Mr Smith Goes To Washington (1939)

I watched Mr Smith Goes To Washington last sunday and loved it loads. Jimmy Stewart and Jean Arthur TOGETHER *YEPPEE*!!!! Sorry I haven't posted over the past week, I have had maths tests and have been revising. I then got told yesterday by my humanities teacher that I had lots of history homework due in on monday. I was like..

"Frankly my dear I don't GIVE a damn. I'm going to be too busy knitting and spending time browsing the web for amazing Clark Gable and Ingrid Bergman pics."

But it's good, I love History (surprise, surprise) and the Vietnam War is very interesting. I don't have a show on at the moment so that's one less worry.

Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1949)

Cast:

• James Stewart as Jefferson Smith
• Jean Arthur as Clarissa Saunders
• Claude Rains as Senator Joseph Harrison Paine

Plot:
The government in Washington D.C. is corrupt, allowing rich men to pass bills designed to make them money. One state is dominated by the money of one man, a Mr. Taylor, who has been able to buy up much of the state and control everything. When one of the senators suddenly dies, a young youth-worker named Mr. Jefferson Smith is taken on to replace him. Running away on the first day and taking a tour-bus around the washington sights like an over-exited child, he is definitely one of life's enthusiasts. Mr. Smith knows nothing of the ruthless environment that these hard edged businessmen strive in, and that was the precise reason that Senator Joseph Harrison Pine hired him. When Smith's secretary, Clarissa Saunders finds out about the motives behind them hiring him, she initially decides that they are working her too hard and she doesn't need an extra worry on her hands.

Later on, she finds herself falling in love with Mr. Smith (James Stewart) and helping him write a bill to put into practice his idea to establish a national boys camp - out in a field in an area he knows of near his old home. They think it is a good idea in the Senate, but a conveniently planned date with Joseph Paine's daughter stops Mr. Smith from attending the meeting. It turns out that the site that Smith plans to camp on is where Mr. Taylor and Mr. Paine plan to build a dam, from which Taylor will profit by selling land that he has bought up cheaply, and which Paine will guide a bill for through the Senate. In a desperate attempt to stop Smith going ahead with the boys camp plan, Paine accuses him of already owning the land that millions of boys across the country are sending their pocket money to buy, therefore supposedly giving Smith a huge profit. We know these are all lies, but no one else will believe Smith.

But Clarissa, who comes to find him after a sudden resignation from her post after hearing that Smith was going out with Joseph Paine's daughter, decided that she would come back to him and help him through. At the Senate in the next meeting, Jefferson manages to hold the floor by using his rights to "Filibuster" (extend a debate) to protest against his wrongful accusation.

After many hours of this, he receives a note from Clarissa saying, "I love you!" - the first time she has told him she loves him. Smith gets lots of news coverage, but with Mr. Taylor filling all the newspapers in the state - which he owns - with lies about Smith - will Smith and Clarissa work everything out?

Review:
It's amazing how relevant this film is now. Just the other day in my beautiful England we had a case that a group of politicians used the "Filibuster" rule to stop the House of Lords passing a law about the voting system. They became so tired and out of ideas that just to keep talking (to hold the floor) that one of them even gave the House of Lords a lecture on prime numbers (!?) Frank Capra is seriously one of the best directors evah.

He is seriously genius. Claude Rains' characterization is just stupendous. No one could have done it better in a million years. James stewart is the most optimistic person ever... NO ONE IS MORE HAPPY THAN HIM!!!! He and Judy Garland (along with Greer Garson and Cary Grant)  were surely the most optimistic people in the world. Jean Arthur is just great, this is my first film I have seen her in other than The Talk Of The Town. A really well thought out film that said a lot about political issues.

~Bette

Happy Birthday Claude And Richard!

It would have been Claude Rains' 121st birthday today if he were still with us. A truly remarkable actor who doesn't always get the credit he is due. Plus he was best friends with Bette Davis which is always a good thing. It is perhaps unknown to you that he also had 6 wives.

