Sunday Movie Review: "Hands Across The Table" (1935)

Yes, I am alive, and yes, I haven't fallen off the face of the planet!

I know I was supposed to do a SMR last Sunday, but I was way too busy, I had a nasty cold, & so I missed it. So yes, it's been three whole weeks since I've done a review but here I am this Sunday with one & I assure you it was a really great film in fact, so hopefully that'll make up for my screwing up the SMR schedule. And for not writing in like, nearly two weeks, which isn't a very long time for most bloggers but then this is the girl who used to write like every single day. I do miss that. ;) 

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HANDS ACROSS THE TABLE (1935): Cast, plot details

Hotel manicurist Regi Allen is a cynical golddigger who meets her match in Theodore 'Ted' Drew III. After a date with Ted, she lets him sleep on her couch when he's too drunk to go further; but what is she to think when he wants to extend the arrangement? [from IMdb]

• Carole Lombard as Regi Allen
• Fred MacMurray as Theodore Drew III
• Ralph Bellamy as Allen Macklyn

THE VERDICT:  ★★★★

This is a charming romantic comedy starring two of the experts on the genre, with plenty of both funny & sentimental moments. Give it a watch.

I really enjoyed this mostly light, sentimental romantic comedy! I mean, it's not one of my new all-time favorite films but I had fun watching it and laughing at all of the punchlines. It was a film that really did put a smile on my face. I recently bought The Carole Lombard Glamour Collection box set which contains six films (and I got it  for about $10, isn't that incredible?), one of which is this and I'll be pleased to own it because I did really like it.

Carole Lombard is right at home with this type of comedy; not exactly screwball in this (though that is, of course, what she is the queen of) but still really funny. It was one of greatest Carole's assets, her ability to make even small actions seem hilarious. Like, for example, there's one scene in which she tries to wake up Fred MacMurray by loudly shaking a teacup. So yes, if you need just one reason to watch this film, it's Carole, because she's just adorable and lovely as always in this.

Fred MacMurray has great chemistry opposite her. As we all know, he can do drama wonderfully (a la Double Indemnity), but I also enjoy him in his fluffy roes and this is one of them. He and Carole doing comedy together are so wonderful! They had a few other pairings and I don't think I've seen any of them (or I might've & I'm just blanking right now), but I'll definitely be looking forward to watching them now. Ralph Bellamy plays as he always does, the man who doesn't get the girl, and you can't help but feel especially sorry for him in this because he's wheelchair bound. 

Maybe the plot isn't thrilling or original, but the stars really make it shine. I was kind of surprised that the censors okayed the idea of Carole and Fred's unmarried characters sharing an apartment (because Fred's fiancé thinks he's in Bermuda, except he missed the boat because he got drunk after a date with Carole and landed up on her couch, and well - well, it's hard to explain), even though during Fred's stay there are uninvolved and Fred sleeps on Carole's couch. Oh, well, I really liked this movie, it was charming & fun & light and you should definitely give it a watch!

PHOTOS & TRIVIA

• Samuel Goldwyn originally wanted Miriam Hopkins for the Carole Lombard role, but she was unavailable
• Gary Cooper was the first choice for the Fred MacMurray role

A MOVIE TIDBIT


You can also find the whole movie on Youtube.

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That's all for this Sunday, and once more, I apologize for messing up the SMR!

Also, the poll closed sometime ago. Ingrid won by one vote, and I do believe I will actually write a post about it, that should be up in a week or so, as I already have something planned for this week.

See you soon! :)

A Tribute to Deborah Kerr

"She has made forty-four movies. Light romances and dark ones. Epic adventures and costume dramas. Comedies and even one of our most beloved musicals. She played nuns and nannies. Nice ladies and occasionally ladies that weren't so very nice - but always a lady... In a singular way, she combined warmth with elegance, passion with patience, common sense with uncommon wit, great strength with even greater vulnerability."

- Glenn Close speaking of Deborah Kerr at the 66th Annual Academy Awards

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{my GIF}

I think that quote from Glenn Close pretty much sums up the cinematic career of Deborah Kerr. I don't think there was a type of movie that Deborah didn't try her hand at. 


