The 7th Annual Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tourney returns Sunday, March 5th

It's almost that time of year..March Madness, Classic Movie Actress Style, as my 7th annual tournament returns on Sunday March 5th. A field of 64 classic movie actresses, broken down into 4 eras: the 30's, the 40's, the 50's and the 60's will compete in matches voted on by followers to determine the champion actress of 2017. Based on last year finishes, the top 4 seeds are:

Myrna Loy- 30s era
Rosalind Russell- 40s era
Deborah kerr- 50s era
Shirley MacLaine- 60s era

Me and my good friend John of Mythical Monkey will be hosting this year's tourney. I'll have the complete field of actresses competing in my next post. Gonna be fun..can't wait.

The Final Four is now underway...

Ladies and gentlemen this year's Final Four in the Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tourney is now underway. These two matches will run through Friday evening with the winners going on to the championship match on Saturday. Here are the four women who made it to the big dance.
Stats:
Myrna Loy and Greer Garson are back for their 2nd consecutive Final Four. The only other actresses do that are Grace Kelly, Natalie Wood, and Audrey Hepburn.

Doris Day 23 tourney wins are the second most in tourney history. Only Grace Kelly has won more matches with 25.

After having bad tourney history in the first 4 tourneys, Greer Garson and Julie Andrews seem to have righted the ship. Greer was winless in her first 4 tourneys and Julie was 2-2. But since then the pair have both gone 10-5, which sets up for an intriguing match.

Greer Garson and Myrna Loy have something in common: they both lost to eventual winner Natalie Wood in last year's final four. Loy lost 323-173 while Greer lost 543-318. Natalie's fans were out in force that year.

Greer Garson is currently in 2nd place in tourney history with 1358 votes. She sits behind Natalie Wood's all-time high of 1416 votes but it looks like Greer is going to shatter that mark easily!

Greer, Myrna and Doris are all repeat final four finalists, while this marks Julie Andrews first final four appearance.

MYRNA LOY

30'S ERA CHAMPION

Tourney record: 21-5

Number of final fours: 2

VS

DORIS DAY

50'S ERA CHAMPION

Tourney record: 23-5

Number of final fours: 2

GREER GARSON 

40'S ERA CHAMPION

Tourney Record: 10-5

Number of final fours: 2

VS

JULIE ANDREWS

60'S ERA CHAMPION

Tourney Record: 10-5

Number of Final Fours: 1

We have our Final Four in this year's Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tourney

Well only one match is officially over but the other three matches are pretty much done too
as the leads are insurmountable in the 2 hours left. First that epic match in the 40's era
bracket came to a close with Greer Garson pulling away from Rosalind Russell 601-457. Both actresses fanbases came out big time in support of their ladies through blogland, facebook, twitter, etc. This means Greer will be in consecutive final fours after going winless in the first
four tourneys she competed in. Talk about turnaround. She joins Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Bette Davis and Natalie Wood in that distinction. 

Oh wait add Myrna Loy to that list as well. Myrna is rolling over Margaret Lockwood in the 30's era bracket by the count of 152-33. Meanwhile in the 50's era looks like Doris Day will be making her 2nd final four appearance after throttling Deborah Kerr 194-63. And finally in the 60's era, looks like Julie Andrews will be going to the big dance for the very first time after her dominating win over Shirley MacLaine 113-60. So to break it down for you Greer and Myrna are two of the four pre-tourney top seeds to make it to the final four. Doris Day returns to the final four for the second time while this will  be Julie's first time. I will have the final four matches taking place here on my blog starting tomorrow. And I will do a complete post about their records and stats tonight.

GREER GARSON 601-457 over ROSALIND RUSSELL
MYRNA LOY 152-33 over MARGARET LOCKWOOD
DORIS DAY 194-63 over DEBORAH KERR
JULIE ANDREWS 113-60 over SHIRLEY MACLAINE

Round 5 (The Elite 8) starts now

Round 5 (The Elite 8) is now underway. I have the 30's and 60's era final matches taking place here while you can find the 40's and 50's era  final matches by clicking on the links below. These matches will run through Saturday afternoon to decide who will be going to the Final Four.

40's era: mythicalmonkey
50's era: thewonderfulworldofcinema

Myrna Loy and Margaret Lockwood to meet in the 30's era final match

With one of the most amazing comebacks, Myrna Loy defeated Barbara Stanwyck 51-48. Myrna had trailed by as many as 13 votes for most of the week until she made a move beginning late Thursday. She will now face Margaret Lockwood, the last of the tourney underdogs as Margaret herself rallied to overcome Marlene Dietrich 50-45.  Whoever wins this match punches their ticket to the Final Four! Their match will begin tomorrow morning. Thanks to all those who voted to make these two of the most thrilling matches in this year's tourney so far.

