This or That: A Classic Film Survey

Recently, I was looking on Google for a classic film survey, just because I was in the mood to do one. I managed to find one I liked on Tumblr. It's simple- two people or things are listed and I pick the one(s) I prefer.

-Joan Crawford or Bette Davis: Bette Davis

-John Wayne or Gary Cooper: Gary Cooper

-MGM or Paramount: No preference.

-Marlene Dietrich or Greta Garbo: Greta Garbo

-Jean Harlow or Marilyn Monroe: Jean Harlow

-Ann Miller or Cyd Charisse: Not really familiar with either

-Silents or Talkies: Talkies

-June Allyson or Debbie Reynolds: Debbie Reynolds

-Clark Gable or Cary Grant: Cary. Although I love Clark, too.

 -Ingrid Bergman or Hedy Lamarr: Ingrid Bergman

-William Powell or Robert Taylor:  Robert Taylor

-Black & White or Technicolor: Both!

-Carole Lombard or Rosalind Russell:  Carole Lombard

-Joan Fontaine or Olivia DeHavilland: Olivia DeHavilland

-Ava Gardner or Elizabeth Taylor: Honestly, neither.

-Julie Andrews or Barbra Streisand: Julie Andrews 

 -Louise Brooks or Clara Bow: Neither- they were both silent actresses

-Rudolph Valentino or Douglas Fairbanks: Douglas Fairbanks

-Robert Redford or Paul Newman:  Paul Newman

-Lana Turner or Rita Hayworth:  Rita Hayworth

-Tony Curtis or Jack Lemmon: Tony Curtis

-Bob Hope or Bing Crosby: Bing Crosby 

-Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin: Frank Sinatra

-Audrey Hepburn or Katharine Hepburn: Love both, but Kate is my favorite.

 -Eleanor Powell or Ginger Rogers:  Ginger Rogers

-Judy Garland or Liza Minnelli: Judy Garland

-Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire:  Fred Astaire. 

-Claudette Colbert or Myrna Loy: Claudette Colbert.

-Marlon Brando or Humphrey Bogart: Bogie. You really shoulda seen that one comin'.

 -Greer Garson or Deborah Kerr:  Deborah Kerr 

-3 Favorite Actors: Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant, James Dean

-3 Favorite Actresses: Ingrid Bergman, Lauren Bacall, Katharine Hepburn

3 Overrated Actors: Marlon Brando, John Wayne, Orson Welles

3 Overrated Actresses: Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Mae West

A Tribute to Katharine Hepburn

I posted this last Thursday, but for whatever reason Blogger removed it from my site :/

It's no secret that I'm a huge Kate Hepburn fan. She's my second favorite actress ever, just behind Ingrid Bergman and Lauren Bacall, who are tied for my number one spot. Today, May 12, would have been her 104th birthday, and in tribute, I'm going to write about my five favorite films/performances of hers and why I love them. Although, I won't be going into plot details (since I'm obviously no good at that).

These are in no particular order- just listed chronologically by year.

Stage Door (1937)

It's actually kind of unusual for me to pick a Katharine Hepburn film from the 1930s as one of my favorites. I do like some of her earlier films, but I've always preferred her films from the fifties and the sixties (as you will see farther into this post) since I think her acting was more mature and so much stronger. I think Stage Door, however, is one of the best dramas to come out of the thirties- it's no Gone With the Wind, obviously, but it does have great potential and wonderful acting from Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, and Lucille Ball. 

Adam's Rib (1949)

Adam's Rib is one of my two favorite Tracy/Hepburn films (I'll be writing on my other favorite later in this post). It's honestly one of the most hilarious films I've ever seen. Tracy and Hepburn had stellar chemistry, and this film really shows how well they did together. I've always loved Hepburn's strong, feminist performance. She also has several great scenes with Judy Holliday (in the role that helped land her the lead role in Born Yesterday). This film is a delight, and definitely an all-time favorite for me.

The African Queen (1951)

If I had to pick only two or three of Katharine Hepburn's films to be my favorites (which would be very hard, mind you), The African Queen would definitely be one of them. I just love her performance, and I think she was marvelous alongside Humphrey Bogart (who I have a huge liking for, if it's no already obvious).

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)

The Lion In Winter (1968)

May Noir of the Month: Double Indemnity (1944)

IMDb Synopsis: An insurance rep lets himself be talked into a murder/insurance fraud scheme that arouses an insurance investigator's suspicions.




This month, I'm going to be writing about one of the most popular film noirs of all time: Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity. Released by Paramount Pictures in 1944, it stars Barbara Stanwyck as sultry femme fatale Phyllis Dietrichson and Fred MacMurray as Walter Neff, the insurance salesman that gets caught in her web.




