A Classic Movies Survey from the Classic Forever Blog

The Classic Forever blog made a survey for the Classic Film/TV blogosphere to take. Here it is.

Which actors do you always (or did you always) mix-up?
I used to confuse Robert Walker, Robert Young, and Robert Vaughn, for no other reason then their first names.

Gidget or Beach Party?
Gidget because I had a serious crush on James Darren (Moon Doggie).

Kahuna was cute too.

Favorite Movie Outfit? This is a tough one. Off the top of my head I'd have to say The Baroness Schrader's lavender day dress from The Sound Of Music. The dark purple belt lightly cinches the waist of the flowing dress and compliments the color. I would wear this.

If you could be ANY character in ANY movie...who would you choose? Another toughie. I'd be any of the jet-setters from the expensive mainstream comedies of the late 1950s/1960s movies.

If you could marry ANY character in ANY movie...who would you choose? (Excluding any Dana Andrews' characters. Seriously. ;-D)

A character? Gilbert Blythe from the Kevin Sullivan versions of Anne Of Green Gables, et seq. Why? Because, in addition to being husband material, his leading lady keeps him at arms length for a Very. Long. Time. Which means he's available! He even almost marries someone else in the 2nd film of the trilogy, so, it could have been me. :)

If you could live in ANY movie...which would you choose?

Off the top, I'd say What A Way To Go! (1964). It's a zany ride through one lady's life as she wears fabulous clothes, travels all over the world and kills off her husbands, sort of. It would be... different.

Black & White movies you wish were in Technicolor, or vice-versa?
I wish that The Heiress (1949) was in color because cherry red is a big deal to the title character, and not seeing it when she's trying to impress people by wearing an entire dress made of it, sort of irks me.

Favorite Movie Soundtrack? West Side Story (1961). There's probably another one that I like better, but I just listened to this one the other day and it's still on the brain.

Favorite Movie Dance Sequence?

I love it when people not known for dancing actually dance, so my favorite would have to be the " The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing" number from White Christmas, with a very cute Danny Kaye who can't keep his eyes off of Vera-Ellen.

Coolest Movie Star? (Cough, cough, BOBBY DARIN, cough, cough)
Coolest Movie Star is Yul Brenner. He walks into the room and I shiver at his awesomeness. He doesn't have to brag, he just...is.

Sophia or Gina (Oh, how Kate enjoys replaying Gina's sad defeat OVER AND OVER!)
Gina Lollabrigida seems a whole lot more fun to be around. I was always afraid that Sophia Loren would turn insane in her films and snack on children at night, or something. Issues, issues.

"Isn't It Romantic" in most Billy Wilder films, or "Red River" in most John Ford films? Billy Wilder has my vote.

If you could re-cast ANY role in ANY movie, what would it be?
Love Audrey Hepburn, but would rather have seen Julie Andrews recreate her stage role as Liza Doolittle on film.

Favorite movie character with your first name? The first of my blog name, Java, is not any movie character's name that I know (certainly not a favorite movie character). So I'll just mention that my blog name is used rather nicely in a song called "Loo-Loo" written by Clifford Grey, Leo Robin & Vincent Youmans for the musical play Hit The Deck.

"When you're in the mood /to have a /cup of java, /that is java, /take a pleasure trip /and navi-/gate my way."

One movie that should NEVER be remade? (under THE THREAT OF A SLOW, PAINFUL DEATH!)

Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (1954).

But I'm like 25 years too late to rant on this. In the 1980s, someone tried to make a TV show out of it, with MacGyver as Adam, the eldest brother. The show was quickly killed.

Actor or Actress who you would love to be best friends with? Ann Miller. She always seemed to have fun on the screen and I have read that her great sense of humor was well known off screen as well.

Are you an Oscar or a Felix? Depends on my mood.

Actor/Actress you originally hated and now love? I don't think I've ever hated an actor or actress, but there were some whose popularity puzzled me.

I've mentioned it in other blog entries, but Bette Davis' shrillness was unsettling to me as a child. As I grew up, her strength of will intrigued me, though I still don't like her reported off-screen rudeness.

