coopsgirl

*Older men generally do favor young, pretty, and vacant wives. lol!* Too funny!! The boards do seem to be working a little better today. I think we can all agree though that Grace's somewhat bland performance in *High Noon* certainly does no detriment to the film, especially since she is not the main focus. She actually does better in her end scenes where she shoots one of the bad guys and she has a little more emotion showing through her face and body language. I would guess the main reason people would criticize the film is the lack of action like a typical western may have. It's definitely more a moral and sociological drama. Many people have pointed out before that the same story would fit many settings and in this case the filmmakers chose to use the western genre. I certainly don't see how anyone could ever criticize Gary's performance which is probably why few have. It's one of the best performances ever captured on film. I mean who else could convey so much with so little dialogue. Just with his expressions and body language you feel like you're in his shoes walking down the lonely streets waiting for what may be certain death.

Capra is my favorite director!!! I've never seen *Washington Merry Go Round* but the similarities between that and *Mr. Smith/Meet John Doe* are striking. I guess being on the same lot where other films are being made some of it just rubs off on the other film-makers sometimes.

Here are some pics of Barbara Stanwyck from *Ball of Fire*. That dress is so gorgeous and she looks beautiful in it.

I have *To Catch a Thief* but haven't watched it yet. I'm saving a bunch of movies until baseball season is (mercifully) over and then I'll have something new to watch every day. I know Grace won an Oscar for *The Country Girl* and I haven't seen that one so I can't comment on it but I've never really liked her in anything. I like her as a person just not as an actress. As far as *High Noon* goes, I prefer the story as it is, that Gary stays with his wife. I just wish it had been a more experienced actress who would have added a little more depth to the role. Being that it was a small budget, independent film I guess they had to go with what they could get and I imagine Grace was pretty cheap since it was one of her first movies.

This is my favorite quote from the Ridley Scott article. "I think movies are getting dumber, actually. Where it used to be 50/50, now it's 3% good, 97% stupid." I couldn't agree more. While there are still movies released occassionally that will set new box office records or something, you do hear a lot that in general, box office numbers are down from previous years. Some of it may have to do with the home video market but I think if movie makers put out better products more people would go back to the theaters consistently. I haven't seen a new movie in an actual theater all year b/c there just hasn't been anything out there that looked good to me. I'm afraid I have completely turned into an old movie snob, but at least when I watch one of them I know I'm most likely gonna enjoy it and I can't say that about most new movies. Seeing a movie on the big screen is to me, the best way to see it. That's what they were made for and how they were intended to be seen. I've had a chance this summer to see a lot of classic movies in an actual theater and it has been great!!! If there were any new movies that looked good to me, I would definitely go to the theater and see it instead of just renting it and watching it at home.

*Brad's Squishy Girl -- Let's see, you are pretty, friendly, funny, love baseball, and love MST3K. You should have no problem with guys. Talking ball alone would attract some guys to you. And, no, I'm not talking weirdos.* Ahh, it was so nice to see such wonderful compliments this morning, thank you Frank! There was a guy who worked in my building and he loved the Astros and Gary and we'd talk about them a lot but he's around 25 years older than me and married (dang it!). He just retired too last week and I'll miss our little chats. Ausmus is definitely one of the smartest people in baseball (and not just b/c of that Dartmouth degree ) and everyone pretty much expects him to be a manager eventually. I would love it if he would manage the Astros someday. He has the perfect temperment and knowledge to do it. Don't worry, we never get tired of picking on Grace Kelly in *High Noon*, or at least I never do - ha! I mean, I like the woman as a person but not as an actress. I know I'm just spoiled to how great Gary was and how expressive his face could be, but man, she is so blank in that movie. Kim and I were talking about it again the other night. I mean, for goodness sakes, she was sleeping with the man and still looked at him like he was just a lump of clay!!!!!!!!

Kim said she'd make one for me but I'm still trying to pick out a pic of me to send her that would work. If Gary did come back I think we might scare him off - ha!

