My Heart Belongs to Daddy - Top Favorite Movie/TV Dads

Practically every movie ever made had a father figure of some sort hiding somewhere among its characters, but in spite of the sheer number of fatherly roles the movies ( and television ) offered, relatively few of these characters were remarkable. 

In celebration of Father's Day we wanted to praise some of the truly great fathers of the silver screen, those men whom we consider our favorites and who stand out among the others. 

Here we have spotlighted our Top 8 Daddies : 

8. Gomez Addams in "The Addams Family" ( 1964 ) 

The crowning king of the Addams lair, Gomez Addams was pretty much a grown-up man with the everlasting heart of a little boy. He had toy rooms galore for the kiddies ( and himself ) to enjoy, always schemed up devilishly clever ideas for amusement, never quibbled about money, and was generous to a fault. When he found out that the school was feeding his youngsters scary literature such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Hansel and Gretl he exclaimed aghast,  "What are they doing in schools these days? Poisoning our children's minds with...with fairytales!?" and then quickly took action. Gomez always showed a good example by trying to right wrongs through personal action ( especially in government matters ) and by often letting his children know that there isn't really anything in life worth worrying over. 

7. Jim Anderson in "Father Knows Best" ( 1954 ) 

Father Knows Best ...or so we'd like to think. Actually, Robert Young proved that a father doesn't always know best, but rather that he's always learning how to make the best decision for his family. It's a growing thing. At times "Bud" disagreed with him, "Princess" misunderstood his decisions, and "Kitten" put her father in many a scrape but they all loved him dearly and at the end of an episode usually came to the conclusion that their father does know a bit more than they do, even if he does seem old-fashioned to them at times. 

6. Professor Russell Lawrence in "Gidget" ( 1965 ) 

Like most California teenage girls, rambunctious, spunky Gidget had a life that revolved around school, boys and surfing. Unlike her classmates though, she did not have a full house to come home to, for Gidget Lawrence had no siblings and no mother. Russell Lawrence was a college professor by trade, but he more than made up for being both mother and father to Gidget as well, and they had a bond unlike any other father/daughter duo on television. If Gidget ever wanted to have a heart-to-heart talk she headed home to spill her feelings to dad. 

5. Oliver Dana in "Nice Girl?" ( 1941 )

Robert Benchley, one of the most popular humorists of the 20th century, was hardly what you would consider the fatherly type and yet in 1939's "Nice Girl?" he slipped into the patriarchal shoes with ease. In "Nice Girl?" he played the father of three girls of various personalities, one of whom is Deanna Durbin ( obviously his "pet" favorite ). He's relaxed, amusing, lovable, scholarly, and most importantly...always there. That's a boon for being a work-at-home papa.

4. Mitch Evers in "The Parent Trap" ( 1961 )  

Mitch Evers was a perfect daddy - handsome, strong, rough and rugged and yet fun, loving and gentle. It was this combination that made him so appealing to twin Sharon when she met her father for the first time after switching places with her sister Susan. She wasn't going to give up having a father and go back to Boston again! Brian Keith was perfect in the role of Mitch, especially when he demonstrated his awkwardness when he tried to answer what he thought were questions on the "facts of life" during an afternoon golf game. 

3. Carson Drew in " Nancy Drew: Detective" ( 1938 ) 

Nancy Drew's father, Carson Drew, the ace lawyer of River Heights, knew how to handle impetuous girl-sleuth Nancy - he always let her have her way. She had her daddy tied around her little finger and there wasn't much he could do to control her, in spite of his numerous warnings of the dangers she was getting herself into. But no matter how many scraps she found herself in, at the end of her escapades Carson Drew was always there with his arms outstretched to save his little girl. 

2. Andy Taylor in "The Andy Griffith Show" ( 1960 )

Sheriff Andy Taylor always had time for his boy Opie. These two bonded like glue and Andy was the perfect role model for a young boy, especially growing up in a single-parent home. He was kind, understanding and always knew how to spin a simple example into a mighty powerful moral on life. In one of the most popular episodes of The Andy Griffith Show, 'Opie the Birdman', Opie shoots a mother bird from a tree with his slingshot and Andy reprimands him by having him care for the little baby birds until they are ready to leave their nest....a lesson that teaches Opie how hard it is to lose what you love. 

