Pawsome Pet Pictures: Ann Blyth

Looks like Ann has her hands full...

Pawsome Pet Pictures: Ella Raines giving her friend a bath

Here are some pics of actress Ella Raines giving her friend a bath, in which she also has to join in on the fun. I can relate.

Well at least they are both clean and fresh now...

Happy Birthday Julie Christie (1941 - present)

Happy Birthday to Julie Christie, the actress who broke out in the 60's with such films as Billy Liar, Darling, Far From The Maddening Crowd, Petulia and of course Doctor Zhivago.

Happy Birthday Melvyn Douglas (1901 - 1981)

Happy Birthday to the witty and suave Melvyn Douglas, the star of such films as Ninotchka, Theodora Goes Wild, Too Many Husbands, and Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House.

Happy Birthday Bette Davis (1908 - 1989)

Happy Birthday to the grand diva herself, Bette Davis..

Happy Birthday Edgar Buchanan (1903 - 1979)

Great character actor who appeared is such films as Penny Serenade (1941), Texas (1941), The Talk of the Town (1942), and Cheaper by the Dozen (1950) to name a few. The younger generation  know him as Uncle Jo from the long running TV series Petticoat Junction (1963 - 1970). Happy Birthday Edgar.

And The Winner is.....Joanne Woodward won an Oscar for THE THREE FACES OF EVE

Just saw the 1957 film The Three Faces Of Eve for the first time in about 15 years and it's still just a good as I remembered. Joanne Woodward is positively amazing as Eve, a young Georgia housewife suffering from multiple personalities. A psychiatrist (played by Lee J. Cobb) is asked to help and he does and finds that each of Eve's personalities is aware of the other's existence, but none are related. After months of therapy, Eve is purged of her negative selves and is totally cured. Woodward gives a powerhouse performance and won a Best Actress Oscar for her work, which is easy to see why. Each personality is different and she plays them all with great intensity and effect. She would later come back to this genre 20 years later for the TV movie Sybil, this time as the doctor treating Sally Field. This is one of the best film performances I have ever seen. Kudos to Joanne. And Lee J. Cobb is just as good as always.
B+

Happy Birthday Barbara Feldon (1933- present)

A Happy Birthday to actress Barbara Feldon who turns 78 today and is still alive, making convention appearances. Best known as Agent 99, Maxwell Smart's partner in the classic 60's series Get Smart. Wish her well today.

Happy Birthday Will Geer (1902-1978)

Happy Birthday to talented actor Will Geer, best remembered as Grandpa Walton on the TV series, The Waltons. He also starred in such films as Broken Arrow (1950), Winchester '73 (1950), Advise and Consent (1962), In Cold Blood (1967), The President's Analyst (1967), Bandolero (1968), The Reivers (1969) and Jeremiah Johnson (1972). Happy Birthday Will!

Dolores Hart Interview

I'm a subscriber to Entertainment Weekly Magazine and their Oscar issue had a wonderful article and interview with former 60's screen star Dolores Hart. She only made a few films during this period such as Where The Boys Are and the Elvis Presley films Loving You and King Creole. But she decided she wanted to become a nun and left the film business. And at age 72 she is currently Mother Dolores Hart of the Abbey of Regina Laudis in Bethlehem, Connecticut. Here is the link to this wonderful story:

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20311937_20465690,00.html

And The Winner Is...Youngest Oscar Winners

For my first post in me and Dawn's series of stories dedicated to all things Oscars, I will be listing Oscar youngest winners...actors and actresses. So without further adieu, here we go...


CLARK GABLE

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE (YOUNGEST)

1. Adrien Brody (The Pianist, 2002) 29 years old
2. Richard Dreyfuss (The Goodbye Girl, 1977) 30 years old
3. Marlon Brando (On The Waterfront, 1954) 30 years old
4. Maximillian Schell (Judgement at Nuremberg, 1961) 31 years old
5. Nicolas Cage (Leaving Las Vegas, 1995) 32 years old
6. James Stewart (The Philadelphia Story, 1940) 32 years old
7. Daniel Day-Lewis (My Left Foot, 1989) 32 years old
8. Clark Gable (It Happened One Night, 1934) 34 years old
9. Charles Laughton (The Private Life of Henry VIII, 1933) 34 years old
10. Robert Donat (Goodbye, Mr. Chips, 1939) 34 years old



JACK LEMMON

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE (YOUNGEST)

