RAMBLES Part II

[JackFavell]

I've been in the mood to revisit my childhood classics lately. I'll look Montgomery up and see what I can find.

[MissGoddess]

Besides _Anne_, my favorites were _Emily of New Moon_, _Emily's Quest_ (the last in the "Emily" series) and _The Blue Castle_. I admit to re-reading the last two not long ago.

[JackFavell]

I got a kindle last year, for this very purpose - to find books immediately that I might not otherwise be prone to look for later on.

 

But although they have every Anne book, the only others they show are The Story Girl, The Golden Road, and Kilmeny of the Orchard. they don't have the Emily series.

 

I did find works of Francis Hodgson Burnett and Louisa May Alcott thrown into the search though.

[MissGoddess]

That's too bad...those others are sweet but kind of re-hashes of other stories. Kilmeny has a nice little story to it and I think is the best of those three.

 

I used to have a couple of beautifully illustrated Frances Hodgson Burnett story books...that I bought as an adult!

[JackFavell]

I've got three copies of *The Secret Garden* - I bought one for Alice, then realized I had my old copy on a bookshelf (this is what comes of having too many books). Then we received another copy from one of Alice's friends for her birthday one year. I might have donated at least one of them... I hate to see a book go without a good home.

 

I'll look at Kilmeny first.

[butterscotchgreer]

When *Margie* was on the other night it was the first time I'd seen it in ages. I remember liking it and I still do. It's very charming and warm and Jeanne Crain is always good in these youthful roles. I think what I liked is that she plays a girl who goes through all the awkward, excruciating issues with constant embarrassment over everything that teenagers always feel: we were embarrassed by our family, our clothes, our everything! I thought it was funny how she always felt inferior to Barbara Lawrence, the flirty blonde classmate and neighbor. Barbara was pretty funny. She was the bratty sister of Linda Darnell in *A Letter to Three Wives*.

Hey Dahlink!! How's it going today? it's beautiful outside!! I think we should have a tea party!

Wasn't Babara Lawrence also in Mother is a freshman as a dorm-mate with Loretta Young's daughter in the movie? I forget the daughter's name. Barbara Lawrence was super funny in that role too. She was soooo skinny and always seen lifting these weights to be "more toned." heehee!

See I love that Jeanne plays this awkward teenager, because that how i first got acquainted with her and every time i saw a movie of hers after Margie, it was weird for me to see her all grown up, especially in People WIll Talk. It was like up-shifting straight to level 3!

Didn't you just love how her poor bloomers kept losing their elasticity and she kept fainting everywhere? so adorable! But her self-disvoery is what I always loved most about this cute film. She realized who she was and became self-confident and that always shined greatly in my eyes. It just made Margie the quintessential awkward girl-next-door normal and sweet.

Oh i'm loving this! finally talking about Margie!

[butterscotchgreer]

double post...oopsey!

Edited by: butterscotchgreer on Dec 29, 2011 9:45 AM

[MissGoddess]

> Hey Dahlink!! How's it going today? it's beautiful outside!! I think we should have a tea party!

>

 

Are you kidding?! Where do you think you are, Texas? It's two degrees outside.

 

> Wasn't Babara Lawrence also in *Mother is a freshman* as a dorm-mate with Loretta Young's daughter in the movie? I forget the daughter's name. Barbara Lawrence was super funny in that role too. She was soooo skinny and always seen lifting these weights to be "more toned." heehee!

>

 

That is funny. Even as I watched her I thought that today they'd say she was overweight, skinny as she was. They would say Jeanne was obese. Crazy. I thought Barbara was cute, she reminded me of Gloria Grahame in *It's a Wonderful Life* and Terry Moore in *Peyton Place*, the naughty small town blondes. We had one in our high school and she had the perfect name for her "role" in high school life: Bambi.

 

> See I love that Jeanne plays this awkward teenager, because that how i first got acquainted with her and every time i saw a movie of hers after *Margie*, it was weird for me to see her all grown up, especially in *People WIll Talk*. It was like up-shifting straight to level 3!

>

 

I don't remember what the first Jeanne Crain movie was that I saw. Maybe *Leave Her to Heaven*. I thought she was one actress that seemed to get even more lovely looking as she matured. It's astonishing she looked so good after having seven kids. And this before all the plastic surgery and killer physical trainers celebrities have today.

 

> Didn't you just love how her poor bloomers kept losing their elasticity and she kept fainting everywhere? so adorable! But her self-disvoery is what I always loved most about this cute film. She realized who she was and became self-confident and that always shined greatly in my eyes. It just made *Margie* the quintessential awkward girl-next-door normal and sweet.

