(Video) Poll Results: Irene Dunne is the funniest gal around...

The poll about the actresses that make you laugh the most is closed. Here's the countdown to #1, I embedded and linked funny scenes from each participant (you don't have to find the scene in the videos, I added a code to make them start in the relevant part). Enjoy:

# 11 (TIE)  Barbara Stanwyck (0%)

No votes for Miss Stanwyck? I mean, haven't you seen Christmas in Connecticut? Or this one?:

# 11 (TIE) Rita Hayworth (0%)

I couldn't find her hilarious job interview from Cover Girl, but she's really funny in this clip:

#10 (TIE) Paulette Goddard (4%)

I haven't seen many movies from her, plus there are not many videos with her scenes on Youtube and the ones available like the catfight from The Women can't be embedded, so I chose a tribute to her films with Charlie Chaplin:

#10 (TIE) Marlene Dietrich (4%)

 I couldn't find any clip from The lady is willing in which she's simply hilarious. I'm embedding a scene from Golden Earrings:

#9 (TIE) Claudette Colbert (6%)

I thought Claudette would get more votes, after all she was in one of the most famous comedies ever, It happened one night. I love most of her comedies with Fred MacMurray & Ray Milland. In the next scene from Arise, My love she pretends to be Ray's wife to save his life:

#9 (TIE) Marion Davies (6%)

You know my opinion about her terrific skills for comedy. So I'll just leave you with a clip from The Patsy:

#8 Una Merkel (8%)

It was a great and positive surprise to see Una getting so many votes. Youtube doesn't do her justice, there aren't many clips from her. I uploaded a bit from Evelyn Prentice:

#7 Jean Arthur (13%)

Maybe a scene from The More The Merrier? Or maybe the pig scene from Easy Living? Or maybe Jean just being funny in The talk of the town? I'll go with the discussion about percentages in Easy Living, I love when she says "You don't have to get mad just because you're so stupid"

#6  Ginger Rogers (12%)

There are hundreds of hilarious lines and moments from all the films she did with Fred, like the kiss scene from Swing Time. Ginger was so funny: maybe you love how she played a little girl in The Major and The Minor? Or her drunk scene from Stage Door? Or a funny remark from Bachelor Mother? Well, the one I chose was the catfight from Vivacious lady:

#5 (TIE) Katharine Hepburn (15%)

Again, too many funny scenes, from this one to this one. But one of my favorites is how she tries to prepare a breakfast in Woman of the Year:

#5 (TIE) Myrna Loy (15%)

I know you all have your favorite funny scene from Miss Loy. Maybe a witty line from "The Thin Man", maybe her instructions for painting the house in "Mr. Blandings build his dream house" or even her secondary role in the overall dull  Love me tonight. So I tried to choose a more unknown part, the scene where her character goes out with Clark Gable in Test Pilot (watch until they go to the cinema):

#4 Eve Arden (17%)

Wow, fourth position! I haven't seen her tv show,  but her secondary characters in Mildred Pierce, Cover Girl & One Touch of Venus were great. This clip is from the latter:

#3 (TIE) Rosalind Russell (19%)

Roz always makes me laugh. She was hilarious in The Women or practically every film she was in, from My sister Eileen to The Trouble with Angels, and obviously her performance as Hildy Johnson is one of the funniest ever. But I'm embedding a scene from Auntie Mame (when she hears the kid talking about drinks, she seems to be embarrassed but in the next second she makes a proud gesture with her face, lol):

#3 (TIE) Carole Lombard (19%)

She was so funny! I almost prefer her outtakes to the actual movies :) What did I choose? A clip from Mr. and Mrs. Smith? Or maybe from My Man Godfrey, Nothing Scared or To have and have not? No, the clip is Lombard pretending to be an annoying phone operator in Hand across the table:

# 2  Lucille Ball (37%)

Does she need any explanation? I couldn't decide what clip to choose, I had like a million in my head. One of my favorites is the Vitameatavegamin scene, but it was too long. I also love the restaurant scene with William Holden or every time she has problems with Spanish (that clip has one of the bests punch- lines ever : 'yeah, well that's what we're having'). Anyway, I finally picked this one:

#1  Irene Dunne (38%)

Finally the number one: Irene Dunne was just great at everything. Her comedies were hilarious and of course, my favorites are the ones she made with Cary Grant. In this clip from The awful truth she pretends to be an uneducated woman just to annoy Cary (my favorite part is when she says: 'don't anybody leave this room, I've lost my purse!')

And here's the official data:

 I'd love if you could leave a link to your favorite comedy scenes from these girls (or describe them) ^^

New Poll: actresses that make you laugh the most?

This is my post # 200, so I decided to choose a joyful subject for my next poll.

I'd like to know which of the next actresses make you laugh the most (you can choose more than one option on the sidebar):

Carole Lombard
Lucille Ball
Ginger Rogers
Myrna Loy
Una Merkel
Jean Arthur
Rosalind Russell
Barbara Stanwyck
Marlene Dietrich
Rita Hayworth
Irene Dunne
Katharine Hepburn
Paulette Goddard
Marion Davies
Claudette Colbert
Eve Arden

I added people that are not mainly known for their comedy skills (like Marlene Dietrich and Rita Hayworth); people who generally played secondary characters (Eve Arden, Una Merkel); and left out some actresses like Marilyn Monroe, the Bennett sisters, Miriam Hopkins, Judy Holliday, etc, because it was too crowded already :) But you can comment and give them kudos.  

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

"Cover girl" (1944) or why musicals should be more than dance sequences

Cover Girl (Charles Vidor, 1944)

Who's in it: Rita Hayworth + Gene Kelly

What it's about: A dancer (Rita) must choose between staying with her boyfriend/boss (Gene) or being a famous dancer in Brodway and marrying a millionaire...

The good: There are some great musical numbers (my favorites were Gene dancing with his reflection on the street and "Put me to the test"); Rita is really good in this one, has some great scenes (like the interview for being a cover girl and her drunk scene); Eve Arden (she played Mildred's friend in "Mildred Pierce") is hilarious at some points. 

The bad: the story wasn't very attractive; Phil Silvers's character (Genius) was really unnecessary and boring and he was like in every scene; the whole story about Rita's grandma seemed to be there just to pad out the movie; it felt kind of long; I didn't get why Gene didn't allow Rita to be a cover girl (I mean he wasn't exactly training the girls for the National Ballet Competition). 

Should I see it? Hard to say, I wouldn't see it again complete, but I loved some scenes.