Constance Bennett, from drama to comedy
Oct 22, 2019 10:46:36 GMT
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Post by teleadm on Oct 22, 2019 10:46:36 GMT
Constance Campbell Bennett was born 115 years ago in New York, her father was a star actor of stage and silent movies (Richard Bennett 1870 - 1944).
Constance had two younger sisters that also went in their fathers footsteps (Joan and Barbara).
For a time during the Pre-Code era she was once one of Hollywood's highest payed actresses, in movies that mostly appealed to female audiences.
As she had a flair for comedy she could continue to be a popular comedienne. As the roles thinned out during the 1940s she ventured into other businesses. Shrewd investments had made her a wealthy woman, and she founded a cosmetics and a clothing company.
Father Richard with from left Constance, Joan and Brabara.
Independent, outspoken Constance Bennett, the first of the Bennett sisters to enter films, appeared in New York-produced silents before a chance meeting with Samuel Goldwyn led to her Hollywood debut in Cytherea 1924. She abandoned a burgeoning career in silents for marriage to Philip Plant (the first of five husbands) in 1925, after they divorced, she achieved stardom in talkies from 1929.
She became a major Hollywood star during the 1920s and 1930s and for a time during the early 1930s, she was the highest-paid actress in Hollywood, as well as one of the most popular. Bennett frequently played society women, focusing on melodramas in the early 1930s and then taking more comedic roles in the late 1930s and 1940s.
The hit Common Clay 1930 launched her in a series of loose lady and unwed mother roles.
In the early 1930s, Bennett was frequently among the top actresses named in audience popularity and box-office polls. For a short time, she was the highest-paid actress in Hollywood. So successful was Bennett during this time, that RKO, Bennett's home studio at the time, controlled the careers of actresses Ann Harding and Helen Twelvetrees in a similar manner, hoping to duplicate Bennett's success.
Examples from her movie career:
Cytherea 1924, dancing with Lewis Stone, a romantic drama that is now concidered lost, as is most of her silent movies.
Common Clay 1930 with co-star Lew Ayres.
The film is about a young servant who is seduced by the master of the house who will have nothing else to do with her besides sex because she is of an inferior class. She becomes pregnant and seeks to have the child recognized but his family treats her as if she were a blackmailer. Very Pre-Code.
The Common Law 1931 with her co-star, a very young Joel McCrea.
A sexual drama that was received well both at the box office and by film critics, becoming one of RKO's most financially successful films of the year.
What Price Hollywood? 1932 with co-star Lowell Sherman. The career of a waitress takes off when she meets an amiable drunken Hollywood director. Directed by George Cukor
Four years after the film was released, Selznick approached Cukor and asked him to direct the 1937 version of A Star Is Born starring Janet Gaynor and Frederic March. The plot was so similar to What Price Hollywood? that Cukor declined. RKO executives considered filing a plagiarism suit against Selznick International Pictures because of the obvious similarities in the story, but eventually opted not to take any legal action.
Our Betters 1933, with co-star Gilbert Roland (who later became her 4th husband) and directed by George Cukor.
A Pre-Code satirical comedy based on a play by W. Somerset Maugham.
The film premiered at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
Constance in a bed of roses in Bed of Roses 1933, a Pre-Code romantic comedy that co-starred Joel McCrea.
Moulin Rouge 1934 with co-star Franchot Tone, a Pre-Code musical that contained the songs "Coffee in the Morning and Kisses in the Night," and "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" with music by Harry Warren and lyrics by Al Dubin.
The Affairs of Cellini 1934, with co-star Fredric March. A costume comedy with Constance as the Duchess of Florence who has an eye for famous artist Benvenuto Cellini.
After Office Hours 1935, a light-hearted crime drama, with co-star Clark Gable.
Legong, Dance of the Virgins 1935, a movie Constance produced with her third husband, Henri le Bailly, the Marquis de La Coudraye de La Falaise, and was shot on Bali. One of the last movies to use the Two-colour Technicolor process, and one of the last silent movies to be made by a Hollywood company.
At one time advertisements promoted the film in large letters as "NUDITY WITHOUT CRUDITY: A FILM FOR ALL AUDIENCES!".
Ladies in Love 1936, a romantic comedy that revolves around three roommates in exotic Budapest and their comical romantic adventures.
