Saturday, March 20, 2021

Weekend Post

Here's a photo I found on that interweb thing the kids all talk about.  It's a 1987 photo celebrating the 75th Anniversary of Paramount Pictures.  See how many stars you can pick out.  I think I found Ted Danson, Rhea Perlman, Shelley Long, Danny DeVito, Jimmy Stewart, Gene Hackman, Burt Lancaster, Elizabeth Taylor, Fred McMurray, DeForest Kelley, Cindy Williams, Penny Marshall, Bob Hope, Charlton Heston, Bruce Dern, that idiot Scott Baio, Tom Cruise, Harrison Ford, Don Ameche, Kevin Costner, Walter Matthau, Robin Williams, Charles Bronson, Robert Stack, Peter Graves, Penelope Ann Miller, William Shatner,  Henry Winkler, Robert DeNiro, Robert Evans, Harry Dean Stanton, Olivia deHavilland, John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Tim Hutton, Lou Gosset Jr., Mark Harmon, Faye Dunaway, Gregory Peck, Matthew Broderick.  Who am I missing?   

Only sorry I wasn't there for that.  



62 comments :

  1. Tom Scarlett3/20/2021 6:32 AM

    You got Kirk and McCoy, but Spock is there too. (Nimoy at the right end of one of the rows) Isn't that Molly Ringwald in front of Perlman? I like how Evans horned his way in. ("Paramount, the studio I saved from the graveyard a decade earlier, issued a terse statement about my new infamy.")

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  2. Looks like Leonard Nimoy is as far away from Shatner as possible.

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  3. Martha Raye and Dana Andrews in the first row, left end.
    Victor Mature, next to Bob Hope in the second row.
    Jane Russell and Mike "Touch" Connors in the fourth row, left end.
    Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh on either side of Robert Stack.
    I think that's Dorothy Lamour to the right of Janet Leigh.
    Glenn Ford next to Fred MacMurray.
    The redhead directly below Walter Matthau -- is that Arlene Dahl or Rhonda Fleming?
    Who are the two in the front row next to Elizabeth Taylor? They look familiar but I can't place them.
    And who is the man standing next to Faye Dunaway?

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  4. Jennifer Beals is next to Harrison Ford.

    “Ms. Beals, we’d like to seat you on the front row. Uh, Mr. Stewart, let’s stick you on the back corner all the way at the top.”

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  5. That’s Leonard Nikon in glasses and a tan blazer on the right, three rows up or so.

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  6. I think I see Jennifer Beals, Marlee Matlin, Molly Ringwald, Andrew McCarthy, and maybe (?) Anthony Perkins and Elizabeth McGovern.

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  7. Oh, and I think the man sitting next to Elizabeth Taylor is Dana Andrews.

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  8. Starting top left. Who’s the firet woman there?
    I think u missed James Caan. Molly Ringwald. Yvonne DeCarlo?
    Who’s between Danson and Gosset? Who’s behind charlton Heston?
    Jane Russel. Mike Conners? Janet Leigh? Ryan O’Neal. One of the Gabors.
    Andrew McCarthy. Debra winger. Victor Mature. Martha Ray. Jennifer Beals. Marley Matlin

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  9. Martha Raye and Dana Andrews sitting front left. Glenn Ford next to Fred in the back.

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  10. Molly Ringwald, Leonard Nimoy

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  11. I see Leonard Nimoy 3rd row, on the right in front of Robin Williams

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  12. If you want to cheat...
    https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/host-of-stars-attend-the-paramount-pictures-75th-news-photo/52258967

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  13. I believe that's Molly Ringwald in front of Rhea Perlman.

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  14. Elizabeth McGovern, next to De Niro.

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  15. Andrew McCarthy, next to Winkler?

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  16. I think that's George Segal next to Baio. Charles Bronson next to Ted Danson? Hell yeah, give me that movie!

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  17. Is that Joan Collins third from the left in the front row?

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  18. Olivia deHavilland outlived many in this picture.

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  19. Looks like Shelley Long next to Jimmy Stewart

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  20. I see one black face but I don't think that's Eddie Murphy who was perhaps the No. 1 movie star on the lot at the time having done Beverly Hills Cop II and just making the first Coming to America...

