WHAT A CHARACTER! Blogathon: Kathleen Harrison

 

Paula's Cinema Club, Outspoken & Freckled, and Once Upon A Screen are hosting their annual What a Character! Blogathon on December 4th. It is the 10th anniversary of this highly anticipated event! Thank you, Paula, Kellee, and Aurora.

Kathleen Harrison

February 23, 1892 - December 7, 1995

"Go out into the Old Kent Road and just listen to the women talking." This was the advice from George Bernard Shaw to Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts student Kathleen Harrison rehearsing the role of Eliza Doolittle in the author's Pygmalion. It would be the making of her career, but the actress would not see overnight success.

Kathleen Harrison

RADA student

Born in Lancashire and raised in London by her working-class family, young Kathleen aspired to the theatre and while attending RADA in 1914 - 1915 was the recipient of the Du Maurier Bronze Medal. Love entered the actress's life and she was married to John Back from 1916 to his passing in 1960. The family would grow with two sons and a daughter. Her husband's work took the family to Argentina and Spain. A return to England in the 1920s opened up avenues for Kathleen's career. 

Kathleen's movie career during the 1930s see-sawed between featured roles as in The Ghoul or The Man from Toronto both 1933, and those uncredited in nature as in Inside the Room, 1935.

Robert Montgomery as the psychotic Danny

Kathleen Harrison as Mrs. Terence in Night Must Fall

Emlyn Williams' 1935 stage success Night Must Fall featured Kathleen in the role of the housekeeper Mrs. Terence and she recreated the role in the 1937 film produced by MGM. Dame May Whitty was Oscar-nominated for recreating her role as Mrs. Bramson.

Kathleen Harrison and Kay Walsh in In Which We Serve

A telegram from the war office.

More bits and uncredited roles would follow Night Must Fall, but the always notable actress would garner more memorable performances and films throughout the years including The Ghost Train, and Major Barbara in 1941. In Which We Serve, the WW2 morale booster written by and starring Noel Coward, who co-directed with David Lean gave Kathleen the plum role of Mrs. Blake, the mother to seaman "Shorty" played by John Mills.

Jimmy Hanley, Susan Shaw, Kathleen Harrison, Jack Warner, Petula Clark, Jane Hylton

Here Come the Huggetts

In 1947 we go to a Holiday Camp with the Huggetts. Joe and Ethel Huggett played by Jack Warner and Kathleen Harrison take their family away for the summer. The popularity of the family with audiences would lead to sequels and some tweaking of the family as originally met. The follow-up was Here Come the Huggetts, 1948, Vote for Huggett, and The Huggetts Abroad, 1949. Meet the Huggetts was a popular radio program starring Warner and Harrison which ran from 1951 to 1963.

Kathleen Harrison as Violet

The Winslow Boy

Terrence Rattigan's play The Winslow Boy, based on an Edwardian court case opened in 1946 and the 1948 film version featured two of the original cast members, Kathleen Harrison as the maid Violet and Mona Washbourne as Miss Barnes, a journalist of the sob sister sort.

The film does not bring us to the all-important conclusion of the trial. Instead, we are treated to Kathleen as the loyal Violet emotionally relating all to the Winslow family. The performance and scene are a genuine cathartic treat.

Kathleen Harrison, Yvonne Mitchell, Joan Collins

Turn the Key Softly

Turn the Key Softly, 1953 finds Kathleen in the murky world of film noir in a film based on a novel by John Brophy which follows three women on their first day of freedom after being released from Holloway Prison. Yvonne Mitchell plays Monica who was led into crime by her boyfriend. Joan Collins plays prostitute Stella. Kathleen Harrison is a poverty-stricken shoplifter, Granny Quilliam.

Critical reception for the honesty in the film, and the performances of our trio of ex-convicts was laudatory. 

"Kathleen Harrison contributes the film's top portrayal. She makes the loneliness of the poor and unwanted strikingly real."

- New York Times

Robert Flemying, Kathleen Harrison, Dirk Bogarde

Cast a Dark Shadow

Cast a Dark Shadow, 1955 is another film noir starring Dirk Bogarde as a charming psychopath who kills his older wife played by Mona Washbourne (see The Winslow Boy) for her money. He even goes so far as to cheat the maid Emmy played by Kathleen out of her paltry bequest.

Estelle Winwood, Sybil Thorndyke, Kathleen Harrison

Alive and Kicking, 1958

Here's another trio of actresses with whom to reckon, Estelle Winwood, Dame Sybil Thorndyke, and Kathleen Harrison in Alive and Kicking, 1958 as three retirees who run away from a senior's home. Go, girls!

