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Here are the words of Robert Ryan reacting to the suggestion that his performance as the murderous anti-Semite Monty in “Crossfire” was “brave.” — Movieland, August 1947

(Conclusion of article “I’m Gambling With My Career” by Robert Ryan from Movieland, September 1947)

So I might step on a few toes, showing up Monty for a heel, for the Little Man with a Big Inferiority Complex which so many of his kind of swine turn out to be. Did somebody want to make something of it?

A lot more than Bob Ryan and this career, more than our one family and our comfort was at stake, Jessica and I decided that night, if there is any risk in speaking out against the race-baiters.

We all stand to lose if fascism comes. Not just the Jews. The Irish, the Catholics-and I'm both of those the Negroes, labor, the foreign born, everyone is done for whose color, or religion, occupation or political belief is distasteful to some new paperhanger-turned-Strong Man.

I don't want to see that happen here. And if it is "brave" to say so, then Jessica is right. We'd all better be getting brave. And fast!

The End

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 01/10/2026

Barbara Stanwyck in an ad for “Stella Dallas” — Modern Screen, September 1937

"SURE, I LIKE A GOOD TIME!"

They called her a party wife.
They said she wasn't fit to be a mother." But you'll recognize Stella Dallas as one of the greatest, finest characters on the screen!

SAMUEL GOLDWYN
PRESENTS
STELLA DALLAS
WITH
BARBARA
STANWYCK
JOHN BOLES -ANNE SHIRLEY
From the novel by
OLIVE HIGGINS PROUTY
•RELEASED THRU UNITED ARTISTS •

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 01/10/2026

“The Indomitable Ida” — Motion Picture, Sep. 1946 “To this diminutive bit of British dynamite, acting is a destiny.”

Two page magazine layout with large glamour portrait of Ida Lupino on the left page, magazine article on the right, with smaller photo.

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 01/10/2026

Ginger Rogers and George Brent in “In Person” (1935)

Rogers, in slacks, is tap dancing on a table. Brent sits on a nearby chair looking up at her, pipe in mouth.

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 30/09/2026

Ida Lupino, 1937 “Ida Lupino, who is currently cast opposite Richard Arlen with Jack Benny and Gail Patrick in Paramount's filmusical, ‘Artists And Models,’ plays… a model who impersonates a society debutant to gain a job with the rich young man she loves”

Studio glamour portrait of Lupino with short, dark hair

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 29/09/2026

Fred Astaire and Lucille Bremer for “Yolanda and the Thief” (1946)

Astaire sits next to Bremer on a studio set with arms partially outstretched. Bremer holds prop bags with large $ signs and a large stack of bills on her lap. More prop bags and cash and coins are scattered on floor around them.

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 29/09/2026

Ida Lupino with Director Nicholas Ray and Ward Bond, behind the scenes of “On Dangerous Ground” (1951).

Ray at center seated in director’s chair. Lupino and Bond lean on the arms of the chair on either side of him looking at each other with big smiles

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 27/09/2026

Ida Lupino in her first and (next to) last feature films: “Her First Affaire” (1933) and “Food of the Gods” (1976)

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 27/09/2026

Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby, likely while working on “Blue Skies” (1946) — Modern Screen, Feb. 1947

Original caption: “Helping Bing pick a winner in the Racing Form is Fred Astaire, no amateur with horses either. Fred's deserting his stables to establish the Fred Astaire Dance Studios. First one's scheduled to open January in New York.”

Astaire and Crosby seated next to each other. Crosby holds a newspaper open while Astaire appears to inspect it and gesture at something in it.

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 26/09/2026

"JAMES STEWART and his Wife GLORIA circa 1954 looking at a portrait painting of Mrs. Stewart by actress Claudette Colbert."

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 26/09/2026

Claudette Colbert, artist "Claudette Colbert, known to her friends as Madame Rembrandt, is another member of Hollywood colony who finds painting a relaxing hobby. She's already put Mrs. Jimmy Stewart and Mary Livingstone on canvas." — Los Angeles Times, July 8, 1951

Newspaper photo of Colbert standing at an easel on which is an incomplete portrait of a woman

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 26/09/2026

Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison in “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir” (1947). I finally watched this and unexpectedly loved it. The scenes with the two leads were electric and funny and thoroughly enjoyable. Lost some steam towards the end when Tierney’s character was on her own.

