Carole Landis

In this episode we talk with Rich Schmelter about the life and career of Carole Landis. We also talk about his documentary about Carole’s service overseas during World War II. 

After listening, be sure to click on the link to watch the documentary and the other to order the book!

https://youtu.be/VRv_4ZsG_1I?si=jVV0cm_dWO5oge_v

https://www.amazon.com/-/he/Richard-Shmelter-ebook/dp/B0GMD5V4PH

Thanks for listening! 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

So welcome to Cinema Chat with David Heath. And uh I am your host. Uh coincidentally, my name is David Heath. And uh we are the podcast where we talk about movies from every era and just about every genre. And every once in a while we stumble across the guest uh that uh knows a lot about a particular subject, and uh we are very pleased uh to uh welcome uh Rich Schmelter on on the podcast. Um and he's going to talk about uh his book uh about famous movie star Carol Andis. Uh and uh thank you very much, Rich, for coming on.

SPEAKER_02 0:46

Thank you, Dave. It's great to be on your show.

SPEAKER_01 0:48

Yeah, and I uh I'm glad to have you. And I'm also uh I before I say anything, I want to thank my friend Sherry Snyder for connecting us. Um and uh thank you, Sherry, very much. Um but uh let's see, uh tell us uh you you got a a video out there that's uh a kind of a mini biography that that concentrates mostly uh on Carol Andis' service to uh to the uh war effort and and World War II, uh uh mostly the USO uh uh experience that she had. Um why didn't you tell us about your book um and uh and how you came to the Carolandis subject and what uh how it came about.

SPEAKER_02 1:35

Well the name of the book is Hollywood's Glamorous Patriot. It's about the devotion of Carol Landis for the war effort during World War II. And the initial interest that I took was um my Uncle Gene was a waist gunner on a B-24 bomber over in the South Pacific. And next to my parents, he was the greatest relative, you know, beside, you know, immediate family that that that you have through life. Um, but he he was the greatest relative that I was I was fortunate enough to know. And he was injured really uh bad where he broke up his legs and had had he survived. He was he was fine after it, but he went through some some rehab and all for it. But Carol Landis would go and visit hospitals and all, and she wound up meeting my uncle. And my uncle had a roll of money from all the places that he was, and he had it rolled up together because I guess that was almost like a rehabilitation type thing, you know, something to do. You didn't have you know video games at that time or anything, so you just took a bunch of foreign money and taped it together and glued it together. So I guess they gave him something to do. Well, Carol came by and she signed it for him and sat at his bedside, talked with him like she did everybody. And my uncle had that roll of money at his house. So I saw that roll of money and I saw this this lady's name on it, and I asked him, and he said, Oh, she was pretty, nice lady. You know, you know, you're talking to an 11-year-old kid, what are you gonna say? So then a few weeks later, my mom and dad were watching a movie called I Wake Up Screaming with Carol Landis, and that was kind of her real breakout role, even though some people might say one million years BC. But I always think her real breakout role was in I Wake Up Screaming, the first New York classic from 20th Century Fox. And my mom and dad were watching the movie, and my mom said she was, oh, this is uh the lady that signed Uncle Gene's money. Now, when I was 11, I didn't know why I liked her, you know, but I was attracted to her. And then all of a sudden I realized a few years later, like, wow, now I know why I really like her. And um, I just became very, very interested in her. And through the years, you know, I would talk a little bit with to my uncle about it and all. But then when my uncle passed away in 1991, I started to think about it and I wanted to really start writing some some projects at that time. And that project came to mind. And I wanted to split the book between like my uncle and Carol, but I thought that might be kind of wishy-washy. And, you know, it might be confusing to the readers. But then, you know, life gets in the way, you know, you you you wind up with your own family and all. And um, then as time goes on, I decided to start writing. And I wrote, but I always had that in the back of my mind. And finally, a few years ago, I was able to gather all the information that I needed through newspapers.com and some wonderful people that I met that uh opened up all kinds of vaults to me. Uh, this wonderful lady, Liz, she uh runs um Carolandis.net, and she's friends with the family, uh, you know, Carol's great nieces and uh a great niece, Tammy Powell, and they just opened up the vault for everything that I needed. You know, pictures-wise, this book is loaded with 200 pictures. A lot of it are is also in the documentary. And this truly is, I have 11 books uh before this, and even if I do 100 more, this will always be my opus. This book truly is um the most incredible, most enjoyable project that I did, considering it was you know set during such a horrific time of World War II. It was such interesting things to do because the people that helped me were amazing. And I was able to just gather this all up and this just flowed so perfectly. And um, that's how that's how the whole thing came to be. And um, everybody that knows me, if you're listening, thank you for listening to me talk so much about Carol Landis. I think I think a lot of people that I talk to at work, especially a good friend of mine, Brian Shepard, the poor guy listened to me for so much that he could probably come on this show and tell you tell you about the interview, uh be interviewed by you. So thanks, Brian. You're a good guy.

