Happy Valentine's Day | 6 Favorite Couples

Happy Valentine's Day, readers!

Since February 14th is officially the sappiest day of the year, I thought I'd talk about my six favorite Classic Hollywood couples! {Legit couples, not the ones that only exist in my head... like the Pidgeons... and the
Powells... and Errolivia... and Ingrid and Cary...}

Well, yeah, here we go. Hope this'll get you all in a sappy mood! :D Oh, and guess what, this is actually for once in order, though I wouldn't put too much weight into the order of these couples, until you get to my number one. I'm going to completely dumbfound you all when you see who I've chosen for that spot. COMPLETELY, guys. ;)

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  6.                                               

Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner | November 1951 - July 1957


I knew their relationship was tumultuous, and then I read Lee Server's biography about Ava and I learned so much more about these two! Frava definitely did have a stormy relationship. The book I read went into detail about some of their fights, when plates went flying and it didn't matter who was around. But they also loved each other a lot, and this combination makes me think of Lucy and Desi, who admittedly would "love and fight furiously." Any any couple that reminds me of Desilu, well, I'm bound to like. :)

Albeit the fact they couldn't say together, and there were all those terrible fights, I think Frank and Ava in general would make a good pair. I think of Ava as the barefooted free spirit ought of a poor town in North Carolina, who liked to party and dance and have a good time. Frank's liveliness is a good match, I think.

 D I D  Y O U  K N O W? {My Favorite Facts}

• Frank gave Ava her first Corgi, which she named Rags. This hooked Ava on a sort of a Corgi obsession, she would keep Corgis until she died. After Rags, she had Cara, and after that, Morgan, who was with her when she died and was then taken in (along with her housekeeper) by good friend Gregory Peck.
• The statue of her from The Barefoot Contessa (1954) was gifted to Frank, who kept it in his backyard garden long after the divorce. Finally, upon marrying Barbara Marx, she forced him to get rid of it.
• Frank's nickname for Ava was "Angel."

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 5.    

                                                                                                      Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall | May 1945 - his death

I didn't really know much about Bogie and Bacall until I read Lauren's fantastic autobiography, By Myself and Then Some, last fall. I don't really know all the nitty gritty details about their relationship, and I've heard rumors that things got bad for them towards the end, but I don't know if it's true or not. All I know is the picture Lauren painted in her book, and that picture of this couple was sweet and wonderful to read about, and that's the way I'd like to think of them. :) If you'll remember, in my review of her book, I said that upon reading about Bogie's death I just burst into tears. It really got to me, and I could feel Lauren's suffering at the time. Also, in her book, she described several occasions where Bogie would call her in the middle of the night and tell her to please come, because he genuinely needed her, and that's just asdfghjkl. 

I really find these two adorable and am endeared by the fact that, despite their great age difference, they truly were a couple that could stick. After all, they never divorced - it was Bogie's death that broke them apart.

D I D  Y O U  K N O W? {My Favorite Facts}

• Bogie and Bacall were married on May 21st, 1945 at the farm home of a Pulitzer Prize winning author in Ohio.
• Lauren placed a small, gold whistle in his coffin, a symbol of the famous line she tells him in To Have and Have Not (1944) - the movie that on the set of they fell in love - "You know how to whistle, don't you? Just put your lips together and blow."
• Bogie's nickname for Lauren was "Baby."

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4. 

                                                                                                      Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier | August 1940 - January 1961

Viv and Larry, these two! I learned a lot about them by watching this documentary, The Oliviers in Love. These two is just another couple that you could really tell truly loved each other, and you can feel that love when you watch them together on screen or, better yet, see personal photos, telegrams, etc. You all probably knew it anyway, but the premiere website for these two is vivandlarry.com. It has a lot of wonderful photos and etc.

Viv and Larry are really just a perfect pair, though! Besides them both being British and beautiful, they're just lovely together. Too bad they couldn't last, Vivien's struggles with her bipolar disorder really put strains on their marriage.

D I D  Y O U  K N O W? {My Favorite Facts}

• Viv and Larry were married at a ranch in Santa Barbara, with Katharine Hepburn as her maid of honor. They later honeymooned on Ronald Colman's yacht.
• Vivien had an affair with Peter Finch and was ready to leave Larry for the other actor. Just as Vivien was about to board the plane with her lover, Larry wooed her into staying back. This was the basis for the 1963 film The V.I.Ps, with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.
• Viv called Larry "Baba", and he always referred to her as "Pussycat."

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3. 

     Clark Gable and Carole Lombard | March 1939 - her death

Clark and Carole are just plain amazingness. I don't know how could you not love the two of them together because they are just perfection. I mean, they used to go duck hunting early in the morning in red thermal underwear. They were just best friends and they did all these things together. Lucy and Desi were good friends with these two, and Lucy in her autobiography recounted how she kept hoping her marriage with Desi could be like Clark and Carole's. Because they were just that awesome. 

And then, the tragedy that was Carole's death in that awful plane crash. Lucy also wrote that after Carole's death, Clark used to tear around the San Fernando Valley on his motorcycle and she was convinced he was trying to kill himself. So she'd invite Clark over to the Desilu Ranch and they'd talk about Carole and watch her films. Such a tragic ending to a couple that was just so perfect together.

