DUELING DIVAS: HANDICAPPING DAPHNE VS. JOSEPHINE

Were there ever any hotter dueling divas than Daphne and Josephine of "Some Like it Hot"? These two fillies were in competition from the word "go." It's a close race, so lets examine their record and form before placing our bets.

Best Legs

Daphne: slightly bowed, ankles weak

Josephine: good muscle tone, good shape

Winner: Josephine

Best Musical Pedigree

Daphne: Claimed to have spent three years at the Sheboygan Conservatory of Music. Bull fiddle has bullet holes in it, which rarely happens at a conservatory of any type. However, she plays a mean bull fiddle.

Josephine: also claimed to have gone to the Sheboygan Conservatory of Music. However, her sax is intact, so she appears to have had the most genteel past. Josephine and her sax can really cook

Winner: it's close, but this category goes to Josephine

Best Early Speed

Daphne: jumps out to an early lead and eyes Marilyn Monroe for the finish line.

Josephine: very slow coming out of the gate.

Winner: Daphne

Strongest in the Two-Way Stretch

Both "ladies" appear to handle the foundation garment issue with equal aplomb.

This round is a tie.

Best Dressed

Daphne: While Daphne may be a grand girl, it appears her fashion sense is of the Stella Dallas variety.

Josephine: Quite chic, especially the very fashionable cloche hat.

Winner: Josephine

Best Hair

Josephine: the brunette is rather harsh and not at all complimentary to her rather milky complexion.

Daphne: Blonde is a good choice for her. Plus, the color is not too brassy, so it looks quite natural and refined. Nice finger waves are a plus.

Winner: Daphne

Most Fun at Parties

Daphne: This girl knows how to party and throw caution to the wind.

Josephine: Rather cautious and skittish, more of a wall flower.

Winner: Daphne

Least Conflicted About Her Gender

Daphne: Wholeheartedly embracing her feminine side.

Josephine: I sense some resistance here.

Winner: Daphne

Best at Collecting All the Marbles

Daphne: blows it big time.

Josephine: brings home the bacon

Winner: Josephine

Looks Like a Dead Heat!

Final Tally

Josephine:5

Daphne:5

It's a close contest all the way and there is no predicting whose nose will cross that finish line first. But, no matter which of these divas you prefer, it's a sure thing that each is a winner and that, when they are together, we are the real winners!

This is my entry in the Dueling Divas Blogothon, hosted by Backlots. Click here for the full list and wonderful posts about all of those dueling cinematic divas! Happy reading and watch out for those claws!

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS... (movie-wise, that is)

In the spirit of the season, here are some Christmas wishes for some movie-folks who might need a helping hand from Santa. 


Santa, do your stuff!


I wish for Scarlett and Rhett to find their way back to one another.

I wish for Citizen Kane's Mr. Bernstein to meet that girl in the white dress.

I fervently wish Mrs. Danvers does NOT find any matches at Manderley while the master and his missus are out.

I wish for Rick to get his letter of transit and meet up with Ilsa in Paris after the war. All will be forgiven.

I wish for Norma Desmond to make Salome and that's it's a big, mega- hit.

I wish for Rocky Sullivan to get a last minute pardon from the Governor.

I wish for Old Yeller to get a rabies shot.

I wish for Tony Randall to get Doris Day just once!

I wish for Margo Channing to beat Eve Harrington out for a Tony, an Oscar and an Emmy - all in the same year!

I wish for Irene Dunne/Deborah Kerr to look both ways before rushing to the top of the Empire State Building.

Oh yes - and I wish for world peace.

And - to you, Dear Reader, may Santa leave your heart's desire in your stocking, under the tree or any place else where you can find it!

THESE AMAZING SHADOWS: THE FABRIC OF OUR LIVES

Paul Mariano and Kurt Norton's These Amazing Shadows, a one-hour documentary, premiers on Independent Lens on PBS, Thursday, December 29, 2011 at 10 PM.

My favorite "history books" are movies. Want to know how people lived in 1912? Watch a 1912 movie. Want to know how people dressed in 1940? Watch a 1940 movie. Want to know a society's passion, prejudices, thoughts and dreams from any era in the 20th or 21st century? Right - watch a movie!

