Silents and Talkies

The Bradford Dillman blogathon

2012-01-22T15:12:00.002-05:00

Unfortunately I haven't had the chance to watch any new movies/tv shows in preparation for the Bradford Dillman Blogathon: A Jazzier Kind of Noir so instead my contribution is these scans.

I purchased the above photo on ebay recently, and the rest were scanned from two movie photo books I got at a flea market last year. You can view them larger here! Oh, and here is my contribution to last year's Bradford blogathon!

Disney, Busby Berkeley style

2012-01-20T20:54:00.004-05:00

I went to see Beauty & The Beast 3D last weekend! It was my favorite movie when I was a kid, so I was incredibly (maybe overly) excited to see it in theaters again, and it was even better than I imagined. I kept hearing people say how disgusted they were that it's in 3D, but seriously the effects are so subtle you hardly even notice! It's like the animation has multiple layers. Nothing pops out at you.. it's not gimmicky, just really pretty, especially the forest scenes! I'm really not a big fan of the 3D phenomenon, but getting a chance to see one of my all time favorite movies in a theater was something I couldn't pass up, and I definitely wasn't disappointed!

Anyway, the reason I bring this up on my classic movie blog (since I'm 25 I'm not going to let 1991 count as classic just yet, lest I feel too old) is because I realized for the first time that the Be Our Guest number is a tribute to Busby Berkeley! Once it hits you, it's so obvious!

By the by, today marks my 3rd Silents & Talkies anniversary (whoa!) ... it's been a bumpy road and I've shuttered the doors numerous times in fits of "nobody reads this, why do I bother?!" hysteria, but I want to say "thank you!" to everyone who has stuck around, to the few people who have encouraged me to keep writing, and to my dear friends that I've met through blogging. I can't even imagine my life without some of you, and to think we wouldn't have even met if I hadn't started Silents & Talkies... it's just mind-boggling.

xo.

Rare Sunday in New York photos

2012-01-13T00:47:00.004-05:00

I recently purchased a couple of original proof sheets from a Sunday in New York promotional photo shoot, and scanned them for my Classic Film Scans blog! The one above is my favorite, but they're all exceptionally cute! You can view the rest of them here.

I haven't updated the CFS site in a little while since I've been in the process of changing hosts for all of the 1,000+ photos already up, and didn't want to add new ones while I was switching. But this particular set was too good to hold onto, I just had to share them!! I'm really close to having the site ready for more uploads, though, so keep an eye out if you're interested in gawking at classic movie stars ;) I have a huge stack of things to scan and I'm planning on updating it pretty regularly once I get the hosting all sorted out.

Oh, and by the by -- if you still haven't seen Sunday in New York (or if you love it and want to see it again!) it's playing on TCM today at 11:15AM est!

New Year's Movie Meme

2011-12-28T17:00:00.004-05:00

The Girl with the White Parasol has a little movie meme for New Year's and I thought it would be fun to participate! I haven't done one of these in a while (I think the last one I participated in was the one I co-hosted with Millie) and I really enjoyed it! So, here are my answers, and Happy New Year!!

1. What is your all-time favorite Grace Kelly costume?

I love the blue gown she wears in To Catch a Thief! In a way it also reminds me of the one Deborah Kerr wears in An Affair to Remember.

2. What classic film would you nominate for a remake?

None of them... modern remakes give me the heebie jeebies! Although, that being said, I love some classic remakes like The Maltese Falcon, An Affair to Remember (no idea how this keeps coming up), and His Girl Friday.

3. Name your favorite femme fatale.

Barbara Stanwyck in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers. I know most people, if choosing Stany's best femme fatale role, would pick Double Indemnity but goodness, that hair. I will never get over the hair. (I don't even care if it was part of the character, intended to look cheap, etc. It distracts me like ca-razy)

Runner up: Audrey Totter in Lady in the Lake!

4. Name the best movie with the word "heaven" in its title.

This is one of my all-time favorite romances! Also, I think it's a terrific example of powerful acting. It's absolutely amazing what Charles Boyer and Bette Davis can convey without speaking. You get the impression that their love is deeper than any other love that ever existed, yet they never speak of it and they never express it. It's left unspoken, but oh-so-palpable.

5. Describe the worst performance by a child actor that you’ve ever seen.

"Shaaaayyyne! Come back Shaaaayyyyne!" Ahh that little kid annoys the heck out of me!

6. Who gets your vote for most tragic movie monster?

I know it's not technically an old movie (at least I hope not, since I was already 3 years old when it was released) but I think it's a classic nonetheless. And I really can't think of a more tragic movie monster.

7. What is the one Western that you would recommend to anybody?

The Ox-Bow Incident. Westerns aren't my favorite genre, but I could watch this one a dozen times. It's not a typical western... more debate about law and order than cowboys and Indians, but I think it's a must-see western and a must-see classic film.

8. Who is your ideal movie-viewing partner?

My cat. I'm not a huge fan of watching movies with other people, just because I like to lose myself in the film. I like to be able to stare goofily at my screen when there's a happy ending or start bawling with mascara running down my cheeks during sad scenes without feeling self-conscious.

9. Has a film ever made you want to change your life? If so, what was the film?

Movies in general changed my life, but I don't think any particular movie made me want to change my life (if that makes sense?) Overall film has had a huge positive influence on me, but I can't think of one single movie that made me alter anything about how I live.

10. Think of one performer that you truly love. Now think of one scene/movie/performance of theirs that is too uncomfortable for you to watch.

Dirk Bogarde. With the most dreadful mustache in movie history (and that's including all of THESE.) It makes the last part of Esther Waters unbearable for me to watch!

11. On the flip side, think of one really good scene/performance/movie from a performer that you truly loathe.

Really not a fan of Edmund O'Brien as a leading man, but I think he did a fine job in The Barefoot Contessa.

12. And finally, since it will be New Year's soon, do you have any movie or blogging-related resolutions for 2012?

I need to watch more movies! In 2011 I watched a pitiful amount of movies because my schedule was so hectic, but I intend to make up for that in 2012. It seems like a small goal, but at least one a week would be an improvement!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

2011-12-24T16:10:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone has a fantastic holiday season! See you in 2012! :)

xoxo Kate

A Classic Movie Christmas

2011-12-11T02:18:00.004-05:00

A little video I put together with classic film clips, featuring Christmas-y and winter-y scenes! I had so much fun making this!! I've actually been planning on making a video set to this song (Goldfrapp's version of Winter Wonderland... I know, I know, I can't seem to stop making videos set to their music!) and I'm so glad I finally found time to do it in time for Christmas this year! :)

And in case you missed it, here is my New Year's video from last year!

They shoot horses, don't they?

2011-11-28T23:47:00.002-05:00

One of the reasons I stopped blogging here for a while was because I was finding it so hard to think of something to say after I watched a really good film. I'd know it was good, I'd feel completely moved and I'd want to share my feelings here, but I wouldn't have the words. That happened to me again today after watching They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

I don't even know how to describe it. It was so incredibly sad and heart-wrenching. The acting was beyond good. I'm a big fan of Jane Fonda and Susannah York, and I've seen quite a lot of their films, but I've never been more impressed with their acting than I was today. They were so raw, but not over the top. They were just so REAL. Here are two actresses that are very familiar to me as stars and personalities, and they were so engrossed in their roles, so accurate in their portrayals of tired, exhausted and desperate women, that I completely forgot they were acting.

If you don't like depressing movies, definitely avoid this one. But otherwise, I highly encourage you to check it out. Although I don't recommend watching it when you're feeling particularly down in the dumps... it is seriously downbeat, and after watching it I felt pretty mopey for a good couple hours! Incredibly in awe of what I had just seen and overwhelmed by the amazing acting, but mopey nonetheless.

Celluloid and Canvas - James Mason

2011-11-27T22:30:00.005-05:00

As part of my lifelong mission to convince the world that James Mason was a lovable sweetheart in real life, and not at all like the creeps he portrayed in movies such as Lolita and Georgy Girl, I present this fact: James Mason loved cats. So much so that he wrote a book about them with his wife. (Cue simultaneous aww's!) "The Cats in Our Lives" is a little tribute to all of the cats that Mason & his wife, Pamela Kellino, had known. Mason actually illustrated the book, as well!

It's been out of print for some time, and sat on my amazon wishlist for years without ever ending up in my shopping cart. Its rarity seemed to always go hand in hand with a pretty steep price. So I was absolutely over-the-moon with excitement when my brother gifted me a copy for my birthday this month!! I didn't even know until I opened the book that Mason had illustrated it! As soon as I saw all of the beautiful pen & ink drawings of furry felines, I blurted out "I have to scan this for my blog!"

And so here they are, all of the illustrations in "The Cats in Our Lives" by James Mason! If this doesn't convince you that he was a sweet old chap, I don't know what will! ;)

fanatic guilt

2011-11-18T11:03:00.004-05:00

As I walk by my record collection I can see his eyes peering up at me, hypnotizing me, calling me to pick up his record and listen. I shift my focus to avoid eye contact, grab my Marianne Faithfull Broken English album and quickly, guiltily, place it over his. I can't stand to look at him right now.

Such is the anguish of fanatic guilt; when you spend months, years (or in my case almost a decade) obsessed with a celebrity to the point of embarrassment, only to have that obsession start to fade. There was a time when I listened to nothing --and I mean, nothing-- but Frank Sinatra. Dean Martin's voice would only seep out of my speakers if it was accompanied by Frank's in a duet. The only way that a David Bowie song would reach my eardrums is if his music was playing in a supermarket or my parents had popped in one of his cds in the car and I could not escape. I was the most fanatic of fans, to the point that his face was plastered around my room, screen-printed on my t-shirts and taped to my first cell phone as a make-shift case.

Every year on December 12th my family and I would celebrate his birthday by watching a double feature of his movies and a concert while eating pasta topped with sauce that I made using Sinatra's recipe. For every Christmas from 2000 to about 2009, my presents were entirely Sinatra-themed. I relished Christmas shopping because it was the one time of year when I could hear his voice loftily floating through the air without having put it there myself.

And so I felt a bit of a sting the other day when my mom recalled an event from a few years ago and added "that was during your Sinatra phase."

Was it really a phase? And was it really over? I sulked a bit and marched up to my bedroom. As I sat on my bed I noticed a Pogues record on my turntable. A quick glance at the art adorning my walls would prove that I'm a fan of Anna Karina, Giulietta Masina, Louise Brooks, Sunday in New York, Dirk Bogarde and Jane Fonda but you'd never guess that I like Sinatra. The only presence he maintains in my bedroom is a magnet on my bulletin board, tucked under a photo of my cat, and a pile of records that haven't been touched in years.

I can see his eyes peering up at me, hypnotizing me, calling me to pick up his album and listen. But, wracked with the guilt of a fan who has let her interest slip away, I can't stand to look at him right now.

Project Keaton

2011-10-31T21:47:00.005-04:00

My *incredibly* last minute submission to Project Keaton! I had meant to do a full post on the film Limelight to go along with this but I've just been so insanely busy this month I thought a little drawing was better than nothing at all :)

I had also wanted to do a huge post on my top 10 favorite scary movies by Halloween but didn't get to that either. I do have the list ready, though! I'll include them here and maybe next month I'll try to come back and edit this to include why these movies give me the chills! :)

1. The Old Dark House (1932)

2. The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947)

3. The Vampire Bat (1933)

4. The Uninvited (1944)

5. The Birds (1963)

6. The Haunting (1963)

7. The Innocents (1961)

8. Doctor X (1932)

9. The Body Snatcher (1945)

10. Don't Look Now (1973)

ps. the drawing is available in my society6 shop

Sunday in New York tribute

2011-10-03T23:37:00.002-04:00

This tribute is so long overdue.. Sunday in New York is my absolute favorite film of all time! I know I've mentioned it on here countless times, but somehow I never made a tribute video until now. If you've seen the movie hopefully the video will really make you laugh! :)

If you *haven't* seen the movie.. what the heck? I've been pestering you about it for almost three years now. Hop to it! ;)

Scream of Fear

2011-09-23T21:22:00.003-04:00

I don't remember what the movie was, but when I was a little girl I caught part of a horror film that my parents were watching. It was from the 1960's or 70's, and all I remember was a dead body hanging upside down from the ceiling with blood dripping onto a table. The scene probably wasn't even that gruesome, but to my tiny innocent mind it was absolutely horrific! I've always been pretty sure that it was a Hammer film. I have no idea if it actually was, but I've kind of avoided them ever since.

So imagine my surprise when I accidentally watched one tonight (once I saw HAMMER FILMS in the credits, I winced with fear, but decided to keep going because of the amazing cast) and absolutely loved it! It wasn't the least bit gory. In fact, it was exactly the kind of scary movie that I adore! Psychological trickery, unexpected twists and a spooky atmosphere can be so much more terrifying than blood and gore. Honestly, I think the unseen makes bloody monsters jealous.. it can send ten times the amount of shivers up backs, give double the amount of goosebumps and cause three times as many nightmares. I watched this movie alone, in the dark, and it scared the living daylights out of me, without one "eww, yuck! Quick, avert your eyes!" sort of scene.

Scream of Fear has an all-star fantastic British cast headed by Susan Strasberg, Ann Todd, Christopher Lee and Ronald Lewis. It's about a wheelchair bound girl who, after her companion mysteriously dies in a drowning accident, goes to visit her father that she hasn't seen in ten years. When she arrives, she's told that he left in the middle of the night on an urgent business trip, leaving her alone with his new wife, the chauffeur and a suspicious French doctor. I can't really give away much more than that because the thrills start right from the beginning!

The trailer doesn't even come close to doing the film justice, but I think it's kind of cool so I had to share it! :)

Scream of Fear is available in a (very inexpensive!) Hammer film box-set on Amazon here.

Charly

2011-09-16T15:28:00.002-04:00

I've been re-watching a lot of my favorite Cliff Robertson movies this week. I'm having a tough time accepting the fact that he's gone... I never saw any of his later films, so to me he was still a young, healthy, vital guy in his 20's or 30's. Now that he's gone, my only surviving classic movie crushes are Rod Taylor and Robert Redford (I guess I seem to have a thing for people who co-starred with Jane Fonda.)

But aside from being a handsome fellow with a voice that sends shivers up my spine, he was also an AMAZING, highly underrated actor. For proof, look no further than his role as the mentally challenged sweetheart Charly in the 1968 movie of the same name.

Charly is a full-grown man with the mental capacity of a child. But with the help of his night school teacher, played by Claire Bloom, he gets to participate in a trial operation to improve his capacity for learning. While the initial operation is a success, it has a huge side effect that Charly never saw coming.

The film itself is definitely a heartbreaker. But while the overarching storyline is sad, it's a few poignant scenes and Cliff Robertson's earnest portrayal of Charly that will make your eyes well up.

In the beginning, Charly never understands when he is the butt of a joke, because it's beyond his comprehension. When his co-workers fill his locker with bread dough, then gather around laughing when Charly can't figure out what's going on, he laughs too.. not understanding that they are laughing AT him, not with him. But after his surgery, when his intelligence begins to grow, he says, "I was wondering why the people who would never dream of laughing at a blind or a crippled man would laugh at a moron." His realization that his "friends" were actually making fun of him all these years is one of the saddest moments in the whole film. Sure, intelligence enables him to understand physics, chemistry and history.. but it also opens up a world of hurt that he never even knew existed.

Cliff Robertson does such an outstanding job of portraying Charly throughout all of his mental stages in the film. His progression from innocent childlike wonder to mature, adult understanding is so natural you hardly notice it's happening at first. Even his facial expressions and body movements reflect his current intellect. While I had a very hard time understanding how Geraldine Page was nominated for an Oscar in my last post, I'm not the least bit surprised that Cliff Robertson won best actor for this role.

You can get Charly on Amazon here, or it's also on youtube here. I'm also working on a video tribute to Cliff Robertson, so hopefully I'll have that up sometime this weekend.

Summer and Smoke

2011-09-15T02:01:00.004-04:00

First I'll just get this out of the way real quick... yes, I'm blogging here. On the blog that 9 months ago I said I'd closed up forever. I just don't feel like I'm able to sufficiently write about movies on my primary blog, Scathingly Brilliant. Because the blog is mostly positive and upbeat I feel the need to blog about lighter fare, and I recoil from sharing movies that don't come with a happy ending. I've been itching to tackle the subject of repression in film but that's way too heavy for my other blog. So after much (too much) thought, I've decided to dust off the cobwebs, open the windows, and let some light in on Silents and Talkies. I won't be blogging as often as I used to, and I won't be keeping any sort of set schedules or series. But when the urge strikes, I like that I can come back here and write. If anyone's still out there after my long hiatus... hello! Hope you don't mind that I'm back! ;)

Okay, now that that's out of the way... Summer and Smoke.

Have you ever watched a movie, decided it was definitely one of the worst movies you'd ever seen and headed over to imdb to read some reviews, only to find everyone has rated the movie 10/10 and that it was nominated for multiple Oscars? This was my experience with Summer and Smoke.

The film is about a repressed Preacher's daughter named Alma --played by Oscar nominated Geraldine Page-- who has been madly, obsessively in love with the town delinquent, John -- played by Laurence Harvey-- since she was five years old. The movie opens with a very stage-like scene of the two characters as children. Alma is already strangely prim and proper for a toddler, and John starts his lifelong pattern of using her obvious crush as a way to tease her. Fast forward 20 years and not much has changed. Alma is still living at home with her father and her mother who had a nervous breakdown while Alma was in high school. John has just returned from Medical School, having acquired a seedy reputation on his trip home, stopping at gambling halls and keeping company with loose women. Throughout the rest of the film John keeps leading Alma on while he's going steady with Rosa -- Rita Moreno in a painfully stereotypical role.

Laurence Harvey wasn't bad at all, except that his fake southern accent kept disappearing every now and then.. but I expect that of almost any movie where the actors take on fake southern accents. Pamela Tiffin played one of John's love interests, and she was really cute and fit the role well. But everyone and everything else bothered me. It was heavily dramatic, very theatrical and stage-like. An almost-40 Geraldine Page was, I think, terribly miscast as a "young old maid" in her early 20's. She overplayed the part tremendously and I honestly could not believe she was nominated for an Oscar!

