The Show will go on...

 The old.....

 The new...

Some may be wondering what is going on here. Where are the posts? Where is the fun loving writing of Miss Irene Palfy and Monty? I'm here to tell ya, we're still here. Just so busy with tons of other blogs and stuff. I had talked to Irene about the theme for this month being all about Dark Shadows, since the new movie has just come out. I think we are still thinking about it. Irene saw the movie the other day and loved it. I intend to see it this weekend hopefully. I remember watching the original series on TV when it was being shown in repeats during the late 80's. Loved it. We could post about that series and the new updated film. We still have plenty of time this month. So don't give up on us yet, me and Irene are still here. The show will go on!

Count our lucky stars

Monty

Let's watch.. .. LILIES OF THE FIELD (1963)

Excellent film with Sidney Poitier in an Oscar winning performance as Homer Smith, an ex-GI now traveling contractor. Homer is making his way through a small town in Arizona when his car overheats. He pulls into a place and encounters a group of East German Catholic nuns led by the strict Mother Superior Maria (Lilia Skala). All Homer wants is some water for his radiator but he ends up staying at the request of Mother Maria to help out around the place. And when Mother Maria asks him to build a chapel cause she thinks God has sent him for that task, Homer reluctantly agrees. Lilies of the Field is a wonderful film mixing drama with some humor and a great performance by Mr. Poitier. I used to think Sidney's best acting work was in Guess Who's Coming To Dinner. I stand corrected, Lilies is by far his best work and he deservedly was named Best Actor for 1963. He makes Homer such an engaging character that most people can identify with. And all the actresses portraying the nuns give worthy performances also. Lilies is a small but immensely enjoyable film. One of the best scenes in the film is when Homer teaches the nuns how to sing an old time church hymn called Amen. It's heavenly, rousing, and funny all at once. A great music score by Jerry Goldsmith is a plus also. Add this to Poitier's list of films that he made in the 1960's and you have one of the best stretches of film acting ever delivered. His other films during this period include A Raisin in the Sun (1961); The Bedford Incident (1965); To Sir, With Love (1967); Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967); and In The Heat Of The Night (1967). All equally impressive films during a six year span. And Lilies is right up there with them.

Check out this wonderful scene from a wonderful film..
 http://youtu.be/rn6w255CGkk

Let's watch...ELMER GANTRY (1960)

 Burt Lancaster is all fire and brimstone as a traveling salesman who crosses path with a lady preacher named Sharon Falconer (played by Jean Simmons in an Award worthy performance) and becomes part of her traveling roadshow. Burt gives a showy and deserving Oscar winning performance as Gantry, who manages to smooth talk just about everyone he meets. But his past catches up with him later on in the form of Lulu Bains, a prostitute (played by Shirley Jones, who won an Oscar for her work here) who brings down her fury on Gantry in the final act. It's hard to mix religion and film and come away with everything working so well. The three leads: Lancaster, Simmons, and Jones are all top notch. There is also strong support from Arthur Kennedy as a local newspaper man who doesn't fall for Gantry's theatrics. I liked Elmer Gantry. It doesn't beat you over the head with the ideas of religion but does make you think about all the things that go along with it. All the music, preaching, etc combine to make a very solid film.





 I do believe Simmons was overlooked by the Academy by not even being nominated for her amazing performance as Sister Sharon. Her scenes preaching to the masses will hook you in immediately with her soft and delicate features but strong and commanding voice. Jones part was small but very effective. She doesn't enter the film until about 90 minutes in, but makes quite the impression as Lulu. She is very smart and very capable of taking down anyone who wrongs her such as Gantry did in their past. And finally Lancaster is top notch with this show stopping role that lets him cut loose with some big attention grabbing scenes and also with some quieter effective moments as well. If you have never seen Elmer Gantry, you need to check it out.

 Count our lucky stars

Monty

My Favorite Gene Tierney Films...or lack thereof

I love making lists of my favorite films of my fave actors/actresses. And usually the only problem I have is deciding which to rank higher or lower because of the quantity I have seen of said person. Well that's not the case when it comes to our star of the month, Gene Tierney. In fact it is the opposite. I haven't really seen enough of her work to make a long enough list. But I have seen four of her films that I think are just awesome. In fact I have only seen 5 of her films total with one being a stinker. To me anyway...The Shanghai Gesture. But let's not dwell on the bad. Let's talk about the good Gene ok?

First we have The Razor's Edge (1946) which I just happenstance to see a few weeks ago. Irene was kind of enough to post about this film and let me know how good it was. I saw it for myself and she was right, it was amazing. Loaded with an all-star cast in Gene, Tyrone Power, Anne Baxter, Clifton Webb, Lucile Watson, Herbert Marshall, Elsa Lanchester and John Payne. Gene's character Isabel is not an easy person to like. She is quite mean and does some questionable things. But Gene delivers a solid performance. I can't wait to see this film again.

Is Gene not drop dead gorgeous?

Also from 1946 is Leave Her To Heaven, which allows Gene to really work her skill as a top actress as Ellen Berent Harland, a socialite who loves her husband..just a tad too much. Bordering on obsessive. A powerhouse performance by Gene for this one and she looks absolutely stunning in glorious color. 

One of my favorite roles Gene did is Lucy Muir

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947) allowed Gene a much more different character from the previous two films. Her Lucy Muir, a recent widow who moves to a seaside cottage who encounters a ghost (Rex Harrison). Gene has a plum role here as Lucy, as she gets several comedic and dramatic moments in this lovely film.