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    Replies
    1. That's Lou Gossett Jr., who won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for An Officer and a Gentleman. That movie was released by Paramount.

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  21. Xiden going up the stairs is great with Benny Hill music.

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  22. I wonder how many meetings it took. There are probably still some hard feelings.

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  23. What struck me, as opposed to NBC's 60th anniversary poster, taken just the year before, was how casual so many of the honorees looked in this image. Danny DeVito's sneakers really stick out in the front row, Charlton Heston in a warmup suit, DeForest Kelly and Leonard Nimoy sans ties, Bruce Dern and Tom Cruise in sweaters.

    NBC's comparable shot had all the guys in tuxes and all the women in format dresses.

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  24. Thank you, Anonymous. Heck yes I wanted a Cheat Sheet.

    I’d like to see these folks ranked in descending order of ego size.

    And speaking of Bob Hope, how did he let Harry Dean Stanton get a front row chair?

    Kevin Costner’s tie choice does not stand the test of time.

    You can spot the rebels in the version of this where all were requested to raise their right index finger for some unapparent reason. Bruce Dern and De Niro refused. Duh. But Spock? Peter Graves? Figured him for a toady. Maybe not, since he’s also sticking out his tongue at the photog.

    Shelley Long needed to switch spots with Jimmy Stewart. She was in danger of tipping over backward trying to be seen.

    I have long held an antipathy towards Fred MacMurray. I don’t know why, and it makes no sense. It predated “My Three Sons” and “Flubber” for those keeping score at home, and neither role improved his standing with me.

    Debra Winger is surprisingly tiny. Standing Tom Cruise next to Charlton Heston and not Winger or some other pixie mite was an insidious delight. I’ve seen Heston on the tennis courts. He was a very tall dude.

    I would have respectfully yet strongly suggested bangs to Olivia de Havilland.

    Who has the copy of this picture with the most autographs?

    In the finger-raising version (check it out, it’s a cutie pie), Bob Hope is joyfully reminiscing with Buddy Rogers about that night with the Gish sisters.

    And, of course, the one overarching question shared by everyone everywhere - did any of them contract Covid?


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  25. Gene Hackman, Walter Matthau and Robin Williams in a row...now there's a movie I need to see.

    And Indiana Jones and Dr. McCoy....my fan fiction come to life.

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  26. Curious how Shelley Long is in the back between Fred MacMurray and James Stewart. Those gentlemen were almost a foot taller than her. It looks like she had to get on her tippy toes to be seen.

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  27. Troy McClure3/20/2021 10:18 AM

    They didn't have Eddie Murphy, who had given Paramount three megahits with 48Hrs, Trading Places and Beverly Hills Cop, but they did get that no talent punk Scott Baio? And why does Chachi look so grumpy?

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  28. Joel McCrea - Centre bottom row (Who is to his right?)
    Rosalind Russell - Beside Mannix, left hand side, middle row
    Ali McGraw - Top row, left side

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  29. I think the guy in the front row with the western hat is either James Arness or Joel McRea.

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  30. You want stars?

    My favorite in the group is Angela Lansbury, who has no agenda but getting the dinner she was promised. It was only a few years earlier that she was in wartime England, where a meal like this was scarce.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMvo3kM1mbc&pbjreload=101

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  31. What stuck out for me was the lack of non-white faces there. One. Lou Gossett Jr. But apparently racism was fixed back during the Civil Rights era, according to some. Mmm.

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  32. It's amazing how they made so many good-looking people look so bad.

    And also that they stuck Elizabeth Taylor on a folding chair.

    Meanwhile, Tom Cruise somehow managed to make himself look like the center of the entire group.

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  33. The photo appeared in the April 1987 issue of Life magazine and was accompanied by a lot of other pair and group photos. You can see some of them here:

    https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/paramount-pictures-75th-anniversary-party?phrase=paramount%20pictures%2075th%20anniversary%20party&sort=oldest

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  34. "Philly Cinephile said...
    The redhead directly below Walter Matthau -- is that Arlene Dahl or Rhonda Fleming?
    "

    I always thought Rhonda Fleming and Arlene Dahl were the same person. You never see them together.

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  35. I see dead people.

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  36. That's not Rosalind Russell standing next to Mike Connors, unless we're seeing a ghost. She died in 1976.

