Roz Russell


Rosalind Russell after Auntie Mame returned to the top of Hollywood stardom and made this film along with Gypsy at Warners and then Five Finger Exercise and Troubel With Angels and its sequel at Columbia. Said to be a generous and gracious Lady, she was cast in this film for boxoffice reasons..

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And she did a wonderful job! A bit of trivia: she spent time in New York City observing Jewish women to get the vocal inflections, body language and hand gestures down, so she could be more honest with her portrayal (Roz herself was Catholic) of Mrs. Jacoby.

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If you get the chance, re-visit this film. You may have a different opinion of Roz. Gertrude Berg had done the Broadway version (to great praise), but was not considered a bankable movie actress. Even Roz was humbled by the fact they gave her the role. In her autobiography, she mentions that when they came to her about this movie, she said to them 'what does an Irish girl from CT. know about playing a Jewish woman, give the part to Gertrude, it is her part anyway' and they replied they would not do that because a previous movie Gertrude had made was not financially successful. Roz goes on to say the role was a big challenge and what convinced her to take the part was that she wanted to work with Alec Guinness. She respected Gertrude's performance and when Roz (gracious as always) accepted her Golden Globe Award as Best Actress for her role in this movie she acknowledged and thanked Gertrude Berg. I can't think of anyone Warner could have cast. I personally don't think that some of Roz's contemporaries, such as Crawford, Davis or Hepburn, would have been able to play this type of role. It will be interesting to see if anyone has some suggestions.

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thchicago--
Do you happen to know the name of the film that Gertrude was in that didn't do well? The only film I've ever seen her in was "the Goldbergs (1950)"--the film adaption of the radio/tv show of the same name. She was wonderful and if there is another film of hers out there I'd love to see it.

"Self-sacrifice is the real miracle out of which all reported miracles grow"
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

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BooBooKitty,
Hi! Sorry, I don't know the name of the movie referenced in the article that I read regarding why Gertrude did not get to repeat her Broadway role of Mrs. Jacoby for the film. I do, however, remember reading that Gertrude was very well respected and highly regarded in theater circles as a wonderful actress. I did check IMDB, but it looked like the credits posted were for TV.

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thchicago--
Thanks so much anyway. When TCM aired "A Majority of One" the other night Robert Osborne also mentioned she was in a "bomb", but didn't mention the name. Now my curiosity is really piqued! I will have to find out the name of the film--I will post it here if I do. I hadn't seen AMOO in so many years I was so very happy TCM played it.

**********UPDATE***********

I searched and found out that the film that Jack Warner was talking about was "The Goldbergs" from Paramount in 1950. I guess the film wasn't highly regarded at the time, I always enjoyed it. Not a great film, but an enjoyable film nonetheless. As much as I have always loved Roz, I can't help wonder how AMOO would have fared with Miss Berg as Mrs. Jacoby.

"Self-sacrifice is the real miracle out of which all reported miracles grow"
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Geraldine Page

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i totally agree with you on that.

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Shelly Winters?

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Shelley Winters was a highly insensitive actress, and she never could have pulled this off. I like Shelley, in the right kind of role (brassy blonde floozy) but Mrs. Jacoby was way beyond her range!

"Don't worry. I'm not on the side of the saints yet."

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The only actresses I feel should have been cast at the time WOULDN'T have been cast because they weren't 'box-office." Howzabout Molly Picon, Ethel Merman, Betty Walker and Thelma Ritter?
"May I bone your kipper, Mademoiselle?"

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