Photo of the Day! Or Hallelujah, the fair is OVER!

Ingy darling!


Hahahaha, YES! No more making scones for millions of angry and annoyed (or should I say annoying) customers who just really NEED their scones! Sconing has just been getting crazier and crazier peaking yesterday, when we had at least 30 people always waiting in line the entire time (not even exaggerating...we never got finished with the line). And I was working at the smallest booth in the fair (about 12ft. long and 5ft. wide). Anyway, I made some good money, which means I can buy some DVDs (!!!!!).


I leave you with this!

-Positively sconed-out Millie!

Photo of the Day!

Dana Andrews and Betty (ugh!) Hutton...

Photo of the Day!

James Dean.....

BTW, check out this post on James at On The Marquee! Crazy!

Photo of the Day!

It's the first day of "school" for me, so I'm off to co-op. To commemorate this sad occasion I decided to post a completely random has-nothing-to-do-with-school photo...enjoy!



Audrey and a very unusually sized toad (or is it a frog?).

Photo of the Day!

Gene Tierney with an, um, magnificent hat on her head!

Photo of the Day!

Roger Moore playing the one and only Simon Templar in The Saint.

One of my very favorite 60's British TV shows...

Photo of the Day!

Sandra Dee with her usual adorable smile!

Goodbye Mary!

November 9, 1936 - September 17, 2009

Peter, Paul, and Mary were as much a part of my early childhood as learning to read, watching Bonanza, and (dangerously) building forts in the woods with my older brothers.

My mom used to listen to them constantly. Some of the first words I knew were lyrics from one of their songs. And they are impossibly entwined with all the happy and carefree feelings of being five.

She will be missed.

Photo of the Day!

Michael Redgrave and that hilarious looking mustache in The Lady Vanishes

Photo of the Day!

We have already established that Ingrid was super fantastically amazing, right?

And I want that coat!

Photo of the Day!

My favorite photo of Pier Angeli!

On a side note: I will be slightly absent from this blog for the next couple of weeks (I will check in often, and post things whenever I can!!!!). I'm working at 6th largest fair in America...and it's a bit stressful/crazy, (but it means MONEY....money for DVDs perhaps...;-D) because school is also starting next week, and I have my regular job to continue doing and so on and so on...

Just to let you know! But I'll be back with my normal furiously deranged posting soon!

Photo of the Day!

Grace Kelly's absolute coolness (as in amazing) often leaves me speechless!

I finally did it...I watched that dreaded of all movies:

I finally watched The Wild One. Many of you know that I have had a VHS copy (which my grandfather gave me hoping I would see it) of it for over a year. And for over a year it has sat in the VHS section of my film collection...I saw it every time I reached over to watch Gidget Goes Hawaiian one more time (I'm totally kidding! I watch other movie too, besides GGH! Well...a few...;-D). Today (and yesterday for that matter) I have been ill with some bad asthma! Lucky for Marlon (who I very intensely do not love), there was absolutely nothing left in the house (I had even watched Citizen Kane again...and Pirates of the Caribbean (!!!!!)...I feel like I'm the only person in the world who can watch those two movies in a row...and enjoy both of them). Well, actually, that's a bit of an exaggeration, as between us my still-living-at-home family has several hundred DVDs. But, the point is, there was nothing new to see. Sometimes, a person just wants to see a film they've never seen before.

So, because of this (and that fact I am highly ill and more than slightly delirious) Marlon lucked out and I watched The Wild One. Let's just say it ain't going on any favorite movies list!

Marlon quickly annoyed me, with that "I'm just a little confused misunderstood rebel" look on his face that translated more as "I'm a more than just a little confused and slightly deranged idiot". That may sound a little harsh, but that's what it looked like to me!

The only really likable one was Mary Murphy...and even she tried my patience a bit. I mean seriously, what kind of idiot, while being chased by a bunch of guys on motorcycles decides to leave the main street and instead run down (on foot) a dark, deserted alley?!?!!? But, I still liked her in the end, and stuff like that is more the writer's fault!

Marlon's "fierce" biker gang was a little difficult to take seriously also, because of the fact that I immediately spotted Jerry Paris (aka Jerry Helper the dentist, Rob's neighbor and best friend on The Dick Van Dyke Show, also, my favorite character on that show) and then next saw that guy from Green Acres (don't know his name...I try to not make it a habit to watch Green Acres)...I think he plays a carpenter or something on the show. Anyways, the gang was a little too laughable to be very serious or anything.

Plus, Lee Marvin was hilarious (I don't know if he was trying to be)! Waaay funnier than in his Oscar winning "comedic" (it's debatable whether his performance was funny) role in Cat Ballou. But, I don't like Lee very much, so it didn't do absolutely anything to salvage the film!

Anyways, I know this is supposed to be a great masterpiece! I just didn't like it very much.

Sorry to any fans (and knowing my luck, 3/4s of you probably think this is the greatest movie ever made and are going to promptly stop following me and will ignore me for the rest of my blogging days)!

I think I'll go watch Gidget Goes Hawaiian....and let my brain turn into (more) mindless slush! ;-D


^Just not as cool as he pretends to be...