These Amazing Shadows presents the story of how the US Government finally got the point and passed legislation calling for a National Film Registry. Ironically, it all started with the "T" in our beloved TCM. Remember when Ted Turner thought it would be a good idea to computer colorize black and white films? 

James Stewart lent his voice to those against 
the colorization of black and white films

Remember the firestorm of artistic indignation (not to mention how really bad they all looked)? It was this action that lead to the congressional hearings that resulted in the passage of The National Film Preservation Act of 1988. Besides thanking Ted for our favorite commercial-free TV station, we can also thank him for inadvertently igniting the spark that lead to the Nation Film Registry, the list of films (currently at 550 ) deemed culturally, historically or aesthetically significant and  preserved in the Library of Congress.

The documentary presents a panorama of films that, pieced together, create a celluloid quilt of American cultural history in the last and present century. Referred to as the art form of the 20th century, films remain our most immediate communal artistic experience. Watched in a theater as it is meant to be, a movie is a unique art form. At once solitary and inward, its joys multiply when shared with a crowd. We know what we feel, but those feelings are validated by the rest of the audience. That's why I was so happy to see that Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles made the list.

Blazing Saddles? Yes! Sitting in a theater in 1974, I experienced one of my most memorable audience reactions while watching that famous campfire scene. You know the one - campfire, beans, Mr. Taggert... The sheer joy of being in a room full of so many laughing viewers is something I will never forget. The fact that this film made the registry tells me that this list truly is representative of public treasures. There is nothing more precious than laughter.


Filled with interviews from such a diverse group as John Waters, Zoey Deschanel, Barbara Kopple, Leonard Maltin, Rob Reiner, Christopher Nolan, Debbie Reynolds, and Anthony Slide, all attest to the influence and impact films have had upon their lives and art. You'd be surprised at the films that influenced future film makers. Debbie Reynolds describes movies as an escape when she was a child, noting that "I loved them all and I still do today." She's such a fan, bless her heart. My favorite comment is from Del Reisman, former president of the Writers Guild of America: "As a child there were no good movies or bad movies, just movies." We grow up to be such critics!


The registry is filled with expected films, such as Casablanca, The Godfather, The Wizard of Oz and Gone With the Wind, animated classics such as Fantasia and Toy Story, documentaries such as Harlan County USA and Grey Gardens, as well as a variety of newsreels, short subjects and even the famous "Let's All Go To the Lobby" promo for popcorn and soda.

Home movies, a true depiction of our life and times, are also part of the registry. One of the most fascinating is Topaz, a home movie that depicts the day to day life in a WWII Japanese Internment Camp in Utah. 

A vivid testament to a painful and shameful episode in our history, it lives as a permanent reminder for all future generations. Through the pain and injustice comes compassion and education. The sheer diversity of the films form a "national memory" of times, places and attitudes.

From the culturally and artistically significant, but often impossible to watch, Birth of a Nation, to Atticus Finch, a better angel of our national nature, in To Kill a Mockingbird, changing attitudes, social prejudice and social justice depicted in film hold up a mirror to society. Sometimes, what we see in the mirror makes us cringe, but sometimes it fills us with pride.

The film also examines the role of women behind the camera, noting that in early cinema, women were evident as writers and even directors. As the industry grew, the position of women waned. Sigh...

It's hard to cram over 100 years of film history into an hour, but I'm sure there are more than a few films and stories that will trigger a memory and a giggle, as well as those that will fascinate and educate. To learn more about These Amazing Shadows, click here.


For a list of the current National Film Registry, click here.


And now, let's all go to the lobby, stock up on some buttered popcorn, sit back and relax and enjoy the show! And, by the way... thanks, Uncle Sam. You're getting a bad rap these days, so it's nice to know you're doing something right!

I want you..... to support film preservation!

BARBARA STANWYCK: STRONG THE STANWYCK WAY

Thirteenth and last in a series about strong women in film. Strong women are independent, beautiful, sexy, feminine and just want everything in life that a man wants and believe that they have every right to have it!

