And Yet Another Liebster

The amazing Western-loving Hamlette nominated me last week for another Liebster award (this makes 4 for me). Since I did one not too long ago, I'm not going to tag anyone so feel free to answer my 11 questions in the comments or on your own blog :)

Here's my answers to Hamlette's awesome questions:

1.  Is there a movie that has really yummy-looking food in it that you'd love to eat?

I can't think of one off the top of my head but I always want gelato when I watch Roman Holiday (warning: It's illegal to eat it on the Spanish Steps. Depressing I know).

2.  What era do most of your favorite movies take place in?
Well, going from my Five Movies on an Island list, the 1950s. The decade on my movie list that is the longest is the 1940s.

3.  What two actors/actresses have you always hoped would make a movie together, but didn't/haven't yet?

I'm pretty sure I've thought of some before but I can't think of them now so I'll go with Cary Grant and Olivia de Havilland! Or how about a 1930s comedy with Olivia and Carole Lombard! Their combined beauty and comedic talent would break the screen!!

4.  If money and time and supplies (and crafting ability) were not considerations, what movie character would you love to cosplay or dress up like for Halloween?
I would love to dress up as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz (I already have the most important part: the shoes. I also have a stuffed animal Toto) but I would look terrible in that outfit.

I also want to dress up as Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday but I would rather wear it in Rome.

5.  Have you ever cosplayed or dressed up like a movie or TV character for Halloween?
I once dressed up as Daphne from Scooby Doo for a Sadie Hawkins dance that was around Halloween at my college. (Nervous because this is the first photo of myself I've put on any of my blogs...)

6.  What movie would your friends/family be surprised to learn you truly enjoyed?

Probably quite a few haha. My brothers are the only ones who really know what movies I enjoy. I think my friends and extended family know I like old movies but maybe not just how MUCH! They might be surprised on some of the movies containing crude humor - mostly 80s and 90s - or some action films.

7.  What's one book you hope no one ever makes into a film?

50 Shades of Grey. Oh wait... they already did :/

8.  Do you know the Wilhelm Scream when you hear it?

I have no idea what that is...

9.  When a character onscreen has to hold their breath, to you try to hold your breath to match theirs?

I don't think so. I have tried to hold out a musical note for a long time (ex: Judy Garland in several songs and "Ain't No Sunshine" sung by Bill Withers).

10.  What upcoming movies (or TV series) are you excited about?

I really want to see The Light Between Oceans starring Alicia Vikander and her real-life boyfriend Michael Fassbender. It just came out but only in select theaters (none close enough to me) so I will have to wait until it comes out on dvd.

I also can't wait for the WWII film The Exception (also known as The Kaiser's Last Kiss) starring Christopher Plummer, Lily James, and Jai Courtney. I may feel differently when I see the trailer, whenever it comes out because I really have no idea what it's about...

   

11.  What are some of your favorite movie-oriented blogs?  (Or just blogs that post movie reviews sometimes.)

My favorite blogs are The Blonde at the Film (love all her screenshots) and Back to Golden Days. I always learn so much from reading their reviews. Another fun one that is more 1930s actress-oriented is Curious Pip. She makes amazing dolls as well as awesome sketches of Myrna Loy, Jean Harlow, and several other screen favorites. You should definitely check it out. And of course Hamlette's Soliloquey ;) I've listed several others on my Classic Movie Sites Page/tab.

My 11 questions:

1. Favorite British Movie Star (other than Cary Grant):
2. Favorite Classic Movie gif:
3. Have you signed up for the Hub Club? If not, use this link so I'll get points ;)
4. Favorite movie geared for teens/young adults (ex. Gidget, beach party films, Divergent, etc.):
5. Favorite supporting character in Gone With the Wind (you can't pick Scarlet, Rhett, Melanie, or Ashley):
6. Favorite Classic Courtroom movie:
7. Favorite book that was made into a movie:
8. Favorite song sung by a movie star (Judy, Bing, Deanna, etc.):
9. Favorite movie filmed on location (other than US):
10. Favorite classic movie hat:
11. Favorite blogathon so far this year (*Olivia* cough, cough):

Another Liebster Award!!

