Thursday, March 28, 2024

Thursday Film Picks-Cold As Ice

 


I’m slowly getting better…slowly. I hope to be back to work today and I hope I can last through the day. I am on antibiotics now and now must get my strength back. Yesterday, was which one won the Oscar, which was nominated and which got nadda, well, the truly awful Pimp song won. Dolly Parton’s song was nominated and the one I would have voted for, from Brokeback Mountain, wasn’t even nominated.

These 3 gals that star in 3 great films were forces to be reckoned with both on screen and off. I chose 3 films where these gals are not the nicest, well 2 of them are horrible and one becomes cold after being mistreated by the men she loves. So let’s start things going…

1. THE LITTLE FOXES-1941


Bette Davis knew how to chew the scenery and she does it well in this film from the Broadway play that starred Tallulah Bankhead. She comes from a family of schemers who want to be even richer and people, in their orbit, who disintegrate just because they are affiliated with this miserable family. Davis plays Regina, a once beautiful, but now, stretched, pale bitch who schemes to get her husband’s riches. Her sickly, but good, husband, played by Herbert Marshall,  and their sweet daughter, played by Theresa Wright, love each other making Regina even more jealous. I really think Bette Davis deserved an Oscar for this role ( granted I can’t recall who was up this year). She played one cold cucumber in this drama. 

2. DOUBLE INDEMNITY-1944


Barbara Stanwyck seems to be the only one to make that blond wig look good:). Fred MacMurray plays an insurance salesman who sees the anklet on Stanwyck’s leg and is ready to murder for her. They become lovers and figure out a scheme to kill her husband and collect the insurance money. The way Barbara knows how to finangle her sexy ways onto the hapless nut tells you that she has done this before. She should have won an Oscar for this role because she acted this role so well that you believe Phyllis through and through. It’s an excellent film noir and Billy Wilder, the director, loved this actress who claimed that he had a daydream that Stanwyck came to the door, that Billy knocked at, wearing an apron, high heels…and nothing else.

3. THE HEIRESS-1949


Olivia DeHavilland won the Oscar for this great performance as a plain Jane heiress, who seems scared of her own shadow and when you meet her father, you understand why. He is cold and has an almost intense dislike for his daughter for not being everything his late wife was. She only wants her father’s love but she can’t do anything right. At a party, an almost beautiful man, played by an almost beautiful man, Montgomery Clift, sees Olivia and decides to woo her much to her disbelief and happiness. Her dad thinks the man is only into her money but she vehemently refuses that notion and finally seems to stand up to her dad. She decides to run away with him but will she be stood up or will her happiness prevail?  This is an excellent character study, well rounded on all fronts. 

Barbara Stanwyck was beloved by not just the actors and directors but all the camera crew, grips and people behind the scenes because she liked..preferred to be with them between takes. The sets were always nicer when she was starring in a picture.

Bette Davis, a Warners contract player, had had enough of these 7 year contracts where the actors had to take whatever crap the studio gave them and if they balked, they were placed on suspension which would be tacked onto their 7 yrs. This could mean that the actor would be stuck with that studio forever. Bette Davis balked at the crap she was given and took Warner Bros to court to cancel these contracts but she failed and it stood. Olivia DeHavilland, who was good friends with Davis, about a decade later took Warners to court and, this time, won! It’s now called the DeHavilland law…gutsy ladies for sure.

Oh, and here is one more gutsy lady


You are right Alex, She deserves to be here.

24 comments:

  1. The Heiress is one of my favorites. Just watched it again last month. Also love Double Indemnity. My favorite 'bitch' movie is Body Heat.

    Feel better soon. I am just getting over a mild case of shingles since I have had both vaccines.

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    1. Shingles suck! I had them and it's not nice at all, even when mild. I still need to see Body Heat.

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  2. Thank you! Yes, she does.
    Hope the antibiotics do their thing.

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  3. Hi, Birgit!

    I'm sorry to learn that you've been poorly again, dear friend. It's good to know you are beginning to feel better. Best wishes.

    I am returning to blogging a few days early in an attempt to make the rounds and touch base with all of my friends and followers in advance of my new post which will start running next Monday, April 1.