Kathleen Harrison told a reporter that her favourite author was Charles Dickens and she certainly made her mark in filmizations of his work.

Kathleen as the nasty Mrs. Sowerberry in Oliver Twist, 1948

Directed by David Lean

Kathleen as the gullible Rachel Wardle in The Pickwick Papers, 1952

Directed by Noel Langley

Kathleen as befuddled charlady Mrs. Dilber in A Christmas Carol, 1951

Directed by Brian Desmond Hurst

The crown jewel of these performances may well be Mrs. Dilber in the 1951 version of A Christmas Carol aka Scrooge. Second-billed behind Alastair Sim, Kathleen's talent at characterization and Noel Langley's script make charwoman Mrs. Dilber a memorable personality that not even Dickens himself envisioned. She is a vibrant personality with whom we share the experience of life in Scrooge's orbit. 

On television, Kathleen played the aptly-named Mrs. Prigg in a 1964 production of Martin Chuzzlewitt, and the well-intentioned Henrietty Boffin in Our Mutual Friend in 1976.

The 1966-1967 television series Mrs. Thursday, saw Kathleen as a charlady whose late employer left her his fortune and company. Quite a step up that came with quite a few problems. Created by playwright Lord Ted Willis with Kathleen Harrison in mind, the program was a popular comedy-drama that explored the good and the ill that came with Alice Thursday's luck. The show ran for three series of 38 episodes, and a few of them can be found on YouTube. The working actress was now a star thanks to the television success.

"Because of my popularity as Mrs. Thursday, I can't go shopping anymore. It's embarrassing to be recognized and stopped all the time."

- Kathleen Harrison quote on the IMDb

Kathleen's final television appearance was in the Danger UXB episode The Quiet Weekend, 1979. Her final film role was in The London Connection, 1979 where she is billed as "Elderly Lady."

We are aware that actors do not have ages, per se, but age ranges. However, even character actresses must consider age when wondering whether producers and directors are considering stamina in their hiring process. Kathleen would knock five or six years off her age throughout her working life but returned to her original birthdate when it came time to receive the 100th birthday message from Queen Elizabeth II in 1992.

According to a Jim McPherson report in The Toronto Sun dated 1989, 91-year-old Kathleen was living with a son in London and "hale and hearty." Cheering news for all of us fans who wished her well all the days of her 103 years.

CAFTAN WOMAN'S CHOICE: ONE FOR DECEMBER ON TCM

 

Can you believe that winter and the Christmas holidays are practically here? It is time to get cozy and revel in some sweet-natured nostalgia. Released in 1944, Meet Me in St. Louis provided just such a relief for audiences weary from the struggle of World War Two. Enjoying Meet Me in St. Louis in 2021, perhaps we can find some respite from the ravages of COVID-19; the loss, the fear, the guidelines, and the unfathomable controversies.

Author Sally Benson had looked back on her happy childhood in St. Louis and compiled a series of vignettes under the title 5135 Kensington and MGM purchased the stories to film. Ms. Benson added more stories to the collection and it was released by Random House under the movie title of Meet Me in St. Louis. The studio did not use a screenplay by Sally Benson but one by Irving Brecher (Du Barry Was a Lady) and Fred Finklehoffe (Strike Up the Band) with uncredited assists. 

Meet Me in St. Louis was the follow-up picture for Broadway costumer and set designer Vincente Minnelli after Cabin in the Sky. His contract with MGM allowed him to apprentice and study the workings of the studio prior to directing. Minnelli's artistic sensibilities and eye for colour and detail make his film work exquisite. Meet Me in St. Louis benefits from all of Minnelli's many talents.

Cinematographer George J. Folsey was nominated for an Oscar for Meet Me in St. Louis, his fifth of 11 nominations. The superb costumes by Irene Sharaff and the set design and art direction magically transport us to the world of 1903.

Lucille Bremer, Mary Astor, Joan Carroll, Harry Davenport

Judy Garland, Margaret O'Brien, Henry H. Daniels Jr.

Following Sally Benson's template of a year in the life of the Smith family through the seasons, the basic story is deceptively simple as the audience shares a year, like all years with its joys, sorrows, and hopes.

The parents are lawyer Alonzo and homemaker Anna played by Leon Ames and Mary Astor. Their children are Lon Jr., Rose, Esther, Agnes, and Tootie played by Henry H. Daniels Jr., Lucille Bremer, Judy Garland, Joan Carroll, and Margaret O'Brien. Rounding out the household is Grandpa Prophater played by Harry Davenport and the cook Katie played by Marjorie Main. 

