Cinema Survey: My Answers
1. What is your favorite movie starring William Powell and Myrna Loy, excluding all of The Thin Man films? The Great Ziegfeld.
2. Name a screen team that appeared in only one film together but are still noteworthy for how well they complimented each other. Streisand and Redford. Katie and Hubbell. I'm glad The Way We Were was their only film together. It's possible that the potency of their pairing might have lost its sizzle if overexposed. (And that concludes what must be, at the very least, the 20th mention of The Way We Were on this blog.)
3. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers' best film together? I'm not a Fred Astaire fan. Just not. I'm Team Gene all the way. I'll banish myself to the corner now.
4. Your favorite actor named "Robert"? Redford.
5. An actor/actress who, when you see one of their movies, you always wish that someone else was in his/her role? Liza Minnelli. Except for Sterile Cuckoo, I'd recast all her movies. Yes, even Cabaret.
6. An actor/actress that someone close to you really loves that you can't stand or vice versa? My friend Barb completely adores Clint Eastwood. While I love the movies he's directed, his Dirty Harry/Man with No Name persona leaves me completely cold.
7. An actor/actress that you both agree on completely? Paul Newman.
8. Complete this sentence: Virginia O'Brien is to Ethel Merman as... Carole Lombard is to Ann-Margret.
9. What is your favorite film starring Ray Milland? The Thing with Two Heads. Hey! I was watching it with a group of girlfriends and there was liquor involved! Don't judge me.
10. You had to have seen this one coming: what is your favorite movie of the 1960s? Bonnie and Clyde.
11. An actor/actress that you would take out of one film and put into a different movie that was released the same year? (People who were not in any pictures that year are allowed, too.) I'd replace Glenn Close in The Natural with Susan Sarandon. She had a preternatural maturity and stiffness that made the romance between Iris and Roy seem less compelling than the one between Roy and Memo, and I think it threw the balance of the movie off. Susan Sarandon and Redford had more chemistry in their limited pairing in The Great Waldo Pepper. She was wasting her time that year (1984) in a Richard Dreyfuss movie called The Buddy System.
12. Who was your favorite of Robert Montgomery's leading ladies? Audrey Totter from Lady in the Lake. I admit I had to look up her name on imdb.com. I just remember her as Adrienne, the blonde lady who really knows how to "make love to the camera."
13. You think it would have been a disaster (or, at least, not as good) if what movie starred the actor/actress who was originally asked to star in it? Cher as Thelma in Thelma and Louise.
14. An actor/actress who you will watch in any or almost any movie? Judy Garland. Even her less-than-successful work is fascinating to watch.
15. Your favorite Leslie Howard film and role? Intermezzo. Another one of those great films from 1939.
16. You have been asked to host a marathon of four Barbara Stanwyck films. Which ones do you choose? Stella Dallas, The Lady Eve, Christmas in Connecticut, Double Indemnity. I think that quartet represents how versatile the old girl was.
17. What is, in your mind, the nearest to perfect comedy you have ever seen? Why? A Night at the Opera. Of course Groucho's Otis B. Driftwood is sublime. (Margaret Dumont: Get off my bed! What would people say?/Driftwood: That you're a very lucky woman.) Harpo is lyrical as always. But this is one of the few movies where Chico really shines. He has a fantastic monologue as a stowaway pretending to be an aviator. And there's the drippy love story that every Marx Bros. movie was required to have, but this time it's with Kitty Carlisle, so it's a bit more interesting.
18. You will brook no criticism of what film? The Godfather.
19. Who is your favorite Irish actress? Maureen O'Hara. The Quiet Man.
20. Your favorite 1940s movie starring Ginger Rogers? Stage Door. I know it was the 1930s, but it's got Hepburn and Lucille Ball, so it stays my answer.
21. Do you enjoy silent movies? No.
22. What is your favorite Bette Davis film? All About Eve. A wonderful performance in a very nearly perfect film.
23. Your favorite onscreen Hollywood couple? Myrna Loy and William Powell.
24. This one is for the girls, but, of course, the guys are welcome to answer, too: who is your favorite Hollywood costume designer? Helen Rose. Those wedding dresses in High Society and Father of the Bride!
25. To even things out a bit, here's something the boys will enjoy: what is your favorite tough action film? Die Hard
26. You are currently gaining a greater appreciation for which actor(s)/actress(es)? Frank Sinatra. No, really. I enjoy his work as a serious actor. I appreciate that he was good enough to sublimate his powerful celebrity persona in movies as diverse as Young at Heart and The Detective.
28. Which actors and/or actresses do you think are underrated? Natalie Wood. With the 50th anniversary of West Side Story, I hear her bashed as "just" a movie star, and that's unfair. When she was good, in her high-wattage performances, she was great. And Gail Patrick. She helped make My Man Godfrey and Stage Door, and then went on to produce Perry Mason!
29. Which actors and/or actresses do you think are overrated? James Dean. Brando, Clift and Newman were all better.
32. Of those listed, who is the coolest: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Steve McQueen, or Patrick Stewart? Paul Newman. He's not only the coolest of this quartet, he's the coolest guy in the universe.
33. What is your favorite movie from each of these genres:
Comedy: Animal House
Swashbuckler: Don't have one. Sorry
Film noir: Laura
Musical: A Star is Born (Garland, of course)
Holiday: Young at Heart, because it includes both Christmas and Easter, making it holiday-appropriate twice a year
Hitchcock: Psycho or Rope
Hitchcock: Psycho or Rope
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to take the survey yourself. I can't wait to read your answers!
