Arturo
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Posts posted by Arturo
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*I saw a reference to a press department giving young star Linda Christian the nickname: "The Anatomic Bomb". I have never heard of her so I checked IMDB.com.*
Linda Cristian was a Mexican/Dutch beauty who became Tyrone Power's second wife in 1949. She is one of the reasons that the hot-hot hot Power/Lana Turner romance of 1947 did not end in nuptials (ironically Linda had had a small role in Turner's 1947 epic, GREEN DOLPHIN STREET). The Power/Cristian wedding took place in Europe (Italy? French Riviera?-the location slipped my mind) where Ty was busy in his 18 month tax sojourn filming away from the States, and it was mobbed by fans and paparazzi.
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*I could not imagine THE APARTMENT in color.*
Billy Wilder's comediy from the previous year, SOME LIKE IT HOT, had originally been planned to be in color. Monroe was upset that it wasn't, but the reason for it being filmed in black n white is that it was thought that Curtis and Lemmon's makeup would be much more obvious in color; being so heavily applied.
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*Personally, I think there are more films that probably should have been shot in color. Mostly because of the sets like period pieces like PRINCE OF FOXES which I happened to watch this morning.*
The period detail is the main reason why LIFE WITH FATHER was shot in color. PRINCE OF FOXES was planned in Technicolor, and those Italian Renaissance would have been spectacular in same; however, I think that the amount of lighting needed to film in color would have damaged the frescoes and paintings; hence a beautiful Black and White film crying out for Technicolor.
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*My only question is Marilyn's gold lamé dress, purported to be from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. I do NOT remember her wearing that dress in that film. It seems to me to have been worn just in photos.*
*Can anyone confirm?*
As mentioned elsewhere, this dress is only worn while Marilyn is dancing a Rumba with Coburn in another room, as Jane and the undercover dick (always wanted to use that gangster lingo-or am I just channeling Christine Baranski's character on the CYBIL sitcom-"Dr. Dick!") are passing by on the deck of the ship.
This gold lamé dress, pleated all over, is the one that caused a ruckus at a Photoplay Awards show in early 1953, where Marilyn, in her first flush of fame (and probably coming from the set of GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES), won for (Best New?) Personality (of the Year?). MC Jerry Lewis howled like a coyote, and Joan Crawford added to the brouhaha when she publicly censured her behavior.
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*Another Fox Technicolor film to consider and it isn't even a musical is the 1945 dramatic film, "Leave Her To Heaven."*
Fox excelled in its Technicolor productions, whether musical or not, going all the way back to the first, RAMONA, in 1936. Among other standouts among non-musical films:
JESSE JAMES (1938)
DRUMS ALONG THE MOHAWK (1939)
SWANEE RIVER (1939)
THE BLUEBIRD (1940)
THE RETURN OF FRANK JAMES (1940)
WESTERN UNION (1941)
BLOOD AND SAND (1941)
TO THE SHORES OF TRIPOLI (1942)
THUNDER BIRDS (1942)
CRASH DIVE (1943)
HEAVEN CAN WAIT (1943)
WILSON (1944)
HOME IN INDIANA (1944)
FOREVER AMBER (1947)
CAPTAIN FROM CASTILE (1947)
About the only Technicolor films from the studio I find rather disappointing colorwise are from late 1938 and 1939, and all seem to be rather more of a pastel palette than was usual then for 20th (don't know this is how they looked originally, or just how they are after all these years):
KENTUCKY (1938)
THE LITTLE PRINCESS (1939)
HOLLYWOOD CAVALCADE (1939)
Despite this minor caveat, they are all still visually arresting IMHO.
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Eugenia, thanks again. I just saw on THE TRESPASSER thread here that the Janet Gaynor film mentioned below, DELICIOUS, will be shown on TCM next week on the 14th. Yay!
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Thank you for your response. I request for clarification however: Do you purchase a manufactured DVD or do you receive a streamed version of the movie? Thanks in advance.
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Excuse my ingnorance, but what is lovingtheclassics?