Romance takes up a lot of the younger generation's time. Rose has a beau named Warren Sheffield played by Robert Sully but that doesn't keep her from casting her eye toward Col. Darly played by Hugh Marlowe. While away at college, Lon Jr. is attracted to socialite Lucille Ballard played by June Lockhart. Esther is besotted by the boy next door, John Truett played by Tom Drake. Meanwhile, Agnes and Tootie shake the world with their independent troublemaking. Tootie has a particular talent for --- well, let's call it impishness.

Mary Astor, Leon Ames

The big news in the town is the upcoming World's Fair. The big news in the Smith household is Mr. Smith's promotion and transfer to New York City. A large household with many different personalities does not mean that everyone will be on the same page concerning such a momentous change. 

The songs for Meet Me in St. Louis by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane include the Oscar-nominated The Trolley Song, and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas which quickly became a holiday standard. Both composer and lyricist were inductees to the Songwriter's Hall of Fame.

Filled with laughter and tears, song and heart, Meet Me in St. Louis never fails to work its magic. Let it do so again.

TCM is screening Meet Me in St. Louis on Saturday, December 4th. The afternoon begins with the 2011 documentary Night at the Movies: A Merry Christmas and is followed by Little Women, 1949, Meet Me in St. Louis, and It Happened on 5th Avenue as holiday viewing begins in earnest.

Further opportunities to see Meet Me in St. Louis on TCM in December are Tuesday the 21st and Friday the 24th.

NOIRVEMBER HOTEL: Tight Spot, 1955

It was interesting to discover recently in the decades between my first and second viewing of Tight Spot, 1955 how much of the movie remained vivid in my memory; a true sign that something is working. In my opinion, that something was director Phil Karlson whose way with a well-paced western or crime picture truly came to a peak in the 1950s with pictures such as Gunman's Walk and The Brothers Rico.

William Bowers (Cry Danger) screenplay was based on a play by Leonard Kantor titled Dead Pigeon which had a brief run of 21 performances on Broadway over the Christmas holiday of 1953-1954. The three person drama set in a single hotel room featured Joan Lorring (The Corn is Green) as a potential trial witness with Lloyd Bridges (The Sound of Fury) and James Gregory (The Manchurian Candidate) as her police detective guards.

The Samuel French synopsis reads: "Two detectives bring a young lady from the penitentiary to a secluded seaside hotel and hold her in protective custody before her appearance at a murder trial. Actually, the girl knows nothing about the murder of a gangster but has turned state's witness in order to get a day's vacation from prison. But the underworld does not know this: nor do the detectives who are in league with the underworld and who are ordered to kill the girl. But the younger of the men has a heart and a bit of a conscience left. He upsets things when he falls in love with the girl. The menace that night comes from the other detective who is undeterred in his mission of murder."

Sherry Conley played by Ginger Rogers is in a tight spot. She has less than a year left on her five year prison sentence, having assisted a less than honest boyfriend in a payroll robbery. How was she to know what he had in mind? Sherry has information that can assist the Feds in getting a conviction on a mobster. It is an undesirable alien rap that can only result in deportation, but it is better than nothing. Until now witnesses have disappeared or been killed. The prosecutor has one weekend to convince Sherry to "do her duty." Sherry doesn't think it is worth it although she will take advantage of the sudden plush accommodations. Of course, the mob only wants to tie up loose ends and that means Sherry Conley must die.

Ginger Rogers was perhaps ten years or so older than the character as presented through the dialogue. The tweaking of a line here or there would have assisted in her characterization. In fact, though no means a hag (We should all look so good in that polka dot dress.), her been-around-the-block status assists with the character of Sherry.

Ginger brings her considerable professionalism and instincts to the role as the actress was always adept at the quips which make up a lot of film noir dialogue. The character of Sherry Conley finds sisterhood with much of Ginger's filmography, the neglected and abused Ellie May Adams in Primerose Path, the vainglorious Roxie Hart, and the vulnerable convict Mary Marshall in I'll Be Seeing You.

Detective Vince Striker played by Brian Keith is in a tight spot. He's worked hard on this case but he realizes what is at stake for the reluctant witness. It is the sort of detail he would rather avoid. His reasons are many and varied, but suffice to say he is in as tight a spot as he has ever been in his life.

Brian Keith was breaking out of the uncredited portion of his career with a number of fine and tough-minded characters during this period, mostly at Columbia. See The Violent Men, 5 Against the House, and Nightfall. Ruggedly handsome and adept at his craft, Vince Striker is a character that gives the actor a myriad of emotions to convey and some nice action sequences.

