Happy Birthday Clint Eastwood!

If you aren't still kicking around at a BBQ or poolside, you can get your Eastwood on on TCM today and tonight with such greats as Where Eagles Dare (1969) and Kelly's Heroes (1970). I'll definitely be checking out the 2010 documentary, The Eastwood Factor!

Happy Memorial Day, everyone!

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Happy Birthday John Wayne!

Today is the essential American, John Wayne's birthday. To celebrate, I have included a link to the entry I did on him in October.

JOHN WAYNE

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The Whole Town's Talking (1935)

Arthur Ferguson Jones (Edward G. Robinson) is a gentle man, conscientious, timely, caring, and slightly dull. Clearly the pushover type. He's in love with Wilhelmina Clark (Jean Arthur), a co-worker so completely mismatched to himself, she is consistently late to work and adores adventure. When she points out to the office the resemblance between Jones and a picture in the newspaper of the recently escaped convict "Killer" Manion, also played by Robinson, Jones has no idea how his life is about to change forever- much to Clark's delight and his dismay.

While Jones is lunching with Clark for the first time ever, a nearby patron Hoyt (Donald Meek) a calls the police, thinking he will get the reward for Manion's capture. Obviously having a heck of a time convincing everyone who he really is, it's not until Manion commits another crime while Jones is at the station that the police are convinced of the mix up. Jones is then given a pass he can present anytime a cop stops him in the street (sigh...do they ever learn?)

Back at the office, Jones is now considered the top dog. All his co-workers pat him on the back and even his boss (who could not correctly identify him at the poice station) has an exciting proposition for him that will benefit both Jones and his own company. Jones will collaborate with the city paper and have his own article on his opinion of crime despite looking like "Killer" Manion.

When Jones arrives home later that night, he finds Manion waiting for him to share the "pass" so he will be safe at night to commit crime. When Manion learns of Jones' column he demands that Jones' it be turned into his reminiscences, which raises the suspicion of authorities. When the police question how Jones is getting the inside scoop, they decide he'd be safer in jail. Allowed to stop of and collect a few personal items, Manion decides to take his place now that he knows fellow gangster, "Slugs" Martin (Edward Brophy), who turned stool pigeon on him is in the same jail. Successfully killing Martin, Manion escapes jail again (the police aren't catching any breaks in this film) he sets about a series of events that will pit Jones and him against one another with only one victor in the end.

A fun and different kind of film than I am used to seeing from director John Ford, Robinson is also a surprise. He is delightfully hilarious as a humble coward who moons over a slightly crazy Jean Arthur. Having him play against type was a stroke of genius and produced a good piece of work worth checking out.

Tonight on TCM!
Davy Crockett, Indian Scout (1950) One of Davy Crockett's descendants leads a wagon train through perilous territory. Cast: George Montgomery, Ellen Drew, Philip Reed, Noah Beery Jr. Dir: Lew Landers

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Summertime (1955)

I had another post prepared for today but since Summertime will be on tonight and I strongly encourage anyone who reads this entry to see it if they have TCM, I have hastily put together...well...nothing. Suffice it to say that Summertime is my new favorite movie of Katharine Hepburn despite her making several of these faces throughout it.

From the moment the film begins you will be drawn in, first by Hepburn and then more so by Brazzi and their onscreen chemistry. Some may disagree, but I definitely see chemistry.

Anyway, that leaves me with a hastily put together entry that wouldn't touch a candle to the summary I read before seeing this film. A summary that encouraged me to see Summertime.

I am an avid fan of Cinema OCD (if you haven't read her blog, do so!) and she put together a wonderful Summertime redux, and I mean wonderful! If you don't mind spoilers, go here and read it. If you do, watch Summertime tonight and then go and read it. I was going to attempt my own summary but I really can't sum it up the way "Nipper" does. Though she is graciously allowed me to borrow some of her pics from her entry, I think it's best you just check out her summary and not be subjected to the Justin Beiberish crush I have on Rossano Brazzi. Seriously, I'm thinking of your best interests here.

