Monday's This & That

Whilst I deal with Monday's "dog-eat-dog" feeling, how's abouts we see what's floating around the interwebs?

Let's start with this article of some "secrets" of Lucy and Ricky...you have to click a billion times to get them all, but hey - you had nothing better to do, right?

Here are 25 cocktail recipes that apparently everyone should know.  Study them all for the test on Friday (when you can drink yourself in to oblivion over the weekend).

So you like to read about grisly deaths on set, do you?  Well then this article is for you...some you may have heard of, others not so much.  Unfortunately, most deaths are from dear stuntmen just doing their job.

And lastly, here's a list of 10 Audrey Hepburn Quotes with fabulous photos of her to peruse. #3's about makeup is particularly inspirational.

Enjoy!

Must-See Movie: Best Foot Forward

Best Foot Forward (1943)
A cadet at Winsocki Military Academy named Bud (Tommy Dix) sends an invitation to movie star Lucille Ball (as herself) to come to Winsocki's big dance. Ball's publicity-hungry agent Jack O'Riley (William Gaxton) convinces her to go in order to boost her career. Complications arise when Bud's girlfriend Helen (Virginia Weidler) unexpectedly shows up; she knows there is a dance that weekend and she wants to surprise him.

The real 40's slapstick unfolds when Bud asks Ball to pretend to be Helen, mostly because of the strict screening of the school that all guests must be pre-registered.

A subplot involves blind date (and hard up) Nancy (Nancy Walker), and her premiere role is hilarious.  But it's all a pretty straight-forward movie with some brief shining moments from supporting cast members Walker, Dix, Weidler, June Allyson, and Gloria DeHaven. Unfortunately, Ball's performance comes off as snobby and pretentious.  Yes, it's supposed to be a parody of herself, but not really a flattering one.

So why is this a "Must-See Movie"?  Two words: Harry James.  Not only does James execute rousing renditions of big band favorites like "Two O'Clock Jump," he demonstrates his true musical mastery with "The Flight of the Bumblebee."  (And if you can do that song with your fingers moving as fast as he does, well then I tip my proverbial hat to you as well!) Watch this, and see how seriously James takes his performance!

Quotable

"The secret of staying young is to live honestly, 

eat slowly, and lie about your age."

-- Lucille Ball

Friday's This & That: The X-Rays Show...

As I get over the chill of this exam table, here's what's going on in the world:

Jose Luis de Vilallonga, author, aristocrat and actor who starred as the dashing Brazilian multimillionaire in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” died Thursday at his home on the island of Mallorca at the age of 87. A colorful character in Spain’s high society, Vilallonga had worked as a journalist and wrote an official biography of Spain’s King Juan Carlos. A high point in Vilallonga’s acting career came when he was in Blake Edwards’ classic 1961 movie "Breakfast at Tiffany's," playing Jose da Silva Pereira, whom Hepburn’s Holly Golightly planned to marry.

Two new DVD sets are out that you should definitely buy! The Esther Williams Collection gives you five films: "Bathing Beauty," "Easy to Wed," "On An Island With You," "Neptune's Daughter" and "Dangerous When Wet" -- all of my favorites! Among the co-stars are Red Skelton, Peter Lawford, Lucille Ball, Van Johnson, Jimmy Durante, and Ricardo Montalban. These movies also contain some fantastic performances from Helen Forrest, Xavier Cugat, and others of the swinging era of the golden age. (We've discussed many of these movies in previous posts of Van Johnson, Peter Lawford, Helen Forrest, and the Mermaid herself.) Waves of extras include outtakes, cartoons and classic shorts. (Warner)

The Elvis Collection stars the King with a bevy of beauties in this four-disc set. Elvis portrays a boxer, riverboat entertainer, and good-ole-boy in "Follow That Dream," "Frankie and Johnny," "Clambake" and "Kid Galahad." (MGM)

Happy Birthday, Lucy!

Our favorite redhead Lucille Ball would be 96 today!
"I think knowing what you cannot do is more
important than knowing what you can do.
In fact, that's good taste."

"One of the things I learned the hard way was that it
doesn't pay to get discouraged. Keeping busy and making optimism a
way of life can restore faith in yourself."

"I don't know anything about luck. I've never banked on it,
and I'm afraid of people who do. Luck to me is something else:
hard work and realizing what is opportunity and what isn't."

"The secret of staying young is to live
honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age."

"I'm not funny. What I am is brave."

"A man who correctly guesses a woman's
age may be smart, but he's not very bright."

"In life, all good things come hard,
but wisdom is the hardest to come by."

[IMDb.com]

Set Your Moxies for Esther Williams!

This Friday, TCM -- the greatest channel of all time -- is having a mega-plex of our favorite bathing beauty Esther Williams!

(all times are PST)

9:30 AM Thrill of a Romance - one of my favorites with Van Johnson

11:30 AM Easy to Wed - also with Van Johnson, and Lucille Ball

1:30 PM Neptune's Daughter - with Ricardo Montalban

3:15 PM Dangerous When Wet - with a cameo by Tom & Jerry!

5:00 PM On An Island With You - with *hubba hubba* Peter Lawford

Enjoy!

"Va Va Voom" Star of the Day

Peter Lawford
Saturday morning I fell in love. I was watching the Esther Williams' flick On An Island With You, and her leading man was a tall, tan wonderful navy pilot. His soft voice, his big puppy eyes, his thick eyebrows, and his gleaming white smile made my heart melt. And I was completely transfixed by the 1948 version of Peter Lawford. (Don't we look cute together?)

British-born, Peter's parents were un-wed when he was conceived. This caused a scandal that drove the family to the United States, where they travelled constantly. Because of his family's travels, Peter was never formally educated, and his lack of education was a sore subject. It contributed to his feelings of inadequacy later on as a member of the Kennedy family (his brother-in-law was JFK), and throughout his adult life.

Injuring his arm in a childhood accident kept Peter from entering World War II, the greatest thing that could happen to his acting career. Hollywood was infatuated with heroic Englishmen and as war movies were being churned out by the dozens. Peter Lawford was just what America was looking for.

Once he signed with MGM, his mother insisted that studio head Louis B. Mayer pay her a salary as Peter's personal assistant. Mayer declined, so Mrs. Lawford responded by claiming her son to be homosexual and that he needed to be "supervised". When Peter learned of his mother's actions their relationship was never the same.

Perhaps to prove to everyone his sexuality, Lawford had a reputation as a ladies' man, even as he was married to Patricia Kennedy. He allegedly had many affairs with famous women, including Ava Gardner, June Allyson, Lana Turner, Janet Leigh, Rita Hayworth, Dorothy Dandridge, Lucille Ball, Judy Holliday, Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly, Kim Novak, Jackie O, Nancy Reagan, and Elizabeth Taylor, to name a few.

These affairs made Peter more of a celebrity than a movie star, especially when he was made member of the "Rat Pack." Later in life, Lawford fell into drug and alcohol abuse. This plus strained relationships and financial difficulties caused a great deal of stress on his increasingly fragile health. Lawford died alone in a hospital in Los Angeles on Christmas Eve 1984 of liver and kidney disease culminating in cardiac arrest at the age of 61.

Interestingly enough, none of the Rat Pack members attended the funeral. This is possibly due to a falling-out between Frank Sinatra and Lawford over Peter's involvement with Ava Gardner.