tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28256947838017810472024-03-05T07:20:48.600-08:00The Great Katharine HepburnAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16581509646636552299noreply@blogger.comBlogger131125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825694783801781047.post-85062402948822484782015-03-10T18:01:00.001-07:002015-03-10T18:03:54.747-07:007 Ways Katharine Hepburn Leans In in A WOMAN REBELS (1936)<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms', geneva; font-size: 24pt;">The post is written in honour of International Women's Day 2015. Scroll to the bottom for more information about how you can be part of the fight against sexism and gender inequality.</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">A WOMAN REBELS (1936) is about a Pamela Thistlewaite (Katharine Hepburn), a young woman in Victorian England who must raise her illegitimate daughter as her dead sister’s child. Because she is unmarried and doesn’t wish to live with her domineering, unfeeling father, she decides to find work and raise her child on her own. Hepburn’s character is like Hepburn’s own mother, who must rebel against the Victorian gender roles imposed upon her by her older male relatives in order to pursue her way as an autonomous woman. Hepburn’s character has two love interests in the film, both of whom have very few scenes and lines in comparison with Hepburn’s character. Neither relationship is particularly romantic, and it’s hard to believe Hepburn’s complete submission to the man in the final scene. <a href="http://margaretperry.org/7-ways-katharine-hepburn-leans-in-in-a-woman-rebels-1936/" target="_blank">READ MORE...</a></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16581509646636552299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825694783801781047.post-5424047285017069172014-08-16T17:17:00.001-07:002014-08-16T17:17:40.009-07:00A Bible and a Gun: ROOSTER COGBURN (and the Lady) (1975)<a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Bible-et-fusile.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Bible et fusile" class="wp-image-2867 alignleft" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Bible-et-fusile.jpg" height="248" width="234" /></a><em><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: #222222;">This post is part of the <a href="http://www.classicfilmtvcafe.com/2014/07/the-build-your-own-blogathon-starts.html" target="_blank">Build-Your-Own-Blogathon</a> hosted by the </span><a href="http://www.classicfilmtvcafe.com/" target="_blank">Classic Film and TV Cafe</a><span style="color: #222222;">. It follows <a href="http://virtualvirago.blogspot.com/">Jennifer Garlen</a>'s post about <a href="http://virtualvirago.blogspot.com/2014/08/build-your-own-blogathon-bad-apples-in.html">BEND OF THE RIVER (1952)</a></span><span style="color: #222222;">, which is another Western that takes place in the American Northwest</span><span style="color: #222222;">. For <a href="http://margaretperry.org/the-great-katharine-hepburn-blogathon-has-finally-arrived/" title="The Great Katharine Hepburn Blogathon Has Finally Arrived!">The Great Katharine Hepburn Blogathon</a> earlier this year, Jennifer wrote a great post about <a href="http://virtualvirago.blogspot.com/2014/05/katharine-hepburn-in-rooster-cogburn.html">ROOSTER COGBURN (1975)</a> as well - be sure to check it out!</span></span></em><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 14pt;">"Une Bible et Un Fusil" (a bible and a gun) was the title given to the French translation of Hall Wallis's ROOSTER COGBURN (1975), and it couldn't be a more accurate moniker for this Western starring the most unlikely pairing of Hollywood stars: Katharine Hepburn and John Wayne. By the time of the making of ROOSTER COGBURN, John Wayne had become the symbol of the politically conservative American frontiersman. Hepburn, on the other hand, was well-established as America's high-brow flaming liberal. <a href="http://margaretperry.org/a-bible-and-a-gun-rooster-cogburn-and-the-lady-1975/" target="_blank">READ MORE</a></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16581509646636552299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825694783801781047.post-68475114349277025172014-05-19T19:26:00.000-07:002014-05-19T19:26:39.598-07:00THE WINNERS of The Great Katharine Hepburn Blogathon!<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 14pt;">Thanks again to anyone and everyone who submitted a post to my first ever blogathon, <a href="http://margaretperry.org/the-great-katharine-hepburn-blogathon-has-finally-arrived/" target="_blank" title="The Great Katharine Hepburn Blogathon Has Finally Arrived!">The Great Katharine Hepburn Blogathon</a>! It was a great experience and I look forward to hosting another blogathon in the future. I'd like to say a special thank you to Fritzi at <a href="http://moviessilently.com/" target="_blank">Movies, Silently</a> for the great <a href="http://moviessilently.com/2013/12/05/all-about-the-blogathons-part-2-how-to-host-your-own/" target="_blank">blogathon advice</a> she gives, and to <a href="http://willmckinley.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Will McKinley</a> and <a href="http://virtualvirago.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Jennifer Garlen</a> for their valuable feedback. I couldn't have done it without you!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 14pt;">23 bloggers sent in articles about the great Kate. It felt like it was <em>my</em> birthday, reading everyone's wonderful thoughts about my favorite actress. Today I put all the submitted blog entries into a hat and randomly drew three winners. DRUMROLL PLEASE!</span><br />
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<a href="http://margaretperry.org/the-winners-of-the-great-katharine-hepburn-blogathon/" target="_blank">FOUND OUT THE WINNERS HERE!</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16581509646636552299noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825694783801781047.post-72927101410794643612014-05-09T19:28:00.001-07:002014-05-09T19:28:36.656-07:00The Great Katharine Hepburn Blogathon Has Finally Arrived!<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Check out all the awesome entries and prizes at <a href="http://margaretperry.org/">margaretperry.org</a>!</span></b></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16581509646636552299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825694783801781047.post-45486530531465116092014-05-03T21:31:00.003-07:002014-05-03T21:31:35.981-07:0010 Things to Love about WITHOUT LOVE (1945)<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 14pt;">Harold S. Buquet's <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038256/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_32" target="_blank">WITHOUT LOVE</a> (1945) is without doubt one of Katharine Hepburn's most underrated films. She plays a Jamie Rowan, a scientist's daughter who rents out part of her Washington DC home to a Pat Jamieson (<a href="http://margaretperry.org/hepburn-and-tracy-get-steamy-on-tcm/" target="_blank" title="Hepburn and Tracy Get Steamy on TCM">Spencer Tracy</a>), a scientist who cannot find anywhere to live and work due to the housing shortage of WWII DC. Jamie has given up on love because she tragically lost her first husband, and cannot envision loving anybody else. Pat refuses to have any romance in his life because he has been jilted by the girl he was crazy about. So, the obvious conclusion for this mismatched pair is to enter into a loveless marriage and work together as colleagues on the scientific innovations that will win the war. Well, if you've EVER seen a Hepburn/Tracy movie in your life, you can imagine the laughs these two have before yielding to the inevitable and falling hook, line, and sinker for each other!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 14pt;">"You don't want love in your life, I don't want it in mine. But our reasons are as different as the sun is from the moon. You don't want it because you've had all the worst of it. I don't want it because I've had all the best." (Jamie)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 14pt;">As philosophical as this all sounds, the movie is actually rather light, and full of laughs. Hepburn is as good here as she is in some of her more popular comedies, like <a href="http://margaretperry.org/bringing-up-baby-1938-or-katharine-hepburn-and-cary-grant-go-leopard-hunting-in-connecticut/" target="_blank" title="BRINGING UP BABY (1938) or “Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant Go Leopard Hunting in Connecticut”">BRINGING UP BABY</a> (1938), <a href="http://margaretperry.org/the-philadelphia-story-1940/" target="_blank" title="THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940)">THE PHILADELPHIA STORY</a> (1940), or <a href="http://margaretperry.org/the-most-radically-feminist-films-of-katharine-hepburn/" target="_blank" title="The Most Radically Feminist Films of Katharine Hepburn">ADAM'S RIB</a> (1949). If you haven't seen it already, WITHOUT LOVE is definitely one to add to your collection. Here are my top ten favorite things about the movie.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 14pt;">As is typical with Hepburn/Tracy films, the two are able to present a rich story about a platonic relationship, which could be a success if it weren't for their natural chemistry. The democratic nature of their discourse enables the representative of each gender equal clout in the narrative of the story. Every Hepburn/Tracy film is in part biographical - their film relationships almost always portray an engendered equality, a partnership of minds, a synchronisation of thought. One only has to look at the names of the characters in WITHOUT LOVE (1945) to identify the near-androgyny of their relationship - both Jamie and Pat could be male or female names.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 18pt;"><strong>The Script</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 14pt;">Katharine Hepburn starred in the broadway version of WITHOUT LOVE before making the movie. The play was written by her old friend Phillip Barry, who had also written <a href="http://margaretperry.org/oscar-winning-director-george-cukor-as-in-cucumber/" target="_blank" title="Oscar-Winning Director George Cukor (as in “cucumber”)">HOLIDAY</a> (1938) and THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940). The play was written for the screen by Donald Ogden Stewart, who also wrote screenplays for a number of other Hepburn movies, including HOLIDAY, THE PHILADELPHIA STORY, KEEPER OF THE FLAME (1942), and <a href="http://margaretperry.org/david-leans-summertime-1955/" target="_blank" title="David Lean’s SUMMERTIME (1955)">SUMMERTIME</a> (1955). The script for WITHOUT LOVE is terribly witty, bringing out the best in both the principal actors.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 18pt;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EnCWM7qRso" target="_blank">The Proposal</a></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 14pt;">Only Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy could make this scheme credible. I love their quickfire off each other - her breathless enthusiasm and his pragmatic, yet slightly flustered reactions to her harebrained ideas - classic!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 14pt;">Jamie: "I wondered if maybe you'd like to marry me. Would the idea interest you?"</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 18pt;"><strong>Katharine Hepburn</strong></span></div>
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 14pt;">Hepburn gives one of her most nuanced performances in WITHOUT LOVE. She is in turn a society snob, a prude, an intellectual, a mourning widow, a devoted daughter, a flirt, a business partner, and a good friend. She plays each side of her character with a subtle sincerity that is lacking from some of her more popular comedies. Her performance as Jamie is both nuanced and credible, playing very well off Spencer Tracy's usual frankness.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 18pt;"><strong>Hepburn the Scientist</strong></span></div>
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 14pt;">It's always cool to see women in movies participating in traditionally male-dominated fields. Having been raised by a scientist father and gone to college, she is able to be of real help to Pat in his work. She's also hilarious.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 18pt;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnQl_nnxD2" target="_blank">This Scene</a></span></strong></div>
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 14pt;">Skip to 3:00 for the funny part, where Jamie discovers Pat is in her bed. I LMAO and ROFL every time I see Hepburn tumble backwards out of bed. So. Darned. Funny.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 18pt;"><strong>Dizzy the dog</strong></span></div>
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 14pt;">Dizzy might be the cutest movie dog I've ever seen. He seems so unlike Spencer Tracy, who owned several bigger dogs in his lifetime. When he passed away, Hepburn adopted his dog Lobo.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Dizzy.png"><img alt="Dizzy" class="aligncenter wp-image-2677" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Dizzy.png" height="314" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 18pt;"><strong>Lucille Ball</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 14pt;">Katharine Hepburn had worked once before with "The Queen of the B-Movies," in <a href="http://margaretperry.org/stage-door-1937-a-feminist-perspective/" target="_blank" title="STAGE DOOR (1937): A Feminist Perspective">STAGE DOOR</a> (1937). Much later, <a href="http://margaretperry.org/when-comedy-was-queen-funny-lady-blogathon/" target="_blank" title="When Comedy Was Queen: The Women of the 1950s Sitcom">Lucille Ball</a> remembered being in awe of her costar throughout filming. As was usual of the characters Ball was playing at this time in her career, Kitty Trimble is a smart-mouthed, street-savvy agent, who dates Jamie's cousin Quentin (Keenan Wynn) and generally serves as a comedic foil. Kitty and Quentin's romance serves as a contrast to Jamie and Pat's less traditional relationship.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 18pt;"><strong>Keenan Wynn</strong></span></div>
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 14pt;">Ed Wynn's son is a pip in WITHOUT LOVE. He plays Jamie's drunk of a cousin and Kitty's wayward boyfriend. He is very funny.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 14pt;">Quentin: No, no, no. No, a home is where the heart is, and a man's best friend is his mother. But not tonight, my friend. Not tonight, because you don't know my mother.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 14pt;">Quentin: Jaimie? She writes. She writes horseback.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 18pt;"><strong>The ending (SPOILER ALERT!)</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 14pt;">Are these two not THE MOST ADORABLE!?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 14pt;"><em>This post is written in conjunction with the <a href="http://backlots.net/2014/02/06/announcing-backlots-first-blogathon-collaboration-romantic-comedy-with-carole-co/" target="_blank">Romantic Comedy Blogathon</a>, hosted by <a href="http://backlots.net/" target="_blank">Backlots</a> and <a href="http://carole-and-co.livejournal.com/" target="_blank">Carol and Co.</a> Thank you for stopping by!</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">There's still time to sign up for <a href="http://margaretperry.org/announcing-the-great-katharine-hepburn-blogathon/" target="_blank">The Great Katharine Hepburn Blogathon</a>, May 10-12! A lot of people have already added their blogs to the roster of participatnts, competing for a chance at three great Katharine Hepburn PRIZES!</span></strong></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16581509646636552299noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825694783801781047.post-78101551667193318772014-04-13T14:57:00.001-07:002014-04-13T14:59:22.123-07:00How Katharine Hepburn Defied Sexist Ageism in Hollywood<a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Harrison-Ford.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Harrison Ford" class="wp-image-2622 alignright" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Harrison-Ford.png" height="400" width="326" /></a><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 18px;">It is a widely acknowledged fact in Hollywood today that leading men are permitted to age on screen while their female colleagues are required to keep at least one toe dipped in the fountain of youth. The charts in this Vulture article compare the </span><a href="http://www.vulture.com/2013/04/leading-men-age-but-their-love-interests-dont.html" style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 18px;" target="_blank">ages of leading men and their love interests</a><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 18px;"> film by film. Though actors like Denzel Washington, Harrison Ford, Johnny Depp, Tom Cruise, George Clooney, and Richard Gere age into their 50s and 60s, only seldom are their leading ladies as old as 40.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 18px;">This problem isn't unique to the film world. A recent British study shows that older female television presenters are pushed off screen.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 18px;">"...out of 481 presenters at all the networks only 26 women over 50 are regularly on screen. Of presenters over 50, just 18% are women. This group makes up just 5% of presenters of all ages and sexes and 7% of the total workforce both on and off screen. While there are regularly 188 women on screen, making up 39% of that workforce, the majority of them are under 50." (<a href="http://blogs.indiewire.com/womenandhollywood/british-study-shows-older-women-are-pushed-off-screen" target="_blank">Women and Hollywood</a>)</span></blockquote>
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<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 18px;">In an article last year, <em>The Hollywood Reporter</em> celebrated the increased popularity and box-office clout of actresses of mature years. But even they had to admit:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 18px;">"But not all the news is encouraging. A recent USC study tracked characters appearing in the 500 top-grossing films from 2007 to 2012 and found that the percentage of females between the ages of 40 and 64 has not changed meaningfully over time. The majority of all female characters onscreen in the 100 most popular films in 2012 were between ages 21 and 39. And, among characters in the 40- to 64-year-old range, males outnumbered female characters by nearly 4-to-1.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 18px;">And for all the evidence that suggests that, cast in the right vehicle, older actresses can triumph, it's not clear that everyone in Hollywood has received the message -- particularly at those studios where male execs dominate." (<a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sandra-bullock-melissa-mccarthy-beyond-562530?page=show" target="_blank">Revenge of the Over-40 Actress</a>)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 18px;">Susan Sarandon, one of the few mature actresses still finding leading work in Hollywood, often talks about the struggles a female actor has in Hollywood.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 18px;">"When people say, 'Do you think you've lost work because of your politics?' I say, 'No, You lose work because you get old and fat!' That's when they write you off in Hollywood." (<a href="http://blogs.indiewire.com/womenandhollywood/women-aging-and-hollywood" target="_blank">Women, Ageing and Hollywood</a>)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 18px;"><strong>Were things different back in the day?</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 18px;">During what is now considered the Golden Age of Hollywood, from about 1930 through 1965, older actress were seldom seen in leading roles. Some veteran actresses<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, like Edna May Oliver, Marie Dressler, Marjorie Main, and <a href="http://margaretperry.org/feministing-the-classic-hollywood-starlet/" target="_blank" title="Feministing the Classic Hollywood Starlet">Mary Wickes</a> were able to make names for themselves as character actors, but they were seldom romantic leads. Many stars that started out in Hollywood as </span>ingénues<span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> continued to act into their later years, but they often portrayed "monstrous feminine" characters - wicked, twisted, pathological mothers, and sadistic next door neighbors. <a href="http://margaretperry.org/bette-davis-14-august-suts/" target="_blank" title="Bette Davis (14 August SUTS)">Bette Davis</a> and <a href="http://girlsdofilm.wordpress.com/2014/04/11/bette-davis-and-joan-crawford-in-what-ever-happened-to-baby-jane/" target="_blank">Joan Crawford</a> found renewed success in such roles.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/SLS.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="SLS" class=" wp-image-2624 " src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/SLS.png" height="304" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 16.363636016845703px; text-align: start;">Katharine Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor in SUDDENLY, LAST SUMMER (1959)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 18px;">Katharine Hepburn made 30 films after the age of 40. She played the romantic lead in 12 of them. She was a mother in only 10. Two of her mother roles were of the sadistic variety: as Violet Venable in SUDDENLY, LAST SUMMER (1959) and as Mary Tyrone in Eugene O'Neill's LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT (1962). Hepburn earned 3 of her 4 Academy Awards for movies she made after the age of 40. Six of her last 30 films were made playing opposite Spencer Tracy. Other leading men of this period of her career included <a href="http://ramblingsofacinephile.com/2014/04/12/oldies-but-goldies-true-grit-1969/" target="_blank">John Wayne</a>, <a href="http://margaretperry.org/henry-fonda-11-august-suts/" target="_blank" title="Henry Fonda (11 August SUTS)">Henry Fonda</a>, <a href="http://margaretperry.org/humphrey-bogart-1-august-suts/" target="_blank" title="Humphrey Bogart (1 August SUTS)">Humphrey Bogart</a>, Paul Henreid, <a href="http://margaretperry.org/epic-fail-operation-iron-petticoat-1956/" target="_blank" title="Epic Fail: Operation IRON PETTICOAT (1956)">Bob Hope</a>, <a href="http://margaretperry.org/david-leans-summertime-1955/" target="_blank" title="David Lean’s SUMMERTIME (1955)">Rossano Brazzi</a>, <a href="http://flickchick1953.blogspot.ca/2014/04/venus-2006-peter-greats-last-hurrah.html" target="_blank">Peter O'Toole</a>, Harold Gould, and Laurence Olivier.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 18px;">The trajectory of Hepburn's career after her 40th birthday proves that filmmakers in Hollywood at the time still saw her as sexually pertinent to romantic film texts. Not only was the Hepburn character permitted to continue in romantic roles, but audiences continued to find these performances credible.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.doctormacro.com/Movie%20Summaries/A/African%20Queen,%20The.htm" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="AQ" class=" wp-image-2625" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/AQ-1024x451.jpg" height="271" width="614" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 16.363636016845703px; text-align: start;">Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart in John Huston's THE AFRICAN QUEEN (1951)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 18px;">For example, Hepburn was in her early 40s when she played the spinster Rose Sayer in THE AFRICAN QUEEN (1951) with Humphrey Bogart, yet it does not seem in the least bit unusual to hear Rose and Charlie dream about a future together - a future that includes grandchildren, no less. Hepburn was 50 when she made DESK SET (1957), yet both Gig Young and Spencer Tracy pursue her as if she were a 20-something.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/DS.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, and Gig Young in Walter Lang's DESK SET (1957)" class=" wp-image-2626 " src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/DS-1024x431.jpg" height="270" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 16.363636016845703px; text-align: start;">Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, and Gig Young in Walter Lang's DESK SET (1957)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 18px;">Hepburn was almost 80 when she played Margaret Delafield in <a href="http://margaretperry.org/knowing-hepburn-and-other-curious-experiences-by-james-prideaux/" target="_blank" title="“Knowing Hepburn and Other Curious Experiences” by James Prideaux">James Prideaux</a>'s made-for-tv movie, MRS. DELAFIELD WANTS TO MARRY (1986). In this film text, the Hepburn character defends the right of older women to pursue romance, sex, and marriage. As with many of her earlier movies, Hepburn does not shy away from vocally addressing important social issues. MRS. DELAFIELD is a hugely overlooked film, because it tackles such issues as anti-semitism, ageism, social class conflict, and homosexuality.</span><br />
