Vintage Vocabulary, Darling!

Hi everyone,

Before I begin today's topic (one that proves to be interesting, I hope) quick birthday wishes to three big Classic Hollywood stars: Jean Arthur, Rita Hayworth, and Montgomery Clift! In honor of the two girls, I added "Only Angels Have Wings" into my Netflix queue so you should anticipate a review for that... in the near future. ;) As for Monty, I've been wanting to see "A Place in the Sun" for a REALLY long time, but it's on a "short wait" at Netflix, so I guess I'll just have to wait.. longer... :( [Anyway- look for pictures of them throughout this post! :D]

Something I have noticed in classic films is though the way they speak is pretty much the same way we talk today, a lot of the "slang words" are different which obviously makes sense... I mean, the staples of the English language will forever stay consistent (I hope), but slang words change as trends change and as particular generations get older and new ones begin. (Like in my circle of teenage friends I don't find someone going, "Hey, that's groovy!" all that often, if you know what I mean. :D)

Having watched classic films for quite a while (and yeah, being obsessed with it helps too) I have picked up on my "vintage vocabulary" so much that it often filters into my everyday speak. I love vintage slang, especially from the 30's and 40's, because some of it is just so adorable! And considering a lot of words are dead these days, so to speak, it's even fun to say them to get a reaction out of people.

Here's the list of "vintage vocabulary" I came up with. If you can think of any I haven't included don't forget to leave me a comment with the word (and it's definition, just in case I haven't heard it) so I can add it in.

I present to you, a list of Vintage Vocabulary... (I tried to come up with the best Classic Hollywood related sentences I could; others seemed like lines out a film noir for me and I tried to express that but I think I failed most of the time...)

• darling - [noun]; Used as an affectionate form of address to a beloved person. "Tallulah Bankhead called everyone 'darling'. Except she says it 'dahhling', you know."
• dame - [noun]; An attractive woman. "Walter didn't plan on everything landing up this way, but Phyllis was a dame he could not resist."
• heel - [noun]; a contemptibly dishonorable or irresponsible person. "Everyone thought that Gregory Peck was a total heel in 'Duel in the Sun'."

LOVE this photo - Gregory and Deborah on the beach!

• gay - [adjective]; having or showing a merry, lively mood. "Then Cary Grant was wearing this frilly negligee and he jumped up and shouted at the woman, 'I went gay all of a sudden'!"
• swell - [adjective]; excellent; first-class. "Gee I like to see you looking swell, baby! Diamond bracelets Woolworth doesn't sell, baby..."
• golly - [informal adjective]; used as a mild exclamation expressing surprise, wonder,puzzlement, pleasure, or the like. "Good golly, Miss Molly!"

Hedy dining with the birthday girl, Rita

• gee whiz - [informal adjective]; arousing or characterized by surprise, wonder, or triumphant achievement. "Gee whiz, that Lucy is funny."
• square - [noun]; old-fashioned in views, customs, appearance, etc. "Ava Gardner was certainly never a square."
• scram - [verb]; to go away; get out. "Scram, kid, this ain't the place for you," snarled Bogie.

The other birthday girl, the lovely Jean Arthur 

• broad - [noun]; an offensive term for a woman or a girl. "I thought Glenn Ford had a lot to put up with in that movie; Gilda was a real broad."
• babydoll - [noun]; Used as an affectionate form of address to a pretty person. " 'Come with me, babydoll,' Cagney told the flapper."
• slay - [verb];  To amuse somebody very much. "Groucho's sense of humor just slays me!" This was suggested by Martin.

The birthday boy, Monty, and friend Liz out for dinner. 

THE FOLLOWING ARE PHRASES.

• "Get a load of Bette Davis in this picture!"
• "Ricky blew a fuse when he saw what Lucy had done."
• "Frank Sinatra wanted to bust the chops of the reporter who took his picture." 

I couldn't do one of these photo things without a picture of Lucy! <3
I love this one, she's being a real "darling" in it, paining the nails of her stand in! And so carefully, too!

That was all the "vintage vocabulary" I could think of. By the way, I don't mean that these phrases or words aren't used today at all (though some are kind of extinct, like "heel"), just not as commonly, or in different contexts (with "gay", for example). If you can think of any others, drop me a comment and I'll add it in (with all due credit, of course)!

