Fond Farewell: Turning of the Paige (2024)

Hi Poseidon!

Wonderful tribute to a highly enjoyable performer. I was saddened (though hardly surprised...I mean she was 101!) to read the news of her passing, though as with Glynis Johns I was hoping they would give Olivia de Havilland and Luise Rainer a run for their money and make it to 105!

I agree that part of her inability to get a bit higher in the ranks was her penchant to look differently in many of her films. However unlike many of her contemporaries as she aged out of her glamour girl years she was willing to change with the times and always looked relaxed, fresh and modern not becoming locked in a dated frowzy appearance.

I'm not sure Warners was the proper studio for her, especially after Doris Day came on the scene. She was a good dramatic actress but not an arrestingly great one. Her real strengths were song, dance and comedy and Warners wasn't really the top studio for any of those. She might have fared better at MGM or Paramount.

I have only Two Gals and a Guy of her theatrical films to see, which seems to be locked up in a vault somewhere but for which I don't really have high hopes of discovering a hidden gem. The quality of most of her pictures wasn't the best but she was always a vibrant, welcome presence.

From seeing her over the years on various game shows she seemed like a down to earth, intelligent and funny person and it was a delight to take a trip through her long career!

Thanks for this great tribute, Poseidon! I agree with Rick-- you really have a gift for presenting these overviews of a performer's life and career!

To be honest, Janis Paige was someone that I was aware of, but had not really focused on as a performer. I have *very* vague memories of seeing her in PLEASE DON'T EAT THE DAISIES with my Mom (a huge Doris Day fan) when I was about 5, but oddly, that shot of her in that feathered hat really rings a bell.

I also saw her in THE CARETAKERS in a TV showing years after its release, but it's been so long ago that I don't have a specific memory of her in that over-the-top ensemble. The shot of Paige from ALL IN THE FAMILY also rings a bell, but that's about my total exposure to her. And while I was somewhat aware that she was a musical performer and entertainer, I didn't realize how much she'd done in that area-- and how much she missed out on.

So it was a surprise and a delight to belatedly "discover" this beautiful and talented woman through this tribute! I'm stunned at how attractive she was no matter how her look evolved, and at the way she maintained her beauty all through her life, without looking "overly enhanced" like so many older stars!

A great job, Poseidon! Thanks for remembering Janis Paige this way!

I hope things are picking up for you! Love to all, and be safe and well, everyone!

BryonByron, thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed this "un-beefcake" post. Sometimes I have to keep it legit. LOL

Rick, I don't know for sure about Paige's memoirs. She did, though, submit a magazine article several years back recalling her turn at bat with the "me too" movement. With such a long, varied career, it seems like she'd have had plenty of recollections and interactions to fill a book with....! Thanks.

joel65913, you know what struck me about Janis' looks over the years? As a young lady, her eyes were HUGE! I mean, really big. And then as she aged they seemed to become smaller and smaller, almost squinty. It's really weird. But I thought she was generally attractive nonetheless. (As an aside, I've been told that as we age our faces keep growing... so people with large, round faces become moreso with time. So I tell young girls on the hunt to keep an eye on men with narrow faces became eventually they'll be very handsome! LOL) I thought for a moment that my old reliable site (ok.ru) might have the movie you're looking for, but no... I have since discovered that my work seems to have done something with web security that prevents me from accessing all those movies I want to see on that site. Last night, at home, I tried looking at it on my phone and all was well. AND... I was able to see part of one of my longtime bucket list movies which used to NOT be on the site, but recently appeared in a gorgeous copy -- "The Flying Fontaines!" I wasn't able to take time to see all of it, though. Thank you.

hsc, thanks much! Maybe I missed my calling as an obituary writer! LOL I, too, was surprised at the length and breadth of Paige's career, though she seemed to be around on '70s TV a LOT. And, as you say, I agree that she looked really attractive at basically all stages of her long life and career. I'm glad that you and others enjoyed reading about her. It took me a WHILE to knock this out. My work is all ramped up due to the construction season kicking in. Physically, I'm doing quite a bit better nearly one month after my accident. Two tiny sores on my knee, which ought to be cleared up in another week. Finger is at 95%. And I'm walking pretty vigorously again. Not like I was, but closer with each passing day. Yesterday was a milestone in that I did 2 miles at lunch, then 3 more miles after work. Gotta keep the engine moving forward!

