Some key matches to start March Madness

Just wanted to spotlight some matches that I think will be very competitive when the tourney starts tomorrow. I chosen a few from each era. Let's begin in the 30's era. First up:

1930'S ERA

No. 4 Claudette Colbert takes on no. 5 Joan Crawford in what should be a pivotal match. Both actresses are a combined 9-4 over the past two tourneys. It is a doozy of a first round match. And both women have strong fanbases. This one could go either way.

No. 3 Marlene Dietrich battles no. 6 Ann Dvorak who is making her tourney debut. Marlene has been up and down in the past tourneys with a 2-2 record. I would not be surprised if Ann pulls off an upset here.

1940'S ERA

How about this one for a first round match-up: Katharine Hepburn vs Olivia de Havilland. Both actresses have won a few matches in tourney play but have never made it pass the sweet sixteen. And it's safe to say one will be going home early again.

And here's another top notch match involving no. 3 Ingrid Bergman vs no. 6 Greer Garson. Even though Greer is 0-3 in tourney/match play she won't remain winless for too much longer. But Ingrid Bergman has one of the best winning records at 7-3. Should be a good match.

1950'S ERA

Over in the 50's era come a battle between two leading ladies of Hitchcock films..No 4 Janet Leigh and no. 5 Kim Novak. Might turn into a suspenseful clash.

And in the singers/dancer category, no. 3 Cyd Charisse faces off against no. 6 Dorothy Dandridge.
A heavenly match if there ever was one.

1960'S ERA

In a battle between Westside Story co-stars, top reigning 60's era champion Natalie Wood, who has made the final four in both previous tourneys squares off against Rita Moreno.

And one match that I am looking forward to is Faye Dunaway taking on first timer Paula Prentiss. I feel like Paula could be this year's Cinderella.


So get ready for some fun and excitement as the tourney starts tomorrow.

Upset Alert in Round 2

Round 2 has heated up big time with two of the four matches being very close. Top seed Grace Kelly is pulling away from Teresa Wright by the count of 25-12. This match was relatively close on day one. That same score is also featured in my girl Carole Lombard's match against 3rd seed Ingrid Bergman. So it looks like Carole and Teresa won't be moving on to the next round. Now as far as the other two matches are concerned..whoa nellie, it's coming down to the wire. 10th seed Eva Marie Saint is giving 2nd seed and beloved favorite Joan Fontaine all she can handle. Joan currently leads 20-18 and this match has been close every single step of the way. If Eva could stage a little rally this would be a huge upset. And in the final match, Janet Leigh leads Kim Novak 21-16, with Novak making a little surge as she was down by as many as 8 votes at one point. So we have two more days until this thrilling round is complete, please spread the word and let's make this an exciting finish.

Eva is hanging in there.....giving Joan Fontaine a run for her money!

Round 2 update

After a full day of voting, the second round is yielding more closer matches. Well three of the four are. My girl Carole is getting killed by Ingrid Bergman 19-11. Top seed Grace Kelly is slowly pulling away from upstart Teresa Wright 18-11. 4th seed Kim Novak is losing to 5th seed Janet Leigh 17-11 which is kind of surprising. Her Vertigo is widely regarded as Hitch's masterpiece. And Joan Fontaine is getting all she can handle from Eva Marie Saint 16-12. Matches continue through Friday evening. If you haven't voted yet, please do so.

Eva is looking to pull off a huge upset of Joan Fontaine

Round 2 of Favorite Hitchcock Leading Lady Tourney

We move on to round 2 where things will get very exciting. Here are the matches scheduled with the remaining actresses vying to win the crown of Favorite Leading Lady in a Alfred Hitchcock Film.

1 GRACE KELLY

VS

8 TERESA WRIGHT

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

4 KIM NOVAK

VS

5 JANET LEIGH

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

2 JOAN FONTAINE

VS

10 EVA MARIE SAINT

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

3 INGRID BERGMAN

VS

11 CAROLE LOMBARD

Matches begin this now and will run thru Friday night! Rules are the same as before, one vote per person for each match. Good luck to all the actresses and let's have some fun!

