Book | Hollywood In Kodachrome

By day I work in a camera/photo shop here in New Orleans, so as you can imagine I have quite a love for photography. I'm not quite old enough to have had the full experience of film photography, but that doesn't mean I do not have respect and adoration for the art form. At the top of my list of favorite film mediums is Kodak Kodachrome. I help customers all the time with their old Kodachrome slides and they always produce the most gorgeous photos. Colors and sharpness so crisp the images jump off the print.

So when I came across the book 'Hollywood In Kodachrome' by David Wills while on my usual weekly mission at Barnes and Noble, I just had to have it! They must have just gotten these books in because it was wrapped in plastic and looked so perfect! Beautiful coffee table books full of Old Hollywood pictures will always be my drug of choice... 

The book opens with gorgeous photos and a foreword written by the lovely Rhonda Fleming. She talks about how she was discovered by talent agent Henry Willson and about her dislike of her Hollywood nickname, "The Queen of Technicolor." She also admits to not being a trained actress and that her main influences in Hollywood came from top model of the day Anita Colby. Honestly, I didn't know much of her before reading this, but I did appreciate her explanation of how the photography side of the studio system worked.

After we here from Rhonda there is a very informative introduction by David Wills where he discusses the beginnings and uses of color film in Hollywood during the early 1900's. One fact I didn't know before this book was that Kodachrome was the first sustainable color film to be made. Of course that came with a long list of cons, but it did produce some of the most vibrant photos ever produced. The lighting had to be bright, and make up had to be caked on, but the end result was phenomenal.

After the text, comes the real gems of this publication, over 250 gorgeously illustrated Kodachrome photos from 1940-1949. Everyone from Rita Hayworth and Veronica Lake to Lucille Ball and Betty Grable. My biggest surprise came toward the end of the book... apparently Marilyn Monroe's infamous nude 'Red Velvet' session by Tom Kelley was shot with Kodachrome! The color and vibrancy of these photos has always stood out to me and after seeing them in this book it all makes perfect sense.

I will forever have an admiration of the Old Hollywood style of photography. Whether it is the dramatic George Hurrell black and whites or the vibrant Kodachrome shots of the 1940's... the photos present the stars of that time as glamorous gods and goddesses. Even if only for a second, these photos share a little bit of that glamour with us mortals down here in the real world.

You can buy 'Hollywood In Kodachrome' at Amazon or Barnes and Noble. All of the photos used in this post were captured by me from my copy of the book.

Book Review | On Cukor by Trachtenberg

Yesterday my wife and I decided to take a little trip 'out of town' to visit the closest Cracker Barrel restaurant. We have to drive about 40 minutes North of New Orleans, but it is always worth it. While we were out there, we decided to stop by Books-A-Million to see what they had going on. We don't have one of those in the area either. While I was unimpressed with the set-up of the store, I was happy to stumble upon a book I hadn't seen before in the bargain area. It is a book titled 'On Cukor'. I was immediately intrigued, but the damn book was wrapped in plastic. So needing to see the inside of the book, I tore off the plastic. 

George Cukor on the set of Sylvia Scarlett with Katharine Hepburn

The book was marked at only $9.97, so I would have bought the book regardless, I was quite excited to see it's contents. The book has a complete filmography for the 'women's director', with excerpts about the filming of each film. Also throughout the book are rare pictures from Cukor's own personal collection. My favorite images I have seen so far are the one of Cukor on set with his stars. Another interesting part of the book are the 'Interludes' where the text was taken from a taped one-on-one interview that took place with Cukor in the early 1970's. He discusses his thoughts on the films, friends, and the stars of the films he directed. You get to see his take on people such as Joan Crawford, Judy Garland, Greta Garbo, and Lana Turner. 

George Cukor on the set of Dinner At Eight with Jean Harlow

Cukor has directed many of my favorite films [i.e. The Women & A Star Is Born], so I am sure this book will be a fun read. If I actually read this book, it will be a rare event. I usually skim through books, looking at the pretty pictures, and read parts that stand out, but think this time I will actually read the whole book. It is about my favorite films, one of my favorite directors, and talks about some of my favorite stars... why not read it?