So it's strange that, before I became such an aggressive viewer of her pictures, I always thought that Deborah Kerr played delicate English ladies who never said a word out of place or ever stepped a toe over the line. Ladies that were prim and perfect. It wasn't that there is anything wrong with this type of a character; and, in fact, it happens to be just the type of character I myself would enjoy. But for a long time I had been keep myself deprived of the marvelous array of other roles Deborah played. 


Glenn Close was right in saying that she was "always a lady", despite the most well, dangerous, of roles she tackled. Tea and Sympathy (1956), for example, in which she plays an American wife with much lying under the surface who feels compelled to give one of her husband's pupils more than a little tea and sympathy. Or The Proud and the Profane, of the same year, where she must pull herself together and keep her dignity despite the scandal she suffers with William Holden. And in Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957), a nun who begins to feel burgeoning attraction for Robert Mitchum when the two are stranded on an island together whilst World War II rages!


Can you imagine playing those roles in the 50's? Whenever I read the plots for these movies and then go into watching them, I can't help but wonder how on Earth Deborah is going to play these characters and 'get away with them.' But, oh, if you were to see her in these roles you would understand why the Hays Code Office could not make an objection. These characters, no matter what they do, or at least, where their thoughts may stray, were always ladies because Deborah played them in that way. And, I think, because she transformed these characters into ladies is why they were sympathized with and accepted and beloved by audiences in the 50's.


All of the above is an attest to how good of an actress she was. I don't think there was a role or a performance which she was afraid of. I don't really think there was a role that she could not play.


If anyone has been keeping up with the list of films I've been seeing this year, you might have realized that Deborah Kerr is the actress I have seen the most of. So far I have seen eight of her movies and not once have I been disappointed. I feel as if I've been missing out on a lot. It wasn't like I didn't like Deborah; I certainly did, and I enjoyed her in movies like An Affair to Remember (1957), which is one of my favorites, and The King and I  (1956). But I don't think I really got to know her as an actress until these past few months.


Behind this marvelous actress is a lady, a person, who I hold in equal standard to that of the actress. It's a travesty that there is not a in print, decent biography about her. The moment one is written I can't wait to get my hands on it. There are so many interesting stories I've read about Deborah. Like, how, on the set of Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1956), her co-star Robert Mitchum expected her to be dull and delicate. Then she cursed out John Houston after one of the takes went awry, and Mitchum nearly drowned himself laughing!


And then there is the diary she kept while filming The Night of the Iguana (1964), with Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, & Sue Lyon. Here are some of my favorite passages from the 'Days and Nights of the Iguana' by Deborah:

OCTOBER 30: A really unbelievably lovely morning. I enjoy this breath of air each morning before work and again at the end of the day – it’s a godsend. I think the reason I get so tired working in a studio is the total lack of fresh air. Lunch wasn’t called until one-forty-five, so we were all very hungry. Elizabeth adn Richard had brought hamburgers (flown from somewhere exotic and healthy) complete with cheese, onions, and tomatoes and they asked Peter and me to join them. The hamburgers were delicious. Elizabeth also had a huge jar of Boston baked beans, which we delved into as if we had never eaten beans before in our lives. After a constant diet of fish and guacamole they tasted wonderful. We rehearsed a long and complicate shot after lunch, but we weren’t able to get it in the can, so it will be the first shot in the morning. I was glad to be through. Ava and I will meet at the beach at seven in the morning – her call is the same as mine so we can whizz out together in her speedboat. Elizabeth and Richard gave us a ride home in their boat which is christened Taffy. She is such a generous, sweet woman, friendly and warm and impulsive, and the Welshman kept us all laughing all the way back to Puerto Vallarta.

