The first week of matches for the Lombard Cup are in the books...

The 2013 Lombard Cup is off to a flying start as week one matches wrapped up yesterday. Team Carole won 4 of the 5 matches including Team captain Carole Lombard taking down Team captain Veronica Lake 37-7. In the other matches which saw Team Carole victories were Rosalind Russell beating Cyd Charisse 34-10. Jean Harlow taking down Marilyn Monroe 26-18. Shirley Jones edging out Jennifer Jones 25-19. Team Veronica scored a victory when Rita Hayworth beat Greta Garbo 26-18. So after one week Team Carole leads Team Veronica by the count of 4-1. The next set of five matches will begin on Sunday and take place here on All Good Things. I will post the matches on tomorrow.

The 2013 Lombard Cup is underway

The 2013 Lombard Cup is underway as Kristen has the first five matches up and running. Here's the link to her blog to go cast your votes... journeysinclassicfilm.com/2013/09/08

THE 2013 LOMBARD CUP Week One Matches

The fun begins tomorrow over at Kristen's blog, Journeys In Classic Film. Here are the five scheduled matches that will run through Friday. Here is the link to go vote at Kristen's blog.. journeysinclassicfilm.com
So vote on your favorites and next week there will be 5 more matches, this time taking place here at All Good Things

MATCH 1

CAROLE LOMBARD (Team Carole)

VS

VERONICA LAKE (Team Veronica)

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MATCH 2

ROSALIND RUSSELL (Team Carole)

VS

CYD CHARISSE (Team Veronica)

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

MATCH 3

SHIRLEY JONES (Team Carole)

VS

JENNIFER JONES (Team Veronica)

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MATCH 4

JEAN HARLOW (Team Carole)

VS 

MARILYN MONROE (Team Veronica)

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

MATCH 5

GRETA GARBO (Team Carole)

VS

RITA HAYWORTH (Team Veronica)

THE 2013 LOMBARD CUP begins this Sunday

I stated a few weeks ago that me and Kristen of Journeys in Classic Film would be holding The 2013 Lombard Cup on our two respective blogs. Her team against my team. 21 classic film actresses per team that we selected with my team captain being Carole Lombard and hers being Veronica Lake. Akin to golf's Ryder Cup, we will have 21 single matches pitting actress against actress where you guys get to vote on who you like more. Each week we will have 5 matches with the final week having 6 matches. There will be no tie-breakers and if a match ends in a tie then both teams will get half a point. Whoever wins the match gets a full point. And at the end of the month whichever team has the most points wins The Lombard Cup and will keep it at their blog for a full year. Then we get to do it again the following year with new team members. Me and Kristen will trade hosting duties as the first five matches will begin over at her blog for week 1. Then I will do the next five matches the following week and so forth. Here's the link to Kristen's blog:  journeysinclassicfilm.com

And here are the first five matches. The polls will be up sometime on Sunday and will be one vote per match. So please go vote for your favorites.

TEAM CAROLE               VS           TEAM VERONICA
Carole Lombard                                 Veronica Lake
Rosalind Russell                                Cyd Charisse
Shirley Jones                                      Jennifer Jones
Jean Harlow                                        Marilyn Monroe
Greta Garbo                                        Rita Hayworth

Be My Guest - Kristen (Journeys In Classic Film)

My guest this month is one pretty cool blogger named Kristen. She writes the awesomely amazing blog Journeys in Classic Film. We became friends last year and share a love for classic film. Right now she has this amazing tourney going on featuring the best actresses from the classic era to the modern era. And she will be helping me next month for my annual classic movie actress tourney. I thought it was high time everyone got to meet her. Some already know her but some will be meeting her for the first time. Take it away Kristen. Oh and here's the link to Kristen's cool blog:  journeysinclassicfilm.com

1. What made you start blogging?

Kristen: My blog started out as an experiment to see if I could actually commit to keeping one (I have a lot of one and done entries on the Interwebs).  When I started I was/am working for two other sites that kept me writing about contemporary, opening-weekend movies, and I wanted a chance to write about classic movies, which I don't normally get to discuss so as I was starting to blog regularly I noticed it was shifting more towards discussing classic movies.  The rest, as they say, is history!

