Bygone Brilliance

In Which I Ramble on About Nothing in Particular

2010-09-07T11:12:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, a friend of mine changed her MSN display picture to a photo of Grace Kelly. That was a good day. So I'm off on a little Grace Kelly kick, which has some how turned into a Catherine Deneuve kick, which has in turn convinced me they both have very similar noses. I don't know what to say about this fascinating discovery. Have a few pictures:

Putting aside the self-esteem aspects of the issue, I like it when people in the entertainment industry look perfect. Yes, I know that model's been airbrushed and she doesn't look that way in real life, I know they all have hairdressers and makeup artists working on them, I know a lot of it is unattainable for the average person...but that's why it's nice. "I don't want realism! I want magic!" I agree with that. Escapism is fascinating and alluring. That is one of the reasons old Hollywood has such appeal, because it certainly isn't real to us now, and it was perhaps even less real to people growing up in the Great Depression.

SPEAKING of escapism, it is part of Lady Gaga's philosophy to be escapist in the sense that she is always a star and would die before letting her fans see her without high heels. Actually, I'm a pretty big Lady Gaga fan, but the contrast between this form of escapism and classic film escapism is too striking not to be noted. The main difference is that Lady Gaga's world is not really one I'd like to escape to. From, maybe. As I've said, I really like her and all, but would you want to take up residence in one of her music videos? Alejandro, for example? Or no, Bad Romance, then we can burn people! And not wear clothes! Just the same, I admire her studio system-esque devotion to image. And her ability to totter around in six inch heels.

"Live your eyeliner, breathe your lipstick, and kill for each other."

"We are nothing without our image."

What do you think?

Movies, I think, have changed a lot. They have this peculiar brand of realism that is completely unrealistic, but not in a fun, "Oh please who wears an evening dress to do the gardening" way. I saw Inception recently. I liked it, but...things have changed a lot.

Action scenes these days are very fast and full of shots of people's feet. Yes, it feels action-packed, but it is also impossible to make out what is going on. This is an example of un-fun realism.
Movies these days are a lot less boring than they once were. Yes, I admit to being bored by second-rate classic films. Second-rate modern films are more "God this is so stupid" affairs. At least with today's movies, even if you have no clue what is happening and have to watch a film three times to get it (Inception! I didn't watch it three times, but I never said I got it either), you probably won't be bored.
The jokes. A lot of times I watch an old film billed as a comedy and think, "It was cute but it sure wasn't funny." Today I see comedies that are funnier...but the plots! This is unrealistic Hollywood at its best, or worst, or whatever.

Blogging friends, I really have no idea how to title this post. My mind has not been in order recently, because my sleep schedule...well, if you switched AM and PM, I might be doing okay. It's Ramadhan right now, and in the Arab world, that means "let's stay up all night and eat!" You think it's difficult to go from sunrise to sunset without food or water? Not if you're asleep it isn't. And night has turned into and MSN/Facebook fest full of jokes about devil worship and this persistent friend of mine who's trying to warp my taste in music. I am now a Britney Spears fan. He hasn't been so lucky with Madonna though.

Finish off with a few pictures:

(Anyone think Jean looks like a blonde Lucille Ball here?)

(We may be married, but yes, you have my permission to fall in love with that.)

The Gospel According to Coco Chanel

2010-07-28T12:09:00.000-07:00

I picked up this fabulous little book at a used bookstore after having kept my eye on it online for...a year, maybe? I'm cheap. I gave in and bought it because I finally found a place where it was less than ten dollars. However, I do not recommend you do the same thing, because it's an awesome book and anyone interested in Chanel or female-oriented self-improvement books would like it. There are a lot of similar books I've read...and it's beyond me how or why I bothered finishing How to be a Hepburn in a Hilton World, or why the author felt the need to inflict it on the planet. The nice thing about The Gospel is that it's detailed. It has depth. There are entertaining examples and it isn't glorified commonsense. It also doesn't attempt to paint Chanel as a goddess who should always be emulated. At least, I certainly hope it hasn't had that effect on other people. While reading it, my reactions to the "Chanellore" went something like this: How smart! How creative! How funny! After I finished, I thought of acting like Chanel in my own life, and a new reaction hit me: How manipulative. How utterly, utterly manipulative. And it's fascinating! Of course, you could act like Chanel, erm, honestly, and not be manipulating anyone, but most of the time I would not include "honest" in the same sentence with her. That is part of her charm. I admire people who have the self confidence to be bad. I do something bad, I think the world would consider me a substandard human being if it only knew, and dear God, it'd better not find out! I'm a wimp and Chanel certainly was not.

Now for the criticism. Maybe it's because I rushed through the book, but I thought the organization was odd. And the author (Karen Karbo) includes a lengthy personal narrative about her quest for a Chanel jacket and her eventual compromise. It isn't interesting. In the end, it's a nice example of incorporating Chanel's spirit into your life, but until then, it seems pointless and self-absorbed. More examples would have been good as well. Relatively, The Gospel has depth, but it's only so-so; it's just that there are so many other books that verge on God-awful in the depth department that it seems unique that the author should show evidence of having thought about the subject of her book. Also, there are some chapters that do nothing more than convince me not to act like Chanel. Not that these chapters do not contain insights, I just feel they belong more to the author than Chanel. In the end, I wouldn't want to be much like Chanel, but there are some things that can be learned from her life.

It's commendable that the author is not afraid of expressing her opinion as well. I hate political correctness, and it is refreshingly absent here. I didn't appreciate her jab about Victoria Beckham, but the nice thing about The Gospel is you don't feel you must agree with it.

Rating: 8.5/10

A Bathing Suit

2010-07-01T13:51:00.000-07:00

I would wear that. Okay, I would wear that if other people were wearing that, which is not quite the same thing. But hey, these days it would make a cute dress.

It's Summer

2010-06-30T12:47:00.000-07:00

Yeah, it's summertime. That means a lot of things...like boredom. Boredom means making a list of things summer means.

127 degree heat where I live. I am now prepared to face hell.
Getting addicted to Facebook. (Well, honestly I was addicted long before summer...I've just gotten worse.)
Wearing a hat and feeling awesome.

Wearing a bathing suit and feeling embarrassed.
Wishful and usually unfulfilled dreams of going back to school ten pounds lighter and ten times prettier.

Staying up till two in the morning and justifying it by saying it will keep you from being jet-lagged when you travel.
Being so unused to getting up before noon you become convinced your alarm clock is not playing music but is in fact yelling insults at you when it rings at eight AM.
Missing special people. :(

What does summer mean to YOU?

P.S. About the future of the blog...I'm still not sure. I'm taking you guys' suggestions to heart, but I'm thinking I want to change the subject of the blog because my own interests have changed. Of course I still love old movies, but it's just not the same. The problem is, said interests haven't changed to anything else yet that is blog-able or related to the title. I think I can promise you I'm not going to abandon Bygone Brilliance, but I can offer no guarantees as to what it will turn into. I would ask your advice again, but I can't. I mean, I could ask you, "Tell me, what am I interested in?" but I would be seriously creeped out if you could answer.

Refocus

2010-06-20T03:26:00.000-07:00

I am afraid this blog has a bad case of Refocus or Die. I don't really want to stop blogging, but if I do not come up with some way to freshen up Bygone Brilliance, I will. I don't see the point in keeping a blog if I'm going to write one sad little post every two months when the guilt gets to me. I guess I'm the type of person who likes change, so I'm asking you people out there for some suggestions. Do you have any ideas for how I can slightly change the topic of Bygone Brilliance or the format or just something? I'll be very appreciative of anything you have to say. If I didn't have any followers, I would stop blogging without giving it a second thought. <3 Thank you for just existing.

East of Eden: Movie, Book, and Legends of the Fall

2010-04-08T05:11:00.000-07:00

A couple years ago, I saw East of Eden on the airplane and fell madly in love with both it and James Dean. It is possible that I fell in love with the movie because James Dean was in it. I'm not sure. Anyway, I was convinced it was the most perfect movie I had ever seen, absolutely faultless, and oh, why couldn't I give Cal Trask a hug, the poor unloved thing? I guess it is difficult for a movie to live up to a first impression like that. It is true that with each subsequent viewing, I like it less. It has many good points: the acting is brilliant, the cinematography is beautiful, the soundtrack lends a lot of atmosphere to the film, and it is wonderfully dramatic. The last thirty minutes have me glued to my seat and on the verge of tears.

However, it also has some faults, faults I was blind to as a thirteen year old. First of all, everything except the last thirty minutes is kind of dull once you know what happens. Second of all, Julie Harris and James Dean don't have such good chemistry. Third, the plot is completely messed up, especially after you read the book.

*Spoilers Ahead*

The whole point of the movie is that Cal Trask is really not such a bad guy and his brother Aron is just as bad in his own way, or at least, not much better. By the end, you are supposed to realize that Aron is a jealous boy who wants to believe his brother is a bad person, regardless of whether he is or not. The problem is, Aron's jealousy begins to surface once he has every reason to be jealous. Cal Trask steals Aron's girlfriend, Aron knows something is going on, and he's not supposed to be jealous?? Aron doesn't start acting particularly jealous until after Cal and Abra kiss on the ferris wheel. At their father's birthday party, Aron is sulking in the background, watching Abra pay far more attention to Cal than the boy she claims to be in love with. Really, there is nothing abnormal or mean-spirited about that. Most of us would act far worse.

Of course, that does not change the fact that when we watch this movie, we sympathize with Cal and dislike Aron. Poor Cal, in love with his brother's girl, nasty Aron, who gets everything he doesn't deserve. And then that horrible Aron has the nerve to call Cal "mean" and "vicious" right after the birthday party! Well, if you were in Aron's shoes, Cal would seem mean and vicious. And wartime profiteering is not exactly a morally upright thing to do. I feel that the point of this movie is not so much that you "can't always tell who's good and who's bad" but that different people seem good and bad from different points of view. Cal isn't any better than Aron and Aron isn't really any better than Cal. We just react to this movie the way we do because it is told from Cal's point of view and, well, James Dean is kinda sorta adorable. Now, in that light, think about the ending. It isn't exactly fair, now is it? The ending is my favorite part, I love it beyond words, I wouldn't change it for anything...but no, it isn't fair.

If you read the book, you will discover that the movie doesn't do justice to it. However, I felt that the part of the book the movie did cover was done better than it was in the book. In the book, it feels anti-climactic. In the movie, several events happen right after each other that take place over the duration of maybe a year in the book. But, the book has no Cal-Abra romance, the motivations are more understandable, it is far more interesting, and the moral ideas are less black and white. Faaaar less black and white. It's kind of disillusioning, how sleazy some of the best characters are. There are a few things they changed for the movie that perhaps didn't work so well. First of all, Abra is a whole lot prettier in the book. Since she's just an average, okay-looking girl in the movie, it suggests that Cal might have fallen in love with anybody that belonged to his brother. (So suggested my sister, the cynic.) Second of all, Kate is completely evil in the book. I don't think she has one redeeming quality, and boy, is it better that way! The movie Kate is just a bit too "whore with a heart of gold," and that is a pretty shallow stereotype in comparison to the psychopath the book's Kate is.

One of the first things my sister noticed when I showed her this movie is how similar it is to Legends of the Fall. I saw LOTF recently myself and the similarities are astonishing. I don't understand how it could be just coincidental, but the messages of each film are so different I don't see why LOTF would need to borrow from EOE. Some examples:

Both stories involve rivalries between brothers, particulary between two brothers, one of which is "wild" and the other is rule-abiding.
These brothers compete for the fiancee of one of the brothers.
The mother is out of the picture, having left the ranch long ago.
The time periods are roughly the same.
The brother engaged to the girl everybody wants dies in WWI.
The father has a stroke and loses a lot of money.
The wild brother says he will earn back the money his father lost.
There is a man working with each family of a different race. (This is only in the book.)
The naughty brothers both move their eyebrows the same way. :)
Both movies have awesome soundtracks

Perhaps not the most shocking list, but watch the two movies in days of each other and see what you think.

East of Eden (Film): 9/10
Book: 9.8/10 :)
LOTF: Maybe 8/10

Creative Blogger Award

2010-04-07T09:53:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry for the long absence. I haven't posted anything since January! And really, it was pointless, considering that I didn't disappear completely (in comments and such) so no one was wondering what mysterious thing had happened to keep me from blogging. That would have been nice. Especially if it had been accompanied by long, frantic emails. Alas! Never do anything halfway.

Anyway, several months ago, two wonderful ladies gave me the Creative blogger award, or the Kreative blogger award, or the Creativ blogger award, however you want to spell it. I chose to spell it very uncreatively. (Why am I getting this award?) Well, the two wonderful awarders were: Millie and Sarah. Thank you so much!

(Why yes, I stole your logo, Millie.)

Rules
1. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
2. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
3. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
4. Nominate 7 other bloggers, and post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
5. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated.

