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Lover of anything vintage. I spend my free time looking at antiques,watching and collecting classic films,and reading some of the greatest literary classics known to man.This blog is just my way of sharing my interests with other people.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

"She was so alive,modern,frank and natural...

...that she stands out like a beacon on a lightship in this odd place called Hollywood."
-Barbara Stanwyck on Carole Lombard

Carole Lombard
Born October 6, 1908
Died January 16, 1942

Jane Alice Peters was born not long after the turn of the century, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, to parents Frederick and Elizabeth Peters. She was the youngest of their three children as well as the only daughter, having two older brothers named Frederick Jr. and Stuart. She lived in Indiana until she was ready to enter junior high. It was around that time that her parents divorced. Her father had ill health due to a previous work accident and he became temperamental and difficult to live with. So, Elizabeth Peters took her children and moved to Los Angeles, California. After moving to the land of the stars, she began to take an interest in acting. One day in 1920, she was playing baseball outside and when she was noticed by director Allan Dwan. He gave her her first taste of acting, casting her as a tomboy in the 1921 film, A Perfect Crime. She dropped out of high school to try and develop a career, but eventually went back and worked to achieve her diploma.
When she first started acting, she appeared in credits as Jane Peters. It was not until later on that she began to appear as Carole Lombard. She got more film roles with the help of friend and fellow actress Miriam Cooper and the door of opportunity opened to her when talkies were brought into production and she was one of the actresses who was capable of making a successful transition. In 1930, Paramount Pictures offered Lombard a contract, and it was with that studio that her career would begin to blossom. She was hand selected by Howard Hawks to appear in Twentieth Century (1934), which gave her the chance to work with the legendary John Barrymore. As she began to take on more and more roles, Lombard began to establish herself and display her comedic talents. She was dubbed the Queen of Screwball Comedies. In fact, most of her roles were in comedies. She tried to make a switch in 1939 to more dramatic roles like Made for Each Other (1939), In Name Only (1939) and Vigil In The Night (1940). She quickly discovered that audiences did not want to see her in more serious roles--they found her endearing and wanted her to make them laugh. Fortunately for her career, Lombard took the hint and switched tracks. She went on to star in Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941) and To Be or Not To Be (1942). The latter would be her last on screen appearance.
Just as her career was beginning in the 1930s, Lombard met and worked with actor William Powell. She liked him because she found his sophisticated air lined with acerbic wit to be refreshing. The two of them quickly formed a friendship and then took a leap into marriage in 1931. Their marriage proved difficult and as time went on they both felt that they were ill-suited as companions. They amicably divorced in 1933, but remained very good friends and even worked together until Lombard's death.
Three years later, in 1936, Lombard became involved with Clark Gable. Things were difficult at first because Gable was stuck in his failed marriage to Ria Langham, and there was quite a stir when Gable divorced Langham to marry Lombard. However, he maintained his entire life, as did mutual friends of the couple, that Lombard was the true love of his life, and she said the same of him. The two were incredibly happy together and spent their days living on a ranch that they had purchased together where they raised animals.
In 1942, WWII was going on and many actors and actresses did their part by advertising and selling war bonds. Lombard was very active in war bond sales, and when the opportunity arose for her to travel to her home state of Indiana, she took it. She went to Indiana with her mother and broke records, raising over two million dollars in war bonds in just one night. After she finished, she and her mother had planned to return home via train, but she was anxious to reach home and be with her husband sooner. She wanted to book a flight, but a few of her party, including her mother, were wary of flying. In the end she suggested they flip a coin. She won and they boarded Transcontinental and Western Air DC-3. On January 16, 1942 the plane crashed into Double Up Mountain, southwest of Las Vegas. All 22 passengers were killed on impact.
Hollywood lost it's queen of laughter and Gable lost the light of his life. Witnesses and friends say that he was absolutely devastated and inconsolable after Lombard's death. He moved on to join the United States Army Air Forces--something his wife had begged him to do time and again but he had just never gotten around to doing so. And he later went on to be married two more times, but he was reportedly never quite the same, and when he died of a heart attack in 1960, his will still requested that he be interred beside Lombard, which he was.
Short as her overall career was, Carole Lombard graced the big screen in 60 productions, and she was nominated for an Academy Award for her work in the film My Man Godfrey (1936). She is still considered to be one of the greatest American female screen legends.