Sweet Sixteen Round is now underway

So we move on with the sweet sixteen round as things begin to get a little tight. The bracket winners of each era will now face off against each other to set the stage for next week's era finals to see who goes on to be a final four finalist. As before I will handle the 30's era action here and then you can click on the links below to go vote in the other eras as well:
40's era: mythicalmonkey
50's era:thewonderfulworldofcinema
60's era: screwballcinema

Matches will run through Saturday afternoon

First up it will be Screwball Queen winner Myrna Loy vs Icons winner Barbara Stanwyck

Next is International Appeal winner Margaret Lockwood vs Drama Queens winner Marlene Dietrich

It will be Myrna Loy vs Natalie Wood for the crown of 2015 Favorite Classic Movie Actress

After falling behind in their respective matches earlier during the week, Myrna Loy and Natalie Wood stormed back to win and now will face each other in the championship match. Myrna Loy defeated Audrey Hepburn 305-234 while Natalie Wood defeated the red hot Greer Garson 543-318. Yep you read those final numbers right. The amount of votes logged were record-setting thanks to several fan-bases spreading the word about their favorites. From Blogger to Facebook to Tumblr to Twitter, word got around fast to produce some huge numbers. Now Natalie Wood after two previous final four trips, finally broke through to appear in her first championship match. While Myrna Loy will be trying to become the 4th actress from the 30's era to hoist the trophy as Favorite Classic Movie Actress. She would join Irene Dunne, Ginger Rogers and Carole Lombard in that achievement. Here are the stats for the two women that will start their match tomorrow morning.

#2 NATALIE WOOD  

60'S ERA CHAMPION 

Tourney record: 22-5

Number of final fours: 3

How she got here:

defeated Rita Moreno 94-20

defeated Paula Prentiss 92-10

defeated Julie Andrews 104-35

defeated Ann-Margret 119-25

defeated Shirley MacLaine 141-29

defeated Greer Garson 543-318

total votes accumulated so far 1093

What's at stake for her: Natalie has appeared in three final fours and

this is her first championship match. If she ever wanted to win the

crown, then this is it.

VS

#3 MYRNA LOY  

30'S ERA CHAMPION

Tourney record: 16-4

Number of final fours: 1st time

How she got here:

defeated Virginia Weidler 61-6

defeated Eleanor Powell 79-8

defeated Shirley Temple 57-18

defeated Barbara Stanwyck 79-58

defeated Jean Arthur 57-39

defeated Audrey Hepburn 305-234

total votes accumulated so far 638

What's at stake for her: to continue the dominance of 30's era actress champions,

as 3 of the 4 past tourney champions have come from the 

30's era

The championship match begins tomorrow morning and will

run through next Saturday! Good luck to both Natalie and Myrna!

The Final Four Matches are now underway...

Here are the two matches that have just begun....you can vote on the sidebar to the right.
Matches will run through Saturday afternoon! Good luck ladies! Please note that the records associated with each actress is their total wins/losses over the course of five tourneys. And that the seeds of the actresses are their overall ranking in their respective eras.

MATCH 1

#3 MYRNA LOY (15-4) 

Myrna's 1st Final Four appearance

VS

#1 AUDREY HEPBURN (18-5)

Audrey's 2nd Final Four appearance

*************

MATCH 2

#2 NATALIE WOOD (21-5)

Natalie's 3rd Final Four appearance

VS

#6 GREER GARSON (5-4)

Greer's 1st Final Four appearance

The FINAL FOUR is now set

The Elite Eight round is now complete and we have our finalists for this year's final four! In the 30's era, it was Myrna Loy defeating Jean Arthur 57-39, marking Myrna's first trip to a final four. In the 40's era, it was red hot Greer Garson staging a late rally to overtake Rosalind Russell and win 89-71. That gives Greer her 5th win this tourney, as previously she had no wins prior from the first four tourneys. In the 50's era, it was a rematch from last year between Audrey Hepburn and Doris Day with the same results as Audrey defeated Doris 35-20. Only difference was last year it ended on Doris Day's birthday. And finally in the 60's era, it was Natalie Wood crushing Shirley MacLaine 140-29, sending Natalie back to the final four for a 3rd time. So the match-ups in the final four as tradition states will be the 30's era winner vs the 50's era winner which is Myrna Loy vs Audrey Hepburn. And the 40's era winner vs the 60's era winner, Greer Garson vs Natalie Wood. Audrey is the only  #1 seed to make it to final four. And Audrey is only the 4th actress to be in consecutive final fours. She joins Bette Davis, Grace Kelly and Natalie Wood in that distinction. The other three # 1 seeds were Barbara Stanwyck, Olivia de Havilland and Elizabeth Taylor that failed in their bid to reach the final four.Greer is the long shot, ranked #6. Matches will begin tomorrow morning and take place here on All Good Things. 

