Cyd Charisse

I got a dreaded “TCM Schedule Change Alert” email today informing me that Cyd Charisse died yesterday. You know it's never a good sign when TCM is changing their schedule.

Strangely enough, I just happened to watch The Harvey Girls on monday night—with Cyd Charisse in one of her first film roles.

This is the third time someone has died the day after I watch one of their films. It’s starting to weird me out. Seriously. I know I watch a lot of old movies starring many people that are near death, but still. What are the odds?

Anyway, in honor of Cyd Charisse I will share my favorite Cyd Charisse moment from Singin' in the Rain:

Happy Birthday Judy!

Today would have been Judy Garland's 86th birthday. TCM is having a Judy marathon that I cannot enjoy as I, unfortunately, have a full time job that prevents me from sitting around watching TCM all day. I'm celebrating by listening to Judy Garland all day. I also had this conversation with my mother:

Me: It's Judy Garland's birthday
Mom: she's dead
Me: mom
Me: that doesn't mean I can't celebrate her birthday
Mom: it means she doesn't have any more birthdays

She doesn't understand me.

There's not really much to say about Judy that I haven't already said, so I'm just going to make a nice list of past Judy related posts:

• My Judy birthday tribute from last year.


• My Top Ten Judy Movies


• Two posts on Easter Parade


• Thoughts on In the Good Old Summertime


• Judy Meets Julie. Creepy!

My Fair Lady Remake

So they're planning on remaking My Fair Lady. I've heard rumors of this for awhile, but they've now officially announced it. I'm excited and a little disturbed. It has the potential to be really amazing or really terrible.

They're saying Keira Knightly will play Eliza. I don't have any particular feelings towards this really; she could be good, could be bad. I'm not particularly attached to Audrey Hepburn as Eliza given the whole Julie Andrews debacle, so I'm pretty indifferent. Can Keira sing? I have no idea. But does it really matter? It's not like Audrey Hepburn sang! (I'm not bitter)

I'm much more concerned about their choice for Henry. He's really a hit or miss. From my experience, either Henry is done very well—smart, clever, and pretty mean—or is extremely effeminate and gay. I suppose one could argue that Henry is in fact gay, but I don't buy it and that's not the kind of Henry I want. Sure, there's a fine line between overly academic British man and gay British man, but we know they've done it right in the past. If they'd just copy Rex Harrison, I think we'll be pretty safe.

Is That Fred Astaire?

I'm watching a film right now called On the Beach on TCM. It's really weird.

I came in on the middle and the first thing I saw was a guy in some sort of sci fi looking space suit. I thought it was going to be some crazy sci fi film so I stayed with it. Space suit man was wondering through some old warehouse and found a morris code machine, so he started morris coding.

Cut to a scene of a bunch of navy guys listening to his message. First I see a man baring a strong resemblance to Fred Astaire. I couldn't believe it was actually him ... this isn't the kind of movie I'd expect to see Fred in. Two seconds later, I realize Gregory Peck is standing next to him. Then I spot Anthony Perkins. This seems like such an odd combination.

Apparently it's not really a sci fi movie so I don't know what all that space suit business was about. I guess I'm going to finish watching it. We'll see how it goes.

My Favorite Doris Day Movies

I'll be honest, I certainly haven't seen every Doris Day movie. I just don't really enjoy the early ones. But of the ones I've seen, these are my favorites:

-The Pajama Game. This one's just ok. It's a musical, so that's a plus, but Doris kind of freaks me out in it. Plus, her name is Babe. Plus, most of the songs are pretty cheezy. But for some reason, it's the only Doris movie I've actually written about on this blog.

-That Touch of Mink. First things first, Cary Grant is in this movie. That's important. Also the woman from the Honeymooners plays Doris's roommate. Anyway, the movie is good, Cary is cute of course. There are some funny moments and plenty of 60's sexual innuendos, if you go in for that sort of thing.

-Send Me No Flowers. Rock Hudson. That's all I really need to say. In this one they're married, which makes it a little less interesting than the others (more on those soon), but it's still pretty hilarious. Rock is a hypochondriac who thinks he's dying and attempts to find a nice man to marry Doris when he bites the dust. Lots of confusion and lots of good times.

-Move Over Darling. This one's a remake of an amazing film called My Favorite Wife starring Cary Grant and Irene Dunn. Honestly, I prefer the original but Doris's version is great too. Mostly because it stars the dreamy James Garner. The best part is James trying to get out of actually sleeping with his new wife, Bianca. She's really annoying.

-Pillow Talk. The historic, very first Rock Hudson/Doris Day film. It's great because it features a womanizing Rock Hudson, a party line, and a doctor that thinks Rock is pregnant. There's an amazing song in this one, Roly Poly. I think you have to just hear it to truly understand how incredible it is. This is also the first film to feature what I call the "pre-sex song." This is the song that Doris sings while she's contemplating/getting ready for/feeling guilty about the prospect of having sex with her leading man. Typically, it's a terrible song and I almost always fast forward over it. But still, it's an integral part of many Doris Day pictures.

-The Thrill of It All. A powerful commentary on working moms and the suffering their families endure as a result of their soap commercial jobs. James Garner is in this one again, and again, looks rather dashing. It's a good one.

-The Glass Bottom Boat. This one stars Rod Tayler (of The Birds fame), playing a scientist who courts Doris after he accidentally strips her of the mermaid suit she's wearing while swimming around beneath her father's glass bottom boat. His NASA buddies soon come to believe she's a spy and madness ensues. This one features lots of ridiculous 60's futuristic gadgets, none of which actually exist today. It also includes a pre-sex song.

-Lover Come Back. I think this is my favorite. It's probably one of the dumbest, but for some reason I love it. Doris plays an advertising exec trying to land the "Vip" account—a product that Rock Hudson, a fellow advertising exec, made commercials for even though it doesn't exist. She ends up basically courting Rock, whom she believes to be the scientist that invented this Vip, and ends up singing her pre-sex song after Rock plays the "no one will ever love me" card, and she feels the need to show him how much of a man he really is.


So there you go. I highly suggest watching all of these movies. And I've come to realize that I really only watch Doris Day movies for the handsome men that star in them.