Meme.
Stolen from stillsparkling, with a few alterations cause I can't pick just one.
1. Favorite Classic Actress(es)?
Jean Arthur. Myrna Loy. Ginger Rogers. Irene Dunne. Greer Garson. Deborah Kerr. Judy Garland. Natalie Wood.
2. Favorite Classic Actor(s)?
Cary Grant. James Stewart. William Powell. William Holden. Gregory Peck. Fred Astaire. Spencer Tracy. Joseph Cotten. Henry Fonda. Victor Mature. Clarke Gable. John Wayne.
3. Best 30's Film(s)?
The answer I give as my favorite film of all time is usually either Mr. Smith Goes to Washington or You Can't Take It With You. But I will also add: A nous la Liberte, M, It Happened One Night, Stagecoach, The Adventures of Robin Hood, My Man Godfrey.
4. Best 40's Film(s)?
Now, Voyager, Casablanca, To Be or Not To Be, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, The Ox-Bow Incident, Laura, Gaslight, The Children of Paradise, I Know Where I'm Going, Brief Encounter, The Third Man, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.
5. Best 50's Film(s)?
Winchester '73, The Naked Spur, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Singin' in the Rain, High Noon, Stalag 17, Roman Holiday, The Big Heat, Bad Day at Black Rock, 12 Angry Men, An Affair to Remember, The 400 Blows, Breathless, Rio Bravo.
6. Best Director(s)?
George Cukor, Ernst Lubitsch, Frank Capra, Billy Wilder, Francois Truffaut, John Ford, Howard Hawks, George Stevens, John Huston, David Lean, Vincente Minnelli, Sydney Pollack, Woody Allen, Robert Wise, William Wyler.
7. Audrey Hepburn or Marilyn Monroe?
Definitely, Hepburn. I just can't stand watching Marilyn in any of her films. But with Audrey I can watch Royal Holiday or Sabrina many times over. And why these two? I don't see the comparison.
8. Would you like to see the Hays Code in practice today? (The code was a strict enforcer of morality in film created in the 30's resulting in heavily altered works.)
Probably, not. If they were to re-instate the Hays Code, the films to come out of Hollywood would be boring after the past 40+ years of pushing the envelope. You can't put the cat back into the bag.
9. What drawbacks are there in this era?
Too many choices. CG has made anything possible. Anything a screenwriter can imagine. Simplicity and the human element has left the silver screens. Where has the personal film gone?
10. Can the romantic aspects then compare now or are they too old fashioned?
Too old fashioned. A film like An Affair to Remember couldn't be made today. It would be too sappy. Overly melodramatic. Today, you can only allude to that type of romance. Case in point, Sleepless in Seattle directly quotes the memorable plot device from the earlier film of meeting at the top of the Empire State Building on Valentines Day, which gave the modern film its climatic conclusion. Today, you just can't get away with a scene where Rick, our tragic hero, makes Ilsa, the woman he loves, get on the plane with Lazlo, the Resistance Fighter, in a very moody, fog-misted setting. It would just be too melodramatic for modern audiences.
11. Greatest musical?
Singin' in the Rain, hands down. It was the first musical I ever watched (other than kid classics, Mary Poppins and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory) and it's the one that I always come back to no matter how many classic musicals I've seen since. On the Town maybe a close second, although it kinda breaks down in its last half.
12. Who would play your favorite actor/actress of modern performers?
There is just no comparison. Nobody.
13. "Communists in Hollywood" was one of the biggest stories of the late 40's and 50's. How do you feel about those that named names?
I've lost a lot of respect for those who caved to the intimidating methods of the HUAC and caused suffering on others just for being a member of the Communist party which, by the way, was popular just a decade or two earlier. But I have that much more respect for the ones who defied McCarthy and the Committee, such as The Hollywood Ten. Dalton Trumbo being one of them. Instead of naming names he refused to bow to their fascist methods and served a year in federal prison, just for exercising his Constitutional rights, as well as being blacklisted for the next decade. Winning an Oscar during that time to boot.
14. Favorite Hollywood scandal?
I don't think it is a "scandal" per se, but...
I love that Ingrid Bergman was black listed in Hollywood for her divorce from dentist husband and soon to follow marriage to Italian director, Roberto Rossellini, only to win the Academy Award upon her return to Hollywood with Anastasia in 1956.
And then there is the love child of Loretta Young and Clarke Gable. They supposedly had an affair during the making of The Call of the Wild. When Loretta realized she was pregnant she went away to have the child and later pretended to have adopted the child from an orphanage. When she married businessman Tom Lewis, she gave her daughter the name Judy Lewis. The girl never suspected who her true father was and only learned the truth from her mother during her last days.
