rosebette

There's only one Robin Hood.

This makes me want to weep.

This is my favorite Titanic movie, too. My feelings about the most recent version -- too long, and it would have been much improved if the song "My Heart Will Go On" were cut, and Leonard DiCaprio drowned in the first scene.

I could get political and express my hope that she keeps the Supreme Court busy so that they don't render any catastrophic decisions on other issues!

Especially if you watch some of those Warner bloopers with Olivia cussing like a little sailor. Olivia's bloopers are at around the 5 minute marker, but I watched the whole thing -- so much **** fun! Errol getting tickled in Gentleman Jim is worth a view, but you get to see all the top actors blowing their lines and cursing.

The Court Jester in which hypnosis renders court jester Danny Kaye into an expert swordsman.

Green Light (1937) - A kind of drippy film in which everyone is nauseatingly noble. I'm an Episcopalian, but I go to church on Sunday; I don't need sermons interrupting my views of the young and gorgeous Errol Flynn. Anita Louise is pretty, but pretty characterless. I spent the flick rooting for the feistier Margaret Lindsey. However, if I were heading toward death and my last vision was like Spring Byington's, of good doctor Errol in his scrubs, I'd die a happy woman.

No, I got the T-Shirt at the Warner Brothers store more than 25 years ago. (They don't have them anymore!) I also have one I bought for my dad with Bogie saying, "I stick my neck out for nobody," a white one with a Warners' logo and faces of many stars, as well as a Perfect Specimen cup with Errol Flynn and Joan Blondell (the handle broke and I can't bear to throw it out). The necks of the T-shirts are all frayed, but I still wear them to bed. However, my husband does say the Bette Davis shirt is a real turn-off.

If you're all going to the dark side, I own a T-Shirt with Bette Davis' picture and the statement "What a dump!"

A Town Like Alice - This movie is a gem, not for Peter Finch, who is very good in it, but for the outstanding performance by Virginia McKenna and the ensemble cast of women. I found this movie compelling and moving. I had seen the British miniseries many years ago on public TV and wondered if a film could do this story justice, but I ended up being just as riveted, even though I knew how it would turn out. The movie also had a balanced depiction of the Japanese in the character of the Japanese sergeant who accompanies the women on their trek.

Ronald Colman's character in Lost Horizon. I feel both his dissatisfaction with the world as it is when he goes on his little bender while he's on the plane, as well as the desire for that ideal world once he's in Shangri-La. Those melancholy eyes are indeed "soulful" when he leaves.

Saturday, my husband and I debated about whether to watch this one or the premiere of the Churchill bio, Darkest Hour, on HBO. Fearing we might fall asleep during the Churchill film, we decided to climb into the sewer and watch Kongo, especially after reviews stating that it was about the most depraved precode ever. We were rewarded, feeling as if we needed a bath after viewing it (which most of the characters of that movie seemed to need, too!).

Lawrence, I must assert that you underestimate Funny Face, which I find a delightful film. Perhaps I'm a little prejudiced because I just went to Paris for the first time in my life, and couldn't get "Bonjour Paris!" out of my head. I think Kay Thomson lends great energy to this movie, Audrey Hepburn is charming, the color and clothes are magnificent, as is the Gershwin score, and Astaire's dance with his raincoat is worth as many views as "He Loves and She Loves." I've always wanted to see Island in the Sun because I've heard it's one of the first movies to depict interracial romances.

I think Tyrone Power's abilities as an actor were revealing himself in the last 10 years of his career. I believe that he would have continued to get better parts, and as he aged, potentially become Oscar material. After his performance in Witness for the Prosecution, I could easily see him as a lead in a Hitchcock film playing a morally ambiguous character.

Well-said, Tom. And unfortunately, his physical beauty may have been a hindrance to getting some of the better roles.

That's the one... I'm objectifying...

I remember seeing Criminal Code a while back, back to back with Convicted, and the early film is far superior.

TikiSoo, where is this photo you speak of? Please share! Or is it "inappropriate" for this site. Now, I'm being really bad. There's one Speedracer has posted with Flynn in bathing trunks on the prow of one of his boats, and when I admired it, my daughter who was looking over my shoulder (she is in her 20s and an ardent feminist) claimed that I was "objectifying him." Well, considering his reputation when he was alive, I'm willing to objectify away! Vincent Sherman, who directed Flynn in Don Juan, said that no one could wear a costume like he did. Moreover, his walk was sheer grace. The early scenes in Gentleman Jim, in which he's just crossing a street wearing a double-breasted suit, are pure poetry. Yes, I agree about the way many of today's male (and female stars) look, muscle-bound to the point of looking like cartoon action figures rather than real people.. Many of them undergo grueling fitness and diet regimes that are damaging to their health just to prepare for an action role. Hugh Jackman on Colbert once described what he has to do before he does near-nude scenes -- sometimes limiting both food and water intake for days, as well as working out -- and he said he doesn't advise the ordinary person to do this. When you look at Gable or Flynn shirtless, or even an athlete like Johnny Weismuller in the first Tarzan films, you see fit males, but not unrealistic images of what a body should look like.

While Wikipedia and other sources state that Curtiz and Damita were married, some sources claim that this is "urban legend" that was used to justify Flynn and Curtiz's antipathy towards one another.

Oh yeah? Check this one out.

My sister does ballroom dancing and they did a pirate number where she had to wear high boots like that. She used some of the publicity stills of Olivia to model her costume. Olivia (and my sister and I) was petite, so she had to roll the tops down. Of course, they wanted to show some leg, too. Poor girl, she hated doing these shots.

While The Sea Hawk has better production values, Captain Blood is my favorite Flynn pirate film. There's real energy and pace in the story, while I find The Sea Hawk rather talky and lagging in the middle. Plus, no Olivia or Basil. You can tell from the beginning of Captain Blood that those two are just hot for each other. Basil's bad French accent and great fencing (not too much doubling in the duel scene) also make the movie more interesting. ("Thees eez the rosary of pain.") You can almost catch Flynn wiping the spittle out of his eye every time Baz says, "Mon Capitain!" Watching Basil this time around with my new vision and great HD TV, I could see all the eyeliner and shadow around his eyes -- with the curly wig, swagger, and makeup, he's the model for Johnny Depp's character, makeup and all.

I actually like him later in the film when he's cleaned up a bit. Those pirate hats are tilted at such a nice angle.

Despite the upbeat ending and her attempts at sobriety, sadly, Diana Barrymore never could overcome the family disease of alcoholism.

The Secret of Madame Blanche (1933) - This is kind of a Madame X story with Irene Dunne. She actually makes the picture seem better than it really is. She goes from this light musical comedy star to a tragic heroine and later an aging Café-owner, but she's such a fine actress that she is completely believable. I also found Phillip Holmes strangely affecting and haunting. I almost cried three times, which I'm rather ashamed of, because I knew the story was rubbish. The scene with her playing with her baby will melt your heart, yet there's a stiffness and hardness to her in the later scenes that one would hardly believe possible for such a young actress. It's not just as if they stuck a wig and some makeup on a younger actress; she speaks and moves like an older woman. Lionel Atwill is at his best being at his worst -- in this movie, more of a moral monster than anything you'll see in Doctor X or The History of Wax Museum. At least these guys were deranged; this man is allegedly upholding the "decent" values of his social class.