Happy Birthday To My Singing Cowboy

Hello Everyone!

     Yes, I am a little bit late, but I wanted to wish my singing cowboy a happy would-be birthday today. I've noticed that among the classic movie blogs I follow Greer Garson (who also has a birthday today) has been getting a lot of attention; so I decided I ought to show Gene some love - not to mention that, as of now, I like him better than Mrs. Garson (not to say I don't like Greer Garson though, I really did like her in "Random Harvest"). 

 

Gene Autry and his [awesome] horse, Champion.

     He may not be the best singer (although I could listen to him for a long time); he may not be the best-looking person (you have to consider the fact that there are other persons out there like David Manners and Gary Cooper, for example); he may not be the best actor (although he wasn't a complete failure in any sense); and, yes, most of his movies have a similar plot (bad guy, good guy, cute girl, horses, guns, and a good-beats-evil finish); but I still love Gene Autry. 

     Thanks to Netflix (who apparently think it's their duty to put on display his whole body of work) I've seen many of his movies - I don't care what anyone says, they're are fun to watch! Watch one, you'll see what I mean - pure, corny, American entertainment. :)

 

How cute is this picture? <3

     Before I go, 2 facts you didn't know about Gene Autry (that I thought were interesting and worth repeating): 

1. He's the only person to have 5 stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, though (one in each category: radio, television, movies, stage, and music). 

2. During World War II, when he left Republic Pictures to join the U.S. Army, he was the only officer allowed to wear cowboy boots with his uniform.

     Anyway, Happy Birthday to my singing cowboy!!! <3

Until Later On~

Awesome People for the Day: Loretta Young

Hello There, 

     After my last "Awesome People for the Day" post, one of my most faithful commenters asked me to do a post on Loretta Young. Of course, I was more than willing to oblige. Here are some pictures I scraped together of Loretta Young:

 

I love this dress on her.

 

 

Loretta Young: a very beautiful girl. As far as actresses go, I used to like her a lot more than I do now, although I still think she's a good actress. I like her and Tyrone Power together. 

 

I love her hair in this picture.

 

A picture of young Miss Young.

 

Her heart-breaking eyes.

Thanks for the suggestion, Cheryl! I hope you liked the pictures I picked! 

Oh, and one more:

 

A picture of Babs and Loretta Young, for the sake of having a picture of Babs and Loretta Young. ;)

     Now to work on everything else I need to get done before school starts next Monday...wish me luck! 

Until Later On~

Thoughts on that Fashion in Film Blogathon...

Hello Everyone,

     So, yesterday was the day of the Fashion in Film Blogathon - my first ever blogathon - and I think it went pretty well! I got a couple of new followers which makes me ridiculously happy. I got lots of lovely comments on my piece which also makes me ridiculously happy. :) There were lots of other fashionable posts written, and they all made for a supremely fashionable day. Thanks again to Angela at The Hollywood Revue for hosting it! 

     I also wanted to post this video, made by David at FilmClassics. Absolutely amazing video starring my classic Hollywood love, Jimmy Stewart. The song is "Blink" by Revive. I really love this song! And realize this is coming from the girl who has NO modern music on her iPod and rarely would admit to even liking a modern song. Anyway, beautiful Jimmy in a beautiful video:

    

     Now, I'm going to say it - David makes the best videos. ever. If and/or when he makes a tribute to Barbara Stanwyck I'll probably cry - I wait in ecstatic anticipation for that day. ;)

  

Until Later On~

Fashion in Film Blogathon: Miss Stanwyck, meet Miss Head.

Hello Everyone,

     When I heard about this blogathon my first thought was to do a post on some of my favorite Stanwyck costumes (seeing as how she’s my favorite actress and I like to think she’s incredibly fashionable). Then, all of these ideas started pouring into my mind. Things such as a blog on all of Ginger Rogers’ fantastic dresses in her movies with Fred Astaire (especially the dress she wore for the “Pick Yourself Up” number in Swingtime, probably one of my all-time favorite movie dresses). I also considered doing a blog on costumes from “Stella Dallas” (1937) because they are so ridiculous it makes me want to cry, or a blog solely honoring the hats from “The Women” (1939) because they are also more than ridiculous. Then there's all those fur coats from "The Mad Miss Manton" (1938) to "Christmas in Connecticut" (1945) which could be interesting.
     At some point I may end up writing about these aforementioned subjects because I think they’re worth my time, but for this blogathon I finally decided to talk about my favorite actress, Barbara Stanwyck; my favorite costume designer, Edith Head; and the work they did together. Both Edith Head and Barbara Stanwyck are incomparably brilliant and I hope this post does that brilliance justice:

     I know, from what I've seen and read, that Barbara Stanwyck had a nice figure, but was a hard actress to dress because she had a long waist. Edith Head solved the problem by: (1) drawing a viewer's attention up around Stany's chest and shoulders, (2) using wide belts, and (3) by bringing the waists of Stanwyck's clothing higher up.
     Barbara Stanwyck was apparently so pleased that she made sure Edith head designed the costumes for as many of her films as possible, as well as her personal wardrobe.

 Edith Head was the costume designer for 12 of Barbara Stanwyck’s movies, including:

Remember the Night (1940)

 

The Lady Eve (1941) - my personal favorite as far as costumes go.

The Great Man’s Lady(1942) 

and Double Indemnity (1944)

     Not pictured: The Bride Wore Boots (1946), The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946), The Other Love (1947), Sorry Wrong Number (1948), The File on Thelma Jordan (1950), No Man of Her Own (1950), The Furies (1950), Roustabout (1964)

     Edith Head also designed Stany’s costumes in:

Ball of Fire (1941)

Lady of Burlesque (1943)

and Cry Wolf (1947) 

Not pictured: My Reputation (1946)

     In addition to all of this, Edith Head designed the female costumes for California (1947), the gowns in You Belong to Me (1941), and Babs’ gowns in: The Gay Sisters (1942), Flesh and Fantasy (1943), Christmas in Connecticut (1945), and The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947).

     Now we come to the part of the show where yours truly points out just a few (because this list could get long) of her favorite Edith-Head-designed Barbara Stanwyck costumes. I’ll also be pointing out some hats, because I have this 'thing' for hats. 

 

Did I mention I also have a thing for fur coats? This one is from The Lady Eve. And I love this hat she's wearing.

 

The Lady Eve, again. <3 that hat! Oh...and I like the rest of her get-up too.

 

From California. I love this dress. In the movie, it's red. A most incredibly gorgeous shade of red, which only serves to make a gorgeous period costume even more so.

 

This dress from Double Indemnity = Love.

Possibly my all time Stanwyck dress. It's also a good example of Edith Head's brilliance when dressing Barbara Stanwcyk: high waist - check. Ruffled top that draws attention up - check.

Wide[r] belt - check.

 Best. Hat. Ever. 

From The Lady Eve.

   

And one more: from The Lady Eve.  

How pretty is this?

Until Later On~

P.S. Thanks a million to Angela at The Hollywood Revue for hosting this blogathon!! Also, check out the other great contributions here.

Mildred Pierce (1945)

Hello Everyone! 

     It seems like I've taken forever to write another review - I guess my brain's been in a rut. Anyway, my grandparents and I watched "Mildred Pierce" last night, so here we go: 

     After forcing myself to watch Bette Davis movies for a week straight, my subconscious response was to start watching Joan Crawford movies (get it?). I always told myself I'd never watch a Joan Crawford movie - I don't know why, I had no reason to dislike her - but I finally did and I really like her now. 

     As the sacrificial mother, Mildred Pierce, Joan Crawford was fantastic - this is the film that brought her out of a slow streak in her career and won her, her first and only Oscar, which she definitely deserved for a very convincing show - I thought she was spot-on playing Mildred.

     Ann Blythe as Veda, Mildred Pierce's daughter, was nominated for a "Best Actress in a Supporting Role" Oscar; a very applause-worthy performance on her part. Veda was such an awful character - that spoiled brat, that ungrateful, manipulative...good grief. What an awful child, I can't imagine any mother putting up with a child like that, like Mildred did. 

     "Mildred Pierce" - because it really was a great film - was also nominated for: "Best Picture", "Best Writing", and "Best Cinematography: Black & White". Eve Arden, who played Joan Crawford's smart-talking friend, Ida, also received a nomination for "Best Actress in a Supporting Role" but didn't win.