Thanks very much to you all for reading and commenting! I'll be back when I can.

Hi Poseidon,

I noticed that about Janis's eyes too but thought maybe it was just my perception. I remember her in Romance on the High Seas being so wide-eyed (and her hair a marvel of construction) and shortly after seeing her on Super Password and her eyes seeming so much smaller, but then her hairstyle was very different by that point with the front meeting her brows so I thought maybe it was a trick of the camera. Speaking of hairdos I agree about Doris not being as suited to those elaborate hairstyles as Miss Paige though I loved her with the longer hair she started out with in Romance and My Dream is Yours before the short, stiff 50's New Look imprisoned women's hair for a good decade.

Oh The Flying Fontaines with that adorable Michael Callan!! I enjoyed it even if it isn't a lost classic, but fit men flying through the air in skintight costumes is always worth a watch!!

Yes I tried the ok.ru site in my search for Two Gals and a Guy. It's been a real gold mine at times (the day I found the one Linda Darnell movie I had left to see "Angels of Darkness" I was so happy I didn't even care that it was in Italian!) but even there some titles can't be found. It seems like so many of my favorite Golden Age actresses, excluding the really iconic ones such as Crawford, Davis, Hepburn etc., have one or two titles that aren't lost but are completely unavailable. I've hit that wall with Ann Sheridan, Kay Kendall, Eve Arden, Glynis Johns, Patricia Neal, Joan Bennett, Diane Baker, Lee Remick, Ruth Roman, among others, even Myrna Loy and Lucille Ball whose films you would think because of their degree of fame would be readily accessible have that one elusive Holy Grail title out there somewhere. But still I search in hope!!

Poseidon, thanks for the update on how things are for you, and glad to hear that some things are picking up!

And your tribute motivated me to check to see if I could find and watch one of her films you cited. It's an odd choice, too, with a bit of an "ulterior motive"-- the 1951 comedy MISTER UNIVERSE, which was the debut film of Vince Edwards, and which satisfies the "beefcake quotient" in this obituary post.

Edwards-- bleached blond, body-shaved and more muscular than in his later career-- plays a good-natured, naive and incredibly honest bodybuilder who wins the "Mister Universe" title in the opening sequence, to the delight of an audience of screaming teen girls who act like they're watching Elvis or the Beatles. (One of them is an unbilled Joan Rivers, who's easy to spot in a group medium shot, despite having dark hair with a "Superman" forehead curl.)

When Edwards' old military buddy-- con man Jack Carson, who gets most of the film's focus-- tries to get him out of the theater, the frenzied girls attack and strip Edwards down to his boxers, with one of them absconding with his pants AND the cash prize he'd just won to enable him to marry his fiancee. Worse, when Carson and Edwards dash out to the street to try to catch her, they promptly get arrested for Edwards' "indecent exposure."

The newspaper coverage of the incident (including a photo!) attracts the attention of wrestling promoter Bert Lahr, who's looking for a new star and realizes that Edwards has the physique, looks and sex appeal to be a hit on TV. So Edwards becomes "Mister Universe," the "World's Most Perfect Man" who makes a grand entrance with a bevy of harem girls (based on real-life TV wrestling star "Gorgeous George") and takes on a series of then-popular real-life TV wrestlers, including "Delightful Dave," whose ring persona is an 18th-century "fop" in makeup and powdered wig.

One HUGE problem-- Edwards can't be convinced to "fake wrestle" and always wins every pairing in a matter of seconds, simultaneously making him a star with TV audiences but a pariah with the behind-the-scenes bookies who take bets on the outcomes of the rigged matches. This leads to Carson and Lahr desperately trying to cause Edwards to get in the ring and lose, with wackiness ensuing.

