Presenting the Beautiful Bebe Daniels..

Welcome to the first segment of Silent Saturdays in 2014. It has been a while since we did a Silent Saturdays post, our last one being done on the Master of the Monster, Boris Karloff. We are ready to kick off the new year with a beautiful star of the silent era whose career began over one hundred years ago...

Bebe Daniels

Born January 14, 1901

Died March 16, 1971

Hollywood knew her as Bebe Daniels, but she was born in Dallas, Texas in 1901, and the people there knew her as Phyllis Virginia Daniels. Daniels was born into the theater, some might even say born to be a star. Her father managed his own theater in Dallas, and her mother was an actress. Her parents made the decision to relocate to California for film opportunities when she was still very young. It was in Los Angeles that Daniels first began her career as a child actor. She was only 4 years old when she appeared in the first film production of The Squaw Man (1906), which was based on a play of the same name that had been written the previous year. That particular film would gain more interest through a remake later on in 1914. Later in 1906, her mother accompanied her on a theatrical tour of Richard III, a famous play by William Shakespeare. Though still quite small, Daniels acted in more Shakespearean plays in the following years. Gradually she began to take on small parts in various films, until she was cast in her first lead role at the age of 7 in the motion picture A Common Enemy (1908). She then acquired another lead part, this time in a short picture, as Dorothy Gale in the first motion picture release of The Wizard of Oz (1910), at the tender age of 9. Although those notable roles were important to building her career, nothing was so important as the recurring role that would really put her in the spotlight.

In 1913, one of the most rapidly rising stars of the silent era, Harold Lloyd, began the search for a female costar. He knew he had to find the perfect actress, and he knew that Daniels was exactly what he was looking for. She began working with Lloyd at the age of 14, the two first appearing together in a two-reel film called Giving Them Fits (1915). The two went on to make many more two-reel comedies together. They were not only a good team professionally, but the two also began a romantic relationship, which was highly publicized for that time period. The public affectionately referred to them as "The Boy" and "The Girl." Daniels always recalled her days working with Lloyd with great fondness, but she knew even in the very beginning that she could not stay with him forever. Lloyd was the king of comedy. He had found his niche in Hollywood, and due to his immense success in that genre, he had no intention of moving on to anything else. Daniels, on the other hand, still wished to be working on bigger budget motion pictures. She wanted to break into the darker world of drama, with genuinely emotional parts, and more dynamic characters.

So, in 1919, with a heavy heart but also high hopes, Daniels finished her contract with Lloyd and said goodbye to sign a contract with Cecil B. DeMille. She had smaller parts with him in the films Male and Female (1919), Why Change Your Wife? (1920), and The Affairs of Anatol (1921). A short time later she was offered a contract with Paramount Pictures, which she wisely accepted. It was with that studio that she was finally given the roles she was longing for, and finally broke free from her childhood star status with more adult and complex roles. She played

parts in films such as You Can Never Tell (1920), Ducks and Drakes (1921), and Nice People (1922). Her momentum was gaining with each new picture she released. In 1924 she was cast alongside legendary silent film actor Rudolph Valentino in the motion picture Monsieur Beaucaire (1924). This was exactly the kind of opportunity that she had been looking for, and which she undoubtedly would never have had if she had not made the decision to leave Lloyd and his studio.

Daniels remained with Paramount for the majority of the 1920s. In 1929, the studio decided to try going in a different direction with the development of sound equipment, so they terminated her contract. She was quickly picked up by Radio (RKO) Pictures. Not only that, but they immediately cast her in one of their biggest blockbuster pictures of the year. She survived the transition into talkies, and did so well that RKO even cast her in musicals such as Dixiana (1930). Musicals understandably had booming success rates when talkies first hit the scene, but that did not last terribly long. Unfortunately, Daniels had excelled in musicals at RKO so that when they decided to stop making them, they also couldn't decide what to do with her, so they released her. Warner Brothers was already waiting to offer her a contract. With them she starred in such films as Honor the Family (1931), and the first film production of The Maltese Falcon (1931), which was produced and released before the Motion Picture Production Code came into effect. She stayed with Warner Brothers for several years, her last picture with them being Registered Nurse (1934). The following year she officially retired from the film industry.

