BRONXGIRL'S MOTHER, HENRY FONDA'S HIRSUTENESS, ETC.

[Bronxgirl48]

I wonder if the villa is still in the Lazaroff family, or if they sold it,

[Bronxgirl48]

You know, now that I see your LOOKING FORWARD clip, it somehow seems familiar. I could have sworn it was another movie pairing Lionel with Maureen O'Sullivan as his daughter. My memory has more holes than Swiss cheese.

 

Edited by: Bronxgirl48 on Mar 26, 2011 7:14 PM

[Bronxgirl48]

Thanks, Goddess, re: checking your Lana files on DANCING CO-ED. I don't remember any grim parts, although something downbeat might have popped up while I answered a call of nature, though I tend to doubt it. Never saw SLIGHTLY DANGEROUS. Mom informed me that Lana's in RICH BOY, POOR GIRL, which I missed, darn it. Love seeing Turner on the brink of movie stardom. Was delighted with a scatterbrained Ida in PILLOW TO POST -- you could really see how petite and pretty she was. Loved the flattering hairstyle. It sort of overwhelmed her tiny, heart-shaped face, but it made her look sweet and vulnerable, like some 19th century cameo. Lupino gets down with the slapstick, lol, which includes, among other frustrations, being doused with a water bucket and freaked out by a frog.

 

Ferguson's Dr. Hoffman in CAUGHT was probably married. Just my luck, ha!! I'll see you later this evening on your Robbie thread.

[JackFavell]

I've been on a Mills Bros. kick since yesterday morning, when TCM showed *Broadway Gondolier*, with your boy Rex (woof!). He was a taxi driver trying to become the next big thing on radio, but had to pose as a Latin to get on the air. The Mills Bros. were in two conveniently edited scenes.

 

As for *Looking Forward*, is the one with Maureen O'Sullivan actually Charles Laughton in *Payment Deferred*? They are very similar. Both are great barely known movies about desperation -the kind probably experienced by folks during the depression every day. Laughton is a clerk who embezzles money to help his family survive, but the money changes everything. Lots of good plot twists.

 

Someone told me about a show on youtube, *Jam and Jerusalem* - I just watched the first bit. It has French and Saunders and Joanna Lumley as an old lady. everyone seems really off beat in the little I've seen, I'm not sure I can handle how open Brits are about bodily functions. Here's the first ep:

 

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

[SansFin]

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

> It's too bad that that area was taken over by tourists - one of the charms of it is that it looks so completely french and nary a tourist in site, except at the casino.

 

I believe the entire area would be nothing more than quaint fishing villages if it were not for foreigners. By foreigners I mean even French people from Paris and Dijon and Rennes who go there because they have no seacoast of their own. The caste system of the area is not based on earnings or education but on whether you serve people on two-week vacations or you serve people who rent villas by the season.

 

I have a very great dislike for places where I am seen only as a walking cash register. When a young local man looks you in the eye he only wishes to judge your nationality so that he will know whether your purse holds Pounds, Dollars or Marks. Such people learn from birth to smile pleasantly while they calculate exchange rates.

 

I grew up with service industry. My father was concierge for large hotel for foreign visitors. My mother worked various jobs such as maid, tour guide and interpreter. I know very much the attitude 'they are not a real person, they are only customer'.

 

It makes me very uncomfortable to be on the other side. That is why I prefer to find places where foreigners are a novelty.

[SansFin]

> {quote:title=Bronxgirl48 wrote:}{quote}

> I wonder if the villa is still in the Lazaroff family, or if they sold it,

 

I am sorry I have not had time before to fully look for the villa. I believe I have now found it.

http://www.royalvillaseurope.com/pdf/france-frv41.pdf

They do not list a price but I will be very surprised if the rent is lower than $75,000 a week and I will not be surprised if it is more than twice that.

[MissGoddess]

That is incredible sleuthing, SansFin!

 

At $75K a week, I think we'll need a sponsor or two.

 

Is it my imagination, or has some of the charm been "remodeled" out of it? And I can't tell if those great big "weather" doors on the upper level have been removed? I loved those!

[Bronxgirl48]

OMG, SansFin, or should I say, Sherlock Holmes, I concur with Miss G., your sleuthing skills are just brilliant.

