LISTS

[movieman1957]

Ride The Pink Horse is a pretty interesting film. I'd never heard of it until someone at TCM mentioned it when it came on. Plenty of atmosphere.

[Sue Sue Applegate]

I must agree with Chio that Monsieur Verdoux is a must!

And Movieman, I have never seen Ride the Pink Horse, so it is added to my bucket list.

[Rita Hayworth]

Kingme's 50 Greatest Actresses

In Order ... took me several weeks to come up with this list; and I love every single one that graced the Silver Screen.

1. Rita Hayworth
2. Elizabeth Taylor
3. Gene Tierney
4. Marilyn Monroe
5. Hedy Lamarr
6. Jane Russell
7. Sophia Loren
8. Greta Garbo
9. Lana Turner
10. Ava Gardner
11. Grace Kelly
12. Gina Lollobrigida
13. Betty Grable
14. Carole Landis
15. Esther Williams
16. Martha Vickers
17. Elaine Stewart
18. Ann Sheridan
19. Olivia DeHavilland
20. Veronica Lake
21. Ginger Rogers
22. Lynda Carter
23. Ann Margret
24. Virginia Mayo
25. Judy Garland
26. Rosalind Russell
27. Peggy Cummings
28. Katherine Hepburn
29. Ingrid Bergman
30. Julia Adams
31. Janet Leigh
32. Maureen O’Hara
33. Diana Dors
34. Janye Mansfield
35. Raquel Welch
36. Jacqueline Bisset
37. Suzy Parker
38. Natalia Wood
39. Vera Ellen
40. Pier Angell
41. Hope Lange
42. Doris Day
43. Eleanor Parker
44. Elisabeth Hurley
45. Jaclyn Smith
46. Piper Laurie
47. Paulette Goddard
48. Claudia Cardindale
49. Dorothy Lamour
50. Rhonda Fleming

[RedRiver]

Deborah Kerr
Carole Lombard
Katharine Hepburn
Sarah Miles
Beulah Bondi
Rosalind Russell
Irene Dunne
Diana Rigg
Jean Arthur? I kind of flip-flop on Jean!

[ChiO]

10 Favorite Self-Directed Leading Performances:

1. Barbara Loden (Wanda Goronski) - WANDA (1970)
2. Orson Welles (Hank Quinlan) - TOUCH OF EVIL (1958)
3. Timothy Carey (Clarence Hilliard) - THE WORLD'S GREATEST SINNER (1962)
4. John Cassavetes (Robert Harmon) - LOVE STREAMS (1984)
5. Orson Welles (Sir John Falstaff) - CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT (1966)
6. Orson Welles (Charles Foster Kane) - CITIZEN KANE (1941)
7. Allen Baron (Frank Bono) - BLAST OF SILENCE (1961)
8. Erich von Stroheim (Count Wladislas Serge Karamazin) - FOOLISH WIVES (1921)
9. John Cassavetes (Gus) - HUSBANDS (1970)
10. Charles Chaplin (Henri Verdoux, et al.) - MONSIEUR VERDOUX (1947)


My apologies to Marlon Brando, Clint Eastwood, Hugo Haas, Jerry Lewis, Robert Montgomery, Ray Dennis Steckler, Jacques Tati and Orson Welles (for omitting THE STRANGER, THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI, MACBETH, OTHELLO, MR. ARKADIN, & F FOR FAKE).

Edited twice: the Apologies List & addition of a new #7.

[RedRiver]

Do we throw Mr. Allen into this discussion? His better movies are terrific directorial efforts. But you're talking specifically about acting. Woody is not an actor's actor. But he plays Woody Allen better than anybody! ANNIE HALL is one of my favorite movies. HANNAH AND HER SISTERS and MANHATTAN are fine too.

[ChiO]

As mentioned, Laurence Olivier and Woody Allen (should have had him on the Apologies List), plus Dennis Hopper, Spike Lee, George Clooney, John Wayne and, of course, Buster Keaton.

Who else is missing as a possibility (and I'm sure someone will provide me with another "D'oh!" moment)?

[RedRiver]

Favorite Movies Based on Plays

COME BACK, LITTLE SHEBA. My favorite William Inge play gets it all right, with both lead players giving the performances of their careers.
DETECTIVE STORY. The epitome of an ensemble piece, this "Hard Boiled Theatre" translates beautifully to the screen.
TEA AND SYMPATHY. Not sure why I like this one so much. Tender, painful, not without redemption. Oh, and Deborah Kerr!
SEPERATE TABLES. Tender, painful, not without redemption. Oh, and Deborah Kerr!
DINNER AT EIGHT. THE Kaufman/Ferber comedy comes perfectly cast, wittily adapted and raring to be one of the great film comedies.
HIS GIRL FRIDAY. Quite a stretch from THE FRONT PAGE, but one of the fastest, funniest, most exciting comedies of all.
STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE. Not my favorite play. As theatre, I prefer THE GLASS MENAGERIE. But Elia Kazan and an unforgettable cast make this darkly poetic story a classic.

And how can you not like THE MUSIC MAN? Not a serious thread running through it. But what fun! A more toe tapping, unpredictable score I've never heard.

[Rita Hayworth]

Excellent List of Movies based on Plays ... Red River!

Half of those movies are my favorites ...

[ChiO]

Hey, Red --

No THRONE OF BLOOD?

[JackFavell]

That's a great list, Red! hmmm, I have to think about the plays-as-movies thing, there's something to be said for staginess, I really enjoy it.

I love Throne of Blood though....

OK here goes:

The Matchmaker
Holiday
Long Day's Journey Into Night
Stage Door
Streetcar Named Desire
Philadelphia Story
The Importance of Being Earnest
The Lion in Winter
Amadeus
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf
The Rose Tattoo
Mourning Becomes Electra
Strange Interlude
Come Back Little Sheba
Doubt

My favorite play of all time is The Time of Your Life, by Saroyan. Quirky storyline set in a waterfront dive, with a huge cast of down and out characters, it pretty much defines my taste. Not as crazy about the Jimmy Cagney version as I should be, it's a bit too precious.

[JackFavell]

I didn't count American or Brit TV plays like the 1962 Cherry Orchard, and I also didn't count Shakespeare, which would make a list all it's own.

[RedRiver]

I haven't seen THRONE OF BLOOD. I do like Zefferelli's handling of The Bard. ROMEO AND JULIET and THE TAMING OF THE SHREW are fine!

[JackFavell]

I like Zeffirelli. He puts together a weird combination of earthy, realistic, and very beautiful locations with stagy, artificial but deeply truthful acting (I mean that in the best way possible). Or maybe it's the other way around. Whatever it is, it all works quite well together.