1. Timonthy Hutton (Ordinary People, 1980) 20 years old
2. George Chakiris (West Side Story, 1961) 27 years old
3. Cuba Gooding, Jr. (Jerry Maguire, 1996) 29 years old
4. Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight, 2008) 29 years old
5. Jack Lemmon (Mister Roberts, 1955) 31 years old
6. Robert DeNiro (The Godfather Part II, 1974) 31 years old
7. Van Heflin (Johnny Eager, 1942) 32 years old
8. Harold Russell (The Best Years Of Our Lives, 1946) 33 years old
9. Benicio Del Toro (Traffic, 2000) 34 years old
10. Denzel Washington (Glory, 1989) 35 years old


JANET GAYNOR

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE (YOUNGEST)

1. Marlee Matlin (Children Of A Leser God, 1986) 21 years old
2. Janet Gaynor (Sunrise, 1927) 22 years old
3. Joan Fontaine (Suspicion, 1941) 24 years old
4. Audrey Hepburn (Roman Holiday, 1953) 24 years old
5. Jennifer Jones (The Song Of Bernadette, 1943) 25 years old
6. Julie Christie (Darling, 1965) 25 years old
7. Grace Kelly (The Country Girl, 1954) 25 years old
8. Hilary Swank (Boys Don't Cry, 1999) 25 years old
9. Vivien Leigh (Gone With The Wind, 1939) 26 years old
10. Jodie Foster (The Accused, 1988) 26 years old

PATTY DUKE
BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE (YOUNGEST)

1. Tatum O'Neal (Paper Moon, 1973) 10 years old
2. Anna Paquin (The Piano, 1993) 11 years old
3. Patty Duke (The Miracle Worker, 1962) 16 years old
4. Anne Baxter (The Razor's Edge, 1946) 23 years old
5. Teresa Wright (Mrs. Miniver, 1942) 24 years old
6. Goldie Hawn (Cactus Flower, 1969) 24 years old
7. Angelina Jolie (Girl, Interrupted, 1999) 24 years old
8. Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls, 2006) 25 years old
9. Shirley Jones (Elmer Gantry, 1960) 27 years old
10. Gloria Grahame (The Bad and the Beautiful, 1952) 27 years old

That's an impressive list of actors and actresses in their early years of their careers.

Great On Screen Couples: Cary Grant & Deborah Kerr

Ah the sweet pairings of Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr gave the three films they made together an air of sophistication. The little seen and underrated Dream Wife (1953) was their first film together and is a good romantic comedy which has Grant trying to romance a visiting foreign princess while trying to keep his girlfriend (Kerr) from getting jealous. It's a typical 50's comedy that benefits greatly from the presence of Cary and Deborah. They would team up again four years later for the sentimental classic An Affair To Remember (1957). Constantly ranked as one of the all time romantic films, Grant and Kerr's chemistry is rock solid. This film was remade in the 90's with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, and while that pair did a commendable job, the original is the best version. The last film our couple would make was the 1960 romantic comedy/drama The Grass Is Greener, which featured the pair as a married couple for the first time. They shared the screen with Robert Mitchum and Jean Simmons, and a love quadrangle forms over the course of the film. It's a good film that gets tons of airplay on cable. So Grant and Kerr wound up with three good films and one of them being an all time classic. Not too bad.

Great On Screen Couples: Jean Arthur & Jimmy Stewart

When you think of great female screwball comedy actresses, you have to think of Jean Arthur. She starred in some of the most notable screwball comedies of all time: Easy Living, The Devil and Miss Jones, Too Many Husbands, and The More The Merrier. And let's not forget her three classic films for director Frank Capra: Mr. Deeds Goes To Town, You Can't Take It With You, and Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. The last two pairing her with Jimmy Stewart. The only two films these legendary stars appeared in. Jean and Jimmy were perfectly in these wildly popular and sentimental films. Both stars projected down home easy going manners that everyday people could relate to. Even though they only paired up for these two films, they made a lasting impression of film lovers everywhere and established them firmly as a top Hollywood on screen couple.