Those are the rules. Okay, first two done...as for the seven things, I think I exhausted all the interesting things there are to say about me in other posts, but I shall try.

1) I don't like westerns. (Fascinating!) The reason for this is that they make me feel dusty. I live in a desert. That might have something to do with it.

2) Umm, I entered a poetry contest about a month ago at school. This probably will not interest other people but it interests me because I still don't know who won.

3) I may have already said this, but when I was four or five I married a clown punching bag.

4) I have come to the conclusion I really don't like holidays very much.

5) I play the piano. (Yeah, because nobody does that, right?)

6) I would be horrified if I thought people I knew in person read this blog. Tell me that's not strange, that other people feel that way, please.

7) I once wrote a skit for a talent show that was rejected for being too morbid. Totally unjustified. Plays can have characters that talk about how much they want to die nonstop without being morbid. They can!

Now, I have to nominate seven other people, most of whom have probably received the award already. Doesn't matter. They should consider it a confirmation of their creative-ness.

Kate Gabrielle of Scathingly Brilliant. This is about as creative as they come. She shames me into drawing or cooking or anything to recover my self-esteem. She is also a very sweet person.

Millie of ClassicForever. She makes finger puppets. That's enough to deserve the award right there. Her blog is really awesome, by the way.

Harley of Dreaming in Black and White. Her blog is unique, unlike any other. If you were to take one paragraph from any of her posts and show it to any of her followers, I bet they would be able to guess it was from her blog. She doesn't have time to post so much anymore, but whenever she does, it is always a treat.

Sarah of Cinema Splendor. Her intelligent observations about movies earn her a place on this list. Cinema Splendor is the place to go to hear some offbeat movie talk...Sarah does not just write about the same old stuff you read everywhere. She is also absolutely hilarious!

Okay, I'm just going to nominate four people. You guys keep saying these rules are made to be broken...I agree!

What's My Line?

2010-01-28T10:08:00.000-08:00

Random people have posted many, many episodes of What's My Line? on YouTube. I've seen several of them. Suprisingly, most of them are pretty dull. One person's, however, stands out:

I will be the first to say Elizabeth Taylor is not one of my favorite actresses. But she is such a movie star. She looks gorgeous, she's dressed divinely, she's hilarious, and she does some of her best acting. If that video won't make you a fan, I don't know what could.

Miss Behavior by Bernice Bryant (1948)

2010-01-28T09:58:00.000-08:00

I cam across this little book in a used book store called Chipola River Book and Tea. It's one of those old-fashioned beauty guides out to tell you the secrets of "poise, beauty, and charm," in this case for the teenage girl. It's an amusing read, sometimes informative, a bit inspiring, and kind of funny.

It has one big, irritating fault. It is obvious from the title. Can you guess? It's the puns. Lord, the puns are enough to drive the most sane person absolutely out of their head! The whole book is full of examples about "Bob" and "Sue" and all that sort of thing, and the chapter where Ginger gives all her friends clothing advice...well, I never knew it was possible to snap good-naturedly. Because that's what Ginger does. If she has something to say, she snaps. Every. Single. Time. Then the chapter about being a "nice girl" has to be called "Vice, Vice, Versa." Even the characters laugh at their own puns. And oddly, Ms. Bryant suggests to her teen readers not to overuse slang.

In terms of advice, this book is the same as most of the other books on the subject, without much new information. My favorite chapter is the one about making over clothes because it gives some interesting, unique examples, not the usual stuff. But this book certainly has one distinctive feature. In spite of being rather sexist, it is decidedly not racist. In fact, it states that all people are equal regardless of race or ethnicity. Quite a refreshing thing to hear from such an old book.

Rating: 7/10

Dedicated to Millie: The Post a Day Project

2010-01-25T09:09:00.000-08:00

Millie has been after me to start posting more and, as I always say, a post a day keeps her temper at bay. So, I have decided that for the next three weeks, I shall post every single day. Even if it kills me, which is not that unlikely, considering the rate my brain is used to thinking up post-worthy material. But it really shouldn't be that difficult because I'll be on vacation these next three weeks--but if I miss a day, you'll get two posts the next day, guaranteed. But if I can't stick to this now, there will never be a more ideal time. Another advantage of doing this now is that my brother, the dear, dear boy who hacked into my Facebook and changed my name to "Ratso", will be taking a trip without a computer. He will therefore be unable to glance at my blog, cackle like a hyena, and send people in my family emails with links to it saying, "look wut weezul does online !!" It does get a bit tiresome after a while. Oh, I will miss him dreadfully.

This post is dedicated to Millie for a reason other than that her ~~nagging~~ pleasant encouragement is the cause of it. She has got to be the world's sweetest advertiser! She even did a post about my last post! (Thank you!) I mean, what have I ever done for her that was half so nice, except get into an argument with her about James Dean and threaten to steal her husband? Honestly, why is she even still speaking to me?? Ah, the mystery that is Millie. I must emphatically state, however, that this post is dedicated to her in spite of and not because of her recent comments about my upcoming marriage to Jimmy Dean. Don't lose too much sleep over insulting me though, Millie. I understand what jealousy can do, and you never could keep your mouth shut, could you?

To add something a little more useful to this post, I feel like changing the blog header, but you since you all read the blog, you can vote on it this time. Now, some of these options are not definite, as in they may have to be tweaked slightly to fit and that sort of thing, but I will say the final header shall at least bear a great resemblance to the winning photo.

The Contestants:

1)

You have three weeks to vote on the poll!

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

2010-01-24T08:02:00.000-08:00

I saw this movie on YouTube today. Praise YouTube! This has got to be one of the most amazing movies ever, one I never would have gotten the opportunity to see otherwise. It is also helped by the fact that I have fallen madly in love with Dana Andrews. Oh, if only Miss Vintage were back up so that I could divorce that tiresome Paul Newman and work on stealing Dana away from Millie. It shall be so difficult otherwise.

As I suppose I have made obvious, I think the best part of TBYOOL was Dana Andrews, by far. He creates a sympathetic character out of somebody who does things that society frowns upon. He's the type of person that makes me think I would do exactly the same thing if I were him. Teresa Wright, too, but she was a little too stuffy in my opinion. She looked way less uptight in Shadow of a Doubt.

For some reason, today I cannot make myself write a proper review. I have hardly anything to say about this movie except that it's wonderful and Dana Andrews is devastating. Maybe it's because I had an English literature exam today, which really kills one's desire to write, but my mind is absolutely blank when it comes to intellectual things to say...about anything. I did, however, like the title. It implies that the best years of the veterans lives are not actually behind them, that their readjustment only paves the way for better things ahead. At least, I took it that way because of that line out of a Brad Paisley song that goes, "These are nowhere near the best years of your life." My interpretation is definitely colored.

And something else I just can't believe is that the average rating of TBYOOL by girls under eighteen on IMDB was 3 out of ten. It's absolutely mind-boggling that there are so many morons out there, so many blind morons that didn't take one look at Dana Andrews and think, "Ten! Ten! Ten!" I can understand not liking it, but a three??? What the heck??

Harley's 19!!

2010-01-17T04:33:00.000-08:00

Today, January 17th, is Harley's birthday. In case you do not know Harley, I shall try to correct this situation immediately. Her blog is called Dreaming in Black and White, and it's one of the better "young people" classic movie blogs out there. But enough about that. I just want to wish Harley a very happy birthday! So happy birthday! She's really a doll.

Harley, the best birthday present I can give to you is a picspam of your new favorite actress, Gene Tierney. Not much of a present because I'll probably enjoy it more than anybody. But anyway.

Happy Birthday :)

Happy New Decade!

2010-01-09T06:26:00.000-08:00

Not only is it a new year, it is a new decade. Now that is something worth celebrating! One year may be very similar to the one before it, but no two decades have had the same atmosphere--as anybody who has been annoyed by someone telling them every vintage style is from the 1950s can attest to. My first new decade's resolution is to stop being lazy etc. which includes not procrastinating. This post is being published only nine days after I intended it to be! Is that a great start or what?

No, no, no don't answer that question. My real purpose is not to put my new decade's resolutions up against my actual behavior. I thought it would be a nice change to do resolutions for the world in general, not because that way I don't have to do them--it is a plus though--but just for the fun of it. Dear World, please take the following resolutions to heart. Please resolve to:

Stop blowing parts of yourself up. I don't understand your logic in doing this. When I'm bothered by parts of myself, I do not take the stance that attacking said parts will scare them into feeling better. I suggest you try a similar approach.
Not end in 2012. I'm not worried about this one because even if the Mayans turn out to have been crafty devils, I will at least have graduated from high school already, but the new decade will be a let down if it only lasts two years.
Put classic movies back in theaters. There are of course film festivals everywhere, but it would be nice if there were just theaters in every city that played only old films.
Start dancing properly. As in, the people in you. Making people learn a necessary social skill like ballroom dancing would probably raise their IQ a couple points. I think we could all do with that.
Give up the political correctness crusade. It's irritating.
Educate yourself about the differences between "blubber" and "curves."
Have some more fun.
Get me some more followers. Just saying. I mean I would appreciate it.

World, you have ten years, starting right now. The nine days you've missed already are my own fault.

What are your new decade's resolutions?

Gone with the Wind Meets the Middle East

2009-12-21T07:08:00.000-08:00

"Having your book turned into a movie is like seeing your oxen turned into bouillon cubes." ~John LeCarre

Gone with the Wind is not my favorite movie in the world. Not by any means. There is also a perfectly logical reason for this--the book is one of my absolute favorites and I read it long before I saw the movie. I was truly horrified the first time I saw Gone with the Wind. Now, having gotten used to it some, I like it fairly well, and a few weeks ago I took it to school because we were studying the American Civil War. Well, actually, the real reason we wanted to watch it is the fact that it is nearly four hours long, which equals at least four study-free classes, enough to win over the most anti-old stuff people in my class. In fact, one of the anti-est ones of them all suggested we watch it in the first place.

The first thing I can say based on this experiment is that GWTW is possibly the worst movie to show to non-native English speakers. (I live in Kuwait.) I'm sure that if my classmates had been able to decipher the characters' accents, they would have understood all the words. But let's put it this way: my own grandmother, who is American, saw Harry Potter 6 with me this summer and understood nothing of the first ten minutes, thanks to the actors' British accents. And yes, she can hear fine. Just imagine a foreigner trying to figure out southern accents and southern black accents. And, admittedly on a ten year old tape with commercials and sorta bad sound.

Suprisingly, the people who actually watched GWTW intently enough to figure it out liked it. We never finished it, but one girl found the video online and later told me she cried over the end. And everybody thought Clark Gable was ugly. Good. I don't get his appeal one bit--I just can't decide whether it's an ape or a loving cup he looked like. And of course, Leslie Howard never stood a chance. GWTW should win an award for most unappealing men.

Perhaps the funniest thing that happened was at the beginning, when Gerald O'Hara rides home to Tara, where Vivien Leigh waits for him. I had provided some background to my classmates--basically that it was a love story--and at the sight of Gerald, one girl cried out, "Please don't tell me that's the guy she falls in love with!" :-) Speaking of Gerald, one thing most of my more modern friends never fail to point out is how unrealistic his death is by contemporary standards. I'm not sure that's true...but it shows how much modern movies put their characters through without them actually getting harmed. And of course there were several death predictions. Surprisingly, a couple people even thought Scarlett was going to die. An interesting alternate ending. Scarlett would never have killed herself, but say Bonnie had never been born, Melanie had died as usual while Scarlett was visiting family or something, Ashley and Scarlett had become lovers, and Rhett, in a jealous rage, had shot them both. Akkh. Methinks I should stay away from fan fiction.

Anyway, the only fair thing to do is give a thorough critique explaining why I think Gone with the Wind is not all it's cracked up to be. My main complaint is that the screenwriters did a poor job with the themes of the story and focused more on jamming as many events as they could into the film while leaving out the reasons they were initially there. It would be ridiculous to expect a movie to be a carbon copy of its book, but I firmly believe that themes should be pared down, with a select few emphasized in a film, rather than to have remnants of all the themes present in a book but without much impact. For this reason, I feel GWTW lacks coherence. There is probably a lot there that seems unimportant to people who have never read the book. And for some reason, the screenwriters purposely put in a few things that further lessened the impact of plot. Some examples of both:

Most of Scarlett's stay in Atlanta prior to her flight to Tara. Of course, she needs to be in Atlanta, but what happens during this time in the book could be called the Corruption of Scarlett. Here she falls under Rhett's influence and we see Rhett's popularity rise and plummett in Atlanta society. You don't get much sense of this in the movie. According to my mother, you get the feeling Scarlett was always the way she was. Of course, that could all have been left out. But then why would the scene where Rhett gives Scarlett a green hat have been included? Does the movie make it clear that by wearing the bonnet Scarlett is scandalizing Atlanta because she has come out of mourning years before it is proper? What about when she dances at the bazaar? Did you realize that Scarlett eventually takes everything Rhett says to her about reputations and such to heart? Do you realize that before her relationship to Rhett Scarlett cares far more about propriety? Do you realize that Rhett is considered an incredibly wicked man after the glamourous mist surrounding his blockade running evaporates? I feel that they are only hinted at in the film. And worse still, almost all of them are hinted at. So you get are too many things going on that seem to have little bearing on the overall plot.

