SIR SIDNEY POITIER

Sir Sidney Poitier, February 20, 1927. Bahamian/American actor, film director, author and diplomat. He performed in films and plays showcasing racial stereotypes and giving credibility to black actors. In 1963, Poitier became the first black person to win an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in, Lilies of the Field. Later in 1967, he starred in three films: To Sir, with Love; In the Heat of the Night and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.

Poitier directed a number of popular movies such as:  Uptown Saturday Night,  Let's Do It Again (with friend Bill Cosby), and Stir Crazy (starring Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder.

In 2002, 38 years after receiving the Best Actor Award, Poitier was chosen by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to receive an Honorary Award, designated To Sidney Poitier in recognition of his accomplishments.

Since 1997 he has been the Bahamian ambassador to Japan. On August 12, 2009, Sidney Poitier was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States of America's highest civilian honor, by President Barack Obama.

Fun Fact: Fluent in Russian.

My top 5 Sidney Poitier movies:
Cry The Beloved Country (1951)
A Raisin in the Sun (1961) (pictured above)
To Sir With Love (1966)
Guess who is coming to Dinner (1967)
They call me Mr. Tibbs (1970)

THIS WEEK ON NOIR and CHICK FLICKS:

This week showing on Noir and Chick Flicks at the movies:
DICK TRACY(1945). Cast: MORGAN CONWAY, ANNE JEFFREYS, JANE GREER.
Dick must stop the mysterious killings of various people with no obvious connection.

THIS WEEKS SPOTLIGHT:
Sunset Boulevard (1950) Cast: Gloria Swanson and William Holden.
Tues. Jan.18th. (pictured above)

Lady in the Lake(1947) Cast: Robert Montgomery and Audrey Totter.
Wed. Jan. 20th.
http://dawnschickflicks.blogspot.com/search/label/lady%20in%20the%20lake%281947%29
Click to read Dawn's review. :)

Check local listings for times.

ON TCM: a Mini Sidney Poitier Marathon. Mon. Jan. 18th. Check local listings for times.
TO SIR WITH LOVE (1967) Cast: Sidney Poitier.
http://dawnschickflicks.blogspot.com/2010/01/to-sir-with-love-1967.html
Click to read Rick's review.

Noir and Chick Flicks has 2 new pages:
CHICK FLICKS on SAFARI.
CHICK FLICKS: WESTERNS.
If you would like to be a contributor, please let me know. :)


Have a wonderful week at the movies.

TCM SPECIAL EVENT: VAN JOHNSON.

Van Johnson, was cast as a serviceman in A Guy Named Joe(1943). During filming, he was badly injured in a near-fatal car crash (he had to have a metal plate placed in his skull, which made him ineligible for war service). Almost being replaced on the film, the two other cast members of the film, Spencer Tracy ( lifelong friend) and Irene Dunne, demanded that the studio work around his recovery, or they would quit the film. The kind gesture made Van a huge star.

Van's had a amazing career in war films and in musicals: Two Girls and a Sailor (1944), Easy to Wed(1946), Week-End at the Waldorf(1945). War Films: A Guy Named Joe(1943). Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo(1944). When Clark Gable, James Stewart and Robert Taylor returned from the war, Van went on to second dramatic leads, but he kept his leading man status in musicals opposite June Allyson, Esther Williams(pictured above) and Judy Garland. He continued his dramatic performances in films Command Decision(1948), State of the Union(1948), Battleground(1949), Brigadoon(1954) and The Caine Mutiny(1954).

The "golden age" started to fade by the mid-1950s. MGM released Van after he co-starred with Elizabeth Taylor in The Last Time I Saw Paris(1954). He continued performing in films, The End of the Affair(1955) with Deborah Kerr, Miracle in the Rain (1956) with Jane Wyman, The Bottom of the Bottle (1956), with Joseph Cotten, 23 Paces to Baker Street(1956), with Vera Miles.

My top 5 favorite Van Johnson films:
THE THRILL OF ROMANCE (1945)
EASY TO WED (1946)
IN THE GOOD OLE SUMMER TIME (1949)
EASY TO LOVE (1953)
THE LAST TIME I SAW PARIS (1954)

GRETA GARBO: Fun Facts

Greta Garbo, a Swedish actress. Thought to be one of the greatest movie stars, ever produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Garbo received a 1954 Honorary Academy Award for her amazing on screen performances. Garbo's best known silent movies were Flesh and the Devil(1927), Love (1927) and The Mysterious Lady(1928).

Soon after her career took off, Garbo became known as a recluse. She conducted no interviews, signed no autographs, attended no social functions and answered no fan mail. Today she is often associated with her famous line from Grand Hotel: "I want to be alone. Garbo later stated, "I never said, 'I want to be alone.' I only said, 'I want to be let alone.' There is a difference." Garbo never married.

