filmnoirguy
-
Posts
676 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by filmnoirguy
-
-
On 10/9/2020 at 7:17 AM, TikiSoo said:
Personally, I love velvet & wear a lot of it. That "replica" dress is not exactly the same pieces as the original, which is why you can make anything you like & claim it as a "replica". There is no way you are going to be able to decipher every cut & line.
There are replica patterns available for very famous Hollywood costumes. I know someone who made the Wicked Witch's dress from Wizard Of Oz. It was amazing to see all the elements & how it fit a body in person. Remember-the camera ALWAYS lies.
Check out vintage "Hollywood Patterns" which are readily available, you may find an actual pattern for this dress. Also smart buying small vintage mink fur pieces whenever seen in thrift shops for exactly this kind of re-purpose. Polyester fur just ruins the illusion.
I own a beautiful circa 1960 designer knock off of Liz Taylor's dress in CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF. It's beautifully cut & fitted and the crepe flows & drapes dramatically. Unfortunately I don't fill it out the same as Liz.
It's very similar to Travilla's "Seven Year Itch" dress Marilyn wore, but that dress had strong pleating to create movement. The Helen Rose dress above is so light, it floats!
Betty Grable first wore this style of dress with the "strong pleating" in 1951's Meet Me After the Show. I think it may have been yellow.
-
On 10/8/2020 at 8:16 PM, jamesjazzguitar said:
It appears you really like velvet. I don't mean to be overly critical, but is there much of a market for velvet dresses?
To me it is the lease attractive fabric.
You mean the least attractive to lease?
-
1
-
-
I Believe in Music became Mac Davis's signature song. He would end all of his shows singing it. RIP Mac Davis.
-
1
-
-
RIP Helen Reddy. Singer-songwriter Mac Davis also died yesterday at age 78.
-
Haven't gone through all 27 pages, so if this has been mentioned, please excuse me:
Opening of Sunset Blvd. with Joe Gillis's dead body floating in the swimming pool as the cops arrive to fish him out.
Closing of Sunset Blvd. with a seriously delusional Norma Desmond coming toward the camera for her final close-up.
-
1
-
-
On 7/29/2020 at 9:23 AM, HelenBaby2 said:
Ritter was very good in The Mating Season.
Thelma received Supporting Oscar nods for All About Eve, The Mating Season, With a Song in My Heart, Pickup on South Street, Pillow Talk, and Birdman of Alcatraz. Unfortunately, no wins.
-
1
-
-
My favorite movie. Ever. As I was watching a repeat of a 2002 Jeopardy Tournament of Champs from Radio City Music Hall on August 10, I was thinking of Sunset Blvd premiering at Radio City Music Hall 70 years ago that very night, August 10, 1950.
-
Katharine Hepburn in Alice Adams
Barbara Stanwyck in The Lady Eve
Fred MacMurray in Double Indemnity
William Holden in Sunset Blvd.
Gloria Swanson in Sunset Blvd.
Bette Davis in All About Eve
Montgomery Clift in A Place in the Sun
Ava Gardner in Show Boat
Vivien Leigh in A Streetcar Named Desire
Kirk Douglas in Ace in the Hole
Shirley Booth in Come Back, Little Sheba
Jean Hagen in Singin' in the Rain
Burt Lancaster in From Here to Eternity
Deborah Kerr in From Here to Eternity
Thelma Ritter in Pickup on South Street
Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront
Humphrey Bogart in The Caine Mutiny
Judy Garland in A Star is Born
James Dean in East of Eden
Susan Hayward in I'll Cry Tomorrow
Elizabeth Taylor in Giant
Don Murray in A Hatful of Rain
James Stewart in Vertigo
Rosalind Russell in Auntie Mame
Audrey Hepburn in The Nun's Story
Cary Grant in North by Northwest
Clark Gable in The Misfits
Geraldine Page in Sweet Bird of Youth
Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird
Paul Newman in Hud
Richard Burton in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Peter O'Toole in The Lion in Winter
Jane Fonda in They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
Dustin Hoffman in Lenny
Jack Nicholson in Chinatown
-
1
-
-
Great review. Its three Oscar nods were for Story & Screenplay, Editing, Art & Set Decoration (Color). Too bad the Academy didn't think it worthy of Oscar noms for Best Pic, Director, Actor, Supporting Actor, and Scoring.