Daniels had met fellow actor Ben Lyon several years previously, and the two of them married in 1930. They both made the decision to go into retirement together. Following this decision, the two of them moved to London, England. While living in Europe, the couple worked together for BBC Radio. Their most successful venture with BBC was the series Hi Gang!, which Daniels wrote herself. When WWII hit Europe, especially England, Daniels and her husband devoted their time and work to war efforts aiding the allies. Not everything she did for them is known, although it has been historically noted that she was the first woman to set foot on the shore of Normandy after the invasion. Whatever work she did, it culminated in the honor of receiving the Medal of Freedom from Harry S. Truman for her services. Daniels remained in Europe until the war ended in 1945, and then she and her husband and 2 children returned to the United States. She found herself in Hollywood once again, working as a producer for Hal Roach and Eagle-Lion Films. She was quickly reminded of why she had decided to go into retirement in the first place, and returned to England 3 years later. Once reestablished in the UK, she and her family had moderate success with a sitcom called Life With The Lyons, which lasted for 10 years. She lived out the rest of her days in London with her family. On March 16, 1971, Bebe Daniels passed away due to a cerebral hemorrhage. She was 70 years old.

After her passing she was cremated and her ashes were transported back to the United States, to be interred in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in honor of her achievements in the film industry--a total of 78 major motion pictures, 1 produced motion picture, and decades of successful radio programming.

Over 60 of her films were silent.

"...Someday I want to do really big things."

-Bebe Daniels

"When I was a little girl, I played in a great many Shakespearean plays, and when I saw 'Viola,' and 'Portia' and 'Juliet' presented in such a beautiful manner, I hoped with all my might that when I grew up, I too might play such parts."

-Bebe Daniels

"Now go out there and be so swell that you'll make me hate you."

-Bebe Daniels

New year, new look...

Hello everyone!

Happy 2014!

We are excited to post this first entry of the new year, even if it is fairly small and seemingly insignificant.

Thank you once again for participating in another immensely successful year of A Very Vintage Christmas throughout the month of December.

Have you noticed the new look here on the site? This will be our design for 2014, and we are excited that you finally get to see.

Things will run according to a regular schedule beginning in February, with regular Star of the Month and Movie of the Month posts. We would also like to begin Silent Saturday segments again, which would be once a month. You can also be looking forward to a classically sweet post in honor of Valentine's Day within the next couple weeks.

We are ready to take part in all kinds of classic adventures with you in 2014!

Stay tuned!

Keep updated with us!

Did you know we have a Twitter AND a Facebook account?

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"Move yer bloomin arse!"

It's finally here! The first segment of Musical Mondays!

And we're so glad that you're here to join us.

We figured that for our first segment ever, we would just jump right in with one of our favorites,

so without further ado...

My Fair Lady

1964

Starring Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Stanley Holloway, and Gladys Cooper

In 1964, yet another film adaptation of the famous play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw was released. Though under the different name of My Fair Lady, it tells the same story with the same beloved characters.

Set in the early 1900s, My Fair Lady is about a young Englishwoman who struggles with her social status since she is poor and has a Cockney accent. One evening, a man by the name of Professor Henry Higgins (Harrison), a teacher in diction and elocution who possesses a very short temper, is accompanied by a friend named Colonel Hugh Pickering (Hyde-White), who is also a phonetics expert. The two of them are standing out in the open, discussing their similar interests when Professor Higgins voices his opinion that the only thing that truly determines one's place within society is the way they speak. Colonel Pickering, disbelieving, is assured by Professor Higgins that he could take any common girl off the street and give her lessons so that in time she could be passed off as "a duchess at an embassy ball." Enter Eliza Doolittle (Hepburn). To prove that he is not joking, Professor Higgins singles out Eliza who has a particularly bad Cockney accent. When he tells her what he and the Colonel are discussing, she also thinks he is mad. Plus she is too proud to accept his help, which suits Professor Higgins just fine because he was just pointing her out as an example.

Yet, even after Eliza has parted ways with the two gentlemen, she cannot seem to get the idea out of her head...She is a respectable girl who just has an unfortunate accent. But if Professor Higgins was telling the truth, then she could go to him for lessons and finally get a proper position instead of just selling flowers on the street. She decides to approach Professor Higgins in the hopes of taking him up on his offer. She dresses in her shabby best and makes her way to his house. Eliza tells him that she is a respectable girl who wishes to have speaking lessons and is willing to pay for them. Professor Higgins attempts to brush her aside, not having the time or the patience for her and her pittance of one shilling per lesson, but she refuses to leave. Finally, Colonel Pickering, who is staying with Professor Higgins for the time being, accuses Professor Higgins of not wanting to teach the girl because he thinks he can't do it. So, he offers to pay for Eliza's lessons himself, and encourages Professor Higgins to take the offer. Higgins, insulted that the Colonel thinks he could not make good his boast, finally agrees.

