I Think I've Watched too Much Hitchcock

I was watching On Dangerous Ground Thursday night and due to a score by Bernard Herrmann, I kept having flashbacks to Psycho and North by Northwest (even through the score for On Dangerous Ground was done 8-9 years before either of those movies).

First Star

Judy Holliday (1921-1965) was foremost a Broadway star and made only a handful of movies (about 10 in all with many of her earlier roles being uncredited extras). She was investigated in 1952 for ties to communism that resulted in her being blacklisted from radio and television for about three years. She died of breast cancer in 1965, but while her career in film was relatively short, she made some really great films and here are my favorites.

Adam's Rib (1949), Directed by George Cukor - The main stars of this movie is of course Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn but Judy Holliday definitely lights up the screen in all her scene (she was nominated for a Golden Globe). In the movie, Tracy is responsible for prosecuting Judy Holliday for shooting (in the shoulder) her cheating husband and is defend by Hepburn. Without being in the movie, Judy Holliday would not have be cast in her signature role of Billie in Born Yesterday. When the rights to the play were purchased, the study was hesitant to cast a Hollywood unknown in a major role. Tracy and Hepburn were instrumental in getting her cast in Adam's Rib and based on her performance in this film, she was cast in Born Yesterday.

Born Yesterday (1950) Directed by George Cukor- This is truly Judy Holliday's masterpiece. She was an understudy to Jean Arthur (another actress that I will being writing about later) while it was on Broadway until an illness forced Jean Arther to leave the play. Born Yesterday is the story of the girlfriend of a less-than-honest businessman (Broderick Crawford) and her transformation from a "dumb blonde" to confident and independent woman under the tutelage of an honest journalist (William Holden). Holliday is able to be vulnerable, strong, funny, sympathetic, and intelligent throughout the film and shifts between these attributes so seamlessly and effortlessly. How fantastic was Judy Holliday's performance? She won the Oscar over Gloria Swanson for Sunset Boulevard, Anne Baxter for All About Eve, and Bette Davis for All about Eve. In Born Yesterday, Judy Holliday single-handily show that it can take a lot of intelligence to play and not everyone can do it. For more proof of this, see the 1993 remake with Melanie Griffith. It is worth watching this movie for the scene that Broderick Crawford and Judy Holliday play gin alone. And the rest of the movie is pretty good too.

The Bells Are Ringing (1960) directed by Vincent Minnelli - This is Judy Holliday's last film and although it is not her best, it is the only movie in which she sings. Like Born Yesterday, Judy Holliday played the lead (Ella Peterson) in the Broadway play and translated her role to the screen version. The plot of the movie is Judy Holliday's character works at an answerphone service and gets involved in her clients' lives. Mistaken identities and misunderstandings can make the movie feel a little cliched at time, but Holliday is able to rise above the rough patches in the plot and making the movie enjoyable. I'm not the biggest Dean Martin fan, but Judy Holliday is so charming, warm, and funny, that I had no problems watching the Dean Martin parts. And since Judy Holliday was a singer throughout her career, The Bells are Ringing is one of the few chances modern audiences have to see Judy Holliday sing and dance.

There are a few more Judy Holliday films (including It Should Happen to you with Jack Lemmon), but I think these 3 films are good jumping off point. In a majority of her roles, Judy Holliday played a dumb blonde but she played it with such warmth, humor, and intelligence, it's hard not to love her.




While writing this post, I realized that I really enjoy films directed by George Cukor, so I will have to add him to the list of potential directors (any one who can direct both The Women and Gaslight (1944) deserves to be celebrated). And he also directed to most men in Academy Award winning performances despite being known as a "woman's director".

An new motivation

I've been inspired by a recent Facebook conversation with my cousin to talk about classic movies that I love. Instead of just blabing on and on about a single movie at a time, I've decided to add a little bit of structure by picking a favorite star and then discuss what movies of that actor that I enjoy the most. I'm hoping to do this on a weekly basis or at the very least a bi-weekly status. Most likely, I will include some directors in the mix but directors may show up much later than actors (I think the director's catalog that I have seen in its entirety is Alfred Hitchcock). I'll be working on it this weekend, so check back on Monday or Tuesday. Hopefully, any one who reads this blog will enjoy it.

Watching Sandra Lee

has made me appreciate/understand this YouTube Video so much better!

Song time

I've been listening to this song (Cosmic Love) from Florence and the Machine at least twice a day since I heard an interview with the lead singer on NPR (she was discovered singing on the bathroom in a pub). Here is the video:

Papercrafts

I'm often blown away by people creativity and the time they put into their craft. Example below

And I just like this video:

Portland, Part III: Revenge of the Laser

I'm finally getting around to finish my 3 part series about my fab birthday trip to Portland. On Sunday morning, Lindy and I walked to Mother's Bar and Bistro for breakfast. It was really busy but we we lucky to get two seas at the bar within 10 minutes of getting there. Lindy was convinced that one of the waitresses was the sister of Gretchen from this season of Project Runway. In addition to our (semi-conceived) brush with someone who is a little famous we both had a delicious breakfast (I had the pork apple sausage and cheddar cheese scramble). We walked off some of our breakfast/brunch on our way to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. Lindy and I decided to splurge and get tickets to both a IMAX show and a laser show. We went to the IMAX show first which was about dinosaurs and Lindy loved it (I enjoyed it but not as much as Lindy). Before the laser show, we walked through the exhibit about Einstein. There was a really nice display exhibiting Einstein's theory of relativity. Then we headed to the Michael Jackson laser show which was super awesome. Thriller was the best by far but I enjoyed fact that the 15 other people were also singing along with the music. After the museum, we headed back to Lindy's apartment before I was able to convince Lindy that we should go back to Powell's so she could get a copy of the Joy of Cooking. We decided to have sushi for diner that night but on our way Lindy was nice enough to let me stop at the Spice and Tea Exchange. I got my souvenirs for my sisters and parents there as well as 3 really nice teas for me (earl gray, vanilla bean, and mountain blackberry). We got to the sushi place that had sushi delivered via train (like the conveyor belt places except with a train) except both Lindy and I ordered specialty sushi (mmm... spicy tuna roll) and split tempura and a noddle dish with chicken. We walked back to Lindy's apartment and then watched a the latest episode of Project Runway and a romantic comedy on Netflix (obvs. we were being very girly at this point). On Monday, Lindy and I headed towards the airport and had breakfast at FlavourSpot which is a food truck that serves freshly made waffles. I had the Black Forest which was Nutella and raspberry jam and Earl Grey tea. After a time-killing short trip to Target, Lindy dropped me off at the airport. The lines through security was a it long but the flight to Dallas was fine. I had time to get something to eat (a relatively fresh piece of pizza) before the flight to Indy and meeting mom at the airport late that night. I had a really good time and I want to thank my mom and dad and all my sisters for sending me!