This month I was busy participating in the 50 Years of Hitchcock class (offered by TCM and Ball State University on Canvas) and binge watching Suits to catch up for season 7. There was a smaller than usual amount of films I wanted to see on TCM this month, which is good because I was able to clear off the dvr for Summer Under the Stars. Below are the films I watched (* means I've seen it before).
Anthony Adverse (1936) - Fredric March & Olivia de Havilland, Claude Rains
Andy Harry's Private Secretary (1941) - Mickey Rooney, Lewis Stone
Tortilla Flat (1942) - Spencer Tracey, John Garfield, Hedy Lamarr, Frank Morgan
Hail the Conquering Hero (1944) - Eddie Bracken, Ella Raines, William Demerest
The Dude Goes West (1948) - Eddie Albert, James Gleason
*The Lady Takes a Sailor (1949) - Jane Wyman & Dennis Morgan, Eve Arden
Clash by Night (1952) - Barbara Stanwyck, Paul Douglas, Robert Ryan, Marilyn Monroe
The Moon is Blue (1953) - William Holden, Maggie, David Niven
The Gun That Won the West (1955) - Dennis Morgan
Our Miss Brooks (1956) - Eve Arden
Teacher's Pet (1957) - Clark Gable & Doris Day, Gig Young
Gigi (1958) - Leslie Caron & Louis Jourdan
The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963) - Glenn Ford & Shirley Jones, Ron Howard, Jerry Van Dyke
*Rocky (1976) - Sylvester Stallone & Talia Shire, Burgess Meredith (one of my top ten favorite movies)
*Down Periscope (1996) - Kelsey Grammar, Bruce Dern
*Star Trek Beyond (2016) - Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, John Cho
La La Land (2016) - Emma Stone & Ryan Gosling
Despicable Me 3 (2017) - Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Julie Andrews (I saw it at a drive-in theater, my first!)
Least Favorite: Anthony Adverse (really long and boring) and The Courtship of Eddie's Father (depressing and a little too frank about sex).
Favorite Film of the Month: Our Miss Brooks and Teacher's Pet, both about teachers!
Just a quick post to let everyone know I have decided to take a short break for the month of July to focus on the Hitchcock class I'm taking and to get a head start on August blogathon posts. I may still do my Cinema Wedding Gown series and I'm hoping to announce a blogathon near the end of the month.
A few weeks ago, Quiggy from The Midnite Drive-In graciously asked me if I would like to co-host a blogathon with him on Favorite Directors. As is apparent by all the blogathon banners running down the right side of my blog, I love blogathons, so of course I said yes.
As everyone knows, directors are essential to a successful film. A film director "controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects, and visualizes the script while guiding the technical crew and actors in the fulfillment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, production design, and the creative aspects of filmmaking." Without a good director, a film may die before it's finished or never achieve the success it might have.
There are many directors from the Golden Age of Hollywood who have become iconic and whose faces are instantly recognizable. Then there are the directors who's films are loved by many but who are only known by name. And lastly there are the ones who are never given the acclaim they deserve. That is what this blogathon is for, to honor all directors.
Here are a few simple rules:
1. Directors from the early days of film up until 1990 are fine. You can choose a single film that particularly showcases the style of that director or cover an entire career. When you've made your choice, please let me or Quiggy know in the comments below. Be sure to include the link to your blog so I can add it easily to the roster.
2. No duplicates of movies. However, if someone has chosen Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho you can still pick another film he directed or his career as a whole.
3. Since this blogathon is taking place over Memorial Day weekend, early admissions will be accepted. If you will be out of town simply publish your post ahead of time and leave the link to it in the comments below. It will be added at the appropriate time.
4. Take one of the banners below and share it on your blog to spread the word!
5. And lastly, have fun!!
Roster:
Phyllis Loves Classic Movies: The film collaborations of Frank Capra and Robert Risken
1. What was the first Hitchcock film you ever watched? I don't remember but it was probably Rear Window that I watched first in one sitting.