Claude Rains ~10th November 1889 - 30th May 1967

Richard Burton is also an amazing actor who happens to share his birthday with Claude Rains. Although best known for his relationship with Elizabeth Taylor, he was a very good actor who I really love.

Richard Burton ~ 10th November - 5th August 1984

And guess what... THEY ARE BOTH FROM ENGLAND!!!! So cool.

~Bette

P.S. The results came in from my Bette Davis VS Joan Crawford poll, and I am happy to anounce.....

Nail drying with style.

A Bette Davis cigarette card. How cool.

That dahling Bette won! The exact votes were 5 for Bette, 4 for I-Don't-Know and 1 for Joan Crawford.

Happy Birthday: Claude Rains!

Claude Rains (10 November 1889 – 30 May 1967), his career spanned over 47 years. Rains came relatively late to film acting, his distinctive voice won him the title role in, The Invisible Man (1933). Rains later credited director Michael Curtiz with teaching him, "what not to do in front of a camera".

Following The Invisible Man, Universal Studios tried to typecast him in horror films, but he broke free, starting with the role of Prince John in, The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), then with his Academy Award-nominated performance as a corrupt senator in, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), and followed with probably his most famous role, the  French police Captain Renault in, Casablanca (1942).

Rains went on to perform in, Phantom of the Opera(1943). Bette Davis named him her favorite co-star, and they made four films together: Mr. Skeffington and Now, Voyager.

Next Rains, performed as, Julius Caesar in Caesar and Cleopatra (1945). He also played a refugee Nazi agent opposite Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman in, Notorious (1946). He then performed in, The Passionate Friends(1949).

Rains remained a popular character actor in the 1950s and 1960 and performed in many films. Two of his well-known later screen roles were as Dryden, a cynical British diplomat in Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and King Herod in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), his final film role.

TCM is celebrating Claude Rains birthday with the films listed below:

They Won't Forget (1937) . Bigotry flares when a Jewish businessman is accused of killing a small-town girl in the South. Cast: Claude Rains, Gloria Dickson, Allyn Joslyn. Dir: Mervyn LeRoy.

Adventures of Robin Hood, The (1938). The bandit king of Sherwood Forest leads his Merry Men in a battle against the corrupt Prince John. Cast: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone. Dir: William Keighley, Michael Curtiz.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) .An idealistic Senate replacement takes on political corruption. Cast: James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains. Dir: Frank Capra.

Saturday's Children (1940) .A young inventor's new marriage is jeopardized by financial problems. Cast: John Garfield, Claude Rains, Anne Shirley. Dir: Vincent Sherman. 

Now, Voyager (1942) . A repressed spinster is transformed by psychiatry and her love for a married man. Cast: Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains. Dir: Irving Rapper.

Mr. Skeffington (1944) . A flighty beauty marries a stockbroker for convenience and almost ruins both their lives. Cast: Bette Davis, Claude Rains, Walter Abel. Dir: Vincent Sherman.

Passage to Marseille (1944) . Devil's Island escapees join up with the Allies during World War II. Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Claude Rains, Michele Morgan. Dir: Michael Curtiz.

Great Dramas: Mr. Skeffington (1944).

Mr. Skeffington (1944). Directed by Vincent Sherman, based on the novel of the same name by Elizabeth von Arnim. Cast: Bette Davis and Claude Rains.

When Fanny learns that her brother Trippy, has embezzled money from Jewish stockbroker Job Skeffington, she would do anything to save him, including marry his boss. Disgusted by the arrangement, in part because of his prejudice against Skeffington being a Jew, Trippy leaves to fight in the Lafayette Escadrille in World War I.

Job loves Fanny, but.. she does not return his feelings and mostly ignores him. She becomes pregnant with his child, but, after she learns of Trippy death, she blames him and leaves his bed. She enjoys playing the wealthy socialite, with a long line of much younger lovers.

