Round 2 of the Favorite Silent Actress Tourney is in the books

8 matches wrapped up the 2nd round of the Favorite Silent Actress Tourney and half of them were blow-outs. Here are the results from all 8 matches.

DESIREE BRACKET
Clara Bow defeated Alla Nazimova 15-5
Mary Pickford defeated Dolores Costello 12-10

STEPHEN BRACKET
Louise Brooks defeated Lillian Gish 14-8
Bebe Daniels defeated Edna Purviance 12-9

JOSIE BRACKET
Greta Garbo defeated Colleen Moore 12-2
Janet Gaynor defeated Pola Negri 9-5

MARIA BRACKET
Norma Shearer defeated Olive Borden 13-2
Gloria Swanson defeated Marion Davies 8-6

Norma Shearer, Greta Garbo, Louise Brooks and Clara Bow all flexed their muscles and won quite easily.
Three of the matches were double digits wins for the respective ladies. Meanwhile the other four matches were quite close, with two of them being decided by only 2 votes. Mary Pickford, the tourney's top seed squeaked by for the second week in a row by edging out Dolores Costello 12-10. It won't get any easier for Mary as she faces the It Girl, Clara Bow in round 3. I will have the complete match-ups posted by tomorrow.

Round 2 of The Favorite Silent Actress Tourney begins tonight

Things get tougher as we begin round 2 of the favorite silent actress tourney hosted by me and my friend Catherine. This round features 8 matches, four of them taking place here and four more taking place over at Catherine's blog Plucked From Obscurity. Here are the matches below for the All Good Things portion:

Stephen Bracket:

3 LILLIAN GISH

VS

10 LOUISE BROOKS

13 BEBE DANIELS

VS

26 EDNA PURVIANCE

Desiree Bracket:

1 MARY PICKFORD

VS

25 DOLORES COSTELLO

6 CLARA BOW

VS

11 ALLA NAZIMOVA

The polls are on the right hand sidebar and will run through Thursday. Go here to see the matches taking place on Catherine's blog...http://obscurecinemamagic.wordpress.com/

First round action in The Favorite Silent Actress Tourney comes to a close...

The first round of the The Favorite Silent Actress Tourney comes to a close today and for the most part it was business as usual but top seeded Mary Pickford received quite a scare from 17th seeded Brigitte Helm, and held on to win by two votes. Here are the complete scores from all the matches....

THE STEPHEN BRACKET:
LOUISE BROOKS defeated PEARL WHITE 21-3
LILLIAN GISH defeated CARMEL MYERS 22-2
EDNA PURVIANCE defeated MABEL NORMAND 17-7
BEBE DANIELS defeated THELMA TODD 13-10

THE DESIREE BRACKET:
ALLA NAZIMOVA defeated THEDA BARA 12-10
CLARA BOW defeated NORMA TALMADGE 18-5
DOLORES COSTELLO defeated RENEE ADOREE 13-9
MARY PICKFORD defeated BRIGITTE HELM 12-10

From the Josie Bracket:

Winners are in bold face

• Janet Gaynor vs. Alice Terry
• Pola Negri vs. Corinne Griffith
• Colleen Moore vs. Eleanor Boardman
• Greta Garbo vs. Dorothy Gish

From the Maria Bracket:

• Norma Shearer vs. Constance Talmadge
• Olive Borden vs. Jobyna Ralston
• Gloria Swanson vs. Vilma Bánky
• Marion Davies vs. Marie Prevost

Round 2 matches will begin on Sunday, January 26th. Thanks to everyone who took the time to vote and spread the word as the fun continues!

The SILENT ACTRESS TOURNEY is underway...

Here we go...the start to our Favorite Silent Actress Tourney. It was my friend Catherine Bellamy who came up with the idea and we will be hosting this event together. She will handle the Josie and Maria brackets while I will take care of the Desiree and Stephen brackets. And if you're wondering, she named the brackets after some of her friends. She will begin her matches a little later this afternoon. Here's the link to her wonderful blog to go cast your votes when the time comes: http://obscurecinemamagic.wordpress.com/

To vote here, the polls are in the usual location, on the right hand sidebar. And remember it is one vote per match and this first round will run through Thursday evening. Let's have some fun! In the match-ups below I tried to list the film in which the actress is most known for.

