One Sharp Dame

Summertime and A Dame's Mind Turns To........Sunglasses

noreply@blogger.com (One Sharp Dame) — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 18:28:00 +0000

Did you think I was going to say June weddings? Oh, dear reader, how little you know me. Sunglasses are occupying my mind today. Sunglasses.

Sunglasses can make you. Lack of sunglasses can break you. Case in point, from The Wild One:

Who looks like Sex On Wheels? Marlon Brando. Who looks like a doofus? Those other two dudes. Who is wearing sunglasses? Marlon Brando. Who isn't? Those two doofusses.

Need a more contemporary example. Behold:

Does anyone think sunglasses could save him now? No. But then? Black Ray-Bans saved him from his Suburban Tool destiny.

What is it about sunglasses that donning them can convey so much meaning? And that is so easily recognized that filmmakers can rely on the audience to get what is trying to be conveyed? Write that up in an essay and have turned in by Wednesday and no you can't use Wikipedia as a source.

The first time I saw Breakfast at Tiffany's, it wasn't Audrey Hepburn's little black dress I obsessed over, it was her fabulous big black glasses.

Without them, she's like any other girl doing the Walk of Shame. But with them? She is complex, hidden. Something is Up With Her.

I have passed my sunglasses love onto Young Lady, my teen-aged daughter. Check out her latest obsession:

Yes, the shades Lee Remmick wore in Anatomy of A Murder. Also, Lee Remmick's hair but that is another story for another post. Young Lady was so struck by them, she made me pause the movie and rewind so she could get a better look. Does this signal a new, darker turn for my fair lass? Is she going to take to playing pinball? We'll wait and see.

Of course, the magazines are telling me the vintage look is back in sunglasses. I ask did it ever go out of style? Ray-Ban Aviators were cool back when MacArthur was kicking WWII ass. They were cool twenty years later on Steve McQueen and they are still cool. Some things never ever go out of style. Classic.

What I'm Taping This Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (One Sharp Dame) — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 16:46:00 +0000

Yellow Sky
Hatari!
Track of the Cat
Fanny
The L-Shaped Room

I am lifting my usual embargo on movies from AMC, to catch two excellent movies, Yellow Sky and Hatari!. Yellow Sky is directed by William Wellman and stars Gregory Peck as The Bad Guy and is adapted from the work of the same novelist who wrote The Ox-Bow Incident. This, I must see. Hatari! is a Howard Hawks-directed action-adventure flick starring John Wayne. Normally, I would pass this by but the publicity poster for Hatari! makes a brief appearance in Goddard's Contempt (a good piece of trivia if you ever play Six Degrees of Movie trivia) and even if I don't like Goddard's films, he wouldn't hat tip a movie without a reason.

On Turner Classic Movies, they are running Track of The Cat, also directed by William Wellman, produced by John Wayne and starring Robert Mitchum. The movie wasn't a box office or critical success when it first ran but has gained a reputation over the years with certain critics. Also, on Saturday, TCM is running a little tribute to the French actress Leslie Caron. I'll be tuning in to the two I haven't see yet, Fanny and The L-Shaped Room. Both movies received several Oscar nominations so I expect I will enjoy them as much as I have her other films.

One True Story

noreply@blogger.com (One Sharp Dame) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 20:25:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, I was watching a little musical from the 30's starring Eleanor Powell and Jimmy Stewart, Born To Dance. One of the subplots involves a sailor who left his newlywed bride after a whirlwind courtship to go to sea and hasn't been home for three years. His bride is telling the story on how they met and married. She says 'you know, one of those dance marathons...it was day 24 and they need somebody to get married'. It was a throwaway line and probably no one who saw the movie remembered it a day later. But I had to pause the movie for moment because the line instantly through me back to the first time I saw They Shoot Horses, Don't They?. Based on the 1935 pulp fiction novel by Horace McCoy, it is one of the best movies made in 1969. It took me five hours to watch it the first time around. The story felt so true, the desperation so real, that I had to look away, occupy myself with other things when the tension ran too high or the emotion too raw. I thought at the time, gah why won't the camera just look away for moment, give us some relief. But at the end I understood. The characters had no relief available to them, why should we?

