Jean Gabin and Ida Lupino star in “Moontide”

Moontide (1942) is an American drama directed by Archie Mayo and starring Jean Gabin and Ida Lupino. The supporting cast includes Thomas Mitchell, Claude Rains, and Jerome Cowan.

Bobo (Gabin) works on a barge with Anna (Lupino) a girl he saved from committing suicide. Bobo has a violent past and is prone to fights when he is drunk. Bar-fly Pop Kelly (Arthur Aylesworth) was murdered and Bobo is concerned that he may have killed him while he was drunk.

Bobo and Anna try to make a life together but there are forces beyond their control that are out to destroy them.

Will Bobo and Anna be able to live in peace or are they destined to a life of misery and pain.

Ida Lupino nad Jean Gabin

Archie Mayo (1891 – 1968) was an American film director, screenwriter, and actor. Mayo began directing during the silent era, easily making the transition to talking pictures. He directed many stars of the pre-code era including James Cagney, Constance Bennett, and Joan Blondell. He also directed The Petrified Forest (1936) starring Leslie Howard, Bette Davis, and Humphrey Bogart.

Jean Gabin (1904 – 1976) was a French actor and singer. His reputation as a major star of French cinema brought him to Hollywood. Gabin didn’t like being under a studio contract and only made two films in Hollywood.

Ida Lupino (1918 – 1995) was an English-American actress, director, and producer. She appeared in over 50 films and was one of Warner Bros.’s biggest contract players during the 1940s starring in High Sierra (1941), The Sea Wolf (1941), and The Man I Love (1947). After she left Warner Bros., Lupino formed her own production company, producing, writing, and directing films that tackled subjects the big studios wouldn’t touch. During the 1950s, Lupino was the only female director working in Hollywood. She directed several small independent films but really made a name for herself directing for television. Lupino directed episodes of The Twilight Zone (starred in one too), The Rifleman, Bonanza, Gilligan’s Island, It Takes a Thief, Family Affair, and Columbo. In 1966, she directed her one-and-only big-budget studio picture, The Trouble with Angels starring Rosalind Russell and Haley Mills.

Click here to watch the film on YouTube

Click here to join the discussion online on January 22, 2024, at 6:30 p.m.Central Time. Once you RSVP, you will receive an invitation and a link to join the discussion on Zoom.

Discussion questions

1. Jean Gabin made only two films in Hollywood. What did you think of his performance? Do you think he could have been a big star in American if he stayed in Hollywood?
2. Ida Lupino was borrowed from Warner Bros. to co-star with Gabin. Did you think they had good on-screen chemistry.
3. The film’s production was affected by World War II. It was originally planned to be filmed on location but was instead filmed on the sound stages at 20^th Century-Fox. Did you find the studio sets believable?
4. Cinematographer Charles G. Clarke was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on Moontide. Did you think it was well deserved?
5. Did you have a favorite character actor?

 

Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman are "Notorious!"

Notorious (1946) is a film noir/spy thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, and Claude Raines. The film’s screenplay was written by Ben Hecht (Nothing Sacred) with cinematography by Ted Tetzlaff (My Man Godfrey).

Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant

Alicia Huberman (Bergman) is recruited by the American government to infiltrate a group of Nazis hiding out in Brazil after World War II. Alicia’s father was a convicted Nazi spy who committed suicide in prison. Government agent T. R. Devlin (Grant) recruits Alicia and informs her of her assignment. Part of her assignment is romancing the head of the Nazi group in Brazil, Alexander Sebastian (Raines), a man she had a relationship with in the past.

Things get complicated when Devlin and Alicia fall in love and the Nazi plot becomes more elusive. Will Devlin and Alicia be successful in exposing the Nazis? Will they be able to find happiness once their assignment is over?

Alfred Hitchcock (1899 – 1980) was an English film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is one of the most influential filmmakers of the 20th century. Hitchcock directed over 50 feature films, many are classics that have been honored and studied for years. Some of Hitchcock’s classic films include The 39 Steps (1935), Sabotage (1936), Rebecca (1940), Suspicion (1941), Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959), and Psycho (1960).

