Sunday, October 23, 2011

She's A Doll

Barbie has come out with a line of Grace Kelly dolls. She's petite, pretty, and wearing the infamous black floral dress that she wore when she met Prince Rainier. If I were a mini oldie nerd, I would much rather play with a classy broad like Grace than the two dollar hooker Barbies that seem to be the standard.

This....


Or this...?


They also created a Grace doll wearing the beautiful blue dress seen in "To Catch A Thief".



I was never a Barbie kid. I got a Malibu Barbie once for my birthday and I think it eventually died somewhere in my backyard where I left it to weather. My bestie Jill had a plethora of Barbies, so I dabbled with hers. But after some Google-ing I got inspired to look further. What other oldie dolls were out there? Maybe if I had some of these when I was a kid, I would have been more interested!



Marlene Dietrich from "Shanghai Express"




Audrey Hepburn with several options from "Funny Face"



Humphrey Bogart: way better than Ken!



Claudette Colbert from "Cleopatra"



Carmen Miranda doll, fruit included.
(Not a mirror image, but it's the thought that counts!)



Another tribute to Audrey this time from "Breakfast At Tiffany's"



Who wouldn't want a replica of Goldie Hawn from "Laugh In"?
(I know, she is from TV land, but it's so fab!)




Just in time for Halloween, it's Tippi Hedren from "The Birds"



Rita Hayworth from "Gilda"



Norma Shearer in "Marie Antoinette"



Ava Gardner looking sexy



Bette Davis looking creepy!



Liz Taylor in a very familiar outfit.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

"Daisy Kenyon"

Poor Daisy...Joan Crawford stars on this film noir pic about a working woman torn between two men(Dana Andrews and Henry Fonda). Daisy is dating married lawyer Dan (Andrews). When Dan breaks plans with Daisy again, she says they are through, but Dan talks her into changing her mind.





Daisy goes on a date with Peter (Fonda) a widow who has just returned from war and is on the creepy side. After one night together he tells Daisy he loves her. Her response? "Uh, What?!" She enjoys his company but would rather be with Dan.



After her date, she tells Dan how he is still her number one man. Peter never calls but decides to stalk her from afar.


Check out what movie is playing!


Meanwhile, Dan returns home and we get to see how fun his home life is. Dan's wife is a drag and she knows he isn't interested in her. He takes the kids side on everything, so his wife then smacks the kids around. Nice.



Peter finally convinces Daisy to go on another date and within a few minutes, they are married. They move to the coast and we learn that not only is Peter a bit messed up in the head from war trauma, but that in reality, neither one of them really loves each other. Strange. 


Dan finds out and is sad. He goes away on a trial and gets beat up in the process. When he returns, he makes a move on newlywed Daisy who won't have it. Dan's wife finds out and wants a divorce. Dan calls together Daisy and her man for a "meeting" to tell them both he is in love with Daisy but nothing happened when he tried to feel her up. Peter is weirdly OK with this. To boot he shares he is in a bitter divorce case for the kiddies. 


Awkward.

Daisy agrees to help Dan out and take the stand. Peter tells Daisy if you want to leave me, just say the word and I'll be gone. The trial starts and Daisy must take Dan's side so he can get the children, even though his estranged wife is still beating them during the trial.



"Mommy beats us!"

Daisy can't take it anymore and flees to the coast. Dan and Peter meet up and together go to Daisy to figure out who gets her. She takes a car ride and has a nasty spill. 



After she walks home in the snow, the boys are waiting for her. She doesn't want either one of them but eventually one suitor gets to stay.


I must say, although the pickle Daisy is in is strange and far fetched, (I mean come on, who gets married and then agrees to let her ex lover come together to find out who she really wants?)you really never know who she is going to pick. This film is considered on of Joan's best and is the first "woman film noir" film made. 

Thursday, October 20, 2011