Star Of The Month-Anthony Perkins

 ANTHONY PERKINS

BIRTH: April 4, 1932

DEATH: September 13, 1992

AGED: 60 years old

DIED FROM: Pneumonia due to AIDS

MARRIED: Berry Berenson

AFFAIRS: Let me count the ways! Tab Hunter( 4 year relationship), Grover Dale (6 yr relationship), Stephen Sondheim, Rudolph Nureyev, Victoria Principal, plus many, many others. There is now a sad rumour, that he and Paul Newman had an affair. This came out only after Paul Newmn’s death and there is no real evidence to support this rumour. 

CHILDREN: Oz Perkins and Elvis Perkins, both in the entertainment industry 

FAMOUS PARENT: Osgood Perkins

OSCAR NOMINATIONS: Best Supporting Actor for “Friendly Persuasion”

OSCAR WINS: Nil…should have been nominated and win for “Psycho”

TALENT: He could sing and was in musicals on Broadway. One song, (Frank Loesser created this song for Perkins because he hated Perkins and, deliberately, wrote this song believing it was shit), “ Never Will I Marry” became a hit and has been sung by many famous singers like Frank Sinatra, Perkins was an excellent impersonator and could do a very funny impersonation of Roddy McDowall. They were gret friends

KNOWN FOR: His quirky mannerisms; his charm and genial personality; his oddly, boyish good looks. He was known to stutter.

I’m late here but it’s been a busy weekend, but I’m still here:) Poor Anthony Perkins will forever be known for his “alter ego” Norman Bates from Psycho, the 1960 film, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. He should be known for his wider talent of work he has done in film and Broadway creating some mighty fine work heralded by critics and his fellow actors. 

This man was one conflicted, layered man who fought his sexuality to the point where he went to a psychiatrist to change his wish to be with men rather than women. Of course, we now know, this can’t be done, but, back in the day, many people thought it could be taken out of him, sort of speak. I guess, some still think this today, but, this is very wrong. Anyhoo, let’s add that Anthony also had huge mother issues where, as a young child, he wished his dad dead. When his famous dad died ( Osgood was a big actor during the silents and early sound films), Perkins felt intense guilt for wishing this and, later, sought treatment for these feelings. Let’s add even more mental fuck up( sorry, but this word is perfect), when his mom started caressing him including  all the way to, you know where and she continued sexually abusing him into his young adulthood. As he grew up, his mom became great friends with playwright, Marchaela O’Hara eventually moving in with Perkins and his mom. Yup, the consensus is that they became lovers and stayed together. 

Hitchcock must have sensed Perkin’s sexual ambiguity and he was hired to be Norman Bates. Perkins  and Hitchcock got along very well where, for years after, Perkins was invited to Hitchcock’s home for dinners when Hitchcock would entertain other people during the making of other films. Perkins was very well liked by many and found him charming, intelligent and sweet. He would stand up when he saw injustice. When he made a film with Shirley MacLaine, “The Matchmaker(1958)”, Perkins salary was $75,000 but Shirley’s was $25,000, so Perkins went all the way to the head of the studio demanding that MacLaine received the same amount as he, but this fell on deaf ears. During the 50s and 60s, Perkins had 2 major relationships first with Tab Hunter and 2nd with Dancer and actor Grover Dale, where he lived with them, entertaining friends and it was an open secret that Perkins was gay. Perkins, was so conflicted that, in the late 60s, he sought psychological counselling. His first time, with a woman, was with Victoria Principal during  the making of the film, “The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean.” He soon met Berry Berenson, an actress and photographer, and married her. By all accounts, he did love her but he continued to have sexual encounters with many men during their marriage but never separated. Perkins decided to embrace his alter ego and he directed 3 more films on Norman Bates, Psycho 2, 3 and 4, a TV prequel. I saw 2 and 3 and I just don’t like them especially that poor Vera Miles dies with a Big knife thrown into her mouth. Oops, spoiler alert. 