Rhett declares his love far too often. One of the main reasons his and Scarlett's relationship doesn't work is because each think the other doesn't love them. The main scene I am talking about is right before Bonnie's death when Rhett declares his love to Scarlett and suggests she sells the mills. Sadly, it doesn't work for Scarlett to have known Rhett loved her before he leaves her. This would mean that if she thought about it, she would have realized why Rhett did all the things he did that she dismissed. Like their wild night. At first, she thinks, "Oh, I've got him now, he really does love me!" but he convinces her he was simply being despicable. The way Scarlett acts here, thinking Rhett loves her, seems out of character compared to her reaction later. Rhett also shows a bit too much emotion for us to buy Scarlett's willingness to believe he doesn't care for her. She would have to be quite unintelligent to not be triumphant and superior when she kicks Rhett out of her bed and he breaks down the door. That is the way Scarlett acts when she thinks she's "got somebody." First, he says he doesn't care. Then, obviously he does. Scarlett reacts to the first point but not to the second. Not very credible, in my opinion.

Scarlett's marriage to Charles. The reason given for this in the movie is Scarlett does this to hurt Ashley. However, they also include the scene where India, Melanie, and a few other girls talk about Scarlett behind her back as they walk down the stairs, much to Scarlett's dismay. There are a few things wrong with this. Scarlett is upset by their words, but she isn't really the type to be bothered by the things people she doesn't like say. Why exactly is she upset in this scene? It should be fairly obvious to her that people know she likes Ashley Wilkes because they have said as much--Mammy and Suellen, for example. In the book, the real reason she is upset is because she had not realized anyone knew about her feelings for Ashley. When she finds out India Wilkes does know (in the book, it's Honey Wilkes) she thinks she'll be the laughingstock of Jonesboro and her family will be ashamed of her (remember her father telling her not to run after a man who doesn't love her?). This is one of the main reasons for her impulsive marriage. Scarlett reasons that marrying Charles will: a. Make India look like a fool for thinking she loves Ashley, b. Convince Ashley she was only flirting with him, c. Get back at India because she's the one engaged to Charles, and d. Get back at Melanie by marrying her stupid, naive brother. There would have been nothing wrong if the screenwriters had only had hurting Ashley be Scarlett's motivation, but then the staircase scene sh have been left out.

Scarlett's nightmare. I believe this should have been left out entirely. GWTW would have been too complicated had the symbolism of the dream been elaborated on to the point where it had the proper impact. In the book, it has two purposes. First, it shows how Rhett comforts Scarlett in much the same manner he later comforts Bonnie; and second, it parallels Scarlett's search for security. The movie could easily have handled the Bonnie theme without Scarlett having nightmares and the search for security is basically left out. Have you ever wondered why there is so much fog in the ending scene? That is because in the book, Scarlett is actually experiencing her dream in real life. She always dreamed she was running through the mist, looking for something, but she never knew what it was, only that she had to find it. In the end, she realizes this thing is Rhett, the one person who has never let her down. Without knowing that, the dream motif is meaningless in the film.

Rhett's proposition. This was a scene obviously left out because of the censors, but I believe it would have been worth figuring out a subtle way to get the meaning of the scene across, like they did with the green dress in the jail part. I think it should have been put in because it is drawn upon in at least two scenes later. First of all, the green dress scene, when Scarlett says, "You once said you wanted me." If Rhett had never asked Scarlett to be his mistress, she would have been taking quite a risk by assuming this--and, if she had deduced this, why does she fail to realize just how much Rhett cares for her? The other scene is when Rhett proposes to Scarlett and she doesn't take him seriously. In the book, she thinks he's asking her to be his mistress again. She doesn't have much of a reason to think he's joking in the movie.

Leasing convicts. Well, it has a small purpose, but I think Scarlett's corruption would have been better illustrated if they had elaborated on something they had already mentioned--like the mills, pressing old friends for money, riding around unchaperoned, etc. The rest of the plotlines concerning the convicts were left out, and they had more meaning than the simple fact that Scarlett leased convicts.

These things may seem small in themselves, but there are probably more of them, and they weaken the plot and make the entire movie far less moving. If GWTW had had some focus, more theme development, and fewer themes so that would have been possible, it would have been a remarkable film. Of course, I can't say there aren't several positive aspects to GWTW. It does a fair job adapting the plot, it's interesting for three and a half hours, and the clothing and people are gorgeous. I'm writing an extremely negative review because there are so few of them. Where are all the other dissenters? I know I'm not the only one. Isn't there someone who dislikes the movie for artistic reasons and not because of racism or melodrama? Anybody?

And merry Christmas, by the way. :)

Rating: 7/10

Lily Lemontree is a Darling

2009-11-30T08:34:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, after I lost a follower, I figured I'd sure better clean up my blogging act and get around to posting something once in a bloody while. Undeniably, you people don't get a whole lot to read from this blog. (Which is maybe a good thing? Huh. ) The interesting part is I have no excuse for neglecting everyone. I've been on holiday all this past week, with absolutely nothing to do, and instead of doing something fun like blogging, I've been reading about the origins of the Abrahamic religions. Actually, it's absolutely fascinating, as well as having a great deal of personal significance, but it isn't exactly the same as spending my time away from the Hell that is School doing something un-scholarly. However, for those of us wishing above of all else we lived in the past, I can now say that there is a very positive aspect to the present, which is that the internet has made all sorts of information available to us that average people don't know and wouldn't want to tell us if they did. It makes me shudder to think of the things people could have told me fifty years ago that I would be unable to prove right or wrong.

Okay, enough with that.

The real point of this post is to say thank you very, very much to Lily Lemontree (who happens to run a delightful blog) for giving me an award.

Here are the rules:

1. Link to who gave you the award.
2. Give the award to 7 blogs you love.
3. Let the people you have awarded know.

I give this award to:

Millie of Classic Forever. She runs a great blog, with plenty of style related posts. This was an obvious choice for me.
Harley of Dreaming in Black and White. The same goes for Harley. In fact, she writes more about classic style than classic movies, which I think is great. And I absolutely trust fashion advice from people who admire Grace Kelly.
All the lovely ladies of Spiffy. It is an excellent guide to modernized vintage style, and it introduced me to a fabulous site, ModCloth.
Baroness Von Vintage of Tea with the Vintage Baroness. This blog is pure vintage fashion. It has awesome pictures.
Magaly of Modern Starlet. More great pictures plus a wider range of style related posts. I get a strong feeling of the atmosphere of the past from this blog, not just the clothes.
Sarah of Glamor a-go-go. Her blog is a strong dose of sixties style!
Nicole of Classic Hollywood Nerd. Supposedly nerds don't have much style sense. That is either not true, or Nicole has named her blog wrong.

Congratulations to everyone!

If Life Were a Classic Movie...

2009-11-17T09:06:00.000-08:00

You would magically wake up looking better than you did when you went to sleep.
You would lose jewelry all the time because it would never take more than a tug to undo the catch.
You would perfect the art of looking beautiful while drunk, ill, or both.
No matter how much you'd swish your hair around, it would never get messed up. As a matter of fact, everyone would talk about how sexy you were because of it.
People would be perfectly divided into "nice" and "bad." Nice boys would quickly get tired of girls who liked kissing all the time, particularly if they looked like Lana Turner.
All it would take were three kisses and one fade out to get you pregnant.
Your average soldier would look either like Frank Sinatra, Montgomery Clift, or Burt Lancaster.
People would randomly burst into song, particularly over dinner or on the street in the rain.
Kissing would result in lipstick getting on the man, but not actually getting smeared off the woman.
You would be able to spot rebels a mile away by their hair.
There would be no such thing as someone badly dressed...only someone dressed in a perfectly bad way.

There should so be a tag for this if there isn't already. If there really isn't, everyone who reads this is tagged.

Quotes and Such for November

2009-11-05T23:45:00.000-08:00

What with school and work in full swing, everyone could do with some cheering up around this time of year. Here is a collection of quotes, pictures, videos, etc. that are intended to make people feel better. Please excuse the disorganization.

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Elizabeth Taylor:
"I am a very committed wife. And I should be committed too - for being married so many times."

"You find out who your real friends are when you're involved in a scandal. "

"The problem with people who have no vices is that generally you can be pretty sure they're going to have some pretty annoying virtues. "

Bob Hope:
"A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don't need it."

"A James Cagney love scene is one where he lets the other guy live. "

"I do benefits for all religions - I'd hate to blow the hereafter on a technicality."

"I have a wonderful make-up crew. They're the same people restoring the Statue of Liberty. "

"You know you are getting old when the candles cost more than the cake. "

Cary Grant:
"I improve on misquotation."

"I pretended to be somebody I wanted to be until finally I became that person. Or he became me."

"Do your job and demand your compensation - but in that order. "

Lucille Ball:
"It's a helluva start, being able to recognize what makes you happy."

"Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead. "

"I'd rather regret the things I've done than regret the things I haven't done. "

Warren Beatty:
"My notion of a wife at 40 is that a man should be able to change her, like a bank note, for two 20s." (!)

"Marriage requires a special talent, like acting. Monogamy requires genius. " (!!)

Bette Davis:
"A sure way to lose happiness, I found, is to want it at the expense of everything else."

"Brought up to respect the conventions, love had to end in marriage. I'm afraid it did."

"I am just too much."

"With the newspaper strike on, I wouldn't consider dying."

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A Streetcar Named Desire

Gloves Need to Come Back in Style

2009-10-23T07:32:00.000-07:00

While recently trying to figure out how to dress like Audrey Hepburn in Charade, I made a discovery. Nothing I could think up out of my own closet was anywhere near as elegant, and I could think of nothing to buy that would be either. Then, I made another discovery. There were two things that Audrey Hepburn had that I did not, and they were one glove on each hand. Well, to be literal, I do have one pair of vintage leather gloves in beige, but I would never wear them out because people would look at me like some kind of a freak. And that happens often enough as it is, thank you. Far be it from me to purposely attract that kind of attention.

But anyway, I tried on a few things with the gloves, and it made all the difference in the world. That is both a good thing and a bad thing, good because it means that not looking elegant can just be blamed on current fashion, but it's a bad thing because until gloves come back in style (if!), nobody can be impeccably well-dressed. Sadly, it doesn't seem likely, so to relieve my feelings I am blogging about it. (Be glad I'm not blogging about other feelings that could do with relieving.)
A few pictures:

The idea that certain aspects of vintage fashion would make us all look better dressed is not limited only to gloves. The list could go on and on. I can think of a few:

Skirts. Not that they are no longer worn, but they are worn far less often than they used to be. I don't really understand why...they are more flattering than pants, comfortable, and some guys have said they prefer them.
Hats. They add about as much to an outfit as gloves do, but they also add a lot to your face, if you choose the right ones. I cannot say much about hats; the fact that they are never worn except for winter, sports, or the beach makes me ill.
Suits for casual wear. Nowadays there is hardly any such thing as a casual suit, or a suit that looks casual even when it is. Last February, I bought a tweed suit for a completely ridiculously cheap price, but I have discovered that wearing it anywhere could only not look out of place unless I carry a sign saying "One-Girl Freak Show." So, I have not worn it once. I am quite sore about that.
Casual dresses. So easy to wear, so flattering, but almost nonexistant, or so it seems. Why can't people satisfy their desire for casualness by wearing dresses made out of casual fabric, instead of sacrificing all nice clothes??
Natural looking makeup. You don't see this very often among many "vintage revivalist" people--they exaggerate their makeup quite a lot--but genuine classic makeup looks are usually a dramatization of natural coloring. It looked like the way people really look, just more so. At least, that is true of the forties and fifties.
Stockings. Seamed or not, what a difference they make! Honestly, how many of us have pretty skin on our legs? I tend to have a few light bruises that pop out out of nowhere, and that's all it takes to look a bit ugly. Also, tights are far more popular than vintage style thigh-highs, which are impractical, but so much more comfortable. And God knows knee highs are too short for anything useful.
Medium-toned skin. I don't get some people's dedication to being pale to the point of being faintly blue, but it makes more sense than orange tans. And tanning was fashionable even as far back as the twenties, there was just more balance.

I am sure there are a lot of things you can add to this list. Please do! Or, better yet, write a post about it. Consider yourself tagged.

A..Bad?...Picture of...Grace Kelly??