Prosecutor Lloyd Hallett played by Edward G. Robinson is in a tight spot. The mob has all the power and the means of getting information that should be secret. The mob is powerful and committed. Killing isn't an option they use occasionally; they are brazen with the tactic. The deportation isn't what Hallett has spent years building up a case for, but the time is now and he needs this witness.

Edward G. Robinson channels a bit of Barton Keyes from Double Indemnity as he deals with his resistant witness and the leak in his department. Particularly satisfying is a scene with the mobster's lawyer where Hallett holds nothing back in his feelings about the criminal.

Mobster Benjamin Costain played by Lloyd Greene is in a tight spot. Every time he gets rid of one "loose end" the Feds come up with another. This time it is some dame he doesn't even remember who can finger him for this stupid deportation. Sherry is merely another nuisance to be taken out. Costain has no doubt in his power and is an angry man, but can he keep all of his team in line?

Lorne Greene, the legendary Canadian broadcaster appears in his second Hollywood feature as the mobster Costain. His barely contained anger makes the character a frightening antagonist. Despite the might of the law collected against him, Costain's arrogance will not imagine defeat.

The play is opened up from the hotel room to give the audience views of the penitentiary, city streets, and the intrusion of television. The prison shows us Sherry's present circumstances, how she has adapted, and why she would like a break. The city streets bring us shop windows, people, and sudden violence. The television intrudes with an insipid telethon with a mediocre entertainer to contrast the life and death stakes facing our characters.

I find Tight Spot an engrossing and fascinating crime drama with an outstanding cast and taut direction. If you haven't seen it, give it a try. If, like me, you saw it eons ago, surprise yourself with a revisit to the Noirvember Hotel.

Of note:

Actress Katherine Anderson is a ray of sunshine in the dark environs as prison guard Willoughby. According to online sources, Ms. Anderson turns 99 on December 11th. 

THE DISTRACTION BLOGATHON: Sherlock Holmes in Washington, 1943

 

Rebecca Deniston of Taking Up Room is hosting The Distraction Blogathon from November 12th to 14th. Join the fun HERE.  Blogathon Wrapup. 

Rebecca's blogathon mandate: "MacGuffin's. Red herrings. Dangling carrots. Bait and switch. Whatever. We all know how movies mess with our heads."

My contribution to the blogathon includes both a distraction and a MacGuffin.

Basil Rathbone

Putting the distraction in The Distraction Blogathon is Basil's "do" as Sherlock Holmes. It is not the first time he has startled us in this way but, thankfully, it will be the last.

Gerald Hamer

Meet John Grayson, an unassuming law clerk who is in actuality Alfred Pettibone, secret agent. He is transporting vital information from the U.K. to the American government. He and the document are in danger.

Marjorie Lord, Thurston Hall, Gerald Hamer, Clarence Muse

Onboard the train from NYC to Washington, Nancy Partridge innocently asks for a light and gets more than she bargained for as Agent Pettibone slips his matchbook, which is more than a matchbook into her handbag. 

Clarence Muse, Marjorie Lord, John Archer

At the journey's end, Nancy meets her fiance Lt. Merriam. In three days' time (he only has a three-day pass), the happy couple will be married.

Gerald Hamer

While the happy couple celebrates, our brave Pettibone is whisked away by enemy spies. The agent is doomed.

Basil Rathbone, Holmes Herbert

MacGuffin: "The thing that the spies are after but the audience don't care about."

- Alfred Hitchcock

Mr. Ahrens from the Home Office: "Grayson was carrying a document of a very confidential nature. Its contents are of such grave international importance that I am not at liberty to reveal them. But if that document falls into the hands of the --- I can only say that it would be absolutely disastrous for this government and our allies." If that doesn't spell "MacGuffin", I don't know what does!

Nigel Bruce, Basil Rathbone

Prior to leaving for America to join the FBI in the case of the kidnapped agent, Holmes and Watson search the agent's home. Holmes determines the brilliant Pettibone has reduced the bulky document to microfilm, and its hiding place in a V for Victory matchbook. Aha! We know that matchbook is currently in the possession of Washington socialite Nancy Patridge.

Gavin Muir, Basil Rathbone, Clarence Muse

Sherlock Holmes questions the porter on the train during the fateful trip. He learns of the people with whom Pettibone came in contact, including a senator, a woman with a book, a woman with pet mice, and a woman who asked for a light. He learns of an upcoming wedding and the fact that the spies have not yet recovered the document.

Basil Rathbone

Holmes avails himself of the FBI laboratory discovering much that the FBI lab man overlooked. Vital clues are now forming his hypothesis. Note: Holmes has yet to look in a mirror.