Lonely, Job has his own affairs, when Fanny finds out, she divorces him. Her daughter, also named Fanny, wants to be with her father and begs him to take her with him to Europe. Fanny is relieved to be free of her child and does not see her for many years.

Even though Fanny lives a fast party girl life, she keeps her beauty until she catches diphtheria, it takes over health and her appearance. In denial, she invites her old lovers (and their wives) to a party. Everyone is shocked by how much Fanny has changed. To make things more complected, her latest suitor Johnny Mitchell, falls in love and marries her daughter, who has returned from Europe because of the rise of the Nazis. Now, Fanny is left very much alone.

Fanny's cousin George Trellis, brings Job back to Fanny's home, unannounced. The Nazis have left Job penniless and blind, George tells Fanny and he asks her if she will help Job, as he has nowhere else to go..

When she enters the parlor, Fanny, sobbing, takes his arm and guides him up the staircase, she tells the maid that "Mr. Skeffington has come home." Job had once, long ago, told Fanny that, "A woman is beautiful when she's loved, and only then." George tells Fanny that, at that moment, she has never been more beautiful.

I thought Claude Rains was wonderful as the patient Job Skeffington. Bette Davis, seems to really take her part as Fanny very seriously. Even though this may not be one of the best movies of Bette Davis career, it is one of my favorite movies.

A Woman Is Beautiful When She Is Loved, And Only Then.

Sorry to be on such a Bette Davis rampage at the moment, I seem to be watching her movies more than anyone else's now. I find them very comforting, even though in most of them she is a murderess or a "Femme Fatale"! So today I will review Mr. Skeffington. I came home from a long day today, I had been doing a thing in school called "The Real game" where we all had to do things like work out taxes and grocery shopping. First we did something called "The Dream List" and we cut out our favourite living items from the special leaflet and wrote their costs per month. My list was like this:

1. Period Converted Farmhouse, £1,400 a month
2. Classic Car from the 50s, £200 a month
3. State Of The Art Laptop, £175 a month
4. Mobile Phone, £30 a month

The list went on. Although my wishes didn't total up to as much as my friends, it was quite a lot. I was then given my job. Estate Agent. I was less than thrilled. I had to move from the Period Farmhouse to a studio apartment to pay off my debts. At the end of the morning they asked each of us what we wanted to be. When they came to me I said "Well I have two very different options. An actess, or a social anthropologist." My teacher said, "What about an acting social anthropologist?" I replied "It's a way to go!"

Mr. Skeffington 

Cast:

• Bette Davis as Frances Beatrice 'Fanny' Trellis Skeffington
• Claude Rains as Job Skeffington
• Walter Abel as George Trellis, Fanny's cousin
• Richard Waring as Trippy Trellis, Fanny's brother
• Marjorie Riordan as Fanny Rachel Trellis, Fanny and Job's daughter as an adult
• Robert Shayne as MacMahon, a local gangster
• John Alexander as Jim Conderley, one of Fanny's four persistent suitors
• Jerome Cowan as Edward Morrison, one of Fanny's four persistent suitors
• Peter Whitney as Chester Forbish, one of Fanny's four persistent suitors
• Bill Kennedy as Bill Thatcher, one of Fanny's four persistent suitors
• Johnny Mitchell as Johnny Mitchell, a younger suitor of Fanny's who later marries her daughter. Born Douglas N. Lamy, this actor changed his name to that of his character.
• George Coulouris as Doctor Byles
• Dorothy Peterson as Manby, Fanny's housekeeper

"Would you mind moving your chin an inch to the left, George, Manby spent an hour on these curls!"

(Yes, Bette has about 6 leading men, as well as being in love with her brother.)

Plot:

Awkward silence...

