Olivia de Havilland is crowned Favorite Classic Movie Actress of 2019

Congrats to Olivia de Havilland for winning the 2019 Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tourney after besting Myrna Loy 49-43 in the final match. Olivia becomes only the 3rd actress from the 1940's era to hoist the trophy. And she makes history in becoming the only living actress to achieve that feat. Hope everyone enjoyed this year's tourney and it will return for 2020. Once again congrats to Livvie!

Previous Tourney Champions:
2018-Barbara Stanwyck
2017-Audrey Hepburn
2016-Doris Day/Greer Garson (tie)
2015-Natalie Wood
2014-Bette Davis
2013-Carole Lombard
2012-Ginger Rogers
2011-Irene Dunne

It's Stanwyck vs De Havilland for the Favorite Classic Movie Actress Crown of 2018

Here we go with the championship match between Barbara Stanwcyk and Olivia de Havilland. The winner will become the favorite classic movie actress of 2018. Poll closes on Tuesday evening at 6pm.

BARBARA STANWYCK

30'S ERA CHAMPION

Lifetime Tourney Record (24-7)

Number of title match appearances: this is Barbara's 2nd championship match

(lost to Bette Davis 49-47 in 2014 championship match,
lost to Audrey Hepburn 52-45 in 2017 semi-final match)

2018 matches:

defeated Jeanette MacDonald 63-27

defeated Norma Shearer 58-35

defeated Una Merkel 65-32

defeated Myrna Loy 55-47
defeated Marilyn Monroe 61-54

what's at stake: to continue the dominance of the 30's era actresses

who have won 3 of the 7 previous tourneys

VS

OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND
40'S ERA CHAMPION
Lifetime Tourney Record (15-5)
Number of title match appearances: this is Olivia's first championship
2018 matches:
defeated Rosalind Russell 54-32
defeated Lauren Bacall 48-46
defeated Judy Garland 52-45
defeated Gene Tierney 53-49
defeated Elizabeth Taylor 60-55

what's at stake: would become the 3rd actress from the 40's era to win the 
championship, joining Bette Davis and Greer Garson

The Final Four Matches are now underway

Whoo..here we go with the Final Four of the 2018 Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tourney.
In the semi-final match 1, it's 30's era champion and three time final four finalist Barbara Stanwyck up against 50's era champion and first time final four finalist Marilyn Monroe. In the 2nd match, its 40's era champion and first time final four finalist Olivia de Havilland (and the only actress of the four still alive) vs 60's era champion and three time final four finalist Elizabeth Taylor. Matches will close on Saturday at 6pm.

A Final Four Primer

Here are some facts and numbers are our final four finalists (Stanwyck, De Havilland, Monroe and Taylor) who are competing in the 2018 Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tourney.

BARBARA STANWYCK

30'S ERA CHAMPION

Lifetime Tourney Record (23-7)

Number of Final Four appearances: this is her 3rd Final Four

(lost to Bette Davis 49-47 in 2014 championship match,
lost to Audrey Hepburn 52-45 in 2017 semi-final match)

2018 matches:

defeated Jeanette MacDonald 63-27

defeated Norma Shearer 58-35

defeated Una Merkel 65-32

defeated Myrna Loy 55-47

what's at stake: to continue the dominance of the 30's era actresses

who have won 3 of the 7 previous tourneys

 VS

MARILYN MONROE
50'S ERA CHAMPION
Lifetime Tourney Record (12-5)
Number of Final Four appearances: this is Marilyn's first Final Four
2018 matches:
defeated Dorothy Dandridge 42-40
defeated Debbie Reynolds 51-45
defeated Deborah Kerr 51-46
defeated Susan Hayward 56-44
what's at stake: could become only the 2nd actress to win in
their first final four appearance since Irene Dunne did in 2011

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

OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND
40'S ERA CHAMPION
Lifetime Tourney Record (14-5)
Number of final four appearance: this is Olivia's first final four
2018 matches:
defeated Rosalind Russell 54-32
defeated Lauren Bacall 48-46
defeated Judy Garland 52-45
defeated Gene Tierney 53-49

what's at stake: would become the 3rd actress from the 40's era to win the 
championship, joining Bette Davis and Greer Garson
VS

