Inspired by the Muse

by Tony Nash

(All opinions are of the author alone)

Hello to all my Followers, those I’m Following, and all Curious Visitors,

I was going through my Feed of all the wonderful bloggers I follow, and I happened to come across an interesting Tag post from The Classic Movie Muse https://theclassicmoviemuse.wordpress.com/, on Five Swoon Worthy Golden Age of Hollywood actors and 5 Reasons Why. I found the idea very intriguing and would’ve loved to have taken part, but aside from the occasional man-crush here and there, it didn’t seem fair to do this exact post.

So I decided to do my own take and do Five Swoon Worthy Golden Age Hollywood Actresses and 5 Reasons Why

#1. MARILYN MONROE

From Biography

Reason 1: Her Beauty. I dare anyone to say they weren’t intrigued about this legendary icon when they first saw her wonderful face and look. While not the Poster Child for Movie Star Good Looks, there’s just something wonderfully mesmerizing about Marilyn.

Reason 2: The Talent and Wit That Lay Behind the Looks. We all know there’s more to someone besides what we see on the surface and Marilyn is no exception. Since her tragic death her vast intelligence and dedication to the craft of acting have been highlighted more and more. She had a vast library in her home in Beverly Hills that had everything from Classic Literature to books on Science, Philosophy, Religion, etc., she even wrote down her thoughts on the subjects at hand in the margins of several pages of these books. Marilyn was even a brief student of The Method Acting at The Actor’s Studio, and, along with the late Cuban-Italian American actor Tomas Milian, one of the few to use The Method in a genius way.

Reason 3: Rising Up From Humble Origins. We all know the classic ‘Rags to Riches’ storyline, and this does fit Marilyn to a certain extent. The reason her story can still be inspiring is that she came from Middle Class America, and was able to fulfill the dream of a lifetime that all so many of us still dream about. Yes, there were bumps like anything else along the way, but she did persevere and did all the work to get there.

Reason 4: Overcoming a Personal Obstacle. What Obstacle did Marilyn have to conquer you ask? Believe it or not, Miss Monroe had a speech impediment/stutter from way back. Part of the reason behind her famous ‘Breathless’ voice was that talking in that way allowed her to speak clearly and seamlessly without getting stuck on certain words and letters. As a stutterer myself I find Marilyn an inspiration and she still gives me hope to find ways to better my speech patterns.

Reason 5: The Woman Behind the Icon & Myth. Marilyn Monroe has entered into an almost Mythical status with all the stories and legends about her personal life, but for myself and a few others, she’s still the simple Girl from the Mid West who was able to achieve great success, and could’ve had a long lucrative career had it not been for the demons that plagued her thoughts and the politics of Hollywood at the time of that success.

#2. AUDREY HEPBURN

From Ciak Magazine

Reason 1: Quiet Dignity and Grace. Actors and Actresses since the inception of cinema tended to have very lively and fast personalities, not Audrey Hepburn though. What made her special was her down to Earth nature, her dedication to family and friends – especially to her sons, and of course her appreciation of the quieter aspects of life. She didn’t need flamboyancy and the fast pace to be interesting, her calm nature made her especially fun to have conversations with, and only naturally showed her to be approachable without the fear of entourage or varied press types being all around her wherever she went. She just wanted to act, and then be with her family friends, simple and charming,

Reason 2: A Survivor. Hepburn when a teen/young adult living with her family in the Netherlands when WWII broke out, and being in one of the first counties totally overrun by Axis Germany, Hepburn and many others had to brace for survival. She worked tirelessly as an aid nurse for the Allies, practically in the thick of all the blood and tears of war. That she came out sane is a testament to her spirit and power as a human being.

Reason 3: Her Eyes. A gaze for many an actor or actresses can often be a key to their mystic and ability to draw in viewers, and Audrey Hepburn is one of the ones who it worked best with. One the surface it may appear she gives off neutral expressions, but when the viewer focuses on her eyes, they tell the audience all they need to know. In her eyes she can express pain, joy, fear, happiness, sadness, you name it, it’s all there, even when it looks like she’s gazing into the distance.

