Today I saw Bette Davis in the subway

Just a quick post to say that the girl was like my age (23) and looked like a young Bette Davis. Had blond hair, the same body built, the same shape of face and most importantly, same eyes (just green),  and the train was so crowded that I was expecting her to say "What a dump!" :)

Desilu: That Sunday, that summer

Thank you guys for all the laughs.

Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz

Via: http://www.imdb.com/
Song: "That Sunday, that summer" by Nat King Cole.

More Photo[graphs] + Music:

• Marlene Dietrich: "It's here for you"
• Burt & Ava: "In the mood"
• Gregory Peck: "Can't help lovin' that man"
• Coolest.pic.ever: Errol Fever
• Clark & Carole: "Tea for two"
• Cary Grant: "When or where"
• Errol & Olivia: "Magic Moments"
• Paul & Joanne: "Twist and Shout"
• Gary Cooper: "Mercy"

Day 09- Old Hollywood stars you wish had worked together

Lol, and again this a belated post. Anyway, interesting question. These are some dream teams (imagine all them looking young):

Cary Grant & Olivia de Havilland: In a romantic comedy.

Audrey Hepburn & Paul Newman: In some heavy drama. Really.

Carole Lombard & Rosalind Russell: I'm sure I wouldn't be able to stop laughing. 

Marlene Dietrich & William Holden: In a comedy taking place in a cruise. 

Gary Cooper & Ginger Rogers: In a western with a good dose of humor.

Lauren Bacall & Burt Lancaster: In film noir of course.

Rita Hayworth & Richard Burton: In some romantic drama. 

Claudette Colbert & William Powell: Obviously, in a witty comedy.

Grace Kelly & Robert Mitchum: In a thriller.

Errol Flynn & Jean Arthur: In some light comedy happening in exotic places.

Deborah Kerr & Laurence Olivier: In a war movie.

Gregory Peck & Vivien Leigh: In an epic movie.

What do you think my dear readers?

My Top 10 Billy Wilder movies

Arrived from work like an hour and a half ago, ate something, came to see what my fellow bloggers had posted, and noticed that today is Mr. Wilder's birthday. So, here's my ranking of his movies (as director), with a particular order for a change and some random thoughts:

#10.- Some like it hot: funny, the guys are terrific, Monroe is charming, classic ending. Billy had some problems with Marilyn (or, as he said, Monroe had problems with Monroe) and some days she couldn't say a simple line like "It's me, Sugar". Anyway, he said that she had a great timing in her good days. 

#9.- A Foreign Affair: Dietrich owns this film, has some great moments, the one I'm embedding is one of them. Read somewhere that Jean Arthur had 'diva behavior' during this film, argued with Wilder and at the end apologized. The master was right. 

#8.- Love in the afternoon: Ah, if only Gary had been younger...anyway, good film, Audrey is great as always and Chevalier has a solid performance. Fell in love with the song "Fascination". Terrific ending. 

#7.- The lost weekend: Here I thought: "What a great actor is Ray Milland". The scene I remember the most is when he's trying to sell his typewriter, and everything is closed. Drinking is a bad habit. 

# 6.- Double Indemnity: Witty dialog, interesting racconto, one of the first films I saw starring Stanwyck. What can I say? A classic.

#5.- Sabrina: Ah, if only Bogie had been younger...I enjoy this film very much, has so many unforgettable parts: Audrey trynig to kill herself, Audrey in Paris trying to cook (It is all in the wrist), the letter reading scene in the kitchen ('that's good, that's bad', remember?)  Audrey coming back all dressed up, the dance in the tennis court, the line "Democracy can be a wickedly unfair thing Sabrina. Nobody poor was ever called democratic for marrying somebody rich."...I could go on forever...Anyway, I'm embedding "La vie en rose" because it's lovely...

#4 Sunset Boulevard: This movie introduced me William Holden and Gloria Swanson. I remember that awful monkey, the great narration in off, the camera shot from inside the pool, Norma's visit to the studios, the ending...

