Carole Lombard Centennial

100 years ago today the great actress Carole Lombard was born in Indiana. You can see lovely photos of her birthplace at Obscure Classics (click the title of this post).

I shared a personal Lombard story, previously related here, in the comments.

Most appropriately, Carole Lombard is the Star of the Month for October at Turner Classic Movies. 18 Lombard films will be shown on Monday evenings over the course of the month.

I plan to tape a number of relatively obscure titles I've not yet seen, such as THE GAY BRIDE, NO MORE ORCHIDS, BRIEF MOMENT, and THE RACKETEER.

Some of my favorites airing this month: HANDS ACROSS THE TABLE (1935) with Fred MacMurray, NOTHING SACRED (1937) with Fredric March, MR. AND MRS. SMITH (1941) costarring Robert Montgomery (directed by Alfred Hitchcock!), and the wonderful soaper IN NAME ONLY (1939), which costarred Cary Grant and Kay Francis.

My two favorite Lombard performances are probably MY MAN GODFREY (1936), costarring ex-husband William Powell, and her final film, TO BE OR NOT TO BE (1942), in which she starred with Jack Benny. No matter how many times I've seen these films, she still makes me laugh.

Lombard was a unique actress and personality in movie history: she was capable of portraying a complete, well, screwball, yet also dazzlingly elegant and, when she chose, deeply moving. Her tragic early death was a great loss for all who love movies.