The Elite Eight Round

We have now made it to round 5 of the 2015 Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tourney, aka The Elite Eight. This round will decide which of the eight actresses will move on to the final four. Here are the matches that will be taking place in each era. Click on the link under each photo to go to the site to cast your vote:

30'S ERA FINAL MATCH

30's era finale

40'S ERA FINAL MATCH

40's era finale

50'S ERA FINAL MATCH

 50's Era Finale

60'S ERA FINAL MATCH

60's era finale

Matches will run through Saturday afternoon!

All-Time Top Winning Tourney Actresses

As we approach another favorite classic movie actress tourney, I thought it would be a great time to list the all time top winning actresses. I did a list last year featuring the top five but I have expanded it to the top 12. So here we go:

12.) MYRNA LOY (10-4) - Myrna has been a consistent performer in the tourney and usually goes quite far in the 30's era bracket in which she competes in. She is a very popular actress so don't be surprised if she makes a strong run in this upcoming tourney.

11.) ELIZABETH TAYLOR (10-4) - While Liz only did so-so in the previous three tourneys when she competed in the 50's era with a 4-3 record, she did much better once she transferred to the 60's era last year with a great 6-1 record and reaching the final four. So look out everyone here comes Liz!

10.) INGRID BERGMAN (10-3) - The Swedish actress has amassed 10 solid wins and this despite not playing in the inaugural tourney back in 2011. She competes in the 40's era bracket and does really well. And now that Bette Davis, who won last year is out of the picture, look for another strong run by Ingrid.

9.) JUDY GARLAND (11-3) - Another 40's era competitor who also missed the first tourney, Judy has done amazingly well with 11 wins so far. Can the singer/dancer/actress add another hyphenate to her already impressive resume.

8.) BARBARA STANWYCK (12-4) - The overall top seed for this year's tourney due to her runner-up finish last year, Missy is the favorite to win it all this year. Competing in the 30's era, she is a cinch to make it to at least the sweet sixteen round.

7.) AUDREY HEPBURN (13-5) - Audrey finally got over the hump of beating her 50's era nemesis Grace Kelly last year to make her first final four appearance. Audrey had lost to Grace twice before but not last year and is poised to make another strong run this year.

6.) DORIS DAY (14-4) - The ever popular Doris has been a feisty competitor in the tourneys, even reaching the final four back in 2013. She competes in the 50's era so expect her to mix it up with Grace and Audrey once again for that final spot.

5.) NATALIE WOOD (16-5) - Two- time final four finalist, Natalie has pretty much dominated the 60’s era portion of the tourneys, with the exception of 2013's early exit in the sweet sixteen round. But her 16 wins proves that she is definitely a contender and one of the most loved actresses competing.

4.) GRETA GARBO (16-4, winner of the 2014 Favorite Silent Actress Tourney) Recently crowned Favorite Silent Actress thanks to her solid performance in that year’s earlier tourney, Greta has established herself as a proven force. Now she seeks to add another crown to her collection.

3.) CAROLE LOMBARD ( (16-3, winner 2013 Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tourney) I was so happy my beloved Carole finally broke through and won a tourney. She had come so close in the two previous tourneys only to lose to Irene Dunne and Ginger Rogers in the 30’s era finals, but would not be denied a 3^rd time. It was a long time coming.

2.) BETTE DAVIS (18-3, winner 2014 Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tourney) Bette has been in the mix in all three previous tourneys, reaching the final four in 2013 only to lose to my girl Carole. But she would not be denied a second time as she won the crown last year, posting her 18th win.

1.)    GRACE KELLY (20-4, winner 2012 Favorite Alfred Hitchcock Leading Lady) And the all-time most winning actress in tourney history is none other than Princess Grace. Two-time final four finalist that has owned the 50’s era bracket with the exception of 2013’s early exit during the sweet sixteen round. Grace did manage to win another tourney though…Favorite Alfred Hitchcock Leading Lady, quite easily might I add.

There you have it, the top 12 actresses who are the most successful in tourney history. I will also mention IRENE DUNNE (7-1, 2011 Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tourney) and GINGER ROGERS (8-1, 2012 Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tourney). After winning the earlier tourneys, they are ineligible to compete in future tourneys, and since they won so soon, they didn't get to rack up the wins like every one else. But they have the distinction of each having only 1 loss. No other actresses can say that! 

