This site is devoted to the love of classic movies. What qualifies as a classic film or movie is somewhat subjective. There are certain films which endure because they strike an emotional chord long after their initial release. For example, a movie like "Casablanca" (1942) would qualify as a classic under that definition.
Detective Story (1951) is an American drama directed
by William Wyler and starring Kirk Douglas, Eleanor Parker, and William Bendix.
The supporting cast includes Cathy O’Donnell, George Macready, Lee Grant, and
Joseph Wiseman. This was the film debut for both Grant and Wiseman.
The film takes place over one day at a New York City
police station. Kirk Douglas plays a tough detective who, in his pursuit of
criminals, leads him to discover a secret that could destroy his marriage and
career.
Click HERE to watch the film on the Internet Movie Archive
.
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Kirk Douglas and Eleanor Parker
Detective Story trivia
The film was nominated for four Academy Awards, including
Best Actress for Eleanor Parker and Best Supporting Actress for Lee Grant.
Alan Ladd was originally offered the role of Detective
McLeod.
The film is based on the Broadway play that ran for 581
performances. Ralph Bellamy starred as Detective McLeod.
Joseph Wiseman and Lee Grant recreated their stage roles.
Cathy O’Donnell and Gladys George were directed by William
Wyler in The Best Years of Our Lives.
Discussion questions
Do you think the play transferred to film successfully?
Eleanor Parker is on screen for just over 20 minutes but it
was enough for her to get a Best Actress nod. Do you think she deserved it?
What did you think of Kirk Douglas’s performance as the
detective?
The movie has an amazing supporting cast. Did any one
performance stand out to you?
Born Yesterday
(1950) is an American comedy directed by George Cukor and starring Broderick
Crawford, Judy Holiday, and William Holden. Holiday recreated her role as
Billie Dawn which she played on Broadway. Crawford replaced Paul Douglas who
played opposite Holiday as Harry Brock and Holden replaced Gary Merrill who
played Paul Verrall, both of whom created their respective roles on Broadway.
The film concerns Billie Dawn (Holiday), an uneducated woman
involved with an older business tycoon Harry Brock (Crawford) who is in Washington to try
and “buy” a congressman. Because Billie is uneducated, Harry hires Paul Verrall
(Holden), a journalist, to educate her. During her “education,” she realized
that Harry was a corrupt businessman. Due to Paul opening her eyes to a whole
new world, Billie falls in love with him.
Judy Holiday, Broderick Crawford, and William Holden
George Cukor (1899 – 1983) was an American director. He
was famous for directing comedies and literary adaptations of classics like Little Women (1933) and David Copperfield (1935). He was famously fired from directing Gone with the Wind (1939), but that incident didn’t mar an
impressive directorial career that included The Philadelphia Story (1940), Gaslight (1944), and Born Yesterday (1950). Cukor won an Academy Award as Best
Director for My Fair Lady (1964).
Broderick
Crawford (1911 – 1986) was an American stage, film,
radio, and television actor. Born in Philadelphia to a show business family,
Crawford acted with his parents on stage and then established himself as a
talent on his own by winning acclaim as Lenny in the original Broadway
production of Of Mice and Men in 1937. He later moved to Hollywood and
began acting in small roles and bit parts throughout the 1940s. He finally got
his chance at stardom in All the King’s Men (1949), the film version of Robert Penn
Warren’s award-winning novel. The film was a big hit and Crawford won the
Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Willie Stark. Now a star,
Crawford starred in more prestigious productions including Born Yesterday (1950) receiving top-billing over co-stars
Judy Holiday and William Holden. Crawford became a television icon as Dan
Matthews in the police dram Highway Patrol (1955 – 1959.)
Judy Holiday (1921 – 1965) was an American actress, comedian, and singer.
She started out in show business playing nightclubs before making her way to
Broadway. Her role as Billie Dawn in Born
Yesterday in 1946 made her an “overnight” sensation. When she recreated the
role for the film version, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress of the
Year. Other films include The Marrying
Kind (1952), It Should Happen to You (1954), Phffft
(1954), The Solid Gold Cadillac
(1956), Full of Life (1956), and Bells Are Ringing (1960), recreating her
Tony Award-winning performance. Holiday died of breast cancer in 1965 at the
age of 43.