Reason 4: Her Compassion. By the late 1960’s, Hepburn decided to take time away from the screen to be with and raise her sons. During that time she also became an ambassador to the charity organization UNICEF, known for its dedication and determination to give aid and advantages to underprivileged and disadvantaged children around the world. That she balanced giving time to her own children and the UNICEF goal to help many children all over the place is a testament to her caring nature, and her wanting to give back for all the success she achieved throughout her life.

Reason 5: Just Audrey. A modest woman with tons of talent and heart, ’nuff said.

#3. GRACE KELLY

From Vanity Fair

Reason 1: Hitchcock. Grace Kelly’s skyrocket to stardom came in the form of director Alfred Hitchcock. They made three films together, Rear Window, Dial M for Murder, and To Catch a Thief, all in which Kelly played a strong willed woman navigating the tense filled situations she finds herself suddenly thrusted into, and remaining in some form of control all the way.

Reason 2: Superstar to Princess. Many a girl’s childhood wish is to be a Princess, and for Grace Kelly, that childhood wish became a reality when she met and fell in love with Prince Rainer of Monaco during the filming of To Catch a Thief. While rumors that the marriage was falling apart at the time of her death are seemingly looking more and more true, there was indeed a time where being a Princess was the most joyous time of her life.

Reason 3: Major Recognition After First Major Role. While Kelly had a decent sized supporting role in her debut in the 1950’s Noir Fourteen Hours, it was her co-star status as Gary Cooper’s stout Quaker wife in the Western High Noon a year later that really catapulted her career and made her a name to be on the watch for to do great things in films.

Reason 4: She Got to Romance the Top Stars. In addition to Gary Cooper, Grace had the pleasure to share on-screen romances with the likes of Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, Clark Gable, Stewart Granger, Bing Crosby, and even Frank Sinatra

Reason 5. I can’t think of Five for Grace. Sorry ’bout that.

#4. JANE RUSSELL

From CBS News

Reason 1: ‘Hard John’. Favorite co-star Robert Mitchum gave Russell the nickname Hard John, citing her as a mix of beauty, sternness, and conviction. She was sultry and alluring, but she had a code of behavior she followed to the letter, never deviating.

Reason 2: A Man’s Woman. In addition to being lovely and beautiful, Russell was also tough as nails. She often spoke her mind and hardly ever acted the way a lady of the 1940’s and 50’s, and wasn’t afraid to get in the thick of something, looking as if ready to knock any jerk on his backside with a good right.

Reason 3: Her Voice. Yes, Russell had the voice to match her looks. Not only did she have a solid speaking voice, but also a good singing voice as well. Her singing gave her voice a lighter touch to her more alto tone to her speaking.

Reason 4: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Russell never looked better than alongside Marilyn Monroe in the 1953 comedy classic, flawlessly mixing both her tough woman and sweet woman personas.

Reason 5: The Paleface. Just like with GPB, Russell again shines mixing tough and sweet, but this time as the gunslinger Calamity Jane saving Bob Hope’s bumbling dentist in the Old West. The best of course is when she’s at the public baths and the baddies are trying to get her, she pops from behind a curtain, both guns drawn saying “Ya lookin’ for someone,” and promptly guns ’em down.

#5. MAE WEST

From Wikipedia

Reason 1: Boss Woman. I could’ve piggybacked and said Mae West is A Man’s Woman too, but that wouldn’t have been fair. West is a Boss through and through, proudly strumming to her own drum beat, larger than life and totally in charge. She was in control of her career even on the stage, doing the stuff she wanted to do with no interference.