It garnered nine Academy nominations and established Jane Fonda as a dramatic actress. It even lent its name to the title of an episode of "The Gilmore Girls", the cultural reference warehouse of the decade. The film was directed by Sydney Pollack. Yes, Sydney Pollack of Tootsie and Out of Africa and The Way We Were fame. Sydney was never a Great Director. But he was a good director and They Shoot Horses, Don't They? proves it. Without a gimmick to fall back on, he told one true story. And really, as an artist, what else can you ask for?

Pollack was versatile guy, with a list of credits for producing, directing and acting that include some of the biggest hits of the past forty years. TCM has done a quick change of their schedule and tonight is running a salute to Sydney, who passed away last week after a battle with cancer.

Long Weekend Come Down

noreply@blogger.com (One Sharp Dame) — Tue, 27 May 2008 13:35:00 +0000

A slightly different, more suburban, more office park-oriented Come Down than the one Kris sings about.

The only cure, it seems would be a little Cary. Here's one you may not have seen. Cary, co-starring with Shirley Temple and Myrna Loy in The Bachelor and The Bobby-Soxer:

Turner Classic Movies Memorial Day Salute

noreply@blogger.com (One Sharp Dame) — Fri, 23 May 2008 18:33:00 +0000

I wanted to bring special attention to the schedule TCM has put together for this weekend. Saturday, they have some great movies in their line-up, the best being Saturday night's The Essentials pick, Paths of Glory. Monday, they are featuring two of the films I featured earlier.

Crank up the grill and the Dolby Surround Sound and good viewing to all!

What I'm Taping This Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (One Sharp Dame) — Fri, 23 May 2008 16:54:00 +0000

Neptune's Daughter
The Sons of Katie Elder
Ikiru
Recount
Take Me Out To The Ballgame

It is an ecletic mix for the weekend, here at One Sharp Dame. I've picked two musicals, one western, a high falutin' foreign film and Recount, HBO's remake of Attack Of The Killer Chads.

Neptune's Daughter is a kind of niche musical that owes its existence to Busby Berkley. Berkley made women's synchronized swimming sexy. Take Me Out To The Ballgame is one of the Sinatra films being shown on TCM this month. Don't let my exclusion of the other Kelly-Sinatra pairings fool you. They are all fantastic. But remember, I'm only taping movies I've never seen.

The Sons of Katie Elder is a later John Wayne western that also stars Dean Martin. It is showing on AMC. I expect to be disappointed by their presentation but I'll suck it up and mutter under my breath for now. Ikiru is a Film, not a movie, and is on my list because I am trying to learn more about Film and people who know these things say I should watch it.

I hope everyone has a lovely, long and safe Memorial Day weekend.

Summer in New York City

noreply@blogger.com (One Sharp Dame) — Thu, 22 May 2008 17:47:00 +0000

Who says spending summer in the city is for losers? Not me, for one. There is Shakespeare In The Park and gelato and uncrowded restaurants. At least I've heard that. I, having never spent summer in the city, am forming an opinion based on my usual sources, movies, books and in the case of Gotham, many, many episodes of Sex In The City.

Starting this weekend, there is another reason to not leave the city. MOMA has Jazz Score. Every weekend this summer, they are screening fantastic movies that feature a jazz score. Looking at the schedule, I am drooling in envy. This weekend's selections are particularly good. I'm not a fan of Roman Polanski but I did like Michelangelo Antonioni's (say that ten times fast) Blow Up. But Saturday night is the big show, Sweet Smell of Success and Touch Of Evil. Both of these movies make the top of One Sharp Dame's favorite films ever. Seriously, everyone needs to go see these movies.

I am counting on my NYC readers to check out the MOMA and report back on this fantastic program.

David Niven David Niven David Niven

noreply@blogger.com (One Sharp Dame) — Wed, 21 May 2008 15:37:00 +0000

Happy Anniversary to One Sharp Dame! Cheesecake for everyone!