From that time on, Eliza moves into Professor Higgins' house. Day and night, the relentless professor makes her slave away with exercises to improve her speech. She speaks into a recorder for hours pronouncing her vowels, tries to speak with marbles in her mouth in order to enunciate, spends her evenings trying to say little ditties like, "the rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain" to further help with her vowels, or "how KIND of you to let me come" to teach her inflection. She spends most of her days in tears because Professor Higgins is so harsh with her. All three of them--Eliza, Professor Higgins, and Colonel Pickering--are beginning to feel utterly hopeless about the whole idea one evening when finally, finally, Eliza understands. Everything just sort of clicks in her brain and she begins to speak properly.

Eliza keeps working and practicing, and therefore improving. Professor Higgins decides to take her for a "test run," so to speak, and tells her she is going to Ascot to see how she does in public with real members of the upper class. Colonel Pickering pulls out all the stops and makes sure she is dressed for the part. On the day of the event, it is obvious that she still needs to practice, yet she makes a favorable impression with everyone present until she gets caught up watching the race and shouts, "Come on, Dover! Move yer bloomin' arse!" Professor Higgins and Colonel Pickering take her home to continue to work so that she will be ready for the embassy ball.

The evening of the ball comes and it is evident that Eliza has undergone a complete transformation. She is beautiful, with the manners of a genteel upper class woman, and a speaking voice to match. Higgins and Pickering take her to the ball and everyone there is intrigued by her. She is a big hit, and even dances with a prince from another country. Professor Higgins and Colonel Pickering are relieved that she is doing so well. They have a slight moment of tension when she begins to dance with a foreign phonetics expert. However, once the expert says that he is sure that she must be a foreign dignitary of royal blood, Professor Higgins is over the moon. He is ecstatic and when they arrive back at the house late in the evening, he is in a celebratory mood. Eliza, however, is not. She is hurt and frustrated that all of the credit is going to Professor Higgins, while no one shows any appreciation for her or the hard work and effort she put into her lessons, nor her dedication to learn. In fact, Professor Higgins is just as harsh to her after her accomplishments as he was before. The two of them argue, and she walks out on him.

At first, Eliza returns to her home, but she realizes that with her new speaking voice, education and wardrobe, she does not belong there anymore. Not knowing where else to go, Eliza goes to the home of Henry's mother, whom she met at Ascot. Professor Higgins follows her there and the two have a confrontation that does not end well, as she walks out on him again. Professor Higgins returns home telling himself that it's of little to no importance because she's bound to come crawling back to him after all that he has done for her. But as he is faced with the silence of his big, empty house, he comes face-to-face with the realization that it is of great importance to him whether or not she comes back, because he actually cares for her. What if it wasn't an empty threat? What if she really never did come back and he never saw her again? Just then, Eliza surprises him by walking into his study.

"Eliza, you are to stay here for the next six months learning to speak beautifully, like a lady in a florist's shop. If you work hard and do as you're told, you shall sleep in a proper bedroom, have lots to eat, and money to buy chocolates and go for rides in taxis. But if you are naughty and idle, you shall sleep in the back kitchen amongst the black beetles, and be walloped by Mrs. Pearce with a broomstick. At the end of six months you will be taken to Buckingham Palace, in a carriage, beautifully dressed. If the king finds out you are not a lady, you will be taken to the Tower of London where your head will be cut off as a warning to other presumptuous flower girls! But if you are not found out, you shall have a present of...ah...seven and six to start life with as a lady in a shop. If you refuse this offer, you will be the most ungrateful, wicked girl, and the angels will weep for you."

-Professor Henry Higgins

My Fair Lady is a wonderful, fun musical full of humor and a tiny hint of romance. It was nominated for 12 Oscars and won 8 including the Academy Award for Best Picture, and the Academy Award for Original Music Score. If you aren't really accustomed to watching a musical, then we think My Fair Lady would be a perfect starting point.