I was nominated for another Liebster Award today by the lovely Christina Wehner. Thanks so much, Christina!! She has asked some amazing, thought-provoking questions so I will get right to them, right after I nominate some bloggers.

I NOMINATE*:

Hamlette's Soliloquey - answers
CineMaven's Essays From the Couch
Back to Golden Days - answers
Pop Culture Reverie

*If you've recently been nominated for a Liebster feel free to turn this on down. I checked your blogs to see if you have been nominated recently.

Okay, back to the questions:

1 – Book you would most liked to have seen Alfred Hitchcock turn into a movie.

Good question! Probably Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie (because there's already two versions of Ten Little Indians/And Then There Were None). Poroit's Christmas is a good one too.

2 – Book you would most like to see turned into a musical.

I honestly have no idea. The kinds of books I read aren't 'musical' material. Maybe a biopic of Dorothy Lamour based on her autobiography My Side of the Road.

3 – Favorite movie musical score or soundtrack?

I love the soundtrack to You've Got Mail (1998) and have it on cd.

4 – Stars you would have liked to have seen paired in a musical.

Again, I don't really know. Given that I don't watch that many musicals I don't know who's already been paired. Maybe just give Judy Garland a manly lead for once.

5 – Least favorite musical.

Oklahoma.

6 – If your life was turned into a musical biopic, would you rather be played by a singer or dancer?

Since I sing I guess I would want a singer (Judy Garland please) but I feel like dancing inside, even though I'm terrible at it, so... Incidentally, my life would make the most boring musical biopic ever lol.

7 – Classic movie you would most like to see on the big screen.

I really want to see Dial M for Murder in 3D like it was filmed! I also want to see Roman Holiday.

8 – Movie you would most like to see remade today.

Normally I'm not a fan of remakes so I can't think of anything off the top of my head. I would probably take a movie that had the potential to be good and remake it.

9 – Best book you’ve read in the last year.

I read a lot of books, but Please Don't Eat the Daisies was hilarious. I'm currently reading The Venetian Affair by Helen MacInnes.

Here are two questions that were also asked by Cinematic Frontier:
10 – “Which film recently made you reflect on it long after the credits were over?”

Maybe The Hustler (1961)? I was really blown away by Gleason's acting as well as the opening and closing credits and the cinematography. Re-watching The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) was also an amazing experience.

11 – “Who is your favorite composer?”

If we're talking classical music I would say Tchaikovsky, Strauss, and Edward Grieg. If we're talking movie composers it would be Hans Zimmer.

Now, here are my eleven questions to be answered by the blogs I nominated:

1.  Out of the classic movie stars still alive (Olivia de Havilland, Doris Day, Debbie Reynolds, Eva Marie Saint, Kim Novak, Sophia Loren, Julie Andrews, Angela Lansbury, Joanne Woodward, Robert Wagner, Jerry Lewis, Sidney Poitier, Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore, to name some), who would you most like to meet and what would you talk about?

2. That one classic movie you really want to see but can't seem to get your hands on a copy.

3. Current movie star crush (and by current I mean the one you're crushing on right now, not necessarily a current celebrity).

4. James Stewart or Gary Cooper?

5. You're interning at a studio and you find a box (let's say 2³ ft) hidden away that hasn't been touched in decades. What do you find inside?

6. What would you write your thesis on if you got a films studies degree?

7. What TV house would you like to live in?

8. A Classic Movie Star asks you to help them write their autobiography, who is it?

9. Do you prefer films with over-the-top costumes that are a feast to the eyes or films where the costumes aren't noticeable and where your main focus is the story?

10. Last year TCM had a free online class on Film Noir. What topic would you like to see a free class on in the future?

11. What Olivia de Havilland film are you most looking forward to seeing in July?

Just a few more days to the Olivia de Havilland Centenary Blogathon!!!

Third Liebster Award!!!

