Star Of The Month: Glenn Ford

 

GLENN FORD

BIRTH: May 1, 1916

DEATH: August 30, 2006

AGED: 90 yrs

DIED FROM: old age but had years of issues with circulation issues, heart attack and a series of strokes

REAL NAME: Gwyllyn Ford

MARRIED: 4 times- Eleanor Powell ( great dancer and star), Kathryn Hays, Cynthia Hayward, Jeanne Baus…all divorced. Eleanor gave up her film career for him to raise their son and make a home.

CHILDREN: 1 child, son.

AFFAIRS: SLUT Alert!! Rita Hayworth, Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Crawford, Gene Tierney, Eva Gabor, Angie Dickinson, Judy Garland, Stella Stevens, Loretta Young, Suzanne Pleshette, Debbie Reynolds, Hope Lange, Marilyn Monroe( a one night stand) and sex star Liz Renay. In total about 146 actresses, Hayworth got pregnant and had an abortion since it would have destroyed their marriages ( hahahaa) and their careers.

OSCAR NOMINATIONS: Nil! 

TALENT: Aside from being a man whore, excellent horseman, quick on the draw with a gun, plumber, electrician and air conditioning fixer

KNOWN FOR: seducing everyone.  Keeping many women as friends, just not his wives. Taping his phone calls and making a diary of his conquests.

Who knew this young Canadian man would become a star during Hollywood’s golden age even if he didn’t hit the big time like John Wayne, James Stewart, Gary Cooper and his best friend, William Holden. He was still a big enough name to carry many a film and could play drama, western, comedy and  suspense with equal aplomb but almost always playing someone with integrity unlike his issue with sex..can we say sex addict anyone. When he expressed interest in being an actor, his dad suggested he study a back-up trade, just in case so he actually became a certified plumber, electrician and air-conditioning repairman and he would fix things for fun. He was also an expert horseman and was the best in drawing a gun, better than John Wayne, James Arness and many others. He missed out on World War 2 due to illness that ended up as pneumonia creating a lingering illness. This didn’t stop him during the Vietnam War where he  was part of the crew for combat training films and found himself in the demilitarized zone in the Mekong Delta where he dealt with enemy fire.  He also took up handgliding and liked this challenge but failed miserably when he tried to raise 140 leghorn chickens. When a fox appeared, eating his chickens, he stayed up with his rifle which was the final straw for the fancy people in California. The cops came and shut down his illegal chicken coop. From what I have read, his 5 times co-star and 40 year love affair ( off and on) with Rita Hayworth was the closest to true love to the point where they were “neighbours” with a gate adjoining their gardens and Ms. Hayworth could freely come and go.  They each had a picture of the other on their bed stand and when she died, from complications  Alzheimer’s disease, he was a pallbearer. When Ford died, his son found tapes that his dad made of his many, many conquests detailing the lovemaking etc.. but, he also taped his conversations he had with his many friends from Holden, Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne and Charlton Heston and many more. He learned from his former studio boss, Harry Cohn that taping might be a good idea so he started taping his, then, wife, Eleanor Powell to find out what she knew about all his dalliances. To say he was F&## up is an understatement but, many of  the gals still remained good friends with him, just not his wives.

FILMS

1. So Ends Our Night-1941

2. Gilda-1946

3. A Stolen Life-1946

4. An Affair In Trinidad-1952

5. The Big Heat-1953

6. Blackboard Jungle-1955

7. The Teahouse Of August Moon-1956

8. 3:10 To Yuma-1957

9. The Sheepman-1958

10. The Pocketful Of Mircles-1960

11. Experiment In Terror-1962

12. The Courtship of Eddie’s Father-1963

Mayday!

 

Yesterday was Mayday where you can traipse around a colourful pole, dancing and feeling happy and/or doing some goose steps surrounded by Russian tanks. I thought of plane crashes because they says Mayday 3 times. Hey, it fits….

1. FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX-1965

Jimmy Stewart is the pilot and Richard Attenborough his co-pilot and friend who are taking a group of oil men from one place to another( it’s been a while since I saw this). A sandstorm hits and they end up crashing in the desert, way off course. They now must try to survive with very little food and water and without getting on each others’ nerves. An arrogant German builder of planes figures out a way to make the crashed aircraft fly again but can it be done? It’s well acted and a tense film plus a character study and a much better film than the remake.

2. AIRPLANE-1980

I could have chosen Airport, Airport ‘75, Airport ‘77 and, of course, Concorde but I went with this very funny movie that makes fun of these Airport flicks especially the one with Charlton Heston, which is funny on its own a group of characters are on a plane when people start getting sick and the plane needs someone to fly it. It’s full of one liners and absurdist scenes like Barbara Billingsly( the mom from Leave it to Beaver) who knows how to speak jive. I still love Leslie Nielsen in this role that restarted his career in many movies like this one…he is hilarious as is Peter Graves ( Billy, ever been to a Turkish prison?) I love this movie.

3. SULLY-2016

Tom Hanks plays Sully, the famous airline pilot who had to land the plane into the Hudson River. He remained calm and was successful in getting the plane down in 1 piece without any loss of life. What I didn't know was how he and his co-pilot were put on trial, almost like a trial, having to defend their actions. It's very well acted and Tom Hanks seems perfect as Sully. 

What mayday movies can you think of?

I wanted to show a picture of my Harley yesterday but forgot to include his photo yesterday so here is the tyke. 

For My Dad

 

This is my dad at the age of 28 in 1941. He looked quite dapper especially with the Clark Gable/ Error Flynn mustache. Sorry for the bright light on his cheek, it caught my flash. Yesterday, was the 36th anniversary of his death at age 75 from brain cancer. The last year of his life was a tough one, but he met it with his forthright manner and gentlemanly ways, albeit with some orneriness thrown in. At this time, he was ready to join the Canadian army to fight in the war. He was part of the liberation of Holland and was wounded in the battle in the Reischwald Forest very near the end of the war. He loved all sorts of music even missed my mom's funeral music when she had to go home for medical reasons back in 1960. Oh, that's classical music to you and me and, he did really appreciate classical music and liked it, later on. Anyhoo, here are 3 musical pieces he loved...

1. OLD MAN AND OLD WOMAN WITH DON MESSER

Don Messer and his Jubilee was a Canadian institution first on radio and then on CBC TV from 1959-1969 and when it got cancelled, Channel 11 took this variety show over from 1959 to 74 when Don passed away. He played the ole fashioned fiddle music which my dad loved. In fact, his grandfather was a fiddler who played at dances, weddings etc... pretty cool. 

2. WHITE CLIFFS OF DOVER SUNG BY VERA LYNN-1942

Vera Lynn was and is a British singing institution that made the soldiers dream of happier times. My dad really enjoyed her voice and the war songs of this time, like so many. 

3. RINGO "SUNG" BY LORNE GREENE-1964

My dad loved "Bonanza" ( so do I) and Canadian Lorne Greene became a household name plus being routinely called one of the best fathers a person could have. His unique and deep voice was known as " The Voice of Doom" because he would give the events of the war on Canadian airwaves and lent his voice to a couple of war documentaries plus he read out the casualties, a sad event. Anyhoo, this song became a big hit the year I was born and, yup, I have this album. He didn't sing as much as talked the lyrics to great effect. 

He would have loved our dog, Harley, looking like " What? Me worry?"

Eclipse

 

So, a couple of weeks ago, we had that total eclipse in my neck of the woods and I was worried how crazy the roads would be travelling to Niagara Falls. I need not have worried because the streets were almost vacant of traffic. Tons came to the Falls only to be disappointed because we had cloud cover, although a bit of a break came where people could see a bit of the eclipse. I was talking to a client, via Zoom, when this was happening but we both kept glancing out our perspective windows noticing it getting jet black for  a minute before it became daylight once again. Funny, the sun peaked out 10 minutes later becoming a clear sky for the remainder of the day…hahahaaaa. Now, it seems many people are having eye issues because these morons decided to look into the eclipse despite repeated warnings not to do this…sigh. This made me think of movies that had a solar eclipse in the movie so I went with that.