Reason 2: The Queen & Founder of Erotic Innuendos: Mae West was a star in the Pre-Code era and gave the film world two of its most naughty catchphrases Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just happy to see me? and why don’t ya come up and see me sometime?, amazing and rocking the wholesomeness audiences in the States believed they reached. Part of her return to Broadway at the advent of the Hays Code was because she refused to compromise and tone down her material which, even by some standards even in the years since her death, were surprisingly heavy on sexual overtones and undertones. Today her material can be seen as soft, but at the time she was writing and starring in movies, they were a revelation.

Reason 3: The Original Sex Symbol. Even with stars like Barbara Stanwyck, Ginger Rogers, Kay Francis, etc, being the favs of many a man in the 1930s, it was Mae West who took the moniker of Sex Symbol of the era. While not drop dead gorgeous, West exuded a charisma, charm, and mystique that had people looking her way, even if they objected to the kind of act she put on, her aura just couldn’t be denied.

Reason 4: Cary Grant. Mae West helped to jump start the career of a then up-in-coming actor Cary Grant. Grant at the time was still something of a supporting player in films, and it was West who hired him as her love interest in both She Done Him Wrong and I’m No Angel, giving Grant his first taste of the romantic lead.

Reason 5: She Saved Paramount Pictures. West’s play Diamond Lil had been a hit on the stage, but most of Hollywood at the time wouldn’t touch it for a screen adaptation due to its for the period shocking subject matter, but Paramount, which had been having financial problems thanks in part to the Depression, took a chance. Part of this risk’s success is that West was involved in translating her Broadway script to screenplay form, now titled She Done Him Wrong, little of the play changed. It worked and Paramount was out of financial danger.

Well, there’s my take on the Classic Movie Muse’s Tag, and now I’ll I’ll nominate a couple of people and see if this takes off

MMC! (Make Mine Criterion!) aka Spine Numbered

Master Mix Movies

Mike’s Take on the Movies

Matt Brunson

Filed under: Film & TV: Potpourri, Film: Special Topics

Sometimes the Changes Work: Carroll Baker or Irene Papas in An Ideal Place to Kill

by Tony Nash

(Heavy Spoilers Ahead)

(All opinions are of the author alone)

Italian Poster (from IMDb)

A while back I was watching a fella on YouTube going through some Italian Giallo Thrillers he felt everybody should give a chance to watch, and it reminded of a Giallo I watched very recently I felt was very good, and learned in the director’s interview that he and the producers had whole different aspects to the film. That film is Umberto Lenzi’s Un Posto Ideale per Uccidere (An Ideal Place to Kill).

Barbara Tries to Seduce Ingrid (from Tumgir)

The film tells the story of Hippie couple Dick Butler and Ingrid Sjoman who end up stumbling upon a murder while fleeing Italy after being busted by the police for selling porno magazines and photos on the streets. The murderess, Barbara Slesar, first attempts dual seduction of the couple, but soon things escalate into a frantic nightmare as Ingrid and Dick try to ensure Barbara can’t frame them for killing her husband, a military Colonel.

A Cool Hallucinatory Effect (from Tumgir)

Author’s Note: Major Spoilers are coming that reveal the ending and the twist within the film, as well as four other films (these I’ve reviewed already in the past), so if you’re interested in checking out the films that will be discussed, please look away, check them out, and come back read. If you’re not that curious about watching the films, and just like reading what I write about, please continue on and enjoy. Everybody’s been advised and warned.

Now first things first, Umberto Lenzi is one of my favorite filmmakers of genre cinema and I respect his general honesty and down to Earth nature in regards to his films and what he would preferred for the film over what the product came out as, so this critic isn’t in anyway disrespecting his viewpoint, only to say how the film isn’t the poorer for the changes that happened, which even he admitted to before his passing in 2017.

