In some roles, I can see that. But that was also kind of common back then.
On Tuesday I watched Petrified Forest, part of Satan Met a Lady until I fell asleep, It's Love I'm After, and Marked Woman. I think maybe what you object to is when she's being forceful or bitchy. When her character is more light-hearted (The Working Man) or idealistic (Petrified Forest), she's a natural. She was great in all those movies I watched Tuesday.
I can see her face but her name's on the tip of my tongue. I'm hoping by the time I finish typing this it'll come to me. I think nycsteve's right, her character's name was Erica but I don't know what show she was on.
Ha! Susan Lucci.
I was reading up on her in my movie encyclopedia the other day. In addition to the two Oscars and the 10 nominations, she was also nominated for Best Actress 5 consecutive years; the first person to ever do that, actress or actor.
And check this out from Wikipedia:
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Davis spent the early months of 1942 selling war bonds. After Jack Warner criticized her tendency to cajole crowds into buying, she reminded him that her audiences responded most strongly to her "bitch" performances. She sold $2 million worth of bonds in two days, as well as a picture of herself in Jezebel for $250,000. She also performed for black regiments as the only white member of an acting troupe formed by Hattie McDaniel, which included Lena Horne and Ethel Waters.
At John Garfield's suggestion of opening a servicemen's club in Hollywood, Davis – with the aid of Warner, Cary Grant, and Jule Styne – transformed an old nightclub into the Hollywood Canteen, which opened on October 3, 1942. Hollywood's most important stars volunteered to entertain servicemen. Davis ensured that every night, a few important "names" would be there for the visiting soldiers to meet.
She appeared as herself in the film Hollywood Canteen (1944), which used the canteen as the setting for a fictional story. Davis later commented: "There are few accomplishments in my life that I am sincerely proud of. The Hollywood Canteen is one of them." In 1980, she was awarded the Distinguished Civilian Service Medal, the United States Department of Defense's highest civilian award, for her work with the Hollywood Canteen.
BTW, I think I figured out my attraction to her. When she was younger and wasn't the lead and/or doing less serious roles, that's when I find her attractive. It's the powerful, strong willed Bette I don't care for. Not that I have a problem with powerful women; just the opposite. But Bette had a "plastic" face; you could really see her emotion on her face and when she's bitchy, to use her word, she does nothing for me.
Incidentally, I noticed that she was in three movies I've seen with Leslie Howard, who's probably most famous for playing Ashley in Gone With the Wind. So, I read up on him in my movie book, too. If I can, I'll scan and copy it.
“The red zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only. There is no stopping in the white zone."
Quick question: what was the movie where she comes out of a house firing a gun? I've seen that clip but I can't remember the movie nor if I've ever seen it.
“The red zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only. There is no stopping in the white zone."
Hal, that's interesting about Leslie Howard considering how I feel about Gone with the Wind and Jezebel. That must have been something being together with Lena Horne and Ethel Waters. Great stuff you got from Wiki.
The older I get, the better I was.
HOWARD, LESLIE. Actor; director; producer.
Many moviegoers remember this blond, British-born (of Hungarian ancestry) leading man for his supporting role as Ashley Wilkes in Gone With the Wind (1939). But his cinematic legacy includes quite a number of fine starring performances as well. Slender and handsome, he generally played urbane, intuitive, introspective. and soft-spoken characters, but was equally effective in livelier roles - even in farce. A WW1 veteran who took up acting after being mustered out of service with shell shock, he made his feature-film debut in The Happy Warrior (1917) and took roles in a few other British-made silent movies. But he honed his abilities with frequent stints on the London stage and eventually made it to Broadway, becoming a top stage star.
