Round 1 (Song and Dance/A Foreign Affair Brackets) come to a close with Ann-Margret holding on for an epic win against Barbra Streisand

The match everyone was talking about was back and forth and produced one of the best finishes in the tourney yet. After Ann-Margret jumped out to an early lead over Barbra Streisand on day one, Babs fought her way back. She pretty much trailed the whole match until late Sunday afternoon she managed to tie Ann at 26 all.  But that would be as close as she got as Ann picked up a few more votes in the end, to win 28-26 in one of the most exciting matches in tourney history. Congrats Ann as you get to move on to round 2 to face Natalie Wood, which has the potential to be another epic match. The only other close match was between Anna Karina and Francoise Dorleac. Catherine Deneuve's sister competing for the very first time held close to Anna the entire match only to lose 25-23. She did much better than I think a lot of people expected and she surely will get an invite to compete in next year's tourney based on her performance here. The biggest blow-out belonged to Natalie Wood, as she crushed Liza Minneli 43-13. And the two Shirleys, MacLaine and Jones won eerily similar in their matches, setting up a round 2 rematch. Jones beat MacLaine last year. Here are the complete results of all the matches below.

Ann after her 28-26 win over a resilient Barbra Streisand

CLAUDIA CARDINALE 29-24 over LIV ULLMAN

ANNA KARINA 25-23 over FRANCOISE DORLEAC

ROMY SCHNEIDER 39-14 over JEANNE MOREAU

CATHERINE DENEUVE 41-14 over ANOUK AIMEE

SHIRLEY MACLAINE 37-19 over RITA MORENO

SHIRLEY JONES 38-18 over RAQUEL WELCH

ANN-MARGRET 28-26 over BARBRA STREISAND 

NATALIE WOOD 43-13 over LIZA MINNELI

Round 2 matches for these bracket winners will begin on Wednesday night. I'll have the match-ups posted sometime that day.

Tourney Update

The second set of matches kicked off today and here are the latest numbers and links to go cast your votes if you haven't done so already..

60'S era:
CLAUDIA CARDINALE and LIV ULLMAN tied 11-11
ANNA KARINA leads FRANCOISE DORLEAC 11-9
ROMY SCHNEIDER leads JEANNE MOREAU 13-8
CATHERINE DENEUVE leads ANOUK AIMEE 16-7
SHIRLEY MACLAINE leads RITA MORENO 17-5
SHIRLEY JONES leads RAQUEL WELCH 16-7
ANN-MARGRET leads BARBRA STREISAND 12-10
NATALIE WOOD leads LIZA MINNELI 20-4

The 60's era matches of course can be voted on right here on the sidebar to the right.
Now in the other eras, here are the latest numbers...



50'S era:

AUDREY HEPBURN leads SHIRLEY BOOTH 15-1
JUDY HOLLIDAY leads JOANNE WOODWARD 9-7
SUSAN HAYWARD leads KIM HUNTER 13-3
SHELLEY WINTERS leads EVA MARIE SAINT 11-5
GRACE KELLY leads JAYNE MANSFIELD 15-1
KIM NOVAK leads CARROLL BAKER 8-6
LANA TURNER leads GLORIA GRAHAME 9-7
ANNE FRANCIS leads SOPHIA LOREN 9-6

Here's the link to go cast your votes: http://mythicalmonkey.blogspot.com/

30'S Era:

BARBARA STANWYCK leads THELMA TODD 4-0
MARLENE DIETRICH leads JOAN CRAWFORD 3-1
NORMA SHEARER leads MARY ASTOR 4-0
GLENDA FARRELL leads CLAUDETTE COLBERT 4-0
JEANETTE MACDONALD leads LUISE RAINER 4-0
JOAN BLONDELL leads RUBY KEELER 4-0
BILLIE BURKE leads MAE WEST 3-2
MARGARET SULLAVAN leads ELEANOR POWELL 3-1

Here's the link to go cast your votes: http://www.rozrussell.com/

And Kristen will be posting the 40's matches soon..you can go to her site here to vote when she does: http://journeysinclassicfilm.com/

1960's era (SONG AND DANCE/A FOREIGN AFFAIR Brackets) - Round 1

Now that the first two brackets are in the books, we begin with the final two brackets in each era. And here are the match-ups for the 60's era featuring the brackets A Foreign Affair and Song and Dance.