I think I must just have very bad good-acting radar. I can't even count how many times I think a performance was God-awful, only to find out the actor was nominated for an Oscar. Or a quick search for "terrible actors name, bad movie" yields hundreds of articles raving about what a fantastic character study it was, and how the actor was able to express a million things with one slight eye movement in the fourth scene.

Aside from the acting, the story itself was not too bad. It's by Tennessee Williams, after all. But I think the weird treatment of repression just sticks in my craw. Almost every film I've seen that deals with a repressed woman treats the character as if she is literally psychotic. In Summer and Smoke, Alma constantly runs to the doctor in the middle of the night due to panic attacks for which he gives her tranquilizers. Her eyes are constantly darting about, unable to focus unless John is in view. In Repulsion, a repressed Catherine Deneuve goes absolutely mad. In Psycho, the male is the one who is repressed and he goes on a mini killing spree while the skeleton of his dead mother is locked up in the basement. Repression is terrible, but from most movies you'd get the impression that anyone who hasn't been in a romantic relationship must be harboring an extreme mental illness.

The character of Alma could have just been a girl with a crush on the boy next door who is painfully disappointed by his constant teasing and rejection. She didn't have to also be a borderline insane woman who gets violent panic attacks whenever the thought of sex crossed her mind. I think it adds an unnecessary element to a story that would have been fine without it.

While Summer and Smoke was *definitely* not my cup of tea, I guess in retrospect I can understand why so many people might love it. The plot was constantly interesting and occasionally mesmerizing in a strange sort of way. So if you're in the mood for some melodrama and good old fashioned [over-dramatized] repression, it's available on netflix instant.

Bradford Dillman and the Evil Genius

2011-01-20T21:22:00.008-05:00

{ artwork by me! }

Until Millie started talking about him incessantly, I had no clue who Bradford Dillman was. (cue simultaneous gasp!) But, The Evil Genius* (Millie) doesn't like it when people aren't familiar with her favorite actors. She REALLY doesn't like it. I've heard she has a torture chamber, complete with an Iron Maiden and rack, for people that refuse her pleas to watch films and tv shows featuring her favorite stars. I've been lucky so far... in my constant attempts to avoid watching Tyrone Power movies, I've found that humor and light jokes will keep the Wrath of the Evil Genius at bay, at least for now... But if someday I stop posting here, and the following week you see a short blog post on Classic Forever, with a photo of Tyrone Power captioned simply "muahahahahahahah! I WIN!" I believe you'll know my fate.

Since I'm pressing my luck with the Tyrone Power issue, I thought it wise to immediately cave when The Evil Genius asked me to watch Bradford Dillman in an episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. Granted, he's a lot more handsome and doesn't have a history of showing up in roles that I'd prefer other actors had been cast in (I'm looking at you Witness for the Prosecution!!) so it was a lot easier to give in this time. And I'm glad I did! The Evil Genius was right, Bradford Dillman really is pretty cool, and while not quite on the same level as Millie, an evil genius in his own right.

The episode I watched was called "Isabel" about an old maid who falsely accuses BD of assaulting her. After watching it I realized I'd actually seen him before, in an episode of The Mary Tyler Moore show, and in The Way We Were.. I just hadn't noticed until The Evil Genius brought him to my attention. I highly recommend that you give him a shot if you haven't already! Now, I'm not going to tie you to a board and stretch your limbs until you pass out if you don't stop what you're doing right now and find a Bradford Dillman movie or tv show to watch, but Millie just might. I warned you. I won't feel the least bit sorry for you if one day your blog is abandoned, and I see a short post on Classic Forever with a photo of Bradford Dillman captioned "muahahahahahaha! I WIN!"

*Other bloggers participating in the Bradford Dillman blogathon are referring to BD himself when they reference "The Evil Genius" but I've decided Millie is more worthy of this title.

Susannah York

2011-01-16T21:24:00.004-05:00

Susannah York passed away yesterday, after just celebrating her 72nd birthday. When celebrities who hail from the world of classic film pass away, I don't usually find myself incredibly devastated .. it might be because so many of them were in their late 80's or early 90's and it was at least somewhat expected. But Susannah York's death is bothering me. Partly because she is one of my favorite actresses, and also because she just seems so young.

The 1960's for some reason or other feel much more recent than any decade prior. I mean, 1960 feels about 20 years away from 1959. A lot of classic film fans have an invisible demarcation line between 1959 and 1960, preferring to watch only movies made prior to the new decade. I'm not one of them, but I completely understand why that particular year would serve as a cut-off. It's a time when "old fashioned" seemed to end and "modern" began. 1960 still feels like yesterday, even to someone like myself who was born in 1986. And so when a star from the 60's passes away, it's jolting in a way that a star from the 20's isn't. It's unexpected, and especially hard to believe.

I think my feelings about this can also be attributed to the fact that the actors and actresses who rose to fame in the 1960's seemed eternally young. They were so fresh and vivacious that their youth seemed everlasting. The mere fact that Susannah York was 72 is almost as hard for me to believe as the fact that she's passed away.

While the words fresh and vivacious apply to many of the 60's starlets, I think they're most appropriate for Susannah. She's absolutely radiant on screen and, I think, has a certain charm that makes it impossible for you to become anything other than an instant fan! I first was exposed to her in Sebastian, which co-stars Dirk Bogarde (hence, the reason I watched it) and was instantly smitten. She was a perfect match for his intelligent code-cracker, and their teaming is one of my favorites in all of his films.

I think I've said this before, but one of the things I find comforting when movie stars pass away is that we are left with tons of moving images of them, alive and well. Movies are perhaps the one invention that allow us to achieve some sort of immortality. Through her films, Susannah York will always appear to us, young fresh and vivacious.

A tribute video I made today for Susannah York, set to Marianne Faithfull's "Four Strong Winds."

Happy Birthday, Luise Rainer!

2011-01-12T00:00:00.004-05:00

{ Artwork by me! }

Today, Luise Rainer turns 101 years old! She's best known for her roles in The Good Earth and The Great Ziegfeld, and for being the oldest living recipient of a competitive Oscar. But to me, she's the star of Dramatic School.

If you're familiar with the film or with Luise, you're probably aware that she hated it, and it basically ended her Hollywood career. If you're familiar with me, you know that I have a weird habit of falling in love with movies that the stars hated. (See: Jack Lemmon in The Notorious Landlady)

The movie is about a young drama student with a hyper-active imagination who works nights at a factory to pay for school. Her exaggerated stories and constant dreaming cause a series of events that make for a beautiful movie. It's like a modern (well, 1930's modern) fairy tale for dreamers .. very melodious and sweet, and perfectly lovely. It's definitely not for everyone, but I count it in my top 50 movies. Luise Rainer has a very poetic way of acting and it suits this character so perfectly, it's almost a tragedy that the movie doesn't have a better reputation. But if you're an imaginative person who loves characters who have their heads in the clouds, you need to check this out!

It's actually available to view in full on stagevu.com -- the whole thing in one file, not split up into numerous parts like on youtube-- and it'll also be playing on TCM at 4:30am EST. If you have TCM, you'll want to tune in earlier - at 8pm- for an exclusive interview with Luise Rainer from last year's TCM Classic Film Festival! I, for one, will have the popcorn popping and the dvd recorder powering on at 7:55pm! I do not want to miss this!

You Stepped Out of a Dream

2011-01-09T19:39:00.003-05:00

Does this song fit the movie perfectly or what?! Sorry to be posting so many videos here lately, but I'm enjoying making them and can't help myself! :)

Dana Andrews

2011-01-08T21:41:00.003-05:00

A new tribute I made for Dana Andrews. I wanted SO badly to include clips from My Foolish Heart, but the only copy I have was recorded from TCM in SLP mode so it looked super pixelated when I copied it to my computer -- so I used my quicktime screen recorder to record a few clips of it playing on netflix instant watch on my computer screen. All super complicated just for one movie, but My Foolish Heart is my favorite Dana Andrews film. Not just because it's based on my favorite short story (Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut by JD Salinger) but because it's a really, really great movie with two of my favorite stars. I love it so much, I named my flappers after characters in the film (Eloise and Ramona).

Anyway, I guess I have two points - 1. it was super hard to get the My Foolish Heart clips, so watch my video to make that worth it, and 2. My Foolish Heart is an amazing movie, so when you're doing watching my video, go watch the film ;-D

Is That Mustache Really Necessary? - Part II

2011-01-04T19:11:00.007-05:00

My most popular post in the history of Silents & Talkies is my Is That Mustache Really Necessary? post, and understandably. It's like a car accident -- you just can't look away. The mustaches are all so fascinatingly horrible, you just sit there mesmerized by the hairy hideousness of it all.

And so for the last year or so I've been stock-piling bad mustaches for a follow up post one day. Ladies and gents, that day has arrived. And it's not pretty.

A quick disclaimer, before you dive into the facial hair festivities: this is all in fun, so if your favorite actor is in here sporting a 'stache that you found particularly becoming, please don't have a hissy fit in the comments. I included my beloved Dirk Bogarde in the last round, so it's all good ;-D

Here we go!

I don't think I'd want to dance cheek to cheek

with Fred if he's going to look like this!

Not the worst offender of this batch,

but still .. the goatee is a tad pathetic, no?

Ouch.

This one just makes me giggle. He looks so silly, doesn't he?!

Noooooooooo! Robert Redford, my love. You're too

delectably handsome to cover that face with a porn 'stache.

I half expect him to whip off his mustache

and kill me with it.

I don't even ...

Going to let this one slide, just because he's older. If Bill

had rocked a mustache in Picnic, that would be different.

And illegal.

I know I'm the only person who thinks James Mason

wasn't a slimy cradle-robber, but I'll be the first to admit

I wouldn't let my kids around him with this mustache.

It's tragic to cover up this face, right?

Yet.. I think he could have had tattoos of

Tyrone Power* on both cheeks & he'd still look fetching ;-D

*If you follow me on twitter or have ever read a post on Classic

Forever, you know I'm not a huge fan..

No, I don't want to buy a vacuum cleaner, now please leave me alone!

Aww, poor Rock. Mustache bringing you down?

YE GADS!!! You know, everyone thought I was nuts when I

included Rod Taylor in my list of old Hollywood crushes.

Maybe this is the only picture of him that they'd seen..

Maybe Mr. Chips would have married earlier if he'd

picked up the razor once in a while.. just saying...

hehe.

My undying love for Frank Sinatra leaves me unable to

critique his little upper-lip peach fuzz.

Cute boyish face + mustache = *scrubs eyes*

James Cagney is the only repeat from my last list,

only because I found this new photo in which the

eyebrows are just as puzzling as the mustache.

Neither Jean Paul Belmondo or Maurice Chevalier should

have ever been allowed to grow facial hair. Did young

children run away in horror? I think so.

I know it's for a role, but please. It had to be included.

Ditto on the "for a role" thing, but LOL.

Robert Redford, I take it back. THIS is a porn 'stache.

Confession: I actually think this one is cute, in a Victorian sort of way..

Peter McEnery's evil twin.

George Sanders thinks the mustache & monocle will make him

appear intelligent and discerning, but I'd be clutching my

purse tightly as he passed by..

And I leave you with one more George Sanders, sporting not only

a hideous mustache but a beard and false bushy eyebrows, to boot! Ka-pow!

How normal people watch Breakfast at Tiffany's vs. How crazy cat ladies watch Breakfast at Tiffany's

2011-01-03T01:45:00.008-05:00

Breakfast at Tiffany's was on TCM last week, and so I watched it for the bazillionth time, as usual. However, during this particular viewing I realized something that I hadn't before. I could care less if Audrey and George Peppard end up together at the end. To me, the film reaches its emotional climax not because George and Audrey embrace, but because they have Cat between them.

From the moment that the cab scene starts, my stomach is filled with wasps. I know that any moment she'll be tossing Cat out into the rain. When Cat grabs onto the car, trying desperately and hopelessly to stay in the warm dry cab, the tears start to flow. I don't think I've ever really paid attention to any dialogue that occurs after Cat is thrown out, because I'm screaming at my tv "STOP THE CAR! YOU NEED TO SAVE CAT!" If I could, I'd jump into my tv and look for him myself.

If I have one of my cats nearby whilst watching, they are at this point being hugged tightly while I anxiously await the moment when Cat is found.

Normal people are relieved when Audrey shows up in the alley calling for her cat -- but not for the same reasons I am. They believe she's seen the error of her ways; she's going to let George love her; a happy ending is on the horizon for our newly minted couple. But for me, and crazy cat ladies across the globe, it's ALL ABOUT THE CAT.

Honestly, this is the whole movie. Holly's husband, brother, fiance? All totally inconsequential to Breakfast at Tiffany's. It's about the cat. Sally Tomato, the 5 and dime robbery, Patricia Neal? They mean squat. It's all about the cat. It's all just leading up to that one super-charged emotional moment when Audrey scoops Cat up in her arms and gives her a "I should never have tossed you out of the cab, you wonderful feline" gigantic smooshy hug.

And THAT makes it a happy ending. George could have slipped and fell in the rain, got hit by a cab and ended up in the ER right before the credits rolled. As long as Cat is out of the rain, and reunited with Audrey Hepburn, I'm a happy camper.

Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T14:51:00.004-05:00

I made this video with clips from a bunch of movies that feature Auld Lang Syne. I also uploaded the complete songs from Wee Willy Winky, Waterloo Bridge & Scandal on my youtube channel here. Hope you enjoy, and have a great 2011! :)

William Powell

2010-12-18T23:20:00.002-05:00

by Elizabeth Bauman
of Beyond the Brush
guest blogger

I have been watching and re-watching William Powell movies for this post and yet as I look at the extensive list of his films (over 90 films) I realize just how few I’ve seen. I shouldn’t be surprised, though, with an over 30 year career in film especially during the days when actors churned out movies like crazy particularly during the “Golden Era”. And although I hoped to talk about his career in general, I find that I really want to focus on a few of my favorite Powell movies to date: Life with Father, The Thin Man, and One Way Passsage. If only because I should keep this on the shorter side and I have so much I want to say about each of them.

First just a little bit about the actor

Powell was born in 1892 and graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1912. He worked on the stage and didn’t begin his career in Hollywood until 1922 with a small role in Sherlock Holmes. I remember in a biography I watched that even in that small role, he dominated the screen and I can believe it.

He was married three times. First to Eileen Wilson whom he had a son with and then to Carole Lombard for a couple of years. Both of these marriages seem to have ended on good terms. He had a relationship with Jean Harlow until her tragic death in 1937. Powell kindly paid for her interment: a $25,000 private room at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale . In 1940 he married Diana Lewis and they stayed together until his death in 1984 when he was 91. He retired from acting in 1955.

Life with Father

Powell has been a favorite of mine even before I knew who he was. Years ago, the first film I had ever seen him in was Life with Father. And what an introduction!

The story of a family in 1890’s New York in which the father, Clare or Clarence Day, Sr. (played by William Powell), believes he has the final say on all, but in fact his wife Vinnie (played beautifully by Irene Dunne) always seems to find a way around things. A favorite scene of mine occurs when Vinnie tells Clare he owes her money. He had previously given her cash to buy a coffee pot. She instead charged the coffee pot and then used the money to buy something else. She insisted that he pay her back that money she spent, that he owed her.
She reasons on, circling around his logic, until he is completely confused and I suspect is starting to see it her way.

Vinnie approaches many arguments this way, working around him as best she can. She does it not in a devious way but instead in a way that seems perfectly logical to her. He doesn’t want guests, so she doesn’t mention they are coming until they arrive. He wants an account of the household spending, she thinks they should get charge accounts everywhere then he would have it all accounted for. He doesn’t want to be baptized, well, I won’t give that one away. Dunne and Powell play beautifully off one another capturing the love of the couple despite their quirks.

What I could not appreciate with this film at the time, having never seen Powell before, was how different this character was for him from many other films. His Clarence Day, Sr. was not smooth or slick. Not slapstick or suave. He simply was a business man and a husband with a certain set of ideas of how his household and world should be and shouldn’t everyone else bend to that? Such an enjoyable film, even my four year old daughter likes to watch it in its Technicolor glory. Right up until the scene where the young Elizabeth Taylor cries and I’m told to turn it off. Visiting the Day family with one of their cousins, Taylor ’s character has a small romance with the eldest Day son. Trouble occurs, primarily because the son is wearing hand-me down pants from his father and they make him behave in a way that only his father would approve and which is quite upsetting to a young romance.

Powell’s genius in this role is his total immersion into this character. The way he holds his body (straight and proud), the way he walks into a room (authoritative), and even his speech which is carefully enunciated and powerful. All so specific to this character and again something I couldn’t appreciate until I had seen more of his films.

The Thin Man

Fast forward several years later, my next William Powell film was The Thin Man. Swept away by the cynical bravado of Nick Charles and his sassy wife Nora (Myrna Loy), this movie enchanted me. I was not immediately aware that this was the same man who played the red-headed Clarence Day in Life with Father. Nick Charles was a far cry from that character.

Once a detective, Nick was now enjoying a sort of early retirement and living the high life thanks to his financially advantageous marriage to Nora. His primary hobby: drinking. And Nora was often right there with him. The first scene with the pair is of Nick showing the bartender how to properly shake a martini. When Nora arrives she enquires how many drinks he has already had and then orders the same amount of drinks to catch up.

Nick tries not to sleuth, content in his retirement, but death and mystery do seem to follow him like any good small or big screen detective. It doesn’t help that his wife likes the adventure and tries to hook him to solve the mysteries. Five more Thin Man’s were to follow this gem throughout Powell’s career and, although they don’t take the place in my heart for the first, each has its own wonderful moments.

The Thin Man is so casual and relaxed. It is a fun story, assuming you think murder is fun of course. William Powell in this role seems effortless as he is in all of his roles. It is like he isn’t acting at all, that he is Nick Charles. Or Clarence Day. Though I think with each of the characters you do get a sense of the man behind them. A sense that he is a genuine, kind, and hardworking man; the kind of person I would like to have known.

