Thursday, January 5, 2023

Thursday Movie Picks- Big Cats


OK, Wandering Through The Shelves has decided to do these themes every 2 weeks which bummed me out. I'm not surprised because she has been doing these themes each week since 2015 but I'm still bummed. I used her badge above because this theme is hers but she can let me know to not use it. This being said, I didn't want to stop the weekly themes and will make up my own or use hers from a previous year. I love animals so I decided to choose big cats as the theme. Here are my 3...

1. BRINGING UP BABY-1938

This is one of the best screwball comedy classics that tanked when it first came out starring Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant. He plays a bespectacled paleontologist trying to get the bones just right on his dinosaur. He meets up with Katherine Hepburn who sets her eyes on him and when he finds out her aunt is the Dame he has been trying to get money from to back his project, he takes her up on going to the countryside with her. He does not realize shevhas a pretty little cat named Baby who is a cougar. Baby is a sweetheart who just purrs when they sing, I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby." Well, the pet dog grabs Cary's dinosaur bone and runs away with it and burys it. Mayhem ensues which includes a wild cougar mistaken for Baby. This is funny and Hepburn looks quite beautiful and Cary is, well, handsome, of courseceven in a frilly girlie bathrobe. Apparently, the stars kept cracking up and loved making this film. Cary was scared of the cougar but not Kate even when the cougar went for her( she was twirling her dress and it hot spooked). Funny!

2. FLUFFY-1965


I would love to see this movie again because I thought it was sweet and funny. Tony Randall plays a scientist trying to prove that any wild animal can be tamed ( he's wrong but people still try, unfortunately). He has a big lion, named Fluffy but people get scared of him and when some antics ensue, the bigwigs..cops etc want to take Fluffy from him.  He takes off with Fluffy  and ends up at a hotel. People are, again, spooked except for the daughter of the hotel owner, played by Shirley Jones, who thinks Fluffy is sweet. This is just one of those really nice comedies that came out in the 60s. 

3. BORN FREE-1966

When I saw this movie I was enthralled and cared deeply for Elsa the little lioness cub brought up by the famous couple, George and Joy Adamson who became big name proponents for saving the African animals ( both ended up being murdered, sadly). Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna, married on real life, played this couple  who raised Elsa. This film  I always felt was a bit bittersweet even though it ends in a good way. The music is world famous and one I love. 

I hope you like this theme. What big cat films come to mind for you?

19 comments:

  1. Hi, Birgit!

    It's neat of you to fill in for "Wandering" as Hostess With the Mostest for the Thursday Movie Picks feature. Hey, if you ever need help thinking of a theme, Shady's your go-to guy. Three themes that immediately come to mind are:

    * movies that have lots of car rollover stunts
    * slasher films with body counts greater than 10 campers
    * movies with 50-foot tall women

    You chose an interesting theme for this week's show. I haven't yet watched the screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby. It looks hilarious. I don't think I have ever seen either of the leads, Katherine Hepburn or Cary Grant, in a riotously funny role. It's good to know they had fun and lots of laughs while making the film. Too often, your back story is one of tension on the set, with the leading man and lady hating on each other behind the scenes.

    I saw Fluffy as a teenager in the 60s. Tony Randall cracked me up in the Marilyn Monroe musical comedy Let's Make Love and in the Doris Day - Rock Hudson comedies Pillow Talk, Lover Come Back and Send Me No Flowers. I also enjoyed Fluffy, and I like Shirley Jones.

    i saw Born Free many moons ago with Mrs. Shady #1. It's a movie that tugs at your heartstrings, filled with amazing scenes such as the ones in that trailer.

    Coincidentally, I just watched a movie with a big cat a week ago. In fact, I found the movie is so entertaining that I watched it twice. It's the 2006 sports comedy film Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby starring Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly and Sacha Baron Cohen as NASCAR race drivers. The flick boasts delightful performances by three co-stars: Gary Cole, Jane Lynch and Amy Adams. One of the funniest scenes of all takes place after champion race driver Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrell), causes a major accident on the track during a race, loses his nerve and hits rock bottom, scared of driving in a race or even down a city street. Wiki picks up the story: "Bobby's estranged father Reese (Gary Cole) returns and, using unorthodox methods such as putting a live cougar in his car, tries to help Bobby regain his confidence." Imagine driving down the highway with a wild cougar sitting next to you! It's a hoot.

    Thanks for the morning movie entertainment, Birgit. When you get a chance, stop by and see me at Shady's Place. Ronald Reagan, of all people, makes a cameo appearance in my new post. Enjoy the rest of your week and weekend, dear friend BB!

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    1. I'm glad you enjoyed this theme. I could ha e chosen a slasher film involving 2 lions. A really good movie called The Ghost and the Darkness. . These lions were serial killers and it is a true story!

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  2. I've not seen the other two but I've certainly seen Born Free and the sequel. The theme song won an Oscar, didn't it?

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  3. Oh Birgit what great fun!!!