2009-10-22T09:12:00.000-07:00

It sounds impossible, doesn't it? Her candids do not look bad:

Pictures of her on a bad hair day do not look bad:

Even when her arms look quite hairy she does not look bad:

Of all the pictures I have ever seen of Grace Kelly, none of them look bad...except one:

And the sad thing is, if I saw a picture of myself that looked like that, I would be happy. (Although I would rather wonder who snapped a photo of me...undoing my shirt?? Judging by the rest of the photos in this shoot, this red thing is a jacket or a heavy sweater, but it sure doesn't look like it here.) I am not doing this post out of disrespect for HSH, but because she was so beautiful any photo of her looking like an average person is bad compared to all the pictures of her looking like a goddess. Many such photos are ahead. Prepare yourself, because I need a pic spam fix baaaad.

James Dean

2009-10-16T00:36:00.000-07:00

Male style icons are, in my opinion, more unique personalities than fantastically dressed people. Their clothes, ideas, and acting combine to form a non-fashion related style. James Dean is an awesome example of this. Few people are as hung up with dressing like him as they are with acting like him--but a closer look reveals that his clothes matched the attitude that made him so popular. What attitude exactly? A rebellious, modern, and vaguely dangerous one. Perhaps James Dean encouraged 1950s teenagers to be borderline delinquents, but he only had this effect because that is what they already were, and by being the same way, he validated their position and painted it as a legitimate way to be. He was a total glorified bad boy, but he always seemed to mean well. A sympathetic rebel, and that is how all rebels feel about themselves. No wonder he made such a hit with teenagers and still resonates today.

My real purpose is not to analyze the causes and effects of the James Dean phenomenon but to talk about his clothes and his image. Certainly you couldn't have expected a scholarly, unfrivolous post from this me. In the future, you should know better. Anyway, the easiest way to get my point across would be to do a pic spam, but that isn't at all sufficient or in-depth, so I shall try to write a paragraph for each picture and point out some things you might not have noticed, if I notice them myself (not likely). If you like this, please tell me, because if I get the feeling no one cares for this format, I won't do it very often.

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

"It takes 500 small details to add up to one favorable impression."
--Cary Grant

Here we see a lot of the elements that were part of Jimmy's persona. This picture was taken in some sort of art room or gallery and he is posing similarly to the statue on the table behind him, representative of his artistic side. It is also a very modern photo--it practically could have been taken yesterday--and the colors of Jimmy's clothes are an essential part of this. The combination of cool dark blue and white is very sleek, colors which also happen to be brought out by the color of the statue, the table, and the hazy background. If you have seen modern movies that take place in the past, something that keeps them from looking completely authentic is the tint of the film, which is often blue or gray in today's movies, but was yellowish seventy years ago. The blue tint here lends a very modern touch.

Here I see a distinct Brando resemblance around the mouth, but that is beside the point. Instead, notice the minimalist combination of brown and white, the leather rather than metal watch band, the lack of a tie, and the hair. The extremely messy polar opposite of your typical boy next door's hair. There is nothing precise or polished about this image. However, it has a similar quality as Grace Kelly's snow-covered volcano persona. Jimmy may be wearing a suit, but beneath it he is his sensual, untamed self.

The same contradiction is present here. Jimmy is wearing a suit in the same sleek brown and white, but the jacket's off and he's sitting on a hot car (hot in no small part because he's on it) with his hair messed up as usual. In so many pictures, the background color seems selected to set off the modern, clean colors of his clothing--in this picture, that is done by the cream car and the brown thing sticking up in the back. Also see the lace up boots, which add a rugged touch to the outfit.

This picture is hard to see, but it does show a few things. As elegant a shot as it may be, the modern coloring is all that saves Jimmy from looking like a near tramp. That and the fact that the clothes he is wearing are actually very nice...just wrinkled and very casually put together.

See the clean line of the black t-shirt, the contrast caused by the sunlight streaming through the odd curtains, the moody look, the unshaven face (you see that SO often now), and the messy eyebrows. He looks properly untouched up--but considering how different most men in the fifties were styled up for photos, this was probably a more offbeat shot. Have you ever seen Cary Grant this way? I haven't even seen Marlon Brando like this. I can't think of anybody famous before James Dean who posed so naturally--and by natural I mean without the dressings and stiffness of a typical movie star.

To finish it off, here are four photos of James Dean that I believe show four sides of his image that were important to his success:

The Tough Rebel

The No-Explanation-Necessary

The Vulnerable Little Boy Lost

And The Gorgeous Face

(the very, very gorgeous face)

Classic Cinema Survey

2009-10-10T01:04:00.001-07:00

These are my answers to the questions on Amanda Cooper's (From Noodle in a Haystack) survey. This is a lovely survey and I am honored to be filling it out!

1. What is your all-time favorite Clark Gable movie?

He's not someone whose movies I ever seek out, so I may have to settle with Gone with the Wind here, although it is certainly not one of my favorite movies in general.

2. Do you like Joan Crawford best as a comedienne or a drama-queen?

Drama Queen, definitely.

3. In your opinion, should Ginger Rogers have made more musicals post-Fred Astaire?

Yes, because if she had, she might not be so often referred to as "Fred and Ginger."

4. I promise not to cause you bodily (or any other serious) harm if you don't agree with me on this one. So please be honest: do you like Elizabeth Taylor? Hm?

No, not really, though I have tried. I just don't find her very sympathetic on screen, or in real life. It is encouraging to us bump-beaked girls, however, that she should be considered such a phenomenal beauty and have a small bump on her nose.

5. Who is your favorite offscreen Hollywood couple?

Probably Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward.

6. How about onscreen Hollywood couple?

Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant. I love all their funny lines in Charade, particularly:

Grant: Oh, you should see your face.
Hepburn: What's the matter with it?
Grant: It's lovely.

7. Favorite Jean Arthur movie?

Well, I've only seen one, Too Many Husbands, and I didn't like it.

8. What was the first Gregory Peck movie you saw?

Roman Holiday

9. What film made you fall in love with Alfred Hitchcock? (And for those of you that say, "I don't like Hitchcock" -- what is wrong with you?!)

Spellbound

10. What is your favorite book-to-movie adaption?

East of Eden, however, I have not read the book, so I cannot fully judge.

11. Do you prefer Shirley Temple as a little girl or as a teenager?

Little girl, absolutely.

12. Favorite character actor?

Perhaps Agnes Moorehead; Shirley Maclaine if she counts.

13. Favorite Barbara Stanwyck role?

Double Indemnity

14. Who is your favorite of Cary Grant's leading ladies?

Audrey Hepburn

15. Bette Davis or Joan Crawford?

Joan Crawford, but I don't like either of them. I am seriously choosing Joan because I love some of her shoes from the 1930s. And because of this picture:

16. What actors and/or actresses do you think are underrated?

Most of 'em except the obvious iconic ones. Among the classic film community, I would say Natalie Wood

17. What actors and/or actresses do you think are overrated?

Marilyn Monroe, especially by her genuine fans. No one can say she didn't have her charms, but she has practically been canonized--only by some people, but still. I infinitely prefer her in her Norma Jeane years.

18. Do you watch movies made pre-1980 exclusively, or do you spice up your viewing-fare with newer films?

I watcher modern films too, but not too often.

19. Is there an actor/actress who you have seen in a film and immediately loved? If so, who?

Ava Gardner after seeing Mogambo, but it didn't last long.

20. Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire?

Fred!

21. Favorite Ginger Rogers drama?

Considering that I have only seen half of Stage Door and none of her other nonmusical movies, I cannot say.

22. If you wrote a screenplay, who would be in your dream cast and what roles would they play? (Mixing actors and actresses from different generations is allowed: any person from any point in their career.)

I would have a sort of Little Women-esque drama transposed to the nineteen forties and made a lot more glamorous with Audrey Hepburn and Natalie Wood as sisters, Grace Kelly as their mother, Cary Grant as their father, Montgomery Clift and Paul Newman as their future husbands, and Rita Hayworth as their perpetual friend in need.

23. Favorite actress?

Natalie Wood, then Audrey Hepburn.

25. Favorite actor?

Montgomery Clift, sometimes James Dean is a near second.

26. And now, the last question. What is your favorite movie from each of these genres:

Drama: East of Eden or From Here to Eternity

Romance: Splendor in the Grass or An Affair to Remember

Musical: My Fair Lady

Comedy: Bringing up Baby

Western: I never watch westerns because I generally hate them. Perhaps the only one I've ever seen that I enjoyed is High Noon.

Hitchcock (he has a genre all to himself): Spellbound

Carol Burnetts Meets Classic Movies

2009-10-09T02:00:00.000-07:00

Just a few of her brilliant parodies of the classics...

Since we are on the topic of spoofs, I simply have to post one of my favorite, totally off-topic parodies ever:

Happy Watching :)

Who Had the Nicest Eyes? (Results)

2009-10-07T09:11:00.000-07:00

Before I get to the results, let me say that I am so thrilled that I got eight more votes on this poll than the last one; thank you thank you thank you to everyone who voted. I am also pleased that I now have twenty-three followers, what I once thought was a massive number (I know better now), and I would like to thank my readers and particularly my commentators in a special way. It will take a few days (read: at least a week) to get the initial tally done, but after that I will reserve a section of the side pane for whoever the sweet top three commentators are. Here I'll put a link to their blog or website if they have one, a little paragraph about them, and anything else they would prefer. (Don't be shy about saying what you'd like!) Feedback? This being a thank you gesture, it doesn't do any good it the thankees don't like it. Okay, now that that is done with, here are the poll results.

Tied for last place with zero votes: Marilyn Monroe and Montgomery Clift. I think these results are absolutely disgraceful. Millie, I owe you an apology, because apparently the rest of the world does NOT appreciate Monty's eyes. It isn't just you. It should just be you--I have given up all hope of reform--but I did have more faith in the rest of humanity. Remember that Natalie Wood pic spam I threatened? I do believe a Montgomery Clift overload is eminent.

Tied for fourth place with one vote each are Ava Gardner, Elizabeth Taylor, and Vivien Leigh. Ava Gardner I can understand, but considering all the hype Elizabeth Taylor's eyes get, how legendary they are considered, that they are extraordinary can hardly be popular opinion if she gets only one out of eighteen votes. Perhaps classic movie fans are not only out of the mainstream when it comes to their movie preferences, but also when it comes to their classic movie preferences. Anyway, I don't know why Vivien Leigh didn't get more votes. In spite of all my Natalie Wood hyping, she is the one I voted for, and certainly there can be no "too commercialized/publicized" claims about her. Explanations, anyone? It is, however, interesting to note that these three fourth placers fit the mold of the red-lipsticked, porcelain-doll, cat-eyes look of the nineteen fifties backward rather than doe-eyed style of the sixties, which seems to be more popular today.

Tied for third place with two votes each are Natalie Wood and Frank Sinatra. I would say their rather low ranking is because of Sinatra's overrated eyes and Natalie's underrated ones. Which, then, is worse, if it puts both victims in the bronze medal category?

A refreshingly unshared second place goes to Paul Newman with four votes. Totally deserved. The over-publicized=no real fans rule does not seem to apply to people are actually better in real life than the media gives them credit for. Considering this, it is natural that the first place winner should be:

Audrey Hepburn
(7 votes)

She is one of my very favorites, and at this point I am beginning to wonder why I voted for Vivien Leigh after all. Pictures say it better than words any day.

Quite ironically, the person you ended up getting the pic spam of is the one you all did vote for and not the ones you didn't but should've. But hey, I didn't vote for them either.

Odd Hair

2009-09-24T05:03:00.001-07:00

Some of the most interesting pictures, in my opinion, are those of actresses with their hair dyed a different color...especially when it is a big mistake. Usually this means brunettes who go blonde on a whim and come out looking odd--featureless in some cases, like ducks or other animals in others. Here is a tribute to actresses who change their hair with wigs, dyes, or whatever, and provide us with an interesting spectacle. You should be able to figure out who is who, they are all rather famous, but if you can't, that is rather the point, isn't it? Leave a comment if they're any you're not sure about. I know a couple are quite surprising.

New Layout

2009-09-20T04:58:00.000-07:00

Today I revamped the layout of this here blog, which you may have noticed has been looking mighty ugly recently since I fiddled with it a few days ago. I'm not quite satisfied with the new look, mainly the header text, but I'm through messing with it for now, so here it is.

THE END

Ah, not really, I can't just post a few sentences and disappear, of all things. Actually, I can.

But anyone who reads this thing deserves a purty picture or two now and then:

Beautiful, huh?

Forgive me, please, working on the layout has addled my brain. And staying up till one in the morning last night watching Sweeney Todd has made me very vulnerable to addling.

Making Faces by Kevyn Aucoin

2009-09-18T01:48:00.000-07:00

This is a great book to learn how to do several classic movie star looks from, which is why I am reviewing it. Some of the classic looks Kevyn Aucoin recreates are those of Marilyn Monroe, Barbra Striesand, Ingrid Bergman, and Jean Harlow, as well various inspired makeovers that are vintage influenced. However, if the lookalike makeup looks are the only reason you would consider getting this book, Face Forward is probably a better choice. I have not read it, but its focus appears to be more on real people's or otherwise very stylized looks, rather than the more general makeovers presented in Making Faces.