George Cukor on the set of The Women with the entire cast!

As with most things I write about, I always do a little research on the subject. I was excited to see there is actually a DVD that goes along with this film, with the same name. It is priced under $10, so I may pick that up next week when I order my Jean Harlow: 100th Anniversary Collection. If anyone has a local Books-A-Million... you should look out for this greatly priced book.

Film | Holiday (1938)

A few weeks ago I sat down for what I called a "Grantburn" double-feature. I have already written about the first film, Bringing Up Baby (which you can see here), and here we have the second... 1938's Holiday. And guess what?!? This is the 75th post on Blame Mame!

HOLIDAY (1938)

"If you had a million... 

which sister would you pick to spend it with?"

THE PLAYERS:
Cary Grant as Johnny Case
Katharine Hepburn as Linda Seton
Doris Nolan as Julia Seton
Lew Ayres as Ned Seton

THE STORY:
Engaged to wealthy Julia Seton (Doris Nolan), freethinker Johnny Case (Cary Grant) discovers that her family wants to remake him into their idea of the perfect son-in-law -- and he's beginning to consider compromising his values. But as he gets to know Julia's headstrong sister (Katharine Hepburn), he realizes he has more in common with her. [Netflix]

MY FAVORITE SCENE:
I thought the scene where Johnny first comes into the 'play room' to chat with Linda, was quite charming. The sparks between the lead characters jumped off the screen. I especially liked when Linda was explaining which toys belonged to which sibling and talks about how the giraffe looked like her... I actually thought they did resemble each other.

TIDBITS & TRIVIA:
Although Katharine Hepburn won praise for her portrayal as the repressed rich girl, she was overlooked more than once for the role of Linda Seton. When the play appeared on Broadway, Hepburn was the understudy for the role and when the original 1930 film was cast, she was overlooked in favor of Ann Harding. I also found it interesting that Katharine also used a scene from this film for her first screen test that won, that led to her first film role in A Bill of Divorcement. It seems she was destined to play this part at some point in her career.

OTHER THOUGHTS:
I thought the film was beautifully directed, as most George Cukor films are. I have never noticed how many of my favorite films were part of his long list of directed films. He really was a 'woman's director'. He brought out amazing performances from all of the women he worked with. I look forward to seeing his other collaborations with Hepburn (A Bill of Divorcement, Sylvia Scarlett, Adams Rib) because she was so likeable in this film. She was the actress I loved in The Philadelphia Story and not the grating women I saw in Suddenly, Last Summer. I will definitely be checking out those other films soon.

And I just couldn't do a review of a Cary Grant film without commenting on how wonderful an actor I think he was. He was so likeable and even though he was playing against type, he portrayed Johnny with a lot of heart.

There was also a magnificent supporting cast on this film. You had Edward Horton and Jean Dixon as The Potters, Johnny's long time friends who want him to go after his dreams and not the dreams of his fiance. I really felt their characters truly loved Johnny and wanted only the best for him. Their reactions when first walking into the engagement party were the best... especially when the butler took his dress shoe off along with the snow boot. 

OVERALL RATING:

Film | Bringing Up Baby (1938)

On one of my many trips to Barnes and Noble, I picked up two Grant/Hepburn films, Holiday and this film... 1938's Bringing Up Baby. Shortly after that I had a perfect time to watch them... a lazy Sunday with all the windows open to let the cool breeze in, and nothing else to do. I sat down for my 'Grantburn' double-feature and never enjoyed two films more!

BRINGING UP BABY (1938)

 
"There's a leopard on your roof and it's my leopard and I have to get it and to get it I have to sing."-- Susan Vance [Katharine Hepburn]

THE PLAYERS:
Katharine Hepburn as Susan Vance
Cary Grant as Dr. David Huxley (alias Mr. Bone)

THE STORY:
Love runs wild for a hapless scientist and an unstoppable heiress in Howard Hawks's classic screwball comedy that ranks high on the American Film Institute's list of the funniest Hollywood films ever made. With her eye on paleontologist David (Cary Grant), heiress Susan (Katharine Hepburn) lures him to her home. But the hilarity begins when Susan's dog steals David's prize dinosaur bone and her pet leopard, Baby, is mistaken for a zoo escapee. [Netflix]

MY FAVORITE SCENE:
Though this entire movie was hilarious, there were a few scenes where I found myself literally laughing out loud. The scene where Susan is talking to David on the phone trying to persuade him to come help her with her newly acquired leopard was quite funny. Being the graceful walker that she is, Susan trips over a table causing quite a ruckus. David thinks she is being attacked by the leopard (with a little help from Susan's fibbing) and rushes to help her... also tripping in his house.

