A Birthday Tribute to Lee Bowman

Actor Lee Bowman was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on December 28, 1914.

Bowman was a busy working actor from the time of his 1937 screen debut through '60s TV. He's sometimes dismissed as a "Ralph Bellamy" other man type, but I've always had a soft spot for Bowman since seeing him on a big screen at a young age in what became one of my all-time favorite films, TONIGHT AND EVERY NIGHT (1945).

Bowman starred opposite Rita Hayworth in a moving romance which takes place during the London Blitz.

Bowman was also the "other man" opposite Hayworth in COVER GIRL (1945), which like TONIGHT AND EVERY NIGHT I saw theatrically as a teenager in the late '70s. He's seen here in a publicity still along with Hayworth and Gene Kelly.

Opposite Jean Arthur in THE IMPATIENT YEARS (1944):

And starring with Rosalind Russell in SHE WOULDN'T SAY YES (1945):

I've seen a majority of Bowman's films, with a great many reviewed here -- see the links at the end of this post -- and whether he was the leading man or in a supporting role, I don't think there's a single film on the list I didn't enjoy. I feel that says something about his contributions to each movie.

Some of the films I love a great deal, including DANCING CO-ED (1939), where he played a dancer whose wife's pregnancy spurs a talent hunt for a new dancing partner:

He's seen here in DANCING CO-ED with Lana Turner.

I also love the "B-plus" mystery KID GLOVE KILLER (1942) opposite Van Heflin and Marsha Hunt, which I've seen many times. It was the first feature film directed by Fred Zinnemann.

Bowman was effective as a radio singer in MY DREAM IS YOURS (1949), a favorite Doris Day film:

Bowman's feature film career mostly ended as of 1950, but he had a busy career in TV throughout the '50s and early '60s, including a half-decade run starring in the title role in THE ADVENTURES OF ELLERY QUEEN (1950-55), a season-long run in MIAMI UNDERCOVER (1961), and multiple guest appearances on ROBERT MONTGOMERY PRESENTS (1950-56).

In one of his appearances on Montgomery's show he played Nick Carraway in a 1955 adaptation of THE GREAT GATSY, with Montgomery as Jay Gatsby and Phyllis Kirk as Daisy.

Like Montgomery, later in his professional life Bowman worked in communications consulting, serving as chairman of the Kingstree Group, which still exists today, and consulting for entities such as Bethlehem Steel and the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Lee Bowman died on Christmas Day, 1979, three days before his 65th birthday.  According to the FindaGrave website, his ashes were scattered at sea.

Bowman was survived by his wife, Helene Rosson Bowman, who was the daughter of director Arthur Rosson and the niece of cinematographer Harold "Hal" Rosson and director Richard Rosson; she was also the stepdaughter of director Victor Fleming. The Bowmans had a son, also named Lee, and Bowman was stepfather to his wife's daughter from an earlier marriage.

Lee Bowman films reviewed at Laura's Miscellaneous Musings: SWING HIGH, SWING LOW (1937) (bit), INTERNES CAN'T TAKE MONEY (1937) (also here), I MET HIM IN PARIS (1937) (also here), THE LAST TRAIN FROM MADRID (1937), EASY LIVING (1937) (also here), THIS WAY PLEASE (1937), THE FIRST HUNDRED YEARS (1938) (also here), HAVING WONDERFUL TIME (1938) (also here), SOCIETY LAWYER (1939), STRONGER THAN DESIRE (1939), DANCING CO-ED (1939) (also here), FAST AND FURIOUS (1939), WASHINGTON MELODRAMA (1941), DESIGN FOR SCANDAL (1941) (also here), WE WERE DANCING (1942), KID GLOVE KILLER (1942) (also here), THREE HEARTS FOR JULIA (1943), THE IMPATIENT YEARS (1944), TONIGHT AND EVERY NIGHT (1945), SHE WOULDN'T SAY YES (1945), THE WALLS CAME TUMBLING DOWN (1946), MY DREAM IS YOURS (1949) (also here), HOUSE BY THE RIVER (1950).

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Laura's Miscellaneous Musings in The Dark Pages

This fall was so busy, somehow time slipped away without my mentioning having an article in the September/October 2022 edition of The Dark Pages.

The Dark Pages, as many of my readers are already aware, is a long-established film noir newsletter which made its debut in 2005. It's edited by Karen Burroughs Hannsberry, who also runs the Shadows and Satin blog, is the film noir columnist for Classic Movie Hub, and is the author of the books FEMME NOIR: BAD GIRLS OF FILM and BAD BOYS: THE ACTORS OF FILM NOIR.

