Manslaughter (1930)

This movie stars the beautiful Claudette Colbert and Fredric March, Fredric wasn’t great, but he will be in future movies, but Claudette was great, she is easily one of the greatest actresses of all time, she’s great in comedies and drama’s, you can’t go wrong with Claudette. Natalie have very little to do in this movie, really not much to say, she had a small part as Claudette’s friend, said a few lines and that’s it.

Marjorie Gateson

Natalie Moorhead isn’t the only actor/actress I like, there are plenty of them, but a lot of them have biographies out there, plenty of info, and some I’m just not that interested in, I just like their movies. But for some reason Natalie fascinated me, there’s something about her I just love, the same goes with Marjorie Gateson. I was watching a movie the other day with her in a bigger role than usual, and it just hit me, she’s fantastic. Like Natalie, she did plenty of movies where she had small roles, sometimes just a very quick scene, but again like Natalie she was almost always the best, over shadowing the stars, another wasted talent in Hollywood. She had a unique look, I find her very beautiful, and very talented, from serious roles to ditsy woman, always perfect, very much like the great Alice Brady. I’m thinking of starting some research on Ms Gateson, sadly she passed away in 1977, and like Natalie she wasn’t a star so info may be hard to come by. She had a long career, her first movie was in 1931 and went into TV in the 50’s until retiring in 1958. She played along side some of the biggest names, Loretta Young, Ruth Chatterton, James Cagney, Marion Davies, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Harold Lloyd, William Powell, Jean Harlow, just to name a few. I’m not sure why, but I find her fascinating, stay tune, I may start another blog.

What’s in a name? is it Messner or Moorhead??

So what is Natalie’s real last name? Everything I’ve seen says her given name is Nathalia Messner, yet her death record claims her father’s name was Moorhead and her mothers maiden name is Messner. So does that would make her father James Vincent Moorhead, but everything I have read says Messner, I don’t get it. Since her father is said to have died when Natalie was around 10 years old, maybe Natalie and her Mother switched back to her maiden name. Then when Natalie got into acting and had to chose a stage name she took her father’s name, a lot of actors back then took names from relatives, so it’s very possible. Also one little story I have claims Natalie had a sister Regina, who is this woman, is she older, younger, did she have kids, grandkids, could a relative of Natalie still be alive? I wish I can find someone who knew Natalie who can answer these questions.

Forgotten (1933)

This was a major surprise, I purchased this DVD because it stared June Clyde, I’ve seen one of her movies, I liked her so I wanted to see more of her stuff. But when I put in the DVD and the credits came up I saw the Natalie Moorhead, I freaked out, like a child on Christmas, I had no idea she was in this. Like so many of her movies, she wasn’t in this much, but she was the best of the bunch as usual. The movie is about a Widower who owns a dye company and lives with his son and daughter, he tends to not get along well with his son’s and their wives and they soon convince him to retire and then force him to a retirement home. But his daughter who loves him dearly helps him start a new dye business and almost puts his son’s business out of business, but they merge and the whole family lives happily together ever after. It’s was an ok movie, a bit slow, most of the acting was fine, at times they seemed a bit bored almost like they were reading their lines. As for Natalie, I’m not being bias, but she was the best, with what little she had to do. She plays one of the wives’ who get annoyed with the father, like most of her roles she is somewhat stuck up, she plays those roles so well. Unlike the others whose walk is straight and talk in the same tone the whole time, she is more natural and believable, to the littlest detail she seems real while the others are just acting, again I ask why wasn’t she a star? One very interesting thing I noticed is in the final scenes she is wearing a dress that I believe she wore in two other movies, I need to find out if they are from the same studio or is this one of her own dresses, I wonder if I’ll see it in any other movies.

