A number one seed makes an early exit in round 3

March Madness rears it's head once again as round three of the favorite classic movie actress tourney produced a few shockers. The biggest being the loss by two-time Final Four finalist Natalie Wood to upstart Shirley Jones. Natalie had won the previous two tourneys 60's era bracket with ease but kinda struggled this year. And could not shake Shirley in their match. Shirley won by the count of 32-26. Another upset in this era happened when the #1 seed in British Invasion category, Julie Andrews got beat by Diana Rigg 48-20. Correction she got destroyed.

No surprises for the 30's era bracket except for the fact that Barbara Stanwyck crushed Norma Shearer 72-9. I have to tell ya that Stany is looking more and more impressive with each win. She is not just winning but she is winning by large margins. Last round she beat Claudette Colbert by over 20 votes and now Shearer by over 60. Wow!

Over in the 50's era no upsets to speak of as all the top seeds won their matches. Audrey Hepburn laid another 55 for the second consecutive round as she routed Deborah Kerr 55-21. Grace Kelly, a two-time Final Four finalist got off to a slow start over Marilyn Monroe but pulled away to win 49-27.

And in the 40's era, the big match featured Bette Davis and Vivien Leigh. It was expected to be a close match but Bette was having none of that as she rolled 32-18. Looks like Bette is on a mission for sure. Here are the complete scores on all the matches.

THE 30'S ERA

GRETA GARBO over LILLIAN GISH 46-33
BARBARA STANWYCK over NORMA SHEARER 72-9
JOAN BLONDELL over ELEANOR POWELL 54-26
CAROLE LOMBARD over MYRNA LOY 61-21

THE 40'S ERA

BETTE DAVIS over VIVIEN LEIGH 32-18
JUDY GARLAND over TERESA WRIGHT 27-23
RITA HAYWORTH over LORETTA YOUNG 29-20
GENE TIERNEY over LAUREN BACALL 39-11

THE 50'S ERA

AUDREY HEPBURN over DEBORAH KERR 55-21
GRACE KELLY over MARILYN MONROE 49-27
AVA GARDNER over ELEANOR PARKER 67-9
DORIS DAY over JANE RUSSELL 54-22

THE 60'S ERA

SHIRLEY JONES over NATALIE WOOD 32-26
DIANA RIGG over JULIE ANDREWS 48-20
ANNE BANCROFT over PAULA PRENTISS 32-22
CATHERINE DENEUVE over ROMY SCHNEIDER 33-29

Round 4 will begin this evening and run through Saturday evening. We will do posts detailing each match in each era for the remaining 16 actresses...the sweet sixteen.

Barbara, Bette and Audrey continue to dominate this year's tourney with round 3 day one numbers..

Here are the latest numbers after day 1 of the third round of the favorite classic movie actress tourney. And three actresses in particular are flexing their muscles with another dominating round...Barbara Stanwyck, Bette Davis and Audrey Hepburn.

Stany is about to deliver a knock-out to Norma Shearer

THE 30'S ERA

Greta Garbo leads Lillian Gish 40-23
Barbara Stanwyck leads Norma Shearer 58-6
Joan Blondell leads Eleanor Powell 44-19
Carole Lombard leads Myrna Loy 44-20

All the actresses who are winning in this era have comfortable leads especially Barbara Stanwyck who is laying waste to Norma Shearer by the count of 58-6. Babs has been dominating from round 1 and is proving to be one force no one can handle. Joan Blondell is continuing her impressive tourney run, but this round her match is much closer than her previous match. Still she is up by 25 votes. Last round she crushed Ruby Keeler by a winning margin of 70 votes. Greta Garbo has a nice lead of 17 votes over Lillian Gish and my girl Carole leads Myrna Loy by the score of 44-20

Bette looking quite content

THE 40'S ERA

Bette Davis leads Vivien Leigh 24-10
Judy Garland and Teresa Wright are tied at 17-17
Rita Hayworth leads Loretta Young 26-7
Gene Tierney leads Lauren Bacall 25-9

Bette Davis is up big on Vivien Leigh which is kind of surprising. I thought this would be a much closer contest. Overall 40's top seed Judy Garland is getting all she can handle from upstart Teresa Wright, as they are tied at 17 apiece. Rita Hayworth leads Loretta Young by a 19 vote edge. And Gene Tierney is dominating Lauren Bacall. What's surprising about this match is that Bacall was leading 9-5 this morning before I left for work. That means Gene has scored 20 straight votes in her favor. That is very impressive.

