Rosalind Avadis and Mick Bloom (2 of 2)

Disclaimer: This interview was conducted in 1995 and concerns memories of 1930s life; as such there may be opinions expressed or words used that do not meet today's norms and expectations.

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* Transcript ID: RA-95-199AT002

* CCINTB Transcript ID: 95-199-13a-av

* Tapes: RA-95-199OT003

* CCINTB Tape ID: T95-152

* Length: 00:53:31

* Harrow, Middlesex, 27 November 1995: Valentina Bold interviews Rosalind Avadis and Mick (Maurice) Bloom

* Transcribed by Joan Simpson/ Standardised by Annette Kuhn

* RA=Rosalind Avadis/ MB=Mick Bloom / VB=Valentina Bold

* Notes: Second of two interviews with Rosalind Avadis and Mick Bloom; Sound Quality: Initially Good; audio distorts.

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[Start of Tape One]

[Start of Side A]

[VB tape introduction]

RA: As I say, I can always look in here--

VB: Actually I brought a couple of books as well that I thought--

RA: Uhuh.

VB: That you might be interested in--

RA: Oh great!

VB: Seeing of erm, of thirties films.

RA: Oh how wonderful!

VB: So this one is from '38 and this is one from about '35.

RA: Look at that! Look! Norma Shearer! Oh-h God.

MB: '38. Well!

VB: So of course a lot of the stars you mentioned are in there.

RA: This is a collector's item.

VB: Mhm.

RA: How did you come by this?

MB: This is '35.

VB: Just got it in a second-hand bookshop actually.

MB: It'll be worth a bomb.

RA: Brilliant stars. They used to have film books. There's Anna Neagle. Of course. We saw all her films. Yes. She was a lovely dancer too. She also sang.

VB: Mhm.

RA: But her-- Henry Wilcox, I think was her husband. I know it wasn't Alfred. Anyway, erm, all her films were good. Very good.

VB: Mhm.

RA: Very good. She started off as a dancer.

MB: Which film's that?

RA: Anna Neagle.

MB: Anna Neagle, oh well. [English?]

RA: And eh, she married a chappie. He was ninety-two. And she was a lady.

VB: Yeah.

RA: And eh, is that Myrna Loy?

MB: Myrna Loy.

RA: I told you I could see [inaudible]. [laughs]

MB: She used to play in small parts.

VB: Mhm.

MB: And I remember seeing The Desert Song. Eh, that was John Boles. That was about 1930, '31? '30 or '31. Desert Song. She played a minor part. As eh, a dancer. Later on in years eh, when I did see her, they never photographed her legs. She had the most terrible legs ever.

VB: A-ah! That's interesting. [laughs]

MB: Yet when she was--

RA: You're being mean, you are.

VB: [laughs]

MB: No, no. She eh--

RA: That's a fact actually.

MB: When they did show her legs, it was awful.

RA: Well she was probably a dancer.

MB: She was a dancer.

RA: So therefore they developed--

MB: When she was young in this eh--

RA: That look.

MB: Desert Song, she was an Arab dancer, you know. I think her name in that was Azuri or some name like that. If I remember rightly.

RA: Sounds right.

MB: And eh, she played the part, a very small part--

VB: I wonder if it might be in here.

MB: Desert Song, that's right. Oh that's right. You'll find it in there.

VB: It's interesting. Because when you say that, I mean I think of Myrna Loy in that Thin Man series. And I think she always did have these very long, sort of straight skirts on. I mean longer than normal--

RA: That's true. That's very true. That's a fact that we didn't know.

VB: I'm sure you're right. Yeah.

RA: At all. I would think that is because she was a dancer, Mick.

MB: I did see her in one film and eh, first time, as a dancer she was all right.

RA: Mhm.

MB: But when she was in one of the eh, William Powell--

RA: Classic films.

MB: Sort of things, you see.

RA: Yes, yes.

MB: She's walking there with her legs and I thought to myself, "My goodness! How can a film star have legs like that!"

RA: Well she can't help it.

MB: I know. Is it in there?

RA: No.

VB: Erm, it's just got the later Desert Song actually.

MB: What?

VB: The remake of that.

RA: It's got the people in it.

VB: Mhm.

RA: There. I would think, Mick. Aw look, look for John Boles, then.

MB: Yeah, I know, I know. I'm gonna find it. I've got it. 'Desert Fury', Desert this. Desert Mice.

VB: Mhm.

MB: Desert Song. The Desert Song. That's the 1953 one.

VB: Mhm.

MB: Not the early one.

RA: Was there one earlier than that?

MB: I'm talking about the one in 1930s.

RA: Oh. Right.

MB: With John Boles. Eh, who was the girl? Can't remember. She was a singer. It was a musical comedy, you see. So John Boles, he was a, he had a lovely voice.

VB: Mhm.

MB: Tenor voice. And eh, I remember her, especially, you know.

VB: Mhm.

MB: Myrna Loy. Anyway, what is it you'd like to know?

VB: Well--

RA: Carry on. Just carry on talking.

VB: Yeah. Well leading on from what you were saying there. Were there particular qualities that appealed to you in a film star, do you think?

RA: Oh indeed!

VB: Yeah.

RA: Oh ye-es!

VB: Yeah.

RA: Erm, to start with, you loved their faces. Their looks. Of course, that Myrna Loy had a superb face. It was slightly oriental, wasn't it, Mick?

MB: Mhm.

RA: But superb face. And she was a very dignified actress. Indeed. Yes, she was lovely. I remember her in a film where she was mother to a lot of daughters. I can't remember the name of it. She was a mother to a lot of daughters, Mick.

MB: Myrna Loy?

RA: Yes. And she was so perfect. That was the trouble. She was very precise and perfect. You felt she could do, she could never miscalculate or, erm dress wrongly or say a rude word or--

VB: Mhm.

RA: She was always very ladylike. Yes.

MB: Well all the stars, the film stars, I mean, that was the eh, the top of the eh, film era, that. In the thirties. You know. People used to go to pictures, cinema what? Three, four times a week! Queue up, and all that. Not like now where the cinemas are empty.

RA: Was it Jeanette MacDonald with John Boles?

MB: No.

RA: In The Desert Song.

MB: No. No.

RA: No.

MB: John Boles--

RA: Well did she sing with him?

MB: Never. No. Not John Boles.

RA: He sang 'Alone'--

MB: Yeah.

RA: In that film.

MB: He sang eh, you know, [sings] "One alone to be my own."

VB: I wonder if it might mention it in this one. 'Cause it's got a bit at the back I think as well.

MB: '35. No, that's a bit too late.

VB: Yeah. But if it's John Boles. 'Cause it has a bit about the stars. It might mention--

MB: Oh yes.