2. What’s your favorite Hitchcock film? There's several that are up there: Rebecca, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Shadow of a Doubt, Notorious and The Trouble with Harry but it was Strangers on a Train that started my interest in Hitchcock. I had only seen his more famous films before (Rear Window, To Catch a Thief, Vertigo, North By Northwest) none of which I particularly like. Psycho and The Birds are favorites too but not really ones I would want to watch a lot.
3. What’s your least favorite Hitchcock film? Vertigo. I've never been a huge fan of James Stewart, though I like several of his movies, and I don't really like Kim Novak.
4. What’s your favorite Hitchcock cameo? Either Lifeboat or Strangers on a Train.
All of Hitchcock's cameos
5. Who’s your favorite Hitchcock villain? Joseph Cotten in Shadow of a Doubt.
6. Hero? Rod Taylor in The Birds.
7. Heroine? Ingrid Bergman in Notorious.
8. What’s your favorite Hitchcock quote? Edmund Gwenn in The Trouble with Harry [after Dr. Greenbow trips over the body]: Couldn't have had more people here if I'd sold tickets.
9. And, finally, how many Hitchcock films have you watched? 21
After wanting to watch The Trouble with Harry (1955) for quite some time, I was finally able to get my hands on a copy last month. It did not disappoint.
This isn't your typical Hitchcock film, and the viewer shouldn't go into it expecting one. Just watch the trailer and you will see what I mean.
That being said, here are five reasons you should watch The Trouble with Harry:
1. It's Hitchcock's only comedy. Yes, he also directed Mr. and Mrs. Smith (1941) but that was at the request of Carole Lombard and doesn't really have his "stamp" on it. Hitch's droll humor is unmistakable in this one.
2. Edmund Gwenn and Mildred Natwick. They are the REAL leading couple of the film. Without them, it would not be the delightful and unique film that it is! And who said falling in love over a corpse is only for young people?
3. Shirley MacLaine. It's her film debut and she nails it. It's not easy to play in a black comedy but her performance feels like that of a veteran.
4. Little Jerry Mathers of Leave it to Beaver fame. Only 6 years old, Mathers sprouts some of the most memorable lines and because he's so little they are all the more humorous.
This is a two-muffin rabbit.
5. The scenery. The fact that it was filmed in Vermont during a glorious autumn is more than enough reason to watch this movie. Okay, so some of the scenes ended up being shot in California with fall colored leaved glued on the trees, I couldn't tell the difference!
I've been a lover of mysteries for a very long time, starting with the Nancy Drew books. So it's only natural that I have a fondness for mystery and suspense in movies!
10. 36 Hours (1964) - James Garner & Eva Marie Saint, Rod Taylor
Honorable Mentions: The Kennel Murder Case (1933), Fast and Loose (1939), Fast and Furious (1939), and The Dark Mirror (1946).
Tomorrow I will start my Top Ten Actors and Actresses Film Lists. I will be covering actors that I have seen a great many films of, including John Wayne, Cary Grant, William Powell, Dennis Morgan, Bob Hope, Tony Curtis & Janet Leigh, Olivia de Havilland, and Bette Davis. Normally I would include Myrna Loy but the majority of films I would pick would be the same as those on William Powell's list. I also love Carole Lombard, Judy Garland, and Lauren Bacall but I either haven't seen enough films or I don't LOVE ten of their films.
Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam, John McIntire, Simon Oakland, Frank Albertson, Pat Hitchcock, Vaughn Taylor, Lurene Tuttle, John Anderson, Mrt Mills, Virginia Gregg, Jeanette Nolan, Paul Jasmin, Ted Knight
Storyline
Stressed and under pressure because of stealing a large amount of money from her employer and running away, Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) gets lost, and exhausted from the long drive, decides to spend the night at the desolate Bates Motel. The motel is run by Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), a quiet young man dominated by his mother.
Opinion
Here's some facts. Number one, Alfred Hitchcock is the master of suspense; number two, Psycho, whether is or not his best film, is indeed his most famous picture, because everyone has seen or heard of this film; number three, they tried to make sequels, they tried to remake it, but the truth is that nothing will ever be as good as this masterpiece.
