The first day of The 2nd Annual Olivia de Havilland Blogathon + Errol Flynn is finally here! I can't wait to read all of the post on two of my favorite actors.
Everyone's journey with Olivia de Havilland starts somewhere. For most it's her role as Melanie in Gone With the Wind (1939). Mine began when I was little. My dad was watching The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) on the old square tv. It was the scene where Robin Hood visits Maid Marion in her castle room. I wasn't much on the guy at the time - I've never been a fan of long hair on men - but Maid Marion, with her shining brown eyes, long thick braids, and shimmering blue dress definitely left a mark on me. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen and I wished I looked just like her.
In the years following (and pre-internet at my house), I wondered what version of Robin Hood my dad had been watching and who that lady was who played Maid Marion so well (even better than the fox Maid Marion in my favorite Disney film).
Fast-forward to the year 2012. I was watching You've Got Mail on dvd for the first time (after seeing it countless times on television - though usually it was just the ending). After it was over, and with "Over the Rainbow" still playing in my head, I checked out the special features. One of them was titled "You've Got Chemistry" and it introduced me to many on-screen couples I would soon come to know and love. I already knew and loved Mickey and Judy (and of course Hanks and Ryan from the feature film). New-to-me couples included Bogie and Bacall, Powell and Loy, and lastly Olivia de Havilland and Errol Flynn. As I watched clips from their eight films together, scenes from their most famous pairing in The Adventures of Robin Hood let me know that I had finally found my childhood Maid Marion.
Over the next year I acquainted myself Powell and Loy as Nick and Nora and the sizzling on-screen love affair between Bogie and Bacall. Then, in 2014 we finally got Turner Classic Movies and I recalled that last couple I had yet to delve in to.
April 5, 2014 - I watched They Died with Their Boots on (1941), my first Flynn/de Havilland film and their last pairing. They were instantly a new favorite (and last year's post for the blogathon as well as the subject for one of my Cinema Wedding Gown posts). Three days later I watched The Adventures of Robin Hood in it's entirety for the first time, in all its Technicolor splendor. It far exceeded my expectations. Rather than feel dated, it leapt off the screen, as fresh and vibrant as if it had been filmed the day before. Olivia de Havilland was everything that Maid Marion should be: beautiful, smart, strong-minded, principled, courageous, and did I forget to mention gorgeous?
The next film I watched with one of these newly discovered stars was The Sea Hawk (1940) starring Errol Flynn and, in the lead female role, Brenda Marshall. If I could remake any classic film, I would remake this one with Olivia in the lead (and a more substantially part of course). Olivia never needed the hero, rather, he needed her.
After that was The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939) with Errol Flynn, Bette Davis, and in a tiny part, Olivia. It pained me when Errol and Olivia didn't end up together. It just didn't feel right, like something was terribly wrong in the world! It was the same with The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), which aired on TCM a few days later.
In between those two films, I saw my first Olivia film without Errol, My Love Came Back (1940). And while it seemed wrong for her to love someone other than Flynn, it instantly became a favorite. Olivia, being the fantastic actress that she is, is very convincing as a violinist. Not to mention she can get a man to ask her to dance all the while acting like she's not interested but will oblige him anyway.
Other Olivia films that year included Hard to Get (1938), Gold is Where You Find It (1938), Wings of the Navy (1939), The Dark Mirror (1946) - another favorite where Olivia plays twins, Princess O'Rourke (1943) - a BIG favorite, Dodge City (1939) and Santa Fe Trail (1940) - both with Flynn, The Male Animal (1942), and In This Our Life (1942).
The year 2015 brought me The Ambassador's Daughter (1956), The Irish in Us (1935), Alibi Ike (1935), Government Girl (1943), The Strawberry Blonde (1941), Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943) - a cameo appearance, and Captain Blood (1935) - her first with Flynn.
Last year started off with her Oscar-winning performance in The Heiress (1949), Gone With the Wind (1939) for the first time in its entirety, and My Cousin Rachel (1952) - three powerful performances.
I was therefore extremely excited when Olivia was named the Star of the Month for July on TCM, especially since I was hosting a blogathon in celebration of her 100 years here on earth. Her birthday being on the first of the month couldn't have been more ideal as, while reading all of the posts, I was able to decide which films I HAD to watch. As it turned out, I wanted to watch every one of them.