    The Little Foxes is one of the movies I watched in 2007 during my pre-blogging black & white film binge as I tried to catch up on hundreds of films from the first half of the 20th century that I had missed. I am not a huge fan of Bette Davis, but I was drawn to Foxes because I am a Teresa Wright "completist." I wanted to watch Teresa, one of my favorite actresses, in the role of "Zannie" Giddens. Since I last contacted you, Mrs. Shady and I finished watching Season 2 of Feud, the one about Truman Capote and his high society "swans." Now we are in the middle of Season 1 of the docudrama anthology series which deals with the feud between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford as they collaborated for the first time in the 1962 psycho horror thriller What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? Susan Sarandon plays Bette Davis opposite Jessica Lange as Joan Crawford. It is another excellent season, and I urge you to watch it along with the Capote season that I have been plugging for a while now.

    I had to smile listening to the rapid-fire tough guy talk coming out of the mouth of Fred MacMurray in Double indemnity. Fred and Barbara Stanwyck have palpable chemistry in the film. I noticed the name Porter Hall in the cast credits. Did you know that the name of that character actor who often played movie villains, was used for the scheming lawyer character played by Duncan McLeod in the 1970 Russ Meyer cult classic Beyond the Valley of the Dolls?

    I greatly admired actress Olivia de Havilland, having watched her in The Snake Pit at an early age. I need to get The Heiress, released the year after Snake Pit, on my watch list. As you might know, Olivia was blessed with a long life. She was one of the oldest survivors of the golden age of Hollywood when she finally passed away in 2020 at the age of 104. Olivia de Havilland is also part of the story in the Feud: Bette and Joan season that I mentioned, the role in the FX/Hulu production played by Catherine Zeta-Jones.

    Thank you for telling us about Barbara Stanwyck's glowing reputation among members of the crew. It's good to know. In Feud: Bette vs Joan, crew members are generally dismissed as "the help" by the two veteran leading ladies. It's nice to know that Olivia went to the mat in the battle against the studios over contract issues and won.

    Please give my good buddy Harley a hug and a smooch for me. Take care of yourself and feel better soon. If you can, visit me next Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday when I am back on active duty. Happy Easter, dear friend BB!

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    1. I am quite shaky today. I'm trying to get better. I so want to see the Truman Capote show and Feud. Olivia tried, unsuccessfully, to sue the series as she did not like its depiction of her. She was a strong minded lady to the end.
      Bette and Joan were 2 forceful women who liked to goad people. Bette was more overt and didn't try to hide it whereas Joan liked to portray herself as always magnanimous when she was anything but.
      I'm really happy to see you here and that you love my choices and know them well Harley says Woof!

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  4. I'm 0/3 for your picks today, but I always appreciate a Wonder Woman call out!

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    1. You must see all3 of these picks in your blindspot challenge. These are musts to see. Wonder Woman needs a call out

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  5. Hi Birgit - I'm also a 0/3 for your picks today ... but do hope you feel easier, and hope that perhaps you've stayed at home another day ... all the best for getting better very soon - cheers Hilary

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    1. I went to work Thursday and then off for 3 days. Very shaky today but this is a turning point

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  6. And, me too... hahahah, 0/3 for today's picks. I enjoyed your write up on each film. I learn a lot here, and I appreciate the time it takes for you to put these posts together for said enlightenment. Ah, to see the light. :)

    I hope the antibiotics kick in and give you some relief. Sending healthy vibes your way, Jenny

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    1. Glad you enjoyed my post and, maybe, one day, you will see one of these. I am shaky today but I think this means I am turning a corner

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  7. Loved to hear that Barbara liked to be with the crew between takes.
    Glad you are on the mend.
    Sandra sandracox.blogspot.com

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    1. Thank you and Barbara was a tough cookie with a heart of gold

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  8. I hope you're feeling better. All three were interesting actresses. (Is DeHavilland still alive? I thought she was still alive.) I've only seen The Heiress, but I have heard of the other two. Have you seen the remake of The Heiress? I think it was called Washington Square. It takes a slightly different viewpoint of the whole suitor, and it makes it into a different story.

