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Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Ann Blyth on Movie Spotlight cover


Ann Blyth appears on the cover of Movie Spotlight magazine from April 1954.  There was a proliferation of magazines from the 1930s through the 1950s exclusively  devoted to Hollywood movie stars, so efficient was the industry publicity machine and the public's fascination.  Ann was featured on a number of covers and in many articles in those years.

I don't believe any of the magazines that were part of that era are published today.  Though celebrity watching is hardly diminished, it is certainly less glamorized.  


Wednesday, November 14, 2018

Ann Blyth dumps porridge on Howard Keel's head


Ann Blyth dumps a bowl of porridge on Howard Keel's head.  How many times in how many takes?  For her sake, I hope it was at least a few, because it looks like fun.

Here Ann starred with Howard Keel in the lavish musical Rose Marie (1954).  From my book Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star.:


Sgt. Howard Keel catches her again.  Have a look at the image of him holding her, one-armed, from his horse, dangling her like a rag doll.  An indignant, frustrated rag doll.  There is no remnant of the slick sociopath Veda Pierce.  Nothing resembling the haughty, conniving fashion plate Regina Hubbard, the graceful elegance of the Countess Marina, and no sign of the poised, demure high school graduate Gail Macaulay.



Few of Ann Blyth’s contemporaries were as versatile.  Catch the little groan, equal parts despair and discomfort, when he hoists her into the saddle after she capitulates.



Howard Keel at first was not happy with the Mountie’s role in this film, finding him too weak and ineffectual…perhaps as clownish as Dudley Do-Right…but his requested changes to the script were made and he signed on, noting in his autobiography, Only Make Believe, that it was a fun shoot.



I didn’t sing with Ann Blyth, but she was a delightful cutie and sang beautifully.

Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Ann with Don Ameche on Quincy, M.E.


Ann Blyth with Don Ameche and Ron Masak in a publicity photo for a 1979 episode of Quincy, M.E.  From my book, Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star.:


“The Death Challenge” brings together Ann and Don Ameche (with whom she appeared on TV in The Triumphant Hour in 1954) as a show-biz couple on whom the glare of the spotlight is focused after a long period of being ignored.  They also attract the attention of the police and our intrepid medical examiner, Quincy, played by Jack Klugman, when a stunt goes terribly wrong.



It’s the first of two episodes of the TV program Quincy, M.E. on which Ann appeared.  One of the sublime joys of episodic television in the 1970s and 1980s, for lovers of classic films at least, is that a huge roster of players from Hollywood’s heyday took their final curtain calls as guests on these shows...  


Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Ann with Fernando Lamas - ROSE MARIE (1954)


Ann Blyth appears in the above publicity photo with Fernando Lamas.  The film is Rose Marie (1954), a glorious CinemaScope color movie that casts a new spell on an old-fashioned hit.  

From my book, Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star.:


Ann Blyth was twenty-four going on twenty-five when she played the title role in this musical, and one is impressed by her ability to appear so young, so naturally and effortlessly a teenager when in her teen years she often played characters who were older, or least more poised and sophisticated.  Very light, natural-looking makeup, a tan, and her loose woodsman’s buckskins covering her shape help to create this illusion, but two things she does herself complete the picture—her animated expressions which, with the innocence of youth, do not mask her emotions, but let us see every flickering thought passing through her mind, and also the way she moves.  With an animal-like ease and strength, she lives the outdoor life like someone completely at home in the woods, not stomping about in her buckskin with exaggerated mannishness like Doris Day in Calamity Jane, but hiking, climbing on rocks, and running with the grace of an athlete. 



The picture of her seeming physical change was overshadowed in the press of the day, which took greater notice, with greater surprise, at her singing voice.  This was her first big singing role after her one song in The Great Caruso.  A review in the St. Petersburg (Florida) Times:



The surprise in Rose Marie is Ann Blyth’s singing voice, which is gloriously pitched, full, and strong.



The “new Ann Blyth” of the headline “New Ann Blyth Emerges in Classical Rose Marie,” (in pretty much every film she did she was always “new”), emphatically declares herself with her first song, the exhilarating “Free to Be Free.”  Just like the character Rose Marie, who wants to live life in the wild without being forced into a “ladylike” life of restricted freedom in town, Ann Blyth is declaring her freedom in a way that says, “Look at me.  I can really sing.  This is my movie.”  Her range is quite demonstrably large in this song, even drifting down into the mezzo area, and her control is stunning, bang-on notes with no vibrato or trilling.  It’s a magnificent delivery and a great song to come charging out of the gate in this movie, as if to make the audience take notice—this is Rose Marie, the old chestnut you thought you knew, but didn’t.