#3.- Avanti: Jack Lemmon and Billy Wilder were a great team. This is a terrific movie, with great jokes, a nice (and adulterous) relationship, Juliet Mills is so funny and her performance smooth, you learn how to say "excuse me" and "come in" in Italian. Oh, has lovely music too.

#2.- Witness for the Prosecution: Aaaaaaah, they fooled me. How difficult must be to maintain the Agatha Christie's suspense effect. Wilder did. Laughton and Marlene...they give an acting class. 

#1.- The apartment: this is kind the perfect movie. Excellent. Lovely. Jack Lemmon waiting outside in the cold, tired, because he lended his apartment to some lovers. Jack in love with Shirley McLaine. Shirley in despair. Noodles in a tennis racket. You know.

On June 20 an unforgettable guy was born...

Yeah, Errol Flynn, my top 3 favorite actor, my fave Robin Hood, the coolest star according to me.

All pictures from: www.errol-flynn.com

Day 08- Favorite Old Hollywood couple

I know, you should take me and burn me at the stake as a blogger-heretic. Last Sunday (!!!) I wrote: "See ya tomorrow, I'll be posting Day 08 of the Old Hollywood Meme (hopefully)". So, I'm a liar and I should pay. I'm bringing the matches, you go and gather firewood. But first, as my last will, I want to tell you who is my fave old Hollywood couple. Should I say Bogie & Bacall? Or maybe Marlene & John Wayne? Garbo & Gilbert? Viv Leigh & Laurence Olivier? Kate & Spence? (hate me Rena), Ava & Frankie? 

No, I'm picking...

...Gable & Lombard. I love their work separately, I love their work together ("No Man of Her Own"). They seemed to be so happy, and they had a wonderful sense of humor: remember that anecdote about that party in which they finally got along? Well, assistants were supposed to wear only white clothes, so Carole arrived in an ambulance, got on a stretcher and entered carried by two nurses. Later, knowing that he loved fancy cars, she bought an old Ford T, painted it with huge hearts and sent it to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios as a gift to him on St. Valentine's Day. On the wheel, she put a note: "You're driving me crazy" :) So, Clark did his own joke. He invited her to really fancy party, she was all dress up already... and Clark arrived in the old Ford T :)

As the couples from epic tales, their love ended in tragedy. As you probably know, she was selling war bonds, fighting for her beliefs, with energy and passion. She was supposed to take a train, instead she preferred an airplane: she wanted to be with her husband as soon as possible. The plain crashed, Carole's life ended in the mountains...so did a part of Clark's. 

I don't want to finish this post in a sad mood, so here is a Youtube vid featuring some of their home movies:

And even more Happy Old Songs

To start a new week charged with positive energy, here's post #3 of my "Happy Old Songs" series.

"Pennies from Heaven" (Music by Arthur Johnston and lyrics by Johnny Burke, 1936)

I love this song, every morning I listen to it while I'm on the bus heading to the my work/internship. And I imagine the nice picture of pennies raining from heaven and sunshine and flowers, accompanied by the catchy rhythm, and all that just cheer me up, even when the morning is gray and the subway is packed up. I have two favorite versions: the one by Luois Prima (aka the voice of King Louie in "The Jungle Book") and the one I have on my mp3 by singer/classic movie lover, Emma Wallace. .

(Edited) The original post for Emma's version is here, but she gave me the embedding code so you can listening right now:

"It's a good day" (Written by Peggy Lee & Dave Barbour, 1947)

I listened this song for the first time watching a 7up commercial on tv. I thought that the song was really good and then I googled and found the name of the singer: Peggy Lee. I'm a fan of hers since then. I embedded the commercial and a live presentation.

"The lady is a tramp" (Lyrics by Lorenz Hart; music by Richard Rodgers, 1937)

I saw "Pal Joey" starring Frank Sinatra, Rita Hayworth and Kim Novak the past year, and this is like the only thing I remember from that movie. "The lady is a tramp" was very well used in the film: the moment in which Frank tells to stiff Rita all he wanted to say using his piano and this song. I added a live version, because maybe you won't find the original as happy as I do :)

That's all for this weekend. See ya tomorrow, I'll be posting Day 08 of the Old Hollywood Meme (hopefully).

