Gloria Grahame talks about her huge upset win in the first tourney

Here is my second fantasy (mock) interview with an actress who has competed in my favorite classic movie actress tourneys. It's where I get to sit down and have a chat with the women if they were actually here in the studio. A few days ago I chatted with Vivien Leigh. Today it is Gloria Grahame. If you recall Gloria scored one of the biggest upsets in tourney history when she defeated Marilyn Monroe in the opening round of the 1950's era bracket in the 2011 tourney edition. Monroe was seeded second while Gloria was 15th and it was expected that MM would waltz into the semi-finals at least. Here Gloria sheds some light on that magical moment for her.

Gloria scored one of the biggest upsets in tourney play

when she defeated Marilyn Monroe

Me: So Miss Grahame, how did it feel to upset Marilyn in that first round?

Miss Grahame: Monty, it was absolutely unbelievable! I was in complete shock. I couldn't believe it.

Me: walk me through what happened.

Gloria: Well, I had friends over during this event and we kept checking the numbers and it was early that first day but I was leading. And I thought oh..well this won't last. Marilyn is just toying with me. She is gonna wake up and just zoom past me. But after the first day of voting wrapped up, I was still ahead by 2 votes I believe.

Me: Yeah, I just checked the numbers and you was leading 13-11. It definitely sent waves through the tourney and I think it got Marilyn's attention for sure.

Gloria: Yes. But then after day two I was still leading and I just kept saying to myself she is gonna take the lead and it will be over. I would congratulate her for her gutsy win and I would go home.

Me: Except that it didn't play out like that did it? Describe the moment when I posted the final results for that match. What was it like?

Gloria: Once again, I had friends over that night and we was sitting around, having drinks and some dessert when you posted the final score. I won by like 5 votes if I recall. Everybody just screamed and cheered like I had been elected president or something. I couldn't believe it. I kept waiting for you to post a message about an error in the voting and the match would have to be restarted but that never happened.

Gloria was dressed to kill on the night of her big win

Me: Yeah that would happen in another match later on. But yours was for real. You took down Monroe. And I don't know if you knew this, but you led the entire way. Marilyn never got closer than those 2 votes on day one.

Gloria: Oh my..no I did not know that. My goodness. It was an incredible moment for me I can tell ya. Of course I promptly lost to Debbie Reynolds the following week but I was still in heaven from my first win.

Me: Oh I bet you were. Well I want to thank you Miss Grahame for stopping by and sharing your thoughts on that memorable moment.

Gloria: Oh thank you Monty for having me. Good luck with this year's tourney.

Me: Same to you Miss Grahame. ladies and gentlemen..Miss Gloria Grahame.

The crowd erupts and we fade to black. I will return in a few days with another chat with a different actress.

Top Movie Cops: Dave Bannion (The Big Heat)

Tough cop Dave Bannion about to start some s@^t!

Name: Dave Bannion
Occupation: Detective Sergeant
First appearance: The Big Heat (1953)
Number of films: 1
Enemies: Mike Lagana (head crime boss); Vince Stone (Lagana's right hand man)
Family and friends: Katie (wife); Joyce (daughter); Debby Marsh (Stone's girlfriend); 

Not backing down to Vince Stone..at all!

SPOILER Below..in case you haven't seen this film, do not read any further.

History: Homicide Detective Dave Bannion butts heads with the crime syndicate in his town when he investigates the death of fellow police officer Tom Duncan. When Bannion refuses to back down, his family is targeted and his wife becomes a casualty. Bannion goes on the warpath to bring down head crime boss Lagana and his goon Vince Stone. Bannion gets unlikely help from Stone's girlfriend. Bannion is seen as a duty bound cop and becomes even more frustrated when local politics play into his repeated obstacles preventing him from taking down Lagana. But he never gives up. Never!

With his daughter Joyce

Meeting the hot to trot Debby

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!

THE FALL SERIES: Gloria Grahame

Gloria in this little striped number!

Summer Lovin' - GLORIA GRAHAME & CYD CHARISSE

Just two gals having some fun at the pier..

Gloria Grahame: Black and White

A double dose of Gloria Grahame...one pic showing her in white and the other in black...which looks better? I think they both look killer on Gloria! But that's just me...

Banners for 2012 Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tournament

Hi everyone! I just made some banners for the upcoming favorite classic movie actress tournament. I made four with each one representing a specific era. And I added them to my sidebar. So when the tourney starts, all you have to do is click on the picture and the link will take you to the other three sites where the matches are being held. I posted the banner photos below for everyone to see what they look like. Can't wait for this tourney to get started!

