Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by Troy (A) on July 01, 2003 at 15:25:17

In Reply to: Bye bye African Queen... posted by patrickU on June 30, 2003 at 00:34:11:

She was one of the sexiest actresses ever. In her day, her trim and athletic figure was out of style so she was never really considered sexy, but I've always found her irresistable. In the 30s she was gorgeous. Angular and maybe even scrawny, but gorgeous.

I loved the insolent confidence and willfullness of so many of her characters. She just exuded strength. I loved her insanely-goofy ditz characters too. So vulnerable yet so in control. Again, in the 30s this was unheard of and she was villified in the press for it. She was WAY ahead of her time.

As she got older, she played off of her stern looks, tempering them with a kind heart and kind and occasionally sarcastic spirit. She became an institution, but too spinster-ish and school-marmy for me. She won 4 freekin Oscars, man (in the days when it meant something), most of them as she was old.

But it's the roles of her youth that captured me. When I first saw her in "Bringing Up Baby", I was just reaching puberty and only beginning to understand what dynamic between women and men was about, I was stunned at how lovely and funny she was and how she played the idiot Cary Grant character like a violin. I fell in love with her in that movie. And she'll always have a place in my heart.

Some of her GREAT early movies, probably unseen by anyone born before 1960:

"Bringing Up Baby"
"Pat and Mike"
"The Philadelphia Story"
"Adam's Rib"

All true Hollywood classics and must see movies if you think you're a movie freak.