March Madness: Lion or Lamb

My good friend Katrina came up with this wonderful idea called March Madness: Lion or Lamb, featuring polls on classic movie stars and their film roles either being like a lion or a lamb in nature of their performance. Since it's March, she has called it Lion or Lamb, which is very clever. So their will be a different poll everyday to vote on and the first one features Bette Davis in Human Bondage and The Petrified Forest as the choices!

The 2016 Lombard Cup is now underway..

Hi movie fans and beloved followers of All Good Things, welcome back to our yearly Lombard Cup. Named after my favorite actress of all time Carole Lombard, this is a friendly competition between friends picking their favorite classic stars. This year it's a little different as I have invited 11 of my most awesome friends to choose their favorite classic actress and compete in different categories. Here are the names of everyone competing and their chosen star.

Rosalind Russell - Desiree
Bette Davis - Katrina
Myrna Loy - Josh
Loretta Young - Tracy
Natalie Wood - Starla
Shelley Winters - Kimba
Irene Dunne - Josie
Agnes Moorehead - Mari
Ingrid Bergman - Gillian
Audrey Hepburn - Virginie
Katharine Hepburn - Jessica 
Elizabeth Taylor - Monty

I did the match selections last night, randomly choosing names out of a basket and I gotta tell you we got some interesting matches right out of the gate. The first category is 5th favorite film. I asked everyone to list their chosen star 5 favorite films and every 3 days we will have new matches counting down all the way to #1. So here are the matches to which you can vote on through Tuesday evening.

MATCH 1

Bette Davis (Katrina) vs Elizabeth Taylor (Monty)

MATCH 2

Natalie Wood (Starla) vs Agnes Moorehead (Mari)

MATCH 3

Audrey Hepburn (Virginie) vs Loretta Young (Tracy)

MATCH 4

Irene Dunne (Josie) vs Ingrid Bergman (Gillian)

MATCH 5

Katharine Hepburn (Jessica) vs Shelley Winters (Kimba Kat)

MATCH 6

Myrna Loy (Josh) vs Rosalind Russell (Desiree)

Bette Davis Blogathon: My review of In This Our Life (1942)

My good friend Crystal Pacey is holding a Bette Davis blogathon and I so wanted to contribute to it. So here's a review of In This Our Life:

IN THIS OUR LIFE (1942) Top notch drama with Olivia de Havilland sharing the screen with grand diva Bette Davis. They play sisters who have conflicting love lives. That's putting it nicely as Bette is just a vixen who just wrecks everything in sight, even stealing her sister's husband. Bette is all volcano fury as Stanley Timberlake in this one while Olivia is the quieter sister Roy. Yes they have boy’s name which make them all the more unique. It's one hell of a movie. Bette and Olivia surround themselves with one heck of a supporting cast too. George Brent plays Craig Fleming (Stanley’s fiancée whom she dumps); Dennis Morgan plays Roy’s husband Peter, whom Stanley ends up stealing away. And co-starring Charles Coburn, Billie Burke, and Hattie McDaniel. Directed by the great John Huston. And a top notch music score by the legendary Max Steiner. This is one of my all time favorite films! A must see!

Both Bette Davis' and Olivia de Havilland's characters have masculine given names -- "Stanley" and "Roy," respectively. Interestingly, the film never hints that there is anything unusual about their names, nor does it offer any explanation.

Quotes:
Roy Timberlake: Parks are for the very rich or the very poor.

Asa Timberlake: In my day, we didn't talk much about happiness. If it came we were grateful for it. But we were brought up in the belief that there were other things more important. Old foogy fantastic notions such as duty and personal responsibility.

Stanley Timberlake: Craig, have dinner with me somewhere tonight. Please. I've got a reason.
Craig Fleming: I don't think we better Stanley.
Stanley Timberlake: Why not? You're afraid aren't you? Afraid of yourself. Afraid of what you might feel if you let yourself go. Why don't you admit the truth Craig? You've never gotten over me and you never will. You'd like to put your arms around me right now, wouldn't you? You'd like to kiss me, wouldn't you?

Here's the link to Crystal's awesome blog site where you will find more amazing things about Bette:
crystalkalyana

All-Time Top Winning Tourney Actresses

As we approach another favorite classic movie actress tourney, I thought it would be a great time to list the all time top winning actresses. I did a list last year featuring the top five but I have expanded it to the top 12. So here we go:

12.) MYRNA LOY (10-4) - Myrna has been a consistent performer in the tourney and usually goes quite far in the 30's era bracket in which she competes in. She is a very popular actress so don't be surprised if she makes a strong run in this upcoming tourney.

11.) ELIZABETH TAYLOR (10-4) - While Liz only did so-so in the previous three tourneys when she competed in the 50's era with a 4-3 record, she did much better once she transferred to the 60's era last year with a great 6-1 record and reaching the final four. So look out everyone here comes Liz!