We will be posting musical tracks from the motion picture on our Facebook page later this evening:

Think Classic Facebook

You can watch the official trailer for My Fair Lady here:

"Winter must be so cold for those with no warm memories.."

A Very Vintage Christmas post #7

Today is December 15th, so we've got 10 days til Christmas!

Crazy!

An Affair to Remember

1957

Starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr

During a winter holiday on board a cruise ship heading from Europe to New York City, an unlikely pair meets and falls in love. Nickie Ferrante (Grant) is a very wealthy, playboy, socialite. Terry McKay (Kerr) is just your average, beautiful, well-educated woman. The only problem is that Nickie is in a very well publicized relationship, headed to the altar in a short period of time, and Terry is also in a relationship.

The two of them can't deny their attraction and feelings for one another, so just before the ship arrives in New York they make a deal. In six months' time, if they still want to be with each other and they can get themselves respectable careers, then they will meet at the top of the Empire State Building and get married.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and the two meditate on their feelings each day that they are apart. Nickie decides to actually do something with his life and becomes an artist. At the end of six months the two are both excited and anxious to meet one another just as they planned. Nickie arrives at the top of the Empire State Building first, so he waits. Terry is just a few blocks away, within sight of the building. In her excitement, she is looking up as she is running across the street and she gets hit by a car. She survives, but she is taken away for special treatment. Nickie is shown waiting at the top of the building, not knowing what is happening as sirens are heard from down below.

Some time later it is shown that Terry, now a teacher, is confined to a wheelchair. It is also revealed that she never contacted Nickie to tell him what happened because she didn't want him to see her as an invalid. At the beginning of the Christmas holidays later that year, Nickie and Terry both happen to attend the same ballet. Terry is still in her theater seat when he sees her, so he still has no knowledge of her condition. Bitter, believing she just stood him up that summer, he simply nods and says, "Hello," as he passes.

On Christmas Eve, Terry is at home by herself in her apartment when she gets a visitor. Nickie looked up her address and came to confront her about why she stood him up that day. He tries to bring up the subject, but she dodges all his questions, not wishing to talk about it. eventually he puts all of the clues together, and sees her wheelchair in her room, finally realizing that she never intended to leave him there. Completely apologetic, the two of them embrace and the movie ends on the positive note that as long as Nickie can paint and they can work on it together, then Terry can learn to walk again.

There are certainly sad parts to this movie, but it is also very heartwarming. There is a lot of wit and humor, and of course it is a romance with a happy ending.

To view the trailer, click this link:

An Affair to Remember trailer

If you are interested in giving this as a gift, or just in buying it for yourself, you can price/buy it if you click on this link:

Amazon: An Affair to Remember

Hope you enjoy this classic Christmas film.

Come back tomorrow for another post on a fun Christmas tradition.

And in the meantime, have A Very Vintage Christmas!

"Every time a bell rings, an angel gets it's wings.."

A Very Vintage Christmas post #1

It is officially the 1st of December, and therefore A Very Vintage Christmas starts RIGHT NOW!

And for the benefit of your knowledge, it is officially 25 days until Christmas.

It's A Wonderful Life

1946

Starring Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, and Henry Travers

George Bailey (Stewart) is an all-around genuinely good man. He is a loving husband, a doting father, an efficient and hardworking business man, and he always loves his neighbor as himself. He lives in a small town--the kind of town where everybody knows everybody else and their mother. Yes, George Bailey is your average, good man. But on Christmas Eve in 1946, prayers are sent to heaven asking God to help George who has found himself in a bit of trouble and is in desperate need of help and encouragement. So, after he is briefed on George, his background, and his situation, an angel by the name of Clarence Odbody (Travers) is sent to help him.

Clarence arrives just in time--as a dispirited, discouraged, and fearful George is just about to jump off of a bridge on the outskirts of town. Clarence comes out of nowhere and jumps into the freezing water instead, knowing that a man with a good heart like George will make it a priority to help someone else in need, despite his own troubles. That's exactly what happens. George pulls Clarence out and the latter informs him that he is George's guardian angel, sent to earth to help him and hopefully earn a set of wings in the process. George naturally doesn't believe it and thinks it much more likely that Clarence is some loony, old man. George is more dispirited than ever and he audibly wishes that he had never been born. Knowing that George does not understand the severity of his wish, Clarence grants it for a time, just to show George how different life would be and how his loved ones would fare if he had never existed at all.

