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Thursday, February 24, 2011

[Oscar Montage] Academy Award Winners for Best Actress, 1927-present

Best Actress Oscar Winners: 1927-2009

This is a pretty good montage of all the winners. Of course you'll see Joan once for her win for Suspicion and Olivia twice in clips from The Heiress and To Each His Own


Music: Theme from Shakespeare in Love by Stephen Warbeck

Complete list of winners

1928 (1927-28) Janet Gaynor – Seventh Heaven/Street Angel/Sunrise
1929 (1928-29) Mary Pickford – Coquette
1930 (1929-30) Norma Shearer – The Divorcee
1931 (1930-31) Marie Dressler – Min and Bill
1932 (1931-32) Helen Hayes – The Sin of Madelon Claudet
1933 (1932-33) Katharine Hepburn – Morning Glory
1934 Claudette Colbert – It Happened One Night
1935 Bette Davis – Dangerous
1936 Luise Rainer – The Great Ziegfeld
1937 Luise Rainer – The Good Earth
1938 Bette Davis – Jezebel
1939 Vivien Leigh – Gone with the Wind
1940 Ginger Rogers – Kitty Foyle
1941 Joan Fontaine – Suspicion
1942 Greer Garson – Mrs. Miniver
1943 Jennifer Jones – The Song of Bernadette
1944 Ingrid Bergman – Gaslight
1945 Joan Crawford – Mildred Pierce
1946 Olivia de Havilland – To Each His Own
1947 Loretta Young – The Farmer's Daughter
1948 Jane Wyman – Johnny Belinda
1949 Olivia de Havilland – The Heiress
1950 Judy Holliday – Born Yesterday
1951 Vivien Leigh – A Streetcar Named Desire
1952 Shirley Booth – Come Back, Little Sheba
1953 Audrey Hepburn – Roman Holiday
1955 Anna Magnani – The Rose Tattoo
1956 Ingrid Bergman – Anastasia
1957 Joanne Woodward – The Three Faces of Eve
1958 Susan Hayward – I Want to Live!
1959 Simone Signoret – Room at the Top
1960 Elizabeth Taylor – BUtterfield 8
1961 Sophia Loren – Two Women
1962 Anne Bancroft – The Miracle Worker
1963 Patricia Neal – Hud
1964 Julie Andrews – Mary Poppins
1965 Julie Christie – Darling
1966 Elizabeth Taylor – Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
1967 Katharine Hepburn – Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
1968 Katharine Hepburn – The Lion in Winter  (tie)
1968 Barbra Streisand – Funny Girl (tie)
1969 Maggie Smith – The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
1970 Glenda Jackson – Women in Love
1971 Jane Fonda – Klute
1972 Liza Minnelli – Cabaret
1973 Glenda Jackson – A Touch of Class
1974 Ellen Burstyn – Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
1975 Louise Fletcher – One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1976 Faye Dunaway – Network
1977 Diane Keaton – Annie Hall
1978 Jane Fonda – Coming Home
1979 Sally Field – Norma Rae
1980 Sissy Spacek – Coal Miner's Daughter
1981 Katharine Hepburn – On Golden Pond
1982 Meryl Streep – Sophie's Choice
1983 Shirley MacLaine – Terms of Endearment
1984 Sally Field – Places in the Heart
1985 Geraldine Page – The Trip to Bountiful
1986 Marlee Matlin – Children of a Lesser God
1987 Cher – Moonstruck
1988 Jodie Foster – The Accused
1989 Jessica Tandy – Driving Miss Daisy
1990 Kathy Bates – Misery
1991 Jodie Foster – The Silence of the Lambs
1992 Emma Thompson – Howards End
1993 Holly Hunter – The Piano
1994 Jessica Lange – Blue Sky
1995 Susan Sarandon – Dead Man Walking
1996 Frances McDormand – Fargo
1997 Helen Hunt – As Good as It Gets
1998 Gwyneth Paltrow – Shakespeare in Love
1999 Hilary Swank – Boys Don't Cry
2000 Julia Roberts – Erin Brockovich
2001 Halle Berry – Monster's Ball
2002 Nicole Kidman – The Hours
2003 Charlize Theron – Monster
2004 Hilary Swank – Million Dollar Baby
2005 Reese Witherspoon – Walk the Line
2006 Helen Mirren – The Queen
2007 Marion Cotillard – La Vie en Rose
2008 Kate Winslet – The Reader
2009 Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side
2010 Natalie Portman – Black Swan
2011 Meryl Streep  – The Iron Lady
2012 Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook
2013 Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Highlights from The Film Noir Blogathon 2011

Well the 2nd annual Film Preservation Blogthon finished up yesterday and - according to co-host The Siren - over $5,000 was raised to benefit the Film Noir Foundation and the restoration of the 1950 film The Sound of Fury, starring Frank Lovejoy and Lloyd Bridges. You can still donate to the blogathon, even just a small amount.