My blog is one month old today and, let me tell you, it has been a steep learning curve here at Sharp Dame headquarters. Number one lesson I have learned? MORE DAVID NIVEN. I have gotten more hits on my blog from people searching for information or images of David Niven than ALL MY OTHER POSTS COMBINED? How crazy is that? Best question asked of Google yet? "Is David Niven gay?" Hopefully, that person got their answer. (Answer: Not Gay, British)

I have to tell you, dear readers, I do not like fiddling with fiddly things on the internet, like html code and the like. But I do it in service to the greater good of all mankind, or at least the slice of mankind who love great movies and beautiful things.

I have made a few small changes in the hopes that it makes it easier for my dear readers to navigate through the blog and also to share the love with the rest of the world. I've add a listing for all post labels (labels = tags in interweb speak). And I've changed archiving a bit to make things prettier. And pretty matters most, right?

At the top right of the blog, I've added a section I like to call You Like Me, You Really, Really Like Me. You will find an RSS feed subscriber button, which allows you to subscribe to my blog and make sure you never miss another late-breaking post on Peter Sellers or red peep-toe wedge sandals. Next, you will see a button marked 'Bookmark' which allows you to tell the entire internet that you love this blog. You can choose from dozens of social media websites, click and let everyone who uses those networks know about me and this blog. This is a good thing. Please take a moment to add me to you Facebook or MySpace or StumbleUpon or what have you. Finally, I have placed a tip jar on the piano disguised as a Donate button. This allows to you really show One Sharp Dame some love and throw two bits my way. And, as always, you can comment on a post you like. Feedback is a good thing.

If you are already subscribed and reading this post through a feed, if you look down at the bottom of the little box, you will find I have made some changes there as well. (go ahead, I'll wait til you find it) It is now easier for you to click and share with particular social media websites or email a post directly to friends. Let me know if your favorite website isn't on there and I will add it.

All in all, I am very pleased with myself. I have fooled with fiddly things and dealt with writer's block and fear of public humiliation and have not even used even one of my Xanax to do so. I raise a toast to you all and look forward to many happy and pretty days to come!

Speaking of Cary Grant.....

noreply@blogger.com (One Sharp Dame) — Tue, 20 May 2008 18:19:00 +0000

...because don't we need to inject more of The Lovely One into our day to day lives? I ran across this bit of loveliness from The Sartorialist and realized it had been two whole weeks since Cary had graced these pages. This can't continue.

And speaking of To Catch A Thief...

Happy Birthday to General James Stewart!

noreply@blogger.com (One Sharp Dame) — Mon, 19 May 2008 17:59:00 +0000

Tomorrow is the 100th anniversary of Jimmy Stewart's birth. And I don't think there is near enough fuss being made. True, Turner Classic Movies will dedicate tomorrow to him, showing many of his classics. And there is a new box set coming out of his westerns, but no new films are being released on DVD, which disappoints. For an actor convincingly declared the best movie star ever, this doesn't seem near enough.

As I've said before, Jimmy Stewart is one of the best actors ever to put on shoe leather. He also, by all accounts, seemed to be an all-around fabulous guy. Can you imagine one of today's prancing primadonnas keeping a life-long stint in the Air Force Reserves on the quiet? Or decorated combat service? Or putting their careers on hold for military service, period? No. No, I can not imagine it.

Set your DVRs tomorrow for TCM and join me in tipping your hat to an American original.

Three Movies About Making Movies

noreply@blogger.com (One Sharp Dame) — Sun, 18 May 2008 17:58:00 +0000

Sunset Boulevard
The Bad and The Beautiful
Singin' In The Rain

There is nothing Hollywood likes more than talking about itself. It doesn't even have to be talk about the movie business, talk about Los Angeles itself is enough. Witness the incomprehensible choice of Crash, set in L.A. and full of angsty, moody shots of Los Angelians, for Oscar Best Picture over far superior films and you get what I mean.