ELIZABETH TAYLOR 
60'S ERA CHAMPION
Lifetime Tourney Record (17-5)
Number of Final Four appearances: this is Liz's 3rd Final Four
(lost to Bette Davis in 2014 semi-final match 46-25
lost to Audrey Hepburn 51-47 in 2017 championship match)
2018 matches:
defeated Diana Rigg 49-27
defeated Shirley Jones 56-35
defeated Julie Andrews 55-42
defeated Shirley MacLaine 57-45
what's at stake: would become only the 2nd actress from the 60's era to win, 
joining Natalie Wood



The Final Four begins Thursday, April 5th at 7pm

Happy 100th Birthday Olivia de Havilland: my review of GOVERNMENT GIRL (1943)

Government Girl (1943) is a vastly underrated and little known Olivia movie that is fun to watch.  Olivia plays Elizabeth "Smokey" Allard, a Washington secretary who knows the ins and outs of Washington DC as war is ongoing and weapons must be made. Also the housing shortage is in full affect as Smokey does her best to find her gal pal May (played by Anne Shirley) and her beau a hotel room for their honeymoon. In the meantime auto make ED Browne (played by Sonny Tufts) arrives in time to see what he can do to help production. Of course he doesn't know how to deal with the politics of Washington so Smokey lends a hand. This is B movie but it is still fun to watch. Some say Olivia over-reacts in her performance but I think it's fun. She is ably supported by Tufts, Shirley, Agnes Moorehead, Harry Davenport and Una O'Connor. I recommend this delightful little movie for those who have never seen it.   Oh best scene is where Smokey and May get drunk to try and get some information from an unsavory character. Olivia is hysterical!

Bette Davis Blogathon: My review of In This Our Life (1942)

My good friend Crystal Pacey is holding a Bette Davis blogathon and I so wanted to contribute to it. So here's a review of In This Our Life:

IN THIS OUR LIFE (1942) Top notch drama with Olivia de Havilland sharing the screen with grand diva Bette Davis. They play sisters who have conflicting love lives. That's putting it nicely as Bette is just a vixen who just wrecks everything in sight, even stealing her sister's husband. Bette is all volcano fury as Stanley Timberlake in this one while Olivia is the quieter sister Roy. Yes they have boy’s name which make them all the more unique. It's one hell of a movie. Bette and Olivia surround themselves with one heck of a supporting cast too. George Brent plays Craig Fleming (Stanley’s fiancée whom she dumps); Dennis Morgan plays Roy’s husband Peter, whom Stanley ends up stealing away. And co-starring Charles Coburn, Billie Burke, and Hattie McDaniel. Directed by the great John Huston. And a top notch music score by the legendary Max Steiner. This is one of my all time favorite films! A must see!

Both Bette Davis' and Olivia de Havilland's characters have masculine given names -- "Stanley" and "Roy," respectively. Interestingly, the film never hints that there is anything unusual about their names, nor does it offer any explanation.

Quotes:
Roy Timberlake: Parks are for the very rich or the very poor.

Asa Timberlake: In my day, we didn't talk much about happiness. If it came we were grateful for it. But we were brought up in the belief that there were other things more important. Old foogy fantastic notions such as duty and personal responsibility.

Stanley Timberlake: Craig, have dinner with me somewhere tonight. Please. I've got a reason.
Craig Fleming: I don't think we better Stanley.
Stanley Timberlake: Why not? You're afraid aren't you? Afraid of yourself. Afraid of what you might feel if you let yourself go. Why don't you admit the truth Craig? You've never gotten over me and you never will. You'd like to put your arms around me right now, wouldn't you? You'd like to kiss me, wouldn't you?

Here's the link to Crystal's awesome blog site where you will find more amazing things about Bette:
crystalkalyana

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!