*JOAN FONTAINE*
A CERTAIN SMILE has been of FMC relatively recently, in the last year or two.
*FREDDIE BARTHOLOMEW*
Ditto KIDNAPPED.
*JOSEPH COTTEN*
As has THE BOTTOM OF THE BOTTLE
*TYRONE POWER*
The same for DIPLOMATIC COURIER; but it's been longer since they've shown UNTAMED.
*JANET GAYNOR*
STATE FAIR (1933) with Will Rogers
CHANGE OF HEART (1934) with James Dunn
ONE MORE SPRING (1935) with Warner Baxter
THE FARMER TAKES A WIFE (1935) with Henry Fonda
BERNARDINE (1957) with Pat Boone
I believe all of these have been on FMC in the recent past, BERNADINE still rather often.
*JOHN DEREK*THE ADVENTURES OF HAJJI BABA
This one has been shown regularly on FOX, including within the last 10 days or so.
*GRETA GARBO*
CAMILLE
ANNA CHRISTIE
ANNA KARENINA
FLESH AND THE DEVIL
MYSTERIOUS LADY
QUEEN CHRISTINA
These, at the very least, are in regular rotation at TCM (with the exception of MYSTERIOUS LADY, which I believe was on a couple of Sundays ago).
Edited by: Arturo on Dec 7, 2011 3:39 PM
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Interesting in that she stars with Gene Tierney in *Son of Fury*, with Tierney having her own battles with mental illness.
Actually, Frances Farmer's role is probably stronger than Tierney's, who seems to also have less screen time. I've always wondered if Tierney had originally been meant for the role of Power's icy cousin, but then given the role of the Polynesian girl after being cast successfully as exotics on loan to producers based at UA: SUNDOWN and THE SHANGHAI GESTURE.
Prior to Farmer being borrowed, debutante ingenue contractee Cobina Wright Jr. was cast, but then replaced by Virginia Gilmore, who actually started filming it (if I remember correctly), before being shifted another picture. Anyway, Frances gave a good portrayal in this.
I feel that she was a very talented actress, who quickly came to despise the movie industry when she realized it WAS an industry, churning out product, instead of each film being conceived as a work of art. She longed to return to the New York stage, and did, especially to be near the married playwright Clifford Odets (or was it one of the Gershwins-a decided junior moment right now). She was too high-principled and outspoken for her own good, and Hollywood quickly had no use for her, as she would not be another cog in their system.
She was an acknowledged movie star almost from the get go, but her disdain for the process and publicity mill (she saw herself as an actress), including a sham wedding for publicity purposes to another rising personality, Leif Erickson, led her career to peter down by the end of the 30s to programmers.
TCM regularly shows some of her movies; besides COME AND GET IT, THE TOAST OF NEW YORK and EBB TIDE are two that are on occasionally.
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Not only was Debra incredibly beautiful, but she was also a knockout with her figure. Debra also was the main attaction in the 1951 remake of BIRD OF PARADISE. Probably one of her best roles while at 20th, in an A movie that was not a programmer, was in STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER, where she was second billed to Clifton Webb. She had a hard time breaking through at the studio, what with all the beautiful ingenues there in the early 50s, from top ranked Jeanne Crain and June Haver, through the popular Jean Peters and Mitzi Gaynor, to the likes of Barbara Bates, Constance Smith, Helen Westcott, etc. Then along comes Marilyn Monroe, and she quickly eclipsed them all in popularity and press coverage.
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*Well, all I can say is I sure wish this town I've retired to, Prescott AZ, had a Crazy Chicken...err...I mean an El Pollo Loco here like they have in my old hometown of L.A.!*
*(...'cause for fast food, ya can't beat it...am I right?!)*
What is it with food and this thread LOL. I do agree, however, that for fast food, Pollo Loco is hard to beat.I love Tommy's and In-n-Out, but my own version of the Fatburger I much prefer to theirs (and it takes me about as long as it takes them to make-talk about "fast" food). -
*Valentine, don't even get me thinking about pollo en mole! That's my kind of comfort food, a huge plate of pollo en mole, rice smothered in the mole, beans and corn tortillas. Heaven!*
Along with the ambrosial Chiles en Nogada (just ending the season) and the deceptively simple but simply delicious Chalupas, what I most miss about my recent visit to México was the Mole Poblano (these are all specialties from Puebla).
