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!

I did it -- I made my list of the top five performances by actors and top five by actresses. And let me tell you, it was not easy. (Add usual disclaimers about how there are lots of great films I haven't seen, how I may change my mind tomorrow, etc.) I appreciated all the comments on my original post -- they were enjoyable to read and helped me think things through!

So let me give you the lists, and I'll explain a little about my reasoning after that. Going from last to first in each list . . .

( Below the cut )

Last night, after many, many increments of Lawrence of Arabia, I saw these words: The End.

(But then there was "Exit Music." Ah, '60s movies, I love you.)

( Read more... )

I guess I have to watch Lawrence of Arabia.

But I reserve the right, if I find myself falling asleep, to fast-forward to all the Claude Rains scenes.

(There'd better be more than one Claude Rains scene.)

It's about time I got around to that meme I got from sylverwind, like, MONTHS ago. So here we go. She asked me to give my thoughts on libraries, desserts, a favorite outfit, mythical creatures, my love for classic movies, beading, and pet peeves.

( Step this way for various ramblings . . . )

Barnes & Noble has a buy one classic, get one free sale (at the moment I'm leaning toward Mister Roberts and Bell, Book and Candle, though Now, Voyager is not completely out of the running). Also a Friday the 13th sale on 13 mystery DVDs. Enjoy!

Queensjoy at ogeecons is selling custom icons, banners, mood themes, and wallpapers to make a little traveling money. She does really nice work -- the Casablanca icon on this post is one of hers. She also made my Dorothy L. Sayers icon and my Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane icon. Her prices are reasonable, too. If you're in the market for some artwork, just go here and tell her what kind of package you want -- so many icons, a wallpaper of such and such a size, whatever -- she'll list it on her Etsy site, and then you can place your order. (Check the Etsy site first, because she already has a few packages listed.)

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 )

1. Reply to this post, and I will pick five of your icons.
2. Make a post (including the meme info) and talk about the icons I chose.
3. Other people can then comment to you and make their own posts.
4. This will create a never-ending cycle of Icon Squee!

Here are my icons that sonneta  picked:



Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane are one of my all-time favorite couples, so when I saw this icon at ogeecons , I just had to have it. And since I've had it, I've been surprised to learn how many other people love them too. It's gotten a ton of compliments. The lyric goes so perfectly with the couple!



Gadzooks, it's Sir Percy! (In some ways I think of him as a precursor to Lord Peter.) Anthony Andrews is one of my favorite actors, and he played that dashing, heroic, hilarious Pimpernel to perfection. This, I believe, is from the scene where he's conveying his horror over Chauvelin's substandard cravat. Got it via kemmi .



I haven't seen Aladdin in years, but I have very fond memories of the Genie. This was another one I just had to have as soon as I saw it. The expression is priceless. Got this one from jaysta_11 .



A recent acquirement, though I've been wanting an Early Edition icon for a long time. In my opinion, it was hands-down Kyle Chandler's best show and best role ever, and this picture of Gary with a rare smile (poor darling, he got so few opportunities to smile!) makes me melt into a puddle. Love the plaid thing, too. For some reason, it seems that a lot of my favorite TV guys tend to wear plaid, so this icon was especially fitting for me. (See also the icon on this post!) Got this from akamarykate .



In case you didn't pick up on this from the Gary, Percy, and Peter icons, I'm one of those girls who loves the good guys. Always have, always will. Give me the Pimpernel -- Chauvelin can go jump. But there's one exception: I'm in serious trouble whenever Captain Louis Renault appears. He's bad, I know he's bad, but I can't help it -- he's Claude Rains! And Claude Rains is sexy! That smile -- that voice -- the way he calls Rick "Ricky" -- the jaunty air. . . . Excuse me, I need to go open a window. It's gotten very hot in here.

(But he DOES reform at the end!)

This one is also from ogeecons .

If you want to chat about some of your icons, comment below and I'll pick five!