Audrey Long, 1922-2014
I was greatly saddened this evening to learn of the passing of actress Audrey Long, who over the past couple of years has become a real favorite of mine.
There's a surprisingly small selection of Long portraits out there on the web...hat tip to Aaron Yost for passing on the news of Long's death and Tweeting the beautiful photo above.
Audrey Long was 92 when she passed on last Friday, September 19th.Long's death was reported by The Hollywood Reporter and the official Leslie Charteris website.
Long married Charteris, author of the long-running SAINT mystery series, in 1952 and retired from the screen. Her last film was INDIAN UPRISING (1952) opposite George Montgomery. Long and Charteris were married until his passing in 1993.
Long's performances, such as the young bride on the run in DESPERATE (1947), have a charming sweetness, but she could also believably portray spunk and determination, such as the girl on the trail of her sister's killer in STAGE STRUCK (1948).Long's career was not especially lengthy, but her contributions to film noir and Westerns, in particular, are greatly appreciated by those who know her work.
Audrey Long films reviewed here: TALL IN THE SADDLE (1944), BORN TO KILL (1947), DESPERATE (1947), STAGE STRUCK (1948), HOMICIDE FOR THREE (1948), THE PETTY GIRL (1950), and CAVALRY SCOUT (1951).I've collected several more of Long's films which will be reviewed here in the future.
Thanks to Audrey Long for many happy movie memories.
September 23rd Update: I watched and reviewed the Western WANDERER OF THE WASTELAND (1945) tonight in Audrey's honor.
Update: Here are reviews of Audrey in POST OFFICE INVESTIGATOR (1949), DAVID HARDING, COUNTERSPY (1950), and A NIGHT OF ADVENTURE (1944).
posted by Laura @ 8:07 PM
10 Comments:
I must say Laura,that you have really raised my awareness of obscure actresses like
Audrey and Dorothy Patrick who I enjoy the more that I see of their work.
I see according to imdb Audrey passed away in London,what a shame nobody managed to
interview her before her passing.
POST OFFICE INVESTIGATOR by all accounts an outstanding Republic B Noir,has gone more
or less to the top of my "wants" list.
This one again sees Audrey teamed with Warren Douglas.
I thought STAGE STRUCK was sensational BTW.
Off topic....I think that I have tracked down copies of SLIM CARTER and BAILOUT At
40,000;don't at this stage know what the quality is like.
Even more off topic,I have really missed your most entertaining comments over at Toby's
is this anything to do with increased work commitments. :)
Finally I read your review of TRIAL and totally agree with your review, a huge
disappointment,I did not read your review before I saw the film as I wanted to know
as little about the film as possible,as it's one that I had never seen.
Even worse was RANSOM which is such a shame as I am a huge Glenn Ford fan and his
films rarely fail to entertain. I look forward to getting your opinion of RANSOM as I'm
sure you will find elements in the film I missed.
A far better Glenn Ford film is TERROR ON A TRAIN which in 73 minutes packs in far more
tension than TRIAL and RANSOM together.Ford is far more in his element in this cracking
little film he's sensational in it.
I totally enjoyed THE WHITE TOWER and TORPEDO RUN BTW.
John,
There are many thoughts about Audrey and interviews. A starting point might ben The Leslie Charteris -- Saint pages and set your imagination free from there. You will undoubtedly find things of interest. Re obscure -- not at all sure that words works in this context.
Hi John,
I'm so glad that you've found the same enjoyment in Audrey Long and Dorothy Patrick that I have -- Jacqueline White is another of that era I'm always glad to see.
I'm especially happy to know that you also found STAGE STRUCK as much fun as I did! Also glad to know you shared my enjoyment of TORPEDO RUN. I need to catch up with THE WHITE TOWER.
That's exciting you may have found those films!
Very interested in your take on TRIAL, wondered if I were just in a bad mood that night or something -- the entire thing didn't "sit right." A real disappointment. I have avoided RANSOM due to the "kid in danger" plot but I'll catch up with it at some point since I like Ford and Donna Reed. (I've avoided Hitchcock's THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH for the same reason!) I have TERROR ON A TRAIN recorded from TCM and need to add that to my ever-growing "watch soon" list, sounds great.
Thanks for the very kind comment, I must head over to Toby and Colin's places and join in soon! I read there very often but you're right, work got much busier recently, leaving me without so much time to chime in the wonderful discussions!
