Saturday Matinee: Niagra with Marilyn Monroe

"Ray and Polly Cutler (Max Showalter and Jean Peters) on a delayed honeymoon at Niagara Falls, find their reserved cabin occupied by George and Rose Loomis (Joseph Cotten and Marilyn Monroe). They politely accept another, less-desirable cabin, and the two couples become acquainted.
George and Rose have a troubled marriage. She is younger and very attractive. He is jealous, depressed and irritable. It is implied that he may have recently been discharged from an Army mental hospital. While touring the falls the following day, Polly sees Rose passionately kissing a man, Patrick. That evening the Cutlers witness George's rage. Rose joins an impromptu party and George storms out and breaks a record playing a tune that he suspects has a secret meaning for Rose.
What George does not know is that Rose is planning his murder. The next day she lures him into following her to the dark tourist tunnel underneath the Falls. There Patrick is to kill him. Patrick is to request the nearby carillon to play the special song to let Rose know that George is dead. By chance, the tune is played and Rose concludes George is murdered...." from Wikipedia  There is more to this synopsis of plot but I do not want to spoil the movie...I want you to watch it and enjoy the plot twists.

from This is Marilyn

My Mawma got this movie for us to watch as soon as it was available on VHS.  I loved it at first showing.  Marilyn, of course, oozed sex but her acting was...well...I do not think many love her for her acting.  her first scene opened with her in bed, nude, with legs sprawled under the sheets.  Hair messy, smoking...but with perfect red lips.  Sexy.

The costumes were glorious.  Marilyn wore many tight "wiggle" skirted suits and dresses while Mrs. Cutlers wears clothing of a "sweeter" nature, loose fitting circle skirts.  The men were dressed in loose pleated pants and cabana shirts, things they might wear on vacation.  There were a few scenes where Mr. Cutler would have on a suit or jacket and tie, but most of the time the costumes reflected a relaxed style of vacation wear.  They were in Niagara Falls, afterall.

I searched and could not find any photos of the gentlemen in this film, except for one with Rose's lover in a parka and then one with George in a loose jacket.  Not very exciting.  Most of the photos, as you can see, are of Marilyn.  Not surprised in the least at this.  Photos from Yahoo! Images

I enjoy this film, mostly for the costumes, scenery, and Marilyn.  I enjoy her in this because she is not playing a dumb blonde.  I enjoy THAT, too, but it gets old (as it got old for HER playing the dumb blonde if biographies I have read were accurate).

Here is some fun trivia for you...

Rose (Marilyn Monroe)'s walk across some cobblestones holds the record for the longest walk in cinema history - 116 feet of film.

Even though she had a starring role, Marilyn Monroe was still under contract to 20th Century-Fox as a stock actor at a fixed salary, so she actually made less money than her make-up man did.

To see this and more trivia, go to the Internet Movie Database, but be warned there are plot spoilers.

Tiffany

Saturday Matinee: Splendor in the Grass

"A fragile Kansas girl's unrequited and forbidden love for a handsome young man from the town's most powerful family drives her to heartbreak and madness."(from IMDb)

"Deanie Loomis (played by Natalie Wood), a teen-aged girl living in a small town in Kansas in 1928, follows her mother's advice to resist her desire for sex with her boyfriend, Bud Stamper (Warren Beatty), the scion of the most prosperous family in town. In his turn, Bud reluctantly follows the advice of his father, Ace (Pat Hingle), who suggests that he find another kind of girl with whom to satisfy his sexual desires.
Bud's parents are disappointed by, and ashamed of, his older sister, Ginny (Barbara Loden), a party girl who is sexually promiscuous, smokes, drinks, has had an abortion (or as Deanie's mothers said "one of those 'awful surgeries'"), and a marriage annulled, so they "pin all their hopes" on Bud, pressuring him to attend Yale University." (from Wikipedia) 

There is much more to read on both Wikipedia and IMDb but I warn you, they give away so much of the movie...and why would you want to ruin the movie?  Just go watch it if you haven't, or watch it again, if you have seen it.

