Second round matches begin now...

Here are the scheduled second round matches that begin now. Once again the first three days will be represented by two categories (They Had Faces and Pre-Code Babes). The matches will run through Wednesday evening. The second set of matches (Funny Ladies and Singers/Dancers) will begin immediately after that. There are some spectacular matches too. Including Claudette Colbert vs Barbara Stanwyck, Norma Shearer vs Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo vs Kay Francis. March Madness is now in full swing!

THEY HAD FACES

1 GRETA GARBO
Tourney record (5-2)
first round victory over Dolores Del Rio 60-32



VS



5 KAY FRANCIS
Tourney record (1-0)
first round victory over Louise Brooks 54-32


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


3 GLORIA SWANSON
Tourney record (2-1)
first round victory over Clara Bow 46-45



VS


7 LILLIAN GISH 
Tourney record (1-1)
first round victory over Mary Pickford 56-37


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

PRE-CODE BABES

1 BARBARA STANWYCK 
Tourney record 4-2
first round victory over Miriam Hopkins 43-7



VS



4 CLAUDETTE COLBERT
Tourney record (5-2)
first round victory over Joan Crawford 61-42



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

2 NORMA SHEARER
Tourney Record  (2-3)
first round victory over Glenda Farrell 51-48




VS




3 MARLENE DIETRICH
Tourney Record (3-2)
first round victory over Ann Dvorak 54-51

Round Three begins now...

I decided to start round three of the Favorite Screwball Tourney match today instead of waiting tomorrow. Here are the four scheduled matches that sees what film wins their respective brackets: Capra, Lubitsch, Hawks and Sturges. The matches will run through Thursday. Of note, my two favorite stars of all time, Cary Grant and Carole Lombard both have two films still left competing...along with William Powell and Barbara Stanwyck, they represent the only stars with multiple films still in play. 

FRANK CAPRA BRACKET

1 IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934)

VS

2 HIS GIRL FRIDAY (1940)

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

HOWARD HAWKS BRACKET

1 MY MAN GODFREY (1936)

VS

7 BALL OF FIRE (1941)

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

ERNST LUBITSCH BRACKET

2 THE THIN MAN (1934)

VS

4 THE LADY EVE (1941)

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

PRESTON STURGES BRACKET

1 BRINGING UP BABY (1938)

VS

2 TO BE OR NOT TO BE (1942)

The first round of Favorite Screwball Film Tourney is in the books

The first round of The Favorite Screwball Film Tourney is in the books and with the exception of three upsets, most of the expected winners are moving on to round 2. The upsets included one of the four major top seeds..Trouble in Paradise losing to My Favorite Wife 23-15. Paradise made a gallant comeback as it was done early by the score of 13-2, but fell short. Another upset occurred when third seed Libeled Lady fell to sixth seed The Palm Beach Story by the count of 20-17. And a mild upset took place when 2nd seed Sullivan's Travels lost to 7th seed Ball Of Fire by the score of 22-20. The other matches were pretty much blow-outs except for Theodora Goes Wild and Topper engaging in a close 19-17 thriller. Here are the complete scores below:

Just hold on a minute baby and let me get ready for round 2

IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT 34
THE MORE THE MERRIER 8

MERRILY WE LIVE 22
THE GILDED LILY 7

THE PHILADELPHIA STORY 26
TWENTIETH CENTURY 16

HIS GIRL FRIDAY 37
THE MAJOR AND THE MINOR 8

MY MAN GODFREY 33
EASY LIVING 8

See it says it right there..The Awful Truth wins..so I actually 

beat myself if you can believe that

THE AWFUL TRUTH 25
ARSENIC AND OLD LACE 18

YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU 24
BLUEBEARD'S EIGHTH WIFE 12

BALL OF FIRE 22
SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS 20

MY FAVORITE WIFE 23
TROUBLE IN PARADISE 15

THE LADY EVE 22
NINOTCHKA 16

THE PALM BEACH STORY 20
LIBELED LADY 17

THE THIN MAN 27
HOLIDAY 11

BRINGING UP BABY 34
BOMBSHELL 5

MIDNIGHT 27
THE GOOD FAIRY 8

TO BE OR NOT TO BE 30
THE DEVIL AND MISS JONES 6

THEODORA GOES WILD 19
TOPPER 17

Some stats:

Cary Grant started with the most films competing in this tourney with 8...he now has five left. Still the most by anyone else.

