AUNTIE MAME

After his father dies, a young school boy goes off to live with his aunt, knowing very little about what kind of person she is and what he was about to get into. Auntie Mame, as she is known by, who lives the most eccentric life, knows the most unique kind of people, and lives by her motto to always “live, live, live.” At first you don’t really know what to make of her, but once you get to know her you realize she’s a caring, witty, and loving woman that only wants to show her nephew the best that life has to offer.

Auntie Mame is a very free spirited person, along with many other people in the world. And along with free spirited people there will always be the ones known as “stick in the mud.” That is what Mr.Dwight Babcock is. Mr. Babcock is, Patrick, the nephew’s trustee. He does everything in his power to make sure that Auntie Mame has no influence on the boy, especially since she sent her nephew to a nudist-type school.

On one of nephew Patrick’s Christmas breaks from prep school, Mr. Babcock’s doing, Auntie Mame meets an oil baron named Beauregard Burnside. They met at Mame’s new job she had gotten during the depression at Macy’s department store, where she was later fired because of a mix up. After hitting it off, Mame and her nephew were invited to go down to the South to meet Beauregard’s family, where Mame had a life threatening experience while on a hunt, but was later proposed to be Mrs. Burnside.

Years went by and the two lived a happy married life traveling the world, until one day while climbing the Matterhorn, Mr. Burnside had a fatal fall. Although Mr. Burnside was no longer with her she still had her nephew to love, but like most children... they do grow up. Not only was he grown up, but he was also in love and planning on marriage too. Except to a very dull girl with a very dull family background, and, after reading this much, do you really believe Auntie Mame would let this marriage happen? I’ll let you be the judge of that one.

I really enjoyed this movie because in real life I too have an aunt that is very similar to Auntie Mame. Eccentric, loving, and a bit loud at times, but that’s just more to love. The film was released in 1958, it is based on the novel by Patrick Dennis about his life with his aunt. It was directed by Morton DeCosta, and stars Rosalind Russell as Auntie Mame.

IMITATION OF LIFE

While spending a day at the beach, a young widowed mother and her daughter meet a black homeless woman and her daughter. After getting to know each other, the widow decides to let the homeless mother and her daughter come and live with them in their tiny apartment.

                                           

Lora Meredith, a young mother who had lost her husband in the war, who’s determination to make it on the stage and make a name for herself tries to give her little girl everything she never had. Later on she does land a small part in a comedy play and then becomes an overnight success. She finally has her dream of becoming a star, and is now able to afford a nice home for her and her new friend and their daughters. Along with that she is able to buy her daughter things she could never have before, but the only thing her daughter really asks for is that her mother would be around more often.

                                   

Annie Johnson, a mother with a kind loving heart, who would put someone else’s happiness before hers was left by her husband and she now has to take care of their daughter who’s half black and half white. Her daughter loathes the thought of knowing that she is only half white and tries to make sure no one ever finds out who her mother is. When she gets older she decides to run away and become a show girl at a night club.

No matter what happened to them in their lives, the mothers were always there for each other. They didn’t betray each other, they would come to each other when they had troubles, and they even treated each other’s daughters as their own. This movie was released in 1959 and was directed by Douglas Sirk, and starred Lana Turner and Juanita Moore. They played how friends should be no matter their backgrounds or who they were before. Although the ending is bitter sweet, it shows how strong a friendship can be.

JOAN CRAWFORD

 

                         

An actress whom I believed was kind and gentle as her character was in the 1962 film, “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” While off screen I thought she was a devoted mother who worked hard, and would do anything for her children’s happiness, just like she potrayed in her 1945 movie, “Mildred Pierce,” but it turns out in real life she’s was like her sick physcotic character in the 1964 thriller, “Strait-Jacket.”

In the 1981 film, “Mommie Dearest,” it exposes Joan Crawford for who she really was. In this movie I don’t know which was more disturbing about her, whether it was the fact that she only adopted her two children for publicity, or that she locked her daughter in a steam room as a “punishment.” But what I think was the worst was when she found a wire hanger in her children’s closet and used it to beat her daughter with and all because she despised those types of hangers.

Her children and even her housekeeper feared her and did everything they could do to keep her happy and have everything perfect, that way she would stay sane. In the public’s eye she was lovely and charming, but at home she was a monster.  Before I saw this movie I always thought Joan Crawford was a bit odd, but I thought she was just eccentric but now I know it was much more.

“Mommie Dearest,” is based on the book that Joan Crawford’s adopted daughter “Christina Crawford” wrote about her life growing up with her “loving,” mother. Faye Dunaway does an uncanny job of playing Joan Crawford. She showed the stunning glamorous side of her when she was acting or was among the public, but when she was behind closed doors she showed her true nature.

                                                    
                             Joan Crawford                                                  Faye Dunaway

THAT HAGEN GIRL

               

"That Hagan Girl" is a film about a teenage girl who lives in a small town, where the local residence has been gossiping about her behind her back since before she could talk.  When she was a baby, she was adopted by two ordinary towns folk and when she was brought to her new home one of the town’s folk noticed a resemblance between the baby and a local girl from a wealthy family, who had returned home that same evening.

The Hagan girl grows up not knowing about the event that took place the night she arrived, but then things begin to be revealed to her when a man that used to live in the same town, arrives and is claimed to be her father.

This film reminds me of another movie about a small town that also has a residence of gossipers. That film is called “Peyton Place,” in it evolves scandal, hidden secrets among the residence, and even murder.

“That Hagen Girl,” was filmed in 1947, it was based on the novel by Edith Kneipple Roberts. It was directed by Peter Godfrey, and stars American sweetheart Shirley Temple as Mary Hagen, along with future president Ronald Reagan who plays Tom Bates.

