Johnny Mack Brown's "Complete Surrender" to Clark Gable & Joan Crawford

Dothan native Johnny Mack Brown first gained fame as a football player at the University of Alabama. His talent in the sport in high school earned him a scholarship to play in Tuscaloosa, where he excelled as halfback on the 1924 and 1925 teams coached by Wallace Wade. In the 1926 Rose Bowl Brown scored two of Alabama's three touchdowns as the team defeated the heavily favored Washington Huskies. He was named the game's most valuable player and later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and the initial class of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.

His success on the football field led to his portrayal on Wheaties cereal boxes and an offer of a Hollywood screen test. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer signed him to a five-year contract; his film and television career lasted until 1966.

Brown played mostly minor roles in the early years. A big break came in 1928 and only his fourth film, the silent Our Dancing Daughters. He appeared opposite Joan Crawford, already a star by that time. In 1929 he appeared in Coquette, the first talkie for mega-star Mary Pickford. She won a best actress Oscar for the role. In the following year he played the title role in Billy the Kid.  Another 1930 western Montana Moon found him teamed again with Crawford.  

Based on these and several other high-profile, successful films Brown seemed poised for major stardom. A third film with Crawford proved to be his undoing as the leading man MGM wanted him to be. Bob Thomas, in his 1978 biography of Crawford, had this to say about that film: 

"Crawford had meanwhile starred in Complete Surrender as a cabaret dancer who is saved from suicide by a Salvation Army man, Johnny Mack Brown. After a preview audience failed to respond, Mayer ordered a complete remake with Gable in the Salvation Army role. Retitled Laughing Sinners, the movie proved a success." [p. 80]

At about this same time Brown tested for the role of Tarzan, but didn't get the part. Johnny Weissmuller did, and went on to great fame in the role. Brown left MGM and began making westerns exclusively for Universal and then Monogram. Most of these were low budget B-moves, but they made him famous. He retired in 1952, but returned to make a few more films and television shows before 1966. In all he made some 160 movies in his career.

Brown died on November 14, 1974, and is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park  in Glendale, California. For some years in the 2007-2011 period Dothan hosted the Johnny Mack Brown Western Festival to honor its native son. 

Johnny Mack Brown in his Alabama football days

Source: Encyclopedia of Alabama

Johnny Mack Brown in 1935

Source: Wikipedia

 Brown first appeared with Joan Crawford in the 1928 silent film Our Dancing Daughters. Also starring in the film is Birmingham native Dorothy Sebastian. You can read more about her on this blog post.

Source: Wikipedia

This 1930 film was one of Brown's earliest westerns and also starred Crawford and Sebastian.

Source: Wikipedia

Johnny Mack Brown performing in one of his many westerns. 

Source: Alabama Mosaic

From March 1950 until February 1959 Dell Comics published a title devoted to Johnny Mack Brown as western star.  

Johnny Mack Brown Appears in Gadsden in 1945

I've written several pieces on this blog about football star, actor and Dothan native Johnny Mack Brown. Two of them discussed his 1928 silent films Our Dancing Daughters and A Lady of Chance. The first paired him with Joan Crawford [one of two he made with her] and another Alabama native, Dorothy Sebastian. He starred with Norma Shearer in the second film, much of which is set in Alabama. These attempts to make Brown a romantic lead did not take, and westerns became his forte. I've written about his role in 1930's Billy the Kid, the first sound film about the outlaw; and covered his 1945 Flame of the West in which he plays--of all things--a doctor. 

Brown came to the attention of Hollywood after he helped Alabama beat the favored Washington team in the 1925 Rose Bowl. He scored two of Alabama's three touchdowns as the Crimson Tide became the first southern team to win that bowl game. He soon appeared on a Wheaties cereal box and signed a contract with the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio to make movies. The attempt to make him a leading man in A-list pictures didn't pan out, and Brown soon moved into B-Westerns. Between 1927 and 1966 he made over 160 films, most of them westerns. So by 1945 when he made this personal appearance he was deep into that genre. 

"Alabama's Own Movie Star" made five appearances onstage that Sunday, May 5. Brown made seven films in 1945, so these afternoon and evening stage shows could have also promoted one or more of those. I found no ads for any of those films in the two issues of the Gadsden Times where I found this ad.

Rounding out the show were other performers, Trixie McCormick, "Famous Girl Rope Artist" and Carl Zeller and the Three Drifters. A quick search on Google did not turn up any information on Carl Zeller and the Three Drifters. Perhaps they were a western swing band, a popular subgenre of country music in the 1930s and 1940s. Trixie McCormick was indeed a rope artist, apparently from Montana who died in April 2001 at age 91. According to one source her real name was Ethyl Stokes.

Brown died in November 1974. Before his death he was inducted into both the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame's charter class of 1969 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1957. 

Gadsden Times 2 May 1945; the same ad appeared in the May 1 issue; these days were the Tuesday and Wednesday before the show. 