D I D  Y O U  K N O W? {My Favorite Facts}

• Carole had a little dachshund named Commissioner who would completely ignore Clark during their marriage. After her death, the dog never left Clark's side.
• After Carole read Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind, Carole sent Clark a copy of the book with a note saying, "Let's do it!" Clark took this as a sexual advance and called up Carole. When he learned she wanted to play Scarlett to his Rhett in a movie version, he scoffed and said he'd never do such a mushy movie. When he actually did do the film in 1939, he only agreed to it on account of the salary, so he could divorce his current wife and marry Carole.
• Carole called Clark "Pa" and he called her "Ma".

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2. 

     Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy | 1942 - his death

This is the only couple on this list that was never really married. But it doesn't matter, because in my head, you know, they're married anyway. :) They made some of the most amazing movies together, these two. My favorites would probably have to be Woman of the Year (1942) and Adam's Rib (1949). I just love seeing these two on screen, because they have perfect chemistry. It's sad that they couldn't get married in real life, but I guess Kate wasn't really one to be gung ho over marriage anyway. What's important is how well they suited each other. 

I'll wrap this up by saying that they are just you know, excellent. They are Kate and Spence. I mean, really, what more can I say?? If you've ever seen a movie with the two of them you'll just know all the feelings that I'm referring to. <3

D I D  Y O U  K N O W? {My Favorite Facts}

• The night Spence died, he got up to get a drink of milk. Kate followed him, but before she got there she heard a thud and the sound of glass shattering. She found Spence lying dead on the floor, having been a victim of a heart attack. The year was 1967 - Kate would die thirty six years later.
• Kate never watched Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), their last film together, because the memories were too painful. Nor did she attend Spence's funeral, out of respect for his family. She did, however, call his wife, offering her condolences and wanting to patch up any hard feelings between them. To this, Louise Tracy replied, "I thought you were a rumor."
• They were first introduced by Joseph Mankiewicz on the set of Woman of the Year (1942), to which Kate sized Spence up and said, "I'm afraid I may be too tall for you, Mr. Tracy." To this, Joe replied, "Don't worry - he'll cut you down to size."

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1. 

     Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz | November 1940 - May 1960 

Ohhh, guys, excuse me, I must get my Kleenax out. I must. :) Okay, I've got my box. Okay, I can go on now. I swear, these two always tear me up. Their story is just amazing, and I have yet to see one like it. ♥ I could really go on for hours, but don't worry, I won't. 
I love how when

Lucy first saw Desi, it really was a love at sight (though she would 
claim it took a "full five minutes"!). As everybody knows, their marriage was far

from perfect, and I'm not saying it was. But then, what marriage is perfect 
(save the Minivers)? Of course, the

problems in their marriage were tough and it's what ultimately let to the divorce of course. But the 

fact is they

always loved and cared for each other, even after the divorce. There are so many things to prove that. 

I just love so many things about these two.

This is my official favorite couple, and I just love reading all the sweet amazing things. Their story really 

was amazing. Marcella Rabwin, one of their close friends, once said, "Their relationship was so deep in

 it scared me." As well as, "They loved each other more than any other famous lovers in history."

I guess so.

D I D  Y O U  K N O W? {My Favorite Facts}

• Lucy and Desi’s original wedding band was a cheap ring from Woolworth’s. They eloped in Greenwich, Connecticut, on a Saturday, and all the jewelry stores in town were closed. So this was their only option. Lucy loved it, and always kept it, no matter how green and skinny it got, and even when Desi replaced it with a bejeweled ring.
• Desi died from lung cancer on December 2^nd, 1986. Two days before, Lucy called Desi up. Lucie was nursing Desi and she heard her parents conversation, for she had to hold the phone to her father’s ear – he was too weak to hold it himself. What Lucy told Desi was, “I love you, I love you Desi, I love you.” To this replied, “I love you too, honey.” Lucy was one of the last people to speak to Desi, for he died forty eight hours later. This conversation had taken place on November 30^th, which would have been their forty-sixth wedding anniversary.
• Lucy made an attempt to divorce Desi in 1944. The day before she was schedule to appear in court, Desi called her up and asked her what he was doing that evening. She said, “You know I’m divorcing you tomorrow,” to which he replied, “Yes, I know, but I’d like to take you out to dinner.” She gave in and he did. They spent the night together. The next morning Desi woke up to Lucy getting herself dolled up for court. “You’re not going to go through with it now, are you?” he asked her. She said, “I’ve got to, the press is expecting me.” She went, got the divorce, satisfied the press, and returned home and instantly annulled the divorce. The law in California at the time was it took a year for a divorce to become final, and if the parties had an affair in that time, it was annulled. 

Happy Valentine's Day!

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Well, that's it for this Valentine's Day. I love Old Hollywood couples. Celebrity marriages don't have a

habit of sticking, but at least back then it was geninue love and not, you know, lust - and marriages lasted

more than two minutes.

Hope you have a swell Valentine's Day, or, if February 14th isn't really your thing, that you had a good
day anyway :)

xoxo 

Merry Xmas! [Part 1]: A Classic Hollywood Christmas

Okay, if you read my post for the Bogie blogathon earlier today, you'll know how I screwed up the blogging schedule I've quite carefully figured out for this week (with two blogathons, several birthdays, and CHRISTMAS). I really wanted to follow up with the post I'd planned for today, Christmas Eve, so I'm going to go ahead and write it anyway, despite the fact I'll be showing up twice in your feed today (at least, in my time zone). Apologies once more (I don't like to overhaul people with posts, lol).