Beloved Brat (1938)

1938, near the end of Natalie’s career, but she manages to get a fairly big role in a major studio film(Warner Bros), although this is a quickie, only a little over an hour long. This movie is similar to her movie “What becomes of the Children” as it’s about parents to don’t care for their children and the children become bad or suffer. The star of this movie is Bonita Granville, of Nancy Drew fame, she plays the child who causes havoc for anyone around her because her parents don’t play with her and won’t let her have any friends and any fun. She tries to runaway but gets picked up by her butler who she hates, and causes them to wreck their car. The butler dies, she lies that it was her fault but out of gilt she tells the truth and is sent to a reform school. Slowly but surely she gets better and loves being at the reform school and then refuses to go home when her parents come back for her, but all ends well and the family is happily reunited. Not a great movie, but seeing Natalie in a bigger role, as the mother, was great to see, as always she did a fantastic job, she was always good playing not so nice people. She looked very beautiful, yet still a bit weird seeing her as a brunette, it makes her look older, but it worked here. I like Bonita Granville, she’s always a lot of fun, but she over acted a bit in this film, but still good.

Natalie Moorhead on TCM in March

TCM will be showing two movies with Natalie Moorhead in March.
Three Wise Girls - March 8, 9:30pm
I Take this woman - March 21, 12:00pm

The Stoker (1932)

This was sadly a waste of money, for one reason, Natalie was only in the movie for one short scene, and basically this movie was awful. Natalie plays the wife of the main character who wants a divorce, her only scene is when she confronts him, and that’s it, it’s not even worth a full review. Here is the plot from the TCM website:
During a divisive meeting with his board of directors, Dick Martin, the president of a New York shipping company founded by his father, vows to buy them out. However, when he returns home to his wealthy wife Vera, who promised to give him the money for the buyout, she says she has changed her mind and announces her plans to go to Paris to seek a divorce, having become involved with their lawyer, Alan Ballard. Dick gets drunk at a dive by the docks and breaks up a fight by hitting the drunk who started it. He then invites the man for a drink, and the man, impressed with Dick's strength and character, offers him a job as a stoker on a ship bound for South America. Dick agrees and is soon happy to be without worries and pretense. When Margarita Valdez, a passenger, implores a steward to show her the stoke hole, she becomes interested in Dick. As the sea gets rough, she bumps him into the fire. She arranges for him to be transferred to the deck, but Dick, wary of women, refuses. The ship docks in Nicaragua, where in a rowdy bar, Dick sees a bandit, Santini, pawing an American prostitute, who objects to his advances. Dick fights Santini and, during the ensuing brawl, hits the police chief. Dick and the ship's black porter, Eclipse, are thrown in jail, and after eating bananas three times a day for a number of days, they accept an offer of parole in exchange for work on a coffee plantation. It turns out that the owners, Margarita and her uncle, arranged for the parole because they think that Dick can demand protection by the U.S. Marines if they are attacked by bandits. As Dick and Margarita are riding one day, he shoots a mountain lion about to pounce from a tree. The shot causes Margarita's horse to bolt, and Dick catches the horse and pulls her onto his horse. As they rest, she holds his hand, but he remains cold. Dick gets a letter from the American commander in Managua stating that they will only protect plantations owned by Americans. Believing that Margarita loves him, Dick marries her, but after the wedding, he overhears her proudly tell her uncle that now, if the bandits attack, the Marines will protect them because of her marriage. Dick returns to his room disgusted, without hearing her next say that she really loves him and would have married him even if he had been an Eskimo. That night, Dick berates Margarita, not listening to her protestations of love. In the morning when he leaves, she says she hates him, but after she learns that Santini's bandits are heading for their hacienda on the road on which Dick is riding, she drives to rescue him. At the plantation, after the bandits cut the telephone wires, Dick sends Eclipse to get the Marines. At night, during a period of calm, Dick thanks Margarita for risking her life, but she says pridefully that she only did it so he could fight for them. However, she finally confesses she needs and loves him, and they embrace, just as the bandits begin to fire. The troops arrive, however, and Dick beats Santini. The lovers finally embrace in Margarita's bedroom.