The only thing Hollywood likes better than talking about itself is making movies about itself. And this has been true since the beginning of the movie business, Show People was a huge silent hit, all about a naive southern girl coming to Hollywood and making it big. Self-referential isn't necessarily a bad thing. But it has become a very bad thing in the past couple of decades. Has their been a movie made about Hollywood in the past twenty years that wasn't either too hip or too twee by half? No. No, there has not. However, this wasn't always the case as you will see when you try out my recommending Movies About Making Movies.

Singin' In The Rain is one of the best American musicals ever produced while at the same time chronicling the transition of movies from silent to sound in a way that is almost semi-factual. It even pokes a finger in the eye of the Hollywood publicity machine so powerful in the early days of movie making. It is an all-around fabulous movie with pitch-perfect performances from Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor. Even I, a confirmed non-morning person, am known to hum a few lines from "Good Morning" while waiting for my morning coffee to brew. However, there is no tap dancing involved. Yet.

There isn't anything I can write about Sunset Boulevard that hasn't already been said by others much more eloquent than me. By some strange circumstance, I had managed not to see this movie until about a year and a half ago. I felt the need to run to a mirror and apologize to myself for waiting for so long. If American movie makers could produce one of these movies a decade, we could hold our heads up at snooty Cannes festival parties. Watch it. As soon as possible.

The Bad and The Beautiful is the least well-known of the trio and it deserves more recognition. It stars Kirk Douglas, Lana Turner and Dick Powell and all three give perfect performances, especially Kirk Douglas - who hasn't completely succumbed to scene-chewing at this point in his career. The plotline, how a producing duo get their start, takes facts from the real life career of B-Movie great Val Lewton, adds a little from some successful second generation Hollywood families and makes a compelling and interesting story. It has the bonus feature of being directed by my current favorite no longer talked about but should be directors, Vincente Minnelli. Plus? The clothes and some of the sets are too die for.

Why Didn't I Think of That?

noreply@blogger.com (One Sharp Dame) — Fri, 16 May 2008 19:22:00 +0000

Last week, I was musing on the creative cycle in the studio era. So many of the best films of the classic movie era started as plays - Casablanca and The Philadelphia Story, to name two off the top of my head. You just don't see that many plays being made in to movies any more. You don't see that many plays being produced, period. But that is another post for another day. But why aren't plays getting turned into movies? It isn't like the plays are worse now than they were sixty years ago. Casablanca, for instance, was such a bad play that both times it was produced for the stage it was a flop.

I was doing this musing while I was paging through this month's Vanity Fair, the one with Robert F. Kennedy (hubba hubba) on the cover. And what did I run across but a little feature in their Fan Fair section on a revival of the French play Boeing! Boeing!. That looks interesting, I thought. Also, it has Christine Baranski and I love her. Now there is a play looking for a movie production, especially with the success of such original programming as Mad Men. And then just a couple of days later, I read about the play again.

I used this newfangled thing the kids call 'the google' and found it had already been made into a (albeit mediocre) film, starring Tony Curtis and Jerry Lewis. That sounds like great casting and maybe poor writing or directing. But I don't know because I haven't seen it, right? Well, then I am perusing Turner Classic Movies schedule for the weekend and what do I find? TCM is running Boeing! Boeing! this Sunday. The cherry on the 'something is in the air' sundae came when I caught up on my New York Times Arts & Culture reading and discovered Boeing! Boeing! was garnered several Tony nominations.

This, my friends, is what we call A Sign. How many movie ideas do I get in any given week? A lot. How many of them do I follow through on? None. Why? Because I am a suburban deadender with no trust fund. But now, thanks to the internet, I can record this idea. This needs to be a movie. A good one. When I pay my ten dollars to see it, it will be one time I cannot say 'why didn't I think of that'.

What I'm Taping This Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (One Sharp Dame) — Fri, 16 May 2008 15:11:00 +0000

Rooster Cogburn
Seven Men From Now
Young At Heart

I can't believe I'm going to admit this on the internet where everybody can read it but I am. I like John Wayne westerns. I do. I really do. I wasn't expecting to. And True Grit is one of my favorites. So, it was natural when I found Rooster Cogburn coming up on HBO this weekend, I had to put it on the schedule. John Wayne reprises his character of a crusty federal marshal from True Grit in this film. And Katherine Hepburn too! The plot is essentially a re-working of The African Queen, which is one of my all-time favorite films. Plus, Katherine Hepburn is another whose entire filmography I'm trying to see. So, yay for me, right?

