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Exclusive & Launched today: Silver Screen Stars in Color – Simply Amazing Work Here

If we go back in time to see how movies were made in the Golden Age of Hollywood, it’s obvious at once that these films set the standard. Making movies was more than just a business, and the industry worked for the people and not the other way around.

Movies had purpose and passion in the classic years. They weren’t made only to escape from everyday life, they evoked genuine emotion in the audience: laughter, sadness, happiness, you name it.

While everybody knows that many people take part in the process of making a film, from directors to caterers, it’s the actors and actresses who draw the most attention. It is their job to make the film come alive. Back then, actors and actresses were immortalized by the roles they played; it was the time when the term movie star actually meant something.

Our friends over at Silver Screen in Color are working hard on bringing the world colorised images of our favorite stars from the silver screen – make sure you like their Facebook page by clicking here Silver Screen in Color

Enjoy…………

Clark Gable and Joan Crawford in the romantic drama ‘Strange Cargo’ (1940)(Colour by Klimbim)
Clark Gable and Joan Crawford in the romantic drama ‘Strange Cargo’ (1940)
(Colour by Klimbim)

Gable enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps on August 12, 1942, as a gunner, and after completing the 13-week training he was commissioned as a second lieutenant. Although Gable was 40 years old when he enlisted as a private in the Army Air Force he participated in many high-profile combat missions during the war.

The Germans considered the famous actor enemy number one and made several unsuccessful attempts to capture him alive. Reportedly, Adolf Hitler, who was one of Gable’s greatest fans, offered a $5,000 reward to anyone who could capture Clark Gable and bring him to Germany.

Hitler’s plan to capture Gable proved to be unsuccessful and the actor returned to the United States safe and sound. For his heroic service, he was awarded the Air Medal, the Distinguished Flying Cross, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and World War II Victory Medal.

 

Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman shooting the iconic finale of ‘Casablanca’ (1942)(Color by Ben)
Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman shooting the iconic finale of ‘Casablanca’ (1942)
(Color by Ben)
John Wayne and Gail Russell in ‘Angel and the Badman’ (1947)(Color by Mario)
John Wayne and Gail Russell in ‘Angel and the Badman’ (1947)
(Color by Mario)

On may  May 26, 1907, at 224 South Second Street in Winterset, Iowa, a 13th-pound baby was born, named  Marion Robert Morrison. That 13-pound baby would grow into one of the hunkiest heartthrobs in Hollywood, and the icon of the western movie.

That’s right, John Wayne or the Duke’s real name was Marion, and as you might imagine, he was not so thrilled about it.

It’s a rather amusing phenomenon when some “big fella” has a cutesy name like “Daisy,” but when an iconic figure who had single–handedly epitomized the macho-tough cowboy of the 20th Century holds a birth name equivalent to a French girl, well, that’s too much.

 

Robert Donat – ‘The 39 Steps’ (1935)Donat plays Richard Hannay in this classic Hitchcock movie-thriller.(Colour by Tom)https://www.facebook.com/PhotograFixUK/
Robert Donat – ‘The 39 Steps’ (1935)
Donat plays Richard Hannay in this classic Hitchcock movie-thriller.
(Colour by Tom)
https://www.facebook.com/PhotograFixUK/

 

Liz Fraser and Sidney James in ‘Carry on Cabby’ (1963)(Colour by Doug)
Liz Fraser and Sidney James in ‘Carry on Cabby’ (1963)
(Colour by Doug)

 

John Howard Davies as Oliver and Robert Newton as Bill Sykes in ‘Oliver Twist’ (1948) – Directed by David Lean(Colour by George Chilvers)
John Howard Davies as Oliver and Robert Newton as Bill Sykes in ‘Oliver Twist’ (1948) – Directed by David Lean
(Colour by George Chilvers)

 

Laurel and Hardy in ‘Beau Hunks’ (1931)(Color by Mario)www.unarts.at
Laurel and Hardy in ‘Beau Hunks’ (1931)
(Color by Mario)
www.unarts.at

In the movie industry, it is not uncommon for friendships to transcend the relationship onscreen, but, it seems, there is none as genuine as that which stretched throughout the 23 full-length feature films, 32 silent shorts, 40 short sound films, and 12 guest and cameo appearances of the inseparable slapstick comedy duo Laurel and Hardy, the true representatives of the Golden Age of Comedy.