Please join me on Sunday, March 1st for the start of the 2015 Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tournament to see who will become the 5th champion actress!

Round 5 (THE ELITE EIGHT) begins on Sunday

My oh my...we have come down to the elite 8 actresses left in the 2014 Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tourney. This round features the final matches of each respective era with the winner moving on to the final four. Matches start tomorrow and will run through Thursday evening. Below are the match-ups with each actress complete tourney record over the past 4 years since we first started doing this! And also other match play events that they may have competed in!

30'S ERA CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH

BARBARA STANWYCK (10-3) vs MYRNA LOY (10-3)

Go here to cast your vote once the polls are open: http://www.rozrussell.com/

40'S ERA CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH

BETTE DAVIS (15-3) vs OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND (8-3)

Go here to cast your vote once the polls open: http://journeysinclassicfilm.com/

50'S ERA CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH

DORIS DAY (14-3) vs AUDREY HEPBURN (12-4)

Go here to cast your vote once the polls open: http://mythicalmonkey.blogspot.com/

60'S ERA CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH

 NATALIE WOOD (16-4) vs ELIZABETH TAYLOR (8-3) 

Which will take place right here on ALL GOOD THINGS

Good luck to all these amazing women!

Round 2 results: Elizabeth Taylor cruises to another easy victory

Liz is all smiles after her win over Julie Andrews

The first two brackets in the 60's era, All-American Girls and British Invasion have just wrapped up. And three of the four matches became very tight down the stretch. Final four finalist from last year, Diana Rigg was sent home early after losing to Jean Simmons 27-20. Diana did make a late rally as she was down by as many as 13 votes yesterday, but she did not have enough time left to make a comeback win. The other match in the British Invasion bracket saw Elizabeth Taylor crush Julie Andrews 37-11. This match was expected to be a close wire thriller and it turned out to be anything but as Liz led easily from the start. Over in the All-American Girls bracket, it was Anne Bancroft outlasting Paula Prentiss 28-20 and Lee Remick withstanding a furious late day charge from Sharon Tate to win 26-19. Congratulations to all the winners and I will have the other two brackets (Song and Dance/A Foreign Affair) up and running within a few hours.

ELIZABETH TAYLOR 37-11 over JULIE ANDREWS
JEAN SIMMONS 27-20 over DIANA RIGG
ANNE BANCROFT 28-20 over PAULA PRENTISS
LEE REMICK 26-19 over SHARON TATE

Here are the results from the 30's era which Desiree just wrapped up as well:

1930s era

Greta Garbo 35-18 vs. Miriam Hopkins

Ann Dvorak 30-23 vs. Ruth Chatterton

Myrna Loy 43-9 vs. Constance Bennett

Jean Harlow 34-19 vs. Jean Arthur

 50's era

Doris Day  69.39%  (34 votes) 

 

Cyd Charisse  30.61%  (15 votes) 

Marilyn Monroe  52.94%  (27 votes) 

 

Debbie Reynolds  47.06%  (24 votes) 

Deborah Kerr  68.75%  (33 votes) 

 

Thelma Ritter  31.25%  (15 votes) 

Janet Leigh  52%  (26 votes) 

 

Eleanor Parker  48%  (24 votes)

Myrna Loy leads the way in the 30's era first complete matches

 ROUND 1 FINAL RESULTS

1930S ERA

Greta Garbo (75%, 40 votes)

Fay Wray (25%, 13 votes)

Miriam Hopkins (59%, 29 votes)

Kay Francis (41%, 20 votes)

Ruth Chatterton (58%, 29 votes)

Sylvia Sidney (42%, 21 votes)

Ann Dvorak (72%, 34 votes)

Anita Page (28%, 13 votes)

Myrna Loy (83%, 43 votes)

Marie Dressler (17%, 9 votes)

Constance Bennett (67%, 33 votes)

Margaret Dumont (33%, 16 votes)

Jean Arthur (80%, 41 votes)

Maureen O’Sullivan (20%, 10 votes)

Jean Harlow (66%, 35 votes)

Una Merkel (34%, 18 votes)

Myrna Loy quickly established herself as a front-runner for 30's era champion with the largest percentage of votes in the first 8 matches of this star studded field. She grabbed a whopping 83% of the votes for a convincing 43-9 victory over Marie Dressler. And at the other end of the spectrum, the closest match was Ruth Chatterton beating Sylvia Sidney 29-21. Other first round winners include Greta Garbo, Ann Dvorak, Constance Bennett, Miriam Hopkins, Jean Harlow and Jean Arthur.

