|
Movie Profiles & Premiums Newsletter Vol.4 #4
|
Cliff Aliperti
|
Apr 16, 2006 10:25 PDT
|
Movie Profiles & Premiums Volume 4, Number 4. April 15, 2006
Brought to you by http://www.things-and-other-stuff.com
#
This is the plain text version of the newsletter. Read this online in
html format and loaded with pictures of movie collectibles at:
http://things-and-other-stuff.com/issues/movie-newsletter-04-04.htm
#
Have Movie Profiles & Premiums dropped into your E-mail inbox--just send
a blank e-mail to:
things-and-other-@topica.com
#
Welcome back, my taxes are done so here I am right on time! (Well, I
was on time, but have had about 24 hours worth of problems publishing my
web site -- all pages are now up, though some are missing headers).
In fact, I finished up early to the benefit of this issue because a
little free time led to a new Photo ID Guide featuring a set of cards
that I had been after unsuccessfully for over three years now ... but I
finally landed that set! Issued by the same folks that put out the 1939
Film Fantasy Game Card set, the set that I'm talking about is the 1939
Wizard of Oz Game Card set -- and it is just as beautiful with even
sharper colors and entirely dedicated to The Wizard of Oz.
The Wizard of Oz Game Card set contains 44 different cards featuring
colorful scenes from the classic film and depicting all of its popular
characters from Dorothy and Toto to the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly
Lion right on through to the Wicked Witch of the West, flying monkeys,
Munchkins and more!
The 44 cards are split into four groups each numbered one through eleven
and rather than offering them all at once I will probably offer eleven
of the cards per week to draw the sale out a little. Enough of my
excited bantering, it's time to see them for yourself:
Photo ID Guide: 1939 Wizard of Oz Game Cards
http://things-and-other-stuff.com/movies/ephemera/1939-wizard-of-oz-card-game.htm
Something else new since last time, if you tried to view that slide show
in the popular Firefox browser I'm now offering a page with a Gallery
alternative that you can actually view correctly! Or if you're viewing
through Explorer and just prefer the Gallery view to the Slideshow then,
of course, you have that option as well.
http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/
I also went back and created alternate Gallery pages for all of our
Collectible Slide Shows featuring more than the six or seven images --
that's when those Slideshow pages begin to register incorrectly in
Firefox. I did it for the MJ Moriarty Playing Card page, and might have
done it for another page or two that I thought of while I was in this
little groove.
http://things-and-other-stuff.com/movies/slide-shows.htm
http://things-and-other-stuff.com/movies/trading-cards/1916-mj-moriarty.htm
And speaking of Collectible Slide Shows (wow, is this issue flowing!)
there is a new one this month as I still had enough images on hand to
create a new page (with alternate view as well) to coincide with this
month's featured profile:
Cary Grant by Susan M. Kelly:
http://things-and-other-stuff.com/movies/profiles/cary-grant.htm
(Susan's entire profile on Cary Grant is also found towards the bottom
of this e-mail)
If you're still looking for more to do after reading Susan's latest
piece, I actually created a second Photo ID Guide a couple of weeks ago
for the 1928 "Film Favorites" set issued by Wills. That guide includes
a complete checklist plus twenty images from the set including a sample
view of the reverse side of one of the cards. I put this guide together
because I had picked up a set, which has been broken, scanned, graded,
described, etc. and of which singles are currently available for
immediate sale in my eBay Store.
http://things-and-other-stuff.com/movies/trading-cards/1928-wills-film-favourites.htm
http://search.stores.ebay.com/Collecting-Old-Magazines_1928-Wills_W0QQfciZ0QQfclZ3QQfsnZCollectingQ20OldQ20MagazinesQQfsooZ1QQfsopZ1QQsaselZ15227644QQsofpZ0?refid=store
I've been a little more aggressive buying movie collectibles recently,
so besides the Wizard of Oz auctions coming up you can look for another
grouping of 1916 MJ Moriarty Playing Cards (I sold off all of the last
batch of singles so I had to hunt down another deck!), a few issues of
Loew's Weekly from the 1930's, and a set of 1925 "Cinema Stars" from
Rothman's which I'll be breaking up for individual sale and updating the
Photo ID Guide for as well.