William Holden (1918 - 1981) was an American actor and
major movie star. He was one of the most bankable stars of the 1950s. Holden
starred in some of the most popular and beloved films of all time including Sunset Boulevard, Sabrina, Picnic (1955), The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), and Stalag 17 for which he won the Academy Award for Best
Actor. Holden became a star with his very first role in Golden Boy (1939). He had lead roles in other popular
films like Our Town (1940), and I Wanted Wings (1941). World War II interrupted his career.
Holden was a first lieutenant in the United States Army Air Force. After the
war, he made some popular but forgettable films. It wasn’t after he
collaborated with director Wilder on Sunset Boulevard that Holden’s popularity and stature in
Hollywood grew to superstar status.
Crawford who got top billing on the screen is listed last on this lobby card.
Born Yesterday trivia
Judy Holiday’s role in Adam’s Rib (1948) was an audition to
convince Columbia Pictures studio chief Harry Cohn that Holiday was up to the
task of playing Billie Dawn on the screen.
Judy Holiday and Broderick
Crawford played gin-rummy on the train to Washington, D.C. for location
shooting. Holiday won $600 from Crawford. This cemented their friendship and
they remained lifelong friends.
Marilyn Monroe screen-tested for the role but Harry Cohn
never watched it.
Holiday’s wardrobe became more sophisticated as her
character grew.
William Holden originally turned down the role fearing that
he would be overshadowed by Crawford and Holiday. Because of this, Holden’s
role was built up for the screen.
Director George Cukor had Crawford, Holiday, and Holden
perform their roles in front of a live audience so that he could time the laughs
between the dialogue.
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link to join the discussion on Zoom.
Discussion questions
Born Yesterday was
released in the mid-20th century. Do you think it holds up today?
Judy Holiday is so identified with the role of Billie Dawn.
Can you see anyone else as successful in the role?
Was Broderick Crawford believable in the role of Harry Brock?
Holiday beat out Gloria Swanson (Sunset Blvd), Bette Davis and Anne Baxter (All About Eve), and Eleanor Parker (Cage). Do you think she deserved to win?
Holden was afraid that he would be overshadowed by Crawford
and Holiday. Do you think this was the case or did he hold his own in the less
showy role as Paul Verrall?
Three Secrets (1950) is an American drama directed by Robert Wise and starring Eleanor Parker, Patricia Neal, and Ruth Roman. The supporting cast includes Frank Lovejoy, Leif Erickson, and Ted de Corsia.
Three women (Parker, Neal, and Roman) gave up a son for adoption when their lives were in turmoil. After a private plane crashes in the California mountains the sole survivor is a five-year-old boy. All three women believe that the boy on the mountain may be the son they gave up for adoption.
As the drama on the mountain becomes a national story, all three women recall what their lives were like five years ago. How will the news of their past affect their present and future?
Publicity photo of Ruth Roman, Patricia Neal, and Eleanor Parker
Robert Wise (1914 - 2000) was an American director, producer, and editor. Wise began his movie career at RKO as a sound and music editor. For several years, he worked with senior editor William Hamilton. Wise’s first solo film editing credits were on Bachelor Mother (1939) and My Favorite Wife (1940). He was the film editor of Citizen Kane and was nominated for an Academy Award for Film Editing. Wise got his chance to direct at RKO from Val Lewton, the producer of horror classics like Cat People (1942). The Curse of the Cat People (1944) was the first film that Wise received director credit for. He eventually directed films noir, westerns, melodramas, and science fiction. Some popular films directed by Wise include The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), Executive Suite (1954), and I Want to Live! (1958), which earned Wise his first Oscar nomination for Best Director. He went on to win Best Director Oscars for West Side Story (1961) and The Sound of Music (1965).
Eleanor Parker (1922 - 2013) was an American actress in film and a three-time Best Actress Academy Award nominee. She signed a long-term contract with Warner Bros. in 1941. For the next few years she played minor roles in some important films, but her first big role came in Between Two Worlds (1944) opposite John Garfield and Paul Henreid. She was again cast alongside Garfield in Pride of the Marines (1945) and that film made her a star. Some of the films she made after that were not as successful and Parker was more careful choosing film roles, often refusing parts and being put on suspension. Warners cast her (after much lobbying from Parker) in Caged (1950), a film about a woman’s prison. The film was a hit and her performance earned Parker her first Best Actress Academy Award nomination. For her performance, she won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival. After leaving Warners, Parker freelanced for a while with limited success. In 1953, she signed a long-term contract with M-G-M. At her new studio, she co-starred with Clark Gable, Robert Taylor (they made three films together), and Glenn Ford. One of her most celebrated roles was as opera singer Marjorie Lawrence in Interrupted Melody (1955) which earned her third Oscar nomination. In the mid-50s, Parker was one of the most popular female stars in the movies. With all her accomplishments during her prime, she will most likely be remembered for her role as Baroness Elsa Schraeder in The Sound of Music (1965), one of the most popular and successful films of all time.
