hassan974

Ella Raines is also great in TALL IN THE SADDLE with John Wayne released in 1944. TCM has it. She's in another similar film with Vincent Price than showed on AMC but I cannot remember the name offhand. Talented lady who I remember did some television in the 1950's.

Saw it and the print TCM showed did not have the color of the DVD nor of the original which I have seen. It was not as bad as the purple faded Eastmancolor print of BEAU BRUMMEL that TCM showed recently. But most persons would not notice. I watch TCM non-stop and it is my favorite channel. But I have to say that in the past year they have become increasingly sloppy in not providing the best color version available of some of their library. This is strange because in the past they have shown a film with great color and then 6 months a poor color version of the same film. I don't get it.

1933 version of STATE FAIR is not out on video. Much more adult in treatment than other of the other versions. Janet Gaynor, Will Rogers, Norman Foster and, I think, Sally Eilers is the vamp.

BLONDIE JOHNSON is unavailable on video at present. I taped it from TCM twice. I like Joan Blondell so anything she does works for me. Other's might find the film a routine programmer. Blondell's mother dies of pneumonia as a result of no heat in her mother's backroom apartment. A hardened Blondell is cautioned by a priest to find her life legitmately. Having had enough of prayer and convention she embarks on a life as a con artists and achieves success with her newly formed gang. Despite Blondell's resistance she falls for a member of her gang (Chester Morris) and, despite the inevitable payback, they agree to going straight and making a new life for themselves after paying for their sins. It's nothing great, played the second half of a double bill in 1933. But it is Blondell giving her usual solid performance in some not so solid films.

JackPickford1: I'm afraid if you see Bachelor Apartment or any of The Princess Mdvani's sound films you will be taken aback. I thought Marie Prevost took the prize for disappointment in sound but Ms Murray's voice absolutely does not fit the image. Sad, because without sound, as in The Merry Widow, she is glorious.

TCM...I know you have to run an impromptu salute to Ronald Reagan out of respect. But why last night instead of the 1005th time you were showing NOW VOYAGER? You have that rarely shown 1929 musical RIO RITA scheduled with Bebe Daniels, John Boles, Wheeler and Woolsey and the lucious Dorothy Lee and wham it is pre-empted. That kind of movie never gets the scheduling that those too often repeated classics with Bogart, Davis, etc. Can anyone remember the last time TCM showed RIO RITA? I know it is long and it drags but the tunes are good and the 2-strip Technicolor finale is marvelous.

Laserdisks are not being made anymore. They were 12" disks and at the time, state of the art. When they first emerged there was also a competing format by RCA that used disks played with a needle like a record. I got stuck with those too! Now both have faded and we are have DVD's the smaller size disk. Problem is, a lot of classics on Laserdisk have not appeared on DVD (KID MILLIONS, WHOOPEE, DOCTOR X, etc.)and many of us still have Laserdisk players and disks. I see the old disks being sold on Ebay sometimes. My Gene Kelly boxed set Laserdisk has 8 sides!! On DVD it would be a 2 disk set. If what you buy is the same size as a CD, you are safe. It's one of the few times smaller is better.

I can't remember for certain if the video tape of HGWMV was in stereo or not. It could be. But I'd like to think I would have purchased it if it was. I don't know what to do with my once state-of-the-art laserdisks. They certainly don't compare in sharpness and sound to DVD's!! I have one of the old pioneer turn over each side players that is at least 15 years old if not older and it still works. Of course, it rarely gets much of a workout except for an occasional viewing of WHOOPEE and KID MILLIONS, some of the rarities that haven't made it to DVD.

Come to think of it, I doubt they will release the Faye tracks in stereo (although my fingers are crossed). I remember now that at the same time (1991) they found stereo tracks for THE RAZOR'S EDGE and HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY and they have not emerged on videos of these films.

That is too bad because the CBS Fox double Laserdisk release in stereo of SUN VALLEY SERENADE and ORCHESTRA WIVES is splendid. If my old laserdisk player dies on me, I am in trouble. The CBS Double disk of DR X and MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM in 2-strip Technicolor are from Jack Warner's personal prints recovered from a Warner archivist who purloined them and the color is glorious. Unfortunately the transfer that TCM shows of MYSTERY and the version contained on the new HOUSE OF WAX DVD are not the definitive Jack Warner transfers and the color is not good, leaning more towards blue than green in the 2nd color component. Most people wouldn't notice and say "it looks o.k. for being old." The original version, however, is glorious. Hopefully, I can copy it to DVD.

