We Will Always Need the Joy of Doris!

"I like joy; I want to be joyous; I want to have fun on the set; I want to wear beautiful clothes and look pretty. I want to smile, and I want to make people laugh. And that's all I want. I like it. I like being happy. I want to make others happy. " ~Doris Day

In a world turned inside out and upside down, when we cannot believe the swirl of insanity around us, I tune out and flip on a good old fashioned feel good happy movie-it works, trust me! and the perfect make you smile movie is always a Doris film!  

Talent, style, joy, compassion... sparkled from every inch of Doris Day! She owned the screen with her smile and her comic flare, and directors always found a slot in her films for her to sing too...and did I mention her clothes!! Doris Day could own a film with just a song and a laugh, but her talents were so much more and no other Hollywood actress brought to a film what Doris did-joy!! Go watch That Touch of Mink or Please Don't Eat The Daisies,or...any Doris movie, and celebrate the gift that was Doris Day! 

Magical Movie Maker-RIP Stanley Donen

 There is something forever elegant, magical, charming and always marvelous about a #StanleyDonen film. He changed the movie musical with his innovation and distinctive style and his list of iconic films will leave you curled up with popcorn and a smile for days...

On the Town, Royal Wedding, Singing in the Rain, Funny Face, Indiscreet, Charade,Two for the Road...all on my Best List! yet he was never nominated for an Oscar, 

think of that on #Oscars night! RIP 

What I got, unconsciously, from admiring Fred Astaire was that he didn't want what he was doing to look difficult. What was difficult, in my opinion, was making it look so genuine, so effortless. I equally have tried to remain unseen on the screen.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/stanley_donen

 "What I got, unconsciously, from admiring Fred Astaire was that he didn't want what he was doing to look difficult. What was difficult, in my opinion, was making it look so genuine, so effortless. 

I equally have tried to remain unseen on the screen." Stanley Donen

 

from admiring Fred Astaire was that he didn't want what he was doing to look difficult. What was difficult, in my opinion, was making it look so genuine, so effortless. I equally have tried to remain unseen on the screen.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/stanley_donen

from admiring Fred Astaire was that he didn't want what he was doing to look difficult. What was difficult, in my opinion, was making it look so genuine, so effortless. I equally have tried to remain unseen on the screen.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/stanley_donen

from admiring Fred Astaire was that he didn't want what he was doing to look difficult. What was difficult, in my opinion, was making it look so genuine, so effortless. I equally have tried to remain unseen on the screen.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/stanley_donen

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.”

Skip the Sale...Go on a Holiday-BIG Screen Style!

I know there is some unwritten law that we are supposed to be shopping this weekend...but I am sitting this one out.  Maybe it is the over 1200 emails I have deleted since Tuesday night with HURRY HURRY HURRY sales offers that if I didn't take advantage of

 I would never see such a deal again...until the next day. 

Maybe it is that I don't like the stress of being told SHOP NOW!  or maybe I believe that holiday weekends should be about doing what you want to do. 

 So, I took a Holiday, a Roman Holiday! 

 I have watched Roman Holiday (1953), William Wyler's princess gone AWOL Fairy Tale, a thousand times but never on the BIG screen.  Fathom Events and Turner Classic Movies  have a great series showing classic films on big screens nationwide.   I worry that in our on the go world, where we can watch anything on any device no matter how small, that we lose what movie going is all about--it should be an event, and films that were shot to be seen on a big screen should be seen on a big screen.

 When I saw that one of my all time favorite films was being shown, I knew all shopping could wait!  Hepburn, Peck, Rome, big screen...you betcha!

Roman Holiday was Audrey Hepburn's first film...she was not the first choice for the role of "Smitty", the Princess who runs away for a great adventure in Rome.  She runs straight into the arms of Gregory Peck...not a bad day Princess.  Audrey of course owned the screen and became an instant star.  

Gregory Peck had it in his contract that his name would be above the title, but within days of filming he called his agent and told him that billing had to be equal, despite the fact that Peck was the established star, because it was Audrey Hepburn that everyone would be talking about.  Audrey won an Oscar for her role and if I ever doubted why, which I never have, seeing her on a large screen confirmed what Gregory Peck recognized...she was perfection, growing from restless young Princess who just wants to do whatever she likes for a day to a Princess who walks away from love to resume her responsibilities.  