Harrison, in black, looms behind Tierney, in white, in a scene from “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.”

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 25/09/2026

Josephine Hutchinson, Glenda Farrell, Mervyn LeRoy, Joan Blondell and Anita Louise at Warner Brothers, 1935

The five stand outdoors facing camera and smiling.

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 25/09/2026

“Young Man of Manhattan” (1930) is an early Claudette Colbert film that also happens to be Ginger Rogers’ first film. Colbert starred with then-husband Norman Foster. The only copies available I’ve seen are pretty rough.

Standing Colbert embraces seated Foster in a scene from “Young Man of Manhattan” (1930).

Claudette Colbert playing a piano in a scene from “Young Man of Manhattan” (1930)

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 25/09/2026

Ida Lupino, 1944. Portrait by Bert Six for Warner Bros.

Studio glamour portrait of Lupino in sleeveless gown, large flower at her neck.

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 25/09/2026

Rita Hayworth in Modern Screen, June 1947

Color magazine portrait of Hayworth in dark green outfit, holding a medium sized dog.

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 23/09/2026

“Director Vincent Sherman (right) rehearses his stars, Ida Lupino and William Prince, in a bit of dialog between scenes of the forthcoming Warner Bros. production, ‘Pillow to Post.’” Showmen’s Trade Review, March 24, 1945

Prince and Lupino attentively listen to Sherman. All are seated facing each other.

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 21/09/2026

A bit after “The Hard Way” tomorrow morning, TCM is airing another Vincent Sherman-directed film starring Ida Lupino: the zany wartime farce, PILLOW TO POST (1945). Bonus appearing by Louis Armstrong and Dorothy Dandridge.

Poster for “Pillow to Post” (1945) starring Ida Lupino, Sydney Greenstreet and William Prince. With Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra. Directed by Vincent Sherman.

Ida Lupino in a scene from “Pillow to Post” (1945). She is seated on a suitcase,another suitcase in her lap. She is holding a bare foot in her hands with corresponding shoe on the ground below it. She looks dejected. A crowd is visible behind her.

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 21/09/2026

TCM appears to be having a Vincent Sherman day tomorrow. For some reason they are burying the best of the bunch at 5am CDT: THE HARD WAY (1943) Featuring one of the most intense, hard-boiled roles of Ida Lupino’s career, plus great supporting turns from Jack Carson and Gladys George.

Poster for “The Hard Way” (1943) starring Ida Lupino, Dennis Morgan and Joan Leslie with Jack Carson and Gladys George. Directed by Vincent Sherman.

Gladys George and Ida Lupino in a pivotal scene from “The Hard Way” (1943)

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 21/09/2026

Ann Sothern in Modern Screen, April 1936

Sothern in dark dress, sitting in an oversized wicker chair. Her name written in script across the bottom

Caption: Brief holidays are all that a capable and popular actress like Ann con hope for. With two pictures just completed, the Sothem hurried into still a third, "Don't Gamble with Love," in which Bruce Cabot is her teammate. The dashing, young Roger Pryor is still her constant interest.

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 20/09/2026

Ida Lupino in the Red Sox jacket during this Arizona photo shoot

Lupino, Glenn Ford and Governor Dan Garvey (seated) next to a movie camera on a rocky landscape

Crop of Lupino in the photo from the prior post.

Lupino and Governor Garvey next to a movie camera on a desert landscape.

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 20/09/2026

Ida Lupino standing with Arizona governor Dan Garvey and Gig Young while on location for “Lust for Gold” (1949), November 1948. Is it lost to history why Lupino is posing in what appears to be a Boston Red Sox jacket?

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 20/09/2026

Jack Haley and Alice Faye in “Wake Up and Live” (20th Century-Fox, 1937)

Studio closeup photo of Haley and Faye, foreheads together, smiling.

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 19/09/2026

Ida Lupino pictured in 1939 at one of her favorite pastimes—writing music. “To the devil with this profession. I want to be a musician. Composing is the thing that gives me the greatest thrill.”

Ida Lupino, leaning into a standup piano with pen in hand, annotating a sheet of music.

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 19/09/2026

Una Merkel, great character actress of the 1930s.

Merkel portrait, standing and smiling, wearing stark dress with long sleeves, hands on hips.