Again, all of the items in that last paragraph are still to come, be
sure to check my eBay Auctions on at least a weekly basis so you don't
miss out. My blog will also be updated with new listings nightly as
they go up for sale.
http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ25QQsascsZ1QQsassZthingsQ2dandQ2dotherQ2dstuff
http://blog.things-and-other-stuff.com/
Some great research material has been added to
things-and-other-stuff.com as well, actually donated by Jason Liller
whom I was lucky enough to run into at the alt.movies.silent group. I
really could have added Jason's contribution to my magazine site as
easily as things-and-other-stuff.com, but in the end I thought it would
be of more interest to film fanatics then magazine collectors. What
Jason has created is The Complete New Yorker Film Review Index, which is
an index of every film reviewed in The New Yorker Magazine from it's
first issue in 1925 through the the last issue put out in 1929. This
effectively covers the silent era in New Yorker Film Reviews. Now
you're not going to be able to read the reviews from Jason's index, but
you will be able to see which movies The New Yorker reviewed and if
you're looking to follow up you'll be able to pinpoint the issue that
the particular review appeared in. Thank you again, Jason, I really
appreciate the addition!
http://things-and-other-stuff.com/new-yorker-intro.htm
Other new pages on the site include a couple of more entries to Cliff's
Classic DVD List, as I recently watched both Hands Across the Table
starring Carole Lombard and Gene Tierney in Whirlpool and felt like
writing afterwards for each. Keep in mind these are just my opinions on
these movies, I watch them and then try to get down what the movie did
for me. If I cover something that I pick up and I don't like, well,
it'll be very apparent that I didn't like it, and if it's one of your
personal favorites I apologize. In the case of the two movies above, I
liked them both quite a bit, so hopefully I did a good job on them! The
entries to my DVD List are all getting pretty long, I'm very glad that I
split them off into individual pages ... the only downside is I have A
LOT of movies that I'm going to have to watch again now in order to
write about. Of course it's fun watching them, but it's even more fun
buying new ones to add to the list! So, I guess what I'm saying is that
the list will likely never be done.
http://things-and-other-stuff.com/dvd-list/hands-across-the-table.htm
http://things-and-other-stuff.com/dvd-list/whirlpool.htm
#
Cary Grant by Susan M. Kelly
From a typical lower middle class beginning in Bristol, England came a
talent who would become one of Hollywood’s most beloved stars. With
his good looks, debonair air and remarkable ability to translate from
drama to screwball comedy, there was almost nothing that the legendary
Cary Grant couldn’t do. For over three decades he entertained film
audiences, and his audiences couldn’t get enough.
Young Archibald Leach was shaken out of his idyllic childhood at 9,
when his mother was committed to a mental institution. Left to his own
devices, he dropped out of school at 14, lied about his age and joined
Bob Pender’s comedy troupe. Here he learned the fine art of pantomime
as well as acrobatics and he toured all over the English provinces. He
eventually made his way to London, where he performed in music halls as
everything from a juggler to a song and dance man. He was chosen as one
of eight of Pender’s performers to go to America, arriving in 1920 for
the start of what was supposed to be a two year tour. Instead, he
decided that he liked what he saw and he chose to stay.
In 1932 he made his film debut as a sailor in the Paramount short
feature “Singapore Sue”. He arrived in Hollywood shortly thereafter
and was promptly rechristened by the studio as Cary Grant. He made his
feature debut that same year in “This Is the Night”, a charming,
sophisticated comedy. Grant was an instant hit with his urbane wit and
classic good looks and found no shortage of work, appearing in a slew of
films including “Sinners in the Sun”, “Blonde Venus”, and
“Madame Butterfly”. In 1933 he found himself cast opposite
Hollywood’s reigning queen of bawdy comedy, Mae West, in “She Done
Him Wrong”.
1936 Cary Grant & Mae West Godfrey Phillips Tobacco CardThough he’d
made his start in comedies, Grant’s good looks and undeniable sex
appeal allowed him to easily slip into almost any genre, from costume
dramas to war films and adventure pictures. He worked primarily for
Paramount throughout the 30’s, starring in films such as “I’m No
Angel” (1933), “Ladies Should Listen” and “Born to Be Bad”
(both 1934), and “Wedding Present” (1936). He was occasionally
loaned out to other studios, as in the case of RKO’s 1935 film
“Sylvia Scarlett” in which he appeared opposite Katharine Hepburn
and 1936’s “Suzy” for MGM, opposite Jean Harlow.
