Jo Van Fleet

The other day someone called me a tough mother (he is delusional... I'm a pussycat) and as my movie-saturated brain works, I immediately thought of the character actress, Jo Van Fleet.  Not only is her career mainly a fifties thing (and aren't we highlighting the fifties as we type?) but in most of her films she was indeed a tough mother.  If she weren't a mother in some of them, she was still tough.   She was always tough... it's about all she knew how to be... on screen and off.

Good 50's Films: A Place in the Sun

1951 Romance Drama
From Paramount Pictures
Directed by George Stevens

Starring
Montgomery Clift
Elizabeth Taylor
Shelley Winters
Anne Revere
Keefe Brasselle
Herbert Heyes
Raymond Burr
Shepherd Strudwick
Kathryn Givney
Frieda Inescourt
Fred Clarke

Vittorio Gassman

Since we are saluting the 1950's these days, it's only proper that we include a piece on Vittorio Gassman, the world-famous Italian actor, director and writer who was equally at home on the stage as he was in movies.  He became famous in the U.S. in the early 50's when he impulsively married American actress Shelley Winters and made four films at MGM.  (Winters' bones would be rattling if she knew we're doing a piece on him before one on her.) 

Good 50's Films: Woman Obsessed:

1959 Romance Drama
From 20th Century Fox
Directed by Henry Hathaway

Starring
Susan Hayward
Stephen Boyd
Theodore Bickel
Dennis Holmes
Barbara Nichols
Ken Scott
Arthur Franz

Cary Grant Films of the 1950's

The elegant one made 72 feature-length films from 1932 to 1966.  Far more than not were successes.  He retired at age 72, choosing to get out while he still could (he would live 20 more years).  His leading ladies had been getting younger and younger and he thought it was all looking a bit foolish.  But in the 50's he still had some good films to turn out as the following will remind you.

More B Leading Men

The following three men added a great deal to the climate of the supporting actor (not too far down the list) who also had leading roles in B movies.  If you were around in the 1950's you know them and if you are a big movie and old TV fan you're likely to know them.  It would be a rare indeed that at least one of them hasn't a flick on the tube every single day.  Collectively, they have made 310 movies so obviously we're not discussing them all.  Let's hit some highlights.

REVIEW: Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood

Directed by Matt Tyrnauer
2018 Documentary
1 hour 38 minutes
From Greenwich Entertainment

Starring
Scotty Bowers
Stephen Fry
Peter Bart

Good 50's Films: Niagara

1953 Film Noir
From 20th Century Fox
Directed by Henry Hathaway

Starring
Marilyn Monroe
Joseph Cotten
Jean Peters
Casey Adams
Denis O'Dea
Richard Allan
Don Wilson
Lurene Tuttle