trivia

melwalton
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trivia

Post by melwalton »

I wasn't sure where to put this, it's, certainly, trivia.
I had some time on my hands and figured I'd start something and see if anyone was interested.
What do you notice about movies or actors Not, directly related to the
story of the film?
For instance, My wife notices what actors, especially actresses are wearing. I couldn't tell that even when I'm looking at them. I do have this oddity; I notice ( sometimes ) whether a player is lefthanded. Weird? Well, odd. Anyway my purpose was to name some 'lefties', so here goes:
Edward Arnold
Charlie Chaplin
Judy Garland
Cary Grant
Jessie Matthews
Thomas Mitchell
Mary Tyler Moore
Chester Morris
Eugene Pallette
William Powell
Shirley Ross
Rudy Vallee
Dick van Dyke
Dorothy Lee was ambidextrous and, I think, Eddie Albert was also.

What do YOU notice? ...... mel
jdb1

Post by jdb1 »

Not weird at all. It's all part of the fun. I also notice the left-hand/right-hand thing. Since in the Old Days many left-handed people were forced to be righties (like me, for instance), it interests me to see which actors were able to make it through life with their original handedness. My daughter is a southpaw; I wouldn't have dreamt of trying to "turn her around," as they used to say.

I find myself also looking at the women's nails, since manicure styles were different then. I notice teeth, too -- apparently the capping process was quite different, with quite different results, in Classic Hollywood. I also find myself picking up on barely-surpressed regional accents. Very interesting.
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charliechaplinfan
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Post by charliechaplinfan »

I also notice the left handedness. I'm one myself, I consider myself in good company. Didn't know Judy Garland was one too. My grandfather stuttered his whole life from being forced to write right handed. So I love it when I see the older movie stars preferring their left hand, especially if they are English because the beat the system.

I notice heights. How tall people are in comparison with others. Although it's not always infallible.

Some of the smaller men in Hollywood

BUSTER KEATON
CHARLIE CHAPLIN
GENE KELLY (those three again!)
FRANK SINATRA
ALAN LADD

the tallest by my reckoning

JOHN WAYNE
JAMES STEWART
GARY COOPER

no surprises there. I'm not as accurate with women as I'm not sure what's on their feet. :lol: I'm good at working out how tall actors are in relation to other actors. it's a strange hobby :lol:
jdb1

Post by jdb1 »

Sterling Hayden was also very tall. Now that I've called it to your attention, you'll probably start noticing it.

I've noticed in various movies that Cary Grant wrote with both his left and right hands (not simultaneously, though). I wonder if he was really writing at all when he used his right.
melwalton
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Joined: October 14th, 2007, 5:58 pm

Lefties

Post by melwalton »

I saw a movie 'The Good Companions' and noticed Jessie Matthews ( yeah, I notice everything about her, wonder why ) writing with her right hand. In another, she threw things lefty.
re; height; Ever notice in the long shots, an actress will be slightly taller than an actor but in the closeup ( same pair ) he'll be a head taller than she?
Some very short actresses: Carole Lombard, Dorothy Lee, Linda Hunt.
Hard to tell about the taller ones because of the high heels. Claudette Colbert and Kay Francis appeared tall. Ditto Anne Francis.
I once read an article about Brian Donlevy that was funny. He told how he got ready to go to work in the morning. He put on his shoes with the lifts and his hair piece, false teeth and corset. .... mel
jdb1

Post by jdb1 »

Mel, did you see the Rex Harrison movies last night on TCM? He appeared to be left-handed as well.

I forgot one thing I consistently notice in all moves, old or new: who has had a nosejob. Some actors' noses are very obviously fake and unreal looking, e.g., the nostril area is unnaturally narrow or unnaturally wide. But with some others, you notice only at certain angles or in certain lighting that tell-tale light shadow line in the middle of the nose going toward one cheek or other, a sure sign that the nasal cartilage has been broken.

