tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47133610805989135902024-02-20T09:11:22.643-05:00The Shades of Black and WhiteThis is my domain where my love for Old Hollywood will know no boundaries. It is here where my words will find their home with all the other lovers of the Golden Age of Hollywood; it is here where I'll be transported to the time of long forgotten yesterdays . . .Runellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12585027296827690176noreply@blogger.comBlogger83125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713361080598913590.post-58761900584355987122013-03-06T21:30:00.000-05:002013-03-08T18:58:27.625-05:00Film Review: Cactus Flower (1969)<div style="text-align: left;">
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/ff/Cactus_Flower_1969.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/ff/Cactus_Flower_1969.jpg" width="210" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Such a fun film!<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.tcm.com/">http://www.tcm.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
TCM: <i>A philandering dentist asks his assistant to help him deal with his latest girlfriend.</i><br />
<br />
So, I've wanted to see this film for a <i>really </i>long time. It's been on my wish list for just as long, but for some unknown reason every time I see it at Barnes and Noble or check on it at Amazon randomly, I never end up buying it.<br />
Shame. On. Me.<br />
I went to the good ole' library this past Saturday with the intent of returning books and scanning some paper for a college that won't leave me alone and I really have no intention to going to because it's a couple of hours away from home, and while some seniors are biting at the quick to get the hell out of dodge after they graduate high school, I'm not one of them. I like where I live and I plan on staying here for a really long time. In any case, however, despite the fact that I basically wasted my time scanning files and talking on the phone, I did have enough time to kind of scan through the aisles to find a couple of books and a couple of DVDs.<br />
Guess what one caught my eye?<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJQ4mSyMos5ZwvtlI8KAsJ4kAXzvTMyvn0qHwi5QWSur1myRuaManObAAzER8NPmDvMX2-AmR0QkyFdvbRTKiozyN8TZz0Q_YAo2E3QvKNGSzlHQJcVTW2twPi0kWtCAkSBsAsJG1nqqw/s1600/cactus-flower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJQ4mSyMos5ZwvtlI8KAsJ4kAXzvTMyvn0qHwi5QWSur1myRuaManObAAzER8NPmDvMX2-AmR0QkyFdvbRTKiozyN8TZz0Q_YAo2E3QvKNGSzlHQJcVTW2twPi0kWtCAkSBsAsJG1nqqw/s320/cactus-flower.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">This is the look that I had on my face, too, when mulling<br />
over the cast.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.ludumu.blogspot.com/">http://www.ludumu.blogspot.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Go on. Guess. Did you guess <i>Cactus Flower</i>? Yay! You get a cookie.<br />
Okay, all joking aside . . . eh, maybe, I decided that it was high time to watch <i>Cactus Flower</i>. I mean, hello, we've got Walter Matthau, Ingrid Bergman, and Goldie Hawn all in one film. Together. The cast alone makes it a required film to watch at least once in your lifetime.<br />
So, I didn't really know what I was getting into before I watched this film, because as much as the cast alone makes it a required film to watch, it's also, in my opinion, one to really make you puzzle over. Ingrid Bergman and Walter Matthau with Goldie Hawn in her first film? Walter and Goldie as a couple in this film? Ingrid as a dentist's assistant in love with the dentist?<br />
It shouldn't work . . . but it does!<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1HPT44UG1DGSQXgza6YN1N112MOpBBQx4mAsEjYxXJpp9NaP068qgyJaSNF3YgF3UXKQjyzJV0SmnFqR7UQXz7tkh03Ra_67RKKX189ZeD9kinfa0W0BXsuUUaTByljkTmhk6UUoBQP4/s1600/BergmanCactusFlower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1HPT44UG1DGSQXgza6YN1N112MOpBBQx4mAsEjYxXJpp9NaP068qgyJaSNF3YgF3UXKQjyzJV0SmnFqR7UQXz7tkh03Ra_67RKKX189ZeD9kinfa0W0BXsuUUaTByljkTmhk6UUoBQP4/s320/BergmanCactusFlower.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">Ingrid and Walter.<br />
Photo Courtesy of<br />
<a href="http://www.themostbeautifulfraudintheworld.blogspot.com/">http://www.themostbeautifulfraudintheworld.blogspot.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i>Cactus Flower</i> is a very quite comedy to me, in that the humor, while funny, isn't over the top or very blatant. To me, it's very subtle and smart and witty. Sure, there's sex in it (or rather the overt idea of sex), that would surely make some back in the day blush (or rather the parents of the teenagers that watched the film blush). Yeah, and I know that by the time the sixties hit the film industry, the Code was long gone, but as I watched <i>Cactus Flower</i> I couldn't help but think, "What code?" because believe me--they're not hiding anything in this film.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDkc8LofSSKByr2ZFaxR1dMVKGizmTLrRHO11dst1qU09ZftzwRX3XI4qj-Q0nMD0GvyU8_9oppH_eruM3DtD6LgUyyr4xuo2vKUmhnUtRqj7BtmR23n3c79-h0fA8Rv0ULXqSaZICnaw/s1600/Cactus+Flower+Ingrid+Bergman.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDkc8LofSSKByr2ZFaxR1dMVKGizmTLrRHO11dst1qU09ZftzwRX3XI4qj-Q0nMD0GvyU8_9oppH_eruM3DtD6LgUyyr4xuo2vKUmhnUtRqj7BtmR23n3c79-h0fA8Rv0ULXqSaZICnaw/s320/Cactus+Flower+Ingrid+Bergman.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">Still as gorgeous as ever.<br />
Photo Courtesy of<br />
<a href="http://www.lecinemadreams.blogspot.com/">http://www.lecinemadreams.blogspot.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
My favorite person in the film was the always lovely Ingrid Bergman. Ingrid aged with so much grace and I found her even more beautiful in this film then in, say, <i>Casablanca</i> more than twenty years earlier. She is as charming as the day is long and funny as hell as the "drill sergeant" dentist assistant who's in love with Walter Mattahu's character, Julian Winston. And, hey, she makes "The Dentist" (a dance move) look <i>good</i> . . . Offhand, I can't think of too many comedies that Ingrid did, I know there's a couple thrown in there, but sadly they weren't a regular thing for her, and they should've been because she sure has a great flair for them and most of the parts that I was laughing at was because of the things that Ingrid did or said.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV2JHX63j_8BdLPUQf5SQDlRVUw8YW2yEUHl4hpUMpTJ7_4RmcP-fiRtrQgAi2wBeqXzQHaxcdFme4xDURA5QoLsJWUQFOzHgdVvY0xjtH6XXfHPn7552dTSHOLwtM8P21qLxJii7yKeA/s1600/Cactus+Flower+Walter+Matthau.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV2JHX63j_8BdLPUQf5SQDlRVUw8YW2yEUHl4hpUMpTJ7_4RmcP-fiRtrQgAi2wBeqXzQHaxcdFme4xDURA5QoLsJWUQFOzHgdVvY0xjtH6XXfHPn7552dTSHOLwtM8P21qLxJii7yKeA/s320/Cactus+Flower+Walter+Matthau.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Silly Walter.<br />
Photo Courtesy of<br />
<a href="http://www.lecinemadreams.blogspot.com/">http://www.lecinemadreams.blogspot.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Now, Walter Matthau has always been a favorite of mine. I remember watching <i>Grumpy Old Men and Grumpier Old Men</i> when I was a kid, and I always felt like I was going to pull something because I laughed so hard at Walter's and Jack Lemmon's antics. He's no different in <i>Cactus Flower</i>. For me, Walter Matthau was one of the all time greatest zingers; he gave as good as he got--most of the time even better. He has some great one liners that had me laughing so hard I could hardly breathe.<br />
Okay, here's one thing I want to throw out there for anyone and everyone that has seen this film before: Is it just me, or does sometimes, by the way he makes a face or turns his head, Walter remind any of you of Gregory Peck? I'm not saying that they look anything alike--because they most certainly do not--but as I just listed, when Walter did something in a certain way, he just reminded me of Gregory Peck . . . I have no idea why, but he did. I maybe off base here, but I just got to know one way or the other . . .<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/img.goldderby.com/images/1353469060-hawn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="202" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/img.goldderby.com/images/1353469060-hawn.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look at them eyes!<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.goldderby.com/">http://www.goldderby.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And, last but certainly not least, we have sweet little, blue eye Goldie Hawn in her first film. I've always liked Goldie Hawn, and I think she's really fun, but <i>Cactus Flower</i> takes the cake. She was just fantastic! And for me, after watching this film, I knew that there could never have been a doubt back then that one day Goldie Hawn would become <i>Goldie Hawn</i> . . . and sure enough, she did just that!<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig62UZSI-suzLRa3BGqLpPDzz6Gz2ykhB1_VCqF2DRO-QaeMUjDoeoZpJdQqylxUkFvckT-rm_dFOwQ4wpBR2YZ9g-5bFXDo3hI0asnTPUAE3P_rdRibSGe9GJahc8lfeldtQ-BpacbQ4/s1600/Cactus+Flower+1969+MatthauHawn.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig62UZSI-suzLRa3BGqLpPDzz6Gz2ykhB1_VCqF2DRO-QaeMUjDoeoZpJdQqylxUkFvckT-rm_dFOwQ4wpBR2YZ9g-5bFXDo3hI0asnTPUAE3P_rdRibSGe9GJahc8lfeldtQ-BpacbQ4/s320/Cactus+Flower+1969+MatthauHawn.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Quick Fact: The girl who plays Juliet in the film that is<br />
shown is none other than Olivia Hussey, also known as<br />
Dean Martin Jr's first wife, meaning Dean's daughter-in-law.<br />
Photo Courtesy of: <a href="http://www.lecinemadreams.blogspot.com/">http://www.lecinemadreams.blogspot.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The supporting characters along the likes of Jack Weston (that guy that owns the hotel in <i>Dirty Dancing</i>), Rick Lenz, Vito Scotti, and Irene Hervey round out this wonderful cast to make a wonderful film that I would highly recommend anyone to watch if they are in the mood for something light and sure to make you laugh. It's definitely being bought by me in the very near future so I can add this wonderful and, in my opinion, underrated gem to my collection . . . which I also suggest for you to do if you have not already.<br />
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Runellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12585027296827690176noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713361080598913590.post-66362212769178297772013-01-23T20:06:00.002-05:002013-01-23T20:06:49.158-05:00Cary on Jeopardy?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://content8.flixster.com/photo/12/69/21/12692174_ori.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://content8.flixster.com/photo/12/69/21/12692174_ori.jpg" width="260" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"I'll take Cary Grant films for $2,000, Alex."<br />Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/">http://www.rottentomatoes.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This day, for me, has made history. <i>Why?</i> you ask. One, I just got my first car--a red 2006 PT Cruiser, and it is beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. And tomorrow, once the dealership takes care of one more thing, it will be MINE! BWAHAHAHAHAHA . . . <i>clears throat . . . </i>Sorry. I'm okay. I'm okay.<br />
<i>I think . . .</i><br />
And the second reason is because Jeopardy, my favorite game show, just had a whole category on Cary Grant entitled Cary Grant's Films . . . I kid you not. And as Alex read off the clues, I stood excitedly and read and answered the question before Alex could even finish reading it off himself.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://cenblog.org/iyc-2011/files/2011/06/JE2010_HeroHR_RGB-21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://cenblog.org/iyc-2011/files/2011/06/JE2010_HeroHR_RGB-21.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.cenblog.org/">http://www.cenblog.org</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Granted, (pun not intended . . . not really, anyways), the answers were really easy and I'm sure any classic film fan could have answered them correctly even if they are not a fan of Cary's, but as you all know, <i>I am!</i> And, so, I'm sure you see why I'm so excited over the fact that Cary had his own category . . . I mean, I am writing a post on this.<br />
So, yes, if you hadn't yet confirmed, I <i>am</i> obsessed with Cary Grant and anything that even mentions him, or alludes to him, or is all about him, I'm all over it like white on rice . . . yes, I so just went there.<br />
I think I'm still a little hyped up on the fact that Jeopardy just made me the happiest person ever. And now the only way Jeopardy can ever get better is to give Dean his own category . . . they've had him as clues before, but they have yet to give him his own category (as far as I know). It will happen though. One day, it will happen.Runellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12585027296827690176noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713361080598913590.post-18164439019178493432013-01-18T10:22:00.000-05:002013-01-18T10:22:25.484-05:00Happy Birthday, Cary! Happy Birthday, Daddy!Today is a very important day for two reasons. One, and the most obvious to all, is that today is Cary Grant's birthday. If he were alive he would be 109. Oh, yeah, and considering how amazing he looked when he was in his eighties, I guarantee you he would still be looking amazing if he were still alive (and with all the centenarians that are alive today is not a stretch to say that he <i>could</i> be alive today).<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="320" src="http://style.lifegoesstrong.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/slideshow_image/gallery/photos/75463036.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="214" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here he is at 65.<br />Photo Courtesy of<br /><a href="http://www.style.lifegoesstrong.com/">http://www.style.lifegoesstrong.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><div>
I'm not going to write a really emotionally piece today as I usually do whenever Cary is mentioned. One, I think you all might be getting slightly tired of them all, and two because I just don't really feel up to it. Another time, and another day, maybe, but not today. And besides, today is a day to remember Cary and to do so fondly, to sit on the couch and watch your favorite movies of his back-to-back; to laugh with him, to laugh <i>at</i> him, and to just watch a man who enjoyed his craft enjoying himself on the silver screen. </div>
<div>
That's what I'll be doing anyways.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Cary Grant" height="320" src="http://i2.listal.com/image/1181535/600full-cary-grant.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="285" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look at him being all dapper.<br />Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.listal.com/">http://www.listal.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /> The second reason why today is a very important day (and quiet honestly the most important) is that today in 1956, my father was born. Yep! Today is my dad's birthday, and I've got to tell you, I'm supremely jealous of him. Granted, I share my birthday with Hedy Lamar, but I do not have an infatuation with her as I do Cary. I mean, hello, Cary's the reason why I'm so obsessed with classic films like I am. He's the beginning, middle, and end for me when it comes to films. And my dad's lucky enough to have been on the same day as Cary fifty-two years later. <div>
And what does he have to say to me about this? </div>
<div>
I quote: "Hahahahahaha!"</div>
<div>
My dad is such a child. And I love him.</div>
<div>
So, Happy Birthday, Cary; Happy Birthday, Dad. I love you both so much!</div>
<div>
<div>
<br /></div>
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Runellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12585027296827690176noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713361080598913590.post-85928252937112082422012-12-24T01:27:00.002-05:002012-12-24T01:29:18.358-05:00No, Seriously, I'm Here Now Okay, so remember back on December 4 when I said I was back? Yeah, well, that didn't go as planned because obviously it has been twenty days (Happy . . . Merry? . . . Christmas Eve by the way, guys) since I gave an update on here. I've never done the whole New Year's Resolution thingy bajig, but I think I'll be doing one this year.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><i><u>Be Organized!</u></i></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Geesh, never in my life have I ever had this much trouble be organized and on time. It's driving me <i>nuts!</i> I have to be organized or I do not function well (as evidence by my lack of posting on here, having time to watch my wonderful classic films, and in general, live in my own world). School and work has taken me by storm and I had the brilliant idea of getting sick . . . again. However, I should be in the clear now. I'm done with math. Kaput. <i>Finito</i>. I no longer have to endure Economics. Shabam! I can, at last, relax. The first semester is over . . . and oh, Dear God since the world didn't end this past Friday (I'm not exactly sure how I feel about this), I only have . . . <i>gasp</i> . . . five more months of seniorhood and I am . . . <i>bigger gasp</i> . . . graduating. Done with high school. Given a firm boot to the rear end and thrust into the real world. <i>Oh. God.</i> Can I pretty, pretty please go back in time and start over again? I don't want to pass <i>Go. </i>I don't want to <i>collect</i>.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><i>Please?</i></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Fine. Don't let me. Make me have to face that cruel and unforgiving thing called <i>life</i>. I love you, too.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><i>Anyways . . .</i></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
So, lets see, what did I promise in my last post? Ah, yes, I remember, my <i>Wish List</i>. Well, people, since we live in the technology generation and since my parents were most definitely <i>not</i> born in the technology generation and since Barnes and Noble decided <i>not</i> to have the classic films which I <i>desperately</i> wanted, I know <i>exactly</i> what I'm getting for Christmas since I had to order them from Amazon. Does that deter me in the slightest? Does that make me any less excited than I would have been if I had given my mother a list and sent her off to Barnes and Noble by herself and hope that she find them? No. It does not. Believe me. I'm still itching to get my hands on them.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
And here, ladies and gentlemen, are my little goodies that I have to wait twenty-four more hours to get my hands on:</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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<ol><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Ada" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Ri0HDPGAL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dean. Need I say more? I didn't think so.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://http%3B//www.amazon.com">http;//www.amazon.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Three Sailors & A Girl" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51NtDX%2B0twL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I needed more Gordon in my life. You<br />
can never have too much of him.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/">http://www.amazon.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Tea And Sympathy [Remaster]" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51HZlgxgyqL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At last! It's mine! BWAHAHAHAHA!<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/">http://www.amazon.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Lili" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51iFx2flUcL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">To put my love for this film into words is<br />
nearly impossible. When I saw this was at last<br />
on DVD, I got a little misty eyed.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/">http://www.amazon.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Battle Circus" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ajyGDvMoL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bogie and June Allyson. Bogie and June Allyson!<br />
Together. In a picture. Together.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/">http://www.amazon.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="The Glenn Miller Story" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Oi3N1veZL._AA300_.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Broke down and finally got this at<br />
