MUSINGS, PONDERINGS, RUMINATIONS AND FANCIES

[I Love Melvin]

The Egyptian is one of my favorite films. Gene Tierney does indeed give a wonderful performance as Baketamon. All of the women in the film are great, but the star that shines brightest is this one, who also doesn't get enough credit for her performance:

(Here's a little quiz for you Bronxie: Who in The Egyptian has a non-speaking part in one of Hitchcock's greatest films?)

Oh, Swithin how terrific that you appreciate THE EGYPTIAN overall and Gene's strong performance! I also enjoy Michael Wilding and feel he doesn't get enough credit as a serious actor. Edmund Purdom and Bella Darvi are also memorable.

Oh my gosh your quiz....I am thinking, thinking....could it be Judith Evelyn, Miss Lonelyheart from REAR WINDOW? I get confused though because doesn't Judith play a royal role in THE TEN COMMANDMENTS?
[/quote]

I think you nailed it with Judith Evelyn but I'll let Swithin deliver the verdict. Miss Evelyn is one of my all-time fave guilty pleasures. She was a busy bee around that time. She was also in the Joan Crawford epic Female on the Beach (1955) as the former owner of Joan's glam beach house who plunged to her death from the deck in a gloriously drunken stupor, to which we're treated in flashback. Epic. She gave a master class in scenery chewing in William Castle's The Tingler (1959) as the wife of the movie theater owner who is intentionally being driven crazy and crazy never looked so good as it did on her. And she's deaf and mute so she can't scream...Get it?... so what's an actress to do but bug her eyes and go for it? Love her.



I remember hearing that she headlined the first national touring company of A Streetcar Named Desire and, boy, would I love to have had the opportunity to see her have a go at Blanche. Yummy. She also originated on Broadway the role of the demento wife in The Shrike, which June Allyson apparently got talked into doing on film by director Jose Ferrer to give her a change of pace from doing "sweet" roles. Congratulations, June, you sure flipped the script on that one; it's one of those must-see performances which almost never gets shown.

[Swithin]

Oh, Swithin how terrific that you appreciate THE EGYPTIAN overall and Gene's strong performance! I also enjoy Michael Wilding and feel he doesn't get enough credit as a serious actor. Edmund Purdom and Bella Darvi are also memorable.

Oh my gosh your quiz....I am thinking, thinking....could it be Judith Evelyn, Miss Lonelyheart from REAR WINDOW? I get confused though because doesn't Judith play a royal role in THE TEN COMMANDMENTS?

It is indeed Judith Evelyn, who plays Taia, the mother of Pharaoh and Baketamon in The Egyptian ("Fowler's knots? Did you say fowler's knots?" "Never tell an old woman the truth. Especially if she asks for it.")

Ms. Evelyn doesn't have one line in Rear Window but generates great pathos. She had a great career in theater, playing the role of the wife on Broadway in Angel Street, an early version of Gaslight.

You can hear her speak at the very end of Rear Window, when she meets up with the pianist/composer, in the film's epilogue. The scene is very poorly dubbed. But for the majority of the picture, you cannot hear her dialogue. Even then, the only time we see her speak is when she has the young date in her apartment (IIRC).

Thanks -- she has at least two lines!: "I'd love to hear it. I can't tell you what this music has meant to me." (And they're significant, because we know how much music means to Hitchcock.)

[Swithin]

I've just noticed that we have a new member, as of yesterday: Lorna! Could that be our venerable and beloved Lorna Hansen Forbes?

[BagelOnAPlate]

I just viewed three bad movies in a row!

CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG (uh-oh, I hear the growls, lol)
JOHN AND MARY (1969)
SKYJACKED (funnier than AIRPLANE!)

I don't think Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is really a bad movie, but I'm always disappointed at the ending when we are reminded that everything that happened in Vulgaria was just a story that the father was telling. We get so involved in the story that we forget, I guess kind of like Joe Gillis floating in the swimming pool . . .

