vue - Screen Guild Theater: A Mug, a Moll and a Mountaineer / Variety Review 5 / The Hand of Providence

A Mug, a Moll & a Mountaineer: George Raft, Edna May Oliver, Bob Burns, Warren Hymer, The Bryan Sisters, Virginia Verrill, George Murphy, Polly Moran Variety Review 5: Mickey Rooney, Joan Bennett, Rosemary Lane, Rudy Vallee, The King's Men, George Murphy The Hand of Providence: James Cagney, Priscilla Lane, Andy Devine, Donald Meek, Adrienne Ames, Theodore von Eltz, George Murphy Priscilla Lane (June 12, 1915 -- April 4, 1995) was an American actress. She is best remembered for her roles in the films The Roaring Twenties (1939), Saboteur (1942), a Hitchcock film in which she plays the heroine, and Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), where she plays Cary Grant's fiancée. After winning her raise, Priscilla returned to work, but the films assigned to her were no better than those she had turned down. Brother Rat and a Baby (aka, Baby Be Good, 1940) was an inferior sequel and Three Cheers For the Irish (also 1940) gave her little to do. The British Picturegoer magazine, always a supporter of the Lane Sisters, stated that all was not right with Priscilla Lane. In its June 15, 1940 issue, they wondered why "Priscilla was still knocking at the door of major stardom". They felt Warner Bros. was casting her as stooge to such actors as John Garfield and James Cagney. They went on to say Priscilla had great charm and while not a really great dramatic actress, deserved much larger and more important roles than she was getting. The same magazine, two years later on August 22, 1942, referred to their 1940 article and once again expressed disappointment at Warners' treatment of the star. They were unaware that she had already left the studio. On April 28, 1941, she was heard on Lux Radio Theater with George Brent and Gail Patrick in Wife, Husband and Friend. At Warner Bros. she appeared opposite Ronald Reagan in a light hearted comedy, Million Dollar Baby (1941) and as a night club singer in Blues in the Night (also 1941). Frank Capra requested her for the lead opposite Cary Grant in Arsenic and Old Lace. The comedy film was completed in early 1942, but was not released until 1944; it was held up by contractual agreement not to distribute the film until the play's long Broadway run was over. It was Priscilla's last Warner film. Her contract was terminated by mutual agreement after five years with the studio. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priscilla_Lane