SONG AND DANCE BRACKET

1 NATALIE WOOD VS 8 LIZA MINNELI

4 ANN-MARGRET VS 5 BARBRA STREISAND

2 SHIRLEY JONES VS 7 RAQUEL WELCH

3 SHIRLEY MACLAINE VS 6 RITA MORENO

A FOREIGN AFFAIR BRACKET

1 CATHERINE DENEUVE VS 8 ANOUK AIMEE

4 CLAUDIA CARDINALE VS 5 LIV ULLMAN

2 ROMY SCHNEIDER VS 7 JEANNE MOREAU

3 ANNA KARINA VS 6 FRANCOISE DORLEAC

Matches are now underway and will through Sunday afternoon.

Deborah Kerr leads the charge in the first round of the 50's era brackets with a 41 vote win

 

Deborah Kerr shouldn't be too shocked as she rolled

to an easy win over Jennifer Jones

Doris Day  69.84%  (44 votes) 

 

Ann Miller  30.16%  (19 votes) 

 

 

 

Marilyn Monroe  70.49%  (43 votes) 

 

Kay Kendall  29.51%  (18 votes) 

 

 

 

Debbie Reynolds  79.03%  (49 votes) 

 

Betty Hutton  20.97%  (13 votes) 

 

 

 

Cyd Charisse  63.79%  (37 votes) 

 

Dorothy Dandridge  36.21%  (21 votes) 

 

 

 

Deborah Kerr  81.97%  (50 votes) 

 

Jennifer Jones  18.03%  (11 votes) 

 

 

 

Janet Leigh  77.97%  (46 votes) 

 

June Allyson  22.03%  (13 votes) 

 

 

 

Eleanor Parker  81.36%  (48 votes) 

 

Jean Hagen  18.64%  (11 votes) 

 

 

Thelma Ritter 41 votes

Anne Baxter 18 votes

Myrna Loy leads the way in the 30's era first complete matches

 ROUND 1 FINAL RESULTS

1930S ERA

Greta Garbo (75%, 40 votes)

Fay Wray (25%, 13 votes)

Miriam Hopkins (59%, 29 votes)

Kay Francis (41%, 20 votes)

Ruth Chatterton (58%, 29 votes)

Sylvia Sidney (42%, 21 votes)

Ann Dvorak (72%, 34 votes)

Anita Page (28%, 13 votes)

Myrna Loy (83%, 43 votes)

Marie Dressler (17%, 9 votes)

Constance Bennett (67%, 33 votes)

Margaret Dumont (33%, 16 votes)

Jean Arthur (80%, 41 votes)

Maureen O’Sullivan (20%, 10 votes)

Jean Harlow (66%, 35 votes)

Una Merkel (34%, 18 votes)

Myrna Loy quickly established herself as a front-runner for 30's era champion with the largest percentage of votes in the first 8 matches of this star studded field. She grabbed a whopping 83% of the votes for a convincing 43-9 victory over Marie Dressler. And at the other end of the spectrum, the closest match was Ruth Chatterton beating Sylvia Sidney 29-21. Other first round winners include Greta Garbo, Ann Dvorak, Constance Bennett, Miriam Hopkins, Jean Harlow and Jean Arthur.

60's era top seed Diana Rigg avoids an upset and holds on for a win over the spunky Hayley Mills in first round action...

Sometimes the 60's may get overlooked when speaking in terms of classic movies and stars, since it comes at the tail end of the classic movie age. But I have to admit that the 8 matches that just wrapped up part one of the first round arc produced some great excitement.Take for example top seed Diana Rigg, who made it to the final four last year, had to rally to beat upstart Hayley Mills 32-29 after Mills had tied her only moments ago. It would have been a disastrous loss for Rigg and she would have had the dubious honor of being the first top seed from the previous year to lose in the opening round the following year. But she came back and held on to survive Hayley. Another exciting match was 2nd seed Jane Fonda losing to 7th seed Sharon Tate which I had called an upset special before the tourney even started. I figured Sharon had a pretty good fanbase and Fonda might have some resentment from fans that would enable Sharon to pull out a win. And win she did 30-26. 3rd seed Julie Andrews had to fend off 6th seed Maggie Smith in a thrilling match 34-26. And competing for the first time in the 60's era, was Elizabeth Taylor, who previously had competed in the 50's era brackets, dominated Vanessa Redgrave 41-17, producing the widest margin of victory in this era. Here are the complete scores for all the matches below and the other two brackets are scheduled to kick off in a few hours. I'll have those matches posted and up running soon.

