The Silver Screen Oasis

Finally watched "Pick-up on South Street" for the first time yesterday and I am once again filled with admiration for Ms Ritter! D--n she was good.
Fave performances:

"All About Eve" (of course)
"Rear Window"
"Pillow Talk"

Got to see a fewminutes of her in "Rear Window" this week. Early on when she massages Stewart my wife asked who she was and when I told her it was Thelma she said "Oh, that's Thelma." By osmosis she knew the name but never made the connection with the face.

I have a friend who mentioned she loves her in "The Mating Season." I think the first time I saw her was in "Boeing, Boeing" with Tony Curtis and Jerry Lewis.

She's excellent in everything I've seen her in, but my current favorites of her are "The Mating Season" and "The Model and the Marriage Broker".

Thelma Ritter was a national treasure...to be sure.
Feaito, her parts in the two films you mention was close to starring roles, if you ask me.
Tracey, although it's hard to pick a favorite among her films, mine is her character as Moe in the drama "Pickup on South Street".
Nominated for 6 Academy Awards and she never won. It's criminal.

My favorite line. Ritter as Birdie in "All About Eve":
"Everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end"

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'Bebop a rebop rhubarb pie'

mongoII wrote:Thelma Ritter was a national treasure...to be sure.
Feaito, her parts in the two films you mention was close to starring roles, if you ask me.

I agree Joe and she sure stole those films from everyone else!

After watching "Pick-up" needed another Thelma fix, so I re-watched "All About Eve." Smart, funny movie with more quoteable lines than I could list. Just about perfect.

Thelma was another gem so often overlooked in Hollywood as we have all agreed. In such a short career, less than 20 years of recognized, credited parts and she made her mark in every one of them. Think of any part she played, and you can't help but remember some line, or look that she made her own.

Starting out with the harried Christmas shopping mother in Miracle on 34th Street, "Whaddayaknow", she stood out immediately. As Sadie, the card playing, gum chewing, beer guzzling buddy in Letter to Three Wives, she was as sharp as a tack. As the tough-guy, heart of gold nurse to broken Jane Froman, Clancy, she was as likable as the soldiers Jane sang to, and nearly ending up on the floor in the elevator going up in Pillow Talk because of the 'hard' nights, you anticipated those elevator doors opening to see what she would say each time. Odd how she was named the same name as the 'mother earth' type in Second Time Around and How The West Was Won with Aggie and Agatha respectively, when rather than the smart remarks, she gave the thoughtful, motherly advice.

I loved her and only wish she had been able to be around a little longer to give us more wonderful adaptations of characters to enjoy and laugh with.

Anne

Mrsl,

I love Thelma Ritter, too! She was also at her best with the liniment and advice in Rear Window.