Carole Lombard, Irene Dunne and Barbara Stanwyck are perfect. Carole and Irene started with three films each and Barbara started with two. All of their films moved on to the next round.

Jean Arthur avoided a possible shut out as one of her films made it to round 2. Easy Living and The More The Merrier got sent packing but You Can't Take It With You won it's match.

Second round action with the remaining 16 films will begin Sunday evening. So everybody take a breather and come back then for round 2.

My love of classic films is beyond measure

Monty

Screwball Tourney Day 1 Update

My first ever screwball film tourney got off to a fantastic start on Sunday with about 20 fans voting on the first round matches on average. Three of the four top seeds are rolling early, and there are some back and forth matches taking place as well. Here are the breakdowns on yesterday's exciting start.

My Favorite Wife has a leg up over Trouble in Paradise

after day one

Three of the four top seeds are besting their opponents quite easily. Overall top seed Bringing Up Baby leads Bombshell 15-1 (I wonder who is the lone person so far to cast their vote for the Jean Harlow vehicle). The second top seed It Happened One Night is up big over The More The Merrier by the count of 18-3. The third top seed My Man Godfrey is having no trouble at all with Easy Living and leads 17-4. The last top seed, Trouble in Paradise is having trouble with upstart My Favorite Wife. It is getting hammered 14-3. The pairing of Irene Dunne and Cary Grant evidently is too much.

If I'm reading this right, then we're winning...

In other matches that are also blow-outs include: To Be Or Not To Be ahead of The Devil and Miss Jones 13-2; His Girl Friday up big on The Major and The Minor 17-4; and The Philadelphia Story double over Twentieth Century 14-7.

It's gonna be close between us and Sullivan..

Now the nail-biters currently going on include: Arsenic and Old Lace with a slight 11-9 edge over The Awful Truth; The Palm Beach Story with a one point edge over Libeled Lady 9-8; The Lady Eve over Ninotchka 10-7; and  Sullivan's Travels tied with Ball of Fire at 10-10. 

My oh my, how exciting is this. The matches continue on through Friday and I will keep everyone updated with posts through-out the week. Below are the complete scores on all the matches:

IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT 18
THE MORE THE MERRIER 3

MERRILY WE LIVE 11
THE GILDED LILY 5

THE PHILADELPHIA STORY 14
TWENTIETH CENTURY 7

HIS GIRL FRIDAY 17
THE MAJOR AND THE MINOR 4

We are definitely in trouble...

MY MAN GODFREY 17
EASY LIVING 4

ARSENIC AND OLD LACE 11
THE AWFUL TRUTH 9

YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU 12
BLUEBEARD'S EIGHTH WIFE 8

BALL OF FIRE 10
SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS 10

MY FAVORITE WIFE 14
TROUBLE IN PARADISE 3

THE LADY EVE 10
NINOTCHKA 7

THE PALM BEACH STORY 9
LIBELED LADY 8

No worries sugar...

THE THIN MAN 10
HOLIDAY 5

BRINGING UP BABY 15
BOMBSHELL 1

MIDNIGHT 11
THE GOOD FAIRY 5

TO BE OR NOT TO BE 13
THE DEVIL AND MISS JONES 2

THEODORA GOES WILD 10
TOPPER 5

My love of classic films is beyond measure

Monty

At The Beach: CLAUDETTE COLBERT

The summer is almost  here and time to kick off my annual summer at the beach photo series. It's just photos of classic stars hanging out at the beach or poolside somewhere. I started late last year in July because that's when the idea came to me. Well now we start in May as many people start heading to the beach or the pools. I will try to post a pic a day as the series will run through Labor Day. And here to kick things off is the lovely Claudette Colbert. 

Top Five Best Matches from the 2011 Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tourney

As the 2nd annual favorite classic movie actress tourney nears it kick-off date, I went back to look at last year's inagural tourney. And made a post about the top 5 best matches, based on most voter participation. And surprisingly the top match wasn't the championship final match. I will start with number 5 and count my way up to number 1.

5. IRENE DUNNE VS BARBARA STANWYCK (97 VOTES) This match took place in the second round of the silent/30's era bracket which saw Irene defeat Barbara soundly 59-38. Stanwyck was the number 2 ranked seed in this era while Irene was number ten. So this was a huge upset.