Anguishing, creepy, tense, and sharp as the blade of Bates's knife, Psycho is the film that still defines the horror-thriller genre.
The writing is just brilliant. The narrative is probably the best ever execute in a horror film. The story is interesting, and fascinating, it's full of twists, and surprises that will keep you guessing and engaged till the very end. The most impressive thing about the script is the extremely low body count.
The characters are all great, but two deserves to be mentioned. First up Marion Crane, an unhappy young woman who tries to change her life by running away with her lover and 40,000 dollars. Then there's the character, Norman Bates, a young man whose unhappiness and loneliness will drive him insane.
However, what really made this film legendary is basically everything else. Needless to say is that Alfred Hitchcock's direction is outstanding. The black and white cinematography is divinely marvelous. The famous musical score by Bernard Herrmann is spectacular and perfect to increase the tension.
Then there is the shower scene that has made the history of cinema. In addition to that there are two more sequences, probably the most impressive of the film. The first is the shot of Janet Leigh with her eyes wide open that wonderfully convey the horror, and sense of grief for the violence. The second is the macabre scene where the mother appears.
At last but not least the unforgettable performance from Anthony Perkins. He gives a charismatic performance as Norman Bates, and plays the guy in a very naturalistic way, like he was meant for the role. The supporting cast does a fine job, in particular Martin Balsam in the role of detective Milton Arbogast.
Quotes
Norma Bates: It's sad, when a mother has to speak the words that condemn her own son. But I couldn't allow them to believe that I would commit murder. They'll put him away now, as I should have years ago. He was always bad, and in the end he intended to tell them I killed those girls and that man... as if I could do anything but just sit and stare, like one of his stuffed birds. They know I can't move a finger, and I won't. I'll just sit here and be quiet, just in case they do... suspect me. They're probably watching me. Well, let them. Let them see what kind of a person I am. I'm not even going to swat that fly. I hope they are watching... they'll see. They'll see and they'll know, and they'll say, "Why, she wouldn't even harm a fly..."
Rebecca (1940) was Alfred Hitchcock's first film made in America, after he and his family migrated from England at the start of WWII. While many claim his films from the 1960s are unsurpassed, it is his films from the 40s and early 50s that are my personal favorites.
Rebecca gripped me from the opening shot to the very end. The story famously begins with the voice of Joan Fontaine (who is only known as the second Mrs. de Winter throughout the film) telling the story of Rebecca. It begins with the now well known line "I dreamed I went to Manderley again," and the equally well known shot going through the overgrown gate and up the path with the camera's gaze finally resting on the shadowy, burnt structure of what was once the imposing MANDERLEY.
Manderley is the ancestral home of Maxim de Winter (Laurence Olivier). Rebecca, who gives her name as the title of the film and is an unseen force throughout, was his first wife and Manderley had been their home. Rebecca however, drowned one day during a storm. Everyone says that Mr. de Winter was inconsolable, as they had been a model couple, envied by all. Therefore, when he falls in love with the naïve, shy, and awkward girl companion of American tourist Mrs. Van Hopper (Florence Bates), those who know him have great difficulty in accepting her, as Rebecca is irreplaceable to them. When Mr. de Winter arrives with his new bride, she is met with a coldness that seems impossible to break. Not only do the people not accept her, but Manderley doesn't accept her. Everywhere there are signs of Rebecca, her bedroom which is kept exactly the way it was when she died, the monogrammed desk supplies in the office, the mysterious boathouse that she is not allowed to go in to. Manderley is so much a part of the film that it too becomes a character. You can almost feel the house breathing, pushing this newcomer, this intruder out of its rooms. It is inexplicably tied up with Rebecca and cannot be separated from her. It is as if when Rebecca died she became Manderley (the only other house I can think of that feels like a character is Downton Abbey).