Goodbye Mr. Hitchcock! See you next year!

Yes, the sad moment has finally come...we must bid farewell to the Hitchcock. And I must announce the end of the Hitchcock Birthday Bash.


^Don't look so glum Sir Alfred! You'll have another birthday next year!

I had a lot of fun! And I just really wanted to thank all of the amazing bloggers who wrote a post for me! I was so happy that you did not make me create a bunch of fake blogger accounts, and then create a bunch of fake blogs for them, and then write a bunch of guest blog posts coming from them! You saved me (and yourself) from that extremely pitiful sight! And plus, all the posts were just amazing!

So thank you to:

DKoren
Amanda
Matthew
Nicole
Lindsay

And thank you to everyone else who commented on my blog posts and joined in on the party!


^Hitchcock loved the guest posts, but was slightly bored by what I wrote...

Next year, I am gonna be way more organized instead of realizing the day of...(actually I probably won't be any more organized, but there's always hope!)...so, there can be some even more interesting stuff!

And, just because it isn't his birthday month anymore, that is no reason for you not to keep the merry spirit alive, so go out and watch a Hitchcock...for his sake! (Haha, I love being melodramatic!)


^Hitchcock drowning his sadness with a "few" drinks!

-Millie!

Photo of the Day!

Oh no, Hayley spilled her drink...

Hitchcock's Birthday Bash: Guest Blogger Lindsay on "Alfred Hitchcock – Master Marketer"

This next guest post is really very fascinating. Lindsay of Anatomy of A Classic (which is by the way a really stupendous blog written "in an effort to introduce our generation (Gen Y) to the world of classic film"!!!!) e-mailed me, asking me if I would be interesting in using a post about the (and I quote) "brilliant marketing mind of Hitchcock"! Right then and there I started jumping up and down and clapping my hands with glee (literally ;-D)...the thought of it, sounded SO interesting! And when I read it...it turned out to be even better than I could have expected!

Enjoy!

We often hear about Alfred Hitchcock’s filmmaking genius – the lush visuals of Vertigo, the building tension in Notorious, the directive camerawork in Psycho – but what about Hitch’s other area of genius – marketing. Here are a few of the ways the Master of Suspense was also the Master of Marketing:

1) Cultivating a persona
Quick – what does Michael Curtiz look like? How does Frank Capra talk? I don’t know either, but I bet it won’t take you a second to conjure up an image of large-jowled, black-suited Hitch with his slow, deliberate speech and his witty black humor. The simple outline of his profile serves as an easily recognizable logo. He was the high-profile figurehead of his own product line. It’s personal branding at its best. Hitch carefully crafted a complete character in order to have another way to sell his films – as an off-screen star. He soon became as large of a draw as his A-list actors. The public wanted to see the newest Hitchcock film partly because they knew who he was and what he stood for.

2) Gimmicks
This isn’t a criticism. And if you asked Hitch, I bet he’d agree with the label. While his films could speak for themselves, the gimmicks gained extra public attention and added an element of fun. When Hitch announced that no late patrons would be admitted to theaters playing Psycho and pleaded with audiences not to give away the ending to their friends, the film became an instant “water cooler” topic. The cameos Hitch made in almost all of his films made for a fun game where audiences would see if they could spot the filmmaker. These things didn’t add significant artistic merit to his movies, but they helped bring them to a larger audience.

3) Producing Provocative Content
Pushing the envelope was one of Hitch’s specialties. He never shied away from things that at the time were deemed “morally unsound”. And while I’m not calling him a sensationalist, I think he kept in mind that scandal equals attention. Hitch was always trying to sneak things past the censors, and often fought with them to keep certain shots or dialogue in his films. In a time where studios could produce a film a week, Hitch had to stand out from the numerous competitors to win the audience’s attention. Exciting, provocative content will do that every time.

4) Finding a Niche

“I am a typed director. If I made Cinderella, the audience would immediately be looking for a body in the coach.”

Unlike a Billy Wilder or Victor Fleming, almost all of Hitch’s films fall into the same genre category – suspense. By sticking to a certain type of filmmaking, Hitch became closely associated with the genre, and soon was widely recognized as the top director in that field. By specializing Hitch was able to link his name with his craft so that when a patron was in the mood for a suspense film, they’d be most likely to seek out the latest Hitchcock movie, knowing that Hitchcock equaled suspense.

Alfred Hitchcock is a fantastic filmmaker. And while his movies have remained so popular primarily because of their quality, let’s appreciate the secondary reason as well – Hitch could market a movie as well as he could make one.

Thank you, Lindsay, that was a GREAT post!!!!

To Everyone Else: This is the official last day of the Hitchcock Birthday Bash (I will be commemorating this later), however if you would still like to write a Sir Alfred related post...I will be more than fanatically happy to post it anytime!!! It just won't be "official"...;-D

Photo of the Day!

Lovely Greer listening to records...

Hitchcock's Birthday Bash: Guest Blogger Nicole on "Rebecca"!