Time was on Diana's side as she held on to defeat Hayley Mills

LEE REMICK 35-21 over PATRICIA NEAL
SHARON TATE 30-26 over JANE FONDA
PAULA PRENTISS 34-25 over FAYE DUNAWAY
ANNE BANCROFT 38-21 over TUESDAY WELD
JULIE ANDREWS 34-26 over MAGGIE SMITH
ELIZABETH TAYLOR 41-17 over VANESSA REDGRAVE
JEAN SIMMONS 39-20 over JULIE CHRISTIE
DIANA RIGG 32-29 over HAYLEY MILLS

All-Time Top Winning Tourney Actresses

As we are currently underway with first round action of the 2014 Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tourney, I thought it would be a good idea to rank the all-time tourney leaders in match wins. I wanted to do a top ten list but that would take a little more time and research to compile all the numbers. So I settled with the top 5 women with the most matches won in tourney play. And not just counting this tourney but all the tourneys I have done or partnered up with, like the recent Favorite Silent Actress Tourney I did with Catherine. But I am counting only individual matches and not something like my other recent tourney, the favorite classic movie couples I did with Desiree. So here we go, beginning with #5..

5.) BETTE DAVIS (11-3) Bette has been in the mix in all three previous tourneys, reaching the final four last year only to lose to my girl Carole. And this year she is off to a great start as she is running roughshod over Katharine Hepburn. Look for Bette’s win tally to increase by quite a bit.

4.)  NATALIE WOOD (12-4) Two- time final four finalist, Natalie has pretty much dominated the 60’s era portion of the tourney, with the exception of last year’s early exit in the sweet sixteen round. But her 12 wins proves that she is definitely a contender and one of the most loved actresses competing.

3.) GRETA GARBO (13-3, winner 2014 Favorite Silent Actress Tourney) Recently crowned Favorite Silent Actress thanks to her solid performance in this year’s earlier tourney, Greta has established herself as a proven force. And with her currently beating the brakes off Fay Wray in the first round of the 30’s era bracket, she has picked up right where she left off…winning.

2.) CAROLE LOMBARD (16-3, winner 2013 Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tourney) I was so happy my beloved Carole finally broke through and won a tourney. She had come so close in the two previous tourneys only to lose to Irene Dunne and Ginger Rogers in the 30’s era finals, but would not be denied a 3^rd time. It was a long time coming.

1    1.)    GRACE KELLY (17-3, winner 2012 Favorite Alfred Hitchcock Leading Lady) And the all-time most winning actress in tourney history is none other than Princess Grace. Two-time final four finalist that has owned the 50’s era bracket with the exception of last year’s early exit during the sweet sixteen round. Grace did manage to win another tourney though…Favorite Alfred Hitchcock Leading Lady, quite easily might I add.

Once this year’s tourney wraps, I will update this all-time list and probably expand it to a top ten.

2014 Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tourney: Round 1 Update

Here are the latest numbers on three of the four eras in the Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tourney. Kristen of Journeys in Classic Film will post an update later for her 40's era brackets.

30'S ERA hosted by Desiree of Rosalind Russell: Dazzling Star

GRETA GARBO leads FAY WRAY 31-9
MIRIAM HOPKINS leads KAY FRANCIS 22-15
RUTH CHATTERTON leads SYLVIA SIDNEY 21-16
ANN DVORAK leads ANITA PAGE 25-10
MYRNA LOY leads MARIE DRESSLER 31-8
CONSTANCE BENNETT leads MARGARET DUMONT 26-11
JEAN ARTHUR leads MAUREEN O'SULLIVAN 30-9
JEAN HARLOW leads UNA MERKEL 28-13

Here's the link to go cast your vote there if you haven't did so already:http://www.rozrussell.com/

