Quote of the Week

Acting is a form of confession.

-Tallulah Bankhead

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Rogers and Astaire: An Animated Homage

Watch Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers pop out of a pair of cigarette packages and dance together in this clip from the Warner Bros. cartoon, September in the Rain (1937). Now look at the clip below to see the original dance, which takes place in the last few minutes of The Gay Divorcee (1934), to see how similar the routines were, down to tiny details (look out for a step Rogers makes on the way up, but not on the way down). Skip to the 2:00 mark for the dancing:

Classic Links

1939: The year Hollywood got it right--
Salt Lake City Tribune

TCM to honor Karl Malden July 10—
About.com

Alamo movie set closes after owner’s death—
The Houston Chronicle

Kirk Douglas in Lonely Are the Brave: finally on DVD—
Macon.com

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Classic Links

Doris Day: the girl next door, a bit remote—
The Philadelphia Inquirer

Philip French’s screen legends: Jean-Paul Belmondo—
The Guardian

Article from 1977-- Bette Davis advises women: don’t let men hold you back—
Beck/Smith Hollywood

Katie Holmes to pay tribute to Judy Garland on dance show—
SF Gate

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Quote of the Week

The difference between life and the movies is that a script has to make sense, and life doesn't.

-Joseph Mankiewicz

Classic Links

For Independence Day: Ten Movies that Scream America—
Huffington Post

Karl Malden RIP--

career gallery at the Guardian

AP Obituary

Variety Obituary

Washington Post Obituary

Karl Malden, 1912-2009

Goodbye to Karl Malden, a deeply respected and respectable actor who had a legendary career on the silver screen, television and the stage. A whole generation knew him as the long-time pitchman for American Express, but he started his career in New York, onstage. Though he had a small role in They Knew What They Wanted (1940), Malden didn’t find screen success until after his service in World War II. His breakout role was in Elia Kazan’s A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), a performance which won him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Kazan also directed him in his other Oscar-nominated performance in On the Waterfront (1954). Though he had an overall aura of solid decency, Malden was a diverse actor. He could play that good guy role better than anyone, as he showed in Streetcar, Waterfront and the Bette Davis thriller Dead Ringer (1964), but he could also play sleazy, as he did in Baby Doll (1957) and he was downright despicable in the Troy Donahue potboiler Parrish (1961). Later in his career, he had a five year run as Detective Lt. Mike Stone on the television police drama The Streets of San Francisco, a role which earned him four Emmy nominations (he finally won in 1984 for the television miniseries Fatal Vision). Malden was married to Mona Greenburg for over 70 years. They had two daughters together, one of whom co-authored his 1997 autobiography, Where Do I Start?. His unique presence, visage and intelligent intensity have contributed to so many great, enduring screen moments. May he rest in peace.