I had to save the best for last! What is there to say about this lady that hasn't already been said? Beloved by her public and by her co-workers, she is the third jewel in the triple royal crown of American strong women in film alongside Bette Davis and Joan Crawford.

Stanwyck was often unfairly compared to Davis, but there really is no comparison. Of the three, she is the most even, the least neurotic and the one I'd most like to have my back. She may have never hit the acting heights of Davis or Crawford, but she never sunk to their depths. Her reputation in her field is spotless and it only grows as the years go by. There is no trace of artifice, no fuss, no muss. With Stanwyck, what you see is what you get. And what you see is a great screen actress. Period.

Known as "Missy" to her friends, Brooklyn's Ruby Stevens went from the telephone company to the chorus to Hollywood. Along the way, she won the love and respect of her co-workers (both in front of and behind the camera) and her audience. This was no Hollywood Diva!

If you want to be a strong, independent woman, or if you are an admirer of the type, you can learn a lot from Missy.

Barbara Stanwyck's Guide 

to Being a Strong, Independent Woman

#1: If you're strong, you can be soft and sweet

Barbara could be a vision of femininity  

#2:  If you're strong, you can take control of the situation

I would not take a chance those gloves were just for show

#3: If you're strong, you can admit you can't cook

Hey - that's why people hire chefs

#4: If you're strong, you can strip

Barbara played a stripper at least 3 times, so she felt
confident in the g-string

#5: If you're strong, you can ride a motorcycle as good as any man and look damn good doing it

Looking good with Elvis. I'm sure she could have driven, but I think she 
just wanted to get her arms around the King.

#6: If you're strong, you are a straight shooter

You'd have to be nuts to mess with her

#7: If you're strong, you see things through to the end (no matter how dirty the deal)

Taking murder seriously

#8: If you're strong, you can have a soft heart for the weaker ones

She could have, but she didn't

#9: If you're strong you can be a loving mother

Mother Love requires real strength

#10: If you're strong, you can beat the boys at their own game

If this woman is in the Executive Suite, she will run the show

#11: If you're strong, you can be sexy at any age

A legend in every way.

#12: If you're strong, you help those on the way up and they never forget it.

William Holden never forgot Stanwyck's kindness
during the filming of "Golden Boy"

At the 1978 Academy Awards, while the two were presenting the
award for Best Sound, Holden went off script, paid tribute to her
integrity and generosity and thanked Missy for saving his career.
In 1982, after Holden had passed away and while accepting her
honorary Oscar, she dedicated the award to her "Golden Boy."
What a classy lady!

And, if you're strong you are always fiercely yourself - beautiful like no other. Leave the conventional beauties to the conventional minded.

I think it's fair to say that in her career that spanned roughly 60 years, she never gave a bad performance. Here are just a few of those I think are her very best:
The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1932)
Baby Face (1933)
Stella Dallas (1937)
The Lady Eve (1940)
Remember the Night (1940)
Ball of Fire (1941)
Double Indemnity (1944)
Christmas in Connecticut (1945)
The Strange Loves of Martha Ivers (1946)
Sorry Wrong Number (1948)

If I omitted your favorite, I apologize, but there are just so many wonderful films and so many more wonderful Stanwyck performances!

Bottom line: they don't come any better than Barbara Stanwyck. A total pro, she was the Ziegfeld Follies, pre-code, romance, comedy, Noir, westerns, and TV. What else is there to say? The best. Period.

The 2011 Complete "Strong Women in Film Series:


Bette Davis: No Apologies
Ann Dvorak: A Penthouse, Pre-Code and You
Joan Crawford: I Will Previal
The Flapper: Free, Female and 21
Ann Sheridan: One Swell Gal
Jane Russell: Nobody's Cupcake
Susan Hayward: Diminish at Your Own Risk
Mabel Normand: Paying the Price
Katharine Hepburn: Born This Way
Myrna Loy: The People's Queen
Irene Dunne: Delightful, Delicious and No Distress
Mary, Mae, Marlene and Doris: Industrial Strength Blondes