Fanny Trellis (Bette Davis) is the toast of New York with men proposing to her in bunches. After her parents' death, her brother Trippy insisted on being in charge of the estate. After he had wasted away their fortune that, to quote Fanny Trellis in the film, "Was a legend, but now it's a myth!", he started in on the wealth of his employer, Mr. Job (pronounced Jobe) Skeffington (Claude Rains). Mr. Skeffington was a jewish stockbroker, and Trippy once said "I don't like him, or his type." Trippy had created a group of fictional charactors that he claimed had made orders to him, but they were all ridiculously fake (Job said in the film "Well, he does show a great talent for choosing odd names and places!") and it turned out that he had stolen $50,000 from the company.  She marries Mr. Skeffington to save Trippy (who I think she was secretely in love with), but that does nothing to help Trippy emotionally, and he leaves to fight in the First World War for France. The fact that Fanny is married does nothing to discourage her suitors, who all try to "rescue' her from Mr. Skeffington. She has a baby, but the baby (who was also named Fanny) loves her father more than her vain mother. They get news that Trippy is dead, and Fanny is convinced that Job killed him, as he was fighting in the war also, and Fanny doesn't know a thing about politics! She says that the only reason that she married Job was to help Trippy, and now she only has Job. They divorce, but the young Fanny wants to live with her father in the traditional Jewish way in Europe. There is a devistateingly sad scene in a resteraunt with her and Job (here is the link). Fanny sufferes from diphtheria, and her looks are ruined forever.


HUGE, MASSIVE PLOT SPOILER (SCROLL DOWN IF YOU WANT TO SAVE IT AS A SURPRISE!)

Job comes back to her at the end of WWII after being in a concentration camp. When she finds out that he is blind, she developes a special affection for him, and they live happily ever after.

The Review:
This film is like a Sunset Boulevard 5 years ahead of its time. Bette's make-up just screames Baby Jane Hudson from Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?. The only problem I have with her performance is that, no matter how beautiful she is in her own way, you don't really believe that there would be 20 men surrounding her on a porch (this happens in one scene!). She does her best to make a ridiculous character come to life, and it works. I have to say, the better performance comes from Claude Rains, who makes me cry. It is very well written and scored. Bette's performance sort of reminds me of Meryl Streep at her best (I am not a hardcore Streep fan), and the whole soprano speaking voice and blinking of the eyes reminds me of her in Julie and Julia. I know that Bette really loved Meryl Streep, and sent her a letter saying that she was very proud of her, and that she hopes that they might work together some time. Meryl, a woman after my own heart, is a Bette Davis fanatic, and was more than chuffed, and said on her Turner Classic Movies tribute to Miss Davis said "As far as I was concerened, she had been working with me ever since I was a little girl. She had been building my confidence and inspiring me as long as I can remember." Or something like that anyway. If I used a rating system, this film would get 3 out of 5 stars.


Before I leave you, I just have to marvel a while at Bette's hair. It is all straight and then PHUFF! Grrrr. I wish I had the determination to sleep in rollers like she did.

Notice she even smokes whilst in a phone booth.

~Bette

Time For Another Photo Post, Dahling

Hello all you people. I am here. Again. At my computer. Blogging. So before I dazzle you with a few photos, here was my day:

1. Get up
2. Go to school
3. Learn for 5 hours
4. Do an hour of PE
5. Come home and blog!

Here is how I look after that. Like a grumpy Margo Channing.

 Please enlarge these! Blogger is evil and it shrinks my fantabiedoobie photos!
Quickie Thelma Ritter Photo:

"I'm-I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings, its just my way of talkin'."
I should use this apology more often, it seems to work for Birdie.

Claude Rains:

Compare.

This:

That is how facebook orientated we are nowadays.

Claude Rains looking every bit the English Victorian father.

Gorgeous Bette Davis:

Bette about to go fishing which apparently she did quite often.

Bette looking adoringly at Gary Merril, her 4th husband.

Hmm whats going on over there?

Oh Bette, you are my hero.

How could anyone think this photo is not the epitome of 1930s glamour?

Have a great weekend!