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<a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/MDWtM.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="MDWtM" class="alignright wp-image-2627" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/MDWtM.jpg" height="400" width="303" /></a><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 18px;"><strong>How is it that Hepburn was able to maintain a steady career of romantic roles into her later years when so many other of her era failed to do so? Can actresses today learn from her example?</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 18px;">There are a number of reasons Hepburn was "permitted," by the system, to have the career she did. In the first place, she had spent years building up a relationship of respect with the studio bosses and actors agencies in Hollywood. She took her career seriously, was professional in negotiating scripts and working on set, and she was discrete about her private life. All these factors contributed to her being taken seriously when she wanted to pursue anything unconventional (like wearing trousers, bossing people around, and making movies when she was older).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 18px;">Katharine Hepburn also continued to work very hard on her craft, returning to the stage to try <a href="http://margaretperry.org/five-roles-katharine-hepburn-never-played-the-great-imaginary-film-blogathon/" target="_blank" title="Five Roles Katharine Hepburn Never Played: The Great Imaginary Film Blogathon">Shakespeare</a> and the classics. She even made a musical (<a href="http://www.playbillvault.com/Show/Detail/5798/Coco" target="_blank">"Coco" (1969)</a>). By putting personal effort into developing her career, Hepburn was able to maintain her sellable status as a performer. She was willing and able to take roles that more stagnant actresses would not have attempted. Like Davis and Crawford, Hepburn was not afraid to appear grotesque on screen, as long as the role had a purpose and did not reveal any sort of desperation for work.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5eRPLTQa23GXtyHMbtpkvh7ca2iNfeHex4Ms7bnAMIHzcqI4CZayEaxaX28J0tlIE0q6gfH2pGKFkmhdZz75rTM6cEAZWgZpr_iQAkgPovMYOj2-N5CboL-F7kfitvEownMpZZUquGWA/s1600/diamonds+and+gold.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5eRPLTQa23GXtyHMbtpkvh7ca2iNfeHex4Ms7bnAMIHzcqI4CZayEaxaX28J0tlIE0q6gfH2pGKFkmhdZz75rTM6cEAZWgZpr_iQAkgPovMYOj2-N5CboL-F7kfitvEownMpZZUquGWA/s1600/diamonds+and+gold.jpg" height="400" width="275" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 18px;">These are all very practical reasons that there was a place for an older Hepburn in the movies. But the most significant reason for Katharine Hepburn's success as an over-40s actress was her complete self-confidence. She was not so insecure about her looks that she let them prevent her form making movies. She was not afraid to age in front of the cameras or to let her beloved public see her ageing. Hepburn was not obsessed with trying to look like the perpetual 30-year-old. She kept herself fit by playing tennis and swimming. For a time she died her hair, and she liked to keep her neck covered. But she maintained a healthy realism about her looks, which permitted her to carry on as usual. My favorite Katharine Hepburn scholar Andrew Britton puts it best when he says:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 18px;">"The answer to the question of how it was possible for her to lend herself to her late films has already been implied. 'She is what she is because that's what she wants to be.' Purely reactionary in its dramatic meaning, the remark tallies with Hepburn's sense of herself: her personal pride in her achievement, and in the self produced through it." (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Katharine-Hepburn-Feminist-Culture-Series/dp/0231132778/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397419191&sr=8-1&keywords=andrew+britton+katharine+hepburn" target="_blank">Katharine Hepburn: Star as Feminist</a>)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 18px;"><em>This post is written in conjunction with the <a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/2014/02/a-blogathon-of-diamonds-and-gold.html" target="_blank">Diamonds and Gold Blogathon</a> hosted by <a href="http://widescreenworld.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Wide Screen World</a> and <a href="http://caftanwoman.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Caftan Woman</a>.</em></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16581509646636552299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825694783801781047.post-29698531367808803172014-04-10T20:48:00.000-07:002014-04-10T20:48:32.869-07:00Why Girls Today Need A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN (1992)<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/no-crying-in-baseball1.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="no crying in baseball" class="alignright wp-image-2610" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/no-crying-in-baseball1.jpg" height="320" width="271" /></a>I am going to give you all, beloved readers, a slice of the life of a starving writer. I was lying in bed last night thinking of all the ways I had failed in life - failed at relationships, jobs, writing, you name it. I was racking my brain for a single thing in my life I had ever done well. Do you know what came to mind? A catch. A really sweet catch.</div>
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In the words of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pilot-The-Golden-Girls/dp/B00J1ZNTYY/ref=sr_1_9?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1397100316&sr=1-9&keywords=golden+girls" target="_blank">Sophia Petrillo</a>, "Picture it. Northern Virginia, mid-1990s." An eight-year-old Margaret Perry was playing first base in a <a href="http://www.chantillyyouth.org/" target="_blank">Chantilly Youth Association</a> softball game. I couldn't tell you the score if I wanted to, but at some point the batter hit a solid line drive my way. Without batting an eye I reached across and caught the ball with a backhand. Out! It was an awesome catch and everybody on that field knew it.<br />
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So, here I am - a twenty-something struggling to make ends meet in a world that does not celebrate history/English lit. liberal arts graduates. And the one moment of personal glory I can claim without hesitation is an epic catch I made on the softball field over a decade ago. As I write this, I am remembering a dozen or so other examples of great plays I made on that field. Like that sweet grounder I hit into left field, right past the short stop. Or that time I got a huge strawberry sliding into third. Or the time I lobbed it from third to first, making an amazing double play.<br />
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Baseball teaches youngsters a plethera of lessons. Baseball teaches kids how to work together as a team. It teaches how hard work leads to success. Success in baseball is always based on merit, and the rewards are immediate. A good play gets cheers from teamates, the coaches, your parents, everyone in the stands. Baseball crosses socio-economic class boundaries - kids playing stickball on the backstreets of the inner city get just as much thrill out of a home run as any major-league hitter.<br />
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<a href="http://margaretperry.org/why-girls-today-need-a-league-of-their-own-1992/" target="_blank"><img alt="Little League" class="aligncenter wp-image-2603" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Little-League.jpg" height="147" width="640" /></a></div>
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There are dozens of movies about boys' baseball, from <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108037/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank">THE SANDLOT</a> (1993) to <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035211/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank" title="Gary Cooper: BALL OF FIRE (1941)">THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEES</a> (1942) to <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1210166/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank">MONEYBALL</a> (2011), but precious few about women. There are some really great films about girls in sports, generally, my personal favorites being <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045012/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">PAT AND MIKE</a> (1952) starring Katharine Hepburn, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0286499/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank">BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM</a> (2002), and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0300532/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank">BLUE CRUSH</a> (2002). If you want to also include horse movies, you can add <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037120/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank">NATIONAL VELVET</a> (1944) and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103262/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank">WILD HEARTS CAN'T BE BROKEN</a> (1991). But no other sport has so much of a gender lockdown than American baseball. <a href="http://margaretperry.org/why-girls-today-need-a-league-of-their-own-1992/" target="_blank">READ MORE</a>...<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16581509646636552299noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825694783801781047.post-71339932210118338402014-03-12T20:01:00.003-07:002014-03-12T20:01:54.326-07:00Announcing The Great Katharine Hepburn Blogathon!<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;"><a href="http://margaretperry.org/announcing-the-great-katharine-hepburn-blogathon/" target="_blank"><img alt="KH banner vi" class="aligncenter wp-image-2442" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/KH-banner-vi-1024x702.png" height="274" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;">The time has come! After three years participating in the classic film blogging community with <a href="http://thegreatkh.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">thegreatkh.blogspot.com</a>, Margaret P<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">erry is finally ready to host her very own blogathon. What will the topic of this blogathon be, you ask? Who else but my most favorite classic movie star ever, the great Katharine Hepburn herself!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;">The Great Katharine Hepburn Blogathon will take place over Miss Hepburn's birthday weekend, May 10-12. Hepburn would have been 107 years old May 12, 2014, which sounds pretty old, but she was all of 96 when she passed away in 2003. Quite a dame.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;">Find out about rules, prizes, and participants at <a href="http://margaretperry.org/">margaretperry.org</a>!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16581509646636552299noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825694783801781047.post-73303189144769302522014-03-08T19:06:00.000-08:002014-03-08T19:06:04.292-08:00Here's to International Women's Day and to the Biopics that Never Were<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 18px;">"The story of women's struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organization but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights" (Gloria Steinem)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 18px;"><a href="http://www.internationalwomensday.com/default.asp#.UxuyUfldVqU" target="_blank">International Women's Day</a> has been observed since the turn of the 20th century, back when the early <a href="http://margaretperry.org/wearing-my-feminism-on-my-sleeve/" target="_blank" title="Wearing My Feminism on My Sleeve">feminist movement</a> was working tirelessly for women's suffrage. Now, 100-and-something years later, women are still fighting to be recognized on equal grounds as men in all fields of endeavor. The film industry has some of the worst statistics concerning <a href="http://margaretperry.org/infographic-gender-inequality-in-film/" target="_blank" title="Infographic: Gender Inequality in Film">gender inequality</a>. Not only are films not being made by women, but comparatively few movies tell women's stories.</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.indiewire.com/article/highlights-from-women-film-pioneers-project-african-american-women-in-silent-film-women-camera-operators-and-more" target="_blank"><img alt="women in film" class="aligncenter wp-image-2420" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/women-in-film.jpg" height="382" width="544" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 18px;">When considering <a href="http://margaretperry.org/five-roles-katharine-hepburn-never-played-the-great-imaginary-film-blogathon/" target="_blank">film roles Katharine Hepburn never played</a> for the <a href="http://silverscenesblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/upcoming-blogathon-great-imaginary-film.html?showComment=1379537608086#c515711055636716823" target="_blank">Imaginary Film Blogathon</a>, I got to thinking about how few biopics there are about female historic figures. Not only do movies about the lives of our significant citizens teach us about the great men of history, they also give us role models and teach us how much a human being can do with a single lifetime. We've seen dozens of pictures about the world's famous states<em>men, </em>sports<em>men</em>, and military <em>men, </em>but as <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/36506-remember-the-ladies-and-be-more-generous-and-favorable-to" target="_blank">Abigail Adams</a> once entreated to her husband:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 18px;">"remember the ladies, and be more generous and favorable to then than your ancestors... If particular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies we are determined to foment a Rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice or Representation."</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 18px;">I have put together a list of notable women whose stories should be told on film. Some of these women do make cursory appearances in our history textbooks, but it is very difficult to grasp the enormity and significance of their contributions without the full narrative arch of their stories. A lot of these women can be found in the <a href="http://www.greatwomen.org/" target="_blank">National Women's Hall of Fame</a>. If you would like to submit names to this list, let me know in the comments section below and I will add your contributions as they come in. <a href="http://margaretperry.org/heres-to-international-womens-day-and-the-biopics-that-never-were/" target="_blank">READ MORE</a></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16581509646636552299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825694783801781047.post-16544557396353375782014-03-02T01:28:00.001-08:002014-03-02T01:28:55.238-08:00Why LITTLE WOMEN (1933) is a very big deal<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/sisters.jpg"><img alt="sisters" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2373" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/sisters.jpg" height="255" width="575" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">“There’s one thing George and I agree on. Actually, we agree on almost everything. I don’t know anything we don’t agree on. One thing we <i>really </i>agree on is, we love LITTLE WOMEN. We loved doing it. And we love the film we made.” (Katharine Hepburn in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Know-Where-Going-Katharine-Biography-ebook/dp/B0037B6QHA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1393748541&sr=8-2&keywords=katharine+hepburn+chandler" target="_blank">Chandler</a>, 83)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">LITTLE WOMEN (1933) was nominated for three categories in the <a href="http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/DisplayMain.jsp?curTime=1393694790189" target="_blank">6th annual Academy Awards (1932/33)</a>: <a href="http://margaretperry.org/oscar-winning-director-george-cukor-as-in-cucumber/" target="_blank" title="Oscar-Winning Director George Cukor (as in “cucumber”)">George Cukor</a> for directing, RKO studios for best production, and Sarah Y. Mason and Victor Heerman for writing (adaptation). Though the film came in third for direction and best production, husband and wife writing team Mason and Heerman walked away with the Oscar. Funnily enough, Katharine Hepburn was <a href="http://margaretperry.org/poll-which-of-her-many-oscar-nominations-should-katharine-hepburn-have-won/" target="_blank" title="Which of her many Oscar nominations should Katharine Hepburn have won?">nominated</a>, not for her performance as Jo, but for her role as Eva Lovelace in MORNING GLORY (1933), her first of four Oscar wins. Hepburn always insisted she was nominated for the wrong film.</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.doctormacro.com/Movie%20Summaries/L/Little%20Women%20(1933).htm" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="poster" class="alignright wp-image-2374" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/poster.jpg" height="400" width="291" /></a><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">“[MORNING GLORY] was very good, but it was tricked up, charming, mugging. [In LITTLE WOMEN] I gave what I call the main-course performance, not a dessert.” (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kate-Remembered-Scott-Berg-ebook/dp/B004G8Q1PK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393748481&sr=8-1&keywords=katharine+hepburn+berg" target="_blank">Berg</a>, 99)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">Of all Katharine Hepburn <a href="http://margaretperry.org/the-most-radically-feminist-films-of-katharine-hepburn/" target="_blank" title="The Most Radically Feminist Films of Katharine Hepburn">most radically feminist films</a>, it could be argued that LITTLE WOMEN is the most radical of them all. In most non-Hepburn films coming out of studio-era Hollywood, female characters were positioned in antagonistic relation to one another. As feminist/Marxist scholar <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Katharine-Hepburn-Star-Feminist-Culture/dp/0231132778/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393748629&sr=1-1&keywords=andrew+britton+hepburn" target="_blank">Andrew Britton</a> explains, this was not the case in Hepburn's movies.<br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">“[In Hepburn films] the bond between female blood relatives creates an oppositional unity in contradiction to that of the patriarchal family which gives it its basis: the Hepburn character is profoundly committed to the ‘other family’ and it is destroyed by the intervention of men.” (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Katharine-Hepburn-Star-Feminist-Culture/dp/0231132778/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393748629&sr=1-1&keywords=andrew+britton+hepburn" target="_blank">Britton</a>, 105)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">“Jo can only like [her father] because he isn't around, and while she vows to ‘be what he likes to call me – a little woman,’ she is able to remain a ‘little man,’ and to retain both her ... attachment to her sisters and her aspiration to fulfill herself creatively as a professional writer.” (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Katharine-Hepburn-Star-Feminist-Culture/dp/0231132778/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393748629&sr=1-1&keywords=andrew+britton+hepburn" target="_blank">Britton</a>, 106)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">Britton also points out how <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Louisa-May-Alcott/e/B000APYQLO/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1393748683&sr=1-2-ent" target="_blank">Alcott</a>'s writing, and the autobiographical nature of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Little-Women-Norton-Critical-Editions/dp/0393976149/ref=sr_1_17?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393748740&sr=1-17&keywords=little+women" target="_blank"><em>Little Women</em></a> "confirms our sense of the literary tradition from which the Hepburn persona derives." (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Katharine-Hepburn-Star-Feminist-Culture/dp/0231132778/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393748629&sr=1-1&keywords=andrew+britton+hepburn" target="_blank">Britton</a>, 107)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">One can categorize the films of Hepburn's career into eight cycles of female characters (professional woman, spinster, democratic couple, mother, daughter, sister, literary/historical figure, communities of women, tomboy), and the Jo character falls into six (professional woman [writer], democratic couple [w/ Prof. Bhaer], sister, literary/historical figure [from Alcott's novel], communities of women, and tomboy). </span><br />