RA: Yes. Look up John Boles.

VB: Yeah. Was he someone that you particularly liked, John Boles?

RA: He was very nice-looking.

VB: Yeah.

RA: I only saw him quite rarely because he retired, he was not so young when he started.

VB: Yeah. Ah it's got him here. E-erm, but it doesn't mention The Desert Song unfortunately.

MB: John Boles?

VB: Yeah. Erm--

RA: I think that's what made him.

VB: Yes.

RA: Desert Song.

MB: King of Jazz. Rio Rita. Oh yeah!

RA: The King of Jazz, that was the very first talkie.

VB: A-ah!

RA: I think. With eh, wasn't it--

MB: With eh, no it's an early talkie.

RA: Oh, The Jazz Singer. Jazz Singer.

VB: Mhm.

MB: With the music eh, musical. King of Jazz, with eh, eh, the eh, what's his name? Well-known erm, band conductor. Forget his name now for the moment.

RA: The King of Jazz. Erm, Henry something.

MB: No.

RA: No, sorry. Oh The Citadel was a lovely film. With Robert Donat.

MB: And do you know who was in Rio Rita?

RA: No. Eh, Dolores del Rio. Dolores something.

MB: Dolores del Rio. Wasn't it Bebe Daniels? She was in it as well.

RA: I think you're right. Yes.

MB: Bebe Daniels.

VB: Was she someone again that you--

MB: You know Bebe Daniels. She was on TV during, I mean she was in TV programmes.

RA: Very, very many years ago.

VB: Mhm.

RA: When it first started commercial TV. With her husband who was Ben Lyon.

VB: Mhm.

RA: And he was a silent star. And he made the first talkies.

VB: Mhm.

RA: But eh, that was a lovely film, The Citadel. With Robert Donat. Aw, that was wonderful.

VB: 'Cause I think you mentioned Robert Donat before.

RA: That's right.

VB: Was he someone that you particularly liked?

RA: He was in 'Thirty...', oh! I loved him. He was in The 39 Steps and he was also, is this all about him? He was in the film--

VB: Ah!

RA: With eh, where he's a teacher. It was so sweet, and so sad. Eh, I can't remember what it was called. Erm, Mick, the film with Robert Donat where he's a schoolmaster. And Greer Garson. That's right.

MB: Yeah. That is erm--

RA: Well known film. [pause 4 seconds] Doesn't mention him here.

VB: Not Goodbye Mr Chips?

RA: That's the one.

VB: Yeah.

RA: Good girl.

VB: [laughs]

RA: That's the one. He was marvellous in that! I still cry thinking of it.

VB: Mhm.

RA: And of course he did the classic 39 Steps.

VB: Madeleine Carroll.

RA: Which they've brought out recently again.

VB: Yeah.

RA: And she was beautiful. But she was also not that young when she started.

MB: Who was this?

RA: Madeleine Carroll.

MB: Oh yeah. She was a great star.

RA: Yeah.

MB: In the thirties.

RA: Yes.

MB: I'm just looking at some of the pictures here of the stars. Joan Blondell. Clive Brook. Carl Brisson. George Brent, he was in--

RA: Carl Brisson was a singer.

MB: What?

RA: He was a boxer then a singer.

MB: Boxer. Yeah.

RA: I remember reading about that. And she was gorgeous.

MB: Beautiful dimples he had.

RA: Norma Shearer. She once did sing in a film. Eh, "I'll see you again, whenever spring breaks through again".

VB: Mhm.

RA: That was by Ivor Novello. Just trying to think of the film. S'probably here.

VB: What was it about her do you think, that made her so good?

RA: Oh, it was called Smilin' Through.

VB: Ah.

RA: That was the film.

VB: Mhm.

RA: And I can remember-- I believe she actually sang the song. 'Smiling Through'. Eh, it might well mention it here. She married the director.

MB: Yeah. I'm looking at Jackie Cooper. Now for years he was always in kids' films. He was a young child, a child actor. And they reckoned that after a while, I did read about it, that he wasn't eh, he was a midget, you know, really he was about sixty years old, like--

VB: [laughs]

MB: And he played the part of boys.

RA: Ah, but he became a very good director.

VB: Is that right?

RA: Film director. Yes.

VB: 'Cause it's funny with these child stars and people like Shirley Temple and eh...

RA: They die out.

VB: Yeah.

RA: They never, like eh, ooh, can't think of his name now. He did 'Great 00:11:00Expectations' with eh, wait a minute. Maureen O'Sullivan was his mother in it [referring to The Personal History, Adventures, Experience, and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger].

VB: Mhm.

RA: Erm, yes. And he didn't--

VB: Mhm.

RA: He also didn't grow very tall. And eh, wasn't good-looking. As a young man. Some did even better when they grew up. But not him.

VB: Mhm.

RA: He's sort of dying out. He was a brilliant actor. Anton Walbrook.

VB: Ah. Oh he's got wonderful eyes in that.

RA: Aw, he was a very very good-looking man. He was more the strong silent type.

MB: He what?

RA: Anton Walbrook.

MB: Oh yeah. He played in that eh, 'The Warsaw Concerto' [referring to Dangerous Moonlight].

RA: That's right. That's right.

MB: Now you know I'm surprised at these stars here. There was a star who started one of the first talkies and she was a star right throughout her life. She made 00:12:00hundreds of films, and she's not here.

VB: Mhm!

MB: You got unknowns like Alison Skipwood.

VB: [laughs]

RA: Well Joan Blondell--

MB: And eh, Margaretta Scott. And Rosalind Russell. No, she was a famous star.

RA: Yes.

MB: But Barbara Stanwyck is not here. And yet--

RA: Oh she was a very fine actress.

VB: Mhm.

MB: And I remember Barbara Stanwyck in one of her first films. And eh, it was 1929. And she must've been what? Twenty-one, twenty-two. A New York actress she was. When talkies just come out. And eh, being a stage actress, they all got jobs, you see.

VB: Mhm.

MB: On the films. If they were presentable.

RA: Only if they could sing or talk.

MB: Yeah.

RA: If their voices didn't carry, they'd had it.

VB: Mhm.

RA: It's like John Gilbert. I don't know if you've ever heard of him.

VB: Oh yes.

RA: He had a squeaky voice. He was in one or two films.

MB: They said, no, they said he had a squea-- but it wasn't so.

RA: But he didn't, that was sad because he was in love with Greta Garbo. And eh, she did well and he didn't make the grade.

VB: Mhm.

RA: One or two films. But he died out after about two or three years, I think.

MB: But talking about Barbara Stanwyck. This film was called The Locked Door. And eh, the first time I saw her I was young myself but I thought she was wonderful. On the first film.