Previous Happy Old Songs Posts: 1 | 2

Robin Hood (2010) and my 'Robin Ranking'

So after waiting months and months, I finally saw Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett playing the famous outlaw and the maid. And I liked it. So here's the mini review (I know, this isn't a classic movie by itself, but it's part of a classic series of movies based on the same story) :

Robin Hood (Ridley Scott, 2010)

Who's in it: Russell Crowe + Cate Blanchett

What's about: Well, you know, the archer, the king, the maid, some taxes, etc. The thing is that this movie tells the story of Robin before he was declared an outlaw by King John.

The good: Great casting; an overall well developed and attractive love story, with more details about the main characters' background; beautiful sceneries, with some magnificent aerial shoots; some good jokes every now and then. Nice they tried to give new attributes to the main characters (like Robin being less festive and Marian being fiercer). I don't mean I don't like them the old way, 'cause I do, but at least that's a contribution to the whole series of movies about Robin.

The bad: The beginning (like 20 minutes). I've would edited it, because it was kind of slow and messy, and I think that the part where the King and Robin met was ridiculous; also the dialogue was a bit too, erhm, 'forced to become great quotes' at some points (fail); the music in some part wasn't well added; and at the end, [spoiler]Cate going to the battle accompanied by like three kiddies was kind of hilarious[/spoiler] (select the blank space using your mouse to read the spoiler).

Should I see it? Yes, but you should see "Gladiator" first. Or the one with Errolivia.

And here's my ranking of Robin Hood films:

#1: "The adventures of Robin Hood" (Michael Curtiz, 1938) 

#2: "Robin Hood" (Ridley Scott, 2010)

#3: "Robin Hood" (Wolfgang Reitherman, 1973)  

#4: "Robin and Marian" (Richard Lester, 1976)

#5: "Robin Hood: Prince of the Thieves" (Kevin Reynolds, 1991) 

Not included because I haven't seen them:

•  Robin Hood (Allan Dwan, 1922, starring Douglas Fairbanks)
•  Robin Hood: Men in Tights (Mel Brooks, 1993)

Day 07- Favorite movie from your favorite Actress

Last night I spent my free time watching the sad "Make way for tomorrow" (Leo McCarey,1937) with my dad & youngest brother and this morning, instead to go out to the cold and play tennis, I decided to stay and watch "Out of the past" (Jacques Tourneur, 1947).
MWFT was excellent, it makes you love and respect your parents or grandparents even more (caution: keep the Kleenex handy). I enjoyed OOTP a lot, loved the presence of my top 8 favorite actor, Robert Mitchum, even when I was so sleepy that I didn't get some of the plot switches.
(Edited after saving: AND this evening I went to the movie theater and saw Russell Hood and Lady Cate kicking some asses. I'll tell you about it in another post).

All this intro is just to explain why I didn't post Day 7 yesterday, lol. Well, this is not gonna be an easy choice either. Just like the post about favorite movie from Cary, I can't pick just one movie from Audrey, so this is my top 5 (in no particular order, and just 5 because she didn't make a lot of films):

Two for the road (Stanley Donen, 1967)

  

Breakfast at Tiffany's (Blake Edwards, 1961)

Roman Holiday (William Wyler, 1953)

Charade (Stanley Donen, 1963)

The Nun's Story (Fred Zinnemann, 1959)

Word verification on Via Margutta

My dear readers,

Since Mr. (or Mrs.?) Spam is visiting my blog more often than rules of courtesy allow, I've been forced to add the word verification system before commenting. I hope this doesn't bother you, and I really hope you keep commenting. 

Sincerely,

-Clara- 

Day 06- Favorite movie from your favorite Actor

Are you kiddin' me? I simply can't choose one movie from my favorite actor, Cary Grant. So here are 10 titles, which correspond to the films I enjoy the most (they aren't in a particular order):

An Affair to Remember

Charade

His Girl Friday

Holiday

In Name Only

North by Northwest 

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House

Penny Serenade

The Awful Truth

Notorious

Day 05- Actor or Actress you think is underrated

Oh, boys and girls, I'm so sorry I couldn't post in the past few days or comment in your blogs. I completely forgot the Old Hollywood Meme on Monday due to my consuming job; and last night my neighbors' houses got on fire (really), and for an hour I thought we would lose our house too. Fortunately, fire men were able to stop the menacing flames, and my family and I are ok (but my poor neighbors lost almost everything). 

