These past couple weeks have been super busy! I'm really looking forward to this weekend though. I'm definately going to get some movie time in and I will make sure to post a blog on whatever movie I decide to watch. I'm thinking the 1963 comedy "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," might be a good choice. Like the title, this movie is pretty long! But it's funny the whole 2 hours and 41 minutes. Also, it features all the great comedians of the 50's and 60's!
If not "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," my other choice is "Boy's Town," from 1938. "Boy's Town" isn't a comedy, but more of a feel good drama about a priest who puts his life into setting up and running a school for poor attention-less boys from rough citites. The big name in this picture is Spencer Tracy, one of my favorite leading men. Young, star actor Mickey Rooney also appears in "Boy's Town." Coincidentally, both an older Tracy and Mickey Rooney costar in "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World."
Anyway, here are the trailers for both movies:
"It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World"
"Boy's Town"
*I couldn't find a trailer with better quality so hope this works!
Vote in the poll (on the right side) for whichever of these choices you think makes a better weekend movie! Thanks!
For Audrey, time away from Hollywood was always spent with family. During her lifetime she was married twice. First she married Mel Ferrer, a fellow actor introduced to her by Gregory Peck. Together they had one son, Sean Hepburn Ferrer.
Audrey Hepburn with first husband Mel Ferrer
Audrey Hepburn with son Sean
Her second marriage would be to Andrea Dotti, an Italian psychiatrist. This marriage would produce her second son, Luca Dotti. Unfortunately, the second marriage would result in divorce as well. Eventually, she would meet the Dutch actor Robert Wolders. He would be her companion until her passing.
Audrey's marriage to Andrea Dotti
Audrey's children were very important to her and she was devoted to bringing them up the best she could. Later when her kids were grown, she adopted the children of the world, as she became UNICEF’s International Goodwill Ambassador. Her devotion to this role was unwavering and would remain her main focus for the rest of her life. She traveled the world to visit and care for those in need. Her last trip would be to Somalia. Shortly before her death, her humanitarian efforts were applauded by the United States, and President George H. W. Bush presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Sadly, Audrey would pass away on January 20th 1993, at the age of 63. The motion picture industry recognized her humanitarian work posthumously by awarding her the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian award.
Here is a link to the video from the Oscar award ceremony:
“Roman Holiday” was Audrey Hepburn’s first major picture in Hollywood. Her impressive performance as Princess Anne would win her the 1953 Oscar for best actress. From that point on, Audrey Hepburn became a respected favorite of movie audiences everywhere. Audrey Hepburn would play in more than 25 films in her lifetime. Her most memorable movies include “Roman Holiday” (mentioned above), “Sabrina”, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, “Charade”, “My Fair Lady”, and “Funny Face”. In these films and others, she shared the stage and held her own with many of Hollywood’s greatest actors. To name just a few: William Holden, Cary Grant, Fred Astaire, Humphrey Bogart, Peter O’Toole, and Sean Connery. Check out some of the movie posters:
But Audrey Hepburn was not only admired for her acting. She was, and still is, noted as a fashion icon. In fact, the famous designer Hubert de Givenchy was not only the creator of her most notable onscreen costumes, but one of Audrey’s closest lifelong friends.
Audrey Hepburn was born on May 4th 1929 in Belgium. Her given name was Audrey Kathleen Ruston. The last name was changed to Hepburn later, a name that came from a member of Audrey’s father’s family.
Early on, Audrey had her fair share of hardships. Only a few weeks after birth, Audrey suffered an almost fatal case of whooping cough. A few years later, she was devastated when her father left the family. Having been away in England for school, Audrey returned to the Netherlands to be with her mother and two step-brothers due to the acceleration of World War II. Unfortunately, she would still be a first hand witness to WWII, as Holland went under German occupation on May 1940. Her experiences with the war would leave a lasting impression on her, and influenced her later humanitarian work.
Before the war, she developed a love for ballet. She cultivated this interest for a time, during the war. This love of ballet would remain after the war, but Audrey would again be disappointed when she was told her opportunities to become a prima ballerina had passed. Audrey would continue performing though, working as a chorus girl and a small-time actress. Eventually, she was discovered by Collette, the author of the book Gigi which was just being developed into a stage show. Audrey would play the lead character of Gigi on Broadway and gain recognition for her successful performance. Soon after, she was cast in her first lead film role as Princess Anne in the movie “Roman Holiday”, starring opposite noted actor Gregory Peck.