One Way Passage

I just had to include one more film in this post and couldn’t pass up including one with Kay Francis, another actress frequently paired with Powell. A sweet love story with a slightly bizarre premise, One Way Passage is a lovely little film. Powell plays an escaped murderer and Francis is a dying woman, though seems perfectly normal. They meet in Hong Kong , both unaware of their “conditions”, and fall in love at first sight. Powell plays such a sympathetic and charming character and Francis lovely as ever, it is no wonder they come together. They end up on the same ship bound for San Francisco . Powell even charms the policeman who finally catches up to him, Steve Burke (played by Warren Hymer). Powell and Hymer form an unlikely…I want to say friendship but it is more like mutual respectful relationship in which both are aware of the eventual outcome (Powell goes to prison and we assume eventually death). What I enjoyed most about this film, Powell aside, was the interweaving of these unlikely relationships. Not one but two love stories evolve, friendships form, the question of right and wrong end up not being so black and white.

Last year, I was lucky enough to receive the portrait above of William Powell. It was a gift from my husband for our 10th anniversary (along with another wonderful one of Jimmy Stewart) painted by the very talented host of this blog. Currently hanging in our bedroom, each night I get to see William and Jimmy as I head to bed. Sigh. Thanks Kate!

Kirk Douglas and crab grass

2010-12-09T21:37:00.002-05:00

I originally posted this over a year ago for a post about two Kim Novak films, Middle of the Night and Strangers When We Meet. I thought it would be a nice tribute for Kirk Douglas' birthday to re-post it. While I haven't seen a huge amount of his films, I can safely say this is my favorite moment in all of the ones I've seen. In one thirty second clip he gives suburbia a one-two punch in the gut and all the while keeping that charming grin on his gorgeous face :) Happy Birthday, Kirk Douglas!!

video crazy

2010-11-27T03:35:00.005-05:00

About two weeks ago I went a little video crazy. I was really sick, and didn't feel like doing much of anything besides laying in my bed with my laptop, grapefruit juice and tons of aspirin. So I passed the time making tribute videos for my youtube channel. I'm not going to embed them all in this post, so here is my favorite, a tribute to Julie Christie, and then links to view the others, if you'd like.

tribute to Far From the Madding Crowd
tribute to Barbara Stanwyck
tribute to Meet John Doe
a new tribute to Dirk Bogarde (hey, I saw your eyes roll!)
.
.k

Classic Movie Christmas Cards!

2010-11-25T03:17:00.010-05:00

It's about time there were some classic movie Christmas cards, eh?! Thanks to a suggestion from Cliff at Immortal Ephemera and Warren-William.com, I decided to make some! These are a combination of paper collage and marker. The text is all hand-drawn, and the color is all added by hand, no digital color.

They're available as a set for $12, with shipping included. If you'd like to mix-and-match or just get 7 of 1 design, just let me know in the message at checkout. Just a heads up, this button takes you to my Flapper Doodle cart in case you get confused :)

Upcoming British films on TCM

2010-11-16T22:34:00.004-05:00

While perusing my December issue of Now Playing tonight, I realized that while I highlight tons of movies to record, and see dozens to look forward to, I get really, really giddy when I spot a British title amongst all of the Hollywood ones. It goes kind of like this..

"Mickey Rooney, Mickey Rooney, ok another Mickey Rooney, hmm.. they're playing Rear Window again... OMG OMG OMG GLYNIS JOHNS! OMG WHAT THE HECK, GLYNIS JOHNS *AND* PETER FINCH!!!!"

So I decided to start making a list of the upcoming films on TCM that were made in Britain or star actors who were almost exclusively in British films (ie. Cary Grant doesn't count, but an American film starring Ralph Richardson would) for anyone who experiences similar glee watching films from Ole' Britannia.

///...Before I list them, I just want to spit out a few words about the blog. I haven't felt the urge to write a movie review or post about a movie star in a while. The majority of the comments I was receiving prior to my little absence (if you haven't noticed, I haven't blogged here since September) were, to say the least, discouraging me from further writing. Whether they were correcting my facts, fervently disagreeing with my opinions or generally just being negative, they were hurting my self esteem and putting a damper on my will to write here. I am, as you know, a pretty insecure person/writer/artist so it doesn't take much to get me out of the mood. Anyway, I went through a similar season of blogging disillusionment, so to speak, last December, and got over it fine so I'll probably get over this too. Anyway, I just wanted to let anyone who's interested know that I'm still here, just not every day. (However, if you like me enough to have daily doses of my wit and brilliance --har har-- I do blog almost every day at Scathingly Brilliant.) \\\\

Ok, so onto that list.. all times noted are EST, and all of the descriptions are from TCM.

December 5 -- 8:30AM -- All Mine to Give (1957) Glynis Johns, Cameron Mitchell -- Pioneer children fight to build a new family after their parents die.

December 6 -- 5:15AM -- Josephine and Men (1955) Glynis Johns, Jack Buchanan, Peter Finch -- A young woman's passion for underdogs wreaks havoc with her love life.

December 6 -- 1:30PM -- All Night Long (1962) Patrick McCoohan, Paul Haris -- A jazz band's leader thinks his wife is unfaithful.

December 10 -- 9:30PM -- Scrooge (1970) Albert Finney, Edith Evans -- A miser faces the ghosts of his past on Christmas Eve.

December 14 -- 7:15AM -- The Running Man (1963) Laurence Harvey, Lee Remick, Alan Bates -- A man fakes his death to get back at the insurance company that denied an earlier claim.

December 18 -- 4:30PM -- Gandhi (1982) Ben Kingsley, John Gielgud, John Mills -- The legendary Indian leader uses peaceful means to free his homeland from British rule.

December 19 -- 12:00PM -- Scrooge (1970) Albert Finney, Edith Evans -- A miser faces the ghosts of his past on Christmas Eve.

December 20 -- 4:45AM -- A Matter of Life and Death (1947) David Niven, Kim Hunter, Robert Coote -- An injured aviator argues in celestial court for the chance to go on living.

December 20 -- 11:00AM -- A Shot in the Dark (1964) Peter Sellers, Elke Sommer, George Sanders -- Inspector Clouseau tries to clear a beautiful woman accused of shooting her husband.

December 21 -- 2:30PM -- In the Cool of the Day (1963) Peter Finch, Jane Fonda, Angela Lansbury -- A man's efforts to save his friend's marriage lead to infidelity.

December 24 -- 6:00PM -- Scrooge (1970) Albert Finney, Edith Evans -- A miser faces the ghosts of his past on Christmas Eve. (I know.. AGAIN!)

December 27 -- 4:00AM -- Beware of Pity (1946) Lilli Palmer, Albert Levien, Cedric Hardwicke -- A paraplegic mistakes a man's pity for love.

December 27 -- 2:00PM -- The World of Henry Orient (1964) -- Peter Sellers, Angela Lansbury, Paula Prentiss -- Two poor little rich girls dog the steps of a womanizing pianist.

December 29 -- 8:00PM -- The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) -- Alec Guinness, Stanley Holloway -- An overlooked gold transporter with twenty years service plots to steal a million pounds of gold.

December 29 -- 9:30PM -- Forever Ealing (2002) A documentary that explores the history and influence of England's Ealing Studios

December 29 -- 10:30PM -- The Man in the White Suit (1951) Alec Guinness, Joan Greenwood -- A young inventor threatens the business world when he creates a cloth that can't tear or wear out.

December 30 -- 12:00AM -- The Ladykillers (1955) Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers -- An eccentric bandit gang moves into a little old lady's boarding house to plot a major heist.

December 30 -- 1:45AM -- Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) Alec Guinness, Dennis Price, Joan Greenwood -- An ambitious young man sets out to kill everyone who stands between him and a fortune.

December 30 -- 3:45AM -- The Bells Go Down (1943) Tommy Trinder, James Mason, Mervyn Johns -- London firemen fight to save the city during the Blitz.

Vincent Price

2010-10-31T16:17:00.005-04:00

by Mercurie
of A Shroud of Thoughts
guest blogger

When it comes to horror movies, perhaps the only actors as identified with the genre as Vincent Price are Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi themselves. There is good reason for this, as Mr. Price starred in many of the classics of the genre, including The Invisible Man Returns (1940), House of Wax (1953), The Fly (1958), House on Haunted Hill (1958), The Masque of the Red Death (1964), and The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1970). It must be kept in mind, however, that while Vincent Price is best known for his horror movies, he did so much more. Indeed, unlike Boris Karloff (who played bit parts before coming to fame as the Creature in Frankenstein) and Bela Lugosi (whose first film role was as Dracula in the film of the same name), Vincent Price already had a well established film career as an actor before he began starring in horror movies with any regularity. Indeed, Mr Price's first film was Service DeLuxe in 1938. By 1940 he had only starred in three horror movies, and two of those were only borderline horror movies at best (more on that later). Afterwards he would not appear in another horror movie until House of Wax in 1953 (although he did provide the voice of the Invisible Man in the horror comedy Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein). The fact is that Vincent Price had a career and a life that went well beyond horror movies.

Vincent Price was born to wealth in St. Louis, Missouri on May 27, 1911. His father, Vincent Price Sr., was president of the National Candy Company, which produced everything from jawbreakers to jelly beans. His grandfather, Vincent Clarence Price, had created the family fortune when he invented Dr. Price's Baking Powder, the world's first cream of tartar baking powder. As a scion of wealth, young Vincent attended the exclusive St. Louis Country Day School. He attended Yale, where he majored in art history. During the summers Mr. Price would travel through Europe.

It was while in college that Vincent Price took an interest in drama. Unfortunately, his lack of experience made it difficult for him to get roles in the New York theatre community. His solution was simply to go to England, where he exaggerated his resume and as a result received his first professional acting job. It was only a few months after moving to England, in 1933, that Mr. Price was cast as Prince Albert in Victoria Regina at the Gale Theatre. It was in 1935 that Victoria Regina would make its debut on Broadway, with Vincent Price once more playing Prince Albert. He would appear on Broadway in four more plays over the next three years: The Lady Has a Heart (1937), The Shoemaker's Holiday (1938), Heartbreak House (1938), and Outward Bound (1938).

Such success on stage would naturally lead to a film career. He signed a contract with Universal Pictures, and made his debut in Service De Luxe opposite Constance Bennett in 1938. While Universal Pictures was then best known for its horror movies and Vincent Price would one day become identified with the genre, in the late Thirties and early Forties Mr. Price may have been best known for costume dramas and period pieces. At Universal he played Sir Walter Raleigh in The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1938). At Fox he played King Charles II in Hudson's Bay (1941) and the Marquis de Fleury in A Royal Scandal (1945).

While Vincent Price would appear in several costume dramas and period pieces in the late Thirties and the Forties, it would be during this period that he would first appear in horror movies. That having been said, of the three movies he made prior to 1940 that are often considered horror, at least two of them are as much period pieces as they are horror movies. Often considered the first horror movie to feature Vincent Price, Tower of London (1939) centred on the rise of King Richard III to the throne of England and featured Mr. Price as the Duke of Clarence. While often counted as a horror movie, it should perhaps best be considered a costume drama with elements of horror. Mr. Price's next film would be a straight forward horror movie. The Invisible Man Returns (1939) was the sequel to the highly successful The Invisible Man (1933) and starred Mr. Price as the tragic Sir Geoffrey Radcliffe, who uses the invisibility formula to clear himself of a murder charge. The third movie Mr. Price made before 1940 which is often considered horror is The House of the Seven Gables (1940), loosely based on Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic horror novel. While Mr. Hawthorne's novel is considered a classic of the genre, however, the movie version is more a period piece with elements of horror. In the film Mr. Price played the tragic Clifford Pyncheon, the innocent victim of older brother Jaffrey Pyncheon's schemes. Tower of London, The Invisible Man Returns, and The House of the Seven Gable would be the last horror movies in which Vincent Price appeared until Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein in 1948. After Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, he would not make another horror movie until House of Wax.

Indeed, while the casual film viewer might identify Vincent Price with horror movies, film buffs know that he appeared in some major films throughout the Forties that were decidedly not horror movies. In 1940 he appeared in the adventure film Green Hell. In 1944 he played Shelby Carpenter in Otto Preminger's classic Laura. He also appeared in Dragonwyck (1946), yet another period piece, as the object of Miranda Wells' (Gene Tierney) affection, distant cousin Nicholas Van Ryn. In 1948 Vincent Price played Cardinal Richlieu in The Three Musketeers. Even after his return to horror in House of Wax in 1953, Mr. Price would continue to appear in non-horror roles. He played Omar Khayyam in Son of Sinbad (1955) and the villainous master builder Baka in The Ten Commandments (1956).

Of course, Vincent Price's career did not consist merely of films. He had begun his career on stage and continued to appear on Broadway in the Forties and Fifties in distinctly non-horror parts. He appeared in the thriller Angel Street in 1941. He played Abe Lincoln in Yours, A. Lincoln in 1944. In 1953 he played the Duke of Buckingham in a revival of Shakespeare's Richard III

As stated before, it was in 1953 that Mr. Price returned to the horror genre in House of Wax. In the film he played Henry Jarrod, a sculptor of wax figures with a desire for revenge. Even after the success of House of Wax, Vincent Price's career would not consist primarily of horror movies, even though he would star in The Mad Magician the following year. It would not be until the hit film and horror classic The Fly in 1958 that Vincent Price's career would turn increasingly to horror movies. Following The Fly, Mr. Price would appear in the William Castle films The House on Haunted Hill (1958) and The Tingler (1959). In 1960 he would appear in the first of a series of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations he made with Roger Corman, The House of Usher. By the mid-Sixties, with but few exceptions, Vincent Price's film career consisted almost solely of horror movies, including such classics as The Comedy of Terrors (1964, also starring Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, and Basil Rathbone), Witchfinder General (1968), and The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1970). He would become the actor most identified with the genre aside from the legendary Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi.

Even as Vincent Price became the horror movie star of the Sixties and Seventies, his life still consisted of things which had nothing to do with the horror genre. In 1968 he appeared on Broadway again in Dating the Day. In 1978 he played Oscar Wilde on Broadway in Diversions and Delights. Having majored in art in college, Vincent Price remained devoted to fine art throughout his life. He was a member of the Cortauld Institute in London, England, dedicated to the study of art history. He was also known as an art collector, and in 1951 he started donating fine art to East Los Angeles College. By 1957 the Vincent and Mary Price Art Gallery would be founded at the college. It would evolve into the Vincent Price Art Museum, which still exists to this day.

It is also important to remember that Vincent Price remained dedicated to the craft of acting and, with regards to this, he never forgot his home state of Missouri. Later in his life he maintained close ties with Northeast Missouri State University (now Truman State University). It was around 1960 that Mr. Price would make his first appearance at NMSU, appearing nearly every year at the university for nearly thirty years. He would even teach workshops on both acting and art history at the university. In 1984 Mr. Price established the Vincent Price Theatrical Performance scholarship at the university, awarded to those who have demonstrated talent in acting.

Although best known as an actor in horror movies, then, Vincent Price had a career and a life that extended well beyond the genre. Indeed, much like Boris Karloff, in real life he was very different from his on screen persona. From every account I have read of Mr. Price, he was a professional and a true gentleman. Indeed, from frist hand account of friends who were lucky enough to meet the great Mr. Price at NMSU, not only was he a total gentleman, but he took a genuine interest in his fans, not only signing autographs but talking to them. I had a friend who had her copy of Alice Cooper's album Welcome to My Nightmare autographed by him, on which he provided narration for the song "The Black Widow." Not only did he autograph the album for her, but he told her of his memories of working with Alice and even recited the narration from the song from memory. Vincent Price was not simply a horror movie actor. He was a talented actor who appeared on Broadway and in a number of classic films outside the horror genre. He was also an art expert and collector who dedicated much of his life to educating the public in art, and he was also devoted to education through his support of NMSU. What is more, he was a true gentleman, who genuinely cared about people. It's not that they don't simply make actors like Vincent Price any more. They don't make men like him anymore.

classic film scans

2010-10-31T16:03:00.000-04:00

Aside from Doctor Macro, which is a classic film lover's paradise, there really aren't too many resources for large photos of classic film stars. So, I've started a new blog - classicfilmscans.blogspot.com. I've already scanned and edited about 1,000 pictures from books, magazines and original photos that I'll be uploading little by little and I still have thousands more to scan. They're free for anyone to use however they wish. I'll probably not be updating Silents and Talkies much anymore since most of my classic film energies will be with this new endeavor, but you never know..

I'll also take submissions, but the photo must have been scanned by you, not taken from a website. I'll give full credit & a link to anyone who submits scans.

So, bookmark the site and stop by whenever you need a fix of classic movie beauty or a specific photo of a specific star for your blog posts or projects! :)
..
..

Grief in movies - A Single Man, My Reputation and Don't Look Now

2010-09-28T16:16:00.008-04:00

As per Kendra's recommendations in the comments on my "Wait, you like that movie? But it was made after 1970!" post, I watched A Single Man last night. The film is about a man (Colin Firth) who has been emotionally crippled by the loss of his partner (Matthew Goode) of 16 years, until one day he decides to kill himself to end his grief. All of the events in the movie take place on this one day, with flashbacks showing his life with his partner and the day that he died. It's an incredibly beautiful movie, (it was directed by fashion designer Tom Ford) but it's also incredibly painful.

It's perhaps the most accurate portrayal of deep grief that I've ever seen in a movie. No matter what you do, no matter how you try to go about your daily life and perform regular tasks, that grief is still eating at your heart. Even during sleep, the sole break from the agonizing pain during the day, the grief creeps into your dreams and turns them to nightmares.

A Single Man has another element of sadness that absolutely crushed my heart. Since the film takes place in the 1960's, the fact that Firth and Goode were gay partners, not a conventional husband-and-wife couple, means that Firth isn't even allowed to attend the memorial service. He isn't able to speak about his grief in public. He isn't able to address his emotions outside of his home and in the company of his best friend. His hurt wells up inside of him for months until he's just had enough.

Two other films that, I think, handle the topic of grief very well are My Reputation and Don't Look Now. My Reputation stars Barbara Stanwyck as a young widowed mother, trying to resume life after the death of her husband. The film handles public preconceptions about grieving -- when is a good time to date after your spouse has passed; should one wear black for eternity after becoming a window; should life go on as usual or come to a screeching halt. Stanwyck's is a very complex character-- she encourages her sons to go about life as if nothing happened, she refuses to wear black and fall into the mold of being a widow for life. Yet, despite her exterior resilience and perseverance, she's really fragile and enfeebled by his death. That is, until she meets a new man (George Brent). Her internal despair is softened by a new love; she is pulled from the pit of grief and able to live a relatively normal life again. And yet, her mother and her friends would prefer that she still be sad, alone and mourning because of society's taboos.