Barnes and Noble.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/">http://www.amazon.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="320" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51rjfmc1yEL.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="247" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I got the King at Walmart. <br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/">http://www.amazon.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="San Francisco" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51B4Ci8C5aL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was on my to-own list, but I wasn't necessarily<br />
looking to buy it and own it just now, but Clark here is<br />
under the Christmas tree, waiting for me.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/">http://www.amazon.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="TCM Greatest Classic Legends Film Collection: Doris Day (Calamity Jane / Please Don't Eat the Daisies / Love Me or Leave Me / Romance on the High Seas)" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/517EpNbQm3L._SL500_AA300_.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">For some unknown reason, because I always remember<br />
what film I do and do not have, I forgot that I <br />
already had <i>Calamity Jane</i>. 3/4 though ain't bad.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/">http://www.amazon.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</ol>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<div>
My mom also bought me a Western set with John Wayne pictures and a Richard Widmark picture, but I can't find a photo of it, and I don't remember what the exact title of the product is, but I know that I got me some westerns to look forward to.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><i>My Cyber Monday Buy</i></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I also said that I would share my Cyber Monday buy that was just too perfect I couldn't resist <i>and</i> one that nearly brought me to tears:</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="The Complete Thin Man Collection (The Thin Man / After the Thin Man / Another Thin Man / Shadow of the Thin Man / The Thin Man Goes Home / Song of the Thin Man / Alias Nick and Nora)" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51y3xyXQXtL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">$17.99<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/">http://www.amazon.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div>
There it is. In all it's glory, <i>The Complete Thin Man Collection</i>. $17.99. I snatched this baby up so fast it was unreal. I wasn't about to risk me missing this buy especially since it had been sitting on $59.92 for a <i>very long time</i>. If you do the math, or better yet, let Amazon do the math for you that's a 70% discount. I surely thought it would go back up after Cyber Monday was over, but I just checked and it's still the same $17.99 so if you want this, <i>need</i> this like I did, I'd go ahead and buy it if I were you. Make it your late Christmas present to yourself. You honestly can't get much better than this.</div>
<div>
Well, there we are. Before the year is up, I'll have a <i>Tin Pan Alley</i> up. And I promise, no more super long hiatuses from me; I don't like them. Also, in January, I'll be starting the <i>Star of the Month</i> again.</div>
Runellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12585027296827690176noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713361080598913590.post-8250570421781072302012-12-04T22:25:00.003-05:002012-12-04T22:25:49.665-05:00I'm Back, I'm Back! Oh, wow, so I had no idea that I had taken over a month hiatus! GAH! I feel awful. I originally had just planned to take a small break because my life (i.e. school and work) is a little bit (I lie. I mean <i>a lot</i>) hectic right now, and I just need some breathing space. I'm good now, though. I've gotten things under wrap it seems for the most part, and I'm lock and loaded and ready to go.<br />
Because it's nearing Christmas, I'll be posting my Classic Christmas Wish List tomorrow, if not in a couple of days. I don't know about you guys, but I've got a <i>lot</i> of classic films that I want, but I know that I can't own all the DVDs in the world so I'll just have to narrow it down to, oh, I don't know, half of all the DVDs in the world? Yeah, that should be good . . .<br />
Also, to keep with the whole idea of me making <i>Tin Pan Alley</i> a regular monthly post, I'll also be doing that, I've got a post idea about an <b>AWESOME</b> buy that I got due to Cyber Monday (no joke, it's awesome. It's so awesome it nearly brought me to tears).<br />
And for all this month, <i>I'll Be Dreaming of a White Christmas</i> with Bing, staying inside, keeping warm (especially as it gets nearer to Christmas) because <i>Baby, It's Cold Outside</i> with my one and only Dean (we'll also be walking in a <i>Marshmallow World</i>), and also be happy because as Andy said, <i>It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year</i>! (Yes, I know. That was <i>so</i> corny, but I was in the mood for a little corn on the cob).<br />
See you all soon!Runellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12585027296827690176noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713361080598913590.post-16795119168719051052012-11-01T01:08:00.000-04:002012-11-04T21:17:42.768-05:00Tin Pan Alley: The Beatles Yeah, so remember when I said I was going to make this a monthly thing? Yeah, well, it's been four months since I did my first one on Dean, and so obviously I am a failure on a gargantuan level. I've been meaning to do one of these bad boys forever now, but somehow I always forget to actually do it so while it's on my mind, I'm going to finally do my second Tin Pan Alley (and hopefully it will actually become a monthly series on here).<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="320" src="http://blog.syracuse.com/news/2008/10/tinpanalley1.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="239" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.syracuse.com/">http://www.syracuse.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div>
Well, as I told you, just because the series title is <i>Tin Pan Alley</i> that doesn't mean I'm just sticking to that period of time in the music world. I love music from the 20s-60s plus some Paul McCartney after The Beatles, but for this post we're just going to look at my top ten favorite song of The Beatles.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Arts/Arts_/Pictures/2009/6/25/1245941095063/The-Beatles-1963-at-Beatl-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="192" src="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Arts/Arts_/Pictures/2009/6/25/1245941095063/The-Beatles-1963-at-Beatl-001.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Beatles<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/">http://www.guardian.co.uk</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div>
1. <i>I Saw Here Standing There</i> . . . (Paul McCartney and John Lennon; Record/CD: <i>Please Please Me</i>)</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>This is the song that got me interested in <i>The Beatles</i>. I was so resistant about liking them because I felt as though I were betraying Dean and Frank and all the rest of my people if I did that. I couldn't help it though. This is song is just so . . . fun! It always gets my foot tapping.</li>
</ul>
</div>
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2. <i>Honey Pie</i> . . . (Paul McCartney and John Lennon; Record/CD: <i>The White Album</i>)</div>
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<ul>
<li>This song has everything that I like: old Hollywood and Paul's vocals. I really love this song.</li>
</ul>
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3. <i>Cry Baby Cry</i> . . . (John Lennon and Paul McCartney; Record/CD: <i>The White Album</i>)</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul>
<li>Thanks to my teacher for A.P. Lit, I cannot help but to analyze almost everything now: my books, films, and songs in search of the hidden messages because as my teacher assures me . . . they're there. And when I analyzed <i>Cry Baby Cry</i> . . . well, it made me want to cry. John did a superb job, and then Paul's add on at the end which is apparently supposed to be a part of another song, which would make some think that it wouldn't mesh together, but because it's The Beatles it works.</li>
</ul>
</div>
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4. <i>Yesterday</i> . . . (Paul McCartney and John Lennon; Record/CD: <i>Help!</i>)</div>
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</div>
<ul>
<li>Talk about heartbreak. The lyrics just kill me. And Paul is a genius for though the song was credited as Lennon-McCartney, Paul wrote this all by his lonesome; and that's exactly what the song gives off the feeling of: loneliness.</li>
</ul>
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5. <i>The Long and Winding Road</i> . . . (Paul McCartney and John Lennon; Record/CD: <i>The Blue Album</i>)</div>
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<ul>
<li>Paul. Just stop. You're killing me.</li>
</ul>
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<div>
6. <i>Help Me!</i> . . . (John Lennon and Paul McCartney; Record/CD: <i>Help!</i>)</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Love this song, though I can't really say who's version I like of this better: <i>The Beatles</i> or Jerry Lewis and his son, Gary.</li>
</ul>
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<div>
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<div>
7. <i>Lady Madonna</i> . . . (Paul McCartney and John Lennon; Record/CD: <i>The Blue Album</i>)</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Very jazzy. Me like.</li>
</ul>
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<div>
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</div>
<div>
8. <i>Eleanor Rigby</i> . . . (Paul McCartney and John Lennon; Record/CD: <i>Revolver</i>)</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>"All the lonely people, where do they all come from/All the lonely people, where do they all belong?"</li>
</ul>
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<div>
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</div>
<div>
9. <i>Drive My Car</i> . . . (Paul McCartney and John Lennon; Record/CD: <i>Rubber Soul</i>)</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>I wish I had someone to drive my car . . . though I have no intentions of becoming a star. Fun to sing a long to and it just makes me want to move. "Beep Beep, Beep Beep, yeah!"</li>
</ul>
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<div>
10. <i>Come Together</i> . . . (John Lennon and Paul McCartney; Record/CD: <i>Abbey Road</i>)</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Damn good song.</li>
</ul>
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</div>
<div>
There we are then: the second edition of <i>Tin Pan Alley</i>. I don't really see how someone can't like The Beatles. They were so eclectic and talented that you have to like at <i>least</i> one of their songs. Now, I don't like all of their songs because there's just some that make me scratch my head and go "Huh?" but even so, there will never be another The Beatles. Oh, and I would like to point out just in case you didn't notice, Paul is my favorite.</div>
</div>
Runellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12585027296827690176noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713361080598913590.post-27046473515352906462012-10-21T11:01:00.001-04:002012-10-24T22:59:39.146-04:00Dear Cary,<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lm2mzsHUo91qavqczo1_400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lm2mzsHUo91qavqczo1_400.jpg" width="246" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A very young and handsome you.<br />
Photo Courtesy of<br />
<a href="http://www.todaystie.tumblr.com/">http://www.todaystie.tumblr.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I have a million of things that I long to tell you, but for fear of sounding too obsessed, I'm going to keep it to a minimum. The first thing that I must tell you is "thank you". I must tell you thank you before anything else because you saved me. You saved me when I desperately needed to be saved. My parents have been divorced all my life, and have living with my mother, I had decided that I was going to live with my father for the last four years of my public school career. Though my mother tried to explain to me that it was going to be too different down there, and I wouldn't like anything, I was (am) stubborn, and I didn't listen to her. Well, she was right. I hated it down at my father's. I couldn't stand the school, I missed my friends, I missed my mother, and most of all I missed the life that I had lived for fourteen years. I just wanted it all back.<br />
And that's when you came in, Cary.<br />
I decided that I was going to move back to my mother's after I finished ninth grade down at my father's, but that was such a long way to go. I felt as though I were drowning and I knew that I needed a life saver to rescue me. That life saver came in the form of <i>TCM: Turner Classic Movies.</i> I immediately fell in love with the black and white, color, 1930s through the 1960 movies. They were different. They were like nothing I had ever seen before. Oh, sure, I had seen <i>Gone with the Wind</i>, and I had seen a ton of John Wayne pictures, but never before had I ever seen anything like <i>TCM</i> was showing.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.wfmu.org/.a/6a00d83451c29169e20120a95abafe970b-400wi" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://blog.wfmu.org/.a/6a00d83451c29169e20120a95abafe970b-400wi" width="249" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My second favorite picture.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.blog.wfmu.org/">http://www.blog.wfmu.org</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And I had never seen anything like you grace the screen in all my days.<br />
Cary, you were <i>so so so</i> handsome. Illegally handsome. No man should ever look as good as you did. Yet there you were in all your glory, flashing that white smile, showing off that cleft chin, and your eyes sparking with mischief. You made me laugh. I love to laugh, and for a while there I wasn't doing any of that. But you made up for all that lost laughter. And that voice of yours . . . it was magic to me, music. And you knew this. You knew the effect that you had on people but never, not once, did you let it go to your head. For all your fame, you never let it get the best of you. You tried to act and be as simple as possible. That was little Archibald Alexander Leach in you. The little boy that grew up from the age of nine thinking that first, his mother had abandoned him, and then second, had died. Your father, for the most part, was absentee. You ran away at fourteen to join <i>Bob Pender's Stage Troupe</i>, and when they went to America you went with them, and it was while you were here that you <i>knew</i> that you belonged here. There was no other place for you. America was the land where dreams came true, and you had such big dreams and every last one of them deserved to at least have a chance to come true.<br />
Success didn't just come to you, you had to work hard for it, but you were used to doing that. You had to work hard for every little thing that you had; and that's one thing that makes me so mad when people say that you were a tightwad or cheap. You weren't that way by choice. You grew up in England during the first World War and you had to learn to give up things, have substitutes, or sometimes nothing at all; but even then you weren't a tightwad. A tightwad, no matter how much he loved his home country, would not give his whole salary, which amounted up to $100,000 from a film, in your case <i>The Philadelphia Story</i>, to the <i>British War Relief Fund</i>. Oh, yes, Cary, you were a terrible tightwad.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKYRE99BUhyphenhyphenybJsmQvYIhX_a_-k4JtTzn1h1u8Pv47nVZQMa0lSaiROmSLvWKuRaXjghqcQQyzHGW9COfqQv0hfu-duZfO0SrrzgKj287BHRBd1crkElX6JxJ2roJbzCFpYg-HGndMtSc/s1600/Cary+Grant+5+umbrella.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKYRE99BUhyphenhyphenybJsmQvYIhX_a_-k4JtTzn1h1u8Pv47nVZQMa0lSaiROmSLvWKuRaXjghqcQQyzHGW9COfqQv0hfu-duZfO0SrrzgKj287BHRBd1crkElX6JxJ2roJbzCFpYg-HGndMtSc/s400/Cary+Grant+5+umbrella.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My favorite picture of you, though I don't know exactly why.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.lolitasclassics.blogspot.com/">http://www.lolitasclassics.blogspot.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
You weren't by no means perfect, Cary. You had your own demons just like we all do. You did things that I'm sure you wished you hadn't when you got older and you looked back on it, and then in the same breath, I'm sure you said that there were things that you wished you had done but hadn't, and that in any case, you did what you did and there was no going back. As much as I love you, Cary, I try very hard not to idolize you because I know that you didn't like that. I try hard to think of you as the man Cary Grant before I think of you as the movie star Cary Grant. As a man, as a human being, you were allowed to make mistakes. And so, for the most part, I succeed.<br />
I would also like to say that it makes me so happy to know that before you passed on, that you had at last found happiness with your daughter, Jennifer, and your last wife, Barbara. You deserved that happiness Cary, after all that had happened to you. You deserved it, and if there was only one thing that I could have ever wished for you was that you had got to enjoy it a little more than you had.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.parade.com/images/-v5/celebrity/2011/0501/main-cary-jennifer-grant-v9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="249" src="http://www.parade.com/images/-v5/celebrity/2011/0501/main-cary-jennifer-grant-v9.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You and Jennifer.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.parade.com/">http://www.parade.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So, now to get to the end, I just wanted you to know how much I love, admire, and respect you. Though you have been gone now for twenty-six years you will never fully be gone from this world because of this glorious thing called celluloid. You will forever grace the silver screen, and as the years go by, I promise that when people see your pictures they will love you. I know because I did, I do, and I always will.<br />
<br />
This letter was written in conjunction with the blogathon <a href="http://www.theswingmood.blogspot.com/" style="color: orange;">A Letter to the Stars</a>. This is the first of my three letters to my three favorite stars. The following two will be up tomorrow and Tuesday.Runellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12585027296827690176noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713361080598913590.post-20727801693998276922012-09-29T21:21:00.000-04:002012-10-14T22:56:42.742-04:00Film Review: Beau Geste (1939)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="320" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f9/Beau_Geste_1939_film_poster.jpg/220px-Beau_Geste_1939_film_poster.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="207" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My addiction.<br />
Photo Courtesy of<br />
<a href="http://www.en.wikipedia.org/">http://www.en.wikipedia.org</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i>TCM</i>: Three brothers in the French Foreign Legion fight off murderous Arabs and a sadistic sergeant.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
To say that I simply really like this film would be a gross understatement. My feelings for <i>Beau Geste</i> amount way more than a "I like this film". No. It's to the point where for a brief second, just a brief one mind you, I wondered if <i>Only Angels Have Wings</i> might have competition. </div>
<div>
Yes, it's that serious.</div>
<div>
And what makes it all the more funny to me is that I had been putting this film off for so long that it almost became an inside joke for me. I don't know <i>why</i> I put it off for so long, I guess I thought, despite the fact that Gary Cooper was the star, it was going to be boring and I wouldn't like it.</div>
<div>
I laugh in the face of irony.</div>
<div>
What got me to finally watch <i>Beau Geste</i>? The chance to see little Donald O'Connor. Yes. That is the sole reason why I decided that at last I was going to sit down and watch it.<br />
