Another one gone

I just heard that Kathryn Grayson died yesterday, and I'm inexplicably sad. Now before you all go, "Kathryn who?", she was one of the big musical stars at MGM in the 1940s and 50s. She co-starred with people like Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, and Mario Lanza. She was in Showboat and Kiss Me Kate. I'm not exaggerating when I say she was one of the biggies.

And I didn't even like her.

I never was a big fan of the soprano leads in musicals, like Kathryn and Jane Powell. I found them a bit shrieky and I never liked the songs they chose for them. I'm much more of a jazzy, alto, Judy Garland-type lover (well, duh, if you know me at all). But I'm so SAD about Kathryn's death. You see, with her passing, we come ever closer to losing every last one of the great stars of my favourite film era of all time - the Golden Age of Hollywood. And THAT makes me want to cry.

As soon as I heard the news of Kathryn's passing, I went and dug out the list I made a few years ago of the big classic stars who are still alive. Maybe it's a bit of a depressing list, but I'm morbid that way, and anyway, I LIKE lists. I hadn't looked at it for some months, and I immediately had to delete Jennifer Jones, Jean Simmons and Karl Malden, as well as Kathryn. What saddened me is I didn't even know that Jean Simmons had died until a friend told me last week. I guess it just wasn't big enough news, which makes me even sadder.

I love old Hollywood. I adore it. And yes, I know these stars will live on through their films, and them being alive or dead really makes no difference in the grand scheme of things. But for me, it's like a piece of magic has disappeared off this earth.

Here is the list of those magic-makers who are still with us. Please let me know if I've forgotten someone, because I very likely have! And it would make me feel so much better if the list were longer.  The dates next to them are their dates of birth.

Luise Rainer (1910)
Tony Martin (1912)
Kirk Douglas (1916)
Olivia De Havilland (1916)
Joan Fontaine (1917)
Lena Horne (1917)
Ernest Borgnine (1917)
Celeste Holm (1917)
Maureen O' Hara (1920)
Mickey Rooney (1920)
Jane Russell (1921)
Deanna Durbin (1921)
Esther Williams (1921)
Doris Day (1922)
Eva Marie Saint (1924)
Lauren Bacall (1924)
Tony Curtis (1925)
Gloria DeHaven (1925)
Angela Lansbury (1925)
Farley Granger (1925)
Patricia Neal (1926)
Leslie Nielsen (1926)
Gina Lollobrigida (1927)
Sidney Poitier (1927)
Ann Blyth (1928)
Shirley Temple (1928)
Jane Powell (1929)
Tippi Hedren (1930)
Joanne Woodward (1930)
Rita Moreno (1931)
Debbie Reynolds (1932)
Peter O' Toole (1932)
Elizabeth Taylor (1932)
Omar Sharif (1932)
Kim Novak (1933)
Shirley Jones (1934)
Sophia Loren (1934)
Shirley Maclaine (1934)
Julie Andrews (1935)
Margaret O'Brien (1937)


Please tell me someone else is sad about how short this list is! And I can't even let BFF Ruby Slippers know, because she's on holiday in the bush, with no cellphone reception. :-(

Yours, sadly,
Ruby Slippers

Movie Lists

Ha, so I've already broken one of my New Year goals - which was to post on here at LEAST once a week. Oops. Anyway, I thought I'd expand a bit more on some of my goals, and the first one that caught my eye was the one about watching 15 of the 40 AFI Top 100 movies I haven't seen. When I told Mr Ruby Slippers about this, he said it was a pointless endeavour, because "top" lists of anything are usually stupid, and influenced only by what the makers think people should think. Or something. Still, I think it's worth seeing some of them, especially the ones that are considered "important" films. Also, I like to see films just so that I can truthfully be able to say "I thought that was the most incredibly overrated film of all time" (*cough*BarryLyndon*cough) instead of, "Oh...I haven't seen that yet." But then, I am a movie person. :-)

So I thought I'd make a list of the fifteen films I intend to watch this year, and then I can cross them off publically on here as I watch them. That might motivate me a bit. :-)

For interest's sake, here is the full AFI list (the recent 2007 version). Everything I HAVEN'T seen is in red.