The movie takes on more than this little synopsis, much more.  It takes on what the poem speaks of romanticizing things in our past, things like teenage love.  We think, when we are young, that we are in love...can not live without...etc etc ...our special someone.  I am sure it is love, in what we thought love was at the time...but it is immature love.  Sometimes that love is true and the couple lives happily ever after.  Sometimes, they do not.

The film's title is taken from a line of William Wordsworth's poem "Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood":

What though the radiance which was once so bright

Be now for ever taken from my sight,

Though nothing can bring back the hour

Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower;

We will grieve not, rather find

Strength in what remains behind

Romanticising the past, not just love, is something we all do.  Reminiscing about the "good ole days"...but really, not everything about the "good ole days" was perfect, now was it?  What the poem suggests is to not grieve for the past but to remember it, enjoy it, and learn from it.

There is also the theme of sexuality...or denying it.  "The different mindsets motivating Deanie's mother, who is relatively poor, and Bud's father, who has made a great deal of money in the oil industry, to hold back their children's sexuality are evident in two adjacent scenes early in the story. In the first, Deanie's mother encourages her not to give up her virginity to Bud, telling her "Boys don't respect a girl they can go all the way with; boys want a nice girl for a wife". Having bid her daughter a good night, Mrs. Loomis then talks with her husband, enthusiastically informing him that their daughter and the son of the richest family in town are in love and that Bud would "be the catch of a lifetime". In the next scene, Bud's father encourages him to abstain from sex with Deanie, because, if Deanie were to conceive a child by Bud, they would have to marry.
Deanie's mother believes that sex would ruin her daughter's chances of marrying Bud. Bud's father believes that sex, especially pregnancy, would force his son to marry Deanie. One parent wishes for such a marriage, while the other seems to warn against it. In their discussion of what kind of girl a boy wants as a wife, Mrs. Loomis also tells Deanie that "No nice girl" has sexual desires for a boy. When Deanie asks her mother whether she was ever sexually attracted to Mr. Loomis, the answer is "Your father never laid a hand on me until we were married. And, then, I—I just gave in because a wife has to. A woman doesn't enjoy those things the way a man does. She just lets her husband come near her in order to have children." This enhances Deanie's inner struggle—about whether to give Bud what she and he both seem to want, or whether to behave in a more socially acceptable way, avoid the risk of pregnancy, and follow her mother's advice about how to retain Bud's respect—, which eventually drives her to madness." (from Wikipedia)

Really?  Why not just teach the teens about sex and how they should wait...bla bla bla...  "No nice girl has sexual desires"....Yep...telling an ignorant girl THIS might drive her to think she is crazy.  Teaching about sex would show that she is normal...but still no need to get "naughty", right?  LOL.  This movie was not unique with this .... people just did not "talk" about such things back then.  So glad we do now....we do, right?  ha ha!

This is one that I will watch again and again...every few years or so.  It is a definite choice, if you see it on TCM.  Natalie Wood is gorgeous and Warren Beatty is handsome....so it does make a pretty picture.
Tiffany

Saturday Matinee in honor of Elizabeth Taylor: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

photo from IMDb

In honor of Ms. Taylor AND Tennesee Williams because I LOVE LOVE LOVE him, too....oh and Paul Newman isn't so bad, either. "Brick, an alcoholic ex-football player, drinks his days away and resists the affections of his wife, Maggie. His reunion with his father, Big Daddy, who is dying of cancer, jogs a host of memories and revelations for both father and son." From IMDb

This is another of my favorites.  I know I say that alot but I do love this era of films, costumes, etc.  Cat on a Hot Tin Roof does not disappoint in either.  I am also a HUGE fan of Tennessee Williams.  His work was almost an obsession of mine during college when I studied Theatre.  I was in A Streetcar Named Desire
, more on that when I do a review. I designed costumes for A Streetcar Named Desire
, as well.  I did many scene studies of his work and set design of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
.

Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman do an amazing portrayal of Maggie and Brick.  Burl Ives plays Big Daddy wonderfully while Judith Anderson plays Big Momma in an extremely annoying way, but I think that is the character, not the actress.  "Although the film did not win any Academy Awards, it received several nominations including Best Picture, Best Actor (Newman), Best Actress (Taylor), and Best Director (Brooks). The film also received nominations for Best Cinematography, Color (William Daniels), and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium" from Wikipedia.  This makes me wonder WHAT won that year....so of course I looked it up on Wikipedia.  Well "Gigi" won best picture and a host of other awards, breaking "Gone With the Wind's" record, but only for one year because a year late Ben Hur winds even more.  Best Actress that year went to Susan Hayward in "I Want to Live", which is a movie I LOVE and have since I was a little girl (why my mom let me watch it at a young age, I do not know...). Anyway....it did not WIN any awards but that does not mean it is not a good movie....

Paul Newman is a hottie....

 There is usually a scene where the female lead wears a slip in Williams plays and Elizabeth Taylor does it very well...

Burl Ives as Big Daddy Pollitt

Even in Black and White here eyes are mesmerising

 If you are a fan of Taylor, Newman, Ives, or Tennessee William's plays....or maybe you just like good mid century movies with stylish costumes...this is a must see movie.

Tiffany

Photos from Yahoo! images.  Video clip from Youtube.

Butterfield 8

One of my most favorite Elizabeth Taylor movies in Butterfield 8.  She plays a disturbed woman who is employed as a model so the costumes are amazing.  Lots of pretty dresses she must wear around town to be photographed in.  Even her "down time" outfits are amazing....and of course she appears in that gorgeous slip and mink coat.  I enjoy the story very much, too, but I do not know what makes me watch this more, the costumes or the story....or Elizabeth Taylor.  Laurence Harvey stars in Butterfield 8, as well, and even though he is very handsome and I enjoy looking at him, his caracter really gets on my ever last nerve.

BUtterfield 8 was named for a list of old Manhattan telephone prefixes that was used to place calls in NYC up until the 1960’s.  Gloria Wonderous, Taylor's character, gave Mr. Ligget a gift of a lighter with BU 8 in-graved into the side so he would always have her number. Gloria would call in to get her messages.  It seems to be like an answering service, as well.  Since I was not alive during the time such prefixes were used, I have no experience with them except for hearing them in movies and older television programs.

The film was based on a 1935 novel, BUtterfield 8 , written by John O’Hara, however there was,  little resemblance of the book in the film.  I read the book after I saw the movie, years later, in fact, and can honestly say that there was not much similarity, although I enjoyed both.

"Gloria Wandrous (Elizabeth Taylor) wakes up in wealthy executive Weston Liggett's (Laurence Harvey) apartment and finds Liggett has left her $250. Insulted, Gloria, whose dress is torn, takes Liggett's wife Emily's mink coat to cover herself and scrawls "No Sale" in lipstick on the mirror. But she orders her telephone exchange, BUtterfield 8, to put Liggett through if he should call.
Gloria visits a childhood friend, pianist Steve Carpenter (Eddie Fisher), in his Greenwich Village apartment. He chastises Gloria for wasting her life on one-night stands, but agrees to ask his girlfriend Norma (Susan Oliver) to lend her a dress. Gloria leaves, whereupon Norma jealously gives Steve an ultimatum: He must choose between her and Gloria.
Liggett takes a train to the countryside where his wife Emily (Dina Merrill) is caring for her mother. A friend, Bingham Smith (Jeffrey Lynn), advises him to end his adulterous relationships and return to Bing's law firm instead of working for the chemical business of Emily's father.
Gloria lies to her doting mother Annie (Mildred Dunnock), claiming to have spent the night at Norma's. A neighbor, Fanny Thurber (Betty Field), insinuates that Gloria spends many nights in less than virtuous circumstances.
Liggett returns home. Finding the lipstick and money, he phones Gloria to explain the money was meant for her dress, which he had torn." from Wikipedia.  This explanation softens Ms. Wonderous, a bit, and she says she MIGHT be in the area where Ligget will be later that night. As usual, I will not spoil the movie and let you watch to see what happens....trust me in saying this is not a movie to be missed if you enjoy mid century fashions or seeing Elizabeth Taylor in prime form.