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<a href="http://bettesmovieblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/little-women-1933.html" target="_blank"><img alt="jo and laurie" class="aligncenter wp-image-2387" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/jo-and-laurie.gif" height="345" width="385" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">It is therefore not surprising that Katharine Hepburn identified most with her performance as Jo than any of her other screen characters.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">“I would defy anyone to be as good as I was in <a href="http://margaretperry.org/poll-great-adaptations-of-little-women/" target="_blank" title="Poll: Great Adaptations of LITTLE WOMEN">LITTLE WOMEN</a>. They just couldn’t be, they really couldn’t be, because I came from the same general atmosphere, enjoyed the same things. And I’m sure Louisa May Alcott was writing about herself and that kind of behavior that was encouraged in a New England girl; and I understood those things. I was enough of a tomboy myself; and my personality was like hers. I could say, ‘Christopher Columbus! What richness!’ and believe it totally. I have enough of that old-fashioned personality myself. Coming from a big family, in which I had always been dramatic, this suited my exaggerated sense of things.” (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kate-Remembered-Scott-Berg-ebook/dp/B004G8Q1PK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393748481&sr=8-1&keywords=katharine+hepburn+berg" target="_blank">Berg</a>, 97)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">“I didn't <i>have </i>to direct her. She directed herself. She <i>is</i> Jo. Of all those characters she ever played, it is the one who is closest to Kate herself, Kate and Jo really are the same girl. There’s no doubt that this girl put a lot of herself into Jo. Everything. Lines are important, but how they are delivered tells a tale. Expressions on her face, the way she moves…” (<a href="http://margaretperry.org/oscar-winning-director-george-cukor-as-in-cucumber/" target="_blank" title="Oscar-Winning Director George Cukor (as in “cucumber”)">Cukor</a> in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Know-Where-Going-Katharine-Biography-ebook/dp/B0037B6QHA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1393748541&sr=8-2&keywords=katharine+hepburn+chandler" target="_blank">Chandler</a>, 83)</span></blockquote>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/george-ii.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="George Cukor directs Katharine Hepburn (Jo) and Douglass Montgomery (Laurie)." class=" wp-image-2375 " src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/george-ii.jpg" height="318" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">George Cukor directs Katharine Hepburn (Jo) and Douglass Montgomery (Laurie)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">Hepburn also drew parallels between Jo's life decisions and her own relationships, offering this reading of Jo's refusal of Laurie's marriage proposal.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">“It was because she loved the career to which she aspired more than she loved him. Though she didn't completely understand it herself, she really wasn't looking for marriage. Maybe that’s how I felt about <a href="http://margaretperry.org/cate-blanchett-as-kate-hepburn-in-the-aviator-2004/" target="_blank" title="Cate Blanchett as Kate Hepburn in THE AVIATOR (2004)">Howard [Hughes]</a>.” (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Know-Where-Going-Katharine-Biography-ebook/dp/B0037B6QHA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1393748541&sr=8-2&keywords=katharine+hepburn+chandler" target="_blank">Chandler</a>, 85)</span></blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.doctormacro.com/Movie%20Summaries/L/Little%20Women%20(1933).htm" target="_blank"><img alt="Bhaer" class="aligncenter wp-image-2376" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Bhaer.jpg" height="307" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">Katharine Hepburn and George Cukor had worked together before teaming up on LITTLE WOMEN, but their friendship was solidified during production. There is a bit of friendly controversy about whether or not Cukor actually <em>read </em>Alcott's novel before, during or after making the movie. He admitted to <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Charlotte-Chandler/e/B001ITRRE4/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1" target="_blank">Charlotte Chandler</a> later in life that he had been too busy at the time to read it (82). But apparently he told Hepburn's friend and biographer <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kate-Remembered-Scott-Berg-ebook/dp/B004G8Q1PK/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393748991&sr=1-1&keywords=katharine+hepburn+berg" target="_blank">Scott Berg</a> that he had read it, and when Berg told Hepburn, she called him out on it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">“Oh, that’s such bunk! I’m telling you that man never read the book. I’m telling you George Cukor never read that book. But that didn’t matter. We had a wonderful script to work with, one that was really true to the spirit of the novel.” (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kate-Remembered-Scott-Berg-ebook/dp/B004G8Q1PK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393748481&sr=8-1&keywords=katharine+hepburn+berg" target="_blank">Berg</a>, 97)</span></blockquote>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/george.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Cukor and Hepburn clowning around on set" class="size-full wp-image-2377" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/george.gif" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">Cukor and Hepburn clowning around on set</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">Producer <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006388/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank">David O. Selznick</a> and Cukor initially quarreled over the scripts. There was talk at one point of setting the story in contemporary times, but both Cukor and Hepburn vetoed the idea. When Selznick moved from RKO over to MGM immediately before filming, Cukor was able to hire the writers he wanted for the project.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">“There were a number of scripts done on this. They were all mediocre. Actually bad. Then Sarah Mason and Victor Heerman were hired. They wrote a brilliant script, in my humble opinion. Simple and true and naïve, but really believable. It was amazing the difference between this script and its predecessors. Mason and Heerman believed the book. So did I. The others didn’t.” (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Me-Stories-Life-Katharine-Hepburn/dp/0345410092/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393748782&sr=1-1&keywords=katharine+hepburn+me" target="_blank">Hepburn</a>, 147)</span></blockquote>
<a href="http://www.doctormacro.com/Movie%20Summaries/L/Little%20Women%20(1933).htm" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: georgia, palatino; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="ham" class="alignright wp-image-2378" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/ham.jpg" height="400" width="303" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">The filming of LITTLE WOMEN was all but dull. At one point, there was a sound strike across the industry and they were forced to hire inexperienced sound men. (</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Me-Stories-Life-Katharine-Hepburn/dp/0345410092/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393748782&sr=1-1&keywords=katharine+hepburn+me" style="font-family: georgia, palatino;" target="_blank">Hepburn</a><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">, 149)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">“Kate had to do take after take after take of a very emotional scene simply because the sound people kept messing it up. After the fifteenth take, or whatever, they got it – and Kate was so exhausted and agonized by all that weeping she threw up. But not <i>until</i> we’d got the take.” (Cukor in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Katharine-Hepburn-Anne-Edwards/dp/0312206569/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393748815&sr=1-2&keywords=katharine+hepburn+edwards" target="_blank">Edwards</a>)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">Then there was an incident in which Cukor lost his temper at Hepburn and actually slapped her.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">“Once, I actually hit Kate (not hard enough, probably). She had to run up a flight of steps carrying some ice cream, and I told her to be very careful because we didn’t have a spare of the dress she was wearing, so she <i>mustn’t</i> spill the ice cream. But she did and ruined the dress, and then she laughed – and I hit her and called her an amateur.” Always the one to have the last word, Hepburn retorted, “You can think what you want.” (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Katharine-Hepburn-Anne-Edwards/dp/0312206569/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393748815&sr=1-2&keywords=katharine+hepburn+edwards" target="_blank">Edwards</a>)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">Aside from these setbacks, filming was fairly harmonious. The beautiful dress Jo wears to the opera with Prof. Bhaer was actually a copy from an old tintype of Hepburn's maternal grandmother, Caroline Garlinghouse <a href="http://margaretperry.org/kit-hepburn-her-daughters-mother/" target="_blank" title="Kit Houghton Hepburn, Her Daughter’s Mother">Houghton</a>. Hepburn plays a slightly melodramatic scene coming home from the opera, so some of the crew lowered a ham on a string from a crane. Everybody, including Hepburn, thoroughly enjoyed the joke.</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000910/?ref_=nv_sr_1" style="font-family: georgia, palatino; line-height: 1.5em;" target="_blank">Joan Bennett</a><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; line-height: 1.5em;">, who plays Amy, was quite pregnant at the time so costume designer Walter Plunkett had to arrange her dresses to hide her baby bump, and many of her scenes had to be shot from the chest up. However, her confinement did not hamper her performance as the youngest March sister.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; line-height: 1.5em;">LITTLE WOMEN was a huge financial success for RKO and did very well at the Academy Awards that year. But the success of the movie had negative repercussions for both George Cukor and Katharine Hepburn. Cukor was forever branded a "women's director" and essentially pigeonholed into a category that was not representative of his vast talents as a director of all actors, male and female alike.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">After LITTLE WOMEN Hepburn returned to New York to star in "The Lake," which proved to be an epic fail, personally and professionally. In her review of the play, <a href="http://margaretperry.org/dorothy-parker-and-the-vicious-circle-a-birthday-tribute/" target="_blank" title="Dorothy Parker and the Vicious Circle: A Birthday Tribute">Dorothy Parker</a> made her now-famous quip, "Katharine Hepburn runs the ga-MUTT of emotions from A to B." Upon her return to Hollywood, Hepburn was forced to accept costume drama roles as the studio attempted to perpetuate the glory of LITTLE WOMEN. Unfortunately, the studio failed to realize that it was Hepburn's likeness to the character Jo, and not the period setting of the story, that captured the essence of her talent and attracted audiences to that performance. Hepburn only had a few more successful films for the remainder of the decade, eventually escaping to the East coast after being branded "box office poison." Luckily, a little Broadway played called "<a href="http://margaretperry.org/the-philadelphia-story-1940/" target="_blank" title="THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940)">The Philadelphia Story</a>" quickly got her back on her feet and into the game again. Then she would meet Spencer Tracy and they all live happily ever after!</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.doctormacro.com/Movie%20Summaries/L/Little%20Women%20(1933).htm" target="_blank"><img alt="goodbye marmee" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2379" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/goodbye-marmee.jpg" height="307" width="400" /></a></div>
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<strong>This post is written in conjunction with the <a href="http://aurorasginjoint.com/2014/01/22/31-days-of-oscar-blogathon-2014/" target="_blank">31 Days of Oscars blogathon</a> hosted by<a href="http://aurorasginjoint.com/" target="_blank">Once Upon a Screen</a>, <a href="http://paulascinemaclub.com/" target="_blank">Paula’s Cinema Club</a>, and <a href="http://kelleepratt.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Outspoken & Freckled</a>. Week one featured historic <a href="http://kelleepratt.blogspot.com/2014/02/week-1-31-days-of-oscar-blogathon-2014.html" target="_blank">Oscar snubs</a>. Week two is devoted to <a href="http://kelleepratt.blogspot.com/2014/02/week-2-31-days-of-oscar-blogathon.html" target="_blank">miscellaneous categories</a> (check out my post about writers <a href="http://margaretperry.org/ruth-gordon-and-garson-kanin-write-for-the-silver-screens-dream-team/" target="_blank" title="Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin write for the silver screen’s dream team">Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin</a>). Academy-nominated <a href="http://paulascinemaclub.com/2014/02/17/31-days-week-3-acting/" target="_blank">actors</a> were celebrated week three (of course I wrote about the only time <a href="http://margaretperry.org/katharine-hepburns-one-and-only-academy-awards-appearance/" target="_blank" title="Katharine Hepburn’s One and Only Academy Awards Appearance">KH went to the Oscars</a>). The <a href="http://aurorasginjoint.com/2014/01/22/31-days-of-oscar-blogathon-2014/" target="_blank">directors</a> were the focus for last week (I wrote about the wonderful <a href="http://margaretperry.org/oscar-winning-director-george-cukor-as-in-cucumber/" target="_blank" title="Oscar-Winning Director George Cukor (as in “cucumber”)">George Cukor</a>). This week we give a big shout out to all the wonderful Oscar-nominated films!</strong></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16581509646636552299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825694783801781047.post-23948972457456301022014-02-23T21:06:00.000-08:002014-02-23T21:06:23.408-08:00Oscar-Winning Director George Cukor (as in "cucumber")George Cukor was nominated for five Academy Awards for Best Director, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Yz7UZrib2M" target="_blank">ultimately winning</a> in 1965 for MY FAIR LADY (1964). His first nominations were for two of the 10 films he made with Katharine Hepburn, <a href="http://margaretperry.org/poll-great-adaptations-of-little-women/" target="_blank" title="Poll: Great Adaptations of LITTLE WOMEN">LITTLE WOMEN</a> (1933) and <a href="http://margaretperry.org/the-philadelphia-story-1940/" target="_blank" title="THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940)">THE PHILADELPHIA STORY</a> (1940).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">Producer Jack Warner, Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison, <br />and George Cukor at the 1964 Academy Awards</span></td></tr>
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Although Cukor was known primarily as a "women's director," he actually holds the record for having directed the most male Oscar winners: James Stewart in THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940), Ronald Coleman in A DOUBLE LIFE (1947), and <a href="http://margaretperry.org/rex-harrison-31-august-suts/" target="_blank" title="Rex Harrison (31 August SUTS)">Rex Harrison</a> in MY FAIR LADY (1964). (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1452101523/ref=rdr_ext_tmb" target="_blank">TCM Classic Movie Trivia</a>)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/ps-ii.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="ps ii" class=" wp-image-2328 " src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/ps-ii.jpg" height="241" width="399" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">Cukor directs Ruth Hussey and Jimmy Stewart in <br />THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940)</span></td></tr>
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His reputation as a women's director evolved in the same way type-casting can build up around an actor. Some of his best pictures did feature notable Hollywood starlets, often in films with <a href="http://margaretperry.org/communities-of-women-katharine-hepburn-passes-the-bechdel-test/" target="_blank" title="Communities of Women: Katharine Hepburn Passes the Bechdel Test">female-centred themes</a>.<br />
<blockquote>
"You direct a couple of successful pictures with women stars, so you become a 'woman's director'...Direct a sentimental little picture and all you get is sob stuff. I know I've been in and out of those little compartments. Heaven knows everyone has limitations. But why make them narrower than they are?"<br />
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"I suppose they call me a women's director because there were all these movie queens in the old days, and I directed most of them." (<a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002030/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm" target="_blank">Cukor</a>)</blockquote>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">Cukor directs the women of THE WOMEN (1939)</span></td></tr>
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If Cukor's nomination for LITTLE WOMEN (1933) so early in his career (he had only been working in films for three years) first labelled him a women's director, <a href="http://margaretperry.org/cmba-film-passion-101-blogathon-the-women-1939/" target="_blank" title="CMBA Film Passion 101 Blogathon: THE WOMEN (1939)">THE WOMEN</a> (1939) made the label stick. Cukor was one of the few men on the set of that film, which boasts an entirely female cast including some of Hollywood's <a href="http://margaretperry.org/feminist-star-personas-of-classic-hollywood-other-than-katharine-hepburn/" target="_blank" title="Feminist Star Personas of Classic Hollywood (other than Katharine Hepburn)">hardhitting divas</a>: Crawford, Norma Shearer, <a href="http://margaretperry.org/lamb-acting-school-101-rosalind-russell/" target="_blank" title="LAMB Acting School 101: Rosalind Russell">Rosalind Russell</a>, Joan Fontaine, Marjorie Main, Phyllis Povah, Paulette Goddard, Lucille Watson, and little Virginia Weidler. Add to that his ten films with Katharine Hepburn, Ingrid Bergman in GASLIGHT (1944), his Oscar-nominated work with Judy Holiday in BORN YESTERDAY (1950), Judy Garland in A STAR IS BORN (1954), and Audrey Hepburn in MY FAIR LADY (1964), and you have quite the canon of female films. Eleven of his movies have a female indicative in the very title (i.e. woman, lady, girls, etc.)!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">Cukor directs Katharine Hepburn, Joan Bennett, Frances Dee, <br />and Jean Parker in LITTLE WOMEN (1933)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Katharine Hepburn, a longtime friend and colleague of Cukor's, has her own ideas about why Cukor was "seldom listed with the so-called great directors" (from </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Me-Stories-Life-Katharine-Hepburn/dp/0345410092/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393214675&sr=1-1&keywords=me+katharine+hepburn" target="_blank"><em style="line-height: 1.5em;">Me</em></a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, 178):</span><br />