VB: Mhm.

MB: And yet she was a star right throughout her life. She was in no doubt hundreds of films, she must've made.

RA: She still makes them, Mick.

MB: She's dead.

RA: Oh yeah. But I mean until-- you still see some of her films.

MB: She was in TV series.

RA: Even as recent as this year [probably referring to The Colbys].

MB: Yeah.

RA: Yes. She never ever looked that old. She managed to keep a very smooth face. 00:14:00Although she let her hair go grey. She never-- she didn't ever look very old, did she Mick?

MB: No, she had a--

RA: Really.

MB: Yeah.

VB: Was it her appearance that appealed to you do you think?

MB: Pardon?

VB: Was it her appearance that appealed to you when you're saying that, she had that--

RA: No, she was a very fine actress. Very very fine actress.

MB: Very good for-- I think that one of the best films was with eh, eh--

RA: Was it Ray Milland? Didn't she make a film with him?

MB: No, no, no, no. Eh, [pause 3 seconds] o-ah! Forget the names now. She was along with that tall fellow. Eh... [pause 2 seconds]

RA: Not John Wayne?

MB: No, no.

RA: They were cowboy films.

MB: [pause 3 seconds] What was it?

RA: She was with all the leading men.

VB: Mhm.

MB: Oh yeah.

RA: She did appear with all of them.

MB: Oh yeah. With most of them.

RA: Yes. But you knew that if she made a film that it was going to be good--

MB: Yeah.

RA: She would never accept a bad film. So you always knew that--

MB: What was that film called? 'Alibi', erm, she played in this film. Something alibi [referring to Naked Alibi].

RA: Wasn't it, [pause 2 seconds] The Lost Weekend or something?

MB: No.

RA: No.

MB: That was Ray Milland. The drink, he used to hide the bottles--

RA: Yeah, but who was the girl in it?

MB: With Barbara Stanwyck it was eh, [pause; 3 seconds] something 'Alibi'. [pause 3 seconds] Can't remember exactly. [laughs]

VB: Mhm.

RA: [looking at book] Now she was a lovely actress. Didn't make that many films.

VB: Oh Vivien Leigh. Yes.

RA: 'Course, she made the best film! But erm, she was a lovely actress too.

VB: Yeah.

RA: And she was well known for that main film as well.

VB: [laughs]

RA: With Sir Laurence Olivier.

VB: Yes.

RA: As he was then known. Erm, Edna Best. Early films. Very early films.

VB: Mhm.

RA: He was a brilliant actor. Sir Ralph Richardson.

VB: Aw yes.

RA: Erm, and of course, good old Charles Laughton.

VB: Mhm.

RA: He didn't make any bad films. He was very watchable. Very ugly, but very watchable.

VB: Mhm.

MB: Who was that?

RA: Charles Laughton.

MB: Oh yeah! He was a great star.

RA: And recently they had Hobson's Choice on [television]. And he was so good in it! So good! Lovely film!

VB: Ah.

RA: Marvellous film. And something de Branza was in it [referring to Brenda de Banzie].

VB: A-ah.

RA: She walks away with the film really. She's so good. There's good old Marlene--

VB: Mhm.

RA: Dietrich.

VB: Was she someone that you liked, Marlene Dietrich?

RA: No, I didn't particularly like her. Because--

VB: A-ah.

MB: Fred MacMurray.

RA: Oh, you're right! That was, wasn't that the last--

MB: You know, looking at it casually, you're bound--

VB: Yeah. [laughs]

RA: Wasn't that The Lost Weekend?

MB: The name's bound to come up. Fred MacMurray.

RA: Wasn't that the 'Lost'? And Barbara Streis.., eh, sorry Barbara Stanwyck.

MB: And eh, Barbara Stanwyck. In a film where she's a wicked woman and she inveigles him to murder her husband and all that.

VB: Ah.

RA: That wasn't called The Lost Weekend though, was it? No.

MB: No.

RA: That was another one with Ray Milland, I think.

VB: Yeah.

MB: Ray Milland played The Lost Weekend. He's a drunk.

VB: Mhm.

RA: He's a drunk, that's it.

MB: He's a drunk and he's drinking as much as he can. He used to hide the bottles in the eh, lights.

RA: Anywhere.

MB: You know. The chandelier. Or things like that. Very good.

RA: Well I think he actually got the Academy Award for that one film.

MB: Yes. I think he did.

RA: Yeah, I think so. I think so anyway.

VB: Mhm.

RA: Yes eh, regarding Marlene Dietrich. She was good, oddly enough, when she made a funny film. Then you could watch, then I could watch her. I saw most of 00:18:00her films. But she was so, you felt that her face was a facelift. It was like a mask. And you felt that it would crack if she smiled. It was so...! You see she was really originally like that.

VB: Mhm.

RA: But we never-- I didn't ever see that one.

VB: Ah.

RA: I only ever saw her when--

VB: Well you wouldn't--

RA: She was heavily made up.

VB: Well you wouldn't say that was the same person almost. It's so different.

RA: No. Well, you see, that's why they took her to Hollywood--

VB: Mhm.

RA: I think. And then she started all this make-up business.

VB: Mhm.

RA: And eh, she wasn't really such, she was very plain.

VB: Mhm.

RA: In my opinion. She was never beautiful, then.

VB: Mhm.

RA: But eh, look. For instance, that one. She was just all make-up.

VB: Yes.

RA: There was not any expression.

VB: That's interesting. Yeah.

RA: Mhm.

VB: Almost like a mask. When you say it like that.

RA: Well unfortunately--

VB: Yeah.

RA: You see, she started off rather late for an actress. She was well into her twenties.

VB: Mhm.

RA: And eh, a lot of them were well under twenty when they started.

VB: Uhuh.

RA: And then I think they couldn't show up without a lot of make-up. Unfortunately it showed their wrinkles and things.

VB: Uhuh.

RA: And that was the only way to avoid it, I imagine--

VB: Yeah.

RA: With make-up.

MB: Ah, I got the name now. Double Indemnity.

VB: Oh yes! [laughs] That's the one with the big courtroom sort of--

MB: Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck.

VB: Yeah.

MB: Edward G. Robinson. 1944.

RA: Right.

VB: Mm. You mentioned Edward G. Robinson there. Was he someone that you enjoyed?

RA: Oh yes. He was a toughie. But eh, he was very good. The only trouble is--

MB: He was a--

RA: Sorry. He was, he took similar parts. So you sort of knew what to expect. 00:20:00But he was a fine actor.

MB: He was in every other film. He was in so many films.

RA: He was a very good actor though. He was also a titch.

VB: Mhm.

MB: Little man. And eh, he collected antiques and paintings.

VB: Did he?

