Greta Garbo defeats Louise Brooks 100-82 to win The Favorite Silent Actress Tourney

When it was all said and done, it was Greta Garbo standing tall winning The Favorite Silent Actress Tourney by defeating the feisty Louise Brooks by the count of 100-82. This was the most voted on match of the entire tourney with the leads changing hands several times. In fact Louise had a 10 vote lead just two days ago before Greta made a furious rally to take home the crown. I want to thank my good friend Catherine, of Plucked from Obscurity who co-hosted this tourney with me. In fact it was her idea that we do this, and what a wonderful idea it was. Thanks to all those that took the time to vote and then spread the word through-out the classic movie lovers landscape. Next year me and Catherine will host a tourney dedicated to the silent actors of yesteryear, which should be awesome too. And don't forget about the 4th Annual Favorite Classic Movie Actress that features 132 actresses over four eras competing for the title. More info to follow as that tourney starts Sunday, March 2nd.

Greta Garbo and Louise Brooks in the match to determine favorite silent actress is underway

Catherine has got the final match in the favorite silent actress tourney underway. Greta Garbo against Louise Brooks. Winner gets the crown. Here's the link to go cast your vote: http://obscurecinemamagic.wordpress.com/

It will be Greta Garbo and Louise Brooks for the crown of Favorite Silent Actress

In the semi-final matches, it was Louise Brooks crushing Clara Bow 30-18 and Greta Garbo doubling up over Norma Shearer 16-8. Setting up a championship match between Louise and Greta to decide the favorite silent actress. Catherine will host that epic match beginning on Sunday. Here's the link to her page to go vote when the time comes: http://obscurecinemamagic.wordpress.com/

Just a word about the second match

Just a quick post to let everyone know that Catherine has started the other match of our final four for favorite silent actress between Norma Shearer and Greta Garbo. Here's the link to go cast your vote for your fave: http://obscurecinemamagic.wordpress.com/

THE FINAL FOUR for the Favorite Silent Actress Tourney begins now

Four legendary silent actresses have made it to the final four of the Favorite Silent Actress Tourney. Clara Bow. Louise Brooks. Norma Shearer and Greta Garbo. Two matches over two blogs. The match between Clara and Louise will take place here while my friend Catherine hosts the match between Greta and Norma. The poll is on the right hand side bar. Matches will run through Thursday to decide who will compete in the final match to decide the favorite silent actress. Here's the link to Catherine's blog to go vote on that match which will be up later on: http://obscurecinemamagic.wordpress.com/
Good luck to these four wonderful women!

A dream Final Four to take place this weekend in The Favorite Silent Actress Tourney

We started with 32 top actresses of the silent era and have made our way to the final four. And it's a dream final four. Greta Garbo. Norma Shearer. Clara Bow. Louise Brooks. You couldn't ask for a better finale. Greta outlasted Janet Gaynor 11-6. Norma Shearer edged out Gloria Swanson 10-7. Louise Brooks defeated Bebe Daniels 21-7. And Clara Bow handled top seed and perennial favorite Mary Pickford 21-8. So now as we head into this weekend the two semi-final matches set up like this. Clara Bow will take on Louise Brooks here on All Good Things while Greta and Norma will duke it out on Catherine's blog, Plucked From Obscurity. Matches begin Saturday nights and run through Thursday evening. Here's the link to Catherine's blog: http://obscurecinemamagic.wordpress.com/

Round 3 of the Favorite Silent Actress Tourney begins now...

Here we go with round 3 of the favorite silent actress tourney. 4 matches with 8 remaining women. And it looks to be some top tier matches for sure. I'll start my two matches here on All Good Things now and Catherine will start her two matches tomorrow morning. Here's the link to her blog:http://obscurecinemamagic.wordpress.com/

THE DESIREE BRACKET

MARY PICKFORD

VS

CLARA BOW

THE STEPHEN BRACKET

LOUISE BROOKS

VS

BEBE DANIELS

And then over at Catherine's blog, these two matches

THE JOSIE BRACKET

GRETA GARBO

VS

JANET GAYNOR

THE MARIA BRACKET

NORMA SHEARER

VS

GLORIA SWANSON

Matches will run through Thursday evening. Good luck to all the women who

have made it this far!