All December I have been spotlighting my favorite Christmas films as a part of my Sunday Movie Review. Tomorrow is a Sunday, and is also happens to be Christmas Day, and therefore I'll be following up with my little Christmas blogathon by reviewing my favorite Christmas movie of all time.

However, in pledging myself to do this I realized I'd be missing out on some of the other Classic Hollywood/Christmas stuff there is to talk about, and so I decided to do a two part post. This is the first part, and the second part will be tomorrow, which will consist of my movie review.

For this first part I present to you all a list of ten random, Classic Hollywood Christmas things I felt compelled to share with you all.

10 Things That are Classic Hollywood and Christmas

1. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AVA

Ava and one of her pet corgis wishing you a merry Christmas! Ava is one of my favorite actresses and I like her despite her faults because over all, she was still an awesome person. And she had good values about particular things, like she was ahead of her time when it came to racism: she didn't believe in it. But anyway, the point is that today, Christmas Eve, is her birthday! I read in her biography that it was a ritual on the 24th for two cakes to be baked: one chocolate and one coconut. One was supposed to be for the baby Jesus and the other for her but she always thought of them both for her. Anyway, any person born on Christmas Eve must be awesome, and Ava was. Happy birthday, Ava!

2. I LOVE LUCY: CHRISTMAS SPECIAL

I'm sorry, I could only find the colorized version (yuck!) on Youtube. However, this is a flashback episode and the flashbacks are still in B&W, I believe. Anyhow, try to ignore the colorization and enjoy this. It's a "walk down memory lane" episode for the Ricardos and Mertzes, and it takes place on Christmas Eve so I guess it's particularly appropriate for today. This episode isn't run in syndication with all the others, so if you watch Lucy on TV (versus online or on DVD) you might haven't gotten the chance to see this yet.

3. THE DONNA REED SHOW: A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS

I just watched this the other day, I'd never seen an episode of the Donna Reed Show before. I liked and it so I'm sharing it! It was a little mushy but mush never hurts anyone in the holiday season [expect perhaps the Grinch and Scrooge]. Plus, this show's got Donna Reed, who should be the queen of holiday mush as she starred in The Best Christmas Movie of All Time (can you just guess what movie I'll be talking about tomorrow). I like her a lot, I think she's an underrated actress. (Donna Reed, I mean.)

4. GREER AND AN ADORABLE LITTLE BOY WISH YOU HAPPY HOLIDAYS

[via]

I would SO much rather get this in my mailbox instead of the usual tacky Christmas cards (just saying). The GIF (which isn't mine, you know where to click, yep, that's right, the "via" link, because that Tumblr is pretty awesome) is from "Blossoms in the Dust". (A Greer and Walter movie, I saw it but never did a review of it. It's good, though, so watch it! Albeit, not a Christmas film, it only has a Christmas scene in it, just so you know.)

5.  CHRISTMAS PIN-UPS

So many awesome Classic Hollywood Christmas related pin-ups! This is a handful of so many. From left to right: Paulette Goddard opening presents, Elizabeth Taylor showing off her kitten and wishing us a happy holiday, Mary Pickford changing the street sign from "Hollywood" to "Santa Claus Lane", Ginger Rogers fooling around with the Christmas tree, Doris Day boasting the presents she's got, Carole Lombard admiring her presents, Natalie Wood smiling through her adorned wreath, Audrey Hepburn hugging Santa Claus, and Lucy and Desi bashfully exchanging gifts with one another. :) 

6. CHRISTMAS PLAYLIST


"The Little Drummer Boy" by Bing Crosby

"Silent Night" by Lena Horne 

"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" by Doris Day

"We Three Kings (of Orient are)" by Ella Fitzgerald

Some Christmas carols I love. I know I've been adding a Christmas carol with each movie review, but these are a few that I like that I didn't get the chance to share!

7. SUSPENSE RADIO: TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

"Twas the night before Christmas..." Christmas Eve with a mysterious twist! Greer Garson stars in this Suspense Radio Theater production that was broadcast on December 21st, 1953. A suspenseful take

on one of the most cheerful holidays of the year! 

8.  I ♥ ASTA ORNAMENT

I made this myself. Honestly, who WOULDN'T want this ornament. Seriously,  if this were a real item it would totally have been in my holiday gift guide. Because who DOESN'T love Asta, I tell you. [Lassie?? Pfffhtttt].

9. LUCY: SANTA LUCIA

"I squinted up into the blazing sun and saw a figure hovering over me dressed all in black with a Santa mask and beard and rolled up orange hair. "Santa Lucia!" I cried out."

- I LOVED LUCY by Lee Tannen

* did you ever see a more beautiful Santa? *

10.  THE MOVIES I MISSED

I decided to share with you my favorite Christmas films this December, and I only had four Sundays, which meant only four movies. I had to leave out a few that I love. Here are clips from them --

THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER (1940)

Jimmy Stewart, Margaret Sullivan 

THE THIN MAN (1934)

Myrna Loy, William Powell

HOLIDAY (1938) [New Years]

Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant 

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The second part of this post will be up tomorrow [the movie review]. Now, I'm off to enjoy "It's a Wonderful Life" (I always watch it on Christmas Eve! ;D).