This film was based on a novella of the same name written by James Cain (one of his other novels, The Postman Always Rings Twice, was also adapted as a film noir in 1946 and starred Lana Turner and John Garfield). After it's publication in 1935, Cain sent copies of Double Indemnity to the major studios in Hollywood.  Shortly after, Warner Brothers, MGM, 20th Century Fox, Columbia and Paramount were all fighting to buy film rights. All the studios canceled their bids, however, after Joseph Breen from the Hays Office sent out a letter in which he warned:


"The general low tone and sordid flavor of this story makes it, in our judgment, thoroughly unacceptable for screen presentation before mixed audiences in the theater. I am sure you will agree that it is most important…to avoid what the code calls "the hardening of audiences," especially those who are young and impressionable, to the thought and fact of crime"- (taken from Wikipedia)


This was not unusual for Hollywood at the time, as the Hays Code had just been enforced the year before. Cain's original novel dealt with several elements, such as sensuality, adultery, and murder- things than had been almost taboo in motion pictures at the time. Eight years later in 1943, the script was edited and the rights were bought for $15,000 as a picture for director Billy Wider.

Double Indemnity was Wilder's third film as a director, and one of his best. He directed many film noirs including Sunset Blvd (my favorite noir of all time), Ace In the Hole, and Witness for the Prosecution. Some of his other triumphs include The Major and the Minor (his directing debut), The Seven Year Itch, Sabrina, and The Lost Weekend, the film that received Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Ray Milland. 


I once heard someone say that Barbara Stanwyck seems almost "miscast as the femme fatale". This was because Stanwyck had never come close to a role like that of Phyllis Dietrichson. In fact, when Wilder offered her the role, she confessed to him that she was a bit frightened of playing a killer, to which he replied, "Are you an actress or a mouse?". He convinced her to play the part, and she later said in 1972 she had "been grateful to him since". I've seen several of Stanwyck's films, as she is one of my favorite actresses, and I think this was the best performance of her career. 

Other standout performances are from Fred MacMurray and Edward G. Robinson. MacMurray plays the man  seduced by Stanwyck into killing her husband, and Robinson is the one who discovers the secret behind their devious scheme. I haven't viewed many films starring either of these actors, but Double Indemnity is considered their best by many.

If I had to choose the one scene that stands out the most in the film, I'd probably say  the scene in which MacMurray murders Stanwyck's husband, played by actor Tom Powers. The murder is not shown, but the feel that Wilder and the actors give make it all the more real and suspenseful. (Unfortunately, I couldn't find it on YouTube, as I would have provided a link here.)


Double Indemnity is without a doubt an ultimate must-see for any classic film fan, and one of the best film noirs to come out of Hollywood in the 1940s. If you have not done so already, I highly recommend checking out this suspenseful masterpiece from Billy Wilder.

Review: An American In Paris (1951)

IMDb Synopsis: Jerry Mulligan, a struggling American painter in Paris, is "discovered" by an influential heiress with an interest in more than Jerry's art. Jerry in turn falls for Lise, a young French girl already engaged to a cabaret singer. Jerry jokes, sings and dances with his best friend, an acerbic would-be concert pianist, while romantic complications abound.




There is only one word that can describe my reaction to this film: Wow. I'm usually, not one for musicals, but this was just spectacular.


I think Vincente Minnelli is on his way to being one of my top twenty directors now. Everything about An American In Paris is just beautiful- Minnelli's direction is one reason alone to watch it, along with the Oscar-winning color cinematography, and the seventeen-minute ballet sequence (which took a month to film and cost half a million dollars).


I'll admit I'm still relatively new to Gene Kelly- prior to this I had only seen Singin' In the Rain. I did, however, enjoy his performance as Jerry Mulligan and am now interested to see more of his musicals, especially the ones he did with Frank Sinatra. An American In Paris also marked the debut of French actress and dancer Leslie Caron, who did remarkably well not only in her acting, but in her dancing as well.


Minnelli's masterpiece is memorable for so many reasons- the ballet sequence and Caron's debut being just two of them. But it's also one of few musicals to win the Academy Award for Best Picture- a handful of others being Gigi (also starring Caron), West Side, Story, My Fair Lady, and The Sound of Music. Would I choose it as being the best film from 1951? Well, no- I'm saving that honor for The African Queen and A Place In the Sun. But I do think it deserved the nomination, along with the other seven nominations and five wins it received.

If it isn't already obvious, An American In Paris receives much praise from this blogger. I would definitely recommend seeing Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron in this musical masterpiece if you haven't already done so.

5/5 stars