Who Is That? The Late Late Viewer’s Guide to the Old Old Movie Players (1967)
I wanted to share some pages from a fun vintage book which was recently re-discovered in our library— Who Is That? The Late Late Viewer’s Guide to the Old Old Movie Players was Warren B. Meyers’ great attempt to catalogue most of the vivid supporting players seen in vintage movies of the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s. At the time of its publication (1967), old movies were primarily the domain of the off-hours on local television stations. That was it—unless one lived near a creatively programmed repertory house in a big city, or if you enjoyed watching 8MM films at home, were willing to spend the money to acquire them, and didn’t mind the sketchy quality. It was kind of nice, then, that Meyers put so much effort into this book compiling endless head shots of forgotten actors, and organizing them by the “types” they were best known for. Joyce appears in the chapter entitled My, Isn’t She Cheap , which assembles just about every brassy blonde, cynical good time girl, or slightly used...