Priceless Images, the Sequel

More home movies of the beautiful people letting their hair down and relaxing, circa 1965. This one may be my favorite as it has major crush of mine, Natalie Wood looking so fresh and fun. Also Tuesday Weld and Jane Fonda, I mean this video is a microcosm of Hollywood legends. Besides Lauren Bacall [ she was in the previous one at Rock Hudson's place, she must've been popular ] there is a glimpse of Judy Garland in a blue dress and Jennifer Jones and David Selznick smoking a pipe and scanning some pix. Speaking of smoking, did you notice something: Everyone smoked! I mean everyone. I also like the way it blends some old Hollywood with, what was at the time, new Hollywood. Besides the above actresses, I also saw Hudson, Ben Gazzarra and Tony Perkins. Love these old videos all these famous folk seem so....normal. Many more to come in the next few weeks. Hope you enjoy them.

Happy Birthday, Marlon Brando

The noblest Roman of them all , Julius Caesar 1953

Hey there is another movie great born on this day. Mr. Method himself, Marlon Brando would have been 88 today [ he passed on in 2004 at age 80 ]. Incredible as it may seem he and Miss Doris Day not only share the day they were born but also the exact year, 1924. Could you find two more opposite movie persona's? Brooding Bud and Goody Goody Doris.

 

Missouri Breaks, 1976

From the time of his film debut in 1950's ' The Men ', Brando was a force of nature who, good or bad, changed the way actor's act. Not merely a matinee idol, Brando not only challenged the way film actors worked and behaved, he challenged the whole fucking Hollywood star making system. Along with Montgomery Clift and James Dean, Brando represented a new breed of leading man. Raw, authentic, masculine with a touch of sensitivity not seen at the time. These guys could play tough if and when they wanted, but underneath that exterior was a longing to be accepted for who they were without compromising their character. Brando wasn't really method [ whatever that widely used phrase means ]. He was not taught or coached by Actor Studio czar Lee Strasberg like Al Pacino or Dean or Monroe were. He was a originally a byproduct of the great Stella Adler and, later, Elia Kazan. Adler took his raw talent and helped train and give it some direction and guidance. Kazan took that which Stella had helped train and unleashed him onto the theatrical world. First as producer of the infamous, historical flop ' Truckline Cafe ' and in 1947 with Tennessee Williams'  legendary ' A Streetcar Named Desire ' which, with the1951 film version, launched a thousand imitators.

A legendary performance in a great film. From there in went from one great performance to another: ' Viva Zapata! ', ' Julius Caesar ', ' The Wild One ' , ' On The Waterfront , until he became the commodity he was said to despise: The bankable product. The 1950's were his golden years, starting the 60's with the trio of ' The Fugitive Kind ', ' One-Eyed Jacks ' and ' Mutiny on the Bounty ', he had three financial failures in a row. The rest of the decade would bring him nothing but box office failure. Though some of these films contained some of his best work, they were not well regarded at the time. In ' Reflections in a Golden Eye ' and ' The Chase '  he gave quality work in bad or quirky, indifferent movies. He wasn't in a hit again until ' The Godfather '  which not only gave him a monster hit [ the biggest movie-spinner of all time up to that point ] but an acclaimed, icon performance as Don Vito Corleone. In the following year he had one of his most controversial roles as Paul the aging, bitter, yet ultimately romantic widower in Bertolucci's X rated ' Last Tango in Paris '.

Last Tango in Paris, 1973

Ambivalent at best regarding his choosen profession, from the mid-70's to his last film in 2001's The Score ' Brando seemed to give less of himself in his work. But being the conflicted person he was he couldn't give completely boring, uninteresting performances. Some highlights in this fallow period are:  ' The Missouri Breaks ', ' Apocalypse Now ', ' The Freshman ' and his last, ' The Score '. I salute you Bud, you changed my life. Happy Birthday.