SPEAKER_01 5:34

Yeah, I I know what you mean though. Uh when you get in drenched in a subject, I I I do a weekly podcast, so I have a tendency to spend a week on a subject and then move on to the next subject, that kind of thing. But there are some times where uh, you know, I I feel inrenched in a particular subject, and and and I I can tell you that, yeah, I've seen um I I've seen roughly half the films that Carolynis has appeared in, uh, and I've watched all the ones that she starred in, um, except for Cadet Girl, which before we got on the uh on the recording process, uh, I mentioned to you that I haven't seen Cadet Girl and neither has m most of my audience because unless you're living in Los Angeles or visiting Los Angeles and go to UCLA, you ain't gonna see it.

SPEAKER_02 6:32

Umless somebody sneaks it out somewhere.

SPEAKER_01 6:35

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I I um um I I get so sad when I see on Wikipedia a film restored and and uh at the um at the UCLA Film Center, and I'm going, oh boy, another movie I'm not gonna have access to. Um and um, you know, it's just kind of funny, but uh but um get that yeah, it's it's easy to see why one would get interested in Carol Landis for a number of reasons. She's uh she absolutely was beautiful, which by the way, um she was called the Ping Girl. Uh explain why she was called the Ping Girl.

SPEAKER_02 7:16

They said uh Hell Roach designed that when she was working for uh Hell Roach Studios, and she did uh One Million Years BC and a few other movies for him. And he came up with that because you know everybody needed a nickname at that time. You know, you had all these different people with all these nicknames. So he came up with the nickname of the Ping Girl because that's the sound of a man's heart would make when they see her. She was, you know, that that beautiful and all. She didn't like it at all. And even though they had a launch party at uh a nightclub on the Sunset Strip, she did not appear there because she just did not want to be relayed. She claimed that that was um, I don't know if I should say it online, but she said that that's that's almost like a sexual uh you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. It's like the yeah, and it it was like she she kind of was offended by that. And um, she tried to write to all the newspapers saying, you know, don't call me that, you know. But even though she was she'll forever be the known as the ping girl, because anytime you look up Carol Landis, you'll always see the ping girl. She was, you know, the blonde bomber, the uh GI goddess. That's what the Americans fighting soldiers called her, and she loved every minute of that.

SPEAKER_01 8:25

Yeah, and we're gonna get into her films too. Uh, but tell us about that that service uh to the troops, um, how that all came about, because there were a handful of entertainers that really took uh the war effort seriously. What uh how how did she get involved with it? Do you know?

