Hubby’s Aunt and Uncle’s yard looking towards the Richeleau river with my hubby’s pride and joy, his kayak. They really do live in a beautiful spot. So, over at Monday Music Moves Me over at Curious As A Cathy, it’s all about opposites in song whether it’s in the title or you just pick one song and the other is opposite of the first or something like that. These 3 songs I chose, popped into my head and here they are…
1. NIGHT AND DAY SUNG BY FRED ASTAIRE-1934
This song, by Cole Porter, has been done by so many artists that it would be interesting to know how many are actually out there. Fred Astaire was the first to introduce this song on Broadway in “The Gay Divorce” and he was the first to introduce the song in the film, “The Gay Divorcee”. FYI, the good ole Hays Office- the jerk of censorship, wanted the name changed because no divorce should be happy.
2. A HARD DAY’S NIGHT SUNG BY THE BEATLES-1964
Of course this is a song that seems to fit this challenge written, mainly by Lennon, with help from McCartney. I love the movie of the same name that is considered one of the best films made and is normally listed in the top 100 films ever made.
3. HEAD OVER HEELS SUNG BY ABBA-1982
Oh now, of course this works as it’s opposite one another plus …it’s ABBA! I always liked this song and found the video quite funny.
Which ones can you think of? Am I bad that I wanted to choose Heaven and Hell…lol
I want to say a heartfelt and huge Thank you to everyone who wrote such beautiful congrats to me in last week’s post. I read all of them and I’m sorry I didn’t respond…but I did love it. Thank you!!!
Last week I ate corn on the cob and, yesterday, I picked green beans off of our small garden area. Soon the cherry tomatoes will be going like gang busters which made me think of farms. The first movie that popped into my head was “The Egg And I” but I already spoke about that very funny movie last year so I went with the following films…
1. TOBACCO ROAD-1941
This is a better film than I thought it would be and quite funny for a John Ford movie. Charles Grapewin is the lazy ass patriarch of hillbillies on a property that used to be a prosperous farm run by his ancestors. The bank wants the farm but Charly may have a way to get some money to keep the farm plus find a husband for his daughter played by the beautiful Gene Tierney. The film is well acted and directed and worth a look. I hope this is not in Spanish…hard to find a trailer
2. SHENANDOAH-1965
This film stars James Stewart as the patriarch of a large family of boys and one girl. He is a believer in peace and refuses to have his children enter the civil war despite his eldest thinking very differently. Due to unfortunate events the youngest ends up in the war and James and his family go out on the road to bring him home leaving behind one son with that son’s wife and baby home to watch over the farm. The family go through some funny moments, action and some very sad times that really hit me hard. The music is excellent along with the cinematography and the acting. Worth a look.
3. FIELD OF DREAMS-1989
This is, quite rightly, called a Capraesque film that stars Kevin Costner as a young farmer struggling to keep his farm while the mean banks are hot on his heels to grab his tranquil farm. While he is in the corn field, he hears a voice say, “If you build it, he will come”. He looks all around seeing nothing but the voice continues until he sees a young Ray Liotta, playing Shoeless Joe Jackson come out of his cornfield wanting to play ball. At first, only he and his daughter sees the ball players who keep coming out of the corn field but soon, his wife sees them too. He creates a baseball spot and embarks on a journey to find an irascible author, played perfectly by James Earl Jones and an old man, played by Burt Lancaster who always wished he could have played professional baseball. The film is magical, hopeful, sweet and just well acted. When filming wrapped, the outdoor location became a big tourist attraction with many people coming to that farm to play baseball. I don’t know what it’s like now but I hope it still attracts people.
So what farm movies come into your mind? Ever live on a farm? I didn’t but was surrounded by farms and did pick fruit and veggies when I was young. It’s not easy.
Isn't he a cutie? To say he got easily spooked is an understatement but he was so much fun to watch. Hi is my hubby's Aunt and Uncle's pussycat, Pinot. He got his name because he hid behind the Pinot Noir when they first brought him home. Anyhoo, I always think of harvest time when we enter August. I don't know why but I do and thought of songs. 2 came into my head right away but I got stumped with the third so I found this one I never heard of and I like it. I'm joining Monday Music Moves Me over at Curious As A Cathy.
1. UNDER THE HARVEST MOON- SUNG BY TIRILLMOHN-2019
I think this is from 2019, please feel free to correct me. The song is a an English folk song that I never heard of before but I find it quite fetching. This lady, Tirill, is Norwegian and delivers a pretty rendition of this folk song.I do love folk songs.
2. SHINE ON HARVEST MOON SUNG BY LEON REDBONE-1976
This is a song from 1908 written by the married team of Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth for the Ziegfeld Follies. This has been sung by many people from Ruth Etting to Doris Day but I always liked Leon Redbone. He’s got such a great voice and it is so unique.
3. HARVEST MOON SUNG BY NEIL YOUNG-1992
I picked Neil Young…his voice is something to get used to but I like it better than Bob Dylan. I actually though he wrote this song back in the late 60s or early 70s.
What Harvest songs come into your mind? What makes you think of August?