It was during the making of Psycho 3, that he found out he had AIDS and died from pneumonia with Berry and his 2 sons by his side. Sadly, Berry Berrenson was on one of the planes, on 9/11, that crashed into the Twin Towers. Perkins grew up in a very abusive household and during a time when homosexuality was against the law. Despite this, he became a romantic leading man before doing Psycho cementing his fame in this excellent film. He was genial, generous and a nice man. This is the man we need to remember.

FILMS 

1. Psycho-1960

2. The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean-1972

3. The Tin Star-1957

4. Murder anon the Orient Express-1974

5. Pretty Poison-1968

6. Friendly Persuasion-1956

7. On The Beach-1959

8. Green Mansions-1959

9. Mahogany-1975

10.  Desire Under The Elms-1955

Cigars…Cigarettes

 

Today, thankfully, cigarettes are looked upon as unhealthy and a “filthy” habit, no disrespect to the bloggers who still smoke. My mom smoked for over 50 years and, when I was little, I remember my dad giving me $5.00 to go buy a pack of cigarettes for him and mom while he filled up the car with gas. Yes, I was, maybe 6 or 7 when I went up to the cashier, my eyes barely over the counter, asking for a pack of cameo and a pack of export A. This is when a pack cost a little over a buck. During the heyday of Hollywood, just about everyone smoked and the haze one sees in the bar scenes are real. Often, the cigarette was used as a sexual precursor to something more alluring which just made the genes public want to smoke more. This was also when doctors said smoking was healthy and calmed ones’ nerves. I believe it does including calming pain but at a price…greatly increasing the risk of getting heart disease, stroke, COPD, and cancer. Anyways, here are 3 films showcasing 3 great stars known for their smoking…

1. BLONDE VENUS-1932

This is one strange film that stars Marlene Dietrich, directed by her Svengali paramour, Josef Von Sternberg. She plays a cabaret singer married to Herbert Marshall, who is dying from Radium, with a young son, thinking their only hope is to me this physician in Dresden who can cure poor Herbert. The trip is not cheap so Marlene goes back to the stage billed as the Blonde Venus where she meets up with a rich politician, played by Cary Grant. They have an affair, her marriage crumbles and there is a lot of soap opera going on. We see Marlene smoking with a cigarette holder, a sophisticated look to smoking that was an extra gem to have along with earrings, broaches etc… This film is most famous for Marlene’s one performance in a gorilla suit where she takes off the gorilla head to show her in an absurd blonde afro. This is a pre-code film which is a fun watch.

2. NOW, VOYAGER-1942

What can one say, when women swooned over Paul Henreid, when he took 2 cigarettes in his mouth, lit them and handed one to the mesmerizing Bette Davis, who never looked so good. This is considered one of the sexiest moments on screen. The film, starring Bette Davis plays a downtrodden spinster bullied and put down by her shrew of a mother played so well by Gladys Cooper. Enter the ever great, Claude Rains, as a psychiatrist who brings Bette to a sanitarium to heal her mind and soul. He does and the next time we see Bette, she is dressed in one of the best outfits I’ve seen on film…love the hat! She is taking a cruise where she meets Paul Henreid and has an affair shown by the classic cigarette scene(s) plus sharing a sleeping bag. When Bette returns home, she meets up with her mom, confronting her and overcomes the negativity her mom spews forth. This is a classic woman’s picture, well acted and directed with a wonderful score.

3. TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT-1944

This film stars Humphrey Bogart( who did die from throat cancer most likely from his smoking) as a boat captain on an island taken over by the Vichy French during WW2. Bogart doesn’t want to get involved with politics only wanting to make a living. He meets up with Slim, played by Lauren Bacall, who sings a little ditty while draped around a piano. Of course, Bogie is holding a cigarette in his mouth looking alluring to us and Bacall. In fact, this is the film where Bogie and Bacall meet, falling in love and marrying. The cigarette seems to be, yet another, sexual metaphor where Bogie lights a cigarette and hands it over to Lauren Bacall. The bar has a constant haze of smoke which lends to the feel of this film about the free French trying to escape from the Vichy.  This is a must see film and the 1st of four they made together.