Marjorie Lord

Thanks to the fluff part of the newspaper, i.e., the society news, Holmes now knows where to find the engaged couple. Unfortunately, so do the spies!

George Zucco

The mysterious head of the spy ring knows not what he holds in his hand. That which he seeks is his.

Marjorie Lord

When the kidnapped socialite Nancy Partridge clues into the importance of the matchbook, she bravely keeps silent in spite of threats and violence. Will rescue come in time?

George Zucco

Holmes, through cleverness and disguise, confronts international spy (since the days of the Kaiser) Heinrich Hinkle, known for many years in Washington as antique dealer Richard Stanley.

Basil Rathbone, Marjorie Lord

The gags and makeshift handcuffs indicate that Holmes' rescue attempt goes awry. However, he had the forethought to send Watson for the FBI and a dramatic shootout ensues during which Hinkle escapes with Holmes in pursuit. 

Edmund MacDonald, George Zucco, Nigel Bruce

Hinkle faces the ignominy of capture - and that's not all.

Basil Rathbone

Sherlock Holmes serves up the microfilm as a coup de grace. He's allowed the brag. After all, he broke the case.

Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce

Holmes quotes Winston Church to conclude this picture. After all, it is 1942 and a little "hands across the sea" bonding keeps up morale when you are fighting Nazis.

Of note:

Our romantic subplot leads Marjorie Lord and John Archer were married from 1941 to 1953 and were the parents of actress Anne Archer.

George Zucco

Hinkle/Stanley in Sherlock Holmes in Washington is played by George Zucco, who is my favourite Moriarty in the series, having played him in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 1939.

Henry Daniell

Henry Daniell is in Sherlock Holmes in Washington as William Easter, Hinkle's top henchman. He had played a British politician in The Voice of Terror, also 1942, and would later play Professor Moriarty in The Woman in Green, 1945.

Gerald Hamer

Gerald Hamer, Pettibone in Sherlock Holmes in Washington is pictured above as he appeared in the outstanding Holmes picture The Scarlet Claw, 1944. See also Sherlock Holmes Faces Death, 1943, Pursuit to Algiers, 1945, and Terror by Night, 1946.

Ian Wolfe, Basil Rathbone

Sherlock Holmes in Washington was the first of four Holmes pictures for Ian Wolfe followed by The Scarlet Claw and The Pearl of Death in 1944 and Dressed to Kill in 1946.

CAFTAN WOMAN'S CHOICE: ONE FOR NOVEMBER ON TCM

 

Here is the oft-told tale of a young fellow of dubious background and hard-scrabble existence finding his way in a cruel and judgmental world. In fact, you might even call our hero a stray.

Wildfire is a bull terrier and we become part of his life's journey through the sassy narration of Vic Morrow. The turn of the 20th century Bowery is no place for gentlefolk or gentle dogs. Separated from his mother and only knowing the name of his grand champion father, Regent Royal, Wildfire falls in with the tough and abusive Patch McGill played by Jeff Richards (Seven Brides for Seven Brothers). Patch is out for the quick buck and doesn't care who gets hurt along the way.

Eventually, Wildfire becomes part of the circle of kindly trainer Jeremiah Nolan played by Edmund Gwenn (Foreign Correspondent) and learns of a different sort of life and a different sort of human. Life is no less complicated as Nolan works for the emotionally conflicted and wealthy Wyndham played by Dean Jagger (Pursued). 

Where will this twisted road take our hero? Will he find resolution or redemption? As the cold autumn wears on, you will enjoy a familiar story told in an unfamiliar manner. Sometimes that is what we need, plus the studio sheen of MGM and some Eastmancolor.

Richard Harding Davis (1864-1916)

It's a Dog's Life is based on the 1903 novel The Bar Sinister by Richard Harding Davis. In my youth, I found a compilation of the noted foreign correspondent's journalistic endeavours at a second-hand bookstore and lived the adventures and tragedies of history through his eyes. Davis's plays and novels were no less successful and influential, forming the basis of several films, shorts, and features. This screen telling was adapted by John Michael Hayes (The Trouble with Harry) and directed by Herman Hoffman (The Invisible Boy).

The Bar Sinister was earlier adapted as the 1927 film Almost Human. One can see its influence as well in Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey the 1993 remake with animal narration of The Incredible Journey the 1963 film of Sheila Burnford's 1961 novel.

TCM is screening It's a Dog's Life early on Tuesday, November 9th as part of a slate of films devoted to Man's Best Friend. Perhaps your favourite is already among the lineup and perhaps this movie will join that list.