Talking about movies, movies, movies. I believe movies are one of the best pleasures in life. Nothing better than watching a classic film and talking with others about them. Love the classics the most but will also talk about the newer stuff too. And covering all genres: comedy, action, horror, sci-fi, drama, musicals, etc. Will also discuss TV shows, more of the classics, but occasionally the newer stuff too. And anything else that might be on my mind. Feel free to drop by and have a chat.
3rd round action begins today and here are the four category final matches of the 30's era. Good luck to all the women who have made it this far. THEY HAD FACES FINAL MATCH 1 GRETA GARBO Tourney record (6-2) 2nd round victory over Kay Francis 44-18 VS 7 LILLIAN GISH Tourney record (2-1) 2nd round victory over Gloria Swanson 38-33
********************************** PRE-CODE WOMEN FINAL MATCH 1 BARBARA STANWYCK Tourney Record (5-2) 2nd round victory over Claudette Colbert 47-25 VS 2 NORMA SHEARER Tourney Record (3-3) 2nd round victory over Marlene Dietrich 39-32
********************************* SINGERS/DANCERS FINAL MATCH 4 ELEANOR POWELL Tourney Record (2-0) 2nd round victory over Bebe Daniels VS 7 JOAN BLONDELL Tourney Record (2-1) 2nd round victory over Ruby Keeler
******************************* FUNNY LADIES FINAL MATCH 1 CAROLE LOMBARD Tourney Record (10-3) 2nd round victory over Jean Harlow VS 2 MYRNA LOY Tourney Record (6-2) 2nd round victory over Jean Arthur
Matches will run through Wednesday evening. Should be another exciting round.
The 30's era bracket of the 2013 Favorite Classic Movie Actress is in the books. And there was no upsets to speak of. There was a record-setting match though as Joan Blondell crushed Ruby Keeler 71-3 for a 95% share of the votes, a record in tourney play. I love it when new records are set. In the other singer/dancer match, Eleanor Powell danced away with a victory over Bebe Daniels 43-28 to up her maiden tourney record to a perfect 2-0. Over in the funny ladies category, top seed Carole Lombard notched her 10th tourney record with an impressive win over Jean Harlow 50-31. Carole will have a rematch with the other funny ladies winner Myrna Loy, who had a similar victory over another Jean..this one being Jean Arthur by the count of 49-30. These ladies join the other 2nd round winners Greta Garbo, Lillian Gish, Barbara Stanwyck and Norma Shearer to advance to round 3, which starts tomorrow. I'll do a post this evening detailing those matches.
Eleanor Powell kicks her heels up after another victory
ELEANOR POWELL 43-28 over BEBE DANIELS JOAN BLONDELL 71-3 over RUBY KEELER CAROLE LOMBARD 50-31 over JEAN HARLOW MYRNA LOY 49-31 over JEAN ARTHUR The other three eras wrap up their matches over the next few hours and I will post those numbers once they are done.
This evening begins the other two categories of the 30's era bracket, Funny Ladies and Singers and Dancers. Here are the match-ups. And they will run through Saturday afternoon. Some choice matches here especially in the funny ladies category between my girl Carole and Jean Harlow. And Myrna Loy vs Jean Arthur. Place your bets. FUNNY LADIES 1 CAROLE LOMBARD Tourney Record (9-3) first round victory over Margaret Dumont 58-7 VS 4 JEAN HARLOW Tourney Record (2-3) First Round victory over Margaret Sullavan 54-9 *********************************** 2 MYRNA LOY Tourney Record (5-2) First Round victory over Thelma Todd 49-25 VS
3 JEAN ARTHUR Tourney Record (2-2) First round victory over Una Merkel 37-36 ********************************** SINGERS/DANCERS 4 ELEANOR POWELL Tourney Record (1-0) First round victory over Luise Rainer 52-14 VS 8 BEBE DANIELS Tourney Record (1-0) First round victory over Shirley Temple 37-32 *********************************** 6 RUBY KEELER Tourney Record (1-1) First round victory over Mae West 42-26 VS 7 JOAN BLONDELL Tourney record (1-1) First round victory over Jeanette MacDonald 48-18
The second set of matches for the first round are done and completes a fun first week of tourney play. Here are the results for the eras that have been reported.
Eleanor Powell dances into round 2
1930'S ERA Carole Lombard 58-7 over Margaret Dumont Jean Harlow 54-9 over Margaret Sullavan Jean Arthur 37-36 over Una Merkel Myrna Loy 49-25 over Thelma Todd Bebe Daniels 37-32 over Shirley Temple Eleanor Powell 52-14 over Luise Rainer Ruby Keeler 42-26 over Mae West Joan Blondell 48-18 over Jeanette MacDonald It was upset city in the 30's era as three lower ranked seeds got shown the exit door early. And all occurred in the singers/dancers category. Top seed Shirley Temple lost to first time tourney player Bebe Daniels. 2nd seed Jeanette MacDonald got hammered by 7th seed Joan Blondell. And the brash 3rd seed Mae West got beat by 6th seed Ruby Keeler. There was almost another upset in the funny ladies category as 3rd seed Jean Arthur had to fight off a game Una Merkel. Overall top seed Carole Lombard cruised to her 9th tourney win as she had little trouble with Margaret Dumont.