But in advance: Merry Merry Christmas, my readers - or whatever holiday you're celebrating this time of year!

"Ava Gardner: Love is Nothing" Book Review

Well... guess what?.... it's... SNOWING OUTSIDE! :) You can imagine my happiness from the insane amount of talking I do about the weather here on this blog ("I wore tights today, it's so cold!" "My fingers are freezing as I type!" "The leaves are turning orange and it smells like fall!") - but seriously. Where I live, we don't even get flurries until December (if we're lucky). And yes, though it isn't much more than a sprinkling of snow, snow is snow. <3 Snow before Halloween, where I live; with the trees not even bare yet - well, I could never dream... so... here's to hoping this will be a snowy winter for me. (If we're getting snow in OCTOBER, I'd like to presume...) So happy! :)

Okay, now today I've got a book review for you - "Ava Gardner: Love is Nothing," by Lee Server.

Let me start off by saying that this is a pretty decently sized book. The actual biography comes in at exactly 500 pages, and though it's not a monster, it's on the huge side for sure.

.

That was my one reservation about reading this book - not that I don't like thick reads, but I'm not Ava obsessed or anything and I was wondering if I was really willing to read that many pages about her. Okay, scratch that: it sounds mean, because I do really like Ava Gardner but this is versus, perhaps, five hundred pages about Lucy in which I wouldn't think twice about purchasing (if it's Lucy, the thicker the better).

ANYWAY, my thirst to know more about her and my love of Classic Hollywood won out - so I went ahead and decided to read it. 

My thoughts about this book are kind of all over place, but here's an attempt at trying to review it.

Okay, so for sure I did learn lots of details about Ava's life, personal and professional, through reading this book. Though a lot of it was clarification from what we already know about Ava's "Cinderella story" (if you called her life story that to her face, though, she'd probably throw a drink on you) - she had humble beginnings as a "barefoot farm girl" (and I'll give it to her, she was never ashamed of this, telling Bogie once she was a "little hillbilly girl" at heart or something), but went onto become one of the prettiest starlets in Hollywood who really enjoyed hard drinking and partying.

Ava's life is so tumultuous (especially during her Frank Sinatra period) that this is most certainly a page turner (a better title might have been "Ava Gardner: Never a Dull Moment"). And her story is an exciting one, almost written out like a novel. Reading about her childhood in "Grabtown", North Carolina was particularly interesting. I read that a young Ava hated to wear shoes (a symbol of her playful, footlose and fancy free kind of spirit that would last her through and through) and after school would stick her shoes in her mailbox and run around barefoot years before she even became the Barefoot Contessa.

The author really can write and if you gave him the most dull subject he can make it exciting. You can tell he really adores Ava, but does not put much effort into defending her at her most unlikable moments. He wants you to love Ava but is pretty blunt about the bad things, like Ava throwing tantrums with reporters, having an affair with Robert Taylor (when he was still married to Barbara Stanwyck), drinking too much, etc. His excuse is "she was so beautiful, no one cared."

By the time I reached the middle of the book I didn't hate Ava but I was coming to the conclusion she was some kind of a monster and I was confused. In her start, she seemed so humble and naive and within a couple turn of the pages she turns into this hard drinking party girl who hates Hollywood. I was wondering about the transition and though we know she throws drinks on reporters because she thinks her face is now too old to be taken photos of, how did she come to these stages? Though I don't always encourage biographers to turn into psychologists, sometimes digging deeper to come to conclusions about their subject's behavior (like Suzanne Finstad did for "Natasha", the biography of Natalie Wood) not only defends their subject and makes them more likable, gives closure to the reader.

Lee Server (also author of "Robert Mitchum: Baby, I Don't Care") definitely provides us with a lot of brutal facts that are interesting and gossipy, but verging on tabloid fodder at points because he cannot provide much reason for her behavior except that she was "beautiful." Just from reading the book one can make guesses, but Server should have had that in the actual book and since he does not, it lacks completion. Having studied and researched someone for so long, you would think that he would feel comfortable enough to jump in with his own theories at times. I wouldn't have minded; I think it would have connected a string of dots to make this book an excellent biography.

Because over all, it was good. A blunt portrait of Ava but I was expecting a lot it beforehand, just from what circulates about Ava through the grapevine. There are a lot of good things to be said about Ava, too, and things to sympathize with her over. By the end of the book I still managed to like her. The "old" Ava, once she got over her fear of aging, is lovable. The old Ava seems to return to her humbler roots... she enjoys cartoons and ironing and walking her Corgis around London. And there were remaining, redeeming factors about Ava strung throughout the book: she was far from racist, believed in everyone being equal. She was modest when it came to her acting (though not always about her beauty). She loved animals, especially dogs (Corgis in particular). 

Basically, in the end, Ava comes across as human. The book is thorough without exactly arriving to a point, but it comes out alright in the end because we see Ava as human. Not a monster and not an angel, but human which is the perfect medium and how someone should come across in a biography (unless we're talking about like, Adolf Hitler). There are definitely points through the middle of the book where she is not likable but by the time you're finished, you can sympathize with her and still like her. What I'm trying to say is: though you will have your doubtful moments, this won't tarnish your view of Ava completely.

