Myrna Loy goes solo as detective DANNI CHURCH

Myrna as Danni Church

After playing devoted wife to William Powell in three Thin Man movies so far, Myrna Loy tries the detective game by herself. She is perfectly cast as Danni Church, a war widow, whose husband was a private detective before leaving for the war. When he gets killed in combat, Danni decides to continue the business, Church Detective Agency. She recruits former policeman Mike Tracy (played by Brian Aherne) and they handle cases ranging from cheating spouses to missing persons. When Danni's college room-mate Gloria Morgan (Mary Astor) comes calling because she thinks her husband James (Patric Knowles) is having an affair. So Danni starts snooping and does find that James is having an affair with the much younger Stella Moore (a break-out performance by Susan Hayward). But James is also involved with some nefarious types and soon goes missing. Danni believes foul play but everyone else suspects he is just with Stella. So she and Mike begins knocking down doors, looking for answers. They first corner Eddie the Snitch (Elisha Cook Jr) before meeting crime boss Serrano (Joseph Calleia). This is good twisty film noir with ample amount of humor. Myrna Loy rocks as Danni Church, dropping one liners and getting tough when needed. Check out her tense confrontation with Stella in a bar:

Susan Hayward as Stella

Danni: Ms. Moore?
Stella: yes...
Danni: I'm a friend of Gloria Morgan..
Stella: sorry I don't know her
Danni: No I believe you know her husband James...
Stella: ahhhhhhh....so who are you? the loyal friend?
Danni: yes..and a detective. My name is Danni Church.
Stella: so are you lost or something? Or did Mrs. Morgan misplace James again?
Danni: You're a funny girl. Have you seen Mr. Morgan lately?
Stella: define lately...because if lately means last night...then yes. I tell ya what..go back and tell Mrs. Morgan that James will be home when he feels like it. Be a good little errand girl and do that for me..won't you?
Danni: You're a piece of work. But let me give you some advice. You seem smart and beautiful and can have anything in the world if you put your mind to it. Trust me when I say you and James will not last. Hope you have a nice day.

And with that Danni walks out leaving Stella looking mightily upset.

Brian Aherne as Mike

Mary Astor as Gloria

DANNI CHURCH (MGM, 1940)

Written by Jonathan Latimer
Directed by Howard Hawks

Cast:
Myrna Loy...................................Danni Church
Mary Astor..................................Gloria Morgan
Brian Aherne...............................Mike Tracy
Susan Hayward............................Stella Moore
Patric Knowles.............................James Morgan
Anne Shirley................................Debbie Church
Alan Hale....................................Police captain Ed Donnigan
Elisha Cook Jr.............................Eddie
Joseph Calleia.............................Serrano

This was the first in a proposed series of films but alas Myrna Loy could not fit another series into her schedule. She would return eventually in the sequel Danni Church: Family First (1949), with the stakes much higher as her sister Debbie goes missing.

This is another in my fantasy series..hope you guys liked it!

Play-In Match underway between Mary Astor and Miriam Hopkins

A quick post to let everyone know that the play-in match between Mary Astor and Miriam Hopkins in the pre-codes category of the 30's era bracket is underway. Winner will claim the 8th and final spot in that category. Voting ends Wednesday evening and the poll is on the sidebar on the right. 

MARY ASTOR

AKA Brigid O'Shaughnessy, Princess Centimilla

MIRIAM HOPKINS

AKA Lily, Becky Sharp, Martha Dobie

Las Vegas oddsmakers have placed Mary as a slight favorite at

1 and 1/2 votes....let's see if Miriam will take that

lying down...

Stats for Mary Astor/Miriam Hopkins play-in match

For tomorrow's play in match between Mary Astor and Miriam Hopkins, I thought I would do a post about their stats and history here on All Good Things. I set it up just like when I do my match play matches. Voting starts Sunday morning and runs through Wednesday evening 5 pm EST for what is sure to be an exciting match.

MARY ASTOR

Mary getting some final touches before her match with

Miriam Hopkins

Name: Lucille Vasconcellos Langhanke
Birth Date: May 3, 1906 (Quincy, Illinois)
Height: 5' 6"
Academy Awards: one (Best Supporting Actress: The Great Lie - 1942)
Monties: 2 nominations (Best Supporting Actress: Red Dust - 1932 and The Maltese Falcon - 1941)
My favorite Mary film: Red Dust (1932)
Match play record: 0-1 (lost to Claudette Colbert in the 30's era of the 2012 Favorite Classic Actress Tournament 73-25...ouch)

VS

MIRIAM HOPKINS

Miriam is doing the same thing..but doing it personally herself...

Name: Ellen Miriam Hopkins

Birth Date: October 18, 1902 (Savannah, Georgia...woo hoo..from my home state)

Height: 5' 2"

Academy Awards: one nomination (Best Actress: Becky Sharp - 1935)

Monties: 2 nominations, one win (Best Actress: Becky Sharp - 1935) 

My favorite Miriam film: These Three (1936)

Match play record: 0-1 (lost to Barbara Stanwyck in the 30's era of the 2012 Favorite Classic Actress Tournament 82-16...dang!)