Fun Facts:

Her personal favorite movie of her own was Camille(1936).

Her first "talkie" film was Anna Christie (1930).

Gary Cooper was her favorite actor. Although, they never performed in a film together.

Was offered the role of Norma Desmond in Sunset Blvd. (1950), but she turned it down. Gloria Swanson was cast instead where she went on to receive a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her performance.

Pictured on a 37¢ USA commemorative postage stamp issued 23 September 2005, five days after her 100th birthday. On the same day, Sweden issued a 10kr stamp with the same design. The likeness on the stamps was based on a photograph taken during the filming of As You Desire Me (1932).

Greta Garbo "The Single Standard" (1929)

"The Single Standard" (1929) is a silent romantic drama starring Greta Garbo, Nils Asther, and Johnny Mack Brown. Directed by John S. Robertson and adapted from the novel by Adela Rogers St. Johns, this film examines female liberation and sexuality. The story begins with young socialite Arden Stuart, played by Greta Garbo, in a party. That evening Arden asks Anthony Kendall, a family chauffeur to take her for a ride. When they are caught returning from a romantic fling, the chauffeur is fired by his employer and then commits suicide by speeding out the car and crashing it into a nearby tree.

Three months later, Arden meets famous artist Packy Cannon, played by Nils Asther. They sail together for a long romantic trip aboard his yacht. Arden wants to marry him, but Packy soon dumps her. Back home in San Francisco, Arden is proposed again by an old friend, millionaire Tommy Hewlett, played by Johnny Mack Brown. On the rebound from Packy, Arden accepts his marriage proposal. Three years later, Packy returns and wants her back. Arden loves Packy, but has a son with Tommy. What will she do? "The Single Standard" incorporates the ideals of women's liberation in the 1920's. Modern viewers would be surprised to know that by 1929 women had been liberated and had achieved sexual equality. The films of the era reflected these movements of America's slipping puritanism until the Hays Code became fully operational around 1934. Greta Garbo's Arden Stuart was made to relate with the modern women who made her own rules of sexual behavior. The Garbo character in "The Single Standard" insists on revised moral principles that would eliminate the double standard of sexual behavior and replace it with a single rule applying equally to men and to women. "The Single Standard" was Garbo's penultimate silent film. Worried that her rich, deep voice and thick Swedish accent would not record properly, MGM executives kept Garbo in silent films longer than any of the studio's other contractees. This film was Garbo's first "modern" role and she gives one of her most sensitive and restrained performances. The love scenes are romantic and tender. Most of the film is beautifully photographed and lit even though there is some nitrate decomposition. "The Single Standard" is worth watching just to see the divine Garbo perfectly cast playing an unconventional and independent woman.

THE SINGLE STANDARD (1929) MOVIE CLIP.

LOVE IS NEWS(1937)

Love is News (1937), Romantic/Comedy. Cast: Tyrone Power and Loretta Young.

When a sly reporter lies to get a story out of heiress Tony Gateson, out of anger she turns the tables on him, telling the press that they are engaged. Now he is front page news and every salesman is at his doorstep. He loses his job and a day later asks her to come clean with the reporters. Not having it, She tricks him again and the publicity continues. Through a series of misadventures that has him alternately back on his job and fired. Soon her ex fiance shows up in New York.

Love is News was remade in (1949) as That Wonderful Urge, with Tyrone Power in his previous his role and Gene Tierney in the Loretta Young part. Review on: Gene Tierney Chick Flick page.

I enjoyed both versions of this movie. Tyrone Power has wonderful on screen chemistry with both Gene Tierney and Loretta Young. LOVE IS NEWS is a great old style film that they just don't make any more. Sometimes, the plot is hard to believe, but still very enjoyable.
LOVE IS NEWS (1937) MOVIE CLIP.

JANE GREER- Noir Dame.

Jane Greer, at the age of 15, suffered from a facial palsy, which paralyzed the left side of her face. She recovered, but it is thought that the condition contributed to her "patented look". She believed that the facial exercises she did helped her overcome the paralysis and taught her how to show human emotion. Greer began her show business career as a big band singer. Howard Hughes saw Greer modeling on the cover of Life magazine of June 8,1942 and sent her to Hollywood to become an actress. Hughes lent out the actress to RKO to star in many films, including Dick Tracy (1945), Out of the Past(1947), They Won't Believe Me (1947), The Big Steal (1949), You're in the Navy Now (1951), The Prisoner of Zenda (1952), Run for the Sun (1956), and The Man of a Thousand Faces (1957). In 1975, she appeared with Peter Falk and Robert Vaughn in the Columbo episode Troubled Waters. In 1984, she was cast in Against All Odds, a remake of Out of the Past. She also played the part of Norma Jennings' mother, Vivian Niles, in Twin Peaks.