TIG for Sunday, August 25.
Author Bret Harte (1836) wrote two short stories, THE OUTCASTS OF POKER FLAT and LUCK OF ROARING CAMP that RKO decided to do a mash-up of in 1937 under the former title. They put Luck in Poker Flat and made him a girl. Then they borrowed the toughest girl they could find, Virginia Weidler, from Paramount and made a pretty good film out of it. Harte stories have been adapted for film and television almost sixty times, but most of those were in the silent era. Luck saying goodbye to the expelled Oakhurst fills in for Mr. Harte.
Veda Buckland (1882) had two uncredited roles in films with Virginia. First she played a woman in THE WOMEN (1939) and the following year played Elsie in THE PHILADELPHIA STORY. I believe that’s her with Katharine Hepburn. If it isn’t, please let me know. Buckland played a few maids and a lot of nurses in a career lasting a little more than a decade.
Van Nest Polglase (1898) was the supervising art director at RKO. As a result, his name appeared on almost every film Virginia did on loan to that studio. For some reason, he isn’t listed on IMDb for either LADDIE or FRECKLES but that may be only because the lists are incomplete and the films aren’t available to be checked. He was nominated for Oscars six times, including for CITIZEN KANE and MY FAVORITE WIFE, but never won. He died a little over five months after Virginia in 1968.
Arthur Kober (1900) was a writer who wrote the story for THE BIG BROADCAST OF 1937 (1936). Who knew those things actually had a written story? He wrote additional scenes and dialogue for THE LITTLE FOXES, wrote the screenplay for EARLY TO BED, and wrote both the stage play and screenplay for HAVING WONDERFUL TIME. I believe this photo is of Kober, if it isn’t you know what to do.
Jack Otterson (1905) had the same job at Universal that Polglase had at RKO. As such, he was the credited art director for Ginny’s sole Universal film THE UNDER-PUP (1939) starring Gloria Jean. Pick a Universal film from 1936 to 1947 and his name is probably on it.
Dancer/singer/actress Ruby Keeler (1910) was a superstar in the 1930s, and never understood her own popularity. She once said, “It’s really amazing. I couldn’t act. I had that terrible singing voice, and now I can see I wasn’t the greatest tap dancer in the world, either.” She had just signed with RKO when she and Virginia were cast in MOTHER CAREY’S CHICKENS, a film Katharine Hepburn had already balked at doing. Keeler was replacing Joan Bennett for reasons of which I am unaware. According to IMDb, Keeler ended her association with RKO after that one film because they billed Hepburn’s replacement, Anne Shirley, above her. Here she is with Shirley and James Ellison in a publicity still for the film.