Wednesday, October 3, 2018

Ann Blyth and Robert Stack on radio - 1953



Here is a studio portrait of Ann Blyth from 1953.  She had transitioned from her longtime contract at Universal and had begun her new contract at M-G-M.  Her first film for them was released this year, All the Brothers Were Valiant.  She was still doing quite a bit of radio at this time, with at least half a dozen radio guest appearances in 1953.  One of these was a dramatic episode of Family Theater titled "Round Trip."  From the listing in my book Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star.:


Family Theater.  March 25, 1953.  “Round Trip.”  Ann and Robert Stack play former lovers whose chance meeting on a commuter train brings back memories of their pre-war romance.  Jack Bailey is host.  Interesting script by Martha Wilkerson, and well-acted by the two-person cast in a presentation that is thought provoking and intimate.


You can listen to the episode here, and even download it to your computer from the site, Old Time Radio Downloads.

Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Behind the scenes on KATIE DID IT


A few weeks ago we linked to the charming Katie Did It (1951) on YouTube. Here is a behind-the-scenes shot from 1950, Photoplay magazine, with Ann Blyth with co-star Mark Stevens and director Fred De Cordova.  

From my book, Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. --


Another mark of a spirited girl under the guise of prim librarian, is the scene when, parking the town “bookmobile” van by a secluded stream tucked into a wooded area, Ann takes a break from her duties on this hot summer day to strip and take a swim.  Of course, it isn’t long before the visitor from New York [Mark Stevens], with his fishing tackle, strolls by and notices the pile of women’s garments on the rock, topped by the hat he purchased.  Bemused, he sits down at her swimming hole to fish, and she is aghast, ordering him away.  He does not ogle her, or threaten to take her clothes, or any of the usual pranks of having the upper hand in this situation.  He teases her only a moment, then leaves with, “I’ll leave you with the hope that I’ll be seeing more of you.”

Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Back to school - Ann as Sally in Sally and Saint Anne (1952)


Back to school this week with Ann Blyth as the awkward Sally in the surprisingly screwball comedy SALLY AND SAINT ANNE (1952).  From my book, Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star.:


Sally and Saint Anne (1952) is a sweet and silly souvenir of a time when movies unabashedly basked in a warm glow of nostalgia even if the story was intended to be current and modern.  We have the strange feeling watching this that the filmmakers knew they were preserving an era, and we, the audience in the future, are the proverbial fly on the wall.  As such, we may enjoy it more than the original audience did. 



Though one could call this a family movie, in a time when most films were suitable for the whole family this quiet little gem is unfettered by the dubious yoke of being wholesome.  It is wholesome, too, but it is also a sly parody of doctrine, dogma, and a boldly tongue-in-cheek look at the peculiarities of the highly ritualistic Catholic faith.  As such, it is as courageously unselfconscious about what it is as is the main character—a teenage girl pursuing an unselfconscious friendship with a saint to whom she prays, and her family of screwballs unselfconsciously pursuing their own happiness...

Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Contest winner!


I'm very happy to announce that the winner of the free book, Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star.  is Sam H.!

My congratulations to him, and thank you very much to all of you who entered.

Just a reminder, the month-long sale on the eBook version will end Friday, August 31st, after which the price will go up, so be sure to obtain your copy while it's still selling for $2.99.  You can get your eBook at these online shops:




Monday, August 27, 2018

One more day to WIN!

One more day to enter raffle to win FREE eBook or audio book - Your choice of either a paperback version of Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. (mailed to you), or the audiobook version narrated by actress Toni Lewis (sent directly to your email for download to your computer, iPad, or phone).  Just send me an email saying you want to enter the contest.  I'll draw the name of the winner out of a hat on Wednesday, August 29th.  JacquelineTLynch@gmail.com

Wednesday, August 22, 2018

A new review! - Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star.


A new review of Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. has been posted on author David C. Tucker's blog here.  Please go have a look.


To continue our celebration of Ann's 90th birthday, I'm giving away a present to one lucky winner:  Your choice of either a paperback version of Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. (mailed to you), or the audiobook version narrated by actress Toni Lewis (sent directly to your email for download to your computer, iPad, or phone).  Just send me an email saying you want to enter the contest.  I'll draw the name of the winner out of a hat next week on Wednesday, July 29th.  
Good luck!  