Constance's roommates were played by Janet Gaynor and Loretta Young.
Topper 1937, a supernatural hit comedy, with co-star Cary Grant. It tells the story of a stuffy, stuck-in-his-ways man who is haunted by the ghosts of a fun-loving married couple.
The movie was so popular it spun two sequels, with Constance only taking part of the first sequel Topper Takes a Trip 1938.
Merrily We Live 1938, a madcap comedy, with co-star Brian Aherne. With Billie Burke as Constance mother, who has a habit of hiring ex-cons and hobos as servants.
The movie was extremely successful and garnered five Oscar nominations.
Law of the Tropics 1941, a drama co-starring Jeffrey Lynn.
By the time Bennett made this film, her acting career was in steep decline.
Two-Faced Woman 1941 with Greta Garbo.
Constance had the best lines.
Paris Underground 1945, Constance produced this movie, about an American and an Englishwoman trapped in Paris when Nazi Germany invades in 1940, who rescue British airmen shot down in France and help them escape across the English Channel.
Her co-star was Gracie Fields.
Centennial Summer 1946, with Dorothy Gish. Musical Americana Nostalgic with songs by Jerome Kern.
Constance and Dorthy's names were the 6th and 7th on the original posters.
The movie was in Technicolor.
The Unsuspected 1947, with Claude Rains as a popular crime radio host, and Constance his producer, a noir drama directed by Michael Curtiz.
Angel on the Amazon 1948, surrounded by Ross Elliott, Walter Reed and Gus Schilling.
A romantic adventure from Republic Pictures that starred Vera Hruba Ralston and George Brent.
As Young as You Feel 1951, with Monty Woolley. This comedy that also starred Marilyn Monroe in a small role, became Constance's last movie for awhile, she concentrated on her businesses, radio shows and acting on television.
Actresses who has passed the age of 40 have a tough time finding jobs, a sad and unfair fact.
Madame X 1966, Constance return to the movies sadly also became her last, as Lana Turner's blackmailing mother-in-law.
Shortly after filming was completed, on July 25, 1965, Bennett collapsed and died from a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 60.
Thanks for watching!
Thoughts, ideas, memories, lists, favorites and anything else connected with Constance Bennett is very very welcome!
Constance had two younger sisters that also went in their fathers footsteps (Joan and Barbara).
For a time during the Pre-Code era she was once one of Hollywood's highest payed actresses, in movies that mostly appealed to female audiences.
As she had a flair for comedy she could continue to be a popular comedienne. As the roles thinned out during the 1940s she ventured into other businesses. Shrewd investments had made her a wealthy woman, and she founded a cosmetics and a clothing company.
Father Richard with from left Constance, Joan and Brabara.
Independent, outspoken Constance Bennett, the first of the Bennett sisters to enter films, appeared in New York-produced silents before a chance meeting with Samuel Goldwyn led to her Hollywood debut in Cytherea 1924. She abandoned a burgeoning career in silents for marriage to Philip Plant (the first of five husbands) in 1925, after they divorced, she achieved stardom in talkies from 1929.
She became a major Hollywood star during the 1920s and 1930s and for a time during the early 1930s, she was the highest-paid actress in Hollywood, as well as one of the most popular. Bennett frequently played society women, focusing on melodramas in the early 1930s and then taking more comedic roles in the late 1930s and 1940s.
The hit Common Clay 1930 launched her in a series of loose lady and unwed mother roles.
In the early 1930s, Bennett was frequently among the top actresses named in audience popularity and box-office polls. For a short time, she was the highest-paid actress in Hollywood. So successful was Bennett during this time, that RKO, Bennett's home studio at the time, controlled the careers of actresses Ann Harding and Helen Twelvetrees in a similar manner, hoping to duplicate Bennett's success.
Examples from her movie career:
Cytherea 1924, dancing with Lewis Stone, a romantic drama that is now concidered lost, as is most of her silent movies.
Common Clay 1930 with co-star Lew Ayres.
The film is about a young servant who is seduced by the master of the house who will have nothing else to do with her besides sex because she is of an inferior class. She becomes pregnant and seeks to have the child recognized but his family treats her as if she were a blackmailer. Very Pre-Code.
