“Hello, Folks…”

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“Hello, Folks…”

March 8, 2023 by Toby

Came across this ad for Stars In My Crown (1950) and thought I’d share it.

Posted in 1950, Ads, posters & art, Jacques Tourneur, Joel McCrea, MGM | 11 Comments

11 Responses

on March 8, 2023 at 10:34 am | Reply Bob

I sure wish we still made pictures like that…
- on March 8, 2023 at 11:45 am | Reply Toby
  
  You sure said something there, Bob!
on March 8, 2023 at 11:42 am | Reply john k

Thanks so much for sharing that with us Toby.

When Joel showed his friend Jacques Tourneur the script Tourneur asked “who’s directing this?”
Joel replied “I don’t know some MGM contract director,I guess”
Tourneur just knew he had to direct the film-he even did it for far less than his usual fee or as they say in the trade “scale”
MGM had little faith in the film-the studio more or less threw it away-it lost money.
In 1964 a writer from Sight & Sound magazine in the UK told Tourneur how much he admired the film-Tourneur was amazed he had actually seen the film-Tourneur was heartened as he considered STARS IN MY CROWN his finest achievement.
As the old song goes……..”Time Changes Everything” and now the film is regarded as an American Classic- furthermore where’s the Blu Ray and indeed the Criterion version with a raft of extras.
- on March 8, 2023 at 11:48 am | Reply Toby
  
  Hollywood has always looked for movies that were easy to classify — makes them easier to market to a specific audience. They’ve always wanted a sure thing.
  
  This isn’t really a Western, even though it’s got McCrea with a hat and guns. And it’s not your typical period drama thing, either. It’s something all its own. That’s probably why some are drawn to it — and some stay away.
on March 8, 2023 at 12:59 pm | Reply Barry Lane

This was the film that sent McCrea into second features at Univeral-International. All very pleasant, but no hits among them.
on March 8, 2023 at 1:38 pm | Reply john k

Barry-the Universal International 6 were more programmers-I thought BLACK HORSE CANYON did pretty good. Joel had another hit with WICHITA but the follow up THE FIRST TEXAN bombed-his career in the 50’s was rather hit & miss and doing two films each for mediocre directors like Francis D Lyon and Charles Marquis Warren didn’t help. Too bad, like Scott, he never had a relationship with a director like Boetticher.
Originally BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK was going to be a Don Siegel project with McCrea that might have changed his box office chances.
Also turning down the Van Heflin role in SHANE did not help-as it would have given his career a much needed boost.
McCrea’s reason for turning down SHANE (a) he did not feel it was right for secondary roles at that time and (b) he did not want to compete with his close pal Ladd.
I guess being a successful rancher really meant over time the movie career became secondary.
- on March 8, 2023 at 8:47 pm | Reply Barry Lane
  
  John,
  He was right to turn down Shane, Van Heflin was a non-star and not a leading man, at least not usually. McCrea also aged in a different manner tna Scott. He was younger but looked older. On a personal basis, I did not care for his Allied Artists films, the UI had distribution issues, but Cattle Drive was at least cute. as was Saddle Tramp. Frenchie might have been but for Winters. Ugh.
  - on March 11, 2023 at 7:09 am | Reply john k
    
    Van Heflin might not have been a box
    office draw but was a great actor.
    McCrea admitted that Heflin was far better
    than he would have been-I don’t agree.
    As for Winters she’s OK in FRENCHIE and
    her & McCrea work better together than expected.
    The HIGH SIERRA remake I DIED A THOUSAND TIMES
    she resorts to her whimpering shtick that would be
    her later trademark-she sinks what potential the film had-
    her part,of course should have been played
    by Gloria Grahame.
    The Lone Pine locations in color & CinemaScope save
    the film from total ruin.
    In I AM A CAMERA Winters plays a naive sweet natured
    German Fraulein and she’s surprisingly good.
on March 8, 2023 at 5:05 pm | Reply Jerry Entract

Thanks for sharing that cutting, Toby; it’s a lovely piece that sounds very personal to McCrea. The film IS most unusual and deserves re-evaluation.
on March 8, 2023 at 11:20 pm | Reply gcwe1

Jack Elam turned down a part in Shane and he said in an interview that he later regretted it because he said look what it done for Jack Palance’s career.
on March 9, 2023 at 3:09 am | Reply David Bentley

Interesting to see the poster of the Villa Theatre in Salt Lake City, Utah. This was an iconic theater that seated 1300 people and had a 93 foot curved screen, the largest in the state. It was the place to go and people, including me, dressed up to see a first run movie in the evening. It was listed in a USA Today article in 2001 as being one of the top ten classic theatre’s in the USA. It has been closed since 2003.