Last Christmas, Virginie of The Wonderful World of Cinema nominated me for my third Liebster Award. I am just now getting around to it - my apologies Virginie :/ 

 

First, Virginie's questions:

 

1- If you had to “promote” a not too well known classic film, what would be your choice?

• Theodora Goes Wild (1936) starring Irene Dunne and Melvyn Douglas - watch it here! I also wrote a post on it here.

2- You are participating to the making of a film. What’s your job?

• Costume designer

3- Do you share your birthday with one of your favourite movie stars? If yes, who?

• Sadly, no. My sister has Myrna Loy #jealous

4- What is your favourite movie score?

• Does White Christmas count? Otherwise The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. Or Rio Grande. Or The Searchers.

5- How many films per week do you usually watch?

• If I'm in the middle of watching a TV series it may only be two but if not about 5.

6- What do you think is the most CREATIVE movie ever made and why?

• Cat People (1942) - the use of shadow is incredible

7- Do you have a child name after a certain movie star or movie character? Or are you planning this for your future kid (if you plan to have one, or many!).

• I could see myself naming one of my future daughters Carole after Carole Lombard.

8- How much does classic films influence your everyday life?

• It pretty much is my everyday life - watching and blogging about classic films, reading classic film books, causing me to have a classic movie view on life so that I'm always disappointed... :/

9- What are you planning to do to honour Olivia de Havilland’s on her centennial next July?

• Write a blog post either on her career or a list of my favorite movies of hers.

10- What do you enjoy the most about blogging?

• Sharing my love of classic films with others and getting down on "paper" what I think about films.

11- Do you have any advises, suggestions for future bloggers?

• Get involved in blogathons right away! They are not only fun but will help your blog get views!

 

Now for 11 things about myself. This is always the hard part...

 

• I started watching Downton Abbey last November just to see if I liked it... and then devoured the rest of the series. So sad that it is at an end. I'm kind of glad I waited so long to watch it as I then didn't have to wait six whole years just to see how things turned out.

• I started a Classic Television blog at the end of last year. This month has been a little weak over there with all the blogathons and Oscars posts over here but it will definitely get back to normal in March. For the first two months I did screenshots of ALL the outfits Elizabeth Montgomery wore in season 3 of Bewitched (I started with that season because it's the first in color). Now I am working on season 1. You can visit my blog by clicking here or the banner located on the sidebar.

• I am currently reading "Above Suspicion" by Helen MacInnes - which was made into the 1941 film of the same name with Joan Crawford and Fred MacMurray, and "Movie Love in the Fifties" by James Harvey. I also just started Myrna Loy's autobiography "Being and Becoming" (with James Kotsilibas-Davis).

• Some non-movie related books I am reading: "Discovering Tut-ankh-Amen's Tomb" ed. by Shirley Glubok and "Imperial Rome" by Moses Hadas (The part-time class I have been teaching is doing Ancient History this year).

• Some movies coming out this year that I want to see: Hail Caesar! (it's a comedy set in a 1940s-style film studio), The Huntsman: Winter's War, Finding Dory, and the fifth Jason Bourne film.

• I am currently taking a free online class called Philosophy and Film. It is offered through Canvas Network, which you may remember offered the TCM Film Noir class this past summer. I am not doing the whole course however. Out of the six films they are covering, I am only going to do Inception (2010) - week 1, The Birds (1963) - week 2, and Groundhog Day (1993) - week 6, all of which I have seen previously. The other three films I have no desire to watch. You can learn more about the class or join it here.

• I'm addicted to iced coffee, especially from Dunkin Donuts.

• I hate lotion.

• I love my space heater.

• When wearing a dress or skirt I ALWAYS wear heels - the 4 inch kind. Which is why I only wear a dress or skirt on Sundays. The rest of the time I'm in flip-flops.

• My favorite season is autumn.

 

And now the 11 questions for my nominees to answer:

 

1. Who is your favorite Classic Movie Star couple?

2. If you were a songwriter for a Classic Musical, what star would you want to sing your songs?

3. Did you ever dislike a Classic Movie Star because of the first role you saw them in, only to discover you loved them later? Who?