Brackenhe: The sad part is that Debbie Reynolds has been trying to find her costumes and memorabilia a home since 1972! In the past, when financial problems hit her, including the failure of several business ventures, she was able to head to vegas and start performing again. Not that Reynolds is anywhere near being through. But she is 72 now and with each advancing year her prospects in funding her collection with her own income grow slimmer. I'm not going to publicly bash the hands that feed me but while Reynolds quest has been out of genuine love, Hollywood is known for only latching on to moneymaking enterprises. I can't imagine that Hollywood wouldn't want to see these costumes. I went to an Adrian exhibit at the LA County Museum, I beleive, and the thrill of seeing his gowns from films including the ball creation worn by Kay Johnson in MADAME SATAN (shown on TCM) was overwhelming.

There are more out-takes than the Merman number including "Some Sunny Day" with Don Ameche and some alternate takes by Faye. Some years ag, a guy working for Pioneer found stereo tracks to two Alice Faye musicals, "Weekend in Havanna" and "That Night In Rio." The studio also had two "clean" IB Technicolor prints of each. They were supposed to be released in stereo on the old Laserdisk format but it never came to be. I think Chace (the late Rick Chase) told me his company was going to do the mastering. We always fought over the use of "no-noise" sound processing which he was fond of and I wasn't because it removes too much integrity from the original sound, in my opinion. I am hoping these stereo tracks will accompany their release on DVD including the out-takes and alternate takes. In my opinion, double disk sets with extras, at a reasonable price, is the only way to market these films properly. I always feel I have purchased at value when I buy a double feature set.

Jo Stafford wore one of the Marie Antionette gowns singing "Katie Went to Hatie." I had a late friend who was a "Marie" expert. Collected all of the costumes and he could haven given a detailed descrioption of what costumes went where. So many of the costumes didn't survive because of "wire hangers." Many of them were kept at Western Costume on Melrose and hung on hangers. Over the years, the weight of the costume shredded them. It's all about money. Once the studios and others realized they were losing money making history, they got on the bandwagon and tried preseving these costumes---something Debbie tried for years and receiving little support. Remind me to talk sometime about what went into a land fill at Metro and the costumes that could be had for 50 cents during a sale. Complete with the star's name-tag inside.

Remember edgecliff: Some of the MARIE ANTIONETTE costumes were recut and redesigned for DuBARRY WAS A LADY. Other's that contained any fur were cut down for other costumes. Years ago, Debbie Reynolds assistant had her costumes at his home in Sherman Oaks. I wasn't interested then but he kept pulling out costume after costume including ornate gowns Loretta Young wore in SUEZ. He also had 11x14 photos of Loretta Young wearing the gowns. But these photos were ripped in some fashion. I asked him why and he said the Academy Library received Loretta Young's scrapbooks as a gift and an employee was instructed to remove the photos from the books. The ones that were torn were thrown in the wastebasket where LeBold retrieved them. Today of course, these scrapbooks compiled by Miss Young would be kept intact. This was around 1974 as I recall.

Yes, you can go through the entire catalog online on the Sothebys website and it is exhausting to do so. I was interested in the photographs she saved of herself that she saved (not that she was vain, mind you) but the furnishings reminded me of my British grandparents and not my style I'm afraid. It will definitely be a sale of sales and, of course, the sale results will be on the website for those interested in comparing the auction estimate with the final result.

Another plus is that TCM did not use that awful graphic design for the Cary Grant they used on the Rita Hayworth documentary. Those billowy flowing curtains blowing in the wind with images superimposed on them are the most irritating and uncreative of graphics I have seen in some time. I saw that same graphic used on a TCM advertisement for something and all I could think of was faxing them my phone number so they could call me next time and get it done tastefully. They would use it on Rita, my absolute favorite. Grrrrrrrrrr

The truth is, Hollywood overflowed with creative designers including the neglected Gwen Wakeling at Fox and Helen Rose (much admired by the stars she dressed) and Vera West at Universal who dressed Deanna Durbin. Orry-Kelly and these others were unique in that they had to crank these dresses out like factory product. Orry-Kelly designed clothing for twenty-eight films in 1932 alone including FORTY SECOND STREET, MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM, etc. In 1934 he designed for fifty-one motion pictures at Warner Brothers, a staggering output that would have killed an ordinary man. Orry-Kelly was born John Kelly in Australia and studied art there. He sailed for New York City, planing to become an actor. The acting career never materialised but he got a job painting murals for night clubs. This led to a job at Fox east coast studios illustrating titles for silent films. With no training in costume design, he was able to get a job designing costumes for the Scandals and Schubert Revues. After designing for Ethel Barrymore and Katherine Hepburn in 1931, their admiration brought him to Hollywood where his old friend, Cary Grant, introduced him to the head of wardrobe at Warners. His first job was dressing big star, at the time, Ruth Chatterton in "The Rich Are Always With Us."