1. Professor Caractacus Potts in "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" ( 1968 ) 

The No. 1 Movie Dad!

What other father told his children fantasy stories, clowned around, wore his cardigan inside out, joined a circus to earn money to buy a car his children wanted, and could sing and dance too? Actually, our daddy did...and that's the main reason we chose Professor Potts as our number one Dad. He's the only movie dad that comes closest to our father. Much like Jeremy and Jemima, we grew up being schooled at home ( by Daddy ), driving around in antique cars that he fixed on in the garage, going on picnics, and discovering the "treasures" that can be found in a junkyard.                                              

Our dad is a fix-it-all extraordinaire by trade and when we were young he amused us by dancing around with Molly the mop, singing "You Two" to us while setting the supper table and of course, by watching classic movies with us - especially Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. 

Nancy Drew may think her father is the cat's meow, Gidget may think her dad is real solid, Opie has his pride in Sheriff Taylor, and Susan and Sharon can fight over Mitch but we know we have the real award-winning father....and better yet, we don't have to turn on a television screen to have him close at hand. 

Hollywood Home Tour - Hattie McDaniel's Estate

" Just around the corner, less than two miles from Eddie Anderson's palatial mansion, we come to Hattie McDaniel's estate. Hattie McDaniel was one of the most popular African-American actresses in Hollywood from the early 1930s-1950. Her house is coming up on the left here....I'll stop the bus in front if anyone wants to take photographs. "

2203 South Harvard Boulevard, Los Angeles 

" Wow, that's beautiful! " ( bus passenger )

" Yes sir, it sure is. Ms. McDaniel purchased this home in 1941, but not after a fight. Some of her neighbors complained that there was a 'restricted covenant' in West Adams Heights, dating back to 1902 that prevented the house being sold to non-Caucasians and so she had to fight that lawsuit in court...and she won. Louise Beavers and Ethel Waters were able to save their homes in West Adams because of this action as well.  

" There are 17 rooms in all, a large living room, dining room, drawing room, den, butler's pantry,  kitchen, service porch, library, and four bedrooms. It was decorated in a Chinese theme. Every year she would hold a big party and many of the legends of Hollywood attended - including Rhett Butler... Clark Gable. 

" Hattie McDaniel died several years ago, in 1952, of breast cancer not far from here - at the Motion Picture House. She was 57 years old. " 

Up-to-date Note : Today the house is used by a non-profit organization, Families for Families. 

This post is apart of the Silver Scenes Hollywood Home Tour, hosted by Al the bus driver.

The Nugget Reviews - There's Gold in Them Thar Films!

Every time we watch a new movie ( well, not really a "new" new film, more like a new old film ) I get the urge to write a post about it. But alas, my brain always has more ideas for articles then my fingers have energy to type out. So most go unwritten. 

That's where The Nugget Reviews come to the rescue!   

There are so many classic movies to write about, it would take us years and years just to cover the tip of the mountain, so we asked our good friend Pete the Prospector to sift through what we watch every week and share his rating with you folks. With the Nugget Reviews we'll give a little snippet synopsis and some quick comments about the flick and hopefully some readers will discover a hidden golden nugget whilst panning the flowing streams of Silver Scenes. 

Ol' Pete knows pure gold when he sees it, so if he tells you it's a spud, it's a spud. You better believe it!

The Rating System : 

24 Carat *: This is glistening gold folks. You won't find any finer. Either the movie's entertainment is of such a high caliber that it earns this rating, or else the quality of the film deserves this rank, even if we personally may not have enjoyed it as much as some other films. 

18 Carat : A grand find! It may not be the among the golden mother-load but it has many fine qualities and deserves to be glittering in the spotlight. 

14 Carat : Standard fare. These are movies that are worth seeing once in a while, or if you have a personal taste for them. Your favorites can run along here. Ours do. Think "Goodbye Charlie" ( 1964 ). 

Electroplated Gold: This looks good from the review but once you watch it you know you've been had. Big time. 

Fool's Gold: If you spent your time watching this then yer just as big a jackass as Pete's mule Harry. ( Of course, it takes one to know one...but don't let the word get around ).

