Virginia Mayo Tribute on TCM today for her birthday

I gotta hand it to TCM..when it comes to honoring classic film stars on their birthdays, they don't hold back. The other day it was Gloria Grahame. Today it is Virginia Mayo. The actress will be honored with several films including Smart Girls Don't Talk (1948), White Heat (1949), The Girl From Jones Beach (1949), and Always Leaving Them Laughing (1949). The fun begins at 6am EST. Wish I could catch some of them but I will be at work when they are showing. For those who can though, check out her films as Virginia was an amazing actress.

Brackets for Favorite Screwball Comedy Film Tourney

I have made the selections for the 32 films that will be competing in my Favorite Screwball Tourney. I have four brackets which I have named in honor of four of the most honored directors of the genre: Preston Sturges, Frank Capra, Ernst Lubitsch, and Howard Hawks. Two of the brackets action will take place over on Screwball Cinema while the other two will take place here on All Good Things. I already had posted about what films would be the top four seeds in each respective bracket, so now comes the other 28 films. And I used my cards in a basket trick to pull out titles randomly to see where each film would land, bracket wise. And looking at some of the matches, we will have some barn burners.The Sturges and Lubitsch brackets will be held on Screwball Cinema while All Good Things will host Capra and Hawks. So here are the match-ups which are scheduled to begin Sunday. You will notice that a lot of familiar faces will be present through-out this tourney. Such as Cary Grant, Claudette Colbert, Carole Lombard, Gary Cooper, Irene Dunne, Katharine Hepburn, Irene Dunne, Jean Arthur, William Powell and Myrna Loy. Should be great seeing the best screwball comedies going up against each other. I for one am looking forward to it.

FRANK CAPRA BRACKET

1 IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934)

VS

8 THE MORE THE MERRIER (1943)

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4 MERRILY WE LIVE (1938)

VS

5 THE GILDED LILY (1935)

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3 THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940)

VS

6 TWENTIETH CENTURY (1934)

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2 HIS GIRL FRIDAY (1934)

VS

7 THE MAJOR AND THE MINOR (1941)

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HOWARD HAWKS BRACKET

1 MY MAN GODFREY (1936)

VS

8 EASY LIVING (1937)

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4 THE AWFUL TRUTH (1937)

VS

5 ARSENIC AND OLD LACE (1944)

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3 YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU (1938)

VS

6 BLUEBEARD'S EIGHT WIFE (1938)

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2 SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS (1941)

VS

7 BALL OF FIRE (1941)

HOLIDAY CHEER: Janet Leigh

Janet getting a head start on unwrapping some Christmas gifts..with some help

ALL GOOD THINGS in DECEMBER

Almost made it through another year and what a ride. In December I will bring back my daily holiday cheer pic series of classic film stars in holiday poses. There is also the screwball tourney I am doing between here and my sister blog Screwball Cinema, which should be fun. My guest for the month is Garbo. Alicia Garbo, a very good friend of mine I met on FB. She has a cool name right. And I won't be doing the classic movie goddess for the month as I won't have enough time to do her justice. But expect that series to return in January. And expect the occasional post about some of my favorite Christmas movies! Hope to see everyone here! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Team Modern splits final week of Lombard Cup with Team Classic to save face...

Denzel is grateful for a victory to give Team Modern a rare win and point

Finally, Team Modern had something to smile about after a good showing during the final week of The Lombard Cup. They split the six matches with three victories and finished with 4 and a 1/2 points. It allowed them to save face a little but Team Classic still dominated the proceedings by winning the Lombard Cup 16 and a 1/2 points to 4 and a half. Paul Newman throttled Michael Douglas 25-8. James Stewart beat Jack Nicholson 27-7. Charlie Chaplin rallied to defeat Morgan Freeman 17-13 to secure three wins for Team Classic. For Team Modern, their wins were Tom Hanks over Errol Flynn 17-16 in a back and forth match. Denzel Washington withstood a late charge by Marlon Brando to win 18-14 and Robert Duvall edged out Montgomery Clift 16-15. This was by far the most exciting and competitive week of the month long Lombard Cup. But it does shed light on the fact that the modern era actors can't run with the classic era actors. So for next year's edition I will tweak the format a little, like say the silent era actors competing against the 30's era, or 40's era against the 50's era. But it will be the women's turn then so we shall see. I want to thank everyone who came by to cast their votes and hope you guys enjoyed it. And don't forget my favorite screwball tourney begins next month. No rest for the classic film fan here by george!

