Monday, February 27, 2012

Still a voice within me keeps repeating, "You. You. You."

One of my favorite dances from my favorite dancing team!

Sunday, February 26, 2012

You're my favorite woman

My favorite married couple: Nick and Nora!

This photo is from the TCM archives.

Friday, February 24, 2012

"I'd love to make a tour of you."

Last week's quote: "Hey! That's a screwy hat!" was from The Shadow of the Thin Man. It's a running gag at the beginning of the movie with Nora's hat - everyone keeps commenting on it being a screwy hat. It's so funny!

This week's quote is: "I'd love to make a tour of you."

Monday, February 20, 2012

Sunday, February 19, 2012

You kiss while you're dancing

I love them so much! And this picture is just perfection.

Friday, February 17, 2012

"Hey! That's a screwy hat!"

Last week's quote: "Wow! You'll be sow-ry!" was from An American in Paris. The song is "Tra-La-La," written by George and Ira Gershwin. The line was sung by Oscar Levant who sang the song with Gene Kelly.

This week's quote: "Hey! That's a screwy hat!"

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Is this a dream? Or this? Or this?

I posted this video for Valentine's Day last year. I'm still rather proud of it. So, here it is again!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Monday, February 13, 2012

Was you ever bit by a dead bee?

It's almost here. Almost Valentine's Day. And who better to talk about as we approach this romantical day than Bogie and Bacall?


Okay guys. It's happened. I've jumped on the Bogart and Bacall bandwagon. Took me long enough! I was nervous to try out their movies because I like happy movies and I try to stick to that. Emm over at The Stupendously Amazingly Cool World of Old TV told me that all of their movies have happy endings. So I decided to give it a try. I got To Have and Have Not from Netflix and settled down to watch it.

It was fantastic! I really enjoyed watching it just to see them together. They were so fantastic! It's so exciting to see them interact - giving each glances, looking each other up and down - even when they're not sparring with witty repartee they're fun to watch together.

One of my favorite bits in the movie was when Slim would talk to Eddie. Throughout the film, it's an interesting point that most of the characters ignore Eddie or insult him. She's the first character in the film, other than Harry, that we see treat Eddie with any kind of respect. I love the first exchange where she responds to his often repeated "Was you ever bit by a dead bee?" It's such a great scene! This scene at the end is also fantastic:



Also, can we rewind to the Golden Age for just a touch so I can chat up all of those brilliant songwriters that just happened to be hanging around. Here's Hoagy Carmichael, just being awesome:

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Imperial princess of the night...

Rudolph Valentino? Why, of course! A great start to Valentine's Day week!



P.S. Anyone get the title?

P.P.S. While we're on the subject of famous silent lovers, you should definitely take a gander over to iamemma.blogspot.com and listen to Emma's most recent podcast. It's laugh-out-loud hilarious and it's romantic! Yay!

Friday, February 10, 2012

"Wow! You'll be sow-ry!"

Last week's quote: "I owe everything I have to Vip!" was from Lover Come Back, which stars Rock Hudson and Doris Day.

This week's quote is: "Wow! You'll be sow-ry!"

Monday, February 6, 2012

You're hot cocoa with cream

So, you know how I do a lot of videos featuring songs performed by my good friend Emma Wallace and clips from my favorite classic films? Well, guess what? Some one else did too! And it's beautiful!!

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Then you do love me, don't you? Don't you?

It's February - the month of love. And what better couple to kick it off with than Errol and Olivia in one of my favorite kiss photos ever!!

Friday, February 3, 2012

"I owe everything I have to Vip!"

Last week's quote: "Fooling around will be unconstitutional" was from Give A Girl A Break. It was sung by Bob Fosse in the song, "In Our United State" which was written by Ira Gershwin and Burton Lane (which makes two Burton Lane songs that I referenced this month. I find this interesting but I don't think anyone else will).

This week's quote is: "I owe everything I have to Vip!"

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Just one of those things

So, last night I watched a movie with my mom, Can-Can (1960), starring Frank Sinatra, Shirley MacLaine, Louis Jourdan, and Maurice Chevalier. It was a very fun movie with some fantastic songs by Cole Porter. I liked it a good deal and was surprised that I'd never heard of it before!



Watching Louis Jourdan reminded me of something I've wanted to mention on my blog. Do you remember that post I wrote about Gigi and then I wound up deleting it? Well. I've realized since deleting it that I got a little carried away in the wrong direction when writing that post. You see, when I originally sat down to write it, I was not going to bash it and criticize it to pieces. I was going to (and I did a bit) discuss how interesting it is to dislike a movie and be fascinated by it at the same time. That's what Gigi does to me. I'm so immensely bothered by it but when I start to think about it, I find I can't stop and then I start wanting to rewatch it and get another opinion of it. The same thing happened to The Sheik. I hated it. But something about it intrigued me to the point where I bought it and did a little bit of research on it to appease my fascination. There's a very good chance this will happen with Gigi as well as I find myself wanting to watch certain scenes again.

Do any of you have movies that you have a sort of love/hate relationship for? (For lack of a better term, that is. Love/hate isn't exactly what I'm talking about but it's a simpler way to describe it.)

Can-Can gave me a somewhat similar reaction, although I wasn't quite so opposed to the plot. But Louis Jourdan's persona (at least, in the two movies I've seen of him) is so difficult for me to wrap my head around. On the one hand, he's gentle, sexy, soft-spoken, attractive, French. The way he kisses Shirley MacLaine is so tender and affectionate! Yet, at the same time, he's condescending and talks to her (and to Gigi) as if she's a little girl and doesn't know any better. He looks at her with such pity when she doesn't really need his pity. It drives me ca-razy! If you can recommend any Louis Jourdan movies where he plays a more likable character, please let me know. I really want to like him in a movie. I was rooting for him when I watched Can-Can but mostly because I liked his character better than Frank Sinatra's character.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

What a picture - tape measure around the neck and pincushion on the hip

I have wanted to learn how to sew for years. In recent months, the ambition has grown. I mean, I love clothes and I love very particular clothes; it makes complete sense for me to learn how to make my own. However, difficulties abound: I don't own a sewing machine and I live with a baby (not mine) which makes having a sewing machine a little impractical anyway. That leaves going to my mom's house to learn to sew but then we have time constraints and I'm sort of imposing on her. Then there's the question of fabric. Sewing my own clothes always seems cheaper when I'm eying those $50+ dresses online. But buying the fabric can get pretty pricey. And I really know nothing about fabric so my mom will need to accompany me. You see? Sewing really involves a great deal of my mom's dedication besides my own.

But all of these are a bunch of excuses. My mom has offered to help me learn to sew. She has given me advice on what to look for in my first project. She's on board. Now, it's just a question of my dedication. This year, I've taken a small step towards finally achieving this goal by adding it to my list of New Year's resolutions. Woohoo! I want to learn to make a skirt and/or dress by the end of the year. It's only February. I have time.

I started perusing the patterns shops online, just for fun (it's really unnecessary to do so as my mom has hundreds of patterns in her closet). I discovered something in my search. Have you looked at vintage pattern covers? The artwork is fantastic! They kept showing photos along with artwork with modern type girls wearing these vintage dresses in what I found to be very unappealing fabrics. Give me the artwork any day. I'm sold! Check out these darling dresses/artwork:


Credits, clockwise from top left: Butterick, Vintage Vogue, Butterick, Vintage Vogue.
Do any of you make your own dresses? Any favorite brand? Any advice to an aspiring dress-maker?