SassMouthDames

Before the Stanislavski 'Method' overtook Hollywood in the 1950s, each studio had their own in-house drama coach to develop talent. The drama coaches were women: Phyllis Loughton Seaton (Paramount), Lela Rogers (RKO), Josephine Hutchinson (Columbia), Helena Sorrell (20th Century Fox), Sophie Rosenstein (Warner Bros.), and Anita Colby was 'feminine director' for Selznick Studio. But the most influential drama coach of all was Lillian Burns. Miss Burns established the drama school in Republic Pictures in 1935. She then did the same for MGM in 1936. She eventually left Metro to work as Harry Cohn's right hand in Columbia. She was a star maker who inspired loyalty among Lana Turner, Donna Reed, Janet Leigh, and Debbie Reynolds that shaped the century of American acting.

In Robert Wise's Born to Kill (1947), Claire Trevor veers between planning a future with Lawrence Tierney and curating his downfall. She gives one of her best performances in a picture that was initially dismissed as lurid but has since been reclaimed as a classic. Beneath the smart suits, metallic-stud accessories, and mink coat beats the heart of 'the coldest iceberg of a woman' who is utterly compelling to watch.

After struggling for years under the controlling grip of Harry Cohn, Kim Novak was finally able to relax once the Columbia boss had a heart attack and turned up his toes three weeks into production of Bell Book and Candle. In a few months, she would also be free of Muriel Roberts, the studio publicist who had pretended to be a close friend, when she was nothing more than a spy for Harry Cohn. Novak would not learn the extent of Muriel's betrayal until 1961.

During production of Johnny Guitar, Joan Crawford wrangled a lacklustre script, a mercurial director, a chaos agent, and columnists who put a bounty on her head. Johnny Guitar is a parable about the persecutions of McCarthyism, but it's also about the perils in store for an aging film star.

Constance Bennett's deal with Warner Bros. became a Hollywood scandal after Louella Parsons estimated that the star would earn $30,000 a week. Few reporters told the whole story. Two Against the World (1932) was her second picture on the deal. In the first half. Connie's performance anticipates the bratty screwball heiress types which were later portrayed by Claudette Colbert and Carole Lombard. And in the second half, she embodies the noble women of Depression-era melodramas starring Margaret Sullivan and Irene Dunne.
Special thanks to Thomas O'Mahony for sound editing the episode.