Ben Hecht (1894 – 1964) was an American screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, journalist, and novelist! Hecht was born in New York City but went to Chicago at age 16. He became a journalist of some note and in 1920 he co-wrote The Front Page which became a huge Broadway hit. In the 1930s and 1940s, Hecht was one of the most popular and prolific screenwriters in Hollywood. He often acted as a “script doctor” for many screenplays, often without credit. Some of Hecht’s famous screenplays include Spellbound (1945), Kiss of Death (1947), Design for Living (1933), Wuthering Heights (1939), and Gunga Din (1939). Hecht was one of the dozens of writers who had a hand in the Gone With the Wind (1939) screenplay. Supposedly, Hecht never worked more than eight weeks on a screenplay.

Ted Tetzlaff (1903 – 1995) was an Academy Award-nominated cinematographer in Hollywood during the 1930s and 1940s. He was a favorite of Carole Lombard—he photographed her in 10 movies. Some of the movies he photographed include Hands Across the Table (1935), Remember the Night (1940), The Road to Zanzibar (1941), I Married a Witch (1942), The Talk of the Town (1942), and The More the Merrier (1943).

Cary Grant (1904 – 1986) was an English-born American actor who became one of the most popular leading men in film history. Grant started his career in vaudeville before heading to Hollywood. He became a superstar in the late 1930s in a series of screwball comedies including The Awful Truth (1937) with Irene Dunne. He was a memorable C. K. Dexter Haven in The Philadelphia Story (1940) opposite Katharine Hepburn and James Stewart. He received two Best Actor nominations: Penny Serenade (1941) and None but the Lonely Hearts (1944). Other classic Grant films include Gunga Din (1939), Only Angels Have Wings (1939), and Arsenic and Old Lace (1944). He made four popular films with Alfred Hitchcock: Suspicion (1941), Notorious (1946), To Catch a Thief (1955), and North by Northwest (1959). He was presented with an Honorary Oscar at the 42nd Academy Awards in 1970.

Cary Grant, Alfred Hitchcock and Ingrid Bergman celebrate Cary Grant’s birthday on the set of Notorious. 

Ingrid Bergman (1915 – 1982) was a Swedish actress who became an international star upon her Hollywood debut in Intermezzo (1939). Few actresses were as popular as Bergman during the 1940s. In fact, she was the number two box office draw (after Bing Crosby) in 1946. She starred opposite Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca (1942), For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943) opposite Gary Cooper, Gaslight (1944) for which she won the Best Actress Academy Award. She starred opposite newcomer Gregory Peck in Spellbound (1945) which was her first collaboration with director Alfred Hitchcock. Bergman would go on to win another Best Actress Academy Award for Anastasia (1956) and a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for Murder on the Orient Express (1974).

Claude Raines (1889 – 1967) was a British-American film and stage actor. He was one of the most popular character actors working in Hollywood during the 1930s and 1940s. He was a favorite of actress Bette Davis; they worked together in four films including Now, Voyager (1942). Other classic Raines films include The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941), Kings Row (1942), Casablanca (1942), Phantom of the Opera (1943), Caesar and Cleopatra (1945), and Deception (1946).

To watch the film, click on the YouTube here. Be sure to use this link because there are many versions of this film on the channel. None are as good as this print.

To join the discussion on Zoom on October 16, 2023, at 6:30 p.m. Central Time, click here. Once you RSVP, you will receive an invitation and a link to join the discussion on Zoom.

Discussion questions:
1. One of the major themes of the film is trust. Trust withheld or given too freely. What did you make of it all?
2. Some critics consider this one of Hitchcock’s most complicated romances. Do you agree with that assessment?
3. Hitchcock is known for the “mothers” in his films. Madame Anna Sebastian is a major character in Notorious. What did you make of her character?

4. Did you think Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman worked well together? Was their romance believable?

5. Claude Raines was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award. Do you think his performance was worthy of the nomination?

