Betsy Blair dies at 85

Betsy Blair, Oscar nominee and former wife of Gene Kelly, died a few days ago in London. She was 85.

She was well-known for her role in Marty (1955) with Earnest Borgnine.

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Overview: What A Way to Go! (1964) starring Shirley MacLaine & Dean Martin

What A Way to Go! (1964)
Starring Shirley MacLaine, Dick van Dyke, Robert Mitchum, Paul Newman, Bob Cummings, Gene Kelly and Dean Martin
From 20th Century Fox Pictures

Looking for a laugh? Watch What A Way to Go! (1964). It‘s a satire of Hollywood genres and characters wrapped in a straightforward Rom Com storyline.

Every man that Louisa May Foster (Shirley MacLaine, The Trouble With Harry) marries becomes wealthy and soon dies. Believing that she is jinxed, Louisa turns for help to a psychiatrist (Bob Cummings, Dial M for Murder) and tells him the story of her life. The movie then goes to flashback.

The husbands are played by a smorgasbord of Classic Hollywood stars who unmercifully lampoon popular movie genres/characters.

There’s the Thoreau-loving, boy-next-door, Edgar Hopper (Dick Van Dyke, The Dick Van Duke Show, Mary Poppins); the Bohemian painter Larry Flint (Paul Newman, The Long, Hot Summer, The Hustler) whom Louisa meets in Paris; and café performer Pinky Benson (Gene Kelly, An American In Paris), among others.

There is no shortage of men for Louisa to kill off, but, of course, in the end she lives happily ever after.

Note: Throughout the film, Shirley MacLaine may be found in a variety of chic and outlandish costumes (including a variety of outrageous widow's weeds) by Oscar-winning costume designer Edith Head.

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"Is that your hair?"

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This Week in Movie History - March 1 - 7

1952 - Shooting begins on the set of Monkey Business, a movie about the mischief that a couple of scientists (Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers) create after they drink a youth potion. A young Marylin Monroe makes a brief appearance.


1963 - Hedy Lamarr, Austrian-American movie star and scientist, marries attorney Lewis J. Boies. Miss Lamarr is known for her work in the title role of Cecil B. Demille's Samson and Delilah and for her experimentation with frequency-hopping spread spectrum communication technology, which is the basis for many wireless inventions today.

1982 - Agatha Christie's Evil Under The Sun is released. The movie follows the insightful Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot (Peter Ustinov), as he makes his way through the star-studded cast for murder suspects.


And that's this week in Movie History.

Overview: The More The Merrier (1943) starring Jean Arthur & Joel McCrea

The More The Merrier (1943) is a light comedy about a young Washington D.C. resident named Connie Milligan (Jean Arthur) who helps out the war-time housing shortage by subletting one half of her apartment to retired businessman Benjamin Dingle (Charles Coburn) who sublets half of his half to young Joe Carter (Joel McCrea).

Dingle plays cupid to the two young people, who exasperate each other, as comedy film couples often do.

Trivia

• This film is considered director George Stevens' last credited comedy before traveling to war-torn Europe, a trip which forever altered the tone of his films to more sombre story lines.
• Charles Coburn won the Oscar™ for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Dingle.
• This film was remade in 1966 as Walk, Don't Run, with Cary Grant, Samantha Eggar and Jim Hutton.

TCM will show The More The Merrier (1943) Sunday March 8 at 10am EST.