Not only is the house against her but it's housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers, portrayed with an intense and chilling creepiness by Judith Anderson, is also against her, doing everything she can to make her miserable, constantly reminding her that she is NOT the mistress of the house, nor is she a fit wife and companion for Mr. de Winter. Mrs. Danvers love for Rebecca and her hatred for Fontaine comes out in these exchanges:
Mrs. Danvers: You wouldn't think she'd been gone so long, would you? Sometimes, when I walk along the corridor, I fancy I hear her just behind me. That quick light step, I couldn't mistake it anywhere. It's not only in this room, it's in all the rooms in the house. I can almost hear it now. [Looks at Fontaine] Do you think the dead come back and watch the living? Sometimes, I wonder if she doesn't come back here to Manderley, to watch you and Mr. de Winter together.
Mrs. Danvers: [as Fontaine runs into the room] I watched you go down just as I watched her a year ago. Even in the same dress you couldn't compare.
Fontaine: You knew it! You knew that she wore it, and yet you deliberately suggested I wear it. Why do you hate me? What have I done to you that you should ever hate me so?
Mrs. Danvers: You tried to take her place. You let him marry you. I've seen his face - his eyes. They're the same as those first weeks after she died. I used to listen to him, walking up and down, up and down, all night long, night after night, thinking of her, suffering torture because he lost her!
Fontaine: [turning away in shame and shock] I don't want to know, I don't want to know!
Mrs. Danvers: [moving towards her] You thought you could be Mrs. de Winter, live in her house, walk in her steps, take the things that were hers! But she's too strong for you. You can't fight her - no one ever got the better of her. Never, never. She was beaten in the end, but it wasn't a man, it wasn't a woman. It was the sea!
Fontaine: [collapsing in tears on the bed] Oh, stop it! Stop it! Oh, stop it!
Mrs. Danvers: [opening the shutters] You're overwrought, madam. I've opened a window for you. A little air will do you good. Why don't you go? Why don't you leave Manderley? He doesn't need you... he's got his memories. He doesn't love you, he wants to be alone again with her. You've nothing to stay for. You've nothing to live for really, have you? [Softly, almost hypnotically] Look down there. It's easy, isn't it? Why don't you? Why don't you? Go on. Go on. Don't be afraid...
While at first it seems that she is completely losing it, as the true story of Rebecca unfolds, Fontaine's character becomes more sure of herself, culminating in the moment when she tells Mrs. Danvers, "I am Mrs. de Winter now." This is completed when Manderley is burned to the ground, freeing the couple from the ghost of Rebecca once and for all (I don't want to go into too much detail and spoil the film for those who haven't yet seen it).
Creepy Mrs. Danvers
The film is unique in that the character that is never seen dominates it and the character that is doesn't even have a name. While the viewer is getting to know Fontaine's character as she is getting to know herself, you feel like you already know Rebecca, even if the other characters in the film have been fooled by her.
Full movie
The film won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Fontaine was nominated as Best Actress but lost to Ginger Rogers for her role in Kitty Foyle. The following year she won an Oscar for Suspicion, her second film with Hitchcock. Many believe that it was really for Rebecca that she won. The film also won Best black and white Cinematography and was nominated for Best Actor (Olivier), Best Supporting Actress (Judith Anderson), Best Director (Hitchcock lost to John Ford for The Grapes of Wrath), and Best Screenplay, Art Direction, Editing, Special Effects, and Original Score (Franz Waxman). And if Rebecca had been a real person she would have won an award as well.
If I had to pick a favorite actress (which I don't really like to do, but people always want to know), it would be Grace Kelly.
So says Edith Head, in a quote from her unfinished biography which was completed by Paddy Calistro and became Edith Head's Hollywood (see sources below for more information). She goes on to say: "We don't have many great women stars anymore, but in the 1950s Grace was tops. She was an ex-model and she knew how to wear clothes."