-
If you want to see Debbie in her "break-out" performance, watch the MGM musical from 1950---Two Weeks with Love starring Jane Powell. Debbie plays her younger sister and made a big hit with the public by singing "Aba Daba Honeymoon" with Carleton Carpenter. It's been on TCM in the past.
-
My favorite movie, I first saw Sunset Blvd. when it was released in August of 1950 when I was 13 years old and it knocked my socks off. I credit Sunset Blvd. with my interest in classic film. Thank you, Scott Feinberg, for your excellent interview with Nancy Olson. It made my day!
-
On 3/27/2020 at 3:58 PM, TopBilled said:
As I said before, Swanson could not win for playing a depraved character, since it went against the morality of the day, especially at the height of the conservative McCarthy era. Baxter's Eve was not a moral character either, so she could not be chosen. And Parker, playing a criminal, could not be celebrated for that type of character. Holliday got it by default.
Yeah, Billie Dawn was an ex-showgirl who was a "kept" woman of a corrupt wealthy junkyard tycoon who goes to Washington, D.C. to "buy" a congressman. So I guess by 1950 standards, Judy Holliday was good to go.
-
21 hours ago, TopBilled said:
Baxter was right to refuse, at least in my opinion. This was her time to shine, after paying dues at Fox since 1940. Plus Baxter had already been promoted-- and won-- as supporting actress for THE RAZOR'S EDGE (1946).
Davis is the one who should have been submitted for the supporting category, but would her ego and sense of self-importance have allowed it? In some ways Davis (whom I like in other films) ruins this story for me. She is just so distracting and so over the top, pulling the attention away from Baxter's character and the main arc of the story, that to me it's a huge detriment. I truly wish Claudette Colbert had stayed with it and Davis had not been hired.
As for Hotel I think you have the facts wrong. Davis was signed as the star. Aaron Spelling shot the pilot, but Davis was being difficult and had some health problems. So Davis pulled out, after ABC had bought the pilot and ordered a full season. This caused Spelling and his producers to scramble to find a last-minute replacement. So in an ironic nod to ALL ABOUT EVE, where Baxter's character had sought to dethrone Davis' character, they hired Baxter to take over for Davis.
They wrote out the Laura Trent character, Davis' role, in the second episode by saying the hotel would now be run by her sister-in-law Victoria Cabot, played by Anne Baxter. Baxter remained with the show for the next three seasons, until her death in 1986. Baxter ultimately appeared in 71 out of 115 total episodes of Hotel. Davis only did one episode, the pilot, and Baxter had not been hired yet. So it is impossible that Davis and Baxter ever had a conversation re: ALL ABOUT EVE on the set of Hotel. They never worked on the show together.
I do think Davis and Baxter were friends, though, and they remained in touch after the filming of ALL ABOUT EVE. Whereas Davis fought terribly with Celeste Holm during the making of AAE, she got along quite well with Anne Baxter. I am sure she understood Baxter's need for recognition, since she would have appreciated how very hard Baxter worked as the central piece of the picture, to help make it a success. In the end, they both were nominated for Best Actress. Yes, they did cancel each other out once the votes were submitted. But neither one had to step down and be "demoted" to supporting status. To suggest that Anne Baxter should have bowed to Bette Davis is highly unfair.
As I said before, Swanson could not win for playing a depraved character, since it went against the morality of the day, especially at the height of the conservative McCarthy era. Baxter's Eve was not a moral character either, so she could not be chosen. And Parker, playing a criminal, could not be celebrated for that type of character. Holliday got it by default.
Well, I certainly didn't make up the conversation between Davis and Baxter. So it must be in one of their auto-bios or I read it elsewhere.
While I sympathize with Colbert (apparently she injured her back while making Three Came Home) dropping out of AAE, I'm glad Bette Davis was cast. For me, All About Eve is Bette's career high performance. I guess we can agree to disagree?