1. A CONNECTICUT YANKEE-1931

I haven’t seen this film version in decades and I want to see it again because I remember laughing at the antics of Will Rogers. In this version, Rogers plays a radio man sent to a mansion to fix a radio, from what I remember, a suit of armour falls on top of him and he wakes up during the reign of King Arthur. He is ready to be killed for being a witch but his rodeo rope antics and matches make people stop from killing him. I seem to remember he “foresaw” the eclipse which made more people believe him to be better than Merlin. Merlin and Morgan Le Fay are the evil doers and Will Rogers must outwit them. I enjoyed this movie and fell for Will Rogers who was a major star back then and very much endeared to the public so, when he died in a plane crash in 1935, the world was devastated.

2. A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR’S COURT-1949

This version, which I also saw decades ago, is a musical starring Bing Crosby, this time as a singing mechanic who bumps his head and winds up in King Arthur’s court. There he meets and falls in love with Rhonda Fleming while avoiding being killed when he predicts the solar eclipse. This is a musical remake of the Mark Twain classic and one that I also enjoyed. 

3. LADYHAWKE-1985

I love this fairy tale with a young Matthew Broderick as a thief who falls into the sad tale of love when he meets Rutger Hauer with his hawk. At night, the boy meets up with a beautiful woman, played by Michelle Pfeiffer, with a wolf. They venture to an old castle where they meet up with a friar who tells the young thief that these 2 people are in love but a spell was cast on them so they could never be together because , when day comes, she turns into the hawk and , when night comes, as she transforms back into h7man form, Rutger turns into the wolf. The only way to break this curse involves a solar eclipse. I got a major crush on Rutger Hauer when I saw this film and just loved the Grimm fairy tale feel of this movie.

What movies can you think of that show a solar eclipse? Did you watch the eclipse, with protective glasses, of course?

Singers/Songwriters Born in April

 

 This could be a big one with a number of musicians born in April including countless singers…where to start!? Curious As A Cathy has a good theme this week. So, I hope you like my picks…

1. ELMER BERNSTEIN  BORN APRIL 4, 1922-THE GREAT ESCAPE-1963

I love this song from a great movie that was a who’s who of great stars. Elmer Bernstein is most famous for this theme and  The Magnificent Seven but he did so much more including True Grit ( I almost chose this theme), Animal House and Ghostbusters.

2. HENRY MANCINI BORN APRIL 16, 1924- THEME FROM HATARI-1962

The Baby Elephant Walk is the most famous from this score but I enjoy all of it. I am sad about the animals that are 5ake n for zoos but that’s how it was back in the day. It’s a fun film and I do love the baby elephants.

3. CHARLIE CHAPLIN BORN APRIL16, 1889-SMILE FROM MODERN TIMES

This man is still known as the little tramp and one of the funniest during the silent era and beyond. He could  act, write, direct and compose songs with this song being one of his most famous. Lyrics were added later but not by Chaplin so I decided to just keep the music on this one.

I have to do a couple more

1. THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL BY ABBA-1980

Agnetha Faltskog( the blonde one) was born on April 5, 1950  and her one time husband, Bjorn Ulvaeus, another part of the famous group, ABBA, helped create this song which Agnetha sang brilliantly. 

2. TILAK SHYAM PERFORMED BY RAVI SHANKAR-1970 

It’s late so I’m too tired to search for the original year this song was created so I chose when this great musician performed it on the Ed Sullivan show. The first time I saw Ravi Shankar, born on April 7, 1920, was on the documentary on Woodstock( the best documentary) and I was enthralled. I found out, later, that the Beatles became interested in his music especially George Harrison. He is a great musician with this lovely instrument called the sitar.

OK, I’m done, so what singer/songwriter can you think of? 