One true indication that the nose has been altered can be seen in the alignment of the person's eyes. The colored part of the eyes looks to be too far in the direction of the ears on either side - the eyes don't look symmetrical with the rest of the face. (Think Marie Windsor.)
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charliechaplinfan
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Post by charliechaplinfan »

jdb1 wrote:Sterling Hayden was also very tall. Now that I've called it to your attention, you'll probably start noticing it.

I've noticed in various movies that Cary Grant wrote with both his left and right hands (not simultaneously, though). I wonder if he was really writing at all when he used his right.
I've noticed that Cary sometimes wrote with his right hand. I wonder if he could write with both hands or perhaps it was a result of his schooling. He would have been the same age as my Grandfather and from similar background. They used to tie your left hand behind your back, it is possible that he had learnt to write with his right hand.

Actresses who appear unusually tall to me are Sophia Loren and Cyd Charisse.

I read a book about Gene Kelly and I remember in the introduction that Leslie Caron spilt the beans about a few actors who were wig wearers. Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Humphrey Bogart and David Niven, no surprises there then. I have two points.

Is Fred Astaire used one why didn't he chose one with more hair because he still looks a little thin on top :lol:

and how can anyone tell if their favorite actor from the past has had some hair pasted on. All credit to the hairpiece makers.
jdb1

Post by jdb1 »

I think most of the men's hairpieces in Classic movies are pretty good. At least, you have to look two or three times in most cases to tell if it's real or not.

One way to tell is to watch the actor's eybrows and forehead. If the hair on top is fake, it won't move when the actor raises his eybrows. This was a frequent scene-stealing trick of Peter Lorre: he used to wiggle his eyebrows up and down and furrow his brow, and the real hair on top used to move as well - very distracting, just the way Lorre liked it.
melwalton
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Joined: October 14th, 2007, 5:58 pm

trivia

Post by melwalton »

Judith
I taped some of the Harrison yesterday but haven't watched it yet. I got the one with Hayworth but the tape ran out on the one with Palmer.
As i recall, the only noses I ever noticed were on Louis Calhern and Jimmy Durante.
That was good about Lorre , so fitting. .... mel
melwalton
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Charisse

Post by melwalton »

Charlie.

Charisse, YES! She was all legs and weren't they MMMMMM? .... mel
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charliechaplinfan
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Post by charliechaplinfan »

I wish I had her legs, her face, her figure, she was quite stunning and my favorite female dancer. A pity she didn't make more dramas.

Thanks to Judith I'm now going to go through a phase of watching actors eyebrow's. I'll report back on my findings :lol:
jdb1

Post by jdb1 »

charliechaplinfan wrote:I wish I had her legs, her face, her figure, she was quite stunning and my favorite female dancer. A pity she didn't make more dramas.

Thanks to Judith I'm now going to go through a phase of watching actors eyebrow's. I'll report back on my findings :lol:
And if you do the same with TV newsreaders, you won't have time to do much else!
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charliechaplinfan
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Post by charliechaplinfan »

Since yesterday I've watched Talk of the Town and Les Girls.

My findings

CARY GRANT - NO HAIRPIECE
RONALD COLMAN - NO HAIRPIECE BUT A BEARD THAT DIDN'T SUIT HIM
GENE KELLY - THE HAIR DIDN'T MOVE WITH HIS EYEBROWS - A HAIRPIECE.

You could almost make this into a game for children to play :D
melwalton
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Joined: October 14th, 2007, 5:58 pm

lefties

Post by melwalton »

Judith; You were right about Harrison writing lefthanded. We watched that one with Lansbury and Dee until the rock noise came on. First time I noticed about Harrison .... mel
jdb1

Post by jdb1 »

charliechaplinfan wrote:Since yesterday I've watched Talk of the Town and Les Girls.

My findings

CARY GRANT - NO HAIRPIECE
RONALD COLMAN - NO HAIRPIECE BUT A BEARD THAT DIDN'T SUIT HIM
GENE KELLY - THE HAIR DIDN'T MOVE WITH HIS EYEBROWS - A HAIRPIECE.

You could almost make this into a game for children to play :D
Well, looks like I've started a new fad -- toupee spotting.
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