Saturday, August 21, 2010

My Favorite Things :)

I can't tell you how excited I am to make this post - it's something I have talked about ever since I started working and stopped blogging - a list of favorites, surprises and debunked assumptions. During the course of my blog I watched just under 90 new movies - and since then I have watched dozens more as the blog really just fueled my love for movies. TCM consistently takes over our DVR and Netflix queue. What can I say...I'm in love.

So here you have it...a summation of my experience :)

Who did I watch the most?
Spencer Tracy - 7
Katharine Hepburn - 7
Jimmy Stewart - 5

....and for directors, I saw 6 of Billy Wilder's movies :)

Who surprised me the most - in a good way?
This one is easy. Spencer Tracy. Before I started the blog, I had never seen Spencer Tracy in anything - all I really knew of him was that he was in a relationship with Katharine Hepburn while married and that he was a drunk. I expected him to be cocky and brash and I was prepared to not care for him at all. Well, I was right about the relationship and about him being a drunk, but the cocky and brash - I could not have been more wrong, at least about him as an actor. Within 10 minutes of seeing him on screen (my first viewing was I believe...Adam's Rib) I was in love. I found him to be so charming and subtle - I could never picture him reading lines from a page. By the end of the blog I had seen 5 of his movies - Adam's Rib, Woman of the Year, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Pat and Mike and Captains Courageous - and since then I have added Judgement at Nuremberg and Boy's Town. I can say without a doubt that he is my favorite actor of all time - and for those of you who know me well, you know I take that very seriously :)

Another surprise to me was Billy Wilder. As a self proclaimed movie buff, I am simply ashamed to say that I had never even heard of Billy Wilder before the blog - honestly now I can't even imagine how I didn't know him. He's quite an interesting character - so interesting, in fact, that I read a book about him called "Conversations with Wilder" by Cameron Crowe...very good read. He's a great storyteller and storycrafter - I love how he puts shots together - the light and shadow, etc...I saw six of his movies during blogtime - let's see if I can remember them from memory - Some Like it Hot, Sabrina, Sunset Boulevard, Love in the Afternoon, The Apartment....and.....and .....oh yes, Stalag 17 (had to look that one up). Post blog, I watched The Lost Weekend - one of his most well known movies. I highly recommend all of them...except Love in the Afternoon, haha :)

One more...Bette Davis. When she's onscreen, I just can't take my eyes off of her. Plus her list of quotes about Joan Crawford are reason enough to love her. She just has PRESENCE.

Did anyone meet the exact expectations I had for them?
I love this question because I only wrote it so that I could talk about Jimmy Stewart and Frank Capra. One of the reasons I started this blog was because I felt that, as a movie buff, I really needed to learn more about the classic movies and actors. I would say "Well, Jimmy Stewart is my favorite actor" but let's be honest...he's everyone's favorite :) So, just like I can't say Hey Jude is my favorite Beatles song because it's too obvious, I felt like I needed a different answer. Well, I'm sorry folks, but no one in this world amuses me more onscreen than Jimmy Stewart - I just love every second of everything he does (well, minus some seconds from Harvey). You would think his on screen "aw shucks" demeanor was just a show but it wasn't - I read his biography too and no one ever refuted what a great person he was - friendly, humble. .....and Frank Capra, come on. The guy just doesn't make bad movies - It's a Wonderful Life, You Can't Take it With You, It Happened One Night, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Classics. (Julie I know you wanted me to add Arsenic and Old Lace - haha). A great pair of men.

Any other surprises?
When I started blogging, there was a whole genre of movies that I knew little about but really wanted to explore - westerns. I thought, you know, I have seen almost no old westerns, maybe I could really love them? The answer to that, in short, is no. I wanted desperately, and I mean really desperately, to love John Wayne and John Ford....and although I have a great respect for them, I just couldn't force myself to love them. I was really surprised that I couldn't - I thought for sure John Wayne would become a favorite. ....an icon, yes...a man's man, absolutely...a hollywood legend, no doubt. I also love how respected he was in Hollywood - women loved him and men wanted to be him.

Who were Hollywood's hottest leading men?
Again, an easy question - and I have three easy answers. Paul Newman. William Holden. Clark Gable. Done. There are no words.

Who were Hollywood's hottest leading women?
Ah, yes. I must give this one to Joan Crawford - talk about presence, my God, when she appears in The Women you think no wonder Norma Shearer's husband cheated on her. To me, she is the quintessential movie star.

What movies would I add to my favorite movies of all time?
The Women
Some Like it Hot - one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. Jack Lemmon. Classic.
How Green was my Valley
Sunset Boulevard - Gloria Swanson=perfection.

...and just one parting thought. Perhaps I should have put Lionel Barrymore on my list of surprises - I've only even seen two of his movies - It's a Wonderful Life and You Can't Take it With You - but he won my heart in You Can't Take it With You - just seeing him onscreen makes me smile. His speech in the jail cell at the end of You Can't Take it With You is one of my favorite moments of all the movies I've seen.

I hope I didn't forget anything :)




1 comment:

  1. Great post, Marlie. I'm not at all surprised about your opinion of John Wayne. I totally agree. There were only a few movies where I felt like he "acted" instead of just being a presence on screen. One of those is "The Quiet Man" another is "The Shootist" which you need to see sometime. (also stars Jimmy Stewart) His westerns and war movies are all the same.

    Interesting that Spencer Tracy made such an impact on you. Out of all the male actors that you've watched you've picked him above all. That's a tribute in itself!! I certainly am not the expert you have become but he's a classic for sure. I think Kate Hepburn would be my favorite actress of that time period. Meryl Streep might have to be my favorite of the more current era. I thought you might say you were surprised by Jack Nicholson. He actually had a few early roles where I felt like he showed some acting ability. Too bag he hasn't done much of it lately. Just the same old Jack.

    It was a great idea for you to do the blog and force yourself to watch so many movies from the older years because I think that's when movies were movies. You've certainly broadened your knowledge base!

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