For the first time since I’ve been co-hosting this tournament (this is my third year), I will be doing the magnificent, magical 1930s decade! And here are the ladies who will be competing this Sunday, March 2nd… The next batch of actresses will compete the following Thursday, 3/6. The polls should be up by late morning, Pacific Standard Time.
THEY HAD FACES
Greta Garbo Born 1905 Known for: Ninotchka
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Fay Wray Born 1907 Known for: King Kong
Kay Francis Born 1905 Known for: Trouble in Paradise
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Miriam Hopkins Born 1902 Known for: Trouble in Paradise
Ruth Chatterton Born 1892 Known for: Dodsworth
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Sylvia Sidney Born 1910 Known for: Sabotage
Ann Dvorak Born 1912 Known for: Scarface
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Anita Page Born 1910 Known for: The Broadway Melody
FUNNY LADIES
Myrna Loy Born 1905 Known for: The Best Years of Our Lives
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Marie Dressler Born 1868 Known for: Dinner at Eight
Constance Bennett Born 1904 Known for: Topper
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Margaret Dumont Born 1882 Known for: Duck Soup
Jean Arthur Born 1900 Known for: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
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Maureen O’Sullivan Born 1911 Known for: Tarzan the Ape Man
The Night is Young, released in 1935, is a combined comedy/musical/romance. It stars Ramon Novarro and Evelyn Laye with a supporting cast that includes the always wonderful Una Merkel, funny Charles Butterworth, and the sometimes bumbling Edward Everett Horton. Once again, Rosalind Russell has a small part in this film.
Edward Everett Horton, Rosalind Russell, and Ramon Novarro in The Night is Young (1935)
In this case, she is a Hungarian countess. Of course, she does not sound Hungarian, but rather British instead. However, that’s usually how they did it in Hollywood back then. She is a fun character to watch, even if her part is small and she disappears halfway through the film. We first see her in the first scene of the film. She is watching a ballet in which Evelyn Laye’s character (Lisl Gluck) dances. Also there is the Archduke Gustl Gustave (Ramon Novarro). Russell’s character, named Countess Zarika Rafay (What a name, huh?) notices Gustl in an upper box and blows him a kiss. He smiles back at her and it is obvious they are romantically entangled. However, it is soon learned that Gustl’s uncle, Emperor Franz Josef (Henry Stephenson), despises the family that the countess comes from, and would never approve of a marriage between her and his nephew. Gustl pretends he is in love with one of the ballet dancers and picks out Lisl from the stage. She is commanded to come to the archduke’s place of residence to cover for him.
Rosalind Russell in The Night is Young (1935)
He continues to see the countess in secret while Lisl stays at his house. The countess is a fiery little thing with a violent temper. The Baron Szereny (often called “Doodlesack” by both Gustl and Lisl) warns the countess that the emperor won’t like her carrying on with his nephew. Angry at him, she is about to throw a small statuette at his head when Gustl enters. When she finds out that the Archduke is afraid to be seen with her, she throws a temper tantrum, thinking he wants to keep her on a “back street,” and remarks, “I’m just something to throw aside like an old… like an old… like, uh, whatever it is you throw aside!” When the countess is seen again, it’s to go after the Archduke as he has taken Lisl to the carnival after having fun singing with her at his home. When she sees them together on the Ferris wheel, the Archduke is suddenly very afraid and does not want to get off.
Rosalind Russell and Edward Everett Horton in The Night is Young (1935)
He knows of the countess’s nasty temper and feels safer on the Ferris wheel. When Lisl notices the countess, he tells her the countess is “Mrs. Doodlesack.” The countess becomes very angry and takes off, but not without leaving the Baron with a black eye.
Two other important characters in this film are Fanni Kerner (Una Merkel) and Willy Fitch (Charles Butterworth). This is a most delightful comedy team and are most certainly the comic relief. Una Merkel is wonderfully witty as always and Charles Butterworth is hilarious as her boyfriend who seems to care more about his mule named Mitzi than her.