So, Clarence serves as a kind of Ghost of Christmas Past and takes George to view his life without his presence. George is devastated by what he sees. He is forced to open his eyes and see that, no matter what troubles he is facing now, he still has so many blessings that outweigh them, and he has done so much good to so many other people. George sees that it was wrong to have contemplated taking his own life, because he still has a purpose. He becomes desperate to go back to the way things were, and to return to his life and his family, knowing that it will be worth it no matter what consequences he has to face.

His prayer is answered and he is granted his life once again. Overjoyed, he runs home through the snow-covered town. Authorities are at his home to arrest him when he arrives for the financial difficulties he was facing, but he is so happy to be reunited with his family that he does not even care--he just runs around the house, kissing his wife Mary (Reed) and their four children. And then, George fully realizes how wonderful his life really is when all of the townspeople arrive at his home with enough money to help him avoid his arrest.

The whole town, all gathered together in the Bailey house, begins to sing a Christmas carol and a bell is heard ringing, signifying that an angel somewhere has earned his wings.

If you are looking for a feel-good holiday movie to help you really get into the generous and grateful spirit of Christmas, then this is the perfect film for you. It is simple and sweet, with romance and humor, and just like every good Jimmy Stewart movie, it has a lesson to be learned.

If you would like to watch this movie right now, in it's entirety, please click on this link:

It's A Wonderful Life Full Movie

And, since Christmas is also the gift-giving season, if you're interested in pricing or buying this film then please click on this link:

BUY NOW: It's A Wonderful Life

Please check back with us again tomorrow afternoon for a post on a classic Christmas tradition.

And be sure to have yourselves A Very Vintage Christmas!

"She was so alive,modern,frank and natural...

...that she stands out like a beacon on a lightship in this odd place called Hollywood."

-Barbara Stanwyck on Carole Lombard

Carole Lombard

Born October 6, 1908

Died January 16, 1942

Jane Alice Peters was born not long after the turn of the century, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, to parents Frederick and Elizabeth Peters. She was the youngest of their three children as well as the only daughter, having two older brothers named Frederick Jr. and Stuart. She lived in Indiana until she was ready to enter junior high. It was around that time that her parents divorced. Her father had ill health due to a previous work accident and he became temperamental and difficult to live with. So, Elizabeth Peters took her children and moved to Los Angeles, California. After moving to the land of the stars, she began to take an interest in acting. One day in 1920, she was playing baseball outside and when she was noticed by director Allan Dwan. He gave her her first taste of acting, casting her as a tomboy in the 1921 film, A Perfect Crime. She dropped out of high school to try and develop a career, but eventually went back and worked to achieve her diploma.

When she first started acting, she appeared in credits as Jane Peters. It was not until later on that she began to appear as Carole Lombard. She got more film roles with the help of friend and fellow actress Miriam Cooper and the door of opportunity opened to her when talkies were brought into production and she was one of the actresses who was capable of making a successful transition. In 1930, Paramount Pictures offered Lombard a contract, and it was with that studio that her career would begin to blossom. She was hand selected by Howard Hawks to appear in Twentieth Century (1934), which gave her the chance to work with the legendary John Barrymore. As she began to take on more and more roles, Lombard began to establish herself and display her comedic talents. She was dubbed the Queen of Screwball Comedies. In fact, most of her roles were in comedies. She tried to make a switch in 1939 to more dramatic roles like Made for Each Other (1939), In Name Only (1939) and Vigil In The Night (1940). She quickly discovered that audiences did not want to see her in more serious roles--they found her endearing and wanted her to make them laugh. Fortunately for her career, Lombard took the hint and switched tracks. She went on to star in Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941) and To Be or Not To Be (1942). The latter would be her last on screen appearance.

Just as her career was beginning in the 1930s, Lombard met and worked with actor William Powell. She liked him because she found his sophisticated air lined with acerbic wit to be refreshing. The two of them quickly formed a friendship and then took a leap into marriage in 1931. Their marriage proved difficult and as time went on they both felt that they were ill-suited as companions. They amicably divorced in 1933, but remained very good friends and even worked together until Lombard's death.

Three years later, in 1936, Lombard became involved with Clark Gable. Things were difficult at first because Gable was stuck in his failed marriage to Ria Langham, and there was quite a stir when Gable divorced Langham to marry Lombard. However, he maintained his entire life, as did mutual friends of the couple, that Lombard was the true love of his life, and she said the same of him. The two were incredibly happy together and spent their days living on a ranch that they had purchased together where they raised animals.

