We have a tie....

For only the second time in tournament play (men and women) we have a tie. Sidney Poitier and Peter O'Toole are deadlocked at 17 apiece. So I will have a tie-breaker question to decide the winner. That winner will face off against top seed Paul Newman who deafeated Jack Lemmon 20-14. So for the tie-breaker question I will leave in the hands of the great Katherine Hepburn. She appeared with both men in different films: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner with Sidney and The Lion in Winter with Peter. The question is which film do you prefer more with Kate as the connecting piece. I will have this poll up for 24 hours to decide the winner.

Happy Birthday Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003)

This was post done by Irene that was thought to be lost on that day Blogger crashed. Well I found it and had to post even though Kate's birthday has come and gone. Better late than never, I'm just glad Irene's wonderful post did not go to waste. Enjoy.

"Who is Katharine Hepburn? It took me a long time to create that creature."

Happy birthday to "The Great Kate " Katharine Hepburn - who is the only actress ever to receive a total of four Acadamy Awards as Best Actress.

Schmooze:

• Allegedly when in the early 1930s the costume department stole her slacks from her dressing room she walked around the studio in her underwear . She refused to wear anything else until they were returned.
• She and Spencer Tracy made a total of nine films together.
• She was famous (or should I say infamous??) for let noone in doubt when she disliked him/her.

• She was an an avid swimmer, golfer and tennis player. She also loved gardening.
• She was pyrophobic - which means she was scared of fire. ~ I almost can't imagine that Katharine Hepburn was scared of anything.. - can you? ~
• Did her stunts herself - because the stunt women "never stood up straight enough".
• She loved cold showers.
  

Quotes Corner:

"Cold sober, I find myself absolutely fascinating."

Well, I find her absolutely fascinating, too! :")

1940's Era Semi-Final Matches Update

After the first full day of voting here are the numbers for both matches:

BETTE DAVIS 30 VIVIEN LEIGH 21

KATHERINE HEPBURN 27 INGRID BERGMAN 20

So unless things change we're looking at a finals match between number 1 Davis and number 2 Hepburn. But anything can happen. While Davis has had a comfortable lead since the beginning, Bergman has actually cut into Kate's lead a bit. Early on she was down by as many as 11 points. And at one point she had cut it down to 4, so Bergman is hanging in there. Should make for an exciting finish.

1940's Era Semi-Final Matches are set...

The top 4 seeds all made it through to the semi-final matches, thus validating their deserved rankings. 1st seed Bette Davis, 2nd seed Katherine Hepburn, 3rd seed Ingrid Bergman, and 4th Vivien Leigh. Their matches were all close up until late yesterday evening when they all pulled away. Bette defeated 8th seed Rita Hayworth 30-24; Hepburn defeated 7th seed Gene Tierney 35-17 ; 3rd seed Bergman defeated Olivia de Havilland 29-25 in what what was the closest match ; and 4th seed Leigh overcame 5th seed Lauren Bacall 29-23. So unlike the 30's era bracket where only 4th seed Carole Lombard was the lone low seed to make it to the semi-finals, all 4 top seeds here  advanced. The most impressive win was by Hepburn who after a slow start rolled over Tierney and beat her by 18 points, which makes Kate the favorite to win this bracket. But anything can happen in March Madness, which should make for an exciting week-end. Only two women can move onto the final...who will it be. Here are the matches (with the actresses in their most beautiful dresses) which will begin Friday morning at 7am EST and run until 8pm Saturday night. Can't wait to get the matches going.

MATCH 1

1 BETTE DAVIS

VS

4 VIVIEN LEIGH

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

MATCH 2

2 KATHERINE HEPBURN

VS

3 INGRID BERGMAN



Classic Movie Actress Tournament Week 2 (1940's Era) Round 2 Update

Now this is what I'm talking about. Four matches going on and two of them are tied and the other two are separated by 5 and 6 votes. The match between 3rd seed Ingrid Bergman and 6th seed Olivia de Havilland is tied at 17 apiece, as is the match between 4th seed Vivien Leigh and 5th seed Lauren Bacall with the same score. 2nd seed Katherine Hepburn is up 19-14 over 7th Gene Tierney and number 1 seed Bette Davis is starting to separate from 8th seed Rita Hayworth 20-14. But all these matches are the closest matches since the tournament started last week. Polls will be open for another 8 hours so if you haven't voted yet, now is the time.

Classic Movie Actress Tournament (1940's Era) Round Two

Here are the matches for the second round in the 1940's Era bracket and these all look like very exciting matches. Same format as always and polls will be open for 2 days. Starts tomorrow at 7am EST.

1 BETTE DAVIS

VS

8 RITA HAYWORTH

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

4 VIVIEN LEIGH

VS

5 LAUREN BACALL

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2 KATHERINE HEPBURN

VS

7 GENE TIERNEY

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

3 INGRID BERGMAN

VS 

6 OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND

Stage Door (1937) is terrific...Hollywood at it's golden best

Director Gregory La Cava assembled a stunning roster of some of the best actresses for this delightful comedy/drama. Katherine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Lucille Ball, Eve Arden, Ann Miller, Gail Patrick and Andrea Leeds. How's that for a cast. And then throw in Adolphe Menjou, Jack Carson and Franklin Pangborn, and you have one of the best film casts ever assembled. It rivals the all women cast of the 1939 classic The Women. The story has Terry Randall (Hepburn), a rich society beauty wants to see if see can make it on Broadway all by herself, with no help from her family. She goes to live in a theatrical boarding house called The Footlights Club and finds her life caught up with those of the other inmates and the ever-present disappointment that theatrical hopefuls must live with. Her room-mate Jean (the wonderfully biting Ginger Rogers) resents her from day one and their tenous relationship fuels the entire movie. The look Jean gives Terry once she realizes they're going to be room-mates is classic. While Stage Door is not really a screwball comedy, it does feature several hilarious moments and wonderful comedic dialogue. I mean with wise-crackers like Rogers, Eve Arden and Lucille Ball on hand, how could it not be. But it does turn very dramatic at times, and there is even an unexpected death that just shatters the close knit group of women. As far as the acting goes, Rogers is top notch. She easily stands out among her fellow actresses with her seen it all, done it all character Jean. Lucille Ball is also very good as Judith, as she has comic troubles with dating. Judith and Jean's double date with some visiting lumberjacks is a riot. Hepburn is ok, but at times seems uncomfortable amid all the other women. I believe Kate worked her best magic with either Tracy of Cary Grant. Regardless, Stage Door is one of my favorite films and it is a joy to watch again and again.
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Judy Canfield: Do you want a date?
Jean Maitland: To some other lumberman?
Judy Canfield: Am I supposed to apologize for being born in Seattle?
Jean Maitland: Well, the last couple we went stepping with were made of lumber. Especially their feet.
Judy Canfield: All right, all right, you can stay here and gorge yourself on lamb stew again.
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Terry Randall: I see that, in addition to your other charms, you have that insolence generated by an inferior upbringing.
Jean Maitland: Hmm! Fancy clothes, fancy language and everything!
Terry Randall: Unfortunately, I learned to speak English correctly.
Jean Maitland: That won't be of much use to you here. We all talk pig latin.
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Terry: Do you go to sleep right away?
Jean: Sure, what do you go to bed for?