PAUL NEWMAN 25 MICHAEL DOUGLAS 8
TOM HANKS 17 ERROL FLYNN 16
JAMES STEWART 27 JACK NICHOLSON 7
CHARLIE CHAPLIN 17 MORGAN FREEMAN 13
DENZEL WASHINGTON 18 MARLON BRANDO 14
ROBERT DUVALL 16 MONTGOMERY CLIFT 15

Here's Carole to present the Lombard Cup to

Team Classic! Well done guys..well done!

Gloria Grahame Birthday Tribute on TCM today

In honor of Gloria's birthday today, TCM is honoring her with a host of her movies. Beginning at 7am eastern time and including The Big Heat (1953) with Glenn Ford and Macao (1952) with Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell. Other films include Crossfire (1947) with Mitchum again, A Woman's Secret (1949) with Maureen O'Hara and The Good Die Young (1954) with Joan Collins and Laurence Harvey. What a lineup. Happy Birthday Gloria! Wish I could catch some of these but work calls..gotta go. Hope to catch them later!

Jane Wyman lends a hand to Olivia de Havilland in PRINCESS O'ROURKE (1943)

Princess O'Rourke is a breezy little comedy that stars Olivia de Havilland as Maria, a foreign princess visiting America who falls in love with a pilot named Eddie O'Rourke (played by Robert Cummings). The catch is Eddie doesn't know she is a princess and thinks she is just a regular girl. Albeit a girl with no skills to speak of. This is a wonderful comedy that I enjoyed quite a bit. It's a joy seeing Olivia in such a non-serious role for a change. All those The Dark Mirror, In This Our Life, and The Snake Pit can take a toll on an actress. Every now and then one needs to lighten up and have some fun. And that's what Olivia does. In her first major scene, she is taking a flight from New York to San Francisco and has to take a sleeping pill to relax. Well when she thinks it's not working, she takes another, and another, and another. Within a few minutes she is quite loopy and makes the funniest faces you have ever seen Olivia make. When the flight is turned back around due to bad weather, that's when the fun starts. Eddie has to take the now near comatose Maria back to his place to sleep it off. So once the two finally see each other they are immediately smitten. And the rest of the movie has them trying to get to know each other before Eddie and his best pal Dave (played by Jack Carson) are off to join the military to serve in the war. Dave's wife Jean is played by Jane Wyman, who has wonderful chemistry with Carson. They made a total of four films together and are one of the most underrated screen teams of all time. Carson gets in many of the film's funniest lines and Wyman is solid in several emotional scenes. She also works well with Olivia.

I enjoyed this movie from the very beginning as it features a nice comic rhythm and a great cast. It starts to sag a little towards the end but it's still a refreshing little comedy. Like I said earlier it's nice seeing Olivia in a rare comedy. I wished she had done more in a career, because she definitely has a flair for comedy. Also great support from veteran actor Charles Coburn as Maria's uncle, who is desperate for her to marry a prince or duke to put their family back on top. Princess O'Rourke is a winner all way around.
Film: B
Olivia's Performance:B

Lombard Cup Final Matches

This week of the final six matches is really just perfunctory as Team Classic has already wrapped up the cup with a thorough beat down of Team Modern. But it will be interesting to see if Team Modern can snag a few more victories this final week. They have only won one match..that was when Harrison Ford edged out James Cagney in the first week of Lombard Cup play. And Team Modern do have a few heavyweights left so it should be interesting. The matches begin today and will run through Wednesday night. Thanks to all those who voted and hope you guys return next month for my screwball tourney. Here are the matches:

MATCH 16:
PAUL NEWMAN vs MICHAEL DOUGLAS
The much loved Paul Newman takes on Kirk's eldest son, Michael in a match that
Paul will probably win. Although Michael Douglas is one of my favorite modern
actors.