MB: Which were worth millions and millions of pounds when he died. He bought all the old masters up.

RA: Really? I didn't know that.

MB: Mhm. Yeah. I read about that. He had stuff, you know, that he owned. Paintings and works of art.

RA: Possessions--

VB: Mhm.

RA: Yeah.

MB: Which were-- untold wealth, you know.

RA: Well you see, he made a lot of money because he didn't ever stop working.

VB: Yes. That's true. He must've.

RA: And he also took--

MB: He was always in films.

RA: Took, more or less, good parts and he was well paid.

MB: Every film we saw was erm, this fellow.

RA: Wasn't he in a film with James Cagney? 'Enemy of the Public'. I seem to 00:21:00remember that one.

MB: Public Enemy.

RA: Public Enemy.

VB: Public Enemy. [laughs]

RA: Sorry. Yeah.

VB: What about James Cagney? Did you like him?

RA: Oh yes!

MB: Who?

VB: James Cagney.

RA: James Cagney.

MB: Ye-es. He, he eh, I didn't care for him all that much. He played a cocky part and I think he was in real life a bit cocky too. And eh, you know, he did take the part. Little man, you know.

RA: Wonderful dancer. He started danc-- as a dancer.

MB: Yeah.

RA: But it was strange 'cause we saw the film where he danced and you could see little short legs, dancing. And it was hard because he was bending them forward to try to make them look longer. Eh, and they tried to get him at certain angles. But it was very hard to, you know, avoid the fact that he was very small.

VB: Mhm.

RA: I remember seeing him in one of the films, fairly recently, where he was 00:22:00erm, he showed his age.

VB: Mhm.

RA: I can't remember the film but I know-- I think it was called '13th Avenue'. Something like that. And he was very-- in love with a younger woman.

VB: Mhm.

RA: A very sweet film. I'll probably find it in there somewhere.

VB: Yeah.

RA: Although I think it was later than that.

VB: Yeah.

MB: Now eh, who was that one in Shane eh, eh--

RA: Ooh, I know. There's a big cast in that.

MB: Erm, now my niece, eh, when I went to see her--

RA: Is it in here?

MB: Some time ago. Shane. I'll find it. Eh... [pause 3 seconds] Oh, funny how the names. I'm terrible with names.

RA: You're not. You're very good.

VB: Not at all. [laughs]

RA: I can see his face but I can't! Because you're asking point blank--

VB: Mhm.

RA: It goes.

VB: Mhm.

RA: I know. And he was also another little bloke.

MB: He is. Yeah. And my eh, niece, she loved him and she was one of his fans. I think she was the eh, the one who run the fan club.

VB: A-ah.

RA: Really?

MB: And when he came over to England, he got in touch with her and invited her to one of the Savoy hotels, for lunch.

RA: Good Lord!

MB: And she said that she was shocked when she stood next to him. 'Cause he was so short.

VB: Aw. [laughs]

RA: Ah-h. And was she quite tall, your niece, Mick?

MB: Pardon?

RA: Is your niece quite tall?

MB: Nah. Nah. She's a titch herself.

RA: [laughs]

VB: Oh. [laughs] Makes it even worse.

MB: Alan Ladd.

VB: Ah.

RA: That's the one. Alan Ladd. Yes. He's Shane.

MB: Yeah. And when she went to see Alan Ladd-- [clumping noise in background]

RA: Don't worry. S'only spooks. [laughs]

VB: [laughs]

RA: The place is haunted. [laughs]

VB: Ah.

RA: Not really.

VB: [laughs]

MB: And eh, he was very short.

VB: Mhm.

RA: It talks about Myrna Loy here.

VB: Mhm. 'Cause I was wondering about that. You passed people like Errol Flynn a minute ago. Did you like these sort of adventure films?

RA: I did!

VB: [laughs]

RA: I loved them. He was a very fine actor. Fredric March.

VB: Ah.

MB: Who's that?

RA: Fredric March.

MB: Oh yeah.

RA: Very fine actor.

MB: See he was good in the thirties. Eh, and forties as well.

RA: He was a straight actor.

MB: He played eh--

RA: Very good. Never comical.

VB: Mhm.

RA: Very very good. Now she was a wonderful actress. Luise Rayner.

MB: Oh yes. She, she got the Academy Award for--

RA: She got the Academy Award several times. Four times I think. She was... [voice heard in background] The library's open, I expect.

VB: Mhm.

RA: Now Janet Gaynor was in the very first talkie films. Janet Gaynor.

MB: Oh yes.

RA: And Charles Farrell. I know because my brother used to draw them.

MB: 'Sunny Side of the Street', was it? [possibly referring to Sunny Side Up]

RA: Ye-es! [Laughs]. That's right.

MB: 'Sunny Side of the Street'. Robert Young was in lots of films.

VB: Yeah.

MB: See eh, Metro Goldwyn Mayer had the best stars.

RA: And they had them under contract.

VB: Mhm.

RA: Yeah.

MB: Yeah. And eh, they were always in it.

VB: How did you feel [to MB] about Marlene Dietrich? Erm, was she someone that appealed or--

MB: No. Not to me.

VB: No. Was it the same thing, that it was her face?

MB: No.

RA: Was it her looks, Mick?

VB: Was it her looks.

MB: Na-a.

RA: What then?

MB: I didn't care for her all that much.

RA: Yeah but what was it about her that you didn't like?

MB: Her talking and especially her singing. She couldn't sing. And she sang eh--

RA: 'Falling in love again'.

VB: Mhm.

MB: Yeah. 'Falling in love'. Yeah. The film was very good. What struck me was eh, Emil Jannings who played the part of eh, the first film that she was in. Where she plays the young bird. And eh, he's a schoolmaster. And he falls in love with her. It was called eh, Emil Jennings--

RA: Wasn't that her first film in England?

VB: Mhm.

MB: No, it was the first film that--

RA: Blue Angel.

VB: Blue Angel.

RA: Was it The Blue Angel?

MB: Yeah. The Blue Angel. Yeah. That's right.

RA: Now he was more--

MB: Marie Dressler. These two used to be in films together.

VB: Oh Wallace Beery.

MB: But I never cared for her much. Neither did I care for Conrad Veidt.

VB: Mhm.

RA: He was always the bad German.

VB: Yeah.

RA: Very fine features though. Very unusual face.

VB: Mhm.

RA: Ah now he, Mischa Auer. I remember him in lots of funny films. Yeah, My Man 00:27:00Godfrey. I remember him in that. But you couldn't help. As soon as you saw him, he made you laugh. Just his expression. He was really quite nice-looking.

VB: Mhm.

RA: But because he started off in funny films, it, you know, it was a living I suppose. I imagine he was erm, from Russia.

