From the Archives: The Pied Piper (1942)

Anne Baxter makes sure that Monty Woolley has his scarf wrapped around him before heading out in this original still from the classic Fox war drama The Pied Piper (1942). That's the talented Roddy McDowall standing next to Monty. 

From the Archives is our latest series of posts where we share photos from the Silverbanks Pictures collection. Some of these may have been sold in the past, and others may still be available for purchase at our eBay store: http://stores.ebay.com/Silverbanks-Pictures 

The Luck of the Irish Airing Tomorrow

St. Patrick's Day, that most honored of Irish holidays, be comin' o'er the week-end and if ye be feeling for a bit o' whimsy then look no further than The Luck of the Irish, a gem of a film starring himself, that handsome lad Tyrone Power. 

Tyrone Power plays a freelance writer named Steven Fitzgerald who befriends a leprechaun ( Cecil Kellaway ) while he is stranded in a village in Ireland. He manages to capture him and demand his gold but, not wanting to take the old man's life savings, returns the pot to him. The leprechaun is so grateful he follows Fitzgerald back to New York City and helps him realize his heart's desire.

The Movies! channel will be airing The Luck of the Irish (1948) on Saturday at 11am EST and again on Friday, March 22nd, at 7:20am EST. 

To read our review of the film, click here. To read Movies! TV Network's article on a behind-the-scenes look at the film click here. 

On the Set of The Ten Commandments ( 1956 )

Tonight, as part of television tradition, ABC will be airing The Ten Commandments in honor of Passover week. For those who are unfamiliar with the film ( were you wandering in the desert wilderness with Moses? ), this 4-hour production tells the story from the Old Testament of Moses, the prince of Egypt ( portrayed by Charlton Heston ), who discovered that he was the true son of a Hebrew slave woman and renounced the throne to join his people. Years later, on Mount Sinai working as a shepherd, he hears the voice of the Lord speak to him, selecting him to lead these Hebrews out of slavery and out of Egypt into the Promised Land.

2018 marks the 55th year that this epic Cecil B. DeMille production has been televised on ABC ( except for 1999, the only year they dropped it )...and so, to honor and join in the celebration of this favorite annual occasion, we have compiled a little gallery of snapshots featuring behind-the-scenes photos taken on the set of The Ten Commandments. 

Happy Passover and a Blessed Easter to all of our readers! 

John Carradine, Martha Scott, Charlton Heston, Olive Deering, and Anne Baxter discuss the script with director Cecil B. DeMille. 

Charlton Heston, dressed as Prince Moses, stands in front of one of the many massive sets seen in the film. 

"Hello, valet service? Would you bring my chariot around to the front gate in ten minutes? Thank you!"

Filming the spectacular scene featuring Moses' return from his journey to Ethiopia. 

Yul, with his ever-present camera, capturing a snapshot of a gritty looking Moses in chains. 

Heston gets his chains tightened for Moses' dramatic entrance.

Cecil B. DeMille getting a light-reading for the opening sequence featuring Miriam and Baby Moses in the reeds. 

The construction of Bithiah's bathing pavilion, complete with palm trees. 

Yvonne DeCarlo seeing what the behind-the-camera viewpoint is like. 

Anne Baxter, as Nefertari, smiles at the camera while Cecil B. DeMille gives some last-minute direction to Yul Brynner.

Extras waiting in the blazing California sun to make their brief appearance in the movie.

Donald O'Connor visits the set during the filming of the brick-making scene. 

Charlton Heston gives Yul Brynner a good-luck handshake before filming commences. 

Charlton Heston and extras standing before the "blue screen". Heston still strikes a powerful figure, even without the parting sea behind him.

COSTUMES, COSTUMES

Yvonne De Carlo, as Sephora, modeling her shepherd's gown for a wardrobe test. 

Edith Head discusses a wardrobe matter with DeMille about one of Sephora's costumes, while Yvonne DeCarlo adjusts her earring.

A John Jenson sketch of one of the costumes worn by Dathan ( Edward G. Robinson ). Perhaps another actor was considered for the role of Dathan because this man hardly resembles Robinson!

Heston, as Moses, poses for this costume test. This is the shaggy shepherd suit he wears before he heads up to Mt. Sinai to be transfigured.

Nina Foch, as Bithiah, lounging in one of the many beautiful Edith Head costumes seen in The Ten Commandments.

Not only did costumes undergo color tests but eye color, too! Here, Debra Paget, poses for a photo with her "own eyes" compared to using contact lens.... 