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For the entire month of August, the eBook version of Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. will be reduced by 70% to $2.99. This special sale continues only this month, and only for the eBook version.

You can get your copy here at these online retailers:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

Apple iBooks

Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Ann Blyth's 90th Birthday - Giveaway!



Tomorrow, August 16th, Ann Blyth will celebrate her 90th birthday.  We know her family and friends will surely celebrate the milestone, but one hopes Ann and her loved ones might also enjoy the thought that her fans around the world will also note the occasion and wish her a very happy 90th birthday.

Five years ago I was mulling over a new topic for my Another Old Movie Blog and decided to post about a couple Ann Blyth films.  It was pure serendipity, or a blessing, that I stumbled upon a journey of discovery that fascinated, and moved me, and enriched my small personal world to the point where I find myself grateful not only to an actress from the glory days of Hollywood's celebrated studio system, but to her fans who've shared so much with me in terms of their memorabilia, their memories, and their enthusiasm.

What I've found most appealing about Ann Blyth is more than her obvious talent; it is her work ethic, her decency, and kindliness.  

But my exploration into her career with weekly blog posts, that developed into a book, was more than just an exercise in fandom.  It was an investigation and analysis of twentieth-century popular entertainment through told through the career trajectory of one actress.

It began like this:

This is also going to be a series, by default, about acting in the 20th century. Actors, from the beginning of the trade, have struggled to find work, struggled in their performing to find fulfillment in self-expression, and then struggled to find the next job. The 20th century, for the first time in the history of theatre, exploded with new outlets for actors beyond the proscenium. “The theatre” became “the media.”

Movies, radio, television—our entertainment industry became America’s greatest export to the world, for better and for worse.  I want to examine this watershed century in the acting profession and the media through the career of one actress, and am particularly drawn to Ann Blyth for different reasons; including that she moved comfortably between the different media and excelled at each, and because long after she performed in her last movie she continued to work when it suited her, on television and most especially, the stage, including plays, musicals, concerts, night clubs and cabaret.  Throw in a few TV commercials, and you can see she tagged all the bases.

And something else...something intangible and perhaps only evident when you stack her performances on a timeline: if you know Ann Blyth only through her frothy MGM musicals, you don't know Ann Blyth.  
In dramas she has morphed into the epitome of hateful, sensual, heartbroken, and shamed.  If you know her only as the demon teen Veda in Mildred Pierce, you don't know Ann Blyth.  The same colossal greedy train wreck of a girl who spit invective at Joan Crawford and smacked her in the jaw also performed a night club act to enthusiastic crowds in Las Vegas, bringing them to tears with the sentimental "Auld Lang Syne" and sang at the California state fair.  If you only know her from The Helen Morgan Story or melodramas, you are missing her genuine gift for screwball comedy.  Sinking herself intellectually, just as much as emotionally into these roles, she swims against the powerful and unrelenting current of studio typecasting. 


The scene of her debut was radio variety and drama, the true child of the 20th century that, with few exceptions, became orphaned long before the century was over.  It trained her to use her voice, not only as a singer, but as a character...
Ann Blyth’s career is interesting for its length—she began at six years old on radio; for its diversity—she leapfrogged from radio to Broadway to Hollywood before she became an adult, then jumped into a variety of screen roles in that common struggle not to be typecast, and continued, during and after raising her family, to appear on television and the stage.  Along with her seemingly effortless versatility, most especially laudable is her ability to successfully keep in perspective her career and private life—yet nothing is simple about the way we weave our lives, particularly for someone who juggled so much even from a very young age.

Her ambition certainly, but also her self-discipline and work ethic, perhaps sense of responsibility to her mother, to directors, fellow performers, her husband and children, her faith--must have been enormous…
In her senior years, celebrated as a veteran of old Hollywood at benefits or being interviewed at film festivals, Ann Blyth is invariably described as elegant, classy, drawing awed remarks on her still stunning beauty.  Even more thought-provoking is her character and the career choices she’s made.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”

To continue our celebration of Ann's birthday, I'm giving away a present to one lucky winner:  Your choice of either a paperback version of Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. (mailed to you), or the audiobook version narrated by actress Toni Lewis (sent directly to your email for download to your computer, iPad, or phone).  Just send me an email saying you want to enter the contest.  I'll draw the name of the winner out of a hat in two weeks on Wednesday, July 29th.  
Good luck!  
And Happy Birthday, Ann!

