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Tab Hunter made his film debut in the 1950 drama THE LAWLESS. The film involved a newspaper editor (MacDonald Carey) in a small agricultural town who finds himself going against the people in the town when he gets involved in the plight of the area's fruit pickers, who are mostly Mexican. Hunter had a bit part as "Frank O'Brien," who attends a dance with his bigoted friends "Joe Ferguson" (John Sands) and "Harry Pawling" (John Davis). Joseph Losey directed the film, which had an unreleased score by Mahlon Merrick.
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Tab Hunter landed a co-starring role in just his second film, the romantic adventure ISLAND OF DESIRE, in which he was billed as "The Screen's sensational new 'Sigh-Guy'". Set in 1943, the film finds an Allied hospital-ship being sunk by the Japanese in the South Pacific where a nurse (Linda Darnell) and a Marine Corporal (Hunter) become marooned on an island abandoned by natives. Director Stuart Heisler shot the 1952 film in London and on location in Jamaica. A re-recording of the prelude from William Alwyn's score was released on a 2016 Chandos Alwyn compilation CD.
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Hunter appeared in his first western with 1953's GUN BELT. As the film begins, inmate "Matt Ringo" (John Dehner) escapes from the Arizona Territorial Prison and heads for the Snake Skin Mine near Tombstone. There he meets mine owner "Douglas Frazer" (Hugh Sanders), who wants Matt to enlist his brother "Billy" (George Montgomery), a reformed outlaw, in an unspecified deal. Billy now operates a legitimate ranch with the help of Matt’s son "Chip" (Tab Hunter). Ray Nazarro directed the film, which has a unreleased score by Irving Gertz.
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Tab Hunter had his first lead role in 1954's RETURN TO TREASURE ISLAND. He played "Clive Stone," an American writer noted for his research on pirate legends. The first part of the film was very loosely based on Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Treasure Island, while the main story, taking place 200 years later, involves characters who are purportedly descendants of those in Stevenson's story. RETURN TO TREASURE ISLAND was the last feature film directed by E. A. Dupont (1891--1956), a German-born director and writer whose most famous work was the 1925 silent film VARIETY. Paul Sawtell provided the unreleased score.
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Tab Hunter co-starred with Robert Mitchum and Teresa Wright in 1954's TRACK OF THE CAT. The film focuses on the squabbling "Bridges" family, as the two older brothers "Art" (William Hopper) and "Curt" (Mitchum) go hunting for a panther that is killing their livestock. Hunter plays younger brother "Hal," who plans to marry a much-despised neighbor girl (Diana Lynn). William Wellman directed the film, which had a unreleased score by Roy Webb.
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Hunter had a supporting role in the 1955 John Wayne sea picture THE SEA CHASE. Wayne plays "Karl Ehrlich," the German captain of the decrepit freighter Ergenstrasse. Hunter is "Cadet Wesser," who serves on the ship. John Farrow directed this tale, set just prior to World War II. Roy Webb provided the unreleased score.
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William Wellman directed his final film, and directed Tab Hunter for the second time in the World War I flying adventure LAYFAETTE ESCADRILLE. The film followed "Thad Walker" (Hunter), an American youth who flies for France in World War I, becomes a flying ace, and meets & loves a French girl (and prostitute), "Renée Beulieu" (Etchika Choureau). Director Wellman wanted Paul Newman for the lead, with Clint Eastwood as his best friend, "Duke Sinclair." When Newman opted to do CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF instead, the studio insisted on the lead part going to contract player Tab Hunter. Wellman thought the chemistry between Hunter and Eastwood wrong and ironically replaced Eastwood with one of the actor's best friends, David Janssen. Eastwood ended up playing a smaller supporting role.
Hollywood Reporter news items in June and October 1957 state that Hunter, who had a recent success with a pop song recording, was to record a title song and a tune based on the film score, called “Learning to Love” with music by the film's composer, Leonard Rosenman, and lyrics by Paul Francis Webster. But no song appears in the film, and it's not known if any recording was ever made. The film was shot primarily during the period October - December 1956, had some retakes done in April and May of 1957, but was not released until March 1958. Although Warner Bros. did not reveal any reason why the studio held the release of LAYFAETTE ESCADRILLE until 1958, some sources speculate that the studio hoped to capitalize on Hunter’s further success as a singer, which did not materialize.