Don't Look Now is a horrific tale about a couple (Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie) who try to come to grips with the death of their little girl, who died in a drowning accident at their home. They go to Venice to escape the memories, and yet they find nothing else but. An old blind woman tells Christie that she can see the spirit of their daughter. Sutherland sees a vision of his daughter running around the canals of Venice wearing the red raincoat she had on when she drowned. They are haunted by their grief, and eventually destroyed by it.

People mourn in different ways. In my own family I've seen opposite sides of the spectrum. My paternal grandmother grieved for my grandfather for six years, from when he passed away until she did. My parents couldn't even get her to leave the house for months after he died, she was so inconsolable. My maternal grandmother handles grief much differently; no matter if the deceased is a best friend or distant relative, she talks about the food at the funeral and then moves onto discussing her favorite tv shows within minutes. She doesn't dwell on death, and just accepts it as a part of life.

As an emotional basket case and someone who is terrified of death and saying goodbye to loved ones, I empathize more with the characters in films who feel the weight of grief so heavily on their shoulders that it practically crushes them. I can completely understand Colin Firth's character, and how he's driven to giving up when every minute of his life is consumed by thoughts of his partner's absence. And while I'm definitely not a suicidal person, I do know that the loss of certain people in my life will certainly result in life-long therapy.

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes {Song of the Week}

2010-09-26T20:02:00.006-04:00

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes is one of my all-time favorite songs from the movies. I've been in love with it ever since I first saw Roberta almost 10 years ago.

Irene Dunne was a wizard at acting while singing. In Roberta, her character is in love with Randolph Scott (I know... hard to believe but it's true.) and the song, about being blind to the impossibility of a love while you're falling and then the torture when you realize it's over, is echoed in her own love life when she's asked to sing. In the middle of the song, she sees Randolph Scott, and her voice becomes hurt and delicate. She gives such range and emotion to the song that the scene itself becomes a stunning mix of beauty and pain.

A funnier example of her act/singing is in The Awful Truth. While giving a professional performance in front of a group of proper people, she spots Cary Grant (the husband she is divorcing) rocking in his chair in the back row. When he finally falls, Irene Dunne laugh-sings at the end of her song. It's a priceless moment in a movie chock-full of priceless moments!

But that particular song will be saved for another day. For now, here is Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, sung beautifully by Irene Dunne. It has a permanent home, here, in the Soundtracks section.

ps. If you like the scan of Ms. Dunne, you might want to check out the others I have in the photograph section of Silents & Talkies!

The Title.

2010-09-22T18:04:00.003-04:00

I've noticed a trend in recent movies that involves very, very simple dramatic titles. They're usually either one word-- like Saw -- or one word preceded by an all-important THE, giving it more weight and tension -- The Town. The American.

It's trickled into television too, with the premiere of a new tv show called The Event (you're already wondering what The Event is now, aren't you?) It's a great gimmick for getting people intrigued and curious. The Tourist. Ooh, what about this tourist? Does something maybe happen to him on vacation? Inception. Avatar. Devil. Buried. The Switch. The Takers. I could go on.

Short, blunt monikers have existed as long as there have been movies around to title. Greed, The Letter, The Innocents and Dracula immediately spring to mind, but it's definitely become more of a trend during the last decade or so. While the overwhelming amount of remakes and pitiful lack of new, inventive scripts leads me to believe that the simple titling is a reflection of Hollywood's laziness in coming up with creative new material, I actually think there's a different more unsettling reason. Most movie-goers are looking for a two-hour thrill, and they won't be pulled in to theaters unless the title invokes a sense of intrigue, mystery, suspense heavy drama or gore.

And this got me to thinking... if classic movies had been titled by today's movie makers, what would they be called?

*cue wavy fade into dream sequence*

Fred Astaire {Song of the Week}

2010-09-19T14:05:00.006-04:00

I'm extremely delighted to present this week's Song of the Week, since it's by one of my favorite online friends, Emma Wallace! She's one of the sweetest people on the internet, and if you haven't discovered her lovely blog and lovelier music yet, you've seriously been missing out!

My favorite of her catchy tunes is called "Fred Astaire" and Emma has graciously given me permission to share it with you today! Please, when you're finished listening, go take a peek at her blog and website and then head over to itunes to purchase her fabulous new album, "Temptation" (the cover art may look familiar... it's by me! lol)

Emma's links: {Blog} {Website} {itunes link} {etsy}

Anne Bancroft {Additions and Omissions}

2010-09-17T19:10:00.004-04:00

When I made my "Top 20 Favorite" lists last winter, there were plenty of people that I accidentally left off (omissions) and scores of people I was yet to discover (additions) -- over the next few months I'll be doing Additions & Omissions posts for some of my new-found or forgotten favorites who didn't quite make it to my favorites list last year.

First up is Anne Bancroft. I only discovered her this past February when Millie wrote an awesome post about The Slender Thread. I'd seen her in The Kid From Left Field since my dad makes us watch every baseball movie that comes on TCM, but other than that I hadn't watched a single movie that she starred in. But I consider The Slender Thread to be my introduction to Anne, and it's probably the best introduction one can have!

Although, just when I thought that couldn't be topped, I saw The Prisoner of Second Avenue (1975) starring Anne and Jack Lemmon. It was kind of like The Out of Towners, only they were living in New York instead of visiting and Jack Lemmon was married to Anne Bancroft instead of Sandy Dennis and the events in the film have a much darker lining. Everything that can go wrong does, and throughout the movie the stars go through huge waves of subtle comedy, hysteria, depression and exasperation. Depending on your own personal situation (my own family is having a very tough time with this recession) you might find it all-too relevant, some 35 years after it was released. But it isn't just because of the situations in the film and the fact that we're facing a similar economic upheaval -- Anne Bancroft and Jack Lemmon bring a level of familiarity and empathy to their roles that makes all of the intervening years disappear.

And I think that's what I like most about Anne Bancroft -- the fact that she makes it so easy to relate to her characters and really makes her performances an open door into her character's soul. I wish desperately that she had spent more time in front of the movie camera; her filmography is so depressingly sparse.

The 39 Steps - Part I

2010-09-10T12:34:00.005-04:00

My mom in Paris, 1984

Thanks to Millie's fantastic giveaway on Classic Forever, my parents were able to see The 39 Steps in New York this week! The 39 Steps is not only their favorite Hitchcock film -- it's their favorite film, period.

I asked them to each write a guest post about the experience, the play, and how it compared to their favorite flick. Today I'm publishing my mom's post, and my dad's will be up next week (he said he'd have it done by today and then didn't ... like father like daughter, eh? ;-)

So without further ado, I give you ---- my wonderful mom!

My husband and I have loved the Hitchcock film, “The 39 Steps,” for years and years. We frequently quote certain lines from the movie for no apparent reason at all (like “I’ll away and light the fire” or “Clear out, Hannay, they’ll get you next” [which, of course, must be followed by a genuine fake cough]). For my birthday, he painted the two main characters from the last scene in the movie – just a close up of their intertwined hands. So, imagine our glee at being able to actually see the play! We arrived the obligatory half-hour ahead of time to pick up the tickets, grabbed a hot (but overcooked and crunchy) soft pretzel from a nearby vendor and waited in the adjacent courtyard with our daughter and son. Showtime arrived quickly – off we toddled to the theatre, off they toddled to explore the city.

The theatre is underground, which at first seemed odd but then never entered my mind again. It isn’t really big, and while most seats are probably good seats, our seats were great! We were on the aisle, about seven rows back (since we were in row “G,” seven seems a good guess). We agreed in advance that if they spoke our favorite lines, we’d consider the play a success. Well, not only did they say those lines, but everything else about this play made it a success – it was a hoot! Even with minimal props and the actors playing multiple roles, the play followed the plot of the movie almost to a tee. What an incredible feat! The acting was superb, the jokes were truly funny, the deliberately not-so-subtle references to other Hitchcock films (and even Hitchcock himself!) were hysterical. As “39 Steps” aficionados, we can guarantee that from now on, this play will be referenced whenever we watch the movie. “Rear Window” will likely creep in when the farmer’s wife is helping Hannay to escape. When Hannay and Pamela are being kidnapped by the fake police, I’m sure we’ll mention that the car should be made of chairs. The next time the professor’s gun-toting hand peeks out from behind the curtain, one of us will surely blurt out, “Bet his arm’s artificial!”

This play was just so much fun! I loved sitting next to my husband, laughing out loud together to a different version of one of our most favorite stories. What a great afternoon! All I can say is that even though my daughter won the tickets, I think I’m the lucky one!

You're Setting Me on Fire {Song of the Week}

2010-09-05T19:54:00.002-04:00

While watching Madame X (1937) with Gladys George yesterday, I couldn't help but fall in love with a song that she sings in the movie. It's called "You're Setting Me on Fire" and even if the word "torch" wasn't mentioned in the song -- which it is -- it would still be the very definition of a torch song.

"You're Setting Me on Fire" has a permanent home in the Soundtracks section of my site, or you can listen to it and download it in this post here!

You're Setting Me on Fire [download it]

Warren William

2010-09-03T06:00:00.000-04:00

by Cliff Aliperti
of Warren-William.com
guest blogger

Yes, you probably know him, but there's a pretty good chance you're missing out on the best of Warren William. While his legacy gains in stature by virtue of having appeared in several hit classics which have found their way into mainstream DVD release: "Lady for a Day" (1933), "Gold Diggers of 1933" (1933), "Cleopatra" (1934), "Imitation of Life" (1934), and "The Wolf Man" (1941) spring immediately to mind, I think it can be safely said that most don't remember these pictures because of Warren William.

Warren William appeared in 65 films, including 2 silent pictures filmed on the East Coast during his time on Broadway, with the bulk of his output being released between 1931 and 1947, just prior to his 1948 death at age 53. I've managed to collect 60 of them to this point, which isn't too bad considering that I'm all but certain that at least 2 of the missing movies are confirmed as lost. But my point in mentioning this is that to see all of these films I've had to scrap together a collection made up mostly of homemade DVD-R's picked up over years of scouring internet red light districts, sites with listings which often disappear to move elsewhere later.

As much as I cross my fingers with hopes that Warner Archives begins releasing some of these in a somewhat more official format going sometime soon, to date the really good stuff isn't available from any mainstream distributor.

Luckily I found Warren William at a perfect intersection in time when I had only somewhat recently discovered eBay and my VCR was still working. My last VCR finally broke down and I've long since sold off my videos (go ahead, kick me) but back then I had hundreds, basically any film I'd ever heard of or wanted at the time. My favorite discovery inside my stacks upon stacks of VHS were titles from the Leonard Maltin Forbidden Hollywood Collection which highlighted pre-code films such as "Red-Headed Woman" (1932) with Jean Harlow and "Three on a Match" (1932) which despite starring Warren William is really an Ann Dvorak movie, and an incredible one at that.

But the gems came as I continued hunting down other titles in the collection. Frankly prior to acquiring "Skyscraper Souls" (1932) and "Employee's Entrance" (1933) I'd never heard of Warren William myself. Sure, I'd seen quite a bit of him as I was familiar with all of those titles mentioned up above in the first paragraph, but my movie watching was much more casual in those times and it took this period of total submersion for me to begin to really gain an understanding of how it all tied together.

"Skyscraper Souls" starring William while on loan-out to MGM came first, but he was so good that his home studio, Warner Brothers, featured him in the very similar "Employee's Entrance" soon thereafter. If you've yet to be initiated this pair is where every budding Warren William fan should start as they serve as perfect introduction to Warren William, the star, ultimate pre-code cad.

The characters, banker David Dwight in SS and department store head Kurt Anderson in EE, are ruthless businessmen who are pretty much already at the top but continue to claw their way as high as they possibly can combating the Great Depression practically through sheer will alone. These characters will gladly stab men in the back to move forward while treating women as disposable items of pleasure, one of just a few ways the characters have to blow off steam. Here's the thing though, despite all that, despite driving ex-employees to suicide, despite forcing himself on every woman in sight, Warren William makes these characters likable.

What? Yes, because despite all his flaws, and not only are they numerous but sometimes even criminal, William's ruthless businessmen also manage to display such a passion for not only their jobs but in getting those jobs done and done better than anyone else could that you can't help but to admire him to some degree. Sure, some viewers are going to be absolutely disgusted by his behavior, I'll grant you that, but there's no doubt that as unorthodox as it may seem Warren William is the hero of these films.

As for other recommended titles of a similar vein, he broke out as a crooked lawyer in "The Mouthpiece" (1932), slick-talked Guy Kibbees' campaign in "The Dark Horse" (1932), played a character based on scheming Ivar Krueger who verbalizes his hopes to "buy the world" in "The Match King" (1932), plays the bogus Chandra in "The Mind Reader" (1933), and is a doctor practicing without a license in "Bedside" (1934), perhaps the most off-the-wall title of them all including Donald Meek raising guinea pigs from the dead and David Landau's superb junkie.

The dates of those films I've just mentioned should point out a pattern which goes a long way in defining why Warren William wound up largely a shooting star. While the timing of the Great Depression is a major element in the appeal of his long line of crooked heroes it's the film industry itself which would inadvertently squash his long-term stardom with its enforcement of the code in 1934. Not one of the characters mentioned since "Skyscraper Souls" would be possible in any way remotely resembling the finished product Warren William brings to the screen after the pre-code period.

But there is yet another completely different side to Warren William's career. While his sleuthing movies seem to get much more play than his pre-code baddies they also have yet to see mainstream DVD release.

Warren William was the first Perry Mason on screen, playing the role four times beginning almost immediately after the run of pre-code movies mentioned above. He also played the part of Philo Vance twice, but really entrenched himself in the part of Michael Lanyard a.k.a. The Lone Wolf playing the part 9 times between 1939-1943 for Columbia Pictures. He also sort of played Sam Spade though his character was redubbed Ted Shane in the roundly (and I say wrongly) despised "Satan Met a Lady" (1936).

His detectives have all the charm of his earlier leads, but are much more standard leads in line with what the code called for. The old edginess was replaced by wisecracking with William's Mason and Lanyard being a couple of the more amusing series detectives for fans to run across. As reformed thief Lanyard in The Lone Wolf series William is often paired with character actor Eric Blore as his butler, Jamison, and the two play off of each other hilariously, much more so than I believe anybody behind the low budget productions could have hoped.

Warren William's film output decreased throughout the 1940's with his final film "The Private Affairs of Bel Ami" in 1947, after which he became involved with radio. He's listed as director of the newly formed Telways Radio Company and in 1946-47 hosted the "Strange Wills" program, a series based around probate lawyer John Frances O'Connell played by william himself. But William had worked less through the 1940's because he was ill. He eventually succumbed to multiple myeloma in 1948, age 53. His wife passed New Year's Eve that same year. They had no children.

I expect had he survived longer Warren William would have gone on to become a television presence--I could easily see him in one of the numerous Western series of the 1950's--with occasional forays back into film. Obviously that's speculation. As it is with his passing now over 60 years ago he is largely forgotten. Circumstances led to an early peak for William, but later mystery series kept him in front of the public long after his initial success and so at least when he is remembered today it might be for one of two types of distinct portrayals. Which do you prefer, pre-code cad or wisecracking sleuth?

Ida Lupino

2010-09-02T06:00:00.001-04:00

by K.C.
of Classic Movie Blog
guest blogger

There are few artists who have made as rich a contribution to movies and television as Ida Lupino. She would be among the greats for any one of her major accomplishments, be it as a diversely talented actress, a director and producer of gritty, hard-hitting movies or as a prolific and efficient television director. That she was one of the first women to have a successful career behind the camera only adds a new dimension to an already impressive legacy.

Ida was immersed in show business from the moment she was born in London, England, on February 4, 1914. The Lupino acting dynasty stretched back to the Renaissance. Her father, Stanley, was a popular London music hall comedian and her mother, Connie, was an actress. True to her family history, young Ida would write and perform plays for the theater people who frequented her parent’s home.

By the age of eighteen, she had made her first appearances in British films and studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. Hollywood soon took notice, and she eagerly accepted an invitation from Paramount Studios to test for the title role in Alice in Wonderland. However, upon her arrival in Los Angeles, it was clear that precocious, bleached-blonde Ida was too sophisticated to play a little girl. She was instead cast in the racy comedy, Search for Beauty (1934), which was a modest success.

Ida’s image in the thirties was that of an apple-cheeked, lively bombshell. Though she had acting chops, she found herself bouncing from one lightweight role to another. Near the end of the decade, Ida finally caught a break with her intense, damsel-in-distress supporting performance in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939).

Feeling encouraged, Ida stole the script for The Light That Failed (1939) and memorized the coveted part of streetwalker Bessie Brooke. She then cornered director William Wellman in his office, demanding an audition. Her bravado paid off. She won the role and changed the course of her career with a popular and critically-acclaimed performance.

Ida greeted the forties with a more sophisticated, hard-boiled image. She slimmed down and embraced her natural dark hair color. She also signed a contract with Warner Bros. In a tightly-wound performance as the neurotic, murderous wife of a trucking magnate in They Drive by Night (1940), Ida stole her first picture for the studio.

This was the richest period of Ida’s career. She displayed remarkable versatility--from her portrayals of struggling innocents in High Sierra (1941) and Moontide (1942), to the tougher, more world-weary noir queens of The Man I Love (1946) and Road House (1948). Still, she had to constantly fight off the roles rejected by studio queen Bette Davis.

In the late forties, determined to control the course of her career, Ida started Emerald Productions with then-husband Collier Young. Emerald’s first production, Not Wanted (1949), was the story of a young girl who is impregnated by a traveling musician and decides to give the child up for adoption. When director Elmer Clifton had a heart attack days before shooting was to commence, Ida stepped in to direct the film. Thanks to her efficiency and skill (acquired from careful observation on the sets of her movies), the low-budget flick was completed under budget and was a modest commercial success. Though the production had been Ida’s from day one, she refused to accept a director credit.

Ida and Collier then moved their operations to the Filmmakers Company. There Ida continued her work behind the camera. She tackled tough subject matter, such as rape in Outrage (1950) and bigamy in the aptly-named The Bigamist (1953) (in which she also starred). Ida also showed an early flair for suspense with the chilling thriller-noir The Hitch-Hiker (1953), her most successful movie as director. Filmmakers was sold to RKO in the early fifties, where it folded due to poor management. Collier and Ida also divorced, though they would still work together professionally.