>

 

That's a perfect description of the film, T. Glenn Langan sure was a beaut. I love his voice. Not much personality but who needs that!

 

I kept thinking about Langan's character and how that could never be portrayed so innocently today. Now people look at that and think he's some kind of freak. Amazing.

[FrankGrimes]

*I thought Barbara was cute, she reminded me of Gloria Grahame in It's a Wonderful Life and Terry Moore in* *Peyton Place, the naughty small town blondes. We had one in our high school and she had the perfect name for her "role" in high school life: Bambi. *

 

I never knew your name was "Bambi," Bambi! How cool!

[MissGoddess]

No way, I was never in the "popular group". Bambi and her sister, Jill. The richest, prettiest girls in town.

[movieman1957]

It's hard to believe you were not in the popular group. When I was in high school and they would give out "Most Likely To...." awards, I was voted "Most Likely To Be Forgotten."

[MissGoddess]

> {quote:title=movieman1957 wrote:}{quote}It's hard to believe you were not in the popular group. When I was in high school and they would give out "Most Likely To...." awards, I was voted "Most Likely To Be Forgotten."

That is much harder to believe.

[butterscotchgreer]

Are you kidding?! Where do you think you are, Texas? It's two degrees outside.

 

oh...pardon my ignorance fair lady. heehee! why yes, i am in Texas and it is all of 60 degrees here. still FROST BITE by my standards, but at least its not sweltering hot. is there any snow up there? have you made a snow angel yet?!

 

That is funny. Even as I watched her I thought that today they'd say she was overweight, skinny as she was. They would say Jeanne was obese. Crazy. I thought Barbara was cute, she reminded me of Gloria Grahame in *It's a Wonderful Life* and Terry Moore in *Peyton Place*, the naughty small town blondes. We had one in our high school and she had the perfect name for her "role" in high school life: Bambi.

 

Ha! yeah, its amazing what the normal look for women back then compared to now was. goodness me! I think Barbara got skinnier in Mother is a Freshman more so than in Margie. although my grandmama kinda shakes even that theory. when she got married in 1959, she was barely a size 0. not that she is tall, either, but honestly!

 

"Marybelle" reminds me more of Terry Moore in Peyton Place than Gloria Grahame in It's a Wonderful Life. I'm not so surely why; maybe its her personality. although, Barbara wasn't terribly naughty, she was just really snobbish and loved to brag about her success with looks and boys. Goodness only knows why Margie actually stayed friends with Marybelle her whole life.

 

I don't remember what the first Jeanne Crain movie was that I saw. Maybe *Leave Her to Heaven*. I thought she was one actress that seemed to get even more lovely looking as she matured. It's astonishing she looked so good after having seven kids. And this before all the plastic surgery and killer physical trainers celebrities have today.

 

I completely agree with ya! Jeanne Crain was a very underrated star, not only for her acting, but for her beauty. I love that she was so into having a big family. I have read all kinds of stories about her and her kids. they all adored her and evidently she was the sweetest mother!

 

i find it painful to even read about these stories today about celebrities fitting into a size 2 dress three weeks after having a baby. that can't be healthy!!

 

That's a perfect description of the film, T. Glenn Langan sure was a beaut. I love his voice. Not much personality but who needs that!

 

I love Professor Fontayne! he is SO handsome! I thought he had personality....ya know...all the "Keets" and stuff! Heehee!

 

I kept thinking about Langan's character and how that could never be portrayed so innocently today. Now people look at that and think he's some kind of freak. Amazing.

 

oh I know. Momma alwyas points that out every time we watch it. "he would never get away with that now." My response is always, "yes momma, but its in the script and i think it's cute!" heehee!

 

I love how when she fainted on the ice rink and woke up, she couldn't find her bloomers anywhere. it was too funny and Professor Fontayne took them and handed them to her the next day. the look on her face is priceless. only a man who is truly in love and entertained by a lady, would do that for her. awww the beauty of crushes!

 

What did you think of Conrad Janis as "johnny-kins"? that silly fur coat! he must have been so hot during the filming on the movie. It took me a while after seeing the show Mork and Mindy growing up to realize Mindy's dad in Johnny-kins! talk about weird!

[MissGoddess]

>

> oh...pardon my ignorance fair lady. heehee! why yes, i am in Texas and it is all of 60 degrees here. still FROST BITE by my standards, but at least its not sweltering hot. is there any snow up there? have you made a snow angel yet?!

>

 

This fair lady won't set a fair foot outside if it's snowing! I'll send Nikki and Felix out to make snow kitties.