Perhaps this bit, too, about Ava Gardner & eating raw fish in Mr. Allison -

NOVEMBER 1: Met Ava at ten-to-seven at the beach. She was going to water-ski over to work, but by the time the boats were all organized it was a little late and she decided not to. But she swam out to the speedboat nevertheless. She has the strength of an ox, that girl! We sped across, the sky quite marvelous, with the moon still vivid on the horizon to the west and the sun rising in the east, and the water like flat syrup. It was a long day – Richard and I didn’t finish till six o’clock, which is later than we usually work here. but we must have done about four pages. We had some long waits for difficult setups, and Ava and I filled in the time rehearsing the long scene in the kitchen we have together. It-s a difficult one for her – masses of “black stuff” – and I have to decapitate and clean fish! Always seem to have  something strange to do with fish when I work with John. InAllison, Sister Angela has to eat raw fish – it’s all there was. I remember that the prop man had anchovies for me to eat, but John said it didn’t look like real raw fish – and in any case after a few 2takes” I was dying of thirst. So I ate raw fish. At least I got the expression of controlled disgust correctly.

The whole diary, actually, is just exciting to read, especially if you've seen the movie. Deborah's opinions on everyone & everything, most often favorable of her colleagues, which I'm happy to read as I love Elizabeth & Ava. 'The Welshman', or Richard Burton, on the other hand, I have a different taste for but Deborah seemed to like him too. ;) 


Deborah also shared stories about other movies she made, like this one about An Affair to Remember (1956):

Don’t ever kiss Cary Grant. He tickles! During many of poignant love scenes in An Affair To Remember I had a terrible time keeping a straight face. Cary was supposed to hold me tenderly but each time he put his strong arms around me, he would give me a little tickle under the ribs. This would start me giggling like a school girl, but Cary kept it up until I was almost exhausted. We were the despair of the director and the cameraman. 

Each time I’d screw up my face and take a deep breath because that would prevent me from laughing. Somehow we managed to get through all but the final love scene. Director Leo McCarey said, “Now in this one, Deborah, I want you to show all the tenderness you feel for this man. Okay,” he said to the crew, “roll ‘em”. I held my breath, but I could feel Cary put his arms around me tighter and then, in pure mischief, he started to slide his hand toward my ribs. Very slowly. I knew the tickle was coming. But when! It was a torture! But I held on so hard, that the tears came to my eyes. Finally, the director said, “Cut!” then he turned to me and said, “Deborah, that was wonderful.”
But I was so exasperated with my leading man that I didn’t realize I had just been paid a compliment. Instead, in a high shrill voice I said: “For heavens sakes, Cary, will you tickle me and get it over with?”

Plus there is that adorable face of Deborah's. Look at this expression from Mr. Allison:

[via]

Now, how is that not adorable? tell me??!!!

This post is getting kind of long, so I guess I'll wrap it up now. What you read was basically a rambling but still extremely affectionate tribute to Deborah Kerr, the utterly amazing actress robbed of a proper Oscar, a flawless human being & one of my favorite stars easily. 

PS: Have any of you readers heard of something called the No Bull Challenge? It's a project encouraging teens to help combat cyber-bullying by making short videos about the topic. My friend entered one, and maybe if you have a second, you could check it out & give it a vote; or check out the other videos and vote for which one you like best! Though having never been cyber-bullied, being a blogger, it's still an issue I feel close to and I think we can all help stop this aggressive form of bullying, even in small ways. :) 

Guest post at "Waitin' on a Sunny Day"

Why, hi hey hello readers, it's me again! I know! So soon!

Anyways, this is just going to be a short post to let you know I have a (my very first!) guest post up at Sophie's lovely blog, Waitin' on a Sunny Day. Sophie's blog is incredible and one of my very favorites so if you're not already following it (but I can't imagine that you're not), go ahead and do so! And her favorite actress is Deborah Kerr - perfect Deborah, have I mentioned my obsession with her lately? - which should hint at how lovely her blog is.

I've contributed to her awesome Box Set Monday series; the series is basically to craft a six movie box set for an actor or actress that doesn't already have one, and I've made one up for the fabulous, gorgeous, pretty-perfect-and-I'd-watch-her-in-anything, Ingrid Bergman. In fact, Ingrid does have a box set - alas, a box set with three of the movies she made in Sweden in the 30's. I actually just bought the box set and am working my way through it, and while it's fun to see her in these films, I truly wish that there was a complete box set with the best of the films she made in her prime. And if you'd like to know which movies I would like for such a box set, check out the post at Sophie's blog! 