1. "Citizen Kane," 1941.
2. "The Godfather," 1972.
3. "Casablanca," 1942.
4. "Raging Bull," 1980.
5. "Singin' in the Rain," 1952.
6. "Gone With the Wind," 1939.
7. "Lawrence of Arabia," 1962.
8. "Schindler's List," 1993.
9. "Vertigo," 1958.
10. "The Wizard of Oz," 1939.
11. "City Lights," 1931.
12. "The Searchers," 1956.
13. "Star Wars," 1977.
14. "Psycho," 1960.
15. "2001: A Space Odyssey," 1968.
16. "Sunset Blvd.", 1950.
17. "The Graduate," 1967.
18. "The General," 1927.
19. "On the Waterfront," 1954.
20. "It's a Wonderful Life," 1946.
21. "Chinatown," 1974.
22. "Some Like It Hot," 1959.
23. "The Grapes of Wrath," 1940.
24. "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," 1982.
25. "To Kill a Mockingbird," 1962.
26. "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," 1939.
27. "High Noon," 1952.
28. "All About Eve," 1950.
29. "Double Indemnity," 1944.
30. "Apocalypse Now," 1979.
31. "The Maltese Falcon," 1941.
32. "The Godfather Part II," 1974.
33. "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," 1975.
34. "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," 1937.
35. "Annie Hall," 1977.
36. "The Bridge on the River Kwai," 1957.
37. "The Best Years of Our Lives," 1946.
38. "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre," 1948.
39. "Dr. Strangelove," 1964.
40. "The Sound of Music," 1965.
41. "King Kong," 1933.
42. "Bonnie and Clyde," 1967.
43. "Midnight Cowboy," 1969.
44. "The Philadelphia Story," 1940.
45. "Shane," 1953.
46. "It Happened One Night," 1934.
47. "A Streetcar Named Desire," 1951.
48. "Rear Window," 1954.
49. "Intolerance," 1916.
50. "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," 2001.
51. "West Side Story," 1961.
52. "Taxi Driver," 1976.
53. "The Deer Hunter," 1978.
54. "M-A-S-H," 1970.
55. "North by Northwest," 1959.
56. "Jaws," 1975.
57. "Rocky," 1976.
58. "The Gold Rush," 1925.
59. "Nashville," 1975.
60. "Duck Soup," 1933.
61. "Sullivan's Travels," 1941.
62. "American Graffiti," 1973.
63. "Cabaret," 1972.
64. "Network," 1976.
65. "The African Queen," 1951.
66. "Raiders of the Lost Ark," 1981.
67. "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?", 1966.
68. "Unforgiven," 1992.
69. "Tootsie," 1982.
70. "A Clockwork Orange," 1971.
71. "Saving Private Ryan," 1998.
72. "The Shawshank Redemption," 1994.
73. "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," 1969.
74. "The Silence of the Lambs," 1991.
75. "In the Heat of the Night," 1967.
76. "Forrest Gump," 1994.
77. "All the President's Men," 1976.
78. "Modern Times," 1936.
79. "The Wild Bunch," 1969.
80. "The Apartment, 1960.
81. "Spartacus," 1960.
82. "Sunrise," 1927.
83. "Titanic," 1997.
84. "Easy Rider," 1969.
85. "A Night at the Opera," 1935.
86. "Platoon," 1986.
87. "12 Angry Men," 1957.
88. "Bringing Up Baby," 1938.
89. "The Sixth Sense," 1999.
90. "Swing Time," 1936.
91. "Sophie's Choice," 1982.
92. "Goodfellas," 1990.
93. "The French Connection," 1971.
94. "Pulp Fiction," 1994.
95. "The Last Picture Show," 1971.
96. "Do the Right Thing," 1989.
97. "Blade Runner," 1982.
98. "Yankee Doodle Dandy," 1942.
99. "Toy Story," 1995.
100. "Ben-Hur," 1959.


There are actually quite a few on there that I really WANT to see, and I've just never got around to it. Why on earth haven't I seen Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, for goodness' sakes? Luckily I have a couple of movie-crazy friends, and I'm pretty sure they can hook me up with the ones I want to see, which are:

1) On The Waterfront (#19)  ~ it doesn't sound that interesting, and Marlon Brando always annoys the heck out of me, but it won a bunch of Oscars, including best picture, which means I can cross it off THAT list too. And it's supposed to be good. I might enjoy it.