Anyway, my favorite song in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is "Chu-Chi Face."

[Andree]

IIRC Judith Evelyn appeared in a couple of episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, one in which
she played a star-struck fan of a movie actress which was quite funny. A turnabout from her role in
Rear Window.

[HoldenIsHere]

I watched DRESSED TO KILL for, I think, the third time.
In the movie Dennis Franz plays a New York Police Department detective investigating the murder of Angie Dickinson's character.
However, he speaks with a noticeable Chicago accent with pronounced Northern Cities vowels especially the short a's!
While it's possible that the character is a transplant to NYC, the DRESSED TO KILL character has the same Chicago accent as Andy Sipowicz, Franz's character from the TV series NYPD BLUE.
It's explicitly stated throughout the series that Andy Sipowicz is a born-and-bred New Yorker who grew up in Brooklyn!
Dennis Franz was born and grew up in the western suburbs of Chicago. The accent he uses in both roles is his own "native" speech pattern.

[Bronxgirl48]

Yay, I got Judith Evelyn!

[Bronxgirl48]

Holden, I know what you mean about Dennis Franz's native Chicago accent. Never attempts to sound like he's from anywhere else in every role I've yet seen him in. A good actor though. AMERICAN BUFFALO plays a lot on ScreenPix and Franz is terrific teamed up with Dustin Hoffman.

Has anyone ever noticed Lee Remick's unique walk? Like Bob Hope's stride, very iconic with this actress. The only way I can describe it is that she toddles.

[Bronxgirl48]

I just viewed three bad movies in a row!

CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG (uh-oh, I hear the growls, lol)
JOHN AND MARY (1969)
SKYJACKED (funnier than AIRPLANE!)

I don't think Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is really a bad movie, but I'm always disappointed at the ending when we are reminded that everything that happened in Vulgaria was just a story that the father was telling. We get so involved in the story that we forget, I guess kind of like Joe Gillis floating in the swimming pool . . .

Anyway, my favorite song in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is "Chu-Chi Face."

How slow am I -- it took me a while to figure out Vulgaria was a story within the story, lol. But I probably wouldn't have enjoyed the movie either if it was presented as fantasy.

[Bronxgirl48]

Who else was overjoyed to be taken back to their Abbott and Costello childhood with HOLD THAT GHOST yesterday? I remembered every scene and line of dialogue!

"Oh Chuck!"

[Bronxgirl48]

Pondering: Why didn't Jimmy Stewart have a fan in REAR WINDOW? It was certainly hot enough in that apartment and I am not talking about Grace Kelly, lol. I'm guessing Hitchcock thought it would be more suspenseful for the audience if they sweated along with Jeff.

[I Love Melvin]

Has anyone ever noticed Lee Remick's unique walk? Like Bob Hope's stride, very iconic with this actress. The only way I can describe it is that she toddles.

I love when you give us homework and this is something to look for. She definitely toddled in her drunken pinball scene in Anatomy of a Murder, but I think she was pretty much always drunk in that movie. Couldn't find a clip of that but here she is kind of skipping up to James Stewart with her little dog.



And again with Orson Welles in The Long Hot Summer, but again not a good example of her normal stride. Is there a movie in particular where we can get a good gander?

[Bronxgirl48]

Melvin, the best example of Lee's unique walk is EXPERIMENT IN TERROR where you can catch her toddling through the bank and streets. The toddle is done alone, not with anyone by her side.

[Bronxgirl48]

Actually you can see the toddle in any Remick movie where she's walking by herself. EXPERIMENT IN TERROR is the best example.

[laffite]

I've just noticed that we have a new member, as of yesterday: Lorna! Could that be our venerable and beloved Lorna Hansen Forbes?

I hope so but I say that politely, I or any of us would not want this new Lorna to feel like an unwanted child ... or anything of the sort.

Welcome Lorna, whoever you may be!!!!