"The Wizard of Oz"

OK, everyone has seen this film, so there is no point writing a review on it.  Instead, how about a little trivia to spark up your Friday?  behind the scenes photos? Coming right up. 

The infamous opening titles.

First fun fact: the Wizard in the screenplay was intended for W.C. Fields in mind. Makes sense, huh?

But Mr. Fields didn't want the role, he wanted more cash and they said no. Diva. Nobody else wanted the role either because it was too small, so they pulled a 'high school play' move and made the new wizard role also get to play the guard, horse and buggy driver, and the gate keeper. Fun!

Buddy Ebsen was cast to play the tin man. He filmed for a while until the silver paint they used on him had dust in it and made Buddy so sick he couldn't breath, had to be rushed the hospital, and back out of the role. Jack Haley took the part not knowing all this, but the paint was changed so lawsuit #2 wouldn't happen.

Judy Garland had to wear a painful corset to make her thinner younger looking and make her look like she had not yet hit puberty. Successful?

Poor Toto, who's real name was Terry, was injured for two weeks and needed his doggie understudy when an actor stepped on him. Judy wanted to adopt him after the film but his owner said no. Leave it to actors, trying to adopt dogs that already have parents!

The munchkin characters were paid $50 a week, and Toto was paid $125 a week. Ouch.

Everyone has heard the urban legend of the hanging suicide that happened to a crew member in the background. MGM claimed it was just a bird stretching, but many still believe....

What do you think?

The colored horses got thier color from Jell-O crystals. They had to film fast before the horses started licking themselves!

In the book the slippers were silver, and that is what they started out with on the set until L.B. Mayer saw this and thought making them "ruby" would be better. Love the pastel blue and red combo!

Jeanette MacDonald wore Glinda the Good Witch's dress first in the film "San Francisco" in 1939. So fashion faux pas.

When the Bad Witch attempts to take Dorothy's shoes off, fire spits out onto her hands. Apparently this was just apple juice that was made to spray out of her shoes and was sped up to look like fire.(I am not making this up!)

I love this film, just like every other human on the planet, and it never gets old. All this blogging makes me want to watch it again. Better dust off my copy or I will have to wait until Thanksgiving.

For Fred

Well I forgot to blog the other day about Mr. Astaire's birthday, and I should be ashamed, since I am, like Fred, a proud Taurus. So today is days old celebration. Oh well. 

Happy Birthday Fred. 

When he got started the studios wrote down, "Can't sing. Can't act. Balding. Can dance a little."

Boy what do they know! 

Thanks Fred for making me want to move my feet.

"Desk Set"

OK, so there has been a lot of Katharine Hepburn films blogged about on here lately, but can you blame me? She is fabulous! An none is more fabulous that on of my favorite films ever, 1957's "Desk Set".

We meet Mr. Sumner (Spencer) who is here to speak to head honcho of the TV network about a secret project going on in the research department (aka the Internet of the 50's). 

Mr. Sumner tells Mr. Boss that he is going to need to research the research department for a few weeks to help him with his machine, a new thing called a "computer" that helps find information without opening a book. He gets the OK and is told to look for Miss Bunny Watson, who is in charge.

How amazing is this set!

Next we meet Bunny (Katharine) and the girls and see them in action. Answering phones stylishly, recalling knowledge...it makes you want to work in this office, especially since they have tons of fun too. Mr. Sumner comes in to investigate and immediately rumors swirl, leaving the whole office worried about being fired.

Before too long we learn that Bunny has been dating higher up Mike for many, many years without a proposal, and Bunny is dying to be asked. She buys a green dress for a dance and is stoked until Mike flakes on her due to work.

Over time, Bunny and Mr. Sumner become friends and have the cutest scene in the movie eating lunch on the roof during winter.

Christmas comes and the girls are still not sure why Mr. Sumner is there. They put up the aluminum tree, party hard, and exchange gifts. 

Mike gets a little jealous that his long awaiting girlfriend has been spending so much time at work with Mr. Sumner. He must fly out of town but returns when his flight is canceled to find Bunny and Mr. Sumner cozy at her apartment eating dinner!

Mike storms out and Bunny starts to think if dating him is such a swell idea. After Christmas, the buzz around work is that everyone is going to get fired, and the new "computer" is installed. It works pretty well but a new assistant has come and she has a huge stick up her ass.

The contest of man vs. the machine comes in to play and the girls are doing their best to keep their jobs. Pink slips come, but there is a twist, and Bunny finally gets a marriage proposal from Mike. But is it what she wants? What about Mr. Sumner? What about her job? The ending is adorable, as is the rest of the film.

Nora Ephron's (of Sleepless In Seattle fame, and others) parents wrote and produced this film. It is defiantly one to own. The sets, the costumes, the superb acting. This was the first color film for Kat and Spence, and their 8th out of 9 films they would do together before his death ten years later.

Quote Of The Day

"A hunch is creativity trying to tell you something."

-Frank Capra

Frenemies

 I was looking forward to this film ever since I caught about 5 minutes of it on TCM one night, but this time I was able to watch he whole thing through.

The film starts out with Deborah(Jeanne Crain)who is picking up friend, Rita (Ann Sothern). A woman named Addie is narrating the film as they drive. We learn that these gals are buds and are talking smack on Addie. They are in bad moods because they have been fighting with their husbands all morning.

They arrive at a dock and meet up with Lora Mae (Linda Darnell) to take a bunch of kids out to camp for the day. Lora Mae is mad because her man has been fighting with her as well.

 Before the ship sails they back stab Addie again and then receive a letter from her. She informs them she has left town and taken one of their husbands with her! Being the BFF that she is, Addie refuses to tell them which husband she has decided to commit adultery with.

The girls sail away worried and sad, wondering who it could be. As the boat ride continues we do a flash back into Deb's head and learn a little bit about why she would suspect her man to be the one to leave. Deb is new to town when she marries Brad and is very insecure. She learns that Brad and Addie were once an item and she  thinks she is not good enough for him. 

The boat arrives at camp and this time it is Rita's head that we get a glimpse inside. She and her man, George,  happy but they start to quarrel when Addie delivers a birthday gift to George after Rita had forgotten. She has high society business guests over for dinner and is acting snobby. George gets mad and yells at the guests and tells Rita he wishes she were classy like Addie. Could it be George who is off on a rendezvous?

Finally we see Lora Mae's story as we flash back to when her and her hubby, Porter, where just dating. She works at his store and is hoping to make it rich through marriage. Porter is not interested at first, since he is still sad about his break up with Addie a year before. Lora Mae plays some games and gets Porter to marry her, but it seems like it is just for the cash.

When they get back from camp, the girls must find out who will be coming home to an empty house and who's husband is still true. I really enjoyed this film with it's great acting, different story line, and good use of characters.

Picture Of The Day

Boris Karloff enjoying some coffee and toast on the set of "Son of Frankenstein", 1938. 

Cheers!