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  37. Powerhouse Salter3/20/2021 1:43 PM

    @ Chris -

    The woman to Joel McCrea's right is movie actress Frances Dee, to whom he was married for nearly sixty years (from 1933 until his death in 1990). She played the part of Meg in the 1930s Katharine Hepburn version of "Little Women," and the part of the nurse/narrator in the 1940s cult thriller "I Walked With a Zombie."

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  38. Weirdly enough, I was there. Part of Paramount Feature Publicity back then and was involved in it. Had a press kit that had the names of everyone in the picture. The key word being "had".

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  39. Front row left, red coat: Ginger Rogers?

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  40. DeForrest Kelley seemed like a cool guy. Always charming in interviews.

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  41. I think that is Van Johnson partially hidden behind Charleton Heston

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  42. Joyce Melton3/20/2021 2:38 PM

    I don't think I've seen so many toupees at once since the explosion in the wig shop.

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  43. I would like to call your attention to another major snub. POPEYE! Most of the classic cartoons, including the black & white Fleischer Popeyes were released through Paramount. I don't know who owned the rights at that time, but how much could it have cost to have a cardboard cutout in the crowd? But then animation always seems to get the short shrift.

    I saw a similar thing with a Warner Bros. anniversary show. The animation was basically ignored. Despite the fact that Bugs Bunny was probably as big a star as anyone else at W.B.

    M.B.

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  44. I worked at CBS when it celebrated 50 years of broadcasting and received a copy of its anniversary poster featuring 113 network performers/celebrities/newscasters in a similar arrangement, however, all the men in tuxes and women in formal wear. Non-whites include Demond Wilson, Sherman Hemsley, Esther Rolle, Cicely Tyson, John Amos, Ed Bradley, and Isabel Sanford. And not to be forgotten: Lassie has a spot in the first row. It really is a wonderful photo capturing many who made television history.

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  45. @phillycinephile

    Oops. Jane Russell

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  46. I've got these, not in exact order (and I know most of these are repeats):

    1st row: Martha Raye, Elizabeth Taylor, Harrison Ford, Jennifer Beals, Danny Devito
    2nd row: Olivia DeHaviland, Kevin Costner, Don Ameche, DeForest Kelley, Tom Cruise, Charlton Heston, Penny Marshall, Bob Hope
    3rd row (ish): Andrew McCarthy, Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Mark Harmon, Faye Dunaway, Gregory Peck, Timothy Hutton
    4th row (ish): Jane Russell, John Travolta, Janet Leigh, Charles Bronson, Ted Danson, Louis Gosset Jr., Leonard Nimoy
    5th row: William Shatner, Peter Graves, Molly Ringwald, Rhea Perlman, Olivia Newton-John, Cindy Williams, Matthew Broderick, Gene Hackman, Walter Matthau, Robin Williams
    6th row: Ali McGraw, Burt Lancaster, Scott Baio, Bruce Dern, James Caan, Glenn Ford, Fred MacMurray, Shelley Long, Jimmy Stewart

    There are a few I should know but don't.

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  47. Cornell Wilde second row third from left?

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  48. Fed by the muse3/20/2021 5:17 PM

    2nd row between Costner and Ameche looks like Cliff Robertson.

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  49. Troy McClure3/20/2021 5:49 PM

    The Gettyimages link Anonymous posted lists everyone in the photo.

    From left to right (front row): Martha Raye, Dana Andrews, Elizabeth Taylor, Frances Dee, Joel McCrea, Harry Dean Stanton, Harrison Ford, Jennifer Beals, Marlee Matlin, Danny de Vito.

    (Second row) Olivia de Havilland, Kevin Costner, Cornel Wilde, Don Ameche, Deforest Kelley, Tom Cruise, Charlton Heston, Penny Marshall, Bob Hope, Victor Mature, Elizabeth McGovern, Robert de Niro.

    (Third row) Andrew McCarthy, Henry Winkler, Anthony Perkins, Robert Stack, Mark Harmon, Faye Dunaway, Buddy Rogers, Gregory Peck, Debra Winger, Timothy Hutton.

    (Fourth row) Jane Russell, Mike Connors, John Travolta, Janet Leigh, Charles Bronson, Ted Danson, Lou Gossett Jnr, Ryan O'Neal, Rhonda Fleming, Leonard Nimoy.

