Things from "How to steal a million" I had forgotten

I know, how could I forget this little 1965 Autobianchi Bianchina Convertible (nope, I'm not a car expert, I just visited the awesome Internet Movie Cars Database). I need this car, I know with it I would finally get my license and overcome my parking fears.

This scene is the closest Audrey got to work with Hitch in a movie. Well, besides that unmade movie called No Bail for the Judge, from which Audrey withdrew (read more about it).

I had forgotten the super fun lines everyone delivers in this film! A few examples:

Simon Dermott: There's the bathroom, take off your clothes.
Nicole Bonnet: Are we planning the same sort of crime?

Charles Bonnet: This tall, good-looking ruffian with blue eyes, he didn't, er, molest you in any way, did he?
[Nicole is staring off dreamily]
Charles Bonnet: Well, did he?
Nicole Bonnet: Not... much.

Nicole Bonnet: I can't drive a stolen car!
Simon Dermott: Same principle, four gears forward, one reverse.

Nicole Bonnet: I didn't want to keep you waiting, so I got engaged to him. Is it alright? Am I on time?
Simon Dermott: Perfectly. In fact, we have ten more minutes, so if you want to go back and marry him?

Simon Dermott: [about to see Nicole to a taxi] Just one more tiny favour: like an idiot I forgot to wear gloves on the job. I may have left some fingerprints. Be an angel. Before you go to bed, just give the frame of the painting a little wipe with a clean cloth, ok?
Nicole Bonnet: Certainly. Anything else? You wouldn't like a forged passport or some counterfeit money or...

Nicole Bonnet: Your arm is much better.
Simon Dermott: Oh no no, it hurts, it hurts.
Nicole Bonnet: It's the other arm.
Simon Dermott: The infection is spreading.

Tuxedo Tuco! I always remember Elli Wallach as the bandit from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, so it's quite a change seeing him all dressed up and speaking to super "modern" dictaphones in his car.

I also thought about how he's still working (his part in The Holiday is memorable) while it's been almost 20 years since Audrey passed away.

Click to enlarge.

And Nicole's grandmother looks like Audrey in My fair lady :)

The rest, I had not forgotten. The classy musical score, Audrey's underrated timing for comedy, the marvelous cast, Paris, etc, etc, etc...

Do you like How to steal a million?

I missed you guys!

According to the last advice of this list of tips for new bloggers this post has no sense...

Lastly, don't apologize for not posting more often. A blog is a fun hobby - but once you start feeling beholden to it, it stops being fun! Plus, your readers will likely not notice if you don't post for a week unless you write a post about how sorry you are for not posting!

Well, I don't care: it's been two weeks since I published my last entry and I've missed you guys and I've missed writing my stupid reviews and rambling posts about old stars.

What happened is that, just like Audrey says in Charade, I'm not a lady of leisure anymore. I've been finally hired, and I'm working as journalist for an university's website. Now I'm really applying a lot of things I've learned blogging, like html and how to redact for the web.

So today I wanted to take some time off to explain my current situation (done) and talk about few things that have happened the past days:

• Natalie Wood's case re-opened: I really hope they can finally found out what happened. The way it all ended for her was so unfair!
• Citizen's Kane Debate: I had to apologize with the girls at True Classics because I couldn't write the post I had promised. It was a surprise to found out that are more fellow bloggers that share my opinion about it (calling it the best movie ever made is quite drastic).
• Happy Birthday Gene Tierney! What an unique presence she had on screen. If you want, you can check my entries about Gene.
• Guest at All Good Things: My friend Monty has invited me to be his guest for December...so you can check my answers to his questions about old movies and classic actors next month :)
• Facebook: Sometimes I don't have time to write a full post so I share things I find interesting over the Fan Page of my blog. I really hope I can see you guys there too :)

So, that's it. I hope you're doing all well, and my respects to all the people that manage to work AND publish quality entries :)

The 10 scariest scenes from old movies (I've managed to watch)

Boooooooooooo!!!...did I scare you? No? Bummer, this article explained me that I should.

Anyway, these are the 10 creepiest scenes from the somewhat scary movies I've been able to watch. You know I'm a coward.