Which films can you think of with cigarettes taking a dominant role? 

Storms

 

Yesterday, was quite stormy…rain, some hail, lightening, thunder all day long. March went out like a lion, that’s for sure so it works with this week’s theme over at Monday Music Moves Me. I always think of the brilliant songs, “Stormy Weather” sung by Judy Garland and “Riders of the Storm” by the Doors but I went with these songs and hope you enjoy…

1. STORMS SUNG BY FLEETWOOD MAC-1979

This song was written by Stevie Nicks for their album, “Tusk” and was about her affair with Mick Fleetwood which did not help his marriage…obviously. 

2. THE STORM SUNG BY CHRIS DEBURGH-2010

I love Chris DeBurgh, an Irish singer, balladeer, and singing recanteur who has sung about many storms and rain, but I really like this song with the infusion of Irish music.

3. RAIN IS FALLING SUNG BY ELO-1981

Along with ABBA, I love ELO which was another band I really wanted to see but knew my mom would say no since she said no to seeing ABBA when they were on their Voulez-Vous tour( “there might be drugs there”, my mom said). They had an elaborate set back in the 1970s with a space ship and a light show but I loved how they brought in all these classical elements into their music. This song was written by Jeff Lynne which is about loss and sadness, a typical theme when singing bout rain and storms.

Which stormy songs come into your mind?

Birds Are Chirping

 

Stamping Sensations-Spring

Stamplorations-Anything Goes

Simon Says- Anything Goes

I had fun with this card. I used the Sizzex to emboss the flower frame and then I coloured in the flowers using a soft brush with distress inks. I took a purple dye ink pad and brushed it onto the card so that anything raised would become purple. I took a stencil and placed the image onto the middle of the card taping it down so it wouldn't move. I took the different coloured butter spreads and spread it onto the stencil so it creates these loving birds. I think they turned out well and enjoyed making this.

52 Christmas Cards- Slimline

Sparkles Christmas- Snowmen

CCAYR- Frosty

Inkspirational- E is for Easy

This was a quick card because I found the glittery blue scrap of paper and wanted to use it. I stamped Frosty the snowman and the snowflakes. I cut them out and placed them on with pop up dots. The snowflakes have 2 different sizes of pop up dots and the 3rd is glued right on the card for dimension. I have a die cut for the saying and used the sizzex machine to cut it out. 

We Love Stamping-Wildlife

Crafty Animals-Anything Goes

 The Male Room-Blue and Brown

Fab N’ Funky- 4 Legged Friends

I love wolves, they are the first animal I visit when I go to the zoo. I stamped the image onto cardstock and did some colouring with my gamsol pencils. I coloured the background with my distress inks. I got my sizzex out and my different leafy die cuts to cut them out and placed around the wolves framing them. It’s as if you caught a moment through the foliage to see these beautiful animals.

That’s it for now…Have a wonderful, windy day!

Hats!

 

I was thinking about a theme for today and I kept thinking of the debonair Fred Astaire in his top hat that seemed to work with his elongated face. Top Hats were a staple in men’s fancy attire all the way into the 1940s. In fact, men wore hats throughout the centuries and it is only since the late 1960s that men stopped wearing hats. So, I decided to use this as a theme…

1. TOP HAT-1935

You know I would choose Fred Astaire because he made the top hat his own. He made 10 films with Ginger Rogers and this is considered, arguably, their best. Of course, this is the classic “boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back” theme but it works in so many films. Fred plays a famous entertainer who irks his downstairs neighbour in a fancy hotel when he tap dances all over the room. They meet, Fred is besotted and she is equally enamoured until she mistakenly believes he is married to her best friend, the wonderful Helen Broderick. Mistaken identities ensue all the way to a wild look white Art Deco Venice. She finally gives in to his charms by dancing the most beautiful dance in the “Cheek to Cheek” with that famous feathered dress. In the end, all is revealed and they dance to their hearts’ content. This is a very funny, entertaining film with great Art Direction by Van Nest Polglase, fabulous dance numbers created by Astaire and his right hand man, Hermes Pan and great character actors like Broderick, Edward Everett Horton, Eric Blore and Eric Rhodes. It’s a must-see film.