Of course, by the very first scene, it had me.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://media-1.web.britannica.com/eb-media/16/90716-004-FD5D2B83.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="244" src="http://media-1.web.britannica.com/eb-media/16/90716-004-FD5D2B83.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The boys.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.god-spies.blogspot.com/">http://www.god-spies.blogspot.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
As I watched <i>Beau Geste, </i>I couldn't help but be jealous of the relationship between the three brothers, Beau, Digby, and John. I'm a girl, and though I have two older brothers and a younger sister, I have never felt the camaraderie between my siblings and I. Sure, I know that they'd be there for me, and if I cried for help, they'd come help me. I love them, and I'm pretty sure they love me. But I would kill to have the relationship that these Geste boys have with each other.<br />
Now going off of the word "relationship" and "camaraderie", I would like to pay special attention to the charisma between Gary Cooper, Robert Preston, and of course, the man of the month, Ray.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKyQ1qAc-anTaSmPbf2OlP3KMu60fg8aUTS2WHbYuI9I3t8fcLdnBqx0HAh-1nlx9_bRV30XmpYVXzpIzgLFKz0DKa7iQ3JVp5btL0BuZLX7vZpLcKpaCkAzaYuaibZ1SLHHh3RiULKws/s1600/Ray+Milland.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKyQ1qAc-anTaSmPbf2OlP3KMu60fg8aUTS2WHbYuI9I3t8fcLdnBqx0HAh-1nlx9_bRV30XmpYVXzpIzgLFKz0DKa7iQ3JVp5btL0BuZLX7vZpLcKpaCkAzaYuaibZ1SLHHh3RiULKws/s320/Ray+Milland.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ray, Darling, could you please stop being so handsome?<br />
GIF Courtesy of <a href="http://gregorypecks.tumblr.com/">http://gregorypecks.tumblr.com/</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Despite the fact that Gary Cooper is the star, and the fact that I love both him and Robert Preston (the Music Man!), every time I watch <i>Beau Geste</i>, I cannot stop myself from staring at Ray the whole time. Yes, he was incredibly handsome, but it is much more than that. This was Ray's first action adventure film after many "drawing room comedies where he played the suave sophisticate" (TCM) and he welcomed the chance, and you get this feeling that he had a lot of fun during the production with Coop and Robert.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE0F7hj7qH_-Kp4ru68lZ6o95Tf8QnJb7aJVttYF94zw76It6d3zO6u6CnOQ96VGbo823ZwytbRjL0u7J2zGU86BNcTFqITq4PpM9oV3krxxnfzsGJNgjauzfE17jf6f8ZUSziaTnL6lY/s1600/Ray+Milland+%233.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE0F7hj7qH_-Kp4ru68lZ6o95Tf8QnJb7aJVttYF94zw76It6d3zO6u6CnOQ96VGbo823ZwytbRjL0u7J2zGU86BNcTFqITq4PpM9oV3krxxnfzsGJNgjauzfE17jf6f8ZUSziaTnL6lY/s320/Ray+Milland+%233.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Top of the mornin' to you!<br />
GIF Courtesy of <a href="http://gregorypecks.tumblr.com/">http://gregorypecks.tumblr.com/</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This 1939 version is a remake of the popular silent 1926 version which starred Ronald Colman in the role of Beau, Neil Hamilton as Digby, and Ralph Forbes as John. Now, I haven't seen the original, but supposedly, the 1939 version is basically a carbon copy of the 1926. And while I know Ronald Colman, and respect him greatly as an actor in the few films that I've seen him in, I do not know who Neil Hamilton or Ralph Forbes are so I can't really say if they were great actors or not. In any case, I have a very hard time in seeing anyone play the Geste brothers as well as Coop, Robert, and Ray did (especially Ray).<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWVC53Hoswt1sqFD_v1cPa4VXjiVjr2BcZSIuxW8WZoJbc7HFwqeurUw15G9Re6vOe66m2hmpXAD20bigG98WI6FAJwFuG8uK6n0qMMMD_XXoNqLKm2RibiLEDfKzQCgvRjAYD6dAQD04/s1600/Gary+Cooper+&+Ray+Milland.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWVC53Hoswt1sqFD_v1cPa4VXjiVjr2BcZSIuxW8WZoJbc7HFwqeurUw15G9Re6vOe66m2hmpXAD20bigG98WI6FAJwFuG8uK6n0qMMMD_XXoNqLKm2RibiLEDfKzQCgvRjAYD6dAQD04/s320/Gary+Cooper+&+Ray+Milland.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just kill me now.<br />
GIF Courtesy of <a href="http://gregorypecks.tumblr.com/">http://gregorypecks.tumblr.com/</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Going back to how I thought this picture would be boring and that's why it took me so long to finally watch it . . . well, obviously, that thought easily wins the award for all of the stupid thoughts that I've had over the years. I mean, really? <i>Beau Geste </i>boring? I laugh at my stupidity. There are multiple reasons times multiple reasons why <i>Beau Geste</i> has got to be one of the best action adventure films ever, if not <i>the </i>greatest (the opening scene has got to be the coolest opening scene ever).<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
As much as it is exciting, however, there is an equal amount of comedy and sadness. The comedy comes from Coop, Robert, and Ray as they act like brothers will: their "fighting" and picking on one another is just so funny. And then, the sadness . . . oh, there as the ending is coming nearer and nearer it was almost unbearable for me to watch (I assure you, when you get to the end, you'll be yelling <i>why!</i> at your television or computer the same way I was).<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/arthouse/images/digital/beaugeste2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/arthouse/images/digital/beaugeste2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oh, why, oh why!<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/">http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Before I leave you, I would like to point out something that I found very interesting. In the film, Coop plays Beau, the eldest, Robert Preston plays Digby, the middle child, and Ray plays John, the youngest. Out of curiosity, I wondered if that was how the order went like that in real life. To my astonishment, I found out that while Coop was indeed the oldest (being born in 1901 he was thirty-eight when he made this film), Ray was actually thirteen-years-older than Robert, having been born in 1905 compared to Robert's 1918. Which means that Ray was thirty-three when he made this picture, and Robert was just a baby at twenty-one.<br />
Hollywood.<br />
Oh, and one one more quick thing, I give <i>Beau Geste</i> a 4/4 stars, so go do yourself a favor and watch it.</div>
Runellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12585027296827690176noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713361080598913590.post-67315209737477329512012-09-15T21:16:00.000-04:002012-10-14T22:58:04.496-04:00Film Review: The Lost Weekend (1945)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKLrdzf3TVf8FDM66gfpifDmXdQStXOJCVfmquY6TuXSMySTSTbfsO3QKykjnjN7EwCqj-miAUbdWIyfaXQJ_5OwP0hCAeIMtumL2Eyr-ZXlwj7IQ6DxvkLJqPCoqT3NCeY_cdFmaeHmmc/s320/lost-weekend.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="213" /> </td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Still as amazing now as it was then.<br />
Photo Courtesy of<br />
<a href="http://www.screeninsight.blogspot.com/">http://www.screeninsight.blogspot.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i>TCM</i>: A writer fights to overcome his addiction to liquor.<br />
<br />
I remember the first time I watched this film. I was at my father's, in my room, sitting in my computer chair, completely aloof to everything and anything around me. The film had just started, but the moment I saw Ray Milland's character, Don Birnam reach outside his window to grasp hold of the bottle dangling outside his apartment window on a string, I was hooked.<br />
Near the end of the film , my father walked in and wanted to know what I was watching. When I told him that it was <i>The Lost Weekend </i>with Ray Milland and Jane Wyman, he told me about this man that he used to know when he was a kid, and while he didn't hang his bottles outside of a window tied to a string, he <i>did</i> bury them under the bushes next to the fence. And that there were days when the yard would be up heaved and destroyed from his incessant digging as he searched for the bottles that he had forgotten where he put. His wife, my father told me, had been a very sweet and dear woman, and while the man was very kind when he was sober, he turned into someone completely different when he was drunk.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s3.vidimg.popscreen.com/original/0/eG5lNnc2MTI=_o_the-whiskey-bottle-from-the-lost-weekend-1945.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://s3.vidimg.popscreen.com/original/0/eG5lNnc2MTI=_o_the-whiskey-bottle-from-the-lost-weekend-1945.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Don deciding his fate.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.popscreen.com/">http://www.popscreen.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
My father's memory of this man and woman (and their children) made me sad. I've never experienced something like that before in all my life, and to hear that my father had, and that it was a connection to <i>The Lost Weekend</i> . . . it only left me even more despondent.<br />
That's when I realized that to watch <i>The Lost Weekend</i>, despondency and hope are the exact emotions that you need to be feeling by the end of it, and if you aren't, you seriously need to get yourself checked out.<br />
For me, <i>The Lost Weekend</i> was (is) one of those films that you really want to see, but you know what it's about, and you find the subject matter incredibly hard to watch, but you suck it up and you watch it anyways and before, during, and after a storm of emotions are lashing out inside of you and you're just left there going . . . "Oh. My. God." And you know if your life suddenly ended right there, you would be a better person for having seen the film.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://watchinsomemovies.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/18a-lost-weekend.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="255" src="http://watchinsomemovies.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/18a-lost-weekend.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Don: A man of conflicted emotions and needs.<br />
Photo Courtesy of<br />
<a href="http://www.watchinsomemovies.wordpress.com/">http://www.watchinsomemovies.wordpress.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Oh, yeah. It's like that.<br />
As I have stated before, Ray was a vastly under-appre-ciated actor whom many thought could only play the romantic men of the slapstick comedies. Still today he is mostly seen as the romantic lead. People! Ray was <i>so</i> much better than that! He <i>was </i>Don Birnam. Ray Milland didn't exist; he just wasn't, but Don Birnam . . . Don was real; he was. His pain was real. His fears were real. His addiction was real.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/images/info/18/1946_02_actor_milland_big.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/images/info/18/1946_02_actor_milland_big.gif" width="251" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ray and Oscar: A beautiful pair.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.oscars.org/">http://www.oscars.org</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And I'm not the only one who thought that Don--I mean, Ray, was <i>amazing</i>. The nominees for the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1945 were Bing Crosby for <i>The Bells of St. Mary's</i>, Gene Kelly for <i>Anchors Aweigh</i>, Gregory Peck for <i>The Keys of the Kingdom</i>, and Cornel Wilde for <i>A Song to Remember, </i>and of course Ray Milland for <i>The Lost Weekend</i>. Now, I've seen four of the five films listed (<i>A Song to Remember </i>being the one I haven't seen), and while I love Bing, Gene, and Gregory, and Cornel, I have to admit that they got that year right. Ray <i>deserved</i> the Oscar. His performance was raw. Powerful. Real. Terrifying.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDWAoDYwJW4vkMz7Bfv67DVZJihHCjn-66D6gOCyWaCjN68LmqMzC3uGfUQM0B_G7V2KMHNOHlCra_N0aaTKfNrzIKEn5ROVVDoUwsJB3sLuC214iHKjb4gGRk0MefESh-mgejXStYwjE/s1600/The+Lost+Weekend.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDWAoDYwJW4vkMz7Bfv67DVZJihHCjn-66D6gOCyWaCjN68LmqMzC3uGfUQM0B_G7V2KMHNOHlCra_N0aaTKfNrzIKEn5ROVVDoUwsJB3sLuC214iHKjb4gGRk0MefESh-mgejXStYwjE/s320/The+Lost+Weekend.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Don's pain is palatable.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.andsoitbeginsfilms.com/">http://www.andsoitbeginsfilms.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/auteurs_production/images/film/the-lost-weekend/w448/the-lost-weekend.jpg?1333873007" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/auteurs_production/images/film/the-lost-weekend/w448/the-lost-weekend.jpg?1333873007" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Needing that drink . . .<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.mubi.com/">http://www.mubi.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i>The Lost Week-end, </i>despite being sixty-seven-years-old, is a film that hasn't become "dated" in any sense of the word due to its subject matter. There are some films that become dated (I hate using that word) because of its subject matter, and that's simply because of the influence on the passage of time we have come to think of and treat things differently then we did in 1945. Alcoholism was taboo back in the day, a subject that was considered "trash talk" and wasn't dare discussed at afternoon tea. And that's exactly what <i>The Lost Weekend</i> is addressing. We should never cover up things as being an alcoholic. We shouldn't be ashamed for being one; and we shouldn't be ashamed for seeking help.<br />
I would like to point out how remarkable that <i>The Lost Weekend</i> was even made. Look at that release date: 1945 . . . This film is a product from a time when a man could not sit on a woman's bed (even if they were confined to the holy state of matrimony) without at least one foot on the floor which makes me cock my eyebrow and give a good ole' long "Mmmmmhmmmm. Yeah, sure. That makes sense." And according to Billy Wilder, the liquor industry offered Paramount five million dollars to not release the film . . . [he suggested had they offered it to him, he would've taken it, but I doubt that because it doesn't really seem to jive with Wilder's personality] (TCM).<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m2n81eJJBU1qe7qp1o1_500.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Cary Grant and Ray Milland" border="0" height="250" src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m2n81eJJBU1qe7qp1o1_500.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cary and Ray.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.hollywoodlady.tumblr.com/">http://www.hollywoodlady.tumblr.com</a></td></tr>
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Now, once you see this film, you'll obviously see how perfect Ray was for it. I couldn't see anyone else as Don Birnam . . . surprisingly, however, Ray was <i>not</i> the one and only choice for the role. Jose Ferrer was offered the role (I've seen maybe one of his films, so I can't really say anything about that choice) as was . . . Cary Grant! My Cary! I read that Wilder took the script to Cary, and he thought he read/acted it brilliantly (of course he would), but that Cary didn't want to do the film because he didn't feel that anyone would accept him as a broken man, as an alcoholic--and as much I would love to see how Cary would portray Don Birnam, I'm glad Cary had the insight to know that he as Don Birnam just wouldn't be accepted. And <i>The Lost Weekend</i> HAD to be accepted. It was much too of an important film for it not to.<br />
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There have been a lot of films about alcoholism produced since <i>The Lost Weekend</i>, but I'm going to go so far as to say that this 4/4 stars film has never been matched, the closest that comes to it though would be Jack Lemmon's <i>Days of Wine and Roses</i>. If you haven't seen <i>The Lost Weekend</i>, I <b><i>highly</i> </b>suggest that you do--and soon. I warn you, though, it will change you. I don't know how exactly. I just know that it will. Somehow. Someway.<br />
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Runellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12585027296827690176noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713361080598913590.post-18689436936322116292012-09-05T22:26:00.000-04:002012-09-22T11:59:32.559-04:00Film Review: Easy Living (1937)<br />
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/89/Easy-living-1937.jpg/220px-Easy-living-1937.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/89/Easy-living-1937.jpg/220px-Easy-living-1937.jpg" /></a><i>TCM</i>: When a working girl tries to return a lost fur coat, she gets caught up in a wealthy family's battles.<br />
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Why can't my life be more like the movies? I mean, I'd love for a mink coat to fall down on my head and then meet Ray Milland. In fact, I wouldn't care too much for the coat, but the coat would get me the man, and Ray Milland . . . Yeah, I don't have to say much more than his name for me to get really excited.<br />
This was my first film that I saw with Ray in it, but to be truthful, I watched it for Jean Arthur, and I really only took enough notice in his role to take note that he was incredibly adorable and that Jean was lucky. The rest of the time I focused my complete attention on all of Jean's amazing-ness.<br />
It was upon a second viewing of this film that I focused my attention to other people besides Jean, and I liked what I saw when it came to this man named Ray Milland with an adorable accent that I just couldn't quite place. As I do with everyone that piques my interest, I do a little research on him. I found out that that accent of his was Welsh, he had a prolific career in Hollywood (though it appeared that toward the latter he took what came May), and that of course I would have to watch more of his films.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://piddleville.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/easy_living_04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://piddleville.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/easy_living_04.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Edward Arnold and Jean Arthur.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.piddleville.com/">http://www.piddleville.com</a></td></tr>
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And watched I have, but for now, we're sticking to this delightful gem of a screwball comedy, <i>Easy Living</i>.<br />
Honestly, I would be really hard pressed to think of a better cast that could have done this film. As hard as it may be to believe for all of you that think nothing in this world is perfect--<i>Easy Living</i> is just that. Perfect. Jean Arthur. Ray Milland. Edward Arnold. Need I say more?<br />
Edward Arnold is one of my favorite big tough guys that talked real loud and acted real mean, but really has a heart of gold--even if you have to dig for a little bit to find it. In <i>Easy Living</i>, he plays J.B. Ball, the third richest banker in the good ol' U.S., and he's got the wife that, taking advantage of her husband's wealth, likes to spend it.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqUuME4WUT-GIB804jYVJJLjvhBl6EcBv4M6xGWUC8q61S62TLPawvno7iJ99ylDxKDD4uzzjMTU1dbB9eUrdG2gRaD8P3u4hGMtxVZuxKSnCr45VRqulXc4VrpgvlGyOcOYbXid5Ymxg/s1600/easylivingautomat13.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqUuME4WUT-GIB804jYVJJLjvhBl6EcBv4M6xGWUC8q61S62TLPawvno7iJ99ylDxKDD4uzzjMTU1dbB9eUrdG2gRaD8P3u4hGMtxVZuxKSnCr45VRqulXc4VrpgvlGyOcOYbXid5Ymxg/s320/easylivingautomat13.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Ball, Jr.--the working man.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.lawofsympathy.blogspot.com/">http://www.lawofsympathy.blogspot.com</a></td></tr>
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Receiving the latest bill informing him of his wife's latest extra-vagant spending spree, poor J.B. has had enough, and throwing the coat outside the window, it just happens to topple down on poor Mary Smith whom happens to be, of course, Jean Arthur. When J.B. comes out of his apartment, happy go lucky because his wife no longer has the coat, she tries to give it back to him, but he tells her to keep it. Mary, however, becomes upset because when the coat toppled down on her, it ruined her hat, and she's missed her bus and has no way to get to work. By offering to buy her a new hat and a ride to work for the magazine, 'The Boy's Constant Companion', where all the spinsterish women see her expensive coat, she is mistaken to be his mistress and is promptly fired . . . which leads Mary broke.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVYgdNRM9IS-fuGY5wc2daBibHZxxA9cALiWvU2SwjzcuFPwdGzdkMi6P2jETYJN76cyzy8qLoXUWXth-bXjQ2O_y_0VYxaz6vXGy74imhRRTf8uclST5xbFFHF9XasxNCFbCh713SP0Q/s1600/easylivingautomat15.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVYgdNRM9IS-fuGY5wc2daBibHZxxA9cALiWvU2SwjzcuFPwdGzdkMi6P2jETYJN76cyzy8qLoXUWXth-bXjQ2O_y_0VYxaz6vXGy74imhRRTf8uclST5xbFFHF9XasxNCFbCh713SP0Q/s320/easylivingautomat15.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Psst! I see you!<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.lawofsympathy.blogspot.com/">http://www.lawofsympathy.blogspot.com</a></td></tr>
