College Life, or What To Do When Gone With the Wind's Over

So here I am, in the university. Which I'm fairly certain you all knew.

It's swell really. The people are grand, and I'm kept pretty busy.

I rise at seven, class at nine, lunch at noon, class at 2, dine at 6, and so on.

After about 7, though, anything goes. It's a sort of no man's time, if you will.

Lately we've been filling these wee hours by watching a movie or two in the commons. And this, my friends, is precisely where the problem arises.

I couldn't possibly list all the movies we've been watching, but I'll try to name a few, just to give you a sort of general idea of the sitch I'm in.

Let's see...

- Juno (don't get me started)

- Twilight (you're kidding me, right?)

- Pay It Forward (seemingly out of left field)

- Step Up 2 (not that I've seen the first one, mind you)

To be fair, we did watch BBC's Pride and Prejudice as well, which I adore. But let's just brush that fact under the carpet, shall we? Makes my argument sound a heck of a lot better.

I know, I know, I'm sounding like a movie snob. And I don't mean to. These movies (well, not these movies, but movies like them) are fine-- just not one after the next, with nothing in between. Ya dig?

And all this time, Judy sits abandoned in my dorm room, along with Fred, Ginger, Cary, and Bette...

I feel like a mother who's left her children in Disney World or something. Not cool.

But what am I supposed to do? I cannot force people to like things. Believe me, I've tried. And it's backfired all times but one. Which is the reason I'm not allowed to play any Streisand around any of my family members, with the exception of my supercool mother. Yeah, we'll go with supercool.

Plus, isn't it known that persuasion works far better than force anyway? Ah, maybe not. Maybe I just need to work on a menacing pose...

Anyway, the point I'm getting at is...how does one go about introducing others with little to no exposure to classic film to the greats? I don't want it to be, you know, a total shock to their systems, but gosh darn it-- I hafta do something, right?

We did try Gone With the Wind, and that seemed to work. But what next? I toyed with the idea of Laura, but didn't know how it'd be received.

Any thoughts, suggestions? I do so want to be reuinted with my wonderful (albeit dead) buddies in film, and cannot wait four years to do so.

In other news, I've just discovered the fabulous Lupe Velez.

Also, I'm planning another Monday Murder. Still trying to decide between this...

and this...

Move Over, Mack Sennett.

Since it is summer (yes-- really!) and I'd love nothing more than to go for a swim, here are some summer appropriate pictures. Plus, like I said earlier, I'm in Colorado and probably nowhere near a computer. That's right kids-- this is not a live post. Hopefully in time you can forgive me for the deception. ;)


So, here goes...bathing beauties and whatnot.

Gene Tierney. Cool headband, huh?

Carole Lombard...I love that lamp.

No one you should know, really...just liked the heels with the suit.

Buster Keaton having a good time, despite appearances.

Alice Faye, who I've never been terribly fond of...I liked the hat, though. :)

Marie Prevost. One of Mack's original Bathing Beauties.

Doris Day.

Gal I don't know, Jackie Cooper, Judy, Mickey, June Preisser, gal I don't know #2, and LB Mayer.

Joan Crawford and her cousin, Betty Jean.

Well that was fun. You should all go for a swim. And while you do that-- think of me, out here in the wilderness, most likely about to fall down a mountain or something. Cheers.

Photo(s) of the Day

As you most likely did not know, I've been running (is that the word?) another website until just recently. It was a bore, which was one reason I stopped publishing it. Anyhow, there were quite a few "photo of the day" posts there, so to save time (mine and yours) I'll put them here.
Swell, huh?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRp2bhLyAHA

The first Ginger Rogers movie I had the pleasure of seeing was Stage Door. If you haven't seen it-- it's fabulous. Beyond that. Often though, people seem to overlook it for The Women, a movie made in 1939 that captured the attitude but not really the mood or magic of Stage Door.

Anyway, that's the one that made me a fan. After that, I bought Carefree, which has Ginger paired with Fred Astraire. It's not one of their most musical movies--it has only three or four songs--but it's pretty terrific to see Ginger chasing Fred for a change.

As it stands now, Ginger's one of my favorite actresses. At first I didn't think she was particularly attractive, but now she seems like a sort of blonde Vivien Leigh...especially about the mouth. Anyway, above is a link to see her first appearance on What's My Line. Fun stuff.

*Honorable mentions go to The Major and the Minor, with Ray Milland, and Bachelor Mother, a neat little comedy co-starring David Niven.

When I was younger...oh, about 10, I had no real interest in Doris Day. I thought her too nice for her own good. Then, a few years later, I saw the movie Antz. Hold on, I'm getting there. Anyway, at the end of Antz there was a song called "High Hopes," sung by, would you believe it, Miss Doris Day.

Long story short, I saw everything of hers I could...including this picture-- ain't it a kick?

For non-fans (that is, non-fans as of right now), try Romance on the High Seas. She plays a club singer and does a great job...not a normal role for her, as this character's a bit more, let's say, willing, than most of hers. If you're not much for musicals....get out of here. Or, try Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much. But make sure it's the later version, otherwise you're liable to hate me. And we wouldn't want that.

Oh Rita. Oh Orson. Oh why couldn't it have worked? Oh, abuse. Maybe. Either way, they were quite the cool coupling in the forties.

Orson Welles is known for directing what AFI calls the "most historically influential film" ever, Citizen Kane. I like Citizen Kane, but prefer his later noir Touch of Evil, with Janet Leigh.

I first saw Rita Hayworth in Gilda (who didn't?) and thought she was fabulous (ditto). After that, I went on to watch Cover Girl and Pal Joey. So she didn't sing.

This picture's from the set of The Lady from Shanghai, which is another really good one. And how cool is her hair?

The first time I saw Leslie Caron (in An American in Paris, her first film), I wan't too impressed. I loved her "introduction" scene, but otherwise the character just didn't do it for me, probably because there wasn't much character there.

I much preferred her in the musical Lili, which is a delight (ever heard the song "Hi Lili, Hi Lo"? It's marvelous). I was apprehensive about watching Gigi at first...I'd always thought Audrey should've gotten it. Then I found out it was the Freed Unit's last MGM big-production musical, so of course I had to watch. Brilliant.

Leslie Caron's always great with character, making each one she plays her very own. Father Goose and Fanny are two more of hers I'd recommend.

She's one of a very few leading ladies from the Golden Age to continue acting today, and she's just swell.

So, are we all agreed that Judy Garland was indeed the greatest entertainer of the twentieth century? Cool, that's good to know.

I saw Meet Me in St. Louis when I was five or so, and loved it, but didn't really become interested (okay, obsessed) with Judy Garland until I about twelve years later. If you haven't, see Easter Parade. And For Me and My Gal. And A Star is Born. And Presenting Lily Mars. Ooh, and The Clock. Heck, they're all really, really good, even for people who insist they "can't stand musicals," the big saps.

Annnd...Joan Crawford's nice too. :)

Really, check out A Woman's Face and Mildred Pierce. I never really got into Joan Crawford until just recently...I'd preferred Bette Davis all my life (and still do), but Joan has some great parts as well. Sad that she's known mainly for...oh, you know.

Above: Joan Crawford gives Judy an engagement present.