Swithin

Beautiful, pensive, photo. Thanks!

Well, then of course I would choose Dunne. Garland was of course in more musicals, but (IMHO), Dunne was in the greatest movie musical ever: the 1936 Show Boat. And they tended to give Dunne a song in many of her non-musical films, because of her beautiful voice. Also I like 30s musicals (like Roberta ) more than the late 40s/early 50s musicals. I don't like the Gene Kelly films, or even Astaire's later films (I like him, not the movies).

I hadn't thought about those pens for years, really liked them! When I started working as a teen, a female colleague asked if I would like to see her Osmiroid. We furtively went to the back workroom where she showed it to me. Boy, was THAT a surprise!

OK, I'll bite. I like all the award presentations at the Oscars, and that includes the three categories you mention. I wish they would even add those awards that do bestow earlier. If they dropped the categories you mention, it would just be more time for the ridiculous banter and absurdly bad production numbers. And the sound people are as important as anyone, maybe more so today than ever before.

Have you seen *Amour* ? Emmanuelle Riva is wonderful, and she holds a special place in film history because of her role more than 50 years ago in *Hiroshima, Mon Amour.* Regarding the kid, I agree with you. But the Oscar voters can be seduced by a cute kid -- they have been before!

Calvinnme, I certainly don't think your feeling about *OOA* has anything to do with lack of sophistication -- just differences in taste! I remember going to see it grudgingly, because I was in an Oscar pool and wanted to see it before I cast my ballot. I was blown away with the beauty, the romance, etc. I have the DVD, look at it occasionally and find I still love the film. I'm a great Meryl Streep fan and think it's her finest performance. Michael Kitchen is brilliant in a supporting role, as are the other supporting actors. The production values, music -- everything works for me. I tend to like films in exotic locations which deal with time. The opening in Denmark with the quick flash back to Africa gives me goosebumps, the train over the credits, everything is wonderful, except... Robert Redford is miscast. With Streep doing a perfect Danish accent, and with a supporting cast of great English actors, why couldn't they have got an English actor or someone who could fake it? Too bad Ralph Fiennes wasn't on the scene yet, he would have been perfect. I LOVE *Tom Jones*, which captures the bawdiness of the 18th century and Fielding's novel perfectly. The great sin of the TCM Remembers compilation is the omission of Joyce Redman: attention must be paid to her, and to that eating scene! I think Finney was robbed of Best Actor Oscar that year -- they gave it to Sidney Poitier, who did give a decent performance.

Glad *My Gal Sal* has been added. It's a very enjoyable gay '90s New York musical.

To quote a line from a movie I do NOT think worthy: "I think I've got it!" (I disagree with you about My Fair Lady. I also think Rex Harrison was one of the worst Best Actor winners ever; just look at the competition that year!) I agree with you about The King's Speech and The Artist -- I would move them down. I think Out of Africa and Tom Jones, two of my favorite films, definitely deserved their awards.

Good morning Lavender. Yes, that's it. Your thread. (My mother was born in a house on 91st Street).

Funny you should mention that -- I have a free weekend of HBO and Cinemax!

I must have been seven years old when I saw Judy singing "The Man that Got Away" in our school screening, it left an indelible impression on me and no doubt was one of the things that contributed to my love of movies. As a young teen, I did go to movies like I Could Go on Singing and A Child Is Waiting. I liked those films, but I think Judy's performances in them were seen at the time against the backdrop of her history, and her problems. They were good, there was the pathos that was part of the whole Judy persona; but when I see Irene Dunne, on the porch in San Francisco with Ellen Corby in that early scene from I Remember Mama, fairly late in her career, I think, that scene is one of the great scenes in cinema: the two of them talking, the wind blowing, it's perfect. You really can't compare these two ladies, they are SO different. But the subject is acting and singing, and my tastes would incline me to choose Dunne over Garland, if I had to choose. And, to mention another film, I think The Awful Truth is one of the most perfect movies, ever!

No -- but you got one of the words (but not in the right place). I actually think you might guess this, as a New Yorker!

Hint: Crazy, smart TV doctor... in Yorkville.

I'm still confused. How do I say that Chariots of Fire should not have won Best Picture. It was not the best picture that year -- Reds was the best picture. Similarly with Crash. Brokeback Mountain should have won Best Picture. Or am I playing the wrong game? Or are we not dealing here at all with movies/actors who didn't win?

But I see your point, that Judy's remarkable off-screen performances and recordings would certainly affect her fans' opinions of her. Those concerts are legendary -- the Palace, Carnegie Hall, etc. When I was in grade school, they showed us monthly movies. One of them was A Star Is Born. Strange film for kids from 6-11, but I loved it.

I got to know *Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.* when he was about 87. He was striking, handsome, and debonair. I remember he helped a friend of mine on with her coat, she said thank-you; he responded, "Would that I could do more..."

No James, I know you better than you know yourself! But seriously, that's why I clearly said "I think..."

I think alot of the feeling people have about Judy has to do with her life story, rather than her acting or singing (which are fine). Golly, I better be careful, I could get into my Barbara Stanwyck mode here, i.e. I like her and love some of her movies, but... Also, I tend to have a preferance for the 30s, I guess. We all argue about this alot, but when I see the word "classic," which was in the OP, I immediate thought 30s.

I love Judy and Doris, but still prefer Irene as an actress and singer. I can't relate to the term "put across a song" when I think of Dunne's gorgeous rendition of "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" and "Yesterdays" in Roberta; or "Make Believe" and "After the Ball" in Show Boat, or the Norwegian song she sings to the sick children while scrubbing the floor in the hospital in I Remember Mama. It's more about the song in the movie, rather than the song as performance. Here she is in Roberta. Pining for Randolph Scott as she sings for her friends:

I'm sticking with *Irene Dunne*, "the greatest actress never to win an Oscar." She had a trained voice and was a great dramatic actress. Garland excelled at what she did but doesn't come close to Dunne.

Well I like Jane Powell. She lives across the street from me. But I don't think she had the depth of acting talent that Dunne does. When I see I Remember Mama, I'm amazed at how wonderful and versatile Dunne was. And she even sings in it, in Norwegian!

*Irene Dunne* and besides acting and singing, as Paul Robeson says about her: "Look at that girl shuffle!" and in addition to dramatic musical roles in Show Boat and Roberta, there are others, like The Joy of Living:

This is confusing me! Maybe it's late, and I'm tired, but I don't understand the categories.

I've never been to Hollywood, although I had a four-hour layover at LA Airport once, and went into LA.

I think *Emmanuelle Riva* has a good chance. She's said to be terrific in Amour, and she has the incredible film history connection of having been the female lead in the 1959 revered classic Hiroshima, Mon Amour, directed by Alain Resnais.