The 2012 Favorite Classic Film Actress Tournament Preview: The Silent/1930's Era

Just a little over 2 weeks left before we kick off the 2012 Favorite Classic Film Tournament. I thought I would go ahead and preview each of the four brackets and all the matches in the first round. Like I stated in an earlier post, due to the sheer number of actresses involved this time around..a whopping 128, I enlisted some help. John of Mythical Monkey will be handling the silent/30's era on his blog while Desiree will take care of the 1940's era on her blog. I shall have  the honors of doing the 60's era here on my blog and also the 50's era on my good friend Dawn's blog Noir and Chick Flicks.

Today I will present John's matches and top seeds of the era he will be handling: the silent/30's. And this year thanks to John, we will break down the era's competitors by categories. Which is a wonderful idea. Thanks John. They are: They Had Faces, Tough Broads and Pre-Code Babes, Funny Ladies and Singers/Dancers. I have John's matches below with the top seed or top actress for each category. I will do similar posts for each other era as well in the coming days.

The tourney kicks off Monday, March 5th simultaneously across all four blogs with the first round voting lasting until Sunday, March 12th. We will try to capture the feel of college basketball's tourney dubbed March Madness, as best we can.  I will provide daily updates on all the matches as they are happening. Then the  following Monday, Round 2 will begin and so forth. Here is the link to John's blog:
mythicalmonkey

Number one seed of They Had Faces category - Greta Garbo

THEY HAD FACES



1.Greta Garbo v. 8.Anna May Wong


2.Mary Pickford v. 7.Janet Gaynor


3.Lillian Gish v. 6.Gloria Swanson


4.Clara Bow v. 5.Louise Brooks

Number one seed of Tough Broads/Pre-Code Babes Category-Barbara Stanwyck

TOUGH BROADS AND PRE-CODE BABES


1.Barbara Stanwyck v. 8.Miriam Hopkins


2.Marlene Dietrich v. 7.Elsa Lanchester


3.Joan Crawford v. 6.Norma Shearer (Crystal Allen vs Mary Haines of The Women! Catfight!)


4.Claudette Colbert v. 5.Mary Astor

Number one seed of Funny Ladies category - Carole Lombard

FUNNY LADIES


1.Carole Lombard v. 8.Gail Patrick (ooooohhhh...a match between the Bullock sisters
from My Man Godfrey!)


2.Myrna Loy v. 7.Margaret Dumont


3.Jean Harlow v. 6.Marie Dressler


4.Jean Arthur v. 5.Margaret Sullavan

Overall top seed of silent/30's era Irene Dunne (and defending champion)

SINGERS AND DANCERS


1.Irene Dunne v. 8.Luise Rainer


2.Shirley Temple v. 7.Hattie McDaniel


3.Ginger Rogers v. 6.Joan Blondell (a very interesting match!)


4.Jeanette MacDonald v. 5.Mae West