Round 2 of the Favorite Silent Actress Tourney is in the books

8 matches wrapped up the 2nd round of the Favorite Silent Actress Tourney and half of them were blow-outs. Here are the results from all 8 matches.

DESIREE BRACKET
Clara Bow defeated Alla Nazimova 15-5
Mary Pickford defeated Dolores Costello 12-10

STEPHEN BRACKET
Louise Brooks defeated Lillian Gish 14-8
Bebe Daniels defeated Edna Purviance 12-9

JOSIE BRACKET
Greta Garbo defeated Colleen Moore 12-2
Janet Gaynor defeated Pola Negri 9-5

MARIA BRACKET
Norma Shearer defeated Olive Borden 13-2
Gloria Swanson defeated Marion Davies 8-6

Norma Shearer, Greta Garbo, Louise Brooks and Clara Bow all flexed their muscles and won quite easily.
Three of the matches were double digits wins for the respective ladies. Meanwhile the other four matches were quite close, with two of them being decided by only 2 votes. Mary Pickford, the tourney's top seed squeaked by for the second week in a row by edging out Dolores Costello 12-10. It won't get any easier for Mary as she faces the It Girl, Clara Bow in round 3. I will have the complete match-ups posted by tomorrow.

Round 2 of The Favorite Silent Actress Tourney begins tonight

Things get tougher as we begin round 2 of the favorite silent actress tourney hosted by me and my friend Catherine. This round features 8 matches, four of them taking place here and four more taking place over at Catherine's blog Plucked From Obscurity. Here are the matches below for the All Good Things portion:

Stephen Bracket:

3 LILLIAN GISH

VS

10 LOUISE BROOKS

13 BEBE DANIELS

VS

26 EDNA PURVIANCE

Desiree Bracket:

1 MARY PICKFORD

VS

25 DOLORES COSTELLO

6 CLARA BOW

VS

11 ALLA NAZIMOVA

The polls are on the right hand sidebar and will run through Thursday. Go here to see the matches taking place on Catherine's blog...http://obscurecinemamagic.wordpress.com/

First round action in The Favorite Silent Actress Tourney comes to a close...

The first round of the The Favorite Silent Actress Tourney comes to a close today and for the most part it was business as usual but top seeded Mary Pickford received quite a scare from 17th seeded Brigitte Helm, and held on to win by two votes. Here are the complete scores from all the matches....

THE STEPHEN BRACKET:
LOUISE BROOKS defeated PEARL WHITE 21-3
LILLIAN GISH defeated CARMEL MYERS 22-2
EDNA PURVIANCE defeated MABEL NORMAND 17-7
BEBE DANIELS defeated THELMA TODD 13-10

THE DESIREE BRACKET:
ALLA NAZIMOVA defeated THEDA BARA 12-10
CLARA BOW defeated NORMA TALMADGE 18-5
DOLORES COSTELLO defeated RENEE ADOREE 13-9
MARY PICKFORD defeated BRIGITTE HELM 12-10

From the Josie Bracket:

Winners are in bold face

• Janet Gaynor vs. Alice Terry
• Pola Negri vs. Corinne Griffith
• Colleen Moore vs. Eleanor Boardman
• Greta Garbo vs. Dorothy Gish

From the Maria Bracket:

• Norma Shearer vs. Constance Talmadge
• Olive Borden vs. Jobyna Ralston
• Gloria Swanson vs. Vilma Bánky
• Marion Davies vs. Marie Prevost

Round 2 matches will begin on Sunday, January 26th. Thanks to everyone who took the time to vote and spread the word as the fun continues!

The SILENT ACTRESS TOURNEY is underway...

