A Classic Kiss on Oscar Night

Roman Holiday, 1953

  It's March... grey, dreary, and that in between month when we don't know if mittens or mudboots are called for. The gardens at Camp MP are still sleeping in their messy beds. The world is not happy, the news is beyond comprehension and so much we need to Change! and March! for and CARE about...but sometimes it's OK to 

shut off the newsfeeds and curl up with a good movie!

I believe that what the world needs now...is a good Kiss!

  How to Steal a Million,1966

An Affair to Remember, 1957
 

"You should be kissed and often, and by someone who knows how.” Rhett Butler

 

Lady and The Tramp, 1955

 So just in time for Oscar Night a romantic reminder of 

why I'm a Classic movie lover.

Thomas Crown Affair , 1968

Somehow we are missing Romance...we have robots, super duper super heroes,  galaxy fighters and things exploding and imploding but...romance??  Where did it go?

 Holiday, 1938

  “I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days.”

Bull Durham,1988

Have you noticed kisses don't mean as much anymore in movies.  When you watch a film these days how often is 

THE KISS

 just expected, ho-hum, gratuitous, superfluous and simply  an "is  what it is " non-event.  I think it is sad that romance has disappeared---we know what's going to happen and  it is rarely worth the ticket price when it does.

The Thin Man, 1934

 Maybe we have become jaded by too many kisses, too many scenes that are throw-aways, kisses that are just filling space.  Where's the chemistry, where's the heat, where's the  witty dialogue, where's the soaring music, the anticipation, the drama, the MOMENT.  

I want THE MOMENT!  (Sabrina,1954)

It Happened One Night, 1934 

 SO this Oscar Night I am celebrating with some of my favorite on-screen smooches and some of the best kissy quotes --interesting that films made in much less socially open periods are the ones we remember--iconic kisses that are unforgettable and keep us watching again and again.  So Hollywood listen up--take a lesson from classic films and don't just toss those kisses in wherever and whenever...save them, make them special... and give us back THE MOMENT!

Charade, 1963

 "Aren't you allowed to kiss back?" 
"No.  The doctor said it would be bad for my 
 -- thermostat.
When you come on, you really come on."
         "Well -- come on. "

Ball of Fire, 1941

 "I'm gonna show you what yum-yum is. 
Here's yum...And here's the other yum...And here's yum-yum."

Casablanca, 1942

"Kiss me. Kiss me as if it were the last time."

From Here to Eternity, 1953

" Nobody ever kissed me the way you do."

Roman Holiday, 1953

Summertime, 1955

To Catch a Thief, 1955

 "I've been waiting all day for you to mention that kiss I gave you last night... 
Not only did I enjoy that kiss last night, 
I was awed by the efficiency behind it." 
She replied: "Well, I'm a great believer of getting down to essentials."

North by Northwest, 1959

The Way We Were, 1973

Moonstruck, 1987

Princess Bride, 1987

 “Since the invention of the kiss there have been five kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure. This one left them all behind. The End.”

Knocking on Oscar's Door-Houses from Academy Award Winning Movies

Mary Poppins, 1964

How many times have you sat in a dark movie theatre watching a film when a fabulous house comes on screen-  You forget all about the plot and concentrate on the wallpaper--well at least I do!

The Great Gatsby,2013 via

So often the homes that a movie is set within can be as important to that movie as any actor or actress.   In Under the Tuscan Sun, 2003 the transformation that wonderful house goes through mirrors Frances' own.

  The Holiday (2006) centers around the storyline of house swapping and how the women who exchange houses actually transform the spaces they move into to reflect the changes they go through.

With Oscar Night here I decided to visit some Movie Sets from Oscar Winning films---now most of my favorite movie homes were never in the running for Oscars so it was interesting to look through Oscar history to see where Oscar lives-very often  rooms and places that not only expressed the personality of the characters in the script, but also locations that became key characters in their films--Can you imagine Downton Abbey without Downton Abbey

or Rebecca, Best Picture 1940 without Manderley?

Grab the popcorn and enjoy and Happy Oscar Night!

It Happened One Night-Best Picture, Best Actor Clark Gable, Best Actress Claudette Colbert, Best Director Frank Capra, 1934-It may not be the most glamorous set in film history but it is certainly one of the most memorable and key to the story line... one of my favorites.