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In the opening of GUNMAN'S WALK, "Davy Hackett" (James Darren) and his older brother "Ed" (Tab Hunter) arrive at an Indian agency in search of extra hands for their upcoming horse drive to Jackson City, Wyoming. Back at the Hackett ranch, Davy and Ed's father "Lee" (Van Heflin) reminisces with his friend, "Bob Selkirk" (Paul Birch), about the days when they tamed the vast territory with their strength and guns. Phil Karlson directed this 1958 western, which had an unreleased score by George Duning.
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Jack Warner optioned the film rights to both THE PAJAMA GAME (1957) and DAMN YANKEES (1958) with the idea of teaming stage director George Abbott and film director Stanley Donen to ensure both a faithful transfer and a cinematic rendition of the original shows. For DAMN YANKEES, when Warner insisted on one star to bolster the largely unknown stage cast at the box office, Abbott requested Don Murray for the role of "Joe Hardy"--which had been originated on stage by Stephen Douglass--but Warner insisted on Tab Hunter, who was already under contract. Abbott relented, largely to secure the services of Gwen Verdon ("Lola") and Ray Walston ("Mr. Applegate"), reprising their stage roles from the Broadway cast. During filming, Abbott repeatedly implored Warner to replace his leading man because he felt Hunter lacked the necessary masculinity to adequately portray the young athlete.
As Doris Day had remarked one year earlier as the only major cast replacement in THE PAJAMA GAME, Tab Hunter recalled feeling woefully inadequate and out of step joining a company that had been playing the material for more than 1,000 performances on stage. According to Hunter's autobiography, when filming a particular scene, he suggested doing it in a way that differed from director George Abbott's ideas. When Hunter asked, "Can we just try it?" Abbott apparently said, "No, that's not the way we did it in the stage version!"
The story of DAMN YANKEES is a modernized variation of the Faust legend, in which Faust sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for wealth and fame. Based on leading man Hunter's limited vocal range, the film version omitted two key ballads from the original score: "A Man Doesn't Know" and "Near to You," both sung by Joe Hardy to express his sorrow that his transformation from middle-aged real estate agent to young baseball star has cost him the love of his wife.
Tab Hunter and Gwen Verdon's duet of "Two Lost Souls" was captured live on the set during filming, with the intention of re-recording the vocals in post-production. However, the stars' on-set chemistry was so infectious -- and so in keeping with the freewheeling style of the number -- that Donen ultimately decided to leave it as it was, Hunter and Verdon's frequent off-key notes notwithstanding. Despite all this, according to Donen’s biography, for other numbers, Hunter’s singing voice was partially dubbed.
RCA released the film's soundtrack LP, which they re-issued on CD in 1989.
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THAT KIND OF WOMAN was a wartime romance set in June 1944. "Kay" (Sophia Loren) and "Jane" (Barbara Nichols) travel on an overnight train from Miami to New York. Kay is the mistress of "The Man" (George Sanders), a rich industrialist, whom they are to meet so that they can help entertain an important general. "Red" (Tab Hunter), a young paratrooper on leave, picks up Kay in the club car, while his buddy "Kelly" (Jack Warden) goes off with Jane.
Once again, Don Murray was considered for a part eventually played by Tab Hunter. Paramount borrowed Hunter from Warner Bros. for the project. Reportedly, this was Tab Hunter's favorite of all the films in which he starred. Sidney Lumet directed the 1959 film. Nathan van Cleave provided the unreleased score.
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Posted: |
Jul 9, 2018 - 10:38 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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THEY CAME TO CORDURA opens with the following onscreen written prologue: "On the night of March 8th, 1916, a large mounted force of Mexican rebels under Pancho Villa crossed the American border and attacked the town of Columbus, New Mexico, killing and wounding both American civilians and soldiers. As a result of this action, the United States Army sent an expedition to Mexico with orders to capture Villa and disperse his forces. It was during this campaign that one man, an United States Army officer, was forced to come face to face with two of the great fundamental questions that affect mankind: What is courage? What is cowardice? This is the story of his search for an answer."