Here is where I make another confession, live, on the web. Not only do I like John Wayne westerns, I seem to like lots of other westerns too. Budd Boetticher is one of my favorite directors. He made a series of low-budget westerns with Randolph Scott, Seven Men From Now being one, that are now hailed as some of the best of the genre. Very nihilist. Stark. Fabulous.

I know I promised earlier to give some recommendations on Sinatra movies. Truth to tell, Sinatra didn't make that many movies...um...worth watching. Young At Heart looks to be one in the 'worth watching' category. It is a remake of the hit movie Four Daughters and it co-stars Doris Day. And Doris Day almost always makes me happy, so on the list it goes.

Go forth and enjoy your weekend, dear readers!

The Swimsuit

noreply@blogger.com (One Sharp Dame) — Tue, 13 May 2008 18:39:00 +0000

I will be the first to admit, it has been a few months (and when I say months I mean years) since I really paid attention to what was going on in Vogue - that is beyond nodding patiently when Young Lady would shriek with glee and exclaim about a $800 pair of wedge sandals -so maybe I've missed the newest Return To Retro signals. This bathing suit in Vogue made me stop and stare. I fell in love. If this suit were a man, I would marry it. If this suit were a man, it would take all my money and cheat on me and probably be only vaguely hetero and I wouldn't care, I would marry it any way.

I could write a screenplay based on this swimsuit. It would star Rita Hayworth and be set in Acapulco. Rita would be hiding from her murderous gangster husband, played by Robert Ryan, and trying to get a quickie divorce. William Holden would be a writer, nursing a bad case of writer's block and ennui in the sun and sand. Directed by Otto Preminger. You can see it too, can't you? It practically writes itself.

It turns out all of this invoking of glamorous days gone by is (drum roll) on purpose. Jantzen, maker of The Suit, has a collection this year titled "Timeless Glamour", using some of their classic ad copy from the '50's. I like this. This is good. I realize I'm not their target demographic. Being an old (and when I say old I mean over 30), broke-down (andwhen I say broke-down, I mean I could still kick your hind end if I needed to), white woman is not very hip these days. I'm okay with that too. I had my day in the sun, so to speak. But if anybody out there does care, I like this. I'd like to see more of this, please. Bring back those pretty circle skirts that were everywhere a few summers ago. And the color red. And polka dots. Pretty please? With sugar on top?

What I'm Taping This Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (One Sharp Dame) — Fri, 09 May 2008 18:48:00 +0000

The Saint In London
Five Came Back
The Lives of Others
Lady for a Day
Frank Sinatra: A Man & His Music (1966)

It is an ecletic mix this weekend here at Sharp Dame headquarters. On Saturday, it is a crime caper based on a British crime novel series and a B-movie melodrama. Sunday, it is two that made the Oscar list and a tv special from 1966.

I am particularly looking forward to this weekend's picks. I have yet to see any of Lucille Ball's B-movies and Five Came Back looks to be a great one to start with, especially with a screenplay written by Nathanel West and Dalton Trumbo. Did you know Lucille Ball was known as "Queen of the B's" in the late 30's? I didn't either until I started reading up on her filmography. The Saint In London is one of a whole series of crime caper movies based on the character Simon Templar, created by British novelist Leslie Charteris. This one stars George Sanders, better known as the fabulously bitchy crtic in All About Eve. My other two movies are both Oscar winners. Lady For A Day was nominated for Best Picture in 1933 and The Lives of Others won the Best Foreign Film Oscar in 2007. I have heard nothing but raves about the German film.

Looks like I'm set for a glorious weekend.

