Another once-famous face, now forgotten.
Gary Martin recently wrote:
I am amused by the reader’s comment that this week’s mystery is “too easy” and I guess it is as all the usual suspects have written in with the correct cast and title.
Apparently I was out of town the week this film played: I do not know what it is nor have I ever seen any of these actors before …excepting a very young Jack Hawkins. (Friday, right.) I do suspect, however, that it is a British film.
And that makes it all the more amusing to me because growing up in Kansas during the mid fifties, when TV was a young medium, before there were Late Shows, we were fed a steady diet of British programers. Nope. I must have fallen asleep the night this played. …as I often did with programers. Ah well, Monday is another week.
I would like to remind everyone that from the beginning, my first criterion in selecting a mystery person or movie is that I didn’t know who or what it was. To pick a favorite example, I had never heard of Jack Mulhall until I randomly pulled his envelope out of the photo library several years ago. The same is true with today’s mystery lady (and yes, some of you may recognize her from before).
So to Gary, I would like to say: I couldn’t have identified this week’s movie, “Fallen Idol.” That’s why I picked it. The vast majority of movies (with a few exceptions like “Hillbilly Blitzkrieg” — ahem) I have never seen, which is why we will never have “Casablanca” or “Gone With the Wind” or “Citizen Kane” (well, maybe the back of Everett Sloan’s head).
I would fail every week — if that makes you feel any better.
Which means that I’m impressed every week with the knowledge of the Daily Mirror Brain Trust. You are amazing in your knowledge of film and I am proud to have you as readers.
Despite how it may seem, there is a philosophy behind the mystery photos — I have never seen them as a mere trivia contest. The photos have always been a reflection on the notion that fame is fleeting and once-famous faces are forgotten.
But I have been thinking: Don Danard wants more Westerns. Mary Mallory would like more silent films. And a recent technical malfunction with “Coney Island,” which yes, I had not seen, made me think about opening the mystery photos to guests who could submit pictures or frame grabs.
How about it, mystery photo fans? What would you like to see — or not see?
Note: This is a post I originally wrote in 2006 for the 1907 project.
In case you just tuned in, we are looking at the “Masked Marvel Murder” of actor David G.G. Bacon, who was stabbed to death Sept. 12, 1943. Bacon was apparently driving back to Los Angeles from Venice, crashed his car into a bean field on Washington Boulevard and collapsed, dying of a deep stab wound. His killing was never solved.
ladailymirror.com 