SPEAKER_02 8:44

Well, even before uh prior to world prior prior to the American involvement in World War II, Carol wanted to go over to England and she wanted to take uh flight lessons. She wanted to she she was actually learning how to be a pilot. She did, you name the self-defense, uh I'm sorry, the defense for for the war effort, you know, to watch out for the uh West Coast invasion of this and that. She was involved in in every type of organization possible, you know, to watch out for the homeland. She took rifle practice, she worked for the Red Cross, she served donuts to GIs, worked at the Hollywood canteen, dancing with the soldiers and all. And she had so many uniforms, Dave, that she had to keep them in her car because when she would go to the uh office, I'm sure, when she would go to the studios, she didn't know what she was going to be working on as far as a volunteer. So she kept all of them in her car. She changed in her car on her way there. And um, she wanted to go and uh go to England and be a pilot over there for an all-female group, but she had to become a citizen of the United Kingdom. And she said, you know, there's no way she's an American first. So she can't, you know, she she dissed that idea real quick. And of course, World War II started. And then uh we are the involvement of the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, and she wasted no time. Uh, when the USO was formed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, um, she wanted to be that on the first, very first tour. She was she couldn't get there fast enough. However, she was making a movie called The Powers Girl. And 20th Century Fox would not let her get out of that, so she had to wait. So in turn, Al Jolson went over, Meryl Oberon, those two went over there. And the tour was supposed to be of Europe and Africa, but Al Jolson kind of got a little temperamental during it because he had a little bit of an ego. So they cut they cut they cut the tour short. So then Carol was waiting and waiting and waiting. She finally had the chance to go in October of 1942 to February of 1943. She was part of a group called the Four Jills, which was uh right, uh uh Kay Francis, of course, Carol, uh Martha Ray, and dancer Mitzi Mayfair. And they were the only all-male USO tour that went up that went over there. And they toured Europe, I'm sorry, England, and then they toured, well, they also went to Ireland, and then they toured North Africa. And Carol wanted to get as close to the front as she possibly could. And all the higher-ups kept saying, no, no, no, it's dangerous, you can't do this. Well, she wasn't going to be denied. So she went right to the top. She went to uh General Dwight D. Eisenhower and asked for permission. Eisenhower had no problem with it. And even Jimmy Doolittle, the uh pilot that ran the uh 30 seconds over Tokyo a few years before that, won the Medal of Honor for bombing Tokyo so so early in the war. He said, you know what? He goes, I will personally fly over there myself. So they got her as close to the front lines as possible. She was shot at, she was shelled, she was attacked when she was on airplanes, as far as by German fighters. She almost crashed the V-17 she was flying in almost crashed into the rock of Gibraltar. And she just didn't care. One time she was performing, and she was ready to perform, and she was laid out in a beautiful gown. And and everyone, everyone that sees any picture of Carol Andis knows she was, she was, to me, she was the most beautiful woman in Hollywood history, barring none. And again, that's my opinion. But she was all decked out in this beautiful gown and a mink stole, and you know, the high heels and everything. Like she was all glammed out to go on the show for the GIs. All of a sudden, there was an air raid and bombs started to fly. They took her, dragged her through the mud, threw her in a trench with three inches of water. And she had to sit there for like an hour, maybe two hours, just drenched in mud. She came out all caked with mud. You know, mink stole was destroyed, everything was destroyed. She cleaned up a little bit, went out, and just she put out a fantastic show, and the GIs loved it. She they they used to have uh uh fighter planes circling around the area where she was just to watch out for uh, you know, any snipers or anything like that. And uh she would perform in the black back of flatbed trucks with rivets sticking out of them. She she she was a real gamer, and she had the chance to go and sit and have dinner with um the upper brass and everything. She refused. She would go like she used to like to go have some drinks and cigarettes and sit on the wings of airplanes and talk to the soldiers themselves, write down their names, and she she would write letters to the families, visit the hospitals. I'll tell you, Dave, when I was when I was writing this project, I was I got I I I I love to work out, I love to stay in shape and everything like that. But I was I was exhausted looking at what she looking at at what her itinerary was because I mean I don't know when this poor woman slept. I mean, she just gave it her all. And you're sitting over there reading and going, oh my gosh, I'm so drained from doing this because I mean she was just uh she nonstop at nine nonstop bubbly personality, uh friend to everybody. And I heard from so many people she was just a wonderful, wonderful human being.

SPEAKER_01 13:56

Yeah, it it seems like she she was, and I uh did was was she part of the uh you know the quotation uh in crowd uh at Hollywood, or did she feel a little detached from the big stars uh and the directors and all that? Uh where where was where was she at with that?

SPEAKER_02 14:17

Well, she starred she starred with some big name people. You know, she she started with John Wayne when he was getting his break.

SPEAKER_01 14:22

That's right.

SPEAKER_02 14:25

You really can't say that he was you know a big star like you think.

SPEAKER_01 14:29

Hey, the same year he made stage coach.

unknown 14:32

That's right, that's right.

SPEAKER_02 14:33

Old Texas stairs.

SPEAKER_01 14:35

This was not stagecoach, friends, but but yeah, it's it's still an enjoyable movie.

SPEAKER_02 14:40

Well, she was in she was in a lot of movies as a uh as an uncredited extra. She was in uh she starred with the Marx brothers, Judy Garland, Janet Gaynor in A Star Is Born from 1937. Um when I say starred, you know, she was probably you know girl sitting with her legs crossed at a table.

SPEAKER_01 14:55

Yeah, that's good. Sometimes that's how I uh how the credits describe people. Woman at bar.

SPEAKER_02 15:03

Smoking a cigarette, you know, something like that.