Right from their first appearance together in Duck Soup and Slipping Wives in 1927, Stan Laurel and Oliver “Babe” Hardy displayed great comic chemistry and from that point on performed exclusively as a duo. This collaboration would continue for 20 plus years, making the pair one of the most celebrated comedic duos of all time.

As much as they were inseparable friends and “partners in crime” in all of their mischiefs on the big screen, they were just as close in real life. In 1957, when Oliver Hardy passed away, Laurel, devastated by his best friend’s death, never fully recovered and so, retired from acting, refusing to perform on stage or act in another film without his best pal.

Greta Garbo and Clark Gable in ‘Susan Lenox’ (Her Fall and Rise) (1931)(Colour by Klimbim)
Greta Garbo and Clark Gable in ‘Susan Lenox’ (Her Fall and Rise) (1931)
(Colour by Klimbim)

 

Greta Garbo and Conrad Nagel in ‘The Mysterious Lady’ (1928) a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer silent film.(Color by Klimbin)
Greta Garbo and Conrad Nagel in ‘The Mysterious Lady’ (1928) a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer silent film.
(Color by Klimbin)

Born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson on September 18th, 1905 in Stockholm, Sweden. Her parents were Anna Lovisa and Karl Alfred Gustafsson, both laborers. Her dad died when she turned 14 and left the family destitute. She began work in a department store where they used her for a model and a short film. She then entered and won a scholarship to drama school and was during discovered after a couple of small roles by a director leading her to pull out of drama school. The director put her in film, and by the age of 18 she was on her way. In 1925, Louis B. Mayer, CEO of MGM saw Greta and brought her to America, putting her under contract. Her first film with MGM was a silent film called Torrent in 1926. The next year, her role in Flesh of the Devil catapulted her to international stardom.

She made 42 movies and had four Oscar nominations for Best Actress, two of which were in 1938. She won an Honorary Oscar for her performances in 1955. Joan Crawford died in New York City, New York, in 1990, from pneumonia at the age of 84

Charles Boyer and Danielle Darrieux in ‘Mayerling’ (1936)(Color by Frédéric)
Charles Boyer and Danielle Darrieux in ‘Mayerling’ (1936)
(Color by Frédéric)

 

Errol Flynn in the swashbuckling adventure ‘The Sea Hawk’ (1940)(Color by Mario)
Errol Flynn in the swashbuckling adventure ‘The Sea Hawk’ (1940)
(Color by Mario)

 

Ben Chapman and Julie Adams in ‘Creature from the Black Lagoon’ (1954)(Color by Mario)
Ben Chapman and Julie Adams in ‘Creature from the Black Lagoon’ (1954)
(Color by Mario)

 

William Powell, Eugene Pallette & E.H. Calvert in ‘The Benson Murder Case’ (1930)(Colour by Colin)
William Powell, Eugene Pallette & E.H. Calvert in ‘The Benson Murder Case’ (1930)
(Colour by Colin)

 

Anthony Quayle, Harry Andrews, Sylvia Syms and John Mills in ‘Ice Cold in Alex’ (1958)(Colourised by Doug)
Anthony Quayle, Harry Andrews, Sylvia Syms and John Mills in ‘Ice Cold in Alex’ (1958)
(Colourised by Doug)

 

Kirk Douglas as the French Colonel Dax in ‘Paths of Glory’ (1957)(Color by Frédéric)
Kirk Douglas as the French Colonel Dax in ‘Paths of Glory’ (1957)
(Color by Frédéric)

Kirk Douglas, one of the last survivors of Hollywood’s golden era.

His illustrious career, spanning nearly seven decades, has been filled with triumphs, including three Oscar nominations and an honorary Academy Award for being a creative and moral force in the motion-picture community.

Known for his unforgettable performances in movies such as Champion(1949), Spartacus (1960), The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), and Lust for Life (1956), Douglas, alongside several other iconic actors of the period, set the standard for Hollywood’s tough guy persona, admitting that he’d “made a career playing sons of bitches.”