15. Errol Flynn was a bisexual Nazi spy, Joan Crawford and Bing Cosby tyrant parents, Cary Grant as gay as they come. How much do you believe these claims and others like it?
There is no way in confirming any of those allegations. And in the end, do they really matter to the movie watching experience? I generally approach such rumors with cautious skepticism. But they do alter one's perception of the actors. Marc Eliot's biography of Cary Grant really ruined my image of the supposed epitome of suave masculinity.
16. Bogart and Gable are accused of playing the same part throughout their careers. Do you agree? Is there anyone who did do this?
They might have, but then again would the audience have accepted them as anything other than their perceived on screen persona? I would bet not. And Bogart did play the heavy (the bad guy, that is) pretty often during his early career, as did Gable early on. Gable definitely played the ubermensch pretty consistently throughout his career, but that was just how his fans wanted to see him. So can you blame him for playing what worked at the box office?
17. MGM, Warner Brothers, Universal, Columbia, RKO- your studio of choice?
Depends on what I feel like. MGM of course if I am looking for a musical. Warner Bros. for a gritty gangster or crime drama. RKO for the best of the Astaire/Rogers pairings. In the end, though, I've probably seen more MGM and RKO films.
18. Most overlooked Silver Screen star?
I will second stillsparkling's choice of Jean Arthur. There is a quality in her that you just can't find in any of her contemporaries.
19. Most Overrated?
Marilyn Monroe. She was the Paris Hilton of the '50s.
20. Who would make it if starting out today in your opinion?
Again, I agree with stillsparkling's choice of Orson Welles. If he was given the kind of freedom that Woody Allen has enjoyed for over two decades now, he would have a much more consistent oeuvre. Rather than the sketchy path his career actually took. He peeked early with Citizen Kane but then the studio system black balled him for the rest of his life.
21. In your opinion can any actors today compare with those of classic Hollywood?? The entertainment press is always calling so-and-so "the new so-and-so" but is that ever justified?
Apples and oranges. It would be like comparing the grandiose acting style of the silent comediens with the Method actors of the '50s. You just can't compare performers from classic Hollywood to modern actors. Although, they have called George Clooney the rightful heir to Cary Grant. I can almost see the comparison.
1. Favorite Classic Actress(es)?
Jean Arthur. Myrna Loy. Ginger Rogers. Irene Dunne. Greer Garson. Deborah Kerr. Judy Garland. Natalie Wood.
2. Favorite Classic Actor(s)?
Cary Grant. James Stewart. William Powell. William Holden. Gregory Peck. Fred Astaire. Spencer Tracy. Joseph Cotten. Henry Fonda. Victor Mature. Clarke Gable. John Wayne.
3. Best 30's Film(s)?
The answer I give as my favorite film of all time is usually either Mr. Smith Goes to Washington or You Can't Take It With You. But I will also add: A nous la Liberte, M, It Happened One Night, Stagecoach, The Adventures of Robin Hood, My Man Godfrey.
4. Best 40's Film(s)?
Now, Voyager, Casablanca, To Be or Not To Be, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, The Ox-Bow Incident, Laura, Gaslight, The Children of Paradise, I Know Where I'm Going, Brief Encounter, The Third Man, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.
5. Best 50's Film(s)?
Winchester '73, The Naked Spur, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Singin' in the Rain, High Noon, Stalag 17, Roman Holiday, The Big Heat, Bad Day at Black Rock, 12 Angry Men, An Affair to Remember, The 400 Blows, Breathless, Rio Bravo.
6. Best Director(s)?
George Cukor, Ernst Lubitsch, Frank Capra, Billy Wilder, Francois Truffaut, John Ford, Howard Hawks, George Stevens, John Huston, David Lean, Vincente Minnelli, Sydney Pollack, Woody Allen, Robert Wise, William Wyler.
7. Audrey Hepburn or Marilyn Monroe?
Definitely, Hepburn. I just can't stand watching Marilyn in any of her films. But with Audrey I can watch Royal Holiday or Sabrina many times over. And why these two? I don't see the comparison.
8. Would you like to see the Hays Code in practice today? (The code was a strict enforcer of morality in film created in the 30's resulting in heavily altered works.)
Probably, not. If they were to re-instate the Hays Code, the films to come out of Hollywood would be boring after the past 40+ years of pushing the envelope. You can't put the cat back into the bag.
