feaito

I agree with you MovieJoe, I don't know what happens to me with Norma Shearer, but since I was a kid, when I hadn't yet seen any film of her (only had read a lot 'bout her), I felt immensely intrigued, attracted to her "persona". Yeah she was no special beauty and no great actress, but she had that extra "something"....she was classy, she was smart, she worked hard at achieving the best she could. The first film I saw her in was "Romeo and Juliet", and I thought it was a decent version, in spite of the fact that she and Leslie Howard were way too old (especially Howard) for the leading roles. The production values and the supporting cast are great. It is true that sometimes she overacts but her charisma is undeniable. I agree that her role in "The Women" must be one of her best. I also liked her in "Marie Antoinette", especially when she was "older". Another very worthwhile movie is the delightfully pre-code "Riptide", opposite Herbert Marshall and Robert Montgomery, although somewhat episodic is grand fun. "A Free Soul" and "The Divorcee" are also good, and I'd love to watch her in the 1932 "Smilin' Through" which along with "Imitation of Life", "Magnificent Obsession" and "The Bitter Tea of General Yen", where THE movies my grandma always kept mentioning over & over as her faves. I have taped from TCM "The Barretts of Wimpole Street", "The Last of Mrs. Cheyney", "Strangers May Kiss", "Private Lives" and "Strange Interlude", which I will try to watch as soon as possible. I would like to watch Norma"Idiot's Delight" and "Escape" too. If I had to define Norma Shearer, I'd have to say she was the epitome of the sophisticated and classy Movie Star.

What a pleasure to read this thread..."Imitation of Life" has always been a fave of mine, because as a kid my grandmother kept talking me about the 1934 version starring the grand Claudette Colbert. Besides I had seen the 1959 version on TV and I loved it...those opening titles with the diamonds falling down, were really inventive. I like so much both movies that in spite I had bought them both on Tape, I have the double DVD edition, which is great (I got it as a gift). To compare both versions is difficult 'cos they answer to different Era's needs & codes, but the two are ravishing and excellently acted, although Claudette Colbert is my fave actress (compared to Lana Turner). I also must add that sweet Louise Beavers' performance blew me away, it is a real treat to watch her...if you can, pleae watch her great performance in the 1940 "No Time for Comedy" (1940) (aka "The Guy with a Grin") starring Rosalind Russell & Jimmy Stewart, a very special film indeed, not your "typical" comedy. Claudette Colbert made so many good movies, the aforementioned "The Smiling Lieutenant", "Midnight", "It Happened One Night", "Palm Beach Story", "Tovarich", "Without Reservations" (one of my fave too, in spite of having a "dubbed" version), etc. Sadly, many of her "Paramounts" aren't available nor I have seen them scheduled anywhere: "Arise My Love", "Skylark", "Bluebeard's Eighth Wife", "The Gilded Lily", "She Married her Boss" (Columbia)... She was also very sexy in both "The Sign of The Cross" and the tongue-in-cheek 1934 version of "Cleopatra" opposite Warren William and Henry Wilcoxon...much better than the mammooth, too serious 1963 Taylor spectacle. It's a pity so many good films from the 1930's aren't available on DVD and the VHS editions are out-of-print; for example the excellent "Craig's Wife" with Rosalind Russell and John Boles, the magnificent "Theodora Goes Wild" with Irene Dunne and Melvyn Douglas, the marvellous "Death Takes a Holiday" with Fredric March and Evelyn Venable (which was included in a special edition of "Meet Joe Black", the remake of the same story), the great "Remember the Night" with Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck, the unique "History is Made at Night" with Charles Boyer and Jean Arthur...all of which I had the luck of purchasing at very good prices, to some marketplace sellers at Amazon.com.

Latin Lovers?

The Lady Eve?

The doomed Gelsomina (Giulietta Masina) in "La Strada" comes to my mind...

What a Joy to have you back posting with us!! Dear Mary Lou, it's great to see ya in such good humor... Do you realize how much you've been missed, our own "mother of the boards"?? (someone said that, and I think he's so right) Yes my pal, we've got lots to catch up, glad you liked your b'thday gift!! I finally received yesterday "the Loy package", I was so happy, I hadn't lose faith!!! Thanks friend!!! We've got so many things to talk 'bout....For example, I got the Deanna Durbin 6 movie set from my "Carolinian's" Relatives, and I just loved it...I had never seen a movie of hers...I liked so much "First Love" and "Three Smart Girls"!!!! Well Mary Lou...we've got tons of stuff to chat about!!! Hips Hips Hooray for You!!! Welcome back!! A HUGE HUG

Mary Lou, I've missed you a lot all of these days. Hope you get well really soon. We'll have to catch up a lot! A Big Hug

Definitely Amazon.com, where you can find a huge selection of classic movies. Also there are marketplace sellers who sometimes offer DVD, VHS and books, new and used, at very good prices, even many unavailable & out of print stuff.

Just for another clue: Possessed (1931)?

wild guess: Baby Face?

The Big Heat?

Back Street?

I agree with Alix, Mick LaSalle's "Dangerous Men" and "Complicated Women", are very entertaining & fast reading. In "Dangerous Men", the author makes such a good analysis of Richard Barthelmess "personae" & career, from a point of view I had never read before. As for Vieira's "Sin in Soft Focus", besides the excellent writing and data, it contains some of the greatest photographs & stills from that Era, too.

Excellent work Path!!, as usual... I highly recommend you the sophisticated Vincente Minnelli comedy "Designing Woman": Lauren Bacall and Gregory Peck are a very fine match!! The movie is a kind of remake of Tracy-Hepburn's "Woman of the Year", with Bacall as a sophisticated Fashion Designer and Peck as a down-to-earth sports newspaperman...Don't miss Mickey Shaughnessy as an ex-boxer (hilarious) and the statuesque Dolores Gray in a great part, as Peck's ex-flame...she gots to sing and dance too!...After watching this one, you'll be thinking it twice before ordering spaghettis!! Also, I agree with Mongo that "Baby Face" is a must-see, one of the most daring pre-codes ever filmed, Barbara Stanwyck plays a kept-woman who has no morals at all...she gets her way most of the picture...climbing through the "money ladder"...John Wayne looks so young in a supporting role and George Brent is the leading man, "sans-moustache"...

Wild guess: The Big House?

Yeah...that one's cool Paty!!

I agree with Mongo, Wyler is one of my very faves. Others are George Stevens, Ernst Lubistch, Frank Capra, Rouben Mamoulian and George Cukor.

Street Scene?

Because it doesn't exist anymore, RKO Radio's. Also Path?'s Rooster! Of those which still exist, Paramount and MGM are my faves.

Broadway Melody of 1940?

Yes evh, congratulations!! Your turn now!

Nope... Clue # 8: The small town is located in England Bonus Clue: The film was also shot in England, but the two main leads were american.

Their dancing styles, are so different that I couldn't choose between them. I like them both. Anyway my favorite Astaire movies are those classic RKO 1930's, in glorious black and white, in which he starred with Ginger Rogers and her Columbia pairings with Rita Hayworth. Also, her MGM movies with Cyd Charisse ("The Band Wagon" and "Silk Stockings"), the 1945 "Yolanda an the Thief", "The Broadway Melody of 1940" with Eleanor Powell and the glorious "Funny Face" with lovely Audrey Hepburn. As for Gene Kelly, my faves are "Cover Girl" with Rita Hayworth, "The Pirate" with Judy Garland, "An American in Paris", "Les Girls", "Singin' in the Rain", "Brigadoon" and "It's always fair weather".

No... Clue # 7: A beheaded corpse

Nope... Clue # 6: A Domineering old lady