"I live by a man's code, designed to fit a man's world, yet at the same time I never forget that a woman's first job is to choose the right shade of lipstick."
-Carole Lombard

"Freedom?I'd trade every bit of it for a few hours with Carole!"
-William Powell

"There is a strong case to be made for the divinity of Carole Lombard. One is certain that at Olympian banquets, she's right up there next to Zeus."
-David Shipman


"With her, it was like music, it was completely natural."
-Clark Gable

"You can trust that little screwball with your life, or your hopes or your weaknesses, and she wouldn't even know how to think about letting you down."
-Clark Gable


Saturday, October 27, 2012

Please Vote Responsibly

I realize that we listed our next scheduled post as the October 20th, 1948 film The Three Musketeers starring Gene Kelly, but we here at Think Classic recognize that there are other things of more importance that should be discussed at the moment, and it just so happens that we can tie it in with Fall of '48.

If you have any awareness to political happenings going on around you, then you know that this November is another presidential election, and that's coming up mighty fast. So, we'd like to do our part to encourage you to vote and make an educated decision, but we'd like to give some fun history first.

The year of 1948 was a presidential election year, but not a typical one. Even today it is still known as the biggest presidential election upset in the history of the United States of America. The primary candidates were Thomas E. Dewey of the Republican party, Strom Thurmond from the Dixiecrats, and Democratic nominee Harry S. Truman. The Republican party was ahead in every poll, and support poured in for Dewey from all across the nation. He was expected to win by a landslide, with Truman and the Democrats not just coming in second, but third. Political cartoons were slapped across every front page all through the campaigns, very much like this one:
In all honesty, Dewey and the Republican party had every right to be confident that they would get the vote. They had it in the bag. Pro-Republican newspapers even printed headlines announcing Truman's defeat before the election was over. But on November 4th, 1948, the results were shocking, with Harry S. Truman coming in first with 303 out of the 266 electoral votes that were needed to win, thereby making him the 33rd president of the United States and the 5th consecutive Democratic nominee to take office in a presidential election.

"A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who makes opportunities out of his difficulties."
-Harry S. Truman

"When even one American, who has done nothing wrong, is forced by fear to shut his mind and close his mouth, then all Americans are in peril."
-Harry S. Truman

I don't want to go on and on about the importance of voting because I would hope that every able man and woman knows the importance of it already. And I don't want to turn Think Classic into a platform for stating my own political beliefs because they should not sway you at all. I simply want to stress the following:
1. Voting IS very important, and your vote DOES matter, so you should cast it.
2. Always educate yourself not only on who you are voting for, but the party that you choose to identify with.
3. It is okay to vote for someone who is not a candidate for your political party, so don't let that sway you.
4. As long as you are well educated about who you want to support and vote for, do not let others sway your opinion.

Do I realize that those seem like extremely elementary pieces of advice? Yes, but you would be surprised how many adults out there make those decisions.
The only other thing I'd like to address is the major political parties themselves. I know for a fact that a lot of teenagers who are just able to vote this year, or who will be old enough for the next election, either have no idea what party to identify with or (sometimes because of that fact) just choose which party to identify with because that party has had more presidents, or because that party has a president that they liked. You really need to be much more educated on the different parties and what they fundamentally stand for, BEFORE you choose to identify with one. So, for your convenience, here they are in all their glory, with their beliefs and views:

INDEPENDENT PARTY:
1. Acknowledges God as Creator and that all independent rights come from Him.
2. Individuals have specific God-given duties/responsibilities.
3. The Constitution enables us to protect those rights and fulfill those duties.
4. Rights and duties of association, including government.
5. The Constitution is the original contract that America has with itself, but it has been distorted and has therefore led to the violation of the promise of limited government from the Tenth Amendment.
6. Believes in freedom from "liberalism."
7. Believes in the sanctity and protection of life, and the corresponding duties and rights of family units.
8. Supports heterosexual marriage.
9. Individual and common defense.
10. Pro-life.
11. Believes that all those who serve in government and political positions are held responsible to God and answer to Him.
http://www.aipca.org/

REPUBLICAN PARTY:
1. Believes in the power and opportunity of America's free-market economy, and the importance of sensible business regulations.
2. Opposes interventionist policies that put the federal government in control of industry.
3. Believe in peace for national defense through freedom and the will to defend it.
4. Requires full commitment to America's armed forces.
5. Supports common-sense reforms to health care systems that lower cost, ensure equality, and end lawsuit abuse.
6. Opposes government run health care.
7. Encourages responsible production of nuclear power, clean coal, solar, wind, geothermal, hydropower, oil drills, and natural gases in environmentally safe ways.
8. Believe in maintaining fidelity to the U.S. Constitution.
9. Tend to take stances supporting pro life and heterosexual marriage.
10. Supports the death penalty.
http://www.gop.com/

DEMOCRATIC PARTY:
1. Believes in equality for all citizens.
2. Believes in more government control over economic matters.
3. Believes in less government control over individual rights.
4. Supports accessible, affordable, high quality health care for everyone.
5. Supports same-sex marriage.
6. Opposes any efforts to privatize or voucherize health care program.
7. Promotes liberalism.
8. Tends to take a pro choice stance.
9. Supports the death penalty, but has a strong base of those who oppose it.
10. Decreased spending on military issues.
http://www.democrats.org/
http://www.diffen.com/difference/Democrat_vs_Republican


Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Baby,it's cold outside!

