Doppelgangers: "WHO DOES HE LOOK LIKE?"

So many of you responded to my post about loving vintage movies that I thought I'd continue the conversation in future posts. What I didn't realize is that I would have something to say so soon. Not only did you respond on the blog, but a couple friends messaged me on Facebook with links to old movies I need to see, one of which is I Was a Male War Bride. (Ann Sheridan and Cary Grant 1949) On Sunday, Matthew and I drove to Pinnacle, NC to drop the girls off at Daughters of Destiny.

Since they're away at camp I thought I'd use a little bit of our internet-data to watch a Netflix movie - something I'm always careful not to do when there are more people around to need the internet. Since the ratio of family-members-using-data dropped by about 75%, I figured I could splurge. Tonight, I parked myself on a terribly uncomfortable chair in the office (feeling much like Cary Grant himself trying to sleep that first night in the film) and the internet behaved and I watched I Was a Male War Bride all way through and laughed a ton. The only thing that would have made it better is my sisters there watching it with me. Even so, it is well with my brain to watch something mindless, sweet, and hilarious like that. This isn't a film review, though. This post is taking a strange and drastic turn and you know what I'm about to say?

Did anyone else realize how much Ann Sheridan looks like Lucille Ball? The whole film I sat there thinking, "Gosh! She looks just like Lucy!" And in the end I made a collage of their faces side-by-side and I still see a striking resemblance. What do you think?

I'm not just talking about physical things because of course I realize Lucy is taller and lankier, but even their facial expressions and movements. (When Lucy isn't trying to be comedic.) And this got me to thinking about ANOTHER celebrity look-alike duo, only that the gals in this second pair are not/were not contemporaries:

 Meet Lily Collins and Audrey Hepburn!

I am monstrously pleased that in all these pairs I discovered how much they looked like each other entirely without the help of Pinterest, Google, or anyone else mentioning it. I just thought you'd like to know I have facial recognition skills. ;) Here are some more examples of the comparison:

And may we all just stop and admire Lily Collin's adorableness?

(and yes, everyone, I realize these were part of a photo-shoot to show her Hepburnism)

Doppelgangers here. Of course I do recognize differences between the two, but they're close enough to be sisters, certainly. Another pair my sisters and I always discuss are Kiera Knightley and Natalie Portman:

Or Rupert Friend and Orlando Bloom. Wickham and Legolas for the win. (Kidding.)

^ Look. They even have the same accusatory cheek-bone expression. ^

I could go on. Like how I think my friend Jill looks a little like The Black Widow, or how my friend Julia resembles Amanda Seyfreid. But I won't. I'll leave you alone and only ask"

 Have you found any celebrity look-alikes?

Hollywood's Golden-Era: 6 ways old is better

Hollywood Glamour.

I love old Hollywood. I don't know why. Even though my last novel, Fly Away Home, has nothing specifically to do with Hollywood Glam, I can definitely say that the shimmer-glimmer-glamour of the 1930's, 1940's, 1950's cinema-life impacted the general DAZZLE of FAH.

 Only in the last several years have we started watching these old awesomes, so I'm a little behind the times. But oh do I love old movies now. What makes me love them so?

Let me count the ways...

1.) Appearance

Is it just me, or did they grow them handsomer/more beautiful back then?

 (Left to Right: Grace Kelly, Priscilla Lane, Ingrid Bergman, Gene Kelly Gary Cooper, Gregory Peck, Deanna Durbin)

I mean seriously now, folks. Have you ever walked down the street and met someone who looked like Gregory Peck? I think it's something in the water. Or maybe it's just the fact that people way back when took care with their appearance.

2.) Humor

I love the sometimes-corny musical humor, the slapstick stage-hand gags, the funny dancing, the witty lyrics. It's all so simple and relaxing, clean, family-friendly, clever. 

Frank Sinatra & Gene Kelly in "Anchors Aweigh"

3.) Values

Like I said, old movies have better values. One of my besties grew up in a family where they weren't allowed to watch any movie made after 1960. Hence, she's my go-to for which movies are the most amazing. With most of the old classics you can be certain there won't be a mad dive for the remote when a "shocking part" comes up. Relaxing. Entirely. (Weren't the kids in My Favorite Wife {1940} adorable?)

 

4.) Dancing & Music

In our family, we proclaim loudly that there is a song lyric for any occasion. Our love of Broadway was born from a love for old musicals, and these still have a place deeply imbedded in our hearts. (Though The Sound of Music was probably the oldest of the movies we saw growing up) And I swear you'll never see dancing again as good as that given us by Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, and so many others.

