Hall Of Fame Inductee for July: OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND

It's been awhile since I inducted someone into my Hall of Fame. Since January as a matter of fact. Sorry about that. But the inductee for July will make up for all those absent months. I hereby welcome Olivia de Havilland to All Good Things Hall of Fame. She earned that achievement by recently picking up her third Montie award, Best Actress for The Snake Pit (1948). She was also recently my star of the week on my FB page and is a regular mainstay here on my blog. So let's give Olivia a nice warm applause for this wonderful occasion.

Box Office Attractions: NATALIE WOOD

Since Natalie is my star of the week on my FB blog page I thought I would shed some light on her box office prowess. Here are her top ten grossing films courtesy of Wikipedia.

Natalie means business when it comes to the box office

1. WEST SIDE STORY (1961) - $43.7 million
2. BOB, CAROLE, ALICE and TED (1968) - $31 million
3. THE GREAT RACE (1965) - $25.3 million
4. SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS (1961) - $11.4 million
5. GYPSY (1962) - $11.1 million
6. BRAINSTORM (1983) - $10.2 million
7. THE SEARCHERS (1956) - $8.5 million
8. METEOR (1979) - $8.4 million
9. SEX AND THE SINGLE GIRL (1964) - $8 million
10. REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE (1955) - $7.1 million

and one more for good measure..since it is one of my all time favorite films..

11. LOVE WITH THE PROPER STRANGER (1963) - $5.2 million

Classic TV Actress of the Month: Marlo Thomas (Part 1)

Marlo Thomas is one of the most iconic TV stars of all time. I mean everyone remembers That Girl. Marlo was cast as Ann Marie, a struggling actress trying to make it in New York, juggle family and a boyfriend. She led the wave of strong and independent women later followed by Mary Tyler Moore. This month will be all about Marlo. And I start with some notable facts about her.

Born Margaret Julia Thomas on November 21, 1937 in Deerfield , Michigan.

Father is Danny Thomas (Make Room For Daddy)

Married to Phil Donahue since 1980

Attended Beverly Hills High School

She is of Lebanese and Italian origins. Her father is Lebanese and her mother is Italian. Her mother's maiden name was Rose Marie Cassaniti.

Godmother is Loretta Young

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital national outreach director.

She studied drama at HB Studio in Greenwich Village in New York City.

Has wrote several books including The Rights Words at the Right Time (2002), Free To Be...You and Me (2008) and her memoir, Growing Up Laughing in 2010.

The MONTIES (1948) - Olivia de Havilland makes history!

As promised, here I am with another edition of my Monties..and it's only been 4 weeks. The year is 1948 and a certain actress won yet another Montie to set her apart from her colleagues. Let's get to it shall we.

Add one more Montie for Livvy!

BEST FILM: 
Winner: The Snake Pit
Nominees: Easter Parade, Good Sam, The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre, The Red Shoes, State Of The Union, I Remember Mama, Johnny Belinda
Thoughts: I remember watching The Snake Pit during my teen years and was immediately captivated by this stirring drama with a knock-out performance by Olivia de Havilland. It's one of those films that is so good you're enthralled with it from the time the screen lights up with the opening credits. One of the best films ever made!

BEST DIRECTOR:
Winner: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger (The Red Shoes)
Nominees: John Huston (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre); Anatole Litvak (The Snake Pit); Frank Capra (State Of The Union); George Stevens (I Remember Mama)
Thoughts: The combination of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger in directing the fantastic film The Red Shoes edges out Anatole Litvak's The Snake Pit. They are terrific in crafting this dreamlike film that manages to take filmgoers to a wonderful place in terms of entertainment. 

BEST WRITER: 
Winner: Billy Wilder/Charles Brackett (A Foreign Affair)
Nominees: Frank Datros/Millen Brand (The Snake Pit); John Huston (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre); Emeric Pressburger (The Red Shoes); Irmgard Van Cobel/Allen Vincent (Johnny Belinda)
Thoughts: The team of Wilder and Brackett grabbed their 2nd Montie for writing. The duo previously won for 1945's The Lost Weekend, which also netted a Best Director Montie for Wilder. 

A dream pairing of Marlene and Jean had some wonderful dialogue 

courtesy of Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett

BEST ACTOR: 
Winner: Spencer Tracy (State Of The Union)
Nominees: Gary Cooper (Good Sam); Humphrey Bogart (The Treasure of The Sierra Madre); John Wayne (Red River); Lew Ayres (Johnny Belinda)
Thoughts: Believe it or not, this is the first win for Spencer Tracy. Some would argue he gave better performances but I thought he was really quite good here as Presidential candidate Grant Matthews who entire life is put under the microscope. Co-starring Katharine Hepburn, they once again deliver the goods as expected.

First step..win a Montie..next win the Presidency!

BEST ACTRESS:
Winner: Olivia de Havilland (The Snake Pit)
Nominees: Vivien Leigh (Anna Karenina); Irene Dunne (I Remember Mama); Jane Wyman (Johnny Belinda); Katharine Hepburn (State Of  The Union); Moira Shearer (The Red Shoes); Judy Garland (Easter Parade)
Thoughts: Olivia picks up her 3rd Montie in the space of 8 years reaffirming her dominance of the 40's. She won previously for The Strawberry Blonde (1941) and The Dark Mirror (1946). And her performance here as Virginia Stuart Cunningham, a woman who winds up in a mental institution is another magnificent triumph. Just edging out Irene Dunne's equally amazing performance in I Remember Mama. This also makes Olivia the first actress to win three Monties and she ties Cary Grant, who has that distinction for the men.

This is starting to seem like old hat for Olivia..

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Winner: Barbara Bel Geddes/Ellen Corby (I Remember Mama) - tie
Nominees: Agnes Moorehead (Johnny Belinda); Marlene Dietrich (A Foreign Affair); Claire Trevor (Key Largo)
Thoughts: The fact that Bel Geddes and Corby were both nominated for Oscars shows how strong their performances were. I really couldn't pick one over the other so I decided to go with a split decision. They were both terrific as Katrin and Aunt Trina respectively.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Winner: Walter Huston (The Treasure of The Sierra Madre)
Nominees: Montgomery Clift (Red River); Melvyn Douglas (Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House); Edward G. Robinson (Key Largo); Jose Ferrer (Joan Of Arc)
Thoughts: I love Walter's performance here in Sierra Madre..as the wild and woolly old prospector Howard who has seen it all and done it all and still wants to just enjoy doing some more.  He's awesome!

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Winner: THE RED SHOES
Nominees: The Naked City, Joan Of Arc, A Foreign Affair
Thoughts: Jack Cardiff provided one of the best looking films ever in The Red Shoes and wins a Montie for his effort.

BEST FILM SCORE:
Winner: EASTER PARADE (Johnny Green/Roger Edens)
Nominees: Max Steiner (Johnny Belinda); Alfred Newman (The Snake Pit); Hugo Friedhofer (Joan Of Arc)
Thoughts: Easter Parade just dances off the screen thanks to the singing of Judy Garland, the dancing of Fred Astaire and Ann Miller and the great music score done by Johnny Green and Roger Edens.

There you have it..another edition of the Monties. Quite the mixed bag too. The Snake Pit, The red Shoes and I Remember Mama each won 2 Monties. Spencer Tracy finally broke through to win his first Montie while Olivia de Havilland picked up her 3rd one, tying Cary Grant as the star with most Monties. I'll be back next month with the 1949 edition.