So far here are the scores for Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tournament.

Monty says: Here are the scores for all the matches going on for the Favorite Classic Movie Actress. They will continue through Wednesday night. So you still have time to vote if you haven't yet or in case you change your mind and want to change your original vote.

From the silent/30's era...

Greta is stomping all over Anna May in first round action...

GRETA GARBO 42 ANNA MAY WONG 8


JANET GAYNOR 26 MARY PICKFORD 25 (Really close match!)


LILLIAN GISH 20 GLORIA SWANSON 31


CLARA BOW 28 LOUISE BROOKS 23 (Close match)


BARBARA STANWYCK 44 MIRIAM HOPKINS 9


MARLENE DIETRICH 41 ELSA LANCHESTER 11


JOAN CRAWFORD 30 NORMA SHEARER 21 (The Women Redux...)


CLAUDETTE COLBERT 36 MARY ASTOR 17 (this was much closer early on)

THE 1940'S ERA...

Kate is in firm control of her match with Jane Greer

VIVIEN LEIGH 32 RUTH HUSSEY 6 (Vivien rolling early)


GENE TIERNEY 20 GREER GARSON 18 (This match has been back and forth all day long)


INGRID BERGMAN 32 LORETTA YOUNG 7


LAUREN BACALL 27 ANN SHERIDAN 12 (looks like my girl Ann will be exiting early)


BETTE DAVIS 33 CLAIRE TREVOR 6 (Bette making a statement early)


LANA TURNER 19 JOAN FONTAINE 18 (A really exciting match!)


KATHARINE HEPBURN 29 JANE GREER 10 (This was actually tied at one point..)


OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND 29 IDA LUPINO 9 

THE 1950'S ERA..

The English Rose, Deborah Kerr is handling Kim Novak quite easily

ELIZABETH TAYLOR 37 SHELLEY WINTERS 13


ELEANOR PARKER 27 ANNE BAXTER 18


SUSAN HAYWARD 30 JENNIFER JONES 16


AVA GARDNER 31 GLORIA GRAHAME 18 


GRACE KELLY 39 RHONDA FLEMING 10 (Grace all over Rhonda!)


SOPHIA LOREN 27 ANNE FRANCIS 20 (Anne making a little comeback here after falling behind early)


AUDREY HEPBURN 32 DOROTHY MALONE 15


DEBORAH KERR 33 KIM NOVAK 15

THE 1960'S ERA..

Brigitte might become a spectator after this first round as she is losing to Claudia Cardinale

JULIE CHRISTIE 24 TIPPI HEDREN 17


SUSANNAH YORK 19 LIV ULLMAN 16


LEE REMICK 24 JEAN SEBERG 12


CATHERINE DENEUVE 31 SHARON TATE 9


JEAN SIMMONS 33 BARBARA SHELLEY 8


CLAUDIA CARDINALE 25 BRIGITTE BARDOT 13 (Brigitte who?)


FAYE DUNAWAY 25 VERA MILES 16


ANNE BANCROFT 26 ROMY SCHNEIDER 14

The matches will continue on thru Wednesday and the winners will advance to round two next week.

We're off and running....

I decided to go ahead and start the tourney tonight so I wouldn't be rushed in the morning before heading out for work. So I have the polls in the right sidebar set to run thru Wednesday night 8 pm EST. And unless there is a tie somewhere I will start the other two categories (Funny Ladies/Girls Next Door and Singers/Dancers) on Thursday. Only one vote per match is allowed. I will post updates to see who is winning and losing. Good luck to all the talented actresses that are competing. My pick to win this era...the divine Elizabeth Taylor of course! Oh and here are the links to the other sites to vote on the other three eras: all good things, mythicalmonkey, rosalind-russell

2012 Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tournament: 1950's Era - Round 1 (Sophisticates and Drama Queens)

Welcome to the first round of the tourney. Here are the scheduled matches for the two groups starting Monday morning. Voting will end on Wednesday night and then the other two groups (Funny Ladies/Girls Next Door and Singers/dancers will kick off). The polls will be on the right hand side bar. One vote per match. Let's have some fun. And I will post the other two categories matches probably on Tuesday.

