CHARLES BOYER

[charliechaplinfan]

Thank you Moira, Nancy has proved invaluable to me, I've been able to join in discussions on some of the TCM films. I have to say, when I check the TCM UK link the films on offer are nowhere near as wide a variety as TCM America plus I love Robert Osbourne's intros.

When I read about Boyer, I was struck by how nice a man he was, not at all the star. One of the things that really made me warm to him was the fact at the age of 41 he enlisted in the French Army at the outbreak of WW2 and was posted to the Maginot line as a radio operator. He was quite happy with this,leaving Hollywood and his fame and fortune behind, he wanted to serve his country in whatever capacity he could. Fast forward 4 weeks and it comes to someone's attention that they have a Charles Boyer on the Maginot line, surely it can't be? It must be a coincidence. Once the top brass found out that Charles Boyer, the biggest French film export was sat operating a radio on the Maginot line they put an end to it, his tenure in the army was terminated and he went back to Hollywood, via Lisbon where he set up contacts. Once in Hollywood he was instrumental in getting French emigrees out via Portugal. No one knows how involved he was but he was extremely patriotic so one would think that he did as much as he could. At the same time he set up an office to archive French history which occupied a lot of his time between films. A man with a conscience.

He really was one of cinema's nice guys.

[moira finnie]

I have to say, when I check the TCM UK link the films on offer are nowhere near as wide a variety as TCM America plus I love Robert Osbourne's intros.

That's funny, Alison. When I look at the UK version of TCM, I see oodles of English and European movies I'd love to see! Does anyone introduce the films on TCM UK or do films just begin without any intro?


Charles Boyer and a mustachioed serviceman helping with the dishes at the Hollywood Canteen with a new waitress and a familiar looking dish dog in the background. Wonder what ever happened to them?

I believe that Boyer's patriotism was heartfelt. During the First World War he worked as a hospital orderly and began to realize that he might have a gift for performing when he acted in comic sketches for the patients. His widowed mother was quite upset that he interrupted his education at the Sorbonne to don a uniform, but I believe she may have been a bit more shocked to see her only child go on the stage (from what I have read, she hoped he would be a teacher, though Boyer seriously thought about being an attorney. I believe that his degree was eventually in philosophy).

Charles Boyer's commitment to wartime service in WWII was very real, even after they sent him back to Hollywood to be a prominent voice for France. My mother was working as a copywriter in NYC for Kenyon and Eckhardt, an advertising agency, in 1941 before America's entry into the war. One of her more memorable days there was when Mr. Boyer sauntered into the office to discuss a print campaign to promote donations to the Free French on the upcoming Bastille Day. It wasn't, unfortunately, Mom's account, but she had always been a big Francophile anyway since her grandfather was from there. I still have a silk scarf with the map of France and a worn enamel pin with liberté, égalité, fraternité emblazoned on it that she bought during this campaign to help the French soldiers and refugees.

Unlike Bette Davis, my mother never seemed to think that he was the least bit "underwhelming" in person, though she only met him momentarily.

[JackFavell]

Wow, what a great story, Moira! I love that picture of him joking around at the Hollywood Canteen.

Alison - thanks for the info on Boyer's military service, I didn't know he had enlisted...that is amazing! What a wonderful man.

[feaito]

When you click on Other TCM Sites you will see these as hyperlinks to TCM worldwide (though there are actually more for individual countries, but these must be the most readily accessible):
OTHER TCM SITES

TCM USA
TCM France
TCM Spain
TCM Latin America
TCM Australia
TCM New Zealand
TCM Asia Pacific

TCM Latin's Schedule is a shame compared to her sisters from overseas ...and the prints it airs are completely sub-standard...Like in Alison's case, thanks to my friends overseas I've been able to watch many goodies -in excellent shape- they have the kindness to share with me.

[moira finnie]

Well, Fernando, I will try to ask Santa for a DVD recorder, but your generosity to me has enabled me to see many films I would never have a chance to catch here in the states--for some reason! I just hope to return the favor soon. I guess the grass is always greener abroad.

[feaito]

And thanks to you dear Moira, I have been able to see many a film unobtainable here or unavailable on DVD

[charliechaplinfan]

Where we live now I couldn't have TCM even if I wanted it because it is only available on Sky packages and we have too many protected trees that interfere with reception.

