Dana Andrews, Always Recognised, Never Known

Dana Andrews has the sort of face that audiences find familiar but cannot put a name to. He started his career always in secondary roles but in high quality movies such as 'The Westerner' in 1940 and 'The Ox-Bow Incident' in 1943. then in 1944 he was given his first starring role, with Gene Tierney in the hit movie 'Laura', followed by his best known role as the returning soldier, Fred Derry, in 'The Best Years of Our Lives' in 1946.

These movies made him a major star but continuing success eluded him and he develpoed a severe alcohol problem which became well known in Hollywood and which lost him the confidence of many producers. His career was irredeemably harmed by this and resulted in his being a 'B' movie actor for the rest of his career.

However Dana Andrews had the strength of character to overcome his alcohol demons and ehe even became an extremely vocal member of the National Council on Alcoholism and he was later elected president of the Screen Actors Guild in 1963.

Andrews died from heart failure in 1992 after suffering for many years from Alzheimer's Disease. He had reached for the stars and almost made it. But he had tried.
Click here for a biography and filmography of Dana Andrews
For an appreciation of 'The Best Years of Our Lives' click here

Dana Andrews
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Gregory Peck

Gregory Peck entered movies in brooding, handsome, troubled roles, and emerged as one of Hollywood's most treasured movie stars, representing decency, conviction, intelligence and moral fortitude. He wowed audiences with his strong physique and suave good looks, and, with four Oscar nominations and one Oscar win, the critical establishment did not fail to acknowledge his talents as an actor.

He made his big screen debut in 1944, as a resistance fighter in 'Days of Glory', and then won his first Academy Award nomination for his second film role in the same year, as a priest in 'The Keys of the Kingdom'. Peck went on to star, mostly as the good guy hero, in more than 60 movies. After worthy performances in 'Cape Fear' in 1962, 'spellbound' in 1945, 'Roman Holiday' in 1953, and 'Moby Dick' in 1956, he stoically faced the end of the world in 'On the Beach' in 1959, and won the war in 'The Guns of Navarone' in 1961.

But it was his role as the small-town defense lawyer Atticus Finch in 'To Kill a Mockingbird' in 1962 that finally won him an Oscar for Best Actor.

Peck remained a star into old age, and also stuck around to do the cameos in remakes of his earlier vehicles 'Cape Fear' and 'Moby Dick' in the 1990's. He always chose his roles with great care. Also noted for being civic-minded, for his Roman Catholic faith, and for his liberal politics, he served as president of the Academy Awards body, and was active in the Motion Picture and Television Relief Fund, American Cancer Society, National Endowment for the Arts, and other causes. He won many awards, including the Academy's Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1967, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American film Institute in 1989, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his humanitarian work.

John Gilbert, The Big Burnout

John Gilbert was one of the very early Hollywood meteors. His rise was sudden and his decline even more dramatic. His talent was evident but it did not save him from the vicious politics of Hollywood. Louis B Mayer made him and it was Mayer who destroyed him.

John appeared in films with the top leading ladies of the silent screen era, including Renee Adoree, Billie Dove, Barbara La Marr and Mae Murray. Lillian Gish, who had a new contract with MGM, picked Gilbert to co-star with her in La Boheme, (1926). With the death in 1926, of Rudolph Valentino, his only competition, John was on top of the world and by 1928 he was the highest paid actor in Hollywood.

His reputation as a ladies' man was further confirmed by the series of romantic films he made with Greta Garbo who starred with him in Love (1927), Flesh and the Devil (1926) and A Woman of Affairs (1928). The on-screen chemistry between these two was incredible reflected a torrid off-screen affair which the studio publicity department publicised diligently. Audience figures, profits and the stars' fame skyrocketed. During this period of unparallelled success Gilbert proposed to Garbo three times but was rebuffed each time.

He did in fact marry four times (three times to actresses Leatrice Joy, Ina Claire and Virginia Bruce.) He had one daughter with Leatrice Joy, a girl, also named Leatrice Joy Gilbert.

The decline of Gilbert's career began at the end of the 1920's and coincided with the advent of talkies. This has led to the persistent rumour that his voice was too high pitched and that audiences laughed when he spoke on screen. This was not true because Gilbert had a distinctive and pleasant voice and made several sound films, including Queen Christina, in which his voice was fine. The truth was that after 1929 when sound came in, John was placed in films such as Redemption (1930) and Way for a Sailor (1930) that were poorly scripted for sound cinema, and just not up to his talents.

In 1932 MGM made the film Downstairs from Gilbert's original story, in which Gilbert played against type as a scheming, blackmailing chauffeur. The film was well received by critics, but did nothing to restore Gilbert's popularity. Soon after making the film he married co-star Virginia Bruce but the couple divorced in 1934.

Gilbert also made the big mistake of incurring the enmity of Louis B Mayer, the head of MGM, and one of the most powerful men in Hollywood. Mayer disliked Gilbert intensely and after one heated argument (about his relationship with Garbo), Mayer vowed to destroy Gilbert's career and when his contract ran out in 1933 it was not renewed. Gilbert had begun drinking heavily and died suddenly of a heart attack in 1936 at the age of 40.

The meteor had been powerful but it had run its course.

Yankee Doodle Dandy

Yankee Doodle Dandy was made in 1942, a great year for films, and still won 3 Oscars. In 1993, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and in 2006 it was ranked #18 on AFI's 100 Years of Musicals. It is a 'feel good' film, both nostalgic and unashamedly patriotic, released as it was just after the Pearl Harbour attack on the US Fleet.
The film tells the musical rags-to-riches life story and times of early 20th century entertainment legend George M. Cohan, following several generations of his family and showcases several exciting song and dance numbers. It contains a tour de force performance by an high energy James Cagney who shows beyond any doubt that he was not just a gangster-portrayer but also a very fine song and dance man.
As well as being critically well-received, the film was also a major box-office success for Warner Bros. It became the top box-office hit of the year, and Warners' most successful film up to that time.
Biography of James Cagney
Yankee Doodle Dandy