Movie Matinee Monday: Forever Darling(1956)

My opinions on the poster:

It's very simple, but this was released at the height of Lucy's and Desi's popularity.  I don't think they needed more than two big drawings of their faces on the poster.  I didn't know that 'riotous' was a word....but I love it on the poster!!

The stars:

Lucille Ball ~ as Susan Vega

Desi Arnaz ~ as Lorenzo (Larry) Vega

James Mason ~ as the Guardian Angel Whom Just Happens to Look Exactly Like James Mason

Louis Calhern ~ as Charles Bewell

Natalie Schafer ~ as Millie Opdyke

The critic's opinions:

2.5/5 stars

I hate to give a movie starring my favorite Old Hollywood couple a less than five star rating, but I've got to be fair.  The truth is, although I find the movie endearing and I adore it, it's not the best OH film out there.  Lucy and Desi play characters that are, at their root, Lucy and Ricky Ricardo of I Love Lucy.  Susan Vega has the same tendencies as Lucy Ricardo to get into scrapes, cause trouble, and end up in slapstick comedy.  And Lorenzo Vega continues to use such language as 'dun't' and other such classic English. :-). The first time I saw this movie, the only other film I'd seen James Mason in was North by Northwest (also starring Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint).  Quite a change of characters....Mason was the evil villain in the Hitchcock picture.  Here he plays Susan's guardian angel, and he does a terrific job; Mason definitely is able to play a wide variety of roles.  Of course, there's the terrific joke of the guardian angel looking like James Mason.....because he is James Mason!!  Many watchers of this film, even if they are die-hard OH fans, tend to find it a bit boring, and definitely a less than par watch.  The truth is, those watchers are agreeing with the box office back at the movie's original release.  Unlike The Long, Long Trailer, which was released three years earlier, Forever Darling just plain failed to be a box office smash.  In fact, it didn't even make all that much of a profit, at least compared to The Long, Long Trailer.  Forever Darling's budget was $951,000, and the box office was $2,288,000.  With The Long, Long Trailer, on the other hand, the budget was $1,534,000 and the box office was $4,985,000.  Quite a difference, huh?  The truth is, I think the guardian angel angle of the plot doesn't mesh in with the comedy.  The film is quite obviously an overall romantic comedy....but the guardian angel angle gives it some kind of odd fantasy/sci-fi overtone.  It just doesn't fit.  If the guardian angel had gotten to be more comedic, or there were more comedic episodes involving him, I think it would've been better.  I also wish he'd gotten a little more screen time towards the end....he completely disappears during the camping trip, and then randomly shows up at the end to save everything.  At first Susan is annoyed with the angel, and then she likes him.  As in, she like likes him.  Of course, at the end she likes him as a friend, but at times, the entire guardian angel plot seems like a completely different movie than the comedy parts.  Then there's one more little problem: Lorenzo's and Susan's marriage problems parallel Lucy's and Desi's at that time way too much.  It rather puts a damper on the entire film, since we know what they were going through at that point.  But, enough with the negative.  Why should you watch the film?  Well, Lucy and Desi are in it.  That's a million reasons right there.  Also, despite all my ranting, there are plenty of good scenes in the film, including the slapstick and awesome camping trip they go on near the end of the film.  And, it's fun to see Lucy in color, along with her outfits, a few of which I believe I also spotted on I Love Lucy.  Susan's wedding dress is beautiful, and also looks stunning in the many publicity photos it was featured in.  And finally, you have to see it just to see all of Lucy's 'major' films. :-)

The bottom line:

A decent watch.  I recommend seeing it at least once, just so you can judge it for yourself.  You may enjoy it more than others.  It's not a film I'd say to go buy on DVD, but if it's in a box set with others (like the TCM sets), I think it's a nice film to have around and watch occasionally.

My favorite film moments {I try to stay spoiler-free}:

~ The entire camping trip

~ Lorenzo's and Susan's wedding 

~ When Susan talks to the guardian angel for the first time and realizes he is real

~ The ending......it's amazing and fabulous.

Photographs:

I'm sorry all the photographs are lobby cards, but that was all I could find.  Which should give you an idea of how popular Forever Darling is....

Behind-the-scenes:

Movie trailer:

The trailer was not on youtube, unfortunately.  I am so sorry about that!!

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Ta-ta, dahlings!!

Jan

Movie Matinee Monday: Desk Set (1957)

Today I have for you a lovely Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy film, directed by Walter Lang (who also directed The King and I).

My opinions on the poster:

I like the vintage-style drawings.  Is it just me who feels that the big drawing of Kate and Spence kind of reminds you of a Rodgers and Hammerstein poster?