{My Gif / I didn't have time to watermark so please don't steal! :)}


See how excited Ingrid is for you to check it out? :)

Well, that's it for today. Thanks so much, Sophie, for giving me the opportunity to guest post on your lovely lovely blog! :)

PS: Ingrid vs. Greta Garbo? You can vote in the poll; a few votes are already in and they seem to be in Ingrid's favor, but if you'd like to contest that, vote for Greta today! (Haha, how cheesy does that sound? :D)

Sunday Movie Review: "The Rainmaker" (1956)

Hey, guys, today I've got a review of The Rainmaker (1956) for you all - and I'm sorry to say I didn't like it all that much!

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THE RAINMAKER (1956): Cast, plot details

Flimflamming his way through the drought-plagued Southwest, Bill Starbuck (Burt Lancaster) promises -- for $100 -- to bring rain to farmer H.C. Curry (Cameron Prud'Homme). But Curry's spinster daughter (Katharine Hepburn) remains dubious about Starbuck's guarantee until he works his pitchman charm on her. [from Netflix]

• Katharine Hepburn as Lizzie Curry
• Burt Lancaster as Bill Starbuck
• Wendell Corey as Deputy J.S File
• Lloyd Bridges as Noah Curry

THE VERDICT: ★★★

This movie has wonderful actors and a plot with substance, but the matter in which it is executed results in simply a ridiculous romp you weren't really expecting. Maybe give it a watch.

I was expecting this to be one of those "a spinster falls madly in love for the first time" kind of movies, which it sort of was, but then it wasn't.

The plot sounded pretty interesting to me, and then, of course, Katharine Hepburn - Kate Hepburn is a good enough reason to watch anything - so I was really excited to see this. So I'm very sorry to find that it didn't really live up to my expectations.

Let's start with the acting. As always, Kate Hepburn is perfect - no really, I couldn't hate Katie in anything - but truly. I like her character, because I like spinster characters, and Lizzie Curry was definitely one. Kate is brave and spunky, and it's really all her movie, despite the title. It's nice to watch her transform from the insecure spinster sister who has accepted the fact she's a "plain Jane" into a woman who knows how beautiful she is. She was Oscar nominated for this and her performance is one of, or perhaps the best, attributes to this whole film. 

Burt Lancaster is a little over the top as a rainmaker, but in his defense, Bill Starbuck is a wildly whimsical character and so I guess the only way you could play a role like that is to overreact. Wendell Corey and Lloyd Bridges were okay, but they were mostly props for Lizzie Curry and Bill Starbuck and don't really have the opportunity to do much. As a comic relief, Earl Holliman plays Jim Curry and he was entertaining to say the least.

The whole movie was very stagey and very talky; for that matter, it was based on a play, but plays can be easily transferred to the screen without feeling like you're watching a filmed stage performance - which was what this felt like. The whole movie takes course over one night that seems to go on forever, and so much happens within what really should be a short time frame, it just felt ridiculous. Lizzie & Bill's relationship seems pretty much frivolous and at the end of the movie you're not sure if you watched a melodrama or a comedy or what anymore.

Too bad, I really thought that this was going to be a good movie. The pros are pretty much the two main characters, Lizzie Curry & Bill Starbuck, which are just entertaining roles to watch. And then another pro is Katharine Hepburn, of course, and it's also very visually appealing. But otherwise I can't think of much else that I liked about this movie.

PHOTOS & TRIVIA 

• Paramount originally wanted William Holden for the role of Bill Starbuck
• Bing Crosby wanted the role of Bill Starbuck
• Elvis Presley tested for the role of Jim Curry

A MOVIE TIDBIT

The whole movie's right on the tube of You -

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New poll open!! It will be open for two weeks. The question is: Greta Garbo or Ingrid Bergman? Basically I want to know which Swedish actress you like best. Please vote, I can't wait to see the results, and hopefully I will actually do a post about the results this time! :)

Book Review | "Carole Lombard: The Hoosier Tornado"

I have a book review for you today, dear readers! I'm an avid reader of Classic Hollywood biographies and I always love the opportunity to do book reviews for them. Today's review will be for Carole Lombard: The Hoosier Tornado by Wes D. Gehring, a book I received 'long ago' for Christmas.