~Bette

Notorious

Is there anything better than watching a Hitchcock movie just before you go to bed? I have made that mistake many times before. The first time I saw Rear Window, it finished at 11:30pm. Not a particularly good idea. But Notorious just enthralled me rather than scared the wits out of me.

Notorious

Top Billed Cast:

• Ingrid Bergman as Alicia Huberman
• Cary Grant as T.R. Devlin
• Claude Rains as Alexander Sebastian

Plot:
Alicia Huberman (Ingred Bergman) is he daughter of a nazi spy who has been sent to prison after being found guilty of treason to the country of The United States Of America. Soon after her father's imprisonment, she is recruited by Devlin (Cary Grant), a goverment agent, to infultrate a group of Nazis who have moved to Brazil after WWII. One of the Nazis in the group used to be a boyfriend of Alicias, and she is asked to seduce him to find out more about his group.

The Review:
This is not one of Hitchcock's most violent and scary films, but that doesn't mean that it is less fantastic. Ingrid Bergman gives an amazing performance as a wild party girl who finds love with her fellow goverment agent. Not wanting to spoil the plot for anyone who has not seen it, she does have some pretty amazing scenes later on in the film. Hitchcock has yet again amazed me with his ability to tell more from his camera shots than with some of the dialouge. This is a sort of North By Northwest cross Rebecca story, and it is definately one of his most suspenseful films.

Awards:
Notorious did not win any Oscars, but was nominated for two.

The Poster

Ingrid and Cary

~Bette

Deception(1946)

Deception (1946). Directed Irving Rapper. The film is based on the play Monsieur Lamberthier by Louis Verneuil. The screenplay was written by John Collier and Joseph Than. Cast: Bette Davis, Paul Henreid and Claude Rains who had also performed together in, Now, Voyager (1942).

After a long separation, pianist Christine Radcliffe is reunited in New York with her fiancee, cellist Karel Novak. When Karel wants to know how Christine can afford such a beautiful apartment and clothes, Christine says that she is giving music lessons. Soon Christine receives a call from composer Alexander Hollenius, whose mistress she has been, and informs him of her up coming marriage. Hollenius arrives at a party celebrating the marriage and tells Karel that he believes the marriage will interfere with Christine's music. The following day, Christine visits Hollenius and begs him not to reveal their relationship. Later, Karel visits Hollenius, to his surprise, he finds Hollenius listening to a recording that Karel made. Hollenius is impressed by Karel's talent and offers him a cello concerto that he has just written. When Christine hears Karel practicing Hollenius' concerto, she becomes convinced that Hollenius intends to use the concerto to destroy Karel. When Christine shares her fears to Karel, he demands to know why she is afraid that Hollenius will take the concerto away from him, but Christine still refuses to tell her husband the truth. The next day, Christine returns to Hollenius' apartment to beg him not to take out his anger on Karel, he tells her that his first duty is to his music and that he is sure Karel will perform well. As she leaves the apartment, Christine sees Bertram Gribble, the orchestra's first cellist, waiting in the foyer and is sure that Hollenius intends to replace Karel with Gribble. On the night of the performance, after Karel has left for the concert hall, Christine again visits Hollenius and begs him to promise that he will not tell Karel of their relationship and again when Hollenius refuses, what will Christine do to keep her secret?

If you're in the mood Bette Davis-Claude Rains melodrama, you have to add this film to your "gotta see" list. Rains has some of the cruelest and wittiest lines in this film. Bette matches him with her display of emotions.



Paul Henreid, performed in his two most important films. In Now, Voyager(1942) and Casablanca(1942). He made regular film performances in the 1940s, and in the early 1950s began directing for both film and television. His film credits include The Spanish Main (1945), Of Human Bondage (1946), Song of Love (1947), Thief of Damascus (1952), Siren of Bagdad (1953), and Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1961). His television directorial credits include Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Maverick, Bonanza and The Big Valley. In 1964, Henreid directed Dead Ringer, which starred Bette Davis and featured, in a minor role, the director's daughter, Monika.