UPDATE: Friend and fellow blogger Natalie (In the Mood) composed her own list of vintage vocabulary as an addition to this post. She came up with some great ones that I missed, so be sure and check it out!! :)

Celebrity Lookalikes. And why I hate Robert Wagner. and just rambling

When deciding what to write about today, I was kind of stuck. I had a lot of thoughts all clouded up into one, but I couldn't chose just which one to talk about. So, finally, I settled on a rambling post. It's been a while since I did one of those, so why the heck not?

You'll notice on my sidebar a new banner advertising the Film Noir Contest at Film Classics. I really hope you bloggers out there click the banner and decide to participate, because in the last contest there were only two competitors, and that makes it no fun, really. So... JOIN! JOIN! I like rivalry. ;)

Also, today is August 16th, which (drum roll please) marks the ONE MONTH ANNIVERSARY OF MY BLOG! I can't believe it's already one month. This also marks exactly two weeks until I go back to school. Ew. Anyway, I've come to the conclusion that I totally LOVE blogging and all of that, so I'll be doing it for many more anniversaries to come. I'm not quitting anytime soon. :)

So last night I watched "Splendor in the Grass" for the first time. (Yeah, it's a part of my box set). It was kind of weird, but I did enjoy it. Anyway, I won't get into it because I'm saving it for my Sunday Movie Review, so you'll just have to wait until then to hear my complete opinion.

Anyway, I guess this is kind of random, but I was just thinking about how I really like most actors from the Golden Era, and up into the 60's and a little bit farther... there isn't really one I "hate." And then I thought of Robert Wagner.

Yes, this is quite random. But i always talk about the actors I love, so why not talk about the ones I don't - not really?

It's not the fact that I hate Robert Wagner as an actor, because I haven't seen enough of his movies, or "Hart to Hart" or whatever, to judge that.  (And maybe hate is an eensy bit of a strong word.) It's because of what he did with Natalie Wood that makes me upset.

If you didn't know, Natalie and "RJ" were married twice. Once, in the early sixties, and then again from about 1972 to her death. He was with her that night on the boat - that night when she drowned. 


I'm not going to say he murdered her, but there's totally something fishy about the way he tells his side of the story. According to the book "Natasha" by Suzanne Finstad, he took about four hours to call the Coast Guard - four hours AFTER he noticed Natalie was missing. Apparently, he thought she "may have taken the dinghy out to the diner at the shore" or something. Natalie, who was terrified of water - especially water at night, dark water? Yeah, right!

Wagner will be back on the TV screens in the USA this fall with the new "Charlie's Angels" (I know, very disgusting). He voices Charlie.

It annoys me how he doesn't do much to keep Natalie's memory alive. She was such a Hollywood giant in her time, but today she doesn't have that legendary status that most movie stars (especially those died young) of Classic Hollywood hold. He could be doing a lot more. But he never talks about her death, and he never talks about her. Whenever he gives interviews, there is no mention of her whatsoever. It was like he wasn't even married to her.

Maybe he feels guilty - but that's evidence in itself, isn't it?

He's talking about his autobiography, "Pieces of My Heart" (HA! How clever) here. What annoys me is the way he glosses over Natalie's death: "She died, but life goes on." What the heck?

Well, yeah. I just wanted to say that. I happened to catch that video, and it annoyed me, so I thought I'd... talk about it here. I'm so random. Oh, well.

Also, last night when I was watching Warren Beatty, I got a great idea for an issue of celebrity lookalikes. I went all, "Doesn't Montgomery Clift look like Warren Beatty?" and my dad was, "WHAT? no way."

But I think so. So here's my lookalies, Montgomery and Warren included.

Montgomery Clift and Warren Beatty

Jean Simmons, Vivien Leigh, Hedy Lamarr, Elizabeth Taylor

seriously, these girls look SO alike. Jean, Vivien, and Hedy could be triplets and Elizabeth could be like, their little sister or something.

Anne Bancroft and This Chick Who Played Angelina in "Splendor in the Grass"

There was also this chick in "The Snake Pit" who looked a lot like her, but I couldn't find a picture of her.

Wow, this is a really random post. And really stupid...

Well, anyway, surprisingly I've got nothing left to ramble about... and this was probably a mindless post... and I don't blame you if you found this a waste of your time... and I promise something more substantial and worthwhile tomorrow. When I've got more brain energy.

Ciao.