About 30 years ago, George Carlin came on The Tonight Show and had Johnny Carson laughing helplessly with a bit on old movies. The premise was when you see a crowd scene in an old black and white movie; odds are everyone in the scene is now dead. A bit morbid, but Carlin tapped into the back alleys of speculation movie fans love.

When a film festival runs a film featuring an infant, it's a guaranteed conversation topic when the film ends. 'That baby that Constance Bennett was holding,' someone will say. 'He could still be alive. He'd be about 85 today.' To which I add, 'And does he know he was in this film? Did his parents keep a list of his film roles? Does he have a tape of this one?'

There are crazier levels of trivia obsession. Take businessmen's desks. Every millionaire in '30s movies has a huge wooden desk, almost the size of a minibus, often with fancy scrollwork. Do you wonder how many movies each desk was in, and where it is now? I do. After talking with other buffs, I know I'm not the only one who pauses the image when an actor stands by a bookshelf so I can read the titles on the shelf. (There's a nifty scene in Hitchcock's Saboteur to practice this pastime.)

In the cause of promoting movie trivia, I'll highlight three ways you can amuse yourself with cast lists from old films.

Their Real Names

Almost every film buff can tell you who Frances Gumm, Archie Leach, and Marion Morrison turned into. But how many know about Olga Cronk and Shirley Schrift? Olga became Claire Windsor of romantic silents and Shirley became Shelley Winters. Other leading ladies whose birth names lacked marquee appeal: Eunice Quedens (Eve Arden), Tula Finklea (Cyd Charisse), Constance Ockleman (Veronica Lake), Sarah Jane Fulks (Jane Wyman), and, wonderfully, Emma Matzo (Lizbeth Scott).

Reginald Truscott-Jones is a perfect name if you're a character actor in Gaumont British drawing room comedies. But this Reginald became Ray Milland. One look at the trim, engaging Milland of early sound, and you know he's no Truscott-Jones. In the same spirit, Spangler Brugh became Robert Taylor, which spared his fans the problem of pronouncing Brugh. Laszlo Lowenstein became Peter Lorre, but most of us can think of Lorre characters who might been called Laszlo Lowenstein. William Beedle was a huge box office star in the '50s, but we call him William Holden today.

Doubles

In a century of commercial films, one expects some stars with identical names, and this has happened more than a handful of times. Every silent film buff knows that 60 years before Star Wars, there was a Harrison Ford who pulled in a huge female audience. The silent Harrison Ford (no relation to today's star) is an uncomfortable fit for today's image of a romantic star. He was well-mannered, even prissy, and seemed to draw on his fans' mothering instincts. Ford was paired with such brassy actresses as Marie Prevost and Phyllis Haver in late '20s comedies. They did the pursuing; he continually raised his eyebrows in astonishment. Two good showcases for Ford are the Lon Chaney vehicle Shadows (1920) and The Primitive Lover (1922), in which he costars with the wonderful Constance Talmadge.

There were two William Boyds. The better known Boyd (1895-1972) made 66 features as Hopalong Cassidy. William 'Stage' Boyd (1889-1935) was a supporting actor who caused his counterpart no end of trouble. 'Stage' Boyd had a drinking problem, and producers got the two men confused. It was actually by court order, not industry practice, that 'Stage' Boyd added the extra moniker to his name.

There were two William Holdens. The bigger star made his debut in Golden Boy in 1939. But years earlier there was another William Holden (1862-1932) who played judges, wardens, and society figures in silents and early talkies. He plays Joan Crawford's father in Dance, Fools, Dance (1931), calling her a 'little minx' when she gets all her party guests to swim in their skivvies, and later dropping dead on the floor of the stock market when it crashes.

There were two Bob Burns, and their film careers ran concurrently for about fifteen years. The better known Burns was a folksy radio star who made a series of comedies at Paramount. He can be seen on DVD supporting Bing Crosby in Waikiki Wedding and Rhythm on the Range. The other Bob Burns starred in a string of '20s westerns; many of them lost, and then took secondary and bit roles in sound westerns, with over 400 acting credits.


There were two Jack Warners. One was the forceful studio head. The other was a dependable character actor in British films and television, notably in The Ladykillers and The Blue Lamp.

There might have been two James Stewarts in films, but the 'second' one changed his name to Stewart Granger and enjoyed a long career in international films.

I have found fewer duplicate names among actresses. There were two Ann Todds. Most of us think of the British Todd (1909-1993), who plays Gregory Peck's wife in The Paradine Case.

But there was an American Ann Todd (b. 1931) who had a good run as a child star in such films as Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet, All This, and Heaven Too, and Blood and Sand.

There are now two Nancy Carrolls. One was the vibrant star of comedy and musicals in early sound. The other is a contemporary actress in British films and television.

Prescient Character Names

Some character names in old films have a strange connotation today. Monster movie fans are amused when they watch the Americanized version of Godzilla (1954) and find Raymond Burr playing Steve Martin. Steve Martin turns up as a character name frequently in old films.

There are many startling character names in old Variety and New York Times reviews. Future show business names predominate. Morris Foster plays Pat O'Brien in The Innocent Lie (1916). Edward Martindell plays Robert Armstrong in Vanity (1916). John Webb Dillon plays George Hamilton in The Unwelcome Mother (1916). William Sheer plays Stephen King in Tides of Fate (1917). Edward Burns plays John Davidson in Morgan's Raiders (1918). Donald Hall plays George Stevens in Love and the Woman (1919). Charles Clary plays Barry Sullivan in Bonds of Love (1919). Tim McCoy plays Tim Allen in One Way Trail (1931). Ben Lyon plays Henry Gibson in Girl Missing (1933). A doubleheader occurs in The Bowery (1933), as Wallace Beery plays Chuck Connors and George Raft plays Steve Brodie. Fred Clark plays Oliver Stone in Living It Up (1954).

Edna May plays Joan Crawford in Salvation Joan (1916). (Did the fan who sent in the name Joan Crawford as a name for MGM starlet Lucille LeSueur in 1925 remember this film?) Valeska Suratt plays Anne Baxter in Jealousy (1916). Eileen Percy plays Mary Martin in The Fast Mail (1922). Barbara Worth plays Irene Ryan in An Old Sweetheart of Mine (1923). Mrs. Wallace Reid plays Joan Allen in Broken Laws (1925). Joyce Compton plays Edna Best in Three Girls Lost (1931). Patty Hale plays Penny Marshall in I Was Framed (1942).

An imaginary vocal quartet comes out of four silent film casts. C. Normand Hammond plays David Cassidy in Wolves of the Rail (1918). Tully Marshall plays James Brown in A Modern Musketeer (1918). Fontaine LaRue plays Kate Smith in The Love Letter (1923). Reginald Denny plays Tom Jones in What Happened to Jones (1926).

Finally, five character names that fall between serendipity and homage. Roland Bottomley plays John Gilbert in The Green Cloak (1915). Because the real Gilbert was playing uncredited bits around this time, this one must be pure chance. George DeCarlton plays William Frawley in Life Without Soul (1915), at a time when the future Fred Mertz was touring with his brother in vaudeville. William Russell plays Lowell Sherman in Soul Mates (1916), by which time the real Sherman had done supporting roles in four films. Alma Hanlon plays Doris Kenyon in Pride and the Devil (1917), when the real Kenyon was already playing leads; Variety complained the producers were getting two stars names for the price of one. Lastly, Lilyan Tashman plays Lucille Watson in Too Much Harmony (1933). The marvelous Watson, who spelled her first name Lucile, had done a few films by '33, but was well known for her 30-plus years on stage.

What have we learned? That trivia is contagious.