Well, August has arrived, and that means that we’ve moved onto actress Barbara Stanwyck as the Star Of The Month!
Table Of Contents
Quick Film Career Bio
Birth: July 16, 1907
Death: January 20, 1990
Ruby Catherine Stevens (who had adopted the stage name Barbara Stanwyck, a combination of the first name of a play called Barbara Freitchie, The Frederick Girl, and the last name of an actress from the play, Jane Stanwyck), made her first movie appearance in the 1927 silent Broadway Nights. She had had the opportunity to play the lead, but, due to her inability to cry during her screen test, she didn’t get the part (and instead made a minor appearance as a fan dancer). She tried again with the sound films The Locked Door and Mexicali Rose, but it was her working with director Frank Capra in Ladies Of Leisure that helped give her a boost. After that, she had a few big roles in various pre-Code films, such as Night Nurse, Baby Face and The Bitter Tea Of General Yen. Even with the rise of the Code, she continued to make an impression in dramatic roles, including Stella Dallas (for which she received her first Oscar nomination for Best Actress) and Union Pacific.
While making Remember The Night, she became friends with writer Preston Sturges, who saw comic potential in her that hadn’t been tapped yet. He wrote the screwball comedy The Lady Eve, which became a big hit and proved her comedic abilities. That same year, she followed up with another big comedy, Ball Of Fire opposite Gary Cooper (for which she was again nominated). But, it was a few years later when she played one of her best-known roles in the film noir Double Indemnity opposite her Remember The Night co-star Fred MacMurray (and was nominated a third time). Over the next few years, she continued to do comedies, thrillers, noirs and westerns.
In the 1950s, her film career started to slow down, so she switched over to television. For the most part, she just made guest appearances on various TV series, including Wagon Train, The Untouchables, and Dick Powell’s Zane Grey Theatre. In 1961, she had her own short-lived drama series (if you can call one season of 36 episodes “short-lived”) called The Barbara Stanwyck Show, which earned her an Emmy Award. She made a few last appearances on the big screen, before making a mark on the hit western TV series The Big Valley. She made a few other appearances in TV movies and shows before making the 1983 mini-series The Thorn Birds. She finished out her run with a guest appearance on Dynasty and spun off her character into The Colbys, which turned out to be her final role, as she died several years later.
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 August, 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 Bitter Tea Of General Yen (1932)
Internes Can’t Take Money (1937)
Christmas In Connecticut (1945)
Entries For This Month
Thoughts From The Music(al) Man –
The Bitter Tea Of General Yen (1932)
Internes Can’t Take Money (1937)
Rules:
Since this blogathon lasts a month, I’ll keep the rules here in case anybody is still interested in joining in:
- 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.
- These celebrations are intended as tributes to these stars, 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.
- I’m requesting that all posts would be new material, and not any previously published ones.
- 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).
- 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).
Thoughts From The Music(al) Man 