All posts tagged: Ouida Rathbone

Michael B. Druxman talks to us about his new play

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Today the Baz is talking to Michael B.Druxman, author of Basil Rathbone, His Life & His Films, about his new one-person play Rathbone. Michael B. Druxman is a veteran Hollywood screenwriter whose credits include Cheyenne Warrior with Kelly Preston; Dillinger and Capone starring Martin Sheen and F. Murray Abraham; and The Doorway with Roy Scheider, which he also directed. His one-person play, Jolson, has had numerous productions around the country. Other produced stage credits include one-person plays about Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, Spencer Tracy and Orson Welles. These and plays about Errol Flynn, Maurice Chevalier and Clara Bow have been individually published under the collective title of The Hollywood Legends. Additionally, Mr. Druxman is the author of more than fifteen published books, including several nonfiction works about Hollywood, its movies, and the people who make them. TB: Michael, can you tell me why you decide to revisit BR at this time? DRUXMAN: A major influence was your website, THE BAZ, Your research and the comments from some of your readers intrigued me. A lot of …

Anyone know who this lady is?

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The inscription reads: “To My Two Darlings – Basil and Ouida Rathbone, with love, Myra, 1931″ Well, it looks like “1931” and Marcia Jessen, who suggested I post this on the off chance anyone can identify her, thinks it’s 1931, but I find it a bit strange, because to me her hair, jewellery and make-up all say “1950s”. MJ wonders, given the possible facial resemblance, if this might be a relative of Ouida’s. So, if, by remote chance, anyone can identify her, let us know.

IN & OUT OF CHARACTER – guest post by Rosemarie

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Thoughts on In & Out of Character – by Rosemarie I finally received my “Bible” for Christmas, BR’s own In and Out of Character, which in literary terms is more of a memoir than a true autobiography. In the past, I’ve only read snippets here and there from searching the book in amazon, or quoted on this site or on basilrathbone.net. I must admit that reading it from cover-to-cover gives me new insight. While Basil’s bio is not completely “factual,” I believe it is honest in what it reveals about him and Ouida. I think he did truly love her, whatever her foibles. As a teacher of writing and literature, I think the preface one of the most important parts of the book. He begins by dismissing any ideas that he is going to reveal anything damaging about the people he loves, perhaps already putting aside the speculations and criticisms of any who knew him well and knew about any of the inadequacies of the marriage. According to the section where he describes meeting Ouida, …

A Christmas Candid

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Continuing the theme of posting suggestions sent in by you guys – This candid of Basil, Ouida an unidentified doe-eyd female is a total mess, stained, torn and watermarked. But Cherryice sent me this version that has been de-watermarked to a large extent, and it makes it worth a look, because of the little moment it’s caught between husband, wife and young lady on the stairs…. Not sure of the date, but by the look of the clothes I am guessing early to mid fifties. Hope you’re all having a great holiday season! We’ve been playing Little Big Planet A LOT 🙂

12 Days of Christmas

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Ok – it’s not actually the first day of Christmas yet, but we’re starting the celebration a little early on THE BAZ and taking a break from the serious biography stuff for the holiday season. Until Jan 1 We’ll be posting reader suggestions and contributions only – photos, articles, artwork, anything. So, email me if there’s anything you’d like to see featured. To kick off this photo was sent in by a reader who describes him/herself as a “serious collector.” There are versions of it all over the web, of varying quality, but this one is a scan of a print and gorgeously crisp. The image is named “Rathbone1923” which presumably refers to the date it was taken. Is that accurate? I have no idea. If so it was a big year for him. He was about to star in THE SWAN and later that year he’d meet Ouida Bergere, as she called herself by then. And here’s a closer look at that face.

a closer look at the second Mrs Rathbone part IV

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How much Basil Rathbone knew about his second wife’s past is debatable. Some of the things he said about her in public suggest she might have been keeping certain things from him. For example he said in one magazine interview that he’d been unsure when he first got to know her whether Ouida believed in divorce or if she would be willing to dissolve her marriage to Fitzmaurice in order to wed him – (True Story, 1940) which makes pretty much no sense if he’d known she’d been married and divorced at least once previously. So, it may be he never knew about Mr Burgess in Little Rock. Or about Little Rock at all. Or about Mr Weadock – if indeed she ever married a man by that name. Or even about Eula/Eunie Branch. He generally puts over the image of Ouida as a very morally upright woman with strong religious convictions, who was keen to be married in a church and even refused to stay in the same hotel with him until they were …

a closer look at the second mrs Rathbone…

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When you read Basil’s autobiography and various magazine interviews with him in the late 1930s, you get the impression of Ouida, his second wife, as a devoted and selfless woman who rescued him from failure, gave up a brilliant career as a thousand-dollar a week screenwriter to help him become a star, and was instrumental in reuniting him with his estranged son… Is this impressive portrait the true story?….

Michael Druxman answers a few of your questions

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We’re welcoming back Michael B Druxman, author of Basil Rathbone: His Life & His Films, to answer some of the questions put to him by our readers following his recent Q&A The Baz: We’d like to thank you Michael for taking the time to come back and do this. DRUXMAN: No trouble, and I want to thank your readers for all their kind words. It’s always great to know that your work is appreciated. THE BAZ: OK let’s begin… Bryony asks – I’d like to ask Michael Druxman if he ever met Basil DRUXMAN: Unfortunately, no. Winnie the Pooh asks – I have a question. Why does Mr Druxman think those like Cukor stipulated they wouldn’t talk gossip about Rathbone but not about Muni? Was it a tribute to him as a man? DRUXMAN: I didn’t interview Cukor about Muni. However, some people, like producer Henry Blanke, I did interview for both books.Perhaps the truth is very simple: Rathbone was a nice, gentle man who did his job and didn’t create waves, and Muni, the …