If you don't know the first thing about makeup, this book is a great start, and it should have a few tips that even a very experienced person would not know...but, it isn't phenomenal in that regard. If you practice enough with makeup you would probably learn much of what is said on your own. The best part of this book, in my opinion, is the way it teaches you how to formulate a look. Before I read it, putting on a lot of makeup meant putting on everything rather than highlighting certain features or sticking to a color scheme to acheive an effect. I realize now I was quite wrong, and this has been very helpful, and because of it I have found it easier to look at a picture and figure out what makeup is being worn. That is quite valuable! This book helps you see the makeup that goes into a look and makes it all seem as simple as "putting the right color in the right spot."

I did have problems with many of the looks though. Most of them weren't very flattering, and in many cases, as you may remember, my sister told me I looked like a dead bird. This happened so often there was a range, from dying bird to long gone, and it was discouraging that what looked so good on other people could be so ugly. Probably most people look best made up one or two ways, even though the attitude of Making Faces is anyone can do any look, and this book will help you find those ways, even if it is by showing you what not to do. You will never really know anyway until you try, but don't expect every look in the book to work for you. As long as you are aware that you look awful when you leave the makeup table, you'll be fine. It's when you don't realize it there's a problem.

The photography in Making Faces is gorgeous, and the before and afters are amazing. The level of glamour is comparable to a classic movie, with everyone looking flawless, heavily made up without looking like a costume. The interpretations of vintage makeup are warmer and more natural looking than many of the blue-tinged looks people go for, and this is refreshing. There is one thing about the cover, however, that nobody seems to have noticed, especially not the book designers. This is the book:

Does it remind you of anything? Of anything at all? Because it could easily suffer from association:

Okaaaay now, moving past that, Kevyn was a phenomenal makeup artist, and his transformations are miraculous. Take a look at these beautiful pictures:

The entire book is filled with similar shots. Some people say it's worth it just for the artwork.

Rating: 9 out of 10
Recommended for: Fans of Classic Style

Joanne Woodward

2009-09-13T10:06:00.000-07:00

It is painfully obvious what people think about Joanne Woodward because they do not say it. When people talk about Joanne they say she's a wonderful actress, an amazing person, and so lucky to have been married to Paul Newman. Is anything missing from that list? There seems to be a silent pact, made out of respect and admiration for the Newmans, and a selfish desire not to appear judgemental, to say nothing about the way Joanne Woodward looks. I think she was a pretty lady. But I bet you the most commonly thought thing about Paul and Joanne is something like, "How did she ever get HIM?" or "Gosh, he's gorgeous, but she's kind of ordinary." Nobody mentions Joanne without mentioning Paul, and secretly even the most devoted fans must wonder if the couple acknowledged to themselves that hubby was so much better looking than wifey. Almost as if he were doing her a favor by marrying her.

Putting aside our rather interesting fictional history together, this post is dedicated to Joanne Woodward, an effort to bring her beauty, talent, and personality out of the shadows. I wonder, if perhaps I should actually do this, because I think women feel threatened by a woman who got everything we all want without doing it the way the rest of us do. It bothers us because if skin deep qualities won't get you Paul Newman, what is it that she's got the rest of us haven't?? Seriously. All the beautiful women in Hollywood, and he chose her. Why?? So instead of trying to convince everyone Joanne Woodward has everything we don't think she does, the focus will be on what we haven't noticed she has--those elusive traits that must be super special.

First of all, she was pretty in a girl-next-door way. Among all the glitzy, fake Hollywood goddesses, obsessed with the way they look, someone with a down-to-earth, girl you can come home to appeal has its advantages. Joanne was pretty, but not so stunning you felt she was unreal or mysterious. How would you feel if your mother was Greta Garbo? On a day to day basis, you don't want someone who inspires worship. Do you like people because they're superior to you? I think these pictures capture Joanne's non-threatening beauty:

(No makeup!)

Only occasionally is she really beautiful, but it doesn't matter. And I am beginning to wonder if it is just me, but does she remind you of your mother, at least in Sybil? OK, never mind.

Not willing to be extravagant for the cause of glamour, Joanne made her own dress for the 1953 Academy Awards ceremony. Paul Newman must have appreciated that--you never, ever hear a man complain his wife spends too little on clothing. Also, the dress is actually quite nice. She seems to have been a skilled seamstress.

Because she isn't very famous apart from her husband, it is hard to find out anything about Joanne's personality. Yes, the famous personality that must be The Secret. Like I said, there isn't much about it, but what there is reveals a humorous, confident, intelligent, and down to earth woman.
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"Sexiness wears thin after a while and beauty fades, but to be married to a man who makes you laugh every day, ah, now that's a real treat."“I'm tired of playing worn-out depressing ladies in frayed bathrobes. I'm going to get a new hairdo and look terrific and go back to school and even if nobody notices, I'm going to be the most self-fulfilled lady on the block.”

"Intensity is so much more becoming in the young."

"I'm upset when I see that people don't seem to observe what's happening with the environment, what's happening in terms of global warming. "

Her favorite activities are said to be ballet and horseback riding. Her favorite actress is Bette Davis and she prefers the theater to film.

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Maybe someday people will say Paul Newman was lucky to have been married to Joanne Woodward (and he was!) but at the moment she is a very unappreciated lady.

Under the Influence

2009-09-11T05:14:00.000-07:00

In many cases, classic films are not realistic. And when, plot-wise, they are, it is still true that normal people would not have looked like old movie stars in the same situations. This glamorous haze of classic film can be a dangerous, manipulative thing, especially if you are an impressionable, sentimental pushover like me. And I think most of us classic film buffs are alike in that many of us probably like the idealized images of life in many classics. We don't want realism, we want magic. Or good old magical realism, so often absent in modern films. Some movies are so idealized they can convince you certain situations are wildly romantic and dramatic...and very desirable. (See the danger yet?)
These are the ones that do it for me:

His Girl Friday: Every time I watch it, I start considering becoming a reporter. Because, of course, my boss will be Cary Grant and suddenly I'll start speaking the fastest dialogue in motion picture history. Isn't that enough incentive for anybody?

Bringing up Baby: This one makes me want to be a nut al a Susan Vance. Blondes don't have more fun, nuts do!

Vacation from Marriage: This is a less well-known movie about a dowdy British couple that joins the armed forces during WWII and undergoes miraculous transformations. At the end of the war, each remember only how the other was before and decide before they reunite that they should get a divorce. Then they meet each other. Doesn't just the plot make you want to join the army? Even if it wasn't portrayed almost like a finishing school?

A Place in the Sun: The theme "Men kill for pretty women" is one of many reasons to avoid this depressing fare. I didn't think Shelley Winters was all that bad looking, but there is a distinct feeling to this film that unless you're Elizabeth Taylor, you're nobody. This is the "make yourself want to be a perfect beauty" film. Since in most cases there isn't much you can do about that, it get's classified as a depressant. A strong depressant.

Splendor in the Grass: The perfect film to convince you your eyes are too small.

Rebel Without a Cause: It makes you want to be a rebellious, victimized teenager. Judging by the stories of teenagers after its release, the effect is somewhat universal. Luckily, the plot of the film is good at convincing you you have a great life.

Breakfast at Tiffany's: The best advertising for New York ever! And who doesn't want to be Holly Golightly at some point in time?

Which ones do it for you??

Eyes

2009-08-29T15:43:00.000-07:00

In my opinion, eyes are what makes people pretty or not. If you haven't got decent eyes, nothing else particularly matters, and if you do, they can save a face. In a couple days, I am putting up a poll about the prettiest eyes in Hollywood, so here they are in pictorial view--here are the people with the most commonly praised eyes.
Starting it off with Ol' Blue Eyes here...it'll be stiff competition.
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This is Vivien Leigh. No comment necessary.
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Please Millie...don't say anything. At least not anything like what your thinking. The exact opposite, would, in fact, be very welcome, but yeah, you are, um, you, and that says it all right there. The rest of the world can appreciate Montgomery Clift's gorgeous eyes.
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Believe me, oh yes, believe me, someday you will all pay for having different opinions than me and making me dedicate a post about eyes to more than one person! It's ridiculous, absolutely. As payback I shall post a complete pic spam of Natalie Wood pictures very soon for no visible reason whatsoever. Maybe that will heal my damaged psyche. If it doesn't, I'll just have to do it again. I sure hope it doesn't.
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Nobody seems to appreciate Marilyn's eyes. They were huge! They were bigger than Audrey Hepburn's and such a gorgeous blue!
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Undeniably, Liz Taylor's eyes are as beautiful as they have been given credit for. (They may not be violet, but whatever.) Every now and then, however, I think she should have parked her eyeliner.
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Ava Gardner's eyes were underappreciated, methinks, perhaps because she fell out of favor when heavy eye makeup fell into it. I highly doubt Audrey Hepburn would be famous today if it weren't for the sixties.
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These are maybe some of the most famous eyes ever. If I have to tell you whose they are, get out from under your rock immediately. Look in the nearest shop window! That outta tell you. And no, it isn't a good thing. Pray that other great performers don't get de-humanized the same way.
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So, Paul Newman's face doesn't need saving...like at all...but we are going to try not (repeat: not) to resent certain people who stayed married to this perfect face for fifty years. We will not, we will not, we will not, we will not...

Poll Results: Funniest Comedy

2009-08-17T10:14:00.000-07:00

A long, long time ago I opened a poll about funniest movies. I am about to change it, so here are the results.

Tied with zero votes:
The Philadelphia Story
Dr. Strangelove
My Man Godfrey

Tied with one vote:
Arsenic and Old Lace
The Seven Year Itch
The Women

Tied for second place with two votes each:
Some Like it Hot (I never did see what was so hilarious about this)
His Girl Friday

The Winner....

Bringing Up Baby, with three votes. This is the one I voted for....and it deserves it!!

Natalie Wood

2009-08-11T14:35:00.001-07:00

Natalie Wood's death has never brought her the cult followings of Marilyn Monroe or James Dean, but she still has her legion of devoted fans. Relatively, it may be small, but it is very loyal. You would think, then, that more people would be inspired to clear some of the fog surrounding her death--and her life. It doesn't explain why there has yet to be a reliable book published about her or why her remaining family members don't all get along. You could say that the former explains the latter, but it's all beside the point. The point is, there has been too much speculation for too long. People are beginning to solve the many mysteries of Natalie Wood's life with their own theories and opinions and then conveniently forget they could be wrong. And I'm not just talking about Natalie's death. Oh no-- it is like that about nearly every major event in her life. You can ask endless questions about everything.

A) Was Natalie really raped by Kirk Douglas when she was fifteen? Most people have figured out that's who Suzanne Finstad means, and it is fairly obvious, but Natalie never spoke publicly about it and all her friends have different stories. Why would you believe one and not the other?

B) Why did her first marriage to Robert Wagner really break up? Is it true he had an affair with another man? How much of Natasha are you willing to believe? And why would Natalie remarry someone who was unfaithful to her, considering the way she kicked Richard Gregson out of her house when she found out about him?

C) How much of her death was an accident? Do you believe it was just drunken negligence or really intended? And if it was murder, why would anyone want to kill Natalie Wood??

D) Considering what is known for sure about the night Natalie died, do you think she really loved Robert Wagner? People make excuse for her about being jaded on love, etc. etc. But the facts remain: Natalie married a man of dubious integrity twice and had been married to him ten years when she died. I go with the "love is blind" argument--I say you have to deeply love someone to be willing to look over such fundamental flaws in their character--why else would you? But others say she could not have really loved someone like that, and maybe they've got a point. I'm no better judge than anyone else.

This has gone on a long time, and it's all getting out of hand and frankly disgusting. Someone either needs to stop lying or charge Suzanne Finstad with a libel suit. Because both of them can't be telling the truth. Natalie left behind an unfinished autobiography and journals--someone ought to publish them. Why haven't they? Someone should also write an honest full-length biography without bias or gossip, but it seems nobody loves Natalie enough for that. At least, a new memoir called Goodbye Natalie, Goodbye Splendour is coming out in September and it may prove to solve part of The Natalie Wood Problem, but there would still be a lot left to do.

It is actually a good thing Natalie hasn't become commercialized enough to generate more biographies. In spite of all this controversy and--between her family--rancor, everyone is united in remembering her human qualities, which have not been taken away by the media. She was a warm, friendly human being--very thoughtful, kind, generous, and intelligent. she was beautiful, she could act, and she was decoted to her children and family. She admirably overcame her unhappy childhood even after she attempted suicide a few times and was left with severe phobias and other psychological scars. Frank Sinatra called being with Natalie like sitting front of a warm fire, and all her friends remember her as sweet, loyal, fun-loving, and high-spirited. Nobody disagrees about that. So until her family gets their heads on straight, we can at least be content that the only things to be sure of concerning Natalie Wood happen to be what's nicest to remember her by.