    LOVE your choices! Bringing Up Baby is a gem, though not my favorite pairing of Kate & Cary-that's Holiday. While the lead couple are wonderful and so in sync-Tracy & Hepburn are incomparable but Cary Grant was Kate's best screen partner-they are surrounded by some of the greatest character actors/actresses of their time. Charlie Ruggles and Barry Fitzgerald are a blast but May Robson absolutely owns every second she's on screen handily stealing scenes from the two stars even at their peaks.

    Fluffy was a pleasant enough flyaway piece of whimsy but it's never been something I've longed to see again after that first watch. As I recall for some inexplicable reason they slapped a black wig on Shirley's head and that's my clearest memory of the movie, hardly the biggest endorsement for the picture!

    I remember watching Born Free when I was just a wee nipper and it made a huge impression on me. Loved the movie and the theme music which was ubiquitous on the radio for a while. No matter how many other things I've seen Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers in (and its been a considerable amount) I still think of them as Joy and George the instant I see them. I also was a fan of the short-lived TV series of the same name with my beloved Diana Muldaur as Joy Adamson.

    I have to say uncreatively but perhaps inevitably the first film that popped into my head was the 1949 "The Big Cat" starring brief sensation Lon McAllister and Forrest Tucker. Aside from the title it was quite mediocre.

    After that the weird "Roar" which was a passion project for Tippi Hendren filmed on her sprawling wildlife preserve and costarring an incredibly young Melanie Griffith. Big cats abound, common sense less so.

    Thirdly in a race to the bottom of the barrel there's the dreadful "The Day of the Animals" which has an amazing cast for such dreck (including another fave of mine Ruth Roman) and lots of ozone depleted crazy wildlife beside several mad mountain lions!!

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    1. I have not seen any of your pics but would love to see the last one. Was it made in the 70s? That's when so many big stars ended up in dreck like Henry Gonda in Tentacles and Olivia DeHavilland in The Swarm...love those pics!
      I have read and heard about Roar. I think Tippi is a bit tipsy but at least she saves big cats but I hope the cats are treated well.
      I love Holiday qith the 2 stars..an under-rated film. I like Fluffy more than you but, yeah, that wig is ugly...maybe the lion hated blonds?
      I've only seen the 2 leads from Born Free on this movie and loved it so much that nice was si k when I heard Adamson was murdered. . I forgot about the tv show but that was a show I watched as well but only vaguely remember it. I'm fi ally here.

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  4. Oh, yes, I'd choose Bringing Up Baby and Born Free. Now I have to choose something with a dog or I'll offend Franklin & Penelope: Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993). It even includes a cat.

    Love,
    Janie

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    1. I love Homeward Bound...such a sweet film and emotional

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  5. Lol. My brain is stuck on The Cat in the Hat.

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    1. Ah yes...that works even though it's horrible ...hahahaa

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  6. When I saw "big cats" I immediately thought of Bringing Up Baby. And Fluffy... Wow, the title didn't look familiar, and then it did. I'm sure I saw this, but as a kid. Once. I'm sure it was only once. I didn't recall it at all until I read this.

    Never saw Born Free. Heard of it, but it came out just long enough before I was born for me to have missed it.

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    1. I hope you see Born Free one day..it is so good. Bittersweet

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  7. BIRGIT ~

    I never even heard of 'Fluffy'.

    I saw 'Born Free' when I was a kid and liked it, of course. But saw maybe 15 minutes of it again recently and wasn't tempted to continue watching.

    Although I love the old Screwball Comedies and am a fan of Cary Grant's work, I've just never been able to get into 'Bringing Up Baby'. I gave it at least two and perhaps even three chances before I gave up on it. For one thing, I don't care for Katherine Hepburn at all. Something about her has always rubbed me the wrong way. But it's not just that. I think the story is just a bit *too* ridiculous for me, and I wasn't buying Cary Grant as that sort of goofball character.

    So, what are my choices then?
    How about 'The Pink Panther'?
    No?

    Uhm... 'Cat Ballou'?
    No?

    Alright, I've got one for real this time:
    I think my favorite "big cat" movie is probably 'THE LION KING'. It's a pretty entertaining movie, plus I'm a big fan of Rafiki.

    ~ D-FensDogG
    STMcC Presents BATTLE OF THE BANDS

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    1. The Lion King is perfect. I was so upset when the dad died but, hey, it's Disney.
      I'm not surprised that you dislike Hepburn. I think she can be a off putting to some men. My brother isn't a fan of hers either. Ever see Marti Short portray her in SCTV?

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  8. I love this week's theme:) Hope your holidays were grand.

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    1. I'm glad you like it and I have a really lovely Christmas

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  9. Hi sis! Couldn't help but think of a couple of animated classics, "The Lion King" and "Jungle Book." Loved the way George Sanders played Shere Khan.

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    1. These 2 are great and love George Sanders but, wait for it,...I still have to see this animated classic!

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