30 Questions, AKA the reason I've been an antisocial blogger.

Thanks to the increasingly (and deservingly) lionized Matthew Coniam of Movietone News, I've another survey to complete, this time about films of the thirties and forties. Well, mainly.



So here goes. It's terribly hard by the looks of it. Especially that last one-- gulp.


But first, this is the reason I haven't read a lot of your blogs on this topic. Didn't want to subconsciously steal your answers, y'know. ;)

1. Your favorite Humphrey Bogart film in which he doesn't play a gangster or a private eye. (Oh, and not including Casablanca either.)
Marked Woman. No doubt. His performance in that one is my favorite, including his performances as hoods and whatnot.

2. Your favorite appearance by a star in drag (boy-girl or girl-boy).
Well, I suppose the obvious answer for me'd be Katharine in Sylvia Scarlett, but...the one that first came to mind was June Preisser in Sweater Girl. That hat is simply divine.

3. Your favorite Laurel & Hardy film; short or feature, or one of each. (This will sort out the men from the boys - or perhaps the men from the girls.)
You're Darn Tootin'. The first one I ever saw, and still my favorite.

4. Your favorite appearance by one star in a role strongly associated with another star. (E.g.: Ricardo Cortez as Sam Spade, Grace Kelly as Tracy Lord, Vince Vaughn as Norman Bates...)
Vince Vaughan as Norman Bates. Hah! You wish. Man alive-- I keep forgetting this is 30s and 40s. So I'll say it anyway...Tammy Blanchard as Sybil in...Sybil. But sticking to the rules I'll make it Janet Gaynor as Esther Blodgett. Then again, she and Judy are both pretty famous for it. And this in no way means I prefer Janet to Judy. Just thought I’d clarify, hee hee.

5. The thirties or forties star or stars you most think you'd like, but have yet to really get to know.
Ooh, good 'un. Audrey Totter. And Tallulah Bankhead probably. After all, she was friends with Dorothy Parker. As for the men, Van Johnson seemed like a nice guy. But I’ve only seen him in one or two things. Same for Lew Ayres.

6. Your favorite pre-Petrified Forest Bette Davis film.
Tie between Dangerous and Bordertown. Is that allowed? ;)

7. Your favorite post-Mildred Pierce Joan Crawford film.
Johnny Guitar. I just adore seeing gals in westerns.

8. Your favorite film that ends with the main character's death.
Well, Dark Victory's definitely up there...that or Waterloo Bridge. Ooh, or DOA. I’m too indecisive for my own good.

9. Your favorite Chaplin talkie.
Monsieur Verdoux, but (shh-- don’t tell) I’ve never seen Limelight. Relax though, I just added it to my Amazon cart.

10. Your favorite British actor and actress.
Robert Donat and Margaret Lockwood, but Phyllis Calvert’s growing on me.
EDIT: Okay, I peeked at someone’s answers. I need to get it into my head that Vivien Leigh is indeed a British actress. Ho hum.

11. Your favorite post-1960 appearance by a 1930's star.
Olivia de Havilland in Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte. If she qualifies as a ’30s star. She should, by the way.

12. Dietrich or Garbo?
Garbo. For now, as I've yet to really watch a lot of Marlene.

13. Karloff or Lugosi?
I fell in love with Lugosi when I first saw a picture of him from The Black Cat. How debonair can you get?

14. Chaplin or Keaton? (I know some of you will want to say both for all of the above. Me too. But you can't.)
Keaton. But you must understand how very hard it was for me to choose. I hope Charlie does.

15. Your favorite star associated predominantly with the 1950's.
Gloria Grahame...Is that okay? Golly I hope so. Because I was gonna say Lucille Ball, but the work I love most isn't associated with the fifties-- she is. Oh drat, I just rambled, didn't I?

16. Your favorite Melvyn Douglas movie.
Too Many Husbands. Only because A Woman’s Face belongs too much to Joan. So there. ;)

17. The box-office failure you most think should have been a success.
Well, I’d love to say The Pirate, but I can understand why it was a failure at the time. Silly audiences. So I’ll go with Sturges’ Unfaithfully Yours. Linda Darnell, Rex Harrison-- brilliant.

18. Your favorite performance by an actor or actress playing drunk.
I know it’s only for a bit, but Una Merkel in Midnight Mary plays drunk to perfection. So that’s it for me.

19. Your favorite last scene of any thirties movie.
Why oh why couldn’t The Lady Eve have been made just two years earlier? Shucks...how about Bringing Up Baby?

20. Your favorite American non-comedy silent movie.
Too difficult, so I’m going to rely on one of my favorite techniques-- cheating. Sadie Thompson or The Eyes of Julia Deep.

21. Your favorite Jean Harlow performance.
The Beast of the City....I like her in comedy, but prefer her in stuff like this.

22. Your favorite remake. (Quizmaster's definition: second or later version of a work written as a movie, not a later adaptation of the same novel or play.)
Good definition. Um...Good News, from ‘47. Though I haven’t seen the original, so I can’t really
compare.

23. Your favorite Orson Welles performance in a film he did not direct, not including The Third Man.
Actually, the only movies I’ve seen with Orson (that aren’t off limits, of course) are The Long Hot Summer and Three Cases of Murder, so I’ll go with the latter.

24. Your favorite non-gangster or musical James Cagney film or performance.
Does Hard to Handle count? He’s not really a gangster...more of a general ne’er-do-well.

