Tuesday, March 30, 2010


Karen at Bobbins and Bombshells was nice enough to give me the "You're going place, baby" blog award. Adorable!

*Choose the award logo you like the best. Include it in your post.
*Pass the award on to 10 bloggers that inspire you in that post with links. (I'm pulling a Millie and changing the rule to 5! cue evil laugh)
*Of course, let them know!
*And don't forget to link back to who your received the award from. Oh, that would be me!
My inspiring 5 are.....
Millie at ClassicForever. Always creative and interesting posts.
Ivan at Thrilling Days of Yesteryear. If not only for that header image (including Franklin Pangborn!)
Sally at Flying Down to Hollywood. What detail, especially in the dancer countdown.
Nicole at Vintage Film Nerd. Reviewing a film every day takes a lot of work!
Rupert at Classic Movies Digest. He provides us with a great variety of posts, something I think all of us film bloggeurs need a little more of.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Fangirl on the loose!
























































70 years before...


Tomorrow I will return with a chronicle of Le Tour de Ginger, which included a harrowing trip up a huge hill to 1605 Gilcrest Drive, and much farther north to Chatsworth.

Monday, March 22, 2010

My return and subsequent 21st birthday!


We poured in to snowy and icy Oklahoma early yesterday morning, and the ice made us even more depressed about leaving sunny L.A.
This week is going to be crazy because I will be trying to finish this paper about Carefree, but I will try to come back as often as I can and post little tidbits about Carefree that you will find interesting. I copied some scenes from old script drafts word for word, but I'm pretty sure they are copyright protected, so I can't share them in their entirety. Here's the tidbit for today, from the production files, which logged Ginger's daily punctuality (lol):
July 5th: call time 9 AM, arrived 10:10 AM. Also an hour late from lunch. What was going on that day?

All of my pictures are on my facebook. You're welcome to friend me (just let me know you're from here), or here is a link for the public album.

Also, today is my 21st birthday! Not much excitement so far because I'm watching some kids who are particularly talkative, but later tonight my friends are taking me out for sushi and drinks.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Top Hat and Roberta at the Egyptian Theater

Well, I saw Top Hat and Roberta tonight at Grauman's historic Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. It was a surreal experience, to watch these movies only blocks away from 780 Gower street, where they were shot.
The applause at the beginning of Top Hat brought me to tears, and I had trouble maintaining my composure through the rest of the double-feature. Everyone clapped after each musical number! It was great being in a room with tons of other people who loved these films, and I was really happy that two of my friends accompanied me and enjoyed them as well.
Tomorrow, I'm off to UCLA to start my research on Carefree! I will be handling the actual documents, including script drafts and production papers. I can't wait!

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Today is the day!


My friend Paige and I are leaving at 12 for Los Angeles. See you on the other side!

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Sandra Bullock: The Ginger Connection


Sandra Bullock's Best Actress win is already considered by many to be undeserved. I see a strong connection to the 1941 Oscar ceremony, when none other but Ginger Rogers was awarded her little gold man for Kitty Foyle.
Both Rogers and Bullock underwent surprising transformations in their persona before their respective wins. As we all know, Ginger began as a wise-cracking chorine, then she became an art deco ingenue and a screwball comedy queen. Then in 1939, the hair went dark and two films, Primrose Path and Kitty Foyle, both about poor youmg women working through adversity, surprised the academy enough to earn her an Oscar. But her win is not enough. What makes Ginger's win so special is that she beat the following legends of the screen:
Martha Scott in Our Town
Joan Fontaine in Rebecca
Bette Davis in The Letter
and Katharine Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story

Those four nominated performances are some of the best in Hollywood history, not just in the filmography of 1940. Many people call this award a major upset, and I can see their point. Kitty Foyle is a pretty forgettable film for someone who isn't a Ginger maniac.

Similarly, The Blindside will probably not be remembered as a hallmark of filmmaking in 70 years. I haven't seen it, but from what I hear it was a good film that certainly made a lot of money (just like Kitty Foyle).
The important thing to learn from these two awards given 70 years apart is that the Academy often looks at the arc of a career or a persona. They saw that Sandra Bullock brought something new out of herself that we did not see in Hope Floats, Practical Magic, or even this year in All About Steve. They see when a performance is special, not just an actor, and I like that. Gabourey Sidibe will win an Oscar, and if not she will be remembered as the woman who always should have won. The same goes with Carey Mulligan. They are both at the beginning of their careers and have nothing but stars to come. They will be the Katharine, the Bette of their time. Give Ginger her chance to shine!