Charles Butterworth and Una Merkel in The Night is Young (1935)
He even sings a song about his mule when they go for a carriage ride. At first, Miss Una is excited to listen to this song because she thinks it will be about her, and when she hears the name “Mitzi,” the faces she makes in reaction are priceless. Evelyn Laye is also lovely in the film, entertaining the audience with her beautiful operatic singing voice and Ramon Novarro is as cute and charming as ever.
Ramon Novarro and Evelyn Laye in The Night is Young (1935)
Some fun songs they sing in the film are “When I Grow Too Old to Dream,” “There’s a Riot in Havana,” “Lift Your Glass,” and the title song, “The Night is Young.” This is a fun film and I recommend it not just for a short, entertaining appearance by angry Roz, but for the other characters as well.
This will be the first post in a series in which I will write about all of the films in Rosalind Russell’s filmography chronologically. That being said, let’s start with her debut—Evelyn Prentice. This film stars the versatile and loveable William Powell and Myrna Loy, a screen couple franchise—that’s what I like to call them—whom the public adored and made MGM a lot of money. Rosalind Russell, 27 years old at the time, was absolutely green in the movie industry, coming from a career on the stage (most recently with an English stage troupe led by the great C.C. Clive) right to sunny California where she didn’t know anyone. She was a lucky one, too, because although she wasn’t very well known as an actress, she got herself a contract with the most revered studio of the day, MGM studios, whose motto was “More stars than there are in heaven.” And for Roz to be put immediately into a movie with William Powell and Myrna Loy? That was just icing on the cake. While she shares no scenes with Myrna Loy, Roz became great friends with both Powell and Loy, two actors who enjoyed Roz’s sense of humor and bubbling personality. Rosalind came to adore William Powell, who was kind enough to help her with her first movie project. She didn’t quite know what to do in front of the cameras, and so she would simply walk across the soundstage, say her line, and walk out. But she was doing it all wrong, Powell pointed out to her. She had to hit the “marks” on the floor—walk and then stop on the chalk marks that guided the actors and cameramen. She appreciated his help and called Powell a “divine man and a great friend.” She was brought in as a back-up for Myrna Loy whenever Miss Loy didn’t like a movie she was put into or threatened to walk out. As Rosalind said, she was “a threat behind Myrna.”
Rosalind Russell, publicity shot for Evelyn Prentice (1934)
Evelyn Prentice centers around John Prentice and his wife, Evelyn (William Powell and Myrna Loy). John is a busy lawyer who seems to spend more and more time at the office than at home, which has his wife restless and lonely. In the beginning of the film, he is busy on a case for Nancy Harrison (Rosalind Russell), who has been charged with manslaughter when she got into a car accident with a man who died at the scene. After John gets her acquitted, it is obvious she likes him as more than just her lawyer. She even takes a train for Boston because she knows he will be on the same train. Later, she sends a to John’s wife Evelyn, which is marked to be a gift to Nancy from John with a note saying it was found in John’s compartment. Roz’s character is a troublemaker, trying to ruin an already fragile marriage. She isn’t successful, and although 15 minutes into the movie, we never see her again, she certainly is noticeable. Being a widow, she always wears black in the film, and she looks lovely in the outfits, matching her equally dark hair.
Rosalind Russell and William Powell in a deleted scene from Evelyn Prentice (1934)
I highly recommend this movie because of Myrna Loy. The movie includes a wonderful courtroom scene, where Evelyn is on the stand, giving her heart-shattering testimony. Her testimony is beautifully moving and I always find my eyes glued to the screen during this scene. Isabel Jewell also gives a great performance on the stand, sparking a few tears in my eyes.
William Powell and Myrna Loy in Evelyn Prentice (1934)Myrna Loy and one of my favorite character actresses, Una Merkel