Nine issues of Johnny Mack Brown Comics were published from September 1950 until September 1952. 

Flame of the West was one of the seven movies Brown made in 1945 and the one in which he played Dr. John Poole. 

Movies with Alabama Connections: Our Dancing Daughters

I've written before on this blog about two Alabama natives who went Hollywood, Dorothy Sebastian and Johnny Mack Brown. In this post I'm going to examine a 1928 silent film they made together, Our Dancing Daughters, a portrait of youth during the roaring, immoral twenties. The film also starred Joan Crawford, Anita Page and Nils Asther and was a financial success. Crawford's first film had been released in 1925; this one made her a star. 

The story unfolds among the parties, romances, and leisure activities of a group of young people moving in wealthy circles. Diana [Crawford] and Ann [Page] are best friends who meet the wealthy Ben [Brown] at one of their apparently frequent parties at the yacht club. Diana and Ben are immediately attracted to each other, but Ann soon makes her move. Diana has a "wild girl" reputation that sours Ben on her, and he marries the supposedly virginal Ann. We also watch the relationship between a third friend Beatrice [Sebastian] and another wealthy beau, Norman [Nils Asther]. Let's just say complications ensue. You can read Wikipedia's more detailed plot description here.

I enjoyed this film, which is only 86 minutes long. Watching Alabama natives acting in early Hollywood is always fun, and the story moves along at a rapid pace. I've seen enough silent films over the years that I'm comfortable watching them. 

Brown married Cornelia Foster in 1926, and they remained married until his death in 1974. They had four children. For more on him, see Beidler, Phillip D. "The Story of Johnny Mack Brown." Alabama Heritage 38 (Fall 1995): 14-25

Sebastian, on the other hand, cut a different path through Hollywood. She was married three times; the first husband was her high school sweetheart; that marriage ended in 1924. Husband number two was William "Hopalong Cassidy" Boyd; they married in 1930 and divorced six years later. The third marriage lasted until her death in 1957. She was briefly engaged to Clarence Brown, who just happened to operate a car dealership in Birmingham before his long career as a film director began. Sebastian also had an affair with Buster Keaton in the 1920's while he was married to Norma Talmadge. The affair may have resumed after she and Boyd were divorced. Sebastian was arrested for drunk driving in 1938 after a dinner at Keaton's also attended by her nephew.

See more comments below many of the stills. Reviews, commentary and more images related to the film can be found here. Brown and Sebastian both have stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

MGM tried to turn Brown into a leading man and went with the "John Mack Brown" name for a while. He made top of the line films with Mary Pickford, Joan Crawford and Jean Harlow for a few years, but then was replaced by some rising young star named Clark Cable. Brown, who had already made a few westerns, moved into that genre completely and had a career that lasted into the 1960's. He made over 160 films before he retired from the screen. Brown tested for the role of Tarzan in the 1932 film, but the director thought he was too short. 

In the opening scenes we see inside the house where Diana lives with her parents. Here they are talking in mum's bedroom before Diana heads out to yet another Yacht Club party. The Art Deco sets in this film are to die for....

At a massive party at the Yacht Club Diana cuts a rug or three. 

Meanwhile, Beatrice & Norman are outside in his car yakking. Norman wants to get married, Beatrice is resisting. This scene is the first time we see Sebastian in the film. Sebastian appeared in about sixty movies between 1925 and 1948, although most of those in the last decade or so used her in small roles. 

We have to wait a bit to find out why Sebastian is so reluctant. 

Ben lights up when he first sees Diana on the dance floor. 

Brown, of course, really did play halfback at Alabama and his performance in the 1925 Rose Bowl helped the team win a national championship. Brown's image on Wheaties cereal boxes soon followed, and he was invited to do a screen test in Hollywood in 1927. Brown was from Dothan, though, not Birmingham. 

Diana responds immediately when she sees Ben and learns his status.

There's lots of clever dialog in this film. 

Ben's initial interest in Diana is quickly overcome by Ann, the supposed "good girl" of the pair. Ben has no interest in the soiled dove Diana, who has a "party girl" reputation, so he ends up marrying Ann.

Oh, now we're back to Beatrice and Norman and their discussion in the car. 

Beatrice finally confesses--she had sex with other men before she met Norman!

Norman goes on to ask, "Were--they--of our crowd?" Beatrice is reluctant to answer, and then he declares he doesn't want to know. Then the kissing begins.

After a day of horseback riding with the gang, Diana and Beatrice have some fun with boots. 

At yet another Yacht Club party--ho, hum--the two Alabama natives have a chance to get together for a little talking. I wonder what interesting conversations they had on the set during filming. 

After Bea & Norman are married, Diana goes to visit. Some of Bea's exes tag along.

"Here's to the husbands--of the girls we love."

After breaking a glass, Norman offers a toast of his own: "Here's to the lovers--of the girls we marry." Bea is embarrassed, Diana embarrassed for her, and the exes make a quick retreat.