She throws this beautiful coat back in the closet and takes the mink instead.

from IMDb

One thing the movie sorta, kinda glosses over is the fact that Gloria was part call girl.  "John O'Hara's 1935 novel BUtterfield 8 was based on the life and death of a real-life call girl named Starr Faithfull." From Turner Classic Movies .  Sure, Ligget leaves her money and Gloria is offended, he later offers her an apartment and allowances to live to be his mistress, she stabs his foot with her stiletto....but in the movie she is just a slut, nympho, and alcoholic.  This was much more proper for the Production Code of 1959 /1960.  The same thing was done with Breakfast at Tiffany's.  Holly Golightly was a high priced (for the time) call girl in the book while in the movie she was a model who met up with men in night clubs.  The men gave her money for the powder room, usually 50 dollars (!!!!), I assume to tip the matron (?) and she pocketed the change.  Maybe I have a weird opinion of this subject but I do not see why being a nympho, slut, loose woman, and alcoholic is so much better than earning a living with what these ladies where going to do anyway?  I could write and write on this subject (and have in other venues) but this blog is not the place for my soap box on this subject.

She brushes her teeth with the scotch in her glass.

 Reminds me of the Kesha song, Tik Tok

Butterfield 8 is highly recommended by me and I will watch it again and again.  To tie this into the Oscars here are the awards it won and was nominated for...
"It won the Academy Award for Best Actress (Elizabeth Taylor) and was nominated for Best Cinematography, Color for 1960. It was also nominated for the Best Actress - Drama Golden Globe Award for the same year's releases." from Wikipedia

from Apartment Therapy (huh? odd where one might find photos)

 Tiffany

Happy Birthday Dear Elizabeth....And Get Well Soon!!!!

photo from ET Online

Elizabeth Taylor, as I am sure you know, has been hospitalised "for treatment of congestive heart failure, a condition she disclosed she had back in November 2004...She was admitted to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center more than a week ago and will remain in the hospital under observation "for the time being," declared Taylor's publicist, Jamie Cadwell, this past Friday, Feb. 18, 2011.
According to her spokeswoman, Sally Morrison, Taylor, "has continued to show great improvement, and her family and friends are very pleased with her progress" from CBS News.  I wish her a speedy recovery and would like to honor her upcoming birthday (February 27th) with a blog post dedicated to her as part of my celebration of the Oscars.

photo from Yahoo! Images

Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor was born in Hampstead, a wealthy district of North West London, on February 27, 1932.  Shortly before WWII, her family decided to move to California to avoid war hostilities in Europe.  The Taylors were shortly introduced to " Andrea Berens, a wealthy English socialite and also fiancée of Cheever Cowden, chairman and major stockholder of Universal Pictures in Hollywood. Berens insisted that Sara bring Elizabeth to see Cowden who, she was adamant, would be dazzled by Elizabeth's breathtaking dark beauty; she was born with a mutation that caused double rows of eyelashes, which enhanced her appearance on camera. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer soon took interest in the British youngster as well but she failed to secure a contract with them after an informal audition with producer John Considine had shown that she couldn't sing. However, on 18 September 1941, Universal Pictures signed Elizabeth to a six-month renewable contract at $100 a week" from Wikepedia.

Her first motion picture, at the age of nine, was There's One Born Every Minute. And although she was released from her contract with Universal because some thought "She can't sing, she can't dance, she can't perform. What's more, her mother has to be one of the most unbearable women it has been my displeasure to meet" Liz:An Intimate Biography of Elizabeth Taylor, by C. David Heymann. This did not slow her career down as her agent,  Myron Selznick (brother of David), quickly secured a contract for her at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for a three month contract to appear as "Priscilla" in the film Lassie Come Home. Elizabeth  was in many films durring her childhood but it was her film National Velvet that launched Taylor to stardom at the tender age of 12.

