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From singing to slapstick comedy, Margaret Dumont stood tall in even the most humiliating situations. The "Fifth Marx Brother," as Dumont was often called, was dignified and prudish, consistently acting the straight woman to the Marx Brothers' eternal shenanigans.
Dumont began her sixteen-year career with America's funniest family while they were still on stage, performing as the snotty socialite to Groucho's down-and-out hotel owner in the Broadway production of The Coconuts (1925). In 1929, the Marx Brothers brought their talent to the silver screen and Dumont went right along with them.
After six years with Paramount, the Marx Brothers joined MGM with Night at the Opera (1935). In this film, the unshakable Dumont cemented her role as the statuesque snob. Towering over all three of the Marxes, Dumont was given nothing but insults and dinner bills in Groucho's absurd "love making" scenes. In the follow-up to Night, Day at the Races (1937), once again the stern status seeker was demoralized when the tables were turned and, instead of managing a sanatorium, she became a patient examined by three nutty professors - the Marxes!
The same year that Day at the Races was released, Dumont sung her way through another wealthy matron role, that of Mrs. Penner in the Marx-free musical flick, The Life of the Party (1937). Dumont even held her own in the infamously all-women cast of The Women (1939), a movie which featured Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer, Rosalind Russell, Mary Boland and Joan Fontaine. Directed by George Cukor, this classy, gossipy movie about the battle of the sexes allowed Dumont to show a side to her acting beyond the ever-patient sidekick.
Also appearing in movies with the likes of Laurel and Hardy and Abbott and Costello, we have to wonder, did Dumont, the priggish scapegoat of the most famous comedy acts of her time, understand her role? Groucho Marx has claimed that she never got a single joke. Whether aware of her role or not, the "Fifth Marx Brother" completed the greatest comedic performances of her time with dignity - a dignity it was impossible for the Marx Brothers not to undermine.
MIRIAM HOPKINS
18 MONDAY
6:00 AM Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932) Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale of a scientist who unleashes the beast within. Fredric March, Miriam Hopkins, Rose Hobart. D: Rouben Mamoulian. BW 96m. CC
7:45 AM The Old Maid (1939) An unmarried mother gives her illegitimate child to her cousin. Bette Davis, Miriam Hopkins, Jane Bryan. D: Edmund Goulding. BW 95m.
9:00 AM THE LADY WITH RED HAIR (1940) Actress hopes to regain lost son by making it to the top. Miriam Hopkins, Claud Rains, Richard Ainley. D: Curtis Bernhardt. BW 79m.
11:00 AM Old Acquaintance (1943) Two writers, friends since childhood, fight over their books and lives. Bette Davis, Miriam Hopkins, Gig Young. D: Vincent Sherman. BW 111m. CC
MARGARET DUMONT
20 WEDNESDAY
6:00 AM A Night at the Opera (1935) Three zanies turn an operatic performance into chaos in their efforts to promote their protégé’s romance with the leading lady. The Marx Brothers, Allan Jones, Kitty Carlisle. D: Sam Wood. BW 92m. CC
8:00 AM A Day at the Races (1937) A group of zanies tries to save a pretty girl’s sanitarium. The Marx Bros., Allan Jones, Maureen O’Sullivan. D: Sam Wood. BW 110m. CC
10:00 AM Life of the Party (1937) A young girl tries to escape the suitors her mother has picked for her. Joe Penner, Harriet Hilliard, Gene Raymond. D: William A. Seiter. BW 78m.
11:30 AM The Women (1939) A happily married woman lets her catty friends talk her into divorce when her husband strays. Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell. D: George Cukor. BW 134m.
JOAN FONTAINE
22 Friday
6:00 AM Gunga Din (1939) Three British soldiers seek treasure during an uprising in India. Cary Grant, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Victor McLaglen. D: George Stevens. BW 118m. CC DVS
8:00 AM Suspicion (1941) A wealthy wallflower suspects her penniless playboy husband of murder. Oscar® for Best Actress (Joan Fontaine). Joan Fontaine, Cary Grant, Nigel Bruce. D: Alfred Hitchcock. BW 100m.
