Something Happened with the Final Four Polls...

I looked last night and saw that 50 voters had voted on the matches and everything was fine. I check it out today and now it's showing only 6 votes. Don't know what happened but I will have to void this poll and restart it again. I do know that Leigh and Dunne both had big leads, but I have to redo it to be fair. I can't believe this happened so close to being the end. Oh well, let's carry on and still make this a great final four. I know it sucks but I can't account for who all voted and who didn't. So let's try this again starting now and I will have the polls open thru Saturday 5pm EST. Sorry about this to all my followers. But please come back and vote if you can.

Me and Mama Partridge Sharing A Birthday

I'm in good company on my birthday as actress Shirley Jones shares the same date. Star of such classic films as Oklahoma!, The Music Man, Carousel, and Elmer Gantry (for which she won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress). But most people know her from the hit 1970's TV series, The Partridge Family. So happy birthday to me and Shirley. The theme song fits my day perfectly.

The CLASSIC MOVIE ACTRESS FINAL FOUR is all set.....

After a thrilling month of matches, we have our final four women who will compete to decide the favorite classic movie goddess of All Good Things. Irene Dunne, Vivien Leigh, Grace Kelly and Natalie Wood battled their way to this final stop of the tournament and it wasn't easy. Irene, a 10th seed,  had to face such actresses in the silent/30's era such as Clara Bow, Barbara Stanwyck, Claudette Colbert and my fave Carole Lombard. She beat them all. There was a problem during her match with Lombard that somehow the poll allowed users to vote more than once and the match had to be started over again to be fair to all involved. And I believe the right actress eventually won, that being Dunne.

In the 40's era, Vivien Leigh was seeded 4th and battled Ann Sheridan, Lauren Bacall, Bette Davis (in which Leigh made a stunning comeback, down by as many as 10 votes at one time), and Ingrid Bergman, which had a thrilling 33-31 finish.

In the 50's era Grace Kelly road was no less easier as she squared off against Anne Baxter, Ava Gardner, Audrey Hepburn (one of the best matches of the tournament as Grace outlasted Audrey 28-26) and finally Debbie Reynolds.

And finally in the just finished 60's era, Natalie had to beat actresses Claudia Cardinale, Shirley Jones, Julie Andrews and finally Doris Day. Natalie overcame the largest tournament deficit to post the comeback win 31-29.

So our final four shapes up with two great semi-final matches as listed below. Voting begins tomorrow morning and will run through Friday night 5pm EST. The winners of those matches will face each other in the Championship Final beginning Saturday and run till Monday 5pm EST. Good luck to all four women involved and I hope everyone will vote on the matches even if their favorite actress is not part of the final four. I'm still playing and Carole Lombard has long since been knocked out of the tournament.

MATCH 1

4 GRACE KELLY (50's Era Winner)

VS

10 IRENE DUNNE (30's Era Winner)

------------------------------------------

MATCH 2

2 NATALIE WOOD (60's Era Winner)

VS

4 VIVIEN LEIGH (40's Era Winner)



Natalie Wood has an unbelievable comeback and earns the last spot in THE FINAL FOUR

Natalie Wood was down by as many as 11 votes against Doris Day in the 60's era final match. She made a blistering comeback today to win 31-29 and earn the last spot in The Classic Movie Actress Final Four. Congratulations to Natalie and better luck next year Doris, who if she had won, would have been the lone top seed to make it to the final four. As it is, Natalie Wood is the highest ranked actress seeded 2nd. She will face Vivien Leigh in one of the semi-final matches which will begin tomorrow. In the other match Irene Dunne will battle Grace Kelly. I will have a post later on detailing the Final Four. It has been a wild and exciting tournament and we finally have arrived at the last four actresses left.

Natalie can't believe it that she is in the Final Four...Congratulations!

GAME ON - Natalie Wood stages a rally

At first Doris Day was in complete control of this match, the final 60's era bout between her and Natalie Wood. She was up by as many as 11 points during day 1. Well Natalie has made an impressive rally and now the  lead is 1 in favor of Day. The score is 25-24 and it's anybody's game now. The poll will be open for 12 hours today to decide who will be going to the final four. So if you haven't voted yet, please do stop by and cast your decision for either Doris or Natalie.

Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and Marlon Brando are favorites at my church

We have a weekly Monday meeting at my church with all the men to discuss things in the church and events going around the world. And it's rare that we talk about classic movies during these meetings. I figured I was the only classic movie lover there. But while we was waiting on other members to show up, we started a conversation that brought a smile to my face. I brought up the recent passing of Elizabeth Taylor and that opened up the floodgates. Everyone there loved Liz and the concensus favorite film of hers was Cleopatra. Mine is Cat On A Hot Tin Roof. We talked about her marriages and her relationship with Richard Burton. And it was a great discussion. That soon led to talk about Burton as well, as we all agreed that the man was powerhouse of an actor. One of his movies we talked about was The Robe and that got a big response from us all. That led to Marlon Brando and his performance in Julius Caesar. One of the older men of the church, who is in his 70's was very jubilant while talking about that movie as he would watch that film as a kid and pretended to be Mark Antony (Brando's role) walking around his home in bed sheets. We all got a laugh out of that one. It was an unexpected time I had tonight discussing classic movies and stars at church. Then we started on about church business. But the night was a success as far as I am concerned.

BEWARE THESE WOMEN! Festival in April

April brings a theme about women in film you would not want to cross. It's called Beware These Women! and will take place over three blogs: Noir & Chick Flicks, And Then They Start To Sparkle and All Good Things. My good friends Dawn and Irene have decided to participate and we will focus on films that show the not so kind side of women. Among them will be Leave Her To Heaven, All About Eve, Mildred Pierce, The Women and lots more. There will be reviews, photos, video, commentary and our little blend of madness to celebrate these dangerous and sometimes crazy women. Look forward to some catfights, confrontations, and arguments galore. All month long. Please do join us.

http://dawnschickflicks.blogspot.com/

http://andthentheystartsprkling.blogspot.com/

Sunday Afternoon Tea with Elizabeth Taylor and Jane Powell

Here is a lovely picture of friends Liz Taylor and Jane Powell enjoying some afternoon tea...

Star Rankings For The Week Ending Sunday March 27th, 2011

I thought I would start listing a top 10 weekly ranking of the stars I talked about the most or watched their movies or generally were at the top of my lists.

1.  ELIZABETH TAYLOR
2.  JEAN HARLOW
3.  CAROLE LOMBARD
4.  JAMES STEWART
5.  GRACE KELLY
6.  DEAN MARTIN
7.  AUDREY HEPBURN
8.  STEVE MCQUEEN
9.  NATALIE WOOD
10. DORIS DAY

With the passing of Elizabeth Taylor this week, she was at the top of everyone's lists and deservingly so. She will be definitely missed. Harlow was in the ranking again as she is TCM's star of the month and I watched several of her films during the week including Wife vs Secretary. Steve McQueen had a birthday this past week and I celebrated that with a post and re-viewing of Bullitt. And several other actresses made the list due to their continued strong runs in my classic movie actress tournament including Grace Kelly, Doris Day, Audrey Hepburn and Natalie Wood. This list will change from week to week depending on what movies I watch and which posts I write on my blog.

A New Blog Everyone Should Be Following: The SILVER SCREEN AFFAIR

I came across this new blog because the author Emily recently began following my Screwball Cinema blog. I checked it out and it is awesome. She has done several posts of the fantastic styles of classic cinema and one great Claudette Colbert photo. Plus other great posts as well, inlcuding ones on the films Houseboat and Written on the Wind. Take a minute to head over to Emily's new blog and I promise you will enjoy it.
http://thesilverscreenaffair.blogspot.com/

It's No.1 vs No. 2 (DORIS DAY and NATALIE WOOD) in the 60's Era Final Match

The final era yielded the first no. 1 vs no. 2 match and it should be a great one. Doris Day became the only top seed to make it to her respective era final match after a 29-20 point victory over 5th seeded Shirley MacLaine. No other top seed from the first three era's made it that far as Greta Garbo, Bette Davis, and Audrey Hepburn all lost before their era's final match. Which is a surprise in itself. Day will be facing 2nd seeded Natalie Wood, who has been a fan favorite of this era, after she beat Mary Poppins herself, Julie Andrews 27-21. The polls will be open this morning and run through Tuesday 4pm EST. Whoever wins this match goes on to the final four. Good luck to both women.

1960'S ERA FINAL MATCH

1 DORIS DAY

VS

2 NATALIE WOOD

My Favorite Carole Lombard Movies

Since Carole is my classic movie goddess of the month, I wanted to list my favorite films of hers. She is my all time favorite actress who I think was the queen of screwball comedies. But also a great dramatic actress as well. Here are my favorite films of hers:

MR. AND MRS. SMITH (1941) This delightful battle of the sexes that was surprisingly directed by master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock. It cast Carole and Robert Montgomery as a bickering couple who learn they are not really married. So now thinking they have to do it all over again, they wonder if it's worth it. This is my favorite film of Carole that she did for no other reason than it's a simple and fun little comedy. Lombard and Montgomery mesh well too. Great directing job by Hitch.

