Round 3 Final Results: Veteran tourney actresses roll on

Round 3 has just wrapped up and for the most part the veteran tourney actresses rolled to easy victories. Here are the complete scores from each era:

30's era:

GRETA GARBO defeated ANN DVORAK 33-24
MYRNA LOY defeated JEAN HARLOW 33-25
BARBARA STANWYCK defeated NORMA SHEARER 40-19
JOAN BLONDELL defeated BILLIE BURKE 45-10

Greta Garbo and Myrna Loy rolled to easy victories which was not too surprising. But it was surprising that Stany had such an easy time beating Norma Shearer. Thought that match would have been much closer. And Joan Blondell had the biggest margin of victory by crushing Billie Burke by 35 votes



40's era:

BETTE DAVIS defeated JUDY GARLAND 53-16
RITA HAYWORTH defeated GENE TIERNEY 36-29
TERESA WRIGHT defeated JOAN LESLIE 45-19
OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND defeated INGRID BERGMAN 38-37

Wow...Bette decimated Judy by 37 votes for this era's biggest blow-out. The best match though was between Ingrid Bergman and Olivia de Havilland. It has been back and forth for the longest before Livvie eventually won by a single vote!

50's era:

DORIS DAY defeated MARILYN MONROE 44-32
DEBORAH KERR defeated JANET LEIGH 51-24
AUDREY HEPBURN defeated SUSAN HAYWARD 51-23
GRACE KELLY defeated LANA TURNER 51-22

Talk about blow-outs. Every match in this era was decided by 12 or more votes with the closest match being between Day and Monroe. The other three matches were decided by 25 or more votes. History making too when Grace Kelly notched her 20th tourney win, the most by any actress in tourney and match play.


60's era:

ROMY SCHNEIDER defeated CATHERINE DENEUVE 36-29  
NATALIE WOOD defeated SHIRLEY MACLAINE 45-28
ELIZABETH TAYLOR defeated JEAN SIMMONS 46-26
LEE REMICK defeated ANNE BANCROFT 40-29

Romy Schneider edged out Catherine Deneuve in this era's closest match. While Elizabeth Taylor advances to the sweet sixteen for her very first time. When she competed in the 50's era in previous tourneys, she never made it past round 3. So looks like moving to the 60's era was a very smart idea.

Round 4 (the Sweet Sixteen) will begin tomorrow morning. I will have the match-ups posted later on this evening.

Shirley Temple and Teresa Wright go to overtime in the 40's era bracket

Yesterday in the 40's era portion of the tourney, Teresa Wright and Shirley Temple battled to a tie, with each getting 32 votes. Kristen has a tie-breaker poll question going on her blog to settle which actress will be moving on. Here's the link to go cast your vote: http://journeysinclassicfilm.com/

Half of second round matches are done

The 30's, 40's and 50's era wrapped up two of the four categories today and here are the numbers.

Dark horse Lillian Gish took down Gloria Swanson

with a thrilling comeback win

30'S ERA

Barbara Stanwyck beat Claudette Colbert 47-25
Norma Shearer beat Marlene Dietrich 39-32
Greta Garbo beat Kay Francis 44-18
Lillian Gish upset Gloria Swanson 38-33

Pre-Code Babes top seed Barbara Stanwyck dispatched Claudette Colbert quite easily whille Norma Shearer stormed back to take a decisive victory over Marlene Dietrich. Marlene had led for the most of the match up until early this morning. And those expecting a Greta Garbo/Gloria Swanson match-up will have to wait until next year. While Greta took care of Kay Francis, Gloria let Lillian Gish rally to beat her 38-33.

Teresa shares the news of her narrow win over

Virginia Mayo

40'S ERA

Bette Davis beat Olivia de Havilland 31-13
Vivien Leigh beat Ingrid Bergman 30-18
Judy Garland beat Ann Miller 25-22
Teresa Wright beat Virginia Mayo 22-21

Bette Davis defeated Olivia de Havilland with ease while Vivien Leigh had little trouble with Ingrid Bergman, setting up a fantastic 3rd round match-up between Bette and Vivien. Can't wait. Final four finalist Judy Garland beat Ann Miller, while Teresa Wright squeaked by Virginia Mayo by a single vote.


