Audrey Hepburn and Clara are gracious in their defeat with this wonderful post...

Me and my friend Clara from Via Margutta 51 had this friendly bet on the recent match between Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly. She chose Audrey and I took Grace. Whoever lost the match would have to write a post on the other's blog about why they love the actress they chose. Well Grace won out by 2 votes and Clara has graciously written a lovely post about her girl Audrey. It is dated from last year but it is still a wonderful post. Enjoy:

She would be 81 today. "So young?", said my brother. I know what he meant.



The ubiquitous icon, the wonderful actress, the shiny presence, the kindest woman, left us too early.


I've said that Hitch introduced me to classic movies. That's correct. But it was Audrey who showed me that the performers that happened to breath, dream, love and radiate splendor before I was born were worthy to watch. No, more than that: they deserved to be watched.


And there she was. She was Holly Golightly. She was there all dressed up eating her croissant in front of Tiffany's. She was there looking for her shoe and asking "how do I look?". She was there smiling, dancing, hiding her feelings. She was there suffering. She was there, sitting by the window, singing one of the most beautiful songs ever composed, ever written, with her own voice and her absent gaze. She was there drunk. She was there crying, in love, but not sure of anything. And it rained.


And then came "Sabrina", Billy Wilder, William Holden, Bogie, Paris, "Roman Holiday", Gregory Peck, William Wyler, Dalton Trumbo, Rome, "Love in the afternoon", Gary Cooper, Fascination, "Funny face", Stanley Donen, Fred Astaire, Givenchy, the Gershwin brothers, "War and peace", Henry Fonda, Mel Ferrer, "The Nun's story", Fred Zinemmann, "The Unforgiven", Burt Lancaster, "My Fair Lady", George Cukor, Rex Harrison, "Charade", Cary Grant, "Two for the road", Albert Finney...Audrey presented me so many talented people, such beautiful music and places, so many unforgettable movies.


She educated me and made me a classic film lover.


She lived, she smiled, she looked around with her big eyes. No one, ever, ever, said something negative about her. She was kind and easy to work with. She remembered the terrible war, she remembered poor little Anna Frank. She loved chocolates and cigarettes. She was generous and respected the private life of others and her own. She wanted to love; she was deceived. She loved flowers. She traveled and tried to give some comfort to the innocent, the weak; she was ill. She died. She left us too early.



But she's remembered.  And be sure to check out Clara's amazing blog. Here is the link below:

http://via-51.blogspot.com/

GIANT is a great epic size film

Giant is an epic size movie that is very well done. It focuses on Texas ranger Jordan Benedict (played by Rock Hudson) who travels to a Maryland farm to buy a prize horse. There he meets the lovely Leslie (played by Elizabeth Taylor) and immediately falls in love. The film details their life together at Benedict's family ranch in Texas and their rivalry with Jett Rink (James Dean's last film before his untimely death). This is grand film-making on an epic scale. Director George Stevens unfolds this film at a good pace.

Liz and Rock

Even though the film logs in at just over 3 hours, I felt that it seemed rushed in particular moments. I mean once Leslie and Jordan had the twins and then they had the birth of their third child, the years seemed to go by pretty fast. Before you knew it, the kids had grown into Dennis Hopper and Carroll Baker. It spanned over 30 years but it just seemed like it was rushed over despite its length. That’s a minor quibble though as Giant is one of the best films ever made. Most people always talk about James Dean and Liz Taylor’s performances, but let me tell you something…Rock Hudson is amazing in this film. I never really cared for Hudson as an actor, other than the films he made with Doris Day and his TV series McMillian and Wife. In Giant, he impressed the hell out of me. I actually believe he was the best character in the film. Not to shortchange Dean, Taylor and  Mercedes McCambridge (as Jordan's older sister), but Rock was on point with this one. I know some people may say that Giant is a weaker Gone With The Wind, I disagree. I think Giant holds its own as an epic film that deserves it place in history.
B+

James Dean and Mercedes McCambridge

Liz Taylor and James Dean

Dean strikes it rich

The gorgeous Liz

Everyone's Final Four Picks

Just wondering what everyone's final four picks would be now that the tournament is in the home stretch. I chose Carole Lombard, Bette Davis, Grace Kelly and Natalie Wood. Just curious to see what everyone's else favorites are. If you guys could list your top picks from each era and post in the comments section, that would be awesome. March Madness has been a great success. Thanks to everyone who has participated.

Movie Quote - OPERATION PETTICOAT

Lt. Nicholas Holden: When I was a kid, I was the victim of the most vicious propaganda. People told me that money wasn't everything and I believed it. Then I found out that the people that were telling me that money wasn't everything were the people who had a lot of money. Now there are two ways you can get money. You can steal it, or you can marry it.

1960's Era Tournament is now underway

I decided to go ahead and start the 60's era tournament now instead of waiting until tomorrow morning. So good luck to all the women involved and may the most loved actress win. For me, that would be Natalie Wood.

