traceyk65

I still don't believe it...

Yup. Now if the technical weirdness would just stop, we'd be all set. Robert Redford is 77 today. Happy Birthday! It's also Shelley Winters Birthday...

...especially on their birthday!

Here's to Mae West: And Maureen O'Hara, who turns 93 today: The Quiet Man:

The Cavett interveiw is hilarious! She talks about her wedding night and accidently makes a sort of double entnedre and gets all embarrassed. It's actually cute (if you can apply that term to someone like Davis). And she talks about her earliest days in Hollywood and the time that they used her as a prop to test men for a kissing scene...funny stuff. Crystal, you should see if you can get a hold of ALL ABOUT EVE. Quintessential Bette and an excellent supporting cast and script.

I read somewhere that Bette was very...energetic in bed. "F**ks like a mink" was the quote, I believe. So apparently what she lacked in perfect beauty, she made up for in, um, enthusiasm.

So jealous! Alas, my disposible income has always been too tight to afford originals, but I have a lot of poster repros decorating my work room. I also collect movie cigarette cards, which are like having a mini poster collection (of sorts) and have the additional bonus of being.a bit cheaper and taking up much smaller space.

It's 5 o'clock somewhere...

You know, WOMAN OF THE YEAR is one of those movies that I loved on first viewing--I was blown away by the chemistry between Hepburn and Tracy. But on repeat veiwings, I find I can only like much less. I can appreciate the sex role-reversal (Kate in the traditional man role, caught up in work and Tracy as the woman--cooking for her and whining because she didn't look him up in Chicago and didn't notice his new hat), but honestly, Hepburn is kind of a b*tch. She so self-absorbed and callous of Tracy's feelings and the whole bit with that little boy is just so awful! It's like they wanted the audience to hate her. And the ending--I realized they changed it after preview audiences wanted Kate to get more of a comeuppance, but seriously? I did love Tracy's facial reactions though--he was a master at reaction shots.

Let's do the Jailhouse Rock in memory of Elvis, who died this day 1977: And with my favorite partner of his, Ann Margret:

The 70th Anniversary Edition is pretty nifty. In addition to the movie, it includes a neat little book containing cast pics and production stills, plus costume and set drawings, a copy of the original program for the movie, copies of several of Selznick's infamous memos and telegrams, a cd of the soundtrack, plus many DVD extras, including several documentaries and bios (including one on the restoration process) and interviews and the movie "The Scarlett O'Hara War," which is very entertaining, and a packet of postcard-sized prints of more conceptual artwork, all in a box, inexplicably covered in somewhat tacky red velveteen (perhaps reminiscent of Scarlett's exacrable taste in decor? Or possibly Belle Watling's place?)

Whoops! You beat me to it! Oh well. I've been on a Hitchcock kick lately, movie-wise and reading-wise (is that a word?) and there's been a lot of talk about Joan Fontaine, so here's to their work together: Rebecca Joan's true co-star in this film was Judith Anderson, not Lawrence Olivier... Suspicion Even though Joan got the Oscar for this one, Cary Grant's character drives most of the action. However, Joan very subtly makes us believe that he's got a serious sexual hold on her and that's why she stays with him: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCkziWnFepw

I'd also suggest Without Love, but not so much for the Tracy/Hepburn performances. I watch more for the performances of Lucille Ball and Keenan Wynne, who play the best friends of the two stars and have a much more interesting and funny romantic relationship.

I would suggest all the movies that have been suggested and if you want something a little different, try Keeper of the Flame. George Cukor once said it was about 3/4 of a great movie. I think it's closer to 9/10. It's not a romantic comedy or a comedy of any sort. It's sort of a political thriller/mystery. Tracy is a crack news reporter in town to get the story of the life of the Great American Patriot, Robert Forrest, who was recently killed in an auto accident. It's the eve of WWII and it's hoped that this biography will provide a much-needed morale boost for the US. He tries to get close to Forrest's widow (Hepburn) but she is not cooperating. In fact, she refuses to see him or anyone else. At a loss, he starts digging and what he finds makes him very suspicious of the grieving widow. What is she hiding? Did she have a hand in Forrest's death? and if so, why? Piece by piece he puts the puzzle together and the result is very unexpected. It gets "preachy" at the end (this is the 1/10 that doesn't hold up, at least for me). I also like State of the Union though in this case a lot of the tension is between Hepburn's faithful and long-suffering wife and Angela Lansbury's scheming newspaper woman (who also happens to be her husband's (Tracy) lover). Tracy is a very sucessful businessman who has been courted and seduced into running for President by Lansbury, who is owner of the biggest paper in America. She hooks him up with Adolphe Menjou, a once-successful political operator, who's willing to do anything to get back in the game. They convince Hepburn that in order to win, he'll need his wife by his side. She agrees, because she knows he could actually be a good president, if left to his own ideas. They start off with good intentions, but he slowly becomes corrupted by the process of wheeling and dealing. The main conflict is wife (read honest well-meaning Tracy) vs lover (read corrupt, lying, scheming Tracy). You can probably guess which one wins, but it's a fun ride, with great performances by Van Johnson, Hepburn (even though the role was written for Claudette Colbert) and especially Lansbury, playing, at the tender age of 23, a woman at least 10 years older.

In honor of the anniversary of the original release of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, let's all do the Time Warp again! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rtkdo7bOmJc

And Prisoner of Azkaban has a pretty nifty soundtrack (also by John Williams) I think it's the individuality of each movie's soundtrack, combined with the distinct themes (for each character and so on) woven together that appeal to me about William's music. In "John Williams is the Man" the melodies from each of the movies is unique and easily recognizable, (even with the Star Wars dialogue). Here's a sampling from Prisoner: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7dIvAj7CcI&list=PLC3912BD79A3DEE86

I know it's sort of lame, but my favorite soundtracks are sort of modern. I love most of the John Williams soundtracks and I've always been a big fan of Disney's Jungle Book, Bare Neccesities: John Williams is the Man--this makes me smile everytime I hear it:

If only it were that simple, sansfin...

Advice from Hitch on his birthday:

Today is Alfred Hitchcock's birthday so here's to his heroes: and his heroines:

That was an excellent video. I want Gable, Flynn and William Powell's cars. Preferably with them inside...LOL Edited by: traceyk65 on Aug 13, 2013 4:53 PM ...and alive. Not dead. Thought I should add that, considering what was rumored to have happened to John Barrymore's body...

I heard that it was Laurie's ability to walk and chew gum at the same time that first attracted Bart to her...and that they nearly divorced over his habit of leaving his chewing gum on the bedpost overnight.

Bing and Frank from "High Society": In honor of Schrodinger's feline and her entirely hypothetical adventures, here's a tribute to Classic Stars and their cats: And here's to my favorite movie cat, Pyewacket: