January 8, 2011
Blue Skies (1946, Stuart Heiser): Watched this in hi-def from TCM because I was curious about what is probably the least well known of the three Astaire/Crosby team-ups. It's not a patch on the prior classic, Holiday Inn, but it's actually better than the overrated and better known White Christmas, cheifly because of two great musical numbers. In "Puttin' on the Ritz," Astaire dances with multiple images of himself, while Astaire and Crosby team up wonderfully in "A Couple of Song and Dance Men," which is a hilarious take on the fact that Fred was a great dancer and Bing had two left feet. GRADE: B
The Lion in Winter (1968, Anthony Harvey) : This semi-sequel to 1964's Beckett, in which Peter O'Toole also played King Henry II, gets most of its juice from watching O'Toole and the great Kate duke it out in a war of wits. However, it also has a number of smaller pleasures, such as a fine film debut from a commanding Anthony Hopkins, and a surprisingly vivid take on French King Phillip II, played by a very young James Bond - er, Timothy Dalton. GRADE: A
TCM Books
Having received the Turner Classic Movies book Leading Ladies as a Christmas present, I also purchased the companion books, Leading Men and Leading Couples. I'll post in more detail later about the folks included/excluded, but I have to say right off the bat that TCM made a rare grave error by leaving Shirley Temple out of Leading Ladies. No, her acting career didn't amount to much after she hit puberty, but simply put, she was THE biggest movie star of the 1930s, of any gender or height. When Entertainment Weekly put together a similar list that also included contemporary stars, they put Temple in, as they jolly well should have. With all due respect to the ladies I'm about to name, Temple deserves a place in the book over Susan Hayward or Ann Sheridan. Shame.
Still, the books are a very fun read, most especially Leading Couples. They give vital stats for each couple, as well as key quotes. This comes into play very nicely indeed when the couple is Fay Wray and King Kong.
Fay Wray
BORN
Vina Fay Wray
September 15, 1907
Cardston, Alberta Canada
DIED
August 8, 2004
New York, New York
Natural causes.
STAR SIGN
Virgo
HEIGHT
5' 3"
HUSBANDS and CHILDREN
Writer John Mark Saunders
(1928-1938) divorced.
Daughter Susan Carey
Writer Robert Riskin (who wrote most of Capra's great screenplays)
(1942-1955) his death
Son Robert Jr.
Daughter Victoria
Brain surgeon Sanfard Rothenberg
(1971-1991) his death
King Kong
BORN
Kong (Megaprimatus Kong)
August 1927
Skull Island
DIED
March 7, 1933
New York, New York
Bullet wounds and a fall
STAR SIGN
Leo
HEIGHT
18'-24' (depending on the shot)
WIFE and CHILD
Unknown mate
Son
KEY QUOTE
Kong: GRAWWWWRRRR!
Wray: AAAAAAAAAAHH!
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