Great On Screen Couples: Alan Ladd & Veronica Lake

This duo made 4 films together plus one more where they played themselves. Their coming together as on screen partners was at first mainly out of physical necessity: Ladd was just 5 feet 5 inches (1.65 m) tall and the only actress then on the Paramount lot short enough to pair with him was Lake, who stood just 4 feet 11½ inches (1.51 m). So in their first pairing, This Gun For Hire (1942),which had Lake top billed as a singing magician trying to ferret out some enemy agents and Ladd as a hired killer looking for payback against the spies who double-crossed him. Audiences loved Ladd in this film and when it came time to reunite him and Lake in another film, The Glass Key (1942), he moved up from 4th billing to third. Both films were big hits for Paramaount. And the studio brought them back together for the third time in 1946's masterful film noir classic The Blue Dahlia where Ladd received top billing as his star was on the rise, while Lake's career was stalling. But their chemistry was still apparent as Blue Dahlia remains a film noir favorite. The duo played themselves in all star variety flick, Duffy's Tavern, which really is not fondly remembered as a bright spot for either star. Their fourth and final film was 1948's Saigon, which is widely regarded as the weakest film the pair did. Lake's career pretty much sputtered after the 40's ended while Ladd would go on to star in 30 more films inlcuding probably his most fondly remembered role as the laconic gunfighter Shane. But for three really good films, Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd joined the ranks of great Hollywood on screen couples.

Great On Screen Couples: Humphrey Bogart & Lauren Bacall

From the first time they met, Bogie and Bacall were pure magic. When cast as Marie in her first film, To Have And Have Not (1944), the sparks she and Bogie created was something special. At the time Humphrey was married to his third wife, but once he met Bacall, he had found his true love. The two married a year later and following that, they teamed up for their second film, the noir classic The Big Sleep (one of my personal favorite films). By now Bogie and Bacall knew each other so well, they practically finished each other sentences. They would make two more films together: 1947's Dark Passage and 1948's Key Largo.

And while we no longer see their magic on screen again, Bacall did provide Bogie with something his first three wives never did: a son and a daughter. And they was able to enjoy being a family for a little bit before Bogie's death due to throat cancer. Bacall would later marry again to Jason Robards Jr but would divorce him in 9 years. Bacall herself stated that she never met a man to match her first love. Humphrey Bogart was cremeated and his ashes were interred at Forest Lawn in Los Angeles. Lauren Bacall is one Hollywood's last living legends and periodically makes a rare film appearance.

Great On Screen Couples: Elizabeth Taylor & Richard Burton

As I write this post, I just learned Liz has been admitted to a hospital for congestive heart failure, so I may get a little emotional as I write. I pray everything turns out fine for her and she will be home soon. Now onto my post about her and Richard Burton, one of the most well known and fiery couples both onscreen and off. They were married and divorced...twice! And they made 11 films together, some of them being instant classics. Their relationship was turbulent to say the least but they were magic on camera, producing some of the best acting on film ever. Their performances in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? should be shown in acting school as a primer to show how it's done. Liz and Dick put on quite the show in real life and on film. It's ironic their film together was the massive and troubled Cleopatra, which turned out to be one disaster after another. Production delays, Liz getting sick, directors being fired then rehired, etc. But it's where Liz and Dick met and fell in love and married 2 years later, and their history would go on for the next 15 years. While Cleopatra may have been a financial disaster and almost bankrupted 20th Century Fox, the pair would go on to make 10 more films, including the star-studded drama The V.I.P.s (1963) co-starring Maggie Smith, Orson Welles, Rod Taylor, and Margaret Rutherford. It's ironic because Liz and Dick play an unhappily married couple. Shades of things to come maybe?

The two would reunite the following year for the gorgeously filmed The Sandpiper. It's noted that the cinematography stands out more than the couple. It is a very beautiful film, that had Big Sur, California as it's setting. And while The Sandpiper is not one of their best films, it is still engaging to watch Liz as a single mom falling in love with a married headmaster of an Episcopal school (Burton).

Their masterpiece Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? came out the following year and brought Liz her second Best Actress Oscar. She gives one of the best film performances I have ever seen as Martha, the frumpy wife of a New England college professor (Burton). Liz gained 30 pounds and used no make-up to turn herself into a 50ish housewife who tends to drink a lot and scream at her husband. Dick gets to deliver some of his best acting as well and the pair's volatile on screen relationship on full display brought more attention to their off screen relationship.

Another volatile on screen relationship beckoned with 1967's The Taming Of The Shrew with Liz and Dick playing Shakespeare's Kate and Petruchio. A perfect fit for this combustible pair. It would be one of their last great films. They would make several more films including Boom!, The Comedians, and Hammersmith Is Out, but their best work had already came and went. Still 11 films, 2 marriages, and so much drama that could fill a dozen novels and several soap operas assures us we will never forget Liz and Dick.
Below are my top 5 Liz and Dick movies plus a little video of their relationship:
1. Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf (1963)
2. The Taming Of The Shrew (1967)
3. The Sandpiper (1965)
4. The V.I.P.s (1963)
5. Cleopatra (1963)

Monty's Top 5 Favorite Classic Romantic Films

Here's my ode to Valentine's Day and my 5 favorite classic romantic films. Me and Dawn agreed on both doing lists ranking our favorite romantic films. So here I go.