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With her last dime, she goes to an automat and unwittingly meets John Ball, Jr., who has left home to prove to his father that he can make it out on his own and doesn't need his money. This action was quite common in the films of the yesteryear. It was meant as a way for the "common" people of the time to connect with the "upper" class people. It was a way for the upper class people to say, "Hey, you and I? We're both the same. We could be best friends . . ."<br />
As I'm learning only Ray can be, he plays John Jr., as a most charming and funny and witty and, in the case of Ms. Mary Smith, quite smitten, son of the third richest banker in America.<br />
When John Jr., first sees Mary, he can't believe that she's eating in an automat (the $58,000 fur coat might having something to do with that, but I'm just guessing on that), but when she insists that she's got nothing but a dime to her name, he concocts this brilliant plan of giving her some food and when he gets paid, gives the money back to the automat.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5JDSp1PUO1sh1N1NViIrisnB7rM0khPujbqzm00EuYJJl5Nt-GsBLqQ7UGF7_GXQN7SEZuNvIQT9qxWePlNcEi6xNW2i7QG0eMga8oyKce5V9hnO7sOGrkMlGGJRGwQUR28ly9zQ63_M/s320/easyliving3.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John and Mary.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.lawofsympathy.blogspot.com/">http://www.lawofsympathy.blogspot.com</a></td></tr>
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What could possibly go wrong?<br />
Everything.<br />
After a wild food fight with everybody fighting tooth and nail to get free food, John is fired and, refusing to return home and admit defeat to his father, has no place to go. Well, as aforementioned, Mary is believed to be J.B.'s mistress, and because of this has been given a room in an <i>extremely</i> expensive hotel by the proprietor in hopes that by taking extra nice care of J.B.'s mistress, she'll tell him and J.B. will start coming to his relatively empty hotel. So, while she has an expensive hotel suite, but no money, she offers John to stay with her.<br />
Again, this adds to John's confusion, but as most men probably would in his position, he just rolls right along with everything.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxu8mvcbuce5VTSqMVtriFnuXJzBsezzbnaQbfTaWnp1_WXLYJ-MdNc_xiduwkn_9y-mvWknGoJ1xP6KSxo3PcTL9zCO35qEwXipXRDEEXyUSZtGQFKj_7HtxJOPP1PiFyTjUS9m0NOho/s1600/easy+living+-+tub.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxu8mvcbuce5VTSqMVtriFnuXJzBsezzbnaQbfTaWnp1_WXLYJ-MdNc_xiduwkn_9y-mvWknGoJ1xP6KSxo3PcTL9zCO35qEwXipXRDEEXyUSZtGQFKj_7HtxJOPP1PiFyTjUS9m0NOho/s320/easy+living+-+tub.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I would LOVE to take a nice hot bath in that . . . pool?<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.javabeanrush.blogspot.com/">http://www.javabeanrush.blogspot.com</a></td></tr>
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Mary takes John back to her hotel suite, and through the course of the night, they fall in love. It's under-standable. I mean, how can Jean/Mary not fall in love with Ray/John and how could Ray/John not fall in love with Jean/Mary? It can't be done. They're too perfect.<br />
The film continues on with ensuing slapstick comedy and misunderstandings as only Jean and Ray and Edward Arnold could pull off. It's a film that I would definitely recommend to anyone and everyone if they are in the need for a good laugh and a little loving; I give it a 3/4 stars.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lki5f0NY971qcs4zto1_400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lki5f0NY971qcs4zto1_400.jpg" width="252" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ray and Jean.<br />
Photo Courtesy of<br />
<a href="http://www.ontheset.tumblr.com/">http://www.ontheset.tumblr.com</a></td></tr>
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If this is the first Ray Milland film that one might see, I hope that he or she understands that Ray was a brilliant actor, and that he just wasn't someone who did cute romantic comedies. Ray could really act, and he was quite brilliant (as I found out, as everyone does, when I watched <i>The Lost Weekend</i>). Ray was an understated and underestimated actor who, despite having won an Oscar and being some <i>fantastic</i> films, never got his dues which is a shame. And by saying that I hope that with my reviews of the five films that I consider Ray's essentials, if a) you haven't discovered him, you'll grow to love him, b) if you know him, but haven't realized just how magnificent he was, you'll begin to, and c) if you already love him, you'll grow to love him more.<br />
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Runellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12585027296827690176noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713361080598913590.post-5037792044840086772012-09-03T14:38:00.002-04:002012-09-03T14:39:51.096-04:00Ray's EssentialsHere's Ray's line-up:<br />
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1. Easy Living (September 5, Wednesday)<br />
2. It Happens Every Spring (September 8, Saturday)<br />
3. The Lost Weekend (September 15, Saturday)<br />
4. Arise, My Love! (September 22, Saturday)<br />
5. Beau Geste (September 29, Saturday)Runellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12585027296827690176noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713361080598913590.post-31672626714428626502012-09-01T22:47:00.001-04:002012-09-01T22:47:10.338-04:00Star of the Month: Ray MillandWell, to get back in the ol' swing of things, here is the star of the month for September . . . the star that I've been looking forward to doing for a couple of months now: Ray Milland. The line-up of his films will be coming out tomorrow.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lvk67di3Ja1qz5q5oo1_r1_500.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lvk67di3Ja1qz5q5oo1_r1_500.png" width="246" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hmm. Me, Star of the Month? I like.<br />Photo Courtesy of<br /> <a href="http://www.pickurselfup.tumblr.com/">http://www.pickurselfup.tumblr.com</a></td></tr>
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Runellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12585027296827690176noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713361080598913590.post-45420112386885466202012-08-26T22:44:00.001-04:002012-08-27T19:21:43.466-04:00A Very Random Post to Let You Know I'm Still Alive So, I feel really bad because I just haven't been posting at all this month. I had a <i>slew</i> of posts that I was going to do because of my involvement in the <i>Summer Under the Stars </i>blogathon, but then . . . something happened on August 16; something so horrendous that it gave me nightmares for days, even in my waking hours I couldn't escape it. It haunted me. It made me sick. It made want to scream. It made me want to throw hysterical fits in grocery store aisles and cause my parents alarm and give ol' Happy Dale a ring (please, please tell me someone caught that allusion to a certain film with my wonderful Cary . . . and if not one of you wonderful readers did catch it, I hang my head in sadness).<br />
<i>What</i>, some of you may be asking, <i>what could possibly cause this rationally sane girl to go insane? What could possibly reduce her to wanting to make fits in grocery store aisles and make her parents ship her off to a sanitarium?</i> <i>Tell me, now! Tell me!</i> Okay, okay, you beat it out of me. It causes me such pain to say this dreadful six-letter word, but if you must know, if it gives you peace of mind, I'll push back my own pain, and tell you: School.<br />
Yes, school has been in full swing for a couple of weeks now, and because it's my last year and I had to be an idiot and decide that I'd take A.P. Lit (which really isn't that bad at all) and just completely <i>stink</i> at math, and have a job that slurps up any free time that I could possibly have, I've been absolutely rendered from posting anything. On the weekends, I'm sleeping into well past the afternoon mark trying desperately to stock up on the snoozes, but it's done mostly in vain for I always find myself tired, and by the time Friday rolls around, I feel like I'm a floundering wanderer lost in the Sahara desert searching, always searching, for an oasis.<br />
I must admit that I have tried to write up a few things, but then I just get bored and I forget about it and I don't end up posting them. Also, when I'm not sleeping or at work or doing homework, I have found myself back in very familiar territory, something that came long before my love of Classic Hollywood, Cary Grant or Dean Martin: Reading. Anyone that knows me knows that I <u style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">LOVE</u> to read; but when I found my new loves, I sort of set reading aside. Whereas it usually took me about two days to read books as long as <i>Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows</i>, I was going weeks without cracking open a book and reading just for the pleasure of reading. I didn't, and I don't, like that. Reading has been my safe haven ever since I learned the magic of words; ever since I learned that by cracking open a book, I could transport myself wherever and whenever I wanted to. I would stay up until the slimmest of rays from the new light of dawn peaked between my tightly shut blinds, and bring me out of my world of ink and imagination to show me that a night had ended and a newly birthed day had began in my world of reality.<br />
I have missed that. I missed the itch that my palms would get every time I passed by a library or a bookstore; I missed the idea of all the books just awaiting for me to discover them, to love them, to treasure them. I missed discovering the meaning of a new word and the way it would roll around in my head, and then my tongue, and the nice fluid way it would come out of my mouth when I would use my newly discovered word in a conversation. I missed visiting the public library twice a week. I missed the old smell of books that have been closed for far too long; I missed the touch of yellowing pages between my fingers.<br />
I missed it all, and so it gives me great, <i>great</i> pleasure in saying that at last I have found my world again. It has welcomed me back with open arms, cocooning me in its familiar warmth, forgiving me for my long absence and assuring me that I never could have lost my safe haven had I even really tried . . .<br />
. . . The feelings that I have just spewed are feelings that I believe everybody should have when it comes to reading, but sadly, not everyone does. You can't possibly imagine how it pains me when someone says to me, "You like to read? Why? It's so boring. I hate it." It's worse then a sharp knife cutting through me. It's as though my very heart and soul has been ripped out of my body with someone's bare hands, and then just for his or her sadistic pleasure, stomping on them until they are nothing more than crushed particles mixing in with the dirt and bugs and the rest of the earth and her au naturel glory . . .<br />
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. . . And now, I am left in an embarrassing position. I don't know how to end this post without sounding as completely out of my mind as I do in the main body. I guess I could say that I'm learning to balance everything in my life, and suggest that if you're life isn't already balanced that you get it so because if you don't, you might end up like me writing a very, very random post to let your readers (no matter how few they may be) that you are still alive and then end up sounding all cockeyed because you spew your guts about your obsessively insane love for reading and how you feel when you don't get enough of it. Yeah. That's how I'll end this post. See. I just did.Runellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12585027296827690176noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713361080598913590.post-25959307998997169042012-08-11T22:35:00.002-04:002012-08-12T02:07:58.297-04:00I've Succumbed . . . After a long hard battle of trying not to catch it, I've succumbed to the disease known as <a href="http://theshadesofblackandwhite.tumblr.com/"><span style="color: orange;">tumblr</span></a>. Yes. I have one now, and already in a few short days, I've become addicted to it. I blame all the wonderful blogs that I've found on there, and all their wonderful pictures of Cary, Dean, Ray Milland (I've become obsessed with the film <i>Beau Geste</i> which I'll be doing a review on in September, so that should give you give an idea of who's going to be my star of the month).<br />
Anywho, what I found amusing was that I actually already had a tumblr that I apparently made not long after I made this blog, but I can't for the life of me remember actually making it. And though I've become even more entangled with the world wide web and the twenty-first century, which doesn't sit well with my stomach sometimes, I've got my little twist on it. Just because Facebook, Blogger, YouTube, and Tumblr and all the rest are products of the twenty-first century, I am firmly stationed in my years that were the shades of black and white . . .Runellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12585027296827690176noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713361080598913590.post-75268941494210388942012-08-07T00:32:00.001-04:002012-08-07T00:32:24.833-04:00Leibster Blog Award . . . What? Another One? Nah, I'm just kidding. I don't mind getting another one. It's like asking someone if they would like a second slice of chocolate cake and they say, "No. One is enough." Generally, that's just not going to happen, especially in my family. Anyways, this time I was awarded the Leibster by a friend from this amazing website, <a href="http://www.film-classcis.com/"><span style="color: orange;">FilmClassics</span></a>, who just started her own blog <a href="http://serenadinginblue.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: orange;">Serenade in Blue</span></a>, and so here we go again. I'll answer her questions and tell eleven more things about myself (like you really wanted to know the first eleven), but I won't be tagging eleven more bloggers; the first time was hard enough.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">11 More Things . . .</span></b></div>
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11. I don't like for a majority of my food to touch. If something touches that I don't think should, I will eat around the parts that touch. (Weird, I know)</div>
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10. My favorite colors are blue and orange.</div>
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9. I easily remember names, faces, and voices. I'm really good with the voices. So, if sometimes I don't recognize a face, or remember his or her name, you can bet I'll remember his or her voice.</div>
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8. I have an Irish temper like you'd never believe.</div>
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7. Ireland, next to Italy, is my dream home.</div>
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6. I have never broken a single bone in my body. I have rolled down brick stairs (bloodied up my nose), smashed all ten of my fingers in the window, gotten my neck slammed on by the car door (the babysitter didn't mean to), fallen out of a tree, went down a hill, brakes wouldn't work on my bike, and fell in a brier patch (got scratches all over me, a little bloody), along with a slew of other things. NOT ONE BONE I TELL YOU, HAS BEEN BROKEN. Everyone else in my family has gone to the emergency room for something. (And for some strange reason, I'm jealous about this. I feel so left out. ;) </div>
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5. I'm from Georgia, born and raised, and so I have a very southern accent. However, I'm very good at doing an English, French, and Italian accent, which I do to amuse my family all the time.</div>
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4. My feet are always cold. Winter, Summer, Spring, it doesn't matter. They're ALWAYS cold.</div>
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3. I picked up on Dean's habit of saying "Heaven's to Betsy" and "Hot diggity dirt" (That just shows you how much I watch of him).</div>
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2. I can't blow a bubble (as in bubble gum) to save my life. This is the saddest thing in my life. I'm seventeen, and I can't blow a freakin' bubble.</div>
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1. I am not a morning person. I'm a night owl by nature and prefer to stay up late, and sleep in the following morning.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>The Q&A . . .</b></span></div>
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1. What was your first classic? <b>The first film I can remember watching that I didn't realize at the time was a classic was <i>North to Alaska</i> with John Wayne. I was about six.</b></div>
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2. Favorite classic TV show? <b>What's My Line<i> </i>(I like the part when the celebrities came out)</b></div>
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3. If you could spend a day with any classic star, who would it be? <b>Cary Grant. Dean Martin. Jean Arthur. They all just happen to be at the same party. Lucky me!</b></div>
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4. Least favorite classic actor? <b>I don't really think he's considered a "classic" star, but I don't care for Steve McQueen too much. I don't see what was so great about the guy.</b></div>
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5. Least favorite classic actress? <b>How many death threats would I receive if I said Grace Kelly?</b></div>
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6. Musical remakes of the 50's: yes or no?: <b>Got to love musicals, at least I do.</b></div>
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7. Hayes Code: yes or no? Why? <b>Yes. I prefer the Code because everything that's made today just makes me sick to my stomach. It's as though everyone is having a contest to see how many f-bombs they can say in one sentence. The dialogue stinks. I'm a girl who loves the English language, and so when you know how to use it, like the writers did back then when the Code was enforced to get their meaning across, well, how can it get any better?</b></div>
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8. Silents or Talkies? <b>Talkies</b></div>
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9. What do you think of movies like <i>The Artist</i>? <b>I have yet to see <i>The Artist</i> (it's on my list!), but I say they need to make them. A film like that might get some curious in the actual Golden Days of Hollywood, and next thing you know, we've got another classic film lover in the group.</b></div>
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10. What role did your favorite actress deserve an Oscar for?: <b>Ah, my Jean deserved, in the very least, an Oscar nomination for everything she did (the fact that she only received one her entire career makes me steam), but I'd say either: <i>You Can't Take it With You, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and/or The More the Merrier.</i></b></div>
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11. What role did your favorite actor deserve an Oscar for?: <b>Cary:<i> Notorious</i>, <i>North by Northwest</i>, and the one (out of two) that he was actually nominated for, <i>None but the Lonely Heart</i>. Dean: <i>The Young Lions, Some Came Running, Rio Bravo </i>(a nomination in the very least).</b></div>
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<b> </b>Well, there we are . . . again.</div>Runellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12585027296827690176noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713361080598913590.post-12069345745044601612012-08-06T23:29:00.003-04:002012-08-07T00:45:41.966-04:00Film Review: Presenting Lily Mars (1943)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="320" src="http://www.film-classics.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/presenting-lily-mars.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="211" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A new favorite of mine.<br />
Photo Courtesy of<br />
<a href="http://www.film-classics.com/">http://www.film-classics.com</a></td></tr>
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<i>TCM</i>: A small-town girl fights for her big chance on Broadway.