 

My worst fears however have been realized -- seems all the charm HAS been remodeled away, sad to say from those photos. It's great to have air-conditioning (frankly I don't think I could live w/o it in a Mediterranean climate) of course, but all the "soul" is gone. Or am I overreacting? $75,000 is an outrageous sum.

 

Edited by: Bronxgirl48 on Mar 26, 2011 8:35 PM

[Bronxgirl48]

Are you familiar with Menton? I was perusing YouTube the other day, always on the lookout for new Riviera spots to possibly add to my itinerary, and it seemed really lovely, very luxurious yet relaxed, casual,not tourist-trappy. Saw their Lemon Festival. I love lemons!

[Bronxgirl48]

Mom on LITTLE MISS MARKER and her favorite child actress:

 

"Shirley is so adorable! I even liked Adolphe Menjou."

[SansFin]

> {quote:title=Bronxgirl48 wrote:}{quote}

> Are you familiar with Menton? I was perusing YouTube the other day, always on the lookout for new Riviera spots to possibly add to my itinerary, and it seemed really lovely, very luxurious yet relaxed, casual,not tourist-trappy. Saw their Lemon Festival. I love lemons!

 

I have surely been through it but I am sad to say I remember nothing and I did not mention it in my notes or my diary. Several times I flew to Genoa to rent a car to drive to Marseilles. I spent most of my time poking around the coast near Nice, Cannes, St. Tropez and Toulon because those were areas our clients were likely to go.

 

If I were ever to return to the area I would search for places by what I could not find: I would find the smallest names on the map and if there were no tourism photographs of it I would add it to my places to visit.

[Bronxgirl48]

Jackie, I can't believe that I didn't even know about 'Jam & Jerusalem', much less haven't seen it. Another genius comedy/drama from the Brits, and as only French & Saunders (and Lumley) can create. Just finished watching the other eppys on YouTube. They're addictive. Thanks so much for alerting me to this show. I've always wanted to live in an eccentric English town like this, lol. "Have you made death a color yet?"

 

No, I don't think it's PAYMENT DEFERRED I'm confusing LOOKING FORWARD with. I can't be totally sure. All I know is there's a father (could it be someone like Roland Young??) who decides to take a drastic step to save his family....I'm all mixed up.

 

Saw LUCY RICARDO TAKES RICHMOND. All that was missing were Ricky, Fred, and Ethel! Like a pilot for their television show, with Lucille already in "character". Pleasant Runyanesque comedy with post-war social consciousness. Ball and Holden have great screen chemistry. Not romantic, just like good friends. Bill really seemed to enjoy working with her. Great support from your sweetie Frank McHugh, and James Gleason.

[JackFavell]

Sansfin, you are INCREDIBLE! I thank you for finding the villa so much, but unfortunately, I realize now that it only exists as it was in *Bonjour Tristesse*.

 

How very, very sad that they "modernized" the place. It retains none of the original charm. I feel like someone died.

 

I think the trick is to do as much traveling as possible, and stumble across a dilapidated old place on your own that needs love. People have no sense of history any more, or of what is worth keeping, as we all know from watching our beloved old movies disintegrate.

 

Sansfin, I am fascinated by your life story. I was friends with a wonderful man and his wife, he worked as a concierge in Monaco for years. He used to come into the bank where I worked, and was frustrated that none of the people who would wait on him could understand him or what he wanted, or deal with his retirement checks from Europe. He had an accent like no other I have heard, a combination of French and German, and he had an Italian last name - I guessed he was originally from Switzerland, and it turned out to be true. He enjoyed that I was interested in Europe and had at least an inking of what life was like there. I used to try to wait on him because he was such a great character, he would always kiss my hand politely when we were done with his transactions. My ex-husband's name was Jolicoeur, and he loved it, he would always greet me as "Madame Jolicoeur!" Later on, it turned out that his quiet unassuming wife knew my new husband''s mother who is German, and so we got to be good friends. They were from another age, one of politeness and a little bit of grandeur. I miss it and them.

 

I'm definitely with you as far as traveling to the smallest place with the fewest tourists. I wish I were independently wealthy, so I could leave at the drop of a hat and go anywhere I wanted anytime.

[JackFavell]

I'm so glad you liked Jam and Jerusalem! I have only watched the very first section, but I can't wait till I have time to watch more. The lady with the wall hangings and tea cozies and knitted things EVERYWHERE in the church totally cracked me up!

 

I am stumped about the other movie - I feel like from your description that I have seen it, but can't bring it forward in my mind.