MATCH 17: 
ERROL FLYNN vs TOM HANKS
Swashbuckling Flynn vs everyman Hanks. I know Flynn has quite the fan base here
in classic blog land but Hanks is also much loved too. This one could  go either way.

MATCH 18:
JAMES STEWART vs JACK NICHOLSON
Awww shucks Jimmy takes on mad dog Jack. Man, this should be a really good match.
I would not be surprised if this ends up a tie.

MATCH 19:
CHARLIE CHAPLIN vs MORGAN FREEMAN
The legendary Chaplin will probably defeat Morgan Freeman but I don't blink it
will be a blow-out.

MATCH 20:
MARLON BRANDO vs DENZEL WASHINGTON
If there is one match where I think Team Modern could get a victory, it has to be this
one. No disrespect to Brando but I think Denzel can win this. But we'll see.

MATCH 21:
MONTGOMERY CLIFT vs ROBERT DUVALL
And finally Monty battles Robert in the anchor match which should be another interesting
one. I'm going with Duvall in this one.

So those are the matches and my thoughts on them as well. I want to thank everyone
for making this a great success. And The Lombard Cup will return next year with the
ladies.

Team Classic sweeps week three of Lombard Cup

William Powell enjoys some down time after an impressive victory

Three weeks into this four week event and Team Classic has improved every single week to get a sweep of all five matches this time. They get 5 more points and now their lead grows to 13 1/2 to 1 1/2 over Team Modern. Basically the Lombard Cup is over because even if Team Modern wins the remaining 6 matches next week, it still wouldn't be enough. Team Classic has dominated every single week and will handily walk away with the Lombard Cup when it concludes next week. Here are the final results for Week 3 matches:


MATCH 11:
WILLIAM POWELL defeats SAMUEL L. JACKSON 27-4

MATCH 12:
WILLIAM HOLDEN defeats ROBERT DENIRO 24-4

MATCH 13:
KIRK DOUGLAS defeats CHRISTOPHER WALKEN 16-12

MATCH 14:
 JACK LEMMON defeats LEONARDO DICAPRIO 17-12

MATCH 15:
GARY COOPER defeats GARY OLDMAN 18-11

I will have the final matches up and running by Sunday to conclude this first annual Lombard Cup.

Jane Wyman teams with Jack Carson for the funny Make Your Own Bed (1944)

Successful businessman Walter Whirtle (Alan Hale, yes the dad of the Skipper from Gilligan's Island) and his wife Vivian (Irene Manning) have a hard time keeping servants in their employ. Enter private detective Jerry Curtis (played by Jack Carson) who has been fired for arresting the District Attorney. The only way that Walter can get Jerry to work for him is to tell Jerry that his life is in danger; the neighbor is trying to take his wife; and that Nazi spies are everywhere. Jerry needs a cook for his 'cover' so he gets his fiancée Susan (the game Jane Wyman) to work with him. The storyline may be exaggerated but it's so funny that you won't mind. Carson and Wyman make a delightful team. They would follow-up this movie with the equally hilarious The Doughgirls a few months later. Carson gets the majority of the best lines, but Wyman gets in a few good zingers as well. Make Your Own Bed is good, solid fun.
B

Be My Guest: Stacia (She Blogged By Night)

My guest this month is none other than blogger extraordinaire Stacia of She Blogged By Night. Check out her blog sometime for a most wonderful time. Here's the link:  shebloggedbynight.com