In the mid-fifties, Ida began a prolific career as a television director. Building on the promise she showed with The Hitch-Hiker, Ida became known as the "Female Hitch" for her taut camera work in dramas, westerns and thrillers such as The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Untouchables. She also helmed the odd comedy, including Gilligan's Island and Bewitched.

Ida knew her male coworkers disliked answering to a woman, and so on her sets she presented herself as an easygoing, maternal figure. Rather than give an order, she would say that “mother” had a few suggestions for a scene. Her tactics were not only successful, but brought her great admiration from crew members.

Though Ida made few movies in the fifties, her performances from this era were among some of her best. In On Dangerous Ground (1951), The Big Knife (1955) and Private Hell 36 (1954), she created characters with soul who were tough, but also achingly vulnerable. She also accepted a regular gig on Four Star Playhouse (for which she was Emmy-nominated) and began a prolific television acting career that would include guest appearances in everything from Batman to Charlie's Angels. She even had a short-lived (and also Emmy-nominated) run co-starring in the comedy series Mr. Adams and Eve with then-husband Howard Duff.

Ida directed her last feature movie, The Trouble with Angels, in 1966. She made the last of her movie appearances in the seventies, most notably as a lead in Junior Bonner (1972) with Steve McQueen. She reluctantly gave up acting after My Boys are Good Boys in 1978. She wanted to work, but good parts were scarce for a woman of her age.

In the early years of her retirement, Ida struggled to find happiness. She felt lost without a creative outlet, and longed for romantic companionship (Duff had left her in 1972—the pair divorced in 1983). With the encouragement of friends, she finally established a happy routine consisting of days by the pool and riding horses. Failing health led to a short bout in the Motion Picture, Television Country House. Ida then spent the remainder of her years in a lush Hollywood apartment, surrounded by friends and admirers. She suffered a stroke in 1995 and died in August of that year.

Late in her life, Ida resented that the industry had not properly recognized her remarkable contributions to her craft. Today, she has finally gotten her due. Many of her features are available on DVD and she has been the subject of numerous revivals, books, and articles.

There has never been an actress or director quite like Ida Lupino—her type lasted through her lifetime and died with her. She was a unique treasure.

Uncle Willie

2010-09-01T06:00:00.000-04:00

by Matthew Coniam
of Movietone News
guest blogger

The Hollywood on Parade shorts, released by Paramount in the early thirties, are a feast of ephemeral delights in which Hollywood stars, in the interests of publicity, are frequently seen in bizarre or unexpected lights, activities and combinations. Within their ten minute episodes are to be found Anna May Wong reciting a Chinese poem, Bela Lugosi’s Dracula biting Betty Boop, Bob Bromley’s dancing puppets, Ginger Rogers and Jack Oakie dancing together in each other’s clothes and Jean Harlow demonstrating her golfing skills. The effect is somewhat like a moving Hollywood fan magazine, so it is only appropriate that one of the best instalments, produced in 1932, utilises that format literally, with each sequence emerging from the pages of a magazine.

One feature - headlined FILM PLAYER’S RARE COLLECTION: Roland Young Has Hobby (Can You Guess It?) - opens to reveal the actor surrounded by an enormous collection of stuffed and toy penguins. With his inimitably dry voice and patented absurd seriousness, he goes on to explain:

“I have what I consider a very unusual collection. And here it is. Penguins. Funny little birds found all the way from the South Pole to the Equator. There are none at the North Pole. I’ve collected these both in America and in Europe, and many of them have been sent to me by fans. Their chief value to mankind, as far as I can determine, is to appear in pictures made by explorers to the South Pole. This one was the star of a Zane Gray production. He died as the result of too many camera shots.”

This all said with perfect solemnity and not a trace of knowingness as to its comic effect. Robert Benchley could have done no better.

This is the essence of Roland Young; that wonderfully mischievous, meek, physically contained character actor, whose mouth seems hardly to move when he talks, and who so excelled at bumbling upper class rakes, henpecked husbands, failed romantic adventurers and, finally, lovable older eccentrics before signing out peacefully in 1953 – not exactly at an untimely age to die but, from the point of view of the greedy film fan, a somewhat stingily prompt one.

He’s English of course, quintessentially so, but very much an American star; he came to the States early, in 1912, just four years after becoming an actor, and stayed, a US citizen by the time of World War I, in which he fought. And when he returned to Britain for The Man Who Could Work Miracles (1937) it didn’t feel like a homecoming so much as a bit of Hollywood paying a call. Miracles was, I think, his only headlining vehicle, though not his only lead: he was the eponymous star of those three superb Topper films, of course, though inexcusably denied top-billing in them all. For the most part he was a character actor, a supporter, and – for me – the best in the business.

Not that he wasn’t good enough to dominate a film as star. But whatever his role he shines without ever seeking to upstage or overbalance an ensemble. Subtlety; that he had in abundance; perfect timing, and an elegance and precision to everything he did that put him uppermost in the ranks of that roster of great comic support acts in which Paramount and MGM once abounded, and which the world has never seen the like of again. They’re all great – Butterworth, Ruggles, Benchley et al – but Young, I think, is the most unpredictable.

Corey Ford in ‘The Time of Laughter’, his wonderful memoir of the great twenties and thirties humorists from which I quote endlessly on my Marx Brothers blog, informs me that “he was the Broadway star of Shaw’s The Devil’s Disciple and Beggar on Horseback by Kaufman and Connelly, a talented artist whose sketches had appeared in Life and Vanity Fair, and a raconteur and sly wit.” (Once, when the two were discussing his famous appearance as Uriah Heap in David Copperfield, Ford asked him whatever became of Freddie Bartholomew. Young replied, “Basil Rathbone ate him.”)

I will not be content until I have seen every performance he ever gave. I don’t remember the titles of all the films he’s in I haven’t seen, but I know, and savour, his character names: Hillary Hume, Barry Keith-Trimble, Linkhorne 'Link' Gibson, Reggie Buckley Candysshe (Marquis of Buckminster)…

I love him as Uncle Willie in The Philadelphia Story because… because who could not love him as Uncle Willie in The Philadelphia Story? Ditto as Cosmo Topper, the film series that perhaps best exploited his particular gift for playing characters that find themselves in embarrassing situations they are not quite inventive enough to successfully talk their way out of. (Of the three, I actually prefer the last, Topper Returns, for its cast, its thrills, and the scene with Eddie Anderson and the seal.)

I love him, fairly late in his career, as William Blore, the crass private detective (from my home town of Plymouth) in René Clair’s And Then There Were None (1945), without rival the greatest murder mystery ever filmed. Blore, who spends most of the film jumping to wrong conclusions and chasing wild geese finally solves the mystery the second he is murdered. “I get it!” he shouts in triumph – just as the unseen killer topples a stone urn on his head from the floor above.

I love him playing straight – or at least, as straight as is possible for Roland Young to play eccentric Scotland Yard detective Lord Monte Montague - in his first talkie The Unholy Night (1929), one of several fascinating early talkies directed by Lionel Barrymore.

I adore him as Gerald, the ineffectual adulterer of Frank Tashlin’s glorious This Is The Night (1933), my favourite ersatz-Lubitsch comedy, with Thelma Todd as his intended amour and a vengeful Cary Grant in his feature debut as her Olympic javelin-throwing husband. The ever-deepening pool of comic desperation into which he plunges as he attempts to simultaneously convince that Grant that he is not having an affair with Todd and that he is married to Lily Damita, whom he has just hired expressly for the purpose of impersonating his wife, show his mastery of sophisticated farce.

But most of all I love him as Jimmy in DeMille’s Madam Satan. Every line and gesture and moment of his performance here is flawless. I love the door slamming bedroom antics with Lillian Roth, his MC turn at the climactic zeppelin party (sorry, I’m making no concessions to anyone lazy enough to have never seen this greatest of all films), I love him taking a shower fully-clothed with Reginald Denny, likewise-attired, I love the bit where the two read of their latest drunken exploits in the paper and a close-up of the newsprint, describing Young’s character as a ‘prominent member of the city’s younger set’ cuts to a glorious close-up of that beautiful balding, middle-aged face. This is the younger set? Oh, take me back to 1930!

One line in particular stands out. Young is again trying to cover-up an extra-marital affair, though not his own this time, by pretending that Denny’s girlfriend is actually his wife. “What’s her first name?” asks Denny’s wife (Kay Johnson.) “Her first name?” Young repeats, then: “Her first name?”

All the character is doing is obfuscating to play for time, so most actors, I think, would have stressed ‘first’ rather than ‘name’. By doing the opposite, Young seems to be implying not that the question is irrational per se, but that in the context of all the other first things about her Johnson might reasonably be expected to take an interest in, there is something eccentric or unexpected in her wanting to know her first name.

It’s difficult to describe exactly, and harder still to describe why it’s funny, and I sense I’ve not made all that good a job of either. But that’s Roland Young. He really wasn’t like anyone else, and you have to see it to get it: the mark of true and irreplaceable originality.

Breakdown

2010-08-31T18:49:00.003-04:00

I have a guest post on Classic Forever today! It's part of The Millie's spectacular Hitchcock Birthday Bash celebration. My contribution is a post about the earth-shatteringly-good episode of Hitchcock Presents, "Breakdown" starring Joseph Cotten. You can check it out here.

The Big Country (1958)

2010-08-31T06:00:00.000-04:00

by Amanda Cooper
of A Noodle in a Haystack
guest blogger

William Wyler is probably best remembered for Roman Holiday, the movie that catapulted Audrey Hepburn to fame and was nominated for nine Academy Awards (it won four). It's a classic, to be sure, but it wasn't the beginning and end of Wyler's career. He was very versatile director, and he directed such classics as The Best Years of Our Lives, Friendly Persuasion, and How to Steal a Million (again with Hepburn). He also directed Gregory Peck in what is quite possibly my favorite western of all time, The Big Country (1958).

The movie begins when Jim McKay (Peck), a sea captain from the east, arrives in a little western town. Right from the beginning it's made clear that he's different from the people there. He's considered an "eastern dude" by the townspeople, and after awhile, even Jim's fiancée, Pat (Carroll Baker), begins to think of him as less than a man. You see, Jim, unlike the western men, doesn't feel any need to prove his manhood simply for the reason of proving it.

While all this is going on, a feud between Pat's father, Major Terrill (Charles Bickford) and Rufus Hannassey (Burl Ives), which has been escalating for years, is finally coming to a head. It's about land, water, and, when all is said and done, pure hate. In this feud there isn't a right side or a wrong side because the good guys are the ones caught in the middle. After it's all over, Jim is the only major (male) player who the audience can still respect.

Every member cast is perfect - and I don't say that about many films. Peck is the levelheaded man who doesn't seek out a fight but finds himself in the middle of one, just the same; Jean Simmons is the owner of the land that everyone's fighting over; Charlton Heston is Major Terrill's foreman; and Chuck Connors is the oldest Hannassey son and first-rate filth - not that he's the only one, of course. From the biggest name on the billing to the smallest, all of the performers rise to the occasion and make their characters memorable. Remember that old show-biz phrase? "There are no small parts, only small actors." There aren't any small actors in this movie.

This is one of those movies that have to be seen to be appreciated. The acting is spot-on, the cinematography is gorgeous, and I can't find any fault with William Wyler's direction. As an example, let me point out the score: it's never used in the wrong places, so it doesn't intrude on the story. There are two scenes in particular where it is hardly used at all, except for a few seconds. The first scene is when Jim rides the horse, and there is an absence of music that really enhances the scene because it makes you feel like you're sitting right there on the corral rail and watching. The second scene is when Jim and Steve (Heston) finally duke it out, and everything is silent: all you can hear is their fists, falls, and breathing.

That's just how William Wyler was. He used every element so that it enhanced a film and helped the story, instead of intruding and becoming the main focus when it shouldn't be. The Big Country is a masterpiece, and I can't understand why it's so rarely mentioned.

Ann Sheridan

2010-08-30T06:00:00.000-04:00

by Monty Hawes
of All Good Things
guest blogger

I was trying to think of a good blog about Ann to write when I finally settled on the first film I saw with Ann. This will be kind of a two for one because I really can't remember the details of the first Ann film I saw, but I definitely remember the second. Anyway it was around the late 80's I believe and I was 16 or 17 and WTBS (the station started by Ted Turner, which would eventually lead the way for TCM) was showing Kings Row, co-starring Ronald Reagan. Well the plot line of this film intrigued me, so I wanted to watch it. But I was being constantly bothered while it was on. If it wasn't my mom, it was one of my three younger sisters. And plus it was being aired with commercials. But the real kicker was the way the film was presented. I don't know how many people remember the idea of Ted Turner wanted to make classic movies more presentable to newer fans. And he okayed the horrible decision of colorizing older films. It may have been a good idea in theory, but it was disaster when it was actually done. The color was garish on every classic film that his company touched. And since he owned the MGM library, that's a lot. Kings Row was one of the films he put his hand on and it made for a horrible viewing experience. Like I said I can't remember much about the film other than it was the first film I saw Ann Sheridan perform in. So it's noteworthy in that regard, but I need to watch it again. This time in it's original presentation.

Now the first Ann film that I truly remember watching would be the comedy I Was A Male War Bride with my favorite actor, Cary Grant. It aired on AMC, when that station showed movies with no commercials. I remember enjoying myself immensely while watching this film and fell immediately in love with Ann. At the time my favorite leading ladies were the big veterans like Bette Davis, Katherine Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Fontaine, Olivia de Havilland, Marilyn Monroe, etc. So when Ann came along, she was a breath of fresh air to me. Her performance as Lt. Catherine Gates was a delight, and she more than held her own with the indomitable Cary. After viewing Male War Bride, I assumed Ann was a regular comedic performer, but didn't find out until later, that other than a few select comedies such as The Man Who Came to Dinner and The Dough Girls, Ann was regularly featured in melodramas and early gangster yarns. She always handled every performance with expertise, but to this day, I wished she had made more comedies. She was just so fluid and funny and sexy in Male War Bride, that in several scenes, she manages to outshine Mr. Grant. Which was no easy task.

So while Kings Row is widely regarded as Ann's best performance, which I need to see again before I can make that claim, I always think of I Was A Male War Bride as the role which I first saw her in and loved from the very minute she appears on film.

Uncomfortably Near

2010-08-12T15:46:00.004-04:00

I think these words from the moody torch song "Angel Eyes" fit the film Accident to a T. This one scene in particular. I wrote about it on my Dirk Bogarde blog last year, and I think it bears repeating... this scene is so seminal to the film and exemplifies the feeling of discomfort that permeates the entire movie.

Dirk Bogarde's character, middle-aged and married, has a small uncomfortable crush on one of his students, played by Jacqueline Sassard. When he's asked to join her & another student on a little boat trip he reluctantly agrees. The ensuing trip is a combination of lovely cinematography, soft jazz and palpable awkwardness.

Pay special attention to the part when Dirk realizes the proximity of his hand to her thigh and clumsily repositions, tucking his hands under his armpits. The juxtaposition of his discomfort with the beauty and ease of everything going on around him is like gawky poetry.

I put together this little video with scenes from Accident set to Nancy Wilson's Angel Eyes. Hope you enjoy it :)

Top 10 favorite photos!

2010-08-11T22:15:00.005-04:00

There's been this thing going around on tumblr where you pick your top ten favorite photos of one particular star. I already posted these on my Dirk Bogarde tumblr, but they're so wonderful I thought I'd share them here too! So, without further ado, my picks for the top ten Dirk Bogarde photos:

He gazed a gazely stare

2010-08-11T08:55:00.003-04:00

I think that like 80% of what I write on my blogs is pretty lightweight fluff, but one post that I'm pretty proud of is the review that I wrote on The Mind Benders last October. In it I said that Dirk Bogarde's performance was the best of any actor in any movie I'd ever seen. Astonishingly, I think that over the course of the last year the only performances I've observed that could have possibly surpassed this one have all been played by ... Dirk Bogarde.* I obviously think he's a feast for the eyes, but that would just make him my number one movie crush. He's my favorite actor because he is just so good at his job that it's almost incomprehensible. And even if some of his other roles have come close, I still think that this is the best example of his range, depth and skill as an actor. Please check it out if you haven't already :)

And now, here I go again... scenes from The Mind Benders set to David Bowie's The Man Who Sold the World. It might look like this week is turning into "David Bowie and Dirk Bogarde Week", but I promise, musical variety is on the horizon ;-D

*Okay, one exception. Oskar Werner. He's pretty darn good.

dirk-bogarde.com

2010-08-10T13:11:00.000-04:00

I'm a bit of a freak when it comes to classic film anniversaries... every February 14th I celebrate the day I became a Frank Sinatra fan (this year was 10 years!) and every December I celebrate the month -- actually don't remember the exact day -- that I first discovered classic films (this year will be 11 years!) and today marks one year since I discovered Dirk Bogarde on TCM's Summer Under the Stars! To celebrate, I'm unveiling my newest project -- dirk-bogarde.com (dirkbogarde.com is taken by one of those websites that puts up lots of amazon and google ads for money-making purposes only. POO.)

Dirk-Bogarde.com has all of my photographic scans, movie screen-caps and tribute videos. I'm constantly adding more all the time so it will be a continuous work in progress. But all of my existing scans, screen caps and videos are already up!

Yay!! :-D

making love with his ego

2010-08-10T06:15:00.004-04:00

In 1960 Dirk Bogarde played the famed composer and pianist Franz Liszt in the sweeping biopic Song Without End. The film portrays Liszt as a 19th century rock star -- at one point a woman quickly snatches up his gloves from the stage in a move that reminds one of Frank Sinatra's bobby-soxers and the Rolling Stones' groupies. And nobody could have played this massive talent with the massive ego better than Dirk Bogarde. He brings an enormous confidence and a brilliant air of arrogance to the role that few other actors could have pulled off.

I know I'm a bit goofy, but I couldn't help but think of Ziggy Stardust while watching the film... so here is my little tribute to Dirk as Liszt as Ziggy...

Happy Birthday Nicole!!

2010-08-10T01:48:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday Nicola!!

hey! jumps up and down waving look over here! I've got a picture of a puppy!