* Always search for pure gold. 

We'll be dumping our first nuggets in the water a little later this week, so get your pans ready!

Sh! The Octopus...Beware!

"Gripping!..Daring!....Too Too Touching"

So reads the advertisement. 
I thought I saw 'em all, but this film tops the Beyond Incredulous list.

Kelly and Dempsey, two befuddled detectives, are driving along a secluded road one dark and stormy night when they hear a scream and out from the woods dashes a young Joan Crawford look-alike. She promptly faints in front of them ( as any good Joan Crawford look-alike ought to do ) and then proceeds to tell them that she saw the body of her stepfather...muuuurdered.....hanging by his feet from the top of the lighthouse....dripping blood!

"What lighthouse?" 

"The lighthouse a few miles from shore." 

"Why?" 

"My stepfather is the inventor of a radium ray gun....so powerful that whoever controls it controls the world. Every nation is searching for it!"

The super-duper high-power radium ray gun is gone?? Stolen by the arch-villain The Octopus??!! ( Shhh.. )

Holy tentacles, Batman! 

Our intrepid heroes - not ones to leave a lady in distress ( even though Kelly's wife is having a baby and he is leaving her in her distress ) - decide to pop on over to the lighthouse to investigate. After all, it's only a few miles across the ocean via motorboat...in a thunderstorm...with seven foot waves. What's a little water? 


And so begins one of the wackiest films to ever be churned out of Warner Brothers studio. 

"Sh! The Octopus" ( 1937 ) has rather a cult reputation of being a wild parody of old-dark-house parodies themselves. When you find a film with supporting actors such as Hugh Herbert and Allen Jenkins playing the leads, you know you are in for watching a B movie, but in this case the "B" should be for "bewaaare". It truly is surreal, folks. 

A remote lighthouse, octopi, stolen plans, secret panels, an old sea captain, a hag with a witch's cackle...all prime ingredients for a thrilling mystery are thrown in this soup and then heaped on with a goodly dollop of unabashed burlesque. 

You can tell this was originally a stage play. For a lighthouse that is miles out at sea, it can get awfully crowded and the cast members are continually disappearing into rooms we never see. There is the so-called artist who purchased the lighthouse, then a retired seaman comes into the picture, Captain Hook ( don't ask ), the damsel's nanny ( she was out for a stroll and stumbled upon the lighthouse ), and a wise-cracking dame who happened to come ashore after her ship went down. Margaret Irving plays this role and she really is the highlight of the film. Although, if this was an Abbott and Costello picture and she was Joan Davis this would be a six star picture. Casting can make all the difference. 

"Sh! The Octopus" was the concoction of Donald Gallagher and Ralph Murphy, who wrote the original stage play. Donald Gallagher had scored a success with The Gorilla on stage ( later made into a film ) and so in 1928 he teamed up with Murphy to bring this play to the Royale Theatre in New York, where it continued on for 47 performances. Harry Kelly and Clifford Dempsey starred as Kelly and Dempsey ( who else? ). 

In the film version, Allen Jenkins, the Irish Brooklynite, is excellent in his role as straight-man Dempsey, while Hugh Herbert performs his routine flibberity-jibbit quite flibberly. 

My sister and I watch movies in parts just before we head off to slumberland, usually 20 minutes per night, and we laughed ourselves silly with this film. The old witch's unmasking at the end is truly harrowing too. It has amazing special effects for its time ( if you don't look at the strings on the octopus ). 

" Quiet, while I do a little deducting...I'm just commencing to add two and two"

" Next week you'll be working on the alphabet"

There were a number of good one-liners and alot of "woo-woo"s but the funniest aspect of the picture is the film itself. "Sh! The Octopus" has a hypnotic attraction that makes you want to continue watching it even though it is woefully incoherent and just plain rotten. That's the beauty of it. The playwrights either thought their audience were complete idiots or just assumed that they can feed the public any mumbo-jumbo and get away with it so long as they take on the "Surprise! it's all a dream" ending. It didn't work this time, Mr. Gallagher.

Actually, I enjoyed the exploding lighthouse end much better. They should of cut the umbilical cord right there and left the audience walking out of the theater wondering "did we really just watch that??"...something we are left wondering anyway. 