Audrey appears to waiting by the phone for the latest numbers

THE 50'S ERA

Audrey Hepburn 33 to Deborah Kerr 20

Grace Kelly 28 to Marilyn Monroe 25

Ava Gardner 46 to Eleanor Parker 7

Doris Day 36 to Jane Russell 17

Audrey Hepburn continues to set a blistering pace as she leads Deborah Kerr 33-20 in a rematch from last year, which Audrey also dominated in. Grace Kelly and Marilyn Monroe are in a doozy of a match which has Grace clinging to a 3 vote lead. Ava Gardner is crushing Eleanor Parker by 39 votes. And Doris Day leads Jane Russell quite comfortably.

Diana is positively giddy about her round so far

THE 60'S ERA

Natalie Wood leads Shirley Jones 22-19

Anne Bancroft leads Paula Prentiss 25-17

Diana Rigg leads Julie Andrews 32-19

Catherine Deneuve leads Romy Schneider 26-16

Two-time final four finalist Natalie Wood is in a dogfight of a match with Shirley Jones and leads by only 3 votes. Natalie was actually down early in the match by many as 5 votes. Anne Bancroft has opened up a small lead on Cinderella girl Paula Prentiss. Diana Rigg is still going strong in her tourney debut with a 13 vote lead over perennial favorite Julie Andrews. And Catherine Deneuve is about to close the door on one of my final four picks, Romy Schneider.

Voting continues through Wednesday evening.

3rd round of the 40's era is now underway

Lauren Bacall won the tie-breaker question poll over Ida Lupino late last night and now joins the party for the 3rd round action of the 40's era bracket. Here's the link to go vote on the matches which are some great ones:  rosalind-russell.blogspot.com

BETTE DAVIS VS VIVIEN LEIGH
JUDY GARLAND VS TERESA WRIGHT
GENE TIERNEY VS LAUREN BACALL 
RITA HAYWORTH VS LORETTA YOUNG

Matches run through Wednesday evening

Carole Lombard and Myrna Loy are at it again....

For the third year in a row, Carole Lombard and Myrna Loy are facing each other in a match in the 30's bracket of the favorite classic movie actress tourney. It's become old hat for these two ladies and I got a chance to sit down with them both to talk about it.

Me: Good afternoon ladies. So glad you could take a break to come on here to talk tourney stuff.
I didn't expect you to bring guests though (Seated by the two women are Clark Gable, Charles Laughton and Melvyn Douglas).

Carole: Well we all just came from this dinner party and the guys were interested in this tourney.
Myrna: Yes..especially Melvyn. He kept asking how Greta was doing.
Me: So you girls match is now underway and this makes three years in a row you have faced each other. Is it getting old?
Carole: Oh god no. I love sparring against Myrna. She makes for great competition.
Myrna: Oh, why thank you Carole. But since you have beaten me two years running, I don't know if I'm really that much competition.
Carole: You are my dear. You actually have me nervous. I would have much rather faced Jean Arthur. 
No offense to Jean.
Me: speaking of Jean...both of you had to get by a Jean in your previous match. Carole you faced Jean Harlow while Myrna faced Jean Arthur. Very similar matches and results too.
Carole: yes, me and Myrna seemed to be destined for each other. (Clark raises his eyebrow on that remark)
Myrna: I for one can't wait for this match to be over..it is all so very stressful.

Me: any plans for after the match?
Melvyn chimes in: Oh yes my good man, a huge party like no other. For the winner and loser, we're gonna celebrate in high style.
Carole: Oh really...I did not know that. 
Me: I'm sure that will be some party.
Myrna: Oh yes nothing but the best. All who attend will be drunk and passed out by midnight. That reminds me I have to give Bill a call (William Powell, I assume who she means)
Me: Well I don't want  to hold you guys up any longer. I will let you get back to your fun and good luck to both of you on the match.
Carole and Myrna in unison: Thank you Monty!
Myrna adds: yes for putting us through this yet again....
Clark: I do not envy you Monty..for all the actresses that face one another that loses...do you get some blame for that?
Monty: ummm not too much.
Charles: bully for you!
Monty: ummm thank you....

March Madness continues....