The order in which her films were shown, and in which I watched them, somewhat mirrored her career, beginning with period pictures and comedies then serious dramas. I was able to watch Raffles (1939), Call it a Day (1937), The Great Garrick (1937), It's Love I'm After (1937), Devotion (1943/1946), To Each His Own (1946), Hold Back the Dawn (1941), Light in the Piazza (1962), and Libel (1951). I saved Four's a Crowd (1938) - the only Errol/Olivia film I hadn't yet seen - for as long as possible.
There are still several I have yet to see (I didn't have room on the dvr last year to record all of the great films they showed. In fact, I had to make a list of the ones I could get from the library). I finally watched Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) this year after finishing Feud: Bette and Joan. I will definitely be recording Anthony Adverse (1936) next Saturday and hope to actually get around to checking out some others from the library. I also need to make a new Top Ten List of her films, as I've seen so many more great Olivia movies since I originally published it.
The fact that Olivia is still with us and turned 101 today is a gift indeed to the Classic Movie Fan. I hear her goal is 110 and I plan on hosting a blogathon every year to celebrate her amazing body of work and her continued impact on people's lives.
Just come across this blogathon and want to join? Jump on in! You have until Monday to share your post! Have an old post (of a film or topic that's not been claimed) that you'd like to share? I'll add it to the bottom of the daily posts
Is anyone planning on seeing the new My Cousin Rachel when it comes out next week? Below is the 1952 trailer with Olivia and the new trailer with Rachel Weisz.
Here's a list of upcoming Olivia and Errol films being shown on TCM:
July 8 - Anthony Adverse (1936) - Olivia de Havilland & Fredric March
July 12 - Too Much, Too Soon (1958) - Errol Flynn as John Barrymore
July 15 - Escape Me Never (1947) - Errol Flynn & Ida Lupino, Gig Young, Eleanor Parker
July 27 - The Sisters (1938) - Errol Flynn & Bette Davis
August 7 - Never Say Goodbye (1946) - Errol Flynn & Eleanor Parker, S.Z. Sakall
August 26 - The Strawberry Blonde (1941) - Olivia de Havilland & James Cagney, Rita Hayworth
September 3 - The Snake Pit (1948) - Olivia de Havilland
September 9 - Santa Fe Trail (1940) - Errol Flynn & Olivia de Havilland
September 15 - The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) - Errol Flynn & Olivia de Havilland
Wednesday, June 7th, was the 100th birthday of the legendary crooner Dean Martin. Rio Bravo (1959), starring John Wayne, Ricky Nelson, and Walter Brennan, was one of Martin's first films after his split with long-time film partner Jerry Lewis (they began appearing in nightclub acts together in 1946 and made 16 movies between 1949 and 1956). And it is also one of my favorite of his roles.
In 2005 my uncle brought some recorded VHS tapes to give us when he came to visit. One had Rio Bravo and North to Alaska on it. My brothers and I watched those two films on a loop for over a month, whenever we had a moment (aka mom was gone and we were left to our own devices). They may not be Oscar-worthy films, but they are pure entertainment.
Rio Bravo, the film I am reviewing today, was based on a short story by B.H. McCampbell of the same name. Howard Hawks, who had been on a four year break from directing after a flop, took on this film supposedly as a response to High Noon (1952), which portrayed a sheriff who goes around the town asking for help against a gang of killers. In Rio Bravo, the sheriff, played by the one and only John Wayne, goes up against Nathan Burdette (John Russell), a man who pays others to do his dirty work, with just a drunk and an old man.
Are you calling me a drunk?
John Wayne plays John T. Chance (the "T." stands for Trouble). Dean Martin plays Dude, his drunk deputy who used to be good... real good. Now he's a town joke called Borochón, which means "drunk" in Spanish. Walter Brennan is the lovable Stumpy who walks with a limp. Other characters include Ward Bond as Pat Wheeler, who offers to help Chance and is killed for it, Ricky Nelson as Colorado, a young gunslinger who was in Wheeler's employ and now wants to get the man who shot his boss, and Angie Dickinson as Feathers, a woman who fits a lot of descriptions of a known card cheater's girlfriend. And of course the film wouldn't be complete without Pedro Gonzalez-Gonzalez, who plays Carlos. He owns the hotel/bar and is another loyal friend to Chance.
Mr. Martin, who combines a lethargic and casual manner to perfection, and Mr. Brennan, who can do more with a cackle or a horse laugh than most, give "Rio Bravo" the added notches that raise it above the average Western.
When you really, really want that iced coffee, I mean... beer ;)
After arresting Joe Burdette (Claude Akins) for murder, Chance has to hole up at the jail to wait for the Marshall to arrive. Nathan Burdette, Joe's brother, is a powerful man who will do anything to get him out of jail.