5.) CAMILLE (1936) No doubt a star vehicle for Greta Garbo who works her magic as the doomed Parisian courtesan who loves the young Duval (played by Robert Taylor) but leaves him at the bequest of Duval's father. Later she is stricken with illness and Duval comes back. Tragic tear-jerker that benefits from the great performance of Garbo. Pure excellence.

4.)  FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (1953) While this story takes place during Pearl Harbor, there is plenty of romance to go around. From Deborah Kerr's wife who strays from her loveless marriage into a torrid affair with Burt Lancaster to Mongtomery Clift's relentless pursuit of Donna Reed. A great romantic film that just happens to be set during one of the biggest attacks of American military by enemy forces.

3.) BRINGING UP BABY (1938) Manic screwball farce which also features one of the best love/hate relationships ever between a stuffy Cary Grant and a screwy Katherine Hepburn. Sometimes over the top but always fun and interesting. Great chemistry between Cary and Kate.

2.) THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946) Returning soldiers fromWorld War Two face all kinds of problems when returning home. Which includes romantic troubles. While the main story focuses on Fredric March adjusting to his life and family which includes wife Myrna Loy and daughter Teresa Wright, there are several more romantic subplots going on. Including Dana Andrews and his unfaithful wife (Virginia Mayo). Teresa Wright falls in love with him and does her best efforts to be with him. And the most touching plot of this movie has to be real life veteran Harold J. Russell who lost both his hands during the war, and his re-connection with his girlfriend (Cathy O'Donnell). Excellent film-making.

1.) WATERLOO BRIDGE (1940) Heart-breaking movie with Vivien Leigh's best performance ever. Yes even better than Gone With The Wind. In my opinion that is. Her tragic romance with a British officer stationed in England before the start of World War Two is one of the most unbelievably romantic and touching and tragic films I've seen. I personally rank it this high and deserves to be in same group of other classic films such as Dark Victory and Now Voyager.

So those are my top 5 favorite romantic films. Would love to hear what everyone else favorites are.

Great On Screen Couples: Jane Wyman & Jack Carson

For my next couple I chose a couple not too many people may realize how good they really were in the five films they made together. I'm speaking of Jane Wyman and Jack Carson. They co-starred in 5 films plus one more where Jane made a cameo as herself. They usually played either a married couple or boyfriend and girlfriend and always had the most engaging banter. Their first film together was 1942's Larceny, Inc which they were the supporting players to Edward G. Robinson. But they played boyfriend and girlfriend. I have yet to see this film so I can't really comment on it.

Now for their next film, Princess O'Rourke (1943), they did get to play a married couple. But once again they were secondary characters to stars Olivia de Havilland and Robert Cummings. But their chemistry was undeniable and they played well off one another. 

They would hit their stride with 1944's Make Your Own Bed and this time they were the leading stars. Jack would play a struggling detective looking to crack the big case so he could marry his long suffering girlfriend. Shades of Thin Man make this a memorable screwball comedy. The pair would team up again later on in the year for the extremely funny The Doughgirls which had them playing another married couple dealing with the wartime housing shortage in Washington, D.C and scads of colorful characters including Ann Sheridan, Alexis Smith, Eve Arden, and Charlie Ruggles. By now Jack and Jane were operating like a well oiled machine as The Doughgirls remain their best film that I've seen of them yet.

In  fact, the producers of The Doughgirls must have thought so because they pretty much reunited the entire cast for 1946's comedy/drama One More Tomorrow, starring Jane, Jack, Ann Sheridan and Alexis Smith once again. Dennis Morgan was the newcomer who joined in on the fun. I haven't seen this film as of yet either.

Then Jack Carson and Dennis Morgan would make the surreal comedy It's A Great Feeling trying to make a star out of Doris Day. This is the film where loads of Hollywood stars show up in cameos as themselves and Jane shows up early for her brief appearance. Jack would later appear on Jane's TV show, Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre in the mid 50's but as far as movies go, It's A Great Feeling would their last team up together. So while everyone may know the big couples like Bogie/Bacall, Tracy/Hepburn, and Gable/Harlow, do not miss out an underrated pair like Jane Wyman and Jack Carson. They truly deserve to be talked about and remembered just like the other couples.

