What's My Line?

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.

Quotes and Such for November

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.

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

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."

**********************************************************************
A Streetcar Named Desire

Who Had the Nicest Eyes? (Results)

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.

Eyes

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.
**********************************


This is Vivien Leigh. No comment necessary.
****************************************


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.
*******************************************


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.
******************************************


Nobody seems to appreciate Marilyn's eyes. They were huge! They were bigger than Audrey Hepburn's and such a gorgeous blue!
*******************************************


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.
**********************************************************


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.
*************************************************


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.
*******************************




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...

A Place in the Sun

***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