You're a rich man, Burdette... big ranch, pay a lot of people to do what you want 'em to do. And you got a brother. He's no good but he's your brother. He committed twenty murders you'd try and see he didn't hang for 'em.
Let's get this straight. I don't like a lot of things. I don't like your men sittin' on the road bottling up this town. I don't like your men watching us, trying to catch us with our backs turned. And I don't like it when a friend of mine offers to help and twenty minutes later he's dead! And I don't like you, Burdette, because you set it up.
While their holed up, Dude decides to give up drinking. Chance gives him his old duds and pearl-handled pistols he bought after Dude had pawned them for liquor money.
There is a brief period of quiet before the action goes down and, since a Dean Martin movie wouldn't be complete without him singing a song AND you have Ricky Nelson in the cast, what better time for a duet?
If the tune sounds familiar, that's because it's the theme from Red River (1948) also starring John Wayne and directed by Howard Hawks. You can here the original theme here. The lyrics are in the comments.
Dean Martin also recorded another song titled "Rio Bravo" that, except for the last two lines, is not sung in the film. It was released as a single at the same time as the movie.
By the memory of a song,
While the river Rio Bravo rolls along.
Only the last two lines of the song are sung in the movie as Dude and Stumpy walk "into the sunset" at the end.
Before the end of the movie however, there is a rousing gunfight involving explosives and fist fights. And throughout the film Chance and Feathers argue and make up, ending with him finally saying he loves her.
Angie Dickinson on set with director Howard Hawks.
This was the last film that John Wayne wore his hat from Stagecoach (1939). It was also his last of 22 films with Ward Bond and Bond's last feature film. Wayne also wore his belt buckle from Red River (1948).
There are only five close-ups in the movie: Joe firing his gun, Dude's hands trying to roll a cigarette, Dude pouring a shot of whiskey back into the bottle and a beer glass where a drop of blood falls in, and Chance's boots tapping together in Sheriff's office as he's sitting in a chair.
Feathers's dialogue was occasionally inspired by the character of "Slim" To Have and Have Not (1944), as when, after the first kiss, she says: "...it's better when two people do it," recalling the phrase "it's even better when you help;" and again later when she says, "I'm hard to get - you're going to have to say you want me," recalling Slim's "I'm hard to get, Steve - all you have to do is ask me."
Angie Dickinson was only 26 at the time of filming. John Wayne was 51.
There are a ton of behind-the-scenes photos from this film. I shared a bunch of them during the 2015 Summer Under the Stars, which you can view here.
Rio Bravo will be airing on TCM on August 12 at 12:45am ET.
Crystal from In the Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood and I are excited to announce that the Olivia de Havilland Blogathon is back! And this time we've added Errol Flynn!!
Last year we hosted the Olivia de Havilland Centenary Blogathon in honor of Miss de Havilland's 100th birthday. As she is still with us, and since last years was so successful, we've decided to bring it back. Errol Flynn, Olivia's most famous co-star, celebrates his birthday June 20 so we decided to add him to this annual event (he would be 108).
The blogathon will run from July 1st to July 3 with a wrap-up day on the 4th.
Here are the rules:
1. Choose any film or topic pertaining to either or both Olivia or Errol. Up to TWO Duplicates of their films is allowed, so if you see that only one blogger is writing about, say, The Adventures of Robin Hood, you are free to write about it also. Also, feel free to write more than one post! There's a lot of films and interesting topics between these two stars!
2. Once you have made your selection(s), leave a comment below or over on Crystal's blog. Please be sure to include the name and link to your blog (so I don't have to look it up). I'd also appreciate it if you choose a film to please include the year of it's release.
3. Please be sure to acknowledge both hosts in your post with a link back, as there's nothing more frustrating than putting in a bunch of work planning and making banners only to not be mentioned. This has happened to me several times.
4. Lastly, grab a banner and spread the word! We had over 40 participants last year. Let's see if we can top it in honor of these two iconic and beloved stars!
ROSTER:
Phyllis Loves Classic Movies: My Journey with Olivia
We have come to the end of a glorious blogging weekend honoring the beautiful, graceful, and hugely talented Olivia de Havilland on the 100th anniversary of her birth. Here's hoping she makes it to her goal of 110!
It's Day 3 of our Blogathon and the posts are still coming in strong! I only wish Olivia could see all the love she's getting in the blogging world!
Here's the posts for today!
Cinema Monolith tells us about the time when Olivia encountered Alibi Ike (1935).
All Good Things tells everyone about the little known and vastly underrated comedy Government Girl (1943) - check out this hilarious clip here if you need further proof.