10:00 AM Ivanhoe (1952) Sir Walter Scott's classic tale of the noble knight torn between his fair lady and a beautiful Jew. Robert Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Fontaine. D: Richard Thorpe. C 107m. CC
12:00 PM Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956) A novelist frames himself for murder to prove the fallibility of circumstantial evidence. Dana Andrews, Joan Fontaine, Sidney Blackmer. D: Fritz Lang. BW 81m. CC
WHIT BISSELL
25 MONDAY
6:00 AM Destination Tokyo (1943) A U.S. sub braves enemy waters during World War II. Cary Grant, John Garfield, Alan Hale. D: Delmer Daves. BW 135m. CC
8:30 AM Side Street (1950) A New York city mailman is chased by both cops and crooks when he steals a shipment of dirty money. Farley Granger, Jean Hagen, James Craig. D: Anthony Mann. BW 83m.
10:00 AM It Should Happen to You (1954) A dizzy model in love with fame rents a billboard and puts her name on it. Judy Holliday, Jack Lemmon, Peter Lawford. D: George Cukor. BW 84m.
JACK CARSON
27 WEDNESDAY
6:00 AM Blues in the Night (1941) The members of a traveling jazz band try to keep their leader from drinking himself to death. Priscilla Lane, Richard Whorf, Lloyd Nolan. D: Anatole Litvak. BW 88m.
7:30 AM Gentleman Jim (1942) Fanciful biography of 19th-century boxing champion Jim Corbett. Errol Flynn, Alexis Smith, Ward Bond. D: Raoul Walsh. BW 105m. CC
10:00 AM Larceny, Inc. (1942) An ex-convict and his gang try to use a luggage store to front a bank robbery, but business keeps getting in the way. Edward G. Robinson, Jane Wyman, Broderick Crawford. D: Lloyd Bacon. BW 96m.
12:00 PM The Male Animal (1942) A college professor fights censorship and an amorous football player after his wife. Henry Fonda, Olivia de Havilland, Jack Carson. D: Elliott Nugent. BW 101m.
2:00 PM Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) A young man about to be married discovers the two aunts who raised him have been poisoning lonely old men. Cary Grant, Raymond Massey, Peter Lorre. D: Frank Capra. BW 119m. DVS
EDITH HEAD
28 THURSDAY
6:00 AM LADY OF BURLESQUE (1943) Star dancer and comedian team to investigate murders. Barbara Stanwyck, Michael O'Shea, J. Edward Bromberg. D: William Wellman. BW 91m.
8:00 AM Christmas in Connecticut (1945) A homemaking specialist who can’t boil water is forced to provide a family holiday for a war hero. Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet. D: Peter Godfrey. BW 102m.
10:00 AM My Reputation (1946) A widow generates small-town gossip when she falls in love too soon after her husband's death. Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, Lucile Watson. D: Curtis Bernhardt. BW 95m.
12:00 PM The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1947) Years after a murder drove them apart, an heiress tries to win back her lost love. Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin, Kirk Douglas. D: Lewis Milestone. BW 116m.
2:00 PM Rachel and the Stranger (1949) A mail-order bride finds herself attracted to a handsome drifter. Loretta Young, William Holden, Robert Mitchum. D: Norman Foster. BW 80m.
AKIM TAMIROFF
29 FRIDAY
6:00 AM Queen Christina (1933) Romantic tale of the 17th-century Swedish queen and her romance with a Spanish diplomat. Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Lewis Stone. D: Rouben Mamoulian. BW 100m.
8:00 AM The Merry Widow (1934) A prince from a small kingdom courts a wealthy widow to keep her money in the country. Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald, Una Merkel. D: Ernst Lubitsch. BW 99m.
10:00 AM Reckless (1935) A theatrical star gets in over her head when she marries a drunken millionaire. Jean Harlow, William Powell, Franchot Tone. D: Victor Fleming. BW 98m.
12:00 PM Tortilla Flat (1942) Inhabitants of a Southern California fishing village strive for the simple pleasures of life. Spencer Tracy, Hedy Lamarr, John Garfield. D: Victor Fleming. BW 100m.
2:00 PM Fiesta (1947) A Mexican beauty replaces her toreador brother in the bull ring so he can pursue his musical career. Esther Williams, Ricardo Montalban, Cyd Charisse D: Richard Thorpe. C 103m. CC
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