 

I too enjoyed William Holden and Lucy and you hit it right on the head - they seemed to genuinely be friends... very easygoing and happy together. It makes me wonder if that's how she got him on her show later on? He was gorgeous in this movie, I have to admit. And my man Frank was in it - I have to look and see if he's on this week as much as last week, I swear he's getting to be a habit with me!

[MissGoddess]

Honestly, I think my brain is turning into an eraseable disc. I know I watched Miss Grant Takes Richmond, but I have completely blanked it out. Maybe I only saw part of it. I'm seeing Lucy now with her other movie star leading man, Bob Hope. It has tons of great supporting pros, even Jessie Royce Landis! I don't think Bob and Lucy's movies together in the 60s are all that good, but they are a cute couple. However, nothing beats Lucy's energy and timing in the early years of her TV show. She's so different than in her movies, which are all slower paced, of course. Some are really good, but she isn't as sparkly. I love her in anything, though. Well, maybe not *The Big Street*, ha!

 

I did see *Dear Heart*, too, for the first time (well, most of it). I like it and wouldn't mind seeing it again. But it really came to life for me when Angela Lansbury entered. I wanted more of their story. She and Glenn were funny together. And it sounds mean because Geraldine Page's character was so nice, but I kind of thought he should have stayed and tried a little harder with his wife. He gave it one try after years of philandering, and then gave up. Oh, brother. Angela was so funny with her "I'm not doing anything, anymore!" Ha!

[JackFavell]

I agree about Lucy, something happened when she got together with Desi and had creative control of her TV show. It's magic. I also just love *The Long , Long Trailer*, is that the name of it?

 

But for today, when I am busy scuttling around the house trying to catch up on my cleaning, these silly comedies are really hitting the spot! I really liked Lucy in *Critic's Choice*, and there are so MANY supporting players that I like, including Joan Shawlee and Marie Windsor (!) as her sisters. Old Baldy...er...I mean Mel....er....I mean Richard Deacon shows up, and I think Jessie Royce Landis must be the MOST under-rated actress to ever grace the screen. I think she elevates every movie she is in.. She's moving up fast on Thelma Ritter as far as I am concerned.

 

I also have Frank and Deborah on the TV in *Marriage on the Rocks*, and though usually I find these kinds of comedies dreadful, I really am enjoying it for what it is. I don;t know who it was, could it have been Tony Bill? the young man who was into psychology? He was the absolute funniest thing in the entire movie. Hilarious.

[SueSueApplegate]

*Dear Heart* is one of my favorite Glenn Ford movies. And Geraldine is a scream. She milks every drop of calcium out of a scene.

 

That crazy flower she carried everywhere...it cracked me up. And how she made up that fake name, Mr. Bimbo Jones, it is just like high school.

 

But I loved her attitude in that film because she wouldn't let anybody or anything keep her spirits low...she just kept a goin'. Her perseverance and her look-on-the-sunny-side attitude is going to insure that she is successful at something, even if it is spindly-plastic-plant hoarding...

 

But that film has so many great character actors from that era in it.

 

Both women who played Gladys Kravitz.( Alice Pearce, and Sandra Gould)...Mary Wickes, Ruth McDevitt, Richard Deacon, Barbara (My strap broke, your honor) Nichols...

[Bronxgirl48]

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

> > {quote:title=Bronxgirl48 wrote:}{quote}

> > Are you familiar with Menton? I was perusing YouTube the other day, always on the lookout for new Riviera spots to possibly add to my itinerary, and it seemed really lovely, very luxurious yet relaxed, casual,not tourist-trappy. Saw their Lemon Festival. I love lemons!

>

> I have surely been through it but I am sad to say I remember nothing and I did not mention it in my notes or my diary. Several times I flew to Genoa to rent a car to drive to Marseilles. I spent most of my time poking around the coast near Nice, Cannes, St. Tropez and Toulon because those were areas our clients were likely to go.

>

> If I were ever to return to the area I would search for places by what I could not find: I would find the smallest names on the map and if there were no tourism photographs of it I would add it to my places to visit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've been exhausting myself on YouTube with the French Riviera, so as a change of pace (or place) clicked on the Amalfi Coast and have decided that Ravello is the loveliest town in that area. Cultured, quiet, un-glitzy, beautiful medieval architecture. The main piazza overlooks the Mediterranean. Please tell me this village still remains that way.