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While I have always liked Judy Garland, I have never had one of her films to crack my top ten. Until <i>Presenting Lily Mars</i> that is. I don't know what it was about this film per say that did me in (besides the wonderful chemistry between Van Heflin and Judy), but whatever it was, it got me good. While everyone tends to say that Judy was at her most beautiful in the film <i>Meet Me in St. Louis </i>(1944) thanks to soon-to-be husband Vincente Minelli, and while she was very pretty, I think that Judy was her most gorgeous in this film.<br />
Often credited as her first grown-up film, along with <i>For Me and My Gal</i> (1942), Judy, for the most part, is still looked at as a kid for the majority of the film, and it's not until the very end do we, as the audience, see her depicted as an adult (who knew that putting up your hair and wearing a dress could do that to a young girl). What makes Judy seem really grown-up throughout the film, however, is not how she dresses, but rather it's her character's, Lily, relationship with John Thrornway, played by "my" discovery Van Heflin.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://kittypackard.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/van_12.jpg?w=584" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://kittypackard.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/van_12.jpg?w=584" width="254" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Van.<br />
Photo Courtesy of<br />
<a href="http://www.kittypackard.wordpress.com/">http://www.kittypackard.wordpress.com</a></td></tr>
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It wasn't until after I had watched <i>Presenting</i> <i>Lily Mars</i> that I realized that this was not the first film that I had seen Van Heflin in. My very first one had been, in fact, <i>The Strange Love of Martha Ivers</i> (1946). For some unknown reason, I just didn't pay attention to him in that film.<br />
Perhaps, for some, he might not be considered the usual quint-essential leading man, but for me, he's perfect. Maybe it's because I was paying attention better to this film than I had with <i>The Strange Love . . .</i>, or maybe it was something else entirely, but whatever the case may be, Van completely took me by storm. I found myself wishing that I was Judy. Sure, I do that a lot (imagine myself in the woman's place when she's across from a favorite leading man), but I also found myself wanting to be in Richard Carlson's, who plays Van's best friend, Owen Vail, place, too. Just so long as I could be near the guy . . . and that desire happens very, very, <i>very</i> rarely (I can count on one hand who I'd feel that way about).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="320" src="http://a3.ec-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/67/61ab85f2379543b894701cd203cd5741/l.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="246" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Van and Judy.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.google.com/">http://www.google.com</a></td></tr>
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For me, looking at a picture of Judy alone, and looking at a picture of Van alone, I would never think about putting the two together. Alone, they just don't seem as though they would have very good chemistry, but then when you put them together, it's very apparent that they did. And so that is the reason why I would never be a casting director.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVN1NpAwetpLjZ-tslg_yqqXDgNQ1A6lxqDFGRqCHit6EsgtSCjLW5eWZpRVrwd4lmFwi4BSUr9E5Vw7td3fizQLHe6VxhFug0HGdJSVmCxgg0Jd-1Ib4vquijepxZMHcSf6AlfX_7dRA/s1600/Van+&+Judy.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVN1NpAwetpLjZ-tslg_yqqXDgNQ1A6lxqDFGRqCHit6EsgtSCjLW5eWZpRVrwd4lmFwi4BSUr9E5Vw7td3fizQLHe6VxhFug0HGdJSVmCxgg0Jd-1Ib4vquijepxZMHcSf6AlfX_7dRA/s1600/Van+&+Judy.gif" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And this is where he begins to falter.<br />
GIF Courtesy of<br />
<a href="http://www.tumblr.com/">http://www.tumblr.com</a></td></tr>
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Watching Van and Judy on screen together made my heart catch slightly. They're just perfect together, in my opinion. Judy's character, Lily, in the fashion of what she thinks is an actress, is all over the place; running here, running there, never seeming to have her feet ever touch the ground. Then Van as John comes in the picture, and right off the bat, you see that he's going to be the anchor that'll bring her back down to Earth, though it'll take a little while and she won't be on there for long. Yet, as the film goes on, and with Lily trying her everything to get John, who's producing a play in New York, to realize that she has talent, though it's amateurish, and that he should put her in it, you see though initially exasperated with her, there's <i>something</i> that he likes, though he's keeping it hidden below his cool exterior.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM5zB4tU4bbalLJOYV9G-4sBsOKdWJVieyUcsxwC9OrlnA6m8l48w7bVQr4pLQOnjwL-eVANhk31TpmIof5DziY8Cz-2SiBFcYt7gybSI9PO9YyiaYUTL9gA9ajP8mTVh6k2tcSheGyBQ/s1600/Presenting+Lily+Mars.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM5zB4tU4bbalLJOYV9G-4sBsOKdWJVieyUcsxwC9OrlnA6m8l48w7bVQr4pLQOnjwL-eVANhk31TpmIof5DziY8Cz-2SiBFcYt7gybSI9PO9YyiaYUTL9gA9ajP8mTVh6k2tcSheGyBQ/s320/Presenting+Lily+Mars.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Catch her John, catch her!<br />
GIF Courtesy of <a href="http://www.tumblr.com/">http://www.tumblr.com</a></td></tr>
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Though he gives her a resounding "No!" and sends her back over the wall (she crashed the party that John and his mother, played by one of my favorite character actresses, Fay Bainter, were throwing and that's the only way she could get in), Lily, though initially upset, goes to New York with the blessing of her eccentric mother, played by another favorite character actress, Spring Byington. After a day of no food, she is discovered by John when she runs out onto the stage when the dancers are practicing to get away from the man that guards the door and who will throw her out, when she suddenly faints . . . right into John's arms.<br />
It's at that moment when he <i>really</i> stars to notice Lily, and he can't help it. As I stated before, Van and Judy, despite my initial disbelief, had amazing chemistry. After they share a kiss when Lily goes to John's hotel room to talk to him and Owen about the ending of the play and how it sort of . . ."fizzles", they fall for each other fast. Maybe the critics will just see that as too convient or whatever, but when they finally had that first kiss, I literally appluaded them and said, "Finally!"<br />
I wanted, I <i>needed</i> for Van and Judy to get together, and the sooner that they did the better for me. And the moment that sealed the fate of Van becoming a new favorite only lasted one second, but for me, it was the sweetest second in the whole wonderful picture. Throughout the film, Judy has a problem with her banes, and has a habit of blowing them away from her face and then pushing them back with her hand.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtaRAgnDksmWwaPAsmqQDbspypYtIWrc0kINzWCfaitzdxU6ruWZ8oC-Z51VoejYxM6agFn058tGAaFsneYtn8dI16UncZiSWfPItcGl5UhO7uWNLIgjoSLr7a3ClRNSQrpILPyu_OOo4/s1600/Judy+%233.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtaRAgnDksmWwaPAsmqQDbspypYtIWrc0kINzWCfaitzdxU6ruWZ8oC-Z51VoejYxM6agFn058tGAaFsneYtn8dI16UncZiSWfPItcGl5UhO7uWNLIgjoSLr7a3ClRNSQrpILPyu_OOo4/s1600/Judy+%233.gif" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Very cute, right? I think it is.<br />
GIF Courtesy of <a href="http://www.tumblr.com/">http://www.tumblr.com</a></td></tr>
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I'd take a wild guess and say that with Lily doing that to her banes all the time that the writers meant to symbolize that as her youth. Lily tries to act older than she actually is throughout the whole film, until she finally does become one, and with her blowing her banes away from her face and then pushing them back with her hand in exasperation, the writers are reminding us that just because she tries to act older, she's still just a young girl on the cusp of womanhood. So, later on in the film, when John and Lily are in the process of falling in love with each other, and when she starts to push her banes out of her eyes when they are dancing, and John reaches up and does it instead . . . oh, I could hardly control myself. It was just too perfect, too cute, and it was then that I knew Van Heflin, no matter what, would become a favorite of mine. Granted, this is only my second picture with him in that I've seen, and the first that I've actually really paid attention to, but I just know that he'll become one that I can't keep quiet about.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1fPqtoLimw3a-zEJVAIMAXmIBsZ7rj48uuHSMZeKPiSFxzniv63kkzFuQO6QNX0-yqnpUH7ICgqc9WX6Jw2jp6fhFZb1Weg3Wz0hr_rHEf9oTrOqp62OPEpUKwrmC8yC0bH1H9ChSmiQ/s1600/Judy+%234.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1fPqtoLimw3a-zEJVAIMAXmIBsZ7rj48uuHSMZeKPiSFxzniv63kkzFuQO6QNX0-yqnpUH7ICgqc9WX6Jw2jp6fhFZb1Weg3Wz0hr_rHEf9oTrOqp62OPEpUKwrmC8yC0bH1H9ChSmiQ/s1600/Judy+%234.gif" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Awwwww! C'mon! That is so so <i>so </i>perfect!<br />
GIF Courtesy of <a href="http://www.tumblr.com/">http://www.tumblr.com</a></td></tr>
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As I stated before, Judy is just so beautiful in this picture to me. The prettiest I've ever seen her, in fact. And with Van's rugged, all-natural looks, <i>Presenting Lily Mars</i> is just a wonderful picture to watch. It made me happy, it made me smile, and it made me laugh (there are some definite funny parts in it), and it made me go "Awwww" so many times I lost count (I really didn't keep count). And the chemistry between the two, and the romance that blossoms between them, all of it is so real. Never once do I feel as though they were faking it.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijCoZMAS9_qk1CfcZPgZ4N1Y36zYVdW2EXqRVOtOL1McXeOdvyFkezepnDdcBveOltHn4QOi6ebi0jK0Xaqku0d1kAuA3TaMjPOZOsZ1GWC-pReMM15hjNhK5wh9C1voUIzTKi1w-i3Jc/s1600/Van+&+Judy+%232.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijCoZMAS9_qk1CfcZPgZ4N1Y36zYVdW2EXqRVOtOL1McXeOdvyFkezepnDdcBveOltHn4QOi6ebi0jK0Xaqku0d1kAuA3TaMjPOZOsZ1GWC-pReMM15hjNhK5wh9C1voUIzTKi1w-i3Jc/s320/Van+&+Judy+%232.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aren't they sweet?<br />
GIF Courtesy of <a href="http://www.tumblr.com/">http://www.tumblr.com</a></td></tr>
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It escapes me why Leonard Maltin only gives <i>Presenting Lily Mars</i> 2/4 stars, and I don't know where he gets off calling it "a stale story of determined girl getting big chance on Broadway only comes alive when Judy sings". I definitely disagree with him on this one. I think this story is still as timely as today as it was then. I say this because I'm quite sure that any aspiring actress feels the same about making it no matter what just like Lily. In <i>Presenting Lily Mars</i> I have a found a Judy Garland film that finally cracks my top ten, a new favorite actor in Van Heflin, who is vastly underrated as I am finding out (Oh! And he's in <i>Shane</i> [1953] a la with my Jean! So it's almost impossible for me not to like him), and a lovely film to obsess over until they put it out on DVD (which, in all honesty, I'm quite shocked that it already isn't).<br />
For <i>Presenting Lily Mars</i>, I give it a 4/4 star rating.<br />
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This has been my contribution to Van Heflin's day on TCM's <i>Summer Under the Stars Blogathon</i><i> </i>which is being held in conjunction with TCM's <i>Summer Under the Stars</i> by <a href="http://www.sittinonabackyardfence.com/" style="color: orange;">Sittin' on a Backyard Fence</a>,<br />
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</div>Runellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12585027296827690176noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713361080598913590.post-87824505870678057872012-08-04T16:31:00.002-04:002012-08-05T21:20:24.834-04:00Just Marilyn<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="320" src="http://www.doctormacro.com/Images/Monroe,%20Marilyn/Annex/Annex%20-%20Monroe,%20Marilyn%20(Niagara)_10.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="228" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marilyn in <i>Niagara</i> (1952) . . .<br />
Photo Courtesy of<br />
<a href="http://www.doctormacro.com/">http://www.doctormacro.com</a></td></tr>
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It seems improbable that fifty years have passed since Marilyn Monroe's death, but it really has been. It doesn't matter though because her popularity hasn't faded in the slightest since her untimely death as many star's have. Instead, it has done the exact opposite, and with each passing year Marilyn becomes more and more of a legend that we as the movie going public, classic film fans or not, have decided as her fate.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="320" src="http://www.doctormacro.com/Images/Monroe,%20Marilyn/Annex/Annex%20-%20Monroe,%20Marilyn%20(River%20of%20No%20Return)_09.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="212" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">. . . and in <i>River of No Return</i> (1954)<br />
Photo Courtesy of<br />
<a href="http://www.doctormacro.com/">http://www.doctormacro.com</a></td></tr>
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If that's a good thing or not, I'm not sure. It seems to me that Marilyn is remembered more for her personal demons than for her acting, or lack thereof, abilities. I think that's the biggest insult one can do to her because in all reality, Marilyn Monroe was a fine actress, and I think--no, I <i>know</i> that's what Marilyn wanted us to remember her as.</div>
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Perhaps limited in the roles that she could pull off, I think she really was a good actress who, if she had been treated as a human and not a sex symbol, would have been able to show off her talent; and then maybe we would remember her not just as <i>Marilyn Monroe</i>, but simply Marilyn Monroe.</div>
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I have seen a very limited number of her pictures, but in everyone of them that I have seen, I've found her very enjoyable to watch. Whether she was playing a girl in the search of a millionaire, a girl who can thank the milk foundation for knowing how to kiss, or an actress who knows how to make lazy look <i>real</i> good, she just had this charisma with the video camera. She loved it, and in return, it loved her.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiT8EwtyoDrRjQKfSxfImEl9Z0tU3-Ax3_Hvf0tDx13ma-OppspQaJKC_MDQojbKkx_XPn4jF475RjUUm3N6rIXfu3DPoWZW_4chd-p4UO-XLyfcI8_9l81cjIxHlmd9rJ7N_PthJjYSM/s1600/1215617124_4909.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiT8EwtyoDrRjQKfSxfImEl9Z0tU3-Ax3_Hvf0tDx13ma-OppspQaJKC_MDQojbKkx_XPn4jF475RjUUm3N6rIXfu3DPoWZW_4chd-p4UO-XLyfcI8_9l81cjIxHlmd9rJ7N_PthJjYSM/s320/1215617124_4909.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clark and Marilyn in <i>The Misfits</i> (1961)<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.wyatts-classics.blogspot.com/">http://www.wyatts-classics.blogspot.com</a></td></tr>
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My intention was to do a double feature of <i>Niagara</i> and <i>River of No Return</i>, but the first few parts of <i>Nia-gara</i> were blocked on youtube (my classic film oasis), and I haven't been able to find it on the other websites that I frequent. And so now I've just decided to do just a post on Marilyn; I hope that <a href="http://www.sittinonabackyardfence.com/"><span style="color: orange;">Sittin' on a Backyard Fence</span></a>
, who along with another blogger, is doing a month long tribute to all the stars in TCM's line-up for Summer Under the Stars, doesn't mind.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://topnews.in/files/marilyn-monroe_0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="216" src="http://topnews.in/files/marilyn-monroe_0.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yes, she was beautiful.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.topnews.in/">http://www.topnews.in</a></td></tr>
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Marilyn was a beautiful woman, no doubt about it. Yet, it seems to me that her breathtaking beauty was her biggest adversary because next to her personal issues, that's all anyone seems to remember about her as well. This past year in my U.S. History class, when we had finally reached John F. Kennedy's presidency, a classmate asked, "Didn't he bag that chick Marilyn Monroe?" When my teacher affirmed that, yes, he had an affair with Marilyn, this classmate of mine continued on and said, "Boy, that woman was FINE." Those are his exact words. I'm not making them up. It disgusted me then, and it still disgusts me now about what he said. He knows that she's beautiful, but I know without a doubt that he wouldn't be able to tell me, or anyone, one single film that she did. A total shame.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://threadforthought.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Norma-Jean.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://threadforthought.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Norma-Jean.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Norma Jean.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.wornthrough.com/">http://www.wornthrough.com</a></td></tr>
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I wonder, had there never been a Marilyn Monroe, had she walked this Earth her whole life as Norma Jean Baker, would she have made such a big commotion? I doubt it. Had she walked down the street, on the way to the super market, and had any man seen her, I think that they would have definitely noted her beauty, but that wouldn't be it. I bet that she would have been a <i>friend</i> to him, and he would have stopped and talked to her about every day things. She would have smiled, laughed, and then they both would have gone their own ways, and nothing more would have been done. I think that she would have liked that; to live as Norma Jean Baker and have people like her for being her; not having people fawn all over because she was Marilyn Monroe, and never know who was her friend and who was just being a leach.<br />
It's sad that no one will ever know, especially Marilyn. And so since that's impossible to find out, I suggest that instead of just everybody remembering Marilyn for her beauty, remember her as a woman that struggled her whole to become someone, to make a name for herself, and then when she finally did, she was never able to be her true self again; remember her not as <i>Marilyn Monroe</i>, but just Marilyn. Do it for yourself, and do it for her.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="394" src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m6rsjuQ9gL1qbd67yo6_1280.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just Marilyn.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.tumblr.com/">http://www.tumblr.com</a></td></tr>
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<br /></div>Runellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12585027296827690176noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713361080598913590.post-90441063808229939602012-08-04T14:47:00.002-04:002012-08-04T23:40:24.734-04:00My First Liebster Blog Award<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX6IdrP9gKbanBk1z3YIbRTu6znoLaLkOEsB-p01wyvJ8QxgshzNjURIPk9qrJatb1BTVnHiyCVgvEmHldOWOq9iKzdzWCLtD4japoqV7-dDqLY7H52fOC9Z79pkV2k5O3PtETcgpQ7ww/s1600/blogger-image--564723179.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX6IdrP9gKbanBk1z3YIbRTu6znoLaLkOEsB-p01wyvJ8QxgshzNjURIPk9qrJatb1BTVnHiyCVgvEmHldOWOq9iKzdzWCLtD4japoqV7-dDqLY7H52fOC9Z79pkV2k5O3PtETcgpQ7ww/s320/blogger-image--564723179.jpg" width="320" /></a> Well, I don't really know what to say about this other then "thank you" to Natalie over at <a href="http://www.theswingmood.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: orange;">The Swing Mood</span></a> for picking me as one of her eleven people to tag who she thought deserved the award. I find it incredibly marvelous of her.<br />
This being my first time at bat with one of these things, I'll just start off by giving the rules once you receive this beauty: The<b> first</b> one is that I've got to tell eleven things all about me (which I'm figuring are eleven NEW things you didn't know), the <b>second</b> is that I've got to answer the eleven questions that the person who picked me asked . . . I've seen what Natalie asked and all I've got to say about that is . . . Oh, goody! The <b>third</b> rule is that I've got to tag eleven other people . . . and the <b>fourth</b> (and final) rule is that I've got to ask them eleven questions. Sounds fun, right? I think so, so let's get started, shall we?<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">11 Things You Didn't Know About Moi!</span></b></div>
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11. I know how to play the flute.</div>
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10. I'm very OCD about things such as the fact that all my films have to be in alphabetical order by title, my music alphabetical order by the artists FIRST name, and my books are arranged by their height.</div>
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9. I've taught myself to write with my left hand, though it's not nearly as good as my right hand, and though I'm right handed, I eat with my left hand.</div>
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8. I have two kittens that are named Kit (as in the candy bar, Kit Kat, my sister named her), and Missy, whom I named after Barbara Stanwyck.</div>
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7. My lucky/favorite number is seven.</div>
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6. I'm obsessed with anything Italian.</div>
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5. I want to be a U.S. History teacher. I did want to be a medical examiner, but that was before I found out how much I stink at chemistry last year when I was a junior.</div>
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4. I have bright strawberry blonde hair and dark blues eyes. Some days my hair looks really blonde, and then others it's really red, when it's wet, it's red with blonde highlights basically.</div>
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3. I write entirely in cursive which people have a hard time reading not because I have horrible handwriting, but because, as they put it, "it's too neat, too pretty, and too loopy".</div>
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2. I know how to speak a little of both French and Spanish, though I can read the language better than I speak it; and I'm teaching my self how to read and speak in Italian.</div>