    (Fifth row) William Shatner, Peter Graves, Molly Ringwald, Dorothy Lamour, Olivia Newton-John, Cindy Williams, Matthew Broderick, Gene Hackman, Walter Matthau, Robin Williams.

    (Back row) Ali MacGraw, Burt Lancaster, Scott Baio, Rhea Perlman, Bruce Dern, James Caan, Glenn Ford, Fred MacMurray, Shelley Long, James Stewart.

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  50. To Mike Bloodworth: Popeye is in the photo, but he’s credited as Robin Williams.

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  51. Tom Cruise is plainly standing on an apple box

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  52. 1. It’s a shame Lucy Ball wasn’t present, both for her Paramount films, but also for Desilu, with such productions as Star Trek, The Untouchables, Mission Impossible
    2. Most performers best known as stars of iconic multi-year TV series somehow register with me as one-hit wonders. Give me movie stars.
    Paramount was the greatest studio and a 1940s photo would have been most excellent Mae West WC Fields the Marx Brothers Gary Cooper Cary Grant Carole Lombard Ernest Lubitsch Billy Wilder George Cukor Preston Sturges Leo McCarey George Burns and Gracie Allen Jack Benny

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  53. Troy McClure3/21/2021 9:10 AM

    Of all the surviving stars from the photo, only two are no longer working. Gene Hackman chose to retire. And casting directors retired Chachi.

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  54. What a picture. What history. I love Danny Devito’s stand-out tennis shoes.

    If I remember what I saw correctly, there’s a plaque on Paramount's grounds: “The House That Jerry Built.” I don’t see Mr. Lewis in the group.

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  55. Auto correct changed my Ernst to Ernest Lubitsch

    MGM took similar group shots in the 1940s
    and also made films of their past/present stars in 1948
    see link at bottom
    all of them simultaneously dining in rows on a soundstage

    Lionel Barrymore
    Leon Ames
    Edward Arnold
    Ethel Barrymore
    Wallace Beery
    Spring Byington
    James Craig
    Donald Crisp
    Arlene Dahl
    Gloria DeHaven
    Tom Drake
    Jimmy Durante
    Errol Flynn
    Clark Gable
    Ava Gardner
    Judy Garland
    Betty Garrett
    Greer Garson
    Kathryn Grayson
    Edmund Gwenn
    Van Heflin
    Jeanette MacDonald
    Ann Miller
    Agnes Moorehead
    Frank Morgan
    Jules Munshin
    George Murphy
    Reginald Owen
    Pal aka Lassie
    Walter Pidgeon
    Jane Powell
    Frank Sinatra
    Red Skelton
    Alexis Smith
    Ann Sothern
    Dean Stockwell
    Lewis Stone
    Clinton Sundberg
    Audrey Totter
    Spencer Tracy
    Vera-Ellen
    Frank Whitbeck
    Esther Williams
    Keenan Wynn
    Robert Young


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2IFJYHCZH4
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2IFJYHCZH4

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  56. Charles Bronson in front of Paramount's original Bronson Gate. I love it.

    It's also the studio entrance Norma Desmond uses in SUNSET BLVD to revisit the site of her old glories. Take from that what irony you will.

    -30-

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  57. At least Scott Baio is in the back

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  58. I'm not sure I understand the criteria for this photo, much less the arrangement of the celebs involved. There are a lot of people that only did movies and not really any TV, and TV folk that haven't really been in any movies-- is the theme a mix of stars from Paramount movies and TV productions?

    Why is tiny Rhea Perlman way the hell in back instead of next to/near Danny DeVito? Weird.

    Cheers, thanks a lot,

    Storm

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  59. Philly Cinephile said...
    That's not Rosalind Russell standing next to Mike Connors, unless we're seeing a ghost. She died in 1976.


    1. I don't believe in ghosts.
    2. Rosalind Russell's ghost would absolutely show up for this.

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  60. Higher resolution here:

    https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-diFJQjxKPo8/YB-1icZQv9I/AAAAAAAAd5M/ZnMiYmpNnpYFB91h5L0QBdrS0JQc2ZnhQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1200/147088982_10158432201650376_6102781065071360296_o.jpg

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  61. I have this event on VHS. It's called Life At Paramount.

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