6. Did the ending surprise you? Was it a satisfying ending?

Here comes Robert Montgomery in "Here Comes Mr. Jordan"

Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) is an American fantasy romantic comedy directed by Alexander Hall and starring Robert Montgomery, Claude Rains, and Evelyn Keyes. The screenplay was written by Sidney Buchman and Seton I. Segall and the cinematography was by Joseph Walker (It Happened One Night, It's a Wonderful Life).

Boxer and amateur pilot Joe Pendleton (Montgomery) while flying to his next bout in New York City. A severed control cable cause him to crash his plane. An overly conscientious Angel 7013 (Edward Everett Horton) retrieves his soul concluding that he couldn't survive the crash. Upon further examination, Angel 7013's superior Mr. Jordan (Raines) determined that Joe should have lived another 50 years. 

To make amends, Mr. Jordan has Joe's soul enter the body of a crooked banker named Bruce Farnsworth who was murdered by his wife and his secretary. 

Can Joe find happiness and resume his boxing career in the body of another man?

Alexander Hall (1894 - 1968) was an American film director. He was working on the stage at age four and continued acting. As an adult, he worked in silent film before becoming interested in film production. Hall worked as a film editor and assistant director until 1932. His first directed film was Sinners in the Sun. In 1937, he signed a contract with Columbia Pictures and worked there almost exclusively. He gained a reputation for directing sophisticated comedies. Some of the films he directed include Little Miss Marker (1934), My Sister Eileen (1942), They All Kissed the Bride (1942), Down to Earth (1947), and The Great Lover (1949). 

Robert Montgomery (1904 - 1981) was an actor, director, and producer. Montgomery began his career on the stage but was soon signed by M-G-M becoming one of that studio's most popular leading men. The actor was adept at both dramas and comedies. Montgomery was twice nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award. In 1937, he was nominated for his performance as a murderous Irish handyman in Night Must Fall, and for his comedic performance in Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1942). While at M-G-M, he worked with all of the great leading ladies of the day including Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Ann Harding, and Greta Garbo. Before the United States entered World War II, Montgomery joined the American Field Services in London and drove ambulances in France. When the United States entered the war, he joined the Navy. He starred opposite Carole Lombard in Mr. & Mrs. Smith, They Were Expendable (1945), and two film noir classics The Lady in the Lake (1947) and Ride the Pink Horse (1947). From 1950 to 1957, he hosted the Emmy Award-winning series Robert Montgomery Presents. In 1955 he won a Tony Award for his direction of the play The Desperate Hours. He was also the father of actress Elizabeth Montgomery.

Edward Everett Horton, Robert Montgomery, and Claude Rains

Claude Rains (1889 - 1967) was a British actor whose career lasted almost seven decades. He was one of the most highly regarded character actors during Hollywood's classical period. He appeared in a number of classic films including The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), The Wolf Man (1941), Casablanca (1942), and King's Row (1942). Later in his career, he starred in Lawrence of Arabia (1962), and The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965). He starred in four films with Bette Davis including Now, Voyager (1942), and Mr. Skeffington (1944). Rains was a four-time Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nominee. Many of his contemporaries consider him one of the greatest actors of the 20th century.

To watch the film on YouTube, click on the link below.

Here Comes Mr. Jordan trivia

• The film was originally meant to be a vehicle for Cary Grant.
• It won two Academy Awards for Best Writing, Original Story, and Best Writing Screenplay. The film was nominated for five other Academy Awards including Best Director and Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor nods for Robert Montgomery and James Gleason.
• Columbia Pictures Studio Chief Harry Cohn was reluctant to finance the picture, thinking it wasn't the type of story that would be popular with the public.
• Montgomery was loaned out from his home studio, M-G-M.
• The movie was remade as Heaven Can Wait (1978) starring Warren Beatty.

To join the discussion on May 2, 2022, at 6:30 p.m. Central Time, click here. When you RSVP, you will receive an invitation and Zoom link to the discussion.

Discussion questions:

1. Was Robert Montgomery convincing as a New York City boxer?
2. Did this film remind you of any others you've seen?
3. If you saw Warren Beatty in Heaven Can Wait, how does it compare to the original?
4. The film is filled with great character actors; did one character actor stand out to you?