2) Chinatown (#21) ~ I hear it's good, and it has Jack Nicholson in it, which usually takes a movie up a notch. Unfortunately it's directed by Roman Polanski, and I'm usually not a fan of his films. Still, I'll give it a go. The plot sounds good.

3) Duck Soup (#60) ~ I actually really want to see this one. I love the Marx Borthers. I just haven't been able to get hold of a copy.

4) Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid (#73) ~ Young, gorgeous Paul Newman and Robert Redford. In an adventure getaway caper. I'm there. And yes, I do already know how it ends.

5) The French Connection (#93) ~ A classic I keep seeing clips from everywhere. It looks like a good plot, so why not?

6) A Streetcar named Desire (#47) ~ I really have to watch this. It's just that I did the play at university, plus a bunch of other Tennessee Williams plays, and I really, really dislike his work. But bloody hell, if I sat through 'Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf' I can get through this.

7) The Bridge on the River Kwai (# 36)  ~ I've been meaning to watch this for ages. Secret? Ssshh. I already have a copy. I'm such a procrastinator.

8) The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (#38) ~ Another one of those "it's famous, it looks good enough, it has quotable lines, why haven't I seen it?" movies.

9) Modern Times (#78) ~ I can watch Chaplin. In small doses, maybe, but he does have a quality about him. I enjoyed The Gold Rush, so I'm keen to see how this one turns out.

10) Bonnie and Clyde (#42) ~ Kind of middle of the road for me, but I reckon I'll enjoy it once it's there.

11) M*A*S*H (#54) ~ I'm starting to push it here as thing appeal to me less. It looks ok, though. And it can't be too bad if they made a soin-off TV show (that was how it went, right?)

12) Taxi Driver (#52) ~ I should TOTALLY have seen this. It just doesn't appeal to me. But I really should, and will!

13) City Lights (#11) ~ Ok, I can do two Chaplins.

14) Lawrence of Arabia (#7) ~ Sigh. It's high on the list, and it's famous....and stuff. I'll try.

15) Jaws (#56) ~ Hopefully this will now be too naff to scare me, which is why I've avoided it all my life. And it's famous, I should have seen it.


So...That's that. If I can make it through these 15 movies I'll probably never see any of the others, most of which I'm avoiding because I don't like the subject matter/plot (Raging Bull, Rocky, Do the Right Thing, Spartacus, Easy Rider, The Wild Bunch, Apocalypse Now, Nashville...) But hey, you never know.

In case you're interested, my picks for "WTF is this movie doing on any kind of Top List??" (that I've seen) are: The Godfather, The Last Picture Show, The Maltese Falcon, Snow White (being groundbreaking doesn't mean you're brilliant, IMO - in that case include Star Wars and Toy Story as well), Network, Raiders of the Lost Ark (it's fun, but it's Indiana Jones, for goodness' sakes!), and Blade Runner.

My picks for "hell to the YES for including this!" are: Singin' in the Rain, The Shawshank Redemption, Sunset Blvd, Bringing Up Baby, Some Like it Hot, It Happened One Night, All About Eve, The Wizard of Oz, The Sound of Music, Forrest Gump and The Sixth Sense. And perhaps Swing Time, though I have to say that Top Hat would have been a better choice if they wanted a Fred & Ginger movie.

Did I mention I'm a film nut? Does anyone else make lists of movies to watch, or lists of movies they've seen?

Classic Engagement Teaser

Knowing what a dedicated blogstalker I am, our fabulous photographer, Tanja Vogt, posted five teasers from Friday's classic engagement shoot today! All I can say is:

Oh. My. God.

First up, I do NOT generally photograph well. I always have this silly blank look, or I appear to have a hot potato in my mouth, or I just close my eyes at an inopportune moment and look vaguely drunk. But these turned out sooo spectacularly! Not only was it my dream to look like a 1940's film star (Veronica Lake, eat your heart out!), but I just really wanted fantastic photos of myself and Mr Ruby Slippers. Well, I have succeeded on both counts!

Ok, so Tanja has succeeded, really. Because no way do either of us look this good without some pretty impressive camera and editing skills. Seriously, WOW. We are both in awe. I'm already planning the matching picture frames.

Just so you get an idea, these are the pics I took to the hair and make up salon for inspiration:




Isn't Veronica Lake soooo gorgeous? Anyway, these are just the first five teasers, but this is what we got:
Holy sweet mother of awesomeness. Seriously. These could not BE any cooler.