You need to see it to believe it. 

Rating:  - for it's excellent cheese factor. 

A Summer Place..and Wow, what a Place!

Have you ever noticed that the most melodramatic movies take place at the most beautiful locales? I always marvel at how the "Summer Place" characters can have such problems while living in such a paradise. 

This week's still shot features Richard Egan having a chat with the kiddies ( Troy Donahue and Sandra Dee ) on their way back from the beach outside of his ocean-front home. If it looks like a Frank Lloyd Wright house, that's because it is. Did you guess that? You're "wright"! ( Ouch, I'm getting worse... )

Walker House, as it is known, was designed by Wright in 1948 and is situated at Scenic Road in Monterey Bay, Carmel, California. Gosh, does Monterey looks gorgeous or what! I'd ditch Troy Donahue and concentrate on building a beach shack there instead. 

The Silver Scenes Hollywood Home Tour - Off and Away!

Did you know that it costs $45 per person to take a bus ride in Hollywood to get a glimpse of the stars homes? Ee gads, how prices have soared! What's worse, most of the grand mansions belonging to the stars of the golden age have since been demolished; so you are probably going to see Omarosa's new zillion-dollar manor or some soap opera star's overpriced Bel Air bungalow instead. 

Well, don't worry about missing out on the grand homes of the classic movie actors anymore...we're going to take you on a tour of all of the great Hollywood actors homes - AND you won't have to pay one single penny to see them! ( How lucky can you get! )

That's right, Silver Scenes is going to host their own imagination-fueled Hollywood bus tour and take you on an extra long drive past all of the now-extinct million-dollar mansions that once surrounded the fair tinsel town. How are we going to accomplish this? On a time-travelling bus. We couldn't afford a new bus so we purchased an old rusty 1956 Greyhound Viewliner and lo and behold, can you imagine our surprise when we found out that while driving in that bus you get a view of 1956 Hollywood! Super neato!

So now you'll get to see how the stars' homes looked in the good ol' days....before the 1970s slump took over LA. We'd print up a map for you to follow along with, but we aren't planning on driving around the streets in any particular order. In fact, we love a leisurely ride so much, we're only going to drive by one or two houses per month. Better make sure you use the bathroom before you leave home, this tour is going to take several years ( or however long Silver Scenes stays afloat ) to complete. Don't forget to lock the house too.

Here's Al, the bus driver now, he can tell you more about this grand tour.  Al's a great guy. He's been in this business for more years than you can count. He'll stop the bus in front of the houses if you want to take a snapshot, or even let you pick grapefruits from Richard Widmark's fruit trees. ( Mr. Widmark is used to having his grapefruits snitched by fans )

"Welcome to the Silver Scenes Hollywood Home Tour. My name is Al Starr, and I'll be your guide on this Starr-studded tour. You can pick up your free souvenir tickets at the information booth and I'll stamp them for you, otherwise just pile into the bus. It's hot outside and this baby of mine's got a brand new ice box installed!" 

( Editor's Note: Silver Scenes hired a mechanic to completely restore the bus for Al. He loves it. ) 

"Take a seat anywhere you like folks. We'll be seeing lots of great homes so make sure you got your camera. If you need any extra film during the ride just let me know...I got some spare Kodak rolls up here with me. Is everybody settled in? Well, let's begin the tour!
     __________________________________________________________________

" First off, let me give you all an overview of what you will be seeing on this tour. We'll start off in downtown Los Angeles, pass into Hollywood and drive by Forest Lawn Memorial Park. There, remains to be seen can be seen. Then we'll take a spin down Wilshire Blvd., head right through the heart of Beverly Hills, Sunset Boulevard and onto Bel-Air and beyond. You'll see the homes of Don Ameche, Alice Faye, Tyrone Power, Loretta Young, Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Doris Day, Will Rogers, Red Skeleton, Jane Withers, Ann Sothern, Sessue Hayakawa, Charlton Heston, Pal Newman, William Powell, and many many more. If you want a see a house that isn't on our route...holler out! I love to go off the beaten path. And feel free to ask questions."