<blockquote>
"He was primarily an actor's director. He was primarily interested in making the actor shine. He saw the story through the eyes of the leading characters.... His own focus was the actors. He presented them."<br />
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"In George's interviews he would describe and focus on the brilliance of the actor's performances, and the interviewer would give the credit to the actor in his review. So we got the credit and George didn't."</blockquote>
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<a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/cukor.jpg" style="text-align: center;"><img alt="cukor" class=" wp-image-2325 aligncenter" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/cukor.jpg" height="200" width="496" /></a></div>
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Cukor was also known in studio-era Hollywood for his adept adaptations of stage plays. This may be one of the reasons he has been largely overlooked by scholarly critics, who often link an original story to the auteurism of the director. Cukor's focus was always on the actors' performances, and much less on building a story around plot. Scholar <a href="http://www.amazon.com/George-Cukor-Critical-Study-Filmography/dp/0786473746/ref=sr_1_14?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393211871&sr=1-14&keywords=george+cukor" target="_blank">James Bernardoni</a> suggests that studying Cukor's film work by focusing on the mise-en-scene will lead most directly to an understanding of the director's style, which was distinctly less with the cinematically artistic montage and much more with the behavior of characters within situations.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/mfl.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Cukor shows Audrey Hepburn how it's done in MY FAIR LADY (1964)" class=" wp-image-2331 " src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/mfl.jpg" height="404" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">Cukor shows Audrey Hepburn how <br />it's done in MY FAIR LADY (1964)</span></td></tr>
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Cukor was of Hungarian Jewish decent and grew up as a member of a large immigrant family on East Sixty-eighth Street in New York City. He went to temple as a child but was not particularly religious in adulthood. (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/George-Cukor-Double-Patrick-McGilligan/dp/0816680388/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393212889&sr=1-1&keywords=george+cukor" target="_blank"><em>George Cukor: A Double Life</em></a>, Patrick McGilligan<br />
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Some blame Hollywood homophobia for the lack of credit Cukor was given for his pictures, though it is clear that no such sentiments damaged his career or his films' popularity with the public. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Celluloid-Gaze-Boze-Hadleigh/dp/0879109718/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393213350&sr=1-1&keywords=celluloid+gaze" target="_blank">Boze Hadleigh</a> has devoted an entire chapter of his book <a href="http://margaretperry.org/book-review-celluloid-gaze-by-boze-hadleigh/" target="_blank" title="Book Review: “Celluloid Gaze” by Boze Hadleigh"><em>Celluloid Gaze</em></a> to Cukor:<em><br />
</em><br />
<blockquote>
"On the surface, Cukor was not bitter. He played by Hollywood's rules; he was never a rebel. Above all, he wanted to work and to avoid controversy. Until his final years, he was very much in the closet, although his sexuality was common knowledge in the industry." (Hadleigh, 143)</blockquote>
Aside from being a very skilled director, George Cukor was also known for hosting some of the most lavish parties of intellectuals at his extravagant mansion on Cordell Drive. His gatherings of the Hollywood elite could rival Gatsby's bashes any day!<br />
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Cukor gave a great number of interviews throughout his career, and many of them are featured in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/George-Cukor-Interviews-Conversations-Filmmakers/dp/1578063876/ref=la_B001HPILVM_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393214886&sr=1-1" target="_blank">this compilation</a>. I can also recommend reading <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Cukor-Gavin-Lambert/dp/0847822974/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393214896&sr=1-4&keywords=george+cukor" target="_blank"><em>On Cukor</em></a> by <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gavin-Lambert/e/B001HD1UHG/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1" target="_blank">Gavin Lambert</a>, a great coffee table book with interviews, photographs, and great trivia about Cukor's work.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/ps-george.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="ps george" class=" wp-image-2332" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/ps-george.jpg" height="286" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">Katharine Hepburn and George Cukor having a laugh <br />on the set of THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940)</span></td></tr>
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<strong>This post is written in conjunction with the <a href="http://aurorasginjoint.com/2014/01/22/31-days-of-oscar-blogathon-2014/" target="_blank">31 Days of Oscars blogathon</a> hosted by<a href="http://aurorasginjoint.com/" target="_blank">Once Upon a Screen</a>, <a href="http://paulascinemaclub.com/" target="_blank">Paula’s Cinema Club</a>, and <a href="http://kelleepratt.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Outspoken & Freckled</a>. Week one featured historic <a href="http://kelleepratt.blogspot.com/2014/02/week-1-31-days-of-oscar-blogathon-2014.html" target="_blank">Oscar snubs</a>. Week two is devoted to <a href="http://kelleepratt.blogspot.com/2014/02/week-2-31-days-of-oscar-blogathon.html" target="_blank">miscellaneous categories</a> (check out my post about writers <a href="http://margaretperry.org/ruth-gordon-and-garson-kanin-write-for-the-silver-screens-dream-team/" target="_blank" title="Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin write for the silver screen’s dream team">Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin</a>). Academy-nominated <a href="http://paulascinemaclub.com/2014/02/17/31-days-week-3-acting/" target="_blank">actors</a> were celebrated week three. The directors are the focus for this week. Stay tuned for the movies in week five!</strong></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16581509646636552299noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825694783801781047.post-79137554407397913792014-02-13T13:35:00.001-08:002014-02-13T13:35:10.304-08:00Katharine Hepburn's One and Only Academy Awards AppearanceKatharine Hepburn was nominated for a whopping <a href="http://margaretperry.org/poll-which-of-her-many-oscar-nominations-should-katharine-hepburn-have-won/" target="_blank" title="Which of her many Oscar nominations should Katharine Hepburn have won?">12 Academy Awards</a> for Best Actress in a Leading Role, more than any other actress in her time. Although Hepburn won the Oscar for four of her film roles (MORNING GLORY (1933), <a href="http://margaretperry.org/guess-whos-coming-to-dinner-1967-love-controversy-and-progress/" target="_blank" title="GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER? (1967): Love, Controversy, and Progress">GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER</a> (1967), THE LION IN WINTER (1968), and <a href="http://margaretperry.org/henry-fonda-11-august-suts/" target="_blank" title="Henry Fonda (11 August SUTS)">ON GOLDEN POND</a> (1981)), she never once attended an Academy Award ceremony to accept an award. It wasn't until she presented Producer Lawrence Weingarten the Irving G. Thalberg Award at the 46th awards ceremony in 1974 that Hepburn ever appeared at the Oscars.<br />
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<blockquote>
"I've never been to an Academy Award [ceremony]. Now, if I sit here, in my chair, where I must be honest with myself so I'll progress and my character will improve, why don't I go to the Academy Awards? It has to be because I'm afraid that I'm gonna loose. Doesn't it? I don't approve of my attitude, of not going. I think that's cheap of me. Second rate. Second rate, not to go. It's a group activity." (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_iooSis7bk" target="_blank">interview with Morley Safer for "60 Minutes"</a>)<br />
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When nominated for her first Academy Award in 1934 for her performance in MORNING GLORY (1933), Hepburn intended to reject the award. Luckily, her agent took matters into his own hands and accepted the statuette on her behalf.<br />
<blockquote>
"I had sent them a wire, through my agent Leland Hayward, to say that I didn't believe in awards, and that I really didn't feel that I should compete. Some pompous, asinine thing, you know. He just put the wire in his pocket and said thank you very much, that I was deeply honored. There I was... he just changed the wire! 'Cause he thought it was childish." (on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQDMgspaSFc" target="_blank">Dick Cavett</a>, 1973)</blockquote>
Hepburn admitted that she must have been simply "too gutless" to attend the ceremony to receive her Oscars.<br />
<blockquote>
"Too gutless. Afraid I wouldn't win it. It must be that. It couldn't be anything else! Or that I have no dress. I have no dress. My father said about his children, 'My children are very shy. When they go to a party (and this would include that [the Oscars]), they're afraid they're going to be neither the bride nor the corpse.'" (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQDMgspaSFc" target="_blank">Cavett</a>)</blockquote>
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For all her nominations and wins, the one and only time Katharine Hepburn attended the Academy Awards ceremonies was to present, not receive, an award. Producer Lawrence Weingarten, who had worked with Miss Hepburn on <a href="http://margaretperry.org/ruth-gordon-and-garson-kanin-write-for-the-silver-screens-dream-team/" target="_blank" title="Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin write for the silver screen’s dream team">ADAM'S RIB</a> (1949) and <a href="http://margaretperry.org/ruth-gordon-and-garson-kanin-write-for-the-silver-screens-dream-team/" target="_blank" title="Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin write for the silver screen’s dream team">PAT AND MIKE</a> (1952) was terminally ill when he was selected to receive the coveted Irving G. Thalberg Award in 1974. Weingarten said the person from whom he would most like to receive the award, was none other that Katharine Hepburn.</div>
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<a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/KH1.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="KH" class="alignright size-full wp-image-2286" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/KH1.png" height="434" width="124" /></a>Hepburn initially rejected the invitation to present the award when the president of the Motion Pictures Academy, Walter Mirisch approached her. She insisted she had nothing to wear. However, her respect for Weingarten led her to finally accept the invitation, though she turned down the Academy's offer to set her up with a dressmaker - she insisted on wearing plain slacks and a jacket in place of the traditional evening dress.<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000057/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank">David Niven</a> introduced Miss Hepburn's surprise appearance thus:<br />
<blockquote>
"To secure the identity of our next presenter has called for a security operation of truly royal proportions. And why not? Gertrude Stein might have said 'A star is a star is a star,' but to me, <em>this</em> is a star. Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Katharine Hepburn!"</blockquote>
Hepburn biographer <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Charlotte-Chandler/e/B001ITRRE4/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1392324617&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Charlotte Chandler</a> recalls the audience's reaction to Hepburn's appearance:<br />
<blockquote>
"I was in the audience that evening, and a palpable gasp and ecstatic response when Katharine Hepburn was announced as presenter was unforgettable. The audience rose, applauding respectfully for Weingarten, but carried away with enthusiasm for Katharine Hepburn, who was appearing at the Oscar ceremonies for the first time." (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Know-Where-Going-Katharine-Biography-ebook/dp/B0037B6QHA/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1392324602&sr=1-2&keywords=chandler+hepburn" target="_blank">Chandler</a>)</blockquote>
Katharine Hepburn always spoke as if she were on a soapbox at one of her mother's suffrage parades, and her speech for the Academy Awards was no different. Perhaps her broad gestures, clipped statements, and awkward pauses would have been more appropriate for a senate hearing on birth control, but there is no doubt that the Hollywood glamor set were more than a little charmed by Hepburn's star appearance on the stage that night.<br />
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<blockquote>
"Thank you very, very much. I am naturally deeply moved. I am also very happy that I didn't hear anyone call out 'It's about time!' [laughter] I am the living proof that a person can wait forty-one years to be unselfish. [applause]"</blockquote>
Weingarten couldn't have been more appreciative of his dear friend's tribute to him in presenting him with the award, tearing up as he praised her as an artist and a human being.<br />
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<blockquote>
"Well, my dear Kate, I feel completely incapable of responding to that outpouring of love. To have Katharine Hepburn and the award at the same time is an emotional package that I cannot cope with. To all but her intimate friends, Kate's performances on this screen have revealed the patrician, the sophisticate, and the iconoclast. But tonight she has revealed to you another side of her character. As you can see, she is a considerate, sympathetic, unselfish, and altogether beautiful human being."</blockquote>
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<strong>This post is written in conjunction with the <a href="http://aurorasginjoint.com/2014/01/22/31-days-of-oscar-blogathon-2014/" target="_blank">31 Days of Oscars blogathon</a> hosted by<a href="http://aurorasginjoint.com/" target="_blank">Once Upon a Screen</a>, <a href="http://paulascinemaclub.com/" target="_blank">Paula’s Cinema Club</a>, and <a href="http://kelleepratt.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Outspoken & Freckled</a>. Week one featured historic <a href="http://kelleepratt.blogspot.com/2014/02/week-1-31-days-of-oscar-blogathon-2014.html" target="_blank">Oscar snubs</a>. Week two is devoted to <a href="http://kelleepratt.blogspot.com/2014/02/week-2-31-days-of-oscar-blogathon.html" target="_blank">miscellaneous categories</a> (check out my post about writers <a href="http://margaretperry.org/ruth-gordon-and-garson-kanin-write-for-the-silver-screens-dream-team/" target="_blank" title="Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin write for the silver screen’s dream team">Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin</a>). Academy-nominated actors are being celebrated this week. Stay tuned for the directors in week four, and the movies in week five!</strong></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16581509646636552299noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825694783801781047.post-60959296327328713822014-02-11T14:20:00.000-08:002014-02-11T14:20:01.375-08:00Remembering Shirley Temple: From "Kid in Hollywood" to International Ambassador<a href="http://www.doctormacro.com/Movie%20Star%20Pages/Temple,%20Shirley.htm" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="temple radio" class=" wp-image-2265 alignright" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/temple-radio-1024x817.jpg" height="294" width="368" /></a><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">Shirley Temple was only four years old when she made her first short picture for Universal Studios in 1932. She was featured in several shorts between 1932 and '34 with a group of other child actors. One of her more popular shorts was entitled "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_V5GR7l4FH4" target="_blank">Kid in Hollywood</a>," in which Temple plays aspiring young actress Morelegs Sweettrick who's career is a failure, "it went flippity flop."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; line-height: 1.5em;">Luckily for us, Temple's real acting career didn't go flippity flop until many many years later, after she'd made some 60 films. She would embark a new new career in politics and international diplomacy throughout the 1960s, '70s, and '80s, serving as Ambassador to Ghana (1974-76) and Czechoslovakia (1989-92).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">In the early 1970s Shirley Temple Black became one of the first to speak openly about her struggle with breast cancer, having undergone a radical mastectomy. She lived a full and rich life before passing away of natural causes early this week at her home in California. She was 85 years old. Black is survived by her three children and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-25719377" target="_blank">Obituary<!--nextpage--></a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">For a great list of <a href="http://www.examiner.com/article/10-classic-movies-starring-shirley-temple" target="_blank">10 Classic Films Starring Shirley Temple</a>, check out <a href="http://margaretperry.org/book-review-beyond-casablanca-by-jennifer-garlen/" target="_blank" title="Book Review: “Beyond Casablanca” by Jennifer Garlen">Jennifer Garlen</a>'s Examiner article. Here are my personal favorite Temple flicks. Please stick around and tell me about your family's favorite Shirley Temple movies in the comment section below. I'd love to hear your stories about how you came to know and love Hollywood's precious curly top!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;"><strong>NEW DEAL RHYTHM (1933)</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">An itsy bitsy Shirley Temple gives her two bits about spinach in a brief performance in this musical number celebrating President Franklin D. Roosevelt's National Recovery Administration in 1933. <a href="http://margaretperry.org/cmba-film-passion-101-blogathon-the-women-1939/" target="_blank" title="CMBA Film Passion 101 Blogathon: THE WOMEN (1939)">Marjorie Main</a> also makes an appearance as the representative from Arizona (the only female representative present).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;"><strong><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024914/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_34" target="_blank">BRIGHT EYES</a> (1934)</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">Temple sings her classic number "On the Good Ship Lollipop" in this emotional film about a little orphan girl who is looked after by her late father's aviator friends at the airfield. America was fascinated by the world of aviation in the 1930s, and the intrigue of this new technology inspired by famous flyers <a href="http://margaretperry.org/five-roles-katharine-hepburn-never-played-the-great-imaginary-film-blogathon/" target="_blank" title="Five Roles Katharine Hepburn Never Played: The Great Imaginary Film Blogathon">Amelia Earhart</a>, Charles Lindbergh, and <a href="http://margaretperry.org/cate-blanchett-as-kate-hepburn-in-the-aviator-2004/" target="_blank" title="Cate Blanchett as Kate Hepburn in THE AVIATOR (2004)">Howard Hughes</a>, was reflected in a lot of Hollywood films of the era, including this adorable Temple movie.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;"><strong><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0016029/?ref_=ttpl_pl_tt" target="_blank">THE LITTLE COLONEL</a> (1935)</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">My best neighborhood friend growing up had this movie and I always insisted on watching it when we had a slumber party. Temple is her most candidly adorable in this movie about a young girl committed to melting the heart of her crusty old grandfather. She succeeded in melting the heart of every theatre-goer in America, myself included. After seeing this dance number, it was years before I ever walked up stairs like a normal person again!