Eight Couples move on to Round 3

Here are the four matches that will begin on Sunday with the 8 couples that are remaining in the Favorite Classic Couple Tourney. All Good Things will host the Elaine Marriott and Erenia Russo brackets while Desiree will host the Josie Miller and Catherine Bellamy brackets on her blog, Rosalind Russell. The matches will run through Thursday evening. You will notice that three of the four matches feature match ups between the number 1 and 2 seeds. The underdog couple Rosalind Russell and Robert Montgomery, ranked 6th, are defying the odds and look to continue their upset streak.

THE ELAINE MARRIOTT BRACKET

1 FRED ASTAIRE AND GINGER ROGERS

VS

2 ERROL FLYNN AND OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND

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

THE ERENIA RUSSO BRACKET

1 HUMPHREY BOGART AND LAUREN BACALL

VS

2 CARY GRANT AND IRENE DUNNE

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

THE JOSIE MILLER BRACKET

1 WILLIAM POWELL AND MYRNA LOY

VS

6 ROSALIND RUSSELL AND ROBERT MONTGOMERY

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

THE CATHERINE BELLAMY BRACKET

1 SPENCER TRACY AND KATHARINE HEPBURN

VS

2 NELSON EDDY AND JEANETTE MACDONALD

The Favorite Classic Screen Couples Tourney is now underway...

I have started half of the favorite classic actress tourney with 8 matches on my blog here. Desiree will have her 8 matches up later on this morning as she lives in California and there is a big time difference as I live in Georgia. But rest assured every match will get the equal amount of time as the matches are set to run through Thursday evening. You can vote on the polls on the right sidebar, one vote per match. Here is the link to go vote on Desiree's page once she has her matches going as well...http://www.rozrussell.com/

Good luck to all the couples who are competing as this will be a fun month! I will post updates daily to let everyone know how the matches are going.

Here we go...the final six matches in the 2013 Lombard Cup...for all the marbles

TEAM CAROLE has 9 and 1/2 points
TEAM VERONICA has 5 and 1/2 points

Six matches this week will decide who gets to take The Lombard Cup home. Here we go...matches start tomorrow morning and run through Friday evening!

Match 16 
VIVIEN LEIGH (Team Carole)


















vs

BETTE DAVIS (Team Veronica)

**************************
Match 17
DEBORAH KERR (Team Carole)

vs


JANET LEIGH (Team Veronica)

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

Match 18
ANN SHERIDAN (Team Carole)

vs


ANN-MARGRET (Team Veronica)

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

Match 19
SUSAN HAYWARD (Team Carole)

vs


BARBARA STANWYCK (Team Veronica)

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

Match 20
AUDREY HEPBURN (Team Carole)

vs


ELIZABETH TAYLOR (Team Veronica)

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

Match 21
OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND (Team Carole)

vs


JOAN CRAWFORD (Team Veronica)

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.

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.

Jane Wyman lends a hand to Olivia de Havilland in PRINCESS O'ROURKE (1943)

Princess O'Rourke is a breezy little comedy that stars Olivia de Havilland as Maria, a foreign princess visiting America who falls in love with a pilot named Eddie O'Rourke (played by Robert Cummings). The catch is Eddie doesn't know she is a princess and thinks she is just a regular girl. Albeit a girl with no skills to speak of. This is a wonderful comedy that I enjoyed quite a bit. It's a joy seeing Olivia in such a non-serious role for a change. All those The Dark Mirror, In This Our Life, and The Snake Pit can take a toll on an actress. Every now and then one needs to lighten up and have some fun. And that's what Olivia does. In her first major scene, she is taking a flight from New York to San Francisco and has to take a sleeping pill to relax. Well when she thinks it's not working, she takes another, and another, and another. Within a few minutes she is quite loopy and makes the funniest faces you have ever seen Olivia make. When the flight is turned back around due to bad weather, that's when the fun starts. Eddie has to take the now near comatose Maria back to his place to sleep it off. So once the two finally see each other they are immediately smitten. And the rest of the movie has them trying to get to know each other before Eddie and his best pal Dave (played by Jack Carson) are off to join the military to serve in the war. Dave's wife Jean is played by Jane Wyman, who has wonderful chemistry with Carson. They made a total of four films together and are one of the most underrated screen teams of all time. Carson gets in many of the film's funniest lines and Wyman is solid in several emotional scenes. She also works well with Olivia.