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CAROLE LOMBARD: THE HOOSIER TORNADO 

BY WES D. GEHRING 

264 pages | Published: October 2003 | Indiana Historical Society

★★★

How can it not be exciting to read about Carole Lombard? Because honestly, who can say that they don't love Carole - Carole, our screwball queen. Carole, who was dubbed the "Profane Angel" because she swore like a sailor (Fred MacMurray complimented, "She swore like a man - some women try, but she really did.") but had blonde, blue eyed angelic beauty. Carole, who was the better half of Carole & Clark (Gable), a couple that was true product of Hollywood royalty to a Depression era audience. And Carole, who died tragically and certainly prematurely in a plane that crashed into the Nevada mountains in January 1942, killing her instantly.

So I was really excited to jump into this biography. As of 2012, it's the only easily available, in print work on Carole's life so I was really crossing my fingers that it would be good. I'm sorry to report that for me, at least, it fell terribly short.

I am far from an expert on Carole's life and body of work, but being an avid reader of Old Hollywood bios I could tell this book did her no justice. Firstly, the actual biographical portion of this book (so this is albeit a preface, prologue, epilogue, filmography, notes, & "selective" bibliography) comes down to 200 pages, easily the shortest bio I've read. Now, I know Carole died young (at 33), but I think her life was intense enough to fill up more than 200 (short in ratio, double spaced) pages, don'tcha think?

This book was the first to premiere in what is a series of Indiana biographies, life stories of famous people who were born in the Hoosier state. Carole was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana and left the state at the age of six only to return on a few occasions. This is not to say blue collar Carole was ashamed of her Fort Wayne roots; only that Hollywood kept her busy. I'm sure Carole was a proud Hoosier, considering her patriotism and ability to schmooze with "the man on the street" or any "Walter Mitty", despite being a glamorous movie star. 

Anyhow, considering this, and also that this book was published by the Indiana Historical Society, it became clear to me from the start that the sole point that the author was setting out to prove, throughout the book's slim life, was Carole's Indiana roots. Gehring has an annoying habit of obsessively using the same word multiple times, which gets tedious, especially in a book so short - "Hoosier" is one of them. He brings up every apt opportunity to use this word, even if it doesn't apply to Carole - sometimes taking up three sentences describing the Hoosier roots of another famous Indiana native, like Irene Dunne. (Usually I wouldn't care about three sentences but in a book this short every word is precious). I mean, WE GET IT. SHE WAS BORN IN INDIANA. But she's in Hollywood making pictures now, so get over it! Still *sighs* being an Indiana Historical Society book, and the title alone should entail this, so I can't complain: I had coming. (You know some other words Gehring has an obsessive habit of overusing? You'll be sure to see "catalyst" and "smoke screen" on ever page.)

The research for this biography also seems quite poor. Gehring could more or less have Googled quite a lot of in the information. Also, he quotes on more than one occasion passages from other biographies, and then takes the time to agree or disagree with that previous biographer's statement, when the honest truth is that he ran out of information and is simply trying to fill pages with this hogwash. And if it's not passages from other biographies, it's snippets from what Gehring refers to as "period reviews." It's nice to read these, but one or two snippets will do. Gehring pulls out about ten after each Carole film.

Another issue for me was the photographs, which are a joke. Gehring produces no interesting or new photographs; and nothing rare or candid. The collection of photos are small, sprinkled about the pages rather than inputed in a few glossaries at different intervals throughout the book, as most biographers do. Even worse; whatever little photographs there are, some of them aren't even of Carole. Instead there are photographs of Charlie Chaplin, George Stevens, W.C Fields, etc. if they happen to have  been mentioned on the page. I think that's ridiculous but it doesn't surprise me considering that Gehring spares plenty of paragraphs on information about other actors or directors that is insufficient to a biography of Carole Lombard.