Patricia Neal (1926 - 2010) was an American film and stage actress. Neal gained fame on Broadway, winning the 1947 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her role in Another Part of the Forrest. Coincidentally, 1947 was the first year the Tony Awards were presented. Hollywood came calling and Neal signed a contract with Warner Bros. In 1949, she made three films including The Fountainhead co-starring Gary Cooper. In 1951 she starred in the science fiction classic The Day the Earth Stood Still. In the early 1950s, she left Hollywood to go back on the stage. She returned to the screen in 1957's A Face in the Crowd co-starring Andy Griffith. She co-starred with Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard in Breakfast at Tiffany's and she won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1963 for Hud. Neal continued to act in film, stage, and television until 2009.
Ruth Roman (1922 – 1989) was an American film, stage, and television actress. Roman got her start in the movies starring in the Jungle Queen (1945) film serial. She had a notable role in The Window (1949) which lead to her being cast in Champion (1949) co-starring Kirk Douglas. These successes earned her a contract with Warner Bros. During her years under contract, she co-starred with some of Hollywood’s top leading men including Gary Cooper, Errol Flynn, Glenn Ford, and James Stewart. Roman also worked steadily on television during the 1950s and beyond, appearing on such popular shows as Mannix, Marcus Welby, M.D., The Mod Squad, The FBI, and The Outer Limits.
To watch the film on YouTube, click the link below.
To join the discussion on October 10, 202, at 6:30 p.m. Central Time, click here. Once you RSVP, you will receive an invitation and link to join the discussion on Zoom.
Discussion questions
Did you find the situation realistic or believable?
Of the three women, did you have a favorite?
If this film were made today, how might it be different or the same?
What did you think of performances? Did one of the actresses outshine the others?
Did the film remind you of other films you've seen?
The Man with the Golden Arm (1955) is an American film drama directed by Otto Preminger and starring Frank Sinatra, Eleanor Parker, and Kim Novak. It is based on the novel of the same name by Nelson Algren, although not a completely faithful adaptation. The movie features a jazz-inspired film score composed, arranged, and conducted by Elmer Bernstein.
The movie centers around Frankie Machine (Sinatra), a former card dealer, recently released from a drug rehab center who tries to start his life over as a musician specializing in the drums. When he returns to his old dilapidated neighborhood on the North Side of Chicago, all the old demons start to pull at him including his clinging wife Zosh (Parker) who may or may not be an invalid, Zero Schwiefka (Robert Strauss) his former boss running illegal card games, and “Nifty Louie” Fomorowski (Darren McGavin) his former drug-dealer who is trying to hook him on drugs once again.
To complicate Frankie’s life further, he runs into an old flame, Molly Novotny (Novak). Molly and Frankie have strong feelings for one another but Frankie feels obligated to take care of Zosh.
Will Frankie break free from all the things dragging him back to his old life of drugs and desperation or is he doomed to a life of addiction and hopelessness?
Otto Preminger (1905 -1986) was an American film director who made more than 35 feature films during a five-decade career. Born in Austro-Hungarian into a Jewish family. Preminger was drawn to acting from an early age and became the apprentice of famed stage director Max Reinhardt. In 1935, he was recruited by Twentieth Century-Fox to apprentice as a director at the studio. After a rocky start, Preminger established himself as an A-list director after Rouben Mamoulian was fired from Laura (1944). The film noir classic made stars of Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews and is considered one of the best film noirs of all time. While under contract to Fox, Preminger directed Fallen Angel (1945), Centennial Summer (1946), Forever Amber (1947), and Daisy Kenyon (1947), the latter starring Joan Crawford, Dana Andrews, and Henry Fonda. After he left Fox, Preminger became a maverick, constantly clashing with members of the Production Code. He released two films without the approval of the Production Code: The Moon is Blue (1953) and The Man with the Golden Arm (1955). Both films were financial successes and helped bring an end to the Code entirely. Later successes for Preminger include Anatomy of a Murder (1959) and Exodus (1960).
