Birds Of A Feather...

Some leading ladies chose to fly through their careers wearing the ever timeless feathers. Let us see these bird of paradise...

Joan Crawford working the "crow" look.

Louise Brooks going big.

Carole Lombard doing her impression of Big Bird.

Ginger Rogers looking like she would rather do fur.

Claudette Colbert ready to take flight.

Gloria Swanson with her peacock.

"Breakfast At Tiffany's"

I am aware that "Breakfast At Tiffany's" is a well known picture and most people have seen it. But being that it is one of my favorites, and one of the first oldie films I ever saw, I am going to blog about it anyways. Where to start..The costumes? The actors? The music? New York? The scene where Audrey takes ballerina slippers from the fridge? I guess I can just start at the beginning.

No, it's not Friday yet, but how cute is this Italian movie poster?

If you have read the book you know Audrey plays Holly Golightly, a prostitute lesbo who does drugs and swears too much. In the movie, Audrey plays Holly Golightly, a "call girl" who drinks parties all the time and gets $50 to go to the "powder room". She walks the streets of NY in the early hours.

Holly makes the walk of shame look good!

After a night on the town she meets Paul Fred Baby, a new neighbor who has a sugar momma (darling Patricia Neal).

We learn that Holly sleeps neked, dates a lot of men, visits criminals in prison, and looses her shoes.

I never tire of the bathtub sofa.

Later on, Holly pops into Fred's place and they have a PG sleep over. We learn that Fred's lady pays his bills and Holly, understands. She understands completely.

Holly throws a party and Fred learns more about his wacky neighbor and her friends.

Time goes by and Fred listens to Holly sing. He then learns that Holly has a past with some baggage and she is in the midst of sorting it out. 

Once she is through with that, Holly and Paul go on a free fun day. They steal from the 5 and dime, visit Tiffany's, and canoodle in the library.

 After a make out sesh, Holly continues her quest to marry up. She starts dating rich Brazilian Jose and Fred is jealous.

She tells Fred she is getting hitched and moving to Brazil. She gets ready.

Well we all know that relationship doesn't last and Holly and Fred are destined to be together.

So much goes on in this film and it is jam packed with great actors such as Buddy Ebsen and Mickey Rooney. The late Blake Edwards wonderfully directs this film with a cute and funny story line. I just don't know how someone could not like this film. (Monty, are you reading this?)

Marilyn Monroe was supposed to play Holly, and I thank the lucky stars she was eventually veto-ed for Audrey, who always felt she was miscast.

"Moon River" was almost taken out of the film, George Peppard was said to be a pain in the ass to work with, Audrey hated eating danish pastries, and they needed 9 cats for the film, but it worked. It was nominated for 5 Oscars, but only won 2 for Henry's musical work.

Oh, and lets not forget the ballerina slippers in the fridge...

"Dangerous When Wet"

I have no idea why this cute film is titled "Dangerous When Wet". There is nothing dangerous about it! Esther Williams starts in another adorable swimming film with Fernando Lamas, Jack Carson and one of my faves, Charlotte Greenwood.

Esther plays Katie, a gal who lives on a farm with a very active family. They love to exercises and swim every day, all while singing. (Is there any other way?)

One day Katie meets salesman, Windy (Jack Carson). He sees a babe and she sees an annoyance. Windy sells a fab vitamin tonic called "Liquapep" and gets Katie and the fam agree to all swim the English Channel for "Liquapep" and win some moo la. Katie agrees.

Love the suit! But the hat?

 Just your typical family...

After some heavy travel, and serious training, Katie is distracted when she meets French hottie Andre. They meet in peculiar settings and quickly fancy each other. But Katie needs to focus!

One of the scenes most recognized from this film involves a little help from Tom and Jerry. Katie takes a snooze and has a delightful dream with the cartoon friends.

The race is coming soon but first Katie plays a day of hookie with new flame Andre.

This scene has inspired me to powder coat my lawn set yellow.

The race begins and Katie is getting tired quick. Will she finish the race? Will Andre be there for her?

This film has great technicolor that adds to the film. Look for the cute performance by Denise Darcel as French swimmer Gigi. 

Over all, one of my favorite Esther films so far!

Happy Day Alfie!

Happy B-Day Mr. Hitchcock!

 As quoted by Alfred on the bottom of this blog (and one of my favorites), "For me, the cinema is not a slice of life, but a piece of cake." 

Foreign Film Poster Friday

"Adam's Rib", 1949

Quote Of The Day

"Flops are a part of life's menu and I've never been a girl to miss out on any of the courses."

-Rosalind Russell

For Lucy

I remember hearing on the news before going to school. I was in third grade. I should have known I was an oldie film nerd...I was nine and sad hearing that Lucille Ball had died. I still remember the day.

So happy 100 to you Lucy! 

You worked your way to the top and you'll stay there forever.