Myrna Loy goes solo as detective DANNI CHURCH

Myrna as Danni Church

After playing devoted wife to William Powell in three Thin Man movies so far, Myrna Loy tries the detective game by herself. She is perfectly cast as Danni Church, a war widow, whose husband was a private detective before leaving for the war. When he gets killed in combat, Danni decides to continue the business, Church Detective Agency. She recruits former policeman Mike Tracy (played by Brian Aherne) and they handle cases ranging from cheating spouses to missing persons. When Danni's college room-mate Gloria Morgan (Mary Astor) comes calling because she thinks her husband James (Patric Knowles) is having an affair. So Danni starts snooping and does find that James is having an affair with the much younger Stella Moore (a break-out performance by Susan Hayward). But James is also involved with some nefarious types and soon goes missing. Danni believes foul play but everyone else suspects he is just with Stella. So she and Mike begins knocking down doors, looking for answers. They first corner Eddie the Snitch (Elisha Cook Jr) before meeting crime boss Serrano (Joseph Calleia). This is good twisty film noir with ample amount of humor. Myrna Loy rocks as Danni Church, dropping one liners and getting tough when needed. Check out her tense confrontation with Stella in a bar:

Susan Hayward as Stella

Danni: Ms. Moore?
Stella: yes...
Danni: I'm a friend of Gloria Morgan..
Stella: sorry I don't know her
Danni: No I believe you know her husband James...
Stella: ahhhhhhh....so who are you? the loyal friend?
Danni: yes..and a detective. My name is Danni Church.
Stella: so are you lost or something? Or did Mrs. Morgan misplace James again?
Danni: You're a funny girl. Have you seen Mr. Morgan lately?
Stella: define lately...because if lately means last night...then yes. I tell ya what..go back and tell Mrs. Morgan that James will be home when he feels like it. Be a good little errand girl and do that for me..won't you?
Danni: You're a piece of work. But let me give you some advice. You seem smart and beautiful and can have anything in the world if you put your mind to it. Trust me when I say you and James will not last. Hope you have a nice day.

And with that Danni walks out leaving Stella looking mightily upset.

Brian Aherne as Mike

Mary Astor as Gloria

DANNI CHURCH (MGM, 1940)

Written by Jonathan Latimer
Directed by Howard Hawks

Cast:
Myrna Loy...................................Danni Church
Mary Astor..................................Gloria Morgan
Brian Aherne...............................Mike Tracy
Susan Hayward............................Stella Moore
Patric Knowles.............................James Morgan
Anne Shirley................................Debbie Church
Alan Hale....................................Police captain Ed Donnigan
Elisha Cook Jr.............................Eddie
Joseph Calleia.............................Serrano

This was the first in a proposed series of films but alas Myrna Loy could not fit another series into her schedule. She would return eventually in the sequel Danni Church: Family First (1949), with the stakes much higher as her sister Debbie goes missing.

This is another in my fantasy series..hope you guys liked it!

Two matches..four couples...let's go!

Down to the final four of the favorite classic couple tourney. The match between Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers vs Cary Grant and Irene Dunne will take place here on this blog. While the match between William Powell and Myrna Loy vs Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald will take place on Desiree's blog. The fun begins today at 6pm EST and will run through Wednesday evening. Go here to vote on Desiree's match..http://www.rozrussell.com/. And can I add that I think this is an awesome final four with anyone of these couples that can take home the prize as favorite classic screen couple.

MATCH 1

1 FRED ASTAIRE AND GINGER ROGERS

VS

2 CARY GRANT AND IRENE DUNNE

**************

MATCH 2

1 WILLIAM POWELL AND MYRNA LOY

VS

2 NELSON EDDY AND JEANETTE MACDONALD

We have our final four couples....

We have our final four classic couples and two of the four are the top seeds when this tourney began. It was top seed couple Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers taking care of 2nd seed couple Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland 30-12. The other top seed couple to advance was William Powell and Myrna Loy, who staged a comeback to beat pesky underdogs Rosalind Russell and Robert Montgomery 38-30. So that means the other two top seed couples did not fare as well. Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall lost to 2nd seed couple Cary Grant and Irene Dunne 27-15. while 2nd seed couple Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald defeated the legendary couple, Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn 38-28. So now the stage is set for the four remaining couples in two matches that will begin on Sunday. Match 1 will pit Fred and Ginger against Cary and Irene while match 2 will feature William and Myrna against Nelson and Jeanette. Then the winners of those matches will battle it out for the crown as favorite classic couple.