1. What made you start blogging?

Stacia: For years I posted to Usenet movie groups, but Usenet was losing popularity and I was seeing much more compelling content on LiveJournal. LJ posts weren't technically blogs, but they were longer than Usenet posts and had photos, plus with nicer commenting threads that were easier to follow. Blogger was extremely popular at the time, so I started a Blogger blog that was going to be about both food and movies. I didn't do much with it, though I did use it for a charity event called "Blogathon," where you stay up 24 hours straight and take pledges from people to raise money for a charity. (That was before the word "blogathon" was used for any blog-hosted event like it is today.) After that "Blogathon," I realized I wanted to do more with my film writing, specifically to write an epic screen on the movie Myra Breckinridge, which I still haven't gotten around to doing. But that was the impetus to start She Blogged By Night, and I'm still there!
 

Me: Another of my friends got started thru LiveJournal. Awesome story Stacia!

 

2. Who are your favorite classic film stars? Name as many as you wantStacia: Oh, I can't name all of them, we'd run out of room! My biggest faves are Bette Davis, Marie Prevost and El Brendel, of course, the ones I'm always gushing over. I do love Orson Welles, Deborah Kerr, Charles Laughton, Joan Crawford, Kay Francis, Judy Garland, Buster Keaton, Dana Andrews, James Mason, Jack Benny, and about a million more. Lately I've been really liking Richard Dix, who I avoided for ages because I wasn't keen on some of his silents, but his early talkies are quite good.

Me: You started off with Bette and it was all good! Some great choices there.
 
3. What are some of your favorite films?


Stacia: Again, we'd be here all day if I listed them all! Some silents: The Unknown, The Racket (1928), The General. Pre-codes: Island of Lost Souls, Our Betters, Trouble in Paradise. Foreign: Playtime, Peeping Tom, The Bad Sleep Well, Stalker. Horror: The Innocents, The Haunting, White Zombie, The Body Snatcher. Classic era: So Dark the Night, The Third Man, Touch of Evil, A Star is Born (1954, but I love 1937 too), The Letter, The Best Years of Our Lives, Out of the Past, The Killing, Johnny Guitar, Beat the Devil. More recent classics (after 1960): Lolita, The Wrong Box, Mulholland Dr., Quatermass and the Pit, Blade Runner. Ok, I'm going to stop now!
Me: Some great choices once again and you love Blade Runner too? Cool!
 

4. Describe your first classic movie experience. Like where and when..at a cinema, on TV, etc..

Stacia: My dad was 45 years old when I was born, so when I was growing up we watched a PBS show called "Matinee at the Bijou" all the time because he had seen those Westerns and serials on their original runs when he was a kid. When I was about 9 years old, I remember seeing a terrible print of The Devil Bat (1940) on "Matinee at the Bijou." I was very confused, partly because I didn't realize it was a spoof and the big fake bats on strings looked terrible, but partly because the sound was so awful I thought they were saying "the DENVER bat" for most of the movie! At about the same time, a TV station in Springfield, Missouri (probably KOZK) was running a fundraiser by selling 3D glasses, which you'd use to watch a special showing of a vintage 3D movie. Unfortunately, the movie was Gorilla at Large (1954), and my parents weren't willing to watch THAT movie all the way 'til the end. With first classic film experiences like that, it's a wonder I ever watched another classic film again.

Me: Haha! Cool story!
 

5. What films upon first viewing did you not like, then later on when re-watching them, loved them?




Stacia: The most embarrassing would be The Raven (1963), which I rented when I was in my early 20s. I couldn't figure out why it wasn't scary at all, why it had nothing to do with the Poe poem and why people were doing such silly things. Finally my husband had to sit me down and say, "Stacia, it had Peter Lorre in a bird suit. It was a comedy." I had no idea! 
Me: Well good that your husband pointed that out for you....
 

