TFTMM Presents “Star Of The Month (June 2021)” Featuring Claudette Colbert

Well, it’s the first of June now, and that means we are ready to start our next round of the Star Of The Month Blogathon! This month, our star is actress Claudette Colbert!

Table Of Contents

• Film Career Bio
• Filmography
• Entries For This Month
• Rules

Quick Film Career Bio

Birth: September 13, 1903

Death: July 30, 1996

After receiving acclaim onstage for her role in the play The Barker, Émilie “Lily” Claudette Chauchoin (who had been working under the stage name Claudette Colbert, a combination of her middle name and her maternal grandmother’s maiden name) went to Hollywood in 1927 for the silent film For The Love Of Mike. That film failed, and she decided at that time that she wouldn’t make another film. Unable to find further success on stage, she tried again in Hollywood, signing with Paramount Studios (although she stayed in New York City to film stuff there). Her early films garnered her some attention, but it took Cecil B. DeMille casting her against type in The Sign Of The Cross (1932) to give her career a solid boost. 1934 would prove to be an even better year for her, with her abilities as a comic actress on display in It Happened One Night, plus Cleopatra and Imitation Of Life (all three of which would be nominated for Best Picture that year, but it was It Happened One Night that not only won that award, but resulted in her WINNING the Best Actress Oscar).

With an Oscar win under her belt, that allowed her to renegotiate her contract with Paramount, getting a better salary and better films, which resulted in her getting nominated for Best Actress again for her role in Private Worlds. The rest of the decade kept her at it in various romantic comedies and dramas. In 1940, she decided against signing an exclusive contract with Paramount again, figuring she could earn more as a freelance actress. She got some more big roles, both in comedies like The Palm Beach Story and dramas like Since You Went Away (for which she was again nominated for Best Actress).

However, the latter part of the forties started to signal a shift for her, as, beyond The Egg And I, her films were no longer as successful. She kept at it, though, going into the fifties, but she made fewer films (and being unable to do All About Eve because she suffered a back injury certainly didn’t help). She appeared in a number of television programs, while also returning to the stage. In 1961, she came back to the big screen for the movie Parrish, but, while the film itself was a success, she was barely noticed, and decided that would be her last film. She continued to act, both onstage and in a few TV appearances, but her big career in Hollywood was over.

Filmography

This is a list of all the films that I personally have reviewed from her filmography so far. Obviously, I will be adding to it throughout the month of June, and it is my plan to add to it as I review more and more of her films even beyond this month’s celebration.

The Sign Of The Cross (1932)

It Happened One Night (1934)

Cleopatra (1934)

The Bride Comes Home (1935)

Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife (1938)

The Palm Beach Story (1942)

Since You Went Away (1944)

Tomorrow Is Forever (1946)

Entries For This Month

Thoughts From The Music(al) Man –

The Sign Of The Cross (1932)

Cleopatra (1934)

Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife (1938)

The Palm Beach Story (1942)

Whimsically Classic

The Palm Beach Story (1942)

Rules:

Since this blogathon lasts a month, I’ll keep the rules here in case anybody is still interested in joining in:

1. At this point, I am not putting any restrictions on topics related to the various stars, whether it be any of their films, or biographies, lists of favorites, etc.
2. These celebrations are intended as tributes to these stars (even if they aren’t being done in months with birthdays), so I would ask that any participating posts be respectful of the stars themselves. Obviously, if you don’t care for that specific star, that would probably not be a good month to join in.
3. I’m requesting that all posts would be new material, and not any previously published ones.
4. As previously indicated, these celebrations of the stars and genres will last a whole month each, so you will have that whole month to work with. I myself will be publishing about four or five posts per month (depending on the number of Sundays and whether there are any recent disc releases that would fit the bill), so you can decide how many you want to do (within reason).
5. If you are interested in joining, I would certainly suggest you either comment on this post, email me at astairefan7@gmail.com, or, for the Facebook savvy, contact me at my FB page. And feel free to use the banners I have put together (I’m still unsure of how much space I will have to work with over time on pictures, so for now I am doing one each).