Entertaining Dubuque - The Untold Story

 Margaret Lindsay - A Dubuque Movie Star - Update

In my last blog post I presented newly found images of Dubuque's great vaudeville star, Joe Frisco. This week I'm pleased to present some excellent new images and information from "Screenland," "Picture Play," and "New Movies" magazines. The photo above was published in the December 1933 "Screenland" after Margaret's appearance in "Cavalcade." The film version of Noel Coward's play won 3 Oscars. Margaret played a small, memorable role in this classic. She gained immediate attention and was promoted in a number of popular fan magazines. These images have not been seen for decades. I found them in the UCLA Media Library during my continuing research of Dubuque's unique & entertaining past.

John Warburton & Margaret Lindsay in "Cavalcade."

To refresh your memory on this talented Dubuque native, here is an excerpt from her chapter in "Entertaining Dubuque-The Untold Story." 

Margaret Kies was born in Dubuque September 19, 1910, to John and Bertha Kies, the first of their five children. The family lived at 1070 Melrose Terrace where her neighborhood friends knew her as "Peg," a tomboy who loved climbing trees, roller skating, and the typical outdoor activity of youngsters of the era. She attended grade and high school at Visitation Academy and graduated in 1927. Margaret appeared in many of the school’s theater productions, took dance lessons from Mrs. Grace Clark and appeared in several of dance recitals at the Grand Opera House. She also danced with dozens of other young local dancers in the July 1927 production of “Pandora at Lilac Time” a lavish touring musical production staged at the Majestic. Her father, a successful druggist, knew Margaret's dream was acting, so he sent her to study at the National Park Seminary in Washington DC and then at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. It was there she realized that the significant dramatic roles in theater and movies were going to British actors. So, in 1932 Margaret and a fellow actor friend, Charles (Bob) Cummings from Joplin, Missouri, traveled together to England where they both picked up English accents and honed their skills working in stock company roles. After six months they booked passage as brother and sister and headed back to the states.

Picture Play Magazine presented their version of the story in this two page "expose" in October of 1933. 

The following year Picture Play did another glamour story on Lindsay by featuring her in a segment called "Fan Favorites."

Another three page photo story appeared the in 1935. 

Glamour shots of Margaret were also featured in New Movies Magazine, which in 1934 had the largest circulation of all fan magazines. These two pages, also featuring her co-star, promoted her latest Warner Brothers film, "The Dragon Murder Case."

Here are a few "stills" from movies in which Margaret co-starred with many of the big names in Hollywood in the 1930s and 40s. 

with Humphrey Bogart in "Fury" (1936)

With Errol Flynn and Anita Louise in "Green Light" (1937)

With Warren Hull in "The Law in Her Hands"

With Lyle Talbot in "The Dragon Murder Case" 

 

  

"Entertaining Dubuque-The Untold Story" is available at River Lights Bookstore or a signed copy is available directly from me at rdbqpaul@gmail.com