Me: And a great history you are now making Kristen.

2. Who are your favorite classic stars?

Kristen: Veronica Lake, first and foremost, is my blog mascot so she's top.  Other leading ladies include Lauren Bacall, Natalie Wood, Marilyn Monroe, Julie Andrews, Katharine Hepburn, Joan Blondell, Bette Davis, Ann-Margaret, and Ingrid Bergman.  As for the men, I'll be hard pressed to find a boyfriend who won't have me comparing him to William Holden and Robert Mitchum.  Also adore Cary Grant, Warren Beatty, William Powell, Humphrey Bogart, Marlon Brando, Gene Kelly, and Jack Lemmon.  

Me: I reallty can't argue with none of your choices Kristen.

3. What are some of your favorite films?

Kristen: Such a lengthy list as any film blogger would say.  I'll leave it to classics only: Singin' in the Rain, Anne of the Thousand Days, Splendor in the Grass, West Side Story, Night of the Hunter, Sabrina, Bringing Up Baby, The Big Sleep, Gentleman Prefer Blondes, Some Like It Hot, Bye Bye Birdie, The Thin Man, A Streetcar Named Desire, Sullivan's Travels, I Married a Witch, Xanadu (yes, I included that).

Me: Some great films you named that I also love with the exception of West Side Story and Xanadu.

4. Describe your first classic movie experience

Kristen: I did see the Disney re-releases a few times, but my seminal classic movie experiences have to be in 7th and 11th grades.  In 7th grade my history teacher showed us Anne of the Thousand Days to spotlight the Tudor dynasty.  I was the only one who loved it, and actually wrote an extra credit paper on it.  Later in high school I took a film class and watching Singin in the Rain made me realize I needed to watch more.  So both my experiences were in a classroom (how sad that film classes are hardly offered now).

Me: I saw that in 10th grade English lit...love that movie! Like you too.

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

Kristen: Casablanca first off.  After seeing that in a theater, I really appreciated how representative of classic film it truly is.  Gentleman Prefer Blondes, Jaws.

Me: All three are winners in my book.

6.Describe the perfect way for you to watch a film

Kristen: The perfect setting would be in an old movie palace that actually showed classic movies in their heyday.  We used to have an old theater like that in my town, but it closed.  

Me: Sounds marvelous

7. How many friends, family member or co-workers share your love of classic films?

Kristen: My mother is probably the second biggest classic film fan, but when I recommend her movies she has a very distinct taste (she hates screwball comedies) and we don't usually like the same films.  My best friend likes some, but she's particular to romances which I'm iffy on.  

Me: Oh she doesn't like screwball comedies...man those are my favorites!

8. What is your favorite time period: the 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's or 60's?

Kristen: The 40s

Me: Good call...The 30's are my favorites but I also love the 40's quite a bit too.

9.  What are some of your favorite film quotes?

Kristen: "I can never have children."  "We'll adopt some" - Some Like It Hot.  "I sent her as far as I could, since we don't own Scotland" -Anne of the Thousand Days. "And his whiskers are real, too!" -Miracle on 34th Street (something about the way little Natalie Wood says this line makes me smile). "Can I still come over and push you in the pool?" -Sullivan's Travels.  "But with a little sex in it" -Sullivan's Travels "Isn't it better for a girl to be preoccupied with sex instead of occupied?" -The Moon is Blue 

Me: Great quote from The Moon is Blue

10. What classic films have you yet to see for one reason or another?

Kristen: Citizen Kane, The Godfather: Part 2, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Best Years of Our Lives, any of the work of Ingmar Bergman

Me: You have to see The Best Years of Our Lives Kristen..It is beyond great. Patti will back me up on that!

11.  What is your favorite genre?

Kristen: Drama which, to me, includes film noir, political, historical, ec.

Me: Cool..and there are tons of great dramas for sure

12. If you threw a movie theme party, describe how you would do it. The costumes, decorations, food, etc.

Kristen: It could be because I saw Gangster Squad, but I'm dying to do a 1940s Hollywood glamour type party based around The Big Sleep, The Blue Dahlia or Double Indemnity.  Of course the ladies would have coiffed hair a la the peekaboo style of Veronica Lake.  Lots of pinstripes, fedoras, hopefully my friends would be into talking like Edward G. Robinson.  

Me: Haha...awesome!

13. What are some films that are widely loved that you couldn't care less about?

Kristen:  I always state my distaste for Gone With the Wind.  I also don't get the adoration for Mrs. Miniver.  Other movies I hate to admit I don't like include The Women, An American in Paris, and The Band Wagon.

Me: Right there with ya on An American in Paris and The Band Wagon. Don't like either of them.

14. Who’s the biggest film fanatic that you know? Besides yourself of course.

Kristen: Most of the people I know that are bigger film fanatics are bloggers such as you Monty, Nick Powell of Cinematic Katzenjammer (although he's modern films), the amazing Patti of They Don't Make 'Em Like They  Used To, Lindsay of The Motion Pictures, the group at French Toast Sunday

Me: Nice shout out to Patti there!

15. And finally who are some of your favorite film characters?

Kristen: The entire cast of Some Like It Hot, Max Cady from Cape Fear, Harry Powell from Night of the Hunter, Jennifer of I Married a Witch, Sabrina Fairchild and David Larrabee of Sabrina, Elizabeth Lane of Christmas in Connecticut, Anne Boleyn of Anne of the Thousand Days, Donald Greasham of The Moon is Blue, the second Mrs. de Winter in Rebecca, Alicia Huberman and Devlin from Notorious, Susan of Bringing Up Baby

Me: Yes to all of those characters especially Elizabeth Lane..,my favorite Barbara Stanwyck role and film.

Well that wraps up another be my guest this month and I want to thank Kristen for taking the time to come on here and be a good sport and answer all my questions. She did an excellent job don't you agree? Please stop by and check out her amazing blog if you haven't already and I will see everyone back here next month with another new guest and friend.

THE FALL SERIES: Veronica Lake

Ahoy Veronica!

Review: THIS GUN FOR HIRE (1942)

Starring Veronica Lake, Robert Preston, Laird, Cregar and Alan Ladd. Directed by Frank Tuttle. Running time: 80 minutes. Release date: May 13, 1942

Excellent film noir classic about a hitman named Raven (Ladd's break-through film) who after taking out a blackmailer and his girlfriend in San Francisco, realizes he has been set up by his anonymous employer. Now on the run from the police, Raven wants to find out why he was duped and score a little payback. The middle man named Gates (terrific performance by Cregar) who works for the anonymous employer informs police that Raven stole money from the company Gates works, Nitro Chemical. Detective Crane (a young Robert Preston, miles away from Professor Harold Hill of The Music Man) is assigned the case.

Crane's girlfriend, nightclub singer/magician Ellen (a sultry Veronica Lake) winds up meeting Raven on board a train headed to Los Angeles by accident. Raven ends up taking Ellen hostage. He finds out that Ellen also knows Gates, as Gates owns the nightclub where she works. So now Raven starts to play detective to find out what's going on.

With the police in hot pursuit, the pair are trapped at the train yards where Raven shares his hard upbringing that led him to his life as a hitman. She begins to sympathize with him. And as a final gesture, takes his coat and hat to pretend to be him to confuse the police while Raven escapes. He heads to Nitro Chemical to take down the man who set him up.

Man, this is one awesome movie. A perfectly tuned film noir film that just grabs you from the opening credits and doesn't let go. Alan Ladd is terrific as Raven, who is more than just your average gun for hire. His back story explains quite a bit about the life he has led. This is a true star making performance. His first pairing with Lake is really good as their had wonderful chemistry. Lake plies her usual trademark sultry good looks and smoky voice to good effect. And in the quieter moments with Ladd, is quite a revelation. Preston is all gung ho as the detective and Cregar makes a good slimy, sniveling middleman who says he is just following orders. No hard feelings Mr. Raven. Right?..Heck no. You're going down too big man.

This Gun For Hire is excellent entertainment.
B+

The Morning Movie: I Married A Witch (1942)

While waiting on time until I leave for jury duty, I'm watching the 1942 film I Married A Witch with Fredric March and Veronica Lake on TCM. Never seen it before. But I've heard great things about it.