5.)  Wit

The best of the old movies are often referenced in the writing how-to books and I love to watch films like Casablanca to hear the verbal sparring, the fencing-with-words, or the downright awesome-sauce of a brilliantly constructed screenplay. Here are some quotes from my favorite old movies:

Nick Arden: (discussing how to tell the children that Ellen is their mother) "Would it help if I wrote a letter?"

Ellen Arden: "Oh yes. 'Enclosed, please find your mother.'"

-My Favorite Wife (1940)

Jerry Mulligan: "Back home everyone said I didn't have any talent. They might be saying the same thing over here but it sounds better in French."

-An American in Paris (1951)

Captain Renault: "What in Heaven's name brought you to Casablanca?"

Rick: "The health. I came to Casablanca for the waters."

Captain Renault: "The waters? What waters? We're in the desert."

Rick: "I was misinformed."

-Casablanca (1942)

Irving Radovich: "She's fair-game, Joe. It's always open season on princesses."

-Roman Holiday (1953)

6.) Costumes

I love vintage fashion (but you already knew that) and in these Golden-Era films, fashion shines. Some of it is downright absurd, and some of it is absolutely adorable. Glamorous, cute, insane or awesome, the clothes in these movies are (in the main) so much cooler than today's modern movie.

These, then, are my top six reasons why I love old movies. I only wish Netflix had more uploaded! I can't seem to find any of the ones I'd like to see on there. Below is a list of the B&W (Black and White) films I've seen. When I say "Black and White" it's a general term for movies made in the 40's and 50's. Technically, some of them were made in color, but I'm a sloppy hand at categorizing. ;)

My Favorite Wife (1940)

Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)

An American in Paris (1951)

Anchors Aweigh (1945)

This is the Army (1943)

My Fair Lady (1964)

Holiday Inn (1942)

The Music Man (1962)

Carousel (1955)

The Importance of Being Earnest (1952)

Christmas in Connecticut (1945)

It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

Singing in the Rain (1952)

Roman Holiday (1953)

Cinderella (1957)

State Fair (1945)

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)

Oklahoma! (1955)

Charade (1963)

Sabrina (1954)

Funny Face (1957)

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

Casablanca (1942)

The African Queen (1951)

Captain Kidd (1945)

I think that's most of them! (I intentionally failed to mention any Shirley Temple films. Somehow those don't exactly count.) What are some of your favorite old films? Any must-sees that I've missed? I know I am totally missing some Grace Kelly films as well as needing to re-watch most of these. (I don't really remember Singing in the Rain at all.) Any-who, this was a fun post to write up and I'm glad to see that my list of Have-Seens is actually not so very short after all. And as an interesting piece of trivia, I can totally recommend any of these movies to any of you as far as my judgment takes me. See? Isn't that amazing? No "Well....umm...there's that ONE part..." ;) Toodle-loo, darlings, and in the words of Teddy, "CHARRRRRRRGE!"

Movie Night: My Favorite Wife (1940)

After spending the weekend with the Taylors, I have come home with a pocketful of memories such as:

• Trying not to be dumped off my raft in the pool
• Picking blueberries
• Looking at BJ's awesome blue truck
• Experiencing a growing fondness for country-music
• Singing at the piano with Abigail playing
• Staying conveniently out of the way while Abigail and Daniel enjoy tete-tetes
• Watching fireflies
• Eating plums off the tree
• Playing badminton
• Being gifted with a whole bag of books to read this summer! (Thanks Goldberry! :)
• Laughing late into the night

And lots more. But one amazing thing we were introduced to this trip was the 1940 romantic comedy: My Favorite Wife.

I give you the plot, as described by Wikipedia:

After seven years, lawyer Nick Arden (Cary Grant) has his wife Ellen (Irene Dunne), missing since her ship was lost, declared legally dead so he can marry Bianca (Gail Patrick). It turns out however that Ellen was merely shipwrecked on a deserted island, and has been rescued. When she returns home, she learns that Nick has just left on his honeymoon with his second wife.

Dunne and Grant--cue the happy sighs

I love old movies, but I seldom have a chance to see them. Mostly because we don't own any. But that's a nuance. I laughed my head off all during this movie. The plot is just too absurd, the acting adorable, the ending perfect. I had always had the impression that Cary Grant was a heart-throb, dramatic, tall-dark-handsome sort of actor. Maybe he is in most of his movies (is he?) but in My Favorite Wife, Grant comes across as lovably confused and dithered.