50'S ERA

The 50's era 2nd round action begins today.

Romy standing tall

60'S ERA

Natalie Wood beat Ann-Margret 31-17
Shirley Jones beat Liza Minneli 34-18
Catherine Deneuve beat Claudia Cardinale 27-20
Romy Schneider beat Liv Ullman 29-28

Natalie Wood continues on her march to three-peat as 60's era champion by beating Ann-Margret. Shirley Jones took care of Liza Minneli, ending Liza's Cinderella run. Catherine Deneuve was finally able to pull away from Claudia Cardinale after a close match. And my final four pick Romy Schneider held on for a 1 vote victory over Liv Ullman.

Upset Alert in Round 2

Round 2 has heated up big time with two of the four matches being very close. Top seed Grace Kelly is pulling away from Teresa Wright by the count of 25-12. This match was relatively close on day one. That same score is also featured in my girl Carole Lombard's match against 3rd seed Ingrid Bergman. So it looks like Carole and Teresa won't be moving on to the next round. Now as far as the other two matches are concerned..whoa nellie, it's coming down to the wire. 10th seed Eva Marie Saint is giving 2nd seed and beloved favorite Joan Fontaine all she can handle. Joan currently leads 20-18 and this match has been close every single step of the way. If Eva could stage a little rally this would be a huge upset. And in the final match, Janet Leigh leads Kim Novak 21-16, with Novak making a little surge as she was down by as many as 8 votes at one point. So we have two more days until this thrilling round is complete, please spread the word and let's make this an exciting finish.

Eva is hanging in there.....giving Joan Fontaine a run for her money!

Round 2 update

After a full day of voting, the second round is yielding more closer matches. Well three of the four are. My girl Carole is getting killed by Ingrid Bergman 19-11. Top seed Grace Kelly is slowly pulling away from upstart Teresa Wright 18-11. 4th seed Kim Novak is losing to 5th seed Janet Leigh 17-11 which is kind of surprising. Her Vertigo is widely regarded as Hitch's masterpiece. And Joan Fontaine is getting all she can handle from Eva Marie Saint 16-12. Matches continue through Friday evening. If you haven't voted yet, please do so.

Eva is looking to pull off a huge upset of Joan Fontaine

Round 2 of Favorite Hitchcock Leading Lady Tourney

We move on to round 2 where things will get very exciting. Here are the matches scheduled with the remaining actresses vying to win the crown of Favorite Leading Lady in a Alfred Hitchcock Film.

1 GRACE KELLY

VS

8 TERESA WRIGHT

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

4 KIM NOVAK

VS

5 JANET LEIGH

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2 JOAN FONTAINE

VS

10 EVA MARIE SAINT

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

3 INGRID BERGMAN

VS

11 CAROLE LOMBARD

Matches begin this now and will run thru Friday night! Rules are the same as before, one vote per person for each match. Good luck to all the actresses and let's have some fun!

Not too many upsets as the first round of The Favorite Hitchcock Leading Lady Tourney wraps up

First round of the Favorite Alfred Hitchcock Leading Lady Tourney is in the books and there was just two upsets as all the other top seeds won their respective matches. Grace Kelly, who is seeded number 1, rolled to an easy 34-5 victory over last seed Tallulah Bankhead. 2nd seed Joan Fontaine blew out 15th seed Sylvia Sidney 35-4. 3rd seed Ingrid Bergman had the biggest margin of victory with a 35-3 thrashing of Ruth Roman, garnering 92% of the votes. 4th seed Kim Novak easily dispatched 13th seed Doris Day 29-12 (Que Sera, Sera). In the battle of the Crane sisters from the Psycho film, Janet Leigh defeated Vera Miles 30-9. The first upset occurred when 6th seed Tippi Hedren got taken down by 11th seed Carole Lombard 27-14, in what was the most voted match in the first round. Much love to my fave actress of all time Carole as she tries to win a tourney for the first time. Being all so close in previous classic movie actresses tournaments. The other upset was between 7th seed Madeleine Carroll and 10th seed Eva Marie Saint. It was Saint who edged Carroll 22-17. And the final match was between 8th seed Teresa Wright who pulled away from 9th seed Margaret Lockwood 25-14 after the match was very close early on. Congrats to all the actresses who now move on to round two which begins Sunday evening. And thanks to all those who voted. Below are pics of all the winning actresses!

