Guest Posted October 17, 2004 Share Posted October 17, 2004 While researching something entirely unrelated, I came across this poem by Alexander Theroux in the Michigan Quarterly Review for Winter 2002. I know that poetry is rarely found in this forum, but I couldn't resist sharing this with you since it captures so much that is cherished in Thelma Ritter: it is obvious was born to look homely, an appliance to brew coffee, make a meal, and iron shirts, while looking up frowning at the ways of the world. Shapelessness oddly qualified her by exempting her from passion precisely to give advice about it. Whatever she did on screen, she always looked as if she were about to go food-shopping. Antidote to the befuddled: not girl gets boy, not girl loses boy, but mophead spouts irony, slyly quipping out of the side of her mouth, as wide as a letter box, eyes snide and dry, rebuttoning one of her shapeless dresses or snatching at her hair, xerophytic vegetation, her face cross and as white as bad ginger. "If I had a bad leg and a guy was crazy about me," I'd say I was lucky," she yampfed to Susan Hayward (Wasn't she always folding clothes at such times?), said similar things to Bette Davis, poor froggy did, to Grace Kelly, to Marilyn Monroe, to everybody pretty. Everybody else. She wore dull cloth coats, shrugged and smirked, smoked like an old trucker, her cigarette wagging up and down realistically to add to her quips. Did she really count as human? Wherever she was, a great miracle did not happen there. She was trustworthy because she was plain, homely as an empty glass of buttermilk. She'd been around, OK? Liked comfy slippers, went by ambiguous bulldog film-names like Clancy and Josie, knew what males were up to and what they wanted and, you know somethin', so what, life's like that for everyone, face it, missie, and by the way who are you anyway that you think your s**t is strawberry shortcake? Recovery remained uncertain until Thelma shoved that face, dull as an elbow, into the heroine's life. "That's why the lovelorn always come to me for advice," she told Jane Froman. "You wanna coffee? On the double. Whazzat? You wanna talk? When you should be takin' a rest? Talk about what? Lemme guess. Romance? Oh boy. Oh brother!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bansi4 Posted October 17, 2004 Share Posted October 17, 2004 That was just swell moira. It describes the delectable Miss Ritter to a "T". She was something else and I miss her dearly. One of her lines I'll always remember is from "All About Eve" after Eve finishes her sob story in the dressing room and Thelma say: "Wow, what a story, everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rearend". God bless her. Mongo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loliteblue Posted October 17, 2004 Share Posted October 17, 2004 Long live thelma Ritter in any form ......lolite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classicsfan1119 Posted October 18, 2004 Share Posted October 18, 2004 That was great, Moira...thanks for sharing! Thelma Ritter's name has frequently come up as one many of us would like to see TCM devote a special day to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slappy3500 Posted October 18, 2004 Share Posted October 18, 2004 One of my favorite Thelma lines came from "Pillow Talk"...Doris Day as Jan Morrow says to Alma, her maid: "What am I supposed to do? Go out on the street and grab the first man I see and ask him to marry me?" Alma says: "Oh no Maam. Don't do THAT. It don't work..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therealfuster Posted October 18, 2004 Share Posted October 18, 2004 always proved true on screen! Though she was marvelous in "All About Eve" I also admired her performance in that Mankiewicz film, "A Letter to Three Wives" which is equally intelligently written. She is much missed... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhnrndglt Posted October 18, 2004 Share Posted October 18, 2004 Great poem! All the films mentioned of course - and also THE MATING GAME with John Lund and Gene Tierney, where through mistaken identity she ends up working as her own son's maid.... As Maud Young aka Molly Brown in TITANIC, so funny and perfect. And one of my favorite noirs that just came out this year on DVD - Pickup on South Street. She plays a stoolie always looking for an extra buck....and as she tells Richard Widmark as he advances to kill her: "Go ahead, ya'd be doin' me a favor....." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evh55 Posted October 19, 2004 Share Posted October 19, 2004 Thanks for the poem about Thelma Ritter. She was definitely the best! Like everyone else, I hope TCM will have a Thelma Ritter Day very soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pandorainmay Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 Thelma Ritter Movie Alert! I thought that I'd revive this 2004 thread that I started praising Miss Ritter in all her scene-stealing glory after noticing that on Wednesday, Jan. 31st at 9:30PM, TCM will be airing The Mating Season (1950) with the divine Thelma Ritter in a leading role. As the mother of John Lund, who's married to a somewhat icy Gene Tierney in this one, Ritter walks away with the movie. It's alot of fluffy fun, with Thelma providing the small, beating heart of reality in an otherwise rather forgettable movie--though personally, any movie directed by Mitchell Leisen always intrigues me. Btw, the estimable Jan Sterling & Miriam Hopkins also turn up in this flick! Oddly, this film is sandwiched between the nifty Robert Siodmak film, The Spiral Staircase (1945) w/ Dorothy McGuire and Ethel Barrymore at 8pm, and the exotic, somewhat goofy charms of The Garden of Allah (1936) w/ Charles Boyer and Marlene Dietrich at 11:30pm. Hmmm, interesting variety pack of movies, eh? Thelma Rules! Thelma Ritter, looking all dressed up with someplace to go--TCM! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vallo13 Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 And Feb.12 @ 9am " The Birdman of Alcatraz (1962)" Ritter was nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. But lost to Patty Duke for "The Miracle Worker" (1962) vallo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissGoddess Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 Thank you Moira!! I am going to be busy recording tomorrow, that's for sure!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ayresorchids Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 The Mating Season is an all-time fave of mine, and definitely quintessential Thelma. Be sure to check it out, y'all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeBSG Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 I love her bit part in "Miracle on 34th Street." She is terrific in "Rear Window." Basically, she added a lot to each movie she was in. I think the movie I've seen in which she had the most screen time was "The Misfits," and I enjoyed her in that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken123 Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 " A Letter to Three Wives " is my Thelma Ritter film that really clicks with me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metsfan Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 I'll be looking forward to seeing those two films on TCM soon. My favorite scene with Thelma Ritter is from "Pillow Talk" when she's at a table drinking with Rock Hudson. He passes out before her and she grabs him by the hair and lifts his head up and he falls back down again. The expression on her face is so funny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pandorainmay Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 The bad news: you may wish to kick yourself if you didn't catch The Mating Season (1951) last night on TCM, just so you could check out, or, better yet, record this seldom seen gem. The good news: if you missed The Mating Season(1951), which garnered Thelma Ritter one of her richly deserved Oscar nominations, is being shown again on Monday, Feb. 12th at 6:15PM. Seeing the The Mating Season,(1951) which I hadn't viewed in some time, was like encountering an old, fondly remembered friend again, last night. With a beautifully constructed soap bubble of a script by Charles Brackett, director Mitchell Leisen took a contrived situation regarding young marrieds vs. mothers-in-law and through gentle humor, tenderly observed moments of everyday life--and a wonderful supporting (huh?) performance by Thelma Ritter and everyone else, made me smile knowingly for most of the 101 minutes of its running time. Thelma's great, whether watching the whirlwind around her, or just commiserating with one of her hypochondriac customers at her hamburger stand or cutting through the malarkey, such as this exchange with her son, John Lund, about his boss' son: Son: "Junior Kalinger? Oh, he's okay." Ellen McNulty(Thelma): "Oh, go on, I've stepped on better things." Even reading those lines, I can hear Thelma's spot-on dry delivery. Every part is beautifully cast, especially effective were: John Lund, in all his burnished leading man mode, trying to get ahead in the rat race, but finding himself vexed and hampered by his own softer nature. Now, if only TCM could unearth my other favorite roles of his in No Man of Her Own (1950), The Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948) and Miss Tatlock's Millions (1948). Why is this guy so forgotten? Other standouts were Gene Tierney, who looked exceptionally lovely and whose character eventually showed some trace of gumption, had a great introductory scene written by Brackett literally teetering on the edge of a cliff! Cora Witherspoon as a classic boss's wife/dragon lady was really near perfect. Jan Sterling, though given what could've been a throwaway part as the office cookie clearly in love with Lund, (whose character was not above exploiting her devotion at the typewriter to further his career), looked exceptionally lovely, particularly in her first scene, and made her thumbnail role a living, breathing human being. I also thought that James Lorimer, as the wastrel scion of the Kalember company, was wonderfully slimey, and wonder why he has so few credits. Btw, this morning I pulled my copy of David Chierichetti's affectionate bio of the director Mitchell Leisen: Hollywood Director down from my shelf to look up the details of this film, and found that--surprise!--Miriam Hopkins, who played an actual supporting part as Gene Tierney's mom, (Dad must've been a looker), was, as usual, a royal pain in the a** during the making of the movie. Apparently, Miss Hopkins not only thought that all the scenes should center around her character, but even tried to tell Tierney how to stand in her scenes. Oy. Thanks to the director's ability to fit her particular strengths into the movie, Miriam gives a fine edged portrait of, what else: a b**ch on wheels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinemascope Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 > The good news: if you missed The Mating > Season(1951), which garnered Thelma Ritter > one of her richly deserved Oscar nominations, is > being shown again on Monday, Feb. 12th at > 6:15PM. It's also scheduled for March 25th at 2:15 PM. For once, I'm glad to see a movie getting aired 3 months in a row... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pandorainmay Posted February 12, 2007 Share Posted February 12, 2007 My personal Thelma Tracker finds that we've a chance to see her twice today, Monday, the 12th on TCM. Forget work, kids. Stay home! The GNP will survive without us for one day. Or set your recorders. 