VB: Yeah.

RA: I'm not too sure but I think so.

VB: Mhm.

RA: I don't remember seeing many of her films but she was always good.

VB: Carole Lombard. Yeah.

RA: Always good. Yeah.

VB: Yeah.

MB: Paul Muni was very--

RA: Ah, he was a marvellous actor!

MB: Actor. Very good. Paul Muni.

RA: Yeah. He was very nice-looking.

VB: Mhm.

MB: Eh, Guy Kibbee. Used to see him in lots of films. Eh, never a star but always eh, you know--

RA: Comedian.

MB: Comedian type. Always the father.

RA: He was a good, he backed films well.

MB: His hands, fiddling around, you know.

RA: But coming back to him, he was the first Jewish actor who actually could act 00:28:00in Hebrew.

MB: Who was?

VB: Really!

RA: Paul Muni. I read about him.

MB: Paul Muni. Oh yeah. He could actually, he knew Hebrew so well--

VB: Mhm.

RA: He could act in Hebrew--

VB: Mhm.

RA: As well as Yiddish of course.

VB: That's interesting. Yeah.

RA: Mhm. Mhm. But eh, he was very good-looking.

VB: Mhm.

RA: As a young man. Had a lovely face.

MB: These are character actors here.

VB: Yes.

MB: Peter Lorre, he was always in films. As the vile villain. Boris Karloff of course. [voice in background: "Hallo readers!"]

RA: That's books.

VB: [laughs]

RA: I remember Rochelle Hudson. Now this doesn't do her justice.

VB: Mhm.

RA: She was very very pretty. That's a harsh photo of her. She had really good features. She was a bit of a flirty type. She didn't make many films. Annabella. 00:29:00But I do remember her. Now a, aw isn't that sweet? Now a Hollywood star.

VB: Ah. [laughs]

RA: That's sweet! 1938. That's marvellous. Oh! He's still making films!

VB: Don Ameche.

RA: Don Ameche! Yes! And so is she but she's now into her eighties.

VB: Katharine Hepburn. Mhm.

RA: Ye-ah.

MB: Who's that?

RA: Katharine Hepburn.

MB: Oh yeah.

VB: Did you like her films in the thirties?

RA: I didn't at first. Isn't that strange. Because she used to do the same kind of acting. Then gradually, gradually she sorted herself out. She had quite a screechy voice at first. But, after a time, with erm, the fella she loved--

VB: Oh yes, erm, Spencer Tracy.

[End of Side A]

[Start of Side B]

RA: With him she became natural.

VB: Yeah.

RA: And very loveable.

VB: Yeah.

RA: After that, I could see all her films.

VB: Yeah.

RA: She was very good in The Philadelphia Story. With James eh-- oh the names all go.

VB: Mhm. That's interesting though 'cause I suppose when you're talking about the thirties as well, it's quite a, you know, ten years or so of people.

RA: A lot to talk about.

VB: Yeah.

MB: In the thirties eh, one of the heroes was that Englishman, Herbert Marshall.

VB: Mhm.

RA: Oh yes he had a, a wooden leg. From World War One.

MB: Mhm.

RA: But he walked so well, you could barely notice it.

VB: That's interesting.

RA: Yeah.

MB: This one here.

VB: Mhm.

RA: He was extremely good-looking. But he never ever got the girl.

VB: Aw-w. [laughs]

[tape hissing noise]

RA: [laughs] That's right, she made eh, The Philadelphia Story with James Stewart. She was a, she made two or three very good films and then that was it.

VB: Ah! Nova Pilbeam. Yeah.

MB: Another well-known film was eh, [pause 3 seconds] with eh, [pause 2 seconds] the President of the eh--

RA: What? Ronald Reagan?

MB: Ronald Reagan. Yeah.

VB: Mhm.

MB: He was in a film eh, which was--

RA: What? King, King something.

MB: King's Row.

RA: King's Row.

MB: King's Row.

RA: He got the Academy Award for that.

VB: Ah!

MB: Did he?

RA: He did.

MB: Didn't know that.

RA: Yeah.

MB: And eh, yes, King's Row, with er--

VB: I'll have a look for that. Thanks.

MB: It was a marvellous--

RA: Yeah. This--

MB: It's about a small town. I used to read the book.

RA: He lost his leg for nothing.

MB: Yeah.

RA: The man just stopped--

MB: He was a doctor. And doctors are--

RA: Oh he's well-known. What was his name, Mick?

MB: The doctor.

RA: He did comedy after that. That was the only serious film he ever made. Big chap. He was British.

MB: Yeah, he's in there. King's Row.

RA: Oh-h.

VB: Yeah.

RA: If you've got King's Row, we know the cast.

VB: I can't find it.

RA: Look up Ronald Reagan then.

VB: I was just going to see if it had Ronald Reagan in it. They've not isted that. Erm--

RA: He would be in it.

VB: Yeah, I'm sure. [pause 5 seconds]

RA: Might be in this one.

VB: Think I'm looking in the wrong place. [laughs]

MB: Another good film of the thirties was Of Mice and Men.

RA: Aw, that was wonderful!

VB: Oh yes.

MB: That was marvellous.

RA: Wonderful. [pause 2 seconds] Henry Fonda was in that. He was a small part. He took a small part in that. But I can't--

MB: Burgess Meredith was in it.

VB: Lon Chaney.

MB: Lon Chaney Junior.

VB: Yeah. Betty Field. Yeah.

MB: Yeah. Lon Chaney Junior, they made him appear enormous but he wasn't all that big. He was a big man but eh, when he stood by the side of Burgess Meredith he seemed as though they enlarged it, you know, magnified him a bit. But erm, it was a marvellous film and the girl in it, blonde, I think her name was Betty Smith. I'm sure it was.

RA: I know the girl in it. It wasn't. It was erm, eh, I don't remember her name. She didn't make many films but she was, Betty Field, that was her name.

MB: What?

RA: Betty Field.

MB: Betty Field. What did I say? Betty Smith.

RA: Yeah. Well you weren't far--

MB: Betty Field!

VB: Not far off. [laughs]

MB: Nearly there.

RA: Erm, I tell you who else I really liked was Robert Montgomery. I loved him. He made, he was a lovely light comedian. He was terrific.

VB: Mhm.

RA: Had a lovely, lovely face. [pause 2 seconds] And Henry Wilcoxon. I remember him.

MB: Cowboy films were always popular.

RA: Now she--

MB: The westerns.

RA: She didn't make, to becoming a grown up.

VB: Virginia Weidler.

RA: Virginia Weidler. But she could cry at will.

VB: Aw!

RA: She was wonderful. Tiny, skinny little face. But she was very good. And she did-- she only made about one film. She did well. Oh, Simone Simon.

