I'm Doing a Classic Film Survey!

First I'd like to apologize for missing the movie review on Sunday. It was a really crazy day and I couldn't get around to the computer. To that note, it's been a pretty wild week.

But that's not going to stop me from getting this survey started! I originally thought about doing this back in December, when I reached 50 followers. In the busyness of the holiday season it was hard to do, and so I set the date for mid-January, but, thanks to an overload of schoolwork, I couldn't do it then either. I had the survey written out and the banners and everything, but it just didn't seem like the right time to host my first blog event.

So we're doing it now! Kicking off February with a start! This is the month I was born in, so what better time for me to host a survey?

Lol. I have seen this type of a thing turn out really well for some blogs, so I'm crossing my fingers it'll work out nicely for my blog, too. :) It's 15 questions long and I worked hard to try to be as original as I could with the questions since surveys and movie memes have been done so many times before.

I made a banner for it - with Lucy, of course. If you're interested in doing this survey, please, by all means, answer the questions at your blog! That's the purpose, I really hope you all will participate because I'd love to see your answers! And if you do, be sure and leave me a comment with the link. :) Also, if you don't have a blog, or would rather not post the answers there, feel free to leave me your answers in the comments below.

That's about it! You're free to reply to this survey pretty much whenever! If any of the questions seem confusing, I've answered them myself below so you can see how they work. At the bottom I'll post a list of the questions without my answers so they can easily be copied and pasted. I hope you all enjoy this and a bazillion thanks to anyone who may choose to participate :) This is my first blog event, like I said, so I'm nervous and excited and can't believe I'm finally, you know, doing this - all at the same time. But I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a good turnout!

(I couldn't really think of a fantastic, exciting title for this movie meme so I'm just going with Classic Film Survey for now. :D)

Classic Film Survey

by Frankly, My Dear

1. Favorite Classic Disney?

I'll go with Cinderella (1950). If I ever take "Which Disney Princess are you?" quizzes (lol, don't laugh) I get Cinderella each time, though I definitely don't look all that much like her! I love the movie, and I love the music - A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes and So This is Love. This movie just makes me happy, and I adore it.

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2. Favorite film from the year 1939?

So this pretty much goes without saying - Gone With the Wind (1939). I mean seriously, for what other reason would this blog be called "frankly, my dear"? :)

3. Favorite Carole Lombard screwball role?

I know, terribly mean question. I had to think it over myself for a little bit. But I'm coming up with Irene Bullock from My Man Godfrey (1936). I mean, she says stuff like, "GODFREY LOVES ME - GODFREY PUT ME IN THE SHOWER - GODFREY LOVES ME!" Who could ask for anything more?

4. Favorite off screen couple? (It's ok if it ended in divorce)

LUCY AND DESI DESILU LUCY AND DESI DESILU gee, I'm really going to have to mull this one over for a little bit!! I mean, there's honestly so many, I just don't know, I'm really going to have to think about it -

You saw this coming, didn't you? ;)

5. Favorite pair of best friends? (i.e - Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda, Joan Crawford and Barbara Stanwyck, etc.)

Well, yeah, I hope this makes sense. Basically your favorite pair of classic Hollywood actors that were really good friends in real life - like I said above, Jimmy and Henry, Joan and Barbara, are examples. I choose Olivia de Havilland and Bette Davis. They made a few movies together and Livvie stepped in when Joan bailed out of Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1968). They got along really well in real life, and as much as I love Bette, I can imagine she was probably a personality that wasn't always easy to get along with, but these two did!

6. Favorite actor with a mustache? (i.e: Charlie Chaplin, William Powell)

I basically mean a permanent one. It's okay if they shaved it off for a role or two, but I wasn't really thinking of vice versa. This reminds me of the Mustache Hall of Horror I did for Bette's blogathon back in November! lol. But the actor that truly rocks a mustache, in my opinion, is 

Clark Gable. Though he looked just as handsome without the mustache, perhaps sometimes more so, the mustache is just a part of Clark. What would Rhett Butler ever be without it?

7. Favorite blonde actress?

So the platinum blonde image of Marilyn Monroe is pretty much the posterchild for Classic Hollywood - though Jean Harlow did it first, as I like to remind everyone - but there were several other actresses that rocked blonde locks!

My problem with answering my own question is: was Ingrid Bergman truly blonde? I would think that at least when she was young and doing pictures in the 40's, it was a dark, dirty blonde shade. (Because it photographed kind of dark in black and white). Later on, when you see her in color in movies like Cactus Flower (1968) and Autumn Sonata (1978), it's completely brown however. I know that people with a blonde/brown hair oftentimes find their shade of hair changing over the years, so perhaps is the case with Ingrid.