I've had the most awesome tasting mole, and brought some back in paste form. One of my roommates made some a couple of nights ago (with Carne de Puerco), and it was amazing in the complexity and interplay of its many ingredients.
**Slaytonf, in our neighborhood, every now and then a little van drives around selling mexican corn on the cob with the mayonnaise, cheese and chile powder option. Also you'll have pickup trucks selling sandia. +That's what comes from living in a small town*
Well, it doesn't have to be a small town . . . growing up in Los Angeles, we had (and have) all of this and more, at least in the immigrant Latino neighborhoods. I remember reading fiery letters to the editor from disgruntled non-Latinos who felt that street vendors were turning LA into a third-world city. More like returning to its roots, and one of the things that makes it a world-class city, namely the diversity of its population in this new Ellis Island IMO.
Edited by: Arturo on Nov 30, 2011 7:54 PM
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You are lucky! My abuela's tamales at Christmas were the best, but she's been gone some 20 years. My mom's up there in age, so she no longer cook. So some years, after being part of the assembly line with assorted cousins at a tamalada, I decided to learn to make my own. I got the family recipe for pork tamales (en Chile Rojo), chicken tamales (en Chile Verde), and pretty much mastered them (or at least that seems to be the consensus). Will be making a couple hundred or so in a few weeks, so if anyone wants to help embarrar masa on the hojas, hit me up.
I cheat however; I buy masa preparada. I do add manteca, broth (pork or chicken), and some of the chile to the masa (although I had to adjust the recipe somewhat from the aunt I got it from-the one with the clogged arteries-who insisted I use a pound of lard per 5 pounds of masa preparada, meaning it already had lard).
I never gave as much emphasis on making the family's sweet tamales, with pineapples and raisins; so maybe this will be my next endeavor.
Wow, back just a couple of days from México, and missing it (and especially the food) like you won't believe...wish I was back in Puebla eating all its wonderful gastronomic cuisine.
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Fred, the Pierna de Pollo con Piña looks like what I know as an Elote (ear of corn), but the filling is a sweeter candy type, not pineapple. Also the Ojo de Buey, my favorite Pan Dulce name (literally Eye of the Ox-but Buey has some strongly derogative connotations), looks different. I know it as one that is really rich (eggs?), has coconut and red covering as well as red center; it's round, but divided in two. Now I know what I want for my afternoon break.
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*In Mexico, they also use the word "conchas" to describe a "pan de dulce", a sweetbread. Interestingly, on this side of the border, we call conchas, "molletes" (moh-yeh-tes). In Mexico, molletes are bolillos (boh-lee-yohs). On this side, bolillos are....well, bolillos, lol. And bolillo is also slang for an anglo.*
I've always known this type of PAN DULCE as Conchas, as has everyone I know, on either side of the border. Molletes are bolillos with beans, salsa and (for those who like it) cheese. I've also grown up refering to bolillos as Birotes.
The correct term is Pan Dulce; this reminds me of a story a coworker related to me. Born and raised in Southern California, she moved with her family to Guanajuato when she was a teenager. She and her sisters knew Pan Dulce as Pan Mexicano, so when they would go to a panadería and ask for Pan Mexicano, they got stares of "¿Que?", since all the bread, whether sweet or not, was considered "Mexicano" in the bakery.
Edited by: Arturo on Nov 29, 2011 4:57 PM
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*But if you are talking the "proper" way, that would still be the spanish version, Los Ahn-heh-less, as was stated before.*
Sorry to dredge up an earlier topic from this thread, but I just got back from México, and tried to respond a couple of weeks ago to this while there; however, I had no success. And I must disclose that I have been known to get technical on minute details.