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;"><strong><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028988/?ref_=nm_knf_i3" target="_blank">HEIDI</a> (1937)</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">I consider "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Heidi-Oxford-Childrens-Classics-Johanna/dp/0192728148/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1392156518&sr=1-4&keywords=heidi" target="_blank">Heidi</a>" by Johanna Spyri one of the best children stories of all time, and this film is a great version of the classic tale. Heidi's trials and joys touch the heart, and who better to portray the young Swiss miss than the curly headed blonde sweetheart. This movie is a real pleasure to share with the family at any time of the year. Also a good sick-day movie for grownups who don't want to face another slushy February rush hour! ;)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;"><strong><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031580/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_19" target="_blank">THE LITTLE PRINCESS</a> (1939)</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">Despite its extreme variation from the beloved children's book by <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Frances-Hodgson-Burnett/e/B000AP8N9K/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1392156593&sr=1-2-ent" target="_blank">Frances Hodgson Burnett</a>, this version of the classic tale is told with such charm, and with such a wonderful cast, including Arthur Treacher, Anita Louise, <a href="http://margaretperry.org/the-philadelphia-story-1940/" target="_blank" title="THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940)">Mary Nash</a>, and even Cesar Romero, it's hard to fault it. For a more in-depth analysis, check out <a href="http://margaretperry.org/the-battle-of-the-little-princesses-novel-vs-film/" target="_blank">The Battle of the Little Princesses: Novel vs. Film</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;"><strong><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039169/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_9" target="_blank">THE BACHELOR AND THE BOBBY-SOXER</a> (1947)</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">As Shirley Temple was trying to navigate the awkward shift from child star to adult, she made this movie as Susan, the younger sister of Judge Margaret Turner (<a href="http://margaretperry.org/myrna-loy-august-2-on-tcm/" target="_blank" title="Myrna Loy: August 2 on TCM">Myrna Loy</a>). Cary Grant is as charming and handsome as always as the devil-may-care artist who is always is and out of Judge Turner's court. When Susan falls in love with him during his lecture at her school, the family must band together to straighten things out. Reasons I love this movie: A.) Cary Grant. B.) Myrna Loy plays a successful professional woman. A judge, no less! C.) Myrna Loy's character is Margaret and that's my name and that's awesome. D.) Shirley Temple is convincing as the lovestruck teenager who is desperate to be taken seriously by her family and friends. E. F. and G.) <a href="http://margaretperry.org/dynamic-duos-in-classic-film-katharine-hepburn-and-cary-grant/" target="_blank" title="Dynamic Duos in Classic Film: Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant">Cary Grant</a>.</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16581509646636552299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825694783801781047.post-15846762703237499422014-02-06T09:41:00.000-08:002014-02-06T09:41:09.457-08:00Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin write for the silver screen's dream team<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;">When <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0437717/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1" target="_blank">Garson Kanin</a> published <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Tracy-Hepburn-Intimate-Garson-Kanin-ebook/dp/B008VGNC1Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391705813&sr=8-1&keywords=tracy+and+hepburn+an+intimate+memoir" target="_blank"><em>Tracy & Hepburn: An Intimate Memoir</em></a> in 1972, Katharine Hepburn was furious and refused to talk to him for years. But after time went by and many of her friends started passing away, including Kanin's wife and writing partner <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002106/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank">Ruth Gordon</a>, Miss Hepburn came to value his friendship once again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;">Most scholars have since dismissed Kanin's memoir as too biased to be considered a dependable account of the affair. Scholar <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Katharine-Hepburn-Feminist-Culture-Series/dp/0231132778/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391705894&sr=8-1&keywords=andrew+britton+hepburn" target="_blank">Andrew Britton</a> is most perceptive when he states the purpose of the book <em>"suggests only that the authors of PAT AND MIKE wish to make it clear to the spectator that they are in the habit of addressing the leading actors by their abbreviated forenames."</em> (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Katharine-Hepburn-Feminist-Culture-Series/dp/0231132778/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391705894&sr=8-1&keywords=andrew+britton+hepburn" target="_blank">Britton </a>170)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5em;">The Kanins worked on two film projects with Hepburn and Tracy: </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Adams-Rib-Spencer-Tracy/dp/B0013V5CIU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391705958&sr=8-1&keywords=adam%27s+rib" style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5em;" target="_blank">ADAMS RIB</a><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5em;"> (1949) and </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pat-Mike-Spencer-Tracy/dp/B006TLZWRU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391705978&sr=8-1&keywords=pat+and+mike" style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5em;" target="_blank">PAT AND MIKE</a><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5em;"> (1952). These films were two of the three that earned the couple Academy Award nominations (</span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039335/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5em;" target="_blank">A DOUBLE LIFE</a><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5em;"> (1947) was the third). Unfortunately, ADAM'S RIB lost out to </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sunset-Boulevard-William-Holden/dp/B003PVPXOE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391706017&sr=8-1&keywords=sunset+boulevard" style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5em;" target="_blank">SUNSET BOULEVARD</a><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5em;"> (1950), written by Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, and D.M. Marshman, Jr., and PAT AND MIKE was beaten by T.E.B. Clarke's </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Lavender-Hill-Alec-Guinness/dp/B00006FMAU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391706040&sr=8-1&keywords=the+lavender+hill+mob" style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5em;" target="_blank">THE LAVENDER HILL MOB</a><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5em;"> (1951). Although the team didn't win, it is significant to note that two thirds of their Oscar-nominated screenplays were also considered the most popular films of the Tracy/Hepburn screen duo.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"><a href="http://www.doctormacro.com/Movie%20Summaries/A/Adam's%20Rib%20(1949).htm"><img alt="AR" class="aligncenter wp-image-2234" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/AR-1024x731.jpg" height="316" width="442" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;">Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy made a total of nine films together, starting with <a href="http://margaretperry.org/hepburn-and-tracy-get-steamy-on-tcm/" target="_blank" title="Hepburn and Tracy Get Steamy on TCM">WOMAN OF THE YEAR</a> (1942) and ending with the poignant social commentary Stanley Kramer's <a href="http://margaretperry.org/guess-whos-coming-to-dinner-1967-love-controversy-and-progress/" target="_blank" title="GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER? (1967): Love, Controversy, and Progress">GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER</a> (1967). While ADAM'S RIB undoubtedly holds it's own against the other films in the pair's canon, PAT AND MIKE is little more than an opportunity for Hepburn to show off her athletic ability. Although the script is witty and entertaining, the meet-cute concept of the genre prevented the film from becoming purposeful. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Katharine-Hepburn-Feminist-Culture-Series/dp/0231132778/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391705894&sr=8-1&keywords=andrew+britton+hepburn" target="_blank">Britton </a>is also critical of the Kanins work on these projects:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;">"This want of freshness goes with the clubby atmosphere which seems to have prevailed on the set of the two films written by the Kanins and with the ideological ritual performed by the films themselves: the tacit reference to the actors on which the project depends so closely seems frequently to express itself in the tone and character of the acting." (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Katharine-Hepburn-Feminist-Culture-Series/dp/0231132778/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391705894&sr=8-1&keywords=andrew+britton+hepburn" target="_blank">Britton </a>206)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;">When Garson Kanin proposed the outline for a third film starring Hepburn and Tracy, both Tracy and director <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002030/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank">George Cukor</a> hesitated:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;">“Maybe Spencer felt they were getting too old to do this kind of film. He felt ‘a joke’s a joke’, and maybe he was right. Life changes. There’s nothing worse than doing a certain kind of thing very charmingly and then running it into the ground.” (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/On-Cukor-Gavin-Lambert/dp/0847822974/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1391706136&sr=8-2&keywords=on+cukor" target="_blank"><em>On Cukor</em></a> 217)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5em;">The Kanins were not teetotallers, but they didn't like to drink while they worked. Their habits had a steadying influence on Tracy, who struggled with a drinking problem for most of his life. Like Hepburn and Tracy, the Kanins were workaholics, often running several projects at the same time. They were much more social than Tracy and Hepburn, but as much as they enjoyed going out and spending ludicrous amounts of money in shops and at restaurants, they were just as happy to spend a night at home with their friends Spence and Kate.</span><br />
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<a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/kanin-gordon1.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" class="alignright wp-image-2239" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/kanin-gordon1.jpg" height="361" width="285" /></a><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.5em;">Garson Kanin first worked with Hepburn and Tracy on WOMAN OF THE YEAR, contributing some uncredited writing assistance to his brother <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0437720/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1" target="_blank">Michael Kanin</a>'s script. In 1945 Kanin directed Spencer Tracy on Broadway in "<a href="http://www.playbillvault.com/Show/Detail/9649/The-Rugged-Path" target="_blank">The Rugged Path</a>."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;">Ruth Gordon was a New Englander who had many of the same East Coast roots as Katharine Hepburn. Gordon had been acting in motion pictures since 1915 and had acted on Broadway for many years. She was an active member of the New York social scene in the 1920s, even skirting the periphery of the <a href="http://margaretperry.org/dorothy-parker-and-the-vicious-circle-a-birthday-tribute/" target="_blank" title="Dorothy Parker and the Vicious Circle: A Birthday Tribute">Algonquin Round Table</a> set with her good friend <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Harpo-Speaks-Marx/dp/0879100362/ref=la_B000APSKLQ_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1391706248&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Harpo Marx</a>. Gordon lived a <a href="http://margaretperry.org/the-great-gatsby-2013-well-almost/" target="_blank" title="THE GREAT GATSBY (Well, almost…)">Gatsby </a>lifestyle and once noted of the East Hampton parties of the swinging 20s that <em>"among the ‘steady pour-through’ of weekend guests one was sure to find ‘everybody anybody wanted to meet.’”</em> (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Katharine-Hepburn-Barbara-Leaming/dp/038072717X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1391706287&sr=1-1&keywords=barbara+leaming+hepburn" target="_blank">Leaming </a>250)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;">Hepburn and Gordon were both nominated for Oscars in 1968, Hepburn for <a href="http://margaretperry.org/the-most-radically-feminist-films-of-katharine-hepburn/" target="_blank" title="The Most Radically Feminist Films of Katharine Hepburn">THE LION IN WINTER</a> (which she won in a tie with Barbara Streisand in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Funny-Girl-Barbra-Streisand/dp/B001NIAQ9I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391706338&sr=8-1&keywords=funny+girl" target="_blank">FUNNY GIRL</a>), and Gordon for <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Rosemarys-Baby-Mia-Farrow/dp/B00003CXCF/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391706362&sr=8-1&keywords=rosemary%27s+baby" target="_blank">ROSEMARY'S BABY</a>. Hepburn watched the awards ceremony in New York city at her friend Irene (Mayer) Selznick's apartment because she didn't have a television of her own. Hepburn couldn't have been more pleased to see Gordon win her first Oscar, at the age of 72, and laughed heartily when Gordon quipped during her acceptance speech, <em>"I don't know why it took so long!"</em> (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Katharine-Hepburn-Anne-Edwards/dp/0312206569/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391706543&sr=8-1&keywords=edwards+hepburn" target="_blank">Edwards </a>359)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;">Although they only made two films together, Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon were friends with Tracy and Hepburn for years. They were one of the few couples whom Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn included in their small circle of friends. Because the Tracy/Hepburn affair was kept secret, the couple seldom went out in public, and few of their colleagues in Hollywood ever socialised with them. Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin, along with George Cukor, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0171887/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1" target="_blank">Constance Collier</a>, and a few other close friends, were the exceptions.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;">"The Kanins were as splendid a team as Kate and Tracy - both witty, quick and eccentric in their interests - and they seemed to ‘spark off each other.’” (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Katharine-Hepburn-Anne-Edwards/dp/0312206569/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391706543&sr=8-1&keywords=edwards+hepburn" target="_blank">Edwards </a>240)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: 20px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">This post is written in conjunction with the</span> <a href="http://aurorasginjoint.com/2014/01/22/31-days-of-oscar-blogathon-2014/" target="_blank">31 Days of Oscars blogathon</a> hosted by <a href="http://aurorasginjoint.com/" target="_blank">Once Upon a Screen</a>, <a href="http://paulascinemaclub.com/" target="_blank">Paula's Cinema Club</a>, and <a href="http://kelleepratt.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Outspoken & Freckled</a>. Week one featured historic <a href="http://kelleepratt.blogspot.com/2014/02/week-1-31-days-of-oscar-blogathon-2014.html" target="_blank">Oscar snubs</a>. Week two is devoted to miscellaneous categories. Stay tuned for the actors in week three, the directors in week four, and the movies in week five!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16581509646636552299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825694783801781047.post-17440843596317946462014-01-29T10:16:00.000-08:002014-01-29T10:16:18.156-08:00Mae West: The Original Blonde Bombshell<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<a href="http://www.doctormacro.com/Movie%20Star%20Pages/West,%20Mae-Annex.htm" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="MW pearls" class="alignright wp-image-2120" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/MW-pearls.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a><br />
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">This post is written in conjunction with <a href="http://www.largeassmovieblogs.com/2014/01/classic-chops-blonde-bombshells.html" target="_blank">Classic Chops - Blonde Bombshells</a>, hosted by <a href="http://www.largeassmovieblogs.com/" target="_blank">The LAMB</a>.</span></i></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Mae West made some of the raciest films of the studio era, single-handedly necessitating the instigation of censorship in the motion picture industry. This voluptuous blonde almost exclusively played over-sexed madams on screen, but her golden tresses did nothing to conceal the capacity of West's active mind.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Did you know...?</span></strong><br />
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Mae West was one of the earliest supporters of both a women's liberation and a homophile movement.<br />
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West was a <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/259666.Mae_West?from_search=true" target="_blank">prolific writer</a>. She wrote the screenplays for ten of the 13 films she made. She also penned the plays <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Three-Plays-Sex-Drag-Pleasure/dp/0415909333/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1391014706&sr=1-4&keywords=mae+west+goodness+had+nothing+to+do+with+it" target="_blank">"Sex," "The Drag," and "The Pleasure Man."</a> Her books include an autobiography <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Goodness-had-nothing-autobiography-West/dp/0877543011/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1391014706&sr=1-2&keywords=mae+west+goodness+had+nothing+to+do+with+it" target="_blank">Goodness Had Nothing to Do with It</a> </em>and three novels: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Constant-Sinner-Mae-West/dp/B000N165FK/ref=la_B0034OXVYQ_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1391014790&sr=1-1" target="_blank"><em>The Constant Sinner</em></a> (1949), <a href="http://www.amazon.com/She-Done-Him-Wrong-West/dp/1860491618/ref=la_B0034OXVYQ_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1391014813&sr=1-2" target="_blank"><em>She Done Him Wrong</em></a> (1932), and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sex-Health-E-S-P-Mae-West/dp/0491016131/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1391014831&sr=1-1&keywords=on+sex+health+and+esp" target="_blank"><em>On Sex, Health, and E.S.P.</em></a> (1975).<br />
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In addition to writing and acting, West also recorded a number of musical albums, including two rock and roll records, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Way-Out-West-Mae/dp/B002JFCZ84/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1391015142&sr=1-1&keywords=way+out+west+mae+west" target="_blank">Way Out West</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Christmas-Bonus-Tracks-West/dp/B004D9APSG/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1391015292&sr=1-1&keywords=mae+west+wild+christmas" target="_blank">Wild Christmas</a>. I have to be honest, she's not half bad!<br />
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It would appear sex was West's only vice - she neither drank nor smoke. There was a clause in her contract when working with <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001211/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank">W.C. Fields</a> in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/My-Little-Chickadee-Mae-West/dp/B004KZH5NQ/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1391018391&sr=1-2&keywords=my+little+chickadee" target="_blank">MY LITTLE CHICKADEE</a> (1940) that he be removed from the set if he was inebriated. (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Leading-Couples-unforgettable-screen-romances/dp/0811863018/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391016322&sr=8-1&keywords=tcm+leading+couples" target="_blank">TCM Leading Couples</a>)<br />
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By 1935, Mae West was America's highest-payed woman. The only other person earning more at the time was newspaper mogul <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Randolph_Hearst" target="_blank">William Randolph Hearst</a>. (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Leading-Ladies-Unforgettable-Actresses-Studio/dp/0811852482/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391016475&sr=8-1&keywords=tcm+leading+ladies" target="_blank">TCM Leading Ladies</a>)<br />
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West claims responsibility for discovering Cary Grant. West chose Grant to play her lead in his first ever picture, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/She-Done-Him-Wrong-West/dp/B0012GVMI0/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1391018481&sr=1-1&keywords=she+done+him+wrong" target="_blank">SHE DONE HIM WRONG</a> (1933) and would use him again that year in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mae-West-Glamour-Collection-Chickadee/dp/B000E6ESX0/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1391018497&sr=1-1&keywords=i%27m+no+angel" target="_blank">I'M NO ANGEL</a> (1933). She supposedly told studio execs, "If this guy can talk, I'll take him" (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsL7AHCM7PU" target="_blank">Cavett</a>).<br />
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West was arrested for her first project, a play entitled "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_(play)" target="_blank">Sex</a>" (1926) which she wrote, produced, directed, and played the starring role. The play ran almost 400 performances before being raided by police. West served ten days for the obscenity charge, but insisted on wearing her own underwear while incarcerated.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Mae West Quotables</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">As with <a href="http://margaretperry.org/on-this-unworthy-scaffold-experiencing-shakespeare-on-film/" target="_blank" title="“On this unworthy scaffold”: Experiencing Shakespeare on Film">Shakespeare</a>, one reads Mae West's one-liners and thinks, "So <em>that's</em> where that came from!" If you're ever searching for a good pick-up line, ladies, Mae West is a good go-to gal.</span><br />