By the late 30’s he had hit his full stride as one of Hollywood’s
most popular leading men. 1937’s “Topper” saw him put the final
touches on the debonair, witty screen persona which would eventually
make him a superstar. With the dawn of the 40’s, the Cary Grant era
was in full swing. He appeared in classic comedies such as 1938’s
“Holiday” and “Bringing Up Baby” and 1940’s “His Girl
Friday” and “The Philadelphia Story” and brought equal panache and
flair to dramas like 1939’s “In Name Only” and 1941’s “Penny
Serenade”, for which he earned an Academy Award1940 Cary Grant MADE IN
USA Arcade Card nomination.
In 1941, he appeared in director Alfred Hitchcock’s “Suspicion”,
which would prove to be the beginning of a long and successful
partnership between director and star. That same year he also appeared
in the classic comedy “Arsenic and Old Lace”. The work just kept
coming for Grant, and in 1941 he also appeared in the moody drama
“None but the Lonely Heart”. His performance, as a cockney drifter,
was a personal favorite and earned him another Oscar nod.
He reconnected with Hitchcock to make another classic, “Notorious”
in 1946 and the same year portrayed composer Cole Porter in the
autobiographical film “Night and Day”. The late 40’s saw much of
the same, as neither Grant’s popularity nor his talent showed any sign
of dimming. Almost every performance, from the angel in a Brooks
Brothers suit in 1947’s “The Bishop’s Wife” to the bemused home
owner in 1948’s “Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House”, seemed
destined to become a classic.
Even the perils of aging seemed to have little effect on him. As the
1950’s dawned, he was as popular, and in demand, as ever. He started
out the decade with an appearance in the political drama “Crisis”
(1950) and then veered back into the more familiar ground of comedy with
“People Will Talk” (1951) and “Monkey Business” (1952). He also
continued his successful collaboration 1959 Cary Grant R778-1 Maple Leaf
Playing Cardwith Hitchcock, starring in two of the director’s finest
films, 1955’s “To Catch a Thief” and 1959’s “North by
Northwest”, with its famous climactic scene of the chase up Mount
Rushmore.
Though still seemingly holding on to his popularity, Grant saw the
handwriting on the wall in the mid 60’s and decided to retire from
films after 1966’s “Walk, Don’t Run”. He believed at the time
that the end of the studio system and the effect of the changing times
on audience taste left little room for his style of film. He wasn’t
idle for long, though, as he was thrust into the new role of father at
the tender age of 62, when then wife Dyan Cannon gave birth to his only
child, Jennifer. Even in retirement, Hollywood didn’t forget him, as
he was awarded a special Oscar in 1970 in recognition of his
extraordinary career.
Extraordinary indeed - he had starred opposite some of Hollywood’s
most beautiful leading ladies, a list that includes everyone from Ginger
Rogers to Grace Kelly to Marilyn Monroe, and had charmed audiences to no
end. In his final years he surprised his fans by undergoing a national
tour, giving informal lectures about his career and answering audience
questions. He died on the eve of one such appearance in Davenport,
Iowa, leaving behind a rich, remarkable film legacy as proof that this
is one star that will truly never be dimmed.
#
Susan M. Kelly is a freelance writer who lives and works in Dunellen,
New Jersey.
#
http://things-and-other-stuff.com/collectibles-slide-shows/cary-grant.htm
#
Time to take a deep breath -- this issue seemed to write itself, I can't
believe how quick that all came to me. Of course I forgot something
(though maybe not), and if it's important enough I'll tack it on in a
new post on the blog. Oh well, it was quick and clean (hopefully), so
I'll be off to bed earlier than expected.
The next issue of The Movie Profiles and Premiums Newsletter is
scheduled for May 15 and I'm hoping to have another entry to The Silent
Collection from Tammy Stone for that one. Thanks, and have a great
month!
#
Unsubscribe simply by sending a blank e-mail to:
things-and-other--@topica.com
|
|
 |
|
