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Goodbye Della Street

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  • Goodbye Della Street

    The month of January 2017 is hardly finished yet and Barbara Hale has joined up with Mary Tyler Moore, John Hurt, Mike Connors, and Gordon Kaye as having passed over the other side. A friend of mine said that this is almost like a continuation of 2016. I pointed out that we "baby boomers" will have to get used to the passing of so many figures from our youthful enjoyment of television and the movies - and now it will be television and movie figures mostly from the 1960s and 1970s. Ms Hale, of course, was one of the co-stars supporting Raymond Burr in his first big television role of "Perry Mason", and while that show was playing in the early 1960s, it actually began in the 1950s. Ms Hale is the last survivor of the main cast members from the original show: Burr, William Hopper (Hedda Hopper''s son by old time stage star DeWolf "Casey at the Bat" Hopper, who played "Paul Drake", Perry's detective assistant), William Talman ("Hamilton Burger"), and Ray Collins ("Lt. Tragg" of the regular police).

    It is interesting to think of this bunch. Burr had played memorably in many 'film noir", most notably as the murdering husband ("Lars Thorwald") in Hitchcock's "Rear Window", and as the District Attorney determined to avenge Shelley Winters in "A Place in the Sun". Mason was the key to his real stardom, as it led to a second major popular television detective series, "Ironside". Collins was one of Orson Welles' original "Mercury Theatre" group on stage and on radio, and went to Hollywood where he played the angry and vindictive "Boss Jim Gettys" in "Citizen Kane". Later he'd be in many other films (including Welles' "The Magnificent Ambersoms" as "Uncle Jack" Ambersom, and as a beleaguered District Attorney in "Touch of Evil"). Talman would be (like Burr) in many film noir, such as "While the City Sleeps" and his best film role (the title one) "The Hitchhiker" (based on an actual southwestern murder spree and chase). He also did an unusual public service commercial as he was dying of throat cancer. Talman addressed the audience directly in this commercial from 1965 explaining that he while he never minded losing all the cases to "Mason", he was upset was going to end due to the cancer he got from smoking. It was the first time a television celebrity ever discussed a critical health issue as a warning. Later actors William Gargan and Yul Brenner would do the same thing. Hopper was in a number of films in the 1940s and 1950s, and fortunately he could act - his mother's position as one of the leading gossip columnists of the day was always there, but Hopper fooled them by having talent. He is best remembered for playing the unsympathetic father of Natalie Wood in "Rebel Without A Cause". And Ms Hale like Burr and Talman was in many "B features". For all this was high water mark. Later, in the 1980s, Burr revived his Mason role, and Hale returned to be his assistant again, in a series of television movies based on the books (the original series was in hour long episodes). Hopper having died, his role was filed by Hale's real-life son who played Paul Drake's son.

    Burr and Hale survived Collins, Talman, and Hopper, and Burr died in the 1990s. Now they are all gone. Again an end to an era.
    Last edited by Mayerling; 01-29-2017, 03:03 AM.

  • #2
    A sign of how old we are getting.
    G U T

    There are two ways to be fooled, one is to believe what isn't true, the other is to refuse to believe that which is true.

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    • #3
      I hadn't heard about Mike Connors yet!

      That's five gone just in January... The month of looking both forward and backward.
      Pat D. https://forum.casebook.org/core/imag...rt/reading.gif
      ---------------
      Von Konigswald: Jack the Ripper plays shuffleboard. -- Happy Birthday, Wanda June by Kurt Vonnegut, c.1970.
      ---------------

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      • #4
        Hi Jeff

        I am a big fan of Perry Mason, so of course the passing of Barbara Hale, who so memorably played Perry Mason's secretary Della Street in the TV series and TV movies is meaningful to me. By the way, knowing that Raymond Burr acted in "A Place in the Sun" as the DA Marlowe, I have been watching the movie just over the past couple of days, having never seen it before!

        Best regards

        Chris

        Christopher T. George
        Organizer, RipperCon #JacktheRipper-#True Crime Conference
        just held in Baltimore, April 7-8, 2018.
        For information about RipperCon, go to http://rippercon.com/
        RipperCon 2018 talks can now be heard at http://www.casebook.org/podcast/

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        • #5
          Originally posted by ChrisGeorge View Post
          Hi Jeff

          I am a big fan of Perry Mason, so of course the passing of Barbara Hale, who so memorably played Perry Mason's secretary Della Street in the TV series and TV movies is meaningful to me. By the way, knowing that Raymond Burr acted in "A Place in the Sun" as the DA Marlowe, I have been watching the movie just over the past couple of days, having never seen it before!