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"I'm my own original creation. I concentrate on myself most of the time. That's the only way a person can become a star in the true sense. I never wanted a love that meant surrender of my self-possession. I saw what it did to other people when they loved another person the way I loved myself, and I didn't want that problem. I had to stay in command of my career."<br />
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"[The gay community] are crazy about me 'cause I give 'em a chance to play. My character is sexy and with humor and they like to imitate me, the things I say, the way I say 'em, the way I move. It's easy for'em to imitate me 'cause the gestures are exaggerated, flamboyant, sexy, and that's what they want to look like, feel like. And I've stood up for 'em. They're good kids. I don't like the police abusin' 'em, and in New York I told 'em, 'When you're hittin' one of those guys, you're hittin' a woman, 'cause a born homosexual is a female in a male body."<br />
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<a href="http://www.doctormacro.com/Movie%20Star%20Pages/West,%20Mae-Annex.htm" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="MW hat" class="alignright wp-image-2118" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/MW-hat-781x1024.jpg" height="320" width="244" /></a>"Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me."<br />
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"A hard man is good to find."<br />
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"When women go wrong, men go right after them."<br />
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"Marriage is a great institution. I'm not ready for an institution."<br />
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"I believe in censorship. After all, I made a fortune out of it."<br />
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"Don't marry a man to reform him. That's what reform schools are for."<br />
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"I wrote that story myself. It's about a girl who lost her reputation and never missed it."<br />
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"I used to be Snow White, but I drifted."<br />
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"Ten men waiting for me at the door? Send one of them home; I'm tired."<br />
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"A dame that knows the ropes isn't likely to get tied up." (Sounds like as good an argument for sex education as I've ever heard!)</blockquote>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16581509646636552299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825694783801781047.post-77540557523180896372014-01-25T10:00:00.000-08:002014-01-25T10:00:01.150-08:00Hepquote! Tracy Lord is going crazy!<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/PS-headstand-meme.jpg"><img alt="PS headstand meme" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2081" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/PS-headstand-meme.jpg" /></a></div>
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One of the coolest things about Katharine Hepburn is her athleticism. She just loved standing on her head and could do so well into old age. I've never been able to stand on my head. One of the many ways I am not as cool as Katharine Hepburn. Alas.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16581509646636552299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825694783801781047.post-81128966741354563992014-01-23T09:47:00.002-08:002014-01-23T09:47:14.855-08:00Life, Love, and the Movies Blogathon<div style="text-align: center;">
THIS POST MAY ALSO BE READ AT <a href="http://margaretperry.org/">MARGARETPERRY.ORG</a> </div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;">This post is written in conjunction with the <a href="http://www.myfilmviews.com/2014/01/20/announcing-llm-blogathon/" target="_blank">Life, Love, and the Movies blogathon</a> hosted by <a href="http://www.myfilmviews.com/" target="_blank">My Filmviews</a>. This blogathon is a lot like the <a href="http://margaretperry.org/7x7-link-award/" target="_blank">7x7 Link Award</a> or the <a href="http://margaretperry.org/ive-been-liebstered/" target="_blank">Liebster Award</a>. These awards are handed to new bloggers so that they can share a little about their movie experience with the rest of the film blogosphere. It's a great way to network and to get to know the people with whom we blog everyday. Awards and blogathons like these are also a personal reminder of why we love the movies, why we love watching them and why we enjoy writing about them. I was pleased to see that none of the questions for the LLM blogathon are doubles from either of the previous awards, so I'll just dive straight in!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"><a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Life-Love-Movies-feet.png"><img alt="Life Love Movies feet" class=" wp-image-2063 aligncenter" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Life-Love-Movies-feet.png" height="386" width="384" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"><strong>1. What was the first movie you saw in the cinema and what do you remember about that visit?</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"><em>I saw <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113419/combined" target="_blank">THE INDIAN IN THE CUPBOARD (1995)</a> with my grandmother for my birthday. I must have been six or seven. I remember we had frozen yoghurt afterwards, which is weird because my birthday is in November.<br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"><strong>2. Are there any movies you have very strong memories of which are not because of the movie (for example something which happened at the time you were watching it)?</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"><em>In the summers at my grandma's, she would let me watch as many movies as I wanted. I would stay up really late watching movies and then get up really early in the morning to watch more movies. Who needs sleep? I remember eating <a href="http://www.luckycharms.com/" target="_blank">Lucky Charms</a> and watching <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065421/combined" target="_blank">THE ARISTOCATS (1970)</a>. We didn't watch movies or eat sugary cereals at home, so summers at Grandma's were a real treat!</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"><strong>3. Which movies had a big effect on you and changed a (small) part of your view on life?</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"><em><a href="http://movies.disney.com/mary-poppins" target="_blank">MARY POPPINS (1964)</a> certainly. But also <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103262/combined" target="_blank">WILD HEARTS CAN'T BE BROKEN (1991)</a> for some reason. I ran around pretending to be a horse diver for a couple summers.</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"><strong>4. Do you have any comfort movies which you return to because you are in a specific mood (for example if you are feeling down/nursing a heartbreak)?</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"><em><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113041/combined" target="_blank">FATHER OF THE BRIDE II (1995)</a>. I don't know why. Must be something about the idyllic '90s setting and babies. I don't even like Steve Martin that much. I'm also always in the mood for <a href="http://margaretperry.org/cmba-film-passion-101-blogathon-the-women-1939/" target="_blank" title="CMBA Film Passion 101 Blogathon: THE WOMEN (1939)">THE WOMEN (1939)</a>.</em> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"><strong>5. If a movie would be made about your life, what type of movie would it be and who would you like to portray you?</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"><em>It would be a super awkward Wes Anderson comedy. I'd like to say <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0221046/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank">Zooey Deschanel</a>, but she is definitely too cool for me. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0275486/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank">Tina Fey</a>? <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0688132/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank">Amy Poehler</a>? Or Katharine Hepburn. Definitely Katharine Hepburn. Not the classy socialite Hepburn in film, but the awkward freckly one she was in real life.</em></span><br />
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<strong style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;">6. Which existing movie best represents you?</strong><br />
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<a href="http://www.doctormacro.com/Movie%20Summaries/M/Mary%20Poppins.htm" style="clear: right; color: #331100; float: right; line-height: 30.600000381469727px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Mary Poppins" class="alignright wp-image-2072" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Mary-Poppins-1024x988.jpg" height="384" width="398" /><em style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"></em></a><em style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"><a href="http://movies.disney.com/mary-poppins" target="_blank">MARY POPPINS (1964)</a>. Just... cuz. She is a bit old fashioned. Likes kids. Pretty dresses. But she is also a total kick-butt feminist who doesn't take any nonsense from her patriarchal employer. And she's <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000267/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank">Julie Andrews</a> and can sing.</em><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"><strong>7. If you knew you would die tomorrow, what would be the last movie you would want to see?</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"><a href="http://movies.disney.com/mary-poppins" target="_blank"><em>Guess</em></a>.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"><strong>8. If you can spend your life working in the film industry, what would you be and why? (you know, director, producer, actor, cinematographer, costume designer, sound designer etc?)</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"><em>I actually would really love to be a dramaturg. <a href="http://www.lmda.org/tags/what-dramaturgy" target="_blank">Dramaturgy</a> is helping with the research and development of a production. The dramaturg works closely with the writers and designers to shape the flavor of a play or film, often serving as the literary/historical consultant. It's a constantly shifting role, depending on the specific need of each production, but I find the field fascinating. I was dramaturg for our college's production of "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Tale_of_Two_Cities_(musical)" target="_blank">A Tale of Two Cities: The Musical</a>," and I loved every minute of it!</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"><strong>1. Did you ever have a first kiss with someone while at the cinema and if so which movie was playing?</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"><em>No. I was watching the movie.</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"><strong>2. What is your favorite movie relationship and why?</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"><em>Katharine Hepburn and <a href="http://margaretperry.org/spencer-tracy-tcms-october-star-of-the-month/" target="_blank" title="Spencer Tracy: TCM’s October Star of the Month">Spencer Tracy</a>. Because they aren't all love-dovey, but you can see the affection in their casual moments. Their relationship as Amanda and Adam Bonner in <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041090/combined" target="_blank">ADAM'S RIB (1949)</a> is probably my favorite film marriage.</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"><strong>3. When did your love for movies start and how has it grown?</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"><em>My first classic film was <a href="http://thewizardofoz.warnerbros.com/" target="_blank">THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939)</a> when my aunt would let me watch it when I went over to her house. My grandma also let me watch a lot of movies. In my house we watched a lot of good Christmas movies every year. <a href="http://www.tcm.com/" target="_blank">Turner Classic Movies</a> has single-handedly introduced me to the vast glorious world of classic film, for which I am eternally grateful!</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"><strong>4. If you have to choose one film to watch with your loved one, what would it be and why?</strong></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEjc8EENovs4DTkBO1JEmeZF2iM8z1v6esQkrbKXdf5_qjMWExC4DRUi1ZILgmA4vkCXBCTN2eLfPtWk1zAEXXM794ORt-RE5D-Pv9kiOxOVJCmehJVx6lUb98GS17_z07mwvdzgZhgAr5rB_hTyYnvHrZWIpuXRKO7GlfD8P_xRWIKXX1Kb8gfU_aU=" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="ck dexter haaaaven" border="0" class="alignright wp-image-2069" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/ck-dexter-haaaaven.png" height="504" style="cursor: move;" width="360" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"><em>Any version of JANE EYRE (<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036969/combined" target="_blank">1943</a>) (<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085037/combined" target="_blank">1983</a>) (<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780362/combined" target="_blank">2006</a>). First of all, the man I marry will have to be able to not only appreciate, but enjoy classic literature, ESPECIALLY female writers. Secondly, I've always found the relationship between Jane and Mr. Rochester to be a more realistic match. I don't go for that fluffy love-at-first-sight nonsense.</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"><strong>5. If you can choose one character from a movie to be your significant other who would it be and why?</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"><em><a href="http://margaretperry.org/dynamic-duos-in-classic-film-katharine-hepburn-and-cary-grant/" target="_blank" title="Dynamic Duos in Classic Film: Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant">Cary Grant</a> from <a href="http://margaretperry.org/the-philadelphia-story-1940/" target="_blank" title="THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940)">THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940)</a> because he's a really decent fellow who doesn't take himself, or life too seriously. He would be a good life partner. And he's dead sexy.</em></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"><strong>6. What was the first movie that made you fall in in love with film and cinema?</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://thewizardofoz.warnerbros.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"><em>THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939)</em></span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"><strong>7. How did your passion for movies turn you into a movie blogger?</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"><em>I wanted a way to share the Katharine Hepburn research I had done in college with a wider audience.</em> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"><strong>8. What is your favorite date from a movie?</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"><em>As in, the date the film was made? Or a date night between two characters? Or a date I had at the movies? Or a date in which a movie took place? This is a silly question. I will not answer it.</em></span>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 16px;">This post is written in conjunction with the </span><a href="http://trueclassics.net/" style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 16px;" target="_blank">True Classics'</a><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 16px;"> 4th anniversary </span><a href="http://trueclassics.net/2013/11/29/four-years-of-true-classics/" style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 16px;" target="_blank">Saturday Morning Memories</a><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 16px;"> blogathon:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 16px;">"The rules are simple: on your own site, post a brief piece about one beloved cartoon short that you remember from childhood. If you can find a video and embed it on your site, that’s wonderful; if it’s so obscure that no video clip exists, no worries. But here’s the important part: tell us why that cartoon is particularly memorable to you. Are you a Popeye patron? A Droopy devotee? A Bugs booster? A Woody Woodpecker worshiper? A Fudd fan? A Donald disciple? (Stop me; I could go on all day.) Simply put: what is a favorite cartoon from your youth, and why?"</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;">Although my mother enjoyed Saturday morning cartoons when she was a kid, she did not allow the tradition to continue in her adult household. My brother and I were more or less forbidden to watch cartoons at home. However, there was a whole different set of rules at Grammie's house. We were spoiled rotten with ice cream, candy, soda pop, and all the television and Disney movies our little minds could handle. Bliss!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;">We always visited Grammie's on Sunday afternoons after church, so my memories of cartoons aren't of the Saturday morning variety. At any rate, growing up in the 1990s, our supply of vintage toons was broadcast 24/7 on Cartoon Network and Boomerang. For us, vintage toons meant the original 1969-72 series "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Scooby-Doo-Where-Are-You-Complete/dp/B0001CNQVM/ref=sr_sp-btf_title_1_4?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1389119595&sr=1-4&keywords=scooby+doo+where+are+you+complete+series" target="_blank">Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!</a>"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;">"Scooby-Doo" was a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Best-Warner-Bros-Cartoon-Collection/dp/B00B4ZN4D0/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389119634&sr=8-1&keywords=hanna+barbera" target="_blank">Hanna-Barbera</a> production from Warner Brothers. The original Scooby-Doo mystery series about a gang of kids solving mysteries with the help (or hindrance) of their Great Dane is said to have been based on the English book series "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Famous-Five-Mysteries-Collection~Enid-Blyton/dp/034089363X/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389119668&sr=8-1&keywords=the+famous+five" target="_blank">The Famous Five</a>" by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enid_blyton" target="_blank">Enid Blyton</a>. Though I never read "The Famous Five" books, I am a huge fan of Blyton's "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Blytons-Malory-Towers-Collection-English/dp/B008NVSXUW/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389119760&sr=1-2&keywords=mallory+towers" target="_blank">Mallory Towers</a>," so I was shocked to learn that Scooby-Doo could have been based on her characters!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;">I was also interested to learn that the voice actor for Shaggy, Casey Kasem, was a vegetarian. He insisted that his cartoon character adopt his eating lifestyle as well, and for much of the original series, Shaggy can be seen only eating vegetarian-friendly meals. Kasem refused to do voice work as Shaggy when the Scooby-Doo cast were employed for a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7AIfMpyHtA" target="_blank">Burger King commercial</a>, for this very reason. In the productions "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Whats-New-Scooby-Doo-Complete-Seasons/dp/B0010YVC9S/ref=sr_sp-btf_title_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1389119921&sr=8-4&keywords=what%27s+new+scooby+doo" target="_blank">What's New, Scooby-Doo?</a>" (2002) and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Scooby-Doo-Widescreen-Edition-Matthew-Lillard/dp/B00006HBUA/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389119947&sr=8-1&keywords=scooby+doo+2002" target="_blank">SCOOBY-DOO</a> (2002) Shaggy is a strict vegetarian.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"><a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/scooby-doo-eating.jpg"><img alt="scooby-doo-eating" class=" wp-image-2044 aligncenter" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/scooby-doo-eating.jpg" height="249" width="479" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;">I've noticed that recent television versions of Scooby-Doo have been modernized a great deal, both in the artistry and in having Velma hop on the computer instead of consulting her books. I don't object to such practices in principle, but I will go on record as saying I prefer the originals. The characters, dialogue, and catch-phrases of the Scooby-Doo franchise are so strongly rooted in 1960s/70s hippy culture, I find it difficult to separate the characters from their era. Like totally, man.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"><a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/mystery-machine.jpg"><img alt="mystery machine" class=" wp-image-2045 aligncenter" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/mystery-machine.jpg" height="281" width="421" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;">My childhood fascination with the stock Scooby-Doo mysteries, which debunked myths about ghosts for more practical, purely earthly explanations, has fuelled a love for <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Agatha-Christie/e/B000APENBC/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1389119974&sr=8-2-ent" target="_blank">Agatha Christie</a>'s MIss Marple and Poirot and Arthur Conan Doyle's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Sherlock-Holmes-Heirloom-Collection/dp/161218412X/ref=la_B000AQ43GQ_sp-atf_title_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389120003&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes</a> stories. Scooby-Doo might not be in the same class as classic English literature, but the problem solving skills employed by the gang and other sleuths of the era, like <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Nancy-Drew-Box-Set-Books/dp/0448464969/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389120025&sr=1-3&keywords=nancy+drew" target="_blank">Nancy Drew</a>, for example, contribute valuable material to a wider literary/filmic canon of the classic mystery.</span><br />