LON CHANEY SR. "THE MAN OF A THOUSAND FACES"

                               

Leonidas Frank Chaney a famous silent movie actor who was known as the “Man of a Thousand faces.” He is called this because of the extraordinary makeup he did on himself and his excellent portrayal of characters.  He is best known for his silent horror films; he played the original phantom in “Phantom of the Opera,” and was also the original hunchback from Victor Hugo’s novel The “Hunchback of Notre Dame.”

The first Lon Chaney film I watched was called the Unknown, It was filmed in 1927 and it’s about a man who was born with a double thumb on his left hand, played by Cheney, who poses as an armless knife thrower in a circus. He falls in love with his lovely assistant, who is played by Joan Crawford, who is attracted to the strong man, played by Norman Kerry, but is terrified of his arms. Later on in the film Joan Crawford’s character witnesses a murder, but she doesn’t see his faces she only notices the murder’s left hand and his double thumb. Frightened that he would be discovered and that he would never be loved by the girl if found out that he had arms, Chaney decides to cut his arms off. When Chaney returns he is told that Crawford and the strong man were going to be married. Not only it was heartbreaking to see how Chaney did all of this for nothing, but the emotion Chaney brought to that scene. Tears pouring down his face, it was like witnessing someone getting slapped in the face.

When movies began coming out with sound, they actually added sound to the already filmed “Phantom of the Opera,” but the only one who you didn’t hear say anything was the phantom. Chaney didn’t think it was right for the phantom to speak in it.  Another one of Chaney’s films that was remade with sound was The Unholy Three. It’s about a ventriloquist; a midget, a strong man, and a pickpocket who pretend to be owners of a pet store who later rob the houses of their wealthy customers. Lon Chaney’s character disguises himself as an old woman known as “Grandma O’Grady,” he wanted to do the voice of her himself so he chose the words carefully and spoke slowly.  In the original ending of the film when he was saying goodbye to his girlfriend who was leaving to be with another man, he was doing his act and using his dummy he said to her, “good bye ol’ pal.” He then lays the dummy on him and begins to cry, except with real tears. In the remake they’re at the train station saying good bye to Chaney’s character who was going to jail, but the ironic thing about this scene is that for a goodbye present, Chaney is given a box of cigarettes when in real life Chaney was battling with lung cancer. This was Chaney’s first talking film and the last film he was in. He died two months after the film was released.

Lon Chaney Sr. was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado on April 1, 1883 and died on August 26, 1930. And for some strange reason his crypt was left unnamed. Not only was Lon Chaney a terrifying actor but his son was too, Lon Chaney Jr. who played the original wolf man.

                                                    

THE HAUNTING

        

A film about a 90 year old mansion that is known to be evil, along with it its dark history.  In the movie the mansion (Hill House) belongs to an elderly woman who is asked by Dr. Markway, a scientist who is fascinated with ghost, superstition, and anything else that goes bump in the night, to observe the house with a group of handpicked assistants.

Even though Dr. Markway is permitted to do his experiment there is a problem. All of the assistants that he had chosen begin drop out of the experiment, all except for three. Theodora with an extraordinary gift of ESP, and then there’s Eleanor who lived in her sister’s living room in a small apartment. Who also use to be caretaker of their ailing mother. Then finally there’s Luke who is the heir of Hill house and was volunteered by his aunt to join them.

When the group arrives at Hill House strange things begin to happen inside the house. The feeling cold air in some of the rooms, strange faces seen in the walls, and very loud pounding noise coming from the halls. What I love about this movie is that they show no ghost… No projections, no men wearing bed sheets, which are more terrifying because it forces your imagination’s a worst fear take over.

This film was released in 1963 it is inspired by the novel, The Haunting of Hill House, written by Shirley Jackson. In 1999 it was remade but it was clearly not as good as the original. This film was directed by Robert Wise and it stars Richard Johnson, Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, and Russ Tamblyn. If you choose to watch this film I’d suggest that you don’t watch this alone.
         

WAR OF THE WORLDS

                        

This is about a war that is far worse than any war mankind could have ever created. A war between mankind and beings from another world. This was based on the 1898 science fiction novel written by H.G. Wells who earlier wrote The Time Machine. The movie was released in 1953 and is about a scientist that was on a fishing trip and gets called to investigate a meteor that had crashed near the town of Linda Rosa. When he gets there, he observes it and wonders why that it was so oddly lighter for its size, and why it didn’t make a bigger crater when it landed. He then tells some of the local town's people that it was radioactive and later that night some strange things begin to happen. None of the phones or lights were working anywhere in that area and at a local square dance everyone’s watches stop all at the same time and become magnetic. Even the local sheriff's compass is affected and pointed only towards the area where the meteor crashed.

The scientist and the sheriff head towards the crash site where they discovered that the meteor is no meteor at all, but a Martian space ship that tries destroy them with its deadly heat- ray that sticks up from the roof of the ship. The sound effects for the heat ray were pretty creative for a 1953 film.The sound of the heat ray was made by recording electric guitars and playing the recording backwords to create the deadly sound of the gun. The movie later won Oscars for their excellent special effects.

  

                

This film was remade in 2005 starring Mission Impossible Tom Cruise. This version’s story line was changed from H.G. Wells  original novel. In this one, it is about an inattentive divorced father, who was supposed to have his kids for only the weekend, but now he has to protect them from an alien invasion. This film also stars Dakota Fanning as Rachel and at the end of the movie they show her grandparents, who are Gene Berry and Ann Robison, the main characters from the original film of War of the Worlds. The director of the 1953 War of the Worlds was Byron Haskin and the director for the 2005 version was Steven Spielberg.