          Best regards

          Chris
          Hi Chris,

          That role of Marlowe is an interesting one. For most of his career in movies, Burr played villains. Marlowe is after Monty Cliff's "George Eastman", the hero of the film, so Burr is still (in the audience eyes) the villain in the courtroom sequences. In actuality he is being extremely right in seeking justice for the dead Shelley Winter - and, although Cliff may have changed his mind in that rowboat, he actually set the stage for the entire matter, and we really can't be totally sure if he did try to save Winter.

          "A Place in the Sun" was made in 1953 by George Stevens (it's still a 1950s film I like to watch). I have always suspected that when they were casting for "Perry Mason", the producers of the show and network brass were convinced that Raymond Burr was their choice because of his "DA Marlowe". Perry is not "Hamilton Burger" in the series, but he is determined to find the guilty party in each case.

          Jeff

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          • #6
            Can't resist.

            Raymond Burr as most know played Perry Mason, the attorney, and Ironside the wheelchair using cop, on TV.

            IM a Barrister, I use a wheelchair, I have a lot of people who call me Ironside, there seem to be so many who get the two characters confused.
            G U T

            There are two ways to be fooled, one is to believe what isn't true, the other is to refuse to believe that which is true.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re Raymond Burr's former roles, he was also an American reporter in the original "Godzilla" film of the Fifties.

              I saw Mr. Burr in person once, as he was a speaker at a local police department function I attended with a friend who worked there as a civilian support staffer. He gave a very nice speech in support of the police and law enforcement in general.
              Pat D. https://forum.casebook.org/core/imag...rt/reading.gif
              ---------------
              Von Konigswald: Jack the Ripper plays shuffleboard. -- Happy Birthday, Wanda June by Kurt Vonnegut, c.1970.
              ---------------

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by GUT View Post
                Can't resist.

                Raymond Burr as most know played Perry Mason, the attorney, and Ironside the wheelchair using cop, on TV.

                IM a Barrister, I use a wheelchair, I have a lot of people who call me Ironside, there seem to be so many who get the two characters confused.
                Well GUT. at least they don't call you "Old Ironsides" and try to float you in Boston Harbor.

                Jeff

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by Pcdunn View Post
                  Re Raymond Burr's former roles, he was also an American reporter in the original "Godzilla" film of the Fifties.

                  I saw Mr. Burr in person once, as he was a speaker at a local police department function I attended with a friend who worked there as a civilian support staffer. He gave a very nice speech in support of the police and law enforcement in general.
                  You were lucky to see Burr. From what I hear he was a very nice man.

                  When "Godzilla was released in Japan, Burr was not in the original release (about 1955 I believe). But it had done great box office so there was a desire to show it in the U.S., Burr was added to the film (and several new scenes shot) as the reporter who explains the significance of what the appearance of the monster reptile meant. This was necessary as the dialog (such as it was) was in Japanese, and much was clouded over into English redubbing. Burr would reappear in the same role in one of the later sequels in the 1970s.

                  Burr also was a supporting actor (as a goon) in the last (and least) Marx Brother film that was a Marx Brother film, "Love Happy". Which means he also was in an early film of Marilyn Monroe as well.

                  Jeff

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Mayerling View Post
                    You were lucky to see Burr. From what I hear he was a very nice man.

                    When "Godzilla was released in Japan, Burr was not in the original release (about 1955 I believe). But it had done great box office so there was a desire to show it in the U.S., Burr was added to the film (and several new scenes shot) as the reporter who explains the significance of what the appearance of the monster reptile meant. This was necessary as the dialog (such as it was) was in Japanese, and much was clouded over into English redubbing. Burr would reappear in the same role in one of the later sequels in the 1970s.

                    Burr also was a supporting actor (as a goon) in the last (and least) Marx Brother film that was a Marx Brother film, "Love Happy". Which means he also was in an early film of Marilyn Monroe as well.