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<a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Scooby-1969-title.jpg"><img alt="Scooby-1969-title" class="size-full wp-image-2042 aligncenter" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Scooby-1969-title.jpg" height="229" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;">Even as an adult, I still love revisiting Scooby-Doo and the gang. I'm also a huge fan of another of Hanna-Barbera's popular cartoons, "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Butch/dp/B004QXP9KS/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1389120055&sr=8-2&keywords=tom+and+jerry" target="_blank">Tom and Jerry</a>." How a cat-and-mouse chase sequence can be stretched over 114 shorts, I'll never understand. But they keep me in stitches, that's for sure. Please share some of your favorite cartoon memories and be sure to check out the other contributions to the <a href="http://trueclassics.net/2013/11/29/four-years-of-true-classics/" target="_blank">Saturday Morning Memories blogathon</a>.</span><br />
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<a href="http://images4.fanpop.com/image/photos/22900000/Hanna-Barbera-tom-and-jerry-22923991-1440-1152.jpg" style="color: #331100; line-height: 30px; text-align: center;"><img alt="hanna barbera" class="aligncenter wp-image-2046" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/hanna-barbera-1024x804.jpg" height="389" width="496" /></a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16581509646636552299noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825694783801781047.post-59143276785004582192013-12-05T08:21:00.001-08:002013-12-05T08:21:40.053-08:00Hepfact! Diana Barry is related to Katharine Hepburn!<a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/schuyler.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="schuyler" class=" wp-image-2006 alignright" height="269" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/schuyler.jpg" width="320" /></a>Did you know that Schuyler Grant (pronounced "Skyler"), who played Diana Barry in the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Anne-Green-Gables-Trilogy-Box/dp/B0007NMHNS/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1386259922&sr=1-2&keywords=anne+of+green+gables" target="_blank">Anne of Green Gables</a> TV movies, was Katharine Hepburn's grand-niece? Schuyler Grant is the granddaughter of Katharine Hepburn's younger sister <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/03/obituaries/marion-hepburn-grant-dies-wrote-books-on-connecticut.html" target="_blank">Marion</a>, who married her high school sweetheart <a href="http://articles.courant.com/2013-03-14/community/hc-ellsworth-grant-dies-0314-20130313_1_west-hartford-mayor-nan-glass-ellsworth-grant" target="_blank">Ellsworth Grant</a>. The couple had two sons, Schuyler's father John and uncle Toby. Their daughter <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0396455/?ref_=nmbio_trv_2" target="_blank">Kathy Houghton</a> co-starred with Katharine Hepburn in <a href="http://margaretperry.org/guess-whos-coming-to-dinner-1967-love-controversy-and-progress/" target="_blank" title="GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER? (1967): Love, Controversy, and Progress">GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER (1967)</a>. Marion and Ellsworth were heavily involved in the historical preservation of Hartford, the Hepburn family's hometown.<br />
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Katharine Hepburn appeared in a TV movie with Schuyler Grant in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Laura-Lansing-Slept-Katharine-Hepburn/dp/B000H1ZCE6/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1386259867&sr=8-3&keywords=laura+lansing+slept+here" target="_blank">LAURA LANSING SLEPT HERE (1988)</a>. Just as she encouraged her niece Kathy Houghton in her acting career, Hepburn helped Grant get the role of Diana. Hepburn had been asked to play Marilla Cuthbert, which she turned down (sadness), but she suggested her grand-niece for the role of Diana.<br />
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According to IMdB, Schuyler Grant was raised by her hippie parents in California. She majored in history and minored in theatre at Columbia. She is now a vegetarian and director of the <a href="http://www.kulayoga.com/kula/" target="_blank">Kula Yoga Project</a> in New York. Sounds like a pretty cool chick.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16581509646636552299noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825694783801781047.post-25996609466249245892013-12-02T20:16:00.000-08:002013-12-02T20:16:48.806-08:00CMBA Film Passion 101 Blogathon: THE WOMEN (1939)<div style="text-align: center;">
This post is written in conjunction with the <a href="http://clamba.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Classic Movie Blog Association</a> (CMBA) <a href="http://clamba.blogspot.com/2013/12/extra-extra-read-all-about-it-its-cmba.html" target="_blank">Film Passion 101 Blogathon</a>.</div>
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Old movies were a natural part of my childhood. My parents have always enjoyed classic films, so I grew up with AMC, <a href="http://www.tcm.com/" target="_blank">Turner Classic Movies</a>, and movies from our own VHS collection. My mother's best friend from college would hand down her old movies whenever she upgraded to a digital edition. The first classic movie I ever saw was <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Wizard-Anniversary-Collectors-UltraViolet-Amazon-Exclusive/dp/B00CNW9ZOA/ref=sr_sp-btf_title_1_5?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1386040088&sr=1-5&keywords=the+wizard+of+oz" target="_blank">THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939)</a> at my aunt's house. As a kid, movies were just movies, and it wasn't until my teenage years that I made my love for classic movies my own.<br />
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I remember watching <a href="http://margaretperry.org/communities-of-women-katharine-hepburn-passes-the-bechdel-test/" target="_blank">THE WOMEN (1939)</a> on TCM with my mom. I was probably about 13 years old and I was eating jelly beans (it's funny what you remember, isn't it?). I remember laughing my head off at the fast-paced dialogue. I remember the costumes. The movie can be viewed in full on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZMe09ZG30k" target="_blank">YouTube</a>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.doctormacro.com/Movie%20Summaries/W/Women,%20The.htm" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="the women ii" class="size-large wp-image-1993" height="276" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/the-women-ii-1024x444.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">Joan Fontaine, Norma Shearer, Rosalind Russell, Mary Boland, and Paulette Goddard</span></td></tr>
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<a name='more'></a>I also remember my mother connecting the faces and names to other movies I had seen. You know the feeling when you recognize an actress and you won't feel settled until you can place her name and at least one other film you've seen her in? It was like a game. It was THE WOMEN that inspired me to start looking at the coffee-table-sized books in the library about classic Hollywood.<br />
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After seeing THE WOMEN, I became thirsty for more black and white movies. I started watching movies from before WWII - an era my young mind could hardly fathom as having ever existed! I started looking for those names and faces. The more I watched, the wider my web of film-fandom grew, including more names and faces and genres. I never would have guessed that many years later I would be writing about these movies on the world wide web!<br />
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I always recommend THE WOMEN as a good introduction to the world of classic cinema. The modern nature of the subject matter engages a more universal audience. Viewers of any age can enjoy the wit and humor of the dialogue. But the film is also a solid representation of its age. It includes the glamor of the 1930s with some slight hints to the impending international situation ("It's lovely to be able to spread out in bed like a swastika.")<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/the-women.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="the women" class=" wp-image-1981" height="336" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/the-women-1024x539.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">Florence Nash, Phyllis Povah, Rosalind Russell, Crawford, director George Cukor, Norma Shearer, Paulette Goddard, Mary Boland, and Joan Fontaine</span></td></tr>
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Most importantly, THE WOMEN introduces audiences to a slew of classic film stars they will undoubtedly re-encounter in other old movies. Below is a list of some of the key characters/actresses in the movie. They seem like old friends now, and I'm sure you've all met before, but there's nothing like a good wander down memory lane.<br />
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<a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/mary.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="mary" class="alignright wp-image-1989" height="303" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/mary.png" width="309" /></a><strong>Norma Shearer (as Mary Haines)</strong><br />
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Having worked in moving pictures since 1919, and being married to studio executive <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0856921/?ref_=nmbio_bio_nm" target="_blank">Irving Thalberg</a>, Norma Shearer was the reigning queen of Tinseltown throughout the 1930s. THE WOMEN was one of Shearer's last films, made at he height of her fame and popularity.<br />
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"I've had two years to grow claws, mother - jungle red!"<br />
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[Reading from a book] "But if you would seek only love's pleasure, then it is better for you to pass out of love's domain into the outside world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears."</blockquote>
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<a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/roz.gif" style="clear: right; color: #331100; float: right; line-height: 30px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="roz" class="alignright wp-image-1983" height="241" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/roz.gif" width="311" /></a><br />
<strong><a href="http://margaretperry.org/lamb-acting-school-101-rosalind-russell/" target="_blank" title="LAMB Acting School 101: Rosalind Russell">Rosalind Russell</a> (as Sylvia Fowler)</strong><br />
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Rosalind Russell is by far one of my favorite actresses, from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/His-Girl-Friday-Cary-Grant/dp/B00006RCLG/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1386040408&sr=1-2&keywords=his+girl+friday" target="_blank">HIS GIRL FRIDAY (1940)</a> to <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Auntie-Mame-Rosalind-Russell/dp/B00006FDCA/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_3?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1386040432&sr=1-3&keywords=auntie+mame" target="_blank">AUNTIE MAME (1958)</a> to <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gypsy-Karl-Malden/dp/B003NF97IU/ref=sr_sp-btf_title_1_5?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1386040457&sr=1-5&keywords=gypsy" target="_blank">GYPSY (1962)</a> al the way to her last movie <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067451/combined" target="_blank">MRS. POLIFAX-SPY (1971)</a>. Her Sylvia Fowler is the most comedic performance in THE WOMEN. Audiences just love to hate her. The best part about Sylvia/Roz was that she wasn't afraid to look less than glamorous for a few laughs.<br />
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"Oh, you remember the awful things they said about what's-her-name before she jumped out the window? There, you see. I can't even remember her name, so who cares?"</blockquote>
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<a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/craw.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="craw" class="alignright wp-image-1984" height="267" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/craw.png" width="290" /></a><strong>Joan Crawford (as Crystal Allen)</strong><br />
<blockquote>
"Say, can you believe him?! He almost stood me up for his wife!"<br />
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"Thanks for the tip. But whenever anything I wear doesn't please Stephen, I take it off."<br />
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"There is a name for you ladies, but it isn't used in high society... outside a kennel."</blockquote>
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<a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/mary-boland.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="mary boland" class="alignright wp-image-1985" height="320" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/mary-boland.png" width="286" /></a><strong>Mary Boland (as Flora, the Countess De Lave)</strong><br />
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Flora's plumy voice, affected use of French in every other sentence, and undying faith in the power of love (even after four divorces), make her one of the most endearing of Mary's gaggle of girlfriends. Mary Boland is most often recognized as Mrs. Bennett from the <a href="http://margaretperry.org/on-this-unworthy-scaffold-experiencing-shakespeare-on-film/" target="_blank" title="“On this unworthy scaffold”: Experiencing Shakespeare on Film">Laurence Olivier</a>/Greer Garson <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pride-Prejudice-Laurence-Olivier/dp/B000GRUQKQ/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1386040207&sr=1-2&keywords=pride+and+prejudice+1940" target="_blank">PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (1940)</a>.<br />
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"Get me a bromide! And put some gin in it!"<br />
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"Oh, l'amour, l'amour, how it can let you down. How it can pick you up again, too!"<br />
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"Oh, poor creatures. They've lost their equilibrium because they've lost their faith in love. Oh l'amour, l'amour."</blockquote>
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<a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/virginia.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="virginia" class="alignright wp-image-1986" height="245" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/virginia.png" width="283" /></a><strong>Virginia Weidler (as Little Mary)</strong><br />
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Weidler is perhaps one of the lesser known of Hollywood's child stars, due to the brevity of her career, but she was a remarkably talented young women. Her rendition of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d15JOd75uG8" target="_blank">"Lydia the Tattooed Lady"</a> in <a href="http://margaretperry.org/the-philadelphia-story-1940/" target="_blank" title="THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940)">THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940)</a> had her co-star <a href="http://thegreatkh.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Katharine Hepburn</a> in stitches (you didn't think I'd write a whole article without mentioning the great KH, now did you?)<br />
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"I don't understand grown-ups on the telephone. They all sound silly."</blockquote>
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<a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/marj-main.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="marj main" class="alignright wp-image-1987" height="254" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/marj-main.jpg" width="290" /></a><strong>Marjorie Main (as Lucy)</strong><br />
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Marjorie Main had a prolific career as a character actress in some of Hollywood's biggest blockbuster movies, like <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Meet-Me-Louis-Two-Disc-Special/dp/B005IA9K2G/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1386040751&sr=1-2&keywords=meet+me+in+st.+louis" target="_blank">MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (1944)</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Harvey-Girls-Judy-Garland/dp/B00005Y71M/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1386040845&sr=1-2&keywords=the+harvey+girls" target="_blank">THE HARVEY GIRLS (1946)</a>, <a href="http://thegreatkh.blogspot.com/p/filmography.html" target="_blank">UNDERCURRENT (1946)</a> and especially as Ma of the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ma-Kettle-Complete-Comedy-Collection/dp/B005DDN51A/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1386040782&sr=8-1&keywords=marjorie+main" target="_blank">Ma and Pa Kettle movies</a>. Her homespun, down-to-earth Lucy takes care of the gay divorcees on the ranch in Reno.<br />
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[Singing] "If the ocean was whiskey, and I was a duck, I'd dive to the bottom, and never come up. Oh baby, oh baby, I've told you before, the more I drink whiskey, I love you the more! Oh baby, oh baby..."</blockquote>
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<a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/hedda-hopper.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="hedda hopper" class="alignright size-full wp-image-1988" height="304" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/hedda-hopper.png" width="232" /></a><strong>Hedda Hopper (as Dolly Dupuyster)</strong><br />
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Real life gossip columnist <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Whole-Truth-Nothing-But/dp/B0007DKUTG/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1386040964&sr=8-2&keywords=hedda+hopper" target="_blank">Hedda Hopper</a> appears briefly toward the end of THE WOMEN as... you guessed it, a gossip columnist. Her appearance is brief, but serves as a reminder that the journalist, famous for her remarkable collection of unconventional hats, was once known as the "Queen of the Quickies" for appearing in dozens of films in the 1920s and 1930s.<br />
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Dolly: "Oh, hello girls! My, don't you look lovely! Got any dirt for the column?... I might as well shove off. I've never seen such a clean joint."<br />
Mary: "Dolly! Stick around! Something's gonna pop!"<br />
Dolly: "Good and dirty!?"</blockquote>
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<strong>Final Analysis</strong><br />
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I could go on and on about the dozens of other female stars featured in THE WOMEN, but we'd be here for hours. This movie is an absolute must-see for all classic film fans, and for all women as far as I am concerned. It's a great slumber party movie. Every time I watch it, I recognize someone else, or a pick up a line or joke I never noticed before. The costumes are spectacular, especially in the fashion show around the middle of the film. In a recent discussion, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0651737/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1" target="_blank">Robert Osborne</a> and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000106/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank">Drew Barrymore</a> were debating the relevance of the brief color sequence of the film, she for and he against. Where do you fall in the debate?<br />
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<a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/fashion-show.jpg"><img alt="fashion show" class=" wp-image-1992 aligncenter" height="312" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/fashion-show.jpg" width="446" /></a></div>
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I'd like to say a special thank you to the <a href="http://clamba.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Classic Movie Blog Association</a> for hosting this blogathon. I can't wait to read about other film fans' favorite classic movies!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16581509646636552299noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825694783801781047.post-76487549959048561572013-11-11T18:46:00.001-08:002013-11-11T18:46:40.084-08:00Hepclip! "Women in Defense"Katharine Hepburn narrated the words of First Lady <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Eleanor-Roosevelt/e/B001IU2SGK/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1384224098&sr=8-2-ent" target="_blank">Eleanor Roosevelt</a> for this 1941 short film entitled "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yofl5tHjiB0" target="_blank">Women in Defense</a>" and produced by the Office for Emergency Management - Film Unit. In this clip, Hepburn describes the many ways women were involved in the war effort, from a science and engineering standpoint, as well as for their industrial and volunteer work.<br />
