rupert evans

like cillian murphy, actor rupert has a handsome face and can play 'bad' really really well. that is not all he can do as i have been seeing his face pop up on various bbc t.v. productions, including 2009's 'emma.' recently i watched a british t.v. version of d.h. lawrence's 'sons and lovers.' it was not exceptional! it would be very difficult to top the original film version (1960) starring the wondrous wendy hiller and dean stockwell. those two really took the close relationship between mother and son and brought it home big time.
even while playing the good son, rupert had an edge, but it was nothing compared to the demon within he carried through the great 'fingersmith.'

give it all you got

what's not to love?

““You take somebody that cries their goddam eyes out over phoney stuff in the movies, and nine times out of ten they’re mean bastards at heart.”” - J.D. Salinger

counting calories

hedy lamarr, described by her studio as 'the most beautiful woman in the world', contemplates taking a bite (out of a baked potato?) while wearing 'the most beautiful jacket in the world.'

'hitch'

'Self-plagiarism is style.' -Alfred Hitchcock

man and muse

'hitch' and farley granger

include him out

farley granger is famously known as 'guy' from 'strangers on a train.' the brilliant performance given by that film's co-star, robert walker, would be enough to pull greatness out of anyone playing opposite him. farley granger was a wonderful actor who left the luxury of hollywood filmmaking, while still quite young, for the new york stage. the man had great success in that arena as well.
his autobiography 'include me out' is titled after an expression used by samuel goldwyn, the studio head who gave farley his start in films and the reason for farley's exit. yes, the actor slept with and befriended many beautiful actresses. his sex life is shared as well as his great love of music, food, and the theatre. his book is revealing yet always respectful. i wish i knew this beautiful man.

photo: farley today in his mid eighties.

a lovely actress

actress cathy o'donnell had the most tender screen presence. actor farley granger had lovely things to say about his two time co-star in his wonderful autobiography. the personal facts of cathy's life are sad. at the age of 24 she married the brother of a director who decided to quit working for the studio where cathy had a contract. feeling that she was being disloyal, the studio pretty much ended her film career. she went on to work in t.v. but died at 46.
what she has left behind are deeply felt performances for us to cherish.

cinema love

al pacino and kitty winn

johnny depp and franka potente

woody allen and diane keaton

anouk aimee and marcello mastrioanni

faye dunaway and warren beatty

jane birken and jean louis trintignant

anouk aimee

'It's so much better to desire than to have.'

'What helps me go forward is that I stay receptive, I feel that anything can happen.'

'You can only perceive real beauty in a person as they get older.'

the stunning actress made cinema history in 1966 in claude lelouch's 'a man and a woman.' the movie won the oscar for best foreign film. not too long ago i saw her glide down a paris street wrapped in chic, as beautiful as ever.

anouk has made 81 film and just completed another one directed by lelouch.

photo: 'a man and a woman': Anouk Aimée and composer Pierre Barouh.

if you write they will listen

in 1963 t.v. personality ed sullivan had a feeling, based on the mania surrounding their scandinavian tour, that the beatles would be a 'really big' hit for his show. another elvis! brilliant mop tops manager brian epstein told ed he could have the boys but only if he booked them THREE sundays in a row. so, in february of 1964 the small screen gave birth to the blues in the form of a young audience screaming their broken hearts out that john was in fact married.
over 70 million t.v. sets were turned on and poured out the catchy tunes and undeniable charisma of the lucky lads from liverpool. i was watching.

photo: older, wiser, and still having a blast.

do look back

"Sometimes it is harder to deprive oneself of a pain than of a pleasure."- F. Scott Fitzgerald.

that is a beautiful quote from his novel 'tender is the night.' fitzgerald writes like a dream and his stories have been filmed many times. 1974's 'the great gatsby' melted one and all with performances from robert redford and mia farrow. the big budget spectacular director Baz Luhrmann is now set to do his version of the beloved story.

"If you wanted to show a mirror to people that says, 'You've been drunk on money,' they're not going to want to see it. But if you reflected that mirror on another time they'd be willing to."- luhrmann

fun

movies have got to be more fun to watch than to make. sometimes. actress gene tierney is one of those people who looks stunning even bored.

cockney caine

“I started with the firm conviction that when I came to the end, I wanted to be regretting the things that I had done, not the things I hadn't.”

“I'm every bourgeois nightmare - a Cockney with this intelligence and a million dollars."

i have loved him since i first saw 'alfie.' photo courtesy 'the impossible cool'

beautiful bardot

want

my husband says he will trade both our dogs for..... no he didn't. however, look at this gorgeous animal, rin tin tin.

l'atlantide

It is 1896 in the Sahara. Two officers, André de Saint-Avit and Jean Morhange investigate the disappearance of their fellow officers. While doing so, they are drugged and kidnapped by a Tarqui warrior, the procurer for the monstrous Queen Antinea. Antinea, descendant of the rulers of Atlantis, has a cave wall with the 120 niches carved into it, one for each of her lovers. Only 53 have been filled; when all 120 have been filled, Antinea will sit atop a throne in the center of the cave and rest forever.

