I have a near record number of TIGers today-twelve-and I’m going to break the into two posts with one coming tomorrow morning.
Paul Everton (1868) one of those older TIGers who amaze me. Think about it, he was born closer to the Washington Administration than the Obama Administration. Everton’s specialty was playing bigshots. Senators, Mayors, board members, even a character called “GOP Man” in MEET JOHN DOE. He played Mr. Offer in THE GREAT MAN VOTES (1939) and since that movie was about the pressures on one man for his vote I’m betting Mr. Offer was a political bigshot of some type.
Here’s where the benzene I mentioned in an earlier post comes in. Louis Joseph Vance (1879) was the author of the Lone Wolf novels and stories. I’m sure he never anticipated a character like Virginia’s Patricia Lanyard showing up in any Lone Wolf story. His THE LONE WOLF’S DAUGHTER was about Lanyard discovering an adult daughter he never knew and having to help her. THE LONE WOLF SPY HUNT claims to be based on that book, but except for the Lone Wolf and the word “daughter” the film has nothing to do with the book. Vance died of burns suffered when he caught fire from smoking while sitting in a chair. Oddly, he only burned from head to torso leading some to theorize that he had either spontaneously combusted, something disproven by that smoking habit, or that he was so drunk that only the portion totally pickled by the alcohol had burned. A more reasonable theory was that he had been carrying a bottle of benzene in his pocket to relive the pain of a broken jaw and that’s what ignited.
Glen Cavender (1883) sounds like a villain from THE LONE RANGER, but he isn’t. He was a comedic actor who could also do drama or a dramatic actor who could also do comedy. Take your pick. He worked for Mack Sennett and was one of the original Keystone Kops. He was both and actor and director in his Keystone days and played Captain Anderson in THE GENERAL. His Ginnyroles were both of the serious variety. He played a civilian who takes Beall to Von Sturm (sounds bad) in STAMBOUL QUEST (1934) and Jean in ALL THIS, AND HEAVEN TOO (1940).
Lynne Overman (1887) played Hank Rinebow in MEN WITH WINGS (1938). A former jockey, his specialty was playing the wisecracker in the scene. Some of his more memorable films were REAP THE WILD WIND, EDISON, THE MAN, and UNION PACIFIC (he played Leach Overmile in that one).
Porter Hall (1888) was a pompous unpleasant person. Oh…wait! That was his character, not him. He was actually known as one of the most generous and outgoing people in Hollywood. Probably best remembered today as Granville Sawyer in MIRACLE ON 34th STREET, he also played the athiest Mr. Belknap in GOING MY WAY, and Senator Monroe in MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON. He was in four Virginia films, playing the court prosecutor in SOULS AT SEA (1937), James Wilson in SCANDAL STREET (1938), Hiram F. Jenkins in MEN WITH WINGS (1938), and Banker Edward G. Walsh in HENRY GOES ARIZONA (1939). As in many of the B westerns of the day, the banker was in cahoots with the bad guys so here we see Ginny getting the best of him after she was apparently kidnapped.
Finally, for tonight, Ernest Truex (1889) is connected to Virginia through two films and an off screen oddity. Character actor Ernest was in two films with Ginny. First he played Mr. Binns, father of Gloria Jean’s Pip-Emma in THE UNDER-PUP (1939). Three years later he played Llewellyn Castle, a slightly corrupt yet meek businessman in THE AFFAIRS OF MARTHA (1942). Truex was sort of a Donald Meek type, as they could play a lot of the same roles. Ernest’s off screen connection is more interesting. In 1944, Virginia’s likeness appeared in an ad for Regent cigarettes and she almost immediately announced through representation her intent to sue because she didn’t smoke. Interestingly, the ad never said she did, it only said she liked the crush proof box. Truex and the dancer Zorina were the other testimonials in the print ad. I’ve always guessed that Virginia’s agents probably agreed to the ad to show she was ready to be a grown up actress in 1944 and Virginia got cold feet about being connected to smoking. I have no reason to doubt her word that she didn’t smoke, especially considering both her practice of Christian Science and her own personal health problems.