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 18/09/2026

Ida Lupino and Joan Leslie in “The Hard Way” (1943)

Lupino in a dark dress with flower patches on her left shoulder. Leslie in a light-colored evening gown. They are standing side-by-side, with Leslie grasping Lupino’s left arm.

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 18/09/2026

I know I’ve seen a good print a number of years ago. You reminded me I actually own a DVD — Universal Vault Series. I must have bought it 7-8 years ago.

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 18/09/2026

Director Gregory La Cava and Claudette Colbert on the set of “Private Worlds.” Their chairs have their respective nicknames for each other: “Dangerous Ward Dr. Lucius La Cava” and “The Fretting Frog.” — Photoplay, November 1935

La Cava and Colbert sit side-by-side turned to face each other. Another crew member sits by a large motion picture camera at far left.

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 15/09/2026

Ida Lupino in a promo for her early comedy “The Gay Desperado” (1936), starting opera singer Nino Martini and directed by Rouben Mamoulian. On TCM late this afternoon. Around this time, Lupino was described in the press as “the spectacular cutie” and “that little bouquet of dynamite.” #TCMParty

Magazine photo of Nino Martini and Ida Lupino in costume for “The Gay Desperado” (1936). From Movie Mirror, October 1936.

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 15/09/2026

Glowing review of “The Gay Desperado” from Movie Classic, Dec. 1936: “It proves a very definite answer to those critics who heretofore have claimed that there never was a good film made with an opera singer in it.”

Movie Classic, December 1936

THE GAY DESPERADO—This interested observer of the cinema scene still refuses to pluck a page from the press agent's dictionary, but he can honestly and enthusiastically report that The Gay Desperado is superb. Not only is this first effort of the Pickford-Lasky combination grand entertainment, but it proves a very definite answer to those critics who heretofore have claimed that there never was a good film made with an opera singer in it. The excellence of The Gay Desperado owes much to Nino Martini—for his songs as well as for his acting; it owes much to Leo Carillo who portrays the swaggering chief of a Mexican bandit gang; and it owes much to Rouben Mamoulian whose direction in this picture explains why he is regarded as "tops" in the directorial / field

The Gay Desperado is keyed to a fast tempo that never lags while telling the story of a Mexican bandit who, after witnessing the screen version of the way his American brothers work, adopts their technique for his own. He kidnaps Ida Lupino and her cowardly, fiance, James Blakely, and then becomes involved in an adventure which he gladly relinquishes in favor of his old Mexican methods of banditry. Ida Lupino, James Blakely, Harold Huber, Mischa Auer, deserve gold stars and orchids for the splendid portrayals of their respective char-acters. See this one, by ALL MEANS!—Pickford-Lasky.

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 15/09/2026

“The Gay Desperado” was produced independently by Mary Pickford and Jesse Lasky. One of two films they produced in 1936 before dissolving their partnership. Ida, at 18 years old, was the leading lady in both—loaned out by her home studio Paramount.

Poster for “One Rainy Afternoon” starring Francis Lederer with Ida Lupino, Hugh Herbert, Roland Young. “A Gay Rainbow of Love and Laughter”

Poster for “The Gay Desperado”. “There’s Song!” (Nino Martini in sombrero), “There’s Love!” (Ida Lupino in sombrero), “There’s Action! (Leo Carillo in sombrero)

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 15/09/2026

Big Ida Lupino on TCM alert! 🚨 Tomorrow (Tue, Sep 15) at 5:30pm CT they are airing a film from a period of her career that that they essentially never show. THE GAY DESPERADO (1936) Opera star Nino Martini is the center of this Rouben Mamoulian production. A fun, mostly comic role for Ida.

Poster for Nino Martini in “The Gay Desperado” with Ida Lupino and Leo Carrillo, A Rouben Mamoulian Production.

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 13/09/2026

Seven years ago, I ran across this 1949 headline proclaiming that Claudette Colbert was on the verge of directing feature films in Hollywood. I was curious—but unable to find anything that told the full story. So eventually I decided to piece it together myself: brightlightsfilm.com/claudette-co...