In 1942, WWII was going on and many actors and actresses did their part by advertising and selling war bonds. Lombard was very active in war bond sales, and when the opportunity arose for her to travel to her home state of Indiana, she took it. She went to Indiana with her mother and broke records, raising over two million dollars in war bonds in just one night. After she finished, she and her mother had planned to return home via train, but she was anxious to reach home and be with her husband sooner. She wanted to book a flight, but a few of her party, including her mother, were wary of flying. In the end she suggested they flip a coin. She won and they boarded Transcontinental and Western Air DC-3. On January 16, 1942 the plane crashed into Double Up Mountain, southwest of Las Vegas. All 22 passengers were killed on impact.

Hollywood lost it's queen of laughter and Gable lost the light of his life. Witnesses and friends say that he was absolutely devastated and inconsolable after Lombard's death. He moved on to join the United States Army Air Forces--something his wife had begged him to do time and again but he had just never gotten around to doing so. And he later went on to be married two more times, but he was reportedly never quite the same, and when he died of a heart attack in 1960, his will still requested that he be interred beside Lombard, which he was.

Short as her overall career was, Carole Lombard graced the big screen in 60 productions, and she was nominated for an Academy Award for her work in the film My Man Godfrey (1936). She is still considered to be one of the greatest American female screen legends.

"I live by a man's code, designed to fit a man's world, yet at the same time I never forget that a woman's first job is to choose the right shade of lipstick."

-Carole Lombard

"Freedom?I'd trade every bit of it for a few hours with Carole!"

-William Powell

"There is a strong case to be made for the divinity of Carole Lombard. One is certain that at Olympian banquets, she's right up there next to Zeus."

-David Shipman

"With her, it was like music, it was completely natural."

-Clark Gable

"You can trust that little screwball with your life, or your hopes or your weaknesses, and she wouldn't even know how to think about letting you down."

-Clark Gable

Author's Special

Chief author of Think Classic, Anna (@annamvs100 on Twitter) posted a special on Hollywood's golden girl, Marilyn Monroe. It's exclusive to her personal blog page, but she welcomes all Think Classic fans to check it out.

Underneath the Makeup: A Candid Portrait of Marilyn Monroe

http://fromyourstrulyamvs.blogspot.com/2012/10/underneath-makeupa-candid-portrait-of-mm.html

If you're a Monroe fan, you definitely don't want to miss out!

"Write anything you want about me.Make something up.Hell,I don't care."

STAR OF THE MONTH

Spencer Tracy

Born April 5, 1900

Died June 10, 1967

At the beginning of the 20th century, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was born to Irish Catholic parents Caroline and John Tracy. He was the youngest of two children, having an older brother named Carroll. Tracy did not have a difficult upbringing, yet he was typically written off as a "problem child" throughout most of his youth. He was hyper, inattentive, disrespectful, and made poor grades in school. While he was still in elementary school, Tracy's parents made the decision to hand him over to church authorities, in the hopes that they could help modify his behavior. During this time he had some slight attitude changes, but did not really turn his life around until he was in high school. As a teenager, Tracy attended a Jesuit academy and he credits the school in helping him grow up and become more respectable.

It was also during high school that Tracy's passion for acting and theater was ignited. He was friends with fellow future actor Pat O'Brien, and the two of them would spend much of their time attending and analyzing plays and acting for friends. Yet, even after his attitude adjustments, Tracy was never one for academics, so he enlisted in the Navy as soon as he turned 18. He was discharged after a year, and did not know what to do with himself. His father, John Tracy, desperately wanted one of his sons to go to college, so after much pleading, Spencer went back to school to achieve his undergrad diploma. He then was accepted at Ripon College, where he majored in medicine.