[Bronxgirl48]

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

> I'm so glad you liked Jam and Jerusalem! I have only watched the very first section, but I can't wait till I have time to watch more. The lady with the wall hangings and tea cozies and knitted things EVERYWHERE in the church totally cracked me up!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Speaking of things British (and Jerusalem) I spent most of the day with Tom Courtenay yesterday and early this morning (but unfortunately conked out out by the time PRIVATE POTTER came on). The 'Jerusalem' hymn in THE LONLINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER really gives the story emotional depth. If I were a wicked film programmer, I'd put this on a double bill with CHARIOTS OF FIRE, lol.

Wasn't impressed with OTLEY, but I guess like every great actor, Courtenay wanted to mix it up a bit and get in on the spy spoof craze going on in the mid to late sixties. (albeit this one had some social commentary) I'm always knocked out by Tom and Albert in THE DRESSER. Gad, ha!! Ever see it? Incredible tour de force by two masters. Finney's mad "Sir" and Courtenay's servile "Norman" are brilliant.

 

Oh! Now I think it's Claude Rains (forget Roland Young) in one of those FOUR DAUGHTERS spin-offs that I might be thinking of re: LOOKING FORWARD comparisons. Claude tries to end it all to ensure that the family is well taken care of. Could it be SATURDAY'S CHILDREN? I'm still not sure, though.

 

I think we all need to find our own BONJOUR, TRISTESSE villa and fix it up to our mind's-eye standard from the movie. That way it will always be charming and lovely, away from the modern encroachments of civilization. (I'm on that coach with the Ringo Kid and Dallas, lol)

 

>

 

Edited by: Bronxgirl48 on Apr 3, 2011 4:51 PM

[JackFavell]

I'm terrible. Andrew had on basketball last night, I was kind of ticked because I have never seen any of Tom Courtenay's starring movies except *Billy Liar*, but I am conserving my dvd's for tonight's *Fragments* at 8, so I couldn't record. By the time I got the TV it was ten and I couldn't stay awake for *The Dresser*, which I have been wanting to see for years and years. D'oh! I slept through all of them. I hope Netflix has them.

[Bronxgirl48]

Oh, I'm dying for you to see THE DRESSER!!! Don't miss THE LONLINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER -- it's what brought Courtenay to screen stardom. (Michael Redgrave's closing expression in that film is superb, and says it all)

 

I love Geraldine Page as Evie in DEAR HEART, but can't quite buy the ending. Would a guy like Harry be attracted to her in the long term? Not sure. Evie is wonderful, but a little too quirky and "spinster"-ish. But I think I'm being too harsh. I was waiting for Angela Lansbury and knew she'd make the most of her limited screen time, which of course she did, although I thought Phyliss was a bit too patly presented as the "opposite" of Evie. I'm beginning to appreciate Glenn Ford more and more. He never calls attention to himself, but is rather a quiet, reliable conduit for the interplay of co-stars and script. He's a "vanilla" sponge gently soaking up the rich gravy and color of a story, a reactor instead of an "actor".

 

Reassessing my opinion on AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER. I used to think it was an unpalatable mixture of schmaltz and sophistication (but not in a good way, lol) yet I was surprised to find myself moved by the ending. Two "experienced" (but basically decent) people who make questionable moral choices yet find redemption, hope, love, happiness. The renewal of the human heart, sob! Quite lovely. The Old World, traditional sensibilities represented by Nicky's (hey, did I include Grant as a Nicky?) grandmere's garden (the Villefranche villa, sigh) in nostalgic opposition to the "modernity" of the New World (the Empire State Building)

 

Edited by: Bronxgirl48 on Apr 3, 2011 8:13 PM

[Bronxgirl48]

I HATE YOU, ALICE B. TOKLAS.

 

Okay, Jo Van Fleet and Peter Sellers, worth seeing, right? But -- is this flower power psychedelic swill what my generation hath wrought??

 

Every time I hear sitar music and it's not connected with Rumer Godden or Merchant-Ivory, I run like mad.

 

So that's why I am NOT watching this movie.