But if you ask Douglas, the biggest achievement of his life just might be the fact that he helped break the blacklist of the McCarthy era by hiring and crediting screenwriter Dalton Trumbo for Spartacus. Trumbo, a Communist, had been imprisoned in a federal penitentiary for 11 months for refusing to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee, and his scripts after that used fronts or pseudonyms. After Spartacus, due to Douglas’s intervention in that Stanley Kubrick-directed film, Trumbo was credited for his work, as were other previously blacklisted writers.

Born Issur Danielovitch on December 9, 1916, in Amsterdam, New York, to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents, he grew up poor, and his path to glory was a tough one. But Douglas’ wish to become an actor, combined with his hard work, commitment, and dedication, transformed him into a symbol of 20th-century show business and a true movie star

Marlon Brando with his 1950 6T Triumph Thunderbird in ‘The Wild One’ (1953)(Colour by Doug)
Marlon Brando with his 1950 6T Triumph Thunderbird in ‘The Wild One’ (1953)
(Colour by Doug)

 

 

Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O’Sullivan in ‘Tarzan’s Secret Treasure’ (1941)(Colour by Colin)
Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O’Sullivan in ‘Tarzan’s Secret Treasure’ (1941)
(Colour by Colin)

 

Marlene Dietrich as Lola Lola in ‘The Blue Angel’ (1930)(Color by Klimbin)
Marlene Dietrich as Lola Lola in ‘The Blue Angel’ (1930)
(Color by Klimbin)

Marlene Dietrich was a German actress who proved herself to the FBI with a regular stream of reports from the front-line where she was performing constantly for US troops during World War II.

As indicated by reports, she was one of the few starlets suspected of spying not only for the Americans, but for the Germans as well. And because of that, she was constantly tailed by other U.S. spies to ensure she was on the right side. However, a huge portion of her file “mysteriously” disappeared just before such records went public.

Warren Beatty, director Elia Kazan & Natalie Wood on the set of ‘Splendor in the Grass’ (1961)Colorised by Jecinci
Warren Beatty, director Elia Kazan & Natalie Wood on the set of ‘Splendor in the Grass’ (1961)
Colorised by Jecinci

 

Douglas Fairbanks as ‘Robin Hood’ (1922)(Color by Frédéric)
Douglas Fairbanks as ‘Robin Hood’ (1922)
(Color by Frédéric)

 

Douglas Fairbanks Jr as Rupert of Hentzau in ‘The Prisoner of Zenda’ (1937)(Color by Colin)
Douglas Fairbanks Jr as Rupert of Hentzau in ‘The Prisoner of Zenda’ (1937)
(Color by Colin)

 

 

Edward G. Robinson as Caesar Enrico “Rico” Bandello in the crime movie ‘Little Caesar’ (1931)(Colour by Doug)
Edward G. Robinson as Caesar Enrico “Rico” Bandello in the crime movie ‘Little Caesar’ (1931)
(Colour by Doug)

 

Richard Attenborough and Carol Marsh in ‘Brighton Rock’ (1947)(Colorised by Jecinci)
Richard Attenborough and Carol Marsh in ‘Brighton Rock’ (1947)
(Colorised by Jecinci)

 

Vivien Leigh and Robert Taylor in ‘Waterloo Bridge’ (1940)Colorised by Jecinci
Vivien Leigh and Robert Taylor in ‘Waterloo Bridge’ (1940)
Colorised by Jecinci

Born Vivian Mary Hartley on November 5th, 1913 in Darjeeling, west Bengal, India. She got her acting education in drama school and appeared in four small roles in four different films in 1935. Revered for her beauty, she sometimes felt that it kept her from being taken seriously as an actor.

Even though she had success as a screen actress, most of her career was onstage. She played roles ranging from heroines in comedic classics of George Bernard Shaw to Shakespearean roles like Cleopatra, Ophelia, Juliet, and Lady Macbeth. Her most notable films were Gone with the Wind in 1939, also starring Clark Gable, who she did not get along with, and A Streetcar Named Desire in 1951, with Marlon Brando. She won an Oscar for Best Actress in both. She was in a total of 20 films in her career. She died on July 8th, 1967 in London, England at the age of 53, from long-term tuberculosis.

Brad Smithfield

Brad Smithfield is one of the authors writing for The Vintage News