TIG for Friday August 23.
Songwriter Harry Williams (1879) actually died five years before Virginia Weidler was born. His song, “In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree” lived on, however, and it was used in her film, MRS. WIGGS OF THE CABBAGE PATCH (1934). That wasn’t his most popular song soundtrack-wise, however. That would be, by far, “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary.”
Screenwriter John Lee Mahin (1902) is described in biographies as “prolific.” I guess so, but I’ve seen more credits than his 53 posted to people on IMDb. He helped out on films like SCARFACE and THE WIZARD OF OZ and can take major credit for adaptation of plays for THE BAD SEED, NO TIME FOR SERGEANTS and the 1951 remake of SHOW BOAT, where he threw out the play’s original dialogue and rewrote the scenes. He was almost a team with director Victor Fleming, as they worked together ten times. His Ginny screenplay was TOO HOT TO HANDLE (1938), where it appears that most of her role wound up being cut. I found the photo on a website saluting writers and their typewriters. Who knew?
Comedian Rags Ragland (1905) played Grunt in Ginny’s BORN TO SING (1942). For those who aren’t familiar with BTS, it’s a successor to Mickey and Judy’s Babes films without Mickey and Judy. Virginia and Ray McDonald had the unenviable task of taking those lead roles. Most reviewers liked them, loved the Ballad For Americans finale, the only piece of the film directed by Busby Berkeley, and didn’t care much for the rest. Ragland had started out as a boxer, moved into burlesque, then Broadway and came to Hollywood to play good natured oaf types, which is pretty much all MGM gave him. A good friend of Frank Sinatra and Phil Silvers, they sang and spoke respectively at his funeral in 1946.
Larry Nunn (1925) was a teen contract player at MGM and won roles in STRIKE UP THE BAND, HULLABALOO, MEN OF BOYS TOWN and, of course, the role of Mike Conroy in BORN TO SING. He would later be one of the cadets in THE MAJOR AND THE MINOR. According to Virginia’s friend, actress Jean Porter, Larry was part of their MGM gang that went out dancing regularly and was Ginny’s first teenage romance, of a sort. After MAJOR, Nunn left MGM and made several films, usually playing G.I.s. He left films for good in 1948, only a few years after Ginny. While researching this today I found a note that Larry’s daughter is Terri Nunn, lead singer of the 1980s band Berlin. Their big hit was “Take My Breath Away." This is a BTS lobby card featuring Leo Gorcey, Ray McDonald, and Larry.
