Silver Screen Magic with Angela Lansbury

Angela Lansbury was born in London, England, in 1925. Still a teenager, she relocated to the US and studied acting while working as a singer and cabaret performer. Her very first role in films was in the 1944 thriller “Gaslight.” She was a beloved performer on the Broadway stage and won six Tony Awards, including a lifetime achievement award in 2022. Lansbury also made a name for herself on TV playing novelist and part-time detective Jessica Fletcher in the CBS series “Murder, She Wrote.” The actress left this world on October 11, 2022, at the age of 96.

Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” saw Angela Lansbury in the iconic role of the animated teapot Mrs. Potts. Her delightful singing brings to life this story about a French beauty held prisoner by a vain prince trapped into the body of a hideous beast.

She sang the title song, “The Beauty and the Beast” and made it memorable.

“Bedknobs and Broomsticks” is a 1971 Disney film that mixed live action with animation, creating a musical comedy fantasy. It was directed by Robert Stevenson. The film was based on the books “The Magic Bedknob” and “Bonfires and Broomsticks” by English author Mary Norton. The film starred Angela Lansbury, David Tomlinson, Ian Weighill, Cindy O’Callaghan, and Roy Snart.

The storyline takes place in 1940, as a trio of London war orphans are put into the care of mail-order witch Eglantine Price (Angela Lansbury). She studies witchcraft via correspondence classes, using her magic to fight the Germans. After the school shuts down, she travels with her new wards to London to investigate. They discover the “headmaster” of the school, Mr. Emelious Brown (David Tomlinson), is a charlatan. Together, they travel to a wondrous island full of animated animals to find the final spell and thwart a German platoon bent on invading Britain.

“Gaslight” is a 1944 American psychological thriller directed by George Cukor. It starred Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotton, and Angela Lansbury in her film debut.

The storyline follows a young woman whose husband slowly manipulates her into believing that she is descending into insanity. Angela Lansbury plays Nancy Oliver, a maid employed in the household who is witness to her employers' troubles.

MGM came out with the American musical film “The Harvey Girls” in 1945. It was based on the 1942 novel of the same name by Samuel Hopkins Mayer, about Fred Harvey’s Harvey House waitresses. The film was directed by George Sidney and starred Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, and Angela Lansbury, among others, including future star Cyd Charisse in her first speaking role on film.

In the 1880s, businessman Fred Harvey began to staff his popular "Harvey House" railway stop restaurants and hotels with women, placing ads in newspapers across the Northeast and Midwest for educated women between the ages of 18 and 30 with high moral character.

“The Long, Hot Summer” is a 1958 American drama starring Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Anthony Franciosa, Orson Wells, and Angela Lansbury in a supporting role. Directed by Martin Ritt, the film is based in part on three works by William Faulkner – the 1931 novella “Spotted Horses,” the 1939 short story “Barn Burning,” and the 1940 novel “The Hamlet.”

It was filmed in Clinton, Louisiana, and follows the conflicts of the Varner family after ambitious drifter Ben Quick (Paul Newman) arrives in the small Mississippi town. Will Varner (Orson Welles), the patriarch, has doubts about his son, Jody (Anthony Franciosa), and sees Ben as a better choice to inherit his portion. He attempts to get his daughter Clara (Joanne Woodward) to marry him.

“The World of Henry Orient” is a 1964 American comedy-drama that was directed by George Roy Hill. The film starred Peter Sellers, Paula Prentiss, Angela Lansbury, Tippy Walker, Merrie Spaeth, and Tom Bosley. The original story was inspired in part by Nora Johnson's own experiences as a schoolgirl, as well as by a real-life incident involving singer Tony Bennett and two teenage fans.

The storyline takes place in New York City. Continental concert pianist Henry Orent (Peter Sellers) finds the upscale Manhattan latchkey kids Val (Tippy Walker) and Gil (Merrie Spaeth) obsessed with him and interfering with his life from afar. When Val’s neglectful mother, Isabel (Angela Lansbury), discovers her daughter has been spying on a grown man, she confronts Henry and find herself in a relationship with him.