10. Whatever Happened to Baby Jane: Joan Crawford gets a yummy lunch, made with lots of love from Bette Davis.

9. Suddenly, Last Summer: Elizabeth Taylor tells how her cousin Sebastian really died [sorry, the clip is not complete...but you know what happened to him]

8. Cape Fear (my review): The family is waiting for criminal Robert Mitchum to attack any minute.

[SCENE]

7. The Devil-Doll: Creepy concept, humans transformed in dolls and used to steal and kill...by Lionel Barrymore in drag.

6. Nosferatu: The whole movie is terribly scary, so I just chose the part when Hutter finds out that Orlok sleeps in a freaking coffin!

5. The Innocents: Deborah Kerr plays hide-and-seek with the creepy children she's in charge of...and someone or something appears on a window...

4. The Fly (my review): OMG, this film. I chose the ending, when the doctor is trapped and asks for help with his tiny voice.

3. Psycho: Anthony Perkin's horrible secret is revealed.

2. Wait until dark: Blind Audrey Hepburn thinks the fight with a sadistic criminal is over... (The moment starts at 01.17 in case you want to skip the explanation...oh, and you can check my stop motion version of this moment)

1. The Night of the Hunter: Robert Mitchum appears inside the house where Lillian Gish is protecting the children...and then he escapes screaming like a wild animal. Or a creature from hell.

(There's no video for this exact scene).

BONUS: My 7-year-old self picked this short film from Disney:

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYBODY!

I love when classic actors appear on the front pages

TRANSLATION: The mythical Audrey Hepburn returns to Rome with an exhibition of her life in that city

The news of the exhibition Audrey A Roma, that kicked off today in...well, Rome, made it to the front page of one of the most important newspaper here in Chile.

I'd love to go! They're gonna be showcasing awesome pictures and items (just realized that the Vespa was green...I always imagined it light blue) and rare videos. Part of the proceeds will go to the UNICEF.

More details at the always informative The Fabulous Audrey Hepburn.

5 movies in which the tragedy was caused by chance

Yesterday I was re-watching Waterloo Bridge with Vivien Leigh and Robert Taylor and started thinking that there aren't many movies in which the main characters, for unexpected reasons completely out of their control, succumb or have to face epic tragedies. These films are unfair with their characters, because even when they're trying to do things the best they can, they end up living a bitter life...or not living at all.

Here's the list of movies I could think of:

WARNING: MASSIVE SPOILER ALERT.

Ben-Hur:
Random thing that happens and screws everything: While watching the arrival of new Roman generals, Tirzah, Judah's sister, leans over a loose tile and this tile almost hits an important guy.

The result: The family is imprisoned, ill-treated, separated, the mother and sister are infected with leprosy, Judah must work in a galley as a slave...etc. The only different thing with this one, is they all are reunited in the end and saved by not other than Jesus himself.

The wrong man:

Random thing that happens and screws everything: People mistakenly identify Henry Fonda as a robber.

The result: Henry is prosecuted, he loses his family, his wife ends up in a mental hospital, he starts thinking he's guilty, etc. The ending, with titles, indicates that they were reunited and lived happily ever after, but you end up with a bitter feeling anyway.

Romeo and Juliet: I know, I know, but I had to add it!

Random thing that happens and screws everything: There's a plague in some town, so the letter from Juliet explaining all the super plan to Romeo is not delivered.

The result: Romeo thinks Juliet is really dead and kills himself; then Juliet wakes up and sees her lover dead and kills herself too. I'm sorry, I know this must be shocking news to you!

To each his own: Well, this movie has one of the most "AAAARGHHH!" moments in the history of cinema. To the understand it you must know that:

• Olivia de Havilland lost her handsome lover in the war. 
• She is pregnant but she doesn't tell anyone.
• To avoid all the criticism of her stupid gossipy town, she makes a plan.
• She asks a nurse to leave her baby at a neighbor door. This neighbor has so many kids that's just fed up with them. She will go there and "adopt" the new infant.
• Everything goes swimmingly. The neighbor has approved the adoption and Olivia goes to buy some clothes.