There were so many great entries. At least three posts discussed films starring Olivia de Havilland, and at least one post discussed a noir starring Joan Fontaine.

A few highlights:

The Dark Mirror - Ivan has written an excellent analysis

More on The Dark Mirror in a post by Vince Keenan who attended the Noir City Film Festival last month in San Francisco.

The Snake Pit is among a number of films discussed in David Steece's post on Oscar-nominated cinematographer Leo Tover.

1948's Kiss The Blood Off My Hands starring Joan and Burt Lancaster. Here's a capsule review of  the film.

Congratulations to all who put together the fundraiser.

Greg from Cinema Styles put together this great video for the blogathon:

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Upcoming screenings of Olivia's films

Thanks to Olivia de Havilland - Lady of the Classic Cinema for this updated list of screenings. I wish I lived closer to some of these venues in order to attend.

Ms. de Havilland is scheduled to make a personal appearance at the event in Paris on March 22, where she will be discussing the documentary on Alzheimer's disease that she narrated.

February 20-27, 2011
The Heiress (1949)
Sedona Film Festival - Sedona, AZ
Harkins Theatres
Contact: Film Festival Office - (928) 282-1177
Tickets: Please visit the website linked above for ticket information

Tuesday, February 22 @ 7:00pm
Gone With the Wind (1939)
Galaxy Theatre - Monroe, WA
Contact: (360) 863-0909
Tickets: $7.00
For more information click HERE

Tuesday, March 1, 2011 @ 7:00pm
Gone With the Wind (1939)
Visaila Fox Theater - Visalia, CA
Contact: (559) 625-1369
Tickets: $5.00
For more information click HERE

Thursday, March 3 @ 7:00pm
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Smith Center Movie Theatre - Southern Utah University
For more information click HERE

Thursday, March 10, 2011 @ 2:00pm
Gone With the Wind (1939)
Emmetsburg Public Library - Emmetsburg, IA
Contact: 712-852-4009
Tickets: FREE
For more information click HERE
This screening is presented as part of the Tea Time Cinema Series


Thursday, March 17 @ 7:30pm
Friday, March 18 @ 7:30pm
It's Love I'm After (1937)

The Stanford Theatre - Palo Alto, CA
Contact: (650) 324-3700
Tickets: $7.00 for adults,
$5 for Seniors (65 and over) and Youth (18 and under)
For more information click HERE

Tuesday, March 22, 2011 @ 7:30pm
*The American Library - Paris, France
I Remember Better When I Paint (Documentary, 2009)
Contact by Phone: 01 53 59 12 60
Contact by Email: alparis@americanlibraryinparis.org
*Personal Appearance by Ms. De Havilland!

*On Tuesday, March 22, 2011, at 7:30 pm, "I Remember Better When I Paint" will be shown at The American Library in Paris, 10 rue du General Camou in the 7th arrondisment near the Eiffel Tower. Berna Huebner, the film’s co-director, along with Olivia de Havilland, the film’s narrator, will introduce the film at the start of the evening. A short Q&A session will follow.

For more information click HERE or visit the film's blog HERE

Saturday, April 16, 2011
Gone With the Wind (1939)
Chapman Cultural Center - Spartanburg, SC
Contact: 864.542.2787 - To Purchase Tickets
Tickets: $6.00
For more information click HERE


Sunday, April 17, 2011
Gone With the Wind (1939)
The Capitol Theatre - Cleveland, OH
Contact: Film Info: (440) 528-0355 or
Contact: Cleveland Cinemas at (440) 349-3306
Tickets: $10.00 - will go on sale on February 18th. Tickets can be purchased at the Capitol Theatre box office or online at www.clevelandcinemas.com
For more information click HERE
This screening is to commemorate the official 90th anniversary of The Capitol Theatre. The theater will show a special screening of Gone With the Wind that will include a champagne and pastries during the intermission.


Wednesday, April 27, 2011 @ 7:00pm
Gone With the Wind (1939)
The Cinema City Theater - Anaheim Hills, CA
Contact: (714) 970-6700
Tickets: $7.00
For more information or click HERE

Tuesday, May 3, 2011 @1:30pm & 7:30pm
Gone With the Wind (1939)
Carolina Theatre - Greensboro, NC
Tickets: $5.00 for general admission / $4.00 for students, seniors, military, and groups (10+)
Contact: (336) 333-2605
For more information and to purchase tickets click HERE

Friday, May 13 @ 8:00pm
Gone With the Wind (1939)
Historic State Theatre - Elizabethtown, KY
Contact: (270) 234-8258
For more information please click HERE

Saturday, August 20 @ 6:00pm
Gone With the Wind (1939)
Surratt House Museum - Clinton, MD
Contact: 301–868–1121
Tickets: FREE
For more information click HERE
Reservations encouraged. Space is limited

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Kiss The Blood Off My Hands (1948)

This post has been submitted as an entry in the For the Love of Film (Noir) blogathon, hosted by Marilyn Ferdinand and The Self-Styled Siren. Click here to donate.