....as seen here. Can you guess which option they went with for the final film?

Anne Baxter and Yul Brynner had the best looking costumes in The Ten Commandments and this garment was especially impressive. The white and red colors on the hedjet/crown atop Ramses' head represents the unity of Upper ( white ) and Lower ( red ) Egypt.

Moses, looking splendid in his leather tunic. 

One of the many beautiful gowns that Anne Baxter gets to wear as Nefertari. This one may possibly have been designed by Edith Head but Dorothy Jeakins also worked on the film.

Another Nefertari costume sketch.

When it comes to the fashion industry, sometimes the sketches look better than the costumes in reality, but not in this case. Anne Baxter knows how to fill out this sheer garment!

Debra Paget as Lilia, complete with leather slippers and her water cask.

Nugget Reviews - 23

Johannisnacht ( 1956 )  14k 

An opera singer divorces her husband shortly after an extended performing tour in America. Years later, she returns to Germany to see her daughter whom her husband hid away in a chalet in the valley. Willy Birgel, Hertha Feiler, Erik Schumann, Sonja Sutter, Wolfgang Grunner. MGM Pictures. Directed by Harald Reinl.

A sweet romance from Delos-Film studios. Austrian-born Hertha Feiler, who often starred in comedies with her husband Heinz Ruhmann, is given a decent dramatic part here and the location filming of this "Heimatfilm" is beautiful. There is also a nice sub-romance going on between Erik Schumann and Sonja Sutter. 

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A Royal Scandal ( 1945 ) Elect.

A young idealistic lieutenant warns Catherine the Great of treachery within her court. She finds his loyalty and good looks very appealing and makes him her boy-toy, much to the chagrin of his true love, Queen Catherine's lady-in-waiting, Anna. Tallulah Bankhead, Charles Coburn, Anne Baxter, William Eythe, Vincent Price, Mischa Auer. 20th Century Fox Pictures. Directed by Otto Preminger and Ernst Lubitsch.

Ernst Lubitsch was a master at creating frothy comedies. He reached his prime in the early 1930s with such classics as Monte Carlo, The Smiling Lieutenant, One Hour with You and Ninotchka, but even he couldn't save this film from Preminger's heavy-handed direction. While there were a few amusing sequences in A Royal Scandal, overall the comedy seemed force. Tallulah Bankhead gave a grand performance as Catherine the Great, with some excellent support from character actors Charles Coburn and Sig Ruman, in spite of the circumstances.

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King Richard and the Crusaders ( 1954 ) 14k.

While encamped in the Holy Land, two noblemen plot to murder Richard the Lionheart and make his death appear to be from a Saracen attack, but his loyal knight Sir Kenneth discovers the plan. Rex Harrison, Laurence Harvey, George Sanders, Virginia Mayo, Robert Douglas. Warner Brothers. Directed by David Butler. 

Rex Harrison and Laurence Harvey give engrossing performances in this otherwise run-of-the-mill Crusades adventure, based upon Sir Walter Scott's novel "The Talisman". George Sanders makes an unconvincing King Richard, and Virginia Mayo's presence serves merely as eye-candy, but the Technicolor is beautiful and it's fun watching Rex Harrison tackle an Arab role.

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Scaramouche ( 1923 ) Elect.

A quiet French lawyer becomes a revolutionary after a nobleman kills his friend in a duel. Ramon Navarro, Alice Terry, Lewis Stone, Julia Swayne Gordon. Metro Pictures. Directed by Rex Ingram.

Production standards were high in this Rex Ingram silent classic, but the film fails to capture the excitement of Rafael Sabatini's novel and lingers on a bit too long. The zest that Stewart Granger brought to the part of Andre Moreau in the 1952 remake was non-existent in Novarro's portrayal. Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford would have been ideal casting choices instead. However, the French Revolution sequences at the climax were truly hair-raising.

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The Toy Wife ( 1938 ) 14k

A flirtatious and frivolous Southern belle marries her sister's serious-minded fiancee. He later comes to regret not having found himself a more sensible wife. Luise Rainer, Melvyn Douglas, Barbara O'Neil, Robert Young, Alma Kruger. MGM Pictures. Directed by Richard Thorpe.

Luise Rainer was fresh from her Oscar-winning performance in The Good Earth when she starred in The Toy Wife, MGM's consolation project after losing the book rights to Margaret Mitchell's "Gone with the Wind". This southern belle story put the spotlight on Rainer, allowing her - as "Frou-Frou" - to swoosh her hoop skirts around New Orleans and playfully toy with the heart-strings of not one, but two, gentlemen. It makes for engrossing soap. Barbara O'Neil earned the role of Ellen ( Scarlett's mother ) in Gone with the Wind, thanks to her performance in this film as Frou-Frou's sister. 