Two Marquee Matches highlight 3rd round of 50's era bracket

The 3rd round of the favorite actress tourney is underway in all eras except for the 40's, where a tie-breaker question will decide the winner between Lauren Bacall and Ida Lupino. That runs till this evening. But over in the 50's era there are two top notch matches taking place. Audrey Hepburn vs Deborah Kerr and Grace Kelly vs Marilyn Monroe. How's that for some heavyweight matches. Hepburn and Kerr faced each other last year and Audrey won in a rout, 73-45. Will this year be different? We shall soon find out. And the other marquee match has Grace Kelly facing Marilyn Monroe for the very first time. They head into this match kind of differently. Grace crushed Gloria Grahame 57-11 while Marilyn held on to outlast Lana Turner 35-33. So these two matches could be very exciting...or blow-outs. I hope they turn out to be very competitive. Click on the 50's era banner on the right side bar to go cast your vote.

AUDREY HEPBURN

VS

DEBORAH KERR

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

GRACE KELLY

VS

MARILYN MONROE

Oh and the other two matches in this era are Ava Gardner vs Eleanor Parker

and Doris Day vs Jane Russell

3rd Round Matches

3rd round action begins today and here are the four category final matches of the 30's era. Good luck to all the women who have made it this far.

THEY HAD FACES FINAL MATCH
1 GRETA GARBO
Tourney record (6-2)
2nd round victory over Kay Francis 44-18




VS


7 LILLIAN GISH
Tourney record (2-1)
2nd round victory over Gloria Swanson 38-33


**********************************
PRE-CODE WOMEN FINAL MATCH

1 BARBARA STANWYCK
Tourney Record (5-2)
2nd round victory over Claudette Colbert 47-25



VS


2 NORMA SHEARER
Tourney Record (3-3)
2nd round victory over Marlene Dietrich 39-32


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

SINGERS/DANCERS FINAL MATCH

4 ELEANOR POWELL
Tourney Record (2-0)
2nd round victory over Bebe Daniels 



VS


7 JOAN BLONDELL
Tourney Record (2-1)
2nd round victory over Ruby Keeler


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

FUNNY LADIES FINAL MATCH

1 CAROLE LOMBARD
Tourney Record (10-3)
2nd round victory over Jean Harlow



VS


2 MYRNA LOY 
Tourney Record (6-2)
2nd round victory over Jean Arthur



Matches will run through Wednesday evening. Should be another exciting round.

Round 2 results

Here are the numbers for the other eras just completed.

THE 40'S ERA

Rita Hayworth 35-21 over Lucille Ball
Loretta Young 33-30 over Maureen O'Hara
Gene Tierney 37-27 over Claire Trevor
Lauren Bacall 32-32 tie with Ida Lupino

We have our first tie with Ida Lupino rallying to tie Lauren Bacall after being down for most of the match. Desiree will most likely have a tie-breaker question to see which actress will advance to round 3 to face Gene Tierney. Loretta Young made a great comeback to defeat Maureen O'Hara and she will now face Rita Hayworth. 

THE 50'S ERA

Audrey Hepburn 46 to Janet Leigh 22 Deborah Kerr 36 to Anne Francis 32 Grace Kelly 57 to Gloria Grahame 11 Marilyn Monroe 35 to Lana Turner 33 Eleanor Parker 36 to Elizabeth Taylor 32 Ava Gardner 46 to Susan Hayward 22 Jane Russell 35 to Debbie Reynolds 33 Doris Day 51 to Cyd Charisse 17

 Two upsets took place in this era as Elizabeth Taylor lost to Eleanor Parker and Debbie reynolds lost to Jane Russell. It was almost three but Marilyn Monroe held on to beat Lana Turner by two votes.

THE 60'S ERA

Julie Andrews 41-39 over Maggie Smith
Diana Rigg 44-40 over Angela Lansbury
Anne Bancroft 55-30 over Patricia Neal
Paula Prentiss 58-14 over Tuesday Weld

Those pair of thrilling matches finally came to an end with Julie andrews outlasting Maggie Smith and Diana Rigg holding on to defeat Angela Lansbury. Those two matches have been some of the best of the tourney so far. Anne Bancroft and Paula Prentiss had little trouble in their matches.

Round 3 matches will begin tomorrow in all eras with maybe the exception of the 40's era as there is that tie between Lauren Bacall and Ida Lupino that has to be resolved.