Sharing the screen with Vincent Price

And finally, one of my absolute favorite films of all time is Laura (1944). Now I don't want to give away any details of this great film noir film because it's better to go in not knowing anything about it. I will say while it is a top notch film, I don't think it is Gene's best film in which she shines. You will understand when you watch it. Don't get me wrong..she is good, but she is much better in the three films I talked about above. But she is backed by one strong cast in Laura. With the likes of Dana Andrews, Vincent Price, Clifton Webb and Judith Anderson.


So there you have it, my little post on the sadly small amount of Gene Tierney films I have seen. Maybe by next year this time, I will come back and will have watched a few more.

Count our lucky stars

Monty

Gene Tierney makes it three in a row

Just a quick post to let everyone know that Gene won again in the favorite classic movie tourney over on my main blog, All Good Things. She knocked off Lauren Bacall 53-45 for her third straight win. Add Bacall to the list of the other actresses she has beaten including top seed Vivien Leigh and Greer Garson. Gene has proven that she is certainly popular enough among fans to compete with the elite. Congrats Gene and here's to you and your continued success in the tourney.

My apologies...

I had written a nice little post about Gene Tierney. Well just some facts about her and for whatever reason Blogger was acting crappy and showed everything I wrote in highlights. I tried to edit it and it kept coming up as the same horrid typeface. Irked me big time. And I was getting tired and cranky because it wouldn't let me do what I wanted to do. So I said forget it and just thought about winging it. Just doing a post on why I love Gene Tierney. So here goes. Now while I may not have seen a lot of her movies, the ones I have seen, she is amazing. And I'm not just talking about her physical beauty, which is stunning to say the least. But her acting ability was never given a fair shake I think. To those who think Gene can't act, I say check her out in The Razor's Edge (which I finally saw for the very first time a few weeks ago) or Leave Her To Heaven (which I think is the first time I saw Gene in a film...back during the AMC days when I was watching and recording everything on VHS). Oh and let's not forget about The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. This may be my favorite performance of Gene. She is determined and very witty. I love her in this film. I know some classic film and star fans may not put Gene in the upper tier rankings with Bette, Katharine, Ingrid or others but I do think she can be mentioned in the company of those aforementioned women. Well I will talk about her. And let everyone know she is one of my favorites. Ok, that's my little post about Gene. Like I said nothing too fancy just something I wanted to say. Thanks for listening. And on with the show!

Count our lucky stars

Monty

The Little Things Gene Tierney Does Just Like Regular People

I try to do a post of photos featuring the star of the month for very occasion. This month it's Gene Tierney and the topic is everyday things that regular people do. That Gene did also. Enjoy!

 Listening to some records

 Walking the dogs

 Playing cards

 Feeding the animals

 Horseback riding

 Drinking coffee

 Rowing a boat

 Some light reading

 Riding a bike

And Gene just being simply beautiful!

Count our lucky stars

Monty

Congrats to Gene Tierney

Congratulations to Gene Tierney for her hard fought first round victory over Greer Garson 40-35 in the 40's era of the favorite classic movie actress tourney. The two battled back and forth for the entire three days before Gene was able to finally secure the win. Gene will now move on to round 2 next week where she will face top seed and last year's final four finalist Vivien Leigh. It will be a tall order for Gene to take down Scarlett O'Hara but I'm in her corner. Let's go Gene! Here's the link to go vote for that era: rosalind-russell: Dazzling Star

All You Need Is Love

One of my favorite modern films is Love Actually. And this video of the song All You Need Is Love is perfect! Enjoy! You may have to highlight the link first and then hit open to view.
http://youtu.be/BKGAdE6wwTM

Let's watch... CAMILLE (1936)

No doubt a star vehicle for Greta Garbo who works her magic as the doomed Parisian courtesan who loves the young Duval (played by Robert Taylor) but leaves him at the bequest of Duval's father. Later she is stricken with illness and Duval comes back. Tragic tear-jerker that benefits from the great performance of Garbo. Pure excellence. This is my second favorite Garbo film. I only like her screwball comedy Ninotchka more. But Camille is by far my favorite of her dramatic films. She just makes her acting seem so effortless and not acting at all. And Camille is one of my top 5 favorite romantic films of all time. So if you have never seen it, please try to find it somewhere and watch it. It comes highly recommended by me.

Notes:

 Greta Garbo's personal favorite of all her films.

The only memento of Hollywood kept by Garbo was a pair of Adrian-designed kid gloves from this film. White leather, they were beaded with an ivy leaf pattern than spelled out her initials "G.G." over and over.

Garbo wore bedroom slippers under all her fancy dresses so she could be comfortable, as well as more naturalistic in her acting.

Count Our Lucky Stars

Monty

Some great film couples showing some love...

In honor of Valentine's Day, here are photos of some of the great film couples of all time:

Greta and John

Clark and Jean

Tony and Janet

Fred and Ginger

Doris and Rock

Spencer and Katharine

Grace and Cary

Olivia and Errol

Gene and Tyrone

Veronica and Alan

James and Margaret

John and Maureen

Audrey and Gregory

Clark and Vivien

Humphrey and Lauren

William and Myrna

Lana and John

Carole and Clark

Cary and Irene

Greer and Walter

Count our lucky stars

Monty