I'm on a Gene Tierney high

After watching 5 of her films in the past 3 days, I am without a doubt on a bit of Gene Tierney high. Not only that, but I think I've finally succumbed to her oodles of charm. I must admit that I hadn't given her much of a chance before having only seen parts of a few of her films, and all I knew about her was that she had an overbite (pretty sure I have Millie to thank for that piece of information ;D), was ridiculously gorgeous, and had a really tragic life. In short, I basically thought of her as another one of the 40s ridiculously gorgeous actresses whom I would get around to watching more films of sometime (I even had her box set on my Amazon wishlist to remind me to watch some of her films!). Well, all I can say is I am so glad I decided to watch Leave Her to Heaven (1945) on Thursday night.

Yes, it's that film. I don't think you can be a classic film fan without knowing about the chilling scene shown in the photo above, even if you've never actually seen it.

Anyway, what can I say? I was hooked from that moment on. I wanted to see more films from this talented and beautiful lady. So the next day I watched The Mating Season (1951) whose cast also boasted Thelma Ritter and Miriam Hopkins so it HAD to be pretty wonderful - and it was! Then that evening I watched Heaven Can Wait (1953) and realised that I'd actually seen it before which was a surprise. I'm not sure if I'd seen all of it but I definitely remembered certain parts. Then last night I finally watched Laura (1944), a film I'd been meaning to watch since the beginning of time. Let me just say, I WAS NOT EXPECTING ANY OF THAT! I was sat on the edge of my seat the entire film. And I have never been more repulsed in my life than by seeing Clifton Webb in a bathtub. Just no. Finally, this afternoon I watched The Left Hand of God (1955) and, whilst it's not a great film and Gene's part isn't that big, I enjoyed it. Bogart was brilliant as always and you can never go wrong when Agnes Moorehead is in the cast. 

I am looking forward so much to watching more Gene films so please leave me recommendations! After I finish this post I'm going to watch Tobacco Road (1941) and perhaps I might write a review on it (any excuse to post Gene photos!). So, I'm going to say good night and leave you in peace :P 

My Year in Film: June

I watched quite a lot of films this month (52 in total) so I feel quite proud of myself after last months pathetic total of about 2 dozen. I'm also rather surprised that I managed to watch so many given that I spent about 10 days in the middle of the month watching the first 2 1/2 seasons of House (which is a brilliant series, by the way). Anyway, here's my overview of the month...

160. 500 Days of Summer (2009)

161. Up (2009)

162. Sherlock Jr. (1924)

163. WALL-E (2008)

164. A Farewell To Arms (1932)

165. Cash McCall (1959)

166. Nothing Sacred (1936)

167. Forrest Gump (1994)

168. Cool Hand Luke (1967)

169. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010)

170. Inglourious Basterds (2009)

171. Lover Come Back (1961)

172. Dodsworth (1936)

173. Make Way For Tomorrow (1937)

174. Annie Hall (1977)

175. Citizen Kane (1941)

176. Cattle Queen of Montana (1954)

177. The Scarlet Empress (1934)

178. The Pianist (2002)

179. Midnight (1939)

180. Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)

181. Trouble in Paradise (1932)

182. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

183. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

184. The Third Man (1949)

185. Harvey (1950)

186. Out of Africa (1985)

187. Flags of Our Fathers (2006)

188. Marnie (1964)

189. Butch Cassidy and the Sun Dance Kid (1969)

190. Moulin Rouge! (2001)

191. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

192. One Way Passage (1932)

193. The English Patient (1996)

194. Letters From Iwo Jima (2006)

195. The Searchers (1956)

196. Big (1988)

197. High Noon (1952)

198. Bringing Up Baby (1938)

199. The Palm Beach Story (1942)

200. Young At Heart (1954)

201. Grand Hotel (1932)

202. Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)

203. Atonement (2007)

204. Swing High, Swing Low (1937)

205. Lilies of the Field (1963)

206. In the Heat of the Night (1967)

207. The Eagle and the Hawk (1933)

208. True Confession (1937)

209. Singin' in the Rain (1952)

210. Notorious (1947)

211. Leave Her to Heaven (1945)

1920s - 1

1930s - 15

1940s - 6

1950s - 7

1960s - 8

1970s - 1

1980s - 2

1990s - 2

2000s - 9

2010s - 1

Most Watched Actresses

1. Carole Lombard - 4

2. Mary Astor -3

3. Beulah Bondi - 2

4. Claudette Colbert - 2

5. Doris Day -2

6. Kay Francis - 2

7. Miriam Hopkins - 2

8. Natalie Wood - 2

Most Watched Actors

1. Cary Grant - 3

2. John Barrymore - 2

3. Claude Rains - 2

5. Frank Sinatra - 2

4. Fred MacMurray - 2

5. Frederic March - 2

6. Gary Cooper -2

7. James Stewart - 2

8. Joseph Cotten - 2

9. Orson Welles - 2

10. Paul Newman - 2

11. Robert Redford - 2

12. Sidney Poitier - 2

13. Tom Hanks - 2

New To Me Films I Really Loved

Cool Hand Luke (1967)

Starring: Paul Newman, George Kennedy

I was really looking forward to watching this and it absolutely did not disappoint - if anything it exceeded my expectations. Paul Newman gave a spectacular performance as Luke, a prisoner in a chain gang in Florida whose cool, seemingly fearless nature earns him the respect of his fellow prisoners. George Kennedy was particular brilliant in the film I thought and IMDb tells me he won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance. It's just a really amazing film.