 

>

> Ha! yeah, its amazing what the normal look for women back then compared to now was. goodness me! I think Barbara got skinnier in *Mother is a Freshman* more so than in *Margie*. although my grandmama kinda shakes even that theory. when she got married in 1959, she was barely a size 0. not that she is tall, either, but honestly!

>

 

I wish I had the more curvaceous, hour-glass look back then like Ava Gardner or Brigitte Bardot. What's nice is all the women looked different to each other. They had unique style.

 

> "Marybelle" reminds me more of Terry Moore in *Peyton Place* than Gloria Grahame in *It's a Wonderful Life.* I'm not so surely why; maybe its her personality. although, Barbara wasn't terribly naughty, she was just really snobbish and loved to brag about her success with looks and boys. Goodness only knows why Margie actually stayed friends with Marybelle her whole life.

>

 

I think they were a little less friends and more like frienemies.

 

> i find it painful to even read about these stories today about celebrities fitting into a size 2 dress three weeks after having a baby. that can't be healthy!!

>

 

I'm sure it's even more painful for the babies.

 

> I love how when she fainted on the ice rink and woke up, she couldn't find her bloomers anywhere. it was too funny and Professor Fontayne took them and handed them to her the next day. the look on her face is priceless. only a man who is truly in love and entertained by a lady, would do that for her. awww the beauty of crushes!

>

 

I guess a man who'd hold your bloomers is something special.

 

> What did you think of Conrad Janis as "johnny-kins"? that silly fur coat! he must have been so hot during the filming on the movie. It took me a while after seeing the show *Mork and Mindy* growing up to realize Mindy's dad in Johnny-kins! talk about weird!

>

 

And I didn't know it till you wrote it! I thought "Johnnykins" was funny. There's always one of those in high school, too. I laughed at his remarks about Jeanne and her great grandmother.

[butterscotchgreer]

This fair lady won't set a fair foot outside if it's snowing! I'll send Nikki and Felix out to make snow kitties.

 

Heehee! at least your kitties are used to seeing snow outside. If My Xena saw any snow out my window, she would have a panic attack and run under the bed.

 

I wish I had the more curvaceous, hour-glass look back then like Ava Gardner or Brigitte Bardot. What's nice is all the women looked different to each other. They had unique style.

 

Oh i would love to have Ava's figure! you know that's so true. Every woman had a different style back then and now all the girls want to look the same. I don't get it!

 

I think they were a little less friends and more like frienemies.

 

That made me giggle! You are so right! that wasn't even a word in the 20's, though, was it?

 

I guess a man who'd hold your bloomers is something special.

 

Absolutely! After all, if it was Johnny-kins, he would have embarrassed her and probably have thrown them out in the crowd somewhere.

 

And I didn't know it till you wrote it! I thought "Johnnykins" was funny. There's always one of those in high school, too. I laughed at his remarks about Jeanne and her great grandmother.

 

oh! well then! Wy was Margie so attracted to him?! Just because he wore a fancy coat and hung out with Marybelle. sheesh! he was such a meanie to her! He wasn't even that cute to boot.

[MissGoddess]

> oh! well then! Wy was Margie so attracted to him?! Just because he wore a fancy coat and hung out with Marybelle. sheesh! he was such a meanie to her! He wasn't even that cute to boot.

>

 

Those coats were so ugly! I hate to say what they made those men look like who wore them.

 

I guess he was the most popular guy, the one all the girls dreamed of going with. Like the football star would later be. I guess Johnnykins had money, a flash car, the same old story. Margie was just a normal girl who didn't want to always be different. I understand. Sometimes it's too tiresome to always stand for individuality and what's right. At that age you just want a cute boyfriend that makes all the girls you hate envious.

 

I have to say though, for dancing and skating he was more fun that Lloyd or Floyd or whatever the nerdy guy's name was.

[rohanaka]

I was voted "Most Likely To Be Forgotten

 

Not so!! Impossible!! I demand a RECOUNT!!

[rohanaka]

Sorry to interrupt the Margie chat.. (MISSED that Margie, by the way)) but wanted to ask.. have any of you seen "Once Upon A Honeymoon"??

 

I was up in the "wee hours" the other night (unhappy tummy.. not too interesting to tell the story.. ha) but I turned on the TV and caught the last HALF of this film in the middle of my misery. .HA.

 

And I REALLY liked it (the movie.. not the misery, ha) Or what was left of it anyway.

 

Ginger and Cary trading one liners.. and getting over on the Nazi's.. (but only JUST) This film was actually kinda suspensful and even a bit thought provoking (on the whole subject of WWll and Hitler, etc) . Who'da thunk it.. given the comedy that was mixed in with all the suspense.

