Old Hollywood Glamour - How I Love It

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Hello, I've had lots of comments about my avatar, the glorious Elizabeth Taylor. Also, I know I share a passion for old glamorous Hollywood stars and movies. Let's have some fun and share our memories of our favorites.

 

When I engage my memory to come up with details and names, it really helps my thought process in general, so I spend a lot of time, as many of you know, playing games here. So, I thought, why not blend something I love with something that's good for me to do.

 

By the way, absolutely love blueorchidlady's new avatar of the stunning Audrey Hepburn.

 

When I want a certain laugh from a movie, I watch Bringing Up Baby with Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn. Many people think that Tracy & Hepburn had fabulous chemistry, eh. I think Grant & Hepburn were the real hot deal. To see Cary Grant portray a nerdy professor, and Katherine Hepburn portray a dimwitted heiress out to catch him and her pet leopard, priceless and it makes me cry with laughter every time!

 

The leopard:http://www.picgifs.com/animal-graphics/animal-graphics/leopards/animal-graphics-leopards-574342.gif

 

 

 

Also very funny was the loose remake, What's Up Doc with Barbra Streisand and Ryan O'Neal. Excellent supporting cast in that one too. I laugh at Doc too, but it does not stand the test of time as the original did.

 

jennieh brought us this link which is an unbelievably fantastic homage to Rita Hayworth. It is flawlessly edited footage of her dance scenes from various movies set to the soundtrack of Staying Alive by the Bee Gees. Rita Hayworth, what a beauty, what a talent.  She was the first person, celebrity or not, that I heard of diagnosed with Alzheimer's. How tragic. http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=mz3CPzdCDws

 

Bette Davis is probably my favorite dramatic actress from the Glory Days, I think I've seen the majority of her movies, quite a few several times. My favorite would be All About Eve, which is a few years past Bette's "prime". I found her still lovely, but she was self cast as a middle-aged, near over-the-hill actress. Here's the rub, she was only 42 when the movie debuted. Thankfully, times have changed regarding attitudes toward actresses of that age, or have they?

 

What are some of your favorite old time movies or actors?

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What a fabulous, fascinating era. The cars, the hats, the social norms of that time, are all a part of what makes black, and white movies so enticing, and endearing.

 

Two of my favorite classic movies are: "The Postman Always Rings Twice," and "The Best Years of Our Lives."  I have too many favorite actors to name.  I will add that Hedy Lamarr was on the silver screen, not for her acting prowess, but strictly for her astonishing beauty.

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Oh pj, I couldn't agree more with your great movie pics. and Hedy, you do know of her contribution to modern tech don't you? Yes, a stunning beauty. The dad of a girlfriend was in a fancy restaurant in Europe (don't remember where) and she made an entrance at the top of the staircase. She was wearing a red beaded gown, and this proper German man (the dad before marriage) said he just sat there and wept, in front of his date! 

 

Men in hats, oh my, swoon.  I always felt that I should have been born in my grandmother's time, not my own. This is super weird, but I often can "sense" the past as though it were my cognitive memory not just a memory from a movie or other media. I can "rememeber" smells of places that I've never been to decades before I was born. I not only have respect and awe for Golden Hollywood, I actually yearn for it, always did from the time I was a toddler.

 

Ooh, the men of the time: Errol Flynn, Robert Taylor, Clark Gable, did I mention Cary Grant. Sigh, they do not make em like that anymore.

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Yes, she had beauty, And brains.  The brains garnering her a patent for a technology, that among other things, allows us to have cell phones. If you have not already done so, her biography ....Ecstasy and Me is a great read.

 

I too, would have loved to have been a part of that era.  Because of the preservation of those wonderful movies, in my mind, for a little while, I can be.

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Thank you for the suggestion. I have read many biographies and autobiographies as you can imagine, but I missed that one. I will put it on my list for when I can better obsorb it. Right now I am pretty my relegated to magazines due to severe short attention span and nearly zero power of retention page by page. 

 

I do not like modern movies set in the old times with few exceptions. I did like Eastwood's Changeling. I thought it was pretty authentic except for those lips and that hair on Mrs. Pitt.

 

I also enjoyed the Jim Carrey flick, The Majestic. It gave me that cozy feeling like the true Old ones do.

[Guest [Da...]]

Oh M...I'm not so good at the oldies glamour movies...way way back then.

 

I did love Psycho, The Birds, and, of course, Gone with the Wind.

 

I read Vivien Leigh's bio..poor thing suffered from manic-depressive illness. Her relationship with Laurence Olivier was a "soul mate" type. Truly tragic.

 

Danni

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I know that poor lovely (or loverly for old Dave) suffered so much from mental illness. There was even more stigma about it then.  I don't know if she was forced to have shock treatments or what if any treatment she did receive. From what I remember reading, she seemed to suffer many of the sxs a lot of us are now. Of course there were rampant rumors then that endure now that Olivier and comedian Danny Kaye had a decades long "down low" arrangement. HHmmmmm.