Random thing that happens and screws everything: JUST in that moment, the wife of a friend of Olivia loses her baby during labor, so the mentioned neighbor decides to give the child to them.

The result: Olivia must live a bitter life away from her kid.

Waterloo Bridge:

Random thing that happens and screws everything: Vivien Leigh reads the newspaper and sees the name of her fiancé among the "fallen officers". The only problem is that the information was WRONG and was the product of a lost dog tag.

The result: Depressed Vivien can't find any formal job to survive so she becomes a prostitute (and loses contact with her mother in law); then, when she discovers her fiancé was alive, she thinks she's not longer worthy of him, so she kills herself.

So, that's it... can you think in more movies in which random, external, practically "trivial" factors like those mentioned make the main characters succumb? 

PS: Movies like An affair to remember don't count, because the whole dilemma is very well solved at the end. 

Confession (I hope you don't be shocked)

Well, people, I have a confession to make.

Uhm...

I don't know how to tell you this...

But...

...here it goes...

I haven't...

...seen...

...an old movie....

...since...

...last month, when I watched The Naked Edge for Sophie's Blogathon....

OK, I said it. But it's not my fault. Sometimes I just feel like watching modern stuff and there are two BBC series that have me hooked: Lark Rise to Candleford and Downton Abbey. If you haven't heard about them, well, I don't know in which planet are you living in.

LARK RISE TO CANDLEFORD: Laura, the girl, goes from a small village to work in a town.

What I like about the first one, is that they were able to make interesting episodes based on small, everyday stories set in a 19 century English town. It's very refreshing to see different people dealing with common problems (most of the time) and trying to help each other.

Some of the characters are really interesting and most of the actors are excellent (my favorite is Dorcas Lane, the postmistress and Laura's boss played by Julia Sawalha). The settings and costumes are great and you start getting fond of Lark Rise and Candleford.

I couldn't pick one favorite character.

And well, Downton Abbey is beyond awesome. It follows the everyday life of an aristocratic family and the people working for them starting with the news of the sink of the Titanic. The Crawleys have to look for an heir since they have three daughters and laws were stupid.  

Historical events and political changes will make the family and workers see things differently. Maggie Smith, Hugh Bonneville and Brendan Coyle are the only actors from the cast I knew before watching this series, but the rest is very, very good too. With many different and interesting characters, great scripts, beautiful costumes and settings, and marvelous music, this series has been a joy to watch.

So, that's it. Excuses presented :) Any thoughts?

New clip of Hitchcock's first film "The white shadow"

Source

Today, the Spanish newspaper El País is exclusively sharing a (very brief) clip of Alfred Hitchcock's first film, The white shadow. Even when the official director was Graham Cutts, it was practically made by Hitch when he was 24.

It was considered lost until this year: a collector had the cans of the film and it was developed and restored. But it wasn't complete: the cans just contained 43 minutes of the movie.

Shown last week for the first time at The Pordenone Silent Film Festival, and according to the surprisingly terrible redaction of the story by this prestigious newspaper, the movie is about two sisters who are identical twins, but one of them is good and the other, bad.

The bad one meets an American man in a ship and he falls in love with her. But she is so bad that sends her sister to meet the guy. Then, at some point, she also escapes from home, causing the death of her mother and the ruin of her dad. The good one goes after her, and finds her in London, working in a club and surrounded by men. 

That's when the movie is interrupted. But it seems that according to the script, the love story continues this way: the good sister falls in love with the man. But he still believes that this woman is the same he met in the ship. The good girl falls sick and before dying she asks the bad one to replace her. It seems that she gives her sister her "white shadow", a good spirit and redemption. Now the bad girl is kind and lives with her man happily ever after.

Or at least that's what I got from this article.

There's no embedding option for this clip, so watch it here.

Happy Birthday Julie Andrews!

Thanks for years of joy :)

Paul Newman: In memoriam

Paul Newman

January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008

I remember,

5. His blue eyes.

4. His movies.

3. His radiant personality.

2. The passion he had for the art he performed.

1. The great love he professed for his wife, Joanne.

0. His smile.

How do you remember him?