We're not worthy, we're not worthy...

Ginger peachy

Have you ever seen a photo and just fallen in love with it? Just loved it so much that you wanted to recreate it so you could BE it? That's what happened to me a little while ago. Ok, ok, so it happens all the time with the amount of wedding blogstalking I do. But this was different - it's not a wedding photo, for one thing!

It started when I was looking for photos for our classic actor table names. One of my choices is the fantastically beautiful, funny and talented Ginger Rogers (I can't say enough about her, and she's not even my favourite!). Anyway, this is the photo of her we're going to use on "her" table:

But in the midst of looking, I found this beauty:

General Oh-My-Gawd-ness followed, and I decided then and there that my photographer WILL take a photo of me in this pose, with this sepia tone on it, and it had better be really beautiful because I want to hang it on my wall afterwards! So, no pressure, Tanja! :-)

Seriously, this picture makes me want to wear that dress on my wedding day, just so I can look more like the photo. Now I just need to find a lamp post...

Uniquely you

Mr Ruby Slippers and I love movies - I'd go so far as to use the term "Movie geeks". Seriously, I first started fancying him after I saw what movies he had in his dvd collection. So when it came to our wedding, it was easy to decide what theme would be running through the day. Originally we were going to use movie titles as the table names, but we couldn't agree on anything clever or interesting enough, so then we decided, because of the Old Hollywood feel I wanted to bring to the day, to put an emphasis on the classics. I cleverly got Mr RS to think he'd thought of the idea of using our favourite classic stars as table names, so on each table there'll be a framed photo of them with their name on a clapper board next to the photo - because, heck, few people are going to be able to recognise what table they're at just by the photo! (And because we already bought the clapper boards so we'd better darn well use them!)


We are having eight tables, possibly nine, so we each got to pick four actors or actresses. Funnily enough, I picked the girls and Mr RS picked the guys! (With one spare in case of that ninth table). Here they are in one pic - a virtual bouquet to anyone who can namethem all! Go on, I dare you. ;-)


Aren't they just too cool? Man, I love those oldie guys (and gals).

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love the Oscars. They always choose the wrong winner (No Country for Old Men? Seriously, WTF?) but I can't help it, I love 'em anyway. I have oodles of Oscar statistics in my head. It's a great party trick. Anyway, our favours are going to be little chocolate Oscars that I'm making, painted gold - hopefully - with a little card saying "And The Oscar Goes To...MARY" which will double as the guest's placecard.

If only mine could be made by celebrity chef Wolfgang Petersen...

We don't want to go too overboard with the movie stuff, because then it could easily descend into themed kiddies birthday party territory, which is NOT what we're going for!

Old Hollywood Inspiration

Well, at the rate I am chopping and changing with this wedding theme & decor stuff, I will probably change my mind the night before. My latest inspiration is Old Hollywood Glamour. I adore old classic films - give me Bette, Judy, Katharine, Cary, Fred and Ginger and I’m in heaven. (That’s Davis, Garland, Hepburn, Grant, Astaire and Rogers for the uninitiated).


Anyway, I luuurve the look and feel of this theme. I’ve also recently discovered inspiration boards on some wedding blogs (as if I wasn’t spending enough time on wedding websites). So I thought I’d try my hand at my own “Old Hollywood” inspiration board! This is what I came up with:

To be honest, I’m not sure where I got all those pics from. I never thought, when I started collecting ideas and inpirations, that I might need a record of where I found them! Line 2 pic 2 is a still from the film “Swing Time”, and the last pics on lines 3 and 4 are from a real wedding you can see here.

I'm loving the idea of feathers in my bouquet, as in the last pic on line 2. How vintage and romantic! Just scrumptious. Look at these other beautiful ones I found:

(Photo by Jennifer Skog)

Another suggestion I've heard is to have a classic romance playing on a big screen (silently, one assumes!) during the reception. While I like the idea in theory, in practical terms it would be too much of a hassle to set up and play, too much of an unnecessary expense, and too much of a distraction for the guests, who will probably sit and stare blankly at it instead of enjoying the damn party I'm throwing for them! So.... no classic movie in the background, much as I love the idea of sharing my obsession with everyone!