Here is a supporting actress of the Thirties and Forties one could hardly miss.

Standing 6ft 2in tall in her stockinged feet and as wide as a barn door, she presented a formidable character on screen.

A vaudeville and Broadway star of the Twenties and Thirties, she was soon snapped up by Hollywood.

Hope Emerson by name, she always reminded me of a bird of prey.

She gave a fine performance in Westward the Women (1951) with Robert Taylor. From 1932 until 1948, her films did not gross fortunes but from then on she hit the big time.

She was cast as an evildoer in Cry of the City (1948), giving a convincing performance as a death-dealing masseuse.

Emerson was Academy Awardnominated for her role in Caged in 1950.

My favourite scene of hers was in Adam's Rib (1949), when she appeared to lift Spencer Tracy over her head and hold him there.

Bosley Crowther wrote of the film: "It isn't solid food but it certainly is meatily and comically nourishing."

Emerson was also a circus acrobat. She died in 1960, aged 63.

  • G Dean, Lancing