VB: Mhm.

RA: Oh golly, yes. She had a lovely tiny beautiful little face.

VB: Mhm.

RA: I don't know what happened to her. Now, would you believe that's Marlene Dietrich?

VB: No. Not compared to these other ones.

RA: Incredible. Incredible.

VB: Yeah.

RA: And look how dreadful Claudette Colbert looks there.

VB: Mhm.

RA: And she was quite beautiful.

VB: It's not very flattering--

RA: No.

VB: Photo that.

RA: She was not, she was an unusual beauty.

VB: Mhm.

RA: She was a very fine actress. That's how-- that's what got her through. I don't know who that is. That could not be. Good Lord! It's a young photo of Joan Crawford.

VB: Oh!

RA: There.

MB: Who?

RA: Try to visualise her. As a very young girl. Joan Crawford.

MB: Uh!

VB: That's amazing, isn't it? She's changed.

MB: Yeah. Let's have a look. D'you know, you know that girl who played in eh, it's a TV series. She, where they lived together in a flat, they shared it. With eh--

RA: Wilcox?

MB: Yeah. Paula Wilcox.

RA: The girl. Paula Wilcox.

MB: I always think, now, she looks more like Joan Crawford than ever she did before.

RA: Probably.

VB: Mhm!

RA: 'Cause she's got thinner.

MB: I think, you look at her there--

RA: Ye-ah.

MB: And think of Paula Wilcox if you can visualise her.

VB: Mhm.

RA: You're quite right. There is a likeness.

VB: Mhm.

MB: There's certainly a likeness. Paula Wilcox.

RA: Paula Wilcox is a television actress but she's very good. She was really beautiful.

MB: You don't see her now.

VB: Yeah.

RA: Oh you don't see her because she had a tragedy. I think she lost her husband or there was a death in the family.

VB: Ah, I see.

RA: She went right off.

VB: Yeah. 'Cause as you say--

MB: Aw, I've seen her--

VB: One time she was in so many things.

RA: Yeah. Yeah. Yes she was. 'Man About the House' and--

MB: That's right. 'Man About the House'. That's the one.

RA: Yes.

MB: She was wonderful, really, as a young woman, you know. But eh, I've seen her in plays on TV now and again.

VB: Mhm.

RA: Well she's come back. She's made a comeback now.

MB: She always reminds me of Joan Crawford.

VB: Mhm.

MB: 'Course, Joan Crawford's face used to change, you know.

RA: Oh yes.

MB: At the drop of a hat.

RA: Oh yes. Because you see, she wasn't so young. She was young when she was very first, early films. But she kept, she was allowed to continue films. So she 00:37:00had cakes of make-up.

VB: Mhm.

RA: A bit like Marlene Dietrich.

VB: Yeah.

RA: And eh, that was how she got by. But erm, Joan Blondell, to come back to her. She was in the very first film, 42nd Street.

VB: Oh yes.

RA: She was in that. She was a dancer in that. But she had a part--

MB: That's right.

RA: Speaking part. And she married Dick Powell. Yeah. Yeah she did everything.

MB: Was it eh, she sang 'Remember My Forgotten Man'?

RA: That's right!

VB: Ah!

RA: Yeah!

MB: She sang the song. [sings] 'Remember my forgotten man.'

RA: And you see a lot of men, unemployed or something.

MB: Yeah. All unemployed. That was during the Depression--

VB: Mhm.

MB: In the thirties. And eh, they made a film about that. You know, where they used to get handouts. Kitchens were open for the men who were starving.

VB: Mhm.

MB: No money. No work. No nothing.

RA: Well it was America in the bad times, wasn't it?

MB: That's right.

RA: Always had bad times. This is very interesting. It shows you who they married.

VB: Ah!

RA: The film people. Look. I've never seen a photo--

MB: Eh, How about the divorces?

RA: Fred Astaire.

VB: That's true! [laughs]

RA: Fred Astaire's wife.

MB: Who?

RA: In real life. Fred Astaire's real wife.

MB: Really?

RA: Mm.

MB: Never knew he was married.

RA: And Myrna Loy's real husband.

MB: [laughs]

VB: Ah!

MB: They didn't last long though.

RA: They lasted all their lives.

MB: Who?

RA: He was a lovely actor.

VB: Joel McCrea. And Frances Dee.

RA: She was very beautiful.

MB: Joel McCrea.

RA: Very pretty.

MB: Who was she?

RA: ['Scuse me?]-- Yeah, he's still-- no--

MB: Don't they name her?

RA: Pardon?

MB: They don't name her. The one, Joel McCrea's wife.

RA: Yes they do. Her name, she was well known. Frances Dee.

MB: Oh yes! Frances Dee.

RA: Yes! She was very very pretty.

VB: Mhm.

RA: And there's Ray Milland and his wife. They didn't become films people. Lilly LaMont was a film actress.

VB: Ah!

RA: English.

VB: Mhhm.

RA: But she didn't make many films.

VB: Mhm.

RA: I remember her vaguely, as a film actress. That's all. Her and eh, those two. They didn't divorce. They remained married, always.

VB: Ray Milland must've had a long career actually. 'Cause I--

RA: That's right.

VB: Think of him as older than that. Looks very young there.

RA: Yeah. Always. Well you see, they said he lost his hair quite young, so he always wore wigs.

VB: Yeah. Ah! Is that right?

RA: Yeah.

MB: Who?

RA: Eh, Ray Milland.

MB: Oh yes. Yes.

RA: And it took years before he would allow them to film him without his hair.

VB: Mhm.

RA: Then he eventually did.

MB: Now here's something I didn't know. Although Lilian Harvey, she was, I thought she was a German actress.

RA: Yeah.

MB: But she played in German films and all that.

RA: That's right.

MB: Because, during the First World War she was eh, in Germany, and when war broke out she was compelled to stay there.

VB: Mhm!

MB: And she became eh, a dancer.

RA: But she was actually British.

MB: But she was born in Brit.., born in Muswell Hill.

RA: In England. Good Lord!

VB: Mhm!

RA: Well she was a bit of a singer.

MB: Another good actor for boys, you know, in those days, was Jack Holt. He played in westerns.

VB: Mhm.

MB: But he was a very good actor. We used to love him. I used to love him.

RA: He made a film later, called San Francisco. With Clark Gable. And Jeanette MacDonald.

VB: Mhm.

RA: And he had quite a good lead in that. That was probably towards the end of his career.

VB: Yeah. Is that the one with the earthquake in it?

RA: It's where they have the earthquake.

VB: Where they have the earthquake. Yes.

RA: Yes they do. And eh, Jack Holt actually was going to marry her, but she was in love with Clark Gable.