Nick Arden (Cary Grant) does not love his new wife, Bianca, but after 7 years he figured it was time to remarry. His new wife, Bianca, is cold, haughty, beautiful, and affected. You've gotta feel for him, and no one can suppress an "Awwwww!" when Nick catches sight of Ellen in the lobby of the hotel he's just checking into with Bianca. It's adorable. And awkward for poor Nick. He's in ecstasies over finding his wife again after 7 years, but he's also just married another woman. So why doesn't he just tell Bianca his first wife has come back? Well, it's not quite that simple...and that's where the comedy comes in. I promise you'll laugh really hard.

That awful leopard robe! :D

Why I love this movie:

The good, old-fashioned, 1940's values. While a modern filmmaker might have had good chances to turn this into something scandalous, the directors of this film kept it funny, clean, and heart-warming. They played the awkward scenes of Nick having to hold two rooms at the hotel (one for Bianca, one for Ellen) lightly and playfully without going into all the things a modern movie might have.

The children in the film, too, are so cute and precocious, and at the end...well...I can't tell you. But it's very very heart-warming indeed. :)

Any Cautions?

The hotel manager comes to reprimand Nick for staging an intrigue in his hotel, obviously inferring that Nick is doing double-duty with two different women.

After Nick grows suspicious of the man Ellen was shipwrecked with for 7 years, Ellen pretends she is going to marry him after all, and leave Nick for good. (This is null and void, however, because all the time it was just a ploy to get Nick to assure her he stills loves and wants to marry her.) The classic values bit is played sweetly in the scene between "Adam" and "Eve" (the shipwrecked man and Ellen) when he asks Ellen to marry him and she replies: "I did not wait seven years only to lose my resolve in three days." :) *points for Ellen*

Quotables:

Ellen: "Oh, by the way, how was my funeral?"Ma: "Lovely. Doctor Blake preached a wonderful sermon."
Ellen: "Oh, I wished I'd been there."

Nick Arden: "I came here with my wife..hum...my bride, really. Now my wife, not my bride...my wife...why should I bore you with details?"
Hotel Manager: "I won't be bored."
Nick Arden: "Listen, it's just as simple as A,B,C."
Hotel Manager: "Don't tell me you got someone in B too?"

Nick Arden: (discussing with Ellen how to tell the children she's their mother and isn't drowned after all.) "Would it help if I wrote them a letter?
Ellen: "Oh, that would be nice, yes. 'Enclosed, please find your mother.'"

Nick Arden: (Making excuses as to why he wants to stay at the cabin with Ellen and the children instead of "thinking it over.") "I had a flat tire...I was just driving along and...ssssssss!"

Movie Night: Jane Eyre (1983)

As I write this review I am in the middle of watching the movie I review. I speak of Jane Eyre. Not that horrid 2011 version that started in the middle of nowhere and ended much the same. No. I speak of the 1983 version starring Timothy Dalton and Zelah Clarke. For some reason I know hardly anyone who has seen this film. Long has it tortured me, having Jane Eyre on VHS, for we having no VCR player. But then my cousin, Emily, got the movie for her birthday and I was in ecstasies. (Okay, so I partially was the cause of her getting the movie--I recommended it to my aunt. :D)
Where to start? Where to start? I suppose with a plot synopsis. This will be a difficult movie to review without peppering this post with spoilers, but I will do my best.

Jane Eyre follows the life of the girl by the same name--from her dark, cold childhood at Gateshead Hall and Lowood School, to her coming to Thornfield Hall as a governess, Jane shows considerable pluck, passion, and courage. Thornfield is  a strange house indeed, as Jane soon learns. From the mad sewing-woman: Grace Poole, to Mr. Rochester himself (Master of Thornfield Hall) there are secrets abounding--secrets that threaten to upset Jane's hopes of ever being loved and accepted.Will Jane find happiness in the end, through all the difficulties that are thrown in her way?

There. That is the best I can do at a synopsis, as there are some major events that would be plot-spoilers if I mentioned them. :P

This movie was made in 1983 so I will warn you--the costumes are horrid and the filming horrider. At times it looks like a stage rather than a movie. But the singular thing about Jane Eyre (and the thing that has endeared this version to me more than any other I've seen) is the passionate, riveting acting. Timothy Dalton and Zelah Clarke are such amazing actors that they could have been standing on a sidewalk and given just as good of a performance. Costumes and setting didn't matter. All you see is them.