The Desiree Bracket

1.  Mary Pickford (Coquette,1929)

VS

17.  Brigitte Helm (Metropolis, 1927)

25.  Dolores Costello (The Sea Beast, 1926)

VS

18.  Renée Adorée (The Big Parade, 1925)

29.  Norma Talmadge (Smilin' Through, 1922)

VS

6.  Clara Bow (It, 1927)

11. Alla Nazimova (Salome, 1923)

VS

7.  Theda Bara (Cleopatra, 1917/Salome, 1918)

The Stephen Bracket

12.  Thelma Todd (Fascinating Youth, 1926)

Vs

13.  Bebe Daniels (Monsieur Beaucaire, 1924)

26.  Edna Purviance (The Kid, 1921)

VS

4.  Mabel Normand (Caught in a Cabaret, 1914)

3.  Lillian Gish (Broken Blossoms, 1919)

vs

30.  Carmel Myers (Ben Hur, 1925)

10.  Louise Brooks (Pandora's Box, 1929)

VS

19.  Pearl White (The Perils of Pauline, 1914)

A new tourney begins next week...THE SILENT ACTRESS TOURNEY

March Madness is right around the corner and the 4th Annual Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tourney will soon be upon us. But before that event hits, we have a smaller tourney that will take place beginning next week. One of my best friends, Catherine Bellamy, that I met on FB wanted to do a tourney concentrating solely on the top silent actresses of the day. Because to be fair they did kind of get shafted during the regular tourney. So Catherine came up with a list of 32 actresses who were the most popular and well known during the silent era and broke them down into four brackets. She named the brackets after four of her friends. Here are the brackets and first round matches that will begin on Sunday, January 19th. You will notice that Catherine ranked all 32 actresses over the four brackets instead of the usual breakdown per bracket, which I think is a cool idea. I will host the Desiree and Stephen brackets here on All Good Things while Catherine will host the Josie and Maria brackets on her blog located here: http://obscurecinemamagic.wordpress.com/

The Josie Bracket

5.  Janet Gaynor

27.  Alice Terry

20.  Pola Negri

32.  Corinne Griffith

21.  Eleanor Boardman

31.  Colleen Moore

15.  Dorothy Gish

8.  Greta Garbo

The Maria Bracket

16.  Norma Shearer

22.  Constance Talmadge

28.  Olive Borden

23.  Jobyna Ralston

2.  Gloria Swanson

14.  Vilma Bánky

24.  Marie Prevost

9.  Marion Davies

The Desiree Bracket

1.  Mary Pickford

17.  Brigitte Helm

25.  Dolores Costello

18.  Renée Adorée

29.  Norma Talmadge

6.  Clara Bow

11. Alla Nazimova

7.  Theda Bara

The Stephen Bracket

12.  Thelma Todd

13.  Bebe Daniels

26.  Edna Purviance

4.  Mabel Normand

3.  Lillian Gish

30.  Carmel Myers

10.  Louise Brooks

19.  Pearl White

MacEddy fans rejoice!

Nothing like a little celebratory cake....

It's official...Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald are the favorite classic screen couple after defeating favored couple Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers by the count of 85-31 in the final match of the favorite classic screen couple tourney. MacEddy, as they are affectionately known by their fans defied odds all tourney long after they kept knocking off perennial revered couples such as Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn and William Powell and Myrna Loy. Maybe now more classic film lovers will see how popular MacEddy were and still are to this day. And their names can be said along with those other greats with just as much importance and love. The fans of MacEddy showed up and supported the couple from the first round of this tourney and kept the mojo going through it all, finally taking down Fred and Ginger. Thanks to all those who voted and I loved teaming up with my great friend Desiree to put on this cool tourney!

If It's Tuesday, Then It Must Be Grace Kelly

Just a photo in my recurring series spotlighting Grace. Here she is in photos with Audrey Hepburn, backstage at the Oscars. Two amazing women together! To be there that night would have been awesome!

The final match for favorite classic screen couple is underway...

Desiree has the final match for favorite classic screen couple underway between Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers against Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald. Here's the link to go cast your vote:http://www.rozrussell.com/

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!

It will be an all musical affair for the final match to decide favorite classic screen couple...

The championship match to decide favorite classic screen couple will feature two great film couples known for their dazzling musical prowess. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers will take on Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald for all the marbles. In the semi-final matches which concluded today, both couples breezed through for easy wins. Astaire and Rogers defeated Cary Grant and Irene Dunne 42-22 while MacEddy took down expected contenders William Powell and Myrna Loy 88-64. Actually that match was still going on as Desiree lives on the west coast and still has the poll open. But it's pretty much over. The final match will make for an all musical affair. And should make for an interesting match! The match will take place on Desiree's blog, Rosalind Russell: Dazzling Star. Desiree will have the match up and running sometime this weekend. Here's the link to her blog: http://www.rozrussell.com/