4. IRENE DUNNE VS VIVIEN LEIGH (97 VOTES) The championship match which decided the favorite classic movie actress was an exciting one, which saw Irene prevail 55-42 over Vivien. Make no mistake about it, Irene Dunne proved she could go the distance as she took out the more highly ranked actresses in this tourney.

3. CAROLE LOMBARD VS MYRNA LOY (100 VOTES) My girl Carole took down Myrna Loy in the 30's era semi-final match 59-41. And I loved it. I love Myrna with all my heart too, but I love Carole just a little bit more. Carole was one round away from going to the Final Four.

2.  IRENE DUNNE VS CLAUDETTE COLBERT (100 VOTES) Another match involving Irene Dunne. This time she crushed Colbert 64-36 in a blow-out 30's era semi-final match. And kind of surprising too. Colbert is fondly loved and one of the most popular actresses during this era.

1. IRENE DUNNE VS CAROLE LOMBARD (101 VOTES) How fitting that the most popular match from last year's tourney featured my top 2 favorite actresses. And so it came down to this, Carole against Irene. Now I was pulling for Carole all the way and was a little saddened when she lost 58-43. But now I had my second fave actress Irene to root for. This match was the most voted one in the entire tourney. And it was a great one

Looking back to last year's tourney and to see that Irene Dunne was involved in four of the five top matches just only adds more to her historic run. Just unbelievable as she went on her Cinderella run and never looked back. Here's to looking forward to this year's tourney which will see her defend her crown. Good luck to all 128 actresses that are competing.

Claudette Colbert defeats Loretta Young 20-7 in match play

Claudette beams after her match play victory

Claudette thrashed Loretta 20-7 to notch her third match play win and now has a 3-1 record. This was Loretta's first match play and is now 0-1. I did expect a much closer match but Claudette's fans came out in big numbers. Expect a new match up within a few days. Thanks to everyone who came by and voted.

Classic Stars Match Play #8 - Claudette 'The Gilded Lily' Colbert vs Loretta 'The Farmer's Daughter' Young

The next match play features two of the greatest classic actresses of all time...Claudette Colbert and Loretta Young. Both had long running careers and both won Oscars for Best Actresses. I think they are evenly matched and this should be a thrilling match. Voting begins immediately and runs through Sunday 2 pm EST. Good luck to both women. I know I will have to think on this one a little before I vote.

LORETTA YOUNG

Name: Gretchen Michaela Young
Birth Date: January 6, 1913 (Salt Lake City, Utah)
Height: 5 '6"
Academy Awards: 2 nominations, 1 win (Best Actress - The Farmer's Daughter)
Monties: none so far
My favorite Loretta film: The Bishop's Wife
Match Play record: this is Loretta's first match


CLASSIC STARS MATCH PLAY

CLAUDETTE COLBERT

Name: Emilie Claudette Chauchoin
Birth Date: September 13, 1903 (Saint-Mande, Seine, France)
Height: 5 '4 1/2"
Academy Awards: 2 nominations, 1 win (Best Actress - It Happened One Night)
Monties: 2 nominations, 0 wins so far
My favorite Claudette film: a tie between It Happened One Night and The Palm Beach Story
Match Play record: 2-1 (beat Louise Brooks and Norma Shearer before losing to Irene Dunne in
the favorite classic actress tournament)



The FALL SERIES: Claudette Colbert

Claudette posing for her close-up...

THE FALL SERIES begins...

As promised, I said I would be doing another photo series after At The Beach just finished yesterday. And here it is..called The Fall Series. Basically photos of classic stars in outdoors situations...in the forest, at the lake by the cabin, out in their garden...under the night time stars, maybe camping out. Those type of pics. And I kick off with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert from It Happened One Night, trying to hitch a ride.

I would pick up these two....well Clark would have to sit in the back,

Claudette up front with me...

At The Beach: CLAUDETTE COLBERT

Claudette Colbert looking so relaxed and beautiful...