SPEAKER_01 15:05

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

unknown 15:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:07

And she got her, and she she uh was very good friends with Victor Mature. Uh uh Betty Grable and her, she liked Betty Grable. Betty Grable was a little, I I heard a little frosty toward her, but because she was jealous of her. And you know, Betty Grable was supposed to be the pinup girl, everything like this, and she got a letter from a GI. And the GI open she opened it up and she was reading it to all these people on the set. And uh as she's reading it, she she wanted everybody to hear. And all of a sudden it got to the part where, you know, we just wrote this because we we we know that you started with Carol Landis in a movie, and could you could you uh autograph for us? Well, I guess Betty Grable just you know didn't didn't appreciate that too much, but um, she started a movie with Rita Hayward, and but uh some of the other people you almost would say that they were um some of her movies were um second tier, it's toward the you know toward the latter part uh of her of her career. But um she starred in in so some movies uh Topper Returns, which is a fantastic movie with Joan Blondell and Roland Young. Um and uh Lloyd Nolan, she starred with him a few times. Uh so I would say, you know, she she she was always in nightclubs in uh on the sunset strip, like Cyros and Magambo. And she um she hobnobbed with all those all the people. So I would say she was probably pretty popular there. I would say she had a very, again, a very bubbly personality. I'm sure women were jealous of her, you know, because of her looks and all, but she wasn't she wasn't self-centered like that. She was very open and very willing to uh just give up herself.

SPEAKER_01 16:44

You know, there's there's there are personalities out there that are that are like that. You know, like for example, I I've used uh uh the uh movie uh are you familiar with the movie The Wales of August from 1987 with Lily and Gish and and Betty Davis? And I purposely said their names in order to that order because um Betty Davis is in about half the movie, and Lily and Gish is in all of the movie, but yeah, you know, the they said, well, Betty Betty wants full wants uh the the top billing, and and Lillian was just like, you know, whatever, okay, that's fine. You know, and and and and I I I get the feeling that that's kind of you you describe Betty Grable and and Carolina's like that. Um I I get the feeling, you know, that um uh you know, and we're we're recording, and I've had I've talked to a couple of guests that just adore Betty Grable. I mean, too, you know, well, no pun intended to the moon, you know, moon over my hand. Um I watched that movie and I'm like, I'm I'm gonna be falling for Carol Landis, not for Betty Grable, you know. Even even the dance stuff, you know, it it doesn't, you know, affect me as much as Carol Landis does, and you know, but um you know, and that's gonna get me in trouble with a handful of people that are gonna say, I I I have people probably listening to my own mom, my my own mom, God bless her soul, she probably would be looking down on me right now, just just you know, ready to hit me in the back of the head because she would oh Betty Grable was her girl.

SPEAKER_02 18:26

You know, I mean Betty Grable.

SPEAKER_01 18:28

No question she was a talent. She was a talent and she and her her legs were were did not have the wrong reputation. They they uh were perfect, but but um yeah, I I would just prefer, you know, to I would prefer to to to see more Carol Andis. And that's the one thing I mentioned to you before we started recording um is that I I I noticed that the the bigger the picture, the the the bigger the film, the smaller the part she got, the smaller the film, the bigger the role she got. Um and that drives me nuts watching it, you know. And uh I I see you nodding your head, uh, and and uh that must drive me nuts too sometimes.

SPEAKER_02 19:19

Yes, it was you know, when she made the movie, I wake up screaming. Now, again, when she when she was in one million years BC, that was again some people look at that as her breakout role, but again, I I she didn't get a chance to shine.

SPEAKER_01 19:32

She just looked, she just yeah, moved around and said nonsensical words. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:38