John Emery, Rita Johnson, Robert Montgomery, Evelyn Keyes, Claude Rains

Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman are "Notorious!"

Notorious (1946) is a film noir/spy thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, and Claude Raines. The film’s screenplay was written by Ben Hecht (Nothing Sacred) with cinematography by Ted Tetzlaff (My Man Godfrey).

Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant

Alicia Huberman (Bergman) is recruited by the American government to infiltrate a group of Nazis hiding out in Brazil after World War II. Alicia’s father was a convicted Nazi spy who committed suicide in prison. Government agent T. R. Devlin (Grant) recruits Alicia and informs her of her assignment. Part of her assignment is romancing the head of the Nazi group in Brazil, Alexander Sebastian (Raines), a man she had a relationship with in the past.

Things get complicated when Devlin and Alicia fall in love and the Nazi plot becomes more elusive. Will Devlin and Alicia be successful in exposing the Nazis? Will they be able to find happiness once their assignment is over?

Alfred Hitchcock (1899 – 1980) was an English film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is one of the most influential filmmakers of the 20th century. Hitchcock directed over 50 feature films, many are classics that have been honored and studied for years. Some of Hitchcock’s classic films include The 39 Steps (1935), Sabotage (1936), Rebecca (1940), Suspicion (1941), Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959), and Psycho (1960).

Ben Hecht (1894 – 1964) was an American screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, journalist, and novelist! Hecht was born in New York City but went to Chicago at age 16. He became a journalist of some note and in 1920 he co-wrote The Front Page which became a huge Broadway hit. In the 1930s and 1940s, Hecht was one of the most popular and prolific screenwriters in Hollywood. He often acted as a “script doctor” for many screenplays, often without credit. Some of Hecht’s famous screenplays include Spellbound (1945), Kiss of Death (1947), Design for Living (1933), Wuthering Heights (1939), and Gunga Din (1939). Hecht was one of the dozens of writers who had a hand in the Gone With the Wind (1939) screenplay. Supposedly, Hecht never worked more than eight weeks on a screenplay.

Ted Tetzlaff (1903 – 1995) was an Academy Award-nominated cinematographer in Hollywood during the 1930s and 1940s. He was a favorite of Carole Lombard—he photographed her in 10 movies. Some of the movies he photographed include Hands Across the Table (1935), Remember the Night (1940), The Road to Zanzibar (1941), I Married a Witch (1942), The Talk of the Town (1942), and The More the Merrier (1943).

Cary Grant (1904 – 1986) was an English-born American actor who became one of the most popular leading men in film history. Grant started his career in vaudeville before heading to Hollywood. He became a superstar in the late 1930s in a series of screwball comedies including The Awful Truth (1937) with Irene Dunne. He was a memorable C. K. Dexter Haven in The Philadelphia Story (1940) opposite Katharine Hepburn and James Stewart. He received two Best Actor nominations: Penny Serenade (1941) and None but the Lonely Hearts (1944). Other classic Grant films include Gunga Din (1939), Only Angels Have Wings (1939), and Arsenic and Old Lace (1944). He made four popular films with Alfred Hitchcock: Suspicion (1941), Notorious (1946), To Catch a Thief (1955), and North by Northwest (1959). He was presented with an Honorary Oscar at the 42nd Academy Awards in 1970.

Cary Grant, Alfred Hitchcock and Ingrid Bergman celebrate Cary Grant’s birthday on the set of Notorious. 

Ingrid Bergman (1915 – 1982) was a Swedish actress who became an international star upon her Hollywood debut in Intermezzo (1939). Few actresses were as popular as Bergman during the 1940s. In fact, she was the number two box office draw (after Bing Crosby) in 1946. She starred opposite Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca (1942), For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943) opposite Gary Cooper, Gaslight (1944) for which she won the Best Actress Academy Award. She starred opposite newcomer Gregory Peck in Spellbound (1945) which was her first collaboration with director Alfred Hitchcock. Bergman would go on to win another Best Actress Academy Award for Anastasia (1956) and a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for Murder on the Orient Express (1974).