A Couple of Cards and some Quail Eggs

 

Addicted to Stamps- Make Your Mark

Fab N' Funky- Add a Sentiment

Tic, Tac, Toe-used Stencil, Green, Foliage 

Dream Valley- Make It Female

Simon Says- Stencil It

This card was made for a wedding that I, unfortunately, could not attend. It took place in Halifax so I just couldn't swing it. She is my ex's niece who still considers me her Aunt and I think of her as my niece. Her wedding was medieval so I stamped my image in black and coloured it in greens, her favourite colour and part of her wedding colours. I took a stencil, placed it on green cardstock and used distress sprays to cover the card in a Foliage type Stencil. I coloured the image in tombow markers and added Swarovski crystal chain and crystals and, finally, the sentiment, to finish the card.

Christmas Card Throwdown- Vintage

I stamped the Santa and coloured him in with my tombow markers adding glitter to his fur. I had a remnant from my other card which I distressed with more green and brown distress inks. I had a parchment laying around for eons so I stamped the writing in apricot brown and took green card stock and stenciled the border in with this glitter gold paste. I glued it all in place added the ribbon and the crystals to finish off the card.

Now, my mom made a l8ving by selling her Faberge style eggs and I saw John, from The Sound of One Hand Typing, speaking about Quail. My mom l9ved the look of the quail egg and the smaller the better. She would create the flower and birthstone for each month inside the egg..all is handmade. She made little baskets and even little jewel boxes with a surprise inside, one is a blue Jay and the other a rose. Cool, eh? Oh and that goblet is from a pudgeon egg I believe.

Thursday Film Picks: Tax Evasion

 

I got this idea from John Holton over at The Sound of One Hand Typing ( a great blog, you should check it out) who created a music post on musicians who owed/owe big on income tax and, I thought, there are many film actors who also ran into tax trouble so I am picking 3 films with stars who ran into tax trouble. Here are my 3…

1. HOUSEBOAT-1958

This film stars Cary Grant as a widower with 3 precocious kids who run into the beautiful Sophia Loren who is running away from her very wealthy dad. They believe she needs a job and the kids want her as their new nanny and she is happy to oblige if that takes her away from being a contessa. It’s quite a fun film with Cary Grant and Sophia Loren having real chemistry. They should since Cary fell madly in love with Sophia and asked her to marry him but she opted for short, fat, bald Carlo Ponti, an Italian film producer…go figure but, it seemed to be a happy union. Sophia Loren went to jail in 1982 for a whole 17 days for fudging her taxes which she stated she was innocent. Many years later, the government stated she was right and apologized for the boo boo.

2. OCEAN’S 11-1960

This film stars the infamous Rat Pack- Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jnr, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop as friends who decide to pull the biggest heist in Las Vegas history. You see how they all connive to steal millions from the 5 top casinos. Sammy Davis drives the van from casino to casino. Sammy Davis was someone who could act, sing, dance, you name it and had fun with his cohorts in the Vegas strip when he wasn’t allowed to stay in the hotels due to his colour. Frank Sinatra told the casino that if they want him and the others around Sammy must stay at the hotel and be able to walk through the front door and , they capitulated. Sammy also made the sin of marrying a white woman( May Britt) and received death threats. Poor Sammy was always running out of money and, when he died, in 1990( died of throat cancer, he was a 4 pack a day smoker),  he owed a ton to the IRS. Sadly, because his widow signed on his income tax forms, they came after her for the money.

3. TO WONG FOO, THANKS FOR EVERYTHING, JULIE NEWMAR-1995

I would love to see this film again. It stars Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes and John Leguizamo as drag queens driving to LA for. Drag Queen competition but run into a nasty cop and then their car goes on the blink leaving them in this small town with people wondering what the hell they are. You know that they and the townsfolk will become richer for knowing each other but it’s how they all work together. I love the cameo of Robin Williams at the beginning of the film and love that Julie Newmar( Catwoman in the Batman tv show) also made an appearance near the end of the film. I also love seeing tough guy and Blade star Wesley Snipes dressed as a woman, not a good looking one, but a woman nonetheless. Wesley Snipes went to jail for 3 years for tax evasion and, I believe, still has issues with the tax man. 

Who can you think of who ran afoul of the Tax man?