"Duel in the Sun": In my own words (PART II)

Previously on "Duel in the Sun"

• Tanned Jennifer Jones suffers from a bipolar love: looks in love with Charming Joseph Cotten but goes wild with Bad Gregory Peck.
• Lillian Gish looks fragile.
• Selznick, Vidor and the dozen writers forgot this one was a western.
• Lionel Barrymore always preferred Bad Gregory, but now he exiled Charming Joseph from his ranch
  
• Bad Gregory visited Tanned Jennifer one night. And we literally see lightnings and hear thunders...

Poor Charming Joseph says goodbye to his mom, Fragile Lillian Gish. She's very sad and looks like a little bird. Joseph wants to say goodbye to Jennifer, too. He politely knocks the door.

Silence.

Then Tanned Jennifer asks him to go away.

Then Bad Gregory invites him to come in.

Then another person talks from the inside. A dog barks. A whale...makes its sound. A fourth person laughs...Just kidding. Just the whale...made its sound.

Poor Charming and Lawyer Joseph. He knows what lightnings and thunders and this music mean in a movie. He enters the room. Jennifer cries, Bad Gregory smiles. He politely apologizes for the interruption and walks away.

Jennifer goes after him. She literally says that Bad Gregory is hard to resist and she's trash. Joseph says that's too bad because he loved her and wanted her with him. But he won't forget this night of thunders and lightnings. He goes away, but before leaving the ranch, he politely slaps his brother Gregory.

Some minutes later...Jennifer...I don't know how to describe this scene, see for yourself...

TEST: SCENE COMPREHENSION. In the previous scene... (multiple selections allowed)

Fifth day at her new home (can you believe so much time has passed? Time flies)

Jennifer Jones just freed her wild passion for Bad Gregory. Now she's a big fan of him and every two seconds gives him weird looks and assumes weird poses that according to her acting codes means she's very attracted/but regrets it.

Now she's the one that wants to go to the pond. But when she sees lightnings and thunders approaching she refuses to stay in the storm. She wants to marry Bad Gregory before. They decide they will announce they engagement in a super barbecue Lionel Barrymore is organizing.  

The day of the barbecue

So many things happening.

1. Tanned Jennifer is very happy. She's wearing a pretty white dress. 

2. Lillian Gish is informed that Charming Joseph has become a very successful personality in the city.

3. Bad Gregory is calming down his pops Lionel: he's just fooling around with Jennifer Jones.

Bad Gregory starts dancing with Jennifer Jones. She asks him when are they telling the happy news. And Bad Gregory is all "what happy news? what are you talking about?".

They go to discuss to a little office.

In this little office Jennifer's dreams and hopes are completely shattered. Basically Bad Gregory tells her to stop nagging, he won't marry her, and she can go away if she wants and adds some racist comment

Jennifer Jones leaves. Not really, she goes to the garden. And cries. Then a man approaches. He's a new worker and says that he doesn't really like balls (dances). He looks like an old Joseph Cotten:

Jennifer decides he's a good guy...to make Gregory jealous. So they go back and dance to the techno music while Bad Gregory looks at them (trying to copy their techno moves).

Some days later...

Old Joseph Cotten Look-Alike, the worker, asks Jennifer to marry him. He's really a good guy. He offers her a modest but happy life. She says yes.

More days later...

The Real Charming Joseph Cotten arrives in a train...with his Charming Bride. Some cowboy notifies him of Jennifer's situation: she is going to get marry the worker ...only if Bad Gregory wants to.

Then one day....

Apparently Bad Gregory didn't want to: she shoots Old Joseph Cotten Look-Alike. Now he's an outlaw and a reward is offered for his capture. In the funeral, we can see in Jennifer Jones' eyes she wants revenge.

In the ranch...

Lionel Barrymore is arguing with Lillian Gish. She looks more fragile than ever. They blame each other. He wants Jennifer out; she says she will stay as much as her.*Coughs*

Then in some secret place...

Lionel asks Gregory to stay away for awhile. The situation is serious. He asks his son to take care of himself.

Then in some railroad...

Bad Gregory didn't quite get the message. From the words of his dad he understood: "provoke an accident in the train and make it explode". So he does.

Then he visits Jennifer in the ranch.