Comparing a Broadway musical with the movie it's based on may be considered a weak argument, BUT.... the 1970 Broadway musical Applause, based on All About Eve., centers on aging star Margo Channing played by Lauren Bacall who won the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical, while Penny Fuller as Eve Harrington was nominated for Best Featured (supporting) Actress in a Musical. I'm not suggesting that Anne Baxter, who I think was terrific btw, should have accepted a supporting Oscar nod. On the other hand, I definitely do not think that Bette Davis should have been nominated for Supporting Actress either!
Based on performance, not politics, alone, my vote still goes to Norma Desmond.
-
1
-
-
I think his Hollywood career was largely forgotten when he was elected the Republican Senator of California in 1964. He had been elected president of the Screen Actors Guild in 1945. Reminds me of another movie star who was also president of SAG before he went into national politics.
But that's not your question. I agree with Sepiatone and Speedracer. Not a fan, but I'd watch a few of Murph's movies if TCM wants to feature him.
-
2
-
-
On 3/22/2020 at 7:48 AM, Det Jim McLeod said:
Part 2 1950-1959
1. 1950 Celeste Holm and Thelma Ritter All About Eve
2. 1953 Brandon de Wilde and Jack Palance Shane
3. 1954 Lee J Cobb, Karl Malden and Rod Steiger On The Waterfront
Jan Sterling and Claire Trevor The High And The Mighty
4. 1956 Eileen Heckert and Patty McCormack The Bad Seed
5. 1957 Arthur Kennedy and Russ Tamblyn Peyton Place
Hope Lange and Diane Varsi Peyton Place
6. 1959 Arthur O'Connell and George C Scott Anatomy Of A Murder
Susan Kohner and Juanita Moore Imitation Of Life
Birdie's best line in AAE: "What a story! Everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." As good as Hope Lange was in PP, I thought Diane Varsi stole the picture.
-
On 3/21/2020 at 9:57 AM, Det Jim McLeod said:
Part 1 1939-1949
1. 1939 Harry Carey and Claude Rains Mr Smith Goes To Washington
Olivia de Havilland and Hattie McDaniel Gone With The Wind
2. 1941 Patricia Collinge and Teresa Wright The Little Foxes
3, 1943 Gladys Cooper and Ann Revere The Song Of Bernandette
4. 1945 Eve Arden and Ann Blyth Mildred Pierce
5. 1947 Celeste Holm and Ann Revere Gentleman's Agreement
6, 1948 Barbara Bel Geddes and Ellen Corby I Remember Mama
7, 1949 Celeste Holm and Elsa Lanchester Come To The Stable
Ethel Barrymore and Ethel Waters Pinky
-
On 3/22/2020 at 4:40 PM, TopBilled said:
Re: Anne Baxter and Bette Davis in ALL ABOUT EVE. I feel the picture belongs to Anne Baxter. Without her, there is nothing driving the narrative.
If Claudette Colbert had stayed in the cast, she probably would have been pushed for a supporting Oscar, and that might have paved the way for Baxter to win over Judy Holliday. But Bette, who over-acts considerably in this production, was also put in the running for lead actress, so she canceled out Baxter's work. And I think that's a shame.
Actually, I think it's the other way around. For me, Margo Channing is the lead character, even though the title is All About Eve. I've read in the past that Baxter was asked by the producers if she was okay having her name submitted for a supporting nod. She refused and ended up competing with Bette Davis. In the 1980s, while Davis was guest starring on an episode of the TV show Hotel starring Anne Baxter, they had a heart-to-heart discussion about old times. Baxter confessed to Davis that she (Baxter) was wrong about insisting on a lead actress Oscar nod. She said that if she had accepted the supporting category "both of us would have won Oscars that year."
For me, the Best Actress of 1950 was Gloria Swanson in Sunset Blvd (correct spelling, btw). Maybe she and Davis cancelled each other out paving the way for Judy Holliday?
-
1
-
-
On 3/14/2020 at 5:08 PM, mr6666 said:
Do you have Eddie's intro and exit comments about I Wake Up Screaming available? I'd love to hear what he had to say.
