I know I should wait but......

I so wanted to do the 10 random things about me you didn't know about me because I thought it would be so much fun. I just couldn't wait to be tagged, so I thought why not just do it. So yeah, this whole blog is on random things you didn't know about me. Enjoy!




1. Before I became an Old Movie Fan, I was the biggest fan of Harry Potter. Seriously I was and in fact, I still am. I have read all of the books and have seen all of the movies. I am so excited to see the newest installment that's coming out in mid-July. Also I had an enormous crush on the guy, who plays Ron Weasley - Rupert Grint. I don't have a crush on him anymore but that crush lasted from when I was 12 yrs old to about 16 yrs old. It was quite serious... hahaha.







2. I was an absolutely horrible, no good student. I couldn't pay attention for the life of me and when it was time to do my homework, I usually screwed up on it. That was until my last year of high school, I did such an amazing turn around, that I was an honor roll student that year. I was so darn happy about that. =)


(Okay so I wasn't nearly as bad as that but I was pretty close!)





3.When I was growing up, My Dad would always try to test me on what singer/group was on the radio. It wasn't Frank Sinatra or Bing Crosby that I was on the radio, it was music from the 1960's to the 1990's. I could name Queen, The Beatles, Pink Floyd and The Styx, and those are just naming a few. Even my brothers James + Matt couldn't name the bands or singers as well as I could and they liked the music more than I did. As I got older though, I completely forgot who sung what song and I know my Dad misses those days when I could name them.





4. I absolutely love to hula hoop. When I was in elementary school, during music class the teacher would have us hula hoop during the music and I was awful but I practiced a ton and now I adore doing it. Plus it's a great exercise!






5. When I was younger, my Mom would read the classics to me and in fact, we still do read the classics. One of my absolute favorite authors is Jane Austen. I am now getting back into the habit of reading her novels but let me tell you I enjoy them so much. I think my favorite one that I've read is "Pride and Prejudice". The same with Harry Potter, I love the Jane Austen movie Adaptations. My favorite of the movie adaptations is "Northanger Abbey"(2007) and "Mansfield Park"(1999).




6. From 6th grade to 10th grade I was homeschooled with my four brothers. It was often very difficult for My Mom to be teaching five kids at four different grade levels, so eventually my two brothers James + Matt went into public school and my other two brothers, Jay + Alex had a teacher come out to teach them but that didn't work out, so they were put into a cyber school. As for me I was put into a cyber school, and that's where I struggled the most but eventually I succeeded and I ended up graduating with honors. :)




7. On my Dad's side of the family, I'm a distant cousin to Winston Churchill. I adore reading about him and his incredible efforts during WWII. That also would mean that I'm related to his daughter, Sarah who had a small movie career including the film "Royal Wedding", in which she played Fred Astaire's love interest.



8. I rarely cry over a celebrity's death but last year, I was balling like a baby when Paul Newman passed away. The entire day was awful because anytime I thought of him, I would cry. I cried like I knew him personally. When news reports were going around before he died, that he had cancer I just couldn't believe it. Thinking of Paul Newman having cancer was frightening and I would often tell myself, that he was perfectly fine and it was all hurtful rumors. Unfortunately it was true but thankfully, he is no longer in any pain. RIP PAUL NEWMAN!





9. When I was about 3 months old, a piece of glass got into my eye. Of course I don't remember anything about it but my Mom says that one single tear of blood dropped down my face. I now have an itsy bitsy scar on my eye, that you would have to see really close-up. It doesn't affect my vision whatsoever and I'm not upset or bothered by it at all. I actually think it's pretty cool. lol



10. I have moved several times in my life from Bristol, to Fairless Hills, to Joliett, and finally to Harrisburg. I know that there are a couple more places that I've lived but I'm sure my Mom knows.






So there you have it, several random facts about yours truly. I hope you weren't too creeped out by it. Haha if you want to do this but haven't been tagged consider yourself tagged then and have fun with it!

Sorry for the wait, my dears

Sorry for being missing in action lately but I've been pretty busy lately and besides that, I've gotten quite distracted lately. Nearly every time, I had plans in writing a blog, I would always get sidetracked by something else. Has that happened to you or am I the only one? I hope I'm not the only one. Anywho, onto answering some questions that you gals asked for the Bachelors for my Old Hollywood Dating Game. Now if you recall, last week I posted the blog post on Marsha Hunt and her mystery dates. Well here are the answers from the bachelors.