She was she was the Raquel Welch from the from the 1966 version back in 1940. But it was uh you know, I I truly believe that I wake up screaming in 1941 was her big breakout role. It was uh a big budget movie, and it came out in and when I say big budget, it wasn't you know like going with the wind budget, anything like that, but it was a you know bigger budget. 20th Century Fox was a lot different than Hell Roach Studios, and I love all Hell Roach's things, but you know, he gave us Lupi Vil Velez and uh uh Gene Harlow and Laurel and Hardy also, but it was um uh to me, I think uh that was her breakout role. And then that came out just a few months before the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor. So she was definitely on the cusp of major stardom. And she was looked at as a major star when she went overseas. But Daryl Zanek, who ran 20th Century Fox, didn't want her to go because again, she was a moneymaker. Now, this is this is where this comes in, Dave, where it's kind of a contradiction, not a contradiction there. Where she, you know, he didn't want her to go then. She decided to go. She gave up, she gave up the bulk of her career to go and entertain the troops. That's she said that's where I belonged. Well, when the war was over and she came back, she was uh, you know, she she was, you know, the gl- I mean the GIs, millions upon millions of GIs were crazy about her. I mean, Carol Landis ruled, ruled the service, servicemen. And Daryl Zanek decided to punish her, so to say, and just they let her contract expire. And when all these GIs came back, they all went to go see movies because you didn't have television really at that time. And where did you go? You went to the movie, took out your girlfriend, took out your wife, went to go see a movie at the local place that you probably could walk to. Who would have wanted to see Carol Landis? Was not millions upon millions of GIs, and they let her contract expire. So I think that was probably one of the stupidest things. And Hollywood is known for doing a lot of stupid things, but I'm biased because I just idolized Carol Landis. I think you know that was one of the stupidest things that they did. And then she had to go over to Europe for a few years to make some movies. And some of those movies are really good. Very, very good movies, the the latter part of her career.

SPEAKER_01 21:53

Yeah, yeah, I I I uh I I agree that there there are there are some uh some really Gyms there, I uh you know, and I I was able to uh I I don't know technically what a binge watch is, but uh but I I I I've been watching Carol the last uh I think ten nights. I've watched at least one movie with her, uh just just about every uh every all but all but maybe one of those nights. But uh yeah, I mean I I got reacquainted with her filmography and and um and she's just uh she's just a real real jewel. And when you see uh her ability to um uh uh she she has this really good good uh really she has a unique smile for one. Um and and she's able to uh you know clearly uh turn it turn it on uh easily. And and I and I think that when you hear her sing, it's like, well, this woman was very talented. She wasn't just a pretty face, but she was um uh she was a talent. And and uh and unfortunately, uh, you know, uh it's kind of like uh uh it's one of these like these two forces uh are coming about where one is one is uh okay, we're gonna let this we're gonna let this uh lady get so far uh into um stardom, but we gotta we gotta we gotta we gotta let the real stars like Betty Grable um headline the film. And and then when we do a small budget film, uh well, okay, yeah, we can put her name on the top of this one. Um, you know, it just it drove me it drove me nuts. Um but having said all that, I think Moon over Miami, she has plenty of screen time. Um but it's very clear that they're pushing Betty Grable a little bit more. Um and uh and but but it's such a a cute little movie. Um if you had to tell me three uh of Carol Landis' films, um you know, let's just say um, you know, like the kids say, uh Starter Pack. Uh, you know, tell us what your uh not three, tell us four of the movies that you you would have someone watch that's listening to us uh the first so they can get in into Carol Landis.

SPEAKER_02 24:24

Number one, I would say I wake up screaming.

SPEAKER_01 24:27

Yeah, you mentioned that a couple times. Yeah, it's a great one.

SPEAKER_02 24:30

The Mount Rush one of Carol Landis movies. I wake up screaming. Uh A Scandal in Paris.

SPEAKER_01 24:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:37

That just brings out Carol Landis's sexuality above all of the outfits that she wears in there. It's like, holy cow.

SPEAKER_01 24:43

And uh, by the way. So yeah, yeah, yeah. It reminds me a lot of Trouble in Par uh or uh Trouble in Paradise with um uh uh Miriam Hopkins. Uh you know, uh and you know it kind of kind of reminds me of that a little bit. Um just a different time period. Yeah, yeah.

unknown 25:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:12

Just watched that one last night, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:14

She's an obeying student, that one. Totally worth it. I mean, on that. And as far as number four, I mean, uh, as far as for yeah, uh Moon Over Miami's great with Robert Cummings, who became a good friend of hers. But um, I would probably say too, you know, Mike Alcell was there, even though she should she was supposed to get the Rita Hayworth role, but again, they they reversed it because Daryl Zanick had a problem with her, because Daryl Zanek liked her and wanted to try to, you know, punish her in any way that he could, you know, to get his way with her. And um, but I I a Manila Calling is great. I mean, any chance you have to watch a Carol Andis movie, even some of the movies like Silk Noose that she made, uh, maybe it it shouldn't happen. I I believe the movie couldn't happen, but it shouldn't happen to a dog. Um, I've kind of bypassed that one. I don't even remember the name of the title of that one, but definitely I wake up screaming and one million years BC is uh, you know, it's great. Carol Andis is a cave woman in there. And not not a lot of not a lot of words or anything like that, but just enjoy the view.

