Thursday Thirteen #26 -- 13 Great Old Movies




THIRTEEN MOVIES
THAT HAVE AN ENDURING PLACE
IN THE HEART OF THE GAL HERSELF


I love old movies. Part of it is the romance and the clothes of Hollywood in days gone by. Part is that I just love the art form of film and it’s fun to see how where we were has influenced where we are today.

Here are some truly terrific old (for the sake of this list, "old" means pre-1960) movies you may wish to check out if you happen to find yourself with a free rainy afternoon. There are some you may be familiar with, others you may not. But all give you a warm and lovely passage to another place and time.

This list is, of course, nowhere near complete. If this meme was called the Thursday 30, I could have filled it easily. But here are the first 13 as they occurred to me …


1. My Man Godfrey. (1936) Carole Lombard is the most beautiful funny girl in Hollywood history. She’s charming, gorgeous, amazingly verbal and physical … a force of nature. William Powell is her elegant butler/protégé. And there’s a message about how we treat our fellow man that’s relevant and important today, too.

2. A Star Is Born. (1954) It’s a big, glossy showbiz musical, but the songs never overpower the story. Our lovers meet when she’s on the way up and he’s on the way down, so they never had a chance. Judy Garland is so vulnerable and sincere as she fights for her man (James Mason) that you may wish to have a Kleenex nearby. ("Hi, everybody. This is Mrs. Norman Maine.")

3. Destry Rides Again. (1939) I really don’t like Westerns, nor Marlene Dietrich. But this movie is a revelation to me because … um … damn but Jimmy Stewart was sexy! Really, in the movie he has his truly hot moments. I also wonder how much of Tom Destry went into the character development of Sheriff Taylor of Mayberry. Which leads me to …

4. A Face in the Crowd. (1957) Starring an evil Andy Griffith. Crass, ruthless, ambitious, and terrifyingly charismatic once the microphone is turned on. Kind of a Rush Limbaugh for the McCarthy era. Andy is so good in this movie that you barely notice Walter Matthau, Lee Remick and other dramatic actors who complete the cast.

5. Horse Feathers. (1932) “Why Mrs. Bailey! I knew and respected your late husband for years! And if you were good enough for him, you’re good enough for me.” Oh, there’s a plot. But mostly it’s Groucho cracking wise, talking to the camera and being Groucho. And that’s good enough for me.

6. Young at Heart. (1954) The love of a good woman (Doris Day) saves a cynical rogue (Frank Sinatra). She’s so pretty. He’s so poignant and he loves her so. She has an Aunt Jesse, a widowed father and a dog. He sings “Someone to Watch Over Me” to break your heart. Sigh …

7. Suddenly, Last Summer. (1959) The cast is first rate: Katharine Hepburn, Montgomery Clift, and Elizabeth Taylor. But the plot is about as sick as it gets: prostitution, homosexuality, cannibalism, lobotomies, and just a soupcon of incest. But it’s Tennessee Williams, so even as this twisted Southern family does one another very, very wrong, they do it while spouting the cleverest, most divine dialog.

8. Casablanca. (1942) Love. Integrity. Patriotism. Doing the right thing for God and country has never been sexier. I believe I can recite this one. “The Germans wore gray, you wore blue.” “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, and she walks into mine.” “Play it, Sam. Play ‘As Time Goes By.’” “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” “Round up the usual suspects.” “The problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.” (True story: a guy actually used the line, “We’ll always have Paris” to get me into bed. It completely worked.)

9. Guys and Dolls. (1955) Have you ever seen a 30-something Marlon Brando in a well-tailored suit? A portrait in graceful masculinity. His duet with Missionary Sister Sarah Brown, “I’ll Know,” breaks my heart every time. Everyone knows they are in love, destined for one another … everyone, that is, except them.

10. Rope. (1948) Alfred Hitchcock’s take on Leopold & Loeb. It’s known for a bit of cinematic gimmickry – the entire movie, all 80 minutes – is done in one shot. But that’s not what makes it fascinating on repeated viewings. It’s about schadenfreude, how we enjoy being scared in theory but not in reality, about the equality and decency of all human beings.

11. Some Like It Hot. (1959) I think of this as Marilyn’s movie. She’s soooo funny in this. “Diamonds! Must be worth their weight in gold!” “Story of my life. I always get the fuzzy end of the lollipop.” Not that funny on paper, but her line readings are charming. Jack Lemmon is incredibly funny and so likable, too.

12. Holiday. (1938) My favorite Hepburn movie – and that’s going some. Linda (Kate) is thrilled to meet her beloved sister’s beau, and then proceeds to fall in love with him. (Of course she does! He’s Cary Grant.) She won’t do anything about it, of course. She’s Kate, after all. But the look of elation on her face when Sis admits she's dumping her fiancé over filthy lucre … Sigh. Also has a timeless message about the real value of wealth, and how the richest of us follow our hearts.