Janis Paige, alas, isn't given all that much to do as Carson's long-suffering fiancee, but she's an appealing presence-- sweet, perky but getting her own digs in from time to time, while mostly dutifully bailing out (literally, once) her constantly scheming man.

This is pretty much not worth the effort if you're *only* watching it for Paige, but if you're in the mood for vintage lowbrow comedy, it's amusing-- and it does have vintage beefcake on display in the opening scene (including bodybuilder/character actor "Buck" Kartalian) and throughout with Edwards (although his opponents are a bunch of grotesques).

And not long before this low-budget independent production was made in NYC, Vince Edwards had been working as a "physique" model for "Lon of New York" appearing pretty much as he does here, only with his natural hair color-- and with everything on full display in the "under the counter" shots!

Thanks again for all you do, Poseidon! Love to all and be safe and well, everyone!

Hi Gingerguy! It does my heart good to know that NYC papers honored her with such coverage. Looking into her, she was certainly part of the stage community there over an expanse of years. She basically got zippo most other places. I was lucky to see a blip about her passing...! Thanks!

joel65913, I'd forgotten about her stint on "Super Password" until you mentioned it! I still watch that here and there. My draw to "Fontaines" is Rian Garrick, whose cinematic output was minimal. I can't wait to watch the rest, not that Michael Callan isn't cute as a bug, too. You know one of my current MIA/Holy Grail movies? It's probably not even good, but that's hardly the point. When you want to see something, you want to see it...! It's called "Tiger By the Tail" with Christopher George and Tippi Hedren. Maybe someday. Thank you!

SonofaBuck, thanks so much for your very kind remarks! I appreciate it.

David Kenilworth, thank you. I intend to try my best. ;-)

hsc, I feel like I saw a really poor copy of "Mr Universe" a few years back - or at least snippets. Young Vince was pretty dreamy. I've dug up a few unusual shots of him over the years, particularly at the Hollywood Athletic Club. Thanks much!

Unfortunately, since MISTER UNIVERSE was an independent production released through the small distributor Eagle-Lion just before they went under and got absorbed by United Artists, it almost certainly has been in PD status for decades, and bad copies are going to be the only way to see it.

In case anyone's interested, the print I viewed on YouTube is soft and occasionally barely watchable full-screen, though it might improve a little if you watch it on a phone:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYqSmxAJ1W4

One of the comments on this video mentions that MISTER UNIVERSE went practically straight to early TV showings and was local programming fodder for years. This video probably was a multi-generational copy of a 16mm TV print, and possibly was lifted straight from one of the "budget label" DVDs released.

And here's another weird nugget about this film: a few months *before* it hit theaters in January 1951, it hit spinner racks in a comic book adaptation!

There was a short-lived (only 22 issues from 1950-53) comic book, MOVIE LOVE, that adapted two movies as a "double feature in each issue," padded with featurettes on Hollywood stars. MISTER UNIVERSE got the ML treatment in issue #6 (dated Dec. 1950 but released earlier), where it was the "B-feature" to MGM's TWO WEEKS WITH LOVE, starring Jane Powell and Ricardo Montalban!

The craziest part of this is-- while Janis Paige is featured in an inset smooch with Jack Carson on the photo-cover and gets "leading lady" billing in the story, her role in the comic is reduced even more than it was in the film!

For some reason, the comic book takes it upon itself to rewrite the script to feature Edwards' fiancee-- who's briefly mentioned as a plot motivation but *never appears in the film*-- and gives this new character almost all the material Janis Paige has in the actual film!

And even crazier, though this new character "Dorothy" is credited to actress Joyce Matthews-- who actually appears in the film in a non-speaking recurring bit as a mobster's moll-- artist Fred Guardineer's likenesses of all the actors are so vague (Janis "Page" looks like she and Carson are wearing "his 'n' hers" shiny black molded plastic wigs) that "Dorothy" might as easily be *Doris Day* horning in on a Janis Paige role yet again! LOL!