SPEAKER_01 26:19

Yeah, yeah. It's it's um, you know, it's and the movie has really um really good um uh special effects, um, you know, uh which is somewhat surprising in in uh Hal Roach film. Um but uh he and he directed that movie and he didn't just produce it, he directed it. And uh I kind of get the feeling that besides pairing Laurel and Hardy together, I think I feel like he went to his grave thinking that was his masterpiece. Besides pairing Laurel and Hardy together. Um but uh but yeah, there were a lot of guys. You know, again was was really I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_02 27:01

I'm sorry, Dave. That's right. Topper returns.

SPEAKER_01 27:03

Yeah, Topper and Topper returns.

SPEAKER_02 27:05

Sorry, yes, sorry everybody. Yeah, Topper returns. Please don't take away my Carol Landis badge, okay? Yeah, Topper returns is oh that's a great no.

SPEAKER_01 27:13

If you haven't seen um the two Topper movies, um, you know, just as soon as you're done listening to my voice, watch watch the uh watch the topper movies because they are just hysterical. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:31

They're both Gilly Burke, Billy Burke as the as is the wife of drinking again. Oh, that's hilarious.

SPEAKER_01 27:38

Yes, it's just it's it's those movies are glorious. I just love those movies so much, and I remember watching them as a kid. Um, and um, you know, I I didn't I um I I I I grew up in the 70s and 80s, and I remember uh one thing that's missing from uh television today. Um well there's a lot of things missing, but one thing is they used to have these, this is something the kids today will never know about. They used to have these local shows where uh like we here in Kansas City where I live, we had one called All All Night Live. And uh they and then there'd be a host and they'd show uh you know, like a couple Three Stooges movies, or they'd you know, have, oh look, we got a magician here. He's gonna show show us some tricks, uh, you know, um, and and they they'd show a Mark's brothers movie. Um, you know, they'd show like the coconuts and and which is like a what an 88-minute movie, and it would take them about three hours to show it because they would constantly interrupt for commercials, and then when they come back, they'd always have some bit that they want to show you. Hey, we're gonna do this. Okay, back to the movie. And it would take three hours to get through an hour and a half movie. That's one thing it's missing from today's television. Matter of fact, I've had a guest on that used to do one of those local shows where you live in Cleveland. Um, um uh uh uh his character's name was Drac. I don't know if you're familiar with uh I don't know how Drake and Drack is it was it called? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes, yes. He did a local show, and we I talked to him about them about the 1931 Dracula movie, and he goes to cosplay shows uh all uh uh all the time, um, you know, dressed like that. And we we don't have that anymore, which is one reason why I do this podcast is because I want to you know shine a light on on on things, you know, like everybody gets into all the uh you know the the eight-part series shows and the ongoing series, you know, like Deadwood and stuff like that. And those are all great and everything, but but you know, I I I feel like I don't want these subjects like Carol Landis to to go away. I uh uh you know, and I I remember I remember watching her the other day thinking, oh my gosh, um it's been uh almost 80 years um since you know since uh her last movie. And and uh I'm I was thinking that and I'm thinking, wow, so you know, when I first got exposed to classic film, was it you know in the early 80s, and um and and I and I I I remember thinking that wasn't really that long ago, you know, like uh you know, watch a Laurel and Hardy movie and you know from the 30s and and where and in the 80s, we we I you know I was only 15 years removed from Stan Laurel's death, and and you know, and now all of a sudden, oh wow, it's you know, we're getting old.

SPEAKER_02 30:51

You know what though, Dave, the the thing that's so amazing is the modern generation, the younger generation, whatever they are for Z X, you know, whatever they're going by, they um I I see and hear a lot of them gravitating towards some of the older movies for the simple reason was they were shorter, you know, you figure an hour and a half, and the the glam, a lot of a lot of the young ladies, they like that glamour look from that time. And back when in Carol Landis's days, glamour meant something. And uh, you know, you it they they they were glamorous all the time, and they just had a certain look in the outfits, and it's almost timeless. And back then, they couldn't just blow something up, you know, like they can't do it. They had a story, and so many people are so absorbed into that now. And with the streaming services that they have, with turn of classic movies, streaming services, YouTube TV, you can go on to YouTube and probably get virtually any any classic movie and all of Carol Andis' movies, but that's gonna go and not get a girl. Yeah, you can reach out, and when you look at it, you almost seem to forget that these movies were made in the 40s because the stories absorb you. You know, Carol Andis will suck you in, trust me. She'll suck you in. And you forget that this person, that this movie was made that many years ago, or Laurel Hardy, like you said, or Gene Harlow, Marilyn Monroe, Clara, even Clara Beau. Even Clara Beau with Taylor Swift's new song about Clara Beau, you know, now the young girls are starting to take an interest in Clara Beau, and they're starting to become influencers all over again.