Okay, now that we've gotten most of the cons of this book out, I must admit, there are a few pros which is why I manage to give this biography three stars. One of which is that Gehring obviously does have affection for his subject, restraining from throwing her under the bus at any point, which is something I incredibly admire for any biographer. I can't stand a biographer who writes a book simply to tear their subject apart; even though this isn't exactly good either, I much rather prefer a biographer who sticks with their subject through and through. And Gehring obviously likes Carole, likes her movies, has warmth for her, etc. which is nice.

The coverage of her films is pretty much consistent, though some reviews I read on Amazon written by hard core Carole fans accuse Gehring of skipping over some movies. (This is probably wrong of me, but when I read a bio I'm more excited to learn about the person's personal life than the movies they made... because I can always just watch the movies, so I'm not really a fan of three page summaries with spoilers.) His cover of her personal life also is not awful either, though I have a feeling - knowing how playful Carole was - there were more stories to have been shared. I loved reading about the pranks she pulled (sending Clark a rubber ham with his face on it for example), about her campaign to play Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind (1939) (even conjuring up a crazy plot with Gary Cooper to help herself get the role), and her attempts to become a parent with Clark (one friend claimed that they would have even made love hanging out the window if it would have gotten Carole pregnant).

I also really enjoyed a detailed coverage over the ranch style house Carole & Clark bought in the San Fernando Valley. It seems like the second and third floors were turned into his and hers bedroom suites, and it was really interesting to read the descriptions and contrasting styles of the two! Clark's bedroom suite was all manly mahogany, whereas Carole's was elegant down to the chandeliers, pale blue color scheme, & white fur throw rugs. (She once described her bathroom in a way only Carole could put it, "the most elegant sh*thouse in the San Fernando Valley".)

As for Gehring's coverage of her plane crash in the Nevada mountains, he covers it in the prologue as if trying to be clever, but sums it up "she died in the plane with her mother, instantly killed" and that's it. No in depth analysis or anything. Just finished and close. The actual end of the biography (excluding the epilogue) ends equally abruptly, very suddenly, & you think since there's an epilogue there will be more closure but there's only a short discussion of the box office receipts of To Be or Not to Be (1942) and a note to the S.S Carole Lombard, the ship christened in her name after her death. Therefore, Gehring doesn't want to talk about the plane crash at all. And it's not something pleasant to write about but, you know, honestly? (As her note, her childhood, which was given about fifteen quick pages, was not done well either.)

This was a brisk, brief biography, leaving a lot to be desired. Though it shares a few nice stories, it just doesn't do someone like Carole Lombard justice. For that matter, since it's only 200 pages (I'm not including the other 56 pages of filler), it's not a waste of time - nothing about Carole could be a waste of time - so I'm not going to advise you to avoid it... just to know that it falls really short. If you would like to purchase it, you can do so here.

One nice touch was a poem inscribed in the beginning of the book that I thought really cutely describes the genre Carole is most famous for, and so I'll  close this book review with just that.

Carole Lombard (1908 - 1942)

 

CAROLE LOMBARD: THE SCREWBALL GIRL

by Wes D. Gehring 

"Screwball comedy is essentially about 

The crazy rich girl next door

And the comic antohero boy

Who doesn't love her... at first

And though there are several

Recipes available to create

This fruitcake of a genre

All require lots of mixed nuts

For best results, add one 

Zany heiress to the world

Of some mild -mannered male,

Unaware of his own unhappiness

Then sprinkle lightly with comic

Character actors, childlike pets,

And oodles of decadent playtime

In the most la-de-da of settings

Stand back as the ingredients start

To bubble, noting how the male's goose

Is cooked as the screwball heorine 

Wears him out with her wackiness

Properly pampered, this comedy dish

Has served audiences endlessly since

The 1930s, Hollywood's version of the loaves

And the fishes, in 35mm topsyturvydom."

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That's all, hope you liked the review, and if you have any questions be sure to ask! Or perhaps you read the book and prefer to defend Wes D. Gehring from my wrath, pitch in! ;D