We're halfway through the month of October!  The leaves are turning, and so is the temperature.  There have been chilly days already, but temperatures will continue to drop, so it's important to stay warm, and to look good while doing so. So, if you're going to step outside to a chilly day in the fall of 1948, then I guess it's up to us to let you know how to do so in style. But first, there are a couple of important things you should know...

First of all, you should know that, no matter what, turbans are out! I know you still see them occasionally, and at times it is more than tempting to wear one (if for no other reason than to keep your ears warm), but don't commit that fashion crime! Now that war is over, you can find hair pins and curlers again, so it's time to get back into your beauty routine. Throw that turban out! A fashionable hat is more than acceptable, so try opting for that instead.

NO
Yes!
Due to WWII, there were many shortages on fabric, many warehouses and industries were shut down or put on hold--mass production on things like clothing articles was brought to a halt, and that effected even the Haute Couture fashion industry. WWII ended in 1945, so now, two years later in 1947, Haute Couture made a spectacular comeback thanks to Christian Dior, who developed the "New Look," which is a refined and elegant style, recalling previous eras of fashion that emphasize rounded shoulders, a tiny waist, tea-length and wider skirts, gloves, and hats. Oh, and high heels, of course! Even though this revolutionary "New Look" for Haute Couture took place in 1947, it is still prevalent now, in the fall of 1948.

Some of the haute designers to look for this fall are:

JACQUES FATH

This talented and self-taught French designer has some fabulous designs out for this fall. Look for his labels when shopping for a daytime outfit that is suitable for low temperatures on colder days, like this one, which is modeled by his wife, Genevieve:

ELSA SCHIAPARELLI

If the wider, more bouffant skirts are not really your style, then you might be interested in Italian designer Schiaparelli.  She sticks to the more classic and sleek lines, like this afternoon dress:

MADAME GRES

Perhaps you have an engagement or special occasion that you need to dress up for, but you don't need a fancy cocktail dress. You need something warmer, mores substantial. If that's the case, then Parisian designer Madame Gres has something for you:

CHRISTIAN DIOR

The French designer who brought about the comeback of haute couture will obviously always have something to suit your needs, no special occasion necessary:

ELIZABETH HAWES

American designer Elizabeth Hawes can keep you warm, yet simply elegant this fall, in a well tailored coat like this one:

MAINBOCHER

Perhaps you'd like a stylish coat to keep you warm for that special occasion you're headed to with that killer Madame Gres dress? If that's the case, American style guru Mainbocher is just the man:

It's definitely important to stay warm on these chilly days, but it's also of equal importance to look your best. So, hopefully this information can help you do just that during this Fall of '48!


Saturday, October 13, 2012

Author's Special

Chief author of Think Classic, Anna (@annamvs100 on Twitter) posted a special on Hollywood's golden girl, Marilyn Monroe. It's exclusive to her personal blog page, but she welcomes all Think Classic fans to check it out.
Underneath the Makeup: A Candid Portrait of Marilyn Monroe

If you're a Monroe fan, you definitely don't want to miss out!

Friday, October 12, 2012

"Remember me as a man who loves Raintree County,but just happens to loathe most of the people in it."

Welcome to Think Classic and post #4 for Fall of '48!

Ross Lockridge, Jr.
Born April 25, 1914
Died March 6, 1948

Ross Franklin Lockridge, Jr. was born on the twenty-fifth of April, 1914.  History notes nothing exceptional about his upbringing until his college years. He attended Indiana University, and when he graduated in the year of 1935 it was with the highest average in the history of the university.
Lockridge dabbled in creative writing and desired to produce something noteworthy--something important. He finally finished his only novel, Raintree County, and it was published in 1948.
Unfortunately, even as his career as a successful writer was just beginning to blossom, Lockridge, who suffered from severe depression, committed suicide very shortly after Raintree County's publication. He was only 33 years old, and left behind his wife and 4 children.

Raintree County
1948 novel
by Ross Lockridge, Jr.