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

Starring: Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, Philip Alford

I'd never seen TKAM before June - I know, the horror! - and I am so thankful that I finally got around to watching it because it's BRILLIANT. There are no other words for it. Usually when I've heard so many amazing things about a film I feel let down when I finally watch it because it doesn't live up to my expectations, but this film is the exception. Everything about it is magnificent and I feel like watching it again because it just seems like it's one of those films that you get more and more out of every time you watch it. Gregory is such an amazing, darling man in it that I just want to give him a huge hug. He actually owns the role of Atticus Finch, no doubt about it. Mary Badham was brilliant too - what an amazing little actress. I give it A MILLION STARS!

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

Starring: Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh, Angela Lansbury

I think it says on the poster for this film something like, "If you miss the first five minutes, you won't know what's happening!". So. True. I rented the film from the library and popped the disc in one evening just before I went to bed with a very vague idea of what it was about. Then, as I often do, I started watching it whilst doing stuff online. Some films you can actually get away with doing that but needless to say, I got about 20 minutes in and was like "Wait... I do not understand a single thing that is going on. I am so confused. *rewind*". So I started from the beginning again and my eyes were pretty much glued to the screen through the entire film (although I had to watch it in two parts because, riveting as the film was, my eyes decided they didn't want to stay open any longer!). I think there was a remake of it in 2004 (with Meryl Streep, I think) but I don't know if I'll ever watch it because there is absolutely no way you could improve upon such an amazing film.

Letters From Iwo Jima (2006)

Starring: Ken Watanabe, Kazunari Ninomiya, Tsuyoshi Ihara, Ryō Kase

I saw Flags of Our Fathers, the companion piece to this film (both films are about the Battle of Iwo Jima and they were both directed and co-produced by Clint Eastwood), earlier on in the month and I wasn't really that impressed. The word that comes to mind when trying to describe it is 'bland'. It was completely lacking of emotion and when you think about what a terrific film they could have made with the subject matter, it's all just a bit disappointing. Then I saw LFIJ. Everything that FOOF was lacking, this film made up for. I think one of the greatest assets of the film is that it manages to show that the Japanese weren't all like the evil villains we see in many war films - that there was good and evil on both the American and the Japanese sides. Just like on the American side, there were men there who would give anything to go back home to their family. I really can't recommend this great film enough.

(Just a quick note: There are no hugely graphic combat scenes in either film such as you would see in something like Saving Private Ryan or Band of Brothers but having said that there are certain scenes that were quite disturbing, possibly more so that a full on combat scene, so if you're not up to seeing people being blown apart by grenades and limbs scattered around you should maybe give it a miss for now.)

In the Heat of the Night

Starring: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger

I've been meaning to watch more Sidney Poitier films for a while now and the so the other day I watched Lilies of the Field (I read the book a few years ago for school) and In the Heat of the Night, both of which I loved tremendously. I especially loved ITHOTN though and even slyly recommended my brother to watch it when he text me asking if I'd seen any good films recently (if you're reading this oh brother of mine, you should go and watch it!). Sidney is an immense actor and they call him MISTER Tibbs! Sorry, I just had to get that out of my system. He's in a rather racist in Mississippi to investigate a murder (it's actually more complicated that that but you'll have to watch it to find out.) but because he's black the majority of the towns folk are not impressed. Sidney, or rather MISTER Tibbs, refuses to let the racists drive him out of the town before he solves the murder. Go and watch it now - even if you're not my brother!

Well, there you go! Speak to you all soon :)

Box Set Monday #1: Deborah Kerr

Hello and welcome to my new series: Box Set Monday. The idea for it came when I was lamenting over the fact that so many wonderful stars don't have even one box set of their own. Fans of Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Cary Grant, Marilyn Monroe etc. have many box sets available to them, but what about Deborah Kerr's fans? Or Greer's? And how about Eleanor and Roz Russell's? So, I decided that it would be fun to imagine I was able to create and manufacture the box sets for certain stars who haven't any; it seemed rather exciting to think about and pick out certain titles that would compliment each other and make a wonderful box set. So, to start of this series we have my queen, Deborah Kerr.