 

Danni, you should start a 70's entertainment thread. I would live there part time!

 

M.

[Guest [Da...]]

Of course there were rampant rumors then that endure now that Olivier and comedian Danny Kaye had a decades long "down low" arrangement. HHmmmmm.

 

M.

 

No...I haven't heard that. It wasn't in the book I read. Really?

 

Back then you could commit someone and treatment was forced upon them. She was drugged up and then had the dreaded shock treatment of those day (truly barbaric) as compared to now where ECT is done in short intervals and people are fully informed of the risks/rewards before having it done.

 

Did you know one of the Kennedy girls (JFK's older sister??) had a lobotomy done on her. Then she became like Jack in One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest...they kept it real quiet and I don't think there is much news on her at all. She was allegedly an embarrassment to the family so they put her away and then that happened. Crazy world.

 

Danni

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Yes Danni, the Kennedy girl, very sad. It is said that her only "crime" was being outspoken and very smart, and not willing to tow the family line. She would not settle for playing the good girl. So Dad sent her to the family butcher. She died not too long ago. What a tragedy that family is for so may reasons. Wow.

 

Peter Lawford was a very pretty young actor in the Golden days, he was in a movie I absolutely love, It Could Happen To You. A young woman living in New York just wants to be famous, so she takes all her money and rents a billboard with her name on it, just her name in huge letters, "Gladys Glover" or maybe it said "Who is Gladys Glover" cog fog. It creates such a stir that people clamour for her endorsement. Of course this turns into a bummer for our heroine, so she marries her next door neighbor instead of giving in to lecherous but pretty Peter Lawford, and lives, well, you know.

 

Lawford, of course, went on to marry his meal ticket lovely wife, Pat Kennedy. He was heavily involved with the Marilyn Monroe, Kennedy boys goings on. People say he was there when Marilyn died? We'll never know. Peter died of complications of alcoholism.

 

Is everybody an addict?

 

Joan Cusack in In and Out: "Is Everybody Gay?" 

[Guest [Da...]]

I love Joan Cusack...have you seen her in that HBO series "Shameless"...she is absolutely awesome.

 

Sorry for going off track here.

 

I have to go now...we are going to Home Depot. Will hook up later M. Love you 

[[je...]]

Wow is this a juicy thread.  Thank you Divine Ms. M. for starting something we can sink our teeth into.  I am off to my grandson's highschool graduation, but intend to do some reading and writing here.  Is it appropriate to post pixs?  I want to follow protocol.  Perhaps Challis will drop by to let me know.  Because we could start posting our heart throbs.  I will never, ever, never get over Cary Grant.  I have biographies of Archie Leach from the git go.  Too beautiful for words.  I saw Debbie R. and Tony C. in "The Rat Race" the other night.  Oh! What faces. 

 

This is wonderful!

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I went through such a voracious hunger for anything Cary Grant several decades ago. I got my hands on all available vids, bought every single book that had been written at that time about him, this was waaaay before D.Canon wrote her book which I don't have any interest in, I met her - eh.

 

I couldn't get him off my mind. I was totally stuck in the Penny Serenade of our lives together, Archie and M. foreveh, of course he was dead by then.

 

This is the Off Topic area, there have been plenty of pics posted on different threads under that umbrella. But getting clearance is always a good idea. It's like asking if one should see a doc for various sxs, you know the person has got to answer "for your best health, you should have any phsical complications ruled out, please see your doc. 

 

I haven't slept yet, and I think I'm going to catch a quick zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

 

Love,

 

M.

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I LOVE old movies...just watched Arsenic and Old Lace last night....then The Apartment with Jack Lemmon.  Aresnic and Old Lace is veryt frantic but so are so many movies from that era.  I wondered why everyone talked so fast, like they are all on speed.  Then I heard some old movie director say in an interview it was because back then, they didn't spend money to reshoot a milllion times and were on time restrictions for each segment...you had to get your line in due to monetary constaints so the actors would talk as fast as they could.

 

I also LOVE to watch closely at the set and the actor's wardrobe etc.  In one scene the telephone will be on the table and in the next it will be on the wall.  Clothing 'mistakes' are common...a tie in one scene and tieless in the next.  Oh,  how the minutia entertains me!

 

I have been able to watch old movies durning this nightmare which is a blessing.  I wouldn't give you two cents for the crap that comes out of Hollywood now.  (although I did enjoy The Kings Speech).

 

So there you have it.  Think I will go eat a nice Lard Cake from the lovely people from Hostess!

 

Donna

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Oh yes, Cary Grant in Arsenic and Old Lace, it was one of my first CG movies. It was showing at a theater in Minneapolis that had double features of classic movies every weekend.

 

Rupert saying " Where'd ja get that face, Hollywood?" oh, it just cracks me up. You're right Donns, it was very frantic, over the top and all that. Can you imagine today?  These so called gross out comedies are just, well gross. Last summer, when I dragged my big butt out to see movies, I wanted comedies so I could force myself to learn how to laugh again. Well, I spend a lot of money, but I didn't laugh once. And not just because of my acute sxs.