What I mean is: this will not exactly shatter but at least make cracks in the Golden Hollywood Goddess that defines Ava's image. I cannot exactly imagine Ava being upset about it though. You can tell she was someone who didn't like Hollywood (the exact reasons why are never explained, to my annoyance) and probably didn't care what anyone else thought. She would probably encourage the honesty of this book. When I did my review for Lauren Bacall's autobiography, I said that by reading the book you will love Lauren and have immense respect for her. I don't think that exactly applies to this book, but Ava's memory is not shattered and hardcore fans won't be disturbed. I wasn't surprised, though. If you told me these things about, oh, Audrey Hepburn I might have been - but with all fairness, it was Ava, and I saw it coming. ;)

A lot of solid facts in this book and gossipy tidbits that delve into Old Hollywood for us classic Hollywood fans to enjoy. There's also bits about her relationships with other Classic figures, like Lana Turner, Howard Hawks, and John Houston. What this book lacks is a few paragraphs here and there that would have tried to explain and defend Ava's sometimes wild behavior. "Beauty" and "Hollywood" are not always good excuses. 

I would suggest this book in the end, because it had the potential to be a great biography, but there were things it simply lacked. I will give it a 4/5 - only with slight generosity, because the fact remains that I definitely know a lot more about Ava after reading this book. 

***

Before I leave: a new poll is up! You now have about twelve days to vote and tell me whether you like "Rebel Without a Cause" (1956) or "West Side Story" (1961) better.

That's it for today! Tomorrow I will hopefully have a movie review of a "scary" film for Halloween. :)

I'll leave you with a photo of Ava in a Halloween pinup:

And I'm off to enjoy the snow with a cup of hot chocolate! :)

Sunday Movie Review: "East Side, West Side" (1949)

Hi everyone,

I hope everyone had a good weekend! I had a great one; spent time with my friends (even got them to watch "Gone With the Wind"; I think there were mixed reactions) and even better, the weather has gotten chilly over here! In fact, it was so cold yesterday I wore boots, a sweater, and even gloves. Not exaggerating! Fall starts this week and I'm happy in my chilly element more than ever. I plan to savor winter. (And I don't feel so crazy anymore in doing so ever since some of you commented and let me know that you too love winter).

Before I do my review of "East Side, West Side", I will be revealing the faces behind this Here's Looking At You Kid that I should have done quite a while ago, only it indeed slipped my mind. Many apologizes!

Anyhow, thank you everyone who participated! I got some wonderful guesses. It appears that everyone happened to get the lady's face right -- it is indeed, the lovely Olivia de Havilland:

As for the man, I got a few of you who guessed it was either Robert Taylor or Gary Cooper. And the rest of you guessed Robert Taylor. Well, as it turns out, it is --

It's Coop!

***

Today, I have pulled the summary from IMDb because I felt the Netflix summary gave too many spoilers.

Brandon and Jessie Bourne has been married to each other for many years. A few years ago, Brandon had an extra-martial affair with Isabel Lorrison. Now she has come back to New York intending to start over with the relationship once again. Meanwhile, Jessie is attracted to Mark Dwyer, just arrived from a secret mission in Italy. [summary from IMDb]

The star-studded cast has:

• Barbara Stanwyck as Jessie Bourne
• James Mason as Brandon "Brad" Bourne
• Ava Gardner as Isabel Lorrison
• Van Heflin as Mark Dwyer
• Cyd Charisse as Rosa Senta
• Nancy Davis as Helen Lee
• William Frawley as a bartender (!!)

Can you count all the stars? I was excited by the large number of big names in this. I hope everyone is familiar with Nancy Davis, who would later marry Ronald Reagan and become First Lady of the US, as well as William Frawley - who is our own Fred Mertz from "I Love Lucy."

I must say, I did find the plot to be a little far fetched. But if you can ignore some of the bumps and creases of it, I think it gives us a nicely polished view of elite 1940's Manhattan and the politics that its residents suffer through: romance, drama, murder.

Stany is really appealing as Jessie Pearce and I enjoyed her performance. She represents the sophisticated East Side woman in great contrast to Van Heflin's Mark, who is West Side, and yet they get along better and sparkle with more chemistry than Jessie and her own husband, Brad. Anyway, I think she does an excellent job and you can feel Jessie's many mixed feelings; her heartbreak, the fact that she does love her husband, but she cannot stand any longer what he is doing to her. Hard to play but Barbara is very good. 

Van Heflin does quite well with the Mark character; he and Stany have nice chemistry. At first I found Ava Gardner's "other woman" portrayal to be somewhat stereotypical but as the film progresses on, she cleans her up act even when she is given some pretty sorry lines to deal with. She is sultry above all, which is a necessity for her notorious character. In the end I found I liked how Ava played her and wished that her character would have been given more lines and camera time to work with. Anyhow, Ava does try her best with what she is given. I think she is at her very best in this scene --

All the supporting characters are wonderful. Nancy Davis sparkles as the nosy friend, Cyd is good as the nice Italian girl; William Frawley is only a bartender, of course, but a cheer for him, anyway.

Now it comes to James Mason. To begin with he is a character we do not like. We feel sympathy for Stany's Jessie, we are excited that Van Heflin is there to lend a shoulder for her to cry on, we don't like Ava's character either but we do get where she is coming from, and we are charmed by Cyd's Rosa. I found I didn't like James Mason's way of playing the Brad character at all. He fades, pales, to the selection of other actors he is playing against. He seems kind of out there; very one dimensional and no chemistry whatsoever with Ava. He is plain, like cardboard, just standing there; he lets the others carry on the film.