2nd round of 30's era is now complete

The 30's era bracket of the 2013 Favorite Classic Movie Actress is in the books. And there was no upsets to speak of. There was a record-setting match though as Joan Blondell crushed Ruby Keeler 71-3 for a 95% share of the votes, a record in tourney play. I love it when new records are set. In the other singer/dancer match, Eleanor Powell danced away with a victory over Bebe Daniels 43-28 to up her maiden tourney record to a perfect 2-0. Over in the funny ladies category, top seed Carole Lombard notched her 10th tourney record with an impressive win over Jean Harlow 50-31. Carole will have a rematch with the other funny ladies winner Myrna Loy, who had a similar victory over another Jean..this one being Jean Arthur by the count of 49-30. These ladies join the other 2nd round winners Greta Garbo, Lillian Gish, Barbara Stanwyck and Norma Shearer to advance to round 3, which starts tomorrow. I'll do a post this evening detailing those matches.

Eleanor Powell kicks her heels up after another victory

ELEANOR POWELL 43-28 over BEBE DANIELS
JOAN BLONDELL 71-3 over RUBY KEELER
CAROLE LOMBARD 50-31 over JEAN HARLOW
MYRNA LOY 49-31 over JEAN ARTHUR

The other three eras wrap up their matches over the next few hours and I will post those numbers once they are done.

It's called March Madness for a reason...

Loretta can't stand to watch as her match with Maureen O'Hara has

been a doozy...back and forth for the past day and a half

Less than a few hours ago I wrote a post updating round 2 of the Favorite Classic Actress Tourney and within that time frame we have had some lead changes. No, Ruby Keeler is not making a rally on Joan Blondell. Joan has actually picked up a few more votes and leads now 70-3, making her match the biggest margin of victory in tourney play this year. But if you head over to the 40's and 60's eras, you will find some major excitement going on. First up, in the 40's era Loretta Young who was down by 3 votes to Maureen O'Hara now leads by 3. Wow! And Ida Lupino who has trailed her entire match with Lauren Bacall, by as many as 9 votes has cut it down to a mere 2 now. Double wow!

LORETTA YOUNG leads MAUREEN O'HARA 32-29
LAUREN BACALL leads IDA LUPINO 32-30

Over in the 60's era, Maggie Smith now leads Julie Andrews 39-38 after trailing a few hours ago by 2 votes. And Diana Rigg clings to a 1 vote lead over Angela Lansbury by the score 40-39. I'll keep everyone posted with what is turning out to be the most exciting round yet in the tourney.

MAGGIE SMITH leads JULIE ANDREWS 39-38
DIANA RIGG leads ANGELA LANSBURY 40-39

Matches continue through until this evening.

Round 2 update

Round 2 has intensified with some great matches that will go down to the wire. Here are the current numbers:

THE 30'S ERA

Eleanor Powell leads Bebe Daniels 41-24
Joan Blondell leads Ruby Keeler 65-2
Carole Lombard leads Jean Harlow 48-25
Myrna Loy leads Jean Arthur 47-24

Everything is going according to plan in this era, especially with Joan Blondell crushing Ruby Keeler. Dang, Joan..no mercy!


THE 40'S ERA

Rita Hayworth leads Lucille Ball 32-20
Maureen O'Hara leads Loretta Young 29-26
Gene Tierney leads Claire Trevor 34-22
Lauren Bacall leads Ida Lupino 31-25

A couple of close matches are going on here especially with O'Hara and Young. They have traded leads the entire match and now Maureen is up by 3 votes. Can she hold the lead for one more day? We shall see.

THE 50'S ERA

 Audrey Hepburn 39 to Janet Leigh 14

Deborah Kerr 29 to Anne Francis 24

Grace Kelly 47 to Gloria Grahame 6

Marilyn Monroe 30 to Lana Turner 23

Elizabeth Taylor 28 to Eleanor Parker 25

Ava Gardner 34 to Susan Hayward 19

Jane Russell 27 to Debbie Reynolds 26

Doris Day 39 to Cyd Charisse 14

Every top seed is winning their match here with the exception of Debbie Reynolds. She is down by one vote to Jane Russell. Grace Kelly is crushing Gloria Grahame. Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor have some close matches though and hope to hold on to advance to round 3.

THE 60'S ERA

Julie Andrews leads Maggie Smith 34-33

Diana Rigg leads Angela Lansbury 37-35

Anne Bancroft leads Patricia Neal 48-25

Paula Prentiss leads Tuesday Weld 47-14

A pair of barn burners as John has written are separated by  1 vote in one match (Andrews vs Smith) and 2 votes in the other (Rigg vs Lansbury). Will be going down to the wire.

Voting for these matches end this evening and then round 3 will begin tomorrow.