As mentioned in my “About Me” section, Audrey Hepburn is my favorite actress. I realize that drawing a complete picture of Audrey Hepburn will require me to post a very long entry. So, instead I have decided to break up the one post into three separate ones. I’m planning for the posts to cover Audrey’s beginnings, her success as an actress and fashion icon, and her life and work outside of film. I hope to put something up soon, but in the meantime here is a nice montage someone put together with clips from a few of Audrey's movies.
I'm hoping to do a post once a month on a famous actor or actress in film. So far I've been planning to do posts on the following stars:
- James Cagney - Clark Gable
- Ava Gardner - Audrey Hepburn
- Grace Kelly - Vivien Leigh
- Ginger Rogers - Jimmy Stewart
- Spencer Tracy - John Wayne
Many of the actors that I have picked are from the American Film Institute's list of 50 Greatest American Screen Legends. AFI put this list together for a series they did celebrating 100 years of film. You might know about the American Film Institute from the annual Lifetime Achievement Award they give out. It is a very prestigious award meant to honor a dedicated motion picture artist.
Forty-four years ago, in 1967, the AFI was created. According to the history page on the AFI website, the institute was started "as a national arts organization to train filmmakers and preserve America's vanishing film heritage" (AFI History). The first Lifetime Achievement Award was given to director John Ford in 1973. Their work is not only concerned with recognizing the great talents and works of the motion picture field. There is also an AFI conservatory that trains new artists of film.
Anyway, please comment and let me know which of the actors listed above you'd like to know more about.
On this 10th anniversary of September 11th, I'd like to highlight a movie that really helps capture the American spirit. The film is Yankee Doodle Dandy from 1942. An important role of the film was to boost the morale of Americans dealing with World War II.
The movie stars James Cagney. It was important for Cagney to take this role as it helped improve his reputation at a time when he was at risk of being blacklisted by the House of Un-American Activities Committee. However, Cagney was not a communist, but a liberal democrat. Later in life though, he would come to identify himself as an "arch-conservative." This wasn't his first turn around though. Often cast as the tough guy in movies, in this film Cagney does a 180 playing the American "song and dance man" George M. Cohan.
Cohan is the genius behind the patriotic songs "Over There," "The Yankee Doodle Boy," and "You're A Grand Old Flag." In the film, Cohan meets with FDR, who was president at the time. During their conversation Cohan shares with the president a reflection on his rise to success and the effect of his music on an audience dealing with World War I. At the end of the meeting (and end of the movie), Cohan is presented with the Congressional Medal of Honor for the positive impact of his music on the World War I society.
George M. Cohan was still alive when Yankee Doodle Dandy was filmed and seen by audiences everywhere, but he would die soon after on November 5th 1942. Today, a statue of Cohan can be seen in Times Square commemorating his contribution to theater. The recognition James Cagney would get for his portrayal of Cohan came in the form of an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. This would be Cagney's only Oscar win.
The scene I've included below is from the end of the movie. Cagney's joyful tapping down the stairs of the White House really sums up how it feels to be free and to be an American!
I'm planning to post a link to a longer clip at the end of the movie soon! It doesn't give any of the plot away, but does highlight the importance of Cohan's work for the country and conclude with a nice reflection on the ideals of the American people and our spirit.
Musicals have always been a favorite classic movie genre of mine. They are great to watch with the family, or just when you need to relax for a couple carefree hours. Many of my favorite movie musicals feature Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, an amazing dancing duo. The general movie plots could be very similar to each other when these two were paired together, but their dancing sequences were always unique and fun to watch. Recently, I got a chance to see the film Follow the Fleet, featuring both Rogers and Astaire.
It's a cute romance story from 1936 about two sisters and the naval sailors they love. The sailor Astaire plays is known as Bake. Bake is in love with Sherry (played by Rogers), but mistakenly keeps messing up her career opportunities. This becomes quite comical. Sherry's sister, Connie, is in love with another sailor known as Bilge. Unfortunately, Bilge loses interest in Connie when she mentions marriage, and he starts falling for another girl. A disappointed Connie is planning to put on a show and use the ticket money from the show to return home. Will Bilge realize how much Connie loves him? Will Connie and Bilge end up together?... I won't tell in hopes that you see this movie for yourself! It's not one to miss!
In the mean time, here's a nice clip from the film that shows off the immense talent of Astaire and Rogers. I hope you'll enjoy this sequence as much as I do! If you do, you'll probably find yourself cheering along throughout!