Here we go...the start to our Favorite Silent Actress Tourney. It was my friend Catherine Bellamy who came up with the idea and we will be hosting this event together. She will handle the Josie and Maria brackets while I will take care of the Desiree and Stephen brackets. And if you're wondering, she named the brackets after some of her friends. She will begin her matches a little later this afternoon. Here's the link to her wonderful blog to go cast your votes when the time comes: http://obscurecinemamagic.wordpress.com/

To vote here, the polls are in the usual location, on the right hand sidebar. And remember it is one vote per match and this first round will run through Thursday evening. Let's have some fun! In the match-ups below I tried to list the film in which the actress is most known for.

The Desiree Bracket

1.  Mary Pickford (Coquette,1929)

VS

17.  Brigitte Helm (Metropolis, 1927)

25.  Dolores Costello (The Sea Beast, 1926)

VS

18.  Renée Adorée (The Big Parade, 1925)

29.  Norma Talmadge (Smilin' Through, 1922)

VS

6.  Clara Bow (It, 1927)

11. Alla Nazimova (Salome, 1923)

VS

7.  Theda Bara (Cleopatra, 1917/Salome, 1918)

The Stephen Bracket

12.  Thelma Todd (Fascinating Youth, 1926)

Vs

13.  Bebe Daniels (Monsieur Beaucaire, 1924)

26.  Edna Purviance (The Kid, 1921)

VS

4.  Mabel Normand (Caught in a Cabaret, 1914)

3.  Lillian Gish (Broken Blossoms, 1919)

vs

30.  Carmel Myers (Ben Hur, 1925)

10.  Louise Brooks (Pandora's Box, 1929)

VS

19.  Pearl White (The Perils of Pauline, 1914)

A new tourney begins next week...THE SILENT ACTRESS TOURNEY

March Madness is right around the corner and the 4th Annual Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tourney will soon be upon us. But before that event hits, we have a smaller tourney that will take place beginning next week. One of my best friends, Catherine Bellamy, that I met on FB wanted to do a tourney concentrating solely on the top silent actresses of the day. Because to be fair they did kind of get shafted during the regular tourney. So Catherine came up with a list of 32 actresses who were the most popular and well known during the silent era and broke them down into four brackets. She named the brackets after four of her friends. Here are the brackets and first round matches that will begin on Sunday, January 19th. You will notice that Catherine ranked all 32 actresses over the four brackets instead of the usual breakdown per bracket, which I think is a cool idea. I will host the Desiree and Stephen brackets here on All Good Things while Catherine will host the Josie and Maria brackets on her blog located here: http://obscurecinemamagic.wordpress.com/

The Josie Bracket

5.  Janet Gaynor

27.  Alice Terry

20.  Pola Negri

32.  Corinne Griffith

21.  Eleanor Boardman

31.  Colleen Moore

15.  Dorothy Gish

8.  Greta Garbo

The Maria Bracket

16.  Norma Shearer

22.  Constance Talmadge

28.  Olive Borden

23.  Jobyna Ralston

2.  Gloria Swanson

14.  Vilma Bánky

24.  Marie Prevost

9.  Marion Davies

The Desiree Bracket

1.  Mary Pickford

17.  Brigitte Helm

25.  Dolores Costello

18.  Renée Adorée

29.  Norma Talmadge

6.  Clara Bow

11. Alla Nazimova

7.  Theda Bara

The Stephen Bracket

12.  Thelma Todd

13.  Bebe Daniels

26.  Edna Purviance

4.  Mabel Normand

3.  Lillian Gish

30.  Carmel Myers

10.  Louise Brooks

19.  Pearl White

Be My Guest: Tracey Witt

My guest this month is Tracey Witt, a wonderful woman and friend of mine who I met on Facebook through Flick Chick, the fantastic classic movie page done by Marsha. Tracey hails from Minnesota and currently lives in Las Vegas and is a certified nurse. Her love of classic movies and stars is off the charts. So let's get right to it shall we....