 

At any rate, I went googling around (because I wanted to see if I could catch the whole movie on youtube maybe) and it LOOKS like I might have gotten lucky (woo hoo)

 

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

 

In the meantime, wanted to just give you a heads up in case anyone had not seen it and would like to give it a look see..

 

Sorry to "blab" in.. now back to Margie..

[rohanaka]

Ok.. ha.. I'm back..

 

I had to start watching OUAH (now that I found that link) and I see now that the other night when I caught the last half on TV, I missed all of parts 1, 2, and 3 (that are on youtube) and came in JUST when the part 4 youtube begins.

 

Now having seen what I missed the other night.. I gotta go watch the last half of this movie again.. if only just to see it all the way through from beginning to end.

 

But I just had to pop back in here and say how I love this movie (now even MORE. for having seen the way Ginger's character becomes a REAL person as the story goes along)

 

Tiny, Mini-spoiler:

I can appreciate the changes in her more than I even saw the other night (having seen her the way she was at the start) I am no "Ginger" expert at all, and have only seen just a handful of her films, but this has to just about be one of my most favorite characters for her, I think...

 

And I think this may also go way up there on my list of favorite Cary films too.. somewhere.. ha.. (if I WERE a list maker that is.. ha)

 

Ok.. sorry.. to blabb in again (you know me.. blab, blab, blab)

 

Now back to Margie one more time.. NO really.. I mean it.. honest I do. :-)

 

Thanks for putting up w/ me, folks. :-)

[JamesJazGuitar]

I felt I have seen all of Cary Grant's good movies but maybe not. I'll have to check this one out. The later one Ginger and Cary did with Monroe is only so-so.

[JackFavell]

Ro -

 

I really like *Once Upon a Honeymoon*, I think it mixes comedy and suspense pretty well. Ginger and Cary are good together but it's been far too long since I've seen it for me to remember any plot points. Isn't she married to a Nazi or something, and has to get him to incriminate his cohorts? Something with a radio broadcast?

 

I'll have to give it another look, if that youtube link is working.

[rohanaka]

Jackie.. you are warm.. ha.. but I won't spoil it for you if you do decide to watch it again.

 

I hope you and others enjoy it.. I know some may or may not be as bowled over by it as I was.. but I just liked that it was both entertaining.. with a lot of funny and "smart" moments in it, mostly between Grant and Rogers.. but also between them and a few of the Nazi's too.. AND it also had a SERIOUS side too, (along with that whole "suspense" built in, that I mentioned that I liked very much).

 

At one point Cary Grant looks directly into the camera and makes some very negative statements about Hitler and some of his practices (and Ginger even adds a "wise crack"comment along the lines about wouldn't it have been better if his own mother had just decided he shouldn't be born... or something like that) And there is a really poignant moment between Ginger and a Jewish woman (with two children) that really (to be honest) is about the spot I started watching the other night.. and THAT is what hooked me in the first place.

 

The very end was a bit overly"simple" (especially with what just happened moments before it).. but at the same time, I thought very fitting. And again.. I will stop there as not to spoil it for you.

 

Anyway.. I hope you like it..

 

Edited by: rohanaka.. because I misspoke a moment ago and wanted to be a bit clearer in my post.. because well.. my fingers and my brain did not match.. (like THAT never happens. ha)

 

Edited by: rohanaka on Dec 29, 2011 11:10 PM

[SansFin]

I have not watched *Once Upon a Honeymoon* (1942) since last year. Is there a scene in it where they are escaping and they need something to use to make it look as though she is dead and he looks in her purse? That simple scene of him looking into her purse and his reaction is so perfect that I will never forget it.

 

Please tell me that scene is in that movie. I would hate very much to have to post a new thread asking what movie contained that one scene as I do not remember any details of the remainder of the movie and it would sound really very silly to ask: "What movie has a scene where a man looks into a woman's purse and is stunned by what he sees?".

[bagladymimi]

In reply to "rohanaka", I totally agree about Once Upon A Honeymoon. I had never watched it before the other night - it was really good. The description on my Directv screen said that it was a comedy. I would say that it was more of a drama than a comedy and I really liked the way they treated the Nazi conspirators. As much as I love Cary Grant, he made some movies that were not my favorites - one being with Ann Sheridan - I Was A Male War Bride? I think that was the title and I really didn't like it at all. I was afraid that this might be like that, but was pleasantly surprised. Glad to see that someone else appreciated it.

[rohanaka]

SF: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09QPtSA4Wgk&feature=related start at about 8 minutes in..

 

Mimi.. I think one of the things that works best with this story is that what is supposed to be funny.. is.

 

And what is not funny is treated with respect and dignity.. and even a level of INdignation where appropriate. I liked that a lot.