Tourney Update

As expected most of the matches are blow-outs. Top seed Grace Kelly leads last seed Tallulah Bankhead 26-3. Teresa Wright leads Margaret Lockwood 20-10. Kim Novak is crushing Doris Day 22-8. Janet Leigh is all over Vera Miles 22-7 in a battle of the Psycho film sisters. 2nd seed Joan Fontaine is up big over Sylvia Sidney 28-2. Ingrid Bergman is in a rout of Ruth Roman 27-1. There are only two close matches. Eva Marie Saint holds a slim 5 point lead over Madeleine Carroll 17-12. And my girl Carole Lombard clings to a small lead of 19-12 over Tippi Hedren. Matches conclude Friday evening so if you haven't made your vote yet please do so by then.

Teresa lets everyone know how the tourney is going....

it's good for her since she leads her match

THE MONTIES: 1946 - THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES is absolutely the best of the year!

Back for another round of Monties and another great year in 1946. And leading the way is the amazing film, The Best Years of Our Lives. So let's get started shall we...


BEST FILM:
Winner: The Best Years Of Our Lives
Nominees: The Razor's Edge; It's A Wonderful Life; The Big Sleep; The Dark Mirror; Notorious; The Strange Love of Martha Ivers; Gilda
Thoughts: An outstanding crop of films for this year but for me there was never really any doubt. I remember seeing The Best Years of our Lives for the first time when I was about 19 and it blew me away from the very first moment. I have watched it at least once a year now for over 15 years and it's still an amazing film. I easily award it a Montie for Best Film of 1946.

BEST DIRECTOR:
Winner: William Wyler (The Best Years Of Our Lives)
Nominees: Frank Capra (It's A Wonderful Life); Howard Hawks (The Big Sleep); Robert Siodmak (The Dark Mirror and The Killers)
Thoughts: William Wyler picks up his third Montie as Best Director for his superb work on The Best Years of our Lives. He previously won for These Three (1936) and Mrs. Miniver (1942)

William Wyler picks up his third Montie

BEST WRITER: 
Winner: Vladimir Pozner and Nunnally Johnson (The Dark Mirror)
Nominees: Raymond Chandler (The Blue Dahlia); Robert E. Sherwood (The Best Years Of Our Lives); Anthony Veiller (The Killers)
Thoughts: Top notch screenplay Johnson from an original story by Pozner for The Dark Mirror, a very well done film that a lot of people don't know about.

BEST ACTOR:
Winner: Fredric March (The Best Years Of Our Lives)
Nominees: Humphrey Bogart (The Big Sleep); John Garfield (The Postman Always Rings Twice); James Stewart (It's A Wonderful Life); Cary Grant (Notorious)
Thoughts: Fredric March picks up his first Montie for his terrific performance as Al Stephenson, a returning soldier from World War Two, who has trouble re-adjusting back to civilian life.

Congratulations honey on your well deserved Montie!

BEST ACTRESS:
Winner: Olivia de Havilland (The Dark Mirror)
Nominees: Myrna Loy (The Best Years Of Our Lives); Lana Turner (The Postman Always Rings Twice); Rita Hayworth (Gilda); Donna Reed (It's A Wonderful Life); Lauren Bacall (The Big Sleep), Barbara Stanwyck (The Strange Love of Martha Ivers)
Thoughts: While Olivia did win an Oscar for this year in another film, To Each His Own, which I haven't seen, I chose her for the film I did see her in, The Dark Mirror. Getting to play twins is an actor/actress dream as they get to give two different performances in one film. And boy does Olivia give two amazing performances. In the process, she picks up her second Montie!

See, it says right here...Best Actress winner

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Winner: Teresa Wright (The Best Years Of Our Lives)
Nominees: Cathy O'Donnell (The Best Years Of Our Lives); Martha Vickers (The Big Sleep); Lizabeth Scott (The Strange Love of Martha Ivers); Anne Baxter (The Razor's Edge)
Thoughts: As good as Anne Baxter was in The Razor's Edge, and believe me when I say she was amazing, I went with Teresa Wright's quiet but effective performance in The Best Years of Our Lives. Her role as Peggy, the daughter of Fredric March and Myrna Loy, falls in love with married Dana Andrews and it's a performance that is not showy but really, really good. And that gives her two Monties for Best Supporting Actress in the span of just four years.