In the ranch...

Jennifer is definitely bipolar, she forgot everything about her revenge and wants Gregory back.

The sheriff or someone like that arrives to the ranch asking for Bad Gregory. Lionel doesn't know, Fragile Lillian Gish doesn't know, Jennifer doesn't know...well, she knows that Bad Gregory is hiding behind her door, but she doesn't want to say. 

When he's safe, he decides to go away again to Mexico. She wants to go with him. He doesn't agree: he just want to visit her some nights and nothing more.

Jennifer is being treated like trash (again). But now she takes the pieces of her shattered pride and puts them together. She won't accept this situation anymore, she's a good girl and her pride means a lot to her...she...

Just kidding...she says she won't talk about marriage anymore, that she will be his servant, that she can't love another man...and takes his leg, while he walks, cleaning the floor with her pjs (now she has pajamas)...

PLEASE, TAKE ME WITH YOU, BAD GREGORY!

Bad Gregory kicks her and then almost hits her head with door when he leaves (Jennifer's health: -4). She stays on the cold floor, abandoned.

In Lillian Gish's bedroom...

She's dying. I told you she looked too fragile and delicate.

Lionel is there, and Lillian points out that is the first time he's been there since she tried to abandon him, many years ago. He starts getting angry, while she starts dying in a very silent-film-way. Then he recognizes that everything was his fault and gives a long speech about how much he really loved her...while dying Lillian crawls to his side.


*Dies*

Some days later...

Charming Joseph wants to see her sick mother. The only problem is that she passed away already. Now he talks to Jennifer. He understands everything. He wants to take care of her. With his bride.

In some near town

Charming Joseph Cotten receives a message from Bad Gregory: he's pissed off because he took Jennifer away. If she doesn't go back, he'll be there next morning.

The next morning...

Gregory arrives. He orders Joseph to take a revolver, he will start shooting from a distance anyway.

Joseph doesn't take the revolver and Gregory shoots him from a distance anyway.

*Falls wounded*

(You think that was the most boring DUEL IN THE SUN ever)

Then in front of a fake painting of mountains

Lionel Barrymore recognizes before a friend that Bad Gregory was bad and Charming Joseph was good.

Back in town....

Tanned Jennifer meets the Charming Bride. She realizes Charming Bride is very kind and the perfect wife for Charming Joseph (he's recovering from the attack). She also realizes she had forgotten her revenge. She wants it NOW!

DUEL IN THE SUN!

Tanned Jennifer gets more tanned, because she wants to "meet" Gregory before he crosses the border, so she rides her super horse under the hot sun.

She arrives, and Gregory says hello from the hill...

She shoots him.

She thinks he *died* and kind of regrets it. But he didn't die and starts calling her names. Now she's pissed off again and wants more revenge. She starts climbing the hill and very cleverly stands in a rock in her discrete red skirt.

He shoots her.

She's wounded. Her chest is bleeding. She falls, hitting the dusty rocks (Jennifer's health: -500).

He thinks she *died*. He first smiles but then kind of regrets it. Starts calling her name.

He receives another shot for an answer.
He starts crawling in her direction. Then she starts crawling in his direction to finish her work.

When Jennifer, with her bleeding heart has crawled 70% of the hill (according to Imdb real Jennifer Jones' health: -20). Gregory calls her: he's really dying.

Now Jennifer forgets everything again. She forgets that she was there to kill him. And now she "rushes" by his side.

By the time she reaches Gregory's dying place, she's dying too.

He: Let me hold you
She: Hold me.

They hold and *die*

(Jennifer's health: N/A).

THE END.

Happy Birthday Claudette Colbert: my fave scene, what's yours?

If this post sounds like a deja vu to you, is because I accidentally pressed enter while I was writing the title and Blogger, that is really sensitive these days, published it.

Anyway, today is Claudette's birthday, here are some pictures from the party:

I invite you to discuss your favorite scene(s) from her filmography. I couldn't decide, so I picked/uploaded a scene that wasn't in Youtube, from one of the films she did with Fred MacMurray, No time for love.