Kate Gabrielle asked- Question for Bachelor #1: Did you ever star in a film with Susan Hayward?

Question for Bachelor #2: Did you ever direct episodes of Alfred Hitchcock presents when you went behind the camera?

Question for Bachelor #3: Were you a serious dramatic actor or a comedian?



ANSWERS-


Bachelor #1- Unfortunately I never had the oppurtunity to be in a film with Susan Hayward, a main reason was because we were at different studios. We did though test for the same film but neither of us were able to get the roles, we tested for because of either of inexperience or because our popularity wasn't as big as the people who got the roles.


Bachelor #2- I never did direct episodes of Alfred Hitchcock presents though I did direct an episode of General Electric Theater.


Bachelor #3- I was a serious dramatic actor but I did have some roles that were very light.



Wendymoon asked-


Bachelor #1 -- Complete this sentence: I've never told anyone this before, but...

Bachelor #2 -- If we could travel anywhere in the world, where would we go, and what would we do?

Bachelor #3 -- If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?



ANSWERS-


Bachelor #1- I've never told anyone this before, but I was once engaged to actress, Margaret Hayes.


Bachelor #2- You and I would travel to the old country and we would explore the country and meet my folks.


Bachelor #3- I would be a pine tree because I look like an outdoor, woodsy type.



Millie asks-

#1 Do you like to sing?

#2 How do you feel about tofu?

#3 Do cats annoy you?



ANSWERS-


Bachelor #1- I am not a professional singer but I have sung in some of my movies.

Bachelor #2- I am not a fan of tofu, I prefer meat.

Bachelor #3- I don't mind cats but I prefer to spend my time with people.




Lotten asks-

Bachelor #1: Would you prefer a successful, outgoing woman - or a responsible housewife?

Bachelor #2: Were you born in St. Petersburg?

Bachelor #3: What is your personal opinion of Bachelor #1 and #2?



ANSWERS-

Bachelor #1- I think I would much rather prefer a responsible housewife rather than a successful housewife.


Bachelor #2- No I wasn't born in St.Peterburg, though I was born in Europe.


Bachelor #3- This is my first chance of meeting either of them but they seem like decent people.





Casey asks-



Question for Bachelor #1: Are any of your family members in the acting business?

Bachelor #2: Do you like solving mysteries?

Bachelor #3: What do you think of garlic?



ANSWERS-


Bachelor #1- I am the only one in my family, who is in show business.

Bachelor #2- I have done several mystery films and I enjoyed solving them.

Bachelor #3- I don't mind it.






So there you have it, make sure you ask more questions because I'm hoping to keep the questioning part going for another round until you decide the lucky guy, who is going to date Marsha Hunt. Thanks to everyone, who had asked the questions, so give the bachelors more questions and they will gladly answer. Ta-Ta for now!

The Old Hollywood Dating Game

After weeks of trying to come up with an Old Hollywood version of the game, I now can finally say that it's ready for your viewing. I first needed to get a contestant and the mystery dates, which was rather easy after watching some movies a couple of weeks ago. As I finished with my choosing of the mystery dates, I knew right off the bat who I wanted to choose for the contestant. I knew it had to be Miss Marsha Hunt(Pride & the Prejudice). Now I decided that I would be keeping the mystery dates a mystery until the very end of the game. I will only be describing who they are through what I've found out about them and through their films.


Miss Marsha Hunt first began her career as a model but eventually made a career in Hollywood as an actress. She was often deemed as the "youngest character actress" because her roles were usually minor compared to the leading role. Marsha has done over 109 film and television appearances after beginning her career in 1935. She still continues to work today. Marsha needs your help in finding her a date.


Now it's time to describe the lucky men, first up is bachelor #1. Bachelor #1 has dark hair and stands at 6 feet tall. He has been in several films starting his career in the late 1930's. His roles ranged from the romantic beau to a convincing reverend. After his career in movies dwindled, he ventured into television and eventually took a gamble with real estate.


Bachelor #2 is also dark haired and stands at 6 feet 1 inch. Bachelor #2 started his career off with little known roles until his big break in the 1940's. Bachelor #2 spoke several languages including English, Italian, and Russian. As he got older, Bachelor #2 ventured behind the scene.



Bachelor #3 was a dark haired and a 6 feet tall man. He had starred with several leading ladies including Judy Garland and Lana Turner. Besides having a career in Hollywood, Bachelor #3 also did some Broadway plays and radio. While many actors were going off to fight during World War II, Bachelor #3 held up a career for himself during that time in Hollywood.



