Forever Audrey

Lara Fabian

every year or so i like to sing the praises of lara fabian and hopefully introduce her to new readers and ears.

Josh's Juke Box: 'On My Own'

from the soundtrack of my life.
since i showd the poster art for 'les miz' yesterday this beauty of a song needs a revisit.

and i was dared by another blogger to name my top 100 songs from musicals. i'm up to 136 as of today. HA!
yet with a lot of thought i have come up with one that i must say is my favorite. 'on my own' from 'les miserables'

and here to sing it is the once and future eponine, samantha barks, brilliant rendering it. this is from the 25th anniversary concert of lez miz. miss barks will thankfully reprise the role in the film version coming in december.

Remembering Natalie Wood

natalie wood 7/20/1938 - 11/29/1981

R.I.P. Elizabeth Taylor

Remembering Jennifer on Her Birthdate

 'portrait of jenny' remains my favorite jennifer jones film

 jennifer won her best actress oscar for 'the song of bernadette'

Happy Birthday Kim

i love kim novak. she was groomed to 'rival' marilyn monroe. she did well. her beauty was more natural. her acting was far better. and now the monroe fans will start shooting arrows aimed at mt heart. i just have the truth on my side along with a multitude of filmologists.

Remembering Cary on His Birthday

one of the best. handsome, suave and a much better actor than he was give credit for being.

 he appeared with three of my favorite actresses in three of my favorite films

with audrey hepburn in 'charade'

with deborah kerr in 'an affair to remember'

and katharine hepburn in 'bringing up baby'

Happy Birthday Betty

betty's 'lifetime achievement' at 2010 sag awards

betty white on 'hot in cleveland'*

*season 2 of 'hot in cleveland' begins wednesday night, 1/19, on tvland

Remembering Ava on Her Birthdate

i loved ava gardner. she was earthy. and she was a beauty. was she a great actress? probably not. but she had a screen presence that better actresses did not. she does have some memorable roles. and she has one absolutely brilliant performance. as maxine faulk in 'the night of the iguana' she stood her ground with two of the screen's finest deborah kerr and richard burton. in fact given the showier role her performance came off as the film's best. not getting an oscar nom in 1964 for this role when mary poppins and molly brown did is an ultimate oscar insult. well that being said we lost ava too soon. but she lived...damn did she live!!!

if you only see one ava film in your life make it tennessee williams 'the night of the iquana'. it is quite remarkable as directed by john houston. the cast is stellar all around. treat yourself to a classic.

ava and richard burton

the trailer

Happy Birthday Bette

'you don't own me'

 

'is that all there is?'

'fat as i am'

'i will survive'

'i look good'

Jill Clayburgh: Memories III

after 'an unmarried woman' there were four films that kept jill in the spotlight but her dominance in film as the iconic 70's woman was about to end. jill made some strange choices during this period. but she wanted to work with great directors like bertolucci and costa- kravas. these turned out to be great personal choices but bad career moves. remember in hollywood actors, particularly women, are only as good as their last film or should i say the gross income of their last film. the following did not make money. jill's star power was fading. i always considered this a great loss for film.

first there was 'luna' prior to 'starting over'. jill wanted to work with bernardo bertolucci and she did in this film. the topic bordered on the strange often bizarre and bordered on the incestuous. it was rough to watch for many. jill was amazing in it. the audience was not ready for it. yet it is a good film and deserves a shot. if you are squeamish by-pass it. otherwise take a risk and decide for yourself.

the opening scene of 'luna'. the cameraman on this filmed loved jill. it is so apparent. she has never looked so beautiful on screen.

to be continued

Happy Birthday Petula

'with one look'

'i dreamed a dream'

'as if we never said goodbye'

Loving Jill

 

my tribute to jill.

the songs are from the musical 'pippin'. jill does the vocals with john rubenstein on the duet.