The Common Law 1931 with her co-star, a very young Joel McCrea.
A sexual drama that was received well both at the box office and by film critics, becoming one of RKO's most financially successful films of the year.
What Price Hollywood? 1932 with co-star Lowell Sherman. The career of a waitress takes off when she meets an amiable drunken Hollywood director. Directed by George Cukor
Four years after the film was released, Selznick approached Cukor and asked him to direct the 1937 version of A Star Is Born starring Janet Gaynor and Frederic March. The plot was so similar to What Price Hollywood? that Cukor declined. RKO executives considered filing a plagiarism suit against Selznick International Pictures because of the obvious similarities in the story, but eventually opted not to take any legal action.
Our Betters 1933, with co-star Gilbert Roland (who later became her 4th husband) and directed by George Cukor.
A Pre-Code satirical comedy based on a play by W. Somerset Maugham.
The film premiered at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
Constance in a bed of roses in Bed of Roses 1933, a Pre-Code romantic comedy that co-starred Joel McCrea.
Moulin Rouge 1934 with co-star Franchot Tone, a Pre-Code musical that contained the songs "Coffee in the Morning and Kisses in the Night," and "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" with music by Harry Warren and lyrics by Al Dubin.
The Affairs of Cellini 1934, with co-star Fredric March. A costume comedy with Constance as the Duchess of Florence who has an eye for famous artist Benvenuto Cellini.
After Office Hours 1935, a light-hearted crime drama, with co-star Clark Gable.
Legong, Dance of the Virgins 1935, a movie Constance produced with her third husband, Henri le Bailly, the Marquis de La Coudraye de La Falaise, and was shot on Bali. One of the last movies to use the Two-colour Technicolor process, and one of the last silent movies to be made by a Hollywood company.
At one time advertisements promoted the film in large letters as "NUDITY WITHOUT CRUDITY: A FILM FOR ALL AUDIENCES!".
Ladies in Love 1936, a romantic comedy that revolves around three roommates in exotic Budapest and their comical romantic adventures.
Constance's roommates were played by Janet Gaynor and Loretta Young.
Topper 1937, a supernatural hit comedy, with co-star Cary Grant. It tells the story of a stuffy, stuck-in-his-ways man who is haunted by the ghosts of a fun-loving married couple.
The movie was so popular it spun two sequels, with Constance only taking part of the first sequel Topper Takes a Trip 1938.
Merrily We Live 1938, a madcap comedy, with co-star Brian Aherne. With Billie Burke as Constance mother, who has a habit of hiring ex-cons and hobos as servants.
The movie was extremely successful and garnered five Oscar nominations.
Law of the Tropics 1941, a drama co-starring Jeffrey Lynn.
By the time Bennett made this film, her acting career was in steep decline.
Two-Faced Woman 1941 with Greta Garbo.
Constance had the best lines.
Paris Underground 1945, Constance produced this movie, about an American and an Englishwoman trapped in Paris when Nazi Germany invades in 1940, who rescue British airmen shot down in France and help them escape across the English Channel.
Her co-star was Gracie Fields.
Centennial Summer 1946, with Dorothy Gish. Musical Americana Nostalgic with songs by Jerome Kern.
Constance and Dorthy's names were the 6th and 7th on the original posters.
The movie was in Technicolor.
The Unsuspected 1947, with Claude Rains as a popular crime radio host, and Constance his producer, a noir drama directed by Michael Curtiz.
Angel on the Amazon 1948, surrounded by Ross Elliott, Walter Reed and Gus Schilling.
A romantic adventure from Republic Pictures that starred Vera Hruba Ralston and George Brent.
As Young as You Feel 1951, with Monty Woolley. This comedy that also starred Marilyn Monroe in a small role, became Constance's last movie for awhile, she concentrated on her businesses, radio shows and acting on television.
Actresses who has passed the age of 40 have a tough time finding jobs, a sad and unfair fact.
Madame X 1966, Constance return to the movies sadly also became her last, as Lana Turner's blackmailing mother-in-law.
Shortly after filming was completed, on July 25, 1965, Bennett collapsed and died from a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 60.
Thanks for watching!
Thoughts, ideas, memories, lists, favorites and anything else connected with Constance Bennett is very very welcome!