Moira, I love the picture and accompanying story. I'm glad to find that your mother didn't find him underwhelming. It reminds me of something Ingrid Bergman wrote about him, I don't know if I've mentioned it before but when he was appearing on Broadway in the 1950s she went to watch him, the women in front of her were underwhelmed when he first appeared and she lent forward and said to them 'Wait until he acts, you will feel very differently' by the end of the play they were enthralled with him and couldn't sing his praises highly enough.

He was a patriot who felt quite strongly that he shouldn't be given any special treatment because he was a star. It must have been very difficult to sit out the war in Hollywood when France suffered so much.

I also like the fact he had no vanity when not before the cameras and a toupee was not an everyday necessity, as illustrated by the canteen picture.

It must be a strange thing having something glued to your head.

[JackFavell]

I don't know about anyone else - but I find him extremely attractive without the toupee. In every candid I have of him, he looks great, relaxed, trim, well dressed, and he always looks like the life of the party.

I LOVE that story from Ingrid Bergman.

[charliechaplinfan]

Yes, I think he's very attractive too, with or without toupee, he looks like a man happy with himself.

[mrsl]

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Ooohhh, sometimes I get so angry I could spit. Last night a movie played that sounded like it would be really good, something about earrings, so I set up my regular programs to be DVR'd and settled down to watch that movie (can't recall the name). So there I am with my bowl of grapes, the movie starts, and IT'S IN FRENCH!!! How unfair that is. How does a person just sit and watch a movie without doing something else at the same time? I'm much too fidgety to just sit and stare. I watched about 10 minutes and had to leave it. I did tune in for the last 20 minutes though, but wasn't able to figure out just what happened during the rest of the movie.

Can someone help me out? . . . . . Thanks.
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[charliechaplinfan]

Anne, was it the Earrings of Madame De with Danielle Darrieux and Charles Boyer? Has it been shown without subs? I would struggle. if it is Madame De it's one of the best movies to come out France.

If it is we have discussed it quite recently on this thread.

[mrsl]

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CCFan .
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Oh yes, it definitely had sub-titles, but I don't like them. Sometimes the writing goes off before I can read the whole thing and feel I've missed something. Recently at the end of a sub it was said the characters were lifelong friends but I missed that and wondered why the guy was so involved in the girls life when she had a husband. So I waited until the movie was on again and watched the whole thing to learn that one bit of info, and then the movie made sense - It was on IFC or something like that. Also, I generally do craft things while watching TV and can't do that with sub-titles. But I have to say it was a beautiful movie as far as clarity goes, and the subs were easy to read because they used larger script.

You'll see I normally keep away from discussions about foreign language films, especially sub titled ones. Just as I usually keep out of discussions about stars or movies I dislike to avoid saying something to offend, but I don't always succeed.
.

[JackFavell]

Anne, Alison is right -iIt was The Earrings of Madame de...

It's too bad that you missed it, Anne, it's a really great movie, but I do understand your frustration. I had a short while where I could not see well, before I got my glasses.... and it really bothered me that I couldn't see to read the subtitles.So I stopped being able to follow foreign films, unless I watched on the computer up close. Luckily, I got my new glasses and it's no problem anymore.

If you are not a subtitle person then this film is not for you.

[charliechaplinfan]

Oh Anne, your post did make me smile, in the nicest possible way, I could visualise you getting ready, programmes being recorded, bowl of grapes only to discover it had subtitles. Sometimes subtitles disappear because a film is black and white and the subs have been done in white. They can be frustrating.

If you are in the mood for a film with subtitles Anne, this is a good place to start. It's a beautiful movie, well acted and staged.

[charliechaplinfan]

I've had a hankering for The Garden of Allah, sheer escapism and tongue in cheek movie, before I began I thought I'd read up in Maria Riva's book about the making. I'm not sure how accurate a portrait of her mother the book is but I'm sure she can't have made up the stories about Charles's toupee and the desert heat.

Poor Charles, it seems that before Marlene would allow a clinch on the movie she would pat his head to make sure it was still firmly as the desert heat made the glue become runny and off would come the marcelled toupee ruining many takes and making Boyer anxious always wondering when his toupee would slide.

Marlene it seemed was learning by experience, she was notorious for being practical and off she went with Boyer's toupee and had it cleaned with gasoline?? and brought it back to the desert and put it back in place herself, using more glue that usual. Once satisfied they went to work again, only to be in the middle of a clinch with Boyer above her when the toupee slide off again with more glue than usual, slap into Marlene's kisser, ruining the take and necessitating Marlene's makeup being redone. That's an outtake I would love to see.