From, of course, the inimitable “Auntie Mame” (1958, dir Morton Da Costa). Well, it was justghastly. Joanna Barnes as the out-of-her-depth debutant Gloria Upson, trying desperately to play catch up with Mame Dennis. Watch out for the film-buff favorite Lee Patrick (“Well, it was amusing.”), an actress woefully under appreciated today, if remembered at all.
This classic clip from the Three Stooges (doubly so, as it’s in color) shows the triad with a bevy of Columbia-brand cuties getting into the mood, with a most unlikely inspiration (date and director unknown).
Dedicated to none other than Keith H, who I can still see doing the shimmy to this song all these years later. From “Lust in the Dust” (1985, dir Paul Bartel).
Two of my favorite television memories: Carol Burnett’s takeoff on Gloria Swanson in “Sunset Boulevard” and the Dean Martin roasts. If you are a child of the 1970s you know just what I mean.
Maggie Smith in her Oscar-winning role of an Oscar-losing actress. The sole bright spot in an otherwise dismal movie (“California Suite,” 1978, dir Herbert Ross).
Pure, if not so simple. A bravura piece of acting from “30 Rock.”
Get into the spirit of the sparkling Jour pour nuit (1973, dir François Truffaut) — called “Day For Night” in the US — and you will fall in love with its collection of egoists, oddballs, ballbusters, and raging neurotics. If you have ever had an interest in how films are made, you will love this movie. Here, Valentina Cortese plays the thoroughly overwhelmed Sévérine, with too much dialogue, waaaaay too much business, and constant, obstreperous direction to contend with.
And I don’t know to whom I’m referring. Rock Hudson and Mae West light up the legendary 1957 Academy Awards. Here the two, um. . . friends spark to “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.” Fantastic!
It will be difficult (er, “dwefful diffy”) to convey how brilliant this adaptation of Benson’s novel is, but I urge you to see the serialization of “Mapp & Lucia” as soon as possible.
Donald O’Connor is brilliant, nimble, and incredibly graceful in this scene from “Singin’ In The Rain.” (1952, dirs Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly)