"Norman--you must forget--trust me!" They kiss and make up, but Norman declares, "I love you--then I hate you--then I love you again--" 

Diana comforts Bea by telling her that Norman will be back. Bea says "Yes--and all through our lives together--he'll be coming back--then leaving me again." Then she tells Diana to thank God she hasn't done "anything that can come back afterward and punish you." 

In much of the rest of the film we follow the marriage of Ben and Ann as it spirals downward. "Good girl" Ann is a lush and cheats on Ben continuously. In the end, however, Ben becomes free to marry his true love--the real good girl Diana. 

The four photographs below are publicity stills for the film. 

Sebastian and Asther made the cover of True Romances for November 1932. I'm not sure what it appeared four years after the movie. 

Source: Nils Asther fan blog

Sebastian and Asther in a photo by Ruth Harriet Louise, portrait photographer at MGM. Look familiar?

Source: Nils Asther fan blog

Sebastian made the cover of the Alabama Alumni Magazine spring 2008 for Catherine Gwaltney's article "So You Want to Be In Pictures" which examined Sebastian and Johnny Mack Brown's lives and careers in Hollywood. Sebastian briefly attended the University of Alabama before marrying Allen Stafford in Nobvember 1920.

Johnny Mack Brown as Billy the Kid

I recently picked up and flipped through my copy of William K. Everson's classic A Pictorial History of the Western Film, as one does when escaping the heat of an Alabama summer day. What did I find but a couple of stills and some discussion of Johnny Mack Brown's role as William Bonney in the 1930 film Billy the Kid. Let's investigate.

I've already written about the Dothan native, University of Alabama football star and actor in several pieces on this blog. Early in his career MGM tried to turn him into a romantic lead, such as the 1928 silent film Our Dancing Daughters in which he starred with Joan Crawford and fellow Alabama native Dorothy Sebastian. That same year major star Norma Shearer and Brown appeared in A Lady of Chance. I've devoted five posts to that film, since much of it is set in Alabama. 

In 1930 he was teamed with Crawford again in Montana Moon, which also co-starred Dorothy Sebastian. A third pairing with Crawford did not work out. Audiences failed to respond to early showings and MGM ordered the film Complete Surrender reshot with Clark Gable opposite Crawford. 

Brown soon left MGM and moved into westerns. I've posted about one of those, the 1945 "Flame of the West" in which he plays a new physician in town. Now it's time to look at another. 

Billy the Kid was one of four films Brown made in 1930 and was directed by King Vidor [1894-1982], whose career in the movies began in 1913 and lasted until 1980. The film also stars Wallace Beery as Pat Garrett, the lawman who tracked down and shot Billy on July 14, 1881. The outlaw had been sentenced to hang, escaped and killed two deputies in the process. As it happens, Garrett was born in Chambers County, so there's a second Alabama connection in this film.  

Today Henry McCarty aka William Bonney aka Billy the Kid is an iconic character with many appearances in popular culture, ranging from films and television episodes to comics and video games. But in 1930 he was just beginning his rise in the pantheon of western outlaws.

A folk song "Billy the Kid" appeared at some point in the west; the Sons of the Pioneers recorded it in 1937. A play "Billy the Kid" ran on Broadway in 1906. Two silent films about Billy were released in 1911; both starred women impersonating the male outlaw. Brown & Vidor's 1930 film was the first sound movie devoted to the Kid, and the first in which a male starred in the role!

This film was one of two released in 1930 that a used 70mm widescreen process; the other was The Big Trail starring John Wayne. Unfortunately, the Great Depression prevented cinemas from upgrading to widescreen and only a few such  movies were made at the time. The process would lie dormant until The Robe filmed in Cinemascope and released in 1953. Wayne's widescreen version has been restored, but the only known version of Brown's film is standard-width. 

Billy the Kid runs 95 minutes and was release on October 18, 1930. The film was shot on various locations such as Zion National Park, the Grand Canyon, San Fernando Valley, and Gallup, New Mexico. As the IMDB notes, the great silent film star of Westerns William S. Hart was an uncredited technical advisor. He owned some of Billy the Kid's "six shooters" and was friends with such legends of the West as Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson. 

Images two through six below are taken from Everson's book and offer some interesting details about the film. Hart is shown in the first photo offering one of Billy's guns to Brown. The second photo is a scene with a confrontation between Garrett and Billy. In the the text shown from the book, Everson discusses the dominance of long shots and lack of closeups and the effect of that in the standard-width version. The film is available from Warner Archive; a preview can be seen on YouTube. 

By the mid-1930s Brown began a long series of western films for several studios, including Republic, Universal and Monogram. In the 1950s his likeness appeared in a series of comic books published by Dell. He is an inductee of the College Football Hall of Fame [1957] and the first class of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame [1969]. He died November 14, 1974. Brown was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers in 2008. 

Source: YouTube 

Source: Grand Comics Database