A Photographic Detective Story - Name That Actress

[Fletch]

Wasn't that set in Victorian England? This sure doesn't look it.

 

[Mahinatakataka]

Lansbury

Wasn't that set in Victorian England? This sure doesn't look it.

Could be. I haven't seen it in years. I don't think it's Gaslight or National Velvet. It could be shots from a screen test or for a film that never got produced or distrubted.

It looks like Lansbury's profile.

 

[Senator Jack]

That's definitely Angela Lansbury. Good call from MikeFromSeattle about the 'Murder She Wrote' appearance. It all fits.

 

[Mahinatakataka]

Well...

Well if the consensus is that this is Angela Lansbury, you'll have to let me know what you'll do for me.

In deference to Dottie Parker, "one perfect limosine" would be just fine. LOL.

Please PM if we if it turns out to be Lansbury. When MikefromSeattle comes up with the name of the male actor, it might be nice to cross reference the Murder She Wrote episode with his name on the IMDB database. If he's there, it's very possible she brought him in for some work on an episode, and she's the 'mystery lady in the production still.'

 

[Fletch]

Maybe I don't quite follow you, but...

...I'm pretty sure Murder, She Wrote wasn't in production in the late '40s/early '50s.
...and earlier on we did establish that Dane Clark was the M,SW guy in question and very strongly resembled the actor in the still.

As for consensus, there was just as much of one that it was Martha Vickers earlier. More, if you buy that it's Clark and de Cordova in the still.

 

[Senator Jack]

...I'm pretty sure Murder, She Wrote wasn't in production in the late '40s/early '50s.
...and earlier on we did establish that Dane Clark was the M,SW guy in question and very strongly resembled the actor in the still.

Giving some of her old friends work. My uncle, a film/televsion producer, does that all the time.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

ahhh could the male actor then perhaps be Herd Hatfield?

Who was in Dorian Grey but then later appeared in at least 3 different MSW episodes....and who also appeared in the Biography episode about Miss Lansbury?

http://imdb.com/name/nm0368836/

Can google Image for more pictures of him.....

 

[Fletch]

I feel certain it's not Hatfield.

Hatfield on Alfred Hitchcock Presents, 1956

 

[Girl Friday]

I am confused. I was looking in the Powder Room to see what the answer is :eusa_doh:

If it is not Lucille Ball or Angela Lansbury, who is it???

 

[K by the bay]

The actor looks like Farley Granger.

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Where's my stole?

Ha ha, people actually more confused than I am. It is Dane clark. Possibly Martha Vickers from That way with women, altho I havent seen the film in a long time. Dane Clark was on some episodes of Murder she wrote in the 1970s. sorry for lack of punctuation i am on a short break at work. i have gaslight and dorian gray both memorized, they are not where this still was from. Definitely Dane Clark and he was in neither of those movies.

 

[The Wolf]

I think it is Dane Clark and Alexis Smith. Does anyone have a copy of "Whiplash" from 1948 to see if the set and clothes match any scenes?

Sincerely,
The Wolf

 

[patrick1987]

I think it is Dane Clark and Alexis Smith. Does anyone have a copy of "Whiplash" from 1948 to see if the set and clothes match any scenes?

Sincerely,
The Wolf

I'll look for the movie but I agree that actress looks a lot like Alexis Smith.

 

[Fletch]

Just remember Smith was 5'9" (barefoot I'm assuming), and Clark was only an inch taller.

 

[Stinchcomb]

Heck, I'd be tempted to say that is Betty Davis.

 

[Girl Friday]

I am with you. No one has that concave face like she did!

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Now I'm agreeing on Alexis Smith

Ok, I don't have a copy of Whiplash but look at this profile http://www.alexissmith.com/ Looks like Bette Davis. Smith in a movie with Dane Clark no matter how tall she was. Not that this is keeping me up nights or anything.

 

[Mike in Seattle]

Dane Clark was indeed the name of the actor I was thinking of and couldn't remember. And RE: Murder, She Wrote - I wasn't thinking the actress was Lansbury - just that was always big on casting actors & actressses that hadn't been seen in years on the show and that Dane Clark was in two episodes.

offtopic: I also liked that in one or more episodes, they used a scene or scenes from a 30's/40's movie as a flashback, using the same actors in the "modern" part of the episode).

IMDB only lists Lansbury & Clark working together in Murder, She Wrote - nothing from back in the 40's, so I think that knocks her out of the running. Clark & Alexis Smith appeared in Hollywood Canteen in 1944 and Whiplash in 1948 and I've seen neither so I don't know if the set matches anything from either movie. Ditto for The Way with Women. But Smith's nose & chin seem more rounded & fuller that the mystery woman.

As previously mentioned, Clark & Vickers worked together in The Way with Women in 1947 and "guy in chair with cigarette" could be Fred De Cordova. Here's a shot of Vickers from The Big Sleep and her nose & chin DO seem to have the same thinness and sharp angularity and the cheeks the same plumpness under the eyes of the picture in question.

 

[happyfilmluvguy]

I found this other still photo from That Way With Women on the internet and thought it might add some clue to mysterious photo.

What do you think?

It's definitely Dane Clark

We've found the actor! Great job everyone!
Now is the actress Martha Vickers or Alexis Smith? They both have a pointly nose and chin so I can't really tell.
I think it is Whiplash. Alexis Smith's chin seems a lot more pointier than Martha Vickers.

Also I had seen a pirated copy of That Way With Women on DVD on ebay a while back but either the price was high or I didn't have the money for it. Oh well.

 

[Naphtali]

The woman in your graphics strongly resembles the younger sister, Carmen, in "The Big Sleep" (1946). That actress' name is Martha Vickers.