After the success of National Velvet and a few more films Elizabeth was able to demand a contract earning her $750 per week, her mother $250, as well as a $1,500 bonus.  Through the years, her salary and contract grew with her film success and she went on to star in many many box office hits.  So many in fact that if I highlighted every one of them....this blog would only be about Elizabeth Taylor and could become a FULL TIME hobby.  She also married a few men during her career.  Both of these, I will leave you to explore on your own with a quick Google or Yahoo! search.  Instead I am going to do a few blog posts in the next few days about MY favorite Elizabeth Taylor movies.  I hope you stay tuned and help honor her Birthday with me by reading about these films and hopefully I can inspire you to watch or re-watch a few. 

So in honor of the great Dame Elizabeth Taylor ( DBE ) and to wish her a speedy recovery, very happy birthday and to just show everyone how beautiful and wonderful she is...I leave you with a few of my favorite Liz images...

Still beautiful in her golden years.

Tiffany

Saturday Matinee: Anne of a Thousand Days

Turner Classic Movies is doing a 31 Days of Oscar theme this month in honor of the Academy Awards.  If you have not checked in on thier schedule of film showing, please do so...you will be sure to catch some real gems.

This week TCM had quiet a few movies dealing with the Tudor Dynasty and one I enjoyed was Anne of a Thousand Days.  I am sure part of my enjoyment came from the fact that I enjoy most things dealing with Anne Boleyn.

Most of us know the story from history class or from watching Showtimes "The Tutors" so I will just give a quick plot summery....

"Henry VIII of England discards one wife Katharine of Aragon, who has failed to produce a male heir, in favor of a young and beautiful woman, Anne Boleyn, whose one-thousand-day reign as Queen of England ends with the loss of her head on the block. Henry weds Ann and soon she gives him a child. The girl, Elizabeth, is a bitter disappointment to Henry, who desperately wants an heir. Anne promises Henry a son "next time," but Henry is doubtful. Shortly thereafter, rumors begin that the King's eye has already wandered. One Jane Seymour is at court for a moment. The Queen has her sent away, but, if Anne will bring Jane back to court, the King promises to sign the Act of Succession to insure that Elizabeth will be Queen." from the Internet Movie Database

I enjoyed this movie.  I especially enjoyed Geneviève Bujold's performance of Anne Boleyn.  She portrayed Anne as a spirited, seductive, manipulitive, and beautiful Queen.  This is how I think of Anne Boleyn and enjoyed watching Geneviève Bujold on screen.

One of her last scenes, in the tower, was very dramatic.  She informed King Henry that her blood would rule one day...and she was right as their daughter Elizabeth became Queen of England.

"But Elizabeth is yours. Watch her as she grows; she's yours. She's a Tudor! Get yourself a son off of that sweet, pale girl if you can - and hope that he will live! But Elizabeth shall reign after you! Yes, Elizabeth - child of Anne the Whore and Henry the Blood-Stained Lecher - shall be Queen! And remember this: Elizabeth shall be a greater queen than any king of yours! She shall rule a greater England than you could ever have built! Yes - MY Elizabeth SHALL BE QUEEN! And my blood will have been well spent" from the film Anne of a Thousand Days

Geneviève Bujold is an absolutely beautiful lady.  She was nominated for Best Actress for this film, however she did not win. She did win the Golden Globe that year (which I much prefer watching over the Oscars, even thought I never miss either ceremony) To read more about this lovely actress, please visit Internet Movie Database or Wikipedia.

Of course King Henry was as ruthless and as bullish as he always.  Richard Burton played King Henry and did it well.  He too was nominated for the Oscar and Golden Globe for Best Actor, but he was passed over that year for both.  The film had a total of 16 award nominations and took home 5 statues between the Academy Awards and Golden Globe, doing better with the Globes.  The Oscar win was for Best Costume which I always enjoy seeing.  The Golden Globe wins were for Best Actress - Drama, Best Motion Picture - Drama, Best Director, Best Screen Play.  If you are able to catch this on TCM or able to rent it, I highly recommend.

Before I leave you, I want to include some photos from my other favorite Anne Boleyn, Natalie Dormer.

Tiffany

Saturday Matinee: Room at the Top (1959)

With lips still warm from another woman's flesh...I thee wed...