Now it's your turn to ask the questions for the Bachelors to answer. After the questions are answered, I'm going to be putting up a poll for you to vote on who, you would like Marsha Hunt to date. So bring on the questions!

A bit of an update about why I haven't been on

A picture of my younger twin brothers- Jay and Alex from a couple yrs ago




I'm sorry that it has taken me such a long time in writing on here but my life has been kind of upside down lately. One of my younger brothers, Jay was taken to the hospital after a biopsy in which we found out that he had an infection and a rejection with his kidney. It all started on Thursday and finally after the long ordeal, he could go home. He still is dealing with the infection and the rejection but he is doing so much better. His spirits are up and he is acting like his normal self except for being tired. With Jay being in the hospital, I had to take care of Alex(Jay's twin) and I had to make sure to give him his necessary medicines. Every day, I would have to give him, his medicine at 3am, 9am, 3pm, and 9pm. I also had to give him eyedrops, which was so weird because I've never done it before. So I was very tired and busy from taking care of him. I'm sure you are wondering what is going on with them, so let me explain to you all. They have a disease called Cystinosis, that effects their entire body. They both have had kidney transplants and they have had many hospital visits. Jay has been in the hospital twice this year while the last time Alex was in the hospital was a couple of years ago. They are going to be 14 in July but even though they go through so much every day, they are completely normal kids. I know I rarely talk about them but I didn't want people to think that I was using them in order to get more people to read my blog. I'm not that type of person and I would never put them in that situation. My life is almost entirely dedicated to them and I would never try to hurt them in anyway. Since I was about 14, My Mom and I have been taking care of them and I wouldn't trade it for the world. So if I'm not on for a few days, it's because I'm taking care of them. The reason I wanted to write about them now is to give you an understanding about them. So by tomorrow, I should have the Old Hollywood Dating Game up, I'm really sorry for not posting it yet but with what has been going on, I haven't had the time. If you have any questions about them or the disease they are battling, you can email me or go to www.cystinosis.org for more information. Thanks for reading this, I greatly appreciate you it. I hope you all have a splendid day and be ready for the next blog post!

The Old Hollywood Dating Game

I have been thinking of making up an Old Hollywood Version of the Dating Game and I'm nearly ready to post it up. If you ever recall the show, a man or woman had to choose a potential date but she/he was unable to see who the dates were. I always thought the show was really fun to watch and I thought it would be interesting to make it into an Old Hollywood version. I've already come up with the mystery dates and the woman but I'm currently working on the description of the mystery guests. I probably could get the whole thing posted up very soon, so be on the lookout for it. Instead of having the woman choose who she would like to date, I'm going to have you guys and gals pick for her, whichever has the most votes will be the date. It's all out of fun and I hope you all enjoy it!

What a Film: The Fighting 69th Review

Even though on this movie poster, it says Dennis Morgan underneath Pat O' Brien, his role is actually very small.


First off before I write about the movie, I wanted to apologize for not being on lately. I've been so sick lately and I'm trying my hardest to feel better, I'm hoping that I'll begin to really feel better soon. So anyway, a couple of weeks ago I watched the amazing 1940 film "The Fighting 69th" starring James Cagney, Pat O' Brien, George Brent, Jeffrey Lynn, Alan Hale, Frank McHugh, Dennis Morgan, Dick Foran, and William Lundigan. With an all-star, you can't expect anything less than perfection and that's exactly what you get.




The Cast of The Fighting 69th






Alan Hale and Jimmy Cagney



The film centers around James Cagney's portrayal of Private Jerry Plunkett and him entering into The Fighting 69th. The Fighting 69th was a real army unit that consisted mainly of Irishmen from America. Today it is more welcoming than just having Irishmen included. Each character was based on a real person and all played them so well. Pat O' Brien plays Father Duffy who is basically the patriarch of the unit and he is always there for the men, when they need someone to talk to. Though his character isn't as interesting as Pat's or James', George Brent's character Major 'Wild Bill' Donovan keeps the men in line but he has a great dislike towards Private Plunkett. Why you may ask, because while Major Donovan is strong and unafraid, Private Plunkett doesn't take anything seriously and never has the nerve to fight, when it's time to fight. He freezes up and is unable to show a more courageous side that will impress the unit. He puts up this front of basically being a know-it-all, not afraid of anything type of guy until they are actually all there fighting. He then becomes a coward and that's what angers Major Donovan so much. Another character that is absolutely annoyed with Private Plunnkett is Alan Hale's character Sergeant 'Big Mike' Wynn, who has no hope for the Private until nearly the end of the film. Then you begin to see a side of Private Plunkett, that wasn't there before. He grows up and learns that being coward during the war won't get you very far, it'll only hurt you in the long run.



