The #MGM party must have been as much fun as the #TCMFF! pic.twitter.com/Wb672qN8wu
— Christy (@suesueapplegate) May 11, 2015
Based on the very real U.S. Army Air Force uniform Jimmy Stewart is wearing, and the stage one, presumably form A Guy Named Joe that Spencer Tracy is wearing, I’ll wager a guess that this picture was shot in 1943, at the height of MGM’s popularity, profitability, and power.
Seating arrangement, and list of names, thanks to the WOW Report.
1st Row: James Stewart, Margaret Sullavan, Lucille Ball, Hedy Lamarr, Katharine Hepburn, Louis B. Mayer, Greer Garson, Irene Dunne, Susan Peters, Ginny Simms, Lionel Barrymore
2nd Row: Harry James, Brian Donlevy, Red Skelton, Mickey Rooney, William Powell, Wallace Beery, Spencer Tracy, Walter Pidgeon, Robert Taylor, Pierre Aumont, Lewis Stone, Gene Kelly, Jackie Jenkins
3rd Row: Tommy Dorsey, George Murphy, Jean Rogers, James Craig, Donna Reed, Van Johnson, Fay Bainter, Marsha Hunt, Ruth Hussey, Marjorie Main, Robert Benchley
4th Row: Dame May Whitty, Reginald Owen, Keenan Wynn, Diana Lewis, Marilyn Maxwell, Esther Williams, Ann Richards, Marta Linden, Lee Bowman, Richard Carlson, Mary Astor
5th Row: Blanche Ring, Sara Haden, Fay Holden, Bert Lahr, Frances Gifford, June Allyson, Richard Whorf, Frances Rafferty, Spring Byington, Connie Gilchrist, Gladys Cooper
6th Row: Ben Blue, Chill Wills, Keye Luke, Barry Nelson, Desi Arnaz, Henry O’Neill, Bob Crosby, Rags Ragland
[Among the distinguished (absentees?): Judy Garland, Charles Laughton, Clark Gable, Robert Montgomery, Lana Turner, Laraine Day, Robert Young, Ann Sothern.]
And what do we have now? Larry the Cable Guy and Cedric the Entertainer (which he isn t).Those long gone celebs were professional entertainers.We ll never see their kind again.Thank goodness for YouTube.
ReplyDeleteYou're absolutely right, on every point, including Youtube.
ReplyDeleteWhen you count everyone who worked on pictures in Hollywood during its Golden Age, including the screenwriters, directors, set designers, composers, lyricists, cinematographers, etc., I think you've got, at the very least, the greatest concentration of brilliant talent since ancient Athens, and arguably in the history of the world.
If such a picture was composed today, there would be 60% negroes and a single white guy, a gay one. I hate what the left has done to this country.
ReplyDeleteAny still alive? I know Mickey Rooney just died, was he the last? I scanned the names and every one I recognized is gone. Jerry PDX
ReplyDelete