litlover12

This post is for the ". . . And Scene!" blogathon at Sister Celluloid's blog.



Try an experiment some time. Bring up the drunk scene from The Philadelphia Story (1940) to a group of classic movie fans (like the folks at #TCMParty on Twitter, for instance) and I can almost guarantee you they'll start trading lines:

"Oh, C. K. Dexter-HAAAVENN!"

And "Champagne is a great leveleleler."

And "C. K. Dexter-Haven, you have unsuspected depth!"

And . . . but I don't want to spoil the whole scene for you. Suffice it to say, this is a well-known, well-loved scene. I would even say it's one of the best comic scenes ever put on film, performed by two great actors at the top of their game and helmed by a director, George Cukor, who excelled at bringing out the best in a cast. And who also, fortunately, encouraged ad libbing.

( Which we'll get to in a moment . . . )

Greatest Stars of the 1940s

After much musing and fretting, I finally went with Barbara Stanwyck, Bette Davis, Cary Grant, Claude Rains, Gene Kelly, Jimmy Stewart, Joseph Cotten, Judy Garland, Ingrid Bergman, and Katharine Hepburn.

. . . But I had six or seven runners-up!

How this works: Comment with your favorite color and I'll respond by asking you five questions so I can get to know you better. Update your journal with the answers to the questions. Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions.

Got this from msantimacassar, who asked me SIX questions, because she is a tough cookie!

1. What blue object from among your possessions would you say is your favorite?

Just one? That is HARD. I guess I'll go with the blue-glass-and-wood cross my friend gave me.

(And in second place -- come on, you knew I couldn't pick just one! -- this box that another friend gave me for Christmas.)

2. If you could give one neglected book/show/movie universal recognition, what would it be?

I'm going to go with the film The Grass Is Greener (1960), starring Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr, Jean Simmons, and Robert Mitchum. So, SO funny. Grant is at the top of his game, and Simmons turns in one of the greatest performances I've ever seen by any actress, anywhere.

3. What is your favorite book cover (or binding)?

I'm partial to this one. So simple and beautiful -- and it has blue in it! :-)

4. If you had the chance of a scenic trip of a lifetime, would you choose to travel by train, boat, or car?

Train. Easier to concentrate on the scenery.

5. What is your dream cast for an adaption of A Tale of Two Cities?

I'm going to answer that in a separate post. Stay tuned . . .

(Bonus tough one) 6. If you could see Charles Dickens face-to-face and ask him one question about anything, what would you choose?

I'll bet this one will surprise you. :-) I would say, "Mr. Dickens, would you please take out the part in Little Dorrit where Amy asks Arthur to call her 'Little Dorrit' forever? Because honestly, it's just ridiculous."

Okay, so, you all know the drill -- comment with your favorite color if you want five questions!

Still haven't gathered enough mental energy to start the 100 Things meme, but I still hope to do it one of these days. In the meantime, let's have a movie meme! Got this off Tumblr.


( Consider yourself tagged if you want! )

Notice a pattern here? Yesterday our featured actors included Grant, Stewart, Bergman, and Rains; today our featured actors include Grant, Stewart, Bergman, and Rains.

But today Grant and Stewart are in different movies, each with Rains as supporting actor. Which is a nice arrangement, because when you're not swooning over either Cary or Jimmy, you can be swooning over Claude. (Ohhh, Claude . . . )

( #4 & #3 )

It's genre mashup day! Read on to see what I mean.

( #16 & #15 )

Tomorrow: The Odd Couple and All about Eve.

Cary Grant and James Mason are having a suave-off on my TV. Stroke of genius, putting those two in one film. And then of course, there were Grant and Claude Rains in Notorious. Smart guy, that Hitchcock.