VB: Mhm.

RA: That's the story. He was-- he didn't show his years then but he was, if you 00:41:00were fifty then, you were old.

VB: Mhm.

RA: You see. It shows you Claudette Colbert, the house that she built.

VB: Mhm.

RA: Look. Says fan mail here. Bing Crosby's fan mail.

VB: [laughs]

RA: And there's Marsha Hunt. She was an actress. [pause 2 seconds] And he was an actor, Randolph Scott. But I think he's dead. I'm not sure. He did a lot of cowboy films.

VB: Mhm.

RA: He never made great films. But he was a good-- she was beautiful!

VB: Oh Loretta Young. Yes.

RA: Oh she was beautiful! She's still around but I don't know how old she is.

VB: The gowns in these are just-- lovely, aren't they?

RA: You could still have them--

VB: Yeah.

RA: Still wear them. But wasn't she lovely, Mick? Loretta Young.

MB: Oh yeah.

RA: She was beautiful!

MB: Lovely eyes.

RA: And she had about two sisters who became film stars.

VB: Ah!

RA: But they didn't keep her name. They all gave themselves different names.

VB: Mhm.

RA: Erm, one was called Lane. She made a film with Frank Sinatra. Erm, do you remember the film with Frank Sinatra? Priscilla Lane! [Note: Priscilla Lane starred in the 1938 version of Four Daughters, whereas Frank Sinatra starred in the 1954 version]

VB: Mhm.

RA: That's the one.

MB: Sisters they were.

RA: Who was actually her sister.

MB: There was a few of them. There was three sisters.

RA: Yeah. Priscilla Lane was one.

MB: Priscilla.

RA: And another one was something Lane. Jane, not Janet Lane, no. But she was also, she made films too. But she remained the tops.

MB: There was three sisters. One, eh, Priscilla was the one who was more popular. She eh...

RA: Well she was-- she acted later.

VB: Mhm.

RA: With erm, Frank Sinatra. And he gave a straight part in that.

VB: Mhm.

MB: Now there's a, I notice here, John Mills. He was an English actor of course. And eh, it says here that, [pause 2 seconds] his first job, he was noticed by 00:43:00Noel Coward. And eh, Noel Coward helped him. And he played in different films. As a young lad. Incidentally I saw, now I never thought John Mills will ever get old.

RA: No.

MB: Really. Eh, every time I saw him, even in is eighties, he looked quite young.

RA: He's still in his eighties, Mick.

MB: And then suddenly I saw him in a film-- on the news.

RA: Ye-ah. And it showed his age.

MB: People had to hold him up. Prop him up.

RA: Oh that's right. Yeah.

MB: Yeah.

RA: He's probably ailing badly now. Yeah.

VB: As you say, very youthful.

MB: He must be older than me.

RA: He's a lot older than you, Mick. She was a lovely actress! Ann Todd.

VB: Oh yes.

RA: Aw she was a wonderful actress. Very very good. Lovely face.

VB: Mhm.

RA: And she was a good actress too, Valerie Hobson. Very beautiful. The film, 00:44:00the camera didn't do her justice. She was better than the cameras. There was this big scandal about her husband.

VB: Really?

RA: Yeah.

MB: They got Grace Moore here. Who was also a star in the thirties. Eh, she was opera. Operatic star and films. She was so good-looking, they got her in films, you see.

RA: She only made one film, Mick.

MB: And she got killed. [pause 3 seconds]

RA: I think she was only--

MB: She was given a lead in Irving Berlin's 'Music Box', 1923 [referring to the 'Music Box Revue']. Jenny Lind. She was in One Night of Love. 'One Alone'. [sings] "One alone". No, no, no, no. The other one.

RA: No that's back to Desert Song.

MB: Yeah. She sang eh, sang, 'Alone'! Not 'One Alone'. 'Alone'.

VB: Mhm.

RA: That's a good song. 'Alone'. Erm, She was lovely. Joan Fontaine.

VB: Oh Joan Fontaine.

RA: Sister to Olivia de Havilland.

VB: [gasps] Oh ye-es! Yeah. Oh of course, and erm, Rebecca, wasn't it? She was--

RA: That's right.

VB: Yeah.

RA: Oh! She was a lovely actress.

VB: She's quite similar to Olivia de Havilland, isn't she? I mean, she's--

RA: The camera catches it.

VB: The colouring's different but--

RA: Not when you saw them.

VB: No.

RA: Not really. Because eh, Olivia de Havilland had a very round face.

VB: Mhm.

RA: And she had sort of semi-dimples.

VB: Yes. Yes. But she's more sort of dainty I suppose, than--

RA: Ye-es.

VB: Olivia de Havilland.

RA: Ye-es. And she's blonde--

VB: Mhm.

RA: And eh, Olivia de Havilland was brunette.

VB: Mhm.

RA: But both very beautiful. In their own way.

VB: Mhm.

RA: No, I don't know her at all. There's Barbara Stanwyck.

VB: Barbara Stanwyck.

RA: You'd never recognise her there. Golly! Didn't even know she had blue eyes.

VB: Ah.

RA: And that's terrible of him.

VB: Charles Boyer.

RA: He was very very good-looking. But he also started quite late.

VB: Mhm.

RA: So, didn't give him much chance. Never seen her. He was great. He was 00:46:00marvellous. If you ever see a film called 'Mr Smith Goes to Town [referring to Mr. Deeds Goes to Town]. Ah, that's a lovely film.

VB: Ah!

RA: He got the Academy Award.

VB: Gary Cooper, yeah.

RA: No, he didn't! Should've done but he didn't. But it was a lovely film. Did you ever see 'Marco Polo'? [probably referring to The Adventures of Marco Polo]

VB: I didn't! No. Was that a good one?

RA: Oh it's worth seeing. If you ever see it. See it announced anywhere. It's interesting.

VB: Mhm. Is it a sort of epic film then?

RA: Yes.

VB: Does it follow the--

RA: Eh, no. It's epic.

VB: Yeah.

RA: But good.

VB: Yeah.

RA: Very well done. Holds your interest.

VB: Mhm.

RA: There's old Joan Crawford. Now you can see that that photo is Joan Crawford.

VB: Yes. That's more--

RA: See, she looks more like that.

VB: What you would think. Yeah.

RA: But she gradually was only very high cheek bones--

VB: Mhm.

RA: With lots of make-up.

VB: Mhm. I didn't know she'd made a film with Spencer Tracy. Mannequin.

RA: I don't, I didn't see that one.

MB: I notice eh, here, Irene Dunne. She was a wonderful actress too.

RA: Very, a lovely voice.

MB: Yeah.

RA: Lovely singing voice.