10.) INGRID BERGMAN (10-3) - The Swedish actress has amassed 10 solid wins and this despite not playing in the inaugural tourney back in 2011. She competes in the 40's era bracket and does really well. And now that Bette Davis, who won last year is out of the picture, look for another strong run by Ingrid.

9.) JUDY GARLAND (11-3) - Another 40's era competitor who also missed the first tourney, Judy has done amazingly well with 11 wins so far. Can the singer/dancer/actress add another hyphenate to her already impressive resume.

8.) BARBARA STANWYCK (12-4) - The overall top seed for this year's tourney due to her runner-up finish last year, Missy is the favorite to win it all this year. Competing in the 30's era, she is a cinch to make it to at least the sweet sixteen round.

7.) AUDREY HEPBURN (13-5) - Audrey finally got over the hump of beating her 50's era nemesis Grace Kelly last year to make her first final four appearance. Audrey had lost to Grace twice before but not last year and is poised to make another strong run this year.

6.) DORIS DAY (14-4) - The ever popular Doris has been a feisty competitor in the tourneys, even reaching the final four back in 2013. She competes in the 50's era so expect her to mix it up with Grace and Audrey once again for that final spot.

5.) NATALIE WOOD (16-5) - Two- time final four finalist, Natalie has pretty much dominated the 60’s era portion of the tourneys, with the exception of 2013's early exit in the sweet sixteen round. But her 16 wins proves that she is definitely a contender and one of the most loved actresses competing.

4.) GRETA GARBO (16-4, winner of the 2014 Favorite Silent Actress Tourney) Recently crowned Favorite Silent Actress thanks to her solid performance in that year’s earlier tourney, Greta has established herself as a proven force. Now she seeks to add another crown to her collection.

3.) CAROLE LOMBARD ( (16-3, winner 2013 Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tourney) I was so happy my beloved Carole finally broke through and won a tourney. She had come so close in the two previous tourneys only to lose to Irene Dunne and Ginger Rogers in the 30’s era finals, but would not be denied a 3^rd time. It was a long time coming.

2.) BETTE DAVIS (18-3, winner 2014 Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tourney) Bette has been in the mix in all three previous tourneys, reaching the final four in 2013 only to lose to my girl Carole. But she would not be denied a second time as she won the crown last year, posting her 18th win.

1.)    GRACE KELLY (20-4, winner 2012 Favorite Alfred Hitchcock Leading Lady) And the all-time most winning actress in tourney history is none other than Princess Grace. Two-time final four finalist that has owned the 50’s era bracket with the exception of 2013’s early exit during the sweet sixteen round. Grace did manage to win another tourney though…Favorite Alfred Hitchcock Leading Lady, quite easily might I add.

There you have it, the top 12 actresses who are the most successful in tourney history. I will also mention IRENE DUNNE (7-1, 2011 Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tourney) and GINGER ROGERS (8-1, 2012 Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tourney). After winning the earlier tourneys, they are ineligible to compete in future tourneys, and since they won so soon, they didn't get to rack up the wins like every one else. But they have the distinction of each having only 1 loss. No other actresses can say that! 

Please join me on Sunday, March 1st for the start of the 2015 Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tournament to see who will become the 5th champion actress!

It's official...Bette wins the crown for Favorite Classic Movie Actress of 2014

Bette beams proudly as she is named Favorite Classic Movie

Actress of 2014

Wow! What a match! Bette Davis and Barbara Stanwyck battled back and forth for the past 6 days and when it was all said and done, Bette emerged victorious with a 49-47 win. It gives Bette her 18th tourney win and places her 2nd all time, behind only Grace Kelly's whopping 20 wins. It also ends the 30's era actresses domination in the tourney. All three previous tourney winners (Irene Dunne, Ginger Rogers and Carole Lombard) came from that respective era. And Barbara Stanwyck was close to joining that exclusive club. She held the lead of 3 votes over Bette early yesterday morning but Bette stormed back to tie and then eventually take the lead. Today Bette led by as many as 5 votes before Babs made a late rally to tie the match again until Bette picked up two more votes to secure a victory. 

Asked what she will do after her loss to Bette, Babs replied

"Oh I think I will go play a little tennis! But I'll be back and ready

for next year!" That's our Missy!

It was a momentous occasion for Bette in several ways. Me and Desiree had recently given her a two week tribute on our facebook pages and of course April 5th marked Bette's birthday. So the final piece to this wondrous month was winning the crown as favorite classic movie actress of 2014. Well done Bette! Well done! Thanks to my good friends Desiree, Kristen and John for helping me once again for putting on this event and to all those fans and friends that voted and had a good time! 

We'll do it all again next year but for now let Bette have her moment. She deserves it!