2010-08-09T05:44:00.004-04:00

Ok, now that I've (hopefully) got your attention, I'd like to announce that this week is officially Dirk Bogarde Week! (wheee!!!)

August 10th marks one year since Dirk Bogarde was featured on TCM's Summer Under the Stars. In Kate World this means one year since I discovered my new favorite actor. And in Silents and Talkies World it means one year since I started annoying the heck out of all of you with my incessant posts about my new-found favorite. So OF COURSE this calls for a celebration!

I'm really really hoping you'll stick around and pop back in throughout the week to check out all of the Dirk Bogarde Goodness that I have in store. Tribute videos, artwork, movie reviews, drop dead gorgeous pictures, new scans and me doing my darnedest to convince everyone how awesome he is!

Usually I like the whole "save the best for last" way of doing things, but I am SO excited about my big tribute video that I couldn't really wait until the end of the week to post it! It's a montage of clips from 15 Dirk Bogarde movies set to I'll Be Seeing You by Francoise Hardy and Iggy Pop. Enjoy!!! :)

Are you KIDDING me??

2010-08-07T05:36:00.005-04:00

I had no intention of writing a blog post at 6:00 in the morning when I was getting ready to call it a night and go to sleep. But then, somehow, I clicked on this story from Entertainment Weekly and got sucked into a vortex of bad taste and worse opinions.

The article is called "20 'Classic' Movies You Call Overrated" and while I agree with three or four of the ones they chose, the comments about each film seriously made me lose any bit of faith I had left in the future of the human race. Or at least the future of good taste.

Let's look at a few examples, shall we?

On To Kill a Mockingbird:

"What is all of the hype about? This was the biggest snoozefest that I have ever watched. And Atticus Finch is the number 1 top-rated hero of all time?! Sorry, but that goes to Indiana Jones or, if you want your heroes wise, Obi-Wan Kenobi."

First of all, anyone who was expecting an Indiana-Jones-style adventure flick when they put To Kill a Mockingbird in their DVD player was dumb to begin with. But it only proves that they have the attention span of a gnat if they can't find anything worthwhile in the plot. And I'm just totally at a loss for words on the hero thing. I mean... really???? REALLY???

On His Girl Friday:

"Ooh, His Girl Friday is a terrific example because I didn’t care for that brand of humor. While you’re at it, all of the Hepburn-Tracy rom-coms of the ’40s are dull."

Yeah, um, His Girl Friday stars neither Katherine Hepburn nor Spencer Tracy, you moron. And I'm sorry that the 40's "rom-com" doesn't have the same wit and sparkle that Transformers II does. *facepalm*

On An Affair to Remember:

"I think if you see Sleepless in Seattle beforehand, it ruins it. You expected so much, for it to be this AMAZING love story, but it drags on."

Speaking as one who did in fact see Sleepless in Seattle before An Affair to Remember, I can vouch for the fact that it IS an amazing love story, and it does NOT drag on. Nothing spoiled it for me, and I still find it one of the most powerful romance films ever made. How jaded are people today that they can't see this?

On Citizen Kane:

"I totally agree about Citizen Kane. Maybe it was too hyped before I saw it, but I found it a bit dull. Not to mention I have known what Rosebud was since I was 6 years old."

To begin with, Citizen Kane is not dull. Let's just toss that out of the way right off the bat, since it is not even debatable. Now, I think it goes without saying that everyone on the planet who has any knowledge of film knows what Rosebud is. We also ALL know that Janet Leigh gets killed in the shower in Psycho, that Rhett Butler says "Frankly my dear I don't give a damn," that Ingrid Bergman gets on the plane with Paul Henreid and that Bambi's mother gets killed. WE ALL KNOW. But guess what, people still watch these films and they still enjoy them. Citizen Kane is not considered the best film ever because of the great surprise at the end that Rosebud was the sleigh. That's not why people watch it, and it's not why people love it! The whole darn film is good on it's own, you stupid stupid person.

I could go on -- there are, after all, 20 films being torn apart in this article -- but I'll just let you go look for yourself. You too can cry yourself to sleep, weeping tears for future generations who will expect every film to come with 3-D glasses, HD color and explosions every minute, on the minute. Oh the humanity!

ps. As for the people who ripped The Way We Were... are you not aware of the fact that the film could be missing it's audio, shown backwards and upside down and it would still be a great movie, just for the sheer presence of that studly hunk of a man named Robert Redford??

Julie Christie

2010-08-02T05:00:00.002-04:00

If you have TCM, don't miss all the fantastic Julie Christie films airing today as part of the annual Summer Under the Stars festival. Of course they're airing the fabulous epic Dr. Zhivago (not the least bit overrated.. if you haven't seen it yet, do it! Even if you don't like tragic films -- I'm looking at you, Millie) but they're also showing Darling, one of my personal favorites (and not just because my no. 1 favorite Dirk Bogarde is her co-star) and the offbeat drama Petulia.

Personally, I'm super excited because they're showing so many of her films that I don't yet have on DVD! The Fast Lady, In Search of Gregory, Far From the Madding Crowd, Petulia and Demon Seed are all programmed into my DVD recorder. If you like Julie Christie -- and who doesn't?! -- make sure you don't miss this lineup! I personally think she's the greatest actress of her generation, and can't wait to see the movies they're showing that I haven't seen yet, and re-watching the ones that I have! :)

Art is acrylic, pencil & mixed media

WE NEED PETER!

2010-07-25T22:25:00.003-04:00

Me and Millie are Peter McEnery superfans, and considering this fact, we are horrified, disappointed, saddened and downright OUTRAGED that only like 2 of his movies are available on dvd. We're DESPERATE to see more, but can't find any anywhere!!

We're both willing to pay money, trade dvds or give you our kidneys and livers (ok, only I agreed to this one, you'll have to ask Millie how she feels about it) for any movie of his you might have!

The only ones I have are The Moonspinners, Victim and Negatives. I NEED THE REST! Especially Better a Widow, I Love You I Hate You, Rasputin and The Fighting Prince of Donegal.

Please please please if you know of any way for us to get a hold of these, let one of us know! You can contact me at slightlyterrific@gmail.com.

Happy Birthday Ginger Rogers & Grandmom!

2010-07-16T12:32:00.003-04:00

To movie fans, today is a birthday bonanza for two larger-than-life actresses: Barbara Stanwyck and Ginger Rogers. But for most of my life, July 16th only meant one birthday -- my grandmother's! So when I decided to do a birthday post for Ginger Rogers after posting my Stany one this morning... I felt I'd be neglecting the most important birthday of all if I didn't mention the one I'm actually celebrating this evening with my family :)

Happy Birthday Grandmom! (And Stany, and Ginger!)

Happy Birthday Barbara Stanwyck!!

2010-07-16T04:26:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday to my favorite actress ever!!

Announcing the Summer Movie Blog-a-Thon!!!

2010-07-15T08:00:00.002-04:00

I am *very* excited to announce that I'm hosting a blog-a-thon over at the LAMB!!

If you were born anytime after 1900, chances are you spent a nice chunk of your summer vacations as a kid watching movies. My grandmother used to spend every summer Saturday at the movies with her friends, followed up by a race to the soda fountain at the local drugstore. My mom loves telling me stories about how she used to pull the mattress off of her bed on the first day of summer vacation and camp out in front of the family television for the next two months, enjoying all of the classic films they used to show on late night tv. As for myself, I used to build a fort (sans-mattress) in the living room and watch my Disney classics collection on repeat until school started again.

Summer brings with it an air of nostalgia -- not just of ice cream trucks, swing sets and pool parties, but of the movies we grew up with during summer vacation. So for this blog-a-thon, my idea is to write about our favorite summer childhood movies and memories. Whether you want to watch an old favorite and re-evaluate the declaration you made at age nine that it was the best movie EVER, or just reminisce about how the boat scene in Willy Wonka used to scare the bejesus out of you (and still does.)

Whether you grew up on kid-friendly classics or Hammer horror films, as long as you watched it when you were little, it counts!

The blog-a-thon posts will be published over three days - August 16th, 17th and 18th on the LAMB blog. When you have your post ready, you can e-mail me a link at silentsandtalkies103@yahoo.com with the subject line "Summer Blog-a-thon." The absolute deadline for sending a link is August 17th.

You can promote the blog-a-thon with these blog buttons, or make up your own!

Button #1 HTML Code
<a href="http://largeassmovieblogs.blogspot.com/search/label/summer-blogathon"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LylKy5XK1JQ/TD1Za53LNXI/AAAAAAAAEhI/F3cIHsEgpsM/s400/summer-blog-1.jpg" /></a>

Button #2 HTML Code
<a href="http://largeassmovieblogs.blogspot.com/search/label/summer-blogathon"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LylKy5XK1JQ/TD1ZareZSSI/AAAAAAAAEhA/CPsGUF6tQtY/s400/summer-blog-2.jpg"></a>

Jules et Jim (1962)

2010-07-02T02:43:00.003-04:00

"They could have been beautiful"

"The yearnings of two hearts create such heavenly pain"

This morning I woke up thinking about the movie I had watched last night, Jules et Jim. It's my new favorite.

If the movie that I watch tonight is any good, it will also be my new favorite. It will not push aside Jules et Jim.. it will just squeeze in beside it at first place. My favorite film is 1000 films.

I have about three of four go-to movies when people ask my favorite (on a recent tumblr post I answered Sunday in New York, Hot Enough for June, Sullivan's Travels and Le Notti Bianche) but really those few movies are tied with hundreds more.

My favorite films stick with me. My love for Jules et Jim will not fade when a movie I watch next week hits me like a ton of bricks. Like all of my favorites, Jules et Jim will stick with me forever. But even if you are the kind of person with only two favorites, or ten... if you watch Jules et Jim I guarantee you will count it among them.

Jules et Jim is the story of two men -- one German, one French -- who remain best friends during the Great War and when one friend loves the other's wife. It is a breathtaking film; absolutely beautiful and wistful. It stars Jeanne Moreau and one of my new favorite actors, (not pushing anyone aside, just saying "hello" and keeping all the others company) Oskar Werner.

It's not really the kind of film you can describe (or at least not the kind I can describe) so I recommend just watching it to see what I mean when I say that once you see it you will never forget it.

*

One of the highlights of the film is Jeanne Moreau singing a pretty song "Le Tourbillon" which I've added to the brand new (work in progress) Soundtracks section of Silents and Talkies. Click here to hear it or download it :)

*The artwork is acrylic & mixed media*

Happy Birthday Judy Holliday!

2010-06-21T16:13:00.003-04:00

There are a few stars who died young, at the height of their careers -- Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and Jean Harlow are obvious examples -- that became legends not only because of their talent and popularity but also because of their untimely deaths. Then there are those who had similar unfortunate fates, but did not reach that iconic status reserved for larger-than-life personalities like Elvis Presley or Judy Garland.

Judy Holliday passed away when she was only 43 years old. I personally think she was one of the greatest comediennes ever, and often wonder what great roles she might have had if she had lived longer. She would have been a fantastic character actress as she got older, probably becoming a television staple in the 80's and 90's playing ditsy, fun grandmothers and crazy aunts.

And did you know that she could sing, too? Here's a video of her singing "Loving You," my favorite of her songs:

She was just SO talented and brilliant, I wish that she had the same kind of following and devoted fan base that other stars do.

Cary Grant vs. Cary Grant : Where do you stand?

2010-05-22T01:05:00.003-04:00

There's a huge battle raging all over the internet (okay, it's just between me and Millie) over who was more dashing, debonair, charming and all-around handsome: 30's/40's Cary Grant or 50's/60's Cary Grant? I think you can tell by my above graphic where my own loyalties lie.

Where do you stand?

Happy Birthday Robert Montgomery!

2010-05-21T00:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday to one of my all time favorite actors!

ps. sorry for such a lengthy post! ;-D

Wait, you LIKE that movie? But, Kate! It was made after 1970! - PART II

2010-05-11T01:41:00.004-04:00

When I wrote this post last year, I was a little bit more uptight about what production years were acceptable for my movie-watching needs. Post 1970? Pashaw! Don't even talk to me about it.

Since then, I've expanded my horizons a teeny tiny bit. For one thing, I noticed that my rationalization was a little off. Both of my favorite tv shows are from the 1970's (Good Neighbors and Mary Tyler Moore) but yet I refused to watch any movies from the same time period?

But I really realized that things had changed when I saw this on tumblr and knew I had to see the whole movie.

Um, this movie is new. Not just 1977 new, but 2009 new. "What the heck is wrong with me?!?!?" I thought to myself as I added it to my netflix queue.

I almost had a complete psychological meltdown while I was watching it. I was enjoying a new movie. REALLY enjoying it. The kind of enjoyment I get from old movies.

This does not happen to me.

Ever.

After the film was finished and I was left with that post-good-movie glow, I realized that since my last post I had watched at least ten newer films, and enjoyed every single one of them. While ten a year might not seem like a big number to most people, keep in mind this is coming from someone who had probably watched a total of five new films in the last ten years.

Before I proceed to my little list, I just want to say two quick things about (500) Days of Summer. First of all, it's definitely my favorite movie from the 1995-2010 time period (You know, of the ones I've actually seen....) The direction and screenplay are incredibly clever, and the main character, Tom Hansen, is just the sweetest thing ever. (Ooh! accidental rhyme!)

Ok, on to the list!

1. (500) Days of Summer (Reasons explained above)
2. Amelie (so magical and lovely. REALLY close to coming in first place in my 1995-2010 category)
3. Klute (Amazing performance from Jane Fonda, and a real nail-biter!)
4. Avanti! (Jack Lemmon. Juliet Mills. Billy Wilder. Italy. Need I say more?)
5. Ordinary People (This movie haunted me for weeks after I saw it)
6. Spice World (Don't hate me.)
7. The Out of Towners (I've actually seen it before but forgot to include it on my last list)
8. The Shootist (Favorite John Wayne film ever now)
9. All The President's Men (um, Robert Redford.)
10. The Ruling Class (Also saw this one before, but was reminded that I love it when TCM did a mini Peter O'Toole marathon last month.)

Anyone else have new movie skeletons hidden in their closet?

Last Holiday (1950)

2010-05-03T18:35:00.003-04:00

Every so often I watch a movie that completely shakes me, and I haven't really come across one quite this unsettling since I watched The Mind Benders last October.

Last Holiday is about a man named George Bird - played brilliantly by Alec Guinness - who finds out from his doctor that he only has a few more weeks to live. On the younger-side of middle age, lonely, no family, working in a dead-end job, Bird cashes in his life insurance, quits his job, withdraws his money from the bank and sets off on a last holiday to enjoy himself while he still can.

When he arrives at the posh, swanky hotel after his one-way train journey, Bird becomes the subject of everyone's curiosity. Who is he? Is he rich? What is he doing here? The other guests soon befriend our mystery man, who becomes a helper and guardian to many of them, offering some money to a woman in need and advice to an aging inventor who could use some tips on improving one of his machines. Before long, he's been offered jobs, consulted a big-wig in the government and won a ton of money gambling. His life has finally become worthwhile, but it's all too late.

I won't give away the ending, but I will say that this is, indeed, a tearjerker.

I am, unfortunately, a troubled thinker. I think way too much for my own good, and overthink and overthink some more. At 23, I've already spent way too much time pondering death and sickness. This movie did nothing to help quell that preoccupation. Instead, I spent all night tossing and turning, wondering what on earth I would do if my own doctor gave me such a blood-curdling prognosis. I'd probably spend the next few weeks crying non-stop; no British stiff-upper-lip for me. And to do it alone, like Bird does in the movie, is frightening beyond belief.

There are scenes in the movie that show Bird waking, dressing, doing the casual things one does every day, after his prognosis. It could be that I was reading deeper into the scene than I should, but I think Alec Guinness moved, took each step, like a man who knew this was it. He just looked so awfully lost, so helpless, so unprepared. Sitting up in bed after a restless night, you could almost read his thoughts "another day. will this be the last?"

I read recently (though for the life of me I can't remember where!) about post-war British films often featuring friendly ghosts or lovely pictures of heaven, as a way of comforting the millions who had lost loved ones in the war. A way of saying, "everything is O.K. your dad is in heaven now, or your son is in this room watching over us" But this film didn't have that same comforting message about death. It was more realistic, depicting Alec Guinness as a scared man, approaching the unknown.

I am not a religious person. I have an overwhelming sense of envy, though, for people who do have an unwavering belief in an afterlife. To be confident that life continues and that after death you'll be able to reunite with all of your loved ones, must be the most comforting feeling. But I wasn't raised this way, and I still find it personally impossible to have any faith that things go on. I see death as the most tragic, devastating thing that can happen -- the end. I fear it more than anything else on this planet, both for myself and for the people I love. And I have no built-in-coping mechanism to help me deal with it when it does happen.

This film, I think, was made for people like me who have a very bleak outlook on the end. No ghosts, angels, heaven or happy remembrances. Just sadness. It is a powerfully depressing film, one that -- at least if you tend to think too much, like me -- will probably affect your mood for days. I couldn't look at anything today - my cats, my parents, myself in the mirror - without thinking of that inevitable end.

However, I recommend the movie highly. Sometimes it does us good to think about things like life and death. I, for one, took two things away from this movie. Of course there were the pesky thoughts about death that have preoccupied me all day, but I also realized that life is way too short to spend it doing routine things that I don't enjoy. We shouldn't wait until we have three weeks left to enjoy our little time on earth. We should do it now. I, for one, am going to make every effort now to make sure that when my time finally does come, I can say - if I can speak through my hyperventilating crying- that I had a very good, rich life.

Blithe Spirit (1966) and Little Moon of Alban (1964)

2010-04-29T12:31:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I had the enormous pleasure of seeing the two Dirk Bogarde Hallmark Hall of Fame productions at the Paley Center in New York! Neither show seems to be available on DVD or VHS anywhere else in the known universe (believe me, I have been looking high and low for months!) so I'd been eagerly anticipating the day that I could save up enough money to go to New York and see them.

I decided to watch Blithe Spirit first, since it was the one I was looking forward to more, and I have a hard time with the "save the best for last" theory. It's the story of a writer, Charles Condomine, whose deceased first wife comes back to haunt him after a seance with his second wife goes awry. The psychic was played by an over-the-top, hilarious, Emmy-deserving Ruth Gordon. Dirk Bogarde's character reminded me a lot of (also a writer) Nicholas Whistler, his character in Hot Enough for June. Like Whistler, Condomine seems a rather pulled together fellow until all heck breaks loose and he finds himself in the most unlikely of situations. Dirk approached this role in much the same way, with that endearing frazzled bewilderment and voice-cracking confusion.