As a Mexican, and an Angeleno most of my life, I feel apt to respond to the various ways L.A. is pronounced. Of course, I prefer the Spanish way of saying it, but it seems the most widespread English version here is with the soft English 'g'. Nobody seems to have gotten close in the approximation of these pronunciations. First of all, the Spanish system of elision seems to be used in English; it's Lo-SAN-ge-les...NOT Los . . . (it always seemed just more of Bette Davis' clipped mannerisms when she would say LOS Angeles in DEAD RINGER).
Additionally, the Spanish "H" sound used for J and G before E or I, is much raspier, guttural even, than the lightly aspirated English H.
**As to "Warreekkkezz", I have no idea what that's suppposd to sound like, but for Juarez, I say "Wha-rehz" like in "what", not "War-ezz".</stro<br />*
Neither is correct. "Juárez" is correctly stressed on the first syllable, and thus carries written accent to denote so. Again, the first letter is the more guttural Spanish version of the 'H" sound, NOT like in "what".
There is also no English "Z" sound in Spanish (except in certain positions of the S-as when followed by an M); either it's Castilian 'th' sound (as in 'think") or the more widespread S sound.
I won't even get into the various schwa renditions to approximate Spanish vowels that have been posted here.
Edited by: Arturo on Nov 29, 2011 4:42 PM
Edited by: Arturo on Nov 29, 2011 4:46 PM
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In the 1940s, after the war, 20th-Century Fox had the idea of making a biographical movie on the Duncan Sisters. They planned to star their top box office draw, Betty Grable, with the other top **** of WW2, Rita Hayworth (although Rita had just scored her biggest success with GILDA, she was still known for her dancing abilities as a star musicals). Unfortunatedly, this dream team never happened, as Rita became pregnant and the project was shelved.
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A few years ago, Fox released some boxsets of Faye and Grable musicals, also one of Carmen Miranda's (which can double as one for the titular star-Vivian Blaine), but of course, there are still many more films that need to be out there.
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This is a film I saw as a little boy on the Late Show, or some such program, really enjoyed it, and wondered for years after what was the name of the movie and who was the star. Thanks to TCM, many years later I learned. I too wish it was on DVD.
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*So it was intended to be a vehicle for Merman. I was wondering. Did she really want a film career?*
*With CALL ME MADAM a smash hit, FOX fashioned a followup vehicle for Merman with another Irving Berlin score and reteaming Merman with Donald O'Connor.*
I've read that the Ethel Merman role had first been offered to Betty Grable, now being unceremoniously deposed from her position as Queen of the Lot at Fox by Marilyn's meteoric rise. Betty is quoted as saying something to the effect of that when she made the similar MOTHER WORE TIGHTS in 1947, it was fun playing a mother of grown children, but in 1954, it hit her as too close to home. I think it was then offered to Alice Faye, who was still angry with Zanuck and content to remain at homw with her growing daughters. So it seems that it went to Merman by default, happily having just had a hit at the studio (her first as a star of a movie) with the film version of CALL ME MADAM.
*Unfortunately the film did not do as well at the box office.*
The film was a top grosser that year, so maybe this statement should be amended to say " . . . did not do as well at the box office . . . as the studio had hoped", since with that cast, and especially Marilyn in the first flush of superstardom, Fox hoped for a bigger return on its investment.
Marilyn had not wanted to do the role, in fact turning it down (she had previously rejected another musical (THE GIRL IN) PINK TIGHTS-which was never made. She only relented on TNBLSB because the studio dangled THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH in front of her, which she craved to do.
I believe that for the "Heat Wave" number, the censors insisted that the original outfit Monroe wore be changed to something less revealing.
*I believe this was Gaynor's last film for FOX (although she made SOUTH PACIFIC under a separate deal) and as usual she is wasted.*
The studio wanted her for THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE, but she turned it down, and Sheree North inherited yet another hand-me-down role.
