It amazes me that more movie addicts aren't aware of-- and devoted to--the work of the great actress-comedienne Marie Dressler (1868-1934) who reigned supreme at MGM in the 1930s. She was a bigger star and drew more people to the box office than any of the three other MGM ladies of that era--Greta Garbo, Norma Shearer and Joan Crawford-- who, in contrast to Dressler, have retained their fame through the decades.

To give an indication of Dressler's status and popularity during her hey-day, she was an early Academy Award® winner (for 1930's Min and Bill, which we'll be showing June 20). She was also an Oscar® nominee for 1932's Emma which is in our TCM lineup on June 27, with other major films to her credit such as 1933's Tugboat Annie and Dinner at Eight (both also airing on TCM June 27), the latter a film in which Dressler receives top billing over such other powerhouse names as John Barrymore, Jean Harlow, Wallace Beery and Lionel Barrymore.

Dinner, particularly, gives a great sampling of Dressler's talent in drama as well as her flawless, sometimes outrageous, comedic timing. It also contains what may be the funniest 18 seconds done on film in the 1930s, a scene at the very end of the movie with Dressler and Harlow as the principal players: Dressler as a middle aged ex-actress, overly coiffed and wearing too much makeup for a woman of any age and now roughly the size of a military tank, paying only minimal attention to Harlow, a 20-year-old platinum blonde bombshell, who at one point declares, "I read a book the other day." That information causes Dressler to react as if she'd just been hit by a sniper's bullet. (It's one of the all-time biggest reaction shots anyone has ever done in a movie, something only one with Dressler's courage and willingness to take chances could get away with). "Read a book?" she asks incredulously. "Yes," says Harlow, "it's all about civilization or something; a nutty kind of book. You know the guy says machinery is going to take the place of every profession." With that, Dressler abruptly stops, gives Harlow a quick top-to-bottom once-over with her eyes, well aware that every curve in Harlow's well-toned body is, in essence, her calling card, and says "Oh, my dear. That's something you need never worry about...." (Hilarious, as delivered by Dressler and Harlow).

Dressler's reign at the top turned out to be remarkably short (five years) until she died in 1934 at age 65; her struggle to survive in show business having been long, arduous and exhausting. The highs including a costar spot with Charlie Chaplin in Charlie's 1914 prehistoric Tillie's Punctured Romance (we'll be showing it on June 6) followed soon after by Dressler personally facing many years of unemployment and heartbreak that took her to the brink of suicide, until a chance meeting with MGM writer Frances Marion changed Dressler's fate beyond her wildest dreams for those final years of her life, beginning with a supporting role in Garbo's first talking picture, 1930's Anna Christie (airing June 13) which the magnificent Marie managed to steal lock, stock and barrel, no easy task. Do join us every Monday this month; you'll be richly rewarded.

by Robert Osborne