     On to the story: When her husband Monte Beragon is found murdered in their beach house Mildred Pierce and others are picked up and taken to the police station to be questioned. While there Mildred tells the police this story: Mildred Pierce (Joan Crawford) is married to a man named Bert. They get in a fight over the way she spoils their children (two daughters: Veda and Kay) and he leaves her. Then, in order to keep on giving her children everything she wants to give them, Mildred gets a job as a waitress. When ungrateful Veda finds out that her mother is a waitress, Mildred decides to open a restaurant with the help of her friend Wally (Jack Carson, in the first leading role of his I've seen). Suddenly, Mildred's daughter, Kay, dies of pnuemonia; but Mildred presses on with her restaurant to make sure Veda has everything she wants. The restaurant is a HUGE success and Mildred thinks she's falling in love with the man she bought the restaurant from originally, Mr. Monte Beragon (Zachary Scott). Well, Mildred and Mr. Beragon and Veda start to spend more time together and, eventually, Mr. Beragon starts to borrow more and more money from Mildred which is no good for her business - then Mildred realizes it's not so good for Veda either (who has developed very expensive tastes) and she breaks off relations with Monte. The next happening is a marriage between Veda and some millionaire boy - a marriage not favored by the parents on either side. When the families try to settle the problem quietly, Veda declares that she's going to have a baby and thus gets 10,000 bucks from the other family. Then Mildred finds out from Veda that she isn't really going to have a baby - they fight and Mildred tells Veda to leave because she's finally realized that Veda is a spoiled, money-hungry little witch. Then Mildred goes off to Mexico for a while, but when she comes back she finds that Veda's taken a job as a singer in some dump. Mildred then marries Monte Beragon, which brings Veda back to her (which is what she wanted); but Monte squanders the 1/3 of Mildred's restaurant business which he insisted upon receiving when they were married and she has to sell out to her friend Wally. Then one night Mildred goes to her beach house expecting to find Monte there alone, but instead she finds him there embracing Veda. Veda tells her mother that Monte doesn't love her and never did and that he's going to marry her instead. Then Monte gets shot four times. 

     With this information the police know for sure who the murderer was, and the murderer gets dragged off to jail...

     

     The ending was really surprising - I was actually shocked; but hopefully I explained that well enough so that you all don't know who the murderer was, and so that the plot makes sense.     

     This movie is a film noir, and although it wouldn't be my first example if you were asking me to show you a film noir, there were definitely the noir-ish elements: the sinister lighting, the murder, the deceit. Anyway, I really think that this movie was quite spectacular in every way - definitely deserving of the Oscar nom if not the win (which actually went to "The Lost Weekend").

Best Movie Quotes:

Monte: Oh, I wish I could get that interested in work.
Ida : You were probably frightened by a callus at an early age! 

Ida: I like Mexico; it's so... Mexican.  

Mildred: Cut it out, Wally. You make me feel like Little Red Riding Hood.
Wally: And I'm the Big Bad Wolf, huh? Now, Milly, you've got me all wrong. I'm a romantic guy, but I'm no wolf.
Mildred: Then quit howling! 

Until Later On~

Classic Hollywood Survey!

Hello,

     I got the questions in this survey from David at FilmClassics who had gotten them from another blogger named Amanda. The survey is a couple years old, but I figured I'd have a little fun and answer the questions anyway. My answers: 

1. What is your favorite movie starring William Powell and Myrna Loy, excluding all of The Thin Man films? Double Wedding (1937) or I Love You Again (1940)

2. Name a screen team that appeared in only one film together but are still noteworthy for how well they complimented each other.  David Manners and Barbara Stanwyck (The Miracle Woman, 1931) came to my mind first.

3. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers’ best film together? Top Hat (1935)

4. Your favorite actor named “Robert”? Robert Taylor! <3

5. An actor/actress who, when you see one of their movies, you always wish that someone else was in his/her role? hmmm...I don't know.

6. An actor/actress that someone close to you really loves that you can’t stand or vice versa? Doris Day

7. An actor/actress that you both agree on completely? Barbara Stanwyck

8. Complete this sentence: Virginia O’Brien is to Ethel Merman as… come again?

9. What is your favorite film starring Ray Milland? California (1947)

10. You had to have seen this one coming: what is your favorite movie of the 1960s? Swiss Family Robinson (1960)

11. An actor/actress that you would take out of one film and put into a different movie that was released the same year? I have no idea.