So with that exception, this is a very well acted and interesting film. I just had many problems with this plot, though. It was kind of all over the place in my opinion. Here are the "bumps and creases" I found -- the Rosa character gets dropped quite fast, the mystery element was solved too easily (there is a mystery element indeed, and I was shocked by the simple way it is solved. I am used to Nick and Nora Charles, thank you very much), there were just some holes and it made it look a little sloppy.

The script is for the most part intelligent, though I did find some stupid exchanges, for example one scene where Isabel calls Jessie over to her apartment and starts rattling off about how Brad is all hers and Jessie, his wife, will only see him when Isabel permits and excreta. I found that a little too silly.

The ending is left open ended. Though mostly satisfying, it leaves a lot to the imagination. I guess we can't have it all.

Over all I found this film to be entertaining and interesting. The cast does a magnificent job (James excluded; I'm sorry, Mr. Mason!), and the weaknesses fall instead in the plot and script. I will have to give it a three and a half out of five stars. I would say to go ahead and watch it, too, only, it is not a perfect film.

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Before I leave --

Happy birthday, Greta! Wow, how many birthdays did we celebrate this week?? Hmm..!

August in Review

I did this at the end of last month, but I didn't really have that many followers then so I guess this will be new to you all. ;) At the end of every month I choose the top ten highlights of that month in classic film or in my blog. August was an exciting, exciting month for me, mostly because my darling Lucy turned 100 and I had a party of my own celebrating it!

Before I get started, it's time to reveal the baby face from my post on Sunday. This little girl is actually.....

Ava Gardner!

Audrey (Fedoras and High Heels) was the first to guess and she got it right! Mostly, I was surprised that she figured it out so easily because when I first found the picture I was surprised because it didn't really look a thing like Ava. I showed the dad the photo and he couldn't figure it out either - in fact, he quite guessed everyone BUT Ava (He was onto Eva Marie Saint when I stopped him). But anyhow, Audrey did figure it out. Now that I look at the photo, I can see her smile is a little like Ava's, and the "drab" clothing may be attributed to her growing up kind of poor in a small town. But that's our Ava ;) lol.

I think it'll be fun to do another one in a future, but I plan to do it... I don't know... in a more organized way of sorts, I guess? And, I'll be sure to pick a harder picture. In fact, I already think I know who I'm going to do! ;)

Also, a heads up: I have joined yet another blogathon. Already, I'm going to be participating in the Fashion in Film blogathon (at The Hollywood Revue) and the Carole-tenniel[+3] blogathon (at Carole's number one blog, Carole and Co). Yesterday, I threw my hat into the ring for Sophie's (Waitin' On A Sunny Day) Darling Deborah Blogathon, for Deborah Kerr's 90th birthday this September. Sophie is one of the biggest Deborah fans, and I, too, often indulge in Deborah films and really enjoy it, so I'm happy to participate. The banner is now on my sidebar. I advise you other bloggers to join in the fun, too! 

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THE BIG 10: RIANNA'S AUGUST IN REVIEW

1. August 1st - August 5th, blogging for the the birthday girl, Lucy, in anticipation of her approaching 100th birthday! I blogged on these days solely about Lucy on different subjects, like how she is THEE game show queen and shared with you this beautiful documentary about my favorite redhead (among others).
2. August 6th: THE BIG DAY ARRIVES!!! I wrote a humongous post for her filled with enormous birthday wishes. (Not to mention I totally flipped out at how the media reacted to her 100th birthday and how, at least for a few days, Lucy was everyplace - online and on TV.)
3. The same day I also participated in my very first blogathon! "The Loving Lucy Blogathon", hosted by True Classics, was an exciting and great experience to be a part of. I was one of many blogs who blogged for Lucy, and it also got me a little more acquainted with the Classic Film Blogging Community. It was wonderful to see what everyone else wrote about Lucy and there were some really fascinating, beautiful posts -- just shows to give how much everyone loves Lucy!
4. Also, my Lucy birthday tribute video goes up on Youtube and did pretty well!! I was extremely happy - not just because my video did well but more because the great amount of views it got proved that people love Lucy.
5. Fast forwarding to a few weeks later, Meredith of Forever Classics tagged me for my first blog award, the Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award! (I was also tagged by Natalie and Clara -- many thanks to them all!!!) If that wasn't fabulous enough, I was also tagged with the Liebster Blog award by yet another great blogger, Craig of Blame Mame. 
6. The latter events brought me a SURGE of lovely, new, awesome followers!!! Right after I recieved these awards, my followers, like doubled, which was amazing. Now I have over twenty more followers then I did at the start of the month. It's always so thrilling to get a new follower, and I appreciate it so much -- here's to 30!!!?
7. I gave my blog a makeover. ;)
8. I install a new weekly series, The Sunday Movie Review.
9. I usually do a "worst movie of the month" and a "best movie of the month." I watched so many great movies this month ("Woman of the Year", "The Snake Pit", "Splendor in the Grass", "Now, Voyager"), and I couldn't possibly just pick one. As for the worst, I can't chose here, either. Yes, "Forever Darling", which I rewatched, wasn't the greatest but I couldn't possibly count it as my worst, either!
10. As for the actors and actresses that sparked my interest most this month, I'd have to say (for the actresses) that it is a tie between Vivien Leigh and Bette Davis. I've been on a Bette high all summer long (in fact, I started my vacation with Bette and ended it with a Bette movie, as well), and really enjoying myself. I also think I've come to the conclusion that I'm Team Bette (but I most certainly don't hate Joan -- i just think I may like Bette better). Also, Vivien Leigh: I've really been enjoying her movies and just really liking her. As for the guys, I don't think there was really once consistent actor I watched all month long.

