Brute Force - Ann Blyth and Burt Lancaster

Ann Blyth and Burt Lancaster in a publicity photo for Brute Force (1947).  They were cast together for the only time, but producer Mark Hellinger apparently voiced plans to create a new movie romantic team.  From my book, Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star.:

Producer Mark Hellinger may have had yet another reason for putting Ann Blyth and Burt Lancaster together.  He had hired her for Swell Guy (1947), and him for The Killers (1946).  They were two of Universal’s most talented up and coming stars, and he may have wanted to turn them into a team.  According to syndicated gossip columnist Dorothy Manners who wrote this in May 1946:

Mark Hellinger, always good for a bright idea, said to me, “Where are those swell romantic teams that used to make the fans goggle-eyed over their love scenes…It’s time the love team is revived on screen,” and Mark is the boy who is going to do it with his two young stars, Ann Blyth and Burt Lancaster…he wants to make three or four with Ann and Burt....

Their romantic team never did materialize.  Both went on to other films, and Mark Hellinger, who might have made a pet project of bringing them together again on screen, tragically died about six months after Brute Force was released.   


Brute Force will be shown on Turner Classic Movies this coming Monday, December 4th, at 6:15 p.m. ET.

LAST DAY OF SALE of eBook!

LAST DAY SALE- Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. eBook at half price! Available at Amazon including new "X-Ray" function with descriptions of names, places, & events. In case you didn't know what the Copacabana was.

Happy Thanksgiving...and a sale!

Here's Ann Blyth with the fall harvest --  and I wish American readers a Happy Thanksgiving. It's a festive studio publicity photo, notable for its lack of cheesecake posing and cornball posturing with such props as a turkey on a leash, a musket, or an ax with which to kill the unsuspecting turkey. There was nothing like holidays to bring out the zaniness of studio photographers.

I'll take this opportunity to mention as well that for the next several days, through Monday, November 27th, the eBook version of Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. will be available at Amazon for half price.  Amazon has also included my book in its new "X-Ray" function for eBooks which will allow for descriptions and explanations of names, places, and events by holding down on a highlighted word, to enhance your reading experience.  Enjoy!

Ann Blyth at premiere of Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid

Here's a shot of Ann Blyth at the premiere of Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (1948).  Among the attendees here are Susan Hayward and her husband Jess Barker.  Note the formal dress in more glamorous days, though we might wonder at the fur stole in what was likely the summer of 1948.

We discuss Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid at my Another Old Movie Blog here, and in my book Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star.  Ann is considerably more covered up at the premiere than she was in the water.

Ann Blyth on Most Beautiful Women in Hollywood List

Ann Blyth was featured on a list of "The 12 Most Beautiful Women in Hollywood" by Photoplay magazine in December 1951.  It's an interesting list, and she appears in the number 2 slot after Ava Gardner.  The rest, in order behind her are Elizabeth Taylor, Arlene Dahl, Linda Darnell, Joan Crawford, Mona Freeman, Loretta Young, Marlene Dietrich, Susan Hayward, Rita Hayworth, and Deborah Kerr.

Though articles involving "experts" panels, even among photographers, more likely reflect popularity contests among the fans or effective barracking by the studios, we do see a reflection of what made for popular appeal in 1951 (though classic film fans today would regard glamour as timeless, surely).

From the article by Vicky Riley:

"Ann Blyth has flawless facial attributes," said one photographer, "but it is something beyond her bone structure and her exquisite, dusky coloring that makes her a great beauty -- an inner spiritual beauty which illumines her face."

Another said, "Ann symbolizes the dream of all of us.  Sher personifies everything that girls of her age want to be.  She is the girl boys desire for a wife.  And she is the girl parents want for a daughter."

She was also a photographer's dream.

Babes on Swing Street poster

This noisy and eye-catching poster for Babes on Swing Street (1944) captures the diverting nature of both the somewhat chaotic plot of the merry tale and the stream of bouncy teen talent that makes up our cast.  From my book Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star.:

Though MGM grabbed the “lion’s” share of attention when it came to so-called “backyard musicals,” it was really Universal that produced more teenage talent.  When Deanna Durbin abandoned Hollywood, the void was filled not by a single replacement, but by a cadre of young adults.  The ritzy sopranos listed above were joined by Grace MacDonald, Donald O’Connor, and Peggy Ryan, and The Jivin’ Jacks and Jills. 


Babes on Swing Street (a cheeky coincidence but no relation to MGM’s Babes in Arms, Babes on Broadway, etc.), starred Peggy Ryan and Ann... Except for the old one-reeler comedies with Zasu Pitts and Thelma Todd, it was uncommon for a female buddy team to carry a movie and be given top billing together.  To be sure, this was low budget rather than A list, and the predominantly youthful cast and focus on ambitious teens “making good”...



Directed by Edward C. Lilley, the movie lasts just over an hour, and though brief, is stuffed with songs, gags, and a plot somewhere in there if one looks hard enough.  Peggy Ryan is the president of kids’ club at the local settlement house where teens meet to play ping pong and get off the streets.  They are also all very talented singers, musicians, and tap dancers, and want to “make good.”  A music academy (headed by Ian Wolfe) will give ten of them partial scholarships if they can come up with the rest of the tuition.

Ann hangs out at the settlement house, too, but she’s a rich girl who lives with a domineering aunt, played by Alma Kruger, and befuddled uncle, played by Leon Erroll.  Her attempts to help the kids are constantly rebuffed by the resident heartthrob played by Billy Dunn, who resents her for her wealth.  Why she’s stuck on this unpleasant boy, and why he suddenly turns around and falls for her at the end is never really clear.  He just does, probably because she’s the soprano...