Claude Raines (1889 – 1967) was a British-American film and stage actor. He was one of the most popular character actors working in Hollywood during the 1930s and 1940s. He was a favorite of actress Bette Davis; they worked together in four films including Now, Voyager (1942). Other classic Raines films include The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941), Kings Row (1942), Casablanca (1942), Phantom of the Opera (1943), Caesar and Cleopatra (1945), and Deception (1946).

To watch the film, click on the YouTube link below. Be sure to use this link because there are many versions of this film on the channel. None are as good as this print.



Once you’ve watched the film, please join our Zoom discussion on September 15, 2020, at 6:30 p.m. Central Time. The invitation and link to the meeting are below.

Stephen Reginald is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Discussion of "Notorious"
Time: Sep 15, 2020, 06:30 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/77326363144?pwd=anZ5S2VmcVFPWlpFcjBRY1dmZGpOZz09

Meeting ID: 773 2636 3144
Passcode: Yn7HLW

Discussion questions:
1. One of the major themes of the film is trust. Trust withheld or given too freely. What did you make of it all?
2. Some critics consider this one of Hitchcock’s most complicated romances. Do you agree with that assessment?
3. Hitchcock is known for the “mothers” in his films. Madame Anna Sebastian is a major character in Notorious. What did you make of her character?
4. There’s a lot of drinking going on in this film. What do you think all that drinking was about?

Screening of Hitchcock’s “Notorious” at Daystar Center February 10, 2015

When: Tuesday, February 10, 2015 6:30 p.m.
Where: The Venue 1550 at the Daystar Center, 1550 S. State Street

It’s complicated
Notorious is the most complex and perhaps the best of Alfred Hitchcock’s films produced during his first decade in America. The film features the star power of Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman, two of the director’s favorite performers. It also showcases the director’s technical storytelling skills, skills that he honed during his tenure in Hollywood.

Pretty as a picture
Grant and Bergman were two of the most glamorous movies stars of the day and they are photographed exquisitely by famed cinematographer Ted Tetzlaff. The close-ups of the two stars are beautifully lit and staged. Many of the shots are framed so well that they stand on their own as works of art.

Nazis in hiding
The plot revolves around Alicia Huberman (Bergman), the American daughter of a convicted Nazi spy. Intelligence agent T. R. Devlin (Grant) recruits her to infiltrate a group of Nazis hiding out in Brazil after World War II. Devlin arranges things so that Alicia reacquaints herself, with Alexander Sebastian (Claude Rains), the leader of the Nazis in Rio de Janeiro. Sebastian was smitten with Alicia several years earlier and is eager to try and woo her once again.

Cover blown
Things get complicated when Sebastian proposes marriage to Alicia. Devlin who has feelings for her reacts badly to this development and withdraws emotionally. Alicia marries Sebastian and continues her work as an agent of the United States government. After a party at their home, Sebastian discovers that his wife is a double agent and has been spying on him. With the help of his mother (Leopoldine Konstantin), Sebastian sets about to slowly poison Alicia in an attempt to hide her true identity from his fellow Nazi conspirators. Will his plan be successful?

Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman at the racetrack

Have some Joe and Enjoy the Show!
Before the movie, grab a cup of coffee from Overflow Coffee Bar, located within the Daystar Center. You can bring food and beverages into the auditorium; we even have small tables set up next to some of the seats. General Admission: $5 Students and Senior Citizens: $3.

Join the Chicago Film club; join the discussion
Once a month we screen a classic film and have a brief discussion afterward. For more information, including how to join (it’s free), click here. To purchase your ticket in advance, click here. The Venue 1550 is easily accessible by the CTA. Please visit Transit Chicago for more information on transportation options.

Backstory: David O. Selznik had originally planned to produce Notorious himself, but sold the property to RKO. Selznik lobbied for Joseph Cotton, who was under contract to the producer, to play Devlin. Hitchcock wanted Cary Grant. Hitchcock obviously won that fight. Clifton Webb and George Saunders were considered for the role of Sebastian. Selznik recommended Claude Rains for the role, which Hichcock agreed with. Notorious premiered at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on August 15, 1946 with Hitchcock, Bergman and Grant in attendance.