"Fasten the kiddies in and grab yourself a sandwich - they're in the cooler in the back of the bus, we got chicken or liverwurst...made fresh by the Metzinger sisters. Now let's get this baby on the road!" 
              ________________________________________________________

"The first home we see coming up here on your right is that of comedian Eddie Anderson, best known as Jack Benny's quipping sidekick and valet, "Rochester". Jack Benny isn't as stingy as we believe him to be! Rochester's weekly paycheck must be a heck of lot for him to afford this white palatial mansion. He must need a staff of at least six servants himself just to take care of it. And to top it all off : while other stars live on streets with general names like Palomino Drive or Carmelita Avenue, Eddie Anderson lives on Rochester Circle! Doesn't he have beautiful landscaping? "

1932 Rochester Circle, Los Angeles, California

Up-to-date Note: This once beautiful manor still stands at 1932 Rochester Circle and is now a hostel known as the Mansion Hostel. It doesn't look like the neighborhood is now what it once was. So sad....

Beloved Brat - Bonita Granville

Bonita Granville was one of Hollywood's finest and most versatile child actors. On the big screen she perfected a characterization of a malicious child that had not been portrayed previously. Bonita Granville was uniquely Bonita Granville....a "beloved brat". No other actress was quite able to rival her in these roles. Virginia Weidler was a contemporary and was often given mischievous juvenile parts but unlike Bonita she was perceived as a child. Naughty, and perhaps conniving, but nevertheless a child, whereas Bonita had a maturity about her that made her viciousness particularly fearful. She was the original "bad seed". It was not until the late 1950s that child actors like Patty McCormick and Martin Stephens ( "Village of the Damned" ) perfected these kinds of portrayals again. 

Bonita Granville was born on February 2, 1923 in Long Island, New York and came from a family rich in entertainment lineage. Her mother was Rosa Timponti, an actress, whose parents included a ballerina for the Ballet Russes in Monaco, and a conductor of the famed La Scala opera house in Milan, Italy. Bonita's father, Bernard Granville, was a vaudeville actor who had appeared with the Ziegfeld Follies on the New York stage. 

The Granvilles lost much of their fortune during the Great Depression and, due to an illness Bonita had contracted, decided to head out West to California, the land of promise and sunshine cures. Bonita quickly recovered and a casting director spotted the sprightly little blonde in a hotel lobby one day and decided she belonged in the "talking pictures". 

Her first role was in 'Westward Passage" ( 1932 ) at the age of tender age of nine. She played Little Olivia Allen opposite such big names as Ann Harding and a young Laurence Olivier. Other bit parts quickly followed in movies such as "Little Women", "Anne of Green Gables", and a small role in Noel Coward's "Cavalcade" ( 1933 ) which went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture that year. It was in 1936 that Bonita performed in the movie that would really bring her to stardom - "These Three". Based on Lillian Hellmann's play, The Children's Hour, it told the story of two teachers whose lives are wrecked by the lies of one of their students. Bonita Granville played this student and was so utterly spiteful and malicious that she stole every scene she was in away from Miriam Hopkins and Merle Oberon. Her performance did not go unnoticed and she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress ( not a "miniature" one either ). She lost to Gale Sondergaard for "Anthony Adverse" but her career was well boosted by the publicity and parts came pouring in. 

Unfortunately, many of these parts were once again roles calling for a particularly hateful child. In 1937's "Maid of Salem" she portrays a little girl who spreads accusations that Claudette Colbert is a witch who deserves to be burned. That same year she had minor roles in "The Plough and the Stars", "Quality Street", "My Bill", as well as the title role in "Beloved Brat". How well that title suited her! This film told the story of an unruly girl whose father sends her away to a private school where she reforms under the loving care of the principal ( played by the beautiful Dolores Costello ). 

As is often the case in Hollywood, many of the actors who portray the vilest villains onscreen are the sweetest characters in real life, and so was the case with Bonita Granville. She was called "Bunny" by her friends, which included Marcia Mae Jones, Helen Parrish and Deanna Durbin, and enjoyed horseback riding, dress designing, and collecting ivory elephant figurines. She spoke fluent French and Italian and was raised a devout Catholic, attending church regularly.