The Underappreciated Hotness of David Niven

noreply@blogger.com (One Sharp Dame) — Thu, 08 May 2008 14:54:00 +0000

David Niven. Yes, David Niven. Hot. Metrosexual, British (not gay) and hot. It hit me this morning, as I was watching Bachelor Mother. David Niven is a metrosexual hottie. Before I understood this hotness, Mr. Niven had occupied a space in my head labelled 'well-dressed, nice looking British men' populated by other such actors as Leslie Howard and Basil Rathbone. Maybe I wasn't paying close enough attention. Maybe I was too busy watching his co-stars, Errol Flynn or Cary Grant. But now I think back on the other Niven movies I've seen - The Charge of the Light Brigade, Bluebeard's Eighth Wife, A Matter of Life and Death and Bonjour Tristesse - for example, and yes, I recognize the hotness now.

By the way, A Matter of Life and Death is a fantastic Powell and Pressburger film, as well. It has a place on many Best British Films lists.

Mr. Niven, you have my most sincere apology. You, my friend, are indeed a fine, fine looking man.

Five Jimmy Stewart Films You Must See

noreply@blogger.com (One Sharp Dame) — Thu, 08 May 2008 01:33:00 +0000

The Shop Around The Corner
Rope
Harvey
The Naked Spur
Anatomy of a Murder

I know there are some well-known Jimmy Stewart titles not on the list, so don't email me to tell me I missed them. I left them off the list because they are well known. Also, I think he did better work in some of his not as popular films. Further, Mr. Stewart made about seventy-eleven films. Odds are good my list of must-see films is going to be different than someone else's.

Jimmy Stewart was one of the most versatile actors ever to wear shoe leather. He starred in every kind of movie Hollywood made from the mid-30's until the end of his career almost sixty years later - musicals, screwball comedies, film noir, patriotic war movies, westerns, mystery & suspense. And he was good at them, too. Well, maybe not the musicals but you can't hold it against the guy for trying right?

Each one of the films I've chosen is from a different genre. I chose one each from his many collaborations with directors Anthony Mann and Alfred Hitchcock. I left off the Capra films because I think most everybody has seen the better known ones and secondly, I think Capra films are kind of over-rated. It was fashionable for awhile amongst Film School-types to not think highly of Jimmy. He was seen as too aw-shucks and cheesy for the tastes of Modern Contemporary America. But I don't see it that way. He might have started out with a whiff of cheddar about him but he didn't remain there.

I look forward to y'all seeing these films and enjoying them as much as I did.

Stormy Monday Blues

noreply@blogger.com (One Sharp Dame) — Mon, 05 May 2008 23:36:00 +0000

I've got a case of the Mondays, yes I do. And one thing sure to chase the blues away is a little Cary Grant. For your enjoyment, Cary Grant in Bringing Up Baby:

Enjoy, dear readers.

Three Movies About Coming Home From The War

noreply@blogger.com (One Sharp Dame) — Mon, 05 May 2008 16:28:00 +0000

The Roaring Twenties
The Best Years of Our Lives
Some Came Running

The Roaring Twenties is a James Cagney classic, co-starring Humphrey Bogart and Priscilla Lane and is often at the top of the list of best movies of the 1930's. Cagney plays a WWI vet who returns from home to find there are no jobs for returning war heroes. From there, it is a straight Rise and Fall of A Crime Boss movie and one of the best. The supporting cast is fantastic and Cagney, even though he was weary of playing gangsters and worried about being type-cast, doesn't hold back in this one.

The Best Years of Our Lives was one of the few dramas produced immediately after WWII that focused on the realities of the hardships involved in adjusting to civilian life and the movie won seven Academy Awards for its trouble. Best Years features an outstanding ensemble cast including Myrna Loy, Fredrich March and Dana Andrews. The most interesting and most written about actor in the movie is Harold Russell. Russell was an actual war veteran who lost both of his hands in a training accident. He went on to win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and is one of only two non-professional actors to ever win an Oscar. Look for the scene when he confronts his fiancee about the day to day reality of living with a man with no hands. If you aren't weepy by the end, you are made of stone.

