At the movies

I've had good intentions for more than two weeks to write a journal entry.  However, as you may have heard, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. But here I am today, visiting journals, immersing myself in the myriad voices of j-land and finally getting around to adding my own voice.  I planned to write an entry on some pithy political topic but I found myself fascinated by a meme on movies that I ran across in Paul's journal. 

I have had a love affair with movies since I was a child.  Before Sunday afternoons on television were filled with images of grown men chasing balls, the local stations would show old movies.  My dad was a fan of westerns and war movies.  On Sunday afternoons, I would join him in watching John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, and Audie Murphy save the farm, the ranch, or the world and steal a kiss from Grace Kelly or Maureen O'Hara, before all was said and done.  I liked the westerns and the war movies, but my real love was for the women's films, movies starring Bette Davis, Ingrid Bergman, Marilyn Monroe, and of course, Vivien Leigh.  They loved, schemed, lied, and suffered in grand fashion and I was entranced.

The first Marilyn Monroe film that I saw was Niagara.  I was around twelve years old and after watching Marilyn toy with Joseph Cotten, I wanted to be blond and walk in high heels with a wriggle in my hips.

I was enchanted by Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca  and wept buckets when Humphrey Bogart let her go in the end. I still get misty-eyed when I hear As Time Goes By<AHREF="HTTP: target="_blank" ? photobucket.com>

One of  my favorite Bette Davis films is a 1934 film called Of Human Bondage.  Her co-star is Leslie Howard, who plays a young medical student who becomes infatuated with Davis' character, a waitress with a heart of stone.  One of the taglines on a movie poster for the film was "The Love That Lifted a Man to Paradise...and Hurled Him Back to Earth Again." But the Bette Davis movie that I watch over and over again is a bittersweet romantic film, Now Voyager. She plays a lonely woman who finally blossoms and finds love, but with a married man who has obligations to care for his daughter.  His wife is an evil shrew and without him, she will destroy their child. Bette Davis, gives him up, and her chance at true happiness, for the sake of the child. I cry a river every time that I watch it.

Ms. Davis has some of the best on screen lines of any film actress--"Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night," "I'd kiss you, but I just washed my hair," "What a dump,"Oh, Blanche, you know we've got rats in the cellar," "Oh Jerry, don't let's ask for the moon--we have the stars." I intentionally left out the names of the movies to give those of you who like trivia games as much as I do a challenge.

I think of Vivien Leigh as playing quintessential southern women--Scarlett O'Hara and Blanche Dubois.  Ironic, as Leigh was not only not southern, she wasn't even American. I was totally entranced by Scarlett from the first fiddle-dee-dee out of her mouth as she flirted with the Tarleton twins. When she threw the vase at Rhett Butler's head after catching him eavesdropping on her declaration of love for Ashley Wilkes, I knew that I wanted to be Scarlett.  My Scarlett obsession led to many hours in front of a mirror vainly trying to master the arching of one eye brow. I was convinced that Rhett eventually came back and that he and Scarlett lived happily ever after.  I think that I was in college before it dawned on me that the likelihood of my being Scarlett was zilch.  Mammy or Prissy maybe, but not Scarlett.  I'm still wrestling with the emotional trauma of this realization, but tomorrow is another day. (For those of you who still sometimes miss my twisted sense of humor:  after years of therapy, I no longer want to be Scarlett O'Hara. [I'm joking people!])

Movie meme

1. Name a movie that you have seen more than 10 times.
Out of Africa, Meryl Streep and Robert Redford in one of the most romantic movies that I've ever seen.  The first time that I watched it, I had just had my heart broken.  The movie was cycling through on Showtime and I watched it every time it played  over a period of two days.  Spoiler alert: Redford's character dies in the movie but he dies loving her!  I wish that I had thought to buy stock in Kleenex.
2. Name a movie that you've seen multiple times in the theater.
Annie Hall, I loved the movie and wanted all my friends to see it.  It was summer and I was a carefree college student, so I'd go with anyone who had not yet seen the movie.  I saw it four times in threedays.
3. Name an actor that would make you more inclined to see a movie.
Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington (I couldn't decide on one)
 

4. Name an actor that would make you less likely to see a movie.
No one, I have been pleasantly surprised with performances by an actor in one film that I didn't care for in another.  I don't write off a performance or a movie without witnessing it for myself.
5. Name a movie that you can and do quote from.
Casablanca and any movie starring Bette Davis
6. Name a movie musical that you know all of the lyrics to all of the songs.
Funny Girl, I love Barbra Streisand.  I first watched Funny Girl when I was in college.  I immediately went out, purchased the soundtrack, and listened to it non-stop for an entire weekend.  It's a wonder that my suite mates didn't throttle me.
7. Name a movie that you have been known to sing along with.
Funny Girl, why spend all  that time learning the lyrics if not to sing along?
8. Name a movie that you would recommend everyone see.
I can't.  I love movies and I think that selecting movies to view is a very personal thing.  I will recommend a few films that I think merit viewing but I can't say that they will suit everyone's tastes--Oscar and Lucinda, Casablanca, Malcolm X (the Spike Lee film), The Piano, Agnes of God, The Crying Game, The Color Purple,The Mother, Inside Man, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, The Enforcer, Dr. No, The Letter, and Now, Voyager.
9. Name a movie that you own.
Gone With the Wind
10. Name an actor that launched his/her entertainment career in another medium but who has surprised you with his/her acting chops.
 Barbra Streisand
11. Have you ever seen a movie in a drive-in? If so, what?
Yes, when I was a child, Wilson had the Starlite Drive-In Theater.  My dad was on the local police force and one  of the perks was that he got free movie passes to the  drive-in.  We'd load up the  car, my mother would make Kool-aidin a red and white insulated jug, pop a big container of popcorn, and off we'd go. (My dad didn't believe in spending any money at the concession stand.)  I saw many movies at the drive-in but the one that stands out is Gone With the Wind.                      

12. Evermade out in a movie?
Yes. What, you expected details?
13. Name a movie that you keep meaning to see but just haven’t yet gotten around to it.
The Last King of Scotland
14. Ever walked out of a movie?
No.  Once I've paid my money, I'm there until the end.
15. Name a movie that made you cry in the theater.
Forrest Gump
16. Popcorn?
Yes, large, with butter and a diet coke.  The diet coke is health food.
17. How often do you go to the movies (as opposed to renting them or watching them at home)?
Around 8-10 times a year,before HBO, Starz etc.  I used to go 3 or 4 times a month.
18. What’s the last movie you saw in the theater?
Dreamgirls
19. What’s your favorite/preferred genre of movie?
Hard question, I love adventure/action movies. I've seen all of the James Bond films and I never pass up an opportunity to watch a Clint Eastwood film, no matter how many times I've seen it.  But I also love romantic comedies, musicals, docudramas, foreign films...I'm a movie genre slut.
20. What’s the first movie you remember seeing in the theater?
The Sound of Music
21. What movie do you wish you had never seen?
Saw II, I found it pretentious and full of pseudo psychology meant to suggest that something of significance was being revealed amidst all the gore and violence.  I haven't seen the other two Saw movies and don't intend to do so.
22. What is the weirdest movie you enjoyed?
Bitter Moon
23. What is the  scariest movie you've seen?
The Exorcist
24. What is the funniest movie you've seen?
I've seen quite a few funny films but the  most recent film that made me laugh out loud was The Wedding Crashers

Tags: movies, Bette Davis, film, women's films, romantic comedy, Gone with the Wind