The stars:

Katharine Hepburn ~ as Bunny Watson

Spencer Tracy ~ as Richard Sumner

Gig Young ~ as Mike Cutler

Joan Blondell ~ as Peg Costello

The critic's opinions:

3.5/5 stars

It's a fairly traditional storyline at it's root: girl has a long "sort-of-engagement, but not really", and then meets another guy and falls in love.  The unique factor of this motion picture lies in it's research department of a television station setting.  Richard Sumner is on assignment: to install one of his smart computers (EMERAC) in the research library.  But he's ordered not to tell any of the research employees why he is there, and so all of the employees think they are being fired....and replaced by the said computer!!  At a few points the plot slows down considerably, and you wonder when it will pick up again.  I couldn't help but think that the huge computer in the film reminds me of IRAC in the 1970s Wonder Woman television show.  I love movies set in a business/professional setting, so there's that too.  Bunny is no idiot in this film.  She's practically a walking dictionary, able to recite off anything someone asks her, whether it's the amount of trees on Earth or the names of Santa's reindeer.  She's a smart woman, and I love her character.  Sumner originally thinks she's some kind of idiot, and gives her a complicated critical thinking test.....and she passes at 100%, and even answers spinoff questions that weren't on the test!  I was happy to see Joan Blondell in this film; she's best known as a 'blonde bombshell' actress of the 1930s, but she was wonderful in this.  She's one of Bunny's best friends, and gives her advice frequently.  The wide range of CinemaScope is perhaps a bit too much for this film; the only reason I'm glad it's so wide is so the viewers can see the whole library (I love it!). A few shots seem a bit stretched out.....like the actors or actresses are positioned as far away apart from each other as possible without looking ridiculous.  But, overall, Lang does a good job of filling the wide scope, so kudos to him for that.

The bottom line:

A wonderful under appreciated classic.  Great watch, if even just to see Joan Blondell in one of her later roles. I love practically any Tracy/Hepburn film, so it didn't take much for this movie to worm it's way into my heart.

My favorite film moments {I try to stay spoiler-free}:

~ When the giant computer goes crazy and starts spitting paper everywhere

~ When a new employee is brought in to manage the computer....she's completely annoying and ridiculous.

~ Bunny's critical thinking test: she positively aces it!!

~ The Christmas office party; 1950s style!

~ The ending......see it yourself to see why I love it so! :-)

Photographs:

Behind-the-scenes:

Movie trailer:

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Ta-ta, dahlings!!

Jan

The Impeccably Awesome.....Hair Scarf

Yep, I'm writing an entire post on hair/head scarves.  ;-). You know, those impeccable, vintage, classic hair scarves worn in the 50s? Uh huh, those.  This topic came to my mind yesterday, because it's gotten pretty chilly around here, and I wear one when it gets cold.  Actually, I'd wear one all the time, just because I love them so much, but then I get accused of looking like a peasant or something like that......so, I don't.  But who cares what other people say?  I'm considering wearing one all of the time anyway.  In any event, my sister can't stand my hair scarves.  Can. Not. Stand. Them.  I don't even know why, I guess it just drives her crazy.  Which is odd.  Which also means I get picked on a lot from her on said hair scarves.  So, I'm here to present to you the case of the awesomeness of vintage-style hair scarves. :D

Hair scarves were worn especially in the late 40s and the 50s, and the 60s too, to protect women's hairstyles, and also keep them pristine in the wind when you're in the car traveling.  To be fair, I haven't particularly got a 'hairstyle' to protect, but I wear it anyways. ;-). There's even a certain way of wearing one, called the Grace Kelly Wrap, named after....you guessed it, Grace Kelly.  She wore hers this way, and this is also the way I generally wear mine.  I don't usually do the 60s triangular style hair scarf, event though I like them too. Most women/girls nowadays consider hair scarves super duper old fashioned....and I don't mean old fashioned like cool retro or something.  They actually think its old fashioned; as in, "why in the world would you wear that?  Nobody does that anymore; how silly!!"  Yeah, that kind of old fashioned. But stupid as it sounds, hair scarves make me feel sorta elegant, I guess, and like I'm in an old movie.  Kind of Grace Kelly-ish too!! :-).  Plus I think hair scarves give a kind of elegant chic air, nice and vintage.  I also think they frame your face very well.  The good thing is, hair scarves were back in trend for 2013-14, but I still didn't see many people wearing them.  I suppose that didn't go too well, so they're 'out of style' again.  But I'm going to keep wearing them anyways. :-)

So, you've probably gotten the idea that I love my hair scarves. Which I do.  :-). And after all that blathering about them, I'm going to close this post with pictures of these lovely ladies wearing hair scarves.  (I do not own any of the pictures). Enjoy!! :-)

Grace Kelly

Elizabeth Taylor

The scarf style in the first picture shows the triangular 60s style.  I don't usually wear mine like that though. :-)

Audrey Hepburn (my favorite actress of all time <3)

The style shown here is what most made me want to wear hair scarves.  It just looks so elegant. :-). This is also how I usually wear them.

Again shown here is the 60s scarf style.

And again the 60s style here.

Jackie Kennedy Onassis

Thank you very much for reading!! :-)