                    Jeff
                    Well...yes last, but I wouldn't say least Marx Brothers film.... first off, it was never meant to be a Marx Brothers film, it was a solo project intended just for Harpo...but Chico was in debt BAD (as usual) to mobsters, so Harpo talked them into writing Chico in... at that point the producers said, well then we need it to be a Marx Brothers film, and Harpo talked Groucho into it (so they could get Chico the money he needed....as they both bailed him out many times....Night in Casablanca was made for the same reason) this is why Groucho doesn't even have the greasepaint moustache.. he grew a real one, he refused to play the "character" but made the film out of brotherly love (or brotherly protection anyway)....if it were just a Harpo solo project I think it would have been a good film...much darker than a Marx Brothers film...they rushed to add "Marx like gags" but if you look at the scenes with just Harpo, it is quite touching, and fairly dark....over all, I think it is a better film then "The Big Store" or even "At the Circus" (with the exception of it being the film that gave us Groucho singing "Lydia the Tattooed Lady")...Sorry...bit of a Marx Brothers historian/nerd here... and Harpo is my spiritual guide

                    Steadmund Brand
                    "The truth is what is, and what should be is a fantasy. A terrible, terrible lie that someone gave to the people long ago."- Lenny Bruce

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Steadmund Brand View Post
                      Well...yes last, but I wouldn't say least Marx Brothers film.... first off, it was never meant to be a Marx Brothers film, it was a solo project intended just for Harpo...but Chico was in debt BAD (as usual) to mobsters, so Harpo talked them into writing Chico in... at that point the producers said, well then we need it to be a Marx Brothers film, and Harpo talked Groucho into it (so they could get Chico the money he needed....as they both bailed him out many times....Night in Casablanca was made for the same reason) this is why Groucho doesn't even have the greasepaint moustache.. he grew a real one, he refused to play the "character" but made the film out of brotherly love (or brotherly protection anyway)....if it were just a Harpo solo project I think it would have been a good film...much darker than a Marx Brothers film...they rushed to add "Marx like gags" but if you look at the scenes with just Harpo, it is quite touching, and fairly dark....over all, I think it is a better film then "The Big Store" or even "At the Circus" (with the exception of it being the film that gave us Groucho singing "Lydia the Tattooed Lady")...Sorry...bit of a Marx Brothers historian/nerd here... and Harpo is my spiritual guide

                      Steadmund Brand
                      Don't blame you regarding the background. Yeah, Chico did act as an unintentional glue for the act for those last two pictures, although I think "A Night in Casablanca" is the last decent film they made (but I also have a soft spot for "Room Service" due to their interaction with Donald McBride as "Wagner" the hotel manager). Their problems (as I see it) with the post-"A Day at the Races" films are centered on the death of Irving Thalberg, who knew how the brothers could improve the material by taking it on the road. After Thalberg dies they are dealing with the thoroughly disreputable Louis B. Mayer, who already has one point against them because Zeppo (their agent now) had negotiated a contract with MGM for Groucho, Chico, and Harpo that gave them a percentage of the gross for the first two films, and Mayer (a greedy son of a b.) hated losing money like that. He considered comedians "lesser" stars than the Gables, Garbos, and Harlows, who were the centerpieces of his films. Comedians were for support only. Thalberg treated the Brothers like Mayer would have expected him to treat Clark Gable.

                      It's instructive to note that not only did Mayer show no guiding interest in any of their remaining three projects, but he willingly traded them to RKO (hardly as high a movie studio in 1938 as MGM, Warners, or Paramount) for "Room Service". For two of their last three MGM films, "Go West" and "At the Circus" he gave them (as a gag writer at this point in his career) Buster Keaton. Keaton (who had been one of the three top comedians of the silent period, and had been (originally) an MGM star in the early 1930s) had family troubles (a messy divorce) and a bad alcoholic problem, neither of which excited the least sympathy from Mayer. Nor did the fact that Keaton, a decent soul, had difficulties with Groucho (who could be a real crud when he wanted to be) regarding Keaton's comic abilities. When Keaton (on "Go West") outlined a joke to the brothers at a conference, Groucho sneered, "You REALLY think that's funny?!!!" Poor Keaton could only respond, "Well, you fellas are pretty funny by yourselves." In this highly poisonous atmosphere Keaton managed to put in some good moments in both "At the Circus" and "Go West" (the destroyed railroad train at the end of the last film, for example, or the bit about Harpo's showdown in the saloon when he pulls out a brush, which turns out to be a gun). But it wasn't enough. When the last of the contract films was made, no offer for renewal came. By the way, given that it was silent comedy that Keaton excelled at, it is no wonder his work in the films with Harpo is best. It reminds us that in the 1940s and early 1950s, Keaton worked closely with Red Skelton, also a skilled mime, on films like "A Southern Yankee". That partnership was more successful.

                      Jeff
                      Last edited by Mayerling; 01-30-2017, 09:27 AM.

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