You can see the entire issue on the "Digital Comics Museum" site that archives PD "pre-Comics Code" comic books (and some of these comics are jaw-dropping and unintentionally hilarious):

https://digitalcomicmuseum.com/preview/index.php?did=31570

and the adaptation starts here, on page 37 of a page-by-page document:

https://digitalcomicmuseum.com/preview/index.php?did=31570&page=37

(One caveat: this site is often a little sluggish and I've sometimes found it hard to access.)

Thanks again for all you do, Poseidon! Love to all, and be safe and well, everyone!

Hi again Poseidon,

Somewhere along the line I have managed to see "Tiger by the Tail" and you are right to not have your hopes set too high, I was looking for it more for the supporting cast (Glenda Farrell (ADORE her) and Dean Jagger especially) but having Tippi in it was a bonus. Surprise! surprise! I found it on YouTube!! and here's the link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6cONQqzqLs

I agree about the indifference often to whether a film you really want to see is good or bad when you have your own reason to seek it out. For instance the Kay Kendall film I'm missing "Abdullah's Harem" (or "Abdullah the Great") has all the earmarks of a stinker and which she appeared in strictly to get out of her Rank contract in order to pursue bigger opportunities in Hollywood. She never mentioned it with anything but disdain and it came and went in the blink on a eye in theatres with terrible reviews. I could not care less, I want to see that movie dammit!!

Lucille Ball did much the same thing to finish her Columbia pact (on C.B. DeMille's advice) by agreeing to appear in the hilariously bad "The Magic Carpet" so she could be in his "The Greatest Show on Earth" for which the studio would not loan her out but was keeping her chained to them by only offering her junk to prevent her from completing her final obligation. She complied only to find out after the picture was made that she was pregnant with Lucie Arnaz and had to withdraw! That however is not the Lucy film I'm missing, that would be a 30's RKO low budget flick called of all things "The Farmer in the Dell"! Again not high hopes but Lucy's character at least has a name so I assume her character has some significance to the plot.

Those two are in fact an example of the two levels of frustration when searching for those Grail films. With something like the Glynis Johns films I'm missing, they are English made (as was Kay's) from very early in her career so I can be realistic that my chances are slim because of those factors (same goes for Ruth Roman's Italian lensed "Desert Desperados") and it's more disappointing than frustrating that they aren't available. It's stuff like Lucy's film, or Ann Sheridan's "Just Across the Street" (produced by Universal), Diane Baker's "Tess of the Storm Country" (20th Century Fox) or Myrna Loy's 1931 version of "Body and Soul" (Fox Films), that also starred Humphrey Bogart and was restored a few years ago by MoMa to be shown at a festival and then tucked back in a vault (What's the point of that!?) where the search becomes truly maddening! I mean those are major studios productions, what are they doing with them? GRRR!

Okay rant over, enjoy the film! :-)

Janis did indeed write her memoirs in the form of Reading Between the Lines: A Memoir which was released in 2020. Haven't read it myself but one of these days.

Not that its a competition or anything but wow that Janis outlived even Bob Hope (him dying only 2 months after his 100th).

hsc, that comic book was a hoot... I had briefly forgotten how sometimes on old magazines like that, the printing would be slightly off and the colors wouldn't line up 100%, giving people an odd blurred look like the cover photo. I guess my favorite thing was the telegram telling the wrestler that because he was photographed "wearing shorts in jail" he was being fired by the YMCA! That was at a time when men swam nude at the Y! LOL I think jail would have been slightly more alarming to Mr. Otis than the shorts... The depiction of his opponents was hilarious, too. All hairy with teeth missing. (And you're right about the gal resembling Doris Day!) Thanks!

joel65913, I was stunned to see "Tiger" in a nice print on YT. It went up last year after I'd given up on searching there. I had to watch it immediately and it really wasn't very good, so convoluted and vague. But what a gallery of faces! And Charo had a decent moment or two. It was neat to see Tippi from that time when she was not appearing in very many movies. Thanks for pointing out the upload and providing the link! I appreciate it. Oh, and I more than agree about restoring a movie solely for a screening and then not making it more available after...!!! >:-[

Huttonmy710, thank you for clearing that up! I should think it's an interesting read. Hopefully, if I ever come across it.