7 x 7 – My Favorite Posts

Paula’s Cinema Club tagged me with a 7 x 7 Link award. I have a hard time getting myself organized for these posts, but I was able to find some time to get this done. Similar to the Liebster Award, it’s aim is to help folks “get to know” your blog.

The 7 x 7 Award highlights a blogger’s favorite pieces of work and is passed on to others so that they too can do the same as a way to promote posts and/or blogs.

Unlike the Liebster, the questions do not vary, but like the Liebster, some are more difficult than others. So here we go.

1.Tell everyone something that no one else knows about you.
I was a painfully shy kid. I avoided having contact or conversations at all costs. I would go so far as to walk a block out of my way so I wouldn’t have to say hello or speak to someone. That’s obviously changed. Now it’s hard to shut me up!

2. Link to one of the posts that I think best fits the following categories:
a. Most beautiful piece: Beautiful is a lofty word for a blog post, but one of my best posts was for the Ida Lupino blogathon, “Ida Lupino: A Lasting Legacy in Hollywood.” A big fan of Lupino’s, it gave me a reason to write the post. I was very happy with the results and the response from readers.

b. Most helpful piece: I think my most helpful piece is from a series of post I started called “Classic Films in Context.” I examine a classic film in the context of when it was released, how it was received, and what makes it significant today. The first film I featured was the 1931 version of Cimarron starring Richard Dix and Irene Dunne. Dunne was nominated for Best Actress (first of a total of five nominations) and it’s the film that made her a superstar. Within a year, she totally eclipsed the top-billed Dix, going on to successes in musicals, dramas, and comedies.

c. Most popular piece: By far, my most popular piece is “Becoming Grace Kelly,” a post I wrote in April 2010. It’s had over 6,300 reads, which is mind-boggling to me. The irony is I’m not the biggest Kelly fan—although I am one—in the world. I just thought a lot of people would be interested in a post on the movie star who became a princess, but I never imagined it would be this successful. I timed it to release with the exhibit of her clothes and accessories at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London that year. Almost every month, it’s in the top-five of my most read posts.

d. Most controversial piece: I don’t think I have many controversial posts, but my post on The Hunger Games for the Future Classic Movies blogathon got some interesting conversations going when it was picked up by Movie Fanfare, the blog hosted by Movies Unlimited. Folks were talking big theological issues, which was an area I never touched on, nor did I really consider when writing the post.

e. Surprisingly successful piece: Besides the Kelly post already mentioned, my post on the science fiction classic This Island Earth is another one that ends up in the top-five posts for the week, every once in a while since first posted June 2011.

f. Most underrated piece: “The Truth About “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” a screwball comedy starring Carole Lombard and Robert Montgomery hasn’t gotten a lot of love, so to speak. I’m a big fan of Lombard and this comedy, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, of all people. It can stand next to the screwball comedies directed by Howard Hawks, Preston Sturges, and Gregory LaCava any day, in my opinion.

g. Most pride-worthy piece: “Val Lewton: The genius nobody knows” is a post I’m very proud of. Lewton is someone who deserves more recognition. His movies influenced just about every filmmaker working today, including Martin Scorsese who produced a documentary on Lewton several years ago. Honorable mention: “Mitchell Leisen: The Best Director Nobody Knows.” This was my first post to be picked up by Movie Fanfare.

3. Pass this award on to seven other blogs/bloggers:


Another Old Movie Blog
They Don’t Make ’Em Like They Used To
Speakeasy
Once Upon a Screen
The Shades of Black and White
What Happened to Hollywood
Laura’s Miscellaneous Musings

More blogs/bloggers worthy of the award:

Bobby Rivers TV
Carl Rollyson

bettiwettiwoo 

Cinema_Fanatic
Immortal Ephemera

If you’ve already gotten a 7 x 7, please feel free to pass it along to the deserving blogger of your choice.

Classic Movie Man’s Top Posts of 2011

The Year in Review
As 2011 comes to a close, I thought it would be fun to revisit the top-ten posts of the year. We lost some classic movie legends, including Elizabeth Taylor and Farley Granger. This year, Classic Movie Man taught another film class at Facets Film School: Elegant and Madcap: The Incredible Versatility of Irene Dunne. It was great fun introducing this remarkable actress and movie star to folks who were not familiar with her body of work.

Below are the top-ten Classic Movie Man posts for 2011. Are any of your favorites on this list?