2. THE NAKED SPUR-1953

Many western stars had their favourite hats and wore them in all their western films, so I had to go with my favourite actor, Jimmy Stewart who loved this well worn hat, a brown fedora, in most of his westerns in the 1950s. I was lucky to see this hat when I visited the Jimmy Stewart museum in his hometown of Indiana, PA. And wished I could have tried it on. Anyway, in this film, he plays a bounty hunter after a killer, played by Robert Ryan. Stewart enlists the aid of an old prospector, played by Millard Mitchell ( his last role before he died of cancer at 50) and a soldier. They capture Ryan along with his girlfriend, Janet Leigh, who believes the crap Ryan told her. Ryan tells Stewart’s co-hosts that he is not a sheriff and that the bounty is not $1,000 but $5,000. Greed gets the better of everyone but Stewart ( well, a bit murky there) and double cross him. Now, Stewart must capture Ryan again but without the 2 pals..or is there a change of heart? Does Janet see the light and realize what Ryan told her was crappola? This is a gritty, but entertaining western with a hardened Stewart at his best and the beauty of the mountains and country is photographed at its best. 

3. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK-1981

This is not a favourite of mine…sorry, but true even though I love Harrison Ford and had a crush on him back in the day. This franchise (the 3rd film with Sean Connery is my favourite) started with this entertaining flick by Steven Spielberg about an archeology professor who gets himself into some great adventures usually with a couple of pals, played by Jon Rhys Davies and Denholm Elliott. It’s the late 1930s, maybe the early 40s and the Nazis are after the Lost Ark of the Covenant which, they feel, will aid in the domination of the world. In their way is Indiana Jones( Ford) who is trying to locate the Ark for himself and history. He battles natives, runs from huge boulders and has to battle Karen Allen whom he falls for, of course. Throughout the film, you find out he hates snakes and loves his hat, the famous fedora that Ford wears in all the films. It is fun and many love this film where I like it but I am ok if I never see it again. 

What films come to your mind that has famous hats?

Which Song Won the Oscar 1986

 

When will I ever remember to post who won, who was nominated and who received 0 love on Thursday when I write about movies. I am so sorry about that…so let’s cross ones fingers that I remember…hahahaaaa. It is freebie week over at Monday Music Moves Me and so I am talking about the songs from the 80s, specifically, the Oscars 1986. I love the 80s and had so much fun dancing many weekends away in the dance clubs that have all but disappeared today. So let’s see if you can guess which song won the Oscar, which was nominated and which song got 0 love.

1. TAKE MY BREATH AWAY SUNG BY BERLIN

This song is from the film, “Top Gun” which I still have no desire to see. It is a song that I love and have danced to, once, with a guy that I had a crush on and became a relationship that ended with me being used, hurt and reputation tarnished( he told friends that I was a nutty chick that wouldn’t let him go and was a bit crazy…asshole). Ok, I digress, this song was written by Giorgio Moroder with lyrics by Tom Whitlock and, initially, the New Wave band, Berlin, declined to sing this song. They asked others who also declined, until Berlin relented and sang the song becoming a big hit.

2. SOMEWHERE OUT THERE SUNG BY LINDA RONSTADT AND JAMES INGRAM

This Disney film, “An American Tail” was produced by Steven Spielberg who asked these 2 singers to perform this song that appears in the end credits. The music was created by James Horner with lyrics by Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann and was another hit back in the day. I love James Horner, who is a great composer, and I adore Linda Ronstadt but I felt my teeth ache every time I heard this song.