9. What drawbacks are there in this era?
Too many choices. CG has made anything possible. Anything a screenwriter can imagine. Simplicity and the human element has left the silver screens. Where has the personal film gone?
10. Can the romantic aspects then compare now or are they too old fashioned?
Too old fashioned. A film like An Affair to Remember couldn't be made today. It would be too sappy. Overly melodramatic. Today, you can only allude to that type of romance. Case in point, Sleepless in Seattle directly quotes the memorable plot device from the earlier film of meeting at the top of the Empire State Building on Valentines Day, which gave the modern film its climatic conclusion. Today, you just can't get away with a scene where Rick, our tragic hero, makes Ilsa, the woman he loves, get on the plane with Lazlo, the Resistance Fighter, in a very moody, fog-misted setting. It would just be too melodramatic for modern audiences.
11. Greatest musical?
Singin' in the Rain, hands down. It was the first musical I ever watched (other than kid classics, Mary Poppins and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory) and it's the one that I always come back to no matter how many classic musicals I've seen since. On the Town maybe a close second, although it kinda breaks down in its last half.
12. Who would play your favorite actor/actress of modern performers?
There is just no comparison. Nobody.
13. "Communists in Hollywood" was one of the biggest stories of the late 40's and 50's. How do you feel about those that named names?
I've lost a lot of respect for those who caved to the intimidating methods of the HUAC and caused suffering on others just for being a member of the Communist party which, by the way, was popular just a decade or two earlier. But I have that much more respect for the ones who defied McCarthy and the Committee, such as The Hollywood Ten. Dalton Trumbo being one of them. Instead of naming names he refused to bow to their fascist methods and served a year in federal prison, just for exercising his Constitutional rights, as well as being blacklisted for the next decade. Winning an Oscar during that time to boot.
14. Favorite Hollywood scandal?
I don't think it is a "scandal" per se, but...
I love that Ingrid Bergman was black listed in Hollywood for her divorce from dentist husband and soon to follow marriage to Italian director, Roberto Rossellini, only to win the Academy Award upon her return to Hollywood with Anastasia in 1956.
And then there is the love child of Loretta Young and Clarke Gable. They supposedly had an affair during the making of The Call of the Wild. When Loretta realized she was pregnant she went away to have the child and later pretended to have adopted the child from an orphanage. When she married businessman Tom Lewis, she gave her daughter the name Judy Lewis. The girl never suspected who her true father was and only learned the truth from her mother during her last days.
15. Errol Flynn was a bisexual Nazi spy, Joan Crawford and Bing Cosby tyrant parents, Cary Grant as gay as they come. How much do you believe these claims and others like it?
There is no way in confirming any of those allegations. And in the end, do they really matter to the movie watching experience? I generally approach such rumors with cautious skepticism. But they do alter one's perception of the actors. Marc Eliot's biography of Cary Grant really ruined my image of the supposed epitome of suave masculinity.
16. Bogart and Gable are accused of playing the same part throughout their careers. Do you agree? Is there anyone who did do this?
They might have, but then again would the audience have accepted them as anything other than their perceived on screen persona? I would bet not. And Bogart did play the heavy (the bad guy, that is) pretty often during his early career, as did Gable early on. Gable definitely played the ubermensch pretty consistently throughout his career, but that was just how his fans wanted to see him. So can you blame him for playing what worked at the box office?
17. MGM, Warner Brothers, Universal, Columbia, RKO- your studio of choice?
Depends on what I feel like. MGM of course if I am looking for a musical. Warner Bros. for a gritty gangster or crime drama. RKO for the best of the Astaire/Rogers pairings. In the end, though, I've probably seen more MGM and RKO films.
18. Most overlooked Silver Screen star?
I will second stillsparkling's choice of Jean Arthur. There is a quality in her that you just can't find in any of her contemporaries.
19. Most Overrated?
Marilyn Monroe. She was the Paris Hilton of the '50s.
20. Who would make it if starting out today in your opinion?
Again, I agree with stillsparkling's choice of Orson Welles. If he was given the kind of freedom that Woody Allen has enjoyed for over two decades now, he would have a much more consistent oeuvre. Rather than the sketchy path his career actually took. He peeked early with Citizen Kane but then the studio system black balled him for the rest of his life.
21. In your opinion can any actors today compare with those of classic Hollywood?? The entertainment press is always calling so-and-so "the new so-and-so" but is that ever justified?
Apples and oranges. It would be like comparing the grandiose acting style of the silent comediens with the Method actors of the '50s. You just can't compare performers from classic Hollywood to modern actors. Although, they have called George Clooney the rightful heir to Cary Grant. I can almost see the comparison.