[u][color=#4000BF]JACK[/color][/u] [u][color=#4000BF]FAVELL[/color][/u] wrote:Here's how I see them (realizing that everyone is going to view these people completely differently)
Wendy, I picked names that came to my head in a teensy combination of stream-of-consciousness and conscious thought. I'll show you how I think of the various names below:
Norma Shearer - movie star (and a damn good one)
MOVIE STAR ( her name alone could bring in the throngs. She’s so overdramatic. You know...like a movie star. )
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Claude Rains - actor
ACTOR ( a very good supporting character actor. Changed his wigs from “Robin Hood” to “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” to “Four Daughters.” How could the man in "Deception" be the same man in "Notorious" be the same man in "Now, Voyager" Ahhh...he's not. )
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Mary Astor - actor and movie star
ACTOR ( often always such the second fiddle behind a more glamorous name. I thought she was a glamorous character actress who slightly had the élan of a movie star, but not quite. I still love her though. )
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Helen Hayes - actor
ACTOR ( didn’t have the glam and sex appeal of a movie star, but there’s nothing wrong being an Actor. I am intrigued by her...she's got "something." )
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Gary Cooper - movie star and actor
MOVIE STAR ( maybe he was an actor in the 30’s...maybe he was an actor in the 50’s but those 40’s I could only see him stuck in an “Aw shucks” box without stretching his acting chops. But hey, there’s nothing wrong being a Movie Star. Who doesn't want to drink in a tall glass of water? )
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Garbo - movie star and actor
MOVIE STAR-ACTOR ( lets get real, Garbo was the most famous person on the planet at one point - no movie star today is more popular than Garbo was in her heydey. - Okay, alright, apples and oranges. - I consider her a fine actress too. Very natural. Able to exhibit deep wells of emotion. And if I were being fair, if Coop got stuck in an “aw shucks” box - IMHO - maybe Garbo got stuck in a “tragedian” box. But it’s Garbo and my bias dictates...all bets are off! )
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Deborah Kerr - movie star (I know this is the one I'm going to get flack about. She took acting seriously, but in my mind she's a movie star all the way, and no pretense of being an 'actor'. She's great, but somehow I can't get her in the actor category. I'm weird)
ACTOR ( no flack from me, mi Hermana! But I do primarily see her as an Actor. I guess I associate Movie Star with glamour and pizzazz and a heightened sense of their own screen persona. She was beautiful and I’d put her in a rung above Astor. We can discuss your weirdness over drinks. )
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Melvyn Douglas - actor
???? I honestly couldn’t decide. Hey, you don’t think I’m giving this deep thought d’ya? This is just my own little Rorschach test of what first comes to mind when I think of these names. I think of him as a combination of both - with a caveat. He was rarely given weighty enough material to be given the Actor mantle, and not handsome and sexy enough to be a Movie Star. Uh-oh, not handsome or sexy enough? Yeah. He might be handsome and sexy if you think about it intellectually...but viscerally...ladies, you know what I’m talkin’ about. Or am I out on that limb alone? Again. Hey, I’m lucky to recently come around to even liking Melvyn Douglas. The article you posted here about him long ago Wendy tipped me over to the Douglas side. Loved the way his voice cracks. He nailed it in "HUD." See...all you need is a good script. )
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Warren William - movie star
MOVIE STAR ( Charming roué...he has a different kind of handsome look that I got used to. He did have his moment in the sun in the 30's. )
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Trevor Howard - actor
ACTOR ( but he was sooooo romantic in "Brief Encounter." A romantic actor. Do I need a doctor? )
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George Sanders - movie star and actor
ACTOR ( primarily I see him as an actor. But he’s got such a highbrow persona, he can make me believe he’s a Movie Star. Does that make sense? Oy vey, am I s’posed to be making sense here?? I never made "sense" part of the deal... "The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry" and "All About Eve." Same man? )
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Douglas Fairbanks - movie star to end all movie stars
MOVIE STAR ( his panache is incredible. )
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Myrna Loy - actor and movie star
MOVIE STAR ( I love Loy. I can’t quite say Actor though she was very accomplished opposite Powell, Gable, Tracy. She’s shiny and glamorous and gorgeous. I can't get the sound of ice tinkling against a martini glass out of my head. But I want to be persuaded if anyone cares to make a case. )
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John Wayne - actor and movie star
MOVIE STAR w/shades of ACTOR ( Hmmmmm...he’s so darned larger than life, that maybe he blocks out the rays of his acting talent. But there’s no doubt in “The Searchers” even Spencer Tracy couldn’t touch him. And I’m sure John Wayne fans can cite other films of his where he is an Actor - “Red River” to name one. )
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Anne Bancroft - actor
ACTOR ( I...miss...Anne Bancroft...so...much. )