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    1. Olivia died at 104 yrs old. It was a sad day. Glad you like my post and I am still shaky but hoping I am on the mend

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  9. Gutsy women in vintage films were far prettier, feminine, classier, and believable than the modern female movie stars who tend to be totally the opposite and 9 times out of 10 are quite revolting in my opinion. Barbara Stanwyck always portrayed strong women in everything I saw. She was good actress.

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    1. Yes, nowadays they have to show everything and dress like slots...mainly like they do at awards shows or after parties. Have you seen some of the get ups these idiots wore? The stars of yesteryear were far more classy even when they were mean. I love Barbara

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  10. Wonder Woman was a great movie. A bit silly and brainless, but I enjoyed it very much. Woman Woman 1984? Very silly and brainless. Didn't care for it.

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    1. I still have to see the 2nd film and will one day. Yes, it is pretty silly with her get up in the trench warfare

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  11. Hi Birgit!

    Sorry to hear you aren't feeling so great but glad you are on the mend. Rest is one of the best remedies so be sure not to overdo.

    Three great actresses in three excellent films! Of the trio The Heiress is the one I like best and Olivia's win one of my favorites, and one of the most deserving in the categories history. I don't know if Catherine becomes cold in the same way Dr. Sloper was. To everyone else she was guarded but kind, it was when she was presented with Morris's return and she was able to exact her most justly deserved revenge that she turned cold and cruel. Although even there she only gave back what she got, on top of it being a cathartic occurrence arriving at the moment when the house truly becomes hers free of all the ghosts that she lived with since she was abandoned.

    Missy Stanwyck was famously popular with just about everybody. I've always found it kind of funny that many of the performers who were the kindest behind the screen, Miss Stanwyck, Richard Widmark, Robert Ryan among them, excelled at truly vicious characters. Perhaps it was an outlet for them to expunge all that bile, and get paid for it!, so they didn't feel the need in their everyday lives.

    Bette on the other hand was respected by all but her warmth was more measured. I know she and Wyler got into a huge argument over her interpretation, she had gone to see Tallulah in the play against his wishes and once she had couldn't envision playing it any other way but he wanted something else. She's great in the picture but it blew up their relationship.

    A fun theme with lots of possibilities. The first three that came to me are Too Late for Tears (1949) with Lizabeth Scott whose greed turns her into a feral murderess. Then Out of the Past (1947) with Jane Greer as perhaps the coldest femme fatale in the noir genre. The third is the lesser known Ivy (also 1947) with Joan Fontaine as a madly manipulative woman who schemes to murder her husband and frame her lover for the crime so she can be with her newest obsession!

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    1. I'm still shaky and my phone died and I left my cord at the office. Ughh...Olivia was great in this role and was not a cruel character but she seemed to become one near the end but only for the just desserts. I agree with all you wrote. I love Barbara and believe she was a stand up gal. Bette fought tooth and nail with many including her love of her life, Tyler. I thought she wanted to act differently from Tallulah but Wyler wanted hee to stick to that format. I must have misread it.
      Elizabeth Scott was great in the film...so greedy! Jane Greer was so perfect and evil to be honest. I haven't seen Joan yet..need to

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  12. Great theme, Birgit! ☺ I've seen and enjoyed all of these and my favourite is Double Indemnity. Huge Barbara Stanwyck fan! Gal Gadot makes an excellent Wonder Woman. I hope your recovery continues to go well. At least you have a long weekend now, and don't have to worry about work until Monday.

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  13. BIRGIT ~

    I never really got the Barbara Stanwyck thing, but 'Double Indemnity' is definitely one of the all-time best Film Noirs. I also really like the unfortunately forgotten Noir 'The Strange Love Of Martha Ivers', in which Stanwyck played another stone cold, ruthless character.

    I hope you're on the mend soon!

    ~ D-FensDogG

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  14. As usual, I haven't seen any of these, Birgit. But I loved me some Lynda Carter. She was my idol as Wonder Woman.
    Happy Easter, friend!

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