1938-1981

Gene Tierney

2009-07-25T18:09:00.000-07:00

I know very little about Gene Tierney's film career, but I recently read her autobiography and just had to say something.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about Gene is her total lack of pretention. People usually say that about Ava Gardner, but in my opinion, it is far more true of Gene. Ava Gardner lacked inhibitions. There is a difference.

If I were to describe Gene, I would say she was down to earth, self-possessed, modest without being self-effacing, self-aware, refreshingly self-accepting, and a very genuine human being. Apppearance-wise, she reminds me of a plumper, brunette Grace Kelly, but without her hint of affectation (don't kill me for that one).

That, to me, is what most people leave out when they talk about Tierney--her admirable personal qualities. Not only does she come actoss as level-headed, she seems as though it never occured to her to be any other way. You would not usually think that of a person who suffered from mental illness.

Gene Tierney's account of her struggle with what was most likely bipolar disorder is the heart of her book. Aside from taking up most of the pages writing about it, the descriptions of her delusions are scary and probably very enlightening as to what an ill person suffers from. (I say probably because in spite of what some people think, I am perfectly sane myself and can't know for sure.) Gene relates how she was convinced people were trying to poison her, the guilt she felt about her daughter;s retardation, and her experiences in mental institutuions. One incident was particularly disturbing to read. Gene willing put herself in the hopeless cases ward of one hospital after she thought she heard the patients there making animal noises. She decided she had to teach them more dignified behavior, got herself admitted, and found out a few weeks later that the sounds had come from a nearby zoo.

Gene Tierney is also renowned as a great beauty, and while I disagree somewhat with that assertion, she does claim she wore no makeup in her films after Laura. To look like that without makeup...well, that certainly says something right there about the way she looked.

The Seven Year Itch

2009-07-25T17:56:00.000-07:00

I had seen this movie twice before I decided to show it to my family, and in neither viewing was I the least bit impressed with it. I had been hoping for something a lot funnier. Just the same, I didn't (and still don't) feel very strongly about it either way and thought, "Hmmm, maybe the family that has bizarre tast in movies will like this one even though I don't."

Alas. Big mistake. I thought wrong. Seriously, they loathed The Seven Year Itch. I haven't seen such hatred since my mother and I watched Bye Bye, Birdie. If perhaps you've gotten a taste of the sort of criticism my family indulges in, you can imagine what comments were spawned by a movie they despised, but if you can't I'll make it easy for you. Here are some quotes:

"Who on earth would stay married to a nasty old man like that?"
"Hey, she's faaaat!"
"That's the famous skirt-blowing scene? That??"
"This movie was annoying even though I slept through half of it."
"You wouldn't think it was funny if your husband shacked up with some blonde while you were on vacation."

When the whole thing was finished, a lively discussion began on just what sort of mental illness Tom Ewell's character had.

Well, I tried--and failed--but admittedly I didn't like it much more than they did, all because I thought Tom Ewell was very unfunny, and he's basically half the picture, if not three quarters. I also suspect that the general theme--of men being unfaithful while their wives and kids go on vacation--did not appeal to my family because my father works during the summer, and gues who goes on vacation without him? So that idea is really not funny in our house.

Anyway, I'd like to ask your opinions on tSYI. I might as well, since chances are I'll get them anyway, after a negative review.

To be fair, there were some funny moments. I smiled at least five times. And Marilyn Monroe's hair looked nice. However, unless the rest of you looks like Marilyn, don't cut your hair that way unless you want to look like a boy. And I'm saying that because that's just what I did last week. And guess what? I look like a boy.

This Property is Condemned

2009-06-30T08:50:00.000-07:00

This is one of those rare, brilliant, stinkers that would probably be on more people's favorites lists if the ending was different. Consider this: it was based on a play by Tennessee Williams. That, paired with the title, should give you a pretty good idea of what sort of ending it has. If it doesn't, I'm not going to spoil it for you (too much).

The beginning/middle of the movie is a superb piece of film making. it concerns a romance between the prostitute Alva Starr (Natalie Wood) and the man who closes down the house where she works (Robert Redford) who is named Owen Legate. Redford and Wood play a die-hard pragmatist and a sensitive, almost self-deluding dreamer, respectively. Their acting is completely convincing. As much as I like Natalie Wood, I must say that her acting tends to be inconsistent. Her technique was highly instinctual, yet while Alva Starr does seem too raw at times, Natalie Wood is Alva, rather than playing her. That takes great skill. What ever surface faults her performance may have--such as slight overacting in spots--her characterization is fully developed, sympathetic, and convincing. And although I've only seen two Robert Redford movies, it's enough to prove that he isn't playing himself here. It would be quite easy to believe that Redford is doing absolutely no acting and simply existing on the screen, so flawless is his portrayal. Actually I wish he was just like his character in the movie because I happen to have a crush on Owen Legate. Believe me, it's easy to. His chemistry with Natalie Wood is amazing--captivating!--probably raised movie house temperatures by twenty or thirty degrees! And it's a testament to the lead players' acting and the storyline. In Inside Daisy Clover, a really, really, bad movie, their chemistry is lacking, due in no small part to the crummy script and the incompatibility between their characters. The whole thing is so bland and convoluted, it's enough to make one fall out of love with Robert Redford, no small thing. This makes you wonder about the mechanics of screen chemistry--is it the characters, the actors, or the script? Or a magical combination of those factors?

Back to the point. Perhaps the virtuosity of Wood's and Redford's performances is the downfall of the film. They are done so well you want everything to work out for the characters. Because they are so believably in love with each other, you love them and want them to live happily ever after in the end. And you know how bad the ending is. Even Bud and Deanie of Splendor in the Grass are not as lovable as Alva and her man. You can't make your movie audience want desperately for the best to happen to the characters and disappoint them. (Besides being disappointing, the ending is just plain ridiculous.) This is essentially what happens and it ruins what could have been a beautiful, uplifting story. It's heart-wrenching and consequently unpleasant.

Aside from that pretty big issue, the only other fault I can think of is a lack of motivation in the drunk scene. If you want to see This Property is Condemned, it's available on YouTube, with the title spelled backward.

Rating: 7 1/2 out of 10

(If it had had the ending it was bloody well supposed to have had, it would have gotten an unqualified 10/10.)

10 Random Facts About Me

2009-06-30T08:39:00.000-07:00

1. I once married an inflatable clown punching bag. Not legally, however. I was about five, he was about the same but in months, and the sister who was making me go through with the whole thing was about thirteen. Oh yes, I walked down the aisle and kissed him and have managed to live happily ever after because he died shortly thereafter.

2. I have eight cats. And a closet full of clothes covered with cat hair.

3. More people than I can count have told me I reminded them of an old lady.

4. I never went to kindergarten. My mother thought five was too young to go to school so she homeschooled me for a year instead.

5. My sister's nickname for me is Fluffy. My brother calls me Weasel. My other sister tried briefly to nickname me Psychobabble, but it never stuck.

6. I'm crazy about etiquette. My manners are far from perfect, but I love improving them. Which is good, because with the improving I've got to do, I'll probably be at it for a long, long time.

7. I skipped fifth grade. Not because I'm smart, but because the school I moved to was (is) so bad. I keep trying to wheedle my parents into changing schools, but with no success.

8. My family teases me about the way I mispronounce words and mix up phrases (like you, Millie). For the longest time, I was convinced "devasted" was a real word and I once announced that something was an "old man's wife" as opposed to an "old wives' tale".

9. Because of a scar I have on my forehead (it's hardly noticeable), I went through a phase of telling my family I was Harriet Potter.

10. I'm a vegetarian, simply because I think meat is unappetizing and slightly repulsive. I feel that way because my parents are pesco-vegetarians so I never ate meat growing up. I'm in favor of animal welfare, but not animal rights.

Thanks to Millie for tagging me!

180 Tag and a Short Update

2009-06-09T08:07:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm still here. No kidding. I've just been busy lately so blogging has temporarily become less of a priority.

Anyway, in regards to the 180 tag, I can get around to answering it now since my Algebra II exam is over and "180" is no longer a very dirty word. There is not really anyone I have 180-ed on, but there are a few that could somewhat qualify. Ava Gardner I used to think was rather unattractive, as well as somehow grape-like, but then I went through a strange phase where I wanted to be just like her, etc. etc. Then I started reading her autobiography online. I never finished it, though I started it twice, because I would get rather sick of her about the time her marriage to Frank Sinatra broke up. After watching a couple of her movies, I'm back to not caring one way or the other about her. Only now I'm not sure if it's an olive or a grape she reminds me of.

Esther Williams is a true 180, except the positive side didn't last more than a couple days back when I was in eighth grade. How many people like Esther Williams after they read her autobiography? Or just the reviews of it? I'm not one of them.

That's about it, although there are a few more mentionable changes of opinion. I used to think Natalie Wood was rather unattractive (tsk, tsk) and I also used to be in love with James Dean, but for some reason I don't think he's very good looking anymore, aside from his jaw (especially from profile! it's dreamy). And I also used to think Montgomery Clift was just horrible looking. Well, I certainly don't anymore. Maybe someday I'll 180 on Clark Gable and finally figure out what people see in him. But it doesn't seem at all likely.

Thanks for tagging me Millie!

Crazy Eights

2009-05-16T04:13:00.001-07:00

Millie tagged me to this. I'm not going to tag anyone because all the people I know have already been tagged, basically.

8 Things I Look Forward To:
1. Going to the US every summer.

2. The day Miss Vintage goes back online.

3. Rearranging my room today.

4. Getting taps put on a pair of brown shoes.

5. Visiting thrift shops, garage sales, and used book stores.

6. Eating the lemon chess pie that is currently in the oven.

7. Rain.

8. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

8 Things I Did Yesterday:
1. Finished "Star Style: At the Academy Awards".

2. Ate dinner at an Indian restaurant.

3. Started a post about Splendor in the Grass.

4. Visited a cousin who has recently had a baby.

5. Cleaned up my closet with my sister. Actually she did it more and I kept her company. She wanted to do it.

6. Started "An Incomplete Education".

7. Overslept.

8. Listened to Amy Winehouse while giving my sister a shoulder massage.

8 Things I Wish I Could Do:
1. Tap Dance

2. Give whoever decides what's aired on Middle Eastern TCM a talking to.

3. Sing.

4. Be as nice as Audrey Hepburn and half as likable as Natalie Wood.

5. Cut my hair.

6. Get books shipped to Kuwait at their regular price.

7. Collect the biggest--or at least the nicest-- collection of classic film memorabilia ever.

8. Go an an eBay shopping spree.

8 Shows I Watch:
1. Are You Being Served?

2. I Love Lucy

3. I Dream of Jeannie

4. Hogan's Heroes

5. Get Smart

6. The Beverly Hillbillies

7. Gilligan's Island

8. The Dick van Dyke Show

For Whom the Bell Tolls

2009-05-08T02:49:00.000-07:00

I never said this blog was going to be solely about old movies, but more the past in general, so I have an excuse to post a book report I wrote for English on For Whom the Bell Tolls. Since it's been about two months since it was due and it hasn't been graded, it can safely be said that my English teacher has forgotten about the assignment. This, at least, will get some use out of it.

Major Spoilers Ahead

For Whom the Bell Tolls

By Ernest Hemingway

"No man is an Iland, intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if a Clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were, as well as if a Mannor of thy friends of of thine owne were; any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."

--John Donne

Main Characters:

Robert Jordan: an American dynamiter volunteering on the Republican side of the Spanish Civil War.

Maria: a young girl who was raped by the Fascists.

Pilar: Pablo's wife, a strong, feisty woman who leads a small group of guerrilla fighters in the mountains.

Pablo: the recognized leader of the guerilla fighters, he is something of a coward, not trustworthy, and loves horses.

Anselmo: a member of the band of fighters who enjoys hunting but hates killing people.

El Sordo: The leader of a nearby group of guerilla fighters.

Other members of the band:

Agustin

Primitivo

Andre: Eladio's younger brother.

Eladio

Fernando

Rafael: a gypsy, regarded as lazy and useless.

Setting: during the Spanish Civil War. All of the characters listed above are on the side of the Republicans, who were fighting the Fascists. The Spanish Civil War lasted from 1936 to 1939, ending with the victory of the Fascists.

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For Whom the Bell Tolls is about Robert Jordan's mission to blow up a bridge in Fascist territory with the help of a group of guerilla fighters who are living in the mountains nearby. Upon arriving in the mountains and meeting the group, Robert Jordan immediately falls in love with Maria and realizes the Pablo is not trustworthy. The nearby band, headed by El Sordo, will help with the operation.

However, things go wrong when El Sordo's band is discovered by the Fascists after an episode of snowfall works to their disadvantage and exposes their tracks. They are trapped on a hill and all killed. Pablo's band wants to help them, but they know it would be impossible to do any good.

After this, Robert Jordan becomes concerned for the outcome of the operation because they are short on people and it is likely the Fascists know that the Republicans will be launching a surprise attack. Robert Jordan sends Andre with a message to someone who might be able to call off the operation, but he is delayed by too many things.