Some Came Running is based on the novel of the same name written by James Jones, author of From Here To Eternity. It stars an amazing cast, with Frank Sinatra in the lead role and Shirley Maclaine and Dean Martin giving outstanding performances. Maclaine earned her first Academy Award nomination for her work. It is beautifully directed by Vincente Minnelli and one of the few he did in this time period that isn't overly melodramatic. Sinatra plays a cynical and troubled WWII vet with literary aspirations who returns to his small hometown to the delight of no one in particular. It is one of his best dramatic performances ever. The movie will be released on DVD next week, part of a big marketing push for Frank Sinatra, including a month-long tribute on Turner Classic Movies.

What I'm Taping This Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (One Sharp Dame) — Fri, 02 May 2008 15:34:00 +0000

The Naked Spur
Sabotage

As you can see, the schedule is a little light this weekend. The DVR is getting a little full and I'm trying to catch up but these two movies are definitely on my absolutely, positively can't miss list.

The Naked Spur is a noir western, a genre invented and almost entirely populated by the five westerns made by actor Jimmy Stewart and director Anthony Mann. I've seen the other four - Winchester '73, Bend In The River, The Far Country, The Man From Laramie - and they have become some of my favorite movies of all time. I cannot wait to see this one.

Sabotage is an early Hitchcock. I am on a mission to see all of Hitchcock's movies. I put myself on that mission before I realized he made over fifty movies and that more than a dozen of those were silents. I'm still glad I took the task on but it is going to be a bit trickier than I expected. I've seen several Hitchcock films I would have never taken notice of otherwise, Rebecca and The 39 Steps to name two which I absolutely loved. We won't talk about Topaz, which I did not love. I definitely appreciate his work much more than I did previously and understand more about his evolution as a director. Anytime you see his name on the schedule, you should take a look.

A Party For Frank Sinatra On Turner Classic Movies

noreply@blogger.com (One Sharp Dame) — Thu, 01 May 2008 01:44:00 +0000

May is Frank Sinatra month on TCM and they are really doing it up right , showing over 40 films, some of them never seen on TCM. There are sweepstakes drawings for all kinds of cool swag.

Frank made a lot of movies. Some of them great, some of them pretty decent but a lot of them mediocre. One hidden gem you should definitely take a look at is Some Came Running. It is a study of a war vet's return to his hometown and his struggle to find his place in the world and someone to share it with. It is masterfully directed by Vincent Minnelli. The Man With The Golden Arm, co-starring Kim Novak and directed by Otto Preminger, is a must-see this month as well, with Sinatra as a drummer dealing with heroin addiction.

I haven't gone through the full schedule yet but I suspect there are a quite a few I haven't see yet that I will be putting on my DVR schedule. Check back with One Sharp Dame for more info later in the weekend.

Paddy Chayevsky and George Clooney

noreply@blogger.com (One Sharp Dame) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 03:22:00 +0000

Last week, I picked up a copy of New Yorker magazine. I could tell you it was for the short story and the essay on the London mayoral election but I would be lying. I bought it because there was an interview with George Clooney. I feel like I should be at least a little ashamed. But I'm not. Anyway, as much as I love to look at George, what makes me happiest these days is the time, money and energy he is willing to devote to bringing good pictures to the cinemaplex, especially Good Night and Good Luck. Some have critiqued the film as overly preachy and of puffing Murrow's role in turning the tide of public opinion against McCarthy's Red Scare hearings of the 1950's. And I think a case can be made for the latter. I don't care. The movie did manage to communicate just exactly how lazy we've have become when it comes to what we expect from The Fourth Estate.

Which brings me to Paddy Chayevsky, the screenwriter who went from writing some of the most personally revealing screenplays of the 1950's to writing screenplays in the late '60's and early '70's which brought bright focus to the crumbling Fourth Estate in Network and the burgeoning health care crisis in The Hospital, both of which won numerous awards.