Happy Birthday, Doris Day

Romance on the High Seas, above

Today a legend turns 88. The only woman to be the number one box office attraction four years in a row, Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff aka Doris Day celebrates her birthday today. TCM, the amazing classic movie channel is helping her celebrate by showing 28 of her movies starting April 2 thru April 6. Some of my favorites include:' Romance on the High Seas ' [ her film debut with the always acerbic Oscar Levant ], ' It's a Great Feeling ', ' Young Man with a Horn' [ a great movie inspired by the life of trumpeter Bix Biederbecke ], ' Love Me or Leave Me ' [ biopic of  singer Ruth Etting and possibly Miss Day's best performance ] . Others I haven't yet seen but plan to are ' Storm Warning ' with Ginger Rogers and the 40th President Of The United States, ' My Dream is Yours ', supposedly Martin Scorsese's inspiration for his 1977's musical ' New York, New York '. Some of the films missing in action include ' Calamity Jane ', ' Pillow Talk ' her first with Rock Hudson and probably her best known film, and Hitchcock's ' The Man Who Knew Too Much ' which features her signature song ' Que Sera, Sera ' . But I won't complain, just glad these movies are still around to enjoy and TCM is in the business of showing them. Happy Birthday, Doris!

Crush of the Week - Marlene Dietrich

The Divine Dietrich. Marlene. The institution who helped overseas in the war effort during WW II. Sternberg's creation. The Kraut, as Hemingway playfully called her. Her career lasted from 1923 's Little Napoleon to 1978's Just A Gigolo with several ups and down's that any career with such longevity is bound to have. Known for her fabulous legs, deep, masculine singing voice, gender bending wardrobe and perfectionism when it came to her image, Marlene made major impact on the film world in Sternberg's 1929 German classic ' The Blue Angel ' as  Lola-Lola. Singer-slut in a cheap cabaret in pre-Nazi Berlin, she seduces and degrades educator Professor Unrat played by Emil Jannings, a great star of silent German cinema. From that smash hit she followed Sternberg to America and starred in ' Morocco ' with Gary Cooper. In all Sternberg and Marlene made 7 films together in 6 years the last being the intoxicating ' The Devil is a Woman ',1935. Her career was running out of steam by the late 30's until she went comic in the western classic ' Destry Rides Again ' with Jimmy Stewart. This image of Dietrich the saloon girl, Frenchie, is probably her best known to the general public. It was a tremendous hit for her, put her back on top of the film world and for the next 3 years took on roles that were variations of that film. This is the Dietrich that was wonderfully parodied by Madeline Kahn as Lily Von Schtup in the great spoof ' Blazing Saddles'. 

Above, ' Destry Rides Again ' 1939.

The Blue Angel, 1929

Hot Voodoo from ' Blonde Venus' 1932

Going androgynous, 'Morocco', 1930

'Scarlet Empress', 1934

                                After the war, a newer, more mature Dietrich appeared in Billy Wilder's ' A Foreign Affair ' as singer/spy Erica Von Schluetow , taking her back to Berlin for the first time since the pre-Nazi days. In 1948 she became a grandmother at 47. Life magazine called her the World's Most Glamorous Grandma. Can't argue with that. Other roles included: Hitchcock's 'Stage Fright', memorable turns in Wilder's 'Witness for the Prosecution' and Welles's' Touch of Evil 'as  the fortune teller Tanya. The last role of any consequence was in 1961's' Judgement at Nuremberg ' opposite Spencer Tracy. During the remaining 60's and most of the 70's she appeared on stage taking her cabaret style show around the world, singing the songs that she helped make famous: Falling in Love Again, The Boys in the Backroom, Lilli Marlene, I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby. In 1982 actor/director Maximilian Schell persuaded Dietrich to appear in the documentary he was making about her, but at the last minute she refused to be filmed. Consequently she was only heard [often being cranky] although many clips from her films were used. This added an extra, haunting quality that the film may not otherwise have had. Marlene died in Paris on May 6, 1992 at age 90.

My favorite Marlene movies: Blue Angel, Dishonored, Shanghai Express, Devil is a Woman, Destry Rides Again, Blonde Venus, A Foreign Affair, Touch of Evil. But I repeatedly watch anything she appeared in.
                                           

Priceless Images

Found this and many others like it, on YouTube and they are simply incredible. Cinema icons from the 40's, 50's & 60's hanging out at Rock's place at the beach on a holiday weekend, just like you or I would. Get some of these folks: Film director George Cukor yakking it up with our host Rock. Then there's Adolph Green { co-writer Singin in the Rain, Band Wagon, etc } in sailor hat and red scarf. Oh and look over there, isn't that restauranteur Mike Romanoff in the white shirt ? And look at Jason Robards, he's married to Lauren Bacall  { Betty to her friends don't cha know } in a New York Mets hat!  And here on the coast!! The gall!! Isn't that screenwriter George Axelrod in the blue shirt talking to the camera? There she is: Our girl Betty Bacall, widow of Bogie, but even at forty looking so young and full of fun! There's RJ Wagner in that nice new yellow shirt. Why his divorce from Natalie didn't set him back one bit! And there is Mrs. Thurston Howell III, our own Natalie Schafer at the height of her somewhat dubious fame.