1950'S SOPHISTICATES BRACKET

1 GRACE KELLY

Notable Films: Rear Window, To Catch A Thief, High Noon


VS


8 RHONDA FLEMING

Notable Films: Gunfight at the OK Corral, Out of the Past


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4 SOPHIA LOREN

Notable Films: Houseboat, Two Women, El Cid


VS


5 ANNE FRANCIS

Notable Films: Susan Slept Here, Forbidden Planet, The Blackboard Jungle


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2 AUDREY HEPBURN

Notable Films: Roman Holiday, Sabrina, A Nun's Story, My Fair Lady



VS



7 DOROTHY MALONE

Notable Films: Written on The Wind, The Big Sleep, Artists and Models


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3 DEBORAH KERR

Notable Films: From Here To Eternity, The King and I, An Affair To Remember



VS


6 KIM NOVAK

Notable Films: Picnic, Bell Book and Candle, Vertigo

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1950'S DRAMA QUEENS BRACKET

1 ELIZABETH TAYLOR

Notable Films: Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, Giant, Father Of The Bride


VS


8 SHELLEY WINTERS

Notable Films: A Place in the Sun, The Night Of The Hunter, Lolita


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4 ANNE BAXTER

Notable Films: All About Eve, I Confess, The Ten Commandments



VS



5 ELEANOR PARKER

Notable Films: Caged, Detective Story, The Man With The Golden Arm


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2 SUSAN HAYWARD

Notable Films: Smash Up, I Want To Live, I'll Cry Tomorrow


VS


7 JENNIFER JONES

Notable Films: Love Is A Many Splendored Thing, The Song of Bernadette, Beat The Devil


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3 AVA GARDNER

Notable Films: The Barefoot Contessa, Show Boat, Mogambo


VS


6 GLORIA GRAHAME

Notable Films: The Bad and the Beautiful, It's A Wonderful Life, In A Lonely Place

This Week On N and CF.

ON TCM March 4th. The Temptress (1926). A silent romantic drama film directed by Fred Niblo. Starring Greta Garbo, Antonio Moreno, Lionel Barrymore and Roy D'Arcy it premiered on October 10, 1926. The film melodrama was based on a novel by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez adapted for the screen by Dorothy Farnum. Please click Here for review.

On TCM March 5th: China Seas(1935). Adventure film starring Clark Gable as a brave sea captain, Jean Harlow as his brassy paramour, and Wallace Beery as an extremely suspicious-looking character. The oceangoing epic also features Lewis Stone and Rosalind Russell, while humorist Robert Benchley memorably portrays a character reeling drunk from one end of the film to the other. Please click Here to read review.

On TCM March 6th. The Talk of the Town (1942). Cast: Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Ronald Colman, Edgar Buchanan, and Glenda Farrell. The movie was adapted by Dale Van Every, Irwin Shaw and Sidney Buchman from the story by Sidney Harmon. It was directed by George Stevens. Please click Here for movie review.

On TCM March 7th: Dead Ringer(1964). Thriller directed by Paul Henreid and produced by William H. Wright from a screenplay by Oscar Millard and Albert Beich from the story La Otra by Rian James. The music score was by André Previn and the cinematography by Ernest Haller.

On TCM March 8th: The Nanny(1965). Suspense film directed by Seth Holt and starring Bette Davis as a devoted nanny caring for a ten-year-old boy recently discharged from a home for disturbed children. It is based on the novel of the same name by Evelyn Piper (a pseudonym for Merriam Modell), and the film was scored by Richard Rodney Bennett. Please click Here for movie review.

Happy Birthday: Cyd Charisse. (March 8, 1922 – June 17, 2008) After recovering from polio as a child, and studying ballet, Charisse entered films in the 1940s. Her roles usually focused on her abilities as a dancer, and she was paired with Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly; her films include Singin' in the Rain (1952), The Band Wagon (1953) and Silk Stockings (1957). She stopped dancing in films in the late 1950s, but continued acting in film and television, and in 1992 made her Broadway debut. Please click Here to learn more.

Happy Birthday: Claire Trevor (March 8, 1910 – April 8, 2000) was an Academy Award-winning American actress. She was nicknamed the "Queen of Film Noir" because of her many appearances in "bad girl” roles in film noir and other black-and-white thrillers. She appeared in over 60 films. Please click Here for movie review.

