MovieChat Forums > Hellfire (1949) Discussion > marie windsor

marie windsor

posted 17 years ago by pjwoodall1
4 replies | jump to latest

My dad retired from the old AEC and moved his family to Lake Havasu in 1972. The city had a celebrity tennis tournament one year, and my sister Lia got to be the ball girl.
Lia also babysat for Marie Windsor who gave her a generous tip while James Franciscus' son pointed out how small a tip he had given the other babysitter. I doubt if Franciscus appreciated it.
Dad was very familiar with Windsor's lengthy career, but I don't think my stepmother had ever heard of her. The women she usually played were ones you didn't bring home to meet your family.

Favorites: THE KILLING, HELLFIRE. THE NARROW MARGIN and THE FIGHTING KENTUCKIAN among many others.

[–] guanche 17 years ago

I enjoyed your anecdote. I've always admired Marie Windsor's acting ability and wondered why she never got major roles that went to actresses with so much less talent. Although she was a little bit strange looking, I've always found her to be extremely attractive, especially as a brunette. Despite the fact that she often and convincingly played despicable characters, I recall reading that she really was a genuinely nice person in real life who enjoyed meeting fans. Your story seems to bear this out.

One thing that I've always been curious about is whether or not she was a practicing Mormon in adult life, since I understand that she was raised as one. If so, much of her career would seem pretty ironic. Maybe your Dad knows.

Please let me know if you find out. She was definitely an interesting person who I have also read was a successful painter and sculptress. Too bad I never got to be a warmly received fan!

[–] pjwoodall1 17 years ago

Sorry I can't hel
p you there. I"d read she was active in the Screen Actor's Guild until she retired but didn't know about her artistic talents.

My favorite Windsor films are THE NARROW MARGIN, HELLFIRE and THE FIGHTING KENTUCKIAN. The remake of "Margin" was pretty good, but I much prefer Charles McGraw to Gene Hackman. There was no doubt as McGraw's toughness and honesty. Did you know Douglas broke his jaw in SPARTACUS when he shoved McGraw's head into the stewpot?

I think one reason Windsor never became a big star was that she might've been considered a B actress. My father once met Acquanetta in Phoenix at a poetry reading and said she was glad people still remembered her.

See you at the movies.

[–] guanche 17 years ago

Thanks for some more interesting tidbits. I didn't know about McGraw's Jaw (as close as I'll ever get to a poem). I do remember reading an interview with Marie Windsor in which she mentioned that McGraw died a tragic death in the early seventies by falling through a glass shower door and severing an artery. Almost as weird as his screen demise in Spartacus.

It was interesting to hear about Acquanetta. An exotic, sexy actress whose career was no doubt inhibited by the rampant racism of her times. Although often cast as a "jungle girl", I believe she was an American Indian. It was nice to hear that she remained involved with the arts.

[–] pjwoodall1 17 years ago

Nice poetry. Douglas on the commentary seems to shrug it off as one of those things that happen on a film. If you've never seen the Criterion edition I recommend it with its commentary(Douglas, Ustinov, Howard Fast, etc), a comic book version, two deleted scenes, etc.

There's also a gladiators training documentary with stunt coordinator Johnny Day(Daheim) putting the actors through the regime. Day and Dale van Sickel are the stuntmen who take out Cagney in LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME.

You might conclude that I am a fan of stuntmen, particularly the team at Republic Pictures, but that's another story.

See you at the movies.