13. Mister Roberts. (1955) It’s about heroism. Big, wartime heroism, and small, every day heroism. And has there ever been a more completely American movie hero than Henry Fonda? It has its funny moments, especially courtesy of Jack Lemmon, but it’s Fonda’s poignancy and courage that stays with me. “Goodnight, Mr. Roberts.”



Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
1. Special K Tony shares Bill Cosby quotes

2. Tinkerbell lets us know where she's been since her last TT

3. Puss Reboots has a visual TT

4. Dewey charms us with Bookish LOL Cats

5. Milan - zzz has a breaktaking photographic TT

6. Nicole Austin's TT is a clear-eyed view of summertime

7. Crimson Wife's TT is about her summer reading (and it makes me embarrassed that I'm reading yet another bio of Princess Di)

8. Nicholas shares his cynical but very witty take on things we hear every day, but shouldn't believe

9. Crux & Damozel have a bi-partisan TT that should be required reading

10. Thommalyn conjures up 13 ghosts

11. Lori's TT is brought to you by the Letter T

12. Comedy + gives us 13 snappy one-liners

13. Janet is onto the Letter U

14. JennyMcB takes us along on vacation

15. Mamalee launches some dangerous workkplace fantasies with her TT

16. Even the most dedicated TV trivia addict will learn something at Malcolm's

17. Denise has a TT about movies, too.

18. Garthtrekker shares 13 cool, cool, good deeds

19. Sue's TT is the dumbest things celebs have ever said

20. Mo notices and shares the clever names of local businesses

21. Impworks shares what he's watching/reading/listening to

22. l^2 imparts the wisdom of her dogs (and they are wise indeed)

23. Nicole's TT is devoted to everyone's favorite wizard (you know who)

24. David's TT is random but highly quotable (for example, Dr. Seuss gave us the word "nerd")

25. Gabriella shares 13 dreamy ways to spend 3 hours

26. Bookmama tells us 13 things that are great about being mother to BB and LS


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Pounding the Pavement

Much of why I'm blue is that when surrounded by people who are sad, or distant, or resigned, it's hard to stay upbeat. Since I care about these friends and relatives and am helpless to help them, it's hard not be to become sad myself.

So while I continue to follow John Lennon's advice and have hopped off the merry-go-round, I did instead force myself onto the treadmill.

I hadn't been looking forward to it. I've been eating salads, doing my cardio, even adding a new machine to my regimen, and I HAVE NOT LOST A POUND!!! I'm one of those people who would like immediate gratification if it didn't take so long, so I found myself quite disheartened by my most recent trips to Bally's.

Then it washed over me: I cannot control the world. I cannot make those close to me listen to me. I cannot provide adequate comfort for those whose problems are beyond my expertise.

I can, however, control ME. I can add extra time to the treadmill and have a McDonald's yogurt parfait instead of a Three Musketeers bar for dessert. This won't put me in competition with Jennifer Love Hewitt and her Hanes commercials, but it's good for my heart and it's good for bones and it will give me that all important sense of control over my environment.

So I did. And now I have (a renewed sense of control.)

And because when things start feeling better, they tend to start getting better, I got a (nearly, almost, bordering on) happy email from my best friend today, reassuring that no matter problems he's having, they have nothing to do with us. If his issues have nothing to do with me, I can't resolve them, can I? As the sign on my bulletin board says, "I Will Not Obsess. I Will Not Obsess. I Will Not Obsess."

Gee, ya think?

You Are 56% Control Freak

Generally, you are in control but not a control freak. You life is usually in order. However, sometimes you get too obsessed with making everything in your life picture perfect.

Are You A Control Freak?

What's the zip code for The Stoney End?

I fear that's where I'm headed -- The Stoney End. As a physical location, it doesn't exist. As an emotional destination, it couldn't be more real. In the early 1970s Laura Nyro wrote and recorded "Stoney End" about a place you somehow find yourself, a place you never wanted to go. Streisand covered it when I was too young to understand it.

Well, I understand it now. And now that I'm a resident of The Stoney End, I realize she has given us the definitive version of our national anthem:

"Never mind the forecast cause the sky has lost control,
cause the fury and broken thunder's come to match my raging soul,
now I don't believe I want to see the morning.
Going down the Stoney End, I never wanted to go down the Stoney End.
Mama, let me start all over. Cradle me, mama, cradle me."

Babs does my screaming for me. You should hear what she does with the lyric about her/my/our "raging soul."

I will get through this. I always do. I'm really a very strong woman and I have a lot of friends. I still have my mother and I still have my faith.

But I can't pretend I'm not hurting. I can't pretend I'm not overwhelmed. It's perfectly natural to be feel sad when crappy things happen to and around me. I simply have to work through this in order to get past it. Since I am completely and utterly tone deaf, I have to let Babs put voice to my pain. I shall let her. My iPod is right here.

I do wonder, though, if it wouldn't be easier on my poor coworkers if Billie Holliday was the diva who spoke to my pain. She was quieter, always sounding so gloriously anesthetized as she suffered.