The other part of the film I still laugh about when I think about it is when Susan and David are in search for the missing leopard. They come to a stream and David asks Susan if the stream is shallow enough to walk through. She insists it is so shallow that they can wade across. So the two set across only to find the water is deeper than they are tall. So funny to watch them fall straight down into the water. Haha!

And we can't forget about the dinner scene where Grant and Hepburn find them selves 'exposed' to everyone in the dining room. Susan grabs for David's jacket, ripping it down the back. After a pretty severe talking to by David for ruining his night, Susan goes to walk away. The only problem is that David was standing on her gown and as she walks away... she leaves without the back of her dress. The funny part comes when David is trying to convince Susan something is wrong, but she doesn't believe him. And when she does realize all of her assets are on display, it gets even better!

TIDBITS & TRIVIA:
Bringing Up Baby did so poorly at the box-office that Howard Hawks was fired from his next RKO production and Katharine Hepburn was bought out of her contract and was soon after labeled 'box-office poison.' I simply do not understand how this film did so badly, it is one of the funniest films I have ever seen. Luckily it has grown into more favorable views since it was released in 1938. The American Film Institute even added this film to its list of the 100 Greatest American Films of All Time.

I thought Katharine Hepburn was hysterical in this picture, I was surprised to find out she came into this role with no comedic background. She was trained by Howard Hawks on her timing and gags. While Hepburn needed training, Cary Grant [whose character was modeled after silent film star Harold Lloyd] came well equipped with his own comedic talents.

Baby the leopard wasn't the only animal to cause chaos for David and Susan. Cary Grant's previous co-star in The Awful Truth, Skippy the dog, had his own paw in on the madness. After he steals David'd priceless fossil, the search for where he buried the bone leads to a few laughs. Skippy also starred in The Thin Man as Asta.

OTHER THOUGHTS:
Watching this film only furthered my love for Cary Grant. Every single film I have seen him in has never let me down. He can be funny (VERY funny) or dramatic... and still make you want to see more. His personality demands your attention and his comedic timing is perfect.

Until seeing this film, I never thought much of Katharine Hepburn, but her performance in this film won me over. I am pretty sure I will enjoy more of her early films over her later ones. She was charming and funny. I was glad I had just bought Holiday on DVD as well because I wanted to see more of her.

OVERALL RATING:

Film | Suddenly, Last Summer

I had heard of the film Suddenly, Last Summer before, but it wasn't until the movie poster at my work sparked my interest, that I learned what this film was about. The picture of Elizabeth Taylor in the white swimsuit are famous, and are everywhere on the web, but they don't really get you excited to see the film.

It was just a few days ago, after seeing the movie poster that I looked the film up on IMDB to read reviews and watch the trailer. Well... I was hooked. I needed to get this film and it would have taken too long to get it from Netflix because I have a film at home already, so I went in search of buying the DVD. Thank goodness, Barnes and Noble had the movie and on top of that... it was only $9.99. It isn't often they have a movie in store I am looking for specifically.

A Classic Hollywood film about murder, homosexuality, lobotomy, pedophilia, incest, greed... count me in. I know that sounds sick, but I am always up for a movie with a juicy plot. I have also only seen Taylor, Hepburn, and Clift in one... maybe two other movies, so I was glad to see them in dramatic roles like this.

Reel Life | Suddenly, Last Summer Poster

I work in a camera/photo shop and today the framer was putting together a frame for a very large movie poster. It wound up being the french movie poster for the 1959 film Suddenly, Last Summer starring Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift, and Katharine Hepburn. 

Hipstamatic art of the poster