Newspaper headline from December 33, 1949:

Claudette Colbert to Do Stint as Film Director
Star Gets Contract to Direct Three Movies; First Will Be a Comedy
By Louella O. Parsons

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 13/09/2026

By 1939, 21 years old, Lupino had come to regret her behavior in her younger years. “I was silly, sometimes, because I was such a kid and I was trying so desperately to live up to the position that was thrust on me.” “Today, I'm ashamed of having been such a ridiculous kid.”

Modern Screen, May 1939

DAFFY BUT NOT DIZZY
There's a vast difference, you know, and Ida Lupino hastens to explain it
By Ben Maddox

Modern Screen, May 1939

DAFFY BUT NOT DIZZY
There's a vast difference, you know, and Ida Lupino hastens to explain it
By Ben Maddox

I WANT to start my life all over!
I don't know exactly how or where to take the first step, but I do know I'm sick and tired of nearly everything that's happened to me in Hollywood. I know I'm going to find a way to begin again, or else—!"

Ida Lupino laughed, and it wasn't the kind of happy laugh you would like to hear from a girl as young and cute as Ida. Certainly this laugh had none of the floating-on-air ring you'd expect from an envied bride of six months. Which this smooth, streamlined twenty-one-year-old is, being Mrs. Louis Hayward, wife of a rising star, too.

"I want to black-out my Hollywood past, the whole bad memory of the six years I've been here muddling through," Ida went on passionately. "I want to make everyone-and most of all myself-forget they ever happened. I've been so mixed up. I still am. I've been branded dizzy. Well, I'm not. Daffy, maybe, but there's a difference.

"Sure, I got off on the wrong foot. But, definitely, that wasn't all my fault. I bleached my hair chorus-girl blonde because I was told to. My eyebrows were pulled out by experts and I was deliberately taught to draw lines on instead. I was poured into sausage-skin dresses, posed for 'leg art' I was given that Hollywood test for glamor, found an apt victim for it. I was given lots of high-powered advice, also. People said I should live in a big house with my own swimming pool attached, and I should ride in a limousine, and, emphatically, I must give parties for the right people!"

Ida Lupino quote from “Young Enough to Know Better,” Motion Picture, February 1940

"Today, I'm ashamed of having been such a ridiculous kid. I refused to grow up slowly—to mature wisely. I hated school. I only had a faint glimpse of everyday girlhood. But it was enough for me! I had no sense whatsoever, and I wanted none given to me. I had a comfortable home, but I couldn't wait to leave it and be my own boss. I got to Hollywood and embarked upon the most fabulous misdirection of energy. How I fell for the "flash!'

Ida Lupino quote from “Daffy But Not Dizzy,” Modern Screen, May 1939

"But I never was the sap interviewers colored me up to be. I was silly, sometimes, because I was such a kid and I was trying so desperately to live up to the position that was thrust on me. My mother and sister came over from London with me and, if l was a bit off-balance because everything revolved around me with such suddenness, at least I didn't enjoy the madhouse. I was miserable! And I soon (article is cut off)

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 13/09/2026

The interviewer was being generous in describing her as a “deliciously arrogant child.” Reading the full article, “obnoxiously arrogant brat” may have fit better. I do love that headline on the second page of the article: “Ida Lupino’s Ego Amazes”

Excerpt of Ida Lupino interview, March 18, 1934:

"Oh, I'm not swell-headed. We actors know what we can do. I know I still have a lot to learn. But I cannot tolerate fools, won't have anything to do with them. I only want to associate with brilliant people . . .”

She left me a little breathless, this deliciously arrogant child. Ida has (article cut off)

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 12/09/2026

Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire on the set of “Top Hat” (1935) hollywoodhistoricphotos.com/products/fre...

Astaire and Rogers in a dance pose during the “Piccolino” routine. A crowd of chorus men in costume and women are behind them. Director Mark Sandrich and many crew are under movie camera at left

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 12/09/2026

Errol Flynn and Ida Lupino in “Escape Me Never” (1947)

Flynn and Lupino, both wearing lederhosen, walking side-by-side. Flynn examines a large sheaf of music papers while Lupino looks on with a slight smile.

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 12/09/2026

Loretta Young in Photoplay, Sep. 1935

Magazine photo looking up at Young on a staircase, smiling, head tilted back.

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 11/09/2026

Ida Lupino in Buddy Westmore’s make-up chair—being “trollop-ized” in the words of Paramount’s publicity department—while working on “The Light That Failed” (1939)

Lupino sits in make up chair, upper body covered with a protective sheet. Westmore leans over her, applying makeup under her left eye. A counter covered in jar, bottles and makeup tools is immediately behind them.