Another wonderful performance yields another Montie for Teresa

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Winner: Harold Russell (The Best Years of Our Lives)
Nominees: Dana Andrews (The Best Years of our Lives); Claude Rains (Notorious); Clifton Webb (The Razor's Edge); William Conrad (The Killers)
Thoughts: Real life amputee Harold Russell first acting role came as a returning soldier who lost both hands in World War 2 and he was amazing. A natural performance that was just riveting to watch.

Harold celebrating his win with Hoagy Carmichael

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Winner: The Yearling
Nominees: It's A Wonderful Life; The Best Years Of Our lives; The Postman Always Rings Twice; The Razor's Edge
Thoughts: The Yearling is one of the most beautiful looking films I have ever seen. Just amazing to watch over and over again.

So beautiful

BEST FILM SCORE:
Winner: Hugo Friedhofer (The Best Years of Our lives)
Nominees: Lennie Hayton (The Harvey Girls); Miklos Rozsa (The Killers); Dimitri Tiomkin (It's A Wonderful Life)
Thoughts: From the opening scene of The Best Years where the music just swells so majestically, it is the clear choice for my favorite film score of 1946. Top notch work by Mr. Friedhofer.

My man Hugo

So the finally tally has The Best Years nearly sweeping the Monties with 6 awards. The Dark Mirror lands two awards and The Yearling picks up one. A huge tally for one of my all time favorite films. Be back next month with my picks of 1947.

The Essential Teresa Wright Films

I can't think of anyone who had a better start to their film career than Teresa Wright. Five of her first six films are what I consider her best films, her essential films. The ones that you must see that shows Teresa at her very best. Please note that for her first three films, Teresa received Oscar nominations, as far as I know, she is the only person ever to do such a thing. Here they are in chronological order.

Teresa's very first movie has her sharing the screen with the legendary Bette Davis

THE LITTLE FOXES (1941) Talk about a tall order for your very first film. Co-starring with the always amazing Bette Davis, Teresa does a solid job as daughter Alexandra to Bette's Regina. Her performance was good enough that she received a Best Supporting Actress nomination. The story deals with the going ons of a ruthless family jockeying for money and position. It's Bette's show all the way but the supporting cast is pretty good too.  Besides Wright, you have Herbert Marshall, Dan Duryea, Charles Dingle and Richard Carlson.

Teresa in a tender moment with Greer Garson (Mrs. Miniver)

MRS. MINIVER (1942) One of my favorite films of all times casts Greer Garson as the titular character who bands her family together to survive World War Two. Teresa has a plum role of Carol Beldon, the sweet young lass who is courted by Mrs. Miniver's son. Expertly directed and her first Oscar win as Best Supporting Actress.

I love ya Lou!

THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEES (1942) Teresa was awesome as Eleanor Twitchell Gehrig, wife to baseball player Lou Gehrig. The chemistry between Teresa and Gary Cooper was perfect and Teresa could have easily won the Oscar again, but sadly did not.

Charlie spending time with Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten)

SHADOW OF A DOUBT (1943) Next up is my 3rd favorite Hitchcock film ever, behind only The Lady Vanishes and Rear Window. Teresa plays Charlie Newton, who learns that her visiting uncle Charlie (the always reliable Joseph Cotten) may be the Merry Widow killer. So she turns sleuth to see if it's true. One of Hitch's best and most suspenseful films. Wright deserved another Oscar for her performance here, which I think might be her best performance. But regardless, sit back and enjoy one hell of a movie.

Teresa as Peggy Stephenson making breakfast for Fred Derry (Dana Andrews)

in The Best Years Of Our Lives

THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946) And finally my favorite film of Teresa. The story focuses on three World War two veterans who return home and try to adjust to civilian life. Teresa plays Peggy, daughter of Al (Fredric March, one of the returning veterans). But her story involves falling in love with Fred Derry (played by Dana Andrews) who returns from the war to an unfaithful wife (Virginia Mayo). One of my top 10 favorite films of all time. This is how you define a true classic.

