The Silver Screen Oasis

The other day I heard him on TCM, I had to turn around to see because I recognized his voice.

I love that image of Judy and Tom Drake. My mother had a woolen head covering just like that. She wore it for decades in the winter, and it always looked as though snowflakes were melting and glistening on the surface. Such a beautiful image and memory. Thank you.

I'm glad you all like that picture so much -- that whole scene takes my breath away.

Unfortunately I can't post any more screencaps right now because they're having a screening of a 35mm print of Steamboat Bill Jr. here with Donald Sosin at the piano, and our new Dean is going to introduce -- apparently he's a big Buster Keaton fan. So that's where I'll be tonight starting 7:30 p.m. EST, yukking it up at the antics of Buster, Ernest and the gang. :) Can't wait!

Buy Buster a new hat while you are out!

I love "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" as well. It is impeccable. Judy's voice, her looks, the lyrics, the music, the scene. I got the Prozac reference immediately; I have to have a kleenez box at hand when it starts. As soon as she winds up that music box, I'm a goner. The kids are used to it.

Looking forward to more,
B

It occurred to me that there were probably plenty of people connected to the making of Meet Me In St. Louis who probably remembered 1903 very well -- it was well within the living memory of anyone in their late 40s/early 50s and older.

Harry Davenport, who played Grandpa, would have already been 37 in 1903. He didn't even start making movies until he was 69. He had been a successful theater actor but when his wife died, he decided it was time for a change of scenery, and he headed out to California and the movies, where he immediately found work playing a succession of grandfatherly types.

Here is Harry Davenport around 1895:



And now some pictures with Grandpa:








And a few for the Tom Drake fans.

Harry Davenport is a fascinating man. His father was a stage actor, and he came from a long line of theatre people. He directed eleven silent features before WWI.

In 1913, he co founded the Actor's Equity Association with Eddie Foy. Originally known as the White Rats, they successfully closed down Broadway due to the appalling conditions the Shuberts and David Belasco among others had the actors working under.

Harry was Lionel Barrymore's brother in law.

His grandson was Arthur Rankin Jr. who founded the Rankin/Bass animation studio.

Strangely Movies Unlimited has this on sale today for $11.99.


http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/d ... +Unlimited

I don't feel like sniffling into my mug of tea alone, so here goes, I'm sharing the "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" sequence with you all. Group hug, everyone!

Done! And guess what, after all that domestic sturm and drang, a happy ending. PHEW. :) I'm hoping to have it all uploaded and ready for viewing by tomorrow evening. A final selection here.

This is from yesterday's batch but it's so pretty I decided to include it. "By the light of the silvery moon."


The lightbulb pops on over Lon's face and he forgets that match is burning. ;)


Another one I like because of the lighting and the colors.








These shots of the four daughters (I can hear Tevye lamenting "I have FIVE daughters!") reminds me of those photos of the doomed Russian princesses in their white ruffled and be-ribboned summer season dresses.




The gang's all here


The right ending

It is done.
http://paulasmoviepage.shutterfly.com/


What's next? ***Paula starts humming a movie theme tune***

Paula, thank you so much for these beautiful screencaps! Meet Me in St. Louis is my favorite movie of all time. I got a little teary-eyed just looking at the last batch of photos from the Christmas sequence. I always cry when Tootie smashes the snow people because she doesn't want to leave St. Louis and Esther tells her that what's really important is that the Smith family will all be together.

When the restored dvd came out a few years ago, I was amazed at how much DETAIL I could finally see in the film. Little things like the satin frog closure on Esther's sparkly head scarf, and the lilies of the valley on her corsage in the final scene. And of course, the sumptuous Victorian decor of the Smith house.

Sandy K

Dear Sandy, I'm so glad you like the screencaps! I guess you can tell that MMISL is one of my favorite musicals too. :) It's such a contrast to so many other musicals, with its family/domestic storyline. Almost all of it takes place inside or close by the house, with only a few trips to other locales (like the trolley and the Christmas dance) and even those aren't so far away. The farthest they go is to the exposition at the end. :) Just goes to show you, you can take the most mundane of stories and make them completely universal and timeless and touching if you handle the material right.

Looking forward to the day when MMISL is released on Blu-ray.

Hope you went to the link I posted above to see all the screencaps. There are 5,863 of them. :) I do believe that's a new record for total number of screencaps I've done for a movie. :) I think MMISL is the longest one I've done though.

-- Paula

Thank you! The Tootie face with tear almost got me bawling again, and the match is PRICELESS. That silvery moon shot is GORGEOUS.

Thank you for including Leon Ames - He is so wonderful in the movie but I think sometimes he doesn't get enough attention. What a sweet look he has as he holds onto Mary. You know his family is the most important thing in his life. He knows his decision is right, by the look in Mary's eyes.

Paula, I haven't checked out the link, yet, but I will!

Blu-ray--YES. Hubby and I purchased a blu-ray player over the summer when our dvd player died. The clarity is incredible. I would love it if all of Minnelli's films were remastered for blu-ray--his style is so visually rich.

I love Leon Ames' performance, too. It's only as I've gotten older and I'm married myself that I really empathize with him when he comes home and proudly announces that he's gotten a promotion to the New York office, only to receive a lackluster reception from his family.

Sandy K