Eleanor Parker... Part II

More pics and babbling...

Eleanor was born on June 26th, 1922 in Cedarville Ohio and aspired to be an actress at a very early age. In 1941 she was offered a contract with Warner bros at $75 a week. Her first film appearance was supposed to be a bit part in "They Died with Their Boots On" but her scene ended up on the cutting room floor. This pic is scanned from an Italian postcard, not sure of the vintage.

The studio put her in B-films and small roles until in 1943 she finally got a larger role in Michael Curtiz' "Mission to Moscow" starring dramatic heavyweights Walter Huston and Ann Harding. Sadly the film is rather dull, but she got good notices. The next year she was appearing with John Garfield, Paul Henried and Sydney Greenstreet in "Between Two Worlds", a role she got because Joan Leslie was held up still filming the over-schedule "Rhapsody in Blue". The still above was for a film she made later that same year, "The Very Thought of You", a fairly off-beat war-time drama written and directed by Delmer Daves and co-starring Dennis Morgan, Dane Clark, Henry Travers, Faye Emerson and Andrea King. Eleanor got the role in this film because Ida Lupino was recovering from an illness. She gave a wonderful, heartfelt performance and was now well on her way to being a star as well as an actress to be reckoned with.

Here's a scan of an original Lobby Card I have for the film. At one point Henry Travers is so disgusted by the way his family has treated returning serviceman Dennis Morgan, a visitor in his home, that he scolds them by saying "You treated that boy with all the courtesy you'd give a JAP!". I can't help it, but every time I see Henry Travers in a film I HAVE to say "Why look, it's CLARENCE!" in my best Jimmy Stewart voice.

Eleanor looking quite the flawless beauty here! Another vintage autographed still I picked up several years ago. The photo was taken by the great Bert Six.

Another original Lobby Card I have in my collection. Eleanor very effectively played two roles in this gothic type period piece released in 1948. Well-cast and with good production values it is worth a look if you get the chance.

To be continued...

Adding to the collection . . .

I just got these in today, 6 Vintage autographed photos of Warner Bros. contract players from the 1940's.

Dolores Moran, probably best known for her role in "To Have and Have Not" with Bogey and Bacall, but also excellent in "The Man I Love" with Ida Lupino and "The Horn Blows at Midnight with Jack Benny. She had a really short career, making only about 15 or so film and TV appearances. Her autograph does not show up very often and when it does it is usually a bit pricey, but this one was a real bargain! A lovely woman with quite lovely handwriting to boot!

Patricia Neal, one of the finest actresses of the post war studio days and a damn good-looking woman too! It's a bit hard to see her sig on this photo because it's so dark but once again for the price I paid I am not complaining. It's a nice Bert Six photo too.

A great Bert Six photo of Virginia "hold the" Mayo, who forever secured her place in film history as James Cagney's treacherous girlfriend in "White Heat"

The great character actor Jack Carson, who shows up in so many excellent films and is always one of the reasons they are excellent! Who can forget him in "The Male Animal", "Mildred Pierce", "The Strawberry Blonde" and "Gentleman Jim" to name just a few.

Dennis Morgan, another stalwart Warner Bros character actor who then became one of their biggest box-office stars in the mid-forties. Not only was he in some of Warner Bros great A-pictures like "Captains of the Clouds", "The Hard Way" and "God is My C0-Pilot" but he also has the distinction of being the star of the one and only film Bogey ever played a zombie in, that being the classic B-film, "The Return of Dr X"!

And finally we get to the crowning piece in this batch of stills, the one and only Mr. Alan Hale! Probably best known for playing Little John in "The Adventures of Robin Hood" but Mr Alan Hale appeared in over 230 films from 1911 to 1950 with the likes of Douglas Fairbanks, Greta Garbo, Clark Gable, Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyck, Olivia DeHavilland, Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, John Garfield, Edward G Robinson and he appeared in 12 films with his buddy Errol Flynn! Yes sir, I am very happy to have Mr Alan Hale's autograph in my house now!