Rule 5 Saturday

Paulette Goddard was a former Ziegfield girl who hit it big in Hollywood in the 1940’s. She was married to several famous men, including Charlie Chaplin, Burgess Meredith and Eric Maria Remarque (although the legal standing of her marriage to Chaplin has always been in some doubt). She gave a wonderful performance as the half-breed love interest of Robert Preston in Northwest Mounted Police (set in the time of the Riel rebellion in Canada), and sparkled as Bob Hope’s girl in one of my favorite Hope movies, The Ghost Breakers.



Linda Darnell was a gorgeous brunette with a deep voice and a come-hither look who appeared, in either starring or important secondary roles, throughout the 1940s and early 1950s with such male leads as Henry Fonda, Victor Mature, Robert Mitchum and Tyrone Power. She had quite a number of solid screen credits, including that great (although highly romanticized) version of the shootout at the OK Corral, My Darling Clementine, The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, Unfaithfully Yours, and A Letter to Three Wives. She died at the age of 41 as the result of burns she received in a fire that broke out in a house where she was visiting friends.



Carole Landis was a talented singer and actress who made her mark primarily in comic roles, of which my favorite is the screwball comedy,Having a Wonderful Crime, also featuring Pat O’Brian and George Murphy. Like so many people who sought success in Hollywood, she led a tormented life, experiencing several bad marriages, and attempting suicide at least three times – the last time, sadly, with success, in 1948; she was only 29 years old.