 

Edited by: Bronxgirl48 on Apr 3, 2011 7:22 PM

[SansFin]

> {quote:title=Bronxgirl48 wrote:}{quote}

> I've been exhausting myself on YouTube with the French Riviera, so as a change of pace (or place) clicked on the Amalfi Coast and have decided that Ravello is the loveliest town in that area. Cultured, quiet, un-glitzy, beautiful medieval architecture. The main piazza overlooks the Mediterranean. Please tell me this village still remains that way.

 

 

I fear you think me a world-wise globe-trotter who knows all the best places. It is sad to say that is far from the truth.

 

I traveled to major cities when I was in the service many years ago. They all looked the same because we always stayed at business-style hotels and went only to government buildings and meeting halls. It was a rare time when I could explore places by myself and then I had very little money. The money to buy a good meal at home does not buy a muffin in Brussels.

 

The best thing about those trips were seeing movies in places meant to watch them. A Japanese horror movie is much more scary in a theater with Japanese people. It is as if their fear infects you. It is much the same with romantic movies in France and comedies in Germany.

 

I was able to explore a tiny part of France when I worked for a company which provided services for doctors. We spent most days tracking down parts for broken X-Ray machines or finding specialist nurses on short notice. The pay was tiny and the office so small it would not be possible to find room to stand if all employees showed up for work. The perk was the four best employees each year had a month of expense-paid travel during which we looked for hospitals and clinics that could use extra foreign-speaking doctors during the high season so that our clients could have working vacations in places they could not afford in any other way.

 

It is sad to say that I know nothing about Italy. I looked at some pictures of Ravello and it looks charming beyond belief. It also look like an area which cannot become permanently overrun with foreigners because there are few places for them to build villas or large resort hotels.

[JackFavell]

Maybe I need a Tom Courtenay film festival of my own, one of these days when I am feeling very perky and upbeat - I get the impression that none of his movies is a walk in the park to watch, something I'll walk away from humming a merry tune...

 

>I'm beginning to appreciate Glenn Ford more and more. He never calls attention to himself, but is rather a quiet, reliable conduit for the interplay of co-stars and script. He's a "vanilla" sponge gently soaking up the rich gravy and color of a story, a reactor instead of an "actor".

 

Me too! I love how you describe him, it's true! I never liked him, after seeing his TV show as a kid, I was so grossed out by his slick hair that I instantly wrote him off.... but now I find I do like him, I have three movies I really love - *Gilda*, *3:10 to Yuma*, and *Go West, Young Lady*, where he gets beaned with a frying pan.

 

 

>Reassessing my opinion on AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER. I used to think it was an unpalatable mixture of schmaltz and sophistication (but not in a good way, lol) yet I was surprised to find myself moved by the ending. Two "experienced" (but basically decent) people with questionable moral values find redemption, hope, love, happiness. The renewal of the human heart, sob! Quite lovely. The Old World, old-fashioned sensibilities represented by Nicky's (hey, did I include Grant as a Nicky?) grandmere's garden (the Villefranche villa, sigh) in nostalgic opposition to the "modernity" of the New World (the Empire State Building)

 

 

I feel about *an Affair to Remember* something like I do about Glenn Ford. If someone mentions it, I go "ewwwww", but every time it's on, I find myself watching it... unless its the part with the singing kids, in which case I run screaming from the room with my hands over my ears. It has that wonderful villa, and Cary Grant, with the improbably gangster-ish name of Nicky Ferrante. And the characters are pretty darn charming, the kind I could like because they are worldly wise and a little worse for wear.

[Bronxgirl48]

Yeah, no real fluff in Tom Courtenay's filmography, ha! Just lots of thought-provoking material and depression, lol. I like him.

 

Don't recall the first time I became aware of Glenn Ford. What tv show did he do? (it's all slipping away from me...) Hahaha, GO WEST, YOUNG WOMAN, that's a new one for me. Sounds cute, though. I like him in GILDA and 3:10 TO YUMA. But I only really like him as the flat-out good guy with no anti-hero overtones. That's where I think his strength lies. Me and my squares.

 

The first time I heard those warbling short people in AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBR, I was like, "****??" Didn't Leo McCarey direct the original version, LOVE AFFAIR? Never saw it. Terry Mackay isn't doing too bad when she meets Nicky, though. I mean, now that I think about it, is being kept by Richard Denning so terrible? Of course, I'd rather be married to Richard, but, that's just me. I like the way the script lazily tries to make Grant's Nicky "international" by having him speak only ONE sentence without a contraction. This is verbal shorthand for "semi-foreigner", I guess. .