REAL NAME: Ernest Frederick McIntyre Bickel- his mom’s last name was Marcher and he wanted a better name plus he believed that his lucky number was 12 so he dropped the K from Frederick and the “er” from Marcher to get his new name.
NICKNAME: Freddie
MARRIED: Twice- Ellis Baker(1921-1927) and actress Florence Eldridge 1927-1975(his death)
AFFAIRS: Many as he was a real lech often grabbing women by their butt or breast right in front of cast and crew. Shelley Winters said that he was a great actor for emoting so much sadness on his face while grabbing her ass. Evelyn Veneble punched him in the face after he grabbed her breast. Claudette Colbert, Olivia DeHavilland etc…would slap him for his groping. Greta Garbo, knowing his reputation, wore garlic inside her clothing and munched on it to put him off. My favourite is what Carole Lombard did…when he sat beside her he placed his hand under her skirt and as his hand crept up closer he got a rude shock when he touched a dildo! Hahahaaa. He never touched her again!! Sylvia Sidney acted with him more than once but never took his talk about her boobs or ass seriously and laughed it off thinking he was just joking. I think he struck out more than he got action but…still reprehensible.
CHILDREN: 2 kids-adopted
OSCAR WINS: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde-1931and Best Years Of Their Lives-1946 for Best Actor
OSCAR NOMINATIONS: Royal Family Of Broadway-1930; A Star Is Born-1937; Death Of A Salesman-1951
TALENT: his acting, to be honest.
KNOWN FOR: his prolific letter writing.
This is a man who was well loved by his children who found him loving, thoughtful and fun and, yet, today, his career would be done because of his lecherous ways with so many women. His excellent acting is now overshadowed by the most recent revelations about his asshole behaviour…oops, I swore but he deserved all he got from his many co-stars. He served in WW1 and, afterwards, was heading to become a banker but, listening to his landlady, a former actress, talk about her times on the stage made him change his mind and become an actor. He had great diction and, with his good looks, became an early matinee idol adept at drama and comedy winning his first Oscar for a horror movie. In fact, the make up, was so severe that he ended up in the hospital for 3 weeks and he was lucky that he suffered no permanent scars.
His wife, an acclaimed actress in her own right, often worked with him on the stage but, when they appeared in a real stinker, he actually took out an apology in the papers for the lousy play. In a weird way, he was protective of her ( yeah…I know how stupid that sounds) and often wanted her to act opposite him in movies as well the theatre. For some reason, she never left him even though she knew all about him but it could be the times back then.
He was able to go from romantic leads into character roles with ease and his acting prowess was noted by Marlon Brando and William Holden as an inspiration. I do still really enjoy watching his films especially one of my favourites, “The Best Years of Our Lives.”
I am very late but we had a major travel day back home which took us about 8 1/2 hrs and it would have been 2+ hours longer f we took the 401 through Toronto because it is, frankly, nuts! It’s considered worse than the California freeways with the major congestion, the weavers and the high rate of speed…when you can speed which is usually over 140km hr. We try and do 120…if possible but it’s just crazy. Anyway, I had to think about this week, fast and am bummed that I still have yet to see any episodes of “It Takes A Thief” that starred Robert Wagner so I found 3 that fit. Check out who else joined in on the fun over at the Brain child, Wandering Through The Shelves. Here re my 3…
1. REMINGTON STEELE-1982-1987
Stephanie Zimbalist plays a PI who creates her own agency but is not very successful until she invents Remington as the man behind the agency. When that happens, she becomes quite successful, sad but true, but becomes perturbed when a thief, handsome, roguish and gentlemanly, steps in as Remington Steele. She keeps him on as the front to her agency but he becomes much more involved than she likes plus they both have an eye for one another. This made Pierce Brosnan a star and set him on his very highly successful road in acting. This was clever, fun and humorous.
2. COUNTERSTRIKE-1990-1993
This starred Christopher Plummer as a very rich man who’s wife was brutally murdered in front of him and, once he recovers he starts his own task force to catch terrorists. He hires a man from Scotland Yard, played by Simon MacCorkindale to be his right hand man who seeks out a thief who knows the underworld and where to get questions answered plus she is quite the beauty. Another is rescued from a South American prison since he is a mercenary who knows a thing or 2 about bombs, TNT etc… each episode we get to see how they work as a team to bring down the bad guys. It was a Canadian and French production that, I thought, was quite good.
3. GOOD BEHAVIOUR-2016-2017
This stars Michelle Dockery, fresh off of Downton Abbey as the imperious Lady Mary, to see her washing toilets in a icky diner. We realize that she is on parole because she is a conwoman who also has major addictions. Soon she goes back to her old ways and makes a mark on this dashingly, handsome man, played by ooh-La-La, Juan Diego Botto, taking him to her bed in quite the hot sex scene. The scenes work out well because part of this show is about her being a hot mess but another is her steamy life with this hitman. Oh, yea, he is a hitman who is really good for her and good at what he does but he has a heart. It’s very different and quite unique which is why it probably didn’t work…shame.
