Goin' South

City girl goes to rural America. Usually it goes the other way around, but this summer I'll be working in a place that looks nothing like New York and barely has internet. I'm trying to think of a movie I can watch before I leave that will prepare me for the amount of bug bites I'm going to collect. Hot Saturday springs to mind. This one reminds me a bit of the opera Susannah. Or the story of Susannah and the Elders. Should get me in the mood. Anyone have any suggestions for precode films that go well with Miller Light and a FEMA trailer?

5th Avenue? Really?

Last night I was in the city and walking down 5th Ave. and could not help but to be stunned by all the vacant stores, spaces and buildings. Very surreal. I just had flashed of downtown Detroit in my mind, but I just can't imagine that New York could deteriorate to that level. We would have to have a few riots, burn down the city and depend entirely on one industry. I think we may have a little more bounce than that. The Beast of the City may be something to look at to warn us where we may sink to and an ending not to be missed! Skyscraper Souls which is about a loan that is jeopardized, a bad stock tip and poor usage of a dead wife. Hold on kids. It's going to be a bumpy ride!

The Creative Profesional

So the NY Times fashion section today writes about the plight of one of my favorite species. The poor suffering white man. The Metro Sexual is finally dead. The look of success is now one of a "Creative Professional". More checks and gingham and less solid and stable. I remember a few years back during the dotcom era when suits just were on vacation. Bannana Republic was the new corporate casual and the client based look was gone. This was due to the decreasing interface between vendor and client, but this one is a little different. No one wants to look like a criminal. I love it. So I'm thinking about men and style and what precode films they could watch that might sympathize with this new sterotype they have to endure. American Madness may be just what the fashion police ordered. It's about a bank robbery that happens under the nose of a bank teller who was an ex-convict who was recently hired. The man in charge is actually the one behind the caper. This film has been criticized for being dated...um...I think you will find it slightly topical.

Joan Crawford for your wedding day

The ultimate mother, Ms. Joan Crawford has a delightful little dark gem for pre and post wedding festivities.  Our Blushing Brides is hardly the syrupy Father of the Bride type film. Or that god awful film My Best Friend's Wedding. Wait...I've got another vomit inducing wedding film..The Wedding Planner. I mean seriously, how many times can people spontaneously break out into the carefully researched demographic group song hitting the nerve of every disposable income consumer in america. I love this one because it was the precode era version of these god awful films. But this is so delicious! So dark! So Ironic. The story involves dumping, suicide and unending romantic disappointment. Good stuff. 

With Friends Like These

I have alot of good friends. Supportive, lovely people. I am a very lucky person. My friends and family have been incredibly supportive throughout the dating, engagement and my recent wedding. I have been thinking alot as to how to thank them. Thank you notes seem just not enough. Gifts seem to express the wrong thing. How would I ever buy them something that is the equivalent of what I feel. (Well I'm sure if I had the ability to give out cars no one would be to offended) This is my attempt to thank them. I was thinking of what precode films my friends may enjoy. My dear friend who assisted me in my wardrobe choices I was thinking this little gem I recently found. The Search for Beauty (1934) which is about debauched connoisseurs of young flesh. It just sounds like so much fun. Three on a Match is another one which I think is a good film. I love the idea that it is about girls talking about old times in a restaurant and light up a cigarette. (I don't think that the superstition that the third member to use the match will become unlucky is what I'm trying to suggest) What I like about it, is that it follows the lives of friends who separate, live their lives and then reunite.

Keeping it Simple

Claudette Colbert fleeing her wedding in her bridal gown which looked more like lingerie was who I always aspired to be as a bride. Free, young and confident and ready to bolt on a moments notice if it wasn't right and always ready to run away with Clarke Gable. (Fortunately, I had absolutely no desire what so ever to bolt on my wedding day. I had found my Clarke Gable.) It Happened One Night was the first wedding in a movie that made a huge impression on me. Or at least I remember thinking, "wow, she looks so sensual and free and sexy in that wedding dress!" or whatever a 6 year olds version of that thought process was. I just remember LOVING that dress. Well, I'm not exactly Ms. Colbert but I just wanted to recommend that movie to anyone who was getting married or had just got married. And since I just don't have the physique or money for that kind of dress, anyone who can pull off that dress, I highly reccommend it. I just got married on Saturday and was trying to think of my favorite pre-code wedding movies and I could think of nothing more glamorous or fabulous than It Happened One Night. Nothing is more romantic than the walls of Jericho. I felt in the spirit of eloping since we had such a simple ceremony but it was so lovely I felt a little like I was running away and eloping. I highly recommend this. Nothing kills romance more than bills and lack of spontaneity. So in these difficult times, put the Bride's Magazine down and run away together. Watch a little Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert and spend the night in a haystack eating carrots.