I didn't like the movie overall (mini review), but this is a very memorable moment. You see, Claudette is trying to avoid a fight between some workers. Her solution: organizing a musical chair game...see what happens:

What are your favorite scenes from her? You can describe them or post the link to Youtube :)

My posts about Claudette's filmograhy and more:

• Sleep my love (1948), like Gaslight, but less memorable
• Since you went away (1944), which I found flawless.
• Poll: Claudette reached position #9 in Actresses that make you laugh the most poll.
• Arise, My Love (1940), a great film, in my post on movies directed by Mitchell Leisen
• Hilarious Midnight (1939) in the same post.
• So proudly we hail (1943) or one of the best movies I saw last year.
• The egg and I (1947) , a very funny movie

Ode to a minor character: Prissy from 'Gone with the Wind'

In this new series (I hope it survives my volatile interest threshold) I highlight a minor character from a movie, someone that became memorable to me because of the actor, or the lines, or the impact in the main story, whatever.

Pic from this awesome site.

Well, people associate Gone with the wind with a lot of characters. Obviously, if we were playing the game When I say, you say, and I say Gone with the Wind, most of the answers would be: Scarlett O'Hara, Rhett Butler; maybe  Melanie, Mammy, Oh-Ashley, etc, etc.

This film has a huge list of secondary characters, really. But one of my favorites appears in few scenes and then disappears (seriously, where does she go?): Prissy. Butterfly McQueen played Prissy so, so well, that you wish you could cross the screen and maybe shake her. But then Vivien slaps her and you feel sorry for her.

Prissy has to be one of the most annoying women ever. I mean, first she lies about her qualifications, saying that she knows everything about babies. Then, when poor Melanie is suffering the worst pains known by human beings, she goes very, very, very slowly to get a doctor...and comes back without him...and SINGING! Then she panics, recognizes that knows nothing about babies and barely helps Scarlett.

But the worst thing comes when she's describing the situation to Rhett and Belle Watling: according to her, she assisted Melanie...and Scarlett helped her...a little! Not to mention the wagon travel, when she whines more than the child...

I did this one sometime ago.

She's annoying, but if we analyze her behavior, we could forgive her. A little. Prissy is a person that lives in her own world, so she can be loudly crying in the real world one minute, and in the next calmly collecting flowers, chasing rainbows and humming a tune in her mind. She believes her own fantasies and this fact has brought her problems (she mentions her mom used to hit her because of her lies). But her illusions are not crazy: in her mind she sees herself as a prepared woman, someone helpful, someone that people can rely on. Ironically, the effect is that Prissy is a person that doesn't know how to properly react to difficult situations, she's still a girl that puts her needs above everyone else's.

Butterfly had the perfect timing and a terrific sense of comedy. For example, after Scarlett reprimands her because she didn't find the doctor, she dramatically cries two secs and then starts humming again and playing with her apron. She makes her character go from reality to daydreaming in a blink of an eye, in a hilarious, believable way. Because of this awesome portrayal and the richness of the character, Prissy becomes the epitome of uselessness. Every time I think that someone is not rising to the occasion, I think of the figure of Prissy. 

I want this music box!!

I also think that Butterfly's portrayal allowed the character to go beyond any racial issue if we look at it in a global context; she allowed Prissy to become an iconic personage in film history and not stay just as another racially stereotyped character, like the ones the studios used to create. It doesn't really matter if Prissy is black, white or green, what prevails is her naive essence.

Butterfly McQueen was an awesome woman. She wanted to be a nurse, then decided for acting; she did this role when she was 29 because she wanted the money to pay the furniture; then tired of being offered just stereotyped characters, she ended her film career. She studied political science and aged graciously. It's sad her life ended tragically.

Butterfly was classy. See this clip (till the end):

Ideas?

What dies when famous people die?

The past days have been really sad here, in the most southern country in the world. Last Friday, a plane with 21 passengers aboard went from the continent to an island. When they tried to land, something happened, and the plane crashed in the sea. 21 people missing.

And you know why they were trying to get to Juan Fernández island? 

Because they were in a social campaign to rebuild Chile after the 2010 earthquake. They had been there before and the small population living there was grateful. Some of the passengers were part of the Air Force, some of them were part of the Ministry of Culture, some of them were part of a social movement dedicated to rebuild the country, and some of them were part of a popular TV morning show.

