Quote of the Week

Every time I see him work, it looks to me like a bunch of firecrackers going off all at once.

-Will Rogers (about James Cagney)

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TV Tuesday: How To Marry a Millionaire, the Television Show

Yes, from 1957 to 1959, How to Marry a Millionaire was TV show! It starred Merry Anders, Lori Nelson and Barbara Eden before her I Dream of Jeannie days. Eden steals the show as the bubbly Loco. Despite sharing a name with the Betty Grable character in the original, this Loco is really more of a hybrid of Grable’s happy flirt and Marilyn Monroe’s near-sighted dim bulb. I think Anders, as Mike, is supposed to be the level-headed Lauren Bacall character. I don’t know where that leaves Nelson.

Though it only lasted two seasons, this is a fun show. It is by necessity less glossy and glamorous than its big screen sister, but it’s got an amusing, more mischievous tone. This 1957 episode, called The Three Pretenders, is the third in the series.

Part One:

 

Part Two:



Part Three:

 

Monday Serenade: Clara Bow Sings

Well, as you can see from this promo, Clara Bow wasn't meant to be a musical star. That said, she's awfully cute--and quite a sport for dancing and singing when she was terrified to even speak on film. After hearing the many stories of Bow's negative experiences with the talkies, I was so surprised to find that she actually had a charming speaking voice. It wasn't so much that she couldn't speak well, it's just that it frightened her to do it on film. I wish she had made more talkies, because she was charming in a whole new way when she spoke, but I'm happy she managed to at least star in a few.

Quote of the Week

Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life.

-Sophia Loren

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TV Tuesday: Joan Fontaine, Richard Basehart and The Love Boat

Look at this--Joan Fontaine and Richard Basehart on a 1981 episode of the Love Boat! I need to make a master list of all the classic movie star appearances on this show. I know there were a ton of them.

Monday Serenade: Chico Marx Plays Slapstick Piano

I get giddy with delight whenever I watch Chico Marx playing the piano. He always manages to incorporate a heavy dose of slapstick into his light-hearted performances, and because he keeps that happy anarchy going, it never feels like his musical interludes stop the action.

Quote of the Week

For a while in the twenties and thirties, art was talked about as a substitute for religion; now B movies are a substitute for religion.

-Pauline Kael

Classic Links

Dorothy Janis, 1910-2010, one of the last silent movie actresses— Motion Picture Gems

So when is Asta going to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame?— LA Times blog

A new bio of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor: Furious Love (that’s quite a title!)— The Bookseller

There’s some nice tidbits about Jean Renoir in this article— LA Times

The ultimate western fan quiz— AMC

Classic Links

Get Well Soon Ivan of Thrilling Days of Yesteryear-- She Blogged By Night

Debbie Reynolds today-- Yorkshire Post

The escapades of Errol Flynn-- Vanity Fair

The Natalie Wood mystery resurfaces?-- On the Marquee

Oh barf—news about potential Wizard of Oz remakes—
 /Film
Cinematical

Classic Links

Classic movie quotes as infographics-- /Film

The fabulous movie review chain continues with link #6, Gunga Din (1939)!-- Noir Girl

A great post about one of the best of the worst movies-- The Self-Styled Siren

The Wildcat (1921), yet another silent movie I must see-- Art, Movies, Wood and Whatnot

The ten worst best picture winners-- Antagony and Ecstasy

Classic Links

A great interview with Dean Martin’s daughter-- Daily Record

Q&A: Hayley Mills— The Guardian

Do screen children make good when they grow up?— Hollywood Heyday

A silent movie review round-up:
America (1924)--Out of the Past
The Birth Life and Death of Christ (1903)--Silent Volume
Her Sister From Paris (1925)--Black and White: Cinema and Chocolate

Let’s go to the drive-in!— Retrospace

Ten seafaring flicks— Riku Writes, Mostly About the Movies

Kirk Douglas still holds grudge over lost role— IMDB

The classic movie fan’s Oscars-- Silents and Talkies

A review of the film noir Heat Wave (1954)-- Noir of the Week

Monday Serenade: Janet Gaynor

Janet Gaynor wasn't made for musicals, but her charming warble always brings a smile to my face. It always seems as though she is just an ordinary woman, wandering around singing happily to herself--and the cameras just happen to be there. Here she sings My Heart's Desire in Adorable (1933), the last in a string of popular musicals she made in the early thirties.

Quote of the Week

Hollywood’s all right. It’s the pictures that are bad.

-Orson Welles

Image Source

Classic Links

Rebecca: book vs. movie-- Movie Viewing Girl

Movie vampires and the sun (some of the pics aren't good for lunchtime viewing)-- TCM/Movie Morlocks

In defense of director Sam Wood— The Self-Styled Siren

Note to bloggers: Blogger has made some changes-- Laura's Miscellaneous Musings

Classic Links

The 1903 version of Alice in Wonderland— Cinematical

Lovely Sylvia Sidney pic spam— Vintage Film Nerd

A documentary about Orson Welles’ grandson in Montana— About.com

An interesting review of Ten Nights in a Barroom (1931)— Flappers and Flickers

Classic Links

Roger Ebert sort of speaks. . .sniff-- /Film

Random Oscar facts— The Telegraph

I prefer to avoid getting retail on you all, but these are such wonderful prints. I never get tired of looking at them— Silents and Talkies

A personal memory of Kathryn Grayson-- My Desert

Classic Links

I love this new photo blog. Great classic Hollywood images. It has made my feed reading much more beautiful— Vintage Photos

TCM comes to a city near you—whether you like it or not— Out of the Past

The ultimate Gregory Peck fan quiz— AMC

A review of the sentimental romance Smilin’ Through (1932) with Fredric March and Norma Shearer-- And. . .Scene

Another biography of Katharine Hepburn (okay, fine, but where’s that Irene Dunne biography? Am I going to have to write one myself?)— SF Gate

TV Tuesday: Audrey Hepburn Stands Her Ground

 

I've heard stories about how tough Audrey Hepburn could be, but I'd never seen that with my own eyes until I watched this clip from 1963. Wow, she's not going to let that reporter push her around!

(via Joan Crawford Deluxe Suite)

Classic Links

A nice profile of singing cowboy Herb Jeffries— Another Old Movie Blog

A peek at Lucille Ball’s dressing room— Dear Old Hollywood

A brief history of the Oscar statuette-- Cinema Style

Will Smith in a remake of Suspicion? I don’t think I’ll ever be able to picture anyone but Cary and Joan in those roles— About.com

And Gwynth Paltrow is going to play Marlene Dietrich? Who is coming up with these ideas?— IMDB

How 100 years of Hollywood have charted the history of America (according to Phil French)— The Guardian

An interesting review of The Visit(1964) with Ingrid Bergman and Anthony Quinn-- Motion Picture Gems

Clifton Webb sings!-- Silents and Talkies

Monday Serenade: Marilyn Monroe in 1948

Norma Jean isn't quite "Marilyn Monroe" yet in this 1948 clip from Ladies of the Chorus, but she's already singing about diamonds and sugar daddies.(The part with the dolls is bizarre.)