4. What was the last movie you watched? How many stars would you give it?

5. Have you taken any film classes? What were they on?

6. A Classic Movie Star asks you to help them write their autobiography, who is it?

7. Have you learned a Classic Hollywood fact recently that astounded you?

8. Favorite opening credits?
9. Share a screenshot of a costume or room in a classic film that you immediately liked when you first saw it.
10. What is your favorite studio (MGM, Warner, RKO, etc.)?
11. What movie character do you wish was real?

And here are my nominees. I can't come up with 11 but here is who I did come up with:

Now Voyaging

 Second Sight Cinema

 Cinema Cities

2nd Liebster Award!!!

Steve of Movie Movie Blog Blog nominated me for a Liebster Award back in July and this has been sitting around in my drafts since then, as I had just been nomintated for a Liebster and I was away at a family reunion. I have decided to go ahead and publish it. I can't think of anyone to nominate (I had enough trouble with that the first time around) so I am just posting questions for anyone to answer, whether in the comments or in a blog post. And I can't think of 11 facts about myself so I'll just put a few.

First, here are Steve's great questions:

1. “All-time favorite movie” is too tough. What is your favorite genre, and what is your all-time favorite movie in that genre?

Screwball - Bringing Up Baby (1938).

2. “Theatrical” is too easy. What’s your all-time favorite TV-movie?

Well, I've only seen four (to my knowledge) TV movies but the winner is Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964).

3. The Great Movie Genie is allowing you to permanently change the ending of one movie. Which one do you choose, and why?

Wake of the Red Witch (1948) starring John Wayne. *SPOILER*I was depressed the whole next day after watching him drown at the end.

4. You’re a Hollywood exec, slavishly following trends. Which movie, good or bad, would you like to sequelize or remake?

A sequel to Donovan's Reef (1963).

5. Name the movie whose screening you’d like to co-host on TCM with Ben Mankiewicz.

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982) starring Steve Martin.

6. Describe your most memorable movie occasion — not necessarily your favorite film, but a movie you enjoyed with friends, one that evoked a particular memory, etc.

White Christmas (1954). We watch it every year as a family. It's not Christmas without it.

7. What is your favorite line of movie dialogue?

So many... funny, serious, profound... Let's go with a funny one. "I like to kiss this girl because she has just the kind of lips I like: one on top and one on the bottom." Bob Hope in Son of Paleface (1952).

8. Why are movies special to you?

They help me to experience what (movie) life was like in the 30s and 40s. Since I didn't live back then it's the next best thing.

9. What do you enjoy most about blogging?

Sharing my favorite films with others.

10. What is your favorite book about movies?

The TCM 50 Leading Ladies book.

11. You have your favorite movie actor or actress to yourself for 24 hours to do with what you will. Name, please.

Sing with Judy Garland and practice skipping down the yellow brick road - in our ruby slippers of course - OR ride around with John Wayne in Monument Valley.


Okay, now for some facts about myself. I had trouble with this the first time so lets see if I can come up with better facts that aren't ALL movie related:

1. I keep a daily journal. It mostly says what movie I watched or what book I'm reading and what I ate.

2. I want to live on or near the beach, preferably in Cape Cod one day.

3. I collect vintage hats and gloves. One hat I own reminds me of the one Bette Davis wore in Now, Voyager (1942). Mine has a rounded crown though.

4. My favorite Disney films are Robin Hood, Sleeping Beauty and Alice in Wonderland. I also really like Tangled.

5. I enjoy learning about Britain's Royal family; mainly Kate Middleton (obsessed), Queen Elizabeth II (after watching Helen Mirren in The Queen), the Queen Mother, and Queen Victoria (after watching The Young Victoria). I would love to live in England - at least for a year.

6. My favorite periods of history are: Egypt, Rome, Revolutionary War, Pony Express, Titanic, the Great Depression, and WWII. I do not enjoy the political side of them, just what it was like to live then.

