Must-See Movie: Sex and the Single Girl

Sex and the Single Girl (1964)

Starring our most recent "Va Va Voom" Star of the Day, Natalie Wood, as well as Tony Curtis, this film premiered a year before "The Great Race," that also starred the attractive duo. This 1960's sex romp is another comedic delight. Tony Curtis plays Bob Weston, a writer for paparazzi rag "Dirt." He is working on an article on research psychologist Helen Gurley Brown (Natalie Wood) and her best-selling book Sex and the Single Girl. Bob needs to interview Helen, but she refuses to see him, knowing he's questioning if she "is or is not" one to give authority on sex and could therby ruin her credibility.

Bob impersonates his neighbor, Frank Broderick (Henry Fonda), as a ruse in order to see her on the pretext of marital counseling. After several meetings, Bob attempts to seduce her. Hilarity ensues when Helen asks to meet "his" wife, and Bob mistakenly sends both his secretary, Susan (Leslie Parrish), and his ex-girlfriend Gretchen (Fran Jeffries) to see Helen -- both impersonating Sylvia. But even more confusing is that Helen finds out who the real Mrs. Broderick is (Lauren Bacall) and asks her to appear in her office.

When the real Sylvia arrives the office at the same time as the two other women, Sylvia has Frank put in jail for bigamy. By this point, Helen has realized Bob's trickery and has also discovered who he really is. She leaves town with her colleague Rudy DeMeyer (Mel Ferrer). A wild chase ensues as the bickering couples try to catch up with each other to apologize.

Helen Gurley Brown's self-help best-seller of the same name was the original source for this film, a novel that has been hailed as the predecessor to "Sex and the City." This film begins as your typical 60's sex comedy, but then takes a hysterical slapstick turn in the third act, especially each time people tell Bob he resembles Jack Lemmon. With startling cameos, quick dialogue, and gorgeous Natalie Wood, this film is a fluffy 100-plus minutes that takes a comedic peek in to the lives of the 60's single girls.

"Va Va Voom" Star of the Day

Natalie Wood
Natasha Nikolaevna Gurdin was born in July 20, 1938 in San Francisco, California. Natalie got her first role at the age of 4 in a movie called Happy Land . She continued playing the roles of young girls until the age of 17, where she landed the lead female role in the legendary film Rebel Without a Cause. For this role she was nominated for her first Academy Award, showing Hollywood and the world that she had grown up into a beautiful and very talented young woman.

Natalie dated many big names in the entertainment business: James Dean, Elvis, Raymond Burr and Dennis Hopper. However, on December 28th, 1957 Natalie married the man that seemed to be the love of her life: Robert Wagner. Unfortunately they divorced in 1962.

In the 1960s Natalie's career boomed and she was nominated for two more Academy Awards (Splendor in the Grass in 1961 and Love With The Proper Stranger in 1963). In 1969 Natalie married producer Richard Gregson and had a daughter, but she divorced Gregson after finding out he was having an affair. Robert Wagner and Natalie reconnected and re-married in 1972.

Natalie had a deep fear of drowning ever since she barely survived being drowned during the filming of The Green Promise as a child. She said in interviews that she loved to be around water, just not in the water. It's ironic that the thing she feared most would ultimately be the cause of her death.

In November 29, 1981, Wood was on board their yacht Splendor with Wagner and actor Christopher Walken just off Catalina Island. There were reports that Wagner and Walken had some kind of loud argument, but it did not come to blows, according to reports.

Around midnight, Wood left the two men in the boat's main cabin and went to her stateroom. Some time later, dressed in socks, nightgown and a down jacket, she stepped out on deck. She tried to either leave the yacht or to secure a dinghy that was banging against the hull. At any rate, reports indicated that she slipped and fell overboard, bruising her left cheek.

A woman in her own boat nearby said she heard cries for help: "Help me! Somebody help me!" from the water, cries lasting for about 15 minutes. The witness also heard someone answering, "Take it easy. We'll be over to get you."

"It was laid back," the witness recalled, explaining why she didn't help herself. "There was no urgency or immediacy in their shouts." Wagner, Walken, and the captain of the Splendor said they heard nothing.

By 1:30 a.m., Wagner had become worried about his wife and radioed the harbor master. A search was launched, and at 3:26 a.m., the Coast Guard was called in. Soon after dawn, a guardsman spotted Wood's body a mile down current from the yacht and 200 yards from shore. The empty dinghy, loaded with life jackets, was not far away, bobbing in the waves.

Although her death is still ruled today as an accidental drowning, it is still a mystery as to what happened that night. It was later revealed by police that Wood had drunk seven or eight glasses of wine and was therefore intoxicated when she died. Also marks and bruises were found on her body, which could have been received as a result of her fall. The coroner later wrote that had Wood not been intoxicated she likely would have realized that her heavy clothing were pulling her underwater and she would have removed them. He also wrote that he found Wood's fingernails embedded in the rubber boat's side.

She was only 43 years old.

[adapted from an article I originally wrote for and posted on Celebutaint]

Greatest Pie Fight in Film Ever!

From the 1965 film (and a previous Must-Rent Movie) The Great Race.

Must-See Movie: The Great Race

The Great Race (1965)
The greatest Blake Edwards' film of all time, this movie is packed with stars and the best moments in cinematic history. Sparkly-eyed, immaculate, and white-toothed daredevil, The Great Leslie (Tony Curtis) convinces turn-of-the-century auto makers to hold a race from New York to Paris. Leslie's nemesis, the mustached and shifty-eyed Professor Fate (Jack Lemmon) vows to beat Leslie to the finish line in a wacky car of his own, along with his dim-witted sidekick (Peter Falk). Along the way they meet a voluptuous suffragette (Natalie Wood), are engaged in a huge old-fashioned Western bar fight, fall into a Man in the Iron Mask-type plot, and have a hand in the largest pie fight ever staged on film.

Infused with typical 60's sexual innuendo, Tony Curtis plays the straight man as he woos Natalie Wood cross-country with his cheeky debonair winks (accentuated by the perfect "ping!" sound effects). He fences like Errol Flynn, competes like a gentleman, and stays pristinely white throughout the journey.

The classic status of this movie, however, is due largely to the slapstick -- very reminiscent of Laurel and Hardy. The chemistry between Jack Lemmon and Peter Falk as bumbling baddies is the paradigm of comedy from the time period in which it's framed. Professor Fate is your archetypal early 20th century villian, twirling his black curly mustache. Then he goes from gravelly sneering villian to giggly, child-like royalty with a dual role as the Prince of Pottsdorf. Fate's assistant Max is the superlative performance of Falk. His talent to use his shortcomings is exemplified, as his squinty-eyed face hunchily searches for Fate with that trademark "Pro-fess-ah!!"

Supported by Keenan Wynn, Vivian Vance, Larry Storch, Dorothy Provine, and a plethora of other fabulous character actors, the movie is unlike anything you've seen in Hollywood to date.