"In late 1940s Yorkshire, England, ambitious young man Joe Lampton (Laurence Harvey), who has just moved from the dreary factory town of Dufton, arrives in Warnley, to assume a secure, but poorly-paid, post in the Borough Treasurer's Department. Determined to succeed, and ignoring the warnings of a colleague, Soames (Donald Houston), he is drawn to Susan Brown (Heather Sears), daughter of the local industrial magnate, Mr. Brown (Donald Wolfit). He deals with Joe’s social climbing by sending Susan abroad; Joe turns for solace to Alice Aisgill (Simone Signoret), an unhappily married older woman who falls in love with him.
When Susan returns from her holiday, shortly after the lovers have quarrelled, Joe seduces her, and then returns to Alice. Discovering that Susan is pregnant...."from the internet movie database  (I left some of the plot synopsis out to keep from spoiling the movie for others.  I do not know why IMDb has to tell so much....)

This film is loaded with Oscar Nominations.  The Best Actress Nom (and win) was well deserved by the beautiful Simone Signoret.  She plays a lonely wealthy housewife, Alice Aisgill, often left alone by her traveling husband.   



Nominated for Best Supporting Actress was Hermione Baddeley as Elspeth , who only had  "2 minutes and 20 seconds of screen time", the shortest ever for a nomination.  Wikipedia   She did not win but did go on for a long career as an actress.  You might better remember her for her roles on Little House on the Prairie or as the "hard drinking housekeeper" on Maude, but I remember her as Samantha Stevens childhood Nanny in her recurring role on Bewitched.  She is one, when you see other roles she played, you might say "oh, yea...that WAS her".  To see these roles, go over to her Wikipedia page.

For the first half of the film, I just could not place who was playing "Joe Lampton".  It was driving me nuts who this handsome and debonair man might be.  I knew I have seen him in many classics, but just could not place him.  AHA!!!!!  He played Westin Ligget, Gloria Wonderous's married lover!!!! (I love LOVE L O V E Butterfield 8, by the way...more to come on this, I am sure, in a future post...).  For now, he is playing Joe Lampton and doing a very good job at it.  He was nominated for this role for a Best Actor Oscar, but, like Ms. Baddeley, was passed over (I must look up who did win this year and watch their performance because for him to win over Laurence Harvey, he must have been day'um good).  Oh, didn't I tell you who I was talking about? Laurence Harvey, my new crush.  He is yummy.

Of course, Mr. Harvey was in many many more films, which you can read all about at the Internet Movie Database.

Even though Saturday Matinees SHOULD be comedies, in my opinion, I really enjoyed this movie.  It was dark, sexy, and sad.  Perfect for this dreary Texas afternoon ~sarcastic smile~.  The film told of the constant battle between classes with Joe wishing to climb the social ladder and Mr.  Brown keeping him down.  The characters included the usual old snob haggy woman (Mrs.Brown) thinking she is better than everyone else and others trying to keep Joe down.  Joe was not a good man, said he loved Susan while sleeping with Alice, but Laurence Harvey played him well.  The atmosphere of the industrial town added to the darkness of the film, as well.

A bit of trivia, for ya, (found at the IMDb), initially no British cinema chains wanted to touch the film as the British Board of Film Classification had given it an X certificate, then usually synonymous with exploitation fare. Eventually the ABC chain took a chance and picked it up for distribution, scoring a huge critical and commercial hit in the process. Many changes had to be made before the film was released, "

Before passing the film with an 'X' certificate the BBFC required some dialogue changes. The word "bitch' was changed to 'witch', and 'Don't waste your lust on her' was changed to the tamer 'Don't lust after her'."  There were also other edits but talking about these would give away too much of the movie...and I do not wish to be a "Spoiler", but you can see them at the IMDb website.

Another interesting fact, "the story takes place in 1947, but all the women's fashions and hairstyles are strictly in the contemporary 1958 mode, when the film went before the cameras" from IMDb  To be very honest, I did not realise the movie was supposed to be set in the late '40s, just after WWII.  I thought it odd that they kept referring to the war so long after it was over and that the "Sargent" (what a man teased Joe as being" was so young looking. (BLONDE moment, I guess)

If you have not seen Room at the Top, I recommend it. 

Tiffany