*Although Ray was a non-actor I think he does the best he can with a thankless part. FOX signed a whole bunch of teen idols at this time including Fabian, Pat Boone, Tommy Sands and of course Elvis.*
Johnny Ray's career took a nose dive after one too many busts by the vice squad.
Not to get too technical, but in 1954 none of these future teen idols meant anything. It wasn't until 1956 that 20th signed Elvis, followed by Boone and Sands, with Fabian coming in at the end of the decade.
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Wow Im gone to Mexico less than a week, go online for the first time, and what is this news . . .
Just last month I was worried that that DirecTV was possibly not going to carry FMC since they couldnçt agree with them on a pay hike . . . well that seemed to work out. NOW its apparently going to be reinvented as another channel with NO classic films, ****.
*FMC has never claimed to be a "classic" movie channel like TCM or the old AMC. I think its main purpose is for Fox to have a place to promote its new films. That's probably one of the reasons that many cable systems don't carry it.*
Actually a decade or so ago, Fox was pretty decent. They showed a much larger percentage of their classic films, they had cool intros, with clips of the movie about to start which had info via captions about said movie. They also had original programming that was not just another commercial for the latest Fox film release or TV show. Probably best of all was when they broadcast the found videos of their made for TV hourlong movies, filmed 1955-57, which were often condensed versions of some of their classic films, featuring up and coming names, or some on their way down . . .AND hosted by Robert Wagner. Itçs been bad for awhile, but too bad no more old films at all. RIP FMC.
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Just now leaving work. I will eat pozole when I get home. Had fish tacos last night. Since I'm off to México mañana, more Mexican food will be in the offing (and in my gullet).
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*Heck, maybe I would throw caution to the wind and order a Creme de Mint!*
Lora Mae (sipping on Creme de Mint while on a date with Porter Hollingsway): Mmmm. . . it's good!
Lora Mae (after she's married to Porter Hollingsway): Creme De Mint! Can't stand it; never could!
Lora Mae's Mom: I love it!
Definitely an idea. Maybe we could recreate scenes from old movies, maybe not our favorite movies or scenes, but those that would be appropriate for the setting.
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*Of course, Joan Bennett was a blonde for the first part of her career, and had black hair in the latter part. I don't think there was any going back and forth.*
Joan Bennett was a blonde cutie during the early part of her career, during most of the 30s (sis Connie was blonde forever). At the end of the decade, in TRADE WINDS, she switches midway from blonde to brunette as part of a plot device. Her new appearance attracted such positive comment (the new hairstyle was similar to Hedy Lamarr's, then making a big splash in Hollywood) that she did remain a brunette for the rest of her career.
Gene Tierney made an interesting blonde Italian girl in the war film A BELL FOR ADANO (1945).
My own favorite, Linda Darnell, made a spectacular blonde IMHO in a couple of movies: FOREVER AMBER (1947), and THE WALLS OF JERICHO (1948). She went back to her natural brunette after this, since she felt that the constant dying was ruining her hair. Later, she resisted it being dyed platinum for THE GUY WHO CAME BACK (1951), a role she really did not want to do but was forced to relent (Marilyn Monroe, among others was tested during Linda's incalcitrance).
"Casting Against Type" Greatest Moment
in General Discussions
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*There are many more examples today of playing against type because the actors aren't tied to a system that developed an image for them. In the above example, the role went so against Tyrone Power's image that Zanuck withdrew the movie from release and rushed "Captain from Castile" out early.*
Exactly. Power's portrayal in NIGHTMARE ALLEY was not all that far from his persona in earlier roles, that of a imperfect, somewhat crooked individual. Roles such as those in LOVE IS NEWS, SECOND CHANCE, IN OLD CHICAGO, ROSE OF WASHINGTON SQUARE and BLOOD AND SAND show him to be a two-timing opportunistic amoral heel; his role in NA was not much of a stretch. However, these other roles were in romantic comedies or musical dramas, etc. and not in a cynical noir like ALLEY, with its faintly repellent carnival milieu. This is what shocked his fans, and Zanuck, who rushed the more familiar and palatable swashbucking persona for public viewing.