Howard's first talkie, Outward Bound (1930), established him as an able leading man for movies, and he spent the rest of the decade bouncing back and forth between the U.S. and England. Oscar-nominated for his leading roles in Berkley Square (1933) and Pygmalion (1938, a Shaw adaptation he co-directed with Anthony Asquith), Howard also impressed in Of Human Bondage (1931, opposite Bette Davis, as tragic protagonist Philip Carey), The Scarlet Pimpernel (1935), The Petrified Forest (1936, reprising his acclaimed Broadway characterization and, incidentally, insisting that the film's producers cast his stage nemesis, Humphrey Bogart), Romeo and Juliet (also 1936, as Romeo to Norma Shearer's Juliet), the romantic Intermezzo (1939, which he also co-produced), and Pimpernel Smith (1941, a Scarlet Pimpernel updating that he also produced and directed). Howard returned to his native England after World War 2 began and was shot down by Nazi fighter planes while flying from Portugal in 1943.
I never knew how he died. How tragic.
“The red zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only. There is no stopping in the white zone."
Hal, Ron put up the list, The Letter is on next Tuesday. If you get the chance, catch it. I don't think you will be disappointed. It's my BD go to film of all time.
The older I get, the better I was.
You mean this one?
6:00 AM Letter, The (1940)
7:45 AM Great Lie, The (1941)
10:00 AM Little Foxes, The (1941)
12:00 PM Man Who Came to Dinner, The (1942)
2:00 PM Now, Voyager (1942)
4:00 PM Old Acquaintance (1943)
6:00 PM Watch on the Rhine (1943)
8:00 PM Corn Is Green, The (1945)
10:00 PM Mr. Skeffington (1945)
12:30 AM Deception (1946)
2:30 AM Stolen Life, A (1946)
4:30 AM June Bride (1948)
I want to see The Letter, Little Foxes, and The Man Who Came to Dinner.
“The red zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only. There is no stopping in the white zone."
The Man Who Came to Dinner is a riot.
The full list for the month:
http://www.tcm.com/this-month/articl...-November.html
"The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"
Tomorrow is Tuesday. You know what that means.
The day-long BD Fest begins with "The Letter" at 6:00 am.
"The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"
On Sunday night on TCM at midnight. Great camera work here. I've never seen this one.
"The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"
Carl Theodor Dreyer was the director. Yeah, it's considered a masterpiece and made the BFI's decennial poll of the 50 greatest films. It ranked 9th.
“The red zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only. There is no stopping in the white zone."
Last Tuesday for Bette. "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" is on right now.
"The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"
Watched The Letter last night. Maltin gives it 3½ stars and I would have agreed until I saw the third act. It's only an hour and 35 minutes long but I kept thinking, "when is this movie going to end?" Maybe that's because I had a really good idea how it would end and got impatient. I don't know. The story just seemed to drift.
William Wyler almost got the perfect, final shot, too, but got cutesy and blew it.
I shouldn't have liked Bette Davis in this, given the role, but once again I found her sex appeal compelling.
Overall, I'd give it 3 stars. (sorry Staun)
Not sure what to watch tonight. TCM has a few good ones available to stream:
Mr Skeffington with Bette and Claude Rains
Waterloo Bridge, the director impressed the Universal studio boss so much, he gave him first choice for his next project. He chose Frankenstein.1 Yes, that would be James Whale.
Smart Money. A movie that stars Edward G Robinson with James Cagney in a supporting role.
Jimmy the Gent. A comedy with Cagney and Bette.
Klute, which I haven't seen in ages.
Hmmmm.
One of the great things about those old movies is they're not too long, so you can watch two in the same time it takes to watch a longer, modern one.
“The red zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only. There is no stopping in the white zone."
OMG! In the amount of time it took me to write that post, Mr Skeffington is no longer available on TCM's website.
“The red zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only. There is no stopping in the white zone."
re: Susan Lucci, she eventually did when her Emmy. She was nominated in 1977, and then every year from 1981 to 1998. She finally won in 1999. I remember seeing the clip on the news shows the next day, whoever the presenter was, opened the envelope and said "The curse has been lifted!" and then read Lucci's name. She was nominated again, but didn't win, in 2001 and 2002.
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