The film's memorable title, which, like those of Kiss of Death, Kiss Me Deadly, and Murder My Sweet, provocatively blends sex and violence, certainly suggests that love can redeem someone

—The Encyclopedia of Film Noir1

Based on a 1940 novel
by Gerald Butler
Set in London just after the second world war, Burt Lancaster plays a traumatized veteran who becomes a fugitive after he strikes a fatal blow to to a saloon owner at closing time. After a thrilling chase sequence through the dark foggy streets and alleys, Burt makes his way through the open window of Joan Fontaine's apartment - her bedroom window, that is.

Joan plays a lonely young nurse, who doesn't have any family or friends. The handsome stranger's break-in is almost a welcome burst of excitement for her, and she lets him hide out in her apartment for awhile. The next afternoon they go walking together in a city zoo. "Never been in a zoo?" Joan asks. "Been in one all my life," replies Burt's character, who then shares how he'd been in a POW camp for two years. We also learn that her lover was killed in the war. Burt's uncontrollable temper lands him into more trouble, and he's sent to prison. A harsh scene occurs when Burt is lashed with a cat-o-nine tails, punishment in Britain (at the time) for assaulting an officer.

Robert Newton's
American film debut
After his stint, he and Joan get back together. To paraphrase the trailer, only her arms can tame the fury of his fists. She even helps him to find a job as a truck driver delivering penicillin from her hospital. Robert Newton, playing a seedy con man, complicates their lives with blackmail and threats. There are a few twists at the end, and what you might expect to happen doesn't. Suspense 'til the very end.

In my opinion Burt and Joan make a pretty good onscreen couple. There's a fine train-car bonding scene which sort of reminded me of the one in Letter From An Unknown Woman. But instead of sitting across from each other, the lovers are sitting side by side.

Joan and Burt heat up the screen

Upon the film's initial release, the film critic from the New York Times wrote that Joan brings "restraint and intelligence" to her performance. 2 Mark from the blog Where Danger Lives wrote, "No actor of the classic noir period could project a sense of impending doom like Burt Lancaster, and no actress wore empathy on her face like Joan Fontaine." 3

By the time this film came out, Burt had already done several noirs: The Killers, Brute Force, Desert Fury, I Walk Alone, and Sorry Wrong Number, which opened just a few weeks before Kiss the Blood in the fall of 1948. Incidentally, Burt's next film was also a noir, 1949's Criss Cross. The blogs Randomanic and Scenes from the Morgue have great posts on the latter film for the 2011 For The Love of Film blogathon.

Directed by Norman Foster, who directed Journey Into Fear and most of the Mr. Motto films (Read about them here at Classic Movie Ramblings) Effective musical score composed by Miklos Rosza. Stylish cinematography by Russell Metty (The Stranger). Screenplay by Leonardo Bercovici (Portrait of Jennie)

References:

1. The New York Times. Film review, "Lancaster Fights the World Again," October 30, 1948.
2. The Encyclopedia of Film Noir, 2007, G. Mayer, B. McDonnel, Page 251.
3. Where Danger Lives, "Kiss the Blood Off My Hands," published July 24, 2009.

Trivia:
  • Joan was pregnant with her daughter Debbie during filming.
  • The film was co-produced by Norma Productions, Burt Lancater's new production company.
  • Fontaine and Lancaster recreated their roles for the Lux Radio Theatre broadcast on February 21, 1949 under the title The Unafraid.

Trailer:
Fast-forward to the 1:16 mark:






This post has been submitted as an entry in the For the Love of Film (Noir) blogathon, hosted by Marilyn Ferdinand and The Self-Styled Siren

A PayPal account has been set up for the Blogathon through which you can donate to the Film Noir Foundation, an organization which helps restore classic films: Click here to donate.

Friday, February 18, 2011

1979 Joan Fontaine Interview

In this Canadian television interview from 1979, Joan talks about her relationship with her sister and their "differences of opinion".

She discloses that the last time she spoke with her was during a telephone call before their mother's funeral.



In this short clip, Joan talks about Suspicion and the film's two endings.



This television interview took place not long after the release of Joan's 1978 autobiography, No Bed of Roses.  This may have been one of the last television interviews Joan ever gave. Thanks to the CBC YTube channel for the video clips.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Trailer for "Santa Fe Trail" (1940)

"..and the match for them, all, the lovely Olivia de Havilland...in her most exciting role since Gone With the Wind!"


Olivia de Havilland, Errol Flynn, Ronald Reagan

Monty has a great post today on the films of Olivia and Errol.

Mythical Monkey has a great post today on Ronald Reagan,
who was born on February 6, 1911 (100 year anniversary)

Friday, February 4, 2011

Joan and Cary - in color


Joan and Cary Colorized by ~ajax1946 on deviantART