Wow. That was my first reaction to these old 8mm films I found on YouTube. All these folk look so well scrubbed and, well, ordinary. Like my parents home movies from the same time period, only these are not only celebs, but a couple { at least } tinseltown legends. Not just your ol' Aunt Mabel or drunk Uncle Sid making a spectacle of themselves at the 4th of July barbecue. There are other videos I will be posting, including one from Memorial Day 1965 with some footage of  Producer David Selznick { Gone With The Wind }, who was to die on June 22, 1965, less than a month later. And did you get the nice routine with Bacall & Hudson? They co-starred in Written on the Wind less that ten years earlier when Rock was just coming into his own as a major star and Betty was still Mrs. Humphrey Bogart. Love the way Ms. Bacall plays to the camera: she seems just like I thought she would be: Fun and sassy, even without sound.  More coming. I love these things! Whoever posted these priceless images on YouTube, thanks!!! Priceless.

Crush of the Week - Natalie Wood

Not just of the week but my whole life, because I cannot remember when I didn't have a huge crush on the lovely Miss Wood. I guess I first fell for her charms when I was about nine or ten years old. My sister and I  stayed up late one saturday night  [ as we seemed to do a lot, back in the day ] and  watched Sex & the Single Girl on KABC channel 7  broadcast out of L.A. The movie is one of those harmless sex farces from the mid-60's that seemed extremely racy to my adolescent mind but, in retrospect, was quite innocent and harmless. Based on a self-help book by Dr Helen Gurley Brown, it was a precursor to all the self help books that have come after it: He Just Not That Into You, Women Who Run With The Wolves, Excuse Me, Your Soul Mate Is Waiting , etc,etc,etc. You know the drill. But this book, being published in 1962, was a gamechanger. These kinds of books weren't published every week like they are today. Anyway, I digress. Natalie was the total woman for me: Beautiful face, dark brown eyes, great sense of humor, wicked legs, wonderful smile and intelligent.  I still watch her movies and have several on disc, some faves being: Splendor in the Grass, Gypsy, Rebel Without a Cause, The Great Race, West Side Story and This Property is Condemned. In fact, I saw a few of her 70's stinkeroos in the theater: Last Married Couple in America, Meteor, Peeper. None very good and I don't think I've seen any of those 70's epics since.
                              

                                                       
She died tragically in 1981 and I remember that day and the disbelief I felt. She was still young, only 43. Her best movie days were seemingly behind her, she hadn't been in a hit since 1969's adult spouse swapping comedy Bob, Carol, Ted & Alice, but she had made some successful television productions  such as Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with Laurence Olivier and hubby RJ Wagner and a mini-series of From Here To Eternity in the part Deborah Kerr immortalized in the 1953  film version. She was going to appear in Anastasia in Los Angeles in 1982, but that weekend in Catalina ended what would have been her stage debut.

The top picture is from Sex and the Single Girl the other lower in on the set of Gypsy. Check out Natalie Wood's films. I especially endorse Splendor in the Grass [  Her character Deanie may be my fave of hers ] This Property is Condemned and Rebel Without a Cause. Check back next week to see another in my long line of crushes.

" I have always depended on the kindness of strangers"

Since it is an election year [ and cuz it's just plain fun ] I have decided to have a monthly poll of different topics. I am starting off with one of my current [ actually on-going ] obsessions, Thomas Lanier Williams otherwise known as Tennessee Williams. Having just revisited 1959's Suddenly, Last Summer and 1951's A Streetcar Named Desire, and in honor of the anniversary of his birth on March 26 I have decided to make him or rather some of his movie adaptations as the first poll ever here at Movie catholic. So go to your polling place here at Movie catholic and cast your vote. I have inserted a little teaser of a scene from Streetcar, above. Not to influence the voting but I think it has to stand as one of the best adaptations of Williams' work. So come on folks step up and vote, I'm curious as to the outcome. Polls close March 20th