MB: And eh, it says here, that her first cinema success was in Cimarron, with Richard Dix. That was a wonderful film. I saw that.

RA: That was a cowboy film, surely.

MB: That was a western. Yeah.

RA: That was a cowboy.

VB: Mhm.

MB: Yeah. It's a western but not as such, not with cowboys and Indians and all that. But eh, it's about-- Cimarron County was eh, land that the government, the American government, offered to people who could stake a claim.

VB: Mhm.

MB: So they all, I don't where it was. Eh, might've been eh, Texas or somewhere like that. The land was all available and the government said that if you get to it, stake your claim.

VB: Mhm.

MB: So everybody used whatever kind of conveyance they had to get there. To get 00:48:00there first. So the film shows you eh, horses on their own. Eh, wagons.

RA: What, people had left them?

MB: And all rushing to get to this land to stake a claim. It was a wonderful film.

VB: So more of a sort of adventure, I suppose, than what you think of as a sort of cowboy western film.

MB: Yeah.

RA: I seem to remember it was a well-known name.

VB: Yeah.

RA: So, probably, if you can see it. This is, this is a good film, Tovarich.

VB: Oh Tovarich.

RA: Have you seen it?

VB: I haven't. No, it looks--

RA: It's worth seeing.

MB: Which one was that?

RA: Good comedy.

VB: Mhm.

RA: With Charles Boyer and Claudette Colbert. Tovarich.

MB: Oh yeah.

RA: Where they're Russian noble, noble people,

VB: A-ah!

RA: But nevertheless, they act as maids--

VB: Oh-h!

RA: Because they can't get work.

VB: I have seen that one! [laughs] Yes, yes!

RA: [laughs]. It's very good

VB: That's right. Yes.

RA: It's very good.

VB: And do they not have to, they have to raise a certain amount of money or something?

RA: They did. And they couldn't.

VB: They can't.

RA: Yeah, they didn't.

VB: Yes.

MB: It says here, eh, Ann Dvorak, we used to call her. But it says that it's pronounced. Vorshak.

RA: That's right.

MB: "Real name. Ann McKim was born in New York." She played in lots of good films.

RA: She did too.

VB: Oh, Alice Faye.

RA: Yeah.

VB: Yeah.

RA: She was never a good actress but there was something about her.

VB: Mhm.

RA: She always looked a bit common. But it was still fine. It was okay.

MB: Gracie Fields was another that was in films in eh, in the thirties.

VB: Mhm.

MB: They were English films and eh, they certainly weren't made up to scratch. They weren't up to scratch compared to the Americans. She always played the part of a mill girl from Lancashire. And eh, singing--

RA: Well they couldn't really--

MB: She had a beautiful voice.

RA: Do much with her because she was very very plain. She had a superb voice. 00:50:00But she was very plain.

MB: She had a superb voice.

RA: Yes, she did.

VB: Mhm.

RA: I once saw her on the stage. And she came down and sang in the audience. She was wonderful.

VB: Mhm.

RA: Now I remember this one. 'Rebecca of Sunnybrook' [laughs] [referring to Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm]

VB: Aw.

RA: She was also very good as a little girl, as you say.

VB: Yeah.

RA: But erm, I bet this was a funny film.

VB: Bluebeard's Eighth Wife.

RA: Oh yes. You can see it's bound to be funny.

VB: [laughs]

RA: He was always a little part but funny.

VB: Did you like Claudette Colbert in sort of comic roles then?

RA: Oh ye-es.

VB: Yeah.

RA: Oh yes.

MB: It Happened One Night.

RA: Ye-es.

VB: Oh yes. With Clark Gable.

RA: That's right. That was a classic.

VB: Mhm.

RA: And course, she made one or two films.

VB: Jessie Matthews. Yeah.

RA: Yeah.

MB: Oh yeah.

RA: Cute face, sort of. She erm, her best film was something called Evergreen.

MB: She was very beautiful. And eh, she was a good dancer, wasn't she?

RA: Oh she was a wonderful dancer.

VB: Mhm.

MB: Then she became eh, that radio play eh, Mrs eh, the doctor's wife. What was the eh...

RA: I know the one you mean. It'll come to me.

VB: Is it not Mrs Dale? Mrs Dale's--

MB: 'Mrs Dale's Diary'!

RA: 'Mrs Dale's Diary'. That was the one.

VB: Yeah.

MB: That's the one.

RA: Yeah.

MB: She finished up there. 'Mrs Dale's Diary'.

RA: Joan Fontaine. She had a sister too.

VB: Ah!

RA: And she was very pretty.

MB: Olivia de Havilland?

RA: No. Joan Fontai...

VB: Joan Bennett.

RA: I'm sorry, Joan Bennett. I'm sorry.

MB: Oh! Joan, eh Constance Bennett.

RA: Yeah, was her sister who was older than her.

VB: Mhm.

RA: She had a very pretty face. She couldn't really act very well.

VB: Mhm.

RA: Not bad though. Not bad. And she was-- I seem to remember her, Miriam Hopkins.

MB: Miriam Hopkins. Oh yeah! She was a--

VB: That's not a young Henry Fonda is it?

RA: Yes it is.

VB: Ah.

RA: Ye-es. It's obviously a funny film.

VB: Mhm.

RA: I Met my Love Again. D'you know, we're gonna catch a cold sitting in here.

VB: [laughs]

RA: I'm frozen stiff! I bet you are too.

VB: It is cold, isn't it?

RA: I think we ought to move, Mick.

VB: Yeah.

MB: In those days--

RA: I'm frozen!

MB: There were so many cinemas. Eh, I remember eh, from a distance of about six miles--

RA: We have to move, Mick.

MB: Yeah. Six miles and there must've been about a dozen cinemas on the way. On the main road.

VB: Yeah.

MB: And everyone of them occupied full with people.

VB: Wonderful.

RA: Ah, I've gone all stiff. Erm, well if you ever want to part with these--

VB: Yes. [laughs] No.

RA: But you ought to wrap them up though.

MB: This is yours.

RA: Yeah. I'll take that one.

MB: You better stop the eh--

RA: Did you want to borrow this?

VB: E-erm,

RA: If you send it back to me in the post.

VB: Erm, I'm wondering if I should because I've actually I've got quite a lot of luggage.

RA: Oh it'd drive you mad.

VB: [laughs] I'd like to--

RA: Too much. Too much.

VB: Maybe if there's something that I could ask you about or something I could--

RA: Well watch it. Take it with you into the lounge.

VB: I could have a look at it just now actually.

RA: Yes, of course.

VB: That would be good.

RA: Yes. We'll leave our stuff, leave this here, Mick.

VB: Actually, the one other thing I was wanting to ask you--

[tape cuts out]

[End of Interview]