Gregory Peck plays American journalist Joe Bradley who sees a great story, and a good payday, in the Princess he stumbled upon.  He doesn't let it on he knows who she is and accompanies her on her "day-off".  "Anya" aka Princess Anne, buys a pair of espadrilles, gets her haircut, eats an ice cream cone, recklessly rides a Vespa, gets arrested for her driving, goes dancing and eludes the detectives chasing her... and she falls for and kisses Gregory Peck-quite a day!  Joe Bradley in turn falls for "Smitty" and gives up his big paycheck and his big story and his Princess. 

Roman Holiday was filmed entirely on location in Rome and though there is no

 "Happily Ever After" ending, what a grand Vespa ride it is!  

"Rome, by all means Rome.  I will cherish my visit here in memory as long as I live."

Streaming through Summer

 via

I am choosing to leave Atticus Finch just where I left him. A fictional hero who has stood the test of time and whose struggles,compassion,wisdom and grace resonate today as they did in 1960. Jean Louise's dad may be fiction, and we know real heroes walk amongst us everyday, but integrity, courage and character with a capital C are needed in our popular culture.  It would be a unforgivable if To Kill a Mockingbird's lesson plan in every Junior High school now had to come with an asterisk.   I have no  interest in picking up To Set a Watchman ,Harper Lee's new/old novel. She apparently wrote this before she wrote her Pulitzer Prize winning classic.  I like my heroes in tact thank you very much... and of course there is always Gregory Peck to remind me why To Kill a Mockingbird means so much to so many.  “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view … until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”

This summer in fact is more about dusting off my books than reading them...Summer is flying by without me. I'm not sure where July has gone, or June for that matter-wasn't I just shoveling my way out the back door?  In the precious down moments that I can grab I seem to be streaming ,sadly not reading, but there are heroes there too.

  Poldark on PBS, a remake of the 1970s series based on the novels of Winston Graham's 18thc romantic saga.  I remember the original series  but this production has me captivated. Ross Poldark is a romantic hero for any age! and Aidan Turner has a screen presence you cannot take your eyes from.  Eleanor Tomlinson as Demelza is pitch perfect as the scrappy urchin who blossoms into a strong and fiery woman who  can hold her own in any situation.  A sweeping, romantic, wonderful adventure.

via

 Also on the Summer Stream List :


The Astronaut Wives Club-Based on the true lives of the first astronauts' wives...there was a lot more happening on the ground than in space...love the clothes!

Gossip Girl-the clothes, the apartments, the characters...addicting.

The Hour -a 1950s BBC newsroom filled with dark mystery and passion.

The Newsroom-and speaking of newsroom Jeff Daniels, Sam Waterston and Emily Mortimer are wonderful in this perfectly scripted Aaron Sorkin series.

Death Comes to Pemberley -based on PD James novel-I love the after-story of Elizabeth and Darcey

Sherlock-Not your typical hero... but Oh Mr. Holmes!

Gilmore Girls-Don't miss the chance to hang with the girls in Stars Hollow.

Downton Abbey-Enough said but watch it from the beginning!

Friday Night Lights-Get ready for football season or just believe in "clear eyes full hearts"  

The Jewel in the Crown-Critically applauded 1980s series set in the last days of the British presence in India.

Pride and Prejudice-Colin Firth!

Grand Hotel-A soapy Spanish period drama set in...a Grand Hotel

Velvet-Love, Romance, Drama all in an upstairs downstairs family saga department store setting in Madrid in the 1960s-come for the clothes stay for the characters.

Grace of Monaco -again... the clothes, the sets...

...And while we wait for the return of Project Runway:

Charade-Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn and Paris-you need more??

Roman Holiday-Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn and Rome-you need more?

Houseboat- A Perfect summer spot

 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid -Like you would miss a chance to spend time with Newman and Redford

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day-Adore Frances McDormand and Amy Adams in this delicious fluffy film

Lawrence of Arabia-as big as it gets!

An Affair to Remember...and you will!

How to Steal a Million-Audrey, Peter O'Toole and Givenchy in Paris!

When Harry met Sally-It still works!

A Room with a View -Florence Italy, E.m. Forester tale, Maggie Smith--enjoy!,

It Happened One Night-Classic is as Classic does!