--Her--

Zelah Clarke as Jane Eyre is astonishing. (in a good way.) She owns the character in a way that makes you think she really is Jane. There cannot be another Jane. All other attempts have been impostors and that is all. Zelah Clarke gives Jane a certain sweetness that I felt drastically missing in the other version and bits I've seen. Yes, she has had a difficult, stern childhood. Yes,she is wronged. (again and again) But she has not been embittered. Zelah's portrayal of Jane is winsome, grave, and ineffably sweet to counter the necessary strength and passion of her character. She is perfection. (And she has adorable dimples.) But beyond all this, perhaps the best part of this Jane is that she so stinkin' tiny. I'm guessing she is no taller than four and a half feet. So that when we come to Mr. Rochester...

"Are you dumb?...stubborn?...ahh....you are annoyed."

--Him--

I have heard that Timothy Dalton is best known for being James Bond. Excuse me while I die of painful laughter. I know him as Mr. Edward Rochester and only as Mr. Rochester. *Tosses laptop to the side to watch proposal scene and will be back later* Oh my goodness. My heart is melting. Entirely. Gah!
Ahem. Back to business. Timothy Dalton played Mr. Rochester's rugged, passionate, not-entirely-tame personality very well. He has an unearthly look about him anyway that lends itself to his Rochesterian-ess.
Physically, there is this pushmepullyou business going on in my mind that only increases the ideal of Timothy Dalton as Rochester. He is plain and ugly and he is tearingly handsome. He is intimidating and he is gentle. He is kind one moment and practically bites Jane's head off the next. It is this pendulum effect that makes him so fascinating. But one of the curious things about Jane Eyre is that Mr. Rochester is not exactly heroic. At least, not till the end. But we don't speak of that. All you need to know is that Jane--her  virtue and heroism and loyalty--makes for the real "hero" of this story.

--Them--

The emotion, passion, wit, and drama between Jane and Mr. Rochester (especially between this version of the famous couple) never ceases to delight me. And in this version, Jane is so tiny and Mr. Rochester is so strong and tall that it plays up ever more the big heart and virtue that is Jane's. I mean girls--one of Mr. Rochester's hands is nearly enough to cover Jane's entire head. He messes up her hair every time he crushes her in one of his huge, rough hugs. It is hilarious and touching and perfect. You know how there can be...well..(for lack of a better term) chemistry between two actors? It's here. It's here big time. In fact, given that they had 5 and a half hours to play it out, I think that they became Jane and Mr. Rochester.

Cons:

Without giving too much away, there are a couple things I should mention as cautions. One, the little girl Jane comes to Thornfield to educate is never explained. Is she Mr. Rochester's illegitimate daughter? Truth is, he himself doesn't really know. That's thing one.

Thing two is that there is a "fortune-telling" scene. Of course the gypsy turns out to be one of the familiar characters in the movie and a sham-performance, but there is the suggestion that some of the characters would have believed  a "real" fortune-teller.

Thing three is the definite, indisputable fact that this movie is eerie in places. I can't explain why. It's all part of the Unmentionable Secret, but it has to do with a singular, blood-chilling laugh and very mysterious happenings in the house. (It is all natural causes--no ghosts, haints, or chillin' things. ;)

Pros:

You are in tears by the end of a Certain Scene where Jane must make a heart-wrenching decision between purity and virtue and the only love she has ever known. She makes the right choice, and you are reeling by the end. Seriously, it's the most intense scene you will ever watch in a movie. It really makes you think whether you would have the fortitude. I promise you'll be weeping if you have any heart.

Again, I cannot spill the beans all over the carpet, but everything ends just as it ought. If Charlotte Bronte had lived in the world of today's modern story-lines, Jane Eyre would probably have turned out to be just another compromise. But with a turn of Bronte's pen, she put everything right.

The ending is not entirely, perfectly, un-markedly happy, but it ends as it ought. It ends right, and that is all one can wish for. :)

Quotables:

*ahhhh* this movie is so full of brilliant quotes and you know what? I could only find one (an entirely random one, at that) online. Rats in a poke. I suppose you will have to watch it yourself to experience just the best of the best dialog in movie history! (Pssst! The proposal scene is the best *ever*. If you want to watch the film entirely out of order, you can watch the scene here.)

Swing-Time! :)

Well, I don't know about you guys, but I absolutely love to watch Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dance. They are crazy-good, and so cute together! Plus,  I cannot imagine dancing like she does in high-heels on a slippery floor. This is my favorite dance I've seen them do together--I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! :)