I have that pic of me with Ausmus sitting on top of my monitor and pics of me with several other players as well as pics of Gary in my cube (one from Real Glory, FWTBT, Sgt. York, and High Noon). I gotta tell ya, it's hard to get any actual work done *so now I can go out with the only real man in Manhattan.* That's right!! I'm so glad you're gonna get to see *City Streets*.

What you said about your parents made me think of another of Gary's movies *Ten North Frederick* released in 1958. Gary would have been around 57 but in the movie his character has just turned 50. He's married to a woman his own age but she's cold and heartless. He'd always been faithful to her until he goes to visit his daughter in New York and meets her roomate who is played by 26 year old Suzy Parker. They fall in love and have an affair. They go away for a weekend to a ski resort and he asks her to marry him and she says yes. Then that night when they were out to dinner, a young man mistook Gary for Suzy's father. This opened his eyes and he gives a very poignant speech about how the age difference just won't work. He tells Suzy that their children would only know him as an old man and that she'd be alone when she would need love and protection the most, when she was old. She tries to argue with him but he breaks off their affair anyway. This film is one of the few instances where they actually portray the reality of a May/December romance and it's done very well and is one of my favorites of his movies.

You're cracking me up!! No I'm not mad at you for lumping Gary in with the 'old guys who get young leading ladies' group. A lot of people have a problem with that part of *Love in the Afternoon* since he's a 56 year old man paired up with a 28 year old Audrey Hepburn. She certainly didn't have a problem with it though as they had an affair during the shoot. He may have been quite a bit older but I certainly wouldn't lump him in with the homely group - ha!. I love his whole career but I'm more attracted to him in his 40's and 50's and he is so sexy in that movie that he just makes me melt!!! Another pairing you could point out would be Gary and Grace Kelly in *High Noon*. When they filmed it in '51, he was 50 and she was 22 (only 8 years older than his daughter). But here again off screen at least the age difference didn't matter as they also had an affair.

Being a Mets fan I figured you would know who Ausmus is . No, he sees so many fans every year I'm sure he didn't remember me. I do send him a birthday card every year though (to his fan mail address, I'm not a crazy stalker I swear!) which may seem strange but several other die hard Ausmus fans do the same thing and if Gary was alive I'd send him one every year too! It cracks me up that you call Berkman 'Huskey' b/c of his eyes and not his weight - ha! Actually he's in good shape but he just still has that cute, kinda chubby face. I've been watching Biggio play since his rookie year when I was 11 and it will not be the same without him . The Astros/Mets series starts tomorrow and I never like playing in Shea Stadium b/c we don't seem to do very well there. We just took a beating last night too from the Brewers losing 14-2. It has not been a pretty season and I hope next year will be better. So far I haven't been real impressed with Wiggy, he's pretty average. Frank: It was Diane Sawyer who confessed a few years ago that she has a major crush on my Sugarbritches (you only need to look at him and you'll know why I call him that!) and that when she was throwing out the first pitch to him she wanted to jump up on him but she didn't actually do it. I have gotten to love up on him a few times when I've got my pic taken with him and he's in great shape let me tell you :x He's also one of the most fan friendly players and always takes time to sign autographs and chat with the fans. I remember watching games when I was a kid and women like Morgana would run out onto the field and kiss the players. If I thought I could get away with it that might not be such a bad idea Here's a pic of me and Brad from '06. In every pic of me and him I'm either smiling so big that my eyes are nearly closed or I have kind of a spacey, doofy look (like in '06) b/c my legs are about to buckle underneath me. As much as he effects me, it's a good thing I was never actually around Gary or serious injury may occur when I pass out and hit the ground - ha!

OH MY GOSH!!!! I'm so moving to New York city (well maybe not, but dang it that's almost enough to make me want to!). You've gotta go see that one, I LOVE *City Streets*. It's very cleverly filmed in that something like 6 people are murdered by the mob but you never see them get killed directly which makes for some interesting cinematography. Also the sets and clothes are beautiful and Gary and Sylvia both give great performances. Clara Bow was originally slated to play Sylvia's role but then her trial happened that drug her name through the mud and laid out a lot of stories about her and Gary's intimate relations and she had a nervous breakdown and never showed up for filming so Sylvia got the part. I love the beginning of that one too when the first time we see Gary it's just the back of his white cowboy hat filling the entire screen and then he turns around with a big smile on that beautiful face :x. He filmed this one at night and *Fighting Caravans* during the day and although he was worn to a frazzle it doesn't show in his performance.