By now, they have found 14 victims. Some of them were not even the complete bodies. The accident was too violent, the plane was smashed to smithereens.

One of the most famous passengers, 44 years old TV show presenter, Felipe Camiroaga was identified yesterday (I think he looked a bit like Clark Gable). TV viewers have felt his death in a very deep way, like he was a relative or something.  Hundreds of people have visited the TV station building and lit candles, left flowers and letters. I've seen women and men crying for him: for more than 20 years Felipe was part of their lives, bringing good vibes, humor and a natural presence to their daily routines.

That's the power of TV and cinema.

In the way I see things, when you die, your existence just stops. No more emotions, no more worries, no more happiness, no more sadness, no more nothing. So, the people that stays is really crying for something they have lost. For something they're missing. For something they fear. A sense of impotence and injustice is also there.

And when famous people perish, you also feel that death is something real, that it can reach everybody, no matter how ubiquitous the screens seem to make them.

This accident has made me think in Carole Lombard's death, who died in a mission, fighting for her beliefs and what she thought it was correct and right. Death was waiting for her too, in the heights, in the mountains. 

When famous people die, a bit of hope dies with them. But we, the survivors, can extend their existence with the memory. And, in the end, famous people are lucky: the screens help us to make them somehow immortal.

-------
PS: In the last show Felipe did, a few hours before his death, he interviewed Nick Vujicic, an Australian guy that was born without arms and legs and now he travels the world giving a message of hope. You can watch the interview here: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4.

Sometimes I feel like Jacqueline Bisset...

...in Two For the Road.

Yeah, not because I got chickenpox and can't run away with Albert Finney, allowing Audrey Hepburn to make her move and finally marry the guy.....

....but because I just got a very mediocre grade in a work for which I spent days researching and designing. 

ARRRRGHHHHH!

That's all, mean universe.

PS: Stay tuned, this Friday we have another very special guest picking her favorite movie items in If I had to keep 4. Very cool items indeed :)

PPS: I'm really sorry for the randomness of this post.

PPPS: Did you know that Jacqueline Bisset was partially dubbed in Two for the road?

6 of my favorite Ava Gardner movies...

...were reviewed on my guest post for Sophie at Waitin' On a Sunny Day.

It was quite a challenge for me to pick 6: I already had some favorites, but I just had seen her most known films. So I watched more movies, like The little hut (weird comedy), The bribe with Robert Taylor, East Side, West Side with Barbara Stanwyck and The sun also rises with Ty Power &; Errol Flynn. See which of these titles made it to the final list.

Check it here!



....

"I love Lucy": breaking Language & Cultural Barriers

(This post is part of the Loving Lucy Blogathon hosted by True Classics)

One of the things from I love Lucy that stand out for me, is the fact they included speaking another language, español in this case, as a recurrent situation. The fact that Ricky Ricardo is Cuban means that there's a cultural barrier between him and Lucy. But I like the way they approached to these barriers throughout the series: it was a problem for both of them, not just for one of them; it meant that Lucy wasn't able to speak a second language and that she didn't know much about her husband's country, and it meant that Ricky had to struggle to improve his English.

Many hilarious scenes were born from this subject. Remember when Lucy recreates "Cuba" for Ricky to feel at home? It's obvious that she mixed a lot of the general ideas about what Latin America is: ponchos, donkeys, Brazilian songs, lots of kids...

This is a common problem in a lot of American movies: the portray of different cultures is based on prejudice, stereotype and lack of research. Why I don't mind this in the case of I love Lucy? Because the screenwriters decided to make it evident by exaggerating the elements and turning it into something positive by showing that Lucy is making an effort to help her foreign husband.

Another of my favorite scenes is when Lucy meets her mother-in-law and then when she tries to explain her what they're having for supper. Here, both women are in the same situation, trying to help each other, because both have a lack of knowledge:

Another recurrent situation is Lucy making fun of Ricky's accent and difficulty to express correctly what he's trying to say (from 00.00 to 01.26):

But at the same time, there are many times where Lucy simply cannot follow her husband or his friends and she's equally lost and depends only on him to understand what the heck is going on:

In one episode they discuss their language problem. Lucy says she wants her child to speak perfect English; Ricky says his English is good, so Lucy tests him. Even when things start bad for poor Ricky, in the end, there's no winning figure: English's rules are weird sometimes.