SPEAKER_01 32:26

No, it's true, it's true. And that that the the Clara Beau thing kind of excites me uh because I I um you know we're obviously, you know, very far removed from her final films. Um, but the interesting thing about Carol Landis, and and I um I remember growing up when my mom would thumb her nose at certain movie stars, and and she listens to the podcast, so she might hear me say this. Um but she she she'll say, Oh, that woman's just a sex pot, you know, and and you know, and I didn't understand what that meant when I was 10 years old or even 12. I didn't understand it really, what she was talking about. Um, but one thing about Carolyn is that uh she had this really interesting uh way about her because she would uh definitely appeal to men, but she you know, wasn't one of those um, you know, like my mom would label sex pot types. She was uh a very different kind of beautiful star. And I and you know, and because um certain I mean they they would have um a lot of the silent film stars, the pre-code stars, and um and even the you know, even like the in some cases like Linda Darnell and other, you know, doing pinup. That really wasn't what Carolinas did. Um she wasn't really um just like an object, but she was beautiful. Um but yeah, but she just she was she had a certain way about her that was a little different than some of the other ladies. Um I could tell you agree with, you know.

SPEAKER_02 34:13

Dave, you totally you you I you nailed it better than anybody I've ever talked to about Carol Landis, what you just said. You absolutely nailed it. I'm sitting over here and I'm just listening to you, and I I got completely immersed in what you were saying. I mean, you every single word that you said, you nailed it exactly about Carolandis. And uh I don't I didn't even know what to say anymore after this. And people can't believe that I'm actually speechless right now, but I truly am. I mean, I uh I mean it it's absolute perfection what you said about her. Absolutely amazing.

SPEAKER_01 34:45

Yeah, well, I you know, she's an easy person to adore.

SPEAKER_02 34:48

If you go onto YouTube and you punch up uh what you probably saw in the documentary, uh where she did the thing Pinup Girl, and she sings the song Pinup Girl. Watch that video, folks, because uh Tara Landis will will just her outfit is just amazing. And uh uh she's she was mesmerizing, just mesmerizing.

SPEAKER_01 35:09

Yeah, she sure was. Um and and uh now uh one thing I wanted to ask you, uh, and I'm totally ignorant of this. Um is there any uh footage um uh available at all of uh you know like the stage uh presentations uh that that's available, they're the just stills.

SPEAKER_02 35:33

Oh, the the film footage of her entertaining.

SPEAKER_01 35:36

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:37

Yes. Uh actually, if you go to the documentary that that I did called Hollywood's glamorous patriot, and it's on uh YouTube.

SPEAKER_01 35:44

Oh, yeah, there was some mo there was some motion there. That's true, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:48

And I was able to through through my good friend Liz, who runs, like I say, Carol Landis.net, she was able to send us at the last minute when my friend and I, Darren Hayes, were putting this together at the you know, at the 12th hour, so to say, uh, it was uh she was able to get this film footage of us of her doing the jitterbug with all these soldiers. And you can see her on stage with Jack Benny. I have her on stage with you.

SPEAKER_01 36:11

Yeah, I did see that. Now that you now you said that the jitterbug thing, yeah, that's that's a that's yeah, that's beautiful footage.

SPEAKER_02 36:18

And it just it just it just meshed perfectly. And um I I wanted to do the documentary again with my friend Darren. He he runs some podcasts about mostly about sports, but he wanted to try to branch off into some doc in some documentaries. As soon as he said that, I threw this this thing about Carol Landis at him because I was already working on the book. We did the documentary, and then the documentary came out in November, and then the book just came out a few weeks ago. But uh, it's also called Hollywood's glamorous patriot. And uh it, you know, the the book covers so much more than the actual documentary. And also the book doesn't only cover Carol Landis in World War II, it also covers all the places that she was, and it explains the different battles, especially the South Pacific. You know, like she was in Guaba Canal, but what happened on Guava Canal? I explained the battles of the Guadalacanal. So it doesn't only appease to the people that are about Hollywood history, but also World War II history as well. And it all kind of meshes together into one fantastic. I don't mean to blow my own horn, but this this this this is the best project I've ever done. And it meshes perfectly into one volume about World War II and Hollywood.