One of her first boyfriends was Jackie Cooper, another child star, whom she got to work with in "Syncopation"( 1940 ), a very un-syncopated story of two jazz-obsessed youths. 

In 1938, Warner Brothers cast her as the spunky Nancy Drew in the first of a series of four films featuring Carolyn Keene's beloved girl sleuth. Although the stories didn't bear much resemblance to the books they were a hit at the box-office and are today still a sheer delight to watch. Nancy Drew has remained her most fondly remembered role. Several other parts in mystery films developed because of the Drew series, including "Gallant Sons" ( with Jackie Cooper again ), a story of several boys who solve a murder, and "Down in San Diego" ( 1941 ) about a group of teenagers who foil an enemy spy ring. 

In 1940 she starred in two charming films that look back with nostalgia on America at the turn-of-the-century..."Wild Man from Borneo" ( with Frank Morgan ) and "Those Were the Days!" ( 1940 ) featuring William Holden in one of his first major roles. 

Bonita was finally getting roles for characters that let her exercise her range as an actress. "Seven Miles from Alcatraz" ( 1943 ) featured Bonita as the daughter of a lighthouse keeper

who aids two convicts in hiding from the authorities. Since one of the convicts happens to be handsome James Craig ( sigh ), romance naturally ensues between them. 

That same year Bonita starred in the film she claimed was her favorite, "Hitler's Children". This was a violent pot-boiler about the horrors young women had to face in the Vaterland for refusing sterilization for childbirth. It slipped by the censorship office under it's disguise of educational patriotic fare and became RKO's top box-office champion of the year, grossing over three million dollars. Tim Holt, Kent Smith and Otto Kruger also starred in this sensational expose. 

As with most juvenile leading ladies at MGM, Bonita got to star in several Andy Hardy films. In "Now, Voyager" she played Charlotte Vale's rather tart-tongued niece who helped drive Charlotte to a much-needed nervous breakdown. She also had meaty roles in two excellent films, "H.M Pulham Esq" ( as Robert Young's sister ) and the film noir classic, "The Glass Key" starring Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake. 

In 1947, Bonita married Jack Wrather, an entrepreneur, oil tycoon, and ex-Marine officer. In the years following she would let her career take a back-seat interest while she helped her husband grow Wrather Corporation into an entertainment and broadcasting empire. Throughout the 1950s, Jack Wrather acquired television properties such as "Lassie", "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon", and "The Lone Ranger" which were developed into icons of American pop culture. Bonita Granville Wrather took the helm as executive producer of "Lassie" while her husband pursued development of another branch of the corporation - tourist attractions.

In 1955, Walt Disney selected him to build and oversee the Disneyland Hotel across from which Wrather successfully did when others considered Disneyland a risky venture. 

Around this same time he also purchased Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose and a controlling interest in the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California and transformed them into tourist attractions. Along with Associated Television Ltd. of England, the Wrather Corporation founded International Television Corp. ( ITC ) which became one of the major television distribution companies of the 1960s and 70s.

During the 1950s Bonita kept busy with her involvement in Jack's interests as well as in raising their two children, Christopher and Linda. Little Linda appeared in several episodes of her parents television show "Lassie" as Wilhemena Brewster. Still, Bonita found time to appear occasionally on television in several Studio One and Playhouse 90 productions and in the film version of "The Lone Ranger". 

In later years she was a leader in charitable and civic causes and served on the boards of the Los Angeles Orphanage Guild and the Children's Bureau of Los Angeles. With Jack she helped support their good friend Ronald Reagan into the governorship and later with his bid for presidency. 

When her husband died in 1984, she directed the numerous enterprises of the corporation until its sale to the Disney Corporation in 1988. She also served as chairman of the American Film Institute from 1986 until her death at the age of 65, in 1988.

Bonita Granville began her career as a beloved brat and then blossomed into an All-American girl hero as Nancy Drew, and a lovely leading lady....and later in life grew to be a true humanitarian. Unlike many child stars, she had no difficulty in making the transition to adult roles. Perhaps this was due to the fact that her roles, even as a child, were well beyond her years. 

This post is my contribution to Comet Over Hollywood's Children in Film Blogathon dedicated to some of the cutest and most talented child stars of the golden age of film. To read  about the other entries in this series click here.