In honor of the season, I thought that I'd try to post a Christmas-themed picture from Hollywood's studio past each day leading up to the holiday. Our first day finds Virginia Grey, the perennial good sport of MGM, a pal of Clark Gable between his marriages, (who never married once he failed to ask her), and an actress who had, according to Louis B. Mayer, "everything but luck," as she prepared to play a very fetching Santa.
Born into a show biz family, the elegant and lithe Miss Grey memorably played roles in Uncle Tom's Cabin (1927) as Little Eva, Idiot's Delight (1939), The Women (1939), and several smaller movies that I'm quite fond of, such as Grand Central Murder (1942), Tish (1942), Jungle Jim (1948), The Threat (1949), (a well done film noir), The Bullfighter and the Lady (1951) and All That Heaven Allows (1956), in which her relaxed charm and beauty shine through her small part as a grounded woman who befriends Jane Wyman. Her role in Tennessee Williams' The Rose Tattoo (1955) was said to be her finest and might have led to an Oscar nomination, if it weren't for the cutting allegedly performed at the behest of the star,Anna Magnani. She described her approach to her job in these terms: "I consider myself a professional who acts -- not to express my soul or elevate the cinema -- but to entertain and get paid for it."
See you tomorrow for Day Two.
3 comments:
The Christmas photos are a great idea!
In recent months I've enjoyed some of the Virginia Grey movies you listed -- GRAND CENTRAL MURDER is great fun. I love MGM "B" movies of that era.
I also managed to see THE WOMEN, BULLFIGHTER AND THE LADY, and ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS in the past year -- I'd never before seen THE WOMEN or BULLFIGHTER. I have at least a couple more Grey films in my stack of future viewing, DRAMATIC SCHOOL and WASHINGTON MELODRAMA.
I'll be on the lookout for the other titles you mentioned. Grey is always very enjoyable and manages to shine even when her parts are small, as in THE WOMEN.
Best wishes,
Laura
This is a grand idea. The actresses in this period really had little choice in the matter when it came to publicity photos, but I think that Virginia Grey was among the better class of starlets. She is very appealing in her brief appearance in "All That Heaven Allows". I kept hoping that she'd be in the movie more, which is, of course, what all actors might wish. Thanks for posting this, Moira.
Andrew
Since Hollywood loved to celebrate the holidays while promoting itself, I hope to see more glimpses of the dream factory when it was alive and kickin'. I love Virginia Grey whose "bad luck" may have been a case of the actress just missing the right part to set her career in high gear.
Thanks,
Bob
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