Adler remained in England, and worked as a movie composer and scorer. I believe he did the scores for A High Wind in Jamaica and Genevieve, among many others.