Star of the Month Profile: Loretta Young

Born Gretchen Michaela Young on January 6, 1913

Nicknames

Attila the Nun

The Iron Butterfly

Saint Loretta

Religion
Roman Catholic. Young attended Ramona Convent Secondary School as a teen and contributed to a number of Catholic charitable causes during her career. Marlene Deitrich once said of Young, "Every time she sins, she build a church. That's why there are so many Catholic churches in Hollywood." Ouch, Marlene!

Political views
Conservative Republican. Young publicly supported presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan. She also donated money to the Republican National Committee. Like many other stars of the time, including John Wayne, Ginger Rogers, and Irene Dunne, Young was an active member of the Hollywood Republican Committee.

What's Up, January 2013!

Happy New Year, everybody! I am sorry I have been AWOL for the last week or so. Since returning from my six-month stay in England, I've been zipping around seeing old friends. I have finally settled down and am now looking for a real job. Until then, it is back to full-time blogging!

2012 was a great year for me, especially in regards to starting this blog. When I began blogging in the spring, I had no idea how rewarding I would find it! I was also pleasantly surprised to find such a warm and welcoming classic film blogging community. It has been a wonderful experience reading what others have to say about the movies, actors, and directors I love.

I have high hopes for 2013. I have recently started a book review blog called Lit. and a Latte, which I hope will help me grow as a writer while also encouraging me to read more. If you follow The Cinematic Katzenjammer, you may have noticed that I am now writing a daily column called "TCM Today." Many of my articles from The Great Katharine Hepburn are also featured in the "Classic Katz" section of The Cinematic Katzenjammer. Kristen from Journeys in Classic Film has also contributed a number of posts to that page.

Babs from Brooklyn: December's Star of the Month on TCM

Name at birth

Ruby Catherine Stevens
Professional Name
Barbara Stanwyck

"I couldn't remember my name for weeks. I'd be at the theatre and hear them calling, "Miss Stanwyck, Miss Stanwyck," and I'd think, "Where is that dame? Why doesn't she answer? By crickie, it's me!""

Nicknames

"Babs"

"Babs from Brooklyn"

"Missy"

"The Queen"

Stanwyck as a Ziegfeld Follies
chorus girl (c. 1924)

Childhood

Orphaned at age four, Ruby was raised by her show biz sister in Brooklyn, New York. She left school at 14 to work in a number of odd jobs before entering the business herself. In 1924 she became a chorus girl in the famous Ziegfeld Follies. She worked on Broadway for a few years before moving out to Hollywood with her first husband in 1928.

"I'm a tough old broad from Brooklyn. I intend to go on acting until I'm ninety and they won't need to paste my face with makeup."

"I want to go on until they have to shoot me." 

Closing the Book on "Great Adaptations"

This being the last week in November, it is also our last week of "Great Adaptations" on Turner Classic Movies. Time to say goodbye to all those great literary classics that have been transformed into cinematic masterpieces. This has been one of the best month highlights I've seen on TCM, and I am glad to say I made the most of it, but I am sorry to see it end.

As usual, TCM is closing out the month in style with three days of novel-film adaptations. Monday night into Tuesday morning will feature no less than a dozen quintessential stories from British Literature, including two Laurence Olivier pictures, WUTHERING HEIGHTS (1939) by Emily Bronte and PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (1940) by Jane Austen. Another Bronte sisters' work is highlighted in Charlotte Bronte's JANE EYRE (1944). If you are interested in the more surreal writings of the 20th century, LORD OF THE FLIES (1963) will be showing at 8:00 am Tuesday morning. I remember reading that book in high school. Weird. Here's the full line-up for Monday and Tuesday:

Great Adaptations Tonight on TCM

Turner Classic Movies has planned out an amazing schedule for this Thanksgiving week. The week kicks off with a continuation of TCM’s month of “GreatAdaptations: Novel to Film.” Monday primetime and Tuesday morning will feature films based on Russian and French Literature. For tonight I can recommend the following classics:

8:00 pm:       DOCTOR ZHIVAGO (1965), directed by DavidLean and starring Omar Sharif, Julie Christie, Geraldine Chaplin, Alec Guinness, Rod Steiger, and Ralph Richardson. A romance unfolds despite the turbulence of the Russian Revolution. This epic film chronicles a part of history, as well as a part of the human spirit. Stunning cinematography and a beautiful score make this one of the greatest films of the latter half of the 20^th century.

GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER? (1967): Love, Controversy, and Progress

Turner Classic Movies will conclude their month of Spencer Tracy today, 29 October, with an evening of the four films he made with director Stanley Kramer. GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER (1967) was Spencer Tracy's final film and will be showing at 1:30 am EST. It was the ninth film he and Katharine Hepburn had made together since WOMAN OF THE YEAR (1942). It now stands as a touching tribute to their personal and professional relationship.

The film was controversial for its time because it is a love story about an inter-racial couple. Dr. John Prentice (Sidney Poitier), the black son of a black mail man, and Joey Drayton (Katharine Houghton), the white daughter of a wealthy white newspaper editor, meet while on vacation in Hawaii and immediately fall in love. They fly home to introduce him to her parents and announce that they wish to be married. Unbeknownst to Joey, John has given her parents a sort of ultimatum: if they don't approve the marriage and give it their blessing, he will call the whole thing off. The situation is intensified when John's parents, still unaware that Joey is a white girl, decide to come out and meet the girl their son has fallen in love with.

Hepburn and Tracy Get Steamy on TCM

Monday, October 22 Turner Classic Movies will be airing six of the nine films Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn made together.

WOMAN OF THE YEAR (1942) - 8:00 pm
Directed by: George Stevens
Written by: Ring Lardner, Jr. and Michael Kanin
Genre: comedy, romance
Co-starring: Fay Bainter, Reginald Owen, Sara Haden
Synopsis: When down-to-earth, all-American sports writer Sam Craig (Tracy) first meets high-flying international political correspondent Tess Harding (Hepburn), sparks fly in more ways than one. The unlikely pair falls in love, but marriage proves difficult as the two attempt to coordinate their mismatched life priorities.
Margaret's rating: 8/10

Spencer Tracy: TCM's October Star of the Month

Although Spencer Tracy was Katharine Hepburn's lover for about 25 years, I am ashamed to say that I know very little about the man, except of course what I have read in Hepburn biographies. I know he was of Irish descent, and like most Irishmen he drank too much and had a serious chip on his shoulder about life. But I do honestly believe that Spencer Tracy was one of the greatest actors of all time, and I didn't need to read that in a book.

Spencer Bonaventure Tracy of Milwaukee, Wisconsin was nominated for the Academy Award for best actor nine times, two of which he won. On October 15 (this coming Monday), Turner Classic Movies will show six of Tracy Oscar-nominated films. Six of the nine films Tracy made with Katharine Hepburn will be aired on Monday, October 22, followed by the documentary, "The Spencer Tracy Legacy," hosted/narrated by Hepburn. This past Monday, October 8, TCM showed three of my favorite Spencer Tracy films from his early years as an actor.

Taking Cary for Granted - In A Good Way!

Cary Grant made so many films (more than 70) in his 38-year career that we can sometimes take it for granted when TCM decides to dedicate an evening to his films. Tonight, Turner Classic Movies will be showing five of Cary Grant's best. Below I have listed the films with their stats in the same way I present Katharine Hepburn's films on the Filmography page of this blog. Although they are not the big dramatic titles that won Grant his well-deserved place in the book of Hollywood legends, the five comedies airing tonight are well worth your while!

8:00 pm EST: MONKEY BUSINESS (1952)
Directed by: Howard Hawks
Written by: Ben Hecht, Charles Lederer, I.A.L. Diamond, Harry Segal
Starring: Ginger Rogers, Marilyn Monroe, Charles Coburn
Runtime: 97 minutes
Synopsis: A chemist and his wife become unsuspecting victims of his "fountain of youth" experiments. 
Margaret's rating: 6/10

Poll: Who were your favorite male newcomers to Summer Under the Stars on TCM?

Myrna Loy: August 2 on TCM

This post is written in conjunction with the Summer Under the Stars Blogathon hosted by Michael at Scribe Hard On Film and Jill at Sittin' On A Backyard Fence.

On August 2nd TCM honors legendary actress Myrna Loy with a full day of her films. Here is a showcase of my personal favorite Myrna Loy films that will be showing on TCM this Thursday. What are your favorite Myrna Loy films? Are you excited to watch a Myrna Loy film you have been wanting to see for a long time? I'd love to hear your thoughts about this fabulous performer!