The Essential Deborah Kerr Box Set

Contains:

From Here To Eternity, 1953

The Grass is Greener, 1960

The King and I, 1956

The Night of the Iguana, 1964

An Affair to Remember, 1957

The End of the Affair, 1955

Now, a little about why I chose this particular selection of films. Firstly, I wanted to have a mix of drama, romance, and comedy. I personally prefer box sets to have a mix of an actor or actresses' films from a variety genres. So, taking that into consideration, I selected from what I consider to be the "essentials" for every Deborah Kerr film fan or for getting someone hooked on her. There are films I missed out that I'm sure other people might have included (such as Black Narcissus, Separate Tables, Tea and Sympathy) but I chose the films that I personally think would make someone fall in love with Deborah. Perhaps I'll do a Vol. 2 of this box set and include some of the films I didn't in this one.

I picked From Here To Eternity because it's perhaps Deborah's most iconic role, not only because she made such a wonderful job of Karen Holmes, but also because it was pretty the first film in which she didn't play some prim, perfect lady. Although she did get more roles in a similar vein after FHTE, Deborah never really managed to shake off the "just sit there and look pretty and English" typecast. Therefore, as a testimony to both her talent and the fact that it's a brilliant film, FHTE had to be included.

The Grass is Greener is a film I think you can't help but love. It's easy going, it's funny, it has a great cast (Deborah, Jean Simmons, Cary Grant, Robert Mitchum), and it's such a great little film. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that I had to pick this as one of the comedies. It showcases how brilliant the entire cast were as comedians (not that we didn't already know Cary was) and always look as though they are having so much fun together. It never gets old.

Whilst FHTE is arguably Deborah's most iconic role, Anna Leonowens in The King and I is probably her most well known and well loved. It's a truly wonderful film, from the cast to the music, the colours, and of course, the storyline. Deborah shone as Anna, the English governess who although being quite prim and proper, had no qualms about giving the King of Siam a piece of her mind. Everyone knows and loves this film and you couldn't very well have make a Deborah Kerr box set without including it.

In The Night of the Iguana Deborah, Ava Gardner and Richard Burton all give magnificent performances - maybe the best of their respective careers. It's sadly not all that well known but it's an essential for, not only Deborah/Ava/Robert fans, but also for classic film fans in general.

An Affair to Remember: the ultimate romantic comedy. It's one of those films that when you say "I like classic films" to someone, they reply with "Oh, me too! I love blah blah blah and AATR!". Nevertheless, it's a wonderful tear-jerking film that mixes romance, drama and comedy perfectly. If you don't love Deborah after seeing her sing "Tomorrowland" with the little kiddies, you never will.

The End of the Affair is probably the film I'm most excited to include in this selection. It's breathtakingly stunning black and white photography combined with the heartbreaking story makes this very sadly underrated film not only one of my favourite Deborah films but one of my favourite films in general. It's tragic and beautiful, sweet and haunting. It's probably the darkest of all six films.

The Essential Deborah Kerr Box Set will retail for FREE! Because everyone needs a bit of Deborah in their lives ;D

---

I hope you enjoyed the first Box Set Monday. Any ideas for who box set (it's a legitimate term as of this moment) would be most appreciated. Thanks for reading!

balloons, cake and birthday wishes for the 'woman of a thousand faces'

That's right ladies and gentlemen, a year has rolled by and once again we find ourselves celebrating the lovely Eleanor Parker's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

I hope you have a wonderful days filled with raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woollen mittens. See how seamlessly I managed to fit a TSoM reference into that sentence? Even though it technically had nothing to do with Eleanor...

ANYWAY, it's time for me to rustle up one of my 6 Reasons posts. I haven't done one of these since Deborah's birthday last year because none of my most favourite favouritest favourites have had any birthdays since then (except Glynis, but shhhhh she musn't find out!). In no particular order...

Reason #1 - Her smile

Reason #2 - The Baroness Schraeder Giggle

Reason #3 - Her chameleon-like ability in films

Check out Lizzie (1957) if you want to see her showcase her ability to morph from a mousy museum office worker Elizabeth into the more than slightly crazy Lizzie.

Reason #4 - Her voice

Reason #5 - Scaramouche

It should start at 5:10, one of my favourite parts. Eleanor is so hilarious as Lenore; the film wouldn't be any good without her in my opinion ;D

Reason #6 - Her ridiculous beauty and adorableness

There you have it! 6 serious and not so serious reasons I love the birthday girl. Once again, on the off chance that Eleanor is surfing the interwebz, I'd just like to extend my warmest wishes to you on this day and I hope that you enjoyed eating plenty of weiner schnitzel (sorry, my TSoM references cannot be tamed!) cake and had a wonderful time. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! ♥

New Poll: Who's Your Favourite von Trapp Kid?

As I've mentioned so many time before, The Sound of Music is one of my favourite films and when I was growing up I used to measure my age with the ages of the von Trapp children. Now I'm sadly older than all of them (at least I got someone to sing Sixteen Going on Seventeen to me before I turned 17), although most people would probably place my mental age somewhere between Gretl and Marta. My favourite growing up changed several times. First it was Gretl (and Liesl because she was so grown up!), then Louisa, and for the past few years it's been Brigitta. She is hilarious and brilliant and I want to be her! So, let me know who your favourite is by voting in the poll in the sidebar :)