This is not. Good picture but….I just wanted to surprise ya! We are on vacation at my hubby’s Aunt’s place and I went for a walk not thinking much about the champagne flutes that Aunt Simone brought out. She will often have a toast to something and she has everything you can think of for entertaining and cooking. I came back and sat back down when my Michael asked to have a picture taken of Aunt Simone, me and him. When I mentioned that I can take a picture of him and his Aunt, he told me, impatiently, to just get his Uncle Roger to take the picture and then go sit down. So, I showed Uncle Roger where to click for the photo and sat down. Suddenly, Michael went down on one knee, opened the box and asked that question, “Will you marry me?” I just sat there, mouth agape not believing what I was hearing looking at the 3 rings that make one nice one and wondering how he got one over on me, not easy, let me say. Finally, I heard someone say, “Well, are you going to say yes?” That brought me out of my stupor and I, naturally, said yes! I am now, officially, engaged and am very happy. So, I chose 3 songs that my hubby and I have loved from the get go with 2 that we have danced to, in the past, in our livingroom. Please forgive me that I don’t have the dates or who wrote the songs.
1. UNCHAINED MELODY BY THE RIGHTEOUS BROS..
Love this song…one of my favs and I loved dancing to this with my hubby… Love this sung by this team from the 50s I believe.
2. AT LAST SUNG BY ETTA JAMES
When we heard this together, many years ago, hubby said “This is our song”. I know it’s popular but I love it. I think this is from the early 60s
3. TIME TO SAY GOOD-BYE SUNG BY SARAH BRIGHTMAN AND ANDREA BOCELLI
I love this song when it first came out and, when I met my hubby, I was pleasantly surprised to find out he loved this song as well. This is what brought Andrea Bocelli to the forefront.
We are still on vacation but leave for home Thursday. It’s been wonderful
We are now enjoying ourselves looking at the scene you see in the picture. We are at my hubby’s Aunt and Uncle’s home on the Richeleau river. We have not seen them since before Covid and I have not been away from work for a week since I started so I’m happy. We have been dealing with hot and humid days so I thought I would choose movies that deal with the heat. Here are my 3…
1. A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE-1951
I equate this film with the play movies that were big in the 50s as well as the “kitchen sink” films also prevalent in the 50s and 60s. These films were named this because the kitchen sink was often shown in the films and was not depicting the wealthy…unless they were slumming…which they weren’t. This film stars Marlon Brando and Kim Hunter as a married couple who take in her older sister, played so well by Vivien Leigh. Marlon is a brutish, dumb ass jerk in a dirty, white T shirt who berates the older sister who talks about being a lady from the genteel south. Her sister lets her be what she wants to be and Marlon’s friend, played by Karl Maldon, falls under Viv’s spell. It’s hot, sweaty and nasty much like Brando who screams, “Stella!” When his wife leaves him, albeit, not for long. It’s not an easy movie to watch especially knowing that Vivien Leigh was dealing with her own bi-polar disorder during the making of this film and when she starred on the London stage of this theatre production. The make up department and hairstylists would hide the burn marks created by the shock treatments she was receiving but she was ever the professional winning her second Oscar in the process. When you see her fragility in this film and compare it to her beauty only 12 years before from “Gone With The Wind”, you can see how much her disability affected her.
2. REAR WINDOW-1954
I love this movie and spoke about this more than once but I couldn’t pass it up. It take place during a heat wave getting very itchy when we see Jimmy Stewart in a wheel chair with a leg cast all the way up to his hip. He is a photographer who has ventured everywhere but is now stuck…in more ways than one. He is engaged to the lovely Grace Kelly who is a socialite and loves nice clothes and loves him. All he can do during this summer is watch all the people in his apartment complex because their windows all face the courtyard they all share. We meet the blonde dancer, the newlyweds, Miss Lonelyhearts, the musician, a husband and wife who sleep on the fire escape and a broody Perry Mason, I mean, Ironside…oops, Raymond Burr who is caring for his invalid wife. When the wife disappears, Stewart suspects foul play but everyone thinks the heat is getting to his brain. Soon, Grace and the great Thelma Ritter begin to think like him but they may all be a bit batty. Hitchcock directed this film with his usual panache and it’s one of his best films.
3. 12 ANGRY MEN-1957
I love this film! From the very beginning, you know, just from the scared look of the kid, that he is innocent of the murder rap. Now these 12 jurors must decide on the kid’s fate. Right off the bat 11 out of the 12 vote guilty except for 1…Henry Fonda. He is the lone hold out who questions everything and from the get go we begin to learn about all the the jurors from the lonely old man, the guy who wants to get to his baseball game to the bigot who only sees a criminal. It’s an excellent character study with the short fuses made shorter due to the heat. I love the many character actors in this film-Jack Klugman, Martin Balsam, Ed Begley, Jack Warden, John Fiedler, Lee J. Cobb etc.. it is so much worth the look.
Which movies can you think of that take place during a heat wave?
So the answers from yesterday’s Oscar songs? The winner was “The Atcheson, Topeka and the Santa Fe”. The nominated song was “All Through The Day” and the one that came up Nadda was “Put The Blame on Mamie”.