This next guest installment of Hitchcock's Birthday Bash comes from the inimitable Nicole of Classic Hollywood Nerd.

First of all, I LOVE Nicole's blog! Visiting there is always a rare and unique experience! What she writes about and what she loves is always original and interesting!

And, now about her post: I was quite interested when I heard that Nicole wanted to write a post about Rebecca for me. Mainly, because Rebecca is one of my lesser-viewed Hitchcock's (I've only seen it two or three times), because I just bought a DVD of it last year. But, it's also a very interesting, unusual Hitchcock (heck, I was hooked the moment I saw Laurence with that funny looking mustache...;-D). Anyways, I was excited to hear her thoughts...and she did not disappoint me. This is a great post...and I really, really, really enjoyed it! Thanks so much, Nicole!



My absolute favorite Hitchcock movie is the classic 1940 film, “Rebecca” starring Joan Fontaine and Laurence Olivier. Joan plays I de Winter, a young, shy and rather boring woman, whose job is as an old woman’s companion. While in Monte Carlo with her employer, Joan’s character meets the dashing but distant Maxim De Winter. At first meeting, the two have a rocky meeting but when they get to know one another, it blossoms into something more. I, is put into quite a spot, when her employer decides it’s best to leave Monte Carlo, upon hearing that she is to leave, I tracks Maxim down to say goodbye. Without much hesitation, Maxim declares to I, that he wants her to stay with him and that they should be married as soon as possible.

So, I leaves her old employer and heads out onto a new adventure with her new husband and into a new home, Manderlay. The only thing is Maxim has been hiding quite a lot from his new bride and his past is catching up on him.

Two people with quite a dislike for Maxim are the housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers (played by Judith Anderson) and Rebecca’s cousin, Jack Favell (played by George Sanders). Maxim and Rebecca were married for quite some time until Rebecca’s untimely death and Jack has quite a vendetta against him. The dislike is very mutual between one another and whenever, Maxim sees him, he clenches up.

As for the Mrs.Danvers, she is a woman filled with anger and hate because of the death of Rebecca. Though, she is employed to work for Maxim, her heart and soul still belongs to Rebecca and she will continue to be loyal to her previous employer for the rest of her life. The housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers now wants Maxim and whoever gets in her way, to pay for the loss of Rebecca. One of those people is the 2^nd Mrs. De Winter, whom Mrs. Danvers takes an immediate dislike to. Mrs.Danvers attempts to make Mrs.De Winter go crazy and even tries to get her to jump out of a window, by saying how useless she is and that Maxim was still in love with Rebecca.

With the pressure of Mrs.Danvers on her back and feeling isolated from her husband, Mrs. De Winter begins to feel alone. What she had hoped for, in the beginning is now gone and now she is living in utter terror, living in Rebecca’s shadow.

With an idea of what the movie is about, I feel that I shouldn’t reveal anything else in case there are people, who haven’t seen the movie. Hitchcock puts the right amount of suspense and thrill, to make you sit on the edge of your seat, and curious as to what happens next.

Thank you ever so, Nicole! It's a lovely review...and is quite enough to get anyone excited to watch it!

To everyone else: If you still want to guest post for Hitchcock (on ANYTHING...it does not have to be about a movie or a TV show!!!) I will still be accepting them!

And, I have a really interesting guest post for tomorrow! So, remember to come back!

-Millie (finally posting at 3:10AM!)

New blog! (Well actually it's practically a month old, but I just finally posted the first post, so....)

It's my blog for all things classic television!

It is appropriately titled:

The Stupendously Amazingly Cool World of Old TV

I just posted my first post (which is nothing special) and I'm going to post my second post (which will be equally unspecial, but I will attempt to make it sound good) in a short while!

I will still be posting TV stuff here too (along with all my regular abnormalness), but I just felt like creating another blog completely devoted to that subject!

If you like classic TV, please do stop in (and, cough...cough follow it)!

That's about it!

Hope to see you over there!

-Millie!

Photo of the Day!

Because Carole always looks cool!


In other news:

Later tonight I will posting a very interesting review of Rebecca written by Nicole (as part of the Hitchcock Birthday Bash).

And, I have another fascinating post lined up for later this weekend!

Be excited!

Photo of the Day!

Jean Simmons and her husband Stewart Granger.

I love this photo because of it's complete randomness!

Photo of the Day!

Jack Lemmon!

Such a great actor and (especially) such a great comedian!

Photo of the Day!

Hello everyone! I've come home!

I've got a lot to tell you about the trip (classic movie related of course....;-D), but not much time right now! So, I will post it later! *Be excited* ;-D

Anyways, I have also decided to extend Hitchcock's Birthday Bash through the end of this week, because I was gone (and because I like to cheat!)! And, plus I have super-cool post all ready to post (from a super-cool blogger). And another one that is promised that looks quite intriguing! So, there was absolutely NO way I could have concluded the Bash!

I missed all of your guys' blogs! It's great to back! (Truly it is....;-D)

Wowzie kazam! I use waaaaaaaaaaay too many ";-D"! I think I need help of something!