Championship Match Update: Barbara and Bette are in a close one...

We begin day 3 of our championship match to see who is the favorite classic movie actress of 2014 between Barbara Stanwyck and Bette Davis...and boy is it a good one. Bette currently leads Babs by only three votes, 20-17. But we have 3 and a half more days of voting so you know this match is going down to the wire. And given the pedigree of these two women, that is all not that shocking.

The 2014 Favorite Classic Movie Actress Championship Match: Barbara Stanwyck vs Bette Davis

It all comes down to this...after 5 weeks and 132 actresses vying for favorite classic movie actress of 2014, we are down to the final two. Barbara Stanwyck and Bette Davis. The match begins tomorrow morning and will run through Wednesday evening. Here are the stats for our two finalists:

BARBARA STANWYCK

30'S ERA CHAMPION

Tourney record (12-3)

Number of final fours: 1st time

How she got here:

defeated Thelma Todd 38-4

defeated Marlene Dietrich 49-7

defeated Norma Shearer 40-19

defeated Greta Garbo 49-16

defeated Myrna Loy 51-43

defeated Audrey Hepburn 47-30

total votes accumulated so far 274

what's at stake for her: continuing the streak of 30's era actresses

being tourney champions....all three previous tourney

winners came from the 30's era

VS

BETTE DAVIS

40'S ERA CHAMPION

Tourney Record (17-3)
How she got here:

defeated Katharine Hepburn 50-25

defeated Rosalind Russell 40-36

defeated Judy Garland 53-16

defeated Rita Hayworth 50-7

defeated Olivia de Havilland 35-34

defeated Elizabeth Taylor 46-25

Total votes accumulated so far: 274 (the exact same number as Babs)

what's at stake for her: this is Bette's 2nd straight championship

match...I'm sure she doesn't want a 3rd

It will be BARBARA STANWYCK and BETTE DAVIS in the title match for Favorite Classic Movie Actress of 2014

Barbara Stanwyck and Bette Davis both faced tough competitors in their final four matches and came away with similar results. Barbara rocked Audrey Hepburn to the tune of 47-30 while Bette crushed Elizabeth Taylor by the count of 46-25. So the title match is now set..Stanwyck vs Davis! It marks Bette 2nd consecutive championship match. She lost to Carole Lombard last year. While this marks the first title match for Barbara, who was actually the pre-tourney pick to win it all.  I will do a post about this sure to be epic match tomorrow and then start it on Friday morning. 

Babs is supremely confident heading into the title match

But so is Bette....should be fun!

THE FINAL FOUR Update: Day 2

After a close first day, things have opened up on day 2 with Bette Davis and Barbara Stanwyck firmly in control of their matches. Bette leads Elizabeth Taylor 33-14 whille Barbara Stanwyck leads Audrey Hepburn 34-19. On day one, Bette and Liz was tied at 10 votes each and Babs was actually trailing Audrey 14-12. But things have turned around big time. Matches continue through Wednesday evening!

THE FINAL FOUR..Classic Movie Actress Style begins tomorrow

Last month we began with 132 actresses competing for the title of Favorite Classic Movie Actress. Well we have now made it to the final four and what a foursome we have. Barbara Stanwyck, Bette Davis, Audrey Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor. And it's notable as three of the women present are first time Final Four finalists. Bette Davis is the only returnee. Here are the breakdowns and match-ups that will begin tomorrow afternoon (3 pm EST). Note: tourney record is for all tourney appearances since inception.

BARBARA STANWYCK

30'S ERA CHAMPION

Tourney record (11-3)

Number of final fours: 1st time

How she got here:

defeated Thelma Todd 38-4

defeated Marlene Dietrich 49-7

defeated Norma Shearer 40-19

defeated Greta Garbo 49-16

defeated Myrna Loy 51-43

total votes accumulated so far 227

VS

AUDREY HEPBURN

50'S ERA CHAMPION

Tourney Record (13-4)

how she got here:

defeated Shirley Booth 40-4

defeated Eva Marie Saint 46-9

defeated Susan Hayward 51-23

defeated Grace Kelly 54-20

defeated Doris Day 65-60

total votes accumulated so far: 256

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

BETTE DAVIS

40'S ERA CHAMPION

Tourney Record (16-3)
How she got here:

defeated Katharine Hepburn 50-25

defeated Rosalind Russell 40-36

defeated Judy Garland 53-16

defeated Rita Hayworth 50-7

defeated Olivia de Havilland 35-34

Total votes accumulated so far: 228

VS

ELIZABETH TAYLOR

60'S ERA CHAMPION

Tourney record (10-3)