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For the entire month of August, the eBook version of Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. will be reduced by 70% to $2.99. This special sale continues only this month, and only for the eBook version.

You can get your copy here at these online retailers:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

Apple iBooks

Wednesday, August 8, 2018

Katie Did It - 1951 - watch the movie!


Ann Blyth will be 90 years old next Thursday on August 16th. I posted a Universal publicity photo last week that was taken just before Katie Did It (1951) when Ann was about 22 years old. In the YouTube video above, you can watch the entire movie.  

For the entire month of August, the eBook version of Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. will be reduced by 70% to $2.99. This special sale continues only this month, and only for the eBook version.

You can get your copy here at these online retailers:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

Apple iBooks

Wednesday, August 1, 2018

Ann Blyth's upcoming milestone birthday - and a celebration sale!


Ann Blyth will reach a milestone birthday this month - she will be 90 years old on August 16th.  The Universal publicity photo above was taken just before Katie Did It (1951) when Ann was about 22 years old.

We'll celebrate her upcoming birthday the next few weeks with a few special posts both here and on my Another Old Movie Blog - where my Year of Ann Blyth series led to my book on Ann's career -- Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star.

For the entire month of August, the eBook version of Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. will be reduced by 70% to $2.99.  This special sale continues only this month, and only for the eBook version.

You can get your copy here at these online retailers:





Thursday, July 19, 2018

Time Travel romance - I'll Never Forget You


A lovely publicity shot for I'll Never Forget You (1951) with Tyrone Power as a modern-day time-traveler and Ann Blyth as the woman he falls in love with in the eighteenth century.  It is a beautifully filmed movie, with the eighteenth century part of the story filmed in color, bookended by modern opening and closing scenes shot in black and white, not unlike The Wizard of Oz (1939).

From my book on Ann's career:  Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star.:

Miss Blyth is fascinating to watch—all the cast are excellent—but she has a lot to convey and make us believe and she has to do this under acting restrictions that the other more emotional and physically expressive characters don’t have. Her character is sheltered, demure, and gentle, all qualities which can only be indicated by her posture, her voice, and disciplined economy of movement. She walks softly, sits and stands with a ramrod-straight back, lowers her eyes at moments of mature discretion, a minimalist way of telling us who she is and what her world is like. Her lovely face melts into a smirk at one of Tyrone’s naïve attempts to “catch on” to this old way of life. She also has intelligence, and a sense of humor, making her the most reasonable and capable member of her family. In trusting Tyrone and his tales of a future world, she is also the most courageous. 

Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Ann's Mermaid Swim


Ann Blyth in an underwater shot publicity photo as Lenore the Mermaid in Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (1948).  The warmer days have many of us wishing to go swimming, but perhaps not like the conditions under which Ann went for this swim in the studio set pool.  From my book, Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star.:

Lead weights were placed in the bottom of the tail by her feet—some references say thirty pounds, some say fifty pounds—to keep the rubber tail, and the person wearing it, from floating to the surface of the water.  Sounds as ominous as stories of mobsters fitting their victims with “cement shoes.” 

...[Co-star Andrea] King recalled that though the tank was supposed to be heated, the water heater malfunctioned and the water was quite cold in the tank.  “So we tried anyway for about half an hour, but Annie and I just went numb.  I think she got terribly sick after that.”

If you have the good luck to go swimming soon, leave the fish tail at home and don't forget the sunscreen.

Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Ann and Mr. Powell, or Mr. Peabody, go for a sail...


Here is mermaid Ann Blyth sailing with William Powell in a delightful publicity shot from Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (1948).  This is not part of the Turner Classic Movies library and doesn't seem to get much play on the retro channels, but happily the VHS version is still available and this movie came out on DVD in 2014.  Many of Ann Blyth's movies are not shown on TCM - as most were from Universal and a certain legal quagmire has kept them from us - but bit by bit, more of her films are slowly being released on DVD.  If you haven't seen this one, I hope you can soon.



It was a pinnacle of a kind, and the beginning of new trail. After a string of six heavy dramas that gave her intense roles to prove herself a major up and coming actress, her last film before
Red Canyon, Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid, was a complete change that charmed the public and clued-in the studio that Ann was also athletic, and that her beauty was as much an asset to selling a film as her acting skill. Her trim body, also, could lend itself to more than posing in a crisp noir wardrobe.