Well, I've been thinking about underrated performers. On the guys side, I couldn't think on anyone. I mean, all the guys I've seen and appreciate are really known and everybody (I mean in classic movie sites) talks about them. But on the girls side, I think that the most underrated actress is Veronica Lake. Starting by herself, remember her famous quote "you could put all the talent I had into your left eye and still not suffer from impaired vision"? Well, I don't agree, even when I've seen her in just 3 movies: "Sullivan's Travels", "This Gun for Hire" & "I married a Witch" (update: read my review of one of my fave movies from her, So proudly we hail!). I like the kind of presence she projects, is like she's there but in an ethereal, dreamy way. And that produces that her characters had a kind of cold distance, even when they joked or laugh or whatever they were unreachable. 

When I read about her personal life, it was shocking. Because that distance she projected on the screen was so coherent with the sad story about her working in a bar in Manhattan in the fifties, away from the public eye, away from the audiences, unable to work as an actress because she had broken an ankle. 

Do you think she's underrated?

Ok, I wish I could write more, but that's all for today folks. Watch some classic movies in my name. 

Classic Hollywod Guide to how to react when you screw up a scene

Don't you love bloopers and outtakes?

I included in this video Bogie, Bette Davis, Carole Lombard, Claudette Colbert, Errol Flynn, Claude Rains, Kay Francis, Edward G. Robinson, Jane Wyman, George Brent, Merle Oberon, Patricia Neal, Mickey Rooney and more. Enjoy!

Day 04- Favorite Actress

Yesterday I arrived home very tired, plus the computer was being used by one of my brothers, so I decided to post Day 4 today. 

Well, favorite actress? Audrey Hepburn.

She's probably best known to most of people because her great taste and impact in fashion; but I think she was a terrific performer. She did everything: comedy, drama, suspense, thriller, western, epic and musical. If you don't count the movies she did for television —which aren't available to see completely— she appeared in 28 films. I've seen 24 of them, and probably soon I'm gonna finish watching her complete filmography (and I'll be making a series of mini-reviews). 

I've told you about my first impression when I saw her on Breakfast at Tifanny's and how that finished my conversion into a Classic Movie lover.  She is great in her most famous movie. But I think she's just perfect in The Nun's Story and Two for the road. Her acting was natural and effective. I really suffer when she shows despair or sadness, and she's capable to show the deepest emotions with minimal gestures. For example, in TNS, when the stupid nun asks her to fail the exam to prove she's humble; or the way you see she's trying to control her feelings toward the doctor; or in TFTR, the way she argues with her husband, in a realistic and coherent way, without overacting.  

If you see The Nun's Story for the first time, maybe you'll find the beginning a little bit slow, but please keep watching, I did, and now I love it. It's a great movie. 

Of course, this doesn't mean I don't adore her other films, because I do (in fact the name of the blog, Via Margutta, comes from "Roman Holiday", another of my faves).  

Well, that's all for today. Keep rocking.

Day 03- Favorite Actor

Mr. Archivald Alexander Leach aka Cary Grant. I simply love everything he did on screen. I've seen 34 of his movies and I always enjoy his performances, even when he was a very young supporting actor. Love him in comedies, dramas and melodramas. Love him in black and white, and love him in Technicolor. Give me anything with Cary Grant in it, and I'll like it.

And to celebrate the this third post of the Old Hollywood Meme, here are some screencaps from the great documentary "Cary Grant, a Class Apart" (click to enlarge the pics, try to click with the right button and open in a new window for an easier navigation).

In case you're wondering, you can check my top 25 favorite actors.

PS: This is my day 3 at my internship/job too, so excuse me for the length of the text posts, I'm a little bit tired :) I'll appreciate advices to write posts in short time.

Previous days of this meme: 1| 2