In the night before the day the bridge will be blown, Pilar wakes Robert Jordan and tells him Pablo has disappeared, and he has stolen something of Robert Jordan's, which turns out to be important to the success of the bridge. Pablo had declared earlier that the mission would not be successful, and Robert Jordan is afraid he will be right. However, Pablo comes back several hours later, claiming he had left in "a moment of weakness". While he had thrown the things he stole in a river, he also picked up a group of fighters to fill in for those who were killed.

The bridge is blown up after the Republicans drop the first bombs on the Fascists and actual exploding goes well, but Anselmo is killed by a piece of the bridge. Some of the people with Pilar were killed by Fascists, and Pablo claims all of his group was killed. Agustin angrily claims he shot them all for their horses. Pablo ignores him, but this seems to be a likely possibility.

As the band escapes on horseback through the woods, a Fascist shoots the horse Robert Jordan is riding. Robert Jordan's leg is broken and he knows he must remain behind while the band goes on. He thinks he could kill himself, but decides to try and shoot some Fascists before he dies, which is inevitable. The novel ends with Robert Jordan about to shoot a Fascist lieutenant and be killed in turn.

The story illustrates how Robert Jordan begins his mission as a stoic, rational, and somewhat cold man, but, because of his love for Maria, he lives his life in the three days he spends with the band and dies in harmony with himself and his surroundings. He finally loves someone enough to think of them during a battle, which represents the rational and emotional sides of his nature coming together. Although the end may come as a surprise to some (it did to me), most of the characters sense or know that Robert Jordan will die, even himself, and especially Pilar.

I enjoyed this book a great deal. The entire book takes place over the course of only three or four days and supplies a detailed description of what happens, as well as numerous flashbacks, one of which reveals that Robert Jordan's father killed himself. The only thing that could be distracting is the dialogue, which is written as if it were a direct translation from Spanish. All though it makes you feel as if the characters are truly speaking a foreign language, it results in phrases such as "I obscenity in thy milk". Considered one of Hemingway's best works and based on his own experiences during the Spanish Civil War, it is full of realistic and somewhat graphic depictions of war. All in all, I would give this book four out of five stars and will probably be looking for something else to read by Hemingway in the future.

The End

In a last analysis, I would probably give this book 5/5 stars. And also, I think I am glad it was not graded.

"Happy birthday to us, happy birthday to us..."

2009-05-04T07:18:00.001-07:00

Today is Audrey Hepburn's birthday. Besides deserving a special tribute, there are a few things I wanted to say about Audrey that won't carry a post by themselves.

First random thing is her eating habits. You still hear story after story about how she was anorexic, only to have those countered by tales of her ravenous appetite for pasta and chocolate. I am rather sick of it, because there is an obvious explanation. Hepburn had a few periods of major depression, a typical characteristic of which is a decrease or increase of appetite, and she both gained and lost large amounts of weight when she was experiencing them. Having no desire to eat a substantial amount is not the same as anorexia nervosa, although they can appear similar to an observer, especially one looking for a good story. From what I have read of Alexander Walker's Hepburn biography, her supposed bouts of anorexia were just that, bouts, and not a long continuous thing, supporting the idea that the only problem was clinical depression and she did not suffer from anorexia. What people assumed was an eating disorder was simply a symptom of mental illness. This is just a theory, but it seems logical to me. What say you?

The other random thing was to say that Hepburn is the perfect example of how beauty is mostly determined by personality. If you look at her face, it is far from perfect, downright strange, but the feelings beaming from her eyes make Hepburn a sight to behold. Even if you took her eyes by themselves and gave them to someone else, that person wouldn't be beautiful unless they had the same "elegant spirit." I'll stop now before I get too philosophical, but you get the idea. Perhaps you needed a lift if you listened to me and looked at your nose from the side with a hand mirror.

The title says: "Happy birthday to us" which brings me to another point. Today is my birthday as well: I am fifteen. Which feels straaange. Coincidentally, I had ordered several books and sent them to the US about a month ago and my sister came to visit yesterday bringing them, me having bribed her to do so. You can expect a ton of book reviews soon. One of the books, Making Faces, I bought in an attempt to teach myself how to apply makeup and I tried out some of the looks today after school--my dear, loving, supportive family asked me if I was sick, had swine flu, or had been aiming for the " dead bird" look. But they were joking--I hope.

Happy birthday to Miss Hepburn! And gooooooo Tauruses!

The Splash Award

2009-05-03T05:30:00.000-07:00

The Splash award is given to alluring, amusing, bewitching, impressive, and inspiring blogs. When you receive this award, you must:
1. Put the logo on your blog/post.
2. Nominate up to 9 blogs which allure, amuse, bewitch, impress or inspire you.
3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know that they have been splashed by commenting on their blog.
5. Remember to link to the person from whom you received your Splash award.

Really, I am in something of a daze because of this. The Splash Award was bestowed upon me by the Divine Sarah of:

Cinema Splendor

who I have come to like very much lately. Especially now. Anyway, I'll fulfill the requirements by nominating the following people.

Bonnie of Peculiar Beauty: Her blog is hilarious and about a unique topic, bizarre beauty advice from the past (very bizarre). She is incredibly sarcastic and always, always entertaining. Her "Don't Kid Yourself Diet" is just what people need these days, myself included. I hope someday I can write like her.

C.K. Dexter Haven of Hollywood Dreamland: Probably he's already been given this award because he is such a good writer. And what a sense of humor! He makes fun of himself all the time, giving off a warm and likable vibe. If anyone deserves this award, he does.

Millie of Classic Forever: Maybe now she will forgive me for not telling her about my blog. But, she is definitely deserving of this award in her own right. This is not a sympathy nomination. Everything about Classic Forever--the "Picture of the Day" posts, the awesome background music, and naturally, her post about me :)--beg to be awarded this for what is probably either the second or third time. Millie has gotten this before, I know.

Sarah of Cinema Splendor: She may have just awarded me, but her funny blog is one of my favorites. It's quirky, random, and super entertaining. I only wish she would post more! No matter how often she may post in the future, I will probably always have that complaint.

Harly of Dreaming in Black and White: Few blogs are ever this stylized and personable. I love Harly's blog; I missed it terribly during Lent, to the point where people began to vaguely wonder if I wanted to become Catholic because I was asking so many questions about when it would end. And those foreign language phrases get me every time. Makes me wish I had more personality. Nobody's got flair like Harly!

Congratulations to all and thank you to Sarah!

Pictures: Favorites

2009-05-02T16:03:00.000-07:00

Most bloggers seem to have done the twenty favorite leading men and leading ladies posts, which I would do if I felt like it and I wasn't a little confused about this tagging business. Anyhow, instead, I am posting pictures of my favorite entertainers, male or female, twenty or forty, equal or not. I also want to introduce the idea of posts that consist mostly of pictures...I think I may be doing a lot of them eventually. Here are the pictures for this topic, favorites, roughly ranked.

Definite Favorites:

Natalie Wood

Audrey Hepburn

Grace Kelly

James Dean

Frank Sinatra

Moderate (some previous) Favorites:
Paul Newman

Rita Hayworth

Marilyn Monroe

Ava Gardner

James Garner

Could-be favorites if I see more of their films/work:

Deborah Kerr

Montgomery Clift

Vivien Leigh

Gene Tierney

Dana Andrews

Marlon Brando
Actually, most of these could be considered favorite people that happen to be actors, but it all goes hand in hand since a performer's main appeal is being likable. Perhaps later I will go into favorite couples.

Move Over, Darling

2009-04-12T00:10:00.000-07:00

This is really your typical sixties sex comedy--all talk, but neither show nor action. It is, however, very entertaining. The plot concerns Nicholas Arden's (James Garner) marriage to Bianca Steele (Polly Bergen) and his subsequent discovery that his first wife, Ellen Wagstaff Arden (Doris Day), has been plane wrecked on an island for five years but is actually alive and well. Ellen Arden returns to civilization the same day Nicholas marries Bianca. When she finds out the news, she is determined to keep the newlyweds from properly enjoying their honeymoon. Nicholas, when he finds out about Ellen, decides to pretend he has a sprained back to get out of expected wedding night activities. For maybe the first half of the movie, Nicholas tries to tell Bianca that "his wife is alive". But, things get much more complicated when he discovers that Ellen was not alone on her desert island.

Certainly, this movie is not perfect, but it has it's moments. Whoever wrote the script knew what they were doing. For example:

After Nicholas Arden registers a hotel room for a woman for the second time:

Hotel Manager: I'd like to know what he thinks he's doing.

Desk Clerk: I'd like to know how he does it.

The dialogue between presumed other woman Ellen and the hotel clerk is absolutely priceless, as well as the scene where Bianca is the victim of a vigorous Swedish massage. Doris Day exhibits perfect timing when she says, "What are we going to do about...Binaca?" James Garner is divine as always, especially when he first catches glimpse of Ellen as an elevator door closes. It's shown in this clip at 4:35:

Here is a clip of the Swedish massage scene.

Again, there are faults. The judge, shown twice, is a fairly poor comedian, and there are one or two scenes of Ellen with her children that verge on excessive sentimentality. They are so different than the rest of the movie that they felt like they were inserted to take up time. Always a bad thing. And Doris Day's hair could have used a lot less peroxide. In the end, the question "What happened on that island?" is perhaps answered, but it feels as if there is room for reasonable doubt. Steven would have to have been even more annoying for that to be plausible in a movie. Real life, sure, but in real life most people would have the bad luck to be shipwrecked with an ugly man. Also, the movie might have been more interesting if Nicholas had told all in the massage scene above and the scene had been placed at the end with a bit of script reworking. The real tell all is slightly anticlimactic, even though it is very funny. Also, the title song makes no sense whatsoever coming from Ellen Wagstaff Arden. Maybe from Bianca, but not Ellen.

Because this is a remake of the remake of My Favorite Wife, Something's Got to Give, comparisons to Marilyn Monroe are bound to be abundant. Let me add my own. Both she and Doris sing similarly, with vibrato during sustained notes but not so much anywhere else. I honestly feel that Doris's type is better in this role because she offers such a contrast to Polly Bergen's Bianca. Few people are ever so different; there is room for jealousy because Bergen is arguably prettier than Doris Day, or at least competition, but she acts like a prima donna. The arrangement could pose a question: would you rather have the prettier wife or a the nicer one? Marilyn Monroe vs. Polly Bergen would be little to watch on screen. Bianca would probably have been divorced by text message if they'd had such a thing. Now, Marilyn Monroe vs. Doris Day would have been very interesting indeed, with maybe Marilyn as Bianca. The conflict might actually have been Nicholas choosing who he wanted to be with, rather than deciding how he is going to break the news to Bianca. There is a movie from the 30s or 40s with Jean Arthur and Fred MacMurray called Too Many Husbands which deals with something similar to that (picking which husband), but it is one of those films you prefer to forget.

Rating: 7 3/4 out of 10

A Place in the Sun

2009-04-06T08:15:00.000-07:00

Spoilers

Truly a great movie, not only technically but artistically. It concerns the low-class boy George Eastman who falls in love with upper-class beauty Angela Vickers. However, George has gotten pre-Angela working-class girlfriend Alice Tripp pregnant. Since the Eastmans are a high-class family in the region George is now working, Alice threatens to tell all if he doesn't marry her. Gradually, the idea of murdering Alice grows in George's mind, and he takes her out on a boat to drown her (she cannot swim). He decides, however, that he cannot go through with it, but, Alice stands up and walks toward George, and the boat tips over and she drowns.

George basically acts the way a murderer would act...he doesn't report the crime, he lies about where he was, etc. Alice's body is found, foul play is suspected, George is arrested and tried, and George is found guilty. As he is about to be sent to the electric chair, the film reaches an emotional resolution. A priest tells George that there is one way for him to really judge whether he is guilty or not. During the one moment when he could have saved Alice, did he think of Alice or Angela? It is understood that Angela was the one on his mind. So, he approaches his death resigned to fate and aware that he is a murderer, if not technically, but essentially.

The only thing that keeps this movie from being truly enjoyable is Montgomery Clift. I like Monty Clift a lot, but all the bad things that happen to his character make this a depressing fare. George Eastman is also a total idiot. Honestly, I like melodramatic, tragic movies but this is just too downbeat. It might could get away with being sad if it was fast-paced and exciting, but instead you are introduced to characters you like and watch them end up dead and unhappy. It's a good film, but not very watchable.

Anyway, Elizabeth Taylor looks great in this movie. Probably the best she's ever looked. However, I feel sorry for anyone whose beauty peaks at seventeen.

Rating: 8/10

Lookalikes

2009-04-03T04:24:00.000-07:00

Resemblances are everywhere, especially between old movie stars, in my opinion. Because most people disagree with me, I probably don't have a good eye, but I still hope to find someone who believes Jimmy Stewart looks like Ingrid Bergman. Here are some more realistic lookalikes.