So there you have it, my favorite films of Teresa Wright. Think I will go watch one right now.

My love of classic films is beyond measure

Monty

Personal Quotes by Teresa Wright

For the classic movie goddess of the month, I usually post some notable quotes by said actress. This month it's Teresa Wright and I found not too many personal quotes said by her. She seemed to be a very quiet and low keyed woman. Never drawing too many attention to herself, which is fine with me. I love that she wasn't making headlines or involved in something notorious or what have you. She dedicated herself to her craft and her family. I did find these two quotes by her though on IMDB, and they fit her to a 'T'.

Teresa with Greer in Mrs. Miniver (1942)

I only ever wanted to be an actress, not a star.

[on Greer Garson] Very bright. Fantastically beautiful. Very much the lady. She was a great Irish wit. There are actors who work in movies. And then there are movie stars. She was a movie star.

Some facts about Teresa Wright

Here are some notable facts about the classic movie goddess of the month, Teresa Wrights. Facts provided by IMDB.

Her husband, Niven Busch, originally penned Duel in the Sun (1946) for her to play the lead, as a departure from her girl-next-door roles. But pregnancy forced her to drop out, and Jennifer Jones got the lead.

She is one of the elite ten thespians to have been nominated for both a Supporting and Lead Acting Academy Award in the same year for their achievements in two different movies. The other nine are Fay Bainter, Barry Fitzgerald (he has been nominated in both categories for the same role in the same movie), Jessica  Lange, Sigourney Weaver, Al Pacino, Emma Thompson, Holly Hunter, Cate Blanchett, Julianne Moore and Jamie Foxx.

 Had a son, Niven Terrence Busch (born December 2, 1944) weighing 7 lbs., 4 oz., and a daughter, Mary Kelly Busch (born September 12, 1947) weighing 5 lbs., 3 oz., with Niven Busch.

Was the only actor ever to be nominated for an Oscar for her first three films.

Samuel Goldwyn discovered her on Broadway in the hit play "Life with Father" and invited her to Hollywood to play Alexandra, the daughter of Bette Davis's character in The Little Foxes (1941).

 For many years Wright maintained a residence in the bucolic Litchfield County town of Bridgewater, Connecticut.

 In honor of her heartfelt performance in The Pride of the Yankees (1942), when Teresa Wright died in 2005, when the roll call of former Yankees who had passed on was announced, her name was read out among all the ballplayers.

My Favorite Things I Love About Teresa Wright

I always do a post listing my favorite things I love about the classic movie goddess of the month. For Teresa Wright, where to begin..

I loved her smile. She had one of the best smiles I have ever seen.


I loved her easy going and natural acting ability. She had great chemistry with everybody she worked with.


I think the phrase 'girl next door' was coined specifically for her...very much the girl next door.


In every film I have seen of Teresa, she always manage to stand out just because of her presence.
She didn't have to have a grandstanding scene either..all she had to do was just be there. 

The Best Years Of Our Lives, The Pride of The Yankees, Mrs. Miniver and Shadow of a Doubt are four of my favorite films of all time.


A wonderful and beautiful woman.


Classy.


And she seemed so gosh darned nice.

I could go on and on about Teresa too. She is one of my fave actresses of all time. Currently number 12. And ahead of such big names like Stanwyck, Garbo, Harlow and De Havilland. Yeah, that's right!

All Good Things welcomes Teresa Wright

Just a little welcome for the soon to be classic movie goddess of the month, Teresa Wright. One of the best actresses to ever grace the silver screen. I had hoped to have her on last year but I had to push her back a few months. And I promise her and all my readers I will not short change her one bit, what with this little thing of a tournament going on. I will post pics, reviews, trivia and the usual assorted goodies. And judging by the pics below, I am not the only one welcoming Teresa to All Good Things. So sit back and relax everyone as the month of March belongs to Teresa.

Awww Gary, you didn't have to come by to see me! But I'm glad you did!

And then after your visit here Teresa, me and you can go out shopping.

And a spot of tea. Won't that be nice?