SILENT/1930'S ERA

1940'S ERA

1950'S ERA

1960'S ERA



Happy Birthday Gloria Grahame! (1923 - 1981)

Happy Birthday to Gloria Grahame, who had to be one of the sexiest actresses to ever come out of Hollywood. But let's not forget, this lady could also act. She did win an Oscar for The Bad and the Beautiful, remember. Other known films include It's A Wonderful Life, The Big Heat, In A Lonely Place and Oklahoma!

THE FALL SERIES: Gloria Grahame

Gloria in this knockout of a dress!

We finally have our first tie....Elizabeth Taylor and Susan Hayward are dead locked

My, oh my, Elizabeth Taylor and Susan Hayward have battled to a tie. So I'm posting a tie-breaker poll in a few minutes. Let me just recap the other matches first. Top seed Audrey Hepburn rolled over Eva Marie Saint 39-21. Ouch! 4th seed Grace Kelly outlasted 5th Ava Gardner 31-27. So Audrey and Grace will meet in one semi-final match which is a marquee matchup. I am pulling for Grace on that one, much to the dismay of my friend Clara who is going with Audrey. We actually have a little bet going on that whoever loses has to write a post for the other one describing why we thought our pick would win. So come on Grace. And that perky Debbie Reynolds came back from an early deficit to beat Gloria Grahame 29-27, ending Gloria's Cinderella run. I must say this era has really been exciting. I was expecting this much drama but it's very entertaining.

1950's Era 2nd Round Final Scores:

1 AUDREY HEPBURN 39
9 EVA MARIE SAINT 21

4 GRACE KELLY 31
5 AVA GARDNER 27

10 DEBBIE REYNOLDS 29
15 GLORIA GRAHAME 27

3 ELIZABETH TAYLOR 29
6 SUSAN HAYWARD 29

The tie-breaker question asks which actress do you think gave the better Oscar winning performance: Susan in 1958's I Want To Live or Liz in 1966's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The poll will be open until tomorrow at 6pm. Good luck to both women. And the semi-final matches will begin immediately after that match is resolved. Whoever wins will square off against Debbie Reynolds.

Classic Movie Actress Tournament (1950's) Era Round 2

After a huge surprise in round one which saw Marilyn Monroe losing to Gloria Grahame, here are the matches for round 2 which starts immediately tonight. Polls will be open thru Thursday 5pm EST.

1 AUDREY HEPBURN

VS

9 EVA MARIE SAINT

--------------------------

4 GRACE KELLY

VS

5 AVA GARDNER

---------------------------

10 DEBBIE REYNOLDS

VS

15 GLORIA GRAHAME

--------------------------

3 ELIZABETH TAYLOR

VS

6 SUSAN HAYWARD



Gloria Grahame scores huge upset win over Marilyn Monroe in Round 1 (1950's Era)

The pictures say it all:  Gloria is giddy while Marilyn was worried from the very beginning.....

The first round of the 1950's era yielded the biggest upset since tournament play began 2 weeks ago. 15th seed Gloria Grahame defeated 2nd seed Marilyn Monroe 28-23. Grahame led from the beginning and the closest Monroe got was within 3 votes. This was a huge upset as Marilyn being a 2 seed got shown the door in the first round. Barbara Stanwyck was a 2 seed that got knocked out in the 30's era bracket, but that was in the second round. It appears Grahame has a lot of fans as Monroe really never challenged her. It would be great and unexpected if Grahame could go deep into this bracket. It could happen. The only other upset which was a mild one, was 7th seed Deborah Kerr losing to 10th seed Debbie Reynolds 30-27. It was a strong comeback for Reynolds as she was down early by 9 points. I guess you can never count out that perky and feisty Debbie. Top seed Audrey Hepburn had a little trouble with last seed Cyd Charisse before eventually pulling away 30-21. Here are the complete results of all the matches:

AUDREY HEPBURN 30
CYD CHARISSE 21

EVA MARIE SAINT 29
LESLIE CARON 13

GRACE KELLY 31
ANNE BAXTER 18

AVA GARDNER 30
JANE RUSSELL 20

GLORIA GRAHAME 28

MARILYN MONROE 23   

                                 

DEBBIE REYNOLDS 30

DEBORAH KERR 27

Debbie Reynolds is jubilant after her first round victory over Deborah Kerr

ELIZABETH TAYLOR 28

SOPHIA LOREN 20

SUSAN HAYWARD 27
KIM NOVAK 20