Once you get outside of London, you meet a lot of nice English people. I did about a 6 mile hike one day that's part of the pilgrim's walk from Winchester Cathedral to Canterbury Cathedral when I was on a study abroad trip in England (we were staying in Canterbury). We started at a little village called Wie and went to another little village called Rye. We met a lot of nice people as we walked by their farms and they were all just so charming and sweet. I did meet some nice English people in London but they were mostly women and my professors. I definitely echo your sentiments about Sean Connery, April. When we were in Edinburgh we did one of those bus tours where you can just hop on and off and we drove by an art college and when the tour guide said he had done some nude modelling there before hitting it big as an actor you should have seen how excited we all got!! *Marnie* is my fave movie of his by the way.

That's so great that you're happily married!! Especially if it's to a man who is anything like Gary and looks kinda like him too I went to Edinburgh one weekend when I was in England and I loved it. The people were very nice and it's a great city. I was bored the other day and was looking up stats on Montana (I know, I'm weird) and the average age there is 36 (only 6 years older than me so definitely in my age range) and I wonder if there are any more up there like him? *Mr. Deeds* is in my top five of his movies and also one of my fave Frank Capra films. Who wouldn't want a man like that!!

I finally got back in!! This site is driving me nuts too. Thankfully I just re-dyed my hair a couple days ago so no grays are showing I actually went to a slightly different shade of red called Canyon Copper, but of course when I first read it I thought it said Canyon Cooper so now that's what I call it - ha! All I found in London were weirdos too. I mean come on it's a huge city and the only 'normal guy' I found that I liked was a very nice guy from Italy who was also a student but he just liked me as a friend. Of course being from Italy every time I saw him I did gets kisses on my cheeks so at least that's something :x. Several times I had people cuss at me or say very rude things as I was just walking down the street minding my own business, and once in a pub a guy slapped my behind as he passed by me. Strange people!!! That stinks about your Clark dream. I was so upset during my Gary dream where he's was marrying my friend that I felt worn out when I woke up. While I was waiting to get back in I was looking at the schedule for the next couple months and making a list of the movies I want to record and I saw they are showing *Red Dust* with Clark and Jean Harlow in November and I'm excited to see that one. Most of November looks pretty slim but the rest of this month and especially October (I love old horror movies!) has lots of great stuff!!

*Unfortunately, Gary's is the only chest hair I'm seeing lately first thing in the morning* You're cracking me up!! I can definitely relate to that. It's so hard to meet nice guys. I swear all I seem to attract and the weirdos and freaks (which I guess doesn't speak very well for me - ha!). I was talking to Theresa last night about this nasty guy at work (we call him Bird Flu Greg b/c he's constantly coughing and hacking and I swear one day he's gonna lose a lung) and he tried flirting with me a couple weeks ago. He started by telling me I looked real nice today and he liked my blouse. I have not worn that shirt since!! Thankfully he caught the hint that I was not interested and now he's flirting with a new woman and she actually seems to like it - gross!!!!!! But at least he's leaving the rest of us alone now. On a happier note I had a dream about Clark Gable last night. I've never dreamed about him before and it's probably b/c I'm going to see *Gone With the Wind* at the Paramount this Saturday. It wasn't a romantic dream though, we were just friends but we were sleeping in the same bed together . He looked like he did in *It Happened One Night* which I watched again a couple days ago. That's my favorite movie of his and though I've never really been attracted to him he's very adorable and just all around too cute in that one.

There are two men that give me the jelly legs: Gary Cooper and Brad Ausmus. The latter is the catcher for the Houston Astros. I've met him a few times and gotten his autography and my pic taken with him and every time it's the same thing. I freeze up and can barely say two words to him and then I feel weak all over for about 20 minutes. Here's a pic of Brad, or Sugarbritches as I call him (but not to his face - ha!).