The Luck of the Irish ( 1948 )

"You don't always wait for an invitation to follow the brave music of a distant drum"

It's not often when a man is clever enough and quick enough to capture a leprechaun. While travelling in Ireland, Steven Fitzgerald (Tyrone Power) does just that and then, having done so, lets the leprechaun free...without claiming his pot of gold! 

'Tis a rare man indeed who would do such a thing, and the leprechaun knows it. He feels a debt of gratitude to this American and, leaving the comfort of his homeland and his secluded waterfall, he follows him into the "cold, inhospitable city" of New York to serve him and to help him realize his heart's desire. 

"You are a proud, free man, and it is for that reason that I am proud to serve you"

Fitzgerald is a news reporter who believes in writing the truth to the public, but the lure of acquiring wealth by working for power-hungry publisher-turned-politician Augur (Lee J. Cobb) proves to be irresistible, even if it costs him his integrity as a free-thinking man. Egging him on in his decision to accept this position is Augur's daughter (Jayne Meadows), a woman who wants to be by Fitzgerald's side as he climbs the ladder of success, no matter what it takes. 

The Luck of the Irish is a dramatic fantasy filled with many whimsical moments. It does not have the sugary sweetness of a children's fable, making it all the more satisfying. Instead it has a lasting charm which makes it ideal for annual viewing on St. Patrick's Day, or any time of the year for that matter. 

The first half of the film parallels Michael Powell's I Know Where I'm Going (1945) in that we see a city dweller stranded in a small village, anxious to escape on the next boat available and frustrated with the local people's slow and inefficient ways. It is not until the opportunity to escape becomes available that these characters begin to have doubts on whether they truly want to leave. In both films, it is the romance they find in these villages which make the characters wish to remain, not the lure of the tranquil community. 

In The Luck of the Irish, Fitzgerald meets and falls in love with Nora (Anne Baxter), a quiet innkeeper's daughter, and upon his return to New York he sees her once again, by chance, on a subway. He has a notion that the leprechaun may have had a hand in bringing her to New York but he struggles to relinquish his dream of wealth in place of returning to Ireland with Nora.  

"You brought Nora here, didn't you?" 
"No, you brought her yourself...in your mind, long ago."

Steven Fitzgerald is an ageless character - working men are forever torn between following the dreams of their heart or selling out their ideals (and sometimes their morals) to other men for the sake of financial stability. He is a cynical man and does not easily get himself beguiled into believing in leprechauns or other folklore but, in this situation, his belief becomes his blessing. 

The Luck of the Irish is not your traditional fairy-tale story and the irascible leprechaun with his proverbial pot of gold is not portrayed as a cultural image but instead becomes the incarnation of Fitzgerald's conscious and a vehicle of divine influence in changing his circumstances. The moral of film is summed up in its tagline "Choosing good is the real pot of gold". 

"I offered you gold. 'Tis not my fault that you prefer a pebble"

The Luck of the Irish premiered on September 14, 1948, and for its original showing featured a wee bit o' something green - all of the Ireland sequences were tinted the color of the Irish landscape itself. Indeed, the opening sequences of Ireland are so pleasant that it is a shame when, midway through the film, its focus shifts to New York City. 

A roster of 20th Century Fox's regular talents gathered together to make this a stand-out picture: director Henry Koster, who was an old hand at filming humorous dramas; Lyle Wheeler, Fox's resident art director extraordinaire; Philip Dunne, who hammered out on his magical typewriter this whale of a grand adaptation (from the novel by Guy and Constance Jones); and producer Fred Kohler, who had footed the bill one year prior for that other excellent romantic-fantasy The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. The strains of traditional Irish and English melodies can be heard in the background thanks to the musical wizardry of Cyril Mockridge.

Cecil Kellaway steals the film with his performance of "Horace", the leprechaun turned manservant, and he nails the Irish accent and mannerisms of one of the little people. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal. James Todd also co-starred as Fitzgerald's wise-cracking pal Bill Clark, and J.M. Kerrigan and Phil Brown round out the stellar cast. 