ALEXANDERS RAGTIME BAND will probably include the "outtakes" (lots of them) as well. If they are wise, that is!

CALL ME MADAM is excellent. Tuneful Irving Berlin songs, great color, costumes and performances. It is worth owning and a different contrast to the musicals made at Metro. The Fox musicals always had a distinctive look and tone and this one is no different. It's bawdy and raucous, like the original Broadway show although some of the lyrics have been toned toned by the censors. Somewhat loosely based on the career of Pearl Mesta, 'the hostess with the mostess on the ball.' Vera Ellen and Donald O'Connor dance wonderfully and Merman, Sanders and, If I remember correctly, Billy de Wolfe are in top form.

You might be right, edgecliffd. But I tend to believe that the private reason given to one's wife might be a more accurate one than the reason given the studio or the press. I doubt that Grant called Garland a drug addict but he was aware of her undependability in making her films. I can't imagine that Grant wouldn't offer a more gracious decline than offer up a reason (the truth) that might hurt Judy's feelings and injure his reputation on top of it. Privately, I think he told Besty Drake the truth about his feelings of working with Garland. As the biography reveals, Grant played a wide range of roles and there is no reason not to think he wouldn't have jumped at A STAR IS BORN, were conditions different. I tend to put more weight into the comments of thoses closest to grant than publicity generated material printed for public consumption.

Loved it! Betsy Drakes candor and use of words certainly got my attention. Her insight was invaluable.

Loved it! Saw the film once on television years and years ago and then it disappeared.

He does a similar scene in the Technicolor musical, SWEETHEARTS where Jeanette MacDonald does a colorful montage trying on different Adian gowns and dresses, one a beautiful form fitting bugle-bead creation.

GILBERT ADRIAN (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Costume Designer) In 1924, when the motion picture industry was still young, Adrian quickly made a name for himself as a fashion designer to reckon with. With a few years he was head costume designer at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Camille (1936), Marie Antoinette (1838), The Wizard of Oz (1939) and Pride and Prejudice (1940) are just four of the exquisitely designed films that won Adrian his place of distinction in Hollywood history. His superb dramatic sense gave his motion picture costumes their unmistakable style. He was known for his careful research, expensive fabrics, and striking details. The heroine may have been the girl-next-door or a blonde ?bombshell,? an eighteenth-century queen of France or a nineteenth-century courtesan, but the clothes were always appropriate, feminine, and romantic with layers of soft fabrics, form-fitting shapes, or ruffles and lace. As styles changed, Adrian changed with them. Adrian?s impeccable instincts led him to take the most daring elements?details of shape, cut, line---and translate them into the larger than life images seen on the big screen. Outrageous hats, frilly sleeves for Joan Crawford and Jean Harlow, and most importantly padded shoulders. Although these looks made transitory appearances on the Paris runways, it was Adrian who, through the medium of film, popularized these looks, making them standards of fashionable dress. By 1941 Europe was at war, and the glamorous days of Metro Goldwyn Mayer, and Hollywood, had begun to wane. The extravaganzas that had given Adrian his greatest artistic opportunities seemed trivial in the face of German expansionism. With an acute understanding of what Hollywood?s move away from extravagance would mean for him, Adrian left Metro and turned his attention to the world of fashionable dress working within goverment applied wartime restrictions. One month after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Adrian presented his first collection of dresses. Government Order I-8.5 contained the following restrictions: No-bias or dolman sleeves; no woolen evening wraps; no woolen evening dresses; No suit jacket over 25 inches long; no cuffs on suits; no patch pockets; no overskirts and no belt over two inches wide. Under these restrictions Adrian continued to flourish throughout the war. That fall (1942) he opened his elegant couture salon, Adrian Ltd., on Beverly and Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. For the next ten years he provided American women with the touch of glamour that he had so masterfully provided the Hollywood elite.

An auction of Katherine Hepburn's personal effects will be held soon. While I do not know the exact date of this auction, a preview of the contents will be held tomorrow morning on the television show, Good Morning America. Apparently, Hepburn kept quite a collection of 11x14 stills of herself and among the contents being auctioned are her artwork and her wedding dress from 1934! Hassan (formerly musclephoto)