Comments on Movietone News: Jane Randolph (1915 - 2009)

I never found much to admire in Martin & Lewis...

2010-02-08T15:26:31.358Z

I never found much to admire in Martin & Lewis beyond Martin's likeability and Lewis's eagerness and energy, but Abbott & Costello I'm sure had real gifts, sadly dissipated by absurd over-exposure. If only they'd made a film a year I think we'd all still be talking about them.
I love the 'turkey sandwich and a cup of coffee' scene in Keep 'em Flying! Yes, it's just the soda fountain routine from Laurel and Hardy's Men 'o War, but they do it in totally their own way. Stan is simply unable to grasp what Ollie is up to, but even when Lou does everything that is asked of him, Bud still keeps pushing him into getting it wrong, then reacts with his trademark fury... very funny. A & C have an absurd quality in their humour that is closer at times to the Marx Brothers than L&H.
I cherish this exchange, which turns up a couple of times:

Bud (in ptch-black room): I think I can feel a damp opening in the wall.
Lou (with annoyance but no vocal distortion): You've got your hand in my mouth!

I love the Jonah and the whale routine ("Oh, you mean a swim-ship"), and the bit in A&C In Hollywood, where the boys walk past a lecherous singer-actor:

Bud (under his breath): Wolf!
Lou (to the actor): Hiya, Mr Wolf!
Bud: Don't you know who that is? That's Greg LaMarr, the famous crooner.
Lou: Hiya, Mr Crooner!
Bud: Oh, shut up!
Lou: Hiya, Mr Shut Up!

I'm never sure what to think of them as individuals. There is so much testimony as to Lou's meanness, but I don't consider myself easily fooled by showbiz schmaltz and on his fifties This Is Your Life show he really does come across as one of the sweetest men that ever drew breath.
I discovered Abbott and Costello as a child at a time when the Laurel & Hardy films had fallen into some sort of copyright hole and had not been seen on British tv for several years. That must have helped me get to know and love them properly. Now, a child growing up in Britain sees nothing of either, despite a hundred times as many channels as the four we had when I was growing up.
As always, choice means restriction, and progress gallops backwards.

Matthew: It must have been in the year of its rel...

2010-02-08T15:02:07.421Z

Matthew:

It must have been in the year of its release that one Judy Morofsky came home from summer camp up on the Hudson River and told us that she had seen Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. We did not believe her. (I was 13 or 14. ) But the film finally was shown in our neighborhood and Judy was exonerated. We were the Abbott and Costello generation, sandwiched between the Laurel and Hardy and the Martin and Lewis contingents.

I share your enthusiasm for the Frankenstein film. And I wonder if you have ever seen the Seinfeld tribute to A and C? I remember it being more than a decade ago. (I never saw Seinfeld’s television series but his imprimatur might have won some younger converts.) Seinfeld and I share enthusiasm for a pretty bad baseball team: the New York Mets. (Jerry calls a local radio sports station with some regularity and talks about baseball and sundry subjects.)

I lived at one time in East Paterson, west of which was Lou’s home town. I remember drinking there with gypsies who put ice cubes in their beer. I am partial to the sandwich routine in Flying but my wife is not so sure about Abbott and Costello. And she does not like barley either. But then again, she is an undertaker’s daughter who played in the coffin room at her father’s establishment. Which brings us back to the film.

Gerald

Anent Ms. Randolph and Ms. Aubert on another day.

Mykal - Thanks! If only I'd known she was stil...

2009-06-03T07:40:41.609+01:00

Mykal - Thanks! If only I'd known she was still alive I'd have saluted her ages ago.

Anon - Gene's a honey. Have you seen her sprinkling the ashes on horseback in Leave Her To Heaven? Goodness gracious.

Casey & Lolita - Yes, I'm afraid we chaps tend to enjoy watching the two gals squabble over Kent Smith. And to give Eve the benefit of the doubt for much longer than she deserves. It's all tied up with the same genes that make us bad at housework.

Great post, as always! Time to re-watch Cat People...

2009-06-02T22:22:50.780+01:00

Great post, as always! Time to re-watch Cat People, I feel... That pool scene was very creepy. And I agree, I had my claws out! It's like watching All About Eve: if you see it with men, they almost admire Eve's determination of becoming successful. Watch it with women, and they want to claw her eyes out in the first scene. I bet women feel that under-the-surface-manipulative-bitchiness that men need to get their faces rubbed with before they notice.

Matthew: Beautiful. Just beautiful. Love the part ...

2009-05-30T18:39:59.166+01:00

Matthew: Beautiful. Just beautiful. Love the part " . . . but you were watching Jane Randolph." So damn true. -- Mykal

Jane Randolph was a beautiful girl and a fine actr...

2009-05-29T21:58:49.803+01:00

Jane Randolph was a beautiful girl and a fine actress but Gene Tierney, in my opinion was the most beautiful woman that I have ever seen.

Something about that girl was very special.

Terrific tribute. You're so right about how she co...

2009-05-29T17:10:17.583+01:00

Terrific tribute. You're so right about how she comes off in Cat People. I'm one of those who are guilty of hating her long before Simone Simon does. It's amazing acting, because she's actually a nice person. Somehow she can make the audience hate her to no end. I'm glad to read she had a full life after movies. Spanish high society, no less! Pretty darn good for the girl everyone hates. :)