Happy Summer Streaming!

"She Rescues Him Right Back"

via
 "Welcome to Hollywood! What's your dream? 
Everybody comes here; this is Hollywood, land of dreams..."

Admit it...after a rotten day, when you just need to climb into your bunny slippers and curl up under the covers with something the brain doesn't have to participate in, nothing works quite like watching a piece of fluffy escape popcorn.  No matter how many times you may have already watched it!  

via
 

...Sabrina, Roman Holiday, To Catch a Thief, Holiday, The Holiday, Houseboat, Moonstruck, The Princess Diaries, You've Got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle, Miss Pettigrew Lives for the Day,Emma, Ever After, Must Love Dogs, Under the Tuscan Sun, Pride and Prejudice, The Lake House, Bridget Jones Diary,  Adams Rib, It Happened One Night, Legally Blonde, The Princess Bride, Indiscreet, That Touch of Mink...the list is endless, filled with complete indulgence,mindless, blissful, romantic, fun, perfect escape. 

via

 Probably at the top of that very long list of guilty pleasure viewing you will find Pretty Woman.  We may not advertise our dedication to this one, but after 25 years it still works!   A timeless tale of the girl from the wrong side of the tracks, in this case a good-hearted, wiser than she knows, smart-mouthed hooker Vivian (Julia Roberts in her break-out role), scooped up and taken in by the handsome seemingly soulless rich guy Edward (Richard Gere), an emotionally shut-down millionaire in need of directions and direction.  Why does this film still work--haven't women moved well beyond the "rescue me" fairy-tale era???  

 via

Vivian gets offered a condo and cash and walks away  so we can't throw her onto the white horse completely. "When I was a little girl, my mama used to lock me in the attic when I was bad, which was pretty often. And I would- I would pretend I was a princess... trapped in a tower by a wicked queen. And then suddenly this knight... on a white horse with these colors flying would come charging up and draw his sword. And I would wave. And he would climb up the tower and rescue me. But never in all the time... that I had this dream did the knight say to me, "Come on, baby, I'll put you up in a great condo."   Vivian wanted to change her life not just her "geography" and yes she wanted "the fairytale".  Another Cinderella story...of course, but in the end Pretty Woman works because of chemistry.

 via

 "In case I forget to tell you later, I had a really good time tonight.”

 This Cinderella movie could have been a much different story if screenwriter JF Lawton's original idea had been filmed.  A darker tale, with the original title of 3,000, was written with a less than "happily ever after" ending  in which  Kit and Vivian are on a bus headed for Disneyland with Kit excited about  a fun day paid for by Vivian’s week with Edward, and Vivian simply  “stares out emptily ahead.”   No fire escape, no limo, no kiss.

 

via

It was the screen chemistry between Julia Roberts and Richard Gere that took the film onto a totally different course...and it is the spark and crackle of their relationship that after 25 years  keeps this movie at the top of our bunny slipper viewing lists. 

via

Lawton has said that  "During this whole thing, there was all this whole debate about 'How do we end it, how do we save her?' without it feeling like a cop-out," . ..But the chemistry between Roberts and Gere, it is palpable on the screen, it was palpable in auditions. You can't really see how it could end any other way, because they just light up with each other."   Indeed!

via

Gary Marshall's direction focused on Vivian as a "girl who wanted to change her life, and did."  Maybe that is one reason we root for Vivian and see her as not your everyday Cinderella-despite the safety pinned boots to Rodeo Drive transformation.

via

  In the end it was Gary Marshall's vision that drove Pretty Woman's storyline "My vision was a combination of fairy tales," he remembered. "Julia was Rapunzel, Richard was Prince Charming and Hector (Elizondo, who played Regent Beverley Wiltshire hotel manager Barnard Thompson) was the fairy godmother. It didn't seem like a vision everybody would have, but I did." 

 via

 That vision and a pitch perfect cast created a movie we can all quote two and a half decades later, and that even the most ardent independent woman will have to admit she loves and watches it at least once a year-Happy 25th Pretty Woman.

via

 Edward Lewis: “So what happens after he climbs up and rescues her?”
Vivian: “She rescues him right back."

 via

 "...Some dreams come true, some don't; but keep on dreamin' — this is Hollywood. Always time to dream, so keep on dreamin.'