SPEAKER_01 37:29

Yeah, fantastic. Well, what I'm going to do uh for the listeners and for you, um is I'm going to put uh a link to the YouTube video and to the book, um, and also to the CarolANis.net website uh so people can get as much of uh Carol Annis as they as as they would like. And and um I yeah, like I said, one of the main reason why the main reason I do this podcast uh is is so I can shine a light on subjects that um you know are not well covered. I cover a lot of uh you know big movies and things like that, but it's mostly to draw people in. Uh so um I uh you know, and and then if they get hooked on the podcast, they'll uh they'll listen to the episodes about the the subjects that are lesser known. And so uh I I have no way of knowing how many people are listening that say, oh, I'm listening because it says Carol Andis on the headline, and how many are listening just because it's my podcast? Um I have no idea. So um, but uh but I'm hoping yeah, I'm hoping that it is a nice mixture. Um, you know, the numbers don't tell me anything. Um I wish I had demos other than countries. Uh I know it's 132 countries. You know, that I've that people have uh so so people have access uh to the podcast. One of the amazing things is I've talked to people in Japan and England and and you know, um I know I Canadian too, but I don't know if we even kind of count that as a foreign country, but uh but yeah, I've talked to people in three different countries. Uh, you know, and this is something that you know 20 years ago wouldn't have been possible, you know. And now you can get on Zoom and talk to someone for free. Uh whereas before, you know, if you talk to someone in Japan, well you're gonna be, you know, paying uh, you know, a couple hundred dollars for pay talking for an hour, uh, you know, but uh uh you know it's been great talking with you. What uh information um that isn't already relayed about Carolyn is uh um the you know either juicy tidbit or something that you really want people to know about Carol before we uh we cut the show off.

SPEAKER_02 39:58

Um I I think we've covered so much of it. You know, I mean you there's there's unfortunately a lot of scandal about her with uh she did reap an untimely demise at the age of 29 by her own hand with an apparent suicide. I say apparent suicide. Yeah. Um book I describe uh in great detail about the alternative to how her family felt and how a lot of people felt that it might not have been a suicide like people think. So I have to leave it like that. Um unfortunately, if you go on YouTube and you see all these different things on Carolandis, you see a lot of the uh the the the the darker side of everything. I want I wanted to bring out to light on the greatness that she was, not only on the screen and the vibrant person that she was there, but on what she did for the American fighting forces and gave it her all. And she she totally deserves the Congressional Medal of Freedom. I know her family was fighting to try to get this for her. Um, if everybody's listening around the world that has an opportunity to try to get this out, I would so love to see her family get the Congressional Medal of Freedom for all that she did for the United States. Um she she she did tireless work and uh she she she wound up getting malaria dysentery over in the South Pacific, never missed a beat on anything. She gave it, she and I keep repeating myself, but she truly did give it her all. And I like I said, doing the research on this book made just made me exhausted just by just by looking at you know everything that she did. Um but as far as you know, juicy tidbits and all, I I I really couldn't even say she um she was just a human like all of us, and she lived, left, and loved.

SPEAKER_01 41:49

Okay, so that was Rich Schmelter, and boy, it sure it was fun talking to him about uh Carol Andis. And I uh want to tell you to uh to watch the documentary uh about Carol that he did, it's on YouTube. Uh I will put the link in the show notes so you can know exactly where to find it, and also uh uh buy his book, it's available on the ebook, and it's all about uh Carolannis and her service to uh to the troops and during World War II. And I will put that link in there too. And uh also uh the the Carolannis.net website uh is available to you, and you can uh uh click on that and uh get your total fill of of the the wonderful and warm Carolandis. Um we did another episode uh for those that didn't listen, uh we did another episode on Carol uh uh several years ago, as I had mentioned earlier in the podcast. Um and that was uh that was done several years ago. So uh if you uh scroll back, if you're very interested in more of the life um and unfortunate death of Carol, um you can click on that link too and listen to that episode if you haven't already, or you can re-relisten to it. I don't know that. Uh in any case, um I uh really appreciate everybody uh listening and um go watch those Carol Landis movies.

SPEAKER_00 44:00

Here's my idea, sir. I know little guy can sometimes be a surprise. I'd rather know some golfing pearl with perfect follow through. I'd write your baby. I'll fit for you.