12. Who was your favorite of Robert Montgomery’s leading ladies? I’ve only seen one Robert Montgomery movie.

13. You think it would have been a disaster if what movie starred the actor/actress who was originally asked to star in it? “Ball of Fire” – because they almost put Lucy Ball in Stanwyck’s part; or “His Girl Friday” because I can’t imagine any of the other actresses they asked playing Hildy.

14. An actor/actress who you will watch in any or almost any movie? Stany (of course)

15. Your favorite Leslie Howard film and role? It’s Love I’m After (1937)

16. You have been asked to host a marathon of four Barbara Stanwyck films. Which ones do you choose? Let’s see...probably: Always Goodbye, The Lady Eve, Double Indemnity, and My Reputation

17. What is, in your mind, the nearest to perfect comedy you have ever seen? Why? The Lady Eve! Why? The movie is amazing! What else can I say?

18. You will brook no criticism of what film? Always Goodbye (1938)

19. Who is your favorite Irish actress? Actress? No idea. As far as Irish actors go I like Barry Fitzgerald.

20. Your favorite 1940s movie starring Ginger Rogers? The Major and the Minor

21. Do you enjoy silent movies? I wouldn’t know. I’ve never seen one.

22. What is your favorite Bette Davis film? It's Love I'm After (1937) or In This Our Life (1942)

23. Your favorite onscreen Hollywood couple? Ginger Rogers & Fred Astaire 

24. This one is for the girls, but, of course, the guys are welcome to answer, too: who is your favorite Hollywood costume designer? Edith Head (that woman was genius!)

25. To even things out a bit, here’s something the boys will enjoy: what is your favorite tough action film? Haven’t gotten to those yet. ;)

26. You are currently gaining a greater appreciation for which actor(s)/actress(es)? Claudette Colbert, Ray Milland, Joan Crawford, Lana Turner, Paulette Goddard...

27. Franchot Tone: yes or no? sure.

28. Which actors and/or actresses do you think are underrated? Veronica Lake

29. Which actors and/or actresses do you think are overrated? Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant

30. Favorite actor? James Stewart

31. Favorite actress? STANY!!!

32. Of those listed, who is the coolest: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Steve McQueen, or Patrick Stewart? Who???

33. What is your favorite movie from each of these genres:

Comedy: The Lady Eve

Swashbuckler: I haven’t gotten there yet either.

Film noir: Double Indemnity (1944)

Musical: Top Hat (1935)

Holiday: Remember the Night (1940)

Hitchcock: The Lady Vanishes(1938)

Until Later On~

My Reputation (1946) Scene

Hello All, 

     I was watching clips from Barbara Stanwyck movies last night, and decided I would post one of my favorites. This scene is from "My Reputation" (1946) - one of the first 10 Stanwycks I watched, still one of my favorites, and I think it was one of Stany's favorites as well - this scene is almost hilarious, Babs is so great: 

Until Later On~  

My Classic Hollywood Alphabet:

Hello Everyone,

     I'm finally getting around to doing my take on a Classic Hollywood Alphabet. I got the idea from my friend Rianna at Frankly, My Dear (<3) a few weeks ago and have been wanting to do it, but I didn't take the time until now. Anyway, hope you like my choices:

s 

A is for Anne Shirley

 

B is for beautiful Barbara Stanwyck

 (You should have been expecting that) 

 

C is for Claudette Colbert 

 

D is for David Manners

 

E is for Errol Flynn

F is for Fred MacMurray

G is for Gary Cooper

H is for Henry Fonda

 

I is for Ingrid Bergman

 

 

J is for my Jimmy Stewart

 K is for Kay Francis

(Thank you, Kevyn!)

L is for Lana Turner

 

M is for Margaret Sullavan

 

N is for Norma Shearer

 

O is for Olivia de Havilland

P is for Paulette Goddard

 

R is for Rosalind Russell

 

S is for Shirley Temple

 

 

T is for Tyrone Power

 

U is for Una Merkel

(Thank you, Cheryl!) 

 

V is for Veronica Lake

 

W is for William Powell

Z is for Zasu Pitts

(Thank you, Audrey!)

Until Later On~