Video: Full movie..

On TCM 9th: The Gay Sisters (1942). drama film directed by Irving Rapper, and starring Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Donald Crisp, Gig Young and Nancy Coleman. The Warner Bros. motion picture was based on a novel by Stephen Longstreet.

On TCM March 10th. For Heaven's Sake(1950). Fantasy film starring Clifton Webb as an angel trying to save the marriage of a couple played by Joan Bennett and Robert Cummings. It was adapted from the play May We Come In? by Harry Segall. Please click Here for movie review.

This weeks "Article of the Week" comes from 1001 Movies Blog: Gift Tips From Lady Eve(1941) Kim, wrote her movie review from the viewpoint of The Lady Eve. With very creative results. Please stop by her blog and check out her awesome review.. I know you will love it as much as I did..

One of my favorite things to do besides watching classic films, is eating my meal on a beautiful plate.. Hey! Why not? I believe that life is too short and we should enjoy the little pleasures of awesome food. You are more than welcome to stop by and check out my favorite recipes page. From time to time, I will add a new recipe. Please click  The Pretty Plate , while it is still under construction. (I want to add a few thoughts to my recipes). Enjoy.

Speed(1936).

Speed(1936). Action film with James Stewart and Wendy Barrie. The film begins at Emery Motors, where the companies publicist Jane Mitchell, takes a tour of the factory with the plant's engineer Frank Lawson and test driver Terry Martin. There Jane learns that Terry is trying to build a better/bigger/faster carburetor with Clarence Maxmillian Haggerty, also known as "Gadget,".

Both and Frank and Terry invites Jane to the company dance, but she refuses at first saying that she has to work.. Frank tells her that he told Josephine that he couldn't go to the dance with her because he was taking Jane, she then agrees to go with him. At the dance, Terry is upset that Jane did not go to the dance with him.

Because of their hard feelings Frank and Terry find it very hard to work together. After the trials, Terry does not think the carburetor is ready, but Frank insists that everything is all right and Terry drives in the race.

Something goes wrong and Gadget is critically injured and Terry hospitalized with a concussion. Terry blames Jane, who now realizes that she is in love with him. He accuses her of only caring about the money and wants nothing to do with her.

Soon Terry, is well and ready to back to work, but no one wants to finance his project. Jane then secretly asks her uncle the companies owner to back Terry's project and he agrees. Later, at Medoc dry lake, everyone watches as Terry runs the first half of the course.

The rules of the contest say that he must finish within thirty minutes, which no one has done before. Frank and the others rush to the car and find Terry has almost been asphyxiated and Frank races him to the hospital. Will Frank's quick action save Terry's life?



Fun Fact:

Archive footage of an actual Indianapolis 500 race is included in the movie.

What is fun about this film is that it made before Jimmy Stewart became a star and he plays a character you would never expect from him.

Wendy Barrie (18 April 1912 – 2 February 1978). While still in her teens, she began pursuing a career as an actress, helped by her red-gold hair and blue eyes. Adopting the stage name Wendy Barrie (in honour of Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie, who was said to have invented the name "Wendy"), she began her acting life in English theatre then in 1932 made her screen debut in the film Threads, which was based upon a play.

Barrie went on to make a number of motion pictures for London Films under the Korda brothers, Alexander and Zoltan, the best-known of which is 1933's The Private Life of Henry VIII which starred Charles Laughton, Robert Donat, Merle Oberon, and Elsa Lanchester. Barrie portrayed Jane Seymour.

In 1934, she performed in the film, Freedom of the Seas and was contracted by Fox Film Corporation for a film directed by Scott Darling that was made in Britain. The following year, she moved to the United States and made her first Hollywood film for Fox opposite Spencer Tracy in the romantic comedy, It's a Small World, followed by Under Your Spell. Loaned to MGM, Barrie starred opposite James Stewart in the 1936 film Speed. In 1939 she starred with Richard Greene and Basil Rathbone in the 20th Century Fox version of, The Hound of the Baskervilles and with Lucille Ball in, Five Came Back. During the early 1940s, Barrie made several of The Saint and The Falcon mystery films with George Sanders. She made her final motion picture in 1943.

Pre-Code: Trouble in Paradise (1932).