I enjoyed this movie from the very beginning as it features a nice comic rhythm and a great cast. It starts to sag a little towards the end but it's still a refreshing little comedy. Like I said earlier it's nice seeing Olivia in a rare comedy. I wished she had done more in a career, because she definitely has a flair for comedy. Also great support from veteran actor Charles Coburn as Maria's uncle, who is desperate for her to marry a prince or duke to put their family back on top. Princess O'Rourke is a winner all way around.
Film: B
Olivia's Performance:B

31 Stars in 31 Days: Day 3 - ERROL FLYNN

A little swashbuckling for the day and who better than Errol Flynn. Whether firing arrows or clashing swords, Errol is your man. 


Favorite Errol film: THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (1938)
Favorite Errol role: Robin Hood
Favorite Errol co-star: a no-brainer here..OLIVIA de HAVILLAND
Number of Errol films seen so far: 17 out of 63

Star of the day, Errol Flynn

Today's film: THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (1938) - I was gonna go with another Errol film of somewhat lesser known variety but I just bought Robin Hood on blu-ray and wanted to see how it looks compared to DVD. And yes it looks amazing! I mean Robin Hood was already a gorgeous looking film in beautiful Technicolor and Blu-ray enhances it even more. Sounds and looks terrific. One of my favorite films of all time. Flynn and de Havilland are pure gold together. And Rathbone and Rains make terrific villains. 

The ever so thoughtful guest..Robin brings something to the feast

My favorite scene: has to be when Robin shows up at Nottingham Castle to have a little chat with Prince John (Rains) and Sir Guy (Rathbone) that begins friendly enough...but ends with Robin having to brawl his way out. Exhilarating stuff!

Oh and quite the charmer with the ladies too!

Rating: ***** out of *****
That's right...Robin Hood is a five star gem!

Whoops! Time to go!

Rita Hayworth shines in The Strawberry Blonde (1941) alongside James Cagney and Olivia de Havilland

The Strawberry Blonde and Biff on a date

Since Rita Hayworth is my classic movie goddess of the month, I decided to watch some of  her movies. Top of the list, the wonderful period comedy from 1941 The Strawberry Blonde, co-starring James Cagney, Olivia de Havilland and Jack Carson. Talk about some star power. Rita is Virginia Brush, the Strawberry Blonde, who is every guy's dream. She has so many callers coming to date her, it borders on the ridiculous.  Biff Grimes (played by James Cagney) is the dentist of their small town who takes a fancy to her, so when his best bud Hugo (played by the always reliable Jack Carson) sets up a double date with Virginia and her friend Amy (Olivia de Havilland) who is a brash suffragette, the fireworks begin. Amy doesn't hold back on her ideas which include doing everything a man can do, like smoking and swearing. And she believes there is nothing wrong with winking at men so they can pick her up. She has the most delightful wink too.

Heads turn as Virginia walks by

Anyway Biff prefers Virginia but Hugo always manages to steal her away. Biff does manage one date with Virginia which turns out to be great but weeks later she winds up marrying Hugo. Biff and Amy end up marrying but Biff still carries a torch for Virginia. Flash forward a few years where Biff is struggling and Virigina convinces Hugo to give him a job. Which is fine until some documents get signed that shouldn't have and Biff has to take the fall. And he resents Hugo even more. They will meet years later on when Hugo needs emergency surgery on his tooth and Biff relishes the opportunity. Let's just say it's a painful extraction for Hugo.

Biff caught between two girls

I love this movie. All four leads are great, especially Cagney and De havilland. They really make this movie but also get wonderful support from Carson and Hayworth. So nice seeing Hayworth in a comedy, where I think she could have been a top screen comedienne had she did more of them. Also co-stars Alan Hale as Biff's dad and George Reeves (TV's Superman) as a Yale student who gets into a brawl with Biff. Good stuff!

Amy and Biff