Irene Papas Played Barbara (from Amazon Italy)

Carroll Baker, the Original Producer Choice (from YouTube)

Lenzi himself in his interview admits he wasn’t sure of who he’d cast in the role of Barbara Slesar, but he did admit producer Carlo Ponti wanted American actress Carroll Baker for the role. Now Lenzi and Baker had a good friendship going, and they’d already made for successful films together, so it seemed only a natural choice for the two to collaborate again as they trusted each other, but Lenzi admitted at the time he didn’t want to get pigeon-toed as only being able to work with Baker on Giallo type material. Had Lenzi’s original script, which involved Dick and Ingrid being busted by the Italian police for selling drugs, and not pornography, and few other deeper character inreractions, Baker would have successfully pulled off the role, but given how the script was changed to fit with the current period of the time, here’s why Baker’s version of the character wouldn’t have worked.

Ingrid Being Questioned by a Military Man (from Nischenkino)

In the three out of four films Lenzi and Baker did together, Orgasmo (Paranoia), Cosi Dolce… Cosi Perversa (So Sweet… So Perverse), and, Il Cotello di Ghiaccio (Knife of Ice), Baker’s characters were revealed to either have an evil sinister side, looking to profit from the crimes committed, or a mix of jealousy and greed, and other powers she hadn’t counted on coming into play to ruin the scheme. Orgasmo is a little like Un Posto Ideale per Uccidere in that a ménage-a trois is at play between the three leads, but instead of the Hippie/Counter Culture couple being involved in a plot to kill the rich woman who’s later revealed to have killed her husband to inherit his fortune, the Hippies in Posto came upon the incident totally by accident and are only trying to keep from being framed. Baker’s character in Cosi Dolce… in particular proves to be very cunning and deceptive, something not very present in Irene Papas, who comes of as far more fumbling and very amateurish in covering herself.

Barbara Puts Her Plan into Action (from Twitter)

Given how the film eventually worked out, Irene Papas’ performance actually serves the ending really well. The audience learns that Dick and Ingrid’s plans to ensure Barbara couldn’t make them the patsies for her crime ended up making them look more guilty, from burning a telegram sent from her partner in crime, to trying to hid their fingerprints, to even outright burying the dead man’s body in the backyard all made Barbara the innocent survivor of a home invasion turned murder, and allowed her to get away with it. Had Carroll Baker been the lead with the story that did play out, the ending would’ve been an insult to the kind of characters she played previously for Lenzi, who would’ve done a much better job at playing the naïve couple, and mislead them into thinking they had the upper hand on her. Papas’ fumbling throughout the whole process makes us the audience have no sympathy at all for the Dick and Ingrid characters, who essentially did everything they feared Barbara would do to them for her. Had they not destroyed or cleaned certain items, and especially not buried the dead man, they’d have ensured Barbara would’ve been arrested for not only killing her husband, but for trying to make it look like it was them.

Dick and Ingrid Enjoying the Sights in London (from YTS)

While other issues like the two lead actresses not doing the nude scenes: Irene Papas outright refusing to do so and Ornella Muti not being able to because she was only 16 – (yes, a good chunk of European filmmakers back then wouldn’t do stuff like that) existed, the main issue Lenzi had was having to turn Dick and Ingrid into porno pushers and not the drug dealers he intended, which he felt made what would eventually go down at the Slesar mansion all the more unrealistic. The film as it is works quite well in my opinion, and all three leads, especially Papas and Muti, give solid performances that outweigh the flaws, including the body doubles for the nude scenes. I highly recommend giving this film, as well as the Lenzi/Baker collaborations and see if you agree with my write-up or not.

all images courtesy of Google.com/Google Images and their respective owners

for more information

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067602/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oasis_of_Fear

https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Un_posto_ideale_per_uccidere

buying options

https://mondomacabro.bigcartel.com/product/an-ideal-place-to-kill-retail-edition

https://www.moviesunlimited.com/the-complete-lenzibaker-giallo-collection/663390003695

https://www.moviesunlimited.com/an-ideal-place-to-kill/843276020590

An Ideal Place to Kill (Mondo Macabro) (Blu-Ray)

Filed under: Film & TV: Potpourri, Film: Special Topics