 

I too love the minutea of it all, people tend not to like the fact that in the post mortem review coffee stop, I list every mistake I can find. I must admit, I look for the little inconsistencies. I wish I could stop it frankly. Why can't the editor, who's paid soooo much money, watch the darned film and catch these things in final editing? Or at least at screening, geesh. Sometimes I truly think I could give them a run for their money!!

 

  M.

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Yes M...these 'toilet bowl' comedies that Hollywood finds so funny...farting and belching and peeing on the side of buildings...not funny to me.  One of my sons thinks Dumb and Dumber is the funniest movie he ever saw.  It makes me wonder where I went wrong as a parent...LOL!

 

Today's movies are all about shocking violence and special effects.  The dialogue is almost non-existant.  There is one movie out right now that only has 13 minutes of conversation...can't think of the name of it.  Anyway, if I want that kind of 'shootum up' excitement I'll go sit on a curb in front of a crack den.

 

 

Donna

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I agree completely, I know some "smart" people who rave about Dumb and Dumber as if it's some post modern commentary on Life As We Know It in the good ole US of A.

 

If that's life, and we know it, I want off now!

 

Here are the awful, awful movies I spent my precious few dollars on last summer, all BAD!:

 

Horrible Bosses

Bad Teacher

Bridesmaids (saw it on cable recently, still don't find one scene funny, what's with all the hupla)

The Switch

The Change-Up

No Strings Attached

Just Go With It  ( come on Jen, stop making movies, you are never going to be a movie star, never)

The Dilema

Friends With Benefits

Mr. Popper's Penguins

Hall Pass

Zookeeper

Something Borrowed

 

I know I'm forgetting something, I really dragged myself out there constantly to try and force or will myself into real life. Something I'm sneaking in here for the first time, after total committment to bed for 2 months, there was a period of time I was able to push through while completely out of my mind with sxs, could barely walk or function, but physical sxs were far worse than mental. At about 6 month mark, I switched and mental was hugely worse than physical, and I was/am near house bound up to and including today. I am literally tearing myself out once a month, to once a week now for interviews, but I am severly agoraphobic now. I will add that to my signature. Sorry for rambling on inappropriate thread about this, but I felt like telling this truth, where not a lot of newbies will see it and get scared.

 

M.

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I consider myself a good mimic, but try as I may, I could never do the "accent" that actresses had in the 30's and 40's films.

 

Is it referred to as a North Atlantic accent?  I wonder what they all really sounded like. I can do a flawless Katherine Hepburn, in fact, it kind of freaks people out, coming out of my mouth and all.  But I've tried to do others, who's faces are floating by now and I can't think of their names, I could list their movies, the names, pfft, gone.

 

The men didn't develop an effected accent, did they? Jimmy Stewart always sounded like Jimmy Stewart, and so on.

 

[[da...]]

To me, all the women sounded like were about to greet The Queen.  Bette Davis, The Hepburns, maybe Helen Hayes...it was sort of a contorted British accent, at least to my ear.  "Dahlink...you are just so fabulous..."

[[je...]]

She just wants to say "Hi" and know that we remember her.  There is only one Norma Jeane!

 

http://www.allgraphics123.com/graphics/how-are-you/how-are-you35.jpg

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OMG a 90 year old dude wrote a book recently about his role in fixing up the stars of yesteryear such as Tracey, Hepburn, Walter Pigeon, and others with their choice of partner(s).  Do I need to know this?  Do I care?  Kind of because I am nosey and hooked on Hollywood.  But before I went to Amazon, I got a grip and said "RIP" to those stars in the constellations that shine no more.  M. any downlow on this? 

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Of course you know I was right on top of that! So, I caught an interview with the author, and thought, How fast can I get to Amazon and throw some money that I don't have at them to get this hot, juicy book?  Well, I read most of the reviews there and, oh my, it's not for us.

 

Full of the most trivial of rehashed things that we both have already heard. Cerntainly you've read the original and subsequent Hollywood Babylon right?

 

An interesting book, although not about Golden Days, is You'll Never Have Lunch In This Town Again, I'm sure you've already read that too, along with it's kind of copy cat subsequent bad books.

 

I'll certainly allowed by a different view of things watching pretty Jack Wagner on DWTS. 

 

M.

[[Ca...]]

Hey M

 

Knowing you're an old hollywood Buff, thought hou might like this clip.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=mz3CPzdCDws

 

Love Carol

[[Mi...]]

Rita Hayworth what a dame!  Thanks for sharing Carol.

 

MiniMinnie

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Mini,

 

Isn't that just the best?  It was first brought to us by another BB'r under another thread, I keep bumping it so people can find it. I can't get over the fabulous editing job! Wow, think of the hours spend doing this, I would love to meet the person who did it. I wonder if they similar stuff.

 

 

M.