One of the most fascinating scenes in the movie, is when you see Private Plunkett really change into a better man. Even though, Private Plunkett had made several mistakes throughout the film, you are able to see that he is really trying to be something more. During the film, for me anyway I had a love/hate relationship with the character. One minute, he was Mr.Big Shot and the next he's terrified and wants to go home. As the film progresses, even though Private Plunkett is already a man, he finally matures into one.



James Cagney and Jeffrey Lynn on break


So it almost seems like I'm ignoring my favorite actor, Jeffrey Lynn but I'm not. Jeffrey Lynn plays poet Sergeant Joyce Kilmer who is the local celebrity around the base. A cute scene is when Dennis Morgan's character Lieutenant Oliver Ames asks for his autograph and without hesitation, Sergeant Kilmer writes it out for him. The way Jeffrey portrays the character of Joyce Kilmer, is very relaxing to watch. He is a man who has a soothing and calm personality and Jeffrey plays the part magnificently. I had only wished that he could have been in the film more than what he was in for.




The best scene in the entire film is at the end, when Father Duffy is saying a pray and on the side of him, are all of the soldiers that were killed in the war. It is a beautiful tribute that seriously brought tears to my eyes. It was an amazing ending to an amazing film.



Besides the above mentioned, other great performances were made by Dennis Morgan, Frank McHugh, Alan Hale, Dick Foran, and William Lundigan. Without those men in this film, the film wouldn't have been nearly as good.



Well I hope you get a chance to check this movie out because it is definitely a watch. I've seen this film twice already and I could probably watch it over and over, if I had the time. It is a truly remarkable film!

Results to British Actors Poll

A couple of weeks ago, I did a blog post on British Actors and I had write some things about each of them. I also had included was a poll based on the actors, that I wrote about and I now have the results for that.


Coming in last place and tied as well was......
Richard Todd(My Vote and he was never married to Elizabeth Taylor, My Mom always gets those two confused, haha) and Michael Wilding(He was married to Elizabeth though but he didn't die in a plane crash) the male stars of "Hitchcock's 1950 thriller "Stage Fright". Both actors came into last place with one vote each.









With Another tie, and coming in second place was........

None other than Sir John Mills and Sir Michael Redgrave both of them coming in with 2 votes each.






And not a surprise at all, coming in first place with an incredible 5 votes was.........


RONALD COLMAN!!!!




Even though I didn't vote for Ronald Colman, I'm very happy that he won. Who did you vote for and are you glad about who won?



I will be posting another British Actors blog post very soon, and I will be including Actresses into the blog post as well. Ta-Ta for now =)

Summer Under the Stars List

As usual on TCM, August will be having their annual Summer Under the Stars where each day a different actress or actor's movies will be airing and I thought why not put on here what actors and actresses they are and what day there movies are on. *- this will indicate the days I'm most excited about.

AUGUST 2009-


1st- Henry Fonda *
2nd- James Mason *
3rd- Marion Davies *
4th - James Coburn
5th- Harold Lloyd*
6th- Judy Garland*
7th- Glenn Ford*
8th- Bette Davis*
9th- Cary Grant*
10th- Dirk Bogarde
11th- Audrey Hepburn*
12th- Clark Gable
13th- Gloria Grahame
14th- Sidney Poitier*
15th- Deborah Kerr*
16th- Elvis Presley*
17th- Jennifer Jones*
18th- John Wayne
19th- Red Skelton
20th- Miriam Hopkins
21st- Gene Hackman
22nd- Sterling Hayden
23rd- Angela Lansbury
24th- Fredric March*
25th- Merle Oberon*
26th- Yul Brynner
27th- Ida Lupino*
28th- Frank Sinatra*
29th- Peter Sellers
30th- Jean Arthur*
31st- Claire Bloom


I was really hoping for a Paulette Goddard day but hey there are a lot of great actors/actresses that will be on, so that makes happy. Which are you most excited about?:)

Happy 83rd Birthday Marilyn Monroe!!!