Classic Movie Actress Tournament (1950's Era) Final Match is set...GRACE KELLY VS DEBBIE REYNOLDS

My, oh my, both matches went down to the wire but when it was all said and done, Princess Grace edged out My Fair Lady Audrey 28-26 (sorry Clara) and Debbie Reynolds outlasted Susan Hayward 23-21. So now Grace and Debbie will face each other in the 50's era final to decide who will earn a trip to the Final Four, where Irene Dunne and Vivien Leigh are waiting. The regal Grace against the scrappy Debbie. Should be a good one. Good luck to both women as voting begins immediately and runs to Tuesday 5pm EST.

4 GRACE KELLY

VS

10 DEBBIE REYNOLDS



Classic Movie Actress Tournament (1960's Era) Round 1 Matches

Well we have made it to the last era of my classic movie actress tournament. The 1960's ushered in a new type of actors and actresses as the times were changing. More bold in your face movies with a sense of modern realism. With actresses like Jean Seberg, Catherine Deneuve, Shirley MacLaine, Julie Christie, and Faye Dunaway leading the way. It's ironic though Doris Day is the top seed in this bracket. Her persona always came across as sweet and innocent even while more realistic actresses were coming out. But Doris was still a top draw at the box-office during the early 60's with such hits like That Touch Of Mink, Lover Come Back, Please Don't Eat The Daisies and Send Me No Flowers and that's why she is the no 1 seed.  It will be interesting to see how she fares against the hip young crowd of this new generation. Matches will begin tomorrow morning at 7am EST, and run through Tuesday 5pm EST. Good luck to all the women involved. Here are the matches for the 1960's era bracket and my personal favorite is Natalie Wood to win this era, with Shirley MacLaine a close second. There are some interesting matches like Shirley MacLaine against Julie Christie and the battle of the Jeans - Simmons and Seberg. Should be a fun week.

1 DORIS DAY

VS




16 SUSANNAH YORK

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8 JANE FONDA

VS



9 CATHERINE DENEUVE

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4 ANN-MARGRET

VS



13 SANDRA DEE

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

5 SHIRLEY MACLAINE

VS




12 JULIE CHRISTIE

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

2 NATALIE WOOD

VS

 15 CLAUDIA CARDINALE

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

7 SHIRLEY JONES

VS




10 FAYE DUNAWAY

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

3 JULIE ANDREWS

VS




14 JANET LEIGH

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

6 JEAN SIMMONS

VS




11 JEAN SEBERG

A New Blog Everyone Should Be Following: Elisa's Classic Films

I have been following a new blog called Elisa's Classic Films and just wanted to let everyone in on it. It's written by Elisa, who started it this past January.  Here is a description of this wonderful new blog by Elisa herself:

This blog is mainly postings of my reviews, also film clips, images and montages I like to share about classic films that I love, hate and so on. I'm not a writer by any means (I'm not really good at it) but when I love a film I'll either say "It's great", "I like it", "I didn't care for it" in so many words, I'm not creative so don't expect it.

And Jimmy Stewart is her all time favorite.So check out Elisa's new blog when you get a chance. It's a fantastic new experience. Here is the link: http://elisalovesclassicfilms.blogspot.com/p/about.html

Joanne Woodward is amazing in THE THREE FACES OF EVE (1957)

Just saw the 1957 film The Three Faces Of Eve for the first time in about 15 years and it's still just a good as I remembered. Joanne Woodward is positively amazing as Eve, a young Georgia housewife suffering from multiple personalities. A psychiatrist (played by Lee J. Cobb) is asked to help and he does and finds that each of Eve's personalities is aware of the other's existence, but none are related. After months of therapy, Eve is purged of her negative selves and is totally cured. Woodward gives a powerhouse performance and won a Best Actress Oscar for her work, which is easy to see why. Each personality is different and she plays them all with great intensity and effect. She would later come back to this genre 20 years later for the TV movie Sybil, this time as the doctor treating Sally Field. This is one of the best film performances I have ever seen. Kudos to Joanne. And Lee J. Cobb is just as good as always.
B+

VIVA MARIA! is a different kind of movie with BARDOT and MOREAU leading the way....

I don't even know how to describe this movie. It's part musical, part western, part comedy, part adventure. And somehow mix all that together and it works. Set in Middle America in 1907, the fiery Maria 2 (played by Brigitte Bardot) meets up with a traveling circus after her terrorist father is killed. She ends up blowing up the bridge that the soldiers are on who have killed her father and is now on the run. The circus she hooks up with has veteran singer Maria 1 (played by Jeanne Moreau). As luck would have it, the circus has just recently lost a singer, Maria 1's sister and Maria 2 jumps at the chance. During her first appearance she accidentally invents the strip-tease and the circus becomes hugely successful. Things are going great until the pair meet up with a socialist revolutionary and finding themselves leading this revolution against the dictator, the capitalists and the church.

Like I said this mix of music, action, and comedy somehow all works. I think this may be Brigitte Bardot's best film performance. She is headstrong and doesn't back down from anyone. Moreau gives a good performance as well, more understanding and sympathetic. And plus they both look stunning. For the ladies they have George Hamilton to ogle over as a local hero who falls for Moreau. I liked this movie. Be warned it is subtitled but I didn't mind one bit at all.
B