traceyk65

April 28, 2011

My first exposure to Chevalier was Gigi. The whole premise to that movie kind of creeps me out. Still can;t believe they managed to make that movie in 1958. I mean seriously? The grandmother and great-aunt train little Gigi to be an..ahem...courtesan, then try and pimp her out to a family friend who she grew up with and regards as an older brother? OK they get married in the end but...wow.

April 28, 2011

I HATE to cry at movies, so I usually try to avoid movies I think will make me cry (ie Titanic--not the Kate and Leo scenes; anything with animals--I cried buckets when that big slobbery dog in Turner and Hootch died; any movie where there's a chance a grown man will cry--it always kills me and I don't know why)

But I have been surprised occaisonally by a scene in a movie I thought would be tearless...

Both versions of King Kong, but especially the most recent one, when King Kong is chained up and then when he dies

Avatar --the scene where the evil, soulless human corporation Storm Troopers destroy the sacred tree and all the big blue aliens are running away and screaming and finding their loved ones dead

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire --the scene where Harry brings back Cedric's body and Cedric's Dad loses it

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1 --Dobby's death (yes, I cried over the death of an annoying CGI creature. Sad, but true) and I will probably cry when Fred or George dies in the final film (but maybe I can arrange to be in the bathroom)

ET --first time I ever remember crying at a movie--not the dying scene, but the scene where Elliot realizes ET is actually alive--that kid was such a good actor, his joy was palpable (what ever happened to him, BTW?)

Captains Courageous --should have known better on this one, but I was on a Spencer Tracy kick at the time and watched it anyway, along with A Guy Named Joe ,which also made me cry

A League of Their Own --the scene where the death telegram comes and Geena Davis is so releaved it isn't her husband that she totally breaks down the minute she gets alone and then the husband shows up

April 27, 2011

*Birthdays*

*Jack Cole*

Kismet (1944)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKCq_O8XzWQ

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pthokb18V7U

Tonight and Every Night

*Jack Klugman*

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4x_aCHJ0e4

Singing (and I use the term loosely) ?You?re So Vain? w/ Tony Randall

*Sandy Dennis*

Come Back to the Five and Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean

Up the Down Staircase

*Back to School in the Movies*

To Sir with Love

The Prime of Miss Jean Brody

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZggkU9Ke2Nc&feature=related

Goodbye Mr Chips

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FLc29bXIBg

The Blackboard Jungle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbStT-0Rm1s&feature=related

High School Confidential

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zC4bnrMes6E

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

April 27, 2011

*Birthdays*

*Carol Burnett*

Tarzan Yell

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wvcxibuf9uk&playnext=1&list=PLD76FF111C3C44D44

W/ Julie Andrews in 1971

Gone w/ the Wind parody (I saw it in the window and just couldn?t resist it! LOL)

*Anita Loos*

Red Headed Woman

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

The Women

*Douglas Sirk*

All That Heaven Allows

Imitation of Life

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGMwJxUyw8M

April 26, 2011

*Birthdays*

*Edward R Murrow*

Murrow in London during the Blitz

The Liberation of Buchenwald

Panning McCarthy in 1954

*Ella Fitzgerald*

Dream a Little Dream w/ Louis Armstrong:

Summertime w/ Louis Armstrong:

*Meadowlark Lemon*

Classic Globetrotters

Defeating racism one game at a time?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWiIm9ixgCQ&feature=related

The Cartoon!

*Reporters in Movies:*

His Girl Friday

All the President?s Men

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzZJamfE48Q

Meet John Doe

Citizen Kane

Ace in the Hole

April 26, 2011

> {quote:title=Kinokima wrote:}{quote}

>

> Maybe if they had gotten Sabu (as originally planned) I would have liked it more but all the "black face" in the film is really grating to me.

Yes! Sam Jaffe always seemed too old to hero worship the British soldiers like he does (he was what? about 50 at the time?). Sabu would have been 14-15 around then? Much more likely for a teenager to be a wannabe than an older man.

April 26, 2011

> {quote:title=RichardKimble wrote:}{quote}

> Grant was originally to have played the Fairbanks role. But instead he chose to play the smaller, non-romantic part.

And he was excellent in it!

April 24, 2011

I keep meaing to see this. In the Maria Riva bio of Dietrich, she claims the character of Joan Madou is based (loosely) on Dietrich, who had an affair with Remarque while he was writing it.

April 24, 2011

> {quote:title=SueSueApplegate wrote:}{quote}

> Tracey, I agree with your "sanitized" comment. She does seem to gloss over noteworthy details. I am just wondering how much is memory, how much is documented, and how much is she paid.