Favorite classic stars: 

Tracey: Sooooo many to choose from! Some of the silent film stars would be Marion Davies, Gloria Swanson, Mary Pickford and Mabel Norman for the ladies....for the gentlemen Buster Keaton is at the top of my list along with Rudolph Valentino, Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin.....for the talkies The top of my list is the gorgeous miss Jean Harlow but also Myrna Loy and Marilyn Monroe....the gents include Clark Gable, Gregory Peck and Gary Cooper.

Monty: Impressive list Tracey. I knew that Jean Harlow was one of her favorites because when I post pics of her on Facebook, I always tag Tracey in them.

Favorite Films:

Tracey: Once again a long list of favorites.... Dinner at Eight, Red Dust, China Seas, all with Jean Harlow...hmmmmm.....Sunset Boulevard, Some Like It Hot, Bus Stop, How to Marry A Millionaire and Gone With The Wind.

Monty: I love all those films you named!

 First Classic Movie Experience:

Tracey: When I was a little girl in Minnesota there was a local TV station KROC, on Saturday nights they would have what was called KROC's Comedy Classics.  They would play Mae West, the Marx Brothers, WC Fields, quite a few silents as well. I loved them and it became a part of my life from then on.

Monty: very cool!

 Perfect way to watch a classic movie:

Tracey: Well first choice would to be on the big screen with other people who also love the classics, Second choice would have to be at home with someone special curled up on the couch together.

Monty: Both are great ways to watch the classics...can't argue with that.

 How many people do I know that love the classics too:

Tracey: Quite a few actually, just about everyone in my family likes the classics in one form or another. My Father would probably be the other truly classic fan in the family.

Monty: awesome Tracey. It's rare that so many family members share your love of classic movies. A lot of my guest that have been on here have stated they were the only ones who would watch them.

  Favorite Decade:

Tracey: Well, it's a toss up between the 20's and the 30's but I would have to give the 20's the edge. I adore the silents, they are an art work unto them selves and are absolute treasures. I do admit they're not for everyone and can be an aquired taste.

Monty: I need to watch more silents...but right now my fave genre is the 30's.

 Favorite film quotes:

Tracey: "I always get the fuzzy end of the lollipop"...."Well, no one's perfect"...."Come up and see me sometime"...."Made it Ma! Top of the world!"

Monty: Good ones!

 Classics I haven't seen yet:

Tracey: "Sunrise"..."Waterloo Bridge" ...."Ship of Fools"...."Jaws"

Monty: You may be the first person I've met that hasn't seen Jaws! It's a must see Tracey!

Favorite Genre:

Tracey: Well like I said anything silent, but the really good dramas I love including the Warner Brother's gangster pictures. All of the best dramas have at least a hint of comedy to them as well.

Monty: Cool..and I agree about the best dramas having a touch of comedy in them.

Movie theme part:

Tracey: Well big surprise there, a silent movie 1920's party. Perhaps channel the ultimate party hostess Marion Davies and throw a huge bash with live music, catered food and lots of champagne!

Monty: cool...I expect an invite when you have one ok?

Films that are loved but that I don't like: 

Tracey: My apologies to anyone who's favorite I mention. "Gunga Din" "Lawrence of Arabia" "Rocky" anything Three Stooges, or Abbot and Costello

Monty: That's cool Tracey...not everyone can like the same things....I'm not too crazy about Lawrence of Arabia either.

Biggest Film Fan:

Tracey: Once again my dad, he knows so many plots and lines from the classic and given a trivia contest would be a very hard man to beat.

Monty: that's great Tracey

Favorite film characters:

Tracey: Marilyn Monroe as Lorelei Lee and Sugar Cane...Jean Harlow in all of her movies are favorites....Mae West as Flower Belle Lee.....Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blane...... Buster Keaton as anyone, love them all

Monty: I love MM as Lorelei Lee..one of my all time favorite characters. Well that was fun....thanks Tracey for being my guest this month. I think we all here at All Good Things enjoyed getting to know you a little bit better.

My love of classic films is beyond measure

Monty