Great On Screen Couples: William Powell & Myrna Loy

This wonderful couple made an astounding 14 films together, making them one of Hollywood's most prolific couples. They first paired up in 1934's Manhattan Melodrama, alongside Clark Gable. Their scenes together showed natural born chemistry and MGM quickly paired them up for the classic film The Thin Man. Their witty banter as fun loving couple Nick and Nora Charles was such a huge hit, they made 5 more sequels over the next 13 years. And it's one of the most beloved film series of all time. You see them progress from recently married to Nora giving birth to Nick Jr to meeting Nick's family and so on. And you cared about them through-out the entire series.

In between The Thin Man films, Powell and Loy would make several other films including Best Picture winner of 1936 The Great Ziegeld, Evelyn Prentice, Love Crazy, Double Wedding and the classic screwball farce Libeled Lady, co-starring Spencer Tracy and Jean Harlow. For their last film together, Loy turned up in a cameo as Powell's wife in the final scene of The Senator Was Indiscreet (1947). For her one day of work, Loy received a brand new cadillac and the final screen pairing of her and Powell was done.

Powell and Loy made 13 of their 14 films for MGM and one for Universal. Their 13 films at MGM are a record a screen team making major studio pictures. And they set the standard for fun loving married couples that would grace the big and small screens for years to come. Powell himself tried different variations of Nick Charles with other actresses such as Ginger Rogers in Star Of Midnight (1935) and Jean Arthur in The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936). And while those are two good films with solid leading women, they are no Thin Man and no Myrna Loy. It just shows that the chemistry Powell and Loy had together was amazing. And it's no slam toward Rogers or Arthur. I mean Ginger and Fred would dance circles around Powell and Loy in a musical because that was their strength. And Jean was positively sensational when paired with Jimmy Stewart. Anyway, I would rank Powell and Loy as my 2nd favorite screen couple of all time, right behind Irene Dunne and Cary Grant. Good company to be in.

Great On Screen Couples: Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland

This legendary couple appeared in 8 films together from 1935 to 1941, all for Warner Bros. They made a varied mix of swashbucklers, westerns, comedy, and period films. Their first pairing came in the rousing Captain Blood (1935), which was Flynn's first starring role, making him an overnight sensation. Olivia had already appeared in three films prior to Captain Blood. I've seen this film twice and it's a beaut. Terrific action sequences and the undeniable chemistry of Flynn and de Havilland on full display. Olivia beat out Jean Arthur and Bette Davis for the role of Arabella Bishop and the rest is history. Blood was so successful Warner Bros quickly paired the duo up the next year for The Charge Of The Light Brigade.

Set in 1854 India, the film had Flynn cast as a British officer fighting the Russians in The Crimean War. Olivia plays Flynn's fiancee. I have yet to see this film so I can't critique on it. But it sounds interesting. For their next film together would be their masterpiece, The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). Everyone knows the legend of Hood and Flynn was positively electric as the dashing archer. Olivia was equally as good as Maid Marian. Everything came together for this entertaining film. To this day, I still say this is the most vibrant and gorgeous looking film ever made. And one of the best music scores in history.

Screwball comedy was in it's heyday during this time and Warner Bros decided to pair up Errol and Olivia for one called Four's A Crowd (1938). This is another of the duo's films that I have yet to see and since screwball comedy is my favorite genre, I am hankering to see it.

I did see their next film though, the terrific western Dodge City (1939). And let me tell ya something, Errol looks just as comfortable firing six shooters like he does shooting a bow and arrow or swordplay. Dodge City is one of the best westerns ever made and solidified Flynn and de Havilland as one of the premiere on screen couples in film.

They switched gears for their next film, with the historial drama The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex. And while this is not solely a Flynn and De Havilland production because of Bette Davis top billed role, this film showed that Errol and Olivia could make just about any type of film.

When Santa Fe Trail (1940) debuted, it marked the pair's seventh outing and it was another huge success. While it was a very entertaining western, I liked Dodge City more. Santa Fe did have an outstanding supporting cast of newcomers such as Ronald Reagan and Van Heflin.

  And lastly, for their final film together, came 1941's They Died With Their Boots On, an film based on General George Custer and his infamous last stand. Another western and another solid hit. At this point, Olivia's star was rising and she wanted more starring roles, so the pair parted ways after a successful 8 film run. They firmly established themselves as the ideal romantic leads of Hollywood period adventures. No doubt. And while Olivia went on to have a successful career post Flynn, he was not as fortunate. Still but before his career ended, he did turn in two top notch performances in The Sun Also Rises (1957) and Too Much, Too Soon (1958). But we will always have those 8 wonderful films he and Olivia did. Nothing can ever change that.