In another episode, the Ricardos visit Cuba and the roles are reversed. Lucy meets her husband's family for the first time, but because she doesn't speak Spanish she feels uncomfortable and nervous. Little Ricky, on the other hand, enjoys the advantages of speaking more than a language:

So, at the end of the day what matters the most in this show, are those elements that bring people together, no matter where are they from. Another example of this is when Ricky tells the child The Little Red Riding Hood (La Caperucita Roja) and we all understand what he's saying, even when it's in Spanglish.

There are universal things that go beyond any language/cultural barrier. I love Lucy understands that and work on that with respect and fairness (and a great sense of humour), and I think that's one of  things that made it so successful around the globe.

Childhood memories: "Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken" (1991)

(Today I'll make an exception and I'll talk about a more recent film).

I think we all had a movie obsession when we were children. My youngest brother used to watch every.single.day Disney's Robin Hood after kindergarten. Even when they're cool, the rest of my brothers and I couldn't stand the songs anymore. But he arrived with his little backpack, kneeled down in front of the TV and put the famous VHS. 

I had a movie obsession too. I think I was 7 or 8 and I did the same: arrived home from school and watched Disney's Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken over and over. The problem was I didn't own the VHS; my mom rented it from Errol's (I feel so old). To me that was the perfect movie: it had horses and a main character I admired. It's the (very fictionalized) story of Sonora Webster Carver, a famous horse diver in the 20s, 30s and 40s:

Basically, the horses ran through a ramp, the girls waited on top and then mounted the horses and jumped from the heights into a pool. I've read that the horses didn't suffer, but the girls could easily suffer accidents.

The movie starts when young Sonora (awesomely played by Gabrielle Anwar, the actress from the most famous tango scene in movie history) wants to leave her bossy aunt and find something exciting to do with her life. She finds an ad in the newspaper asking for a girl to ride diving horses in Atlantic City. She leaves and in her journey she finds love, a great passion, meets interesting people and suffers a tragedy.

I remember I loved the scenes that showed the Atlantic City fair; with all those attractions and food and nice music. I loved how Sonora tried once and again to learn how to properly mount the horses, to convince people that she was adequate for the job, that stubbornness was so cool to watch when you were a kid: if you think you could do it, try, try, try...Here's the opening scene:

Even when it's a Disney movie, the tone very adult. People suffer, people make mistakes, there's an important character that dies, there's jealousy and pain. They also did a wonderful work portraying the times of the Depression and the settings and the horse diving show look very real. If you don't know about Sonora or how it exactly ends, I recommend you to check the movie to find out.

It's a very engaging movie and even when the real Sonora didn't like it because it was too fictionalized, the 8 years old me really recommends it :)  You can watch it on Youtube.

Did you have a movie obsession as a kid?

Enjoying in the new projector: "The Apartment" (1960)

A week ago my dad arrived home saying he just needed to have a projector. We got one and, guys, it's awesome! I mean, it's really like going to the movies, but in your living room. I thought that maybe the image wouldn't be great, but it's perfect.

We first saw The Beauty and the Beast (by the way, did you know that the diamond edition or gold or whatever includes Human Again a song that was cut in the original version??...for a Disney VHS girl like me, it was quite a surprise), then The Barefoot Contessa (like I said over Twitter, ironically Bogie never looked shorter :) ) and today I picked The Apartment. Take a look:

I was watching from that angle because it's chilly in Chile and I needed to be close to the chimney. I would write a review of the movie but I won't because everybody knows it and loves it and I couldn't possibly say something new...well, maybe I could but I bombarded you with reviews this week (5 here and 5 more here) and I don't want you to hate me :)

The important thing is that if you're thinking in buying a new device to watch movies, I really recommend a projector. Or you all could visit me and we could watch some classics. You bring the pop corn (and don't forget your coat).