there's a plot. i had no idea what to expect. this epic masterpiece of silent cinema totally blew my little mind last night. breathtaking beauty non stop: the sahara desert where it was filmed, the players, the textures. as my friend susan would say, 'to die.'

directed in 1921 by jacques feyder. prepare for 160 minutes of pure visionary magic.

tender trivia: jacques chose his leading lady based on a dance performance of the reed slim actress. by the time filming began she was 30 pounds heavier! while watching the film i found her weight to be incredibly seductive and her smile to be one of the most irresistible ever.

that voice

'in the midnight hour', 'land of 1,000 dances', 'mustang sally'.... these songs are not only part of the soundtrack of my life but of films as well.
wilson pickett's hits have a total of 50 screen credits.

warming up

i rarely watch her films but i will get there. i know katherine hepburn is the number one actress on the major lists. seeing her dressed like this while sitting on the floor, i can only imagine she was in rehearsal mode. how one dresses 'off stage' always interests me and polka dots just wow me.

this girl can't help it

james dean's personality just leapt into our hearts. how i love people who want to try all the art forms. film, theatre, music, photography.... and sculpting!

liv life

“I was staying with some friends in England, and it was New Year's. My husband, Roy, and I were sleeping, and I woke to the sound of our friend's two little boys. They were going around the bedrooms opening the doors and looking in. When they got to our door, one little boy went to open it and the other said, 'No! Don?t open that door. The princess is sleeping in there.' It made my heart leap out of my chest. I think that was the first time I really realized the impact these films had on people.”-actress liv tyler realizing the power of her character in 'lord of the rings.'

serenading oneself

from the 'la strada' series by pal shazar

wistful thinking

the loneliness of the long distance director: Pier Paolo Pasolini.

photo courtesy: tom sutpen

classic style

sometimes it runs in the family. francoise dorleac, sister of catherine deneuve, from the 1964 film 'la peau douce.' i suggest you try to say that. (la po duce!) translation: 'the soft skin.'

clowning around

the eternal clown/mime is surely actor jean-louis barrault from 'les enfants du paradis.' all we can do is offer tributes.


painting unknown/'slow children'

dreamscape

Les Enfants du Paradis, released as Children of Paradise in North America, is a 1945 film by French director Marcel Carné, made during the Nazi occupation of France. Set among the Parisian theatre scene of the 1830s, it tells the story of a beautiful courtesan, Garance, and the four men who love her in their own ways: a mime, an actor, a criminal and an aristocrat. A three-hour film divided into two halves, it was described in the original American trailer as the French answer to Gone with the Wind.The film was voted "Best French Film Ever" in a poll of 600 French critics and professionals in 1995.

beauty to the max. my french friend fainted after seeing this film.

hitch

two of a kind

joan fontaine and olivia de havilland were sisters who, for better or worse, were both nominated for academy awards in the Best Actress category in 1942. heavy going. joan had previously been nominated for 'rebecca.' maybe the academy was just waiting for this moment to come. it came and joan won for yet another hitchcock directed portrayal of yet another seemingly passive spouse.
in truth, joan's slim self slipped into these characters that may have appeared weak, but she mined their inner strength with gusto. not only did she manage to rise to the occasion needed in each film, she brought her man up to a higher level as well.
i love watching both sisters. even if 'the heiress' (with olivia) is forever being screened around here, i would have to say sister joan played parts with deeper appeal.

take me home

"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again"..... so begins the story of the young (nameless) wife of the great and tormented maxim de winter. what a smug and charming man he is. laurence olivier brought much sympathy to a role that lacked any connection to modern times as we know them. even in olden times his condescension would be questionable. well, live and learn. hitchcock worked his magic on daphne du maurier's novel, 'rebecca' and left us with one of the most enjoyable (if highly incorrect) films.

The Second Mrs. de Winter: I've been thinking...
Maxim de Winter: Now why would you want to go and do that for?

makin' movies

actor richard burton and director john huston: 'the night of the iguana'

actor ben gazzara and director john cassavetes: 'the killing of a chinese bookie'

jimmy!

i tried

how i wish i could find a film that included the beatles song 'rocky raccoon' to justify posting this great photo on a film blog. however, 'rocky and bullwinkle' ruled the small screen when i was a kid! even if 'rocky' was a flying squirrel, he MAY have been named after a raccoon.

mystery gal

leave it to clark gable to get this look from any gal.

new crush

peter o'toole and pup.

eyes of these irish

the o'toole's and the murphy's.

who cares?

1967. carol white and terence stamp in 'poor cow.' each time i watch this it gets stuck in the dvd slot. each time i can't get it out (i always do) i don't care cause i love it so much i am willing to get another player if i have to.

crush

as i was 'all things julie christie' while growing up, i was crazy for terrence stamp as terry and julie were a couple for a time. while watching him in 'billy budd' i fell in love. he was christened 'the most beautiful man in the world.' that must be a sword that cuts both ways. no problem, as terrence stamp is having a glorious career. blonde, brown, or silver, the man melts us.
in 1965 he made 'the collector' with director william wyler. he brings a touching pity to his character. as julie's husband in 'far from the madding crowd' well, forget about it. much later in his career he made a grand leap into 'priscilla, queen of the desert' (1994). the man keeps taking on the challenge of interesting roles.