The story was written by Noel Coward (score!) so it was dripping with wit and sarcasm. I think Coward is at his best writing dialogue for bickering couples, so it was absolutely delightful to have Coward dialogue for a husband arguing with not one, but two wives!

Clocking in at one hour and 18 minutes, Blithe Spirit was over much too quickly and I wished so badly that I had had the time to play it over again while I was at the museum. (Or take it home on DVD. Come on!!!)

My only complaint about Blithe Spirit is that it would have been even more marvelous if it had been a real movie instead of a tv-movie. To have had a real film crew with real direction and more expensive sets, it could have been an A+ production. Unfortunately, the sets had a very stage-like quality about them, and the camera movement was quite stiff. But really, considering how fabulous Dirk's performance was, how marvelous the story itself is, and how great Ruth Gordon was too, this is really a small technicality.

Next up was Little Moon of Alban. Small disclosure: I'm not a big fan of Julie Harris, and she was the main star of this program. I approached it thinking that maybe she wouldn't be as grating (to me) as she had been in Member of the Wedding, but unfortunately I found her just as annoying in this movie. And she is basically the sole star for the first forty minutes. I really didn't enjoy this one nearly as much as Blithe Spirit, but the opportunity to see a Dirk Bogarde performance that is otherwise not available anywhere else made me overlook my blase feeling towards Harris and the plot.

Little Moon of Alban is the story of an Irish girl who denounces God after her fiance is killed by the English in the Irish rebellion. Despite her obvious doubts, the next thing she does is become a Catholic nurse/nun. (She kept having to explain to people that she wasn't a REAL nun, just a nurse who had taken vows and was dressed exactly like a nun. It was kind of confusing to me, but then I'm not really familiar with Catholic traditions, so maybe it's just me?) Anyway, she becomes a nurse/nun and immediately gets assigned to a hospital for English soldiers. Ouch!

And here (FINALLY!) is where Dirk comes in. Only a few hours before the cease-fire, Dirk and his fellow soldiers are attacked and he is the lone survivor. Barely alive, lying in his hospital bed, he starts an argument with Julie Harris about war, God and belief. Their arguments continue for days as Dirk's condition worsens. Julie keeps trying to get him to believe in God, despite the fact that her own faith is kind of shaky -- something Dirk is definitely aware of. Despite their bickering (or maybe because of it.. you know how movies work) they appear to fall in love and everything comes down to an emergency operation in which even the operating surgeon thinks that there is no hope at all. Unfortunately, you can see the ending coming from a mile away. ANY movie in which a man falls in love with a nun ends with them going their separate ways. Perhaps there might be some modern films that don't work this way, but in everything I've ever seen, this is always the case. It may be sacrilegious of me, but I'm always rooting for them to get together (I'm looking at you, Audrey Hepburn and Peter Finch in A Nun's Story!). In this particular movie, it would have even made sense-- Julie Harris' character didn't actually have a calling to the church, she was basically just seeking asylum from the outside world that had killed her fiance. Discovering a new love that helps her get back into the world would have fit, and wouldn't have been devilish or anything since these nun/nurses get to renew their contracts every year instead of taking one big lifelong vow.

Anyway, Little Moon of Alban was redeemed, for me, by Dirk Bogarde's performance. It was amazing watching this one back to back with Blithe Spirit, because while the first showcased Dirk's enormous talent for comedy, Little Moon was a shining example of his outstanding work in drama. Playing a bitter, agnostic soldier facing his fear of death, Dirk's performance was moving, heartbreaking and - set against a stage-like, cardboard background - real. A fellow Dirk Bogarde fan sent me this review from when it first aired on TV, and I believe "haunting brilliance" describes his performance perfectly!

If you are ever in the New York or Los Angeles area, I highly recommend dropping by The Paley Center to check out these movies (or, if you only have time for one, Blithe Spirit). Admission was kind of tricky, though... typically a $10 general admission ticket gets you one hour in the media room, but both of my programs were almost 1.5 hours long each. You can call ahead of time and request a time extension, or you can purchase $15 research/scholar tickets, which get you as much time in the media room as you need.

I really wish that The Paley Center would start offering their database on DVD. I know they'd probably need to clear it with whoever owns the rights to each program, but it would probably be a bigger money-maker than their admission fees are. If they had offered Blithe Spirit (and, despite my general dissatisfaction with Harris and the plot, Little Moon of Alban because I am, after all, a die-hard Dirk Bogarde fan) for $80 a DVD, I probably would have coughed it up in an instant.

*

{Originally published on my other blog, Discovering Dirk Bogarde}

Millie and Kate's billiantly evil asthmatic survey (non-asthmatics may participate)

2010-04-14T07:00:00.002-04:00

Me and my co-conspirator in all things evil, brilliant, asthmatic and gnome-related, Millie, have decided to conjure up a new classic movie survey! yay! This survey has some very, very important questions (I mean, Gidget or Beach party, people. This is serious stuff.) but it's all for fun, so copy the questions, paste them on your blog and start answering!! (I've pasted a copy of the questions without photos and answers in my comments, for some easy copy-paste action) So, without further ado:

---------------------------------------

1. Which actors do you always (or did you always) mix-up?
Ann Sothern and Joan Blondell

2. Gidget or Beach Party?
Gidget (And, I'm sorry but Cliff Robertson is NOT a creeper in that movie. End of discussion.)

3. Favorite Movie Outfit?
Audrey Hepburn's black lace outfit in How to Steal a Million

4. If you could be ANY character in ANY movie...who would you choose?
Tough one! Probably Sylvia Koscina's role in Hot Enough For June. She ends up with Dirk Bogarde, and plus she has my ultimate dream job: SPY! So, she's a spy for the wrong side, but I'm figuring a few months with Dirk (aka Nicholas Whistler) in England would convince me to become a double agent. Also, I really would like to look like her, so that helps.

5. If you could marry ANY character in ANY movie...who would you choose? (Excluding any Dana Andrews' characters. Seriously. ;-D - Millie)
Robert Gold (Dirk Bogarde) in Darling, Paul Verrall (William Holden) in Born Yesterday or Walt Dreiser (sorry, Millie.. Dana Andrews) in My Foolish Heart.

6. If you could live in ANY movie...which would you choose?
Lost Horizon

7. Black & White movies you wish were in Technicolor, or vice-versa?
I wish that The Barkleys of Broadway was in black and white (actually, I usually watch it with the color turned off on my tv)

8. Favorite Movie Soundtrack?
Dr. Zhivago hands down! Runners up are The Servant and Splendor in the Grass.

9. Favorite Movie Dance Sequence?
Let's Face the Music and Dance in Follow the Fleet

10. Coolest Movie Star? (Cough, cough, BOBBY DARIN, cough, cough -Millie)
Bobby was REALLY cool but I think Frank Sinatra was the end.

11. Sophia or Gina (Oh, how Kate enjoys replaying Gina's sad defeat OVER AND OVER! -Millie)
muahahahahaha. No, really I love them both SO much, it's really almost a tie. But Sophia squeaks by on this one :)

12. "Isn't It Romantic" in most Billy Wilder films, or "Red River Valley" in most John Ford films?
Okay, why did I come up with this question when I can't answer it? I LOVE THEM BOTH!!

(Henry Fonda singing Red River Valley in The Grapes of Wrath is nowhere to be found on the internet. I will fix this ASAP!)

13. If you could re-cast ANY role in ANY movie, what would it be?
Tie between recasting Gary Cooper as Jefferson Smith in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and recasting William Holden as Leonard Vole in Witness for the Prosecution. (Oh, and I'd also like to replace Humphrey Bogart in Sabrina and Gary Cooper in Love in the Afternoon with Cary Grant.)

(geez, you'd never know that I know how to use photoshop...)

14. Favorite movie character with your first name?
Rita Tushingham's character in Girl with Green Eyes

15.One movie that should NEVER be remade? (under THE THREAT OF A SLOW, PAINFUL DEATH!)
Any Hitchcock, John Ford or David Lean films. Period.

16. Actor or Actress who you would love to be best friends with?
Barbara Stanwyck, Miriam Hopkins and Julie Christie seem like they'd be awesome friends!

17. Are you an Oscar or a Felix?
Oscar. TOTALLY an Oscar.

18. Actor/Actress you originally hated and now love?
Well, like not love... but Glenn Ford

19.Actor/Actress you originally loved and now don't like? I'm pleading the fifth on this one.. I know if I answered it, it would be the ONLY thing people would comment on :-\

20. Favorite performance that was looked over by Oscar? (Not to be confused with the aforementioned Oscar of Felix fame.)
Dana Andrews in Best Years of Our Lives!!

21. Bewitched or I Dream of Jeannie?
Love them both, but Jeannie!

22. Hannibal Heyes or Kid Curry? (Hint for those who don't know who they are: pick Hannibal Heyes.)
Heyes!

23. Favorite Style Icon: Fred Astaire or Cary Grant?
Toughie!! I'll go with Fred.

24. Single most favorite movie scene EVER?
AGHHH I can't believe I helped make this survey and am having trouble answering half the questions!!! I really like the scene in Any Wednesday when Jane Fonda says she wants to have lots of kids and have them gather round and make a cake (it's just so randomly hilarious!), and I love the scene with the mismatched shoes in Sunday in New York. AND I can't leave out the scene in Hot Enough for June when Dirk Bogarde asks if he can come back and see that roller process again.

25. Movie you really "should" see, but have subconsciously avoiding for who knows what reason?
The Night Porter. I really really want to see it, but I've heard it's a tad bit too graphic for my tastes.

26. Movie quote you find yourself most often repeating in real life?
"I've got the most scathingly brilliant idea" from The Trouble with Angels. I've been saying this at least once a day like my whole entire life. Me & my mom also quote the line from Beauty and the Beast "I've been thinking... a dangerous past time, I know". And lately I've been randomly quoting the line at the end of Young and Innocent "What did I do with the belt? *evil laugh* (I'm so weird.)

27. 50's Westerns or 60's Spies? (I can't even answer this myself...but you have to! MWAHAHAHA! - Millie)
Spies will always win over cowboys, and the 60's will always beat the 50's, so there you have your answer.

28. Favorite splashy, colorful, obnoxious 50's musical?
Millie put this question in just because she KNOWS how I detest splashy, colorful, obnoxious 50's musicals. The Bandwagon isn't remotely obnoxious, but does that count?

29. Favorite film setting (example: Rome, Paris, Seattle, Siberia, Chile, Sahara Desert, etc)
England and Italy

30. If you could own the entire wardrobe of any film, which would it be?
Audrey's in How to Steal a Million or Gina Lollobrigida's in Come September.

31. Carol Burnette or Lucille Ball?
I haven't seen much of either, but I'll go with Lucille Ball I guess.

32. Favorite Voice. Ever. Period?
AGHHHHH I CANNOT PICK JUST ONE. I'm going to do a list eventually, but I'll just name my top few. Dirk (OBVIOUSLY), Richard Burton, Richard Widmark, Dana Andrews and Ronald Colman. (You can listen to Dirk talk-singing here)

33. Favorite movie that takes place in your home-state?
Well there are NO movies that I like about New Jersey, so instead I'll go with my favorite movie star from the garden (seriously, garden??) state: Frank Sinatra. See picture in question #10.

34. Which actors would you want for relatives? (Mother, Father, Grandma, Crazy Aunt, annoying cousin, older brother, etc...)
Mother: Glynis Johns in Mary Poppins or Spring Byington in You Can't Take it With You. Father: Spencer Tracy in Inherit the Wind (I know, he's not playing a dad in that movie, but I don't think that matters?) or Hugh Griffith in How to Steal a Million or Alastair Sim in Stage Fright. So like a cross between an iconic lawyer, an art forger and a wine smuggler? Grandmother: Older Lauren Bacall (me and Millie are cousins.) Grandfather: Walter Brennan in The Gnome Mobile. Crazy Aunt: Elsa Lanchester in Bell Book and Candle. Older Brother: Jeffrey Lynn (and then I can be Nicola's sister in law! ;-D)

My awesome family portrait.

Splendor in the Grass {Song of the Week}

2010-04-11T23:51:00.003-04:00

I just watched Splendor in the Grass for the first time last week. It's such an awfully sad movie, and I think one that really sticks with you. Except for Boomerang and Gentleman's Agreement, I've always avoided Elia Kazan movies. I don't mind movies that have intense story lines, but I don't like those stories to be presented in an in-your-face way (if this makes ANY sense) and Elia Kazan usually makes them so raw that it's like swallowing a shot of vodka when you've never even tasted beer before. It doesn't sit well with me.

So I was very surprised by Splendor in the Grass. Like other Kazan films, it is very intense but this is handled in a very soft, delicate manner. The film is about two young lovers (I hate the word lovers, but I'm drawing a blank.. young'ins who are goin' steady?) who are being pressured by their parents to keep the romance to a minimum until they get married... oh, yeah, and can they also wait to get married for like four years? That's not an easy task for Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty, who are having a heck of a time keeping their hands off each other. While Natalie's character starts thinking that the best solution is to just do it, Warren's character decides the best solution is to never see each other again. This misunderstanding sets off a chain reaction that is absolutely devastating for both of them.

One of the things that kept this volatile story on an even keel was the tune that kept wafting in and out of each scene. I'm not sure if I found the exact version of the song used in the film, but it's absolutely lovely and conveys the same feelings that the soundtrack in the film did.

Splendor in the Grass [Download it] [Buy It]

um, no.

2010-04-11T23:24:00.001-04:00

In my book, watching (or re-watching) and old movie is the single best thing to do on a beautiful afternoon.

Happy Birthday Bette Davis!

2010-04-05T16:14:00.003-04:00

Happy Birthday to my second favorite actress of all time, Bette Davis! Aside from Barbara Stanwyck, I think Bette was the best actress ever. A quality they both share is their uncanny ability to be great in comedic and dramatic roles. Bette Davis is out of this world amazing in the comedy It's Love I'm After, in which she plays a very hammy actress, and she'll totally break your heart into a million little pieces in Dark Victory (pass the tissues please!) It takes a lot of talent to do both of those things so well, and I doubt anyone did it better than Stany and Bette Davis.

Plus the woman was so plucky. I love watching her later interviews, especially the one with Dick Cavett. Here's one of my favorite clips, where she talks about her worst on-screen kiss (but unfortunately doesn't name names..)

I'm leaning towards watching my favorite Bette Davis movie, Now Voyager, tonight but part of me also wants to watch one I haven't seen yet so I might rent one of her later films from Netflix and celebrate on Wednesday too :)

ps. I've seen a lot of "Happy 100th birthday Bette Davis" things today, but every source I can find online says her birth year was 1908?

Easter Parade {Song of the Week}

2010-04-05T01:30:00.003-04:00

I'm not a huge fan of Judy Garland, but one movie of hers that I absolutely adore is Easter Parade... I watch it every year at Easter time, and my favorite part of the movie is the finale when she and Fred Astaire sing the title song. It's one of those stuck-in-your-head songs that hangs around for weeks after Easter, not that I mind one bit :)

Happy Easter!

Easter Parade [Download it] [Buy it]

Happy Birthday Millie!!!

2010-04-01T01:27:00.003-04:00

My really pathetic way of saying
Happy Birthday Millie!!!
.... your present will be ready soonish. ;-D

Happy Birthday Dirk Bogarde!

2010-03-28T06:00:00.000-04:00

TCM has nothing planned for Dirk's birthday, however, coincidentally they are showing three of his Doctor movies tomorrow during their medical-themed lineup! If you haven't seen the Doctor films, try to tune in.. they're very sly and witty and quite funny! :)

Happy Birthday Steve McQueen!

2010-03-24T03:19:00.002-04:00

Steve McQueen would have been 80 today. I thought it would be a nice tribute to re-publish a wonderful guest post that Terry from A Shroud of Thoughts wrote for Silents and Talkies last year. So without further ado:

There are those actors who become legends, remembered long after they are gone. Sir Laurence Olivier and Katherine Hepburn both became legends in their own lifetime. But then there are those actors who become something more than legends. Not only are they remembered long after they have died, but they become a part of the very fabric of popular culture. Quite simply, they become icons.

It is these actors who are not simply remembered after they die, but who become symbols of how the average man or woman would like to be or what they want out of life. When people think of acting icons, they might think of James Dean or Marilyn Monroe. They might also think of Steve McQueen.

Terrence Steven McQueen was one of the first generation of actors who began in television. He would appear in episodes of some of the anthology series of the Fifties, among them Goodyear Television Playhouse, The United States Steel Hour, Studio One, and Alfred Hitchock Presents. In fact, the episode of Studio One in which Mr. McQueen appeared would be somewhat historic. It was the episode "The Defender" by Reginald Rose, which would inspire the classic TV show of the Sixties, The Defenders.

While Mr. McQueen gave memorable performances in the anthology series in which he appeared, it would be a Western series which would first bring him fame. On March 7, 1958, Steve McQueen guest starred in an episode of the Western Trackdown called "The Bounty Hunter." On the episode he played bounty hunter Josh Randall, As Josh Randall Mr. McQueen made a big impression, so much that the character was spun off into his own show--Wanted Dead or Alive. Not only would Wanted Dead or Alive make Steve McQueen a household name, but it would establish the sort of role for which he would become best known. Josh Randall was a no nonsense, ultra-cool bounty hunter who packed a modified Winchester 1892 Model carbine (which he called "the Mare's Leg"). And while he could be very grim in his pursuit of bad guys, Randall was also very soft hearted, helping prisoners if he believed they were wrongly accused and even giving his earnings to those in need.

Although the role of Josh Randall is not as well remembered as many of Steve McQueen's other roles, it can be argued that it is the role that started him on his path to becoming an icon. There are many who have labelled Josh Randall and the similar roles that would follow (Vin in The Magnificent Seven, Hilts in The Great Escape, Bullitt in the movie of the same name) "anti-heroes." To me this is hardly the case. Josh Randall, Vin, Captain Hilts, Lieutenant Frank Bullitt, and most of Mr. McQueen's other roles were, quite simply, heroes. It is true that they were often grim towards their opponents. And it is true that they often had little respect for authority. But these were men who remained true to their own codes of honour. Josh Randall gave money to the poor. Vin, alongside seven other men, decided to defend a poor village against incredible odds. Bullitt defied authority to catch the hitmen who shot his partner. These characters were not anti-heroes, they were heroes.