I run a couple segments here on Frankly, My Dear. The only weekly one is the Sunday Movie Review, but among others I've done:

• "You know you're obsessed when..."
• "Rianna Recasts"
• A Movie in 10 Minutes

I also plan on starting a new segment called "What's My Line? Wednesday". It won't be weekly but this is just a heads up to be looking for my favorite WML? clips with Old Hollywood celebrities on some Wednesdays. I planned to throw it in yesterday, but yesterday's blog got way too long. So, though this will be for WEDNESDAYS, I  hope you don't mind me kicking it off on a Thursday. All further posts for this segment will really be on Wednesdays.

Before I head off (I have homework -- yuck!!!), I'd like to know, which segments of mine do you enjoy the most??? Out of those ones mentioned. Tell me what you want to see more of and I'll be happy to comply. I just want to get some "reader input" so I can better my blog to what you all like.

Here's your "WML? Wed" clip, that happens to be one day late. Sorries!!!

Roz Russell - This one is a total riot. Enjoy!!! :)

"I only have eyes for you, dear."

Hi everyone,

This is just going to be a post with a few miscellaneous notes....

First things first, the voting for the film noir contest. Here is the link: Film Noir Contest Voting!. Please read everyone's blogs, and then vote for your favorite. :) I already know two of my other blogging buddies that have joined in on the fun and their entries look wonderful, so I'm in great company! :) Also, at the last moment I decided to enter the video competition as well with my 100th birthday tribute to Lucy. The video got a good reception on Youtube (a thousand views in one week, which I have to admit is pretty cool), and so I decided why not? Especially since I'm not all that confident in my film noir post. You can vote for the videos (and don't forget to watch the other ones, too) here: Video Contest Voting!. (I ironically discovered that the ''What Did Joan Crawford and Barbara Stanwyck Do Last Friday Night'' video I shared a few weeks ago here is up against me... what a small world! :D) Voting is from today to September 10th, so you'll have plenty of time. And lastly, a quick thanks to David, the website's main host, for hosting this! :)

Here's some exciting news: I hit the twenty followers benchmark that I've been striving for! (Actually, it's twenty-three now. :D) Thanks a BILLION for following me, it really does mean a lot, and let's see if we can make it up to thirty now. ;)

Also, here's your poll results! I've been a little late with getting them in, but this is the way it turned out:

• The winner is Lauren's autobiography, By Myself and Then Some with five votes (50 percent!). It looks interesting and you all must think it's good, so I'm going to trust your judgement! ;)
• Tying for second place is Ava Gardner's biography, Love is Nothing, and Vivien's, with two votes (twenty percent) each.
• And in last place, with one vote (ten percent) is Goodbye Natalie, Goodbye Splendour, or the story of how Natalie Wood drowned and the murky circumstances surrounding it. 

So, I'm not very far at all in Jean Arthur's biography. It does look quite good, but maybe my mind is in other places and I'm not getting into it. -;) So, I think for the time being I'm going to go ahead and start reading Lauren's autobiography like you all have voted for me to do, and maybe come back to Jean another time. Thanks a bunch to all of you that voted and I'll be sure and review the book for you once I'm done!

I guess one natural disaster wasn't enough for us this week. Hurricane Irene (Dunne? :P) is on the way, and there's a possibility we may lose power for a little while, so I may not get a chance to write if it's going to be as bad as everyone says it is. In fact, we just got a call from our electricity company warning us. Let's hope not - I hate hurricanes, and we never get them either! And, to top it off, it's coming smack dab on my mom's birthday on Saturday. What a present!

I've made a couple changes to the blog, or I should say, additions. Some of you have already noticed and begun using it, but for those of you who haven't, or aren't sure what it's for, or whatever, I'd added a "reactions" bar:

Sorry for the awful circling job there

Basically, this is quicker way to tell me what you thought of the post (Don't let this discourage you from commenting, though - I LOVE comments!), and it helps me in writing future posts. Right now your options are "funny", "interesting", and "cool." They're not all that original (pre-written for me by Blogger), and I'm not so happy with them so I'll probably change them to something better in the near future. Ideas?