Trouble in Paradise(1932). Pre-Code romantic comedy film directed by Ernst Lubitsch. Cast: Miriam Hopkins, Kay Francis and Herbert Marshall, and features Charles Ruggles, Edward Everett Horton and C. Aubrey Smith.

In Venice, during dinner, Lily accuses Gaston(who is posing as a baron) of being a thief and he in turn, accuses her of being a pickpocket. But when he presents her garter to her, she falls instantly in love with him and they decide to join forces. They are almost caught while robbing aristocrat Francois Fileba's room.



A year later, in Paris, Gaston and Lily are still in love and working together when, at the opera, Gaston steals a diamond-studded purse from Mariette Colet, owner of Paris's perfumerie, Colet and Co. Posing as Monsieur LuValle, Gaston returns the bag to collect the reward and lands a job as her secretary.

It is not long before Gaston, begins making plans to embezzle money from the company. Lily, works as Gaston's assistant and pretends to be devoted to Mariette even though she is jealous of her and Gaston's relationship.

After a few weeks, Mariette introduces Gaston to her friends and Fileba, asks him if he has ever been in Venice, of course Gaston denies it. Now, fearful that Fileba, will expose them, Gaston and Lily must leave Paris. Fileba, soon remembers Gaston, was the man who robbed him in Venice and warns Mariette, but she does not really seem to care.

When Lily, realizes the reason why Gaston, wants to leave in the morning, is because he made plans to meet with Mariette, she steals the money from the safe. Now, that everyone knows his true identity, how will Gaston get out of this love triangle?



What I loved most about this romantic comedy, was the many beautiful sets and costumes.

Kay Francis (January 13, 1905 - August 26, 1968). She costarred with William Powell many times and performed in as many as six to eight movies a year, making a total of 21 films between 1929 and 1931. With her dark beauty and her deep voice perfectly suited for early sound- films made Francis one of the top film stars of the early 1930s.

She performed in the films, Girls About Town (1931) and Twenty-Four Hours (1931). After Kay's career skyrocketed at Warners, she would return to Paramount for the film, Trouble in Paradise (1932).

In 1932, Warner Brothers persuaded both Francis and Powell to join the ranks of Warners stars. In exchange, Francis was given roles that allowed her a more sympathetic screen persona.

Scheduled Matches for 50's Era of Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tournament

Below are the scheduled matches with the top 4 seeds of the the 4 categories highlighted. There is one big change from last year's tourney...Doris Day, the top seed of the 60's era will now compete in the 50's era. We will watch closely to see how well she fares in a new era. I think she will do just fine. My pick to win this era though is Elizabeth Taylor. The fun begins Monday March 5th.

 Overall 50's era top seed Grace Kelly (and last year's final four finalist)

50’S SOPHISICATES

1 GRACE KELLY VS 8 RHONDA FLEMING

4 SOPHIA LOREN VS 5 ANNE FRANCIS

2 AUDREY HEPBURN VS 7 DOROTHY MALONE

3 DEBORAH KERR VS 6 KIM NOVAK

Funny Ladies/Girls Next Door top seed Judy Holliday

50’S FUNNY LADIES/GIRLS NEXT DOOR

1 JUDY HOLLIDAY VS 8 PIER ANGELI

4 JAYNE MANSFIELD VS 5 JANET LEIGH

2 MARILYN MONROE VS 7 JOANNE WOODWARD

3 THELMA RITTER VS 6 EVA MARIE SAINT

Drama queens top seed Elizabeth Taylor

50’S DRAMA QUEENS

1 ELIZABETH TAYLOR VS 8 SHELLEY WINTERS (a match between A Place in the Sun
women....very cool)

4 ANNE BAXTER VS 5 ELEANOR PARKER

2 SUSAN HAYWARD VS 7 JENNIFER JONES

3 AVA GARDNER VS 6 GLORIA GRAHAME

Singers/Dancers top seed Doris Day

50’S SINGERS/DANCERS

1 DORIS DAY VS 8 JANE RUSSELL

4 VERA-ELLEN VS 5 LESLIE CARON

2 DEBBIE REYNOLDS VS 7 JANE POWELL (might be the best match of this round)

3 CYD CHARISSE VS 6 DOROTHY DANDRIDGE