MARCH MADNESS Round Three (Silent/30's ERA) Update 2

Whew! Things got a little tight in the marquee match late yesterday between Carole Lombard and Myrna Loy. When I turned in for the night, Loy had cut the lead down to 4 and was trailing Lombard 44-40. I knew this was going to be a close match. So imagine my surprise this morning when I check the count and she that the Carole fans came out in force driving the score back up 59-41 in favor of Carole. But as VP over at Carole and Company says, let's not get complacent as we still have today to go and anything can happen. In the other semi-final match, Irene Dunne has led from the onset and still leads 51-31 over Claudette Colbert. So far 100 fans have voted on the Lombard/Loy matchup. That's the most response I have ever had on any poll I've created ever. It appears March Madness is a huge success. I will update everyone on the final results once the poll is closed at 8pm EST tonight. Till then everyone enjoy your Saturday.

Current Score as of 7:45 am EST Saturday March 5th:

CAROLE LOMBARD 59 MYRNA LOY 41

IRENE DUNNE 51 CLAUDETTE COLBERT 31

MARCH MADNESS Round Three (Silent/30's ERA) Update

Ten hours into the semi-final matches and things are much closer than in the previous rounds but there is starting to be some separation. In the marquee match up Carole Lombard leads over Myrna Loy 39-28. The other match has Irene Dunne up 37-20 over Claudette Colbert. When these matches came about, I didn't realize at the time but three of the four women are my top 3 favorite actresses of all time. Carole, being  my absolute favorite, followed by Irene, and then Myrna. So I'm definitely conflicted about these matches but I would be lying if I said I wasn't pulling for Carole. These four ladies would have made a heckuva final four in itself, so to have them competing for the one spot in the final four is kind of awesome. By tomorrow evening it will be narrowed down to just two. I can't wait. I will be constantly checking the results to see if there are any big changes. Thanks to all those who have voted and are following this event.

Vote count as of 6pm EST:

MATCH 1:
CAROLE LOMBARD 39 MYRNA LOY 28
MATCH 2:
IRENE DUNNE 37 CLAUDETTE COLBERT 20

MARCH MADNESS Round Three (Silent/30's ERA) is underway

The semi-final matches have begun and promises to be both competitive matches. Carole Lombard is the last top seed left at number 4 as she squares off against the red hot 9th seed Myrna Loy. While Carole has had two impressive wins including the 71-9 rout of Marlene Dietrich yesterday, Myrna has been really strong. Her opening round against Jean Harlow was an unexpected blowout 36-13. And then she just ripped number 1 seed Greta Garbo 60-13. This match between Loy and Lombard promises to be an event match up. While I love and adore Myrna, Carole is my girl, so I will be going for Ms. Lombard.

The other semi-final match pits 6th seeded Claudette Colbert against 10th seeded Irene Dunne. Everyone should keep an eye out for Claudette who has quietly been going on about her business, low key and with little fanfare. She beat her first two opponents pretty handily with wins against Louise Brooks 40-8 and Norma Shear 50-24. 10th seed Irene Dunne has made it this far thanks to solid wins against Clara Bow 38-13 and a surprisingly easy victory over 2nd seed Barbara Stanwyck 59-38. Whoever wins these two matches will meet in the Silent/30's bracket final to decide who will become the first actress to have a spot in the Classic Movie Actress Final Four. All very exciting stuff.

MARCH MADNESS Round Three (Silent/30's ERA)

As we head into the week-end, the four remaining actresses will face off in 2 semi-final matches starting Friday morning. You will have two days to vote on who is your favorite and the winners of those 2 matches will face off Sunday to become the first actress to snatch up a final four spot. Below are the two semi-final matches and I'm very nervous about my girl Carole Lombard battling the red hot Myrna Loy, who has just destroyed her first two competitors: Jean Harlow and Greta Garbo. But Carole is the sole remaining top 4 seed left so maybe she's got enough fans to get her to the final round at the end of the month. In the other match the suddenly rejuvenated Irene Dunne will square off against the quietly, going about her business Claudette Colbert. That match could go either way. I am a little surprised no silent film star made it to a semi-final match, especially Garbo.When it's all said and done, one of these lovely ladies will have a spot in the Final Four at the end of this month and a chance to win favorite classic movie actress of All Good Things. Polls will open at 6AM EST. Here is the setup that has has been building up since Monday:

4 CAROLE LOMBARD

                 VS

9 MYRNA LOY



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

6 CLAUDETTE COLBERT

                   VS

10 IRENE DUNNE