Not too many upsets as the first round of The Favorite Hitchcock Leading Lady Tourney wraps up

First round of the Favorite Alfred Hitchcock Leading Lady Tourney is in the books and there was just two upsets as all the other top seeds won their respective matches. Grace Kelly, who is seeded number 1, rolled to an easy 34-5 victory over last seed Tallulah Bankhead. 2nd seed Joan Fontaine blew out 15th seed Sylvia Sidney 35-4. 3rd seed Ingrid Bergman had the biggest margin of victory with a 35-3 thrashing of Ruth Roman, garnering 92% of the votes. 4th seed Kim Novak easily dispatched 13th seed Doris Day 29-12 (Que Sera, Sera). In the battle of the Crane sisters from the Psycho film, Janet Leigh defeated Vera Miles 30-9. The first upset occurred when 6th seed Tippi Hedren got taken down by 11th seed Carole Lombard 27-14, in what was the most voted match in the first round. Much love to my fave actress of all time Carole as she tries to win a tourney for the first time. Being all so close in previous classic movie actresses tournaments. The other upset was between 7th seed Madeleine Carroll and 10th seed Eva Marie Saint. It was Saint who edged Carroll 22-17. And the final match was between 8th seed Teresa Wright who pulled away from 9th seed Margaret Lockwood 25-14 after the match was very close early on. Congrats to all the actresses who now move on to round two which begins Sunday evening. And thanks to all those who voted. Below are pics of all the winning actresses!

A new tournament to kickstart October!

After a lackluster month blogging for September in which I wrote only 10 posts, by far my lowest output since starting my blog nearly three years ago. I needed something to get me going again. So why not a tournament..one of my favorite things that has been a regular feature on my blogs. So what would be the theme of said tournament? Since it's October, a month all about scary things, why not focus on Alfred Hitchcock. Specifically the leading ladies of Hitchcock. Last year I did a tourney spotlighting Hitch's films which was won by Rear Window. This tourney will focus on the top 16 actresses of his films. And I know most people are probably figuring Grace Kelly should win hands down, but there have been upsets before in my other tourneys of the past. Remember Gloria Grahame knocking off heavily favored Marilyn Monroe? Huge upset. As a favorite sports saying goes, that's why we play the game. I am still working on the list of contenders but I do have the top four selected. My selection process is basing the women's record in Hitch's films: most recognition, an Oscar win or nomination, most appearances, etc. And I will be concentrating on leading ladies so such outstanding supporting work such as Judith Anderson in Rebecca will not be eligible. I may do a tourney focusing on supporting players next year maybe. Anyway here are the top 4 seeds of the tourney. 

1 GRACE KELLY - She appeared in three Hitch films: Rear Window, Dial 'M' For Murder and To Catch A Thief. One of Hitch's frequent leading ladies. While she never won an Oscar for playing one of his ladies, she made quite an impression on audiences and critics. Her Lisa Fremont in Rear Window is my all time favorite Hitchcock character.

2 JOAN FONTAINE - The only actress to win an Oscar in a Hitchcock film. The only person as a matter of fact, including actors. Yes Cary Grant nor Jimmy Stewart never won an Oscar for their multiple appearances in a Hitchcock film. Joan was nominated for both Rebecca and Suspicion in consecutive years of 1940 and 1941 and won for the latter.

3 INGRID BERGMAN - Top notch actress who graced audiences with her appearances in three Hitch films: Notorious, Spellbound and Under Capricorn. More than worthy enough in being a top seed in this tourney.

4 KIM NOVAK - Many consider Hitch's Vertigo his masterpiece and the actress in that film is none other than Kim Novak. It is considered to be one of her best roles.

So there you have the top four actresses who have earned the right to be the top seeds. I will have the complete list done before the week is out as the tourney will begin Sunday, October 7th. Hope everyone will drop by to take part in this tournament.

Even Hitch is excited about the tourney...

At The Beach: KIM NOVAK

Breath-taking Kim Novak!

Top 5 Countries who have visited my blog....

Just started thinking about how blogs connect people from all over the world. It's cool when someone leaves a comment on a post and you find out they hail from another part of the world. And the neat thing about Blogger is that they track all that stuff for you. So I didn't have to do anything but go to my stats page to see where my visitors are coming from. So here are the top 5 countries by number...of page views through today. And Kim Novak to get us started on our travels.

Nice to see ya Kim!

5.) AUSTRALIA - 6,589


4.) CANADA - 11, 084


3.) GERMANY - 12, 841


2.) UNITED KINGDOM - 20, 141


1.) UNITED STATES - 135, 654


As you can see, my home country is leading the way with over 135,00 page views which is understandable. But for the four countries following it, there is a nice mix of different nationalities. With the UK being ahead of the other notable countries by a nice little margin. I just want to thank everyone who stops by to check out my blog, wherever they may live. It's awesome!