Montgomery Clift and Henry Fonda

Vivien Leigh and Ava Gardner (slightly)

Elizabeth Taylor and Vivien Leigh

Jean Simmons and Vivien Leigh

Grace Kelly and Gene Tierney

Deborah Kerr and Rita Hayworth

June Allyson and Gene Kelly (poor June)

Tyrone Power and Jim Backus

Others, not pictured, maybe coming someday: Gene Tierney and Lauren Bacall, Tony Curtis and Joan Bennett, Vivien Leigh and Hedy Lamarr, Hedy Lamarr and Joan Bennett, Jayne Mansfield and Diana Dors, etc.

Who do you think looked alike?

Rebel Without a Cause

2009-04-02T12:32:00.000-07:00

Starring James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo, and Jim Backus

Recently I watched this movie with my mother for the third or fourth time--her first time. This is one of my favorite movies. Mother, however, did not like it. Anyway, I will come to that later.

The premise of this movie is the character Jim Stark's (James Dean) struggle to find friendship, understanding, and himself. His home life is described as a "zoo" and his father is made into "mush" by Jim's mother and grandmother. This makes Jim determined that he will not be a coward like his father...thus, he is very easy to provoke. All someone has to do to make him fight is call him "chicken", so he frequently gets in trouble and his mother has them move whenever he does so. The movie begins with Jim having moved into a new town and having just gotten drunk and hauled into a police station. At the police station, he sees Judy, a young girl deprived of her father's love, and Plato, a virtually abandoned child of divorced parents. At school the next day (technically, the same day), these three become friends and through their friendship, solve some of their problems, but not without experiencing pain and getting into very deep trouble.

The great thing about Rebel is the way it has so many moments where great acting and great lines come together. At the beginning, in the police station, Jim tells the policeman there to "get lost". This part illustrates how Jim appears to the grown-ups who just don't understand why he can't keep out of trouble. It's one of the only times, too, because after we get to know Jim, we see how he is trying to do the right thing as well as he can. The unsympathetic adults, however, don't see or understand this part of him, and can't figure out why he "shuts the door" in their faces. For less than a minute, before we know what is going on in his head, we see Jim as the belligerent rebel his outward appearance suggests. Of course, this is somewhat ruined because James Dean has our sympathy from the beginning; who could possibly not sympathize with someone so cute?

Like I said earlier, my mother probably did not sympathize with Mr. Dean, cute or not. For two days after watching Rebel, she was pointing out faults in it. First of all, the gang members looked far too old. And if that wasn't bad enough, the entire thing was beyond melodramatic. It was unrealistic for all that stuff to happen in one day. Jim Stark hardly ever ate, for Pete's sake. And everyone was messed up. Even when I pointed out snootily that having a tragedy take place in one day is an ancient Greek tradition, she failed to be impressed with the whole thing, saying it was not bad but she would not watch it again. This all comes from someone whose favorite movie is The Sound of Music, so it was obviously not something she would have enjoyed, but I thought she should see it anyway. I guess it's just part of my morbid personality.

A great part of this film is Natalie Wood. She's my favorite actress, so I'm biased, but this movie is one of the reasons she's said favorite. The fact that we see a Hollywood teenager onscreen as a teenager and not done up like an ice cream cone is a fabulous inspirition to teenage vintage fans like myself. Her hair is perfectly done but not elaborate, her make-up doesn't even look like it's there (excluding the opening scene), and her clothes are simple and young. Sometimes you can forget yourself and dress too old for your age if you use vintage actresses as style icons--the fact that Judy doesn't even have painted nails is a great reminder that teenagers existed back then too, even if Hollywood tended to age them or stick them in child parts. Check out Stage Door to see the results of the makeup men on thirteen or fourteen year-old Ann Miller.

There is so little to dislike about Rebel--I have managed to put aside my distress over Jim Stark's dietary habits and enjoy it anyway. Shocking, I know. The only bad part is that it makes it "cool" to be lonely and misunderstood. If you actually are lonely and misunderstood, it would probably cheer up, but otherwise it encourages rebellion a little. That's only a minor point. Another point is that in the Chickie Run scene, there is almost no way both people could have jumped from their cars. The person on the right would have been run over by the other's car. My mother also pointed this out. And whoever plays Jim's mother is a poor actress.

But things like the soundtrack, the lead players, and the themes more than make up for such minor faults. I give it 9/10.

And by the way, did anyone think Corey Allen (Buzz) looked like Marlon Brando? And was talking like him for some reason?

Noses and Profiles

2009-03-31T08:45:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking about beautiful noses a lot lately because of my own not so beautiful nose. Honestly, I know very few people who like their noses. I also know very few people whose noses I like. Movie stars, however, being blessed creatures, have generally perfect noses and even better profiles. Observe the following pictures (of actresses mostly--men have more leeway with what could be considered an attractive nose). Then, with a hand mirror and a hanging one, take a look at your own profile. That is the only way you can really see it (besides a camera) and if you haven't done so before, chances are you will be alarmed. I was.

Grace Kelly

Not fair, is it? Peter Lamas once remarked that Grace looked just as beautiful from the side as she did from the front. He was right.

Ava Gardner and Frank Sinatra

The fact that Ava's dinner partner (and husband) is Frank Sinatra immediately excludes this one from the "fair" category.

Natalie Wood

Too bad the things I would do for that face aren't legal.

Rita Hayworth and Gene Kelly

Perfect, perfect, perfect! Darn them.

Audrey Hepburn

Apparently, Audrey Hepburn was insecure about her nose, but it was pretty good relatively. A bump shows up in some pictures, but it never detracted from the way she looked.

Vivien Leigh

Too bad the only thing that wasn't perfect about this lady was her life.

Sarah of Cinema Splendor did a post about profiles once too so you might want to check that out as well.

Last of all, not a profile, but is this beautiful or what?

Insults

2009-03-23T05:04:00.000-07:00

Recently, it occured to me how often people I know deliberately or indirectly insult classic movies. Sometimes they do it just to irritate me--because sadly it is very, very effective. Here are some examples of said insults:

On Fred Astaire: "Why do you want to watch that sissy tap dancer? Imagine his kids...'Oh, my father dances for a living'...[mumbling]...useless job...[more mumbling]..."

(That one was paraphrased slightly because it has taken place over the course of several years.)

On Marilyn Monroe: "People like her? Why?"

On Frank Sinatra: "At least I don't like some sissy tap dancer. [accompanied by a snobbish expression]"

(It seems my family has something against male dancers. Although not quoted here, my mother also frequently remarks on how old Fred Astaire always looks.)

"Frank Sinatra? He was part of the mafia, you know. [I protest] Aw, come on, he was Italian!"

"I think I'm prettier than Grace Kelly." (That does certainly count as an insult.)

On Rita Hayworth: "She can't dance."

On the Put the Blame on Mame number from Gilda: "I don't like the song or the dance. They're stupid."

And the absolute worst; I think it absolutely takes the cake as the most outrageous, insulting thing anyone has ever said to me about a classic movie star:

On Grace Kelly: "She looks like Paris Hilton."

"She's prettier than me!"

2009-03-20T03:00:00.000-07:00

If you read quotes attributed to classic actresses lauded as great beauties, you will often come across a strange pattern. They deny their own beauty and lavishly praise someone else. Even in a couple cases, people wish they looked like each other. See the following quotes and anecdotes.

In her autobiography, Ava Gardner called Katharine Hepburn, Lena Horne, and Greta Garbo "perfect beauties". In Lee Server's book, "Love is Nothing" she is recorded having looked at pictures of herself and saying she had hoped she looked as nice as people were saying, but, sadly, she was nothing special after all.

Elizabeth Taylor: "I don't think I am a beautiful woman. Ava Gardner is. I think Audrey Hepburn is. But the way I look is all right with me."

Audrey Hepburn said that when she was younger, she wanted to look like a cross between Elizabeth Taylor and Ingrid Bergman. She also denied being glamourous, giving Gardner as an example of a glamourous woman. And how ugly Hepburn though herself to be sometimes is well documented.

Even Marilyn Monroe said she was "pretty, but...not beautiful." And Ava Gardner and Vivien Leigh ran into each other once in England and spent about five minutes telling the other how much prettier she was than themself. The list could go on and on, including how Natalie Wood thought her face was fat and Marlene Dietrich wished she could be as mysterious as Greta Garbo.

Moral: If you think you are beautiful, for goodness's sake, keep your mouth shut! The most beautiful women in the world probably would have been barely attractive if they had known it themselves.

There are, however, a few notable exceptions. Lana Turner was far from insecure, and Gene Tierney didn't exactly think herself ugly. But, as in Gene Tierney's case, if vanity keeps you from jumping out of a window and killing yourself, please disregard previous advice.

Grace Kelly: The Style Icon, Part I

2009-03-19T08:28:00.000-07:00

Since I just realized I had three followers, I feel compelled to start blogging regularly now before I tend to things like layout and pictures. So this will be the first "real" post.

Among the numerous fashionably dressed women in Hollywood, Grace Kelly was one of the ones that really stood out. You can't get much more elegant than Grace. She was like Audrey Hepburn in the sense that she knew exactly what looked good on her own person, paired with her own personality. Things that looked classy on Grace would have looked average on other people and very often did. Her are some pictures and descriptions of different parts of her style and appearance.

She wore her hair this way or in a very similar fashion for most of her life. Since she had a square shaped face, her hair looked best at this length, as opposed to when it was longer, when it made her features seem slightly "lost", and when it was shorter, which made her face seem wider:

Her hair was rarely styled in an extreme triangular shape, poofy near the roots and increasing in volume with length. Styles with lots of voluminous, big hair were generally not her preferred coiffure. Instead, her hair was usually sleek and smooth and styled in an S shape.

At the end of Dial M for Murder, her disheveled look illustrates how a sort of uncomplicated but meticulously groomed appearance was important to her style, ditto to a nice, if subtle, lipstick (also absent in this scene). Her hair also looked nice curly, which made her seem more delicate (Vivien Leigh was the same way).

Take note of her makeup in the next picture, an outdoorsy style, and her makeup in the picture after that, which is brighter and far more suited to electric lights.

Because Grace was not a follower of trends and relied on simple basics, her look is very timeless. She was also consistent, so many of her pictures seem ageless and hard to date.

I may be exceptionally bad at guessing ages, but to me she looks anywhere from a mature twenty to a young 39 (very young).

Grace was, rather obviously, extremely slim, but not in a waifish, sickly way (and no, I do not think Audrey Hepburn was sickly looking). This picture illustrates best of any that I have seen how impossibly gorgeous her figure was:

The next Kelly installment, focused more on her clothing, is coming soon. There is just so much that can be said about this exquisite lady. And I refuse to apologize for being obsessessed.

I will, however, apologize for any bad writing contained in the above post. I am still getting the hang of this blogging business.

Introduction

2009-02-21T07:38:00.000-08:00

I've been considering starting a blog for some time now, and recent nagging from Millie has convinced me that there's no better time than the present to do so. So...here it is, my brand new blog about the past in general, with a focus on old movies and pop culture. Please pardon the corny title--the one I wanted was "Timeless Treasures" but it was already taken.

I hope you enjoy reading whatever I happen to say in the future, and I'll leave it at that, because introductions are almost always very boring.

Bygone Brilliance

In Which I Ramble on About Nothing in Particular

The Gospel According to Coco Chanel

A Bathing Suit

It's Summer

Refocus

East of Eden: Movie, Book, and Legends of the Fall

Creative Blogger Award

What's My Line?

Miss Behavior by Bernice Bryant (1948)

Dedicated to Millie: The Post a Day Project

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

Harley's 19!!

Happy New Decade!

Gone with the Wind Meets the Middle East

Lily Lemontree is a Darling

If Life Were a Classic Movie...

Quotes and Such for November

Gloves Need to Come Back in Style

A..Bad?...Picture of...Grace Kelly??

James Dean

Classic Cinema Survey

Carol Burnetts Meets Classic Movies

Who Had the Nicest Eyes? (Results)

Odd Hair

New Layout

Making Faces by Kevyn Aucoin

Joanne Woodward

Under the Influence

Eyes

Poll Results: Funniest Comedy

Natalie Wood

Gene Tierney

The Seven Year Itch

This Property is Condemned

10 Random Facts About Me

180 Tag and a Short Update

Crazy Eights

For Whom the Bell Tolls

"Happy birthday to us, happy birthday to us..."

The Splash Award

Pictures: Favorites

Move Over, Darling

A Place in the Sun

***Spoilers***

Lookalikes

Rebel Without a Cause

Starring James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo, and Jim Backus

Noses and Profiles

Grace Kelly

Ava Gardner and Frank Sinatra

Natalie Wood

Rita Hayworth and Gene Kelly

Audrey Hepburn

Vivien Leigh

Insults

"She's prettier than me!"

Grace Kelly: The Style Icon, Part I

Introduction

Spoilers