Best wishes,
Laura
Sorry to hear of Audrey's passing. I've liked The few films I've seen her in . She is in Game of Death 1945), a loose remake of The Most Dangerous Game.
I had no idea she was married to Leslie Charteris.
Barry Lane,
Great to see you back here at Laura'a Iv'e certainly missed
your comments.
Thanks for the additional info of where to find out more
about Audrey.
I thought of you yesterday when I nominated ROYAL AFRICAN
RIFLES as a "colonial adventure" on Jeff's Stalking Moon blog.
I know it's not a great film and was shot in L.A. standing
in for Africa but it's the type of unpretentious programmer
that I enjoy.I also understand that it was Louis Hayward's
sole venture into production. At any rate I've never been able
to source a really decent copy and recently discovered it was
filmed in 1.85 widescreen.
Laura,
I would not let the "kid in peril" aspect of RANSOM put you
off seeing it;there's hardly any of that in the film.
For me the whole thing looked like an expanded,drawn out
hour long TV play. I feel you may enjoy the film more than I
did.
TRIAL,for me was politically confused,it starts off as
study in small town racism then morphs into a Communist
plot type thriller. As you quiet rightly stated who's going
to accept Dorothy Maguire as a Communist.
It would have been great to see Glenn Ford and Arthur
Kennedy go head to head in a Western at this stage in their
careers. When they finally did team up to make DAY OF THE
EVIL GUN many years later it was a bit too late for them
both.
I think you will love TERROR ON A TRAIN it's everything
TRIAL and RANSOM are not. On the strength of that film and
THE WHITE TOWER it's a pity Ford and director Ted Tetzlaff
never worked on more projects together.
Of course my love for B Movies and taut little programmers
means that I am biased as far as TERROR ON A TRAIN goes.
The Warner Archive version is a lovely transfer BTW and
includes a fun trailer.
John Knight --
Re The Royal African Rifles. Louis signed a two picture deal with Allied Artists to produce and star. He was not happy with the second property and allowed the deal to lapse. In this situation he had story/screenplay approval but did not initiate any of that. He did supervise production and casting, so you will find Steve Geray from Return of Monte Cristo, Pat Aherne a long time friend and brother of Brian, and Bruce Lester, with Louis in My Son, My Son, son of Dr. Jekyll, and a pretty good part in The Royal African Rifles. The rights were acquired sometime ago by Aaron Spelling. I had acquaintances there and a two copies were struck for me. I kept one and sent the other on to June Hayward, sometime in the early nineties. While this was the only formal hands on production situation, The Pirates of Capri has a copyright held by AFA and another organisation. AFA, Associated Film Artists was a company wholly owned by Louis Hayward and furnished his appearance. In The Lone Wolf and the Pursuers he was an equal partner with several others. Wolf was produced by The Lone Wolf West Corporation with Louis Hayward, Jack Gross, Phil Krasne and Donald Hyde each holding a 1/4 interest. Not too long ago I was in San Francisco and met with Louis' daughter-in-law and among other things, nice evening at The Café Claude, located on Claude Lane, she gave me a screenplay Luis purchased from Charles Lang sometime just prior to 1960. There is a lot too that and I will be happy at a later date to take you through some of it. I know you have an insatiable curiosity. Me too. So, I appreciate your comments, encouragement and interest. By the way, Claude was my wife, a beautiful French woman who died a little more than two years ago. We discovered the restaurant, thought it would be an adventure, and it was, the first time I have travelled since her passage.
Barry,
Thank you so much for all that wonderful background
information. It's a shame that the second Louis Hayward/
Allied Artists project never came to be.
I would also like to say how sad I was to hear of
your dear wife's passing.
There is a permanent online memorial for Claude Marie Lane. Included are an obituary, thirty or so photographs, a few of which include me, and many comments. John, thanks for your thought.
Hi everyone, I wasn't able to be online much yesterday and am catching up!
Vienna, glad I could fill you in on an interesting aspect of Audrey's persona life.
John, thanks for all the great info, now that my workweek has calmed down I headed over to The Stalking Moon and inquired if KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES is up for grabs to write about. :)
Barrylane, I sought out the page honoring your wife -- what a truly lovely lady. We have spoken of her passing before but I'd like to say again that I'm so sorry about your loss.
Best wishes,
Laura
Laura,
That 's kind of you. She was a great lady, or as an acquaintance of her I ran into recently put it, larger than life.
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