The novel revolves around a man by the name of John Shawnessy, who resides in (fictional) Raintree County, Indiana. The story is uniquely told through reminiscings, memories, flashbacks, and dreams of John, which take place over many years and give the reader a depiction of the growth of Raintree County through westward expansion,  the Civil War and it's impacts and consequences, abolitionism, and the Labor Movement. In the beginning of the story, John is very much involved with his old high school flame, Nell Gaither. Then, a breathtakingly beautiful southern belle by the name of Susanna Drake moves into the area. Susanna seduces John and they have an affair. At the end of the summer, Susanna goes back to the south, and John attempts to return to normal and pick up where he left off with Nell, who is hurt by his previous actions but is willing to make it work, until John learns that Susanna is pregnant. John decides that the only right and honorable thing to do is marry Susanna and provide support, so he leaves Nell to go south and start his life with Susanna.
Life is much more difficult in the south. John is an outspoken, northern abolitionist, so he has a hard time finding common ground with most of the wealthy plantation owners in the area. He also learns over time that his wife had an extremely troubled past, and not only that, but that Susanna herself is mad. She confesses to John that she lied about being pregnant just so that she could ensure they would end up together. Eventually they do have a child, however. They return north and live in Raintree County just before the Civil War breaks out. As time goes on, Susanna's mental illness worsens and she begins to imagine things, becoming delusional and paranoid. She eventually runs away with their son, Jimmy, believing that she will find a safer life for them if she returns to the south. John is heartbroken and determined to find them, but traveling is dangerous those days. He therefore enlists in the Army, hoping that he can at least learn what happened to them and where they are as he travels various southern routes. After a while he finds their son, Jimmy, but he is alone. He discovers that Susanna has been taken and placed in an insane asylum. While trying to take his son to safety, John is wounded, and it leads to his discharge from the Army, which enables him to go and find Susanna. When he does, he is horrified at the conditions of the asylum and he arranges to take her home with him.
Things do not return to normal, however. John does his best to establish a safe and normal life for his family again, but Susanna is never right after that. When the political atmosphere takes a turn as the Civil War comes to a close, John begins to contemplate running for office, but he does not know for sure what he should do. He consults Nell, who is still living in Raintree County, and she is completely supportive. Susanna sees them interact and she accepts the fact that John only married her because of circumstance, and that he will always truly love Nell, even if he won't admit it. So, wishing to give them a chance at a happy life together, Susanna goes to a swamp in the middle of the night and drowns herself. Jimmy follows her, and the town frantically searches for the two of them the next day. Eventually they find Susanna's body and they discover that Jimmy is safe--alone and scared in the night, he had found solid ground under a tree and fallen asleep.

Raintree County was warmly received, and highly praised by critics. It is, to this day, considered by many to be a great, historical American novel.
A film adaptation was produced by MGM, starring Montgomery Clift as John Shawnessy, Elizabeth Taylor as Susana Drake, and Eva Marie Saint as Nell Gaither.


The film was released in 1957--almost 10 years after the publication of the novel. It was a massive and costly production--the most expensive MGM production since Gone With the Wind (1936).



Monday, October 8, 2012

"Write anything you want about me.Make something up.Hell,I don't care."