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1. I'm extremely sarcastic. No joke.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Natalie's 11 Questions</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">1. </span><span style="background-color: #fafbfc; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #5f5f5f;">In film do you prefer black&white or color? </span><b>Black and White</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">2. </span></span><span style="background-color: #fafbfc; color: #5f5f5f; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">In photographs do you prefer black&white or color? </span><span style="background-color: #fafbfc; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><b>Black and White</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fafbfc; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">3. </span><span style="background-color: #fafbfc; color: #5f5f5f; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Your favorite era in music? <b>30s-60s</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #5f5f5f; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">4. Do you have a tumblr? </span></span><span style="background-color: #fafbfc; color: #5f5f5f; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><b>No, but I do raid it quite often, as does a friend of mine for me.</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fafbfc; color: #5f5f5f; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">5. </span><span style="background-color: #fafbfc; color: #5f5f5f; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Your second favorite actress? <b>Katharine Hepburn</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #5f5f5f; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">6. </span></span><span style="background-color: #fafbfc; color: #5f5f5f; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Your favorite movie starring your second favorite actress? <b>Bringing Up Baby (1938)</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fafbfc; color: #5f5f5f; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">7. </span><span style="background-color: #fafbfc; color: #5f5f5f; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Your second favorite actor? <b>James Stewart</b> (Cary and Dean are tied as #1)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fafbfc; color: #5f5f5f; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">8. </span><span style="background-color: #fafbfc; color: #5f5f5f; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Your favorite movie starring your second favorite actor? <b>Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fafbfc; color: #5f5f5f; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">9. </span><span style="background-color: #fafbfc; color: #5f5f5f; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Favorite foreign film?<b> </b>(I haven't watched too many foreign films, but of the few that I have it would be . . . ) <b>La Strada (1954)</b> which is <b><i>The Road</i> </b>in Italian, and it stars Anthony Quinn.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fafbfc; color: #5f5f5f; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">10. </span><span style="background-color: #fafbfc; color: #5f5f5f; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Ice cream or French fries? <b>French fries w/ranch dressing. Yum!</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fafbfc; color: #5f5f5f; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">11. </span><span style="background-color: #fafbfc; color: #5f5f5f; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">If you could see your favorite actress in any movie role [real or imagined] what would it be? <b>I would have loved to see Jean Arthur in any film with Dean Martin.</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fafbfc; color: #5f5f5f; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fafbfc; color: #5f5f5f; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 21px;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">My 11 . . . </span></b></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Bobby-Socks and Old Film Reels</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Classic Movie Man</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Out of the Past</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Classic Film and TV Cafe</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The Lady Eve's Reel Life</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Dave's Classic Films</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Sittin' on a Backyard Fence</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
A Trip Down Memory Lane</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Caftan Woman</div>
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Another Old Movie Blog<br />
MacGuffin Movies</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>The Big 11 . . .</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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1. Who is your least favorite actor?</div>
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2. Despite the fact that you don't like the actor, do you have a film that you really like with him starring in it?</div>
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3. A popular film that you'll never be able to understand why it's so popular?</div>
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4. A film that you <i>really, really</i> want to see, but haven't yet had the chance to?</div>
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5. What film of your favorite actress is your least favorite?</div>
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6. A favorite actor or actress who didn't make as many films as you wished that they had?</div>
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7. Do you have a film that, if not anything else, you love the dialogue?</div>
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8. Favorite film composer?</div>
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9. Do you have a film that you love, but didn't like the way it ended, and so you wish you could remake the ending to suit what you believe should have happened?</div>
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10. In your opinion, who do you think is the most underrated actor and/or actress?</div>
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12. A film that no matter what, you'll never watch it?</div>Runellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12585027296827690176noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713361080598913590.post-39275701615526825942012-08-01T22:38:00.000-04:002012-10-14T23:01:19.040-04:00The Duke, My Father, and I<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.californiahistorian.com/articles/pics/2007-hall-of-fame/12johnwayne.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.californiahistorian.com/articles/pics/2007-hall-of-fame/12johnwayne.jpg" width="261" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My first love.<br />Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.californiahistorian.com/">http://www.californiahistorian.com</a></td></tr>
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When I was a kid there were two men in my life that meant everything to me: My father and John "The Duke" Wayne. My father has been a fan of John Wayne all his life, and so it was quite natural for him to pass on his admiration, respect, and love for this man to me. Now, granted, in the beginning, I didn't even <i>comprehend</i> how big this man was, or just <i>who</i> he was, and really I didn't care, but he's been a part of my life as far back as I can remember.<br />
The first memory I have of John on screen is in the 1960 film <i>North to Alaska</i>. Here I am, about five or six, sitting in the middle of the living room, on the floor, looking up at the television, and watching delightedly as John gets drunk, gets angry, punches the daylights out of everybody, kisses the girl, and--oh, yeah--shoots guns. My eyes follow him across the screen, never once leaving him, and my little insides start to get all bunched up.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://m5.paperblog.com/i/12/127336/north-to-alaska-L-lPrZNP.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://m5.paperblog.com/i/12/127336/north-to-alaska-L-lPrZNP.jpeg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John and Stewart Granger in <i>North to Alaska</i>.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.en.paperblog.com/">http://www.en.paperblog.com</a></td></tr>
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It is the beginning of my first crush.<br />
That shows just how magnetizing John could, and can, be. At the time he made <i>North to Alaska</i>, he was fifty-three-years-old--and there I was, some forty odd years later, wearing down the VHS tape to the movie, at the tender age of six and thinking that he was the most handsome man I had ever seen.<br />
In the days when VHS tapes were the "in" thing (yes, I do remember them), I was lucky enough that my father (of course) had an <i>enormous</i> pile of recorded John Wayne films from old cable stations and ones that had actually been sold and distributed on tape. By the time I was ten, I had watched all of them fourfold. And still, it wasn't enough for me.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="174" src="http://dcairns.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/jetpilot1957dvdripxvidahj1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John in <i>Jet Pilot</i>. He liked his lips, too.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.dcairns.wordpress.com/">http://www.dcairns.wordpress.com</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/5/50532/1378421-wayn13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/5/50532/1378421-wayn13.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No one can even walk like John.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.comicvine.com/">http://www.comicvine.com</a></td></tr>
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John made 154 pictures over his career, many of them wouldn't be considered even "good" by no means, but that hardly ever matters when somebody is a favorite of yours. The films among the pile were obscurities such as <i>Jet Pilot</i> (1957), <i>Blood Alley</i> (1955), <i>The Fighting Ken-tuckian</i> (1949), and, my personal favorite of all John's pictures for some reason or other, <i>Angel and the Badman </i>(1947), etc. I would watch these films over and over to the point where I could remember lines, note particular nuances, and match the John Wayne walk (or at least, what I'm sure I thought was the John Wayne walk).<br />
As a little girl, I really wasn't that interested in movies where the actors kissed (I think I was still in my "Eww, boys have cooties" stage), but when John kissed one of his leading ladies, my little heart would beat real fast, and I'd go "Wow." Even <i>then</i> I knew that John was a man.<br />
And since John did <i>so </i>many westerns, and that's the genre in which he is best remembered for (the poster boy, in fact), westerns have always been a favorite of mine. Many find them boring, but thanks to John, I have never found that to be.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSylNLd2kKldP2541wgxERJBS4hen2IYRriAf_DgFwl3H7zmmug-ZM6JpXh" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSylNLd2kKldP2541wgxERJBS4hen2IYRriAf_DgFwl3H7zmmug-ZM6JpXh" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gail Russell didn't think he had cooties either.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.dukewayne.com/">http://www.dukewayne.com</a></td></tr>
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There is so much that I love John for. It's not just who he was and what he did in the pictures and in his lifetime, but for what he has also done for my lifetime. His films has given my father and I this link, this bond, and I'm ever so grateful for that. And as hokey as this might sound, he's also taught me many lessons through his films: He's taught me to be firm in my beliefs, give a helping hand when you can, and love my country . . . All lessons that my father has taught me as well.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF-5sGtQ6tE2AJ4sMNNf1sTsCd5PbQjU11kVCs1_1BdGWqO16Se1cJoee4X1Bidf9w0KfMb5BLbN5iAbTXSRY_q4Ya5kHLA_TGj6ISnR5x3FtiwJ0elB9hR1WGgxAPTzR0ZXFy6WMESSIQ/s1600/wayne301.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF-5sGtQ6tE2AJ4sMNNf1sTsCd5PbQjU11kVCs1_1BdGWqO16Se1cJoee4X1Bidf9w0KfMb5BLbN5iAbTXSRY_q4Ya5kHLA_TGj6ISnR5x3FtiwJ0elB9hR1WGgxAPTzR0ZXFy6WMESSIQ/s400/wayne301.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A young John Wayne.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.2009and-scene.blogspot.com/">http://www.2009and-scene.blogspot.com</a></td></tr>
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Though I didn't know it at the time, John started off my love for the classics. He was my foundation, and having John as my standing ground is like having the Rock of Gibraltar beneath my feet--I know that I'm not going to be falling through anytime soon. My love for the classics is here to stay forever, and it's all because of John. I have found other stars (Cary Grant, Dean Martin) whom I love, and who I state to be my favorite above all others, but John holds this very special place in my heart that no one will ever be to touch. He was there from the very beginning and he'll be there at the very end.<br />
Thanks John.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLNmowfwklD3jEo8ZvP6qGkuRkNkh9pr9i_gAvCJqyzSiSskGTqOn8YCwRSNQTHfTcbCk2Mjbl4DqVGjBq9RAK1xoncacyMCP71mvkVnzs-ub-d8YJmztbSlpcNimhSogV5s-xm9Xdf9I/s400/John+Wayne.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I still think he's one of the most handsome men there ever was.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.octopuscinema.blogspot.com/">http://www.octopuscinema.blogspot.com</a></td></tr>
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This was my contribution to the <i>Summer Under the Stars Blogathon</i> for the whole month of August, which I will be partaking in all month long. See the other contributions for John Wayne <i><a href="http://sittinonabackyardfence.com/"><span style="color: orange;">here</span></a><span style="color: #e69138;">.</span></i></div>
Runellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12585027296827690176noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713361080598913590.post-11473696217149975812012-07-28T00:29:00.000-04:002012-07-31T13:44:52.190-04:00Film Review: Blossoms in the Dust (1941)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/images/2737dust.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In their first of eight pictures together.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.dvdtalk.com/">http://www.dvdtalk.com/</a></td></tr>
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<i>TCM</i>: True-life story of Edna Gladney, who fought for orphans' rights in Texas. <br />
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As anyone will tell you in my family, I'm a sucker for kids. They're the living embodiment of innocence, they're sugar and spice and everything nice rolled into a warm body with crooked little grins, a big appetite for learning and discovering the world, and all they want to be is loved. A very highly dramatized and faulty film in regards to the truth about the real Edna Gladney, it's still a powerful film in it's overall message: All children should be loved, no matter their parentage. </div>
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Walter Pidgeon and Greer Garson portray Sam and Edna Gladney, the Texan and the Easterner. Sam is Texan through and through; loud and forthright. The moment he sees Edna (we as the audience only here about the meeting) when she comes into the bank, he tells her once she takes off her gloves: "That better not be an engagement ring." Startled, Edna asks, "Why?" And like any true Texan, he tells her very bluntly, "Because you're going to marry me."<br />
A little later on, when Sam sort of kind of crashes the engagement party that is being thrown for Edna and her adopted sister, Charlotte, and dances with Edna, already, during that one scene, I was able to see how the pairing of Walter and Greer would become so successful and so lasting.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfENXgj6IHquQq8Z5C43_aSEnXJBaANqmyqlJmhLz8bxwftnW2MmRY4Atxs_mKozRqq5g93mstwCJr6smeXZKhr6bNhzWatLtWA_pnNxJN36Ns4-Ya-aq7_Fg-DejvhMZBaKGB2vh_JYM/s1600/Blossoms+In+The+Dust+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfENXgj6IHquQq8Z5C43_aSEnXJBaANqmyqlJmhLz8bxwftnW2MmRY4Atxs_mKozRqq5g93mstwCJr6smeXZKhr6bNhzWatLtWA_pnNxJN36Ns4-Ya-aq7_Fg-DejvhMZBaKGB2vh_JYM/s320/Blossoms+In+The+Dust+1.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The (first) fiance, Edna, and the Texan.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.bettesmovieblog.blogspot.com/">http://www.bettesmovieblog.blogspot.com/</a></td></tr>
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Leonard Maltin nails it on the head when he calls <i>Blossoms in the Dust</i> "a slick tearjerker". There are few truly happy happy moments. Instead, this film is a series of sad happy moments.<br />
Time has passed, which is shown through a series of letters that they exchange when Sam goes back to Texas to "fix it up" for Edna panning across the screen, all showing how their greetings change as time passes on. They start out, "Dear Mr. Gladney . . . " to "Darling . . . " And it is let known through these letters that, despite Edna's first misgivings about Sam, she has fallen in love with him (just as Sam knew that she would).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.missgreergarson.com/Y_Blossoms.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320px" src="http://www.missgreergarson.com/Y_Blossoms.jpg" width="267px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Edna and Sam.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.missgreergarson.com/">http://www.missgreergarson.com/</a></td></tr>
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When Sam returns to marry Edna and take her back to Texas, the happiness doesn't last very long. Very close to her adopted sister, Edna and Charlotte plan on a double wedding. Until, that is, Charlotte's fiancee's parents found out that she is a "foundling"--a child with no name. At the insistence of the almost-<strike>monster </strike>mother-in-law, she will not allow her son to marry Charlotte, even through the son argues that he doesn't care; he truly loves Charlotte. With a tear running down her cheek, Charlotte leaves the room, and after throwing her bracelet at Edna telling her that she wants her to have it to remember her by, she runs up the stairs into her, slams the door, and a few moments later, we hear a gunshot (a sad/weak spot in the picture for me. It's sad, but what woman in the early 1900s has a gun in her bedroom? And why did she give up so quickly? She didn't even give herself time to fully understand her situation before she ups and decides that her life isn't worth living if she can never marry because she's a "foundling".)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Blossoms in the Dust (1941)" height="264px" src="http://img2.bdbphotos.com/images/orig/e/s/es0lpz7maphw0sph.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320px" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is what women wish they looked like after giving birth.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.photos.lucywho.com/">http://www.photos.lucywho.com/</a></td></tr>
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Time has passed once more, and though she still mourns the lost of her sister, she and Sam are finally given a little happiness when, after three years of marriage, Edna gives birth to a son whom they name Sammy. Yet once again, the happiness is short lived when Edna learns that she cannot have the brood of children that she had always wanted.<br />
Sam and Edna make a life with their adored son. The little screen time that he is given before tragedy once again strikes shows that he is their whole world. Sam appears to be a wonderful father, Texan style of course, and with Edna you see her living her role as his mother to the fullest. And as Sammy, you see that he is a happily contented child who knows that he has a Mommy and a Daddy who loves him very much.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQoetclYm9JVxoykUSxf6Q-LXI3S0FCe_4hAMNHbiKvdKgZplstB2ti_gL2bg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="233px" src="http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQoetclYm9JVxoykUSxf6Q-LXI3S0FCe_4hAMNHbiKvdKgZplstB2ti_gL2bg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mommy and Sammy.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.divxclasico.com/">http://www.divxclasico.com/</a></td></tr>
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Their happy little world doesn't last nearly as long as it should, though. When Sammy and his nurse go out for a sleigh ride on Christmas day, the sleigh overturns, and little Sammy is killed. He is brought to his parents, and you know that Edna will never be the same again as she calls her son's name over and over as she holds him in her arms.<br />
As I said, <i>Blossoms in the Dust</i> is not a film of happy happy moments, but rather its foundations are built on sad moments that turn into bitter-sweet moments. A couple of years have passed since Sammy's death, and while Edna had once been a young beautiful woman full of dreams, she is now a bitter woman with her dreams, at least the ones that she was aware of, buried with her son.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://monsterhunter.coldfusionvideo.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/Blossoms-in-the-Dust-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239px" src="http://monsterhunter.coldfusionvideo.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/Blossoms-in-the-Dust-2.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The loves of her life: Sam, Charlotte, and Sammy.<br />
Photo Courtesy of<br />
<a href="http://www.monsterhunter.coldfusionvideo.com/">http://www.monsterhunter.coldfusionvideo.com/</a></td></tr>
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It is through the encourage-ment of her husband and through a family friend that she is finally able to move on, not to forget, but to move on and discover her calling. There are a few more sad moments, but I'll leave them for you to cry over, as I had to do. I didn't think I would be able to finish this picture, but I did, and I'm quite glad that I did. It's a fictionalized biography of the real Edna Gladney, but nonetheless, it is a beautiful story of a courageous woman who fought for what she <i>knew</i> was right who had overcome many tragic adversaries in her life.<br />
<i>Blossoms in the Dust</i> reminded me of all that I had to be thankful for: loving parents and family. It also reminded me of all the poor children that aren't nearly as lucky as so many other families in this world.<br />
A side note that I found interesting was that though this film cemented Greer's popularity, she didn't necessarily enjoy making it. She is quoted as saying that "the screen is neither a platform nor a pulpit." Despite her beliefs about what the silver screen was and was not, Greer gave it her all in this picture, and it shows twofold.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://monsterhunter.coldfusionvideo.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/Blossoms-in-the-Dust-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239px" src="http://monsterhunter.coldfusionvideo.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/Blossoms-in-the-Dust-3.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A bitter-sweet goodbye.<br />
Photo Courtesy of<br />
<a href="http://www.monsterhunter.coldfusionvideo.com/">http://www.monsterhunter.coldfusionvideo.com/</a></td></tr>