I was honored to contribute to The Dark Pages a few times around a decade ago; I only haven't written for it more recently due to other commitments. I'm pleased to announce I've once again appeared in the newsletter's pages with an adapted version of my blog review of the Kino Lorber Blu-ray STREET OF CHANCE (1942).

It's a terrific issue, including Karen's article "Good Girls in Bad Company"; Andy Wolverton on recent noir Blu-ray releases; Kristina Dijan on THIEF (1981); George H. Madison on Dan Duryea; and more!

I believe I'll have another review running in The Dark Pages early in 2023.

The Dark Pages is a "hard copy" newsletter which can be subscribed to here. Back issues are also available, including for the quartet of issues I've written for in the past (descriptions linked below).

As I've shared previously, I read The Dark Pages years before I ever dreamed of being a contributor, and I very much recommend it.

Previous Dark Pages posts: January 2011, December 2011, January 2013, and June 2013.

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Quick Preview of TCM in February

Time for a peek at the upcoming February schedule on Turner Classic Movies!

Rita Moreno will be the February Star of the Month, with her films screened on Thursday evenings. The schedule is not yet complete, with several "TBA" slots, but it looks like at least a dozen of Moreno's films will be shown.

The February Noir Alley films will be HANGOVER SQUARE (1945), KISS THE BLOOD OFF MY HANDS (1948), LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE (1951), and HUNT THE MAN DOWN (1950).

The TCM Spotlight theme is Screwball Comedies; other special themes in February are pianists and Black History Month.

Additional February programming themes include disaster movies, pirates, sisters, opera and operettas, Los Angeles, 1930s Westerns, and Valentine's Day.

Several movie series are also featured in February, including Dr. Kildare and Dr. Gillespie, Dick Tracy, Maisie, and the Bowery Boys.

Filmmakers receiving multifilm tributes in February include Jon Voight, Ida Lupino, Joel McCrea, Alexis Smith, Felix Feist, Shirley Temple, Alain Delon, Robert Ryan, Elizabeth Taylor, and Marjorie Main.

I'll have more information the February schedule posted here around February 1st. In the meantime, in just a few days it will be time to enjoy Marion Davies as the January Star of the Month!

Update: For more on TCM in February 2023, please visit my post TCM in February: Highlights.

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Christmas Day Wishes

Best wishes to all my readers for a very happy Christmas!

Here are a couple of fun shots of favorite Deanna Durbin decorating her Christmas tree.

Merry Christmas to all!

Previous Christmas Day photo posts: 2012 (the Lockhart Family), 2013 (Priscilla Lane), 2014 (Martha Hyer), 2015 (Andra Martin), 2016 (Betty Grable), 2017 (Loretta Young), 2018 (Alice Faye), 2019 (Marsha Hunt), 2020 (Ann Blyth), and 2021 (Ann Rutherford).

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Merry Christmas!

Best wishes to all for a very Merry Christmas!

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Christmastime at Disneyland: Thanksgiving Eve 2022

What better time than Christmas Eve for a belated look at Thanksgiving Eve at Disneyland?

Thanksgiving Eve at Disneyland is one of our family's longtime traditions, and this year was no exception.

We started off with breakfast at Carnation Cafe, then headed for the Storybook Land Canal Boats to enjoy the ride's seasonal decorations. The cottage of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs:

If you look closely at the above photo you can make out the entrance to the mine at the back left. Across the way, the village below the Cinderella castle and village:

Toad Hall:

These cute windup musical popcorn tins play the Christmas parade music. We got one to surprise our daughter in Oregon.

In the afternoon we spent some time in Disney California Adventure, where we enjoyed the always-great Toy Drummers:

We also had a great meal at the Flavors of Wakanda booth:

It was a lovely day!

Close to two weeks later I returned early one morning to stand in a long but fast-moving line to get my reservation for a fresh-made candy cane:

It was my first Disneyland candy cane since 2019, which made it extra-special.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving -- and I wish a merry Christmas to all!

Previously: Christmastime 2022 Arrives at Disneyland; Christmas at Disneyland 2022: The Grand Californian.

Previous Thanksgiving Eve at Disneyland Posts: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2021.

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Around the Blogosphere This Week...

...will not appear on Christmas Eve.

The column will return on Saturday, December 31st.

For recent links of interest to classic film fans, please visit my December 17th roundup.

Merry Christmas to all!

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Christmas at Disneyland 2022: The Grand Californian

It's been a hectic few weeks with an unusually busy work schedule combined with computer issues, but as of tonight I'm now on vacation for the next week and a half! To say I've been looking forward to it is an understatement.

Along with enjoying Christmas and New Year's festivities, I've got lots of blogging to catch up on, including disc and book reviews. I've also started work on my annual "Tonight's Movie: The Year in Review" post which goes up on New Year's Day.