>

> For a great biography of Dietrich, I would recommend the book her daughter, Maria Rivas, wrote, and I would also recommend watching the documentary by Maximilian Schell. One of the most haunting interviews he does is with Hildegard Neff. Burt Bacharach and Maria Rivas also appear.

>

> Several of the folks I know who are attending the TCM FILM FESTIVAL also have recommended *Furious Love*, about Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, by Sam Kashner, a Vanity Fair contributor, and Nancy Schoenberger, a professor and writer. I've read it, and recommend it, and it is a roller-coaster of a riotous read. Life surpasses art with their indulgences, imbroglios, and indelicacies...

>

> I couldn't put it down!

I have the Riva bio and it's a great read. She's reeaaly conflicted about her feeling for Deitrich, though. The Steven Bach version is good too. Ive also seen the Schell documentary and it's fantastic. I do wish she'd opened up more for him--at least told some of her "party piece" stories. The versions Riva puts in her book are so funny.

April 24, 2011

> {quote:title=Arturo wrote:}{quote}

> *The Women (1939) vs The Women (2008): Original--sharp, witty, fun, satirical Remake--dull, politically correct (more or less) and smug. But really nice shoes, though...*

>

> What's your take on the 1956 musical remake THE OPPOSITE SEX?

Ive never seen it. Couldn't get past the June Allyson factor...

April 24, 2011

> {quote:title=JonasEB wrote:}{quote}

> > {quote:title=musikone wrote:}{quote}

>

> Have you ever seen an old film screened theatrically? Have you actually watched a Blu-ray?

>

Nothing better than a classic on the big screen! It's awe inspiring--so much more amazing than seeing it on TV.

April 24, 2011

> {quote:title=misswonderly wrote:}{quote}

> Yes, the racism in the Sam Jaffe scenes bothered me because it was so casual. And I think it was supposed to be funny, but I just found it disturbing, that the Victor Macglauglin (can never spell his name) character was always so contemptuous towards him.

>

> Sorry, tracey, we often see eye to eye, but I guess not on the "humour" in *Gunga Din*. Those very scenes you describe as so amusing I just found annoying. The punch bowl sequence reminded me of a couple of naughty and and not very bright little boys playing a dumb prank to get their way. I guess I sound pretty poe-faced.

> But I've decided I don't like Victor McLaglen ( I looked it up!); I can't stand him in any of the John Ford films he so frequently appears in. I don't find the kind of comedy associated with him to be funny.

>

> Edited by: misswonderly on Apr 24, 2011 12:01 PM

Oh well, to each her own, I guess.

April 24, 2011

> {quote:title=1968B2 wrote:}{quote}

> Agree w/you re: Rex Harrison and that Oscar win. What a rip! Also, Julianne Moore. Worse still, those ads she has in the NY Times where she reclines nude on a chaise except for the three tiger cubs she holds close to her [Oprah-word (!)], and then stares at us. WHY? I still don't know what she's selling! The poor kitties!

>

> Edited by: 1968B2 on Apr 21, 2011 1:00 AM

Handbags.

April 24, 2011

I like the humor, especially Grant's character. He's hilarious,

"Take your hands off that man!" ::Grant drops man out a 2nd story window and shrugs:: and spiking the punch at the party and having an elephant break him out of jail. The Thugee temple sections remind me of Indiana Jones (or perhaps the other way around, since Din was first)

Parts of it make me squirm, though, especially the scene in which Grant's character drill Gunga Din in soldierly behavior. Just that casual 1930's racism rearing it's ugly head again...

April 24, 2011

Another movie I must see. So many bad movies, so little time! LOL

April 24, 2011

OMG. I have to see this. After reading all your posts and watching the trailer. Wow.

April 24, 2011

**~(./).ƸӜƷ Happy Easter

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*Birthdays*

*William Castle*

The Old Dark House

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvhV7M2fDnE

Macabre

Straight Jacket

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0zS1ZhTRfI

*Shirley MacLaine*

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2vwxeKIRks

Sweet Charity

*John Williams*

*HAD to include this?*

*?John Williams is the Man!?*

A Top 10 List (includes some surprises, at least for me)

Mischief Managed (from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban?a sort of combo of all the themes of the soundtrack and my favorite of his)

*Barbra Streisand*

Musical Numbers from Funny Girl

The Way We Were

April 23, 2011

> {quote:title=faceinthecrowd wrote:}{quote}

> In THE QUIET MAN, Wayne memorably mixed it up with Victor McLaglen, who was once a prize fighter who went six rounds with Jack Johnson and lived to tell the tale.

Very funny fight--the betting, with the whole town following, including the bishop; the part where they stop for a drink, then start the fight over again over who will pay for the beer--very entertaining. LOL