3. DON’T YOU ( FORGET ABOUT ME) SUNG BY SIMPLE MINDS

I love this song! The lead singer, James Kerr, has such a smouldering voice that lends itself so well to this song that was another huge hit from the big hit film, “The Breakfast Club.” It was written by Keith Forsey and Steve Schiff who had a devil of a time trying to find a band who would sing this song. Simple Minds declined it along with Billy Idol and Corey Hart. Jim Kerr was married to Chrissy Hynde ( from the Pretenders) who told him that he should do this song and believed, rightly, that this song would become a big hit. Simple Minds changed their minds and the rest is history becoming a huge hit defining the 80s. I love this song that I dance to every time I hear it, unless I am in the car.

So which song won the Oscar, which was nominated and which song came up empty-handed?

Irish Movies That Make One Smile

 

It was St. Patrick’s Day this past Tuesday so I thought I would carry it through for today’s pick of movies. There re quite a few movies that take place in Ireland or involving Irish people on a foreign land. I wanted to have movies that can make you smile since this world is just one big F@# up. We need movies that make one forget reality sometimes…

1. THE QUIET MAN-1952

This is a John Ford classic, who loved his Irish heritage, that includes many of his group that are Irish like Victor McLaglen, The wonderful Barry FitzGerald and the luminous, Maureen O’Hara. This stars John Wayne( who should have been nominated for a Best Actor Oscar) as a former boxer, who killed a man when in the ring, who leaves his career and his home behind to start a new life in Ireland taking over his mom’s former home. He meets the fellow people in town including the fiery Mary Kate, played by O’Hara,  who is equally enamoured by the tall Wayne. Her brother refuses to give her, her dowry resulting in much conflagration between Wayne, O’Hara and McLaglen. The townsfolk can see a storm brewing which results in a humdinger of a climax involving Wayne dragging O’Hara through the hills to her brother. The ensuing fight is so great and so much fun to watch. It sounds so wrong to say I love it when Wayne drags O’Hara from the train station to her brother, but…I love It! I find that scene as 2 people who are equal to each other, matching wits and taking no prisoners which is sexy. Ok, I said it, I guess I am weird. This is a must see film in my opinion

2. DARBY O’GILL AND THE LITTLE PEOPLE-1959

This is a fun Disney film that co-stars a young Sean Connery as the love interest to the pretty Janet Munro, the daughter of the main character, Darby, played by Albert Sharpe. Darby is the head caretaker to an estate who spins yarns to anyone who listens, that he can see leprechauns and fairy people, etc… When he is replaced by the young, rugged Sean, Darby decides to find the King of the leprechauns but, instead of him catching the King, the leprechauns catch Darby and bring him inside their mountain where the king of the leprechauns is happy to keep Darby with them. Darby outwits the crafty leprechauns and escapes plus he nabs the King and now is granted 3 wishes. What will poor Darby wish for and will he blow it and wish 4 times which will negate his other wishes? This is a sweet, endearing film that is just a fun movie to watch especially when we hear Sean Connery sing.

3. WAKING NED DEVINE-1998

This is a hilarious film that takes place in a small Irish village( actually filmed on the Isle of Man)  with 2 friends, played so brilliantly by Ian Bannon ( who died in a car accident a year after this movie came out) and David Kelly who almost steals the picture, who find out that someone in their tiny village won the lottery. They go on a hunt to find out who won and find him. A man who died of shock after finding out he won! The 2 devise a plan to keep the lottery money with one of them playing the winner, Ned. They must engage the entire town to on their plan when the lottery people come to confirm that Kelly is Ned. The only nemesis is an old wart of a woman who hates everyone and everything and might very well tattle. This is so funny from Kelly, naked as a jay bird, riding a motorcycle to a hog farmer, played by James Nesbitt, who loves the pretty village girl and she loves him but for one thing….he smells of pigs. It was the sleeper hit of the summer and it is another must see film.

Which Irish films can you think of?