Joan Crawford pulls off an upset of top seed Barbara Stanwyck 81-74

 

Joan thanking all her fans who supported her in a big way

with her win over Barbara Stanwyck

 

This year's tourney has produced a fair amount of upsets...Gene Tierney knocking off Vivien Leigh, Katharine Hepburn losing to Olivia de Havilland and Lauren Bacall defeating Ingrid Bergman. Well add another name to that list as top seed Barbara Stanwyck of the Tough Broads and Pre-Code Babes in the 30's era falls to 3rd seed Joan Crawford in another titanic battle 81-74. A total of 155 votes was rung up, the second most in the tourney so far..only Carole Lombard and Jean Arthur tallied more with 158. This match saw Joan down several times only to repeatedly come back to pull close to Barbara. And then in the waning hours actually pull ahead. The Crawford fans showed up late, but show up they did as Joan now advances to round four. Which is impressive, considering last year she didn't even make it past the first round. Talk about turnaround. Thanks to everyone who voted to make this one of the best matches in the tourney so far.

JOAN CRAWFORD 81    BARBARA STANWYCK 74

Grace Kelly tops Audrey Hepburn for the second year in a row

 Grace raises a glass in celebration of her latest victory....

In what was another close match between the two iconic women, Grace edged out Audrey 58-54 in the third round of the 50's era Sophisticates Bracket of the favorite classic movie actress tourney. Grace defeated Audrey last year by the same margin of 4 votes as well. So it was deja vu for Audrey all over again. With this win, Grace moves on to round four and will face the winner of the Doris Day/Debbie Reynolds match, which begins later on tonight. I have to say this was one of the more exciting matches as Grace jumped out to an early lead on day one and had a 11 vote edge at one point before Audrey came storming back on day 2 to actually go ahead of Grace by 5 votes. And on today the two battled back and forth, as the lead changed hands several times. But in the end it was Princess Grace who came away with the win and continues on her run to make the final four for the second year in a row. Congrats to both women for putting on such an exciting match and thanks to everyone who stopped by to vote.

GRACE KELLY 58        AUDREY HEPBURN 54

Round Three Matches: Funny Ladies and Singers/Dancers

On to round three of our tourney features a pair of good bracket finales. Both top seeds made it to their respective category final. Natalie Wood will face Jane Fonda in the funny ladies bracket while Julie Andrews squares off against Ann-Margret. Matches begin on Thursday and run through Saturday night.

FUNNY LADIES/GIRLS NEXT DOOR FINAL

1 NATALIE WOOD

VS

2 JANE FONDA

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

SINGERS/DANCERS BRACKET FINAL

1 JULIE ANDREWS

VS

3 ANN-MARGRET

Tea Anyone: Cary Grant

Who could turn down having tea with Cary Grant? I doubt anyone could...

Brackets format

This will be the format for which category will compete against another category of the tourney. These matches will begin on Monday, or most likely Sunday night. So when it is all said and done there will be one champion from each era to earn a spot in the final four.


THEY HAD FACES vs SINGERS AND DANCERS
TOUGH BROADS/PRE-CODE BABES vs FUNNY LADIES
SOPHISTICATES vs SINGERS/DANCERS
DRAMA QUEENS vs FUNNY LADIES/GIRLS NEXT DOOR

The Morning Movie: Only Two Can Play (1962)

I  usually catch a movie on TCM before leaving for work. This morning they was playing the 1962 film Only Two Can Play, which I had never seen before. It was pretty good. With Peter Sellers as a Welsh librarian who falls into a rut with his job and marriage. He meets the married Liz (played by Mai Zetterling) and the two embark on an affair. While Zetterling is the top billed female star, the real standout is Virginia Maskell, who plays Jean (Sellers wife). She gives a terrific performance. And sad to find out her career was short-lived as she committed suicide in 1968. Anyway, I liked Only Two Can Play. Well what I saw of it. I missed like the first 45 minutes or so.

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

Tea Anyone: Una Merkel and W.C. Fields

Or coffee...but knowing WC..it probably has a shot of something extra

Round Three Matches: Sophisticates and Drama Queens

Only one top seed made it through to the category final match..Jean Simmons. She will face Anne Bancroft in the Sophisticates finale match while over in the Drama Queens bracket, 3rd seed Catherine Deneuve will face 5th seed Susannah York. Matches begin later on tonight and will run through Wednesday night.

SOPHISTICATES BRACKET FINAL MATCH

1 JEAN SIMMONS

VS

6 ANNE BANCROFT

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

DRAMA QUEENS BRACKET

3 CATHERINE DENEUVE

VS

5 SUSANNAH YORK

Marquee Matchup Spotlight: No 1 Grace Kelly vs No 2 Audrey Hepburn in a battle of sophisticates

Talk about a dream matchup. No 1 Grace Kelly vs No 2 Audrey Hepburn in the Sophisticates Bracket Final Match in the 50's era. This is actually a rematch of last year's semi-final match in the 50's era between the two women. That time, Audrey was the top seed and Grace was seeded 4th. Grace ended up winning the match by 2 votes. So I imagine Audrey is looking for some payback. The match will begin later on tonight and run through Wednesday night. Should be one heck of a match. Go here to cast your vote:
Noir and Chick Flicks

This match features so much star power, it will be blindingly bright!