Jill Clayburgh: Memories II

1979's 'starting over' gave jill her second and final oscar nom. there was no chance at all as sally field was the deserved front runner and winner for 'norma rae'. i've often wondered what jill was thinking when sally's name was announced as jill had turned down the role as did jane fonda who was also nominated for 'the china syndrome'.

it was a cute movie but a minor follow-up to 'an unmarried woman'. actually candice bergman stole the film in a supporting nominated role. candice lost to meryl streep in 'kramer vs kramer' but i digress.

one of the rare moments in 'starting over' that allowed jill to shine

1980 brought 'it's my turn'. i love this breezy romantic comedy that teamed jill with michael douglas. charles grodin costarred. it's a charmer. my only question is: why the hell has this not been released on dvd? luckily itunes has it available for download.

spoiler alert: the following are the beginning and the end.

the beginning

the end

that's a wrap

(to be continued)

Jill Clayburgh: Memories

for me it all began with the musical 'pippin'. jill played catherine. she had three songs. at that moment she had me forever. jill had two solos and one duet with john rubenstein portraying pippin. these songs will appear in my 'loving jill' video over the weekend and on my ipod forever.

the tv film 'hustling', 'gable and lombard' and 'silver streak'  came next. but more on them later except to say that as carole lombard in the aforementioned 'gable and lombard' my love affair truly began.
 
and then in 1978....

the deal was cemented with her first major role as erica in 'an unmarried woman'. jill became the toast of the cannes film festival after it's premiere. she won best actress at that festival. the oscar money was on jill to win best actress in 1978. the oscar, heaven help us, went unwisely to jane fonda in the mediocre 'coming home'. another oscar crime.

i believe jill was too 'new york' for the mostly hollywood voter. it was this prejudice that cost her the oscar win. they just did not get jill or her character erica benton with their upper west side sensibilities.

about four minutes into the following scene you will see why she was at least oscar nominated. yes and why she should have won.

the following scene early in the film shows the dreams of the married woman. it's a charming and delightful scene that we have all imagined in some way or another. then dreams are shattered for awhile as she becomes an unmarried woman. erica benton as her portrayer would not let the bad permanently halt the future.

'an unmarried woman' began a string of roles for jill that showed smart,capable, independent women with a touch of the neurotic. hell that means she portrayed a real person. we all have our own nuerosis though try and hide them we might.


meet erica benton

to be continued

R.I.P. Jill

i have been away from home and computer access. i would never have not acknowledged the passing of the amazingly talented and mostly underutilized jill clayburgh.  jill and my partner ed, who passed in 1990, had a special relationship that was formed out of my sheer idolatry of her and her talent. it was ed who basically 'stalked' her to get me access. she loved it and was amused by it actually. i am deeply saddened by the news of her passing. knowing her though i am not at all surprised by the privacy she kept regarding her health. you have been taken from us much too soon. rest in peace my lovely friend.


more on this wonderful woman and actress to come.`

Song of the Day: "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me'"

the late great dusty springfield had a number of hits early on then a great resurgence when she teamed up with the Pet Shop boys.

'you don't have to say you love me' along with 'wishin and a hopin' and 'son of a preacher man' were major hits in duty phase one. in the next few weeks i'll revisit many of this classic singer's hits. another legend who died well before her time.

Happy Birthday Annette

annette's been out of the public eye for some time now as she battles ms. annette single handedly is credited with putting a certain generation of pre pubescent boys on the road to early manhood. if you have to ask it's best you don't.

we wish her well on her birthday.

annette recorded a few albums in her teens and released a few singles from them. here are a few of the mostly known.

annette became the most popular of the original mouseketeers so disney decided to write a 'serialized' segment simply titled 'annette'. the following song was introduced and charted on billboard within weeks of the serialized airing.


how will i know my love'

'tall paul'

'first name initial'

annette became a disney favorite and was given a guest shot role on the then prime time series 'zorro'


naturally by that point they wrote a song for her character called 'lonely guitar'

Remembering Monty on His Birthday

personally i think monty was the handsomest man on the screen for years. that being said he was also a great actor. he was a brilliant though understated actor. possibly the best of a generation. monty died to young having lived a tortured life in the closet as one had to do in hollywood. a tragic and great loss to film.

my favorite monty films

he should have won the oscar for his role in 'judgement at nuremberg' over george chakiris in 'west side story'. another oscar fiasco! but chakiris was swept in with the 'west side story' tidal wave.

he should have been at least been nominated for 'suddenly last summer'. just another of oscar's greatest snubs. charton heston for 'ben hur' give me a break.

 i'm not sure if this clip is for monty or just my excuse to re-watch katherine hepburn's monologue  reminding us of when 'sebastian saw god'. damn she was brilliant.

a tribute