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"Women, skilled and unskilled, are asking, 'What can I do to help?' This film will show what women are doing and what they can do. Every women has an important place in the national defense programe, in science, in industry, and in the home."</blockquote>
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As we remember the veterans of America and her allies, let's not forget the thousands of women who have served alongside the men in war and in peace. This quote from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oveta_Culp_Hobby" target="_blank">Colonel Oveta Culp Hobby</a> is written in stone outside Washington's WWII memorial, and it pays perfect tribute to women's contributions to the defense of liberty.<br />
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<a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/wwii-mem.jpg"><img alt="wwii mem" class=" wp-image-1941 aligncenter" height="314" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/wwii-mem.jpg" width="575" /></a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16581509646636552299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825694783801781047.post-76663531231503151882013-11-08T20:24:00.001-08:002013-11-08T20:25:16.661-08:00Sara Haden: What a Character!<a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/sara-haden.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="sara haden" class="alignright wp-image-1928" height="228" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/sara-haden.jpg" width="270" /></a><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;"><span style="font-size: 20px;">This post is written in conjunction with the second annual <a href="http://aurorasginjoint.com/2013/09/10/what-a-character-blogathon-2013/#comment-4353" target="_blank">What a Character! blogathon</a> hosted by Kellee at <a href="http://kelleepratt.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Outspoken and Freckled</a>, Aurora at <a href="http://aurorasginjoint.com/" target="_blank">Once Upon a Screen</a>, and Paula at <a href="http://paulascinemaclub.com/" target="_blank">Paula's Cinema Club</a>. Read my contribution to last year's blogathon about black character actress <a href="http://margaretperry.org/louise-beavers-what-a-character/" target="_blank">Louise Beavers</a>.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;">Classic film fans will immediately recognize Sara Haden as <a href="http://margaretperry.org/mickey-rooney-13-august-suts/" target="_blank" title="Mickey Rooney (13 August SUTS)">Mickey Rooney</a>'s spinster Aunt Milly in the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Andy-Hardy-Collection-Volume/dp/B0066E6QGG/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1383970359&sr=8-2&keywords=andy+hardy" target="_blank">Andy Hardy</a> films.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;">I recognize Sara Haden from her debut film, a long lost and forgotten Katharine Hepburn flick called <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025822/combined" target="_blank">SPITFIRE </a>(1934). It's actually one of my favorite Hepburn movies, though Hepburn herself would rather nobody ever saw the raw hillbilly movie ever again.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/SF-sara-haden.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Wild Kat" class=" wp-image-1927 " height="307" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/SF-sara-haden.jpg" width="587" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Hillbilly Hepburn threatens Sara Haden with a stick in SPITFIRE (1934). Don't mess.</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;">Sara Haden also appeared in another hallmark Hepburn film, the first she made with Spencer Tracy - </span><a href="http://margaretperry.org/hepburn-and-tracy-get-steamy-on-tcm/" style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;" target="_blank" title="Hepburn and Tracy Get Steamy on TCM">WOMAN OF THE YEAR</a><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"> (1942). In this movie about a jetsetting political journalist (Hepburn) and her sportswriter husband (</span><a href="http://margaretperry.org/spencer-tracy-tcms-october-star-of-the-month/" style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;" target="_blank" title="Spencer Tracy: TCM’s October Star of the Month">Tracy</a><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;">), Haden plays the matron of a home for Greek refugee children, whom Tess and Sam briefly adopt.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/AndyHardyMeetsDebutante.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="AndyHardyMeetsDebutante" class=" wp-image-1929 " height="284" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/AndyHardyMeetsDebutante.jpg" width="492" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sara Haden (far left) with the cast of ANDY HARDY MEETS DEBUTANTE (1940)</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;">Throughout the 1950s and 60s Haden appeared in several television dramas, often as a spiky old spinster woman. Notable films in which she appears as a side character include </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Captain-January-Shirley-Temple/dp/B000FFJ84O/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1383970543&sr=1-1&keywords=captain+january" style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;" target="_blank">CAPTAIN JANUARY</a><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"> (1936), </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Shop-Around-Corner-Margaret-Sullavan/dp/B00006FDCV/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1383970558&sr=1-2&keywords=the+shop+around+the+corner" style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;" target="_blank">THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER</a><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"> (1940) and </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bishops-Wife-Cary-Grant/dp/B000056HE9/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1383970579&sr=1-2&keywords=the+bishop%27s+wife" style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;" target="_blank">THE BISHOP'S WIFE</a><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"> (1947).</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/WALKER.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="WALKER" class=" wp-image-1930 " height="358" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/WALKER.jpg" width="236" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Charlotte Walker</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;">Sara Haden's mother Charlotte Walker had also been a prolific stage and screen actress. She worked for such directors as </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/DeMille-Collection-Cleopatra-Crusades-Frightened/dp/B000E8JO32/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1383970604&sr=1-1&keywords=cecil+b+demille" style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;" target="_blank">Cecil B. DeMille</a><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;"> and David Belasco, and even appeared opposite the great </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000856/?ref_=nv_sr_1" style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;" target="_blank">Ethel Barrymore</a><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;">. She was married and divorced twice, working on stage since she was nineteen and eventually making the transition to moving pictures in 1915. Walker retired from acting a year before her daughter Sara's film debut in SPITFIRE (1934). Walker died in 1954 at the age of 81. Sara Haden was 82 when she passed away in 1981. Both mother and daughter were born and raised in Galveston, Texas.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;">I wish I could tell you more about Sara Haden and her mother. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find information about the lesser known character actors from Hollywood's golden age. It's a shame, really, because they must have had such wonderful stories to tell about the business and the people with whom they worked over the years. Sometimes it's those on the sidelines who are best able to describe the exciting goings on around them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 20px;">Although I can't tell you much more about Sara Haden, I'd like to think she was a nice person. I've always enjoyed her characters on screen, and now that you know who you are watching, I hope you'll notice her next time you see one of her films!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16581509646636552299noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825694783801781047.post-18749502588451856752013-11-02T17:20:00.001-07:002013-11-02T17:20:28.994-07:00HepGIF: Even before Hollywood, Miss Hepburn loved to dress up for the camera<div style="text-align: left;">
This home movie was made by Katharine Hepburn's husband, Ludlow "Luddy" Ogden Smith during the first years of their marriage, before Hollywood, fame, professional makeup artists, and costume designers came on the scene. Miss Hepburn would have been in her early 20s at the time. She's a cutie-patootie, and she knows it!</div>
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<a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Luddy-umbrella.gif" style="color: #331100; line-height: 30px;"><img alt="Luddy umbrella" class="wp-image-1863 alignnone" height="248" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Luddy-umbrella.gif" width="320" /></a><a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Luddy-umbrella-ii.gif"><img alt="Luddy umbrella ii" class="wp-image-1862 alignnone" height="248" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Luddy-umbrella-ii.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16581509646636552299noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825694783801781047.post-50367951642119557262013-10-30T14:13:00.000-07:002013-10-30T14:15:27.242-07:00Alfred Hitchcock Cavorting with Cavett<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-size: large;">This post is written in conjunction with the <a href="http://backlots.net/2013/08/08/new-blogathon-coming-to-backlots/" target="_blank">Hitchcock Halloween</a> blogathon hosted by <a href="http://backlots.net/" target="_blank">Backlots</a>.</span></em></div>
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<a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/hitch-and-dick.png" style="clear: right; color: #331100; float: right; line-height: 30px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img alt="hitch and dick" class="alignright wp-image-1887 aligncenter" height="290" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/hitch-and-dick.png" width="351" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Alfred Hitchcock's groundbreaking work had a ubiquitous effect on the film industry - there isn't a scary movie today that has not in some way been influenced by the English director's vision. The famed horror/mystery/thriller/suspense director was a rotund 73-year-old little boy when he appeared on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPyUWLON11A" target="_blank">The Dick Cavett show in June, 1972</a>. The episode opens with the recognizable opening theme to the ever-popular <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AneDxl6vQkw" target="_blank">The Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955-62)</a>, with Cavett and Hitchcock appearing in silhouette from opposite sides of the screen. Though Cavett struggles to keep a straight face through his introduction, Hitch maintains an expression of bored indifference like a pro.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">However, Hitchcock's 90 minute interview with Cavett is anything but boring. The audience is treated to an hour and a half of the directors maudlin sense of humour, as well as insight into his production methods and motivations.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>On the source of his fascination with fear</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Hitch</strong>: “I was Jesuit-educated, and that's where I learned about fear.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Cavett</strong>: “You were terrorised by your teachers?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Hitch</strong>: “They scared the hell out of me.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">“When I was a child of five, my father sent me with a note to the local chief of police for a minor, I must admit, a <i>minor</i> misdemeanor, and I was placed in a cell for five minutes. Now, psychiatrists say if you can trace the origin of your fear, it will disappear – the whole thing is a confounded lie, because I still have it. Never left me.”</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054215/combined" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;"><img alt="psycho" class=" wp-image-1888 aligncenter" height="273" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/psycho.jpg" width="495" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>On making scary movies</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">“What is funny? For me: making a picture like <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Psycho-Anthony-Perkins/dp/B0087ZG7UW/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1383166709&sr=1-2&keywords=psycho" target="_blank">PSYCHO (1960)</a>. That's hilarious to me. It <i>has</i> to be. If we're designing the film, I'm sitting with the writer, and I say, “Wouldn't it be <i>fun</i> to kill them this way?” And then you say, “Well, this scene will make them scream.” So, you do it with a sort of lushness of enjoyment. It's no different to the main who's driving the nails into the scaffolding who's making the roller coaster. He knows they're going to scream eventually. There's a fine line between what is fear and what is comic.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">“If you put the audience through the mill like that, you must relieve it. The bomb must be found and quickly thrown out of the window. Then it goes off out there, and the audience are relieved.”</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.getthebigpicture.net/blog/2010/7/4/video-alfred-hitchcock-explains-macguffins.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;"><img alt="macguffin" class="size-full wp-image-1897 aligncenter" height="275" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/macguffin.jpg" width="475" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“A '<a href="http://macguffinmovies.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Macguffin</a>' is a thing you see in most films about spies. It is the <i>thing </i>the spies are after... It's always called the <i>thing t</i>hat the characters on the screen worry about but the audience don't care.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">[It's not from a Hitchcock film, but the statuette from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Maltese-Falcon-Humphrey-Bogart/dp/B003ZEQMH8/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1383166765&sr=1-2&keywords=maltese+falcon" target="_blank">THE MALTESE FALCON (1941)</a> is the perfect example of a MacGuffin.]</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>On actors, "that necessary evil"</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">“That's how actors earn their money – by not having to do the things they're supposed to do.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">On being accused of calling actors cattle:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Hitch</strong>: “I would never say such an unfeeling, rude thing about actors at all. What I probably said was that all actors should be <i>treated </i>liked cattle.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Cavett</strong>: “I see. And you went on to do that.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Hitch</strong>: “In a nice way, of course.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">“Walt Disney had the right idea – if he didn't like the actors, he tore them up!”</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://dearmrgable.com/?p=682" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;"><img alt="cattle" class=" wp-image-1889 " height="349" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/cattle-1024x888.jpg" width="402" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">As a joke Carol Lombard brought a few calves onto the set of MR. AND MRS. SMITH with the actors' names around their necks (left). Lombard's sense of humor was not lost on Mr. Hitchcock.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Why did you never make a costume film?</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">“Nobody in a costume picture ever goes to the toilet.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Favorite film you ever made?</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Doubt-Teresa-Wright/dp/B000CCW2SY/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1383166821&sr=1-2&keywords=shadow+of+a+doubt" target="_blank">SHADOW OF A DOUBT (1943)</a>, because it's a true, character picture.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Favorite contemporary directors?</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Francois-Truffaut/e/B000APRYZ4/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_3?qid=1383166852&sr=1-3" target="_blank">Francois Truffaut</a> and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0116103/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1" target="_blank">Adrian Brunel</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Favorite books?</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Biography, never fiction</span><br />
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<a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/hitch-and-cavett.png"><span style="font-size: large;"><img alt="hitch and cavett" class=" wp-image-1890 aligncenter" height="306" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/hitch-and-cavett.png" width="435" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>The humorous side of Alfred Hitchcock</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">“Puns are the highest form of literature.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Hitch</strong>: “I'm generalizing, and he's not an army man, either.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Cavett</strong>: “Who?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Hitch</strong>: “General Ising.”</span><br />
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<a href="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/hitch-laughing.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img alt="hitch laughing" class="alignright wp-image-1891" height="360" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/hitch-laughing.jpg" width="278" /></span></a><span style="font-size: large;">“I had a letter from a man who said that 'My daughter, after she say the French film <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Diabolique-Criterion-Collection-Simone-Signoret/dp/B004NWPY3E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1383166952&sr=8-1&keywords=diabolique" target="_blank">DIABOLIQUE (1954)</a> wouldn't take a tub any more,' because they had a scene with a man coming out of a tub and taking his eyes out, some horror scene... He said, 'and after seeing this she'd never take a tub. Now, having seen PSYCHO (1960) she won't take a shower! As a result, she's very unpleasant to be around.' So I replied, 'Dear Sir, send her to the dry cleaners.'”</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">“They allow a certain amount of nudity over there [on English television]. Considering the weather over there, I'm surprised!”</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Cavett</strong>: “You have the most odd sense of humor.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Hitch</strong>: “How do you mean odd? Do you mean 1-5-7-9-11...?”</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16581509646636552299noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2825694783801781047.post-7349649054982183452013-10-23T09:27:00.003-07:002013-10-23T09:27:49.937-07:00Introducing the Heptoid!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtrw7r-fFaVoOb5gKd7AEtI6vuuLirOI8Ot-9SNciUkmx8eN4fbMTwTQtg_wSEsx7u83SWNjMYijXKsG6Yq82kHRGBTO6aeF7YyMQYkt8lNjjBOhfPE1sS9w4WC-dXhaRtdoohhl4EhOQ/s1600/hep+caricature.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtrw7r-fFaVoOb5gKd7AEtI6vuuLirOI8Ot-9SNciUkmx8eN4fbMTwTQtg_wSEsx7u83SWNjMYijXKsG6Yq82kHRGBTO6aeF7YyMQYkt8lNjjBOhfPE1sS9w4WC-dXhaRtdoohhl4EhOQ/s200/hep+caricature.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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While working on my Katharine Hepburn capstone in college, my academic advisor and I discovered that it was more expedient to refer to the project as my "Hepstone" since "Hepburn capstone" is quite a mouthful. In the quest for a recurring feature on my blog, I've decided to introduce the Heptoid, a series of trivia (Hepfact), images (Heppic or Heptoon), memes (Hepmeme), GIFs (HepGIF), and quotes (Hepquote) from and/or about the great Katharine Hepburn.<br />
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If I have posted a meme or GIF that you created, or if I have incorrectly cited an item, please let me know so I can link back to its original source. We must give credit where credit is due!<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Heptoon #1</strong>: Steve Benson's cartoon tribute to Miss Hepburn in the <em>Arizona Republic, </em>7/2/2003</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.cagle.com/news/hepburn/page/6/"><img alt="heaven dresses" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1850" height="338" src="http://margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/heaven-dresses.gif" width="504" /></a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16581509646636552299noreply@blogger.com1