So one thing will be for certain after these two outstanding actresses meet...one will pick up her first victory in match play/tourney. Good luck to ya both Mary and Miriam.

MARCH MADNESS....CLASSIC MOVIE ACTRESS STYLE

It's doesn't get any better than this...

Play-In match for 30's era: Tough Broads/Pre-Code Babes

March Madness officially begins Sunday, March 3rd but there will be one play-in match in the 30's era bracket in the Tough Broads/Pre-Code Babes category. Miriam Hopkins and Mary Astor will face each other to see who grabs the 8th seed spot in this exciting category. The match will begin Sunday morning and run through Wednesday night. Winner earns a trip to the Favorite Classic Movie Actress tourney. Think of this match as an appetizer to the main course. Good luck to both women.

PLAY-IN MATCH FOR 30'S ERA BRACKET

MARY ASTOR

VS

MIRIAM HOPKINS

A Jean Harlow Double Bill

http://kittypackard.wordpress.com/2011/02/21/the-jean-harlow-blogathon-february-28-march-6/

Here is my contribution to the Jean Harlow Blogathon, a perfect double bill of Jean with Clark Gable. It was gracious of Carley over at The Kitty Packard Pictorial to invite me. I try never to turn down a request and was happy to contribute.


RED DUST (1932)

A dynamite movie involving three screen legends: Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, and Mary Astor. Gable is Denny Carson, who runs a rubber plantation in Indo-China with a tight fist. Along comes Lily Vantine (Ms. Harlow) who just lights up the screen with her explosive persona. Lily explains she had to leave the states because of certain complex issues. All Denny sees is her trampish looks and the two become attached fairly quickly. But that relationship is put under pressure when Gary Willis arrives with his wife Babs (the terrific Astor) to begin work on the plantation. Denny is immediately attracted to Babs and thus a love triangle is formed. Babs husband is totally unaware of what's going on and to be fair he is under the weather with a fever when they first arrive there. Red Dust is one heck of a movie. I know some people complain of the racial overtones but this movie is set in 1932 so just keep that in mind when watching it. As far as performances go, all three leads are sensational. Gable is definetly a man's man in this one. Holding the screen with all his macho swagger he can muster. Jean Harlow is funny all the way through. She spits out lines with rapid fire regularity. And Mary Astor brings a little class to the proceedings. And believe it or not she has one scene where she manages to out-sex Ms. Harlow. After being caught in an unexpected rainstorm, she gets soaked and is carried back to the house by Gable. In that one instant she gives off so much sexual energy, you can feel it coming off the screen. Red Dust is a solid film that delivers action, humor, passion, and some great acting.

CHINA SEAS (1935)

Clark Gable and Jean Harlow team up again after the success of Red Dust and make China Seas better than it ought to be. Gable is ship captain Alan Gaskell who has to deliver passengers safely from Hong Kong to Singapore because of the waters being overrun with pirates. The first time you see Gaskell it is apparent he is coming in from an over-night bender and makes it to his ship just as it's about to sail. His ex-girlfriend Dolly (Ms. Harlow) shows up to razz him about not being committed to their relationship. Also on board is Sybil Barclay (Rosalind Russell), a woman Alan fancied years ago but she married someone else. Well, Ms. Barclay is a widow now and hopes of a relationship is presented before Alan's delight and Dolly's anger. Also on board is Dolly's old drinking Buddy MacArdle (Wallace Beery) who has a hidden agenda. Throw in some rough weather, a jewel thief, the deadly pirates, and a coward of an officer looking to make amends and China Seas has a lot going on. There is a lot of unintentional humor that kinda throws it off every now and then, mainly from Harlow and Beery. But it doesn't ruin the whole movie. Not as good as Gable and Harlow's previous film Red Dust, but still worth a look.

A Movie A Day: Red Dust is hot blooded entertainment at it's best

A dynamite movie involving three screen legends: Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, and Mary Astor. Gable is Denny Carson, who runs a rubber plantation in Indo-China with a tight fist. Along comes Lily Vantine (Ms. Harlow) who just lights up the screen with her explosive persona. Lily explains she had to leave the states because of certain complex issues. All Denny sees is her trampish looks and the two become attached fairly quickly. But that relationship is put under pressure when Gary Willis arrives with his wife Babs (the terrific Astor) to begin work on the plantation. Denny is immediately attracted to Babs and thus a love triangle is formed. Babs husband is totally unaware of what's going on and to be fair he is under the weather with a fever when they first arrive there. Red Dust is one heck of a movie. I know some people complain of the racial overtones but this movie is set in 1932 so just keep that in mind when watching it. As far as performances go, all three leads are sensational. Gable is definetly a man's man in this one. Holding the screen with all his macho swagger he can muster. Jean Harlow is funny all the way through. She spits out lines with rapid fire regularity. And Mary Astor brings a little class to the proceedings. And believe it or not she has one scene where she manages to out-sex Ms. Harlow. After being caught in an unexpected rainstorm, she gets soaked and is carried back to the house by Gable. In that one instant she gives off so much sexual energy, you can feel it coming off the screen. Red Dust is a solid film that delivers action, humor, passion, and some great acting.