MY MAN GODFREY (1936) Carole is perfect as the dizzy socialite Irene Bullock who hires a vagrant played by William Powell) to be her family's butler. One of the best screwball comedies ever made. Lombard showed that her and Powell still had a great chemistry, considering they had just divorced a few years earlier.

TO BE OR NOT TO BE (1942) The last film Carole made before her tragic death is one of her best. She plays actress Maria Tura, who is part of acting troupe in Poland contending with Nazis. Jack Benny plays her husband and they make for an entertaining pair.

IN NAME ONLY (1939) Star power in the form of Carole, Cary Grant and Kay Francis as a love triangle in which Cary is in an unhappy marriage to Kay, and falls in love with Carole. I was glad my two favorite stars got together for their only film and it's a great one. Carole gets to flex her dramatic muscles and shows she can do something other than comedy.

TWENTIETH CENTURY (1934) WOW! Lombard and John Barrymore go at it as a Broadway producer and a Hollywood diva who get back together for a new play. Hilarious hi jinks ensue.

HANDS ACROSS THE TABLE (1935) Carole Lombard and Fred MacMurray team up for this delightful comedy about a manicurist and a no gooder who team up to find each their golden goose. Trouble is, they end up falling for each other. Another great comedy from Carole.

NOTHING SACRED (1937) As doomed Hazel Flagg, who thinks she is dying from radium poisoning, Carole is excellent. Fredric March is on hand as the reporter covering her story who begins to like her. Who knew that the subject of death would make such a great comedy. Well it does.

NO MAN OF HER OWN (1932) Future husband and wife Carole and Clark Gable are perfect together as a librarian and a card cheat who find out they are attracted to one another. Carole is a gas as the wild but lonely librarian while Gable is well Gable, the best there is, just oozing charm with effortless ease.

MADE FOR EACH OTHER (1939) Sentimental film that paired Lombard with Jimmy Stewart as a young couple who deal with adversity. There is some comedy mixed in with the drama and once again Carole shows she has range.

VIGIL IN THE NIGHT (1940) Straight drama that has Carole playing a nurse who has to deal with all kinds of difficulties. A different kind of film for Carole that she manages to pull off. Not an easy role for her to have played.

So there you have, ten of my favorite Carole Lombard films. I could have kept going and going but needed a cut off point. But I also love The Princess Comes Across, Supernatural, White Woman, and We're Not Dressing. Plus there are a few of her films that I have not seen like No One Man and I Take This Woman. I gotta get started on those.

The 60's Era Semi-Finals are set...

With one exception, the four quarter-final matches were over by day one. Top seed Doris Day beat 9th seed Catherine Deneuve 28-13. 2nd Natalie Wood routed 7th seed Shirley Jones 35-6. I should have ended that match as mercy. 3rd Julie Andrews defeated 6th seed Jean Simmons 23-15. The lone close match was between 4th seed Ann-Margret and 5th seed Shirley MacLaine, with Shirley winning 20-17. So below are the semi-final matches that will kick off as soon as finish this post. And run through Saturday night 6pm EST.

MATCH 1:

1 DORIS DAY

VS

5 SHIRLEY MACLAINE

--------------------------------

2 NATALIE WOOD

VS

3 JULIE ANDREWS

THE MEN are coming in JUNE

So it appears the women had all sorts of fun in my classic actress tournament this month. Well, I want to be fair and have one for the men as well. So in June, I will stage a 64 actor tournament to decide the favorite classic movie actor here on All Good Things. I have heard lots of responses from people that are looking forward to it. I have started breaking down the rankings like I did for the women and while it's still a work in progress, I do have the top 4 seeds. Once again there will be 4 brackets: silent/30's; 1940's; 1950's; and 1960's. Here are the top actors for each era:

Silent/30's: CLARK GABLE
1940's: CARY GRANT
1950's: MARLON BRANDO
1960's: PAUL NEWMAN

So for all of my female followers, just hang on for 2 more months, and the men will be here in all their glory.

Thanks Dawn for the Stylish Blogger Award

My good friend and co-blogger Dawn from Noir and Chick Flicks has passed along the Stylish Blogger Award to me. What a pleasant surprise. Me and Dawn have been friends for over a year now and co-write several blogs including Noir & Chick Flicks, Singing and Dancing Thru Time, Saddles and Spurs, and pages dedicated to Doris Day, Esther Williams and Betty Grable.