Actor/Actress you originally loved and now don't like? It's not that I don't like them, it's that I have been disenchanted with several classic film stars whose personal lives I discovered were significantly different from their screen persona (usually a lovely screen image & a beast at home).

To name one - Dick Haymes. He was my all-purpose Sinatra knock-off, you know, the crooner/boy-next-door type who gets the girl by the end of the film. Off-screen he would beat women. For me, this puts a damper on his lovely duets with Betty Grable or Deanna Durbin.

Because of this, I took a hiatus from film star bios for a while; I could no longer enjoy some of my favorite films.

Favorite performance that was looked over by Oscar? (Not to be confused with the aforementioned Oscar of Felix fame.) Jean Hagen for Singin' In The Rain (1952). Singin' didn't get the Academy attention it deserved because it came too fast on the heels of the Oscar-winning An American In Paris (1951), another Gene Kelly film.


Bewitched or I Dream of Jeannie? Jeannie, only because I've never seen the other one.

Hannibal Heyes or Kid Curry? (Hint for those who don't know who they are: pick Kid Curry.) I don't know who these people are, so Kid Curry it is.

Favorite Style Icon: Fred Astaire or Cary Grant? This is a tough one. I'll go with Cary Grant because his style is a little more versatile.

Single most favorite movie scene EVER?
Since I've re-watched THE CLOCK (1945) recently, it's on my mind. There's a brief moment where Joe watches Alice from across the milkman's table, thinking as Alice gathers muffins for breakfast.

He's weighing the option of a marriage proposal to a woman he's known for less than 24 hours against his own loneliness. He's weighing the responsibilities of family against his obligations in the service. A lot is going on in that feverish little brain, and he hasn't said a word.

Movie you really "should" see, but have subconsciously been avoiding for who knows what reason? Psycho. If the plot of this suspense film hadn't been revealed to me ahead of time then I would have been all too happy to watch Janet Leigh get stabbed in the shower by a necrophiliac in drag.

Movie quote you find yourself most often repeating in real life? "Bless your beautiful hide." It makes for awkward moments.

50's Westerns or 60's Spies? (I can't even answer this myself...but you have to! MWAHAHAHA!) Hmm. How about 60s Westerns and 50s Spies? Makes the choice easier.

I'd take 60s Westerns because you get the standard slightly tilted on its ear (though that really started in the 1950s), you know - lots of anti-heros. And of course you get Steve McQueen, who looks hot in a cowboy hat. Actually he's hot in anything.

Favorite splashy, colorful, obnoxious 50's musical? Jupiter's Darling (1955) - Esther Williams, the MGM mermaid, meets Hannibal, the conqueror of the world. It has extravagant underwater sequences with Roman statues coming alive in an Olympic-sized bathtub. It has Marge & Gower Champion dancing with live elephants. It has George Sanders as a wimp (!) dominated by anyone wearing a skirt (and since it's set in Ancient Rome, that's everyone).

Favorite film setting (example: Rome, Paris, Seattle, Siberia, Chile, Sahara Desert, etc) I like a film that is largely set in one room or space but still keeps my attention. It means the script is good without the distraction of a beautiful landscape.

If you could own the entire wardrobe of any film, which would it be? I'll have to go with What A Way To Go! (1964) again, because we follow a lady from a very young age to maturity, and she goes to many different settings, so that means I'd have a wardrobe for any occasion, especially if we include the extras' costumes.

Carol Burnette or Lucille Ball? Tied (with Ms. Ball potentially edging out in front because I knew her work first)

Favorite Voice. Ever. Period? I prefer deep voices so Ricardo Montalban or Dana Andrews. I. Can't. Choose.

Favorite movie that takes place in your home-state? My home state is classified, so I'll randomly point to my handy dandy U.S. map and name my favorite movie set in...Oklahoma.

An easy one, finally. OKLAHOMA! (1955)

Which actors would you want for relatives? (Mother, Father, Grandma, Crazy Aunt, annoying cousin, older brother, etc...)
Robert Wagner as older brother would be nice. He's a gentleman I hear, but then, I haven't yet read his autobiography.