Jean Arthur on August 30th

August 30th can't come soon enough, as Turner Classic Movie's glorious Summer Under the Stars theme will be dedicated to lovely and screwy Jean Arthur. There'll be plenty of her movies that I haven't seen airing on that day, but the best of all is 1936's The Ex-Mrs. Bradford, a Thin Man-style mystery/comedy (co-starring William Powell) that leads my list of wanted films not on DVD. I haven't seen this in about two years, and look forward to adding it to my ongoing Husband and Wife Detectives series with a nauseatingly in-depth review. I know I'm excited...though I doubt I'll be moved enough to want to purchase a recording device to capture this glorious film for my compulsive viewing pleasure.

I apologize for not posting longer pieces lately. My father died on July 20 and I haven't been feeling up to anything, really. But I will bounce back and continue to (hopefully) keep your interest.

Gene Tierney's Prime

This looks to be from Laura (1944), Gene Tierney's quintessential role. I love her sophisticated demeanor, arty surroundings, and lovely dress. Too often Gene was cast as the goody-goody girl next door and so we rarely got to see her do more against-type roles. Even Laura finds her as a nice girl. However, her Oscar-nominated role in Leave Her to Heaven (1945) and her performance in The Razor's Edge (1946) find Tierney in two of her most fascinating roles. In the former she's a complete psycho, and in the latter she's also a not-so-nice character. Tierney gets an undeserved bad rap as being an average actress at best, but Tierney needed more parts that required her to "stretch", and she was more than capable of taking on such challenges. She was on quite a roll from 1944-46 and is it any wonder her career stalled after this, given her staggering personal problems? Let's see: philandering weasel of a husband, her baby born with severe birth defects, mental and emotional instability in a time when mental health care was icy sheets and wide-awake shock treatments. Yeah, I'd say that Gene had a rough time of things. It's hard not to be a booster for an underdog of sorts, isn't it?

Gene Tierney, Behind the Scenes

Looks like I'm making this week Gene Tierney Appreciation Week! This photograph amazes me because Tierney is off screen with her hair up and still she looks like the Silver Screen Goddess that she always was. I've seen several of her films and watched the A&E Biography episode on her, Gene Tierney: A Shattered Portrait, but have yet to read up on her often miserable life and times. The documentary is available on the wonderful Laura DVD, which contains more extras than a single disc could possibly hold. As for Tierney's life, it turned out to be a happy ending of sorts for the tormented legend, but what a rough road she had to travel. Just when I thought all you beautiful people had it so easy...I've added Gene's official website to the sidebar, too.

Gene Tierney--Yowza!

I've missed posting, so I'm getting back into the swing of things and have started on a couple of pieces I've been wanting to yammer on about. In the meantime, seeing this color photo of Gene Tierney (with Cheetah friend) has me all abuzz. I won't call this "Photo of the Day", that's Millie's feature...