It also reminded the studio that she was young. In those dramas, from
Mildred Pierce through Another Part of the Forest, Ann’s characters were increasingly poised, knowing, sophisticated, and wore a mantle of worldly experience even though in real life she was still some years away from being old enough to vote. Her characters were restless, mean, sad, tragic.


Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid, because of her fanciful character and its exotic costuming, her silent communication through her expressive face, and the joyful silliness of the plot, actually managed to re-set the clock on her screen sophistication. She was suddenly much younger again.

Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Ann and pal Donald O'Connor


Fifteen-year-old Ann Blyth and lifelong pal Donald O'Connor in a publicity shot for The Merry Monahans (1944), Ann's second movie.  Unfortunately, her first four films, all musicals made at Universal, are currently unavailable on DVD and are not shown on TCM.


"The first four movies, all musicals, that Ann made for Universal were Chip off the Old Block, The Merry Monahans, Babes on Swing Street, and Bowery to Broadway, and were all released in 1944.  Donald O’Connor was in most of them and the studio was in a race to crank out as many films with him as possible before he entered the Army Air Corps late in 1944.

Donald O’Connor is quoted in Dick Moore’s book Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star—But Don’t Have Sex or Take the Car:

They tried to finish all those pictures before I went into the service.  We worked three pictures at one time: the one coming up, the one we were doing, and we dubbed the one we’d just finished.  That’s all we did: work.  It’s amazing we had as much fun as we did, grinding them out like that.

Ann recalled the studio regimen for television talk show host Vicki Lawrence in 1993, noting that when involved in a picture they worked six days a week, which included Saturday:

“Sunday was the day to do the laundry, and sleep hopefully for a few extra hours.”

Despite MGM’s glossier and more famous “Andy Hardy” series, according to author Bernard F. Dick in City of Dreams-The Making and Remaking ofUniversal Pictures:

Universal movies featured more teenagers and young adults than any other studio—Deanna Durbin, Donald O’Connor, Peggy Ryan, Susanna Foster, Grace MacDonald, Ann Blyth…Gloria Jean…

Universal already had its youth unit, The Jivin’ Jacks and Jills, and the young dramatic stage actress, who it was discovered could also sing, was plunked into this energetic world of home front teens just shy of draft age.  Ann would recall these films as “good learning experiences.”

Chip off the Old Block, released February 1944, in her very first film, gives her third billing after Donald O’Connor and Peggy Ryan—above the title.  At some point in the frenetic assembly line, the studio decided she was worth the notice..."

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Ann and Farley Granger on the beach - OUR VERY OWN


Ann Blyth and Farley Granger share a quiet moment at the beach in OUR VERY OWN (1950).  The pleasant scene is a hopeful reminder to those of us looking forward to summer.  We currently find ourselves in the midst of graduation season, and this film also evokes the momentous occasion of high school graduation, not only for the senior class on the threshold of adulthood, but for their families experiencing ever-changing dynamics.

The heartwarming comedy quickly shifts to a tense drama as a rift in the family occurs and Ann's character is told by a vengeful sister that she was adopted.  Ann's search for her "real" parents and her re-discovery of only family she's ever known is a thoughtful and reflective slice of life.  From my book, Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star.:

Our Very Own (1950) is like opening up a time capsule and seeing the world as it was in a year that began a new decade, that oddly seems at once to look ahead bearing unconscious predictions—and, also, to take a brief glance over the shoulder at a world that was about to be relegated to memory and family snapshots.  This film is about a teenager who discovers she was adopted, but it is not about adoption.  It is about belonging, about losing one’s identity and finding one’s place in the new thing called the nuclear family, which would play such an important part of our national identity in the 1950s and ‘60s.  

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Two Ann Blyth Movies Next Week on TCM!



If it's Mother's Day, then you know Turner Classic Movies will be featuring our favorite mother-daughter drama, Mildred Pierce (1945).  Joan Crawford imparts some motherly advice to young Ann in the photo above, but we know darn well the girl has ideas of her own. Tune in Sunday, May 13th at 8 p.m. ET.


We get a chaser, however, the very next day, Monday the 14th, when TCM will be showing The King's Thief (1955) co-starring David Niven as the corrupt official in the reign of King Charles II in this lavish costume piece.  Tune in Monday, May 14th at 9:45 a.m. ET.

For more on these films, see my book, Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star.