6. Describe the perfect way for you to watch a classic film.
Stacia: Alone! For years, no one I knew in real life likes old movies; in fact, many actively scoff at silents or black and white films. So I got used to watching alone, even though now I know a couple people who like classics, and I prefer to be alone when I watch. My favorite thing is to find a lesser-known film from 1949 or earlier, then sit down by myself in the evenings when I have the house to myself. Usually a cat snuggles up, though my youngest cat has no patience with movies and will wander off after 20 minutes or so. He's a dilettante.
Me: And you have a great sense of humor to boot...
 
7. How many friends, family member or co-workers share your love of classic films?

Stacia: Guess I already answered that: Almost none. My husband has learned to like them, but I remember when I started really getting into classic films while at university, I would rent movies like Double Indemnity and Three on a Match and watch them alone, sound turned almost all the way down so it didn't disturb anyone else in the apartment. 
Me: Same way here as my wife doesn't care for them too much. She has started watching some of them with me, mainly the comedies though. That's about all she can handle.

8. What is your favorite time period: the 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's or 60's?
Stacia: I'd have to say the 1930s, but I'm really coming around to the 1960s. 
Me: the 30's are my fave era too thanks to the screwball comedies being at their peak and then it would be the 60's next.
 
9. What are some of your favorite film quotes?

Stacia: "Sedagive?!"

"Remind me to tell you about the time I looked into the heart of an artichoke."

"A toast, Jedediah, to love on my terms. Those are the only terms anybody ever knows: His own.”
 
 
10. What classic films have you yet to see for one reason or another?

Trust me Stacia..you're gonna love Star Wars!

Stacia: Well, there's always Star Wars, partly because I was too young on its original release, and then later it was difficult to find a copy of the original theatrical release. But I bought a copy of it, so it's just waiting for me to get the nerve to finally see it.
I can't really think of many I haven't seen. I'm pretty sure I haven't seen I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang, and I know I haven't seen Red River or Snow White yet. It's really just a matter of time, I'm not avoiding any of them.

Me: That's funny you mentioned Star Wars as one of my friends stated the fact she has never seen none of those films either.
 
11. What is your favorite genre?

Stacia: It's a toss-up between pre-code and film noir.
Me: cool!
 
12. If you threw a movie theme party, describe how you would do it. The costumes, decorations, food, etc.

Stacia: Hmm, that's a hard one. I don't generally do theme parties, but I'd probably skip costumes and just use film posters on the walls for decoration. I'd have out appetizers like stuffed mushrooms and cheeses, some wines, and we'd watch movies. For a party I'd probably go with campy movies, pre-codes like Island of Lost Souls or 1960s movies like Skidoo or Head.
Me: Sounds great. Let me know when you have one and please send me an invite.
 
13. What are some films that are widely loved that you couldn't care less about?
Stacia: I really don't care for An American in Paris, and I actively hate The Quiet Man.This probably makes me evil, or at least very suspicious.

Me: Hey, I can't stand An American in Paris either. But I do like The Quiet Man.
14. Who’s the biggest film fanatic that you know? Besides yourself of course.

Stacia: Over the years I've run into so many bloggers, critics and film fans who watch and love so many films that my own film habit looks like a quaint hobby. It's hard to name just one fanatic, but right now though, I guess I'd say Ronan Doyle, who I've been following on Twitter. I don't think he sleeps. I think he just watches 400 movies a day and writes about them -- and writes well -- then eats a bag of coffee beans and does it all over again.

Me: Ronan sounds awesome. Have to meet him!
 
15. And finally who are some of your favorite film characters?
Stacia: Margo Channing, of course. I model some of my worst social behavior on her. I also love General Jack T. Ripper, Vienna (Johnny Guitar), Esther Blodgett, Arthur Jensen (Network), Velda (Kiss Me Deadly), and J.F. Sebastian (Blade Runner). 
Me: Ahhhhh..Margo Channing...nice! 

Stacia: Thank you for asking me to participate in this month's Be My Guest! It's been a blast, and I just hope you can forgive me for the lengthy answers.

Me: Oh I should be thanking you Stacia for being my guest and bringing your wonderful style and humor to my blog. We must do this again.

Stacia's profile icon...classy!