Round 2 (British Invasion and All-American Girls) begins now!

We move on to round 2 of the 2014 Favorite Movie Actress Tourney where the matches start to get a little more competitive.

Here in the 60’s era, the British Invasion and All-American Girls brackets begin this evening. Here are the match-ups and I have to say all four promise to be very exciting. In the All-American Girls brackets, top seed Anne Bancroft will have to face the red hot Paula Prentiss, who beat Faye Dunaway in the first round. In the other match, 3rd seed Lee Remick will have to deal with 7th seed Sharon Tate, who upset Jane Fonda a few days ago. Over in the British Invasion, top seed Diana Rigg, who squeaked

by Hayley Mills last round will have an even tougher challenge this time in Jean Simmons. And the spotlight match takes place when 2nd seed Elizabeth Taylor squares off against 3rd seed Julie Andrews. My oh my. These matches will run through Wednesday evening. Good luck to all these wonderful actresses!

BRITISH INVASION BRACKET

ALL-AMERICAN GIRLS BRACKET

The 2014 Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tourney (1960's Era Brackets: British Invasion/All-American Girls)

Ahhhh you can always tell spring is on the way when days start to feel warmer and flowers start to bloom. Oh and when your favorite classic movie actresses come together to duke it out to earn bragging rights for favorite of the year. This marks the 4th annual edition and things look to be wide open this year. I mean previous winners Irene Dunne, Ginger Rogers and Carole Lombard all took care of business and eventually won their tourney for their respective years. But this year, it's anyone's ball game. I mean odds are in favor of someone from the 30's era bracket clinching the crown, since all three previous winners have come from that era. But I think Bette Davis, the #1 seed from the 40's era and overall #1 seed thanks to her 2nd place finish last year, might have something to say about that. I'll be hosting the 60's era for the 2nd time and here are the first round brackets (British Invasion and All-American Girls) that kick off beginning on Sunday.

BRITISH INVASION

1 DIANA RIGG 

VS

8 HAYLEY MILLS

Looks like upstart Hayley is aiming to take down last year's final four
finalist Diana Rigg...game on!

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

4 JULIE CHRISTIE

VS
5 JEAN SIMMONS

Should be a very interesting match...4 vs 5 usually are!

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

2 ELIZABETH TAYLOR 

VS
7 VANESSA REDGRAVE

Elizabeth Taylor moves from the 50's era to here and right away she
will face stiff competition in the form of Vanessa Redgrave

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

3 JULIE ANDREWS

VS
6 MAGGIE SMITH


Julie usually does very well in tourney play, making it to the sweet sixteen a few times
but this is probably her toughest first round match ever!


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

ALL-AMERICAN GIRLS

1 ANNE BANCROFT

VS
8 TUESDAY WELD

*****************
4 FAYE DUNAWAY

VS
5 PAULA PRENTISS

Last year Paula Prentiss made a deep run into the tourney with some surprising
victories. She looks to improve in this year's tourney.

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

2 JANE FONDA

VS
7 SHARON TATE

Now this one I am putting on upset alert because I really think Sharon Tate has
a good chance of knocking off 2 seed Jane Fonda. We'll find out here shortly

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

3 LEE REMICK

VS
6 PATRICIA NEAL

This promises to be a very exciting and close match. Could go either way!

The 2nd set of matches are completed and the first round is in the books

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.

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.

What's New Pussycat (1965) is a definite product of the 60s...which is a good thing

Following the recommendation of my good friend and fellow blogger Irene, I finally had the chance to see this awesome film. First let me describe what I had to go through to finally watch it. I ordered it through Amazon over a month ago along with some other titles. The other movies came in 2 weeks ago and Amazon said they were still trying to find a copy to send me. The other day they sent me an email saying it was still out of stock and for me to cancel my order and resubmit at a later time. Which I did. So I then went to TCM and they did have the movie listed but it was out of stock. I was getting quite irritated now. Best Buy, Wal-Mart and Target did not have it either. But thanks to my awesome blu-ray player and the online service that comes with it, I was able to watch it through them. And glad I did. Whew..now on to my review.

Michael and Herr Doctor Fritz

Set during the height of 60's frantic comedies, What's New Pussycat pairs the two Peters, Sellers and O'Toole in this madcap farce set in England, about a young man named Michael James (O'Toole) who has trouble committing to his girlfriend Carole (ahhhh my new love Romy Schneider). You see Michael loves women. All women. He can't help himself. He has bedded so many women it's hard to keep track of them all. So he seeks out the help of a psychoanalyst named Fritz Fassbender (Sellers) who has problems of his own. He is married but longs for the life Michael has. Their sessions are quite interesting to say the least.

Carole and Michael

Carole wants to get married but Michael has cold feet and keeps putting her off. It doesn't help the matter much when he keeps running into different women and having sex with them. Including a transplated American stripper named Liz (a kooky performance by Paula Prentiss); a refined aristocratic nymphomaniac named Renee (Capucine in a departure for her usual staid roles); and a friendly parachutist named Rita (Ursula Andress). He also has to deal with his buddy Victor (played by Woody Allen, who also wrote the screenplay) who works at a gentleman's club. Victor also happens to love Carole and they have a funny scene in which Carole gets a little tipsy.

 LIZ

 RENEE

RITA

All the characters wind up a a hotel in the country for a wild and riotous afternoon of mistaken identity and sexual shenanigans. Things get sorted by the end as Michael and Carole walk down the aisle but it's a mad finish to the altar. And even then things are not bliss. Loaded with surprise cameos and in-jokes and that catchy title song by Tom Jones, What's New Pussycat is one hilarious movie. Some may find it over the top and childish at times but it's all in good fun. The sex is never vulgar and the mood is quite often funny for the most part.  I liked it quite a bit.


Rating: *** out of ***** stars

Things get out of hand frequently in this movie

My love of classic movies is beyond measure

Monty

HAPPY EASTER!

Happy Easter from Paula Prentiss