7. I love vintage maps and atlas's.

8. I can play the ukulele.


I can't think of anyone to nominate so I invite everyone to answer the questions below:

1. What remake do you like better than the original?

2. What movie have you seen that you never want to see again (pre-70s)?

3. Favorite movie kiss:

4. Favorite movie animal (Lassie, Asta, Toto, etc.):

5. Favorite celebrity couple and why (pre-70s):

6. What classic movie should get it's own Monopoly board game?

7. Who is your favorite screenwriter?

8. Cagney or Bogart? Why?

9. Top five holiday movies:

10. Favorite WWII film:

11. Would you like to be able to sing like Judy Garland/Bing Crosby or dance like Fred Astaire/Vera-Ellen?

Liebster Award!!!

So, you know those cool Q & A things you always see floating around in the blogosphere? I finally get to join in on the fun, thanks to my fellow blogger MarsMoonlight over at Back to Golden Days (a fabulous blog by the way). She nominated me for the Liebster Award! To participate I have to: answer the 11 awesome questions she came up with, share 11 facts about myself, nominate up to 11 other bloggers, and come up with 11 questions of my own for them to answer! Let the fun begin!

I nominate: Inky from On Shoes and Ships and Sealing-Wax, Amanda from Old Hollywood Films, Crystal from In the Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood, and Classic Reel Girl.


MarsMoonlight's questions:

1. What was the first classic film you ever saw?
I have no idea. I grew up on classic films and the Three Stooges. The Wizard of Oz (which was my favorite), The Quiet Man, Rio Grande, White Christmas, Bells of St. Mary's, Miracle on 34th Street, Arsenic and Old Lace, Bright Eyes, The Littlest Rebel, The Sound of Music, Mary Poppins... I don't remember these films ever NOT being in my life. If there's anyone out there wanting to know what classic films to start their kids on, I highly recommend these. Me and my brothers all love classic films because of these.

2. Favorite movie character (classic or otherwise)?

I would have to say pretty much any William Powell character (when he's with Loy), but especially as Nick Charles (The Thin Man). A modern character: Jude Law as John Watson.

 

     

 

3. How many films from AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies 2007 list have you seen?

31

 

4. Favorite Gene Kelly film?

Well... to be completely honest I've never been fond of Gene Kelly (please don't hurt me ;). I've seen Singing in the Rain, An American in Paris, Summer Stock, and For Me and My Gal. But out of those I pick Summer Stock. I did like the scene in For Me and My Gal where he and Judy suddenly realize they're in love though.

 

 

5. If you could spend a day with any classic actor/actress, who would you choose and why?

I would probably pick Judy Garland. She was my idol growing up. I would (and still do) try to sing like her all the time and she is such a legend.

 

 

 

6. Is there any book you wish was adapted into a film? If so, which one?

"Enemy Brothers" by Constance Savory. It's set in England during WWII. I have no idea who I would want to play the characters though. Probably Henry Cavill for the main guy...

 

 

7. Favorite song from a movie?

"Embraceable You" from Girl Crazy. Wait, scratch that. "Over the Rainbow", duh! Also all the songs in White Christmas.

 

 

8. Favorite film from the 1940s?

Ugh, so many... How about my favorite 20?? I guess Meet John Doe.

 

9. Black & white or Technicolor?

Definitely black and white.

 

10. What actor/actress/director do you think deserved an Oscar but never got one?

First of all, I think John Wayne should have been given one a lot sooner, for The Searchers let's say? William Powell is the next one to come to mind. And Carole Lombard should have won for My Man Godfrey. And of course Judy Garland. A Juvenile Oscar just doesn't cut it.

 

Lombard and Powell

 

11. If you could cast 5 actors from any decade/era in a film, who would you cast?

I would cast Michael Callan, Cliff Robertson, Patrick Wayne, John Gavin, and Aldo Ray. I play the leading lady and they're all trying to get me to marry them :) I would never be able to decide...

 

Michael Callan?

 

 

Cliff Robertson?

 

Patrick Wayne? (you get the Duke for a father-in-law)

 

John Gavin?

Aldo Ray?