Here's Lucy...
1940'S ERA Rita Hayworth 27-21 over Eve Arden Loretta Young 36-19 over Hedy Lamarr Maureen O'Hara 38-19 over Rosalind Russell Lucille Ball 29-19 over Betty Grable Gene Tierney 33-8 over Carole Landis Lauren Bacall 29-26 over Linda Darnell Ida Lupino 38-15 over Veronica Lake Claire Trevor 30-25 over Jane Greer No real upsets here but there were a couple of close matches. Most notably Lauren Bacall had to fend off a gutsy Linda Darnell with a 3 vote victory. Claire Trevor made a strong rally after falling behind early to Jane Greer to take the match. Gene Tierney had the most dominating win by beating Carole Landis by 25 votes. Remember Gene made it all the way to the sweet sixteen last year in a very strong run. Oh and good news for Lucy fans as Lucille Ball makes it to round 2 but bad news for Roz fans as Rosalind Russell loses to Maureen O'Hara, another red-head. 1950'S ERA Final numbers are not available yet
Paula Prentiss is overjoyed to be moving on to round 2
1960'S ERA Julie Andrews 41-14 over Margaret Rutherford Diana Rigg 43-19 over Julie Christie Angela Lansbury 44-22 over Jean Simmons Maggie Smith 50-16 over Vanessa Redgrave Anne Bancroft 42-10 over Julie Harris Tuesday Weld 41-24 over Jane Fonda Paula Prentiss 38-25 over Faye Dunaway Patricia Neal 33-30 over Geraldine Page There is about an hour left in this era but pretty much all the matches are over with the exception of one. Patricia Neal clings to a 3 vote lead over Geraldine Page. Some surprising early exits though took place in this era. Julie Christie and Jean Simmons, both who have had good runs in the previous tourneys got bounced early to upstarts Diana Rigg and Angela Lansbury, first time players. Maggie Smith had the most convincing win with a 49-16 defeat of Vanessa Redgrave. I thought that would have been much closer. And I am happy to report that my Cinderella pic, Paula Prentiss took down Faye Dunaway and moves on to round 2. Second round action will begin tomorrow afternoon/evening.
Before I go into details about the new poll, let me update everyone on last week's poll. The topic was what was Grace Kelly's best film role. Her role as Lisa Fremont in Rear Window easily was the winner. It received 5 out of the 7 votes. One vote went to her role in Dial M For Murder and one went to her role in High Noon. Thanks to everyone who voted.
Now on to this week's poll. Since I have Eleanor Powell as my star of the month, my question ties into her. Who is your favorite female dancer in the movie musicals. The choices are besides Ms. Powell, Ginger Rogers, Cyd Charisse, Ann Miller, and Ruby Keeler. So make your pic and let's see who's the favorite.
In my opinion Eleanor Powell was a very underrated actress with phenomenal dancing abilities. The fact that she only made a handful of films and basically retired by the time she was 32 only strengthens that fact. She was born in 1912 in Springfield, Massachusetts and got her professional start in Atlantic City clubs, from where she moved into in revue in New York at the Ritz Grill and Casino de Paris at the age of sixteen. She started her career on Broadway in 1929, where her machine-gun foot work gained her the title of world champion in tapping. In 1935 she came to Hollywood where she starred in the great MGM musicals in the late 1930s, establishing herself as a Queen of Ra-Ta-Taps. In spite of the fact that she was primarily a solo performer she also danced with Fred Astaire and George Murphy. She was given the lead in 1936's Born to Dance with Jimmy Stewart and danced her little body off. She also starred in a couple of Broadway Melody films co-starring the likes of Jack Benny, Red Skelton, and Robert Taylor. All her musicals were mainly done for MGM and she was one of their biggest stars. As far as pure dancing goes, Eleanor was the very best. I'd say she would rival a certain Ginger Rogers. She was that good. But moving into the 40's she kinda slowed down and then married actor Glenn Ford in 1943. They would have one child before they divorced in 1959. Her dancing abilities earned her the nickname The Queen of Tap Dancing and was acclaimed "The World's Greatest Feminine Tap and Rhythm Dancer" by the Dance Masters of America in the mid-1930s. TCM usually plays her movies quite frequently so if you ever get the chance to catch one, I recommend not missing them. She was quite amazing to see on film. If I had to rank her essential films to see I would say these are the ones to watch:
Eleanor Powell Essential Films:
Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940) with Fred Astaire
Born To Dance (1936) with Jimmy Stewart
Broadway Melody of 1936 (1936) with Jack Benny
Ship Ahoy (1942) with Red Skelton
Broadway Melody of 1938 (1938) with Robert Taylor
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