So I think Ingrid is a blonde. Therefore this would make this question hard. But since's she not completely blonde, and was brunette in the later years, I'll go with  Grace Kelly. She was totally blonde, and it was natural (though, of course, the actress you choose for your response could certainly be bottle blonde, too, however!). And she was blonde until she died in that awful car crash. So Grace. :)

8. Favorite pre-code?

I'm asking this question for my own benefit! Like I said, one of my film goals this year was to watch more pre-codes as I've barely seen any! So I'm hoping you all would be able to mention some great pre-codes for this question! As of, I'll go with It Happened One Night (1934), which isn't startlingly pre-code but, of course, a fantastic movie.

9. Which studio would you have liked to join?

This is kind of like how Harry Potter fans sort themselves into houses. -;) Classic Hollywood is famous, sometimes infamous, for it's studio system, with each studio having its distinctive qualities. You have several choices, like MGM, Warner Brothers, RKO, etc., just don't put yourself into Monogram!!

I'm going to have to go with MGM. I mean, the tagline for the studio was "more stars than there are in the heavens!". Plus, if I worked at MGM, I would be working alongside some of my favorite stars!!! Here's one of my favorite photos, a whole crowd of MGM stars gathered for Louis B. Mayer's birthday, at a time when Lucy, Greer, AND Kate were all working there:

10. Favorite common on screen pairing that SHOULD have gotten married?

Basically a couple that made several pictures together that really need to have gotten married in real life. :) Like, you know, Bill and Myrna, Errol and Olivia, Fred and Ginger, etc. I guess Kate and Spence could count, but since I kind of consider them truly married anyway, I'll go with Walter and Greer. The Pidgeons! One day, someday, I'm going to have a pair of pigeons and name them Walter and Greer. :D

11. Favorite I Love Lucy episode?

It's hard to pick just one, but for me, it'll have to be Lucy is Enceinte, from 1952, the famous episode in which Lucy tells Ricky she's pregnant. Perhaps it's not the funniest out of all the episodes, but it's certainly the sweetest. Knowing that Lucy and Desi's tears in the end were real just kills me. (This is in a teary reference to question 4, how can you not adore these two?)

12. Lucille Ball, Audrey Hepburn, Katharine Hepburn, Natalie Wood, Grace Kelly, Ingrid Bergman, and Greer Garson - which one do you like the best?

Okay, this one was out of my own self-centered curiosity. If you read my blog often you'll probably know that these seven are my very favorite actresses, with Lucy being number one and the rest in no particular order. I was just curious about it, so I decided to throw it in. Don't worry, I won't be offended if Lucy isn't your number one ;)

But, she is, of course, mine.

13. Shadowy film noir from the 1940's or splashy colorful musicals from the 1950's?

I'm just getting into film noir (another film watching goal of this year), but I love it a lot. However, since I'm still wetting my feet in it, I'll go with the latter. Because also Singin in the Rain (1952) was really one of the films that drew me into my classic Hollywood obsession, and will forever be one of my favorites.

14. Actor or actress with the best autograph (photo preferred)?

This is in kind of a slight reference to What's my Line?. Whenever an actor or actress "signs" themselves in on the slate, I'm always entirely inquisitive about their autograph. It's usually pretty amazing. My favorite, of course, will be Lucy's. Our handwriting is actually quite similar, a fact I really revel in.

Her gorgeous signature on the bank card of hers that I own.

15. A baby (or childhood or teenage) photo of either your favorite actress or actor (or both, if you'd like)?

Because, what could be cuter than a series of photos of Classic Hollywood stars when they were tots? ;D

Here's Lucy's (call me biased, but it's my favorite out of all the baby photos I've seen. SHE'S SO ADORABLE. And that bow!) --

And here's Cary's (he's a pretty adorable young boy, too, I think!) --

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Well, there's my answers to my own survey, and now I want to see YOURS! Don't forget to leave me a comment with the link to your replies if you post it on your blog, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask me. :)

Here's the banner I made, and a copy friendly version of the questions:

1. Favorite classic Disney?

2. Favorite film from the year 1939?

3. Favorite Carole Lombard Screwball role?

4. Favorite off screen couple? (It’s ok if it ended in divorce.)

5. Favorite pair of best friends? (i.e: Barbara Stanwyck and Joan Crawford)

6. Favorite actor with a mustache? 

7. Favorite blonde actress?

8. Favorite pre-code?

9. Which studio would you have liked to join?

10. Favorite common on screen pairing that SHOULD have gotten married? 

11. Favorite I Love Lucy episode?

12.  Out of these actresses which one do you like best: Lucille Ball, Ingrid Bergman, Natalie Wood, Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Greer Garson, Grace Kelly, or Katharine Hepburn?

13. Shadowy film noir from the 1940’s or splashy colorful musicals from the 1950’s?

14. Actor or actress with the best autograph (photo preferred).

15. A baby (or childhood, or teenage) photo of either your favorite actress or actor (or both, if you’d like.)

I hope you like it, and thank you to anyone who may participate! I really hope you do - those fingers are still tightly crossed - and yes, I mean YOU. ;)

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