9:00am ET in Birdman of Alcatraz 6:15pm ET in The Mating Season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edgeciff Posted February 12, 2007 Share Posted February 12, 2007 Ritter is simply wonderful in the MATING SEASON. Another favorite Ritter film of mine is MODEL AND THE MARRIAGE BROKER which co-stars Jeanne Crain. I also like Ritter's performance in PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ayresorchids Posted February 13, 2007 Share Posted February 13, 2007 Anyone know anything about Thelma's youth? How did she get started as an actress? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pandorainmay Posted February 13, 2007 Share Posted February 13, 2007 I wish that I could say there's alot known about the lady, but according to what I've culled over the years, there isn't much personal stuff out there: *Thelma Ritter* was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1905. After appearing in high school plays and stock companies, she trained as an actress at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She followed a stage career, appearing in stock and on Broadway in comedies such as "The Shelf" by Dorrance Davis in 1926, "In Times Square" by Dodson Mitchell & Clyde North in 1931. She then took a hiatus, had a family of two children with her husband, sometime actor Joseph Moran (married from 1927 until her death in 1969), worked in radio and non-theatrical jobs throughout the forties, until appearing in Miracle on 34th Street for her friend, director George Stevens. After her movie career took off, she eventually returned to the theatre, winning a Tony, along with co-star Gwen Verdon, in the musical "New Girl in Town" in 1958. Her last theatrical appearance was "UTBU" by James Kirkwood. Her last screen appearance was in What's So Bad About Feeling Good? (1968). Btw, one of Miss Ritter's two children has worked as an actress as recently as 1987. Her name is Monica Moran, and according to the sources I found, is still around. Oh, what wouldn't I give to hear her talk about her mother? In a documentary about the making of The Misfits and in his recent memoir, "The Good, The Bad, and Me", Eli Wallach rhapsodized about the professionalism and depth of understanding of the story and characters, as well as the troubled cast members, brought to that sometimes confused project by Clark Gable and, not surprisingly, Thelma Ritter. I made a mistake a few years ago purchasing "All About Thelma and Eve: Sidekicks and Third Wheels" by Judith Roof, thinking that it was an appreciation of Miss Ritter and Eve Arden's talents. I was dispirited to discover that the author a.) Had no sense of humor b.) No real interest in the individual performers, and c.) Tended to see all of life as a constant tension between feminists and everyone else. The academic Ms. Roof did diagram the role of "The Other" that Ritter and Arden provided rather well--pointing out that their presence in numerous films gave validity and a mute identity to an alternative to the "norm" for women in films and society. In other words, Ms. Roof understood that everyone wasn't going to be a romantic heroine, besotted with love and their appearance. These gals got stuff done, and kept the world spinning. I don't recommend investing any cold cash in this book, since this conclusion can be drawn from the enjoyment of the actresses' many parts and, I suspect, from a little experience in the real world. I did discover that Thelma hosted the NY end of the bi-coastal tv production of the Oscars in the 50s at least once. There is said to be video of this, though I've never seen any. Hope that anyone who has might comment here sometime. I await some kind of bio in book form, somewhere, sometime--or at least a shot at a career overview on the Biography Channel someday. Some forgotten Thelma Ritter appearances: I recently tried to watch Thelma in her penultimate performance in The Incident(1967), about a couple of toughs(Tony Musante & Martin Sheen) terrorizing people in a subway car, but had to turn it off when they started to abuse Thelma and her husband (Jack Gilford, I think). Those bad guys deserved an express train to hell, as far as I was concerned. If you have a chance, don't miss Father Was a Fullback(1947). Miss Ritter is a salty tongued housekeeper who bets against her employer, who is a coach of a losing college football team. She's the best thing in the movie, natch. In As Young as You Feel (1951), Monty Wooley and Thelma Ritter breathe life into a vehicle designed primarily to provide a frame for Wooley's patented curmudgeonly persona. There is a small part for a vibrant Marilyn Monroe here as well, so this film is definitely worth a look. There are some interesting comments about aging and our society from the two leads, who do everything they can to enliven a sometimes lackluster script. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dewey1960 Posted February 13, 2007 Share Posted February 13, 2007 As well as holding her own with the likes of Stewart and Kelly in Hitchcock's Rear Window. In fact, she almost steals the show. And yes, she's particularly brilliant in PICK UP ON SOUTH STREET. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edgeciff Posted February 13, 2007 Share Posted February 13, 2007 Although I love Ritter, I really don't like THE INCIDENT. Its a thoroughly unpleasant film. I think RItter was well cast in Hitchcock's REAR WINDOW and she make the most her of role as usual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLU Posted February 15, 2007 Share Posted February 15, 2007 I know that she was either 45 or 42 (depending on which year of birth you accept, 1902 or 1905) when she appeared in a bit part in her first movie, Miracle on 34th Street. She was a gem! BLU Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lzcutter Posted September 9, 2008 Share Posted September 9, 2008 WoW!! Am I only the one who had a "Jacob Marley" moment when I saw this thread resurrected? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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