How she got here:
defeated Vanessa Redgrave 41-17

defeated Julie Andrews 37-11

defeated Jean Simmons 46-26

defeated Lee Remick 45-17

defeated Natalie Wood 41-27

Total votes accumulated so far: 210

It's interesting to note that while Elizabeth Taylor has the smallest amount of accumulated votes out of all the finalists, she is the only one not to have a close match. Her smallest margin of victory was by a double digit win of 14 votes over Natalie Wood. All the other finalists had at least one close call. Bette Davis even had two, narrowly surviving Rosalind Russell in round 2 by four votes and then just the other day edging Olivia de Havilland by one vote. Audrey Hepburn has racked up the most votes in this year's tourney with a whopping 256 votes and racked up a tourney high 65 votes against Doris Day. Barbara Stanwyck has been quite consistent with averaging over 40 votes per match but topped 50 with a solid win over Myrna Loy in the previous round. So it looks like each actress brings an impressive resume to the table with some great wins in pivotal matches. Bette Davis is the only returning Final Four finalist and she looks to bring home a crown this time. But the other three ladies might have something to say about that. The matches begin tomorrow at 3 pm EST and will run through Wednesday evening! 

Barbara Stanwyck, Bette Davis, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor...now that's a FINAL FOUR!

The Elite 8 matches just wrapped up and we now have our final four set. And what a final four it is. Barbara Stanwyck, Bette Davis, Audrey Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor. Wow! You couldn't have asked for a better foursome. But it wasn't easy, especially for Davis and Hepburn. Here's the complete wrap up of their stellar matches.

30'S ERA CHAMPION: Barbara Stanwyck

In the 30's era, it was Barbara Stanwyck (a pre-tourney number 1 seed) out-lasting Myrna Loy 51-43. Since the previous tourney champions have all come out of the 30's era and Babs made it all the way to the 30's era championship match last year  before losing to eventual champion Carole Lombard, she was a heavy favorite to win it all this year. But Myrna gave her some serious competition before Babs was finally able to pull away.

40'S ERA CHAMPION: Bette Davis

In the 40's era, Bette Davis stormed out of the gate and jumped out to big lead over Olivia de Havilland before Livvie made a charge. de Havilland was down by as many as 10 votes before she made a rally only to fall short by one vote, 35-34. Due to Kristen's class running late the poll remained up after the official cut off time and Livvie actually tied up the match. But we called the match over at 6 pm declaring Bette the winner. So Bette heads back to the final four for the second consecutive year. Great showing by Olivia though! Damn great showing!

50'S ERA CHAMPION: Audrey Hepburn

Doris Day was looking for a return trip to the final four as she and Audrey Hepburn had one of the best matches of the tourney. They had multiple lead changes before Audrey managed to pull away slightly on the last day to win 65-60. On Doris Day's birthday no less. Ouch! So Audrey earns her first trip to the final four!

60'S ERA CHAMPION: Elizabeth Taylor

And in the 60's era, it was fantastic news for Elizabeth Taylor. This was her first year competing in this era as she normally competes in the 50's era. But we decided to move her to the 60's due to her two Oscar wins during that decade. It paid off for Liz as she defeated Natalie Wood 41-27. It was a lopsided loss for Natalie as she normally dominates in her matches. In fact her 27 votes is the lowest amount out of these four matches. Seems her fans just disappeared when Natalie needed them the most.

So the final four is now set and as tradition, the 30's era champion will face the 50's era champion while the 40's era champion meets the 60's era champion. Which means Barbara Stanwyck vs Audrey Hepburn while Bette Davis will face Elizabeth Taylor. The matches will begin on Saturday right here on All Good Things and run through Wednesday evening. I will write a post tomorrow detailing these sure to be thrilling matches. Thanks to Desiree, Kristen and John for their help once again in helping me put together another great tourney!

Round 5 (THE ELITE EIGHT) begins on Sunday

My oh my...we have come down to the elite 8 actresses left in the 2014 Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tourney. This round features the final matches of each respective era with the winner moving on to the final four. Matches start tomorrow and will run through Thursday evening. Below are the match-ups with each actress complete tourney record over the past 4 years since we first started doing this! And also other match play events that they may have competed in!

30'S ERA CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH

BARBARA STANWYCK (10-3) vs MYRNA LOY (10-3)

Go here to cast your vote once the polls are open: http://www.rozrussell.com/

40'S ERA CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH

BETTE DAVIS (15-3) vs OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND (8-3)

Go here to cast your vote once the polls open: http://journeysinclassicfilm.com/

50'S ERA CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH

DORIS DAY (14-3) vs AUDREY HEPBURN (12-4)

Go here to cast your vote once the polls open: http://mythicalmonkey.blogspot.com/

60'S ERA CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH

 NATALIE WOOD (16-4) vs ELIZABETH TAYLOR (8-3) 

Which will take place right here on ALL GOOD THINGS

Good luck to all these amazing women!