And, I have added a bunch of new songs to my playlist (or AKA, the pink iPod on the sidebar). It still opens with the Gone With the Wind theme (followed up by "Frankly, my dear..."), but I've added some other old timey songs so any newbies to this blog won't think this is just a blog about "Gone With the Wind." (What with the title and all). So, here's what I've added for your hearing pleasure:

• "I Only Have Eyes For You" sung by Frank Sinatra (hence the title of this post). A couple of days ago it was Joan Blondell day on TCM, and I had "Dames" playing on the TV. I wasn't actually paying attention (you know, when you leave the TV on for company... I do that always), but I did happen to hear this particular song play constantly in the movie, and it really grew to me. The only version I could get was Frank's, but it's Sinatra so it might as well be good!
• "That's All" sung by Edie Adams on the final episode of The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour... I love this song, it's very pretty and Edie sings it beautifully - in fact, this is my favorite version of the song.
• "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" sung by Marlene Dietrich (yep, Marlene). I wanted to get the Doris Day version of this, but that wasn't available. Everyone remember it from "Bringing up Baby"? :)
• "Stardust" sung by Nat King Cole. I hear this was Bette Davis's personal favorite song, and I really like it. So, here's to Bette.
• "As Time Goes By" by Doolie Wilson, or, the one and only Sam! I don't have to tell you anymore, you know where it's from. INGRID: Play it, Sam. Play.... "As Time Goes By." SAM: Well, I'm a little rusty on it, Miss Ilsa INGRID: -- I'll hum it for you. Di-de-dee-du-dum....
• The theme from "An Affair to Remember." This movie is one of my favorites (it makes me cry every time), and the theme is so beautiful, too.
• A really awkward version of "Que Sera Sera" by Doris, but once again, it was the only one I could get. Oh, well - que sera sera!
• "Isn't it Romantic?" sung by Jeanette MacDonald. I LOVE this song, it's one of my favorites, but no offense to Jeanette, only I really wanted to get the Ella Fitzgerald version of this. I AH-DORE that version. This is nice, too... but Ella's just blows me away. Oh well, we'll have to settle for this.
• "Cheek to Cheek" ... I THINK sung by Ginger Rogers. Please correct me if I'm wrong! Because I could like, totally, be off like that. ;) Anyway, this is a nice version and I like it.
• ... And lastly, a little Vera Lynn for you: "We'll Meet Again." (Some sunny day!)

I may add some more into the future as they come into my mind.  ;)

Okay, so you're used to leaving you with some random kind of photo or something, but today I'm going to leave you with a clip from one of my favorite movies EVER, "Bringing Up Baby"... I'm sure most of you have already seen it. But, whatever. It's adorable, and it makes me smile. :)

Click THIS!

To my annoyance, I could not embed the video here but you can click that link just below the photo :)

That's all for now, and please don't forget to check out the film noir contest. Now that the polls are up, I've taken a look at the other three contestants and it's simply FABULOUS, dahhhlings. :)

Ciao! ;)

Katharine Hepburn: A Life in Pictures

This is not actually a book review --

I'm only going to be sharing with you some of my favorite pictures from a picture book of Katharine Hepburn I bought recently. (It's in this book haul). It has some very nice pictures and I got it for a good price, so overall it was well worth it and I enjoyed it. And besides, this will be a tamer change of pace from yesterday's rant (by the way, I hope no one thinks I hate the stars I talked about in yesterday's post.... I most certainly do NOT. I LOVE Audrey and Bogie -- I mean, she's on my bedroom wall and I named my chinchilla after him! - and I think Marilyn and James Dean are good actors... . it's not really about the stars exactly, I'm just trying to make a point.)

(The name of the book is the same as the post title). Since I scanned these from the book, I still obviously don't own them but ... considering I didn't find this on Google Images or anything, if you want to use them I'd appreciate if you could link back to my blog. :)

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Kate as a child growing up in Connecticut - isn't she adorable??

Kate taking a dive. I think this is a pretty cool picture, and I love how it was taken mid-dive.

Kate as a STREETWALKER in 1930's New York!

A studio portrait. I really like this photo and I think she looks quite pretty in it.

Okay, so I'm making this a bit bigger so you can see the stars in it. I swear, this is like my favorite of them all. This is a bunch of stars from MGM (including Lucy - you can see the blazing hair, first row! Also: Spencer Tracy, Van Johnson, Red Skelton, Greer Garson, Jimmy Stewart, Mickey Rooney, Esther Williams...) with studio head Louis B. Mayer on his birthday, and there's a cake, too! I LOVE it. It's like, a class picture... see if you can spot the stars ;)

This wouldn't be complete without a picture of Kate and Spence. The book is actually lacking in photos of this couple, which is it's only downfall. But out of the ones provided this publicity still for "Adam's Rib" is definitely my favorite.

Hehe... Kate biking around the studio lot. That's so... Kate like!

Kate having a drink with Clark Gable. I don't know but I have this big thing for photos of really awesome people with other really awesome people -- maybe that's why I love the MGM photo so much!

This is probably for "Pat and Mike," but I think she played tennis in real life, too.

Okay, so, I think this may be in a tie for my favorite with the MGM picture.

These are the shoe shapes of famous women. The names are written on each clog, but if you can't read, from top to bottom it's: Marlene (wow, she had tiny feet!), Kate, Ava, Bette, Rita, Audrey, the Duchess of Windsor, and Ingrid - and I LOVE the fact that Ingrid's is the biggest of them all. ;) I have pretty big feet too so it makes me feel better, lol.

Kate in later years, back in Connecticut, picking flowers. :)

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Yeah, well, I hope you enjoyed my little photo essay. If you like them, maybe I'll do more in the future because I own several picture books.

Oh, and by the way, today is the last day of the "Which Old Hollywood book should I read next?" poll. It closes later today. With nine votes cast it looks as if Lauren's autobiography is going to win, but there's still time left to pull your favorite up! ;)