Anne Baxter is particularly fetching and these years were certainly the peak of her career. The brightness of Tyrone Power's star had been waning a few years prior to The Luck of the Irish and he must have sensed that his days of being the studio's No. 1 glamour boy were nearly over, even though he was as handsome as ever. Jayne Meadows related a story about this in the special "Jayne Meadows Remembers" included on the DVD: 

"[in-between takes during the banquet scene] he said, 'You see that tall man over there, the one with the grey hair? He was a star once. A very big star. Sad...now he is an extra'. And I said 'Isn't it wonderful that he's still working' because, you know, the man looked like he needed something to hold him up. When I later found out that Ty started as an extra, I thought 'isn't it interesting that his first reaction was to the old man who was a star and is now an extra.' " 

Perhaps Tyrone Power felt that eventually this would be his fate as well.

This post is our contribution to The Luck of the Irish Blog o'thon, being hosted by yours truly. To check out all of the grand posts about Irish actors and films, click here. 

Irish Nuggets

The Luck of the Irish ( 1948 ) 18k

During a visit to Ireland, an American reporter finds and catches a leprechaun who sticks with him and helps him decide whether to remain or  return to New York to marry his fiancee and achieve success in politics. Tyrone Power, Anne Baxter, Cecil Kellaway, Jayne Meadows. 20th Century Fox. Directed by Henry Koster. 

The Luck of the Irish never achieved classic cult status on St. Patrick's Day like The Quiet Man or Darby O'Gill and yet it should have for it's a delightful film. Cecil Kellaway, adorable in any role he plays, is especially suited to the leprechaun part. The DVD release includes two versions, one entirely in black and white, and another in the original release format of black and white and green tint. 'Tis a pot of gold for sure!

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Top O' The Morning ( 1949 ) 14k

A singing insurance investigator comes to Ireland to recover the stolen Blarney Stone and romance the local policeman's daughter. Bing Crosby, Barry Fitzgerald, Ann Blyth, Hume Crownyn. Paramount Pictures. Directed by David Miller. 

Alright, we cheated a bit with including this film among the nuggets for we haven't seen it yet. It just sounds like such a good film we would really doubt if it turns out to be a dud. With such a great cast, how can it fail to be anything but bragha.

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The Quiet Man ( 1952 ) 24k

A former boxer comes to Ireland to purchase his mother's cottage and make a new life for himself, but first he must square himself with his wife, who believes him to be a coward for not putting up a fight for her dowry. John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Barry Fitzgerald, Victor MacLaglen, Mildred Natwick. Republi Pictures. Directed by John Ford.

This is one of those beautiful films where everything falls into place perfectly...the cast, the script, the music, the cinematography the locations. It just couldn't be any better than it is. It ranks as one of John Ford's greatest films ( if not his best ) and certainly one of the finest pictures to ever come out of Republic Pictures. You'll be spouting Quiet Man-isms forever after viewing this film. "And who taught you to be playing patty fingers in the Holy water?"


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Darby O'Gill and the Little People ( 1958 ) 18k

Darby O'Gill, caretaker to Lord Fitzpatrick, is unhappy when he is replaced by a new lad, but gladly decides to matchmake him with his daughter so that he may remain at his cottage. Later he beguiles King O'Brian, the king of the leprechauns to help him save his daughter when the banshee comes knocking on their door. Albert Sharpe, Sean Connery, Janet Munro, Jimmy O'Dea. Walt Disney Productions. Directed by Robert Stevenson.

"Sparkling with Leprechauns and Laughter" is right! Darby is one of those films that has great replay value. You can watch it every St. Patrick's Day and never tire of it. King Brian finally met his match when it came to old Darby. A special shout-out to Peter Ellenshaw for his magnificent matte paintings in this film. They surely do transport us to the beautiful land of the leprechauns. 

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The Secret of Boyne Castle ( 1969 ) 14k

A young student and his friend help deliver a secret message to Boyne Castle to aid an American spy and help an Eastern European agent defect. Retitled "Guns in the Heather" for its feature film release. Kurt Russell,  Glenn Corbett, Alfred Burke, Patrick Dawson. Walt Disney Productions. Directed by Robert Butler. 

Most of the television movies made for Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color are tough to find on DVD, and bootleg versions that are available are often very blurry. Alas, that is the case with this film but from what we made out of the picture it sure was entertaining. The movie pairs Kurt Russell with a young Irish boy ( who, quite frankly, we thought was a villain ) and together they play like a Hardy Boys duo. Why Walt Disney never put Kurt Russell in a Hardy Boys series I certainly don't know, but at least this movie got all the great mysteries of one of them - a motorcycle chase, a secluded castle, a glider ride, and a really clever spy ( not like those bungling crooks Disney films always had in the 1990s ).