Original caption:
TROLLOP-IZING--It isn't' a new Hollywood diet, but a type of makeup that gives a slovenly appearance to a lovely young girl. Ida Lupino undergoes the treatment at the hands of "Buddy" Westmore for her role in Paramount's "The Light That Failed." The young English actress plays the immortal Bessie role in William A. Wellman's filmization of the Kipling classic.

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 10/09/2026

Frankie Thomas and Bonita Granville in “Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase” (1939)

Thomas and Granville, in low key light, examine a small piece of paper.

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 10/09/2026

Same dress, same Ida Lupino, different lighting

Fashion photo of Lupino standing in front of a planter with small plants. Same dress as above but harsher, directly overhead lighting.

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 10/09/2026

Ida Lupino, 1946 “This slim-lined gown of turquoise blue crepe worn by Ida Lupino, star of Warner Bros.' ‘Deep Valley,’ achieves distinction with the intricate draping of the matching scarf...”

Full length studio fashion photo of Lupiko standing in front of a plain background with large potted plant at far right.

Remainder of caption: “The long scarf is crossed deftly over the bustline, then encircles the hipline and knots in the front, leaving the ends long and graceful to the hemline.”

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 08/09/2026

Director Ida Lupino confers with producer (and husband) Collier Young, dialogue director Don Weis and actors Claire Trevor and Carleton Young in “Hard, Fast and Beautiful” (1951). Lupino’s 4th film as director, this was filmed in 1950 with working title “Mother of a Champion.” #IdaLupinoDirecting

Lupino, Collier Young, Trevor and Carleton Young (no relation) sit around an outdoor table with large umbrella. Lupino talks to Collier, while the others listen. Weis stand behind Trevor, looking at photographer.

Original caption:

TABLE TALK — A top-echelon conference takes place on the set of Filmakers "Mother of a Champion," with Director Ida Lupino (extreme left) presiding, flanked by (left to right) Producer Collier Young, Dialogue Director Don Weis, Claire Trevor who is co-starred with Sally Forrest, and tennis promoter G. Carleton Young.

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 08/09/2026

Ginger Rogers on the tennis court, ca. 1939

Rogers in black sports outfit and short shorts, caught in act of serving at tennis.

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 07/09/2026

“Ladies in Retitement” (1941) – one of my all-time favorite thrillers. Wonderful cast that includes Louis Hayward, Evelyn Keyes, Elsa Lanchester and is headed by Ida Lupino in her personal favorite role. Great atmospheric direction by Charles Vidor and cinematography by George Barnes.

Poster for “Ladies in Retirement” with tagline “The memorable drama of strange loves and desires in a house of dreadful secrets!”

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 06/09/2026

The great “Ladies in Retirement” (1941) is now on blu-ray 👏🤩

Blu-ray packaging for “Ladies in Retirement” (1941), just released by Imprint — outer and inner cases. Starring Ida Lupino and Louis Hayward. With Evelyn Keyes and Elsa Lanchester.

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 06/09/2026

Ginger Rogers in an artistic promotion for the Columbia comedy “It Had To Be You” (1947)

Ginger Rogers sits with hand on chin, holding a painter's easel, artist's paint brushes scattered on floor by her feet, looking upwards with a forlorn look.

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 06/09/2026

Director Ida Lupino with cinematographer Lionel Lindon and crew on the set of “The Trouble With Angels” (1966). Photo from the book “Ida Lupino: Beyond the Camera” #IdaLupinoDirecting

Lupino and four men gathered around a large motion picture camera on an outdoor shoot. Lupino crouches slightly in front of camera, making a slight gesture with her left hand. Lindon is standing at her immediate left. All are smiling or otherwise friendly expressions, while looking at the photographer.

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P.M.Bryant @pmbryant.com · 04/09/2026

“Judy Garland is the center of attention in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's ‘Strike Up the Band,’ both from her high school ‘sweetheart,’ played by Mickey Rooney, and by the ‘little boy,’ Larry Nunn.” — 1940

Studio publicity shot of Rooney, Garland and Nunn, with Rooney separated slightly, while Garland hold her face close to Nunn’s while looking sideways towards Rooney.

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