According to the rules of the award, I have to post a link to Dawn's blog and reveal seven facts about myself and pass the award along to seven other stylish bloggers:


1. I served in the army when I was in my 20's.


2. I have known my wife for 11 years, and we got married in 2008.


3. I have two dogs: a collie named Molly and a black lab named Lucy.


4. I have over 700 DVDs in my movie collection.  Could be more, but I stopped counting about 2 years ago. Most of them are classic movies.


5. I usually watch about 5 - 10 classic movies a week.


6. I can draw a little..pencil drawings.


7. Cary Grant and Carole Lombard are my favorite actor and actress.

1. Dawn http://dawnschickflicks.blogspot.com/

2. Sarah http://2009and-scene.blogspot.com/
3. Irene http://andthentheystartsprkling.blogspot.com/

4. Clara http://via-51.blogspot.com/

5. Kori http://www.blondeepisodes.com/

6. Laura http://laurasmiscmusings.blogspot.com/

7. Lotten http://lolitasclassics.blogspot.com/

Happy Birthday to the King of Cool...Steve McQueen

Happy Birthday to Steve McQueen (1930 - 1980). The iconic star of such films as Bullitt, The Getaway, The Magnificent Seven, The Thomas Crown Affair, and The Great Escape.

Two Goddesses in APRIL

Next month marks a first for All Good Things. I will have two actresses sharing blog time as my classic movie goddess. Originally I had Betty Grable as the sole CMG as I had already made the schedule out  months ago. Well I recently came into contact with actress Sharon Farrell on Facebook and we talked a little. At first I was just going to do a spotlight psot on her until I realized she has had a career that has spanned some 40 years and she needed more attention. So for the first time ever on my blog, I will have two classic movie actresses in the same month. April 1-15 will be dedicated to Betty Grable while April 16-30 will be about Sharon. Please stop by to check out things on these two wonderful actresses. Plus my friend Dawn will have a speciall post about Betty just for All Good Things. It will all be good here in April.

RIP Elizabeth Taylor (1932 - 2011)

Just learned that Academy award winning actress Elizabeth Taylor has just passed away at age 79 due to congestive heart failure. Take a moment to remember this iconic legend. We will miss you Liz.

Classic Movie Actress Tournament (1960's Era) Round Two Matches

After round one blow-outs, expect much closer matches this time around. I'm looking forward to the Ann-Margret-Shirley MacLaine matchup.

1 DORIS DAY

VS

9 CATHERINE DENEUVE

---------------------------------

4 ANN-MARGRET

VS

5 SHIRLEY MACLAINE

---------------------------------

2 NATALIE WOOD

VS

7 SHIRLEY JONES

----------------------------

3 JULIE ANDREWS

VS

6 JEAN SIMMONS

 

Classic Movie Actress Tournament (1960's Era) Round One Results

It was blowout city as most of the favorites rolled in the opening round of the 60's era matches. The most lopsided match was the battle of the Jeans: Simmons and Seberg. Simmons routed Seberg 39-5. That match was over in the first few hours. Top seed Doris Day had little trouble with Susannah York as she won 32-12. Fan favorite and my choice to win this division Natalie Wood just destroyed Claudia Cardinale 37-10. The only upset was a mild one as 9th seed Catherine Deneuve beat 8th seed Jane Fonda 24-18. Here are all the results of all the matches. Round 2 starts tomorrow morning. I will have the polls open by 7AM EST.

DORIS DAy  32  SUSANNAH YORK 12

CATHERINE DENEUVE 24 JANE FONDA 18

ANN-MARGRET 26 SANDRA DEE 15

SHIRLEY MACLAINE 28 JULIE CHRISTIE 13

NATALIE WOOD  37 CLAUDIA CARDINALE 10

SHIRLEY JONES 25 FAYE DUNAWAY 18

JULIE ANDREWS 30 JANET LEIGH       15

JEAN SIMMONS 39 JEAN SEBERG       5

GRACE KELLY wins the 1950's era and moves into the FINAL FOUR

The Final Four now has some royalty among it's competitors as Princess Grace Kelly moves into the championship finals with her win over the scrappy Debbie Reynolds 32-25. Grace joins Irene Dunne and Vivien Leigh as three of the four finalists. They await the winner of the 1960's era which concludes on Monday night barring any ties. It was a good match and was close the entire time until the last few hours when Grace finally pulled away.

Princess Grace is estastic after making it to the Classic Movie Actress Final Four