I got that 'squishy' thing from an old short from the '50s. This teenage girl's brother comes home from college and brings one of his friends and she develops a crush on him and she's on the phone with one of her friends and she says that she's getting all squishy!! It sounds kinda gross but I thought it was funny.

**Sees the pic of Gary without his shirt and begins drooling on the keyboard, sparks fly and I'm shocked back into reality!** I swear if I even catch a glimpse of chest hair I get all squishy Thanks for beautiful pics!!!

Thanks metsfan!! Those are beautiful!! He has the funniest look on his face in the Sgt. York one. Like he just wants to tell the guy 'would you just leave me alone and let me shoot!'

It is weird that we had the same fave scene from *The Virginian* too - spooky!!! I gotta tell y'all about the Gary dream I had last night. It was so sad . He looked like he did in *The Plainsman* in the scene near the beginning when they're on the boat and he's playing cards. Anyway, he was gonna marry my friend Karen (who is happily married with a baby girl by the way ) and I was so upset b/c I was in love with him but he thought we were just friends. I was talking to Karen before the ceremony and she told me that she didn't really love him enough to want to marry him but she didn't want to embarass him or herself by running out so she was going through with it anyway. Then I ran into Gary and he was telling me how happy he was to be marrying her and I wanted to tell him that I loved him and she didn't but the words wouldn't come out. So later on I'm sitting in the church watching them get married and I started to cry and my grandpa (whose been dead for 3 years) sat down next to me and put his arms around me and I just started bawling but nobody seemed to notice. Oh my goodness just talking about it now is kinda getting to me.

I'm still having a hard time accessing the site. It takes me several tries before it will let me post a message. Anyway here are some movie posters I found that are some I've never seen before. I don't think TCM will show *Ten North Frederick* b/c it's a Fox movie and most of those are shown on the Fox Movie Channel. It's not listed in their schedule though and I'm not sure but I think that might be one that's involved in a rights dispute so it may just be stuck out there in limbo. That is a real shame since it's such a great movie. I like how on the second one for *The Virginian* they put 'All Talking' on the poster.

I had a good weekend, thanks!. It was kinda cloudy and rainy here but it was good b/c it's keeping the temps low. Theresa came over and we spent all day Saturday watching Gary on my big tv, listening to Glenn Miller records and looking through old movie magazines and scrapbooks. We had way too much fun and I was worn out from laughing so much! It felt like we were right back in the 30s-40s. Theresa - I'm glad you got to watch *The Virginian*. I really like that one. My favorite part is where Gary and Mary Brian go out for a ride and they're talking about Romeo and Juliet and he says he didn't think Romeo was much of a man b/c he wasted too much time with Juliet just spouting off poetry. It was too cute and romantic when he shows her what a 'real man' would do and he kisses her!! It's weird too how much the ending is similar to the overall plot of *High Noon*.

I didn't see it either but I imagine they'll show it again.

I figured out how to do screencaps and here's some from *Along Came Jones*. I don't know how Kim has done so many movies already b/c man, it takes a long time. I also may have gone a little overboard b/c I got like 60 screencaps. Oh well you can never have too much Gary!! Here's a couple pics just to wet your whistle but since there are so many I'm just gonna post the links. http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture63.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture62.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture61.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture59.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture58.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture57.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture56.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture55.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture54.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture53.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture52.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture51.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture49.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture48.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture47.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture46.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture45.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture44.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture43.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/screencap.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture9.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture8.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture6.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture42.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture41.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture40.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture39.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture38.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture37.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture36.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture35.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture34.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture33.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture32.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture31.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture30.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture29.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture28.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture27.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture26.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture25.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture24.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture23.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture21.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture20.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture19.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture18.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture17.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture16.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture15.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture14.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture13.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture12.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture11-1.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture10.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture5.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture4.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture3.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture2.jpg http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t163/coopsgirl_30/Picture.jpg