Of course, it was perhaps not enough that Steve McQueen played heroes. Other actors had done so before him and other would do so since his time. In both the roles he chose and even his private life, Mr. McQueen was a essentially a man of action. He raced both cars and motorcycles. He performed many of his own stunts (although one of the most famous, the motorcycle jump over the fence in The Great Escape, was actually performed by friend and stuntman Bob Ekins). He was even trained in the martial arts by Bruce Lee. Because Mr. McQueen was capable of many of the stunts performed by his characters, he lent a credibility to those characters that few other actors could have. Quite simply, Steve McQueen's characters weren't simply men of honour, they were bigger than life figures who were nearly indestructible.

Steve McQueen played ultra-cool characters with their own codes of honour in some of the biggest action movies of the Sixties and Seventies--The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, Nevada Smith, Bullitt, and Papillon. He would then become an hero and a role model for more than one generation of young men. When men between the ages of 60 and 30 discuss actors, it is a certainty that Steve McQueen's name will be brought up.

Like many boys growing up in the late Sixties, I was exposed to Steve McQueen's performances while very young. The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, Bullitt, and Papillon were among the earliest movies I remember watching. And while the tough, cool, yet good hearted characters Mr. McQueen played struck a chord with me, I had another reason to feel a special closeness to Steve McQueen. While he was born in Indiana, Mr. McQueen spent much of his childhood in Slater, Missouri, a town only about forty minutes from my hometown. Mr. McQueen had very fond memories of Slater and of his Great Uncle Claude who raised him there. If Steve McQueen was capable of playing heroes, I like to think that it was largely because of the small town values that his Great Uncle Claude instilled in him while he was in Slater. Indeed, the best role I think Steve McQueen ever played was that of Tom Horn in the movie of the same name. Here was a man from Missouri playing another man from Missouri, and both of them were bigger than life.

Of course, a young boy did not have to live near Steve McQueen's hometown to look up to him and even identify him. As an icon Mr. McQueen has infiltrated American pop culture to a degree that few other actors have. Numerous songs have been written about him, from the song "Steve McQueen" by Quicksilver Messenger Service to the song "Steve McQueen" by Sheryl Crow (a fellow Missourian) to the song "Steve McQueen" by the Automatic. I doubt even John Wayne has so many songs written about him.

Steve McQueen has also been referenced in many movies, from the comedy The Tao of Steve (in which the lead character bases an entire philosophy around Steve McQueen) to the comedy Then She Found Me to the drama The Kite Runner. And as anyone who watches the TV show House regularly knows, Dr. Gregory House is such a big fan of Mr. McQueen that he named his pet rat for him.

If Steve McQueen became an icon, if he has been enshrined in the hearts of men and women everywhere as the King of Cool, I believe it is because he played quintessentially American heroes. His characters were tough men who were capable of both taking and dealing out a lot of punishment. At the same time, however, most of his characters lived by their own codes of morality. These were men who would help the poor, defend the helpless, and remain true to their morals even if it meant death. Steve McQueen was truly the King of Cool, but the majority of his characters were never anti-heroes. They were quite simply heroes, and I suspect that was truly his key to success.

Une femme est une femme - 1961 {Song of the Week}

2010-03-21T20:06:00.007-04:00

Last night I watched A Woman is a Woman (or Une femme est une femme, which sounds much cooler), a Jean-Luc Goddard movie from 1961 starring Anna Karina and Jean-Paul Belmondo. I don't think I've had as much fun watching a movie in a long time.

Besides having a great cast and fun storyline, it also had a stupendous soundtrack! I'm especially smitten with the song Tu t'laisses aller by Charles Aznavour. This song has the most interesting lyrics. I would have never guessed what it was about if they hadn't shown the subtitles when the song was played in the film!!

Naturally, since I don't know French, I couldn't do a translation myself but I did manage to find one on the internet, and copied it here:

C'est drôle ce que t'es drôle à regarder / It’s funny how funny you are to look at
T'es là, t'attends, tu fais la tête / You’re there, you wait, you’re sulking
Et moi j'ai envie d'rigoler / And I feel like sneering
C'est l'alcool qui monte en ma tête / It’s the alcohol that gets to my head
Tout l'alcool que j'ai pris ce soir / All the alcohol that I took this evening
Afin d'y puiser le courage / So that I could draw the courage
De t'avouer que j'en ai marr' / To admit that I have had it
De toi et de tes commérages / with you and your old wives’ tales
De ton corps qui me laisse sage / with your body that leaves me virtuous
Et qui m'enlève tout espoir / and takes away all of my hopes

J'en ai assez faut bien qu'j'te l'dise / I’ve had enough I have to tell you
Tu m'exaspèr's, tu m'tyrannises / You irritate me, you tyrannize me
Je subis ton sal'caractèr / I endure your dirty character
Sans oser dir' que t'exagèr's / I don’t dare to tell you you exaggerate
Oui t'exagèr's, tu l'sais maint'nant / Yes, you exaggerate, you know it now
Parfois je voudrais t'étrangler / At times, I would strangle you
Dieu que t'as changé en cinq ans / God you have changed in five years
Tu l'laisses aller, Tu l'laisses aller / You let yourself go, you let yourself go

Ah ! tu es belle à regarder / Ah! you’re beautiful to look at
Tes bas tombant sur tes chaussures / your sagged stockings on your shoes
Et ton vieux peignoir mal fermé / With your old nightgown badly closed
Et tes bigoudis quelle allure / And your curling pins what an elegance
Je me demande chaque jour / I ask myself every day
Comment as-tu fait pour me plaire / How did you do to please me
Comment ai-j' pu te faire la cour / How could I ever court you
Et t'aliéner ma vie entière / Give up my whole life for you
Comm' ça tu ressembles à ta mère / That way you look like your mother
Qu'a rien pour inspirer l'amour / Who has nothing to inspire love

D'vant mes amis quell' catastroph' / In front of my friends what a disaster
Tu m'contredis, tu m'apostrophes / You contradict me, cut me short
Avec ton venin et ta hargne / With your venom and your petulance
Tu ferais battre des montagnes / You’d make the mountains fight
Ah ! j'ai décroché le gros lot / Ah! I drew the first prize
Le jour où je t'ai rencontrée / The day that I met you
Si tu t'taisais, ce s'rait trop beau / If you kept quiet, ‘t would be too nice
Tu l'laisses aller, Tu l'laisses aller / You let yourself go, you let yourself go

Tu es un'brute et un tyran / You are a brute and a tyrant
Tu n'as pas de cœur et pas d'âme / You have no heart and no soul
Pourtant je pense bien souvent / Nevertheless I often think
Que malgré tout tu es ma femme / That in spite of everything you’re still my wife
Si tu voulais faire un effort / If you would make an effort
Tout pourrait reprendre sa place / Everything could fall back into place
Pour maigrir fais un peu de sport / To slim down practice some sport
arranges-toi devant ta glace / Make yourself up in the mirror
Accroche un sourire à ta face / Put a smile on your face
Maquille ton cœur et ton corps / Make up your heart and your body

Au lieu d'penser que j'te déteste / Instead of thinking how I detest you
Et de me fuir comme la peste / And avoiding me like the plague
Essaie de te montrer gentille / Try to be nice
Redeviens la petite fille / Become that little girl again
Qui m'a donné tant de bonheur / Who gave me so much happiness
Et parfois comm' par le passé / And sometimes like in the past
J'aim'rais que tout contre mon cœur / I would love that close to my heart
Tu l'laisses aller, Tu l'laisses aller / You let yourself go, you let yourself go

Tu t'laisses aller [Buy it]

Instant pick-me-ups

2010-03-18T18:57:00.003-04:00

There are only a small handful of films that instantly pick-me-up. Except for Hot Enough for June, which I only discovered last November, I've seen all of these movies 20 times AT LEAST. If I'm having trouble falling asleep at night, I can reenact the movies in my mind to help me drift off. Not only are they all in my top 10 favorite films of all time (not BEST films of all time, just personal favorites) but they each have some distinct quality that manages to zap me out of a bad mood instantaneously.

1. How to Steal a Million. This is my number one feel-good movie (and also my #2 favorite movie of all time). It's the first classic film I ever saw, so it has a sense of nostalgia and coziness that endears it to me. But it's also such a fun film to watch that I forget any troubles that might have been bothering me before putting in the disc. Oh... and Audrey Hepburn's wardrobe and Peter O'Toole's piercing blue eyes and tall slender frame don't hurt matters any either ;-)

2. Sunday in New York. It's been the subject of a good deal of gushing on this blog already, so suffice it to say it's one of my all-time favorite movies. Some of the scenes make me laugh out loud even though I already know the jokes and set-ups by heart. "Two heads are better than one... didn't know I had two heads, did you?" *Kate cracks up*

3. Hot Enough for June. First, the obvious ... it stars Dirk Bogarde. There are two parts that are so absolutely comically perfect they almost make my toes curl when I watch them. When Dirk (as Nicholas Whistler) is trying to find out who his contact is in Prague, and when he reluctantly asks to come back to the glass factory to look at one of the processes again. If you've seen it, you know what I'm talking about. And anyone who could retain a bad mood after seeing Dirk Bogarde in this costume has absolutely no business trying to cheer themselves up in the first place:

4. Indiscreet. If you've seen it, you know. It's perfect. There's something about this movie that makes you feel like you are a part of their courtship, if that makes *any* sense whatsoever. This one especially works great when I'm feeling lonely :) Anyway, it's just a really fantastic movie!

5. Follow the Fleet. Honestly, every Fred and Ginger film cheers me up, but for some reason this one does even more so.. which is totally bizarre because Randolph Scott is one of my very least favorite actors and I think his character is really rotten to Harriet Hilliard in the movie! But it has super fantastic songs and I could watch the "Let's Face the Music and Dance" number on repeat for years.

What are your cheer-up movies?

Happy Birthday Sarah!!

2010-03-14T01:44:00.007-05:00

Happy Birthday Sarah!!

♡ Kate

It really IS a wonderful life.

2010-03-13T19:33:00.002-05:00

Life CAN be like a Frank Capra movie. People ARE good. Don't ever let anyone tell you any different.

I cannot even begin to comprehend how generous some of my fellow classic film bloggers have been today after I posted earlier about my financial predicament. I don't know if nice people have a tendency to like classic movies or if classic movies make nice people, but the two are definitely intertwined.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. Really, I was so overwhelmed with gratitude today I almost felt like I could cry.

a quick desperate plea..

2010-03-13T13:43:00.006-05:00

I know I said two weeks ago that I promised I wouldn't talk business again, but after this post I'll go back to keeping that promise... I have a tax bill due next week that is about 8 times the amount that I have in my bank account. I can't get an extension, and I have nowhere to borrow the money from because my family is just as broke as me. So I'm having a huge sale on all of my artwork, desperately hoping I'll be able to scrape together enough to pay the tax bill.

All of my Flapper Doodle 4x6 prints have been reduced from $5 each to $1. My 8x10 prints are reduced from $10 to $5. My 11x14 prints are reduced from $20 to $10. Silents and Talkies etsy 8x10 prints are reduced from $15 to $8. Silents and Talkies non-etsy 8x10 prints are reduced from $15 to $8 and original paintings are reduced from $30 to $15. My funny art prints are reduced from $15 to $5. I'm not asking any of you to buy anything, but if you could just pass word of my sale along to anyone who might be interested I'd appreciate it more than anything else in the world! I have the details on how to buy stuff and how long the sales is, etc. on my flapper blog here. Or if anyone has any other (legal) ideas on how to raise a bunch of money in one week please let me know!

The Academy's Folly

2010-03-12T15:07:00.005-05:00

Numerous things bothered me about this year's Academy Awards. For starters, moving the honorary Oscar ceremony to a different day, thereby refusing Lauren Bacall and Roger Corman the honor of accepting their awards on Oscar night, was an affront to their talent, their legacy and their dignity. Having them stand up for an awkward applause, in which most members of the audience looked uneasy about whether or not to turn the clapping into a standing ovation, was embarrassing to say the least.

What made Oscar night even worse was the glaring omission of some big names from the annual Oscar memorial tribute, mainly Farrah Fawcett, Gene Barry and Bea Arthur. While I don't exactly have a checklist of people who passed away in 2009 to make sure that the Academy included everyone, it is perfectly clear to anyone who watches TCM that the memorial montage on our favorite classic film network included significantly more people than the Academy did. Each and every person in TCM's tribute played a part in film history, and they should have been included in the Oscar tribute as well. Whether it was a small part or a large part; whether they were a big name star or an anonymous technician; they deserved that two or three second tribute in front of the people who are keeping the film tradition alive.

The Academy has been apologizing for leaving people out of this tribute for years -- one of their most painful omissions was Dorothy McGuire. To explain her absence from the memorial, the Academy adopted their age-old excuse of "time limits." Time limit shm-ime limit. They could have easily trimmed the length of one of their dance-numbers-that-belonged-at-the-Tony's-not-the-Oscars or thrown out some of the extra bad jokes. I bring this up, though, because this time around they didn't blame the three big omissions on time limits. They began by trying to say that Fawcett, Arthur and Barry were merely television stars who would be honored by their peers at the Emmys, not the Oscars. But then somebody brought up Michael Jackson, who, despite his appearance on film is definitely considered a music star, not a movie star. And THAT, my friends, is where all heck broke loose. Consider this quote from an article from the AP regarding this topic:

"When asked why Michael Jackson was included when actors were left out, Davis explained that Jackson had appeared in a popular theatrical film recently."

Popular theatrical film recently.

This opens a whole new can of worms. Since when does the date of your most recent film affect your worthiness to be included in a memorial tribute to filmmakers? Sure, Farrah Fawcett didn't make a movie in 2009 or 2008 but maybe she might have if she hadn't been spending all of her time battling cancer, for crying out loud!

And popular? POPULAR? Now, forget for a minute how this statement relates to the Farrah vs. Michael debacle-- how will this new standard affect future tributes? What of the stars who retired from acting in the 40's and 50's? Will they be shunned from memorial tributes because they haven't been on screen RECENTLY? Or in the latest POPULAR blockbuster? Another excerpt from the article I read:

"In every category, you're going to miss some wonderful people," said Davis, who has helped assemble Oscar's In Memoriam montage since it began in 1993.

Here's my solution: just include everyone who has been instrumental in making a movie. Whether they made 1 movie or 100, whether their last film was released last summer or 60 years ago. Just include them. It makes their fans and their family happy, and it gives them the credit that they deserve. End of story.

And for heaven's sake, either ask the audience to remain quiet or to maintain a steady stream of clapping. The parade of passing is no time for a popularity contest.

It's like Christmas in July!

2010-03-11T00:36:00.003-05:00

Song of the week comes to you on a Thursday this week! Exciting, right?! ;)

After I watched The Wind Cannot Read a few weeks ago, I went looking online for the theme song, a tune of the same title sung by Vera Lynn. I couldn't find it on itunes or amazon, but luckily I did manage to find a 45 on ebay UK for two dollars! It finally arrived in the mail today! yay!

I converted the music to mp3 and then made a video with images from the movie set to the song. I was so darn excited about the whole thing that I couldn't wait until Sunday to post it! The song is wonderful on its own, but I think the movie is so beautifully filmed that it's even more lovely to watch the images with the song. I hope you like it!!

The Wind Cannot Read [Download it]

Silents and Talkies

The Bradford Dillman blogathon

Disney, Busby Berkeley style

Rare Sunday in New York photos

New Year's Movie Meme

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

A Classic Movie Christmas

They shoot horses, don't they?

Celluloid and Canvas - James Mason

fanatic guilt

Project Keaton

Sunday in New York tribute

Scream of Fear

Charly

Summer and Smoke

Bradford Dillman and the Evil Genius

Susannah York

Happy Birthday, Luise Rainer!

You Stepped Out of a Dream

Dana Andrews

Is That Mustache Really Necessary? - Part II

How normal people watch Breakfast at Tiffany's vs. How crazy cat ladies watch Breakfast at Tiffany's

Happy New Year!

William Powell

Kirk Douglas and crab grass

video crazy

Classic Movie Christmas Cards!

Upcoming British films on TCM

Vincent Price

classic film scans

Grief in movies - A Single Man, My Reputation and Don't Look Now

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes {Song of the Week}

The Title.

Fred Astaire {Song of the Week}

Anne Bancroft {Additions and Omissions}

The 39 Steps - Part I

You're Setting Me on Fire {Song of the Week}

Warren William

Ida Lupino

Uncle Willie

Breakdown

The Big Country (1958)

Ann Sheridan

Uncomfortably Near

Top 10 favorite photos!

He gazed a gazely stare

dirk-bogarde.com

making love with his ego

Happy Birthday Nicole!!

hey! *jumps up and down waving* look over here! I've got a picture of a puppy!

Are you KIDDING me??

Julie Christie

WE NEED PETER!

Happy Birthday Ginger Rogers & Grandmom!

Happy Birthday Barbara Stanwyck!!

Announcing the Summer Movie Blog-a-Thon!!!

Jules et Jim (1962)

Happy Birthday Judy Holliday!

Cary Grant vs. Cary Grant : Where do you stand?

Happy Birthday Robert Montgomery!

Wait, you LIKE that movie? But, Kate! It was made after 1970! - PART II

Last Holiday (1950)

Blithe Spirit (1966) and Little Moon of Alban (1964)

Millie and Kate's billiantly evil asthmatic survey (non-asthmatics may participate)

Splendor in the Grass {Song of the Week}

um, no.

Happy Birthday Bette Davis!

Easter Parade {Song of the Week}

Happy Birthday Millie!!!

Happy Birthday Dirk Bogarde!

Happy Birthday Steve McQueen!

Une femme est une femme - 1961 {Song of the Week}

Instant pick-me-ups

Happy Birthday Sarah!!

It really IS a wonderful life.

a quick desperate plea..

The Academy's Folly

It's like Christmas in July!

hey! jumps up and down waving look over here! I've got a picture of a puppy!