Number 10—Classic Movie Man’s Guilty Pleasure: “Devotion” This fictionalization of the lives of the Brontë sisters was short on the facts (according to critics of the day), but is great melodrama with Ida Lupino as Emily and Olivia de Haviland as Charlotte. Paul Henried, Nancy Coleman, and Arthur Kennedy round out the talented cast. The film score by Erich Wolfgand Korngold is lush and beautiful, as is the movie’s overall production.

Number 9—Jeanne Crain: More Than Just a Pretty Face. A personal favorite of mine, Crain was one of the most popular movie stars during the late-1940s to early-1950s. So popular was Crain that when she passed away in 2003, Turner Classic Movies’ Robert Osborn called her “the Julia Roberts of the day.” She appeared in some great films, including A Letter to Three Wives, Apartment for Peggy, and Pinky, the latter earning Crain her only Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.

Fred MacMurray

Number 8—Farley Granger, star of Hitchcock’s “Strangers on a Train.” Granger was a product of the Hollywood dream factory. Plucked from obscurity and signed to a movie contract by Samuel Goldwyn, he was featured in some popular films during the mid-1940s like The Purple Heart and The North Star. While under contract to Goldwyn, Granger’s best roles were a result of being loaned out to other studios. Two of his most famous films, Rope and Strangers on a Train both directed by Alfred Hitchcock, were made on loan to Warner Bros.

Number 7—Fred MacMurray: Nice-Guy Movie Star. Mostly remembered today for his iconic TV role as Steven Douglas in My Three Sons, MacMurray had a substantial movie career. In fact, MacMurray was the highest paid movie star in the world in 1943.

Number 6—Ida Lupino: A Lasting Legacy in Hollywood. Lupino not only was a great movie star, but she was a writer, director, and producer of independent films in the late-1940s and 50s. She was one of the only women directors working in Hollywood, directing classic TV episodes of The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and The Untouchables. In 1966, Lupino finally got a big budget production to direct: The classic comedy The Trouble With Angels starring Rosalind Russell and Halley Mills.

Number 5—Classic Movie Man’s Guilty Pleasure: “Elephant Walk.” This action-adventure melodrama starred a very young Elizabeth Taylor, Dana Andrews, and Peter Finch. Released in 1954, the main action takes place on a Ceylon tea plantation run by Finch. Feeling neglected, Taylor turns to overseer Andrews. Some great color cinematography and those stampeding elephants make this a fun movie to watch.

A lovely studio portrait of the very lovely Joan Bennett

Number 4—“Jane Eyre”: A Golden Age Classic. One of my favorite classic films, I thought a review was in order when a new version by director Cary Fukunaga released this past spring. Featuring beatuiful black and white cinematography and a wonderful performance from Joan Fontaine as Jane. Orson Welles is a little over-the-top as Rochester, but it doesn’t take anything away from the overall production. It also features a young unbilled Elizabeth Taylor as Jane’s doomed childhood friend Helen.

Number 3—Joan Bennett: Almost Scarlet O’Hara, But Always a Star. Bennett almost snagged the role of Scarlet O’Hara, but she got over that disappointment fairly quickly. She starred in musicals, comedies, and dramas, becoming one of the screen’s great femme fatales. Bennett gave terrific performances in three films directed by Fritz Lang: Man Hunt, Scarlet Street, and The Woman in the Window. After her movie glory days were over, she became a pop-culture icon as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard in daytime TV’s Gothic soap opera Dark Shadows. She was also one of the few actresses who could realistically play mother to Elizabeth Taylor (she physically looked as beautiful). She did this twice in Father of the Bride and Father’s Little Dividend.

Elizabeth Taylor

Number 2—This Island Earth: 1950s Science Fiction Classic. One of the best flying saucer flicks, the film benefits from a decent script, great special effects, and more than competent performances by the three lead performers: Rex Reason, Faith Domergue, and Jeff Morrow.

Number 1—Elizabeth Taylor: Born To Be a Star. With Taylor’s passing, an era passed with her. One of the last great movie stars to come out of the studio system, she epitomized Hollywood style and glamour. Her beautiful looks notwithstanding, Taylor gave some memorable screen performances and won two Best Actress Academy Awards during her long career. As famous for her well-publicized off-screen life, she was the quintessential movie star.

Thanks for reading the Classic Movie Man blog in 2011. I hope you’ll continue to read and follow this blog into 2012 and beyond!

This Island Earth: 1950s Science Fiction Classic

During the 1950s, a new genre emerged in Hollywood: the science fiction film. There were science fiction films before the 1950s, but after World War II, they really flourished. Many of these films were low-budget second features shot in black and white with sub-par special effects. But in 1955, Universal International Pictures produced a big budget science fiction epic in three-strip Technicolor.