STAR OF THE MONTH


Spencer Tracy
Born April 5, 1900
Died June 10, 1967

At the beginning of the 20th century, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was born to Irish Catholic parents Caroline and John Tracy. He was the youngest of two children, having an older brother named Carroll. Tracy did not have a difficult upbringing, yet he was typically written off as a "problem child" throughout most of his youth. He was hyper, inattentive, disrespectful, and made poor grades in school. While he was still in elementary school, Tracy's parents made the decision to hand him over to church authorities, in the hopes that they could help modify his behavior. During this time he had some slight attitude changes, but did not really turn his life around until he was in high school. As a teenager, Tracy attended a Jesuit academy and he credits the school in helping him grow up and become more respectable.
It was also during high school that Tracy's passion for acting and theater was ignited. He was friends with fellow future actor Pat O'Brien, and the two of them would spend much of their time attending and analyzing plays and acting for friends. Yet, even after his attitude adjustments, Tracy was never one for academics, so he enlisted in the Navy as soon as he turned 18. He was discharged after a year, and did not know what to do with himself. His father, John Tracy, desperately wanted one of his sons to go to college, so after much pleading, Spencer went back to school to achieve his undergrad diploma. He then was accepted at Ripon College, where he majored in medicine.
Tracy fit in well at Ripon, and he soon made many friends. He quickly affiliated himself with the drama team and began acting, even forming an informal troupe with his friends, calling themselves "The Campus Players." In 1921, the college debate team went on tour, taking Tracy to New York. While there, he decided to take his chances and auditioned for a place at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. The school officials were impressed with Tracy and offered him a scholarship, which he accepted, and he began taking classes at AADA in the spring of 1922. As soon as he graduated from the Academy, Tracy took up work with a small acting company, but he was not satisfied with his small roles, so he soon left and joined with another. Tracy moved from company to company, and even took two gigs on Broadway for the next three years, but nothing was successful. It was a low period for young Tracy, who not only had to take care of himself but also felt a new obligation to take care of his new family, having been married in 1923. He later said, "There were times when my pants were so thin, I could sit on a dime and know if it was heads or tails." Finally, in 1926, Tracy took a part in the Broadway play Yellow. He decided that if he couldn't make a go of it and launch his career this time around, then he would quit acting for good and take a regular desk job. Yet it became clear on opening night that Yellow was a success, and that the young Tracy had extraordinary talent. The play's producer, George M. Cohan specifically wrote his next play with a part for Tracy, and then another after that. The next play, however, never made it to the stage, and Tracy once again considered quitting the business. Eventually, Tracy was approached and offered the part of a desperate madman being sent to death row in The Last Mile. He warily accepted, and on opening night in January of 1930, Tracy was called forward for 14 curtain calls for his outstanding performance.
With the invention of "talkies" in the 1930s, new actors and actresses that could handle speaking parts were in demand. Scouts for Hollywood studios were sent out to recruit and bring promising talents in for screen tests, and one of those scouts found Tracy. After being discovered, Tracy was offered a contract with Fox and made his film debut alongside Humphrey Bogart in Up the River (1930). Tracy stayed with Fox for the next 5 years, and then he moved to MGM. Some of Tracy's most well recognized work was produced with MGM over the next twenty years that he was with them. It was also while working at MGM in the 1940s that he met actress Katharine Hepburn. Tracy was still married to his wife at the time, but the two were amicably separated and had no intention of divorce because of their Catholic and Episcopalian backgrounds.He was also no longer living with his wife and two children, after he discovered that his son was deaf and he felt guilty and blamed his son's loss of hearing on his past deeds. So it was that, strange as the circumstances were, Hepburn and Tracy embarked on a partnership to go down in history. Their relationship was even used by the studio to produce box office hits, and the two are still today primarily known as much for their partnership on the screen as off. They starred in 9 films together. The two were completely devoted to each other and remained together for the remaining 26 years of Tracy's life.


Tracy was a true star and a great asset to Hollywood throughout his career. During the 45 years of Tracy's career, he starred in over 85 productions, and won two Academy Awards for his performances in Captains Courageous (1937) and Boys Town (1938). Spencer Tracy died after collapsing due to a major heart attack in 1967. Hepburn was with him at the time, and she later recalled that afterwards, "He looked so happy to be done with living, which for all his accomplishments had been a frightful burden for him."

MOVIE OF THE MONTH
Father of the Bride
1950
Starring Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, and Elizabeth Taylor

Stanley Banks (Tracy) is a completely ordinary man. He is a successful lawyer, he lives in a comfortable home, has a beautiful wife, Ellie (Bennett), and a lovely daughter, Kay (Taylor). The only problem with his comfortable, ordinary life is that it is about to turn upside down because his daughter (who, surely, is much too young) has decided that it is essential to her happiness to get married.
Not only is Stanley against the idea of his little girl getting married at all, but he begins to question the entire thing as he realizes that his once reassuring dreams of a quiet, cheap ceremony are out the window and gone forever. Problem after problem arises, and Stanley keeps his cold feet planted in his stubborn shoes until he realizes that by causing so much trouble, and by being so unwilling to contribute to his daughter's big day, he is jeopardizing her happiness. So, despite the fact that it hurts him and his wallet in ways he'd rather not think about, he decides to clean up his act and make Kay's wedding a day she will never forget. And even though it cost him a fortune, trashed his home, and he had to give away his little girl, he decides that it was worth it after all.


Father of the Bride was a huge comedic hit at the box office when it was released in 1950. Tracy was applauded for his portrayal of Stanley Banks, and audiences everywhere fell in love with Elizabeth Taylor all over again, as this was considered one of her first "adult" or mature roles. The film was so successful that the studio brought all the actors together for a sequel the next year, entitled Father's Little Dividend. The film was remade in 1991 starring Steve Martin as Banks, and many of the details were kept the same.


"This mug of mine is as plain as a barn door. Why should people pay thirty-five cents to look at it?"

"Come to work on time, know your lines, and don't bump into the furniture."

"I'm disappointed in acting as a craft. I want everything to go back to Orson Welles and fake noses and changing your voice. It becomes so much about personality."