In a sweet bit of confluence, Paddy's name came across my RSS feed in this remembrance from a contemporary of Paddy's the same weekend I watched The Bachelor Party for the first time. In his post, Robert Stein remembers Paddy as virtually the inventor of the live TV drama. This triggered my memory of the recent George Clooney profile I'd read which mentioned Clooney's love of live TV. And the light bulb, it went off. Wouldn't it be fantastic if Clooney made a pic about Paddy? I think there is an interesting story to tell there, from the creation and flourishing of serious, live television drama through the writing of Network which showed how far television had strayed from a medium that informed and entertained. I would pay $10 to go see it.

George, have your people call my people.

Three Movies About The One That Almost Got Away

noreply@blogger.com (One Sharp Dame) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 20:54:00 +0000

Love Affair (1939)
The Clock
All That Heaven Allows

Did you know that An Affair To Remember (famously featured in Sleepless In Seattle) was a remake? It was an almost frame by frame remake of the 1939 movie Love Affair, which starred Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne, two of the biggest stars of their time. Love Affair is the granddaddy of them all. I love Cary Grant. Love him. Adore him. But I think Charles Boyer might have been better at this one.

The Clock was Judy Garland's first full-on dramatic role and the first movie in which she didn't sing. Vincent Minnelli was brought in as director when the first weeks of filming were disappointing with original director Fred Zinneman. Garland's co-star is Robert Walker and he gives his character a vulnerability not seen in many male leading roles. The third, and unbilled, co-star is the city of New York which Minnelli convincingly recreated on the MGM backlot.

Finally, All That Heaven Allows one of a trio of melodramas that director Douglas Sirk made with actor Rock Hudson. This is a not to be missed movie. The signature Sirk visual style is on full display here and it is filled with gorgeous, lush frames (Rock Hudson, for one, hubba hubba). But seriously, this movie is to be savoured, not hurried over. Not watched while you fold the laundry or work your baseball fantasy stats.

Five Bette Davis Films You Must See

noreply@blogger.com (One Sharp Dame) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 02:45:00 +0000

Of Human Bondage
The Bride Came C.O.D.
Now, Voyager
All About Eve
A Catered Affair

You can categorize Bette Davis' career as what came before and after Of Human Bondage. Before, she had plugged away at two dozen films, mostly forgettable, stuck at a studio that really didn't know what to do with her. After her perfomance in this film, that was never a problem. She won her first Best Actress Oscar the next year for her gloriously and tragically jinxed actress in Dangerous but without the sensation she created the previous year, that film wouldn't have happened. The second film is a screwball comedy with James Cagney. Davis concentrated mostly on drama so this is a rare chance to see her go for laughs. Next, Now Voyager is an absolutely spot on definition of a classic 1940's romance. Don't forget to watch for the famous 'lighting of the cigarettes as sexual metaphor' scene. It is to die for. There isn't anything I can say about All About Eve that hasn't already been said so I won't even try. A Catered Affair is what I consider her last really good dramatic non-campy leading role. She gave her working class Mother of the Bride role a human quality and never condescended to the character she was playing.

Bette Davis acted in just over one hundred feature films, live tv films, made-for-tv movies and television shows. The five I have listed will only leave you wanting more. I'm sure of it.

What I'm Taping This Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (One Sharp Dame) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 17:06:00 +0000

The Party
The Bachelor Party (1957)
Gate of Hell
The Search
Interiors
'G' Men
La Roue
J'Accuse

I don't tape movies I've already seen. There is so much out there that I haven't seen yet, I decided last year that I would spend a few years only watching what was new to me and also pay attention to genres, directors, etc that I have previously not paid much attention to. This has been a great thing so far. I have discovered I actually like westerns, some of them quite a lot. And there are some great foreign films out there. And crime melodramas, too.

In that vein, this is what I'm taping this weekend - a Peter Sellers comedy, a Paddy Chayefsky-written drama, the winner Best Foreign Film 1954, Montgomery Clift's highly-acclaimed first leading role, a "Bergman-esque" Woody Allen picture I anticipate not liking, a James Cagney crime drama and two recently rediscovered foreign silent films.

I also won't recommend a movie I haven't seen - not wanting to give a reader a bum steer - I will say I am really looking forward to The Search and The Party.