Gary Cooper starred in the film as " Major Thomas Thorn." Tab Hunter was borrowed from Warner Bros. by Columbia to play "Lt. William Fowler." During filming, Gary Cooper arranged for his daughter to "date" gay actor Tab Hunter. He'd previously arranged for her to "date" gay actor Anthony Perkins while they were filming FRIENDLY PERSUASION (1956). Robert Rossen directed the 1959 film, which had an unreleased score by Elie Siegmeister.
Tab Hunter in THEY CAME TO CORDURA
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Posted: |
Jul 9, 2018 - 10:56 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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By the end of the decade, Tab Hunter was looking for recurring work as the star of a television series but could not find a script he liked, especially as he did not want to do Westerns. He eventually picked a sitcom, dubbed "The Tab Hunter Show". In the series, Hunter stars as "Paul Morgan," a 29-year-old cartoonist whose comic strip "Bachelor at Large" profiles his amorous adventures around Malibu Beach, California. The program also starred Jerome Cowan as Hunter's boss; John Larsen, the owner of Comics, Inc.; Richard Erdman as his best friend, the rich playboy "Peter Fairfield, III"; and character actress Reta Shaw as Hunter's housekeeper, "Thelma," who disapproved of his life-style.
The"Bachelor at Large" comic strips seen on camera were drawn by veteran cartoonist Zeke Zekley, who had worked closely with George McManus on the strip "Bringing Up Father" from 1935 to 1954.
NBC premiered the show on Sunday, 18 September 1960 at 8:30. Unfortunately, "The Tab Hunter Show" went up against some stiff competition: the #15 rated "The Ed Sullivan Show" on CBS and the #26 rated western "Lawman" on ABC. "The Tab" Hunter Show" was cancelled after a single season. Said Hunter: "Hollywood has a tendency to drink the blood from your veins and then discard what's left. It can be devastating. Obviously, I wasn't really working at that point; so I ran off to Europe and started working there. The important thing was to keep working, to be a survivor."
Guest star Tuesday Weld and Tab Hunter" in "The Tab Hunter Show"
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Posted: |
Jul 10, 2018 - 12:26 AM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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In Hawaii, Fabian, Shelley Fabares, and Tab Hunter filmed RIDE THE WILD SURF, a comedy-drama about a group of friends who go to Hawaii in order to practice surfing, their favorite sport, and to find love. Hunter played "Steamer Lane," who falls in love with "Lily Kilua" (Susan Hart), whose mother (Catherine McLeod) objects to the romance because she considers surfers to be "beach bums."
The surfing footage in the movie was actually shot by Jo and Art Napoleon, who traveled to Hawaii specifically to capture surfers taking on the giant waves. A series of weather conditions had come together to produce one of the longest uninterrupted periods of big waves in recent memory in late 1962 through March 1963. The Napoleons, equipped with these spectacular shots, went back to California and wrote the script for the film around the footage.
Fabian and Tab Hunter were both taught the basics of surfing by noted Hawaiian big wave surfer Kealoha Kaio. The close-up shots of Fabian, Peter Brown ("Chase Colton"), and Tab Hunter--photographed from mid-chest up--riding their surfboards were actually shot on a sound stage at Columbia Studios. The actors balanced on Radio Flyer wagons in front of a rear-projection screen showing ocean waves. Assistants then sprayed them with water while maneuvering the wagons to give the desired effect. Tab Hunter darkened his hair and Peter Brown lightened his in order to better match the athletes who did the actual surfing for them.
RIDE THE WILD SURF was the first feature film directed by TV-veteran Don Taylor. When his mother died during filming, Columbia brought in Phil Karlson to direct a few scenes (uncredited) in Taylor's absence. According to Tab Hunter's autobiography, Karlson directed the scene in which Hunter assures his future mother-in-law that he's not a beach bum but rather a hard-working citizen. Writer-Producer Art Napoleon also directed some scenes uncredited.
Stu Philips scored the film, but the only "soundtrack" release was a Jan & Dean album whose fine print stated that "Jan & Dean sing the original soundtrack recording of the title song of RIDE THE WILD SURF." The balance of the Liberty LP consisted of Jan & Dean songs that did not appear in the film.
Fabian, Peter Brown, and Tab Hunter in RIDE THE WILD SURF
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