25. Your favorite Lubitsch movie.
One Hour With You. But Trouble in Paradise is a close second. And I’ve always wanted to see Cluny Brown.

26. Who would win in a fight: Miriam Hopkins or Barbara Stanwyck? (Both in their prime; say in 1934 or so.)
You kidding? Well, Bette shook Miriam around, and Barbara could totally take Bette, so it’s Barbara Stanwyck by a mile-- and she wouldn’t even break a sweat. She wouldn't have to put a doorknob in her glove for it, either...

27. Name the two stars you most regret never having co-starred with each other, and - if you want - choose your dream scenario for them. (Quizmaster's qualification: they have to be sufficiently contemporary to make it possible. So, yes to Cary Grant and Lon Chaney Jr. as two conmen in a Howard Hawks screwball; no to Clara Bow and Kirsten Dunst as twin sisters on the run from prohibition agents in twenties Chicago, much though that may entice.)
Okay. Linda Darnell and Judy Garland, in a sort of film noir spoof. Like Lady on a Train, but this time with two ladies. Hahaha, I’m probably the only person who’d see it, but you did ask. I was gonna say John Wayne and Stanwyck, but then remembered he had part in Baby Face. Thank goodness. Otherwise this would be far too hard.

28. Your favorite Lionel Barrymore performance.
Sue me, but it’s You Can’t Take It With You. If you’d have said favorite Lionel Barrymore film, the answer’d be altogether different. :)

29. Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard or Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour? (See note on question 14.)
Eek-- you’re killing me. Bob and Paulette, but only because of my sworn loyalty to Paulette. Otherwise, I like him best when with Lamour.

30. You won't want to answer this, but: there's been a terrible fire raging in the film libraries of all the major studios. It's far too late to save everything. All you can do is save as much as you can. You've been assigned the thirties. All you'll have time to drag from the obliterating inferno is one 1930's film each from Paramount, MGM, RKO, Columbia, Universal and Warners. Do you stomp around in a film buff's huff saying 'it's too hard, I can't choose just one' and watch them all go up in smoke? Or do you roll your sleeves up and start saving movies?But if the latter: which ones...?
Ahh! This is entirely too cruel. Thirties is the toughest of all (but you knew that, didn’t you?)
Well, I was gonna come up with awesome answers of movies that had tons of stars, or compilation films and such, but then decided to pick my actual favorites. So, here goes...but please, never ever (ever) try to recreate this one in life.

RKO--Stage Door. Ha, Ginger and Kate! Take that, fire!
Paramount-- I’m No Angel
MGM--I’m giving two answers. Gone With the Wind and (because MGM didn’t really produce GWTW by itself) Babes in Arms.
Universal-- Dracula.
Warner Bros.-- Baby Face. (I think I can actually hear Bette screaming)

I think I’d manage to save these and, in the midst of choosing between His Girl Friday and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington for Columbia, pass out due to smoke inhalation. I did try though, but just couldn’t save them all. Don’t judge me. ;)

Sigh. Now that’s over, I can read all of your marvelous posts.

Then again, maybe not.

Well I did it...finally chose which movies to take with my to the university.

Of my movies (http://juliette713.dvdaf.com/owned and http://juliette713.dvdaf.com/owned/classics, respectively), I selected 56 of 'em. Well, 51...the others aren't really "movies."

I'm sure I'll still come home often to switch things around, but as of now, my college movies are (would it be terribly inconvenient to ask for a drum roll?)....

The 39 Steps

All About Eve

Amelie

Babes in Arms

Babes on Broadway

Bachelor Mother

Bella

Bonnie and Clyde

Breakfast at Tiffany's

Bringing Up Baby

Cabaret

City Lights

Clueless

Double Indemnity

Easter Parade

Enter the Dragon

The Ex-Mrs. Bradford

For Me and My Gal

Freaks

Freaky Friday (1976)

Girl Crazy

Gigi

Gone With the Wind

Grey Gardens

Heathers

How to Marry a Millionaire

The Lady Eve

The Lady Vanishes

The Last Picture Show

Laura

Lili

The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane

The Love Parade

Marked Woman

Meet Me in St. Louis

The Moon Spinners

Night of the Hunter

On a Clear Day You Can See Forever

Paper Moon

Singin' In the Rain

Splendor in the Grass

Strictly Ballroom

Strike Up the Band

Sybil

Tammy and the Bachelor

Top Hat

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

Up the Sandbox

Wait Until Dark

What's Up Doc?

Woman of the Year

Mary Pickford: A PBS Documentary

Liza Minnelli at Radio City Music Hall

The Judy Garland Show, vol. I

Gidget: The Complete Series

Arrested Development: The Complete Series

Yea? Nay? How could you forget insert film title here Juliette, you stupid git?

Because that's pretty much the extent of my post for today, and I wouldn't want you little dears to hate me, here's some randomness!

Ginger. Dig those shades.

Doris, at home.

Kate, on the set of Sylvia Scarlett. I assume. ;)

Rita and Orson, bullfighting. Nearly.


Random thought for the day....I'm currently listening to "June Is Busting Out All Over" from Carousel. When I was little I thought June was the girl's name. Yikes.


And a very happy birthday to Miss Jean Hagen. A gifted comedienne, but also a whiz at dramatics.

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.