Vintage Movie Resources
Dolores del Río — No More Spanish Charmers (1934) 🇺🇸
Maurice Chevalier — Wooing the Merry Widow (1934) 🇺🇸
Constance Bennett — Three Diverse Personalities (1934) 🇺🇸
Gloria Swanson — Lending Radiance (1934) 🇺🇸
Ralph Bellamy — Too Nice to be a Villain (1934) 🇺🇸
Merle Oberon — Play Your Hunches (1936) 🇺🇸
Norma Shearer — Juliet's Screen Reincarnation (1936) 🇺🇸
Charlie Chaplin, The Serious Funny Man (1936) 🇺🇸
The Real Mae West — Part A (1934) 🇺🇸
Mae West's — blonde, bold, bad and buxom — first bit part in a movie set the theme for her future career:
The scene showed her checking in at a swanky night club. The check girl admired her jewels.
“Goodness,” she exclaimed, “what beautiful diamonds!”
“Goodness,” retorted Mae West, “had nothing to do with them, dearie.”
John Wayne — Oh, for a Hair Cut! (1930) 🇺🇸
Hugh Herbert — Hughie, the Stall Guy... (1936) 🇺🇸
Hugh Herbert was a stalwart of 1930s movies, providing comic relief in hundreds of movies. Here is one of the rare articles that focused on him.
Note: The Joe Lim episode towards the end of the article is quite representative on how stereotypically Asians were portrayed in the media in the 1930s.
Dolores del Río — Nothing To Hide (1931) 🇺🇸
The woman who rose above defeat. Above an unhappy marriage that cast a shadow over her girlhood. Above illness and pain. Above disappointment and heartbreak when she lost her contract with United Artists. And now she returns, happily married to Cedric Gibbons, triumphant over illness, more radiant than ever in “The Dove”.
Joan Crawford — “Get Hot, Joan, Get Hot” (1931) 🇺🇸
M-G-M has decided that Joan must be sexed up, and this is the first movement in the campaign.
The Private Life Of Paul Robeson (1937) 🇬🇧
Paul Robeson was not only the best-known African American actor of the early 20th century, he was also a bass baritone, concert artist, athlete, and activist; a truly remarkable personality who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for his political stances.
In the 1930's, African Americans were not widely featured in the mainstream press, and we believe that this piece from Picturegoer Magazine provides interesting insights.
Note: This text was published in 1937 and some readers might find some of the writing offensive.
Rosalind Russell — Rahs for Roz (1939) 🇺🇸
Ever since I left Rosalind Russell I have been poring over the fancy nourishes beneath the Declaration of Independence — through John Hancock, the Adams boys and Button Gwinnett.
So far I haven’t uncovered a Russell. Only a very unusual inspiration, I’m sure, could drive me to such extensive historical research and abstract speculation. But then Miss Rosalind Russell is indeed unusual. She is a Declaration of Independence walking.
Sessue Hayakawa and Anna May Wong Return to the Screen (1931) 🇺🇸
Sessue Hayakawa and Anna May Wong have been away from American movies for several years — winning stage triumphs in New York and European capitals. They’ve now returned to Hollywood to win back screen honors.
Note: This text was published in 1931 and some readers might find some of the Asian stereotyping offensive.
Don’t Marry a Marx Brother! (1935) 🇺🇸
Jean Harlow — Toiling Tilly (1935) 🇺🇸
Johnny Weissmuller — Tarzan Escapes (1935) 🇺🇸
Katharine Hepburn — Tops Again (1935) 🇺🇸
After Katharine Hepburn’s tender, sympathetic portrayal of poor silly, pathetic Alice Adams, she can snatch back that seat on the top of the Hollywood heap.