50'S ERA hosted by Mythical Monkey

DORIS DAY leads ANN MILLER 30-12
MARILYN MONROE leads KAY KENDALL 31-10
DEBBIE REYNOLDS leads BETTY HUTTON 32-10
CYD CHARISSE leads DOROTHY DANDRIDGE 25-16
DEBORAH KERR leads JENNIFER JONES 35-8
JANET LEIGH leads JUNE ALLYSON 33-9
ELEANOR PARKER leads JEAN HAGEN 34-7
THELMA RITTER leads ANNE BAXTER 30-12

Wow blow-out matches all over the 50's era. The closest match is Cyd over Dorothy and that's by 9 votes. The other seven matches have double digit leads. Here's the link to go cast your vote on these matches if you haven't done so already: http://mythicalmonkey.blogspot.com/

 And here are the scores for the matches taking place here spotlighting the 60's era:

LEE REMICK leads PATRICIA NEAL 20-12
JANE FONDA leads SHARON TATE 16-13
PAULA PRENTISS leads FAYE DUNAWAY 17-15
ANNE BANCROFT leads TUESDAY WELD 19-14
JULIE ANDREWS leads MAGGIE SMITH 19-14
ELIZABETH TAYLOR leads VANESSA REDGRAVE 21-10
JEAN SIMMONS leads JULIE CHRISTIE 20-12
DIANA RIGG leads HAYLEY MILLS 19-13

Elizabeth Taylor is making a statement in her 60's era debut with the sole double digit lead in a match. 

MARCH MADNESS is now underway....

The top 4 seeds

Just a quick note to let everyone know that the tourney has begun. The 60's era brackets featuring All-American Girls and the British Invasion are on the right hand sidebar and will be up through Wednesday. The other two brackets, A Foreign Affair and Song and Dance will begin later on that night. Here are the links to the other sites where you can vote on the 30's, 40's and 50's eras...they will be up later on today!

the 30's ERA: http://www.rozrussell.com/

the 40's ERA: http://journeysinclassicfilm.com/

the 50's ERA: http://mythicalmonkey.blogspot.com/

GAME ON!!!!

The 2014 Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tourney (1960's Era Brackets: British Invasion/All-American Girls)

Ahhhh you can always tell spring is on the way when days start to feel warmer and flowers start to bloom. Oh and when your favorite classic movie actresses come together to duke it out to earn bragging rights for favorite of the year. This marks the 4th annual edition and things look to be wide open this year. I mean previous winners Irene Dunne, Ginger Rogers and Carole Lombard all took care of business and eventually won their tourney for their respective years. But this year, it's anyone's ball game. I mean odds are in favor of someone from the 30's era bracket clinching the crown, since all three previous winners have come from that era. But I think Bette Davis, the #1 seed from the 40's era and overall #1 seed thanks to her 2nd place finish last year, might have something to say about that. I'll be hosting the 60's era for the 2nd time and here are the first round brackets (British Invasion and All-American Girls) that kick off beginning on Sunday.

BRITISH INVASION

1 DIANA RIGG 

VS

8 HAYLEY MILLS

Looks like upstart Hayley is aiming to take down last year's final four
finalist Diana Rigg...game on!

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

4 JULIE CHRISTIE

VS
5 JEAN SIMMONS

Should be a very interesting match...4 vs 5 usually are!

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

2 ELIZABETH TAYLOR 

VS
7 VANESSA REDGRAVE

Elizabeth Taylor moves from the 50's era to here and right away she
will face stiff competition in the form of Vanessa Redgrave

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

3 JULIE ANDREWS

VS
6 MAGGIE SMITH


Julie usually does very well in tourney play, making it to the sweet sixteen a few times
but this is probably her toughest first round match ever!


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

ALL-AMERICAN GIRLS

1 ANNE BANCROFT

VS
8 TUESDAY WELD

*****************
4 FAYE DUNAWAY

VS
5 PAULA PRENTISS

Last year Paula Prentiss made a deep run into the tourney with some surprising
victories. She looks to improve in this year's tourney.

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

2 JANE FONDA

VS
7 SHARON TATE

Now this one I am putting on upset alert because I really think Sharon Tate has
a good chance of knocking off 2 seed Jane Fonda. We'll find out here shortly

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

3 LEE REMICK

VS
6 PATRICIA NEAL

This promises to be a very exciting and close match. Could go either way!