Happy reading!

Oh, and for all you A Christmas Story fans--check out the young Darren McGavin!

Tonight on TCM!

Summertime (1955) A schoolteacher is surprised to find love on a Venetian vacation. Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Rossano Brazzi, Isa Miranda, Darren McGavin Dir: David Lean

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Kitty Foyle: The Natural History of a Woman (1940)

Kitty (Ginger Rogers) is a woman torn between two men that will bring her two different types of lifestyles. There's Dr. Eisen (James Craig), a humble doctor who enjoys administering to the poor. Though his work will not be profitable, he loves Kitty and will be able to provide her his name, protection, and the family she craves. Then there is Wynnewood "Wynn" Stafford VI, Kitty's true love. He loves her but cannot marry her.

Told in retrospect, we learn of Kitty's upbringing, how she was raised on the wrong side of the tracks by her loving father who strove to keep Kitty from heartbreak with her tendency to daydream and wish to be like the socialites of their town. When she meets Wynn, her father soon sees he's failed at making her realize how different Wynn's people think she is.

When Kitty and Wynn meet, it's love at first sight. Finding out she has no job, Wynn immediately hires her as his secretary. He has decided to strike out on his own and start a magazine. An endeavor that Kitty encourages as she sees Wynn detests the idea of going into the family business. When the magazine fails, she encourages him to move to the city and try his luck there instead of heading home in defeat. They secretly marry and though his family accepts the marriage, they want to groom Kitty to become one of their own and bring Wynn back into the family business. When Kitty puts her foot down she learns where Wynn's loyalty lies and divorces him. Months later, a pregnant Kitty is determined to raise her child to be made of sterner stuff, unfortunately, the child is stillborn. Worse yet, Wynn has remarried to someone in his own social class and eventually has a son of his own.

When Wynn's wife unsuspectingly stops into the shop Kitty works for and brings her son along, Kitty gives the child the engagement ring Wynn gave her with directions for him to give it to his father as a birthday gift. This is how Wynn finds her after so many years and proposes that she run away with him the same night that Dr. Eisen proposed marriage to her.

Now kitty must decide, live lavishly but with no pride as a married man's mistress or as the wife of a humble doctor that will provide her the family she wants.

Kitty Foyle would have been another delightfully paced movie with a typical moral message but stands out due to the spice Rogers gives it with her natural allure, sass and seriousness. The more I watch Rogers,the more fascinated I become with her. She had the ability to be annoying (Professional Sweetheart), hep (Once Upon a Honeymoon), hilarious (Vivacious Lady), sarcastic (Finishing School, Stage Door), romantic (The Gay Divorcee), and childlike (The Major and the Minor), all with the extra talent of singing and dancing (Goldiggers of 1933, Roberta) to boot. She was a multi-faceted, shining talent and I think it's important to note (as I have only seen her in one film with Astaire) that she's talented enough to stand alone without need of ever mentioning Astaire's name.

Red, Hot And Blue (1949) An actress's rising career is threatened when she finds a dead gangster in her apartment. Cast: Betty Hutton, Victor Mature, William Demarest, June Havoc Dir: John Farrow

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R.I.P.

Lena Horne: 1917-2010

"I'm not alone, I'm free. I no longer have to be a credit, I don't have to be a symbol to anybody; I don't have to be a first to anybody."

TCM Remembers Lena

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S&G: Genevieve Tobin's kissing experiment of 1933

Genevieve Tobin claims all leading men kiss differently, and that she could be blindfolded and could tell one technique from the other. In order to prove her assertion, Genevieve submitted to the kisses of five movie heroes in Los Angeles, but didn't make out so well as she picked two right and three wrong. This photo shows the start of the interesting experiment, as the eager contestants lined up. Left to right: Roland Young, El Brendel, Ralph Forbes, Raoul Roulin, and Victor Jory.

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