I have some festive Disneyland photos to share as well, and I'm starting off with some snaps from our annual December visit to Disney's Grand Californian Hotel.

The Grand Californian is magical at Christmastime, with a giant tree in the lobby, plus Santa Claus, carolers, a pianist, a giant gingerbread house, and a corner stand selling hot cocoa and seasonal desserts. There's also a huge fireplace surrounded by chairs.

The Gingerbread House was as impressive as always.

It took 1400 hours to bake everything for the house!

We love having dinner at the hotel's Storytellers Cafe.

The seasonal desserts served at the Storytellers Cafe dessert buffet are so pretty!

The hotel was packed, and it did my heart good to see so many people out and about enjoying the holiday season -- something I don't think any of us will ever take for granted again.

I hope everyone is enjoying a wonderful holiday season!

Previously: Christmastime 2022 Arrives at Disneyland (November 2022); Christmas at Disneyland: The Grand Californian (December 2021); A Look Back: Christmas 2019 at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel (posted in March 2020).

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Tonight's Movie: Merry Textmas (2022)

There have been some definite winners this Christmas movie season, and the latest I've enjoyed is MERRY TEXTMAS (2022).

MERRY TEXTMAS aired on the Lifetime Channel. I don't watch Lifetime Christmas films with the same frequency as Hallmark's movies, but an enthusiastic Twitter review from my friend Rachel sold me that this was one of the titles I needed to make a priority. I'm happy to say I found it delightful.

Gaby (Ariana Ron Pedrique), a computer programmer living in Austin, Texas, is part of a group text chat with her family planning their upcoming Christmas gathering at her grandmother's house in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Gaby inputs a relative's new phone number incorrectly when she adds it to the chat, and the family accidentally starts chatting with Alex (Rodrigo Massa), an app designer who coincidentally also lives in Austin. Gaby and Alex then chance to meet when getting coffee and he recognizes her photo from the texts.

Things get really wild when Gaby's father invites Alex to join the family in Mexico for Christmas; Alex's parents and brother all have other plans for the holidays and he impulsively accepts the invitation. This might seem completely improbable but for the well-known story of the woman who accidentally invited a young man to Thanksgiving dinner; he accepted, and they've now been friends for years. There's just a bit more travel involved in this particular story!

Though Gaby is initially stunned and uncomfortable when Alex shows up on her grandmother's doorstep, the two of them quickly hit it off and discover they have a great deal in common. Alex rediscovers his own mostly forgotten Mexican roots while getting to know Gaby and her family and learning about Oaxacan Christmas traditions. 

MERRY TEXTMAS is a delightful film for many reasons. The screenplay by Timothy Kuryak plays out very realistically, and the dialogue and situations are pitch perfect. Who among us these days has not quickly searched their phone for a photo to make sure of someone's identity before saying hello?

The well-written and performed relationship between Alex and Gaby develops naturally, as they become bantering pals before they realize they may be feeling something more.

There's a lot of creativity in the film's presentation, with the texts and later a Christmas app appearing onscreen alongside the characters; the dual presentation of what the characters are seeing and their reactions works quite well, keeping the story moving along briskly.

One of the movie's most unique aspects is that a great deal of the dialogue is in Spanish, such as in the scenes when Gaby is alone with her family. My only complaint is some of the small white English-language captioning washes out against the other colors on screen; the captioning should have been bigger and bolder. (Side note: Having studied Spanish via Duolingo for the last few months, I was pleased to understand a small amount of the Spanish dialogue.)

I'm not sure if the actors actually did location shooting in Mexico -- perhaps I'll find out when I watch the interview Rachel did with the lead actors -- but regardless, the film is an interesting primer on Oaxacan holiday traditions. For those who might wonder, "Night of the Radishes" is a real thing!

I love that the filmmakers did something quite different with this film in terms of both presentation and story; it's not simply a romance but also a wonderful family story and a love letter to a city. This is one I can definitely envision rewatching during future holiday seasons, and I recommend it.

MERRY TEXTMAS was directed by Alba Gil and filmed by Antonio Mata.

A music video/trailer is on YouTube.

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TCM Remembers 2022

The annual TCM Remembers tribute video has just been released by Turner Classic Movies.

I especially loved seeing wonderful performers such as Sharyn Moffett, Mickey Kuhn, Virginia Patton, Jimmy Lydon, and Dwayne Hickman featured in this remembrance -- names you would never see in an Academy Awards memorial reel despite the fact they all contributed richly to our classic film heritage.

My thanks to TCM for doing such a lovely, thorough job memorializing filmmakers whose work has given us all great joy.

The video is available on YouTube.

Past TCM tribute posts: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021.

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