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I recommend anyone to watch <i>Blossoms in the Dust</i>, but I also recommend that you either have a box of tissues handy, or a few hand-kerchiefs at hand. I give this picture 3/4 hankies (yes, I changed the rating system for this one picture, that's how much it had me).</div>Runellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12585027296827690176noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713361080598913590.post-18161728553667788062012-07-27T00:54:00.000-04:002012-10-14T23:05:47.924-04:00The Great Recasting Blogathon: Splash (1984)<span style="background-color: white;"> It is quite well-known in my family that I detest the 70s and the 80s. There are very few things that I do like about either decades, but in the case of the latter, there is one film that I have always liked, and probably always will: </span><i style="background-color: white;">Splash</i><span style="background-color: white;"> starring Tom Hanks (a truly fine actor), Daryl Hannah, and John Candy.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.virginmedia.com/images/thenandnow-splash-590x350.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="237" src="http://www.virginmedia.com/images/thenandnow-splash-590x350.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tom Hanks, the man, and Daryl Hannah, the . . . fish?<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.virginmedia.com/">http://www.virginmedia.com</a></td></tr>
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As much as I like this movie, however, and nearly as perfect as I think it is, I know that it <i>can </i>be made better. What could that possibly be? Why, instead of it having been made in the 1984, let's change the production date to that of a more suitable time during the Golden Age of Hollywood, change the director (sorry Ron Howard), and (sorry Tom, Daryl) the star players.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.wikia.com/filmguide/images/d/d6/MGM_Ident_1938.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://images.wikia.com/filmguide/images/d/d6/MGM_Ident_1938.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hey, Leo!<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.movies.wikia.com/">http://www.movies.wikia.com</a></td></tr>
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First thing first, I see <i>Splash</i> as being a product of MGM. This flick entitles something glossy and beautiful, and no one knew how to make a picture glossy and beautiful like MGM did.<br />
Second, because this is going to be a bright, bold, colorful film (thank you Technicolor), I'm going to make the year of production/release 1950. The fifties, in my opinion, were the most colorful of Hollywood golden years.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://fol.lowfoc.us/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/minnelli-camera-yolanda_opt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="318" src="http://fol.lowfoc.us/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/minnelli-camera-yolanda_opt.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How's everything coming along, Vincente?<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.fol.lowfoc.us/">http://www.fol.lowfoc.us</a></td></tr>
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When I think of "bright", "bold", and "colorful", one man comes to mind more than any other: Vincente Minnelli. Now, I know that Vincente is mostly known for his musicals, but he did direct some great comedies and dramas without any musical numbers in them (<i>Some Came Running</i>, <i>Father of the Bride</i>, <i>Father's Little Dividend</i>, <i>The Bad and the Beautiful</i>), so I think making Vincente director is a brilliant idea (MGM would surely be rolling in the dough).<br />
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Now, here comes the hard part: The main players. Who to pick, who to pick? </div>
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Well, after several roll calls, I've finally decided that the following would replace Tom Hanks as Allen Bauer, Daryl Hannah as Madison, and John Candy as Freddie Bauer, and Eugene Levy as Walter Kornbluth:</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.nndb.com/people/871/000023802/dean-martin-lapel-sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.nndb.com/people/871/000023802/dean-martin-lapel-sm.jpg" width="245" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The new Allen Bauer<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.nndb.com/">http://www.nndb.com</a></td></tr>
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Before you object, or say something like, "What!? She's nuts!" I would like to point out that Dean was truly a very funny man. I know that in 1950 he was only in his fourth of ten years of partnership with Jerry Lewis, (you need not worry, I am NOT making this into a Martin and Lewis film) and due to a clause in their contract neither could be in a film without the other, I'm just going to pretend that that clause never was, and that Dean could be in any film that he wanted to be in.<br />
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Now, the reason why I also say that Dean is a good pick (and no, it's not just because he's my favorite because if I did that I'd have to make Cary be Madison to even things out) is that Tom is pretty funny in <i>Splash.</i> He sings a little while he's juggling some fruits, starts dancing with his brother, and pulls some very comical lines . . . Well, hello, people, that's Dean all over! Also, there are a few spots in <i>Splash</i> where things get serious, and despite what people may think, Dean <i>could</i> be serious, and he did so very well.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.latimes.com/includes/projects/hollywood/portraits/jean_arthur.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.latimes.com/includes/projects/hollywood/portraits/jean_arthur.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meet Madison.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.projects.latimes.com/">http://www.projects.latimes.com</a></td></tr>
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<i>She is picking her favorites!</i> No, I assure you, I'm not . . . at least, not on purpose. It took me a while to think of an actress who could play Madison. Madison is beautiful, smart, magical, and, for the lack of a better word, <i>special</i>. <i>Who,</i> I wondered, <i>did that remind me of?</i> Then my Jean came to me. <i>Of course!</i> She would be the perfect Madison because Jean was everything mentioned before and <i>more.</i> Jean had that magical air about her that seems to define what we think a "mermaid" would be like. Now, would Jean be described as a "Siren?" A woman of incredible beauty that leads men to their deaths? Well, no, she wouldn't (and besides that would be a completely different movie from <i>Splash</i>), but Jean was very beautiful in my opinion, and with that magical sense about her, I really do think she would make the perfect Madison.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.latimes.com/includes/projects/hollywood/portraits/jack_carson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.latimes.com/includes/projects/hollywood/portraits/jack_carson.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Freddie my main man!<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.projects.latimes.com/">http://www.projects.latimes.com</a></td></tr>
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I didn't really have to think too long about who would fill in John Candy's role. It just came to me. Both big fellas (and fellow Canadians) it seems to me that John and Jack Carson have the same sense of "Let's have a good time, don't talk too fast" sense of humor. Jack is best remembered as a comedian who could do a little heavy drama if the time called for it (<i>Cat on a Hot Tin Roof</i>), and John is best remembered as a comedian who could say a few well-thought out piece of advice.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv-2DYxYL0ejWxTCsy2AlWMVdYFNrkWApPcbLV3OcPzANQBrJ9rkESzWqjXS6wu9IF0Y2eEUDsqn1pieHu5kQ83E0ckCLmyx2HDODUuCIo2KEOsp9mvWbY8-qcsjc2aDbF6TwV8T3Oah8/s1600/edward-everett-horton-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv-2DYxYL0ejWxTCsy2AlWMVdYFNrkWApPcbLV3OcPzANQBrJ9rkESzWqjXS6wu9IF0Y2eEUDsqn1pieHu5kQ83E0ckCLmyx2HDODUuCIo2KEOsp9mvWbY8-qcsjc2aDbF6TwV8T3Oah8/s320/edward-everett-horton-001.jpg" width="252" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sure mermaids are real, Walter, sure.<br />
Photo Courtesy of<br />
<a href="http://www.filmicability.blogspot.com/">http://www.filmicability.blogspot.com</a></td></tr>
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Anybody that has ever seen an Astaire and Rogers picture knows that poor Edward Everett Horton was never completely . . . stable. He was all over the place, completely frazzled, and quick to get confused. If that doesn't sound like Walter Kornbluth, I don't know what does.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://annyas.com/screenshots/images/1951/an-american-in-paris-the-end.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://annyas.com/screenshots/images/1951/an-american-in-paris-the-end.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Like it says. The end.<br />Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.annyas.com/">http://www.annyas.com</a></td></tr>
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Well, there we are. This would be my version of a 1950 <i>Splash</i> starring Dean Martin, Jean Arthur, Jack Carson and Edward Everett Horton which would be produced by MGM and directed by Vincente Minnelli. <i>Splash</i> would be, if nothing else, <i>very</i> interesting to watch; it'd be a hot mess most likely, but an entertaining one, or at least that's what I think.<br />
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I would like to think Natalie and Rianna at<i> <a href="http://www.theswingmood.blogspot.com/" style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #e69138;">In the Mood</span></a></i><span style="background-color: white;"> and </span><a href="http://www.franklymydear-blog.blogspot.com/" style="background-color: white;"><i><span style="color: #e69138;">Frankly, My Dear</span></i></a> for coming up with this marvelous idea! It was great fun, and it was nice to indulge myself with this little cockeyed dream of mine.<br />
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Runellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12585027296827690176noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713361080598913590.post-82614282577075388272012-07-26T01:30:00.000-04:002012-08-04T23:25:17.234-04:00Dana Andrews Blogathon: State Fair (1945)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9c/Starfair1945poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9c/Starfair1945poster.jpg" style="background-color: white;" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The best of all three adaptations.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.en.wikipedia.org/">http://www.en.wikipedia</a>.org</td></tr>
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<i>TCM</i>: An Iowa family finds romance and adventure at the yearly state fair.<br />
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This is my (last minute) contribution to the <i>Dana Andrews Blogathon</i> hosted by <i>Classic Movie Man. </i>Check out the rest of the contributions <i><a href="http://www.classicmovieman.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: orange;">here</span></a>.</i><br />
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<i> State Fair</i> is one of my all time favorite musicals. It is charming, lively, colorful, and the music of Rodgers and Hammerstein, if the story within itself wasn't any good, would make it well worth the watch. <span style="background-color: white;">Thankfully, however, the story of an Iowa family's annual trip to the state fair to partake in the hog contest, mince meat judging, and, for the two youths, finding first loves, </span><i style="background-color: white;">is</i><span style="background-color: white;"> good. In fact, it's fantastic.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"> There has (so far) been three adaptations to Phil Stong's 1932 novel of the same name (all of which I have seen). The first (and only non-musical version of the trio) was produced a year after the release of the novel in 1933. It starred Will Rogers and Louise Dresser as Abel and Melissa Frake (the parents) with Janet Gaynor and Norman Foster as Margy and Wayne (the kids). Finally, the immediate cast is rounded out by Lew Ayres and Sally Eilers as Pat Gilbert and Emily Joyce (love interests </span><span style="background-color: white;">to Margy and Wayne).</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRlkobooivWpR1h9YdtPqCc74GBy1vHcY3OzBGHH3Uj8KhXJdA8kardcbxa" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRlkobooivWpR1h9YdtPqCc74GBy1vHcY3OzBGHH3Uj8KhXJdA8kardcbxa" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">The first Frake family.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.altfg.com/">http://www.altfg.com</a></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;"> This adaptation is the closest to Philip Stong's novel. It is mostly played as a drama with just enough laughs thrown in to not make it <i>too</i> heavy. This film adaptation is split evenly between all the players, and what I mean by that is the adults get their screen time and the kids get theirs, and it's sort of everyone's film, not just one particular person. The couple that I wanted to watch the most of though, was, of course, Janet Gaynor and Lew Ayres. As Pat and Margy, they go through the stages of the meet-cue, the attraction, and the eventual falling in love with the intensity of the early 1930s, but nonetheless they are believable as a couple.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTRclXqq-lPqXLKrZia3AOJSOQCPhn070-NP5F-xNLMSkXYtU45FL78SK3-Tg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTRclXqq-lPqXLKrZia3AOJSOQCPhn070-NP5F-xNLMSkXYtU45FL78SK3-Tg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">Pat and Margy.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.google.com/">http://www.google.com</a></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;"> The most interesting person in the film, though the film is clearly about the Frakes, is Lew Ayres' Pat Gilbert. Lew plays Pat not as a cynical newspaperman as more often than not they were all made out to be, but rather as just a man. It's nice. There are cases when you are given the feeling that something else might be lurking behind the facade, if there is one, but mostly what you see is what you get which is a good guy.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"> In the 1945 version, little has changed besides the fact that music has been added, and the film is mostly focused on the love lives of Wayne and Margy, this time played by Dick Haymes and Jeanne Crain and their love interests Emily (change of name here) played by Vivian Blaine and Pat (same name as before) played by Dana Andrews.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://jnpickens.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/statefair1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="http://jnpickens.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/statefair1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Though his voice was dubbed (along with Jeanne Crain),<br />
he really could sing.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.cometoverhollywood.com/">http://www.cometoverhollywood.com</a></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">Now, I like Lew Ayres, in fact I like him a lot, but by far Dana is my favorite when it comes to who is the best Pat Gilbert. Dana gives Pat an air about him that an experienced news-paperman who hops around a lot, looking to make it big, surely has about him. He's slightly cynical, but not so much where you want to say, "Listen, I know life isn't a piece of cake, but it's not </span><i style="background-color: white;">that </i><span style="background-color: white;">bad." Instead, it's like Pat knows that life is a joke, but he's the who's figured it out, and the rest of us are kind of floundering about.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://encrypted-tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSnPIaayhtwdq3yI-KVklSl7b6qjp00LH_NjjSu5enhEiwzjdwnSQ" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://encrypted-tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSnPIaayhtwdq3yI-KVklSl7b6qjp00LH_NjjSu5enhEiwzjdwnSQ" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">You can't be hard bitten and drink Coke, too.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.movie-index.com/">http://www.movie-index.com</a></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;"> Unlike Bobby Darin's try as Pat Gilbert in the 1962 version of <i>State Fair</i>, Dana doesn't make Pat out to be so much as cocky (so cocky that you feel like hitting him upside his head like I sometimes do with Bobby Darin's Pat Gilbert), but rather confident. Sure of himself, but not so stiff necked about everything that he doesn't know how to have fun. In fact, as I stated before, he knows that life is a joke, and so he takes it as one.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU7qyglXuvc5OYNVFBGRtmcxiVwpSAAZm9i1oFEbBH2hfWkA68_59tsXA-EnU57HbuVDgUpTeg1Adth96JQXV2Hf_sYB8sIxL-wy7GD-Bds4oRZdTFT5BjlTYHkG900AzvS0-xaxLFb1oH/s320/state-fair-cast.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">"Got a match?"<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.asleepinny.blogspot.com/">http://www.asleepinny.blogspot.com</a></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;"> I haven't seen too many of Dana's pictures, though I have seen just enough, and observed just enough, to perhaps surmise that he was a man comfortable in his own skin; he was comfortable with himself, and this is evident through his portrayal as Pat Gilbert.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"> In the 1962 version, Bobby Darin makes his Pat Gilbert to be more a man of the world than Dana did. After they have met and spent the day together, and Dana is telling Jeanne about the places that he's worked, where's he's been, she very dreamily says, "You've been everywhere" to which Dana is quick to say that no, he hasn't, but he <i>is</i> going places. Bobby, on the other hand, flat out tells his Margie (spell change) played by Pamela Tiffin that he's been here, done that, and "Oh, you should've been there the time . . . " and as we find out later, he's done none of the things that he said; he was, in fact, just overcompensating for his lack of achievements that had so far been obtained. He was trying to impress.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQioOsNjLgWVJ5osf1TXbVgIGYgoLatsiu8F0ajtN6pkjgnujFORMybsueg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQioOsNjLgWVJ5osf1TXbVgIGYgoLatsiu8F0ajtN6pkjgnujFORMybsueg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">Bobby and Pamela as Pat and Margie.<br />
Photo Courtesy of<br />
<a href="http://www.briansdriveintheater.com/">http://www.briansdriveintheater.com</a></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;"> Dana knows he doesn't have to impress. He just does so naturally. From the moment he's introduced in the film (sitting in a roller coaster, eating an apple) to the end with him jumping out of his car and running to take Jeanne Crain in his arms, he commands the screen in every scene that he's in, but he does so subtly, and that's what I like.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"> Another thing that I like that Dana does differently than Bobby does is that as Pat, he takes things in stride. When Bobby's Pat realizes that he's fallen in love with Pamela's Margie, he becomes frazzled. He doesn't know how to handle it exactly. He beings to think he doesn't deserve her (and maybe he doesn't). When Dana realizes that he's in love with her, he's like "Hmm. Okay. Didn't see that one coming exactly, but whatever." He's not flippant about it, but he's not too overly worried about it. Stride. It's all about the stride.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="240" src="http://houseofmirthandmovies.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/vlcsnap-00006.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">Just when you think you know him, he does something to<br />
make you think twice.<br />
Photo Courtesy of<br />
<a href="http://www.houseofmirthandmovies.wordpress.com/">http://www.houseofmirthandmovies.wordpress.com</a></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">In the end, I like all three versions of</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><i>State Fair.</i><span style="background-color: white;"> They're all different, and everybody gives their </span><span style="background-color: white;">inter-pretation of their character, and they all do them very well. For my money, though, despite the fact that I really do like Lew and Bobby, Dana does the best job of portraying Pat Gilbert. He, much more so than Lew and Bobby, gives Pat Gilbert layers. He's not exactly who you think he is, and just when you think you've figured him out, he says or does something that makes you reconsider everything about his character once more.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"> I suggest that you view all three adaptations of <i>State Fair</i> and make your own conclusion about which version is the best (obviously my vote is 1945) and which actor you think does the best as portraying Pat Gilbert: Lew, Dana, or Bobby.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"> Now, to finish things off, I give <i>State Fair</i>, a film that I would suggest for the whole family to watch, a 3.5/4 stars.</span><br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZVAOuTwQB46qxdR2L6jq7-xYYuDTt2S2KwlsNZKGBtxg_KmIHi50LIgY31WL-5Ze4zwinii56d4E6NcM_20j6eo41qtXJnzyHjIOIkKNQrGfnLGalhb_SyhObyYIPz2tBik5RVTGc3GJN/s1600/state-fair-dana-jean-end-kiss.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZVAOuTwQB46qxdR2L6jq7-xYYuDTt2S2KwlsNZKGBtxg_KmIHi50LIgY31WL-5Ze4zwinii56d4E6NcM_20j6eo41qtXJnzyHjIOIkKNQrGfnLGalhb_SyhObyYIPz2tBik5RVTGc3GJN/s320/state-fair-dana-jean-end-kiss.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">A great way to end a great film.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.asleepinny.blogspot.com/">http://www.asleepinny.blogspot.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Runellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12585027296827690176noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713361080598913590.post-89690455791917031802012-07-21T23:13:00.000-04:002012-07-29T23:49:27.100-04:00Film Review: The Valley of Decision (1945)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/0f/The_Valley_of_Decision.jpg/220px-The_Valley_of_Decision.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/0f/The_Valley_of_Decision.jpg/220px-The_Valley_of_Decision.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gregory and Greer . . . need I say more?<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.en.wikipedia.org/">http://www.en.wikipedia.org/</a></td></tr>
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<em>TCM</em>: An Irish housmade's romance with the boss's son is complicated by labor disputes in the Pittsburgh mills. <br />
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Have you ever read a synopsis of a book or film, and you become so enchanted and enthralled with the premise that you become obsessed with getting your hands on it, and reading or seeing it? Well, that's exactly how I was with this film and the novel upon which it was based.<br />
I wanted to see <i>The Valley of Decision</i> so bad, the palms of my hands would itch in anticipation every time I would check to see if it was coming on TCM. Thankfully, (for who knows how much longer my palms would have made it), I found it on youtube; and with the feeling of victory coursing through my veins, I sat back and watched . . .<br />
. . . I'm jumping the gun, though. Having read the whopper of a novel (640 pages) first, I must say that I (for the first time ever, I believe) disagree with the trite (but usually correct) statement that "the book is always better than the movie". I liked the very condensed film adaptation better than I did the actual novel; and I say this with the more romantic viewpoint.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ4SC7ZMmBsAWS-Pgq5aO7VtR88qkiYU-NYwmn_XuG-yPA9KXmrcwfJsxxD" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179px" src="http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ4SC7ZMmBsAWS-Pgq5aO7VtR88qkiYU-NYwmn_XuG-yPA9KXmrcwfJsxxD" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The setting: Pittsburgh. 1870.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.mubi.com/">http://www.mubi.com/</a></td></tr>