Tracy fit in well at Ripon, and he soon made many friends. He quickly affiliated himself with the drama team and began acting, even forming an informal troupe with his friends, calling themselves "The Campus Players." In 1921, the college debate team went on tour, taking Tracy to New York. While there, he decided to take his chances and auditioned for a place at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. The school officials were impressed with Tracy and offered him a scholarship, which he accepted, and he began taking classes at AADA in the spring of 1922. As soon as he graduated from the Academy, Tracy took up work with a small acting company, but he was not satisfied with his small roles, so he soon left and joined with another. Tracy moved from company to company, and even took two gigs on Broadway for the next three years, but nothing was successful. It was a low period for young Tracy, who not only had to take care of himself but also felt a new obligation to take care of his new family, having been married in 1923. He later said, "There were times when my pants were so thin, I could sit on a dime and know if it was heads or tails." Finally, in 1926, Tracy took a part in the Broadway play Yellow. He decided that if he couldn't make a go of it and launch his career this time around, then he would quit acting for good and take a regular desk job. Yet it became clear on opening night that Yellow was a success, and that the young Tracy had extraordinary talent. The play's producer, George M. Cohan specifically wrote his next play with a part for Tracy, and then another after that. The next play, however, never made it to the stage, and Tracy once again considered quitting the business. Eventually, Tracy was approached and offered the part of a desperate madman being sent to death row in The Last Mile. He warily accepted, and on opening night in January of 1930, Tracy was called forward for 14 curtain calls for his outstanding performance.

With the invention of "talkies" in the 1930s, new actors and actresses that could handle speaking parts were in demand. Scouts for Hollywood studios were sent out to recruit and bring promising talents in for screen tests, and one of those scouts found Tracy. After being discovered, Tracy was offered a contract with Fox and made his film debut alongside Humphrey Bogart in Up the River (1930). Tracy stayed with Fox for the next 5 years, and then he moved to MGM. Some of Tracy's most well recognized work was produced with MGM over the next twenty years that he was with them. It was also while working at MGM in the 1940s that he met actress Katharine Hepburn. Tracy was still married to his wife at the time, but the two were amicably separated and had no intention of divorce because of their Catholic and Episcopalian backgrounds.He was also no longer living with his wife and two children, after he discovered that his son was deaf and he felt guilty and blamed his son's loss of hearing on his past deeds. So it was that, strange as the circumstances were, Hepburn and Tracy embarked on a partnership to go down in history. Their relationship was even used by the studio to produce box office hits, and the two are still today primarily known as much for their partnership on the screen as off. They starred in 9 films together. The two were completely devoted to each other and remained together for the remaining 26 years of Tracy's life.

Tracy was a true star and a great asset to Hollywood throughout his career. During the 45 years of Tracy's career, he starred in over 85 productions, and won two Academy Awards for his performances in Captains Courageous (1937) and Boys Town (1938). Spencer Tracy died after collapsing due to a major heart attack in 1967. Hepburn was with him at the time, and she later recalled that afterwards, "He looked so happy to be done with living, which for all his accomplishments had been a frightful burden for him."

MOVIE OF THE MONTH

Father of the Bride

1950

Starring Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, and Elizabeth Taylor

Stanley Banks (Tracy) is a completely ordinary man. He is a successful lawyer, he lives in a comfortable home, has a beautiful wife, Ellie (Bennett), and a lovely daughter, Kay (Taylor). The only problem with his comfortable, ordinary life is that it is about to turn upside down because his daughter (who, surely, is much too young) has decided that it is essential to her happiness to get married.

Not only is Stanley against the idea of his little girl getting married at all, but he begins to question the entire thing as he realizes that his once reassuring dreams of a quiet, cheap ceremony are out the window and gone forever. Problem after problem arises, and Stanley keeps his cold feet planted in his stubborn shoes until he realizes that by causing so much trouble, and by being so unwilling to contribute to his daughter's big day, he is jeopardizing her happiness. So, despite the fact that it hurts him and his wallet in ways he'd rather not think about, he decides to clean up his act and make Kay's wedding a day she will never forget. And even though it cost him a fortune, trashed his home, and he had to give away his little girl, he decides that it was worth it after all.

Father of the Bride was a huge comedic hit at the box office when it was released in 1950. Tracy was applauded for his portrayal of Stanley Banks, and audiences everywhere fell in love with Elizabeth Taylor all over again, as this was considered one of her first "adult" or mature roles. The film was so successful that the studio brought all the actors together for a sequel the next year, entitled Father's Little Dividend. The film was remade in 1991 starring Steve Martin as Banks, and many of the details were kept the same.

"This mug of mine is as plain as a barn door. Why should people pay thirty-five cents to look at it?"

"Come to work on time, know your lines, and don't bump into the furniture."

"I'm disappointed in acting as a craft. I want everything to go back to Orson Welles and fake noses and changing your voice. It becomes so much about personality."