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

ugh.

I think my illness is relapsing. I felt ok today thanks to the wonder that is Dayquial, then after an evening nap, I woke up feeling about 2% alive.

There is one positive thing that has come out of my illness: I broke my film record. You may remember if you are a long-term follower that I attending an all-night horror film festival over the summer, in which we watched 5 films between 10:00 pm and 8:00 am.
Monday, I watched eight films. That's right, eight. It started at about 2:00 am when I couldn't sleep because I can't breathe very well, and continued between naps until about 11:00 pm.
1. The Princess Diaries: I know, but I actually like this movie for some reason. It makes me feel good.
2. The Awful Truth: I watch this at bedtime about 3-4 times a week, but this time I didn't fall asleep, like I usually do about when Lucy and Daniel sing "Home on the Range". that led me to..
3. My Favorite Wife: another bedtime favorite. I don't like watching movies that are new to me at bedtime because I always fall asleep.
4. Once Upon a Honeymoon: another bedtime staple that I watched completely. It's still weird, but I like it.
5. Blonde Venus: The only film that was new to me. I had to watch it for my Films of the 30s course (don't et me started on how much I dislike that class). It's the first film we have watched in the class that I have mostly liked, but I don't think it will make it in to my regular viewing rotation.
6. Louis CK: Chewed Up: I also love stand-up comedy, and the way this guy makes fun of his kids leaves me rolling on the floor.
7. Bringing Up Baby: this one usually knocks me out, and I slept through the middle, but actively watched the beginning and end. Then I thought about watching it again with the commentary, but I flipped the DVD over and watched....
8. The Philadelphia Story. Fantastic.

Apparently Cary Grat is the best medicine, or so I hoped.

That was my monday! Sometimes being sick isn't so bad, except for the fact that I wouldn't mind dying right now...
Back to bed!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Illness and the numbers four

I am sorry for the delays in my blogging, but I have been sick. Two weeks ago I had stomach flu, and now I either have tonsillitis, step throat, or a sinus infection. Either way, I really need to build up my immune system, because I know the kids I take care of are carrying tons of germs.
Also, I got in a very minor wreck yesterday, just enough to piss me off. I had just backed out of my parking space when the lady across from me backed out right in to my rear bumper. Now I have a lovely dent just above my right rear tire.

Anyway, here are number 4...a very appropriate pair:
The original "tall, dark and handsome". Known as "The King", Clark Gable was at his best playing the suave and sneaky man. What I like best about him was his ability to deliver any line through a smile, in effect, "killing 'em with kindness". He is one of the only people who could insult you, and make you enjoy every minute of it! Despite his big ears and crooked teeth, his voice and the way he carried himself remains very appealing. It also helps that he played one of the most desireed characters ever created, Rhett Butler.
Favorite Roles: Rhett in Gone with the Wind, Peter in It Happened One Night

Apparently, this song brought the usually tough Gable to tears when it was premiered at his birthday party.

Appropriately, my #4 actress is the love of Gable's life, the Profane Angel herself, the wonderful Carole Lombard. She had a wonderful gift for comedy both on screen and in real life. I just finished a great book called "Gable and Lombard" that chronicles their lives and their relationship, and I burst out laughing at each story of Carole's practical jokes. I would have loved to have spent time with her and attend some of her "fun parties". One of my favorite stories of one of her pranks is her arrival to a party celebrating someone's release from mental care. Appropriately, Carole arrived in an ambulance, and was wheeled in on a stretcher, wearing a straitjacket. Her spirit is infectious, and even though she died for too early, she left us with hundreds of reasons to smile.
On a side-note, Carole's beaded gown from No Man of Her Own will be one of the many costumes on display at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art's exhibit Sketch to Screen.
Favorite Roles: Irene in My Man Godfrey, Connie in No Man of Her Own, Hazel in Nothing Sacred

3:51 is the funniest part. (obviously, spoilers if you haven't seen the movie)