The Awful Truth -Best Director Leo McCarey, 1937-I love this film and all the sets

 Mrs. Miniver-Best Picture, Best Actress Greer Garson, Best Supporting Actress Teresa Wright, Best Director William Wyler, 1942-This wonderful film about a family shattered by war has at its center the warmth of the Miniver home which would also become a victim of war.

All About Eve-Best Picture,Best Supporting Actor George Sanders, Best Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz 1950

Roman Holiday-Best Actress Audrey Hepburn-Of course the city of Rome is the true set for Audrey's debut.

My Fair Lady- Best Picture,Best Actor Rex Harrison, Best Director George Cukor 1964

The Sound of Music- Best Picture, Best Director Robert Wise 1965

 Guess Who's Coming to Dinner- Best Actress Katherine Hepburn, Best Screenplay 1967-Ninety percent of the film was shot on one set-the Drayton family home in San Francisco--this set/house remains one of my favorite Movie homes ever -I was surprised to discover that it was for the most part created on a sound stage

Out of Africa-Best Picture, Best Director Sydney Pollack 1985

Moonstruck-Best Actress Cher,Best Supporting Actress Olympia Dukakis, 1987-So much of this movie comes back to that kitchen table

 

Driving Miss Daisy, Best Picture, Best Actress Jessica Tandy, 1989-The sets of this house captured  the Southern style of the late 1940s and also the changes taking place not only within that house but also within society

The Queen -Best Actress Helen Mirren 2006-a castle for for The Queen of course-

The King's Speech -Best Picture, Best Actor Colin Firth, Best Director Tom Hooper 2010

Great Sources on Movie Interiors:
Cote de Texas
Hooked on Houses
Silver Screen Surroundings
AMC Filmsite

A Head for Hollywood Glamour-The Sketches of Edith Head

                                                                                    Via

 "You Can Have Anything You want in Life If you Dress for it"-Edith Head

Oscar Night used to be so much fun, but in recent years the show stretches on and the films you care about are few and far between.  As for the glamour, there are very few "real" stars these days and they float by  quickly.  That isn't to say I won't watch what strolls down that carpet but on and off screen Hollywood just doesn't sparkle like I think it should.

Grace Kelly- To Catch a Thief via

In the 1930s, 40s, and 50s,however, Hollywood set the standard with costumes that were as much a part of the film as the actors who played the parts.  You simply cannot imagine To Catch a Thief without Grace Kelly in that gown that made Cary Grant melt.  "Gowns by Edith Head" was perhaps the most common film credit to appear on any film roll in those decades.   Edith Head designed for every major star-Grace Kelly, Bette Davis, Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Loren, Paul Newman, James Dean, Audrey Hepburn, Cary Grant... Working on over 400 films, very often with Hitchcock, and nominated for an Oscar for an unmatched 35 times -every year from 1948-1966, her Paramount years, winning 8 Academy Awards including her last in 1967 for The Sting dressing Paul Newman and Robert Redford-now that's not bad work! 

Martha Hyer -Houseboat    via                                         Elizabeth Taylor- A Place in the Sun  via

Kim Novak Vertigo via

This was a period of American film that became the definition of Hollywood-style,elegance,glamour,sophistication...and Edith Head brought it all to her designs that remain as intrinsic to the characters she dressed as the lines they spoke-and in many instances far more memorable.

 

Grace Kelly, Rear Window via

Edith Head's sketches came to life on the screen but they are all pieces of Classic Hollywood style that stand on their own as a part of the history of American film and American fashion.

 

 "What a costume designer does is a cross between magic and camouflage. We create the illusion of changing the actors into what they are not. We ask the public to believe that every time they see a performer on the screen he's become a different person"---Edith Head   via

 

Grace Kelly, To Catch a Thief via

Audrey Hepburn- Funny Face via

So I am celebrating Oscar Night with some of my favorite Edith Head designs...

Tippi Hedren-The Birds    via                                                        Shirley Maclaine -Sweet Charity via

...Sketches for some of the most classic roles, portrayed by the silver screen's most glamorous women-designs that would become iconic looks and everlasting Hollywood style.

 

Grace Kelly- Rear Window   via                                         Bette Davis- All About Eve  via

 

Audrey Hepburn-Breakfast at Tiffanys via

Audrey Hepburn -Roman Holiday  via

                 You may see lots of fabulous and lots of horrific on the Red Carpet this Oscar Night but on the screen there will sadly never be the entrances that the gowns Edith Head sketched made-gowns  that remain a part of why I love classic film.                                                                  

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