Edith liked to build relationships with the stars she dressed. She wanted them to be comfortable and happy and she worked closely with them to ensure this. "Sometimes she [Kelly] would come into my salon with her lunch and the two of us would talk and laugh for hours at a time. It was always a pleasure to see her kick off her shoes and relax...she felt safe in my salon, as if it was a quiet refuge from the studio commissary" (Head, 108-109).
Edith Head dressed Grace Kelly in four films. The first film they worked on together was in Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window (1954). Edith remembers, "Grace was cast as a high-society type, so her part called for an extremely stylish wardrobe. Hitch wanted her to look like a piece of Dresden china, something slightly untouchable. So I did that. Her suits were impeccably tailored. Her accessories looked as though they couldn't be worn by anyone else but her. She was perfect. Few actresses could have carried off the look the way Grace did (Head, 109). When people think of Grace Kelly, it is usually wearing one of the costumes (of which there were only six) from this film - either THAT black and white gown or THAT green suit.
To see some of the dresses in action click here (clip 1, 3, 4, & 10) and here.
The next film was The Bridges of Toko-Ri (1954) which "wasn't really a costume picture" and of which Grace only appeared in for a whopping 15 minutes. Following that was The Country Girl (1954) which Edith was excited to be assigned to - until she read the script: "The character had absolutely no resemblance to Grace Kelly. I put her in housedresses and skirts and blouses, and made her look dumpy (Head, 108). However, Grace ended up winning an Oscar (more on THAT dress later) for her role in the film as "a woman who had been married for ten years and has lost interest in... everything" (Spoto, 155).
Their next collaboration (and final film together) was To Catch a Thief (1955). "When people ask me [Head] who my favorite actress is, who my favorite director is, and what my favorite film is, I tell them to watch To Catch a Thief and they'll get all the answers. The film was a costume designer's dream. It had all the ingredients for being fun, a challenge, and a great product... Grace played the part of possibly the richest woman in America, with the most fabulous clothes and the most fabulous jewels" (Head,109). Filmed on location in the south of France, the film has a broad spectrum of costumes, from a bathing suit to a driving outfit to a ridiculously fabulous ball gown. Edith and Grace also enjoyed several shopping trips together while in the fashion capitol of the world.
When the 1955 Academy Awards rolled around, Grace of course was in need of something to wear. At the time, Grace was under suspension at MGM and when she went to the studio to discuss her outfit for the Awards was told she was she was unwelcome. Grace just "smiled, adjusted her white gloves and asked if she could make a telephone call" (Spoto, 195). Of course it was Edith whom Grace called and though Edith had several obligations to fulfill, she set aside time to help Grace. Together they designed a "slim, floor-length aquamarine gown of French duchesse satin with a matching cloak and pastel blue slippers. White opera-length gloves completed the outfit" (Spoto, 196). Grace was also featured on the cover of Life magazine a few days later wearing the same dress.
A little over a month later, Grace would meet for the first time with Prince Rainier of Monaco and on April 19, 1956 they were married in what was described as "the wedding of the century." Though Edith hoped she would be asked to design Grace's wedding gown, Grace asked Helen Rose, costume designer of her home studio, MGM (she also did the costumes in High Society - 1956). Instead, Edith designed Grace's going-away suit as a gift from Paramount. The suit was light gray silk and "was topped with a white overcoat and worn with a tiny white hat and long white gloves.
Nearly all of the costumes Edith designed for Grace Kelly have become iconic and synonymous with the epitome of glamour. Their collaborations will always be remembered in the history of film fashion and continue to inspire the dresses that the stars of today wear on the red carpet. Some of them have even been immortalized as Barbie Doll fashions. There was truly something perfect about those dresses. It was indeed a perfect fashion marriage.
Wedding gown (Helen Rose), dress worn to meet Prince Rainier, Rear Window, To Catch a Thief.
Diane Kruger in Grace Kelly inspired gowns
Sources:
Spoto, Donald. High Society: The Life of Grace Kelly. Harmony Books, NY. 2009.
Head, Edith & Paddy Calistro. Edith Head's Hollywood. E. P. Dutton, Inc., NY. 1983.