 

UPDATE: I changed my mind. I would do a nursing movie (like the nursing books written in the 50s) with Joan Chandler as the main nurse. Other cast members would include Cliff Robertson as the main doctor, Aldo Ray as the intern, Priscilla Lane as her nurse friend and roomie, and Mary Wickes as head nurse. Additional characters would include Ruth Roman (she falls in love with a dying patient) and Patricia Hitchcock in a small role. Van Johnson would be another doctor in love with Roman but unable to tell her.

 

11 Facts About Me (I'm not good with these kind of things...):

 

1. I still haven't seen Gone With the Wind, Citizen Kane, Double Indemnity, an Astaire/Rogers movie, or anything with Harold Lloyd, Clara Bow, Mary Pickford, either Douglas Fairbanks (scratch that, forgot about Gunga Din), Greta Garbo (and other silent film stars), Esther Williams, Ava Gardner, Rock Hudson, Richard Burton, Marlon Brando, or James Dean. Just this past month I saw my first movies with Orson Welles, Paul Newman, and Joanne Woodward (together and separate). Oh, and Robert Taylor and Janet Gaynor.

 

2. I wish I had eyebrows like Lauren Bacall.

 

 

3. My favorite movie is not from Hollywood's golden age. If fact, it's from the worst. It's Rocky (1976).

 

 

4. Movies I have/had an obsession with (in order of release): Cat People (1942), To Have and Have Not (1944), Gidget (1959), Moonstruck (1987), Signs (2002), Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011). 

 

5. Actors/actresses who mesmerized me with their performances: John Garfield and Ethel Barrymore.

 

 

6. My favorite classic actors are: John Wayne, William Powell, Bob Hope, Cary Grant, Melvyn Douglas, James Cagney, John Garfield, Joseph Cotten, and Dennis Morgan.

 

7. My favorite classic actresses are: Carole Lombard, Myrna Loy, Olivia de Havilland, Judy Garland, Lauren Bacall, Katharine Hepburn, Audrey Hepburn, Simone Simon, Priscilla Lane, and Janet Leigh.

 

Simone Simon

 

8. My favorite classic TV shows are: The Three Stooges (technically they're shorts...) The Honeymooners, Love That Bob (Robert Cummings), Life with Elizabeth (Betty White), Maverick (James Garner), My Three Sons (Fred MacMurray), The Dick Van Dyke Show, Bewitched (first 5 seasons), and Gidget (Sally Field). I like a lot more than these but I don't want this to just be a list of all the classic TV shows lol. These are ones that I've been buying on DVD (if available) and watching in order. I just started M*A*S*H a few days ago.

 

9. My favorite food is spaghetti (it has to be made by my mom) with a piece of buttered toast (whole wheat). My favorite ice cream is Breyers black raspberry chocolate. Whenever I go out to eat I end up ordering off the appetizer menu: mozzarella sticks or nachos (bean and cheese).

 

10. I want to write children's books one day.

 

11. I watched 302 movies last year (as opposed to only about 100 the year before at 60/40). 245 of them I had never seen before.

 

Here are my questions (all apply to classic movies, actors and actress, pre-1970s):

 

1. If you could pick any film home to live in which one would it be? You can also pick a summer home if you need to ;)

 

2. Film you've discovered in the past year that you are obsessed with?

 

3. Name an actor/actress you've recently discovered that you've been "binge-watching", or in other words, watching and reading everything you can on them.

 

4. What film do you love all the costumes in?

 

5. What actor/actress do you wish you looked like?

 

6. If you could change the ending of a film, which film would it be and how would it end (here's your chance to help somebody live!)?

 

7. What classic movie set do you wish had been preserved (not the house you chose above)?

 

8. If you were stranded on an island (with a TV and DVD player that were solar-powered of course), what 10 movies would you want to have with you (any decade)?

 

9. What question would you like to ask Robert Osborne?

 

10. What decade would you have liked to be a movie star in and why?

 

11. Favorite movie quote.

 

Bonus question (in case one of the above questions is just TOO hard to answer)- Who's your favorite character actor/actress (ex. Thelma Ritter, Frank McHugh, etc.)?

 

Those should make you think for a while!! Anyone I didn't nominate, feel free to answer any and all questions in the comments.