-
On 3/16/2020 at 10:25 AM, Det Jim McLeod said:
I always thought both Mature and Wilde were much more talented than people gave them credit for.
Wilde was very good and likable as the patient husband of klutzy June Allyson in Woman's World (1954). He did an excellent job as the honest cop with a soft spot for the ladies in The Big Combo (1955). His biggest artistic triumphs were in the 1960s where he became a great director as well. He did an outstanding job with the brutal and bloody adventure film The Naked Prey (1966) and the surprisingly tough war drama Beach Red (1967). He also gave two of his best performances in these as well.
Wilde was also very good as Gene Tierney's husband in the Technicolor noir 1945's Leave Her to Heaven. Of course, one of his most popular roles was as the Great Sebastian in 1952's The Greatest Show on Earth. He received his only Oscar nod playing Chopin in 1945's A Song to Remember.
-
2
-
-
On 3/13/2020 at 10:07 PM, TopBilled said:
Which films would you select for a Summer Under the Stars tribute for him? Would you focus mainly on his work with Ingmar Bergman?
Two of Max von Sydow's American pictures I'd like included are 1975's Three Days of the Condor and 1986's Hannah and Her Sisters.
-
1
-
-
On 3/15/2020 at 9:04 AM, jinsinna13 said:
Most likely Mildred Pierce and Grease. I'd also have to include Having Wonderful Time. I haven't seen that one yet, but Douglas Fairbanks Jr. is in it. So that one is a given in my book.
Eve Arden had a major role in another Joan Crawford picture---1951's Goodbye My Fancy. And was terrific in 1959's Anatomy of a Murder with James Stewart. Of course, she played the lead in 1956's Our Miss Brooks, based on her signature role on radio and TV. She was in the ensemble cast of 1937's Stage Door with Hepburn and Rogers. Another favorite is 1960's The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, holding her own with Robert Preston, Dorothy McGuire, Shirley Knight and Angela Lansbury.
-
1
-
-
In movies, Executive Producers are the money people.
-
On 2/23/2020 at 4:32 PM, lavenderblue19 said:
First time I watched All About Eve I was in my teens, I loved the expression it's Where the Elite Meet. I used that expression for decades. Of course there are so many in All about Eve that are so clever.
Probably the most famous (and most misquoted) from All About Eve is: " Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night!"
I don't know how many times I've heard people say: "Hold on tight, it's going to be a rough ride" or some variation.
Also from AAE: "The woods are full of one-scene sensations." "What I go after, only I go after. I don't want it to come after me." "There comes a time that the piano realizes that it has not written the concerto." "Let the rest of the world beat their brains out for a buck. It's friends that count, and I have friends." "For some reason you can't just pick up champagne. Somebody's got to be witty with a toast."
Add-ons: "What a story! Everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." "I detest cheap sentiment."
-
1
-
-
On 11/11/2019 at 10:51 PM, NavyFlyer1325 said:
I just heard Dave Karger introduce "Kelly's Heroes" mentioning the character of "Private Kelly". There is no Private Kelly in this movie.
Kelly was a Platoon Leader with rank of Lieutenant, who got a raw deal from Command, took blame that wasn't his, and and perhaps got busted down in rank. It's never clear in the movie what Kelly's current military rank is, just that he is assigned to the company or platoon that Big Joe (Telly Savalas) is the sergeant for. What is very clear is that Big Joe is the main and senior enlisted leadership figure in the company, yet Kelly still carries himself as a company officer, and remains an influencer and leader despite his compromised status.
Dave Karger has failed his first test. Robert Osborne would not have made such a mistake.
You do know that the hosts are reading intros written by TCM writers, right? At any rate, that's the explanation I received several years ago when I corrected a mistake Robert Osborne had made.
-
1
-
Tommy Rall (1929-2020)
in General Discussions
Posted
When Gene Kelly's wife, Patricia, asked him about other dancers, Kelly replied "The best all-around dancer we had over at MGM was Tommy Rall. He could do anything and do it better than any other dancer."