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I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I'm really not that all of a romantic person. In today's films, I could careless if the lead actors get together in the end or not. In the case of the classics, however, I'm always rooting for them to kiss, marry, have a brood of children, and live happily-ever-after (this should give you an idea how the film wins over with me as where, while the novel of the same name by Marcia Davenport is much meatier and fantastic in all its glory, comes second). So by<span style="background-color: white;"> saying that, had they followed the novel more closely, M-G-M would have had an epic on their hands that probably wouldn't be as easily forgotten as I feel </span><em style="background-color: white;">The Valley of Decision</em><span style="background-color: white;"> is now.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://i.cdn.turner.com/v5cache/TCM/Images/Dynamic/i113/thevalleyofdecision_1945_ff_188x141_070120100511.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://i.cdn.turner.com/v5cache/TCM/Images/Dynamic/i113/thevalleyofdecision_1945_ff_188x141_070120100511.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mary and Paul.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.tcm.com/">http://www.tcm.com</a></td></tr>
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I'm part Irish and proud of it, and so Greer playing the spunky Irish housemaid, Mary Rafferty, completely wins over my heart. Her brogue is charming, and she has this magical air about her that makes one think of leprechauns and four leaf clovers and fairies. As Mary, Greer is completely irrisitable to me, and, much more importantly, Gregory Peck, who, in only his third picture, plays Paul Scott, the son of the Big Steel Man, William Scott, played by Donald Crisp.<br />
Greer and Gregory were quite lovely in this picture. I loved watching them fall in love, I ached when Greer ended things because she thought it was what had to be done after what all had happened between her family and his, and I rejoiced when, in the end, they were able to be together.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m7bwlawfNZ1qg61ryo1_r1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m7bwlawfNZ1qg61ryo1_r1_500.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paul and Jim Brennan, the other man in love with Mary.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.iheartgregorypeck.tumblr.com/">http://www.iheartgregorypeck.tumblr.com</a></td></tr>
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Something I found very interesting when I first watched this film was the fact that, according to <a href="http://http//www.imdb.com/title/tt0038213/" style="background-color: white;"><i>IMDB</i></a>, Greer was a good twelve years older than Gregory . . . I swear to you, though, you would never guess it. They are well matched in everything: their talent, their beauty, and their youth. The leads could not be any better than this.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DJOl1HG8kxc/T52_08VfG6I/AAAAAAAAAI4/QW2pgxfLELM/s1600/tumblr_m1unms75Ne1r9rxti.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DJOl1HG8kxc/T52_08VfG6I/AAAAAAAAAI4/QW2pgxfLELM/s320/tumblr_m1unms75Ne1r9rxti.jpg" width="255" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Greer and Gregory in a promotional picture for<br />
<i>The Valley of Decision</i>.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.thisgirlgabbie.blogspot.com/">http://www.thisgirlgabbie.blogspot.com</a></td></tr>
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One thing I would like to point out are all the familiar faces. Lionel Barrymore, my favorite of all the Barrymores, plays the wheelchair bound father of Mary, Pat Rafferty; with Gladys Cooper as the matriarch of the Scotts, Jessica Tandy (<i>Fried Green Tomatos</i>, <i>Driving Mrs. Daisy</i>) in an early role as the woman who wants Paul for his money, Dan Duryea as Paul's older brother, William, Jr., and little Dean Stockwell in his first feature film as Paul's son, Paulie.<br />
In the end, <i>The Valley of Decision</i> is a beautiful, honest picture of star-crossed lovers. The chemistry between Gregory and Greer is one that should be noted. I fell in love with the book, and with Paul and Mary, and I desperately wanted them to have <span style="background-color: white;">a happier ending in the film, and in this case, I'm glad to say that the film didn't really match the book. They deserved to live happily ever after, and long after <i>The End</i> credits rolled away and left a black screen, I think about them from time to time. I think that they did.</span><br />
I give The Valley of Decision, a picture that really got the classic romantic in me to come out, a big 4/4 stars.<br />
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</div>Runellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12585027296827690176noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713361080598913590.post-88090871717534716722012-07-14T23:30:00.000-04:002012-07-24T14:49:45.899-04:00Film Review: Random Harvest (1942)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e1/Random-harvest-1942.jpg/220px-Random-harvest-1942.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the most romantic films ever to be <span style="background-color: white;">produced.</span><br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.en.wikipedia.org/">http://www.en.wikipedia.org/</a></td></tr>
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<i>TCM</i>: A woman's happiness is threatened when she discovers that her husband has been suffering from amnesia.<br />
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I have started and stopped this film so many times that I've lost count on the attempts of me actually trying to watch it. It is with my greatest pleasure, however, that I am now able to say that I have watched it from beginning to end, though my hand twitched to pause it, walk away, and swear to myself that I would finish it another day.<br />
I'm glad that I didn't.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="240px" src="http://www.classicfilmguide.com/image097d.gif?id=275" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320px" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dr. Jonathan Benet and Smith.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.classicfilmguide.com/">http://www.classicfilmguide.com/</a></td></tr>
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Though this is technically my second Ronald Colman picture, it is my first where he is, quite irrevocably, the leading man . . . and what a leading man! I don't know much about Ronald Colman due to my lack of watching his films, but it is with this picture and doing a little research on him that I can safely say that he deserved to be a well-loved leading man in the 1930s through the 40s. I read a quote once saying that Coleman was the one person that could make Cary Grant look pedestrian . . . while I think that might be going too far (a biased opinion), I will say that Ronald certainly does give Cary a run for his money.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful and quite haunting in my opinion.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.blog.bearstrong.net/">http://www.blog.bearstrong.net/</a></td></tr>
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As I was reading up on Ronald, I found out that he actually served in World War I, and was seriously wounded by a shrapnel to the ankle at the <i>Battle of Messines.</i> It is with this bit of information that makes me wonder if Ronald actually knew military men suffering from amnesia as his "Smith" character did, and if so, did he base Smith on them?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="239px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWVTi-MNnqo4w3A-NeY5U9syQHf5FzIz-YbNUKKZhHyTnRv5SpbgfOpOkhuBhTVkXij2jVZCuKpbW1a8tCRAcjN-WthbIlTAIDHU62dhJq21Y1fNiNFp14_DDZaFVCvGYD3Au5lM8hYcXj/s320/Ronald+Colman+Random+Harvest.PNG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320px" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Smith: Lost in more ways than one.<br />Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.actoroscar.blogspot.com/">http://www.actoroscar.blogspot.com/</a></span></td></tr>
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<i>Random Harvest</i>, due to the subject manner and in which the way the lead actors play the roles, is a very heavy and haunting picture. The first half of the picture is photographed in such a way that it makes it feel as if everything were a dream, which works very well; and the most dreamy quality is Greer Garson herself. While Greer was a truly beautiful woman in every picture she did, she looks beyond gorgeous in <i>Random Harvest</i>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Random Harvest (1942)" height="239px" src="http://img2.bdbphotos.com/images/orig/e/5/e5pcqihz16egegp1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320px" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meet Paula.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.allstarpics.net/">http://www.allstarpics.net/</a></td></tr>
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To me, Greer Garson had the appearance of a delicate beauty, but as I've learned she was a strong woman, though she had to fight tooth and nail for her strength, and, ultimately, because of that, her strength showed through her characters, too.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="215px" src="http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/69/69_images/69random_head.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320px" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paula and Smith.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/">http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/</a></td></tr>
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I've also noticed that Greer was made out to be a loving caretaker in her films, for in everyone that I've seen, even in <i>Julia Misbehaves</i>, she is always taking care of someone, whether they be sick, or in need of a good shoulder to cry on, or whether it's to help an amnesiac man remember his past--not once, but twice. As aforementioned, the first half of the picture, with Smith not knowing who he was, but nonetheless becoming "Smithy" to Paula, and liking his role as her husband and father, their life together is photographed in soft lights, romantic picnics by a crick, and a little cottage with a fence in need of a good oiling and a tree limb full of soft pink blossoms (I assume they're pink) with a little baby boy--the stuff that dreams are made of. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="231px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixsjsi9nOsVKbqlblcAwxnUBjQ25hD14hbPysiDqqV5Nkp38QqjuYilfuy9vK8vra8ieWcDgZfzLFfW-XAiT7NcZMnJxJOshFwr9LWWbiFdX8qyw4FXo_zQMYqdB_i6BauJeEeFU7tzOF8/s320/Random.Harvest.Tree.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320px" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'Tis all but a dream.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.classicmoviesdigest.blogspot.com/">http://www.classicmoviesdigest.blogspot.com/</a></td></tr>
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And just as everyone is becoming accustomed to the lovely dream, all of us are rudely awakened when Smithy once more has an accident and in the process has remembered who he <i>was</i>, but has forgotten who he <i>is.</i> And this is when Paula shows her true love and devotion for her husband when she continues to stand by her man as Charles Rainier's (his real name) secretary. For years she has pined away for the man that she fell in love, and all the while, he's sitting right there by her, she remembering everything, and he remembering nothing. A cruel twist of fate.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="239px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Pt29Yr7RIULJqEXFfwedL99_p6caJ99ZrZggOSwjGl3YaHbrURdpUJ9iutpT5MRHZcF3_qoy8s53nJ8qgEUFwrj6hCr-brbhleePeDhAtnHGUpPCo28Ti7N3UkGPB3hbH6LtrVHh23z-/s320/random+harvest+2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320px" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So close, yet so far away.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.classicmoviesdigest.blogspot.com/">http://www.classicmoviesdigest.blogspot.com/</a></td></tr>
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There's something though, something in the back of his mind, lurking in the shadows, tantalizing him to remember; it's mischievous, however, and just when it seems that he's got a hold of it, it slips through the cracks of his fingers, and is gone, leaving Charles with nothing but the feeling that he's lost. With patience there comes a reward, and with the help of Paula, whom he knows as Margaret, his wife (again), he does remember, though it's almost too late.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="240px" src="http://nsa15.casimages.com/img/2010/05/17/100517121828751382.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320px" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A little sense of déjà vu.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.whoopsy-daisy.forumactif.org/">http://www.whoopsy-daisy.forumactif.org/</a></td></tr>
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As they say, love conquers all, and in the end, that is just what <i>Random Harvest</i> is all about. Love conquering the most trying of obstacles that tests how true one devotion and love is to the other. Many times, it kills the love. Then, there are the times that love wins, and when that moment happens, it is akin to no other feeling in the world.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="281px" src="http://www.meredy.com/greergarson/randomharvest.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320px" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paula and Smithy together again.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.meredy.com/">http://www.meredy.com/</a></td></tr>
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Perhaps <i>Random Harvest </i>is improvable, and corny, and too sentimental as I have read on some other people's reviews, but I don't really think it is. I think it's like Pandora's Box: When all else in gone in the world, hope is left. I give <i>Random Harvest, </i>which so far is my favorite Greer Garson picture (and coincidentally hers, too) a 4/4 stars.<br />
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</div>Runellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12585027296827690176noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4713361080598913590.post-28568981341831900012012-07-07T15:46:00.000-04:002012-07-21T15:48:20.250-04:00Film Review: Julia Misbehaves (1948)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A truly delightful comedy.<br />
Photo Courtesy of<br />
<a href="http://www.classicfilmfreak.com/">http://www.classicfilmfreak.com</a></td></tr>
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<i>TCM</i>: A showgirl returns to her stuffy estranged husband when their daughter gets engaged.<br />
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In the fifth of their eight films together, <i>Julia Misbehaves </i>was meant to shake up the quickly tiring combination of the two who were the "epitome of grace under fire" as <i>TCM: The Leading Couples</i> puts it. Walter Pidgeon and Greer Garson were best known for their pairing in such films as <i>Blossoms in the Dust,</i> <i>Madam Curie, </i>and, of course, <i>Mrs. Miniver </i>which were all about strong people being put to the ultimate tests that life threw at them.<br />
<i> Julia Misbehaves</i>, a film meant to shake up their loving husband and wife image, is the exact opposite. It's crazy light fun reminiscent of a 30s slapstick.<br />
I thoroughly enjoyed <i>Julia Misbehaves</i> and I can't quite seem to wrap my head around the reason why it failed. Sure, I can see how some might balk at the fact that they didn't want to see Greer Garson, who at this point was seen as a very loving, motherly figure, leave her husband and child for the stage, but really, in my opinion that shouldn't have caused them to dislike the film as they did.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img2.bdbphotos.com/images/orig/e/t/etxr7xncxx64x7ct.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Julia Misbehaves (1948)" border="0" height="255" src="http://img2.bdbphotos.com/images/orig/e/t/etxr7xncxx64x7ct.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meet Julia, the actress on the first floor.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.fanpix.net/">http://www.fanpix.net</a></td></tr>
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The film starts out in London in 1936 with a woman named Louise running across the street, dodging on coming cars, dashing into a shop and informing, Benji, the pro-prietor, that Julia intends to off herself. Hurrying back across the street, Benji and Louise rush inside the building whereas we, the audience, are given a hint that something might be up with the deceleration of this Julia "doing away with herself" when an old busybody woman tells her friend, "It's that actress on the first floor."<br />
Benji and Louise rush into the apartment, and we find a group of men who inform Benji where she is exactly and that she plans on "sticking her head in the oven". Pounding on the door insistently, he commands for Julia to open the door . . . whereupon the camera shows us that a large grandfather clock and other assorted items are lodged up against the door barring anyone from entering, and Julia . . . not sticking her head in an oven to do away with herself, but soaking in a bubble bath in a large tub.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Julia Misbehaves (1948)" height="320" src="http://img2.bdbphotos.com/images/orig/e/s/es4g1jvfwc7fj1fs.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="242" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Walter Pidgeon as the husband, William,<br />
and Elizabeth <span style="background-color: white;">Taylor as the daughter,</span><br />
Susan.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.fanpix.net/">http://www.fanpix.net</a></td></tr>
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And it is with this introduction that you pretty much figure that you are in for a good time, which you are. As far as I can see, comedy wasn't exactly Greer's forte, drama being mostly her line of work, but I think she was wonderful as the madcap Julia and the puzzlement over why this film failed still continues to boggle my mind. It seems to me that the 1948 audience didn't realize that it had a truly funny film on it's hands just like a decade before the 1938 audience didn't realize that they had the greatest slapstick comedy on <i>their</i> hands--does <i>Bringing Up Baby</i> ring any bells for anyone?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img2.bdbphotos.com/images/orig/7/9/794goqi89r0x8irg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Julia Misbehaves - Greer Garson" border="0" height="320" src="http://img2.bdbphotos.com/images/orig/7/9/794goqi89r0x8irg.jpg" width="258" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Save me! Save me!"<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.fanpix.net/">http://www.fanpix.net</a></td></tr>
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This isn't my first Walter and Greer picture, <i>Scandal at Scourie</i> (1953) having been the first, but it <i>is</i> my second of their eight films together, and already I know that I really like them as a team. They have a great chemistry, though it is quiet kind of chemistry in my opinion, and I think they worked very well off each other. They were people of dignity, and it shows. Of course, just because they were people of dignity, that does not mean they weren't willing to be, say, and act some very silly and wild things.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Julia Misbehaves (1948)" height="245" src="http://img2.bdbphotos.com/images/orig/e/t/etxsip4a6dfcd6cp.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mother and daughter meeting for the first time in years.<br />
Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.fanpix.net/">http://www.fanpix.net</a></td></tr>
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I've noticed as I've watched Greer's films, which most of them have her as a mother, is that she really was a natural when it came to portraying a mother. She did it in such a way that has me believing if her onscreen children <i>had</i> been her children, she would act just as she did in the film: patient, loving, and understanding. So, to state the obvious, I really liked Julia's and Susan's relationship in the film. I question as to whether or not Susan really would have accepted her mother back as easily as she did, but that does little to deter my liking of the picture.<br />
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Another aspect that I liked about the picture, surprisingly, was Peter Lawford. Now, being the huge fan of Dean Martin, I've seen Peter in all of the<span style="background-color: white;"> "Rat Pack" pictures, and </span><i style="background-color: white;">Easter Parade</i><span style="background-color: white;"> (1948), but that's about all I've seen of him. And besides the latter, I've never really been given a good picture of Peter Lawford. I didn't like him and I didn't dislike him; he just kind of . . . was. In </span><i style="background-color: white;">Julia Misbehaves</i><span style="background-color: white;">, however, I liked him. Granted, his role is kind of small, but he and Elizabeth hit just the right note for me together, and he gave me some laughs (and if you can make me laugh it's a good chance that I'm going to end up liking you).</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b28/ZenKoan/subalbum01/JuliaMisbehaves006.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b28/ZenKoan/subalbum01/JuliaMisbehaves006.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ritchie, Susan, William, and Julia getting ready for a picnic.<br />Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.unecinephile.blogspot.com/">http://www.unecinephile.blogspot.com</a></td></tr>
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One thing I did find very interesting is that while Julia is suppose to be coming for her daughter's wedding, not once do you see you see the prospective groom (no, Peter Lawford isn't the groom, though that's what I had thought at first). The only thing that gives you an idea that there <i>is</i> a fiance is that there is 1) a picture of the fiance , and 2) a wedding rehearsal where the groom's parents are met and we find out that he's off at some meeting. Other then that--nothing! And I like it that way (Peter and Elizabeth are very cute together in my opinion, so I didn't want anything messing up the picture).<br />
<i>Julia Misbehaves </i>is a delightful film that should be given a chance by everyone. It's light fun, and it's a film I think the whole family would enjoy. I give this film 3/4 stars, and I leave you with one of my favorite scenes (and the funniest) from the film:<br />
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(<span style="font-size: x-small;">Video Courtesy of </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/WaitinOnASunnyDay22?feature=watch">http://www.youtube.com/user/WaitinOnASunnyDay22?feature=watch</a>)Runellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12585027296827690176noreply@blogger.com2