Frank Sinatra (1915 - 1998) was an American singer and actor. He is considered one of the greatest musical talents of the 20th century. Sinatra began his career singing with the big bandleaders of the swing era before his film career. He had his first leading film role in Higher and Higher and Step Lively (both 1944) at RKO. In 1945, he starred opposite Gene Kelly and Kathryn Grayson in Anchors Aweigh. The movie was a major hit and Sinatra co-starred again with Kelly in Take Me Out to the Ball Game and On the Town ( both 1949). His movie career slumped in the early 1950s and it looked like his career was over. In 1953, Sinatra won the role of Maggio in From Here to Eternity co-starring Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, and Donna Reed. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and his movie career was back on track. More hit films followed including Guys and Dolls, The Tender Trap, and Not as a Stranger (all 1955). Perhaps his most famous film that year was The Man with the Golden Arm. For his performance in that film, he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. Sinatra’s film and recording career continued into the 1980s. Other notable films include High Society (1956), The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Come Blow Your Horn (1963), The Detective (1968), and The First Deadly Sin (1980).
Frank Sinatra and Darren McGavin
Eleanor Parker (1922 - 2013) was an American actress in film and a three-time Best Actress Academy Award nominee. She signed a long-term contract with Warner Bros. in 1941. For the next few years she played minor roles in some important films, but her first big role came in Between Two Worlds (1944) opposite John Garfield and Paul Henreid. She was again cast alongside Garfield in Pride of the Marines (1945) and that film made her a star. Some of the films she made after that were not as successful and Parker was more careful choosing film roles, often refusing parts and being put on suspension. Warners cast her (after much lobbying from Parker) in Caged (1950), a film about a woman’s prison. The film was a hit and her performance earned Parker her first Best Actress Academy Award nomination. For her performance, she won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival. After leaving Warners, Parker freelanced for a while with limited success. In 1953, she signed a long-term contract with M-G-M. At her new studio, she co-starred with Clark Gable, Robert Taylor (they made three films together), and Glenn Ford. One of her most celebrated roles was as opera singer Marjorie Lawrence in Interrupted Melody (1955) which earned her third Oscar nomination. In the mid-50s, Parker was one of the most popular female stars in the movies. With all her accomplishments during her prime, she will most likely be remembered for her role as Baroness Elsa Schraeder in The Sound of Music (1965), one of the most popular and successful films of all time.
Kim Novak (1933 - ) is an American film and television actress. She retired in 1991. Novak was one of the last “studio-created” stars during a time when the studio system was in decline. Born Marilyn Pauline Novak in Chicago, her name was changed to Kim after she signed a long-term contract with Columbia Pictures in 1954. By the next year, Novak was a major star working opposite the likes of Frank Sinatra and William Holden. Some of her major films include Picnic (1955), The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), The Eddy Duchin Story (1956), Pal Joey (1957), Bell, Book and Candle (1958). Perhaps her most celebrated film is her dual role in Vertigo (1958) co-starring James Stewart and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. In 2012, the British Film Institute’s Sight & Sound critic’s poll voted Vertigo as the best film of all time. After retiring from film, Novak has devoted herself to painting and has exhibited her work publicly.
The Man with the Golden Arm trivia
Marlon Brando was offered the role of Frankie Machine.
The movie poster is considered one of the best of all time; it was voted #14 out of 25 by Premiere.
Otto Preminger paid Columbia Pictures $100,000 to borrow Kim Novak who was only paid $1,000 a week.
The entire movie was filmed on a soundstage with a few shots on the RKO backlot.
Some cross-promotion from the director, the poster for his film Carmen Jones (1954) is featured on a building during the opening scene.
To watch the film on YouTube, click the link below.
Why watch this film?
It was the first movie to discuss drug addiction.
The depiction of this subject matter and the film’s release without a Production Code seal contributed to the demise of the Code.
This was an important film that Frank Sinatra was desperate to do.
It features Kim Novak in one of her early film roles.
The first film co-starring Sinatra and Eleanor Parker. They later starred together in Frank Capra’s A Hole in the Head (1959), a much lighter film.
The film is an early example of director Otto Preminger working without the backing of a studio.
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Discussion questions:
Noir or not?
What did you think of Sinatra’s performance?
Does the film hold up in 2021?
Eleanor Parker and Kim Novak played the two female leads. Did you find them convincing in their roles?
Did anything in the film surprise you?
The film is set in Chicago. Did the film’s setting evoke the city? Did it matter?