The movie  poster tells the story.

What’s an Interocitor?
This Island Earth, based on the novel by Raymond F. Jones, is the story of a dying planet, Metaluna and its inhabitants. In an attempt to save their race, the Metalunans have decided to settle on Earth. To facilitate their plan, they enlist the help of the top scientific minds our planet has to offer. They test these scientists with a task: assemble an interocitor, a complex multi-purpose communications device. One such scientist, Dr. Cal Meacham (Rex Reason), along with his assistant, successfully assemble the interocitor and are immediately congratulated (via the device) by Exeter (Jeff Morrow) an alien leader from Metaluna. Now thoroughly intrigued Cal agrees to fly to a secret location to participate in Exeter’s “research project.”

Scientific Retreat
The secret location turns out to be an estate in Georgia where Exeter has assembled scientists from around to world. One of the scientists is Dr. Ruth Adams (Faith Domergue), someone Cal is sure he’s met before. Ruth says Cal has mistaken her for someone else, which just adds to the mystery. Another scientist at the compound is Steve Carlson (Russell Johnson*). The trio become fast friends, especially when they begin to suspect that the research may have a sinister edge and not the peaceful purpose Exeter has led them to believe. It’s at this moment that Ruth admits to Cal that she didn't acknowledge knowing him out of fear.

Cal, Ruth, and Exeter on their way to Metaluna

Death of a Planet
Exeter and his main assistant Brack both have distinctively large foreheads, white hair, and tan complexions. These odd features give our trio pause as they plan an escape before they are put under the “sun lamp,” a thought control device used by the aliens. Ruth, Steve, and Cal have avoided the thought transformer for reasons unknown to them. As the scientists make their escape, Brack sets out to kill them. Steve sacrifices himself for Cal and Ruth, who escape the compound in a small plane. After taking off, Cal and Ruth’s plane is captured by a flying saucer captained by Exeter. The scientists journey with the aliens to Metaluna, which is under continuous attack by the evil Zagons. Cal and Ruth realize the desperate situation the Metalunans face; their planet is dying.

Cal and Ruth prepare for the return trip to Earth

Sole Survivor
Upon their arrival, Exeter introduces Cal and Ruth to the leader of the Metalunans, known as the Monitor. He orders Exeter to put the scientists under the influence of the thought transformer. Exeter finds that he cannot comply with the Monitor’s order. He defies his leader and takes Cal and Ruth back to Earth. As they leave the atmosphere of Metaluna, they witness its destruction. Exeter is his planet’s sole survivor.

Home Sweet Home
Exeter returns Cal and Ruth safely to Earth, but refuses the earthlings’ invitation to remain with them. With his spaceship running low on fuel, Exeter crashes it into the ocean where it is destroyed and with it any memory of the advanced civilization of which he was a member.

Joseph Newman directed Jeanne Crain and Michael Rennie in Dangerous Crossing.

Impressive Production
This Island Earth directed by Joseph Newman (Dangerous Crossing 1953), received almost overwhelmingly good reviews when released. The special effects, which were dazzling to audiences and critics in 1955, received the most acclaim. H. H. T. writing for The New York Times said the “panoramic vista of the doomed planet ‘Metaluna,’ should leave anyone bug-eyed.” He also noted the “reasonable acting and plucky, even literate, writing.” The film’s special effects reportedly were in production for over two years. For the film’s stars and director, all of whom are not and never were household names, This Island Earth is a high-water mark.

This Island Earth influenced Forbidden Planet released in 1956.

Enduring Influence
An enjoyable and groundbreaking movie, This Island Earth has a strong narrative flow that sets it apart from the other science fiction films made during the 1950s. The sets, including the interior of the space ship influenced another science fiction classic movie released the following year, Forbidden Planet, as well as TV shows like Lost in Space and Star Trek.


Product of the 1950s
The film isn’t perfect and it did resort to some pretty tried and true B-movie cliches. For example, as Cal and Ruth are returning to Earth with Exeter, a stowaway alien mutant monster (a giant bug) infatuated with Ruth, chases her around the ship before being killed. And of course, Ruth is wearing a skin-tight spacesuit! Considering the bulk of the movie isn’t this blatantly exploitative, we’ll let it pass. After all it was the 1950s, right?

If you’re a science fiction fan, you owe it to yourself to give this film a try. You’ll see that many of the genre’s conventions, popular today, emerged with This Island Earth.


*Trivia: Russell Johnson who plays Steve Carlson went on to greater fame playing another scientist, Roy Hinkley, otherwise known as "The Professor" on TV's Gilligan's Island.